Helen Brave and The Sun Titan
Chapter 11: The Road TO Washington

The knife was heavy in my hand and I frowned before moving forward, grinning when the weapon caught the light of the moon. “Justice,” I mumbled before moving through the bushes and scowling. They were nothing more than a joke. Student Pantheon? What a joke. I watched the two warriors dance around one another before moving out and over to strike.

“Lei?” The taller of the two, Ruth questioned. I smirked before moving in close looking to Francesca and burying the knife into Ruth’s stomach.

I jolted awake, my heart pounding and my stomach twisting as I looked to Elei. She was snoring slightly and I nervously looked around for Lei before noticing that she was gone. I gave her a harsh shake and she frowned, opening her eyes and grunting slightly as I glanced to the side and found we were at some kind of gas station. “Where are we?” I asked, watching as she shrugged before rubbing her eyes.

“She said something about getting some food for us while I dozed. What’s wrong?” she asked in concern. I looked out of the windshield and found Lei was on a cell phone, arguing with someone. She suddenly hung up and looked livid before shaking her head and marching into the store.

“I had some kind of dream or vision or something. She stabbed my ma,” I hissed, Elei frowning before breathing.

“I’ve heard of her before. She used to be the attendant of Aphrodite,” she mumbled before she paled and opened her door. “Shit.” She grumbled before she pulled me out and slammed the door, looking around before tugging me towards a red car. “She was banished,” she hissed, kneeling on the other side of it.

“Banished?” I echoed, crouching at her side and watching as she nodded.

“She was the cause of the Elysian War and was defeated by your mother, Slice. She was humiliated and forced to wander the Earth to atone for her attack on Elysian. I don’t think she’s here to help us,” Elei said before shaking her head. “Gods how could I be so stupid?” She hissed. I frowned and peered up, my eyes widening when she exited the store and looked to the truck, panic appearing on her face. She looked around before snarling something, tossing the food she held to the ground and running a hand through her hair roughly. She scowled and shook her head before pulling out her phone, waving her other hand towards the store. A monster appeared and rushed in, while she walked over to the truck and started it up.

Elei tugged off her jacket and tossed it over my head before moving to her feet. I peered up then looked down when she punched out the window to the car and opened it. “Get in!” she called, climbing in and moving over to the passenger side of the car. I slipped in and looked up, watching as Lei jumped out of her truck and pointed at the car, yelling something. Elei was leaned down and fiddling around with the car so she didn’t notice the energy that Lei was charging in her hand. “Elei hurry up!” I yelled in panic, Elei cursing a few times before trying the car and laughing when it started.

“Ha! In your face Odysseus!” She yelled before putting the car into reverse. The car lurched into motion, spinning and squealing as she spun the wheel like in a movie. She shoved the car into drive and tore out of the parking lot, turning right and speeding down the long stretch of street. I looked back and watched as Lei tried to follow, but stopped and stomped her foot in anger. She rushed back towards the parking lot while Elei kept her foot down on the gas pedal, pushing the car to the limit. I swallowed down my nausea and checked my pockets, marginally relaxing when I found my phone. I quickly tugged it out of my pocket and unlocked it, calling ma and grinning when she instantly picked up.

“Helen! What happened?!” She cried as soon as the call connected.

“We got into some trouble with some monsters, but we also met my older sister Eucliea,” I said, looking back and wincing when I noticed a griffin was chasing us.

“What?! Did she touch you? I swear t-,” ma began, but I cleared my throat and she fell silent.

“I’m okay, but maybe we should meet up in Seattle. We can’t take the time to replace one another and at the rate Elei and I are going we’re going to get up dead if we stop,” I said, wincing when I noticed a flock of black birds coming up behind the griffin.

“Okay please be safe. You’ll receive a note from Hermes when you arrive in the city,” ma said with reluctance before quieting. I frowned and turned forward, wincing when Elei jerked the car to the left and down an on ramp, towards a highway. I looked back and found the monsters were gone and sighed softly, relaxing in my seat. Something about a lot of normal mortals made the monster’s bodies unstable and unable to remain. I relaxed in my seat as ma sighed in my ear before mumbling softly. “Please try to stay alive okay?” She said lowly. I frowned then smiled slightly before rubbing my cheek.

“Of course. We’re going to stick to heavily populated places alright?” I said.

“Alright. I’m going to put money in your bank account okay? Two thousand. If you need more call me,” she ordered.

“Yes ma’am,” I said, listening to her chuckle before the call was cut. I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet, checking it and relaxing when I realized I had everything. “Okay ma is putting money into my bank account and we’re going to head to Seattle on our own,” I said, looking to Elei, who nodded.

