SHE WAS running.
Kalani didn't stop to breathe. Didn't stop to think. She forced herself to keep running, even though sharp stabbing pains began to strike her in her sides.
"Hey Ani," greeted Luke. He was sitting down on a tree stump, and suddenly the forest she'd been sprinting through ended, sitting on the verge of a bustling city.
"Hi Luke," Kalani said breathlessly. "Did you— did you see those things that were chasing me?"
Luke smiled calmly, crossing his legs. "Yes, I did. Kalani, do you know where we are?"
"Um. . . I don't know what forest this is," she replied, and Luke patted the nearest stump to him, encouraging her to sit down. Kalani's legs wobbled as she lowered herself onto the wood.
"This is where we were running from those harpies who found us that time we were staying at that shitty motel you hated. Remember?"
"Oh yeah," laughed Kalani. "How could I forget?" She hugged herself, resting her chin on her knees. "They were flying after us, and kept screaming, 'Die, foul half-bloods!'" Kalani raised her voice to a creaky tone, mimicking the harpies' outraged voices.
Luke grinned, his scar stretching across his skin. "They were pretty pissed," he agreed. "Wanted to kill us even more when you started taunting them."
"Hey, it was funny," protested Kalani, a small smile spreading across her cheeks at the thought of her younger self racing away from the harpies, middle finger raised in the air— telling them if they came any closer, they'd be eating rocks from Tartarus.
"It was," Luke admitted. He looked at Kalani. "Ani, you know the gods are dicks, right?"
"Yeah, I mean of course they are," said Kalani. "Most of them anyways." Her mom wasn't that bad. She just demanded a price for whatever she gave them in return, which was pretty fair to be honest. If Kalani was a goddess, she would definitely be charging whatever she gave to the demigods. "They're definitely not great at parenting, for one. But you know what I really want to talk about, Luke? Why exactly aren't you doing anything about Annabeth?" Kalani said. "She's trapped, holding the fucking sky! And you're not doing anything about it."
Luke nodded grimly. "Look, I didn't want this to happen, Ani. But there's nothing I can do now. Someone else must take that burden now. It's been traded from Atlas to, well, Annabeth now. But that problem's being solved, don't worry." He smiled, as if that was something to be proud about.
Kalani gritted her teeth. "You've changed a lot, haven't you?"
"So have you," observed Luke. "But hear me out. Kalani, when you get here, consider joining me. We could use you by our side, the force of revenge helping us. And what could be better than two comrades, allying together against the true enemy. Which is the gods." He stared at her hopefully.
"I'll think about it," Kalani finally said. She couldn't lie to herself. The offer was tempting. But something inside of her prevented her from accepting it. She felt like she was being played with as the rope in tug of war. Yet right now, Annabeth needed her. She couldn't let her divided loyalties rescind her from saving her friend.
Luke's face was wiped of any indicator that he was upset by her procrastination of decision. "My side. . . Our side— is the right one, Kalani," he said in a scarily determined tone. Like if she said anything otherwise, he would consider her useless and tell his crony Kronos to smite her.
Kalani only stared back at him, her head tilting back slightly. "I guess we'll see," was all she said before she opened her eyes.
—•—
"How were you able to sleep while flying on a bunch of statues' backs?" Thalia said incredulously, her hands wrapped tightly around the base of the statue's neck. Her eyes were wide with alert, like she drank too much coffee. Kalani knew the complete opposite was true though. Thalia wouldn't have slept at all while in flight. And Kalani couldn't blame her.
Behind Kalani was Percy, who had his arms protectively planted around Kalani while she'd slept. "Ew, get off," she said, pushing his hands back.
"You're welcome for making sure you didn't die," Percy retorted.
Kalani didn't say anything, but stared forward, her mind replaying the dream she had over and over on loop.
"My side. . . Our side— is the right one, Kalani."
She decided to try her best not to think about it for now. Right now, her focus had to be on getting Annabeth back. Later she would revisit the dream.
"Well, you woke up just in time," Zoë said from the other statue. "Look."
