The Twins

By Katrina Tao

Dedicated to my best friend Beverlyn who was the most supportive throughout the process

-KT

Maple Leaf Writing Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

Prologue

In the North Pole there lived two sisters. The older sister, Alexis, was the kind of person who might be a little prideful but have amazing skills and would always stand by her friends. The younger sister, Alyssa, was shy, independent and like her sister had incredible skills and would support the ones she cared about. They were twins as well as orphans. Their mother Marie told them they had an amazing father and a brother named Jake. Jake had gotten angry because he wanted to explore the world but his parents said he was too young. He ran away at the age of seven. Their father, Bill, had loved Jake very much and went to look for him. When Bill came back without finding Jake he hung himself in despair.

Soon after, Marie gave birth to Alyssa and Alexis. They were quite a

happy family for a long time until, when the twins were eleven, when Marie was fixing the roof. She fell off and cracked her skull and died instantly. Fortunately, Marie had already taught the twins all the skills

they needed to survive. They didn’t have much but the most important things they had was each other. They also had prized possessions, a gold locket for Alexis, and a silver locket for Alyssa.

Chapter 1

The twins were sitting next to the fire in their small cabin wearing wool coats and sweat pants. Alyssa was surfing the internet, Alexis was making a new scarf from a polar bear's skin.

“Alexis,” said Alyssa

“Yeah,” replied Alexis

“Remember those stories mother always told us about the Greek gods?”

“Which one?"

“All of them. Like the one about Jason stealing the Golden Fleece from the King of Colchis.”

“Kind of .”

“I think she was telling the truth. I was looking through one of mother's files on the computer and I found some really weird pictures. And there's

something even weirder that I wanted to test it out with you." Alyssa took

off her silver locket and opened it.

“Do exactly what I do,”Alyssa instructed. Alexis took her gold locket off and opened it, too. Alyssa breathed on it and her sister did the same. All of a sudden, in a shower of gold and silver light, a muscular male with a lyre and a pretty female were standing in front of them. They both had bows and quivers slung across their backs.

“Who are you?” asked Alexis

“I am Apollo,” said the male,” God of music, archery and medicine. This is my twin sister Artemis” The twins gasped.

“How do we know you are really gods?”

“Let's see we just appeared in front of you in a shower of gold and silver light, and we can kill you puny humans with a flick of the finger” Apollo said casually.

“Okay, okay. How can we help you?”Alyssa said, looking down at her right hand with her birthmark.

“Do you know how you’re related to us?”asked Artemis

Both girls shook their heads.

“Your mother didn’t tell you?” said Apollo.

“Tell us what?” Alyssa asked.

“That Apollo is your grandfather,” Artemis said.

“WHAT?” Alyssa and Alexis exclaimed in unison.

“Yes. I remember your beautiful grandmother Victoria Rosemary Stone” Apollo said dreamily.

“Why are you here?”asked Alexis

“Because you two are the only demigods around that can help” replied Artemis.

“We’re demigods?”Alexis asked

“Your dad was Ares.” Apollo confirmed

“No, our dad was called Bill” Alyssa wiped away a tear. “But we never met him, our mom said that he hung himself.”

“That’s definitely Ares"Artemis sighed “He always says that his name is Bill, and he wants to make all the mortals think that he died tragically,

except the mother, of course. Look at your hands, they both have birthmarks. One hand has a lyre which is the symbol of Apollo, and the other hand has a dagger which is the symbol of Ares.”

The twins looked down at their hands. They had noticed the birthmarks before but never knew what they meant.

“How....?”Alyssa began.

“A little gift from me,” Apollo said. “It was to prove that you were the twin daughters of Ares.”

“On to more important matters.” Artemis said “Your brother Jake is um...., causing trouble. He has stolen a magic ice crystal that is sacred to the hunters that serve me. We think he's working with Khione goddess of snow.”

The twins looked at each other and shivered, not only from the cold weather. They had heard the name “Khione” before. It seemed evil. It sounded like something they overheard Marie muttering about.

Artemis waved her hand, then all of a sudden a girl who looked about 16 or 17 with blond-brown hair in a braided ponytail, wearing a silk shirt

and jeans, was standing in front of them.

“This is Olivia Knight,” Apollo introduced. “She's a daughter of Poseidon and one of Artemis's hunters. She'll be helping you on your quest, because obviously you haven't learned how to use your demigod

powers yet, and she’s....” Olivia gave Apollo a look between a glare and a plead.

“Olivia is one of my most skillful, loyal, and wise hunters,” Artemis said. “This is Alexis Stone and this is her twin Alyssa.”

Olivia gave another glare at Apollo then smiled at the twins. “Pleased to meet you, Alexis and Alyssa. I am lady Artemis’s lieutenant.” She held out her hand, and a silver stick with three points at the top appeared in it. “This is a trident. It's filled with power from the ocean. It’s a gift from my father and…,” Her voice trailed off.

Artemis said “You should start with your training. Oh, and Olivia, if you need me just message me on Facebook but don’t try tweeting me, it won’t work. Now goodbye, Apollo and I are needed on Olympus.”

