Chapter 16

The girl was trapped under my shoulder and arm in such a way that it left my two hands free. She tried to thrash around but a light wack (very light) on her head with the short sword's handle convinced her to keep quiet.

The others were all up by now, a spear and a sword pointing towards me. They were clearly shocked by my presence, and looked even more surprised by my age as they stared at me up and down.

"Look kid, there's no nee–" The eldest in their group started to take the lead only to be cut off by the short-haired girl, who was now scowling at me in anger, her surprise at my appearance already forgotten.

"Touch a hair on her and you won't live to regret it." The girl hissed in anger, sparks of electricity dancing around her fingers as she clutched her weapon tightly.

I tightened my grip on the knife, letting it lightly graze the girl's skin. Just enough to draw blood.

The girl didn't dare to move in my hands, staying completely still.

"Threaten me again and I'll lob her head right off of her shoulders." I shot back, staring down my nose at the sparky girl.

"Then you'll be one against three. Not a good shot is it?" The boy said, slowly trying to move closer.

"I'll take my chances." I replied, still staring at the girl.

Perhaps she saw the conviction in my words, or perhaps she was just not willing to take a risk, but soon she reluctantly dropped her gaze under my unrelenting stare, reducing the tension as she let her spear fall. She still twitched like she'd change her mind any second but a glance at the girl in my hands seemed to rob any of her resistance.

"Luke." She said quietly to the boy, who followed her lead and stood down too.

I took that chance to quickly glance at their status without taking my attention from them.

Thalia Grace

Age: 12

Race: Demigod (Blood of Zeus)

Tier: 5

Level: 100

Divine Power: 12,500/100,000

Stamina: 5090/107,000

Health: 13400/102,000

Stats

Strength: 95

Speed: 88

Dexterity: 114

Endurance: 107

Constitution: 102

Mental: 24

Spirit: 100

Oh my fucking god, not another tier 5! Why must my luck do me this dirty? And this one was even more stronger than the dragon! Shit.

I'm glad I had a hostage currently, cause this girl could bend me in half. But her spirit was pathetic compared to mine, so a single Holy spear through her body should probably kill her...but her health was a lot so probably not. But she was clearly injured so probably yes.

In conclusion, physically I may not be her match...yet. But magically? I will lay her in.

What I was uncertain about though, was if she could or couldn't dodge my holy spear. If she did, then I was a goner, my air manipulation probably couldn't work too well on her, considering she was a child of Zeus too. In this cramped space it will only take her fraction of a single second to close the distance. BUT, it will also make it hard for her to dodge the sword without one of her friends dying. So I'd give us both equal chance. Of course, I'd still rather not fight her.

Plus..she was a demigod, my only hope to reach camp half-blood.

"Now, tell me why you broke into my house." I stated, letting my sword tip point at the ground, though I still held onto the little girl.

The kids seem to finally realise the reason for my hostility as they turned to look at each other silently.

"We just wanted a place to rest." The boy said. "We had a long journey, so we thought to rest in what looked like an abandoned house. But I see we were wrong and aren't welcome here, so we'll leave you alone if you let her go." He nodded to the now squirming girl in my arm.

I really didn't wish to fight these kids. We will be spending time together in the camp, no point in making them enemies. But I was also not sorry about taking a hostage. Greeks were crazy and I'd rather not be totally defenseless.

"And where exactly are y–" I was forced to cut off my question when the girl in my hands suddenly whipped out a knife of her own.

"Now, Luke!" The girl screamed suddenly, her knife racing towards my face.

None of them moved though because I'd already overpowered the little girl with a tiny zap of electricity. She winced lightly as her own knife now came to rest against her throat.

"Don't do that again, you silly little girl."

I whacked her again on the head for good measure.

"I'm not silly!" She shrilly retorted. "And don't hit me on the head again!"

"But you admit that you are little?" I asked with a smirk and lightly whacked her on the head again, ignoring her petulant whine about how we were of same height. Not true, I was atleast an inch taller. Anyone who says otherwise was a disgusting liar.

Luke and Thalia still held their place thankfully. Though both of them had confused looks on their faces and seemed quite conflicted by our antiques, not knowing if they should laugh or not.

I needed to wrap this up quickly. They may not be my friends but weren't my enemies either. And I'd rather not have them become ones either.

"Look, I'm trying to find a place called camp half-blood. Just tell me where that is, and I'll leave this house to you."

They both shared a look between them, before turning to me with raised eyebrows.

"How did you know–?" Luke asked frowning.

"That you were demigods? I heard you talking." I replied with a smirk.

"You are a demigod too?" Thalia asked, her stance finally relaxing for the first time since our confrontation.

Luke however, still seemed reluctant, doubt clouding his eyes. Not big on trust this one.

"Well, not exactly but my father is Zeus. And I was told to go to this camp, it'll keep me safe from monsters and gods alike." I explained, sending a spark of electricity through my sword to prove my point. I didn't bother to hide something that was bound to be revealed in time anyway.

Luke's entire demeanor seemed to change. He took a quick glance at Thalia before quickly sheathing his sword, a look of understanding coming in his eyes.

"They didn't understand you either huh?" He asked with sad but empathetic eyes.

"...What?" I asked back, confused.

"The mortals, they can't understand your words if you reveal anything they aren't supposed to know." His grimaced slightly as he took in my appreance. "It must've been hard to reach here alone. Not that we demigods could expect anything else, our parents are usually useless."

