Before I could even start my day, I had a weird dream of that dark place again. I stood there in the center of the area; the apparent sound of a heartbeat was still present as it was before. Tubes pumped the mysterious fluids to various places but it was unclear as to where it was all coming from.
Getting a better look at my surroundings, I noticed, that the beneath my feet, the ground was littered with various weapons that looked to be worn and used. Not only that, but pieces of armor too big to fit a normal sized person.
What the hell was this place? I heard something coming my way, and when looking to see what it was, I was shaken to the core as to what I saw.
The hooded figure was slowly making his way over, though it looked as if he didn't even notice me standing right in front of him. I still couldn't see their face, but was able to make out a set of blazing, fiery, red eyes.
Being dragged from behind; a blood soaked corpse of a deer that had multiple puncture wounds on its body, indicating that it was shot with something, more than likely arrows. Dropping the moose, they readied a knife. The blade, oddly enough, was made of stone instead of steel.
Before getting to work, they stopped suddenly before whipping around and notched their bow toward someone, or something, in the darkness.
As if materializing out of nothingness, black mist started to swirl until it formed a familiar shape. The unknown entity, the one who burn my sword onto my hand, casually walked over. It didn't care that there was an arrow pointed at them.
"Good to finally meet you in person son of Hermes, or would you rather I call you by your proper name; Agreus?" asked the entity.
A deep, feral growl escaped from the one identified as Agreus. Reluctantly, he put down his bow and kneeled down to skin his game. Why the hell was I watching him do it?
"What do you want? I made it clear to your lackey that I want no part in whatever it is that you are planning to do in the mortal world," he huffed at them.
The shade walked around Agreus while he continued to skin the moose cleanly and swiftly, despite using a primitive tool to do so.
"Surely there is some way that I can convince you otherwise. You are a greatly skilled after all; your talents should be put to the test on something more challenging," they said.
Agreus folded the pelt, then, with a swift slash of his knife, he cut the antlers off and started to whittle one of them.
"I've killed vast and ferocious beast from the Eastern Seaboard and back in the Mainland of the Mediterranean. Not to mention the Black Forest in Germany and even in Alaska. There hasn't been a decent game since ancient times. Leave me be," he said.
"Ah, but that is where you are wrong. I know you still have the visions; a gift you inherited from your mother," the shade said.
Agreus growled again but didn't turn to the specter, only continue to whittle the antler into an unknown shape.
"You know that prophecy could never come to fruition and my clairvoyance isn't as sharp as it was in the old days."
The shade's body seemed to go crazy for a moment before calming down and regaining its humanoid shape. It stopped behind the hunter and leaned in close, as if to whisper something to him.
"Oh, it is very much true. Hera gave herself to a mortal and conceived an offspring, a young prince. They are gifted in the Voice of Authority, Royal Swordsmanship, not to mention his mother's rage, the very thing even Zeus fears. The prophecy is coming true and he has to pick a side," they said.
That scared me; whatever this prophecy had in store for me, I don't think I want to know. Whoever this being was, they seemed pretty determined to get me to fight for their side and lead their armies for them.
If my gift has the ability to command even gods, then it's no wonder the Olympians wanted me dead so badly. Would that be such a bad thing really? Think about it: no son of Hera, no strife on Olympus, no war to break out that was determined by a choice.
"What does this have to do with me, exactly?" Agreus asked.
"I've made contact with the boy, even managed to brand an adamantine sword to him."
"You didn't answer my question."
The sound of a metallic hum escaped from somewhere, I'm assuming from the specter, which was letting out his version of a sigh.
"The young one is with him, and is going to be on a quest leading here."
That seemed to set the hunter off as he managed to grab phantom by the throat and put his stone knife close to one of their white eyes. Growls were let out with each breath and his eyes glowed even brighter.
"YOU LIE! I have not even seen them be born, let alone see them as a young babe. But if they are involved with Hera's spawn then I would've seen it."
"So your sight is still working then," said the specter smugly.
There was a long pause between the two before Agreus let go and lowered his knife.
"I'll do what you ask of me, but only on the condition that they are spared. The others are of no consequence to me; do what you will with them," he said.
"Of course," assured the specter.
Everything started to fade and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in my room to the sound of the alarm that I had set. It was 5:30 in the morning and the sun was just starting to rise over Long Island Sound.
"Damn, that was a messed up dream," I said to myself.
"It sounded like it was," said another voice.
