Mystic Island

☼☼13☼☼

Raine

I dashed into the lower deck room when Artemis had gone. I was becoming overcome with fear…if Artemis hadn’t been here, who knew what could’ve happened? He came unannounced, nearly invisible; if Artemis had not seen him, I would have been…dead. I had so many reasons to be grateful to her…I blinked away tears of fear. It was silly to cry. This was part of being a demigod---only I supposed most didn’t have to deal with a crisis like this. I made as much of a racket as possible, intentionally stomping on the wooden planks that were the floor. If we didn’t move then, I was as good as dead. Artemis had made it clear: I had next to no time.
There were breaking snores, opening eyes, and shifting bodies. I scampered around the entire room, making sure everyone was waking up. I then dashed to my bed where Lightning Strike was…only I would have if a hand had not tripped me. I stumbled to the floor with a loud umph! and then laid sprawling out on the dusty wood. I glared up at a pair of cold gray eyes that returned my glare. The daughter of Athena was not pleased.
“Raine Strike, do you have any idea as to what time it is?” Brooke hissed crossly.
“It’s almost dawn,” I retorted, grasping the side of her bed to help me stand.
“I don’t care!” Brooke spat. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in days.”
Near her, a demigod snapped, “Who do you think you are, the goddess of dawn?” I didn’t know who it was; a young boy with disheveled blonde hair and groggy blue eyes.
“Seriously, Raine,” Rose murmured. “What’s so important?”
“My life,” I hissed. “Our lives.”
“What are you talking about?” Andrea snarled. “We escaped Hecate, and we should’ve had a few more hours to sleep before worrying about that.”
I turned to whip out a glare at her, but then I froze. Her angry glare reminded me so much of someone---Hades, in that elevator shaft in California. It also reminded me of…Nichole.
Lea was already dressed and out of bed, her arms crossed. Or…maybe she hadn’t even gotten out of her old clothes. Her brown eyes were black in the darkness of early dawn. “I saw lights a little time ago. What was that?”
“You were awake?” I asked, a bit furious.
“Who were you talking to?” the daughter of Iris demanded. “I thought I heard a cat screech too…”
I was too stubborn to tell Lea about Artemis. I thought about what the huntress had said, about Lea being Sweden. Sweden was neutral, taking no side, not the Allies’ nor the Nazis’. And if she took no side, then how long would she put up with having us on board? After all, we were the Olympians’ America.
“I have a right to know, Strike,” Lea snapped. I was a little curious as to how she knew my last name; I had never told her. “This is my ship.”
I narrowed my eyes to gold chips. “No.”
“I can put you off this boat.”
“How wonderful for you.”
Lea spat at me. Kayla crawled out of her bed, standing up groggily next to me. “She does kind of have a right to know, you know.”
“No, I don’t think she does,” I snapped back, causing Kayla to flinch. Softer, I said, “If Lea wants to be Sweden in this war, fine by me. But she doesn’t get to know about any of the Allies’ secrets.”
“What?” Kayla whispered. “What on earth are you talking about Raine?”
Brooke’s gray eyes flickered. “World War II reference, Kayla.” Of course the smart girl knew that. “Though I’m not sure Raine’s intellectual enough to make that up on her own.”
“You don’t know that,” I sneered at her.
“Yes, Raine, I think I do. I know you well enough to know that.”
I bit my lip, my gaze flickering back to Lea’s hard, expectant face. “Can I talk to you alone? Brooke, Kayla, Andrea, Rose?”
“Where?” Rose murmured sleepily.
“The deck,” I said instantly. It seemed like a place for just talking. Though I did take a risk after the recent attack. I thought once again how lucky I was that Artemis had chosen to appear then. My heart skipped a beat.
“Okay,” Kayla said softly. She offered a hand to her unknowing half-sister and then to Rose. The sleepy demigods began to follow me stiffly, but then Lea growled.
