Chapter 14

A Polar Bear Drops By for a Chat

About two weeks after the first Laistrygonian came for a visit the monster appearances got more common. And I don't mean just a little. Before it had stayed pretty consistent at about one every three days, and never anything too crazy. A few dracaena, or a runty hellhound or two. But after the shift, nearly overnight, they just wouldn't stop coming.

Five groups a day, sometimes showing up just minutes apart, for a whole week. The monsters themselves weren't any more dangerous than the earlier ones, but there was no end to them. As their numbers climbed Andi started tossing a few bones my way, letting me pick off a few dracaena or score a hit on a distracted hellhound's leg.

That day it had been all dracaena, three groups before lunchtime. We'd just finished dealing with the latest bunch, the dust from them laying in piles around the area we used for training. Off to one side the array of tennis and bowling balls lay scattered around Andi's trusty duffle bag, their use temporarily cut short.

"This is getting on my nerves," Andi growled.

"They just keep coming," I agreed.

She let her spear slide back into the earth before using the freed hand to punch a nearby tree. The bark shattered as if a mace had struck it. "How am I supposed to train you when we get interrupted as soon as we start up? This is maddening."

I didn't have anything to offer. In truth I was almost as annoyed. I had no love for ducking and weaving through heavy blunt objects, but a few times I'd actually nicked the tennis ball, and I couldn't fight the feeling that I was close to spearing it outright.

"What can we do about it?" I asked.

Andi set her mouth in a line. "Nothing, for now. But if I catch whoever's sending them here…"

"Ooh, that doesn't sound good."

We whipped around. Lumbering toward us were two absolutely massive Laistrygonians, the biggest ones I'd ever seen. Not only that, they were well equipped. Each was wearing a clumsy but solid looking breastplate made of smelted car hoods and had a sword as tall as a door sheathed at their sides.

Between the giants strolled the speaker, an African American girl that looked a few years older than me. Her hair was curly and messy, but in a carefully designed way. She walked with an awkward sort of limp, like one leg was slightly longer than the other, but it was impossible to see why beneath her leather pants. Her grey windbreaker was unzipped to show off a black t-shirt with a My Little Pony design on it, except the pink horse had exes over the eyes and twin red dots on its neck. I wondered if it was custom-made.

"I was wondering where all the useful bugs had been disappearing to around here," she said, stopping a distance away with her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket. "Turns out some slightly bigger bugs were eating them all up."

Andi stepped forward, subtly putting herself between me and the visitors.

"Not a lot of people stroll right up to me talking like that," Andi said. Her face split into a grin. "I missed it. Usually, a fight comes after."

"Eager, hm?" The girl looked Andi up and down. "Maybe you should be putting some of that enthusiasm into choosing outfits. You look hideous, and leather armor was so five centuries ago. But I'm not after a fight. Really."

"You sure aren't talking like it," Andi said.

The girl shrugged. "I'm just giving advice, no need to get testy. Besides, I'm not the one whose been damaging property." She swept her head toward the dust piles around us. "Those things grow back, but it takes too long. The decent thing for you to do would've been to die so they could do their jobs."

"That doesn't really work for us," I said.

The girl looked at me, and for a second her brown eyes flared red. A few strands of her hair started to smoke.

"A demigod," she purred, dragging the last syllable. "Your kind are my favorite. I especially love the delectable screams you give in your death throes. They're, like, so cute."

"Well, that's a new one." I lifted Anthea higher, leveling the tip toward her chest. "If you really want to try, I'm right here."

"Gosh," she said, "how many times do I have to tell you two? I'm not here to fight. This is just scouting work and, now that I've found you, a way to deliver a message."

"A message, huh?" Andi cocked her head. "Let's hear it then."

The girl brought a fist to her mouth and cleared her throat. "Here goes. As of, like, right now, you aren't going to kill any monsters, got it? They're off-limits. All of them. Failure to comply with these instructions will qualify as disobedience and earn immediate termination."

Andi snorted. "So you're telling us to lay down and die."

"Oh, geez," The girl rolled her eyes. "Now when did I say that? All I told you to do was not fight back. Where's the dying in that?"

"Probably right around the part where we're supposed to watch the monsters kill us," I muttered. Andi shot me a look that said let me do the talking.

"That isn't going to work for us," Andi said.

She stomped and her spear shot from the ground like a whale spout. She snagged it perfectly, and I blinked. That was a new move.

"I really tried to play this nice," said the girl. "But wow, people just have no manners these days."

She raised her hands and flexed them. At the end of every finger wicked nails glinted like a dagger. Her grin stretched, revealing canines that came to even finer points than her daggerlike nails. From either side her giant guards drew their weapons. The swords weren't particularly sharp but that didn't make me feel much safer. One hit would still squash me as flat as a pancake.

