The taxi drive to Fort Lauderdale went by without much issue. By the time they got on the road the rush hour was over, so the roads were relatively clear. The trio passed the time in relative silence, with Liam on the drivers side occasionally pointing out interesting billboards or the random walker. The driver looked at the three through the rear view mirror. "So, what you kids doing going to Fort Lauderdale? The party season is over, and you kids don't look old enough to join anyways," his Cuban accent heavy in his speech.
Zoe glanced at the other two from the passenger side. "Visiting an uncle. We haven't seen him in a few years," Zoe lied, deciding that the truth wouldn't end well.
The man looked back at them confused, his thick mustache twitching. "You three don't look like siblings."
"We were adopted," Zoe told him. "Our parents couldn't have kids of their own so took us in."
"Ah, that makes sense," the driver nodded. "Your parents let you go alone? A lot of bad things happen in Miami."
"They had work to go to," Liam chimed in. "But we are capable of taking care of ourselves. Have to in a city like this."
"Speaking of bad things happening," Karina interjected from the middle. "Have you heard of any weird attacks or anything in the area. We caught rumors but nothing specific."
The driver looked through the mirror again. "Maybe. I think I heard of some kind of cow harassing people over near Taylor Birch Park. But I wouldn't recommend going near there. No telling what's actually causing trouble."
"We will be careful," Zoe reassured him, sharing a look with her friends.
"Alright then," the man said, pulling into a parking spot on the side of the road. "Well here you kids are. You all stay safe okay?"
"Thank you," Liam said handing the man cash, the others climbing out of the cab. "Keep the change."
The man counted the bills quickly. "You realize this is much more than you owe? Like a hundred dollars more."
Liam smiled at the man. "I know, keep it." Liam shut the door and joined his friends.
The man returned the smile and rolled the window down. "Thank you young sir. You kids have a great day."
Zoe gave the man a bright smile. "You too, thank you."
As the taxi driver drove off, Karina gave Liam a raised eyebrow. "Why did you pay him a hundred dollars extra?"
Liam shrugged. "I never lack for money. Figured I should try spreading it around."
"Does your mom know you do that?" asked Zoe, finishing the braid she started after getting out of the cab.
Again Liam shrugged, a smirk across his face. "I don't know? I mean...she did teach me to do it. So, you think she would be okay with it?" The two girls shared a look before approaching him. The smirk on his face lasted just long enough before he was forced to block Zoe's attempt to grapple him. Only to have Karina trip him and throw him to the ground.
While Liam recovered from being introduced to the ground, Zoe grilled a passerby on directions to the park. Half an hour later, the trio found themselves at the entrance to a rather large park. Littered with oak trees, cypress trees, long leaf pines, and other trees and shrubs. Rock paths crisscrossed the park, leading mortals all throughout the park's experiences.
"This has to be the place," said Karina, glancing around the park. "There is a heavy coat of the Mist around the park."
"Welp step one is done," chirped Liam. "What was step two again?"
"Find the monster?" Zoe answered with a question.
Liam shrugged. "Sounds good to me." As they entered they heard a man yelling at them from their right. Turning, the questers found an older man running up to them, hand upon his hard hat and his yellow vest flapping in the breeze.
The man came to a stop before them and briefly caught his breath. "You kids can't go into the park. There's a cow running rampant and we are trying to get the proper authorities to-" a snap of fingers interrupted him, his eyes glazing over.
"You never saw us," Karina stated, arm still raised. "You will go back to your post and go about your day."
"I never saw you," the man's eyes were still glazed over, his voice sounding almost mechanical. "I'm going to go back to my post and go about my day." He turned without another word and walked off.
Zoe turned to her smaller friend. "I didn't know you could do that yet? When did you learn that?"
Karina just shrugged at her friend. "You've had your studies. I've had mine."
Zoe and Liam exchanged looks before Liam simply shrugged at his friend. "Alright, well let's get going before the Mist wears off," Zoe said. The friends then entered the forest, following the stone paths through the park.
"If this monster has been here harassing people for months, why is animal control only now getting involved." Zoe asked, head turned to Karina.
"The Mist," Karina answered. "It probably made everyone originally think it was some kind of stray dog or raccoon or something. Something that, while annoying, wouldn't really draw to much attention. But as it kept attacking and drawing more attention to it, well, the Mist can only do so much."
"So," Liam drawled, interrupting the conversation. "What are we looking for exactly?" Hands in his pocket, kicking his legs out like he's trying to high kick.
Zoe rolled her eyes. "Tracks mainly. If we hear screams that would be helpful as well." She then scrunched her face. "Well, helpful for us I guess. Not really helpful to the person who screams."
