Chapter 10
Hunter and the hunted
O-O-O-O-O
"You have such a habit of getting yourself into the most absurd situations, don't you?" The earthly woman sighed as she traced her hand over where the electrical scars would be, that is, if he had a physical body in the world of dreams. "I mean really, Atlas' subordinate? I expected better things from you. You've let all that darkness in the maze addle your brain, Asterios."
On the cliffside meadow in Crete, it was winter. He wasn't even sure if Crete had snowy winters like this, but these dreams seemed to be more a reflection of the reality he lived in now rather than a reflection of truth. But truth be told, he was quite surprised to be back here, and to be greeted by the woman who resembled his mother no less. Although… Now that he had the opportunity to look at her up close, he could finally confirm that she indeed looked nothing like Pasiphae, the Queen of Crete and mother of the Minotaur.
"Yes, and I already told you that the last time you were here." The earthly woman said, exasperated. "And will you stop calling me that? I have a name you know. I felt like you of all people would understand how important names can be to someone." She stood from where she had been sitting 'beside' him and dusted the powdery snow off of her dress, which now looked like an actual dress rather than the wind and leaves concealing her body. "People thinking I look like their mothers is just a side effect of me being a literal 'Earth Mother'. It wears off after one or two meetings. Or at least I hope it does, or else that would mean that my marriage was just the result of the world's cruelest Oedipus complex."
He had no idea who Oedipus was supposed to be. He also had no idea how or why he was back in this meadow, speaking to the earthly woman again.
"What did I tell you about calling me that?" She sighed. "Honestly, I understand that you're not used to conversations but you could at the very least remember my-" She paused. "...I never told you my name, did I?"
No, she did not.
"Ugh, well, that's my mistake. Sorry about that." Taking a few steps away from him, she flourished her arms, calling forth her power. Around her, the snow melted away and green grass sprung up to take its place. Flowers bloomed and birds chirped as they returned to the warmth of a spring meadow. "My name is Rhea, Titaness of fertility, motherhood, and harvest. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Asterios."
Rhea.
As in, the mother of Zeus Rhea?! THAT Rhea?!
"I am more than just someone's mother, you know." She huffed indignantly. "I literally inherited my mother's authority over the Earth and life itself. I kind of feel like that's a lot more significant than being the person who gave birth to a king."
...Yeah, it was. He should probably apologize.
She sighed. "It's fine, it's fine. Zeus is quite a bit more popular than I am."
...Well that aside, he still had no idea why he was back in this meadow, talking to Rhea again.
Rhea threw her hands up. "Well, what makes you think I would know either? This is supposed to be my happy place, I was here first!" She took a deep breath and sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I don't know. If I had to hazard a guess, I think you just needed someone to talk to. You've been through quite a lot since we last spoke, haven't you Asterios? Amazons, Labyrinths, Titans… You're a completely different person from the boy I met back then. Well then, you need someone to talk to? Let's talk."
Rhea leaned forward to look him dead in the eyes. "I'll start first: Why did you join the Titan army Asterios?"
Well, that was simple. The Titan army was hunting down that sea-spawn, Jackson, just like him. And they were already looking to recruit him and could provide valuable leads and resources into tracking the Demigod down.
"I see, so it's Perseus Jackson you're really after. And pray tell, why is that?"
To kill him, obviously.
"No Asterios, not 'obviously'. That answer just leads you back to the question. WHY do you want to kill him?"
What? It was pretty clear that it was for revenge.
"No, it really isn't," Rhea said sharply. "Revenge for what? What has he done to you? Is it about denting your mask? It can't be that. I highly doubt that you're that petty, and you were already hunting him down before he dented that thing. You are the antagonizer in this situation, Asterios, why would you want revenge?"
No, it wasn't revenge against Jackson specifically! It was revenge for what his predecessor did, the other Demigod who smelled like the sea. But he was from an age long past, and Jackson was here right now. It was revenge by proxy.
"It seems to me that you're shifting the goalposts around quite a bit here, Asterios. So you say you want revenge on Theseus. So you hate him then? There's something he did that makes you angry?"
He-!
…
He…
The hero was the one who had killed him, but…
Did he hate the hero for that?
