Hello there, gods, half-bloods and friends, welcome to the next chapter of The God Hunter.
Got too busy in RL, I have been working on upcoming stories... Then it was Sunday. Now review time.
GreatAce50: Don't worry, I already have a plan for Percy. The first series is going to be in one book. The events of the Heroes Of Olympus series is going to be a separate book. Probably called 'The God Hunter: Part II'.
Hope you enjoy and now story time.
Matt zipped from building to building until he finally touched down in an alley where Annabeth was waiting for them.
"Seems someone has been training." Annabeth said.
"Glad you noticed." Matt said proudly as his weapon disappeared, "It's an amazing feeling swinging around like that..."
"Your hair doesn't glow anymore when you use your abilities." she noted.
"It doesn't!?" Matt said surprised.
A few minutes later, Percy and Tyson joined them just as a fire truck screamed past, heading for Mid Town.
"Where'd you find him?" she demanded, pointing at Tyson.
"He's my friend." Percy told her.
"Is it homeless?"
"Bit of an odd question, but yes." Matt said casually, "Why not ask him?"
She looked surprised, "It can talk!?"
"I talk." Tyson admitted, "You are pretty."
"Ah! Gross!" Annabeth said, stepping away from him.
Tyson's hands, which should have been badly scorched by the flaming dodge balls, but they weren't. They were still, grimy and scarred, with dirty fingernails the size of potato chips, but they looked fine.
"Tyson." Percy said in disbelief, "Your hands aren't even burned."
"Of course not." Annabeth muttered, "I'm surprised the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around."
Tyson seemed fascinated by Annabeth's blond hair. He tried to touch it, but she smacked his hand away.
"Hey Big T, leave the hair alone." Matt said, which his friend seemed to heed.
"The what and the who now?" Percy said.
"Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They're a race of giant cannibals who live in the far north." Annabeth explained, "Odysseus ran into them once, but I've never seen them as far south as New York before."
"Wait, they are Canadians?" Matt said with a raised eyebrow.
"Good enough, I guess." Annabeth said, "Now come on, we have to get out of here."
"The police will be after me." Percy said.
"That's nothing new." Matt said when he noticed that Tyson raised his hand like he was still in class, "What's up, Big T?"
"Canadians in the gym called Percy something..." Tyson said, "Son of the Sea God?"
The three of them exchanged looks.
"Well, you see..." Matt said trying to sound serious, "Percy is the son of Ocean Queen."
"He is?" he said, "Is The Fratziano his dad?"
"Damn it, Matt." Percy muttered before turning to Tyson, "Look, big guy. Forget about those comic books and superhero movies. You ever hear those old stories about the Greek gods? Like Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena..."
"Yes." Tyson said, "Like in those comic Matt has."
"Yeah, a bit like those but not exactly." Percy said a bit annoyed, "Those gods are real and very much still alive. They kind of follow Western Civilization around, living in the strongest countries, so like now they're in the U.S. And sometimes they have kids with mortals. Kids called half-bloods."
"Yes." Tyson said, like he was still waiting to get to the point.
"Uh, well, Annabeth, Matt and I are half-bloods." Percy said, "We're like... heroes-in-training."
"Like the Young Guardians?" Tyson said.
"No, we're not superheroes." Matt corrected him, "You won't see me wearing spandex during the day."
"What about last Halloween?" Percy pointed out.
"Well that was during the evening, and I look badass with a cape." Matt said confidently, "Anyways, Big T. Whenever monsters pick up our scent, they attack us. That's what those giants were in the gym. Monsters."
"Yes."
Matt and Percy exchanged a look as their friend didn't seem surprised or confused by what he was told, which in turn surprised and confused them.
"So..." Percy said unsure, "You believe us?"
Tyson nodded, "But you are... Son of the Ocean Queen?"
"No, my mom isn't a superhero! She is mortal." Percy said annoyed as Matt laughed, "My dad is Poseidon."
Tyson frowned, now he looked confused, "But then..."
A siren wailed. A police car raced past their alley.
"We don't have time for this." Annabeth said, "We'll talk in the taxi."
"A taxi ride all the way to camp?" Matt said patting his pants, "Sorry, left my gold bars back at home."
"Trust me." Annabeth said.
"Your lucky your one of the few I trust." Matt said, "But we can't leave Tyson behind."
"Yeah." Annabeth looked grim, "We definitely need to take it. Now come on."
Matt raised an eyebrow. Not at what she had said, but how. Annabeth talked as if Tyson was a big disease.
Together the four sneaked through the side streets of downtown while a huge column of smoke billowed up behind them from the school gymnasium.
"Here." Annabeth said, stopping on the corner of Thomas and Trimble. She fished around in her backpack, "I hope I have one left."
