CHAPTER FIVE: A TWITTER
I was back in my cabin, packing up a few things. For a camper, I pack quite light. I was brought to camp by force. Because of that, I was not able to even bring a suitcase of clothes with me. The only thing I had on were my pair of skinny jeans (the same jeans I wore since my first day in camp) and the orange Camp Half-Blood shirt.
I frowned, still uncomfortable with the thought of adjusting into the demigod lifestyle. I removed my shirt and wore my usual white, long-sleeved, polo shirt and grey sweater. I sighed in relief. Much better, I thought.
Like I said, I packed quite light. I brought Nectar and ambrosia for replenishment, golden drachma for contacting anyone, the stilettos, and the camera that my mother gave me.
I suddenly remembered our last meeting. Unfortunately, it did not turn out so well. I was incredibly bitter towards her. She endangered my father's life and she had to join that ridiculous golden apple argument. Despite my anger, she still gave me this camera. On the word of my mother, this contraption would help me in making out the truth or history of the image captured. It was the perfect item for a confusing quest like this.
Then someone entered the cabin. It was Rook, and he had a worried look on his face. I already knew what he wanted to say. "I have no choice, Rook." I said, putting everything in my bag. "I've got to help Winter, whether I like it or not."
"But what about the cops, yo?" he asked.
"I'll just have to avoid them." I said, reluctantly.
The satyr pursed his lips. "Well if you're going out there, then you're gonna have to tell your peeps the truth, yo."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, tell 'em you're wanted!"
"I'm not even sure if I am! Probably the police mistook me for some other criminal."
"Fine, whatever. Just be careful."
I smirked. "no promises."
"Hmmph. You just never change, do ya?"
"Deal with it, Rook." I gave him a goodbye hug.
As soon as I was done packing, I grabbed the white jacket Annabeth gave me. I felt my face soften. I wondered what had happened to her and where was she at that time. But I knew I shouldn't worry. A lot of people say that Annabeth is a formidable half-blood. She could take care of herself, and I believed so. I wore the jacket over my smart casual attire and headed out.
Right outside my cabin were Weathers and Winter, whose arms were crossed. They were actually waiting for me to come out, and they eventually grew impatient.
"What?" I smirked, looking at the night sky like nothing happened.
"You took forever. You were supposed to be at the entrance exactly fifteen minutes ago." scolded Lucius. Rain just stood there, feeling amused at our fight scene.
"Sorry, the clock in our cabin was twenty minutes late." I defended.
He groaned in defeat. "Forget it, let's go."
After leaving the camp's borders, Lucius began to whistle. I raised my brow at his peculiar gesture. Then I could feel the ground slightly shaking. The shake became stronger and louder and a horse skeleton approached us. I gulped. As much as I hate horses, dead ones were much worse.
Rain whistled, he was not as stunned as I was. He probably had seen Winter's pet before. "I haven't seen Bricks in a long time." said the son of Zeus. So that its name. I thought, rolling my eyes. I did not like this.
Lucius hopped on the skeletal horse first, followed by Rain. I just stood in front of the creature with a disgusted look imprinted on my face. Emo kid gave me a hard look, making it clear that he was in no mood to bark orders at me and waste time. I was about to hop in, until a voice called out to me.
"Hey! Wait up!" It was Vince.
When he stopped in front of me, I immediately grew tense. "Relax, I've come in peace." he said, raising both of his hands up in surrender.
"Better make it quick. We're in a hurry." I snapped.
"Alright, alright. I just want you three to have this." He held out three golden whistles. I raised my eyebrow. He sighed and decided to explain. "In case you guys get separated, let out at least one long blow. Then you'll be able to find each other."
We took one whistle each, and I was still suspicious of his actions. "Since when do you give gifts to me? I mean, we hate each other." I pointed out. Sure, we may have cleared a few things out earlier, but that didn't mean I was willing to warm up to him.
He grinned at me, which surprised me. "And I want that all to end. Look, you were right a while ago." he said. "So, let's just be friends." I sighed. I have heard this line many times before. The same old phrase was beginning to become annoying and not convincing. "I'll think about it." I said, climbing on Bricks, immediately.
Vince nodded at me. "I understand."
"Oh there is one thing you should know." I said, feeling the tension on my shoulders, again.
This time, it was Vince who arched his eyebrow. Seeing him like that was funny. "And, what is that?" he asked, slowly.
"During those times when you pissed me off," I started, closing my eyes. "I was the one who sent that fake love note to Drew."
His eyes slowly widened, quickly understanding where I was going. "You mean it was you who gave her my composition about my ideal girl?"
