Typhon's Revenge

Chapter Forty-Four

FIRE

When I opened my eyes again, Alex was lying next to me, sleeping soundlessly. I chuckled as I slowly started to sit up and get a bearing of my surroundings. For a moment, I worried about why I wasn't in my room, and then I remembered that it was because I hadn't even slept in my room. 

Shaking my head and sighing, I looked around the room but there was no sign of Kalani. Fear began to get to me. Had someone been in here while we were sleeping? Did she go somewhere? What if something bad had happened?

All these questions circled in my mind and only made my muscle stiffen as I looked around the room for any sign of struggle or for any clue as to where she might be. I knew I probably shouldn't worry, that she knew how to take care of herself and I had no doubt about that, but she still hadn't recovered her memories and if someone was powerful enough to do something like that, I wouldn't put it past him or her to try and finish the job. 

Shaking my head, I got to my feet and headed towards the bathroom. I knocked on the door, hoping to hear Kalani say something from inside. But there was no reply. 

I headed towards the closet and barged the door open but just like the bathroom, it was empty. 

I hurried towards Alex as I shook her away just until she was slightly conscious. She groaned at me and waved me off. She was really tired. I wondered if she had been able to sleep at all when she had stayed back to look after Kalani. I didn't think so. She wasn't the kind of person to fall asleep while a friend of hers was sick or hurt. I knew it from personal experience. 

"Alex, I'm coming back. Don't worry about me if you do wake up," I whispered and she only nodded her head and groaned out a reply that sounded a lot like an "okay".

Quickly, I hurried out of the room. I didn't even consider getting Andrew and Mason, I felt like I could do this on my own. 

Nonetheless, I took out my weapon and waited for it to extend into a blade. I didn't use it at full power with the flames coursing around the sharp edges of the blade, I didn't think it was necessary yet.

As I walked, I made sure to keep my steps short and quiet. I searched the common room without any luck and I didn't think she'd be in the kitchen or in the library. The old Kalani had said that she didn't like to go to the library very much, that is until she met Rubie, the librarian that had supposedly decided to retire. 

And this Kalani didn't remember Rubie, so I didn't see any reason to look for her in there.

So I headed into the training room. Inside, it was dark and cold. An uncomfortable shiver ran down my spine as I molded myself into the shadows and headed towards another room that connected to the training room. The light was on and I was certain it was the weapons room. 

A voice in my mind told me it was probably Kalani just looking around for the weapon she was going to take on our journey, but I had to be sure. Slowly, I walked towards the door and peeked inside and sure enough, Kalani was there with her body facing me. 

She must have heard my sigh of relief because she looked up and her eyes widened slightly as she saw the small sword in my hand. "Woah, did something happen?" She asked cautiously as I walked into the room.

"I was worried about you. I thought something happened when I didn't see you after I woke up. Sorry if I startled you," I said as the sword folded back into a pen and I placed it inside my black cargo boots. 

Kalani raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as she returned her attention to the swords she had been eying. "How did you choose your blade?" She asked me after a moment and I chuckled. 

"I actually didn't. It was a gift from an old friend, my mentor. Her name was Barbara, well, at least the name I grew up hearing. She was one of the muses," I said softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she whispered uncomfortably and I waved her off.

"It's okay. It's almost been a year since her death and she died honorably by saving Andrew, Alex, and me. Although, I think that if she had come on this trip, we could have skipped a lot of unnecessary drama," I said half-jokingly while Kalani looked at me with puzzlement. 

Right, she doesn't remember, I thought to myself before clearing my throat.

"But to answer your question, I haven't actually chosen my main weapon. I haven't even thought about it, actually. I guess I have become so comfortable using my blade and it has a special meaning to me that the thought had never crossed my mind," I whispered.

"I think you feel it inside of you as if the weapon were calling out your name," Kalani said as she turned around and looked at a wall on the opposite side of the room. 

With a raised eyebrow, I asked, "why do you say that?"

"Because that sword has been calling out my name from the moment I stepped in here," she said as she walked towards a very large-looking sword. The cross-guard seemed to look like feathered wings that pointed forward. That's when I realized that it wasn't just the wings, the bird started all the way from the grip up to the rain guard where it molded into the head of an eagle. Zeus's representative animal. I couldn't help but wonder if Kalani knew this.

"Look, it even has my father's symbol," she whispered as she pointed to a spot just a couple of millimeters from the beak of the bird. It was a lightning bolt. 

Of course, it makes sense that the daughter of the God of the Skies chooses the only blade in this room with Zeus's mark on it. 

Hesitantly, Kalani reached for the sword, her hand was trembling slightly and I almost held my breath as I watched her circle her palm around the grip.

"Woah," she whispered as soon as her hand touched the sword. In her eyes, I saw something like lightning flash briefly, and outside, a loud thunder echoed in the distance. 

