Michael
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Bianca seemed to take the news pretty well. She was going on a quest to save Artemis from whatever captured her. She did seem to have a little bit of a panic attack, but I helped her calm down easily enough.
She begged me not to tell Nico, to which I agreed, though I was confused. There was something no one was telling me. The way Percy and Zoe looked so uncomfortable at my suggestion of Bianca going on the quest. Percy's insistence that someone else goes. Even his words to me after the meeting.
"Don't lose Bianca."
Like hell I was going to. I wasn't going to lose anyone on this quest.
The next morning, we set out, using the camp's van. The Hunter Zoe had chosen couldn't come, unfortunately. Apparently, the Stolls had played a prank on the cabin and she was given a shirt that had centaur blood on the inside of it. Not fatal, but she wouldn't be getting up for a few weeks.
We drove all the way to Maryland without stopping, and even then, our break was brief. Zoe drove like a madwoman, weaving in and out of traffic, all the way to D.C.
I, thankfully, slept through most of it. Unfortunately, I dreamed for most of it, as well.
I was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic and I couldn't see the sky above—just a close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave.
Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to rums.
I turned around wildly. My eyes fell upon something heartbreaking.
A young girl, maybe 15 or 16 with filthy brown hair, was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around her, fog swirling hungrily. Her clothes were in tatters and her face was scratched and drenched with sweat.
"How is our mortal guest?" a male voice boomed. His voice was deep, like deeper than Beckendorf's. Its force made the ground vibrate.
A kid with salt-and-pepper hair stepped forward from the shadows. He was around Luke's height, maybe a little shorter. One of his eyes was a dark blue, the other a milky white. A lot like Luke, but the eyes were opposite. Luke's scarred eye was on his left side, this kid's was on his right.
A name rang in my head. Lace. This must've been Kronos's puppet.
He knelt beside the girl, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading. We must hurry."
The deep voice chuckled. It belonged to someone in the shadows, at the edge of my dream. Then a meaty hand thrust someone forward into the light—Artemis—her hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains.
I gasped. Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places, and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods.
"You heard the boy," said the man in the shadows. "Decide!"
Artemis's eyes flashed with anger. I didn't know why she just didn't will the chains to burst, or make herself disappear, but she didn't seem able to. Maybe the chains prevented her, or some magic about this dark, horrible place.
The goddess looked at the girl and her expression changed to concern and outrage. "How dare you torture a maiden like this!"
"She will die soon," Lace said. "You can save her."
The girl made a weak sound of protest. My heart felt like it was being twisted into a knot.
"Free my hands," Artemis said.
Lace brought out his sword. With one expert strike, he broke the goddess's handcuffs.
Artemis ran to the girl and took the burden from her shoulders. The girl collapsed on the ground and lay there shivering. Artemis staggered, trying to support the weight of the black rocks.
The man in the shadows chuckled. "You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis."
"You surprised me," the goddess said, straining under her burden. "It will not happen again."
"Indeed it will not," the man said. "Now you are out of the way for good! I knew you could not resist helping a young maiden. That is, after all, your specialty, my dear."
Artemis groaned. "You know nothing of mercy, you swine."
"On that," the man said, "we can agree. Lace, you may kill the girl now."
"No!'" Artemis shouted.
Lace hesitated. "She—she may yet be useful, sir.. Further bait."
"Bah! You truly believe that?"
"Yes, General. They will come for her. I'm sure."
The man considered. "Then the dracaenae can guard her here. Assuming she does not die from her injuries, you may keep her alive until winter solstice. After that, if our sacrifice goes as planned, her life will be meaningless. The lives of all mortals will be meaningless."
Lace gathered up the girl's listless body and carried her away from the goddess.
"You will never find the monster you seek," Artemis said. "Your plan will fail."
"How little you know, my young goddess," the man in the shadows said. "Even now, your darling attendants begin their quest to find you. They shall play directly into my hands. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet your Hunters and make sure their quest is... challenging."
The man's laughter echoed in the darkness, shaking the ground until it seemed the whole cavern ceiling would collapse.
I woke with a start. Bianca and Thalia glanced at me worriedly but I shook my head.
"Weird dream," I breathed. I looked over to where Zoe sat in the driver's seat. She was watching me through the rear view mirror.
I steady my breathing. "Where are we?"
"Pulling up to the Smithsonian," Thalia told me. "You sure you're alright?"
"Yeah." I got up and stumbled to the front. I looked out the windshield at the great museum. Always wanted to come here.
"Well, now you get to," Zoe said, putting the car in park.
Had I spoken aloud?
"Come on," Zoe said, getting out. "Let's get something to eat before our train leaves."
"Burgers?" Thalia proposed.
"I'm partial to chicken fingers," I added.
"A Burger King, then," Zoe decided. "Let's go."
Burger King was good, as always. After we finished eating, we had another half an hour until our train left, so we decided to walk around the Smithsonian.
The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips.
