ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝙽𝙴𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴𝚁'𝚂 𝙳𝙰𝚄𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁༉‧₊˚.[𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙲𝚈 𝙹𝙰𝙲𝙺𝚂𝙾𝙽 & 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙾𝙻𝚈𝙼𝙿𝙸𝙰𝙽𝚂]
chapter fifteen: percy becomes a hobo to tackle another hobo ( yeah, i don't get it either )
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"TELL ME when it's over," thalia groaned. her eyes were shut tightly, not even a celestial bronze knife could pry them open. the statue was holding on to them so they couldn't fall, but still thalia clutched ashanti's arm like it was the most important thing in the world.
"everything's fine," percy promised, he met ashanti's eyes, trying to keep a straight face.
"are...are we very high?" thalia asked weakly. her face was green and she hadn't even seen below them.
ashanti glanced down. below, a range of snowy mountains zipped by. percy stretched out his foot and kicked snow off one of the peaks. she snorted as percy said in the most even tone, "nah, not that high."
"we are in the sierras." zoë yelled. she and grover were hanging from the arms of the other statue. "i have hunted here before. at this speed, we should be in san francisco in a few hours."
"hey, hey, frisco!" the angel carrying ashanti, percy and thalia said. "yo, chuck! we could visit those guys at the mechanics monument again! they know how to party!"
"oh, man, " the other angel said. "i am so down!"
"you guys have visited san francisco?" percy asked the metal angels curiously.
"we automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?" their statue said as if it was ridiculous that they stood in their places all the time. "those mechanics took us over to the de young museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. and –"
"hank!" the other statue, chuck, cut in sharply. "they're kids, man."
"oh, right," if bronze statues could blush, ashanti swore hank did. "back to flying."
"hank, don't be shy," ashanti smiled up at the statue brightly, "we're just a few fourteen year old impressionable minds." chuck laughed freely, while hank was in quiet embarrassment.
they sped up, so ashanti could tell the angels were excited. the mountains fell away into hills, and then they were zipping along over farmland and towns and highways. grover played his pipes to pass the time. z
oë got bored and started a contest with ashanti. zoë shot arrows, and ashanti threw knives at random billboards as they flew by. every time they saw a target department store ( and they passed dozens of them ) they would peg the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour.
"you've gotten better," zoë complimented ashanti over the wind, "very impressive."
"thanks," ashanti gushed, "i've been practicing with knife and dagger throwing for years now, and i think i've finally perfected it." the girl turned to percy, an idea worthy of the gods popping into her head.
she must've whipped her head around so fast, she almost got whiplash. "percy," she said in a sing-songy tone, dragging out the last syllable in his name. there was a devious little grin on her face as she poked his cheek where his dimple rested. "let me teach you how to throw a knife?"
"oh gods," he groaned, his palm coming up to rest on his face. "and face another incident like the javelin throwing? what if i drop it, and accidentally kill a mortal?"
the dionysus girl laughed so loud, the boy couldn't help the smile that curled on his face as he was the reason behind it. she leaned in, her sweet scent invading his senses wonderfully. he could barely think straight. "they're celestial bronze," she said. it took him a moment to gather his muddled thoughts and understand she was still on the subject of the knives. "'sides, they reappear back in my holsters."
he queasily accepted the handle of a celestial bronze knife from the girl, an uneasy, "shanti..." leaving his lips. he blinked a few times, as if he couldn't believe what he was about to do, and it absolutely delighted ashanti that he was still willing to try.
"come on," she coaxed, trying to relax his nerves. she gave him a playful smile, and a wide-eyed look he couldn't resist. "don't you trust me?" she fluttered her eyes in an over-exaggerated way that made him laugh.
just like before, when he asked ashanti the earlier, he replied with no hesitation, "yes." his shoulders slackened in relaxation, and he looked to her, awaiting her instruction.
"okay, so you're going to hold the knife like this," she demonstrated, holding the knife up so he could see. she moved her hand closer to him, showing him the exact way her grip was around the knife. percy mimicked the movement to the best of his ability. ashanti adjusted him a bit where it was needed, but otherwise, he had it.
"mhmm," ashanti hummed when he asked like this? looking for her approval. she shot him a megawatt smile, so utterly happy he was even participating. "exactly. now to throw it properly, you're going to flick your wrist like this."
ashanti pulled her arm back slowly, focusing her vision on her target. she held steady a moment, eyeballing, and second assessing her shot, before she did a small flick of her wrist. the lethal blade went soaring. it sliced through the air so fast, a whistle was heard. the point of the knife embedded itself deeply into the eye of some mortal on a random billboard.
