Author Notes: THE QUEST HAS BEGUN! I'll make sure to put these characters through Hades and back as they progress on their journey, so be prepared for everything and anything. Seriously though guys: your input IS needed! I need monsters, your favorite gods and goddesses, and mythological characters! So shoot me a PM or leave it below!
Chapter 10: We Get Out of Paying Our Cab Fare
I stared at Chiron in a bit of surprise.
"My mom?" I asked. I remembered that she told me before I left that there was a way to speak at her while I was at camp.
"She mentioned there was a way to talk to her? Do you have a cell phone or something I could borrow Chiron?"
Everyone, with the exception of Jacen, stared at me like I had just asked for ten million dollars.
"Umm, Eddy," Christine began slowly. "Half bloods don't normally use technology to make calls or send messages."
I raised my eyebrows at her.
"Why not?" I asked in curiosity. How did half bloods send messages then? Paul cleared his throat and said:
"Well," he began slowly. "Cellphones and other technological devices tend to send out a signal that irritates monsters. If you were to try and contact someone that way, well: you'd have to be ready to fight off whatever comes after you."
OKAY. So Operation: Cellphone was a BUST.
Paul turned to Christine.
"Can you show him how to make an Iris Message?" he asked her. Christine nodded. "While you're at it," Paul continued. "Take Jacen too. He'll need to learn how as well."
Christine raised her eyebrows at Paul curiously.
"What're you going to do, then?" she asked. Paul smiled.
"I'm going to the store to get us supplies. I can pull in a few favors that I'm owed around the camp to get lower prices. Also, I need to talk to Chiron about a few things. We'll meet at the top of Half Blood hill around…2:30, alright?"
We all nodded and walked out of the Big House. Christine led us toward the canoe lake.
"What's an Iris Message?" I asked. Christine sighed.
"Eddy, I'm really going to have to get you and Jacen a book on this stuff…"
Jacen yawned and stretched as we walked.
"Or you could just explain," he suggested. Christine took a swipe at him that Jacen miraculously dodged under, but ended up tripping over a tree root and fell on his face. He jumped up and brushed himself off with a glare at us.
"NOT. A WORD." He snarled. We snorted and continued to the canoe lake where we stopped at the end of the dock. Christine turned to look at me with a glare.
"What did I do now?' I sighed. Christine pointed at the lake.
"The Naiads LIKE you," she said, as if it was the most despicable thing in the world. "Call one of them up here for me. Since, they like you AND you're a son of Kronos, they're obligated to help you."
THAT was news to me. I crouched by the water and said:
"Umm, excuse me?" I started, feeling like an idiot. Any other place I tried something like this, people would write me off as a lunatic. To my surprise however, a teenaged girl poked her head out of the surface of the lake a few yards away and glided towards the end of the dock through the water. She smiled at me and returned the gesture. The naiad blushed and giggled, and I heard a growl from Christine. I decided to ignore THAT.
Christine crouched down to my level and I noticed the naiad seemed to look at her with a slightly cold glare. Christine sighed.
"Look," she began pleadingly. "We need you to shoot a steady stream of water, so we can make an Iris Message. Can you do it?"
The naiad gave Christine a gurgling sound that sounded suspiciously like: Of course I can, STUPID. She smiled at Jacen and me, who grinned back, and then dove beneath the surface.
Not a moment later, a stream of water erupted, splashing Christine in her face. She recoiled in outrage.
"WHY THAT NO GOOD LITTLE…!" she snarled. I tapped her on the shoulder carefully.
"Umm, Christine?" I asked hesitantly. "The Iris Message?"
She glared at Jacen and me, and dug into her pockets, withdrawing a golden coin. Jacen at this point had stopped laughing and pointed to the coin in her hands.
"Is that, a drachma?" he asked. Christine raised her eyebrows at him.
"Maybe I don't need to get you a book Jacen," she said. "Yes: this is the currency that half bloods, gods, and Titans use. You need one to ask Iris, the Goddess of Rainbows and Messages to make an Iris Message, hence, the name."
