Demigod Cannonball Run

The Alexander Chronicles

Part Three

Chapter Four: D Makes an Odd Decision, For Him

When I looked outside, it was almost dawn, and knowing the Hunter's habits, I got ready to go as quickly as I could. I was running for the exit, when I hit Nico di Angelo. "Hey, Alex! Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"Hi Nico. I'm going to go catch the Hunters. By the way, have you seen Percy?"

"Catch the Hunters? You mean you're going after them, even though Chiron told you to stay here?"

"I'm not afraid of Chiron, or anything else for that matter. This won't be the first time that I've left the camp without permission. Now where's Percy?"

His answer started in a whisper so quiet that I don't think I was supposed to hear it. "Jeez, you sure are arrogant. Percy's already left, he jumped on one of the pegasi and they flew off after the van. I hope he'll keep his promise about protecting my sister."

"Thanks, Nico. And don't worry about your sister, you'll see her again. I'm going to do my best to make sure she comes back to you, I promise." I finally caught up with Percy about an hour later at the Chrysler Building. "Hey, Percy. Didn't you think to wait for me?"

"Hi, Alex. Sorry, but I didn't have time to wake you. Now, let's get go . . . Whoa!" I started to turn to see what was going on, when I smelled the strong scent of wine, "Dionysus. What in the world are you doing here? I thought Dad told you to stay at camp except during solstice meetings."

"The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot," he glared at Blackjack, he didn't even bother to answer me! "And you thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you leaving without permission?"

"All powerful, you say? Then prove it, wine dude!" His eyes burned with a purple fire, and I knew that he was furious, but I was on a roll. "Do something only an all-powerful being could do! Kill Kronos! Create life from nothing! Put me in a bottle of Merlot!"

"Alex, what are you doing?"

"Calm down Percy. He's not going to do anything to us. He can talk the talk, but he can't walk the walk when it comes to being 'all powerful.' He won't do anything to us because he's afraid of our father's. Besides, we are probably the ones that will save Olympus, so he needs us. So while you're here, why don't you tell us why you hate us so much?"

"Did I ever tell you about Ariadne? Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a young hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magical yarn that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?"

"They got married. Happily ever after. The end." I did my best to stifle a laugh. I thought he knew that only a handful of demigods got "happy endings." I'm sure Sally would have named him Theseus if he had gotten a happy ending.

"Not quite. Theseus said he would marry her. He took her aboard his ship and sailed for Athens. Halfway back, on a little island called Naxos, he . . . What's the word you mortals use today? . . . he dumped her. I found her there, you know. Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out. She had given up everything, left everything she knew behind, to help a dashing young hero who tossed her away like a broken sandal."

"Now wait just a minute, wine dude. The way I heard it, Theseus left her there at the command of Athena. You can't really blame him for following Athena's command, can you?"

His eyes burned again, and I knew that if he could, he would do something terrible to me. Thanks, Dad, I thought. "I can and I do, Lex. I fell in love with Ariadne, boy. And when she died, I made her my immortal wife on Olympus. She waits for me even now. I shall go back to her when I am done with this infernal century of punishment at your ridiculous camp." Typical Olympian, never stays faithful to their marriage vows.

"You're . . . you're married? But I thought you got in trouble for chasing a wood nymph-"

"My point is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then betray everyone around you. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoë Nightshade." Medea, hmm. I'd have to ask Dad about that one, or maybe Athena. I'd heard her story, but I never understood why she did what she did, especially considering the customs of the day. "Go. Follow your silly friends."

"You're . . . you're letting us go? Just like that?" I could understand Percy's confusion. This was not at all like the wine dude (I would have to thank Nico later for coming up with that nickname,) usually he would drag us back to camp, destroy our minds, or turn us into something. He had to have something up his sleeves . . .

"The prophecy says at least two of you will die. Perhaps I'll get lucky and it'll be you two. But mark my words, live or die, you two will prove no better than the other heroes." He then snapped his fingers, and disappeared. We then flew off to catch up with the others.

We followed them all the way to DC before we finally stopped, landing at the Washington Monument. "Are you sure that they're here, Alex?"

"Sure Percy. Thanks to Athena, this map can track anyone we want." I pulled out the map that Athena had given me last summer, just before we went looking for Grover and the Fleece. I zoomed it in to DC, and showed it to him, saying "Look, we're here at the Washington Monument, and they're here, at the Air and Space Museum."

"What's with the red eye here?"

I looked where he was pointing, and sure enough, there was a red eye of Ra right on top of the Monument. "Hmm, I'm not sure. My only guess is that it's one of the places that we're supposed to avoid. I don't know why Athena would have us avoid it, unless that Eye of Ra is supposed to be some kind of hint. Eh, who . . . knows? Well, well. Look over there, it's our old friend Doc Thorn."

