Chapter 9 - Metal Angels From Mars

Harry looked at Thalia. Her eyes were shut tight and she looked frightened out of her wits. The statue was holding on to her and Percy so both of them couldn't fall, but still, Thalia clutched his arm like it was the most important thing in the world.

"Everything's fine," Percy promised.

"Are... are we very high?"

Harry looked down. Below the two statues and him, a range of snowy mountains zipped by. Percy stretched out my foot and kicked snow off one of the peaks.

"Nah," he said. "Not that high."

"We are in the Sierras!" Zoë yelled. She and Grover were hanging from the arms of the other statue. "I have hunted here before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours."

Grover played his pipes to pass the time. Zoë got bored and started shooting arrows at random billboards as they flew by. Every time she saw a Target department store—and they passed dozens of them—she would peg the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour. Thalia kept her eyes closed the whole way. She muttered to herself a lot like she was praying.

"We did well back there," Harry grinned at her. "Zeus listened."

It was hard to tell what she was thinking with her eyes closed. "Maybe," she said. "How did the two of you get away from the skeletons in the generator room, anyway? You said they cornered you." Percy told her about the weird mortal girl, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who seemed to be able to see right through the Mist. Thalia nodded.

"Some mortals are like that," she said. "Nobody knows why."

Percy looked like he suddenly remembered something and his eyes glazed over.

"Oi, Percy!" Harry yelled at him. "What happened to you?"

Percy, on his words, broke out of his daze and beckoned Harry to come closer. Harry flew over next to him.

"My mom is like that," he whispered. "On my first day in Camp Half-Blood, I was being chased by a Minotaur. She saw it for what it was. She even knew that my half-brother –" Harry about asked him about his half-brother, but he didn't get a chance, "– Tyson, a Cyclops –" Harry was even more confused – he had a Cyclops of all things as a half-brother? "– In Camp Half-Blood, the Mist dissipates. I didn't know that Tyson was a Cyclops when I saw him. When I reached Camp Half-Blood, I realized what he really was. My mom, I am sure, knew it already as she hadn't looked too surprised when I told her about what Tyson was. She had been so scared for me when I was growing up. Now I know why."

"You never told me about Tyson!" Harry exclaimed.

"Now's not the time," Percy chided him. "We are flying. I'll tell you when we reach Terra Firma." He turned to Thalia. "The girl was annoying, but I'm glad I didn't vaporize her. That would've been bad. Harry was almost about to though."

"Yep." Harry shuddered. "My sword was one inch from her neck before I knew who I was attacking."

"Must be nice to be a regular mortal," Thalia said matter-of-factly. She said that as if she'd given it a lot of thought.

"Where you guys want to land?" Hank asked.

Harry looked down and said, "Whoa." He had never seen much of America, all he had seen was the airport and the Long Island Sound. He had seen pictures of major places like the Hoover Dam, Manhattan, and San Francisco, but the real Frisco was about ten times prettier. There were a huge bay and ships, islands and sailboats, and the Golden Gate Bridge sticking up out of the fog.

"There," Zoë suggested. "By the Embarcadero Building."

"Good thinking," Chuck said. "Hank and I can blend in with the pigeons."

Everyone looked at him.

"Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humour?"

"There isn't any need to blend in, is there?" Harry asked. "Early morning, not many people around." He looked around. "Um, what are we going to do next? West Coast. Artemis is somewhere. Annabeth too, I guess. But how are we going to find them?"

"Yes," Percy replied. "And where is the mysterious monster that Artemis has been hunting?"

"Didn't Apollo tell you to find that old man of the sea? Nereus?" Grover asked.

Harry had completely forgotten about his encounter with Apollo. It seemed like a year ago.

Zoë made a face. "Old Nereus, eh?"

"You know him?" Thalia asked.

"My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him. Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Come," she said without enthusiasm. "I will show thee."

Harry couldn't stop laughing when Zoe outfitted Percy in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat from the Goodwill bin. Percy scowled at him.

