The Jacksons did not have any spare bows and quivers to lend us. Percy said he sucked at archery, unsurprising for a son of the sea god… If hewerea talented archer it would probably dredge up some painful memories best left unsaid. Apollo said something about planning for his needs, I didn't really pay attention. Sally had lent us some proper coats, Apollo's was blue and mine was a dark red. Apollo randomly asked me if Blofis was some sort of word to ward off evil spirits, where would he have even gotten that idea from?
When we got to the Prius, Meg called shotgun. Apollo sulked for a bit after that. I guess he was used to the front, he drove the Sun "Chariot" after all. (Ha! More like Sun Sports Car) He appeared to be carsick after not even 5 minutes. Even I can last longer than that.
Percy wasn't the smoothest driver, or maybe he was. I can't say I have much experience with New York driving. The car lurched and breaked, New York Traffic was a mystery to me.
"Doesn't your Prius have flamethrowers?" Apollo demanded. "Lasers? At least some Hephaestian bumper blades? What sort of cheap economy vehicle is this?"
I nearly laughed. "Apollo… This is a mortal vehicle.. They have laws about destroying cars-"
Percy glanced in the rearview mirror. "You have rides like that on Mount Olympus?"
"We don't have traffic jams, that, I can assure you," Apollo complained
Meg fidgeted with her crescent rings, why did she have them? The moon wasmysymbol. She wasn't one of my hunters. I couldn't think of a good reason for why she would have them.
Meg was gazing out of the rear windshield, I assumed she was checking if any of the shiny blobs were pursuing us. "At least we're not being-"
"Don't say it," Percy warned.
Meg looked annoyed. "You don't know what I was going to-"
"You were going to say, 'At least we're not being followed,'" Percy said. "That'll jinx us. Immediately we'll notice that we are being followed. Then we'll end up in a big battle that totals my family car and probably destroys the whole freeway. Then we'll have to run all the way to camp."
I mean, that seemed like a stretch but Percy had been on six quests. He must have learned that somewhere along the line.
Meg's eyes widened. "You can tell the future?"
"Don't need to." Percy changed lanes. This lane was going ever soslightlyfaster. "I've just done this a lot. Besides" he shot Apollo an accusing look "nobody can tell the future anymore. The Oracle isn't working."
"What Oracle?" Meg asked.
Neither me Apollo or Percy answered. For a moment I swear all color left Apollo's face. "It.. it still isn't working?" He said in a small voice.
He didn't know?
"You didn't know?" Did Percy read my mind? Only a few immortals can do that, and Poseidon isn't one of them. "I mean, sure, you've been out of it for six months, but this happened on your watch."
"I just… I assumed…. I hoped this would have been taken care of by now-"
"You mean by demigods," Percy said, "going on a big quest to reclaim the Oracle of Delphi?" I didn't miss the bitterness in his voice. I couldn'tstandhim making the crude assumption it was Apollo's fault Delphi was taken because it ISN'T.
"It isNOTmy brother's fault that Delphi was taken." I snapped, glaring at the back of Percy's head angrily. Apollo looked at me curiously. "Zeus was angry, like really,reallyangry. Likesear every last molecule in your bodyangry." Apollo visibly cringed at that sentence, looking down. I wanted to hug him, reassure him, tell him that everything was going to be alright. But I knew better, I knew these trials would be anything but easy, and I wasn't done speaking, not yet at least. "We didn'tknowthat Gaea would resurrect thatvile serpent! It wasn't like he could go fight thatdamned creaturewith theconstant riskof lightning bolts flying down from the heavens. Bolts sent by our own father." Apollo looked taken aback by my harsh words. The truth hurts sometimes. "And, by anyminusculechance are you aware, that if we took even asingle stepoff our island, we would beincapacitatedby pain? Neither me nor my brother could shoot our bows to kill thatidiotlegacyOctavian. The arrows turned to smoke at 200 feet! We were stuck there, on our island. Leaving was futile and pointless."
"Artemis-" Apollo tried to interrupt.
"I'm not finished brother." The anger disappeared from my voice as I addressed him. "Our mindswere split in half Perseus. It isnotmy brother's fault Delphi was taken. Do not make that mistake." I seethed.
Apollo stared at me for a moment, before exhaling slowly.
"Artemis…" Apollo said slowly. "Did you…" He took a moment to compose himself. "Did you really need to include-"
"The part about Father searing every molecule in your body?"
He nodded once, glancing away. Those memories were painful, years and years ago when we were young gods still learning the way of Olympus.. Zeus used to.. Punish him with the bolts. I can still see his terrified expression the first time Zeus got mad. I can hear his scream as he was shocked. I clenched my fist. I have always hated seeing my brother hurt. I remember him once telling me that it was easier to hate the lightning bolts than hating our father. When he killed the Cyclopes that made the bolts he told me it wasn't just for revenge for his son, he partially did it because he hated the lightning bolts. I took a deep breath. "If.. If I was to get my point across about how serious Zeus's anger was, yes. Yes, I did."