We nodded and I asked:
"So, what do we do then?"
She told us to stand back a bit, which we did, and stepped cautiously towards the water spray. I figured she was wary of getting splashed again. She flicked the coin into the rainbow made by the water sprout and chanted:
"Oh, Iris: Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering!"
The coin vanished in the spray with a sound like a cash register makes, and a sweet voice responded:
"Thank you for calling the Iris Message hotline. Whom would you like to contact?"
Christine looked at me as if to say: Well? And, I stepped up to the spray and said:
"Umm, show me Naomi Brown, please?"
There was a flickering of light in the rainbow, and my living room appeared. I gasped. This was pretty sweet.
"Mom?" I asked. Silence. I tried again. I heard a chair being pushed back from somewhere in the kitchen, and my mom appeared, holding a coffee in her hands. She looked like she hadn't been sleeping very well. The thought made me feel terrible about it. She smiled when she saw me.
"Eddy!" she beamed. "I'm SO glad you're safe! Is Jacen with you?"
Jacen stepped up to my side and waved with a grin.
"Hiya, Ms. Brown!" he said kindly. My mom's eyes twinkled.
"I'm glad to see you both made it to camp safely!" she gushed. Jacen and I shared a quick, uneasy look at one another, and Christine snorted. My mom's eyebrows rose.
"Is there someone else with you?" she asked, and Christine appeared at my shoulder, looking a little uneasy. My mom's smile widened.
"Oh! Hello dear!" she said warmly. "I'm Eddy's mom, Naomi! And you are?"
"Christine Gregory ma'am," she said politely. I rolled my eyes. So Christine could act polite if she WANTED to!
My mom smiled even wider.
"Just call me Naomi dear!" she said. "Ma'am makes me feel old!"
Christine laughed and nodded. My mom turned back to me with a worried expression.
"Is everything all right at camp? Has your father told you anything…?"
I nodded, and she let out a breath of relief.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about your father's true identity Eddy," she said. I noticed that she looked completely broken up about it. I reassured her that it was fine, and that I'm just happy I know who he is now. She smiled again. "So, what's been happening? Are the other campers nice? Are you enjoying the activities?"
I didn't have the heart to tell my mom that I hadn't even participated in any activities besides Capture the Flag, and that I'd be leaving the safety of the camp to go on a potential disastrous quest, but, I ended up telling her everything. The worry lines on her forehead seemed to deepen as I told my tale, and when I was finished, she looked at Jacen and Christine.
"You'll all be careful and watch out for each other, won't you?" she pleaded. Christine nodded with a smile, and Jacen puffed out his chest.
"Don't worry about a thing Ms. Brown!" he said winningly. "Eddy and I have gotten through loads together! We won't let a stupid quest get in our way!"
My mom smiled in relief at Jacen's proclamation and nodded gratefully. She turned back to me with a serious face.
"Oedipus," she began. I knew that when she used my full name is was about to get it. "I want you to contact me if you can on your quest, just to be sure you and your friends are alright. Also, make sure you keep Ananke close. Your father would be very upset if something were to happen to it!"
I blinked at her in shock.
"Mom?" I stammered. "How do you know about…?"
She shook her head and waved aside the question.
"I know a lot of things Eddy," she answered, "But that necklace is very important to your father, Kronos. He gave it to Lord Apollo for safekeeping while he watched over you in school, and was supposed to hand it over to you when the time was right. I don't know what your quest will be like, and I won't pretend to NOT worry, but I know that if you keep Ananke close to you, you'll be all right. Promise me?"
I nodded, and she smiled again.
"Thank you. You three should get ready to go, I'll keep in contact with Chiron to get details of how you're doing, and Eddy?"
I looked at her questioningly.
"Be careful." She said, and then she grinned. "And make sure you change your underwear!"
I went beet red in indignation, while Christine and Jacen laughed loudly. I bellowed at her.
"I WILL MOM! JEEZ!"
She just grinned wider. Honestly, Moms could be SO embarrassing.
