Categories > Cartoons > Class of the Titans > Light in the darkness
Light in the Darkness As promised here is chapter two. I think I'll put in a new chapter every Saturday just because I'd rather not submit them all at once and have you guys wait around forever for chapter 7.
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Deep in the bowels of the underworld, the god of time was plotting.
His fingers caressed a smooth stone that he held in his hand. It fit neatly in his palm and was cool to the touch.
He stood in a large room, surrounded by candles that send flickering light along the walls. In front of him stood a long wooden table with seven candles perched on top. Their flames danced and wavered before him, illuminating every sharp feature on his face. As he waved his hand over them, they morphed into the silhouettes of seven teenagers. Seven teenagers he knew all too well.
He placed the stone down in front of one candle, with the silhouette of a girl with orange hair that fell to her waist. A smug smile formed on his lips as the flame leapt from the wick and into the stone. It glowed inside for a moment, like red hot embers. Then the light died, turning the stone from red to a dull black.
"Soon," he purred to the rock. "The time is almost right."
As he placed it in his pocket he turned back to the other candles. His blood red eyes glinted with hatred. Then, with a deep breath he blew them out, leaving him in total darkness.
§ § §
Jay walked over to the couch where Theresa sat and handed her a mug of hot chocolate. She smiled and looked down at the six and-a-half mini marshmallows floating there next to a small amount of whipped cream on the side. Jay always remembered how she liked her hot chocolate ever since the fist day he saw her make it.
He had watched as she carefully picked out seven perfectly shaped marshmallows and then cut one in half, throwing the other piece away. "Why did you do that?" He had asked. "Because," she answered as she squirted a small amount of whip cream beside them./ "I use this," and held up the can of the whipped topping, "so that I don't burn my tongue while I drink. And I save the marshmallows for last after they suck up some of the hot chocolate"/
"Okay but why six and a half?"
"Well seven is too many and just six is never enough, so six and a half is just perfect"
Jay had laughed at that, nodding his head. But from that day he would always remember. Whenever she was feeling over whelmed or sad, he would always find her, a cup of coco in his hands, and stay with her until the moment passed. Sometimes they would talk about it, and other times they would just sit in comfortable silence.
Theresa hoped this would be one of those times. She couldn't tell Jay what happened, not yet anyway. Although she couldn't stand to keep secrets from him, a tiny voice told her to stay silent until the time was right. To her relief though, Jay said nothing.
He flopped down beside her on the couch and sighed. His lack of sleep was catching up to him. He breathed in the warm scent of her hair and felt himself slowly drift off toward sleep, but was suddenly awakened by the opening of the door and sound of voices.
Atlanta entered the room, followed closely by Archie and Herry. The two boys were arguing about something. Atlanta groaned and covered her ears.
"Will you guys be quiet already?"
"No way," Herry shot back. "Not until he admits that he cheated."
"For the last time Herry I didn't cheat." Archie moaned, "I beat you fair and square, so why don't you admit to being a baby. Okay?"
"Oh, I am NOT a..."
Atlanta sighed and turned to Theresa and Jay. "They've been at this all night! Herry's convinced that Archie tripped him when..." Atlanta trailed off as she got a good look at Theresa. "What's wrong?" she said, turning to Jay her face suddenly serious. Herry and Archie turned around; stopping their bickering when they heard Atlanta's tone.
"It's her visions." Jay said.
"Again?" Atlanta asked, genuinely concerned. "Are they getting worse?"
When Theresa didn't answer, Jay nodded. "Yeah, they must be."
He doesn't know how right he is, Theresa thought.
Just then Odie entered the room with Neil trailing behind him. Neil was busy tweezing his eyebrows with a pair of tweezers he kept on him at all times.
"Do you have to do that here?" Odie groaned.
"Odie please, I need absolute concentration when I'm working."
"Ahem..." Archie coughed. "Uh guys we're sort of in the middle of something."
"Why what's going on?" asked Odie.
"Theresa's going crazy." Herry said blankly.
Atlanta turned and glared at him. "Herry! She's not going crazy." Suddenly she turned back to Theresa looking guilty. "Theresa, about earlier in the hall, I'm really sorry... I-I didn't know..."
Theresa smiled and looked at her friend. "Atlanta don't worry about it. You're right you didn't know. I barely know what any of this means myself."
"Would someone please explain what's going on?" Neil asked, abandoning his tweezing.
"Theresa's having visions." Jay said looking up at him.
"So? She always has visions." Neil said, stifling a yawn. Suddenly he had to duck as three pillows came flying his way.
"Are you okay?" Odie asked, raising his voice over Neil's squeak of outrage.
"I don't know. It's just hard to get used to all this, I thought by now it would get easier, but..." Theresa trailed off and rested her head on Jay's shoulder, taking comfort in his warmth.
