Percy speaking

Percy's thoughts

Adamos speaking

Adamos thoughts.

All characters are owned by Rick

(Except Adamos he's mine)

Chapter 11

Percy Jackson: Monster Hunter Extrordinaire

It had seemed like hours since we left the bus as we trudged through the forest, and I had given Annabeth her hat back. It was quiet for the most part, the only sound being the Hudson river that ran along side us. Adamos had told me we were in New Jersey based on the trees, stars, and a bunch of other things that I didn't really understand.

Behind us I could still see the lights of the city glowing, making the sky a yellow sunset, even after the sun had set. And the Hudson was letting off a smell that reminded me of rotting eggs and Gabe. Needless to say, we were not happy campers right now.

Grover was trembling as we walked. He was braying and muttering over and over "All three Furies. All at once."

I myself was just trying to focus on where we were going. Adamos's night domain has been becoming surprisingly useful lately as it was allowing me to see in the dark with perfect clarity. It might as well have been the middle of the day. Annabeth however was leading us from the front, never once looking back as she kept saying, "Come on! The further we get the better."

"Do you even know where your going?" I ask.

"Doesn't matter. As long as we get away from the monsters." Annabeth shot back.

"And our bags, with our food, and our money and—" Grover started.

"Shut it goat boy." Annabeth said.

Grover Brayed mournfully still. "And all my tin cans…so many perfectly good tin cans."

We continued to walk through the sloshy ground, the smell of the Hudson becoming stronger, and the branches of the trees poking and hitting us as we ducked and moved out of the way.

"Ugh," Adamos says with disgust. "The mortals have really let the world go to shit over the millennia. Going to have to work on all of this."

"What are you going to do?"

"Purify the place. So much of it is dying because the mortals refuse to care. But there not the only ones." Adamos says in a solemn tone

I was about to ask what he meant when Annabeth slowed down enough to fall in line next to me. "You know," She spoke. "That was a pretty decent plan you had back there."

"Oh," I blush slightly at the compliment, but it wasn't visible in the dark. "Thanks. But I bet you could have come up with something better."

"Probably… but it's good to know that I don't have to watch over you the entire time." Annabeth said.

"Wait? Why would you need to look out for me?" I question.

Annabeth was silent for a few moments "It's just that if you died… other that sucking for you, it would mean that the quest was over. This may be my only chance at seeing the world."

"I'm so glad you care that I survived." I say dryly.

"Look its not that… it's just that quests are the only way for demigods to get out and prove themselves. To see if we are any good. Chiron often calls us heroes at camp but sometimes it doesn't feel that way."

"So this is your first time outside of camp?" I ask. The thunderstorm finally stopping. The lights from the city were fading away and causing the area to darken. If I didn't have Adamos's night vision I had no doubt that I would be blind.

"No there were a few short field trips with my dad." Annabeth says as she begins to finger a ring on her necklace.

"But aren't you a year around camper. I mean couldn't you just come to camp in the summer and live with your dad?" I say.

Annabeth's face contorts into a grimace. Her hand clutches the ring in a vice like grip. I immediately knew that I may have just tripped a landmine. "It'd never work." She says tensely. "He has his new family, and they've made it very clear that they don't want me around."

"Well I don't mind having you around." I say, trying to look apologetic in the dark. "I mean that your pretty good with that knife."

"You think so?" She says. She was no longer as tense, probably glad for the change in subject.

"Yeah, I mean you piggy backed a Fury. That's gotta count for something." I said. Annabeth just gave me a smile in return, it wasn't a big one, but it seemed to be enough to better her mood. "And besides its not a total loss. I mean I still have my back pack."

"Yeah your right. We might be able to—" She started to say but was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot that came from behind us.

"Gah. It's like one drill in one ear and another drill in the other, and they're meeting in the middle." Adamos complains in annoyance

I put my hands over my ears to block out the sound. "Sounds more like someone's torturing an owl."

"Hey, my reed pipes work!" Grover cried out in glee. "Now if only I could remember a 'find path' song we could get out of these woods!" He said as he began to play a song on the pipes.

"Grover, buddy, I don't think that your song is gonna—WOAH!" I said as I suddenly trip over a root that wasn't there a second ago. Annabeth was chuckling at my misfortune until she walked straight into a tree. After that Annabeth and I both came to an agreement that Grover should keep his playing to a minimum. We kept walking for about a mile in the woods before Adamos came up again.

"Another monster Percy."

"Seriously!" I thought. I didn't care if I sounded whiney right now I was sick of today. "Are we just magnets for stuff!?"

"Well actually your more like—"

"I was being rhetorical!"

"You know I should be mad, but you just used rhetorical correctly, so I'll let that go."

