Seems I did pretty good on the last chapter, now it's review time, skip if you want to get to the chapter.
darkwalker11:"great chapter cant wait for matt and harper"
Response: Thanks, glad you're liking it. And me too.
thesuperone342: "Holy shit. 10/10 man. Your fight scenes are absolutely incredible. Hell, the fight between Apollo and Artemis vs Malachi blows my Hyperion vs. Zane fight out of the water. I. Going to have to make Zane vs Hyperion 2 ridiculous if I'm going to keep up with your writing skills. Also, can't wait for the talk with Zeus. Are you going to portray him like he was in Apotheon or in the Riordan books? Or is he going to be a new interpretation? Anyway, can't wait for your next chapter."
"PS. I'm going to be bringing in another Titan to fight Percy in the mini arc. Try to guess who it will be."
Response: Thanks man, worked hard on that fight scene lol. And I don't doubt that Zane vs Hyperion will be awesome too. About Zeus, I will portray him as he was in the books, not Apotheon, but I'll add my own little writing style with it, so there you go.
Shadowhunter2077:"Okay I loved this chapter, especially the fight between Artemis and Apollo against Malachi, I liked that you make sure that the three were not pushovers like in the beginning of the fight The Twins dominated Malachi but the moment the Typhon thing happened the tables were turned, and also I now feeling bad for Malachi the guy has the worst luck, his father is a major jerk both in the Myths and the Riordan lore and even more in this story, but he also was sold as a slave, have the love of his live imprisoned, and forced to be a monster because of his jerk of a father, now I really want to Ouranos to be beating up"
Response: Glad you liked the chapter. And yeah, Malachi's had it rough, maybe he'll catch a break, who knows? Don't worry about Ouranos, he'll get what's coming to him.
NiHaR OP: "The Apollo and Artemis fight scene was absolutely insane. Malachi's case is kinda like Lukes you know? I loved Talon why'd be go.
Matt and Zeus convo will be interesting to say the least."
Response: Yeah, Malachi and Luke are similar now that you say it, that's cool, I always thought Luke was the most well written besides Percy in the books. And Talon is awesome, why would I get rid of him for good? Nah, the assassin will be back.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, or Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.
Alright, we've waited too long for this, it's Island time, on with the seventeenth chapter.
17. We Sail Towards The Cursed Island
Maybe I jumped the gun a little bit.
I was really confident about this whole Zeus thing a few minutes ago, but now walking towards the Empire State Building...I was a little shook.
I began to worry that he actually might say no for some reason. I didn't know Zeus, both Percy and Annabeth had met him, saying that he was...well, difficult.
I needed to be hopeful though, because the entire plan rests on this. I led the way across the street to the large tower like structure, going in the front door, we were met with surprisingly no tourists. Huh, that was weird. I had no idea what day it was, but it didn't really matter, usually there were people lined up to take a look at this place. I decided it was nothing and went to the front desk, where a guy was sitting there lazily reading some fantasy book with a wizard kid on the front. I couldn't make out the title due to my dyslexia, but that wasn't important.
Percy spoke first, "Wow, still reading that book?"
The guy looked up, and his eyes widened a little, recognizing the Son of Poseidon, but then he quickly put on his fake lazy look.
"Sir." I tried to be polite, this guy could be a minor god after all, who the hell knows, it was Olympus. "I need an audience with Zeus, it's urgent."
He flipped a page in the thick book, "Appointment?"
Before I could get annoyed, Annabeth did, "Oh come on! Don't you remember us?" She pointed at herself and Percy, "We've been here like five times! You always say the same thing. How do you even make an appointment?!"
The guy tried his best to remain indifferent, and I was getting annoyed. So I decided to play bad cop, I took my index finger and pushed lightly on the desk. It began to bend and fold at my force, I then pushed it all the way down until it touched his knees, the desk now looking like a boulder had been dropped on it.
"So, can we go in?" I asked in mock politeness.
His façade dropped immediately, "Um yes! Six hundredth floor on the elevator! Er, have a good time!"
I nodded, "Appreciate it." We walked onto the elevator, and I searched for the button, I finally found it, and pressed it, the six hundredth floor.
We waited for about ten or fifteen minutes, annoying elevator music playing above. Jeez, can't they choose better tunes in this thing?
Finally after that awful music, the doors opened, and we were greeted with the most amazing sight I had ever seen.
Imagine Ancient Greece at it's best, then multiply that by ten, then give that place a heavenly aura and beauty, you have Olympus. Greek style buildings littered the beautiful landscape, minor gods and other beings walked around in happiness, gardens with every kind of crop on display in the far left. And in the distance, sat the biggest palace looking thing in the world. Olympus itself, it was enormous and amazing. Words can't describe it's appearance, it's magnitude, the power that was radiating from it.
Annabeth sighed, "The architecture...it always gets me."
Percy nudged her, smirking, "You designed most of it."
Harper looked at her incredulously, "You designed this place?"
"No, I just repaired it. It's no big deal honestly..."
Harper smiled and grabbed her shoulder, "It's a huge deal Annie! This place is amazing!"
I was in awe too, but I knew what the mission was, and I had to move forward. I decided it would be best if I spoke to Zeus alone.
"Guys, do you mind if I go in there, alone?"
"What? Why?" Harper asked, turning from Annabeth.
"I just need to. You guys can hang out here, take a good walk around. I'll handle Zeus."
"Don't you think you would have a better chance of convincing him with us backing you up?" Annabeth reasoned.
It was true, I don't know what was coming over me, but I just had a feeling I needed to be one on one with my grandfather. It would help having Annabeth's intelligence in there, but I couldn't ignore my instincts.
"Probably, but I'll be fine, I promise. You guys just wait for me."
They hesitated, but ended up nodding. Before they left, Harper grabbed my arm.
"Don't do anything stupid."
I nodded, "That's going against my nature, but I'll try."
She chuckled at my joke and walked away. It was good to see her smile.
I walked through the incredible ancient streets, passing various people that looked like regular humans, only they wore togas and Greek clothing, so they could have been gods for all I know. After a few minutes of navigating, I finally found myself at the regal giant doors of the Main Hall. The entrance wasn't guarded, then I registered that it would be stupid to have guards, there were gods in there.
I had to use some strength to push open the doors, and when I did, I was greeted with a palace the size of three Grand Central Stations. Everything glowed with gold and all sorts of amazing royal colors, I walked mindlessly, staring at the epicness that was the interior. After a minute I finally took my eyes off the surroundings and looked ahead of me, to see twelve huge thrones with different styles all side by side in a semicircle. I could recognize who some of the Olympians thrones were, I saw what looked like a fishing chair with a fishing rod holder on the side, that obviously belonged to Poseidon. Then there was one that was red and black, with a boars head on top and battle designs all over, that one was Ares'. Most of them were empty, all except three. In two of the three sat the twin deities Artemis and Apollo, they were talking frantically with another god. This god sat at the very end and had the nicest looking throne, just looking at him I could tell he was immensely powerful, not even attempting to read his aura, for fear that I would combust and die, this was obviously Zeus.