"Well I guess going from normal teens still living with our parents to heroes for the gods is sort of a hard transition to make." Odie said jokingly, forcing a laugh. But no one joined him. None of them had thought about it before. It had been a little less than a year since they had all met, on that day where they had left their old lives behind them. At the time none of them had any doubts of what their destinies were, but if they had to choose all over again...
Jay looked down at his feet "I never even said goodbye to my parents."
"I always have to lie to my little brother whenever we talk on the phone." Atlanta murmured focusing on a spot on the carpet. Everyone was silent; none of them could meet each others eyes.
Neil looked around. "Come on guys what's with the major guilt trip? So we have to lie to our parents and maybe we're not like everybody else but I mean so what? We save the world everyday! Isn't that good enough?"
"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when Neil said something profound." Archie said sarcastically.
"Yeah, and think about if none of this happened." Herry said.
"None of us would have met." Odie finished for him.
Theresa smiled and looked around at her friends. "Besides, normal is so overrated."
Suddenly they heard the familiar ringing of Jay's PMR. "Speaking of which..." He sighed. Jay unclipped it from his belt and flipped it open. The panicked face of Hermes appeared on the small screen.
"Jay here."
"Cronus has been spotted."
Theresa could feel Jay tense beside her.
"Where?" He asked, anger leaking into his voice.
"An abandoned mine, about 30 miles from the city."
Jay quickly shut off his PMR. "Let's go."
§ § §
Cronus impatiently drummed his fingers. "What could be taking those brats so long?" He growled. Nearby his giants cowered in the corner. They all had the scars to show what came from the fights with those kids.
Cronus paced up and down the tunnel. "Honestly, this hole is no place for the future ruler of the world."
One of the giants released a small mocking laugh behind his back. Cronus froze and spun around. Reaching up, he grabbed the giant's ear and pulled him down until their faces were inches apart.
"Did I say something amusing?" He hissed. The giant madly began to shake his head. Cronus released his ear, and the giant stumbled back colliding into the others. Cronus glared at them, disgusted.
Suddenly bright light flooded the mouth of the mine. Cronus turned and watched an orange truck pull up.
"Finally." He murmured.
§ § §
Jay leapt from the car. He turned around and placed his hands on Theresa's hips and helped her to the ground.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" He asked.
"Chivalry noted Jay, but I can still take care of myself you know." She teased.
"Yeah I know," he sighed. "But I can't help feeling-"
"Oh Jay! If you and Theresa are done with your secret lover's chat we still have a bad guy to catch." Neil called.
Beside him Archie groaned and slugged him on the arm. "Shut up Neil."
"Alright let's go." Jay said, leading his team toward the mine. As they made their way to the entrance Atlanta shivered. Turning to Jay she asked, "I wonder what Cronus would be doing here?"
Behind them Odie let out a shaky laugh, "Big dark cave, seems like the perfect place
for-" But his last words were drowned out by the sudden clap of thunder overhead.
"Well that was sorta creepy." Neil said looking up at the sky.
"So the great heroes finally decided to show up." Called Cronus' mocking voice from inside the mine.
"Show yourself Cronus!" Jay said unsheathing his xiphos sword. "Or maybe you're just too much of a rat to come out of the dark."
Fat raindrops began to pelt the earth, drenching the stony faced teenagers. Cronus' smug laughter echoed from the dark dank hole. A sudden flash of lightning lit the night sky as Cronus stepped out from the shadows.
He clicked his tongue. "Sticks and stones, boy." Behind him six giants lumbered out of the entrance. Cronus gave a final glare to the young heroes. "Kill them."
The lead giant let out a powerful roar and the monsters surged forward.
"This is gonna be fun." Atlanta smirked. Without waiting for a signal she sped forward, aiming her wrist crossbow at the leader of the giants. A bright purple light flashed and soared across the sky. In an instant it dug deeply into the beast's forearm. He halted clutching at his arm, wailing in grief. The giant looked up again just in time to see Atlanta jump in the air and kick him squarely across the jaw knocking him to the ground. Looking over her shoulder with a challenging look in her eye she called, "Who's next?"
The remaining giants stopped dead in their tracks. But they didn't have time to run, for only a split second later, the heroes were upon them.
Archie's Hephaestus whip cracked menacingly over the head of a nearby giant. With an irritated grunt the giant swiped a huge hand trying to grab it from him. But as its hand grew closer Archie snapped the whip across the giant's fingers. It let out a howl of pain and tried to step on the purple haired boy. But once again Archie sliced the whip along the side of the monster's foot. As it let out another scream of anguish, it turned and fled back to the cave.
Across the clearing the rain continued to fall as the storm grew worse. Herry was trying to overpower a large brown coloured giant without much success. The rain had turned the ground beneath him to mud, causing both hero and giant's feet to slide. A few feet away Odie was hiding behind the truck.
