The Hunter
Chapter Six
A/N: So! I will update every Sunday because I am working on two new stories and I will post them when I am finish with them. Please review.
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO.
The back door of the limo opened next to Percy and a biker dude placed a sword under Percy's throat. Orion moved quickly and unsheathed his own sword. He stood up and took up a stance. He heard Zoe and Bianca drawing their bows. The biker slowly got out of the limo and Percy slowly backed away to avoid the sword.
He smiled cruelly. "Not so fast now, are you, punk?"
He was a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wrap around shades hid his eyes. Orion tensed. He was familiar. Orion recalled seeing him in the throne room back in Olympus but he was wearing a tunic with armor.
"Ares." Percy growled.
The war god glanced at them. "At ease, people."
He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground.
"This is a friendly meeting." Ares said. "Of course I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."
"What lady?" Thalia asked.
Ares looked over at her. "Well, well. I heard you were back." Ares then looked at Orion. "And you too, never in my immortal life have I ever expected to see you again."
He lowered his sword and pushed Percy away.
"Thalia, daughter of Zeus," Ares mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."
"What's your business, Ares?" she said. "Who's in the car?"
Ares smiled, enjoying the attention. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Bianca. "Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? It will only take Percy a few minutes. Oh and you too." Ares pointed at Orion.
"What does she want with me?" Orion asked.
"You have earned my respect back in the day but if you use that tone with me again, I will personally behead you." Ares smiled threateningly.
Orion stared at him and bowed his head gritting his teeth. "My apologies, my lord Ares, but may I ask? Who wishes to see me?"
Ares looked satisfied and replied. "Ask her yourself."
"We will not leave them alone with thee, Lord Ares." Zoe said.
"Besides," Grover said stubbornly, "the taco place is closed."
Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"
"Go on," Percy said. "We'll handle this."
"You heard the boy," Ares mocked. "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."
The other reluctantly went to the taco bell.
"Get inside, punks," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as
I am."
Orion got inside first. Perfume immediately invading his nose. He tried not to gag but it did water his eyes a little. He sat and Percy, who was gawking like an idiot, sat next to him. Across from him sat a beautiful lady but compared to his Milady, his Milady was far more beautiful in his eyes.
The smile on Aphrodite's face melted when she heard what was on Orion's mind. "I heard that." She warned.
She pasted another smile and turned to Percy. "Ah, there you are, Percy," the goddess said. "I am Aphrodite."
Percy responded something unintelligent. Orion resisted rolling his eyes.
She smiled. "Aren't you sweet? Hold this, please."
She handed Percy a mirror and she leaned in to dab lipstick on her lips. This time Orion did roll his eyes. He remembered when Aphrodite tried that on him.
"Do you know why you're here?" she asked Percy.
She was answered by more gawking.
Orion caught Percy pinching his own arm. He hid a smile. He remembered doing that when he was in Percy's position.
"I…I don't know." He managed to reply.
"Oh, dear," Aphrodite said. "Still in denial?"
Outside the limo, Ares was chuckling. Apparently he could hear every word they say.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Percy said.
"Well then, why are you on this quest?"
"Artemis has been captured!"
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Oh, Artemis. Please. Talk about a hopeless case. I mean, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she should be breathtakingly beautiful, don't you think? I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis. Bo-ring!"
Orion narrowed his eyes. "It seems you have forgotten about me."
Aphrodite glanced at him and exaggeratingly let out a gasp of surprise. "Oh, sorry, my dear."
Orion stood up but before he could do anything, the limo door opened and Ares pulled him out.
"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Orion shouted before the door closed. Ares swung him on the dirt and he landed with a groan.
"What did I say about rudeness?" Ares glared at him. He twirled his sword menacingly.
"Oh, shut it, you overgrown meathead." Orion snapped.
Ares looked taken back then he smiled. "Now that's the Orion I know. Ever since you were assigned to be Artemis's dog, you lost your inner soldier."
"I don't want to talk about it."Orion spat.
He ignored him and continued. "The one who was arrogant, egoistical and proud hero. You're like Hercules but unlike him, you did what you always boasted about. You were a cold-blooded killer. Finding your next 'prey'" he put quotations marks on the word prey. "Wanting to be the best." He chuckled.
By the time Ares was finished, Orion was clenching his hand in anger. He clenched it hard enough to draw blood.
"Shut up! That's all in the past." Orion yelled.
"Are you sure?" he leaned in. "Maybe it's still in you. The power-hungry driven hero. Maybe that's why Artemis killed you."
No sooner had those words left his mouth. He found himself with a bleeding nose.
"Why you little runt." He growled pulling out a flaming sword. He was about to swung it when the door opened and perfume filled his nose again.
"Ares!" Aphrodite's voice said sharply and in that instant Ares was disarmed and looking sheepish.
"Orion, are you okay?" Aphrodite asked concern written all over her face.
