Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.
Author's Notes: Hey, everyone! Since these next two chapters are kind of short (and also because I want to sort-of make up for lost time lol), I'm giving you this one today and the next one on Saturday, as usual. I hope you guys don't mind. ;)
See you on Saturday,
~TGWSI/Selene Borealis
~The Finding Home Saga~
~Finding Home~
~Chapter 53: The Vice Principal Gets A Missile Launcher~
I didn't know what kind of monster Dr. Thorn was, but he was fast.
Maybe I could have defended myself if I got my shield activated. All it would take was pressing that button on my wristwatch. But defending the Koskinen kids was another matter. I needed help, and there was only way I could think of to get it.
I closed my eyes.
"What are you doing, Jackson?" Dr. Thorn hissed. "Keep moving!"
I opened my eyes and kept shuffling forwards. "It's my shoulder," I lied, trying to sound miserable, which wasn't hard. "It burns."
"Bah! My poison causes pain. It will not kill you. Walk!"
Thorn herded us outside, and I tried to concentrate. Milady, I thought, picturing Demeter inside my head, hoping that this would work. I got separated from my friends. I need your help.
Because of my being her champion, simply calling out for her mentally was good enough to do the trick, as it had been in the past. I felt a warm presence in my mind – an acknowledgment that help was on the way. I half-wondered if that meant Despoina was going to come to my aid again, but I didn't have time to dwell on the possibility any more than that.
Thorn took us into the woods. We took a snowy path dimly lit by old-fashioned lamplights. My shoulder ached. The wind blowing through my ripped clothes was so cold that I felt like a Percysicle.
"There is a clearing ahead," Thorn said. "We will summon your ride?"
"What ride?" Ausma demanded. Her voice was shaky, but there was something...else lacing it, too. "Where are you taking us?"
"Silence, you insufferable girl!"
Lauritz bristled. "Don't talk to my sister like that!" he snapped. His voice was deeper than I'd been expecting. I was reminded of their ages because of this, and just how unusual it was that they'd survived as children of the Big Three so long without finding out they were half-bloods or getting killed...
Dr. Thorn made a growling sound that definitely wasn't human. It made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, but I forced myself to keep walking and pretend I was being a good little captive. Meanwhile, I hoped beyond belief that my friends would find us soon enough, or that Demeter's help would arrive.
"Here," Thorn said.
The woods had opened up. We'd reached a cliff overlooking the sea. Or rather, I sensed that the sea was there, hundreds of feet below. I could hear the waves churning and I could smell the cold, salty froth. But all I could see was mist and darkness.
Dr. Thorn pushed us toward the edge. I stumbled, but Ausma caught me. I jerked at her touch; it was almost like electricity, but...different. Everything about these two seemed different; I didn't understand why.
"Thanks," I murmured.
"Don't worry about it," she replied back. Then, "What is he? How do we fight him?"
"I...I'm working on it."
Lauritz remained strangely silent.
"Stop talking!" Dr. Thorn ordered. "Face me!"
We turned.
Thorn's two-tone eyes glittered hungrily. He pulled something from under his coat. At first, I thought it was a switchblade, but it was only a phone. He pressed the side button and said, "The package is ready to deliver."
There was a garbled reply, and I realized that Thorn was in walkie-talkie mode. This seemed way too modern and creepy – a monster using a mobile phone.
I glanced behind me, wondering just how far the drop was.
Dr. Thorn laughed. "By all means, Son of Poseidon, jump! There is the sea. Save yourself."
"What did he call you?" Ausma whispered.
"I'll explain later," I said.
"You do have a plan, right?" questioned Lauritz.
Maybe I could get the Koskinen siblings to jump with me into the ocean. If we survived the fall, I could use the water to protect us. And if my dad was in the right mood, and listening like Demeter was, maybe he would help, too. Maybe.
"I would kill you before you ever reached the water," Dr. Thorn said, as if reading my thoughts. "You do not realize who I am, do you?"
