Zeus loses things… again.
Disclaimer: See chapter one and two
Sorry about the long wait but I ran out of ideas… but then I got this one so all is well! XD
Anyhow, this is the story of how Zeus loses his master bolt… again… and this time accuses Nico and Luke. Naturally, Cora is set the task of finding it by her boss, and therefore has to go to Olympus. There's just one problem…
…
"Cora! Cora!"
I mumbled something along the lines of "go away I'm trying to sleep" only nowhere near as polite before pulling the bed cover over my head.
It was ripped from my hand before the teenager half-dragged me outside and drenched me in water.
"Wake up!"
I shrieked and tackled the offending teen before I realised who it was.
"Holy crap! Hades?" I gasped, "What the hell are you doing as a teenager? And what was that for?"
"Zeus's bolt has gone missing again," Hades explained, handing me a towel, "And he's accusing my son,"
"Which one?" I asked casually, "the ones the same age as you or younger?"
Hades rolled his eyes at me.
"Nico." He replied.
I stopped drying my hair with the towel.
"What?" I asked; everyone in camp half-blood knew that I'd essentially adopted Nico as a little brother; mainly because of the amount of times I'd bog-washed Mitchell Heeley. I was very protective of my adopted family.
"Nico's been accused of stealing the master bolt," Hades repeated, "And Luke Castellan – remember him?"
How could I forget? After the last quest I went on when I was looking for Apollo's Lyre, Luke, a dead son of Hermes who for some reason wasn't permitted to try for the Isles of the Blessed, insisted on helping me with the paperwork. As per usual I got a paper-cut and Luke decided to sort out the plaster himself, accidentally coming into contact with my blood in the process and subsequently being brought back to life.
Since then, there have been a lot of rumours flying around camp… only doubled by the bonfire party incident when the Stoll brothers decided to bring alcohol to the party.
And no, I am not telling you what happened, except that Percy and Annabeth got off with each other, Connor and Travis started singing something about a herring in a bathing costume and Luke and I may have kissed a little.
But what everyone's saying is completely untrue.
"Yes I remember him," I replied, "So what am I going to do?"
"I need you to go to Olympus and look for it," Hades replied, "That Mitchell boy's supposed to be going in a couple of days, see if you can go with him,"
"Why's Mitch going?" I was totally confused.
"He's supposed to help with looking for the lightening bolt," Hades shrugged, "He'll be talking with the Oracle tomorrow."
"Oh Joy," I replied sarcastically; just like the bonfire party incident, everyone knew that Mitchell and I had a history of trying to kick the living bejeesus out of each other. So far I was winning.
"If you can find out where the bolt is and who put it there," Hades explained, ignoring my sarcastic comment, "You'll be able to clear Nico's name. And Luke's. And stop them from being killed by Zeus."
I was sorely tempted to throttle the teenage Hades, but thought better of it and sighed, resigned to my fate, "Fine, but you owe me, big time."
"You're in my service," Hades pointed out, "I owe you nothing,"
"You owe me that sword you shattered the other week," I countered, "Klutz Lord,"
Hades chuckled and vanished, leaving me shivering and still dripping wet.
I sighed and attacked myself with the towel again before heading inside to my bunk.
…
If a cockerel had been crowing the next morning I would've shot it.
Unfortunately it was a conch horn, so I didn't have the pleasure of testing out my new crossbow.
Wait – new crossbow?
I decided that Hades was repaying for the sword he'd broken, but I hate crossbows because I'm a lousy shot, so I left it at the end of the bed, got myself dressed and cleaned up and stumbled, bleary-eyed, to the tables, sacrificing the best parts of whatever I had (I wasn't paying attention) to Hades, as usual, before also sacrificing some coffee to "whichever genius invented this stuff – thanks,"
Hey; if I don't get something caffeinated in the mornings you can bet someone's gonna get themselves killed, or at least very badly wounded. I'd have to say, the phrase "I haven't had my coffee today, don't make me kill you" was practically made for me.
"Morning, Cora!" Nico grinned as he flopped into the seat next to me; I managed a sleepy smile before downing the coffee.
"Rough night?" Percy asked as he passed our table.
"If you call 'being woken up at 1 in the morning to a bucket of cold water outside by your boss' a rough night then yeah," I replied grumpily.
"What did dad want now?" Nico asked; I debated telling him, but something warned me against it.
"Just some paperwork thing he needed clearing up," I replied, knowing he wouldn't believe me because I'm a bad enough liar as it is without not being fully awake.
Nico raised his eyebrows at me, "Sure, whatever," he replied as Percy returned to his table and we started tucking into our breakfasts.
