Categories > Cartoons > Class of the Titans > Ragnarok
Movement
10 reviewsAs a sinister plot to destroy the earth hatches, Gaia does the only thing she can to save herself- she moves. So violently that the entire world has been reformed and renewed. Now, our young seven ...
0Unrated
Ragnarok
Disclaimer: I don't own Class of the Titans. References to other mythologies come from various books and websites.
Pairings: They will be played around with, since these are teenagers we're talking about. But mainly it will be Jay/Theresa and Archie/Atlanta.
Warnings: None in this chapter.
Authors Note: This came to me after countless hours of wondering how other mythologies related to the fight between Cronus and the kids in the Class of the Titans world. So slowly my love for the Norse stories began to fill in little sequences and ideas and so now I'm trying to write it. I think it turned out fairly well and I'll try to keep a consistent update on this and my other stories.
Chapter 1: Movement
00oo00oo00
(Wild Land: Iceland)
A cold wind blew over the barren landscape. Hesitantly, a large man placed his foot down in the snow as he narrowed his yellow eyes to try and scan through the falling snow and his wispy brown bangs, looking for any familiar sign. He pulled his fur coat higher on his shoulders, letting out a misty breath in a cold air. He hadn't been home in ages- not since being locked away after the death of Baldur. Subconsciously, the man drew his fingers across the large burns on his forehead that trailed down his face, on either side of his nose. They had been burned there from the poison of a serpent, fortunately though it was not the poison of one of his sons. Not even he would have survived that.
"Well?" came the impatient voice from behind him.
The second man was in a lighter fur coat, his immortal skin did not need as much protection from the cold as the firsts' did. He was shorter than the first man, but not by much. The second man was almost seven feet tall, while the first was close to being eight. The impatient foreigner came to stand by the taller man, brushing his silver-streaked black hair out of poppy-red eyes.
"I freed you for a simple task, finding a certain location of one of your own sons. And yet we've been wandering this blasted landscape for who know how long! Should I send you back to your chains and the serpent?" the red-eyed man snapped.
Shaking fingers went back to the scars on his face as fear entered the yellow-black eyes. He did not want to go back to his endless torture ever again.
"Don't worry at all. The landscape has changed in all the time I've been gone- but once I find my bearings I'll get you what you want," the scarred man replied.
He pulled his fur coat over his chin and continued through the snow.
The graying black-haired man growled quietly in annoyance, but he needed this assistance if he was to get what he wanted. He hated having to rely on someone else for his own plans- unless he was controlling them himself- but he was not familiar with this cold and barren land and needed the guide who knew where what he needed lied, or else he'd spend years wandering and searching. He didn't need to spend any more time than necessary; even considering time was what he was.
He was already fighting his own war against his children and grandchildren, and then mortal humans who were the bloodline of great heroes. Now, if only he could find one particular beast, hidden deep in the ground, he could command an entire new world.
After the world was destroyed by the mighty war he would unleash, that is.
Those brats back in New Olympia would never guess what he was planning to unleash. They were too used to the fact that they would be able to destroy every ancient Grecian monster he could unleash upon them, but this fiend was nothing like the creatures they had fought before. This brute was the end of the world- and the Olympian gods could not help because this animal was definitely not Grecian.
Like most gods, he preferred to stay within his own religion where he understood what was going on, but as of late, he had needed something unpredictable that would stop the brats and his kin for good.
So he had turned to the mortal-gods who held off the oncoming doom of the earth, who knew how to release its power. Surely, once he had that supremacy, nothing would ever be able to stop him.
The end of the world was coming, Ragnarok was near.
(The Core: Gaia)
While the two figures above plotted the end, deep, deep in the soul of the earth- someone was plotting how to keep the beginning from becoming the ending. She was pained already from the expansion of mankind, scars covering her, many deep and many still growing. She was being poisoned continuously by them, but she loved life. She would not let it end in the hands of her evil child, not after all she had done to preserve life.
Finally, Gaia decided. She would have to hide the beast from her youngest son, but in the end it would hurt much of mankind. And yet maybe, it would be a lesson to them to understand that she felt every blow they inflicted upon her.
And so, gathering her energy, Gaia began to move so quickly and violently that the entire surface was caught unaware, and the earth changed so greatly that it would never again be what it once was.
