Demigods on the Loose
Chapter 7: When Demigods Go Bad
Okay, the adventure begins a week after Nancy and Link have arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Don't worry, there will be some action pretty soon.
Nancy was busy packing in the Hermes cabin, bringing along stuff that would be needed on the journey. She still couldn't believe that they were actually participating in a quest, like the ones in the middle ages, where knights would ride into battle. She thought that that sort of thing only happened in fairy tales. Now, not only was she in a quest, but she was also burdened with protecting the world. How many people got into THAT sort of position everyday? She was afraid of what would happen if they failed. She decided not to think about it, since it would only make her more nervous than she was already.
On the other side of the room, Link was packing the stuff that he would need, which included his weapons, and items that he had claimed in the separate dungeons of Hyrule. When he picked up each one, memories would flood in of the challenges he had faced in the separate locations. He shuddered as he picked up his bow, remembering the twisted form that Darbus had taken when he had touched the Fused Shadow. He still had nightmares of the black hulk of a beast. He never wanted to admit it to anyone now, but he was terrified of the mission ahead. He didn't see how that was possible. He possessed the Triforce of Courage, for crying out loud. Although, he thought, not everyone is perfect. He was still ashamed. The Hero of Hyrule, afraid? That would seem preposterous to its citizens.
Little did Link realize that Nancy had come from across the room to touch his shoulder in comfort. When Link and Nancy glanced at each other, they saw the same expression in each other's eyes: fear. It comforted Link to know that he wasn't the only one who was scared.. Even though Nancy was a professional as a private detective, she could still get scared. She would tell people that she wasn't afraid, when she was. Link and Nancy had a common point here. They didn't want to let people down just because they were scared, and right now, the world depended on them. They would make sure that they didn't fail.
"Come on, guys, let's get a move on," Percy called through the window.
Link and Nancy glanced at each other once more, nodded, and walked out the door. They were in the big leagues now.
The plan was, since Percy's uncle, Zeus, wouldn't really appreciate his nephew traveling through the skies, was to travel on the ground, to San Francisco, where Kronos would most surely be. Before they left, however, Nancy went to the hotel where they had been staying, and told her father what they were going to be doing. After a tearful goodbye, Nancy reunited with her brother, who stared at her in concern.
"I'm fine, Link. It's just that I never had to do something like this before. You've had experience with this kind of thing before, though. I'm just afraid that I might let the whole world down."
"I feel the same way."
"You do?"
"Of course. We can handle this together. We'll just have to trust ourselves on this."
With that, they climbed into the transport, a white van, to drive to the train station. Accompanying them, were Tyson, Percy, Grover, Thalia, and Annabeth.
Annabeth, being the one who always had a plan, stated in a commanding tone,
"Alright, the plan will be to take the two o'clock train to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then take the four o'clock train to Topeka, Kansas, and finally, we'll stick with the six o'clock train bound for San Francisco, California. Everyone got that?"
"Yes, Annabeth, I'm pretty sure that we all got it. Any ideas of how we can divert suspicion away from the main heroes of this quest?"
"Well, we can always say that Link just did his ears like that. You know, how people make their ears look pointy? As for Nancy, well, I know you both are not going to like this. We're going to have to call them a.. Couple."
Shock and disgust filled their eyes, as Nancy and Link stared at each other awkwardly.
"Does this mean that they're going to have to kiss?" Tyson asked, giggling into his giant hand.
"Well, uh, not.. Exactly. They'll just have to act, uh, you know, like they're an item."
Figuring that they had no other choice, Nancy and Link first began to practice holding hands, while trying not to look like they felt that it was awkward doing so. Nancy and Link breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief when the van finally stopped at the station. Climbing out, Thalia checked her watch.
"We have precisely five minutes left until the train arrives. That's not too long."
As everyone set down their bags and reclined on benches, Annabeth began to strategize on how they would travel and when they would have to be at the separate train stations. Of course, everyone from Camp Half-Blood knew that Annabeth strategized when she was nervous. Of course, the others were no exception.
"Tell me when the train gets here, Percy. I got to go."
Also, everyone knew that, whenever Grover got nervous, he would have to go to the bathroom, bad.
Link did not like that they were sitting around, when there could be enemies all around them. He kept glancing around at everyone, waiting for any sign that they were looking for them.
Tyson, technically an eight-year old in human standards, complained to Percy,
"When's the train gonna get here?"
"Soon, Tyson, soon. Just be patient. You know, you're going to have to get used to this. It's gonna be a long journey to San Francisco."
Soon enough, the train for Philadelphia pulled into the station. At that moment, there was a rushing of baggage as people began to board the train.
