Comments:

TheFourthFate4Ever:

Thanks for the compliments ^-^

I've been planning the chains for a long time, with Percy having more experience with his powers and having more thoughts on them, thanks to Armani, he instinctually made the chains. I had to wait a while for it to make sense, but I feel like I pulled it off at the right time. Also, Rachel :))) Still deciding if I'll ship her with anyone, but that's really just a side-thought as I don't really need to.

Thanks for commenting on the after-effects, it was really stressing me out when I posted it lol.

About title (Chapter definition): 'On High' - Of high functioning or acting on a high of emotions.

"Tell me when it's over," Thalia said. Her eyes were shut tight. The statue was holding on to us so we couldn't fall, but still, Thalia clutched his arm like it was the most important thing in the world.

"You're going to be fine, everything's alright," I promised.

"Are… are we very high?"

I looked down. Below us, a range of snowy mountains zipped by. I had a strong urge to stretch out my foot and kick snow off one of the peaks. But honestly, I liked my foot where it was.

"Nah," I said. "Not that high."

"We are in the Sierras.'" Zoe yelled. She and Bianca were hanging from the arms of the other statue. "I have hunted here before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours."

"Hey, hey, Frisco!" our angel said. "Yo, Chuck! We could visit those guys at the Mechanics Monument again! They know how to party!"

'The statue's name is chuck?'

That revelation wasn't nearly the strangest thing I'd heard, or seen in the past few days.

"Oh, man," the other angel said. "I am so there!"

"You guys have visited San Francisco?" I asked.

"We automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?" our statue said. "Those mechanics took us over to the de Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. And—"

"Hank!" the other statue Chuck cut in. "They're kids, man."

'Hank… Chuck and Hank, the infamous dynamic duo.'

"Oh, right." If bronze statues could blush, I swear Hank did. "Back to flying."

We sped up, so I could tell the angels were excited. The mountains fell away into hills, and then we were zipping along over farmland and towns and highways.

Bianca sat quietly, having nothing to pass the time with. Zoe got bored and started shooting arrows at random billboards as we flew by. Every time she saw a Target department store—and we passed dozens of them—she would peg the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour.

It didn't help that I yelled out very random, and increasingly annoying words every time she shot, getting me an arrow that nearly missed my face with a smug look from Zoe.

Thalia kept her eyes closed the whole way. She muttered to herself a lot, like she was praying. To be fair she probably was, not that it would really help.

"You did good back there," I told her. "Zeus listened."

It was hard to tell what she was thinking with her eyes closed.

"Maybe," she said. "How did you get away from the skeletons in the generator room, anyway? You said they cornered you."

I told her about the weird mortal girl, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who seemed to be able to see right through the Mist. I thought Thalia was going to call me crazy, but she just nodded.

"Some mortals are like that," she said. "Nobody knows why."

Suddenly I flashed on something I'd never considered.

Mom was like that. She had seen the Minotaur on Half-Blood Hill and known exactly what it was. She hadn't been surprised at all last year when I'd told her my friend Tyson was really a Cyclops. Maybe she'd known all along. No wonder she'd been so scared for me as I was growing up. She saw through the Mist even better than I did. Another thought crossed my mind.

How much had she seen Armani do?

"Well, the girl was annoying," I said. "But I'm glad I didn't impale her. That would've been bad."

Thalia nodded. "Must be nice to be a regular mortal." She said that as if she'd given it a lot of thought.

"Where do you guys want to land?" Hank asked, waking me up from a nap. I hadn't even considered falling asleep while flying like this, but it felt nice to get a bit of rest.

I looked down and stared in awe, "Whoa."

I'd seen San Francisco in pictures before but never in real life. It was probably the most beautiful city I'd ever seen: kind of like a smaller, cleaner Manhattan, if Manhattan had been surrounded by green hills and fog. There was a huge bay and ships, islands and sailboats, and the Golden Gate Bridge sticking up out of the fog. I felt like I should take a picture or something. Greetings from Frisco. Haven't Died Yet. Wish You Were Here.

"There," Zoe suggested. "By the Embarcadero Building."

"Good thinking," Chuck said. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons."

