6

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"Aaaaaand cut! Alright, that was good, well done, everyone! Tristan, Matt, Lola, Jade, take fifteen and we'll start scene 84 after the trumpet sound cue."

A whole bunch of lighting and camera men darted around the location. Props and set designers went around retouching the set and scattered objects for the scene. Jumping down from the fake set that looked like an ancient Greek temple, I let out a huge yawn and stretched, wincing at the pull of tight muscles. The actor and his stuntman grinned, holding up thumbs, but I didn't have the energy to verbally acknowledge the announcement so I just bobbed my head. The actress I was doubling thumped my back in thanks for the work and went off to take her break at her trailer. My shoulders immediately dropped and my arms were aching. I was grateful that everything was working out smoothly, but Director Gordon was trying to capture almost all of the action scenes in long takes which meant that he wanted to use takes that lasted at least several minutes for the film without editing them. This also meant that everything in a scene had to go perfectly in one shot. If it didn't, then we'd have to do over. And over. And over.

A makeup artist immediately rushed onto the set, retouching my face and dabbing away makeup smudges from sweat in less than a minute before dashing off to the other body double. I felt a surge of relief when my mom magically appeared at my side with a small carton of strawberry milk. She inserted a straw and handed me the drink.

"How are you holding up?" She asked worriedly. I took the carton from her and sipped, holding out a hand in apology for the lack of response. I was breathing hard as I walked over where to a shaded area underneath a black pine tree. The climate of Turkey was not kind during the summer because it was hot, but luckily, the humidity level was low. I'd probably drown in my own sweat if it was humid at this temperature. Since it was coming close to fall, the darkness of evening settled in faster. The change in weather only made Director Gordon more anxious to finish all the action shots because he needed the bright sun. He had crammed a plan to shoot fifteen scenes in a schedule of fifteen days, which was ridiculous, but I didn't complain. The faster I get out of this part of the globe, the better.

I shook my head to help my mind get out of a daze and briefly marveled at my hair color. My natural hair pigment was dark brown and I usually had some lighter streaks from hair dye, but right now my head was covered with blonde locks. Very golden, yellow, blonde strands. Walking past reflective surfaces had been kind of trippy the past two weeks. I never had to dye my hair for a stunt job since I'd wear a wig, but because I had to fill in for all the actress's action shots, it'd be inconvenient to put on a wig every time. Besides, wigs were really annoying in the heat.

I groaned when a wave a nausea rocked inside my head. Being tired was seriously a weird feeling as a child of Hypnos.

It was like being in a limbo state between distinct awareness of a sixth sense and a disconnection from the physical world. Aware, because you're incredibly conscious of the Mist and the mortal and godly auras around you, but still disconnected because you wouldn't even react if someone pushed you out of your seat. That monster flickering in and out of my sight throughout the day wasn't helping matters either.

"You want the pills?" My mom asked cautiously. I grimaced. ADHD medications sucked. They messed up your appetite and stomach and gave you a hard time falling asleep. There were a lot of side effects that wasn't fun to deal with even if the stuff curbed your hyperactivity. Either way, it's a bad idea to have demigods to take medication. We didn't react well to it. Our ADHD/ADD wasn't meant to be tampered with; the headaches were always the worst.

I shook my head. "Nah, a can of Red Bull would be nice though."

I paused before adding, "Maybe two. Or three if the filming keeps dragging on like this."

Mom made a motion towards where the camper vans were stationed. "The cans are in the cooler, I'll get them for you."

I stood up. "No, I'll go with you."

I was about to follow my mom when the monster approached even closer. I didn't turn my head because I might alert the thing with my attention, but continued scrutinizing it without looking at it directly. It had some human shape, but the Mist flickered around the figure.

Not human.

"Mom. I have to go take care of something again," I said quietly. To her credit, mom didn't panic and only paled a little.

"Where is it?" She whispered.

"It's been following all day at a distance, but it got closer and it's not passive behavior," I murmured and began stripping off the fake armor costume since I couldn't fight if I was going to try and prevent the costume from being scuffed and torn up. I fumbled a little with some straps because my fingers were twitching in nervousness and anticipation. I wish I had a spare change of clothes because I wasn't feeling particularly battle ready in a loose black tank top and dark volleyball spandex.

"This is crazy, you've had to fight off monsters almost every day ever since we landed here. It wasn't this bad in California," my mom ranted. I closed my eyes. She wasn't really angry at me, I knew she was just worried about my safety.

