Last chapter was a little shorter but it was exposition for the quest, in this chapter, it begins!

I just want to say thank you for all of the reviews! They mean a lot, and I hope that you keep reading until the story is complete, we still have a good ways to go.

Also, I don't live in New York. I went to the city once on a school trip a few years ago, and we stayed for a few days, so If I get some details wrong about the city and the Central Park Zoo, I apologize and feel free to correct me.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, and Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

Now then, on with the sixth chapter.

6. We Meet A Jerk Demigod Assassin

You would think that the night before I start my deadly mission I would get a good night's rest.

Nah.

Of course I didn't. I don't know why I expected to rest peacefully, it just wasn't the way this world worked, there would always be nightmares or strange dreams prophesizing some crazy event. The thing is they all feel real, all of my nightmares feel like their lucid, except I don't know that I am dreaming, my brain seems to forget that I had fallen asleep not an hour ago.

So of course, this vision was no less confusing.

I was back on the Cursed Island, which is what I had started calling it now. There were a lot of islands in the world, this one was apparently cut off from reality, some awful operation occurred there, so I figured cursed is a proper name for it.

Anyway, my consciousness was on the island, I was behind the Man In The Cloak, he was sitting cross legged on a cliff about a hundred feet from the shore overlooking the sea. From his perspective I saw the wide sandy shore below, the white sand glimmered in the sunlight, the bright clear blue waves washed over it calmly in a peaceful pattern, the palm trees swayed gently with the wind, there wasn't a cloud in sight. Had there not been a dude in an eerie black cloak sitting in front of me, I would have thought I was on some tropical paradise.

Sitting directly left to the Man was a sword. A four foot long silver blade with a line of gold through the middle, the grip was leathery black, and a skull design was etched onto the hilt. It looked very dangerous, I could feel it, a lot of experience and battles had been put into that sword.

The Man sat on sand, but he was surrounded by grass and bushes, dozens of palm trees and canopies behind. It looked like he had traveled through a path in a forest to get to this overlook.

It stayed like that for a few minutes, I soon zoned out, concentrating on the sound of the waves, the seagulls cawing, the way his cloak flapped gently with the breeze. I noticed his hood was off this time, and I saw the back of his head, he had medium length black hair, not wavy but straight, he seemed to be looking down at something in his hands.

I was then transitioned to the other side, facing him directly now, and I got a better look at the man than before with the caged Hera vision.

Like before, he was sitting cross legged about three feet from the edge, he had on his black cloak, although his hood was down, so it was more of a cape now. He wore light torso armor, a black shirt under that, celestial bronze vambraces (wrist armor), dark colored jeans, and combat boots. He was twenty or twenty one I'd guess, and his face would have been handsome, but the x shaped scar across his face ruined it. It wasn't red or new, it looked a few years old, but it had been deep, because it was noticeable even now.

He was cleanly shaven now, as opposed to the last time I saw him when he had a slight goatee, he had dark black hair like Harper's, only without the blue streak on the side, and it wasn't nearly as long. Previously he had it in a man bun, but now it was loose, and it stood at medium length, parting in the middle of his hairline and multiple long strands coming down on either side next to his eyes, just like Malachi's. It was hard to look into his eyes, but I squinted in my consciousness, which I'm not sure how that's possible, but I did, and saw that he had blue eyes. They were focusing on something in his hands, and I saw what they were on.

He was holding a book, or well, a diary. I couldn't tell for sure, but it was well used, and it was either a book, journal, diary, whatever. He turned the page and his eyes followed the words left to right with intent.

At one point he muttered, "Interesting"

He kept reading and eventually smirked and nodded, "very true" he said to himself.

After a few moments he reached in his cloak and pulled out a black bookmark, which would have looked silly, like a guy in college catching up on a book assignment, but this was anything but humorous. This guy was pretty scary now that I really looked at him. Last time he had looked almost sick, and hadn't shaved in probably a week, but now he looked almost royal, like an evil young adult wizard reading a spellbook. His scar made him all the more intimidating, and that sword. For some reason I could tell that it had taken a few lives.

He placed the bookmark on his page, which was about halfway through the book, and then set it down gently on the sand beside of him near his blade. He then reached in his cloak again, and brought out another book, a thin black hardback. I guess the color black was this guy's thing.

He opened it and found a pen laying in the page he selected, he picked it up and started writing. So I guessed what he was holding now was a journal, his journal.

He wrote into it for a few minutes, not pausing to give his hand a break or think of anything, he just kept going.

Then he stopped, read it for a minute and then nodded slightly, putting the pen in place and closing it, placing it back in his cloak.

He stared at the sea for another moment and got up, he dusted off the sand on his jeans and cloak and then picked up his sword. He swung it once with such comfort that it reminded me of Percy with Riptide. I got the feeling this guy would give even Percy some trouble in a pure swordfight.

He held it in front of him and admired it, smirking, he said, "who knew that you, old friend, would make a fine tool for the new age."

He then sheathed it into the strap around his back, and bent down to pick up the other book.

When he did the cover opened and I saw the first page, catching a glimpse of what was written there, I was dyslexic, so it took me a moment to figure out what it said, and when I did, I wished that I hadn't, because to my horror and surprise, I realized that it was not a book, it was another journal, the owner's name written there, and I recognized it, a name that I had heard before.

The first page read, Property of Luke Castellan.

I woke up. Not with a start, not in a puddle of sweat, but just like any normal kid would wake up in his bed, getting ready for the summer morning, probably going to hang out with friends, or maybe play with a pet. Meanwhile I would be meeting a demigod hitman to see if he'll track five legendary creatures for us.

I just love everything.