Link was a little startled at this new phenomenon that was before him. It looked like it was a giant, metal snake, with steam pouring out of a pipe on its head. When Link reached for his bag, he spotted something that sent his hero radar on the rage. It was a teenage boy about his age, with a scar on the left side of his face. He was twirling a strange sword in his hand, staring at him. Link wondered why no one else could see that the strange boy had a sword. Then he remembered Percy telling him about the Mist, and how ordinary people couldn't see through it.
Suddenly, an almighty bang was heard, as a part of the train exploded. Screams filled the air, as all chaos broke loose. That's when Grover happened to come out of the bathroom.
"Holy Hera! What's going on?"
"I'll give you a wild guess," Percy replied, gesturing to the strange boy in the background.
"It's been a long time, Jackson. Soon, I will have my revenge on you and your pathetic camp."
"Luke. It's been a while. How long has it been, a few months?"
"Don't play cheeky with me, Percy. Don't forget, I can still beat you sword-to-sword. Not to mention that you have a predicament on your hands, what with all of these people going to think that you blew up a part of the train. Also, the fact that you're going to be spotted on camera beating up a poor, defenseless boy, like me. So, what are you going to do about it? The police will arrest you and your pathetic friends before you get to San Francisco. The Lord of Time has it all planned out. The police will be on the borderline of every state. You'll never get to stop the world from falling. And the best part is, there's nothing that you can do about it."
While Luke was gloating over his victory, he gave Link enough time to grab his sword from his bag and catch him by surprise. With a yell, Link leapt into the air and knocked Luke down.
"What's this, Percy? You have a new friend to hide behind?"
"No, I'm not like you, Luke. If Link's gonna fight you, then I don't see why I shouldn't. After all, I wouldn't want to seem like a coward, like a certain someone that I know."
"You and your friends will pay for what you have done, Jackson!"
Luke commenced the fight with an upper-diagonal strike to the left, which Link blocked easily. When Luke began to charge in, Link waited as a brilliant light scored down his blade. Without warning, Link jumped into the air and struck the ground in front of Luke, knocking him back a few meters.
"I have to say, you're good. But not good enough."
With a snap of his fingers, Luke summoned a small army of monsters around him and ordered them forward. Link began to cut and slash into snake women, hellhounds, and others which were gruesome to behold. As he did so, they started to crumple into dust and disappear. It was almost like when monsters died on Hyrule, except they exploded. Percy had managed to slash a way to Luke and charged him head on. Unfortunately, Luke used this as an opportunity and butted the hilt of his sword into Percy's gut when he got close enough. The breath jarred out of him, Percy slumped to the ground.
"Say goodnight, Percy," Luke taunted, as he lifted his sword into the air, preparing to strike it into Percy's heart.
Suddenly, a mighty yell resounded from behind Luke, with his sword being knocked out of his hand. Luke spun around, only to be met with the side of Nancy's blade knocking into his face. Stumbling back a few paces, Luke wiped the blood that trickled out of his mouth and smirked at Nancy.
"That was an exceptionally foolish thing for you to do."
Quick as a wink, Luke grabbed his sword and flung it at Nancy's side, only to be met with a well-executed block. Shock filled Luke's eyes. No one had ever managed to block that deadly strike. Sensing that his guard had been let down, Nancy saw it as her chance to stab her sword into his side. Yelling in pain, Luke retaliated by pushing Nancy down.
Filled with rage at what Luke was doing to his sister, Link crouched down behind Luke and built up all of his strength into the Great Spin. With a mighty yell, Link spun into a tornado and knocked Luke down onto the tracks. Blood running all over him, Luke stared up at the heroes with hatred.
"This isn't over, hero. I will return, and when I do, you'll regret fighting me."
With that, Luke disappeared into the darkness.
Link made sure that there were no more threats to their lives before he turned to help his sister up.
"Thanks, Link."
When Percy, Link, and Nancy turned around, they saw that Grover had used his reed pipe to tie up and suffocate several enemies, Thalia had barbequed several monsters to a crisp, and Annabeth had her dagger out, minor cuts and bruises all over her face and body.
As for Tyson, he had put his knotting skills to good use.
"Good job, guys! We stopped Luke, for now."
"But, wasn't he supposed to be dead?" Grover asked with fright
"I don't know how, but somehow, Luke has come back. Obviously, Kronos figured that he could still use Luke for his purposes. But that's not important right now. Right now, we need to find another way to Kansas, since the train doesn't look like it's going to be in running order any time soon."
"I think that I could be able to help with that," a voice issued from the darkness.
"What are you doing here?" Percy growled.
A buff man appeared from the darkness. He was about thirty-five years old, with a buzz cut and dark shades over his eyes.
"Is he someone we're supposed to know?" Link whispered.
"Yeah, he's my cousin, Ares."
OOXO
Well, what mode of transportation does Ares have up his sleeve this time? And, just so you know, it's not going to be a zoo transport truck. Well, hope you enjoyed and remember to review!
