The Flames of Hope Ch 6

Chapter 6~I Don't Like Being Used
I looked at him through the dark rainbow and he just glared back at me as if his eyes were burning into my soul.

“Glad to know I’m so special,” I said back to him, trying to cover up any fear I had with jokes.

“Oh but you are special demigod, you above all others have gained my interest. You have managed to stop me, even if only for a short time,” he said in a mocking tone. “However, I have other appointments I must keep with my relatives. Family before friends you could say.”

“I’m not your friend!” I yelled back into the rainbow.

“You say that, but in the end you will help me more than you think,” he said, but then had a look on his face of confusion which I didn’t understand, as if he saw something out of my sight.

“Farewell Nolan Swift,” he said and the grey rainbow faded from view.

“What was that about?” Malcolm said. I looked over at him and noticed he had paled a bit, I guessed I didn’t look much better. “I mean he said you would help him somehow.”

“I’m not sure,” I said and I was honest. Melinoe had managed to use me to collect the chain links last winter and I was being told I’d be used again for some unknown purpose. A few of the other demigods had been listening to my conversation as well and looked at each other with questioning looks. “Don’t worry; all we have to do is find our other campers. Nothing can stand up to the full force of Camp Half-Blood.”

Everyone looked around again, but Sammy seemed to take my words to heart as he raised his fist in the air and a few others did the same. It was then that a thought came to mind.

“Does anyone know where he took the campers?” I asked and all at once, everyone’s fist lowered and depression washed over their faces again.

“We must ask Teiresias,” Kat said as she rolled over.

“Who is that?” I asked, but she was already asleep again.

“He was a prophet,” Megan began. “He was a holy man from Thebes. He had vast amounts of knowledge and originally helped Odysseus find his way home, if it weren’t for the gods that is.”

“Is he a monster or something?” Sammy asked. “I mean if he helped Odysseus, he would be dead by now.”

“No, he is a human,” Megan said. “Actually, he was already dead when he helped Odysseus.”

“So that means I have to go to the Underworld again,” I said. I don’t think anyone enjoyed going to the Underworld as only a few ever make it out compared to the number that go in. Those that do make it out normally have to leave something behind. I had been lucky that I didn’t have to leave something behind the time I had visited. “So how do I find him?”

“Well, the closest portal to the Underworld in mythology was the island of Hade; the portal has moved over to America as well,” Megan answered. “You would actually be surprised as to where it is now. It is in Hell, Michigan.”

I thought about that for a second and the irony of the situation. The gate to the Underworld was actually in a place called Hell.

“Alright, I’ll go see about our transportation,” I said and headed for the garage. As I walked inside, I didn’t even recognize the camp’s strawberry van, mostly because the frame of the car had been ripped apart and the engine was on the ground a few feet away.

“What are you doing?!” I yelled. Gear was currently welding something and I had to shield my eyes from the bright light. He lifted his head and removed the welding mask from his face before putting the fire out.

“Oh, didn’t hear you come in,” he said.

“Alright, I’ll ask again,” I replied. “What are you doing to the van? I just found out we need to head to Hell to figure out where the other campers are and you are ripping apart our transportation.”

“Hell?” he asked confused. “Wait, that means I’ll have to make some modifications to my plan.”

“No,” I replied. “Hell is in Michigan.”

“I always suspected…That means a snowball does stand a chance in hell,” he said and I resisted the urge to hit him upside the head.

“No, there is a town in Michigan called Hell. There is a portal to the Underworld we can use there to figure out some information,” I explained as clearly as possible. He seemed to get the idea, but still ran over to a nearby table and began drawing up new plans.

He pulled out a pencil from his pocket and went over to several rolls of paper on a desk nearby. I looked at the blueprints and was amazed at the detail. From what I could make out, he was planning on building the world’s most dangerous van in history. There was also a plan next to it for a new kind of engine and possibly a rocket of some kind, not to mention several smaller ideas scattered around. I wondered if giving him no limitations was a bad thing, but he finished his modifications and was back to work.

“How long is all this going to take?” I asked him as he started bending metal into car parts.

“Oh, maybe a few days,” he said as he kept shifting around to different parts of the room. “Only two if I don’t sleep.”

I knew he was serious about that last comment as he didn’t stop once he started a project and the bigger the project, the more excited he was to finish. After our conversation, I walked out of the garage and rejoined everyone.

“So what did he say?” Malcolm asked.

“He said he should be ready in a few days. We should use the time we have to rest and train,” I said and everyone agreed. It was going to be a long two days for sure as I watched Ruff and Tuff start fighting again.

Darkcloud1111 ~Fastest Hero Alive