"Just dandy." He spat.
She scowled and nodded to Ares. Ares grabbed him his shirt and threw him back into the limo. He groaned when he landed on the red carpet. Then the door of the limo opened again and Ares pulled Percy out. He was all alone with the Goddess of Love.
He suppressed a shudder when she looked at him. She pursed her lips and looked at him expectantly. "Well?"
Orion scowled. "Well what?"
"It's been a millennia and I haven't seen an Olympian wedding." She replied.
Orion choked. "W…what?"
She laughed. "Oh, you know what I mean." And much to Orion's horror, she winked.
He gritted his teeth. "In case you haven't notice, Lady Aphrodite. Lady Artemis is currently missing."
She waved her hand as if brushing of his comment. "Oh, don't worry about that. You'll find her."
"What makes you so sure?" Orion asked bitterly.
Aphrodite looked at him with so much sympathy it surprised him. "Because you love her. I have utter confidence in you."
"Lady Aphrodite, you do realize that by the end of this quest I'll be gone?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you so persistent?"
She smiled. "Because love always prevails."
Then the door opened and Ares pulled him out. He landed beside Percy and by the time they stood up they were gone.
"Oris, why did he mean by not expecting to see you again?" Percy asked.
Orion gritted his teeth. "Just ignore it."
"Then what did Aphrodite say to you?"
He turned to Percy and shot back. "What did Aphrodite say to you?" Percy at hearing the question blushed and mumbled. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Then me too."
"What did she want with the both of you?" Bianca asked, once Percy told them about Aphrodite.
"Oh, uh, not sure," Percy lied. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."
Zoe narrowed her eyes. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray." Zoe didn't need to warn Orion seeing as he had dealt with Aphrodite before.
"For once I agree with Zoe," Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."
"So," Percy said, anxious to change the subject, "how do we get out of here?"
"That way," Zoe said. "That is west."
"How can you tell?"
"Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means that must be west."
She pointed west.
"Oh, yeah," Percy said. "The bear thing."
Zoe looked offended. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."
"You act like it was real."
"Because it is real." Orion interjected, a little annoyed.
Percy opened his mouth to say something and closed it.
"Guys," Grover broke in. "Look!"
Orion looked at where Grover was pointing and sucked in a breath. The junkyard was gigantic. Celestial bronze and other forms of metal piled on each other like mountains.
Orion walked in first inspecting a nearby pile. It was full of arrows made of various materials. He picked one of them up and inspected it closely. It was made from pure gold which made Orion narrowed his eyes in surprise. He ignored the ramblings of his fellow demigods and continued to walk.
They were walking for hours when he felt something bumped against his foot. He looked down questioningly. A rusty bronze metal was buried deep within the sand and dirt. He bent down and brushed off the sand. The metal then appeared to be oblong and Orion continued to brush it off until he was seeing what looked like a giant thumb.
"What is that?" He heard Bianca gasped.
His head snapped to where she was pointing. There were ten giant columns wedged tightly together like fingers. He glanced at the toe and the thumb. It didn't take a genius to find out what was the connection. He looked more closely. Gears were present in each toe like a joint.
"A giant mechanical automation." Orion breathed out.
He watched as Zoe and Thalia exchanged nervous looks.
"Let's go around," Thalia said. "Far around."
"But the road is right over there," Percy protested. "Quicker to climb over."
Orion sighed. "We have an unidentified automation whose purpose we don't know. It is better to go around it than to face it head on. The automation could go off when we get within range." Orion explained patiently.
Ping.
Without hesitation, Orion drew his sword the second he heard the sound. He glanced at his teammates. Only Thalia and Zoe had their weapons out. His eyes darted left to right searching for the cause of the sound. His eyes landed on a tin can near the toe. His eyes then followed where the tin can could have come from and it led straight to Grover.
"Why did you do that?" Zoe demanded.
Grover cringed. "I don't know. I, uh, don't like fake feet?"
"Come on." Thalia looked at Percy. "Around." This time Percy didn't argue.
After a few minutes of walking, they finally stepped onto the highway.
"We made it out," Zoe said. "Thank the gods."
As soon as those left Zoe's mouth, a rumbled echoed through the junkyard as the automation came to life. The thing that rose up from the metal was a bronze giant in full Greek battle armor. He was impossibly tall. He gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. He looked down at them, and his face was deformed. The left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and across his armored chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words WASH ME.
"Talos!" Orion and Zoe simultaneously gasped.
"Who—who's Talos?" He heard Percy stuttered.
"One of Hephaestus's creations," Thalia said. "But that can't be the original. It's too small. A prototype, maybe. A defective model.
The metal then unsheathed its sword. The sound of metal grinding each other made the hairs on Orion's body stood up. The one hundred feet long sword was old and rusty.
"Someone took something," Zoe said. "Who took something?"
Orion watched as Zoe stared accusingly at Percy.
Percy shook his head quickly. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."
"We have no time to talk. Whoever took something must return it or else there will be deadly consequence." Orion interjected calmly.
Nobody answered him which made him sigh tiredly.
"Run!" Grover yelped.
"No use!" Orion yelled back. "Split up! Hopefully it will confuse it for a moment. Use that time to run as far as a way you can!"
They dispersed quickly. Orion was first to find a hiding spot. He jumped over a pile of metal and hid behind it. He watched as Percy and Bianca hid in the same spot behind a broken chariot. Thalia drew her shield and ran down the highway. Zoe was continuously firing arrow toward the giant's face that bounced off harmlessly. Orion took in his hiding spot. There were contraptions surrounding him but nothing proved to be useful. He grabbed an old shield and what looked like a boomerang. He glanced back again just in time to see it stomped on Percy's hiding spot. He blew out a sigh of relief after seeing Percy and Bianca escape.
"Hey, Talos!" He heard Grover yelled then he heard Grover play his reed. One of the poles with power lines still attached flew toward Talos's back leg and wrapped around his calf. The lines sparked and sent a jolt of electricity up the giant's backside. Orion chose this time to throw everything he found at the giant.
Talos whirled around, creaking and sparking buying Percy and Bianca some time.
He gave out a growl of disbelief as he caught Percy and Bianca arguing. "What in the Hades are you doing?" He shouted and their attention snapped at him. "Run!"
Orion continued to watch Percy. Percy just stood their staring at the giant and Orion had a feeling that Percy just had an idea.
He talked to Bianca and it looked like they were arguing then Percy glanced at Orion and yelled. "Distract it!"
Orion nodded slowly and pulled out his bow. He shot the giant thrice in its head before he got its attention. The giant roared so loud it made Orion's ears ring. Orion glanced up just in time to see the giant's hand heading his way. He rolled out of the way and fired three more arrows before running away from the giant.
"Bianca, no!" He heard Percy yell. Orion cursed. He was out of arrows. Thankfully, the giant turned its attention towards Thalia. He glanced back where Percy was and saw Bianca running toward the foot of the giant.
"What do you think you're doing?" Orion yelled but it was drowned by the roar of the giant.
He watched as Bianca got right next to the giant's foot, trying to balance herself on the metal scraps that swayed and shifted with his weight.
Zoe yelled, "What are you doing?"
"Get it to raise its foot!" she said.
Zoe shot an arrow toward the monster's face and it flew straight into one nostril. The giant straightened and shook its head.
Orion frantically looked around for any junks he could use to throw at the giant but he found none. He clenched his fists in frustration. He felt like he was useless and he hated it. He could only watch as Percy ran toward the giant and stabbed its toe successfully making an incision. Then the giant raised its foot.
I need a damn arrow! He thought out of frustration.
He let out a gasp of surprise when he felt something form between the fingers of his right hand. It was an arrow made out of pure black material. He could've slapped himself right there. He had forgotten about Chaos's power. He quickly nocked it and fired it at the knee but it was too late. The giant brought down its foot and Orion could only watch as Percy was flung toward a refrigerator. Orion continued to form and fire arrow at the giant but the giant ignored Orion and made its way toward Percy, who was still on the refrigerator. The giant raised its foot again.
I won't make it in time, Orion thought frantically. But I have to try. He then stood up and was about to run toward Percy when he heard Grover played his pipes frantically. He watched as another power line whipped the Talos's thigh getting the giant's attention.
"Run!" Orion yelled. Grover only made it two steps before falling.
"Grover!" He heard Thalia and Percy shout but it was already too late. Orion could only watch as the giant raised its sword and brought it down. But then it froze and began inflicting damage to itself.
He heard Percy yell. "Go, Bianca!"
"She is inside?" Zoe asked.
The giant staggered and headed for the power lines. Thalia, Percy and Zoe ran out of harm's way while Orion just stood where he was after calculating that he wasn't in any harm.
"Watch out!" Percy yelled but it was too late. The giant hit it and sparks ran through its body but it wasn't the end, Talos began to run.
"Wait!" Zoe yelled and they ran after it. Orion cursed loudly as the giant began to fall apart. He had to go around an arm. Jump over its nose and many more.
When they reached the wreckage, Bianca was nowhere to be found. They kept searching until sunrise but still no sight of her.
Zoe knelt down and wept. Thalia yelled in rage and stabbed her spear in the giant's face while Orion let out a string of curses and began to vent his anger on the giant's other parts.
"We can keep searching," Percy said. "It's light now. We'll find her."
Orion shook his head sadly. "No use. She's gone."
"What are you talking about?" Percy demanded. Orion's throat suddenly felt dry. Even though he knew Bianca for less than a week, he knew how his Milady would feel about it.
Grover answered for them. "The prophecy. One shall he lost in the land without rain." With that answer, Percy looked crushed probably blaming himself.