There was a flicker of movement behind him, and another missile whistled so close to me that it nicked my ear. Something had sprung up behind Dr. Thorn – like a catapult, but more flexible...almost like a tail.
"Unfortunately," Thorn said, "you are wanted alive, if possible. Otherwise, you would already be dead."
"Who wants us?" Ausma demanded. "Because if you think you'll get a ransom, you're wrong. We don't have any family. Lauritz and I..." Her voice broke a little. "We've got no one but each other."
"Aww," Dr. Thorn said. "Do not worry, brats. You will be meeting my employer soon enough. Then you will have a brand-new family."
"Luke," I said. Lauritz jumped a little at the name, but I had no idea what that was about. Maybe there was a bully here named Luke or something. "You work for Luke."
Dr. Thorn's mouth twisted with distaste. "You have no idea what is happening, Perseus Jackson. I will let the General enlighten you. You are going to do him a great service tonight. He is looking forward to meeting you."
"The General?" I asked. Then I realized that I'd said it in a French accent like he had. "I mean...who's the General?"
Thorn looked to the horizon. "Ah, here we are. Your transportation."
I turned and saw a light in the distance, a searchlight over the sea. Then I heard the chopping of helicopter blades getting louder and closer.
"Where are you taking us?" Lauritz said. He sounded genuinely terrified now.
"You should be honored, my boy. You will have the opportunity to join a great army!"
Lauritz glared. "What makes you think that we would ever – "
"Now, now," Dr. Thorn warned. "You'll be changing that attitude of yours soon enough, boy. And if you do not, well...there are other uses for half-bloods. We have many monstrous mouths to feed. The Great Stirring is underway."
"The Great what?" I asked. Anything to keep him talking while I tried to figure out a plan.
"The stirring of monsters." Dr. Thorn smiled evilly. "The worst of them, the most powerful, are now waking. Monsters that have not been seen in thousands of years. They will cause death and destruction the likes of which you mortals have never known. And soon we shall have the most important monster of them all – the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!"
. . .
. . .
Now, you're probably thinking things couldn't get any worse from here.
You're wrong.
All of the sudden, Ausma let out a gasp, wrapping an arm around her torso. At first, I thought maybe she was going to throw up from all of this, because people reacted to life-threatening stress differently and maybe hurling was just her way of coping. I hoped that didn't mean she was going to throw up on my shoes.
But then, I saw the glowing golden bands hovering over her wrists. I recognized that they had to be some sort of power, but they weren't a kind I had ever seen before.
"L – Lauritz," Ausma choked out.
"Ausma!" he returned.
He came to stand in front of her, grabbing both of her hands. The golden bands multiplied and went down to his wrists. They made a humming sound as they shook, becoming greater and greater in intensity, and then –
In a flash of gold, the Koskinen twins were gone.
"What the fuck?" I whispered, horrified.
What the fuck was that? Was it teleportation? If so, where had the two of them gone? Would we even be able to find them? If we couldn't, now that they'd seen a monster without most of the Mist and were without weapons, they weren't going to last on their own for much longer.
Unfortunately for me, Dr. Thorn didn't have the same pattern of thought. "What did you do to them?" he growled at me. Another missile got me in my other shoulder, making me gasp as I let go of Riptide and fell to the ground.
"I didn't – I didn't do anything!" I cried.
I could tell he didn't believe me.
But, before he could strike me with another missile, all of the sudden, vines wrapped around one of his arms, pulling him back. It didn't do much more than that, because he was able to break out of the vines seamlessly, but as he turned around, I caught a glimpse of Katie, Silena, Thalia, and Bianca, all looking ready for a fight.
Thalia was the one to attack first, wielding her magic shield, Aegis.
