Well….I took quite a long break in brewing up this one. A special sorry to Anomaly90 (real cool gal, make sure to check her out at u/7323485/Anomaly90) for making the last chapter super boring and everyone else that felt that way. So I got you guys a extra long one. :)
Also, a refresher: I do not own PJO! And all sort of things like that.
Who ever said that magic and science don't mix?
The man noiselessly ran down the corridor, back pressed against the wall and keeping in the shadows. The dimly lighted hallway was a maze of doors, turns and traps, but the man knew it well. Pausing at a T-intersection, he waited in the darkness as two armored security guards passed by, before taking a left and running the other way.
Idiots. Mercs, seriously? Have they really fallen to those lows?
A camera looked up and down the hallway, but the man was too quick for it. While it was looking the other way the man jacked its camera chip, rendering it useless. He was obviously a professional; the path he had taken were littered unarmed traps, unconscious security guards, and destroyed cameras.
And the alarm cliche is yet to surface, yes? (I mean, seriously. Bad guy/good guy infiltrates campus. Alarm sounds. Boom.)
Heard a door open behind him and immediately hid behind a potted plant that was conveniently lying around. There was a weird slurping sound, and the man risked a glance. What he saw was a weird, deformed looking Hydra creature, being led on chains by a scientist.
What the heck? What type of monster is that?
Upon closer inspection it wasn't a hydra-first, it was a weird green color, and second, it had many barbed tails flinging around, as if fifteen heads weren't enough. Each tail seemed to have a life of its own, flipping around and poking random things like doors and tile. Second, it didn't seem very hostile. In fact it had a collar on obediently followed the scientist as he walked.
The man stared at it as it passed by. This is bad, he thought. Was this the future enemy? And why was Omega Industries experimenting on hydras? Everyone knew it was against the universal laws of the Gods to do such a thing.
So why weren't the gods acting?
The man was so enveloped in his thoughts that he temporarily forgot where he was. Before he could react he felt one of the hydra tails ram against him, and he was sent flying down the corridor with a sickening smack.
The man felt his chest and felt warm and sticky liquid running out of several deep gashes. Dangmit!
The monster emitted a deep growl and advanced towards the man. The scientist was nowhere to be seen, though the man noticed that the hydra's collar was gone. Maybe that was why it attacked? Or the scientist had purposely ordered it to?
The man stood back up. Reaching into his pocket he produced a golden marker pen. Uncapping it, the man's pen was replaced with an arm-lengthed sword that glew of silver. The man lowered himself into a fighting stance as the monster pawed the floor, preparing for attack.
The monster charged the man, all fifteen heads snapping and growling. The man gracefully rolled away; however, due to the close confinement of the hallway, one of the tails whipped around and cracked down hard on his leg.
There was the sound of splintering bones as the man felt a chilling burning sensation spread up his leg. The man gritted his teeth and forced himself not to cry out.
The hydra advanced, looking hungry and evil-but all of a sudden, it froze. The collar was somehow on it again. It was obscured from the man's view as armed guards rushed over to him to tie him up.
As the first guard bent over, the man headbutted the guard in the nose, causing blood to spurt from it. Two more guards came, but the man spun on the floor and swept both pairs of feet from out under them.
More guards rushed down the corridor. One of them whipped out a taser from his pocket and gave the man a shot. The man went down on one knee, but didn't fall. It took two more tasers to bring him down. The lead guard nudged him with his foot. The man looked up at the sneering merc. "Aye, you think you're so awesome, don't you. Took down plenty of my men-I'll make you pay. Any last words?"
The man smiled cooly.
"One last thing," said the man.
"Yes?" The captain said, looking annoyed.
"You Omegas will never win." The man smiled calmly. "And you can write that on my grave."
There was a slight beeping that echoed down the empty corridors. Gradually, it got louder as all of the guards looked around in worry. "What the-"
A furious explosion enveloped all.
Annabeth's PoV
Seeing Percy had revived my spirits. Was it Percy? I had asked myself the whole plane ride. I couldn't take my mind off my former boyfriend and the possibility of him being alive. The whole thing felt surreal, unnatural. But I was a demigod, and that was what I dealt with.
A demigod with a job. I had caused this. I needed to find him.
We were currently at Ciampino Airport, the secondary airport of Italy, Rome. Rachel had pointed out that there first place we should check out Villa of the Quintilii, an ancient estate said to be haunted by the ghosts of the Quintili brothers.
