"I really don't want to go over there." Ryan said as he looked over at the demi-gods watching them anxiously.
"I take it they knew you could talk to horses?" Danny asked, sending him a sideways glance.
Ryan nodded, "When I used to live here I was friends with a Pegasus named Blackjack, he was my only friend after I ran away."
"What happened to him?"
Ryan sighed, "He died, a long time ago."
Sensing Ryan didn't want to talk about it any further, Danny let the subject drop. "Man, these gods are something else. I mean really, it would suck to be forever sixteen. Can you imagine? Teenage years were the worst years of my life, I'm perfectly happy being forever twenty-two."
Ryan laughed, "Was that how old you were when Chaos found you?"
"Yep. Just a homeless kid with the ability to kill wandering around the back alleys of Chicago. I was lucky she found me when she did, I doubt I would have made it much longer."
"What happened to your family?" Ryan asked.
"Same thing that happened to yours actually. Fire; burnt down my house. I managed to make it out, but… well let's just say my parents weren't so lucky." Danny shrugged, his eyes unreadable.
"How old were you?" Ryan asked.
"I was eight." Danny said, looking at Ryan with sad eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Danny shook his head, "Don't worry about it, it was a long time ago, and time does heal."
"Still," Ryan said, "My mom and I were always very close, we were all we had for a while. Even not a day goes by I don't miss her."
Danny nodded, "I get that. Unfortunately my parents and I were never very close, but I understand what you are talking about."
Ryan nodded, "What about Alice or Hanna? Do you know what happened to them?"
Danny shook his head. "Just rumors, but those are almost never true. They are the ones that say Alice has no heart and you are a fish-man."
Ryan laughed, "Why does everyone always say that?"
"Maybe because you've been on a boat for the past two thousand years." Danny snickered.
"What can I say, I like water. And anyway that was the area Chaos asked me to keep an eye on."
Danny snorted. "Lucky you, doesn't seem like there would be many problems out there."
Ryan shrugged, "Keeps me busy enough. What about you?"
"Mostly western cities and America. They have so many issues each day, it's a good thing my motorcycle doesn't need gas, because I drive that thing everywhere."
Ryan cringed, "I do not miss the big cities."
Danny smiled, "Tell me about it. I grew up in them, so they don't bother me that much… but still."
"Ha." Ryan laughed, "So, if I got this correctly, Hanna guards the northern lands and countries, and Alice watches over the eastern countries right?"
"I think so, I think Chaos wanted us to be in our own element, so she assigned us to the area we had either grown up in or liked. For me big cities, for Hanna the cold northern lands, you the sea, and Alice I don't even know."
"She's British right?" Ryan asked, "You really can't tell, she doesn't have much of an accent."
Danny shrugged, "Not much is known about her, I couldn't tell you why she doesn't talk with an accent. Same with Hanna, she's practically a myth. Like dragons and unicorns, and all those fairy tales we used to read as kids."
"Really?" Ryan asked, "You would think Alice would be the more mysterious."
Danny shook his head, "Nah, she's just insane. Cute, but insane." He smiled shyly. "It's funny though, they seem to hate each other, but they are actually pretty similar."
"I noticed that." Ryan said, "And I'm not sure Alice is insane, just broken. Then again maybe we all are and we just don't know it."
Danny flashed him a genuine smile this time, his eyes brightening up. "You know Jackson, you're all right. For the youngest you certainly have your act down part. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if you are the sanest one of all four of us."
"What about you?" Ryan asked.
Danny waved his hand, "Not even close."
Ryan laughed, "Why am I not surprised?"
Danny grinned and walked away, "I'm gonna go check on the shish kabob, you go see how our new ally is doing."
Ryan nodded, "Send her my regards." The blond man waved lazily over his shoulder in reply, not turning around.
Ryan turned in the direction Hanna had gone, not bothering to send a glance at the demi-gods who looked like they were waiting for him to go talk to them.
Ryan realized Danny was right about time healing. His friends betrayal had hurt him at first, but now it just seemed like an old scar, and they were just pesty strangers he never knew. Also, getting to know Hanna and Danny and Alice seemed to bring something new and wonderful into his life, something he hadn't experienced before. True, he didn't trust them completely, but Danny wasn't kidding when he said Ryan had spent the last two thousand years on a boat, meeting people who weren't trying to take over the world was a first, and they weren't nearly as bad as the stories made them sound.
Ryan actually had to stifle a laugh when he thought about the rumor that he was a merman.
Fins. Ha.
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"Hello?" Danny called, knocking on the wooden door.
