Chapter 11: We fight like its black Friday

"There's a shipment of Lotus Lemonade at G-Mart, grab a pack for me and I'll provide transportation for your quest."

I had a few questions. " Lotus Lemonade? If that's alcoholic I don't think that we can do that…" Sabrina hit me on the side of my arm.

"Oh don't worry, it's a non alcoholic beverage. All it will do is spice up the party," To me, that still sounded like alcohol.

" Isn't that something you can do? You know, being the god of parties?" Sabrina said.

"It is, but where's the fun in that? Besides this Lotus Lemonade is something I've been working on myself! It just hit store shelves so I'm curious on how mortals react to it." I couldn't imagine Mr. D doing any work. During my whole two months at camp the only thing I saw him work for was to wave his hand for a new diet coke.

"Ok, so where's G-mart at?" I asked.

Dionysus shrugged unempathetic and put his hands in the air. "I don't know, there might be one nearby. The goddess Iris has started to expand her organic market and its been causing G-marts to go out of business."

I was about to yell at Mr. D. He's a god who doesn't even know where a supermarket is? " If it's a dying business, why did you partner with them to sell your product?" I asked.

He leaned in closer to me menacingly. "It's best not to question the gods boy".

Trust me, all I wanted to do is question the gods. Nothing about this made sense. I mostly wanted to question Aphrodite. I had so many questions to ask about her, about my parents, and about me.

"Thank you for your help Lord Dionysus, we will get your Lotus Lemonade for you A.S.A.P." Sabrina said and smiled at him. She grabbed my arm and started to escort me out.

We started to make our way back toward the entrance. People started to stare at us after talking to Mr. D. Guys would try and stop me to ask me out. I lied and said that I was taken. We passed by the dance floor and although the disco ball was spinning, the room was dark and devoid of any joy. Maybe this party did need a pick me up. "So, G-mart?" I asked Sabrina as we exited.

"Never heard of it, I'm sure there has to be one nearby." She reassured me. We walked outside and the teenage doorman was gone, probably still inside with Thomas. We started to walk down the street before finding Glen. He was leaning against the side of a building. If you were to pass by him you'd probably thought he would mug you. And you would probably be right.

We filled him in on everything that happened. Excluding the part when I got hit on multiple times. "G-mart? I've never heard of that store," He said.

"That's what we were saying. Do you two have any ideas on where to start looking?" I asked them. They both shook their heads. I started to look around to see any sign of a 'G-mart' anywhere. We all started to walk and just hoped we stumbled across something. I also began to wipe my face clean of the makeup before Sabrina stopped me.

"What are you doing"?

"I'm wiping off the makeup, it makes my face itchy".

"No, keep it on. We need to go back in when we find this lemonade. Plus it looks good on you".

I wanted to protest but she did make a good point. Not about me looking good with it on. When she said that it did make me blush. We started to walk throughout the city. There were old buildings that didn't help us like an outdated theater. Or there would be a modern art statue that didn't look good but stood out since it was new.

We wandered around for an hour before we stopped. Glen was starting to get frustrated. Sabrina was also starting to get mad at Glen getting mad. I didn't exclude myself from the anger. We could get a ride but it felt like we were wasting time. It really made everyone upset when we ended up back at the park where Sabrina did my makeup.

We sat down at one of the picnic tables. The sun was getting low now. It was probably around eight and we didn't even know where this store was. It felt like we were on a wild goose chase. Mr. D wouldn't send us on a Snipe hunt, would he?

"Does anyone have any new ideas," Glen asked. Sabrina looked like she was going to say something but decided not to. I had my brain going around to anything I could think of. We just had to find this stupid store and that was it.

"Hey," Someone said.

"Yeah?" I replied.

Both Sabrina and Glen looked at me like I was crazy. "We didn't say anything," Glen said.

Sabrina looked at me and I looked into her eyes. "Adin," She said, concerned. "When we were in New York you said you heard a voice. Are you still hearing it?" I winced at that question. I didn't want them to think I was going crazy.

I nodded. "I heard it when we were in Ohio too. I didn't want anyone to worry".

Glen shook his head disappointingly. "You have to tell us when weird things happen so we can figure it out. We have to work together as a team for this quest to succeed. You two already kept a potential pending war from me," He looked at Sabrina before looking back at me. "Can we all promise no more secrets?" He finished his speech. Usually whenever Glen talks, Sabrina looks annoyed. This time however she looked ashamed and nodded her head in agreement.

"Hey" I heard the voice again.

"There it is, it said 'hey' that's what it always says," I informed the group.

"I can say more than hey," The voice said. I looked all over the place trying to find the disembodied voice but had no success. Glen and Sabrina were staring at me like I finally went crazy. I scanned the area one more time.

