Chapter 4: The Pied Piper Plays a Saxophone.
Percy awoke with a California halibut slapping him repeatedly in the face with its tail. "Arg!" Percy flailed around. "What the heck?"
The halibut gave Percy what he could only guess was an apologetic smile. It was hard to read a fish's expression, they tended to have the same blank look on their face for every emotion. "Sorry Lord," the fish said mournfully. "But if you didn't wake soon, your friends will drown."
Annabeth! Austin! Percy whirled around and saw them floating, unconscious, several feet away. Bubbles trailed from their mouths showing that they were still alive. Percy breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks." He said to the fish, who nodded serenely and swam off. Percy grabbed his friends and swam to the surface.
"Is everyone alright?" Percy asked.
They both nodded, looking noxious. Percy knew how they felt. He had thrown up the first time he had successfully water traveled. Percy looked around, sensing that they were at least in the right ocean, and not in the Indian Ocean. For a second, he worried he had taken them too far off shore. He closed his eyes, and felt the currents move around him. There, he sensed land, a marina, about two miles away. Percy tried to summon a current to get them to shore but discovered he had no energy left. He could just barely keep all of them dry. "I'm sorry. We are going to have to swim to shore." Neither of them looked very happy about it, but they understood.
Swimming without his power over currents took a long time. To his mild embarrassment, both Annabeth and Austin were better swimmers than he was. However, even for them, it was very slow work. Their backpacks weighed them down. The water was cold, and although none of them were wet, both Austin and Annabeth shivered as they swam. The California sky was overcast. Percy hopped the monstrous baby wouldn't start a storm now.
He was so tired. His limbs felt like wet sand bags. Each stroke as tiring as a marathon, "Uh Percy? You okay?" Austin's worried voice sounded as though it were coming a long way off.
Percy took a while to respond, "Fine. I feel great."
"I think I feel water on my legs," Austin said.
Everything sounded muffled and it took too long for him to understand what was going on. All he wanted to do was sleep. His head went under. He was only dimly aware of Annabeth and Austin grabbing him and yelling. Their now wet clothes pressing against him. Only Annabeth's desperate voice yelling at him kept him from completely losing consciousness. He had tried for too much and now everything hurt or made him tired. He had never transported people with him and certainly not across an entire country, and definitely, not after fighting an evil whirlpool trying to get a magical fleece. It would suck if he died because of his own arrogance. He was so exhausted, he didn't notice the large dark masses gathering beneath him, lifting him up and onto their backs. Sleep had finally gripped him once again.
Percy awoke again to another sea animal abusing him. Water sprayed in his face from a small grey dolphin. A squeaky voice in his head said, "Lord, wake up. Up up up! We brought you to the shore."
Percy groaned and rolled to a seated position, finding himself on a dock. Annabeth was patting a dolphin, who was squeaking excitedly. She nodded as though she could understand her. The she-dolphin was telling Annabeth about how good her echolocation was getting and all the things she was able to find that day. A tin can, the broken hull of a ship, and a gigantic hippocampus named Rainbow, were the highlight of her discovery.
Austin was drying his saxophone which had indeed gotten wet. He blew a few notes which actually sounded pretty good to Percy. Better than Grover's musical talents anyway. Austin still didn't look pleased and shook his instrument, trying to hear if there was water sloshing around.
Percy stood and walked over to Annabeth. She started then grinned. "She's so sweet."
The dolphin sensing it had been complemented, chattered happily, "Lord, it is good to see you have awoken. Your mate is very beautiful and very nice."
Percy blushed at the word "mate", but didn't comment on it.
"I fed you some nectar while you were asleep. How do you feel?" Annabeth said pulling her hand away from the dolphin.
"A lot better. Sorry, I tried for too much."
"I'm glad you're okay. I was worried at first when you didn't wake up, but the dolphins didn't seem so."
"How long was I out?" Percy asked, looking at the sun starting to dip below the horizon. They would have to hurry to camp. Percy did not want to sleep out in the open."
"Two hours."
Percy's heart sank. He would not be able to use any of his powers till morning, possibly longer.
"Lord?" The bigger dolphin who had woken him up asked.
Percy looked at the dolphin.