Looking over to my left, I saw a certain satyr lying next to me in my bed with curiosity in her eyes. It was me who should be doing that.
"Um…Lilly, what are you doing here?" I asked.
"I felt something was wrong and realized you were having a nightmare. Thought you might need the company," she said.
"Okay, I need to know. How is it that you know exactly what's wrong with me without me having to say it aloud, can you read minds or something?" I asked.
Lilly chuckled at that, like something as reading minds was utterly ludicrous. Was it though, it didn't seem that way to me; Olympian gods exist for crying out loud.
"A long time ago, back when we were little kids, I set up an Empathy Link, a type of magic that allows satyrs and another being to be connected telepathically, see into the others dreams. A little safety measure that I put up just in case I need to find you if something happens," she explained.
"Oh, you can do all that can you?" I said, slightly shaken about that new bit of information. Just as she had explained, she sensed my uneasiness and quickly panicked.
"I-I-I don't look into your dreams, if that's what you're thinking, or when you think, I swear. Just to know when you're upset," she said rapidly.
In this world of gods, heroes and monsters, I couldn't really be all that surprised, let along be upset at her. If anything, she was looking out for me, just like I do for her. Getting up, I went over to the wardrobe and got dressed.
Putting on black shirt, dark grey hoodie with a small black bird stitched on the left side, and some black jeans. Now that I think about it, almost all the clothes in here are dark colored, guess mom must think it suits me.
The knock on the door indicated that the others were outside. Knowing what was today, they were probably up long before me or they didn't go to sleep at all. Opening the door, the guys came in with backpacks and dressed appropriately for the September whether. Knowing how far we were going to be traveling, we might need to dress heavy.
"Good to see that you're ready, everything okay; you look a bit shook up," Tessa asked.
"He had a bad dream," Lilly answered for me, much to my displeasure.
"It's nothing; just a little nervous about the quest is all. This is all pretty overwhelming in such a short amount of time," I said.
I didn't want the others to know about my dream, not until I've confirmed that we're in any immediate danger by this Agreus guy. Bobby tossed me a one of the backpacks and looking inside I saw that it was already filled supplies, even a box of shotgun shells, no doubt filled with Celestial Bronze.
Now that I think about, how exactly am I going to take that with me without drawing attention from the cops? As Tessa knew what I was thinking, she grabbed the gun and twisted it from the where the stock meets the mechanism and the thing shrank down to a mini flashlight. Scientific theory is now out the window.
"You know, it's kind of weird. Never would've thought things would turn out like this, but then again I never thought we'd all go on a quest before," Matt said.
"What do think is waiting for us out there?" Lilly asked.
"Nothing we can't handle; I mean, we survive high school every day; it's really no different from this," Bobby said, getting us to laugh, feeling as though he was right.
Would we be able to laugh like this again? Would one not come back from it when it's all over? These were all questions that I don't want to know the answer to, yet at the same time I wanted to know.
'Damn it, stop thinking about it. Focus on the task at hand; they need you to be a good leader.'
For the time being, we stayed in the cabin until the sun was sitting on the horizon. When leaving, we walked to the top of Half-Blood Hill, the cool autumn air made our breath visible. On mornings like this, I would be getting up for school, waking up my little sister to make sure she ate breakfast and walk to school with her and my friends.
Speaking of which, she was probably wondering where I was right now and why I was gone for so long. I hoped that my parents thought of a good excuse for her. If anything, I hoped that I could come back and see her.
"I see that you five are ready to leave."
We turned to see Chiron trotting up the hill, along with Annabeth and Jason. Neither of them looked as if they got any sleep.
"You guys look awful," I said bluntly, getting them to chuckle.
"Honestly, I'm surprised that you don't look scared. When I went on my first quest, I know I was a little nervous," Annabeth said.
"I'm not too worried; I've got my team to back me up, plus an awesome protector," I said, pointing over at Lilly who ducked behind me. "Why are you guys here so early anyway, here to see us off?"
"Well, yes and no. We came to give you some stuff for your quest," Jason said.
He pulled out something wrapped in a purple cloth. When he opened it, I saw a military medal of a gold eagle. It looked a little worn but still in good condition.
"This was mine when I was Praetor of the Twelfth Legion back at Camp Jupitar. Since I had to relieve myself of my position I don't really need it anymore. You're going west, then you should stop by; ask for Reyna, she'll help you out if she sees it," he said.
