HA HA! I UPDATED ON TIME! Take that Bono Tempest! lol :)
Hi guys, I'm really sorry about not getting this chapter out quickly but Writer's Block was waging war on me, so it took me longer than usual to get some stupid idea and make it into something people think is worth reading. :)
A special thanks to greek-mythology-lover for caring enough to call a search party (who I thought were stalkers...whoops...;) and to Bono Tempest for reviewing when she could have walked down the street and told me with more detail but she couldn't be bothered. :)
Oh, and if anyone is confused about the last chapter, it takes place in the middle of chapter three. It's just Andy's first sword lesson, really. I just needed something to show how Andy learnt the sword move.
Disclaimer: ahahahahahahahahah- no.
...
Chapter Seven: Amateurs Built the Ark, Professionals Built the Titanic
Third POV
Andy's fingers tightened around the worn out pen lid. She pulled the plastic but it was stuck tight. Scowling, Andy pulled harder, the lid slowly releasing the pen from its hold.
Finally, Andy ripped off the lid...
...
I was thinking of ending it here, but I though, nah! I'm not that evil. 3:)
...
...and she saw the source of the stubborn lid, the pen ink had leaked. Andy huffed and threw the pen onto her mother's bed and stalked out of the room. She went into her room and got a pencil, why didn't I think of that before? Andy thought as she scribbled a note to her mother. Andy then threw the pencil back onto her desk and stuck the note onto the fridge at eyelevel.
"Ready?" Josh asked, as Andy walked out of the kitchen and back into the hallway to where the other three were waiting for her.
"Yeah, let's go." Andy smiled as the four headed for the apartment door. Andy turned and looked back over her shoulder at the apartment, unaware that she wouldn't step foot there again for months.
...
Mount St Helens, Washington
"Here you go, Poseidon." said Hephaestus, handing Poseidon a wrapped package from one of the many tables in his sweltering hot forge. The package was small, covered in brown paper and duct tape.
"Thank-you Hephaestus. It will be great." Poseidon praised as he payed Hephaestus for his creation.
"Of course it will." Hephaestus said gruffly as he pocketed the drachmas. "Hope everything goes well." Even though he didn't specify what he was saying, Poseidon knew what he meant, he hoped Percy was okay. Poseidon hoped that too.
As Poseidon exited the forge he was joined by a very impatient goddess of wisdom.
"Finally," she scorned as the unlikely pair made their way out of the volcano. Poseidon resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he warily walked with his enemy. Athena noticed Poseidon's nervous demeanour.
"Scared of a volcano, Coral Creep?" Athena smirked as she stepped around a smoking vent.
Poseidon scowled, "Don't like volcanos." he muttered.
Athena laughed, "Wow, Shark Bait, you sound even more like a five year old then you usually do!" she taunted. The two were silent for a few moments, still getting used to the fact that they were not enemies any more, or at least, not as much as they used to be. They emerged from the volcano and with one look at each other, disappeared in a flash of gold light.
...
Mount Etna, Sicily
Percy took another deep breath and concentrated on the magma underneath him. He felt the raw power of the volcano, mixed with the distant power of the sea, off the coast of Sicily where they were being held. He dared not to try and cause an eruption, or call on the sea because the any power he used would be turned against him and Annabeth, who was still in a very serious condition after a beating she had received for being a bit of a smart mouth.
"Percy!" Annabeth hissed, as his eyes shot open and he focused his emerald orbs on the grey ones of his ex-girlfriend. "Listen!"
Percy knew what she was talking about. Braises' reptilian voice drifted on the wind to them as he discussed something with someone they couldn't make out.
"Are you sssure?" Braises' voice asked, an unmistakable hint of worry in his hiss.
"Of course I am, Braises," the other voice snapped. The voice sounded male, with a tinge of authority. "What could go wrong that the master hasn't thought of?"
Braises scowled, "Allot. The girl better hurry up. Sshe'll caussse them both much more pain." he said excitedly.
