He couldn’t sleep at all though. He must have been so full of life that it was impossible to sleep.
Jay spent the whole hour and a half with his head on the plane window, staring out at sea. It was boring, but quite relaxing.
After half an hour both Broudie and Jordan were asleep, snoring away. He looked over and noticed that Hollie and Claire were awake and chatting. He thought about talking but decided he would prefer to just take in the views.
Later on the seat belt signs came back on as they prepared to land.
“Broudie, wake up, we’re about to land.” Jay shook him.
“Uugh.” Broudie stretched out his arms, gave out a large yawn and opened his eyes.
“Wake up Jordan as well, and then get him to ask Hollie for some sweets,” Jay instructed.
“Alright, but let us wake up.”
“Hollie,” Jay shouted across, “You got anything for the way down?”
“Yeah, I’ll pass them over now.” Hollie started searching through her pockets. She found what she wanted and pulled out a couple of sweets.
“I’ll throw them over, can you catch?” Hollie asked.
“Number one cricket player me.”
“Ready?” She leant back and then threw the sweets over the passageway between the two sets of seats. They drifted apart and Jay reached out to grab them. He grasped two but the other got knocked onto the floor by Jordan having a good old stretch.
“Jordan, I could have caught all those.”
He didn’t answer.
Then, Jay bent down and saw the sweet under the seat in front. He reached out and his whole body ceased up as he overheard a conversation not of the norm.
“Zeus knows what you’re up to. He doesn’t trust you at all now.”
“Oh yeah, whatever. Did you hear what those demi-gods said?”
“Yeah, they were really up for it, the whole plan and everything.”
“Well they said that they had experience and that they could be useful. Ha!”
“Probably not.”
“Can you sense something now, y’know, it’s radiating really bad now?”
“Yeah, maybe Zeus has sent a spirit out to find us.”
“Or maybe some monsters under your chair.”
Jay quickly grabbed the sweet and sat bolt upright at those last words. Did they know Jay was under the seat? Did they know who Jay was? Who even were they?
He kept asking himself questions. He thought about trying to peek through the gap in the chairs, but decided it too risky. Maybe he should tell Broudie, or would they hear and then slaughter them on the plane?
Jay handed the yawners beside him the sweets and didn’t talk at all on the journey down. He just kept still and quiet.
A few minutes after nervously sucking on his caramel sweet, they were finally on the ground. Then after a walk through the tunnel his nerves disappeared and he told them what he heard,
“Eh, I heard something whilst we were on the plane,” Jay started.
“Why are you whispering?” Broudie asked.
“Because I don’t want them to hear and I don’t know where they are.”
“Go on then, what did you hear?” Hollie signalled to go left towards the exit, wearing a concerned expression.
“Ok, when you, Hol, threw those sweets at me, I didn’t catch all of them and one dropped on the floor. Then when I reached down to get it from under the chair in front of me, I overheard a conversation. It was two men. The one said that Zeus doesn’t trust the other and then the other said whatever, did you hear what those demi-gods said? One said that there was a plan and that the demi-gods were up for it, and then the other one started laughing and said that the demi-gods told them that they would be useful. Then one of them said that they sensed something around, then the other agreed and said it’s really radiating now and that maybe there was a spirit outside sent by Zeus. Then the other laughed and said or maybe a monster is under your chair. At this time I shot back into my seat and didn’t do anything. Who d’you think they were?” Jay rambled, his words, verbal vomit.
“So, two men were having a conversation about Zeus, a plan, demigods and monsters?” Hollie pondered.
“Yeah, they didn’t sound weird though, no hissing or anything.”
“They must be part of the Greek world,” Jordan suggested.
“Or they could just be rehearsing a play to do with Greek mythology,” Claire thought.
“The odds of that happening is like, well, real small chance,” Broudie said.
“Let’s just hope they aren’t off to the islands in search of the temple,” Hollie chirped. She had that look as if she thought something worse but was just trying to hide it from everyone else.
They walked through the passport and luggage checks, and then out into the scorching heat.
“This is so nice, I am in heaven,” Jay said, the golden rays illuminating his smile.
“Heaven? I feel like I’m inside a furnace,” Broudie moaned.
“It’s not that hot Broudie,” Claire told with that bossy tone she carried in her voice.
“We need to start looking for this temple, so no time to moan,” Hollie said.
“Where are we even heading?” Claire asked.
“What did Frederick say?”
“He said that there was only one entrance and it was on San Cristobal, and we are where?” Jordan remembered.
“We are on an island called Baltra, which is just North West from San Cristobal. We’ll have to cross the sea, and I think Hollie will be able to take us across?” Jay asked Hollie, “Could you do something like Jordan does with the air except with water?”
“Someone knows their geography.” Broudie nodded, impressed.
“Waterlling?” Claire put in.
“The blonde is showing again, ha…Well I suppose I could, as long as it’s not too far,” Hollie replied, trying to avoid Claire’s looks.
“Look there’s a map over there, we can find out.” Jordan pointed out a board in front of them with an arrow pointing to a small green dot.