I didn't know what to say when he handed it to me, only managed to say 'thanks' before pinning it to hoodie. I felt pretty proud to wear it.
"I'll take good care of it bro," I said, catching him off guard.
"Oh yeah, your mom is married to my dad. That makes us step-brothers, cool."
Annabeth chuckled while rolling her eyes. She reached into her back pocket and handed me a green, laminated card. On the front of it there was a logo for a place called The Lotus Casino, why I would need this is beyond me.
"Um…thank?" I said.
"I saved it from my first quest. There isn't a limit on it so it could help in case you might need something on your quest," she said.
Her expression changed to a worried one. Her stone eyes gave off a type of plea.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this Justin; it's not too late to back out now. Please; no one will look down on you for doing it," she said.
I knew that what she was saying was sincere. Annabeth was one of few people here at Camp Half-Blood who was actually looking out for me, but I won't let other people fight my battles for me.
Going up to her, I hugged her, feeling her flinch in my hold. "Thanks for the offer but I won't dump my problem onto you, that's not who I am. You guys had your moment in the sun, now it's our turn. Don't stress this out; we'll head out, knock some monster heads and be back in a few days to tell the tale," I said.
They looked nervous but nodded none the less. That's all I'm asking for, just a little faith in me and my friends.
"If you are ready to go, Argus is in the van ready to drive you and your friends into New York," Chiron said.
"Guess we leg it from there right?" I asked.
"From then onward, you'll be on your own Justin," he said.
I nodded and head down the hill and made to the side of the road where the guys piled into the same van that we came to camp in. The driver was our head of camp security, Argus, who was at the wheel and ready to go. He didn't seem like the one to get into an accident since he has all those eyes watching every part of the road.
The big guy saved me a seat up front and we took off. It didn't take us long to make it into the city; I've been to New York a few time with my dad, enough to know where to go. The moment we got into Manhattan, I strained my neck to look up at the Empire State Building.
A little memory sparked the moment I saw the large building. I was six years old, it was late November and it looked as if it was going to snow at any moment. Dad and I had just taken the elevator to the observation deck.
I could just barely reach the coin operated telescope. As a kid, this was an awesome moment, but I was also curious as to why my dad brought us here.
'Daddy, why are we here?'
He was still looking out at Lower Manhattan; a small smile was on his face. His mind seemed elsewhere at the moment. He looked over at me and put his hand on my shoulder.
'Because Justin, this is the same spot where I met your mother.'
The moment I heard that, excitement set in and I asked so many questions that even I couldn't keep up with what I was saying. All he did laugh and pat my head.
'I know you have questions about her son, but always know one thing; she loves you no matter how far you two are from each other.'
"You know, Mount Olympus is actually at the top of it," Tessa said, leaning up in her seat.
I just looked at her baffled; when will the fucking surprises end?
"The Olympians follow the strongest influence of Western Civilization. First it was Greece, then Rome, Europe and now America."
"And yet they choose to set up in New York instead of D.C., does that really make any sense?" I asked.
She just shrugged. "Gods are weird."
Huh, I've hearing that a lot lately. Rather than try to rationalize what the hell she just told me, I just sat back, listened to the radio, and tried to relax a bit, though I found that to be a bit hard to do since I felt a bit on edge.
I had this uneasy feeling that something bad was going to happen. There was a type of gnawing feeling in the back of my head that was trying to tell me something important. My muscles kept clenching and my instincts were telling me to act.
I was aware of everything around me: the people walking the streets, the sound of venders setting up shops, my own breathing, and the faint sound of my friends shifting in their seats. Something is wrong.
"Hey guys, do any of you get the strange feeling that-" I didn't even have time to finish my question when everything suddenly turned upside down and all I could hear was a high pitched ringing in my ears.
It me a moment to realize that I was upside down; the van had been flipped. Looking over, I saw that Argus was trying to undo his seatbelt but soon his eyes locked on me and he tried to reach over and help.
"I'm okay big guy, don't worry," I said, getting him to calm down. "Guys if you're alright sound off."
The groaning was a clear indication that they were still alive, just caught off guard like I was but the sudden crash.
"Something isn't right, cut yourselves loose and get out the van. The stink of monsters is in the air," Tessa said, pulling out a butterfly knife and cutting her seatbelt.
Summoning my sword, I followed her example and cut Argus loose as well. When making out the van, I said that the damage was a lot worst that we first expected it to be. There was a pileup and many frantic people running away from something.