"Except," Liam countered. "Their screams would draw us to them, allowing us to save them. So I think it would be very helpful."
"Guys," Karina interrupted the two. When her friends looked to her, she simply pointed off to their left. Several yards to their left, several cypress trees had been uprooted and tossed aside. The three ran over to them, inspecting the area. The trees looked to have stood for decades, their roots were long and thick with the bark being worn down. The places where the trees had once stood now hosted giant holes. As if someone had grasped the trunk before yanking it up, roots and dirt all, before casting it aside.
"Do you think any of these were tree nymphs?" Zoe asked her friends.
Karina shook her head. "I don't know. The other nymphs in the park probably do though."
Liam approached a random tree. "Hello?" He knocked on the truck. "Anyone in there? We just have some questions."
A rustling behind them forces the questers into a fighting stance, Liam drawing his kopis from his ring, Zoe uncapping Riptide, and Karina drawing an imperial gold dagger from behind. A few yards behind them, a girl appeared from a rather thin but tall tree, with all the leaves forming into sort of a ball at the top. The girl appeared to be their age, with light green skin and pointed ears. She shyly hid behind her tree, even though you could still see most of her body.
Liam approached the girl, hands in front in a placating manner "Hello my name is Liam. What's yours?"
The girl glanced between the three. "Holly," she answered quietly.
Zoe gave the girl a smile. "Hello Holly, my name is Zoe. Can you help us? Were any of these another dryad?" Holly shook her head. "Well that's good. Can you tell us what did this?"
Again Holly shook her head. "It came at night yesterday, I couldn't get a good look at it. It was big though, and angry. It just charged through the area like we were the source of its misery. Are you here to kill it?"
"Yeah," Liam confirmed. "Can you show us where it went?" The dryad pointed just past the uprooted trees, into the shadow of a nearby oak tree. Karina approached the tree in question, noticing massive claw marks on the trunk and giant hoof prints dug into the ground leading away. She turned back to her friends, giving them a nod in confirmation. Liam looked back to Holly, giving her a bright smile. "We appreciate your help. Stay safe out here, okay?." She gave him a timid nod and he turned to join his friends.
Following a trail of hoof prints and claw marks, the questers walked through the park with their weapons at the ready. After two minutes of walking, the silence was broken by a loud growl and a feminine cry of surprise. The trio shared a look before sprinting towards the noises. Breaking through the brush, the friends found the culprits. Another older looking dryad laid on the ground, propped up on her elbow and her other arm up to defend herself. The creature opposite her was...massive. Towering over the three, legs of a bull, covered in a large pair of jeans, torso like someone strapped a couple barrels together and covered it in red tinted, brown fur, arms built like drain pipes, and a gigantic bull head on his broad shoulders.
"Neptune's beard!" Zoe shouted. The dryad noticed them for the first time, a desperate plea for help clear across her face. The monster turned towards the group, snarling and puffing out great lumps of air, jingling its brass nose ring. It's black eyes full of rage and cruelty.
"The Minotaur?" Liam exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? It's huge." The great beast snarled at them. The nymph took the opportunity to run away. "There is no way your dad killed it at twelve with its own horn. Was it always that big?"
"No," Zoe answered immediately. "It's suppose to be slightly bigger than a really big man. Not big enough to contend with full grown cyclopes."
"Somebody going to tell him that?" Karina asked, sharing a glance with Zoe. "What do we do?"
As if answering her question, the Minotaur gave a mighty moo, pawing at the ground with it's hoof and charging. The beast pointed its massive and sharp horns at the questers. "Scatter!" Zoe shouted running to their left, her friends scrambling to the right.
The massive creature flew past them, smashing through several trees turning them into pulp. Zoe felt a massive rush of energy surge through her systems. She felt a bit sick at the cause of her strength. The trio regrouped, looking back the way the Minotaur went. It had apparently tripped over a previously fallen tree and crashed into the park ground, tearing up huge chucks of dirt and grass. It was then Zoe noticed the sharp claws adorning it's fingers and the jagged edge of its hooves.
"This thing doesn't match what we've heard about the Minotaur at all," Karina said, fear creeping into her voice.
Liam snorted. "This is suppose to be an easy task? There is no way Aphrodite knew what she was getting us into."
"Well," Zoe began, stepping in front of her friends. "There is only one way to find out." The Minotaur managed to climbed to its feet, breathing heavily in anger. Zoe brandished Riptide, waving it before her. "Hey Beef Head!" The bull-man snarled at the nickname. "Recognize this?" She began waving her sword above her head.
