Book Two of the Supernatural Series

Prologue: Questions
September 1st

11:36 PM

Mount Olympus: Moon Canyon

“Where could the boy be? And how could he possibly hide?” said the tall woman. She wore a
long, glittering silver dress that trailed behind her as she walked. The only thing that betrayed
her look of sorrow and innocence was the dangerous bow strapped to her back over top of a
quiver of arrows. “Have you tried to track him?”

“Yes, but… m’lady, it is impossible to do so,” said the shorter lady. “I have served you all day,
m’lady; may I please ask one favor? May I please rest?”

“You may have tomorrow off if you do me one other thing,” the tall woman said. She stopped
walking and turned to her servant. “Tell me, what has my brother said of this?”

The servant shifted uncomfortably. “I… I do not know exactly… I cannot understand his
words.”

“What has he said on the matter?” the taller woman pressed. A silvery-bluish nimbus enclosed
her hand like a glove. She touched her servant with the glowing hand. “Tell me.”

“But I… I, I,” suddenly, it was as if she were in some trance. Her eyes opened widely. “He has
announced that he thinks he shall grasp the future in a half hour or so,” she said. The taller
woman lifted her hand from her servant’s shoulder.

“Just where shall this happen?”

“Hestia’s Fire at exactly eleven fifty-nine past meridian.” She then dropped from her trance.

“You would do well to remember who I am, Jane. I can be very unforgiving at times.”
“Yes, m’lady, I understand.”

“Who am I, Jane? Who am I?” the tall woman asked.

“You are Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt and of the Moon. Please forgive me,” replied the
servant shakily.

“Yes, I am. And If I must, I shall do the search along with my ten companions and Sarce. Maybe I
shall even call upon Atalanta if need be.”

“Yes m’lady.”

“Be gone now, I have much work.”

“Thank you very much m’lady,” said the servant. She stepped back, bowed, and then walked off
into the night.

‫٭٭٭‬
11:57

Mount Olympus: Hestia’s Fireside

Artemis stood with her back turned away from the large, burning fire and its intense heat. She
was only minutes away from hearing another one of her twin brother’s prophecies. She had a
hunch that it would be vital to her search for the special boy. The gods had created a team of
specially chosen demigods to conduct a search for him, but they hadn’t had any success.
Warriors, heroes, creatures of myth and even Aristaeus had gone in search and had found
nothing. And what made it worse; they’d lost four men. So now, Artemis was bent on taking
matters into her own hands. There was a loud chime; it was coming from all around her. It was
time. Time for the prophecy to be told.

Are you alright, mistress? You seem… tense, said a voice in her head. It was Sarce, her stag
companion.

“Yes, Sarce, I’m alright. I’m just anxious about my brother’s prophecy. I’m hopeful that it shall
have something to do with a possible location of the boy.”

The stag sat down, and then rolled over to lie down. You are very keen on finding him, aren’t
you?

“More than I can even demonstrate,” explained Artemis. “This child has many abilities. He
manipulates kinetic energy and even holds dominion over the domain of fire.”
How? The manipulation of kinetic energy is amazing, yet understandable. But, how could he
control an element without training at the age of nine?!

“Well, when he was a baby, his mother was roaming and exploring the ruins of an ancient
underground city. She stumbled across an invisible portal. Without her knowledge, her baby
crawled into the portal. I know where he’d gone: the Fire Realm. Legends foretell that if you stay
in any of the Elemental Realms for over two years, you assume that very power. As you grow
older, your body adapts to the environment, and draws on the atmosphere’s fiery energy to feed
on. Eventually, I imagine you would absorb so much of that energy that you can secrete it from
your hands. Your blood would become like flames—in other words, would take on some of the
qualities. As you know, there are four Elemental Realms; the Fire Realm, the Terra Realm, the
Water Realm, and the Sky Realm. I suspect that perhaps there has been another occurrence of
this.”

Shall I suggest for you to ask Gaia? She should know, as Mother Earth, of course.

Artemis let slip her laughter. “Me? Ask Gaia? She thinks my name is the Huntress because I hunt
down animals! I hold animals close to my heart and cherish them as sacred creatures. I shall not
be asking anything of her!”

Than that makes your work so much more difficult. Now, you must ask Aeolus, Hestia, Poseidon
and… who else could you ask other than Gaia?

