Gods and Monsters 2: The Forgotten God

## Prolouge

*Several months ago, the gods had been plagued by a series of brazen thefts, all of which were of objects of great sacred value, holding immense power and treasured by the gods who owned them. In the desperate attempts to find them, blame was wildly scattered, falling on many of the other gods, all of whom were innocent. The possibility of celestial war loomed, promising great if not total destruction. The gods' children, a group of bold teenage demigods, stepped forward to find the answer to this great mystery, all while hiding such attempts from their parents. Soon it was discovered that the relics were being stolen by a group of old gods, whom had long been forgotten and ceased to be worshipped, thusly angered into such actions. Upon realizing their mistake, the gods restored order, giving recognition to the old gods once again. And so all was peaceful.*

*At least, for a little bit.*

*But, to the knowledge of none, one god in particular had been overlooked, and was angered by such treatment, vowing for revenge.*

## Chapter 1

A hacking cough cut through the peaceful darkness of sleep. Kimmy’s eyes flew open, and she sat bolt upright, startled out of her dreams by the harsh sound. It came again, and she swung her legs out of bed, rushing as fast as her tired legs would allow her out the door. The noise led her to the kitchen, where her father, Kamadev sat at the table, hunched over his breakfast of ladoos and curry, his wife, Rati seated beside him, eyeing him with worry. His normally emerald skin had paled to a sickly chartreuse, and his face was speckled with livid red spots. His brown eyes were bloodshot and glazed.

“Dad, are you okay?” Kimmy asked, her voice full of concern.

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a little sickness. It’ll pass. Don’t worry my dear child.”

“But that’s impossible! Gods don’t get sick!”

Kamadev chuckled painfully. “Well, gods are all about doing the impossible. Now just eat your breakfast and focus on getting to school on time.” Kimmy did as she was bid, swallowing down her food without much notice to it, keeping her gaze upon her father, who continued to try to hide his cough.

She went through her morning routine in a distracted manner, then climbed aboard Suka, her father’s colossal parrot. Suka spread his wings and leaped into the air, starting the long journey from India to America. As they flew through the sky, Kimmy’s mind raced, flitting from one chaotic thought to another. What was happening? How could her father possibly get sick? What sort of bizarre twist of fate was this? A loud roar interrupted her, and caused her to nearly fall off of Suka with surprise. She whirled around and saw behind her a large lion prowling the sky like it was solid ground. She smiled as she recognized it as Tanupa, the pet lion of her beastie, Kara. And sure enough, calmly seated on Tanupa’s back as if it were the most normal thing to do, was Kara, daughter of Kali, dressed in her usual red skirt and top accented with a skull necklace and belt. Tanupa caught up to them, and casually strolled by the parrot’s side. Kara’s coal-black face split into a sly grin, one of her eight hands casually twirling a lock of raven hair around her finger.

“*Pranam* Kim. Wassup?” she said.

“Oh, hey! I’m doing fine.”

“Is that so? By the way, your *mukut* is on backwards.” Kara said, her grin growing wider.

“Oh!” exclaimed Kimmy, and rotated her headdress until it was facing the right way. “I guess I have been distracted today. My dad has gotten sick, and you know how that never happens to us gods.”

“You don’t say. Funny thing, my mom has been a bit ill today too. Makes her awful cranky, and you know how she gets when she’s cranky.” Kimmy nodded and shuddered at the memory of Kara’s mother. That goddess was by far one of the most fearsome of the entire pantheon, and everyone had to tread carefully around her. “Anyway, I’m sure it’ll pass. Gods are tough, especially my mom.”

Their rides started to dip towards earth, having arrived over the United States in a matter of minutes. They landed on the grounds of their school, dismounted and walked together up the stairs, their rides disappearing to return to India.

As they strolled down the halls, they were met by their beastie, Lily, daughter of Eros, who had a look of confusion on her face before she spotted them.

“Hey ghouls! How’s it going?” she called.

“Great! Just fangtastic!” Kimmy exclaimed, her face falsely bright. She looped her arm through Lily’s and pulled her close, whispering in her ear, “Everything is all wrong. It’s an emergency. I’ll tell you later in private. Now pretend like I said something funny.” A baffled look passed briefly over Lily’s face but was quickly replaced by a cheerful giggle. “Oh Kimmy, whatever you say!” The three then broke off and went to their classes.

A few hours later, at the cafeteria, the three regrouped at an isolated table, as far away from the other students as they possibly could get. Lily was the last to arrive, plopping her tray down on the table and sidling in close to the other two.

“Okay, what’s happening?” she whispered. Kimmy drew in a deep breath before replying.

“Well, I don’t want this to get out to the rest of monsterkind, but my father and Kara’s mom have gotten sick. We don’t know how this is possible, gods don’t get sick.”

“What! No way! That’s crazy! Same thing happened to my dad!”

“Really? Oh no, this can’t be good!”

“No, it probably isn’t. I thought all our problems would be solved after we found the old gods, but I guess not.” The three fell silent, gazing morosely at their lunches. It was Kara who spoke up again.

“I wonder if this has happened to any other gods besides our parents?”

“Oh! I hadn’t thought of that! I’ll ask the other demis.” said Lily.

“Okay, but keep it on the down low. We don’t want the other monsters getting to know about this and freaking out about the higher powers being vulnerable. It might spread mass panic.” whispered Kimmy.

“Good idea. I’ll be sure to keep it very hush-hush.” Lily replied. The bell rang, causing the three to jump, then they all got up to throw away their uneaten meals.

Their last classes of the day seemed to drag by slowly, all three demigoddesses constantly glancing at the clock. Finally the last bell signaling the end of the day rang, Kimmy and Kara’s iCoffins buzzing at the exact same time. They checked the new text from Lily; *meet me in the grimnasium*. They looked to each other and nodded, slipping through the door with the flow of students all eager to leave. They went down the hall and entered the grimnasium, where they stopped short with shock. The room, as big as it was, was packed, the bleachers covered with seated students. There sat Sangeeta, Jivitam, Trevor, Hinode, Camaya, Kachina, Hecate, Asphodel, Lio, Lani, Lata, Asha, and much, much more. Every single demigod in the whole school was there. Kimmy gasped as she looked at all the faces of the school’s next gen divinity. She couldn’t believe there were so many in one school alone, and that they were all affected by the same thing. Lily came over and shrugged, smiling grimly.

“Well, as you have probably guessed, everyone here has reported that at least one of their godly parents have mysteriously become sick. It has become quite an epidemic, pun not intended. Now the matter is what we plan on doing about it. Any ideas?” Lily said. Sangeeta stood up and Lily nodded in acknowledgement.

“Why don’t we try to find the point of origin for this phenomenon, the Patient X so to speak. Then we may be able to find the cause.” She said, her voice clear and echoing. Jivitam leaned over and grinned at her.

"A brilliant suggestion from the goddess of wisdom! I say we follow that idea.” he exclaimed, glancing flirtatiously at Sangeeta, causing her to give him an exasperated smirk. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Spring break is coming up, tomorrow as a matter of fact. We can spend the time trying to find this point of origin and find a solution. We have two weeks to do this, and we should probably keep this a secret from our parents.” said Lily. A mutual groan rose from the bleachers and Lily scowled at them. “Now, now, settle down! Remember, this affects all of us. Besides, what else can we do? It may be only a matter of time before someone actually dies.” That statement caused a hush over the entire gathering as all the demigods considered the possibility of becoming an orphan. None of them seemed too thrilled at the prospect. When no further protest was voiced, Lily nodded with satisfaction. “It is decided then! Tomorrow, the mission begins!” and with that, everyone got up and filed out, dispersing to travel back home to their respective countries. The three friends walked out together to discuss the plan.

“Okay, so everyone is on board. We must first find out when each parent got sick and who was the first.” said Lily.

“But, how exactly are we going to do that? Everyone seemed to have come down with it at the exact same time! Today!” exclaimed Kimmy.

“That may be what it seems, but not necessarily true. They could have gotten it at different times and only began to show symptoms today.”

“But how could that be possible, how can every god everywhere possibly show symptoms on the exact same day?”

“Not all the gods. At least, maybe not.”

“What?”

“The demigods we saw there are the children of only a small portion of the gods, not all of them. There might still be gods unaffected. Not to mention a lot of the demigods are siblings, so they were reporting the exact same parent more than once.”

“Arrgh! This is so confusing!” Kimmy growled, holding her head in her hands.

“It’ll be okay. Let’s all meet up at the maul tomorrow. Then maybe this will be a bit clearer.” Kimmy nodded and climbed aboard Suka, who had been waiting for her, Kara sitting on Tanupa beside her. The two didn’t talk for the entire journey back home, each lost in her own thoughts. They soon split up, Kara heading to Kailash and Kimmy to her home temple.

Once Kimmy arrived home, she spent the rest of the day in a distracted daze, eating dinner without tasting it, then went to bed to a restless night.

## Chapter 2

The next morning was the same as the previous, with Kimmy being jolted awake by a bout of violent coughing. It sounded much worse than it had the day before, and she hurried to her parent’s bedroom next-door, anxious about the state of her father’s health. Kamadev was still in bed, and looking sicker than she had every seen him. His face was even paler, now almost yellow in color, and his voice was a barely audible rasp. Her mother was nowhere to be seen.

“Dad! You look awful!” Kimmy exclaimed.

“Well that’s about how I feel.” Kamadev smiled weakly. “Don’t worry, your mom has gone to Dhanvantari for something to make me feel better. Don’t let me hold you up; I’ll be fine under their care. You go out and spend time with your friends at the maul.”

“What? How did you know about that?” Kimmy said, shocked.

“Come on, I’m a god, give me some credit. Now go eat and have fun.” Kimmy reluctantly left and went to the kitchen where her breakfast was awaiting her. She ate and got ready for the day, taking care to make sure her *mukut* was on straight today. She went outside into the garden, where Suka was wandering, nibbling on her mother’s roses.

“Come on Suka, I can’t be late.” said Kimmy, reaching out towards the giant bird. He squawked in protest and pulled away from her.

“I know it’s not a school day, I need you to take me to the maul.” Suka squawked again and glared at her.

“Oh come on Suka! You know I can’t teleport very well! Last time I ended up in Australia instead of Florida! Just take me there and you can have what you want. I won’t even tell Mom who has been eating her flowers.” Suka screeched his displeasure and gave her a disgusted look, but lowered himself nonetheless. Kimmy clambered onto his back, tightly gripping his green feathers, but taking care not to rip any out. Suka spread his great wings, and in one mighty flap they were airborne, on their way to the USA. On the trip there, Kimmy kept an eye out for Tanupa and Kara, but to her disappointment saw neither one. They soon arrived back in America, landing in the parking lot of the Maul. A group of other demigods were waiting there, casually chatting and laughing together. To her relief, Kimmy spotted Kara among them, having arrived earlier. Kimmy went over to join them, recognizing Lani, Lio, Hinode, Lily, and Thomas. Ah, yes, Thomas. She felt her heart flutter as she met his cool dark eyes. Upon seeing her, his perfect tan face broke into a flawless dazzlingly white smile, framed by voluminous lips and casually ruffled his shiny short black hair, somehow making it look even more attractive in its disarray. He was so perfect she could barely believe someone so handsome could even exist.

“Hey Kim,” he called, his voice as smooth and rich as velvet, making her go weak at the knees.

"H-hi,” she replied, barely able to speak from nerves. Everyone gave her a knowing look and a sly grin, some adding in mischievous winks. Kimmy blushed, her face growing hot and turning a bright pink that clashed with her green complexion. Thomas casually put his arm around her shoulder and her skin tingled as though electrified by the contact.

“Pay them no mind, they just like to have something to gossip about.” He reassured her, giving her another, if not flirty, grin.

“Alright, lovebirds, break it up! Let’s focus on what we are all here for. The godly plague, remember?” Lani said. That sobered everyone up, and all laughter ceased.

“Okay, so while we did not manage to isolate who was the first to contract it yet, Hinode came to us with some rather disturbing news. I think it would be best if you all heard it from her.” Lani continued. Hinode, a shy Japanese ghoul, stepped forward, her worried gaze peeking out from behind shiny black bangs. She twisted the sleeve of her kimono with anxiety, wrinkling the delicate silk.

“Mom is sick. She’s got it bad. She has been bedridden for days. She has been unable to walk the sun across the sky any more. I have to do it for her. Today I handed it off to a Chinese sun demigoddess; she agreed to take over for me until I get Mom better.” she said softly, her voice tinged with sadness.

“As you heard from her, and as you can probably suspect, if the gods don’t get well soon, their demigod children, aka us, will have to take over their places. And just think how hard that would be, especially for some of us. Asphodel would have to rule the dead, Hinode would guide the sun, Lata control the fortune of humanity, Lani shape the Earth, Lio judge the souls of the newly deceased, etcetera. We are still very young, and few of us are strong enough to take on such tasks. If we should fail, the universe will descend into chaos.” Lily said, tone somber. The group was silent as they pondered this horror. Then they all nodded in agreement. They would go and rescue their families.

“Okay, but how are we going to go about this? We have to go to Japan, and that is quite far away, not to mention only a couple of us here can successfully teleport.” Lio spoke up. Lani beamed at his words and gave him a smug look,

“You’ll see.” she said slyly.

## Chapter 3

The seven demigods walked across the parking lot, Lani in the lead. She stopped short in front of a seemingly empty parking stall, and Lio, who was following closely behind, nearly collided into her.

“Here it is!” Lani announced brightly.

“Uh, Lani, there’s nothing there.” Lio said, eyeing her like she was crazy.

“Ah, that’s what you think.” she replied, then waved her hand through the air. The parking stall shimmered as if with large waves of heat, and a large Harley Davidson chopper appeared out of thin air. Thomas whistled appreciatively at the hunk of gleaming machinery. But Lio was still not convinced.

“I don’t think there is enough room for seven people on that thing,” he grumbled.

“We aren’t taking the motorbike, stupid. We’re taking the car.”

“What car?”

“This one.” And with that, she waved her hand again, and the motorbike started to swell and change shape, steel and chrome flowing and running like mercury. Soon the motorcycle had turned into a sleek sports car that positively radiated an aura of speed and serious horsepower. Even Lio was impressed by this new metal beast.

“Dang, that is one sweet ride.” Lio murmured under his breath, awestruck by its magnificence.

"Why thank you! Now, who’s coming with me?” Lani said sweetly. Lio immediately leaped towards the front passenger door, yelling over his shoulder “I call shotgun!” Lani turned to the rest.

“Well?”

“Kara, Hinode and I will teleport. We’ll meet you guys there.” Lily replied.

“That leaves Kimmy and Thomas in the backseat. Alone.” teased Lani. Everyone turned and looked at those two.

“Ooooooh!” they all chorused, much to Kimmy’s embarrassment.

“Ah, never mind, we are wasting time. Come on, let’s go.” Lani said, stepping into the driver’s side. Lio was already inside, fiddling with the radio until he came across his favorite station, bobbing his head along to the beat. Thomas and Kimmy slid into the backseat, knees brushing until Kimmy jerked away with surprise. She turned to look out the window at the remaining demigods. Kara winked, then disappeared in a flash of light, Lily waved then she too disappeared in a flurry of feathers, and lastly was Hinode, who gave her a small, shy smile before fading into the colors of sunset, which too began to fade. Lani started up the car, which responded with a dragon-like roar, hinting to the incredible horsepower of its engine. Lio briefly grinned at the sound. “Sweet,” he whispered.

“Alright, who’s ready to go to Japan?” asked Lani, flooring the accelerator. The car responded with enthusiasm, shooting out of the parking lot onto the highway. Kimmy’s heart pounded with thrill and fear at the speed they were going, and the feeling increased when Thomas reached across to hold her hand. Lio, in the meantime, was screaming at Lani about her driving.

“PEDESTRIAN!”

“DON’T HIT THAT CAR!”

“*WATCH THAT EIGHTEEN WHEELER!”*

“YOU NEARLY SMASHED THAT BIKE!”

And finally,

“WHO THE HECK TAUGHT YOU HOW TO DRIVE?” To this Lani turned and grinned at him.

“James
Dean.” she said. Lio turned and gaped at her in shock, then turned to face
forward again, closing his eyes and groaning. “No wonder.”

After a few minutes Lio groaned again, his eyes squeezing shut even tighter, and his face started to take on an especially unhealthy
shade of green. Lani took note of this and turned the car onto the first side
road she saw, pulling off to the side and killing the engine. Once they were
stopped, Lio unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door, stumbling unsteadily
on wobbly legs towards a bush, collapsing to lean over it. Soon horrible
retching sounds emanated from the poor bush, and a couple minutes later Lio
re-emerged, holding his stomach, but looking much better. He flopped back down
onto the seat, panting and loose-limbed, then sluggishly buckled himself back
in.

“You good?”
Lani queried, and Lio nodded.

“But this
time, can we perhaps not go so fast?” he moaned.

“Nope! One
speed only! Especially if we wish to get there sometime today!” And with that,
Lani started the car up again and resumed their previous pace. The world
flashed by at a furious pace, blazing past other motorists that Lani had
somehow miraculously avoided, and the landscape began to change, turning from
wooded to open, pine trees turning into palm trees, then into a sandy beach
before Lani suddenly stopped the car, turning it off.

“Uh, why
are you stopping?” Lio asked, finally starting to enjoy the furious speed.

“You don’t
think I can possibly drive over the open ocean, do you?” Lani laughed.

“Oh come
on! Isn’t this car magical? Wasn’t it a motorcycle when we began?” Lani thought
about this for a second.

“Good point.” And she started up the car for
the third time since they began, cautiously driving the car down the sand and
then into the water, where it miraculously began to float across the surface of
the waves as if it were on the open road instead of the sea itself.

“Hm, I got this car from my aunt.
Should have known it would work over her realm.” mused Lani.

“Who exactly is your aunt?”

“Namaka.”

“Who?”

“The Hawaiian goddess of the ocean,
duh!” said Lani, slowly picking up the pace. Soon they were lightly skimming
across the ocean, charging right through the waves, throwing up great waves of
their own from the fast moving tires. Kimmy sat back and looked out the window,
admiring the reflection of the sky off the water, sitting up in delight as a
school of dolphins breached the waves, plunging back down gracefully, following
alongside the car. She didn’t know how they were managing to keep up with the
vehicle, as they had to be going about 90 and probably breaking some rules of
space and physics while they were at it, but there the dolphins were, playfully
leaping and diving beside her. Then to her utter surprise, one of the dolphins
breached beside her with a rider on its back. The rider was a pretty,
dark-haired, green-skinned girl a lot like herself, but dressed in a short,
orange outfit. She turned to Kimmy, beaming and winking, before plunging back
into the surf with her ride. Kimmy then recognized the girl as one of her
classmates, an angel named Gopi Dervish, a ghoul from India, like her. When she
re-emerged, Kimmy waved wildly at her and got a wave in response, then Gopi
leaped off her dolphin, unfurling a pair of great feathered wings seemingly
from nowhere, and flew out of sight into the sky.

## Chapter 4

The car started to slow down,
sinking slightly. Surprised by this turn of events, Kimmy leaned forward
address this situation with Lani.

“Why are we slowing down?” she
asked. Lani looked at the dashboard and gauges and swore loudly.

“We’re out of gas! No wonder! Now
what?” she hissed. As if in response to her frustration, there was a loud thud
from the roof, as if something heavy had landed on it, and the car began to
pick up speed again, rising back out of the water to float above the surface,
even higher than before. Thomas rolled down the window to see what was
happening, but quickly withdrew, spluttering, as a wave hit him full on in the
face.

“Don’t drip on the seat! I just had
this car cleaned!” Lani chided and Thomas glared at the back of her head, his
handsome features temporarily marred by the fierce scowl. They all settled back
into their seats, wondering what to do now, then resignedly accepting their
fate and staring outside, waiting for whatever may happen next. Soon they heard
the sound of sand crunching under tires and the car stopped, parked on an
unfamiliar beach. Unfamiliar, that is, to all except one. Lani’s face lit up
and she quickly popped open her door, leaping out onto the sand.

“Guys, come on, get out!” she said
excitedly. They others quickly followed, intrigued by her enthusiasm.

“Where on earth are we?” Lio
groaned, squinting against the bright sunlight.

“My home, Hawaii! I forgot that it
was on the way! Oh, how fortunate this was here!” Lani exclaimed throwing her
arms open wide and turning her face to the sky, delighting at being back in her
homeland. Kimmy, still curious as to how the car managed to get them here
without gas, turned back towards it. Perched on the rooftop was Gopi, wings
spread wide, an even wider smile across her face. She leapt off the car, her
wings furling and disappearing, landing gracefully in the sand. Kimmy laughed
and raced towards her.

“It was you!” she exclaimed,
throwing her arms around the angel. Gopi laughed with her, returning her hug as
they swayed together.

“Yes it was. I knew you were going
to be in trouble soon, so I followed you and waited for the right moment.”

“But how did you know?”

“You could say I’m your guardian
angel, so how could I not know?” Gopi replied cryptically. Kimmy rolled her
eyes, then smiled.

“Whatever. So long as you know it
and can save us again.” They hugged again, then Gopi unfurled her wings once
more, leaping into the air and calling over her shoulder as she flew away.

“Goodbye! See you!” Then she was
gone. Kimmy watched her go, then turned back with a slightly heavy heart,
walking across the warm sand back to the group.

“So, now what?” she asked.

“We find gas.” Lani replied, then
confidently strode inland, leaving the rest to follow.

“Uh, you guys are demigods, can’t
you just make it appear out of thin air?” Lio muttered to Kimmy.

“Uh, well, it’s not very easy. You
have to think about all the parts required to make it; which elements are used;
the way the atoms bond together to form the right molecule; if there is enough
of the elements needed naturally in the air; if not, how to make it by
dissecting and rearranging subatomic particles-”

“Okay, okay, I get it, it’s complicated.”
he hurriedly cut her off, regretting his asking, head starting to ache at all
the science behind it. It was no better than Mad Science class at school.

“Thank goodness I’m a monster, not
a demigod.” He muttered under his breath.

“You know, according to some, Ammit
is considered a goddess, and since you are her son, that would technically make
you a demi-” Kimmy said, grinning slyly.

“NO! Don’t say it! I can’t hear
you!” Lio yelled, clapping his hands over his ears, dashing away from her to
catch up to Lani. Kimmy laughed and moved to catch up to the rest. The group
walked in silence for the rest of the way, reserving their breath for the long
walk ahead. From palm trees the land turned to guava trees and thick bushes
that the group had to shove their way through. Finally they stumbled across a
paved road. Lani turned and eyed the group, lingering on Kimmy’s green skin and
Lio’s…well…everything.

“We are going to have to go into a
normie town for gas, but as we all know, normies aren’t that big on supernatural
beings, and you two especially look supernatural. You’ll have to disguise
yourself.”

“Oh yeah? Well, what about your
fire hair?” Lio retorted, reluctant to look like a human.

“What fire hair?” she replied
innocently. Her hair had changed from brilliant orange fire to long, flowing,
wavy black hair that gleamed in the sunlight, a red hibiscus tucked behind her
ear. Lio’s jaw dropped and he turned to gaze at Kimmy, who shrugged and
squinted in concentration. Her green skin shimmered and turned a deep tan, as
if she were a chameleon.

“Alright, your turn Lio.” Lani
said.

"B-but I don’t know how to do
that! I’m not a demigod!” he stammered, eyes wide.

“Come on Lio, it’s not that hard.
You *are* a demigod, you just have to
have faith in yourself. It’s easy, all you have to do is focus on what you want
to transform into, then visualize yourself changing into it. You can do it.”
Kimmy coaxed gently. Lio didn’t look very convinced, but he closed his eyes and
scrunched up his face in concentration. He stayed that way for thirty seconds.
Nothing happened. He opened his eyes and looked down at himself.

“See? It didn’t work, like I told
you.” he grumbled, looking slightly disappointed.

“That’s because you didn’t believe.
Try again, and this time, really feel it.” Lio rolled his eyes, then closed
them again. He heaved a deep sigh, and relaxed. His skin rippled, and his
scales began to glow brightly, then fade away, revealing richly tanned skin.
His snub nose and stubby hippo toes elongated; his claws and fangs shrunk. In a
few seconds, he had turned from a scaly, fluffy monster into a handsome, if not
somewhat cranky, teenage human boy. His eyes opened, revealing that they had
changed from the slit pupils of a crocodile to the round ones of a normie.

“Well? How did I do?” he demanded.
Everyone was gazing at him with awe.

“Lio! That’s amazing! Look at
yourself!” Kimmy gasped. Lio obeyed, and his jaw dropped with surprise. He spun
around, trying to get a good look at himself, patting his face and feeling his
arms.

“Dude! That’s so wild!” he
exclaimed with delight. “Wonder what else changed?” He lifted his shirt,
revealing a killer set of toned abs.

“Dang! I am so keeping those!”

“Alright, stop admiring yourself so
we can get a move on!” Lani said, resuming her pace down the road, the others
scrambling to catch up. The road soon
merged with the highway, on which various cars in a wide range of
condition sped to and fro. Lani stood calmly next to it and stuck out her
thumb.

“I thought hitch-hiking was
illegal?” Thomas said, a curious look on his face.

“Not here it ain’t.” she replied,
patiently waiting. Soon enough, a beat-up pickup had pulled off the pavement
and the driver, a Hawaiian normie man in his twenties, leaned over, rolling
down the passenger window.

“Howzit sista? Need one lift?” he
asked, smiling.

“Shoots braddah! Jus need get to da
gas station. We wen go run out.” Lani replied, then jumped into the back of the
truck. Noticing that the others weren’t following, she impatiently motioned for
them to follow. They did so, but very reluctantly. Once they were all in, the
driver pulled back onto the road.  When
he was sure the driver wouldn’t hear, Lio leaned over and hissed in Lani’s ear.

“You sure this was a good idea?
What if he turns out to be a psycho?”

“What are you worried about? We’re
demigods! If he tries anything sketchy, we can just use our powers to kick his
butt.”

“Okay then. But what the heck where
you guys saying? I have never heard anyone talk like that!”

“That’s called Pidgin. It’s like
the local language. I recommend you learn it, it’s fun.” Lio sighed and settled
back, running multiple scenarios through his head of all the ninja moves he
would do if their driver tried anything.

## Chapter 5

The short trip to the gas station
went without serious event. The man dropped them off and, at Lani’s insistence,
left them to it. Lani squinted in concentration, and a gas can appeared out of
thin air. Lio rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath.

“So she can make a plastic gas can,
but not gas itself? Really?” Lani glared at him and fished through her pocket,
pulling out a normie credit card. A few minutes later they had a couple gallons
of gas, and no clue as to how they were going to get back. Everyone but Lani
were reluctant to hitchhike again. They then decided to just walk back. Soon
they were walking along the highway once more, buffeted by the wind from
passing cars. The group began to tire, Lio complaining about his bare feet
being sore, and Kimmy starting to lean on Thomas from weariness. Then, to everyone’s
horror, Lani stopped short, a confused look on her face, then she turned to the
rest.

“I don’t recognize this place. I
hate to admit it, but I think we’re lost.” she said.

A chorus of groans and whining rose up from the three.

“Great, now
what?” Lio snapped. Then a twig snapped as well, and the four spun around in
surprise. There stood an old lady, face heavily lined, clothed in a long, faded
Hawaiian print dress, tall staff in hand, which was oddly giving off a bit of
smoke, as if the woman’s hand was burning. Her eyes were locked on the teen
demigods, and she beckoned.

“Come with
me.” she said, her voice soft, yet scratchy and high with extreme age. The
other three demigods looked to Lani for directions. She shrugged and went
towards the old woman. The woman smiled and turned, walking into the trees.
They all followed her, still wary of this new stranger and of going with her in
blind faith. The woman seemed to have a strange effect in the surrounding
foliage. Overhanging branches respectfully lifted to be well over their heads,
and bushes politely shuffled out of the way. Then, to their utter amazement,
the trees parted to reveal a sandy stretch of beach, Lani’s sports car parked
right out in the middle of it. They gaped at it, wonderstruck at how they got
there so fast.  Had they really been so
stupid? They turned back to the old woman, only to find her fading away into
the shadows.

“Mahalo!”
Lani called after her. Just before she disappeared completely, a smile spread
across the old woman’s face. Then she was gone.

“Okay, do
you know her?” Lio asked.

“As a
matter of fact, I do. She’s my aunt, the goddess
Kuku-‘ena-i-ke-ahi-ho’omau-honua.” Lani replied.

“Say what
now?”

“Nevermind.
I don’t like repeating full Hawaiian names. They’re too long.” And with that,
Lani turned and trekked across the sand to the car, gas can in hand, then
proceeded to fill the tank back up. When she was done, she got into the
driver’s side and leaned out to call to the others.

“Well? You
just gonna stand there or shall we get a move on?” The others raced over and
piled into their respective seats. Then Lio looked out the windshield at the
jungle they had just left. The wall of trees stretched as far as the eye could
see along either side of the coast, and all the gaps between the trees were
much too small to fit an entire car.

“Uh, how
are we going to leave? We can’t exactly drive through there.” he said, stating
the obvious. Lani blinked and looked outside herself.

“Good
point.” And with that, she turned off the engine and closed her eyes, seemingly
beginning to meditate. The others sat awkwardly, waiting for something to
happen. Then it did. The wind picked up, whipping the water behind them into a
frenzy, and rocking the car. The wind increased, and so did the rocking, making
the passengers feel like it was about to flip over. Then, to everyone but
Lani’s shock, the car actually *lifted* off
the ground, held in the air by a powerful vortex. The car rose higher and
higher, until it was well above the treetops, then it began to move forward,
slowly at first, but picking up speed. Soon the tree below were a blur, the
wind rattling the car’s hood.

“What on
Earth? What is happening? Are you doing this?” Kimmy asked, thoroughly
terrified.

“No, she
is.” Lani replied calmly.

“Who is
‘she’?”

“Hiiakawawahilani.”

“Who?”

“The Cloud
Holder. Another godly aunt.”

“Oh.”

The car began to descend, swooping towards the top of an
active volcano, lava spewing angrily into the air.

## Chapter 6

The smell of sulfur filled the car, despite the closed windows
and vent filters. The air slowly became uncomfortably warm, and everyone
wiggled uncomfortably, adjusting clothing to become cooler. A tall of fountain
of hot liquid rock spewed up dangerously close to the car, causing Kimmy to
scream in shock and fear. Surely they were too close to the volcano? Was Lani’s
aunt trying to get them killed? Then the car set down with a thump, right in
the middle of a field of solidified lava.

“Lani, where
are we?” Kimmy asked, nervous of the desolate plain around them.

“Hmm. Well, it
sure ain’t where I asked to go. This looks like Pu’uo’o, one of the most recent
active volcanic sites in Hawaii. I think this means that Mom wants to see me.”
Lani said with mild interest.

“What?”

“Well, we
better get going.”

“What!” Kimmy
exclaimed again in disbelief. Lani got out of the car, and motioned for the
others to follow. They all emerged tentatively, Kimmy especially cautious, wary
of walking on the lava rock in high heels. The rock crackled underfoot,
sounding like she was walking on broken glass. Pieces of it crumbled and slid
off in sheets, causing Kimmy to slip and shriek, grabbing onto a protruding
rock ledge to balance herself. Once she was back upright, she let go of the
ledge, feeling relieved that she hadn’t fallen. Then she noticed how strange
her hand felt, oddly sticky and wet. She glanced at it, and gasped in shock.
Her palm was almost completely red, covered in her own blood, a large gash
bleeding sluggishly. How did this happen? She just lightly brushed the rock, but
somehow it had caused this! She stared at her hand, dumbfounded and slightly
faint.

“…Lani…” she
said weakly. At the tone of her voice, Lani turned abruptly and spotted her
hand.

“Oh yeah, I
forgot to tell you, this rock is sharp as broken glass.” she sighed. Thomas
whipped out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and quickly wrapped it around
Kimmy’s hand, staunching the bleeding.

“You’ll be
fine, don’t worry.”  he said, his voice
soft and soothing. She instantly relaxed and looked at his face. His eyes were
soft and full of calm and concern. Her stomach fluttered and her mood
lightened, the pain in her hand fading away.

“Okay, come on
guys, we can’t keep Mom waiting.” They nodded and resumed walking, slipping and
sliding and trying to tread carefully across the rock. The air grew even
hotter, and sweat began to drip from all but Lani. Waves of heat rolled off the
ground, warping the imagery around them.

“Lani, I don’t
think we can take much more of this heat. We may all be demigods from hot
climates, but none of us have fire blood like you.” Kimmy panted. This caused
Lani to stop and consider this carefully, eyeing their sweat-soaked bodies. She
reached into her pocket and pulled out three necklaces, each made of a simple
leather cord from which a beautifully shimmering lava rock hung. She placed one
around each of their necks with a solemn, almost ceremonial air, softly
chanting in Hawaiian the whole time.

“There,” she
said, stepping back. “These with protect you from the effects of the lava, but don’t
push it. No magma surfing, and I’m talking to *you*.” She gazed pointedly at Lio, who shrugged innocently. The
temperature seemed to drop, the air becoming more comfortable to breathe. They
resumed the trek, heading towards a massive plume of smoke. Then Lani stopped
short, throwing out her arm to stop anyone behind her. The three looked past
her and gasped. They had reached the edge of a colossal hole, lava bubbling and
lapping like a hot spring below. A lava lake, and boy, was it huge. Great waves
of heat rose up from the surface, pushing up powerful thermals. A gigantic gas
bubble rose up and popped, causing a spray of lava. Kimmy shrieked, and she and
the mansters ducked out of the way of the falling drops, but Lani lifted her
head, and stuck out her tongue to catch the bits of lava, as casually as if it
were a snowflake.

“Come on guys,
you’ll be fine! The necklaces will protect you.” she said. Then she tapped her
foot on the edge of the crater, and to everyone’s amazement, a rock staircase
began to appear, on step at a time materializing out of thin air, descending
into the pit. She began to walk down the stairs, then turned and beckoned the
others to follow. The others came, wary of this new apparition, setting foot
very cautiously on each step. They went down, down, down, and the staircase
began to turn, leading them towards a giant gaping hole, tunneling sideways
into the rock. They stepped into the tunnel and looked around them in awe. The
tunnel stretched thirty to forty feet over their heads. Small stalactites hung
down from the ceiling, a few scraggly dead roots hanging down. While they
walked, Lani gave them a running commentary on the history of the lava tube,
which was what the tunnel they were in actually was.

“This lava tube
was formed thousands of years ago by a massive underground river of magma. It
is the largest tunnel in the island, even larger than the one at the national
park that is constantly overrun with tourists. It has never been discovered by
mankind, or monsterkind for that matter. Only my family, and now you three know
of its existence.” she said, her voice echoing off the tube’s walls. The tunnel
began to slope slowly downwards, deeper and deeper, as if it lead to the belly
of the Earth. Finally it leveled off again, and then it opened up into a
humongous cavern. The chamber was shaped like a huge bubble, with large
stalactites looming down, glistening and sparkling with wetness. But what
really dominated the space was a gigantic throne. It was made of solidified
lava, piled up into the shape of throne, a hardened spray of lava forming the
back of it. And seated on the throne was an old woman, her red dress stretching
down to the floor, where it merged with the lava that surrounded her. Her shock
white hair flowed down her shoulders, covering her face. She leaned against a
thick staff, the end of which was burned and coated in rock, as if used to stir
the lava itself. But something was wrong. She wasn’t moving much, and she
seemed to be relying solely on the stick to hold herself up.

“Mom?” Lani
called, concern evident in her voice. The old woman stirred, slowly and
painfully raising her head to look at them. Her heavily lined face was covered
in angry red spots, and her glowing orange eyes seemed glazed over. Her body
shook with a wheezing cough.

“Mom!” Lani
cried with shock, her voice ringing around the cavern.

## Chapter 7

Lani raced towards her mother, running right over the molten
rock, then stopped short, just shy of touching the old woman.

“Mom, are you
okay?” she whispered, barely able to believe her eyes. Kimmy couldn’t believe
her eyes either. This goddess was in worse condition than her own father when
she had seen him last. How must he look now?

The
wizened goddess slowly looked to her daughter, and as Pele’s eyes met that of
her child, Lani’s heart sank. Her mother’s eyes, normally sparkling with lively
fire and mischief, had dulled into a dying ember. She had never seen her look
so old before, and now that she was looking at her, the possibility of her death
seemed to loom over her. Could it really happen? Could she really lose her mom?

“Lani, my *kaikamahine*. I feel weaker everyday. If
I shouldn’t make it-”

“No Mom! Don’t
say that! We’ll find a cure, then you’ll be all better!” Lani interrupted,
voice hysterical with worry.

“But in case I
don’t, you must take my place. Without you, the islands will begin to sink.
Thousands will die. *You* must step in
my place. Heavens knows your brother isn’t suitable for the task.” Pele
continued, the goddess’s voice rough as sandpaper. Lani nodded, a steaming tear
creeping down her cheek. Pele smiled sadly, wiping the hissing tear away with a
shriveled fingertip, the tear instantly evaporating at her scorching touch.

“Don’t worry my
love. My sister, your aunt Hi’iaka has been helping me. She found an herb that
slows the disease, and she has been sending some to me everyday. She would
normally be here in person, but I would not let her come, I won’t risk her
falling to its influence as well.”

Kimmy had kept
quiet this whole time, but worry for her father had built up to its peak, and
now she could remain silent no longer.

“But what about
my father, and all the other affected gods? They are just as sick, if not worse!
Surely they should have some aid to slow their sickness too!”

Pele turned her gaze towards the green demigoddess, her
squinting glare seeming to blaze into her soul.

“Hmm, your
friend there is a cheeky young thing, but I like her. I have thought of the
other gods, and I have been sending Hiiakawawahilani out all over the world to
send it to them. They will be fine, their sickness has slowed, so you will have
more time to find a cure.” Kimmy blushed at the ancient woman’s words, but felt
the anxious knot in her stomach loosen a bit. Her father would be okay, the
sickness slowed. She would see him again, and he would get well. Lani embraced
her mother, holding on to the old woman for as long as she could. Then she let
go, pulled back and took a deep breath, gazing smiling sadly at her mom, who
smiled back, eyes searching her face, as if to commit her daughter’s appearance
to memory. Then she gazed behind her, locking onto Kimmy again, then her eyes
flicked towards down to her hastily bandaged hand. A bundle of herbs appeared
in midair in front of Kimmy, who started with surprise.

“For your hand.
They will heal you. But remember, be careful around lava, especially ‘a’ā. It
is very sharp, but I think you know this by now.” Pele smirked, showing for the
first time a sign of her original youth. Kimmy plucked the herbs from the air,
unsure of what to do with them. Lani turned from her mother and walked back to
the group, turning back only once to say goodbye. They walked back into the
lava tube, then Kimmy approached Lani.

“Uh, Lani, what
do I do with these?” she asked, holding out the plants. Lani stopped and
snapped her fingers, a ball of fire appearing from their tips and floating into
the air, shedding warm orange light onto their surroundings. Lani took Kimmy’s
hand and unwrapped the handkerchief from it, then plucked the leaves from the
plant, placing them carefully over her cut. They glowed faintly, then her skin
itched, as if crawling with dozens of ants and Kimmy shuddered at the
sensation, tempted to dump the leaves onto the ground and search her skin for the
bugs. But Lani had a tight grip on her wrist, keeping her from moving. Then the
sensation faded and the leaves fell on their own, now dried and shriveled. To
Kimmy’s utter shock and amazement, the ragged cut on her palm was now gone, not
even a scar in its place. Lani then let go of her wrist and continued on down
the tube, the others close behind, fireball bobbing gently overhead like a
fiery bubble. They ascended the stone staircase, lava still bubbling menacingly
below. When they reached the top, a cool breeze greeted them, blowing their
hair from their faces and leaving their skin feeling refreshed. They made the
long trek back to the car, feeling relieved when they finally arrived.

But, to their surprise, there was someone standing next to it,
waiting for their return.

## Chapter 8

There stood a tall Hawaiian woman, long, black wavy hair falling
loosely down her back, tan skin glowing slightly in the sunlight. Her clothing
looked as if she had been sucked from the island’s past, or at least a hula
festival. She had a garland of ferns and lehua flowers around her head, with
smaller versions around her wrists and ankles. Her dress was made of kapa, cloth
made from bark, and decorated with elegant designs. Her brown eyes were
steadily gazing at them, tracking their progress across the lava. Lani was the
first to approach her, the others keeping their distance with suspicion.

“Auntie
Hi’iaka!” Lani exclaimed, rushing over and throwing her arms around the
stranger. Hi’iaka smiled and hugged her back, kissing her niece’s cheek. They
pulled back, and Hi’iaka gazed sadly down at Lani.

“What’s wrong?”
Lani asked, not missing the sorrow in her aunt’s eyes.

“Your mother is
not getting any better. I worry for her. But I know that this is a lot for you
to carry. I was hoping you could take my daughter, your cousin Nahele, with
you. She can help you and provide support. You have been like a sister to her,
this should make the burden easier. Will you at least think about it?” Hi’iaka
sighed. Lani nodded. “Of course I will.” Hi’iaka smiled and began to fade away,
disappearing into the air around them. The group piled into the car and the
wind swirled up around them once more, lifting them back into the air, soaring
gracefully back over the lava field and forest. Kimmy decided to take advantage
of the time to ask Lani a question that had been bothering her for a bit.

“Lani, you have
a brother?”

“Yes. His name
is Kiapolō.”

“Why did your
mom want you to take her place instead of him? Does he have different powers
than you?”

“No, they are
the same.”

“Then why?”
Lani took a deep breath and visibly shuddered before replying.

“He is not a
very pleasant person. If he were to be in a place of such power, he would cause
great destruction. People think that volcanoes are destructive, which they are,
but they also create and form new life, a second chance. Kiapolō has no sense
of the creation part, only destruction.” Kimmy, still curious, reached out with
her mind, searching for Lani’s thoughts. A series of images hit her. She saw a
male demigod, a snarling boar’s head topping a thickly muscled body, fierce
flames leaping off his deeply tanned skin. His black eyes glared darkly,
blazing like the burning land around him. It was a vision of hell on Earth. No
wonder Lani was so reluctant to so much as talk about him.

“You know, his
name means ‘devil’ in Hawaiian. Suitable, isn’t it?” Lani added, laughing
dryly, having noticed Kimmy’s invasion into her mind. Kimmy nodded, silent with
shock, still stunned at having seen the most destructive part of one of
nature’s greatest forces. She was silent the rest of the ride, too busy
contemplating the fate of the world if such a being were allowed to have free
reign over such great power. It wasn’t a very happy thought.

The car set down twenty minutes later on the other side of the
island, white sand crunching gently under the tires. This snapped Kimmy out of
her reverie, and they all climbed out of the car. The beach was completely
empty, except for them and a group of teenagers, whom they recognized as being
supernatural, like themselves. The others, a group of three, were slowly moving
along the beach, their swaying movements easily recognizable as hula. Lani and
the others approached them, and once the tallest of the three noticed them, she
gracefully brought the dance to a close. Kimmy recognized two of them, the
shortest being a menehune ghoul named ‘Uku Li’i, the middle one being Nohea, a
Hawaiian mermaid, but the last she vaguely knew, but couldn’t remember her name.
As she came closer to them, she stopped short, staring at the third in
confusion. From a distance she had looked like a girl, but up close she wasn’t
sure. “She”, if that was really what she was, had the tall lanky figure and
short spiky haircut of a teenage boy, and while her features did indeed look
feminine, something just wasn’t quite right. Lani, sensing Kimmy’s confusion,
stopped next to her and whispered in her ear, “That’s Nahele, she’s a māhū.
That means transgender. She wasn’t happy being a manster, so please refer to
her in female pronouns.” Kimmy’s jaw dropped in a silent “Oh!”, then she
snapped her mouth shut once she realized how weird she looked. They resumed
their approach and were soon among the other three. Nahele beamed at Lani, and
threw her arms around her cousin, laughing and revolving them around in her
delight to see her again. After they pulled apart, grinning broadly till their
faces hurt, the other two ghouls embraced Lani as well, enthusiastic in their
greeting, even though they had seen each other only yesterday.

“Did your mom
tell you that she wanted you to come with us?” Lani asked. Nahele just nodded
and followed the four back to the car, the other two ghouls waving goodbye. When
they got to the car, Nahele automatically headed for the front passenger seat,
but Lio, used to sitting with a first class front view, tried to stop her.

“Hey, shotgun’s
my spot!” he said, indignant of having his seat taken. Nahele glared at him,
her cold brown eyes piercing deep into Lio’s, and his hair stood up, his skin
prickling as though with electricity. His eyes widened and he silently backed
down, letting her climb into the seat. Only when she broke eye contact with him
did the odd sensation ease, and he shuddered as he climbed into the back seat,
awkwardly squished against Kimmy. Then he remembered that Nahele’s mother,
Hi’iaka, was also associated with storms, and it was more than likely that if
he had chosen to argue with the demigod, she could have unleashed a lightning
bolt on his butt. Backseat wasn’t very cozy with three demigods in it, but it
was better than being instant barbeque.

Lani started up
the car and drove off towards the water, holding no regard to the laws of
physics as they cruised across the waves. Then she came to a stop a hundred or
so feet in.

“What happened,
ran out of gas again?” Lio remarked sarcastically, cranky with what little room
he had. Lani just ignored him and rolled down her window. Curious, Kimmy leaned
over as far as she dared towards Thomas, watching out of his window. A
raven-haired head burst from the water, a pair of tanned hands reaching out to
grab hold of the edge of Lani’s open window, pulling the creature upwards.
Kimmy soon recognized the half-submerged figure as Nohea, who moved in close to
Lani. They spoke softly amongst themselves in Hawaiian for a bit, then smiled
at each other, Lani leaning down to kiss the mermaid. After a couple seconds
they parted, Nohea letting go of the car and falling back into the water with a
soft splash, bright pink and turquoise green fins flashing underwater, then she
was gone.

“Nohea told me
that she went to visit Namaka, and she said that if we need help out on the
water, my aunt will be more than happy to help.” Lani announced, then gunned
the engines, sending up great waves on either side of them, too lost in her own
thoughts to notice the awkward tension of her passengers. Thomas clenched his
jaw and sat stiffly, shoulder pressing the glass beside him, surly about having
to share the space with another male demigod. They remained this way for the
rest of the trip, not bothering to attempt breaking the silence with hesitant
conversation.

## Chapter 9

Kimmy woke with a start, snorting as she jolted awake, her head
jerking off of Thomas’s shoulder were it had been resting since she had nodded
off. She looked out the windshield and saw a giant landmass looming in towards
them. It grew bigger and bigger, and soon she could see tiny fishing boats
moored all along the coast, miniscule fishermen darting across their decks
carrying baskets of fish here and there.

“Good afternoon
ladies and gentlemen. Please fasten your seatbelts as we prepare for takeoff.”
Lani said in her best pilot’s impression. Lio glared at her through the
rearview mirror and she laughed, pulling back on the steering wheel as if she
were really flying an airplane. The car began to rise off the waves, then,
after skimming the water for a bit, leaped fully into the air.

“Say, how can
we fly all of a sudden? We had to get the help of a goddess before!” Kimmy
asked, wide-awake now.

“That was
before we had Nahele here. She can control the winds with as much skill as any
god.” Lani replied, Nahele looking at Kimmy through the rearview mirror and
wiggling her fingers at her in a little wave. The car continued to gain
altitude, and as it rose, everyone’s stomach dropped, still being pulled
downward by the stubborn force of gravity. It did indeed feel an awful lot like
being in an airplane, seating as tight as a sardine can and everything. Kimmy
just hoped they didn’t run into any turbulence. Lio gazed uncomfortably at the
villages rushing by below, and was struck by a sudden thought.

“What about the
normies below? Won’t they see us and get a little suspicious about seeing a
flying car?”

“No. They can’t
see us, we are protected by a veil of magic. And anyone with the ability to see
through it anyway will probably mistake us for a UFO. But if they did happen to
correctly identify this as a car, who would believe them anyway?” Lani replied.
Lio looked thoughtful at this and it seemed to put his mind at ease.

In a matter of minutes they were well above
the clouds, bright sunlight beaming in through the windows and reflecting off
the soft white surfaces of the clouds below. It was quite majestic, a definite
improvement to funny roaring of airplane engines or the blinding headwind of
flying on Suka. Kimmy watched the sparkle of the light against the fluffy water
vapor below, then noticed that they too seemed to be getting smaller. She
looked up front and saw that Lani was still pulling back on the wheel, driving
them higher into the sky. Were they going into outer space? The light became
more piercing, forcing them all to squint and throw up their arms to block it
out, Lio bringing out a pair of sunglasses, but still the light grew stronger.
Soon it was unbearable, and so was the heat it was giving off. All the
demigods, despite being from the tropics, began to sweat. Everything was lit up
a brilliant white, so bright it seemed to burn into their brains. But still they
rose, until the light was so bright they couldn’t see at all. Then it eased
slightly and Kimmy slowly lowered her hand, gasping at the view outside. They
were surrounded by clouds as she had never seen before, beautifully pure white
and lined with bright gold. Trees and bushes rose gracefully from them, their
leaves and flowers in such rich, gorgeous colors as never seen before on the
surface. But most impressive of all was the temple. It towered over them, a
massive Shinto temple, seemingly made with golden light. It was obvious that
this building was the source of all light, all warmth, and it radiated an
immense sense of goodness. Kimmy’s heart seemed to fill with the light,
swelling with joy at the sight. Lani and Nahele gaped at its magnificence, and
Lio slowly took off his sunglasses, jaw hanging open with awe. The only one not
affected positively by this was Thomas, who seemed to shrink in his seat, as if
intimidated by the building and trying to hide from it. Such was the grandeur
of the temple of Amaterasu.

The car pulled slowly up the driveway and through the great gates
painted a vivid red and trimmed with gold leaf. They came to a stop at the
temple’s entrance, where three figures stood, awaiting their arrival.

## Chapter 10

The five got out of the car, moving slowly as
they continued to take in the breathtaking panorama. They reached the foot of
the golden stairs climbing up to the temple entrance, Lily, Kara, and Hinode
waiting for them at the top. The three looked oddly different, and Kimmy
studied them closely to try to figure out why. Then it hit her. The three
demigoddesses radiated a lovely glow like everything around them, becoming
incredibly beautiful, almost too much to bear. She looked down at her own skin
and noticed a lovely golden glow from her too, lighting her up in an ethereal
way. She looked to the other four and noticed the same. Golden light glanced
playfully off their features, making the highlights on their faces stand out
wonderfully, giving them a wise and otherworldly aura. Then she looked to
Thomas, almost nervous with what she would see, convinced that she would not be
able to stand his heightened gorgeousness. But to her surprise, he was the only
one not affected, at least, not positively. He did still look unbelievably
handsome and otherworldly, but unlike the others who looked kindly, his face
had taken on a sharp, proud, almost cruel cast to it, one that slightly scared
her. His eyes were in shadow, and had a deathly cold look in them. Then they
met hers and softened, becoming gentle and warm as he gazed deep into her eyes,
and she felt her unknowingly tensed muscles relax.

“Sorry about that, I’m a bit light-sensitive.”
he said softly, looping his arm through her and leading her up the staircase.
Kara raised an eyebrow at them and smirked knowingly. The eight merged together
and everyone turned to Hinode, who was unconsciously nibbling the edge of her
sleeve. Then she realized what she was doing and quickly whipped her hand away
from her face.

“I am glad you all made it. Welcome to the realm
of my mother,            Amaterasu,
goddess of the Sun. Please, be free to enter of your own will.” she said
formally, then turned to lead them past the doorway, colossal golden doors
pushed open wide in welcome. Kimmy gave Kara a puzzled look at Hinode’s speech.

"A little formal welcome. You know, with
all the supernatural rules about gods and such being allowed to enter a
building on invitation. Most gods can enter the realms of other gods perfectly
fine, but it pays to be sure, just in case.” Kara whispered back. Kimmy nodded
with understanding, remembering the formal manner she and Kara had used when
visiting each other for the first time. Then she looked around her, and her jaw
dropped.

The doorway led into a massive hall the
ceiling stretching up to fifty feet or so, richly decorated with bright, vivid
murals of fantastic beasts, most of which she had never seen before. The
pillars were intricately carved with designs of exotic flowers, mystical beings
and more fantastic beasts, especially Asian dragons. And then there was the
gold. It was everywhere. It covered the floor, the ceiling, the walls, the
pillars, the statues, and even most of the furniture. There was no place
unaffected by the brightly polished yellow metal. She had never seen so much
gold in her entire life. Then Hinode’s voice pulled her out of her reverie.

“Please, sit down, I’ll go check in with
Mother.” she said, then turned and silently walked into one of the chambers,
out of sight. The demigods slowly drifted to cushioned chairs and sofas, still
entranced by the room. Kimmy sat down on an armchair, fingering the golden
tassels that hung from the seat, admiring the way the thread glittered in the
light, then ran her hands across the brocaded silk, which contrasted
beautifully with the smooth, sculpted mahogany. She leaned back and gazed at
the mural on the ceiling directly above her. It was a gorgeous painting, if not
somewhat queer, displaying a green skinned goddess fighting off a hideous grey
skinned monster-god. Their faces were most unusual, the goddess, while looking
terrified, also seemed to be sad, as if she were *attracted* to the grey god then betrayed by him, and the grey god,
while being ugly, also seemed to look handsome, if you stared long enough.
Weird. What an odd scene choice, especially seeing all the lovely phoenixes and
dragons around them. Then she looked back down in time to see Hinode returning.
And her face was very grave indeed.

## Chapter 11

Hinode sadly looked to the assembled demigods,
and spoke, her voice trembling with worry.

“You can come see her now. But be warned, she
is very sick, it may be a shock.” The other demigods looked at each other and
solemnly rose, following her towards Amaterasu’s chamber. They passed many
doors, all open and breezy, welcoming. But one door was tightly closed, and a
bright light glowed from around the door, as if a powerful lamp had been left
on, the mahogany of the door glowing a rich red, as if barely able to contain
the light. The Hinode pulled the door open and everyone averted their eyes from
the brilliant blast. When their eyes were accustomed to it, they looked again.
They were in bedroom made of gold, but much simpler than the hall outside. On
the massive bed, half-hidden by red satin sheets was Amaterasu, the source of
all the blinding light.

But, something was wrong. The light, while
being bright, wasn’t at all like staring into the sun, which was what they were
essentially doing. Then they notice some other things. Her black hair was dull
and tangled, and her face was covered in deep red spots and sweat. Since when
did the hottest thing in the solar system sweat? She opened her eyes, revealing
a red blaze like the setting sun through a voggy haze. She coughed weakly, her
breath rattling in her lungs, and licked her pale, cracked lips.

“I am glad you could come, godlings. I wanted
to see some young faces up close before…” she broke off, catching the tragic
look on her daughter’s face. The goddess swallowed painfully, then shifted her
burning gaze to Nahele.

“Nahele, dear child, be sure to thank your
mother for me. She has been running herself ragged to keep all of us alive. We
greatly appreciate her service and dedication to making sure she didn’t miss a
single one of us.” Nahele nodded stiffly, jaw tight as she struggled to hold
back her emotion at the goddess’s praise. Kimmy frowned as she thought of what
the goddess said. *All of us? How many*
were there?

Amaterasu noticed Kimmy’s distant scowl.

“What is troubling your mind, daughter of
India?” she said. Kimmy started and quickly dropped the frown from her face.

“I was wondering what you meant by ‘all of
us’? How many of the gods are affected, if you don’t mind my asking?” Amaterasu
scrunched up her pale face in concentration and gazed out the window, quiet for
a moment.

“Ah, I don’t know, at least not the exact
number…Hi’iaka had told me once when I had asked…it’s just at the tip of my
tongue…I do believe it was something around…16,415,789 gods, give or take, I
can’t be sure, but I think that should be it. It’s so hard to tell with this
fever.” she said, her voice soft and distant, lost in her thoughts. Kimmy’s
heart dropped and she wavered, feeling faint. How on Earth could there be so
many gods, and how could so many be sick, all at once? And if they were unable
to find a cure, if the gods were to die, the world, it would crumble into
chaos! There was no way the demigods were ready for such a great
responsibility! The thought of her classmates, young as they were, being forced
into the roles of their parents was almost too much for her to bear.
Controlling the tides, walking the moon, sun, and stars across the sky, shaking
the earth and whipping up storms, even deciding who lives or dies, all on her
fellow students. She wavered again, and was caught in the strong arms of
Thomas, who pulled her against his chest, supporting her under the pretense of
hugging her. He sure was a great guy. The other demigods gave her furtive
glances of concern out of the corners of their eyes, but Amaterasu took no notice
of her sudden faintness, or at least pretended not too. She gazed at them one
last time, a slow smile spreading painfully across her face.

