They had been walking for hours.
They had only stopped walking once and it wasn't to rest, it was to bury the head. Clarisse and Mae made Gaige go into the woods and bury it. Mae tried to convince Clarisse that they should make a run for it and Clarisse almost agreed till the thought about how annoyed Chiron would be and unfortunately said no.
Now they were walking along a secluded road again.
"How do you even know we're going the right way?" Mae asked Clarisse who glared at her. "Don't ask stupid questions." Mae chuckled and rolled her eyes while she held her hands up in defense.
Gaige, who was walking a bit behind the two of them watched their interaction with an annoyed look. He wanted Mae, and Clarisse was taking her away. They both would deny it but he could tell that they both definitely felt something for each other and it wasn't exactly platonic but it wasn't romantic yet either.
Gaige would have to stop it before it bloomed into anything else. He didn't care that Mae claimed she was lesbian, she probably just hadn't met the right guy before. Gaige would be that.
Meanwhile, Mae and Clarisse were talking in front of him. Or rather, Mae was talking and Clarisse was listening.
Then Mae started to giggle a bit as she had a thought. Clarisse looked at her, clearly annoyed by her. "What's so funny princess?" She asked her. Mae grinned and looked at her.
"I just realized how funny it is that you don't like me when our parents are each other's lovers." She pointed out. Clarisse made a face as she looked at her. Only Mae would find something like that funny.
"We aren't our parents." She points out. Mae shrugs and looks up at her with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Says who?"
Clarisse rolled her eyes while she looked away from her, biting her cheeks to hide the smile that was trying to show itself.
Mae giggled to herself while they kept walking.
"What Museum are we even going to?" Mae asked as she looked at Clarisse. They were back in human civilization now and not just walking along an empty street. There was fast food, gas stations and literally everything else around them once again which made Mae feel better because she hated side roads they were absolutely creepy.
"Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. We're to retrieve two things. A mini sculpture of your mother made by Apollo as a gift and an ancient scripture. No clue what's in it but we were told to get it." She said. Mae nodded as they began to walk up a hill.
She wondered if her mom would be proud of her for retrieving her sculpture. She hoped so.
Mae's eyes widened as they approached a large and beautiful building. She couldn't even put into words how beautiful it was.
"Woah." Gaige said as they stopped walking and looked at the museum. It was absolutely stunning.
But it hit Mae that this wouldn't be easy by any means at all. If this place had ancient history inside of it it was bound to have plenty of night guards watching over the place. This wouldn't be easy by any means.
"So how are we getting in?" Gaige asked Clarisse who was looking around, thinking about how to answer that.
"The Greek architects are in the middle of the second floor. It's a very open space which makes our task a bit easier. But there's guards at every door, so four guards which makes our job a lot harder. Mae, look in your bag and pull out the light blue vial." Clarisse instructed. Mae looked at her with a smile when she heard what she said. Clarisse had called her Mae instead of Maeve.
She licked her lips and took her book bag off, putting it on the ground. Mae kneeled next to it and opened it, feeling around inside of it for the vial. Her fingers brushed it and she grabbed it, pulling it out and handing it to Clarisse who looked at Gaige.
"You, go to the back entrance and disable the alarms. And find a way to disable the cameras." She instructed while Mae stood up. Gaige rolled his eyes but nodded, sneaking away, leaving the two girls alone.
Clarisse looked at Mae and held the vial up. "This is how we'll get in. Stop staring at me like that." She snapped. Mae blushed and blinked a few times as she nodded, taking the vial which Clarisse held back out to her.
"That's a sleeping drought. In my bag in the left pocket there are arrows that are so skinny they look like needles. Grab them." Clarisse instructed.
Mae caught on to what was happening and nodded while she grabbed the arrows. Ironically enough, there were four.
She popped the cork off of the vial and one by one, Clarisse dipped the tip of the arrows into the vial before she took the vial back.
"Come on." She grabbed Mae and pulled her to the rear door entrance. It was open and thankfully for them, Gaige was no where to be seen.
"Do not make a sound and don't touch anything." Clarisse said as she looked at Mae who nodded.
They began quietly walking through the museum.
Mae looked around in awe. The museum was just as stunning on the inside as the outside.
She was snapped out of her awe when Clarisse pushed her against a wall. "Snap out of it. You need to focus." She whispered harshly while Mae nodded. Clarisse turned her head and looked around a bit and Mae took a second to admire her side profile. She was truly beautiful.
"Okay, aim for their hands. Don't get caught." Clarisse whispered as she handed Mae her bow and one of the arrows.
Mae nodded as she put the tiny arrow on her bow and pulled the quiver back, poking her head around the corner. Just as Clarisse had said, there were four guards standing in the room. Two facing in her direction but not looking at her and two facing the other direction.
Suddenly she felt nervous. If she somehow screwed this up, not only will she disappoint Clarisse but also likely her mother and she didn't want to do that.
Mae swallowed as she aimed at the first guards hand. As soon as she let go, Clarisse handed her another arrow.
She did the same with the second guard and watched the two fall down, asleep.
Clarisse noticed that her aim was actually amazing. She admired Mae while she aimed at the last of the four guards and quickly looked away when Mae looked at her, putting her bow across her back.
"Come on." Clarisse said as she pulled her into the room.
Immediately, Mae spotted the sculpture. It wasn't big by any means at all, only about a foot or so tall. She pulled away from Clarisse gently to go towards it. Clarisse watched her but didn't stop her.
Mae noticed how different her mother looked even in statue form compared to how her father described her. She had wavy hair instead of curly hair but it suited her a lot better.
