Nina's Destiny

Mt.Othyrus and Olympus

The statues put us down by the Embarcadero Bridge. Thalia looked ready to be sick. A homeless guy ran away yelling something about metal angels from Mars. Talk about insane people, Hank and Chuck are obviously from Mercury. Duh! "Apollo told me to find Nereus," Percy said. "The old man of the sea."

Zoe nodded. "All we have to do is follow the smell." She led us to the waterfront, then had me get dressed like a hobo. She had me put on a large, navy blue flannel shirt, jeans that were a good three sizes too big for me, and red sneakers. Thalia messed up my hair so it looked like I had been sleeping on the streets. The fact that I had been sleeping on the streets really helped. Why couldn't Percy do this?

I walked over to the docks grumbling about stupid parents and stupid school. At the end of the docks, an old, fat man in pajamas and a bathrobe was sleeping. He smelled like brine and hot seaweed. This had to be Nereus. I sat down next to him. When no one was looking, I tackled him into the ocean. He felt really slimey. He turned into a seal and went straight down. If I wasn't the daughter of Poseidon, I never would have been able to hang on.

Nereus shifted his form again. This time, he was a killer whale. He jumped out of the water just after I grabbed his dorsal fin. I managed to wave to the tourists as we plunged back underneath the waves. He changed into an eel and I tied him into a knot.

Nereus quickly changed back and flashed us up to the pier. "How did you manage to hold on?"

"I am the daughter of Poseidon."

He glared, "What is your question?"

I could only ask one question. I needed to find out where Annabeth was for Percy. On the other hand, I needed to find out where Artemis was for Zoe, Apollo, and me. I also needed to find out what the bane of Olympus was. "Alright, Nereus. Tell me where to find the monster that Artemis was hunting."

Nereus cackled, "Oh, that's an easy one. He's right there." Nereus pointed into the water and disappeared. I looked down and saw a creature with the front half of a cow and the tail of a serpent. I remember him from myths I read a few years back. It was the Ophiotaurus.

"Bessie," Percy exclaimed. "Not now." The Ophiotaurus mooed and I couldn't stop my laugh. I can't believe Percy named the most powerful creature in all of Greacen history Bessie. It was just too ridiculous. Thalia, Zoe, and Grover recognized him too. We all had to explain to Percy about the Ophiotaurus.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I froze and turned around. Why do the monsters always hold me hostage? Dr. Thorn was gripping my shoulder tightly. I could feel my bones shatter. I have the worst luck. "This is just pairrr-fect," gloated the manticore. His accent really mangled his speech. "You, Daughter of Zeus, shall unleash the power of the manticore, or, you shall watch your friend die." Oh, gods, how do I get myself into these hostage situations? I couldn't believe they were forcing Thalia to either destroy the Olympians or destroy me. I'm going to die!

Thalia went into a daze as the manticore began to list reasons that she should kill the Ophiotaurus. I had a brilliant idea. These shoes were two sizes too big on me. I kicked my right foot towards Thalia and the shoe went flying off. It hit her in the face. She fell backwards onto the pavement. Yes, it worked!

Grover told Bessie to dive deep and stay there. Thankfully, she got the message. Zoe shot a fart arrow at Thorn's feet and he let go of me to cover his mouth. I grabbed Thalia's hand with my good arm and started dragging her after Percy, Zoe, and Grover. We hid behind a kiosk. Grover made a rainbow and we contacted camp. We told Mr. D. about the Ophiotaurus. He was reluctant to help unless we said please. That was something I refused to do. I looked at Thalia as the rest got ready to fight. A tear fell down her face. This had happened to her before, on top of Half-Blood Hill, except she wouldn't be able to save us this time. I turned to Mr. D., "Please, Mr D., help us." He smirked and cut off the connection. I turned and pulled out Mov. There were mortal guards surrounding us. Nothing happened.