When no one answered him, he opened the door cautiously, poking his head in. "Hello?" He called again.
Walking inside the cabin, he looked around. It was relatively clean, nothing there to really give away that someone actually lived there. There was a caw from the corner, and Danny turned around to see who he was looking for.
Alice was asleep, her long black hair forming a curtain around her face as she lay face down on the bed. She had removed her ripped black shirt, having put on a simple white tank top that showed the tattoo on her left shoulder. Her white fedora rested on the bed next to her and Kira was perched on the head board.
Danny couldn't help but smile at her, she looked peaceful while sleeping, less menacing. He had been surprised when Ryan had corrected him on her being insane, he thought he was the only one who noticed how broken Alice really looked.
He supposed, in a way, they all had their ways of forgetting their pasts. Hanna was cold and secluded, Ryan never went on land, Danny himself joked around and acted silly, and Alice… well maybe she hid her pain with insanity, it wouldn't surprise him.
Kira cawed again and Alice stirred, raising her head lazily. "Ugh, what century is it?" she asked sleepily.
Danny couldn't help but laugh, "I don't know, I stopped counting a while ago."
Alice nodded sleepily and put her head back down, before whipping her head back up and jumping to her feet. "Holy shit! What the hell are you doing here?!"
Danny laughed, "You know there are several people who would wash your mouth out with soap if they heard you talking that way."
"Says the man who was spying on sleeping women." Alice glared back.
"I wasn't spying, just waiting for you to wake up."
"Uh-huh." Alice didn't look convinced "And tell me, why is it that you have decided to grace me with your presence?"
"Just a little worried is all, keep in mind you were impaled all of twenty minutes ago." Danny looked her over quickly. "You seem to have recovered fairly well."
Alice shrugged, "I'm fine. I have seen worse, it wasn't a big deal."
"You weren't the one watching, you looked like a marshmallow at the end of a stick." Danny argued, "What would you have done if you were alone?"
"It wouldn't have happened if I was alone. Ice queen sent that bird right at me and I didn't have time to pull away." Alice looked off to the side, her blue eyes glowing with anger.
"Hm," Danny didn't reply, he was thinking about the look on Hanna's face when she saw what had happened to Alice. The red headed mage had been mortified; you could see it in her eyes.
Alice scowled and rolled her eyes, laying back onto the bed and covering her face with her hands. When Danny didn't move she peek out from between her fingers to look at him. "What is it now?"
"Where did you get that tattoo?" Danny asked, looking at the black spirals that winded up her left arm starting at her elbow and traveled to small of her back, covering what seemed like her entire back.
Alice shrugged, "I don't know, when I was eighteen or nineteen, I suppose."
"Why? Just to be rebellious?"
Alice glared at him. "Why do you care?"
Danny held his hands up. "Don't kill me, I'm just curious. Not many people get such heavy duty tattoos."
Alice sighed again, "I got it after I ran away from home for like the fifth time. I don't really know why."
It was an obvious lie, but it was clear she wasn't saying anything more about it. Danny sighed, nodded, and got up to leave, unexplainably disappointed by her will to remain silent. He was reaching for the door when her voice reached his ears again. "Hey." He turned to look at her, emerald green meeting sapphire blue. "Thanks," she seemed to be struggling with her words "Thanks for helping me back there. You know- when I took on the life of a shish kabob."
Danny felt a grin stretch across his face. "No problem, just try not to be so clumsy next time okay?"
Alice's jaw dropped. "Why you little shit. I will-"
Danny closed the door before she could finish her sentence, cutting off her threat. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hand, laughing dryly into his palm.
"She is something else." He muttered, "Something else entirely."
Then he flicked up his hood and walked away. Head down, hands in his pockets, a thousand different questions running through his mind.
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Ryan walked towards a familiar looking ice cabin, still laughing at the thought of him being a merman. As he reached the front door he noticed, Sheaka curled up in a fluffy white ball near the door, her white fur shimmering in the sunlight.
When he came within earshot the little fox lifted her head sleepily to look at him, her dark brown eyes registering who he was before putting her head back down and falling asleep again.
"Ha," a female voice said "some guard dog she is."
Hanna appeared around the corner, Arabella trailing close behind. The kelpie looked much better than she had before, her wounds were cleaned and bandaged and her eyes were clearer.
Ryan laughed, "She sure does sleep a lot."