“I am proud of you all, and so are the other
gods. You have taken on such a great task, and you are going about it
beautifully.” she said.

“But…we haven’t done anything!” Kimmy
protested. Amaterasu chuckled softly.

“Ah, that is what you think. You have already
done more than you can imagine.” And with that, she closed her eyes and turned
away, drifting off to sleep. The demigods backed quietly out of the room,
Hinode gently pulling the door shut behind them, cutting off her mother’s
brilliant light, and the hall seemed to be cast in shadow in comparison as
everyone’s eyes struggled to adjust with the sudden change.

“What does she mean? What did we do?” Kimmy
whispered to Kara. But the demigoddess just shrugged her eight arms and
continued down the hallway. As she passed, Kimmy gazed back up at the mural
that she had seen before. Something about it niggled in the back of her brain.
It reminded her of something, but she couldn’t quite place it. She walked out
the main entrance feeling as if she had been given some great knowledge, but
she didn’t quite understand it yet. It frustrated her, but she pushed it to the
side, determined to not let it bother her.

She and the others walked down the stairs
towards the car, only to notice that Lani hadn’t followed and was now frowning
thoughtfully at her car. Then she snapped her fingers and the car began to
shrink and melt like quicksilver, then finally came to a stop as a silver
bangle, which in turn flew through the air and came to a rest firmly wrapped
around Lani’s wrist.

“Uh, Lani, why did you do that? Without the
car, how are we going to go to where we have to now?” Lio asked, thoroughly
miffed at losing his opportunity to enjoy another breakneck ride in such a
sweet car.

“We lost a lot of time driving across the
world’s largest ocean. We cannot afford to that again, you saw the condition of
Hinode’s mother. That is happening to all our parents. Imagine what would
happen if we delayed any longer than we had to. No, we shall be teleporting
now.”

“But, Lani, not all of us can teleport! Maybe
we could use our divine vehicles-” Kimmy protested.

“No. Even divine animals are too slow. We *must* teleport. And we all can do it, we
just don’t think we can.”

“That may be so, but we can’t teleport very
well. I know at least one of us who got hopelessly lost.” Lio argued, staring
pointedly at Kimmy, who blushed and glared back.

“We can all hold hands and concentrate on
where we need to go. Together, our combined power should be enough to get us
where we want to go, or at least on the right continent.” Lani said, and the
final tone of her voice clearly stated that this discussion was over. She held
out her hands to those nearest her, and they all linked hands, Lio last of all,
rolling his eyes and reluctantly took the hands of those next to him, slipping
his warm, fuzzy, clawed hand into Kimmy’s, his fur soft against her skin. They
all closed their eyes, then Thomas’s voice spoke up.

“Where shall we all go?”

“How about India? It’s close by, and a lot of our parents live there.”
Kimmy suggested, hoping desperately to check in on her father. To her relief,
the others nodded their assent, and they all concentrated as hard as they
could, picturing India clearly in their minds. They reached deep down into
themselves, feeling for the powerful surge that was their godly powers. They
felt it and tapped into it together, a great rush of energy filling their
limbs. They held on to it, letting it build up into a great swell until they
felt they could not take much more of it, then released it in a great wave. The
world twisted and their grips on each other’s hands tightened as they struggled
to keep together. Sound and smell whirled in a tangled mass around them,
confusing the senses, making all present glad that their eyes were closed,
knowing they would be instantly dizzy from the spin of color that always
accompanied it. Then there was a light chiming noise and the whirling sensation
stopped. They all opened their eyes, expecting to see the cattle, monkeys, and
mango trees of India, but to their surprise and shock, they saw instead a
desert that was for some odd reason covered with patches of snow.

## Chapter 12

The demigods gasped in shock, not realizing
they were still holding hands.

“Where the heck are we?” Lio exclaimed.

“I don’t know, but it sure isn’t India. We
don’t have any of those things.” Thomas replied, staring suspiciously at the
saguaro cactus in front of him. Everyone looked around them for a minute, then
they all noticed something they hadn’t before, even though it had been there
the whole time. A pair of sounds filled the air, one high and lilting, the
other low and breathy. They soon recognized it as a pair of flutes,
specifically a wooden flute and a set of pan pipes. The two wove together into
a lively, yet complex melody. It stirred unusual feelings in the demigods,
making them want to shout and jump and dance, filling them with a sense of joy
and boundless energy. They released hands and rushed towards the source of the
sound, racing across sand and snow alike.

They soon spotted the persons playing it. They
recognized the musical duo as Camaya Zotz, daughter of Camazotz, and Sun
Catcher, son of Kokopelli. The two were blowing as furiously as they could,
their faces turning a bright red as they struggled to keep up the lively tune.
They advanced slowly on a large snow patch, which shrunk away until it was no
more, desert flowers springing up in its wake. Lily let out a soft gasp of
shock, and Camaya whirled around, her pan pipes faltering as her breath hitched
with surprise. Sun Catcher turned after her, managing to keep a steady tune
even as his eyebrows crept up his forehead.

“Guys! Hey! What are you doing here?” she
exclaimed, forgetting all about her flute playing and rushing to meet them.

“We don’t know. We were trying to go to India,
but we ended up here. Where is here anyway?” Lani replied.

“You are a *loooong*
way from India. This is New Mexico.” Everyone groaned loudly.

“How could we have been that far off? We’re *worse* when we work together!” Lio
moaned, slapping his palm to his forehead.

“Well, I am actually kind of glad you all are
here. Life has been very tough. As you can see, we have been severely affected.
Imagine, snow in the desert! How does that even happen? Yet here it is. It has
been here ever since Kokopelli fell ill. It would seem that without him, winter
has been trying to make a comeback as strong as it can. Sun Catcher and I have
been doing our best to hold it off, but there is only so much we can do. I have
heard that my father is also sick, and as a result, ghosts have been escaping
the underworld and causing panic among the humans. For a while I thought I
would have to leave Sun Catcher on his own and go south to fight off the dead.
But thankfully there’s a lot of Aztec death gods and their children to take
care of it.” she said, casting an affectionate glance towards Sun Catcher, who
winked back, playing his flute the whole while. Kimmy felt a slight longing
stir in her. They were such a cute couple and obviously had a good thing going.
If only she could have that herself someday. Her eyes briefly darted to Thomas
standing next to her. Maybe even with him.

“Okay, well, now what?” Kara asked, impatient
to be off.

“I think you should try to head towards India
one bit at a time. Head towards Europe. I’ll join you, if Sun Catcher can make
do without me.” Camaya replied, giving Sun Catcher a questioning glance. He
nodded slightly, and gracefully ended his song. He and Camaya embraced and
kissed, holding onto each other for a long time while the others waited
awkwardly, suddenly finding tiny random details in their surroundings quite
fascinating. Then the two finally separated slowly, as if reluctant to let go.
Sun Catcher resumed his playing with increased fervor, driving the snow back
once more. Camaya reached out to grasp the others’ hands,  but they pulled away, reluctant to be put so
far off course again.

“Hang on a second. Why are we going to Europe?
Wouldn’t it be faster to go over the Pacific?” Lani asked, keeping her hands
well away from the bat demigoddess.

“Have you ever heard of the Bermuda Triangle?”
Everyone nodded.

“What does it do?” she continued.

“Makes things disappear?” said Lio hesitantly.

"Exactly. And did you know that it also affects demigods? If we try to
teleport over that, we would likely get sucked in and never seen again, then
where would our parents be? Besides, if we make many close-together stops,
there is a less likely chance of being thrown off-course.” Everyone nodded in
agreement and linked hands, closing their eyes and envisioning Europe. The
twisting sensation returned and they were all whisked off into the unknown.

## Chapter 13

Their feet touched down on solid ground and
the spinning stopped, but none of the demigods opened their eyes, reluctant to
see where they ended up. Lily was the first to work up her courage and slowly
opened her eyes, then excitedly jiggled the arms of Lio and Hinode, whose eyes
shot open with surprise.

“Guys, guys! I think we did it! We’re in
Greece!” she exclaimed with delight at being in her homeland. Everyone opened
their eyes and looked around. And sure enough, there stood nearby the ruins of an
ancient Greek temple, chunks of loose marble surrounding it. They all raced
towards it, Lily in the lead, thrilled with their success. Then, to their
surprise, the temple ruins shimmered, then faded away, revealing a fully
functioning temple, a massive marble statue of a rather unattractive god
holding a blacksmith’s hammer standing menacingly in front of the temple
entrance, a massive bowl of fire sitting before it.

“Hey, this is Donny’s house!” Lily shouted,
quickly bowing to the statue before barging inside. The others quickly imitated
her and rushed to keep up, their feet slapping loudly against the marble floor.
They soon entered a cluttered smithy, a small forge blazing merrily away in the
corner, scraps of assorted metals littering the floor and wooden worktables.
The walls were covered in blueprints and sketches and one large T.V. In the
midst of it all was a teenage demigod, hammering away at a chunk of iron on his
anvil. At their arrival the demigod whirled around with surprise, knocking the
iron to the marble floor with a resounding CLANG! His pink eyes widened as he
spotted Kimmy.

"K-Kimmy? W-what are you doing here?” he
stammered, turning bright pink as he fumbled around the floor for the iron,
knocking it further away.

“Uh, hello? I’m here too!” Lily exclaimed,
pretending to be annoyed.

“Oh! Right! Sorry! What can I do for you?
What’s happening?” Donny said, now crawling under one of his worktables,
desperately trying to reach his iron piece. Kimmy, ever helpful, picked it off
the floor and handed it to him. Their eyes met and Donny turned an even
brighter shade of pink, his trembling hand brushing against hers as he took the
metal from her. He quickly stood up, his bright red hair mussed from being
under a table.

"T-thanks!” he mumbled, unable to meet
her eyes.

“Anyway, we are here about the whole godly
plague mission thingy, remember? You were there for the gym meeting, remember?”

“Oh right! Um, about that, there is something
you should see.” He picked up a bronze remote from one of the worktables and
aimed it at the T.V. It flickered to life, displaying video feed of a bedroom.
And in the bed was a god who looked exactly like the statue outside. He didn’t
look so good, the parts of his face that weren’t covered by facial hair were
covered in the same red splotches as Kamadev, Pele, and Amaterasu. He shook
violently, and a rattling cough issued from the golden speakers under the T.V.
screen. Sweat poured off the poor god’s face, dripping into his beard and onto
his pillow. His eyes were bloodshot and half-closed. Donny pressed another
button on the remote and the screen turned to static.

“That was Dad. He isn’t doing to well. And
neither is Mom.” He pressed the button again, and this time the screen showed a
gorgeous young woman, her beautiful features marred by the hideous red spots.

“They won’t let me near them, Dad because he
doesn’t want to risk me catching it, and Mom because she is embarrassed for me
to see her like this. So I monitor them by camera. Depressing really. No matter
what I invent, I can’t help them. I have no medical skill. I have tried going
to Asclepius, or even Apollo or Hygeia, but none of them are around.” Donny
said morosely. He looked so sad that Kimmy was sorely tempted to give him a
hug, which she did. He stiffened at her touch, then cautiously returned the
embrace, hanging on a little longer after she had let go, then realized what he
was doing and quickly pulled back. He turned red again and stared down at his
shoes, mumbling his thanks under his breath. His hair then burst into flames.
Kimmy shrieked and jumped back, alarmed.

“Donny! Your hair!” Donny gave her a puzzled
look, then realized his head was blazing. He yelped and batted at the flames,
then grabbed a nearby helm made of gold with two little wings on the sides, and
clapped it down onto his head. A hissing sound filled the air as the fire was
suffocated, the helm’s wings frantically flapping the smoke away as if
frightened by its ordeal. After the smoke had cleared out, he removed the helm
to reveal hair as red as his face, the wings going limp with relief.

“Are you okay?” Kimmy asked, concerned.

“Uh…yeah…. no…” he mumbled, extremely
embarrassed now, looking as though he wanted to sink through the floor. He
leaned against one of the worktables and placed the helm back on the table.
There was a soft whirring noise and a small, bronze, steampunk dragon landed on
the table next to Donny’s elbow, red silk wings stretched wide. Kimmy squealed
with delight and reached towards it. The dragon swung around to look at her,
then jumped onto her hand, climbing up her arm to her shoulder, where he butted
his head against her cheek like a tiny cat, his miniscule scales clinking
lightly.

“Aw, he’s cute! What’s his name?” Kimmy cooed
as she stroked the little dragon’s snout.

“Aethor. He likes you…just like his owner.”
Donny replied, then realized what he had just said.

“What?” Kimmy said, uncertain if she had just
heard a confession and half distracted by the enchanting creature on her
shoulder.

“What?” he repeated, startled, his eyes wide
and innocent. Kimmy shrugged and decided to ignore it. Then Lily’s voice broke
into their awkward moment.

“So, are we going to just hang around here, or
are we going to make some progress and get teleporting again?” she asked, tapping
her foot impatiently.

“What? But you guys just got here! Don’t you
want to take a rest, spend the night?” Donny replied, anxious.

“Wait, what? Spend the night? But it’s still
afternoon!” said Lily, confused.

“Look again.” he said and pointed out of the
window. The sky outside was turning a rich array of reds, oranges, and pinks,
the colors of sunset. Without there noticing, nightfall was already creeping
in. Kimmy felt her stomach sinking with the sun. Surely they had to keep
moving? There was no way the gods had enough time left for them to dawdle. What
would happen to them? How much worse could it get? But another part of her also
knew how dangerous it was to travel at night. She may go to a monster school
and be a part of the monster community now, but there were still unnatural
creatures out there who would love to get their fangs into a stray demigod,
especially out here in Greece, a major monster hotspot. Then what would happen
to the gods? She shuddered at the thought. No, it looked like they would have
to stay here tonight.

“I think we should stay Lily. We have no idea
what’s out there at night, and we could use some sleep.” Kimmy said, bringing a
look of utter relief to Donny’s face. Lily was still thoughtfully frowning at
the darkness outside, but she turned and nodded at Kimmy’s words.

“Okay, so that’s settled then. I’ll take you
to your rooms.” Donny said, then turned to lead them to where they would stay.
The group followed him down the marble hallway, away from the cluttered
workspace and uncomfortable warmth of the forge, a cool breeze gently playing
across their skin. The boys, Lio and Thomas were to share with Donny, and the
girls were paired off with each other, Hinode and Camaya in one, Lani and
Nahele in another, leaving Lily, Kara and Kimmy together in a third. The group
showered and changed, then drifted off to bed after an exchange of “goodnight”
and “sweet dreams”. Kimmy laid down in her bed, the soft silk sheets cool
against her skin, and stared up at the darkening ceiling, her mind troubled by
recent events. Finally she rolled over to face Lily.

“Lily?”

“Hmm?”

“Why do you think it got dark so fast? Maybe
it has something to do with the sickness?”

“I don’t know. Go to sleep.” Lily mumbled
back, then her breathing evened out to sleep. Kimmy turned to her other side to
talk to Kara, only to discover the demigoddess was already asleep. Kimmy rolled
back onto her back to stare at the ceiling some more, then sighed and closed
her eyes, slowly drifting to sleep.

## Chapter 14

Kimmy awoke to bright sunlight warming her
face. She stretched, eyes still closed, feeling quite peaceful and reluctant to
get up. Her bed was so warm and soft, the sheets so silky and comfy, she could
just lie here all day. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at the marble
ceiling, watching the gauzy blue curtain sway gently in the light breeze. Wait,
blue? Her curtains weren’t blue, they were pink! She sat up, alarmed and saw
her two beasties sleeping in beds next to her. This wasn’t her house, and she
didn’t recall having a sleepover! Then the memory of yesterday came crashing
back. Oh right, she was at Donny’s house with the others because night came
early. How did that happen? Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp, stabbing
pain lancing through her stomach and she doubled over in pain. Then she
remembered that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast yesterday, having been too
caught up in all their travels and anxiety to eat. She heard a rustling from
either side of her, signaling the awakening of Kara and Lily. Kara groaned and
glared at the bright sunlight, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Lily, in
contrast, practically leaped out of bed, energized and ready to go. Well almost
ready anyway. Kimmy stared at her friend, amazed at the condition of her hair.
Lily’s pink curls were a horrendous tangled mess, sticking up into a fluffy
afro. She noticed the look on Kimmy’s face and smiled, ruffling her hair and
mussing it up more.

“What, haven’t you ever seen a morning ‘fro
before?” she laughed. Kimmy shook her head slowly in amazement, and Lily
laughed again, then bounded off to the bathroom to change and freshen up. Kara
groaned again and flopped back down.

“How can she be so bubbly at this ungodly hour?
Mornings need to be illegal.” she moaned. Kimmy climbed out of bed and went to
drag her best friend out of bed. She grabbed Kara’s arm and started pulling,
Kara whining and pulling back. After a minute or so of tug-of-war, she finally
got up, glaring and squinting as she slowly searched the room for her other clothes.
Kimmy looked for hers as well and saw that they were on a nearby dresser,
thoughtfully cleaned and folded. The two changed and freshened up, then barged
into the bathroom to playfully fight with Lily over the sink as they brushed
their teeth. Then the trio went out into the hall, meeting up with the other
six. But Donny was nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Donny? Haven’t seen him since I went
to sleep.” Lio asked.

“Let’s go to the dining room. He’s probably
beaten us to breakfast.” Lily said, confidently leading the way. They followed
her, coming to a breezy hall with a splendid view of the fresh morning
landscape outside. They all stopped short, staring at the massive table in
front of them. It was piled with anything and everything a demigod could want for
breakfast. There were waffles and pancakes, sausages and bacon, eggs, a massive
selection fresh fruit, cereal, toast, cinnamon buns, hash browns, yogurt, milk,
an array of juices and teas, coffee, and even some ethnics dishes, like several
curries, and, to Kimmy’s delight, a platter of assorted Indian sweets. It all
looked absolutely amazing and smelled fantastic. They all eagerly sat down,
piling their plates with everything they could eat. Lio especially tucked in
with enthusiasm, piling his plate so high everything was at risk of falling to
the floor. Thomas eyed him doubtfully.

“Are you sure you can eat all that?” he asked.

“Watch me.” Lio replied and they did. To
everyone’s amazement, his plate was perfectly clean in a matter of minutes, and
he was back to piling on more. They raised their eyebrows, looked at each
other, then shrugged and resumed eating.

