Chapter XII

"Change of plans," I told Bianca. "We aren't heading up the mountain for now."

"What?" She asked, confused. "Why?"

I pointed to our fellow questers and she turned to look, the confusion cleared from her face and surprise took its place. Her smile widened and she raised her arm, waving towards them as she called happily.

"Zoë!"

The lieutenant of the Hunt turned around pinpointing the origin of the voice without problems. Her expression looked shocked, her eyes scrunched as if she didn't believe what she was seeing. She really didn't look good, she seemed shaken and her ancient age really showed now in the way she carried herself.

Her caution and skepticism wasn't shared however by Percy and Thalia who rushed to meet us. Within the blink of a moment Percy was crushing me in a hug, one I didn't mind as I returned it. It felt good to just have a family that simply cares for you because you are just that, family.

"Did you think I was dead?" I asked him with a smirk as I pulled back after a few seconds.

"Sometimes," He said. "I didn't want to admit it to myself. We tried searching for you, or your bodies but we found nothing."

"I'd have been worried if you had, because we are, in fact, not dead."

"We noticed," Thalia remarked as she stepped towards me.

In the corner of my vision I saw Zoë talk with Bianca, hands firmly grasping her shoulders. Zoë's face softened as she spoke to her, clearly relieved. I turned back to the daughter of Zeus who had crossed her arms and was tapping her fingers against her arm impatiently.

"So?" She inquired. "I think you owe us an explanation, don't you agree?"

Percy and Grover nodded in agreement and I sighed as Zoë and Bianca joined us. The lieutenant turned to me and nodded.

"She is right, you owe us an explanation," She said before looking back at Bianca. "you both do."

I exchanged a worried look with Bianca, but took a deep breath and started explaining. Telling of our encounter with Tityos and the subsequent defeat of his, our meeting with the god of the river and how we deceived him and traveled here. I didn't leave any relevant part out, except for one, just how we escaped and its consequences and meaning, Bianca would have to tell them if she wanted to.

"How come you get to ride sea monsters?" Percy complained half-seriously. "And as if it wasn't enough you get the earthquakes, now you can teleport as well?"

"It isn't teleportation Percy," I protested. "besides, I can't even control it properly, I don't even know where to start."

"Speaking of teleportation, or whatever it may be," Zoë interjected. "it brings us to another question you haven't answered Theseus, one you seemed to avoid, just how did you escape Talos?"

I swallowed, I was afraid she would ask that and I hadn't thought of what to tell her. I remained silent for a few moments, looking at Bianca who clearly wanted to speak to herself, I nodded in support and she opened her mouth to answer.

"We shadow traveled Zoë," She said bluntly. "That's why Theseus didn't talk about it, I know who my father is now."

Worry returned to the face of the daughter of Atlas, clearly my assessment was right, she knew what it meant instantly. Seemingly such clarity was not present with Percy and Thalia who shared a somewhat confused look, Percy more so than Thalia.

"Shadow travel?" Thalia asked. "But that would mean you are a daughter of-"

"Yes," I confirmed, cutting her off. "It means just that, he is her father."

Thalia unsurprisingly scowled, clearly unhappy about it. I doubted she had all that of a positive view of our Uncle Hades, after all he tried to get her killed about a dozen times while she was on the run. Hopefully she would have the maturity to differentiate between parent and child.

"It does not matter," Zoë defended her.

"How can that be?" She prodded. "He has broken the oath?"

"No, I don't think so, not only is it unlikely considering how rare his children were even before the oath," I argued. "remember what we talked about before Talos."

"So she is from before the oath was made." Percy concluded. "And the same goes for Nico does it not?"

"Yes, at least it should." I said and glanced at Bianca, who looked uncomfortable at being the center of the discussion again. "But we are wasting time. What are you doing here? How did you even get here on time?"

"From that damn junkyard we drove on to Hoover Dam," Zoë started and much to my confusion Percy, Grover and Thalia smirked at each other. "From there on we flew on to San Francisco."

"Hold up," I stopped her. "How did you fly here from the Hoover Dam? There isn't even an airport there. And how did you fly with my brother without getting struck down."

