Chapter 29: Damned Dam
[Percy's Pov]
You'd think that after spending two summers of demigod life filled with a variety of monsters from the Minotaur to the Hydra breathing down my neck, I'd be stoic to whatever ancient Greek shenanigans that happened onwards.
But, you know as they say: 'Life is full of surprises…and is also a giant prick.'
Don't tell my mom I ever said prick.
"Alright, I'll reiterate. See if I got everything you just said." I said to Annabeth.
"You rarely ever do, but give it a shot," Annabeth said.
Annabeth was holding an orb of water over her hands. It was empty except for a small, goldfish-sized creature swimming around.
At first glance, you'd find nothing of interest—you know, apart from the orb of water evading every law of physics your high school teacher taught you. But if you happened to look closer, you'd realize that the creature splashing around is no ordinary fish, but a weird combination of a cow and a serpent.
"So, that thing, the opheo—toreotos?"
"Ophiotaurus."
"Can I just call it Bessy?"
Annabeth squinted down into the Ophio—Bessie.
"I don't think it is female…"
"I don't think would mind about its pronouns."
Annabeth shot a glare at my face. She always does that when I come up with a witty comeback. I don't know why.
"Anyway, Bessie here," I pointed at him-her-whatever, "she was held captive in a pool at the basement of Niobe's castle…for whatever reason. We walked upon it by pure accident, and as soon as we touched the surface of the water, it panicked and took us half a country into this wilderness via…water travel, you said?"
"The Ophiotaurus can travel anywhere it wants to, as long as there is water present. It can change its size as well, so theoretically, any small portion of water would be enough."
Now, I had several things to say about that.
Firstly, that was a vastly convenient power. I hoped I had something like that; it would've helped us dearly back last summer when we had to sail through the Bermuda Triangle.
Secondly,
"How do you capture something that can go anywhere it wants? It wasn't locked in the pool, was it?"
"Moo."
Bessie shuddered at the word 'locked in' and frantically swam around for a couple of loops, creating a small whirlpool. She nearly knocked the orb out of Annabeth's hands before calming down.
Annabeth looked down at Bessie, still cowering slightly and mooing sadly. She carefully slipped the orb into her pocket, the orb shrinking as it went in to adjust with the size. Bessie flicked their tail nervously, and she whispered "It's ok. We're here to protect you." to them in ancient Greek. An entrusting moo came back as an answer.
After making sure her pocket was secured, Annabeth made around the bonfire to sit next to me. I mean right next to me. An inch apart at best.
"Percy, during the Titanomachia—"
She suddenly snapped her fingers under my nose. I jumped half an inch up in my seat; I had totally blanked out on her words.
"Sorry; the Titanowhat?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Titanomachy. The war between gods and Titans. During it, The Ophiotaurus was one of the key factors that came into play. It had a prophecy entailed to it…"
Meanwhile, I couldn't help noticing her wet hair that rested on her shoulder.
We had made out 'escape' through the surface of the creek nearby, and whilst I stayed dry courtesy of my dad, Annabeth was drenched from head to toe. I dried her off the best I could, but we both agreed that using my power on her clothes was risky enough.
Another snap under my nose brought me back to earth. A very ticked-off-looking Annabeth was scowling, which was not a good sign on any day.
"You were not listening, were you?"
"I was." The lie came so smoothly through my teeth that it surprised me more than it did her.
Annabeth raised her eyebrow and looked over her shoulder, to where I technically would've been staring at. Her right hand cautiously rested over her dagger at her back.
"You said something about a prophecy?"
"Yes." Annabeth said, one eye still locked on an imaginary threat "The three Fates themselves ordained it when it was first born; whoever kills the Ophiotaurus and sacrifices its innards to fire would gain the power to destroy the gods."
A heavy silence settled down between us.
I was more than positive that we were thinking of the same idea; the idea that had been dangling at the back of everyone's head ever since Thalia was cured of her curse from the Golden Fleece.