"Lord Delphin sent us. He told us to give you a message, from your father."
Percy stiffened. "Delphin? My father?" Delphin was one of Poseidon's generals and god of dolphins.
"Lord Poseidon said not to water travel again for the rest of the quest or you will dissolve. You will need to travel by mortal means from here on out."
Percy had already suspected something like this, but he didn't like hearing it. "Anything else?" He asked reluctantly.
"Be careful. United States mainland is where the gods hold power."
"Uh, isn't that obvious." Austin had come up from behind them.
Annabeth looked at him then at Percy. "The gods don't send useless messages. We'll find out what Poseidon means later."
"At least its more specific than 'Brace Yourself'," Percy said half-jokingly. He turned back to the dolphin. "Thank you for taking us to shore. Give my thanks to Delphin and my father as well."
The dolphins chattered their goodbyes. Percy, Annabeth, and Austin slung their packs over their shoulders and headed up the dock. Percy munched on a peanut butter Cliff Bar, letting Annabeth take the lead.
Austin blew some experimental notes that sounded like the beginnings of taps. "So where is Camp Jupiter?"
Annabeth took a wet map out of her pack's front pocket. "I was looking at this and it seems that we have landed in Emeryville Marina, about a three hour walk to the camp.
Percy looked at the sky. It would be dark in less than an hour. He wished he had not fall unconscious twice in one day. He was beginning to understand Jason's experience with the quest a few months ago. "We'd better hurry. We want to spend as little time in the dark as possible."
They began a slow soggy jog down the marina and turned right on Alcatraz Avenue. The water in Percy's shoes made a nasty squelching sound. The demigods were all wound up and on high alert. They past beach houses and small coffee shops in silence, ears straining to hear for any monsters. The occasional cars sped down the road. People passed them on the street without giving them a second glance.
Percy felt paranoid. Everything seemed like a threat since Tartarus. The mother with her son licking a vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles could be Echidna in disguise. A stray cat could turn into lion. Birds passing overhead could dive bomb them, beaks out stretched to rip their flesh from their bones. He stretched out his hand to grab Annabeth's for reassurance, but caught Austin's eye and pulled his hand back. He didn't want the kid to see weakness. Austin shrugged and looked away. They passed a Starbucks coffee shop with faded green letters over the door. Austin slowed to a stop.
"Guys. Wait for a second."
Percy turned around and saw Austin standing beside the coffee shops smashed in windows. His hand went automatically to his pen. The sky was streaked pink and light was fading fast.
"Look at this." They all gathered around the clumps of short orange-brown hair that stuck to the jagged edge of the shattered window. "I don't think this hair is human."
"Then we need to get out of here. We don't have time to deal with these creatures, mortal or monster. We can't afford to stay exposed like this." Annabeth's hands worried at her bead necklace.
They jogged a little faster. Annabeth taking out the map occasionally to check that they were going in the right direction. Every time they ran past a store they saw that its windows had been smashed in and looted. They turned on Claremont Avenue, their progress slower as they started uphill. Oak trees lined the street, growing bigger and more numerous the longer they ran. When the sky was near dark and everything turned blue, grey and black, they all took out flashlights.
Off to the front to the right, a high pitched giggle made them all screech to a stop. They stood back to back scanning the trees. Another giggle, in a different direction made them all jump. Percy took out his pen. Austin reached into the front pocket of his jeans and fished out what looked like a toothpick holder. He popped off the top and selected two toothpicks which elongated into a bow and a quiver full of arrows.
"Gift from dad." Austin said noticing their appreciating gaze.
Annabeth, whose drakon bone sword wouldn't fit into her backpack, unsheathed Damason's gift from a leather sheath made by Tyson, Percy's cyclops half-brother.
The giggles grew louder. There must be at least five monsters in the trees. Percy really hated being out numbered. He also hated being in the dark about what he was facing. But this summer he had gotten the ultimate crash course in both circumstances
They waved the flashlights around trying to catch sight of who was behind the trees. No, in the trees. An orange furred tail was illuminated by Annabeth's flashlight, dangling from halfway up the tree.
