The Missing Gods

Chapter 11 - All You Can Eat Buffet

I wish I could say we wandered around for 20 minutes and then found an excellent Denny's breakfast buffet, but I can't. We limped and shuffled and dragged ourselves for what seemed like miles, never getting out of the weird air or stupid misty vibrating fog. Sometimes the air would move in a way that we could see again—30 feet in front of us, but then it would move right back and we'd both groan in frustration while trying to see two feet in front of our torn up faces. We were monster kibble, not being able to see, barely able to fight.

Annabeth finally fell to her knees, giving up after what seemed like hours of walking. It remained the same brightness the entire time we walked, even though we couldn't see the sun. It felt like Apollo was playing some cruel prank on us, never letting the sun go down.

I slowly let myself fall to the ground, landing in a heap beside Annabeth, a little less graceful than I'd hoped. She smirked at me, but I could see the tiredness and frustration in her grey eyes. Her eyes matched the scenery, grey air, grey ground, grey sky, grey everything. Only Annabeth could make it look beautiful and intimidating.

She leaned against my shoulder, unwrapping her splint and assessing the damage to her leg. It looked surprisingly well, so she removed the splint entirely and wrapped the wound in a torn piece of her backpack. When she was done, she started laying down, pulling me to join her.

"I hate sleeping out in the open like this," she said. "You take first watch." And with that, she closed her eyes and in no time was snoring into my ear.

I wish I could say I kept a good watch, but the air shifted so much a cyclops could have been about to tap me on the shoulder and I'd never know. I mainly used the time to figure out where we were and how we could get food. Halfway into these thoughts about food, I realized how heavy I felt, and my eyelids started drooping.

Someone was shaking me awake. I shot up, ignoring the now dull throbbing of my ribs and grasped Annabeth's arms. She looked furious, and I knew I had screwed up. I've never fallen asleep on a watch before.

"They're missing!" She yelled, her hands flying out in frustration.

"What?" I said stupidly, trying to shake the heaviness from my body. It wouldn't go away.

"The helm! The trident! The master bolt!" She stood up, pulling me with her.

I fought to understand what was going on. Who could have taken it? We'd walked for miles and hadn't seen a single living being, mortal or otherwise. Annabeth took my hand and started walking in a random direction, hoping it was the right one.

In no time, we were exhausted. It felt like I weighed a thousand pounds, and just by looking at Annabeth, I knew she was feeling it too.

"We have to find food and water," I mouthed at her, miming eating and drinking. She slapped my hands down lightly.

"I can hear you," she said, frowning. I knew she wasn't frowning at the sound of my voice, it was because she was trying to figure out how she healed so fast without Ambrosia. I felt my ribs, wincing as they throbbed slightly, but realized they were nowhere near as bad as when we first got here.

The air shifted again, and Annabeth tackled me to the ground, her hand tight across my mouth. She was breathing quickly, staring somewhere to our right, and glanced at me with fear in her eyes.

"There's something over there," she whispered, her lips so close to my ear I could feel her nose in my hair. "It's big, and definitely not human."

I slowly reached down and clasped my hand around Riptide, when the air shifted again and a booming voice yelled "Oi! You two! Quit laying on the ground and come join us, for Zeus' sakes!"

I froze, staring at one of the weirdest looking beings I've ever laid eyes on.

"You gonna come here or keep staring?" One head said rudely.

"I don't know why everyone always stares," the other head said with an offended tone. "You've seen Janus before haven't you? Not much different!"

I stood up, bringing Annabeth with me, my hand still holding Riptide in my pocket as we nudged forward slightly. I was looking at two identical teenagers, bodies fused together at the waist, arguing with each other at the moment.

"Uh, why are you naked?" Is all I could think to ask. Annabeth elbowed me in the back as the twins stopped arguing with each other and faced me.

"Why are we naked?" One of them screeched.

"Oh that's all you heroes ever care about, no tact whatsoever! Doesn't Chiron teach you to be nice and respectful to your elders anymore?" The other one moaned, sounding like my mom.

They said they were older than me, so I knew their teenage façade meant they were either a monster or a god. My hand clenched Riptide even tighter, and I could feel Annabeth draw her knife behind me.

"No weapons at the table!" Said one of the twins.

"Nope, no weapons! We made that a rule after Odysseus, remember Castor?" The other one, Castor, groaned, sliding a hand over his butt and shaking his head.

"What table?" I asked, as Annabeth nudged me and whispered something I couldn't catch.

"Oi, these heroes, always blind, aren't they?" Said the twin I thought was Castor. A giant table appeared, holding an enormous amount of dishes filled with hundreds of different foods. I recognized plates of roast and spaghetti, a plate with a mountain of blue donuts, and a soup filled with what looked like bones. My mouth immediately started watering, but I kept my guard up, knowing that this was probably a trap.

"Now there's only one rule to sit here," the twin that wasn't Castor said pompously.

"I thought you said the rule was no weapons at the table?" Annabeth posed.

The twins looked at each other, pondering, and then said "nope! We never said that!" Annabeth and I shared a glance, wondering what was with these two.

"Okay then, what's the rule?" I asked, the smell of the food almost overwhelming at this point.

"You gotta say who we are," said Castor. The other twin smirked and nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Annabeth stepped forward and said "I know who you are, but how can you guarantee our safety if we eat here?" I raised my eyebrows at the twins in a "yeah!" sort of way, hoping that was supportive enough.

"Guess you'll just have to trust us!" The other twin crowed.

Annabeth breathed in slowly, pointing at Castor. "You're Castor," she said, "and you're Polydeuces." The twins looked at each other conspiratorially and then at Annabeth.

"Easy!" They said together. "But who are we?"

Annabeth looked between them and then confidently said, "you're the Dioscuri, the Gemini Twins." I looked at her, knowing she was right, and then looked at the twins, the puzzle pieces clicking together in my head.

"You're the protectors of travelers," I said, impressed.

"Correct!" They both crowed, motioning toward the food. "Welcome Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase." Then the twins snapped their fingers and disappeared with a slight pop.