"No Herry the ground is too slippery! Try knocking the giant over." He called over the torrent of rain.
With a grunt of thanks, Herry let go of the giant and dodged out of the way as it lost its footing and lurched forward. Before it even touched the ground, Herry gave it a final kick in the gut and sent it flying.
"Good thinking Odie." Herry said clapping him on the back. Odie's knees buckled beneath him.
"Yeah don't mention it." Odie groaned rubbing his back.
Theresa turned as she heard Jay shout. A giant with the upper body of a polar bear was holding him by his feet. As the lightning flashed, Theresa could see the monster's thorn sharp claws inches away from the brunet's face.
Thinking fast, Theresa flung her num-chucks at the giant. Her weapon clipped the monster's ear and it released Jay. Theresa sprinted toward Jay just in time to haul him to his feet.
"Thanks," he said.
"Don't thank me yet, I'm pretty sure I just made him angry." She said, as the monster pulled back its lips in a vicious snarl. Jay grabbed Theresa's hand pulling her to the ground as the beast slammed its huge paw against the earth where they had just stood.
The creature shrieked in outrage as its entire arm sank into the soft muddy ground. But as it struggled to pull itself free, it only continued to sink lower. Jay and Theresa exchanged bewildered looks as they watched the giant flail and twist, throwing globs of mud into the air.
"I-it's stuck." Theresa said, shocked.
Jay turned and looked at her, his mouth hanging open in disbelieve. Suddenly she began to laugh. Tears streamed from her eyes and she gripped on to Jay's shoulder, unable to stand. Soon Jay joined her and they both fell to their knees, splattering mud on themselves.
From outside the entrance Cronus watched his giants being defeated once again. He angrily rubbed his fingers over his eyes.
"Is it too much to ask for competent help?"
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small black stone.
"This is taking to long. I must do it now before those snivelling brats once again defeat me."
"Theresa look out!" Theresa looked over her shoulder just in time to duck as a large two-headed giant swung a meaty hand toward her. Atlanta breathed a sigh of relief before charging at the giant.
"Come on ugly show me what you're made of." She shouted. Theresa ran to her friend's side.
"You want any help with this guy?" she asked.
"No way, he's mine." She replied, giving her friend a playful wink.
Theresa smiled and turned to find Jay. The rain was still falling in sheets. Theresa's top clung to her body and her hair was plastered against her head.
Soon she spotted Herry, Archie and Jay trying to finish off the last giant. Theresa laughed; these giants were getting easier to beat every time. With any luck she might be able to finish her History report and even watch a late night movie with Atlanta.
Suddenly the sound of the downpour ceased. Theresa looked up at the sky. Could the storm really have ended so soon? She looked back toward the boys to see if they had noticed to.
But what she saw next made her blood run cold.
Jay and Herry were charging toward the giant. Only they were completely still, their bodies frozen into statues. And even more incredible, above the giant's head Archie was floating in mid-air; his mouth open in an unheard shout.
Theresa spun around to where Atlanta was fighting her giant. She let out a small cry of fright when she saw that Atlanta was also frozen in place.
Taking a second look around her she saw that the storm hadn't stopped, but the raindrops were all floating around her. Very slowly she reached out a finger and touched raindrop close to her. She watched as it erupted in a shower of crystal orbs.
A scuffling noise behind her, made Theresa spin toward the mouth of mine just in time to see Cronus disappear into the shadows.
Fury rose up inside her. Whatever was going Cronus was surely behind it. She balled her hands into fists, and raced after the renegade god. She halted before the dark entrance; she had never taken on Cronus by herself before. But as she turned and looked down at her friends one more time, she knew it was the only choice.
"Cronus!" She shouted. Her voice echoed down the dark corridor into the unknown chasms beyond. But there was no reply.
"I know you're here!" But once again she was greeted only by her own echo. Theresa grit her teeth and raced forward. As she rounded the first bend, the faint light from the mouth of the mine died, and she was left in darkness. Blindly she groped for the jagged surface of the wall. She would have to feel her way forward.
Only a moment later, the wall spread away and Theresa was left in a large room with no exits; it was a dead end.
"Great Cronus has probably escaped by know." Theresa sighed.
But then just as she stepped forward a wall of fire burst up before her. Her eyes widened in shock as she fell backward into a pair of strongly muscled hands.
Cronus sneered and looked down at Theresa. "Lights out." He whispered.
§ § §
Theresa groaned and rubbed the back of her head trying to remember what had happened. The memory of her statue-like friends suddenly flooded back to her. She remembered racing after Cronus into the mine. And then... nothing. What had that maniac done to her?
She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Could she still be in the mine? No, she could see the clear twilight sky above her, where the ceiling of the mine once was. Then as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she instantly recognized the barren cracked surface of an ancient riverbed.
"No." Her faint voice came from her throat in only a whisper. A sudden shadow fell over her, and Theresa let out a small scream. But this shadow belonged to a man; Cronus.