"see?" ashanti blinked at him, an easy smile on her face as if she hadn't performed some hawkeye-level aim work. she nodded at him encouragingly, as if he could do the very same. percy almost scoffed. but he still thought it was cute the way she believed in him wholeheartedly.
"i totally seen that," percy told her honestly. he gestured behind them as the billboard had flown by miles back in seconds. "i just don't know if i could do that."
"come on, percy," ashanti cheered the boy on encouragingly. "like my old elementary school used to say: believe, achieve, succeed."
"damn," percy laughed in disbelief. "they were pretty corny."
"the corniest."
percy narrowed his eyes in concentration, even going as far as sticking his tongue out. he mimicked the movement ashanti had done before, slowly pulling his arm back, and eyeing an incoming target. he flicked his wrist, and sent the blade fly, not quite as fast as ashanti's, but still enough to send it propelling into a billboard. the knife momentarily stuck itself into the very corner of a billboard, then plummeted to the depths below.
ashanti cheered happily for him, even though percy himself thought it was pretty pathetic how it fell. "that was great for your first time!" she shouted, practically losing her mind. "mine didn't even hit the target at first, and you hit one at gods' knows how many miles per hour!" her voice came out loud, lifting an octave in excitement.
"really?" percy asked, feeling a bit as if she were just being kind to him. he reluctantly looked away from the distance, and back to the dionysus girl. she nodded so fast she thought her head would break away from her neck. he was reluctant to accept the praise, "but you're so good at it."
"practice, fish guts," ashanti reminded him in the same sing-songy tone from before. she poked his cheek in affection. "i've been practicing for years, and you managed to hit that target the first time."
it was worth the genuine, happy smile he gave her, proud of something he'd done.
on the complete opposite side of the scale, thalia kept her eyes screwed shut the entire way to san francisco. she muttered to herself a lot, like she was praying. deciding to spread his good mood, percy said, "you did good back there." he waited for her to look at him, before nodding encouragingly, "zeus listened."
ashanti tried to interpret the demigoddess' expression, but it was hard to tell what she was thinking with her eyes closed so tightly. "maybe," thalia said finally after some silence. her eyes remained closed, but at least she was actually responding. "how did you get away from the skeletons in the generator room, anyway? you said they cornered you guys."
ashanti retold the story of the awesome, yet witty mortal girl, rachel elizabeth dare ( otherwise known as r.e.d. ). she also told how the moral was able to assist them as she could see through the magical veil that separated their worlds.
percy waited for thalia to declare the two of them ( him, and ashanti ) were definitely going crazy, but instead, thalia nodded. "some mortals are like that," thalia confirmed, agreeing with what ashanti had said to the poseidon boy earlier. "no one is quite sure why."
"my mom was like that," percy told ashanti quietly, as if he wasn't sure if it was an ability mortals were allowed to have. he thought deeply for a moment, recalling something from the summer before last, when he'd first found out he was a half-blood. "she had seen the minotaur on half-blood hill and known exactly what it was."
"wow," ashanti said, eyes wide in interest. she'd always gotten the feeling that sally jackson was badass but that was gut instinct, and common knowledge alone. she hadn't heard much from her son about her best moments.
"yeah, she hadn't been surprised at all last year when i'd told her tyson was really a cyclops," percy told ashanti, the puzzle pieces clicking into place the more he listed off things his mother had known. "maybe she'd known all along."
"it would explain why she'd been so scared for you as you was growing up," ashanti theorized with percy. the boy had retold all the strange things he had experienced as a child before he discovered he was a demigod, "she saw through mist even better than you did."
"well, the girl was annoying," percy said, bringing the conversation from his mother, and back to rachel, the mortal they'd met. "but i'm glad we didn't vaporize her. that would've been really bad."
"rachel wasn't annoying, she's just witty like a certain demigod i know, perseus," ashanti told him, amused by the way he flinched at his full name, "she was pretty nice, and she saved us."
thalia nodded in agreement. "must be nice to be a regular mortal." she said that as if she'd given it a lot of thought.
"nah," ashanti disagreed. sure, she had to admit, being mortal had so many advantages, but there was no way she'd willingly give up her life, and the people in it just to be some average jane. "that sounds boring. imagine dreaming about slaying monsters and having powers rather than just having them."
"or imagine," percy added, contemplating just as ashanti had. "just writing stories about demigods and gods when you could just be them."
"sounds like a sad life."
