Demigods on the Loose

Chapter 3: A Case in the Big Apple

Well, here we are, on the third chapter of this story. I hope you like it! P.S. I really have to remember to mention this on the beginning chapters of my stories; I do not own either Nancy Drew, Legend of Zelda, or Percy Jackson. Those rights belong to Carolyn Keene, Nintendo, and Rick Riordan.

Nancy hardly thought of anything, besides the fact that she was going to be participating in another case, which she desperately needed. She was incredibly bored with regular life. Another case was just what she needed to fire her back up. She knew that Link would be new to her mysteries, but she figured that he would want to be included as well.

As they were about to board the plane to New York, Nancy thought that she saw someone staring at her. However, staring into the crowd, Nancy couldn't see anyone looking at her. She figured that it was just pre-mystery jitters. Yet, she couldn't shake the thought that someone was watching her the entire ride over.

Besides that, she had to keep reassuring her brother that the plane wasn't going to turn on them, that it was just a means of getting from one place to another ,faster than it would have been a long time ago. On top of all that, poor Link, who had never been on anything mechanical, except for Nancy's car, had quickly become airsick, and repeatedly became violently sick. Nancy felt sympathy for her brother. It would be an arduous trip back, that was for certain.

When they finally reached New York, Link, of course, was the first of all of them to depart the plane. Nancy could tell that he was glad to get out of that small environment that could make you queasy at times. When they picked up their bags and prepared to depart for their hotel, Nancy could've sworn that she spotted someone that they had seen before at the River Heights airport.

He was about her age, with curly, red hair, and freckles all over his face. He wore baggy jeans and a plain, white T-shirt. Nancy felt a little uncomfortable at the fact that he had been at both airports. What did he want with them? Was he another monster? Would he try to kill them?

Nancy didn't have time to think about that, however, as a taxi pulled up to the curb. Nancy was all too eager to climb in and get to their destination. Link seemed to sense his sister's uneasiness and noticed the stranger as well. His eyes narrowed, as he began to memorize the description of the stranger, in case he crossed paths with them again.

When the taxi started, Nancy couldn't stop staring at all of the sights, even though she had been here before to visit her Aunt Eloise, who repeatedly switched from Florida( for country breaks) and back to New York. If Nancy was in awe, even though she had been here countless times before, it was nothing compared to her brother's reaction to the sights of Manhatten. He gaped in wonder as he stared at the skyscrapers, cinemas, and basically everything else that caught his eye. There was just so much to see and do at New York.

Link still was in awe when the taxi pulled up to the Palm Beach Hotel. It was a magnificent building, with fake, almost realistic, palm trees right outside the entrance. The building was entirely made out of glass, so you could see outside everywhere in the building. Since Carson was a well-known lawyer, he had managed to acquire the hotel's private suite.

If Link was in awe on the ride to the hotel, he was to be met with an even greater surprise when he entered the suite. It was a circular room with a table in the middle, with doors branching off into different rooms. The door directly opposite the entrance was Nancy's room, the door to the right of it was Link's room, and the door to the right of that one was their father's room. There was a kitchen space on the left side of the main room, with a fridge, microwave, and everything else a kitchen would require. On the right side of the room, there were easy chairs facing a TV with tons of channels.

Link and Nancy immediately went to work on unpacking their things and exploring. After unpacking, Nancy asked her dad if he would give her directions so she could go to his client's house to solve the robbery. With Link in tow, Nancy, in a rental, drove to the Eastern side of Manhatten and parked in front of a mansion, an unusual residence for one person to be living in, unless this client of her dad's was someone rich. Unless mansions were cheap around here, which she wasn't so sure about.

Just as she was approaching the door, a huge gray and white German Shepherd growled at her from the front of the house. Nancy was thinking to wait for Ms. Rosewood to appear, when the dog abruptly stopped its growling, as it stared at Link, with a strange look on its face.

"Stay there, Aurora. They're friends."

"I take it you're Ms. Rosewood?" Nancy asked. Ms. Rosewood was an attractive woman around thirty, with long, wavy hair and green eyes.

"Yes, that I would be. I take it you're Nancy Drew?"

"Yes, that I am, and this is my twin brother, Link."

"Twin brother? I thought that Carson only had you."

"Well, he's, sort of, my long-lost brother."

"Really? How very interesting. I take it that's him?"

Nancy looked at Link, who was now being nuzzled by Aurora in a loving manner. Link just stared at Nancy, wondering what was going on.

Suddenly, an orange tabby cat appeared from the house and purred with pleasure, rubbing against Link's legs, fighting for affection with Aurora.

"I have to say, your brother seems to attract animals like a magnet. Luke, my cat, has been very grumpy lately, and doesn't really appeal to strangers. But, he seems to like your brother very much."

Nancy had to admit that Link had a natural charm for animals. But, first things first, Nancy was here to investigate a robbery at this vicinity.

"I heard from my father that you've been robbed as of late."

"Yes, that I have. It's very strange, actually. I'm not exactly that rich, but I do have some very pricey jewelry that is worth stealing. Strangely, however, the thief or thieves didn't take it."

"What did they take?"

"Well, it was something that I'd never thought that they would think of stealing. It was a Greecian mask, you know, the kind that the Greeks would have used for their plays. Anyway, I have Greek blood, and, supposedly, that mask belonged to my ancestor, who was a very skilled actor back in the day. It's been passed down until it's ended up to me. However, you wouldn't think it was that valuable. That's why I've been wondering why someone would take it."

Nancy, of course, found this bit of information very strange.

"Maybe, someone knew that it was valuable. Who have you told about the mask?"

