A MESSAGE

The gym was unrecognizable. The walls had cracks in them, the basketball hoops lay on the ground. Debris littered the floor, and the windows were destroyed. One of the exit doors had deformed, and now it was unusable. I was amazed at the damage those hyenas caused in such a short time and wondered how much Julien and I contributed.

I stepped on someone's hand. One of the kids in my class had been buried under the rubble. I pulled him out, only to find that his ribs were broken and he had been dead for a while, and he wasn't the only one. I counted at least thirty among the dead. Fortunately, there were some survivors. I dug out ten live humans from the rubble, and after Julien assured them that everything was fine now, they bowed, thanking us, and left the gym. Julien ran to the other side of the gym. "I going to see if there are people over there! You keep looking for anyone that might be alive on this side, got it?" I nodded and sat atop a pile of rubble.

Everything around me was still. Nothing moved or made a sound, and that indicated all the bodies here besides mine was dead. The scenery was depressing, but it was something worth pondering about. My father, Kronos, had declared war on the gods again. Either he sent those hyenas here to kill Julien, or they did this of their own will, but it made no difference. What mattered was the result, which in this case was that lots of innocent lives were taken for no good reason. Sooner or later, I might find Julien's body lying around the battlefield, or maybe even Vittoria's. Our friends at DGH, like Amelia, might die as painfully as my classmates did today. Helen herself might die, or the gods would convince her to turn on me, but I shuddered the thought aside. As long as Helen is unaware of what I'm doing or our other lineage, she won't point her arrow at my neck. That just means I have to keep the gods away from her, and I have to keep her alive however I could. Right now, I can't raise my sword against Julien. That would have to change, as anyone who might endanger my sister is a threat, and any attempt on her life must be exterminated. But I could never aim my sword at Helen, and I would never even consider it. She's the whole reason I'm doing this(aside from getting one back at Zeus), and it would be pointless if she were to die. To prevent that scenario, I would have to speed up Kronos's will. I would also need to change. I'll break down on the battlefield as I am now if I ever were to see my friends' death. I have to become, or at least appear to be, indifferent about the plight of others, especially those I may have once cherished and those who side with the gods. Some deserve condemnation and a brutal end. However, many of the demigods I know are innocent. They might not be free of guilt, but the fault did not lie solely on them. It lay on the gods, the deplorable filth that deceived them. While I eventually would have to kill them, I'll try not to forget them for their sake, and I'll honor them until my own passing to atone for any sins I would cause. Had Kronos not revealed himself to me, I would have been among the fooled. It's my job to either enlighten them or slit their heads before the gods make them suffer even more. I won't let Zeus or the other gods take advantage of us anymore.

I blushed. A woman had her arms around my chest(I assumed it was a woman because her nails were colored and because my gut said so) and licked my face, hissing as they did so. I turned around, and my jaw dropped. "Vittoria?"

This woman had an uncanny resemblance to her, but there were notable differences. She had red hair, whereas Vittoria's was the color of cinnamon. Her body was also more developed(likely because she was a full-grown woman), and she had a forked tongue. I wondered if Vittoria was her daughter and if she was a teacher or administrator in the school. The gym was near the library, and it had been an hour since Julien and I killed those hyenas. I found it odd nobody had heard the commotion going on inside of here. I faced the woman behind me. "Um, have we met before? You're acting awfully familiar."

The woman smiled at me and licked my face again. "Oh, you need not be wary. I am a servant of Lord Kronos and yours. My name is Lamia."

"Well, if you don't plan to start another death game of dodgeball, then you're fine by me. But why are you licking my face?"

"Oh, your father loves being seduced by attractive women. I assumed his son would have the same affinities, but I guess not."

"Wait, what exactly is the relationship between you and my father?"

"I'm a mere slave. Lord Kronos treats me well regardless and also wishes to practice his... masculine ambitions on me." I found that very unsettling and hoped that Lamia wasn't being sexually exploited, but she laughed. "You can be at ease, child. As I said, Lord Kronos treats me well. He can't even do such things yet anyway."

"Why not?"

"You will find out soon enough. More importantly, I bear a message from your father."

"Which is?"

