Chapter 2
Everyone waited for another flash of light, a sign, or anything else.
When nothing else happened, Hermes yelled, "Well! Look around! Search your bags!"
The Roman immediately began looking in their bags, pockets, and anything else they had with them.
"I've got it!" Came a cry from the end of the line.
"Centurion Zhang, the book please," Reyna said, holding out her hand to a boy who looked like a wrestler, but with a baby face.
He came forward, holding a hardback book and a black backpack.
He gave the book to Reyna, and jumped back in line next to a girl with black hair and gold eyes.
Reyna studied it, flipping the book over and over. Then she turned to Annabeth and said,
"Can you read this?" and held the book to Annabeth. Annabeth walked across the room, and in the silence, her footsteps sounded ten times as loud.
Annabeth reached Reyna, and took the book, and stood in front of Reyna with her head tilted down, looking at the book. When she looked up again, and spoke, her eyes were watering, and her voice sounded funny.
"It's called The Son Of Neptune" She said, and then she cleared her throat, and asked, "Have you met a boy, about 16, black hair, green eyes, likes to be annoying and likes water?"
"If you're talking about Percy Jackson, then yes, he's Praetor," The baby faced boy said.
"Silence, Zhang!" Reyna said, and turned back to Annabeth. Her eyes had hardened.
"Why do you want to know about Percy?" Reyna asked, looking defensive.
"He's my boyfriend, and he's been missing for 8 months, as has Jason Grace, Son of Jupiter, who is right over there by the way," Annabeth replied, looking downcast.
"Jason? And how did he come to be with you Greeks?" Reyna asked, her eyes flickering with a odd emotion.
"He turned up at the Grand Canyon with Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez, about three days after Percy disappeared, with no memory, a strange weapon, and speaking Latin instead of Greek!" Annabeth said, nodding towards Piper and Leo when she mentioned them.
Reyna relaxed a little, and spoke, "Percy turned up about a week ago with two gorgons after him. Centurion Zhang, and Hazel Levesque brought him into camp, and he caused quit a commotion with the river, and carrying Juno," Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Then, Mars assigned the three of them a quest to Alaska, where they retried the legions eagle, and defeated the bane of Pluto. Then they came back about 6 hours ago, and Percy defeated the Bane of Neptune, and we raised him to Praetor. Then about two hours ago, when we were done celebrating, Percy went for a walk. He didn't come back, so we all went looking for him. Then we were summoned here." Reyna said, looking over at Jason.
Annabeth sighed.
"So you have no idea where Sea - Percy is?" She asked, looking dejected.
Reyna shook her head.
"OK, sorry to interrupt, but do you want to read the book or not?" Apollo shouted.
"Yeah, sure," Annabeth muttered.
Zeus clapped his hands, and several sofas appeared, facing the thrones, enough for all of the demigods.
"I'll read" Annabeth said, trying to cheer up.
Everyone quieted down.
"Percy 1" Annabeth read.
The snake-haired ladies were starting to annoy Percy.
"Gorgons," Leo muttered. Piper elbowed him.
They should have died three days ago when he dropped a crate of bowling balls on them at the Napa Bargain Mart.
"How-"
"Shut up Valdez!" Thalia said. Leo shut back up.
They should have died two days ago when he ran over them with a police car in Martinez.
The Stolls high five' d.
"New Idea man!" they said in unision.
"If your thinking about-"
"Yes I am-"
"We're gonna own that show!" They said, laughing their heads off. Piper and Katie smacked their heads.
Theydefinitelyshould have died this morning when he cut off their heads in Tidan Park.
Jason raised his eyebrows. How many times had he killed them?
No matter how many times Percy killed them and watched them crumble to powder, they just kept re-forming like large evil dust bunnies.
Annabeth giggled a little as she read this, but she quickly read on.
He couldn't even seem to outrun them.
He reached the top of the hill and caught his breath. How long since he'd last killed them?
Maybe two hours.
The gods turned to one another and mouthed, "Two Hours!"
They never seemed to stay dead longer than that.
The demigods shivered and winced.
Thepast few days, he'd hardly slept. He'd eaten whatever he could scrounge-vending machine gummy bears, stale bagels, even a Jack in the Crack burrito, which was a new personal low.
Everyone winced. No demigod could last long alone, with little sleep and no food. They knew from experience.
His clothes were torn, burned, and splattered with monster slime.