Zeus had a neatly trimmed black beard with nicely done medium length hair. He wore a dark colored suit with dress shoes, looking like a middle aged doctor, or congressman. He wasn't bulging muscles or anything, he didn't wear a greek toga, he didn't have long white hair and beard with blue electric eyes, he didn't have his masterbolt next to him. This was nothing like the Zeus I had imagined, and frankly, I was a little relieved, the description I had thought of would probably make me walk out of the door in fright.
I walked forward, finally coming up to them. The twins noticed me and gestured, Zeus himself then looked directly at me.
"Matthias, what are you doing here?" Artemis asked me. She looked great, taking form as a twenty year old woman, ancient greek clothing on, her auburn hair tied in a braid.
"I uh..." They were all staring at me, but for some reason Zeus wasn't the reason I was stuttering, it was the twins. They looked like what I would imagine to be real gods. Apollo had golden blonde hair as bright as a bonfire, lean muscles on display from his white toga, a giant bow on his back, and Artemis looked like ten billion drachmas, insanely beautiful and intimidating. I was suddenly a little envious of Malachi getting to lay on her legs in my vision. Wait what? Snap out of it Matt, you're here to talk to your grandpa.
"I'm here to speak to Lord Zeus...my uh, grandfather."
Zeus didn't look surprised at this, he must've known about me. The twins exchanged looks with the King, who sat in thought for a moment, studying me.
"Leave us be. We will discuss the matter later." He said, his voice deep and formal. I didn't know if he was talking to me or the Twins, I found out when Apollo winked at me and dissipated in a powerful flash of bright orange. Artemis looked at me with sympathy, nodding encouragingly, then faded with a silver mist, leaving me alone with Zeus.
We stood/sat in silence for a minute, seemingly giving me time to prepare what I was going to say.
"So then, Matthias Beckett, my grandson, son of my favorite, what have you to say?"
"You know me?"
"Of course, when Hercules had a son as a god, you bet I took notice. When you were born, I kept track of your progress, every hardship, every victory, I took witness and felt pride." The corners of his lips slightly upturned, "Your feats are impressive for a demigod, grandson. You remind me of him."
"My father...he was your favorite?"
He nodded, "Oh yes. There was never a better hero, not even that Percy Jackson my brother brags about so much. Heracles, Hercules...there's really no difference, he was the greatest of mortals."
I felt my heart leap, so he was actually somewhat proud of me? And my father was his favorite? This was good, it might boost my chances of getting him to help.
"Um, thank you grandfather. I just...needed to speak with you, I was hoping you could help me."
"Help you?" He raised an eyebrow, "Hmm...what would you request of me?"
I felt relief flood over me, at least he was going to hear me out. Maybe Zeus wasn't as bad as I thought. I then explained my plan in extreme detail. I have no idea how long it took, but I explained it all, Hera being trapped, Ouranos' possession of Malachi, the Typhon thing, freeing Sera, the Man in the Cloak, all of it. The King of the gods just sat there, a hand on his chin, staring at me intently, not reacting to anything, he just listened.
When I was finally done, silence ensued, Zeus was processing what I had said. I was nervous at how he would respond, this could decided the entire rest of the quest, and the fate of many lives.
He finally took his hand off of his chin, and clenched his armrest, "So you are telling me that an upstart half primordial has captured my wife under the orders of my grandfather?"
"No sir, not orders, he was forced. Ouranos is controlling him."
"Yet you would still have me confront this boy, who is being controlled by my defeated grandfather at his weakest. Me, the king of Olympus, the most powerful god, should step in and handle this for you?"
"Well sir...we'll be there, we just need you to handle Ouranos."
"This is a hero's duty, the god's have more important matters to attend to."
Crap, so this was how it was going to go. I got annoyed, but tried to remain calm. "Like what, sir?"
He narrowed his eyes at me, "Watch it boy. My grandfather may be reforming, but I will admit, he is powerful enough to cause devastating storms nationwide..." He then closed his eyes and winced, thunder boomed in the distance, "Storms that I must dissipate in order to keep this world intact."
"I understand my lord, but...just a few minutes of your time is all I need. Please sir, Malachi Stallard is powerful in this form."
Zeus laughed, not of humor, something different was about his voice, like what I said was genuinely stupid. "HA! Powerful to you or the twins perhaps, but to me he is a mere fly in need of swatting."
I spread my hands at my side, "Then why won't you help me? Is it the Typhon thing? Are you afraid sir?" My voice was raised, and my words were suicide, but I didn't care, It was stupid why he was resisting to help.
I knew I had crossed a line, his face changed immediately, he became angry, and stood from his throne, ten feet tall. "YOU THINK I AM WEAK?! YOU THINK I AM SHYING AWAY FROM THIS BECAUSE I AM IN FEAR?" His eyes began to glow electric blue, his pupils leaving him, his clothing changed, the dark suit morphed into a white toga with golden outlines on the sleeves and opening, bronze armor covered his left shoulder, he had on bronze shin guards and gauntlets, his muscles grew until they were chiseled and defined, putting bodybuilders to absolute shame. But what surprised me most, was his hair. It went from black to pure white in an instant, his beard growing until it reached his chest, lightning crackled around him, thunder could be heard booming outside, the skies turned gray, and I was blown back on my rear.
He stepped down towards me, "Beings have never experienced true fear until they have stood before me in this form. Allow me to show you..."
Suddenly, my vision tunneled, and I saw Zeus as he was now, only no beard. He was standing next to two others, a black haired man with a blue toga and a long deadly trident, it was Poseidon. The other had smoke billowing from his body, his helmet darker than night, inside of it, I did not see a face, I saw only a glow of fire, It had to be Hades.
The three gods were standing in a stormy wasteland, tornadoes all around, thunderclouds overhead, volcanoes erupting in the background. They were facing a giant figure, at least three times as tall as them, he had neatly shaped long horns on his head, his eyes glowed yellow, his armor as well, he was holding a scythe as big as an airplane, bending the air around him. I figured it must be Kronos.
The three brothers began to fight the Lord of Time. Zeus in the sky shooting giant bolts of lightning at him, piercing the Titan's armor and causing him to stumble, Poseidon summoned hurricanes from the sea and threw them at Kronos, Hades conjured large chains made of fire with pointed tips to them, throwing them and stabbing Kronos in the chest, then pulling him towards him.
It wasn't long before they defeated him, Kronos tried to fight them with his scythe, but they were too much. Poseidon and Hades ended up knocking the scythe from his grasp, allowing Zeus to catch it in mid air, and impale their father. Not stopping, he sliced him to literal bits, blood flowing everywhere, they eviscerated Kronos.
