Rise of Erebos: Search of the Hidden

Chapter 8: We Get a Ride On a Private Ship

        When I woke up, I got to admit, I was pretty surprised.
         My sleep wasn't invaded by any weird visions, so I slept like the dead. In the morning, Oliver woke me up and wished me luck on the quest. I headed to breakfast, and met up with Amethyst, Kai, and Alexander.
         "Ok, so what's the plan? What are we going to do first?" I asked.
        Amethyst pulled out a binder. The binder was about 5 inches thick and contained a large array of colored papers, making it look like a rainbow from the side. The binder had a hot pink cover, decorated with confetti and sparkles. On the top of the cover, "Quest Plan" was written in a blinding yellow ink in cursive that was barely readable. I could barely read it, not just because of the blinding yellow color it was, but also because I was dyslexic.
Kai looked at the binder with wide eyes. I shook my head in disbelief. I had never seen such a horrifying looking binder.
        "The first thing we have to do is locate those two demigods before they're captured. What were their names again?" Amethyst asked, flipping through the massive amount of paper inside the binder.
        "You don't know Arthur LionsWorth? His mom was a former demigod turned tech mogul! She's working on a phone that demigods can use!" Alexander exclaimed. 
"Yeah, I guess I don't," Amethyst muttered.
"Getting back on track, we first find Arthur and Geneva. Then?" I continued.
     Amethyst turned a page over in her binder. "After picking those two up, we'll need to find the four masks across the country. I have no idea where they are exactly, but Chiron did give me something."
She pulled out a gold-colored compass that appeared to be almost pitch-black on the inside. It was dusty and had intricate markings carved on the gold layer, giving the compass a mysterious look.
        "This will help track the four masks, as it senses items of great power nearby," she explained.
        "Nice, so once we find all of them with the compass, we come back to camp and stop Ares's attack," I finished.
        "Yep. Easy peasy," Amethyst agreed.
        "Sure, easy peasy," Kai muttered, exaggerating the "easy peasy" by using bunny fingers. "But we should probably head out now. We don't want to give those goons anymore time to capture the Demi-Phone 1," Kai continued, making fun of Alexander. Alexander didn't seem to notice however.
        "That's a good idea, Kai. Let's go!" Amethyst agreed excitedly. We let the spirits take our food, but Alexander tried snuggling some pancakes in his backpack. We headed to Fireworks Beach, a small beach area near Zephnos Creek.
        The beach looked mostly average, with soft sand and calm blue waters that seemed to go on endlessly towards the sun. The beach wasn't very crowded, almost empty in fact, other than a few satyrs and nymphs hanging around.
        Waiting for us on the shore of the beach was a large, fancy yacht. There were golden and blue streaks painted on top and below the name "Big Betsy", which was engraved into the hull with bold silver letters.
        The mainsail and jib sail had the same colors of streaks, with BB written down on the flags. The main sail was a rich navy blue, while the jib sail was a dandelion yellow. The front of the ship curved into a wooden dragon head, neatly polished and almost intimidating to look at.
      In the back of the ship, there was the captain's cabin which led into the other cabins. The wheel was on the very top, having a great view of the shores and oceans ahead. Manning the wheel was a black haired satyr with sky blue eyes, dark skin, and a goatee, along with a white and blue sailor outfit and a black jacket on top. He wore torn jeans and black tap shoes.
        "Whoa! Is that Captain Jack Sparrow?" Alexander asked excitedly. Not wanting to crush his spirit, none of us responded.
        From the roof of his cabin, the satyr spotted us. "Hey, y'all! Welcome aboard the big ol' Betsy!" he said in a strange southern accent.
He pressed a button near the wheel, and a flight of stairs extended from the ship to the edge of shore. We all climbed up the white marble stairs, half-curious about the strange southern satyr and half-excited/frightened for the quest ahead.
        "Um, excuse me," I coughed. "Who are you?"
        He chuckled. "Well, I'm Oman the satyr! I'm here to take y'all on your quest! This here is Big Betsy, the most rooting-tooting ship in America!"
