Willow bit back a sigh knowing the stench was going to become more unbearable otherwise and said, "As long as nothing happens."
"Great..." Aki grumbled as he carried the blond hair Grin on his back with his adult form.
As they trudged through the waterways, Willow noticed the shift in the energy in her chest. It would that they've already broke through some her arrays and circles. Willow frowned and quickly walked through the pavement. The large sewers of the city of Beijing wasn't the cleanest but it was better than those in America. Having followed the map she had Aki navigate for her, she quickly weaved their way through the sewers. It wasn't long after that she soon came across two familiar wheels that she smiled and took into her arms.
"What's that?" Mitra asked with her brown hair and puffy cheeks thanks to Aki's powers.
"My bicycle wheels?" Willow responded with a grin.
Her answer dumbfounded the two demigods as Akira smirked under the weight of the lean man over his back.
She quickly and cautiously slipped out of the man hole and found themselves outside of the city and in the previous ghost town Willow initially found herself in.
"Where are we?" Lia asked curiously when he saw their surroundings with his brown eyes that was also part of the influence of Aki's magic followed by the black hair.
"Heibei." Willow responded, "Thanks to the chaos in Beijing, people have evacuated from here once they could to avoid getting pulled into the quarantine situation."
Mitra frowned, "It's that bad?"
Willow nodded with a sigh, "It's bad. The people outside of here are affected with a weaker poison than that in Beijing. There're more people on the streets thanks to the situation in Beijing. Many have already lost their homes while others are still ill. then, we have demigods that are really cautious because we know what's going on right now. We either don't want to be on the losing side or don't want to be involved and die."
They didn't continue to question her as Willow took them to where her bicycle was before taking them onto a bus and out of Heibei. Finally out of the city and to the lush green rural lands in the bus, Willow sat back down as the two demigods continued to converse about the scenery outside. As she continued reading her textbook, Willow came across something which struck her curiosity as she fished out another white pebble from her pocket. This time, she mumbled a few words and passed it to Aki with a few telepathic instructions. Willow watched as the guy sneaked the pebble onto Mitra's lap as a thought suddenly slipped into the woman's mind with a little glow. Startled, Mitra spun her direction to Willow who was already engrossed into reading her textbook again. She frowned with annoyance before she noticed the book and asked with a raised brow, "What are you reading?"
"A textbook." Willow responded, "Just because I'm not in college right now, doesn't mean I don't have to study anymore."
Lia huffed in annoyance, "Sounds a lot like something Rain would do."
Willow shrugged, "It's interesting."
Her short response brought an end to their conversation as Lia only shook his head in confusion while Mitra simply looked away not wanting to acknowledged the woman before her out of suspicions.
However, Willow neither cared nor sought out their location as they made their way. As a yawn escaped her lips, Aki looked up.
"Careful." Akira said telepathically, "We're not at a safe zone yet."
"I know." Willow responded, "By the way, did you finish with my account?"
"Yes, miss." Akira responded sarcastically, "I've also finished theirs so it can be transferred back to America when needed."
"Good."
After hearing this, the rest of the ride went smoothly for the next few hours into the night. It was around three when the bus finally came to a stop that Willow and the others got off for the night. She then sought out a hotel in edge of the urban parts of Anhui. The city here was much more bustling than that of those up North. Not to mention, the people there were a little more welcoming and kind when they saw Aki and Grin who was starting to come to.
The hotel wasn't the best, but it was enough for them to stay undercover for the time being. there was broken and uneven white tiles in the rooms and two large beds. Upon entering one of the rooms she and Aki had already prepared ahead of time, Willow was met with a fury of feathers coming at her face to which she reached out and grabbed the orange feet sticking out at her. In a shock, there was a cry, "Let go of me! How dare you take your time and leave me with two sticky children!"
Willow scowled when she heard this and flipped the bird upside down, like a chicken ready for slaughter. The pigeon shrieked, "N-No! I don't want to be roasted!"
Willow sighed and threw the bird onto the bedside table before turning to see the two excited children and confused mother, "If he speaks bad of you and the kids again, let me know right away."
The mother was confused, but she nodded having some knowledge of parts of the English language with her education. Willow turned to see Mitra giving Hannah a hearty hug with tears in the corner of her eyes while Lia patted Rain's back with a wide smirk. Seeing that the others had returned with Willow, Hannah turned to Willow and shook her head suddenly with heartfelt words, "Thank you for saving them!"
