I woke with a start. I felt the bonds around my wrists, but none around my ankles. I was tied to a tree. I groggily opened my eyes and looked around. Max was tied to the tree close by. He was staring at me. When he noticed I was awake, he motioned forward with his head. In front of us was a monster I was yet to recognize. It had the body of a large deer, a stag probably, with the neck of a lion. It had a human-like face with a unworldly large mouth filled with a bone plate where its teeth would be.
"Well, it's finally awake."
It took me a moment to realize the beast was talking about me. I threw on a smile and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm not a light sleeper. Who are you?"
"I am the great Crocotta. The unrecognized. The forgotten. I lure men to their death by calling their names in the vanquish of dark but men no longer search for my lair. Men no longer hunt these lands, explore these trees. So I am forced to feed on the scum of the gods instead. Like you," the Crocotta hissed I hadn't heard of this monster before. My parents had tried to educate me and my siblings on monsters and gods in all mythologies, but apparently this guy really was unrecognized. Forgotten.
"Sorry about that, we must not taste very good." I finally found Charlie. He was tied to a tree behind me so I couldn't see him very well, but I did notice the growing stack of logs and sticks at his feet. He looked terrified. "What about my friend over there?" I asked, trying to sound casual. The Crocotta smiled and tilted its head.
"My dinner," it said, licking his lips. "Not god, not human. More. Better."
If he so much as laid a finger on Charlie, he'd be dead. I have Max a look that made sure he knew it too. Charlie didn't belong in this mess, and I wasn't going to let him die by some lowlife Florida swamp monster.
So Charlie being part titan had actually caused us more trouble than good. Of course. Like most monsters, I assumed we'd need demigod weapons to kill him. But my sword was in a pile with the rest of our weapons. Times like this are when I'm most jealous of my dad's magically returning sword. The monster added more wood to the pile beneath Charlie. Charlie was looking increasingly scared. Apparently he'd forgotten that he wouldn't be hurt by the flames the Crocotta planned to roast him with. I squirmed in attempt to loosen my bonds but to no avail. I stopped talking and let the monster do its thing. He was getting ready to burn Charlie, which I knew wouldn't work. We were bound with ropes, so the fire would burn through his bonds and Charlie would be free. That would be a perfect opportunity for a surprise attack. The problem was evident though; Charlie didn't know how to fight. He wasn't going to be of much help. Unless Max or I could get out of our bonds, then we'd all just die.
"Oh gods, I'm going to die and I'm never going to know what happened to my parents," Max whispered to me.
I frowned and was hit in the gut with memories of my dream. "They're alive," I said.
Max leaned to get closer. "What do you mean? How do you know?"
"I had a dream, a demigod dream. We've got to get out of here, and we've got to get to them," I said. Max nodded in agreement.
I summoned the creek water forward and tried to use it to loosen my bonds. "Max, I need you to do something," I whispered.
Max's eyes widened and he frantically shook his head. "Jase, I can't! I can barely do it with Dad coaching me for hours on end, and I'm too stressed out! I can't!" he cried, trying to be as quiet as he could while still freaking out.
"Yes, Maxwell Zang, you can! If you want to find your parents, you have to! I know you can, just calm down. Think about lunch at Camp-Half Blood, all the great dairy free food that have! Just think happy thoughts. It's ok, it's going to be ok. Take deep breaths."
He did as I told him. He breathed in a few shaky times then closed his eyes. The Crocotta was too busy licking the side of Charlie's face to realize that we were doing anything. I stared hopefully at Max, praying to the gods that he could do it.
Max's face morphed into a strange shade of green, as did the rest of him. Before the monster turned around, Max was out of his bonds. I grinned and tried to keep myself from cheering.
There was a screech as the Crocotta lit the fire beneath Charlie's feet. The screech came from Charlie, who squirmed to get away from the flames. Max the iguana used this as a distraction to skirt across the lawn and to my bonds. He began furiously chewing through the ropes that bound me, finishing just in time for the monster to realize that his dinner wasn't cooking. It screamed in outrage and turned back towards Max and I. Now free, I lunged for the pile of weapons and grabbed my sword, smiling at the familiar feeling of the weapon in my hand. Charlie jumped from the burning tree and shook the ash from his hair. His shirt had been burned almost perfectly in half, as were his pants. His boxers, covered in small yellow stars, remained completely uncharred.
"Shit this is terrifying! We gotta get out of here!" he screamed.
I got into a fighting stance. "No, Valdez, we have to eliminate the threat so no more demigods are killed," I countered.
Charlie groaned and rubbed his eyes. "I'm insane. I'm insane to stay here!" he shouted to himself.
"Like father like son," I muttered. Charlie's head snapped towards me and I immediately regretted speaking. The look on his face reminded me of my mom's when she told me that dad was missing. I looked away.
