The Tree of Hope: Chapter Nineteen

The nineteenth chapter of the first installment of The Legacies Saga

 CHAPTER NINETEEN 

RODRIGUEZ VS. KIRRNO

Ritne peered into the books. A lot of the text was written in inake ancient Greek, but there were some in English as well.

"The last stand of Thalia Grace," she told Alaric. "Apparently centuries ago, there was this demigod daughter of Zeus who came to some place called Camp Half-Blood. She was going there with two other demigods and a... sat-ire?"

"Satyr," Alaric corrected. He pronounced it say-der. "Camp Half-Blood... whatever this place was, it seems to hold a lot of secrets."

Ritne nodded and continued. "They were all getting chased by a large mass of monsters. Thalia Grace had made 'her last stand' and gave her life to fight off the monsters so that her companions could arrive at this Camp Half-Blood safely. Zeus took pity on his daughter and decided to turn her into a pine tree. Years later, the golden fleece was brought to Camp Half-Blood and its power was sufficient to resurrect Thalia. The tree stayed there, as did the golden fleece."

"So, the one sustaining the Mainworld? tree... this Thalia... is Zeus's daughter," Alaric mused. "Therefore, any of her descendants from after resurrection ought to be legacies of air."

"Afraid not," Ritne said. "It says here that Thalia became a Hunter of Artemis and never had any descendants."

"But a Hunter... they are immortal. If Thalia Grace is still alive... if Artemis leaving had not ended her immortality... then she herself is a descendant of air. I know who to search for now to unlock the gate. I am fire. This Thalia girl is air. I know a descendant of Poseidon who will be simple to bring here. All that remains are a descendant of Hades and... who was the god of aether?"

"His actual name was Aether, as it turns out," Ritne said. "And once you find Thalia and the descendants of Hades, Poseidon, and Aether, the gate will be unlocked and that prophecy you mentioned will be complete?"

~+~

Mia heard the scuffle before she saw it.

In Julia's office, a woman was grabbing the Oracle. From her emerald hair and dark skin, Mia knew that this was definitely a Mainworlder.

A Mainworlder attacking Julia.

"Now, I want answers," the woman said.

"Never," Julia spat. "As legacy of Ares, god of war, and Hermes, god of travelers, Oracle of the Hidden City, and master of the Pithos of Hestia, I will never submit my comrades."

There was more steel in Julia's voice - and her eyes - than Mia had ever heard or seen from her leader.

"I will never sell out my comrades... my friends. Just as I know they would never turn their back on me, or disobey me, even when I tell them to go down to the Mainworld."

That, Mia knew, was meant for her: She had to go down to the Ekinta... Find someone like Adam Jamison or Natasha Hutchins who could come up here and rescue Julia.

Mia silently dashed away, heading straight for the elevator.

~+~

Julia had always been the mission control - never a fighter. Never the one people relied on. Now, it was time to win it all back by protecting her comrades from Kirrno.

"Never,"? Julia spat at her. "As legacy of Ares, god of war, and Hermes, god of travelers, Oracle of the Hidden City, and master of the Pithos of Hestia, I will never submit my comrades."

No... comrades... that word didn't feel right there. As she thought, she saw Mia Sanchez peering through the door. I could die here, Julia thought. ''But I can still? get Mia to communicate with Team Explosion and Team Chiron.''

"I will never sell out my comrades... my friends. Just as I know they would never turn their back on me, or disobey me, even when I tell them to go down to the Mainworld."

That got the point across. Mia started dashing out without Kirrno noticing.

Now Julia could focus all her concentration on taking this Mainworder down.

Julia took a wooden staff from her drawer? - coated with dust and cobwebs from lack of use - and swung it neat circles to see if she still had the hang of it.

"So it'll be a fight, then," Kirrno grinned. She reached for a small metal cube in her pocket and pressed a button. The cube expanded into a similar, but steel, weapon.

"For the Hidden City!" Julia cried, striking Gyan Kirrno at the shoulder. Kirrno effortlessly blocked the strike with her own weapon and tilted it rapidly. A blow hit Julia in the chest.

Julia coughed twice. She was pretty sure she'd seen some red come out. But she needed to protect the others from Kirrno...

"That the best you can do?" Kirrno taunted. "Jinto and my superiors always said that Upperworld legacies were supposed to be powerful!"

Powerful... Julia was tempted to laugh at that one, and would have if not for the pain in her chest. There hadn't been a truly powerful Upperworlder in generations... except...

Except for Alaric Burne, with his power of fire.

That was the answer: Fire. But Julia had to get there first...

Julia climbed over her own desk and pulled three knives as she ran, tossing them all at Kirrno. Kirrno blocked each of them in turn with her staff. Then she got to the big shelf. She took a jar out of the shelf and put it in her shirt pocket, then grabbed the enormous? electric spear? that was behind the jar.

"Maimer," Julia whispered. "Nice to see you again, old girl. Time for one more fight, okay?"

Julia may have imagined it - in fact, she was certain she imagined it - but the way she held the spear made it look like it was nodding.

Julia and Kirrno exchanged blows until Kirrno slammed into Julia's side. The impact knocked Maimer out of Julia's hands, and Julia heard the slight crack that she knew would end the battle.

Clearly, Kirrno heard it too. "What was that?"

Julia hugged Kirrno's body so she couldn't escape. "That jar I moved... was Greek fire..."

Then the explosion came.

Julia didn't shed a single tear at the end.

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