Why did all of Germany smell like Alcohol? I mean wasn't it enough that you couldn't go half an hour in a taxi without seeing a drunk guy yelling in slurred German at a cat?

And as for the actual taxi's themselves, it seemed that the interior smelled worse than the country. And that's saying something.

The rain that poured relentlessly down from the sky set the tone of the day--today, if not executed perfectly, would be a day of bloodshed and war. And the bad thing? I was a huge part of the outcome. If I didn't do this, we could lose so much--our stronghold, our troops, maybe even the war. I hated that I'd been forced to endure through this, I hated my father. But I wanted so badly to be able to reach out and hug my mother again.

It boggled my mind that a father could be so cruel to his own son. I felt like a pawn--like he was only using me, and nothing would excuse me from his wrath. Not even death. I guess the correct word would be trapped. I felt like I was trapped in a small box that kept getting smaller and smaller until I was so cramped that I had to obey the one who had trapped me in the first place.

For now, I'd just listen to my father. Act as if I cared who rules the Earth. And hope that I wouldn't fail him--not because I cared, but because if I failed him, he'd make sure I never felt happiness again.

I looked over at Estelle. She was looking out of the window opposite to me. The rain had gotten so heavy, I could barely see five feet out of the window. The cab driver had slowed down considerably, and was leaning closer to the windshield and squinting in a futile attempt to see better.

"What does he look like?" I asked Estelle. She spun around.

"Hmm?"

"Achilles. What does he look like? I'll need to know if I'm going to get him." I explained.

"Oh. I'll point him out to you when we get in there."

Obviously, we were on two different pages. "Um… you're not going in with me."

"What? Why not?!" She demanded her hair swinging wildly with her protesting head. It wasn't as pretty as it was when I'd originally met her. It was tangled and greasy, since we hadn't had a shower since we'd started on our little adventure.

"Because! He'll remember you from the last time you tried to trick him into coming with you!"

"That was years ago!" She contested.

"It's not everyday someone offers you an enchanted pomegranate, now is it?"

"But.." she sighed and slumped back in her seat. "Why did you even ask me to come?"

"Because." That was my only explanation. Truly, though, I was scared. I'd seen what recently happened to Cynthia, and for once, I wasn't jealous of a person dying. I needed to make sure it didn't happen to me. If it did, my life--or afterlife would become much more complicated. When gods say torture, they don't mean smelling the cake in the oven while you have a plate of broccoli in front of you. They mean painful, agonizing torture that lasts an eternity.

That brought my thoughts back to Cynthia. I couldn't help but to feel responsible for her death in some way. She didn't have to come with me, but she did anyway, and now, she's dead.

I drifted back to what Alexandria had said a few days ago. It felt like a year ago, and I struggled to remember her exact words. "What happened, did Miss Sensitivity 1939 find out Gregory doesn't love her back?" Was it possible that Cynthia liked me as more than just a friend? If she did, why didn't she ever say anything? How could I not notice?

It made no sense, though. Who could actually like me? A suicidal son to a father that never cared, who lived in a storage shed in a cemetery, and who complained constantly. Yet, who could put up with someone like that for years without caring for them on a deeper level?

In some ways, I could relate our situation with that of Achilles and Penthesilea. A person who'd fallen in love with someone they had no chance with, who looked past their flaws and saw only the positive.

I stopped my thoughts. I had gone on starting to make assumptions.

The cab slowly screeched to a halt. The driver looked at us through the rearview mirror.

"We here. You pay now? Is costing you much money." He told us in broken English, and tapped on the meter. It read thirty-four dollars in German currency.

As Estelle dug through her bag, I looked out the window at a small black building. I could see into the window, and basically, all it seemed to be was broken technology, mostly typewriters, and just a few fax machines and phones. It was quite dull compared to the rest of Berlin, which, I had seen in the rain.

Estelle handed the man most of what little money Athena had given us to get across town. I had no idea how we would be getting back. All I knew, was the plan was to grab Achilles, and get out. We didn't have much time to do it, either. We had to meet the rest of the army in the Underworld before the siege on Half-Blood Hill began. Before I'd left, Hades had shown me how to create a portal to the Underworld. He'd said 'I should be grateful. He'd never shown anyone how to do it before'. He'd also stressed the importance on closing the portal behind me.