Rain held in a snicker. He was one of the witnesses of this event. Lucius just sat there, slowly growing impatient. I knew we had to leave soon, so I gave Simmons a sincere look. "Hey, I'm sorry if that ruined your life. Besides, Drew was born to be a spinster, anyway. See ya around." In a hurry to leave, I kicked the horse's bony butt and it galloped away in an incredible speed. It startled me so much, I had to take a firm grip on Rain's shoulders.
Somewhere from faraway, I could still hear Vince shouting curses in the Greek language.
"Is that alright for you to do that?" Rain asked.
I just shrugged, and did not answer his question.
Miles later, Lucius looked straight ahead, being serious. Rain, on the other hand, looked around the cars that were passing by as Bricks continued to gallop, swiftly. No one was able to notice us at all. I guess the Mist surrounding the horse was as thick as Lucius Winter's mind. (Don't tell him I said that)
Then I speculated on which city was Hecate in. "Hey." I said.
Lucius nearly jumped from his seat. "Ugh, what?" he snapped.
"Geez sorry, I was just asking where were going."
"New York City." Rain immediately said.
"Are you sure that's the city the prophecy mentioned?" Lucius asked.
"Not really, but I guess we have to try."
As the two were discussing, I was beginning to wonder what was going to happen once we reach New York. The last time we were like this, Keres started to aim for us. Injuries and precious time was wasted because we were so distracted. I was planning to keep watch while my companions were chatting away. However, the wind somehow made my eyes heavy. Soon, I doze off.
(O u O)
I had a strange dream.
There was a long hall, and the walls were filled with mirrors. I gulped, feeling hesitant. Eventually, I took a few steps towards the hall of mirrors.
I walked very slowly, and I began to notice that the looking glasses were all in different shapes and sizes. For some reason, I could not look at any of them. I was frightened of what my reflection would look like. It was a crazy notion, I know.
When I reached the end of the hall, I saw a full-length mirror. There, I saw my full reflection. At first, seeing my reflection in the mirror was pretty normal. I did all sorts of diverse movements, but as I kept on moving about, my reflection stopped; it just stood there, staring at me intently. I stopped fidgeting and looked back at the mirror. I touched my face, but it still did not move a single muscle. I began looking at myself in the eye, and... it slowly grinned.
I was not grinning; I did quite the opposite. My eyes bulged in horror, and I grimaced.
Then my reflection did something even much freakier; it started giggling at me. I took a few steps back, and I ran away from my grotesque reflection.
While I was running along the long hall, something even more unusual occurred. Everytime I looked at the mirrors on the wall, I see my freaky-self running too. I tried to run faster, but it also did the very same thing. I shook my head and focused on the exit, which was straight ahead.
When I finally reached the end of the hall, I thought I was going to be safe. But in the blink of an eye, she was already right in front of me.
I don't know how she got out of the mirror, but there she was, standing before me with a bizarre grin on her face.
She giggled again, but said something rather odd. "Help me, please!" she snickered. Before I could even react, she brought out a dagger from behind her back, and stabbed me on the chest.
That was when Lucius woke me up.
"What's with you?" he asked. I stared at him, trying to study his expression. I wasn't sure if he was mad again or concerned.
"Sorry, I doze off." I yawned. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere in Broadway." Rain answered. I looked around to see the busy streets of Manhattan. However, there was something strange about the place. It was so quiet, and not to mention very foggy. We reached Times Square, and landed there. We all looked around, and there was not a single car or person in sight. My companions and I exchanged looks, and we both already knew that something was up.
"This must be one of the doings of Hecate." Rain assumed. "Looks like this is the city were looking for." Isn't this a little too predictable? I asked myself, looking around.
"I'd never thought New York would be this deserted. Not even Times Square." remarked Lucius.
"Also, we're not alone." I said, turning to the direction where footsteps were coming from. The stomps were so loud that it echoed all throughout Times Square. Rain wielded Kairos, his rapier, while Lucius already had his Vasanistis, his stygian iron sword. I got my USB and waved it, and soon turned into my rod. Rain and Lucius were shocked with my new weapon. I gave them glum look. "What? Never seen a weapon before?" They shrugged at me, and returned to their fighting positions.
In a matter of minutes, our guest finally came out. It was the criminal on the top of the most wanted list: Hecate. I know, what you're thinking. Since we found her, this whole quest was only just a piece of cake? Fat chance.
The goddess immediately recognized Lucius. "My, if it isn't the son of Hades. Oh, you even brought friends." she said, grimly.
