I try to make it a policy to reply to my reviews. If I can't do it by PM, I'll reply here. So, to the anon reviewer and their super enthusiastic review:
Wow, thanks a bunch! I'm glad that you're enjoying this so much! Glad to see you're enjoying the little Supernatural feel and references here and there, though its still mainly a Percy Jackson story. Just thought it would show how mortal 'heroes' would take the magical world that Half - Bloods would be used to already. There's also nods to other stuff if you can spot them though. The most obvious one is the SMT Devil Survivor summoning COMP (The Megiddo Circuit as its called here since technically they're completely unrelated). I dropped a JoJo's Bizarre Adventures reference in the last chapter too, and you can expect a whole lot more of them throughout the story. Some of them will be pretty obscure and easy to miss, but it's fun to hunt them. On an unrelated note, try to contain your enthusiasm though, we've got kids on the site, eh mate?
With that out of the way, let the chapter commence!
CHAPTER 10: WE GET EXTREME SUNTANS (Riley's thoughts)
*A few hours prior to Hades' meeting*
The journey through the Nevada desert was not a fun one, I can tell you that. Dehydration and exhaustion were our two greatest enemies as we trekked through the parched sands, and I was just hoping that the natural wildlife wouldn't completely remove us from its domain. Toxic scorpions, deadly rattlesnakes, and poisonous lizards were probably eyeing us suspiciously as we clambered over rocks. Of course, I didn't see any of them. If they were that easy to spot, then they wouldn't be such deadly hunters.
After a gruelling two hour journey, we finally stepped foot onto a long, straight road, and could spy civilisation. I could feel the strange stares that people were giving us as we stepped onto it with our haggard appearance.
Zach's trench coat was torn in too many places, and I only hoped the mist our own weapons gave off was enough to hide the shotgun that was visible through the cloth. As for Reika and I, we probably still looked and smelled slightly singed from that fire demon we met earlier. Sure enough, we looked like a strange bunch, and the disapproving glares were getting on my nerves.
"So, what's our next plan of action?" I asked. "You know, after we chow down that is." Zach pulled out his tattered book that he always seemed to carry around.
"Okay, according to Mom's journal, if we go further south from this town, then we'll end up at Area 51. We can't enter there, that's federal government territory, but we can hover around the area as long as we don't get too close. And that's where there have been shady weapons deals being done. I've got a map of their usual spots, so it shouldn't take too long to find them."
"They're trading what exactly?" Reika asked. "Celestial bronze? Imperial gold?"
"If that was the case, they wouldn't be a problem. There's nothing really wrong with trading a few rare minerals like that, but we're talking stuff that can lay down serious hurt on people. From simple hex bags to heroic weapons. Noble phantasms and devil arms. Stuff that was sealed away for centuries, and for good reason."
"How did your mom even find out about this stuff anyway?" Riley asked suspiciously. Zach shook his head.
"I wish I knew. She never told me anything about it. She was hunting down a few witches lately, and she started taking me hunting with her more as well. Then, she just vanished." His expression had become more downcast, his voice lowering as he spoke. I didn't really want to question him more and make him worse, so we pressed on with our journey for food.
The reward for our hard work couldn't come soon enough, and the streets were starting to get eerily empty. Everybody was definitely actively avoiding us. There was a middle aged woman at the other side of the road walking her dog, and a boy looking at his feet with his hands dug firmly in his pockets walking towards us. He didn't seem to notice us as he bumped shoulders with Zach, almost knocking him over as he did so.
He mumbled a quick apology as he started to hurry off when Reika grabbed him by the upper arm.
"Nice try kid," she said, "but I know a pickpocket when I see one…." She was rudely interrupted as the kid violently shook her off, shoving her to the ground as he took off down the street.
"What just-" I began, but Reika ignored me as she got up and flexed her knees.
"Zach, check your stuff, what's missing?"
He patted down his pockets and coat for all his belongings, his eyes going wide as it dawned on him.
"The Megiddo Circuit! He's got it!" It took half a second before it registered in my mind, but Reika was already gone, speeding off in a swirl of dust after him.
She caught up to him in no time, swerving right in front of his path. The kid scrambled backwards in a hurry, ducking off into an alley between two dusty looking buildings. Reika shot after him.
"Riley, let's go," Zach said. I shook my head.
"No need… nobody can get away from Reika." He didn't seem to care as he sprinted after them, tearing into the alley. I shrugged my shoulders and followed him anyway.
Surprisingly, it didn't take too long before we finally found Reika, staring down the brick face of a dead end with a frown on her face.
"I couldn't catch him?" she asked in confusion.
"What? That's impossible, maybe you just missed him?" I suggested, but she was dubious.
"There's no way, he was moving that fast. Just when I almost had him, it's like he vanished…." She trailed off as she stared at the wall. She skated to the wall on her right, riding up that, then leaped off it to the offending dead end, skating up that wall until she was on the roof of the building.
We saw her highlights disappear behind the tiles of the roof, and were just left standing there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
"Can't you track it down or something?" I asked Zach, but he shook his head.
"It's untraceable. If I had summoned a monster, then it might be able to track it for me, but I didn't expect to find a pickpocket in such an empty place…. Wait a minute, why was there a pickpocket here anyway?"