I sat up, feet dangling off of the bed, I thought about what I had seen, the name Luke Castellan on that journal, and the Man in the Cloak reading it. I'd heard that name from Percy, apparently he was a big deal in the second Titan War, a bad guy mostly, but a hero in the end. So he had kept a journal, most likely from when he was a kid up to the war.

The thought of the man in the cloak taking notes from Luke's journal did not sit well.

I had to tell the group. I had to find out what this could mean. Maybe he was inspired by Luke? Wanted to follow his example? I have no idea. But I also needed to find out from Harper what kind of visions she's been having about him. The fact that he beckons her, calls to her, and not to me...is not a good thing.

There was daylight outside, I guessed it was probably eight or something. I yawned and put on my- sorry, Percy's jeans, then my socks, sneakers, and orange camp half blood shirt. I decided to throw my black jacket on just in case. It was summer, but who knows where we would be going, maybe to Alaska for all I knew, these creatures could be anywhere. I grabbed my new Nemean Lion shield and strapped it on my back, I hoped it would appear as a bag or something to mortals.

I fiddled with my shark tooth necklace, no telling how many times I would use it in the coming days.

I breathed in and out, taking one last look at the interior of the Big House before my impossible quest, I had no idea if I would ever see it again or not.

I will, I thought. I will see it again.

Unless the Hydra incinerates you, or this demigod hitman shoots you, or Cerberus snaps you in half, or Malachi shows up out of nowhere and uses his crazy power to destroy you.

With those happy thoughts in mind, I opened the front door and exited the Big House. Stepping into the morning heat, the sun slightly above the trees, a few white fluffy clouds in the bright blue sky, the birds chirping, and a few campers walking around, getting their day started.

I looked down the porch and saw Harper sitting on the first step, and Annabeth standing up in front of her. When she saw me she gestured toward me, and Harper turned around, noticed me, and got up.

"Geez, you should have said you were gonna sleep in. We've been here for thirty minutes!" she exclaimed.

Even at eight in the morning, she looked like a million golden drachmas. Her dark black hair was straight down, the thin blue streak on her left side coming down in front of her shoulder. She wore a thin black leather jacket that came up just under her chest, and the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, the front pocket had a short chain coming out of it, a tiny skull hung around the middle chain loop. Underneath that, she had on her black t-shirt with the the words Camp Half-Blood displayed in white, around her neck was the camp necklace with four beads on it, and another necklace a little longer under it, a thin silver chain with a silver dagger at the bottom, which I guessed was a symbol of Nemesis. She wore the black leather gloves that I had seen in Capture The Flag, the ones that allowed her to summon her knives back to her hands magnetically. She had on slightly ripped black jeans, her knife strap around her waist, the celestial bronze weapons in their sheaths, and punk combat boots with small spikes at the top. Her lips were clad in black lipstick, eyes in eyeliner, the right one icy blue, kind of like the bright blue waves in my vision last night, and the left one a pure white orb. Her pale skin was foreign in the sunlight, it stood out like a bar of gold among mud, especially next to Annabeth's tan complexion. Harper looked like she was ready to hit up a heavy metal mosh pit.

"Sorry, I didn't exactly give a specific time. Didn't know you guys were early risers." I said, rubbing my eyes.

"This is early for you?" Annabeth said, her eyebrows raised. "I only slept this late because I know how lazy Percy is in the mornings." She wore her Orange Camp Half Blood t shirt, her camp necklace around her neck, wielding ten beads. She had on her usual jean shorts and those girl sneakers that I can't remember the name of. Her long blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, a few strands loose on the side of her face.

Harper smirked and nudged Annabeth with her elbow, "I'm sure you know all about Percy in the mornings, Annie."

Annabeth blushed, "I-I didn't mean..." then she stamped her foot, "Will you stop with the Annie thing?!"

Harper shrugged, "Nah, it's stuck with you, sorry. I got a knack for nicknames, just ask Matt."

I nodded, "Indeed."

We stood for a few more minutes, Harper began fiddling with one of her knives, throwing it at a tree nearby and then summoning it back into her hand over and over.

Annabeth finally lost patience, "Ugh! Where is he? I'm about to-"

"Where is who?" said a new voice.

Annabeth jumped, behind her was Percy. He had on a blue jacket, with his orange camp t shirt on underneath, blue jeans and sneakers, the usual outfit. Although the backpack was new, I guess it was for supplies and stuff. Wow, hadn't thought of that. I didn't think Percy did either, it was most likely Annabeth's decision.

She turned and glared at him, "You, Seaweed Brain! We've been waiting!"

He chuckled, "Do you really think this Demigod for hire is gonna be gone by the time we get there?" he then leaned down and kissed her lightly, her annoyance seemed to melt. "Relax, it'll be fine."

Chiron came over and said goodbye, I noticed Nico and Will also seeing us off, then when I was about to turn around, I saw Aiden running toward us, shouting "WAIT A SECOND!"

He caught up with us, panting. Harper looked at him, "Aiden? What are you doing?"

"I just needed to talk with Matt for a second before you guys go."

Percy and Annabeth looked at us, confused. I motioned for them to go ahead, Harper hesitated.

"What do you need to say?" she asked him.

"Guy talk sis, not your concern."

Her eyes flashed annoyance, "It might be my concern, you better tell me what's up."

He sighed, "Look, I just wanted to talk to Matt for one second, please just go on."

She looked at me, I nodded, gesturing that I would handle it. She walked reluctantly to Percy and Annabeth.

"So what is it?" I asked.