I was met with another few visions of Zeus' power on display, especially against Typhon a few thousand years ago, using the Master bolt to deliver a deadly shot, arcing through the monster arm and taking it clean off.
The visions cleared, I was thrown back into the throne room, an extremely intimidating Zeus standing before me. I needed to be careful in what I said next, I needed him to use this on Ouranos, not me.
"Grandfather, Lord, forgive me for saying that. I just...really need the help. Your wife...she's there. Don't you want to rescue her? Don't you want to get rid of Ouranos yourself? He's challenging you as King of The Skies."
That seemed to catch his attention. He softened a bit, the lightning stopped, but he stayed in his white haired form, only he shrunk to normal height, which was still like six foot two.
"No, it is I who should be sorry, Matthias. I have been rather frustrated with this...nonsense. Hera...I had no idea. And Ouranos...they just keep coming back! First it was Kronos, then Gaea, now Ouranos! They never learn!"
"I know I'm asking a lot by insisting on this, but...please, Grandfather. We need you, the human race...they need you."
He looked at me for a few seconds, his eyes still glowing blue, but he sighed, "I have not always been kind to them. And they have not always been kind to me. But the truth is...and do not repeat this." Then he muttered, "We need heroes, and we need humans."
I couldn't believe it, Zeus was admitting it. My stomach lifted, maybe he would help me after all?
"Sir, if you want to help, it would only be for a few minutes at most. Once we get to the Island, we just need you to distract Mala-no Ouranos, long enough for me to free the girl."
"You want me to appear only after you've arrived at this place?"
"Yes." Then something hit me, the flaw in the plan. Crap, Kronos had put a barrier on the Island, meaning that gods couldn't enter. I was so stupid!
But Zeus seemed to read my mind, "Barriers begin to weaken once the user has been killed. It has been a few years since the defeat of my father, I'd say I could get in, barrier or not."
I lit up a little, "So does that mean you'll help us?"
He thought about it for a minute, the suspense rising, he finally nodded, "Yes, I shall assist you, but only this once."
I pumped my fist in victory, I could've hugged the guy, but then I realized that would be going too far. So I simply kneeled a little, "Thank you, grandfather. We won't fail on our part."
He surprised me by putting a hand on my shoulder, "And I won't fail in mine. Ouranos will be sent back to Tartarus once I am done. Now, get going, you've got sailing to do."
I smiled, Zeus was actually...okay.
I nodded, "I sure do." I thanked him again, and exited the throne room, glancing back, I saw Zeus exit his white haired form, and turn back to normal, sitting on his throne, he put his hand to his head, as if he was having a headache.
I walked back outside, some of the minor gods still shaken at the level of power Zeus displayed moments ago, but most of them were at their usual business. I finally spotted the others hanging around a garden, Annabeth smacking Percy's hand as he attempted to swipe a godly vegetable.
I ran up to them, "Sup guys."
They turned, their faces full of anticipation, "Well?"
"He said he'll help us."
Their eyes widened, then we cheered in victory, high fives all around, including some hippie dude walking by that wanted to join in. We high fived him, turns out he's a minor god, son of Apollo, and the god of ukuleles. Wow, Olympus was wild.
We were happily cheering all the way to the elevator, laughing and goofing off, it was good to be a part of it. I felt like my worries had vanished, Zeus had agreed, and we were going to be fine.
We made it back downstairs, and walked out of the building. Knowing where we had to go now, Florida.
Crap.
Florida was so far away! And we didn't have Talon's transportation. Man, I missed the assassin.
The others took notice, we tried to come up with plans, but nothing seemed to fit. I thought we were screwed, when I heard a voice in my head.
I almost forgot, you'll need transportation.
Zeus?
Yes. Now, once you get to this Island, speak to me, just like we are doing now, and I will hear you.
O-Okay.
Good, now stay still.
I had just enough time to tell the others, "Stand still!"
They yelped in surprise as a white light blinded us, we felt like we were back in the Paradise Inn's elevator, zooming around in all directions, yet staying perfectly in place. After a few seconds of screaming and thinking we were going to die, we were firmly planted on a grassy ground.
We had landed face first, all of us on a soft green ground at the edge of what I guessed to be a park. I looked up, seeing mortals in the distance, walking on paths, a playground filled with children. Thank Olympus they didn't notice us, we probably would've ended up on YouTube, exposing our world.
I pushed up, the others doing the same. Percy spat grass from his mouth, Annabeth picked it out of her hair, and Harper was simply astonished at what had happened.
"What the hell was that?" She exclaimed to no one.
"Transporta-" I coughed, a small black thing falling out of my mouth. I caught it, and saw that it was a beetle. It had crawled in there while I was on the ground.
Disgusted, I groaned and put it back on the grass, clearing my throat and wiping my tongue, I restated, "Transportation. Zeus sent us here. And if I had to guess..." I pointed at the sign in the distance, barely making out Washington Oaks Park. "This is the place Talon talked about. Ouranos' boats should be nearby."
Annabeth looked around at the water thirty feet from us, "So...where's the harbor?"
"Guess we'll have to look. Can't be far, Talon said this was the place."
Turns out it was pretty far.
After walking for a few minutes on the sandy shore, the sun behind the evening clouds thank the gods, we finally found the harbor in the distance. We began trudging toward it, a mile away, I knew I could sprint there easy, so could the others, but we didn't want to make a scene, so we stayed calm and just walked.
After what seemed like an hour, we arrived. Fishing boats lined up the docks, a few shacks and a diner in front of them, shirtless overweight bearded men littered their boats, drinking beers and eating in the diner. Harper made a gagging sound at some of them. Yeah, they probably shouldn't be showing off their guts and chest hair to the world. No offense to fishermen.
We looked around the boats, everything seeming normal, but that was the trick. We needed to look extra hard.
"How are we gonna find this thing?" Percy asked in a whisper as two more dudes walked by.
Annabeth looked at the diner, "We can ask for some information." Then she pointed at Percy's stomach, which was grumbling, "And get something to eat."
Harper reared her head back a little, eyebrows raised, "Uh...eating in that place? Are you sure it's sanitary? I mean, look at these guys." She gestured to the middle aged fishermen, one was even pissing in the water, trying to be sly about it.
Harper looked away, groaning, "Yep, add that to the list of nightmares."
Looking at those guys, it gave me an idea.
"Wait here." I said, walking towards the drunk dude's boat.
I stepped onto it, he had a couple of equally disgusting, equally drunk friends egging on his antics.
"Hey, you mind putting that thing away? Wouldn't want the seagulls to bite it." Actually, that would be funny, although they wouldn't have much to bite.
They noticed me, the pisser held up a greasy hand, "Don't want that at all, I'm about done, just gib me a second." He was slurring his words, definitely drunk. He finally stopped and zipped his stained cargo shorts up.