Caden flew over my head to block the door. His eyes were glazed with sleep and I thought about really how much of a fight the little, drowsy boy would put up. But the little boy did have a little sword.
“Stop,” he said with forced effort. “You can’t pass.”
“I told you that you had to tell me what was up before you went anywhere, Strike,” Lea hissed sharply from behind me. “Who was with you up on that deck? Was there fighting?”
My temper flared, and I turned to her with eyes of fire. “It’s none of your damn business!”
Lea’s hair brushed back, the shadows patterning her face evilly. She was a formidable opponent, but she was no part of this war. “Tell me now!”
Some of the other demigods didn’t look like they’d enjoy attacking us, like Piper, for instance, and Conor. But they all had weapons, so I figured afterward-remorse would do us no good.
I took a step forward, my liquid-topaz eyes glittering fiercely. “Back off, pirate. This is none of your damn business!”
Lea took a cheeky step forward with a sword ready. Then she charged.
My eyes glowed, but sadly the lightning could not form inside. When I heard it crack outside, Lea was seconds from stabbing me.
Kayla screeched, “She said back off!” Her eyes glowed raven-black and a glittering obsidian wall appeared out of nowhere. Lea bounced off the wall, thrown backward into her line of pirate demigods.
I didn’t know was more surprised---all of us, or Kayla herself.
The wall was transparent, so we could see Lea give the signal to attack, but when the demigods tried to break through, they just bounced back. It was actually a somewhat amusing sight to see. But Kayla was sweating from her power drain.
“Can’t…hold...back…much…longer!” the daughter of Hades gasped. Finally she gulped, and the wall shattered. The pirates were for a moment startled. But then they charged. Luckily, we were faster than they were. As soon as I was out of the door, I sure as hell locked it behind me. There was banging on the door, but there was no break.
“That’s quite insufficient,” Brooke remarked. “If this were a normal case, and if there was a fire inside, the person inside would be trapped.”
“Thank you, Brooke, for those words of wisdom,” I said, rolling my eyes. I stared back at where Thanatus had been, attacked by a cougar. Dusty, grainy remnants of the seemingly formidable foe remained on the deck, black as the night sky. As if a cold wind had blown through, I shivered.
“So…” Rose drawled, breaking the short silence. “What was so important?”
“That’s the understatement of the century!” Andrea cried, glaring with her dark gaze at me. “You may seem to be nocturnal, but the rest of us aren’t! What’s the matter with you, picking fights like this?”
I wrinkled my nose, eyes flaming. I didn’t need Andrea criticizing me everywhere. The bangs on the door ended, so I felt like it was safe to speak. I faced the stars. “We have to go back.”
“Back?” Kayla echoed with scared eyes. “You don’t mean…”
I snapped my head back at her. “Yes. Back.”
Brooke’s silver eyes were spread wide. “What?! We just escaped from that island, barely, and now you expect us to return?!”
I nodded silently. My heart was hammering and I was frightened, but I had to act like I knew what I was doing. Acting often was not truly what the actor felt. I acted brave and calm; I felt like I wanted to scream and hide in a hole.
“What could make you want to go back to Hecate? She’s evil!” Kayla pointed out.
“I know.”
“Well,” she said, exasperated and exhausted. “Why would you even think of that?”
“Heather’s there,” I said simply.
“How do you know?” Andrea said without her usual sharp tongue. She said it with hunger that might’ve just been curiosity. Or…not.
I told them about Artemis. I did leave out the part about her past…that was not really their business…but they were shocked when I told them about Thanatus.
Brooke bared her teeth and she looked feline for a moment. I almost expected her to turn into a cat like Artemis had. Her gray eyes were deep and dark. Rose was shivering. “Lady Artemis is going back,” she murmured. “Why do we have to go?”
I was a little surprised. “What?”
“Well,” she said, her blue eyes sad. “Artemis is a goddess. She can take care of Heather and get rid of Hecate, no problem. But we’re not immortal. We can die a lot faster.” She sighed a short huff. Then she said something I didn’t anticipate. “I didn’t ask to be a part of this world.”