We all looked at him.

"Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humor?"

As it turned out, there wasn't much need to blend in. It was early morning and not many people were around. We freaked out a homeless guy on the ferry dock when we landed. He screamed when he saw Hank and Chuck and ran off yelling something about metal angels from Mars.

We said our good-byes to the angels, who flew off to party with their statue friends. That's when I realized I had no idea what we were going to do next.

We'd made it to the West Coast. Artemis was here somewhere, I hoped. But we still had no idea how to find her, and tomorrow was the winter solstice. We didn't even have any clue what monster Artemis had been hunting. It was supposed to find us on the quest. It was supposed to "show the trail," but it never had. Now we were stuck on the ferry dock with not much money, no friends, and no luck.

What would Armani say if she saw me moping like this?

'Probably kick your ass.' I thought.

After a brief discussion, we agreed that we needed to figure out just what this mystery monster was.

"But how?" I asked.

"Nereus," Bianca said.

I looked at her. "What?"

"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do? Find Nereus?"

I nodded. I'd completely forgotten my last conversation with the sun god. "The old man of the sea," I remembered. "I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. But how do I find him?"

Zoe made a face. "Old Nereus, eh?"

"You know him?" Thalia asked.

"My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him." She clicked her tongue distastefully, "Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Come," she said without enthusiasm. "I'll show you."

I knew I was in trouble when we stopped at the Goodwill drop box. Five minutes later, Zoe had me outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.

"Oh, Percy," Bianca said, trying not to laugh but failing badly, "You look like…"

Zoe grinned with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."

"And I thought we were becoming friends," I grumbled. "Why am I doing this again?"

"I told you. You have to blend in."

She led us back down to the waterfront. We spent a long while searching the docks, it was Zoe who finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down a pier where a bunch of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch.

"He should be down there somewhere," Zoe said. "He's never far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."

"How do I know which one is him?"

"Sneak up," she said. "Pretend to be homeless. You will know when you meet him. He will smell… different."

"Great." I didn't want to ask for particulars, plus I doubted she'd tell me anyway. "And once I find him?"

"Grab him," she said. "And hold on. He will try anything to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster."

"We've got your back," Thalia said. She picked something off the back of my shirt—a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. "Eww. On second thought… I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."

Bianca gave me a big thumbs-up, that damn smirk still plastered all over her face.

I grumbled how nice it was to have super-powerful friends, truly a treasure. Then I headed toward the dock.

I pulled my hat down and stumbled like I was about to pass out, which wasn't hard considering how tired I was. I passed our homeless friend from the Embarcadero, who was still trying to warn the other guys about the metal angels from Mars.

He didn't smell good, but he didn't smell… different. I kept walking.

A couple of grimy dudes with plastic grocery bags for hats checked me out as I came close. "Beat it, kid!" one of them muttered.

I moved away. They smelled pretty bad, but just regular old bad. Nothing unusual.

'Gods, Armani would have done this in seconds…'

I shook my head and kept looking. There was a lady with a bunch of plastic flamingos sticking out of a shopping cart. She glared at me like I was going to steal her birds.

At the end of the pier, a guy who looked about a million years old was passed out in a patch of sunlight. He wore pajamas and a fuzzy bathrobe that probably used to be white. He was fat, with a white beard that had turned yellow, kind of like Santa Claus, if Santa had been rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill.

And his smell?

As I got closer, I froze. He smelled bad, all right—but ocean bad. Like hot seaweed and dead fish and brine. If the ocean had an ugly side… this guy was it. I tried not to gag as I sat down near him like I was tired. Santa opened one eye suspiciously. I could feel him staring at me, but I didn't look. I muttered something about stupid school and stupid parents, figuring that might sound reasonable.

Santa Claus went back to sleep.

I tensed. I knew this was going to look strange. I didn't know how the other homeless people would react. But I jumped Santa Claus.

"Ahhhhh!" he screamed. I meant to grab him, but he seemed to grab me instead. It was as if he'd never been asleep at all. He certainly didn't act like a weak old man. He had a grip like steel. "Help me!" he screamed as he squeezed me to death.

