Killing Olympia

If you've never had to change mid-air into jeans and a sweater as you try not to trip over your own feet, I totally recommend it, purely for the workout. My backpack was crammed with my boots and the rest of my costume, and with a quick pit-stop at home for a shower, a mint from mom's handbag, and deodorant, I at least looked and smelt like I hadn't been jumped by superheroes earlier this morning and then haggled an arm's dealer just a few minutes ago. I've never been on a date before (shocking, I know), and I was in too much of a hurry to ask mom what I was meant to do. I doubt Ronnie even realized I was home until a gust of golden wind swooped out of the front door.

I finished tying my laces above the cinema Bianca was waiting outside. It wasn't cold tonight, but the breeze bit hard enough to make her zip up the Olympus U varsity jacket she was wearing. Flowers. I should probably get her those for making her wait so long. I looked around, already a little sweaty from multitasking, and found a flower bed along the street. The Upper West was nice enough to still have flowers on their streets. People in Lower Olympus had either eaten what they could of them or torn the flowers out and started community gardens.

At least, they tried to, until someone would eventually steal everything they had going for them.

"Hey," I said, trying not to pant. Bianca startled as I landed beside her on the pavement. She put a hand to her chest and smiled a little. I offered her the flowers, and all she had to do was just ignore the dirt on their roots.

"Thanks, Ry," she said, taking them from me. "My favorite, roadside petunias."

"Sorry for making you wait," I said. "I've had a crazy day. But that doesn't matter. C'mon, let's go and get the tickets. And you like that chili-flavored popcorn, right? I'll get you however much you want. It's all my treat."

Bianca smiled, then jerked her thumb at the sign on the cinema doors.

"Closed," I muttered. I sighed and looked up at the sky. And you blew it.

Awesome job, Rylee.

"Hey, it's alright," she said, squeezing my shoulder. Her fingers felt cold, almost sharp to the touch. I couldn't help but massage my face and groan into my palms. "To be fair, you did get kicked in the face by Ares just a few hours ago, which, by the way, fuck him for doing that. He's lucky I wasn't there. I would've kicked his ass."

"I'm really sorry," I said quietly. "I made a promise and I'm trying to keep those."

She shrugged. "Perks of going on not-dates with a superhero, right?" She bumped my arm with her elbow and said, "Besides, all the movies out right now kinda suck. Pretty much just old Olympian: Legacy remakes now."

"It wasn't really about the movie, you know," I said. "I just kinda wanted you to have a good day."

"Rylee, I'm fine. I promise. What I told you wasn't that big of a deal."

"Bianca," I said softly, "you wanted to—"

"We can still go and grab some food if you want," she said. "I know this awesome chili dog stand down at the waterfront. Katie used to take me there sometimes. They're barely three bucks, but they taste amazing, too."

I stared at her, my brow creasing. I wanted to listen to her heartbeat, to notice the sweat on her brow or the quake in her voice. But I couldn't. It was almost like she wasn't standing right in front of me. My shoulder itched where she touched me, but I ignored it, then tried to listen again for her heart. Nothing. Dead silent. She was almost fuzzy to look at and uncomfortable to stand so close to, but…whatever. Bianca wasn't some villain I had to be deathly focused on, or some creep trying to sell me untrustworthy information. So I shook my head and put on a smile I could manage and put what she said on the back burner. We'd talk about it, but I couldn't force it out of her.

Some time and patience and actually putting in the work to be there, and maybe she'll open up.

For now, all I could say was: "Sure, but I'm buying. Wanna walk there, or…you know?"

She smiled and looked around. "Nobodies around, but only if you take it slow."

I tried to pretend my face didn't get hot when I scooped her into my arms. "Got it. Nice and slow." I bent, then shot into the sky just fast enough to make her scream, but like her brother, Bianca was a thrill seeker deep down, and all that screaming turned to gasping, wide-eyed laughter as I slowed down and skimmed over the city skyline. Why does she feel so cold? My chest felt tight, and not in the usual way it does when I'm around her. But I smiled, because she was smiling. She pointed at buildings she recognized and waved at kids gaping up at us. Her face was so bright, so warm, her freckled cheeks almost burning and her ears going red when she glanced at me.

But it felt like I was carrying nothing. Thin air. I could barely feel her skin against my fingers. It was almost like I was touching a piece of plastic. Her breaths curled against my neck as she rested her head against my shoulder, but all that did was drag a shudder down my spine. What's going on with me? Shake it off, Ry, and don't blow this by dropping her, no matter how weird it felt carrying someone that felt like a living cadaver in your arms.

"Rylee?" she asked. I blinked, then looked at her. "You're holding me a little too…"

I cursed, then stopped digging my fingers into her arm. "Sorry," I said. "Just don't want you to fall."

"You'd catch me," Bianca said. "So I really wouldn't mind."

