a mountain and a stranger

I swear, I have not forgotten my friends in Olympus. :) Finally being released from school, I've been diving back in and writing like mad. So don't worry, I haven't moved on. Not possible. I thought a lot about what to post next. There's quite a bit of informative things happening, a lot of questions being answered. But I also wanted to give you a little bit of action since you have waited so patiently. So I'll fill you in first, then get to the good stuff. Thank you for reading. Really. Any and all responses or questions or suggestions are welcomed with open arms. Enjoy. :)

So first, where we left off. Dakota can fight, as we see. She can also heal. Here's what happens after Marc opens his eyes and Dakota dwells on the events of the day as she looks out the bedroom window:

The pain was not gone yet, it surged in my soul each time I closed my eyes to the image of Marc’s crumpled figure lying in the grass. I thought of him, and the realization of all that he meant to me. I barely had enough energy left to feel surprised, except for one thing. In one day I had discovered all that I was capable of. I had knelt in the grass and watched as the earth opened before me, climbing to its feet, living and breathing with the same heart and mind as my own. I had learned in one short, terrifying moment just what I was capable of doing if necessary. I had laid my hand against a fatal blow and watched as my heart healed it and closed it forever. But more incredible still, above all else, I was stunned into silence by one ability above all. It was a discovery that I had never expected to make. I had the ability to love. Desperately. Completely. Overwhelmingly. I loved with every fiber of myself. With every fiber of the world. In every blade of grass, in every yawning flower. In the leaves and the rivers and the mountains. In the breeze and the rain and each star sparkling in a blanket of night, I loved. I had been able to do it all along. I had been able to give my family just as much as they had given me, but I had been too afraid. Afraid of losing and of changing. I could give them more than apples, I could give them love.
The breeze hugged the house, sliding through the windows and under the doors. I floated along, a part of it. I could hear the others talking in the living room. I could feel my breeze against their skin and hear their voices in my ear.
"I'm sorry," Marc said.
"Stop it already," Peter returned, a smile in his voice. His breath was like mist against my skin.
"I don't know how I'll ever repay you," Marc whispered, "you've saved my life. Again."
"Don't thank us," Haylee said, her voice hot against the air, "it was all Dakota. You should have seen her, it was incredible."
"I know about her ability to grow," Marc said. His voice was the best of all. It seemed to dip and dive through the air like a hummingbird, floating along effortlessly. "But I don't understand the rest. How am I not dead? How did this not kill me?" I could only guess that he was laying his hand against the pink scar on his neck. I inhaled deeply as he stirred the air with his scent.
"I don't know any other way to describe it," Haylee said.
“She just... healed you,” Peter finished. They were quiet.
“What was it like?” Marc asked in a low voice. Haylee spoke.
“Once everything was still again, after the roots and the grass and the plants stopped attacking, she ran to you. She cradled you and put her hand against your neck. And then she said, ‘I love you, you mustn’t die,’ and then-”
“What?!” Marc nearly shouted. “She said what?” My heart thumped in my chest, vibrating in the air.
“She... she...” Haylee sputtered.
“She said she loved me?” Marc asked, his voice serious.
“I... yes...” Haylee responded. The air shifted as Marc jumped to his feet.
Oh no! I thought desperately, pulling myself back to the little bedroom. I stood once again at the window sill, the moon smiling down against the floor.
The door banged open behind me, making me jump and spin around. Marc filled the doorway, his chest heaving with the effort of bounding up the stairs. He stared at me, his eyes burning, his face grave. Haylee ran up the stairs behind him. “Dakota!” she shouted over his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to!” He stepped into the room and kicked the door shut behind him. We stared at each other, his fists clenched and my hands clamped behind me against the window ledge. He raced forward and took my face in his hands. The air swirled around us, soft against my skin.
“Did you mean it?” he demanded, searching my eyes.
“I...” My heart beat crazily in my chest.
“Haylee told me what you said. What did you mean?”
“I... I...” My head was swimming.
“Answer me, Dakota!” he demanded, not angrily but desperately, into my eyes. “What did you mean?”
“I'm in love with you!” I shouted at him. “I meant that I’m in love with you and I won't live in any world without you!”
He wound his arms around me and touched his lips tomine. He broke away and brought his mouth to my ear.
“Dakota, you fool,” he breathed, kissing my hair.
“How do you figure?” I choked.
“Of all the men that filled the world, you had to wait for the one plagued by dead things.” He chuckled, softly kissing the corner of my mouth.
“I love you. Whatever you are for as long as you are,” I breathed back. He pulled me tightly against his chest.
“My life,” he whispered into my ear and kissed me again.
When we finally closed our eyes, we dreamt from the stars.
As it once was, so it will begin again.
My three family members laid in the grass beneath me, looking up at the sky. My heart burst with love for them, flowers and grass growing around them and blooming against their skin. Peter threw back his head and laughed, no longer worried, no longer afraid. Haylee closed her eyes, the sun warming her face and giving her a moment for herself. Marc smiled up at me, his blue eyes gleaming. I love you, he mouthed, smiling. And my name was like the wind, like the breeze through the branches. It rolled over my family, protecting and healing them with love.
Demeter.