"That's a crime!" one of the other homeless guys yelled. "Kid rolling an old man like that!"

I rolled, all right—straight down the pier until my head slammed into a post. I was dazed for a second, and Nereus's grip slackened. He was making a break for it. Before he could, I regained my senses and let the chains of water snake from under my sleeves, they caught him and I quickly rushed over.

"I don't have any money!" He tried to get up and run, but I willed the chains to lock tight around his midsection. I wondered what the mortals saw, most likely me tackling the man myself.

Gods, I loved the Mist.

"I don't want money," I said as he fought. "I'm a half-blood! I want information."

That just made him struggle harder. "Heroes! Why do you always pick on me?"

"Because apparently you know everything!" I grunted.

He growled and tried to shake his way out of the chains. I still wasn't very good with them, just using them like this was like holding back a wall of water.

He thrashed around, making it impossible for me to keep on my feet, but I gritted my teeth and squeezed the chains tighter. We staggered toward the edge of the pier and I got an idea.

"Oh, no!" I said. "Not the water!"

Somehow, even with the obvious use of water abilities, my plan worked. Immediately, Nereus yelled in triumph and jumped off the edge. Together, we plunged into San Francisco Bay.

He must've been surprised when I was able to firmly hold him in place, more so than before, the ocean filling me with extra strength. But Nereus had a few tricks left, too. He changed shape until I was holding a sleek black seal.

Now, I've heard people make jokes about trying to hold a greased pig, but I'm telling you, holding on to a seal in the water is harder. Nereus plunged straight down, wriggling and thrashing and spiraling through the dark water. If I hadn't been Poseidon's son, there's no way I could've stayed with him. It would have been easier to catch an arrow out of the air.

Nereus spun and expanded, turning into a killer whale, but I grabbed his dorsal fin as he burst out of the water.

A whole bunch of tourists went, "Whoa!"

I managed to wave at the crowd. Nereus plunged into the water and turned into a slimy eel. I manipulated the water to keep him in one spot until he realized what was going on and changed back to human form. "Why won't you drown?" he wailed, pummeling me with his fists.

"I'm Poseidon's son, kinda comes with the territory" I said.

"Curse that upstart! I was here first!"

Finally, we surfaced and he collapsed on the edge of the boat dock. Above us was one of those tourist piers lined with shops, like a mall on water. Nereus was heaving and gasping. I was feeling great. I could've gone on all day, but I didn't tell him that. I wanted him to feel like he'd put up a good fight.

My friends ran down the steps from the pier.

"You got him!" Zoe said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Zoe, but I didn't see you wrestle an eel." I said.

Nereus moaned. "Oh, wonderful. An audience for my humiliation! The normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your question?"

"I've got more than one question," I said.

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."

I looked at my friends.

This wasn't good. We needed to find Artemis, and we needed to figure out what the doomsday creature was. I was even more tempted to ask if Armani was still alive somewhere, but how could I summarize all of that in one question?

A voice inside me was screaming to ask the latter, is she alive?! That's what I cared about most. But then I imagined what she would say, what she would do if she knew. She'd beat my ass six ways to Sunday and I'd deserve it. Zoe would want me to ask about Artemis, but Chiron had told us the monster was even more important.

I sighed, pushing a hand through my hair. "All right, Nereus. Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting."

The Old Man of the Sea smiled, showing off his misshapen mossy green teeth.

"Oh, that's too easy," he said evilly. "He's right there, in your precious domain."

Nereus pointed to the water at my feet.

"Where?" I said.

"The deal is complete!" Nereus gloated. With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and did a backflip into the sea.

"You tricked me, asshole!" I yelled.

"Wait." Thalia's eyes widened. "What is that?"

"MOOOOOOOO!"

I looked down, and there was my friend, the cow serpent, swimming next to the dock. She nudged my shoe and gave me sad brown eyes.

"Ah, Bessie," I said. "Please, not now."

"Mooo!"

Zoe gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."

"Wait, how can you understand her- uh, him? That's not a hunter thing."

Zoe blinked, "I'm not sure, it just sounded like anyone else talking, is this another ability I have now?" She looked down at her hands with slight confusion on her face.

