Helen Brave and The Sun Titan
Chapter 15: The Three Brothers

The five of us trooped down the car and inside of it, Amanda claiming the window while I sat next to Elei. “Hey are you sure you should be up and about?” Elei asked as I leaned against her. I wasn’t feeling too well, but I really didn’t just want to sit around in the hotel, if I did then I was probably going to take apart the TV.

“I’m good, just tired,” I said lowly, leaning my head on her shoulder and relaxing against her.

“You still feel really warm,” she said softly, wrapping her arm around me. I relaxed marginally, blushing slightly and grinning a bit before yawning and tiredly looking forward.

“Other than tired I don’t feel extra warm or anything,” I said softly. She grumbled something and we sat, listening to Zoey and Ginger talk from the front seat. Amanda was looking out of the window to our left and I looked to Elei, who was frowning forward. I gently shook her shoulder and she looked to me in concern. “I’ll be fine. We’re just going to go check on where the gods last saw the brothers,” I said before giving her a smile. She sighed and nodded before looking forward and gently hugging me close.

“I know,” she grumbled softly before moving away and rubbing her chin. “I…I just worry. I know we haven’t been together long, but I don’t want anything to happen to you. You…You’ve made me really happy and things like that don’t happen often to me,” she said softly. I smiled lightly before burrowing into her side and grinning.

“I know the feeling. I’ve only ever had Amanda and well she and I aren’t together or anything. I feel like we have something deeper,” I said softly, feeling heat rise to my face. She laughed softly before pulling me closer, mindful of my shoulder.

“You both are sickening sweet,” Amanda mumbled from my other side. I rolled my eyes and tossed her a look, which she ignored while Elei growled from above me.

“If only others were as happy as we were about this,” Elei grumbled. Amanda stiffened and turned, glaring at her before looking at me with a frown on her face.

“Don’t you think you’re falling for her a little fast?” Amanda demanded. I frowned and turned, pointedly not thinking about the growl that came from Elei, and glared at Amanda.

“Look when you decided to date Harold I was cool with it. Then Abraham. Then Anastasia, and then her twin sister Lucy. You kept saying they were the one and I took a step back and let you be with them because that’s what you wanted. Now for once can’t you be happy for me? You always get like this when I show even the slightest interest in someone. Bianca was too rude. Helena had too close of a name to mine. Rachel was too tall. Really? Too tall? You both were the same height!” I said in exasperation, tossing my good arm up for emphasis. Amanda scowled and glared at Elei before looking to me with a weird expression.

“Fine. You think she’s all that great then be with her,” she grumbled before turning and looking out of the window. I sighed heavily and rubbed my face, feeling much more tired and leaned back in my seat. The car fell into an awkward silence soon aft

When we arrived to the store, a nervous looking man greeted us, his hands moving together anxiously as he looked to us. He looked unusual, his curly brown hair was matted and his brown eyes were looking at us nervously. He was dressed in a rumpled business suit and waved when we got in close. We all got out of the car and I moved to the lead, walking over and giving him a warm smile. “Hello. I’m Helen and these are my warriors. Did you know the brothers?” I asked, jumping right in. He nodded, his curls moving and revealing two horns, before looking around and waving to the store. We headed inside and he rubbed his face before sitting on a ratty old blue couch before rubbing his cheek.

“Hello demi god. My name is Pan and I was watching the brothers, but got called to Olympus for business three days ago. When I got back they were missing, ” he said nervously. I frowned and he ran a hand through his hair before jerking his head towards a set of large double doors. “They work back there so take a look around,” he said before waving.

“We’ll replace the brothers. Don’t worry,” I said. He nodded and I looked to the others, jerking my head towards the door and we all headed into the workshop. If the front had been modern the back was downright medieval, anvils and forges littering the area. The workshop was messy, but it wasn’t a workshop mess, it was almost like someone had left in a hurry. We walked through the area slowly before eventually splitting up to see if we could replace clues on our own. Amanda trailed after the direction I walked off in, huffing as I stopped to examine a few things.

“Look. I don’t think you should put so much into Elei, you barely know her and…did you know she’s killed someone?” She asked lowly. I scowled and turned, glaring at her lightly as I did so.

“Yes, Dragon told me,” I said before stiffly turning back around and scanning the ground for a clue.

“Then why do you want to be with her? She’s crazy!” Amanda said. I growled and spun around, feeling heat enter my hands.

“Look! I’m really tired of this! What is your issue? I got mad because you turned into a hero and your mad because I found someone to be with. I lashed out because I was jealous. I’m really regretting the jealousy I had because now I’m a real hero who has to actually save the world. Are you jealous of me? Do you want to date Elei or something, because that’s kind of messed up since you guys fight a lot,” I said. She groaned and shook her head before tightly closing her hands and looking to me almost desperately.

“Helen please I’m not trying to…I just want…why does she make you happy? How?” She asked. I frowned in confusion before running a hand through my hair and shrugging the best I could.

“I-I don’t know. She…she treats me like I’m special and that was before the demi god thing. She’s really sweet. She brought me lunch while I was doing commissions and she went out of her way to get me people so I could keep busy when we were fighting. She’s a good person. What is your issue?” I asked softly. Anger twisted Amanda’s face and she moved to grab me, but I moved back, bumping into something. I spun around and felt the color drain from my face when I noticed the large robot like arm above me that was dangerously swinging. I swallowed and slowly moved back, cursing when the chain holding it up wiggled forward and began moving. I was about to grab the chain, but it wrapped around my leg and pulled me off my feet then into the air. I yelled out in panic and began flailing, looking around for help. I saw Zoey, Ginger and Elei running toward where I was hanging and I tried to move up to grab where the chain was holding me. Pain lanced through my shoulder and I grimaced, letting myself dangle and blinking when I noticed some kind of door on the ceiling.