The food was
spectacular, everything perfectly hot or cold. Kimmy bit into a mango,
relishing its cool, juicy sweetness. Perfect. And the ladoos were wonderful
too. They were just sweet enough, and flavored perfectly with just the right
amount of butter and cardamom, the texture absolutely melting in your mouth.
Her own mother couldn’t have made it any better.

“This is
delicious! Did you make it?” she asked Donny who was seated beside her. He
blushed and shook his head.

“No, everything
here was made by the *aurae*. They do
the cleaning as well. As a matter of fact, one of them is right above you. Say
hi to Eva.” he replied. Kimmy looked around for the *aurae*, then remembered that they were invisible. Feeling somewhat
foolish, she pointed her face to the ceiling and said “Hi, Eva” to the air. A
light, girly giggle, seemingly from nowhere, came in response and she felt a
light breeze against her face, as if someone had passed by overhead. Feeling
better, she turned back to her food, enjoying every bite of the air nymphs’
divine cooking. They were silent for many minutes after that, the only noises
being chewing, clinking of utensils against ceramic, drinks being poured, and
requests to pass a certain dish. Soon the table was empty, every dish scraped
clean, everything eaten, mostly by Lio, who was leaning his chair back with a
look of great contentment on his face. Lily pushed her chair back and looked around
the table.

“So, shall we
be going then?” she asked.

“What?
Already?” exclaimed Donny.

“Well, yes, I
don’t see why not. It would be best if we got going as soon as possible. It’s
kind of urgent. I think you know what I mean.” she replied. Donny sighed and
nodded, shoulders slumping with resign as he accepted the fact he would be left
all alone again.

“But you can
come with us if you like.” she added. Donny looked at her, eyes wide with
shock, and quickly shook his head.

“Oh no! I can’t
do that!” he said quickly.

“Oh come on
Donny! We could use your help. Besides, the more the merrier!” Kimmy chipped
in, smiling hopefully at him. He looked at her and turned slightly pink again,
then looked down at his empty plate.

“Okay, I’ll do
it.” he mumbled. The group cheered and everyone rose, heading outside to leave.
Once outside, the group circled up to teleport together, and Donny found
himself standing between Nahele and Kimmy, and he blushed as Kimmy took his
hand. Soon the group was all linked and they all closed their eyes.

“Where to now?”
Camaya asked.

“Egypt. I want
to check in on Mom.” Lio immediately suggested. They all agreed on this and
focused as one on the desert land of Egypt. The now familiar swirling sensation
enveloped them, whisking them off into the unknown.

## Chapter 15

The swirling stopped and the first thing that hit the demigods
was the sudden, overwhelming heat. Compared to the refreshingly cool climate
they had just left, this blazing scorcher came as a shock. Everyone’s eyes
popped open and were greeted with the sight of dusty yellow sand, stretching as
far as the eye could see. They all looked about curiously, as none but Lio had
been here before. There to the east stood several pyramids, their shadows
stretching long across the sand in the morning sun. Lio spotted these and
pointed them out to the others.

“That’s where
we have to go.” he stated simply. Everyone gaped at him and exclamations of
disbelief filled the air.

“What? No way!”

“That’s too
far! How on Earth are we going to get there in this heat?”

“Are you
kidding me?”

But he just waved away such protests and was soon rewarded by
grudging silence.

“The sooner we
get started, the sooner we’ll be there. Now save your breath, you’ll need it
for walking.” And with that he started off towards the pyramids without a backwards
glance, the others obediently silent but glaring furiously at his back. They
reluctantly followed, their feet sinking into the sand.

It was a long
trek, very dull without conversation to occupy them, and the relentless heat
beat down upon them, gaining as the sun rose across the sky. They looked at
each other, seeing how everyone was holding up. Sweat trickled down their
faces, drawing precious water from their bodies. Soon clothing was sticking to
skin, and loose strands of hair stuck to their faces. Their legs ached from
walking on the soft sand, which slipped and slid under them and got into their
shoes to scrape their feet raw. Kimmy, despite being a goddess from a hot
climate that embraced sunny weather, began to flag and fall behind. Thomas and
Donny fell back with her, concerned. Donny watched her out of the corner of his
eye and walked close by, too self conscious and embarrassed to do more, but
Thomas boldly linked his arm through hers, providing support. She met their
eyes, silently giving her thanks to them both.

Then a gentle
breeze swept across the desert, disturbing the sand and blowing the hair from
their faces. They turned towards it, savoring the cool relief it brought. But
soon it was gone. Then it was back again, a bit stronger and a bit longer. Then
this left as well. Then another came, stronger and longer than the previous
two. This repeated several times, until the demigods were being buffeted by
great gusts, hair whipped into a frenzy, as if it were a panicked kraken,
clothes snapping frantically. Their skin was blasted by stinging sand, eyes
burning at the tiny particles. They squeezed their eyes shut feeling the grit
under their eyelids, and slowed down, unable to see in the blinding sand
clouds. The wind howled like a beast, relentlessly tearing the sand from the
earth to fling at them, as if determined to wear them away until they were sand
themselves. Lani placed her hand over her mouth to keep the sand out as she
yelled.

“Lio, I think
we have to go back. We gotta teleport outta here!” she yelled as loud as she,
desperate to be heard over the storm.

“No, this is
good! We’re really close now!” Lio yelled back.

“Good? Close?
How is a sandstorm progress?” Lani shrieked, indignant.

“You’ll see!”
he hollered shortly. The wind swirled around them, their own private vortex,
and they all huddled together, facing inward to protect their delicate
features, resignedly choosing to stand still and wait out the storm than try to
find a way out. The sand piled out around them, first up to their ankles, then
slowly up to their knees, then further, slowly burying them bit by bit. Their
hearts pounded fearfully as they realized what happened, fighting to get out,
but getting reburied under the endless wind. By the time they were up to their
waists, they had all but given up, accepting that this would be their demise.
At least they would die together. Maybe someday someone would find their
bodies, all dried up and leathery, deep in the desert sand. Then they were in
over their heads, the great weight pressing heavily down on them, completely
immobilizing them. This was it. This was the end.

## Chapter 16

They were trapped, buried alive. Just as they all came to accept
their fate, something shifted beneath their feet. It shifted again, then
dropped away completely, a void opening up under them. The ten fell, sand
swirling around them. They seemed to fall endlessly, and they dared to open
their eyes, looking at each other with awe. They felt almost suspended in
space, watching each other and the sand float gracefully through the air. Then
they landed suddenly, falling heavily onto a massive, soft, pile of sand. They
all groaned and began to slowly crawl out of the sand. They got to their feet,
bumbling together and checking if the others were okay. Once it was established
that they were unharmed, they began to shake the sand off their bodies. Great
pockets of sand fell from the folds of their clothing and their hair as they
tugged their clothes, some falling from awkward places. After they had gotten
as much of the grit off themselves as they could they looked around to see
where they were. They appeared to be in a large, dark chamber, empty of
everything but themselves and the sand. In front of them was a doorway, from
which came soft firelight, bright against the heavy darkness. They all walked
towards this and it led them to a large hall. Granite pillars, all covered in
hieroglyphics, stretched high overhead, supporting a thick, heavy granite
ceiling. Tiles of various gemstones covered the floor, part of which was
covered by a long, intricate rug. Between each pillar stood a lamp, a large
gold bowl full of fire, supported by a golden post. At the front of the hall,
farthest away from them, sat a great gold and bejeweled throne, empty. Near it
stood a set of great golden scales, also unattended. From these scales
stretches a massive line of humans, all of whom were abnormally pale, almost
see-through. Then they realized, they WERE see-through, as they were the souls
of dead humans! Each human paid them little attention, no more than a glance,
all too busy looking towards the front, a heart clutched tightly in hand. They
shifted impatiently, some trying to look past the others in front of them,
other trying to look *through*, all
trying to see what the wait was all about.

Lio stood in front of the demigods and proudly threw his arms
open wide, beaming.

“Welcome to the
Hall of Judgment, my home!” And with that, he turned back around, leading the
demigods past the line of souls straight to the scales and throne. The souls,
noticing the demigods passing by them instead of waiting in line like everyone
else, threw up a protest.

“Cutter!”

“Hey, back of
the line!”

“No fair! I’ve
been waiting five hundred years!”

Ghostly hands grabbed at the demigods, determined to pull them
back to their place, or at least behind them, but they just passed harmlessly
through, unable to grad hold.

“Coming
through, make way, future judge of the dead coming through! Move over, or I’ll
have Mom eat your hearts!” Lio yelled, pushing through the indignant souls. At
the mention of heart-eating, the souls hurriedly backed away, having heard
about the fate of those who were eaten, too terrified to question who exactly Lio’s
mother was, and whether or not he was bluffing. They finally reached the golden
scales and everyone ignored them, instead gazing with awe at the magnificent
gold throne. It was colossal, obviously meant for a powerful god. Rubies,
sapphires, emeralds and diamonds sparkled in the torchlight, catching their
eyes.

“Is this where
your mom sits?” Kimmy asked, awestruck.

“No, this
actually is.” Lio replied. They all turned to look. He was pointing towards a
large, purple, silk cushion that sat under the scales. They stared at it,
surprised. It looked more like a doggie bed than the place of a terrifying
monster-god that every soul feared.

“MOM! I’M
HOME!” Lio hollered suddenly, making everyone jump. Then the ground shook, then
stopped, then shook again, as if under the heavy footfalls of some great beast.
Out of the shadows a larger shadow detached itself and came towards them. Then
it came into the range of the torchlight, which revealed a monster. It was
twenty feet tall and had the head of a crocodile, the mane, chest, and legs of
a lion, and the back end of a hippo. It padded right up to them, its claws
clicking against the stone floor. It came to a stop in front of Lio, towering
over him. Kimmy felt her stomach drop as the beast slowly looked down at her
friend. He looked so small standing right between the monster’s great paws. Why
wasn’t he running? It was surely going to eat him! But Lio did no such thing,
instead looking up at the creature, staring deep into its bright green eyes, a
huge smile across his face.

“Hi Mom!” he
called up at the beast. The creature blinked and her form shimmered, shrinking
rapidly until she was no higher than her son. The shimmering cleared to reveal
a tall woman, her black hair braided in cornrows her tan skin covered in small
green scales, just like her son. Ammit smiled and threw her muscular arms
around Lio. They delightedly clung to each other, swaying in place for a
minute, lion purrs emanating from them. It was apparent that they had expected
to possibly not see each other again.

“I’m so glad
you’re okay!” Lio gushed, relief clear in his voice.

“Well, I’m as
okay as I was when you left,” Ammit replied, her voice surprisingly deep and
rich. “Come, bring your friends. Let’s go someplace less busy.” Putting her arm
around her son’s shoulders, Ammit led them out of the Hall of Judgment into a
smaller, brighter balcony with a magnificent view of a massive, lush garden. On
the balcony was a marble table covered in food and drinks, and surrounded by
eleven chairs, as if their arrival had been expected. Ammit sat down and
beckoned for the demigods to follow. They sat down and Ammit served them small
plates of sweets and poured cool glasses of iced chai for them all. They eager
ate and drank, the chai soothing and cooling, the sweets filling them with
renewed energy. While Ammit was busy, Kimmy leaned over to Lio, whispering
“Your mom doesn’t look sick.” Then to her horror, Ammit answered.

“No I don’t,
but trust me, I am. I just hide it with a glamour. Not to mention that I am not
as badly affected as the other gods, since I was the last to get sick. But I am
still affected. As a matter of fact, I had to go on vacation and put all
judgments on hold. It wouldn’t do for me to consume a sinner’s heart then get
queasy and throw it back up again. They’d be able to get away with their
wrongdoings. So, until I get better, we have to wait.”

“Oh dear, I am
so sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude-” Kimmy started, embarrassed.

“Oh, it’s no
bother, dear. I don’t mind.” Ammit interrupted, refilling Lily’s glass. There
was an awkward silence filled only by the sound of pouring liquid. Then Ammit
spoke again, looking directly at Kimmy, her eyes piercing into the girl’s own.

“By the way,
you had best go back to India next. The gods have been discussing, and you may
have noticed as well, but it appears that this plague has started there.
Besides, you may want to check in with your father. I hear he hasn’t been doing
so well.” Kimmy’s stomach sank at the demoness’s words. Sensing her worry,
Ammit quickly added “But don’t worry. No matter what, he’ll pull through. Gods
are tough, and he especially has gone through a lot. After all, wasn’t he
incinerated by Kara’s father? Yet look at him, still alive and well and up to
his usual mischief.” She chuckled, her green eyes sparkling, and Kimmy felt
herself relax. Yes, her father was going to be okay. She was going to see to
it.

“Now, as much
as I enjoy the company, you must get going. The sooner you figure this all out,
the sooner it will be over.” said Ammit.

“Uh, Ammit? One
question?” Kimmy asked.

“Yes?”

“Why did we
have to get buried to get here instead of teleporting, and how will we get
back?

“In order to
get here, a realm of the dead, you must first be dead yourself, or at least
very convinced you will be. And in order to get back, you must be reborn, or
feel like you were. Lio will show you what I mean.” Ammit said, rising from the
table. The others followed suit, and Ammit embraced her son once more, then
waved them off. A staircase appeared at the balcony, leading down to the garden
below. They walked down and followed Lio as he led them through, weaving
between flowering bushes, following the sound of water. Soon they came across a
merry stream, splashing and bubbling over the smooth pebbles beneath it. The
stream led to a small waterfall, which in turn splashed into a small pool. Lio
waded out into the middle, up to his waist in water, but the others hung back,
unsure. He turned back and gestured impatiently.

“Well? Come on,
there’s no crocodiles.” The others went in after him, slowly walking through
the water, sucking in their breaths at its surprising coolness, clothes
instantly becoming heavy and dragging them down. They gathered around Lio,
waiting for whatever would happen next. They didn’t have long to wait. The
bottom of the pool, which everyone was able to comfortably stand on with their
heads well above the water, suddenly dropped out from under them, causing them
to sink and flail in panic. Lio kicked to keep his head above water long enough
to yell at the others.

“Stop
struggling! Just go with it! Let your body go! Surrender!” he yelled, spitting
out water that slopped in as he bellowed. The others looked at him in shock,
continuing to flail about, then he rolled his eyes and let himself sink, the
water closing in over his head. When he didn’t come back up again, the others
began to freak out even more, tiring themselves out. When they were finally too
tired to keep it up any longer, they relaxed, letting themselves sink, feeling
the water move over them as smoothly as silk. They sank down, down, down,
seemingly forever, small bubbles softly pouring from their mouths, then
everything went black.

## Chapter 17

The ten demigods floated aimlessly through the emptiness,
weightless and graceful, completely unfeeling and calm. Then their heads broke
the surface and they all came to, gasping and gulping in great lungfuls of air.
They kicked and struggled to remain afloat. The water, which had been
beautifully clear and calm before, was now a muddy brown and agitated, rippling
with small waves. Every now and then, one of these waves would hit one of them
in the face, causing them to spit and struggle harder to keep their heads up.
They looked around them in panic, then Nahele was the first to spot salvation.

“Look! Land!
Over there!” she yelled, and the others turned to look. Sure enough, not too
far away, was the muddy stretch of bank, a few patches of reeds growing here
and there. They all began to swim over there in earnest, kicking and paddling
as hard as they could. They all managed to reach shore, pulling themselves out
onto the soft mud, then collapsing flat on their faces, puffing and blowing,
but so very glad to be back on solid land. Kimmy rolled over onto her back and
gazed up at the sky. Now that her ordeal was over and the panic was ebbing
away, she realized how refreshed she felt, as if she had indeed been reborn. At
this she began to laugh, a silent tremor at first, then a full-blown raucous
guffaw. The others turned to look at her, bewildered and questioning her
sanity, then it caught on with them too. Soon all ten were lying on the beach,
laughing as hard as they could, startling a group of egrets into flight. Then
it ebbed away, leaving them feeling much brighter about the whole situation.
They slowly rose to their feet, then looked down at their clothes in disgust.
They were absolutely caked in mud, soaking well through the fabric and sticking
their hair together into dirty clumps.

“Say, any of us
have water powers to make a quickie shower?” Lio asked. Everyone shook their
heads.

“Great. Ten demigods
and not one of us a water demi.” he grumbled. He walked back down to the
water’s edge.

“Hapi, could
you give us a little help here?” he called out over the river. In response a
great wave splashed out over them, drenching them completely, but taking off
all the mud. They spluttered and shook off the extra water, indignant at being
treated thusly without so much as a warning. A deep throaty chuckle emanated seemingly
from the river itself, laughing, not unkindly, at their displeasure.

“Great guy, Hapi.
Always willing to lend a helping hand, even at the worst of times.” Lio said,
shaking himself like a dog, spraying river water everywhere. The other demigods
squealed and ducked to avoid the spray, then followed suit after he was done.
Lily’s hair instantly poofed out into a wild, frizzy mess, which she patted,
then shrugged and decided to ignore.

Despite their
best attempts, they were all still quite wet, which Lio noticed as he eyed them
all.

“How ‘bout a
walk through the desert to dry up before we teleport?” he suggested, which was
met with nonchalant approval. They then set out, following Lio back across the
sandy stretch. Within the hour, under the determinedly hot sun, they were all
perfectly dry. They then joined hands and focused on India, eager to be out of
this sandy mess.

## Chapter 18

The swirling stopped and the demigods slowly opened their eyes,
all but Donny and Camaya wondering if they had accidently ended up in New
Mexico again. But the sight that greeted them was thankfully that of India, with
a red dirt road stretching up to a distant temple, shadowed by mango trees,
from which swung Rhesus monkeys, chattering as they ripped the skin off ripe
mangoes with their teeth. An old, brown-skinned normie man, dressed in a
turban, tunic, and loose pants passed by, face half hidden by a grey beard,
lightly tapping the rear of the Brahma cow he was leading with a long, thin
stick. At the sight of him the demigods ducked, not wanting to be seen in their
monstrous appearance. They mentally kicked themselves, not believing that they
had been so foolish as to forget to transform first. But they did so now, all
taking on the appearance of locals. Their multicolored eyes all turned brown,
their hair turning black, the girl’s growing long and plaiting into braid,
their skin turning tan. Well, all except Thomas that is, since he already
looked local as is. Their clothes changed as well, salwar kameez and saris on
the girls, jeans and T-shirts on the boys, sneakers or sandals on all. The
girls especially admired their clothes, Camaya, Lily, Lani, Nahele, and Hinode
all oohing and aahing over the bright colors and intricate designs, Kara and
Kimmy used to it, as it was their traditional wear. Satisfied that they would
be passed off as native normies, the group set off down the road towards the
temple. Then Kimmy stopped short, a sudden horrible thought hitting her.

“Guys, you
can’t speak Hindi, right? Or Urdu? Or Gujarati? Bengali? Marathi? Tamil?
Telegu?” she asked. Everyone but Thomas and Kara shook their heads. Kimmy
groaned.