Now that he'd mentioned it, I couldn't help but wonder about that myself. Pickpockets were the norm in big busy cities, but this place was pretty out there. Vegas was probably about a hundred miles away. Plus, what pickpocket tries to steal a game console?
"I'm getting a bad feeling about this," I confessed. Zach nodded in agreement, but at the speed that Reika was moving at, there wasn't much we could do anyway. We waited for about ten minutes before we finally heard the sound of skates rumbling on badly paved concrete.
We turned around to see Reika, doubled over and panting, while her right hand was holding the teenage crook by his upper arm. His arms were bound tightly to his body in rope, and her other arm was clutching the end of it.
"Got him!" she gasped. "He's… he's not normal…."
"What, and you're one to talk?" he replied. His already chestnut coloured skin was smeared with grime and dirt, and the dust on his blue jeans and hoodie revealed he hadn't had the most pleasant experience with Reika (who wears a hoodie in Nevada?) He wore a big set of red headphones around his neck. "You must have been moving at twenty miles an hour easy!"
"You find that impressive? I can do two hundred easy if you try a stunt like that again!" she yelled.
"No way I'm gonna believe that, but if you untie me, I'll give you a chance to prove it. Come on, think of it as a challenge!" He was smiling with a kind of antagonistic charm. Reika didn't even attempt to match it, just glaring at him outright. They looked like best friends already.
Zach walked up to the pair, annoyance clear in his eyes.
"Give me back my game," he said. The boy shrugged his shoulders.
"I would love to, but I'm kind of tied up at the moment." None of us were amused. Reika, still keeping one hand firm on his shoulder, chucked her end of the rope over a large pub sign above us. It landed next to me and I got the idea pretty quick, grabbing it and pulling with all my strength. The boy shot into the air with a yelp as I held him dangling in the air above us. "Oh come on guys, I know you want to hang out, but this is taking things too far, don't ya think?"
"Geez, maybe you're right?" I said. "It seems a little unfair to expect so much from you when we've only just met."
"Exactly!" he exclaimed, then directed his speech to Reika. "See, she gets me. Why can't you be more like her?" Reika was fuming, and I had to step between them to calm her down. That, and hand her the rope (which she barely managed to grab without being dragged up herself).
"So, we'll play a game first. To get to know each other. It will be something like the world's loudest piñata. Except, you're the piñata, and we're the players. That way we'll learn all about what colour your blood is, what you sound like in pain, and we'll be able to punch the game console right out of you like candy!" His pupils dilated as he flashed her a nervous smile.
"H-hey, I'm not too good at party games you know. Besides, I bruise easily."
"Well that's not my problem, now is it?" I slammed my fist into the wall as a demonstration of my strength. I wasn't angry enough to bring out my gloves so it hurt like hell, but cracks started spreading all around the impact zone, and the crashing sound of shattering brick and splintering wood was glorious. Perfect. I tried not to let any tears of pain show in my eyes as I turned back to him. He was sweating now as he realised things weren't going to go well for him.
"Okay, okay! Just, don't hit me alright? Let me down so I can give you the Circuit!" Reika lowered the rope, sending him down to the ground. He gestured to his left with his chin. "Inside my hoodie pocket. Take it, it's yours." Zach fished for it, retrieving the blue device. He examined it closely, opening it up to check. "Can I go now?" he asked. Reika was about to let go of the rope when Zach grabbed it abruptly.
"This is just a regular DS," Zach said. "For that matter, how did you know it was called the 'Circuit' anyway?" Now the pressure was on as we all turned to face him. The sweat was running down in torrents now.
"Hey, guys, there's no need to look at me like that, eh? We can just talk this out like rational human beings…." Zach pulled out his shotgun and pointed it right at his head.
"Well you better start talking before my shotgun does. And if I don't like what I hear, then our conversation will be pretty brief."
"What?! Hey, come on kid, lighten up a little!" He pumped it, prodding his head with the gun.
"Whoa, Zach, relax," I said. "He's a scumbag, but you can't exactly blast his brains out. He's not done anything."
"What, like that creepy old man we met in the bus? I don't believe he's just a regular human. What if he's another demon and we let him get the jump on us?"
"I'm not a demon!" he screamed. "I'm a demigod, just like you guys! So there's no need to panic! And, and I can get your Megiddo Circuit back, I promise! Just give me a few days-"
"I'll give you today and that's it," Zach snarled.
"What?! But then I-" He was cut off by another not – so – gentle prod to the forehead. "Okay! I'll get it today! For reals this time!"
"And I'll accompany you, just to make sure," Zach said. "Try anything funny or try to backstab me, and I'll drag you to hell with me." The relief was plain on his face as Zach pulled away the shotgun, and he looked like he was ready to faint. Actually, the relief was clear on all of us. I didn't want to see Zach kill such a hapless looking guy. I'd never really seen this side of him before, only a few hints when he was hunting monsters. Something about it just scared me. "So, who are you?" It took a while before the boy had calmed down enough to talk normally.
"The name's Zodiac," he said. "Certified procurer of all things shiny and valuable. Demigod child of Iris."
"Wait, as in Iris, goddess of the rainbow?" Reika asked, barely concealing a chuckle.