I stepped out of the cab, followed by Estelle, her backpack armed with--um… ammo--slung over her shoulder. The moment my feet hit the sidewalk, I was already soaked to the skin. I hated rain. It always rusted the snaps on my suspenders. We hurried to the cover of an awning just before the door leading into Achilles' shop.

"Wait here," I ordered Estelle. "I'll be right back."

She nodded. I took a deep breath, and opened the door.

--1--

The shop was nice, to say the least.

It was empty, like I'd hoped for. I pretended to look around for a few minutes, and looked behind the desk, and there he was, busily typing something into his typewriter.

Estelle had been right about one thing. He was a major nerd. Or, at least, he looked to be a major nerd. His jet-black hair was semi-long and untamed, as his bangs brushed his glasses. The frames on the glasses were pieces of thick black plastic, and the lenses were shaped square and covered most of his upper face. His skin was as pale as the sidewalk would have been on a normal day, and he was tall and slender, with virtually no muscle.

This was the great Achilles? This was who my dad expected to win the war for us? I swear, I was losing more and more respect for my father with each passing minute.

Nevertheless, I approached the front counter. "Excuse me…" I looked at the name tag on his shirt. It read AJ. "Erm, AJ. I'm having a few problems with my typewriter, and I was wondering if you could look at it for me."

Lamest. Story. EVER.

He cocked his head a tad and looked bewildered. It was only then I considered the language barrier.

"Sure," he said suddenly. He looked as if he was searching for it, his eyes darting back and forth. "Where is it?" His voice was monotone and scratchy.

"Um… that's a good question." I said. My face started to light up red. I sighed. "Alright, let's cut the crap. I really have no time for this anyway. I need you to come with me, Achilles.

He drew back a little. "Psh, Achilles, I have no clue what you're talking about. My name is AJ, see?" He pointed to the name tag. "I'm a mortal. I like…doing mortal things."

"Look, surely you know about the war, we need your help." I told him.

"Of course. The war between Germany and the rest of the world…who doesn't? But the government won't let me fight in wars since the incident with the bomb and the small South African village." Achilles said matter-of-factly.

I wondered if my father knew about that little incident. Achilles shifted nervously in his seat. "Look, either you fight, or I make you fight. You really have…no choice." It was then I realized what I was doing. I was doing the same thing to Achilles that my father was doing to me. I was forcing him to help out with a battle that he wanted nothing to do with.

"Is that so?" Achilles asked, clearly trying to seem tougher. "Well, in that case…" He quickly pounced out of his seat, almost losing his balance, and he grabbed for the nearest broom behind his desk. He got into fighting position.

I sighed. I dropped my backpack on the floor and quickly unzipped it, then I snatched my sword from it.

"Oh, crap." Achilles said. "I--uh… I wasn't counting on the fact you'd have a sword. Well this…this is a little embarrassing. It's a nice one, too. What is that? Stygian?"

"Yep. And if you'd just come with me, I wouldn't have to use it." I hated myself for saying that. I hated myself for doing what I was doing. But I had no choice. I had to do it. If not for my mother, for Cynthia. So that her death wouldn't have been in vain.

"You underestimate me!" He yelled, much louder than necessary. "And so now you will face the same fate as Hector and all the rest of them who have dared cross my path!"

Now, it could have been the pants, that were pulled so high his ankles were visible, or it could have been his dorky plaid suspenders, or the fact that his weapon of choice was a broom, but for whatever reason, I didn't find Achilles threatening at all.

He sprung into action, he lifted the broom over his head, and with a loud waaaaahhh! He swung it with all his might.

I simply stepped back. The bristle side of the broom brushed roughly over the surface of his desk, knocking off a fax machine that he had been fixing onto the floor. It landed with a crash.

"Crap. That's the third one this month." He whined. I wasted no time, I leaped onto his desk, and he scrambled out from behind it. With a blink of an eye, I made another jump, but this time, It was from the top of his desk. I tackled him to the floor. We landed with a yelp of pain from Achilles.

"Please tell me you're just out of practice." I said.

"Nope," he said shamefully. "That's about as good as it gets."

