CHAPTER SIX: PRISON BREAK
I ran everywhere in Times Square., and not a single son of Hades or Zeus in sight. Was this what the prophecy was talking about? Crooked streets? Ugh, New York was even worse than a jungle!
I walked farther from Times Square, and I still haven't found my companions. Calling out their names would make me sound like a lunatic. So I kept walking around the streets of New York, like an aimless wanderer.
As I explored the city, my mind grew heavy with constant thinking. Mostly, they were about Hecate and her mysterious joker. When we got to New York, it was completely empty. But the moment I blinked my eye, people suddenly popped out everywhere. It was all so sudden. I wondered if Rain and Lucius noticed that, too.
The only thing I could come up with was that Hecate was behind all this mind-boggling crap. She was the goddess of magic, after all. I don't know how, but I was pretty sure that she either did some mystic illusion or manipulated the mist. It was possible that she even casted a spell on the entire city!
I reached for my back pocket and grabbed a small square of ambrosia. I took a bite and laid my hand on the injury the girl gave me, who was also another problem. She was certainly a tough nut to crack. The damage inflicted upon me hurt like hell. I had a feeling that we won't be able to stop Hecate, until we beat this joker of a servant. Despite her insanity, she was a formidable foe; and that really irritated me.
I was at East 42nd street, somewhere near Grand Central Station. When I sat by a bench to rest, a police car parked in front of me. The siren was left on, and the cops came out of the vehicle. They all pointed their guns at me. "Put your hands up!" one of them commanded. Gods, the cops again? What in the world did I do? Instead of paying attention, I ran inside Grand Central.
I climbed down several stairs, pushed a lot of people out of the way, and tried to catch a train. Unfortunately, some poor hobo wanted to be a hero so badly that he caught up to me, and nailed me to the ground. "I've got her! I've got her!" he said, laughing hysterically. I hit him with my elbow, and he went out cold. But when I stood up, the police already surrounded me. "Freeze!" one of them commanded again. As much as I wanted to bolt away, I could not harm a mere mortal. I would just cause more trouble. I sighed, and raised both of my hands up in surrender. Another cop came closer and handcuffed me. I was lead to the police car, and brought to the police station.
When we got there, I was forced to sit down in front of another cop of a high rank. He leered at me and said, "We've been looking everywhere for ya." I just glared at him. His mischievous look was already aggravating.
He cleared his throat and continued. "Fujihara, you are hereby charged by the following treasons: jaywalking, vandalisms on restricted areas, and stealing boxes of Pocky in convenience stores." Hang on! Pocky? Fujihara? They've got the wrong person!
"Hold on! I did not do any of those mischiefs!" I protested.
"Oh so now you're talking. Well, witnesses' descriptions matched you PERFECTLY." he boomed. "Asian, Japanese. Grey eyes, full bangs, and long dark hair. You think you can dye your hair so we won't recognize ya." Dye my hair? Why in the world would I do that?
"We'll think of what to do with ya later. Take her to the holding facility." he commanded.
The two policemen then dragged me firmly to a prison cell. I struggled but I got hit on the head in the process. I was knocked out.
(O u O)
So that is how I got in jail.
Unmistakably, I was being accused for something I didn't do. Right now, the old man in front of me suggested that I should be moved to some asylum in Massachusetts! Apparently, my protests made the people think that I was insane.
The guy kept blabbering on, but I was already thinking of how to escape. The only thing I needed was a diversion. But how could I do that?
When I inserted my hands into my pocket, a strategy finally came to mind. The whistle that Vince gave me was still in my pocket. Then I waited for the right moment.
Soon, the man was done talking and he looked at me, intently. "So you understand, Miss Fujihara?" he asked.
I nodded, avoiding his stare. He sighed, and organized the papers scattered all over the table. That's when I noticed a file, and a picture attachment. What intrigued me was the snapshot; it was a stolen shot of the girl I fought the other day.
I then looked at him, gripping on the whistle. The man noticed my sudden change in behaviour. "Is something wrong?" he asked, shakily.
I smiled, and slowly revealed to him the golden whistle. "Oh, no." I lied, and blew the whistle. The man got startled, and this gave me a chance to make a break for it. I snatched the files from his hands and I punched him in the nose. He went out cold, and I broke down the door. Before long, the red alarm has been initiated.
I ran as fast as a roadrunner, and I soon reached the exit. Sadly, a band of policemen were already there, waiting for me. I gritted my teeth, and the USB in my pocket was starting to get hefty. I was so tempted to whip some cop butt. However I knew perfectly well that I shouldn't be doing that. Celestial bronze doesn't even harm mortals, anyway.
While my mind was racing, the lights of the prison suddenly shut down. The police were panicking, while I started to get puzzled. Until out of the blue, a hand covered my mouth and someone pulled me up. I was at the second floor of the prison, and thanks to the red alert lights blinking, I recognized who came to the rescue. It was Lucius, who had a pissed-as-hell look on his face. He put a finger between his lips, telling me to be quiet. I nodded and I set my sights on Rain, who was giving directions. I knew right away that he was the one responsible for the black out.
However, the same policemen once again blocked our way. How did they manage to get all the way there? That was not the only thing I had noticed; the prisoners were no longer in their cells. And I was certain that I did not see them evacuate.
"Hehe, it's over half-bloods." one of them snickered.