If you've never seen Thalia run into battle, you have never truly been frightened. She uses a huge spear that expands from this collapsible Mace canister she carries in her pocket, but that's not the scary part. Her shield is modeled after the real-deal Aegis that her dad uses, a gift from Athena. The shield has the head of the gorgon Medusa molded into the bronze, and even though it won't turn you into stone, it's so horrible, most people will panic and run at the sight of it.
Even Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw it.
Thalia moved in with her spear. "For Zeus!"
I thought Dr. Thorn was a goner. Thalia jabbed at his head, but he snarled and swatted her spear aside. His hand changed into an orange paw, with enormous claws that sparked against Thalia's shield as he slashed. If it hadn't been for Aegis, Thalia would've been sliced like a loaf of bread. As it was, she managed to roll backwards and land on her feet.
The sound of the helicopter was getting louder behind me, but I didn't dare look. Instead, I took the opportunity now that Dr. Thorn was busy to get out from behind him, Riptide back in my hand. I darted towards my friends, who instantly noticed that I was alone.
"Where are Lauritz and Ausma?" Bianca demanded.
"I – I don't know," I admitted.
"What do you mean, 'you don't know?'"
"They disappeared in a flash of golden light – not like the kind that my mom vanished in," I added for Silena's and Katie's sakes. "He didn't take them. They're just gone."
As bad as the news was, there was no time for any of us to dwell on it. Katie sprang forwards, using her vines to wrap them around Dr. Thorn's legs and bring him down to the ground. This time, she was more successful.
Dr. Thorn roared and began to change. He grew larger and larger until he was in his true form – his face still human, but his body that of a huge lion. His leathery, spiky tail whipped deadly thorns in all directions.
"A manticore!" Bianca breathed, her face somehow becoming paler than it already was.
The manticore clawed Katie's vines to shreds with ease, then turned towards us with a snarl.
"Get down!" Silena exclaimed, pushing Bianca and I into the snow. At the last second, I remembered my shield again. I hit the button on my wristwatch, and metal plating spiraled out into a thick bronze shield. It wasn't a moment too soon; the thorns impacted against it with such force they dented the metal. The beautiful shield that Luke had given me was badly damaged. I wasn't sure it would even stop a second volley.
I heard a thwack and a yelp, and Katie landed next to me with a thud, blood running down her arms from a mixture of the vines being yanked out of her and thorns hitting her.
"Yield!" the monster roared.
"Never!" Thalia yelled from across the field. She charged the monster and, for a second, I thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from the other side of the cliff. The helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering over both land and sea. It was a sleek, black military-style gunship, with attachments on the side that looked like laser-guided rockets. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals, but what was it doing here? How could mortals be working with a monster in this way? As we'd seen on the Princess Andromeda, if magic and the Mist were used too aggressively on them, it made them idiots.
The searchlights blinded Thalia, and the manticore swatted at her with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction.
"No!" I ran out to help her. Although it made my shoulder hurt something even more awful, I parried away a spike just before it would've hit her chest. I raised my shield over us, but I knew it wouldn't be enough.
Dr. Thorn laughed. "Now, do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."
We were trapped between a monster and a fully armed helicopter. Even with the help of Bianca and Silena, since Katie was now down for the count, we wouldn't stand a chance.
Then, I heard a clear, piercing sound: the call of a hunting horn blowing in the woods.
The manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of helicopter blades.
"No," Dr. Thorn said. "It cannot be – "
His sentence was cut short when something shot past me like a streak of moonlight. A glowing silver arrow sprouted from Dr. Thorn's shoulder.
He staggered back, wailing in agony.
"Curse you!" Thorn cried. He unleashed his spikes, dozens of them at once, into the woods where the arrow had come from, but just as fast, silvery arrows shot back in reply. It almost looked like the arrows had intercepted the thorns in midair and sliced them in two, but my eyes must've been playing tricks on me. No one, not even the kids in Apollo's cabin at camp, could shoot with that much accuracy.