"Why are you still here?" He said.
I clenched my fists, "You seen any suspicious people lately? Besides you guys, I mean."
He didn't register the insult, he only shook his head, "Nah, not at all. But if ya want to find out some stuff..." He then grabbed me in a disgusting embrace and whispered in my ear, "Ya can bring me one of those girls, let me have a fun time..."
Last straw. I immediately grabbed his neck and picked him up like it was nothing, he struggled and fought, but I didn't feel a thing. I raised him over the side and above the water.
"Now then, where can I find some information?"
He looked down in fright, "T-the diner! Yep, they'll tell ya what ya want ta know!"
"Appreciate it." I then let go, dropping him in the water. He splashed and struggled.
"SHIT, YOU LITTLE FUCKER, I CAN'T SWIM!"
I didn't even turn around, directing my next words at his buddies, "You might wanna pull him out, or the sharks will be eating good." I heard them scramble to get him, I smiled and made my way back to the group.
Once I got there, Percy was seething, "You should've decked him, Matt. Idiot was polluting the water more than it already is." Oh right, forgot about that. Percy's anger was justified of course.
"What did they say?" Annabeth asked.
"Well, the diner is the place to go for info."
"Diner it is then. I gotta say though, not a seafood fan." Harper said walking towards the shack.
It was surprisingly good.
Right when we entered, we got some glances for being relatively good looking teenagers in a place filled with middle aged men, and a few long stares at Harper, due to her left eye being pure milky white.
She glared at them, and they turned away quickly.
We ordered our food, it came out within five minutes, nice. I got a cheeseburger with fries, so did Harper. I was kind of amazed at her choice of food. Looking at her, all gothy, you wouldn't expect her to down a cheeseburger, but that's what she was doing. Sometimes appearances don't match with personalities I guess.
We ate, then at one point, we did rock paper scissors to decide who would go and ask if anything weird has been going on. It came down to Harper and Percy, the former won, Percy groaned, and went up to the register.
"Percy's a smooth talker, why wouldn't he want to?" I asked.
Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Who knows."
I felt a tap on my arm, it was Harper, she was pointing at my tray.
"You want the rest of those fries?" There were like six left, and I was full, so I shook my head. She grabbed them and shoved them into her mouth in one motion, five seconds later, the fries were gone.
I looked at her in disbelief, moving my head to look at her torso, "Where do you put all of it?"
She chuckled, "Like I said, I burn a lot of calories training these legs. Of course you already know that. Remember, when I kicked your ass on the truck?"
She was trying not to smile, I leaned closer teasingly, "Kicked my ass? The way I remember it, I let you win."
"Yeah right. You were begging to get out of my pin."
Only because your area was right in front of my face, I thought. But I didn't say that, instead I retorted with, "I felt nothing, I was just messing with you." In truth, I wasn't. I mean, I wasn't using strength or anything, but I could barely keep up with her speed, and that kick would have obliderated anyone else.
"Well, you wanna have a rematch? I'm game."
I was pleased that she wasn't giving me the cold shoulder at the moment, maybe things were starting to mend between us.
Unfortunately, as I was about to respond, Percy came back.
"So yeah, the lady said that there's been a boat out there all day, with some suspicious looking guys on it."
"What makes them suspicious?" Annabeth asked, looking up at him.
"Well, they have a weird boat, they wore dark clothing, and they were fit teenagers. Unlike the usual people around..." He pointed to some guys outside that could use a little gym time.
"Okay, well where are they?" I said, trying to spot them.
He pointed to the left, "At the very end."
I leaned over to see, and sure enough, out there was an old style wooden boat, the kind that I imagined Odysseus used on his quest, only this one had a motor. There were four teenage boys, all wearing black hoodies and jeans, I could barely make out glowing bronze in the boats floors, it was their weapons.
I got up, "We don't have any time to waste. Let's get that boat."
They agreed, and we left the diner, making our way to Ouranos' goons.
We walked up, they spotted us halfway down the dock, and they lit up in alertness, we then jogged after them, they got in the boat and tried to crank the motor, but Harper was ready. She zoomed across the dock and knocked the guys hand away, the others immediately dove after her. The three of us closed the distance quickly, making short work of these guys. We tossed them in the water, Percy summoned a big wave and sent them fifty feet from us. We left one guy with us though, he had medium length brown hair, a little darker than mine, stocky build, and dark clothing. I grabbed him as Annabeth started the motor, Percy concentrated, closing his eyes and using his hands like he was feeling the air around him. Suddenly without anyone at the gas or steering wheel, we lurched forward, and began to zoom along straight. Percy's doing I guessed, a very handy ability.
Once the harbor became fingernail sized in the distance, we went a little slower, and I began to talk to the guy.
"What's your name?"
He stayed silent.
"What's your name, man?" I repeated, a bit louder.
"James." He growled.
"Alright James, where can we find this Island you guys stay on?"
He laughed, "So that's what you want? Turn back then, it's suicide for you guys, that freak will kill you all."
I guessed he was talking about Malachi. "Yeah well, I think we'll be alright. Now, you wanna take over the ship, navigate our way towards it?"
He said nothing.
I threw up my hands, "I tried. Harper?"
She understood, taking out one of her knives and quickly slicing across his cheek. James winced and glared at her.
"More motivated?" She asked.
"Not a chance, emo bitch."
She then brought it down on his shoulder, not going all the way, but enough so that he screamed.
She inserted it more and more, until finally he said, "Agh, OKAY! OKAY, I'll navigate! Just stop!"
She removed the knife and wiped the blood off of it, sitting down near the front like it was nothing.
I shoved him into the driver's seat, motioning for Percy to ease up.
I leaned down and said lowly to him, "You steer us in the wrong direction, and your dead."
"Aye aye Captain." He said sarcastically, I decided to let it pass, and I sat down near the back, keeping an eye on him. Despite everything, it was finally happening, we were going to the Island. The climax of this quest was on it's way.
I closed my eyes, breathed in the ocean air, and smiled.
(The Next Day)
After what seemed like a few hundred miles, and a mostly peaceful night, we finally hit our first storm at noon.
It was awful, and I knew that Ouranos was behind it. He was trying to thwart us, because he knew that we would succeed.
We were doing our best to stay alive and keep the boat intact. Giant waves crashed around us, trying to destroy the boat, only for Percy to smack them away. Annabeth had created a sail just in case the motor goes out, she happened to be good at making stuff. James drove and steered as best as he could, narrowly avoiding debris and jagged rocks, keeping the vessel afloat despite the insane rocking. Harper and I were pretty much useless. I got struck by lightning twice, literally. I felt a slight stinging from them, but after a few seconds it went away. I tried clapping away the waves with wind from my strength, but that only sent us skidding fifteen feet to the opposite direction, nearly throwing us off. So I had made things worse, great.