"Yes, yes. You can use her for your stupid revenge, but she is needed for matter's greater then you can comprehend moron." the other voice scolded.
Annabeth bit her lip from screaming at the men not to hurt her daughter. Andy wouldn't know what she was walking into; she could even already be injured or dead. No, Annabeth thought, she will have her friends to look out for her. She will be okay.
Percy's jaw locked, he had never met his daughter, Hades, he didn't know about her a month ago, but he would protect her, but 'she is needed', what for? Could there be another war brewing?
"-plan better go perfectly, or the master will have my hide." the unknown voice said, almost to himself.
"The kid better hurry up with the plan, I don't have much more patience for the masster'ss ssson."
Those words hit both Percy and Annabeth. They looked at each other.
What kid? Percy's look said. What master?
But Annabeth was more to the point, what plan?
...
NYU, New York City
"Riley" Riley started at the sheet of paper on the desk in front of him. Or more pacifically, question 28 on the sheet of test paper on the small desk in front of him.
Riley was sitting his final exam for his master's in Ancient Mythology, and he had aced every question so far, resisting the strong urge to correct the question's themselves, because, he wasn't supposed to know Zeus' master bolt was 5ft long, or that Athena's owl sucked out your energy when it pecked you.
Anyway, back to question 28...
Greek Mythology:
28) The 'Golden Age' of ancient rule was ruled by the giant-like race of Titans. Explain how the gods took reign:
The gods are assholes who are so full of themselves and only took over reign from the Titans (who were perfectly capable rulers) because his step-mother― Rhea― decided to favour her kids than her husband― his father― Kronos.
But, of course, Riley wanted to pass this exam, so he gritted his teeth and wrote down the answer.
...
68 short answers, 5 essays and 45 multiple questions later, Riley stepped out of the exam room, the first one to leave out of the 50 or so student to take the test.
Well, they don't have divine blood, do they? He scowled. His father should still be in charge of these stupid mortals, not his idiotic half-brother, Lord Zeus.
Riley put his helmet on his jet-black coloured hair, sliding the visor over his topaz eyes and kicked his motorbike into life. The bike purred as he revved the engine and shot off, ignoring the stupid 'laws'. As he weaved in and out of the New York traffic he thought over the plan. Foolproof, he thought, but when you work with fools, you can never be sure.
At the beginning of the month he had received information that the Tidal Lord Perseus Jackson and his old girlfriend Annabeth Chase had been captured and were being secured on Mount Etna. He needed the god's attention somewhere else, and making it look like someone was planning an attack on Olympus fit the requirements. The brat, Andromeda Jackson, would be trying to find her parents, he made Triton make sure of it, and then at the terrible death of her mother at her father's hand, Riley would be there to take her with him, into the right side of this war.
Foolproof.
...
NY Harbour, New York City
The quartet stood on the edge of a New York harbor, avoiding the bustling crowds that were ever crowding the dock. The smell of the sea was strong in their noses and the sound of the sea-gull only added to the noise.
"So, remind me why we are here again." Alex asked Monique who was studying each ship in the dock with an air of annoyance. She turned to the other three demi-gods, all sharing the same confused look.
"You honestly don't understand why we are here?" she asked, looking at each of her friends in turn, as if expecting them to come up with the answer. When no one did she sighed.
"Really? Oh, guys! The prophecy! Monsters blah, blah, blah...boat. Of. Destruction. A boat. We are here to find, a boat."She smiled at the simultaneous look of understanding that passed through the others and turned back to the docks.
...
After half an hour of searching, Monique finally gave in to Josh's pleadings and accompanied him, along with Andy and Alex, to McDonalds. The four sat in a quiet corner at the back of the restaurant, trying to lay out plans over the noise of screaming kids.
"Why don't we just get a plane flight?" Alex suggested, while chewing on a cheeseburger. Monique got a napkin and wiped the table where flecks of Alex's half-chewed burger were getting spat everywhere.