"Let us just say you aren't the only ones to get some divine help." She answered before continuing. "But you are right, we are wasting time, which is why we must move on with what we were doing."

"Which is?"

"Finding Nereus to ask him just where this monster is." She said and I frowned.

"Meaning you haven't found it yet?" I asked and she nodded. "Or was I wrong about what it was?"

"We don't know, it's still our best guess but that's it. Which is why we are here and why I am doing this." Zoë said, gesturing towards the goodwill container in front of us.

She reached in and pulled out a seemingly random array of clothes, if you wanted to call the pieces she pulled out that. In her hands was a tattered flannel shirt, a jeans that surely was blue eons ago, a silly rainbow colored cap and a pair of red sneakers. With the hint of a smile she turned to us, specifically Percy and tossed him the clothes which he caught.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked, confused.

"Put them on." Zoë told him.

"Wait, why do I have to do this?" He asked and turned to me. "Don't you want to?"

"I could, but you are the better option." I told him trying to think of a good reason not to wear those rags.

"Why?"

"You aren't wearing armor," I said, patting my breastplate and helmet which dangled from a loop at my belt. "you can change easier than me, simple as, besides you look like you haven't slept in days."

Percy grumbled but accepted my reasoning, switching his coat to the flannel shirt and changing shoes and pulling the oversized pants over his own. He looked ridiculous but since I very well could have ended up in the same spot I kept my laughter at bay. Zoë stepped back, satisfied with her creation, a crime against nature, or at the very least fashion.

"A typical male vagrant." She remarked.

"Thanks a lot," Percy complained. "Why am I doing this again?"

"I told thee," Zoë said. "To blend in."

A grumbling Percy with us as we walked along the waterfront, Zoë led us on. I didn't know just how she intended to find Nereus but she seemingly had a clear method of navigation. It took a while but soon we stopped in front of a pier, Zoë looked down with certainty and pointed to its end. We exchanged a few more words of "encouragement" with my brother before we sent him off and remained behind watching him walk down the dock.

"You said you two killed Tityos?" Zoë asked and I nodded. "My lady will be sorely disappointed that she didn't get to send that savage down to Tartarus again."

"I assume she isn't exactly fond of him."

"A vast understatement, but yes," She agreed. "she rightfully despises him. This would have been the fifth time she killed him, Apollo killed him thrice as well."

"Well he sure didn't seem too bothered by it." I remarked, thinking back to his greedy expression.

"What are you talking about?" Zoë asked and I cursed myself, telling the lieutenant of the Hunt about my rather questionable negotiating and deception was not something I wanted.

"Uh, let's just say I needed to distract him and pretended to negotiate with him and he made a rather delusional offer."

"Really now, what did you say?" She prodded on and I sighed, seemingly there was no weaseling out of this.

"I pretended to be one of Big K's servants and sent to get him to their side. Turns out he had talked about that before, which made our situation a lot more dire. He wanted Leto in exchange, but her father seemingly wasn't intent on that." I explained. "So I refused and asked for an alternate offer, though I didn't expect what he proposed."

"Go on,"

"Well, he wanted Artemis in her stead," I said and she looked at me perplexed. "let's just say he made it seem even more unsavory with his demeanor..."

With a disgusted look she leaned over the railing before she did something I didn't expect. She chuckled for a brief moment, something I'd never have expected to hear from the ever-serious Zoë, especially in light of the situation.

"By the gods, the sheer audacity of him," She said with a humorless tone. "I take you refused?"

"No, neither did I agree though, I just played the messenger after all," I answered. "not that it made much of a difference, we were going to kill him either way in the end."

I glanced down the docks and saw Percy slam into an old homeless looking man. Together they tumbled down on the wooden floor of the pier, rolling around.

"Ah, Percy found him." Thalia remarked as Nereus grappled my brother.

"Shouldn't we be helping him?" Bianca asked hesitantly.

"Nah, he'll be fine," I told her. "Menelaus managed it with Proteus and he was only mortal."