After three hours of this, we got exhausted and seriously wondering if Ouranos would give in. Turns out he wouldn't, and we decided we needed to find a temporary island to stay on for the evening and night.
Turns out that's easier said than done. We searched and frantically drove around for miles, but nothing. After another half hour, we nearly decided to give up, until I spotted the green tips of trees in the distance.
"OVER THERE, IT'S AN ISLAND!" I yelled over the wind and thunder.
James immediately gunned it, we zoomed over waves and dodged floating debris, heading in an arrow towards our temporary stay.
We finally got to the shore on the front side, dropping the anchor and securing the boat. At least I hoped it was secure, these winds were getting nuts.
We stepped out onto the sand, walking along the shore, our eyes glued to James, making sure he wouldn't try anything. We did this for ten minutes, just looking along the shore for a decent place to sleep, perhaps in the woods, but not too far. Some kind of cave would be best, or a place next to running water.
After another few minutes, Annabeth stopped us, "Okay, we're not getting anywhere, and this storm isn't letting up. So what do you guys suggest? I think we need to head into the woods, leave a trail behind us so we know our way back to the shore, and find a cave."
"Agreed. And I think we should split up, to cover more ground." I said.
The others looked at me uneasily, except for James.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Percy asked.
I nodded, "Sure. I'll take Jamie boy here, and you guys go together. If I need you, I'll just yell, I can put strength into it and make it pretty loud."
They weren't convinced, it did sound a little sketchy, but right now, we needed some shelter.
"Guys, we'll be fine. Let's do it, the more ground we cover, the better the chances."
Annabeth studied me, "He's right. It's the best choice...but what if we need you?"
"Just shout. We won't be far from each other."
They nodded, reluctantly agreeing, but still agreeing. I walked toward the forest, an unarmed James at my back, the others walked a hundred feet to the left, and we looked at each other again for assurance.
With that, we entered the jungle.
After a few minutes, nothing. No caves, no running water, just bugs, leaves, and a whole lot of wind.
I decided to break the tension, "So...what made you want to join Ouranos?"
"The Olympians suck as leaders."
Straight forward. At least he was honest, and didn't talk in riddles or anything.
"Better than the Titans and Giants though." I pointed out.
"Maybe, but not better than Ouranos. He promises a better world, and I've seen what he can do...it'll happen."
So Ouranos had a whole making the world better justification thing. It was bullshit, just a manipulation tactic to get numbers in his cause, all he really wanted was the world domination he once possessed back.
"Hey, how much further is the Island?" I asked, not expecting an answer.
He pointed to his right, "Not far, it's about twenty miles that way." Then he sneered, "Your final resting place, Lion."
"Lion?"
"It's what some of the soldiers call you. A lot of them actually fear you, but I don't see the fuss, you look like a fag."
I managed to stay calm. "Yeah man, tough talk coming from a guy that cracked with one knife cut."
He chuckled, "Whatever. Who's that girl anyway? She's hot. Even with that freaky eye thing."
He saw my fists clench.
"Oh? My bad man, is that your girl? Well, sure doesn't seem like it. Looks like you're in the friend zone buddy." Then he sighed, and leaned a little closer to my neck, "I think she wants a real man. Not some pussy disappointing son of Hercules. Nah, maybe her and I get close tonight, she'll need someone to warm her up from the cold, right?"
"Shut up." I muttered angrily.
"Oh yeah, I can see it now. A nice talk on the shore, then a little smooch action, then the real fun starts, and you'll hear her moans all the way from your sleeping spot."
I gritted my teeth and turned to punch him, but as soon as I did, I heard a whistle and felt blood on my face. A wooden spear was hanging in the middle of James' neck.
He immediately fell dead on the ground, blood pouring in a puddle. The wooden spear was covered in it, the tip extremely sharp from whittling. The accuracy too, it had been thrown and went straight through his neck.
I looked to my left and on a grassy hill, vines around the trees, I saw a group of college aged people, all wearing fur clothes, strange necklaces on their necks, and wooden spears in their hands. All but one, a tall black haired guy had his hand outstretched, he had thrown the spear. He wore a bunch of fur and had on tribal paint on his cheeks, like some kind of ancient warrior. But the guy wasn't' ugly, he looked modern enough. I guessed he was the leader.
They turned on me, and I held my hands up, not that the spears would do any damage. "Whoa! Not a hostile, we just landed here, need a place to stay for the night."
The leader studied me, then said, "How many more of you?"
"Three."
"Hmm, well of course you can stay the night!" He jumped from the hill and landed in front of me, surprisingly not breaking any bones.
He winced at James' dead body, pulling out his spear from his neck. "My bad on that. Was he important?"
"Uh...kinda."
The leader was an inch taller than me, he smiled, his teeth surprisingly white, and held out his hand. "I'm Xander, you?"
I shook it, it was calloused and firm, "Matt. Nice to meet you."
He nodded, "Likewise, Matt. You're probably wondering what the hell a bunch of teens are doing on an island. And the best way I can explain it is four words. Lord of the Flies."
I wasn't getting it, "What?"
"You know, the book? It's a classic man. It's about a bunch of boys that crash land on an Island and they have to survive, but slowly venerate into savagery and even kill some of their own, fearing a beast on the Island but then finding out the beast wasn't real and that it was actually them the whole time. Know what I'm talking about?"
"I mean, I've heard of it...but I'm not much of a reader."
He laughed, "Nothing wrong with that. It's a good book, and it's pretty much our sucky situation, only we have girls too, not just boys. We were on a plane, flying to some club field trip that I can't even remember it's been so long. Anyway, pilot has a heart attack and boom, we crash land here, luckily most of us survived it."
"Wow. How long have you guys been here?"
He sighed, "A while it seems." He turned to one of his tribe, "A month or so? That right?" The other dude shrugged, Xander turned back to me, still smiling, "Doesn't matter. Point is, we've been surviving here, and doing well at it."
Something wasn't right. I had a gut feeling that this guy was lying, and I decided to call him out on one thing.
"The way you threw that spear...that was a really good shot. You learn that in this club back home?"
He only smiled again, "After a month of hunting critters on this mound of dirt, you get pretty good with it. I practice a lot, and besides, that was honestly a luck shot, I was aiming for his side."
He was very charismatic, no wonder he was the leader. I couldn't read or see any body language to prove he was lying, so I just let it go, and bought the story.
"Oh, alright. So you guys don't mind if we camp here?"
"Of course not! How about this, we let you guys camp here, and you get us a ship to rescue us, how's that?"
I didn't want to inform him of our quest, cause from what I could tell, this guy was mortal. So I just replied with, "Sure."
"Great! Now let's go find your friends, you look like you need some rest." He led the way, I followed, his tribe following behind me, I noticed they were carrying James' body.