"Can you just tell me where it is so we can go in the opposite direction." I think.

"Now, now I think we should seek this one out." Adamos says trying to calm me down. "I have a good idea which monster this is so I think that we can use her if we can kill her."

"Do you at least have a plan?"

"I have twenty percent of a plan. Well it's more of an idea really." Adamos says offhandedly.

"You're not inspiring a lot of confidence here."

"I'm kidding, of course I have a plan. I always have something up my sleeve. But you should get ready if it's her we'll only get one chance at killing her."

Immediately my nose is assaulted with delicious smells. It was the smell of burgers, fries, and other things of greasy goodness. I look up to see a red neon sign in the distance. My mouth begins to water at the thought of the food. The camp food was good, I wasn't going to lie but it was all healthy lean cut meant, vegetables, fruit and cheeses. Heck even the drinks seemed to be healthier. But none of it had anything on a good old fashion cheeseburger.

I looked over at Annabeth and she seemed to have smelt the food too. We made our further until we came across a deserted two-lane road. On the other side of the road was a lone open business, indicated by the glowing neon sign. The smell of the food was coming from inside the building.

Although it wasn't actually a fast food place like I had hoped. Instead it was one of those curio shops that sold cement statues and garden knick-knacks.

"The one time I'm actually excited for a monster, and my hopes are thrown out the window."

"What were you expecting? A monster McDonalds?"

"Honestly, yeah. I mean McDonalds is everywhere. But noooo, we had to come across an oversized gift shop. Like what does it even say?" I think as I look at the neon sign, glaring at my age-old enemy. Cursive.

"It says Auntie Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Adamos fills in.

Grover repeats the name aloud for us, since we seemed to just be staring at the sign, he's probably assuming we had trouble reading it. On the sides of the door under the sign were two ugly little cement gnomes smiling at us. We began to cross the street.

"Hey…" Grover tried to warn.

"The lights are on inside. Maybe we can ask for help." Annabeth said.

"Yeah maybe they can even let us have some food?" I said, though I was constantly having to remind myself that a monster lived there. The thought of food kept trying to claw its way to the front of my mind

"This place seems weird you guys." Grover says trembling.

Annabeth just ignored him, with me following directly. The front lot was littered with many statues. Statues of animals, people, and even a satyr were all around us.

Grover bleated. "He looks like my uncle Ferdinand." We just continued walking until we came to the front of the warehouse. "Don't knock." Grover said. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is just clogged up from the Furies." Annabeth told him.

"Yeah man. I mean can't you just smell the burgers." I said.

"I'm a vegetarian." Grover said heatedly. "I don't eat meat."

"Don't you eat those cheese enchiladas?" I say.

"Those are vegetables."

I thought vegetarians don't eat cheese since it's dairy." Annabeth muttered.

"Lets just leave. These statues are giving me the creeps." Grover said as his eyes darted around.

I was about to respond when the door began to creak open. In front of us was a tall middle eastern looking woman—or at least I think so, since she was wearing a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled.

"What she's wearing is known as a hijab while the full headdress is called a burqa." Adamos said, spouting off information like a tour guide.

"Children," her voice was smooth and sounded vaguely middle eastern as well. "it is too late to be out all alone, where are your parents?"

"They're…um…" Annabeth started to stutter out.

"We're orphans." I blurted.

"Orphans?" She said but it sounded strange coming out of here mouth "Surely you aren't?"

"Yeah we just got lost from the foster family we live with. Our foster parents said that if we got lost to meet them at the gas station, but I think they meant a different gas station." I lied. "Hey is that food I smell." I say trying to switch the subject.

"Oh my dears. You must come in, you poor children. I am Aunty Em." The woman said. "Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."

We thanked her and walked into the warehouse. Inside the warehouse was filled with more statues. They were on all standing in different poses, their faces with different expressions. These statues were all life size, and it seemed like their eyes were following ou1`r every move, which only added to the realism.

Grover was nervously whimpering behind us. What nearly set me off though was the small click sound that I heard from behind. The sound of a door being locked.

"Just keep walking. Don't let her know that we're on to her."

I keep walking, keeping my eyes focused on the path in front. And ever the smell of the food was getting stronger. The thoughts of what kind of food was getting much harder to keep away. I looked over at Annabeth, her eyes were a bit glazed and unfocused as we found our way to the back of the warehouse. What we found was basically a diner. There was a fast food counter, a soda dispenser, blenders on top of a glass door fridge that contained ice cream, a nacho cheese dispenser. There were also steel picnic tables around so we could eat.

"This," Adamos said. "This is why the backpack has unlimited space. We are so stealing this shit after we kill the old lady."

