So, what happens?
Nico and Lin make some big speeches.
An old character is reintroduced.
Chapter 9
Grape Themed Conference Room
I slept in the farm house, the big house with the veranda and four stories. It was the same house that Lin and I had been imprisoned in. It brought back the bad memories.
But we didn't sleep in a cement cell. We had rooms with grape vine patterned wall paper. Who ever he was, the person who owned this house had an obsession with alcohol. There was a bowl champagne glass on the bedside table, with potpourri. The painting above the grape print comforter was of a bottle of wine and a goblet.
Lin went to sleep in the next room, and it was strange to see her in her night gown. Nico had brought over her toiletries and stuff. I had thoughts about her…but it was strange, wrong. Lin was my sister. Half sister, actually, but I was in no mood to be so picky about it. It reminded me of Oedipus Rex, the guy who killed his dad, married his mom, and had kids with her. I shuddered.
My mother shook my shoulder, and I woke up. She pulled aside the grape purple draperies over the windows, sending a searing sheet of light at me. I covered my eyes, squinting.
"Time to get up, tsarevich," She called, pulling the blankets off. I swung my feet out of the bed. "It's a new day, and you're needed in the conference room."
"What for?" I asked, sighing. I was so tired…
"Apparently, you're a witness to the monster epidemic, and they want you to speak." She opened the door, and then stopped. "There'll be breakfast provided, since you'll be hungry." She slammed the door, leaving me anxious and with a gnawing pain in my stomach.
I put on my shoes and some jeans from a suitcase at the foot of my bed. My mom had probably brought it up when I was asleep. I yawned, stretching.
I cleaned up, brushing my hair, and looking at the purplish circles underneath my blue eyes. They looked ugly, like I'd been punched, but there was nothing I could do about it. And it wasn't so extreme that I'd sneak into Lin's room for some makeup.
I walked out of the room, seeing the nickel grape vine sconces holding up electric lights on the walls. There were night lights near the floor, emitting a soft, muted purple light. The carpeting was floral patterned, with red and green grapes intertwined together. At the end of the hallway, I saw the double doors. I guessed that this was the conference room.
So took a deep breath, bracing myself, and grasped the curled grape vine door handle. I hoped that I was confident enough, and I pushed the door open.
There was an oval shaped table, hewn out of a single slab of wood, and had intricate vines and leaves carved on it, like a Celtic pattern. A fat man in a tiger print Hawaiian shirt sat at the head, his feet on the table. He was slurping out a can of Diet Coke, a few drops running down his chin.
Next to him was a man with glasses and a scraggly brown beard in an electric wheel chair. He held a book in his hands, and was flipping through it furiously. My mother sat at one end, Nico beside her. Lin saw opposite them, with an empty chair beside her. I took that this was my seat, and I took my place.
Lin grinned. "I saved you some English muffins."
"Thanks." I said, and I took the proffered platter. It was still warm, the muffin. It had butter on it, a small square that had melted partially. I took a bite, and it was delicious. In quick succession, I had five, and when I was done, Lin handed me a napkin monogrammed with grapes.
The man with the tiger patterned shirt stood up, putting his can down. A satyr placed a coaster on the table just before the can touched the table, preventing a sticky circle mark. "I am Dionysus, for those who don't know. We have a meeting today because Di Angelo over here says he has a good idea to stop this monster problem we've been having. Though I don't really see a problem. It's a little influx, that's all-"
Nico cleared his throat. "We do have a problem." He stood, standing over the people who were leaning back in their chairs. "You, the unobservant, probably have not noticed, but the number of monsters are steadily increasing. You live sheltered lives in the Camp when I live outside. I think there's someone in Hades…who is making the monsters regenerate faster. But let's hear from my daughter, Lin."
Lin stood next to her father, and I lot of people noticed her. They stopped leaning back on two legs of their chairs, stopped fiddling with their pens, and stared at her. And I realized then that she was beautiful. Not the traditional beauty, but she was tough and strong and charismatic, with a proud smile on her lips.