Rachel claimed that the villa's owners would probably have answers to where Percy was. I personally was mystified why Rachel would think the Quintili brothers had any information on Percy, or the other gods.
But Rachel insisted on going there, and given the fact she was the Oracle and all, I decided to follow her.
The taxi Rachel called up pulled into the pickup area-a hour late. ItalyCab-all Italian drivers! said the sign on the side of the bright yellow car. The driver rolled down the window, leaning his head out. "Ms. Dare?"
Rachel put on her million-dollar smile and said, "that's me!" The driver got out and shook her hand, then looked at me in disgust and opened the back door. "Sorry about the late arrival," he said, in a thin, almost practiced accent. I slid into the backseat with Rachel as the driver started the car.
Pulling out the crowded airport proved to be a pain. The driver obviously did not know his way around Rome, for after forty-five minutes we ended up back at the passenger pick-up area. The driver seemed utterly embarrassed, so I kindly did not say anything.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, I don't know the airport that well," he said, in the same monotone voice.
"No, it's fine," said Rachel casually, obviously oblivious to his tone.
Finally he pulled out of the airport, into the busy expressway. Apparently the driver timed it just right for us to catch rush hour. Traffic slowed to a crawl as agitated drivers honked their horns at each other.
There was a collective groan inside the taxi.
Time blended together as we traveled at an average of 10 mph. The only vaguely exciting moment on our long car ride was when a risky driver took a sharp two-lane merge and narrowly missed out car.
Our driver punched the horn, muttering "stupid Italians." Something nagged me about that, but it didn't really come to mind.
My mind wandered back to Percy again. How was he at the bridge? Was that a ghost of Percy-was he already dead? Questions swirled around in my head as I replayed my meeting with Percy over and over again, desperate to find an answer or any clue Percy left me with.
Unless, of course, he didn't want to be found. It would make sense-a final, bitter goodbye.
I pushed that thought from her mind. Percy loved me. I was sure of that, as sure as the fact I loved him.
Traffic finally began to pick up as they passed a sign reading Villa dei Quintili: destra a sinistra in tre miglia. Well, at least we'll be off the highway in three miles.
Finally, just as traffic began to start up, the exit appeared. (By now we were able to travel at at least 60 mph.) What worried me was that the driver didn't seem to have any intention of slowing down as we neared the exit. "Sir, I think-"
We sped past the exit faster than I could finish my sentence. "You were supposed to exit there!" Rachel told him. The driver, however, did not seem to notice; instead, he stared straight ahead and with one hand closed the driver window.
My mind finally made the connection; how the driver was late-how his accent sounded fake-how he didn't know his way around the airport-muttering "stupid Italians" when it was an "All Italian taxi company." This person wasn't a real driver!
"Sir, where are you taking us?" I asked, reaching into into my backpack where my dagger was. While it was possible this man was just some random kidnapper, it seemed highly unlikely due to the fact he was actually not Italian.
Rachel looked at me, her eyes wide. Monster? she mouthed. I shook my head, unsure. The first thing I did was take in my surroundings-a mistake on my part for not doing so earlier. The windows seemed to be weaved or made of Celestial Bronze, making it impossible to break with the materials Rachel and I had. It also meant that the driver was either a demigod or a monster.
Rachel tried her door in desperation- it was locked by the driver, as expected.
"What are we going to do? Why would he kidnap us?" Rachel asked, panic gripping her voice.
Looking over at the driver again, I realized I hadn't examined the driver window-the one separating us and Mr. Evil. Upon closer inspection I realized that this window was not made of Celestial Bronze-instead, it was plastic. Haha, I thought. Rachel saw what I was doing and shielded her face.
Whipping out my blade, I plunged it deep into the plastic and literally ripped the window from its hinges. The driver turned back in shock-and in that moment he seemed to transform.
His head began sprouting coily necks-almost like a hydra. His arms turned scaly and bulky. Before I could even think about the consequence of my action, I stabbed him right in the chest.
With an inhuman shriek, the monster collapsed-but it didn't explode into dust. Instead, it morphed back into a humanoid figure and slumped over the-
-now driver-less steering wheel.
The car swiveled across two lanes, horns honking as the car bounced off the bender like a tennis ball off an racket. The car spun, out of control, as something else hit us with a sickening crunch. I was thrown forward and hit my head on the hard railing. Rachel's scream was somewhere in the distance as my vision turned upside down-no, it was the car rolling over.
The last thing I remembered was seeing Percy smiling down at me and holding out a hand to help me up.