Persephone's POV
My breathing rasped as I was in the old woman's body. I had finally caught up with Oizys. She growled out in anger.
"Where is she!!!"
Then she turned to us.
"Where were you guys?! One might think having allies will help you catch that pesky goddess."
"What pesky goddess?" Hypnos asked with a yawn.
Oizys was about to snap. She lunged towards the god of dreams and sleep, but was held back by Dionysus. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"If you want the goddess I say we get back and search for her. She cant have gone far."
"And just which goddess are we talking about again?" The high pitched voice of Aphrodite asked.
Oizys sighed deeply, as if to restrain herself. She mumbled something about 'putting up with Olympians when she could have had primordials'.
"The one who dissapeared for a century. The one that apparently recently returned. The one with the gray eyes and black hair. The one people call Athena!" By the end she was yelling in Aphrodite's face.
I tried to keep the mortal's body from flinching at her loud words.
'Lady Persephone.' An old voice croacked.
'The recharge is complete. You can have your body back.'
It was the old woman. Or better known as 'my mortal form'.
I relaxed a bit. Finally I could be myself again. Without warning I shifted back. The old woman groaned in pain and a scream left her mouth. Bones cracked as they reshifted to create my young flawless body. My hair undid itself from a gray bun and got an auburn color. I opened my eyes to find myself in control again.
"Took you long enough." I snarled at the voice in my head.
"I'm sorry my lady. But your last transformation was too long. It took days for me to regain enough strength to-.."
I cut her off.
"Tell me Delilah. Does it look like I care?"
I heard the old woman gulp.
"All I need from you is your body. If it's not you then I'll choose the next one and you die. So either you let me transform for as long as I please or you die right here, right now.
"You two done or what?" Kloto asked.
A smile played on her lips as the spinner of life played with the thread between her fingers. Her smile was cold and cruel.
I narrowed my eyes at her.
Skyler's POV:
Sam and I made sure that no one followed as we walked back to the three an blend in with the others of the group.
Suddenly someone grabbed my shoulder and I felt annoyance bubble up inside me. It wasn't mine though. It was Athena's.
Unwillingly I let out her sigh. Next to me Sam stiffened. I couldn't tell if it was him or Hestia who felt a tension.
"Where were you?" A deep voice asked.
I turned around and saw the man who held Poseidon towering over me. His hair was a messy dark brown with gray streaks in them. He had a slightly stubbled chin and his eyes were sea-green with a golden rim around them. He wore some jeans with a white shirt.
"Well?" He pressed on.
"Poseidon.." Another voice came from his mouth.
The man's original voice? His voice was higher than the one of the god.
"No Paul. She can't go running around like she knows what's going on."
Paul, the man, gestured at me. He pushed his own arm down and mumbled a quiet apology as he forced himself to walk away.
I stared after him and I could feel Athena's annoyance had sparks of anger in it. It caused my head to ache more and my shoulder was really hurting too now.
"Athena.. It's not just you.." I reminded her.
She 'mhm-ed' in response and made me turn around to Sam again.
"How did you know they were there?" She asked.
"I spotted them during a patrol earlier tonight. I heard the-.."
Hestia was cut of when Raymond came limping over.
"Heard who?" He asked in his own voice.
"No one." Athena answered for me.
He gave me a look that said 'you-better-tell-me-now-or-I'll-make-you'.
"Don't bother." I said.
"First of all, they're no longer here. Second, she-.." I pointed at my head.
"..-Won't tell you."
He glanced at me up and down but seemed to let it go.
"Go home." He said.
I stared at him dumbstruck.
"Exscuse me?" Athena asked.
"Go home and let her rest Athena. The transformation took a toll on her." The voice of Hades replied as Raymond pointed at my shoulder.
It was slightly hanging down from the pain in it.
"Come back once you're fully rested Skyler and take some clothes and things with you. Now that you have found out we excist it's best you stay with us, for your sake. Our enemy doesn't know about Athena's return yet so we need to keep her hidden as our surprise attack. It's clear you and Athena still need getting used to each other so you'll come back here to train and prepare for what lies ahead."
After he said it he put a hand on my shoulder. He gave me a smile that was filled with pitty. I kinda wished I could tell him about our encounter with the other gods, but decided against it. According to Hestia it was better they didn't know.
"Come on Sam. Let's go back." He said.
He took Sam's hand and limped back to the tree with the little boy by his side.
I stood there for a second. Dazed and not knowing what to think. What should I say to Cristy when she sees me like this? How do I explain that I have to leave for god knows how long?
"Gods.." Athena corrected my thoughts.
"Athena?" I asked.
I was almost afraid to ask. The way Ray had said it. It seemed so dark.
"What did Raymond mean with 'what lies ahead'?"
Athena was quiet for a moment. I thought she wasn't going to answer when she said:
"I don't know. But nothing good."
I did as Raymond had asked me. I walked back to Cristy's car and looked over my shoulder back at the willow tree. I just saw a glimpse of Karen's read hair dissapear in the tree after which the trunk closed itself again. It looked like any other three. What scared me more was that it looked as if nothing ever happened. No exploding building (even though the rubble was right there), no crazy woman trying to follow me and Sam, no scary words from Raymond.
The whole way back Athena kept quiet, although the headache and the pain in my slumped shoulder never left. The face of the woman that had chased us kept re-appearing in my memory. Something about her was familiar.