"I love you son, be safe!" she said. I told her the same, minus the 'be safe' part, and she waved her hand across the Iris Message spray and vanished. The naiad popped her head out of the water and smiled at me. I said my thanks; she giggled and blushed again, and dove beneath the water.
I glared at Jacen and Christine who were still laughing.
"Shut up." I said venomously. They kept laughing. "Seriously, just shut up!"
Jacen and Christine stopped laughing, but they still had to fight to suppress chuckles every now and then, as we made our way back towards camp.
We packed our bags at the Hermes cabin. I didn't have much to take: a hygiene bag, three sets of clothes, and some extra socks and underwear. Jacen sniggered as I put the underwear in my bag, and I threw a dirty sock at his face. When all three of us were packed, we made our way towards Half Blood Hill.
While we walked, I asked Jacen a question that I had been meaning to ask him since I woke up in the infirmary yesterday.
"Yo, Jacen," I began, turning to look at him. He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"I was wondering about something," I continued. Christine looked over her shoulder to listen in. "When we were in the infirmary, you said something about your dad saying something to you, But Christine," I pointed at her. She glared: per usual. "Interrupted us. What DID Hyperion say to you?"
Jacen stopped walking and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he had a face more serious than I had ever seen him make in the time that I knew him. I almost took a step back, from his drastic 180 in personality.
"My dad told me, 'When you see the flames, do not cower or run, or they will not deem you worthy of my notice. Stand strong and true as a son of mine, and the truth will be revealed to you'."
I nodded. Jacen's face went back to his usual carefree smile.
"To be honest though," he admitted. "I'm almost crapped my pants when I saw them heading through the woods. I think the only reason I didn't get burned, was because I was still hopped up on adrenaline from my fight with Kevin…"
Jacen kicked a rock near his feet, which went sailing. He glared at it.
"Along with my flame powers," he continued. "I noticed that I'm really resilient, and have a bit of enhanced strength, but…"
He hung his head in shame. Christine and I exchanged a glance and looked back at Jacen.
"I don't know if it'll be enough, you know…?"
I felt a pang of guilt. I got so worried about Christine yesterday; I forgot to talk to Jacen. Compared to Christine, Jacen went through the same things I did. Plus, the kid's got a fear of the very power he possesses. That can't be easy to deal with. Surprisingly, it was Paul who said the words that I meant to say.
"Jacen," he said kindly. "I don't think ANY of us know exactly what will be enough on this quest. But don't sell yourself short. Your dad claimed you because you were worthy." Paul looked around at all of us. "They claimed us because we're ALL worthy. And together, we'll complete this quest, and make them proud, right?"
Jacen wiped his eyes with his forearm and smiled. "Right."
When we reached the top of Half Blood Hill, we had an awesome view of camp. I felt kind of sad. I never even got to attempt the lava wall, ride a Pegasus, and go to sword fighting lessons in the arena: the list went on and on! I vowed that when I made it back, IF I made it back, I was going to make Christine, Paul and Jacen do all of those things with me. Heck, I might even let Christine challenge me to a duel again…Okay, NOT.
We all stood there for a moment, until we heard a car horn beep down on the road, on the opposite side of the hill. We all turned and made our way towards the car with our backpacks, after bidding Camp Half blood farewell. I noticed that Paul was still at the top of the hill, staring at the camp with a blank expression. I ran back up to get him.
"Hey dude," I said as I approached. "Are you alright?"
Paul continued to stare at the camp silently for a moment longer, before he sighed and turned to me with a small smile.
"This place…it's been my home for the last four years. I've got a lot of memories here. Good and bad. It's just," he paused for a moment, thinking deeply. "Every time I have to leave it, be it a day or for a quest, I always feel like I won't make it back. I'm not saying I fear for our chances! It's just that…"
I clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry man," I said kindly. "We'll be back in no time! We're children of the Titans! We've got this!"
Paul nodded and looked at the camp one more time, I did too. And together, we walked down the hill toward the waiting car.
