To Disturb the Harmony~Chapter 19

I carried Kimi into the car and placed her in the back seat, placing the seat belt on her and taking the seat next to her to prop her up during the ride. Aisling called shotgun and instantly jumped into the front. The car seemed to have extra strength high beams on, but instead of just pointing forward, they seemed to glow in all directions, illuminating the area. I felt like I was getting a sun burn just from standing near the thing.

“Alright, we best get going. Artemis is going to be pretty mad at me if she catches me here. Not to mention that the people on the other side of the world are most likely wondering how it got so dark so fast. So, let’s put the pedal to the metal,” Apollo said and before I even had a chance to shake my head at the lame line, Apollo hit the gas and we went flying into the air. He turned on the radio, but we were moving so fast that he didn’t even turn the knob, and we would pick up radio transmissions from different cities as we flew over them. I wondered what the mortals saw as we flew across the states, maybe a giant ball of fire or a shooting star, you could never tell with the mist. Thankfully it was still early and most people would be asleep still.

“Are we there yet,” Aisling said from the front seat, watching as the land below us flew past us at about 500 miles an hour.

“Almost little lady, just need to find a parking spot,” he said before slamming on the brakes. The car made a screeching sound as the tires seemed to be braking against the air itself. I was worried that maybe the car would flip over or something, but it never did. Instead, it came to a complete stop and then fell straight down toward the ground. “There’s one.”

The car landed with a thud in the middle of a parking lot and I rushed out of the car, grabbed a railing overlooking a small cliff, and tossed any food that was still in my stomach. When I looked down, I saw Nala run over and do the same exact thing I was currently doing and for a second, we had a bonding moment. Right up until we felt some other stuff work its way back up.

“Little lads get car sick, well these should fix you right up,” Apollo said and tossed me two small vitamins shaped like cows. I was a bit hesitant, but I ate one and I felt their healing powers flood my body. I handed the other to Nala, and she sniffed it before eating it, almost taking my fingers off in the process.

“That was the best car ride ever!” Aisling said as she unbuckled her seat belt and jumped up and down when she exited the car. “Maybe next time you’ll let me drive?”

“We’ll have to see. I don’t let just anyone drive my car after all. At least not lately after that little fiasco with a daughter of Zeus awhile ago. Maybe next time,” Apollo said and Aisling let out a small frown. I meanwhile walked back to the car and unhooked Kimi’s seat belt. I then carried her over to a nearby picnic table and laid her down.

“Alright kiddies, I can’t stay too long and I need to go the long way around the earth to avoid my sister. I have to leave now if I want to get back on track. Good luck,” Apollo said as he waved at us from his front seat. He hit the gas a few times and the car transformed into what looked like an old Delorean. The car rose into the air and vanished in a flash of light, leaving nothing behind but to flaming tire tracks in mid air, which quickly vanished.

“Where are we anyway,” I asked, looking around. With Apollo’s car now gone and the moon being unusually dim, maybe from Artemis looking for her brother instead of focusing on the moon, I couldn’t see much.

“Give me a second,” Aisling said as she ran to the road that connected to the parking lot. She took a step onto the road and closed her eyes for a minute. “Oh wow, this is better than we could have hoped. We’re here, we’re at the Grand Canyon!”

Aisling continued to jump up and down with joy while I was just amazed that Apollo had taken us all the way across. Just then I felt a hand on my shoulder and I almost jumped out of my skin as I let out a small yell.

“Ha ha, you scream like a girl,” Aisling mused and it turned around to see Kimi pushing herself up off the table. She had grabbed my shoulder for support and I had proceeded to freak out. Once she had gotten herself into a comfortable sitting position, I noticed her head was still a bit low and she rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache.

“What happened? I pass out for what I hope is only a few hours, and we manage to travel across the country in no time,” she said confused.

“Apollo gave us a ride,” I explained and she nodded in understanding.

“So what do we do now?” Aisling asked as she walked over and took a seat at the table. I wasn’t sure myself what we were supposed to do as the prophecy only told us to come here and that someone was waiting for us, that is if we were in the right canyon.

“Well it is still too dark for us to do anything right now. Sunrise is in a few hours, if Apollo is back on track that is, so we should wait until morning,” I said, and everyone nodded in agreement. We found our way to a diner that had just opened and we ordered enough food to last us about a month. I ordered the French toast, Aisling ordered a short stack of pancakes and drowned them in syrup, and Kimi ordered a Belgian waffle. Aisling had also ordered an extra side of bacon and slipped a few pieces into her bag for Nala, who I could hear purr in appreciation.

As we hung out, I saw a news report talking about a freak winter system moving west toward Arizona. I remembered the element of ice we fought in Washington and I wondered if it was coming back to avenge his ice creatures.