Hello again, everyone!

Here's the next chapter, which is also from Iskander's POV, and follows up on the big reveal at the end of the last chapter. This chapter also has a few big reveals, including the return of a well-loved character! Maybe two!

Enjoy!

So It Looks Like We're Going on Quests Now

Iskander POV

August 31, 2010. Denver, CO

"I gotta admit, you mortals sure know how to cook food," Tavros said, taking a big bite of his third burger. "Though I prefer satyr or mortal meat over beef."

I sensed Eli flinch next to me, and I quickly glanced over at my friend. He was sitting as still as a statue, his eyes focused squarely on the other cyclops, who sat on the other side of the booth. The diner we were in was not very crowded, but we still wanted to avoid a scene if we could. But with my brother here, I was not sure if I could keep myself from stabbing him.

I had not seen Tavros in nearly a decade, but it was clear that he was doing well for himself. He had put on some weight, and his hair and beard were kept neater than mine. His clothes also looked new, and had no patches or sewn bits dotting it; he still wore the symbol of the Eye on the back, which was a single, red eye. We both looked similar physically, having the same hair and eye color, but he was older than me by seven years, and it was a fact he rarely let me forget growing up.

"So," my brother said, finishing his burger and looking at me. "When'd you pick the brat up?"

"His name is Eli," I replied, frowning at him. "And he's my best friend."

"I figured, seeing that you aren't tearing into him like a bag of chips," he replied, looking at my friend with a smirk on his face. "Don't worry; I'm not gonna eat you. You're pitifully small, and I'm sure my little brother here would swiftly send me to Tartarus if I laid a finger on you."

"What do ya want," I asked, noticing Eli's fists clench a little under the table, his pen in one hand in case the other monster attacked. My fists were clenched as well. "How did ya find me?"

"It wasn't easy," Tavros admitted, now picking at his fries. "Iris messages were out of the question, since you would just dodge them, and you left so… so suddenly back then, I had to eventually give up after a few years because I wasn't getting anywhere." He bit one of the fries, smiling at me. "But then I was in Wichita to meet up with some friends at a convention, and who did I smell but my estranged little brother."

"So that's how," I asked. "How come I didn't smell ya?" I sniffed the air a little. "Ya still smell the same, hair gel and all."

"I always had the better nose between the two of us," he replied. "All those monsters in town for the convention; they masked my scent, but they could not mask yours. I followed you two to the bus station, and saw that you were going to Denver. I waited a day or two, and then followed."

"What do you want?" Eli finally spoke up after being unnaturally quiet for the past half hour. His voice shook a little, but he managed to put on a brave face as he looked up at my older brother.

"He's a bold one, isn't he," Tavros laughed, turning to him. "I take it my brother's been training you? You have that look in your eye… You want to kill me. Not unlike a half-blood's look."

"Yes," the boy replied. "And I've killed monsters before."

"And recently, too," the other cyclops said, closing his eye and inhaling deeply. "Laistrygonian. Two of them. But the third…" He turned back to me, his eye opening. "You killed him."

"I was always the better fighter," I reminded him.

Tavros nodded. "That's true. If I had a drachma for every monster you've beaten to a pulp, I'd be richer than Midas!"

"Can we stop beatin' around the bush and get to why you're here," I asked. "I know you're not here just to catch up."

My big brother sighed dramatically, once again eating his fries one by one.

"First off, I won't turn you in," he said. "The others still want to kill you, and they probably will if they find you. Or at least torture you for a few years before killing you. And your friend here…" He glanced over at Eli. "Let's just say that if they find out you've got a pet, they're gonna do whatever they want to him if it means it'll hurt you."

Eli shook in the seat next to me, hugging his arms to his chest. I patted his shoulder a couple times, hoping to calm him down.

"Second, I need your help."

"And there it is," I said, my frown deepening. "Classic Tavros, needin' another bailout, as usual. How have ya stayed alive these past nine years?"