The two gods high-fived. They exploded into gold and silver glitter. In

their place lay two bows and quivers filled with gold and silver arrows. There were also two swords.

“You girls are so lucky,”Olivia said ,with a bit of envy in her voice. “Lady Artemis must really trust you. Those quivers of arrows can never run out. The gold ones heal, and the silver ones are for attacking. And those swords are really rare. They're made of celestial bronze and imperial gold, but they are edged with silver and a bit of mortal steel. The hilt has a leather grip. My favorite part is that when you tap the top it shrinks into a cell phone that you can use to keep in touch. The bow and quiver is the same; they'll turn into a purse.”

“Awesome”

“We need to defeat Jake, he will pay since he stole the ice crystal, and most of all.....” Her voice broke “Um never mind. So what do you girls want to learn first, swordplay or archery.”

“Wait, what about our brother?”

“Oh he's fine. He's getting taken care of. You'll meet him soon I promise. So what do you want to learn first.” Olivia insisted

The twins looked at each other, and they made a silent agreement, another time. “Sword play”

“Good choice,” Olivia grinned. “Now let's get started.”

Chapter 2

Down in Antarctica, Jake sat with Khione, the goddess of snow, in her

ice palace. He felt dazed. He'd felt that way since, well since he was seven. Khione gave him a cold smile.

“What's wrong? Is it my dress, or my make up, or the fact that I'm totally breathtakingly beautiful? I can't be looking bad on your 18th birthday.” She gave him another ice-cold smile. “Our plans will be ready exactly on November 18 next year.”

“I came here eleven years ago to escape my old life.”

“I know. You were alone in life, your sisters are working with the

Olympians.....”

“Wait, I have sisters?”

“Oh that’s right. I forgot to tell you. After you left, your mother gave birth to a set of twins. Their names are Alyssa and Alexis Stone, and they’re training with the hunter, Olivia Knight. Ares has not claimed them yet, but Apollo and Artemis have told them pretty much everything.”

“What about Stella?” Jake asked

“Olivia is still too upset to mention her. She’s training the girls now, on swordplay and archery. Also there’s that other matter of the crystal. We need to hide it.” Khione reached into her pocket and brought out the glowing stone.

“We could hide it in my stomach,” Jake suggested.

“No, the last time we did something like that, the object came out the other side”

Jake blushed “Um...well...okay, fine that wasn’t the best idea, but do you have a better plan?”

“I’m thinking you dolt. Hmmm”

“Five hours later” Jake muttered

“SHUT UP! YOU’RE MAKING ME LOSE MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT! NOW BE QUIET!” Khione screamed, her eyes, filled with cold energy.

“Okay, jeez you don't need to get so worked up.”

“Fine, only because screaming gives you wrinkles.”

Jake sighed. “Whatever you say. You're the queen.”

Suddenly there was a large BOOM, and then Artemis and Apollo stood at the

entrance with bazookas at the ready.

“Where's Stella?”Artemis demanded.

“Somewhere you'll never find her.” Khione said coldly. She punched a button on the wall and a net dropped onto the the two gods.

Chapter 3

“Come on Alyssa!” Alexis shouted “Keep up!”

“I'm coming” Alyssa panted. They were climbing up Olivia's trident, which she'd made it grow to four feet in diameter and about a mile high.

Now the twins were climbing it for a warm up. When they both got to the top and held on to one of the points of the trident to catch their breath, Olivia climbed up.

“How did you get up so quickly?” Alyssa said in awe.

“Practice,” Olivia said “get your swords out and get ready to jump. You girls are going to get a test.”

The twins looked at each other nervously but opened their cell phones and pressed the help button. Suddenly they were each holding a sword

about three feet long with a leather grip.

“One, two, three!” The twins jumped off the trident together.

Chapter 4

Below them were three monsters. They all looked like very large serpents with metal scales.

“These are dracones,” Olivia said, somewhere to their left. “Be careful, they spit acid. Kill them with your swords like this.” She charged the center dracone. It spit acid at her, but she jumped on to the it's head and stabbed downward. The creature exploded into green dust and was blown away by an arctic breeze.

“So,” Olivia said with a huge smile. “One down, two to go. Your turn.”

“Wait, what?!” Alyssa said

“Just do what I do,” Alexis told her sister “I’m pretty sure about what I’m doing.”

“That’s reassuring,” Alyssa muttered, but watched as her sister cut off

the dracones head. It dissolved into green dust.

Alyssa readied her sword. The last dracone was the largest. It spit acid at her and she screamed but she deflected it off her sword. Suddenly the sun came out, Alyssa closed her eyes and the sword seemed to be absorbing the sunlight. She raised the blade, releasing all the swords power. The dracone opened its mouth to spit acid but instead got a mouthful of gold energy. Instead of becoming a pile of green dust, the dracone exploded like fireworks.

Alexis's jaw dropped. “How... how did you do that?” Then she straightened a little. “You did almost as good as me.”

Olivia grinned, “This is perfect. Alexis, you're great at using the blade like your father, Ares. Alyssa, you are incredible at using the power of natural light from your grandfather, Apollo. Now let's see how you do at archery.”

