"Dyrk get up." I growled as I tried shaking him awake. Dyrk's response was a simple one; ignore me and wrap himself up into a cocoon of blankets. "You asked for this." Without warning I walked over to the sink counter, grabbed the ice that I had gotten, and funneled it into Dyrk's cocoon.
Immediately Dyrk began to thrash about cursing in ancient Greek. I simply stepped back and watched as he slowly got closer to the edge of the bed. It didn't take that long but once he reached the edge he went over the side flailing to the floor. "Izora what in Hades was that for!" Dyrk demanded. He had emerged from his cocoon shivering and wet.
I smiled innocently and said, "Maybe next time you'll wake up." With that I patted his shoulder and went to the bathroom to change. I switched back to the clothes I was wearing yesterday. I figured why not since I washed them here at the hotel. Just as I finished my phone buzzed. I took it out and found a message from mine, Thaila's, and Reyna's group chat.
Thalia: Izora you better be awake!
Izora: Why wouldn't I be?
Reyna: Thalia you're thinking of Dyrk…
Thalia: Oh, yeah dX
Izora: He's awake...I threw a bucket of ice on him
Thalia: XD
Reyna: Wish I could have seen that
Izora: Miss him already?
Thalia: Yeah she does
Reyna: I'm a huntress, we can't fall in love!
Izora: Wrong!!!
Thalia: We can fall in love, we just can't be in a relationship with peeps
Izora: Besides who said anything about love?
Reyn: I was just making an assumption
Thalia: Then why are you turning red?
Izora: We saw who you were looking at him the last time we were there.
Reyna: Everyone was looking at him.
Thalia: I wasn't
Izora: Were they?
Reyna: You were thrown into each other!
Thalia: XD she's blushing like crazy
Izora: XD
Reyna: I swear you two are unbelievable!
Izora: Gtg we're leaving for camp and will most likely be there around the evening.
Thalia: Be safe!
Reyna: I'm gonna kick both of your butts when we get to camp.
Izora: You can try ;)
I smirked as I tucked my phone back into my pocket. Reyna was doomed to never find any kind of love from any God or demigod, but I don't think Dyrk and I counted as normal demigods. I pushed the thought aside, brushed my teeth, rebraided my hair, then exited the bathroom. Dyrk had his bag packed and was in the middle of tying his boots when I entered.
Dyrk was dressed in black skinny jeans that were tucked into his black combat boots that came half way up his shins. Around his waist was a black D-ring belt. Over his torso he wore a black tank top; under his black sweater jacket. The inside was lined with super warm material so no matter how north we went he seemed to remain unfazed.
"Ready to go?" He asked, still seething from his cold wake up. In all honesty I always wondered how he was able to function with such little sleep yet I wasn't surprised most times since it seemed he was basically an insomniac.
"Ready when you are," I smirked as I slipped on my own boots. We both shouldered our bags, unlocked the doors, and quickly left the hotel before anyone noticed us. Once we made it outside I insisted on walking; mostly because I wanted to see central park. Dyrk yawned then grumbled in agreement.
I don't know why but ever since we were young I was always awake and active during the day while Dyrk would sleep his day away. Then again our mum always did say that our names meant more than what we thought. I tried asking Thanatos about it but all he would say was, "The two of you are "special" individuals." I used to think he said that because we were lucky enough to see him more than other demigods saw their godly parent.
"Earth to Izora," Dyrk waved his hand in front of my face. I shook my head and realized that we were now standing in the middle of central park. "Now where do we go?" Dyrk asked as he studied the people around us. Tuffs of his blond hair stuck out from under his hood, it seemed to fit him and his usually gloomy expression he always had.
"In a hurry, much," I teased, knowing he was tired. Instead of giving a snarky come back Dyrk instead yawned and gave an actual answer.
"Well Apollo said he had something to tell us once we got to camp. Why he doesn't text me what's wrong is beyond me. And do I have to remind you of the magic box we have?" Dyrk murmured as he yawned once again then popped his neck causing me to cringe a bit.
"He probably wants to know how you caught that fox thingy." I guessed, trying to think of a less worrisome explanation. The last thing we needed was for a prophecy to rise up and mention us.
Dyrk looked at me confused then asked, "Do you mean the Teumessian Fox?" I never remembered most Greek monster names like Dyrk did. I just memorized their weak spots and how to properly dispose of them.
I nodded. "How did you catch it? All I remember is getting thrown into Thalia and watching you getting dragged around like a water skier." Just as Dyrk turned to answer we heard a screech, not a normal bird one, but more of a greek monster one.