I rubbed my eyes, glancing at Zoe before looking back at the monster, "Well, it looks like that even dead, she's still doing something." I sighed, "let's just hope it's permanent."

Zoe tilted her head as she listened. "It's form of speech sounds even older than my own. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."

"The Serpent bull?"

The others looked at me like I'd grown another head, "Look, Armani made me study, that's the only reason I know any of this stuff." I whined indignantly, while Bianca and Zoe snickered slightly.

"Well, at least you're right," Thalia said. "But what's it doing here?"

"Moooooooo!"

"He says Percy is his protector," Zoe said, looking at me with a strange look in her eyes.

"He says he has been fleeing from 'bad people', they are close."

How the hell did you get all of that out of one moo?" I asked somewhat seriously.

"Wait," Bianca said, looking at me. "You know this thing?"

Before I could answer, the fish cow moo'd in protest, "I don't think Bessie likes being called a 'thing', Bianca." I snarked back, sounding a bit more biting than I meant to.

I was feeling impatient, too many questions and not enough answers, and it was all coming to a head. But I took a breath, counting down from thirteen.

"Why Thirteen?"

"I dunno, it's important to me, I guess…"

I shook my head, the memory was a mixed bag for me, but either way it wasn't the time to think about it now.

Thalia shook her head in disbelief. "So you just forgot to mention this before?"

"Well… yeah." I said, it irked me how much they thought I could remember, but I understood it. It was just that Bessie, the Ophiotaurus, seemed like a minor detail.

"I am a fool," Zoe said suddenly. "I know this story!"

"What story?"

"From the War of the Titans," she said. "My… my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. This is the beast we are looking for."

"Bessie?" I looked down at the bull serpent. "But… he's too cute. How could he destroy the world?."

"That is how we were wrong," Zoe said. "We've been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."

"How could anyone hurt him?" I said. "He's harmless."

Zoe nodded. "But there is power in killing innocence. A terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy eons ago, when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the gods."

"MMMMMM!"

Zoe winced, "Ok, maybe We should avoid any more sacrifice talk."

Thalia stared at the cow serpent with wonder. "The power to destroy the gods… how? I mean, what would happen?"

"No one knows," Zoe said. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her.

"We have to protect him," I told her. "If Luke gets hold of him—"

"Luke wouldn't hesitate," Thalia muttered. "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's… that's huge."

"Yes, it is, my dear," said a man's voice in a heavy French accent. "And it is a power you shall unleash."

The Ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged.

I looked up. We'd been so busy talking, we'd allowed ourselves to be ambushed. Standing behind us, his two-color eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr. Thorn, the manticore himself.

"This is just pairrr-fect," the manticore gloated.

He was wearing a ratty black trench coat over his Westover Hall uniform, which was torn and stained. His military haircut had grown out spiky and greasy. He hadn't shaved recently, so his face was covered in silver stubble. Basically, he didn't look much better than the guys down at the soup kitchen.

"Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia," the manticore said. "I was forced to scrounge for food on the edges of the world, hiding in forests, devouring insignificant human farmers for my meals. I never got to fight any great heroes. I was not feared and admired in the old stories! But now that will change. The Titans shall honor me, and I shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods!"

On either side of him stood two armed security guys, some of the mortal mercenaries I'd seen in D.C. Two more stood on the next boat dock over, just in case we tried to escape that way. There were tourists all around—walking down the waterfront, shopping at the pier above us—there was no way this would stop The Manticore from coming after us.

"Where are your skeletons?" I asked the manticore.

He sneered. "I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

I needed time to think. I had to make sure Bessie was safe. I could dive into the sea, but I couldn't make it away with the serpent cow in tow, and how would I get my friends?

"We beat you once before," I said, feeling the chains snaking around my forearms.

"Ha! You could barely fight me with that huntress spawn by your side, and I see no sight of her now. A shame really, there will be no help for you now."

Zoe notched an arrow and aimed it straight at the manticore's head. The guards on either side of us raised their guns.

"Wait!" I said. "Zoe, stop!"

The manticore smiled. "The boy is right, Zoe Nightshade. Put away your bow. It would be a shame to kill you before you witnessed Thalia's great victory."