Aphrodite shuddered. Monsters did the worst things to your wardrobe.
He'd only survived this long because the two snake-haired ladies-gorgons,they called themselves-couldn't seem to kill him either.
Murmuring broke out from the Romans, and a scrawny guy, with sandy blond hair and blue eyes, stood up from his seat. "Why isn't the Praetor dying?" He asked, turning to Annabeth.
"He bears the Curse of Achilles," She replied.
"When he was with us he could be hurt, I saw it in the war games!"
Reyna shushed him. "The curse is a Greek blessing; it can't be upheld in Roman territory idiot!"
Annabeth looked panicky, and Thalia said, "Your telling me my best friend is lost, alone, and vulnerable for the first time in 8 months!"
"I suppose so," Reyna said, shrugging. "I think he is capable of taking care of himself though."
Annabeth took in a deep breath, and handed the book over to Thalia. "You read , please" She said, and buried her face in her hands. Thalia suspected she had started crying. She was a lot more prone to that since Percy disappeared. She read.
Their claws didn't cut his skin. Their teeth broke whenever they tried to bite him.
But Percy couldn't keep going much longer. Soon he'd collapse from exhaustion, and then-as hard as he was to kill, he was pretty sure the gorgons would find a way.
He scanned his surroundings. Under different circumstances, he might've enjoyed the view.
To his left, golden hills rolled inland, dotted with lakes, woods, and a few herds of cows.
Annabeth huffed at that last one. She hated cows.
To his right, the flatlands of Berkeley and Oakland marched west-a vast checkerboard of neighborhoods, with several million people who probably did not want their morning interrupted by two monsters and a filthy demigod.
Someone snickered at the mental picture, and Annabeth took out her knife and started cleaning it. None else laughed.
Ares just nodded in approval.
Farther west, San Francisco Bay glittered under a silvery haze. Past that, a wall of fog had swallowed most of San Francisco, leaving just the tops of skyscrapers and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.
A vague sadness weighed on Percy's chest. Something told him he'd been to San Francisco before. The city had some connection to Annabeth - the only person he could remember from his past. His memory of her was frustratingly dim. The wolf had promised he would see her again and regain his memory-ifhe succeeded in his journey.
Annabeth dropped her knife. There was dead silence. Then Piper broke it by yelling, "AWWWWWWWW!"
Leo smacked her upside the head, and she thanked him.
"Sorry, couldn't help it, but that's so – just – that's so sweet!" Piper said, giggling.
Annabeth's eyes were shining. She didn't even pick up her knife. "Read!" A Roman shouted.
Thalia was smiling as she picked the book up again.
Should he try to cross the bay?
"NO!" The boy that Reyna called centurion Zhang and the gold eyed girl shouted.
"Why?" Katie Gardner asked. "He'll miss - never mind!" The girl said as Reyna gave them a evil look.
It was tempting. He could feel the power of the ocean just over the horizon.
Water always revived him. Salt water was the best. He'd discovered that two days ago when he had strangled a sea monster in the Carquinez Strait.
"He did WHAT!" "The IDIOT!" "KILL me NOW!" Yelled half of CHB.
Thalia quickly read on.
If he could reach the bay, he might be able to make a last stand. Maybe he could even drown the gorgons.
Annabeth let out a whimper.
But the shore was at least two miles away. He'd have to cross an entire city. He hesitated for another reason. The she-wolf Lupa had taught him to sharpen his senses-to trust the instincts that had been guiding him south.
Thalia giggled. "That sounds so stupid if you put it that way. Several people laughed. Even the Romans. Annabeth cracked a smile.
His homing radar was tingling like crazy now. The end of his journey was close-almost right under his feet. But how could that be? There was nothing on the hilltop. The wind changed. Percy caught the sour scent of reptile.
"That's just- Ugh" Leo said. Piper smacked him again.
A hundred yards down the slope, something rustled through the woods-snapping branches, crunching leaves, hissing.
Gorgons.
For the millionth time, Percy wished their noses weren't so good. They had always said they couldsmellhim because he was a demigod-the half-blood of some Roman god.
The gods looked indignant.
Percy had tried rolling in mud, splashing through creeks, even keeping air-freshener sticks in his pockets so he'd have that new car smell; but apparently demigod stink was hard to mask.
"He's gonna have to try harder than that!" someone yelled, and the Greeks laughed.