At that moment we saw Percy being thrown around by the old sea god and though he held on I started having doubts, perhaps I should have gone instead. The ground might not be solid in which case I would definitely have had a massive advantage but even so I was the better unarmed combatant.

The two of them rolled into the water and I swallowed, sure it would give Percy a boost, but Nereus was also a literal sea-god. Moments later a killer whale burst out of the water, Percy still holding on to his fin. I severely regretted that I was unable to record what we saw, it was quite entertaining to watch.

Again they disappeared under water for a few moments before bursting out on a boat dock at a neighboring pier, Nereus laid defeated on the wooden planks. Instantly we all rushed along the waterfront, sprinting down the stairs down to him.

"You got him!" Zoë called as we descended.

"You don't have to sound so amazed," Percy muttered.

"Careful now, don't say anything that could be seen as a question." I said in a warning tone.

"I see your friend knows the rules, the normal deal then, one question, one answer and you'll let me go?"

"I've got more than one question," Percy insisted.

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule." Nereus countered and I narrowed my eyes.

What was stopping us from just asking more, was there some sort of ancient law specifically about him? Why couldn't we just ask him everything we needed to know, what was he going to do if we just didn't let him go? I was tempted to ask that question, but since it still was a question it would count for the rule.

Percy looked towards us with questioning looks. If I was in his stead I would probably ask where the monster was, where Artemis was is obvious and just knowing what the monster is would be useless. Though I doubted we had the time to go look for it unless it was like right next to us, which would just be silly.

"All right, Nereus." Percy said with a sigh. "Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting."

"Oh, that's too easy," Nereus said with a dastardly grin. "He's right there."

He pointed towards the water below the dock and I looked to follow his finger. Just below the water something could be seen swimming, it reminded me of a manatee in a way, though the son of Poseidon in me reminded me that those only lived in the Atlantic and Amazon River. Though this image was utterly destroyed by the very much bovine head and its horns.

"Where?" I heard Percy ask as I took a closer look.

It had a serpent tail in place of its hind legs and with shock I realized just what I was looking at, that was the Ophiotaurus, which meant we were thoroughly fucked if something went wrong now.

"Oh great..." I muttered.

"Wait. What is that?" Thalia asked besides me.

"The Ophiotaurus," I said as I wondered what to do now, should we kill it.

"Huh? What are you talking about? This is Bessie." Percy said as the monster nudged at his foot.

The Ophiotaurus mooed, a strange noise. I knew he was saying something with it, but it was like listening to a drunk person speak Pig Latin, I knew there were words coming out, but I had no idea of their meaning. It seems our satyr had a much better grasp of whatever it was saying.

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

"You can understand her. . . er, him?" Percy asked.

"Whoa there Percy, you know him?" I interrupted, confused, why hadn't he told anyone.

"Uh... yeah, I met him at camp the day the quest started." He admitted and I looked at him.

"And you didn't think to tell anyone of that?"

"You know how it is, the sea creatures want our help all the time. I don't remember them all, besides, you weren't exactly there to talk..."

"Alright," I conceded. "But didn't I tell you about it before?"

"You mentioned it at the meeting but nothing more," Percy reminded me. "you never said what it was"

I bit my tongue, he was right, I had messed up, I hadn't actually explained just what it was to him. I cursed at myself again, slipping into old tongue and throwing around some questionable words about Uranus' ehhh... lower body parts, Zoë threw me a strange look.

"Now, there is no need for such language Theseus, you were right, weren't you." She said begrudgingly.

"This doesn't make the situation any better, does it? You surely know the story?"

"I do, my father told it to me thousands of years ago. That's why I know you were right, this is the beast we are looking for."

"Bessie?" Percy asked, confused. "But... he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world."

"Not him, Perce," I told him. "his entrails."

The Ophiotaurus lowed, signaling his displeasure.

"What are you talking about? How could his entrails do anything to destroy the world?"

Again he mooed, more distressed and Grover spoke up.

"Could we avoid the E-word? He really doesn't seem to like it"

"If you sacrifice the one to do it will gain power." Zoë explained. "Terrible power. This is what the fates ordained eons ago when he was born. The power to destroy the gods, that's how they could destroy the world."

Again the Ophiotaurus gave off a distressed noise, that thing sure was sensitive.

"I don't think he likes the S-word either," Grover interjected.

"How could anyone hurt him?" Percy protested. "He's harmless."

"The power to destroy the gods... how?" Thalia asked with wonder. "I mean, what would happen?"

"No one knows," I answered. "thankfully. Aigaion, an ally of the titans had killed him before, only through your father's intervention some eagle managed to snatch the entrails before he could burn them."

"And now it is reborn," Zoë added. "three thousand years later."

Thalia sat down on the dock and reached her hand out. With horror I realized what she was doing, she was calling him to her and the monster followed. Thalia put her hand on his hand and it shivered. There was no way I would let her go through with sacrificing it, but the hungry expression on her face made it seem like she wanted to do just that.

"We have to protect him," Percy said. "If Luke gets a hold of him-"

I wasn't sure I agreed with my brother, as much as I appreciated his moral integrity, it seemed much safer to destroy him, make his sacrifice impossible.

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

"Yes, it is, my dear," A familiar accentuated voice spoke. "And it is a power you shall unleash."

I whirled around and looked at Thorn, the Manticore was standing above us and with him were four guards dressed in all black tactical clothes, their assault rifles at the ready. My hand twitched, I wanted to strike first, but I knew those were foolish thoughts in our current disadvantageous position.

"This is just perfect!" He gloated, his french accent prominent.

He looked like he had just come from one of the groups of homeless people with his dirty, damaged coat and the Westover Hall uniform underneath. The Manticore rambled on about how he would feast on the flesh of Half-bloods and how the gods wronged him, yada yada yada, the usual monster talk. Instead of listening to him too intently I desperately searched for a way to create an opportunity, either to escape or to defeat them.

For a moment I considered an earthquake, but we weren't on solid ground currently, I would need to get up on the pier for that, besides it seemed tasteless in San Francisco, not to mention all the mortals around. But again there was the matter of the mortals, not to mention that it would create just as many problems for everyone besides me and Percy and we still needed to get the Ophiotaurus away.

"We beat you once before," I heard Percy say.

"Ha! You could barely fight me with a goddess on your side." The manticore told us. "And, alas... that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. There will be no help for you now."

I grit my teeth as Zoë notched an arrow on her bow aiming at the manticore, my sword appeared in my hands. The guards leveled their guns at us and I took a deep breath. I slipped my helmet on and prepared myself for death, for what felt like the fifth time in days, because it was.

"Zoë, wait!" Percy called.

"The boy is right, Zoë 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 at my side, her shield and spear glinting in the sun.

"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."

Worried I looked at Thalia, she wasn't going to do it, was she? The prophecy would be fulfilled if she did, Thalia would decide the fate of Olympus and with that of us all. But there was no way I would let her pick raze, even if that meant turning against her till she came to her senses. Everyone was silent as the manticore waited expectantly.

"Thals, please don't. Don't listen to him." I pleaded but she didn't react.

"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," Percy called. "snap out of it!"

The next moments went past me in a flash, Thalia mumbled something, Percy reminded her of how her father helped her before, that he didn't simply abandon her. Thalia gripped her spear tighter, suddenly the sound of pan pipes appeared from Grover's direction. The manticore shouted for his soldiers to fire and chaos broke out.

From the planks below them new branches grew wrapping around the legs of the mercenaries. Zoë shot two arrows which burst into yellow clouds of gas, while I was pretty sure that the use of chemical weapons in war was a serious violation of the Geneva Convention, I really had no problem with it at that moment.

Deciding to use the confusion I waved my free arm and two tendrils rose from the water, snatching two of the guards and dragging them into the depths of the harbor, the guns flying from their hands. I never really cared what Chiron said about harming mortals, just because they didn't grasp what was happening didn't give them a free pass. As long as they didn't die intentionally I had no problem with a couple of broken bones.

In the confusion we rushed up the stairs and sprinted along the railing of the pier, before we dodged behind a small kiosk in which some crystal souvenirs dangled. While we were in cover for now, it made our situation only slightly better. But it changed nothing of the fact we were six teenagers cowering against a trinket shop with four, well two heavily armed men and a deadly monster approaching.

"So what now?" Bianca said, saying what we all were thinking.

"Now one of you goes over the side, Percy, Theseus," Zoë told us. "You can escape in the sea. Call on your father for help. Maybe you can save the Ophiotaurus."

"I won't leave you guys," Percy protested. "We fight together."

"I agree," I said. "If we want any chance of saving Artemis we need to stay together."

"At least get word to camp." Grover said. "Let them know what's going on."

I didn't see just how that would help us, unless Chiron could organize another centaur rescue party in a matter of seconds, which I doubted. The only thing they would learn of is our tragic death which brought us nothing.

As it seemed though Percy seemed to take it for a good idea, cutting off the top of a water fountain, spraying us with water.

Not only did I appreciate the power boost, but also saw what he was planning on. Through one of the nearby crystals the light was broken, a rainbow sprouting from it, Grover had a golden coin in his hand which he flipped into the spray of colors.

"O goddess, accept my offering!" Grover called.

"Camp Half-Blood!" Percy added.

Of course the fates punished us for his unspecifically, when the mist cleared to reveal the figure of Dionysus, death seemed vastly preferable to groveling him for help, especially without result. Which meant it was back to planning. Perhaps I could blow the pier to splinters with the water underneath and around? Hopefully the tourists and sea lions had been scared away by the gunshots.

With half an ear I was listening to Percy's conversation with Dionysus and it seemed to be going as well as I expected. In the corners of my vision I saw the manticore appear, calling out our position to his toy soldiers, two of which marshaled up behind him, hopefully the other two were still busy drowning, or some helpful sharks took to them.

"You could ask for help," Mr. D murmured. "You could say please."

"Please, Mr. D," Percy muttered. "Help."

Of course nothing happened, no convenient pipes sounded, no useful grape vines burst from the ground, the water didn't even turn to wine and drown them, nada. Not that I was disappointed too much, it was what I had expected.

"No, I shall not help you Percy," Dionysus said. "not while your brother stands at your side, alive and well."

I groaned in frustration, I would not be their death, we would have to do without a Deus ex Machina. Despite the situation I couldn't help but smile at the irony, Dionysus was the god of theater after all, it fit quite well.

"Well," I called back to the others and already started pulling the water around us together ready to crush the concrete pillars supporting them, sawing and grinding at them. "go then, leave, I'd be responsible for your death, it is my duty to take responsibility for stopping it."

"You think I'll let you die again?" I heard Percy's protest.

"Agreed, we-" Zoë started but was cut off by the manticore.

"Aaargh! Enough chit chat!" He interrupted his accent flaring up from his anger. "Spare the daughter of Zeus! Kill everyone else!"

The guards aimed at me, which I found quite charming that they saw me as the first to kill, perhaps because I was annoying, or the most heavily armed one. But I was not in the mood for taking a bullet, so my instincts made me dive downwards, my right foot hitting the planks and the water surged to meet me. The wood cracked and the concrete pillars burst beneath them, a bullet glanced off the side of my helmet, another one grazed my shoulder, I winced as I threw myself to the ground.

With a splash, the mercenaries dropped into the murky water below, again I forced the water to the sides, sweeping them into the darkness below the pier and I heard the sounds of men swallowing salt water and crashing into pillars. Swimming with a bulletproof vest and helmets on was a challenge, even for skilled mortals or demigods.

The manticore was clawing at the edge of the broken wood, his massive orange paws and the deadly claws on them digging themselves into the wood. Above me silver arrow after silver arrow flew, burying themselves in his paws and one sprouted in his cheek. He snarled in pain and started pulling himself up again with a roar, his still not fully recovered tail twitching dangerously.

"Well, I guess that's our cue to run." I told them, not that I had any hope we could outrun him, but one can always lay an ambush.

Thankfully the others listened to me and we sprinted through the empty tourist pathway. I realized my shoulder burned, but this didn't feel like poison, much more strain from my powers. I barreled around the next corner and called to the others as loudly as I could.

"Go, take the left, I'll hold him here!" I said to them while shaking my head and gesturing right.

Zoë looked extremely irritated but pulled them with her. I turned to face the deadly monster following us and did the heroic thing. I ran to the right as well and climbed on top of the roof of the nearest shop, my shoulder burning as I struggled up, there was no hope in a straight fight, I knew that much.

The manticore turned the corner and started sniffing around. I crouched and looked down on him. Within moments he had detected me and his head turned up to me. I pretended to be scared shitless as I dropped back, struggling up the roof backwards. That wasn't very hard since I was just that, scared.

I drew my knife and heard the crack of wood beneath him as he leapt up. Opportunist that I was, I dove forward, straight into the massive lion body of his. Ramming my knife below his ribs, I pulled out again as we tumbled downwards and thrust forth again, this time jabbing it into his upper leg. I was about to pull it out again, when I felt him start de-materializing below me again, I felt myself go up in darkness as well. It now reminded me of my one time of shadow travel, though it was quite different.

Somehow I managed to move backwards, crashing against the shut metal gate of a shop. Wheezing I stumbled forward again and vomited over the edge of the railing. Thorn was gone, again, I would have almost ended up like Annabeth. That was a close call, a far too close one, I really had to get myself some shoulder plates, or an indestructible cloak like Percy's.

At that moment the others rounded back around the corner to see my sorry state.

"Is he dead?" Zoë asked first, coming to the relevant questions without a due.

My shoulder burned and with shivering hands I reached for my canteen and took a large swig of nectar, feeling my wounds close somewhat and my body steady itself. Using the strength I gained from that I pulled a large blob of water up to my shoulder, feeling the wound fade together with my power.

"I wish, but no, he disappeared before we hit the water, again, I had to let go not to get spirited away." I said with a sigh. "It was just like Annabeth's disappearance."

Zoë nodded again before stating. "I saw you move, it reminded me of someone while doing so."

"Your mother?" I guessed but I shook my head. "She was an Oceanid, wasn't she?"

"Yes she was, but you are wrong, I am talking about my one and only half-brother, Hyas." She said, though her voice wasn't very caring.

"Ah, he ehhh..." I was fishing for the story. "He was killed by a lion, wasn't it the Nemean Lion?"

"Yes, he was only a young immortal," She stated. "foolishly he went hunting for it, he thought he could rely on his speed, but it brought his doom, don't repeat his mistake."

"I can't even control it properly." I told her frustrated.

"Good, don't try to unnecessarily, at least not while this quest is going on."

Thalia cleared her throat and interrupted.

"Speaking of speed, shouldn't we get going, before he returns again?"

"Yes," Zoë agreed. "It is getting too late, we need a car."

"And I just might know someone who can help us," Thalia said. "I've got the address somewhere."

"We still need to deal with the Ophiotaurus." Grover said and a murmur of agreement went through us.

After a brief discussion we decided that the best course of action was for Grover to guide him home, after Percy had told us how the monster always appeared behind him, but Grover still was the only one who could somewhat understand him. But of course there is no such thing as a free lunch in the world, this requires prayer and a sacrifice, a big one.

So me and Percy did something I did often, but didn't enjoy, praying. I prayed to my father for safe passage to Long Island, to the camp, where Chiron would hopefully be able to get him to Olympus. It would have been far easier to just kill him, but it wasn't exactly moral or guaranteed to work. Neither was this, but it was definitely more reliable in a way.

Remember how I mentioned this would require a big sacrifice, well Percy gave that, his lion skin, the only thing that saved him from certain death by getting littered with bullets, since he, much to my frustration, refused to wear armor. Nonetheless he threw it into the water where it dissolved and we sent the Satyr and Ophiotaurus off.

"So," I said, "at least we are five once more, fate calls does it not?"

"Yes," Thalia said dryly. "We should go."

AN: Well, not only did I catch Covid, which slowed my already limited process further, this was also annoying to write, but I at least purged that Deus Ex Machina in there, which I despised. Dionysus intervening felt so strange to me...

As always, thanks for reading, any feedback from follow to favorite or review is appreciated.