"What are you talking about?" Thalia growled. She had her shield and spear ready.

"Surely it is clear," the manticore said. "This is your moment. This is why Lord Kronos brought you back to life. You will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. You will gain unlimited power. And for your sixteenth birthday, you will overthrow Olympus."

No one spoke. It made terrible sense. Thalia was the only other child of the Big Three, and while she may have been a while off from turning sixteen, she was still older than me by a few months, making her Kronos' prime target. She had a choice, a terrible choice that could mean the end of the gods. It was just like the prophecy said.

I waited for Thalia to tell the manticore off, but she said nothing.

"You know it is the right choice," the manticore told her. "Your friend Luke recognized it. You shall be reunited with him. You shall rule this world together under the auspices of the Titans. Your father abandoned you, Thalia. He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him. Crush the Olympians underfoot, as they deserve. Call the beast! It will come to you. Use your spear."

"Thalia," I said, nodding at her.

She looked at me and took a deep breath, "Gods, you're a lot dumber than I thought if you think I'd go along with that."

The manticore snarled, "What?!"

Thalia snorted, her spear growing in her hands as she shifted her stance slightly, "If there's one thing I've learned on this quest, it's that my family is very important to me."

Bianca flinched and Thorn growled, waving his hand at the guards who aimed their weapons.

The guards had been targeting Zoe and fired off their weapons, I yelled in panic and the chains responded in kind, lashing out and barely stopping the bullets, the other was sent for the guards and wrapped them up before throwing them.

The manticore shot spines in our direction, but I turned quickly and they ricocheted off my lion's coat, which had turned into a normal coat at some point during the night.

"Zoe," I said, "tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down!"

Zoe shouted something incoherent and I could only hope that Bessie got the message.

"We should move," Thalia muttered, looking at the recovering guards.

"Come on!" I pulled her along as we ran up the stairs to the shopping center on the pier.

We dashed around the corner of the nearest store. I heard the manticore shouting at his minions, "Get them!" Tourists screamed as the guards shot blindly into the air.

We scrambled to the end of the pier. We hid behind a little kiosk filled with souvenir crystals—wind chimes and dream catchers and stuff like that, glittering in the sunlight. There was a water fountain next to us. Down below, a bunch of sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks. The whole of San Francisco Bay spread out before us: the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the green hills and fog beyond that to the north. A picture-perfect moment, except for the fact that we were about to die and the world was going to end.

I racked my brain trying to think of a way out, I couldn't risk using the water without hurting the mortals. I was never the best at planning anything, that was Armani's whole gig, not mine, I didn't have the brain for it.

"Go over the side!" Zoe told me. "You can escape in the sea, Percy. Call on thy father for help. Maybe you can save the Ophiotaurus."

She was right, and Armani would tell me the same. But this was my decision and I couldn't do it.

"I won't leave you guys," I said. "I split up once, I won't do it again."

"You have to let the camp know!" Bianca said. "Someone needs to tell them!"

I was about to argue when Bianca's words suddenly gave me an idea, I looked at the crystals making rainbows in the sunlight. There was a drinking fountain next to me…

"Get word to camp," I muttered. "Good idea."

I thrust my hands forward and pierced the top of the water fountain. Water burst out of the busted pipe and sprayed all over us. Thalia and Bianca suddenly gasped as the water hit them, the sheer cold making them tense.

But Zoe understood. She was already fishing around in his pockets for a coin. She threw a golden drachma into the rainbows created by the mist and yelled, "O goddess, accept my offering!"

The mist rippled.

"Camp Half-Blood!" I said.

And there, shimmering in the Mist right next to us, was the last person I wanted to see: Mr. D, wearing his leopard-skin jogging suit and rummaging through the refrigerator.

He looked up lazily. "Do you mind?"

"Where's Chiron!" I shouted.

"How rude." Mr. D took a swig from a jug of grape juice. "Is that how you say hello?"

"Hello," I quickly amended, my eyebrow twitching. "We're about to die! Where. Is. Chiron?"