Whatever was causing the panic seemed to be serious, if it was monster related than we had to do something about before someone gets killed, or eaten…or whichever comes first.
"Guys, you might want to take a look at this." Tessa was on top of the smashed van and was looking through some binoculars and passed it over to Matt.
"Oh shit, it had to be Cyclops. Of all the monsters in the world, it had to be Cyclops," he said.
Just remembering the Cyclops that disappeared from the school a few days made my blood boil. I don't know what happened to it but I know that these guys weren't getting off easy for hurting Argus. The other Justin took over again; a surge of energy shot through my body, even a sense of power.
"How many are there?" I asked.
"Four; two of them are about thirteen feet while the other two are nineteen," Matt said.
"Weaponry and armor types?" I added.
"Mostly scrap metal; looks pretty weak and hastily made. Wooden clubs are their primary but one has a huge wrench."
"Distance from our current location?"
"Fifty yards and closing, ETA: ten minutes."
Okay, that gave us enough time to prep for this. I told everyone to open their packs and empty out anything useful. Most of the supplies they had were weapon based, but the rest was for the quest.
Lilly seemed to have brought a few bags of acorns and pinecones and I just looked at her confused.
"They're good catalysts for Nature Magic," she said.
"You mean like what happened with the tree back at the school; you played your pipes and it responded," I said. That actually gave me an idea for something.
"Anyone got any wire on them?" I asked.
Matt pulled out one of his arrows and yanked off the arrowhead; inside was some bronze wire. Good to know these guys were prepared for anything. Taking the rest of his arrows, I started to tie some of Lilly's pinecones to the arrow, though it was irritating when it came to the acorns.
"You got a plan Justin, 'cause their closing in on our position," Bobby said.
"I think so. Matt is going to rain down a few arrows that I've attached pinecones to all over, and when I give the signal; Lilly will use her panpipes to set them off and tangle the Cyclops. Bobby, Tessa, since the three of us are melee based, we'll do a frontal assault while Matt provides covering fire," I explained, getting them to look at me in surprise.
"That's…actually not a bad idea," Tessa said. "Alright then, let's do it leader."
We all got into our positions; as the enemy started to close in, we could just barely make out what it was they were talking about.
"This boring, why we take honeymoon in New York? Too many mortals, too crowded with cars; worst time ever," said the Cyclops with a chainmail muumuu.
"Better than that scrap heap you live in back in Detroit; I want to go to Amish Country for next Sheep Expo, but you no like sheep. Had to leave them back home and take these two instead," said the larger Cyclops who actually looked a bit blind.
The two smaller Cyclops looked at him in offense; they didn't seem to like the idea of being favored less over sheep. Not sure why Cyclopes love sheep so much, but to each their own.
"This is the weirdest conversation I've ever heard from monsters," Bobby said.
"More weird than when we saw that Minotaur in a prom dress?" Matt asked.
"That was a strange summer," Tessa muttered.
"Guys, focus on the task at hand here. Matt, are you ready?" I asked.
He nodded and I waited until the Cyclopes were a few more steps closer until I waved my hand to him and he rained down arrows in random directions. The monsters seemed to be confused by what they were seeing and went to investigate.
"What this; why arrow have pine cone?" asked one of the smaller ones.
"Lilly, do your thing," I said, and she played a note that cracked one of the empty cars front window.
The pinecones erupted into a fury of tree roots that proceeded to tear up the area were they landed. The ones near the targets were soon entangled in. It was our chance to attack while they were scattered.
"Let's go!" I shouted.
Bobby, Tessa and I jumped out from our cover and charged forward as fast as we could before they could gather themselves and counter attack. Bobby and Tessa broke off to both sides to take care of the smaller ones, who were having trouble breaking free of the roots.
The blind one was mine. Judging by the way I was rushing him and he didn't seem to notice me coming, showed that his sight was limited. I almost felt bad for what I was about to do to him, but he hurt my friends so I felt a little better about it.
"Dummy, puny hero coming at us; stop messing with roots," barked his wife.
"Shut up, busy with this!" he shouted.
His wife was the only one who had enough sense to fend me off. Swinging her wrench, she almost took my head off if I hadn't duked in time. Using the momentum from her first strike, she brought down her wrench hard enough to smash a crater in the asphalt.
