Here it is! The elusive Chapter 4 :P Enjoy!
Drey Datario
Drey sat down in the dining hall. It was simple enough, but still had a Greek flair. The tables were made of marble and their legs were like columns, with matching chairs. There was a kitchen next door where the nymphs could make food, and a furnace in the center of the room for offerings. As far as Drey knew it was the same on the other two boats, their names, Elpis, Kleio, and Aiolis. Currently Drey was on Kleio, which was also the largest and main one.
They were almost the exact same as the Argo ll from the prophecy of seven, except the dragon mastheads don't talk or anything of that sort, and each one was a different color, Elpis bronze, Aiolis silver, and Kleio gold.
Tara sat down across from him, holding a cup of coffee. "Can you believe what happened…" she said shocked.
Drey was upset but hid it with a smirk, "we are moving to a place in New Jersey, there; at least according to what the Pythia said."
"At least that's enough comfort knowing the gods didn't abandon us completely. Also, I'm not sure anyone realizes this, with the whole battle taking up a lot of attention, but now the titans have the Golden Fleece, and that won't end well," Tara said, taking a drink.
"We are here," Riley said looking into the room from behind the door.
Drey and Tara both stood up quickly, and they followed Riley to the deck. They had docked the three ships on a stretch of beach that was surrounded by a forest. The whole area had a strange feel to it. Not an ominous feeling, but more of a godly aura as if they were on Mount Olympus itself.
Chiron trotted up with William next to him. "This will have to be our new base. As far as I can tell, this is safely hidden away from the eyes of the Titans." Turning to the head of the Demeter cabin, Chiron said, "Anissa, can you be in charge of the unloading of our supplies? Get the others to help start building places to sleep and anything you deem necessary."
The girl nodded and walked off. "Now, anyone on the quest meet downstairs in the meeting room," Chiron continued.
"Could you go tell the news to the other boats?" Will asked Nick, who nodded and ran off to the steering wheel room to get to the speakers.
"Okay, let's go," Chiron said trotting below decks. Almost all of the leaders were on Kleio, but a few, like Cleo, Charlotte, and Ace were on different ships.
Drey sat down when he got inside and waited for everyone else to get there.
After waiting for five minutes everyone finally was ready, well, except for Quinn. But since time was of the essence they started.
"We are all devastated for our loss, but we still are going to go on the quest. It is our only chance to defeat the Titans. Whil-"Chiron was cut off as the door to the room opened, revealing Leonata.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt," she started, "But, Quinn broke his leg, well… make that both legs," Nata continued.
"Wait, what? And how did this happen?" Tara asked shocked.
"Well, he was helping to bring the sails down and a rope broke so the beam landed on his legs," Nata answered with a glum response.
"Since Quinn can no longer go on the quest than who will take his place?" Cleo asked.
"Maybe Anissa or James," Chase offered.
"I could go," Nata offered, biting her bottom lip hopefully.
William nodded, "Yes, if you want, we still need a tenth member, Nata you can be the tenth member of the quest, you'll need to pack for it as soon as the meeting is over."
Chiron gave an approving look, "okay, that can be the end of this meeting, Will go get ready, you can leave at noon, meet on the deck." Once the meeting was over everyone went their separate ways, a few people walking out together.
Drey grabbed his duffel bag he had already packed from his temporary room, and walked to the meeting spot. He had filled his bag with an assortment of weapons, even though his usual weapon was a claw, who knows when other weapons can come in handy.
"Hey," Ace greeted in his thick Australian accent. So far only him and Drey were there. "You've been on another quest right?" he asked.
"Yeah, it was a smaller one though. Didn't you go on one with Cleo and Will just a few years ago?" Drey asked.
Ace nodded, "yep, but that one ended on a sour note. There was a big choice in the end and Will and I had different ideas on what to do."
Charlotte and Cleo walked up to them talking to each other. "Hey guys, you ready?" Cleo asked smiling. Charlotte was the quieter type, so it would probably be a while until she would start to talk a lot to the group.
Soon after, everyone else walked over, with Chase there last.
"We already know what we need to do first, that is finding Artemis. The problem is though is we don't know where she is. Mount Olympus isn't the safest at the moment, Riley, got anything about that?" William asked the oracle.