"Oh, yeah," Grover said, trying not to burst out laughing, "you look completely inconspicuous now."

Zoë nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."

"Thanks a lot," Percy grumbled. "Why am I doing this again?"

At that, Harry laughed even more. "To blend in," he said laughingly. "To blend in."

Zoe led the way back down to the waterfront. After a long time spent searching the docks, Zoë finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down a pier where a bunch of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch. "He will be down there somewhere," she said. "He never travels very far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."

"How do I know which one is him?" Percy asked her.

"Sneak up," she said. "Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell... different."

"Great," Percy said unenthusiastically. "And once I find him?"

"Grab him," she said. "And hold on. He will try anything to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster."

"We've got your back," Harry told him. He picked something off the back of his shirt—a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. "Eww. Gross. I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."

Grover gave Percy a big thumbs-up. Percy grumbled something about how nice it was to have super-powerful friends. He headed toward the dock. Harry and the others hid, still looking at Percy. He did a great dramatic act of almost passing out. He kept walking, occasionally sniffing, to see if anyone smelled different, Harry guessed. A lady with a bunch of plastic flamingos sticking out of a shopping cart glared at him. Harry snorted. Zoe glared at him. "I could have chosen thee if I wanted." Harry gulped.

"Look!" Grover alerted. At the end of the pier, a guy who looked about a million years old was passed out in a patch of sunlight. He wore pajamas and a fuzzy bathrobe that probably used to be white. He was fat, with a white beard that had turned yellow, kind of like Santa Claus, if Santa had been rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill. Percy was sniffing, looking disgusted. He sat down next to the guy, looking like he was trying not to gag. Percy muttered something, and the old man went to sleep. Suddenly, he jumped Mr-Santa-Claus-who-looked-like-he-jumped-into-a-landfill. "Ah!" he screamed. He and Percy were grabbing and fighting (how that old man could fight a guy like Percy, Harry did not know), until his head slammed against a post. He looked dazed. Harry and his friends ran out of their hiding place, and tackled him. Nereus looked around at them, and yelled. "I don't have any money!"

"We don't want money!" Harry told him. "We want information! We are half-bloods!"

"Argh!" He yelled. "Heroes! Why do you always pick on me?"

"Because you know everything!"

Suddenly, Percy looked like a lightbulb crashed into his head. "Oh, no!" he cried, "Not the water!"

Nereus yelled in triumph and plunged into the sea, taking Percy with him.

"What –?" Harry started.

"Don't worry." Thalia put a hand on his shoulder. "That moron will survive. He's a son of Poseidon."

They waited, all of them snapping their fingers or acting twitchy except Harry. A while later, a killer whale erupted from the water, with Percy hanging onto its fin. Many tourists went 'whoa' and Percy waved. Harry shook his head at Percy's antics. They both plunged into the water again. After a little time, Nereus collapsed on the edge of the boat dock, gasping and heaving. Percy looked expressionless, but Harry felt that the guy didn't know what expression to put on his face.

Nereus looked anguished. "The normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your query?"

"We have many questions," said Percy.

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."

Harry looked into Percy's eyes. Staring at him, Harry could make out the words Annabeth, Artemis and Olympus. That was bit of a challenge. Annabeth will never forgive me if I rescue her and leave Artemis and Olympus to rot. Harry smiled internally. He couldn't wait to meet Annabeth. She was very interesting, if what Percy spoke (and thought) about her was true. He broke the eye contact and looked into Zoe's eyes. Monster… Artemis… Rescue. Hmm. Zoe indeed wanted to rescue Artemis and Artemis only. But well, a part of her was stopping it. I can rescue Lady Artemis if I ask Nereus about her, but what about the terrifying monster? Lady Artemis would want me to kill it. Harry nodded. That made sense. A goddess would always care about the greater good, and not herself. Or so he thought.

Percy sighed. "All right, Nereus. Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting."

The Old Man of the Sea smiled, showing off his mossy green teeth. "Oh, that's too easy," he said evilly. "He's right there." Nereus pointed to the water at Percy's feet.