“We’ll have about a day and some change to get there. We’ll have to stop by a heavily populated place to rest and probably steal a new car. If we’re lucky then we won’t run into any more monsters on our way. The only real trouble is going to be replaceing the brothers,” Elei said before shaking her head and turning on the radio. I nodded and looked out of the window at my side, frowning slightly as I watched the sun trek through the air.

The drive was mostly quiet, Elei humming along with a pop song while I alternated between dozing and trying to relax. With Elei’s swift driving, we cut a six-hour trip down to four and ended up in a small town called Alexandria. We stopped at a store briefly to buy some necessities and after that headed to a hotel. The hotel was moderately nice and I grabbed my new bags then shuffled after her as she headed inside. The person behind the desk was a nice looking chubby man with bright brown eyes and short messy brown hair. He was playfully arguing with another man, who was taller and thickly built, his scruffy brown beard moving as he spoke. His eyes were darker, almost black and they glanced at us when we walked in. “Hello! Welcome to The Great Hotel!” The chubby man cheerfully said. His companion grinned at him then eyed us warily before frowning deeply.

“Elysian students?” He rumbled out, the man at his side gasping lowly.

“We’re on a quest,” Elei said, frowning at the thickly built man, whose eyes widened before he nodded.

“Excuse me then. You both can stay the night free of charge,” he said before his companion quickly fluttered over, tutting over our appearance.

“You both should get some rest,” he said lightly. I nodded and we were led to a large room then left alone. I yawned before rubbing my eyes and tossing my bag off to the side while she ran a hand through her hair.

“Alright, go shower and get ready for bed, it’s like ten or something, but you look dead on your feet,” she said, a small grin on her face. I nodded and groggily headed into the bathroom, getting through a shower and teeth scrub before stumbling into the room with my new pajamas on. She had ordered food and nodded to it while I collapsed onto the closest bed and yawned. “Eat,” she called before heading into the bathroom. I stuck my tongue out after her before rolling over and pushing myself up a bit. I grabbed the remote that was just lying on the table next to my bed before turning on the TV and moving over to the cart of food. I grabbed a few things and began to eat while watching some kind of old sitcom.

I finished up quickly and laid out on my stomach, blinking to keep from falling asleep and looked up as Elei returned, rubbing her head with her towel aggressively. She was dressed in red sleeping shorts and a black tank top, a slightly contented look on her face. “Did you eat?” She asked, looking to me. I nodded and she mirrored it before grabbing some food for herself and claiming the other bed. I tossed her the remote and rolled onto my side, watching as she looked to the TV in boredom then at me. “So tell me about yourself. Like really tell me about you,” she said as she finished the food in her mouth. I yawned and rolled onto my back, waving a hand above my head and frowning when fire came from my fingertips.

“I wasn’t interesting before this. I was born in California and grew up with ma and momma. They’re the best parents ever. Amanda was my only friend after I had my accident. I didn’t like other people and I kind of latched onto her I guess. She was the only one who understood what was going on I felt. She treated me normally like ma and momma. I didn’t know I was some kind of demi god who was supposed to save the world,” I said before sighing softly and closing my eyes. The heat in my hands faded and I let my arms fall to the bed tiredly.

“I didn’t have parents. Well if I did they didn’t want me,” I heard, my eyes opening as I looked to Elei, who was frowning and looking at the TV. “I grew up alone and on the streets, but a fury found me. She was wonky for a fury and kept my safe for a while. She became obsessed with the thought of power and took me to the river of Styx, she all, but shoved me into the water and eventually fished me out before testing to see if I was invincible. I was, but not fully. My heart is the only part of me that’s vulnerable,” she said softly, placing a hand on the spot before shaking her head. “I wandered around after she was killed by a professional Hoplite and eventually…was found my da-Ares,” she mumbled before finishing her food. I frowned and looked back up at the ceiling and sighed softly.

“You sound really cool,” I said, grinning when I heard her laugh.

“You’re crazy,” she said. I looked back to her and found she was grinning, her face red. I grinned wider before yawning and rolling onto my side and relaxing.

“Yeah I am, but tell me about Ares. He’s like a dad to you right?” I asked, watching as she nodded before looking to me. She ran a hand through her hair before stifling a yawn and lying back, her eyes closing.

“Dad is weird sometimes. Yeah he’s still he scary bloodthirsty monster people think of him, but he’s also like really sweet to people he cares about,” she began. I nodded and tiredly listened to her ramble before eventually falling asleep.