Our transportation was one of those cabs, which looked more like a van than a car. We all threw our bags into the trunk and sat inside. I sat by Jacen in the back seat, while Christine sat ahead of us. Paul decided to sit next to the driver, seeing that he was the ONLY one of us to ever go to New York City before.
We took off down the road and magically passed through Camp Half Bloods magical border, and appeared on State road 25A, heading inbound for NYC. I was excited. So far, this quest seemed more like a road trip, than a life-endangering journey. I was expecting monsters and crazy disasters happening right out of the gate. But so far, the ONLY disaster we passed through, was a car with a flat tire on the side of the road. Jacen tried to get Christine and me to play a rousing game of 'I Spy' but we weren't going for it.
I noticed that something was amiss when we started heading towards the New Jersey exit instead of the New York City one. At first, I just assumed our driver was trying to take a less congested route into downtown, but it became apparent that this was NOT the case when I watched the skyline of Manhattan disappear behind us. I tapped Christine on the shoulder.
"Umm," I began. "Is it me, or did we just MISS New York?"
Christine looked back at me and whispered:
"Yeah, but maybe Paul has another idea of where we need to go first. He doesn't always let people know when plans change."
I glanced up at the glass paneling separating our driver and Paul from us and noticed that Paul…Paul was ASLEEP!
Christine followed my shocked gaze and her eyes widened when she noticed Paul. She scooted toward the glass and asked the driver what was going on.
"Nothing to worry about miss," he said in a heavy Indian accent. "I'm just taking a detour: I'll get you where you need to go!"
Christine glanced back at me and shrugged. Something in my gut though was telling me that this was WRONG. I shook my head furiously at her and Christine asked again:
"I'm sure," she said, a bit more carefully this time. "But, may I ask where you're going?"
The driver smiled.
"Well, THAT'S EASY," he replied. "I'm taking you as far from your goal as possible!"
The driver swerved through traffic and took an exit ramp in Hoboken. Christine pounded on the glass panel to try and wake Paul up, but he was knocked out cold. She looked back at me with wide, frightful eyes. Jacen climbed up into her seat and pounded his fist on the paneling.
The driver laughed.
"That ain't going to do you any good kid," he grinned. "That paneling is reinforced! You can't break through it THAT easily!"
Jacen stopped pounding, and placed his hand on the glass. It began to glow and melt right through the paneling. The driver took his eyes off the road and swerved onto the sidewalk for a moment, scattering passerby's as he did so.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD…!" He bellowed as he watched Jacen's hand melt through his reinforced glass. I sprang to my feet and unleashed Ananke, which barely fit in the car. I took the sickle and placed the blade through the glass, right by the drivers face. Christine looked at me with shocked eyes.
"EDDY!" She screeched. "YOU CAN'T JUST THREATEN A MORTAL WITH…!"
"This guy," I began with a growl, "ISN'T MORTAL. I thought something was wrong when I got in the car, and he confirmed it when he started taking us WAY off course!" I placed Ananke's blade closer to the driver's throat and snarled:
"STOP THE CAB. NOW."
The driver skidded to a halt and I had to really try hard to make sure that I didn't accidentally cut into his neck with the jolt from the cab stopping. I pulled Ananke back, and turned to my friends.
"Jacen!" I shouted. He perked up at once. "Get Paul out of the cab! Hurry!"
Jacen threw open the sliding door and ran to the front passenger seat, where he pulled an unconscious Paul out. I wheeled around to face Christine.
"Christine, you're with me! I don't know much about monsters, but I can DEFINITELY tell you that this guy is one!"
Christine turned pale and nodded. We both hopped out of the car, weapons drawn. Christine had a celestial bronze spear that must've been collapsible, because I didn't notice it earlier. I had Ananke, and Jacen was setting Paul down in a nearby alley on the street, out of harm's way. He came back with his hands on fire.
The driver chuckled sinisterly.