He muttered the last bit bitterly before continuing. "How long were you hiding in here anyway?"

I ignored a spark of anger at his comment about parents and didn't answer him for a few seconds, wondering what the hell did he mean. It must be the Mist, I realised. Mom had given me a basic crash course on greek magic. I never really bothered talking to anyone about my issues so couldn't have known this phenomenon though.

"A couple of weeks." I replied to his last question.

"That's why there were so many monsters here." The girl in my hands suddenly spoke, a look of realisation spreading on her face. "They were attracted by your smell!"

I hummed quietly before turning to the duo again...well, trio... but the satyr seemed to be making a conscious effort to disappear in the background. While Thalia...seemed to have been just staring at my face absently for the last couple of minutes, a complicated look on her face.

"Look, I'll let the girl go, just don't attack me alright?" I finally stated, waiting till Luke nodded before letting the girl go, who quickly crossed the distance to take Luke's hand for comfort.

I took this chance to glance at others level as well.

Luke Castellan

Age: 14

Race: Demigod (Blood of Hermes)

Tier: 4

Level: 200

Divine Power: 40,000/40,000

Stamina: 97,500/97,500

Health: 93,200/95,000

Stats

Strength: 180

Speed: 220

Dexterity: 215

Endurance: 195

Constitution: 190

Mental: 26

Spirit: 80

Annabeth Chase

Age: 7

Race: Demigod (Blood of Athena)

Tier: 4

Level: 50

Divine Power: 15000/15000

Stamina: 21800/25000

Health: 15490/20000

Stats

Strength: 40

Speed: 50

Dexterity: 70

Endurance: 50

Constitution: 40

Mental: 23

Spirit: 30

Two drastically different demigods in terms of battle prowess. Luke was the highest level demigod here, though still inferior to Thalia's sheer Tier advantage. He was still around 3 times more Faster than me, even with my wings enhancing me. Annabeth was the only demigod present here that I could match physically.

Such unfairness. I spent 6 months in that damned forest grinding my levels, and here were three brats already matching or surpassing me.

Sure, my skills and spirit will probably close that gap, but it was still a little frustrating.

"...Well then." I clapped my hands to break off the suddenly awkward silence. "Will you tell me where the camp is now?"

Thalia seemed to finally regain her wits and started to look around before clearing her throat.

"You can come with us." She said quietly, though not looking at my face directly.

"But when will you all leave?" I asked, not wanting to stay here any longer than necessary. "Maybe you don't realise yet but this place is going to start swarming in monsters very soon. Four demigods with two from the big three is just too sweet a morsel for anyone to miss. I'd rather just leave now and travel alone."

"We know that, we aren't stupid!" Thalia snapped suddenly before taking a deep breath to calm herself.

I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Look." She said with a sigh, starting to approach me slowly. "You don't have to stay alone any longer alright? I'm also a daughter of Zeus so that makes us family, and family's supposed to look out for each other."

She pressed a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"Atleast a true family should." She mumbled out slowly, leaning down to be on my level and driving home the point how short I really was.

There was a story here, I just knew it. Still, I focused more on her earlier words. A family huh? Why did she suddenly go full soft-mode on me? Is it because of my age?

Though I had to admit, I liked the sound of family. No matter how much I tried to act my true age, I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss my mother dearly. I was already feeling the first signs of home-sickness...or was it mother-sickness? Who knows.

Some company would surely do me good though.

"Alright then, sis." I stressed with a growing smirk on my face. "Let's go kill some monsters together."

A huge smile spread across Thalia's face, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Now that's what I'm talking about jac...ah." She stopped herself, looking a little abashed before frowning slightly. "I mean...what's your name again?"

"Mikael." I answered with a roll of my eyes. "What about you?"

The question was more for her sake than mine.

"Thalia." She seemed to hesitate a bit before sighing again. "Just Thalia."

She brightened up a little though as she pointed towards the others. "That one is Luke, and the one you were holding so closely is annabeth."

She teasingly elbowed me a little, ignoring the girl's indignant whine, before finally pointing to the last one. "And he is Grover, also a satyr. Which is half-goat and half-human."

Leaning closer to my ears, she whispered. "Don't ask me how, I dont know either."

I stared at the girl with a smile, feeling a little overwhelmed. I hadn't talked to anyone in a while, well...anyone who wasn't an asshole, so looking at someone act so friendly was a bit...weird, as it was heartwarming.

"Come on, let's not waste more time." I said, shaking my head to focus. "Tell your friends to freshen up and get ready. I have a car so we can reach the camp faster. We'll have all the time to rest then."

They all looked a little surprised at the mention of car, but didn't press. Probably not the weirdest thing a bunch of demigods had to face.

"Right." Thalia nodded a second later, looking at her friends. "You heard him, guys. Let's pack up and leave before we get another infernal army behind us. I have a feeling we will, either way."

"In a car, though?" Luke asked with a frown. "We can walk faster than a car you know, it's better to just run on foot, no?"

"We can't fight monsters while carrying Annabeth." Thalia retorted. "It's better to go in the car."

Annabeth whined from beside me.

The boy opened his mouth to argue again, but Thalia raised her hands, stopping him.

"Luke...just...let's go in the car alright?" She said, a little embarrassed, before mumbling quietly. "I'm still a little tired from before. We all are."

'But she more than anyone else' was left unsaid. I understood though, having just seen her stats.

Luke didn't argue further.