Rhea sighed once more. "Alright, let me change the subject for a second here. Asterios, you said that you wish to live and be happy, correct?"
He remembered saying his wish was to survive and get closure.
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Oho, so we're going with that route, are we? Very well. You wish for closure, which means that getting to Jackson is the closure, correct? And what would that closure entail? Why do you want it? What is there to get closure for?"
He wanted to…
He wanted to…
He wanted…
He…
I…
"Asterios." Rhea chided softly. "Do you remember what he said to you?"
I want…
"What is it that you want to pay back to the son of Poseidon?"
I want to **** ***.
The Minotaur's eyes snapped open.
"We've arrived at the checkpoint." The human mercenary announced as he finished shutting off all of the helicopter's systems. He flinched slightly as the Minotaur sat up in the back of the aircraft, where he had passed out from his injuries after his confrontation with the Hunters. "...A-anyway, the transport to take you to Mount Tamalpais should be waiting for you nearby."
Mount Tamalpais. A mountain in the Americas that was fused to the Titan fortress of Mount Othrys when the ancient world merged into its new home. There awaited the Minotaur's direct supervisor, the general of Kronos' army. It should also be where Thorn would be heading if he had survived last night. The Minotaur was not looking forward to the ensuing confrontation from the Persian monster if he did. When Thorn had recruited him into the Titan army, he had swiftly moved up the ranks by virtue of his identity as a legendary monster. Soon enough he was no longer subject to the Manticore's orders, having achieved a rank equal to his. Needless to say, the narcissistic monster wasn't as fond of the Minotaur once he wasn't a mindless pawn for him to move around.
Though the Minotaur never held it against him. He found that he didn't really hold onto grudges that easily at all. Even so, it was pretty uncomfortable to have to sit through the Manticore's angry tirades against him complaining about how the Minotaur owed his status in the army to him, and so on.
The Minotaur reached the transport that was meant to take him to Mount Othrys, an armored truck usually used by mortals to protect their valuables in transit. The driver glanced at him and nodded, starting the vehicle as the Minotaur climbed into the back.
The Minotaur let himself slump against the truck's interior and relax for a bit, still sore from the plethora of injuries he had sustained last night. He flinched as he brushed his scarred left arm against the wall, shifting onto his other side to avoid causing himself any more pain. Fortunately, the arrows he had been filled with didn't penetrate too deeply into his body, allowing him to pull them out without accidentally causing himself to bleed out. And with the dwindling power he had drawn from the stars, those wounds, as well as the stab wound and spear wound from the Demigods had at the very least stopped bleeding during the helicopter ride. But what hadn't healed was the burnt flesh patterned with lightning-like scars that took up his entire left arm and a good part of his torso.
If the fire of the abyss was a slow, agonizing burning feeling that stretched out over the eternity you spent down there, that girl's lightning was an indescribably painful supernova that hit you all at once and faded away slowly. But for that monstrous pain she had inflicted on him, he couldn't help but respect the strength and tenacity she displayed when fighting him. That was… an odd feeling.
And all of it was to protect that son of Poseidon.
What was it about that boy that made others put their own lives on the line to save him? His mother he could understand, but why the girl? Did she care about him that much? Enough to risk dying at his hands to protect?
Is that what friends did for each other?
The Minotaur's jaw clenched slightly.
He wanted to…
"We've arrived at Mount Othrys." The driver's voice snapped the Minotaur out of his thoughts. "Lord Atlas expects your report directly. You know where to find him."
The Minotaur grunted in affirmation and climbed out of the truck. Stepping into the base from the hangar/stable fusion the transport had parked in, he made his way through the many chambers and passages of the fortress leading to the mountain's peak where the Titan general awaited.
At the summit of the mountain, the clouds swirled together in a vortex that reached down to the peak. It was where Heaven and Earth yearned to reunite, the place where the Titan Atlas eternally held the two immeasurably vast entities apart.
Or at least, it was.
"You will never find the monster you seek," A familiar voice spat. "Your plan will fail."
Pinned between Heaven and Earth kneeled the goddess Artemis, and before her stood Atlas who was now very much free.
