Mythology Girl- Chapter Seven

" The Noble Protector's "

Fall had past and it was now the winter season in Crescent Hills. What once was a scenery of beautiful leaves falling from the tree has become a scene of withering trees with no leaves. The People of the city all geared up in their winter garb, all of them patiently or impatiently waiting for winters and the beginning of spring. At Anya's house it is no different there either as she sits outside practicing her magic and still pondering questions that have yet to be answered.

" It's still cold out Ivan, How can I be sure I am even doing this right?" Anya asked while shivering outside in her backyard.

" You mastered the form of the werewolf and that gave you the ability to learn earth magic. However it is much more difficult to detect due to the fact that earth magic mostly affect you physically." Ivan said.

" I know that is what makes it hard to learn, but it is cold and I think it's about time for a break." Anya said. She had read quite a bit of the book and had thought she didn't learn any magic when she gained her werewolf form. However upon reading a book Ivan and her got from the Mythos Café she had discovered that was not true. For every time she had used her medallion to transform she was using a form of earth magic that allowed her form to change physically. However because of earth's nature it was difficult for her to detect or even realize. She hadn't even considered that it was earth magic that changed her. As far as she knew she just magically transformed whenever saying the words and that was it at the time.

" Fine, We will take a break for today, but don't forget you still got a lot to learn." Ivan told Anya. As soon as she heard that She got up and ran for the door. Normally her father would of been home, but today he would be talking with that detective who would be visiting Anya and asking her questions about the museum incidents that happened quite awhile ago.

" You seem to know a lot Ivan? How old did you say you were again?" Anya asked.

" I've told you before I'm ten years old." Ivan responded.

" Ten?! But you're about the same height as me! I'd thought you'd be at least twelve." Anya said.

" It was the same with your dad. He thought I was twelve and was quite happy to find out I wasn't." Ivan said.

The two of them headed inside the house and began to warm up. With winter here and Anya's winter vacation coming. Ivan was quite eager to help her learn earth magic so he could in return help him find some relatives he could live with. In the meantime her father Curtis had requested that Ivan would start going to an actual school soon, instead of just learning from him as Anya's father was quite busy at this time of year.

With her father busy at the museum it gave her a greater chance to practice her magic. Anya however was surprised at how much knowledge Ivan had about magic. With his knowledge he helped her learn several new spells and all of it was magic from her previous transformations that she had learned. With his help she soon mastered the water and forest spells she got from her Mermaid and Fairy transformation. When Anya's father was home and they couldn't exactly practice it out in the open without drawing suspicion Anya and Ivan would often go to the library and occasionally read a book that was about witches and demons. Anya however wasn't exactly sure why they continued to read it though.

" Planning on going to the place underneath the library today Ivan?" Anya asked.

" You mean Mythos Café? Yeah that book we've been reading has been quite interesting." Ivan said.

" I know the book about the witches and demons has been quite interesting. Still if we knew who Dr. C Mythos was then perhaps we could find out why he separated witches and humans." Anya said.

" Still worried about that? I wouldn't worry it's a good thing today's a weekend. Otherwise we wouldn't of been able to practice as much as we had today." Ivan told Anya.

" About that. Since it is a weekend I had invited Becky over it's been a long time since we hanged out together and I'm sure she's eager to meet you as well." Anya said.

"That's fine with me, you do have a bit of life with normal people after all and I don't want to get in the way of that." Ivan said.

" I'm glad you said that because Becky will be here shortly and she has been eager to meet you." Anya told Ivan.

Ivan and Anya took a break from practice and it wasn't soon after that when they heard a knock on the door. Anya and Ivan quickly went to the front door and opened it to see who it was. Anya however was shocked that it wasn't just Becky coming over to her house though. Cassie was also with her. Anya was shocked to see her standing in front of her doorway waiting to come in.

" Hello, Becky I see that you brought unexpected company." Anya said.

" I know it's hard to spring this on to you, but I think if you two could be good friends. You should at least try to be good friends and not at each other's throats all the time." Becky said explaining her reason for bringing Cassie over to her house. Anya wasn't exactly sure what Becky saw in Cassie in where she thought that the two of them could be friends. She couldn't even imagine her being friends with her.

" Whoa! Where did that awful stench come from?" Ivan asked as he looked at Becky, one of Anya's friends. He then began looking at the other girl who was unexpected.