They should have made a dash for it. Now it was too late as these orange tailed creatures were surrounding them, giggling. Whenever a monster laughs, it means that the monsters are telling a joke with the hero as the literal punchline. Percy scanned for an opening with his flashlight. Yellow eyes reflected back at him from the trees. The laugher swelled until it the whole forest seemed to be laughing at the demigods.
"Who are you?" Annabeth demanded. "Show yourself."
The laughed turned into screeching. Percy uncapped his sword. The screeching turned to hissing and the trees around them shook. Dozens of figures crawled down the trees. It was hard to make out their features in the flashlight beam, and for a moment, Percy felt panic rise in his chest. This scene felt so familiar the arai in Tartarus. The most freighting experience he had ever had. He had seen Annabeth go blind and believe that he had abandoned her. She, in turn, had gotten back her sight only to see him an inch from death, surrounded by enemies, stabbed, poisoned and burned. His breathing grew more ragged. Percy clutched his sword tighter. He could not afford a panic attack.
"What are they?" Austin said in wonder as his flashlight's beam landed on a pair of the creatures now stalking toward them.
Percy had seen lot of weird mythological creatures, but these beings didn't look like the typical slimy monster. They were tall and naked except for loin cloths around their waists. Their hands and feet sported a thick growth of orange hair, and they were far larger than ordinary humans. They had long tails and sharp canines. If humans ever evolved back into apes, this is what they would look like.
Annabeth gasped, "Cercope. Thieves in Lydia who were transformed by Zeus into monkeys for tricking him. Hercules later tied them to a pole upside down for stealing his stuff. Although he released them because he thought they were funny."
"Tricks?" Screeched one of them. "It was a game. Zeus has no sense of humor. Make us laugh and we will leave you alone."
Percy was not in the mood for entertaining a bunch of monkeys. "And if we don't?" Percy challenged.
"If you don't, then we will tear you limb from limb and take your stuff," the cercope all snarled in return.
"What do you find entertaining?" Austin said quickly lowering his bow and reaching for his saxophone.
"I don't know do some cartwheels, tell some jokes," A cercope with a braid in its tail hair said. "We aren't picky."
Turns out the cercope were picky. Percy and Austin performed cartwheels while Annabeth tried to tell jokes.
"What type of bite does a vampire do in the winter?" Annabeth asked the crowd of cercope creeping toward her.
"What?" The cercope cried.
"Frostbite." This was met with stony stares. Percy privately agreed as he tumbled around the road feeling like an idiot. For all her smarts, Annabeth was not very good at jokes.
"BOOOOOH." The cercope complained whenever Annabeth made a bad joke or Austin and Percy crashed into each other. Percy's head was spinning from too many cartwheels in the dark. He was getting sick of this, but there were too many to fight. This was the best way to stall for time while they thought up a plan.
"Why did the mathematician cross the–hey!"
Percy and Austin stopped cartwheeling. Annabeth slapped a cercope's hand away as it reached for her backpack. Percy looked around for his and saw a cercope dragging it away into the forest. Percy dashed after it and uncapped Riptide. Austin followed along behind swearing that he would never do a cartwheel ever again. They tripped and stumbled in the dark following the sounds of a backpack being dragged along the ground. Austin threw out his hand to stop Percy.
"This won't work; he knows the forest better than us. He could be leading us to a lion or something." Austin whipped out his bow and arrow again, aimed, and fired twice in rapid succession. He was the true son of Apollo, for even in the dark and with a moving target, he had perfect aim. An arrow pierced Percy's backpack and nailed it to the ground. The other arrow pinning the cercope to a tree by his loin cloth. Percy looked around for Annabeth and realized that she hadn't followed them. Worry prickled at him, but he knew she could handle herself for at least a few minutes.
Percy stuck his sword underneath the cercope's chin. "Why did you target us?"
The cercope stuck its tongue out at him. Riptide bit slightly into its neck. A gash appeared. "I just came out from Tartarus a few months ago. I dealt with things far worse than you. I don't have a problem sending you there." Leaves rustled overhead as the monster pondered its options.