(Wild Land: Iceland)
Without warning, the ground around the two giants began to crack and break. The sound of the shifting earth almost seemed like an immense woman wailing as she struggled through the contractions of birth. The ground beneath them bucked and a huge slab of land was thrown into the air like a breaching whale.
"Curses! Hurry, you fool, my mother is onto us and she will hide Him away from us if we don't find Him now!" The foreigner cried.
With a start, the larger of the two broke into a run, frantically trying to dodge through the flying rocks and snow, leaping over opening fissures and crevasses with the shorter man hot on his heels.
But sadly, even as he ran the scarred man knew it was futile. He still did not recognize the land and now that it was changing- all hopes of finding his son was surely lost. But still, he continued running, determined not to fail his new partner in crime.
(Brownstone: New Olympia)
Theresa screamed as she was thrown from her bed. The ground was shaking like never before. A chunk of her roof crumbled down and she rolled to the side, just dodging it. Then an entire section of the drywall crumbled away and fell towards her. She threw up her hands and narrowed her eyes, throwing the roof to the other side of her room with her mind so that she remained unscathed.
Leaping to her feet, Theresa rushed towards the door, flying over cracks in the floor and avoiding crumbling rafters. She threw open the door to fall into Jay's arms, he was just about opened her door to get her himself.
"What's happening?" she screamed, projecting another chunk of the roof away from them with her mind.
"I don't know- but we have to get to the school right away!" Jay cried, turning to run down the hall. Theresa knew he meant the secret part of the school, where the gods were currently living, but wouldn't it be falling down in this massive earthquake?
"B-but its winter and we're in our night-clothes!" she stammered.
"You want to stay here?" Herry commented, coming up beside them with Neil right behind him. The later was yawning, but wide-eyed like them all.
"Point taken," Theresa nodded.
The four made their way down the hall at a full run.
"Where's Archie and Atlanta?" Jay asked Herry as they half leapt, half fell down the stairs.
"They went ahead to get Odie from downstairs, we're gonna meet them out front," Herry called back, punching at a slab of drywall that had nearly hit him and broke it into smaller, less-damaging pieces.
Rushing out the front door, nearly slipping on the now-cracked, icy steps, the group found Archie, Atlanta and Odie waiting worriedly, they were all alright, but they were shivering badly. The road was tossing and turning like how one tosses a salad. There was no way they'd be able to use Herry's truck to get around- let alone get into it since it had been tossed and smashed as well.
Now realizing they were outside in the early morning, only in their light night-clothes, the rest of the group found that they began to freeze as well, bare toes already numb on the cracking sidewalk.
"Is everyone alright enough to run to the school?" Jay, once again becoming the leader and not a hysteric teen like the rest of them were, demanded. There were quick nods from all around, all faces wide-eyed and pale at the destruction that was going on all around them. In the distance, there was a glow of burning buildings lighting the dark sky and screams could be heard in the unchanging night.
"Let's go!" Atlanta said loudly, trying to drone out the background sounds.
Getting colder by the second, the other six took off after her, slipping on the still-shifting sidewalk and narrowly missing the chunks of crumbling buildings.
Once, Atlanta fell and skinned her knees and elbows on the cement, Archie grabbed her hand and helped her up quickly. Everyone was unsteady on their feet, often stumbling and nearly falling on the water-like pavement. More and more howls of fright or pain sounded around them, getting closer and closer. Fires were breaking out in buildings everywhere and with a heart-wrenching decision, Jay had silently commanded that they force themselves to ignore all that was going on around them, and only focus on getting to the school.
Neil screamed as a frightened dog raced out of the shadows and darted across the street, where it met an untimely end as the asphalt cracked open and swallowed it whole. The sight seemed to make it more obvious that the seven needed to get to the school as soon as they could, before it was too late.
Above, no one noticed as two ravens sped through the black night, headed in the exact same direction as the seven confused heroes below.
(Titan Wing: New Olympia High)
Hera looked up, alarmed, as the room began to shake. The tea she had been having spilled from her cup and onto the table and she leapt back to avoid getting it on her toga. The doors to her room flew open as Zeus rushed in.
"Hera- Gaia moves! Something is wrong!" Zeus cried.