"Ah, half bloods," he shook his head as he got out of the cab. "Titan bloods no less. A rarity yes, but you have not been tested yet. The one who is asleep, yes: but you three…" He narrowed his eyes at us, and I realized they were slits. His body began to morph into a hideous creature. His face stayed the same, but his arms and legs started to change. When he had changed completely, we recoiled at what stood before us.
A beast, with the cab drivers head, the body of a lion and a spiked missile-throwing tail! He had wings on his back, like a bat's and he snarled darkly at the three of us. I gulped and faced Christine, whose face seemed to pale in recognition.
"Christine!" I hollered. "Do you know what this THING is?"
She shivered and nodded.
"It's…it's a Manticore!"
Jacen groaned.
"SERIOUSLY?" He bellowed in outrage. "First, we get a Chimera yesterday, and NOW: WE GET A FREAKIN' MANTICORE. AWESOME!"
The Manticore simply laughed menacingly at us.
"You CANNOT defeat me! Your powers are still TOO weak! I shall crush you beneath my paw and devour your flesh, Titan bloods!"
Did this thing really think we were just going to lie down and take that? NO THANK YOU MR. MANTICORE.
"Yeah,' I said. "That's…NOT going to happen!"
The Manticore raised it's tail and fired a blast of arrow-like barbs from its' tail at us. We ducked behind the cab and listened as we heard the distinct 'thunk, thunk, thunk' of the barbs impaling into the cab's body.
"Crap!" shouted Jacen. "What do we do? With those barbs, it's going to be IMPOSSIBLE to get up close to fight!"
I nodded. That would DEFINITELY be a HUGE problem to solve. I glanced around the corner of the cab's rear and saw the Manticore slowly stalking toward us. Christine was literally shaking in her shoes. I shook her shoulder hard and forced her to meet my gaze.
"I promised that we would watch each other's backs right?" I said solemnly. She nodded, wide-eyed. "Well, I need you to watch Jacen's and my backs as we try to go fight that thing!"
Maybe it was the way I said it, not including her in the action, but I noticed the fire seemed to reignite in Christine's eyes. She gripped my hand that was on her shoulder.
"I can cover you two idiots better, if I fight WITH you!" she snarled. I smiled widely at her.
"Good to have you back," I said. Then I noticed the manticore's head literally no further than five feet from the back of the cab.
"GUYS! MOVE NOW!"
We sprang out from our cover at the rear of the cab and ran onto the sidewalk. Good thing too, because the Manticore seemed to have had enough of waiting for us, and decided to flip the cab over.
Jacen grimaced.
"He is so not getting insurance or payments back on that…"
We ran into the alley where Jacen stashed Paul and carried him behind a dumpster and hid. At this point, we were already out of breath and sweating slightly. We heard the Manticore roar at the end of the alley, and I could hear its footfall as it began to make its way toward us once more. I glanced at my friends.
"We need a plan, NOW." I said frantically. Christine looked at Paul, who was still asleep, and frowned.
"I wish Paul was awake!" she cried. "He'd know EXACTLY what to do in this mess!"
Jacen clicked his tongue impatiently.
"That's great and all," he snarled as he peeked around the dumpster to see the monster's position. "But we DON'T. So, we'll have to make due on our own this time around!"
Christine nodded and looked at me.
"I can't remember the Manticore's weak spot," she began quickly. "But, I do know that it's INVULNERABLE to flame attacks. The only way to fight it is with MELEE combat!"
Jacen looked at her incredulously.
"NO FLAMES!" He cried indignantly. "BUT THAT'S ALL I GOT!"
I gripped Ananke tighter in my hand.
"Well Jace," I said gritting my teeth in preparation for what I was about to do. "Guard Paul then. No sense in sending you out to an early death!"
Jacen glared at me.
"FINE." He sighed. "But, you two be careful. Those barb things look like a REAL doozy!"
Christine rolled her eyes at him and clutched her spear tightly.
"Thanks Captain OBVIOUS." She snapped.
The Manticore was now completely down the alley, sniffing us out.
