ARIANA MEETS A YOUNG ZOË
They were crossing the Potomac when they spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek, black military model just like the one they had seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight
toward them.
"They know the van." Percy said. "We have to ditch it."
Zoe swerved into the fast lane. The helicopter was gaining.
"Maybe the military will shoot it down." Grover said hopefully.
"The military probably thinks it's one of theirs." Ariana said.
"How can the General use mortals, anyway?" Asked Percy.
"Mercenaries." Zoe said bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid."
"But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" Percy asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?"
Zoe shook her head. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters."
The helicopter kept coming, making a lot better time than they were through D.C. traffic.
Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"
But the sky stayed gray and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm.
"There!" Bianca said. "That parking lot!"
"We'll be trapped," Zoe said.
"Trust me." Bianca said.
Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. They left the van and followed Bianca down some steps.
"Subway entrance." Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."
"Anything." Thalia agreed.
They bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind them for any signs of pursuit.
A few minutes later they were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As their train came above ground, they could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after them.
Grover let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway."
Bianca looked pleased. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C."
Grover frowned. "New? But that station looked really old."
"I guess." Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway.
Thalia sat forward. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?"
Bianca nodded.
Now, Ariana knew nothing about D.C, but she didn't see how their whole subway system could be less than twelve years old.
She guessed everyone else was thinking the same thing, because they looked pretty confused.
"Bianca." Ariana said. "How long ago..." Her voice faltered.
The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.
"We need to change trains." Percy said. "Next station."
Over the next half hour, all they thought about was getting away safely. They changed trains twice. She had no idea where they were going, but after a while they lost the helicopter.
Unfortunately, when they finally got off the train they found themselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks.
And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here.
They wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.
A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire.
They must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave them a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!"
They huddled around his fire, Thalia's teeth were chattering.
She said, "Well this is g-g-g-great."
"My hooves are frozen." Grover complained.
"Feet." Ariana corrected, for the sake of the homeless guy.
"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca said, "Chiron-"
"No." Zoe said. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."
Ariana gazed miserably around the rail yard. Somewhere, far to the west, Annabeth was in danger.
Artemis was in chains. A doomsday monster was on the loose. And they were stuck on the outskirts of D.C, sharing a homeless persons fire.
"You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends."
His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"
"Yes, sir." Percy said. "You know of any?"
He pointed one greasy hand. Suddenly Ariana noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow.
It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.
"That's... convenient." Thalia said. "Thanks, uh..
She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of them was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him.
An hour later they were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because they all got their own luxury car.
Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck.
Grover was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. And Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she
could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C.
"Join you?" Percy asked her.
She shrugged, so Percy climbed into the shotgun seat and Ariana sat in the back.
The radio was playing the White Stripes. Ariana knew the song because it was on a CDs Silena had. She said it reminded her of Led Zeppelin.
"Nice coat." Thalia told Percy.
He pulled the brown duster around him, probably thankful for the warmth. "Yeah, but the Nemean Lion wasn't the monster we're looking for."
"Not even close. We've got a long way to go." Ariana said.
"Whatever this mystery monster is, the General said it would come for you. They wanted to isolate you from the group, so the monster will appear and battle you one-on-one." Said Percy
"He said that?" Thalia asked.
"Well, something like that. Yeah."
"That's great. I love being used as bait."
"No idea what the monster might be?" Ariana pushed.
She shook her head morosely. "But you know where we're going, don't you? San Francisco. That's where Artemis was heading."
"Why?" Percy asked. "What's so bad about San Francisco?"
"The Mist is really thick there because the Mountain of Despair is so near. Titan magic- what's left of it still lingers. Monsters are attracted to that area like you wouldn't believe." Ariana informed him.
"What's the Mountain of Despair?"
Thalia raised an eyebrow. "You really don't know? Ask stupid Zoe. She's the expert."
Thalia glared out the windshield. The afternoon sun shone through the steel-mesh side of the freight car, casting a shadow across Thalia's face.
Ariana thought about how different she was from Zoe- Zoe all formal and aloof like a princess, Thalia with her ratty clothes and her rebel attitude.
But there was something similar about them, too. The same kind of toughness. Right now, sitting in the shadows with a gloomy expression, Thalia looked a lot like one of the Hunters.
Then suddenly, it hit Ariana. "That's why you don't get along with Zoe."
Thalia frowned. "What?"
"The Hunters tried to recruit you." Ariana guessed.
Her eyes got dangerously bright. She thought she was going to zap me out of the Mercedes, but she just sighed.
"I almost joined them." she admitted. "Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once, and Zoe tried to convince me. She almost did, but.."
"But?"
Thalia's fingers gripped the wheel. "I would've had to leave Luke."
"Oh." Percy said.
"Zoe and I got into a fight. She told me I was being stupid. She said I'd regret my choice. She said Luke would let me down someday."
Ariana watched the sun through the metal curtain. Theh seemed to be traveling faster each second shadows flickering like an old movie projector.
"That's harsh." Percy said. "Hard to admit Zoe was right."