Percy didn't comment for a moment, he seemed to be thinking of something, although I couldn't imagine what. After what seemed like ages he spoke. "Oh."
Apollo took a long shaky breath, putting his head in his hands. I put a hand on his shoulder, he didn't pull away. I really shouldn't have said that.
"Sorry.." He nodded weakly, I retracted my hand and tried to ignore the pit of guilt in my stomach. Some memories shouldn't be stirred.
There was a long silence before anyone spoke again.
"I.. Chiron must have just forgot." Apollo murmured quietly. "When we get to camp I will see about Chiron dispatching a quest"
Percy sighed. "You see, so here's the thing. To go on a quest, we need a prophecy, right? Those are the rules. If there's no Oracle's, there are no prophecies. So where stuck in a-"
"A Catch-88" Apollo said quietly, glancing at me.
I snorted. That was a joke I had madeyearsago.
Meg threwsomethingat Apollo. Lint? Fabric? I didn't see. "It's a Catch-22 dummy"
"No, It's a Catch-88. Which is four times as bad." Me and Apollo said in perfect sync. He smiled weakly, I laughed to myself.
Meg stared at us. "So you can do the twin talking in sync thing! That's so cool!"
"No Meg," I said, still laughing. "It's an inside joke fromagesago… How many years now? 62? Something like that"
Apollo nodded. He seemed to be thinking about something, I realized he looked pale. I debated slinging an arm over his shoulder but decided against it.
I thought about the Oracle dilemma. Python lay curled in Delphi as we speak, growing stronger every day. We are weak mortals bound to an untrained demigod. There was a slim chance to retake Delphi in this state.
But someone had known where we would land.Someonehad sent those thugs to mug us in that accursed alley. I scowled. They were going todie.Whoever sent them is going topay. Whoever hurt my brother like that is going to be destroyed. No one, and I meanno onemesses with my little brother and gets away with it.
Nobody can tell the future anymore,Percy had said.
But that wasn't quite true.
"Hey guys," She threw lint at us. Sothat'swhat she threw at Apollo. Where was she getting this lint?
I realized I'd been ignoring her.
"Oh, sorry, Meg," Apollo said with forced cheerfulness. "You see, the Oracle of Delphi is an ancient-"
"I don't care about that," she said. "There are three shiny blobs now."
"What?" Percy asked.
She pointed behind us. "Look."
I turned around like a bullet, looking for the blobs. Sadly, she was right. The blobs passed through the traffic easily and were closing in on us rapidly. There were three glittery, vaguely humanoid blobs. I noticed Apollo was looking just as concerned, but there was a slight grimace of pain on his face. "sit down," I commanded. "You'll hurt yourself, you may have slept a few hours but you're still hurt." Now that I mentioned it, my ribs were throbbing, turning around hadn't been the best idea. I turned around, holding in a wince. Of course, Apollo had to notice, I saw the worry flash in his eyes as he turned forward.
"Your hurt." He deadpanned, looking at me.
"Apollo. I broke a few ribs when I fell, its nothing."
"Just.. you didn't tell me. Why?"
"It didn't seem important.."
"Tell me next time okay?" He sounded truly hurt.
"I will." He glanced at me, then sighed.
"You'd better."
"Just once I'd like an easy commute," Percy grumbled. "Everybody, hold on. We're going cross-country."
Percy's definition of cross-country was very different from ours.
I knew there was notruecountryside near here, so I assumed we would be taking side streets or something. Instead, Percy steered us down the nearest exit ramp, sped across the parking lot of a shopping mall, then flew through the drive-through of a Mexican restaurant. We turned into a more industrial area full of warehouses. The blobs were still closing in behind us at an alarming rate.
Apollo's knuckles turned white on my seat belt shoulder strap, his eyes wide. He had always hated high-speed chases. "Is your plan to avoid a fight by dying in a traffic accident?" He demanded.
"Outrun and outlast," I said. "I'm assuming You has a plan of that sort?"
We sped north, the warehouses abruptly gave way to a mix of apartments and old abandoned shops.
"I'm getting us to the beach. I fight better near water."
"Because Poseidon?" Meg asked.
"Yep," Percy agreed. "That pretty much describes my entire life: Because Poseidon."
Meg was bouncing with excitement. It seemed pointless, as the car was already bouncing a lot.
"You're gonna be like Aquaman?" she asked. "Get the fish to fight for you?"
"Thanks," Percy said. "I haven't heard enough Aquaman jokes for one lifetime."
"I wasn't joking!" Meg protested.
Apollo glanced out the rear window, then winced. Either from pain or the fact that the three spirits were still gaining on us. If it was from pain Apollo, I told you so.
One of them passed through a middle-aged man crossing the street. The mortal instantly collapsed.
"Ah, I know these spirits!" Apollo practically screamed. "They are…um… they are..."