I squinted then kicked slightly before trying to swing myself forward, barely managing to grab onto another chain and groaned. “Helen don’t move!” Zoey called. I grimaced and tugged myself up, wincing as I managed to grab some kind of lever. I tugged it harshly and watched with wide eyes as part of the ceiling opened and a staircase dropped down.

“Secret stairs!” I yelled before yelping when the chain around my leg went slack and I slipped out, falling down. I grunted when I was caught and looked up at Elei, who gave me a small smile.

“Got you,” she said lowly before gently setting me down. I gave her a smile and she returned it before leading me after the others, who were all talking near the stairs. We all looked up them and I moved to step, but stopped when I noticed some kind of light coming from them.

“Wait. Something’s not right,” I mumbled before kneeling and running my hand over the step, feeling the power within and cringing slightly. Something was wrong here. “It’s some kind of trap,” I said before pushing myself to my feet and looking at it. “Only one person can go up and they have to be fast or they’ll get a surprise. I don’t know if it’s good or bad,” I said, looking to the others. Zoey and Ginger looked to one another while Elei frowned deeply and shook her head.

“Let me go. I’m invincible,” she said before winking at me. I frowned, looking to Zoey and Ginger before reluctantly nodding. She moved into a runner’s position and as soon as she began to move towards it, it was like she hit some kind of wall, grunting as she flattened out then bounced back. I quickly moved to her side while Amanda snorted and giggled, Zoey and Ginger tossing her a glare.

“Sorry she looked funny,” Amanda tried to defend. I was about ready to tear into her, but my concern overwhelmed the urge to yell and I looked to Elei, who was rubbing her face.

“Some kind of barrier?” She mumbled in confusion before pushing herself to her feet and placing her hand on the invisible wall. She pushed on it before looking to me and gently taking my hand, moving it up and to where the barrier was for her. My limb passed through it and I groaned softly before rubbing my head, shaking it after a moment.

“Of course it would be me,” I grumbled before moving into the center of the stairs and looking to Zoey then Ginger. “If I don’t come back in two hours contact the others and then head back to the hotel,” I ordered before looking to Amanda. “We need to talk later,” I said, watching as she sobered up and nodded. I gave Elei a small smile before turning forward and taking a deep breath, breaking out into a sprint and almost falling as something tripped me up. I stumbled, but kept on my feet, running up the flight of stairs, narrowing my eyes when I heard the others yelling. I glanced back and saw that the stairs were beginning to disappear and looked forward, jumping over a hurtle and speeding up. I noticed some kind of light near the end of the stairs and forced myself to go faster, barely getting to solid ground before the stairs disappeared behind me. A small sigh of relief went through me before I rubbed my face and looked forward then around, replaceing that I was in some kind of old cave.

I heard yelling and moved in deeper, summoning my war hammer and shield. I peered around then gasped lowly when I saw three giant men arguing with one another. “You idiot! You really think that she’ll care about how you look? She’s going to be more concerned about making sure the three of us are alive!” The largest roared before stomping over to a large forge and beginning to work at it.

“Have you seen her?! She’s the most beautiful demi goddess I’ve ever seen!” Another one yelled back before turning and beginning to fix himself in a comically large mirror. His single green eye was wide in worry while the last man shook his head before turning and waddling towards another forge.

“Stop worrying about your looks. Eventually the demi goddess will arrive and we will be forced to choose again. We chose the right side last time. I have faith siding with the gods will work in our favor again,” the last one said before turning and looking to me. His eye widened before he smoothed out his apron and gave me a warm smile. “It seems like she’s already here,” he said, the other one eyed man flinching before looking at me and blushing.

“H-Hello! I’m Steropes,” the Cyclops said. I nodded to him and put my weapons away, watching as the other two brothers looked to each other then focused on me.

“I’m Brontes!” The largest boomed before smoothing himself out and walking over. He kneeled and gently rubbed my head before looking up and sneering at Steropes. “Get your crap together brother,” he taunted before pushing himself to his feet and stomping towards his forge. The second largest shook his head before giving me a gentle smile and kneeling as well, holding out his hand for a shake.

“I am the eldest, Arges,” he introduced. I nodded and shook his hand before looking up and watching as Steropes gave me a wide smile and began to clean.

“I can’t believe it, the demi goddess,” he squealed before tossing some tools into a brown sack and marching over. He crouched down and extended his hand, which I shook awkwardly before rubbing my neck.

“So we should get a move on. I think Helios has already checked here, but I’m thinking that he’s going to come back eventually,” I began, but the three looked to one another nervously.

“He never left the building. He’s been here for a day...we thought you got rid of him,” Arges said warily. I frowned deeply before shaking my head and turning when I heard some kind of faint yelling. I watched lights flash around the opening of the cave and stiffened when I saw a large figure heading towards us.

“I smell the blood of a mortal!” A person boomed, the opening to the cave breaking apart as another Cyclops shoulder his way into the room. He laughed before looking down and grinning at me then the others. “You three? You are the people causing problems for our new lord?” He roared before tugging a mace and chain out from behind him. “You three will regret your choice and you demi god will rue the day you were born,” he laughed before breaking out into a run and flinging the mace right at me.