Hi guys! Here's another chapter for you all :) I'm thoroughly enjoying writing this novel again, and I hope you're all enjoying reading it!
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xoxo - Andrea
Chapter 15
I'd be lying if I said it was easy to convince Selina and Damian that they had powers.
Well, Damian wasn't too bad, he seems like a pretty nice guy the more that I get to know him. Selina though...It took a couple of hours to get through to her.
Let's just say, it was a long night.
Eventually, Selina came to terms with what was going on. I felt a bit sorry for her in the end, she looked exhausted, stressed and quite frightened. But she's on our side now. No doubt she'll be a bit of a handful, but now that she understands everything, I think we should manage to keep her under control.
We all parted ways in the early hours of the morning, Ashlyn dropped me back home and I quietly crept through the house up to my room. I didn't want to disturb my poor parents.
I kicked off my heels and fell asleep in my dress, the duvet pulled over me in a haphazard fashion.
It was quite a night.
****
I flick through my classics textbook as I sit at the marble kitchen counter the next morning. Sipping a strong coffee and searching for more clues as I plan how to spend my Sunday.
It's officially been a week since I came to the Cobalt Isles, the most affluent island in the Mediterranean. It's certainly growing on me, I feel a lot more comfortable living here, although I don't know if I'll ever get used to the beauty of it.
"Right...Poseidon, Ares and Demeter...where are you?" I mutter to myself, thinking through the possibilities of who these gods may be, who might have their powers.
I could be looking for three girls...three boys, a mix of both, who knows? Ever since Callia gained Zeus' powers, it's been hard to judge if there are going to be any more unconventional transferals.
I guess I'll just have to go with my gut feeling and figure it out from there.
I place my coffee down on the counter and tuck a few strands of auburn hair behind my ears, trying to help myself focus.
There is one thing for sure, everyone I've found so far have a fair bit in common with the god they seem to be connected to. The god they could be – I still have zero clue how exactly we are connected to them, hopefully I'll find this out sooner rather than later.
Damian with his limp and his metalwork skills, turned out to be Hephaistos. Lyke, the cheeky trickster and runner, was Hermes. So, could Poseidon be a top swimmer? A keen surfer? Could Ares be a bit of a rebel, someone with a short fuse? And Demeter, a lover of gardening or nutrition?
Who knows. But at least this could lead me down the right track.
"What about Luca and Marco?" I murmur, both were in my group earlier in the week. They got the headaches, Marco did say he got sick too, but told me just to forget about it.
Well, they've got to be the first people I go to. Even if they're none of the gods I'm looking for, chances are, they're still gods, just not part of the twelve Olympians.
Either way, it means trouble.
I slide off the leather barstool I've been perched upon for the last half hour and grab my cup and bowl, placing them by the kitchen sink to clean up later. I shut my classics book and tuck it under my arm before heading back into the lounge and up the sweeping staircase to my bedroom.
I spend the next couple of minutes getting changed into a light blue playsuit and sneakers, pulling my hair up into a ponytail and brushing my teeth. Then I send a text to Laura, I figured she'd be the best accomplice to have today, her ability to read minds will certainly help to figure out if anyone is keeping stuff from us.
Luckily, Laura agrees to give me a hand, and I find myself in her pastel pink Mercedes convertible an hour later. Her car is to die for, I'm having a hard time deciding which one of my friends rides I like the most, whilst also having a special place in my heart for my little Mazda Miata.
"You like it?" Laura asks, grinning at me as we speed down the winding streets towards the center of town. She looks amazing today, in a pair of perfectly tailored pants and a loose white blouse with little black bow designs on it, quite dressed up for a day out hunting down unruly gods.
I nod, "It's gorgeous!"
"My parents brought it for me."
"Any reason behind the purchase?" I ask.
She shakes her straight chocolate brown head of hair, "Not really. I guess they just thought it would be cute. I had a mint green convertible before this one."
My eyes widen at her nonchalant response; I suppose buying expensive cars for your kids is just part of the norm here.
"So, where are we heading?" I query.
I had explained my theory to Laura earlier through text and she said she knew exactly what to do, so I'd just left the mission up to her.
"To Lucas' place. I'm good friends with him, I'm sure he won't mind us dropping by."
"Oh! Okay."