His mouth was half open and he looked like he forgot what he was going to say.Great job brother.
"What?" Percy demanded. "They are what?"
"I've forgotten! I hate being mortal! Four thousand years of knowledge, the secrets of the universe-"
"He forgot. Spend time trying to remember not being dramatic."
"Hold on!" Percy flew through a railroad crossing and the Prius went airborne. Meg yelped as her head hit the ceiling. Then she began giggling uncontrollably. Why? Why was she giggling?
This is not funny!
The landscape opened into actual countryside, fields, vineyards, and orchards of bare fruit trees.
"Just another mile or so to the beach," Percy said. "Plus we're almost to the western edge of camp. We can do it. We can do it." He sounded desperate.
So as it turns out, we couldn't. One of the shiny smoke clouds pulled a dirty trick, appearing from the pavement directly in front of us.
Instinctively, Percy swerved.
The Prius went off the road, straight through a barbed wire fence and into an orchard. Wonderful work Perseus. He managed to avoid hitting any of the trees, (I would have hit all the trees) but sadly the car skidded in the icy mud and wedged itself between two trunks. For some reason, the airbags did not deploy. Thank the gods.
Percy popped his seat belt. "You guys okay?"
Apollo looked pale but nodded. "We're fine." The tremor in his voice said otherwise.
Meg shoved against her passenger-side door. "Won't open. Get me out of here!"
Percy tried his own door. It was firmly jammed against the side of a peach tree.
My door wouldn't open either, for a panicked second I thought we were trapped, but Apollo managed to kick his door open. "Back here," He said. "Climb over!"
He staggered out nearly tripping over his own feet, I followed him. Apollo stumbled over to me, a look of mild panic on his face. I steadied him by wrapping an arm around his unsteady shoulders. He was leaning on me now, he looked like he was trying to hide it, but he could hardly stay on his feet.
"..Thanks..." He murmured quietly, so only I would hear. He really wasn't fit to be doing this. I imagined that he was bruised badly from the thugs, and the car crash couldn't have helped. His face was skewed up in pain.
"Do you want me to carry you? Your swaying.." I asked uncertainly, I knew I could carry him from earlier, and he looked like he was going to fall over.
"'M fine.." He managed, but it was obvious hewasn't.
The three glittering smokey figures had stopped at the edge of the orchard. Instead of there speedy advance, they crept forward slowly, taking on clear shapes. They had arms and legs, their gaping mouths too wide and too big.
Apollo froze, his eyes widening. "I know these.. I know these… Iknow these."I could practically hear Apollo thinking, his teeth started chattering, and his grip on my shoulder tightened. His face was so pale he looked like he might faint. Then his hands started shaking, and I knew he was starting to panic.
I could feel my own heart rate pick up as they stumbled forward, my palms started sweating.What do we do? Oh gods there getting closer oh no no noI glanced helplessly to the Prius, Meg and Percy hadn't made it out yet, and they needed time. Apollo pulled away from me, nearly falling as he did so. Did he remember?
"STOP" Great. He's bullshitting his way to success. This won't work. This won't ever work. I won't let them hurt him.I won't let them hurt him.
"Apollo-"
"I am the god Apollo!" I was preparing to drag him away.
To our surprise, the three spirits stopped. They hovered in place about forty feet away.
The Tartarus? Okay. Maybe this will work. Maybe we'll be fine. Maybe he won't get hurt. Maybe we'll be okay. He'll be fine. He'll be fine. He Will Be Fine.
Meg grunted as she tumbled out of the backseat. Percy hurried after her.
Apollo advanced toward the spirits, frozen mud crunching under his shoes. He raised my hand in an ancient three-fingered gesture for warding off evil.This might just work yet.I did the same gesture.
"Leave us or be destroyed!" He told the spirits. "BLOFIS!"
Idiot. I TOLD you that wasn't a word of magic
The smoky shapes trembled. Maybe he had dispatched them? I dared to hope.Maybe we wouldn't need to fight. Maybe it was okay.I half-heartedly waited for them to dissipate or flee in terror.
Sadly, they solidified into gruesome corpses with sunken yellow eyes. Their clothes were in rags, their limbs covered with bloody wounds and disgusting sores.
"Oh, dear." Apollo whimpered, stumbling back and nearly tripping over a hole in the ground, he somehow looked paler. "I remember now."
He stumbled over to me, his eyes wide. He looked terrified. I slung an arm over his shoulders, trying to steady him. He made a sound between a sob and a whimper. I could feel him trembling.
Percy and Meg stepped to either side of us, Apollo's breath caught in his throat as he stared at the walking corpses. With a metallic shink, Percy's pen grew into a Celestial bronze sword.
"Remember what?" he asked. "How to kill these things?"
"No," He murmured quietly, his voice trembling. "I remember what they are: nosoi, plague spirits. Also…" He took a shaky breath "Also they can't be killed."
Nosoi. We're dead.