"Yes, indulging in all things bright and colourful. Might explain my love of everything shiny. Especially money. Hey, nice necklace, can I borrow it?" I defensively clutched my camp beads, eyeing him cautiously.
"Talk less about my jewellery, and more about what you did with the Circuit," I suggested.
"Right… well, when I was running from that weird Asian chick, I deposited the Circuit already." Said 'weird Asian chick' didn't seem too happy about how she was labelled, and took over the interrogation.
"Alright, where did you deposit it? You have to have left it somewhere or with someone."
"There was this agent, some weird tall guy in a leather jacket and studded gloves. He looked like he could bench press two of me, and was wearing big black sunglasses and a weird earpiece. Oh yeah, he had a big, brassy kind of voice and a birthmark on his left cheek."
"That's… surprisingly descriptive."
"What can I say? I don't forget the faces of people who promised to pay me. And I was in the process of getting my cash too when you dived through the window and interrupted my transaction. I was in such a hurry that I dropped it. Now thanks to you, I haven't even been paid for my deal!"
"Show us where it was," Zach commanded. "If you try anything funny, you already know what will happen to you."
We marched through the streets with a glum looking Zodiac leading the way, still tied up so he couldn't escape. There weren't enough people on the streets to cause a scene, but the few people we met stared at us throughout our entire journey.
Finally, we stopped by a set of apartment buildings with a broken window that must have been where Reika made her spectacular entrance. I was clutching on tight to the rope while the others peered through the window.
"So you dropped it in there, right?" I asked. Zodiac nodded, and then shut his eyes. Reika got flustered all of a sudden.
"Oh wait, Riley, I should probably warn you…." Her warning got cut off as it felt like the whole world was spinning around me, like I was inside some kind of giant washing machine on spin cycle. I felt nauseous, light headed, and stuffed to the brim all at the same time as I tried to reorient myself once the world became still again. I was no longer stood outside with Zach and Reika, but now I was inside the bottom floor of the apartment, still clutching tight to the rope that bound Zodiac.
"Yeah, I probably should have mentioned it," he said. "I can kind of teleport. Did I forget?"
"How can you forget an important detail like that?!" I roared. He ignored me as he looked around. It looked like a wreck, what little furniture there was either upturned of torn in half. A vase had been smashed to the floor, the flowers bleeding water as it formed a sick puddle around it. There was a tiny television in the corner, but that had been smashed. Whatever fight he'd had with Reika must have been pretty intense. But of course, there was no sight of the Megiddo Circuit or his payment for it.
"Looks like he definitely took it," Zodiac said. "If I know that guy, we won't be able to trace him for it either. You only ever find him when he wants to find you."
"Great. So, how are we going to get it back then?"
"Simple. We trap him in a place where we know he'll turn up, then steal it back. Or in my case, steal back my money. You can take your stupid gadget as long as I get paid for it."
"You're going to not die. Isn't that payment enough?"
"Of course not. That's how underachievers think. I'm beyond that. I'm a forward thinking, entrepreneurial youth who's set great expectations for myself." I rolled my eyes at him as the world swirled around us again. When the spinning slowed down, it became the streets again, with Zach and Reika waiting patiently for us.
"So, not here?" she asked. Zodiac shook his head.
"The bad news is that we can't trace the guy very easily. At the very least, it will take more than a few days."
"Bad news tends to come with good news," Zach said.
"Well, the not so great news is that we can find him tonight. The problem is where. Tonight there's a big trade – off going on in the middle of the desert, outside Area 51. Getting close to them without the Federal Government killing us with missiles is already a mission, but if we're too late, then I lose my money, and you lose the Circuit." Zach shrugged his shoulders.
"So much for the good news I guess. Come on, let's get ourselves prepped up. Zodiac won't mind lending us his apartment, right?"
"Be my guest, it already looks like Hurricane Katrina passed through it. Although, if you're going to enlist my services, it might help a bit if you loosened up these ropes. You know, give me freedom of movement and all? It's not like running away benefits me. I still won't get my money, and you won't get your Circuit." After untying him, Zach started heading towards the door, resting his hand on the edge of the doorway as he entered. We all walked in, stepping on broken glass and splintered wood.
Our first order of business before doing anything else was dining on some kind of food, in this case cold pizza (since the microwave had been pretty badly damaged). After the struggle for food we'd been through, the pizza felt like a royal banquet. Our second order of business were showers with (more or less) hot water. The water felt blissful on my skin, and I almost felt like I'd forgotten what soap and shampoo was, even though it had only been a few days.
While everybody else was showering, I did a quick sweep of the area (like, literally sweeping the place so we wouldn't cut ourselves if we touched anything). I sat down on the last remaining chair and pulled it up to the messy bed so that we were all together. Zodiac seemed to take it upon himself to stand at the opposite side of the room by a big pin up board filled with loose sheets and building blueprints. He tore those down so we were staring at a blank wall, then pinned up a different sheet showing an aerial Google Earth view of Area 51.
"Alright, let's go over the operation," he said with theatrical brilliance, complete with a flickering, swinging lightbulb over his head. "Area 51 is a couple of miles south of here. I know a demigod taxi driver who owes me a favour too many, so he'll get us there the second I say it. The deals start around eleven, and go on until midnight. They use a different spot each night, and shuffle the order so nobody can track it, but tonight, they should be at this point here." He gestured at a point at the top of the map. "Everybody is armed, and there's a mix of mortals and non – mortals, so that's gonna make it hard for us to fight them."