“I guess that arrow pointing to that island is where we are,” Broudie said.
“Yeah, and that there,” Claire pointed to a large island south east of Baltra, “Is our destination.”
“So we need to head for the beach, which way is the beach?” Jay asked.
“I can sense the sea, it’s that way.” Hollie pointed to her right.
“You can sense the sea?” Jay pondered.
“Always have been able to, obviously not before I had the ring.”
“So can I sense fire?” Jay questioned.
“Probably, I can sense love in the air. When it’s in the air that is,” Claire told, uneasily.
“Sense love? That’s just weird,” Jordan thought.
“Oh, thanks Jord, what can you do, sense when someone’s about to pass wind?”
“Actually, I once did,” Jordan replied. “And that was a joke! Before you say anything.”
“Ok, can we get a move on? This conversation is starting to make me uncomfortable,” Hollie said, turning away from the map and striding off towards the exit.
“Hol, are we actually going to walk to the beach?” Broudie asked.
“Eh, with the powers we have, why would we do that?” Hollie answered in an of-course-we’re-not tone.
“Well I really, really don’t want to fly.”
“Well there isn’t any other way. Relacian formalios.” Hollie jumped into the sky and sped off out of sight.
“Invisibility spell? Or do we not care anymore?” Jordan asked.
“No time to talk, Hollie’s probably halfway there now, c’mon.” Claire did a quick run up and then jumped into the air.
Jay followed.
The view from up in the sky was amazing. Evergreen grass plastered the ground, roads were a rare sight, very few houses could be seen, coppices were dotted around, the small market they passed was surrounded by little people, and the last sight before their feet tou
ched ground, was the sea.
The turquoise colour that darkened as you swam out of the bay, and the small boulders that were caked in seaweed and coral were just some of the amazing features. There were small bunches of people strolling or sitting on the silky beach. The sand was not orange or gold, but crystal white.
The five teenagers floated softly through the air for about five minutes before landing.
“Why are we landing?” Jay asked as he stumbled across the sand, some of it seeping into his trainers.
“Because I want to show you my transformation and it’ll be a bit of rest for Brode here.”
“Or is it that if we complete the quest, then when or if the gods congratulate us, then you will get a lot of praise,” Broudie suggested.
“Yeah, that probably is the reason,” Jordan, Jay and Claire agreed.
“It isn’t! Look I’m in charge of the quest and I say we should cross the sea, on the sea. Let’s just leave it as I’ve had a little tip from hmm hmmm hmm,” Hollie instructed.
‘Was she on about Poseidon?’
“Let’s go, c’mon.” Hollie waved her hand forward and started walking along a path. They had landed on a deserted pathway, which lead to the beach. There was green and yellow grass either side of them as they followed Hollie down the sand track.
“What happens if the tourists see us?” Jay asked.
“Are you gonna use the watch?” Broudie said.
“Yeah.” Hollie leapt into a pit of sand, as she raced towards the sea. They emerged from the sand dunes onto the beach, and that was when the heat hit them properly.
Soft sand engulfed their feet with every step they took. The sun shone brightly over the beautiful sea, seaweed covered rocks protruding from it like tiny islands.
“Oh I love water,” Hollie said as they travelled down the beach, running past the few tourists, who lifted their heads off their blankets and shot dirty looks at them.
Hollie didn’t really think about how strange it would be if a random teenager just ran down a beach and plunged into the sea like a fish, as she splashed her way out to the deep.
“Hollie, what are you doing?” Jordan shouted as Hollie continued to thrust her way through the water, screaming like she was on a rollercoaster ride.
“Swimming!” she ducked her head under water and disappeared out of sight.
“Look at all the tourists, they’ll think we’re mad,” Jay said, counting the many scrunched up, confused faces along the beach.
There was silence as Jay, Jordan, Claire and Broudie stood at the edge of the water, praying for Hollie to emerge from the water and get out, stopping all the many people on the beach staring at them.
Then suddenly there was a splash of water and Hollie rocketed about a ft. into the air. She caught a glimpse of the many tourists as she fell back into the sea with a worried expression.
Another splash and she emerged once again, but this time she started swimming back towards the shore.
“Well done Hol, you are definitely going to win that…that synchronised swimming contest, eh, with them moves.” Jordan winked as Hollie lifted herself up out of the sea, her clothes were drenched and heavy.
“Yeah, I hope I do win that swimming contest,” Hollie said aloud, pretending that she was an underwater acrobatic professional, and that was the reason why she shot a couple of ft. into the air.
“Was she any good guys? Did you like her dramatic running approach?” Jordan shouted to the tourists who just smiled, the odd few kids giving her the thumbs up.
“Thanks Jord. I dunno what got over me, probably because I haven’t seen water in so long,” Hollie whispered, as the tourists laid their heads back down on their blankets.
“Hollie should be captain of the quest, she is the most sensible,” Jordan laughed.
“Yeah, sorry guys.”
“It’s alright, we’re not gonna hold you to this if we end up arriving at the temple after the monsters by about ten minutes,” Broudie told.
“Oh, well thank you.”
“Ok, so you gonna take us across?” Jordan asked.
“Yeah, just let me get my watch,” Hollie said, searching her pockets. “Aha, here it is.” she pulled out the gooble watch. “Ready? Kareymas.”
The small sound of chattering disappeared as Hollie clicked the button on the watch.
“Ok, where do I start?” Hollie crouched down and soaked her hands in the water, even though they were already wet.
The water rose and started spinning in a pattern like a tornado.
“Cool,” Jay thought.
“Cool, yes. But not now. Hol, if you could make a boat out of water that was solid, then that would be cool,” Claire instructed.
“As a matter of fact I can create a boat out of water that’s solid, but I would prefer to do it a different way.” Hollie took her hands out of the sea, and the water spiral slipped elegantly back into the ocean.
“Really, can you like make anything out of water?” Jay asked.
“Yeah, I can make-”
“Guys, we need to get going, it’s like quarter to six already,” Jordan urged.
“Yeah haven‘t got much time left,” Hollie agreed.
“So how are you taking us across the sea?” Jay questioned eagerly.
“I’m gonna swim you over there.”
“Swim? You won’t be able to keep us afloat on your back,” Claire pondered.
“No.”
“If you think I’m swimming, you’ve got another thing coming.” Broudie stepped back.
“No, does anybody actually know what animal I can turn into?” Hollie looked around.
“Yeah, some sort of sea creature isn’t it,” Claire thought.
“No one actually knows? Gods, well I’ll show you.” Hollie turned to re-enter the sea.
“Have we got to come in?” Jay asked.
“Yeah, course you have,” Hollie giggled, like that was a stupid question.
To Jay it wasn’t stupid. The sea was warm but cold as well. It was weird, like he thought it was warm but it felt cold against his skin.
“Nice and warm,” Broudie said.
“Yeah, it’s actually quite nice, better take a dive,” Claire agreed and flung herself into the sea, her clothes weighing her down.
Jay presumed the reason he felt so cold was because of his powers, they were based around fire, and water was certainly not one of the closest allies of fire.
“Ok, I’ll be up in a minute.” Hollie dived down into the sea, the water was now nearly up to Jay’s waist.
There were a couple of bubbles that emerged at the surface of where Hollie dived.
“She can’t drown so either she’s passed wind or she’s opened her mouth,” Jordan said trying to look underneath him.
“Where has she gone?” Claire asked.
Suddenly a grey dolphin flipped out of the sea with a splash, drenching Jordan. The dolphin was much bigger than the normal ones you see down south of England. It had a belt round its waist, carrying two blades. It also had another two straps around its neck. One like a bag and one with a watch on the end.
Jay laughed to himself at the ridiculous sight. The watch with its gold chain necklace gave the dolphin a sort of cool ‘bling-bling’ style.
“Oh, hi Hol,” Jordan greeted.
“Amazing.” Claire starred with amazement.
The dolphin called and swam around the four teenagers. It stopped next to Jordan and nudged him with its flipper.
“You want us to ride you?” Jordan questioned.
Another chirp, followed by another nudge suggested that the answer was ‘yes’.
“Are you sure you can carry all of us?” Jordan asked.
The dolphin ducked its head under water and Jordan shot up into the sky and landed on its back.
“Thank you,” Jordan chuckled, “Climb aboard guys.”
Jay waddled forward, the sea up to his shoulders now. He lifted himself onto the dolphin, Hollie, and moved up so as everyone c
ould fit on. Broudie got on next followed by Claire.
Claire grabbed hold of Broudie’s hand to help her up. She was nearly out of the water when she shrieked and fell back in.
Jay’s legs dangled in the sea and it suddenly changed. The sea darkened and Jay’s stomach tickled.
“Oh my god,” Jay said, astounded at the sight he now saw.
“There, there are monsters in the sea, quick Hollie go!” Jay told, for just next to them in the sea, were two horses.
Two horses, proper horses. Swimming up from beneath them.
They were miniature foals, blue skin covered their bodies. As they came closer to the surface, you could make out a tail, a fish tail, and no hind legs.
They had webbed feet and instead of a line of hair on their necks, they had a blue fin.
They were beautiful. Creepily beautiful.
Hollie didn’t move, she just stayed in her place. Then Claire rose to the surface, gasping for breath.
“Horse, sp!” She spitted out the mouthful of sea water she had nearly swallowed.
The horse fish were getting closer and Hollie still hadn’t moved. Broudie was trying to help Claire up again and Jordan was, just like Jay, staring down at the animals in disbelief at their beauty.
Their scales were a mesmerising pearlescent field of shining blades.
Jay wondered as they veered closer, were they peaceful creatures that had turned evil, were they peaceful creatures and still peaceful, or were they none of the above. Just luring creatures that lure people to their deaths with their beauty.
What if they had teeth of poison and death, which could kill instantly with a single bite? Jay’s voice was lost as he tried to shout and order Hollie to ‘Get the hell out of here!’
The duel-headed snake.
(Chapter 12)