Chapter XI

We clambered down the hillside and I saw Bianca share my uneasiness as she warily looked at the fast coursing river in front of us.

"So, do we just cross over it?" She asked and pointed. "I mean, there is even a bridge right there."

Her finger was pointing towards a highway bridge, occasionally a car passed over, but there was no serious obstacle to us crossing there. It seemed shockingly easy considering how insistent the naiads had been about their warnings and things were never this easy for demigods.

"I guess so," I said, eyeing the river. "I mean it's only a few feet wide, we could probably jump over it if we wanted."

Apparently my observation was not very welcome as the gray water swirled and a violent whirlpool formed. Out from the churning river a figure rose, a good ten feet tall. Black bull horns crowned his head, his face was old and worn, a grimy black-gray beard hanging from it. His skin was a bluish-gray which carried over to the scaly tail that was in place of his legs. Obviously he was the god of this river, most river gods looked similar.

"There is no passing for you here demigods!" He roared furiously.

"My lord," I bowed lightly. "I apologize if I have offended you, but we must continue on."

"And why should I let you?" The god said, his tone mocking. "This is my river, son of Poseidon, your father can't help you here, even if he wanted to."

I realized just how much he reminded me of his father, Oceanus, he had the same tone of voice and his appearance was far too similar for my taste. A lot of pent-up anger boiled up in me at that and I wanted to say quite a few not so diplomatic words but thankfully Bianca stepped forth to speak instead.

"I understand if you are bothered by us my lord," She started. "but if you just let us go over that bridge we can be gone in a few minutes."

"Are you deaf Huntress?" He cackled. "I am not letting you past my river."

"Alright," I conceded, wanting to avoid conflict. "We'll just take another route, go south."

"Go ahead, try Folsom Lake, you could cross there. If you want to be devoured by the Ethiopian Sea Monster, that is. I might have no control there anymore but you'll only find your death in that lake." He smirked.

"Not that it matters much, you aren't leaving here either. I am sure the Titan King will be overjoyed if I bring him you two, he will finally allow me to take the domains of my accursed brothers around me."

Ah, so that is the game which is being played here. It seems his allegiance was much more secure than the naiads had let on. Unfortunately that allegiance was owed to an immortal that wanted to kill me. I looked at the god in front of me. Gods, especially river gods being defeated by demigods was not unheard-of. Heracles had done it, surely I could as well, he didn't look too dangerous, what was he going to do?

"How exactly do you intend to stop me if I attempted so?" I asked with a raised brow. "I don't think you could drown me."

"A typical show of Olympian and heroic arrogance," He said with a scowl. "You think I can't smash you up on my rocks and shores? Besides, I think your friend won't have such an easy time."

I bit my tongue, I hadn't considered Bianca. Perhaps I could win over him, even if this was his river, but not with her at risk as well. Which meant I needed an alternate plan. He had mentioned something about a sea monster, he didn't exactly seem happy about it.

"Is there something we could offer to change your mind?" I proposed hopefully. "A trade perhaps? You spoke of the sea monster. If we killed it you could regain control of the lake, you would grow even more powerful without having to depend on the support of another immortal."

His hand reached up to go through his dirty beard, combing through it. I didn't like bartering, but I wasn't above it if necessary. Not to mention that I didn't plan on doing shit for him if I could avoid it, if I got the chance I'd just rush across and off into the distance, his reach was rather limited after all. The god grinned amused but spoke again.

"An intriguing offer. I doubt you will succeed, but it will be entertaining to see you get devoured. I doubt Lord Kronos will mind your death too much after what I heard of your betrayal. Go ahead, if you succeed I am rid of a problem, if you die I am as well."

I didn't like how easily he agreed, I had no way of knowing he wasn't just lying and would go back on his promise, even if I succeeded. He still could deliver us to Kronos and win two-fold, the risk was too great, at least this way. I had to ensure he kept his end of the bargain.

"And you will let us pass?"

"Of course," The Potamoi said. "I am a god of my word."

"Care to swear on the Styx then?"

"That ridiculous oath on my sister's name?" He questioned but looked unbothered. "Sure, I swear on the Styx that I shall let you pass unbothered if you kill the Ethiopian Sea Monster."