"Wait, what are mortals doing here?" Reika asked. "Can they even see through the mist?"
"They're probably hunters," Zach said. "Mist or no mist, we tend to know how to find some pretty rare stuff, and we can usually make good change for it if we have to. Most of the time we destroy it though. Chances shouldn't be taken with magic." Zodiac cleared his throat to continue.
"These aren't your standard hunters. All of them are like that guy I was telling you about. They're all experienced and dangerous with some funky taste in ear wear. They're also all packing mac – 10 submachine guns. Two magazines loaded with lead bullets, two with Imperial gold. Effective against mortals, monsters, and demigods. You don't want to get hit by them.
"As for the monsters, there's a bunch of Scythian Dracaena in their usual gladiator styled gear: spears and nets. Their sense of smell is sharp, so don't stay downwind. Their ace and joker are these two puppies though."
He stuck a picture of a giant shirtless guy with super hairy, super tattooed arms and beach shorts onto the board.
"Is that like, some kind of ogre?" Zach asked, leaning on his own knee to get a closer look.
"I think it's a Canadian," Reika countered.
"Close. Well, the first guess at least," Zodiac answered. "That's a laistrygonian giant. They're big and dumb and have a tendency to sink boats and eat human flesh. This is a normal one, and they aren't much of a problem. But imagine three of them, and they've all been body building."
"Oh. That's bad, isn't it?"
"Very. Partnered up with these guys too." He stuck another similar picture on the board, but this one looked like it had been starved, and was much taller and lankier. Its eyes were sunken in and soulless. "Don't let his appearance fool you, he's just as scary. This is a wendigo. Surprise, surprise, they also like human flesh, and there's three of them. Whenever they come, the Dracaena always bring one of these groups with them on a chain so the humans can't try any funny business. Killing them is hard. Fire's your best bet with the wendigo, but unless brute force is your thing, you can forget about fighting the giants. All in all, fighting is not an option."
"So we sneak in, right?" Reika asked.
"Correctomundo my child! And we do that behind this rock formation!" He pointed at a big clump of boulders above the designated meeting place. "We sneak within range of them at this point here. Once I've got them within visuals, we wait for all the players to arrive. The first thing the humans will want to trade is the Megiddo Circuit. That agent I was here with probably hasn't met his employer yet, so he'll do that first. The dracaena won't have started any trades yet. Once it's visual, I'll use my awesome teleporting trick to appear, yank it out of his hands, and disappear.
"I can't teleport too far repeatedly, so when I get to them, you're gonna have to make a distraction to let me escape. That's where super speed girl comes in. You'll be at this point here, to their east where the monsters can smell you. They'll get their attention up and come looking for you while we steal the gadget, and their forces will split. From the way I see it, the kid with the goggles is the only one who uses guns, so he's best suited with me dealing with other humans. Once I've got the gadget, goggle head will summon something big and get us the heck out of there. Sounds fair?"
"Sounds like a death trap," Reika said.
"But I'm in," I added. Reika looked at me like I was nuts.
"This plan just looks like we're this idiot's meat shields!" she yelled. "Specifically, I'm the meat shield!"
"Well then, that will teach you to beat up the brains of the operation," Zodiac said with a smirk. "I'm like your white mage right now. I'm the only one who knows the land or has the power to steal back the Circuit, so if you mess with me, your whole plan is a bust. You dig?"
"I'll dig you a grave," Reika mumbled under her breath. It was probably a good thing this plan didn't involve the two of them staying in the same place.
"Relax Reika, I'll come with you," I said reassuringly. "Killing monsters is my specialty, remember?"
"Killing everything is your specialty," she remarked slyly. "Just, try not to steal victory from right under our noses, alright Z?" He shot daggers at her. Yeah, it was a really good thing they wouldn't be in the same place by nightfall. They fought like cats and dogs.
"So wendigoes are weak to fire?" Zach clarified. "If that's the case, then I'm gonna have to gear up to deal with it." He tried getting up, then collapsed back onto the bed. With a frown, he tried again, but his legs were wobbling as he forced himself to his feet. I grabbed his shoulder and gently pushed him back onto the bed again (okay, maybe it wasn't so gentle).
"Zach, relax," I said. "You've been up the whole day powering Suparna, right? You need a break, or else your body's gonna quit on you."
"I'm fine. This is nothing."
"No kiddo, you're not," Zodiac said. "If you end up passing out when things get hairy, we are not going back to get you." Reika and I glared at him with the force of fire itself. "What? Okay, I'm not going back for you. But if those two do then you're all dead. See the problem here? I need you three alive if I want my money, and obviously you need to be living to get back the Circuit. So get some shut eye. We'll take care of the rest." Zach reluctantly nodded his head, taking off his cloak and slipping his shotgun under the bed as he curled up to sleep.
"You're a thief, right?" Zach asked.
"Certified procurer of all things valuable to all people, yes."
"Then find a way to get me a pistol and some led bullets. My shotgun won't harm them with celestial bronze, but if I have to fight them, I'd like something a bit less fatal." He passed out while Zodiac was in the middle of a long winded confirmation. Reika started giggling and I looked at her questioningly.