"She wasn't right! Luke never let me down. Never."
"We'll have to fight him." Percy said. "There's no way around it."
Thalia didn't answer.
"You haven't seen him lately," he warned, "I know it's hard to believe, but-"
"I'll do what I have to."
"Even if that means killing him?"
"Do me a favor." she said. "Get out of my car."
As he was about to leave, she said, "Percy."
When he looked back, her eyes were red, but Ariana couldn't tell if it was from anger or
sadness. "Annabeth wanted to join the Hunters, too. Maybe you should think about why."
Before he could respond, she raised the power windows and shut him out.
"I'm sorry Thalia." Ariana said, opening the car door. "I'm gonna find him."
Thalia nodded.
Percy was sat in the driver's seat of Grover's Lamborghini. Grover was asleep in the back.
He'd finally given up trying to impress Zoe and Bianca with his pipe music after he played 'Poison Ivy' and caused that very stuff to sprout from their Lexus's air conditioner.
As Ariana watched the sun go down, she thought of Annabeth. She was afraid to go to sleep. She was worried what she might dream.
"Oh, don't be afraid of dreams." a voice said right next to Percy.
She looked over. Somehow, she wasn't surprised to find the homeless guy from the rail yard sitting in the shotgun seat.
His jeans were so worn out they were almost white. His coat was ripped, with stuffing coming out. He looked kind of like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck.
"If it weren't for dreams," he said, "I wouldn't know half the things I know about the future. They're better better than Olympus tabloids." He cleared his throat, then held up his hands dramatically:
"Dreams like a podcast,
Downloading truth in my ears.
They tell me cool stuff"
"Apollo?" Ariana guessed, because she figured nobody else could make a haiku that bad.
He put his finger to his lips. "I'm incognito. Call me Fred."
"A god named Fred?"
"Eh, well... Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody."
"Can you help us, then?" Ariana asked.
"Shhh. I already have. Haven't you been looking outside?"
"The train. How fast are we moving?" Asked Percy.
Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least."
"But where is Artemis?"
His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's.. clouded from me. I don't like it."
"And Annabeth?"
He frowned. "Oh, you mean that girl you lost? Hmm. I don't know."
Ariana sighed and sunk back into her seat.
She tried not to feel mad. She knew the gods had a hard time taking mortals seriously, even half-bloods. They lived such short lives, compared to the gods.
"What about the monster Artemis was seeking?" Ariana asked. "Do you know what it is?"
"No." Apollo said. "But there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure from my Oracle."
"But it's your Oracle." Percy protested. "Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?"
Apollo sighed. "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search."
"In other words, you don't know." Ariana concluded. "You don't know anything."
Apollo checked his watch. "Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Ariana, but remember what I said! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!"
Ariana wanted to protest that she wasn't tired and she had never made up a haiku in my life, but Apollo snapped his fingers, and the next thing she knew she was closing her eyes.
In her dream, she was somebody else. She was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic, which was a little too breezy downstairs, and laced leather sandals.
The Nemean Lion's skin was wrapped around her back like a cape, and she was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping her hand.
"Hurry!" she said. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but Ariana could hear the fear in her voice. "He will find us!"
It was nighttime. A million stars blazed above.
They were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating.
It was a beautiful garden, and yet the girl was leading Ariana through it, as if they were about to die.
"I'm not afraid." she tried to tell her.
"You should be!" she said, pulling her along.
She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight.
They raced up the side of the hill. She pulled Ariana behind a thorn bush and they collapsed, both breathing heavily.
Ariana didn't know why the girl was scared. The garden seemed so peaceful. And she felt strong. Stronger than she had ever felt before.
"There is no need to run." Ariana told her. Her voice sounded deeper, much more confident. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."
"Not this one." the girl said. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way."
The hurt in her voice surprised Ariana. She was really concerned, almost like she cared about her.
"I don't trust your father." Ariana said.
"You should not," the girl agreed, "you will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die."
Ariana chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"
"I... I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out... they would disown me."
"Then there's nothing for it." She stood up, rubbing her hands together.
"Wait.'' the girl said.
She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."
The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.
"Take it." she told Ariana. "And make of it a weapon."
Ariana laughed. "A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"
"It may not." she admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."
The girl's voice softened her heart. She reached down and took the hairpin, and as she did, it grew longer and heavier in her hand, until she held a familiar bronze sword.
"Well balanced." Ariana said. "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"
"Anaklusmos." the girl said sadly. "The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."
Before Ariana could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl said, "Too late! He is here!"
Ariana sat bolt upright in the Lamborghini's drivers seat. Percy was shaking her arm.
"Ari." he said. "It's morning. The train's stopped. Come on!"
She tried to shake off her drowsiness. Thalia, Zoe, and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains.
Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks.
Ariana fished out Percy's pen out of his pocket and stared at it. Percy gave her a weird look but didn't say anything else. Anaklusmos, the Ancient Greek name for Riptide.
A different form, but she was sure it was the same blade she had seen in her dream. And she was sure of something else, too.
The girl she had seen was Zoe Nightshade.