"Look man, I wish I could go too. I mean, I could be of a great use to you guys-"

"Not happening man. You're too young" I noticed I sounded like a kid's worst nightmare, an authoritative figure. I imagined being in his shoes, and somebody telling me I was too young. As if I was inferior, couldn't handle anything. I decided to add, "The Camp needs you Aiden, gotta keep things in line."

He considered this, then nodded, "Yeah...you're right. I'll do it."

I clapped him on the shoulder and was about to turn when he grabbed my elbow.

"But that's not why I wanted to talk"

"Oh, well then why?"

"I just wanted to ask you to..." he fumbled, "I just wanted to ask you to look out for Harper for me, okay?"

I was a little taken back. I mean he knew that Harper and I were friends, but only for a few days, I didn't expect him to trust me this much.

I looked at him with seriousness, "Of course I will."

He sighed, "Thanks. It's just...she never told me that much about her past, but I know enough." he then shook his head, "she's been through a lot, man. I've tried to be a replacement for her older brother, and we get along fine, but she's still distant, pushes me away. As for me, well...my dad died in a car accident, so Harper's been kind of like the parental figure in my life since I got to camp."

Wow. Did all of Nemesis' children have such hard lives? They were so nice too, didn't deserve any of it. Aiden was telling me how important Harper was to him, and I took that to heart, I made a vow to myself, and to him.

"Aiden, she will make it back fine. I promise on the River Styx." Thunder rumbled in the distance, the most sacred vow, if it was broken, the consequences were not good. But I knew that, I knew what it meant.

He seemed to realize that too, his eyes widening a little. "Thank you, Matt." He then smiled slyly at me, "she likes you, you know."

I felt my face heat up, "W-what?"

He laughed, "Oh come on, It's insanely obvious you have a thing for her, and hey..." he held his hands up, "I give you permission."

"I-I don't know about that"

"Dude don't sweat it, she feels the same. She's never smiled with me, or anybody really for that matter, but you..." I stood there stupidly, there was no way she felt that way, not yet at least.

"We've only known each other for a few days, Aiden. Just friends."

He shrugged, "Doesn't matter. When it's real, you just go for it."

I couldn't believe it, Aiden was sounding like Cupid, a wise twelve year old kid giving me permission to date his half sister.

He noticed I was speechless, and too embarrassed to say anything, so he said, "Look, all I'm saying is, you should make your move on this quest. Cause you know...constant danger and everything."

"I'll think about it, thanks" I managed.

He smiled, "Alright, see ya, and good luck!" he ran down the hill, waving.

I waved back, trying to force the redness on my face away. If I went back in time and told myself a few months ago that I would eventually go to Camp Half Blood and develop a crush on the cute goth girl, I would have called myself insane. But now...I wasn't sure. I was sure that her and I were friends, and that I shouldn't rush things when I haven't exactly sorted out my feelings one hundred percent.

I walked down Half Blood Hill, eventually coming out into the open where Percy's Prius was waiting. Percy in the driver's seat, Annabeth in the passenger's, and Harper in the back left.

I opened the door and slipped in, putting my shield in the floorboard between Harper and I, for some reason, it fit pretty well. Percy started driving and he and Annabeth starting idly chatting. Harper turned to me, "What did Aiden want?"

I decided to leave out the last part, "Oh just said that he wished he could come, and asked me to keep an eye on you."

"He should know that I can look after myself."

"I'm sure he does, he's just being protective."

She didn't reply, and instead pulled out an old fashioned MP3 player, like the ones from the late 2000's. She plugged in headphones, and put them in her ear.

I noticed the screen said the name of the song and band, but I couldn't make out the song due to my dyslexia, but I could make out the band, the screen said Nirvana.

I had heard of them, I wasn't a big music listener, I never had any listening devices.

I pointed to it, "Nirvana?"

She noticed what I was pointing at and she smiled, "Oh yeah. Their kinda old, but it's hard to beat the classics, you know?"

I nodded. I actually didn't know, but I didn't have to say that.

We rode in silence for a little while, Harper's eyes were closed and she was listening to whatever rock song that was playing. I could hear the faint sound of an electric guitar through her earbuds. In the front, Percy and Annabeth held hands and Percy had his left hand on the steering wheel, driving as good as anybody. I didn't know crap about driving a vehicle, but I guessed you had to be pretty good to do it with one hand.

Eventually Percy asked, "So, how far into the city should we go? Where is this guy gonna be?"

I hadn't thought of that. Yet again, I'm clueless about problems that will pop up on this quest.

But Annabeth saved me embarrassment, "Harper said something about the Central Park Zoo, so we should try there first. It's our best shot, as opposed to looking around the whole city."

I agreed, glad that she was with us, she was obviously insanely smart, and would probably save our butts plenty of times on this quest.

We passed the trees in the countryside a little longer, I stared out at the woods, everything passing by at a quick speed, I soon zoned out, and eventually closed my eyes, but didn't fall asleep, I was thinking about what I had seen last night.

The Man in The Cloak reading Luke Castellan's diary, then writing in his own. It was obvious he was studying on the previous titan war a few years ago, I guess jotting down what they did right, and what they did wrong so they could follow the example and avoid mistakes. I did not like that.

I realized this is probably something I should share with the group.

"Hey guys, I had a vision last night, it wasn't good." Saying that I had a nightmare was so casual at this point, nightmares are a given.

They waited expectantly, except Harper, who was still caught up in her rock music, I tapped her on the shoulder and she looked at me like, what the heck? Then I gestured that I was about to say something important, she groaned and took out her earbuds.

"Okay, last night I saw the Man in the Cloak, and...he was reading a diary." I breathed, bracing myself for their reaction on what came next, "He was reading Luke Castellan's diary."