"Even defeated, you underestimate the might of the Titans." the Titan general sneered down at the goddess. "It is only a matter of time before our quarry is found, and before then your pitiful attendants will have fallen prey to the trap they so ignorantly saunter into. Speaking of which-" Atlas turned to the Minotaur as he arrived at Othrys' summit. "-Minotauros. How good of you to join us!
The Titan grinned as greeted the Minotaur like an old friend. Yet it was painfully obvious to all from the general's patronizing tone that he spoke from a place of superiority rather than one of genuine respect for the bull-horned monster.
"I had heard that you had suffered grievous wounds fighting those Olympian spawn on your last mission; yet you look no worse for wear, only a night later."
"Just… a… set… back." The Minotaur grunted. "Under… estimated… their numbers."
"Yes, yes, the Hunters. I heard as much from the Manticore." Atlas said, waving off the Minotaur's explanation. "He also had some very… choice words in regards to your conduct during the mission."
The Minotaur grit his teeth. "Mission… was… to… protect… Thorn. Then… hunt… sea-spawn… and… child of Zeus. Thorn… is… alive. I… fought… Jackson and Grace. I… followed… my… orders."
Atlas chuckled, seemingly amused by the Minotaur's bull-headed defense of his actions. "And yet, you failed to capture the two children of Zeus and Poseidon in the end." He smirked and stepped past the Minotaur. "Well, no matter. With their quest beginning in earnest, we can pin down those rats without needing to worry about impromptu reinforcements. I believe I have come across a most valuable weapon indeed, one that the Demigods nor their Hunter rivals can best. And you Minotauros shall be accompanying them. Boy!" He barked to Luke, who had been tending the disheveled form of a young girl in the corner of the ruins. At the Titan's command, he snapped to attention, glancing back one last time at the collapsed child. "We depart for Washington. Prepare at once."
"Sir." Luke nodded. He left for the hangar down the mountain, a retinue of monsters who had been guarding the ruins following behind.
Before Atlas and the Minotaur followed the group, the Titan turned to face the monster, halting him. "But make no mistake, Minotauros." the General warned coldly. "You will find that I am a far less forgiving commander than the Manticore was. Right now, you coast along on the merit of your legend alone, and your usefulness to the new soldiers I intend to raise. One more failure on the level of your last, and I will hurl you back into the depths of Tartarus myself. Are we clear, Minotauros?"
The Minotaur met Atlas' glare with an intensity that rivaled it, unflinching to the Titan's threat. "Crystal. Sir."
The two veritable behemoths stared each other down for a few more moments before Atlas turned away, wordlessly accepting the Minotaur's words.
As the Minotaur followed behind the Titan departing from the mountain's peak, Artemis let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. The tension brought about by the standoff between the Titan of Might and the Bull of Minos created a crushing pressure that felt as though it equaled the colossal burden she was now shouldered with.
But even so, when the Minotaur had arrived at the peak of Othrys, it almost felt as though the closer the Bull got, the burden of the Heavens got… lighter?
A white van swerved through the traffic of Washington DC, its reckless driving bringing about the screech of tires and the cursing of the other commuters as it barreled down the road. Yet more chaotic than the car's driving was the growing storm of an argument that brewed within it.
"-but oh no, gods forbid that an emotionally vulnerable teenage girl say no to joining a bunch of morally questionable mystic hitwomen instead of enthusiastically agreeing without reading the lengthy contract for once!" Thalia ranted as the tension between her and Zoe Nightshade escalated further and further.
"You are either audacious or a hypocrite to have criticized me for being a conceited brat when you still cling to that false narrative!" Zoe spat back at Thalia from behind the van's wheel. "If you so choose to not join the Hunters of Artemis, then FINE! So be it! But your own inability to confront the fact that your own friends would be dragging you to a bitter end, and the feral defensiveness you displayed trying to defend their character when the truth was so blatantly obvious is why I truly despise you, Thalia Grace!"
Bianca, Grover, and Percy sat awkwardly in the back seat as the two older girls screamed at each other upfront. The son of Poseidon clutched his newly-acquired Nemean Lion pelt close to him, as though he was preparing to shield himself from an explosion.
Though, he couldn't really be faulted for that.
