Daughter of Kronos

Chapter 20

              After the Underworld Mission, training commenced as usual. There wasn't much talk of what we had done when we got back on board, so I assumed it was meant to be kept a secret. The rest of the people on board probably just thought we were going to New Orleans for the pleasure of going to New Orleans. 

            Now that we were getting closer to resurrecting Kronos or whatever, my training was getting even more vigorous. Luke currently had Ethan and Angelica working privately with me. Apparently, they were trying to find out if I had powers or not. Some demigods have powers according to their godly parent. I asked them if Luke had any powers because he was the son of Hermes, but they ignored me. They weren't really sure if I had powers, because I wasn't a demigod, but more of a demititan, but they were determined to find out anyways. 

           "What powers would I have if I did have them?" I asked Angelica.

          She shrugged her muscular shoulders. "Probably something dealing with time, or maybe plant powers, like Demeter. It's hard to say, and for all we know, you might not even have any, so don't get your hopes up."

         Too late. My hopes were already up. And along with them, my determination. I wanted a power, I wanted something that made me special and different from all the other people on this boat. I needed something, anything, to make me different from everyone here. Because I was starting to blend in, and I didn't like that.  

            Ethan, being the more kindhearted of the two, saw the look on my face. "Relax, Sam. I'm sure we'll find something you're good at." I smiled weakly. I hoped he was right. 

           Angelica and Ethan walked me up to the garden behind the kitchens. When I asked why we needed a garden, Angelica rolled her eyes and said that there were some monsters on board who were vegan and refused to eat anything that wasn't organic and non-GMO. I found that very ironic. 

          They told me to sit down in front of the small patch of sweet corn. 

          "Just concentrate, Sam," Ethan encouraged me. "I'm sure it will come to you eventually."

          But what was I supposed to concentrate on? I looked at the ground. It was a little dirty, and I saw a little beetle. I watched it crawl around for a minute, before Angelica cleared her throat, reminding me of what I was supposed to be doing. I sighed and looked at the corn. Growing up in Oklahoma, I'd seen a lot of corn. So compared to that, this corn wasn't really impressive. It wasn't nearly as tall as the corn back home, and it's leaves were brown and droopy. It hadn't even tassled yet, which was really bad, seeing it was the middle of October. Bugs crawled on the leaves and ate through the once-sturdy stalks. I stuck my hand out to shoo them away.

           "What is she doing?" I heard from behind my back.

           "Shut up, Ethan," Angelica whispered. "You ruin everything."

           I turned my attention back to the corn. The few good leaves I could see were a silky light-green color and looked waxy. I reached out my hand, curious to see what they felt like. The flexible fronds wrapped around my palm gently, like a human hand. 

         Everything that happened next was a blur. Ethan said that the wind picked up speed, swirling faster and faster around me, like a tornado. Angelica told me that from where she was standing she could see the corn spiraling upwards, slowly changing from a fresh green to a harvest beige. When the wind cleared, the corn was three heads taller. But she said that I didn't notice any of it. Not a hair on my head was displaced by the sudden storm, and the leaf was still wrapped around my palm. 

         Of course, seeing plants grow right before their eyes wasn't anything they weren't used to. There were quite a few Demeter kids on board, so their surprise didn't last for long. Frankly, even I thought that my new powers were quite boring. How would growing corn help me in a battle?

        I asked Luke at dinner and all he said was, "Patience, Sam. It will all come together with time." Ever since he became invincible, he's been acting like Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda.