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Chapter 8:

Will PoV:

As soon as the ground starts shaking, I instantly jolt up. "WHAT IS GO- '' I shout but then stop short when I turn to see Cassia pinning Zach up against the wall. "Am I interrupting something?" I smirk.

"No!" Cassia blushes. "Zach just sent a whole army of monsters after us!"

"That's not a proven fact…" he says as he tries to get free of her tight grip.

"Really? Why don't you ask the giant Nemean Lion that's waiting outside of the cave what he thinks?" Cassia snaps.

"How do you know what monster it is?" he cocks his head before going wide eyed. "Nemean Lion?"

"Yes, was I not clear enough for your liking?" Cassia snaps as he finally lets him go. "Nico, Ariella, wake up!" she shouts.

They both rise from the ground. "What's wrong?" Ariella asks.

"Monster," Nico tells her. "I can feel it. It escaped from the Underworld."

Zach changes the subject. "Are you sure it's a Nemean Lion?" he questions her.

"Yes. I can feel it because it escaped from the Underworld," she confirms.

"But… I can't fight that thing!" he squeaks.

"Why not?" I demand.

Zach lifts up his shirt and shows us four thick scars covering his stomach. "This is why."

"A Nemean Lion did that to you?" Nico asks him.

"Yeah," he replies. "It's useless to fight. Weapons can't hurt it."

"Hercules killed it by strangling it," Ariella informs us.

"Easy," I say. "So, we strangle it."

"It's going to be protective of its neck," Nico responds. "A monster never forgets…" Before he could finish, the lion pounds through the cave opening, and roars.

Ariella PoV:

For someone who usually takes charge in every situation, Zach was doing a terrible job in this one. If he considers whimpering in the corner of the room 'heroic' then he should be listening to me.

"EVERYONE! ATTACK AT THE SAME TIME!" I shout. "IT WILL HAVE A HARDER TIME PROTECTING ITSELF IF FIVE, well, four, PEOPLE ATTACK!"

Everyone runs over to it and begins to hit it in hope that it will do something. But, the lion ignores all of them and focuses his attention on my idiotic brother.

"Zach! Do something!" Will orders.

"No," he shakes back and forth.

"It's useless," Nico sighs. "He's not moving, and he's not going help."

"We can't say I didn't try," Will responds as I pulls on the tail of the lion.

"RAWR!" the lion bellows as he turns around to face Will.

"Hiya," Will says nervously. "Want to leave us alone and go find other people to kill?"

"Talking to monsters and telling them to go away doesn't work," Cassia snaps.

"It does if you can charm speak…" I inform her before letting my voice trail off. If my mom can charm speak, does that mean I can too? "Hey! Lion!" I call his attention over to me.

"We don't like you and we think you smell bad. So, leave our cave." I cross my arms.

"RAWR!" the lion snarls before charging at me. I guess I don't have the charm speak ability. And I guess lion's don't like it when you tell them they smell bad.

Reality hits me. "AH!" I scream. "I'M GOING TO DIE!" Just when the lion is inches away from me, I side step and sink my teeth into the side of its neck. Suddenly, the lion disappears, leaving the taste of dust in my mouth.

Zach runs over to me, "Are you alright? What happened?"

I spit before speaking. "Yeah. I bit that lion."

"Why…?" Cassia raises an eyebrow at me.

"Because you can't kill it with weapons, silly!" I laugh.

"So you killed the lion by biting it?" Zach clarifies.

"Yup," I nod.

"You're such a cannibal," he smiles as he rolls his eyes playfully at me.

"You're just jealous that I actually did something instead of crying in the corner!" I smirk.

"What a hero," Cassia crosses her arms.

Zach turns around to face her, anger flaring in his eyes. "That thing almost killed me!"

"But it didn't," she snaps.

"I was in a coma for five days!" Zach exclaims.

"That's better than being in a coma for six days," she challenges.

"Why does everything have to be a competition with you?" he demands. "I can't do anything or say anything without being one-upped by you!"

"Well maybe that's because I'm better than you."

"I'd like to see you try and kill that thing while trying to protect your younger sister!" he tests her.

"I don't have a sister," she narrows her eyes at him.

"You're impossible!" Zach throws his hands up in the air.

"You're an idiot!" she shouts back at him. "That lion was charging at your sister and you did nothing but sit in that corner and cry!"

"It's not like you did anything either!" he yells.

"She's not my sister. I don't need to protect her!"

Fed up with all the arguing, I scream, "I DON'T NEED TO BE PROTECTED! I can handle myself on my own!"

"That was one lucky time, Ariella. Things aren't going to always work out like that," Zach tries to warn me.

"I know they won't. And whether they do or don't isn't up to you, Zach." I tell him. "You can't prevent these types of things from happening…"

Cassia cuts me off. "If he didn't talk about how no monsters showed up, this whole thing wouldn't have happened..."

I continue and ignore her. "It's my fate what happens to me, Zach. You can't protect me forever. If that lion killed me, then it was meant to happen. This isn't about you. You can't spend your whole life monitoring what I do. You have to let me do what I can. I'm not five anymore."

"I'll try," he smiles sadly as he pulls me into a hug.

"Aw!" Will cheers.

"So…" I pull away from my brother. "What do we do next?"