"You have no idea." Hanna replied, walking over Sheaka and nudging her lightly with her foot. "Oi, little cotton ball, time to get up." Sheaka growled lightly and didn't move, burying her face deeper in her tail. Hanna sighed and walked back behind the cabin only to come back a second later with a bucket full of water. She held it over the ice sprites head and allowed some of the water to slosh over the sides, hitting the fox.
Sheaka growled again, this time in annoyance, but Hanna wasn't fazed. "I will drop it." She warned her friend, but Sheaka still didn't move. "Alrighty then. One…" she let some of the water drip from the bucket, raining onto the fox's fluffy white fur.
"Two….." More water sloshed from the pail, but Sheaka didn't move.
"Three!" With a quick flick of her wrist the entire bucket of water fell from the bucket, hitting Sheaka with a splash. The poor sprite jumped to her paws, shaking and surprised, her once fluffy fur dripping water and sticking to her skin. Hanna burst out laughing. "You didn't think I was gonna do it, did ya?"
Sheaka growled and shook her fur, sending droplets of water everywhere. Ryan is trying very hard to retain his laughter, not wanting the little fox to be mad at him to. Unfortunately it didn't work, and he started to laugh as well. Arabella watched the scene with amused black eyes, but remorse clouded the edges of her vision.
Sheaka; embarrassed, wet, and angry huffed and stalked away, water till dripping from her coat. "Should you go after her?" Ryan asked, ceasing his laughter. "She seems pretty mad."
Hanna shook her head, "She's fine, we play this game all the time. She will get me back at some point, I'm sure. So don't be surprised if my hair is shorter tomorrow."
Ryan smiled, "Sheaka would be one to do that, wouldn't she?"
"Yep." Hanna said, twirling a long piece of red hair in her fingers. "It's okay, I need a haircut anyway." Ryan laughed lightly, already wondering what the sly little ice sprite was planning.
"So may I ask for what reason you have some to pay me a visit?" Hanna's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
Ryan looked back at the red-head. "I've come to see how Arabella was doing, I'm glad to see she's recovering."
Hanna nodded, "Yes, luckily none of her wounds were too bad, I do feel bad for slashing at her so much now that I have learned her story."
Ryan couldn't stop from smirking, "Yes what was with that? It seemed as though after Alice was run through you got very mad. You didn't feel bad about putting her in that situation did you?" Hanna opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Ryan again, "No, of course not, that would mean that the ice queen is melting, and we can't have that now can we?"
Hanna paled, "I have no idea what you are talking about, I knew she would be fine."
"Well yes, but you did seem rather upset."
Hanna glared at him, "I did not feel bad, I doubt that woman could even feel it."
Ryan smiled sadly, "We both know that's not true."
Hanna sighed and sat down in the grass. "I don't know, so maybe I did feel a little bad, I would hate to sink to her level."
Ryan sat down next to her, "You mean the level of kill first ask questions later? Keep in mind she didn't try to kill Arabella right away, she heard her out."
Hanna shook her head, "You weren't there Ryan, that night in Russia, she's insane."
Ryan shrugged, "Yes, I suppose she is, but I think today proved that it is possible for her to cooperate with others, in fact it proved that it is possible for all of us."
Hanna couldn't help but nod, "I guess so. Still, I can't see Alice and I working together very well. You and Danny would probably make the better team."
Ryan pretended to be offended, "What so you don't want me to be on your team? How rude."
Hanna laughed, "No that's not what I meant. I mean it seemed like you two can work well together, and stay out of each other's way, something we will have to work on."
Ryan nodded, "I guess water and ice do clash don't they?"
Hanna smirked but nodded, "Yes, but there might be a way to work around it. Would you be willing to train a bit? I think today proved that we do a lot more damage working together rather than against each other."
Ryan smiled, "Yes I suppose so. Maybe Chaos really did know what she was doing."
"No, she didn't. I mean really, she's lucky we didn't destroy this place." She gestured to Camp-Half Blood.
"I was hoping we would." Ryan laughed bitterly.
Hanna sent him a sideways glance, not saying anything at first, before her eyes lit up with an evil grin. "We could accidently freeze the place over… I'm good with that."
Ryan smiled, "I like that idea, then maybe we could get Alice to do something with that blue fire of hers. Oh yes, I wanted to ask you something."
"Hm?" Hanna looked at him out of the corner of her eyes.
"Those wings from earlier, how did you make those?"
Hanna shrugged, "I first made them a long time ago, I remember I thought that maybe if I could I would be able to leave the village I had been confined to my entire life, but it took a long time for me to perfect them. They are really just sheets of ice attached to my back, I need four of them to get off the ground though, and they really provide more of a nice lift than flight, it's hard for me to fly too high without them melting."