"Great. And they want to make you the commander of our army."

That seemed to grab his attention. "Commander?" He asked, notably more enthused. But, before I had a chance to answer, a loud crash came from the front of the store.

Estelle had somehow fallen through the glass door. She was airborne when I looked over, for a split second, and then she hit the tile floor with a thud, and rolled a few times. Shards of glass fell in rounds. I turned my head and covered both myself, and Achilles.

I ran over to Estelle, who had minor scratches and cuts all over her body. "What the hell, Estelle?! You wanted to get in here that badly?"

"Greg," she said through heavy breath, spitting blood onto the floor. "Outside… trouble."

The trouble hadn't stayed outside. A few moments later, Carter and Alexandria strolled in nonchalantly, Carter covered in head-to-toe leather battle armor, and Alexandria in a heavy raincoat with a large umbrella.

"Hello, cousin." Carter greeted me with a fake smile. He turned his attention on Estelle. "I must say, Estelle. You've gotten much heavier than when I used to throw you in the lake." His expression transitioned from an insincere smile to a lofty smirk. "Good thing I've gotten stronger."

My blood boiled at the sight of the two of them. The last time I'd seen them, it'd also been the last time I saw Cynthia. Estelle got to her feet, and reached in her bag for a boomerang banana.

Upon seeing her face clearly, Achilles gasped. "You!" He hollered. "I told you I didn't want any of your demon pomegranates!" I shot Estelle a smug I-told-you-so look, and put my eyes back on my opponents.

Carter calmly took the umbrella from Alexandria, and helped her out of her coat, to refrain from her getting wet. I noticed something as he did, though. The normally tan half-mermaid-human-thing Alexandria was much more pale than usual. I would've ventured to say even more white than Achilles.

"So I see our father's had the same idea, did they?" Carter said.

"Back off, Carter. You're too late. Achilles is coming with us." I spoke up, my voice shaky.

"I am?" Achilles asked.

"Yes, commander." I reminded him subtly.

"That's a shame," Alexandria spoke up. "Did you tell him who he was fighting for?" She looked back at him. He shook his head. She said one word. "Hades."

"Hades?!" Achilles said surprised. "No way in Tartarus am I fighting for that guy! He smells funny!"

Carter shot us a triumphant glance. "Did you hear that, Greg? You're daddy smells funny." He laughed. "I think Achilles will find our offer much more intriguing."

With that, Alexandria walked slowly towards Achilles. He looked at her uneasily, and attempted to step backwards. But she threw her arms over him, and planted a kiss right on his lips.

"Please, commander, please fight with us. It would mean so much to us." Alexandria said in a low, slow voice.

"You skank!" Estelle shouted at Alexandria, the banana she held in her hands morphed into a grape, and with a snap of her arm, it went flying at the daughter of Poseidon. She squealed and dodged it at the last second. It exploded in a small flash of purple light.

"You throw one more grape at me!" Alexandria threatened angrily.

"You're lucky it wasn't an orange!" Estelle replied in a shout.

Alexandria collected herself and cleared her throat. "So what do you say, will you go with us?"

He pushed her away gently. "I'm sorry. I know I'm an irresistible chick-magnet, but my heart belongs to another."

And suddenly I remembered about Penthesilea. "And she'd be so disappointed if you didn't come with us and help fight against Zeus and Poseidon."

His eyes lit up. "You have Penny on your side?!"

"Yep. She and her sister are leading The Amazons into battle." Estelle explained. I shot her a look. That was probably a little too much information to give away at this time. But I didn't really care.

"I'm going with you!" He announced.

Alexandria looked crushed and surprised. She'd probably never been rejected before. A feeling she seemed to be becoming more familiar with every time we met. She gathered herself. "Well that's okay. Greg still loves me, right Gregy?"

"More than I love my father." That was the truth.

She shrugged. "It's a start."

"Unfortunately, neither of you three of you will make it out alive." Carter announced in the same way someone would if they were about to rob the store. He looked over at Alexandria and gave a quick nod.

She drew her knife out of nowhere and lashed at Achilles, who was startled by the sudden movement so bad he was able to dodge. "Hey!" He shouted. "Be careful with that thing! It's pointy, you could hurt someone!"