I wonder how the two of them are good friends, I haven't been around the guy too much but he didn't seem to like me. He seemed quite sporty though, so maybe Laura knows him through cheerleading at sports games or something. She did mention she was on the cheer team the other day.
"Is Luca a good swimmer or surfer?" I ask her, trying to narrow down our choices.
She laughs and shakes her head, "Hell no! I've never seen him in the water, I'm not thinking Poseidon by any shot."
Does he like plants and crops then? I wonder.
"Hahaha! I wish, wouldn't that be hilarious?"
I stare at her and she takes her eyes off the road for a split second.
"Whoops!" She replies, "I did that thing..."
Read my mind again?
She shrugs, "I can't help it. You have very strong thoughts Amber, it's hard to tell the difference between what you're saying in your head and what you're saying out loud."
"Sorry about that." I reply. Poor Laura, having to put up with my thoughts.
My new partner in crime remains silent, but winks at me when I glance over to see if she's going to answer my thoughts again. It's honestly so odd having a friend that can read minds, but then again, I have a deadly spear hanging around my neck.
There's no such thing as normal anymore.
We continue to drive through the center of town and down towards the other end of the Cobalt Isles before Laura pulls off the main road and down a route past more decadent mansions.
"Well, here we are!"
Laura pulls up outside of one of the splendid houses, with a pristine sea view, and columns of its own. My jaw just about drops at the sight of it.
"It's certainly one of the fancier places around here, isn't it?" I mumble.
Laura nods, "His parents are in big business, the hours certainly have their perks."
The two of us get out of Laura's fabulous car and follow the pebbled pathway up to the front entrance.
"Does he know we're coming?" I ask, suddenly nervous.
Laura shakes her head, "Err, no. He shouldn't mind though."
Well, at least you'll be able to tell if he does.
Laura nods once, reading my thoughts, before stepping up to the entranceway and pushing the doorbell down twice.
We wait.
A long minute later, the door opens, a sleepy sportsman standing behind it.
He runs a hand through his cropped black hair and looks down at the two of us, before crossing his muscled arms across his chest. He's completely shirtless and donning a pair of grey sweatpants, by the looks of it, I think we woke the guy up.
"Laura? Uh...Amber, is it? What are you guys doing here?" He asks, yawning mid-sentence.
Laura bats her eyelashes a little, trying her best to keep him from getting angry at us, "Luca! We came to visit you, just for a quick chat..."
"Seriously?" He asks, looking over his shoulder, slightly unsure of something, before turning back to face us again.
"Yeah. It's important."
He nods once, "Uh, I guess you can come in. It's not like you to be up this early Laura."
"But it's eleven!" I gasp.
Luca shrugs, "That's early. You seem like little miss perfect though Amber, I suppose you're up at seven?"
I hold my tongue, it's probably not best to get on Luca's bad side.
Laura senses my uneasiness, "Come on Luca, let's get this over with. Aren't you happy to see me?"
He shrugs, pulling away from the door and opening it up for us. We follow him through to his open lounge.
"I guess, I didn't see you out last night, thought you'd be at Cyprus."
"I was there," Laura answers, "Not for long though, I had somewhere better to be." She smirks at me.
I hold in a laugh and distract myself by trying to take in Luca's lounge. It's huge, white and very open, with a wall of glass and sparkling chandeliers dripping from the high ceiling.
Luca leads us over to one of the massive leather couches and the three of us take a seat. He doesn't seem too bothered by the fact that we caught him in his pyjamas, in fact, I think he appears more than happy to show off his chest to the two of us.
Laura sniggers, clearly listening to my thoughts, I roll my eyes at her when Luca isn't looking.
"Would you guys like a drink of anything?" Luca asks, shifting his intense gaze between the two of us.
"I'll have whatever's in the fridge." Laura answers.
"Uh, just water thanks..." I reply.
Luca nods once and leaves the two of us, sauntering over to the open plan kitchen at the opposite end of the lounge.
I perch on the edge of the couch, trying not to make myself too at home, whilst Laura leans back against the fluffy pillows, completely at ease. I suppose this probably isn't the first time she's been to Luca's, and she's known him a lot longer than I have too.
He returns a minute later and flashes Laura a devilish smile, before hurling a can of fizz at her face.