Thunder rumbled above and I nodded satisfied. Even such an oath would not be truly binding for an immortal, but still hopefully a convincing reason to keep your promise, especially for a minor god whom she could punish reasonably easily.

"Let's get this over with." I sighed, turning to Bianca, who nodded, though the god interrupted.

"I think you misunderstood." He told me with a sly smirk. "I will allow you to go, she will stay here as collateral, can't have you two running off, can I now."

I scowled at that, the god wasn't as stupid as I would have liked. But there was no way I would leave her with him, not only was that incredibly irresponsible, it was also incredibly stupid. He could easily use that to cheat the deal in some manner.

"What makes you so sure I won't just dump her here?" I asked, hoping Bianca would catch on.

"Exactly, what would some treacherous male care for me? He'll just leave me here, let me go instead."

Clearly she knew what I was playing at, Zoë might seriously say something like this, but not Bianca.

"What was that?" I snapped at her and shoved her lightly, having to try hard to keep myself serious.

"How dare you boy!" She retorted, slapping me and I stumbled back surprised, damn that girl could hit.

The river god was shaking with laughter, his tail slapping into the water repeatedly.

"You think I'm that much of a fool?" He asked, still chuckling. "I can see through your acting, though thank you, it has been a while since I have gotten to see a comedy, albeit it was a bit short and not very convincing."

His face turned serious again, his brows furrowing. "You will return, I am sure of it and you will leave her here."

"Not happening," I told him. "She will come with me, I have no way to know you will let her go, unless you care to swear a few more oaths?"

He remained silent, looking at me irritated and the waters burst the banks, getting dangerously close to us, but I continued on.

"We can go through this in two ways, either you try to kill us both right now and maybe you win or you'll fail and we get away, because you are certainly not getting us alive." I told him decisively ignoring his angry glare.

"Or we can both surely gain at least something from this, you let both of us go, we kill the sea monster, you regain control of the lake and let us pass."

Summoning my blade, I readied for either outcome, even if I died doing it, I would send him to Tartarus as a price for killing either of us. Hopefully this gamble would pay off and I would manage to bluff him into agreeing. For a few moments we faced each other in a standoff and I held against his stormy eyes.

"Fine, take her and go, but remain along the river." He said with warning tone. "One attempt to get across or run away and I'll crush both of you and I want an oath from you as well."

I was no fan of binding oaths or promises, they only meant trouble most of the time, but seemingly I had no choice.

"Fine, I shall not attempt to cross your river till the monster is gone from that lake, I swear that on the river Styx."

Thunder boomed above and the god dissolved himself back into the waters of his rivers.

I grinned, I had kept the wording vague enough to leave the option to just bail if things got troublesome, though seemingly the god didn't think we would. I seriously considered running for the hills then and there, but I knew that would only delay the problem of getting past the river and cost us more time, time we didn't have to spare.

"Well then, I guess it's time to get back at Percy for killing the Minotaur." I told Bianca and she looked at me perplexed as we started heading south.

"What are you talking about?"

"Percy killed the Minotaur when he first came to Camp," I explained. "and I have mock-annoyed him for taking my kill before, you know, since Theseus' my namesake."

"Isn't that a bit petty?"

"Sure is, won't stop me from taking this one in return."

She shook her head in amusement as we walked on.

Was I actually bothered by Percy having killed the Minotaur instead of me? Yes, a bit admittedly, though he managed to do it with twelve and unarmed, so it couldn't have been that challenging of a fight.

The Ethiopian Sea Monster seemed like a much more threatening foe. It was a large and mighty Cetus and Perseus had only defeated it by turning it to stone, which quite frankly was very cheap, not that I'd have done it any different. I had no such option, meaning I would have to face it in proper combat.

It took us a good three hours of marching to reach the spot where the river spewed into the lake. Not that I minded, Bianca was pleasant company to talk with and the nature of California was beautiful, even in its wintery state.

When we arrived I looked across the lake, Folsom Lake seemed so calm, the reservoir swelling behind the wall of the dam. There weren't any other people around, which I was thankful for, mortals were highly inconvenient in combat, not only did you have to make sure they didn't get themselves killed but they could become a threat themselves.