It was so silent that I barely registered the sounds of the engine or the other cars passing us. Percy kept his eyes on the road thankfully, but his mouth tensed up, Harper was wide eyed, her fists clutching the handles of her knives, as if a monster was going to pop out of the glove compartment. Annabeth was the most shocked, I couldn't see her well, but I could tell that she was tense and her face darkening.

"Okay, that's creepy, I had the exact same dream, Matt." then she looked at me, "only when he stopped writing, he looked right at me and said, this applies to you as well, Harper. You will join our cause in the end, it is the only way." Then she shivered, "How the heck does he know my name?!"

I shook my head. Maybe Malachi had told him, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew, he seemed to be able to read my mind in my vision.

Annabeth said, "This is...not good at all." She then shook her head in disbelief, "I remember that he had a diary. I just never would have thought that he kept it all those years until the end of the war."

Percy tapped his fingers on the wheel nervously, "Is he trying to follow Luke's footsteps?"

"I don't know, their paths are looking similar though" Annabeth said.

I turned to Harper, "Hey, you said you've been having visions of him all this time. What does he say?"

"The same as I said before, he just asks me to join him, and that it's inevitable. He says that there will be a new age, and that I would be smart to take part in it."

"And you have no idea who he is?"

"No, he never shows his face."

"I've seen his face!" I exclaimed, maybe if I could describe him to her, she could identify him. "Okay, he's about twenty or twenty one, has medium length black hair tied in a manbun, but sometimes let loose, and he has an x shaped scar across his face."

She thought about it, then shrugged, "doesn't ring a bell, I don't know anybody with a scar like that."

"Are you sure?"

She got a little annoyed, "Yes, Matt. Jeez, just give it a rest, I don't know the guy! Do you know who this Malachi is? Is he someone from your past or something? Cause he never talks to me."

"No I don't know him. Aside from the fact that Hera called him a half-blood, and something about his connection to the island."

"Well, there you go. We don't know these people-demigods or whatever they are. Their just interested in us for some twisted reason."

But why? Why the heck was this guy in the cloak basically begging Harper to join him, and why did Malachi the god killer take an interest in me? Calling me of all people his challenge right after he proved that he knocked out Hera with ease.

I put those thoughts out of my head, I needed to focus on convincing this tracker to join us, and not get killed.

We rode again in silence, everybody thinking, mostly Annabeth. I knew that she had once been close with Luke, so this revelation was probably shocking.

Eventually we made it into the city, and if I was anyone that lived anywhere else, I would probably gawk at the size of the buildings, the amount of people walking, the amount of taxis and ubers that were on the road, but if you actually live here, it becomes normal. I could imagine though a country boy seeing all of this and blowing his mind, I just wasn't that country boy, New York was home, even if it was a little nuts sometimes.

We made it to the Central Park Zoo, it wasn't as crowded as I thought, people lined up of course to go in, the place had basically just opened for the day, even though I lost track of what time it was, but it was still morning, definitely. And besides, we weren't planning on going in the actual Zoo itself, I expected the hitman to be outside.

We got out of the Prius, Harper putting her earbuds in her jeans pocket, Percy putting on his blue jacket, and Annabeth studying the people in line and the surroundings, trying to spot anybody out of the ordinary.

Percy took in the view of the distant exhibits, I couldn't see a thing for the gates and the people, but he was a little taller and standing at a different angle, so I guess he saw something, because he sighed and muttered, "This would've made such a good date, Annabeth. But instead we're looking for a demigod assassin."

Again, I felt guilty. Here were two new adults, and they could finally live out their lives in peace together after years of craziness, and here I was dragging them along with me.

Percy must have noticed the look on my face and he said, "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that, man. I'm glad to help, really."

I could tell that he only half meant it. But I still appreciated it, heck I understood, I wanted to go to the zoo like a normal kid too. I remember when my mom took me a couple of times when I was little, I had loved it. Seeing all of the animals, and going to the sea lion court, watching them do tricks. I always had wanted to go again, but with the whole monster thing, I knew if something went wrong, If I so much as talked to the cashier in the gift shop, a monster would come crashing through and kill everybody. So I held off. But today, I was with three other powerful demigods...maybe we could have some fun.

"Never been to the zoo." Harper said.

I looked at her incredulously, "Really?"

"Yeah, I wasn't into it as a kid. And we lived in a small town in the Georgia countryside, a long way from any city."

I was stunned. I looked Harper up and down, she looked like a literal goth girl. Maybe not like a hardcore one, but the black clothing and lipstick, the pale skin, the dark hair, just struck me as the exact opposite of a country girl.

She noticed and chuckled, "I know what you're thinking. I can't explain it either to be honest. I've always been into this look since I was little. My brother said it was just a phase, but it turns out he was wrong."

I caught a sad undertone when she was talked about her brother, and her eyes were hard to read due to one being pure white, but the other, normal eye expressed wistfulness and longing.

I tried to cheer her up, "Hey, I like it. I can't imagine you in cowboy boots and a farm dress."

That lit her face up a little, she snorted, "That is something nobody wants to see, trust me."

I almost blurted out that It wouldn't have mattered what she wore, she would be breathtaking. But before I decided that was the corniest thing to say ever, I felt a sudden chill.

Then it escalated into fear and and a wave of...something.

The others felt it too, their eyes widened, Annabeth reached for the backpack on her back to pull out the bone sword, Percy had his hand in his pocket, and Harper's hands gripped her knives, now inside of her jacket, so the mortals wouldn't notice.

I noticed the air turned slightly red and black, the air got a little thicker and heavier, I felt a wave of death, like the presence of a tomb, my tomb. It was bloodlust, I could sense the overwhelming fact that someone wanted to kill me.