Willow shrugged, "Thank Serah for bringing them out like an idiot. With that decision she made, I was able to win them back."
"Win?" Rain raised a brow.
Mitra sighed and sat on a chair looking to the mother and the children before seeing Belen in the corner. Belen shook his head with a sigh and got up to begin the explanation. After exchanging information with each other did Willow walked over to Li Yun and took her to the other room she intended to be for the women. After setting Li Yun down on the bed, did the mother looked to Willow in confusion.
"Who were those people earlier?" She asked in confusion.
"They're the same as Li Yan and me." Willow responded with a yawn.
"The same as Li Yan and you?" Li Yun raised a brow.
"You said no one knew who her mother was or how she knew where your cousin lived, right?" Willow questioned with a sigh.
"You know her mother?" Li Yun looked to her with a frown.
"Everyone does." Willow answered before sitting down on a chair next to the white bed.
"Does this have anything to do with our current situation?" She asked with a foreboding feeling in her chest.
Willow nodded, "Indirectly, yes."
"How is that possible?" Li Yun frowned, "Is she someone like Elijah?"
"Who knows." Willow responded with a sigh, "Her mother is not someone other can easily meet. Not even Altor."
"What do you mean?" Li Yun's eyes narrowed, "Who is she and is Li Yan going to be okay?"
"She's fine right now." Willow responded, "As long as Aki and I are strong enough, she'll be fine. As for who her mother is, tell me..."
Willow stared into her gaze firmly, "Do you believe in a greater power?"
The mother stared at her with a frown, "Believe? Wait, that can't be. There's never any proof-."
She stopped herself and mumbled, "But, it's not like there was any proof that they didn't exist either..."
What an open minded person...
Willow yawned, "It doesn't matter if you believe them or not now, but Li Yan's mother is a goddess. Once in a while, a celestial power will leave their boundaries and venture into the human realm. Your cousin just so happened to have encountered one years ago and is lucky to have escaped alive. It's isn't difficult for a goddess to know the home of a human unless there was divine intervention."
"Then, why isn't she here to claim, Li Yan?" Li Yun growled as anger glowed in her eyes, "Her daughter was nearly killed-!"
"They don't interfere with the affairs of their human partners and their demichildren." Willow answered bluntly, "My father never returned to claim me back after my mother was forced to give birth to me and neither did the others in the other room. We don't know why, but all demigods live without them around, which was why Li Yan was sent to her father. Why and how she was able to be taken over by her father, we don't know the circumstances. However, he was lucky that she didn't come for his life."
Li Yun shuddered in shock when she felt Willow's voice go an octave lower.
"Who is she that she can take a life?" Li Yun dared herself to question.
"The greek goddess Hecate." Willow responded with a sigh.
"How did you know?"
"I already had my suspicions." Willow leaned back with a frown, "Hecate is the Greek goddess of magic since Ancient times. She is what witches look to in Ancient times."
"Witches." Li Yun frowned, "Then, that's a bad thing, right? She will hurt her daughter?"
Willow shrugged, "She most likely won't. She's not bad anyway. In fact, she's well liked by the gods but often gets misunderstood because of her abilities. She has a daughter called Circe who isn't very good as you can guess and I don't know about her. But, she shouldn't come looking for Li Yan for trouble."
Li Yun heaved a deep breath in relief when she heard this which was silly since she was question the authenticity of Willow's claims earlier.
"As for how I knew," Willow smiled, "Hecate's previous work was managing the souls of the dead. A work that Hades took over after he came into power. You should know him."
Li Yun nodded nervously at the mention of death and Hades.
"Li Yan could see souls since a young age which would be weird since she doesn't seem to be a medium for spirits from a young age or they'd be coming to her for help."
Li Yun shook her head, "As I recalled, they wanted to take her life."
"They did." Willow nodded, "There must've been a reason for that since souls wouldn't bother the living just randomly for no reasons. There has to be an agenda, but she was never harmed by any bad spirits that aren't human. So, I had a feeling that was odd."
Li Yun nodded, "Her mother once managed that area in the lower realm. Those abilities must've transferred to Li Yan, then."
Willow nodded, "There was also the fact that I taught your daughter a spell to protect herself from harmful souls recently and she absorbed that knowledge like a sponge with no questions, which shows me that she understood every word I said even when I was trying to avoid scaring her. She knew."