"And look at what your blind faith in the son of Hermes has wrought you!" Zoe continued. "Your own very literal demise, followed by his betrayal of Camp Half-Blood and the approaching resurrection of the Titan King! The doom of Olympus, all spawned from your inability to leave behind the people who would only harm you in the end!"
Thalia's face practically turned scarlet at Zoe's words. "FUCK YOU! Do you think I'm just going to let you talk shit about 'leaving people behind' when it's YOUR FAULT THAT ANNABETH IS GONE?!" she screamed.
"Thalia please," Grover bleated anxiously. "We can't be blaming Annabeth on each other. It wasn't something that any of us could have predicted. Besides, there's still the chance that she's-"
"LOOK OUT!" Bianca screamed.
In the split-second it took for the questers to register her words, the world seemed to slow down. Glaring at the half-bloods and hunters through the windshield with a baleful red eye was the Minotaur.
Time resumed its normal pace as the van crashed into the Minotaur, his arms spread wide to grab hold of the vehicle's front. Asphalt cracked and crumbled beneath his feet as he braced himself against the van's impact, forcing him back until the van stopped.
Shaking off the daze of the impact faster thanks to the protection of the Nemean Lion, Percy's eyes widened. "Oh crap, oh crap! Everyone get out of the car NOW!"
Heeding his words, the other questers stumbled from the wrecked van as the Minotaur peeled himself from the crumpled front of the vehicle. For good measure, he pounded his fist down on the van, crushing the engine like tinfoil.
"Not… getting away… from me… this time." the beast snarled.
"Clingy much?" Thalia muttered as she brandished her spear and shield. "I'd rather not right now. I'm still sore from the other night."
"Grace, I swear-" Zoe hissed.
"Oh fuck off. Not everything I say is a goddamn inn-"
"Hey, uh," Percy interjected, Riptide drawn. "Is it just me, or is his enunciation getting better each time we meet him?" He glanced at the girls. "Also, what are you two talking about?"
"Nothing important. But we can't afford to fight him right now." Zoe said. "Even if we could take him out, it would take time and blood. We cannot spare that while Lady Artemis is still imprisoned, or while the Minotaur's own allies rapidly approach."
"Which means…?" Bianca asked nervously.
Zoe inhaled deeply. "It means… SATYR!"
On cue, Grover flung a leaf-wrapped parcel at the Minotaur's feet, where it exploded in a cloud of yellowish-green dust. Then, putting his reed pipes to his lips, he played a shrill tune that caused the dust cloud to double in size, completely enveloping the Minotaur.
"RUN!" Grover yelled, immediately turning and booking it. The other questers followed suit, sprinting as fast as their legs could carry them while Grover's smokescreen held.
"Grover, what was that?!" Percy cried as he sprinted alongside the satyr.
"Pollen bomb!" Grover shouted back. "Really hard to come by, since dryads have to really gather a lot of the stuff to make one bomb. On the plus side, it disperses a lot slower than smoke, and it sticks to the people close to the initial blast. I mean, unless they can-"
" ▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▅▅▅▅▅!"
A massive roar tore through the air behind them, and the pollen in the air scattered with the force of the sound.
Grover gulped. "-unless they can that."
"He's coming!" Bianca wailed. "Where are we supposed to go?!"
"Up ahead!" Thalia shouted. "If we can get to that trainyard, he'll have a harder time finding us!"
It wasn't a permanent solution, but they could think of a better plan when the Minotaur wasn't literally breathing down their necks. Pushing themselves harder than they ever could for the last leg of the sprint, the group entered the trainyard and continued running through the maze of decrepit train cars until they couldn't hear the pounding footsteps of their pursuer anymore. Ducking into a broken-down freight car, the Demigods and satyr collapsed to the floor to catch their breath.
"Okay, I can't hear him anymore." Percy panted. "I think we lost him."
Thalia sighed. "Dude, don't say that. You definitely just jinxed us."
Although she was joking as she said that, the entire group paused, hushing their breathing and listening for the heavy footsteps of the Minotaur. Assured that they were safe for the time being, they relaxed a little.
"What are we supposed to do from here?" Bianca asked. "We've hidden from him, but we haven't gotten away yet."