Mr. D considered me. I wanted to scream at him to hurry up, but I knew that wouldn't work. Behind us, footsteps and shouting—the manticore's troops were closing in.

"About to die, huh?" Mr. D mused. "How exciting. I'm afraid Chiron isn't here. Would you like me to take a message?"

I looked at my friends. "Oh my gods, we're so dead."

Thalia gripped her spear. She looked angry. "Then we'll die fighting."

"How noble," Mr. D said, stifling a yawn. "So what is the problem, exactly?"

I didn't see that it would make any difference, but I told him about the Ophiotaurus.

"Mmm." He studied the contents of the fridge. "So that's it. I see. Interesting"

"You don't even care!" I screamed. "You'd just as soon watch us die!"

"Let's see. I think I'm in the mood for pizza tonight."

I wanted to slash through the rainbow and disconnect, but there was no time. The manticore screamed, "There!" And we were surrounded. Two of the guards stood behind him.

The other two appeared on the roofs of the pier shops above us. The manticore threw off his coat and transformed into his true self, his lion claws extended and his spiky tail bristling with poison barbs.

"Excellent," he said. He glanced at the apparition in the mist and snorted. "Alone, without any real help. Wonderful."

"You could ask for help," Mr. D murmured to me as if this were an amusing thought.

"You could say please."

When wild boars fly, I thought. There was no way I was going to die begging a slob like Mr. D, just so he could laugh as we all got gunned down.

Zoe readied her arrows. Bianca pulled out her knife. Thalia raised her shield, and I noticed a tear running down her cheek. Suddenly it occurred to me: this had happened to her before. She had been cornered on Half-Blood Hill. She'd willingly given her life for her friends. But this time, she couldn't make that play. There was nothing we could do. For once, I wanted to let the ocean free, let it drown my enemies.

But the risk was too great.

"Please, Mr. D," I muttered, the last-ditch effort I could only hope would work. "Help."

Of course, nothing happened.

The manticore grinned. "Spare the daughter of Zeus. She will join us soon enough. Kill the others."

The men raised their guns, and something strange happened. You know how you feel when all the blood rushes to your head, like when you sit up too quickly after laying down for a long time? There was a rush like that all around me, and a sound like a huge sigh. The sunlight tinged with purple. I smelled grapes and something more sour— wine.

SNAP!

It was the sound of many minds breaking at the same time. The sound of madness. One guard put his pistol between his teeth and pulled the trigger, blood and brain matter flying everywhere, if people weren't running before they definitely were now. Two others dropped their guns and fell to the ground laughing like madmen, they clawed at their own skin until they bled. The fourth looked like he had an epiphany and started walking away before he collapsed.

"No!" screamed the manticore. "I will deal with you myself!"

His tail bristled, but the planks under his paws erupted into grapevines, which immediately began wrapping around the monster's body, sprouting new leaves and clusters of green baby grapes that ripened in seconds as the manticore shrieked, until he was engulfed in a huge mass of vines, leaves, and full clusters of purple grapes. Finally, the grapes stopped shivering, and I had a feeling that somewhere inside there, the manticore was no more.

"Well," said Dionysus, closing his refrigerator. "That was fun."

I stared at him, horrified at what I'd just witnessed. "How could you… How did you—"

"Such gratitude," he muttered. "I did what was necessary, and it looks like I'll be writing a report to father." He sighed.

"Mr. D," Bianca said in amazement and slight horror. "You… you saved us."

"Mmm. Don't make me regret it, Hunter. Now get going, Percy Jackson. I've bought you a few hours at most."

"The Ophiotaurus," I said, snapping out of my disgust at the actions of the madmen. "Can you get it to camp?"

Mr. D sniffed. "I do not transport livestock. That's your problem."

"But where do we go?"

Dionysus looked at Zoe. "Oh, I think the huntress knows. You must enter at sunset today, you know, or all is lost. Now good-bye. My pizza is waiting."

"Mr. D," I said.

He raised his eyebrow.

"You called me by my right name," I said. "You called me Percy Jackson."

"I most certainly did not, Peter Johnson. Now off with you!"

He waved his hand, and his image disappeared in the mist.

