Chapter 4: Trapped
Leo wasn't having a good day. First, he had gotten left behind in Boreas's palace. Then the Boreads-Zethes and Cal- had almost revealed his fire secret. He could have lived with that. But when his dragon malfunctioned, that was the last straw.
They had been riding along, perfectly fine, somewhere above Detroit, when suddenly, Festus stopped moving. Leo leaned forward to check on him, but before he could, Festus began to drop. It was only slowly losing altitude, but then he hit one spot right below the clouds and dropped like a rock. Leo slipped off, frantically grabbing at air. "Not cooooooooooool!" he yelled. He heard the others yelling above him, but right then, he wasn't all too worried about them. He remembered his comment to Luke in Canada: "'Course it's safe, bro. But hey, if we end up plummeting a few thousand feet to our deaths, you have my permission to kill me." Wow.
He heard someone yelling his name and looked up. Luke was frantically waving for him to do…something. Leo shrugged, then returned to grabbing at air molecules. Something went hurtling past him, only to explode in a cloud of white right below Leo. It was a cushion. Leo hurriedly grabbed on and hugged it. Then he hit the roof.
There was a bone-rattling crash and Leo realized he had slowed down. A lot. The impact on the roof had nearly launched him off the giant cushion like a trampoline, but by sheer willpower he managed to hold on, probably dislocating his hands in the process. He landed with a crash somewhere inside the building he had hit, and that time he wasn't able to hold on. He bounced off to the left, rolling across a rough metal floor until he came to a stop fifteen feet away from his landing point.
He was glad he hadn't held on when Piper came crashing down directly on top of his cushion. He realized Annabeth and Luke had been on it too. It hit and bounced up, maybe halfway back to the roof, before touching down again and throwing the other demigods off. He heard multiple groans coming from that direction. "You guys alright?" Leo asked, struggling to his feet. His fingers were really sore, and he back ached from where he hit the floor.
He heard a cough, and then Luke called out, "Yeah, we're good." Leo staggered over to his cushion, falling on his knees atop it. Luke helped Annabeth to her feet. Piper sat up, holding her head. Leo looked up, seeing a jagged hole in the roof about twenty feet above them. He shivered.
"What are these things?" he asked.
"Sort of like parachutes, but apparently they don't work as well." Luke answered. "I grabbed them as soon as I realized we would be riding Festus." Usually Leo would have been insulted, but after what had just happened, he knew that wouldn't really be fair.
"Anyone know where we landed?" Annabeth asked, looking around.
"Somewhere in Detroit." Leo answered.
Annabeth nodded, seeming a bit distracted. He followed her gaze to see a logo on the wall. It read Monocole Motors under a single, glowing red eye. For some reason, that seemed to make Annabeth nervous, but he didn't really pay it much attention.
"Leo, do you have any idea what happened to Festus?" Luke asked, an edge to his voice. Leo glared at him.
"No. Something might have happened with the wings, but I don't think that's the case." Leo said. He reached into his tool belt reassuringly. "I'll go check it out." Luke just grunted, but Piper looked genuinely worried.
"I don't know, Leo. This doesn't look safe." She said, looking around them.
Leo grinned at her, trying not to show how shaken up he was. "Nah, I'll be fine, beauty queen. Besides, I got a hammer and breath mints for any monster that comes along." He said, and began making his way down the stairs into the darkness. He reached the ground floor and looked around nervously. Something didn't seem right. He walked slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. There was almost no light, but something caught his ear. He turned around just in time to see an ugly, one-eyed face and a fist come crashing down.
Line Break
Percy stopped at the doorway to the warehouse. Something told him that there were more than demigods inside, and not at all friendly. He slipped off Arion's back, telling him to stay quiet, and went inside. Trying hard not to breathe, he edged through the darkness, focusing on a glow of light nearby. He turned the corner and almost screamed.
Three massive Cyclops were sitting around a fire with a spit over it. Four shapes, cocooned in chains, were hanging upside-down nearby. All four were wriggling frantically. Percy's night vision had always been good, and he knew exactly what those four shapes were. His four charges.