"Why do you have to say it like that? Gods now I feel horrible."

"She's a monster. It's not like she'll care once she's dead."

"Why do you always have to make everything sound horrible."

"I'm only telling the truth." Adamos says with a shrug.

"Please it would be my pleasure to feed such nice orphans," Auntie Em said, bringing my attention back. "Its my treat. I insist." She leads us over to the steel picnic tables, where we take seats.

Thank you, ma'am." Annabeth says politely. However, Auntie Em stiffened at the sound of Annabeth's voice. I vaguely heard a hissing sound before it died down as Auntie Em relaxed.

"Quite all right Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful grey eyes my dear." Auntie Em then left, disappearing behind the counter.

"I don't remember ever introducing ourselves." I think nervously, my fingers beginning to tap on the steel table top.

"You didn't." Adamos says darkly. "Someone told her you were coming."

"Any way we can find out who?"

Adamos sighs. "If we had a way to restrain her, I would interrogate her about it, but we don't. Were just going to have to push that problem back for now. If she was told I'm sure that others were as well."

Auntie Em returned carrying trays layered with food. There were double cheeseburgers, milkshakes, and extra fries. Annabeth and I were devouring the food without stopping. Walking through those woods had made us hungrier than either of us realized. Grover just picked at the fries, only eating a few of them at a time while eyeing the wax paper, but he seemed too nervous to eat.

"What's that hissing noise?" He asked. I listened and could hear it. It was louder than before but still faint. Annabeth just shook her head before digging into her fries.

"Hissing? Perhaps you hear the deep fryer in the back. You have keen ears Grover." Auntie Em complimented.

"I take vitamins. For my ears." Grover said in a rehearsed tone.

"I think it's time we snuck away. Ask to go to the restroom." Adamos instructs.

"Um… Auntie Em." I ask after I finish my burger and half my fries and shake.

"Yes Percy?" She says, her voice smooth and alluring. It was making me feel relaxed.

"Would you mind pointing me to the restroom?"

"Oh of course." She says with a clap of her hands. "Anything for such a nice, handsome young man like you. It is just through those doors," She points behind her. "First door on the left."

"Thank you." I say getting up. Annabeth only gave me a glance while Grover was trembling once more, his eyes darting between me and Auntie Em. I walk through the doors and make it into the bathroom.

"Are you sure that we need to kill her? She seems so nice."

"She's a monster Percy. You need to kill her or else she'll kill someone else."

"Maybe we can just escape." I try to sound optimistic about the idea. I didn't mean for it to sound like running away but Auntie Em has been nothing but nice to us so I still felt bad about killing her.

"She locked the door. And besides now that she has Annabeth, she's not letting her go."

"Why would she want Annabeth?"

"You haven't figured out who she is yet." He said in a tone that made me feel a bit dumb.

"No." I think sheepishly.

"The statues, that hissing sounds, the fact that her face is hidden. Think about it." Adamos says. I think back to the statues that we passed. Their faces becoming clearer. Their faces were all contorted into faces of fear. The hissing sounds. Auntie Em. Auntie M.

"Medusa."

"Yes. We can't leave her alive. Her mere gaze kills and since Annabeth's mother is Athena—"

"She's going to kill her." I finish his thought. Now I was incredibly worried since we just left her and Grover in the hands of a dangerous monster. "How do I kill her?"

"You need to decapitate her."

"Decapitate?" I think nervously.

"Yes decapitate. I need her head for something so that's what we're going to do."

"Any way you can go without it?"

"Nope. I need that head so your going to chop it off."

"Why do you like to make things harder than they need to be?" I say dryly.

"Because it wouldn't be fun otherwise."

"All right let's get this over with." I say as I pull out my pen, turning it into a sword after I uncap it. I slowly creep out of the bathroom and look out the double doors that lead back to the picnic tables. Annabeth, Grover, and Auntie Em—I mean Medusa are all still sitting at the table, with Medusa talking about a boyfriend that she used to have.

I sneak out the two doors, hoping that Medusa would be to into whatever story that she was telling to not notice me. I was about ten feet away before Grover notices me. He looks like he's about to call out before I cut him off with a harsh glare and a silence gesture. I could now clearly hear what Medusa was saying.

"—and he had the most mesmerizing eyes, a beautiful sea green—" she says, lost in whatever memory she was in, before I raise my sword and cleanly slice through her neck, her head falling to the table.

Annabeth and Grover jump from their seats and begin to scream as green blood begins to flow onto the table in a large pool.

"Di Immortales Percy! What the Hades!" Annabeth screams, she was still staring at the disembodied head. Grover was hyper ventilating a few paces away. Looking at the head as it was face down, still covered in the burqa, I felt sick to my stomach. It took a lot of will power not to throw up.

