The Hidden Children: Ocean's Loop

Chapter 4- In the Alleyway

"Now we have to go, before any other hunters find us." Fresco whispered to James. "we can talk about this later, for now, you can't afford empathy or sorrow. Remember that and we can survive."

James nodded and held onto Fresco. Fresco started to run, far from Brightmore and the museum.

Before James wanted to admit it, it was already dark. Jamie had just woken up. The night was cold, freezing. Fresco put James down in an alleyway. Jamie sat next to James and leaned on him "How far is the vacation?" Jamie signed.

James signed "sorry, but we have to walk there so it will be far. We'll be okay." James held Jamie close. Jamie clung to James. Fresco looked around and grabbed a nearby trashcan. They opened it and started to make a fire. The burning flames didn't make smoke as Fresco pushed the can over and sat with James and Jamie.

"we'll be okay" Fresco whispered to James. "you get sleep. I'll keep watch and take care of Jamie." they whispered. James nodded, feeling his eyes shut as the warm flickering of the fire calmed him into sleep.

Though, James was somewhere...different in his dream. He was in a city. "Dad? There's someone here, I see lots of ships. there must be a thousand, at least!" he shouted. He turned around to look at someone who was clearly a king.

"It does seem to be that way, Troilus." the king said. The man, James' mind knew him as dad. "what has your brother done?" the king mumbled. He turned to James, "Troilus, go get Prinve Hector and your other brothers." He stated. James nodded and ran off.

James woke up after that and rubbed his head "ow...my head hurts" he whispered. James rubbed his head.

"You, okay?" Fresco asked "need some pain meds?" he asked. James nodded, his head pounding as he laid against the wall behind him. Jamie was tucked under his arm, asleep. James smiled.

Fresco took out some minor pain medication from their pocket and offered it to James with a canister of water. James took the medicine in his free hand and popped the pill into his mouth. Then, he took the water and drank it, forcing the pill down his throat. "thanks, Fresco." James whispered "Do you have something I can prop Jamie against, I don't wanna go back to sleep just yet."

Fresco nodded and brought out a blanket. James bundled it up and gently laid Jamie on the blanket.

James grabbed his cane and got up. He grabbed a nearby bucket and sat next to Fresco, both just out of reach of the flames. "you're really experienced at this." James whispered.

"well, I was doing this when I was four to eleven years of age. It was the first time I met your sister." Fresco stated.

"Can you tell me more about it?" James asked "and by sister I'm gonna guess you don't mean Lele." James stated.

"of course not, I first met her when I met you. You should know that, you were there, kid."

"I am 18!" James exclaimed with a laugh "I'm not a kid." he playfully punched Fresco's shoulder. Fresco smiled a bit and made a slight wince. "I am legally an adult."

Fresco shrugged and fed the fire another piece of trash. "Say all you want, I'm still gonna call you kid." they said. James sighed and shook his head.

"Does it truly bother you?" Fresco asked. "If it truly bothers you I'll stop."

"It doesn't, I'm just messing with ya. My mom calls me kid sometimes. Anyway, you were gonna tell me about how you first met my older sister?" James stated.

Fresco nodded "yeah, I was four when a god first came for me. I can't remember which one though. That's when my mom told me that I am the child of a greek titan. The person I had always though of as cousin Carmilla, she was actually my half sister." Fresco spoke, their voice almost a whisper as they recounted the events. James could see the look that plagued Fresco's eyes. It was almost like fear had seeped into their soul. "Camilla took me and we ran." Fresco said.

"We ran for years, only breaking for short naps at night." they looked at the fire "Camilla told me a piece of the prophecy, as she had heard it from someone who had taught her t survive."

"What piece of the prophecy were you told?" James asked "Is it the same piece that your weapon has? "Fresco nodded "yes, plus a few other lines. when we put it together, we split it between all of us. The full piece is

If they remember to have their heart beside them,

they will win

the child of time confronting their kin

Many broken apart, needing light for a new start

the missing heart

is a hidden gem"

James nodded, "That's really interesting," he whispered "she must have really loved you to share that bit of story with you." Fresco nodded

"She mostly did it because she knew I'd survive. We had already been running for seven years when we were found by a hunter of King Hades." Fresco stated. James reached out and touched Fresco's shoulder. "She told me to run and hide, get away and survive while she held back the hunter. I never saw her again." Fresco looked at James "after that, I ran into a girl who was a couple of years older than I was and she introduced herself as Penelope Ithacan. Daughter of Lady Rhea." Fresco looked at the sky "she told me about Brightmore and brought me there. That's how I met Avery and Demetrius and later Trenton, Karlee, and all the others." Fresco crossed their arms "Story time is over, head back to bed. You'll need to get up early tomorrow." they stated.

James shook his head "I don't wanna go back to sleep just yet. You've been doing most of the work today, get some sleep, you'll need it tomorrow too. You've carried us this far. I don't even know where we are at this point. I can do watch for a bit, just keep Jamie warm."

Fresco nodded and leaned over. They kissed James' temple and walked over to where Jamie was. They picked up Jamie and took the blanket that Jamie had been sleeping on. They held Jamie to their chest and wrapped the plush blanket around the two of them. Fresco closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.

James watched the lick of the flames in the cold night. He fought himself to not shiver as the wind blew out the trash can fire. James sighed, a cold cloud exiting his mouth. He glanced over to Fresco and Jamie, both were sound asleep. He couldn't wake them up.

James leaned on his cane as he watched the smoke of the now extinguished fire. He held himself close to stay warm. Fresco let out a small grunt as they slept. James smiled and watched the night sky, there in the alleyway.