I sighed. "I told you, we're in Turkey. Geographically, this country is close to Greece. Demigods shouldn't even be this close to the Mediterranean because monsters can sniff us out here way easier like a Thanksgiving dinner."

My mom glared at me for the analogy and bit her lip, obviously distressed. She could barely handle letting me go off on my own back at home and that would happen only about once every three or four months. I'd barely encounter more than five monsters in a year, however in the past five days since coming off the plane, I've already killed eight. Depending on what they were, a majority of the monsters would come out during the early morning or evening. A few would attack in broad daylight. Those cases were the worst because it forced me to find excuses, make distractions, and unintentionally irritate some mortal(s) along the way. I also had to make sure my mom wouldn't get blamed for anything. It was a huge hassle.

"I'll be okay, I only sense one," I assured her. It sucked giving out assurances because there was always that 'what if'. There's always a chance for these things to go wrong in so many ways, but I said the words for the sake of my mother's sanity and for my own.

"There's only one?" My mom stressed.

"One," I repeated when a little ping went off on my inner radar.

Scratch that. Two. I wasn't going to tell her that though.

"I don't think it'll be that bad this time," I continued. Three days ago, I had gotten beat up by an adult Laestrygonian. While my mom had freaked over the splotches of black, purple, and blue on my back and shoulders, I was just extremely thankful that there had only been one because those cannibal giants normally traveled in small groups. This one got separated because it followed a homeless person into an abandoned church.

The cannibal had been chewing on a femur when it tracked me down. I gulped at the recent memory.

My mom pulled out a small hand sanitizer bottle, a black hoodie, and a pair of men's long basketball shorts out the bag she carried everywhere. Saying a grateful thanks, I pulled on the jacket and shorts and made sure that the bottle was deep inside a pocket. It was the type you carried in a purse, but this one was filled with golden liquid instead. Nectar. I tightened my jaw when thinking about how prepared my mom was for this sort of thing. No parent should be used to seeing off their children to tackle Greek monsters. Her hand was shaking so I covered her hands with my own. I was only thirteen, but my mom already seemed small to me with her pixie haircut and petite body frame.

She looked me in the eye, pleading, "Be safe. Please, please be careful if it gets too much to handle."

"I will. I'll send you the Mist when I'm finished," I said and after a tight hug, I slowly walked over to where the monster was hiding. I waved behind my back because I knew my mom was watching me. I was getting close and the Mist was really heavy now, almost as if it was warding off mortals away from the area which was convenient at the moment. There wasn't anyone else around.

Well, you little stalker, where are you?

Crouching, I peeked around a corner of a stone wall and wrinkled my nose at the sight.

The monster was facing away from me, but to put simply, it looked like a bull, but with a boar for a head instead. I could see large dark scales lining down its back like a porcupine. The thing didn't appear harmful at all. It was just like a regular lazy cow, lying on a grassy field and enjoying the sun. The bull-thing let out a soft moan and yellow gas oozed out of its sinus pores and mouth. Instinctively, I held a hand to my mouth and watched in horror as plants shriveled up in contact with the disgustingly colored smog.

Didn't the Seven fight these when they went to Italy? Some poisonous cow monster thing. Cato-something, spelled with a 'c' or 'k', I don't remember.

The poisonous cow turned its head towards me and my vision blurred when I nearly saw its glowing yellow eyes. Dry heaving, I stumbled forward to my knees, panic overriding common sense when my lungs stopped functioning. Scrambling, I pulled out a sword from my dreams. Pure white adamantine metal, tempered in the River of Acheron, shining like a polished fang. I slashed blindly at the cow's head, desperately hoping that its death would end my own suffering.

It didn't.

I distantly heard the thump of a monster head hitting the grassy ground, but my own suffocation didn't cease. I choked for several more seconds when fuzzy darkness overtook my sight, but before I was completely out, I heard the clip-clop of hooves.

Pathetic, I thought as I let the black consume me.

I woke with up to the smell of something burning. Thankfully, it wasn't me, but my black hoodie. What was even more disconcerting was the huge sitting centaur that was watching it burn in the makeshift campfire nearby.

"You should not be here, demigod."

"What-," I gasped from where I lay. "Who're you?"

"I am Asbolus."

"Fantastic," I throatily coughed and blew a chunk of hair out of my eyes. "And what was that thing?"

