"I feel great! I bet I could even take you."
I turned to face Nix. She glided over to me with a bored look on her face. My heart boomed like thunder inside my chest.
"Sure, we can spar for a bit. Just so I'm sure though, you live at 17 Willow drive right?"
Her question took me by surprise. Was she threatening my family because I said I could take her? I shot her a quizzical look, and she must've picked up on my thoughts.
"Calm down Stormy. I'm not a psycho. No one is going after your family."
She glanced at her phone screen and then glanced back up at me. I didn't know if she was waiting for a text or a call. She might've been checking the time. That thought occurred to me just before my heart stuttered. Everything around me slowed down and my balance wavered.
I tried to take a step toward her. I don't know if I expected her to hold me up or what, but she was the only person nearby. The ground moved in and out of focus like a mirage beneath my feet.
"Whaaass happening to meee?"
My voice sounded deep and slow, like how you would expect a robot to sound that was shutting down.
"Yep, right on time. I'll explain everything when you wake up."
I heard her words, but through the haze of grogginess that had suddenly overtaken me, I couldn't understand what she was saying. My eyelids felt like lead weights and I started seeing double. Without warning, my legs gave out. I felt someone catch me but my eyes had closed. I was unconscious before I even realized it.
I suddenly found myself dreaming. In the dream, I was standing on top of a skyscraper watching a tornado wreak havoc over the city. Rain poured around me and thunder cracked overhead as I stood watching. The sky had a green hue that I knew all too well recently. The winds were so powerful that trees ripped out of the ground and cars left the ground with the ease of empty plastic bags. A chorus of alarms and fire truck horns filled the humid air with a sense of dread that somehow felt like home to me. The tornado was so enormous that I couldn't see past it. There was just a wall of wind as wide as my eyes could see heading toward the building I stood atop.
I didn't fear the storm, even as every building it passed crumbled to dust in its wake. It felt familiar. As the violent winds assaulted me, I stood my ground until the storm was right in front of me. It stopped moving just in front of the skyscraper. I could see remnants of the building, cars, people and everything else it had sucked into itself as it tore through the city. They all moved in together in a cycle of chaos and dread.
"You've finally arrived."
It spoke in a deep rumble. As if its voice was pure thunder.
"Are you ready to reign terror on the lives of all those that oppose you?"
Something stirred inside of me at its question. That sounded like an excellent idea. I envisioned myself walking right up to Eddie and spitting acid in his face. That would definitely pay him back for all the beatings he and his goons gave me. Then a second thought occurred to me. My father's voice spoke in my mind.
'How are you any better than they are if you pick on them because you're stronger now?'
He lived by that rule. Always be the best you can be. I hated the fact that it was truly what I wanted to do. Sometimes being petty and vengeful felt better. I couldn't give in to that, though.
"I can't hurt innocent people. I'm not a m-"
Lightning struck the ground less than an inch from my feet and interrupted me.
"You're not what, a monster? Oh, but you are and the gods know it."
Its words stunned me. What did it mean by the gods? Who the hell was it talking about? On second thought, who the hell was talking?
"Who are you?"
The wind stopped rushing suddenly, and the tornado shrank. It got smaller and began changing shape and color. When it was finished, a man hovered in the air above me. He had a human midsection with bronze skin. He was absolutely chiselled. His muscles had muscles. Instead of legs, he had snakes, hundreds of them. Two long, leathery bat wings stretched out of his back. Instead of hair, he had dragon heads. Thousands of independently moving dragon heads.
Looking at this version of him made me wish the tornado was back.
"I'm Typhon, the embodiment of what Zeus calls chaos. I call it power."
I stared at him in disbelief. There was no way someone like him wanted something from me. No one could mistake me for being anything like this guy. He landed on the roof in front of me. Even in this smaller version, he was at least eight feet tall.
"The same power that courses through my veins courses through yours. Take your place as my champion."
He extended an enormous hand for me to shake. I stared at it hesitantly.
"What exactly do you want from me?" I asked, without taking his hand. He didn't say anything in response to my question. Instead, he stepped to the side and gestured to the leveled city in front of us.
"I want you to do this to any and everything. Topple Olympus and reign as the new ruler."
He smiled after his statement, and plumes of flames showed in his red eyes. I backed away, shaking my head.
"But why? What would that accomplish?"
He moved toward me. The hiss of the snakes grew louder as they slithered toward me.
"Do it because you can. Do it because they can't stop you. Or just do it because you want to. One way or another, you will do it. This is who you are."
I continued backing away as I stared out at the burning piles of debris that used to be a city. How many people died as he exerted his 'power' over them? I could never do that. My back hit the stone barrier and stopped me.
"Running is pointless. The gods will never let you be. You are a monster and that's all they will see you as."
I turned around and looked up at the overcast sky. If he was telling the truth, I didn't have a choice. I could either die trying to prove to the gods that I wasn't a monster. Or I could give in to him and become that very monster. I didn't really like either of those options. I chose to do what I could control. I gripped the stone and dove over the edge.
As the wind whipped past my face, I wondered if I would actually slam into the ground this time. I didn't the last time I free fell from a great distance, but maybe this time would be different. I closed my eyes and waited for the ground to break every bone in my body. Instead, I got a surprise.
"Hey Stormy, you awake yet?"
I opened my eyes when I heard Nix's voice. I was lying in my bed. Nix was curled up next to me, staring at me. When I saw her, I dove sideways and fell off the bed.