The Mark of Athena

Chapter 6

I update my other chapters. If you haven't noticed

Here it is enjoy.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

============================================================================

(Meanwhile... in a different place...)

Jared Khubyar, was living a perfect life. Nothing could bother him. He was riding on his bicycle, on his way to the hill to meet his best friend Marvin Sorensen. The air was fair, the sun was shining in a moderate brightness. He was wearing, a white t-shirt and shorts. On top of hill was a cave. They used to challenge each other, to see who could stay in the cave the longest. It was a spooky cave. The cave wasn't normal. The moment one got in. It was as if their atmosphere had sank. The vision in one's eyes became darker. 

Jared finally arrived.  Water dripped down from the jagged rocks on the roof of the cave dripped on to the ground. The end of the cave was hidden in the dark. The king of their planet had said, that it was once used to hide a key of some sort. But now the key had been sent to the first star, to be perserved. The king had also said the cave was cursed. The king was Marvin's dad. Jared was always confused with the stars and stuff.  Marvin was their when he arrived. He was in also in t-shirts and shorts. But his eyes were wide.

"Yo, Jared. I saw this old woman. Walk in the cave. C'mon here. She went in it, like wow. First she asked me where the key was. So I said it used to be in there. And she just went in. I warned her about the curse. Then she was just like I'm not afraid of no curses. And went inside. She was a blonde. Oh yeah and she looked at me with these intense grey eyes, like I was something. But I'm just a dumb prince.Ok, so anyways, there was this weird mark on her arm. I was afraid of it. I don't know why, but I wanted to freak out and run for my life. Like I said before she was an old woman, but her mark was on skin. Like yours and mine. It wasn't wrinkled. Wanna go check her out?" Marvin challenged.

"No." Jared responded.

"Why not? You chicken. Get in there. Or I'll start making distrubing noises that is supposed to impersonate a chicken." Marvin said, laughing.

Jared laughed with him. Marvin did have his headband on. So he decided to go in.

The headband was good luck, it was magical. It was given to him by his mother. Who, Marvin had never seen. Because his mother had been exiled to the First Star. Jared didn't know why, Marvin didn't either, hardly anyone knew. And those who knew, they were mules, when it came to the exile.

They went in the cave. They were both scared. But they didn't want to let each other know and advanced. Marvin's headband surged up with light. The headband was a pink jewel, attached by a circle of white beads. And the Pink Jewel could to magical things. Like give light. Not really magical. But useful in this case.

They kept going, it got darker by the minute. But the jewel kept conquering the dark. It was basically the same scenery for five hours. They hadn't realized the time had gone by. They were too scared to. They decided turn back because, of the "same, boring scenery," but then Marvin heard something. The jewel then was pulled towards something and so was Marvin. Wanting to help, Jared sprinted after him. They arrived in front of some doors. They were both cold. It was very deep inside the cave. Jared's brown hair, seemed to turn paler, and his over-sized neck seemed to get smaller, and skin turned from white to invisible.  Marvin, was more messed up than before. His unruly blonde hair was spaghetti after a food fight. His dark skin's pimples began to grow as clear as water. Why had the jewel brought them here?

And then there was someone in front of the doors. It was a woman. She had gray hair, she was facing the doors, so Jared only had a back view of her. Her back was made of a scrunched up orange t-shirt. On her legs were torn apart blue shorts. She was bare feet, the clothing and her hair made her look old. But Jared captured a glimpse of her skin, on the back of her legs, they were tanned. Legittament tanned. No wrinkles.

Then Jared looked at the doors. They were huge. They were in a temple sort of. The roof of this part of the cave was as high as a twenty-story apartment building. The doors were about that tall. And their width was of at least a mile. On the doors was a shape of something it was a circle with a mini orb in the middle, where there was a hole in the circle. Its borders were from this giant ring. And a compass was around the orb. The compass was four directions, and a circular hole in the middle of it. Only four arrows facing four different ways, and a hole dividing them. It looked familiar.

"The key!" Marvin shouted. The woman heard them, as Marvin placed a hand over his mouth.

The woman turned around, and her gray eyes intensely looked at the two boys.

"That's right the key, the woman said, " The thing that you need to open the doors."

Just suddenly, Jared asked inquringly, " What are behind the doors?"

The woman responded, " It depends what key your using. If you use the original one, heaven is behind them. If your using the fixed one, then hell is behind them."

Marvin blurted, " Who are you, madam?"

The woman just replied, " I am everyone's worst nightmare. And you made a big mistake running into me. Now, help me find the child of the star and I will let you live. Oh yes, and I am not that old, the gray hair is just blonde hair covered in dust. I'm only 18. But still."

Marvin stupidly asked, " Which Star?"

The woman (girl), looked puzzled, " You mean there are more than one star that has children."

Marvin replied with," Yeah. There's three. But when you say The Star. With the T-H-E. You're usually talking about the First Star."

"Who is the First Star?"

"She is known as Chaos."

The girl gasped, she remebered this boy named Ryan Ames. He was the child of Chaos. She had met him. But he hadn't saved her. But that was before she had the Mark. That was when she was Annabeth Chase. Before she had wiped out half the people in the American population. Before she had travelled to this planet, to be saved, to be Annabeth Chase again, she wanted to be with Percy again. Before she learned a secret that devestated even the Dark. Before she learned the way of the Fates; cruel. Before she became the monster, with hope, a monster who was afraid of herself.  But now she was lost. And she was ready to do anything to bring Annabeth Chase back. The actual Annabeth Chase, the one that could laugh.