"That, my dear, was a katoblep," the centaur answered. "Its gaze would have caused more harm on your health if your abilities hadn't protected you."

He watched me with inscrutable dark eyes as I tried sitting up, wincing when raw skin rubbed against the ground and fabric. Keeping a suspicious eye on the centaur, I pulled out the hand sanitizer bottle and squeezed some nectar out to my hands, rubbing the golden liquid on my legs where it stung and my elbows that had gotten scraped to the point of bleeding.

"Why're you burning my jacket? And whad'ya mean, my 'abilities'?"

"It was exposed to poison and would have been dangerous if you had kept it," the centaur said with a matter-of-fact tone. He reminded me a lot of Chiron, but a more disconnected, unfeeling Chiron. Just as old and experienced, but not a teacher who cared for students. He had black hair, too, while Chiron's hair was brown.

"One of your abilities, passed down from your father, dulls the visual senses of those around you. I presume that it must have been effective against the katoblep, therefore its usual deathly gaze weakened when it saw you. It is the only reason why you are able to recover without medicine or herbs right now."

I had already suspected myself of that phenomenon, but it was nice to have an old-looking centaur confirm it. I tried standing, but the not enough blood was flowing to my head so I flopped back to the ground. At this state, I wasn't even capable of stringing together complex sentences or thoughts. I stayed in that position, back against the dirt, and waved a hand aimlessly into the air at the centaur's direction.

"You're a Seer, uh, ya watch birds," I yammered. I was almost delirious. Must've been the after effects of the cow poison breath.

"The one who warned the Lapith guy, the King o'Thessaly, about inviting centaurs to his wedding party or something."

"And failed," Asbolus remarked despondently. "Many still died."

"Oh stop, you're just like Chiron. Taking the blame of events you can't even control," I muttered and laid a forearm over my eyes.

"How long."

"I'm sorry?"

"How long have I been out?"

"In mortal time, approximately three and a half hours."

I cursed in mixture of Greek and English profanities. I was so screwed when I get back on set. Mom was going to kill me and Director Gordon was going to lose his mind over missing a stunt double and now we're behind schedule. Man, everyone was going to give me dirty looks. No one liked a worker who dragged everything behind.

"Granddaughter of the Protogenoi."

I grunted. What the heck was a Protogenoi?

"Daughter of Hypnos."

Now that got my attention.

Under my forearm, I shot the centaur a sharp look.

"How do you know?" I demanded.

"Your lineage is different from the rest. I call you demigod only because of your half-mortal blood, but your aura is distinct from the offspring of the Olympians. Your father stands in the same generation as Ouranos, the father of the sky, you know. Therefore, your own great-grandfather is Khaos itself and your second cousin is the King of Titans," Asbolus sagely explained.

"Wait, stop," I groaned when my head throbbed. I felt something deep inside the ground shudder and the Mist crackled dangerously. This world's reaction to names was too sensitive sometimes. It needed to chill, honestly.

"Don't say those words, it makes my head hurt."

"I understand that this sort of information may seem shocking to you, but your father wished for you to know of this as y-"

I cut Asbolus off, "Hold on, Hypnos said that? Is he acknowledging me as his child?"

The centaur's placid expression remained unchanging.

"Hypnos has yet to claim any of his children as he has not received an honorable cabin in Camp Half-Blood, however-"

I let out a harsh laugh. Excuses.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Do you really?"

His question struck me to the core and I stayed silent because no, I didn't. I didn't understand anything that Hypnos was trying to do with me. I didn't how he felt towards me. I didn't know if he was proud of me, if he cared about me, if he at least thought of me, or if he even wanted me as his child. Why did the absence of a cabin stop him, or any other gods, from claiming their children?

I didn't know anything. Asbolus probably detected my hesitation.

"Your father-"

"What does he want? What are you even doing here? Did he send you? How did you find me?"

The questions fired one after another without filter and glancing at Asbolus, he seemed miffed in being interrupted for the third time.

"Sorry," I muttered. I tried standing for the second time, and was able to get on my feet although the world spun slowly around me. The poison was almost completely gone from my system so I was starting to think more clearly.

"I will answer what I can after I say this: your father wishes for you to not bother yourself with trivial thoughts and that you should continue to act accordingly. The prophecy will proceed as the Oracle of Delphi has dictated and he advises you to look into history past the Olympian gods," Asbolus imparted.

"As for your other questions, I believe I answered the first with what I informed you just now; I am here because yes, through omens, your father asked me to relay this to you; I found you by tracing the trails of the monsters and beasts you had killed over the past few days."

