Helen Brave and The Sun Titan
Chapter 10: Crashed Plane and Older Sister

We were given nice looking stylish clothes after breakfast, Hephaestus giving us all a tired look. “These clothes have a special charm woven into the crest on the inside of them to make them armor. The crest can be placed inside of new clothes so you won’t have to wear the same thing over and over again. Be careful because if the crest is left vulnerable and broken then you’ll be killed,” he warned. We all dressed then we were led to the school’s air grounds, Prometheus meeting us along with Zeus and some of the other Pantheon members.

“You five are going to be heading into dangerous territory and should act accordingly. Safety is your top priority so watch one another’s backs,” he said before nodding to the plane. “Stay safe,” he stressed while ma and momma ushered us onto the aircraft. It was a nice little plane and Achilles stole the seat next to me while Amanda pouted and sat in front of us, the chairs turned so two people were facing two more people. I felt a knot of nervousness enter my belly and shifted in place while Amanda fiddled with her necklace again. The plane shuddered and began to move after ma and momma took their seats across from Zoey and Ginger.

“Okay we should arrive there in a few hours so let’s keep a clear mind and no rushing into anything,” ma ordered as the plane lifted off. We all nodded and she mirrored it before pulling out a board game and grinning. “Right so let’s try not to kill each other,” she joked.

In retrospect we shouldn’t have played the game. In the four games and three hours we played, Ma and momma got into a fight while Achilles kept cheating. Zoey and Ginger renounced one another as sisters and Amanda ended up almost punching me in the eye. “You can’t just buy Ginger Avenue!” Ma snarled, looking at momma with wide eyes and pupils. Momma cackled and I rolled my eyes before handing my money off to Achilles, who beamed.

“Okay I’m done. I’ve almost been punch enough today. I’m going to the rest room,” I said, awkwardly shifting around her to get to the tiny bathroom down the hall.

“I want Helen’s spots!” Zoey called, Amanda screaming something offensive at her in anger. I rolled my eyes again and walked over to the restroom, moving around a corner and opening the door before slipping in and rubbing my face tiredly. I used the toilet and was washing my hands when a soft knock on the door. I frowned and opened it, blinking up at Achilles, who shifted in place in front of me.

“Hey. Can I talk to you about something?” She asked. I nodded and she mirrored it before rubbing her neck and blushing a bit. “So I was just thinking about the festival and this is really out of nowhere, but after the quest do you want to go out or something?” She asked quickly. I blinked and laughed lightly before blushing a bit and nodding, rubbing my mouth to hide my smile. She grinned, her own face darkening before she shifted in place and looked up, the grin still on her face. “Cool! So…uh just call me Elei. It’s my uh real name,” she awkwardly said, looking at me. I nodded and she grinned back. She was cute. I opened my mouth to say something, but the plane suddenly shuddered and I yelped, stumbling forward and into her. Her arms wrapped around me and tightened, her head twisting to look out of the window next to us. Her eyes narrowed then widened before she twisted her body and the wall next to us exploded.

I heard several screams and forced my eyes open, watching as a gash opened up on Elei’s temple before it sealed shut almost instantly. She was being dragged towards the hole in the side of the plane and I looked around, grabbing part of the rest room door and holding on. We were both hit by some kind of rolling cart and I almost released the door, but kept a steady grip. I could dimly hear someone yelling out and looked up, flinching when a larger cart slammed into my hands. I involuntarily released the door and we were slowly dragged out of the plane then thrown violently back. I cried out in panic, Elei curling around me and we twisted a few times as we grew closer to the ground. I hugged burrowed my face into Elei’s chest in fear and tightly grabbed at her before a burning sensation entered my beck. I hissed in pain and looked back, my eyes widening when I saw the two red and brown wings that were attached to my shoulder blades.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled before they flapped once and slowed our decent. It took a few flaps before we slowed and Elei opened her eyes looking at me in confusion before her eyes widened. I gave her a weak smile before slowly lowering us closer to the ground, both of us landing safely after what felt like hours. I felt my back lighten and groaned before collapsing onto my knees, grabbing my shoulder as exhaustion slammed into me.

“You can fly,” Elei said lowly. I nodded and looked up, replaceing that she was still looking at me with wide eyes.

“You can heal really fast,” I countered, her eyes widening before darkening.

“I went for a dip in the River of Styx as a child,” she said before looking away. I frowned then shook my head, pushing myself to my feet and fighting through a dizzy spell.

“Sorry that was rude of me,” I mumbled, stumbling over and standing at her side before leaning against her. She shook her head before looking at me in concern and wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

“We should replace some place for you to rest. Then we need to see if we can contact your parents,” she said before standing and helping me up. I nodded and groaned weakly when my vision darkened for a brief moment. “Come on stay with me Helen,” she said softly. I looked up at her and found she was scanning the area. “I see a road not that far from here,” she said before kneeling and scooping me up. I yelped then blushed as she marched forward, a frown now on her face.

“I can walk,” I grumbled, but she laughed lowly before giving me a small smile.

“Of course, but humor me a bit,” she asked. I flushed redder before nodding and resting my head on her chest, relaxing marginally and realizing I was really tired. I blinked rapidly to stay awake and my eyes began to slip closed involuntarily, but she bounced me in her arms and jolted me awake. “Come on wake up Helen,” she said lowly. I nodded and pinched my cheeks a bit before looking around in hopes of seeing something moderately familiar. We had landed in some kind of grassy field and I rubbed at my face to chase away my grogginess.

“Where are we?” I asked softly. She shrugged and I looked to the side and found we were near a long stretch of road. She set me down and glanced up then down the long road while I tried to gather my bearings. I pulled out my cell phone and lifted it, squinting before sighing in relief when I found it was all right. I quickly dialed ma’s number and shifted in place as it rung. She answered it almost instantly, her voice high pitched in her panic, “Helen?!” She cried.