"Alexander? That is really and truly, disgusting." Monique scowled as she moved closer to Andy to avoid the flying food. Alex swallowed while Josh roared with laughter at Monique's reaction.
"Hmm, so anyway, why don't we fly?" Alex suggested again, this time without deep-fried mush in his mouth.
"Ha!" Andy snorted. "I really don't wanna' get blasted out of the sky by your dear 'ol dad, Alex."
Thunder shook the building.
All four demi-gods instantly looked out the window at the spire of the Empire State Building that dominated the sky. When they were certain no lightning bolts were likely to crash into the fast-food restaurant, they turned back to each other.
"Okay, so Lord Zeus wouldn't like you flying-" Alex started only for Andy to cut him off.
"Like? He wouldn't like me flying? He would hate it. And frankly, so would I," Andy scowled. "No flying."
"We could walk." Josh smirked, only to be hit on the shoulder by Monique. "Geez, Monique! It was only a joke!" he laughed only to receive another hit.
"This is serious, Josh, We need to find a boat," she turned to Andy expectantly.
"What?"
"You're the daughter of the Tidal Lord. No, I don't know, any bonuses?"
Andy laughed, "I wouldn't know, would I? I've only started believing in this stuff three weeks ago."
Monique nodded absently, her eyes distant. The three fell silent, watching Monique, imagining the gears turning in her head.
...
Alex picked at his fries, thinking. Monique had a very grand plan, but that grand plan involved them getting to Sicily before she could start it, and that was the hard bit.
If Olympus was still in Greece, we probably could walk. Might take awhile, but we could, he thought as he watched the two blonde girls discuss the plan in quiet voices. Josh was also watching that general direction when he noticed someone behind Monique's head.
An old woman, with pasty white skin that looked like it was peeling and frizzled white-silver hair, which stood up like a mad scientist's. Normally, Josh would have overlooked her, after all, this was New York, and there were people who looked stranger then this old woman. The reason he noticed, was that she had her misty eyes locked onto their table. She moved her gaze to meet Josh's and he stood up, dragging Alex with him.
"Hey! What's-" Alex started to protest but he followed the son of Apollo's gaze and his own eyes widened at the sight. "Oh." he grabbed the girl's arms. "Let's go."
The four hurriedly walked out of the store by the door closest to the counter, the one the staff usually used to get out into the car park.
"Oi, what the Hades was that for?" Andy protested as she jogged to keep up with the boy's fast pace.
"We need to get out of here, away from mortals, she's already seen us." Alex explained as they rounded another corner, and another, and another.
"Who?" Monique asked, looking over her shoulder, trying to find the person Josh and Alex had seen. Josh gave a discreet point in the direction of the woman and Monique gasped.
"You know who that is?" Andy asked.
"Of course she does." Alex added before turning to Monique, "You do know who that is, don't you?"
Another corner.
"Of course I do, Alex." Monique rolled her eyes as they entered a large alleyway, completely devoid of mortals. "She's meant to be a fable, even by the god's standards. It's Alphito."
The alley seemed to get darker and colder at the name.
"Who?" Andy asked, as she turned towards the mouth of the alley.
"Alphito. She's like the Greek version of the bogeyman. Parents told stories of her ripping apart naughty kids to their kids to scare them into behaving." Monique explained as she drew her sword. Andy followed suit as Josh notched an arrow and Alex expanded his spear.
Alphito turned around the corner, and even in the near dark, her features were still horrible. Josh realised, at close quarters like this she seemed even more horrible. Her face was wrinkled, huge bags handing down under her misty white eyes, the irises so light, you could easily make the mistake of her not having any irises at all. Her throat was eaten away, so you could see the vocal cords, stretching when she spoke.
"Demi-gods stand and fight, demi-gods should be back at their haven, why are demi-gods out? Naughty demi-gods." she said her voice harsh and strained, the vocal cords looked like piano strings almost at breaking point.