"I saw Pegasi, in Misted form, at the Belmont Stakes, in Elmont, New York, about four days ago. Monsters aren't the only ones that are getting loose. All magical creatures are. In fact, I saw a Roc nest in Central Park a month ago." She frowned. "And you people don't notice, and I don't see what your problem is.
"You've been spoiled, and just because you beat off the first wave, the first battle, doesn't mean you've won the war. The monsters are gathering. I met Tithonus two days ago, and even he, in advanced age, has joined the cause.
"You've been having a false sense of security, just like the enemy wants. Yes, Kronos is back. Snap out of it, people. We need the help of the mortals.
"For those who see the truth, you're not doing anything, and you're doing too much at the same time. Stop kidnapping the children of the gods, especially because they have the blood. Just because they have the blood, doesn't mean they can fight. I don't see why you can make children of the Muses fight for you. My father will explain more." Lin sat back down, a furrow between her eyebrows.
Nico smiled, a thin, grim smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I have an idea, but for all of you who are all for saving everything, who can't risk anything, then you probably won't like it. I've been thinking it over, and you can't save everyone, you can't make a pot roast without killing an animal. So, since humans and heroes are all this together, I thought it was time the mortals contributed something.
"I want to reanimate spirits of the dead with the life force of living humans."
And so the commotion started, and it went on and on. People were arguing left and right, their fists clenched and the voices loud. But one man with graying black hair and sea green eyes stood. "Be quiet, everyone! Nico might be on to something, and it's to save your sorry, ungrateful hides!"
So everyone sat back down, scowls on their faces. They bit back their anger and surprise, the only thing keeping them down was respect for the black haired man.
"It will take the energy of about three billion humans to win. But it will not be death." Nico's eyes scanned over his listeners. "It will be a coma, and it won't be too bad. The emergency services will be overwhelmed, but it will only be for two days at the most."
"I will reanimate the souls of dead heroes, dead fighters, anyone skilled. Since they're already dead, this should make a formidable army. If you're not really sure how I do it, it takes time, and a lot of effort and concentration. But the mortal author Garth Nix explains it vaguely in his Old Kingdom Trilogy. I am a necromancer.
"The spirits can take over the minds of anything, but my instructions, which I have already written, and which you may read, are clear. I have not let any loopholes flaw my plans, and so they will not attack our side. The can emit fear, like my father's Helm of Darkness, to stop a person in his tracks."
"Are you sure this will work?" The green eyed man with black hair asked.
"I am certain; it works out on paper, theoretically. I don't see why not, Percy" Nico said. Then he added. "But we should be careful, because I think the Titan Kronos also knows how to reanimate. Because I have reason to suspect the recent uprising of monsters comes from the reanimated Luke, son of Hermes."
There was uproar at Nico's words. It subsided to quiet chattering when Percy glared, but the hubbub still remained.
"What proof have you?" Percy demanded, his voice cold. "I slew him years ago."
"I traveled to the Underworld, and searched among the spirits, yet I did not find him. I looked everywhere, and I even got my sister to give me the roster. I found his name, but he was labeled "absent". So I suspected. Luke has a gift with words; he can charm a snake, and that is how Kronos has gotten so many recruits. You see the crime rates, lately?"
Percy nodded, his eyes stormy. "I can see we have trouble brewing. This hurricane…I can feel it. I hope that we do not get caught in the eye, with no way out but through the wind."
Author's Note: Sorry about not updating, it's just that you guys have slacked off on the reviewing part. This story is a product of two groups. I write, and you give encouragement, and a little of what you think, a little criticism. We work together, like a symbiotic relationship.
Also, I'm sick. And I wrote this when I was sick. You torturers.
Keep on reviewing, and maybe I won't update so much, because I don't feel good. And I'm tired; it's almost 11 PM. My nose is drippy and my throat itches.