The waterfront slowly grew into view, but nowhere near as gorgeous as it used to be. Construction was still on-going, leaving cranes and sectioned-off, unfinished buildings towering over the strip that stretched right along the ocean. Police officers lazily milled around, keeping their eyes on smaller groups of people standing beside the railing and taking photos of the moon's reflection on the water. The difference between this place compared to just a few miles down East was jarring. For one, the ocean actually smelt clean here, and the streets weren't full of trash and rubble and temporary encampments put together with bits of old stone, shredded curtains, and elbow grease.

But just for a few hours, I was going to put that out of my mind and focus on Bianca. I set us down not too far away from the waterfront, but far enough away that nobody would squint at me and wonder why I looked pretty familiar. But even if they cared, nobody paid any attention to us as we walked along the waterfront, chili dogs bought and still so hot they steamed in their buns. I hadn't eaten all day long, so I might've thrown away my manners just a little bit when I wolfed down three before Bianca could even get halfway through her first. Oh, man, I could probably go for more of those. And the best part? My bank account didn't even flinch. Like, dude! This time last year, and I'd be pinching the pennies off the pavement and hoping to the gods I'd trip over and find five bucks.

I wasn't going to be stupid with it, though. I mean, sure, I could go out and buy myself a fancier phone, maybe a laptop that doesn't have to get hooked up to a socket to flicker and wheeze itself into existence, but…

I kinda wanted to spend my money where it mattered right now, like on gear. Maybe a new earpiece that doesn't fall out so easily. Some kind of, I don't know, secret layer? How would that work? Would I pay rent, or would I just swoop into any empty building in Lower Olympus and set up shop? Nobody was going to haggle me for money if I did, and I also needed a place to start keeping all the costumes I burn through. The red and white one was gone and now on the clone's body. This one was a keeper. The SDU left with theirs, and I kinda missed that other outfit, the one with the golden utility belt. Retro, you know? And useful. Maybe I can have different ones for different days. Now that's awesome. And I can still use the Tempest one if I need something a little less…loud, too.

Stolen story; please report.

Should I invest in gadgets and stuff? Dunno, I'm not a tech-head. Not really all that smart, either.

Besides, who needed grappling hooks when you could fly twice the speed of sound?

Hell, if I saved up enough cash, I can get myself a sidekick who knows all that stuff.

Bianca bumped my shoulder. We were leaning against a spot on the railing, and I'd already finished licking the sauce off my fingers. "I like your new hair," she said. Just like that, my cheeks burned. "It's kinda hot."

I choked on my saliva and coughed into my fist. She patted my back, but I waved her away. "I'm fine," I said, clearing my throat. "Must be the chili. Super sensitive taste buds." Did she just call me hot? No, wait, she called my haircut hot, that's different, right? "Thanks," I managed, then smiled at her. "It wasn't really planned."

"I like spontaneous," she said. Our arms were touching, but being taller than I was, it meant she almost felt like a barrier to the wind, making me just that little bit warmer. "Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?"

I shook my head, then tapped my ears. "Can't even get piercings. My skin's too thick."

"Huh," she said. "So, wait, I've seen you bleed on TV before. How does that work?"

"I don't usually bleed," I said. "Only if I get hit hard enough for it to hurt, which usually means if anyone else got hit by what just made me bleed, they'd probably either be dead or in a coma for the rest of their lives."

Bianca raised an eyebrow, then traced her finger over the back of my hand. It stung immediately, but I bit the edge of my tongue and swallowed whatever rash of pain was burning up my arm. "But it feels so smooth." She turned my hand over and rubbed her thumb over my callouses. Bianca looked at me, and I looked at her, and for a moment, I could see the moon's reflection in her eyes before she smiled and looked back down at my hand again. "I always figured it would feel weird touching things for you. Like, you can probably bend steel by accident, too."

"You don't even know the half of it," I said, grinning. "When I was younger, I'd break my doorknob all the time by accident. It kinda feels like I'm walking on eggshells sometimes, but you get pretty used to it pretty fast."

You kinda had to, because suddenly, shoving someone playing soccer wasn't just a foul—it probably meant they broke their arm, and now the entire soccer team is looking at you like you're some kind of little monster.

I tried my best to apologize to Harper, but I guess some things are a little harder to fix than others.

"So…" she said, turning her body to face me. "Whenever you touch anyone, are you afraid that you'll…"

"All the time," I said quietly. I rubbed my knuckles, almost trying to massage the ache deeper into my bones and off my skin. Where she touched me was already starting to go red, so I pulled my sleeves over my hands and folded them on the railing. "I sometimes underestimate myself and just how much I can do. There's times when I want to stop somebody and end up hurting them a lot more than I would've liked. But I'm trying to work on that."

"And how's that going?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Every time I need help from people, they either flake out on me or end up using me, so I've pretty much had to learn it on the go so far. On the bright side, I didn't hurt anyone today. I actually saved a guy from having a heart attack." I looked at her and said, "But enough about me. How's the Ol' U been so far, B?"