"I know that, Zeus! We must secure the wing before it collapses in on us!" Hera hitched up her toga and ran to the door, grabbing her husband's scrawny wrist and running to gather the rest of the gods.
Fortunately, the rest of the gods were remaining fairly levelheaded, save for her cowardly son Ares who kept fidgeting nervously, and had gathered together and were preparing to secure the wing, with Persephone leading the procedure.
Hera placed a hand on Persephone's slim shoulder in reassurance as the blonde goddess prepared to finish off the spell. For a brief moment, it was almost as if time had stopped, and then the shaking and cracking in the secret wing stopped. All the gods let their shoulders drop in relief; Chiron caught Persephone as the goddess's knees buckled momentarily.
"Does anyone know why Gaia is shifting?" Hera asked immediately.
The rest of the Olympians shook their heads in response, each as confused as the next. Suddenly, two black shapes flew in from the hallway, circling the ceiling as they cawed loudly. The two ravens folded their wings and plummeted down, landing before Zeus and Hera.
Zeus' eyes widened in alarm as he recognized the birds, "What does your master want Hugin and Munin?"
Hugin dipped his head respectfully, "He seeks help- for Gotterdammerung draws near."
"But why us? You are the ones who go to war at this time, we do not help you!" Hera replied, almost venomously.
"Because," Munin looked up to her without the same respect Hugin had shown to Zeus, "we need your heroes."
(Streets: New Olympia)
People were beginning to find their way onto the streets, running about like headless chickens and screaming in blind panic as the earth swallowed friends, themselves and other relatives.
The seven continued running, now completely numb from the frosty outside air. Their breaths were wisps of white mist in the dusty, smoky air. They were all suffering from cuts and scratches and scrapes now, but the image of the dog being swallowed whole remained in their minds and it kept them running.
A terrified hobo came screaming across the street, and was thrown into the air and onto Archie. Taken completely off guard, the terrified boy screamed as well and kicked the man off of himself, but not before the bum had punched him in his alarm. Archie scrambled to his feet, grabbing onto the first person he made contact with, which happened to be Atlanta, and held onto her arm for reassurance.
Without a word the group kept running, being driven by pure untamed fear and the need to stay in a group. More people were flocking onto the streets, in horror at the moving earth beneath them. It wasn't that this was a major earthquake- the earth itself was moving.
"Whoa!" Jay cried, leaping back on his frozen feet as a huge rock jutted out of the ground in front of him. Herry and Theresa caught him and held him on his feet. He pulled out of their grasp and got back on his feet. The entire group jumped as a long line of rocks broke out of the ground and raced across the road.
"We... we still have to get to the school. Can everyone still climb?" Jay asked, his fearful eyes betraying his mask of a calm face.
"Cold weather does nothing for my hair- and running around in the middle of the night does NOT go well for me, especially when the earth is going to EAT me!" Neil half shrieked from the middle of the group, beside Odie.
Atlanta huffed, drawing herself up, "As long as you can make a fist you're alright."
She proceeded to make her way to the rock, getting a foot on it and muttering something about how cold it was, and then began to pull herself up. Archie, the skin around his right eye already turning a shade of blue, purple and black thanks to the punch he had earlier received, was right behind her and slowly began to struggle up.
As the rest of the group made their way up, they found that it wasn't just a little row of boulders they were climbing; it was becoming a mountain chain! The rocks were still growing under them and reaching for the sky.
For a brief moment the tremors seemed to stop and with a final burst of speed, the group managed to push their way to the top. Panting in the cold air, they stopped for a moment while they caught their breath.
"Everyone's okay, right?" Jay asked worriedly. He mentally gave himself a slap for being so worrisome, but what else was he supposed to do when it was becoming a race for their own lives to get a few blocks down the street to safety?
"Well, if you call okay the fact that I can't feel my hands or legs, then, yeah, I'm perfectly fine," Odie snapped. Jay couldn't blame him though, they were all scared, tired and utterly confused over what was happening.
He opened his mouth to say another stupid thing like 'Sorry' but then the ground started shaking again. Jay heard numerous curses, namely from Archie, Atlanta and Herry, but the rocks began to jut upwards and caught the seven heroes off guard. All Jay could do now was grab onto a boulder and scream like the rest of the world. There was no way they were going to get through this night alive.