"…Anyway," Annabeth broke the silence, looking much more pale all of a sudden.
"The first time it was attempted, the Titans came very close. They managed to slay it, but Zeus sent Athena to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire."
"And now she's reborn."
Annabeth nodded gravely. She brought out the ball of water back out. Bessie mooed and cartwheeled in the middle. Just by looking at it, her anxiety seemed to diminish a little.
"She seems to like you," I commented. A smile went across her lips.
"It most likely notices I have something in line with Athena. Maybe that's why it took us here."
I scanned the area. It was a nice patch of nature, but nothing significant stood out to indicate that Annabeth would've ever wanted to come here.
"Is there something special about here?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes again.
"Yes, I always wanted to come to this exact spot in the forest ever since I was 5." She stood up and dumped a pile of wet soil over the flames.
"Come on, Seaweed brain. It's time for some architecture lesson."
[Line Break]
Say what you will about Annabeth, she was the absolute worst companion to have while you go anywhere near a structure that has a name.
I would never say her lecture is boring in one way or another.
But by the naiads started taking us upstream, I learned that the Hoover Dam was Seven hundred feet tall, built in the 1930s that could hold five million cubic acres of water, and it was one of, if not most, the largest construction project in the United States.
That was only the barest surface of what she said. It's just that my brain refused to take in any more trivia from her than that, so I spent most of her exposition watching Bessie swim around the river scaring nearby fishes or going after some off-hand trash.
I had my fair share of experience with sea creatures, mostly because whenever I'm near the beach, hippocampi would find and ask me to help them with a problem. Beached whales, tortoises caught in plastic bags, mermaids with entangled nets, you get the idea.
That alone was a very unsettling sight to behold. And now, watching Bessie swim around in glee, the idea of anyone disemboweling her and throwing the entrails into the fire to gain power was very unsettling.
Thalia wouldn't…do that, right? She was a nice girl. At least, so I've heard.
To be fair, we never had much chance to talk, but Annabeth held her in very high regard. That's more than enough reason to trust her...
But Luke was also admired by her.
The canoe stopped. We arrived at the shore.
The two naiads waved me goodbye. One of them batted her eyelash at me in the most uncomfortable way possible. I waved back, which for some reason ticked Annabeth off.
"What?" I asked. She turned away, slapping the edge of my face with her hair.
"Nothing. Let's find a way up already."
It took an extra hour before we found a path that led up to the road. It came upon the east side of the river. Then we straggled back toward the dam. It was cold and windy on top, even though the sun was high up over our heads.
My stomach rumbled loudly to tell that we missed a handful of meals at this point. Annabeth stifled a snicker until her stomach made a similar noise.
"Please tell me there's a decent snack bar inside," I begged.
"Aren't we broke?"
That was a good point, so we emptied our pockets.
Sadly, Annabeth was right. We had no money on us. All we had was, apart from our magic items, a mashed square of ambrosia. I was tempted to eat it just for the sake of eating, but Annabeth strictly said no.
"Why didn't we get backpacks like the last time?" I complained out loud.
When we were going on our very first quest two years ago, the entire camp gathered money and food in three duffle bags. It was quite nice and would've been a huge assist if they weren't blown up by lightning alongside a bus.
Then, it was the second most terrifying experience I've ever had.
Thinking back on it now, the memory somehow brought a small smile.
"You look stupefied."
"I'm not."
Annabeth playfully poked my rib with her elbow.
"Come on. Let's hope the cashier can cut us some slack."
I doubted that any retail worker would have a kindly heart enough to give off free food. Even my mom didn't give out free candies unless they were leftovers. But the thought alone was uplifting enough to fuel the walk to the visitor center.
For whatever reason, the plaza was carved into the side of a cliff. I don't understand why, I'm sure Annabeth would've explained why if I asked, but I was too hungry to care.
Two big bronze statues of angels stood in the middle. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings. Tourists were clustered all around them. A guide was saying something through the microphone while they goggled over the statues' feet.