After everyone had finished, Chiron made his usual announcements before adding something about Mitchell, me Nico and Luke being needed at the big house as soon as was humanly (or demigodly) possible.
Naturally, I was there within a few minutes and was playing what had become known to the campers as "the unspeakable game" with Rachel by the time Mitchell, Luke and Nico decided to grace us with their presence.
"What's the problem?" Mitchell asked, nodding curtly at me before deliberately sitting in a chair as far away from mine as he could; Luke and Nico sat in the two chairs between me and Mitchell, bracing themselves in case one of us decided to attack the other.
"Zeus's master bolt has been stolen again," Chiron replied, "And he's accusing you two," he pointed at Nico and Luke, who immediately exploded in protest.
"But I didn't –"
"– Learned my mistake from last time –"
"– He can't say –"
"Well he has," I commented, "Which is what I was forbidden from telling you, Nico, because Hades wanted me to fix it quickly."
"Which you won't," Mitchell snorted, "Because you're about as competent as a rock,"
"Mitchell," I replied in a tone of forced calm, "given the fact that you couldn't even find your pyjamas on the night the Hermes cabin pulled that prank on Aphrodite's kids, I wouldn't exactly trust you with something this important,"
"Oh like you wouldn't just hand the bolt over to Hades," Mitchell sneered.
"Like you wouldn't use it to try and change the appearance of a certain part of your… specifically male anatomy," I retorted.
"Two nil to Cora," Luke grinned.
"Look, you two you're gonna have to work together on this one," Rachel informed us irritably as she dealt out pinochle cards for Grover, "So why don't you just learn to get along?"
"Because he's a twat," I responded.
"Because she sleeps with dead people," Mitchell said at the same time.
"Bit impossible when I'm actually still a virgin, thank you," I snapped, "Mr 'Pon Farr with Felicity during capture the flag'"
Everyone stared at Mitchell.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied, heedless to the fact that he was going slightly red.
"Yes you do," I replied, grinning evilly, "Poor little Rosie got lost and walked in on it. I had to use a little of the water of Lethe to get her to forget it."
"Mention that to anyone and you're dead, McPherson," Mitchell growled.
"What's Pon Farr?" Nico asked curiously.
"It's a Vulcan mating thing from Star Trek," Luke explained, "But I'm not telling you any more than that,"
"You watch star trek?" I asked; eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, I do," Luke responded, "It's awesome,"
"Luke," I informed him, "My respect for you has just gone up several notches."
Luke smirked slightly and turned to Chiron, "So what do we do?"
"You two do nothing," Chiron replied, "Zeus said he will kill you both if you appear on Olympus unless it can be proven that you have done nothing. Cora, you and Mitchell must go to Olympus, try to convince Zeus that they didn't steal the bolt –"
"I'm not going with her," Mitchell stated flatly, "No chance."
"So you'll be able to find the bolt yourself?" I asked casually, leaning back in my chair, "suits me,"
"Hades wants you to help, Cora," Chiron chided.
"I know he does," I replied as I put my feet up on the table and rearranged my Avenged Sevenfold T-shirt, "But if Mitchell here thinks he won't need help from someone who can sense items of power then what can I do?" I shrugged and crossed my arms behind my head, not failing to notice that Nico was grinning and Luke was struggling to contain his laughter.
"I'll find someone else who can detect items of power," Mitchell snapped tensely.
"Sure," I responded, "But will they be as incorrupt as I am?"
"I wouldn't call you incorrupt, Cora," Nico grinned, "remember the paintball thing?"
"That's not being corrupt," I responded, "That's just bending the rules a little,"
"I'm not going on a quest with her!" Mitchell insisted, not noticing that while we had been bickering, Rachel's eyes had started to glow green.
"The son of Zeus will lead the quest
To convince his father he'll try his best
But Hades' servant, in one way blind,
Shall find the truth, and friends unbind,"
There was a moment of awkward silence as everyone stared at me and Mitchell.
"I'm not going with her," Mitchell insisted.
"You have no choice," Chiron responded, "Cora – Cora?"
He hat turned to face the spot where I had been sitting, only to discover that I was hiding in the corner with my hands over my ears.
"Cora," Chiron sighed, "She's stopped prophesising,"
I instantly recovered from my sojourn in the corner and sat in my chair as if nothing had happened.
"You and Mitchell are going to Olympus," Chiron explained, "Try to convince Zeus that Nico and Luke did not steal the master bolt,"
"Fat chance," I snorted, "If he's anything like Mitchy here it'll be impossible."
"I'm not that bad!" Mitchell insisted.