"So, how do we do this?" Bianca asked and looked around. "How do we even find it?"

This question was answered as a massive surge of water was thrown upwards as something surfaced in front of us, though still distant from the shore. The water came crashing down, creating waves and revealing the gargantuan shape of an easily thirty-feet long dragon-like creature's neck and head. When I thought about the fact that most of it was still underwater I shivered in terror.

Huge tentacles moved around it, I could see only four, though I was sure there were more below. It roared and fire came spewing out of its maw, a two hundred foot long cone of destruction. It turned to us, its huge yellow reptilian eyes glinting with surprising intelligence. Honestly it was an awe-inspiring sight, it was beautiful, though I would describe it as brutalist if it was a building, which was size-wise a fitting comparison.

Ah, demigods, it's been a while, I was getting bored with fish! I heard its booming voice resonating in my head.

I had spoken with sea monsters before, but it still was strange. Just like fish or crabs they were creatures of the ocean and thus I could understand them and even speak with them. Though I preferred not to, most of them were duller than even the average Ares kid, not to mention just as violent and arrogant.

Bianca with shaking hands, drew her bow, though I pushed it down and told her to wait. I had perhaps slightly underestimated our enemy, there was no way in Hades we were killing this thing.

"Hello?" I called out hesitantly and Bianca looked at me like I was mad. "I would appreciate it if you didn't eat us, if that isn't too inconvenient?"

I saw the monster cock its head to the side. I would have laughed at the funny sight if I wasn't still terrified of being eaten. It roared and I clutched my ears as something strange sounded deafeningly in my mind. Was that laughter? Was it seriously laughing?

So I smelled right, He said happily. You are my lord's son!

"You serve my father?" I asked, surprised, though pleasantly so.

Of course! He proclaimed proudly. What do you think I am doing in this boring lake? I am punishing that little rebelling god on his orders.

I really didn't know why it surprised me so much, originally he had been sent to punish Cassiopeia's kingdom for her arrogance in proclaiming her daughter's beauty to be superior to that of the Nereids. While I questioned the morality of eating innocent princesses as an appeasing sacrifice, I doubted the same moral rules applied to sea monsters as to humans.

But what are you doing here my lord, He asked and his massive eyes shifted to Bianca and his neck sunk towards her somewhat. And in such interesting company, the Huntress smells of death, a daughter of your oldest uncle is she not? Can I eat her at least?

"Absolutely not," I grew pale. "I won't let you eat her!"

I am only kidding, He told me, again with that booming laughter. Though it truly is unfair, never do I get to eat the beautiful maidens!

I was sure Bianca would blush in that adorable way I had seen before if she could hear that. But those distracting thoughts were shaken from me as she laid a shaking hand on my shoulder.

"What is happening Theseus?" She asked, her voice quavering no less. "Are- Are you speaking to it?"

"Yes I am, everything is alright, just wait please." I said, trying to calm her, taking her hand and squeezing it.

You are lucky she is no child of Zeus. The Cetus remarked in my mind and I turned back to him. I truly despise those and surely would not have held back long enough.

"I guess I can't blame you with your history." I answered and the monster sank further down, slumping into the lake.

So I take it you didn't come here to chat with a lonely sea monster, my lord?

"I wish the occasion was so pleasant, but it is not." I shook my head. "That traitorous river god, he wouldn't let us pass, but we have to, we are on an important quest. So I offered him a deal, I'd kill you for passage-"

Kill me? He again laughed, which really was growing on me. Bwahahahaha, no hero has ever managed to truly best me and none ever shall!

"Exactly, so that isn't happening, nor do I want to do it, but might I ask a favor of you instead?" I inquired, knowing full and well how brazen that request was.

Sure, go ahead, you can ask at least, I am sure your father won't mind me helping you, my lord. He said and I let out a breath of relief.

"We are on an important quest to rescue Artemis." I told him "We desperately need to get to San Francisco as fast as we can. I was wondering if you could perhaps carry us there?"

He hummed, which caused the lake's surface to vibrate and the ground to shake slightly.

I am not sure I can take you that far my lord, He said and I nodded disappointed, this was to be expected. But, I can try, though we might run into trouble, my brother, the Trojan Sea Monster is serving our enemies and is nearby. But nonetheless, I shall try.