“I could ask… well, I could ask…oh why is the earth such a common ground that no more than
one Goddess has authority over it?”

Suddenly, there was a jingling sound. The bell. Time for the prophecy to be announced.
Everyone turned their heads to the spot where Apollo should be. But he wasn’t there. “Where is
he?!” a voice yelled. A swirl of yellow and pink flew into the air. “I knew he wouldn’t show!”
Suddenly, there was fire in the sky. Blue flames danced where the whirl of energy had hit. It
funneled into an angry face, and then duplicated itself, this time making a face with a tongue
hanging out. Both faces flew around the shy, chasing each other around. Then, the faces
crashed into the platform of Apollo. The cobalt flames jumped and crackled and burned.
Artemis thrust out her palm. A silvery sapphire sphere soared through the open spaces between
everyone, weaving intricately around every obstacle expertly until it finally crashed into the
blue combustion. The fire swirled up into the air, spun into a globe, and burst outward. But it
didn’t burst into cinders, but miniscule water droplets. Then, as she walked, Artemis snapped
her fingers. The light from the moon grew brighter, and brighter, until no one could see
anything except the hot white light.
“I’m here!” a recognizable voice announced. The light that Artemis had conjured faded into
oblivion. Standing at the podium next to his chair was Apollo. He was surrounded by a brilliant
golden halo. “You called, sister?”

“Yes, Apollo… the prophecy?”

“Oh, right! That must be why I feel so… odd.”

“Atë! What you did there was stupid and foolis—oh, wait, never mind. It makes sense, seeing as
you are the goddess of foolish acts!”

“You can’t boss me around honey!”

“Do NOT call me that!” A spark of snow-white energy burst into existence on her finger. She
flicked it forward. As it hit Atë, a transformation occurred. There, standing where Atë had once
been was a bunny with oversized ears. “There! Now you’ll learn how to listen whether you like
it or not!”

There was a loud yell. Everyone turned to the source: Apollo. Beams of light shot out of his
mouth and eyes. When he spoke, he sounded possessed, like there was a voice on top of his own.

“The one who hides in the ashes and the cinders,

Who wields great power beyond control,

Can only be found by the son of the 7th,

16, unpredictable, 16, a daughter.

Betrayal of a father to join the other side,

Yet a traitor from one side still resides.”

The beams faded away from his eyes and mouth. “That didn’t even rhyme!” someone yelled.

“Well, that’s all, folks!” said Apollo. A blinding golden light consumed the area. When it faded,
Apollo was gone.

“Who cares about this so much anyways? They’re just some stupid kids!” Atë shouted. She was
no longer a rabbit.

“Yes, kids that somehow possess supernatural abilities that not even the original twelve gods of
Olympus could duplicate! Changing kinetic energy into physical blasts, harnessing chi,
technopathy and even being able to teleport! Tell me, Ate, can you do one of these things?”
“Well, I can do this!” Atë closed her eyes. Coils of gray mist lifted from the ground to surround
her. They rose up, high into the air, clouding the sky. More mist covered up Atë, and then rolled
away. She had disappeared.

Everyone began to chatter loudly. “QUIET!” bellowed an unseen man. It came from the sky.
“QUIET I say! What has happened!?”

“Father Zeus, Atë has vanished. I think she is after the children!”

“Call a search party and search all of Olympus! She could not have gone far!”

“Alexiares, Anicetus! You guys are the Guardians of Olympus! What have you seen?”

Alexiares stepped forward. He turned to Anicetus, who then stepped beside his twin brother.
They held each other’s hands, forming a space between their bodies. A sphere of radiance faded
into life. There was a photo inside of it. It was Atë, standing before a large gorge. She had her
hands held over the chasm.

“She’s at Darkness Ridge! She’s going to awaken…”

“Mistress Hekate,” said Jane. She’d come out of nowhere, and was now standing behind Artemis.

“Mistress Hekate? I’m your mistress, Jane!”

“Lampades have no mistresses other than Hekate!” her face began to transform, her body
morphing to match it. She was now a nymph—a short, wrinkle-faced lady, holding a lit torch
in either hand. She wore a long blue dress that trailed on the ground as she stepped toward
Artemis with her torch held out. Legend said that even the light of a Lampade’s torch could
drive someone insane.