I then looked across the lot and saw a man in a leather jacket, sunglasses on, he seemed to have dirty blonde hair, although I couldn't tell with the red in the air. He seemed to smirk and then the feeling faded, the slight red disappeared, the sense of bloodlust gone. And the man motioned us with his head to come over.

We obviously hesitated, I don't think Harper even knew the man was there. But Annabeth did, and she said, "That seems to be our guy. Let's go, stay alert."

We walked forward, crossing the lot and weaving our way through herds of people, we finally made it to him, and I got a better look.

He was about the same age as Percy and Annabeth, eighteen or nineteen I'd say, he had on a leather biker jacket with a gray t-shirt underneath that had a skull pattern on it, he wore blue jeans and biker boots. His face was brutal, not ugly, but rugged. He had dirty blonde hair like Malachi's, except his was almost buzzed, and spike up in the front. He was a little shorter than me, so probably five-nine or five-ten.

He smiled in a mock friendly way and greeted us, "I knew that you were demigods. And freaking powerful ones too." He then looked at Percy first, and studied him. "Percy Jackson, quite a figure, very famous."

Percy stayed calm, I guess he'd been used to the treatment. I fought down a twinge of jealousy, was there anything the guy wasn't good at?

He continued, "Y'know, I had a few immortals and monsters offer me a lot of drachma for your head. But I knew you were no joke, and declined. You're still the only person to this day that I won't go after."

Percy seemed a little taken back, "Uh...thanks, I guess?"

"Don't mention it."

Annabeth intervened, "Are you sure it's smart to admit you're a hitman in front of people you just met? You don't even know what we're here for."

He shrugged, "Not a problem. People only talk to me when they want someone or something killed, I already know why you're here."

"You do?" I said.

"Yep" he nodded, then motioned us with his hand "C'mon, there's a few picnic tables nearby, let's sit down and discuss some business."

I had to admit, this guy was pretty handy. He had some type of small magical container that he kept supplies in. It was the size of a cell phone, and inside there were coins, nothing on them, just plain copper coins. Whenever he flipped one, it turned into something of use. Like for example, he pulled out a few coins and flipped them on the table, they transformed into five Dr. Pepper cans.

Harper was impressed, "Alright, that's awesome."

The hitman chuckled, "Think that's awesome sweetheart, check out how I haul my weaponry around."

I fought down a small surge of anger at his sweetheart comment, but I just figured it was the way he talked to all women, he seemed the type.

He brought out a different small rectangular container, and brought out two coins, he then flipped both into the air at the same time, set the container on the table, and the coins transformed into weapons mid flight.

One coin transformed into a long five foot sword. A brutal looking blade that looked like it had seen it's fair share of fights. The other coin turned into a black Mossberg 500 shotgun, he caught both weapons in his hands at the same time and smirked proudly.

I couldn't help but be a little amazed, "What kind of power is that?"

He chuckled, "Not a power, kid, it's a magic thing. I did a job about a year ago and the client gave me two of these little containers as a gift. One for supplies and one for weapons. Ever since, traveling has been so much easier. It used to suck lugging this shotgun everywhere."

Annabeth was not amused, "Shouldn't you put those away? What if the mortals see?"

"Ah, they don't know a sword from a tree branch. The mist does all the work for me."

Percy was also in a little bit of awe, "Does that gun shoot celestial bronze bullets?"

He nodded, still smirking, "Sure does. I make em myself, the pellet's are celestial bronze, and boy does it take a while to turn that stuff into pellets."

He tossed them back in the air and they transformed into coins again. He caught them and placed them in the container.

He sat down, "Oh, I've also got alcohol, if ya'll don't want the Dr. Pep's"

Annabeth looked at him with disgust, "These two are only fifteen, and we're still eighteen, we don't drink." Then she paused for a second, and said, "Aren't you about our age? The minimum is twenty one, you know that right?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, I'm nineteen. Still, I don't care about all of that. I'm not the law, and I'm not afraid of the law."

Annabeth shook her head, "This is not a good idea, Matt. You still want this guy?"

Harper didn't look too uneasy, I guess she was still impressed by the coin thing. And Percy...well, he was hard to read, he was slurping down Dr. Pepper, so I guess he didn't mind.

The hitman raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay, I'll cool it with the alcohol, my bad." He then scratched his nose, and leaned forward onto the table. "Alright, since we're doing business, I'll explain how this works. I go after mortals, demigods, monsters, and the occasional immortal. But that one has to be at a really good price. Anyway, the price differs obviously, mortals being the cheapest, then low level monsters, then average demigods, then high level monsters, then skilled demigods, then children of the big three, then immortals, including titans and gods. And if you want any of those doubled, as in more targets, then that's gonna cost extra. It's also gonna cost in how you want it done. Quiet and clean, make it look like an accident, that's pricey. But sloppy and not so quiet, that's cheaper. For currency I take golden drachmas only, not mortal dollars. Well, there was that one time when I accepted a Lotus Hotel card, but that was-"

Annabeth interrupted, nearly slamming her hands on the table, "We don't want you to kill anyone."

He looked confused, "Really? Then why-"

I leaned forward, "Look, I'm on a mission. I have to capture and kill four powerful creatures, it's complicated and a long story, but I have to do it. We just need you to track them, since we have no idea where they are."

He processed this, then looked even more confused, "You need a tracker? You just want me to locate these monsters, and that's it?"

We all nodded.

"And you can help us fight them, we'll pay for it all." I said, unsure of how the heck we were gonna pay him, but I figured we'd worry about that in a minute, like always.

"I mean...okay. Not used to this request, but if you've got the drachmas, then I'll do it."

