Roman Chronicles: Book 1, Apollo: Chapter 14, He's Back.

I jumped back. "Nicholas... Nicholas Sapientia?" Ian nodded gravely. "Yes. Did you really... kill him?" I turned my back on him. "In a way." Ian looked at me. "Tell me." I had never told anyone. But... he was my brother-in-law. I sighed. "It... it was at Capture-the-Flag. Nicolas was playing a trick on me with Clarisse. He released a scorpion on me. I killed it by cutting off the tail. But.. the barb went spinning towards Nicholas. And hit him. In the heart." Ian didn't look satisfied. "And... when did he die?" I stared at Ian. "DUR! The poisonous scorpion barb hit him in the heart." Ian pulled a cookie from his pocket. "No dip, Sherlock." I couldn't believe it. "Why? Why are you not surprised? Was there a way to save him?" Ian looked at me. "Duh. 'Course there is. If you take a hydra tooth, make it hollow, fill it with nectar, then stab the area five times, any wound is healed." I looked at Ian. "What? I've never heard of that." Ian slapped his knees. "Seriously? Wow, that's hilarious! Look." He took out his sword and jabbed it into his leg like he'd done it a thousand times. (Which he probably had.) Then he took a black backpack of the table, which looked suspiciously like a hydra head. Then I realized: It was a hydra head.He yanked out a tooth and took a knife from a real backpack. He stabbed the knife into the tooth and scraped out a bunch of glowing green liquid. He put it on the floor. "Um, don't touch the green stuff." He said. Actually, I didn't have the chance to touch it. It was melting through the floor. He took a bottle of Nectar and poured it in the tooth. Then he stabbed the tooth in the cut and it healed instantly. "You went through all that trouble? We have a bin of hollow hydra teeth. Ian shook his head. "Ha ha." He sheathed his knife into one of his three scabbards. I also noticed he had WAY a lot of weapons. "Uh, Ian? How many weapons do you have?" Ian looked over himself. "Not a lot." He had a shinabigatana, (AKA ninja back swords,), three knives on the right side of his belt, and two swords on his side. A bow and quiver were shoved in his pack, and his 'good' sword was tied around his waist with a faux belt. All of the scabbards weren't leather, since Ian was more of an environmentalist than all of the satyrs combined. (Of course, his mother WAS the titan of the earth.) Ian pretty much snarled at everyone with calfskin or leather scabbards and holsters. He was pretty vicious about it. He said his dad was a lawyer/Animal rights activist. Basically a lawyer FOR the latter. His dogs were always behind him, (I don't think I mentioned them.) He had a white Karelian Bear Hound, a black Karelian Bear Hound, and a grey Karelian Bear Hound. They all had shiny and sleek coats, incredibly sharp teeth, (The Demeter kids were scared of them.) sharp claws, piercing, well-set eyes, and sharp, pointed ears. None were on leashes. They just followed Ian everywhere. It certainly kept the screaming fans away. I was watching his dogs bat at each other's ears while panting, when I heard a cold, feminine, voice. "Young one, who is that boy, and what are those hunting mates doing next to him, maiden?" I swiveled around. Sure enough, it was a hunter of Artemis. She had copper eyes, a silver plaid shirt, silver-white jeans, white sneakers, a bow, and one black timber wolf. She looked at me again. Her brown hair was falling to her waist, the ends brushed in dry mud. "I asked you a question. Whenever will you answer it?" She said coldly. I looked at her and said, "That's Ian Mackenroth, Son and Heir of Gaea. Those are his dogs." The girl looked startled. "A boy...," I was almost sure she was going to say 'Son of Gaea', but she said, "He has hounds?" I looked at her, half-startled. "Well... yeah." She looked at him again. "Tis unlikely thy boy will know do with them." I forced a fake smile. "Um. Yeeeaaaahhhhhh..." I walked away. I saw the girl at the archery arena, shooting through each arrow when she released the bowstring. Her eyes were staring down the end of the bow, not an ounce of fear in her eyes. Then she stopped and tapped her bow. It turned into a hair clip. She put her hair up and walked out. She passed Rachel and said, "Salve, Oraculum." Rachel gave her a wary look. Then she ducked her head. Her was-short-in-the-books hair was actually long now, and a lot less curly. Still curly, though. She had it tied in a ponytail, and her shirt had a picture of an ear saying, There's Van's ear! Her jeans were ripped at the knees and splattered with old dry paint. She wore hot pink (totally hideous,) sandals, and her toes were painted scarlet with golden dots. A necklace was laced around her neck. It had all the beads, along with one that had the Greek letter epsilon. She had tiny winged pigs for earrings. As her green eyes passed over me, they seemed to become fully emerald-colored. She grinned. "Is that the one my prophecy was in?" She patted me on the back. "Here. Chiron sent me to help you. He said to train, then give." She walked to a target and motioned for me to follow. She made sure that I was watching, then shoved two fingers forwards. She said, "Now, Roman. This'll be easier than pie." I looked at her. "I don't like pie..." I did it and a blast went forward. Stronger than anything I'd ever done. "...But Ok." The target was smoldering. I watched the flames dancing in front of the bull's eye on the target. I looked at my hands that were slightly smoked on the tips. Rachel pursed her lips. "Pretty decent. Just... more centered next time, okay? It's a bit too in the second red area." She waved her hand at the fire and the smoke died out. The target remade itself. Then she fell to the ground. A ran over to her. She shook in my arms. Then she looked up. Her eyes were glowing a pale, yet bright and eerie green. She clasped my shoulders tightly and groaned. I tried prying off her fingers, but it was no use. Her nails dug into my skin. Then she spoke. "The Hero will die.... the prophecy shall not be fulfilled...." Then she collapsed. Then I knew. I couldn't of been the hero. Because I can't die..... right?