"Rather jumpy aren't you? What's the matter, afraid now that your fearless leader isn't here to save you?" He asked with a sneer in his voice, as he bent down and grabbed the front of Theresa's shirt and hauling her to her feet. Theresa shook free of his grasp and shoved him away.
"What did you do to my friends?" She asked through clenched teeth.
Cronus sighed and walked behind her. "Your friends are fine, for now. However it's you who should be worried."
Theresa glared, her back turned to him. "I'm not afraid of you."
Cronus smiled and bent down toward her. She could feel his hot clammy breath against her neck. In her ear he whispered, "You're lying."
Theresa whipped around to face the god. "What do you want?" she growled.
"Theresa it isn't what I want, it's what you want." Cronus said, pretending to be hurt by the venom in her voice.
"What are you talking about?"
"I know about your visions."
Theresa's eyes flew open in shock, but she remained silent.
"It seems odd that you wouldn't tell Jay. You may think you're protecting him from the truth, but you're only going to make him suffer."
Theresa ran at the god, and swung her fist at his chest. In one swift move, Cronus grabbed her hand and squeezed, bringing her to her knees. She let out a scream as she heard the bones in her hand start to crack.
"That's the problem with you kids, you believe that you're so powerful, when really you're all just weak pathetic mortals." He said looking down his nose at her.
Through tears of pain, Theresa managed to smirk. "Then how come we always manage to defeat you?"
Cronus snarled at grabbed her throat.
"Listen very carefully because I'm only going to say this once. I am offering you a deal, one to which you will not refuse. Now do you understand?"
Theresa nodded as she gapped her mouth open and close and started to claw at his hands around her throat. Cronus sneered down in disgust at her before letting her go. Theresa fell to the ground sucking in greedy amounts of breath as spots started to appear before her eyes.
Cronus dug in his pocket and held out his palm, showing her a small dark stone.
"What's that?" she croaked.
"Earlier today, when you were talking to your fool of a mentor, I was there, listening."
Theresa looked up at him, a look of shock on her face.
"And there is one thing that she neglected to mention, another form of magic; dark magic. It is the strongest form of power. With it I can destroy mountain, sink cities and alter history. And unlike your good magic this power comes from no source, and takes no time to develop. You could have ultimate power right now, no waiting to bond with your source, it can all be yours."
"How?"
Cronus laughed and held the stone higher. "With this."
"But what is it?"
"A shadow stone."
At the word shadow, cold shivers shot down her spine, and her blood turned to ice.
When Theresa didn't speak, Cronus went on. "You see good and dark magic can not co-exist as one. This stone eliminates good magic and replaces it with dark. So what do you say?"
Slowly Theresa got to her feet and raised her head to look at the evil god. "Never. If it means becoming like you." She hissed.
Cronus glared at her and clenched his hand into a fist around the stone. Then, a thin dangerous smile creped onto his lips.
"Wrong answer, because really I wasn't asking."
Suddenly he raised his fist and tossed the stone toward her. It landed silently at her feet. Theresa looked up at him, confused.
Then she let out a scream of agony as searing pain shot through her body. Her legs crumpled beneath her and she collapsed to the ground. She opened her mouth to say something but only a gurgling moaning came. She squeezed her eyes tight as the fire inside roared in her ears. Then she was plunged in complete darkness.
§ § §
"Theresa are you in here?" Jay called. "Theresa we won! The others are waiting by the car."
When only silence met his words, Jay began to worry. He quickened his pace, and hurried down the tunnel. When the outside light died, he reached in his pocket and pulled out one of Odie's glow sticks. Green light washed over the walls and revealed a large chasm before him. As he entered, the eerie green light flooded the room, and he saw Theresa's unconscious body lying on the ground.
"Theresa!"
Jay dropped the glow stick, and ran to her, dropping to his knees.
"Please." He whispered as he lifted her wrist. He let out a shaky breath when he felt a faint, sluggish pulse. Carefully he wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her off the ground. Her body felt like ice against him and her face was pale.
Jay felt a single tear roll down his cheek. He knew she should have stayed home, what had he done?
He shook his head and wiped away the tear. He didn't have time to blame himself, he had to get her away, back home with him.
As he turned and left he never noticed the small smooth stone that had rested next to Theresa. Or the way it glowed as if a small fire was trapped inside, the fire of a girl with red hair the flowed down her back, and the fire that was suddenly snuffed out.
So I hope you like the story so far. Oh and thank you to everyone who took the time to send me a review.
So what can you look forward to in the next chapters? Well hopefully we'll get some more fluffy stuff between Jay and Theresa very soon. And that whole dark magic vs. good magic will start to make more sense, but you guys are smart you probably know what's going on.
