The three attempted to hitch a ride to Los Angeles. Failing, of course, as Adrian expected. But he didn't seem to care about that. All he could think of was his best friend.
What happened to him? He thought. Eventually, they managed to grab a taxi. The three came in, and Annabeth did most of the talking.
"Los Angeles," Annabeth said plainly, like she didn't have time for this. The cabbie took off his sunglasses, and looked at the three in the rear view mirror. "We're in New York, li'l lady," he said.
"I'm not asking again," Annabeth said. Suba covered her mouth and giggled a little, which Adrian found cute. She had a feeling Annabeth wasn't always like this. She was mad about the situation with Percy. I guess I would've been the same if it were Suba, Adrian thought.
The cabbie sighed heavily and U-turned onto the road.
🔱
The drive was nice and silent...until a crash that sounded like 5 trucks running together was heard. Annabeth was the first to dart out the car and see what that was.
"...oh my gods," she muttered.
"What? What is it?" Adrian asked. But Annabeth didn't respond. As the others look forward, they saw a giant rampaging minotaur wearing underwear.
"Is that the frickin' minotaur?" Suba exclaimed.
"Percy killed it a couple years back, it must've regenerated," Annabeth said. "Then I guess we'll have to improv here," Adrian said.
Adrian tried to hide his fear, by being the first to lunge at the raging Minotaur. He jumped into the air and stabbed it in the arm. Blood leaked out.
Adrian tried to pull out his Trident, but it was stuck in the Minotaur's arm. He kept tugging but it wouldn't come out. The Minotaur turned to him.
"Oh, son of a..." Adrian said before getting cut off by getting seated like a fly off of the Minotaur's arm. Adrian's nose started bleeding, but he wiped it with his sleeve like it didn't matter. "My trident!"
Annabeth grabbed Adrian's shoulder before he could dart away. "Slow down, this is the Minotaur we're talking about."
Suba quickly shoved a small wet wipe in Adrian's nostril to stop the bleeding.
Annabeth started thinking. "We're gonna need a plan. Suba, you go left, Adrian, you-" Suddenly, three gunshots could be heard in the distance, and the Minotaur collapsed. Adrian's eyes widened, he looked at the others, and they were just as surprised.
The taxi was also gone.
A flying figure landed on the Minotaur's head and shot a bullet right through. "But, how?" Annabeth murmured. "Only celestial bronze can hurt monsters..."
"Hey, you three okay?" A boy's voice called; the figure in the distance. He ran over to reveal he had curly short blond hair, brown eyes, glasses, a beige jacket, black gloves, a white undershirt, gray pants, and black converse.
"You just shot down the Minotaur," Annabeth stated. "How?"
"Oh, that's easy, bullets made from Celestial Bronze-anyway, I'm Evan. A son of Hermes. Got these wing shoes from my father himself."
"We're on a quest, and we could really use some help...would you mind coming with us?" Adrian realized how stupid it sounded as he asked it. "Oh," Evan said. "I've never really...hung out with other half-bloods...sure, why not?"
"Woah, woah, woah," Annabeth boomed. "We have no idea who you are, you think we can just... trust you?" Suba put her hand on Annabeth's shoulder, "Annabeth, we need all the help we can get, admit it."
Annabeth sighed heavily. "Fine. But how the heck do we get to Los Angeles? We were in the middle of the drive."
Suba closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they started flickering black, and when they stopped, a straight-up Hellhound appeared next to her.
What the hell just happened? Adrian thought.
"...okay, I don't know how I did that, but, she says she's friendly...?" Suba said, shrugging.
"You never cease to impress me..." Adrian said. Suba laced her fingers through his. For once, they had a little draft of a plan coming together.
🔱
Adrian woke up to buzzing lights in the dark of the night. He must've dosed off on the ride. They were right by the giant H in Hollywood. Up close, the letters looked so big.
Annabeth found a hidden Greek symbol on the H, pushed it, and a flight of stairs going downwards appeared in the H. "Here we go," Annabeth said. "The Underworld."
Evan was first to dart down the stairs. He's probably done this before, Adrian thought. Annabeth soon started carefully walking down the seemingly endless stairs, and soon, Adrian followed suit, Suba close behind.
When they finally reached the end, they found themselves face to face with a giant river. It almost looked green, and it looked like it had people in it.
"The River Styx," Evan said. He had his hands in his pockets and a calm expression.
To the group's luck, there was a dock with a canoe next to it. The four half-blood boarded, and Annabeth started paddling. The River bubbled next to them.
Eventually, they reached the dark, dead land. The Underworld was mostly a blur to Adrian, but it was when they approached the giant Cerberus that Adrian realized this was no joke.
Evan must've expected this, or something, because he pulled out a squeaky red ball, and tossed it away. Cerberus almost crushed them while skedaddling away to go get it.
Eventually, the group were staring down giant double-doors. Annabeth pushed them open to like she was Hades, and there, they saw a dark, jagged throne with skulls on them.
"I figured it was only a matter of time," a dark voice spoke, "until demigods intruded on my kingdom."
Hades materialized in his throne and stood up, towering over the four half-bloods.
YOU ARE READING
The Heroes of Camp Half-Blood • Book 1: The Missing Demigod
Adventure"3 new half-bloods will be claimed To eternal glory or to be maimed With the lightning bolt and the skull They will either die, or save them all But when one half-blood disappears When he is found will determine fate for years" The last thing Adrian...
