XVIII - And the General is….? + An Old Foe

I knew which direction they had to be headed, but I had no idea how far in front they were. It wouldn't work for me to just shadow travel along the road. That would be tiring and pointless. So I whistled for Alpha once I got into the city. The big shade wolf came running out of a shadow, ears flapping and tongue out. "Hey Boss," the wolf said, grinning.

"Alpha, I've missed you, buddy." I scratched him under his chin which made him wag his tail.

"Oh, that's the spot, boss, right there."

I smiled. "Alpha, I'm following a truck that's heading toward California. Can you chase after it for me?"

The giant wolf rolled his eyes. "Hop on, boss,"

I pushed myself up and leaned into the shade wolf's fur.

Alpha sped off through the city, running on the streets, hopping across buildings. Suddenly Alpha stopped and growled. Grape Vines were beginning to come out of the pavement. One reached out and grabbed my arm while another yanked on Alphas paw. Alpha yelped.

"Going somewhere?" Dionysus asked.

He was leaning against the building with his feet levitating in the air, his leopard-skin warm-up suit and black hair whipping around in the wind.

"God alert!" Alpha yelled. "It's the wine, dude!"

Dionysus sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or…Wolf… thing, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!" He stared at Alpha a little curiously.

"Dionysus." I tried to keep my voice calm as the grapevines continued to wrap around my legs and arms. "What do you want?"

"Oh, what do I want? You thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you leaving without permission?"

"I do not need your permission, god of wine. I am not a camper. Besides, why do you just hate demigods so much."

Purple flames flickered in his eyes. "You're a hero, boy. I need no other reason."

"I have to go on this quest! The person I love will die, Dionysus. I have to help her even if she doesn't want my help. I know you understand that."

"How could you possibly know if I understood that."

I responded with one name. "Ariadne."

He stared at me long and hard. "Who are you, demigod? You have understandings that shouldn't be possible."

"I am a lot older than I look. I was once a servant to Minos's family. I met her long before she fell in love with Theseus, long before he abandoned her on that island after she had saved his life. Long before you rescued her and married her." I said softly. However, my voice turned cold. "But here is the difference between the two of us wine gods, you are the reason your wife is alone, do you understand that. You chased after the favorite nymph of Zeus and paid the price for it. IT'S YOUR FAULT!." I yelled at him. Dionysus's vines started to dissipate. "Now I am trying to save my friend. Are you going to stop me?"

"No I am not," he said quietly. "Go Demigod you have made your point, now leave me be. However here this Hero..." he said the word hero with malice in his voice. "The prophecy says at least two of you will die. Perhaps I'll get lucky and you'll be one of them. But mark my words, live or die, you will prove no better than the other heroes."

I watched him walk away probably even more depressed that he couldn't get drunk than he had been since he began his punishment. I truly hoped he was wrong.

As Alpha began shadow traveling and running again I couldn't help but feel bad for Dionysus he had been punished severely and I had merely added salt to his wounds.

I figured I would have caught up to them sooner but apparently, Zoë drove south like a crazy person, since we were into Maryland before she finally pulled over at a rest stop, and Alpha and I found their Van.

Alpha slowed down to a stop and began limping slightly. He was panting and looked ready to collapse.

Alpha laid down and I came and started scratching him behind the ear. "You did good bud, I'm proud of you." He smiled sleepily. "Hey... bud I may still need you so can you stay here for a bit. I am going to go scout."

He nodded and I scratched his head fondly.

I walked over to the convenience store and thought I'd go inside and warm up, maybe get a cup of hot chocolate or something for me and see if there were any treats for Alpha. I had Hades' credit card in my pocket that I could use but my plan was ruined by Zoë, Thalia, Bianca, and Annabeth all coming out of the store.

I quickly hid behind a truck and watched them get back into the van. I could not hear them but they seemed to be discussing where to go next. Also, Zoë and Thalia seemed to be fighting.

I did however catch the end of their conversation.

"You're going to get us arrested, driving," Thalia grumbled. "I look closer to sixteen than you do."

"Perhaps," Zoë snapped. "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go."

I found Alpha and woke him up. "Hey, you think you can go again bud."

