Chapter 4
Demigod dreams suck. When Percy finally managed to fall asleep he dreamt of a young black haired girl around his age running from a thin man with a sword. It appeared that they were in a Casino of some sort, and many men were trying to surround her. She was shepherding a boy of about ten years of age with dark black messy hair as if he had just been woken up from a nap. The girl was wearing a floppy green hat that covered some of her face, but in the panic it was obvious that her face likely was filled with fear. The two looked to be siblings in Percy's opinion as the Olive skin was sort of unique, and they were both shorter than what their ages probably should have had them be.
The man was cursing them saying that their kind shouldn't be allowed to live. The man swore at them calling their father an Oath breaker, and that they should not be allowed to live any longer. The girl in a panic screamed and waved her hands, knocking three full grown men over with a black translucent wall that came straight from out of the ground. She turned to swing her hand, but it was intercepted by the man with the sword and two others grabbed her roughly by the hands and feet. She was kicking and screaming though trying to get to the younger boy who had been carried off by other men. They ended up having to knock the boy into unconsciousness as the ground rumbled around him in his fury of watching his sister get taken away
With the ground rumbling around them Percy wondered if these were more children of Neptune, possibly his siblings? Who else could control the ground like that, because clearly they were demigods.
The images shifted to a dark black place with red like haze in the air. An ear splitting laughter rang throughout the dark cabin, and it screamed, "BRING ME THE WEAPONS BOY!"
When the voice stopped Percy bolted up out of bed feeling as if a thousand spiders were crawling up his body. He was breathing deep, and shaking pretty bad. Jason was at his side in a moment, "Percy are you okay? What did you see?"
Taking deep breaths he felt all the images that flashed through his head fall away from memory, "I don't know."
Dakota the son of Bacchus rolled over murmuring in his sleep, "Kool-aid? Sugar? What a rush."
The two demigods both turned to look at the young man who was Gwen's Optio and they chuckled allowing Percy to shake off the bad dreams. Percy began changing clothes trying to get ready for his journey. He had packed the night before, and it was time to move onto his adventure. The boy was excited as the dream began to fade into the back of his mind. This was the opportunity Jason and Percy had both been waiting for, and they weren't going to let the fact that they were going to go to the Underworld let their spirits down, at least not until they were at the front door.
When the boys were done changing Percy asked, "Sleep alright?"
"Hardly at all to be honest. I wish we would've just left last night. Three days to get this done isn't a lot of time considering if our Uncle doesn't know where the bolt is we will have practically nothing." Jason said bewildered that they even let themselves sleep.
"One step at a time, let's just get to LA first, and we will take it one problem at a time. My father said he would have our transportation waiting in the Tiber, so let's see where that takes us."Percy said easily.
"Wait!" A voice yelled from behind the pair.
Percy and Jason turned to see Gwen running towards them in running shorts and a tank top, and Percy blushed a bright red, "Glad I caught you boys before you left."
Jason and Percy both looked at the blonde girl expectantly, and she pulled both boys in for a hug, "Good luck guys. The fates brought you two together five years ago at the Tiber, and now your relationship and skills will be tested. Trust in each other, and the training you have received from the legion and our little family in the fifth cohort. I know you two can do this, and don't forget please that the most important thing is that you two come back alive. I am sure you two have a plan as you always do, and I am sure I don't want to know, but please if there is anything I can do to help you guys please call for me. Send a water spirit. I will check with Tiber nymphs everyday for messages. Just please know you two aren't alone. The fifth is with you."
With that she kissed both boys on the cheek, and Percy was now fire engine red, and the girl smiled and Jason grabbed Percy's arm and led him away saying, "Breathe."
Percy could've sworn he saw the smirk on Gwen's face when he saw her at the corner of his eyes' but focused on the path ahead.
Cassie and Mark were waiting at the Tiber and when Percy and Jason saw them they both stood at attention when they got the appropriate distance. Mark said, "At ease boys. We just wanted to give you one last wish of luck. You both have the money, just go forth and be smart. Let the wisdom and power of Rome guide you."