“Coward,” Andrea hissed.
Rose straightened up indignantly. “I am not!”
Brooke narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and then looked at me. “You know, Raine. I sort of agree with Rose. We don’t have to go to the island. Artemis will be fine without us.”
I was angry. I knew how they were trying to reason their lack of interest to save Heather, but I felt no such lack. I wanted to help Artemis. I would hold my promise to her and save her hunter.
“Fine,” I said, trying not to show my rage. “Stay here, Brooke, Rose. But I am not backing down.” I locked eyes with Rose. “No, I didn’t ask to be a part of this world either, Arrow. I had no choice, no say. But I feel honored to be a demigod, and I am going with Artemis to save my friend. If you don’t want to be a part of this world, then get lost.” I snapped my jaw shut because Rose was pale-faced. Brooke’s mouth was open, like they hadn’t expected me to be so angry, but I was. I stormed away from them to the other side of the boat and Kayla followed behind me. I noticed Andrea’s glittering eyes when I passed her, as if the argument had amused her.
I leaned against a mast at the bow, as we had been at the stern. Kayla stood next to me, staring at me with those expectant dark eyes like a loyal dog that I was the master of. I glanced at her. “Yes?”
“I’m waiting for a command,” Kayla said simply.
“Excuse me?”
“Well, I am going with you to the island,” Kayla explained. “And since you seem to know what you’re doing, I’m waiting for you to tell me what to do.” She smiled and I couldn’t help doing that too.
But the image of the two demons and the poplar flashed in my head, and my grin faded. My heart clenched and I wanted to tell Kayla who her father was. But she seemed to be my only ally right now, and I---I couldn’t. Kayla tilted her head. “What?”
I opened my mouth, but then sighed. “Nothing.” My shoulders slumped and I studied the starry sky again. The night was so calm and peaceful…yet it was being fought over, constantly, and now it was the cause of my friend’s peril. I vowed silently to save her, no matter the cost, even if it was my life. Kayla nodded a little, like she was agreeing with my thoughts.
“I had a dream,” Kayla said slowly.
“Thank you Martin Luther King,” I snorted.
“Shush!” Kayla hissed, not really angry, eyes laughing. “I meant, I had a dream before you woke me up.”
“Would you rather I’d left you to die when…” I hesitated. “Hades comes looking for us here?”
“No, I guess not,” Kayla said softly, eyes brimmed with gratitude. “Anyway, in my dream---well, a nightmare really, only I wasn’t scared---I saw this…thing.”
“Very nice,” I muttered sarcastically. “Very specific.”
Kayla narrowed her eyes, annoyed a bit. “Listen! The thing looked a little like a human. At first, it looked like a man.”
I tilted my head. “What did he look like?”
Kayla shivered though it was warm. “Dark hair. Red eyes.”
“Red?” I echoed with wide eyes.
“Yep,” Kayla said. “He told me to come forward. He seemed nice enough to me, so I walked towards him. He looked a little familiar. And then I knew why.”
Had she discovered who her father was? Did she recognize Hades, if that was who was in her dream? After all, she was a new demigod. It could have just been a dream. “Why?”
“When I walked forward, I saw that the man’s skin was brown, like mine. He had the same color hair, black like mine. He still had shining red eyes. I held out a hand, but then, so did he. The image changed into a girl. I touched a mirror.”
Fear creeped into my gold eyes.
“I was looking at my reflection,” Kayla said.
I shook my head, trying to block thoughts. I saw the demons leaping at me, but in that image, the Kayla demon slowed, and the scene was in slow-motion. Her head turned gradually and her red irises were churning with the blood of her prey…and Hades was encouraging her forward. I imagined Kayla at the head of Hades’ army in battle armor, the skies black as the day was black, the day that she would lead the army towards Olympus. The air was lit then with silver and I heard a girl’s pain-filled cry. A wave of golden blood washed over my feet. I screamed.

