Author's note: The third chapter is going to take a bit because I'm going to reread a book to figure out how a couple characters act. I expect it to be out in about a month, it'll be even better than this one! At least I hope that is the case lol
I've been trying to come up with an estimate on when this little story takes place. The best I can decide is a month after Dark-Hunters book 11 Retribution. So I will warn you there may be potential spoilers for events that occured BEFORE book 11. However, I will do my best to avoid as many as I can!
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It didn't take them long to reach the large red brick building on the corner of Ursulines and Royal. There was a sign that hung above the saloon style doors that read 'Sanctuary Home of The Howlers' in large bold letters. In the background was a motorcycle on a hill set before the full moon.
Standing guard of the biker bar, was a large blond haired man. At over six feet in height, on his bicep was a black double-bow and arrow tattoo; the mark of Artemis and her Dark Hunters. Areius relaxed a degree knowing who was on door duty, Annabeth noticed and was a little curious why the human's presence seemed to relax the demigod.
Dev was a sight to behold, massive and muscular. He was the bouncer for the family owned bar and one of four quadruplets. When he saw them he flashed a grin and nodded approvingly. Areius motioned to the man and introduced them "Percy, Annabeth and Grover meet Dev.
One of the nicer quads that make up some of the Sanctuary staff." Annabeth gave him a kind smile, while Grover and Percy waved. "Before you enter, if you attack or start a fight they will kick you out and you won't be allowed back in."
Percy looked at Aerius as the man walked past the three of them and started through the door. The sound of rock and metal music was much more noticeable now than before. Percy walked through followed by Grover and Annabeth, and looked around.
The tables and chairs were all a mix of rough design that didn't seem to go together. The billiard tables were all scuffed up and appeared to have survived many bar fights. Even though it was fairly late, the place was quite active. Most of the people were dressed like typical bikers.
While others were dressed in red t-shirts with the Sanctuary logo and moto and jeans- obviously the staff of the bar. Areius motioned them to a table in the back, away from the crowd near the front. As they sat down facing the stage, Areius sat with his back against the wall.
Finding this action very odd, Percy arched a brow at the demigod. "So why is it you won't have anyone behind you?" Areius sighed "I don't quite trust people behind me.. that's basically the short version." This answer didn't quite satisfy Percy but he had other things he wanted to know.
"What were the things that attacked us? Humans don't need fourteen people to rob just three people." Areius couldn't help but chuckle a little at the humor. "Well if my guess is right, the ones you three fought off and defeated were daimons-" "Daimons? Those didn't look anything like daimons.."
"Well unfortunately for you, they were. It only gets worse when you factor in those were Spathi daimons you fought off." Annabeth arched a brow at that, catching how he said it as if those were something special. "What exactly do you mean by Spathi daimons?"
"Some of the oldest daimons, they are better fighters and some are stronger than just a normal daimon. These have been around for hundreds to thousands of years, and you fought them off like they were fodder." "You still helped us." Areius shook his head at Grover's comment.
"I only instructed you on how to remove them and gave Annabeth a weapon to fight with. The only four I killed were the gallu demons- which confuses me a lot more than it should." "Wait, 'remove them'? I thought they died!"
"Unfortunately for us, Spathi daimons don't necessarily die like others of their kind. When they do die, their essence remains and allows their master to resurrect them." Percy's eyes widened as Areius spoke, "So what exactly is a daimon, since these aren't close to the kind of daimon we know."
"Aeons ago the god Apollo created a race known as the Apollites. The Apollites were children of Apollo and superior to humans in every way. They were taller, had serious psychic powers, and were much more attractive than humans."
"The Apollites began fighting mankind and tried subjugating them. Since I wasn't really active during this time, I don't quite know what happened. However, the story goes that one of the Apollites killed Apollo's mistress and child."
Annabeth sucked her breath in between her teeth at this, with Percy and Grover wincing in sympathetic pain. "Then what happened?" "Well, Apollo cursed all of the Apollites to die painfully at age twenty-seven, to never again walk in daylight and they would be forced to drink each other's blood."
"So they are vampires?" Percy asked, this now making sense with the strange people they fought. Annabeth however, struggled to wrap her head around this "How exactly do they die?" "They slowly and painfully decay over a twenty-four hour period. And no not exactly, it wasn't until they began extending their lives by chowing down on human souls."
"So why would they attack us?" Grover asked, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Areius simply shrugged "My only guess is they thought your souls would be much more nourishing due to your genetic makeup."
Annabeth and Percy looked away, wanting to get their minds off of all the new information. An extremely beautiful blond woman approached them, she appeared to be in her early to mid twenties. She wore a pair of skin-tight jeans and a small T-shirt with the Sanctuary logo.
Annabeth was a little nervous, given what they'd just learned, but Aerius smiled warmly at her. "Hello Aimee, how's business?" "The usual, so what can I get for you guys?" "I'll just have a burger and a beer."
Grover ordered cheese enchiladas, while Annabeth and Percy both ordered burgers, fries and a soda. Aimee nodded and wrote down the three orders before walking off. Areius pulled his phone out and dialed a number, cursing under his breath as the Atlantean's phone went to voicemail.
"Hey Ash it's Areius, just thought I'd let you know about daimons and gallu being bed buddies. We also have two demigods and a satyr who may not be from our universe. Would appreciate the backup, text me when you can, cya." He hung up and put his phone away as Aimee came back a bit later.
The stereo switched to playing 'Down In A Hole' by Alice In Chains and Aimee looked at Areius "No messing with the music, you may be a god but don't think you have control over what we play." Percy couldn't help but laugh a little at Aimee getting onto Areius, though it surprised him that Areius could change the music without a remote.