"Anything?" Sabrina asked.

I shook my head disappointingly. Glen crossed his arms and made a 'Tsk' noise. He was back to his rude mean self. I tried to get my mind off of the voice and think back to the elusive G-mart.

I looked up into the sky to clear my head when something caught my eye. On a lone tree branch stood a bird. It hopped around on the tree branch before it finally looked at me. I focused on the bird and it seemed to do the same. Finally I decided to delve into my madness. "Hey," I asked the bird.

"Hey," The bird responded back to me. Except the response felt like it was being spoken directly in my head. That sent a tingly electric feeling throughout my brain. I think I had finally lost it.

"Guys," I got the attention of the other two since they seemed to be lost in thought. "Since we're not keeping secrets from each other anymore. That bird just talked to me."

The bird flew down and stood right at the edge of the table. "Sir, I am a Pigeon. Not just a bird." The pigeon informed me with elegance in its voice. I had my mouth open in shock. Sabrina and Glen just looked at the bird and then back to me.

"Aphrodite's sacred animal," Glen informed me. "It's not uncommon for demigods to be able to talk to their parents' sacred animal."

Sabrina looked at Glen with a confused yet nasty look. "Her sacred animal is a dove." I wanted to say the same thing.

The bird spoke up and put one of its wings out. "Can you inform your blonde friend that although I may not be a dove, I am still a part of the dove family!" The pigeon said insulted. I relayed the message to Sabrina who rolled her eyes at the bird. Cool? I can talk to pigeons.

Sabrina's head shot up with excitement. It was like I could see a lightbulb above her head. "Ask if there's a G-mart nearby!"

A local and a local that could fly. The bir- I mean pigeon has to know where one is. I was about to ask the pigeon before it spoke up. "I can hear her, you know. Your lackeys just can't understand me!" This pigeon was getting meaner and meaner.

"Sorry, let's start with introductions. I'm Adin and these are my friends Sabrina and Glen".

"Did you just introduce us to a bird?" Glen asked.

I mouthed at him to shut up. "Sorry my friend here is an idiot, he's not as educated about pigeons." Glen was about to say something but Sabrina covered his mouth with his hand. He then threw her arm off as the two almost got into a fight but stopped.

"Not a lot of people are nowadays, you know we used to send messages all over the world! But I must also inform you if you do want information. A price is required."

"Seriously? We're a little low on cash.."

"Not cash! I need food like bread crumbs or crackers!" The pigeons said.

I tried to think of where to get food, we could go back to the party. Then I remembered our snacks. "How about a bag of chips?" The pigeon tilted its head

"What kind"?

"Classic potato".

"Hey I was going to eat those!" Glen said.

"Well get you food at the party." I let him know.

I grabbed the chips out of my backpack and took some out. I threw them in front of the bird and it began to peck at it. "Deal!" it said. I dumped the rest of the bag out onto the table.

"Go left on this road behind us. Then go four blocks down and take a right. Continue straight until you see the statue of a man with poop on its left eye. Take a left and it will be at the end of the block!" The pigeon delved into the potato chips.

"Thanks!" I said as the three of us got up. I told the two frenemies the directions. We started going down left on the road. When I turned around a whole flock of pigeons were at the table. The good news was that they were too busy eating to talk.

We followed the directions which only took us about twenty minutes. We finally arrived at the elusive G-mart. The sign was green which reminded me of Greek fire. My second week at camp I had a little accident during arts and crafts. Thank the gods for Hephaestus kids or else I wouldn't have any eyebrows.

The building itself seemed small. It was at the edge of a building which had other business inside. We walked in and a wave of cold A/C air hit us. The inside was huge. It was just like a Whole Foods, except with a few exceptions. There were Dryads, Satyrs and even Centaurs like Chiron just walking around. There weren't a lot of them, they were doing casual shoping.

As we walked in further I noticed there was only one cash register. The attendant working it was an old man who looked like he was close to retirement. "Hello, welcome to G-mart, home of all godly goods." He said he was like a robot. He looked at our group. Above him there was a sign that said Drachma only. Good thing that was all we had.

"Hi, we're looking for some Lotus Lemonade. Do you know what aisle it's in?" Sabrina said.

The old man reminded me of Mr. Super, I guess both just really old dudes. This guy however seemed to be more conscious of what was going on. I tried to determine if he was a monster. I also considered if he was a god or demigod.

"Aisle fifteen," He said like he was miserable.

"Thank you!" I said in my regular voice, forgetting I was dressed like a girl.