One of the Cyclopses rose and went over to the demigods. They all had gags stuffed roughly into their mouths. "Can I take off the gags? I like it when they scream." He asked. The largest Cyclops, with its back to Percy, grunted in reply. The Cyclops took that as a yes. He ripped the gag out of the dark-haired girl's mouth. She didn't scream, though. Instead, she took a deep calming breath. "Why are you not screaming in terror?" the Cyclops asked. He was wearing a chain-mail loincloth, which must have been incredibly uncomfortable.
"Oh…" she faltered. "I am! But on the inside. I'm tied up too tight for me to get enough air to scream. Maybe if you loosened me, I'll be able to scream." The Cyclops must have stupid, because he began to unwrap the chains. The big Cyclops stood up, snarling.
"What are you doing, Sump, you idiot of a Cyclops!" it roared, and Percy choked. It was a woman! "She's trying to escape!"
Sump pouted. "But Ma, I like it when they scream." He whined.
"Gah!" The big Cyclops picked up a truck engine and slammed it down on top of Sump's head. The engine crumpled, dropping the Cyclops to his knees. He managed to push it off and stand up. Apparently he got hit by engines a lot.
The other Cyclops stood up, and he was wearing a strange-looking toga. "Can we eat them?" he said.
The girl went wide-eyed with terror. "Oh no, you don't want to eat us. We taste terrible." Sump scratched his head.
"Maybe we should let her go." He said. The other Cyclops nodded. But the big one snarled viciously.
"She's Aphrodite spawn, you fool!" she yelled. "She's charmspeaking you."
"But, I've already been-." The girl began, but the big one grabbed her.
"Bah! Don't try using your pretty voice into fooling me, girl! I've eaten heroes a hundred times tougher than you!" She shouted. She always seemed to be yelling. The other two Cyclops began backing up until they were back at the fire. The big one let the girl go and regarded her intently.
She coughed weakly. Percy began looking around the warehouse, to see if there was anything of use. The fire sat right under a crane arm. Maybe…. He stepped a little farther out into the light, regarding the crane arm, and heard the girl gasp. He almost cursed. He'd been too careless. Raising a finger to his lips, he pointed a finger and the Cyclops and drew a line across his throat. She understood and began trying to talk to the big Cyclops again.
Percy slipped off his pack and pulled an explosive knife out. He took a second one a tucked it into his belt. Then, he took another step, pressed the button on the pommel, and threw. It hit the crane arm and stuck. The light began flashing, and a quiet beeping began. "What was that?" the big Cyclops said, turning around just as the knife exploded.
With a shriek of metal groaning, it broke off from the rest of the arm and came crashing down. The two Cyclops around the fire looked up and saw a giant metal robotic arm crushed them. The hand hit the ground two feet from the Cyclops lady. Dust rose thickly, and the echo of the moaning metal lingered in the room. When the dust cleared, the lady Cyclops was staring at him, bloody murder raging in her eyes. "You busted my boys! Only I get to bust my boys!" she howled. Leaning over, she picked up a truck and threw it at him.
Percy threw himself in a roll to the side, narrowly avoiding the spinning Ram. It slammed into a bulldozer, causing a small explosion to erupt behind him. When Percy recovered, the big Cyclops was charging towards him. He ran behind a second crane, but she just shoved it out of the way. "Gah!" she bellowed. She turned and picked up the nearest heavy object- a motorcycle (really?)- and threw it overhand at him. He leaped out of the way to avoid the vertically spinning Harley of doom.
Turing, he found himself running right past the chained-up demigods. They were wriggling frantically, trying to escape. Percy stopped, facing the Cyclops. Enraged, she picked up a Chevy and prepared to throw it. Percy saw his chance. Drawing his second explosive knife, he threw it underhand while simultaneously pressing the trigger. It spun threw the air before sinking into the Cyclops's stomach. She grunted and removed her hands, realizing her mistake too late. The truck dropped on top of her head, flattening her. She groaned.