We were walking in the space section when Thalia was knocked into an Apollo space capsule by a tall kid with brown hair. Before he could regain his balance, Zoe and Bianca had arrows notched, aimed at his chest. Their bows had just appeared out of nowhere.
"Wait," I said, putting my arm in front of them. The kid regained his balance and I recognized him. "Killian? What are you doing here?"
"Long story," he breathed. "There are bad guys here. Someone called Lace, then the guy with heterochromia from the school, and some big guy called the General. He didn't look like the autoinsurence version."
"Autoinsurence?" Zoe, Bianca, and I said at the same time.
Thalia rolled her eyes. "He means the mascot. Whatever! What else did they say?"
"There's no time. Skeleton warriors—"
"What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?"
"Twelve," Killian said. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you over here. A monster."
Zoe and Bianca exchanged looks.
"Is it what it was last time?" Thalia asked.
"I'm afraid it might be," Zoe breathed. "Come! Let us flee back to the van!"
"Wait," I said, putting my hands up. "Do you three know what's going on?"
"It's a long story, Michael," Thalia said. "We'll tell you later. Right now, we need to-"
Everyone froze, I heard a growl so loud I thought one of the rocket engines was starting up.
Below us, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"
Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur.
"The Nemean Lion," Thalia said. "Don't move."
The lion roared so loud it parted my hair. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel.
"Separate on my mark," Zoe said. "Try to keep it distracted."
"Until when?" Killian asked.
"Until I think of a way to kill it."
"No," I said before they could all pounce away. The lion felt...familiar, for some reason. Like...like it was family.
"No?" Zoe exclaimed. "Are you daft?"
"Possibly," I admitted, but didn't back down. I stared at the lion, who glared at me with silver eyes. Strange, since it's fur was golden.
I stepped forward and raised my hand palm out. Out of the corner of my eye, Zoe looked like she wanted to scream at me, but hesitated when a silver light began to emit from my hand.
The lion tilted it's head curiously. Its eyes seemed to pulse with the same glow. It pushed forward until it's muzzle was resting against my hand.
"Μεγάλε αδερφέ μου, μην ψάχνεις την οργή πια. Η μητέρα μας μας ενώνει, δεν βλέπεις; Ηρέμησε και έλα μαζί μας. Μην είσαι πιόνι πια, αδερφέ."
I don't know where the language came from, or even what I was saying. All I knew was that as the words spilled from my mouth, the lion seemed to calm down.
The silvery light from my hand vanished. The lion sat down in front of us and licked its paw.
I turned to face the others. "Well, that seems to be taken care of."
They all stared at me with wide eyes. Zoe especially seemed shaken.
"You...You spoke Greek," she managed. "Ho...How?" Her stammering seemed to snap Thalia out of her shock.
"I don't think I've ever heard you stutter," Thalia said.
"I've never seen one calm the Nemean Lion," Zoe said in answer. She stared at the lion in awe. "Do you know what you said?"
I shook my head. "Not a clue."
"'Great brother of mine, seek rage no more. Our mother binds us together, do you not see? Be calm, and come with us. Be a pawn no more, brother.'" Zoe looked at me. "So my lady was not lying when she called you the child of her predecessor. You are a child of Selene, the Titaness of the Moon, the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia."
"Oh." I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah. Child of a Titan. You don't hate me for that, do you?"
Zoe shook her head. "I would be the greatest hypocrite if I did."
"Wait, if you're the child of this moon goddess," Killian said, starting to pace, "and you called this thing 'brother,' does that mean the lion is a son of Selene, too?"
Zoe seemed impressed. "Very astute, boy. Yes, the Nemean Lion is, in a way, a child of Selene. Legends say that the Nemean Lion fell from the moon at the order of Hera. It is because of this that it is believed that Selene had something to do with it's upbringing."
The lion meowed, shaking the entire floor.
"Uh, can you do something about it?" Thalia asked, gripping the railing tightly. "Otherwise he might bring down this entire floor with his purring alone."
"I can try," I said. I turned to the lion, who regarded me with his silver eyes. "Hey, uh, lion buddy. Brother, I guess. Can you, uh, can you do something so we don't cause anymore damage? Like...maybe you can grow smaller?"
"Grow smaller," Thalia repeated. "Gods, sometimes I forget English is your second language."
But for all her whining, it seemed to work. The lion began to shrink. It kept going until it was the size of a small kitten.
"Uh, okay." I reached down and picked him up. "I guess you can hang on my shoulder."
It meowed and crawled up my arm and began to lounge around on my shoulder.
"Sei sicuro che sei fantastico," Bianca muttered in Italian. Zoe's eyes shot open at her words but was quickly distracted by whatever she laid eyes on.
"We need to go," she said. "Look."
Through the glass walls of the museum, I could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Gray men in gray camouflage outfits. They were too far away for us to see their eyes, but I could tell their gaze was aimed at Killian.
"Let's get to the station," Thalia agreed. "C'mon!"
