Magic Upon Magic: Circe

I rub my eyes from the sleep. I yawn. Yawwwwwwwwn. I open my eyes, looking around the room. Elaina is turned on the right, sleeping soundly with her breaths calm and long, peaceful. I stare at my bed. There is a letter. And a package. I open the letter and read it.
 

Daughter of Hecate,

Your quest long awaits, but be careful not to be monster bait.

You must travel west; it is where the trail will be at its best.

Never look ahead to far, for you will see things that will make your heart fall apart.

So beware, daughter of Hecate, for the future of magic is in your hands, if you don’t save it, the results will be tragic.

Spirit of the Oracle of Delphi

The Gods of Olympus

The Fates

Hecate

Camp Half-Blood

I was thinking, Oh Gods. How will I figure this one out? I was good at writing in cursive, like that, but in teeny tiny font, no can do sister. I squinted as I reread the letter again. I slowly started to decipher it. I wrote it out on a sheet of paper. PC climbed back up and squatted at my shoulder. I pet her for a little while.  

Daughter of Hecate,

Your quest long awaits, but be careful not to be monster bait.

You must travel west; it is where the trail will be at its best.

Never look ahead too far, for you will see things that will make your heart fall apart.

So beware, Daughter of Hecate, for the future of magic is in your hands, if you don’t save it, the results will be tragic.

Ouch. That put a lot of pressure on me. Yes, I really write like that. Elaina mutters something about Plato and Archimedes and turns around. I look through the writing and the letter again. Wow. I shake Elaina up. "Wha-? Wha now? More laugher?" She moans. I continue shaking her. "Okay, what in the name of Zues are you trying to tell me?!" Elaina yells, suddenly alert and awake. I shove the letter and my deciphered letter in her hands. "Ow. You gave me a paper cut." Elaian complains. "Whatever!" I yell at her. She reads the letter and looks at me. She repeats this again and again, her eyes darting until they would become cross-eyed. She stops, amazing me that her eyes were normal. "Okay. Get the phone. Call the guys." Elaina  says, pointing her finger to the phone. I grab it and start dialing the guys. "What?" Andrew answers, Jackson's snoring in the distance. "WakeJacksonupandI'lltellyou." I say fastly. I brace myself by holding the phone away.  "JACKSON! WAKE UP! LO'REENA AND ELAINA HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!" I cautiously put the phone to my ear, but I regret that. "AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Jackson yells, slappng Andrew. As I wait, I open the package. Ripped up brown paper flies through the air. "Wow." I mutter. Elaina comes around. Her hair reaches the bottom. I brush it out of the way and look at the package. "What is it?" I ask her, holding up something. There is a jar, a jar of golden stuff. And it's dust. "Magic." Elaina says. "Pure magic." She takes the jar, examining it. Oh. Another letter. 

Dear Lo'Reena, Here you hold "More like Elaina," I mutter to myself, looking up at Elaina, who is jotting down notes and examining the jar at the same time. 

A jar of pure magic. You will us it when you need it most. It is rare, so use it wisely. 

Hecate 

I feel like Atlas: A lot of pressure on him because he's holding the Earth. Me? I feel pressure from the God's depending on us. "Hello?" I hear from my right. Oh! The phone. I take it. "Yes?" Jackson holds the phone. "So? You were going to tell us?" I tell them everything, including what I just read. (Author's note: I wouldn't want to repeat myself and all, so, like, you know what Lo'Reena's  saying...) Jackson drops the phone, but quickly regains the phone again. "Really?!" He yells, making my white blond hair blow. "Ow. We need to get going. The Gods, The Fates, everybody is depending on us right now." I shout at him. "Sheesh." Andrew manages to speak through. "But this sounds serious. Let's get going." We quickly pack up, shoving everything in our backpacks. "I can't find my drachmas." I yell to Elaina. "Found them." She holds up the green bag. I snatch it and rush out the door. "Where's our transportation?" Andrew asks. Jackson shrugs as we walk out. "I guess we have to walk." We WALK out the door. "Where to?" I ask Jackson. "Thata way." He points west. We start west. Cars pass us by. "We look like hobos." Andrew complains. "Yeah," I pant, "but you're holding nothing. We're holding something. We look poor. We don't have a ride. We only have three days to get to San Francisco and back. We have to blindly find where to stop the bane of magic. We." I stop there, gasping for breath. "Okay. I get it." Andrew states, holding his hands for defense. We continue walking, with a more, er, moody tone in the air. By the afternoon, I feel tired. And with PC on my shoulder, I feel hot, sweaty, and all the synonyms you can think of for that word: Hot. Jackson disappears to find us lunch. I use take out my McDonalds and eat the leftovers. Blech. Disgusting. I throw the rest away. Jackson returns with a couple of hamburgers and a large Coke to share in between us. I hear a noise. I quickly turn around. The noise seems to pause. I cautiously turn back around. A rustle in the bushes. I twirl, my braid hitting Jackson. "So. You found me." The bush says.  The void steps out, revealing a girl with elegant curls, a messed up Camp Jupiter shirt or whatever and shorts. She's wearing gladiator sandals, golden with that metallic look. I shoot her a question. "Who are you?" She doesn't reply immediately. "Um, Allison. Trivia." She replies. Andrew looks at her. "Don't trust her. I smell a monster." Andrew whispers to me. He sniffs the air. He nods curtly. I finger my sheath-pouch, which holds my sword and pocketknife. She looks at it smugly. "Why are you here?" I question her. She laughs coldly. "I've come to help." Her form flickers. I take out my sword, Andrew takes out his folding portable staff of magic, Jackson, a sword, Elaina, a spare dagger. "Allison" continues looking smug. She snaps her fingers loudly and I pass out, darkness surrounding me.

I groan. "Where am I?" I ask to nobody. Elaina is on my side. She's curling her hair. "Oh, hello." She says in a robotic voice. "Isn't this a great place?" Her false voice continues. I stare at her. Her movements are stiff. I look around. Jackson is playing cards with Andrew. "Isn't this a great place?" They ask in a bland, flat voice. It sounds robotic. "Oh no." I mutter. What was this place? And how did we get here? They all continue looking at me. Andrew stops them and everyone stops and starts at me. "We said, 'Isn't this a great place?'" I scoot back. "Uh, where am I?" Everyone starts coming closer. "WE SAID, 'ISN'T THIS A GREAT PLACE?'" Andrew yells to my face. Tears well up in my eyes, hurt from Andrew. "Your-your not- Andrew." I say. "Oh yes I am." He says. Someone comes up from behind me. She's wearing  black, but her white blond hair sticks out. An electric blue sphere is in her hands, making her face look creepy. "Hello little hero." She says coldly. "Who are you?" I yell to her, taking the energy out of me. She laughs coldly again. Allison's laugh. I think coldly. "Good work Allison." She says to her left. Allison comes out from the shadows, laughing colder than ever. "Thank you, dear mother." She gazes at me, her eyes drilling holes into me. The lady sweeps around me. "Dear child, I am Circe."