Our trio started to walk further into the store. There were regular snack like chips, cookies and juices. When we passed a couple aisle I saw nectar and ambrosia variants. Finally we made it to aisle fifteen. It was right next to the alcohol aisle, which made me nervous the lemonade was alcohol. The aisle next to it was labeled 'Weapons' which gave me an idea.

"Wait lets check out this aisle!" I got Glens attention since he would probably like to check them out too. Both of them turned around and Glen had a grin on his face and started walking in the aisle.

"Seriously?" Said Sabrina.

"Hey I threw my sword at those hellhounds earlier, I need a new weapon."

"What about the lemonade? We already wasted enough time."

"Just grab it, Glen and I will just be a minute." I ran into the aisle and caught up with Glen. There were a few sections that were labeled such as Celestial bronze or Imperial gold. Glen however was checking out the Enchanted section. The enchanted section had their weapons concealed behind a glass wall.

"How about this?" Glen asked me. He pointed at what seemed to be a switchblade.

"I don't know, it seems a little small…"

"It's enchanted. Maybe it will grow or something."

"Hey guys, found the lemonade!" Sabrina approached us from behind. In her hand was a six pack box labeled Lotus Lemonade. It was an open box Sabrina was holding by a cardboard handle. The lemonade was pink and in bottles.

"Hey Sabrina, what do you think of this knife.." I was suddenly interrupted by a loud THUMP THUMP THUMP. Everything started shaking and falling off the shelves. All the creatures started running toward the exit. I regretted it when I turned around.

Standing in front of us was a thirty foot Hydra. There were five heads on the body. Each of the heads were looking around the store except the one in the middle, which was looking right at us. The scaly monster was also wearing a bib? I thought it was a bib at least until I realized it was probably a work apron.

"Sorry kids. I gotta stop you, orders from the gods." A voice came from the end of the aisle. The cashier from earlier limped into view, standing in front of the hydra.

"There were orders to stop a trio of two boys and a girl that matched your description. I was hesitant when I saw you three, it was close but not an exact match. Then I realized you were just wearing a disguise!" The old man said calmly yet was shouting so we could hear him from down the aisle.

Crap I thought. I wish I didn't say anything when he greeted us. Glen got out his swords and Sabrina readied her bow. I took a step back in between the two.

"What are you talking about? We just wanted some lotus lemonade!" I said trying my best to sound feminine.

"Don't make this any harder than it has to be. I hate killing young kids."

"Who are you?" Glen shouted.

"And what gods told you to stop us?"

"Sorry," He said. "Swore on the Styx to keep my patron a secret" He said unamused. " I am Erichthonius, first human king of Athens. But you can just call me Eric."

Glen began to charge at Erichthonius. All hydra heads aimed toward him and spewed out a green liquid. The liquid began flooding the aisle while steam was coming from the wave. Glen then turned right back around. "Acid!" He said as he ran past and I didn't hesitate to follow.

We ran past the aisles toward the main entrance. The hydra was on the other side of the aisles chasing us. It spewed acid again which went and flooded the entrance. Glen ducked behind a metal open top refrigerator. Sabrina and I followed his lead.

"How do we stop that thing!" I asked the two.

"Don't cut off its heads!" Glen yelled at me. I wanted to yell at him and tell him I'm not an idiot. Everyone knows that you don't cut off a hydra's head.

"I know that but what are its weaknesses!"

"Fire," Sabrina let me know. "Heracules seared the wounds and fire would prevent it from growing its heads back".

We had a supermarket filled with not only mortal goods but godly goods too. There had to be tons of flammables around. The only problem was that we had a Hydra blocking off most of the store.

"Any ideas?" Glen asked. I tried to peak my head out but saw the hydra looking around. Erichthonius was standing to its side. "Where did they go girl?" He said.

"Dump out everything you guys have out. We have to have something that can help us!" Sabrina said. I dumped out my backpack which only had my sleeping bag and makeup. Sabrina had a few more snacks and a couple of arrows. Glen had his tent which was folded up and Eros arrow. When the arrow clanged the ground It sparked and an idea came into my head.

"Glen, can you distract the hydra?" I asked.

He didn't respond but just nodded and got up. He looked down at me and then to his twin swords. "Take this just in case," He tossed one of his swords to me. When I picked it up it didn't melt. "Hey acid breath, over here!" He got up and ran down a couple aisles which got both the monsters and Eric's attention. I grabbed a few lipsticks from my makeup and began to draw an 'X' on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Sabrina asked.

"I know it sounds stupid," I began to say. "But I now know everything about makeup including what it's made out of."

"When I yell at you, fire Eros's arrow at the 'X'".

I took the lipstick and began running toward the man and monster. From the 'X' I drew a line on the ground. I tried to be quiet as the two were turned around looking for Glen. Just as I approached them, Eric turned around.

