39 Autumn Lowe

//Help me reach $540 before the end of July. I'll rapid fire these chapters to reach that goal. 3 on here, 1 on Patre0n. One chapter for Patre0n left to write. Every donation helps me keep consistency and prevents me from dropping the novel. EVER.

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"We're not sticking around for lunch. But you probably already knew that." Chion sat down by the edge of the pool. "It's almost guaranteed how that will eventually play out. History always repeats itself, they say. Let's not be the ones to do so."

"Yeah. I'm still trying to figure out what she did to me?" Luke rubbed his temples. "I didn't WANT to agree with her, but in the moment...."

"It's fine. Don't dwell on it too much." The youth entwined his fingers together and placed his chin on top of them. "For now, we should search the island for the Fleece. If it's here, we'll find it quickly, meet up with Annabeth, and get ourselves out of here. This island creeps me out enough as it is."

It hadn't even been ten minutes since the duo had left the main lobby and made their way out to the resorts pool area where they had most of the waterslides fixed to. The large black wolf had all but vanished from the area, leaving Chion slightly disappointed since he had actually wanted to get a better look at the animal. Along the way, the dual Demigods had run into a number of guests and Spa workers, all of whom were women. It sort of reminded Chion of the Hunters Of Artemis, complete with the assorted looks of hatred, anger, disgust, curiosity, and various other emotions mingled in the gazes and looks of the residing females. There wasn't any way that the youth could stay on the island for more than a few hours with how many hostile gazes were focused on him.

His palm was tingling like crazy, indicating that there were either monsters or dangerous entities that desperately wanted his head on a pike.

It wasn't in his best interest to stick around and find out.

There were a few things that Chion wanted to touch upon and mentally note, such as everything that had transpired with Circe.

For one, the goddess was able to use CharmSpeak. It wasn't a super well-known ability, at least by Chions standards, and the youth only really knew about it when studying up on Aphrodite and her children, the most prominent users of it. It seemed that in addition to the Goddess of love and her offspring, those who could use magic could mimic it to some degree, albeit with lower results. Chion highly doubted that he would have been able to shake off any true forms of CharmSpeak, even with his weird genetics that kept cutting off Circe's magic. As far as he knew, there wasn't any known way to counter this type of magic and could very well be even more potent depending on the weilder. It was a scary power to say the least.

Another thing was some of the things Circe had said during her conversation with him.

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Those who stay in the Resort are carefully attended to, fed, and watered daily."

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(("What the heck does watered daily mean?")) Chion mulled it over in his head, finding this particular line troubling. (("People aren't plants. Unless she's referring to giving them water? But why not get it themselves during lunch, in which case saying the lines "watered daily" wouldn't even make sense."))

He didn't have enough info to put everything together, but he WAS very suspicious about the whole thing. An island filled with only women. Circe somehow knowing who they were and that they were on a quest AND would be landing at the Spa. The pirate ship and various vessels but not a single man around in sight. Pirates of the old era had been predominantly male, assuming it was indeed a real ship, and the other ships had seemed to be just as outdated as the vessel, decades or centuries apart. If his guesses were to he taken seriously, then where were the males?

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"Just one of our patented Shakeovers, and I guarantee you'll see results immediately."

"You turned Odysseus' men into pigs in the Odyssey. Unless we're talking about someone else."

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Letting out a breath, a puff of visible air, Chion let the thought die off. He didn't have enough information to form a solid answer, and if things went well, he would be able to leave the island before having to find out.

"The Golden Fleece is a magical item that had healing properties. It's unrivaled in this sense." Luke glanced around the area they were in. "It's likely that it'll be in a place with loads of thriving vegetation. Maybe the outer edges of the island??"

"If we split up, we can cover each side of the island in a few hours." Chion slipped his bag off his shoulder and unzipped it. Rummaging through it, he pulled out a flare gun. "Worst case scenario, blast this. I got it from an Apollo member who smuggled it into camp."

Luke took the flare gun and looked it over. "How many things you got in that backpack?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Try me."