Cassie added, "Keep us updated on your progress when you can. Three days isn't a long time, and we went over plans on how to mobilize the legion into a war footing. We had both hoped we would retire before something like this happened, but it is time to see our strength tested. Good luck to you both. May the gods be with you."
The two Praetors gave the sons of Jupiter and Neptune a short salut, Jason and Percy returned it.
The two then returned to their favorite spot at camp right at the river to see two rainbow colored water horses were waiting for them at the shore line. They were beautiful creatures likely the size of Clydesdales outside of water. Percy touched the first one in awe recognizing the Hippocampus, "They are beautiful."
Thank you young lord.
Percy stared at the creatures in surprise. Of course he could talk to most sea creatures, but he hadn't had many opportunities to do so, "You can understand me?"
Yes my lord. Your father sent us to take you through the Ocean to the Santa Clara river. From there you must go by land.
"How long will this take?" Percy asked.
Only three hours my lord.
Percy turned to Jason, "They said they are going to take us to the Santa Clara river which is outside of LA. We can hop on the train from there, and take it for the rest of the way to LA. It will be a three hour ride, but my father sent them for us."
Jason looked hesitant, "Your dad wouldn't try to drown me would he? I mean you and I are on good terms, so doesn't that kind of mean I am in alliance with House Neptune?"
A laugh was heard from nearby, "Oh you children of Jupiter are hilarious."
Triton was standing on top of the water nearby looking at the two with clear amusement on his face. Percy smiled, "Triton, thank you for bringing the horses."
"Acting on father's orders as usual, but you are welcome. Jason Grace son of Jupiter you are the first son of the skies that is welcomed into my father's domains in...well actually ever. You are cordially invited however, so you have no fear of the creatures of the sea trying to drown you. A monster attack is certainly possible with two sons of such powerful gods trekking through the seas, but my comrades and I from Camp Fish Blood will keep the heat off of you two until you get to LA. From there I fear you are on your own."
Percy could tell something was bothering Triton, "Is something wrong?"
Triton sighed, "I just wish I could go with you. I have guided you for five years, and I feel it will all be for nothing if something is to happen on this quest. Father has forbidden my interference. He believes you are ready for this, and while I have faith in you Perseus and in the training I have given you, no mortal hero has ever crossed into the Underworld and returned alive, but I know you two already know that."
The two sat in silence for a moment before Jason said, "We will protect each other with our lives Lord Triton. I will do everything in my power to ensure your brother returns to camp alive."
Triton stared at Jason in thought, "Of all these people that could have shunned Percy and made his life a living hell at Camp Jupiter you chose friendship from the beginning. I think that friendship will pay off for you Jason Grace. Remember the sea always pays its debts." Turning to Percy he said, "If you survive the Underworld make contact with any water spirit, and they will be able to get the message to myself and father. We will be awaiting your contact Perseus. Do not let us down."
With that the man dropped himself into the water and disappeared. Jason looked at Percy, "I feel like the sea always pays its debt line is really entranced in your families catch phrases."
Percy grinned at the boy, and summoned the horses to them. Jason seemed much more confident, but the nerves were still down there somewhere, but when the horses took off Percy could hear the hoots and hollers as they splashed through the ocean.
They crossed south without any problems. Percy wondered if his brother had been forced to fight any sea monsters on their behalf, but if they did, they never saw any signs of it. When they made it to Santa Clara they thanked the sea creatures profusely, and they were told that if they needed any further assistance to just call for them.
Crossing town hadn't been too difficult; it was only about 9am when they made it to the train station, and easily caught a southbound train to the outskirts of LA to get within cab range of the Hollywood sign. The two were both masters at manipulating the mist, and even walking around with his trident on his back Percy was unbothered by any Law Enforcement or Train Personnel. Jason had it a little easier. Juno was his patron Goddess so she gave him a coin that at a flip could turn into a lance or a sword. It was a pretty awesome gift in Percy's opinion, and couldn't help but be jealous that his friend had a weapon that was enchanted to be easily concealed. Anytime he mentioned it though Jason brought up the fact that Percy could throw his weapon and call it back to his hand, or if he was disarmed he could return it to his hand, so the boy had a point.