We decided to follow the Doc into the Museum of Natural History, and what we saw shocked us. There were about a dozen mortal guards protecting the perimeter, and two Scythian Dracaenae. Beyond them were Doc Thorn, a large man sitting on a throne (tall enough that his head was hidden in the shadows near the roof,) and Luke. But Luke had changed-he looked like he had aged ten or twenty years, his hair had gone almost gray, and his scar looked like it was brand new.

"Well?" The mystery guest had a voice that sounded ancient and dangerous, but also tired, almost as if he'd been relieved of some heavy burden recently.

"They are here, mon Jeneral."

"I know that, you fool. But where?"

"In zee rocket museum."

"The Air and Space Museum. Get it right."

"As you say, sir." By his tone, Thorn apparently hated Luke, and if it weren't for the General, would probably kill him before calling him sir.

"How many?" Thorn ignored the question until the General repeated it.

"Four, Jeneral. Zee satyr, Grover Underwood. And zee girl with the spiky black hair and zee-how do you say-punk clothes and zee horrible shield."

"Thalia."

"And two other girls-Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."

"That one I know."

"Let me take them. We have more than enough-"

"Patience. They'll have their hands full already. I've sent a little playmate to keep them occupied. Besides, we can't risk you, my boy."

"Oui, boy. You are much too fragile to risk. Let me finish them off."

"No. You have already failed me Thorn." The General had stood up, and he looked like he was about 40 feet tall (definitely an immortal-the only other beings that tall were our parents.) He had a deep tan and black hair that was slicked-back, and a brutal, wrinkled face.

"But Jeneral-"

"No excuses!" When we'd first met, Thorn had struck me as a commanding presence, a person that Ares would have liked immediately. But when compared to the General, it was clear that Thorn was strictly low-level, while the General was so clearly military, that he didn't need a uniform-his very presence said military big-shot. Of course, that only made me want to get rid of him even more-I hated most authority figures, especially military authority figures. "I should throw you into the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence! I sent you to capture a child of the three elder gods, and you bring me a scrawny daughter of Athena!"

"But you promised me revenge! You promised me-"

"ENOUGH! I am Lord Kronos' senior commander. I will carry out my promises to those who get me results! It was only thanks to Luke that we salvaged our plan at all. Now get out of my sight, Thorn, until I find some menial task for you to do. If you don't, maybe I'll make carry my burden for a while." That threat sent Thorn scampering from the room with his tail between his legs. "Now, my boy. The first thing we need to do is isolate the demigod Thalia. The monster we seek will then come to her."

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of. Zoë Nightshade-"

"DO NOT speak her name!"

"S-sorry General. I just-"

The General waved his apology away and turned to a mortal guard. "Do you have the teeth?" The guard nodded, and the General had the guard plant and water them. But to everyone's surprise, instead of a dozen killing machines rising, a dozen kittens rose. I'd have laughed my head off, f I wasn't so worried about giving us away, or that there really was something here to create killers.

"What is this? Cute, cuddly kittens? Where did you find those teeth?" The General was clearly not happy about those teeth.

"From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The saber-toothed tiger-"

"No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those . . . those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again!" As soon as the guard left, he muttered, "Imbeciles."

"That is why I don't use mortals. They are unreliable."

"Then you deprive yourself of a tool, Castellan. They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent. I love them." Soon after that, the guar returned with more teeth. "Excellent. Dinosaur teeth-ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely. Once my warriors catch the scent, they pursue it relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapon known to demigod or Hunter. Well, no demigod that hasn't existed for more than sixty years, anyway." He planted the teeth, and this time when the creatures rose, twelve skeletal forms rose from the dirt. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"

A dracaena responded that she did, and she tossed a silver scarf down to the zombies. Percy and I both knew what would happen if that scarf made it down to the zombies, and we leapt into action. Percy charged the zombies and grabbed the scarf, while I pulled out an arrow and shot three of the dracaena. "What's this? An intruder! Two cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"

"It's Percy Jackson and Alex Summers! It has to be." I dove for Percy and picked him, but not before one of the zombies got a piece of his shirt, and thus his scent. I flew us as quickly as possible to Zoë and the others, to warn them that they were now being tracked . . .

A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I had two other stories that I was working on. One-The Veritas Saga: Origins is far more difficult to write for, but if you like Smallville, than please R&R, especially considering it only has two reviews! The second, well, I was hired to write the prophecy for PSD's story Son of the Moonlit Sky, not an easy task. As always: Read & REVIEW!