"What are you looking for?" Matt said, hands in his jean pockets as all around them, sirens wailed.
"Found one. Thank the gods." Annabeth pulled out a golden drachma. It had Zeus's likeness stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.
"Annabeth." Percy said, "New York taxi drivers won't take that."
"Stêthi." she shouted in Ancient Greek, "Ô hárma diabolês!"
As usual, the moment she spoke in the language of Olympus, those of the Greek god blood could understand it.
She'd said: "Stop, Chariot of Damnation!"
This should be fun.
"Easy for you to talk." Matt thought.
Oh come on, Matt. Where is your sense of adventure?
"I like adventure. I just don't like the sound of a Chariot of Damnation!"
You forget I still need you, I won't allow you to end.
"Is that why you help me? Because you need me?"
Correction, Matt. We need each other.
The asphalt darkened. It melted into a rectangular pool about the size of a parking space, bubbling red liquid like blood. Then a car erupted from the ooze.
It was a taxi, all right, but unlike every other taxi in New York, it wasn't yellow. It looked like it was woven out of smoke. There were words printed on the door.
The passenger window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out. She had a mop of grizzled hair covering her eyes, and she spoke in a weird mumbling way, like she'd just had a shot of Novocain. "Passage? Passage?"
"Four to Camp Half-Blood." Annabeth said. She opened the cab's back door and waved at them to get in, like this was all completely normal.
"Ach!" the old woman screeched, "We don't take his kind!" pointing a bony finger at Tyson.
"What's wrong with everybody today?" Matt thought.
You really haven't realized it yet?
"Something you want to share with the class, Ash?"
But the voice in his head was silent as with a quick bribe from Annabeth, the group got in the cab. Tyson squeezed between Percy Matt. While he had Annabeth next to him, who crawled in last.
The interior was also smoky gray, but it felt solid enough. The seat was cracked and lumpy, no different than most taxis.
There was no Plexiglas screen separating us from the old lady driving. There wasn't just one old lady. There were three, all crammed in the front seat, each with stringy hair covering her eyes, bony hands, and a charcoal-colored sackcloth dress.
The one driving said, "Long Island! Out-of-metro fare bonus! Ha!"
She floored the accelerator, and a prerecorded voice came on over the speaker: "Hi, this is Ganymede, cup-bearer to Zeus, and when I'm out buying wine for the Lord of the Skies, I always buckle up!"
But the cab had a large black chain instead of a seat belt.
The cab sped around the corner of West Broadway, and the gray lady sitting in the middle screeched, "Look out! Go left!"
"Well, if you'd give me the eye, Tempest, I could see that!" the driver complained.
The driver swerved to avoid an oncoming delivery truck, ran over the curb with a jaw-rattling thump, and flew into the next block.
"Wasp!" the third lady said to the driver, "Give me the girl's coin! I want to bite it."
Instead, Wasp floored the accelerator and rode up on the curb, screeching around another corner, and knocking over a newspaper box. She left my stomach somewhere back on Broome Street.
"Excuse me." Percy said, "But... can you see?"
"No!" Wasp screamed from behind the wheel.
"No!" Tempest screamed from the middle.
"Of course!" Anger screamed by the shotgun window.
Percy turned to Annabeth, "They're blind?" he yelled.
"Not completely." Annabeth said, "They have an eye."
"One eye?"
"Yeah."
"Each?"
"No. One eye total."
Next to Percy, Tyson groaned and grabbed the seat, "Not feeling so good." he said.
Tyson get carsick on school field trips and it was not something one wanted to be within fifty feet of.
"Hang in there, big guy." Percy said, "Anybody got a garbage bag or something?"
The three gray ladies were too busy squabbling to pay any attention.
"So, this is the fastest way to camp?" Matt said as he looked over at Annabeth, who was hanging on for dear life, "Why didn't you take it from Virginia?"
"That's outside their service area." she said, like that should be obvious, "They only serve Greater New York and surrounding communities."
"Of course." Matt said sarcastically, "Makes total sense."
"We've had famous people in this cab!" Anger exclaimed, "Jason! You remember him?"
"Right, such a gentleman." Tempest screamed, "The kindest of heroes."
"Not The Skywalker idiot! The other one!" Wasp wailed, "And we didn't have a cab back then, you old bat. That was three thousand years ago!"
"Give me the tooth!" Anger tried to grab at Wasp's mouth, but Wasp swatted her hand away.
"Only if Tempest gives me the eye!"
"No!" Tempest screeched, "You had it yesterday!"
"But I'm driving, you old hag!"
"Excuses! Turn! That was your turn!"
Wasp swerved hard onto Delancey Street, she punched the gas and they shot up the Williamsburg Bridge at seventy miles an hour.