The knife exploded, flinging the truck off to one side. A pile of ash was spread widely in a circle on the ground. Breathing hard, Percy regarded the circle warily for a few moments, then went to go help the demigods down. The dark-haired girl, the only one without a gag, was staring at him, eyes wide with shock. Percy took Ashrow and severed the chains constraining her easily. Releasing the sword, he held out his arms and caught her before she could hit the ground. He then did the same with the others.
"How did you-that was-wow." The girl said.
The younger guy, with a curly dark hair and a crazy, mischievous grin on his face, stood up, looking at him with wonder. "What were those things? Sticky grenades?" he asked.
Percy shook his head. "Explosive knives." He said, freeing the last demigod. He was tall, and had long, sandy-colored hair. Percy instantly didn't like him.
"Thanks." The boy said grudgingly. Percy just grunted. "Who are you?" the boy asked. Percy hesitated.
"I'm not sure it's a good idea to reveal that yet." He said.
The dark-haired girl walked up to him. "Don't be ridiculous." She said, sticking out her hand. "I'm Piper. This is Leo," she jerked her thumb at the curly-haired Latino with a crazy grin, "Annabeth," she pointed to the blonde girl, "and that's Luke."
Luke nodded his head once. Oh yeah. Percy definitely didn't like this guy. "What are you doing here?" Percy asked. Luke, tight-lipped, looked about to offer an angry retort, but Piper cut him off.
"Our dragon went down and we crash-landed here." She said. "Now, if you don't mind, what is your name?" Percy felt strongly compelled to answer, but he knew charmspeak when he felt it, and Daedalus had trained him against it.
"You're charmspeak won't work on me, Piper." He said, and she blinked. "Now, about that-."
Piper screamed, "Look out!" Percy spun, sword appearing in his hand, but a massive Cyclops backhanded him into a Chevy. He had just enough time to realize that it was the same Cyclops that he had dropped a crane on before he hit.
Line Break
Annabeth hadn't noticed the Cyclops reforming until they appeared behind the boy. Piper had seen them first, but it hadn't been enough. The two that the boy had smashed with the crane were standing right in front of her. So of course Annabeth did the stupid thing. She drew her dagger and charged.
Surprisingly, she found Luke and Piper beside her as she ran. "You guys keep them busy!" Leo yelled, running for the only remaining crane. Easier said than done. Luke charged the one with the chain-mail loincloth-Sump? - and she and Piper took the guy in the toga. He swung his fist, but Annabeth rolled to the side and stabbed it in the leg. Roaring, he tried to swat her away, but Piper slashed him in the side. He turned to grab her and Annabeth put her knife in its calf.
There was a loud smack, and suddenly Luke went flying past her to crash into a wall. "Luke!" she screamed. Before she realized it, she was flat on her back, her head spinning. She heard Leo yelling, then a noise that sounded like a smoke pellet exploding. Something took her by the waist and began raising her in the air. She saw Leo sitting in the crane and controlling the arm to smash Sump. Then she realized what had hold of her- Torque, the other Cyclops.
She screamed, and suddenly the mysterious boy was there, jumping atop the Cyclops's back. He rammed a knife in it and suddenly his sword was in his hand. It struck downward, hitting the top of the Cyclops's head. As soon as the blade touched, it disintegrated, turning to ash. She realized she was falling. Before she could scream, though, she landed hard upon something warm. That thing shifted and groaned under her. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into the boy's eyes. They lay there, frozen, for a moment. His eyes were green like the sea.
Then a dazed voice called out, "Die, Cyclops!" Luke staggered forward, waving his sword sluggishly. He swayed on his feet, muttered, "I need some nectar.", and collapsed. Annabeth jumped up.
"Luke!" she cried out, and rushed over to help him. Piper brought over a flask of nectar, and he drank slowly, still dazed. By the time he was feeling well and was back on his feet, Annabeth turned around. The boy was gone. But she remembered those sea green eyes. Remembered…and wondered.