Reading his thoughts, Laura pre-empts this unexpected throw and snatches the can out of the air before it can hit her face.
"Thanks, Hun." She grins.
Luca's eyes widen and he hands me a bottle of water, trying not to let his jaw drop.
"Nice catch..." Is all he replies.
She looks up at him from under her thick mascara coated eyelashes, "Why thank you, bit of an odd throw...Thank goodness I caught it in time."
He just shrugs and leans back on the couch, "So, care to tell me what's so important, ladies?"
Laura stares at me, clearly waiting for me to begin. I take a deep breath, and start my explanation.
"It's about what happened on Monday...At the temple."
His brow furrows, "You mean that virus you gave all of us after you picked up that spear?"
Laura and I nod.
Luca looks at her, "Wait. How do you know about all that?"
I interrupt before he can ask any more questions, "Look, that virus, it wasn't a virus. Everyone in that group, except for Marco...I haven't told him any of this yet. They've all gotten, err...something else."
"What do you mean, 'something else'?"
I bite my lip, "How do I explain this?! I don't even know if you've got anything. Have you been able to do anything this week that has been impossible for you before?"
He shakes his head, "No, not that I know of. Where are you going with this? Laura, is this girl ok?"
Laura nods, "Of course she is."
I use these few seconds to pull my thoughts together. If Luca is going to be any of the three gods we need to find...He's going to be Ares. The god of war, bloodshed and violence.
Yikes. That's a bit scary.
But, Athena, she's the contrast to Ares. She is skill and strategy in warfare.
And right now, my strategy is to find out if Luca has any abilities...like, fighting. Who better to test that then me? His counterpart.
I get up off the couch and walk over to him.
"This is gonna sound really weird. But have you ever done martial arts, or jujitsu? That kind of stuff."
He looks up at me and shakes his head, "Uh, no."
I reach up and tighten my ponytail, planning my next move. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Laura edge away, knowing what's coming.
Well, hopefully there's some Athena within me.
I smile at Luca, like I'm about to reply to him. But I do something else in response.
I launch myself at him, flinging myself onto the couch, preparing to pin him down and see what he does.
Instead, Luca anticipates my move and pushes his body out of the way, flipping off the couch. A gasp escapes my lips; I think there's some merit to what I'm doing right now.
I decide to take my chances and see if I possess similar skills to him, springing off the couch and heading towards him.
He grabs me in an arm lock, "What the hell are you doing, Amber?"
I kick out and free myself, before spinning on my heels and turning to face him. I reach out to hit him, he swiftly bocks me.
"Amber? What is going on?" He asks again.
I try to hit him once more, the two of us swiftly cross the room as I aim time after time, Luca continues to block me, both of us throwing kicks and punches as we flit around the space.
"I'm..." I dash behind him. "Trying..." I kick out against his back to get him on the ground. "To see..." He doesn't flinch, and instead turns around to grab my arms and pin me against the wall. "If you have any abilities!"
I quickly squeak out the last bit, as Luca looms over me, my back pressed hard against the wall and his body pressed against mine.
He continues to hold me there, not moving an inch, I internally freak out. Have I set him off?!
It takes a few seconds, but he eventually let me go, taking a step back and looking down at his large hands.
"Have you ever been able to fight like that before?" I ask.
He shakes his head slowly, "No."
"Well, neither have I." I reassure him. "Something happened to us in that temple. It's happened to Laura, Selina, Damian, Andrew, Emma, Ashlyn, Callia, Lyke and I...and now you."
"What has affected so many of us? Amber, what did you do?"
"I honestly don't know. But it's something to do with the gods. That's why Laura and I came here today."
He reaches up and presses his hands against his temples, frustrated, "I cannot believe this is happening."
"Luca." I plead, "We think you're Ares."
A/N
Well, that was fun to write! I think it'll be interesting to see how Amber and Luca continue to act with each other, seeing as they're such different aspects of war.
Anyway, please vote and comment! It's always lovely to know what you guys think about what has happened so far, and what you would like to come!
Here are some questions for you all...
1) What would you like to happen next?
2) Are you enjoying the daily updates? ;)
3) What are your thoughts on the characters so far? Do you have a favorite?
Until tomorrow...
xoxo Andrea