"I see, well either way they were amazing, I was even more surprised that they worked." Ryan smiled.
"So was I." Hanna admitted, making both of them laugh softly. "You know I'm surprised by you, I think we all were."
Ryan stopped laughing and turned to her, "What do you mean?"
Hanna shrugged, "I guess once I heard what happened to you. I expected you to be really mad and bitter towards this place and everyone in it, yet you seem pretty calm."
Ryan looked down, "I was at first, but after so many years of traveling the world and protecting people, I guess you could say I have gotten over it. That doesn't mean I want them to know who I am, way too much drama for me, but they don't affect me much anymore."
Hanna smiled bitterly, "You know Chaos was right to make you the fourth horsemen, you probably have more sense than the other three of us combined. I don't think I would be able to be so calm if I had to deal with my past again, and I know Danny and Alice wouldn't, they would flip."
"I think you would be fine, you are stronger than you are giving yourself credit for." Hanna turned her head to look at him just as her did, and they ended up staring at each other for quite some time, simply smiling at each other. Coughing, Hanna looked away, her eyes downcast. Ryan felt himself smile. "Oh yea, why is it that you guys always refer to me as the youngest? First Danny now you, you realize I'm actually about a year older than you physically right?"
Hanna laughed, "Maybe so but you are still the youngest, after all you were the final horsemen, it's only fair that we all you the youngest."
"Fair to who?" Ryan asked, "and if I'm the youngest does that make you old?"
Hanna glared, "Who are you calling old?"
"Oh no one, no one at all." He was trying hard not to laugh.
"Watch it, or you may find your head frozen if you keep it up."
"I feel threatened!" Ryan cringed, "And here I thought you were the nice one."
"Wrong." Hanna said, "Don't you know? I am the cold and unfeeling Ice Queen. I don't have to be nice."
Ryan snickered quietly, "I knew you and Alice were similar." Hanna paled and her eyes grew wide, the shock at his comparison evident on her face, making Ryan laugh harder.
Suddenly Ryan stopped laughing as he looked up, and his eyes narrowed. "Uh-oh," he muttered, "Looks like we have company."
Hanna followed his gaze, and her eyes turned cold, Famine's personality taking over. "Oh, joy."
Coming towards them was a small group of demi-gods, Jake and Jessica in front.
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Jessica walked beside Jake as they neared Famine's ice cottage. Conquest and Famine were sitting on the grass in front of it, talking quietly. Conquest laughed, but stopped when he saw them coming. He said something to Famine, who looked their way. Jessica swallowed the lump in her throat when the two pairs of cold blue eyes looked at her, one a pale blue, the other sea-green.
Conquest stood up slowly, offering his hand to Famine who took it and stood up beside him. Jessica looked behind her at the small group that had come with her. Not many wanted to, and in the end it was only her, Jake, Bruce and Amber, and she was pretty sure the last two had tagged along just for laughs.
Once they got close enough Jessica balked. Up close the horsemen seemed more supernatural than real. Famine shone with an unnatural beauty, while Conquest seemed to tower over them. She hadn't realized how tall he was.
"What is it?" Famine asked, her tone clipped.
"Where is it?" Jake asked, trying to keep the stutter out of his voice.
"Where is what?" Conquest asked, his voice just as cold.
"That horse-thing from earlier. We know you didn't kill it."
Famine smiled, "Oh you mean Arabella? She's a kelpie, and she's around back getting some rest."
"Why haven't you killed it?" Jessica asked, "It's an enemy!"
Famine looked at her coldly, sending ice fingers down the young girls back. "She is not an enemy, she is a mother, and she is now under our protection."
"What do you mean 'mother?'" Amber asked from the back.
"She has asked our help in freeing her daughter, and that is all you need to know." Conquest replied.
"How can we trust her?" Jessica asked.
"We trust her," Famine said, "and that should be enough."
"Well it isn't!" Jake snapped. He drew his sword. "If you are too weak to kill her than I will kill her myself."
He moved forward, but he was stopped by Conquest. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Arabella is under our protection so if you mean to harm her you will have to get through us first."
Jake smiled foolishly. "Very well, I shall beat you first. I doubt it will be too hard."
Conquest said nothing, but Famine looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Conquest…."
He turned his head to look at her, "What?"
Famine shook her head, "I never thought I would say this… but will you do something for me?" Conquest tilted his head, waiting for her to elaborate. Famine raised her hand and pointed a slim finger at Jake. "Kick his butt."