MY MOTHER TEACHES ME BULLFIGHTING read Orion.
We tore through the night along dark country roads. Wind slammed against the Camaro. Rain
lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my mom could see anything, but she kept her foot on
the gas.
"Only way to drive." said Ares with a grin on his face. "Finally getting some action."
Hephaestus rolled his eyes 'Only means I have to repair his bike every week.' he thought.
Every time there was a flash of lightning, I looked at Grover sitting next to me in the backseat
and I wondered if I'd gone insane, or if he was wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants.
"I love those pants." said Apollo who was smiling dreamily.
Artemis rolled her eyes. "Idiot." she muttered.
But, no, the smell was one I remembered from kindergarten field trips to the petting zoo-lanolin, like from wool. The smell of a wet barnyard animal.
Everyone laughed.
All I could think to say was..."I am your friend."
"Best friends." smiled older Grover, young Grover was grinning.
"Urn..."Goat!" he cried. "What?" "I'm a goat from the waist down."
"You said it didn't matter." said Thalia.
"You just said it didn't matter."
"OH NO! I THINK LIKE KELP HEAD!" Thalia yelled playfully, but still got a glare from Annabeth.
"Blaa-ha-ha..."So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!" "Of course."
"He is still on that?" said Jason with a mocking tone.
"You do realize that he went 2 months of an entire school year believing that he was going crazy." said a defensive Annabeth while glaring at Jason. "Anyone would still be on that."
"I know I would." said Thalia glaring at Jason. She couldn't believe he is acting this way.
"Then why—"...Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.
Annabeth was getting very worried, she knows he survived and beat the Minotaur but never learned how.
Poseidon was looking very pale.
"Percy,"..."Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."
"Grover!" said Annabeth. "You aren't helping him understand."
"Grover!"
Everyone laughed.
"Seems Sally agrees with me." said a pink Annabeth.
"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"...I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird.
"I bet Kelp Head could." said Thalia.
My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.
All the campers smiled.
"Where are we going?"..."Because some old ladies cut yarn."
"Not the only reason." said Zeus who was glaring at Poseidon. Who ignored the glare opting to listen to the book.
"Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates...when someone's about to die."
Annabeth was glaring at older Grover, who had the decency to look sheepish.
"Whoa. You said 'you.'" "No I didn't. I said 'someone.'" "You meant 'you.' As in me." "I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you."
"Boys." Artemis muttered.
"Boys!" my mom said.
The girls laughed, while the boys said. "Hey!"
Artemis nodded in agreement to what Sally had said.
She pulled the wheel hard to the right..."Another mile. Please. Please. Please."
Poseidon was chanting the same thing in his head. As were the people who care about Percy.
I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive...Mrs. Dodds...She'd meant to kill me.
Poseidon glared at Hades again, who shrunk down from the glare.
Then I thought about Mr. Brunner...boom!, and our car exploded...I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.
"How would he know what the feels like?" asked Thalia.
I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."
"All that, and he says 'Ow'." everyone said a little shocked.
"Percy!" my mom shouted. "I'm okay... ."
"Uh-huh." said Thalia. "Figures, its Percy."
I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead...rain was pouring in. Lightning.
"ZEUS." yelled Poseidon. "If you kill my SON...there will be a war." He said oddly calm but also very serious. Like the calm before a storm, whenever Poseidon was in this mood. People took him seriously, because he wasn't just threatening a war. He was guaranteeing it.
Zeus would be lying if he said he wasn't scared of his older brother, because in reality he was terrified. However he had an appearance to upkeep as King of the gods. So he gulped as he managed to reign in his terror and he only paled. But everyone agreed he was more pale than his eldest brother Hades.
Hades was also terrified of his younger brother, he was powerful. Arguably the most powerful of the three. So he was hoping he had only sent the one monster, and didn't hurt the kid. Although the Fury was asking 'Where is IT' could it be...no...no-one would steal his helm. He would go retrieve it after dinner. Surely, it had to be in the guest room where he'd left it. 'I really should have my own throne' he thought bitterly.