"What are they doing?" I asked.
"Rubbing the toes," Annabeth said. "They think it's good luck."
"Why?"
"The statues were dedicated automatons for Zeus. A gift from Athena and Hephaestus." She explained. "Mortals don't know it's sacred, but they know something is special about them."
"Automatons." I looked at the statues again. They looked like they never moved in millennia, just like how statues should be.
"You mean they can move?"
Annabeth tugged me along.
"Let's hope they don't. Automatons and demigods don't mix well."
We were about to make our way to the snack bar when a distant 'moo' stopped us in our tracks. A wet lump rocketed upwards from down the lake with a splash and splatted down at our feet.
It was a very wet wallet. The ID card was missing, but it had several 10-dollar bills with some extra change. Annabeth and I jogged to the north edge of the dam and looked over.
"Moo."
Bessie flicked her serpent tail to us before diving back into the water deep below.
Annabeth gawked at the wallet.
"How'd she—"
"I guess we owe her one," I said. A grin cracked over my face.
She was the best cow-serpent we could ever ask for.
The security guard at the metal detector wrinkled his nose as we passed the entrance.
I was too worried that Annabeth's knife would get us busted, and then I'll make the front page of the news for the umpteenth time to care, but we made it through with nothing more than a "Damn kids, take some shower!".
The café was packed with kids enjoying their lunches of Guacamole Grande burritos, potato chips, and sodas. The sight and smell of them were enough to turn me into an embodiment of a hellhound.
The casher muttered a curse when we handed him a wad of dripping wet dollars, but it was still legit. We made our order and grabbed a table.
For what's worth, it was dam relaxing (heh, dam. Get it?) to have enough peace to actually sit down. The café windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the damn. Annabeth had her eyes glued to the window the entire time.
"Makes us wish we had a camera or something," I said.
Annabeth jumped in her seat.
"What? Oh, right. Yes, that would've been nice. Or a phone…"
Her voice trailed away into a wistful sigh. I nodded in agreement.
Demigods and phones—or anything internet-related for that matter—were a horrific mixture. Monsters around 50ft radius would immediately pick up the signal and pounce on whoever was daring enough to turn on Twitter.
I was never a rich kid, so the lack of the latest iPhone never bothered me, but it was a semi-regular topic for campers; mostly by Aphrodite or Athena cabin—for vastly different reasons, of course.
At this point, I thought everything was going well. Too well.
When you're a demigod, that's how you know, that something would go wrong one way or another.
The problem happened right around when we were maybe 2 bits into our food, when Annabeth glanced out the window, made a muffled gasp, and nearly suffocated herself to death by a chunk of ham.
"What? Why?"
I handed Annabeth her soda, and she pointed outside of the window. I looked outside, and immediately spotted what she was eluding to.
A man dressed in khaki hunting clothing was making a scene at the metal detector. A bucket hat was propped lopsided on his head, while he argued with the security guy. He had a black German shepherd barking loudly as the security was yelling something whilst brandishing his baton in a threatening way.
But what really caught my eye, and must've caught Annabeth's, wasn't the hunter, but rather the person he was accompanied with. He had a tall muscular body, and sandy hair, and even from this far away, I could make out the apparent scar under his eye.
Luke is here.
[Line Break]
For once, I was the quick thinker. I grabbed Annabeth's hand and bolted out of the café.
Bessie! I called desperately in my mind. Bessie! Who is a good cowgirl? Moo?
Instead of Bessie, a familiar voice called back.
Perrrcy! Grover bleated. Wh—what's going on?! Are you alright?
I bit back a curse. I nearly forgot about the empathy link Grover and I shared. When any of us gets emotionally stressed, the other would also feel it via the connection we shared.
It helped me and David back at Westover Hall, but I doubted it would do any good now; Grover would be at least half a country away from where we were.
Your emotions are flowing over to me! What happened? And who is Bessie?