Riley looked up in thought, "uh... well my visions are really jumbled, but I've seen the goddess Artemis, mountains, and the words oro y plata, but I don't know what that means…"
"Anyone know what that means?" Will asked.
"Oro y plata means gold and silver in Spanish," said a boy Drey didn't recognize, which was surprising.
"Great job Jose," Will praised. Drey saw a few people have light bulbs going off in his head when they found out his name.
Suddenly, everyone turned to see Quinn hobbling over on crutches, both of his legs in casts. "Oro y plata… that is the motto on the state flag of Montana," he explained with a mad expression.
"Do you just memorize state flags for fun," Chase said trying to lighten up the mood. Cleo tried a fake laugh, but quickly stopped her attempt when she noticed how useless it was.
Chiron cleared his throat," great job Quinn, it is a shame you cannot go on this quest, you would have been a great help."
"Yeah, thanks, good luck guys," Quinn said before limping away. Drey saw Quinn glare at Leonata for a split second before turning away. He was probably just mad she took his spot.
"Well, we have a van that was put on this boat before we took off, so who here can drive?" William asked.
Drey, Tara, William, and Alec were the only ones raising their hands.
"So out of all ten of us, only four, including myself, can drive?!" William said exasperated.
"I have my permit, but I uh... failed my test like five times," Cleo announced, getting a little quiet at the end.
Nick ran over to them, "okay, we got the van unloaded, here are the keys," he said, handing them to Drey since he was closest. "Good luck," he added before walking off.
"Great, let's go," William said, putting his backpack on.
"May the Gods be with you," Chiron said with a serious expression.
Once everyone was off the boat they filled the back of the silver van with the bags. There were eleven seats total, three rows of three and the two front seats; giving enough room for the 10 people.
"I'll drive first," Drey offered sitting in the drivers spot. It was less of an offer and more of a statement.
"Shotgun!" called Chase who ran up and sat in the passenger's seat. Everyone else got in to claim their spots. In the very back sat Leonata, Jose, and Ace, in front of them were Alec and Tara, and in the first row were Charlotte, Cleo, and William.
"We can switch drivers every four hours, is that okay?" William asked.
"Yep… this is gonna be a long ride," Drey replied putting the keys into ignition. They followed a small path, just big enough for the van through the woods and onto a busy road.
The drive was long and monotonous. Stopping every once in a while for food and a switch of driver. For almost the whole time, Leonata was asleep, resting her head on an uncomfortable looking Jose, Ace was talking to Alec, Tara read a book, Cleo talked to both William and Charlotte, well doing most of the talking, and Chase changed the radio after almost every song. While Drey was sitting in the back he would talk to Alec and Cleo or just sleep.
Surprisingly, they didn't run into any monsters or other supernatural problems, which was unnatural for a van full of demigods.
After driving the whole day, the sun eventually had gone down. It was ten o'clock at night, and Tara was driving. They were somewhere in Illinois, and almost everyone excluding Drey, Cleo, and Tara was asleep.
"There is a motel in the next exit up ahead, we should stop up there for the night," Tara advised a yawning in between.
"That sounds like an excellent idea," replied a half asleep Cleo. Drey nodded in agreement, even though they probably couldn't even see him.
Tara slowly turned the wheel and drove into the parking lot of an old looking country motel. As soon as they parked, Drey opened the door to the van and jumped out.
"Here, I'll come with," Tara offered, getting out and following him.
"I'll keep guard," Cleo called after them giving a tired thumbs up.
Drey and Tara walked up to the front desk in a slightly uncomfortable silence. "How many rooms do we need?" Drey asked Tara.
"Uh... Probably four…. I'm not super sure," she replied, pushing open the door. Behind the desk sat the most bored looking lady ever. She had black hair pulled into a tight bun with cat winged glasses.
"May I help you?" the lady asked chewing a wad of gum.
"Uh, yeah, can we please get four rooms?" Drey asked, realizing how strange it probably sounded.
"Sure, whatever, it is $50 a night per room," The lady replied without a single hint of care at all.
"Can we just pay up front?" Tara asked.
"Sure whatever."
Drey pulled out the money that they got for the quest and took out $200; they still had plenty of money. He handed the lady the money, who tucked half of it in her shirt and the rest went into the cash register. Without replying she handed him 4 metal room keys then grabbed a magazine flipping it open.
"Thanks," Drey mumbled walking with Tara back to the van.
