Helen Brave and The Sun Titan
Chapter 13: Helios

I grumbled as I awoke, blearily looking around before noticing that I was still on the ground in front of the motel. I heard fighting and lifted my head, blinking once then twice when I found Zoey was standing over me. Elei was wrestling another person on the ground while Ginger kneeled at my side. “Hey are you alright?” She asked. I blinked and nodded before allowing her to pull me up and over to a safer spot. Ma and momma were taking on a mountain of man and Amanda was in front of a nice looking car, glaring at the people and looking at me in concern.

“Jeez he hit you good,” she said as soon as we got in close.

“Thanks,” I grumbled, mopping up from blood from my chin, my mouth was bleeding from where the stupid man had knocked out my tooth. I coughed a bit before spitting it out, looking back and watching as Zoey knocked the guy into the one that was trying to snap Elei’s neck. Elei broke free with a yell of rage and spun around, front kicking both guys over and turning, running over to ma and momma.

“We got to go!” She yelled. Ma and momma abandoned the guy and ran over with Elei following, all of us climbing into the car. Ma instantly started it up and sped out of the parking lot while Ginger attempted to look my face over.

“Hold still,” she snapped when I squirmed.

“Sorry,” I said before spitting out more blood, grimacing at the taste. She examined my face for a moment before making me open my mouth and winced.

“Damn he knocked out your tooth,” she reported.

“Thank you! I couldn’t tell,” I snapped without thinking. She shot me a glare while Elei and Amanda frowned at me, which made me wince. “Sorry, sorry,” I said, rubbing at my mouth. Ginger nodded and pulled out a rag, passing it too me and I put it into my mouth, flinching when it touched the raw nerves. I leaned my head back slightly and groaned softly while ma weaved through traffic, looking at me through the rear view mirror.

“Sorry we couldn’t get to you sooner,” she said before focusing on the road.

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking to her and replaceing that she was running a hand through her hair.

“We got a missive from Philophorsyne and were able to track you with the help of Hermes. When we got here Elei and those men were all fighting and you were half inside of a van,” ma said before growling lowly. Momma placed a hand on her arm before looking to me and giving me a small smile.

“We’re just happy we got to you in time. We’ll be in Washington in the morning so all of you try to get sleep,” momma ordered. I sighed softly and rubbed at my jaw, cleaning up my mouth before closing my eyes to try and relax.

I didn’t know I had dozed off until I actually was being shaken awake, my eyes slowly opening and looking up at Amanda. She was grinning and I looked past her to replace that we were in front of some kind of grand hotel. “Hey sleepy head! We made it!” She said excitedly. I grinned up at her before pushing her away, slipping out of the car and frowning when I found momma and ma were arguing with a honey brown haired man with sky blue eyes.

“Return to Elysian,” he ordered.

“They still need our help!” Ma argued, but the man shook his head and looked to me, something entering his eyes before it disappeared.

“The warriors and demi god will be fine,” he said lowly. Ma and momma looked ready to say something, but nodded and looked down, ma looking to us in worry before waving.

“Alright. You win Hermes,” she said lowly. He relaxed and walked over to us, passing me a card before looking to the others with a small frown on his face.

“We trust Helen in your care,” he said before turning back to my parents and ushering them to another car. We all stood in front of the hotel and watched them leave, disappearing around a corner after a minute.

“We should take the day to rest then begin our search tomorrow,” Amanda suggested. I looked to the others and found they were nodding and mirrored it myself, following her into the hotel tiredly. We all trooped over to the main desk and the person behind the desk gave us all a frown before speaking to the man to her right. We spent the next ten minutes being ignored until Zoey couldn’t stand it and cleared her throat. The woman sneered at her and I moved forward, used to attitudes like hers.

“Excuse me ma’am. I have a reservation,” I began, watching as she raised an eyebrow then smirked.

“Oh you do? What name is it under?” She asked, her voice coated with sarcasm.

“Hephaestus,” I growled, watching as her eyes widened before she looked to her computer and paled drastically.

“O-Oh! I’m so sorry! Here are your key cards. Y-Your room is on floor 18 and room 656,” she stuttered out, fumbling with five cards and handing them to us. I took them politely and nodded to her before ushering the others to an elevator and groaning when the door closed.

“Why can’t anything be easy for once,” I mumbled.

“Because the fates hate us,” Amanda grumbled. I was inclined to agree with her, but the doors to the elevator opened and we all headed down the long hallway until we eventually found our room. We entered it and found our luggage from the plane on the ground, the others heading into the room to check it out while I took a moment to finally relax. Two days of hell and now all we had to do was replace the brothers, keep them safe then return to the school for the next quest. That was easy enough. I groaned internally before rolling over and sighing tiredly. I was already done with this whole quest business. I didn’t even know where to start.

“Helen,” I heard, my eyes traveling up until I was looking at Zoey. She was holding some kind of letter and passed it to me before taking a seat on the ground. “This is for you,” she said. I frowned and opened the letter before scanning it and frowning when I found two tickets to some kind of opera.