Grover, we don't have time for this! I'll call you later!
Grover bleated out. I sensed a tingle of irritation over my wave of panic.
An empathy link is not a phone call—
Then, Grover made a surprised goat yelp, and the connection ended with a loud splash. And not a moment too soon.
"There he is! Get him, Mongomary!"
WOOF!
I looked up to see a giant black fur of death armed with sharp teeth and claws that could shred a tank in seconds pouncing overhead.
Right before the claw reached my throat, I saw a name tag dangling around the collar that read: "Hello! My name is: Mongomary" with a cartoon puppy drooling over a bone.
Annabeth was my saving grace.
"Move!"
She had pulled herself out of her shock and rugby tackled my back with full force, making both of us tumble forward into a rolling heap on the plaza floor, while the Hellhound Mongomary skidded along the floor, scrapping the marble floor with its claws to make a white line.
Pedestrians were screaming and made their way away from the main floor. The security guard was lying beside the detector, hopefully just unconscious. The Khaki hunter stood in the middle, consoling the other German shepherd—no, a Hellhound while chuckling to himself.
I uncapped Riptide. The bronze sword grew to full length in seconds. I felt Annabeth putting her back against mine, watching out for Mongomary.
"Well, well, well. Aren't you a disappointment, sonny?"
The hunter clucked his tongue.
"I expected more from someone who had such high bounties from the General."
I leveled the sword tip at the man's chest.
"Last time I checked, I never had a wannabe Indiana Jones for a father."
The hunter scowled and lowered his sunglass. A pair of green eyes were glaring at me. But then, the eyes disappeared with the patch of skin around it, leaving only a skull of an eye socket behind. He was a ghost—or a zombie, in this case.
Strangely, Luke was nowhere to be seen. I didn't trust it for a second; as much as I hated him, his skills were nothing to walk over on.
The hunter took a swig from his canteen before throwing it over his shoulder. The canteen made a beautiful 3-pointer arc into a recycle bin.
"Indiana Jones. That lad is supposed to be an archeologist; I don't even know why he dresses up like a hunter. Ruining my image."
"You're a hunter?" Annabeth asked, her eyes still fixated on the creeping hellhound.
The hunter barked a laugh.
"Lass, you are looking at the finest hunter that had ever graced this earth, alive or dead. No questions asked."
"I recall Orion having that title." Annabeth retorted. "If we don't count deities, that is."
The hunter laughed again.
"Orion? That bloke was a giant! Gifted by his heritage from birth. Not like me; I had to do everything on my own. Create my own legacy!"
"By walking into Artemis bathing, sure," Annabeth muttered.
A far-away memory came across my mind. It was one of the stories Chiron—as Mr. Brunner had told us during class. The myth stuck with me because the dudes at Yancy won't shut up about it.
It was about some hunter dude that was unfortunate enough to walk in on Artemis bathing. As a punishment, he got turned into a stag and got torn to shreds by his own hounds.
The name of the guy was…
"Actaeon. You're Actaeon."
"The one and only." Actaeon tilted his hat. "Now; where were we? Oh yes, Hunting."
He brought out a silver tube and blew it hard. It made no audible as it shattered into million pieces. Nothing else happened.
"Uh, what was that supposed to—"
All around us, pedestrians' panic suddenly exploded. They ran to the nearest exit screaming, waving their hands in the air. Actaeon cackled in amusement at the chaos.
"Ah, you have to admit; As authoritarian as she is, that witch has a way with humor!"
"Leave them alone!" I shouted over the chaos. "It's us you want!"
"Oh, but I am!" Actaeon cackled, "I can't just have pesky little creatures ruin my big hunt now, can I?"
He reached behind his back and pulled out a ghastly white bow. Only a second later did I realize with a shiver that the handle and arrow were made out of bones, and the string out of tendons. Either of them was too big to be for a human.
"But on the other hand, I do like a scattering target. Good for warmups."