Alpha nodded, "I could do this all day." he tried to sound confident but I could tell he was tired. "Last one bud, Last one."

As Alpha and I continued I smiled at the statement Zoë had made. I had also been driving automobiles since they had been invented in the 1800s.

After hours Alpha slowed down and began breathing heavier.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Fine, boss. I could… I could take on an army."

I knew he could but I also figured Alpha would run himself into the ground before he complained, and I didn't want that.

Fortunately, the van started to slow down. It crossed the Potomac River into central Washington.

"Hey, you can stop here bud," I told him

He set me down on the grass next to the Washington monument and curled up on the grass.

The van was only a few blocks away. Zoë had parked at the curb.

"Hey bud before you fall asleep go home, I'm so proud of you."

"Yeah, home sounds nice." Alpha enveloped himself in shadows and he was gone. I hoped he got back to the House of Nyx alright. I will pray to grandma tonight just to make sure.

I looked over at the white van. Everybody was getting out. Annabeth pointed toward one of the big buildings lining the Mall. Thalia nodded, and the four of them trudged off into the cold wind.

I started to follow. But then I froze.

A block away, the door of a black sedan opened. Out stepped an emposai disguised as a woman who started walking down the Mall in the direction of the group.

Wrapping shadows around me I made myself invisible like my grandmother had taught me.

The emposai followed the group at a distance to not be seen. Finally, Annabeth stopped in front of a big building that said NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM. The Smithsonian. Of course, the daughter of Athena wants to see the Smithsonian.

The group entered however the emposai hesitated. I wasn't sure why, but he didn't go into the museum. she turned and headed across the Mall. I made a split-second decision and followed her. Wherever he was going it wasn't good. Thorn crossed the street and climbed the steps of the Museum of Natural History. There was a big sign on the door. CLOSED FOR PRIVATE EVENT.

I followed The emposai inside, through a huge chamber full of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons. There were voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors. Two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for her, and I had to sprint to get inside before they closed them again.

Inside, what I saw was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen and I had grown up in Tartarus. I was on the lower floor of a huge round room with a balcony ringing the second level. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus two monsters, reptilian women with double-snake trunks instead of legs. Scythian dracaena, I had fought some before and they were nasty.

Standing between the two snake women was a boy. He looked terrible. His skin was pale and his blond hair looked almost gray. He had an angry light in his eyes, he also had a scar down the side of his face which was an ugly red, as though it had recently been reopened. From the description, Chiron gave I knew it had to be Luke Castellan.

Next to him, sitting on a large throne was another man. He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit like the guys on Wall Street wear, but you'd never mistake this dude for a broker. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. His eyes were like stone. I felt as if I were looking at a living statue. It was amazing he could even move.

It was Atlas. I knew he had escaped but to be here...

"Well?" asked Atlas in the chair. His voice was deep and strong, like the earth itself was talking. It filled the whole room even though he wasn't yelling.

The Emposai bowed: "They are here, General."

"I know that you fool," boomed the man. "But where?"

"The Air and Space Museum."

"How many?" the General demanded.

"Four, General," it said, "The daughter of Athena, Annabeth. And the girl with the spiky black hair and the, how do you say, punk clothes and the horrible shield."

"Thalia," Luke said.

"And two other girls, Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."

"That one I know," the General growled. Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.

"Let me take them," Luke said to the General. "We have more than enough..."

"Patience," the General said. "They'll have their hands full already. I've sent a little playmate to keep them occupied."

"But..."

"We cannot risk you, my boy." The general interrupted. The General turned to Luke. "The first thing we must do is isolate the half-blood Thalia. The monster we seek will then come to her."

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," Luke said. "Zoë Nightshade..."

"Do not speak her name!"

Luke swallowed. "S...sorry, General. I just..."

The General silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you, my boy, how we will bring the Hunters down." He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"

The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!"

"Plant them," he said. In the center of the room was a big circle of dirt the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while Atlas smiled coldly.

The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "Ready, General!"

"Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."

The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daisies painted on it, which was kind of bizarre, because what he poured out wasn't water. It was a dark red liquid almost like blood. Now that I thought about it it probably was blood.

