MAVERICK
I've woken up in some pretty strange places before but in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean was a new one. I guess when the plane hit the water it transformed or something and I must have gotten knocked out. All around me was pure darkness and I figured out that I had only been knocked out for about ten minutes. I turned on the lights and illuminated the darkness. I steered the submarine to the surface and transformed again into a ship. I'm pretty diverse when it comes to driving things. I headed to a beach on Maui and literally drove onto the beach after changing into a nice convertible. It was dark by the time I had gotten to the island. I parked at a diner and walked in to get something to eat. As soon as I entered, I overheard a few conversations about the same topic.
"Did you see those kids? They just walked right out of the ocean! Two of them weren't even wet!" I heard to elderly people say. Those would be my friends, terrible at not attracting attention.
"Excuse me. I couldn't help but overhear about these people. Do you happen to know which way they are headed?" I asked.
"Oh, sure! They walked into a restaurant up the street. Two of them were completely dry and the others sopping wet. I felt so bad. It looked like a few of them were in tears."
"Thank you. You've been a big help." I bolted out of the restaurant and hopped in my convertible. I drove to the closest restaurant and parked. I walked in and the place was packed but I still noticed my friends sitting at a booth in the corner not saying a word. I walked over to them nonchalantly and stopped when I overheard them talking about me.
"I just can't believe he's gone. He was the best friends I ever had." Fisher said.
"I'm really sorry guys. He seemed like a really cool guy." Percy said.
"I don't see how this happened. The prophecy didn't say he would die." Annabeth said and leaned on Percy.
"Maverick was with us so long…how…how can he be gone?" Juliet was in tears and started crying into Fisher's shirt. Taylor was silent and just stared at her lap, trying and failing to hold back tears. What killed me was how Piper was reacting.
"He…he…I…" Was all Piper got out before she broke down. I decided to make myself known. Normally I would do something funny like say how Piper leaves me speechless too, but now was not the time for that.
"I'm glad you all care about me so much." I said. All of them turned their heads to face and had a large spectrum of reactions. Fisher looked overjoyed while Annabeth looked confused like she didn't understand how I was alive. Thanks Annabeth. Piper lunged out of the booth and tackled me in a flying hug. She cried into my chest as I held her.
"We thought…I thought…I'm so happy you're alive." Piper said.
"Missed you too, Pipes." I said.
"Thank the gods, you're okay." Fisher said.
"Thank my dad. I blacked out during the crash, the plane turned into a submarine when it hit the water."
"You mean…" Percy began.
"Yea, the chariot is outside." Percy bolted out of the booth.
"My stuff!"
"Wow, thanks Percy. I'm glad that you're alive too." Percy was already out of the restaurant.
"He realizes that he doesn't know what the car looks like right?" Juliet asked.
"No, probably not." Annabeth answered.
"So, we have to go find this phoenix right?" I asked.
"Yea, I've been thinking. What do you usually associate the phoenix with?" Annabeth asked.
"It dies by fire, right?" Piper asked.
"Exactly, so where do we look in Hawaii for something fire related?"
"A volcano." Fisher said.
"Bingo, but the question is which volcano and where is it located?"
"Mauna Loa, it's the largest volcano. If I was a bird of fire, that's where I would be hanging out. We have to head to the main Hawaiian Island though." I said.
"Great, let's get moving." We walked out of the diner in time to see Percy drive up in the car.
"Dibs on driving." Percy said.
"Okay, I don't know how you started the car, but you're not touching my wheels Jackson." I said. Percy frowned. "Actually you can drive for a little bit." I pressed one of the many buttons and the luxury car turned into a limousine. We all climbed in the back where we were greeted with all kinds of snacks and drinks for the road.
"Whoa, the limo comes with perks." Percy said.
"Yea and you get to drive." I said and rolled up the shield blocking the driver from the passengers. Percy rolled it back down.
"You tricked me."
"You can drive the boat when we hit the water. I think that's more your style anyway." We made our way off the island and, with Percy's water abilities, managed to get to the main island. Percy drove us to Mauna Loa at around midnight. Piper fell asleep on my shoulder as did Juliet with Fisher. Taylor and Annabeth were both sprawled out taking a nap as well. Fisher and I plus Percy driving were the only ones awake.
"How much longer, Percy?" Fisher asked.
"A few minutes bro. We're almost there." Percy responded.
"So, Fisher, things are moving along quite nicely with Juliet." I said. Fisher glanced at Juliet asleep at his side. I'm the only one Fisher has ever told about his crush on Juliet but it's impossible to miss how great they are for each other.
"Yea, I really like her."
"I know, Fisher."
"It's kind of obvious." Percy said.
"Whatever, what about you and Piper? You two seem awfully close." Fisher said.
"We're just friends. You know that she's with Jason. Tell him that he's being ridiculous Percy." I said.
"I don't know. You guys do seem really close." Percy said.
"Jason's your friend. You want me and Piper to get together?"
"Jason was my friend and yes, I want you and Piper together, or at least I want her away from Jason."
