Babam! On time!
I'd just like to thank all the support I've gotten!
Jose Sanjas
Jose was shocked at Charlotte's outburst, he was pretty sure everyone was.
"That's the spirit," Ace said with a grin. Charlotte shyly looked down for a second, but she quickly regained her previous composure and stood up straight.
"Okay, Chase and Jose, I want you two to scout ahead. Try to find the weapon, but don't get close enough for Echidna to see you," William appointed. He handed both of them a map of the grounds he had gotten while Charlotte was gone.
Jose nodded; he knew this was William giving him another chance to prove himself under pressure, considering he knew about the last quest he was on. After Jose had impulsively set the hellhound on fire and almost jeopardized the mission William had scolded him, and that was when he found out about his past experiences with Echidna. He pushed the memory out of his mind and grabbed the map.
"You two meet at the Lake that's in the middle of both paths, then report back here," he continued.
"Sure thing boss!" Chase said as he walked off. Jose gave a thumbs-up then went in the other direction. Jose looked at the map, Chase went in the direction of the Golden path, and Jose went on the boreal one. Both of the paths met in the middle at Lake Mountain View, and along the Boreal Path were three gardens: Algonquian, Etoile, and Dieux.
Jose ran down the path, nothing was out of the ordinary. Stopping at Algonquian all he saw were a few tourists and geese waddling around, no giant mother of monsters. Continuing on he went to the Etoile garden, once again nothing. Maybe Chase had more luck and had already found the garden and was waiting at the meeting spot. As he walked down the path his stride abruptly stopped. A cold feeling crept into him, and he knew what was ahead in Dieux.
Jose swallowed nervously, he had to be sure. He hid behind a tree near the entrance. It was surrounded by a hedge and a single wrought iron arch was there to enter. Etched into it said, "Jardin des deux, Garden of the Gods." If that wasn't enough standing in the entrance was a giant lizard-like monster with 3 diamond-shaped heads lined with razor sharp teeth, the hydra, one of Echidna's children. He needed a better view; the hydra was blocking the whole entrance. Jose climbed the tree to see over the hedges and was shocked at what was inside. In the center was a scythe, he could even feel the power radiating off of it from where he was. He had to peel his eyes away from the weapon of power and his breath hitched at what he saw next. Right in front of the scythe was Echidna herself. Pacing around the inside perimeter was the Chimera and Nemean Lion, and lastly the Minotaur was standing just past the hydra. Having gotten a good look at what they were up against Jose quickly climbed back down and ran to the meeting spot.
"You find it? I had no luck, "Chase asked as soon as Jose walked up.
"Yeah, it was in Jardin des Deux," Jose replied. "The hydra was guarding the entrance, with the Minotaur behind him, then the Chimera and Nemean Lion are walking around the outside, and Echidna is in front of the weapon."
"Great, let's go tell the rest then," Chase said as he walked down the third path that went straight to the parking lot.
"How come I never saw you around the camp?" Chase asked as he put his hands in his pockets.
"I've been busy in the forges," Jose replied looking down.
Chase nodded, "oh okay, so that fire thing was pretty cool, I didn't think we had any Hephaestus kids who had the power at the camp, the last one being that one guy from the Prophecy of Seven," he said trying to make conversation.
Jose nodded; he wasn't much of a talker. He half listened to Chase as he kept on talking on and on until they got back to the parking lot.
"Did you find it?" Ace asked expectedly.
"Yep, Jose found the hydra at Jardin des Deux," Chase responded.
"Great job Jose, okay guys, get ready for a battle," William said.
"There are also the Minotaur, Chimera, Nemean Lion, and Echidna," Jose added quietly. Looks of shock appeared on everyone.
"That… is a lot of big monsters," Leonata said nervously.
"We'll just have to go two to each monster, Jose, where were they all when you saw them?" William asked.
"Well the hydra was blocking the arch, and then behind it was the Minotaur. The Chimera was walking the left inside perimeter, and the Nemean Lion was on the right inside perimeter, and lastly Echidna is guarding the weapon which is in the center," Jose explained.
William took a deep breath before he started the plan, "Okay, Ace and Cleo, you distract and defeat the hydra, while they are dealing with that, Drey and Tara, you take the Minotaur. Alec and Nata, you two branch out to fight the Nemean Lion while Charlotte and Chase take on the Chimera. Jose and I will deal with Echidna. When you finish go help the others."