We walked for a few minutes, and I decided to ask some more questions. If this guy was lying, let's see how good his cover stories were.
"So, one month here and you put war paint on?"
Xander chuckled, "Ah, yeah. We got a little carried away with it. It actually kind of helps with camoflauge for hunting, so there's that."
"How many of you are there?"
He thought for a moment, muttering numbers under his breath, finally landing on, "twenty three I think. We originally had twenty eight. They died...unfortunately."
"How?"
His face darkened, "Well...things got bad, and it had to be done. They uh...had different views than me. Radical views, endangering everyone."
"So you're the leader?"
"Yeah. I'm the oldest at eighteen, so I make the decisions, and people listen. It honestly gets overwhelming, sometimes I find myself looking to be alone, trying to escape the hassle."
"Tell me about it." I muttered.
He smiled, "So what's your story Matt? How did you and your buddies end up here?"
I wasn't prepared for him to ask questions. Crap, I had no story, I needed to come up with one quick.
He must have saw me sweat, because he clapped my shoulder, "No need. If you don't wanna tell you don't have to. All that matters is that we remain safe."
I sighed in relief, this guy was actually pretty cool. A little creepy, but pretty cool.
We walked along, finally hearing a scream not far away.
"That sounded like Harper!" I said with worry.
Xander looked at me, cool and collected, but alert and ready. "She one of yours?"
"Yeah, we need to help her!"
He nodded and we ran in the direction of the shout. We burst through a clearing of leaves to see Percy and Annabeth fighting giant boar monsters, and Harper being thrown by one...edging closer to an underground cavern. Rocks littered the pit, if she got tossed in there, she would die.
Too late though, as I registered what was going on, the boar threw her straight into the pit.
"HARPER!" I yelled. No, no, no. Not her, not her, she cannot die.
But before I could do anything, Xander was already sprinting.
"THE ROPE, THROW THE ROPE!" He yelled to his tribe members.
They quickly grabbed a thick rope from a fur pack and threw it at him, he caught it and lassoed it perfectly down the pit. I was running over to help, but I stopped ten feet away, Xander had it under control.
"CATCH IT, HARPER, I'LL PULL YOU UP!" He shouted down at her.
I saw the rope tighten. Thank the gods, she had caught it.
Xander was strong for a mortal. His defined muscles revealed that much, but the way he was pulling Harper up with ease, this guy worked out a lot. Again, no wonder he was leader. He was good looking, strong, able to think quick, and good with weapons.
I saw black hair emerge from the edge, Harper's gloved hands grasped for something to hold on to. Xander caught her and hefted her up.
I was about to thank the guy and tell him how freaking awesome that was, when they got a little too close for me.
He had caught her from stumbling, and now their faces were inches apart.
"Um...hi." Harper said, her ears a little red.
Xander smiled, "Hey. You alright?"
She nodded, her mouth slightly parted. He let her go, and turned to Percy and Annabeth, pulling out a knife and helping them defeat the boars. Luckily Percy registered that he was mortal and didn't use any water powers. The three of them finished business, and the boars dropped dead, not fading to dust though, they were just huge. Harper was staring at Xander, a little in awe, and something else that made me angry.
The Tribe leader turned, "Everyone alright?"
Percy nodded, holding out his hand, "You're pretty good with a knife..."
He shook it, "Oh! Xander, my bad. And you are..."
Annabeth shook his hand, introducing herself, she noticed the others carrying James' dead body, and her eyes widened.
"He's dead?"
Xander scratched his neck, "Sorry about that, I thought him and Matt were intruders."
Harper stepped away from the edge, closer to Xander, "It's fine, he was a dick anyway."
Xander laughed, "Yeah, I could tell. He also told me you guys need a place to stay, that right?"
They agreed, looking to me to make sure this guy could be trusted. Well, Percy and Annabeth did, Harper was still staring at him, which made my stomach twist in an unpleasant way.
I nodded at them, "He's fine. They crash landed here, been surviving for a month."
Percy's eyes widened, "Like Lost?"
Xander laughed, "A little. Shall we show you to our camp?"
They agreed and he led the way, Harper began chatting him up, asking him questions and him responding with a perfect white smile. Okay, I take it back, Xander was not cool.
After a good twenty minute hike, we arrived at their camp. It was pretty big, a line of large wooden spikes were next to the entrance on both sides, two guards standing in a makeshift tower, both wielding spears. The inside was nice too, they had a few huts and tents made of leaves and animal hide, a large campfire in the middle, a pot sitting under it. There were twenty other people here, doing their chores and jobs and milling about, all wearing fur outfits.
Harper was in awe, "You made all of this?"
Xander shook his head, "Group effort. I only played a small role in the building process. Leading is more of my thing."
I was alert, taking in every detail, trying to find something incriminating to prove that this tribe was a little off. But I couldn't find anything in the Camp.
Annabeth was doing the same, she asked Xander, "Why are you carrying James' body back here?"
"Ah, we'll have to throw him in the ocean. There's a ridge at the edge of camp over there, it's the best place to do it."
Annabeth nodded, still suspicious, as was I.
It soon got dark, and we had gotten acquainted with everyone, Xander announced our reason for being here, and that we would stay the night. The others had taken James' body somewhere, which I lost track of, I was still trying to find some proof.
After a while, once everything busy was done, Xander pulled Percy and I to the side, "Hey guys, I could really use some help checking traps I set out, wanna come?"
"Why not get one of the tribe members?" Percy asked.
"I mean I could, but there here every day! You guys will only be here one night! You don't have to, I just thought we could hang out, the three of us."
I was reluctant, but then again, if he tried anything, both Percy and I would obliderate him, so we had nothing to worry about. Besides, more time with him might give me something to work with.
I nodded, "Fine, we'll go."
He clapped his hands, "Awesome! Hey, Katie! Can you come here a second?" He was calling out to some girl.
The girl had been talking to Harper and Annabeth, the three of them came over, "Yeah Xander?"
"Show these girls where they'll be sleeping, these guys and I are gonna check the traps."
Harper looked a little disappointed at that, causing me to get a little angry. What was with her and this guy?
Katie nodded, "Sure thing, come on girls." They walked away, leaving the three of us.
Xander smiled mischievously, "Let's go."
Checking the traps turned out to be boring.
All we did was walk around until we came across a wooden cage with food in it, meant to trap an animal. We did this for half an hour, checking three traps in total.
After we were done, we were heading back to the camp, when I heard a faint hissing noise.
Xander stopped us, "Shh. You hear that?"
Percy nodded, "Sounds like a snake."
"That's because it is." Then he quickly threw his knife at the hissing source. A minute later, Xander emerged with a large snake in his hand.
He looked at it, then frowned, "Can't eat it. Poisonous. But it's hide, now that I can use." He threw it over his back and motioned for us to come along.
Again, you don't get that good with a knife in one month. Something was off about this guy, this whole thing.