" It's just perfume. You shouldn't worry about it that much." Cassie said. She went and looked back at Ivan as if she were judging him. Watching his every attempt to gag and hold his breath because he couldn't stand the smell of the perfume. To Ivan the smell was so strong that it was messing with his ability to pick up even the slightest hint of his own scent. The Girls then began and resumed there conversation after Ivan's interruption.

" So this is the House of Anya, shall I be ashamed or glad that I don't have such a shabby looking house?" Cassie asked.

" Cassie! You don't have to put it that way, you can try to be nicer to Anya as well." Becky told Cassie.

" Forget it Becky, the only reason she'd ever be nice to me is if she wanted something from me. She obviously doesn't want anything from me. So perhaps she should go live in her dog house!" Anya said. Despite Becky's attempts to keep Anya and Cassie from arguing about trivial things, they began to argue anyways and continued to go back and forth for quite awhile. Wanting to try and find something in common for the two of them to get along with she began to search Anya's house for anything she thought might be interesting. Becky went to her father's study and soon saw a book that she believed the both of them may like.

" Stop Arguing! Look at this book here instead!" Becky yelled. Anya and Cassie were shocked as Becky slammed the book down and then the book opened upon a one particular page. The two of them stopped there bickering and looked carefully at the book. The Book was a book about mythological creatures and it opened up on a page that not only captured their interests, but had Ivan looking at it as well.

"A book about myth's and it's opened up on the page about Griffin's. Becky why do you think this would be of interest?" Anya asked.

" Well your dad works at the museum and researches a lot of stuff including stuff about myth's right. The Griffin according to this book is a noble protector who protects valuables and is considered one of the more majestic and noble creatures. So maybe you two are kind of like a Griffon one of you is the bird part and the other is the lion." Becky said.

" Noble protectors? Griffins I wonder..." Ivan said as he listened to the conversation and got curious about what they could be protecting that could be so precious. Surprisingly however Becky's plan to get Anya and Cassie to agree on something actually worked this time, and the two wer calming down from their previous argument.

" Well I don't want to be the end part of the griffin." Cassie said.

" I don't either." Anya said.

" It's not about being one part or not, I am referring to your traits." Becky said.

" Well I guess I could see that, anyways where's that little guy that was here awhile ago?" Cassie asked looking around for Ivan.

" I'm sure he's around I'll go get him." Anya said as she left Cassie and Becky alone. She didn't really want to but she felt it was much better than continuing her argument. She had went and searched for Ivan around the house. Where she was surprised to find him transformed into his werewolf form in her room.

" Ivan! You need to change back, why are you in this form when we still have guests over?" Anya asked.

" The Story in the book it made me think, that maybe a Griffon is protecting the medallion I lost, or it could happen to have another one. Either way I think we should go look for one." Ivan told Anya. She understood Ivan's desire to find the item that he had lost and the fact that the Griffon who was a noble protector could have it meant it could be under attack by those people who were hunting Ivan. She also knew him going there would be a risk as she didn't want the hunters to find him or any of her other friends. The more she thought about the more she began to worry.

" Don't Worry Ivan, will go look for it, but first change back to your human form, I don't think it's safe for you to be in this form right now." Anya said. Ivan nodded and slowly changed back to his human form. After that you and Ivan went down and both Becky and Cassie had met him for the first time.

" So this is the young boy you were talking about right Anya?" Becky asked.

" Yes, well due to a certain situation he's staying at our house." Anya said.

" Hello, My name is Ivan it is a pleasure to meet you." Ivan said. Cassie looked at him as if she were trying to judge him in a particular way. After a few moments of her intense stare she went and said, " Well he's polite and has great manners, but he forgot to kiss my hand. So eighty points." Cassie said.

" Eighty points? For what?" Anya asked.

" My apologies I'll kiss your hand then." Ivan said and then began to lick Cassie's hand with his tongue. Which disgusted Cassie to the point where she pulled her hand away from it.

" Eww! Filthy brat! Do you not understand what a kiss is?" Cassie asked.

" Cassie you can't just go grading people by there first impression." Becky said. With Introductions out of the way Ivan went back to his temporary room and waited for you to finish hanging out with your friends. Although you and Cassie still didn't get along too well, you did manage to find some common ground here and there. Within a few hours it was still daylight out and you had promised Ivan that you would go and look for a Griffon. The only problem was that so far you didn't exactly know how to find one. With no one else turn to you decided to once again ask the voice that seemed to come from the Medallion. Perhaps it would know of a way to reach a Griffin.