“Ma? I’m alright,” I said instantly feeling better after hearing her.

“You fell out of a plane!” she cried.

“I know, but I have some kind of bird wing power. Look, are you okay?” I asked. She sighed and I heard shuffling before more noise hit the line.

“We landed in a field near where you and Achilles were thrown out, some kind people are letting us stay, we’re in Wisconsin,” she reported. I nodded and looked up when Elei let out some kind of shout, paling when I saw a large Minotaur across the street from us. “Helen?” I heard ma say the Minotaur growled before roaring and running right at us. I flinched and dropped my cell phone, grabbing at the shield charm on my neck and watching as a real shield appeared in front of me. I caught it and lifted it, right as the Minotaur slammed into it and threw me off my feet.

I hit the ground hard and rolled over, looking around before scrambling over to my phone and grabbing it, shoving it into my pocket and pushing myself to my feet. Elei was yelling at the Minotaur that was snorting and eyeing me while I readied the shield to defend myself. Elei growled before grabbing at her necklace and tugging off the charm, she ran right at the monster and it turned before slapping her to the side like a fly. I winced as it spun and continued to head towards me, its head bowing at the last minute. I jumped up, landing on its head and running forward, landing and stumbling, but jogging over to where Elei was picking herself up. She looked livid, her eyes flashing red, as she pushed herself up and tossed the monster a furious look.

“I’m going to kill it,” she growled before dusting herself off, her hand tightening around the charm in her palm. Her hand relaxed as a comically large double-headed axe appeared and her fingers tightened around it while her eyes narrowed. “Stay back, you used a lot of energy before,” she said, turning towards the monster, that was shaking its head. I frowned, but moved off of the road as the monster lifted its head and turned towards us, growling deeply. “Come on ugly!” Elei roared, swinging the axe and smirking. Her clothes seemed to shimmer and my eyes widened as they slowly transformed into Greek armor. She was soon clothed in a blood red fur skirt, golden fur like chest armor, bronzed bracers with vultures carved into them, golden sandals and a golden Greek helm. “Come on!” she snarled, the Minotaur roaring before running right at her. She stood still, her hand clenching and relaxing around the staff of her weapon before she threw herself to the side as the monster got in close. The Minotaur attempted to turn, but fell over and she rolled to her feet before moving forward and burying the blade of her weapon into the monster’s chest. It snarled and flailed, Elei grinning darkly before tugging the weapon and out and bringing it back down into the monster’s chest. I winced and moved back, watching as she killed it with one more blow.

She snorted then turned to me, her eyes widening in shock before she abandoned her weapon and ran over. “Get down!” she yelled. I frowned and turned, the blood draining from my face as the snake portion of a chimera rushed towards me. I lifted my shield and it hit it hard, forcing me to slid back into Elei, who braced me. We both were forced further back and I winced before narrowing my eyes when I felt anger burn low in my gut. I reached around the shield and grabbed the snake’s head, watching in disinterest as it burst into flames. The chimera recoiled, roaring in pain and I felt my clothes become almost weightless before a strangely familiar weight settled around me. I rushed forward, ignoring Elei’s call, and slammed my shield into the chimera’s lion head before throwing myself to the side and rolling when the lion attempted to grab me with its mouth.

I bounced to my feet and twisted, using the top part of my shield like a disk and cutting into the side of the lion’s head, watching as it slumped into the ground and the goat part of it began to bleat in anger. I ignored it and shook my head, turning back to Elei, who was just staring at me. “What?” I asked, feeling marginally self-conscious. Elei shook her head and tugged off her helm before giving me a grin and sighing softly.

“Nothing. We should replace shelter. We’re you able to reach your parents?” She asked. I nodded and moved to reach into my pocket, but realized I wasn’t wearing the clothes from earlier. I was wearing armor like Elei, but I wasn’t wearing a helm and looked to her in confusion.

“This should feel weirder huh?” I asked, watching as the clothes slowly turned back.

“You kind of get used to the unexpected,” I heard Elei say. I looked back at her then paled when I noticed another Minotaur, which was running right at us.

“Move!” I cried, but it was for nothing because a large semi-truck hit the monster and ran it over. I jumped and stared at the mangled body of the minotaur blankly before looking to the truck and watching as the door to the driver’s side opened and a tired looking woman jumped out. She was dressed like a trucker and walked over, ignoring the Minotaur and giving me a grin when she got in close.

“You must be Helen,” she said before blowing a gum bubble then popping it.

“Um…yeah,” I stuttered out. The woman grinned before holding out her hand for a shake.

“The name’s Eucleia, call me Lei, I’m your older sister,” she said. I took her hand and looked up at her in shock as she shook it roughly before jerking her head towards the semi down the road. “I’m here to pick up you, your girlfriend, and the other warriors,” she said. I dimly nodded and she mirrored it before looking up and frowning. “Oh crap, we better get moving. I see some monsters down the road,” she said lowly. I frowned and looked over, wincing when another chimera and some kind of bird lady hybrid slowly appeared. We jogged over to the semi and climbed in, Elei’s clothes changing back when the semi started up and began down the road.

I awkwardly sat, sandwiched between my much larger sister and Elei, almost on the latter lap as we rolled along, music floating through the old radio. Sleep tugged on the out edges of my mind and I yawned slightly, leaning my head against Elei’s shoulder as the adrenaline faded and left me feeling more exhausted than before. “Hey take a nap,” Elei mumbled softly, her head leaning down near mines.

“Only for a minute,” I grumbled, resting my head more comfortably on her shoulder before falling asleep almost instantly.