"He goes to sleep so quickly. I swear he's like a big baby, he just eats and sleeps!"
"Take away the shotgun and add a lot of crying and I think I see what you mean," I agreed. Great. Now I couldn't stop picturing him in a giant adult diaper.
"Well, I might as well start on acquiring stuff to prepare," he said.
"Oh no, I'm not letting you go anywhere out of our sight!" Reika said, grabbing his shoulder just before they both teleported out of the room. They returned ten minutes later with a small handgun, ammunition, and a few flare guns.
"This is a stealth operation, what the heck are you doing with those?" I asked. "Signalling the cops maybe?"
"Just in case the Wendigo catches onto us early, this should do the trick. Now that we've got the plan in order, let's take the time now to relax, gather our strength, get ourselves mentally prepared."
Waiting was not my strong point. Actually, waiting wasn't any of our strong points, and telling a bunch of ADHD kids to sit still for hours isn't exactly the wisest idea in the world. Luckily, Zodiac had a plan of action, with a big retro looking arcade version of Street Fighter in the only other room in the whole apartment. If I ignored the times when Zodiac and Reika were almost pushed to exchanging actual blows, it was pretty fun. Then the sun started to set and the air turned cold.
Zach arose like a dead man from the coffin, with plenty of moaning and a horrifying case of bedhead. We stepped outside to the most dangerous looking taxi I'd ever seen (perhaps minus the Gray Sisters' taxi).
This car was a second gen Ford Crown Victoria, you know, the kind you see used as police cars, and there were orange flame decals painted over the dirty yellow paint, and a flaming skull painted on the hood. It didn't help matters that the car had spinning rims and tinted black windows obscuring the driver. The window scrolled down, but the car's interior was still dark and obscured, so the only thing that was visible of the driver was a big, hairy, hulked out arm with a surprisingly detailed tattoo on the forearm.
"Hey, BP," Zodiac called as he approached the window. "Take us as close to Area 51 as you can get!" He then turned to us. "Come on guys, get in. It's more comfy than it looks."
"It was not more comfy than it looked. It was the exact opposite actually. The ride was bumpy and uncomfortable, and the seats had red stains on them. And that was all while ignore the slightly diseased smell of the car's interior. The rear seats where we were seated were separated from the front seats with Zodiac and our very sketchy driver.
The journey was undertaken in complete and total silence apart from the sputtering engine that sounded like it needed immediate medical attention. I could feel the tension in the air rising with each passing second. I was used to being jumped at random by monsters, but when you knew that you were walking into a brawl, it was a different thing altogether. Sure, there was the confidence from being ready, but there was the flipside of the same coin. It was like there was this mounting dread that something could go wrong, and somebody could get hurt. That somebody could be me.
After an infinitely long car ride, the car slowed to a halt on the side of a dusty road. By now it was nightfall, and the great expanse of nothing was barely illuminated by the light of a full moon. We trekked across the desert, keeping ourselves low to the ground until eventually I could see a fenced off facility in the distance. It was hard to see clearly but it looked like some kind of military base or airport. That had to be Area 51. Between us and the great facility was a gathering of people and a few trucks. I could just barely make out their silhouettes, but they didn't all look human. Amongst them were a few larger hulking individuals that towered over the rest. What really got my attention though, was a big stone tablet right in the middle of them all.
Even from where I was stood, I could see what it was. It looked like somebody had taken a sledgehammer to it and somebody tried gluing it together, with hundreds of cracks still in it and big chunks missing. It was about half my height and made of some weird cream coloured rock. It was emitting a bright golden light, making it almost like a gigantic torch. Actually, emitting light isn't the correct term. This was more like there was light shining down on it from an unknown source, but no matter how hard I looked above it, I couldn't really tell where it was coming from. I tore my eyes away from it before the sight could drive me mad.
"What's that?" I whispered to Zodiac.
"That, is an interesting piece of hardware of which I have no knowledge," he replied. "But it is strange. I see it here every now and then. It would be a good idea to leave it alone. Oh, there's the guy we're looking for!" I couldn't make him out clearly or see the earpiece until he got within range of the glowing tablet, but he seemed to fit the description. Big and bald, black earpiece sticking into his ear, sunglasses (in the middle of the night?) and a leather jacket. At least he wasn't in a black suit.
There were more humans coming from the other side of the tablet, and a little to their right were the Scythian dracaena, slithering their way through the desert floor.
"Okay, we're running low on time," Zodiac said. "You know what the plan is. Riley, Reika, go."
We nodded our heads and got to work. While Zach and Zodiac went in one direction, we went the other way, trying not to trip with how little visibility there was. It didn't take long for a few dracaena to suddenly change their course, heading towards us instead. They must have sniffed us out already, just like Zodiac predicted.
"Alright, let's go!" I whispered as I was about to launch myself over our cover. Reika grabbed me and yanked me back down. "What was that for?" I asked.
"We have to wait for Zodiac to start his side of the operation. We act now, and we might never see the Megiddo Circuit again." I was getting more and more edgy the longer we waited, especially with those dracaena getting closer and closer to our hiding spot. It was only a matter of time before one of them found us, and then it would be over.