"Oh no?" I responded, "The phrase 'stubborn as an ox' ring any bells? And 'one born every minute' was totally made for your dad – What?" I asked as an angry roll of thunder sounded above our heads, "Let's face it, Sky-lord, when it comes to your marriage to Hera, your stories of how faithful you are to your wife are probably the biggest works of fiction since vows of fidelity were included in the French marriage service,"
A louder rumble; I decided it might be a good idea to keep my mouth shut.
"You will need to spend the next hour gathering what you need," Chiron explained, "You'll be leaving at noon,"
"That anxious to get rid of us, old bean?" I asked, grinning.
"No," Chiron replied, "merely anxious to stop a war."
The meeting was concluded and I ran back to the Hades cabin to pack my backpack. I looked at the end of the bed - the crossbow now had a note attached to it;
"None of my children use crossbows,
It will change into whatever is convenient for you.
Happy re-Birthday,
Hades,"
I'd been so caught up in life at camp that I'd completely forgotten that I'd been working for Hades for a year. I picked up the crossbow and pictured an old silver pendant I'd had when I was alive. I looped the necklace around my neck, picked up my bag and stepped out into the light to find Mitchell struggling to fit his bow in his pack.
"Look, Mitch," I sighed, taking the bow and slipping it into my pack, "If we're going to be working together there's something you might want to know,"
"What?" he asked, looking slightly worried; to be fair I don't blame him – going on a quest with someone you hate isn't exactly my idea of fun.
"It's exactly one year to the day that I've been working for Hades," I explained, "Which means I'll probably start acting a bit strange during the day."
"Stranger than normal?"
"A lot stranger," I agreed, "As in vanishing in shadows and stuff,"
"Thanks for the warning," Mitchell shrugged, "As long as you aren't going to kill me or anything then that's fine by me,"
I grinned, "And don't be alarmed by the necklace either – re-birthday present from Hades,"
"What's it do?"
"You'll see," I waved cheerily at Argus before saying my goodbyes to everyone and hopping into the back of the car and waiting for Mitchell to stop making out with his girlfriend.
In the end it was Argus punching the horn that got Mitchell's attention and, after a sheepish goodbye to his friends and siblings, he clambered into the back of the car and we set off.
"How the hell d'you fit so much stuff in that pack?" he asked as I pulled out a tent, several knives, a stereo and his bow in the search for my iPod.
"Magic item," I informed him, pulling the iPod out of my bag, putting everything else back in, sticking the headphones in my ears and going to sleep with Slipknot blasting my eardrums.
…
I'd like to say that I had a normal sleep, but it's the same for me as with half-bloods; dreams are weird and usually scary.
This one, for example; Hera organising Zeus's things in their room. Don't even ask me why that was playing in my head, I have no idea. She picked up some big leather tube and put it in one of the drawers, evidently not aware that it felt like the air was charged around it. Seriously if I'd actually been there and was an Aphrodite girl I'd be complaining about the damage to my hair.
But I saw something when Hera closed the drawer – a lightening-bolt mark on the side of the cylinder.
Well, I thought to myself, that's one mystery solved.
I was about to wonder about a bit in the dream when a sharp jab in she side jerked me awake.
"Ow," Mitchell grabbed his nose, "You didn't have to hit me that hard, and what's with the bat?"
I looked at the bat in my hand and absently noticed that my necklace was missing. Rolling my eyes I forced the bat to return to the shape it had been before I'd been woken up and looped it back around my neck, heedless to the shocked expression on Mitchell's face.
"You woke me up, you idiot," I snapped back irritably, "What's got your wings in a knot?"
"We're here,"
I looked out at the entrance of the empire state building.
"Oh,"
We clambered out of the car and into the main office bit of the building.
"We need to see Zeus," Mitchell said to the secretary.
"Unless you've got an appointment, kiddo," the man replied, not even looking up, "It's a no go,"
"I'm his son,"
"Not my problem,"
"Well what about me?" I asked, taking off my left fingerless glove to reveal a black skull mark on my wrist.
"Oh," the secretary hastily handed us a card, "Make sure nobody else is in the lift, go on up,"
"Come on," I stepped into the empty lift, Mitchell following, and slid the card into the slot. Mitchell pushed the button for Olympus and after a few seconds the doors slid open to reveal Olympus.
"See if you can distract the Olympians, Mitch," I told him, "I think I know where the bolt is,"
"You sure?" Mitchell asked.
"I suspect Hera went on a cleaning spree," I replied, "Which means the bolt is in some drawer or other,"
"In their bedroom?" Mitchell asked; I grimaced and nodded.
"I'll see what I can do," he said.
"Thanks"
We parted ways and I took off my necklace; it turned into a compass in an instant.
"Let's see where you are then," I muttered, following the compass point to a different part of Olympus.