Aimee sat the tray she was carrying onto the table and passed their drinks. "Your food is almost ready, I take it you're paying?" Areius nodded "Just charge my card and take a little extra for a tip." She sighed and picked up the tray "You need to quit being generous, one of these days we'll clear out your account if you're not careful."
Areius laughed at the empty threat, he knew they wouldn't do it. Aimee walked off and Percy watched as the strange woman went to the bar to grab more drinks. "Careful kid, you keep looking too much and her mate and brothers will take it as a threat." Shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, Percy looked back at Areius then took a sip of his drink.
"You haven't explained what Gallu are, unless you don't know what they are." "You're half right with that statement. Gallu are a race of demons created by the Summerian Gods to battle their enemies. They are extremely powerful and if one bites you, they can turn you into mindless zombies."
"That doesn't sound like fun." Annabeth remarked as she listened to both Areius and the music. "No, and the only way to kill them and the zombies is to chop their heads off and burn the bodies." Grover began to form a theory, though he wasn't sure if it was even plausible.
"What if these daimons and gallu wanted our souls? In theory, our souls would provide them with more nourishment." Areius slid his jacket off and placed it in the chair next to him "That's entirely possible, which is why I called someone who could help."
Annabeth noticed the tattoo sleeve of blue scales that went down the length of his right bicep and an oak tree on his neck. She was also quick to catch on to his rubbing of the scales tattoo. When Areius noticed her watching him she smiled and motioned to his ink.
"I like your tattoos, do they have any meaning?" "Thanks and just the scales, they are in memory of my little sister." "Oh, I'm sorry, did something happen to her?" Areius shook his head but didn't bother to elaborate further. Until their food arrived, Percy and the other two asked Areius questions.
He answered some to the best of his ability, and others he simply gave half answers to on purpose. Percy began to grow tired of it, though was finally delighted by the arrival of their food. He started to open his mouth, to demand a full explanation on why Areius seemed to avoid their question on why he was so strong.
However before he could say a word, Aimee gave him a side glare and lowered her voice as a few humans passed by their table. "If I were you kid, I wouldn't antagonize the son of manslaughter. Not the most intelligent thing you can do."
Annabeth coughed, almost choking on her fry, while Percy blinked and moved his mouth like a fish gulping for air. After a few seconds the boy found his words "So that's why you're much stronger than any Zeus kid" Areius glared and growled at Aimee "Thanks, you just had to tell them of the bitch that birthed me. For the record, I only inherited my mother's knack for killing."
"Which you seem to be good at.." Percy nodded, noting not to anger the murder prone demigod. Aimee laughed and gave Areius a little punch on the arm before walking off. The group remained silent as they ate dinner, the only noise from the group coming from Areius' phone going off at a text.
Once finished with his food, Arieius checked his texts and looked at them. "Looks like I've secured you a few bodyguards." Grover and Annabeth were curious about this, with Grover speaking up a little. "Who would be able to guard us from these daimons and demons?"
Areius took a drink of his beer before answering. "They are warriors that serve the goddess Artemis. These warriors live and die to defeat the daimons and protect humanity at all costs. I will try and round up a few others, but I don't know how long until they are all here."
Annabeth couldn't wait to meet them, she did however think they had to be scary if they fought off daimons. "They certainly sound pretty strong and scary." Areius laughed and nodded "They certainly are unique people, just try not to anger them."
Percy didn't miss the meaning in his tone and wondered what he meant.
Areius stood up and excused himself before heading over to where Aimee stood. "I hate to ask this of you guys, but can the three of them stay here? It's only temporary, with the daimon and gallu team up. I don't want your family in danger for too long."
Aimee looked at Remi, the bear was one of the four quads and one of the less socially inclined too. He shrugged, "You're the boss woman." Remi grabbed the tray of beers and walked off. "They can stay for the night. I'll have Quinn set them up in the spare room."
Areius nodded and thanked her and walked out the back. Percy watched as Areius made his way into the kitchen and out the back. He excused himself and started for the kitchen but was stopped by Quinn. "You're not able to go back there, remain out here."
"I was just going to see where Areius went." "He probably went outside to the alleyway, that's all I know." "Will he be coming back?" Quinn picked up a glass and wiped it out with the rag in his hand. "I don't know. I don't make it a habit of questioning a god's actions." Percy sighed and turned around, heading back to the table.
Los Angeles, California
Letting out a bored sigh, Iulian felt his phone vibrate and reached into his pocket. He read the notification and curled his lip in annoyance. "Damnit Acheron, you need to work on your timing." Iulian looked up as he felt the familiar tingle down his neck signaling the rising of the sun in a few hours.
Flicking the blood off his sword, Iulian sheathed the blade under his leather motorcycle jacket. Since time was now against him, he hurried to his bike before starting it and heading towards the airport. It didn't take him long to arrive, granted he nearly got side swiped and wiped out more times than he'd have liked.
Iulian slid off the seat and handed the keys off to the elderly Squire who had been helping to fly the Dark Hunters around the country for his entire life. He boarded the small custom jet that was used to fly Dark-Hunters across the country. Since it was mostly put to use during night, it was completely sealed off from any outside light.
This prevented Dark-Hunters from being killed by the sun. The jet itself was one of the fastest and most custom as they came. He relaxed a degree as he moved to the small kitchenette and a glass of whiskey and sat in the nearest seat. Pulling out his phone and earbuds, Iulian turned on some music and relaxed.
It wasn't but a few minutes later until he felt the plane start moving. Now it was just time to sit back and enjoy the flight.