In hopes of eliminating the rest of the poison, I squeezed several drops of nectar on my tongue. It tasted like vanilla coffee. Bitter and sweet.

While checking my body for any other signs of blood or dirt stains, I asked, "Is that all?"

Asbolus' tail flicked in irritation. "I am not simply a messenger, demigod. Do not take this encounter for granted. Not many gods are as free-willed or powerful as your father and almost all communications with the gods have been severed," he stated sternly.

"Do not expect to have this type of occurrence to happen again. I am a respected Seer and-"

"Thank you."

Asbolus paused in slight shock when I flipped over to a ninety degree bow.

"Thank you," I repeated. "Thank you for coming here and telling me this. I really appreciate it."

"Naturally," the centaur sniffed. I was about to leave the when I paused for another question.

"Um, is it okay if I Iris Message you sometime? It won't be frequent or often, but just if I had a serious problem," I said.

"I do not carry messages," he stressed stonily and gave me a stink eye.

I huffed, "Not to talk to my dad, but if I wanted to ask you something, could I?"

"Absolutely not."

I shrugged. If the situation called for it, I'd still I.M. the centaur anyway since it would be his choice to accept it or not.

"Thanks," I said one last time and turned around, brainstorming what I could tell everybody on set when I get back. My body being sluggish, I tripped two times along the way.

"Paige and Justin, this is Jade."

I resisted the urge to yawn in their faces as I shook hands with my soon-to-be stepsister and stepbrother.

"Is that a scar?"

I glanced down at the short pale strip of skin on the thigh that contrasted against the rest of my tan leg.

"Uh, yeah."

"How'd you get it?"

"Clumsy with kitchen knives."

My soon-to-be-step-siblings winced.

"And what about that?" Paige asked, pointing at a distinct darkened blotchy patch of skin on my right forearm.

Lava from the molten towers.

"Got burned with hot water."

"Another accident?"

"You seem to get into a lot of accidents," commented Justin. He raised an eyebrow. My brain faintly recognized that expression on the cover of one of the popular teen magazines. I also distantly remembered my mom telling me that my future step-family were a little famous. While the two were preoccupied with other strange markings littered across my body, I examined their appearance to memorize the details.

Paige was the same age as me and Justin was three years older. Mom had said that the dad, Fritz Adalstan, was a low profile actor while his kids were in the film and modeling business. They were home schooled because they couldn't hold decent attendance at a regular school, so their father decided to bring them to Turkey on vacation to visit us. I had three more days of filming left. It would have been over in two days, but because I had disappeared yesterday, everything was delayed.

I shrugged. "I'm often at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Not a lie.

Paige flipped her wavy light blonde hair over a shoulder and exchanged glances with her older brother. I could tell they were doing the silent sibling communication thing. I had siblings in the past and even though we didn't get along all the time, we still had thoughts on similar wavelengths.

"Dad said that he'll be coming tomorrow," she told mom. Mom had already gotten well acquainted with the step-kids during the summer while I had been gone. It was just me that was behind the loop now.

She nodded. "Thanks, I'll let you three get to know each other. Here's some Turkish lira and go get something to eat for dinner. I'm afraid I won't be able to go with you guys because I have to talk to Director Gordon now."

I winced because even though I wasn't that narcissistic, that talk was probably going to be about me. Park Yuri sent me a look that said 'be nice and don't get in trouble' and then walked out of the trailer. I was mildly offended at her glare because it wasn't like I asked for trouble. Sometimes.

There was a moment of awkward silence after she left when Justin pointed out another blemish on my skin.

"What happened to your elbows?"

Mom, being the excessively worried person she was, had bandaged my elbows with white gauze to the point I couldn't properly bend my arms.

"I scraped them while filming today," I said. I should really be concerned at how easily I spouted lies. It's definitely not healthy for my moral compass.

Paige and Justin brightened when I mentioned 'filming'.

"Oh yeah, Yuri said that you're a stunt double for Lola Peters? That's really cool! Does that mean you swordfight and stuff?"

The three of us managed small talk that way as we stepped outside into the early evening sky and walked to the nearest restaurant looking place. I was more hesitant because I was nervous that I was going to see another monster. Mom shouldn't have left me with these two even if she assumed that more mortals around me was going to erase my presence. I was in danger in Turkey no matter what.

