Hello there, gods, half-bloods and friends, welcome to the next chapter of The God Hunter.
Hope you enjoy and not on to the reviews.
girani4: Hey buddy! It's been a while, I would totally hug you if that was something I did. It was based on it yes, it wasn't even the only Hazbin Hotel reference in Chapter 22.
Lucius Walker: A god? More like the opposite.
And now story time.
Matt, Percy, Annabeth and Tyson where ridding Hippocampi, creatures that they were only horses in the front; their back halves were silvery fish bodies, with glistening scales and rainbow tail fins.
The hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Jet Skis, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge. The cruise ship was now looming in front of them, their ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.
Only when they got closer, it dawned on them how huge the ship was. The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship's name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight.
Princess Andromeda
"How do we get aboard?" Annabeth shouted over the noise of the waves, but the hippocampi seemed to know what they needed. They skimmed along the starboard side of the ship, riding easily through its huge wake, and pulled up next to a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull.
"After me." Matt said as he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and grabbed the bottom rung. Once he'd hoisted himself onto the ladder, his hippocampus whinnied a farewell and dove underwater.
Annabeth began to climb once he was a few rungs up, after which Percy followed.
Finally it was just Tyson in the water. His hippocampus was treating him to 360 aerials and backward ollies, and Tyson was laughing so hysterically, the sound echoed up the side of the ship.
"Tyson, come on." Percy said.
"Can't we take Rainbow?" he asked, his smile fading.
"...The what now?" Matt said.
The hippocampus whinnied as if he liked his new name.
"Oh... No, sorry Big T." Matt said, "We can't put Rainbow in danger."
Tyson sniffled. He buried his face in the hippocampus's mane, "I will miss you, Rainbow!"
The hippocampus made a neighing sound that sounded oddly like crying.
"Maybe we'll see him again sometime." Percy suggested.
"Oh, please!" Tyson said, perking up immediately, "Tomorrow!"
"No promises, Big T." Matt said as Tyson was finally convinced to say his farewells and grab hold of the ladder. With a final sad whinny, Rainbow the hippocampus did a back-flip and dove into the sea.
The ladder led to a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. There was a set of locked double doors, which Annabeth managed to pry open with her knife and a fair amount of cursing in Ancient Greek.
After checking a few corridors and peering over a balcony into a huge central promenade lined with closed shops, there was nobody to hide from. Sure it was the middle of the night, but they walked half the length of the boat and met no one.
"It's a ghost ship." Percy murmured after they passed forty or fifty cabin doors and heard no sound behind any of them.
"No." Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag, "Bad smell."
Annabeth frowned, "I think your smelling Matt." she said, earning her a glare from him.
"Cyclopes are like satyrs." Percy said, "They can smell monsters. Isn't that right, Tyson?"
He nodded nervously.
"Well that's a nice thought." Matt said, "Anything in particular, Big T?"
"Something bad." Tyson answered.
"Super clear." Annabeth grumbled, "Thank you."
"Your welcome!" Tyson said.
They came outside on the swimming pool level. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water in the pool glowed eerily, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship.
They explored a few more corridors until they found an empty suite on the ninth level. The door was open, which was a bit odd. There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a handwritten note that said: Enjoy your cruise!
Opening the duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything. Extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He'd even managed to pack Tyson's oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Annabeth's cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.
"I'll be next door." Annabeth said, "You guys don't drink or eat anything."
"Oh, sure." Matt said with a grin, "Now I'm going to eat and drink everything."
"You are so immature." Annabeth said annoyed.
"But you act so mature." Matt teased, "So we balance each other out!"
Annabeth shook her head before closing the door, but he was sure he spotted a small smile on her face.
Smart girl, you should listen to her sometime.
"And risk inflating her ego even more?" Matt thought, "It's big enough as is!"
Tyson crashed on the couch. He tinkered on his metalworking project, which he still wouldn't show either of them.
"So, anybody wants to sing a sea shanty?" Matt said, sitting down on one of the beds.
"Really?" Percy said as he sat next to the port window.
"What's a 'tea shanty'?" Tyson said.
"Sea shanty." Matt corrected him, "It's... Well they are songs you sing at sea."
"Isn't it a bit late for that?" Percy said with a yawn before he laid down, "Maybe tomorrow."
Matt pouted his lips as he fell backwards onto the matrass, but eventually weariness got over him and he fell asleep.
He felt himself fall through the void and his eyes shot open once he felt his back touch a surface.
Matt was laying on a familiar couch, in the memory recreation of his home back in Queens. Out the window he saw the now familiar bright white filled skies with a constant aurora and the massive blue sun shining its light down on the ocean.
Sitting in his fathers recliner, was Asherah, who was looking rather grim even for her.
"My apologies for interrupting your sleep and taking you from your dreams." she said, "But I have an urgent warning."
"Sounds serious." Matt said as he sat up.
"It is." she said a hint of worry to her voice, "We are heading for the Sea of Monsters, we have no choice if we wish to save the Camp, but I have sensed a terrible power having arrived there recently."
"This terrible power? Has this something to do with the Fleece?" Matt said, "Or with Kronos?"