Cleo still managed to stay awake, "finally, that took forever, I'll wake everyone up," she said before she turned to the rest of the group and yelled, "wake up!" That managed to awaken most of them, but Nata.
"I swear, she is the daughter of Morpheus or something, she can sleep through anything," Chase said with a lazy grin.
"We got four rooms for us to stay the night here, so grab what you need," Drey told everyone.
"Great job guys," William said wearily. "Just divide evenly," he added, taking the key Drey held out to him. Everyone grabbed their bags and Drey locked the van before walking to where their rooms were. The rooms were all next to each other, and Drey gave the remaining keys to Cleo and Tara before heading into his room.
Cleo and Charlotte shared a room, then Tara and Leonata, next William, Jose, and Alec, and Drey, Chase, and Ace. Each room had two single beds and a pull out couch, giving enough room for everyone.
Drey had hoped to have a dreamless night, but unluckily for him that didn't happen. Since he was a demigod, his dreams were usually visions of what is to happen or happening, and sometimes even happened.
It all started out with Drey standing in the middle of an alpine forest. There was snow everywhere and icicles' hanging from every tree branch, but Drey wasn't cold at all, and right in front of him stood a golden scythe that was balancing on its handle. Drey didn't know what, but there was an energy radiating from it, and the power drew him closer. Reaching over to pick up the scythe it started to get extremely windy tearing at Drey like knives. Suddenly a sharp gust of wind sliced through the air clean through the scythe, splitting it in half.
The snow was being picked up making everything a white expanse of nothing, except for the two halves of the scythe that developed a golden glow. Drey reached forward to grab the two pieces, but as soon as he touched it a burning sensation scorched his hand, waking him up.
Checking the alarm clock Drey was relieved to see it was 6 a.m. He wasn't sure whether or not he would have been able to get back to sleep after that.
"It's time to wake up," Drey yelled, throwing pillows at Chase and Ace.
"Just five more minutes," Chase groaned turning around on the pull out coach. Ace on the other hand stretched and got up.
Drey quickly got ready for the day then grabbed his backpack and went outside. He was the first one ready so he sat in the driver's seat and just waited. Everyone else was slow to follow, with Nata being the last one there.
"Can we stop by McDonalds or something for food?" Ace asked with his Australian accent.
"Yes please, I'm starving!" Cleo added holding her stomach for effect.
"Of course," Drey said driving up to the familiar gold arches. Drey ordered the food for everyone, which took at least ten minutes. After getting their food, they were back on the road.
This time Cleo was in the passenger seat and she was in charge of the radio. Turning it up full blast Cleo started to sing to some song that was popular at the moment, and pretty soon almost everyone was singing along.
After another full day of driving with no interruptions, they finally made it too Montana late at night.
William was driving this time, and he pulled the car over into the parking lot. "We can search for Artemis tomorrow; I don't think anyone has the energy to keep on going." No one argued about that.
Drey hopped out of the van to go with William to get them rooms, but out of nowhere a volley of arrows landed just inches away from hitting anyone or anything.
"Get down!" Drey yelled his senses suddenly alert. One more volley of arrows flew over them hitting
Everyone jumped out of the van weapons ready. A group of girls, ran over, and Drey immediately recognized who they were, none other than the hunters of Artemis.
Alec Calloway
"What was that?! Were you trying to kill us?" Drey asked angrily.
The leader, a girl named Kalliope, stepped up, "if we wanted to kill you we already would have," she said with a prominent British accent. Her hair was straight and auburn with startling green eyes. She was pretty, but completely off limits being a huntress.
"Then why did you shoot at us," Tara said, more of a comment then a question.
"To warn you of that," Kalliope said pointing behind them to two sleeping giants. They looked nothing like normal giants that were gruesome and ugly, but like regular people. They were wearing hunting camouflage and held spears as if they were teddy bears. The only difference between the two was that one was wearing green camo, while the other was wearing tan camo
"We've been trying to lure them away from Lady Artemis then defeating them, but surprisingly every shot we take doesn't even affect them," Kalliope explained, glaring at all of the boys with hatred.
"Could you tell us where Artemis is?" Leonata asked hopefully.
"We can't," Kalliope replied sternly.
"How about if we get rid of the giants then you tell us," Tara offered.
