Have a good Friday!
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They'd made it to the West Coast. Artemis was there somewhere. Annabeth too, she hoped. But she had no idea how to find them, and tomorrow was the winter solstice. Nor did she have any clue what monster Artemis had been hunting. It was supposed to 'show the trail,' but it never had. Now they were stuck on the ferry dock with not much money, no friends, and no luck.
After a brief discussion, they agreed that they needed to figure out just what this mystery monster was.
"But how?" Percy asked.
"Nereus," Grover said.
Percy looked at him. "What?"
"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do? Find Nereus?"
Percy nodded.
Guess I wasn't the only one he visited.
The old man of the sea," he remembered. "I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. But how do I find him?"
Zoe made a face. "Old Nereus, eh?"
"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?" Elora asked.
"Come," she said without enthusiasm. "I will show thee."
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Five minutes later, Zoe had Percy outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.
"Oh, yeah," Grover said, trying not to bust out laughing, "you look completely inconspicuous now."
Zoe nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."
"Thanks a lot," he grumbled. "Why am I doing this again?"
"I told thee. To blend in."
She led the way back down to the waterfront. After a long time spent searching the docks, Zoe finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down a pier where a bunch of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch.
"He will be down there somewhere," Zoe said. "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. You will know him. He will smell... different."
"Great." I didn't want to ask for particulars. "And once I find him?"
"Grab him," she 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 the back of my shirt—a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. "Eww. On second thought... I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."
"Semangat!" Elora said giving him a thumbs up. [Good luck!]
Grover gave him a big thumbs-up too.
Percy headed toward the dock while she and the others watched from the distance.
"I feel so bad for him," Elora said to the group.
"Meh. Want some pastries? There's a bakery nearby," Thalia said. "Grover! Let's go see the bakery." Thalia pulled Grover away leaving Zoe and Elora alone.
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"So, you were the Hesperides that helped Heracles," she said.
Zoe took a sharp intake of breath. "Yes, I was." She looked to her. "I should have known you would know about it sooner or later."
"Yeah. Those books were helpful after all."
"Yes they were," Zoe answered.
"If it helps, I never liked him," she stated hoping it would make the Hunter feel better.
Zoe cracked a smile. It was small but it was a smile nonetheless.
"How old are you?" Elora blurted out the question.
Zoe raised a brow. "That was..."
"Uh yeah, don't answer it," she said moving her head left and right.
Zoe laughed but answered her still. "Older than you. Way older than you."
"Okay, grandma."
Zoe flicked Elora's head.
"Ouch," she said as she rubbed the spot.
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They walked down the pier to where he was.
"You got him!" Zoe said.
"You don't have to sound so amazed," he 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," he said.
"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."
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 mossy green teeth.
"Oh, that's too easy," he said evilly. "He's right there."
Nereus pointed to the water at my feet.
"Where?" Percy said.
"The deal is complete!" Nereus gloated. With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and did a backflip into the sea.
With a pop, he turned into a fish and flopped across the boards, including a shadowed part of the pier. Ah, shadows. I love you.
With a snap of her fingers, the flopping fish landed not to the water but to the group's shadow.
The Old Man of the Sea transformed back to his grandpa look and opened his mouth.
"Next question," she cut off, "where is Artemis and Annabeth? If they are held together, tell me their location if not, I need both locations."
"Bah, you haven't caught me!" Nereus slammed his fists.
"Percy!"
Percy ran and tackled the man down.
"Now that's out of the way, answer the question."
"You cheat!" Nereus shouted in rage.
"Did I? You never stated any rules," she said. "Simply one question a capture. Consider that my question for capturing you and other Percy for catching you the second time.
"Artemis and Annabeth are in the same place," he answered begrudgingly.
"Where?" Elora asked.
"Two questions is a no, demigod," he spat.
"Percy caught you again so you do have to answer two questions," she said.
"It was a group effort of you two so only one question," Nereus said, "I think I answered enough questions today."
"I'm not playing Nereus."
"It's the rules girlie." Nereus cackled. "Boo hoo."
With a split second, her dagger was pointed to Nereus's neck.
"Aww did someone miss their lesson?" he asked mocking. "I'm immortal darling."
"Yes, you are. Here's the deal, answer my question and run free or I will personally throw you to Tartarus and have the Furies deal with you before. They can visit you from time to time too. So which one are you taking?" She was beyond reasoning, too lost in finding answers.
"Mount Othrys," he answered.
"Is that supposed to answer my question?" she asked with no emotion on her face, her voice cold.
"The Hunter knows where," he answered. "Let me go, I answered your questions."
"Go."
Nereus backed away and swam away.
"There you go," she said turning to face her friends. "Answers." She sighed. "Now to find this creature he spoke of."
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"MOOOOOOOO!"
They looked down, and there was a cow serpent, swimming next to the dock.
"Ah, Bessie," Percy said. "Not now."
"Mooo!"
Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."
"You can understand her... er, him?"
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?"
"Moooooooo!"
"He says Percy is his protector," Grover announced. "And he's running from the bad people. He says they are close."
"Wait," Zoe said, looking at Percy. "You know this cow?"
He told them the story.
Thalia shook her head in disbelief.
"And you just forgot to mention this before?" Elora asked her voice slipping to the icy demeanor from before. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Sorry bout that."
"Well... yeah."
"I am a fool," Zoe said suddenly. "I know this story!"
"What story?"
"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?" Percy looked down at the bull serpent. "But... he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world."
"That is how we were wrong," Zoe said. "We've been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."
"MMMM," Bessie lowed.
"I don't think he likes the S-word," Grover said.
Percy patted Bessie on the head, trying to calm him down. "How could anyone hurt him? He's harmless."
Zoe 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."
"MMMMMM!"
"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," Elora said. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was slain by a ally of the Titans, but Zeus sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire."
Zoe nodded. "It was a close call. Now, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."
Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head. Bessie shivered.
Thalia's expression bothered Elora. She almost looked... hungry.
"We have to protect him," Percy told them. "If Luke gets hold of him—"
"Luke wouldn't hesitate," Thalia muttered. "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's... that's huge."
"Yes, it is, my dear," said a man's voice in a heavy French accent. "And it is a power you shall unleash."
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Word Count: 1633