Lack of proper breath and drowsy from the cold, Jay barely registered what was happening when a huge eagle/lion hybrid snatched him up in its claws and circled back in the exact same direction he had earlier been heading in. He didn't find much interesting, when he was let down with his cold, tired and sick friends, but he faintly recognized the gasps of shock and the commanding voice seeming to come from the man/horse that was directing others, meaning he was REALLY hallucinating, to get warm blankets and extra clothing for the teens and then being escorted to a nice, warm room and falling asleep on his feet...
(Some Time Later)
With a moan, Archie sat up and opened his eyes. He was wrapped in numerous blankets, still cold deep down, but he was sweating. Hearing a cough, he looked beside him to see Atlanta and Theresa on his right, Jay right on Theresa's left. On his left was Herry and Odie and over beside Jay was a surprisingly quiet Neil. Hesitantly, he reached over and placed his hand on Atlanta's forehead, frowning as he felt a small fever. When he did a double-take on his friends, they all looked like they were getting sick. Little wonder, after they had all been running around in the freezing cold November weather without shoes and in their night clothes. It was a wonder their feet weren't frozen off.
Archie nearly jumped as he heard a loud hiss somewhere deeper into the room, and smiled to see that they were all sleeping in the warmest room in the entire school, both wings. Hephaestus's workshop. Another sound caught his attention, the clip-clop of hooves on the cement floor. Chiron came into view seconds later, carrying some flowers.
"Ah, you're awake. That's good," the wise old centaur smiled.
Archie nodded, "Are- what about the others? Will they be okay, I mean, they look sick and Atlanta has a fever-"
"They all have a fever and if you weren't immune to sicknesses, then you'd still be asleep and fighting off the same cold. Now do you want to go back to sleep or can you help me give them their medicine?" Chiron asked.
There wasn't much choice, knowing he'd be up soon anyways. Not many sane people he knew liked to go back to sleep surrounded by sick people, and as far as he knew he was very, very sane. Slowly, Archie pulled himself away from the warm blankets and made sure as not to disturb Atlanta, knowing Herry never woke up unless the ground threw him out of bed...
"What about that earthquake?" Archie asked Chiron.
"It's no earthquake. Gaia is moving," Chiron lifted up Neil a tad and squeezed some juice from the flowers into the blonde's mouth and then gently lay him down.
"What?" Archie hissed over the din of hisses of steam and clanks of machines and cackles of fire.
"Hera will explain it to you soon, so wait for that. Now, if you could start over there with young Odie, just lift them up so that they don't choke and get some juices from the flower into their mouths," Chiron instructed.
Archie obediently picked up a few flowers and made his way over to the other end of the lined-up six. Awkwardly, he lifted Odie up a tad and squeezed the juice into his slightly split lips like he had been instructed. Just to be safe, he waited a moment to make sure Odie didn't choke on the fluid, before moving onto Herry.
When he got to Atlanta, he mentally savored the moment of being able to rest her head in his lap without fear of being ridiculed for it. He half-expected her to wake up and tell him off as Archie, very slowly, parted her lips and dripped some juice (could it be nectar?) into her mouth.
"You'd better get well soon," he whispered to her before pulling away and walking back over to Chiron. The centaur indicated for him to follow and led Archie out of the confusing maze of machines and such in Hephaestus' 'lab'.
"They'll all recover, right?" Archie asked again.
Chiron nodded, "With my help they should be fit for fighting within a few days," Archie sighed thankfully, "now you'll probably want to change, hm? I don't think Hera would appreciate introducing you to our... guest in those," Chiron gestured to Archie's current attire. He grinned sheepishly as he looked down to his black shorts and white shirt, some stains visible on the front.
"I think Apollo or Ares might have something that will fit you," Chiron said, more to himself, as he led Archie down the hall.
"Wait, you said 'Guest', right? Who is it?" Archie had to pick up his pace to keep up with the centaur now.
"You'll soon find out," Chiron muttered, obviously feeling a tad rushed he moved into a fast trot towards the armory.
Archie stopped, "Why can't you just tell me?" he complained to no one, then noticing he was alone again, ran after Chiron.