"You do know what I am, don't you?" Andi asked. Despite the impending fight – or likely because of it – her spirits seemed high. "I'm an Androktasiai, incarnation of battlefield slaughter. I am warfare. Attack me to die."

Of all the reactions I expected to that, a pout wasn't at the top of the list.

"I wish you'd just let me dine on- I mean fight your little student instead. Fighting women is no fun at all." Andi took a step forward, the Laistrygonian's tensed, and the girl sighed. "Fine. I guess I'll deal with you quickly. Then I can savor that cute guy behind you."

She sent me a wink that made my toes curl, and the tension snapped.

The Laistrygonians came first, apparently not wanting to let Andi anywhere near their boss. They weren't particularly fast, especially with the armor they were wearing, but that still left them about as scary as charging elephants. The girl followed sedately behind them, apparently content to let her vanguard run its course.

"The one on the right is yours," Andi said to me. "There's no time for handholding. If you die you're a failure, so don't."

It wasn't the most ringing endorsement I'd ever received, but I didn't need much motivation in the first place. Avoiding a massive sword before it could reduce me to paste already had a lot naturally built-in.

Both of the giants were aiming for Andi first, but she took off like a bull and got in close to one, forcing him away. Taking the opening, I rushed his partner.

For all the intimidation factor the armor gave, it came with a cost. As the Laistrygonian tried to reorient and swipe at me the weight slowed him down, making the strike easy to avoid. I got in close and tried to spear his barefoot, but he saw it coming and pulled away.

I tried to keep close to him to prevent him from getting a second swing in, but he lashed out with a knee that sent me rolling away. When I popped back to my feet his arm was already behind his head, preparing to swing his sword like a sledgehammer. I took a half step away, then changed my mind and charged straight for him.

His strike hit the ground behind me with enough force to knock me off balance, but I managed to keep my footing. While he was still bent over from the attack I stabbed straight at his chest. My spear penetrated the outer layer of his breastplate but stopped shy of his chest. Cursing, I pulled it free and ducked through his legs as he dragged his sword along the ground, sweeping through where I'd just stood.

I came out the other side with a free shot and the unprotected backs of his legs and grinned. Checkmate.

"Watch out kid!"

Andi's warning came just in time for me to duck down. A clawed hand slashed above me a moment later.

"Spoilsport," complained the African American girl, standing behind me with her claws extended. "Just accept it. Come on, don't you… want a piece of me?"

The way she said the last bit, warm and inviting and not at all like we were in the middle of a fight, made me want to put away my weapon and follow her around like a duckling. My hands started to sink.

"That's it," she coaxed. I could tell she'd tussled with Andi because there was a spear hole in her jacket, but somehow her face still looked immaculate and inviting. "Just like that. Accept it."

In the time I'd spent with Andi watching her conjured illusions I'd seen my share of cannonballs. Because of that, I can say this with full confidence: bowling balls chucked at fifty miles per hour look almost identical.

The whistling sound must've given the girl some warning, and her reactions were no joke because she managed to twist mostly out of the way. The projectile still clipped her shoulder on the way through, and the cracking noise it gave off sounded almost as bad as the awkward angle of her arm looked.

"Youuuuuuu!" She wailed. All at once her hair spontaneously combusted, rising into the air like a personal fireball on her head. "I'll kill you. Drink the marrow in your bones. Pop your eyeballs like grapes. Send-"

Further threats were cut off by a burst of cold. All over the clearing the shadows seemed to stretch, growing both longer and darker. A weight settled on my spine, like someone had poured a bowl of freezing Jell-O down my shirt and trapped it there. If the looks on the others' faces were any sign, they were all experiencing the exact same sensation.

Then I spotted the strangest thing yet, and I say that as someone staring down a girl that was literally on fire. On the crest of a hill, less than fifty feet away, a polar bear had appeared. It was huge, taller than me while on its four paws, its spotless coat looked fresh from Antarctica, and it was… shaking its head in disappointment?

"I knew this would happen," It boomed in a voice that sounded at once human and more. "It was so easily quantifiable from the personality traits of the involved parties."

"Sir?" The girl's flaming hair went out like it had been dunked in ice water. "Wh- what are you doing here? This is supposed to be my region."

"Indeed it is, Kelli," said the bear. "But as you can see, here I am. And a good thing that is too, seeing as you've gone and mucked up your task. Of course, I was aware that such events would come to pass, and here I am to offset their course."

"No!" shouted Kelli. "I mean, sir, what have I done wrong? I'm just following orders."

The bear harrumphed. "I would be offended by such an answer, were I not already prepared for it. Repeat your orders to me. Precisely."

"In front of them?" Kelli pointed at me and Andi. "Isn't that, like, such an information breach?"