Kayla was snapping her fingers. “Hello? Raine? Did you fall asleep, or something?” I opened my eyes, I was still leaning against a pole and Kayla was next to me. Brown eyes. No armor. No blood and no screams. No one was dead here.
“Oh, good, you’re alive,” she said contentedly. “I was beginning to think I bored you to sleep.”
“No,” I said. “I wasn’t asleep. Just thinking…”
“’Bout what?”
I grinned a half-smile. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t ask.”
“Okay then!”
“Don’t worry,” I added. “Just my mind wandering again.”
“Ah, I see!” Kayla laughed. I snorted. But then there was a low thud. Someone kicked the mast I was against.
I whipped around, expecting Hades or one of his servants. But I saw…Brooke with wide gray eyes.
“I think I’ll join you on your quest,” the daughter of Athena said with a strangled voice.
“Alright,” I said slowly. “What…?”
I didn’t finish my sentence. Someone stepped out of the shadows with a sword. It was pointed to her neck, an inch from her throat, and Rose was surrounded by shadows with wide, fearful blue eyes and a gag in her mouth. A shadow-being had tied her hands behind her back and was faintly blue. A ghost. A powerful one.
But who was holding a sword at Brooke’s throat made my heart skip a beat. My worst nightmare was coming true halfway. Dark eyes gleamed with hatred on the sword’s wielder.
“Andrea,” I breathed. “What…what’s going on?”
“Interesting dream there, Kayla,” Andrea said in her normal sharp voice. Her irises were not brown, thankfully not red, but pure black. “I couldn’t help but overhear.”
Brooke’s face was ashen and pale as Andrea feinted the tip a bit closer, so tiny of a movement I barely saw it. Andrea’s short caramel-colored hair blew across her face and in the night, it looked like scars cutting through. “I sense fear,” she mused darkly. She looked at her half-sister. “You are scared of me?”
Kayla pulled a brave face. “No. I’m…”
“Shocked?”
“Maybe…” Kayla muttered. Louder, she cried, “What are you doing, Andrea? These are our friends! I’m your friend!”
“No more!” Andrea hissed. “They are our enemies, Kayla. They always were.”
Kayla lifted her head, and met my golden eyes. I saw no hate or hostility, but determination and loyalty. She glared at her sister.
“No,” she said firmly. “They are my friends! I would…I would die for them!”
Andrea snarled, and her teeth were visible. “Would you?”
Kayla did not hesitate in answering, but although her face was hard, she was trembling. “Yes, I would. Any day.” I smiled at her benevolently, proud. Though I imagined her father was not.
Andrea sneered. “Fool! He has already come to you. You have seen your future. Now you must come with me.” Kayla flinched at her pure venomous stare.
“You mean my dream?” Kayla asked. “So you know what it means?”
“Do I,” Andrea mimicked. “Oh yes, I do know what your dream means. But you must come with me to know what your dream means.”
Kayla took a step forward, but then remembered us. She stepped back. “No, Andrea. It’s just a dream. I’d rather stay with Raine and Brooke and Rose.” Andrea rolled her eyes and readied her sword by Brooke’s neck. Kayla’s face flashed with rage. “Let them go!”
“I think not,” Andrea cackled. Kayla rushed forward, weaponless, but I was frozen, not to go to her aide. Everything was happening too fast. But then, Andrea’s formed disappeared along with Brooke. Soon the daughter of Hades and the daughter of Athena were in the crow’s nest above our heads. High above, I could still hear Andrea’s evil laughter.
Kayla hissed. Her deep brown eyes darkened with fury, and she looked actually dangerous for a moment. She whispered to me. “Red.”
“What?” I could speak again.
“Andrea’s light was yellow-gold before, like the rest of us, but now it’s red. That’s strange.”