I almost would've been in that if I hadn't moved out of the way; taking the opening, I thrusted my sword straight into her, piercing through her makeshift armor. When the blind one heard her howl in pain, he went into a rage and broke free.
"You hurt my wife; I'll kill you like I kill Nobody!" he roared.
Mind you, anyone would be a little confused when hearing that, even more so when you get sent flying back by a Cyclopes who is faster than one would anticipate. The moment my lungs refilled with air and the spots stopped dancing in front of my eyes, I sat up on the car I landed on and looked around.
Tessa and Bobby were holding their own, even Matt was offering covering fire as best he could but it only seemed to agitate the smaller Cyclopes. Lilly was started playing Sweet Home Alabama on her panpipes to make the remaining pinecones burst to life.
The street was getting turned up from tree roots and soon pine trees sprouted upward. One of the smaller Cyclopes was hoisted into the air by one of the trees and was given a flying wedgie. I could hear Bobby laughing his ass off at the sight of it, and when he stopped he held out his free hand and something unusual happened.
A branch started to bend like a snake. Where ever his hand moved, the branch seemed to respond to him. Twisting his hand, the tip spiraled into point and plunged itself into the back of the Cyclopes' head. I thought for sure it would kill him, but instead his body just exploded into dust.
There was no trace of him anywhere, just like what happened back at Maret School. I didn't have to time to ask him what just happened when the other small one saw me just staring into space. Taking that as his chance, he tried to bring his fist down onto me.
In that instant, I thought I was a goner. Before I could be crushed, there was a sudden movement and the next thing I know the massive fist that was going to crush me was stopped short. The one who stopped was none other than the Ocular Security Guard, Argus.
Despite the fact that he was smaller, it didn't mean that he was weaker. The eye on the back of his neck blinked, which I guess was his way winking. Pushing the Cyclopes back, he notched back his arm and punched them in the stomach so hard, the impacted sounded almost like a sonic boom.
Argus had sent them flying a few yards down, making them crash into the two larger Cyclopes'. I just sat there in amazement at the feat, but he didn't seem to care about it; his attention seemed more focused on whether or not I was okay.
"Don't worry big guy, just a little sore is all. You sure pack one hell of a punch; that was awesome," I said.
He seemed a little embarrassed by the compliment, almost as if he wasn't used to it.
"Stupid beast of Hera, I smash you to pieces," shouted to the one that just socked in the stomach.
Getting up, he charged strait at me and Argus like a freight train at full speed. Swinging his club like mad, he made to strike, but only to be stopped when Argus grabbed it above his head just before it landed.
"You surprised me before, but not so tough now. Once I beat you, I'll eat little hero him with salsa," he bellowed smugly, adding pressure to the club.
As soon as he said that, Argus' blue eyes started to blaze red. His body started to glow faintly and he was starting to slowly push back; the monster leaving tracks as his feet scraped the asphalt.
Something was not boding well for the Cyclopes right now. Digging his fingers into the club, Argus obliterated it to splinters. Charging in, he unleashed a flurry of monstrous punches, no pun intended.
He pulled out all the stops; with powerful uppercut to the stomach, the Cyclopes rose a feet off the ground, then was given another one square in their large brown eye. I've been punched in the eye before, and it hurts, but it looked as if he knocked his straight through the back of his head.
But I think they're going to have a bruise for a while. Hell, I wouldn't be so surprised if they went blind. Despite the savage beating they just took, they started to get back up.
Looking at them, it did seem as though they still had some fight left in them. Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out the mini flashlight that was once my shotgun. I don't know who to change it back; the most I can do with this is shine it in his eye and annoy him for a bit.
'Don't worry, I'll take care of it from here.'
For a moment, it felt as if someone had just taken my shoulder and spoken right into my ear just now. There was a sudden wave of power that went through my body and I lost control of my movement, almost like someone was in the driver seat now.
Whoever it was seemed to be more confident in what they were doing and seemed to know how to handle the situation. Clicking the button on the flashlight, it soon started to change in the gift Ares had given me.
Using the car as a springboard, I jumped over Argus and landed on the back of wounded Cyclopes.
"Foolish beast, you really thought you could kill me? I'm genuinely offended by this, an act that can only be rectified with your life," I said, pointing the barrel of the gun to the back of his head, execution style.
Before they could so much as cry for me to stop, I had already pulled the trigger and their entire body exploded to dust. Either this gun was more powerful than I first anticipated, or something strange happens when monsters die.