"I think he's after me," Percy said. At the quizzical looks from the others, he elaborated. "Like, he has this weird obsession with me. Obviously, it's his job to hunt all of us, but he's probably going to be gunning for me in particular. If I distract him, I could probably survive for long enough so that you guys can get away. I could probably get away too afterward."
"An obsession?" Thalia queried.
"Yeah. Like he really had it out for me ever since we first met. Even tried to ignore my injured and vulnerable mom to chase me."
"So he would be smashing me while thinking of another man?" Thalia let out a half-hearted snort. "Bummer."
Zoe groaned for some reason.
"I mean, I guess?" Percy responded, confused. "What are you getting at?"
Zoe cut Thalia off before she could respond. "That's not important right now. Listen, boy, you may be the most worthless and expendable member of our quest-"
"Oh come on-" Percy complained.
"I said listen!" Zoe snapped. "As I was saying, you may be the most worthless and expendable member of our quest, but that means virtually nothing as a prophesied quest requires all of its components to be carried out. Your life, pitiful as it is, is essential to rescuing Lady Artemis from the Titans. I will not let you so carelessly risk it in this fool's gambit."
Percy blinked. "Oh. Uh, thanks? I guess?"
"But that still puts us back at square one…" Bianca noted quietly.
"This trainyard might be connected to Washington's subway system. We could lose him there." Thalia suggested.
Zoe rolled her eyes. "Lose the Monster of the Labyrinth in an underground maze? Genius Grace, genius. Besides, what would we accomplish riding around a train within the city? We need to be heading west."
Thalia bristled. "Fuck off. Why don't you actually contribute some ideas instead of just nixing every suggestion we have-"
"Wait, wait, wait," Grover interjected before Thalia and Zoe could get in another fight. "Thalia's idea might work, kind of. If we look around this trainyard, we might be able to find a train that can take us west. A little bit of cross-continental hitchhiking, you know?"
The group mulled the satyr's suggestion over. It seemed reasonable, though they would need to find the train without alerting the Minotaur to their location.
"I… agree." The Minotaur grunted, peering in at them from outside the freight car. "It's… a good… plan. Too bad… it won't… work."
The group turned and stared at him. Silence stretched out for a few moments before-
"OH SHI-"
" ▂▂▂▃▃▃▃▅▅▅▅▅!"
The freight rumbled as the Minotaur threw it onto its side, spilling the questers out onto the snow. No sooner did the land did they start running, fleeing from him as fast as they could.
"AS! IF! I'D! LET! YOU!" the Minotaur bellowed as he drew Labrys from his belt and swung them at his quarry, just barely missing Grover. Bianca and Zoe both drew their silver bows and unleashed a barrage of arrows at the beast, yet he batted them all away with a snarl. Still, the flurry of arrows was enough to give the Demigods a head start as they sprinted out of the maze of train cars.
"THERE!" Percy screamed. "TRAIN! LET'S MOVE!"
The questers leaped on the final car of the train as it began to pull out of the trainyard, barely pulling each other aboard before it left them behind. But the Minotaur was hot on their trails, charging down the railroad after them, deflecting each projectile the Hunters launched. As the train began to speed up, the Minotaur leaped, grabbing ahold of the train car-
"GAAAAH!" He relinquished his grip on the train, the metal that he had grabbed glowing red-hot as if it had spontaneously heated up. As he drew himself to his feet, he watched the Demigods vanish into the distance as the train departed. He snarled a silent curse to whatever god had cast their favor over the Demigods as he turned away.
As if on queue, the Spartoi summoned by Atlas arrived, hot on the trail of Percy Jackson. "SUN. WEST. LINES. FIND. OUT. WHERE. IT'S. GOING." As the Skeletons chittered among themselves, the Minotaur closed his eyes and cast his mind over the city of Washington DC, searching for the closest entrance to the Labyrinth. No matter where they tried to run, he would arrive there first.
He refused to stop.
Omake: What's up Doc?
He was in that dream again.
No no no, not the dream of Crete. The other dream.
Yes, the therapist's office. That one.
He lay relaxed on the psychiatrist's chaise longue while Rhea sat across from him on an armchair, now dressed in professional-looking formal wear and glasses as opposed to her usual gown of flowers.