The girls took out their purses and unzipped one of the pockets. The bags started to glow. A bow sprung out into each of the girl’s hands as the purse changed into a quiver full of gold and silver arrows.

Olivia said “I’ve set up targets about ten yards away.”

“Sis, why don’t you go first” Alexis told her sister “I wanna see you shoot”

“Um….okay, I guess I’ll go first.” Alyssa stepped forward and took out a silver arrow and aimed at a target. The second after she let go of the string there was a pop.

“That’s the fastest arrow I’ve ever seen shot before. And you also made it.” Olivia said, awestruck. “It was so fast it caught on fire. Alyssa you really are using Apollo’s guidance. Now Alexis, your turn to shoot.”

Alexis stepped up next to her sister. She grabbed a silver arrow and aimed carefully. After she pulled the string the three of them watched the arrow as it landed just above the bull’s eye. Alexis balled her fist but Alyssa put her hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“It’s okay sis. Everyone makes mistakes. Alexis took a deep breath and said, “Thanks Alyssa, I’m alright now.”

“You girls are great. Now all we need is to get to Antarctica to stop Jake and Khione.” Olivia informed them.

“How do we get to Antarctica?” Alyssa wondered.

“Duh, we ride Artemis’s chariot. Now come on, we have no time to waste.”

Chapter 5

While the trio was on the chariot the twins told jokes and riddles that they’d read. Olivia laughed at all of them but there was just a bit of

sadness in her eyes.

“What are you sad about?” Alyssa asked “every time we have fun you

just seem really sad. Tell us and don’t say it’s nothing we know that this is not nothing.”

Olivia took a deep breath. “Okay another reason I agreed to go on this quest is to rescue my best friend, Stella Morgan. She’s a daughter of Zeus and a hunter of Artemis. I bet they wanted to take me but my father might be getting a divorce with his wife, Amphitrite, which means he’s mad and he's going to pay more attention more than usual. Plus, Metis, Zeus’s first wife is pregnant, and Zeus is too excited to care about anything else even his own daughter. If they hurt my best friend, I will go to my father and tell him to curse the new child to become a fly again.”

“What do you mean, again?” Alexis asked her mentor

Olivia laughed. “Metis got turn into a fly. The child of a fly is usually a fly. Really, Athena’s the only normal child they’ve had. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that we get the ice crystal and Stella back.”

She pointed down, toward a giant ice palace “This was King Boreas’s

palace, but then he faded and his evil daughter Khione took over. First things first, we need to bust Stella out.”

“How?” the twins asked in unison.

“Just follow me,” Olivia said with no further explanation. She whistled three times and the chariot disappeared. The next thing, they were lying on the cold hard ground. Olivia and Alexis groaned. Alyssa said, “That was fun, let’s do it again”

“NO,” Olivia and Alexis said together. Olivia waved her arms as if she were about to throw a giant beach ball. The ocean seemed to follow her arms. It hit the side of the palace and the walls broke. Inside the palace was a girl wearing a beautiful white, long dress with just the right

amount of makeup on her face. The only bad thing about what she wore were the chains around her hands and feet.

Olivia’s face broke into a grin. “What happened to you, Star? It looks like you lost a battle with Aphrodite.”

Stella made a face and snorted. “Like I’d lose a fight with that witch. Cut my chains, I can’t stand them.” Then she looked at the twins. “Who are these girls?”

“Alyssa and Alexis Stone, twin daughters of Ares. Hurry up, we need to go and get that crystal.”

“We need to make one quick stop first,” Stella said as she got up. Without explanation she kicked down the door and ran down the hallway. By the time the rest of them caught up to Stella, she was zapping all the alarms and security cameras in the hallway. “Olivia, bust down this door for me.” Olivia nodded and raised her hand and the door burst open.

Inside the room was a man and a woman who looked bored out of their minds. As soon as they saw all the girls, they jumped up. It became clear that the man was Apollo and the woman was Artemis when they

came up to them. Artemis threw a bazooka at Stella, who barely caught it.

“Throne room, now” Artemis said

When they got to the throne room the twins grabbed their swords and slashed at Khione, who had completely let her guard down, got hit and started bleeding golden blood. The girls hurried to help bind up Khione.

“So you girls are my sisters?” said a voice behind them.

“You’re our brother?” Alyssa asks. Jake nods. The girls run to hug him.

“Well,” Artemis says “since Khione was brainwashing you all these years we can’t say that any of this was your fault. In that case you can become one of Apollo’s archers and you can see your sisters on weekends or you can join Khione in Tartarus. What do you say.”

“I guess I’m becoming a archer.”

“Good choice. Now we’ll be heading back to Olympus with Khione. In the mean time Alyssa, Alexis please become one my hunters.”

The twins look at each other and said “Yes!”

Artemis smiled “Olivia take good care of these girls” Olivia nodded.

Alyssa and Alexis give their brother one last hug and say their goodbyes.

The twin gods high fived and disappeared with the snow goddess and Jake. “C’mon girls” Stella said “Let’s go hunting”

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