[act three; chapter nine - ugly green guy named jealousy has a friend]
The thing about flying on a pegasus during the daytime is that if you're not careful, you can cause a serious traffic accident on the Long Island Expressway. Percy had to keep Blackjack up in the clouds, which were, fortunately, pretty low in the winter. They darted around, trying to keep the white Camp Half-Blood van in sight. And if it was cold on the ground, it was seriously cold in the air, with icy rain stinging their skin.
Andromeda was sitting behind Percy, her arms wound around his torso and her chin on his shoulder, alternating between watching the clouds and pointing them out in the sky or the car on the road.
While she was having a good time, Percy on the other hand, was struggling.
His old friend, his dear old friend, the ugly green guy named Jealousy had returned full force and was very quickly digging a pit in his stomach. Turns out Jealousy had a friend who was just as ugly and a little more green named 'Oh, she probably doesn't like you'.
Percy really didn't like Jealousy's friend that much.
They lost the van twice, but Percy had a pretty good sense that they would go into Manhattan first, so it wasn't too difficult to pick up their trail again.
Traffic was bad with the holidays and all. It was mid morning before they got into the city. They landed Blackjack near the top of the Chrysler Building and watched the white camp van, thinking it would pull into the bus station, but it just kept driving.
"Where's Argus taking them?" Percy muttered.
Andromeda shrugged and pulled the hood of her hoodie closer to her neck, "Maybe they're getting something to eat? Gas?"
Oh, Argus ain't driving, boss, Blackjack told me. That girl is.
"Which girl?"
The Hunter girl. With the silver crown thing in her hair.
"Zoë?"
That's the one. Hey, look! There's a donut shop. Can we get something to go?
The two demigods tried explaining to Blackjack that taking a flying horse to a donut shop would give every cop in there a heart attack, but he didn't seem to get it.
Meanwhile, the van kept snaking its way toward the Lincoln Tunnel. It had never even occurred to either of them that Zoë could drive.
"Well," Percy said. "Let's get after them."
Andromeda put up her hand like a stop sign, Percy quite literally walking into it. She reached into the of her pockets of her overalls and pulled out two beanies, a dark green one—the one she had been wearing when they found Bianca and Nico—and a baby blue one. She grinned as she took a step forward, pulling the baby blue one over his head and pulled out a few pieces of his messy hair in the front. She laughed at his almost amazed expression and pulled the green beanie over her own head and put her red hair into a low, messy bun.
They were about to leap off the Chrysler Building when Blackjack whinnied in alarm and almost threw them. Something was curling around Percy's leg like a snake. He reached for his sword, but when he looked down, there was no snake.
Vines—grape vines—had sprouted from the cracks between the stones of the building. They were wrapping around Blackjack's legs, lashing down his ankles so they couldn't move. Percy looked up, alarmed and met Andromeda's confused eyes. She shook her head wildly and tried to will them to move, but they went nowhere, in fact they tightened their hold.
"Going somewhere?" Mr. D asked.
"DAD!" Andromeda yelled with a huff.
He was leaning against the building with his feet levitating in the air, his leopard-skin warm-up suit and black hair whipping around in the wind.
God alert! Blackjack yelled. It's the wine dude!
Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!"
"Mr. D." Percy tried to keep his voice calm as the grape vines continued to wrap around his legs. "What do you want?"
"Oh, what do I want? You thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you leaving without permission with my daughter?"
"Well...maybe."
"I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse and my little girl, and see how heroic you sound on the way down."
"Dad." The amethyst eyed girl whined, a small amount of warning in her tone.
Percy balled his fists. He knew, he really knew, he should keep his mouth shut, but Mr. D was about to kill him or haul him back to camp in shame, and he couldn't stand either idea. "Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?"
Purple flames flickered in his eyes. "You're a hero, boy. I need no other reason."
"Really, that's all?" Andromeda questioned, razing a brow challengingly.
"And you're with my daughter, you probably bribed her into helping you with your foolish ideas!"
"I have to go on this quest! I've got to help my friends. That's something you wouldn't understand!" Percy yelled angrily as Andromeda turned away, ignoring both Percy and her overprotective father.
Um, boss, Blackjack said nervously. Seeing as how we're wrapped in vines nine hundred feet in the air, you might want to talk nice.
Andromeda nodded, leaning closer to Percy's ear. "Yeah, listen to Blackjack and be nice or my dad will turn you into a dolphin or something and then ground me for the rest of my life and lock me in a tower like Rapunzel."
