Catch Fire || P. Jackson

𝟏.𝟏𝟒

"Too pretty!" the Cyclopes shrieked. "Burns our eye!"

The store on the hill was encased in a rainbow, closer and brighter than any Lea had ever seen. The light was anchored at the store, shooting up into the heavens, bathing the countryside in a weird kaleidoscopic glow. The lady Cyclops hefted her club and charged at the store. As she hit the rainbow, her whole body began to steam. She wailed in agony and dropped her club, retreating with multicoloured blisters all over her arms and face.

"Horrible goddess!" she bellowed at the store. "Give us snacks!"

The other monsters went crazy, charging the convenience store, and then running away as the rainbow light burned them. Some threw rocks, spears, swords, and even pieces of their armour, all of which burned up in flames of pretty colours.

Finally, the giant leader seemed to realize that his troops were throwing away perfectly good equipment. "Stop!" he roared. With some difficulty, he managed to shout and push and pummel his forces into submission. When they'd quieted down, he approached the rainbow-shielded store himself and stalked around the borders of the light. "Goddess!" he shouted. "Come out and surrender!"

No answer from the store. The rainbow continued to shimmer.

"I get the feeling they're closed for the evening," Frank whispered in Lea's ear making her giggle.

The giant raised his trident and net. "I am Polybotes! Kneel before me so I may destroy you quickly." Apparently, no one in the store was impressed. A tiny dark object came sailing out the window and landed at the giant's feet. Polybotes yelled, "Grenade!" He covered his face. His troops hit the ground. When the thing did not explode, Polybotes bent down cautiously and picked it up. He roared in outrage. "A Ding Dong? You dare insult me with a Ding Dong?"

He threw the cake back at the shop, and it vaporized in the light. The monsters got to their feet. Several muttered hungrily, "Ding Dongs? Where Ding Dongs?"

"Let's attack," said the lady Cyclops. "I am hungry. My boys want snacks!"

"No!" Polybotes said. "We're already late. Alcyoneus wants us at the camp in four days' time. You Cyclopes move inexcusably slowly. We have no time for minor goddesses!" He aimed that last comment at the store, but got no response.

The lady Cyclops growled. "The camp, yes. Vengeance! The orange and purple ones destroyed my home. Now Ma Gasket will destroy theirs! Do you hear me, Leo? Jason? Piper? I come to annihilate you!" The other Cyclopes bellowed in approval. The rest of the monsters joined in.

A jolt of electricity shot down Lea's spine. "Jase!" Her fingers fiddled with his silver ring while her thoughts ran a hundred miles a minute.

Hazel shivered excitedly. She glanced at her friends. "Jason," she whispered. "She fought Jason. He might still be alive."

Frank nodded. "Do those other names mean anything to you?"

Lea shook her head. She didn't know any Leo or Piper at camp. "No. We haven't had a Leo or Piper at camp since-- Oh gods, what's set him off this time?" Percy suddenly looked sickly and dazed again. his two minutes of clarity seemed only to make him worse. "Please don't faint." She whispered, placing a hand on his head to check his temperature.

Below them, the army began to march south again, but the giant Polybotes stood to one side, frowning and sniffing the air.

"Sea god," he muttered. To Lea's horror, he turned in their direction. "I smell sea god."

Percy was shaking. Lea put her hand on his shoulder and tried to press him flat against the rock. The boy resisted her force.

"Dammit, Percy."

Trying not to stick out over the top of the rock, Lea tackled the son of Neptune to the ground, lying flat on top of him.

The lady Cyclops Ma Gasket snarled. "Of course, you smell sea god! The sea is right over there!"

"More than that," Polybotes insisted. "I was born to destroy Neptune. I can sense..." He frowned, turning his head and shaking out a few more snakes.

"Do we march or sniff the air?" Ma Gasket scolded. "I don't get Ding Dongs, you don't get sea god!"

Polybotes growled. "Very well. March! March!" He took one last look at the rainbow-encased store, then raked his fingers through his hair. He brought out three snakes that seemed larger than the rest, with white markings around their necks. "A gift, goddess! My name, Polybotes, means 'Many-to-Feed!' Here are some hungry mouths for you. See if your store gets many customers with these sentries outside."

He laughed wickedly and threw the snakes into the tall grass on the hillside. Then he marched south, his massive Komodo legs shaking the earth.

Gradually, the last column of monsters passed over the hills and disappeared into the night. Once they were gone, the blinding rainbow shut off like a spotlight. Immediately, the human torch that was Lea Turner began to glow again.

The demigods were left alone in the near-dark, staring across the road at a closed-up convenience store. "That was different," Frank muttered. "I think you can stop squishing him now, Lee."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Percy shuddered violently as Lea slipped off of him. It was obvious that he needed help, or rest, or something. Seeing that army seemed to have triggered some memory, leaving him shell-shocked.

They should get him back to the boat.

On the other hand, a huge stretch of grassland lay between them and the beach. Hazel got the feeling the karpoi wouldn't stay away forever. She didn't like the idea of the four of them making their way back to the boat in the middle of the night, even with Lea's glowstick abilities.

"Let's go to the store," she said. "If there's a goddess inside, maybe she can help us."

"Except a bunch of snake things are guarding the hill now," Frank said. "And that burning rainbow might come back."

They looked at Percy, who was shaking like he had hypothermia. "I can't give him more ambrosia... D'you bring the nectar?"

"I knew I was forgetting something."

The disappointment on Frank's face almost broke Lea's heart. "No, no. That's totally my fault. I'm the child of Apollo here, not you. I guess our best bet is the store."

"We've got to try," Hazel said.

Frank nodded grimly. "Well... any goddess who throws a Ding Dong at a giant can't be all bad. Let's go."