"She was a monster. Medusa. Had to kill her." I gasp out as I turn away from the head and look as her body disintegrates into gold dust then recapping the sword, turning it back to a pen.

"I knew there was a monster!" Grover shouts. "I knew it!"

"Shut it Grover." Annabeth hisses. "If you knew it was Medusa why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't know until I left to go to the bathroom." I say rubbing the back of my head. It technically wasn't a lie, but it didn't sound to good either.

Annabeth just confirmed this by giving me a disbelieving look.

"I think that I should take over. What happens next takes some… surgical precision." Adamos says before taking control.

"What are you going to do?" I ask as Adamos stands up and makes his way behind the counter and starts rummaging around underneath.

"Uh, Percy what are you doing?" Grover asks as well, while Annabeth looks curious herself.

Adamos peeks over, only showing my head above the counter. "Just grabbing the necessary equipment."

Grover and Annabeth exchange inquisitive looks with each other. I, myself, was sharing in their confusion. "Equipment for what?" Annabeth asks.

Adamos rolls his eyes at the two before grinning like a madman and pulls out a plastic container filled with ice and a spoon. "You'll see, or actually its best if you don't see. Either way I'm performing an enucleation on Medusa since she's my trophy" Adamos's smile goes wider.

"A knuckle what?" Grover asks, still clearly confused as Adamos walks over to Medusa's head.

"An enucleation. It's a type of surgery to remove…eyes." Annabeth says as her face goes a few shades whiter. Grover's eyes widen before he to pales. Internally I contemplate whether or not I can mentally vomit at what Adamos is about to do.

"Hey Percy, you're not really gonna," Grover gulps. "take her eyes out are you."

Adamos just looked at him like grew a second head. "Of course, I am. Why else would I get this stuff?" He says motioning to the spoon and container of ice. "Now if you don't mind …" Adamos says as he slips the spoon under the burqa, being careful to keep it over her eyes, and starts working with a sickening SQUELCH sound.

Grover immediately hoofs it to a different part of the warehouse, covering his mouth before the sound of vomiting can be heard. Annabeth herself looks like she's about to faint on the spot at the sight before she turns and quickly walks in another direction. I have to figuratively look away from it as it's to much for me to stomach to watch.

Five minutes later and Adamos is finished removing the eyes from Medusa's head. He wraps them in a towel and places them in the container of ice, before shutting it and putting it into the magic backpack. "OK now we can strip this place for goods." Adamos says with a smile still on his face.

"How can you be ok with… that!?" I mentally shout at him.

"If it makes you feel better that's probably the last time, we'll have to remove someones eyes."

"I prefer if we never had to do it to begin with! Oh, god's I'm going to have nightmares about this." I moan.

"Heeeey buudddyyy. Would you feel better if we steal her milkshake maker and put it in the cabin? We can take the soda dispenser to. I'll even enchant them, so they don't run out of product to dispense."

"You can't just try to bribe me and make this go away!"

"What if I sweeten the deal with a magic weapon?"

"You can't just worm… magic weapon?"

Adamos smirks as he grabs my attention. "Yeah I can make these eyes into a weapon for you. So what do you say?"

I was silent for a few moments before speaking again. "Fine but promise me we won't do this again."

"Fine, fine. I promise not to scoop out more eyes."

"Ok. Ugh I can still hear the sounds." I mentally shiver.

"Don't worry you'll feel better in no time." Adamos thinks as he tries to comfort me, all the while he's stuffing the blenders, fridge, nacho dispenser, and soda dispenser into the magic back pack that grows a bigger opening to fit the appliances. After, Adamos made his way into the back of the warehouse, making our way to Medusa's office which Adamos must have noticed.

"You know she actually has some decent taste in office décor."Adamos says after he releases control. I then began looking around the fully furbished office. The room was decorated with photos of Greek beaches, many potted plants, and polished leather seats around a mahogany desk. On the desk was Medusa's account book. The last six orders all shipments to the Underworld. The freight bill listed the address to DOA Recording Studios, West Hollywood, California. I stuff the bill into my pocket and begin to rummage more. In a cash register on the desk I found twenty dollars, a few drachmae, and some package slips for Hermes overnight delivery service. I put the money and drachmae into my pack and pick up a delivery slip.

"You think if we find a big enough box Hermes can deliver us all the way there?" I say with a chuckle.

Adamos laughs. "Doubt it. I don't think we have the drachmae for that delivery. Plus, if I remember correctly the last time a demigod tried, he left them in some random location."