The grape vines coiled tighter around Percy. Below them, the white van was getting farther and farther away. Soon it would be out of sight.
"Did I ever tell you about Ariadne?" Mr. D asked. "Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a young hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magical yarn that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?"
"They got married," Percy said before Andromeda could stop him, the girl burying her face in her hands. "Happily ever after. The end."
Mr. D sneered. "Not quite. Theseus said he would marry her. He took her aboard his ship and sailed for Athens. Halfway back, on a little island called Naxos, he...What's the word you mortals use today?...he dumped her. I found her there, you know. Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out. She had given up everything, left everything she knew behind, to help a dashing young hero who tossed her away like a broken sandal."
"That's wrong," The boy said. "But that was thousands of years ago. What's that got to do with me?"
Mr. D regarded him coldly. "I fell in love with Ariadne, boy. I healed her broken heart. And when she died, I made her my immortal wife in Olympus. She waits for me even now. I shall go back to her when I am done with this infernal century of punishment at your ridiculous camp."
Percy stared at him. "You're...you're married? But I thought you got in trouble for chasing a wood nymph—"
"How do you not know this?" Andromeda looked at the boy, puzzled. "I used to live with her, you know this. Every time I have ever called her my stepmom, you have nodded and said cool. Idiot, Fish Face."
"My point is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then you betray everyone around you. And take my daughter with you, wrapping her up in your schemes. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoë Nightshade."
"What do you mean, ask Zoë?"
He waved his hand dismissively. "Go. Follow your silly friends." The vines uncurled around his legs.
Both demigods blinked in disbelief. "You're...you're letting us go? Just like that?"
"The prophecy says at least two of you will die. Perhaps I'll get lucky and you'll be one of them. But mark my words, Son of Poseidon, live or die, you will prove no better than the other heroes. And stay away from my daughter, Johnson."
With that, Dionysus snapped his fingers and winked at Andromeda. His image folded up like a paper display. There was a pop and he was gone, leaving a faint scent of grapes that was quickly blown away by the wind.
Too close, Blackjack said.
Percy nodded, though he almost would have been less worried if Mr. D had hauled him back to camp. The fact that he'd let them go meant he really believed they stood a fair chance of crashing and burning on this quest.
Andromeda smacked the back of Percy's head, the boy groaning and turning his head to face her, "What was that for!?"
"Being an idiot and nearly getting yourself killed! My dad will not hesitate to—well, he might. Anyway, that was incredibly stupid of you."
"Well, sorry I was trying to get us out of that."
She glared at him before rolling her eyes and leaning forward, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "You were also stupidly brave to do that. Idiotic, but brave."
BOOM!
Percy swore his heart exploded out of his chest at her words, his stomach twisting and turning in what he believed to be excitement.
Be cool, be cool. Okay, you're a cool, brave idiot. He thought to himself.
"Come on, Blackjack," Percy said, trying to sound normal. "I'll buy you some donuts in New Jersey."
As it turned out, he didn't buy Blackjack donuts in New Jersey. Zoë drove south like a crazy person, and they were into Maryland before she finally pulled over at a rest stop. Blackjack darn near tumbled out of the sky, he was so tired.
I'll be okay, boss, he panted. Just...just catching my breath.
"Stay here," Percy told him. "I'm going to scout."
'Stay here' I can handle. I can do that.
He put on the cap of invisibility and walked over to the convenience store behind Andromeda who was leading the way, acting as inconspicuous as possible. It was difficult not to sneak. He had to keep reminding himself that nobody could see him. It was hard, too, because he had to remember to get out of people's way so they wouldn't slam into him, but following Andromeda, who was in fact trying to act as normal as possible, made it a little easier.
They both thought they'd go inside and warm up, maybe get a cup of hot chocolate or something. They had a little change with them. They could leave it on the counter or have Andy pay for them both. Percy was wondering if the cup would turn invisible when he picked it up, or if he'd have to deal with a floating hot chocolate problem, when their whole plan was ruined by Zoë, Thalia, Bianca, Donnie, and Grover all coming out of the store.
Andromeda held in a small shriek and rounded the corner of the gas station, barely looking around the corner to see.
"Grover, are you sure?" Thalia was saying.
"Well...pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent."
"And you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked, like she couldn't believe it.
Grover looked offended. "It's a time-honored tracking spell. I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right."
"D.C. is about sixty miles from here," Bianca said. "Nico and I..." She frowned. "We used to live there. That's...that's strange. I'd forgotten."