We both looked up and found a griffin circling around something in the distance. This griffin had a light gray lion's body, ashy gray head/feathers, matching wings, and obsidian like eyes with red pupils. It continued screeching then dive bombed at whatever it had been circling. "Just when you think we'd have a nice morning." Dyrk nodded as he tapped his necklace (two crossed daggers) and summoned his weapons off the silver chain. I did the same and we raced off to see what the griffin was screeching about. Once we reached the place of action we found the griffin was back in the air circling a small group consisting of two girls and three guys. One of the girls had bronze/copper like skin, her hair was braided down one side of her body with a blue harpy feather. She was dressed in jeans, black converse, and a winter jacket. In her hand was a beautiful bronze dagger that had flecks of griffin blood on it.
"Hang on a second, isn't that Reyna's friend Piper Mclain?" I asked, getting a shrug from Dyrk. He never remembered people's names, just their faces. Just as I asked this it dawned on me who I was looking at. Leo Valdez was the short boy with flaming hands, Piper's father, Glecane Hedge, and his wife Melly who was pushing a stroller. As I processed this the griffin let out a deafening screech. Instead of diving bombing two other griffins that looked similar practically appeared from nowhere. The mortals that were around the area, left out of annoyance; guess they don't like griffin screeches.
Dyrk sighed deeply as he summoned his scythe. "Let's help them out. If we're lucky they might point us in the right direction of camp." I glanced over at my brother, but he met my gaze and rolled his eyes. "I did say might," Dyrk pointed out. Our attention returned to the griffon and its nearby prey.
I summoned my bow and pulled back the string. "I'll clip the wings while you finish them off." Dyrk nodded then rushed forward as I let my first arrow fly. The first griffin was too busy staring at Piper and the others that it didn't see two of my arrows fly towards its left wing. Once they hit their mark the griffin screeched in pain as it began to crash towards the ground.
This confused Piper and her friends until Leo turned in time to see Dyrk rush past and slash the griffin horizontally across its face. The creature burst into monster dust causing the other two to now focus on Dyrk. This made things easier since they still didn't acknowledge my presents, or my arrows until it was too late.
Once both griffins fell and were reduced to monster dust Dyrk let out a tired sigh.. "That was a bit easier than I thought." Dyrk yawned as he changed his scythe back to daggers, then back to necklace form. As he stretched I joined him just as I turned my weapons back into a necklace as well.
"Meh, not as bad as Lycaon's mangy mutts." I shrugged as I joined Dyrk who was now standing in front of the small group. Piper had sheathed her dagger, Leo extinguished his fire, and Melly told Hedge to put his club up. The old satyr mumbled a bit but reluctantly put his club away.
"Thanks for the help," Piper smiled as she walked toward us. She sighed relieved then gave a friendly smile. "Hi, I'm Piper Mclain." She turned to her friends and pointed from one to another as she introduced each one. Afterwards I looked to Dyrk to introduce himself but he shook his head, declining. I rolled my eyes since I knew better than to fight with him.
"Hi, I'm Izora Nýchta," I waved, getting a mixed greeting. Leo waved while giving a big grin, Piper and Melly smiled thankfully, while Hedge just grunted. "Anyway this is my brother Dyrk." I said pointing at Dyrk who gave a half hearted nod and yawned. The others waved at him but judging from his expression it was no wonder a few of them looked a little uneasy.
"It's nice to meet you two." Melly smiled. I smiled back then heard the cooing of a baby from the stroller. Melly lifted the blanket she was using as a vail and revealed a baby satyr. I was immediately at the stroller's side staring down at the adorable little satyr. My eyes widened as I stared helplessly at the little creature.
"Gods he's so cute," I squealed, getting a pleased smile from Melly. Dyrk poked his head over my shoulder and eyed the small creature. The moment the baby spotted Dyrk he sniffed the air and began to cry. Dyrk backed up while I shushed the baby and gave him his pacifier, "Shh, it's okay; I knew you'd smell his stupidity." This caused a few chuckles from the group, but Hedge looked at Dyrk and sniffed the air. He was about to say something but Leo beat him to the punch.
"So you're, demigods?" Leo asked, earning a nod from me and an irritated glance from Dyrk.
"Yeah, we were on our way to camp," I said as I stood up so Melly could cover her child. AS she did this I glanced at Coach Hedge and found him looking at Dyrk, he sniffed the air again but this time he wrinkled his nose. His expression looked like he smelt something foul but once again he didn't get a chance to voice his protest.