"Psh, piece of cake," Chase said as he tied a belt of throwing knives around his waist.
Jose looked down, he was glad William was giving him a chance to get revenge on Echidna, after what happened on his last quest.
"Go ahead and lead the way Jose," William said with an encouraging smile. Jose nodded and led the other 9 to the garden from earlier. He tried to not think about the past, but only on defeating the Echidna.
"Okay, here we are," he said as they were only 20 yards from the hydra.
"Go ahead Cleo and Ace, we'll wait for the opening," William commanded. Jose and the others waited as Cleo and Ace ran at the hydra. They fought in sync, slashing and dodging, drawing the Hydra out from the entrance. Jose looked over at William, he had thought William liked Cleo, and it was no secret he didn't like Ace. He looked as if he regretted his choice in choosing those two to fight together.
"Oooooh," Leonata said scrunching up her nose. Jose turned to see how they were faring. One of the heads was about to get Cleo, so Ace had no choice but to cut it off, growing two new ones. A few seconds later the entrance was wide open.
"Okay, let's go," William said as they all ran into the garden. It looked the exact same as it had earlier. The Minotaur pawed at the ground at the sight of the demigods, and the Nemean Lion and the Chimera turned at the intrusion. Everyone knew what they had to do, Drey and Tara went first, intercepting the Minotaur, and focusing its attention on them, Charlotte and Chase went left at the Chimera and Leonata and Alec attacked the Nemean Lion. He even risked a look behind him before following William.
Cleo had just narrowly dodged two of the hydras heads, and Ace was dealing with the other half.
William put his hand on Jose's shoulder, catching his attention. "Ready?" he asked. Jose nodded and turned to the Mother of monsters herself. She had the top half of a women and the bottom half of a snake. She looked the same, with a deceiving motherly appearance, and a forked tongue.
"Hello Flame King," She said spitting out his title, "I'm surprised to see you again, you think being the cause of your friend's death would give you some wisdom," she sneered.
Jose stood up straight and held out his sword. "It just gives me all the more reason to kill you," he responded bravely.
Echidna laughed and obsidian swords appeared in both of her hands.
William held his spear up in the air and lightning cackled, hitting it, and making it buzz with the electricity. He held the spear tip towards Echidna, "Go!" he told Jose as he ran straight at the monster.
Jose went around the side, going for an open spot, but she had guessed their plan and using one sword she blocked Jose's sword, and the other to deflect William's spear. What she hadn't planned though was the electricity. It coursed through the obsidian giving her quite the shock.
William used this second and stabbed her in the side with the spear. She slid to the side, William spear fell out. Hissing as her forked tongue flickered in and out of her mouth Echidna struck at Jose with both swords, which he barely managed to block.
William and Jose both fought in coordination. When one would strike, the other would block, and it worked well enough, until Echidna moved with lightning speed behind the two and knocked Jose back.
"Wait! Watch the statue!" Charlotte yelled, as Chase narrowly deflected the Chimera's claws away from her.
The warning came too late though, as Jose fell into the statue, knocking it off of its pedestal, and breaking it in half. As soon as the statue had hit the ground the wind picked up, and it started to snow.
"Quick, the scythe," William yelled, noticing the danger they would soon be in. He managed to block her sword with his spear, but it unfortunately snapped in half. He quickly drew his sword and parried the next swing. Cleo was the closest available person. Her and Ace had defeated the hydra and split up, she was helping Drey and Tara with the Minotaur, and Ace was helping with the Nemean Lion.
Turning away from the Minotaur Cleo ran to the middle, everyone one focused on fighting their monster.
Jose turned his full attention to Echidna. The wind was starting to get stronger and the snow thicker. Echidna had turned her attention on William's expert swordsmanship, so Jose used this chance to get the final blow.
He coated his sword with fire, which did happen to catch the corner of Echidna's eye, but it was too late. He dug the sword into the center her back, but instead of screaming, an eerie laugh escaped from her.
"You may have beaten me Flame King, but you will fail to save a friend once again," she sneered, before turning into dust and leaving behind two obsidian swords.
His victory was short lived when a blood-curling scream pierced the air, monsters and demigods alike turned to the source.
"Cleo!" William yelled as he ran to her. She had collapsed on the ground, Jose couldn't tell whether or not she was even still alive, and the scythe was gone. William never made it to her, as the snow and wind started to lift them all off of the ground.
"It's a blizzard! Everyone, grab hold of something!" Charlotte warned them.