"I dislike this," Zoë said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."
"Oh, like your tracking skills are better?" Thalia growled.
Zoë stepped toward her. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!"
"Oh my gods, you two are worse than Dromeda and I when we fight over ice cream. I swear. Children. Actual children, one being thousands of years old." Donnie chipped in, though he was greatly ignored by the two girls.
"Oh, scullion? You're calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?"
"Whoa, you two," Grover said nervously. "Come on. Not again!"
"Grover's right," Bianca said. "D.C. is our best bet."
Zoë didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Let us keep moving."
"You're going to get us arrested, driving," Thalia grumbled. "I look closer to sixteen than you do."
"Perhaps," Zoë snapped. "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go."
As Blackjack, Andromeda, and Percy continued south, following the van, Percy wondered whether Zoë had been kidding. He didn't know exactly when cars were invented, but he figured that was like prehistoric times—back when people watched black-and-white TV and hunted dinosaurs.
"Lea?"
"Yeah?"
"How old do you think Zoë is?"
"I don't know, probably like, 2 thousand or something like that."
"She said she'd been driving since cars were invented."
She shrugged, "Who knows. All I know is she should be old and grey and six feet under, yet she's shiny and new looking and very alive."
As they got closer to Washington, Blackjack started slowing down and dropping altitude. He was breathing heavily.
"You okay?" Percy asked him.
Fine, boss. I could...I could take on an army.
"You don't sound so good." Andromeda furrowed her brows, hearing his words as she looked through his mind. Most of it was about donuts, but he was also exhausted.
Don't worry about me, boss! I'm a tough one.
Percy figured he was right, but he also figured Blackjack would run himself into the ground before he complained, and he didn't want that.
Fortunately, the van started to slow down. It crossed the Potomac River into central Washington.
"Set us down there," Percy told Blackjack. "That's close enough."
Blackjack was so tired he didn't complain. He dropped toward the Washington Monument and set them on the grass.
The van was only a few blocks away. Zoë had parked at the curb.
Percy looked at Blackjack. "I want you to go back to camp. Get some rest. Graze. I'll be fine."
Blackjack cocked his head skeptically. You sure, boss?
"You've done enough already," The boy said. "We'll be fine. And thanks a ton."
A ton of hay, maybe, Blackjack mused. That sounds good. All right, but be careful, boss. I got a feeling they didn't come here to meet anything friendly and handsome like me.
"Bye, Blackjack!" Andromeda called as he took off, circling twice around the monument before disappearing into the clouds.
They looked over at the white van. Everybody was getting out. Grover pointed toward one of the big buildings lining the Mall, saying something to Donnie who looked much warmer than the others. He's probably using his powers, Andromeda thought.
Thalia nodded, and the five of them trudged off into the cold wind.
The two demigods started to follow. But then Andromeda froze, grabbing Percy's sleeve and pulled him back.
A block away, the door of a black sedan opened. A man with gray hair and a military buzz cut got out. He was wearing dark shades and a black overcoat. Now, maybe in Washington, you'd expected guys like that to be everywhere. But it dawned on them that they'd seen this same car a couple of times on the highway, going south.
It had been following the van.
The guy took out his mobile phone and said something into it. Then he looked around, like he was making sure the coast was clear, and started walking down the Mall in the direction of their friends.
The worst of it was: when he turned toward Percy and Andromeda, they recognized his face. It was Dr. Thorn, the manticore from Westover Hall.
Invisibility cap on, Percy and a very visible Andromeda followed Thorn from a distance.
If he had survived that fall from the cliff, then Annabeth must have too. Percy and Andromeda's dreams had been right. She was alive and being held prisoner.
Thorn kept well back from their friends, careful not to be seen.
Finally, Grover stopped in front of a big building that said NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM.
Thalia checked the door. It was open, but there weren't many people going in. Too cold, and school was out of session. They slipped inside.
Dr. Thorn hesitated.
Neither of them were sure why, but he didn't go into the museum. He turned and headed across the Mall. After Percy looking over at Andromeda, the girl speaking quietly, the two made a split-second decision and followed him.
Thorn crossed the street and climbed the steps of the Museum of Natural History. There was a big sign on the door. At first Andromeda thought it said CLOSED FOR PIRATE EVENT. Then she realized PIRATE must be PRIVATE.
They followed Dr. Thorn inside, through a huge chamber full of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons. There were voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors. Two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for Thorn, and Andromeda took a deep breath and shut her eyes. She reached out with her powers and convinced every mind in the room that she was not there, hoping that it would keep her hidden long enough.