"Worth a shot." I say as I put the box back. I leave the office with all the newly acquired loot and head back to the front of the warehouse. Medusa's head was still on the table and Grover and Annabeth were waiting anxiously by the front door.

"You both ready to leave?" I asked. Grover just kept giving me worrying glances while Annabeth looked jumpy. Physically though they both looked better than they did earlier.

"Yeah the sooner we leave the better. What were you doing in the back?" Annabeth inquired.

"Oh …uh I saw an office when I went to the bathroom, so I decided to look around. I got the address to the underworld from there. Apparently, they like to order Medusa's statues." I half lied.

"Ok at least we have a destination. Let's get going. I don't want to be here any longer than we have to." Annabeth then turned on her heel and walked out the ware house. Grover and I just fell into place behind her.

Line break

We walked for about twenty-seven minutes before we came to a clearing in the woods. The place was littered with food wrappers, soda and beer cans, and other trash. It was clear that some one threw a party here, and I could feel Adamos's loathing at how they didn't clean up. Annabeth brought out some blankets from a bag that she must have taken from Medusa's lair. We managed to make ourselves a decent sleeping area.

We decided to sleep in turns so as to keep watch for any monsters. I volunteered for first watch. I guessed it was because of Adamos's earth powers or his night powers but I felt relaxed yet awake in the dark forest. I wasn't sleepy, so much as I was just exhausted from everything today. I thought that I would be best that I take first watch.

Annabeth took this as her chance to catch some sleep. She was instantly snoring when she laid down. Grover used his flying shoes to help him scale a tree. He sat on the lowest sturdy branch. I myself reached into the bag and pulled out the magic tome. I had been meaning to look into this more and thought that watch duty might be the best time.

"Hey Grover, why don't you catch some sleep. I'll let you know if I see something." I said.

He nodded but still looked out at nothing. "It makes me sad Percy."

"What? Do you mean the quest?" I asked.

Grover shook his head. "No, all of this." He gestured to the trashed area. "And the sky, you can't even see the stars. They've polluted the sky. This is such a terrible time to be a satyr."

I looked around to see what he was talking about. The area was indeed robbed of its natural beauty, and the sky was mostly a black canvas. I would never say this to him but Adamos and Grover would get along with how they feel about the environment.

"Well I would fix all of this, but you know I had a few things holding me back mongrel." Adamos says bitterly in my head, even though Grover can't hear him, but I understood at least a little bit how he felt. These were his domains that we were discussing. The fact that he couldn't act on them must irritate him to no end.

"Right, I guess you'd be an environmentalist." I say, focusing on talking with Grover.

Grover glared at me. "Only a human wouldn't be. Your species is destroying the planet so fast… nevermind. It's useless to lecture a human. At the rate things are going I'll never find Pan."

"Or you know instead of trying to find some one to fix your problem, you try to solve it yourself!" Adamos cried indignantly.

"Isn't that the satyr god?" I say as I push Adamos's comments away, only remembering bits from my lesson's with Annabeth and Adamos.

"Yes. The great god Pan." Grover said with a far away look. "He was to lord of the wild places, but he disappeared a few thousand years ago when a sailor heard a mysterious voice announcing that the great god Pan was dead. When the human's heard of this they began to pillage his kingdom. But to us satyrs he was our lord and savior. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. There are many stories passed down to young satyrs about how he would fight off an evil being of destruction that passed himself off as a false god, and had the humans build shrines to it. Pan would rescue the brave satyrs that would take it upon themselves to fight against this demon and his followers." Grover said as his voice began to fill with pride. "We satyrs believe that in the last battle with the demon, Lord Pan destroyed the evil being but had to hide away and rest from his injuries. Now satyrs of every generation pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the wild places of the earth, hoping to find him and wake him from his rest."

I sat as Grover spoke. I had a feeling of slight awe at the way he was talking about Pan, and how dedicated the satyrs are to all want to find him. However, at the same time I could feel a cold chill running down my spine. A feeling of icy, barely restrained, fury was building from Adamos.

"Hey—uh, Grover? W-what exactly was that demon's name in that story?" I say feeling increasingly nervous for my furry friend.

"Why would you want to know?" Grover says curiously.

"Oh…uh no reason in particular. Just…thought I would want to know more about you and your dreams." I swore Adamos was subtly growling in my head.

After a few moments Grover nodded, before looking around as if he were afraid someone was listening in. "The creature went by many names, but its most common one was Adamos." He whispered.

I nearly choke on the saliva in my mouth and start coughing. Adamos however was experiencing a different emotion.

"I will kill the pelt. False god my ass." He said in a low, threatening voice.