I was so busy eyeing the monsters that I almost didn't notice when I heard the human yell in surprise. I looked up to see Zodiac by his side, having a tug of war with him over the device. He gave him a spirit crushing low blow and snatched the device out of his hands. That was the part that went according to plan. What happened next was a different story though. He went around teleporting rapidly between the humans and dracaena, pickpocketing different things from them. Items and trinkets, briefcases and wallets that probably had money, that kind of stuff.
"That idiot!" I roared. "He's meant to get in, then get out!" I guess I forgot I was meant to be in hiding, because the nearby dracaena all turned to me with an angry hiss.
"Go, go, go!" Reika yelled, jumping up from behind cover. Too late to hide I guess. I sprinted towards the first dracaena, narrowly rolling out of the way of an incoming spear. I punched it in the face, sending it backwards staggering. My gloves still hadn't appeared yet, so until that happened I was weaponless. No problem, it was fun this way.
Two of them circled me while two stood in front of me as a distraction. I recognised this, but I wasn't going to fall for it a second time. I just narrowly avoided the spears until I could catch one. I yanked on it hard, pulling its owner towards me as I elbowed her in the face. That did the trick as she went limp, letting go of her spear. I grabbed her and tossed her behind me at the dracaena with the net. They tossed it, only to ensnare their comrade, and now I had a new spear.
I whirled around again, parrying the last one's spear before stabbing her instead. She deflected it with ease using her shield, charging for me instead.
Reika appeared from her side, leaping and digging her rollerblades into her side. She went flying, rolling through the ground as she started turning to dust, leaving behind a set of armour and a shield. That would do.
I sprinted towards it, rolling as I pulled it off the ground, and held up my weapons, spear arm upraised with the shield in front of me, perfect Spartan fighting position.
It was hard to see around me, but my other senses were starting to take over already. I could hear the clatter of armour behind me as two or three dracaena charged at me from there. Ahead of me were a few more, but Reika seemed to be keeping them occupied. I could hear rapid gunshots to my right, probably the mortals fighting each other, and I didn't care enough to wonder where Zodiac was. That's when it hit me. Literally.
I felt something slam into me from my left, sending me careening through the dust. I was lucky to be able to hold onto my weapons. When I got back to my feat, whatever it was had vanished. I felt it again, this time grabbing me from behind in a massive bear hug. I tried to wriggle free, but it was like I'd been tied with iron bars. The smell coming off of it was enough to make me gag, and I could feel sharp, jutting ribs digging into my back. It must have been the wendigo. Why was it so silent? I hadn't even heard it coming, let alone seen it!
Ahead of me were two gigantic men with tattoos all over their body and serrated teeth. One was in a vest, the other was shirtless, both in beach shorts. Even by demigod standards they were too big to be human, so those were probably the giants. They were a bit more obvious, the jangle of a chain wrapped around their necks signalling each movement they made. They were both holding clubs that were died a suspicious red.
Fury started to fill my body. I wasn't going to die by being hugged to death by some giant dieter and his drinking buddy. I could feel my blood running hot through my veins, and feel the flames of Ares envelop me. I loosened the wendigo's grip just enough to elbow him in the gut. While he was reeling, I punched his jaw and ran, still clutching the spear and shield. Sure, I had my gloves back, but the reach advantage of their inhuman arms was too much to take a chance with.
One of the giants swung his club at me. I held up my shield to block. Big mistake. Blessing of Ares or not, I felt the shock of that one all the way up in my teeth. His shirtless amigo raised his club to finish me when Reika jumped on his back, beating him on the head repeatedly with a rock. It didn't seem to do much more than annoy him slightly as he peeled her off and slammed her to the ground.
"No!" I screamed, hurling my spear at his face. It caught him right between the eyes, a scream like scraping metal filling the air as he turned to dust. The second one snarled, raising his club for another swing. This time, I tossed my shield like a Frisbee, the disc embedding itself in his mouth, and almost out the other side of his head. After a few staggered seconds, he collapsed to his knees, dissipating into yellow sand as well.
I pulled the shield out, but I still didn't know where the wendigo was, and if what Zodiac said was right, then I wouldn't be able to beat it. Tie that together with my aching shoulder and Reika's near unconscious form on the ground, and things were looking bad.
Well, they were looking bad. Then they got a thousand times worse. The ground was trembling beneath my feet. No… it was tearing itself apart, crevices opening and gaping holes ripping themselves into existence. The air shook and vibrated with power, like the very air was having its own quake. A loud, unearthly groan filled the air, like somebody was twisting and tearing a gigantic sheet of metal above our heads. And the light. Oh man the light.
Everything went dark for just a second. No lights, no stars, no moon or fire, nothing. Then, it was like a gigantic lightbulb had been turned on inside my skull. Bright and searing, burning my eyes, my head, my lungs my everything. I couldn't see, I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. Closing my eyes wasn't helping, I could only clutch my head and cry. The tears probably weren't coming because they were evaporating off of my face. After an eternity of probably only ten seconds, it died down to bearable levels, and I could open my eyes without wincing.
The broken apart tablet from before was now a shining white with a golden rim around the parts that weren't destroyed. The light coming off of it was like the light of the heavens itself. The glow from celestial bronze was like a broken glow stick by comparison. Just looking at it was a bit like sitting under a five ton elephant. The pressure was ridiculous, like somebody was trying to crush my lungs, and I felt like any moment now, my lungs would just shatter. The only thing that probably kept me from passing out was the blessing of Ares, though it felt like a curse right at that moment. Everything within twenty metres of the thing had just completely disappeared in a glorious blaze of light and fire.