00oo00oo00
Well, here we have the start of another story. Hopefully it sounds interesting enough to you, and kudo's to those who might be able to figure out who this 'Guest' is and who the two men in Iceland are and what they're looking for.
Demenior
Disclaimer: I don't own Class of the Titans. References to other mythologies come from various books and websites.
Pairings: They will be played around with, since these are teenagers we're talking about. But mainly it will be Jay/Theresa and Archie/Atlanta.
Warnings: None in this chapter.
Authors Note: This came to me after countless hours of wondering how other mythologies related to the fight between Cronus and the kids in the Class of the Titans world. So slowly my love for the Norse stories began to fill in little sequences and ideas and so now I'm trying to write it. I think it turned out fairly well and I'll try to keep a consistent update on this and my other stories.
Chapter 1: Movement
00oo00oo00
(Wild Land: Iceland)
A cold wind blew over the barren landscape. Hesitantly, a large man placed his foot down in the snow as he narrowed his yellow eyes to try and scan through the falling snow and his wispy brown bangs, looking for any familiar sign. He pulled his fur coat higher on his shoulders, letting out a misty breath in a cold air. He hadn't been home in ages- not since being locked away after the death of Baldur. Subconsciously, the man drew his fingers across the large burns on his forehead that trailed down his face, on either side of his nose. They had been burned there from the poison of a serpent, fortunately though it was not the poison of one of his sons. Not even he would have survived that.
"Well?" came the impatient voice from behind him.
The second man was in a lighter fur coat, his immortal skin did not need as much protection from the cold as the firsts' did. He was shorter than the first man, but not by much. The second man was almost seven feet tall, while the first was close to being eight. The impatient foreigner came to stand by the taller man, brushing his silver-streaked black hair out of poppy-red eyes.
"I freed you for a simple task, finding a certain location of one of your own sons. And yet we've been wandering this blasted landscape for who know how long! Should I send you back to your chains and the serpent?" the red-eyed man snapped.
Shaking fingers went back to the scars on his face as fear entered the yellow-black eyes. He did not want to go back to his endless torture ever again.
"Don't worry at all. The landscape has changed in all the time I've been gone- but once I find my bearings I'll get you what you want," the scarred man replied.
He pulled his fur coat over his chin and continued through the snow.
The graying black-haired man growled quietly in annoyance, but he needed this assistance if he was to get what he wanted. He hated having to rely on someone else for his own plans- unless he was controlling them himself- but he was not familiar with this cold and barren land and needed the guide who knew where what he needed lied, or else he'd spend years wandering and searching. He didn't need to spend any more time than necessary; even considering time was what he was.
He was already fighting his own war against his children and grandchildren, and then mortal humans who were the bloodline of great heroes. Now, if only he could find one particular beast, hidden deep in the ground, he could command an entire new world.
After the world was destroyed by the mighty war he would unleash, that is.
Those brats back in New Olympia would never guess what he was planning to unleash. They were too used to the fact that they would be able to destroy every ancient Grecian monster he could unleash upon them, but this fiend was nothing like the creatures they had fought before. This brute was the end of the world- and the Olympian gods could not help because this animal was definitely not Grecian.
Like most gods, he preferred to stay within his own religion where he understood what was going on, but as of late, he had needed something unpredictable that would stop the brats and his kin for good.
So he had turned to the mortal-gods who held off the oncoming doom of the earth, who knew how to release its power. Surely, once he had that supremacy, nothing would ever be able to stop him.
The end of the world was coming, Ragnarok was near.
(The Core: Gaia)
While the two figures above plotted the end, deep, deep in the soul of the earth- someone was plotting how to keep the beginning from becoming the ending. She was pained already from the expansion of mankind, scars covering her, many deep and many still growing. She was being poisoned continuously by them, but she loved life. She would not let it end in the hands of her evil child, not after all she had done to preserve life.
Finally, Gaia decided. She would have to hide the beast from her youngest son, but in the end it would hurt much of mankind. And yet maybe, it would be a lesson to them to understand that she felt every blow they inflicted upon her.
And so, gathering her energy, Gaia began to move so quickly and violently that the entire surface was caught unaware, and the earth changed so greatly that it would never again be what it once was.