"I think you're said 'demi-gods' enough times," Josh scowled as he stretched the bow string back, looking down the arrow shaft at the monster.
"My master does not want useless demi-gods. Stand down demi-gods. My master only wishes to have the Tide-Born." she glared pointedly at Andy and the other three moved to stand in front of her.
"Try us." Alex gritted his teeth.
Alphito lunged.
Josh shot six arrows into the heart of the monster as she was in the air, but instead of bursting into the gold sand they were used to, she ripped the arrows out and glared at Josh, who was already aiming.
"NAUGHTY DEMI-GODS! DEMI-GODS WILL PAY!" she screamed as Monique and Josh lunged forward. Monique swiped at the monster's legs, the supposably weak and paper thin skin, deflecting the blow as Alex's spear tore through her chest.
It only annoyed her, she swiped, her long talons catching Monique and throwing her back against the brick wall that lined the alley. Alphito ducked Alex's jab and clawed at him, he jumped out of the way as Josh sent a volley of arrows at the monster's back.
Andy was frozen in terror. Later, she would curse herself for freezing up, but she just couldn't move. Alphito's gaze had rooted her to the spot, along with Andy's own terror of facing a monster after only four weeks of training.
Everything that could go bad swam through her mind, they could all die, Alphito could kidnap her or Monique or Josh or Alex. All of these faults and more kept her on the spot, watching her friends fight a monster that should have been well past defeated.
Andy hated her Atychiphobia. Her fear of failure had taken its revenge on Andy every time something big was happening, something important, or in this case, something dangerous.
But as Monique was thrown against the wall, and Alex was injured Andy kicked herself into action, finally.
She passed Josh, who drew a dagger from its sheath. Alphito whirled on the spot to face the remaining demi-gods. The others had left their mark on the 'elderly lady', her legs were crumbling, a huge chunk of papery skin was taken off the brittle bone and arrows hung out of the crevices in-between the bone joints.
"You need not hurt demi-god. My master only wishes for the Tide-Born." her voice scratched against their eardrums, but Josh and Andy didn't back down. Alphito swiped her hand and a strong wind instantly buffeted both of them. Andy was pushed back against the wall, but Josh was sent flying, colliding with a dust bin and sinking into unconsciousness.
"What do your master want?" Andy demanded, keeping Alphito away with swipe after swipe of her sword, which was coming increasingly heavy in her hands, the stupid, unbalanced sword.
"He wants the Tide-"
"Yeah, yeah, the Tide-Born, I've gathered that's me. But what."
Swipe.
"Does."
Swipe.
"He."
Thrust, overhead cut.
"Want."
Block, sidestep, hilt hit.
"With."
Jab, duck, kick, backhand.
"ME!" she was acting on instinct, ignoring the voice in the back of her head that was her Atychiphobia, she kicked sending Alphito sprawling, out for a few seconds.
How in the world was she killed in the myths? Andy thought. Then she got an idea, KAVOURI! A LITTLE HELP!
Hmmm...tired...the small crab groaned (can crabs groan?) as he woke up from sleeping in Andy's bag which happened to be right next to the advancing Alphito. Whoa! Alphito, you have horrible luck, Andy.
Thanks for the support, Kav, she ducked Alphito's talons and thrusted, only for Alphito to push her hand away and shove her across the alley. How did our friend die in the myths?
She didn't.
Duck, kick, roll, thrust, deflect.
WHAT! Andy swiped and caught Alphito's chest, which forced her back.
Well...each parent told a different story, she didn't die or the kids would still run a riot. But...no that wouldn't work...
Alphito summoned more wind and Andy was thrown back against the dust bins, Any idea, no matter how stupid or suicidal, I'll do it.
Fine, she's meant to kill children who do wrong, right?
Right. Andy agreed mentally as she rolled out of the way of another claw of talons, diving for her sword that lay beside her bag, and Kavouri.