“Great. English
may be one of the main languages, but not everyone can speak it. Can we all
just take a moment here so you guys can, I don’t know, wish it up? Will for you
to know it?” her voice slowly rose with hysteria, until Kara was looking at her
in concern.

“Kimmy, if we
all take hands, we can infuse the ones that don’t know with our knowledge of
the language.” she said calmly. The others nodded agreement and they all took
hand again. Kimmy, Thomas, and Kara all focused, concentrating on the different
nuances of their native tongues. A tingling jolt ran down their arms, then the
others clutched their heads and staggered as the complete vocabulary of seven
new languages hit them, filling their brains with strange new words that seemed
to whisper to them in their heads. After a moment of reeling around trying to
sort their thoughts, a new sense of realization and understanding filled them,
and they slowly dropped their hands, looking at each other with slow, knowing
smiles.

“Wow! If only
learning at school was that easy!” Donny gasped, awestruck. Lio groaned at the
thought, still massaging his temples.

“Ugh, I don’t
know if my brain could handle regular sessions of cramming like that.” Then he
stopped short as everyone realized that the two hadn’t been talking in English
at all, but in fluent Hindi without even noticing. It had worked! They all
laughed and started rattling off in Hindi all at once. Finally Lani yelled over
the others.

“Enough! We
have to get going. Now come on!” The others quickly shut up and followed Kimmy
as she led them down the road to the temple.

As they walked
down the road, feet picking up a coating of red dust, the monkeys in the trees
watched them the whole while, softly chattering amongst themselves. Then one
daring young monkey swung down on a low vine and made a grab at Aethor, the
tiny metal dragon perched on Donny’s shoulder. The dragon let out a squeal and
a small blast of fire, singeing the monkey’s paw and filling the air with the
stench of burnt fur, sending the monkey off high into the trees, screeching
loudly as it went.

“Oh, by the way
Donny, you should probably hide Aethor. Monkeys like snatching shiny things.”
Kara said.

“You don’t
say?” Donny replied sarcastically, tucking his precious dragon into his pants
pocket. The demigods eyed the monkeys with caution, the girls protectively
gripping their jewelry, the monkeys cautiously eyeing them back. There was no
way any of them were courageous enough to attempt a raid now, especially if the
sparkly stuff the human creatures carried all shot fire.

The demigods
soon neared the temple and could now see glimpses of the statue and altar
within. They walked up to the steps and just as Kara was about to set foot on
the first one, a large monkey leaped from the roof and landed on her shoulder,
leaning in towards her face.

“Kara, watch
out! It’s after your earrings!” Kimmy shrieked, terrified that the bandit would
rip the gold right out of her beastie’s ear. But to everyone’s surprise, it did
not. It instead was chattering softly into Kara’s ear, as if trying to tell her
something. Kara stopped and listened intently.

“Oh really? You
don’t say?” she said back.

“Kara? You
speak monkey?” Kimmy asked, surprised at her friend’s unusual talent. Kara just
nodded, still listening to the monkey. The monkey finished and leaped back into
the trees, leaving Kara with a thoughtful look on her face.

“What did it
say? And where did you learn to speak monkey?” asked Kimmy, curious.

“My cousin,
Jivitam, is a monkey demigod. He taught me a couple things. And the monkey,
Aratji is his name by the way, said that he and some other monkeys have seen a
strange being around here recently. It looks human, but smells and acts rather
odd. There’s also something wrong with its paws, I mean, hands and feet. He was
warning us to watch out, it might attack us if we meet it.” Kara replied. The
other demigods looked at each other. Odd human thing? What was that? Maybe it
was a monster? Was it friendly? Or would it attack them if they ran into it?
Kara just shrugged and stepped into the temple.

“Whatever it
is, I’m pretty sure a group of ten demigods can handle it.” she said, then
reached up to ring the brass bell that hung near the entrance. She walked up to
the statue and bowed.

“Hi Mom.” she
said. The others looked at the statue in surprise, and sure enough, it was a
statue of Kali, Kara’s mother, her ten arms raised, a weapon in each hand,
aside from one held palm forward to bestow blessings, and another tightly
gripping a demon’s head. Her eyes seemed to follow you, staring deep into your
soul. All in all, the statue had a very alarming appearance, just like the real
goddess.

“Mind if we
stay the night? Okay, thanks Mom.” Kara continued. She turned and gestured for
the others to be seated on the temple floor. The others followed her, bowing
respectfully to the statue and sweeping a clear space on the stone before
having a seat.

“I’m kind of
hungry. Do you know if your mom could maybe make something appear or
something?” Lio whispered to Kara. Kara just smiled mischievously and remained
silent, watching the sun sink below the horizon. Then a large troupe of
chattering monkeys bounded down from the trees and ran straight for them. The
demigods shrieked and leapt to their feet, convinced that they were under
attack. But instead of trying to raid them, the monkeys merely stopped at their
feet and reached up, stretching as high as they could, mangoes clutched tightly
in their paws, offering them to the demis. Unsure of what was happening, they
froze and stared down at the monkeys, bewildered. Kara was the first to take
the proffered mango, impatiently gesturing for the others to follow suit

“Well? You said
you were hungry.” she laughed as she peeled the fruit. The others slowly took
the mangoes from the monkeys, who immediately raced off for more. They looked
at the mangoes with slight disgust, unsure whether it was safe to eat after
being handled by a wild animal. But under Kara’s persistent glare, they
sheepishly began peeling and eating their fruit. The monkeys raced back and
forth, placing more mangoes at their feet and at the altar, until Kara finally
dismissed them. Then the demigods sat back down and one of the monkeys hopped
over to Lio, taking off his hat and searching his hair for bugs.

“Hey!” he
yelled, swatting at the monkey, who loped away, making a noise like laughter
while the demigods cracked up at Lio’s disgusted face.

After they had
eaten their fill, the demigods laid down and looked up at the cracked ceiling
and the strings of dried flowers that hung from it, talking quietly as they
waited for sleep to claim them. Eventually it did, and the demigods nodded off
one by one, lulled to sleep by the soft rustling of monkeys in the trees.

The monkeys sat
in the trees, awake, their leader Aratji watching over the demigods below. Then
a stick cracked, as if under a heavy footfall, and a dark figure detached from
the shadows and drifted towards the temple and the sleeping godlings, a faint
smell of rot and blood drifting through the air, disturbing the monkey’s
nostrils. Aratji let out a piercing shriek, his alarm call causing the other
monkeys to flee in panic. It was here. The demigods would have to hold their
own tonight.

## Chapter 19

Kimmy woke suddenly, her eyes flying open to see a pair of red
eyes gazing intently down at her.

“Hi Kimmy. I’ve
been waiting for you guys to wake up all night,” a girl’s voice said cheerily.
Kimmy sat bolt upright, staring at her.

“Charnelle!
What are you doing here?” she exclaimed. And sure enough, the girl was indeed
her classmate, a vetala ghoul named Charnelle Shavokar.

“I’ve been
waiting for you here. I knew you’d come eventually. Sure did take your sweet
time though. Those monkeys have been giving me the creeps, and not the good
kind either.” Charnelle replied, beaming down at her. Kimmy struggled to her
feet, her body not yet fully awake.

“Why have you
been waiting for us?” Kimmy asked, confused. Charnelle bounced, excited and
bursting to reveal everything.

“I *know*.”

“*What* do you know?”

“*Everything.* I know what caused it.”

“Do you mean
the plague?” Kimmy pressed, wary of her answer. Charnelle nodded eagerly.

“What about
it?” Kimmy asked, suspicious.

“I know the
source. Where it started. How it started. ‘The Patient X’, or at least, who
Patient X got it from.” Charnelle whispered, her eyes sparkling with
excitement.

“Really? Who?
Where? How?” Kimmy burst out loudly, forgetting for a moment that her friends
were still asleep.

“Shhh! Keep it
down! We don’t want everyone to hear!” Charnelle hissed, quickly looking behind
Kimmy to see if the others had been woken up. They hadn’t.

“Okay, well,
tell me!” Kimmy whispered.

“I can’t.”
Charnelle whispered back. Kimmy groaned.

“But I can show
you. Now you can wake the others.” Kimmy went around, shaking everyone awake.
The rose slowly, groaning and whining the whole time. In a few minutes they
were all up, yawning and rubbing their tired eyes. Then their eyes fell on
Charnelle.

“Hey, what are
you doing here?” Thomas asked, glaring at her suspiciously. Charnelle stood
silently, waiting to have the demigods’ full attention before starting. Once
she was certain she had it, she tucked a strand of her shock white hair behind
her ear, everyone noticing that her hand was oddly twisted backwards. Then she
cleared her throat and began.

“I have been
waiting for you all to arrive. I have important information that can help you,
but you must cooperate fully if it is to work. I cannot tell you anything and I
can’t tell you why I can’t tell you, but I will take you where you need to go.
Follow me.” And with that, she turned and walked out of the temple, not
bothering to check behind her to see if they were following, knowing full well
that they would be. Thomas was the last to go, still glaring at her, blatant
distrust darkening his face.

“Come on
Thomas! You’re going to get left behind!” Camaya called, and Thomas slowly
followed, keeping his dark gaze on the vetala.

Charnelle led
them back onto the dirt road, and they followed this for about half an hour, a
few demigods complaining under their breath about blisters, sweat, and cramps.
Then the road widened and everyone stopped short, mouths gaping at the sight.
They had finally reached town, and the traffic sure proved it. The road was a
congested mess, a mixture of buses, cars, scooters, bicycles, pedestrians,
tuk-tuks,

rickshaws, and animals. There didn’t seem to be many rules, or
any at all. Everyone just kind of went for it.

“Well, here we
are. But we need to cross the road. Where we need to go is on the other side.”
said Charnelle cheerfully.

“How? I don’t
see any crosswalks.” said Lio.

“That’s because
we don’t have any. It’ll be a bit tough if we all go as one big group, so let’s
split up, all you foreigners go with one of us locals.” Charnelle replied.

“But, how are
we going to get across?” Lio persisted.

“Like this.”
And with that Charnelle grabbed his hand and Camaya’s, dragging them both
behind her as she raced through a gap between a tuk-tuk and an overladen fruit
vendor on a scooter. Lio and Camaya shrieked and yelled as Charnelle expertly
navigated them through the traffic, weaving gracefully between the various
vehicles. They managed to safely make it to the other side, where Charnelle
waved to the others to show they got there. Kara grabbed hold of Lily and
Nahele, and kept an eagle eye on the chaotic stream before them, waiting for an
opening. She saw it, right between a dirty taxi and a rickshaw, and dove right
in. Lily and Nahele, now that they had seen what to expect, managed to keep
right by her side without so much as a squeal, easily dodging on-comers as they
followed her. They too made without incident, and high fived the first group
with exhilarated relief.

Back on the
other side of the road, Kimmy slipped her hands into Hinode’s and Donny’s, the
latter’s face turning pink at the experience of holding hands with his crush.
But he didn’t have long to savor it. Kimmy soon pulled them into the road,
passing uncomfortably close between the rear of a bus and another taxi. But,
just as they had passed them, another luridly colored bus loomed out of nowhere
and they bolted, barely managing to pass by unscathed. Then traffic stopped
completely, Kimmy and the other two left searching for an opening in the middle
of the street. Kimmy looked to her right to see what was happening. Past all
the car and scooters and tuk-tuks, she saw that the traffic had been clogged by
a large Brahma cow, who had wandered in and lain down right in the middle,
lazily chewing its cud, unconcerned about the stir it was causing. The people
behind it turned around it, trying to navigate the chaos to move past it.
Taking advantage of the reduced speed, Kimmy rushed into the nearest gap,
brushing in front of a pretty young, woman dressed in a sari and riding a
scooter, who yelled and swerved, cursing at their retreating backs. They ran to
the side of the rode and gratefully hopped onto the sidewalk, thankful their
ordeal was over. The others beamed at them, but Charnelle was on her tiptoes,
looking out over the traffic for the last two.

“Where’s Thomas
and Lani?” she asked, concerned. The others quickly turned and looked,
searching for them in all the mess. Then they spotted them, weaving between a
bus and a cow herder with his cattle. Kimmy gasped, heart pounding, as she
watched Thomas nearly get gored in the stomach by the horn of a bull casually
tossing his head. But, thankfully, Thomas managed to squirm away just in time,
narrowly avoiding being made into a shish-kebab. They wove across the road like
fish through water, and arrived, panting, at the sidewalk with the rest.

“We made it. We
can go now.” Thomas panted.

“That…was….WICKED!
What an adrenaline rush!” Lani gasped, her eyes bright with the thrill of the
experience. When everyone had caught their breath, Charnelle led them down the
sidewalk alongside the road, weaving through crowds and past beggars, who asked
if they might have a bit of change to spare. One determined beggar in
particular stood out to Kimmy. She was used to this kind of thing, but this
persistent little girl, skinny and dirty as she was, captured the demigod’s
heart. Her large, sad brown eyes seemed to pierce into her soul, and her soft
voice made her heart break. She sorely wished there was something she could do
for the girl, but she had no money on her, nor did she have any powers over
fortune to help her. As she apologetically step-sided the girl, she promised
herself that she would ask Lata to do something for the child. Surely the
daughter of Lakshmi, goddess of fortune, would be able to turn the girl’s life
for the better.

“Charnelle, how
much further is it?” Kimmy asked.

“Too far for us
to make it today. We’ll have to stay in a hotel tonight.” Charnelle replied,
pointing to the horizon, where the sun was already setting.

“What? So soon?
It seems even shorter than ever!” Kimmy exclaimed, shocked.

“Well, eight
hours is a bit of a shorter day. It just seems even shorter because of how long
you guys were asleep this morning.”

“Wait, so how
long is an entire day, night included?” Lio butted in.

“Sixteen
hours.”

“WHAT? We lost
eight whole hours!” he exclaimed, shocked. It took the entire group a few
minutes to process this. Time was fast running out. They would have to figure
this out and quick, before it was too late.

## Chapter 20

After about an hour of walking through the streets, the group
came across a small, cheap hotel. It wasn’t the fanciest of accommodations, nor
the cleanest, but it would do for the night. They rented three rooms, the
manager, a middle aged Indian man, thrilled at their arrival, glad to finally
have customers. But when it came to the matter of payment, the demigods
shuffled around awkwardly. Donny was the only one who had money on him, and it
was only in euros. Kara frowned, then closed her eyes for a moment, then opened
them and reached behind her, pulling a small purse seemingly from nowhere,
opening it to reveal that it was full of rupees.

“I asked Mom to send my allowance.” she
whispered to the others. She paid for all their rooms, and a bit extra to help
the poor manager out. The manager thanked them profusely and led them to their
three rooms, apologizing for the condition they were in. The group then split
up, the boys in one room; Hinode, Camaya, Lani, and Nahele in another; and
Kara, Kimmy, Lily, and Charnelle in the third. Kimmy looked around their room.
It had a dresser, a television, a small table and only one bed, definitely not
big enough for all for of them. They explored their small room, Lily heading
into the small bathroom, trying to figure out the toilet, which was nothing
more that a hole in the ground, like most toilets were in that area.

“Uh, guys? What…” she asked the others, unsure
of where to even begin. The others laughed and explained it to her, then Kimmy stopped
short.

“Oh dear! I just remembered! The ghouls next
door have no idea how to use one of those! I better head next door and tell
them!” she laughed.

“What about the boys?” Lily asked.

“They have Thomas.” she replied shortly,
already out the door. She headed to the other ghouls’ room, knocking softly on
their door. Nahele opened it, stepping aside to let her in.

“Hey Nahele. I’m just here to see if you guys
know the deal with the bathroom, especially…the…uh…toilet.” Kimmy giggled.

“Ah yes, we were wondering about that. There’s
just a hole in the ground. We thought it was still under construction.”

“No, the hole *is* the toilet. Just be sure nothing falls in. Anyway, that’s all,
good night!” A chorus of “goodnights” echoed back and Kimmy left, heading back
to her own room. The ghouls all brushed their teeth and showered, the water
disappointingly lukewarm, transformed their dusty clothes into clean pajamas,
then decided to head to bed. That’s when they encountered a previously noticed
problem. The bed. It was much too small, only about enough room for two of them
to fit comfortably.

“Uh, so, what do we do now? There’s no way any
of us can sleep on *that* floor.” Lily
said, pointedly staring at the grubby tiles.

“Simple. We’ll make the bed bigger.” Kara said
with a smile. The demigoddesses joined hands, Charnelle standing back and
watching as they closed their eyes and concentrated. The bed rippled, then
doubled in size, even sporting two more pillows. Satisfied, the three climbed
in and wiggled around to get comfy, then noticed one of them wasn’t there.

“Charnelle? Aren’t you coming?” Kimmy asked.
The vetala smiled shyly.

“No thanks. You guys looked cramped. Besides,
I can sleep from the ceiling. I always sleep upside down.” she said.

“Oh come on! Join us, there’s plenty of room!
We even have an extra pillow!” Kimmy replied, patting the spare pillow beside
her enticingly. “Besides, how comfortable can sleeping on the ceiling be? Come
sleep in a real bed for a change!” Charnelle rolled her eyes and climbed in, finally
convinced. The demis snuggled together, then Lily got a mischievous glint in
her eye, whipping her pillow out from under her and whacking Kara in the face
with it.

“Hey!” Kara exclaimed, yanking up her pillow
and giving Lily a good wallop in return. A pillow fight soon ensued between the
four, laughing and giggling as they attacked each other, then they finally
collapsed back down, panting and exhausted. They re-snuggled together and told
each other stories in soft voices until one by one they drifted to sleep,
content and happy with being in each other’s presence.

## Chapter 21

A harsh cawing sent Charnelle jolting awake, jerking into a
seated position as though stung. She immediately recognized it, a crow. No, not
a crow! Anything but that! Such things were a bad omen! They were coming for
her, she had made a mistake! Then it slowly dawned onto her that crows were a
very common bird here, and that to hear one in the morning was perfectly
normal, it didn’t necessarily mean anything. She slowly laid back down,
checking to see that she hadn’t disturbed any of the others. But they were all
still soundly asleep, and she breathed a sigh of relief, rolling over and
staring out the window. After an hour or so of this, she sighed again and got
up, deciding to wake the others. She shook them gently at first, then more
vigorously for the couple stubborn ones. They all rose, groaning and yawning.
But before any of them could complain, she reminded them that they had only
eight hours of daylight, and had to get things done as soon as possible. They
trouped into the bathroom to brush their teeth and hair, then transformed their
pajamas back into their street clothes from yesterday. After they were done,
they left their room and pounded on the doors of the other demigods, who rose
and joined them slowly. The eleven went to the hotel lobby, intending to leave
and possibly find a restaurant for breakfast, but to their surprise, they were
detained by the manager and his wife, who were sitting at a large table piled
with way more food for two to eat.