Kalani gazed down at the ships floating in the bay below them, pivoting around the island. The Golden Gate Bridge was hazy in the fog, but she could vaguely make out the red foundation and the support lines winding up and disappearing in the thick clouds inhabiting San Francisco.
"There," Zoë suggested. "By the Embarcadero Building."
"Good thinking," said Chuck. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons." They all looked at him. "Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humor?"
Soon, they landed on the ferry dock and successfully freaked out a random man who was sitting near where Hank parked. He screamed when he saw the moving statues and yelled something about metal angels from Mars.
After a short debate, the group agreed that they needed to find out who the mysterious monster that Artemis had been apparently hunting before she was taken.
"But how?" Percy asked.
"Nereus," said Grover.
"What?" Percy stared at him.
"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do? Find Nereus?" Grover asked.
"The old man of the sea. I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows."
"Ah, torture," Kalani said, frowning. "I have a few ideas from these shows I used to watch, but I have no idea if it'll work on this guy."
"We won't be needing any mortal forms of torture to extract the information," Zoë told her.
"Guys, we'll figure that out when we get there. But how do I find him?" Percy said.
"Old Nereus," Zoë said, making a face.
"You know him?" Thalia asked.
"My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him. Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."
"What do you mean?" Kalani asked, wrinkling her nose. "Not fish, right? I hate the smell of fish."
"Come," Zoë said unenthusiastically. "I will show thee."
—•—
Zoë had Percy dressed up in a ragged flannel shirt, baggy jeans, neon red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat. All from the Goodwill drop box.
"Oh yeah," Grover said, holding back laughter. "You look completely inconspicuous now."
Zoë nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."
Kalani snorted. "You look perfect for the role, Percy."
"Thanks a lot," Percy grumbled. "Why am I doing this again?"
"I told thee. To blend in."
She led the way back down to the water front. After a long time spent searching the docks, Zoë finally stopped. She pointed to a pier where a group of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch. "He will be down there somewhere," said Zoë. "He never travels very far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."
"How do I know which one is him?"
"Sneak up," she said. "Act homeless."
"Act homeless?" Kalani asked. "You know that's a pretty weird thing to say, right?"
"It kinda is," Percy agreed.
Zoë sighed. "Just go up to them. You will know him. He will smell. . . different."
"So's Percy gonna go sniffing every guy's clothes to find out who this old fisher man dude is? Totally not gonna be suspicious," Kalani said. "Also pretty creepy."
"I'm not gonna sniff anyone's clothes!" Percy said. "What do I do when I find him?"
"Grab him," Zoë said. "And hold on. He will try anything to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster."
"We've got your back," Thalia said. She picked something off Percy's shirt— a big clump of fuzz. Kalani did not want to know where it came from. "Eww. On second thought. . . I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."
Grover gave Percy a big thumbs up.
"Don't sniff their clothes!" Kalani called after him as he started going down the dock. She leaned against Thalia, resting her head on her shoulder. "Yeah, he's going to fuck this up."
"I think Percy's got this," Grover said.
"I think you've got a crush on Percy," said Kalani. "You're literally kissing his ass all the time."
Grover turned red. "I do not!"
Thalia laughed, wrapping an arm around Kalani. "You kinda do, Grover."
They watched Percy tackle an old guy and roll into the water. "We should probably go," Kalani said.
They hurried to Percy, running down the steps to the pier. "You got him!" Zoë said.
"You don't have to sound so amazed," Percy said.
Nereus moaned. "Oh, wonderful. An audience for my humiliation? The normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your question."
"I've got more than one question," said Percy.
"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."
"Buddy, I don't think you're the one making the rules here," Kalani said, gesturing to the ropes tying him down.
"I won't answer any more than one question," said Nereus simply.
Percy sighed. "All right, Nereus. Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting."
The old man of the sea smiled, showing off his yellowed teeth. "Oh, that's too easy," he said. "He's right there."
"What the fuck," Kalani said.
"Where?" Percy said.