        "So, did Chiron send you?" Amethyst asked cautiously. This guy didn't seem like much of a threat, but I still didn't trust him.
        "You got one lickety-split mind! Me and Chiron go way back, from the days of playin' Pinochle at camp, to adventurin' the world...Ah, good times! He asked me to chaperone y'all and help y'all in your travels, and I graciously accepted. I owe Chiron my whole life, you see," Oman answered.
        "Nice. We need to head to New York City. Can you take us there, you ol' Yankee?" Kai asked, imitating Oman's accent. Thankfully, Oman didn't seem to realize Kai was making fun of him.
         "Why, my pleasure. Now buckle up, big ol' Betsy is fixin' to leave soon. Y'all could stay out here and sit on the benches or head inside to the cabin. There, y'all will find a staircase to the lower deck, where everything is," he answered.
          We all headed inside his cabin, which was very messy. There were random boxes and papers scattered across the floor, dust on the walls, and a bunch of play-toys on his desk, like stress balls and yo-yos. Alexander, (naturally), tried grabbing them all in his hands and stuffing them into his backpack.
          On his desk, there was a computer and some binders, but the computer looked like it was made in 2000 A.D and the binders were covered in dust and stains.
          Off to the left side, there was a creaky bed with blue and red sheets. It might've been the cleanest thing in the entire room, considering the papers and the dust everywhere. To the right side, there was a black spiral staircase leading down somewhere, presumably the bottom deck. We went down the stairs, as instructed by Oman the Texan satyr. (Just a name I gave him, don't judge).
          Awaiting us in the deck however, was a completely different place compared to Oman's office. The deck had a splendid view of the ocean, with a large glass panel window that showered the deck with sunlight. Sunspots danced on the silky white carpet, which was as soft as a pillow.
         In the corner of the room, there was a large kitchen with a silver fridge and a pantry with a wide array of foods, snacks, and drinks. In the middle of the deck was a medium sized ping-pong table, and a living room area with some futons, bean bags, and a plasma-screen TV linked up to a PlayStation 3, a feature I feel Kai would like. There was also a small library containing mainly mythology and folktale stories, probably what Amethyst would be reading for the rest of the time we were here.
         But the deck didn't end there. At the very end of the deck was a hallway that led into several different rooms, each one accommodating a loft bed with a wooden desk and bean bag underneath along with a closet, dresser, and personal bathroom, which was the size of a small closet.
          "Wow, Oman's got one heck of a ship!" Kai exclaimed. Alexander and him instantly jumped on the couch and turned on the PlayStation. Meanwhile, Amethyst and I marveled at the soft silk carpet and beautiful balcony outside the glass window. We looted the fridge for food, where there was a plate of exotic, foreign cheeses and delicious Dutch chocolate milk awaiting us.
          Up above us, a comm system turned on. "Howdy, y'all! How are you lads doing down there? Good? That's nice to hear from y-"
That's when Kai jumped up and slashed the speaker with his sword, turning off the comm system. Oman didn't seem to notice this, as I faintly heard him talking to himself from above the deck.
      For the next hour or so, I had the time of my life. Me and Amethyst ate the entirety of the pantry, played a bit of ping-pong (which we both were terrible at), joined Kai and Alexander in playing Injustice (which we were also bad at), and jumped on the loft beds, admiring the fluffy white pillows, caramel scented sheets, and small, yet beautiful view of the ocean.
Every once in a while, Oman would scream for help, thinking there were crabs crawling on the ship, even though everytime we checked, we didn't find any crabs.
But suddenly, out of nowhere, our ship started to shake as if we were in an earthquake. We looked at each other with concerned looks as we quickly made our way up to the top deck.
A horrifying view awaited us on the top deck however, as we saw what seemed like a sixty-foot, long sea serpent with nasty green scales and yellow teeth that dripped saliva. It's tail was coiled around the hull of the ship, squeezing it tight.