As she looked at her, she also couldn't imagine her mother being a blonde. She didn't know how to describe it but she just could tell she wasn't a blonde.
Mae shook her head and reached out, grabbing the small statue of her mom and held it close to her while she turned around, looking for Clarisse who was across the room standing on something while she reached for a rolled up parchment. Mae's eyes widened when she saw Clarisse wobble a bit and she rushed over to her, putting the statue of her mother down while she stood behind Clarisse to make sure she didn't fall.
She did.
Mae quickly caught Clarisse and looked down at her with wide eyes. Clarisse looked right back up at her with the same wide eyes. Neither of them said anything for a minute while they looked at each other. Mae looked down at Clarisse's lips and Clarisse looked at Mae's. It was silent. Until Clarisse jumped up and cleared her throat, brushing herself off while she held onto the parchment tightly.
"Thanks I guess. Pick up your mom we need to go they won't be out long." Mae quickly nodded as she picked up the statue of Aphrodite and followed after Clarisse.
What was that that has just happened? There was definitely something there, Mae wasn't imagining it. Clarisse had definitely just looked at her lips, right?
"We need to go get Gaige." Mae pointed out when Clarisse tried to leave the museum. As much as she wished they could leave him, she was sure Chiron would be less than pleased. Clarisse sighed and turned down a hall when she spotted him.
Mae went to follow her but stopped.
"Maevelyn." A smooth voice said. Mae's head snapped to the voice and she saw a beautiful woman while Clarisse pulled her behind her protectively.
The woman had dark green eyes, beautiful dark wavy hair that wasn't quite black yet but was right in the verge of it. She was well built and had plump bow lips. Mae realized that this was her mother.
"Mom?" She asked as a smile made its way onto her face.
Aphrodite smiled at her daughter as she walked over to them. Mae went around Clarisse and met Aphrodite halfway. The mother and daughter looked at each other before Aphrodite cupped her daughter's face. "You're everything I imagined you would be and so much more. Your father raised you well." Mae frowned at the mention of her father. She was still less than pleased with him.
Aphrodite smiled as she looked at her daughter. Mae was still taking in her mom's features.
"You don't look anything like dad described you." Mae whispered as she reached up and touched her mom's dark hair. Gaige and Clarisse watched in horror, not sure how Aphrodite would react to that. To their surprise, Aphrodite just laughed.
"No. I appear to men as they want me to. Their types or their desire. All men see me differently." She explained. Mae was absolutely mesmerized by her mom's voice. She had the most smooth and beautiful voice ever.
"Not women?" Clarisse asked confused. Aphrodite looked at Clarisse and smiled, shaking her head. "Women see the truth. Tell me, son of Hephaestus what do you see?" Aphrodite said as she looked at Gaige who gulped.
Gaige avoided eye contact as he mumbled something that Clarisse and Mae couldn't hear but Aphrodite did.
Aphrodite hummed as she looked back at her daughter before she turned back to the door.
"Come." Was all she said, causing all three of them to follow her. Mae walked beside her mother with haste.
"Mom, what were you doing here?" She asked her confused as they left the museum. Aphrodite chuckled as she looked at Gaige and Clarisse.
"A moment please." She said as she put a hand on Mae's shoulder, the two of them slowing down a bit but still walking faster than Clarisse and Gaige.
"I've been watching you Maevelyn. I watch all of my children but you and I are much more similar than you know." She said as she looked ahead of her. Mae made a slightly annoyed face at the mention of her real name that turned into confusion. What did her mom mean by that?
"You find yourself in a love triangle with the daughter of my love and the son of my husband am I correct?" Aphrodite asked. Mae blushed a bit. She hadn't really thought of it that way before since she wasn't interested in Gaige, but her mother knew best.
"I guess you could call it that...." Aphrodite laughed.
"You're in denial though. Yes whatever Gaige feels for you is utterly unrequited, you and Clarisse have something special. Stop denying your attraction to her. It won't stop how you feel." Aphrodite said as the mother and daughter pair approached a large blue truck. Aphrodite touched the door and it flew open. It was a furniture truck.
Mae looked at her mother with wide eyes as Clarisse and Gaige stood next to her, Clarisse glaring at Gaige, warning him not to get closer.
"This truck is going to be in Louisiana tomorrow. It will get you where you need to go." Aphrodite explained as she looked at her daughter.
Mae went to say something but was cut off when she felt hands on her waist, lifting her up into the truck. She looked back at Clarisse who gave her a look that said, mention it and I'll kill you.
Mae grabbed Clarisse's hand and helped her into the truck, trying to ignore how warm her hands were.
When all three of them were in the truck, they looked at Aphrodite who was backing away.
"Oh and Gaige?" Aphrodite said kindly. Gaige sat up straight.
"Y-Yes m-ma'am?" He stuttered. Aphrodite smiled kindly.
"Stop trying to peruse my daughter. She isn't interested. Clarisse?" She said as she looked at the girl. Clarisse looked at her.
"Try harder to peruse my daughter, she is interested."
Mae's jaw dropped as the door closed and the truck began moving. She couldn't believe that her mom had just said that.
Clarisse didn't mention it as Gaige moved further into the truck. Instead Clarisse looked at Mae with a smirk.
"Your name is Maevelyn?"
Mae groaned. She wouldn't hear the end of this and she knew it.
GUYS THIS IS MY FAVORITE CHAPTER SO FAR IDK ABOUT YALL❗️❗️❗️ ANYWAYS COMMENT WHAT YOU THINK POOKIES