Outcasts of Olympus: Book 2

Chapter Six

We set up our position in a dark alleyway just as the sun was setting. Leo was on the ground, at the closed end of it, while we were on the rooftop of the building right behind it. We had a rope tied around his waist, a place where he miraculously hadn't gotten slashed.

I didn't like it, but we were basically using him like a fishing line. "Yay, I fuckin' love being the worm on a hook," Leo said, looking around. "Again, we're really sorry about this," I hissed down to him. "We didn't have any other choice."

"Besides, you'll be fine. I can poof down there if shit hits the fan," Castor commented. Leo turned his head to us and stuck his tongue out. "Now start acting like a tasty vampire snack," Castor said.

Leo growled. "I already am a snack!" he snapped. "Or... so I've been told." He then started to pace in circles. "Oh, look at me! I'm so hurt!" he said sarcastically. "More emotion!" Stella hissed.

He turned his head back up to us. "You want more emotion? Fine," he said. He then turned away from us, cleared his throat, and got to work. "Blood is everywhere!" Leo shouted. "I'm bleeding out! Oh God why?! Why have you forsaken me?!"

"I'll give him props... He does sound in pain," Alexa said. I rolled my eyes and bit back, because he is!

"Oh look! My arm fell off!" he said. A trashcan tumbled over and he went quiet and stared at the direction it came from, which was pitch black. "...I was joking!" he called to the darkness. I hurried and grabbed the rope, ready to pull him up before anything came at him.

But, nothing did happen. A minute or two passed by and nothing came out. Leo growled and turned back at us. "I told you it wouldn't wor--" But he got tackled to the ground. An empusa was leaning over him, ready for the kill.

"A fallen god!" she shouted with glee. "Yep! But I'm not signing any autographs!" Leo said before grabbing a piece of wood and slamming it across the monster's face, breaking the plank in half, but getting the empusa off in the process.

Leo scrambled to his feet. "Athena!" he shouted. "Any second now, please!" I started pulling him up, groaning with the effort as he quickly got up and out of the empousa's reach. Castor and Alexa jumped down and quickly, and surprisingly easily, detained the monster as Castor held her down.

"Foolish demigods!" she hissed. "I'm just a regular god, but, eh," Castor said. Alexa knelt down and glared. "Now, tell us... have you seen the orb?" she growled.

The empusa smiled. "I know you!" she hissed. "You're the one who belongs to the boy with Kronos in him! The one that was defended by the God of the Dead!"

Alexa didn't seem too happy with that comment. She looked at Castor, who nodded and easily broke the empusas's arm like paper, causing her to scream and hiss in agony.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, Leo was having his own trouble. The whole encounter had opened up the wound in his arm, and Stella and Evadne were trying to keep him from bleeding out or worsening the wound. I went over, ripped off a chunk of the lower half of my shirt (Don't worry, I was still mostly covered) and bunched it up, applying pressure to the wound.

"Jesus Christ!" Leo hissed and winced. "We don't even believe in him," Evadne said. "Why are you using him as an expletive?" Leo turned and glared at her. "Would you rather me use my creative curses?!" he growled. Evadne gestured like, okay, okay, and stood up to watch what was happening in the alley below.

Meanwhile, Castor and Alexa were making great progress. "It is in the Louvre! You will never get it!" the empusa cackled. Alexa growled and stabbed the empusa and Castor got up. "We got the info!" Castor called. "Great!" I called back. "Can you get back up here now? We've got another problem with Leo's wounds!"

Castor got himself and Alexa back up there, and Alexa quickly rushed to Leo. "Shit, shit, shit shit!" she muttered as she started trying to close the wound.

I stood back and gave her the space she needed to work. But within a moment, I heard another noise below us. I looked down over the edge, and saw two more empousai checking around the dying body of their fallen sister.

"Of course..." Castor growled. I drew the sword Alexa had given me yesterday and jumped down, landing in a deep crouch and immediately slashing through one of the monsters' bodies.

Castor appeared next to me, swiping over my head, chopping one of the monster's off. "I've been needing some training, anyway," he said with a smile. Slowly, even more empousai started creeping into the alley, all of them headed towards Leo. "Our plan worked too well," I muttered. I counted about five others walking towards us, their mouths practically foaming with hunger.

"I think I got an idea, but you might wanna take cover." Castor said. I looked over at him, raising an eyebrow warily. "Why...?" I asked nervously.

Castor looked at all the monsters. "I'm gonna do something... And you probably won't survive."

The answer dawned on me. "Shit!" I shouted, ducking into a corner and shielding my eyes. A bright flash of green light blasted out as I heard the monsters scream in pain. The light slowly faded and I uncovered my eyes. "There..." Castor muttered.

I looked, and saw that all the empousai had fallen to the ground, their skin charred and smoking. "Burnt empousai," I said, my stomach churning. "Yum..."

Castor pushed his hair back. "Starting to sound like Leo, Athena," he said, giving me a weird look. I stared at him for a moment. "Never say that again, please," I replied.

He just shrugged and teleported us up back to the rest of the group. Leo's arm was stitched up and bandaged, but he'd passed out due to blood loss. I hurried over to him, looking at Alexa. "Is he going to be okay?" I asked urgently.

Alexa sighed. "Yeah, he'll be fine..." she answered. "He just needs some rest. His body seems to be trying to repair itself and is working somewhat, but I have no clue if it'll heal him that much."

"We are not going to use him in any other plans until he has healed enough that his wounds will stay closed!" I shouted, looking at everyone in turn with a hard glare. Even Stella. They all nodded understandingly.

I turned and looked at Leo, who was pale and still unconscious. I knew that I couldn't let him get hurt to that degree again. In his mortal body, I knew he couldn't take it. I looked up at Castor. "Can you carry him back?" I asked him. "I can do better than that, I can get us all back there at the same time," he said, picking Leo up.

"Oh, really?" I asked hopefully. "Yeah, everyone grab on."

We all grabbed Castor's arms and we appeared suddenly in our hotel room. He slowly set Leo on the couch and Alexa sighed. "I need some rest... Goodnight, everyone," she said, walking out. "Good night!" I called after her.

Castor sighed. "Same here with me."

"And me," Stella said, walking to our room. Evadne left wearily with Castor, barely raising her hand to wave goodbye. I followed Stella into our room. She was already laying down, ready to get some sleep. Slowly, I lay down next to her, turning over to face her and smiling softly. "You doing okay?" I asked.

"Yeah... just... scared for Leo," she whispered. I nodded in agreement. "I understand that. That's why I got so upset earlier." She hugged me tightly and rested her head on my chest. "I'm so scared," she whispered, trembling slightly. "Hey, it'll be okay," I whispered. "I won't let anything happen, okay?"

I gently stroked my fingers through her hair, trying to soothe her. "Okay, I believe you." She whispered, closing her eyes. I kissed her forehead gently. "Sleep," I said softly. "We can deal with all this in the morning."