(Wild Land: Iceland)
Without warning, the ground around the two giants began to crack and break. The sound of the shifting earth almost seemed like an immense woman wailing as she struggled through the contractions of birth. The ground beneath them bucked and a huge slab of land was thrown into the air like a breaching whale.
"Curses! Hurry, you fool, my mother is onto us and she will hide Him away from us if we don't find Him now!" The foreigner cried.
With a start, the larger of the two broke into a run, frantically trying to dodge through the flying rocks and snow, leaping over opening fissures and crevasses with the shorter man hot on his heels.
But sadly, even as he ran the scarred man knew it was futile. He still did not recognize the land and now that it was changing- all hopes of finding his son was surely lost. But still, he continued running, determined not to fail his new partner in crime.
(Brownstone: New Olympia)
Theresa screamed as she was thrown from her bed. The ground was shaking like never before. A chunk of her roof crumbled down and she rolled to the side, just dodging it. Then an entire section of the drywall crumbled away and fell towards her. She threw up her hands and narrowed her eyes, throwing the roof to the other side of her room with her mind so that she remained unscathed.
Leaping to her feet, Theresa rushed towards the door, flying over cracks in the floor and avoiding crumbling rafters. She threw open the door to fall into Jay's arms, he was just about opened her door to get her himself.
"What's happening?" she screamed, projecting another chunk of the roof away from them with her mind.
"I don't know- but we have to get to the school right away!" Jay cried, turning to run down the hall. Theresa knew he meant the secret part of the school, where the gods were currently living, but wouldn't it be falling down in this massive earthquake?
"B-but its winter and we're in our night-clothes!" she stammered.
"You want to stay here?" Herry commented, coming up beside them with Neil right behind him. The later was yawning, but wide-eyed like them all.
"Point taken," Theresa nodded.
The four made their way down the hall at a full run.
"Where's Archie and Atlanta?" Jay asked Herry as they half leapt, half fell down the stairs.
"They went ahead to get Odie from downstairs, we're gonna meet them out front," Herry called back, punching at a slab of drywall that had nearly hit him and broke it into smaller, less-damaging pieces.
Rushing out the front door, nearly slipping on the now-cracked, icy steps, the group found Archie, Atlanta and Odie waiting worriedly, they were all alright, but they were shivering badly. The road was tossing and turning like how one tosses a salad. There was no way they'd be able to use Herry's truck to get around- let alone get into it since it had been tossed and smashed as well.
Now realizing they were outside in the early morning, only in their light night-clothes, the rest of the group found that they began to freeze as well, bare toes already numb on the cracking sidewalk.
"Is everyone alright enough to run to the school?" Jay, once again becoming the leader and not a hysteric teen like the rest of them were, demanded. There were quick nods from all around, all faces wide-eyed and pale at the destruction that was going on all around them. In the distance, there was a glow of burning buildings lighting the dark sky and screams could be heard in the unchanging night.
"Let's go!" Atlanta said loudly, trying to drone out the background sounds.
Getting colder by the second, the other six took off after her, slipping on the still-shifting sidewalk and narrowly missing the chunks of crumbling buildings.
Once, Atlanta fell and skinned her knees and elbows on the cement, Archie grabbed her hand and helped her up quickly. Everyone was unsteady on their feet, often stumbling and nearly falling on the water-like pavement. More and more howls of fright or pain sounded around them, getting closer and closer. Fires were breaking out in buildings everywhere and with a heart-wrenching decision, Jay had silently commanded that they force themselves to ignore all that was going on around them, and only focus on getting to the school.
Neil screamed as a frightened dog raced out of the shadows and darted across the street, where it met an untimely end as the asphalt cracked open and swallowed it whole. The sight seemed to make it more obvious that the seven needed to get to the school as soon as they could, before it was too late.
Above, no one noticed as two ravens sped through the black night, headed in the exact same direction as the seven confused heroes below.
(Titan Wing: New Olympia High)
Hera looked up, alarmed, as the room began to shake. The tea she had been having spilled from her cup and onto the table and she leapt back to avoid getting it on her toga. The doors to her room flew open as Zeus rushed in.
"Hera- Gaia moves! Something is wrong!" Zeus cried.
"I know that, Zeus! We must secure the wing before it collapses in on us!" Hera hitched up her toga and ran to the door, grabbing her husband's scrawny wrist and running to gather the rest of the gods.