“Please, come
join us. It’s the least we could do.” The manager insisted, his kindly face
smiling gratefully at the youngsters. The group looked at each other, then sat
down. The wife, a cheery middle aged woman, her black hair half grey, piled
metal plates high with food, curry, rice and dahl with roti, then set them
before each of the demigods and vetala.

“Please, eat.”
she said and they obliged gratefully. There were no utensils, so half the
demigods subtly watched Charnelle and the Indian demis, seeing that they had to
use their hands and pieces of the roti to scoop the food. It was a very messy
business at first, but they took to it eagerly, especially the boys, who took
delight in being able to eat with their hands. The wife took a particular
delight with Lio, repeatedly filling his plate after he emptied it. She had
never seen someone eat so much of her cooking before, and it thrilled her to
watch a child have such a healthy appetite. Smiling, the wife took her eyes
away from Lio, gazing at the others. Then her eyes fell on Charnelle, or more
specifically, her hands, which were twisted the wrong way around. The woman’s
eyes widened with shock and just as she was opening her mouth to remark on
this, Charnelle noticed and smiled shyly.

“I’m so sorry
about my hands. You see, I was born like this. You know how things are in some
countries. Like that one girl who was born with eight limbs.” She said. The
woman’s eyes softened and she nodded with understanding sympathy.

“You poor girl.
It must be so hard for you like that.” she said.

“Not really.
I’ve grown used to it.” Charnelle replied.

After the woman
had seen Charnelle’s odd vetala hands, the group decided to leave as soon as
they can, and when the food was all gone, they respectfully said their goodbyes
and left, heading back out into the street.

“Boy, that was
a close one! That was some quick thinking back there, Charnelle!” Lily
breathed.

“Yeah, but I
was foolish to forget that I wasn’t among monsters back there. If that lady had
heard of vetala, there was no telling what trouble I could have gotten us
into.” Charnelle replied, tugging the sleeves of her blouse down over her
hands, then tugging her long skirt a bit lower to hide her backwards feet. When
she was satisfied with how she looked, she led them through the city, into a
narrow back alley, then out past the buildings to a thickly wooded forest. They
walked through this forest for a while, stopping every now and again to catch
their breath and mop their brows. After about two hours they took a longer
break, collapsing on the ground and leaning against tree trunks.

“I’ll go scout
up ahead, see how far we are.” Charnelle said. The others just nodded, panting
and eyes closed. She slipped between the trees, ducking under braches and
pushing past vines.

Then it hit
her. A powerful vision came and clouded her sight. Her hearing fizzled out, no
loner hearing the merry chirrups of birds, but a strange hissing of a hoarse,
evil voice. Smoke blotted her sight, unclear and stinging her eyes. Her knees
buckled under the overwhelming sense of evil, her stomach twisting until she
felt sure she would hurl. Then a dark arrow sliced through the smoke, piercing
into a wall, still shuddering from its force. There was an unholy shriek,
followed by a girl’s sobbing some time later. Then the vision cleared, the
hissing easing away to bird calls, and a tear dripped from her eye, which still
smarted at the nonexistent smoke. She slowly rose to her feet, now knowing what
she must do. She pulled out her iCoffin, dialed in a number and held it to her
ear. It rang a couple times, then a deep male voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello,
Trevor?”

## Chapter 22

Lily turned at the sound of rustling, then the
branches parted to reveal Charnelle, returning from her scouting, looking paler
than usual. The others turned to her as well and she said, in a slightly shaky
voice, “We’re almost there. It’ll just be another hour or so. Come on.” And
with that she turned and walked back the way she came. The others scrambled to
their feet and followed, weaving around bushes and ducking under branches as
they struggled to keep up to the agile vampire. They went on like this for
another couple of hours, then the trees parted, and they emerged at the ruins
of some ancient building. Awestruck, the group walked slowly through the ruins,
examining crumbling statues and worn pillars. The land stretched before them,
clear of any trees for a mile or so to the left, revealing a faraway river
cutting through the land.

“Wow,
this place in incredible! What do you think it is?” Lily gasped.

“Looks
like some old temple. Let’s try to find the main statue. Maybe we can figure
out who it was to.” Donny replied. Lily nodded and they went into the main
structure of the place, searching for the altar. They found it, a mound of
rubble, and Donny spotted the carved curve of a limb, then they began to dig
through the rubble. They finally reached it, gently brushing away the fine
dust, revealing the top half of a female statue. Four arms sprouted from her
torso, two of them broken off. Her face was old and haggard, carved with
strikingly realistic resemblance, flakes of grey paint still clinging to the
stone.

“Who
do you think it is?” Donny asked, mystified. He had never seen so realistic a face
at any of the Indian temples.

“I
have no idea. Maybe Kimmy will know. Kim! Hey, KIM!” Lily yelled. Kimmy jumped
and came rushing over, scrambling over broken masonry, thinking that her
friends may be hurt. When she saw them standing there, perfectly unharmed, she
stopped and put her hands on her hips, glaring indignantly at them.

“Hey,
that was not cool! I thought you guys were in serious trouble!” she complained.

“No,
we’re not, but never mind that. Come check out this statue! Who do you think it
is?” Lily said, unaffected by her beastie’s annoyance. Kimmy came over and
looked at the broken statue.

“I
don’t know. Maybe if you can find the rest of her and see what she is sitting
on. Each god has their own unique animal vehicle. Maybe that can tell us who
she is.” said Kimmy. The three rummaged through the rubble, then Lily’s fingers
brushed a smooth, carved surface.

“Hey,
I think I found it!” she exclaimed. The other hurriedly cleared it away,
revealing the statue’s lower half, a pair of legs seated on the back of a large
crow.

“Now
can you tell who it is?” Donny asked.

“Yeah,
still no clue. Ah well, doesn’t matter. We should keep going.” Kimmy said,
straightening. Donny shook his head and pointed at the sky, where the sun was
sinking early once more.

“Again?
How come I never notice these things?” she exclaimed, indignant. They left the
altar and rejoined the others, then they all searched for a suitably sheltered
place to sleep. There was none, at least, not anything that had a clear floor
as well as a roof, it was one or the other. Finally they settled on a large
section of unbroken floor, pillars still standing around it.

“Do you think it
will rain?” asked Lio. Nahele looked up into the sky, concentrating, feeling
the nuances of the atmosphere with her wind powers.

“Nope. We can
expect clear skies tonight.” she said. They all sat down and watched the sun
sink. Then Kimmy heard the soft crunch of loose grit underfoot, coming from
behind her, and she turned, a dark figure coming towards her.

## Chapter 23

Thomas got up and
approached Kimmy, the coarse dust from the rubble softly crunching beneath his
feet.

“Can
I talk with you? Alone?” he asked, gesturing to the others behind him. Kimmy
nodded, heart pounding at his presence, and Thomas held out his hand, pulling
her gently to her feet, then they walked off together. They ducked behind a
wall of the ruins, overlooking a wonderful view of the moonlit landscape below.
Kimmy sighed contentedly, taking in the magnificence of the silvery land below
her, admiring the way the light turned the river below into molten silver.

“Kimmy?”
Thomas’s voice softly broke into her reverie. She turned back to him.

“I
have been thinking a lot about you recently. And of me.” he said, his voice so
low it was almost a whisper. He stepped closer, eyes locked with hers. He was
so close now, she could see the ornate detail in his lovely brown eyes, smell
the fragrance of Jasmine coming off his body, her favorite. Kimmy felt her
stomach flutter and her legs turn to jelly.

“Yes?”
she whispered back.

“I
must tell you how I feel about you,” He was even closer, she could feel the
warmth form his body.

“Yes?”
she said again.

“I
have never felt this way about any other girl,”

“Uh
huh?” she mumbled, unable to speak, hypnotized by his gaze. He reached out to
touch her, placing his hand gently on her arm, and she braced herself for the
electric tingle of nerves that she had come to know and even enjoy from his
touch. But, to her shock, instead of tingling, his hand burned like acid, and
her vision began to blur, head swimming suddenly. She yelped and jerked away
from him, stumbling back with dizziness.

“What’s
wrong? What did I say? Please, Kimmy!” he begged mournfully, eyes sad, reaching
out towards her. But she backed away again, still shocked by his burning touch.
Thomas reached out towards her once more, his gentle hand turning into hooked
claws, his kind brown eyes turning cold and glowing red, handsome face drawing
back into a demonic snarl.

“Thomas?
What is happening? What’s wrong?” Kimmy asked, bewildered by his behavior. He
hissed and drew closer, hand outstretched towards her throat.

“She
promised. Mother promised. She said if I did well I can claim a soul, any soul
I wanted. And I choose YOURS!” He lunged towards her, eyes briefly flicking
behind her, then he stopped short and she fearfully backed away. His eyes
widened and he hissed again, this time in shock, threw both hands in front of
his face and disappeared in a swirl of darkness with a piercing shriek. Kimmy
blinked, and in his place, in the wall behind him was an arrow. It was a wicked
looking thing quite deeply embedded into the brick, still vibrating with the
force of impact. She touched it in awe, and it sent a familiar shock through
her. It was a love arrow, but dark and twisted, like that of a love demigod
gone astray. Feathers rustled behind her, and she turned to see Trevor, Lily’s
older brother, standing there, moonlight playing across his sharp cheekbones,
dancing across the feathers of his great wings, and shining on his deep red
mohawk, a cruel looking bow in hand.

“What
happened?” Kimmy asked him, shocked by recent events.

“Thomas
wasn’t his real name. It was a homophone. His name was Tamas, and I am sure you
know what that means in Sanskrit.” he said softly, eyes somber.

“Tamas…darkness.”
Kimmy said softly, disbelieving.

“Indeed.”

“But…
why? I thought he loved me…and I him.” Kimmy whispered, heart sinking. A lone
tear crept out of her eye and down her cheek. Trevor reached out and wiped it
away, his hand warm and reassuring.

“Don’t
cry. Tears are too precious to be wasted on evil like him. He is not worth it.”
Trevor whispered gently.

“He
was worth it to me!” she wailed, and threw her arms around him, sobbing into
his chest. He stiffened with surprise, then slowly relaxed. He hesitantly put
his arms around her, awkwardly patting her back, then grew bolder and tightened
his grip, pulling her close and stroking her hair. They stood like this for a
while, his feathers tickling her skin.
Finally, after several minutes she relaxed and finished crying, feeling
hollow inside and the front of Trevor’s shirt completely soaked in her tears.
Her grip on him loosened and he pulled away, stepping back awkwardly. She
sniffed and wiped her eyes.

“Thanks.”

“Was
nothing.” he said softly, eyes averted. “You should go, get some sleep, you’ll
need all your strength for tomorrow.” He led her back to the others, who sat up
with surprise at his appearance.

“Bro!
You here?” Lily exclaimed, surprised. He just nodded.

“Wait,
where’s Thomas?” Lio asked, and everyone realized that he was not there.

“He’s
gone. He was a traitor.” Trevor said simply, and a sick feeling filled
everyone. What did this mean? They looked back to Trevor for an explanation,
but he remained quiet, gently helping Kimmy sit down, the poor ghoul still in
shock.

“I
must go now. I will return tomorrow.” He said softly to Kimmy. She nodded and
he stood, turning away from her, then glancing back one last time.

“I
hope you find love someday.” she said softly, remembering his two year long
heartbreak. The corner of his mouth twitched briefly into a small smile.

“Same
to you.” he replied, and in a flurry of feathers, he was gone. Kimmy slowly
laid down and shut her eyes, body shaking as she cried herself to sleep.

## Chapter 24

The warm sunlight slowly brought the demigods out of sleep.
Kimmy slowly rose, her head aching from crying so hard last night. She rubbed
her burning eyes and smacked her lips. Her mouth was so dry. All the signs
pointed to her being badly dehydrated. She stumbled to her feet and swayed,
Lily rushing over to catch her.

“What’s wrong?”
she asked.

“My head. It
won’t stop spinning, I need water.” Kimmy mumbled, still rubbing her dry eyes.
A metal bottle was pushed into her hands and she looked up to see the kind eyes
of Donny, who smiled sympathetically.

“Always be
prepared.” he said.

“Donny, you’re
such a Boy Scout.” Lily teased. Donny just shrugged and walked off to the
others, who were gathered around Charnelle. Kimmy and Lily joined them, Lily
looping her arm through Kimmy’s for support.

“Okay, what do
we do now? Where are we going?” Lio asked.

“I appreciate
your enthusiasm, but don’t you think breakfast would be a good idea first?”
Charnelle replied.

“Oh yeah, I
forgot about that.”

“You? Forget
about food?” Lani gasped in mock disbelief. Lio rolled his eyes in response.
The group laughed at this, then went back to business.

“Okay, so after
we eat, we’ll head a bit west. That’ll take us there. We are so close.”
Charnelle continued.

“Uh, which way
is west?” asked Donny. Charnelle groaned and irritably pointed to her left,
towards the river.

“That way. Now
let’s focus on food.”

“Okay, but
where are we going to get any? We don’t have any rations with us, and I don’t
trust us to be able to make any by magic when we are still not fully awake.”
Lio said.

“I could have
the monkeys bring us some.” Kara said, a mischievous grin across her face.

“Oh please no.
Those things freak me out.” Lily replied.

“Why don’t we
ask the Earth? That’s what we do back home.” Camaya suggested.

“That’s a good
idea, but I don’t think Bhumi would particularly care to appear here. Not to
mention that might take a while.” Charnelle replied.

“I could ask my
brother to make a delivery. He knows where we are, he was here just last night.
And he’s a lot more powerful than me, so he doesn’t have as hard a time with
teleporting.” Lily suggested.

“Good idea.”
Donny said and the group agreed, then disbanded. Lily pulled out her iCoffin
and dialed Trevor’s number.

“I just hope we
get signal out here. And that he’s awake.” she said as she waited. He did pick
up, his voice groggy. They argued for a bit, Trevor putting up protest at her
request so early in the day, but eventually gave in, saying he’d meet them
there in fifteen minutes.

Exactly fifteen
minute passed, and a flurry of feathers appeared out of thin air before them,
separating into two wings, revealing a rather surly Trevor behind them. He had
a large bundle slung over his shoulder, right alongside his bow and quiver. He
dropped the bundle to the ground and opened it, revealing containers of food,
which he passed out along with a fork to each member. Kimmy opened hers to
reveal hash browns and a fried egg in top. They all sat down and began to eat.
The Trevor pulled out a dozen thermoses, and passed these out as well. They
turned out to be filled with hot sweetened black tea and the group drained them
gratefully, the sugar and caffeine fully waking them up. After they had
finished their breakfast, they piled their dishes onto the cloth and Trevor
bundled it back up, then tossed it into the air where it disappeared, sent back
home to Greece. The others looked at him curiously.

“Are you
staying?” Lily asked. Trevor glared at his sister.

“Well, yeah,
duh. You don’t expect me to come out all this way just as a food delivery boy.”
he grouched.

“I guess. That
would also explain the gear.” she replied, gesturing to the bow slung across
his back.

“That and I
never go anywhere without them.” he replied.

“Trevor, why
carry around love arrows all the time? What use would they be in a situation
like these?” Kimmy asked, curious about another possible use for a magical tool
she would one day use as well.

“Oh, these
aren’t love arrows. They’re just ordinary arrows. They don’t gain love magic
until I dip them into a special nectar. And without it, they can kill just like
any other arrow. I never use my nectar anymore. Kind of gave up on love.” he
said, avoiding eye contact.

“Oh.” Kimmy
said shortly and was silent. The entire group was silent, and they all remained
awkwardly for a few minutes until Charnelle finally broke it by hopping to her
feet, clapping her hands to call for attention.

“Okay guys! I
think that’s break long enough! Let’s be off then!” she said cheerily. The
others got to their feet and followed her out of the old temple and past the
ruins. They walked parallel to the forest, which stretched on both sides, as if
they were walking through a natural wide road.

## Chapter 25

After several hours of walking, the “road” widened out into a
large clearing, at the sight of which Kimmy stopped dead, refusing to walk any
further.

"A
cremation ground! Oh no, I am not going in there! No way! That land is full of
death!” she protested. Kara stepped forth, giving her friend a puzzled look.

“What’s wrong
with cremation grounds?” she asked.

“They’re all
right for you, your dad lives in one, but not me! It’s just plain creepy, not
to mention it reminds me of what happened to Dad!” she replied, refusing to be
budged.

“That may be
so, but if you don’t go into it, then think of what will happen to your dad.”
Kara replied, just as stubborn. Kimmy gulped at the thought and stepped
forward, her fists clenched and lips tight, tense with fear and revulsion. They
all followed Charnelle across the cremation ground, giving Kimmy the occasional
push forward.

They had
traversed about halfway across the clearing when Lio suddenly stopped.

“Hey, does
anyone else smell something burning?” he said, sniffing the air curiously.

“Well, we are
in a cremation ground. Stuff is burned here all the time.” Kara said. They
continued on for a several more paces, then Camaya stopped.

“Doesn’t this
place look a bit odd? Like kinda blue-ish, like you’re looking through a thin
smoke cloud?” she said, squinting.

“It’s probably
just a smoldering dead guy. Ignore it.” Lani replied. They walked a few more
steps, then they all stopped. The burning smell was a lot stronger now, and
visibility was getting harder, as if through a rising fog….or smoke. Soon an
impenetrable wall of smoke was before them, drifting closer. Then it hit them.
They all coughed and spluttered, the smoke burning their eyes and stinging
their throats. Even Lani was affected badly, even though being a volcano
goddess meant she was immune to vog. They stopped, unwilling to move forward in
case they got lost, or worse, lost each other. Then they heard a strange sound,
a kind of crunching, like gravel under wheels. This sound grew louder, until it
seemed like it was right before them, then suddenly it stopped. The smoke began
to thin, revealing first the vague outline of some shadowy lump, then cleared
even further. What they saw behind it made them gasp and stumble back in shock
and fear.

## Chapter 26

The smoke cleared away completely, revealing a horseless
chariot, on which sat an old, decrepit woman, bent over a winnowing basket full
of grain. Her hair was grey and matted, hanging over her face, her skin a dark
grey and heavily wrinkled, her hands withered into freakish claws, which gripped
the basket shakily. Her clothes were white and hung in ragged tatters around
her emaciated frame. She slowly lifted her head, revealing her hideous face.
Her face was deeply lined with heavy wrinkles, as if they had been cut into her
face, and her eyes were deeply sunken, and pitch black, seemingly staring deep
into your soul. She smiled slowly, revealing yellowed fangs, some of which were
missing. She cackled softly at the looks on their faces, her voice hoarse and
raspy, making their skin crawl as if they were covered in ants.

“Ah, why so
shocked? Don’t you know me?” she rasped. The demigods just stood still, staring
and clinging to each other. She waved her hand through the air, and a flurry of
crows descended, landing on the roof of her chariot, cawing ominously.

“Any ideas
yet?” she asked again. The demigods remained silent.