"No, stop please don't kill my friend." I begged him. "We need him for the quest remember." I try to reason with him. "And uh, if he dies then there will be a bunch of questions and that will be a problem for you, remember?" I fell that it's working as he slowly begins to calm, yet I still feel the intense anger.

"And even though it's been a few thousand years you believe that you'll find him." I say trying to sound calm and changing the subject.

"Yes, it's been my life's dream," He said. "My father and Uncle knew the risks, but I'll succeed. I'll be the first one to return alive."

"Wait, the first?" I said.

Grover began to twiddle his thumbs. "No searcher has ever come back alive. Once they set out, they are never heard from again. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive." He said. As he was talking, I could feel Adamos's fury simmer to a low point, as if Grover talking about his own probable demise seemed to calm him.

"No one has come back alive in thousands of years and you still want to go." I asked in disbelief. "You think that you're the one who's going to find Pan?" I didn't know whether to praise Grover for his bravery for the seemingly hopeless dream or call him an idiot, but then I thought how I'm going to try to bargain meet with the god of the underworld.

"I have to believe that I can Percy. All searchers do. It's the only thing that we have that keeps us from falling to despair over the state of the world." We sat in silence till it seemed that Grover had fallen asleep, if his snores were anything to go by.

"We need to get going. There's another monster nearby that we need to kill." Adamos said.

"Another one!? Can't we just wake the other's up and just run. I'm tired of fighting monsters today."

"This is a specific kind of monster. What we want is to kill it for the trophies it provides. If you kill it will help push my plan forward by a large jump."

"You mean this plan you haven't told me about." I say flatly.

"Yes that plan. It's a pretty simple plan actually. We are going to bribe the gods."

"That's it? We're going to bribe them?"

"Yep! A simple plan so that they don't decide to just kill you."

"And this'll convince them?" I say skeptically.

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to win them over."

"But what about them." I look over to where Annabeth and Grover are sleeping. "We can't just leave them. I'm supposed to be watching out for any monsters."

"Hmm. Look in the tome. Page sixty-four." And I do as instructed and open the book to the page. On the page was a circular symbol inside a square with many arrows. I read the lines of description written next to it.

"A sanctuary rune?" I whisper out loud.

"Yeah it's a weaker version of the one at the beach. Carving it into a nearby tree should conceal us from monsters. Unless one literally walks into the camp, they shouldn't be able to see them."

"This seems super useful. Why don't we tell Chiron about this?"

"Well it does have limitations. The safe area is only about ten feet in diameter and only lasts a few hours. But it would be beneficial to teach the other campers." Adamos mused.

I then looked at the symbol once more, then drawing Riptide, I start to carve the rune into the tree that Grover was in. After a few tries I finally get it down and place my hand over it.
I push some magic into it and feel a bit of energy leave me. I felt the air shift around, then walk away until the air feels normal again. Looking back at my handy work, Annabeth and Grover were slightly shimmering in and out of sight.

"So, this monster?" I ask.

"This ways Percy. Demi Bots, roll out." Adamos says gleefully.

Line Break (Spin the Percy Signal)

After twenty minutes of walking through the forest Adamos has me stop at the foot of a mountain. It wasn't a large mountain by any means, in fact it seemed more like a large group of rocky hills. Built into the face of the mountain was a large cave. It was greater than at least twice my height. The inside of the cave would have seemed pitch black if it weren't for Adamos's powers letting me see in the dark.

"So, what kind of monster are we here to slay? A dragon?" I say sarcastically.

"Don't be ridiculous. A dragon would eat you alive. We're here to hunt a gryphon."

"A gryphon?"

"Yep, I looked in to this one while we were escaping. It's a bit young but it just hit prime hunting age. It stands at seven feet in height, probably weighs between twelve to thirteen hundred pounds, seven-inch talons along with a beak that can carve through rock. With the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, this thing just screams predator."

"I can't tell if you're trying to pump me up or give me my cause of death." I say dryly. "Tell me again why I'm hunting this gryphon?"

"Because Percy, I need you to cut off its wings and grab its talons. They are great trophies for heroes. That and gryphons are notoriously prideful and honorable creatures. They have a habit of collecting treasure in hoards as well as wanting to challenge other creatures in combat."

I straighten at the mention of treasure. I remember when I was younger going around Central Park looking for treasure, but all I found was trash. Now I was imagining a large treasure chest in the back of the cave glittering with gold and gems. The adventures of Percy Jackson: treasure hunter hero has returned. "Let's do this." I say with conviction.

"That's the spirit!" Adamos shouts excitedly in my mind.

I nod with a grin on my face as I uncap Riptide. My weapon grows to full size. The bronze sword was emitting a slight glow in the darkness. Normally I wouldn't notice the glow but with my night vision it glowed like a light saber.