Fortunately, the rest of the gods were remaining fairly levelheaded, save for her cowardly son Ares who kept fidgeting nervously, and had gathered together and were preparing to secure the wing, with Persephone leading the procedure.
Hera placed a hand on Persephone's slim shoulder in reassurance as the blonde goddess prepared to finish off the spell. For a brief moment, it was almost as if time had stopped, and then the shaking and cracking in the secret wing stopped. All the gods let their shoulders drop in relief; Chiron caught Persephone as the goddess's knees buckled momentarily.
"Does anyone know why Gaia is shifting?" Hera asked immediately.
The rest of the Olympians shook their heads in response, each as confused as the next. Suddenly, two black shapes flew in from the hallway, circling the ceiling as they cawed loudly. The two ravens folded their wings and plummeted down, landing before Zeus and Hera.
Zeus' eyes widened in alarm as he recognized the birds, "What does your master want Hugin and Munin?"
Hugin dipped his head respectfully, "He seeks help- for Gotterdammerung draws near."
"But why us? You are the ones who go to war at this time, we do not help you!" Hera replied, almost venomously.
"Because," Munin looked up to her without the same respect Hugin had shown to Zeus, "we need your heroes."
(Streets: New Olympia)
People were beginning to find their way onto the streets, running about like headless chickens and screaming in blind panic as the earth swallowed friends, themselves and other relatives.
The seven continued running, now completely numb from the frosty outside air. Their breaths were wisps of white mist in the dusty, smoky air. They were all suffering from cuts and scratches and scrapes now, but the image of the dog being swallowed whole remained in their minds and it kept them running.
A terrified hobo came screaming across the street, and was thrown into the air and onto Archie. Taken completely off guard, the terrified boy screamed as well and kicked the man off of himself, but not before the bum had punched him in his alarm. Archie scrambled to his feet, grabbing onto the first person he made contact with, which happened to be Atlanta, and held onto her arm for reassurance.
Without a word the group kept running, being driven by pure untamed fear and the need to stay in a group. More people were flocking onto the streets, in horror at the moving earth beneath them. It wasn't that this was a major earthquake- the earth itself was moving.
"Whoa!" Jay cried, leaping back on his frozen feet as a huge rock jutted out of the ground in front of him. Herry and Theresa caught him and held him on his feet. He pulled out of their grasp and got back on his feet. The entire group jumped as a long line of rocks broke out of the ground and raced across the road.
"We... we still have to get to the school. Can everyone still climb?" Jay asked, his fearful eyes betraying his mask of a calm face.
"Cold weather does nothing for my hair- and running around in the middle of the night does NOT go well for me, especially when the earth is going to EAT me!" Neil half shrieked from the middle of the group, beside Odie.
Atlanta huffed, drawing herself up, "As long as you can make a fist you're alright."
She proceeded to make her way to the rock, getting a foot on it and muttering something about how cold it was, and then began to pull herself up. Archie, the skin around his right eye already turning a shade of blue, purple and black thanks to the punch he had earlier received, was right behind her and slowly began to struggle up.
As the rest of the group made their way up, they found that it wasn't just a little row of boulders they were climbing; it was becoming a mountain chain! The rocks were still growing under them and reaching for the sky.
For a brief moment the tremors seemed to stop and with a final burst of speed, the group managed to push their way to the top. Panting in the cold air, they stopped for a moment while they caught their breath.
"Everyone's okay, right?" Jay asked worriedly. He mentally gave himself a slap for being so worrisome, but what else was he supposed to do when it was becoming a race for their own lives to get a few blocks down the street to safety?
"Well, if you call okay the fact that I can't feel my hands or legs, then, yeah, I'm perfectly fine," Odie snapped. Jay couldn't blame him though, they were all scared, tired and utterly confused over what was happening.
He opened his mouth to say another stupid thing like 'Sorry' but then the ground started shaking again. Jay heard numerous curses, namely from Archie, Atlanta and Herry, but the rocks began to jut upwards and caught the seven heroes off guard. All Jay could do now was grab onto a boulder and scream like the rest of the world. There was no way they were going to get through this night alive.