"Really? That would be amazing." I was surprised yet grateful. "I'll be sure to mention it in my next sacrifice to my father."

That won't be necessary my lord, He said. Though I am thankful, perhaps I'll get to ravage some more interesting places. I am so booooored.

"So you are taking us?" I asked one more time to confirm.

Yes, climb on and hold on tight, prepare for the ride of your life. He told me and started swimming towards the nearby shore.

Amazed, I watched as he surfaced, revealing his size more as he came closer to the coast and now a good seventy feet of his body could be seen. If you ever saw a whale surface, it was nothing compared to him, like a mortal to a god. His blue-green scales shimmered in the winter sun, wide orange-red sail like fins sat on his sides. A dozen of his tentacles that protruded from his body could now be seen as he moved into shallower waters.

"Whoa," I heard Bianca gasp next to me in a mix of awe and fear and I noticed she had still been holding my hand, when she let go.

"Whoa indeed," I grinned and turned to her. "I proudly present our ride west!"

"You are kidding right?" She asked and I just grinned at her. "Please tell me you are kidding."

"Nope," I told her, popping the p. "let's go."

"Now hold up," She gestured to me to wait. "What about your oath to the god?"

"What about it? I am not crossing the river am I now?" I said, still smirking. "We are traveling on the river and if we cross the Sacramento or the proper American River instead, who is he to bother us? Besides, I am technically speaking fulfilling the oath, I am driving him out, I never said anything about killing him."

"You really are a treacherous male aren't you now?" She joked and I chuckled.

"Yes, and I consider that a compliment, at least in this case." I answered and started walking towards the Cetus. "Come on, let's not keep him waiting."

"If I get eaten, I will torment you in the Underworld," She said but followed me reluctantly.

"Mind giving me your hand?" I asked and offered mine.

"What for?"

"Well... Unless you can walk over the water on your own suddenly or want to swim across."

"Oh right," She said, looking away, though she reached out and I grasped it.

We walked over the water and she warily looked below her, clearly not trusting the hardened water surface.

I helped her climb up, before following myself, grabbing a hold of a spike on the ridge of his back as he turned and swam out further into the lake.

Are you ready? I heard his voice ask again and turned to Bianca.

"He wants to know if we are ready." I relayed to her and she shifted uncomfortably on the scaly skin.

"I thought it was crazy when we rode that boar, but this is so much worse." She remarked and I shrugged.

"I'd disagree, riding a boar is just uncomfortable and crazy, but while riding a dragon sea monster might be crazy it is also incredibly awesome."

"And here I thought you were more mature than your brother."

"Hey," I protested. "I am more mature, but you are never too old to awe at a dragon, so are you ready?"

"I guess as ready as I'll ever be for something like this," She said before fear took over her face. "Wait, how do I avoid drowning?"

"Simple, you hold on and hope that I don't forget to keep air around you," I said with a smirk and she groaned. "and you can hope that our friend won't dive unless necessary, if I ask him nicely."

"I hate this." She told me and suddenly I felt her reach around me, wrapping her arms around my torso.

This was not what I meant when I told her to hold on, but despite how hot I felt myself grow I wasn't going to complain about it. Gods, she smelled wonderful this close. Mint, quite ironic I thought. I was very thankful Artemis was imprisoned right now, despite the terrible consequences of it, because avoiding transformation was very much on my list of priorities.

"We are ready," I said, patting him on the back. "please avoid diving, will you?"

I will try my best, He said, paused and then spoke again, prepare for takeoff!

The last statement confused me for a second as he lurched back as far as he could, before shooting forward with what felt like two hundred miles an hour. I heard Bianca yelp in surprise as we burst towards the edge of the lake. What was he doing?

His tentacles lurched forward, grabbing onto the wall of the dam as he jumped out, showing his true size as we sailed through the air. He was easily two hundred-seventy feet long, his serpentine body flew high for a few seconds before he came crashing back down, belly first into the river below.

Tall waves lapped out as he submerged partially, smashing into the rocky sides of the river, spraying water all around. Rapidly, aided by the current of the river, he swam forward, beneath bridges and through rapids. I felt Bianca's arms still around my stomach, confirming that she had not fallen off, though her grip had loosened as we no longer were in the air.