Inside, what they saw was so terrible they almost gasped out loud, which probably would've gotten them killed.
The two demigods kept a tight hold on each other, even though they were invisible, needing to know where the other was.
They were in a huge round room with a balcony ringing the second level. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus two monsters—reptilian women with double-snake trunks instead of legs. They'd seen them before. Annabeth had called them Scythian dracaenae.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
Standing between the snake women—Percy could swear he was looking straight down at him and Andromeda—was their old enemy Luke.
He looked terrible. His skin was pale and his blond hair looked almost gray, as if he'd aged ten years in just a few months. The angry light in his eyes was still there, and so was the scar down the side of his face, where a dragon had once scratched him. But the scar was now ugly red, as though it had recently been reopened.
Next to him, sitting down so that the shadows covered him, was another man. All either of them could see were his knuckles on the gilded arms of his chair, like a throne.
Andromeda swore she couldn't breathe when a third person entered the room.
Standing just a few feet from her was a curly haired Eliza Taylour. She was dressed in what looked like a black pantsuit, sunglasses over her eyes.
Percy tightened his hold on her hand, knowing she needed the comfort, even when the ugly green guy named Jealousy returned.
"Well?" asked the man in the chair. His voice was just like the one they'd heard in their dreams— not as creepy as Kronos's, but deeper and stronger, like the earth itself was talking. It filled the whole room even though he wasn't yelling.
Dr. Thorn took off his shades. His two-colored eyes, brown and blue, glittered with excitement. He made a stiff bow, then spoke in his weird French accent: "They are here, General."
"I know that, you fool," boomed the man. "But where?"
"In the rocket museum."
"The Air and Space Museum," Luke corrected irritably.
Dr. Thorn glared at Luke. "As you say, sir."
Both demigods got the feeling Thorn would just as soon impale Luke with one of his spikes as call him sir.
"How many?" Luke asked.
Thorn pretended not to hear.
"How many?" the General demanded.
"Five, General," Thorn said. "The satyr, Grover Underwood. And the girl with the spiky black hair and the—how do you say—punk clothes and the horrible shield."
Eliza cleared her throat, "Thalia Grace, Sir. The daughter of Zeus."
"Thalia," Luke said, his voice nearly a whisper.
"And two other girls—Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."
"That one I know," the General growled.
Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.
"And another, the son of Dionysus. He is the Daughter of Madness' twin."
"Let me take them," Luke said to the General. "We have more than enough—"
"Patience," the General said. "They'll have their hands full already. I've sent a little playmate to keep them occupied."
"But—"
"We cannot risk you, my boy."
"Yes, boy," Dr. Thorn said with a cruel smile. "You are much too fragile to risk. Let me finish them off."
"No." The General rose from his chair, and they got their first look at him.
He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit like the guys on Wall Street wear, but you'd never mistake this dude for a broker. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. His eyes were like stone.
"You have already failed me, Thorn," he said. "But, General—"
"No excuses!"
Thorn flinched. Percy had thought Thorn was scary when they first saw him in his black uniform at the military academy. But now, standing before the General, Thorn looked like a silly wannabe soldier. The General was the real deal. He didn't need a uniform. He was a born commander.
"I should throw you into the pits of Tartarus for your incompetence," the General said. "I send you to capture a child of the three elder gods or the daughter of Madness, and you bring me a scrawny daughter of Athena."
Andromeda's heart sank to her feet at the General's words. The daughter of Madness. Gods, she hated that title. But she hated even more how her best friend was kidnapped because someone wanted either her, Percy, or Thalia.
"But you promised me revenge!" Thorn protested. "A command of my own!"
"I am Lord Kronos's senior commander," the General said. "And I will choose lieutenants who get me results! It was only thanks to Luke and Eliza that we salvaged our plan at all. Now get out of my sight, Thorn, until I find some other menial task for you."
Thorn's face turned purple with rage. He bowed awkwardly and left the room.
"Now, my boy." The General turned to Luke. "The first thing we must do is isolate the half- blood Thalia. The monster we seek will then come to her."
"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," Luke said. "Zoë Nightshade—"
"Do not speak her name!"
Luke swallowed. "S–sorry, General. I just—"
The General silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you, my boy, how we will bring the Hunters down."
He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"
The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!"
"Plant them," he said.