The train ride was supposed to be less than an hour, but when the cart girl came around Percy ordered two cokes and got settled, beginning to think of a plan over in his head. The train was just now rolling out of Santa Clara and he took a deep breath. It had been an incredible journey so far, and they really hadn't done anything. Percy didn't remember what life was like outside of Camp Jupiter, but this was already turning out much better than he thought.
As if his thoughts of ease betrayed him the train lurched forward, and Percy went flying forward to the ground along with most of the other passengers. It was a heap of bodies on the floor, and the son of Neptune felt a huge bump on his head from hitting something on the way down. A knee? A poll? A chair? He wasn't sure, but his head hurt like a cyclops hit him with a bat.
"Percy?"
Pulling himself up, and helping others up as well he shouted back over the noise, "Jason!"
He heard a struggle coming from behind him, saw that Jason was okay and trying to get to him. He let out a brief sigh of relief. The relief was short lived however when something hit the side of the train hard, and knocked it over sending everyone flailing. This time Percy hit a window and someone landed on him hard. His head hit the glass, but somehow it didn't crack, and he felt a small amount of blood coming from his head. He groaned and people were now screaming in hysterics and panic. He couldn't quite see right the way and the world was spinning, but he noticed the weight had been lifted off his body, and he felt someone grab his hand pulling him to his feet, "Come on Perce we gotta get off this train."
Jason snapped his fingers to manipulate the mist, and flipped his coin catching it to where he would have his gladius. Thankfully Celestial Bronze did not hurt mortals, or he would have skewered someone as he tried to break the glass above them. Jason grabbed a hold of his cousin telling him to hold on, and he felt the winds grab him, but before it could go further something hit the train again causing it to turn over to where it was now completely upside down. Jason shielded Percy's fall this time, and landed a little better. Thankfully and miraculously no one else had fallen on them. This time though Jason was able to pull Percy in the right direction to find their way to crawl out of the bus through the broken window.
It was pretty where they were with the River still in the background. Jason whispered, "We have to get you back to the water Percy so you can heal.."
The sirens were screaming in the distance, and Percy knew local law enforcement would be coming soon. Had a car hit the train? It didn't look like a normal road was close enough to the train to have caused it, and if that was the case where was the car?
Suddenly a low grunt was heard from behind the boys, and a large bull-like creature easily fifteen to twenty feet in height was standing fifteen yards behind them. Jason whispered, "Oh shit."
"The minotaur. My brother Theseus defeated this thing like a thousand years ago." Percy said in awe.
"Well it's back and it looks pissed.." Jason said not at all surprised that this immortal monster was in front of them.
The creature was in full battle armor, and was holding a large axe in his hand. His horns were pointed towards the sky, and seemed razor sharp. Jason said, "We have to get to the river. We will need your strength, and we need to keep this thing busy."
The river was easily a quarter of a mile away, but they also needed to lead the Minotaur away from the mortals before anyone else got hurt in the crossfire. Jason summoned the winds to pick him up as the Minotaur started swiping his foot at the ground like a bull getting ready to charge, "Go Percy I will lead him away from your direction for now, but I will need you to kill this thing. Get to the water, and I will lead him to you so we can take him down together.
The son of the sea could barely understand, but when the monster roared and charged at Jason it sent a surge of adrenaline into him, and helped him realize just how much danger they were in. He turned around and with a stumble began to run. He ran as fast as he could to the nearby river, and prayed that Jason could hold off the Minotaur long enough for him to help.
He peeked a glance over his shoulder to see Jason floating above the Minotaur making the creature launch itself in the air trying to catch him or hit him with his axe. Jason was flying well though, and Percy couldn't help, but be impressed. Jason had only just started flying about two years ago. He hadn't had many chances to work on it, but he was making it look easy at the current point.
Trying to refocus on the task in front of him Percy surged forward . It had been what felt like forever, but what must've been less than two minutes Percy had almost made it to the river. He took one last peek and saw that Jason managed a good swipe on one of the horns of the creature, and it roared in pain and outrage and swatted Jason out of the sky making him land close by with a hard thud. The boy groaned, turning to his cousin, "If you plan on helping now would be the time."
