I started tossing the hallway upside down looking for any useful tool, completely ignoring the side-eye from Drew and the Pegasi locked in their stalls. Near the entrance, buried under a pile of old, moldy hay, I spotted an ancient iron hoe. The wooden handle was splintered and worn out.
I grabbed the tool. It would get the job done.
"Lost something?" I asked, breaking the silence.
Drew blinked, snapping out of a trance. She glared at me suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. "What did you do? What was that green light, and why did that dryad help you?"
"Why should I tell you?" I rested the hoe on my shoulder. "Let's get to work. I want to wrap this up as fast as possible."
The confusion on her face twisted into pure rage in a matter of seconds. Drew bit her bottom lip, her cheeks flushing red from anger. "You brute! Ignorant, idiot... you ugly jerk!"
Seriously? How cliché.
She flipped her hair and turned her face away. "I haven't forgotten about that punch. You hurt me. The least you could do is apologize," she muttered, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Are you kidding me?" I let out a dry laugh. "After you tried to mess with my head? You're lucky I didn't do worse. Who tries to mind-control someone and then demands an apology? Who do you think you are, Professor Xavier?"
Drew snapped her head back toward me. Her face was bright red and her eyes were brimming with tears. "It was an accident, seriously! Besides, I shouldn't even be here. This is a job for losers, or for my other idiot sisters. Clean it by yourself!"
Suddenly, the heavy scent of roses filled the stable. My nose itched instantly, and I felt a sharp throb in my head. I stood frozen, unable to move from the spot, staring deep into her brown eyes.
"What's the matter, honey? Looks like you're getting nervous," Drew asked in a mocking tone.
"How old are you?" I asked, turning around with a deadpan expression, fighting with every ounce of self-control I had.
"You should never ask a lady her age," she replied, twirling her hair.
There was no way this girl was doing this on purpose. Was she being influenced? Couldn't be. Honestly, my gut instinct was to land another punch right on her. But looking closer, her nose looked way too white. Must be an overkill of makeup.
"Well, sweetheart, clean up this pigsty." She pointed at the floor with total disgust. "And while you clean, I'm going to take a shower, do my makeup, and fix up my cabin. Silena is terrible at it. I'm the one who should be the counselor, since she couldn't even manage to pass Aphrodite's Rite of Passage."
Drew started to turn around, complaining and prattling on without breaking a sweat.
"If you walk out, I'm only cleaning half," I warned.
She stopped with her back to me. "Chiron will punish you."
"Nobody's holding you back," I shot back, mocking her right back. "The Pegasi are smart, and Chiron is a centaur, so he'll get it."
I looked over at the Pegasi and continued, "Could you guys head out so I can clean? Go take a dip in the river. Come back in a few hours and it'll be spotless. At least my half will. The other half depends on her."
The Pegasus turned its head toward her. It neighed loudly, nudged its snout toward the bunks, and then pointed down at the floor where we were standing.
Drew made a face of pure disgust and threw me a mocking look.
"Fine. I'll cooperate," she said.
Honestly, the scene was bizarre. I was looking at her, she was looking at the Pegasi, and the Pegasi were looking right back at us. Everybody was just frozen. I took a deep breath, letting out a heavy sigh. Since the stable was packed with old hay and straw, I decided to try something a bit different and extended my right hand. Instead of killing myself scooping up all that crap with a hoe, I was going to use the environment to my advantage: I'd make the dried-up vegetation drag itself out. The moment I activated my divine power, I heard the system alert ping in my mind.
The hay began to thrash underneath the sludge, peeling away from the dirt. I focused my energy to push the mud away, and the straw rose up as if it had grown legs, scrambling and bunching itself into dirty bales. Next, I flattened my left hand, causing those piles of straw to stiffen, morphing them into makeshift, heavy-duty squeegees.
I felt the strain on my body as the emerald energy overflowed, but I wasn't tired yet. It felt like I'd just downed an energy drink. I injected more divine power, and the hay squeegees began dragging that heavy load of manure down the main aisle, plowing everything straight out of the stable.
Guided by my Seismic Sense, I locked onto the Pegasi stalls. I flashed a smirk and pumped in even more power. I felt a sudden jolt, but nothing fatal. Man, that felt amazing. With the dirty hay from inside the stalls marching across the floor toward the main hallway all on its own, the Pegasi started neighing loudly. The white horse let out what sounded like a shriek of surprise, making everyone go dead silent for a second as they stared at me. The silence was quickly broken by his neighing as he charged out of the stable, beating his wings. The other Pegasi followed his lead, nudging the stall doors open with their snouts, breaking free, and taking flight right after.