"The deal is complete!" Nereus gloated. With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and flipped into the sea.
"I don't think it is!" Kalani yelled and pulled off her shirt and jumped into the sea. Suddenly she realized that wasn't such a good idea. She swam around the pier, but one demigod who could only hold her breath for thirty seconds, looking for one goldfish in an ocean definitely didn't have great odds. She finally came up, her head bobbing against the waves. She shivered and swam back to the pier, pulling her wet torso back onto the docks.
Thalia handed her her shirt, which Kalani promptly pulled over her soaking wet bra. Water dribbled down her legs from her sagging shorts.
"That was not a good idea," said Grover.
"Um, thanks for trying though," Percy said, and patted Kalani's shoulder. Kalani gave him a death glare.
"Wait, what is that?" Thalia asked, eyes widening.
"MOOOOO!"
Something that looked halfway between a cow and a serpent was swimming next to the docks.
"Ah, Bessie. Not now," Percy said.
"You know this thing?" Kalani said.
"He's not a thing," Percy said.
"Moooo!"
Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."
"You can understand her. . . er, him?" Percy asked, staring at Bessie.
Grover nodded. "It's a very old form of animal speech. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."
"The Ophi-what?"
"It means serpent bull in Greek," Thalia said. "But what's it doing here?"
"Mooooo!"
"He says Percy is his protector," announced Grover. "And he's running from the bad people. He says they are close."
"Wait," Zoë said. "You know this cow?"
Percy told them the story of how he had saved the Ophiotaurus back at the Hoover Dam.
Thalia shook her head in disbelief. "And you just forgot to mention this before?"
"Well. . . yeah."
"I am a fool," Zoë said suddenly. "I know this story!"
"Of course there's a story," said Kalani. "There always is."
"What story?" Percy frowned.
"From the War of the Titans," she said. "My. . . my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. This is the beast we are looking for."
"Bessie? But he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world." Percy stared down a the bull serpent.
"That is how we were wrong," Zoë said. "We've been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."
"MMM," Bessie lowed.
"I don't think he likes the S-word," said Grover.
"What? Sacrifice? Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice—" Kalani was interrupted by Thalia clapping a hand over her mouth.
"Don't upset the thing that the fate of the world depends on," Thalia said.
Kalani licked her hand, and Thalia immediately snapped it back. "Did you just—"
The girl only smiled back.
"How could anyone hurt him?" Percy said. "He's harmless."
Zoë nodded. "But there is power in killing innocence. Terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy eons ago, when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the gods."
"MMMMM!"
"Um," Grover said. "Maybe we could avoid talking about entrails, too."
Thalia stared at the cow serpent with wonder. "The power to destroy the gods. . . how? I mean, what would happen?"
"No one knows," said Zoë. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."
Thalia sat back down on the dock. She stretched out her hand, and Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand in his head. Kalani sat down beside her, the two girls staring down at the Ophiotaurus, both thinking similar thoughts about the cow serpent.
Kalani couldn't help but rewind back to her dream again. This kind of power was incredible. . . It could kill the gods. Get rid of them. They could start over, without them. Demigods could assume higher power. Taking control of Olympus. Her eyes flickered down at the Ophiotaurus, swimming beneath the pier. Unwitting to its sheer power that existed within its existence.
"We have to protect him," Percy said. "If Luke gets hold of him—"
"Luke wouldn't hesitate," muttered Thalia. "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's. . . that's huge."
It was. Kalani almost considered what would happen if she managed to reach him in her dreams again. Would she tell him about the vessel that they possessed? Then she realized, no, she wouldn't. Why should she? Luke had proven nothing to her but how he thought of her as an asset. This would make her into more of a pawn in the chess game the gods and Titans were playing.
"Yes, it is my dear. And it is a power you shall unleash," said a man's voice in a heavy French accent.
The Ophiotaurus whimpered and submerged itself into the water.
The group slowly turned around. Kalani silently cursed herself for not being more attentive to her surroundings.
They'd been ambushed.