"Izora wanted to take a detour and see central park," Dyrk yawned again as he checked the time on his phone. I rolled my eyes at this comment, I know he was my older brother and all but he didn't have to be such a fun sponge.
"Hey it's a good thing we did come along, those griffins could have hurt them." I growled angrily. For as long as I could remember I could never understand why my brother was so cold towards everyone we met. He'd always refuse to introduce himself, he'd insist the less information we told them the best, or would sometimes just leave in the middle of a conversation without saying anything. I glanced back at him and found him ready to retort.
Dyrk shrugged nonchalantly. "From what Thalia and Reyna told me, they would have been fine." I was about to argue with him until Piper spoke up. Piper looked slightly shocked but her eyes held a sense of relief in them.
"Wait Thalia, as in Thalia Grace?" I turned to her and nodded. "When did you last see her?" Piper asked, changing the subject.
"I shrugged, "Dunno, we were helping them try and trap that stupid fox…" I began to explain only for Dyrk to click his tongue and quickly correct me.
"Teumessian fox," Dyrk interrupted.
I rolled my eyes, "Whatever." Dyrk shook his head disappointed while I rolled my eyes at him once again. For a moment Dyrk and I had a small and silent argument consisting of Dyrk's usually, "Really?" face. And my usually "Can we drop it?" face, hand gesturing, and eye rolling. By the time we remembered there were others watching, we found the small group smirking, or in couch Hedge's case suppressing a smile.
Dyrk sighed loudly. "It's been about a week or two since we last saw them or Artemis." Dyrk corrected. His phone buzzed causing him to pull it out. The moment he did Coach Hedge leaped forward in an attempt to karate chop the device. Dyrk side stepped the satyr with ease and immediately locked his eyes on the old satyr.
"Dude, are you trying to attract more monsters?" Leo exclaimed as he looked around worried. It seemed he half expected for more griffins to appear from nowhere. That or another mythical beast to suddenly appear and repeat our fight from earlier. In any case Dyrk thankfully supplied an explanation for our new devices.
"Monsters usually avoid us, but if you're talking about my phone then you've really been in the dark." Dyrk took his phone case off and pointed at the symbol on the back. It is a lyre and a hammer across each other. Symbolizing the two gods who took the time out of their existence to actually help us demigods. "Apollo and Hephaestus created phones for all the demigods at camp. We're on our way to deliver theirs now."
"Oh, well we were supposed to head to camp some time today." Piper replied, rubbing the back of her head. "I was just spending time with my dad, he was in town shooting a movie." I nodded understandingly. I heard that Piper and her father lost everything to the Triumvirate corporation run by Nero and two other now dead roman emperors. Now as if by magic Trisain Mclain had been offered the lead role in a new movie.
"Great, mind if we catch a ride with you?" Dyrk asked as he shoved his phone in his back pocket. This surprised me but the moment I glanced at the time I realized he was just trying to squeeze in a nap. Typical of Dyrk, only acting nice when he really just wanted to close his eyes and sleep.
"Sure, let me just stop by the studio real quick," Piper smiled. "My dad should be on break and I want to see him before heading to camp." Piper looked at the rest of the group. "If that's okay?" She asked sheepishly, getting an okay nod from everyone. Dyrk walked next to Leo who asked to see the phone again while I walked next to Piper.
As we walked Piper and I chatted about her mother, but it came to no shock that she'd eventually ask about our godly parent. "So who's your godly parent," Piper asked. "I'm sure Thaila or Reyna told you my mother is Aphrodite." She replied in a half hearted tone. I knew godly parents were a pain but I heard Aphrodite children had a worse time than any other.
"Our father is Thanatos," I replied casually. This earned shocked looks from everyone. Coach Hedge sniffed at us and wrinkled his nose again when he faced Dyrk. I was told many times that certain Greek creatures could smell our godly parents' aura on us. However it seemed Dyrk's aura was stronger than mine.
"That explains the kid," Hedge grunted as he pointed a finger at Dyrk. Dyrk pretended not to notice but I could tell he didn't like the way Hedge was eyeing him. Well that is until he turned toward me and sniffed the air and gave a confused look. "Strange you don't smell like an underworld child…or like one of death's children at all." Hedge grumbled as we approached a white suv. I sighed as I hoped Hedge wouldn't pester us too much for information. Anytime I tried to remember anything about our past, I came up blank. I asked Dyrk if he knew anything but he'd simply shrug and say that some things are better forgotten.