"Where?" he said.

"The deal is complete!" Nereus gloated. With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and did a backflip into the sea.

"You tricked me!" Percy yelled.

"Wait." Thalia's eyes widened. "What is that?"

"MOOOOOOOO!" Harry looked down, and there was the cow serpent, Ophiocampus swimming next to the dock. She nudged Percy's shoe and gave him the sad brown eyes.

"Ah, Bessie," Percy said. "Not now."

"Mooo!"

"Ophiocampus, man," Harry chided him.

Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."

"You can understand her... er, him?" Harry asked.

Grover nodded. "It's a very old form of animal speech. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."

"It wasn't Ophiocampus!" Percy looked at Harry.

"I told you that I wasn't sure about the Campus thingy – I was sure about Ophio! And I was right, wasn't I?"

"It means serpent bull in Greek," Thalia said. "But what's it doing here?"

"Moooooooo!"

"He says Percy is his protector," Grover announced. "And he's running from the bad people. He says they are close."

"All of that in a single moo." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Wait," Zoë said, looking at Harry and Percy. "Both of you know this cow?"

Harry wasn't in the mood, and neither was Percy, but they told the rest of them the story.

Thalia shook her head in disbelief. "And you just forgot to mention this before?"

"Well... yeah," Percy said sheepishly.

It seemed silly, now that she said it, but things had been happening so fast. Bessie, the Ophiotaurus, seemed like a minor detail.

"I am a fool," Zoë said suddenly. "I know this story!"

"What story?"

"From the War of the Titans," she said. "My... my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. This is the beast we are looking for."

"Bessie?" Harry looked down at the bull serpent. "But... he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world."

"That is how we were wrong," Zoë said. "We've been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."

"MMMM," Bessie lowed.

"I don't think he likes the S-word," Grover said. Percy patted Bessie on the head. He let him scratch his ear, but he was trembling.

"How could anyone hurt him?" Percy said. "He's harmless."

Zoë nodded. "But there is power in killing innocence. Terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy eons ago, when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the gods."

"MMMMMM!"

"Um," Grover said. "Maybe we could avoid talking about entrails, too."

Harry stared at the cow serpent with wonder. "The power to destroy the gods... how? I mean, what would happen?"

"No one knows," Zoë said. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head. Bessie shivered. Thalia's expression bothered Harry. A lot. She almost looked. . . hungry. Power hunger, thought Harry. Did Luke have an influence over her?

"We have to protect him," he told her. "If Luke gets hold of him—"

"Luke wouldn't hesitate," Thalia muttered. "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's... that's huge."

Even though Harry didn't like what he was thinking, he found himself agreeing with Thalia. Getting that power would be immense. If I get it, I can overthrow Voldemort with just a snap of my finger… Or with something like lightning… It would just be so easy. Overthrowing Olympus… is good, isn't it? It's not like Zeus, or any god for that matter, cares about me. Harry didn't notice that everyone except Thalia was staring at him with fear in their eyes. "Its huge…" Harry muttered. "Getting that power would be… awesome… wouldn't it?"

"It definitely would, my dears," said a man's voice in a heavy French accent. "And it is a power both of you shall unleash."

The Ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged. Harry looked up. He had been so submerged in his thoughts, and the others had been busy talking, that they had gotten themselves ambushed. Standing behind them, his two-color eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr. Thorn, the manticore himself.

"This is just pairrr-fect," the manticore gloated. He was wearing a ratty black trench coat over his Westover Hall uniform, which was torn and stained. His military haircut had grown out spiky and greasy. He hadn't shaved recently, so his face was covered in silver stubble. Basically, he didn't look much better than the guys down at the soup kitchen.

"Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia," the manticore said. "I was forced to scrounge for food on the edges of the world, hiding in forests, devouring insignificant human farmers for my meals. I never got to fight any great heroes. I was not feared and admired in the old stories! But now that will change. The Titans shall honor me, and I shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods!"