I looked over at Drew, who was watching my hands in absolute fascination because of the emerald aura.
"How... how are you even doing that?" she asked.
I gave her a deeply mocking smirk. "Now, my dear cleaning partner, let's finish up with this shit. Grab the hoe and let's start scraping."
Drew still looked completely stunned, but she tried to snap out of it, covering it up with a fake cough.
I gripped the handle tight and started scraping the crust of packed dirt soaked in urine. The worst of it was over; now came the grueling work of scraping until we hit solid ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Drew trying to do the same, but she was doing it all wrong. I stopped what I was doing, walked over, and snatched the hoe right out of her hand, making her jump.
"What gives? Don't get so close, you stink!" she whispered, taking a step back.
"You don't exactly smell like flowers either," I replied, calmly taking her hand. "And you'd better thank me, because I shouldn't even be helping you. Plant your feet in the mud so you don't slip."
Drew stared at me in surprise for a few seconds, but she did what I asked.
"Alright, now hold it tight and use your wrists. You're not trying to dig holes in the ground, so keep the hoe at a sharp angle, sliding the metal flush against the soil. We just want to scrape away this top layer of rotten dirt." I guided her movements. She started out terrible, but within a few minutes, she got the hang of it. I stepped back and went back to my own section.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked.
"Good question. I just want to finish this fast, and if you're slow, we'll be here for hours." Drew scowled at me and went right back to scraping.
I advanced steadily with the hoe. The blade sheared through the dark paste, echoing with a sound that I found pretty cool. Behind the tool, the trail left behind was firm, dark, and dry soil. I didn't know why, but it was incredibly satisfying to do. I had never done anything like this in my old life, but it felt so easy. I could already feel my arms burning, but it wasn't an agonizing burn — it actually felt pretty good. Without even realizing it, I started gathering the mud into small mounds and, using the hoe itself as a shovel, began tossing everything outside.
Drew kept watching me and started doing the same. The two of us kept working in silence, and the only sound in the stable was the blades striking the earth. After a few minutes of pure elbow grease, everything was almost clean. I was panting for air, and Drew was leaning against her hoe, practically ready to collapse from exhaustion, wheezing and drenched in sweat.
"I'm gonna die... I can't do this anymore. I want to take a shower," Drew muttered.
"Not yet. We need to get rid of the stench and wash it down for the dirt to actually come off," I said. She threw me a look of pure dread that made me smile.
"Isn't this good enough? Let's just go!" Drew pleaded, but I just shook my head no.
"There are buckets here. Let's grab some water and flush the floor," I announced.
She sighed heavily. "Fine, over there," she replied, pointing with her finger.
Looking where she indicated, I spotted five buckets tossed in the corner. I walked over, grabbed two, came back, and set them on the ground near her. "Let's move."
Drew bit her lips, and I saw tears welling up in her eyes, but she ended up grabbing the buckets anyway. I reached for mine and lifted them too. We walked down to the creek that cut through the woods, right near the strawberry fields and the stables. The water there was crystal clear and perfectly clean, letting you see the smooth river stones right at the bottom.
I started filling my bucket. Drew positioned herself right next to me and started filling hers with a ton of difficulty, but she managed. The sound of the current was relaxing, but out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a few naiads. Some were floating on the surface, while others were peeking at me from behind the rocks.
Ignoring the stares, I filled the second bucket and waited for Drew. She shot me a glare of pure anger, which only made me smile. As soon as she finished, we started heading back up together. Reaching the stables, I didn't waste any time and hurled the water straight into the stalls. Drew followed my lead.
"Now, to break down this pee, we scrape again," I warned, and without waiting for her reply, I got to work.
"Just kill me, please," Drew whispered, completely out of juice.
She watched me use the hoe like a squeegee to push the dirty water out and ended up following suit. By the time we finished scraping, the place looked way better, though not necessarily great yet.
"Let's grab more water," I said, already grabbing my bucket to head back down.
"Wait... let me catch my breath for a second," Drew replied, completely winded. Even I was starting to tire out, but I ignored the exhaustion and started heading down.
Reaching the creek, I stopped dead in my tracks. Right in front of me stood Dave, rocking an idiotic grin, flanked by three brutes from the Ares cabin. When he saw Drew catching up to my side looking like that, completely wrecked from exhaustion, Dave's eyes flashed crimson with rage, and he clenched his fists.
