XVII - At First Light and Memories
At first light, I found myself down at the beach. Suddenly a hippocampus came neighing out of the water nervously.
"There is a sea creature trapped, sea-death lord. Please help it."
I ignored the sea lord bit and I quickly dived underwater. I had been asked by many sea creatures to help other trapped or wounded sea creatures. I spoke to it.
"Of course I will help, Do you mind giving me a ride?"
It nodded and I grabbed its mane of seaweed.
We traveled for miles across Long Island Sound until we stopped.
"It is down there Sea-death Lord."
I nodded and shot down into the darkness.
Twenty, thirty, forty feet. It was dark but instead of using my night vision I simply allowed myself to see what the water touched. It was almost like I could see everything but it wasn't like normal seeing. The best way to describe it is echolocation though that isn't quite right either.
I got closer and saw the problem. A dark shape—some kind of animal—was wedged halfway under the boat and tangled in a fishing net, one of those big nets they use on trawlers to catch everything at once. I hated those things. It was bad enough they drowned porpoises and dolphins, but they also occasionally caught mythological animals. When the nets got tangled, some lazy fishermen would just cut them loose and let the trapped animals die.
Apparently, this poor creature had been mucking around on the bottom of Long Island Sound and had somehow gotten itself tangled in the net of this sunken fishing boat. It had tried to get out and managed to get even more hopelessly stuck, shifting the boat in the process. Now the wreckage of the hull, which was resting against a big rock, was teetering and threatening to collapse on top of the tangled animal.
The hippocampi were swimming around frantically, wanting to help but not sure how. One was trying to chew the net, but hippocampi teeth just aren't meant for cutting rope. Hippocampi are really strong, but they don't have hands, and they're not all that smart.
Free it, lord! A hippocampus said when it saw me. The others joined in, asking the same thing.
I swam in for a closer look at the tangled creature. At first, I thought it was a young hippocampus. I'd rescued several of them before. But then I heard a strange sound, something that did not belong underwater:
"Mooooo"
The front half was a calf—a baby, with black fur and big, sad brown eyes and a white muzzle—and its back half was a black-and-brown snaky tail with fins running down the top and bottom, like an enormous eel.
"Whoa, little one," I said.
"Where did you come from?"
The creature looked at me sadly. "Moooo!"
But I couldn't understand its thoughts. I only speak horse.
"We don't know what it is, lord," one of the hippocampi said. Many strange things are stirring.
That was when I knew, It was the Ophiotaurus. The creature that could destroy the gods. The creature Artemis was hunting.
I twisted my ring and my sword appeared. I was going to cut the net but The Ophiotaurus started whining and trying to get away.
Quickly I turned my sword back into its ring form. If I was a creature that gave others power when I was sacrificed I would probably be afraid of weapons too.
"It's okay, It's okay," I whispered soothingly to it.
It started to calm down.
"All right," I told the hippocampi. "I need all of you to push exactly the way I tell you." First, we started with the boat. It wasn't easy, but with the strength of three horsepower, we managed to shift the wreckage so it was no longer threatening to collapse on the baby Ophiotaurus. Then I went to work on the net, untangling it section by section, getting lead weights and fishing hooks straightened out, yanking out knots around its hooves.
The whole time, I kept talking to the Ophiotaurus telling her everything was okay while she mooed and moaned.
Finally, the net came off and the Ophiotaurus zipped through the water and did a happy somersault. Then it disappeared.
The hippocampi whinnied with joy. Thank you, Lord!
I sighed. I had hoped to save the Ophiotaurus by bringing it to Olympus but that was not the case.
"I enveloped myself in shadows and found myself back on the beach. I sat back down looking at the waves.
I felt nervous like I should be on this quest of Zoë's. I had a better understanding of what the prophecy was. I sat there for a while until suddenly a hunter came down glaring at me. Like I had done something wrong.
"Boy, Phoebe has asked to see you?"
I nodded curiously. And followed her back to the hunter cabin. Inside I found Phoebe bedridden with horrible hives covering her body.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"A foolish prank," Phoebe growled. "Those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin. Centaur blood is like acid. Everyone knows that. They sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it." Her voice was hoarse.
"And why did you want me, daughter of apollo?"
She hissed, "Gods, I wish I wasn't his daughter but that's not the point… Perseus I need your help." She said as she tried to sit up.
"Ah, so you remember me then."
FlashBack
Get up!" A voice boomed from behind her. Phoebe tried to get back to her feet but found her body was weak, too weak to raise herself from the ground. She tried to push herself up with her hands but they weren't even strong enough to raise her frail body. Her hands landed on the hardwood of the dock.
"I said get up!" The voice boomed again. Before she had a chance to even try and comply, liquid fire seared her back. She cried out in agony and felt tears well up in her eyes only to be rewarded with a second lash across the back.
The pain was indescribable. She felt like a fire had been set across her back. Each welt burned with the heat of the sun, sending pain shooting throughout her body. She could feel the warmth of her own blood as it seeped through her tattered linen chiton. Despite how weak she was and the blinding pain in her back, she managed to get herself onto her hands and knees, driven by the sheer terror of another lashing.
The next lash of the whip was aimed poorly. It snapped over her shoulders, the tip coming around and catching her in the face. She fell over, her hands unable to reach her face, though she tried. The metallic taste of her own blood filled her senses and made her nearly lose consciousness.