The next morning, Dakota converses with the earth. She discovers that she can hear the familiar voice with concentration. She asks some questions. The voices tells her that their world had a self destruction point when violence and poverty had reached its limit. Everything except for what was necessary to begin again was destroyed. The first gods were destroyed too, because they forgot that they were created for good. They had turned selfish and cruel. She is shown the familiar image of a mountain and told that it's the only place that's safe for now. Marc can also hear the voices if he touches Dakota while she's communicating with them. He can do this because Hermes is the messenger of the gods. In one such conversation they discover that there are, in fact, ten more of them out there somewhere. With help from the voices, Dakota can find them. They set out to the mountain first, ready for a hike. Along the way they find a cabin and a greenhouse. What's in the greenhouse, you might ask? A bunch of vanished things. A kitchen table, for starters. They head to the woods where they find a mountain. A really, really tall mountain:

Peter laid his hand against the rock. He looked out into the darkness, biting his lip.
“Peter,” Haylee choked. He brought his eyes back to her.
“What?”
“Look.” We followed her eyes back to the rock.
Where Peter's hand touched the surface, water poured from the cracks. Over his skin and through his fingers, a steady waterfall ran into the ground. He pulled his hand away and the water stopped. He put both hands up, palms facing the stone. He brought them closer. A few inches from the rough wall, two waterfalls burst into life, spilling down. Each little stream was even with his hands.
“Whoa,” he breathed. Marc stepped forward as Haylee rose to her feet.
Marc lifted his hands up like Peter had, the sound of water still gurgling in the background. He stepped up next to him. He took a deep breath and inched his palms closer to the surface. When they drew even with Peter's, I gasped. Marc lifted from the ground, his whole body rising into the air. About a foot up, he hovered steadily, his hands still facing the rock. Peter stared with his mouth dropped open, never removing his hands. Haylee stepped up on the other side of Peter, her hands held out. When they drew level with her brother's, the rock began to glow blue. Steam rose from the glowing imprints of her hands as Peter's water began to boil. I took a breath.
I stepped up next to Marc, my head even with his stomach. I held my hands out. I could feel the heat radiating from the wall. I inched forward, holding my breath. Pebbles fell from a few cracks in the rock, a rustling sounded over the dripping of water. From the rough pockets in the wall, vines slid out behind my hands. Ivy branches wound themselves thickly over the surface, climbing the wall. Little blue flowers bloomed, the same color as Haylee's hand prints. The ivy rustled in a breeze and a familiar voice whispered, Olympus.
The three next to me gasped in unison and dropped their hands. The air was silent as Peter's waterfalls ran themselves out. Marc's feet landed against the ground with a thud. The blue glow faded slowly from the rock, the imprint of Haylee's hands dying out against the dark. They looked at me.
“Was that... the grass voice?” Peter choked. Haylee slapped at him softly, her eyes wide. I nodded.
“Olympus,” Marc whispered, glancing back at the mountain.
A branch snapped in the darkness. I gasped as Haylee's little flame burst into life. The darkness had fallen more heavily in our distraction. It pressed against Haylee's light, pushing it closer to the four of us. Another rustling sound, from the same direction. I couldn't see, everything was so dark. Peter and Marc closed like curtains in front of us, Haylee behind Peter's back and me behind Marc's. We peered around their broad shoulders. Another snap. I searched desperately through the darkness. Marc and Peter leaned forward together, their palms facing out in front of them. Marc reached back with one hand and took mine. A branch moved, only inches beyond where our light shone. Haylee gasped.
“Be ready,” Marc breathed.
A man stepped forward into Haylee's light. Marc's hand clamped down painfully on mine. I bit my lip, holding back a scream. I lifted my gaze to his face, waiting for the familiar shock of red eyes. Peter let his breath out in a surprised huff as he saw what I saw. A tall figure became clear as our eyes adjusted. He was framed in the dim view, darkness closing behind him. He was a few inches taller than Peter or Marc, and thin. He wore blue jeans and a crisp black shirt. His dark blond hair was wet from the moist forest, clinging in curls against his tan skin. Thick muscles shown from under the short sleeves, despite his slender frame. A thin nose, a sharp jaw, broad shoulders. His light brown eyes registered surprise even while his full lips turned up into a little smile.
“Who are you?” Peter breathed. The man opened his grinning lips.
“I'm-”
“Haden.” Marc choked.

Stay tuned for next time. :)