Now I have posted this over on another site and all my reviews are really just people telling me my story rox their sox. And while I do like getting those I'm just asking for someone to tell me how I can improve. Please don't take that as an invitation to trash my story though.
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Deep in the bowels of the underworld, the god of time was plotting.
His fingers caressed a smooth stone that he held in his hand. It fit neatly in his palm and was cool to the touch.
He stood in a large room, surrounded by candles that send flickering light along the walls. In front of him stood a long wooden table with seven candles perched on top. Their flames danced and wavered before him, illuminating every sharp feature on his face. As he waved his hand over them, they morphed into the silhouettes of seven teenagers. Seven teenagers he knew all too well.
He placed the stone down in front of one candle, with the silhouette of a girl with orange hair that fell to her waist. A smug smile formed on his lips as the flame leapt from the wick and into the stone. It glowed inside for a moment, like red hot embers. Then the light died, turning the stone from red to a dull black.
"Soon," he purred to the rock. "The time is almost right."
As he placed it in his pocket he turned back to the other candles. His blood red eyes glinted with hatred. Then, with a deep breath he blew them out, leaving him in total darkness.
§ § §
Jay walked over to the couch where Theresa sat and handed her a mug of hot chocolate. She smiled and looked down at the six and-a-half mini marshmallows floating there next to a small amount of whipped cream on the side. Jay always remembered how she liked her hot chocolate ever since the fist day he saw her make it.
He had watched as she carefully picked out seven perfectly shaped marshmallows and then cut one in half, throwing the other piece away. "Why did you do that?" He had asked. "Because," she answered as she squirted a small amount of whip cream beside them./ "I use this," and held up the can of the whipped topping, "so that I don't burn my tongue while I drink. And I save the marshmallows for last after they suck up some of the hot chocolate"/
"Okay but why six and a half?"
"Well seven is too many and just six is never enough, so six and a half is just perfect"
Jay had laughed at that, nodding his head. But from that day he would always remember. Whenever she was feeling over whelmed or sad, he would always find her, a cup of coco in his hands, and stay with her until the moment passed. Sometimes they would talk about it, and other times they would just sit in comfortable silence.
Theresa hoped this would be one of those times. She couldn't tell Jay what happened, not yet anyway. Although she couldn't stand to keep secrets from him, a tiny voice told her to stay silent until the time was right. To her relief though, Jay said nothing.
He flopped down beside her on the couch and sighed. His lack of sleep was catching up to him. He breathed in the warm scent of her hair and felt himself slowly drift off toward sleep, but was suddenly awakened by the opening of the door and sound of voices.
Atlanta entered the room, followed closely by Archie and Herry. The two boys were arguing about something. Atlanta groaned and covered her ears.
"Will you guys be quiet already?"
"No way," Herry shot back. "Not until he admits that he cheated."
"For the last time Herry I didn't cheat." Archie moaned, "I beat you fair and square, so why don't you admit to being a baby. Okay?"
"Oh, I am NOT a..."
Atlanta sighed and turned to Theresa and Jay. "They've been at this all night! Herry's convinced that Archie tripped him when..." Atlanta trailed off as she got a good look at Theresa. "What's wrong?" she said, turning to Jay her face suddenly serious. Herry and Archie turned around; stopping their bickering when they heard Atlanta's tone.
"It's her visions." Jay said.
"Again?" Atlanta asked, genuinely concerned. "Are they getting worse?"
When Theresa didn't answer, Jay nodded. "Yeah, they must be."
He doesn't know how right he is, Theresa thought.
Just then Odie entered the room with Neil trailing behind him. Neil was busy tweezing his eyebrows with a pair of tweezers he kept on him at all times.
"Do you have to do that here?" Odie groaned.
"Odie please, I need absolute concentration when I'm working."
"Ahem..." Archie coughed. "Uh guys we're sort of in the middle of something."
"Why what's going on?" asked Odie.
"Theresa's going crazy." Herry said blankly.
Atlanta turned and glared at him. "Herry! She's not going crazy." Suddenly she turned back to Theresa looking guilty. "Theresa, about earlier in the hall, I'm really sorry... I-I didn't know..."
Theresa smiled and looked at her friend. "Atlanta don't worry about it. You're right you didn't know. I barely know what any of this means myself."
"Would someone please explain what's going on?" Neil asked, abandoning his tweezing.
"Theresa's having visions." Jay said looking up at him.
"So? She always has visions." Neil said, stifling a yawn. Suddenly he had to duck as three pillows came flying his way.
"Are you okay?" Odie asked, raising his voice over Neil's squeak of outrage.
"I don't know. It's just hard to get used to all this, I thought by now it would get easier, but..." Theresa trailed off and rested her head on Jay's shoulder, taking comfort in his warmth.