Wandering in after a few minutes of twists and turns at Adamos's directions. I hear a sound. It was a low rumble that got louder and then died down before growing once again. It was the sound of snoring. I felt my nerves begin to go into overdrive at the anticipation. Slowly I crept forward.

Turning the last corner my body freezes at the sight of the beast in front of me. This thing was huge. Larger than any lion I have ever seen in the zoo. It was curled in the furthest part of the cave, surrounded on all sides by a pile of a mix of gold, bronze, large stones and other items. At least enough to fill a treasure chest if not two or three. The roof of the cave was open enough that it seemed like it was how the gryphon left. The rain clouds covered the skies still, blocking any light from coming in.

"OK so how do I get those trophies without it dissolving?"

"You'll have time to remove the wings. Gryphons are a class of monster that dissolve much more slowly. Like basilisks, dragons, and a few other types of monsters, they don't immediately dissolve."

"Is this gonna be like Medusa all over again?" I say as a shiver goes down my spine at the memory.

"No this'll be more like skinning an animal. There's a clean way to do it."

"OK," I whisper. "Lets do this." I slowly make my way to the sleeping beast. My grip on both weapons tightens till my knuckles turn white. Slowly, twenty paces, fifteen paces, ten, five paces till I'm close enough to the gryphon to kill it.

Then as if the fates themselves were laughing at me, waiting to watch me struggle, a bronze chalice slides down the pile of treasure, making multiple clinking sounds that echo throughout the cave. The Gryphon's eyes snap open as it stands up, it's gaze locking onto the glow of Riptide.

"SKREEEE!" The gryphon cries out in anger at the sight of an intruder.

What went through my mind was "F# k me." After that it was immediately followed by me casting a QUEN spell as the gryphon unfurls its wings. The wings impact against me, knocking me back into the cave wall. The spell took most of the damage, but the hit still knocked the wind out of me and cracked the shield. Another hit would shatter it.

The gryphon releases another cry as it rears back over me. I barely roll out of the way as the gryphon stomps on the ground, its claws digging into the stone, marking it.

"Percy your sword." Adamos cries out.

"What about it!" I cry out as the gryphon begins to circle me as I back away. I could see its sharp eyes locked onto me with a threatening gaze. As it lets out threating noises, its claws scraping against the stone floor of the cave as it prowls.

"Its glowing in the dark, it's following your sword."

At this I begin to wave Riptide around, and in response the gryphon's head moves around as it tracks the sword's movements. Then I realize that the gryphon is blind, while I could see perfectly clear in the dark.

"Can I use your spear right now?" I ask.

"Yes, you're in the clear." Adamos confirms. Then begin to plan something crazy. "Percy what are you thinking?"

"Probably something stupid." I think. I then put my half-made plan into action. The gryphon's gaze was still locked in my direction. I then tossed Riptide in one direction and I run in the opposite direction. The gryphon takes the bait as it rushes towards the glow of the sword and pounces. I climb on top of one of the large rocks that were in the cave and pull in the band on my wrist. The band transforms into a fully length spear in my hand.

The gryphon seems to realize that Riptide is just a sword and begins to rampage, swiping its claws and stomping everywhere around it. I try to time it, and then jump, holding the spear in both hands and stabbing down as I land onto the back of the gryphon.

As soon as the spear goes through its flesh, the beast lets out a screech of pain that was so loud I was hearing a ringing in my ears. It unfurls its wings and begins to flap them, slowly lifting into the air, ramming its body into the walls. I could feel the impact in my bones as my hands felt numb from the shock.

"Q-QUEN!" I barely manage to say before the gryphon manages to collide with a wall violently, half hitting me against the wall. The golden barrier flares against the force before shattering. My chest and back are now screaming in pain as I continue to ride on the back of the airborne gryphon.

I twist the spear and try to drive it in deeper into the gryphon's back. It lets out a screech as it quickly descends towards the ground. Seeing the floor come faster and faster my mind remembers all the times during training and I instinctually cast the QUEN spell once again, however somewhere along I subconsciously pour as much power into the spell as I possibly can.

As the gryphon dives the gold barrier of my spell begins to glow violently. Just as we both are about to hit the ground the spell shatters and explodes violently with a loud crash. The sound fills my ears, and my body feels like it went through a dryer cycle. A warm, wet feeling rolls down the side of my head, my chest feels like it's on fire, but the spear was still in my grip, and across the room the gryphon lays on its side with blood flowing form its wounds.

It weakly cries out in resistance as it struggles to get up to its feet. I struggle to get up as well and feel a weight in my pocket, signifying that Riptide had returned to me. I pull out the pen and uncap it, turning it into the three-foot-long bronze sword. The gryphon once again locks onto the glow of the sword.

