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Chapter 14
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Fire and Water Chapter 15
“Good morning, class,” intoned Blakeney as he strode regally through the door. “Morning, Mr. Blakeney,” the class replied in almost perfect uni-son. The older man deposited an expensive-looking briefcase on a large, glistening wooden desk and turned his full attention on them. “You have all chosen to take International Political Studies this year and as it is a career specific course, it’s important that you always do your very best. Throughout this year we will be looking at the various political decisions of the past 250 years which have helped shape our world into the model we see today. Though there will be tests and several written assignments,” he said before pressing on reassuringly, seeing the panicked faces, “the bulk of your grade will come from the discussions we will often partake in. Do not fret because it is not the shape of your opinion that matters, but your involvement. As is always the case with the nature of our topics, the arguments will sometimes be hea
Fire and Water Chapter 16
The rest of the week passed with little to no fanfare. If James was honest with himself, he’d admit how easy it would be to get wrapped up in the repetition and comfort of simplicity of all of this and forget—or at least displace to the back-burner—the looming darkness hanging over everyone. Though not everyone knew about the storm that was brewing, coming it was, nonetheless. In between school, Eliza, and friends, James had had little time for thought of any missions or training or whatever. He found himself getting distracted more and more often as the week had progressed. Case-in-point: Ricky Collins had been hounding him incessantly about going out for the wrestling team. Apparently, his new body structure was easily noticeable even though he had always had a bit of an athletic build. Regardless, the attention drawn from his new look was a little embarrassing and he wouldn’t be caught dead in any kind of spandex. No, thank you. The week had turned out pretty good and with the w
Fire and Water Chapter 17
Before she could formulate a response, Blakeney took hold of a pair of scissors from the nearby shelving and cut the wrapping free. The depth and seriousness of the injuries caused everyone in the room to gasp with fright. The intake of breath ascended into a palpable silence which seemed to invade every molecule of the atmosphere in the room. “My . . . god,” muttered Blakeney like he was afraid to break the stillness. The stitched gashes were the exact opposite of healing: the jag-ged openings were purple, red, and yellow—completely inflamed; the stitch-work looked to be tearing at the seams; the veins in the immediate vicinity were the color of the inkiest black. Eliza’s sobs shattered the silence into a thousand shards of bro-ken glass. “But . . . b-but . . . how?” She barely managed to get the words out through her rasping, labored breaths. “Robert, this is far worse than any blood poisoning I have ever seen?” Dr. Gomez commented softly. He swallowed n
Fire and Water Chapter 18
She made her way purposefully toward the inner sanctum of the temple. Passing nooks, carvings, and paintings pasted onto the walls, she stepped between two fat pillars. The massive statue of Zeus loomed before her. Eliza had only ever been here with James and not the cold, emptiness made her feel lonelier than ever. She shivered at the thought and crossed her arms as if she were hugging herself. Almost hesitantly she moved her hazel-green eyes up the statue until they rested on the marble orbs in likeness of the king of the gods. Eliza swallowed back both pride and nerves. “I’ve never . . . done this before,” she admitted softly. Her voice echoed like a tinkling bell off the hard surfaces of the sanctuary. She chuckled nervously and pressed on. “I don’t even really know what to do.” In spite of everything, she gave a half smile. “I guess James being your son makes it a little easier for him to talk to you. Or . . . pray to you.” She shrugged her thin shoulders. “I know you’re
Fire and Water Chapter 19
Eliza’s mouth dropped open from shock. Her eyes went wide and she barely blinked. You know it’s funny, being an intelligent person, Eliza should naturally have been spectacle, but there was something ingrained deep within—or maybe hard-wired in her brain—that told her the being before her was divine. “I can see it in the changes of your eyes, Eliza, that you believe me. Good. I would have to have to waste valuable time in demonstrations of truth. And in case you were wondering how it is you . . . feel who I am,” Apollo continued on, “it is my blood in your veins which recognizes me.” She closed her mouth and nodded. “W-wh . . .why?” Eliza asked, then gulped. “How?” Apollo grinned crookedly. “My father sent me. In his nature he is just and because of that, he is still doing his best to not get involved personally. Believe me, many of us are anxious to get in the fight in lieu of Hades’ actions. But nevertheless, we are restrained and restricted to small and indirect interv
Fire and Water Chapter 20
He was awash in a sea of darkness. Well, maybe more like an ocean of absolutely nothing. He seemed to be blind, because not a single refraction of light could be seen anywhere. Nor were there any points of reference. He just floated in a cold, numbing . . . nothing. He just was. There was no real way to describe it. All James knew was the alien-ness of . . . wherever he was and how the passage of time didn’t seem to matter. It could have been days or weeks or years even, but maybe only minutes had passed. Whichever. It wasn’t important; it’s not like he had any thoughts or memories of anything before this place, anyway. Suddenly, just when he thought it couldn’t get any stranger, an indescribable warmth began to spread along his scalp. The feeling was such a relief to the cold in this absolute darkness that he shuddered with exhilaration. The warming sensation spread slowly down and after a while, his whole body tingled. He felt as if he was laying in direct sunlight
Fire and Water Chapter 21
The two of them stared steadily at each other, each of them realizing how much their friendship meant. “Well,” Tres shook off the tender moment in typical fashion. “Now that you’re among the living, I’d better go let Dr. Gomez know.” “Alright.” Tres crossed the room and stepped through the door. After it had closed, he turned to look at the various gifts on the table before him. James read the cards in the flowers and saw that both Tres’s parents and Eliza’s parents had bouquets sent to him along with cards expressing their love. He smiled at the thoughtfulness of the gesture. He picked up the first card and saw it was from Ricky. He laughed out loud as he read it.As soon as you’re better . . . you + me = strip club!!! yah! BOI! He shook his head, thinking of his crazy friend, then read through the rest of the cards. Even Jennifer West had sent him a ‘Get well soon’ card. Dr. Mara Gomez entered the room just as he was finishing up with the last card. “You have quite a lot of
Fire and Water Chapter 22
Eliza gathered her thoughts. Finally, she said, “After you collapsed and we saw how bad your injuries had gotten, and so quickly . . . I kinda took off and wound up at the temple of Zeus. I may have yelled at him some . . . just a little bit.” She held her thumb and forefinger fractionally apart. His brows raised in question. “Really?” She nodded. “Yup.” Eliza blew out a breath, then continued. “Well, after some crying and spilling my heart out to Zeus, he sent Apollo to speak with me. Apollo gave me some Ambrosia and told me to . . . put it all over your body,” she finished in a whisper, glancing away as a blush rose up her neck and filled her cheeks. “As in . . . everywhere.” James blinked blankly at her for a second. Then it hit him like a mallet to the head. “Oh,” he said slowly. “Like all over. And this was what again?” “Ambrosia,” she said in exasperation. “The food of the gods, you know. Only it’s closer to olive oil, really. Apollo told me I could put it all over your skin
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