We arrived back at camp, a large piece of meat over the campfire now, and it looked about done.
"A boar we killed this morning, it's gonna be really good." Xander said, licking his lips.
"So do we get some?" Percy asked. He didn't seem bothered by eating boar.
"Of course man! It's about done, and I'm gonna go put this snake up, excuse me." He walked off, giving us a thumbs up.
I stayed silent for a moment, then leaned to Percy and whispered, "Somethings' not right here."
"Huh?"
"This feels off, man. There's just...something strange about these people."
"I mean, their stranded and they've had to survive for a month. So what if their weird?"
Crap, he wasn't going to listen to me. But I knew who would, I had to find Annabeth.
I nodded to Percy, who sat down by the campfire next to some tribe members, who were admiring his SPQR tattoo, which apparently was a Roman thing. I searched for Annabeth and finally spotted her by a large tent, talking politely to a tribe girl.
I walked over and stood, not interrupting.
Annabeth seemed relieved I had shown up, she told the girl, "We'll talk later, just give me a second." She put on a fake smile and waved at the girl, who waved back. Annabeth grabbed my arm and we walked out of earshot.
"Something's not right." We said at the same time, which usually would've been funny, but now it was not.
"That Xander guy, he's too...perfect. And some of his story doesn't add up. He throws his spear and knife with way too much skill to only be practicing for a month."
She nodded, "Noted. I was talking to some of the girls, and I kept looking to the side, seeing some of the guys trying to block my view of the campfire, like they were hiding something."
"Why would they do that? Xander just said that it was a boar they got this morning."
"I don't know Matt. But there's two other things. The first one being these huts. Take a good look at the fabric." She said fabric suggestively, and I looked at the exteriors. Huh, up close they looked kinda weird. Definitely not animal fur.
"Looks...weird." I said, my eyebrows knit.
She nodded, "And the other thing, the necklaces their wearing, they have Greek inscriptions on them, words that I know I could translate if I looked long enough."
"Well, why haven't you?"
"I tried, but It ended up coming off as me staring at the girls' breasts. And even more surprising, she liked it! She asked me to lay in her bed tonight!"
I forced back a laugh. Annabeth with a girl? I'm not sure if Percy would be furious or interested at that thought.
She noticed and swatted my arm, "Get your mind out of the gutter! I politely declined. But seriously, this place is weird, we need to find out more."
"Agreed, meet back here in a couple of hours."
She nodded, and we walked away from each other as subtly as possible.
I milled around for a few minutes, training with some of the tribe dudes with wooden spears. They were good, which was also alarming to me. Xander being good, I could kind of understand, but everybody? It was strange.
After that, it was fully dark now, and everyone was having a good time, the boar was being served all around. Annabeth at one point walked by me and whispered not to eat it, that it might be poisoned. I nodded, but my stomach disobeyed, it looked so good. One bite wouldn't hurt right? I was sure I had poison resistance.
I was about to grab a large piece when I noticed a sight that made my insides heat up. Harper and Xander sitting next to each other, laughing and talking, their arms brushing together.
Screw this crap. Why was she forgetting about me all of a sudden? Sure I messed up the kiss, but we were still friends right? Or did she not like me anymore and only wanted to hang out with Mr. Perfect? I knew I was being petty, but it just made me so jealous.
I decided to keep my cool, walking over to Percy, who was chowing down boar, ignoring Annabeth's warning.
"I'm freaking out man." I said, my fists clenching and opening rapidly, like I was squeezing an imaginary stress ball.
His mouth was full, and he mumbled, "Wu up ma?"
"What?"
He swallowed, "What's up man?"
I pointed at the pair in disgust, Percy winced on my behalf, "Oh crap, that...sucks man."
"I know. I mean, she hasn't even talked to me the whole time we've been here!"
"This boar is really good."
"Percy!" I smacked his arm with no effort, not wanting to break it or something.
He put the wooden plate down. Locking eyes with me, he said firmly, "You want to make yourself known, that your still in the running. You go over there, and prove it."
"Kick his ass?"
"No! No, just...ask Harper if she wants to hang out. No need to be impulsive. Just swoop in casually, and lead her away from him."
I wasn't really paying attention, I was busy observing the two. After a few seconds, I snapped after seeing him tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at her left eye, no doubt comforting her about it.
"Son of a bitch." I growled, walking quickly away from Percy's protests and towards Xander and Harper.
I stopped in front of them, a scowl on my face.
"Matt?" Harper said.
I was looking at Xander though, "What the hell's going on here?"
He looked confused, and put his hands up in surrender, "Just talking man. Is uh...something wrong?"
"Yeah somethings wrong. You need to back the hell off." I told him, anger in my voice.
"Matt!" Harper exclaimed, getting up.
Xander did too, he had his hands in front of him, "Whoa man, let's not get violent, we were just talking. I didn't know she was your girlfriend."
"I'm not! He made that abundantly clear!" She said, glaring at me a little.
I raised my voice. "I never said that! I never declined it! You took it the wrong way and now you're hanging out with this guy! Some tribe leader on a strange island?!"
She got in my face, "I don't have to talk to just you!"
I paused, the filter in my brain hesitating on what I wanted to say next, but finally, I came out with it. "Look, Harper, I like you! I'm sorry about Alaska, and I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it sooner, but I'm just stupid! I'm stupid when it comes to this shit!" I then punched a nearby boulder, shattering it to pieces, not even caring if it seemed abnormal to these guys.
All the tension building since Alaska came out in one stroke. Harper was silent for a moment, then she said softly, "Well, if you feel that way about me, you'll tell me properly. Not like someone with anger issues."
She sat back down in her spot. I nodded, lips tight, "Yeah...yeah, I'll just go calm down. Keep having fun."
I stormed off, ending up at the edge of the camp, facing the ocean and the night sky, fifty feet from everyone. The huts blocked their view of me, which I was glad for.
I felt my face stinging with anger, my fists clenched. It was all so stupid, this whole thing. If only I wasn't an idiot and kissed her back in Alaska, things would be so different right now.
I did end up calming down, the waves of the ocean and the night breeze taking credit for that, soothing me, my girl problems melting away a little.
Soon enough, I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Harper?" I asked hopefully, turning around, but I was greeted with blonde hair, Annabeth.
She smiled sympathetically at me, "No, sorry Matt. I saw...you know."
"Me lose my cool and act like an idiot."
She sat down next to me, our feet dangling off the edge.
"It's okay. I understand that you're frustrated, you got jealous. It happens."
"But I really lost it there. I wish I could redo that. I wish I could redo every moment with her post-Alaska."
"I know it's hard. And I'm sorry." She said gently, her voice even more soothing than the waves and breeze.