I rolled my eyes. “This is no time for colors, Kayla!” I spoke directly to the daughter of Hades, but my eyes did not leave Andrea nor Brooke. The daughter of Athena was hidden in the shadows of the upper mast and all I could see was her general shape. But the sword was still at her throat. I prayed to the gods, Please, please let Brooke live. A thought occurred to me. If she is one of the Epic Three, she must have powers just as powerful as ours. Let her use them now! Andrea is a child of one of the elder gods but she isn’t one of the Three! Brooke is more powerful! Nothing happened though I waited. Please?
Kayla, on the other hand, turned to shadow and disappeared into the gloom. Soon I was gone too. I was being lifted upward towards the crow’s nest. But there was nothing near me that was bringing me that high. Or…was there?
I was tossed over the rim of the wooden basket and Kayla appeared beside me. She had been carrying me as well as herself. Her brown eyes were shocked, but she wasted little time. She bared her teeth, which were fangs now, and jumped at Andrea. The other death-demigod bared her fangs too and the two were battling hand-combat. I drew Lightning Strike, but instead of using it myself, I tossed it to Kayla. She turned towards me in a second, her eyes wide. “Here,” I said.
Her gaze flashed with protest, but before she could say anything, Andrea was attacking her again and Kayla held up Lightning Strike in defense. She was not properly trained; she would have to use instincts.
“Don’t defend!” I told her. “Attack! Push Andrea back!”
Kayla nodded briefly and swung with Lightning Strike. Andrea grabbed a loose demigod-warrior’s shield on the rim of the nest and held it over her face. Kayla knocked Andrea back with the hilt of my sword.
“Twist the sword!” I commanded. “Keep forcing her away!” Kayla was doing exceptionally well, considering she’d hardly ever used swords before, and she was mostly driving Andrea backward. But then Andrea’s dark eyes flashed red. Something happened and the tide of force shifted into reverse. Now Andrea was knocking Kayla back, using her shield to hit her away. Bang! Bang! Kayla hissed and she was bleeding in several places. Andrea lunged like a wild animal and slashed her now-sharp fangs against Kayla’s defending arms. Crimson blood broke through brown skin.
A shadow had been holding the sword to Brooke’s throat while Andrea fought but now she yanked the sword out of the specter’s grasp and swung at Kayla’s feet. She leaped up and over it just in time and swung with Lightning Strike. She slashed the shield out of
Andrea’s left hand and it clattered to the floor in two pieces of now-useless metal. Andrea let out a furious snarl and melted into shadow, sifting through the night air. Then she reappeared behind Kayla, but the other child of Hades was ready. She met Andrea’s sword with mine, bronze against dark, perhaps magic iron, and they parried and stuck when they had an opportunity. I rushed to Brooke’s side, who was now collapsed on the floor. I searched her over for any sign of injury, but she seemed alright. Her eyelids fluttered over her gray eyes. When she saw me instead of Andrea, she made a weak smile.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I should have just agreed…”
“It’s okay,” I told her.
“No, really,” she insisted. “If I had said yes, then maybe Andrea wouldn’t have found a chance to attack.” She shuddered, color returning to her pale face. “I just didn’t expect…Andrea to be…”
“A child of Hades,” I murmured.
Her gray eyes were wide now. “What! What did you say?”
I pursed my lips. Brooke persisted, “Child of whom?”
“Hades,” I sighed quietly so Kayla couldn’t hear. But then again, she distracted by the fight that was around us. When they were close to us, I told Kayla to hit the sword harder, and she did, forcing Andrea back again.
“How can this be?” Brooke cried softly. “They’re…they’re enemies!”
“Only Andrea!” I said. “Kayla is a friend.”
“Because she doesn’t know,” Brooke spat. When I didn’t say anything, she hissed, “Does she?”
“No.”
“I thought not!” She shook her head. “Raine, you have to tell her someday! She should have the right to know who her father is, to choose with the knowledge that she’s choosing between Olympus and her father!”