It was so quick, I almost missed it. The thin tendril of light that extended from it, lashing out like a king cobra and striking the big earpiece wearing man in nanoseconds. There wasn't anything left of him but a pair of sunglasses and sneakers. A few more tendrils lashed out, hitting everything nearby with expert precision. Two men in lab coats, and five more like its first victim were reduced to smouldering piles of clothes. The monsters nearby didn't even receive that courtesy, disintegrating outright, clothes and all.
Everyone started running in different directions. Some even ran towards Area 51, ignoring the sirens that went off a few seconds after the start of the event. Two even tried climbing over the fence, only to be shot down like dogs (then cleaned up like dust by two particularly adventurous talons of light).
This rush of energy, a voice said. Deep and archaic, rumbling like the earth with the strength of fire, calm as the ocean with the clarity of air, it was an indescribable voice. A voice that sounded as old as time itself, and just as unforgiving. It resonated within me and all around me at the same time. I wasn't even sure it was speaking English, or any known language for that matter, or how I understood it. This feels like it comes from heaven itself. But no, that cannot be. I have already been forsaken. Whatever it is, I must witness its strength again when I have eyes to view it.
I'm not sure what let me know this, but I could tell it was addressing me now. Child of war, I can feel your strength. I can feel your lust for battle and desire of power. Your thirst for blood is exquisite, truly exemplary of the human race. I know that you can do great and terrible things with that power….
I didn't have much choice but to listen, what with the voice being drilled into my brain, but as he was speaking, I was noticing something odd. The people around me were starting to collapse, like they were being drained of their strength, then pushed into the ground. The effects were worse the closer they got to the tablet. Reika was already down, but her breathing now looked laboured, and I could see her veins through her skin. It was so bright that I could see Zach and Zodiac clearly in the distance, though they probably weren't paying attention to me as they were too busy passing out to notice.
"What are you doing to them?" I asked. "They're in pain."
They just aren't strong enough to handle my presence, the voice replied. If they stay in this atmosphere for too long, they'll perish. But you seem to be different. I guess the difference was pretty small, because I could barely breathe either. I know your type. You will do a lot for power. I can help you to maximise that power. Good or evil, you will have the power to do what you wish with it. And nobody will be able to stop you. Not even the pagans.
"Stop hurting them," I said, barely audible above my laboured breathing. I took a step towards the tablet. It felt like I was walking under tent times normal gravity, and my next step was like ten times that. "You'll 'maximise my power'? What kind of sales line is that? Even if your offer is tempting, I'm not gonna listen to somebody who tries to kill my friends just to crack a deal. It's bad practice, so you can take your offer, and shove it back to whatever hole you crawled out from!"
That seemed to get him mad. The ground started shaking with even more force than before, and I was sent straight to my butt in a most undignified manner.
A pity. It would have been fun to see how far I could push humanity's strength. Well, I have no more use for you then. Let me stretch my legs, in a manner of speaking. The light started brightening again. I didn't think I could take a second dosage of the not – so – glorious light, but I shut my eyes anyway.
It felt like an eternity had passed waiting for my impending doom. As it got quiet and the ground stopped shaking, I guess I kind of realised that my impending doom wasn't so impending anymore, and opened my eyes. As you can imagine, I was just as surprised to find Chiron sort of/ kind of kneeling in the corner of a small, dimly lit room as he was to see me.
"Riley?" he asked in alarm. It looked like he had just been sleeping as he was wearing a fuzzy blue night cap on his head and a blue pyjama shirt. His legs were in full horse mode. "Zach, Reika, what are you doing here? No, a better question is, how did you get here?"
"That's a question I'd like the answer to myself," Zach replied. Reika was still on the floor, though her breathing seemed to have become regular again. It was too dark to see anything clearly since most of the light in the room was coming off of my gauntlets. Chiron stood up properly and squeezed between us all to the other side of the room to hit the light switch. I think we all gasped as soon as the room lit up just to reveal a tall, incredibly pale man, with shoulder length hair as dark as coals and a braided golden crown.
He was dressed in black silk robes that seemed to twist and churn with living shadows, and the power radiating off of him felt like it was compelling my heart to stop. This was the Lord of the Dead himself, Hades. He carried Zodiac by his jumper in his right hand, the boy squirming and kicking for a few seconds before he looked up and realised who was carrying him. Hades dropped him, and he scrambled away from him, tripping over Reika and hitting his head against the leg of a desk.
"We have a problem," Hades said. "It has to do with the Ten Commandments. The original ones." Chiron reeled in shock, his muscles all going taut as he clenched his fists.
"This cannot be…. Has… has the power of the Morning Star been released?"
"There's only one way to find out," Hades replied, and he stepped backwards into the wall, slinking into the shadows and disappearing from sight.
"The Morning Star?" I asked. "What's that?" Chiron's face looked drained of all colour, and it suddenly didn't look like the best time to interrogate him, but he swallowed his fear and tried to answer anyways.
"Morning Star," Zach began, "is the devil himself, Lucifer."