The manticore pulled the arrow out of his shoulder with a howl of pain. His breathing was heavy. I tried to swipe at him with my sword, but he wasn't as injured as he looked. He dodged my attack and slammed his tail into my shield, knocking me aside.
Then the archers came from the woods. They were girls, about a dozen of them. The youngest was maybe ten. The oldest, about sixteen, so about the same age as me. They wore silvery ski parkas and jeans, and they were all armed with bows. They advanced on the manticore with determined expressions.
"The Hunters!" I heard Bianca cry, even as separated as we were by distance.
Next to me, Thalia muttered, "Oh, great."
I didn't have a chance to ask what she meant.
One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery-colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long, dark hair, so she looked like some sort of Persian princess. "Permission to kill, milady?"
I couldn't tell who she was talking to, because she kept her eyes on the manticore.
The monster wailed. "This is not fair! Direct interference! It is against the Ancient Laws!"
"Not so," another girl said. She looked to be the oldest of the group, with inky black hair that was done up in a braided updo and strange eyes, silvery like the moon. Her face was so beautiful it made me catch my breath, but her expression was stern and dangerous. "The hunting of all wild beasts is within my sphere. And you, foul creature, are a wild beast." She looked at the girl with the circlet. "Zoë, permission granted."
The manticore growled. "If I cannot have these ones alive, then I will have them dead!"
He lunged at Thalia and me, knowing we were weak and dazed.
"No!" Silena yelled, running forwards. She charged at the monster.
"Get back, half-blood girl!" the girl with the circlet said. "Get out of the line of fire!"
But with even more horror than before, I could only watch as Silena leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane. The manticore howled, turning in circles with his tail flailing as my best friend hung on for dear life.
"Fire!" Zoë ordered.
"No!" I screamed.
But the Hunters let their arrows fly. The first caught the manticore in the neck. Another hit his chest. The manticore staggered back, wailing, "This is not the end, Hunters! You shall pay!"
And before anyone could react, the monster, still with Silena on his back, leaped over the cliff and tumbled into the darkness.
"Silena!" I yelled.
I started to run after her, but our enemies weren't done with us. There was a snap-snap-snap from the helicopter – the sound of gunfire.
Most of the Hunters scattered as tiny holes appeared in the snow at their feet, but the girl with the inky black hair just looked up calmly at the helicopter.
"Mortals," she announced, "are not allowed to witness the Hunt."
She thrusted out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into dust – no, not dust. The black metal dissolved into a flock of birds – ravens, which scattered into the night.
The Hunters advanced on us.
The one called Zoë stopped short when she saw Thalia. "You," she said with distaste.
"Zoë Nightshade." Thalia's voice trembled with anger. "Perfect timing, as usual."
Zoë scanned the rest of us, even Katie and Bianca, as separated from us as they were. I couldn't see Katie's expression as two of the Hunters immediately started checking her and Bianca for injuries, but I could see Bianca's. She looked almost as horrified as I felt. "Four half-bloods, milady."
"Yes," the older girl said. "Some of Chiron's campers, I see."
"Silena!" I shouted, scrambling as best as I could to my feet. "We – you have to let us save her!"
The girl with the inky black hair turned to look at me. "I'm sorry, Percy Jackson, but your friend is beyond help."
A couple of girls came over to me and held me down, preventing me from getting up anymore. "Stop!" I cried. "L – let me go!"
"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off of cliffs," the elder girl said.
"Please!" The tears were starting to stream down my cheeks now. I suddenly had a very good idea of what Silena had thought this past summer when I'd been missing. "You have to let me save her!"
"I promised my mother that I would protect you, and I intend to keep that promise, your willful disregard for your own health aside," she returned. As my eyes widened at what she'd just said, she gave me a grin smile, her own eyes brighter and colder than the winter moon. "Yes, that's right, Perseus. I'm the eldest daughter of Poseidon and Demeter's children, Artemis, Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt."
Word Count: 3,201
Next Chapter Title: Bianca Makes A Choice