The monster attacking me stepped up its game, clapping its mouth's boney plates to create a painfully loud clapping sound. I nearly dropped my sword to cover my ears. Instead, I pretended to crouch over in pain. When it approached to finish me off, I jumped up and pushed my sword through the roof of its mouth. It clawed at me while it died, leaving only a few bloody scrapes on my chest and leg. Finally, it burst into gold dust and showered me and the iguana at my feet.
"Having trouble changing back?" I asked Max. No surprise, the iguana didn't answer.
"How the fu-"
"Silence. We've still got a job to do. Come on," I ushered him back to the creek and continued my work.
"You have dust in your hair," Charlie noted.
I nodded. "Yes, I do."
"Why?"
"That's what monsters do when they die, they turn to dust." I was trying to be patient with him. He didn't know much about this world, he was still learning. I was a pretty patient person, but right now I wasn't in a good mood. My head was killing me and the bloody scratches on my chest were making my shirt stick to me.
"But how?"
"I don't know! Godly magical mythical stuff. Help me out, we've got to hurry back," I said. Charlie stopped talking then, opting instead to help get the celestial bronze from the creek bed. In total, we got three large pieces. I carried two of them and Charlie had one. Charlie also carried Max the iguana. We arrived back at the dock about forty five minutes later. It was only a mile so it shouldn't have taken us that long, but we were carrying a heavy load, I was injured, and Charlie was basically wearing his underwear. We were trying to stay away from the public eye, so getting back to the ship took a while.
"Jasey what did you do?" Adora yelled from her perch at the bow of the boat.
"Adora get down from there! You're going to fall," I said instead of answering her question. She jumped back onto the deck and went to go tell the others were were back. Charlie and I piled the bronze onto a pile on the deck.
"Jason!" I recognized Casey's voice. She emerged from the gut of the boat with Will in tow. "Dora said you got hurt, what happened?"
I shrugged and handed her the iguana. "Found the Crocotta. Or well, it found us. Max turned into an iguana to cut me loose but now he can't turn back. Have any ambrosia?"
She scrunched up her eyebrows. "The what? I don't recognize that name."
"Exactly," I muttered. Will approached me and rolled his eyes. He handed me a block of the godly food and turned his attention to Charlie.
"What about you? Anything hurt?"
Charlie shook his head. "Just my ego. I'm gunna go find some clothes, then I'll try and fix the boat." He sauntered off towards the kitchen area, probably to find somebody to help him get clothes. He hadn't exactly had time to pack.
"Have you guys gotten the greek fire yet? Or any food?" I asked. Casey nodded.
"The twins took care of the food and Nico and I got some Greek fire," she answered.
"Any problems? Greek fire isn't exactly easy to come by."
She smirked. "Threatened some Norse viking dudes. Magnus may be calling you soon but it's cool, we told him you'd pay them back."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm concerned because I know you're not kidding. I'll deal with it later. In the meantime, I'm going to go to my cabin and try to get Max to turn back into a human." I began to walk towards the cabin but suddenly turned around as I remembered something. "Casey, Mom and Dad are alive. I had a demigod dream. I saw Mom and Dad, and I heard Piper and Leo."
Casey's hand went up to her mouth. "Where were they, are they ok?"
I closed my eyes. "They're alive, that's all that matters. But I don't know for how much longer. I'll talk to you about it later," I said. She frowned impatiently but I had already left.
It only took Max a few minutes to turn back. He shuddered as if he was cold. "I don't like doing that."
"But you did do it! I'm so proud of you!"
He smiled. "Thanks, Jase. What was that dream you had?"
I sighed and sat down on the bed. "I only saw my parents. They were in this strange set up. Dad was under this giant rock and mom was holding the rock up, and mom was trapped in a bubble that dad was making to keep her alive because there was poison in the water around her. I tried to call out. Dad saw me, I know he saw me. I heard Piper and Leo, but not the others. I assume they'd sound a little more upset if the others were dead, so I think they're still alive. They have to be."
Max nodded, looking hopeful. I knew he was hoping for better news. News I couldn't provide.
"You're right. At least they're alive, that's the best news we've gotten. We have to keep going Jase, if we give up hope now we've got nothing," he comforted. I nodded. He was right.
"I should go check on Charlie, see if he's started the repairs," I said.
"I'll go tell the others about your dream, they could use the good news." He got up and left, no doubt headed to the dining room where the others had gathered for lunch. I headed for the control room to find Charlie. When I found him, he was sitting on the table in his dad's workshop, turning his hammer around in his hands.
"Leo's alive, Charlie." I knew exactly what he was thinking. Charlie didn't respond. "I had a dream, most demigods have them-,"
"Everybody has dreams. That doesn't mean anything," he said glumly.
"Demigod dreams are different. Usually, it's like a vision. They show us what has happened, what is happening, or what will happen. Sometimes they let us communicate with gods or other demigods."
He huffed. "Sounds fun. So what was your about?" His gaze still didn't leave the hammer in his hands.
"Saw my parents. Where they were trapped, but they were alive. I heard my aunt yelling at Leo, and he responded. He's alive."