All around us, the manticore's minions' bodies were strewn about, the two bleeding were still alive, I could tell that much. The one with the gun, however…

I looked at Zoe. "What did he mean… 'You know where to go'?"

Her face was the color of the fog. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate. In the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer.

"The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."

…

…

…

The shade stepped onto through the threshold, feeling the door slam loudly behind them. The sound of the door made them jump and it took them a moment to calm back down. When they did finally calm down, they took a glance around the space they currently occupied.

Her eyes widened as she eyed the large hall that stood before her, large ornate pillars lined the open room, it was very sparse, only a long carpet and a large throne occupied the room. Not counting the people in it of course. The figure on the throne felt like they demanded attention, the shade moved closer when they realized no one had seen them yet despite the loud door or the lack of cover.

When approaching, the shade saw the one upon the throne was a woman, a queen perhaps. She was garbed in a black dress, it was an odd dress, however, it was lined with silver armor running from the shoulders to her wrists, it was a beautiful design.

Their thoughts were suddenly interrupted as the door they had previously entered slammed open, two large men holding a much younger man in between them. The man didn't struggle, but kept his head down. The only noticeable things about him was his long black hair that protruded from the hood, and that when he approached, they noticed he was not a man, but a teen. They looked no older than fifteen.

When they had crossed the entire length of the room to the throne, he was pushed down to his knees in front of the throne. The teen grunted and he bucked forward for a moment before righting himself. The woman dressed in black stood and made her way down the stairs from her throne.

"Easy with this one," She scolded, her gaze anything but forgiving as she looked at the two men, "it would not be right to treat our chosen champion as such, would it?"

The teen flinched, lifting his head slightly, "I think you have the wrong guy, my queen," He stood unsteadily, picking at the pouch on his belt, "I am but a simple Hunter, I'm no champion." His voice was low, much lower, the shad suspected than what it would sound like normally. How they knew this information, the shade couldn't say, but they weren't confident in their analysis.

They turned back to watch the conversation unfold, the queen reached forward to touch the hood, "Oh?" She smiled coyly, "So a simple 'hunter' wears a cloak that can hide their aura?" Her hand struck quickly, faster than the teen could move to grab it, and pulled the hood down. As soon as she did the entire room flooded with a huge aura, one so large that it sent the men down to their knees.

The queen just smirked at the feeling enveloping the room, "And just happens to have a star shaped birthmark above their right shoulder blade?"

"How did you-?" The boy stepped back, his face was calm, but his eyes darted back and forth, looking for an escape possibly, or maybe just taking in the situation.

"I didn't, but you just confirmed my theories." She snapped her fingers while holding out her palm to her side, as she did, a glowing blue cube appeared above it. It slowly dematerialized and disappeared, and a sheaf of papers dropped into her hand.

"Son of the renowned huntress, the only recorded next of kin, no recorded father. You've been making money by taking small jobs and dungeon hopping." She sifted through the papers, not looking up at the teen as he grew paler, "A dangerous job for one so young, but not for a son of the huntress I'm sure."

The teen's face shifted from surprise to anger as this 'Huntress' was mentioned, and he reached forward, grabbing the papers and not even sparing them a second glance as a silver flame engulfed the papers and they turned to ashes.

When the men moved to restrain him, the queen held up a hand, looking at the young man in front of her and drinking in the aura around them, which had just changed from a calm ocean, to a rolling storm.

"Tell me, how is the huntress? No one has heard from, or seen, her in years."

The teen swallowed, "Gone" He looked up to one of the windows, it was hard to see through the stained glass, but you could see the stormy clouds outside the large room.

The queen looked surprised, "Gone? Is she…?"

The question was obviously implied, and the teen just shook his head, "Dunno. There one night, gone the next," his hand reached to his back like he was expecting to find something there, only to have his hand grasp empty air when he found nothing. His breath shuddered, "I don't want to be rude, but what do you want with me? I doubt the queen of Rygis wants to see me to chat about my day jobs."

The queen's eyes roamed over the boy, "The Gods have chosen a champion, and I believe it to be you."