"Whoa, where is that coming from? What happened, Perce?" Fisher asked. Percy sighed.
"About a week before you guys showed up, Annabeth and I were in my cabin and I heard Jason and Piper yelling in the Zeus cabin. I went to go make sure that they were okay and Annabeth stayed in my cabin…I walked in, just in time, to see Jason hit her. I mean, demigods fight all the time, but that's training. This was different, you know? He has no right to do that and that's not all. Overall he's been different recently and I'm getting worried for Piper."
"That's horrible." Fisher said. I was fuming at the thought of Jason hitting her.
"Yea, I know it's terrible, but I'm kind of hoping the part were Jason retires comes true." Percy said.
"Wow Percy, that's kind of dark." I said.
"I don't like when people hurt my friends. As far as I'm concerned, he's no better than all the other monsters we fight. Anyway, we're here." Percy pulled over.
"Just know that we're here for you man." I told him. He nodded.
"Thanks I appreciate that."
"What time is it?" Fisher asked.
"Midnight." Percy responded.
"Is it a full moon tonight?" The three of us stepped out of the car without waking the others.
"Yea, I think it is. Why?" I asked. Fisher pointed behind me.
"That's why." I turned around and found the pack of werewolves led by Lycaon. There was at least three wolves for everyone one of us.
"Where are your vampire friends?" Percy asked. Lycaon showed his blood red teeth.
"You will see them soon enough." Lycaon said. The three of us prepared for a fight. "Not so fast. You will come with us peacefully to our lair."
"Why would we do that?" I said.
"Well we happen to have some very important guests with us."
"Who would those be?"
"The hunt of Artemis." He said nonchalantly.
"You overpowered the hunt?" Percy asked.
"Of course, including Artemis and Zeus's kids."
"How?" Fisher asked.
"We had a little help. Now, come with us and bring your friends." We all looked at each other and realized we had no choice. Percy nodded to Lycaon.
"Excellent let's get moving."
The seven of us walked into the cave with our hands tied up and were strapped to a metal pole attached to the ceiling. Thalia and Jason were tied up next to us and Artemis was bonded to the floor by a special kind of chain which she could not break.
"Where's the rest of the hunt?" I asked. Lycaon walked over and slashed me across the chest with his claws. I screamed in pain. The claws ripped open my skin like sharp knives.
"You shall be quiet. To answer your question, the vampires are consuming their blood and leaving the meat to my pack. Thalia threw up along with Taylor. Annabeth looked stunned and Piper was silently crying next to Taylor. On my left, Fisher had a horrified expression and on my right, Percy was struggling against his chains in anger. Jason had a blank expression on his face which seemed the most disturbing to me.
"You're a monster." Annabeth said.
"I know, but monsters have to eat too." Lycaon said as he walked back and forth menacingly. "I just prefer my meat a little more…rare."
"What does that mean?" Thalia asked.
"The rest of my pack may be fine with dining on the hunters but I think you can taste the power in the meat." Lycaon stopped in front of Annabeth and licked her cheek as if sampling a flavor. Percy began to thrash like crazy.
"If you touch her, I swear to Zeus…" Percy threatened.
"You couldn't do anything but I have already decided who I will consume. I am sorry to say that your journey ends today…Piper McLean. It will not be a quick death I'm afraid."
"You're not touching Piper." I warned him. I noticed Jason staying silent with the same blank expression.
"I knew I would get a reaction like that. Tell you what; I'm going to sweeten the deal. If one of you chooses to lay down your life for your friend Piper, I will eat you instead. Doesn't that sound tempting?" Everyone looked at Jason expectantly except for Percy who was angrily staring at the ceiling as if he already knew that Piper was a goner. "I will give you a moment to think this over."
"Real chivalrous Jason. No one's asking you to lay down your life but could you at least show some emotion?" Percy asked angrily.
"What do you want from me?" Jason asked.
"I want you to man up and say something. Your girlfriend is about to die and you don't even care."
"You're right." Jason put his head down. "I don't care." Jason said with dark voice.
"What the Hades, Jason. What happened to you?" Thalia asked frightened. Piper burst into tears and it tore me apart.
"No one has to die for me I'll do it." Piper said.
"No." Percy and I said at the same time.
"Percy, I don't like that look in your eye." Annabeth warned.
"I'm not going to watch another one of my friends die. I couldn't stop it when Bianca died or Zoe or Beckendorf or Silena but I can now and I'm not going to let it happen again." Percy said. Annabeth's eyes filled with tears.
"Don't be stupid Percy." I said. He looked at me with a hurt expression. "If you die, too many people will miss you. You're the co-leader of this quest, the leader of the camp; you have a brother, a girlfriend who would be crushed if you died. You've done too many incredible things to die here and you can't do it." Percy's eyes seemed to tear up a bit too. "I will."
"Maverick, don't." Fisher told me.
"It's okay. I just assist on this quest you will be fine without me." Lycaon walked back in the room.
"Have you decided who my dinner is going to be?" I looked him right in his beady wolf eyes.
"I am."