My blood turned to ice in my veins. The lightbulb seemed to flicker and the wind outside howled louder for a second. All the shadows stretched further and distorted more. Nothing seemed safe anymore. "In Judeo – Christian myth, Lucifer was originally an angel, the strongest one. But he fell out with his family and was cast straight to Tartarus. But Hades can't be talking about the same guy, can he?" We all turned our attention to Chiron. His expression was paused in thought, deep thought. He opened his mouth, and hung there for a second, as if he was contemplating whether he should tell us something, and how much he should tell us.
"Yes, and no," he finally said. "The so – called 'Devil' is not someone that we should be concerned with. He is still trapped in Tartarus. The prophecies concerning him are unrelated to our own. But still, for Hades to show himself just to save a bunch of demigods and a mortal… what happened?"
We tried relating our quest to him as quickly as possible. As much as I wanted to brag about my battles and victories, this didn't seem like the time or place. When I was done, Chiron looked a lot more disturbed than he was before.
"I think I get it," he said. "Before The Morning Star was cast from heaven, he fought against his brother, Michael, in a cataclysmic battle. When he was defeated, The Morning Star was stripped of his powers and title as a Seraphim, and cast down into the underworld. Still, you cannot destroy energy so easily, especially energy like that of a god. The Morning Star's power, or 'Grace' as it is called, was compressed and sealed inside Mount Sinai."
"Okay," Zodiac started, "so this big hunk of rock was now turned into a radioactive big hunk of rock?" Chiron ignored him completely and carried on.
"Normally, Grace from an angel isn't harmful. In fact, most of it was stored in a single tablet chiselled from the mountain with a list of ten laws the people there had to follow."
"The original Ten Commandments," Zach said. "But, weren't those destroyed? I don't remember the last time I stepped foot in a church or read a Bible, but I remember that Moses got angry at some point and wrecked it 'cause nobody was following them. Not much different from now I guess…."
"Yes, but you can't destroy energy like that. All it needed was for somebody to find all the pieces and put them together like a jigsaw. The pieces are known by most as Shards of Samael, and together they would form Samael's Tablet, a relic of unimaginable power."
"Oh yeah, I saw something like that!" I chimed in. "There was this weird pile of rocks, and some of the humans and monsters added bits to it. Then, it suddenly got all bright and started changing colours. So what, that was Luci's Grace?"
"Possibly. For us, Samael's Tablet is a bit of a myth. I don't even know if it's real. If it is, that still doesn't explain who, or what that voice you heard was."
"Got any clues?" If he did, he wasn't willing to share them, as his expression darkened like thunderclouds. If this was the calm before the storm, then the storm was going to be a hurricane. The sombre atmosphere seemed to make us forget that we had just been fighting for our lives, as suddenly I remembered that Reika was still prone on the floor. She was coming round, and didn't seem too hurt, just disoriented. Zach, however, was a different story. I saw a few drops of blood hit the floorboards, and turned to look at him. He realised what was happening too and looked at his arm.
There was a big red liquid patch spreading across his right shoulder, even staining what was left of his coat. He clutched it in pain, trying in vain to stop the bleeding.
"Riley, apply pressure to the wound," Chiron commanded me. "I'm getting a first – aid kit. Zachariah, try not to move around too much. It will make the bleeding worse."
"Right," he replied. "I think it's a bullet wound. It really freaking hurts." I was tempted to go get some ambrosia, but I remembered that Zach couldn't take any without disintegrating. I led him towards the desk and sat him down on it since there weren't any chairs or a bed.
"You got shot?" I asked him.
"Apparently I did," he replied. "Who knew, huh?"
"You idiot, why didn't you say something?"
"Well I was too busy thinking I was going to be vaporised to think about the minor injury in my arm."
"It could be infected. We could have to amputate your whole arm and sever the nerves to your spine."
"Now you made that bit up to scare me."
"It doesn't matter, just say something next time!" Zach just shrugged his shoulders, which immediately sent him into a fit of pain and below his breath cursing.
"Look, forget about my arm for a second," he said through his gritted teeth. "Our problem is that weird Samael Tablet or whatever. That thing was way too strong to be part of some back alley deal. If that was what Mom was chasing, then I think we've just dived into the deep end."
"That's an understatement. That thing was unreasonably strong. And I think it's sentient too. That voice that I heard… It was definitely coming from the tablet."
"But, Chiron said that Samael's Tablet was just filled with energy," Zodiac said. "That's like expecting a battery to come to life."
"Well whatever it was, it came from the tablet, and it was going to kill us with ease. As we are now, we can't fight it."
"I think we can't fight it, period. What the hell are we meant to do against something like that? Hell, what are we meant to do in general? After that, I'm not sure I even have the guts to step outside."
"Simple," I replied. I wasn't too good at following all of this talk about theories and theologies, but I was good at the practical, hands on stuff. There was only one answer that made sense in my head.
"We train. We train, train, and train some more. We train until our bodies can't move and our minds scream for rest, and then we train some more. We build up our power and gather our courage. We pool together our strength and sharpen our blades against each other's wills. And then, we go back for a rematch against that immortal rock and smash him into a thousand bits. After all, we're heroes. It's our job to create hope where none exists, and cleave a path to victory. It's just what we do."