We all looked at each other, silently questioning if anyone had drachmas. Harper shook her head nervously, Percy was digging in his pockets, and Annabeth doing the same.

Eventually they pulled out a handful of them total.

The hitman looked at it, not impressed, "Not enough for four monsters here. And you still haven't told me what kind."

"The Hydra, the Cretan Bull, the Ceryneian Hind, and Cerberus."

He almost spit out his drink, "Cerberus?!"

I nodded.

"Okay hold up. First of all, those creatures are one of a kind each, not easy to track. And second, Cerberus? I ain't exactly friends with Hades, and I'm not keen on capturing or killing his dog."

Harper spoke up, "Look, Hitman dude. This is a matter of life and death for everyone, including you. There's a greater threat here, and we have to do all of those things. We'll pay you your price...somehow" She looked at me nervously and whispered, "how the heck are we gonna make enough drachmas?"

I shook my head.

He thought for a moment, then sighed, "I don't care about other people's well being. You all should know that by now-"

Percy interrupted, "Dude, we've known you for like ten minutes!"

The hitman continued, "And I don't care about this world ending crap, all I want is the drachmas. You don't have em'...tough." He started to get up until I stopped him.

"Wait! Please, we'll get the drachmas, just...tell us how. Tell us a way to make money quick, it doesn't matter, I'll do it, we'll do it." I hated speaking on behalf of everyone when they looked like they did not want to do anything to get money.

He considered and studied me for a moment, then he grinned, a wicked grin that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Alright then, If you're willing to do whatever, then follow me."

He turned and started walking, we got up quickly and followed, Annabeth muttering that this was a bad idea, and I was beginning to agree.

I caught up to him, and asked, "Where are we going, how are we gonna make the money?"

He chuckled and said, "We're going to the underground arena. Hope you don't mind fighting to the death for entertainment...and money."

We followed him down the streets, dangerously avoiding traffic and the hoards of people, Annabeth protested a couple of times, we demanded an explanation, but the hitman didn't respond, he just smirked and walked.

I wasn't worried about the fighting part. I was confident that I could defeat most people in this arena, but what I was worried about was the death part. I don't plan on killing anyone ever, and certainly not over money and some thugs' entertainment.

After what seemed like forever we made it to an area that at night, would probably look like a pretty rough place. There was litter everywhere, metal garbage barrels that homeless guys used for fire, a couple of alleys that looked like they had been used for fights and even more heinous things. We stopped in front of a small building entrance, a furniture store. It looked like a typical old store, not very wide, chairs and tables could be seen through the window.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

He looked inside and then turned to me, "We're here, but we better wait until nightfall, that's when the crowd really picks up." he said excitedly.

I looked nervously at Harper, she squinted inside, and looked at the hitman in confusion, "This is the arena? I don't see a thing but old furniture."

Percy spoke up, "Rule number one in our crazy world, nothing is as it seems. Even the mist can affect demigods."

Annabeth nodded, "That's right. I'd guess it's literally underground, probably a long staircase behind that opening back there." She pointed in the store and there was a doorway, filled with a faint light.

The hitman looked mildly impressed, "Daughter of Athena actually knows her stuff. Yeah, there's a long staircase that leads underneath all of this." He gestured to the surroundings.

We let that thought sink in. Only imagining how the heck we were gonna get transported to this place.

So we waited and waited. Leaving as early as we did from Camp Half Blood now seemed like a terrible idea. A couple of sketchy looking people went in, and paid us no mind.

I finally got impatient, "Why do we have to wait until dark? Is that when this place opens or something?"

He turned, his sunglasses reflecting the daylight, "Nah, it's open right now, but like I said, the crowd really picks up at night, more people betting, which is good for you, since you need drachmas to pay me."

Harper was leaning against the store window, "How much do you want anyway? You never said."

"Oh I'll decide when you've earned enough...that is if you win your fights."

Annabeth suddenly became interested, "So we all have to fight once?"

He nodded, "That should be enough, yeah. The four of you fights one match each."

"How are our opponents picked?" Percy said.

"Just wait and see. Not much longer to go."

I doubted that, the sun was still relatively high up, it was maybe four in the evening, which sucked. We could sit on the ground of course, but there weren't many clean spots. Believe me, I'm not a clean freak or a germaphobe, I've had to hide and even sleep in allies to avoid monsters when I was younger, but even they were more appealing than this.

After what seemed like an eternity, the sun set, which I did not get to see, due to the numerous buildings blocking my view. I hated that, the sunset was one of the only things that gave me a sort of peace, and I used to watch it almost every day. Now it's been a few since I've seen one.

Finally the sky got black, and piles of people pushed their way into the store, literally fighting to get in. I supposed this was the crowd, there were a lot of them, and they looked like people eager to watch some death matches.

After the crowd eased off and went in, the hitman smirked and got up from his position on the sidewalk, "Alright, let's go in."

We obliged, not eager to go into this arena, but eager to stop standing and waiting around.

We went inside and I was surprised to see that it was not at all a furniture store anymore. The view from outside was totally different from the view in here.

For starters the interior was made of old brick, not red but a grayish type, there were a few tables around and to my surprise, humanoid monsters sitting at them, drinking alcohol and watching a large tv in the back that seemed to be playing a football game. I had no idea what interest monsters had in football, and yes, these were monsters. Not very obvious, but if you looked close enough, they were.

The place looked like a huge run down bar. To my right there was a literal bar with glasses and bottles of beer everywhere. A few people sitting at it and turning their heads back, guzzling down the liquid. The bartender himself looked relatively normal, until I looked closer and saw that he had two horns barely poking out of his curly hair, and a goat hind quarters that could barely be seen over the counter.