"Well I guess going from normal teens still living with our parents to heroes for the gods is sort of a hard transition to make." Odie said jokingly, forcing a laugh. But no one joined him. None of them had thought about it before. It had been a little less than a year since they had all met, on that day where they had left their old lives behind them. At the time none of them had any doubts of what their destinies were, but if they had to choose all over again...
Jay looked down at his feet "I never even said goodbye to my parents."
"I always have to lie to my little brother whenever we talk on the phone." Atlanta murmured focusing on a spot on the carpet. Everyone was silent; none of them could meet each others eyes.
Neil looked around. "Come on guys what's with the major guilt trip? So we have to lie to our parents and maybe we're not like everybody else but I mean so what? We save the world everyday! Isn't that good enough?"
"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when Neil said something profound." Archie said sarcastically.
"Yeah, and think about if none of this happened." Herry said.
"None of us would have met." Odie finished for him.
Theresa smiled and looked around at her friends. "Besides, normal is so overrated."
Suddenly they heard the familiar ringing of Jay's PMR. "Speaking of which..." He sighed. Jay unclipped it from his belt and flipped it open. The panicked face of Hermes appeared on the small screen.
"Jay here."
"Cronus has been spotted."
Theresa could feel Jay tense beside her.
"Where?" He asked, anger leaking into his voice.
"An abandoned mine, about 30 miles from the city."
Jay quickly shut off his PMR. "Let's go."
§ § §
Cronus impatiently drummed his fingers. "What could be taking those brats so long?" He growled. Nearby his giants cowered in the corner. They all had the scars to show what came from the fights with those kids.
Cronus paced up and down the tunnel. "Honestly, this hole is no place for the future ruler of the world."
One of the giants released a small mocking laugh behind his back. Cronus froze and spun around. Reaching up, he grabbed the giant's ear and pulled him down until their faces were inches apart.
"Did I say something amusing?" He hissed. The giant madly began to shake his head. Cronus released his ear, and the giant stumbled back colliding into the others. Cronus glared at them, disgusted.
Suddenly bright light flooded the mouth of the mine. Cronus turned and watched an orange truck pull up.
"Finally." He murmured.
§ § §
Jay leapt from the car. He turned around and placed his hands on Theresa's hips and helped her to the ground.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" He asked.
"Chivalry noted Jay, but I can still take care of myself you know." She teased.
"Yeah I know," he sighed. "But I can't help feeling-"
"Oh Jay! If you and Theresa are done with your secret lover's chat we still have a bad guy to catch." Neil called.
Beside him Archie groaned and slugged him on the arm. "Shut up Neil."
"Alright let's go." Jay said, leading his team toward the mine. As they made their way to the entrance Atlanta shivered. Turning to Jay she asked, "I wonder what Cronus would be doing here?"
Behind them Odie let out a shaky laugh, "Big dark cave, seems like the perfect place
for-" But his last words were drowned out by the sudden clap of thunder overhead.
"Well that was sorta creepy." Neil said looking up at the sky.
"So the great heroes finally decided to show up." Called Cronus' mocking voice from inside the mine.
"Show yourself Cronus!" Jay said unsheathing his xiphos sword. "Or maybe you're just too much of a rat to come out of the dark."
Fat raindrops began to pelt the earth, drenching the stony faced teenagers. Cronus' smug laughter echoed from the dark dank hole. A sudden flash of lightning lit the night sky as Cronus stepped out from the shadows.
He clicked his tongue. "Sticks and stones, boy." Behind him six giants lumbered out of the entrance. Cronus gave a final glare to the young heroes. "Kill them."
The lead giant let out a powerful roar and the monsters surged forward.
"This is gonna be fun." Atlanta smirked. Without waiting for a signal she sped forward, aiming her wrist crossbow at the leader of the giants. A bright purple light flashed and soared across the sky. In an instant it dug deeply into the beast's forearm. He halted clutching at his arm, wailing in grief. The giant looked up again just in time to see Atlanta jump in the air and kick him squarely across the jaw knocking him to the ground. Looking over her shoulder with a challenging look in her eye she called, "Who's next?"
The remaining giants stopped dead in their tracks. But they didn't have time to run, for only a split second later, the heroes were upon them.
Archie's Hephaestus whip cracked menacingly over the head of a nearby giant. With an irritated grunt the giant swiped a huge hand trying to grab it from him. But as its hand grew closer Archie snapped the whip across the giant's fingers. It let out a howl of pain and tried to step on the purple haired boy. But once again Archie sliced the whip along the side of the monster's foot. As it let out another scream of anguish, it turned and fled back to the cave.
Across the clearing the rain continued to fall as the storm grew worse. Herry was trying to overpower a large brown coloured giant without much success. The rain had turned the ground beneath him to mud, causing both hero and giant's feet to slide. A few feet away Odie was hiding behind the truck.
"No Herry the ground is too slippery! Try knocking the giant over." He called over the torrent of rain.