The soil began to bubble.

"Soon," the General said, "I will show you, Luke, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant."

Luke clenched his fists. "I've spent a year training my forces! When the Princess Andromeda arrives at the mountain, they'll be the best..."

"Ha.'" the General said. "I don't deny your troops will make a fine honor guard for Lord Kronos. And you, of course, will have a role to play..."

I thought Luke turned paler when the General said that.

"but under my leadership, the forces of Lord Kronos will increase a hundredfold. We will be unstoppable. Behold, my ultimate killing machines. "Rise!"

The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at the air. The General looked to his left.

"Quickly, do you have the scent?"

"Yesssss, lord," one of the Scythian dracaena said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric that I was sure belonged to Zoë.

"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. There were twelve of them, one for each tooth that Atlas had planted. One of them looked straight at me, regarding me coldly, and I knew that no shadows would fool it. I knew what they were; they were called Spartoi and they were damn near hard to kill.

The Scythian dracaena passed the sash to one of the Spartoi. It began to smell the sash then passed it to the others.

"Good. Now they won't stop until she is dead." Atlas said with a cold smile.

Suddenly Atlas whipped his head around to stare where I stood. "We have an eavesdropper, an intruder," the General growled. "One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"

I sprinted for the exit, Suddenly a bony hand clutched at my ankle. A Spartoi was holding on to me sniffing at my cloak. I kicked it off then let the shadows engulf me.

I had one thought. "Shit."

I landed in the Air and Space Museum in a dark corner past the admission area. I started walking. I had to find the others before a horde of skeletons burst in and started tearing up the place.

The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips.

Instead of me finding them, it was more like they found me. Annabeth was walking along staring up at the model of the Apollo space capsule and walked right into me.

"Did you know that the spacecraft–LM adapter designed to shield the LM from the aerodynamic stress of launch and to connect the CSM to the Saturn launch vehicle and a launch escape system (LES) to carry the crew in the command module safely away from the launch vehicle in the event of a launch emergency?"

Then she hit me. We both fell and when I looked up Zoë, Bianca, and Thalia all had weapons pointed at my face.

Annabeth hopped up right away. "I'm so sorry…" she began until she noticed who I was. When the other three realized it too they lowered their weapons. But Zoë seemed angry.

"Perseus what are thou doing here?"

I hopped up quickly. "Zoë its…" I was going to say Atlas but I know Zoë doesn't want people to know about her father, "…the General he's here."

The anger was replaced in her eyes with worry. "How is that possible?"

I started to explain what I saw in the natural history museum about the General and Luke.

Thalia and Annabeth shared a look when I mentioned the son of Hermes.

"You lie," Zoë hissed.

I looked at her with a little annoyance but also with hope. "Have I ever lied to you before?"

She paused before shaking her head.

"But we have to hurry. The Spartoi are…"

"How many?" Thalia interjected.

"Twelve, Also those Spartoi are bad news; almost impossible to kill and now that they have your scent, they won't stop." I explained warily. "And that's not all. The General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you over here. A monster."

"How did they know who was on the quest?" Annabeth asked.

I scowled, "You must have a spy in your camp. Someone is relaying information to them because they somehow got a piece of Zoë's uniform as well."

Annabeth's eyes widened while Thalia scowled, "Luke must have allies hidden in camp."

"We have no time to discuss this now, these Spartoi I have faced them before they are the worst, the most horrible… We must leave now."

"Good Idea," I said.

Zoë looked like she was going to object to my inclusion on the quest but decided against it.

Suddenly everyone froze, I heard a growl so loud I thought one of the rocket engines was starting up.

Below us, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur. I'd seen this monster before.

"It's okay guys I've fought this guy before."

I grinned maniacally. It froze when it saw me and began to growl even louder. "Hello 'kitty'," I said tauntingly "you up for round two?"

I released my sword.

You guessed it, folks. It was the Nemean Lion.

A.N: the adventure has finally begun. Also the Nemean Lion. Like the first real monster that he killed. I love full circle moments. And I love Alpha, he's one of my favorite characters to write for.

- LIGHTINGWOLF18