" Hey! the voice of the medallion. Can you help me find the where abouts of a griffin?" Anya asked it hoping it would respond. Fortunately the voice did respond however oddly enough not in it's usual monotone voice.

" A Griffin? Why would you need to look for one?" The voice asked.

" I heard from one of my fathers books that a griffin is a noble and loyal creature that protects valuables. So Ivan and I thought it might have something similar to the medallion he has lost." Anya explained to the voice.

" I understand, In order to visit there world you would need to find a portal to there world. Perhaps the place you found beneath the library could help." The Voice suggested. The voice stopped responding to any more questions after that. Anya always thought it was weird that the voice would occasionally not be of use or help her at all. She would often wonder why it would do such a thing, however right now she had to get to the world of the Griffons and the only clue she got was to go to the place that Ivan had introduced her too.

Despite Anya wanted to leave Ivan at the house when travelling to the Café under the library. He insisted that he would go as well as he thought of the medallion as his responsibility not Anya's. However Anya was worried that if he goes there he too would be once again put in danger, like he was when she had first met Ivan. Despite these two different viewpoints it was eventually decided to let Ivan go with Anya at least to the Café but not to the world where the Griffins reside.

" Do you understand Ivan? I will go to the Griffins world alone, and you can stay here and keep an eye out on things here." Anya explained to Ivan as best as she could. She then went and gave him her cell phone. Ivan looked at the object curiously having never seen one before.

" What is this? Why are you giving me a blank box?" Ivan asked.

" It's not a blank box, it's my cell phone a way I communicate with my dad if I'm running late you can tell him that I am at the library and I'll get home as soon as I can." Anya explained to Ivan. She then explained to Ivan how the cell phone works in the best details that she could understand. It was kind of hard for Anya to believe that despite his ability to read books. Ivan had no idea how to use a cell phone. Until she explained it to him. The two of them got off the bus and then headed straight for the library hoping that they would find some way to enter into the Griffins world.

Anya and Ivan entered the library and went to the private room they went to before, they then entered the underground passage and found their way all the way to the entrance to the underground passage and knocked at the door they had the last time. It was their that they entered the Mythos Café. Anya was surprised however to see someone she had helped before in the Café.

" Penelope? Is that really you?" Anya asked as she saw Penelope sitting in the Café. Penelope was also surprised to see Anya mainly because she didn't know she would ever be in this place.

" Anya, it's good to see you." Penelope replied, " But how did you learn of this place I didn't think you would know of this place."

" I showed it to her." Ivan interrupted their conversation. " Anya we don't have time to play catch up, We need to head to the Griffins World."

" Ivan it's rude to interrupt and anyways we don't know how we can get there yet, so wouldn't be best to ask someone instead." Anya scolded Ivan for interrupting her conversation.

" Anya so your after your fourth transformation then?" Penelope asked.

" Fourth transformation? What do you mean I just heard that Griffins protect valuable items and might be protecting a certain Item that Ivan had misplaced." Anya explained to Penelope.

" You didn't know that the Griffin is the fourth transformation then, Well then how much exactly do you know about your Medallion?" Penelope asked Anya.

" I know that it's forms were sealed long ago to prevent it's misuse and that I need to unlock them and make a promise to each creature and form that I unlock. If I fail to keep that promise, then I would lose that form. And that despite being called the Mythos Medallion. No one has yet to discover it's true intent." Anya told Penelope all that she knew about the Medallion which unfortunately wasn't much.

" I see, I guess it wants you to discover it on your own then. I do know of a way to the Griffins World or to be more exact a way into the Mythical world where all Mythical creatures live." Penelope said.

" You do? Then can you show us the way?" Anya asked.

" I will show you how to get to the Griffins resting place, but the rest you will have to do alone." Penelope said.

Penelope took Anya and Ivan to a small room in the back corner. In this room it was dimly lit with various decorations placed upon the wall. Some of the decorations were paintings and others made little since to Anya. In this room there was a mirror and it was there that Penelope pointed to. " This Mirror will take you to where you either want to go or need to go, It's not always obvious which one it is. However it connects to this world and the other world through magical means. You just need to concentrate enough of your own magic power to get there. Otherwise you'd be stuck travelling in some other place for quite some time." Penelope said.

" So I just concentrate on what I am looking for and it will guide me towards there?" Anya asked.