“The hell?” I mumbled, pulling out a note.

Demi Goddess,

You’re a smart woman I’m sure. We have a lot in common you and I, so I’ve decided to invite you to an opera. I’ve found that music nowadays has become quite…unusual since my release. Opera though. Opera tells a story. A story you’ll probably want to hear. Have you ever seen the humans try to reenact Orpheus’ journey and fight into the underworld? Tragic, but just. I’ve enclosed enough money for you and a date, whom I’m assuming is your heart, for clothing and transportation if need be. Tonight at 8 please head to the Opera House at this address. I am assured to think you’ll begin to see things differently when we meet face to face.

Forever yours,

Helios

I lay on my back before sitting up and turning the note over, replaceing some kind of card attached to it. My frown got deeper and I scowled before looking up and at the others. “Who’s it from?” Amanda asked.

“Helios, he wants me and a date to go to an opera tonight,” I said before looking at Elei. She was frowning deeply and Ginger scowled.

“Why? What does he want?” She asked. I shrugged and handed over the letter, watching as she examined it before shaking her head and passing it back. “This has to be some kind of trap. You shouldn’t go,” she began.

“She should. He wants to meet? Maybe he’ll trip up and tell us about the brothers?” Zoey said, looking to the letter then me.

“She could get hurt,” Elei supplied while Amanda snorted.

“You’ll probably be next to her all night. I doubt she’ll get hurt,” Amanda said in a snarky voice. I gave her a glare before frowning back at the letter and sighing softly.

“You guys have a point, all of you. I’ll go, but three of you will be waiting outside the opera house. Just in case me and my date need back up,” I said before watching as they nodded.

“So Elei and you are-,” Zoey began, but I shook my head.

“No I’m not going with Elei,” I said, noticing their shocked faces. “They won’t be expecting the heart that I have in mind,” I said, grinning slightly as a plan began to form in my mind. It was a bit of a long shot, but catching him unawares was going to be hard.

Later that night, I smoothed out my long red dress while watching the scenery pass. “Are you really so sure you should be taking me to this?” I heard. I looked over and found Amanda was nervously fiddling with her necklace and looking nervous. She looked beautiful in the fancy looking pink dress she had chosen and I smiled lightly.

“He’s expecting me to come with a heart and technically you are one,” I teased before fixing my glasses. We were going to go along with his game until something went sour then the others would break into the building and we’d fight him if need be. Amanda gently grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze as the car slowed down in front of a large mansion like building. The car eventually stopped and I squeezed her hand back before watching as the door opened and a disguised Zoey helped her out.

“Remember, any issues and we’re just a text away,” she said as she helped me out after she got Amanda settled. I nodded and she climbed back into the front of the car where Elei and Ginger were, the three nodding to us before they drove down the street then around the corner. I sighed before threading my arm with Amanda’s and turning us.

“Alright. So we go in, kick ass, and get out with info on the brothers. Easy right?” Amanda said before swallowing thickly.

“Yeah easy,” I said, leading her over to a group of older adults, who tossed us curious looks. We flashed our tickets subtly and they ignored us, all of us heading inside and milling about the waiting area while we waited for the show to start.

“Helen Brave in the flesh!” A voice boomed and I turned, my breath catching as an impossibly tall man marched over, his large hand heading towards me before stopping inches from my chest. His hands were marred with swirling tattoos and so was his face but they were golden in color, framing his features. His left eye had a tribal like sun, tattoo on it and he was stuffed into a black suit. I gently took his hand and shook it, grimacing at the intense heat that hit it as soon as we touched.

“You are quite the beauty; did you know?” He said before laughing. He spared Amanda a glance before frowning then smiling lightly. “Orpheus himself back in the mortal realm. The stories they told of you. They don’t do it justice,” he said before laughing before giving me an almost impish smile. “Let’s speak outside,” he said before beginning to walkout towards a pushed off area near the side of the opera house. We reluctantly followed and the three of us headed to a mostly secluded spot, the man grinning when we were out of sight. “Now! We can talk about your quest and how you five should head back home,” he said jovially. I frowned and glared at him, watching as he chuckled before lifting his hand. “You five are infants compared me and the other titans. Gaia and Uranus themselves want us to control the world. Mortals are nothing more than parasites and you will do well to remember just what you are,” he growled out, his smile disappearing.

“I’m not going to let you get to the brothers,” I said and he let out a bark of laughter before grinning.

“Do you even know where to start? How to go about tracking them? You’ll never replace the brothers and if you did what chance do you have to keep them safe? You don’t even know how to use your powers,” he said before lifting his hand. His palm began glowing and I moved back, tugging Amanda after me, but it was too late, a bright flash blinded me and I yelled out. Amanda cried out as well and when my vision cleared I felt the blood drain from my face and my heart pick up. Seated behind Helios, was a giant three headed monster, three identical serpent like heads slowly moved in unison and its body was that of a dragon, it’s tail swishing from side to side. “Say hello to Hydra. He is very, very hungry,” he said before waving to us. “Kill them,” he ordered before the monster roared.