"Your new objective will be to secure the Golden Fleece. Your companions on this quest will be Vittoria and someone whose reputation you recently have damaged. Vittoria will give more details once you arrive at DGH." I nodded. I had a new quest now, and this time, I would likely not be able to ask the Oracle for counsel. "Is there anything else Kronos has to tell me?"

"No, my liege. That is all." That was a bit disappointing, but I figured if Kronos had more to say, he would tell me in my dreams. I got up and thanked Lamia, and that's when I freaked out. Lamia had the bottom half of a snake. "Are you a dracaena?" Lamia nodded. "I am the first of my kind and the queen of all dracaena after being cursed by Hera. Do I scare you?"

"A bit," I admitted. "But that's because the way you introduced yourself was creepy." I smiled at her. "Other than that, I don't see any reason to be afraid. I would appreciate it if you didn't lick me every time we met." Lamia smirked. "As you wish, my liege."

"Also, just call me Yiannis. Calling me Lord and 'my liege' feels unnatural to me."

"You'll have to get used to it. As the son of Lord Kronos, you are anything but trivial. You are the one who shall strike down the gods. You are our hope."

"I realize that, but still..."

"Yiannis!" Julien came back from the other side of the gym. "I got everyone out safe and sound... am I interrupting something?"

I shook my head. "We were just about done talking." I turned to Lamia. "Well, it was nice to meet you. See you later, Lamia." Lamia smiled back at me. "Likewise. Take care of my daughter, will you?"

"Your daughter?"

"Nevermind. Your friend is awaiting you, my Lord. I shall see you some other time." She waved as she left through the exit. I ran to Julien, who wrapped his arm around my neck. "When did you become so popular?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lamia's the cutest girl in our class. Every boy has a crush on her. Vittoria will be jealous," he joked.

"Don't be silly. I just found Lamia under the rubble, and we had a little chat. What does Vittoria have to do with anything? More importantly, what happened on your end?"

"I found ten people in hiding and got them out of here. We should leave now too. It's almost time for history with Chiron." My phone confirmed that, and the two of us began to head out. "Shouldn't we head to DGH?" I asked. "That Crocotta mentioned how Kronos is going to get his hands on some fleece. It sounds like he's up to something."

"He sure is," Julien sighed. "And we're at a disadvantage. We have no clue how many of his spies are among us, and we still don't have a lead." I resisted the temptation to smile. Vittoria must have been working her charms, and poor Nathan still thinks I'm on his side. "Forget about the spies. The fleece is a bigger priority, right?"

Julien nodded. "I told Nathan to stop worrying about the spies, saying that we should send someone we know is on our side to go get the fleece, but he wouldn't listen. He rambled on about how anyone could be a double agent and not even the cult could be trusted."

"The cult, huh? He had no issues talking about it with you? How'd you win Nathan's trust?"

"Oh, Nathan and I had been friends for a really long time. In the old days, it was me, him, and Vittoria, but our relationship fractured as time went on." Vittoria wanted to kill him, and she still does even to this day. She blamed Julien for Anna's death, and Nathan got mad at him for punching Vittoria. "So, Nathan had a lot of faith in you or something? I'm pretty sure it would take more than a friendship to convince him."

"For most people, yes. But Nathan knew me ever since we were kids, and we hang out a lot. He'd still trust me even if I hated his guts. He knows everything there is to know about me."

"Oh, is that so? Well, even still, I'm sure the cult is a well-kept secret. The only way to know it exists is to be in it or-"

"Its members want to recruit you," Julien finished. "As I said, Nathan trusts me more than most, so I make a perfect candidate for the cult."

"Did you join?" Julien's eyes bore into me. "If I said yes, what would you do?"

"I would punch you and never talk to you again. But my instincts tell me there's more to it. You promised me you would protect Helen, and joining up with Nathan's crew is the worst possible way to do that."

"Yeah. Initially, I was against it. But when you told me Nathan was their leader, I thought I could make something of it. As a member, I get intel directly on the gods and sometimes on what Nathan is planning. If he does try something, I might be able to warn you." Now that I think about it, Julien had made the right choice. Even though Julien had just joined the cult, he still would have access to classified information. I couldn't get everything from him, but if Nathan did try something on Helen, Julien would get to her before he did.