With a grunt of thanks, Herry let go of the giant and dodged out of the way as it lost its footing and lurched forward. Before it even touched the ground, Herry gave it a final kick in the gut and sent it flying.
"Good thinking Odie." Herry said clapping him on the back. Odie's knees buckled beneath him.
"Yeah don't mention it." Odie groaned rubbing his back.
Theresa turned as she heard Jay shout. A giant with the upper body of a polar bear was holding him by his feet. As the lightning flashed, Theresa could see the monster's thorn sharp claws inches away from the brunet's face.
Thinking fast, Theresa flung her num-chucks at the giant. Her weapon clipped the monster's ear and it released Jay. Theresa sprinted toward Jay just in time to haul him to his feet.
"Thanks," he said.
"Don't thank me yet, I'm pretty sure I just made him angry." She said, as the monster pulled back its lips in a vicious snarl. Jay grabbed Theresa's hand pulling her to the ground as the beast slammed its huge paw against the earth where they had just stood.
The creature shrieked in outrage as its entire arm sank into the soft muddy ground. But as it struggled to pull itself free, it only continued to sink lower. Jay and Theresa exchanged bewildered looks as they watched the giant flail and twist, throwing globs of mud into the air.
"I-it's stuck." Theresa said, shocked.
Jay turned and looked at her, his mouth hanging open in disbelieve. Suddenly she began to laugh. Tears streamed from her eyes and she gripped on to Jay's shoulder, unable to stand. Soon Jay joined her and they both fell to their knees, splattering mud on themselves.
From outside the entrance Cronus watched his giants being defeated once again. He angrily rubbed his fingers over his eyes.
"Is it too much to ask for competent help?"
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small black stone.
"This is taking to long. I must do it now before those snivelling brats once again defeat me."
"Theresa look out!" Theresa looked over her shoulder just in time to duck as a large two-headed giant swung a meaty hand toward her. Atlanta breathed a sigh of relief before charging at the giant.
"Come on ugly show me what you're made of." She shouted. Theresa ran to her friend's side.
"You want any help with this guy?" she asked.
"No way, he's mine." She replied, giving her friend a playful wink.
Theresa smiled and turned to find Jay. The rain was still falling in sheets. Theresa's top clung to her body and her hair was plastered against her head.
Soon she spotted Herry, Archie and Jay trying to finish off the last giant. Theresa laughed; these giants were getting easier to beat every time. With any luck she might be able to finish her History report and even watch a late night movie with Atlanta.
Suddenly the sound of the downpour ceased. Theresa looked up at the sky. Could the storm really have ended so soon? She looked back toward the boys to see if they had noticed to.
But what she saw next made her blood run cold.
Jay and Herry were charging toward the giant. Only they were completely still, their bodies frozen into statues. And even more incredible, above the giant's head Archie was floating in mid-air; his mouth open in an unheard shout.
Theresa spun around to where Atlanta was fighting her giant. She let out a small cry of fright when she saw that Atlanta was also frozen in place.
Taking a second look around her she saw that the storm hadn't stopped, but the raindrops were all floating around her. Very slowly she reached out a finger and touched raindrop close to her. She watched as it erupted in a shower of crystal orbs.
A scuffling noise behind her, made Theresa spin toward the mouth of mine just in time to see Cronus disappear into the shadows.
Fury rose up inside her. Whatever was going Cronus was surely behind it. She balled her hands into fists, and raced after the renegade god. She halted before the dark entrance; she had never taken on Cronus by herself before. But as she turned and looked down at her friends one more time, she knew it was the only choice.
"Cronus!" She shouted. Her voice echoed down the dark corridor into the unknown chasms beyond. But there was no reply.
"I know you're here!" But once again she was greeted only by her own echo. Theresa grit her teeth and raced forward. As she rounded the first bend, the faint light from the mouth of the mine died, and she was left in darkness. Blindly she groped for the jagged surface of the wall. She would have to feel her way forward.
Only a moment later, the wall spread away and Theresa was left in a large room with no exits; it was a dead end.
"Great Cronus has probably escaped by know." Theresa sighed.
But then just as she stepped forward a wall of fire burst up before her. Her eyes widened in shock as she fell backward into a pair of strongly muscled hands.
Cronus sneered and looked down at Theresa. "Lights out." He whispered.
§ § §
Theresa groaned and rubbed the back of her head trying to remember what had happened. The memory of her statue-like friends suddenly flooded back to her. She remembered racing after Cronus into the mine. And then... nothing. What had that maniac done to her?
She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. Could she still be in the mine? No, she could see the clear twilight sky above her, where the ceiling of the mine once was. Then as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she instantly recognized the barren cracked surface of an ancient riverbed.
"No." Her faint voice came from her throat in only a whisper. A sudden shadow fell over her, and Theresa let out a small scream. But this shadow belonged to a man; Cronus.