That was the only explanation...No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!
Both Grover's smiled widely at this. Everyone else also had a smile because that was the Percy they had grown to love and appreciate.
'This boy is loyal' thought Artemis and Athena.
Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.
Everyone laughed. "That is so true." they chorused.
"Percy," my mother said...I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl.
Theseus, Poseidon, and Hades were leaning forward suspecting something bad.
It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket
over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had
horns.
Their suspicions were right.
Theseus gasped. "It can't be...that isn't possible." he muttered quietly.
Poseidon was glaring at Hades suspecting him of sending the monster. He'd hoped it wasn't what he was thinking it was, then that would mean two of his son's will have fought the beast.
Everyone else was thinking what monster it is, while all the future's were interested in learning if the legend was true.
Annabeth was nervous hoping he took it down with relative ease. Oh how she wish she could've gotten their sooner to help. But she and Chiron didn't hear the Minotaur until it screamed in pain as it died.
Hades was trying not to cower from Poseidon's glare, he knew Poseidon suspected him. He had managed to get a hold of the Minotaur not long ago. But to send it out so soon, he must have a good reason.
I swallowed hard...sizzling and smoking.
"Not that way." muttered Annabeth.
"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Percy—you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"
"That's me." said Thalia a little smug.
Everyone just rolled there eyes. Young Annabeth was a little upset at the reminder, but was glad Thalia was here now.
"What?" Another flash of lightning, and through the smoking hole in the roof I saw the tree she meant: a huge
"Hey! I am not huge." said Thalia. Everyone laughed, she glared and shut them up.
"Well you aren't...yet." said Nico who got shocked.
White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill. "That's the property line," my mom said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."
"Like he is going to leave you Sally." said Annabeth.
"I know. But it was worth a shot." said Sally.
"Mom, you're coming too." Her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. "No!" I shouted. "You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover." "Food!" Grover moaned, a little louder.
Everyone laughed a lot harder than last time. Apollo and Hermes were clutching there stomachs.
The man with the blanket on his head...was his head. And the points that looked like
horns...
Poseidon was glaring daggers at Hades who shrunk in his seat next to Nico and Hazel. Poseidon was pretty sure he knew this was the Minotaur but was waiting until he had a little more evidence. Because he wanted to deny the possibility.
Hades was still thinking of reasons for why to send the Minotaur after a twelve year old. He had nothing against his brother, at least enough to warrant killing his kid. So the only thing that kept coming to his mind was something had happened to his helm.
But when? In the book Chiron mentioned something about his nerves being off since the Winter Solstice which is now. He was going to check after this chapter instead.
"He doesn't want us," my mother told me. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."..."Mom! I am not leaving you. Help me with Grover."
Everyone smiled at his loyalty to his mother.
I didn't wait for her answer. I scrambled outside, dragging Grover from the car. He was surprisingly light...He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine...except underwear—I mean, bright white Fruit of the Looms
Everyone laughed a little trying to reduce the tension that has been built up.
which would've looked funny,
But their efforts were in vain.
except that the top half of his body was so scary...snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns—
Theseus paled and his eyes widened. "Its not possible...I killed him. He should be DEAD." he said.
If they didn't figure out the monster before they definitely did now, everyone knew he defeated the Minotaur. So every gasped when their suspicions were confirmed.
Poseidon who was still glaring at Hades said. "YOU SENT THE MINOTAUR AFTER MY SON!" he started to get up, but Apollo and Hermes moved to hold him down. They struggled to keep down their Uncle.
"I am sorry brother, but this is the future I haven't done it yet." Hades said timidly.
This got Poseidon to calm down a little bit, but he was still glaring at Hades.
Athena then explained to Theseus that monsters don't die like mortals, they eventually come back to the mortal world. When he heard this he paled.
enormous black-and-white horns..."That's—""Pasiphae's son," my mother said.