"Come out Titan bloods!" it called. "I KNOW you are down here! Admit defeat, and I will make your deaths less painful than I'd like to!"
I jumped out from behind the dumpster on the right side, while Christine went left. I charged the Manticore with Ananke raised and swung at the Manticore, who leapt aside with ease.
"Is that ALL you've got?" it said with glee. "This will be easier than I thought…ARRRRGGGGHHH!"
Christine stabbed her spear right in the manticore's hindquarters. IF it WASN'T trying to maul us to death, I might've felt BAD for it. Instead, I used its distraction to my advantage and swung Ananke at its face with all of my might, only to be met by a clawed paw.
There was a clang of steel on steel and with a curse: I leapt back.
"What are this thing's claws made of?" I shouted. Christine ran to my side, with her bloody spear set to attack again.
"Its claws are made out of the same metal as the barbs on its tail!" she explained. "I don't think we'll be able to make a frontal assault like that again: not to mention, he'll be on his guard this time, so we'll have to be careful!"
I tightened my jaw in aggravation. HONESTLY. I just HAD to admit that this quest was easy, and look where it got me! A Manticore attack in some random alley in Hoboken, New Jersey!
"What SHOULD we do then?" I asked in frustration. The Manticore winced from the pain in its backside and grinned.
"Why GIVE UP, of course!" it bellowed.
"NOT an option!" I snarled in reply, raising Ananke again.
The fight was going worse than I expected. The Manticore seemed immune to our celestial bronze and titanic silver spear and blade. Everything we did just served to tire us out, and make the manticore's job of defeating us easier. It didn't help that after every attack we made the Manticore had new and explicit ways of telling us to just surrender and let him eat us.
The beast shot another flurry of spiked barbs at us that impaled the dumpster Jacen and Paul were stashed behind. The thought of those two getting hit made me furious. Apparently, Christine was in the same boat, because, without warning, she charged the beast, spear poised to attack.
"CHRISTINE WAIT!" I bellowed. And once again, it happened. The manticore's paw swung down at Christine's blind side and I ran to intercept. The paw was no less than a foot from Christine's side and I dove for her, intending to take the hit instead. And THAT'S when it happened.
Time froze, and I grabbed Christine, frozen in outrage, and pulled her by the midsection out of harm's way. I grabbed Ananke and swung at the paw, severing it from the manticore's body. Time went back to normal and there was a howl of pain from the Manticore as it realized its paw was now missing. Christine looked up at me with wide eyes from the ground.
"What! I was about to…but now…" she stammered. I panted heavily and looked down, offered her my hand, and pulled her to her feet.
"I…I think," I heaved. "I think one of my powers…is to stop time."
Christine's eyes widened.
"Of course! Your father, Kronos, is the TITAN of Time!"
I nodded.
"To be honest, that must've been the second time I've ever done that…"
Her eyes narrowed in thought and she gasped.
"During Capture the Flag!" she said. I nodded. The Manticore wasn't giving us any more time to continue or chat though. It turned towards us with a murderous look and bellowed:
"YOU." It turned to me. "THE ONE WHO SMELLS OF THE TITAN KING. YOU WILL DIE FIRST!"
It raised its tail and took aim. I felt completely drained. Stopping time like that must've really drained me. There was NO way I'd be able to do THAT again. I raised Ananke best I could and got ready to deflect as many of the barbs as I could.
Suddenly, there was a scream of pain from the Manticore. Christine and I looked up to see one of its own spikes imbedded in its left eye. We faced the direction it came from to see Jacen, arm still outstretched and grinning at us. Paul was on his feet too.
"Great shot Jacen!" Paul cried. Jacen gave him thumbs up and they sprinted toward us. Christine ran over and embraced Paul tightly. I felt my heart drop.
"Thank the Gods you're okay!" she cried, sobbing into his chest. Paul patted her back consolingly.
"I'm FINE, Christine," he said. "I was just put under a minor enchantment by the Manticore. Eddy!"
I looked over at him.