"What are you up to, Hecate?" Lucius growled. The goddess chuckled.
"Please, you do realize that getting through me is going to take more than that."
After that phrase, we heard howling from behind. I looked to see a huge pack of black dogs, drooling and growling at us. Before one of them could even get to us, Bricks got in the way, and attacked them. However, one of the dogs climbed on the back of the horse and bit the back of its neck. Bricks yelped and shook the dog off its back. I shuddered. Hungry dogs? A Horse made out of bones? Made sense.
Lucius called out his pet's name, running towards him and started attacking the black dogs. Rain ran after him, while I looked at Hecate. A dog lunged towards me, but i smashed it away before it could even get near me. The mutt retreated, yelping in pain. I then returned my attention towards the despicable goddess.
"Oh my, an offspring of Athena." she said, amused.
"Looks like your howling dogs are for real after all." I said.
"Did you honestly think they were only mere myths?"
I said nothing. She soon walked towards me, as if she was trying to study me. "You seem new, I haven't seen the likes of you before." she said, slowly going around me.
"Let's just say I was well hidden." What? It's true.
"I see...well, it's a good thing you didn't join the dog fight." I gasped and turned to find Lucius and Rain. They were gone, also Bricks.
"Winter? Weathers?" I called out. No response.
Hecate chuckled again. "I wouldn't be worrying about them, if I were you." I turned around again, and noticed that she was no longer there. I was alone in Times Square; well, almost. I heard someone giggle.
I switched to my sai's and kept looking around, for I did not know where the cackle was coming from. The voice kept giggling and giggling, and I was beginning to get dizzy. When I was about to collapse, I heard a movement from behind. I immediately turned around, but all I saw was a flying newspaper. The next thing I knew, something—no, someone, was flying from behind. I turned to see a girl, about to hit me with a... meteor hammer. I dodged the attack, and studied my unknown opponent.
She wore a tattered grey poncho jacket, and frayed black skinny jeans. She had dirty chewed-up pink converse shoes, and fingerless black gloves. I was not able to study her face because it was covered with a... dog mask. Not only that, she had full bangs, like mine.
She charged again, and I did a backflip to dodge her dangerous meteor hammer. Her weapon got stuck to the ground, and boy did it create such damage! The girl kept hitting me with her meteor hammer, and I wasn't able to land a single blow on her! I've been avoiding her attacks for the past eight minutes, and I was getting tired. I suddenly remembered the prophecy. Servant in the dark...
"You... you must be... the servant." I panted. She just giggled.
"Gosh, is there anything else you can do, other than just taunting me?" I charged towards her and I did a long jump. In mid-air, I did some acrobatic move, and tried slashing her with one of my sai's. However, I only managed to hit her left shoulder. Her hood also got removed, revealing her long, incredibly dark brown hair. Before I landed on the ground again, I unfortunately got hit in the stomach by her meteor hammer. I ended up flying at the other side of Times Square, hitting the glass of a nearby fast-food joint.
I winced in pain, and I slowly sat up. I could feel the scratches on my stomach, thanks to the spikes of her meteor hammer. It was clear to me that sai's weren't going to help me beat this Joker. Soon enough, the servant was in mid-air raising her meteor hammer. I rolled away, and I changed my weapon back into a rod. I sprang up, and I hit the servant on the back. As a result, she fell, but she did a roundhouse move on me. Luckily, I dodged that and she immediately got back on her feet. Our fight continued to drag on for the next ten minutes and we went further inside the restaurant.
Soon, we were both exhausted and the fast-food joint was nearly demolished. I eventually recognized the restaurant. Thanks to the golden capital "M", I fathomed that we were battling in Mcdonalds all along. However, despite the enervation, my opponent still lunged for me. I jumped away, and she managed to break down a table. I landed at the counter, and I threw one of my stilettos at her. It pierced her right shoulder, and she yelled in pain. I jumped and lunged towards her. I raised my rod, preparing to hit her. When I thought I hit her skull... I actually hit another table... filled with people.
The family stared at me like I was some maniac. It was a good thing the mist managed to cover my rod, otherwise I would've been in more trouble for carrying a lethal weapon. "Hey! Are you crazy?" shouted an employee. Before I knew it, I was thrown out of Mcdonalds. Not only that, I saw Times Square is already filled with cars and people. What the heck just happened? I thought. First, the entire area was a ghost town. Then it was suddenly filled with people. Could this be one of the works of Hecate? Then I noticed that the girl was gone. Did she escape? What a coward!
Then I had another problem. Rain and Lucius were really gone.