Around the urban sprawl of Sacramento flew past, suburbs and trees appeared and disappeared just quickly again. Soon we reached another small dam, again the sea monster leaped across, though this one was far smaller, only twenty feet tall or so.

With the raging waters, the wind and the surrounding noise it was far too loud to talk, so instead I settled on watching the landscape going past. Small forests, gravelly river banks, even the stray golf course could be seen before we came into Sacramento proper, the river grew dirtier and I was happy we were high above the river.

I spotted children walking with their parents, who pointed to us amazed. I wasn't sure what they were seeing. Perhaps a whale in case of the children as they seemed much more impressed and a boat for the parents, though that would have to be quite the super-yacht, either way it must have been weird.

The speed at which we traveled was amazing, within half an hour from when we started we had entered and left Sacramento, now passing through wide acres of farmland, though they lay idle to large parts, the cold winter of the year even reaching into the central valley of California.

But it was calmer now, the river less rapid and our means of transport slowed as well. So we could finally understand each other again. Bianca let go of me and sat back and I turned around, though I didn't mention it. The Ethiopian Sea Monster was easily wide enough to walk on, so while he was swimming slower we could let go without much worry.

"See," I said, stretching out. "this is not so bad."

"It isn't" She admitted. "though that made that back there no less terrifying."

"I'd disagree about it being terrifying but I am not exactly unbiased."

"So what are we doing once we are on solid ground again?" Bianca asked and I shrugged.

"Figuring out a way to get up Mount Tam or contact the others," I decided. "I doubt they are already there, we got still a bit of headway on them, unless they flew from Vegas, which I doubt with Percy with them."

"So how do we contact them?"

"Well, none of them have phones, nor do I, but one could always get one. So our only other option is Iris Messaging, but we don't have any drachmas, which means that's out as well unless I can think of some way to get any."

"So, you are saying we can't contact them?"

"Correct," I agreed begrudgingly. "which leaves us with one other option and since I know that Zoë will be leading them there, we will just wait for them."

"Ah, Mount Tamalpais," She said. "Zoë had called it the Mountain of Doom if I'm not mistaken, that doesn't sound very inviting."

"Oh, how right you are, Mount Othrys is its proper name, the old fortress of the Titans," I explained. I found it silly to paraphrase it, some names had power, but this was just superstition. "though in a state of disrepair it is still overpopulated with monsters, which means we should avoid spending too much time there, meaning we'll need a car."

"Let me guess, you'll borrow one?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Yes," I answered. "Oh, don't look at me like that, I am just going to cheat some car rental out of a pickup for a few days, that's only temporary theft, they can just get it back after."

"If it is still intact."

"I don't feel responsible for monster-related damage." I declared. "They can try to contact the insurance of whatever abomination attacks us."

Again the Ethiopian Sea Monster sped up and Bianca shifted uneasily, grabbing onto one of its spikes on its ridged back.

"What is it?" I asked confused and looked around and saw we were entering the delta of the Sacramento River.

A sense of security and familiarity washed over me as I looked into the brackish water below. The ocean was so close, which also explained Bianca's state of discomfort, Hades' and Poseidon's struggles weren't as public or bad as those of Zeus and Poseidon or Zeus and Hades, but their sibling rivalry was still quite present.

"Ah," I said as I realized. "We'll be on solid ground in a few minutes. Till then we can think about what we are telling the others."

"Huh?" She asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well your father didn't seem all too intent on revealing himself as yours and with good reason, we can't exactly tell them we shadow traveled out of there, can we now? Zoë will know what's up right away."

"I don't know, I don't really feel comfortable lying to her." Bianca said, biting her lip.

"Well it's your choice, and I am of course not insinuating that they are untrustworthy," I conceded. "but the more we know of it, the greater the risk of it coming to the attention of our uncle and that's dangerous Bianca, really dangerous."

"I get what you are saying, I really do, father said something similar, but still..." Bianca trailed off.

"Just think about my words, please." I insisted and turned back forward as he sped through the waves, now picking up full speed in the ocean.