"I can feel it. This is it. This is meant for me," she whispered as she grabbed the sword from the rack and examined it from both sides. 

I looked at her closely, wondering if the thunder that had echoed outside was normal or if Kalani had started to lose control of her powers and she hadn't realized it yet. 

But Kalani only smiled widely as she looked at the sword with so much awe that I couldn't feel a pang of envy. How come she had found a weapon that called out to her so quickly when I still hadn't found mine? 

Shaking the thoughts away, I knew that I should be happy for her. That sword would only respond to her and only her or a direct descendant from Zeus. 

Suddenly, Kalani dropped the sword and it hit the ground with a loud bang. The next thing I knew, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as I looked at Kalani and saw her eyes roll back into her head. Her mouth was slightly open and her legs gave in as she fell. 

Calling out her name and trying to reach her before she hit the ground, I realized she wasn't conscious anymore. I barely made it to her side to catch her as she fell and she had already fallen so much that the impact caused me to lose my footing and drop onto the ground as well.

I landed on my bottom while Kalani's head landed on my lap. I didn't even have time to register the pain that coursed through my back as I started shaking Kalani's body. She started seizing violently and I tried to push her to her side and hold her in place. The seizures stopped shortly after and I heard Kalani let out a sigh before silence fell over us.

"Kalani, wake up. What happened? How do you feel?" I asked quickly, knowing I wasn't going to get an answer but still hoping anyway.

"No, no, no. Kalani, don't do this to me," I whispered as I checked her pulse with my fingers on her neck. My eyes widened when I didn't feel anything. Her heart was no longer beating. 

Looking at the door, I considered leaving her in here while I went to get Mason, but I couldn't pull myself from her side. I didn't want to leave her in case something worse happened. 

"Mason! Mason, can you hear me?" I asked as I reached for him through our bond.

In an instant, he appeared in my mind with a confused and worried look on his face. He could probably tell that something urgent had happened.

"What is it? What's wrong?" He asked quickly. 

Shaking my head, I tried to form the words in my mind but it was hard to think when my mind was on overdrive. "I don't know. It's Kalani.n You have to come to see her for yourself. We're in the weapons room. And hurry, she isn't breathing."

Mason's eyes widened and he quickly disappeared from my mind. Every second that passed seemed to feel like hours. I kept my eyes glued to the door as I cradled Kalani on my lap. Her platinum-blonde hair was beginning to lose its brightness and her skin had started to feel cold under my touch.

Silent tears ran down my cheeks as I shook my head in disbelief. 

A moment later, I heard the sound of rapid footsteps pounding across the training room before Mason and Andrew came into the light and moved towards us.

"I don't know what happened. She touched the sword and... and then she was falling. I caught her but she started seizing and then she just stopped breathing," I said as Mason took my spot next to Kalani. He quickly grabbed her arm and closed his eyes as he concentrated.

He started to murmur something I couldn't understand and Andrew slowly reached for me. I took his hand as I got to my feet. He wrapped one of his arms comfortingly around me while I wrapped my arm around his waist. Him being here helped me clear my mind from the fear I was feeling as I looked at Mason tending to Kalani.

What seemed like an eternity later, Mason opened his eyes and opened his mouth to say something just when Kalani's blue eyes opened and she gasped before starting to cough. Mason gave her some space but made sure to tell her to take it easy and to try not to move too abruptly. 

Her widened eyes looked at Mason then at the rest of us. The color had returned to her cheeks as she tried to take calming breaths. After a moment, she opened her mouth and said, "what happened? Why are you all here?"

Mason raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

"You fainted. I was barely able to catch you and you started to seize so I called Mason," I explained and Kalani's eyes widened even more.

"Huh, how strange. I don't remember any of that," she whispered as her eyes seemed to stare off into space.

"Let's take you to your room. I want to check you more thoroughly and we might need Alex's help with this," Mason said as he helped her onto her feet and tried to push her towards the door.

"Wait, my sword," she whispered as she freed herself from Mason's grasp and quickly grabbed the sword.

I stiffened as I expected something worse to happen but nothing changed. She took the sword and smiled, "okay, now we can go."

Then the two of them were gone. 

Slowly, I pulled away from Andrew and I let out a deep sigh. I wasn't sure how to take everything I had just witnessed. 

"She's fine. It was probably an overcharge of power," Andrew explained as if reading my thoughts. "I also felt my own father's power coming from the sword the first time I touched it. If you're not prepared for it, it might cause you to faint," he explained and I turned to look at him.

"How did you know it was Zeus's sword?" I asked slowly and he chuckled.

"I have seen it before in books and the first time I was in here, I looked at all of the swords thoroughly. Each of them has a story behind their name and their decoration," he whispered and I chuckled, feeling much better now.

"Only you, Andrew," I whispered before heading towards the door without another word.