Ok, I have totally forgot to do these. DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Percy Jackson Series or the Elder Scrolls Series.

Chapter 21: Chicago

It had been a full day since they pulled out of The Warehouse. The group had needed to take an unnecessarily long route that was of detours so that they could avoid military checkpoints that had been set up on all major roads in response to the ambush of the military the day prior. They had pulled over into dark hiding place a multitude of times to avoid any potential run-ins with military and police patrols. Yet another unfortunate repercussion of the convoy ambush. All of the delays kept piling up until they finally reached Chicago 24 hours later.

Ale hadn't let either of the other two drive the car that Har'Das'Mors had given them. To most it seemed to be a very nice car. But to a son of Hephaestus it was an engineering masterpiece. For the first hour of the drive Ale had rambled on about how he could "feel the engine". Though, half of the rant was in spanish and therefore completely lost on Rorik and Erin who were simply content to sit and sleep in the back seat.

Throughout the drive Rorik had hardly stopped thinking about what Har'Das'Mors had said before they left. Only ever getting distracted from his thoughts by Erin saying something or by re-reading the paper that Har'Das'Mors had given him.

On the front of the slip of tan parchment was written the line "Sweet mother, sweet mother send your child upon me. For the sins of the unworthy must be baptized in blood and fear.". On the back it said "Rorik, you've never known me before now but I've known you since the beginning. You owe me nothing, but I owe you everything. If you ever need help read the front of this parchment aloud and help will come. Tell Winter I say hello."

-Har'Das'Mors

In all honesty, when it came to the cat man Rorik wasn't sure whether or not to be terrified, grateful, impressed or all three. But for him to know Winter...

Ale slammed on the brakes at the car in front of them stopped spontaneously, effectively bringing Rorik rather abruptly out of his world of thought. At the moment, their car was stuck in infamous stop-and-go rush hour traffic in downtown Chicago.

Ale had said that they should pass through Chicago. He had received an Iris message from a demigod he knew while he was in the parking garage in Cincinnati saying that Chiron had contacted him and told him to have Alejandro bring the three of them to Chicago. Apparently he had a way to get them to Wyoming quickly.

"Hey Ale. Who is this guy ?" Rorik asked from the back seat, now mentally back in the real world.

"Yeah. We're going pretty far out of the way to see him so whatever he has better be good." Added Erin.

"He went to camp for a couple of years before he moved out to Chicago to open a sort of 'secret safe haven' for demigods. Plus he's another son of Hephaestus so we were tight." Replied the Spaniard.

"Wait, you mean Richard ?" inquired Erin.

"Yeah. You remember him ?"

"Of course. He was funny, and gods, he was cute."

Ale laughed a little at this. "Sounds like you have some competition Rorik."

Rorik's face turned a shade redder before he kicked the back of Ale's seat. "Oh shut up." This just made Ale laugh more as the light turned green. Ale brought the car to a stop alongside the John Hancock building. Rorik heard a thunderous sound in the distance. 'Hmm, guess it's gonna rain. Doesn't look like it though' he thought.

"His apartment is in here so get out and I'll have someone park the car" Said the son of Hephaestus. All three of them stepped out into the cold Chicago air. It was around noon so the sun still shined bright in the sky, courtesy of Erin's father of course. Despite the warm sunshine it was still plenty cold so they all hurried inside after having paid the valet.

They all towards the elevator to the upper floors of the iconic skyscraper. They waited until there was no one else was in line for the elevator before stepping in. Ale pressed the button for floor 58 as the doors closed.

The elevator doors again opened up to a hallway with a few doors on either side of the hallway and one door at the end. After a short knock on the door at the end of the hall a head full of shaggy brown curls popped out. He had a tanned face that reflected the time he had spent in front of the flame of a forge and looked around 20.

"Ah great. Quickly inside, inside." Said the boy, who Rorik assumed to be Richard. He fully opened the door and shooed them in. Once inside the luxurious apartment, no doubt funded by the camp's infinite bank account, Richard started darting around from place to place as if he were looking for something. Moving from the full kitchen to the sofa and TV to the loft that was up a set of stairs.

Rorik leaned over to Ale, "Is this guy okay ?" he whispered.

"Yeah. He's just … hyper. It's normal for kids of Hephaestus. Makes us more productive in the forge. Here, one sec" responded the Spaniard. "Richard !"

The demigod stopped and looked up from what he was strangely searching, which at the moment was in between the couch cushions. "Yeah ?" He asked as if nothing was strange.

"Why did you call us here ? You never really explained when you messaged me."

"Ah yes, that would have been important to tell you. I knew I was missing something. Well, I promise you it will be worth it." He entwined and his fingers and brought his hand to his mouth as if he had something of the utmost importance to say." And on a completely relevant note, have any of you seen a parrot wandering around the apartment ?"

The three questers stood there at a loss for words before Ale began to laugh.

"You're joking right ?" he said.

"No, I'm serious." replied Richard. At that moment a brightly colored parrot flew into the living room where they were standing.

"Holy shit. He wasn't joking" said Erin in disbelief.

"Frankie !" Shouted Richard. "There you are. Now let us get to the roof. C'mon lads !" The 20 year old started leading the parrot out the door and towards the elevator.

"Ok, are you absolutely this guy is stable ?" Rorik asked again.

"Yeah. Well, sorta. Okay, it's about 50/50" Replied Ale

After an incredibly awkward elevator ride with an old lady and a of set stairs while Richard hummed happily they reached the roof. Once the parrot was sitting in a large cage on the roof Richard began tinkering with a large metal machine that had an elongated cylinder on the front.

"Seriously, Richard. What are we doing ?" Asked Erin. "You need to tell us."

"Yeah, yeah. Just one sec. I want to surprise you guys." He walked over to Rorik and plucked the book of shouts out of his back pocket.

"Hey, give that back !" yelled Rorik.

"I know. Just a moment" Richard flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. "Here, shout this." He pointed to a phrase that said Od Ah Viing.

"Ok…." Rorik was skeptical about using a shout that's effect he didn't know. For all he knew Richard could just want to see it for entertainment. "OD AH VIING !" The shout resonated through the air. Rorik heard that thundering sound off in the distance again. Then again. Then again. It progressively started sounding closer and sounded clearer. What originally sounded like a clap of thunder began to sound like a powerful roar.

A shape broke through the clouds. At first it looked like a giant bird. Then large, armor like scales became visible. The thing landed on the roof with a mighty roar !

"Holy shit, man ! Is that seriously a-" started Ale

"Dragon !" Finished Richard.

Hey, guys. I can not say how sorry I am for being so late. I promise the next chapter will be posted on this Saturday. I was just so damn busy. I had so many test and school was kicking back into gear after break and then the weather was good so I went paintballing (Never paintball when it's really muddy BTW ) and then I got REALLY sick. So yeah. Sorry. But on the brighter note, WE HAVE MOTHER FU**ING DRAGON ON OUR HANDS ! And you can probably guess what's gonna happen. And what was up with that note from the Dark Brotherhood ? Wait until Sunday and find out ! BYE ! So so so so so so so so sorry for being so so so so so so so late ! Arkos T.F.I.W. out.