Not to disturb you, I heard the sea monster's rumbling voice in my mind again. But there is only so much I overhear without having to tell your father.

"Oh, right, you won't tell him will you?" I responded sheepishly. "Please?"

I do not think I will have to, he will surely know soon enough, even if he doesn't currently but he is not the one you should be worried about. He told me and I nodded.

I rose up from my spot on its back, to get a better look around and take in our surroundings. Walking over the back of the huge Cetus beneath us I could see the San Francisco skyline and the mountains around us. In the distance I spotted Mount Tamalpais, clouds swirling around it.

From this distance it looked even smaller than it was, which made me think just how strange of a choice this particular mountain was. Why had Mount Othrys been transplanted here when the flame of the west moved on? It was neither a particularly intimidating nor tall mountain. Instead being the kind of mountain a family might hike up on a nice Sunday as a bonding activity, not the ideal place for your fortress of doom.

Though I guess they had little choice with Atlas being here, which made me wonder, how did they even move him here and who carried the sky in the meantime. Or maybe he just got forcefully teleported here somehow? The shifting of the locations was a strange matter, one that invited headaches if thought about too much.

You are restless are you not? I heard his voice ask. Do not worry, I will set you back on land soon. I am sure your friend will be quite happy about that.

I looked back at the daughter of Hades, who stared into the waves pondering. I was impressed how well she was adapting to demigod life, but it must hit her quite hard, all these changes. I never had such a moment, the mythological was quite a simple reality for me and it always has been, there was no moment of revelation or shock.

After we passed beneath another bridge over the bay he now kept along the coast, swerving past occasional boats and ferries as he closed in towards an currently unused pier. He slowed down and came to a halt next to it, his tentacles lashing on to it, anchoring him against the currents. The few mortals walking along the pier seemed utterly unbothered by it. Perhaps they just saw a ferry that had docked at the pier and was unloading its passengers.

We have landed at the Embarcadero, I'd like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. He announced in a pilot voice impression.

Admittedly it was quite funny, mostly owing to the fact that it was a massive sea monster saying this.

"Thank you for the ride," I replied. "I'll definitely get father a nice sacrifice, make sure you get somewhere more exciting."

Let us hope so, my lord, He spoke. Though for now you should hurry, you wouldn't want to miss them.

"Miss who?" I asked but he didn't answer.

But he was right, we should be hurrying, the sun was already getting dangerously low, only a few hours till sunset, we had to be at the entrance to the Garden of the Hesperides till then. Still, we had no idea where the others were and I doubted we could free Artemis just the two of us. Though there was no point dwelling on it, we had to get moving.

"Well, let us get going shall we?" I said. "Fate isn't waiting for us."

I took a few steps back before taking off running, jumping onto the pier, gracefully halting, the wet surface no bother to me. Expectantly I turned to her and watched as she got up, wary of the slick surface the Cetus skin was. Finally she gained her footing and bounded forward, leaping out towards the pier.

She hit the wooden planks running but slipped, stumbling forward and slamming into me. I smirked at the opportunity for a remark.

"Throwing yourself at me are you now?" I teased her as she pushed herself away. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, that isn't very exemplary behavior for a Hunter is it now?"

"Now if you don't shut up, perhaps I shall tell my lady about such comments, see what she thinks of such disrespect towards her Hunters." She said and I paled even though I was very sure she was joking.

"Fine then, you killjoy..." I said and saw her smiling, damn she was even prettier when she was happy.

I looked away, trying to get myself back to focus. What were those foolish thoughts? She was a Hunter gods damn it, pull yourself together Theseus. Though as my gaze wandered I noticed something weird, a welcome sight and distraction.

A few piers further a familiar group stood, a tall girl dressed in a silver parka, just like Bianca's, then a dark haired girl in all black and not to mention the very familiar figure in an orange shirt and the weirdly walking boy next to them. It seems Tyche had blessed us today, we wouldn't have to search for them after all.

AN: And that's chapter eleven done, god I loved writing that scene with the Aethopian Sea Monster.

Seemingly you like the last chapter even better than the one before, which I am of course very happy about, with that,

A big thanks for reading, following, favoriting or especially reviewing! As said before feedback of any shape or form is appreciated.