"I was killed," he admitted. "A couple years after you left. But when the Doors of Death were chained, I was one of the lucky to be freed."

"The Doors of Death," Eli asked, clearly confused.

"No need to concern yourself with those," the cyclops told him. "Some heroes went into Tartarus and helped return it to Thanatos, so it's back to waiting until you naturally reform for us monsters again."

My eye widened with surprise. Two demigods had gone into Tartarus and survived? It did not seem possible, but then again, Kronos and Gaea showing up within a few years of each other should not have been possible, either.

"Anyway, all of my past debts were forgiven after I reformed, except for one," Tavros continued. "I allowed a certain artifact to fall into someone else's hands, and if I don't get it back… Let's just say I'll end up like Polyphemus."

My eye twitched a little, but I did not let my frown waver. Polyphemus had his eye gouged out by some heroes, and being blinded was a sign of shame for cyclops.

"Ya probably deserve it," I said. "Always playin' the game your way, doing whatever ya could to get yourself ahead. And now it's catching up with ya."

"At least I could handle the game," my big brother reminded me, a small frown appearing on his face. "You ran away when you didn't want to play any more. But the Eye is still upset that you quit, believe me. If you don't help me, all it takes is one phone call…"

I lunged across the table, scattering our plates of food as I grabbed Tavros by his coat collar and slammed his head down on the table, nearly cracking it. Eli screamed, leaning back in his seat and drawing his sword as I drew my dagger, the point touching my brother's neck. A few patrons looked our way, but the Mist was probably doing its job, since they turned back to their meals moments later.

"Good for you, Iskander," the cyclops said, a trickle of blood coming out of his nose as he grinned at me. "You've still got killer reflexes; you'll need those to get the artifact back."

"Give me one good reason I should help ya," I growled, glaring at him. "I could kill ya right now, and ya can't tell them about us until ya reform, and by then we'll be long gone!"

"Who said I haven't told them already?"

I froze, looking at my brother's face to see if he was lying, but it was unreadable. He slowly sat up, and I pulled the knife back, the two of us sitting back down.

"They know you're here in Denver; I called them right before I walked into that candy factory," he continued. "By now, they'll be here in…" He checked his watch. "Two hours, tops; you know the hellhounds can't shadow travel long distances without rest."

"You're lyin'," I said, fear gripping my heart like a vice.

"But do you want to risk it," Tavros asked. "Not with your friend to think of. Even if they do decide to forgive you, they won't show any kindness to him."

I glared at my brother, who simply smirked at me, blood still trickling from his nostrils. There were several reasons I had left the Eye, and he was one of them. He was selfish, always getting into trouble, and he had an annoying habit of sending me into dangerous situations, some of which I did not survive.

I looked over at Eli, who somehow looked scared and determined at the same time. He looked up at me, and we both knew what we had to do.

"Fine," I said bitterly. "We get this artifact for ya, and you'll tell them ya made a mistake?"

"Or I'll send them on a wild goose chase to Mexico," Tavros replied, shrugging nonchalantly. "Meet me at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis in a week's time to hand off the artifact, and we part ways once again. But this time, on more amicable terms."

"'Amicable terms,'" I repeated, shaking my head a little. "Where are we goin'?"

"North Dakota. I would go with you, but you know how much I hate the cold." He chuckled a little. "Plus, I'm sure that my former friend would not be happy if he knew I was there. The artifact is a shield with Roman and Egyptian images on it; I have a picture of it so you'll know what it looks like."

"Who is this former friend of yours," I asked.

My big brother hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Asterion."

"WHAT?!"

My shout was so loud that several mortals looked over at our booth once again, probably wondering what was going on. Eli had also flinched at my yell, nearly dropping his pen but managing to catch it.

"Are ya insane," I asked, lowering my voice and glaring at Tavros. "How in Tartarus did ya get tangled up with him?!"