Turning back to Argus, I gave him a quick thumbs up before charging back in to the last two Cyclopes, who had managed to break free of the tree roots. Before they could attack me, I started to open fire on them.
"What, why hero have boomstick?" said the female I wounded before getting knocked back.
They did their best to stave off the oncoming Celestial Bronze buck shots, but it was gradually doing its job and injuring them. When the gun was empty, I hit the switch and the bayonet sprang out.
Hurling it like a harpoon, it stuck into the blind Cyclopes' foot. While that distracted him, I summoned my adamantine sword. The moment the saw the glass blade again, their eyes showed great fear, almost like they knew what it would do to them if I landed a serious strike.
The female tried to swing her wrench like before, but once it was within reach of my sword, I used a vertical slash and I half expected the blade to shatter, but it cut through the metal cleanly, like a hot blade to butter.
In her moment of confusion as to why her tool was now only good as a paper weight, I slashed at her leg to bring her down, just enough for me to swing in a wide arc and lop off her head. When her hit the ground, she burst into dust.
"My…My w-wife…went 'poof'," was all the bind one was able to say before I hurled my sword straight into his chest, tipping him back like a falling tree.
Before he could pull the sword out, I jumped on top of him and gripped it, making it clear that if he tried anything I'd end him quick.
"Why did you attack the city; do you know how much damage you've done and how many people got hurt?" I said, my anger starting to influence me.
I started to twist my sword, making howl in pain.
"We were just trying to go on vacation; I lost my home on my island and didn't want to stay much longer in warehouse for much longer," he said.
"Island; just who exactly are you?" I asked.
"I am Polyphemus, son of Poseidon, slayer of Nobody," he said proudly.
Now it was starting to make some sense. I remember reading about the myth back in English class when we were doing the Odyssey. Odysseus and his crew landed on the island and had a run it with Polyphemus.
Making a long story short, Odysseus blinded him and escaped with the rest of his crew. Then, like an idiot, shouts out his real name and the Cyclopes prays to his father, Poseidon, which causes to make the hero's job of returning home a little bit harder.
What I can't understand is that why is he saying that he killed him when the story says otherwise? Deciding that it wasn't important at the moment, I needed to deal with this before it gets out of hand.
"So that was your wife huh; sorry about killing her back there," I said.
"She not dead, probably be back in few weeks; give me chance to go to Sheep Expo in Amish Country," he said, excited that he gets to ditch his wife and go to this convention of his.
Something about that really pissed me off for some reason, or just stuff like the in general really.
"Or, you could take some time to think about how to be nicer to your wife. That shit you said back there wasn't right. A marriage is about compromise and is a partnership, not about who is in charge," I said.
I bet under different circumstance, my mom's clients would agree with me on that.
"If you want to stay in a warehouse house and want to see sheep, then go somewhere that has both," I said.
"Where something like that?" he asked, genuinely curious now.
"I hear New Zealand is nice this time of year. When your wife gets back, take a real trip; trust me when I say that nothing is more freighting than a vengeful wife."
He seemed to understand that better, and looked a bit more fearful of that than my sword at the moment.
"Fine, I get what you say little hero," he said.
"Now, I'm going to get off you now; can I have your word that you'll leave peacefully?" I said, more like demanded than asked really.
"I swear by the River Styx."
There was an eerie breeze that blew past us and I got an unsettling feeling went down my spine, something tells me that what he just did was very…binding feels like the right word for it.
Pulling out the sword, I jumped off and Polyphemus started to stand. "Remember what we talked about dude, now go on back home," I said.
As the son of Poseidon walked away, I saw my friends and Argus coming up next to me, all looking slightly confused and still a bit cautious.
"Why didn't you kill him?" Tessa asked.
I shrugged before changing my sword back and retrieved my shotgun. "It didn't seem right to do so; he was a bit of a prick but I think we worked things out," I said.
"Still, that was a little strange; don't think I've seen a Demigod solve a monster problem with marriage advice, guess that's because of your mom."
"What do you mean?" I asked, but soon regretted doing so; I've got enough to deal with as it is.
"Remember when your brother, Dionysus, announced your bloodline?" she asked.
"Vaguely."
"Goddess of Marriage, patron of women; those are basically the key factors that embody your mother and when gods have kids, their children have their tendencies, but there are things that make us different from them," Tess explained.
"What's that?" I asked.