“Well, what do you want me to do?” I whispered. “I can’t tell her now!” I pointed to the swordplay near us. I had to end it, but it was much too dangerous with Brooke and even Kayla up here. I desperately looked around for any help, but then there was a flash of silver and blue. Water. I almost thanked Rose until I saw a girl with gray-blue eyes and long brown hair standing in the crow’s nest with us. “Piper?”
“Yes,” Piper said, tilting her head. The daughter of Thetis was perfectly calm.
“What are you doing here?” Brooke spat, weakly fingering for her bow. But her bow was below on the deck for she had been unarmed by Andrea.
“I am not here to arrest you for Lea,” Piper promised. “We had disbanded ourselves from her.”
“We?” I echoed.
Piper pointed down to where the son of Athena, Conor the navigator, and a few other demigods were fighting the ghostly warriors away. There was a boy with blonde hair in a torn New York Mets shirt and a girl, who was probably his sister, with a New York Giants football jersey. The both had bronze swords. And then there was a boy with red hair and hazel eyes shooting arrows at the ghosts holding Rose captive.
“T-thank you,” I stammered, surprised at those demigods’ defiance to their long-time leader.
“Well, Lea was wrong.” Piper shrugged. “And don’t thank me. It was Conor’s idea; I just agreed.”
I shrugged too. “Still.”
Piper snorted. “We tied her up. She and Caden. The other demigods didn’t put up much of a fight.”
We all turned our heads when there was a cry, and I gasped. Kayla was sprawled on the wood floor, her hands up in defense at the towering Andrea. Her irises were reddening as she proved that she was allying herself to their father. Kayla had a cut across her cheek and on her arms and shoulders. Andrea’s mouth was trickling blood out, but she did not mind. Her eyes glittered in anticipation of killing her sister.
Quickly, I ordered, “Piper, take Brooke down. I can handle this.” Piper nodded and she looked upon me with respect. Then she changed into water and picked up Brooke in her arms. The clear water figure of the slippery-footed Piper dove over the side of the crow’s nest and I faced Andrea and the injured Kayla.
I dashed to her side, crouching by her, and my hand grabbed Lightning Strike, but that was the part Andrea missed. “Well, well,” she snickered.
“Leave her alone,” I warned the dark demigod. “How could you turn against us like this, Andrea? We are your friends.”
“So I thought,” Andrea hissed. “But he came to me in a dream. A few, in fact. The first time, I thought it was just a dream. But dreams don’t repeatedly show up every single night if they don’t mean something. And then I listened to him. He promised me great things, a portion of the world myself, ruler of countries that I favor.” She grinned but not in a nice way. “Imagine what kind of American president I would be!”
“You shouldn’t listen to him!” I protested, and Kayla shivered next to me. “I fell under his spell once. But I remained loyal to Olympus! So can you!”
Andrea raised one eyebrow. “But I don’t have a reason, Raine. I have no links to Olympus. None of them even notice me!”
“This war is wrong!” I protested. “They would notice you if you stayed loyal despite everything!”
Andrea shook her head. “No. You and I both know they wouldn’t even consider my contribution to this war. Well, I’m tired of not being noticed. Artemis came to you. Athena saved Brooke. Poseidon watched over Rose. The Olympians appreciate Kayla. But me? No. They care nothing for me.”
“They knew your fate.”
“Maybe,” Andrea said. “But I don’t care. I will follow the Lord of the Dead and will be the warrior of his army! I will be rewarded and recognized by the minor gods and the Underworld! I will be feared by the Olympians! And I have been promised this by my new leader. I decided this when I discovered my father.”
“Your father?” Kayla sputtered.
“Yes,” Andrea said, meeting her unknowing sister’s eyes. “Hades is my father. I am queen of the dead and soon, feared through the world.” She eyed us distastefully and flinched when she noticed all of the demigods on the deck. The moon’s light brightened. “I will spare you now. But I will find you, and when I do, all of you will die.” She bared her fangs and then she disappeared into the night. The ghosts all faded away and the sounds of fighting disappeared below.