He swung his sword at me and I clashed with him. The man wasn't that agile. This allowed me to put lipstick up and down all over his body. "What the?" He said confused.

One of the hydra heads noticed me. It tried to bite me but I jumped back and instinctively swung at the head. The sword cut the head off like butter. In moments the head grew back, this time with an extra.

I didn't waste anymore time. I jumped on the back of the hydra and tried to get my footing. More of the heads noticed me while a couple were still looking for glen. I grabbed more lipstick and put them all into my other hand. I started to draw lines of red all over the monster yellow scales. The heads snapped at me and I tried to dodge as best as I could. When one of the heads snapped at me it accidentally nipped at one of the others.

The monster yelped with all heads into the air. I took the opportunity to finish my lines. "Sabrina now!" I yelled. The blonde stood up from her hiding place. She drew the bow with Eros arrow and fired at the 'X' I drew. I jumped off the hydra and ran to a nearby wall. I watched as the line I drew erupted into flames, including Eric and the hydra.

"Lipstick huff is made out of oil," I said out of breath. The hydra yelled in pain. It smashed into Erichthonius and then into the aisle shelves. The shelves began to tip over like dominos. I saw Glen dive out of one into view a few more rows down. He ran up to me while the hydra was rampaging all over the store.

The three of us met up in front of the entrance which was now clear of the acid. We ran out of the store which was now catching on fire. When I turned around the whole building was engulfed in flames. The hydra fell to the ground, dissolving into gold dust.

We started jogging down the street. We heard sirens and then firetrucks came into view. I passed by a clock tower which had its hands at just past nine. The sun was beginning to set and we were off to the party. We were about halfway there when Glen stopped me.

"Give me my sword back," He stuck his hand out. A small sliver in me was hoping he would let me keep it. I should have known better. I returned his sword and with his other hand he gave me a small metal object. I looked in my hand and it was the switchblade knife.

"Don't just look at it, try it out," He told me. I smiled excitingly and looked at Sabrina. She had an annoyed look on her face like she was mad that Glen was actually doing something nice.

I pressed the small button on the side. What popped up was five thin metal teeth attached to a metal rod. It was a pocket comb. It had some swirling design that resembled the stem of flowers. The smile on my face faded. I then tried to read the words that was escribed on the comb in Greek. I was still new to learning Greek, I only had about a months worth of lessons so I struggled with what it said.

"Faith?" I asked.

"It says fate not faith."

"Good work Glen," Sabrina said sarcastically. "So much for a weapon".

"I tried!" Glen shouted back.

"Guys!" I yelled at the two of them. "It's alright, thanks for trying Glen. Lets just get back to the party and deliver Mr. D his lemonade," When we started our walk again. I took a few steps back behind the two. I threw the comb down a nearby water drain, never to be seen again.

The walk back to the party was quiet, no one said a word. When we arrived no one was standing at the door. The three of us walked in and I wiped away the makeup on my face. There were even less people in the building now. Glen got distracted by the buffet table so Sabrina and I went to find Mr. D. He was sitting where he was and this time had some macaroni and cheese in front of him.

He noticed us and threw his arms up in excitement. "Took you demigods long enough!" Sabrina placed the box in front of him. "Perfect!" he said. He took the package and headed over to the buffet table. More specifically the punch bowl. He dumped all the lemonade into the bowl and began to mix it. Now I was pretty sure it was alcohol.

Mr. D then poured the drink into a few red solo cups. He then handed them to the people nearby. Dionysus came over to Sabrina and I and handed us cups. When he turned back around we both tossed it over our shoulders. I looked at the partiers that Mr.D gave the drink to.

They cheered after taking a sip and then chugged down the rest. Mr.D then went over to more people throughout the building. I overheard him talking about "how good the punch is". More and more people began drinking. Some of them began chatting it up with each other. Others began dancing on the previously dead disco floor.

I began wandering around inspecting the party. A crowd was starting to come in through the unguarded door. I noticed the doorman from earlier looked confused. "Hey where did-" he was cut off by more and more people rushing in.

I scanned the crowded building for Dionysus. For a moment I was afraid that he tricked and abandoned us. Then I noticed him flirting with some women. When I went up to him he looked annoyed. "What do you need now? This is a party enjoy it!" he motioned for the girls to go away. The women laughed at him and left.

"A deals a deal. We need a ride to Camp Jupiter!"

Mr. D rolled his eyes. "North of the city is my son's brewing company D&B. He sells supplies and ingredients all over the U.S. I know for a fact he has a truck leaving tomorrow at ten in the morning to California." He said miserably. Then he got distracted by women dancing underneath the disco ball.