“No? Well,
maybe you know my son.” the hag said, and as if summoned by her words, a
swirling mass of darkness appeared to her left and dissipated to reveal Tamas,
still in his demonic form. The demigods gasped and back away, hearts pounding
at the sight of their traitor. Only Kimmy and Trevor recognized him, and the
others struggled to come to terms with his identity. Surely this couldn’t be
the handsome Thomas? But it was. And upon seeing their faces he laughed
manically, then deeply inhaled.

“All
hail Dhumavati, seventh of the Mahavidyas, goddess of widows, hardship,
destruction, hunger, and disease!” he thundered in a deep, demonic voice. The
others gasped and Kara slapped her palm to her forehead.

“Of course! I should have known! My mother is
the first of the Mahavidyas, how could I possibly have forgotten them?” she
moaned.

“Aha! You see the problem right there! If you
have forgotten, YOU, daughter of Mahavidya Kali, how could anyone else remember
me! No one remembers Dhumavati, or doesn’t want to remember me! Nobody wants to
worship the goddess of inauspiciousness! How do you think that makes me feel?
Am I not a goddess? Do I not need prayer, offerings? But no, leave me out! What
difference could it possibly make? Well, I think I have shown you what a
difference it can make. I may be weakened, but I am still strong enough to
bring the world to its knees!” Dhumavati shrieked, jabbing her finger
accusingly at the demigods, spit flying from her foaming jaws.

“Wait, so are
you the one who unleashed the plague that infected all the gods?” Lily said
silently. Dhumavati just snarled, too disgusted to offer a decent response.

“Not all the
gods.” said a strange female voice. Kara’s eyes widened in shock.

“Mom!” she cried.
A flash of light appeared to Dhumavati’s right, revealing Kali standing there,
perfectly healthy and unharmed.

“But, how? You
were sick! How are you better now?” Kara cried, voice filled with betrayal.
Kali sighed.

“Listen, I know
what this looks like, but trust me, it isn’t what it seems. It is true that I
am well now while the other gods certainly are not, but it is not like
Dhumavati hadn’t tried. I too was sick, at first, you had seen it yourself, but
she soon discovered that she could not infect me without being negatively
affected as well. As a matter of fact, she could not infect any of the other
Mahavidyas. We are all one and the same, and what happens to one affects the
rest. So she had to withdraw the disease from me and the other Mahavidyas for
the sake of her own life.” she said.

“And what of
the other gods? Are they still sick?” Kimmy asked. Kali looked away, the
goddess looking ashamed for the first time ever.

“Well, no, they
are not, technically….” Kali said slowly. But she was quickly cut off by Dhumavati, who eagerly loomed towards them to deliver her next sentence with power.

“That’s right,
they’re not, because they are all DEAD‼”

## Chapter 27

Dhumavati threw her head back and cackled, Tamas joining her,
their horrible voices weaving into each other, joined by the harsh cawing of
the crows, until the cremation ground was ringing with the raucous cacophony.
The demigods screamed, wailed, sobbed and stumbled back, several collapsing
into each other’s arms to cry. No! That couldn’t be true! If the gods were
dead, the entire universe would crumble, and everything would follow the gods
into the void! Kara squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to cry over her dead
family, then reopened them to give her mother a puzzled look.

“But, if the
gods are dead, how come the world is still here?” she asked, voice wavering
with suppressed emotion. Kali sighed before replying.

“Remember how I
said the Mahavidyas were the only ones still alive? Well, they are the ones
keeping the world together, but just barely. We are fulfilling all the roles of
the lost gods, but the strain is too much for us. You can see it. For example,
the length of day and night. That is being controlled by Chhinnamasta, and to
be honest, she’s very ill-suited for it, can’t hold the sun and moon back long
enough to keep the day to its normal length. Tara probably would have been
better at it, but she was already preoccupied with controlling the seas.  But we are holding it together long enough
for you to have enough time to fix this.” the destruction goddess said.
Dhumavati whirled on her, hair flying back from her face, spittle flying from
her snarling face.

“WHAT? YOU’D
DARE BETRAY ME? ME, YOUR OWN HALF? FOR WHAT, THESE CHILDREN?” she snarled
viciously. Kali flinched and remained silent, avoiding eye contact with her
livid counterpart. Everyone’s eyes widened at the normally fierce goddess’s
submission, it was obvious the strain she was under. Then Kara stepped forth.

“Mata
Dhumavati, why do this? What will you gain from destroying the universe? It is
your home as well.” she entreated. Dhumavati just snorted with derision.

“Pah! I am of
the void. I have existed in the void before creation, and will exist in the
void after dissolution. The void doesn’t scare me.” she growled.

“That may be
so, but what of life? Don’t you care about all the innocent beings you will
destroy out of selfishness? They call you tenderhearted, the giver of boons and
supernatural power, the great teacher, the savior. Where is that side of you? I
know you are good; you are a goddess, not a demoness. Please forgive us; we are
still young and foolish. We will make sure that you are never forgotten again.
We will even restore your old temple.” Kara continued. Dhumavati crossed her
arms and grunted, sighing huffily and avoiding looking at the demigods. But
everyone could tell that Kara had gotten to her, and that her hard heart was
softening.

“Ah, I see your
point now. I also see that you have not fully forgotten me. But as for my
reversing this, I am afraid I cannot. The plague is long gone, it died with the
gods, but I cannot do anything to bring the gods back. I am much too weak for
that. I cannot help you.” she said softly, turning away. Kali smiled and
stepped forth.

“I knew you
could talk her around. I met Rati and joined her in seeking a cure from
Dhanvantari. He has made one, but it is missing just one ingredient. Something
you have collected on your travels.” she said, holding out her hands, a gold
and bejeweled vessel appearing in them. Kimmy felt her hopes rise and fall
alongside her stomach at Kali’s words. They had a cure now, but they had collected
nothing from their journey. Then Nahele leaned forward, whispering in her ear.

“Don’t worry,
there is something we gathered from this trip. It is not a fancy relic or
anything, it’s our memories. We must gather all the demigods and add all our
memories of our ailing parents to the mix.” she said. Kali overheard her.

“Very good
Nahele! That is exactly what you need. You must now summon all the demigods.
ALL of them. If you hurry, you will have just enough time for this.” she said.

“I can do. I’ll
be right back.” Camaya volunteered, then disappearing in a swirl of light.
While they waited, Kimmy turned back to Dhumavati.

“But how did
this plague spread? Who was the first to get it?” she asked. But Dhumavati
ignored her. Instead, Tamas stepped forth, slowly and quietly, like a big cat
on the prowl, giving her a wicked grin.

“In answer to
the second question, your father was the first. And for the first, you.” he
said, his voice full of evil mirth. Kimmy stumbled back, shocked. How could she
be the reason? Tamas chuckled softly and continued, circling her like a
predator going in for the kill.

“Yes, you. I
have volunteered to be a carrier for my mother, and you, unable to resist me,
became such an easy target. It was so easy, so simple to pass it on to you and
sit back and watch you spread it around like an innocent little Typhoid Mary,
clueless to your being their damnation. It was actually rather amusing,
watching you try to be the big hero, but actually being the root of all your
problems. You see, YOU are Patient X, Ground Zero, the origin, or whatever else
you choose to call it. You are such a fool.” he said, clearly enjoying the
misery he was causing, ending in a cackle.

“You thought I
actually liked you, loved you even, didn’t you? That I was loyal to you? Ha! As
if! The only one I love and give my loyalty to is my mother, my great, almighty
mother, not some pathetic, incompetent fledgling!” he hissed. Kimmy stepped
away from him, blinking back tears. Trevor stepped up behind her, his
threatening stance making Tamas back away, turning and returning to his
mother’s side, chuckling harshly. Kimmy turned and cried onto Trevor’s
shoulder, and he patted her back, whispering to her “Don’t cry. He’s not worth
your tears.” She nodded and dried her eyes, moving away from him, turning back
and standing straight, glaring defiantly at Tamas, who rolled his eyes and
laughed some more. Then he stopped suddenly, his face twisting into a curious
frown.

The clearing
was lit up with flashes and swirls of light in every color, revealing every
demigod in the entire school, as well as many they had never seen before. Soon
the entire clearing was filled with hundreds of demigods, all facing Kali,
ready to assist. Then, as one, they all formed several concentric circles around
Kali, joining hands, the ten demigods in the center. They all closed their eyes
and focused. They thought back on their trip, remembering their sick parents.
Kimmy focused on her father’s face, pale and sickly, eyes weak and skin mottled
with red splotches. She focused on her emotions at the sight, willing them to
their absolute strongest. She felt her heart grow heavy with sorrow, her
stomach twisting with anxiety, both welling up until she could barely restrain
a keening wail of grief. Then she let it go, sending it to the vessel in Kali’s
hands. She felt a massive tingling wave wash through her as the other demigods
around her did the same thing. They all opened their eyes and watched the
vessel glow brightly, the cure now complete. They released hand and everyone
visualized a glass vial, one appearing in each demigod’s hand. They all lined
up, scooping a bit of the cure, the vessel seemingly bottomless, as there was
enough for all. Then they stood around awkwardly, examining their vials and
wondering what they could possibly do now.

“Uh, now what?
This stuff is pointless, our parents are already dead.” Asha said bluntly,
saying what everyone was thinking. Trevor started, a look of realization on his
face, his mouth forming a perfect O.

“Oh I forgot!
I’ll be right back!” he exclaimed, then disappeared in a flurry of feathers.

“Where’s he
going?” Jivitam asked. Kimmy shrugged and they awkwardly stood around, waiting
for his return. He wasn’t gone long, soon reappearing with one of their other
classmates in tow. The ghoul stumbled and blew a dark green curl away from her
dark skinned face, her silvery eyes widening as they took in the assembled
demigods, all of whom were looking at her. Rosalie stood up straight, pulling
her hand out of Trevor’s and smoothing her dress.

“Trevor, where
are we and why did you bring me here?” she asked, eyeing everyone back.

“We are in
India, and we need you to send us back in time.” he said. She stared at him in
disbelief, then upon seeing he was serious, back away.

“Oh no. No, no,
no, no. Definitely not. I will not disrupt the timeline for your lone
amusement. Certainly not. And how rude thinking I’ll just willingly let you
disrupt the universe as you pleased. And to involve me? How inconsiderate! No
can do.” she protested, stubbornly crossing her arms and standing her ground,
the normally shy ghoul being surprisingly obstinate. Trevor sighed and rubbed
his temples.

“The universe
is already disrupted, and I am not asking you to do this for my own sake, but
for the sake of all existence, which will be doomed if you don’t help us.” he
said. Rosalie uncrossed her arms and relaxed.

“Well, when you
put it like that, certainly! It’ll be my pleasure.” she said. She walked off a
bit to the side and threw out her hands in front of her, scrunching her face in
concentration. The ground before her rumbled and shook, small vine sprouts
shooting out of the ground, slowly stretching to the sky, winding around each
other and bursting into bloom. Trevor tapped his foot impatiently.

“We don’t have
much time,” he reminded her. She looked at him over her shoulder, smiling
broadly.

“Trust me, when
I’m around, we have all the time in the world.” she said. She turned back to
the vines, which had finished growing and was now bending into a woven circle,
heavy with bright flowers. The space in the circle swirled and rippled, then
glowed with swirling rainbow light. The demigods ooh-ed and aah-ed at the sight
and Rosalie turned back to them.

“Well? What are
we waiting for? Come on!” and with that, she turned back to the portal and
jumped in, disappearing into the swirl of colors. The others leaped after her,
the group trailing behind one another. After about fifteen minutes or so, all
the demigods were gone, leaving the cremation ground deserted behind them.

## Chapter 28

The demigods floated weightlessly through the swirl of colors
and the twisted fragments of sound, the whirl of smells and even some tastes,
watching in awe of what was happening around them. This must be what
teleporting was like if you left your eyes open, but this was more
disorienting, as they could see the change between day and night flashing
around them, sped up and backwards, flashing dark and light repeatedly. The
landscape below them flashed past, as they were traveling through space as well
as time. They watched as deserts flew by, then forests, growing in reverse,
then oceans, waves pulling back from shore, seabirds flying backwards. They
passed thunderstorms, seeing the peculiar phenomenon of lightning leaping from
the ground into the sky. They even passed over a military base testing
explosives, observing the queer sight of clouds of dirt rapidly shrinking back
into smooth ground.

Here and there, at various locations, demigods
dropped off, returning home to deliver their share of the cure to their
parents. Lastly were Kara and Kimmy, watching as India and the Himalayas rushed
back in to meet them. Kara turned and hugged Kimmy goodbye, then dropped out of
the time stream just as they passed over Kailash, drifting gently to the earth.

Then it was just Kimmy, watching Rosalie warp
time before them. Then she smelled the beautiful perfume of her mother’s flower
garden and her stomach twisted with homesickness. She felt herself drop out of
the time stream as they were directly overhead, and she flailed, throwing out
her arms and legs to slow her descent. She heard a loud screech and hit a mass
of green feathers, having landed on the back of Suka, her father’s gigantic
parrot. She clutched gratefully at the bird’s feathers as he spiraled back down
to earth, landing gracefully beside a merrily bubbling fountain. Kimmy
scrambled off his back, blowing Suka a grateful kiss, then rushed into her
family’s temple. It was seemingly deserted, her mother gone, and she dashed
down the hall, skidding as she turned into her parent’s bedroom. There, lying
in his bed, was her father, an even paler shade of sickly yellow than he had
been when she had seen him last. It was apparent that he was on his deathbed,
and she was just in the nick of time to save him. She kneeled beside his bed
and pulled out her vial, uncorking it with shaking hands, then gently poured
the contents into her father’s open mouth. His eyes opened with surprise, then
filled with warm happiness at the sight of his daughter, and a slow smile
spread across his face. He reached a weak hand up, gently stroking her cheek.

“Why the long
face, meri priya putri? I’m fine, just a bit tired.” Kamadev whispered, then
lowered his hand back to the bed, closing his eyes and drifting off into a deep
peaceful sleep, a small smile on his face. Kimmy rose silently, then went
outside to watch the sun go down. There was a flash of light, and her mother,
Rati appeared. She noticed her daughter and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Did you do
it?” she asked simply as she pulled away. Kimmy nodded and Rati beamed, then
stood by her side, arm around her daughter’s shoulders as they watched the sun
sink, bathing the sky in a magnificent array of vivid pinks, oranges, and
purples. When it was over, they turned back inside for a peaceful dinner of
curry, roti and rice, just the two of them. After dinner, Kimmy showered and
went to bed, wondering what the next day would bring as she drifted off to
sleep.

## Chapter 29

Kimmy found herself being gently shaken awake, and her eyes
popped open, looking up to meet the smiling face of her father, fully
recovered, his skin clear and back to its healthy emerald green. Kimmy sat bolt
upright, fully awake, and threw her arms around her father, hugging him tight.

“Come on vatsah,
you’re going to be late for school! Last day before spring break, don’t want to
miss it!” he chuckled as he ruffled her hair. She batted playfully at his hand
then gave him a confused look. Last day before spring break? Surely break was
over by now? Kamadev just chuckled as he left her room, leaving her to struggle
with her thoughts. Then she remembered. Right, time travel. Apparently they
traveled further back then she had realized, or the gods were separate from
time, or something crazy like that. Time travel was weird. Being a god was
weird. She shook her head and got out of bed, changing her clothes and heading
to breakfast.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

Suka landed on the lawn before the school and Kimmy slid off his
back, racing to meet her friends, who were waiting for her on the steps. Once
she had reached them, they all turned and walked inside together.

“So, are all
your guys’ parents okay now? My dad is doing great.” Kimmy asked. Everyone
nodded and chorused their agreement. They were interrupted by a loud ringing,
the morning bell warning them that it was time to head for their first classes
of the day. They went off in different directions, Lily calling over her
shoulder, “Meet me at the grimnasium after school!”

They all nodded and Kimmy rushed into her classroom, determined
to not be late. She spent the whole class in a distracted rush, eager for the
day to be over to check in with the other demigods. Her frenzied thoughts were
disrupted by the bell for lunch. She joined the flood of students to the
creepateria. After picking up her lunch, she looked around the room. There was
a certain vampire she wanted to talk to. Then she spotted her, sitting in the
corner by herself. Kimmy walked over and plopped her tray down next to her,
causing Charnelle to look up with surprise, then her face split into a wide
smile.

“Hi!” she said, delighted to have some
company. They had a bit of small talk, then Kimmy got down to business,
expressing the question that had been on her mind.

“Charnelle, I would like to ask you
something.” Kimmy started.

“Yes, of course!” Charnelle replied.

“How did you know? About the plague and
everything? Is it your vetala ability to see the future?” she asked. Charnelle
blushed and tucked a strand of white hair behind her ear.

“Well, you see, it was not only because of my
ability to see the future, but also because, well, I am Tamas’s half sister.”
she said softly.

“What! How?” Kimmy exclaimed, shocked.

“We have the same father. He had been with
Dhumavati first, but when he found out she wanted to kill him, he left, then a
while later, met my mom, and here we are. I was never close to Tamas, it was
something my family never talked about. But I still knew of him, and regardless
of how close or not I was to him, any half sister would keep a close eye on her
half brother if she found out he was trying to end the world. Everything I know
about him I got from visions. Helps me keep one step ahead of his madness.
Anyway, let’s not talk of him anymore.” Charnelle said.

“Yes, let’s.” Kimmy agreed, and the rest of
lunch was spent in silence as Kimmy tried to process what she had just learned.
She spent the rest of the day pondering this, only paying half her attention to
the actual class.

Then the last bell rang, signaling the end of
the day. She leapt out of her seat and rushed down the hall, weaving between other
students who were also in a hurry to leave. She finally made it down to the
entrance of the grimnasium and gratefully slipped inside. The bleachers were
covered in demigods, just as it had been before.

“Ah, good, you
made it!” Lily said when she spotted Kimmy. She turned back to the other
demigods.

“Okay, now that
we are all here, we can start. First off, how many here gave their parent or
parents the cure?” she asked the room. All hands went up.

“And how many
were cured?” she continued. All hands went up again.

“Ah, good. It
was a success then. Well, I don’t really see much need for us all to stick
around then. You’re free to go. Have a nice spring break!” she said, dismissing
the crowd. They all filed out, steadily pouring through the doors, then Kimmy
picked out one demigod on particular, and raced towards him.

“Trevor! Wait
up!” she called. Trevor stopped and turned, and she caught up to him, and
panted a bit to catch her breath.

“Um, I was
wondering…would you care to…tomorrow maybe…hang out at the Coffin Bean at the
Maul?” she asked hesitantly, blushing, her stomach feeling full of butterflies.
Trevor smiled the first real smile he had in two years.

“Yeah, I’d like
that. See you at twelve, tomorrow.” he said, turning and waving. She waved back
slowly, in a happy daze. Yes, everything was all right.

The End

## Characters

From left to right:

Row 1: Lani, Kara, Kimmy

Row 2: Lily, Sangeeta, Jivitam

Row 3: Camaya, Lio, Rosalie

Row 4: Donny, Charnelle, Trevor