I lifted Kayla up in my arms and her blood sank into my jacket, but I didn’t mind. I looked up to the sky and silently ordered a cloud to come down to us and lift my feet up. The cloud obeyed and descended out of the sky and scooted under my socked feet. I had then noticed I had never put shoes back on, but my feet were hardened to any terrain, so I wouldn’t care. The cloud raised us over the side of the crow’s nest and then brought us down the mast. Eventually the cloud touched the deck floor and sifted into mist. One of the demigod’s eyes widened when he saw me and Kayla and nudged his sister. It was the blonde ones, who I could see now both had blue eyes, and they came to Kayla. I laid her down on the floor and the boy fetched a life-jacket to use at a pillow so her head wouldn’t be against the hard wood. The girl noticed the blood on my arms.
“Are you alright?” she asked. “You have blood on you.”
“Not my blood,” I said, shrugging. She tipped her head to the side a bit and kneeled beside the good daughter of Hades.
Kayla was still conscious and she smiled at me. “I guess I look like Death, don’t I?”
I sighed through my nose. She was more like Death than she realized. “Yeah, sort of.”
She shivered again like she was cold. “So…Andrea is a kid of Hades.” She said it like she was frightened.
I tensed up. “Yes.”
“You say that like you already knew,” she snorted. Then she gazed at me with clouded brown eyes. “Did you?”
I was stiffer than a board. I was prepared to lie until Brooke’s words echoed in my brain. She should have the right to know who her father is, to choose with the knowledge that she’s choosing between Olympus and her father!
But I was saved from having to say anything when the boy returned with the life-jacket and gauze. He also had a bottle of Neosporin. The boy began to work on the injured demigod, who winced whenever he laid the disinfectant on her wounds, and I felt confused. The girl explained, “Sam is a son of Apollo. And he’s the medicine god, so you know…”
“Oh,” I said. “And you’re Apollo’s daughter?”
The girl grinned. “Everyone thinks that we’re related! Just because we look alike and both love sports. Well, to tell you the truth, he loves baseball and I love football, but whatever. We’re just friends, not brother and sister.”
“Oh,” I said. “Who’s your parent?”
“Demeter,” she said proudly. “Goddess of agriculture. But somehow I’m from New York.”
I smiled. But the mention of that goddess’ name reminded me of another daughter of Demeter. I glanced at Kayla to make sure she was alright and then said a swift goodbye to… “What’s your name?”
“Caroline.” I nodded, and then approached Piper and Conor. They were talking with Rose and Brooke, who seemed better than she was before; she was no longer pale and her eyes were clear.
I nodded to the ship’s navigator. “Do you think you can still move the ship?”
The intelligent demigod met my gold eyes with his silver. “Yes, of course. The controls are above where Lea and the others are. Why? Where do you need to go?”
“We must go back to the island,” I replied calmly. “We have to rescue our friend.”
Conor did not ask any more questions. He just nodded. “Alright.” He turned to the daughter of Thetis, “Do you think you can help me a little bit, Piper?”
Piper grinned and slipped into water-form again. She fell into the ocean and soon enough, the ship was moving a little faster in the direction we came. Conor regarded the other watery demigod. “I’ll need you to carry messages to Piper underwater in the case of direction change.”
Rose rolled her eyes. “Who am I, a daughter of Hermes?” But she promised she would, not meeting my eyes I noticed, and took position by the wheel near the water.
Brooke smiled a little at me and I stood near her at the bow once more, leaning against the ropes this time. My head faced the east where the sun was just beginning to rise. The silver clouds were fading away and day was breaking again. I heard a chirp and turned to see a gray-brown falcon perched on a wooden post next to me. Its yellow eyes met mine and I grinned benevolently. The falcon chirped again and spread its wings. The breeze caught them and the falcon rose into the air, only a little above the crow’s nest, keeping pace with us. She flew as a protector and guide and I felt peaceful for once in a while. A whisper billowed through the air around me.
I will be your guardian, Raine. Anything you need and I will help.