On either side of him stood two armed security guys, some of the mortal mercenaries Harry had seen in D.C. Two more stood on the next boat dock over, just in case we tried to escape that way. There were tourists all around— walking down the waterfront, shopping at the pier above us—but I knew that wouldn't stop the manticore from acting.

"Where... where are the skeletons?" Percy asked the manticore. He sneered. "I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

...

Percy needed time to think. He had to save Bessie. Harry was currently incapacitated – he could see the same hunger he had seen in Thalia's eyes in Harry's. Percy could dive into the sea, but how could he make a quick getaway with a five-hundred-pound cow serpent? And what about the others?

"We beat you once before," he said.

"Ha! You could barely fight me with a goddess on your side. And, alas... that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. There will be no help for you now."

Zoë notched an arrow and aimed it straight at the manticore's head. The guards on either side of us raised their guns.

"Wait!" Percy said. "Zoë, don't!"

The manticore smiled. "The boy is right, Zoë Nightshade. Put away your bow. It would be a shame to kill you before you witnessed Harry and Thalia's great victory."

"What are you talking about?" Thalia growled. She had her shield and spear ready.

"You have no control over us," Harry said in a voice that radiated menace. He had his finger over his ring.

"Surely it is clear," the manticore said. "This is both of your moment. This is why Lord Kronos brought you back to life –"

"Your lord is not the person who bought me to light," Harry sneered. I came to light on my own."

"But the fact that he allowed you to live is because of this reason," said Thorn. "If you didn't have a purpose, he would have killed you long ago, my boy. You – and Thalia – will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. Both of you will gain unlimited power. And for your sixteenth birthday, one of you will overthrow Olympus."

No one spoke. It made terrible sense. Thalia was only two days away from turning sixteen. She was a child of the Big Three. If Thalia resisted, there was obviously Harry. Even though there was many years before his turning sixteen, there could be a war for that much time, between the gods and the Titans, with Harry shooing the lot of them off with his power. He too, was a child of the Big Three. This was a choice, a terrible choice that could mean the end of the gods. It was just like the prophecy said. Percy wasn't sure if he felt relieved, horrified, or disappointed. He wasn't the prophecy kid after all. Doomsday was happening right now.

He waited for Thalia or Harry to tell the manticore off, but both of them hesitated. They looked completely stunned.

"You know it is the right choice," the manticore told them. "Luke recognized it. You shall be reunited with him. Harry, Luke is a perfect role model for you. This is the right choice. The three of you shall rule this world together under the auspices of the Titans. Both of your father abandoned you, Harry, Thalia. Has he ever spoken or done anything for you, Harry? He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him. Crush the Olympians underfoot, as they deserve. Call the beast! It will come to you. Use your spear and your sword."

"Thalia, Harry," Percy said, "snap out of it!"

They looked at him the same way they had the morning Thalia woke up on Half-Blood Hill, dazed and uncertain. It was almost like she didn't know him. Harry looked the same way, like the day Percy, Thalia, and Grover had rescued him from the Hydra, scared and confused.

"Your father helped you," Percy said. "He sent the metal angels. He turned you into a tree to preserve you. Harry, the reason why Zeus doesn't speak to you is that he can't show favoritism, or he would definitely have spoken to you. He didn't want to introduce you to this dangerous world, that is why he didn't tell you before that he was your father."

Thalia's hand tightened on the shaft of her spear and Harry touched the ruby on his ring, making it morph into Harry's long and dangerous looking steel sword, Gryffindor. But he still looked uncertain. Percy looked at Grover desperately. He understood. He raised his pipes to his mouth and played a quick riff. The manticore yelled, "Stop him!"

And all Hades broke loose.


This most likely will be the second-last chapter before the Titan's Curse part ends. One chapter mostly will be Harry, Percy and Annabeth resting at Camp Half-Blood before Goblet of Fire starts. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter.

I am answering reviews by PM now, so I will be answering only guest reviews like this.

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Poll counts - Two for Katie Bell and one for Parvati Patil.

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A. Mine is Minerva McGonagall!

Q. What were Voldemort's Horcruxes?

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