The three sisters were fighting for real now, slapping each other as Anger tried to grab at Wasp's face and Wasp tried to grab at Tempest's. With their hair flying and their mouths open, screaming at each other.
Instead of eyes, they just had closed, sunken eyelids, except for Anger, who had one bloodshot green eye that stared at everything hungrily, as if it couldn't get enough of anything it saw.
Finally Anger, who had the advantage of sight, managed to yank the tooth out of her sister Wasp's mouth. This made Wasp so mad she swerved toward the edge of the Williamsburg Bridge, yelling, "'Ivit back! 'Ivit back!"
Tyson groaned and clutched his stomach.
"Uh, if anybody's interested." Percy said, "We're going to die!"
"Don't worry." Annabeth told them, sounding pretty worried, "The Gray Sisters know what they're doing. They're really very wise."
They were skimming along the edge of a bridge a hundred and thirty feet above the East River.
"Yes, wise!" Anger grinned in the rearview mirror, showing off her newly acquired tooth, "We know things!"
"Every street in Manhattan!" Wasp bragged, still hitting her sister, "The capital of Nepal!"
"The location you seek!" Tempest added, "30, 31, 75, 12!"
"What?" Matt said.
"30, 31, 75, 12!" Anger wailed, "That's all we can tell you."
They were off the highway now, zipping through the countryside of northern Long Island. Half-Blood Hill could been seen just ahead, with its giant pine tree at the crest, Thalia's tree, which contained the life force of a fallen hero.
Wasp slammed on the brakes. The taxi spun four or five times in a cloud of smoke and squealed to a halt in the middle of the farm road at the base of Half-Blood Hill.
Tyson let loose a huge belch. "Better now." he said.
At the crest of the hill was a group of campers and they were under attack.
This time it was two bulls. And not just regular bulls, bronze ones the size of elephants. And even that wasn't bad enough. Naturally they had to breathe fire, too.
As soon as they exited the taxi, the Gray Sisters peeled out, heading back to New York, where life was safer. They didn't even wait for their extra three-drachma payment. They just left them on the side of the road.
"Oh, man." Annabeth said, looking at the battle raging on the hill.
What was most worrying was that the bulls were ranging all over the hill, even around the back side of the pine tree.
Something that shouldn't have been possible. The camp's magic boundaries didn't allow monsters to cross past Thalia's tree. But the metal bulls were doing it anyway.
One of the heroes shouted, "Border patrol, to me!" A girl's voice, gruff and familiar.
"That's new." Matt noted, "Camp didn't had a border patrol last year."
"It's Clarisse." Annabeth said, "Come on, we have to help her."
"Do we? Do we really?" Matt said as he rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Fine."
Clarisse and her fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. One hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, the horsehair plume on his helmet blazing like a fiery Mohawk.
Clarisse's own armor was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull's shoulder.
The daughter of Ares was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into phalanx formation. The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills.
Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster six campers. The other four were still running around with their helmets on fire.
The bull moved deadly fast for something so big. Its metal hide gleamed in the sun. It had fist-sized rubies for eyes, and horns of polished silver. When it opened its hinged mouth, a column of white-hot flame blasted out.
"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered her warriors.
There where two things one would have to admit about Clarisse, one being that despise all her flaws, she was brave.
At that moment, Matt used wires from his bracelets sending himself flying feet first towards the bull, bashing into it side as his weapon turned into his Gauntlets and Greaves, sending the bull scrapping along the ground.
He turned around just in time to watch Bull Number Two crashed into Clarisse's shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse went flying backward and landed in a smoldering patch of grass. The bull charged past her, but not before blasting the other heroes with its fiery breath.
Their shields melted right off their arms. They dropped their weapons and ran as Bull Number Two closed in on Clarisse for the kill.
Matt came swinging in, grabbing Clarisse by the straps of her armor and dragging her out of the way as Bull Number Two freight-trained past. He saw Percy give it a good swipe with Riptide and cut a huge gash in its flank, but the monster just creaked and groaned and kept on going.
"Let me go, Hauer!" Clarisse shouted.
Matt dropped her in a heap next to the pine tree and swung off to face the bulls. They were on the inside slope of the hill now, the valley of Camp Half-Blood directly below. The cabins, the training facilities, the Big House. All of it at risk if these bulls got past.
Annabeth shouted orders to the other heroes, telling them to spread out and keep the bulls distracted.
Bull Number One ran a wide arc, making its way back toward Matt. As it passed the middle of the hill, where the invisible boundary line should've kept it out, it slowed down a little, as if it were struggling against a strong wind; but then it broke through and kept coming.
Bull Number Two turned to face Percy, fire sputtering from the gash he cut in its side. It wasn't known if they could feel pain, but the wound Percy had given it, made things personal.