"It's good to have you back, Asterios." She welcomed in a calm, soothing tone. "I know it's been a while since your last session, so why don't we go over how your life's been since then? Are you making any progress with the things we discussed last time? Anything you're confused by?"
He recounted to her what had happened since they last met, how he had met some new people and gotten a new job, how he finally succumbed to the absurdly expensive rent in Seattle and had to move back into the Labyrinth, and his own doubt about his direction in life. He expressed how he felt as though his job simultaneously put him up on a pedestal while also beating him down and making him feel a bit worthless, with the constant talking down from his bosses and the stressful nature of deadlines and work quotas.
"Hmmm," Rhea noted, suppressing her initial response of making an incredibly concerned face that reflected her own thoughts in favor of keeping a neutral expression. "Asterios, while I'm very glad to see that you're advancing in life and working to fit yourself in with society, don't you think you're taking things a bit too quickly?"
He was quite surprised by this remark. What did his shrink mean by this?
"What I mean to say is, you've gotten swept up in work culture and adapted, somewhat, to the stresses and pressures that come with being an adult. And that's fine on its own. But Asterios," Rhea pushed her glasses back up slightly. "You aren't an adult. You're still a child. And I don't mean 'You're a child in the relative sense because I'm so much older than you' or 'You're a child because I'm the goddess of mothers and EVERYONE is my child' I mean that you, Asterios, are literally not yet an adult. You are the final child of Queen Pasiphae, younger than Ariadne and Theseus. You were slain as a child and lived in Tartarus for eons, where time does not pass. Only now have you returned to the world of the living. You are literally a child working a stressful full-time job that can cause even hardened adults to go grey."
…
Rhea sighed and massaged her temples before reaching for a notepad. "Okay, as I recall the last session I asked that you fill out this 'bucket list' of things you wanted to accomplish in life. This was to help you brainstorm ideas for where you want to take your life, and what sort of things you want to do and accomplish. Let's put a pin in the previous discussion and talk about this, hmm? Let's see what we've got here…"
As Rhea opened the notepad she had given him the last time they spoke she looked upon the incredibly crooked handwriting he had been able to teach himself. Many letters were backward. Scribbles mired the page. Stains of graphite dust where the pencil tip had supposedly snapped and gotten all over the paper clouded the words. Barely legible, she read out his 'bucket list'
b̴b̵u̶k̵e̶t̴ ̵l̶i̶s̶t̵
̴b̴y̶e̸;̶ ̶m̷e̵ ̸:̶)̸
̷
̴-̵s̵a̴v̶e̴ ̴p̷u̵r̸s̴u̷s̸ ̸j̷a̷c̴s̷o̸n̴
̶-̴k̴i̵l̵l̶ ̴p̷e̷u̵r̶s̵y̸ ̴j̸c̷k̶s̸o̵n̵
̴-̷k̷i̷i̵l̴ ̷p̷e̴r̴s̸i̵ ̶j̷a̶c̸k̵s̴o̸n̶s̸
̶-̷k̴i̸l̷l̸l̴ ̵p̴e̵r̴c̶y̸u̵s̸ ̷j̵a̶s̸o̶n̷s̷
̵-̶ ̸:̶)̴
̴-̴h̸a̴m̷b̴u̵r̴g̶e̵r̷
"What the fuck." Rhea muttered under her breath.
Cing Krimson's Qringe Korner: Fuck you Gods of procrastination! It took me less than a month to get the next chapter out! (But Cing Krimson, didn't you promise yourself that you were going to get this chapter out on the 31st of May, your 18th birthday? Haven't you technically procrastinated for almost six days?)
Sssssshut up. They don't know that. And unless some part of me puts my guilt-ridden inner thoughts into the author's note they never will, ahahaha.
...unless…?
But yeah, hooray for me, yadda yadda yadda. First omake. That's a thing. Thalia also hates the Hunters a lot more than she does in canon. Does that matter? Probably not. Or maybe I'm lying to you and it is. Who knows?
Uuuuuuhhhh I've run out of things to say. Listen to the "Fallen Kingdom" quadrilogy by CaptainSparklez and TryHardNinja. Peace out.