Pure, unadulterated, hatred took over the Minotaur's body language as it mooed in rage and charged again. The three again dodged the beast. "Well guess that answers that," said Liam. "Definitely the same Minotaur." Said creature smashed through what appeared to be a large maintenance building and Zoe felt even more energy invade her being. This was the most power she had experienced since she learned how to absorb the damage.
"How did it get so big though?" Zoe asked, orientating herself between her two friends. The Minotaur began climbing to its feet again, the collapsed roof pinning it to the floor
"Uh, guys? Less chit chat more plan attack," shouted Karina, eyeing the great beast worryingly.
Zoe glanced around them carefully. "Alright. Liam charge up the biggest bolt you can conjure. Karina and I will keep it busy."
Liam nodded before pausing, concern dominating his features. "Zoe are you okay?"
Zoe turned towards her friend, emerald eyes glowing faintly. Her body trembled as if containing a great effort. "I'll be fine. Go," she ordered, her voice straining against an unseen force. Liam nodded again and slowly made his way across the clearing.
The Minotaur finally managed to get the roof off of it, sniffing and searching around for them. His poor eyesight not helping him in the combination of light and shade in the noon sun.
"How are we going to keep it busy?" Karina questioned. The monster's ears twitched and he turned towards the two, pawing the ground.
Zoe had the audacity to smirk at the girl, though it appeared strained. "Remember Operation Overwhelm the Godly Father?"
"That was such a terrible name," Karina shook her head before taking a deep breath and holding her hands out. Dark storm clouds began blanketing the skies.
The Minotaur approached the clearing again, searching for it's prey. It had heard the bugs talking, it could smell them nearby, but it couldn't quite make out the shapes. "Hey! Bessie!" A small female voice shouted at it. Turning to it's left, the beast could make out a small humanoid shape waving at it. A light emerald glow emanating from its eyes. "What's big and dumb and has hair all over?" The monster flared it's nostrils, hoof pawing, raring to go. The Minotaur mooed again, tilting it's head down and was kicked in the side of it's head. The beast cried out in pain, stumbling to its left and grabbed a tree to stabilize.
"What's the matter Cow Bell?" The small voice yelled again. "Can't handle a kick from a little girl?" The monster roared and charged the noise. It made it ten feet before a force crashed into its back and it slammed into the ground. The Minotaur swung it's arm back in retaliation, narrowly missing the girl. It jumped to it's feet snarling, looking around and listening intently.
"Be more careful it almost got you," an even smaller female voice spoke.
"I got it, just keep it up," the original voice responded. The beast turned to the original perpetrator, spotting four small shapes all with their hips cocked. "You can't even hit something right in your reach. How do you expect to catch me?"
The monster growled, taking off again, arms outstretched ready to scoop them up. It reached halfway to the girls before a pair of feet impacted its knee and a blade sliced into its side. The creature dropped to a knee and threw its head at the annoyance, intending to run the girl through with it's horns. The girl jumped back, narrowly avoiding the horns. The Minotaur stood quickly, swatting at the girl and carving huge gouges into the ground. The girl managed to dodge the attacks with barely any room to spare. "Karina? A little help please?" She pleaded. The beast raised its jagged hoof and kicked at the girl, slamming it into her and shaking the ground. The monster growled in satisfaction and then toppled over as a pair of legs bashed into the back of it's head. The beast fell forward, crashing into several trees before steadying itself. Standing to its full height, the creature took a massive puff of breath and closed its eyes. It listened intently and sniffed. A twig snapped and it's arm lashed out, smacking a body out of the air to the ground.
"Zoe," shouted the smaller voice, exhaustion clear in its tone. The Minotaur raised it's hoof again and slammed it down towards the girl on the ground. The body rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding the death blow. The small person got up and darted through the trees. The monster turned to the smaller voice and growled. It could see the small figure step back, attempting to create space.
Again the Minotaur roared and charged. The girl tried to scramble out of the way, but her legs gave out making her easy prey. She drew a shiny dagger and held it in front of her. The Minotaur snarled, eagerly awaiting the kill. A new force tackled it from the side, causing them both to crash into the grass. Rising to it's full height, the monster caught sight of the annoying girl leaping towards him. It swung it's meaty fist at the girl, intent on crushing the nuisance. The girl, in an insane display of athleticism, grabbed the top of the fist and used it to push herself off. Reorienting herself, the small girl smashed her head into the beast's skull. The Minotaur's head snapped back, howling in pain and stumbled. As she fell the girl thrusted her sword into the creatures gut. Bellowing in pain, the Minotaur smacked the culprit to the side, it heard the body crash into a tree.
"Zoe!" The panicked scream of a male voice invaded the monster's ears, thunder raging across the sky. Rising and turning to the voice, the Minotaur made out another humanoid shape, with blue light arcing around it. "Aaaaaaaaaaaggghhh," the male roared, as the blue light expelled from his body and crashed into the beast.