Lack of proper breath and drowsy from the cold, Jay barely registered what was happening when a huge eagle/lion hybrid snatched him up in its claws and circled back in the exact same direction he had earlier been heading in. He didn't find much interesting, when he was let down with his cold, tired and sick friends, but he faintly recognized the gasps of shock and the commanding voice seeming to come from the man/horse that was directing others, meaning he was REALLY hallucinating, to get warm blankets and extra clothing for the teens and then being escorted to a nice, warm room and falling asleep on his feet...
(Some Time Later)
With a moan, Archie sat up and opened his eyes. He was wrapped in numerous blankets, still cold deep down, but he was sweating. Hearing a cough, he looked beside him to see Atlanta and Theresa on his right, Jay right on Theresa's left. On his left was Herry and Odie and over beside Jay was a surprisingly quiet Neil. Hesitantly, he reached over and placed his hand on Atlanta's forehead, frowning as he felt a small fever. When he did a double-take on his friends, they all looked like they were getting sick. Little wonder, after they had all been running around in the freezing cold November weather without shoes and in their night clothes. It was a wonder their feet weren't frozen off.
Archie nearly jumped as he heard a loud hiss somewhere deeper into the room, and smiled to see that they were all sleeping in the warmest room in the entire school, both wings. Hephaestus's workshop. Another sound caught his attention, the clip-clop of hooves on the cement floor. Chiron came into view seconds later, carrying some flowers.
"Ah, you're awake. That's good," the wise old centaur smiled.
Archie nodded, "Are- what about the others? Will they be okay, I mean, they look sick and Atlanta has a fever-"
"They all have a fever and if you weren't immune to sicknesses, then you'd still be asleep and fighting off the same cold. Now do you want to go back to sleep or can you help me give them their medicine?" Chiron asked.
There wasn't much choice, knowing he'd be up soon anyways. Not many sane people he knew liked to go back to sleep surrounded by sick people, and as far as he knew he was very, very sane. Slowly, Archie pulled himself away from the warm blankets and made sure as not to disturb Atlanta, knowing Herry never woke up unless the ground threw him out of bed...
"What about that earthquake?" Archie asked Chiron.
"It's no earthquake. Gaia is moving," Chiron lifted up Neil a tad and squeezed some juice from the flowers into the blonde's mouth and then gently lay him down.
"What?" Archie hissed over the din of hisses of steam and clanks of machines and cackles of fire.
"Hera will explain it to you soon, so wait for that. Now, if you could start over there with young Odie, just lift them up so that they don't choke and get some juices from the flower into their mouths," Chiron instructed.
Archie obediently picked up a few flowers and made his way over to the other end of the lined-up six. Awkwardly, he lifted Odie up a tad and squeezed the juice into his slightly split lips like he had been instructed. Just to be safe, he waited a moment to make sure Odie didn't choke on the fluid, before moving onto Herry.
When he got to Atlanta, he mentally savored the moment of being able to rest her head in his lap without fear of being ridiculed for it. He half-expected her to wake up and tell him off as Archie, very slowly, parted her lips and dripped some juice (could it be nectar?) into her mouth.
"You'd better get well soon," he whispered to her before pulling away and walking back over to Chiron. The centaur indicated for him to follow and led Archie out of the confusing maze of machines and such in Hephaestus' 'lab'.
"They'll all recover, right?" Archie asked again.
Chiron nodded, "With my help they should be fit for fighting within a few days," Archie sighed thankfully, "now you'll probably want to change, hm? I don't think Hera would appreciate introducing you to our... guest in those," Chiron gestured to Archie's current attire. He grinned sheepishly as he looked down to his black shorts and white shirt, some stains visible on the front.
"I think Apollo or Ares might have something that will fit you," Chiron said, more to himself, as he led Archie down the hall.
"Wait, you said 'Guest', right? Who is it?" Archie had to pick up his pace to keep up with the centaur now.
"You'll soon find out," Chiron muttered, obviously feeling a tad rushed he moved into a fast trot towards the armory.
Archie stopped, "Why can't you just tell me?" he complained to no one, then noticing he was alone again, ran after Chiron.
00oo00oo00
Well, here we have the start of another story. Hopefully it sounds interesting enough to you, and kudo's to those who might be able to figure out who this 'Guest' is and who the two men in Iceland are and what they're looking for.
Demenior
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