Bianca didn't answer immediately. Her eyes tracked mine, then slid to my neck, down my body, then she got a little closer. I swallowed and looked around, smiling a little, wondering why she was looking at me so weirdly. I didn't smell bad, did I? I was sweating, sure, but that was because standing so close to Bianca felt like I was standing right beside an open bonfire. My throat was dry, and my chest hurt breathing in her sickly sweet perfume.

So sickly sweet it almost felt like I was inhaling poison.

"Would be better with you around," she said. "You're still gonna join, aren't you?"

"Yeah, totally," I said. "In fact, I'll probably drag mom down there with me tomorrow to get things sorted."

"Cool," she said. She hasn't blinked yet. "And… Where would you be staying?"

"In, uh…" Bianca fingered aside a strand of hair from my face, and when her finger grazed my cheek, a tiny explosion of pain made me cringe and step back. I swore and turned away, massaging my cheek, because what the hell was that? I swallowed, then tasted blood in my mouth, then felt it dribble from my nose. The fuck? Bianca stepped back and asked if I was fine, reaching for my shoulder as she did. Reflex made me spin a little, but I already had tissue on my nose and a thumbs up as my head pounded and my cheek burned. "I'm fine," I said nasally. I am not fine. "I get nosebleeds all the time. I've got a bad habit of focusing really hard on things, like you, so my bad."

Bianca grinned. "If that was you trying to flirt, I'd give it a solid six out of ten."

I laughed a little, then spat blood over the side of the railing. Fuck me, my head. I massaged the back of my neck and wiped away the last of the blood. I smiled at B and said, "I'm fine. I promise. I just need a sec to breathe."

The smile thinned, but stayed on her face. Her brow creased as she folded her arms, almost protectively.

We stood apart, myself massaging my temples, and Bianca watching me, silent and still.

The world was quiet, almost as if it had stopped spinning entirely.

"I should probably go," she said quietly.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "We can still hang out a little more."

"I've got spring training tomorrow," she said, shrugging a little. "And you've got people to save, right?"

I looked at her for a moment, trying to read the emotion on her face. She was just like Ben in some ways, so easy to shrug and smile and wave a hand at a problem. "We're still seeing each other tomorrow, right? For the tour?"

"Depends on you," she said. "You'll tell me if you're busy or not."

"I've always got time for you."

"You're a superhero, Rylee," Bianca said. "No, you don't. That's why tonight felt special, and that's why tomorrow will hopefully feel the same way, too. I'm always watching you on the news and wherever I can. Promise."

I tensed my jaw, took a moment to find my words, and said, "I can fly you back, B. Slower this time."

"I'll take a cab," she said. Half a step back, eyes a little more guarded. Arms still folded around herself.

I wanted to reach out, to say something, but I couldn't move even if I wanted to. My skin ached too much and I had nothing left to say to her either. We stayed quiet, letting the wind and the people around us fill the void.

"Alright," I finally said, my voice barely above a whisper. "Well, um, call me when you get home?"

"Sure," she said, smiling. "See you tomorrow, Ry."

"Yeah," I whispered, watching her leave. "See you tomorrow, B."

Fuck.

I cupped my face in my hands and sighed, massaging my eyes and then hanging my head. It's just one thing after another with you. This isn't saving the world, Rylee, it's trying to make it up to her. I should have told her that it wasn't her fault. I should have said that this happened all the time. I pounded the side of my fist against the railing, denting it and sending a dull vibration through the concrete. You need to find that cure Lucia gave to Ben. Maybe not a cure, but some kind of way to make whatever the fuck is inside of her back off. Bianca wasn't the problem. It was whatever Ben had handed down to her, and this would've been easier if Katie was still alive, too.

Then again, a lot of things in my life would have been easier if so many people weren't dead.

"Do not fret," a voice whispered. Static crawled down my spine. I slowly opened my eyes, and the entire street around me was suddenly frozen. The kid who's hotdog was halfway toward the concrete gaped at the floating piece of meat. The couple holding hands and pointing at the ocean weren't blinking. And a shadow of flickering light was behind me, a shade darker than black and brighter than anything the rainbow could vomit. "Your death comes soon, too. And once it does, this mortal bondage of suffering ceases, and the Goddess of War can rest."

I looked back at the ocean, at the glassy sheen of frozen waves and white foam. "Not tonight."

"Certainly," It said. "But soon, according to our deal, lest you've forgotten."

I shut my eyes, then rested my head against the railing. Not tonight.

"Your body will be mine soon, if the witch remains alive."

My fingers curled into a fist.

Not tonight.

"And once you perish," It whispered, suddenly beside me. "I'll do the honors of courting the girl on your behalf, God Butcher."

I stilled, jaw tense, breathing shallow.

I thrust my fist to my right, but I hit nothing except air, sending a violent gust of wind along the coastline. The world sped back up. The hotdog fell. The couple staggered in the wind. And the ocean surged as the wind shoved it backward, but I was already in the sky at that point, words echoing in my head and my heartbeat racing.

My mouth still tasted of blood, and Bianca didn't even have to hit me to make it happen.

All she had to do was hold my hand.

I'll fix this. I will fix this.

I didn't have a choice not to.