"The Manticore's only weak spot is its EYES!" Paul yelled. I nodded. The Manticore was trashing around in pain, trying to paw the barb from its eye, to no avail. Every time it touched it, it seemed to renew its pain ten-fold. I glanced at Jacen who was looking at me, waiting for my cue.
"Jace," I said. "Give me a boost!"
Jacen nodded and crouched. He cupped his hands together and nodded, letting me know that he was ready. I was counting on Jacen's enhanced strength for my idiotic idea to work. I ran, leapt on his cupped hands, and with a mighty roar from Jacen, I was launched ten feet into the air. I brought Ananke up and when I was level with the Manticore's only good eye left, I swung diagonally down. With a mighty roar, Ananke cut right through the Manticore's eye, blinding it completely. It reared back, and I rolled underneath its body. I swung Ananke again, and swiped its belly. Ananke hummed with power, and with a fierce shout, I sliced right through!
The Manticore vanished in an explosion of golden dust. I lay on the ground, completely drained. Ananke: still humming slightly in my hand, almost as if it were pleased by my performance in the fight. Jacen ran over and helped me to my feet, but I staggered slightly, and my knees buckled. Jacen caught me and slung one of my arms over his shoulders. Christine ran over to patch me up with some ambrosia squares, which I wolfed down. Afterwards, I felt well enough to stand on my own. I tapped Ananke's blade and it shrunk back into necklace form again. I could still feel it humming with what I believed was satisfaction, that it was used in such a great fight.
I hoped that it wasn't going to be an EVERY FIGHT kind of thing though. The thought of having a blade that delighted in me ALMOST DYING to get riled up made me nauseous.
"Great job Eddy!" Paul said as he walked over to us. He looked at the still disintegrating powder left over from the Manticore and narrowed his eyes.
"I don't like this," he began darkly. We all looked at him as he turned back to face us. "Chiron WOULDN'T set us up with a monster for a driver, yet: here one was."
Christine's eyes widened.
"What do you mean Paul, surely Chiron…?" she stammered. Jacen shook his head at her and looked at Paul and nodded.
"NOT Chiron, Christine," Jacen said solemnly. "Paul suspects FOUL PLAY. And to tell you the truth, I do too. Remember what Apollo said?"
I shuffled through my memories from last night and suddenly remembered.
"He said that some of the Olympians would side with Zeus and make things harder for us." I said. There was a distinct rumble in the sky above, like thunder, but I ignored it. I wasn't about to show RESPECT to a guy who tried to KILL my friends and I, TWICE.
Paul nodded.
"We need to be more alert next time…" he said, with a hint of self-loathing. Christine put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.
"Paul," she said consolingly. "It's not your fault. We we're BLIND-SIDED. There was no way that you could've…"
Paul growled. Not so much at Christine, but more at himself.
"My father is the Titan of FORESIGHT!" he argued. "I should've known something was wrong when I looked at the driver! That was just careless of me! And look at us now! We almost got KILLED!"
Paul took a few deep breaths to steady his breathing. I'd never seen the kid so riled up before. I always pictured him as the calm, collected type, but I suppose a monster attack can do that to people.
"Look," I said, trying to ease the tension. "We're alive, and that's what MATTERS. We'll have to be more alert next time, but let's just be thankful that there IS a next time, all right?"
Everyone nodded and Paul seemed to calm down considerably.
"Right," he said. "Sorry guys. I…I just HATE feeling HELPLESS."
Jacen grinned.
"We all do man," he said. "NO FLAME POWERS! I didn't know how I'd even help out! Good thing you woke up and told me to hit that thing's eyes with one of its barbs! That was an EPIC idea!"
Paul smiled gratefully. Christine looked up at the sky and asked:
"So, WHERE do we go from here?" she said. "What did we even come to the city for anyways?"
We all looked at Paul who sighed and replied:
"Actually, I was HOPING to find someone…"
I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Who were you hoping to find?" I asked.
Paul studied my face for a moment, like he was wondering whether or not to answer, and then said:
"Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods."