A/N: Hey, y'all. I've been gone from the story way too long and for that I apologize. I have reasons, but not that you necessarily need to know. All you care about is the story, so, without further ado, I bring you Flight of the Tides.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Maximum Ride. They belong respectively to Mr. Rick Riordan and Mr. James Patterson. I also do not own the following quote.

"An expert knows all the answers - if you ask the right questions." Levi Strauss

PPOV

After we'd said our goodbyes, I realized I had no idea what to do next. We'd made it to the West Coast. Artemis and Annabeth were here somewhere, I hoped. But I had no idea how to find them. Tomorrow's the winter solstice, our deadline. I've got no idea what monster Artemis was hunting. It was supposed to find us on this quest. It was supposed to "show the trail" but it never had. Now, we were stuck on a dock with very little money, no friends, a long-lost sister, and no luck whatsoever. After a brief discussion, we agreed that we needed to figure out just what this mystery monster was. "But how?" I asked.

"Nereus," Grover said.

Max looked at him. "What?"

"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do?" Grover asked me. "Find Nereus?"

I nodded. I had completely forgotten my conversation with the sun god. "The old man of the sea," I remembered. "I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. But how do I find him?"

Zoe made a face. "Old Nereus, huh?"

"You know him?" Thalia asked.

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

"Did you say smell?" Max asked.

"I definitely heard smell," Thalia responded.

"What do you mean?" I directed my question towards Zoe.

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

I knew I was in trouble when we stopped at the Goodwill drop box. Max shrugged and went in with Zoe. She came out with a clean pair of jeans that weren't too old and a new sweatshirt. She did need one. Hers was covered in dark blotches of blood and ripped to shreds. Zoe had me outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat. Max took one look at me then started laughing hysterically. I growled, frustrated. I was beginning to understand why people were always complaining about their siblings.

"Oh yeah," she said between laughs, "Totally inconspicuous."

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

Max snorted as she tried to regain her composure. "Yup. Typical."

Stop, I mouthed to her. "Why am I doing this again?" I asked Zoe.

"I told thee. To blend in."

Personally, I didn't think Zoe knew the definition of "blending in" but I wasn't about to contradict her. She led the way back to the waterfront. After a long time searching the docks, Zoe finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down the 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," Zoe said. "He never travels far away from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."

"I bet that's what causes the smell," Max whispered to Thalia not-so-quietly. I nudged her in the side, receiving a glare in return. "Ouch!"

"How do I know which one is him?" I asked, ignoring her, which was hard because the look she was giving me now made me glad the expression "if looks could kill" was just that- an expression. I didn't feel like dying any time soon. I've got a friend to save first.

"Sneak up. Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell... different." I didn't particularly like the idea of relying on my weak sense of smell- I was no monster, after all- to find this guy but Zoe wasn't offering any other suggestions, Grover was scared of her, I didn't think Thalia knew any more of this than I did, and even if Max had any advice, she was too busy shooting daggers that she couldn't have told me anyway.

"Great," I said, not really happy that my only lead was an awful smell. "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," Thalia said. She picked something off the back of my shirt- a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. "Eww. On second thought, I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."

Grover gave me a thumbs up and Max patted me on the shoulder. I grumbled about how nice it was to have such super-powerful friends. In response, I received a joking but firm punch on the arm from my newly-found sister. I walked towards the dock. I passed a couple of guys with grocery bags that grumbled at me to get away from their food. They smelled bad- like a sewer- but not distinctly so. Something told me that neither of them was Nereus. I continued like that for a while until I came to the pier where I saw a fat old man with a gray beard. He could have passed for Santa Clause if he didn't smell awful When I got close enough to smell him, that is. His smell was bad but it was sea bad like rotten seaweed or the stench of a dead fish, not like warm cookies, Christmas trees and hot chocolate. I knew instantly that this was Nereus. I sat down casually next to him, warming myself in the fire. Santa opened his eyes to look at me for a second then closed them again, uninterested. I guess I was just another teenage runaway to him.

It was then, with his eyes closed, that I made my move. I tackled the old man off his chair and then we rolled in the sand. "Get off, kid!"his gruff voice shouted. "What do you want with me?"

"I'm a demigod! I just want answers!"

"Stupid demigods, why can't you leave me alone?"

"Because you know everything!"