…
For some reason, Zeus had forgotten to place guards at his door that day so I managed to slip in without incident.
It was finding the bolt in a room full of powerful things that was the problem.
The compass was getting scrambled by the energy in the room so I closed it and stuffed it into my pocket before looking in every single place I could think of to find the master bolt.
You have no idea how many drawers there were in that room. It was impossible to figure our which was which – they all looked the same.
I guess my hunting must have disturbed someone because the next thing I know I'm leaping into a shadowy corner as one of the other Olympians came in.
"I know there's someone in here," Apollo called, "So you may as well come out,"
I didn't move, silently praying that I could remain unseen in my corner.
Apollo summoned a ball of light to eradicate all the shadows in the room and reveal the intruder (me) and I was forced to hide in (oh the shame) Zeus's underwear drawer.
I was lucky that I kept my eyes closed in there, it was scary enough being surrounded by godly underpants without seeing them.
Eventually Apollo left and I started to edge my way out the front of the drawer through the keyhole when I brushed against something cylindrical and crackly.
I'd found the master bolt.
So, after oozing out of the keyhole and re-materialising as myself, I picked the lock (because the drawers were locked shut and the key was missing, presumably Hera had it) and took out the cylinder before returning the room to the exact state I'd found it in and slipping through the shadows to the Olympian house where Mitchell was still insisting that the bolt wasn't stolen.
"Nobody at camp has been anywhere near Olympus!" he insisted as his father threatened to smite him for siding with the enemy.
"Mitch!" I yelled, positively bouncing over with a cheery wave to Hades, who was now allowed to visit even if it wasn't the winter solstice, "I found it!" I brandished the master bolt cheerfully and handed it to the son of the sky god.
"Where was it?" he asked curiously; I mumbled something long the lines of "you really don't want to know" before Zeus commanded the bolt be given to him.
"So Nico and Luke are ff the hook then?" I asked.
"Of course not!" Zeus replied, "They must pay for their theft,"
There was an outcry as Hermes and Hades protested the innocence of their sons.
"SILENCE!" Zeus roared, "From this day fourth –"
"OI!" I yelled, interrupting the sky god mid-curse, "You want to know where it was? It was in your underwear drawer where your wife left it!"
There was a collective gasp as I supplied that piece of information.
"What were you doing in my underwear drawer?" Zeus asked coldly.
"Hiding," I replied, "I was looking for the bolt in your room because that's where my dream said it was, and Hera put it there because she was tidying."
"It's true, husband," Hera replied, "I tried to tell you this earlier but you wouldn't listen. The boys you accused are innocent,"
"I knew there was someone in there!" Apollo exclaimed triumphantly, "I said as much!"
"Very well," Zeus sighed, "The two boys are forgiven,"
I sighed with relief; my work here was done.
"But you, young lady," Zeus informed me, "Must be punished for invading my living quarters."
"Brother, she found your master bolt and proved the two you accused of theft innocent of the crime," Hades protested, "For heaven's sake would Poseidon punish anyone for invading his living quarters if they were trying to find something he had lost? Would I?"
"Wouldn't be surprised," I muttered, earning me a jab in the ribs from Mitchell, "OW!"
"You are not the overlord of the gods," Zeus pointed out.
"In that case I'm punishing your boy here because you accused my son of theft." Hermes responded.
"And so am I," Hades added, "This is not justice, brother,"
"You're ganging up on my son!" Zeus roared, preparing to unleash his lightening bolt on the two gods, who stood and prepared to unleash whatever powers they had.
"Stop it!" Mitchell yelled, "Father, Cora found your bolt, that clears the names of the two accused and cancels out any wrongdoing she committed in the process of locating it. Uncle, Lord Hermes, I haven't done anything, so why are you cursing me?"
"And for another thing," I added, "You're all acting like two-year-olds fighting over a toy. You should be ashamed of yourselves," I chastised them, somehow making them all look down at their feet in embarrassment, "Ashamed,"
"Very well," Zeus grumbled, "You will not be punished today, be gone before I change my mind,"
Mitch and I bowed before we legged it out of the temple and into the waiting lift.
"Thanks for that," I told Mitch.
"No problem,"
"Truce?"
He looked at my proffered hand and shook it firmly, "Truce,"
We hopped into the car just out side the empire state building and Argus turned round and headed for camp.
"Where'd you get he tattoo?" Mitchell asked.
"Huh?"
"The tattoo you showed the security guy," he repeated, "Where'd you get it?"
I grinned and pulled a packet from my backpack.
"Stick-on from Claire's accessories,"
…
TADA! *Throws confetti* finally updated! XD
Hope you enjoyed this rather rubbish chapter! Review to tell me what you think!