Percy was getting impatient. He had left Annabeth behind alone to deal dozens of monkeys. This was almost exactly like the forest in Tartarus. Only now Percy realized that he had abandoned Annabeth...for a backpack. A familiar pain stabbed at Percy. It felt like the claws of the arai or perhaps the poison of Akhlys, he wasn't sure which one. Percy ignored it. He stared down at the cercope. "Tell me now and I'll spare you, or I'll kill you and get the answer from your other monster friends."
The cercope swallowed as he stared into Percy's eyes which glittered in the light of celestial bronze. "The last revenge of Gaia and Kronos will kill you all. We were told to delay your quest, although I don't think it is necessary. It is doomed anyway. Too many broken demigods on this-"
Percy cut off the cercope's head and it exploded into dust.
Austin looked at Percy sickened. "It told us the information. You killed it."
Percy turned toward Austin who shrank back at the dark look on Percy's face. "It told us nothing. It is no great loss. The monster will be reborn in Tartarus as though we had never even fought it in a couple of years." Percy's voice sounded bitter.
"Still, even if it is a monster, you shouldn't go back on your promise." Austin said.
"And we shouldn't be in this forest. Let's go get Annabeth." Percy said sharply. The darkness of the forest pressed in on him. He felt suffocated. Percy capped Riptide and sprinted back the way they came.
When they popped out of the forest they were besieged by flying pinecones. Annabeth was in the middle of a pine cone war, pelting one pinecone after another at the monkeys. Percy and Austin joined in. Annabeth took one look at Percy and said, "We'll talk later."
Percy wondered for the millionth time if Annabeth, being a literal brain child, could read minds.
"What is going on here?" Austin said ducking as a pine cone the size of small football which flew over his head.
"They grew bored and started throwing pinecones, so I threw them back. Now we are stuck in a pine cone war. They also took my backpack and Austin's." Annabeth said chucking four pine cones at a cercope. It landed between its eyes and it shrieked in pain.
"They have my saxophone?" Austin said horrified.
As if in answer, the sound of a wounded elephant trumped. A cercope held Austin's saxophone, which gleamed in the three sets of flashlight beams. It was looking through the mouth piece.
"Oh hell no." Austin said stomping over to the cercope. "You give that here. I'll show you a noise you'll actually like."
He snatched his instrument away and put his mouth to the saxophone. "Watch this. This is true entertainment.
Surprisingly the battle stopped and everyone stopped to stare at Austin. "Spotlight me." He tossed his flashlight at Percy. Percy aimed two flashlights at Austin, as he began a slow number Percy recognized as "Autumn in New York" by Solitude. Percy had to admit that Austin had real talent. Although he couldn't get the thought of Austin's mouth touching the same mouthpiece that the cercope had put its mouth on.
As if in trance the cercope dropped their pinecones. They began to sway to the music. Some closed their eyes, looking like peaceful, harmless ugly humans with tails. Very slowly, Austin began to back into the forest. The cercopes followed swaying, waving their arms and sighing. Percy wasn't all that into jazz music, but the longer Austin played the more relaxed he felt. The trees weren't closing in on him. The stars seemed to shine a little better. In fact, he would like to lay down right here on the cold hard road, and let Austin's music lull him into a peaceful rest. The notes of the song drifted softly through the air and drifted off into the night.
Cercopes staggered into the forest after Austin who lead them like the Pied Piper away from his friends. Dazed, Percy was about to follow when Austin made eye contact with him and pointed with a free hand to his backpack. Percy shook himself, grabbed Annabeth who was also in dreamland, and grabbed Austin's backpack. It was open and the cercopes had taken most of the things inside except for duct tape, beef jerky, and animal crackers. Maybe they were offended by the notion that human food came in animal shapes, or they, like Percy, thought they tasted like sweetened cardboard. Percy took out the duct tape. He glanced at Annabeth whose grey eyes looked dark and moist. She had a pinecone shaped mark on her face where one of the cercope had gotten a lucky shot. Percy reached out to touch her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"
Annabeth nodded, "I'm fine. Let's go help Austin." She turned away from him. Clearly she wasn't fine, but he let it drop. They walked through the forest following the sounds of monkeys crashing through the bushes and jazz music. They kept their flashlights off. They didn't want be noticed by cercopes.
