PERCY

My plan worked better than I'd expected. I had just set up the last charge when the monsters were on me. First came three huge hellhounds that had broken out of their enclosure to get at the intruder, me. I stabbed at one with Riptide then slashed sideways to take out the others. They were quickly followed by the rest of the pack. Each one had a giant or blemmya gripping its leash. The hounds were set loose as the other monsters grabbed their weapons.

Despite being severely outnumbered, I was able to hold them off. I hacked and slashed in all directions, taking out any enemy within range. It helped that the sea was so close by. I was able draw strength from it. However, I could only keep that up for so long.

Just as fatigue was starting to set in, a voice cried out "Enough!" A giant stopped halfway through raising his sword, and quickly backed away. The mass of monsters parted like the red sea to let in the one that shouted. At first glance it looked like a shark with legs. The monster had gray skin and his big mouth was full of nasty looking teeth. A long fin came out of his head, with a couple smaller ones along his back. His hands were webbed, and each finger ended in a talon. He was maybe seven feet tall, dressed in a shiny blue business suit. At his hip he wore a sword. Clearly this was Kronos's supplier.

"Percy Jackson," he sneered. The shark man's voice was hoarse, like he had barked a lot of orders. "I do love it when family stops by." In a flash his sword was drawn and he was sprinting at me. I barely managed to dodge at the last possible second. He quickly brought his sword around in a wide arc. I parried with Riptide and then stabbed at him. He deflected my thrust and kicked me square in the chest. I went flying and landed on my back with a thud. Riptide went sailing over the pier. Before I could get up the beast was on me, his sword at my throat.

"How pathetic," He mocked. "Now you shall die by my hand."

"So for the record, who are you?" I asked. This seemed to annoy him. Most monsters love to brag about themselves. Apparently he felt he needed no introduction. He raised his sword for the killing blow, then cried out in pain. An arrow had appeared in his wrist. I took advantage of the situation and rolled out from under him. Fireball landed in front of me carrying Andrew and Rachel, who was holding an unloaded crossbow.

"Nice shot," I complimented.

"Actually I was aiming for his head." She said, sheepishly.

Despite the dangerous circumstances, this got me and Andrew laughing. "Well, you're still a better shot than me."

"Ditto," Andrew added. "you'd think Apollo would help me out, given how close he is with the muses, but no.

"Is this your idea of reinforcements?" the monster asked, removing the arrow with one quick yank. "A mortal, a cock-horse, and the son of a muse?" He sneered as he said the last part.

This got Andrew riled up. "Okay I am really sick of people badmouthing my mother. Let's talk about yours. Yo' mama is so ugly, before she can look in a mirror she's got to take out her eyes!" The shark man snarled at that.

"You wanna fill me in?" I asked him. "Who is this guy?"

"Akheilos, son of Zeus and Lamia." the monster answered, sneering. "Honestly Uncle, you should know more about your father's side of the family."

"Uncle?" I was really starting to get tired of all these monster relatives.

"Yeah," Andrew said sheepishly, "His mom was Poseidon's daughter. By the way, he's never said anything about um, avenging her has he?"

Before I could tell him no, Akheilos cried out "You!" Next to me Andrew made a comical gulping sound. "I had heard how my mother and her husband died at the hands of two demigod girls and some lackey."

"Lackey?!" Andrew shouted, then he quickly changed his tone. "Actually I guess that's kind of accurate. I mean to be fair I didn't do much. Mostly I just got sat on by your step-dad." he gave nervous chuckle. "By the way I thought your mom killed all her kids. How'd you survive?"

"She only killed the ones she had as a human. I came later."

"You mean Zeus actually went back to her when she was a snake monster? Blecch!" Andrew said, making a face.

"Wait," I butt in. "So how did a snake lady give birth to a shark?"

"I was born human" Akheilos scowled. "Until Aphrodite cursed me for being too good looking. But on the bright side, I was still rich as heir to the Libyan throne. And being a shark has been quite helpful in the business world." "Yeah, I heard that joke already," Andrew said, dropping his scaredy-cat act and drawing his sword. "Get some new material."

"Okay how's this? Two demigods walk into a titan stronghold, and then die" In an instant, Akheilos was on us. I guess he was finally tired of talking about himself. He had switched his sword to his other hand, but that didn't seem slow him down at all. Rachel had already retreated to a safe distance with Fireball. So I had one less thing to worry about. Andrew deflected the first stroke. Then I slashed at Akheilos's sword arm, but he parried that. This continued for several minutes. I was pretty much running on fumes at this point. Akheilos was so fast and relentless that I couldn't focus on him and maintain my link to the sea. Andrew must have noticed this because as he blocked the next blow he proceeded to shove me over the pier, and into the water.

Almost instantly I was back to full strength. I propelled myself back to the surface, to find Andrew still struggling on his own. It looked like he was trying to get something in his pack. Unfortunately he couldn't reach it while Akheilos was raining blows down on him. I summoned up a fist of sea water and launched it at the giant. He took it right in stomach. The force sent him to his knees. This gave Andrew the chance to extract what looked like a ring from his pack. He slipped it on and struck Akheilos with the palm of his hand. Akheilos was sent flying as a jolt of electricity ran through his body.

"Weaponized joy-buzzer," he told me as I got back on the pier. "My Michelle really knows my style." He turned to Akheilos and laughed, "You might as well face it, you're outmatched."

Akheilos smiled as he got up. "don't be so sure," he sneered. "You haven't met my head of security. Suddenly the water behind us began to churn as a massive head rose out. The head was like a catfish, with a bunch of whiskers, growing out of its nose. It looked big enough to swallow a car in one bite. It was followed by a body serpentine body covered in plates and ending in a lobster-like tail. Overall, the monster must have been over one hundred feet long.

"So you have a sea serpent," Andrew jeered. "We'll just stay away from the water."

"Um, that won't work," I said. All along the creature's body were legs. I wouldn't have thought they could even support the massive thing, but as I watched it climbed onto the pier. The monster let out a great roar.

"Well," Andrew said, a hint of fear now evident in his voice. "To quote the great Homer, d'oh!"