He scrambled to the west side of the summit. It was too steep to descend. The slope plummeted eighty feet, straight to the roof of an apartment complex built into the hillside. Fifty feet below that, a highway emerged from the hill's base and wound it's way toward Berkley.
Great. No other way off the hill. He'd managed to get himself cornered.
Annabeth chewed her nails nervously. Her mother stared at her. Why was she so concerned for the boy?
He stared at the stream of cars flowing west toward San Francisco and wished he were in one of them. Then he realized the highway must cut through the hill. There must be a tunnel...right under his feet.
"DUH!" The Romans shouted, then they shut back up. They were all sitting stiffly, like they were nervous.
His internal radar went nuts. Hewasin the right place, just too high up. He had to check out that tunnel. He needed a way down to the highway-fast.
He slung off his backpack. He'd managed to grab a lot of supplies at the Napa Bargain Mart: a portable GPS, duct tape, lighter, superglue, water bottle, camping roll, a Comfy Panda Pillow Pet (as seen on TV), and a Swiss army knife-pretty much every tool a modern demigod could want.
Travis sighed, and handed Conner a twenty.
But he had nothing that would serve as a parachute or a sled.
That left him two options: jump eighty feet to his death, or stand and fight. Both options sounded pretty bad.
"You know, he would survive that" Annabeth said thoughtfully. "Lu - The other demigod did!"
He cursed and pulled his pen from his pocket.
"What's he gonna do, write on them?" Leo said, and laughed.
Everyone who knew about Percy's sword face palmed.
The pen didn't look like much, just a regular cheap ball-point, but when Percy uncapped it, it grew into a glowing bronze sword.
Leo's jaw dropped. "That is so much cooler than yours!" He told Jason, who didn't crack a smile. Reyna still hadn't talked to him.
The blade balanced perfectly. The leather group fit his hand like it had been custom designed for him. Etched along the guard was an Ancient Greek work Percy somehow understood:Anaklusmos - Riptide.
He'd woken up with this sword his first night at the Wolf House-two months ago? More? He'd lost track. He'd found himself in the courtyard of a burned-put mansion in the middle of the woods, wearing shorts, an orange t-shirt, and a leather necklace with a bunch of strange clay beads.
The Greeks fingered their necklaces.
Riptide had been in his hand, but Percy had no idea how he'd gotten there, and only the vaguest idea who he was.
He'd been barefoot, freezing, and confused. And then the wolves came...
Right next to him, a familiar voice jolted him back to the present: 'There you are!'
Percy stumbled away from the gorgon, almost falling off the edge of the hill.
It was the smiley one – Beano.
"There's no -"
"He is dyslexic!"
"Oh..."
Okay, her name wasn't really Beano. As near as Percy could figure, he was dyslexic, because words got twisted around when he tried to read.
Reyna turned to Annabeth. "Are all Greeks dyslexic?"
Annabeth nodded her head. "Only a few aren't."
"Interesting…."
The first time he'd seen the gorgon, posing as a Bargain Mart greeter with a big green button that read: Welcome! My name is Steno, he'd thought it said Beano.
"Both of those names are horrible!" Aphrodite and Piper said. Piper face palmed.
She was still wearing her green Bargain Mart employee vest over a flower-print dress.
If you looked just at her body, you might think she was somebody's dumpy old grandmother – until you looked down and realized she had rooster feet.
Or you looked up and saw bronze tusks sticking out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes glowed red, and her hair was a writhing nest of bright green snakes.
The most horrible thing about her?
"Can this get worse!" someone asked.
"We are demigods, things always get worse!"
She was still holding her big silver platter of free samples: Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners.
Her platter was dented from all the times Percy had killed her, but those little samples looked perfectly fine.
Stheno just kept toting them across California so she could offer Percy a snack before she killed him. Percy didn't know why she kept doing that, but if he ever needed a suit of armor he was going to make it out of Crispy Cheese 'n' Wieners. They were indestructible.
"Dude! I am so doing that!" Leo yelled. This time Jason shushed him.
'Try one?' Stheno offered.
Percy fended her off with his sword. 'Where's your sister?'
'Oh, put the sword away,' Stheno chided. 'You know by now that even celestial bronze can't kill us for long. Have a Cheese 'n' Wiener! They're on sale this week, and I'd hate to kill you on an empty stomach.'
'Stheno!' The second gorgon appeared on Percy's right so fast he didn't have time to react.
