Why a year? Demigods have so many advantages, I need a reasonable amount of time to give my oc a fighting chance... even the weakest demigod starts off super strong, faster, durable and they all heal faster. Some more so than others, I needed a realistic time to develop.
I am sorry for the change, but the last story sucked bad. All tell and no show...
Everything about this story is superior...
The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot.
"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed. Sad you just figured out the trap just that, the mortal was smarter than the rest of you combined."
"You knew it was a trap," Percy said.
Ares gave them a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled black-smith was surprised when his trap failed."
Percy shoved his shield at him. "You're a jerk." Annabeth and Grover caught their breath. Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.
"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."
The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back. KINDNESS INTER-NATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.
Percy said, "You're kidding."
Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job." He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.
I said, "I don't want your lousy-"
"Thank you, Lord Ares," Rowan interrupted. "Percy don't be dumb."
"You owe me one more thing," Percy told Ares. "You promised me information about my mother."
"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."
"Kept. Why?"
"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."
"Nobody's controlling me."
He laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid." And Rowan knew he was involved, everything just lined up too well.
"You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."
Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. Hot wind filled the air. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."
He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.
Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy."
"I don't care."
"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god."
"Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..."
He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identi-cal black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.
"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry." They ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind them.
The first thing that hit them was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter.
The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Anaklusmos. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals Rowan had ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing.
Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!
Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.
"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"
He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, and frankly Rowan was closed to helping him...but just then the trucks engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and they were forced to sit down or fall down.
They huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but wisely Percy pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving.
Percy found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used Anaklusmos to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. He gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope. Grover calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but they decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. Rowan, tired of the bullshit, cast a simple spell to kill the flies and create cool breeze, an easy spell that was only the tinniest bit costly. The animals all sighed in relief, as did the questers. They told Grover to promise the animals they'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for night.
Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened their bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one half-heartedly before Rowan just fell asleep, tired from the magic used. He fell happily asleep... only waking up when Annabeth shook him awake hours later.
"The truck's stopped," Grover said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."
"Hide!" Annabeth hissed.
She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. The other three had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips.
The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.
"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes. "You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face. The lion roared in indignation. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said. The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"
There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.
The trucker inside with them yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"
A voice outside-it must've been Eddie's-shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"
"What are you banging for?"
Knock, knock, knock.
Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?"
Their guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.
A second later, Annabeth appeared next to them. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."
"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at Percy, waiting for his lead. Rowan already knew what he was going to do, if they didn't.
Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, Percy grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage. The zebra burst out. It turned to Him and bowed.
Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing. Rowan could feel it's magic, subtle but strong.
Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. They rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra gal-loping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs.
They'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas.
Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"
"Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said.
"The other animals first," Grover said.
Percy cut the locks with his sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra.
"Good luck," Percy told the animals. The antelope rushed out, but the Lion stopped and brushed against Rowan softly, purring.
Rowan smiled. "Good luck, I wish you nothing but safety handsome." And the Lion rushed off into the distance.
Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.
"Will the animals be okay?" Percy asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all-"
"Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."
"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" Percy asked.
"It only works on wild animals."
"So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned.
"Hey!" Percy protested.
"Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."
They stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and we must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention.
They passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. They passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica.
They must have taken a wrong turn, because they found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers-lotus blossom, maybe.
Rowan felt a wave of extreme, potent magic emenating from the place. So much that it made Ares and Dionysius look runty...
The doorman smiled at them. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"
Rowan smiled winningly. "Sorry, but we can't, we have to meet up with our parents." He pulled his friends away, and when Percy whipped around he said. "I can sense extreme magic, I think they are the Lotus eaters in modern form. The magic and Lotus theme, it just seems to perfect. Plus, look at the parking lot." He pointed, they had just passed it. "The cars are ancient, some are from the sixties! No, we best be off."
They all nodded. "What now?" Grover said.
Rowan beamed. "What do you think think about me driving? I can hot wire a car."
And soon they were off driving towards L.A. at blinding speeds.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was fun to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.