"Axe. Shovel. Pickaxe. Rope. A number of specially made Greek Fire filled jars as well as vials. A shield made from the outer shell of a Giant Scorpion. Darts and a case of venom extracted from a Giant Scorpion." Chion listed of the things with his fingers. "Ambrosia. Bow and arrows. An assortment of food. Flashlights WITH batteries. Canteens of water. Snacks. Blankets. A change of clothes. A spare dagger. A spare sword. Lighters and insect repellant for a makeshift flame thrower. Flashbangs. Tear gas-"

"Yeah. I think I get the gist of it." Luke cut the youths list off midway, turning around and heading in the opposite direction. "Packing the entire arsenal of Camp Halfblood in your bag like a limitless storage space."

"I just wanted to be prepared." Chion zipped it back up and slung it onto his back. "The more we're prepared, the higher our chances of survival. Though, I'll admit. The blankets didn't need to be there. I just figured yall would need it for future needs."

"Chion.....I don't think half of that stuff is necessary." Luke shook his head as he walked away. "You're a different breed, man."

With that, the blonde walked out of speaking distance, heading for the complete opposite side of the island. Chion stood up from his seat and also departed the area, moving towards the side where the main bulk of the Resort resided. The odds of the Fleece being on this half of the island was very scarce, but no stones would be left unturned. If it turned out they were in the wrong area, they needed to leave as soon as possible and get back on course. His instincts were already screaming at him to leave. He hardly needed a reason at that point to vacate the island entirely.

"Hello? You're Chionothýella Pagos, right?"

"Just Chion," the youth answered before even turning around. "I never use my full name. Too much of a mouthful. Whose asking?"

Turning around, Chion met the gaze of someone slightly shorter than him, a young girl around 12 or 13 years of age with pitch black hair and turquoise colored hues. She wore a pair of yoga pants the same color as her locks, hair that was pulled back into a tight ponytail, complete with a bright red bow. She wore a simple white sleeveless t-shirt with a sports bra fixed underneath it. From the way she was dressed, the girl could've been a resident of the resort or one of the younger workers, though it was most likely the former one. Rather than hold a negative look akin to the other women throughout the vicinity, she held a look of genuine curiosity.

"I'm Autumn Lowe." The girl held out her hand, smiling slightly. "It's nice to meet you."

Chion tilted his head slightly, trying to read any emotions in her face or body language. For some strange reason, he couldn't. "Likewise. Are you a resident in the resort orrrr maybe a worker or daughter of one of said workers?"

"Daughter. Born and raised here." Autumn took a step back and gave the youth a quick up and down look. "And you're the one that just got to the island right? Word travels fast around here. The nephew of Lady Circe and a male with the power over ice. Two others named Luke and Annabell? Something like that."

(("Oddly specific information.")) Chion frowned (("Did Circe tell everyone on the island about us and who we were?"))

"So, what did you need with me?" Chion asked, cutting right to the heart of the matter. "You definitely have a reason for coming over to me. Most of these women are giving me the stink eye. Except you. Wonder why that is."

"Most of the women here are present because they hate men or don't want to be around them." Autumn walked towards the edge of the nearest pool, Chion following close behind her. "Some have had bad or terrible experiences, some are just biased and are plain misandristic, and others just want to be in a safe place and believe that a man on the island would derail the long established tranquility."

"And which one are you?" The youth questioned, watching as the girl dipped the tips of her bare toes into the water. "Where do you stand?"

"Nowhere." Autumn glanced back slightly. "I never met another man before."

"So, you aren't the type to make biases or form conclusions based on the thoughts of other people? Pretty impressive considering how much men are despised on this resort." Chion nodded in approval. "Most people seem to form opinions based on the words of others without stopping to think for themselves, more content with bandwagonnning than thinking of their own accord. You're younger than most of these adults but somehow have your head on straight."

"You talk....different," Autumn noted immediately. "You're the same age but speak with intelligence."

"I'm just as smart as any regular demigod." Chion shrugged. "We all have to be if we want to survive."

Autumn stared at the youth for a few moments before looking away. Shaking off her feet, she turned around and moved to the left, motioning the white-haired individual to follow her. "Come with me for a bit. I wanna show you something. Maybe you can help me figure things out."