"You are a very smart woman." said Athena smiling at Sally.
Sally blushed. "Thank you Lady Athena."
"I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you."
"But he's the Min—" "Don't say his name," she warned. "Names have power."
"Still hasn't learned that has he?" said Thalia.
"Nope." chorused all the demigods that have met Percy.
Poseidon groaned.
The pine tree was still way too far...fifty feet away.
"Food?" Grover moaned.
Everyone chuckled.
"Man Grover is out of it." said Apollo.
"Shhh," I told him. "Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?" "His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."
'She did her research' Athena thought she liked Sally. How Poseidon managed to find her, she'll never know.
As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro...Not a scratch, I remembered Gabe saying.
"Oops." muttered Theseus.
Orion snorted as he read the next line.
Oops.
Everyone laughed at this. While Theseus blushed, and smiled for thinking like his brother.
"Percy," my mom said...I was selfish, keeping you near me."
"It is not selfish for a mother to want to keep her son near her." said Hera.
"It's a shame I didn't get the same treatment." Hephaestus muttered mockingly.
"Keeping me near you? But—" Another bellow of rage, and the bull-man started tromping uphill. He'd smelled us.
"Oh no...no." muttered a very pale Poseidon. Annabeth was equally as pale, young Annabeth was a little pale but anxious to hear the next line.
The pine tree was only a few more yards...I sprinted to the left, turned, and saw the creature bearing down on me.
Poseidon's breathing became fast.
His black eyes glowed with hate. He reeked like rotten meat. He lowered his head and charged, those razor-sharp horns aimed straight at my chest.
Poseidon held his breath.
The fear in my stomach made me want to bolt...I jumped to the side. The bull-man stormed past like a freight train
Then exhaled, as did everyone else. Relieved for now.
then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward me this time, toward my mother, who was setting Grover down in the grass.
"Oh no." Poseidon muttered again.
We'd reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side I could see a valley, just as my mother had said, and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. We'd never make it.
"Ever the pessimist." said Nico, who was glared at by Annabeth.
The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground..."I can't go any farther. Run!"'
Everyone was silently agreeing, but those who knew him wouldn't.
But I just stood there, frozen in fear, as the monster charged her...He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummeling the air.
"Mom!"
"How are you alive Sally?" asked Poseidon.
"I wasn't killed." answered Sally. "But that is all I will say, seeing as we will read it in the book."
Poseidon just nodded, a little relieved. But curious as to how she survived this.
She caught my eyes, managed to choke out one last word: "Go!"...and she was simply...gone. "No!"
Everyone was shocked. How did she survive?
Athena recognized she wasn't killed but transported away before it happened, being held hostage. But by whom?
Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs—the same rush of energy I'd
gotten when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.
"Well the Minotaur is screwed now." said Nico. With all the futures smiling and nodding in agreement.
Everyone else was confused.
The bull-man bore down on Grover...I couldn't allow that.
'He is very loyal' Artemis thought. Maybe he was worthy of her respect. With the Hunters thinking the same thing.
I stripped off my red rain jacket. "Hey!" I screamed, waving the jacket, running to one side of the monster. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!"
"Could've been better, but seeing as its his first insult I'll give it an 8." said a serious Hermes.
"Raaaarrrrr!"...I'd jump out of the way at the last moment.
"At least his stupid idea's always end of working." said Thalia, with a light glare from Annabeth because she couldn't deny that. But he isn't stupid.
But it didn't happen like that.
"Of course it didn't." muttered a worried Annabeth.
Poseidon and Sally groaned.
The bull-man charged too fast...so I leaped straight up, kicking off from the creature's head, using it as a springboard, turning in midair, and landing on his neck.
Everyone's jaw dropped.
"How did he?" stammered Ares.
"Do that?" finished Apollo.
How did I do that?
"Thats what we want to know." said Ares.
I didn't have time to figure it out. A millisecond later, the monster's head slammed into the tree and the impact nearly knocked my teeth out.