Percy wasn't pleased with that part. "Why is there a satyr working here?"

The hitman waved his hand dismissively, "Ah, I forgot you were a friend to the satyrs, Jackson. Well, I don't know, they need work, here they are."

"But satyrs should be involved in the wild, that's their calling."

"Hate to burst your bubble, but things didn't turn all sunshine and rainbows after the war with Gaea. Creatures, monsters and demigods are still suffering, poverty exists, and you work where you can."

Percy and Annabeth were horrified. I was surprised as well, I had no idea that there was a side to the mythical world like this. I knew that a lot of demigods had it rough as kids, but they eventually found Camp Half-Blood. And I would have never thought that some monsters actually had lives and ambitions. The only ones I've come across are mindless and just want to kill you. But sure enough, here some were, drinking away their sorrows, seemingly hitting life's dead end.

I shook off the sympathy. Every one of them would kill you if given the chance, stop getting soft, I thought.

Harper didn't seem shaken up, she looked around, keeping a calm look on her face, like she'd seen these things before.

We crossed the bar, a few eyeing us with some interest, some with anger at Percy, probably because he killed their relative or something at some point on his adventures, but they kept their cool and went back to their business.

We finally made it to a line where demigods, monsters and even some mortals were standing. At the front there was a short guy that looked like he was in his sixties. He wore a red sleeveless flannel that showed off gray chest hair and flabby arms, he had on a trucker cap and had a long, unruly white beard, a few teeth missing in his mouth. To sum it up, he looked like an old redneck that had done a few drugs in his time.

But when we got a little closer and I figured he'd be wearing blue jeans with tobacco stains on them, I saw four furry legs, donkey legs. I was a little surprised, I had obviously heard of centaurs and satyrs, but half man half donkey?

We made it to the back of the line. But instead of stopping and waiting, the hitman lowered his head a little and strained his face, it contorted to a look of menace.

I felt the same feeling as earlier. A feeling of impending death and bloodlust filled the air, it turned slightly red, and all of the figures standing in line scattered, some whimpering in fright, a clear path was made for us within a few seconds.

I was about to ask him how he had done that, along with everybody else, when we walked forward and made it to the donkey man.

He shook his head and spoke in a southern accent, "Damn, Talon! Don't go throwin' around your bloodlust like that! You'll scare away the audience!"

So the hitman's name was Talon? That was pretty unique.

Harper's eyes were wide, "How did you do that?"

Talon smirked, "A little trick I picked up, I'll explain later."

Annabeth noticed the man's donkey half, "You're an Onocentaur." She said casually.

The man nodded proudly, "Smart girl, here. Not many recognize. Them cousins of mine and those goat boys get all the recognition!"

Talon snorted, "That's cause they can be somewhat useful, Earl."

Earl shook his head, "We're useful too! Look at me, I'm selling tickets like crazy every night here!"

"A job that can be done by anybody."

Earl slumped his shoulders, "Yeah, yeah, I know." I almost felt bad for the redneck onocentaur, but then I remembered why we were here.

I nudged Talon, "Drachmas, Arena, fights to the death." I reminded him.

"Oh yeah! Tell the boss that I'm entering four demigods. One's a kid of Poseidon, a daughter of Athena, and..." he turned to Harper and I. "Who's your godly parent?"

"Nemesis" Harper said with reluctance.

He turned to me, "Hercules" I said.

He seemed a little surprised at that and smirked slightly, turning back to Earl, "and a daughter of Nemesis, and a-well no, the Son of Hercules."

I cringed at the the part. Yay, make me the center of attention, the unusual one. Which is stupid because that's kind of what I wanted, and I had gotten a little jealous at Percy for being so famous and heroic earlier. So why did I contradict myself?

Earl didn't notice or care however, he wrote it down, and nodded at Talon, "Alright, you should get your numbers shortly, show em' the way Talon."

Talon nodded, and motioned for us to follow downstairs.

We all walked single file, me behind Talon, Harper behind me, Annabeth behind Harper, and Percy behind Annabeth. We trudged down the stair case hesitantly, I noticed the multiple posters and flyers on the gray brick walls beside of us. A bunch of pictures of fighters, some demigod, some monster. I saw a couple of yellow flyers that said Old Joe's Fight Club, with the image of a guy in armor about to fight the minotaur.

Percy noticed them too, because he asked, "So that's the name of this place, Old Joe's Fight Club?"

Talon nodded, "Yep"

Harper peeked over my shoulder, "Who's Old Joe?"

Talon didn't even turn, but I could hear his voice loud and clear, "The founder and owner. Has been for years, I think he started it some twenty years ago, or maybe more, I'm not sure."

"Is he a monster, or what?" Annabeth said, her voice echoing across the walls.

"Oh no, he's a demigod. A cruel one too. A son of Dionysus if I recall." Then he shook his head, "There's not many bastards meaner than him out there in terms of both half bloods, and monsters."

"What's so bad about him?"

"First off, he's dangerous. He's like fifty years old, and if you live that long in this world, you've either been a coward your whole life, or you've been a damn good fighter. And he's the latter." Talon glared at the posters. "I was here a little while back, and I beat all of my opponents, until nobody was left. Now if that happens, you get to fight Old Joe and his pets. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy." He averted his gaze, "But if I fought him now, I'd kill him for sure." I didn't think he was so sure, by the way his voice sounded.

"Wait, what do you mean by pets?" Percy asked.

"Oh...you'll see."

I didn't like the way he said that.

We walked for a few more seconds, these stairs were really long. It seemed this fight club was at the center of the earth.