"Yes, but it wont guide you all the way, so you will be close to your destination but not exactly at it." Penelope said. Anya then looked to Ivan and saw that he was indeed wanting to go with her, but she knew it would be too much of a risk taking him, not because he was from the world she was about to enter but rather due to the possibility of the dangers like last time reappearing. " Ivan you stay here, at least then there's someone my dad can contact and know where I am for the most part. I know you want to go help me look but for now this is important you make sure my dad doesn't worry about me alright?" Anya asked hoping that Ivan would understand. Ivan was rather smart and did understand Anya's reasons and simply gave her a nod. She then focused her magic power and placed her hand upon the mirror trying to get the image of the Griffins home in her head. The mirror began to glow and it's aura began to surround her. The aura that surrounded her and the Mirror had somehow made Anya feel safe and yet a bit of sadness to it as well. Within minutes Anya and the Mirror disappeared from the underground location and had arrived elsewhere.

Anya went and looked around she didn't see Penelope or Ivan anywhere around here and the place seemed familiar to her in some ways, but different in others. The Sky was blue and she was surrounded by a forest, a lake and a familiar tree. " I know that tree! That is the tree I went to when I got my first transformation the fairy transformation." Anya said to herself. She was grateful that this time she arrived normal sized instead of as small as she did when she first arrived in this world. As she looked in the forest she noticed it looked similar to the one she had seen Ivan running away from in her dreams, and as for the lake it looked similar to the bay in her world. However neither of these places were the places she needed to go. " All these places look familiar but where do I go from here? Anya thought to herself.

She continued to think and then she remembered some of the training she had done with Ivan. " Remember Anya you are learning basic magic and there are five different types of basics. Forest from your fairy transformation, Water is the next, and then From mine you gain the abilities of Earth magic which is usually more physical than magical, some don't even consider it magic because of that. The only two you don't have is Sky and Fire." Ivan told her. Remembering some of the training she had done with Ivan made her realize that in order to find the Griffin's she would have to find her way to the sky. Anya decided to use her fairy transformation and use her fairy wings to fly to her destination. She began her transformation but then for some reason it didn't work. No matter what transformation she tried to use none would activate. She quickly remembered Penelope telling her that the Griffin transformation was her fourth transformation and deduced that the reason she can't use any of her transformations is because she was being tested.

"Great now I have to walk, but to where?" Anya thought to herself. She looked around carefully and saw most of the same scenario except then she realized the only other thing to reach the sky would be the mountains. As she looked around she finally saw a huge mountain in the east and began walking towards it.

Anya continued walking towards the mountain while being reminded of how far she has got since this journey of hers began. It started with her father being turned to stone and her finding the Medallion who then had her due several different things before entering this world in a tiny body and having to travel to a large tree where all the fairies lived. She gained a lot of knowledge about fairies that day, however at that time she didn't realize what else she would have to go through. As she thought about it more she began to realize that aside from learning how to have fun with her transformations as she promised the other fairies. She also gained a lot of knowledge about fairies. The next of her adventures begun on a boat in the middle of Crescent Bay. It was there that she met Penelope and promised to help her save her parents. During that adventure she had to face armed opponents for the first time. It was scary facing them at first but with a little planning and effort she managed to deal with him and saved her family. Her Third adventure was rather different than the previous two, as she has yet to find Ivan's relatives, but at least for now he's safe living with Anya. Yet Anya can't keep but wondering what will she learn or have to do in order to reach the griffins. She had walked far and had finally made it to the base of the mountain. When she looked up she saw that the griffins home was quite a ways up and there was no trail up. If she was going to make it up she would have to scale the mountain.

Anya got a good look at the mountain and saw a small path she could walk up however the further she got up the mountain that path looked as though it would eventually disappear. It did not take her too long to notice some strange people upon that same path. " Are they the same ones who attacked Ivan?" She thought in her head. Deciding not to take chance and be seen she went around the mountain for a bit and found a small but injured griffin. This griffin had it's wing broken and couldn't fly back up to the next. " Are you okay?" She asked the griffin.

" I am hurt, but you should just leave me." The Injured griffin told Anya.

" Leave you? Sorry I can't do that who knows what those other guys will do to you, here let me carry you and I'll bring you up to your nest." Anya said refusing to leave the griffin alone. The Griffin was confused by her actions and did not quite understand her reasoning as she began to lift the griffin up and on to her back. Anya soon figured out that despite the size of the griffin being that of an infant it was still quite heavy for her and she couldn't exactly walk or run as fast as she could while carrying it.

" If you had abandoned me, I wouldn't be such a burden anyways. Why do you try to help knowing full well that my weight will hinder you?" The injured griffin asked.