"You coward, using a woman to do your dirty work! I'm going to bring you to justice, Drew," Dave yelled.
I was genuinely taken aback by his words. Honestly, was he seriously that stupid? Don't tell me he actually had a crush on her. I glanced at Drew, who was staring at Dave with a face full of pure disgust.
"I already told you I never liked you. Get over it!" Drew snapped.
I looked back at Dave, who, completely furious, pointed his finger right at my face. "This is on you. First you break my axe, then you disrespect my cabin... I'm gonna love breaking your legs!"
I dropped the buckets on the ground, cracking a smile, but Drew grabbed my hand, which felt incredibly sketchy.
"Stop, Dave. Caleb is innocent, please don't hurt him too bad," she pleaded. A vein throbbed in my forehead when I saw Drew back away with a little smirk, sitting down as if she were popping some popcorn to enjoy the show.
"Honestly, one day I am going to kill you," I muttered, glaring at her, but she just flashed a smile right back.
Dave lunged straight at me. I ducked, dodging his punch with ease. He stopped, spinning his body around to face me. "I'm gonna smas—"
He didn't get to finish the threat. With a swift movement of my left hand, a thick root erupted from the ground and wrapped violently around his right leg, tearing its way up to his thigh. I clenched my fist tight, causing sharp thorns to shoot out from the vine. His blood splattered onto the grass of the riverbank as the thorns punctured his flesh. I tightened the mental command even further. The sickening snap of his leg bone shattering echoed through the air, followed by a deafening shriek of pain. I looked dead at Dave, watching his eyes fill with tears and sheer terror.
If there was one thing this place wasn't lacking, it was roots and plants. With a grin, I watched the brute collapse to his knees. Seizing the opening, I grabbed the back of his head and drove a violent knee straight into the center of his face. The crunch of his nose splintering was incredibly satisfying. I noticed that a faint pink glow, which had been emanating from his eyes up until then, instantly snuffed out through the knockout. So Drew had used charmspeak on him to make him attack me.
"That's what happens when you use an extra. He talked too much," I commented, looking at Drew coldly. Twisting my hips, I landed one more dead-on punch to Dave's jaw, sending him toppling backward, completely out cold.
I turned to the guys who looked like his cabin brothers, who were still standing there, frozen in shock. I brushed my hair back.
"Is he really a son of Ares? Like, that was way too fast," I mocked, letting out a light chuckle. "Well, must be because I'm a son of Demeter. Ya know, the coolest goddess. That's exactly why I'm so strong."
I flashed a wide grin and motioned with my hand. "Come at me all at once, if you prefer."
The guy in the middle let out a yell and charged, trying to land a punch. I ducked close to the ground, touching the dirt with my hand, and within seconds a thin root whipped out from the soil and wrapped around his ankle, making him trip and fall completely wide open.
Pivoting my body, I felt the footsteps of the other two. One of them already came in trying to tackle me, but I turned on my heel and used his own momentum against him, shoving him right into the guy who was trapped by the ankle, making him crash down again.
The third one was at my side and threw a kick aimed at my chest. I dodged half a step back and dropped low. Utilizing my divine power, I felt blood trickle from my nose as thicker roots ruptured the earth, climbing up to their knees and waists. Trapping all three of them, I pushed harder, and the roots twisted around them, making them scream.
I stood up and looked down at the two lying tangled together, at the other one standing there thrashing around, and, of course, at the unconscious Dave.
"Next time, bring Clarisse. Maybe she'll actually put up a fight," I said with a smile. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand, grabbed my buckets, and shot a cold look at Drew, who shuddered.
I walked down to the creek and, looking at the naiad who hid the moment she saw me, filled my buckets.
"Better move it," I said, passing by Drew, who scrambled to her feet and headed to the creek.
Back at the stables, I hurled the water and started the exact same process: going to the creek, grabbing water, throwing it, and scraping. We did that about three times. Drew, even though she was slow, actually helped. And the Ares kids? Well, they were just standing there, glaring at me with pure hatred. Dave was still knocked out cold. He could literally die right there for all I cared; I left them behind and wasn't about to help.
Aside from barking orders at Drew, I didn't speak to her at all. I only called her out when she took too long or started playing the victim. My body was burning hot from the exertion. With a smile, seeing everything spotless, I noticed only the wooden stalls were left. A grin spread across my face as I thought of something, and I looked over at Drew, who was sitting down, pale as a ghost.
"Go grab some fresh hay to line the floor. I'm gonna try something," I said. She just sat there, staring at me.
I hope this works. Time to push past my limits.