The New Immortals

Rachel makes a call

RACHEL

Somehow, I managed to drone out the mindless chatter of the girls around me as we walked down the street.

'You're so lucky to have the family you do, Rachel.' One said, smiling sweetly at me. I sighed, waiting for the rest of them to join in.

Sure enough, another girl piped up, 

'Yeah! I'm so grateful to you for inviting us to your dad's talk. I totally agree with all of the things he's been saying.'

'Do you?'  I asked, turning to her. 'My father wants to wipe out all supernatural life because we can't control it. Even if we somehow managed that, would it be the right thing to do?' She blinked blankly at me, so I went on. 'Sure, my father is famous or whatever, but he's also really wrong. These supernaturals, the demigods and gods and even some of the monsters, they're innocent, and  don't deserve to be exterminated like insects.'

'She's right.' Kylie cut in. 'The immortals aren't as bad as you all think.'

I stared at her in shock. Kylie hated me. And I'm not talking about mild dislike here either - I mean worms in my lunchbox, old meat in my locker, cutting up my sports kit level pure, unrefined loathing. She never agreed with me. Never.

'How do you know, Kylie?' Someone asked.

'I'm actually pretty close friends with the queen of Olympus, Annie - Annabeth, I mean. Sorry, I'm just so used to calling her by a nickname! It's weird to hear her full name used in conversation.'

I snorted. I couldn't help it. I didn't want to - in fact, I was doing my best to stay quiet, but Annabeth would never let anyone call her Annie. Not that she would ever be friends with someone like Kylie anyway, but the statement was so absurd I couldn't help but laugh.

'What?' Kylie asked, her pupils narrowing dangerously. 'You don't know anything, Rachel. You aren't friends with Annie, are you?'

'Not exactly.' I mumbled. But probably not for the reasons she thought.

'Right. So you can't comment.' Kylie sniffed. 'Anyway, she's can't come over any time soon because of business on Olympus, but- AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH' She let out a pathetic screech, practically leaping into the arms of her nearest assistant.

Two cyclopes stormed around the corner, swinging crudely made clubs, and roaring at passers-by.

'Quick, Kylie, call Queen Annabeth! She'll save us!' One of her cronies pleaded.

'I told you, she's busy, I can't just-'

'But your life's in danger! Surely she'll come if you say that it's an emergency?' Someone else asked.

They continued to argue as I turned away, pulling my phone out and calling the top contact. It ran through once, twice...

'Rachel? What's up?' Percy's voice asked, and I sighed in relief.

'Rogue cyclopes.  Three of them. Come quickly.' I said urgently.

'What- No, I can't- I'm sorry, Rachel, but I'm on the other side of the world dealing with a trio of rogue mermaids.'

'But..'

'Hang on a sec, I think Annabeth's free. I'll call her and tell her to go help.'

'Wait-' I tried, but he'd hung up. I put my phone away, frowning, and set to wait.

No more than a few minutes later, Annabeth materialized besides me, wearing a white tee and dark jeans, a plain black baseball cap resting low on her brow.

'Where.' She asked sharply.

I pointed, and she sprinted towards the action, pulling two gold daggers from the air as she ran.

KYLIE

The mystery girl dipped and dived, her daggers flashing as she  fought. Her athleticism was clear, her body tan and toned, and she fought with the ease of a trained professional, each swing precise and clean.

Between the baseball hat and the speed with which she was moving, I couldn't quite get a clear view of her face, but I could tell she was blonde, and I thought I saw grey in her eyes when she turned my way.

The battle was swift and brutal. It was only a few minutes before she had a dagger neatly lodged in each creatures gut.  She slowed finally, taking a step back and brushing her bloody palms of on her jeans before lifting her cap to wipe her forehead of sweat. 

The surrounding crowd inhaled as one, and there was an instant of perfect silence before the yells began.

'Your Highness!'

'Oh my gods, its Queen Annabeth!'

'Sign my phone case, I'll do anything!'

Camera clicks merged with the excited shouts as the crowd converged on the girl, careful to avoid the two corpses lying either side of her. I was about to move closer, but a hand tugging on my arm pulled me to a stop. I glanced around into the excitable eyes of one of my friends, Anya. The rest of them stood behind her, faces lit up.

'Kylie, she's here! She's actually, genuinely here, so you can introduce us now, and we can get selfies with her and she can sign our shirts and everything!' She gushed.

I gulped. Sh*t.

'Um, I'm sure she's really busy, and doesn't want to take pictures after a fight, but we can maybe say hi from a distance and maybe another time-' I cut myself off, seeing Rachel of all people sprint into the mass of bodies. Seconds later, a yell rang out.

'Can everyone please back the hades off? She's just saved all of your hides, I'm sure she doesn't want to do a press conference. Give a girl some space.'

A space cleared, and the two girls walked out together. They weren't touching, and both moved a little stiffly, but they were close enough that it was clear they knew each other. I was preparing for the beatdown of the century from my friends when, to my astonishment, the Queen of Olympus approached me.

'I hate to ruin your get together, but I'm afraid I need to borrow Rachel for an incident report up on Olympus.' She told me, her voice low and melodic. 'I trust you'll let her father know why she's missing when you get to his talk?'

I nodded frantically, to scared to talk, and she smiled in satisfaction before gripping Rachel's wrist, the two of them vanishing in a shower of silvery sparks.

50K SPECIALLLLLLL

Extra long chapter this time, been working on it in bouts since about May. Think I'm FINALLY over the writers' block, so the next few chapters of WTWCC should be out pretty soon as well.