"Err, no. no, never. I am not going with that thing beside me. She's never liked me and you know it Nico." Percy said, glaring at Mrs. O'Leary.
"Come on, she's not that bad," Nico, the owner, said, "I promise she won't bite if you behave and talk nice."
Percy scowled, "Bite? That's an understatement."
He grinned. "Either way, I'm the one who's going to be holding the leash. Now shut up, and let's get this over with." He said as we made our way to the gate.
"May the gods be with you," said the old soldier who guarded the Gate. The Gate was one of the 'legal' ways of getting to the other side, the Isles of Pythoros. Percy, Nico and three other soldiers provided by the queen strolled over to the other side; the path was a long cold tunnel.
"Why are you doing this, Nico? Going with me back there, I mean."
Nico sighed, "It's illegal to keep a hellhound with you in the other side. She said that I had to let her use Mrs. O'Leary or else…" he let the sentence hang.
I shook my head, "Dude, I've known you for years. And I know when you're not saying the whole truth."
He raised an eyebrow, "Well, that's the truth that you'll have to believe now."
"Well, let's hope Mrs. O'Leary's nose is strong enough to track this lost princess of ours." His eyebrows scrunched, "How come I didn't even know our kingdom had a princess."
Nico sighed, "You're never updated about anything Percy."
"Will you two ever shut up?" one soldier muttered at them.
"Exactly what I was thinking, Jason," the second one mumbled.
"Percy, I wonder if we should let Mrs. O'Leary have her lunch now." Nico said in a high voice.
Percy grinned, "Exactly what I was thinking, Nico."
~O~
After being stuck in a cell for months - maybe years? - Annabeth thought she forgot how to run. However, when she got an opportunity to escape, she grasped it hastily. Now she was on the run, in the Isles of Pythoros. The old soldier at the gate willingly let her pass out of mercy, but he told the Queen that she had attacked him, to save his own butt.
She remembered that before her father, the king, had died, been murdered in cold blood, he had told her that he'll always love her. And that whenever she got a chance to escape she should get to the Isles. And find a girl named Piper.
About twenty-four hours had passed, and her luck of finding Piper was as good as none. So far, she had not met the ugly part of Pythoros, and she was glad she didn't. She'd heard the stories. They were not so good. She felt bad for thinking that, because now she was totally sure she had jinxed herself upon seeing the Minotaur a few yards away from her.
The Minotaur smiled creepily at her before charging at her. She was able to dodge the first attack, but at the cost of her ankle; she hit it against a rock and now it was probably broken. All of a sudden she was hyperventilating. Her life was flashing before her eyes and she didn't know why. Maybe it was because she was scared and felt alone, just like in her cell. Only now the difference is the growling half-man, half-bull.
The Minotaur noticed her vulnerability and charged again. She scrambled away just in time and the Minotaur hit a tree. Now its horn was stuck in the tree. Annabeth took this chance and made a run for it, but she forgot about her ankle and fell with a sharp pain on her ankle. The Minotaur unhooked itself from the tree and turned towards her. This is the end, she thought, and closed her eyes.
"Uh, hello? Aren't you supposed to be running or something?"
The Minotaur was confused. Over the years, it had attacked women and it was sure that women did not sound like that. Annabeth was also confused, but happy that the gods had answered her silent prayer.
"Up here." Perched on the branch of a tree was a boy, probably the same age as her. He had blue eyes and red fizzy hair and a goofy grin on his face, as if he was lucky to have found the Minotaur. He looked at the Minotaur with challenging eyes, and Annabeth could have sworn that flames were coming from his hands.
The boy jumped from the branch and latched himself on the Minotaur's back. The Minotaur shrieked and started spinning. The boy sprang from its back and landed swiftly on the ground. From his hands he fired flames at the Minotaur. He even made some gun-sounding sound effects while at it. Annabeth decided that this boy was a bit awkward despite the fact that he saved her life.
The Minotaur had escaped before it was burned to smithereens. The boy turned to his fallen damsel-in-distress. "Hey, I'm Leo."
Two girls emerged from behind some trees and glared at the carnage Leo had caused. "Piper, Thalia, look what I found." He said giddily as if that would make them forget what he did; he burnt half the area.
Thalia gasped, "Annabeth?"
~O~
Luke had trouble navigating through the Isle of Pythoros. Getting to the Isles was no sweat; there are other ways of getting through other than the 'legal' way. Ethan Nakamura had wanted to tag along after his abrupt exit out of his kingdom. Ethan said something along the lines of 'I have your back', but Luke wasn't buying any of it. He knew his father had sent Ethan to keep an eye on him, to make sure he returned in one piece. But he did value the fact that his father still wanted to look out for him, even after he said to his face that he wanted to save Annabeth more than anything.
Speaking of, she was proving difficult to locate, although Luke had to admit that he did not really have a prearranged plan. He apparently expected to get to the Isles of Pythoros and fortunately find her lurking around the border. But he knew she wasn't stupid.
Ethan was trying to help, at least. He had leads. He said that there was a mortal population somewhere out there and that they had probably spotted Annabeth already. It was vague, but good enough. On the way they did meet a few unfriendly creatures, but nothing Luke and Ethan couldn't handle. Apart from the empusas, the chimera and the manticores. Okay, so they were mostly pretty hard to beat.
For a moment he wondered why his ancestors had to build a wall to separate the two realms. Well he knew that the mythical creatures in Pythoros were harmful and dangerous, but he was sure that wasn't it. What was so bad it had to be cut off from civilization? Or who?
Ethan suddenly grabbed him and they hid behind a large boulder. Peeking, he noticed a dozen hellhounds, growling and looking for a good meal for the afternoon. He inhaled; he wasn't in the mood, and physical shape to fight with hellhounds right now. He was so tired; the only thing fueling him was the desperation to find Annabeth, and that was slowly dwindling. The chances of Annabeth surviving this place are so slim…he thought sadly.
~O~
Up in Olympus, the gods were having a heated argument.
"How do you leave such a mess in the kitchen like that? Have you no shame?" Artemis snapped at Aphrodite.
"These nails were not made for cooking, sister." Aphrodite said defensively.
"Stop fighting about such useless things. Are you seeing this?" Zeus asked his colleagues. They were watching three scenes: Annabeth, Percy and Luke.
"This is not odd at all. Many mortals happen to wander to the other side. I guess it's just their luck," Hephaestus whistled.
"Most mortals, Hephaestus, mortals." Poseidon pointed out.
Hephaestus just raised an eyebrow.
Athena turned to Apollo, "Apollo, do you think this is the prophecy taking place. Has it started already?"
Apollo shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe."
"What do you mean 'you don't know'? You're supposed to know, because it's your area of expertise. You're the god of prophecies," Athena snapped at Apollo.
Apollo stuck out his tongue unprofessionally. Zeus just rolled his eyes.
"Look, the Fates don't like when I snoop around the future for so long. But I'm ninety per cent sure that this is the Great Prophecy. Happy?" he fake-smiled at Athena, who clenched her fists.
"Let's just hope that they can make the right decisions, for the right reasons." Poseidon sighed.
"If not…" Ares grinned, "I can't wait to use my hammer, it's been a while." He caressed his war hammer.
"Love always prevails." Aphrodite muttered, smiling. Everyone knew what she meant, in relation to the prophecy.
"Actually, I beg to differ." Athena started.
"I second that." Artemis joined in. Another argument erupted.
Zeus groaned, fed up with his family, and vanished to get a cup of honey.