Fortunately she was too busy glaring at her sister to pay him much attention. 'I told you to sneak up on him and kill him!'
Stheno's smile wavered. 'But, Euryale ' She said the name so it rhymed with Muriel. 'Can't I give him a sample first?'
'No, you imbecile!' Euryale turned towards Percy and bared her fangs.
Except for her hair, which was a nest of coral snakes instead of green vipers, she looked exactly like her sister. Her Bargain Mart vest, her flowery dress, even her tusks were decorated with 50% off stickers. Her name badge read: Hello! My name is die, demigod scum!
"Well …... she's discreet..." The gold eyed girl muttered, speaking for the first time.
Annabeth laughed a little, and Reyna cracked a smile.
'You've lead us on quite a chase, Percy Jackson,' Euryale said. 'But now you're trapped, and we'll have our revenge!'
'The Cheese 'n' Wieners are only $2.99,' Stheno added helpfully. 'Grocery department, aisle three.'
Euryale snarled. 'Stheno, the Bargain Mart was a front! You're going native! Now, put down that ridiculous tray and help me kill this demigod. Or have you forgotten that he's the one who vaporized Medusa?"
"When did he -" Jason began, but Annabeth cut him off. "Our first quest, we were twelve, Zeus's Lightning Bolt was stolen, Percy was blamed, and we, as in Percy, Grover and I had to return it."
"The first quest?" Jason asked. "As in, more than one?"
"Percy's gone on a quest every year sense he was 12, and 10 months ago he defeated Kronos"
"How-"
"Read Thalia!" Annabeth said loudly.
Percy stepped back. Six more inches, and he'd be tumbling through thin air. 'Look, ladies, we've been over this. I don't even remember killing Medusa. I don't remember anything! Can't we just call a truce and talk about your weekly specials?'
"Wow, he is turning on the charm isn't he?" Thalia said sarcastically.
Leo laughed.
Stheno gave her sister a pouty look, which was hard to do with giant bronze tusks.
"Oh Hades, I would have loved to see her face!" Leo said.
'Can we?'
'No!' Euryale's red eyes bored into Percy. 'I don't care what you remember, son of the sea god. I can smell Medusa's blood on you. It's faint, yes, several years old, but you were the last one to defeat her. She still has not returned from Tartarus. It's your fault!'
Percy didn't really get that.
"When does he EVER get something?" Clarisse asked, laughing.
Annabeth and Thalia laughed too.
The newer campers just stared stunned as Clarisse, of all people, made a joke and laughed.
The whole 'dying then returning from Tartarus' concept gave him a headache.
Me too, Jason thought. Well, he got headaches a lot. He still didn't have all of his memories.
Of course, so did the idea that a ballpoint pen could turn into a sword, or that monsters could disguise themselves with something called the Mist, or that Percy was the son of some barnacle-encrusted god from five thousand years ago.
But he did believe it. Even though his memory was erased, he knew he was a demigod the same way he knew his name was Percy Jackson. From his very first conversation with Lupa the wolf, he'd accepted that this crazy messed-up world of gods and monsters was his reality. Which pretty much sucked.
"It does"
"He's got that right"
"Someone's ALWAYS trying to kill you"
"There's NEVER any PEACE!" CHB campers muttered. The gods looked guilty.
'How about we call it a draw?' he said. 'I can't kill you. You can't kill me. If you're Medusa's sisters – like the Medusa who turned people to stone – shouldn't I be petrified by now?'
'Heroes!' Euryale said with disgust. 'They always bring that up, just like our mother!
"Why can't you turn people to stone? Your sister can turn people to stone."
Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, boy! That was Medusa's curse alone. She was the most hideous one in the family. She got all the luck!'
Stheno looked hurt. 'Mother said I was the most hideous.'
Everyone giggled.
'Quiet!' Euryale snapped. 'As for you, Percy Jackson, it's true you bear the mark of Achilles. That makes you a little tougher to kill. But don't worry. We'll find a way.''The mark of what?'
'Achilles,' Stheno said cheerfully. 'Oh, he was gorgeous! Dipped in the River Styx as a child, you know, so he was invulnerable except for a tiny spot on his ankle.
That's what happened to you, dear. Someone must've dumped you in the Styx and made your skin like iron. But not to worry. Heroes like you always have a weak spot. We just have to find it, and then we can kill you. Won't that be lovely? Have a Cheese 'n' Wiener!'