My step-siblings weren't horrible. If anything, Justin was a bit standoff-ish, which was understandable since I was a complete stranger who was entering their legal family registrar. Paige was friendly although too perky and bouncy for my tastes, but she was the one who kept the conversation going so I was thankful. I guess the dinner would've gone more smoothly if Justin hadn't kept staring suspiciously at the bruises and marks that spotted my arms and legs. He didn't completely buy into my stories of accidents and falls during my work as a stunt double.

"Do you know if Yuri's going to change your last name?"

Huh. Did not think of that.

"I don't, but I don't mind if she does," I answered with a quick smile. Some people might strongly associate their identity with their last name, but that wasn't me. Besides, the surname 'Adalstan' sounded okay.

Walking back to our trailer was kind of comfortable, but I let the two go in without me first.

"I forgot something on set, I'll come back," I explained.

"Can I come?" Paige asked excitedly.

"Sorry, but next time? It's really not that cool of a set, I can show you better ones tomorrow," I yammered and without giving them a chance to respond, I left.

I went back to the street where we had eaten dinner and took a turn into an alleyway. I found what I was looking for when I came near a metal fence.

Crouching down, I muttered, "And what's a little guy like you doing here?"

I had thought it was a huge threat judging by how much my head had ached earlier, but instead I saw something else. A yellow lizard with bright green eyes, no bigger than my middle finger blinked owlishly at me. It was perched on one of the metal rings on the fence near the ground and I let it scuttle onto my hand. I was going to let it go since I must have targeted the wrong creature when it suddenly bared its red fangs and hissed with a volume that did not belong to its tiny body.

Flinging the lizard away, I watched its spine ripple and grow. Its banana calloused skin shredded and stretched and scales expanded to a larger size. Its green eyes that had been barely bigger than my thumbnail was now the size of my hand. From horned head to its scaly tail, the body could easily wrap around mine like a constrictor. Bones and leather sprouted from its back with a sickening crunch of realigning spinal cords and the thin skin fanned out with menacing hooks at the ends.

And are those wings behind its back?

I gaped upwards.

"Woah. Not little. Not little at all," I concluded. Those fangs and claws looked like they could slice me like cheese.

I dove to the side when it flung a glob of something liquid at my face.

"Poison. Why is it poison today?" I complained as I heard the pavement sizzle behind me. The stench of burning materials was absolutely disgusting. Twin katana appeared in my hands as I got up from the ground. I was going to swipe, but a spiky tail came my way so I hit the ground a second time. I tried slashing at a leg, but the blade slid harmlessly off its scales, only denting it.

Okay, very hard scales. Come on Jade, get the vulnerable spots. Eyes. Maybe the underbelly.

I grunted when I batted away its tail with my left sword and darted onto its back. I was going to stab the monster in the eye, but I didn't plan for its neck to completely twist one hundred eighty degrees. The thing spat another spray of acid into my face. I barely managed to turn my head so that my sweater could take the brunt of contact, but I still felt flecks of poison stinging my skin.

Without losing momentum, I brought down both swords onto each of its eyes and pulled them out as I tumbled off of the dragon's back. The monster shrieked in pain, writhing in on the ground in a mixture of streaming blood and poison. It couldn't die since I hadn't dealt it a killing blow. I let it out of its misery by beheading it.

After the remains showed the first signs of disintegrating, I tore off the sweater and took out the leftover nectar in the small bottle. I was lucky that I had kept it with me. Using it like a salve, I rubbed the nectar to where I felt my skin was burning. I would have drank the rest, but I didn't want to risk overdosing. Nectar and ambrosia could only be taken into larger amounts if your injuries were life threatening.

While waiting for the stinging sensation to recede, I scanned the area of damage. The metal fence was spotted with holes where the metal had melted from acid and there were awkward patches on the cement where puddles of it lay. The ground was scattered with splotches of green and yellow concrete. My own sweater had wasted away, so I tossed it into a nearby black garbage bin. Mom wasn't going to happy that I'd torn up two jackets in one day.

It was dark by the time I walked out of the alley. Stars were twinkling in and out of existence and I shivered when a breeze swept past me. Street lamps lined the sidewalk and I took my time going back to the trailer. If I went back right away, then I'd have to face my soon-to-be-step-siblings, maybe my mom, and then give a mixture of lies and excuses, so I took my time.

"Ten," I said to no one in particular.

I breathed and watched my breath come out as fog in the chilly nighttime air.

I'm alive.

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