"We're human," Matt said darkly, but he didn't mean it in a bad way, more like he was trying to one up the gods in a way.
I had enough common sense to hear the dark undertone of his words and not press them into explaining any further. Last thing we need is tension between our team.
Looking around, I was able to actually see the amount of damage that was done during our little fight. Most of the people had enough sense to leave the area all together, some were coming out of their hiding places to see if the coast was clear.
The only real damage was some crushed cars, messed up roads and sidewalks, not to mention the newly sprouted pine trees that grew in random spots.
For a moment, it looked like a scene from a cheesy Post-Apocalyptic Indie movie I saw once back at the Film Club back from school, only this one would be called When Pine Trees Attack; coming Never, to a theater nowhere near you!
There was a sudden chuckling coming from Lilly that caught us off guard, but I got the feeling that it was because she was using the Empathy Link; she peeked into my thoughts but somehow I didn't seem to mind.
"So what's our next step; the van is trashed and we need to find a way head west," Bobby said.
"For now we should just head to the bus station and continue with the quest," Tessa said.
"But what do we do after we get west; didn't Rachel say something about embarking into the depths or something," I said.
I was still unsure of what exactly to do; that prophecy was somewhat vague and irritating.
"Well, it more than lightly means that we need to head to the Underworld," Tessa said.
At the mention of that, Lilly seemed to be on the brink of a panic attack. I didn't blame her, I started thinking about my dream and that specter.
If it means that we have to go face to face with them, as well as their Hunter of theirs, then this is going to be a problem.
"Where exactly is the Underworld anyway?" I asked.
"California," Matt said.
…
"That's hilarious," I said; a small grin on my face.
They started to snicker a bit; like I said before, it feels good to laugh.
Turning to Argus, he seemed to be at the ready, like he was waiting for me to give him something to do.
"Head back to camp; we'll keep going from here. Thanks again for the save before," I said.
Argus seemed like he didn't want to but reluctantly agreed to do so. We headed back to the flipped over van and grabbed out packs. The people had started coming back to the area and that was another reason to hop on the next bus to the bus station.
We were in a rush so we had to decide on getting a ticket into Ohio; we didn't care where we were going, just as long as it was going west. Despite the fact that we just caused a pile up, and an alarming amount of Pine trees to suddenly sprout in the streets of New York, we couldn't leave fast enough.
A few hours had passed and it was already late into the day when we made a stop near the border line of Pennsylvania. When getting off, I just realized how exhausted we were; the others looked half asleep and I was about to collapse any minute.
The sound of rumbling snapped us to attention. It took us a moment to realize that it was our stomachs; we left camp without eating so it's only natural that we'd be hungry.
Pulling out my wallet, I grabbed some money and handed it to Lilly. I didn't want to use the card Annabeth gave me just yet; she said there was no limit on it but that doesn't mean I want to cause an economical inflation.
"We should stock up on food while we can; who knows when we'll have this sort of leisure time again," Tessa said.
She had a point; I still may be new to this whole Demigod thing, but even I could see that once we set into the world, every moment is life and death. It makes me feel grateful that I've gotten to live as a normal person for as long as I did.
We headed inside the rest stop; numerous people were walking about. We must've looked pretty strange; four teenagers with no parental supervision tends to draw attention. Thankfully there was a large crowd so it was easy to blend in.
The others went off and headed to some of the shops, while Lilly and I just wondered about. Going over to the information desk, I asked if I could get a map; we may not always get transportation, so it's good to have.
I wasn't really paying attention, but when I heard the sound of whimpering, I looked over to Lilly to see trembling and on the verge of tears. She was trying her best to try and hide behind me, and I could see why.
Standing before us was a man who stood at least 6'5 easy and looked to be in his mid-forties. His skin resembled tanned leather, like he'd been out in the sun working all his life. They had a strong jawline and chiseled facial features; a five o'clock shadow and black hair combed back.
His brown eyes were so familiar it was unnerving, like I'd seen them somewhere before. They were dressed in all black: black cargos pants with a black shirt and combat boots and had a heavy coat on.
He would've been hansom, if he wasn't glaring at us so intensely; it felt like his eyes were burning a hole in my head.
"Um…can we help you sir?" I said.
That only seemed to piss him off even more. Whatever this guy's damage was, I could sense that he was bad news; and I got this nagging feeling like I should really get away from this guy. His attention soon turned to Lilly and his gaze softened ever so slightly.