Liam was panicking. The lighting bolt blasted the Minotaur well out of the clearing, but Liam didn't care. He stumbled over to the destroyed tree that Zoe had been thrown through, fearing the worst. He could see Karina out of the corner of his eye attempting to do the same. Reaching the crushed thatch tree, Liam found Zoe's body lying in a heap of pulverized wood. He checked her breathing and found it strangely steady. He checked her for other wounds finding nothing but a series of cuts and bruises. Karina arrived looking at Liam expectantly, her light skin gleaming with sweat in the noon sun.
"She's okay," he told her. Karina's shoulders slumped in relief before she collapsed onto her rear. Liam looked at her concerned. "You good?"
Karina took a deep breath before looking at him. "Yeah. Just. That level of Mist manipulation is extremely difficult. Probably about the same as that lightning bolt was for you."
Liam nodded pulling out two cubes of ambrosia, giving one to her and eating the other. "So what was Operation Overwhelm the Godly Father?" The godly food already restoring some of their energies.
Karina smirked, her breathing returning to normal. "A few years back, Percy agreed to watch us for a night to give Reyna a break." She chuckled. "Zoe came up with the idea to create multiple versions of herself, all of them causing havoc around the house until Percy gave up and just sat on the couch." The two exchanged small laughter.
"You two are terrors," Liam admitted, a chuckle escaping his lips.
"Hey, I am just the accomplice," the girl defended. "Zoe is the mastermind."
"Someone has to be," Zoe groaned from the ground. "Everyone knows you're too timid to do it."
The two teens scrambled to their friends side. "How are you feeling?" The son of Zeus asked.
Zoe opened an eye and glared at him. "Like I was thrown through a tree by an overgrown cow."
Liam smiled at the comment. "Sounds like you don't have a concussion. I also didn't feel any broken bones. Anything in particular hurt?"
The demigoddess sat up, grimacing. "Aside from my whole body? Yeah I think I'm fine." She held out her arms and the others helped her up. Zoe dusted herself off, grimacing as she did so. Her dark green eyes scanned the clearing. "Where's big, dumb, and hairy?" Karina pointed off to their side where the trees looked like only a few of them received a trim. Nodding at her friends, Zoe began making her way to the way indicated. She pulled out a small flask, sipping the ever helpful nectar. The taste of homemade cookies flooded her senses and she felt her strength start to return.
Her friends managed to catch up to her, looking at her with concern. "How did you survive that?" asked Karina. "You were launched twenty feet through a tree by a gigantic Minotaur."
"Destruction," answered Zoe. "All that damage it was causing gave me more power than I have ever felt in my life. That's why I didn't use any of my powers. I wouldn't have been able to control them. Hades, I was barely able to control my movements." They reached the tree line and proceeded through to find the Minotaur. "Anyways, to answer the question, I assume I absorbed so much energy that it actually enhanced my durability. Which is wild," she said dryly.
"Is that why you were able to move the way you were?" asked Liam. "I've never seen you move that quickly, jump that high, nor have that kind of strength."
"I guess so," Zoe said, confusion stretching across her face. "Though I think that hit, plus the impact with the tree used up the last of it, 'cause I'm beat," she slumped forward, slowing her pace. "This dude better be dead. And he better have left some good loot. Like a weapon or something, don't want no stupid horn."
Karina laughed. "Well, if it doesn't then we can always ask Percy for something once we find him."
The three broke through the tree line to find a massive impact crater, and no monster. The three sighed in relief that the oversized cow was gone and made their way into the crater to see what it left behind. After several minutes of searching they were beginning to wonder if it left anything at all, much to Zoe's dismay. "Uh, guys? Found something," Karina shouted, confusion lacing her tone. The other two made their way over to her, finding her crouched in the dirt of the crater. She pulled out a small circle, about twice the size of a quarter and covered in dirt. She handed it to Zoe who used her shirt to wipe off the dirt revealing a silver coin.
Specifically it appeared to be a silver drachma, with the Empire State Building on one side and an owl on the other. Zoe looked at the coin curiously. She felt a familiarity with the coin but she couldn't place where she had seen it or heard of it.
"Why would the Minotaur drop a silver drachma?" asked Liam, lightning blue eyes glancing between the two. " I didn't even know silver drachmas were a thing."
Zoe tore her gaze from the coin, slipping it into her back pocket. "Doesn't matter," she told them, making her way to the tree line. "We can figure it out later. Right now, let's get out of here and go find Aphrodite." She stopped at a tree, leaning against it momentarily. "I also need a nap," she admitted, much to her friend's amusement.