The teen snorted and turned around, walking a few feet as the shade and queen watched, watching as he quickly murmured to himself before turning back around, "Let's say that I believe you, what makes you think that I'm this champion of prophecy?"

The queen shifted and put her hand out again, snapping, and a small book appeared in her hand, she handed it to the teen, "The last page," She directed, "I record any major event in this book."

The teen looked at it, and the shade peered over his shoulder, quickly scanning the page with him.

Son of the Hunt, Son of Fate

Born to Hunt, Those of Hate

None can hide under his gaze

The moon his guide, his steadfast companion

The teen looked back up at the queen, his gaze neutral, "Where did you hear this?" He asked.

The queen took the book back and sent it away with a flick of her wrist, "A dream. I heard it in one of my dreams." She stated simply, drawing an eyebrow raise from the teen.

"A dream? I'm sorry, but if that's what you heard this from, then I'm going to assume you're crazy and I'm not needed here," He twisted on his heel and headed towards the door, no one moved to stop him.

"Our country is about to go to war, we need someone of your skill." She called out to the retreating back of the teen.

He halted suddenly, not turning around as he spoke, "Skill? I think you're confusing reputation with actual records. I'm no more skilled than anyone else my age-"

The shades eyes widened as the teen whipped around and fired off a short range blast of silver light, a knife that had been aimed at his back fell to the ground, almost all of the blade had been completely disintegrated. He looked down at his hand and cursed.

"You were saying?" The queen asked smugly, striding forward slowly.

The teen grumbled, "I don't really have a choice in this do I?" His eyes looked sad, and his shoulders sagged, looking utterly defeated as he stood there.

The queen reached him and put a hand on his shoulder, "We always have a choice, always. It's time you make your's, Ren Caelum."

The name sent alarm bells through the shades head, a sudden rush of memories bombarded them, things they couldn't understand. Bodies, large explosions, chains, cauldrons of blood, a jade sword, and yelling. Lots of yelling.

The shade fell to the ground as the scene shifted to another place completely.

She watched with a thundering headache as a woman and a small boy sat around a campfire, the two huddled close.

"Come now, pup, nothing will hurt you as long as I'm here. You do have my charm after all." The woman chuckled, the child fingered a small wooden charm hanging from a cord on their neck, a wing with an arrow through it.

"Mom," he said quietly, "is it true? What the villagers said? That you wanted a daughter instead of me?"

The mother looked down quickly in surprise, a quick flash of anger filled her eyes before they shifted to sadness, but the shade could still feel the large amount of killing intent go as soon as it came.

"No, pup," She tousled his hair, "I love you so much, you're my little pride and joy, and I wouldn't trade you for anything." She pulled him closer, "Never let the words of others skew your thoughts, they do not know you as you do yourself."

The boy hummed quietly, hugging his mother back.

The mother looked back at the fire in front of them, watching as the sparks sprung from the flame and quickly died out. "I did have a name for whichever sex you may have been, however, I feel this is a rather common occurrence."

The boy looked up, his turn to be surprised this time. "What was it," he asked, "The other name?"

The woman looked at him briefly before looking back, "Armani, Armani Caelum."

The shade suddenly felt an immense rage overcome them as the headache suddenly became too much and everything, again, faded to black.

Author's Notes:

Would you guys like to see some character profiles at some point?

I'm pretty happy with this chapter for once. The changes may seem rather small atm, but next chapter is when the ball should really get rolling. Even though there have already been some major changes. ;)

Chapter 14 shouldn't come out too long after this one, it's already partially done and I have had this one planned for a longggg time.

For my random tidbit of knowledge this week: Did you know all my fics exist in a contained multiverse? They have since I started planning this out 3 years ago, and every MC is a variation of Armani. Including the other 5 fics I write.

...

As I post this I realize I only have less than half the fics posted here than I post on AO3.

Another tidbit: I have 4 fics that I focus on majorly, with one-shots sprinkled around here and there.

Here's a question: I'm writing an AU for Armani and the gang (that I can't really get into atm unless people wanna be spoiled lol) that will be implemented as a canon event later down the line. So, what are some cool things you'd like to see some of the characters do? I might end up taking a liking to any ideas lol.

Until next time,

-Dredgen