The satyr was trembling so bad I could feel it through my backpack, so I did my best to stand firm and keep his gaze on me instead of her.
He reached out faster than I could see and had a firm grip on my forearm. There didn't seem to be any chance of me breaking free of his iron grip, but while I struggled, he managed to slip something into my hand and finally let go.
When looking at what it was, I saw that he gave me some sort object that looked like a whittled tree branch. Looking closer, I could see a scene was carved into it; animals with people, a mysterious hooded figure who brandished a bow.
A sudden chill went through my body. It took me a moment to remember just exactly where I saw this. It wasn't a branch, it was an antler from a deer.
"By that look on you face, I can tell that you know exactly who I am and what my intensions are, don't you?" he asked, his voice a deep baritone that seemed to punch me square in the chest.
I could feel my heart racing and it I was starting to have trouble breathing. This was him, the same being who I saw in my dreams talking with that Spector.
"Yeah, I know full well who you are, Agreus; son of Hermes," I said.
His expression charged to a dark one, and I could almost sense his intensions and it didn't look as he cared if he made a scene either.
"I'll only say this once; come quietly and I won't hurt you or your friends. Refuse and I collect their heads as my trophies, your choice boy," he said.
Okay, straight to the point; this guy seriously didn't beat around the bush, and by the way he was glaring it didn't look as though he was bluffing either. I tried my hardest to try and look brave and stand my ground to him, but his eyes just made me feel so small and insignificant.
He was the Hunter, and I his lowly prey. I was the only one he wanted, so why should my friends suffer with me; they've done enough for me already for too long. I didn't know what else to do, it felt like the quest was about to end before it could start.
My legs started to move toward Agreus on their own; I guess I already made my decision. Lilly tried her best to keep my away from him, but it wasn't enough; she was still too scared of the Hunter.
A jolt went through my body and it felt as though the whole world just stopped. An unknown, but familiar, presence made itself apparent in that moment.
"Do not yield to him!"
The sheer force of their words was more than enough to make anyone listen without a second thought.
"We are better than this, YOU are better than this."
Something in their words seemed to have some sort of effect on me; a sort of confidence filled me and I soon began to realize that what I was doing was wrong, and disrespectful to my friends all that they've done for me.
This guy thinks I'm just going to let him intimidate me, then he's got another thing coming. I felt someone grip my left my left hand. When looking to see who it was, I couldn't believe it what I saw, or who for that matter.
Standing there, with a determined and confident look, was me or at least my conscious personified. What made him different though, was that his eyes weren't brown but a regal purple, the kind someone of high status would wear in ancient times.
"Never doubt yourself, and never doubt the skills you have been blessed with Justin. If you ever have those thoughts again, then I will lend you my strength, my courage and show you what you are truly capable of."
"Who, no, what are you?" was the only thing I was able to say, before he smiled warmly at me.
He placed his free hand on my shoulder. "I'm what you were meant to be Justin, what you could've been had our mother raised us on Olympus," he said.
"How is that even possible, something like that doesn't make any sense?"
I had enough to deal with, now wasn't the time to deal with alternate versions of myself. Maybe when I get my shit together, I can resolve any and or problems that I have with myself.
"Neither is the idea of the wife of Zeus having a Demigod son. We are an unknown variable in the chain of destiny Justin. The Fates believe that just the fact that you draw breath, could spell disaster for every one and believe we should just die."
Geeze, way to not sugar coat anything dude. But what he and my mom said did make sense; I need to choose a side in this fight but both either want me dead or just want to use me. In the end I'd just be a means to an end, a liability.
No, I won't let either of them push me around. For once, I'm calling the shots.
"I want to be stronger. To brave so that I can fight with my friends, or have them fight for me. Can you give me that?" I asked.
He just smiled and made my hand clench, summoning my adamantine sword. "That shouldn't be a problem, I'm you remember; my power is always at your disposal and I'll be by your side to guide you when you need it the most."
He soon vanished and time continued to flow once more. I'm not sure if what happened was just in my head, but I didn't care. Agreus was surprised to see my sword, but he clearly under stood its meaning.
"So that is your answer, is it?" he asked.
"If you want me, then you're going to have to fight for me. I'll be damned if I let you scare me into submission," I said, taking my stance.
From inside his coat, he pulled out a survival knife and gripped tight in his hand. "Never let it be said I didn't give you a chance. Prepare yourself, son of Hera."
Please Review, if not that's cool too.
