Athena always flinched at the smallest things. Always flinched at barely loud noises, yelling, and static electricity against her, even the gentlest touch would make her eyes widen in fear before she realized who it was. No one knew why she did this, or how they could make it stop ( not that very many people tried to figure either of those out ). Athena was the kind of person to glare at you if you got too close, the kind of person to ignore you if you said hello. As far as anyone knew, she never even smiled, just had this resting judging face. The only person that she had ever gotten close to in her life was probably Apollo. And she hadn't seen him in two years, not since she ran away from him. But everyone remembered the day that she had finally seen Apollo again after years. Everyone remembered it as clear as day. "Athena. Athena. Athena. Athena. Athena. Athena!" The bubblegum pink-haired girl was glaring at Athena. The latter proceeded to glare, pulled out of her thoughts as suddenly as if she had been roughly yanked. "What?!" She snapped. "The birds told me that the hero is close by. They said he would be here soon. We should prepare for what we have to do." Ria's voice was urgent, glancing at the bird that was perched on her shoulder. "Uh, guys?" Another voice was heard from a few feet away. It was Anar. "We don't have time to prepare. The hero is here already." "What?! But Lola said-" Ria was cut off by Athena putting her hand over her mouth. "Hush. No one cares what the bird said. Anar has superhearing and supersight. He would know." Athena turned to the ginger. "Anar, how far?" "He'll be within your eyesight in less than ten seconds." "Damn it." Athena could've said a worse curse, but she was taught not to do so. "Ria, get some animals to hold them off for even a few more seconds. I don't want to kill any more people than I have to. I have to clear the civilians. Anar, you're helping me. Ready?" Anar and Ria nodded. "Good. Let's go." Athena walked to the edge of the sidewalk, Anar right beside her. Ria had run off, yelling things to whatever animals were within hearing distance. She didn't seem to care about the weird looks she was receiving. Athena took a deep breath on the sidewalk and started to shout, "Everyone! You have to run! There are wild animals coming! They escaped from the zoo!" That was all she was able to say before everyone began to run wild, light frightened children. She rolled her eyes. People were so dramatic sometimes. But that was exactly the reaction she needed. And the Ria ran up, out of breath. "They-they're coming! Across the...the street." She said, panting. "Good. Just in time." Athena smirked, snapping her fingers and letting a small flame ignite above them before extinguishing it. "You guys ready to destroy a hero?" The glint in her eyes was a slightly manic one, one that she always got just before she did something villainous. "Always." Ria smiled, pulling a dagger from her waistband. "Yup." Anar snapped his fingers and a knife appeared in his hands. "Good. You guys take care of the two extras. I'm going straight for the-" Suddenly, Athena stopped talking. Her eyes met with the hero across the street, the boy with pastel blonde hair and blue tips, the boy who's face she could remember better than anything else, the boy who scarred her. She felt as if all of the air had been sucked from her lungs and she couldn't breath. Anar and Ria seemed to take note of this because the two hesitated. "Athena? You good?" Anar asked, looking at the girl. Athena nearly started to hyperventilate, but she forced herself to breath a few shaky breaths, breaths that seemed to hurt her lungs. She shook her head. Her heart felt as if someone's cold hand was clutching it tighter and tighter by the second. She was aware that this wasn't the kind of behavior that a quest leader should have, but she didn't care. She was afraid, afraid of the boy across the street, the boy who's face she knew better than her own. "I-I can't. I can't do it. We-we have to go back to base." She was talking fast, so fast her words seemed to be racing each other to escape her mouth, but her voice and breath was still shaky, as if her vocal cords just decided to start shaking. "Athena, what are you talking about? We have to. You heard Mr. Force. If we don't destroy the hero, he's going to destroy you!" Anar was trying to talk some sense into Athena, but it was as if she couldn't hear it. It was Ria who finally realized. "You know the hero, don't you? That's why you're acting like this." She didn't seem mad, just surprised. Athena couldn't talk about it. Could barely even say, "We have to go. Now." Despite Anar and Ria protesting, she pushed them behind her and then put her right hand near her left shoulder and her left hand near her right shoulder. She yelled, bringing her hands back down. A (+)
(+) column of pure fire exploded in front of her, heading toward the three heroes across the street. She stumbled and then turned and started to sprint so fast, it seemed she could outrun a cheetah. Anar and Ria stood where they were for a second, shocked, but then they ran right after her, calling out her name. Athena couldn't hear anything. It seemed as if her ears were full of cotton, blocking out all of the noise as her lungs and heart constricted more. But she kept running. She kept running because she knew that face. The face that broke her heart. And that face was Apollo.