Kalliope sighed, "go ahead and try, if you manage to succeed meet us at the café down the street at 12 p.m." she said before turning around and running, the other huntresses following her.
Alec turned and assessed the sleeping giants. There was something nagging the back of his head. He knew who they were; he just couldn't place it…
"Let's go take them down," Drey said with a maniacal grin.
"Wait we need a plan. Anyone know who they are?" Tara.
The word popped into Alec's head, "Aloadae, they are twin giants who tried to take over Olympus," he said with confidence. He is hardly ever wrong, and they fitted the profile perfectly. They looked like two normal hunters but had the size of a full grown giant. "Artemis had managed to kill them both by turning into a deer and maneuvering their shots until they accidentally threw spears at each other," he continued.
"Why don't we do something similar to that?" Chase asked.
"We don't have the speed or the power to outrun a spear," Tara added.
"Wait, Tara, you have Photokenisis right? You could bend the light to make an illusion of Artemis and have her go right in-between the two so they'll throw their spears expecting to hit her, but it will just go straight through, hitting each other," Alec said, the gears turning in his head.
"How do we know they'll fall for it again? I mean, they may be giants but I'm pretty sure they're not that stupid," Drey pointed out.
"We'll make it so that they believe Artemis is done for, to the extent that they throw spears at the same time," Alec responded.
"Okay, it's worth a shot. We'll stay down here, with Tara's distraction, they might not notice us. Go ahead Tara," Will said.
Tara's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as the light started to move around, creating a surreal image of Artemis, that seemed to even have Artemis's godly aura.
William nodded in approval, turning to the Aloadae, William summoned a small lightning bolt hitting them both square in the nose. It was large enough to wake them up, but small enough to not waste any energy.
"What was that, Why'd you flick me Otus?!" yelled the green camouflage giant, standing up.
"It wasn't me! Wait… is that…." Otus squinted to look at the goddess illusion; he stood up as well, and was at least 6 feet taller than his brother.
"Well, well, did the puny goddess come back to get your vengeance on us, the all-powerful Aloadae, Otus and Ephialtes?" The largest one said.
"Well, uh she beat us last time, remember," whispered Otus.
Tara wasn't able to make the image talk, so she made Artemis walk up in-between the giants, a stuck-up look appeared on her face.
"You won't win this time!" Ephialtes yelled, not realizing that anything was off.
"This is gonna be like the first time a plan went right on the first time ever!" Cleo whispered with a cheesy grin.
"Don't jinx it!" Chase exclaimed.
Of course, that had to be exactly what happened, Alec whipped around when he heard the sound of growling. Behind him was a hellhound, looking as mean as ever.
"Duck!" Leonata yelled, throwing a celestial bronze knife at the monster, hitting it right in the eye. Unluckily that only angered it.
"Guard Tara," William commanded his spear in hand. Alec glanced over at the giants; they luckily didn't notice them all. Tara had made Artemis dart around, to not arouse suspicion, barely dodging the spears.
Cleo and Ace held back to watch over Tara, when suddenly another hellhound bounded over to them, looking even nastier then the other.
Jose turned to fight the new one, he suddenly seemed to be radiating heat, and Alec realized what the son of Hephaestus was about to do.
"Jose wait, it'll cause too much atten-"Alec was caught off when Jose threw a giant ball of fire at the hellhound, causing it to catch fire and turn to ashes.
The Aloadae turned to the demigods, the fire didn't go unnoticed.
"Oh look, snacks before we destroy this little goddess," Otus said with a maniacal grin.
Suddenly an arrow hit Ephialtes as if it came from Artemis, but that is impossible since it is only an illusion. This caught the giant's attention again. Otus threw a spear at the illusion, and it looked as if it struck her in the abdomen, and Tara did a great job making the goddess look like she was in pain and fake ichor started to bleed. Otus and Ephialtes used this moment, and threw their spears at the same time directly at the goddess, thinking their plan was foolproof, and to their surprise it went straight threw her and into each other's guts, and they dropped dead turning into ashes.
Alec looked at the direction the arrow was shot from and saw Kalliope standing on the roof, her bow on her side, before she ran down and out of sight.
William got the last shot on an empousa that had joined the fight, jabbing it with his spear, before walking over to Jose and talking to him, probably about what happened.
Ace took charge while William worked on another situation, "let's head down to the café, we have a goddess to find."