Percy stepped towards the water, and Jason yelled out his name, and he turned too late to get knocked aside by a huge force. He felt like his body was on fire. He was sure that his body was bleeding in multiple places, and the fact that he was likely going to pass out if he didn't get to the water soon weighed heavily on him.
Jason however reached his hands in the sky and a clap of thunder echoed across the area, but nothing else happened and he yelled out, "I can't summon lightning!"
Percy swore, and began crawling forward blindly. He could hear the snorts of the creature, and knew that his life was going to end if he didn't get somewhere fast. With a final strain he lunged his body forward, and with the will of the gods he felt the power surge through him as his hands touched the water. His head felt better instantly. The cut on his head was closing up, and his vision cleared. The Minotaur let out another loud roar, and Jason yelled, "PERCY!"
As the Minotaur closed the remaining distance Percy screamed as he raised both hands and thousands of gallons of water rose from the River. The Minotaur however was not a smart creature. Perhaps it thought it was an immovable object, but unfortunately it was about to find out that it was going to hit a much more powerful unstoppable force. The water created a solid wall in front of Percy, and the Minotaur hit with its remaining horn first. The water seemed to swallow the monster, and the green eyed boy held it in place. Thankfully he didn't have to hold it for long as the bull creature thrashed around Jason took his lance and like many years before threw it like a javelin straight into the chest of the creature. The Minotaur dissolved into golden dust immediately, and the lance clattered to the ground.
Percy continued to lay in the river now floating on his back. He was lucky that he made it so close to the water, and extremely unlucky he didn't make it before the Minotaur bulldozed him. Had Jason not cut off one of the creature's horns he was certain he would've been run through instead of just rammed.
Jason jumped into the river which was only about knee high in their current location and sat down, "Well that sucked."
Percy wanted to laugh but everything hurt, "If it hadn't blindsided us that would've been MUCH easier."
"What do we do now?" Jason asked.
Percy closed his eyes, feeling the river, "We are only about 30 miles from the Hollywood entrance into the Underworld so we can call a cab. We go in and pay the ferryman some gold coins, and see if we have to fight past Cerberus or if we will be lucky enough to slip by him. We will just have to be careful of the mortal authorities. There will probably be a person count, and they will realize two passengers of the train are missing. Unless we wanted to be branded as possible terrorists for fleeing a major catastrophe scene or something we really do need to get out of here. No telling what the mist might have made people see. Our best bet is to ride the river a little further away from all that back there. Then we can see what we can do."
Jason nodded and the two hiked down the river a little ways. The sun had just reached its peak before they managed to get a comfortable distance from the train wreck, and find a place to call a cab. The cab thankfully didn't ask many questions and took them to the Hollywood sign. Likely thinking they were probably just teenagers looking to cause trouble, and Percy was thankful for that little blessing. When they made it they looked up to the Hollywood sign and Jason whistled, "There's a lot of excitement over something that is really not that exciting. What do you think people see in this place?"
"Mortal minds are often easily manipulated. Who knows?" Percy clearly not understanding the hype behind the place.
"How did you even know there was an entrance to the Underworld here?" Jason asked curiously.
"My brother and I talked about it in one of our lessons. There are actually quite a few. Another here in LA at DOA studios. One in New York by the entrance to Mount Olympus the Orpheus doors, and apparently Hades has keys to open up the Underworld pretty much wherever he wants, but this is one of the more popular spots for the dead." Percy explained.
"That makes me super happy." Jason said sarcastically.
Percy grinned as the two made their way up the hill. They ran into an occasional monster on their hike, but nothing even close to the level of Minotaur. Two hellhounds, and a cyclops made easy pickings for Percy and Jason, However when they made it to the sign they had to look at each letter carefully before Percy stopped and stared at the omega on the 'O'. The sign of Olympus. He knew the gods' power was here, and when he began searching he found the small cave-like entrance that led to the Underworld. Jason and Percy stared ahead, but steeled their nerves and strode forward hoping to be the first heroes in history to escape the Underworld alive.
(A/N) Good afternoon my readers! Got our first look at Bianca Di Angelo in this chapter, and in the next we can look forward to meeting Uncle Pluto. Stay tuned, and please drop me a review to tell what you are thinking so far.
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