Percy tried to think. He didn't remember any dip in the Styx.
Annabeth rolled her eyes.
Then again, he didn't remember much of anything. His skin didn't feel like iron, but it would explain how he'd held out so long against the gorgons.
Maybe if he just fell down the mountain would he survive?
He didn't want to risk it – not without something to slow the fall, or a sled, or -
He looked at Stheno's large silver platter of free samples.
"BRILLANT!" Annabeth and Athena yelled together, having figured out what was being planned. Annabeth did it more out of happiness, and Athena out of shock. The Romans looked shocked at their outburst.
Hmm…..
"Hmmm" The Stolls said together, copying Thalia.
Leo snickered.
'Reconsidering?' Stheno asked. 'Very wise, dear. I added some gorgon's blood to these, so your death will be quick and painless.'
Piper gagged. Which wasn't like her at all, but that was GROSS!
Percy's throat constricted. 'You added your blood to the Cheese 'n' Wieners?'
'Just a little.' Stheno smiled. 'A tiny nick on my arm, but you're sweet to be concerned. Blood from our right side can cure anything, you know, but blood from our left side is deadly –'
'You dimwit!' Euryale screeched. 'You're not supposed to tell him that! He won't eat the wieners if you tell him they're poisoned!'
Stheno looked stunned. 'He won't? But I said it would be quick and painless.'
Someone snorted. Then another person giggled. Then they all started laughing. When they had stopped, Thalia started reading again, hiccupping slightly.
'Never mind!' Euryale's fingernails grew into claws. 'We'll kill him the hard way – just keep slashing until we find the weak spot.
Once we defeat Percy Jackson, we'll be more famous than Medusa! Our patron will reward us greatly!'
Percy gripped his sword. He'd have to time his move perfectly – a few seconds of confusion, grab the platter with his left hand.
'Again, BRILLANT!" Athena muttered, still in denial.
Keep them talking, he thought.
'Before you slash me to bits,' he said, 'who's this patron you mentioned?'
The gods leaned forward in their seats.
Euryale sneered. 'The goddess Gaia, of course!
There was a gasp from the gods, who were still freaking out about the First Giant War.
The one who brought us back from oblivion! You won't live long enough to meet her, but your friends below will soon face her wrath. Even now, her armies are marching south. At the Feast of Fortune, she'll awaken, and the demigods will be cut down like – like –'
'Like our low prices at Bargain Mart!' Stheno suggested.
'Gah!' Euryale stormed towards her sister. Percy took the opening. He grabbed Stheno's platter, scattering poisoned Cheese 'n' Wieners, and slashed Riptide across Euryale's waist, cutting her in half.
"GO PERCY!"
"He's NINJA!"
He raised the platter, and Stheno found herself facing her own greasy reflection.
'Medusa!' she screamed.
Annabeth's eyes were shining.
Her sister Euryale had crumbled to dust, but she was already starting to re-form, like a snowman un-melting.
"Dude, you guys need to go one YouTube and look that up!" Leo yelled.
"Demigods can't use the Internet, Leo!" Annabeth said.
"Actually -" Travis started, but his brother elbowed him in the ribs.
'Stheno, you fool!' she gurgled as her half-made face rose from the mound of dust. 'That's just your own reflection! Get him!'
Percy slammed the metal tray on to of Stheno's head, and she passed out cold.
He put the platter behind his butt, said a silent prayer to whatever Roman god oversaw stupid sledding tricks and jumped off the side of the hill.
No one spoke again. Thalia turned the page, but it was blank.
"Hey, you guys, it's blank!"
"Of course it's a cliff hanger!" someone yelled.
"Oh well, at lease he remembers you!" Thalia said, putting her arm around Annabeth.
"Actually, he remembers everything, he drank gorgons blood on our quest," The baby faced boy said.
"And you are?" Annabeth asked, trying to conceal her excitement.
"Frank Zhang, Son of Mars, descendant of Poseidon" The boy replied.
"And why did the Kelp Head drink gorgon's blood?" Annabeth asked.
Frank explained all about the quest they'd been on and how smart Percy had been. He left out the part about his curse though.
The gods had been mostly quiet, waiting to see if a fight was going to break out. When it appeared everyone, including the Romans, had relaxed, Athena asked, "And why are you all so worried about this son of Poseidon?"