Talon spoke again, "Second reason is that he's just a jerk. He thinks he's so much more superior than anybody, and uses his position to an advantage."

"Will we have to fight him tonight?"

He chuckled, "Doubt it. It's possible though. And if you do..." he turned around and pointed at Percy, "you'd better let him be the one in that ring."

I fought down yet another twinge of jealousy. Of course he would turn to Percy, and not me. The guy had everything that I didn't. I wanted to punch myself for thinking this way, but I couldn't help it. As much as I disliked my dad, I was the Son of Hercules, I was pretty powerful, maybe not as powerful as Percy, but I just wished someone would look at me and be impressed.

We walked on, the sound of a crowd roaring and shouting coming into earshot, the faint sound of a sword clanging and a monster roaring getting louder with each step.

I decided to break the silence, "So, um...Talon, you got a last name?"

"None of your business, kid. And no, I left that behind so long ago I don't even remember it."

Sheesh.

I probably shouldn't have asked that, I was usually reserved and not eager to start a conversation, but the eeriness was defeaning.

Then Harper gave it a try, "So what was that bloodlust thing earlier that you did?"

He decided to answer that, "A rare trick from the godly parent. And who that is, is none of your business. The idea is that you can channel your bloodlust outwards into an intimidation technique, and suddenly things become afraid of you. Didn't work on you guys that well though, if your skill level almost matches or exceeds mine, that tends to happen. I learned to train it a few years ago, self taught."

I tried to figure out which god could use bloodlust, I figured all of them. In my mind, they were equally threatening and angry.

We finally made it to the bottom, and we were greeted with a large place that looked like the coliseum mixed with an old boxing arena. There were mortals, monsters and demigods everywhere, sitting in rows of seats and facing a large circular ring in the middle. The ring was huge, it covered half of the room, and had metal chains around it like a WWE ring. The floor looked solid, like concrete, and surrounding it on the ground were large spikes with what appeared to be poison on the end, I guess to keep anyone from entering.

Inside the ring was a demigod and monster. The demigod had on armor and a bronze helmet, a long sword in hand. The monster opposite was a giant humanoid looking thing with a mouth as big as me.

"Laestrygonian" Annabeth muttered.

"Cannibals" Talon said with distaste, "and that appears to be a new challenger, a daughter of Hebe I think."

We watched in horror as the demigod swung and missed, the giant cannibal smacking the sword out of her hand and picking her up, about to eat her.

I thought quick enough to take action, I leaped off of the floor and in one great leap, landed over the spikes onto one of the chains. I climbed over and quickly kicked the right leg of the cannibal. That sent the girl flying and the monster landing facefirst onto the ring floor.

The girl however was slung too far above my head to be caught, she was gonna land on the spikes!

I considered jumping for it, thinking maybe my tough skin wouldn't be too hurt, but then I remembered the poison. I was about to do it anyway, when I saw Percy summon water from...well, I'm not sure where he summoned it from, but he did and created a small whirlpool under the girl. She landed on it and he gently brought her to the solid ground, Annabeth and Harper checking on her.

Man, I was glad I wasn't alone on this.

Then the Cannibal monster got up and growled at me, saying stupidly, "OH, YOU WANNA BE EATEN INSTEAD?!" The monster charged and tried to swing at me, but I was ready. I didn't even need to bust out my shark tooth spear, I ducked the punch and stood upright behind it, jumping on it's back, climbing all the way to it's ugly bald head.

It roared angrily, as did the crowd. I felt popcorn hit me in the side, along with beer cans and donuts. They booed and howled at me to get out of the ring and bring the girl back in, but I ignored them.

The Laestrygonian swung wildly at me, trying to swat me off, but I held on to it's beefy neck, and when it slowed down, I took my chance. I grabbed it by the chin with one hand, and punched it in the back of the neck with the other. My hand went through a few inches, blood dripping out, I felt the disgusting inside of the cannibal.

It howled in anger, I then grabbed whatever was inside of the neck, and gripped it's chin with the other hand, and I pulled, putting a decent amount of strength into it, and within a few seconds, the head came clean off.

I had ripped the giant head off of the Laestrygonian, and it's body landed with a thud, the neck stump oozing blood and gore.

I held the head in both of my hands and tossed it to the side, I didn't have time to look at my friends reactions, because the crowd was dead silent, and I heard a voice from above.

"Interesting. A new challenger approaches," said a deep gravelly voice.

I looked up and in a sort of platform above the rest of the crowd, sat who I assumed to be Old Joe.

He looked in his fifties, like Talon said. He had on a business suit and a fancy cane in his hand. He had salt and pepper hair at short length, a neatly trimmed beard and a few scars on his neck and one on his face below his lip. He was probably average height, but he was muscular, and his hands looked like they could squeeze a person's brain out of their head.

Beside him sat to my surprise two cyclops with collars around their necks and chains linking them to the chair Old Joe sat in. They were probably thirteen feet tall, with ragged burlap clothing on and one large milky eye in the middle of their foreheads.

I guess that was what Talon meant by his pets.

Old Joe called down, "Well, then young challenger. Welcome to the arena, but I must say, that is not the way we introduce ourselves." He snapped his finger and the two cyclops looked at me with murderous intent, I noticed a few monsters come out of the crowd with security shirts on, some with weapons in hand.

This had not gone to plan, but I didn't regret helping that girl.

If I was going down, I was going down fighting. I looked at Harper, Percy and Annabeth, they nodded, and pulled out their weapons. A group of monsters and demigods surrounding them now.

I pulled off my necklace, gave the tooth a squeeze, and it transformed into a five foot long spear, the shark tooth glinting in the spotlight of the ring.

I got into a fighting position, and faced the horde in front of me.