The bear glanced briefly at Andi, then focused its blue-white eyes on me. A chill swept through my body intense enough to bring out goosebumps on my normal arm. I got the sudden feeling that if he decided it I would be an ice block before I knew what was happening.

"They're no issue," the bear finally said, its eyes mercifully moving back to Kelli. After experiencing its attention for myself I could fully understand why her hair had been extinguished. "One of them will have no opportunity to pass it on, and the other will have no desire to. Speak."

Before I could make sense of those ominous words, Kelli cleared her throat and started.

"I'm to gather and organize the recruits from the central East Coast," she said. "If anyone interferes with the process, I'm to give them a warning."

"Just a warning?" the bear asked. "I seem to recall something else."

Kelli stamped her foot. "What, you expect me to ask them to join us? Come on, they aren't even monsters. They won't say yes."

"Ah," said the bear, "but if one did not ask every time they knew the result, I would never find reason to speak at all. Some procedures must always be attended to." He paused and stood up on his hind legs, balancing like a circus animal. "Androktasiai," he spread his front legs wide in the air, "we seek none other than the destruction of Olympus and the reversion of the world to its natural state. In the process, undoubtedly, war will be required on a scale this peaceful world has become unaccustomed to. Will you join us, aim your weapon at the gods, and partake of this bloodshed?"

Andi spat on the ground. "The neat thing about wars," she said, "is that whichever side you choose, you get to fight. No deal."

"And what if I told you that your mother will fight with us?"

"She told you that?" Andi asked.

"Not yet, but the offer has been made. And she will accept, in time. Her resentment at being slighted by the Olympians and cast to the fringes will not permit anything else."

"Well, that decides it." Andi grinned. "I always wanted to see what would happen if I took a crack at her."

"I see."

The bear didn't sound very upset by her refusal. In fact he sounded satisfied, like he'd just gotten a question right on a game show. His focus switched to me, and I tensed up.

"You would like, how did she phrase it, 'a crack' at your father as well, wouldn't you? Yes, it's written all over your history. He is guaranteed to fight against us. I offer you the chance to take up arms against him, to avenge all the slights Olympus has dealt you, even to tear them down in the name of your mother."

It was funny- I was still just as cold, but that didn't stop the heat rising in my chest.

"Why don't you go back to the circus?" I snapped. "I'm sure you could earn a lot of peanuts with the whole arrogant speech routine. Maybe they'd even give you a unicycle to ride while you do it."

He chuckled. "Mentioning your mother was a poor decision, wasn't it. I knew your reaction would be negative, but I went and stated it anyway… I suppose there is a reason knowledge is my domain, not persuasion."

"So can we kill them now?" Kelli asked. She was biting her lip, and her good hand was clutching at her ruined shoulder. "They said they won't join us so just let me get rid of them."

"Goodness," said the bear, "we've no reason to bother. There are uses for them down the line. What we will do – oh, and you'll quite hate this answer, by the way – is retreat."

"Sir-"

"No arguing." His jovial tone dropped, and with it the temperature lost thirty degrees. "You will come with me now, while I am still being charitable in spite of making this inane trip."

For a moment I thought Kelli was going to argue. Then she dropped her head and started walking. As she passed me, she muttered, "Next time we meet-"

"You'll kill me, right?" I stared her down. "You're welcome to try."

She smirked. "No, I'll kill her," she jabbed a thumb at Andi, "and with you… I'll take my time."

She trudged up the hill toward the bear, her giant guards following dumbly behind. I tried to wipe the way she'd said it from my mind without success.

"Perseus Jackson," the bear said once his subordinates had reached him, "it was interesting to meet you. If you are ever up north, pay me a visit. We will be on better terms by then- I have a feeling about it."

He shot me a wink, like it was a little in-joke between the two of us. All over the forest branches began to sway, then vibrate, then shake, sending sprays of leaves to the ground. A blast of frigid air washed over the area with enough force to make me shield my eyes. When I lowered my arms, the group was gone.

Andi was watching the place they'd been when I approached her. As I got close, I noticed her fingers shaking.

"Are you scared of him?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around the idea of her being scared of anyone.

She blinked a few times, like she was coming out of a trance. "Scared?" she said. "I want to fight him."

"Do you think you would win?"

She laughed. "Not a chance. But that just makes it more fun."

"So you know who that was?"

"I do," she said. "At least I think I do. That wasn't him in the flesh, just an avatar. The gods would never have let him this close to Olympus otherwise."

A chill went down my spine, but this time it had nothing to do with the temperature. "So you're saying he's that strong?"

"Of course he is." Andi stooped and scooped up a bowling ball, carefully brushing off the dirt. "All about knowledge, takes the form of a bear, and commands the cold. The ruler of the North- the old one. The Titan Coeus."

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