Descendants of Heroes

When he parked in front of the house, I watched what he was doing, seeing him cover a dark spot in his jeans.

“You sure you don't want to come in? I'll try and make you something to eat?” Cory knew that I was kind of horrible at cooking. Most people knew, but I was always going to try and perfect it. But what I had been hoping for was a smile. “I won't burn anything this time.”

I stepped out of the car and turned back to look at him.

“He's shrouded in something, Nyssa. Be careful of him.” I growled at him in my mind and looked at Cory worriedly.

I didn't know any reason to not listen to Achilles, but I wasn't going to listen to some arrogant hero from 3,000 years ago. I was 17 now and I had to be somewhat independent of my own ideas. Cory was the one I cared about right now. It was kind of surprising that I did care. I didn't really get along with people.

I watched as his expression started to frown. He looked like he had been contemplating my offer. He slipped out of the car on his side and came to my side. I caught a glimpse of something dark seeping on his jeans. He looked at me and gave a weak smile, like it cleared up everything. I let my eyes fall back down to his leg and come lingering back into his eyes.

“What happened to your leg, Cory?” there was something different about him from the last time I had seen him. He seemed a bit paler than usual, a bit more scrawny.

“More skittish.” Achilles' voice interrupted my thoughts. I chewed on my lip slightly. Corra seemed more uncomfortable as he looked down, rubbing his arms and biting his lip in a more nervous matter.

“Can we just...go indoors?” I bit my lip, feeling that everything that we were doing here was just going to lead to something worse.

Something I didn't want to get in the middle of. I led him indoors, leading him to a seat to sit down in.

“You want to tell me what's going on?” I looked in his eyes, hoping that he wouldn't lie to me further. That is was always better to tell the truth.

Cory shouldn't have had to hide anything from me. He knew I would pry and pry until I found out what it was. I could be quite tenacious about it when I was worried. He gulped and looked down, biting his lip and closing his eyes.

“N-Nothing is going on... I... I'm not very well at the moment.”

I looked at him and whispered, “It's more than that. I could see it in your eyes.” I sat beside him and sighed softly.

“Look at his wound Nyssa. Let's see what he has been doing since you were hospitalized.” Achilles' voice rang a bit higher in my mind. I hated it. I felt like I as Achilles' puppet and I didn't even have control.

“Let me see your wound.” He gulped, which kind of surprised me and shook his head.

“No.” He looked away from me, a pang hit my chest. Though, I didn't understand the pain in my chest.

I bit my lip as I reached over slightly, gently cupping his chin and turning him toward me. I was growing more worried about him.

“Cory, did something happen that scared you?” I bit my lip again and pulled him close, hugging him. He had done the same for me a while ago. When I was in the hospital after my parents' death. I held him closer to me, feeling more whole and whispered, “I'm here for you Cory, Don't forget that.”

I heard him gulp again and gently wrap his arms around me. I felt a couple of tears fall on top of my head.

“I won't forget that Nyssa... I wish I could... tell you what I'm going through, but I really can't...” I looked up at him and pulled him closer to me.

I had only seen him cry once before this. But that was a long, long time ago. The first time I saw him cry, I couldn't believe it. It wasn't the fact that “guys should never cry.” It was the main thought that he never cried around me. I felt more of his tears and closed my eyes.

In my mind, I was trying to understand what he meant.

“What's preventing you from telling me, one of your best friends?” I chewed on my lip, knowing I threw another straight ball at him.

I brushed some of his tears away. Not knowing how to help him, but knowing that there was so much going on that even I couldn't tell him what was going on with me. I felt his head rest on my shoulder, my eyes opening. I felt more tears start to soak through my shirt.

“I guess you could say that,” he murmured softly, dodging my questions it seemed. He took shaky breaths, trying to calm himself.

I rubbed his back gently, thinking carefully about what I was going to do. I wanted to tell him what I as, to through my troubled life out there. Even if he didn't see it that way, at least he wouldn't have to think about my prying questions. I stared down at my weak spot behind him, right there on my wrist. Even a small paper cut would have killed me. I bit my lip and took a deep breath.

“Cory... I have something I need to tell you...” As soon as I said it, I knew that I wouldn't be telling him anytime soon.

The wall behind me banged and fell, giving way to a monstrous weight. It reared it's ugly head, a giant gold lion, roared at us. It's coat glinted in the dim light, as if it was coated in sparkles and glitter. It's eyes were bloodred and hungry, I was getting that feeling that I was going to be the main course. Another monster had flown out of a mythology book and taken life in front of me.

I gulped and whispered, “Cory... get out of here.” I knew that if I as least had him get out, there may be a chance to speak later without another interruption.

I heard a growl and noted that it wasn't from the lion that wanted to kill me, but from Cory.

“Not a chance.” His eyes started to glow and the light became more intense.

In my mind, I forgot about the lion that wanted to eat me. I was too distracted by the face that Cory was changing. Cory hissed and reached up, taking out his contacts and revealed his eyes. They were glowing brightly, the colors shifting and swirling. The lion backed off slightly, circling around the room. Its back was hitting the ceiling and raking through the layer. It didn't seem to care. I brought my attention back to Corra's eyes and backed up slightly.

“What in Hades...” My skin started to crawl and I felt like the ground was trying to swallow me whole. I didn't know where this feeling was coming from. I couldn't think about it too much. I watched the lion circle, like it was in no hurry to kill me (or us, I couldn't be sure.). “Cory, get out of here. I can handle this cat.”

The lion didn't seem to like being called a “cat” and pounced at me. I dove to the side to avoid the raking claws and snarled fangs. Though, it didn't snap at Corra. I was it's primary target.

“Let me out, Nyssa. I'll take care of this.” I shook my head.

“No.” I looked at Corra, who seemed just as troubled as me, then at the lion.

“I told you, Nyssa... Not a chance.” I bit my lip, trying to keep the lion's attention on me, which wasn't that hard.

“He's only after me. Get out of here. Get someone with a chainsaw. I'll be fine.” I'm quite invincible, I thought, but didn't say it. “Achilles, you better be right. I don't want to come back just to die.” Achilles grunted indignantly, which was probably a good sign.

Achilles started chanting in the back of my mind, something ancient and was a more of a transference of our souls. I felt my consciousness being pulled back to the part of my mind that Achilles hung out in. The last thing I saw was a spear appear in my hand... then everything turned black...