"I'm such a fool. I can fight just fine, but talking to her, used to come so naturally, but now that I screwed things up-"
She touched my arm, "You haven't screwed things up...not completely. You guys are young, there's going to be arguments, times where you want to kill each other, but once you take time to cool off, things end up being better."
I looked in the distance, she kept her hand on my arm, "Was Percy this bad?"
"Well...he never yelled like that, but yeah, he made dumb choices with good intentions. We've had our arguments and downs, but see us now? We bounced back."
"Yeah...maybe this will all work out. It's just...It's just hard."
She nodded and pulled me in by her arm for a side hug. After a few seconds, I felt a hand on my shoulder, opposite of Annabeth's side. A sea-smelling hand.
I looked over to see Percy smiling at me.
They were good friends.
"Matt, you're gonna have to give Ouranos a good punch to get your manliness back." Percy joked, I laughed.
Annabeth pushed him, "Shut up, Seaweed Brain. You feeling better Matt?"
"Yeah. Thanks guys."
"What we're here for, man." Percy said.
Annabeth looked behind her at the camp and leaned toward us, "Now that you're both here, I need to run some things by you about these guys. You're not gonna believe what their necklaces say-"
She was interrupted by Xander coming into view.
"Oh! I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?"
"No," I immediately said, clearing my throat, "What's up?"
"I was just hoping I could talk with Matt a minute."
They both looked uneasy, a little tense. What was Annabeth going to say?
I decided to talk with him. "It's cool, come sit."
They both looked at me, Annabeth wide eyed, I shouldn't have agreed, but I did, so that's that.
They both walked away reluctantly, leaving me alone with the Tribe Leader.
We sat for a moment, the night breeze hitting us both.
He had his eyes closed, a smile on his face, meat stuck in his white teeth from the boar.
"Beautiful night." He said.
"Yeah."
"I often enjoy sunsets. Shame I've missed the last two."
I turned, "Same here, I've missed the last...six or so. I lost count."
He nodded, "Sunsets give me peace. What they symbolize, the beauty."
"What do you think they symbolize?" I asked, genuinely interested.
"Endings. An ending to the day, an ending to life. A meaningful ending, a peaceful ending. A life put to good use, even after death." The way he said that triggered something inside of me, like he was putting an innuendo in there, but I didn't catch it.
"That's...cool." I said, a little creeped out at his face and posture.
He suddenly reached in his bag and brought out a juicy piece of boar, it looked incredible, and my stomach was growling intensely. There was a lot of fat and muscle on this piece of meat for some reason, which kind of sucked, I always liked the lean parts.
"Want it? I figured you were hungry, so I brought you the last piece." He held it out to me by the bone. The bone...looking rather thin for boar.
I ignored that, maybe it was a small boar or something. I took the meat and bit off a couple of pieces, chewing them...and chewing them...and chewing them, until finally swallowing. Geez, boar meat was tough.
It actually tasted pretty good, juicy and tender, but still tough. Although I couldn't put my finger on the taste, it was...different. I had never had boar before, but the taste was strange, like it was something else completely.
That was when the thought hit me. No way, gods of Olympus no way, please do not let this be true. The "fabric" on the huts did look awfully white...and stretched, the guys blocking Annabeth's view of the campfire, the way Xander talked about being put to good use after death, the horrifying dots began to connect.
I felt my stomach drop, I began to sweat nervously. Turning towards Xander, I was surprised at what I saw. He had an expressionless face, his eyes lifeless and dead, the only thing that seemed alive on his face was the terrifying smirk on his lips.
"Xander...what kind of meat is this?"
"Thought you'd never ask Matt." Then what happened next will shake me to my core for all time, and haunt me for the rest of my life. He reached in his fur bag, and pulled out the decapitated head of James.
"You just ate the thigh of this guy, Matt. Feels great doesn't it?"
These people were Cannibals.
The feeling of disgust and horror I will never be able to describe. I had just eaten part of another human being. I was in too much terror at the truth of these people, I couldn't even move.
Xander looked like Norman Bates, his face was haunting, like a serial killer.
"Times get tough, Matt. You gotta do what you gotta do...to survive."
I tried to get up and run, but in an instant I was injected with a needle, and I passed out.
When I woke up, I felt an intense heat on my front, I heard the Tribe chanting and stomping about, I felt myself suspended, tied down to something.
I finally opened my eyes completely, greeted with a horrible sight. We were all tied to wooden crosses like Jesus, surrounding the campfire, they were literally roasting us.
I registered that I was in my underwear, I looked beside me and in front of me, Percy, Harper and Annabeth were near bare as well, all of them groaning and wincing in pain.
Xander came up to me. "How you doing, Matt?"
I coughed, "Let me down, psycho. So I can break your neck."
He clicked his tongue, "Their always so feisty. Why can't people just accept their sacrifice?" He threw his hands up and got back in line.
We all looked desperately at each other, Annabeth motioned her head at me.
"T-the necklaces said Anthropophage. There an ancient greek tribe of cannibals. Known in myths for luring their prey and eating them."
I winced, so it was there the whole time. This was awful, I wasn't even going to think about the fact that I had just eaten a part of a person, we needed to get out of here.
They didn't know I was the Son of Hercules.
I motioned with my head to the others that I was going to bust out, they thankfully nodded, and waited for me.
I waited a few seconds, then let loose. Bursting from my wrappings, I landed on the ground, stumbling slightly, but managing to cut the others loose. The tribe looked at us in shock, their spears hefted. But it wouldn't do them any good.
"Alright you sick freaks, it's payback time." I said.
What followed was a blood bath. We mowed down cannibals left and right, slicing, stabbing, slitting, burning, you name it and we killed them that way, even Percy and Annabeth. Finally Xander was the only one left, he was bloody and he sat on his knees, smiling maniacally at us.
"It doesn't matter, Matt. You ate him! You're one of us now! You understand what it takes to survive!-" He said no more, I had sliced my spear across his neck, severing the head. I grabbed it and tossed it into the fire. Xander's white teeth looking rather ugly as they melted away.
We didn't even speak, we just ran towards the boat.
Sprinting our way through the woods, all of us still in underwear, but our clothes in hand, no time to put them on yet.
"We have no navigator!" Annabeth pointed out, "How are we gonna get to the Island?!" Annabeth asked with a shout.
"I know the way, James told me before they killed him!"
Percy replied, "Good! Let's get out of here!"
With that, we ran like our lives depended on it, finally finding ourselves at the shore, spotting our boat, which thank the gods was still there, we boarded it frantically.
"We need to get to the Island now!" I shouted desperately.
Annabeth got on the steering wheel, "On it! Which way?!"
I pointed right, "Twenty miles that way! And gun it!"
She did, we all hung on tight, zooming towards the Cursed Island, and away from my most horrifying experience.
"Ouranos, here we come." I muttered, and we roared off into the night.
Wow, that chapter was something else.
Getting closer to the end of book one, guys!
Until Next Time.