"You fool!" A second voice chastised her attacker. "Now we will have to take less for this one! You never injure the face! And what's worse is that with Sparta falling this is the last shipment."
Phoebe turned her head in time to see a large tan man slam his sandaled foot into the back of her, the one who'd whipped her. The man fell to the ground and was kicked in the face and despite her own pain, she felt a twinge of satisfaction at the sight of his blood as it leaked from his swollen nose.
"Get up girl!" Her so-called savior bellowed at her. When she didn't immediately comply, he grabbed the back of her chiton and yanked her upright, ripping the thin cloth and exposing her throbbing back to the scorching sun.
"Get on the ship!" He spat at her as he turned around, taking care to kick the other man in the stomach as he passed over him.
Phoebe could only tremble as silent sobs racked her body.
"Do not fall again," a quiet voice hissed from beside her. "We are nearly there. They will kill you if you don't look presentable."
Phoebe turned and found a middle-aged woman in chains beside her. Her body was thin, almost too thin, but her weathered face was kind and gentle.
"I... I'm sorry." Phoebe whimpered.
"Shhh... Shhhh, child." The woman said soothingly. "It's almost over. Hopefully, your new master will be kind. He'll feed and clothe you, you just need to survive a little while longer."
Phoebe could only nod her head. She knew if she spoke, she would lose herself. She saw the man in front of her begin walking and despite her body's protests, her bare feet began to shuffle forward, careful to watch her step as she walked up the gangplank. She lowered her head and tried to pace her steps with the enslaved man in front of her, her sole desire was to not be noticed again.
Once she felt her bare feet hit the ship she was forced onto her knees next to the women. Alongside them, there were 8 other women of varying ages kneeling on the ground. They were all beautiful.
As the ship was preparing to leave the harbor Phoebe heard a yell of alarm as a throwing dagger entered the heart of the man who had whipped her. They were being attacked
"Keep your head down, child." The kind woman whispered.
Unable to control her curiosity Phoebe watched with a mixture of fear and awe as a boy in a dark cloak brutally murdered her captors. Lowering his hood Phoebe saw he was 15 with long black hair tied back in a knot and beautiful purple eyes with a mixture of colors.
"You," he said pointing at Phoebe. "What is your name?"
"Phoebe," she said weakly.
His gaze softened. "Where is your family?"
"I... I don't know, they… they sold me." Phoebe whimpered back.
The dark-haired boy turned and began to unlock the shackles of every captured slave.
"Go! Find your way back to your home," he said softly to all of them.
They all ran off the ship except for Phoebe.
"Phoebe, my name is Perseus. I wish to help you. You see you are a demi-god like me, a half-mortal, half-god."
"How do you know?"
"I can see Auras." The boy said.
Phoebe did not understand but she nodded.
"Listen, you have two choices. I can take you to a place where no man will ever hurt you again, you will be immortal and will live with a bunch of other women or I can help you set up a life somewhere else in Greece. Which would you like?"
"I would like the first option," Phoebe said.
Perseus smiled and wrapped the shadows around them transporting them away.
End Flashback
"How could I not? You saved my life." Said Phoebe. "Though I did not expect you to still look fifteen. Centuries after the fall of Sparta."
"I have partial immortality like you."
"Ah," She said, then in a much quieter voice, "You knew Zoë too, didn't you."
I nodded.
"I need you to save her. Take my place on the mission, you must catch up with them. And… you know as well as I, that Zoë thinks this is her last quest. I do not know what the history between the two of you is but please, bring her home"
I winced slightly before nodding again. "I will try."
No one(POV)
Perseus left the hunter's cabin and found the huntress who had come to get him waiting outside. He nodded at her and started walking to the Hermes cabin.
Making sure he had everything he started walking toward the door but suddenly stopped. Reaching into his portal pouch he grabbed riptide and placed it in one of the pouches on his cloak.
As Perseus was walking toward the edge of camp he found Nico leaving as well. Nico stopped when he saw Perseus.
"you're thinking about following them on the quest," Perseus guessed.
"How did you know that?"
"Because if it was my sister, I'd probably be thinking the same thing. But you can't."
He looked defiant. "Because I'm too young?"
"Because they won't let you. They'll catch you and send you back here. And… yeah, because you're too young. You remember the manticore? There will be lots more monsters like that. More dangerous. Some of the heroes will die."
His shoulders sagged. He shifted from foot to foot.
"Look Nico, I am following. I already promised Phoebe I would and I can get there a lot faster than you."
"You have to promise to keep my sister safe." Nico pleaded.
"I… that's a big thing to promise, Nico, on a trip like this. Besides, she's got Zoë, Annabeth, and Thalia—"
"Promise," he insisted.
"I promise."
"Get going, then!" he said. "Good luck!"
Perseus smiled at the young child of Hades but he knew that he was only tricking himself if he thought this quest would go smoothly.
Before he left he turned to Nico, "Hey when I get back remind me to teach you this."
Perseus winked then proceeded to envelop himself with shadows and then he was gone.
"Cool," Nico said in awe.
A.N: And from here the quest begins. I hope you're ready. I know I am! I've been waiting for a long time to post this.
- LIGHTNINGWOLF18