Chapter Twelve of Doom

The twelfth chapter of Eternal Destiny

CHAPTER TWELVE OF DOOM
Caitlyn swung her hammer at Roy again, who transported out of the way as quickly as he could.

"Would you just hold still?" she demanded.

"With all due respect, no," Roy said. "Why are you even working with Trachius in the first place? He seems to just want Eternal Destiny for himself."

She shrugged. "I needed a way to get to Djensitty. Trachius needed someone who knew how to keep a boat in working order. By taking me aboard he killed two birds with one stone."

She tossed her hammer at him. He muttered "Anoichtó," and the hammer appeared behind her and flew toward the back of her head. She caught it anyway.

"With all due respect, would it be alright if Rune and I took you to Djensitty? Why do you need to go there anyway?"

Caitlyn sighed. "It's... a long story..."

''Nine year old Caitlyn took the hammer and swung it to the side. "It... fits me..." she admitted.''

"Well, that's good," Ursula told her. "Its name is Sfyrí. Literally 'hammer'. Say the name and it'll grow to whatever size you want. Remember, hammers can make good weapons, especially against an armored opponent that blades won't work on.

''Age twelve. The hammer had lost its new-weapon feel from when Caitlyn had first gotten it. Now, she wasn't nearly as fond of it, looking at the other campers who used their knives for mundane tasks like cutting sandwiches. But the hammer? Pretty much useless outside of battle, and for a daughter of Athena, she needed more purpose.''

Aboard the Argo II, she finally decided to ask someone what she needed to ask.

''"Can I switch my weapon?" she asked an older girl, a daughter of Poseidon named Kelsey. "Hammers aren't really good for anything beside smashing things."''

''"Are you kidding?" Kelsey asked. "Look at this boat. Wood, metal, it's a marvel of engineering. But you know the main thing that holds it together? Good old hammer and nails." Kelsey looked Caitlyn in the eyes. "Yes, hammers can destroy. But they can also create. Sfyrí is a weapon capable of making a ship as mighty as all this." She gestured around her.''

''Caitlyn gazed in awe. She'd never thought of it like that. "Um... Kelsey? You know a lot about boats, right? Could you... maybe... teach me how to use my hammer to build and repair boats so I can use it well?"''

''Kelsey smiled and rubbed Caitlyn's hair. "Sure thing."''

''By the age of fifteen, Caitlyn had learned about everything that holds boats together, and exactly how her hammer, no longer a tool of pure violence, could build and fix every single part of that whole. For a while, she was almost... happy.''

Then, one night while Caitlyn studied blueprints of much older boats - the original Argo'', for instance - she heard a voice. Kelsey screaming "NO!"''

''There was a big array of sound. Caitlyn was too scared to go upstairs to find out what it was. But then someone walked down, an injured cyclops. Caitlyn instinctively reached for her hammer, but the cyclops shook his hand to show he was unarmed.''

''"I won't hurt you," he said. "My name is Trachius. I am - was - a friend of Kelsey's."''

''Caitlyn caught the implication immediately, yet couldn't help stuttering. "What happened to Kelsey?"''

''"Really big monster," was Trachius's reply. "I'm not even sure what it was. We got rid of it, but..." He started to tear up.''

''By this point, Caitlyn was sobbing too. "KELSEY!"''

Links
Eternal Destiny

Previous Chapter: Chapter Eleven of Doom

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirteen of Doom

Trivia

 * This chapter was written by DarkCyberWolf on 22 February 2013.
 * Characters met this chapter: Kelsey Fisher, Ursula Porter, young versions of Caitlyn and Trachius