" That doesn't matter, I am going to help you get back up there. Besides I think I know what those men are after, I don't want you or your family to have to face that danger." Anya replied.

" How foolish, it would be easier for you to abandon me and steal it while no one is there. You have no reason to be nice to me we are not friends nor are we enemies yet you continue to insist on the path which is hardest. Why continue to do what you feel is right, when you can do what is necessary and accomplish your goals much faster?" The Injured griffin asked. Anya saw that she had ran out of path to walk and now that she would have to scale up the mountain to reach the nest.

" Just because a path is easy doesn't necessary make it the right one, and I would like to be friends with you eventually." Anya said to the injured griffin before beginning her climb up the mountain. Climbing the mountain with the griffin on her back was much more difficult that Anya thought it would be as well. During this climb she continued to go further and further up she was sweating and her muscles were beginning to tire, not only that but she was worried that the other people she saw may eventually spot her and the injured griffin and begin to go after her. The more she climbed the harder it became she wasn't even sure if she could make it anymore, Yet Anya continued to persist and continued her climb.

It had been a couple of hours since she started her climb and it looked to her like she would never be able to reach the Griffin's nest in time. Her determination and her muscles needed rest, fortunately she found a spot big enough for her and the Injured Griffin to rest before she would begin her climb. " You still can leave me here if you choose to, I am sure it would make your climb much easier." The Injured griffin had told Anya.

"What is it with you and your constantly telling me to leave you alone, It's beginning to get irritating. I already told you before I am not going to leave you. I don't care if it makes it harder I will continue this path." Anya told the Injured Griffin. " If you insist, but this next part of the climb is the most dangerous part. If you fall off from here you will die. I am only suggesting you take the easier path because I do not want you to die." The Injured Griffin said. Anya understood his intentions but despite that she was still determined to climb with the Injured griffin. " Sure if would be easier, but if that is what you are worried about, then how about we climb together?" Anya asked.

"Climb together? How would we do that aren't you the one carrying me? How would we be able to climb together?" The Injured Griffin asked. Anya smiled and responded. " I have an idea about that, You have claws right? If you use your claws to dig in to the mountain to prevent me from falling, then we could reach the top." The Injured griffin understood the simplicity of Anya's plan and knew what she was suggesting. Why she would continue to climb up, the injured Griffin would use it's claws as a harness and keep Anya from falling off the mountain. " I agree with this plan, will you need me to do anything else?" The Griffin asked. " Yes, but it's not much my name is Anya what is your name?" Anya asked the Injured Griffin.

" I am Called Kor." Kor said. The griffin and Anya then began there way climbing the next half of the mountain. Anya's muscles got a bit of a rest but just enough to continue the climb. Yet somehow despite this part of the mountain being the difficult part with his help the climb up was much easier and they were able to finally reach the Griffin's Nest. Upon reaching the nest Kor began to change from an Injured small griffin to a fully grown adult Griffin and the people Anya saw at the bottom of the mountain had all vanished.

" The Test is Over." Kor said. His voice was much deeper than you last heard it and your medallion had begun to glow. When the Medallion finished it now had the head of a Griffin as one of it's symbols. Anya knew she had know gained her fourth transformation.

" Was this test about my loyalty?" Anya asked Kor. He then simply shook his head before he gave the answer. " I wont reveal what you were tested on instead I will leave it to you to decide. All you know is that you have passed and gained the transformation. Along with it access to sky magic which will allow to fly in any form once you master it." Anya knew she had gained the transformation but she had not forgot about what she had came to the Griffins nest for either.

" Kor, do you happen to have a demon medallion that a friend of mine lost? This friend he is a werewolf and he was wearing the medallion while running from people who were after him because of the medallion. I promised to help him find the medallion and his parents who were separated while he was running away from the people after him." Any explained the situation to Kor. Kor was silent and the retreated into his nest and searched for various belongings and stuff he had protected. When Kor came back it looked like he did have some thing to give Anya. He gave her two white stones that looked like they belonged together similar to the ones she had gotten from her friends Swift and Penelope. The next of the items he gave her was a Demonic medallion. " I do Have one of the Demonic medallions and have been protecting it from those who would use it's evil power, however it is not the one your werewolf friend lost." Kor said.

With her mission accomplished Anya grabbed the items Kor gave her, thanked him and began to try her new transformation out. Her face became more cat like until she became like a lion and she put her hands and knees on the floor as her body began transforming. Once her transformation was finished, she then headed towards where she entered and went back to her own world.

Chapter End