"We met back when Kronos was first coming back into power," Tavros explained. "He got killed, then came back to fight in the Battle of Manhattan, then got killed again. When he came back through the Doors of Death, we both ended up at the same poker table in a casino one night. And... I may have had too much to drink and I ran out of money to bet with, so…" He shook his head. "Look, just get the shield back so none of us get in trouble, and everyone wins."

"Not of he kills us," I protested. "He's one of the toughest monsters alive! And if you think I'm gonna let Eli go near him-"

"He could stay with me," my brother said, grinning at Eli. "I'll do my best not to give in to temptation and eat you, but as you can see-" He pat his large stomach. "I have a pretty weak will when it comes to food!"

"Iskander," Eli said nervously.

"Don't worry," I assured my human friend. "The day I leave you alone with him is the day that Tartarus freezes over!"

"Aw, don't be like that, little brother," the other cyclops said, laughing a little. "You'll both be fine; just get in, grab the shield, and get out. I even have specs on the whole place, so you can come up with a plan ahead of time. Besides, you said yourself that you're the better fighter of the two of us."

"What would stop us from knockin' ya out and goin' somewhere else," I asked. "Or goin' to North Dakota and then goin' somewhere else? Your noise ain't that good!"

My brother raised his eyebrow. "Because I know you, Iskander. You're not gonna let me get blinded and tortured by the others because deep down, you care too much about others. I mean, you're willing to kill me to protect a mortal kid, but you won't save me from certain torture?" He quickly ran a hand through his hair. "C'mon! This is the last time I ask you for a favor, I promise!"

Where have I heard that before, I thought, sighing to myself. We were still brothers, whether I liked it or not, and I was not about to let him get into trouble. Besides, the only other option was to be caught by the Eye gang members; we had more of a chance of living if we went to North Dakota.

"You owe me," I told him. "Big time."

Tavros grinned at me, flecks of fries and beef between his teeth.

"I knew you'd come around," he said. "You always do."

Yes, yes I do, I thought, hoping that I was not making a big mistake.

[][][]

An hour later, we were on a plane heading to Bismarck, and I was doing my best not to lose my lunch.

Since Tavros was still a part of the gang, he had plenty of drachmas on him, which he took to a nearby ATM and had converted into mortal money. He gave us enough to cover our flights to North Dakota and Missouri, plus some extra for food and clothes ["No offence, but the two of you look like schist," he had told us]. It was clear to me that he was showing off, but I kept my mouth shut and took the money, the two of us parting ways once again.

I will admit, though, it was nice to get some new clothes; Eli's jacket was torn, so we bought him one from the airport gift shop. I got myself a clean t-shirt with the Colorado state flag on the front, as well as a new jacket [they were having a two-for-one sale]. We had never had this much money at once before, and it took most of my self-control to not spend it all at once. Then we got on the plane, taking off into the sky and away from Denver.

While I hated flying, Tavros and I both knew that the Eye would never suspect that I would be travelling by plane. If they were to try to find me, they would be looking at the bus depots and car rentals, hoping to catch my scent. There was still the small chance that Tavros could turn me in, but I knew that he would not; if he was mixed up with someone like Asterion, then he would not risk losing our trust.

"So…" I looked over at Eli, who was looking out the window at the clouds below. "You have a brother." This was his first time speaking since the diner, and I nodded, knowing that a very tense and awkward conversation was about to take place.

"Yeah," I replied evenly, taking one of the pamphlets out of the seat in front of me, looking at what to do in case of an emergency landing.

"And you were… part of a gang? You were like Tav- your brother?"

"... Yeah."

The boy finally looked up at me, a frown on his face.

"Why didn't you tell me," he asked. "You know all the nitty-gritty details about my past. I thought you trusted me!"

"I do trust ya."

"Really? Because I feel that I learned a whole lot about you back at that diner!"