The snow got so thick that he could no longer see five inches in front of him, and grabbing for the ground he was only able to find Echidna's swords. He felt helpless as the seemingly never ending stream of snow swirled around him, taking him who knows where.
Ace Fitzgerald
Ace groaned as he woke up. He had a sharp sting on the top of his head, which brought him back to reality. All he remembered was the blizzard, getting knocked out by a rock, and Cleo's scream. He shuddered, she sounded as if someone were burning her alive. Standing up he looked at his surroundings. Ace was relieved to see four of the others there with them. There was Will, Charlotte, Nata, and Jose, and he was the only one awake. They seemed to be in the parking lot of a Mini Mart in some small town.
Charlotte started to stir, "Ugh, where are we?" she asked as she sat up. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked around.
"I have no idea, I'm going to go look around," Ace said. Now that at least one other person was awake he could see if he could find the others and where they are at. He walked into a 711 hoping to find out where they were.
"Uh hey, where is this town?" he asked a peppy looking cashier. She gave him a once over and her nose who knows where in a blizzard does that to a person.
"Coldspring… are you lost?" she asked.
"Yeah, well kinda, Where exactly is Coldspring?" he asked.
"Texas," she replied slowly, as if talking to a little kid.
"Thanks," Ace said before walking out of the gas station. They had managed to go from Canada all the way to Coldspring, Texas. Who knows where the other five are. He walked back to the parking lot and saw them all awake sitting on a bench.
"What did you find?" Charlotte asked him.
"We are apparently in Coldspring, Texas…" Ace explained.
"Wait, what?! What about the others?" William asked vaguely, but Ace could probably guess who he was explicitly thinking of.
"No sign of them, they could be in a whole other part of the country for all we know," Ace said shrugging.
"Hey guys! Oh man, you don't know how glad I am to find you all! Hermes told me where to go, said it was another thank you gift for helping him earlier," yelled a voice from behind them all. Ace turned around and saw none other than Quinn Peterson.
"What are you doing here? Last time I saw you, you had two broken legs," Nata said genuinely shocked.
"Thanks to the Apollo kids I got better quickly," Quinn said. "Where's everyone else?" he asked.
"We don't know, last thing we remember was being in a blizzard all the way in Canada. Why are you here?" William asked.
"Well Riley said the second part of the prophecy, which is making a lot of sense right now," Quinn explained. "By parent's hand they shall be betrayed, splitting the two who can wield the Titan blade. The fate of one shall fall to fire, those thought to be loyal will be uncovered a liar. The clandestine gods must lastly be found, unless Olympus shall fall to the ground." He recited.
"Parents hand? Charlotte's mom is Khione right? A snow storm sounds a lot like her work," Nata pointed out.
Charlotte looked nervous, "she was at the Canada…" she said looking down.
"Khione was there? Why didn't you tell us?" Ace asked.
"I was scared, she said that the only thing protecting the garden from the Titans and the Gods was the statue, so she told me if I were to help her out by destroying it she would repay me, I wasn't gonna do it of course though."
"Guys, what happened to the scythe though, that must be the Titan blade… Cronus's blade, but last I saw was the weapon was gone and Cleo… well she looked de-"Nata was interrupted by William.
"She isn't dead, she must've somehow gotten the blade," he said as if he was trying to convince himself. Ace didn't want to think she was dead either, but it wasn't looking good.
"What?!" Quinn said shocked.
"We need to find them all, I think the best bet would be going back to Camp," William said. Ace looked over to see if Jose would want to put any input in, but he was looking at twin obsidian blades.
"Aren't those Echidna's" Ace asked him.
Jose nodded, "I accidentally grabbed them during the blizzard," he replied. Ace nodded, they were deadly looking blades, and it looked like celestial bronze was running through them like veins making it deadly to monsters as well.
"But what if they don't go back there? Who knows where they are," Ace said. He didn't mean to contradict what William said, but he couldn't help it.
Glaring William stood up straight, "where else do you expect us to go than?" he asked.
Ace shrugged and stuck his hands in his pocket, "fine, let's go back to camp."
Quinn looked a little dejected, "I came all the way from there just to go back," he said. "Did you guys lose all of your supplies?" he asked, looking at them all. Ace realized he was right, they hadn't carried any backpacks or anything with them to get the scythe.
"Okay, lucky you I got enough money to rent a car, and buy you new clothes," Quinn said pointing at the Mini Mart.