In the center of the room was a big circle of dirt, where both demigods guessed a dinosaur exhibit was supposed to go. They watched nervously as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while the General smiled coldly.
The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "Ready, General!"
"Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."
The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daisies painted on it, which was kind of bizarre, because what he poured out wasn't water. It was dark red liquid, and Andromeda got the feeling it wasn't anything you would want to drink.
The soil began to bubble.
"Soon," the General said, "I will show you, Luke, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant."
Luke clenched his fists. "I've spent a year training my forces! When the Princess Andromeda arrives at the mountain, they'll be the best—"
"Ha!" the General said. "I don't deny your troops will make a fine honor guard for Lord Kronos. And you and your friends, of course, will have a role to play—"
Andromeda thought Luke turned paler when the General said that, dread digging a put in her stomach.
"—but under my leadership, the forces of Lord Kronos will increase a hundredfold. We will be unstoppable. Behold, my ultimate killing machines."
The soil erupted. The two invisible demigods stepped back nervously.
In each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature was struggling out of the dirt. The first of them said:
"Mew?"
It was a kitten. A little orange tabby with stripes like a tiger. Then another appeared, until there were a dozen, rolling around and playing in the dirt.
Everyone stared at them in disbelief. The General roared, "What is this? Cute cuddly kittens? Where did you find those teeth?"
The guard who'd brought the teeth cowered in fear. "From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The saber-toothed tiger—"
"No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those...those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again."
The terrified guard dropped his watering can. He gathered up the kittens and scampered out of the room.
"You!" The General pointed to another guard. "Get me the right teeth. NOW!" The new guard ran off to carry out his orders.
"Imbeciles," muttered the General.
"This is why I don't use mortals," Luke said. "They are unreliable."
"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," the General said. "I love them."
A minute later, the guard hustled into the room with his hands full of large pointy teeth.
"Excellent," the General said. He climbed onto the balcony railing and jumped down, twenty feet.
Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. He stood, wincing, and rubbed his shoulders. "Curse my stiff neck."
"Another hot pad, sir?" a guard asked. "More Tylenol?"
"No! It will pass." The General brushed off his silk suit, then snatched up the teeth. "I shall do this myself."
He held up one of the teeth and smiled. "Dinosaur teeth—ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely."
He planted them in the dirt, twelve in all. Then he scooped up the watering can. He sprinkled the soil with red liquid, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. "Rise!"
The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at the air.
The General looked up at the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"
"Yesssss, lord," one of the snake ladies said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore.
"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"
As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. There were twelve of them, one for each tooth the General had planted. They were nothing like Halloween skeletons, or the kind you might see in cheesy movies. These were growing flesh as they watched, turning into men, but men with dull gray skin, yellow eyes, and modern clothes—gray muscle shirts, camo pants, and combat boots. If you didn't look too closely, you could almost believe they were human, but their flesh was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath, like X-ray images.
One of them looked straight at Andromeda and Percy, regarding them coldly, and they knew that no cap of invisibility or magic would fool it.
The snake lady released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoë and the other hunters until they were extinct.
Remember when Andromeda said that their plan was without a doubt the most idiotic plan they'd ever made? Well, now it's idiotic and fatal.
It was a strange urge, like a tug in her stomach, and unbeknownst to her, Percy felt the same. Almost simultaneously, the two demigods dove forward, Percy grabbing the scarf while Andromeda plowed into the strange skeleton warriors, knocking a few down like bowling pins.
"What's this?" bellowed the General.
Percy landed at the feet of a skeleton warrior, who hissed.
"An intruder," the General growled. "One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"
"It's Percy Jackson!" Luke yelled. "It has to be."
Andromeda almost wanted to snicker at his words, surprised that he would think she wasn't a part of it.
As Percy sprinted for the exit, there was a loud ripping sound and realized the skeleton warrior had taken a chunk out of his sleeve.
Andromeda froze, not noticing a skeleton warrior coming up behind her until her back was slammed into the ground.
Her magic dispersed and she was left completely visible, kicking and punching at the strange creature. She got her leg up close to her chest and slammed her knee into it's chin, scrambling to get away. A hand grabbed onto her arm, the girl immediately knowing it as Percy's, and pulled her away from those in the room.
When they glanced back, the two skeleton warriors were holding the fabric up to their noses, sniffing the scent, handing it around to their friends.
It was official, it was the stupidest plan they had ever made.
Completely idiotic and fatal.
So when this thought really sank into their minds, they did the only rational thing they could think of.
They ran as fast as they could.