"Give the beast an honorable death Percy. No tricks or cheats, it has earned an honorable end." Adamos says in a serious tone.

I get into a stance with the spear in one hand and the sword pulled back for a swing. The gryphon crouches, and I see its eyes narrow in focus. We stood there in silence, neither making a move until a silent signal sounds off and we charge together at once.

I draw on the earth power and use it to push myself forward at a faster speed. I feel the pull in my gut as I speed forward. We charge forward with the gryphon pouncing to me as I thrust the spear of ruin, but it seems as if the gryphon's superior size and strength will let it reach me first, until feel a tug in my gut that turns incredibly painful. The spear glows a burning golden white with trails of light flowing behind it. In that moment the spear accelerates forward at a blinding speed, faster than I was capable of pulling off, and the glowing spearhead extends, piercing through the gryphon's chest and out it's back and into the stone wall of the cave. It was as if a shooting star had flown from the tip of the spear.

The gryphon then falls, with the spear still it it's chest, onto its side. Its blood begins to pool after I remove the spear and it ceases to glow.

"What was that?" I ask as I look at the spear.

"My spear works with my domains. You must have forced the star domains into it to do that. Not bad Percy."

I just nod at Adamos's comments before I hear a low warble next to me. I remember the dying gryphon and I internally debate before giving in and taking a look at the eyes of the gryphon. They were a beautiful golden color, these eyes of the once majestic beast locked onto my own. There was no hatred, only acceptance before it dies. It brought back what Adamos said earlier 'Gryphons are notoriously prideful and honorable creature.' This one took me entering its lair as a challenge and fought me as an equal. I stood and bowed in respect to the beast.

"Good Percy, it is only proper to show respect to an honorable opponent. In this time there is a prayer I say to the fallen creatures I hunt. 'Oh, honorable creature. I thank you for your noble life." Adamos begins to recite in my head. I in turn repeat everything that he says. "Your death provides me with a bounty. May you receive peace and a bountiful afterlife. A-ten."

"A-ten." I finish the prayer. I began to feel guilty about taking the life of the gryphon. It was simply sleeping in its home and I came to kill it.

"Percy. Look up." Adamos says gently. I feel power coming from him as it seemed to focus in my eyes. I look up after a few moments, my gaze was stuck on its eyes, to see a pure white gryphon standing above the corpse. I immediately jump back getting both weapon's ready.

"Percy calm down!" Adamos shouts in my head.

"What do you mean calm down. There's a second gryphon right there." I exclaim, I tighten my grip for another fight, but I didn't have it in me anymore. My legs were shaking, my lungs and chest burned, and my head was killing me.

"Look closely." Adamos said calmly. I take a closer look at the gryphon, without dropping my guard, to see that it was transparent.

"What—is it…" I start.

"Yes Percy. This is the gryphon's soul. I know how you must be feeling about this, but I wanted to show you that it's all right. That like all special animals of the wild it will go to a better place." Adamos says, then if on cue the gryphon soul bows its head in a respectful manner, then silently dissolves onto wisps of light.

"Creatures like that automatically make it to Elysium Percy. It will be ok." Adamos reassures me, and I have to say that I was relieved at this. I stand there for a few more moments of silence.

"All right," Adamos says in a cheerful tone. "Time to dismantle this bad boy."

"Uhh… yeah… do you think—I mean your better than me…"
"You want me to do it don't you." Adamos says in a flat tone.

"If that's not to much trouble." I chuckle. I then feel Adamos take over as he starts to dismantle parts of the gryphon. He removes the wings, pelt, and claws and talons in record speed. Then he moves onto the treasure and starts digging through it. He pulls out old swords, tons of gold and silver coins, and a bunch of modern coins. However, what seems to draw his attention the most was a large medallion as well as a double-sided foot long dagger, both with gemstones at their centers, which he removed and tossed it into the Hestia back pack I brought along but left outside the cave. He summoned it with a snap of his fingers. Most of the treasure and the gryphon trophies were stored in the back pack.

After all that was done Adamos made his way back to the camp. I was personally to exhausted to try and slept on the way. I heard Adamos muttering about different experiments merrily, while I began to recollect everything that had happened today before drifting to sleep.

A/N: Hey ya'll. This is Momentei here in the wild west. I know that this here story was late, but I had a lot going on. Between midterms, papers and work it's been a bit hectic. Also, I've been thinking of other stories. Stories that might be interesting as a side project. Also there weren't many references in this chapter and I'm so sorry about that. It brings shame to me. Anyways I think that's all folks. Remember to leave a review because good criticism will help me write better.