Actaeon pulled back his bow. His arrow aimed at some woman frantically making her way down the stairway.
"Stop!"
I leaped forward. Hellhound Mongomary pounced to intercept, but Annabeth stabbed it in the side in the midst of tackling it in mid-air. She went tumbling with the dog howling in pain.
Actaeon deflected the first strike with his bow. I tried a swipe at his arm, but he sidestepped it easily and let another arrow loose, this time aimed at my face. I blocked off by the flat side of the blade. My sword hand trembled at the force—it was too powerful of a shot for it to be from a bow.
"Surprised, are we?"
I jabbed forward, this time aiming at his legs. But the guy was too fast for a 4000 or so-year-old hunter. He darted out of my reach and let two more arrows fly. I leaped backward, and the arrows imbedded themselves deeply in the marble floor.
"They always underestimate me. Just because, my death was caused by my own blunder; of being hunted down by my own dogs. But the world would know soon enough, who the greatest hunter of all times really is! When he hunts every single of them to their death!"
"You're insane!"
Actaeon growled in response, nocked his bow, and let go.
This time, I was too late to react.
Zip!
A burst of pain exploded in my left shoulder. Some force jerked it back so hard, that I fell backward onto the marble floor. I could feel something swapping out. It didn't take a genius intellect to deduce it as blood.
My vision waved as I looked down at the wound. A huge chunk of flesh was missing from where it was supposed to be. An alarming amount of blood poured out from a half-union-sized hole. Was it normal to bleed this much?
Still, I struggled back up to my feet. Actaeon was readying a second arrow as he made his leisurely stroll over. My legs felt weak. I tried to level Riptide, but my arm was like jelly.
"Give it up, Perseus Jackson." He mused, "The age of the gods is coming to a close. Even the gods know that. Just be a nice little prey, and the hunters would make your death painless."
And then, something very weird happened.
Actaeon was just about to take a shot when something blue flew down from the 2nd floor and nailed him straight in the right eye of the sunglass.
"Gah!" The hunter yelped in surprise.
His arrow went astray, flying straight up, and embedded itself in one of the many lightings in the hallway. The object that hit him slid to a halt at my feet.
It was a blue plastic hairbrush.
I looked up and saw a flick of red hair darting away.
Actaeon cursed in ancient Greek, jumped up, grasped the handrail on the second floor, and flipped over easily.
A loud yelp made me look around. Hellhound Mongomary was flailing around as Annabeth clung onto it with one arm wrapped around its neck. Before I could rush over to help, she drove the knife between its eyes. Mongomary let out a yelp and toppled over, disintegrating into golden dust before it hit the floor again.
Annabeth groaned as she helped herself up. I noticed that she was hugging her sides, while her eyes immediately landed on my bleeding shoulder.
"You're hurt."
"Thanks, I didn't notice."
She made a face before handing me the bag of Ambrosia. The magical refreshment healed the wound in no time. Annabeth took a small nibble out of it as well and stood up straight.
"You go after Actaeon. Who knows what he'll do if he ever gets a hand on the girl."
"What about you?"
Annabeth hesitated for a moment.
"I'll…go after for Luke. Maybe I can…"
Her voice trailed off, but I knew what she was thinking.
She still hoped that Luke would switch sides again; come back to the camp. That she could convince him to do so. I doubted that was ever a possibility, but she'd never heard anyone else's saying on the matter.
I was about to argue that it was pointless—at least dangerous; but before I could bring up the argument, Annabeth put on her baseball cap and disappeared from my view.
"Great."
I picked up the blue plastic hairbrush and made my way up to the second floor.
Sorry it took this long for a new chapter.
The exams murdered me, and I had to flesh out just what I was going to do in this part of the story. There are so much things I want to establish, but it is impossible and a horrible idea to cram everything in just because I want them to be in.
Also RIP Mongomary. He was a good doggo, even if his favorite meal was man flesh.
Ta ta~