"Rather jumpy aren't you? What's the matter, afraid now that your fearless leader isn't here to save you?" He asked with a sneer in his voice, as he bent down and grabbed the front of Theresa's shirt and hauling her to her feet. Theresa shook free of his grasp and shoved him away.
"What did you do to my friends?" She asked through clenched teeth.
Cronus sighed and walked behind her. "Your friends are fine, for now. However it's you who should be worried."
Theresa glared, her back turned to him. "I'm not afraid of you."
Cronus smiled and bent down toward her. She could feel his hot clammy breath against her neck. In her ear he whispered, "You're lying."
Theresa whipped around to face the god. "What do you want?" she growled.
"Theresa it isn't what I want, it's what you want." Cronus said, pretending to be hurt by the venom in her voice.
"What are you talking about?"
"I know about your visions."
Theresa's eyes flew open in shock, but she remained silent.
"It seems odd that you wouldn't tell Jay. You may think you're protecting him from the truth, but you're only going to make him suffer."
Theresa ran at the god, and swung her fist at his chest. In one swift move, Cronus grabbed her hand and squeezed, bringing her to her knees. She let out a scream as she heard the bones in her hand start to crack.
"That's the problem with you kids, you believe that you're so powerful, when really you're all just weak pathetic mortals." He said looking down his nose at her.
Through tears of pain, Theresa managed to smirk. "Then how come we always manage to defeat you?"
Cronus snarled at grabbed her throat.
"Listen very carefully because I'm only going to say this once. I am offering you a deal, one to which you will not refuse. Now do you understand?"
Theresa nodded as she gapped her mouth open and close and started to claw at his hands around her throat. Cronus sneered down in disgust at her before letting her go. Theresa fell to the ground sucking in greedy amounts of breath as spots started to appear before her eyes.
Cronus dug in his pocket and held out his palm, showing her a small dark stone.
"What's that?" she croaked.
"Earlier today, when you were talking to your fool of a mentor, I was there, listening."
Theresa looked up at him, a look of shock on her face.
"And there is one thing that she neglected to mention, another form of magic; dark magic. It is the strongest form of power. With it I can destroy mountain, sink cities and alter history. And unlike your good magic this power comes from no source, and takes no time to develop. You could have ultimate power right now, no waiting to bond with your source, it can all be yours."
"How?"
Cronus laughed and held the stone higher. "With this."
"But what is it?"
"A shadow stone."
At the word shadow, cold shivers shot down her spine, and her blood turned to ice.
When Theresa didn't speak, Cronus went on. "You see good and dark magic can not co-exist as one. This stone eliminates good magic and replaces it with dark. So what do you say?"
Slowly Theresa got to her feet and raised her head to look at the evil god. "Never. If it means becoming like you." She hissed.
Cronus glared at her and clenched his hand into a fist around the stone. Then, a thin dangerous smile creped onto his lips.
"Wrong answer, because really I wasn't asking."
Suddenly he raised his fist and tossed the stone toward her. It landed silently at her feet. Theresa looked up at him, confused.
Then she let out a scream of agony as searing pain shot through her body. Her legs crumpled beneath her and she collapsed to the ground. She opened her mouth to say something but only a gurgling moaning came. She squeezed her eyes tight as the fire inside roared in her ears. Then she was plunged in complete darkness.
§ § §
"Theresa are you in here?" Jay called. "Theresa we won! The others are waiting by the car."
When only silence met his words, Jay began to worry. He quickened his pace, and hurried down the tunnel. When the outside light died, he reached in his pocket and pulled out one of Odie's glow sticks. Green light washed over the walls and revealed a large chasm before him. As he entered, the eerie green light flooded the room, and he saw Theresa's unconscious body lying on the ground.
"Theresa!"
Jay dropped the glow stick, and ran to her, dropping to his knees.
"Please." He whispered as he lifted her wrist. He let out a shaky breath when he felt a faint, sluggish pulse. Carefully he wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her off the ground. Her body felt like ice against him and her face was pale.
Jay felt a single tear roll down his cheek. He knew she should have stayed home, what had he done?
He shook his head and wiped away the tear. He didn't have time to blame himself, he had to get her away, back home with him.
As he turned and left he never noticed the small smooth stone that had rested next to Theresa. Or the way it glowed as if a small fire was trapped inside, the fire of a girl with red hair the flowed down her back, and the fire that was suddenly snuffed out.
So I hope you like the story so far. Oh and thank you to everyone who took the time to send me a review.
So what can you look forward to in the next chapters? Well hopefully we'll get some more fluffy stuff between Jay and Theresa very soon. And that whole dark magic vs. good magic will start to make more sense, but you guys are smart you probably know what's going on.
Now I have posted this over on another site and all my reviews are really just people telling me my story rox their sox. And while I do like getting those I'm just asking for someone to tell me how I can improve. Please don't take that as an invitation to trash my story though.
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