So, in theory, she should kill herself if she is doing something wrong.
That...makes sense...kinda. Andy kicked, her foot contacting Alphito's chest, but what is she doing wrong? Well, apart from attempted murder.
Kavouri thought for a while, as Andy danced out of Alphito's talons. She should be evaporating! Kavouri told Andy with a sound of triumph. It sounded stupid to Andy, but it would have to do.
"Why aren't you evaporating?" she shouted as the monster advanced. "That's very naughty." Andy was very glad Josh was unconscious at the moment, because if he heard her saying that she would never hear the end of the teasing.
Alphito's sneered turned into a look of utter disbelief, as a gold light started to glow inside the papery chest, growing bigger and bigger and bigger.
"YOU WILL PAY, TIDE-BORN! MY MASTER WILL DESTROY YOU! HE WILL KILL YOU ALL! HE WILL-"
Poof.
"-die down a hole." Andy finished, as she fell to her knees, her chest heaving. Cuts decorated her arms and legs, while a nasty cut was bleeding from her head. She sunk to the floor, and heard the muffled voices of her friends call out to her from above the darkness she was sinking into...
...
"Father," the young man said, as he knelt by a huge, black throne occupied by a sort of mist, not solid, but very close.
"News?" the mist-person asked, as the man stood.
"The best," the man smiled evilly, as his topaz eyes darted around the room, taking in the surroundings. The he stood in a giant cave, and by giant I mean you could drop Mount Everest down it and it wouldn't even touch the sides (A/N sound familiar?)
"Alphito has been destroyed, the girl shows promise." The man smiled again. "Although, she did get help from a crab."
"Has her flaw been discovered?" The voice seemed impatient, angry about something, angry at someone.
The man hesitated for a moment before answering, "It hasn't been confirmed-"
The voice roared in rage and the cave heated up another thousand degree's.
"-but it is possible that it is Atychiphobia, fear of failure. She was frozen for 3 minutes before fighting and during that time the other three demi-gods she is travelling with were injured."
"Yes, very well," the voice mused over the information. "Where is she now?"
"She is still in New York, about to-"
"NO!" the voice roared. "SHE IS HERE!" The man turned his attention to the blonde girl hidden in the shadows. But before he could draw his weapon she disappeared into a blue mist, the smell of the sea being left behind.
...
Andy woke up with a start. She shot up, only to be pushed back down to the floor by Josh, who was fussing over her, tending to her injuries.
"What happ-OW!" Andy screamed mid-sentence as Josh applied a bandage to a gash on her leg.
"What happened?" Alex finished. "That's what we want to know," then he turned to Josh."Are you sure she can't have any more ambrosia? She looks about ready to pass out again."
"Thanks for the compliment," Andy muttered but the boys ignored her.
"Yes, I'm sure, Alex. She's had three blocks already, that's more then I'd ever risk giving anyone."
"Well, I'm glad I'm special." Andy said, louder, trying to break the tension between the two boys.
Success.
It turned out that only Andy had any horrible injuries, apart from the large amount of bruises and scratches, Monique had broken a rib, Josh just got a small concussion ("That it wouldn't of changed much, you'd still be slow" "Oi!") and Alex had a wound on his leg from Alphito's talons all of which were healed in no time thanks to the ambrosia and Josh's healing skills.
You got lucky this time, the Atychiphobia's voice said in the back of her head, next time, the injuries could be worse, lethal. Kavouri mightn't be there to help you.
Doubt began to seed itself in Andy's thoughts, could be, might not. It was all unknown, unsure. Next time...hopefully that wasn't any time soon.
"Andy, Earth to Andy, come in Andromeda." Josh's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Phew, I thought we'd lost you for a sec," Josh said with a smirk. "You'll live, your leg might throb a bit now and then, and your bruises will hurt if someone pokes them," he glared pointedly at Alex. "But, you'll live."
Until next fight, the Atychiphobia added before Andy shut it out.
