The Fight for the Trident

Chapter 1

The sun shone down on the window of Emberoh High School and on the little desk sitting in the light. Maria fiddled with her long white ponytail as she re-read the same question on her exam for the tenth time, struggling to recall the answer.

A little voice in the back of her head whispered in an all-too-familiar voice: Use the Quadratic Formula.

She smiled slightly. Thanks, Tony. She scribbled down the formula and began plugging in numbers. Once she finished the exam, she turned it in and walked back to her desk. She picked up her enchanted notebook and wrote down, "Thanks for the help."

The familiar scrawl of her foster brother appeared underneath her sloppy cursive: "No problem. Did you do good?"

She bit her lip. "Not sure. I'll find out tomorrow."

The bell rang. She grabbed her things and slipped out the door before racing down the hall to find Tony.

Tony was waiting for her, leaning against the wall and levitating an apple. He smirked, his red eyes bright. "Heya."

"Hey!" She hugged him. "Thank you so much for the help!"

"I'd be a pretty poor brother if I couldn't help you out on a test. Now come on; I promised John that we'd go watch him practice." He led her out the door and towards the football field. "So how were your other classes?"

"Really good. Ms. Fieldsgrene is a great science teacher."

"Most golems are." He looked around, then pointed. "There he is."

Jonathan Brown was waiting for them, already dressed in his uniform. His sleek black hair looked almost blue in the light of the field as he waved to them, his eyes shining. "Over here, guys!"

Maria ran over and hugged him. "Hey, Johnny."

He held her close with one arm, giving Tony a fist bump. "Ready to see the team?"

Tony nodded, lowering the hood of his shirt and brushing his white hair away from his pale face. "Lead the way, buddy."

Johnny led the two to the bleachers before running out to join the team as they began warming up.

Maria looked at Tony. "Aren't you going to burn?"

He glanced at her. "Me? No, I'll be fine. It's dark enough for me now."

She smiled faintly, twirling her ponytail around her finger. "If you're sure. I don't want you to turn into a crispy critter."

He chuckled. "I won't; I promise. I'll fade if I need to."

She nodded. "As long as you stay next to me."

"Why would I leave?" He nudged her. "Can't leave my little sister all by her lonesome, now, can I?"

She giggled. "Tony, stop," she chided.

He smirked, watching as Johnny began running laps. "So what's up with you and Brown?"

Maria shrugged. "He's giving me math help."

"Ah, that explains it. I take it he's a great help?"

"Seeing how he's a year older than me and almost done with his math credentials already? I'd say so."

Tony nodded. "Sounds 'bout right."

"What in blazes are you doing here?" a snobbish, high-pitched whine demanded.

The two turned to stare as the cheerleaders walked over, led by a blonde-haired girl about Maria's age wearing arguably the most risqué outfit out of them all.

Maria waved shyly. "H-H-Hey, Susanne-"

"Tony, I thought we told you we didn't want you bleaching this place?!" Susanne interrupted. "Get out of here!"

"I was invited," Tony said, leaning back with a small smirk. "Johnny told me I could come."

"Johnny doesn't control who comes here; I do! Go home to your wimpy brat of a sister!"

"U-Um... excuse me?" Maria whispered. "I-I'm sitting right here-"

"Yeah, go back to the carnival you came from!" another cheerleader jeered. "No one wants to get infected!"

"I-I'm right here-"

"Go on, albino! Go back to your shadow dimension!" Susanne called.

"HEY!!!"

Everyone turned to see Johnny standing next to them, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

The cheerleaders all swooned. "Hi, Johnny~!"

"Get away from them; I invited them as my guests!" Johnny ordered, pointing to the cheerleading coach. "Get back to your places!"

Everyone except Susanne left. She merely turned to him. "And why should I listen to you, dragon boy?"

Johnny glared at her. "Because if you don't, I'll let Maria make you act like the pompous little dog you are!"

Susanne paled, finally looking at Maria.

Maria winced, looking down.

Susanne raced off with a little cry and incoherent mumbling about letting her father hear about it.

Johnny walked over to Maria's side. "Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly. "Y-Y-Yeah... I-I-I'm fine..."

"Are you sure, sis?" Tony asked gently. "You look paler than me."

She covered her face. "I-I-I don't unders-s-stand... wh-why do they h-h-hate m-m-me? Th-They d-d-don't even know me!"

"They hate anyone who's not purely human," Johnny grumbled. "It's why Suse broke up with me."

"She's a moron," Tony muttered.

"Tell me about it."

Maria smiled faintly, sniffling. "Th-Thanks, guys."

"Of course, Bella." Johnny ruffled her hair. "By the way, how's your ability coming along?"

She giggled. "W-W-Well, most of those girls were all thinking about you shirtless after practices..."

Johnny chuckled. "Sounds like Susanne and her posse." He looked over his shoulder. "I'd best get back to practice."

"We'll be here the whole time," Tony promised.

"All three hours," Maria agreed.

Johnny smiled and hugged them both. "Thanks, guys." He ran off back to his teammates.

As the practice went on, Tony and Maria continued cheering on Johnny and his team as they ran through drills and practiced new techniques for the playoff games. Johnny eventually stopped practicing and walked over to the two, chatting with them about classes and other little random obscenities about the school and their home life. Tony had to fade to near invisibility as the sun moved out from behind the clouds to set over the horizon, which caused Johnny and Maria to jump and then laugh at their paranoia.

Tony smiled. "Sorry. Bad habit."

"It's alright, Tony," Johnny said. "We're used to it."

Tony nodded.

After practice, Johnny ducked into the locker rooms for a few minutes and came back with his hair sopping wet and wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and white high-tops instead of his uniform.

Maria smiled. "You shower quick."

"I try to." Johnny let out a breath. "Are we still up for the study night?"

"Why would we cancel?"

The three walked off towards Johnny's sleek black convertible and climbed in, driving off towards Johnny's house.

Maria curled up against her brother's side, falling asleep as the car seemed to lull her deep into darkness.