"That's just the thing. I've told no one about its existence. I was afraid that, if I did, then the museums would be hovering over me, trying to add it to their collection. Or someone would steal it and sell it for big money at a black market. I have no idea who could have possibly known about it, or where it was kept."

"Can you show me around? If you do, I might be able to find some clues as to who took it."

"Be my guest. But, I'm afraid that you won't have much luck. I already called the Manhatten police to investigate, but they couldn't find anything."

Once Nancy stepped into the mansion, her eyes widened and her mouth hung open. The mansion was gorgeous. Its foyer had tapestries hanging both walls. The dining room was just to the left, where the table was on a ledge, so it overlooked the street. To the right, there was a room with a bigger table for guests that would come around, along with a fancy, granite fireplace, with more tapestries hanging around. The staircase was just in front of the foyer, with two flights of stairs turning to the right. Upstairs, there was one main bedroom for Ms. Rosewood ,and many guest rooms.

"The safe where I kept the mask is right behind that tapestry by the bed. I noticed that the window was shattered, so you might find something over there."

Nancy immediately went to work, looking for anything that might be a potential clue.

"Link, why don't you look by the window? The thief or thieves might have left blood samples or hair there. It wouldn't hurt to check."

Crouching down by the window, Link ran his hand along the ground, searching for clues. While brushing his hand around, he touched something that was shiny and smooth. Laying it in his palm, Link realized that it was a smooth, green scale. He knew, because he had seen them every time he had killed a Lizalfos. Their scales would remain after he would defeat one.

"Nancy, I've found something important, unless Ms. Rosewood owns a lizard as well."

Quick as a wink, Nancy felt the scale, wondering who, or what, could have let this. That's when Nancy realized that the man at the airport was standing around on the corner of the street. Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, Nancy pushed him out of her mind and continued the search. Besides the green scale, there was also yellow hair. Other than that, there was nothing around that would pinpoint the culprit. Figuring that they would try again another day, Nancy and Link headed back out to the gray Chevrolet parked in front.

"I hope you'll both figure out who did this."

"I hope so too, Ms. Rosewood," Nancy replied, climbing into the driver's seat and starting the engine. As they both drove back to the hotel, Nancy watched the red-haired boy closely, waiting for him to make a move. As she suspected, he climbed into a red convertible and followed them.

"Keep an eye on that guy, Link. I want to lead him back to the hotel."

That guy didn't know it, but he was about to get more than he bargained for.

When Nancy and Link parked, they pretended that they hadn't seen their pursuer, and strolled into the hotel, making sure that they looked like nothing was wrong. They watched with satisfaction, as the mysterious man fell for the bait. When Nancy and Link got to their room, Link raced to his room to grab his sword, which he never left behind, while Nancy watched the door. A few minutes later, a knock sounded with,

"Room service."

Nancy nodded to Link and slowly opened the door. When the man came through, Link sprang at him and held his sword at their pursuer's throat.

"Ah, spare me," he cried with fright.

"First, tell us what you were doing following us," Link growled at him.

"I was going to tell you, before you caught me by surprise. But, then again, you're on a case, so you're used to the villain following you. But there was no other way to get to you."

"What do you want?" Nancy asked, still a bit suspicious.

Dusting himself off, the man replied,

"My name is Bernard. I've been assigned to give you an important message. I've been watching you ever since you two figured out you were demigods."

" There's that word again. Demigods."

"How did you know?" Nancy asked, still not trusting him.

"Well, it's a long story. I'm supposed to tell you to abandon the case you're on. You're both putting your lives in grave danger by doing it."

"How are we so sure you're even trustworthy? How are we so sure you're not a monster?"

Bernard gasped in fear, covering his mouth. There was silence for a whole minute, before Bernard spoke, in a whisper,

"What did you say?"

"I said," Nancy replied, not liking where this was going, " how are we so sure that you're not a monster?"

"You didn't happen to see a guy with a French accent talking to a monster, did you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we have."

Instantaneously, Bernard began to chew on his thumb and mumble,

"This is bad, this is bad, this is so very VERY bad."

"Alright, Bernard, I think it's about time you told us what is going on."

With a sigh, he complied,

"Alright, but you're going to have to promise that you won't tell anyone, not even your father, what I'm about to tell you. You're just going to have to trust me on this."

After Link and Nancy had both reluctantly promised, Bernard continued,

"I'm not what you think I am. I'm actually a satyr, half-goat, half-man." With this, Bernard pulled back his long, curly hair to reveal tiny horns at the base of his head. " I come from a place in New York called Camp Half-Blood. We train demigods there, offspring of a human and godly parent. We train them so that they can survive in the world from monsters. The French guy in your hometown, his name is Dr. Thorn. He's trying to get both you and your brother, because you're the offspring of a goddess from another world. The reason for this is because there's a prophecy that states that the two children of an other-worldly goddess, would bring down Kronos, the Lord of the Titans, once and for all. That's why I am responsible for guiding you to camp, so you can train to protect the entire world, and the mask that was stolen has something to do with it."

After this explanation, Nancy and Link stared at him in shock. They were supposed to protect the entire world?

" Now do you see why I have to take you to Camp Half-Blood? Please, you've got to believe me. No one could make something ,like what I just said ,up."

Nancy and Link stared at each other. How could they possibly believe Bernard, who they hardly even knew? How were they so sure that he wasn't working for this Dr. Thorn character? How were they so sure that they could even trust him at all? Nancy didn't even know if this Camp Half-Blood even existed.

Figuring that they really didn't have a choice, since they had to find out what was going on anyway, Nancy sighed and said,

"How can we get to this Camp Half-Blood?"

OOXO

Well, Nancy and Link are finally going to camp! I hope that this story has been interesting so far. If you liked it, then please review!