But there was another aspect. What if Julien had always been a member? When I told him about the cult, he was angry, but I couldn't say whether it was because Nathan had a big mouth or the fact he doesn't care about Helen. If Julien is a part of the cult, then everything he said is a lie, and Helen's life might be in greater danger now that I know the cult doesn't see her as anything but a tool. But they'll keep her alive. After all, if Julien is just keeping tabs on me, then all I need to do is keep up the act. There's also the fact that if I die, the gods will need another savior, and Helen shares Hades's blood. They'll only kill her if the Titans capture her or if she turns on them, and neither is happening anytime soon. Even though I faked my innocence, Zeus still thinks I sabotaged him to give Hades more power(but he has no evidence). The king of the gods will be desperate now to find a scapegoat now that his position is threatened, but he has no evidence to do so. As long as it stays that way, he nor his minions can lay their hands on Helen. All that will depend on how good my performance is.

I could feel the cortisol bubbling in my brain, and I didn't enjoy it. It was made worse when I heard alarms ringing off. A fire drill? We went downstairs to our gym lockers, but the door was locked. I felt impatient for some reason, and so I ripped the door off its hinges. Demigod powers are so handy.

"Yiannis! The gym is already damaged enough. We don't need to add more!"

"Calm down, Julien. The gym's a trainwreck, so we can do whatever. Nobody would think we kids did all this. Besides, I'm more worried about what's going on at DGH. This fire drill gives us a perfect excuse to bail."

"Well, considering that monsters have infiltrated the school, it might actually be a real fire."

"Only more reason to rush our way outside. Let's go." We grabbed our backpacks and swiped our IDs in the cafeteria before storming off as Julien texted George to find us at the train station. The two of us hopped on a Bx28 bus, and once we got to the train station, I dashed to Jerome's(food truck dude who sells halal food). It was inappropriate, and Julien scolded me, but I was way too hungry.

George came shortly after, and the three of us got on a train in no time. We planned on picking Helen up from school before going to DGH, and I was worried. What happened if her school was getting attacked too?

After reaching the Queensboro bridge, we got on multiple buses before finally arriving at Helen's school, and my fears turned out to be accurate. Her school was literally on fire. Me, Julien, and George split up to look for her. Things spiraled into chaos, and frantic kids ran all over the place. "Helen!" I shouted. "Helen, where are you?" My little sister was crippled. She would be stomped on like a bug in a wild crowd such as this.

I took out my phone, but it had no charge. It was the worst possible time not to have a portable charger. Thankfully, I had another option. As a son of Hades, I can sense other people's souls. I hardly used it, but I knew it would be convenient in situations like this. Not the most dazzling power, but it's useful, and that's all that matters. Combine it with shadow travel, and I can teleport myself to Helen through the shadows, which is what I did.

"Aggh! Big brother?" Helen fell to the ground. I propped her up. "Hey, little sis. I'm pretty sure I taught you how to use shadow travel. So why haven't you used it?" Helen was hiding in the school bathroom. She told me that three white men with AK-47's have been running around the school spraying bullets everywhere since her lunch period, around noon. "If I used shadow travel to get out of here, I wouldn't be able to get very far. After an hour, I heard an explosion. There's no telling what could happen if I go outside. Maybe a domestic terror group joined in, or more school shooters decided to come."

"Helen, you're a demigod. I understand why you're scared, but you should be able to handle even groups of mortals with guns after all that training I gave you."

"Yes, but... I'm crippled. Unlike you or Vittoria, I can't move very quickly. I rely too much on shadow travel. If I collapse from exhaustion, I'm dead."

"I suppose you're right." I patted my sister's head. "Then, as your big brother, I'll take care of those maniacs."

"But it's too dangerous!"

"It should be fine. Do you have your phone?" Helen nodded.

"Ok, then I want you to call Julien and George. They're probably still looking for you at this moment. Tell them where you are and what I'm doing, and to look for the school shooters instead."

"Ok." Helen hugged me. "Be careful, Yiannis."