Great, I thought. The moment I finally get to have fun, of course some strange snake thing has to attack us.
"What in tarnation is that thing? SKEDADDLE YA SNAKE! BE GONE!" Oman screamed at the serpent. He started throwing glass bottles at the serpent, yelling some colorful words after every throw.
"Ok, hold on Oman," Amethyst said. "Kai, go below deck and slash that thing's tail off and get it off the ship. Rose, Alexander, we need to keep it at bay."
Kai nodded and dashed to the cabin.
Alexander jumped up in the air and punched the snake right in its face, throwing the serpent off guard. However, it still clung to the ship tight, not loosening one bit. We could only hope Kai could get its tail off.
Meanwhile, Amethyst started shooting arrows at the serpent. Alexander got the occasional punch in and threw furniture at it, as I shot some fire spells and Mist clouds at it. But we were too tired to continue on, and the serpent was still clinging to the ship.
Finally, when I thought there was no hope, Kai was able to come through, and the serpent lost its grip on the ship and fell back in the ocean, a gouging wound on its tail. It wasn't all good news though. The serpent falling off the ship caused it to tilt sideways at a dangerous angle. Oman couldn't get the ship back up, as we struggled to cling onto the railing of it. Eventually, we succumbed to the calm, yet cold ocean and fell. Oman was able to swim to a small piece of land, but the ship sank. Kai and Alexander didn't land with us. Instead, they jumped directly on top of the serpent.
They began hacking away at the serpent with their swords and shields, but to no avail. I, not knowing how to swim, scrambled to find a piece of wood or something to cling onto. Lucky for us, Oman had sent out rafts in the ocean for us to stay on until we could kill the serpent. Amethyst and I were each able to find one, but it was too late.
Kai's sword was knocked out of his hand by the serpent, as the snake wrapped its slimy tongue around him. Alexander was shaken off by a quick shimmy from the serpent, Amethyst's arrows bouncing off the serpent's scales, and my magic and knives doing nothing. Kai was about to get swallowed.
"NO!" all three of us screamed. Just as the serpent was about to swallow Kai, it's tongue erupted in flames, Kai blasting out like a rocket and crash-landing on a closeby island. The serpent wasn't dead however. It looked like a burn victim, with scorch marks across its body and a very burnt tongue, but it was still alive.
Just as I was about to accept our fate, a large bellow came from behind us. Oman was flying a jet black helicopter behind us. Its blades were a blinding gold and the name "Li'l Lenny" was engraved on the side in bold red letters. He dropped a ladder down to where me and Amethyst were and we climbed on.
When we reached the top of the helicopter, Alexander was waiting for us, his shields now morphed into a large axe, which took me by surprise. Amethyst had told me that children of Ares could change weapons to whatever they wanted, but it still surprised me.
The helicopter wasn't nearly as big as the ship, with only a couple passenger seats and a pilot's seat. It had four doors, two wide ones in the back where Amethyst and I had entered through and two in the front. In the pilot's seat, Oman was pressing a multitude of buttons, with no result.
"Y'all need to just jump on that snake and smack the living' daylights outta him! The fellow looks pretty weak so if I were you, I'd just go straight in for the kill," Oman suggested.
"Okay, but Kai and Alexander did it last time and Kai almost died," Amethyst pointed out. She looked as if she walked through a waterfall, with her blonde hair a wet mop of tangles and her clothes drenched to the skin.
Alexander pressed a button on the control panel that opened up the left door and yelled, "YOLO!" He jumped out of the ship, holding a large axe in his hands. We watched in awe as Alexander flew right over the snake's head and slashed at a large gash in its neck, caused by Kai when he exploded. The snake fell back into the water, thankfully dead, and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
"That was...incredible," I said when Alexander got back into the helicopter. I had no words for how he somehow got over the serpent's head using the wind and then sliced its head in two.
Oman flicked his finger, probably trying to hit a fly. "What a rootin-tootin attack! Now, let's pick up your friend and then head to New York. We're only fifteen minutes away!