Matt landed next to him sending out his fist as an stream of white flames erupted from his fist. It's impact great enough it send it flying over head, the damages of the flames combined with the slash of Percy's sword and lop off part of the monster's snout.
Bull Number One charged straight toward them as Annabeth shouted, "Tyson, help them!"
Somewhere near, toward the crest of the hill, Tyson wailed, "Can't. Get. Through!"
"I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"
Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly Tyson was there, barreling toward me, yelling, "Matt and Percy needs help!"
Tyson dove between them and the bull just as it unleashed a nuclear firestorm. The blast swirled around him like a red tornado. All that could be seen was the black silhouette of his body.
The second Bull came back, with Matt having just enough time to change back to his Gauntlets and Greaves and reach out to grab the bull by the horns. He pushed back into it as his feet scrapped over the ground and dug deep into the dirt.
Then his hair and eyes began to glow as he pushed back. The beast ruby eyes looked surprised as Matt pushed back harder and harder until it flips over and landed on its back as one of it's horns was ripped clean off.
Transforming his weapon back into its sword form, Matt raising it high in the air before ramming it down into the beast's chest, it's legs slow down as he rushed down its body slicing it open. As the white flames covered the blade, he raised it high and he struck, separating its head from its neck in one clean swing.
Jumping off it's fading body, Matt's sword disappeared in an explosion of white flames as he looked over the battlefield as Tyson had taken care of the other bull.
Tyson was completely unharmed. Not even his grungy clothes were scorched.
Annabeth was checking up on Percy, who had hurt his ankle during the fight, giving him some Olympian nectar to drink from her canteen.
So, it's good to be back?
"Very good." Matt said with a smile, one hand in his pocket.
Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched toward them. A strand of her stringy brown hair was smoldering, but she didn't seem to notice.
"You! Ruin! Everything!" she yelled mostly at Matt, "I had it under control!"
"Clarisse, baby! It feels like forever since we last saw each other! It has been a while!" Matt said extending his arms, "How's your dad doing?"
"Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!" Clarisse shouted.
"Noted." he said with a grin.
For a moment it looked like Clarisse was ready to whip Matt's smirk off his face. They would never know as Annabeth said, "Clarisse. You've got wounded campers."
That sobered her up. That was the second thing one would have to admit about Clarisse. She cared about the soldiers under her command.
"I'll be back." she growled, then trudged off to assess the damage.
"Wrong accent." Matt said, hands in his pockets as the discussion turned to Tyson.
"You didn't die." Percy said.
Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed, "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."
"My fault." Annabeth said, "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to help save you. Otherwise, you would've died."
"Why are we making such a big deal about Tyson crossing the boundary line?" Matt said.
"Have either of you ever looked at Tyson closely?" Annabeth said, "Ignore the Mist, and really look at him."
The Mist makes humans see only what their brains can process, it could fool demigods too.
Matt forced myself to focus at his friend, his big lumpy nose, then a little higher at his eye.
"Wait what?" Matt thought, "That's not right."
One eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.
"Tyson..." Percy stammered, "You're a..."
"Cyclops." Matt said.
Now he get's it.
"You knew?"
Of course I did. Why I didn't tell you? Sometimes you have to figure things out for yourself. Like how you hate it when I, as you called it, backseat game.
"A baby, by the looks of him." Annabeth said, "Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."
"One of the what?" Percy said.
"They're in almost all the big cities. They're... mistakes." Annabeth said distastefully, "Children of nature spirits and gods and they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."
"So that's why..." Matt said, "Cyclops have fire immunity, that's why they work at the forges of the gods."
"How do you know that?" Percy said.
"I read it in one of the books Annabeth recommended to me." Matt told him.
"You actually read it?" Annabeth said surprised, trying to hide the hint of happiness in her voice.
"Oh, yes. Usually when I was laying in bed." Matt told her, "Put me right to sleep."
Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."
"The feck is a Tantalus?" Matt said.
"The activities director." Clarisse said impatiently.
"Odd way of saying Chiron." Matt said, "What about Argus?"
Clarisse made a sour face. "Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing."
"But Chiron... He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years." Percy said, "He can't just be gone. What happened?"
"That happened." Clarisse snapped and she pointed to Thalia's tree.
Every camper knew the story behind the tree.
Six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, and two other demigods named Thalia and Luke had come to Camp Half-Blood chased by an army of monsters. When they got cornered on top of this hill, Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, had made her last stand here to give her friends time to reach safety.
As she was dying, her father, Zeus, took pity on her and changed her into a pine tree. Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.
But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.
That was why the camp was in danger. The magical borders were failing because Thalia's tree was dying.
Someone had poisoned it.
There you go, another chapter, hope you enjoyed. Many thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, favorite, or follows this story.
Next week will be a different story that get's updated.
Take care of yourself, get some rest, drink plenty of water and I will see you people next time.