"Neither hopefully. But we can never be sure... No, I doubt he would aid the Titan of Time." Asherah said as she pondered the question, "While it's unlikely we run into him, we can't rule out the possibility. Head my warning Matt, no matter what happens or what will be said, don't engage him in battle or enter any sort of deal with him."
"Oh, really scary. Also very vague." Matt said with a roll of his eyes, "What do I have to worry about? I got you Ash."
This surprised the tall woman for a moment, and Matt could swear he saw a small smile forming on her face for a brief moment.
"I'm happy you have so much faith in me and my council, but Matt... You have to listen to me, and I mean really listen. I might have been as mortals call..." Asherah said, trying to find the right words, "What is the word again when you say one thing and mean another?"
"Are you talking about sarcasm?" he said.
"Yes that." she said with a snap of her finger, "I have been a sarcasm more than a few times..."
"It's sarcastic in that context." Matt pointed out.
"Matthew Hauer!" Asherah booming voice echoed, enhanced by the sound of thunder in the skies above.
While Asherah usually had a rather flippant and uncaring demeanor about her, she usually was pretty patience with Matt's usual antic's. And she had been stern to him a couple of times, like how a mother would chide a misbehaving child.
But he had never heard her speak like this before, showing how serious the situation was.
"You better take this seriously, for you cannot best him in a contest of might. If you decide to face him in battle, I will not be able to help you. And yet his might should be the least of your worries. His mere prescene will evoke emotions long hidden, his eyes promise you things you were always scared to admit to another. His voice whispers to you long after he is done speaking."
"Okay, okay. No reason to go all Zeus on me." Matt said, holding up his hands, "I promise I won't fight or make any deals in any way, shape or form... What's his name? You know, so I know who to watch out for."
"I hope you take my warning to heart because even the gods have only one rule which they all actually adhered to..." Asherah said her voice returning to normal, "Don't fuck with Lucifer."
Matt was woken up to a ship's whistle and a voice on the intercom, some guy with an Australian accent who sounded way too happy.
"Good morning, passengers! We'll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don't forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o'clock, and for our special guests, disemboweling practice on the Promenade!"
"What did he say?" Percy said as he sat up.
Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. "The happy man said... bowling practice?"
"I don't think he said bowling practice." Matt said as he stood up.
There was an urgent knock on the suite's interior door. Annabeth stuck her head in, her blond hair in a rat's nest. "Disemboweling practice?"
"Yeah, it sounded more along the lines of that." Matt said.
Once they were all dressed, they ventured out into the ship and were surprised to see other people. A dozen senior citizens were heading to breakfast. A dad was taking his kids to the pool for a morning swim. Crew members in crisp white uniforms strolled the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers.
Nobody asked who they were, nobody paid them much attention. But there was something wrong.
As the family of swimmers passed them, the dad told his kids: "We are on a cruise. We are having fun."
"Yes, we are having a blast." his three kids said in unison, their expressions blank, "We will swim in the pool."
They wandered off.
"Good morning," a crew member told them, his eyes glazed, "We are all enjoying ourselves aboard the Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day." and he drifted away.
"Percy, Matt..." Annabeth whispered, "This is weird."
"Yeah, no shit." Matt whispered back.
Then they passed a cafeteria and saw their first monster. It was a hellhound its front paws up on the buffet line and its muzzle buried in the scrambled eggs. It must've been young, because it was small compared to most, no bigger than a grizzly bear.
The weird thing was: a middle-aged couple was standing in the buffet line right behind the demon dog, patiently waiting their turn for the eggs. They didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.
"Not hungry anymore." Tyson murmured.
A reptilian voice came from down the corridor, "Ssssix more joined yesssterday."
Annabeth gestured frantically toward the nearest hiding place, the women's room, and all four of them ducked inside. Something, or more like two somethings, slithered past the bathroom door, making sounds like sandpaper against the carpet.
"Yesss." a second reptilian voice said, "He drawssss them. Ssssoon we will be sssstrong."
The things slithered into the cafeteria with a cold hissing that might have been snake laughter.
"We have to get out of here." Annabeth said.
"You think I want to be in the girls' restroom?" Percy said.
"She means the ship, Percy." Matt said matter-of-factly.
"...I knew that!" Percy protested.
"Smells bad, and dogs eat all the eggs." Tyson agreed, "Annabeth is right. We must leave the restroom and ship."
Then another voice was heard outside, one that made Matt's blood boil.
"...only a matter of time. Don't push me, Agrius!"
It was Luke, beyond a doubt.
"I'm not pushing you!" another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Luke's. "I'm just saying, if this gamble doesn't pay off..."
"It'll pay off." Luke snapped, "They'll take the bait. Now, come, we've got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket."
Their voices receded down the corridor.
Tyson whimpered, "Leave now?"
The trio exchanged looks and came to a silent agreement.
"We can't." Percy told Tyson.
"We have to find out what Luke is up to." Annabeth agreed, "And if possible, we're going to beat him up, bind him in chains, and drag him to Mount Olympus."
"We can go with that." Matt thought, "Or I can keep my promise."
There you go, another chapter, hope you enjoyed. Many thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, favorite, or follows this story.
Take care of yourself, get some rest, drink plenty of water and I will see you people next time.