"What I did… who I was… it's not meant to be heard by someone your age," I explained, looking at my lap, since I could not look him in the eye. "And I did technically tell ya; I said that I was runnin' from some bad monsters."

"I thought that was because you wouldn't eat people," the young human said.

"That was part of the reason."

"You still should've told me; I thought we were friends."

"We are friends."

"Friends don't keep secrets from one another! I would never-"

Eli stopped mid-sentence and turned away from me, leaning his head near the window as the plane cruised through the sky. I could tell that he was angry with me, and I could not blame him for being so. He felt betrayed, and probably wary of me, hearing from my brother that I used to be a rude, man-eating monster like him. Figuring I should keep quiet, I sat back in my seat, wondering if we got free food on domestic flights.

"Iskander?"

I straightened up, turning back at Eli, who was still looking out the window. It had been about twenty minutes since he had last spoken, and I wondered what he was going to say.

"Yeah, Eli," I asked.

"Are you scared?"

I blinked with surprise.

"Of… gettin' this artifact back," I asked. He nodded.

"I just… You've told me about quests before," the boy continued, turning away from the window. He still did not look at me, now focused on the headrest of the seat in front of him. "Demigods that usually go on them… they're not always successful, and some of them don't make it out alive."

"We're not demigods," I reminded him. "I'm an seven-foot monster that can break boulders with my bare hands and you're a mortal that can kick ass and is unaffected by celestial bronze; monsters aren't used to facin' a duo like us."

"But even your brother seemed scared of this Asterion monster," the boy said. "What if one of us is killed, or if both of us are killed? You'd come back but I'd be dead forever and-"

"Hey," I said softly, yet with some firmness. "Look at me." He looked up at me, and I saw that his looked close to crying.

So much for havin' a fun day, I thought, once again reminded that Eli was just a kid. I had no idea how the gods had no trouble sending children, their own kids, on life-threatening quests without batting an eye. Then again, the gods were always selfish and uncaring, and I was determined to not be like them. And I felt bad; Eli was in this situation because of me, so it was up to me to cheer him up and reassure him.

"We're gonna be fine," I told Eli, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We're gonna get through this the same way we get through livin' on the run: together. We stick together, and we'll make it just fine. Though I-" I hesitated, removing my hand. "I know right now… ya probably don't trust me. And I'm sorry... for not tellin' ya about my past sooner. But I swear to ya that you're not gonna die, and that I'm not gonna die."

"You don't know that," he said, quickly wiping at his eyes, looking embarrassed that he was tearing up in front of me. "You can't possibly know that."

"I know that we're gonna try our damn best to not die," I said. "And I've faced tons of monsters before, but this time, I've got the Laistrygonian Slayer on my side!"

The human's face brightened a little at that comment, and a small mile came onto his face.

"You're trying to cheer me up," he accused me.

"I can't help it that I'm a funny guy," I said, ruffling his hair a little. "And an expert hairstylist! Want a few inches off the top?"

"No," Eli said, laughing and knocking my hand away. For a minute, it was back to how things were for the longest time. Just Eli and I messing with one another and being best friends. Then, the plane shook with turbulence, bringing us back to reality.

"Okay," the young human said, his expression sobering. "Who's Asterion? You seemed pretty scared when you heard his name."

My smile faded as well, and I saw Eli's expectant look. I knew that there was no way I could dodge this question or make anything up. Besides, if we were going to succeed, he needed to know who we were facing.

"He's a pretty viscous monster," I replied. "He's been around since the days of Ancient Greece, and from what I heard, he was a General in Kronos' army last August. I had thought that he would still be reforming in Tartarus, but if he's here, then he must have gone through the Doors of Death."

"Is he a well-known monster," the boy asked. "I mean, you and your brother both know about him, but you've never told me about him."

"I have, but by another name you mortals gave him." I hesitated. "Asterion's his birth name, but now... he's the Minotaur."

Lou Ellen POV

"So you want us to track down a mortal kid and his cyclops friend," Lou Ellen Blackstone asked, an incredulous look on her face.