"Ready?" Monique asked, as she packed up the rest of their things.
"Yeah," Andy smiled, as she took the hand Josh offered and was pulled onto her feet. After the brief moment of dizziness, the quartet walked out of the alley where they had been for an hour and back out to the docks.
...
For the second time that day, the four stood on the edge of the dock, looking out over the ocean as if it would give them answers. Monique had insisted that this was the place to start, the other three were critical, but knowing Monique, they kept their mouths shut and followed her lead.
"Something strange," Monique told them. "Something out of the ordinary that we won't be looking for."
Josh snorted, "If we're not looking for it, how are we gonna find it? Trip over it?"
Monique hit him on the shoulder where he ever so happened to have a big bruise. Silently swearing, Josh stepped out of arm's reach of Monique and decided not to annoy her until he didn't have any bruises.
Something strange, out of the ordinary. Oh, how about this! Four kids who happen to be the kids of gods are looking around a dock for a boat mentioned in a prophecy so they can sail and complete a quest given to them by a giant fish that happens to be my uncle after just recovering from a fight with a grandma-bogeyman, Andy thought bitterly as they scoured the docks. She herself was sceptical of the plan, but she saw the logic behind the choice so she trusted Monique's judgment.
Andy climbed a stack of crates to get a better look at the dock. To her left was a cluster of cargo ships, filled with people bustling around. Directly in front of her was fifty or so private boats, still heaps of people docking and sailing out. To her right was an empty space of water, big enough for three cargo ships to fit in snugly, no one was around here, then after that was some cruise― hold on.
Andy looked again, something out of the ordinary. Deserted. One small section of the dock absolutely deserted. Everyone seemed to unconsciously move away from the area, finding another way to get to each side.
This was New York, nowhere was abandoned like that, even the worst part of the city was full of crooks and homeless.
"Monique! Alex! Josh! M'ere!" Andy shouted over the din. The three demi-gods pushed their way through the crowd, Monique apologising here and there, Alex and Josh not bothering.
"What is it?" Monique asked, excitedly as she reached within earshot of her friend.
"New York, guys," Andy smiled. "Nowhere is deserted, there is always action, right?"
"Right..." Josh agreed, not sure where this was going.
"Well, why is there three docking spaces completely deserted, not a soul around." Andy smiled as she led the way to the spot she had seen. It was a longer walk then she had thought from her high vantage point, but when they got there, sure enough- it was empty.
"Strange." Josh said.
"Out of the ordinary." Alex added.
"Something we aren't looking for," Monique finished. "You're a genius, Andy!"
Andy frowned, "Don't get to excited, we still need to find them damn thing."
The other's smiled turned into frowns as they realised there was no ship here. It wasn't here.
"We should-what that Hades is that?" Alex exclaimed, pointing to the water.
The water was bubbling; steam was billowing from it, clouding everyone's vision. When it cleared they saw a ship rise from the water, a giant cruise ship that looked like the one Annabeth had taken Andy on when they cruised the Caribbean. It looked like it had been blown apart, but magically put back together, the hull blackened with soot and only half of the bridge remained intact. The decks were wet, most of the floorboards were soggy and the poles rusted. The figure head didn't inspire much confidence as it was one of a girl chained to the front, looking utterly terrified, and on the front was the name of the ship:
Πριγκίπισσα Ανδρομέδα
The Princess Andromeda
...
:-∑ Most people thought the pen was Riptide! What were your reactions? Please tell me, I really want to know. :)
So, the Princess Andromeda has returned...and, no, people, before I get asked Luke is not coming back. K? K.
Oh, and I'm not a Volcanologist, all I know about volcanos is from Wikipedia and my mum (who helped me work out which state San Francisco is in, it took us about 15 mins. Give us some credit since we don't live in the USA, or the Northern Hemisphere. O_o) so the details will be sketchy.
Please Review with your thoughts, even if you say "I have new socks"
~Emily
P.S Hi!