I exchanged looks with my cohorts. Nippily, Rain summoned Kairos, and pierced one of the police officers. "They're not mortals!" warned he. Lucius and I were shocked, but we immediately wielded our weapons. In no time, the policemen changed into their true form. The whole quest was beginning to confuse me. First, I dealt with mortals, the next thing I knew, I had to deal with Greek Monster. Now, that is what I call the life of a demigod.
They were bigger, and much more muscular. They were also very gruesome. "Time to knock 'em dead!" they chirruped, while they smashed the floor with their bulky hands. We jumped away from them, and Lucius was able to recognize them. "You're the Laistrygonians! You used to serve for Kronos!" he scowled.
The Laistrygonians laughed hysterically at him. "Ha! That's right! Now we shall have you for lunch!"
"We better get bellow!" yelled rain. We swooped down to the first floor before the giants did. But when it was their turn to go down, they created a mini earthquake. We all faced them, but I spotted that they had bronze balls in their hands. Where did that come from?
Rain suddenly recognized it. "Oh gods! Guys, take cover!" When the first giant tossed his first ball, it started to look like a ball of fire. We all dodged it and a huge smoking crater was generated at the other side of the hall. My jaws were about to drop, but I urged myself to keep my head in the game. I mean, it's not the first time I've seen something this... bizarre.
"Feast your eyes on that, half-bloods!" one of them chuckled, mockingly.
"Yay! I like 'em fried!" another said, eagerly. Fried? I thought, with a grimaced look.
"Rain! We need to get near them! It's the only way to defeat these goons!" Lucius called out, dodging the fireballs.
"I know that!" Rain shouted back. "But at this rate, we won't be able to get near them! We need to find a way to make them stop throwing these cannon balls!"
"But how? We're being treated like pins in a bowling alley!" Emo kid complained, showing off his smoking jacket. "and also... we're being fried to death!"
"Gods! Now I know how Percy felt when he had to face them!" son of Zeus grumbled. He then turned to me. "Eve! Got any ideas?"
I then turned my direction to the Laistrygonians. They were only standing there, throwing balls at us. This was more like a game of Dodgeball-to-death to me, than a bowling match. Furthermore, the balls are on fire. Rain was right, if we try going near them, we might get ourselves fried. There was only one thing to do.
"Winter! Do your... shadowbinding thingy!" I called out.
The son of hades ducked to avoid the comet ball. He looked at me as if I was crazy. "What?" he asked.
"Just scare them to death!" I yelled. Lucius groaned, and his aura suddenly changed. The usual dark shadows came out of nowhere, and went to the giants. One of them tried hitting it with a fire ball, but that didn't work. Soon, the shadows engulfed all of them and they were already screaming their heads off. "That's right... EMBRACE YOUR FEAR!" Lucius said, hoarsely. Actually, he sounded very different... I barely recognized him. I was supposed to get use to his anger issues, but he just never fails to bring chills down to my spine…..in a bad way.
I was so distracted watching Lucius that I did not notice what was happening and what Rain was doing. It was pouring hard outside and Rain raised his knife called Atropes in the air. I don't know how, but... lightning somehow struck him, even if we were indoors. The electric rushing within rain was so blinding that I wasn't able to see well. The only thing I saw was the thing on his hand. Kairos turned into a... mini lightning bolt.
Rain raised it towards the insane giants, and blasted lightning at them. The giants then burst into flames. I ran to the nearest fire alarm and the water sprinklers managed to disperse the remaining flames. Then I stared at Rain and Lucius, with my jaws finally dropped. I can't believe I am saying this but, they were amazing.
The two boys panted, and grinned at each other. They gave themselves "manly" handshakes, telling each other what an awesome job they did. I suddenly felt like a third wheel.
Rain turned his head to me. "Hey, you alright?" he asked. I just nodded slowly, with my face still filled with awe.
Soon, the missing prisoners went crazy in their cages, again. I smirked. Here they are, again.
They were panicking so hard about the fire that occurred and I knew that the real police would be there soon. "Let's get outta here." Lucius said, giving Rain, a pat on the back.
I followed them to the second floor, then to some place which had a hole on the ceiling. It revealed a lot of light in it. So that's how they got in, I thought. We all jumped into the hole, and we were already at the roof. Brick was there, waiting for us. We all climbed him and he somehow managed to jump from building to building. I was about to barf, but I had to grateful that I was far from the jailhouse.
Approximately after thirty-five seconds, Lucius started to scold me. "Gods! How in the world did you get in there?" he started.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I was accused for something I did not do. They were referring to me with some other surname. Fujihara. Gosh! I don't even know why the police are even after me!" I explained.
"Wait! You mean, they were after you, before?
I said nothing.
"Great, after a day of searching for you, I had to learn that as we're continuing this important quest, we have to worry about the cops who are probably waltzing around the city, looking for you!"
"Or someone who looks like her." Rain added.
"It wasn't my fault! Those imbeciles won't even pay attention to what I have to say!" I said, even louder. "I kept telling them that they've got the wrong person, but no! They have to claim that I'm some sort of mental patient."
"Well there's a shock." smirked Lucius.
I glowered at him and shoved the stolen files at him. "Oh sure! Tease me all you want! But I'm telling you! Something's definitely going on!"
"You actually stole those?" rain asked.
I groaned. Men were just impossible to deal with! "Just let me explain!"
The two men exchanged weird looks. Rain shrugged, while Lucius groaned. Bricks then swooped down, and we landed on the top of an apartment building. Lucius then gave me a stern look. "Alright, Miss Know-it-all. Explain."