"Yes," Chiron explained. "But as to whether or not he is a mortal is yet to be seen."

They were in the meeting room of the Big House, standing around the ping pong table. The head counselor of the Hecate cabin had been confused when Chiron the centaur had wanted to talk to her, and was surprised that she had been assigned a quest; she had never been one before, and while she was thrilled to finally get the chance to prove herself, she could not help but feel a little worried.

"I thought you said Tatiana overhead those giants say that he was a human," Butch Walker, son of Iris and cabin counselor, said; he was going to be joining her on her quest. "She told me that, too."

"Yes, but they also did not seem to notice that she was a daughter of Iris," Chiron replied, his tail swishing a little behind him. "Most monsters have pretty good noses for sniffing out demigods, but they could have been wrong. And either way, it's not safe for him to be travelling on his own. Especially with a cyclops."

"Monsters attract other monsters," Lou Ellen said, almost to herself, remembering one of the first lessons she had learned at camp.

"Exactly," the centaur agreed. "Even if this boy is mortal, he's still in great danger, since it is clear that he can see through the Mist. We need to find him and bring him back here, to make sure that he's safe."

"What about the cyclops," the son of Iris asked. "If they're friends, he's not gonna want us to take the kid back with us."

"Which is why I'm sending you two," Chiron explained. "You're both counselors, and are good with solving problems and making peace between arguing campers. You have both the fighting skills, and the communication skills to succeed. I think you'll be able to use your words to diffuse the situation, and hopefully not a weapon."

Lou Ellen and Butch looked at one another, smiling a little and nodding in agreement.

"Yes, sir," she said. "We'll go. But how will we find them? They could have left Denver by now."

"Well, Tatiana managed to find this in the aftermath of the store fight." The centaur took out a small piece of fabric. "It's a piece of the boy's coat."

"Perfect," Butch said. "Lou Ellen can do her magic thing and it'll lead us right to them!"

"I'm not very good at tracking magic," the girl confessed, looking at the fabric nervously. "But I'll give it a try."

"No need to," Chiron said. "The third and final member of your group has excellent tracking skills." He looked at the nearby wall clock. "He's running a little late; he had to go to a meeting with the Council of Cloven Elders, and his wife gave birth a few weeks ago."

"A satyr," Butch asked. "Who-"

The door swung open with so much force, it must have been kicked in. The two demigods yelped, whirling around to see a satyr standing in the doorway, dressed like he had just been working out at the gym.

Oh no, Lou Ellen said, having heard stories about this particular individual, none of which were good.

There goes having some peace and quiet on this trip, the son of Iris thought bitterly.

"Look alive, Cupcakes," Gleeson Hedge said loudly, grinning at them as he twirled the bat in his hand. "We've got us a kid to rescue!"

Yes! Ladies and Gentlemen, Coach Hedge is back! He was one of my favorite characters from the Heroes of Olympus series, and one of the funniest. He kind of reminds me of Phil from the Hercules movies, but back when Phil was in his prime. I figured he would be great in this story, since he and his family have not moved to California yet [Millie would have to rest for a few weeks after giving birth, plus they would have to plan out the move and all of that]. Think of it as his last quest before retiring to raise his family.

Lou Ellen Blackstone and Butch Walker are also in this story, both minor characters from the books, now taking a more central role in this story! Seeing their abilities and powers will be very cool!

We also meet Tavros, Iskander's selfish older brother, as well as the Eye gang. I don't want to give away too much if we'll see them again, but be sure to keep an EYE out for them! [And yes, that joke was really bad, and I'm sorry for even writing it]. And, of course, the MINOTAUR has returned! He's back, and we can only hope that Eli and Iskander are up to the challenge of fighting him!

Please favorite and/or follow this story, and don't be scared to leave a review with your thoughts and comments!

See you all next time!

-aggiefrogger