"I will." I waved to my sister as I used shadow travel, disappearing into the wall.

Funnily enough, I landed right next to an adult white male on the school roof. Now to assess whether he was a crazy white male. Loaded gun slung on his back? Check. An NRA shirt? Check. Dressed up like a terrorist? Check. Racist? Check. He only spoke one sentence, and I lost count of how many times he said the n-word. Welp, now that I have verified him to be a crazy white male, I shall now proceed with my citizen's arrest.

I stomped my foot, and time stopped. I took his phone from his hands and uncovered the fact that he had three buddies with him. Oh, and he had 8chan, now called 8kun, as well as 4chan. The quintessential apps every white male needs to use to be deemed "crazy" or "radical."

He had his friends planned this shooting a month in advance, and they were behind the explosion that set the school on fire. Fortunately, firefighters had arrived on the scene, and citizens were doing whatever they could to help. I put his phone in my pocket and let time flow again. I made a black sword and held it against the guy's throat. "If you don't want to die, quit being a jerk, and turn yourself over to the cops." The crazy white male gave a typical response: a no coupled with unfathomable speech. All I heard was a jumble of curse words.

Diplomacy failed, so violence is the next reasonable course of action. I promptly chopped off the dude's head. Judging by his texts on 8kun, his friends should be straight down from where I am, still inside the school. They wouldn't be dumb enough to come outside, where the cops were ready to pounce on them. They would be surrounded staying inside, but this particular group had rigged explosives all over the place. The school had become a mine zone, and it would be difficult for the cops to apprehend the culprits. Helen was still in the bathroom, and Julien and George should have met with the other school shooters by now. All I had left to do was to take care of the dead guy's body. I first texted his buddies, acting like I regretted everything I did and I didn't want to go to jail. I would painfully kill myself to repent for my sins. Luckily, the dude had a knife in his pocket, and I put that in the dude's hand. Then I put his phone in his other hand and walked away. With the way I framed it, the police would no choice but to think the dude genuinely ended his own life. If I had just left the phone on the ground, they might have tested for fingerprints to figure out who owned it, and I did not want to be a suspect.

I went back to the bathroom and picked Helen up, who told me that Julien called, saying the school shooters had been arrested and that it was safe to leave. I nodded, and the two of us used shadow travel to get to the entrance.

Sure enough, Julien and George were waiting for us. Helen hugged Julien, and he smiled. "You've grown a bit, Helen. Nice to see you're still alive. Yiannis, there's still one more of those maniacs left. Should we-"

"I've already dealt with him. Are the cops in the building?"

"Yeah," George nodded. "With the school shooters taken care of, they just have to get rid of all the traps placed around the school. Why?"

"I left the last guy on the roof. The cops should find him before long." Julien put his hand on my shoulder. "Yiannis, those school shooters were monsters." My eyebrows arched in surprise. "Seriously? But I didn't get any weird feeling about them as I do with other monsters. What monsters were they?"

"Crocattas. When I took their masks off, they had the face of a hyena." So monsters claiming allegiance to the Titan Lord attacked the school where the children of Hades went. I know Kronos wouldn't order my death. As his son, I'm the one that will destroy Olympus. Then it's plausible the monsters did this on their own, and after Helen and me, since we were the children of Hades destined to save Olympus. I would need to talk to Kronos about this. But right now, I had to deal with Julien. "It's likely this was some plot schemed by Kronos to kill my sister and me. Both attacks were perpetrated by monsters, the same kind, and in one instance, they claimed they were doing it for Kronos. The chances of this being random are low given the circumstances. Based on that, it's likely Kronos would stop here. One of the Crocattas mentioned DGH, which is likely being attacked by monsters as well."

"Alright, then we'll have to get there as quickly as possible." Julien threw a coin on the ground, and a chariot appeared. Hermes made a system of chariots and hotels for demigods to use. I might decide to spare him later on.

Helen asked what was going on, and I informed her. I pulled out the chicken over rice I got from Jerome's, and the two of us happily ate together as the chariot wooshed through the air, accelerating its way towards DGH. The cortisol in my brain was getting replaced with adrenaline. Something big was happening again, and soon I would be one step closer to taking down the gods.