Outraged onlookers shouted at me.

"Hey, kid!"s and "Get off him!"s and a few creative gang-member swear words were shouted as I fought the old man.

We were heading towards the waterfront and a plan formed in my head. "Oh, no! Not the water!" Nereus smirked evilly and plunged into the depths. In the ocean, I was stronger but he hadn't maxed out his trick bag either. As we touched the water, he morphed into a slippery wet seal. I've heard jokes about how hard it is to hold on to a greased pig but trust me holding on to a wet seal in the water is harder. If I hadn't been a son of Poseidon, I would never have been able to keep up with him. As it was, I was able to overpower him and he morphed back into an old man as I pinned him down. The others ran over to me.

"You caught him!" The surprised tone in Zoe's voice hurt, but I shrugged it off.

"Fine, demigod. You've managed to catch me. What now?" Nereus snarled. "What is your question. This is where I was torn. A large part of me wanted to ask about Annabeth, and I knew Zoe wanted me to ask about Artemis but Chiron had told me the monster was more important. Reluctantly, I made a decision.

"Where can I find the monster?"

Nereus grinned. "But that's an easy one. He's right there." He pointed to the water at my feet.

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded. "But-"

"The deal is complete!" And he snapped his fingers then poofed away.

"What did he mean?" Thalia asked.

"MOOOOOOOOO!" I heard. I looked down to see my friend the cow serpent, that, last time I saw her, brought me to Max.

"Ah, Bessie," I sighed as Max snickered, "Not now."

"Mooo!"

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

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

Grover nodded. "It's a satyr thing. We can understand most animals and read their emotions and everything. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."

Max turned to me and smirked. "See, Percy? That is name for a cow serpent. Not Bessie which is way too normal."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, Max."

"It means serpent bull in Greek," Thalia said, which made sense, I suppose. "But what's it doing here?"

"Mooooo!"

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

I was wondering how you got all that out of a single mooooo.

"I am a fool!" Zoe spat. Max looked like she was about to comment but I sent her a look that said very clearly shut up. "I know this story."

"What story?"

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

"What?" I asked, looking down. "But- he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world."

"That's where we were wrong. We were looking for a huge dangerous monster but there is also power in innocence."

"Evil power? In a cute little cow?" I asked.

"Sacrifice," Max stated plainly, her voice flat. Zoe nodded but Bessie mmmm-ed lowly.

"Uh, I don't think he likes the S-word," Grover said.

"Can't imagine many people do," Max said. "except sadistic psychopaths."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you ever take a situation seriously?"

She smirked. "What can I say? Sarcasm is my defense reflex, inside I'm really a sweet girl waiting to be discovered by Prince Charming and his magical kiss." Thalia grinned. Gods, they're like twins. Why did I ever introduce them?

"Unfortunately, you are correct. Eons ago, there was a prophecy made about this creature. It said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to the fire would have the power to destroy the gods."

"MMMMMM!'

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

Thalia's expression bothered me. She almost looked... hungry.

"We have to protect him," I told her. "If Luke gets hold of him-"

"Luke won't hesitate. The power to overthrow Olympus. That's... that's huge."

"Yes, it is, my dear," said a man's voice in a heavy French accent. "And it is a power you shall unleash."

The Ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged.

I looked up. We'd been so busy talking, we'd allowed ourselves to be ambushed.

"Ugh, who is this creep?" Max asked.

Standing behind us, his two-colored eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr. Thorn, the manticore himself.

Okay, so that's the end of this chapter. Sorry again but I really haven't had any time. On the other hand, last Tuesday I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Riordan himself at a book signing. I had so much fun. It was really cool to meet him. He was so nice! And I really enjoyed the guy dressed up as Nico. It totally made my life worth living. Anyone read Son of Neptune yet? I finished it Tuesday night. Please feel free to review with your thoughts. I enjoyed it a lot but the last page... -growls-. I really have to wait for a-whole-nother year? Please kill me. On the other hand, it's only until May that I have to wait for the third in the Kane Chronicles trilogy (oh, my god, why is my childhood all ending within the span of two years? I'm only fifteen, it's not good for Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, Artemis Fowl, and Maximum Ride to be ending all at the same time! Ugh.) Anyway, sorry again for the long wait, I'll try to make it shorter next time. Review please!

AJ