Everyone winced.
"Hey! That's my tree!" said Thalia. Everyone laughed a little.
The bull-man staggered around, trying to shake me...The smell of rotten meat burned my nostrils.
Aphrodite was looking green again. "Does he have to describe everything?" she asked.
The monster shook himself around and bucked like a rodeo bull. He should have just backed up into the tree and smashed me flat, but I was starting to realize that this thing had only one gear: forward.
Athena nodded.
Meanwhile, Grover started groaning in the grass. I wanted to yell at him to shut up, but the
way I was getting tossed around, if I opened my mouth I'd bite my own tongue off.
"Don't do that!" said a panicked Annabeth.
"Why? Do you like his tongue?" teased Thalia.
"I am going to ignore the implication, but yes I do." said a very red Annabeth. "Read."
Everyone chuckled. While her and her boyfriends parents, looked a little disturbed.
"Food!" Grover moaned.
"I have to agree with Grover on this one." said Apollo as his stomach growled. "Can we have a snack after this chapter?"
"Yes, we can get something prepared for next chapter." said Hestia. Apollo smiled at his Aunt, who smiled back.
The bull-man wheeled toward him...I got both hands around one horn and I pulled backward with all my might.
"Like that would do anything, those horns are huge." said Ares.
All the futures smiled.
The monster tensed, gave a surprised grunt, then—snap!
Everyones jaw dropped. While those who knew, just smiled wider.
The bull-man screamed and flung me through the air. I landed flat on my back in the grass. My head smacked against a rock.
Everyone winced again.
When I sat up, my vision was blurry, but I had a horn in my hands, a ragged bone weapon the size of a knife. The monster charged...the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart. The monster was gone.
Everyone's jaw dropped. After there shocked they cheered. Poseidon was relieved and proud that his son had defeated the Minotaur. Without training and at age 12.
Theseus and Orion were proud of their brother. He had defeated on of the more powerful monsters in existence, without any training and he was TWELVE.
Annabeth was relieved he was alright, and very proud that he managed this feat. She already knew of course he had the horn in his cabin the prove it, but hearing it again and how it actually happened. Well she was going to volley him with kisses when he showed up.
Young Annabeth was as shocked as everyone else. Her future-boyfriend had managed to defeat the Minotaur without a weapon. She was starting to like him more, and she had yet to even meet him.
The rain had stopped...managed to haul him up and stagger down into the valley, toward the lights of the farmhouse. I was crying, calling for my mother, but I held on to Grover—I wasn't going to let him go.
Everyone was smiling at how loyal he was.
"The boy is very loyal." muttered Artemis with her Hunters nodding in agreement.
"What just happened?" asked Apollo looking at Artemis. Who just looked back with an eyebrow raised.
"Did you just-" stammered Apollo.
"Lets finish the chapter, I am hungry." said Nico. Orion nodded.
The last thing I remember is collapsing on a wooden porch...bearded man and a pretty girl, her blond hair curled like a princess's.
Annabeth started blushing, she knew Percy liked her princess curls.
"Ah, must be one of mine." said Aphrodite.
They both looked down at me, and the girl said, "He's the one. He must be."
"Oh...he's the one alright." said Thalia looking pointedly at Annabeth. Who blushed further.
Young Annabeth started blushing after that, and remember Percy called her 'pretty'.
"Silence, Annabeth," the man said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."
Everyone laughed at the two Annabeth's blushing deep red.
After Orion finished laughing he said. "Alright that's the end of the chapter." He handed the book the Theseus.
"Alright what are we getting for a snack?" asked Apollo.
"Well since we are having dinner in two chapters. We shall have some Chips and Queso." said Hestia.
She summoned tables in front of all the couches. Then she summoned the food next. After everyone got settled Theseus began reading.
Short chapter yea. But want to get to the rest of the story faster.
Also I overestimated my finals, so I should be able to continue writing. It's a lot easier when classes are online cuz of covid.