When they located Austin, they saw that he was surrounded by drowsy cercope all curled around each other. Austin had started up a new song. One that was even softer, and really made it hard for Percy to keep standing. His knees kept trying to sink to the ground. The cercopes yawned and smiled. They looked so harmless, like monkeys relaxing in the hot afternoon sun in the zoo. Some groomed their neighbors tail. Others curled around each other like cats. Annabeth held up the duct tape and together they duct taped the cercopes upside down to trees. Percy raised an eyebrow when Annabeth suggested this. But according to the myths, the only way to capture them was to tie them up, upside down. The cercope were so entranced that they didn't even notice they were being tied up. One of cercope drooled a bit on Percy as he leaned over to duct tape its feet together.
When they had tied up all the cercope, Austin stopped playing. Immediately the cercope began to struggle and scream in anger. Upside down, they tried to twist around, reaching for the sky. They wailed and cursed the demigods. Percy felt almost the same way. He wanted Austin to keep playing forever. He was about to yell at Austin, when the guy in question hit him upside the head. "Snap out of it."
Percy snapped out of it. He turned on the flashlights. He nudged Annabeth and gave her one. She shook herself and took the flashlight. "Was that enchanted music?
Austin nodded proudly. "My mother is a jazz musician. My father fell in love with her because of her music. When they were together, he blessed her and said that the child she would carry would have great musical talent. She taught me how to play all types of instruments before I even learned how to speak. She gave me this saxophone just before I came to camp. I can shoot an arrow straight, but most of my power lies in my music ability."
"You should play more often at the camp sing-alongs," Annabeth praised.
"Oh," Although Percy couldn't see it, he could tell that Austin was blushing. "Thanks, if we get through this quest in one piece, maybe I will."
"So what are we going to do with all of these monkeys?" Percy asked. "Leave them here tied up?"
"Please no." The nearest cercope facing them wailed and squirmed in his duct tape restraints. "Do not leave us here. The wolves will eat us."
Annabeth frowned, "Wolves? There are barely any in California. Why would you be worried about them?"
"Wolves. Big and fierce with silver coats. Free us and we will not harm you." The cercope sounded sincere. But Percy had had too much experience in being duped by monsters.
"I don't think so. Tell us about these wolves. Then maybe we will free you," Percy said.
"They are big and silver." A cercope said unhelpfully.
"We got that. Was anything unusual about them. Were they with any other creatures, humans perhaps?" Annabeth asked.
Percy understood. He was hoping they wouldn't run into the Hunter of Artemis. They didn't treat males very well.
"Yes. Please release us soon. They have already killed so many of us already. Have mercy. It was only a game." Tears filled the cercope's eyes.
Percy was surprised. It wasn't often that he saw a monster cry. These were not the scariest monsters he had ever faced. They were relatively harmless. Pests, but harmless. Percy wavered.
Suddenly the cercope with a nose ring at the tied to a tree with three others at the edge of the ring of tied up monster gave a cry. "I hear them! I smell them! I see–" He was cut off as a silver wolf lunged out of the darkness and ripped him from the duct tape. His strangled cry was cut off by howls. A pack of silver wolves charged into their sights. Percy, Annabeth and Austin whipped out their weapons again and waited for the wolves to attack them, after they finished with the cercope.
Monster dust exploded everywhere as the wolves' claws tore at the duct tape and teeth sank into flesh. Although they were monsters who had made a fool of them, Percy was slightly horrified as the wolves preyed on the helpless cercopes tied upside down.
When the last of the cercope had exploded, the wolves turned to look at the demigods. They all raised their weapons.
"Stop." A girl with dark skin, closely shaved black hair, and a silver Hunter of Artemis jacket came into view. She looked about ten, although Percy knew she could be several hundred years old "Do not attack. Thalia warned us you would be here." Her voice sound had a strange lilt to it, like she was from some country in Africa.
At the mention of Thalia, the lieutenant of Artemis, and a friend of both Percy and Annabeth's, they all lowered their weapons, but did not put them away.
"Follow me. I will explain. But we need to get to camp before another storm hits." The girl dashed off before any of the group could fully process her words. They all looked at each other in confusion. Then they followed the girl into the woods.
Note: Thanks to all my readers and followers. Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this. I have no way of knowing how I am doing otherwise.