"Hmm…" Alexandria began snidely. "I never thought of that." She laughed and lunged again. I was shocked as he pulled off another successful dodge.

"Get her away from Achilles and let me know when she's about ten feet away!" I called to Estelle over Achilles yelling to Alexandria that he knew broom-fu.

"How?!" She yelled back.

"I don't care!" I replied, and with that, charged at Carter, who was about to do the same to me.

He took the first blow, as my sword successfully ripped into his padded leather battle-pants. It didn't touch his skin, though, as he had the advantage of being prepared for battle, and I didn't.

He attempted to return the blow, but I leaped out of the way and scrambled for the highest point in order to gain an advantage. As I jumped onto Achilles's desk, I got a look at Estelle, who was pelting Alexandria with tomatoes that turned her skin red.

Carter swiped at my feet with his sword, and I jumped, barely avoiding the blow. Instead, he hit a fax machine with such force it went flying off the desk and hurling into the wall with a loud crash.

"Fourth this month," Achilles corrected his statement from earlier. "I'm going to be bankrupt!"

I lifted my sword over my head and brought it down quickly, in attempt to slice Carter's skull, but he lifted his sword up quickly to parry my sword and returned the blow, cutting a clean scratch into my chin. The pain and blood rushed through me instantly.

"Greg, now!" Shouted Estelle. Instantly, I snapped my fingers, and the earth shook momentarily, and then, through the tiles, ten undead warriors crashed into the fight.

A banana thrashed into Carter while he was distracted, and flew back into Estelle's hands. I slid off Achilles's desk and motioned for him, broom in hand, and Estelle to follow.

Alexandria attempted to follow behind Estelle, but Achilles swung the broom, and for a nice change, hit her with a sickening indescribable sound. She fell to the ground and Achilles stepped over her.

"Yes!" He screamed excitedly. "I got one!"

I lead them towards the glass doors, turning off the lights on my way out, making their battle with the zombies even more difficult. If even possible.

We ran through the frames of the door where the glass had once been, and our feet hit the sidewalk. It was still pouring rain, and just to confirm, I stuck my tongue out to catch a raindrop. Just making sure it wasn't beer…

When we hit the curb, I stopped to take a breath. I figured we were safe for the time being.

"Do you realize how much your visit is going to cost me in repairs?" Achilles asked angrily.

"Sorry," I said sympathetically. We did kind of trash the place--and pretty much ruin business for him. I figured we had about four minutes until the Berlin police showed up. "Do you have a car?"

"I don't know…if I say yes will you ruin that, too?" He snapped.

"No." I assured him, even though Estelle and I both knew we probably would.

"Fine. Follow me. Where are we going, anyway?" Achilles looked down at me. One of the lenses on his glasses was shattered, and he had a small cut on his arm.

"You just need to drive us to a cemetery. Any cemetery." I told him.

"Oh, I can't drive." He told us as he began to lead us toward a near-by parking lot.

"You… can't drive?" Estelle asked, irritated. She had many cuts on her face, arms and legs, and there was blood spattered all over her dress.

"Nope." He responded, as if it were no big deal.

"Then why did you say you could?!" I demanded in a yell.

"I didn't. You just asked if I had a car. Not if I could drive it." Achilles informed me. He looked at me through his broken glasses. I couldn't get too mad. I had to remember he was doing me a favor.

"How do you get to work?" Asked Estelle.

"My roommate drives me. He works with me. He's on his lunch break right now. Good thing, too, I guess." Achilles laughed. His laugh was annoying, full of snorts and he spit. A lot. "I figured one of you could drive."

"We're fourteen," Estelle told him, annoyed.

"How was I supposed to know that?" He asked, offended.

"Can we focus please?" I interrupted them. "We'll figure it out. But we have to get out of here. Now." Sirens began blaring in the distance.

A/N So four hours and two cups of coffee later, it's done. In case you haven't noticed, it's been a while since I've updated. I blame that on marching band. But now, it's pretty much over. I'd like to thank all of you who have been begging me to update and still reviewing and adding it to story favorites and things like that. You guys are awesome, and I hope you like the new chapter. The next one will be up…soon. I promise.