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"WHERE DO you guys want to land?" hank the metal angel asked, waking ashanti from her cat nap.
the dionysus girl peered down and gasped, "whoa." of course, she'd seen san francisco in pictures before, but never in real life. sure, she used to live hours away in los angeles, but never dreamed that she'd see sanfran in-person.
it was probably the most beautiful city she'd ever seen: kind of like a smaller, cleaner manhattan, if manhattan had been surrounded by green hills and fog. there was a huge bay and ships, islands and sailboats, and the golden gate bridge sticking up out of the fog. ashanti felt like she should take a picture or something. greetings from frisco. gonna die soon, but isn't this beautiful?
"there," zoë suggested, pointing below. "by the embarcadero building."
"good thinking," chuck said, ashanti assumed nodding his automaton head. "me and hank can blend in with the pigeons." all the questors looked to him, and stared. well, except ashanti, who could take a joke. she just snorted loudly, trying to imagine it.
"see," chuck said exasperatedly when his joke fell flat. he was disappointed in the lack of humor in the newer generation. "she gets it. i was kidding. sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humor?"
as it turned out, there wasn't much need to blend in. it was early morning and not many people were around. they'd definitely freaked out a homeless guy on the ferry dock when they landed. he screamed when he saw hank and chuck and ran off yelling something about metal angels from mars.
they said their good-byes to the angels, who flew off to party with their statue friends. that's when ashanti realized she had no idea what they were going to do next. they'd made it to the west coast. artemis was there somewhere trapped with annabeth. they had no idea how to find them, and tomorrow was the winter solstice.
not only that, they didn't have a single clue as to what monster the moon goddess had been hunting. it was supposed to find them on the quest. 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'd all agreed that they needed to figure out just what this mystery monster was.
"but how?" percy questioned, rubbing the back of his neck, confused.
"nereus," ashanti reminded, raising her eyebrows. "remember what fred the hobo said?"
"what?"
"isn't that what apollo told you to do?" grover added on, trying to coax the memory out of the poseidon boy. "find nereus?" percy nodded. ashanti could tell he'd completely forgotten their last conversation with the sun god.
"the old man of the sea," percy said, finally remembering the conversation after a few moments of concentrated silence. "we're supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. but how do we find him?"
zoë made a face, as if she smelled something horrible. "old nereus, huh?"
"you know him?" thalia asked zoë curiously, and ashanti had noticed, since they'd left the junkyard, their rivalry, their bickering had vanished. for once, they actually felt like they were apart of the same team, and not an old, high school vendetta than ran decades deep.
"my mother was a sea goddess," zoë informed grover and thalia as percy and ashanti had already known, "yes, i know him. unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. just follow the smell." that seemed to explain why zoë crinkled her nose that way at the sound of his name. the guy must have been carrying around quite a stench.
"what do you mean?" percy asked, blinking in confusion ( he did it almost every time he was even a little lost, and ashanti thought it was the cutest thing ).
"come," the huntress said without the slightest amount of enthusiasm. "i will show thee."
ashanti knew percy was in trouble when they stopped at the goodwill drop box. five minutes later, the huntress had percy outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.
ashanti snorted, "oh," she sighed in pure amusement. "you are so lucky i'm too nice to absolutely clown you."
"oh, yeah," grover added on, trying not to burst out laughing at his best friend's appearance. "you look completely inconspicuous now."
zoë nodded with satisfaction. "a typical male vagrant."
"what should we name you, mr. hobo?" ashanti asked him innocently, "fred?" she tried not to laugh, she really did, but grover started wheezing and it just bursted out of her. the two of them started cracking up despite the poseidon boy's apparent scowl.
"thanks a lot," he grumbled, not the happiest that his crush, and his best friend were laughing so hard at him dressed like a little homeless boy. "why am i doing this again?"
"i told thee. to blend in," zoë said easily as she led the way back down to the waterfront. after a long time spent searching the docks, zoë 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," zoë surely. "he never travels very far from the water. he likes to sun himself during the day."
"how do i know which one is him?" percy asked zoë, clearly ready for just get it over with.
"sneak up," zoë suggested, giving the boy pointers. "act homeless. you will know him. he will smell...different."
"great," percy grimaced like he didn't want to ask for a particular comparison to the old man of the sea's scent. "and once i find him?"
"grab him," zoë advised him. "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 assured him. she picked something off the back of percy's shirt, a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. the zeus girl gagged, "ew, on second thought... i don't want your back. but we'll be rooting for you."
grover gave percy a big thumbs-up, while ashanti shot him a cheesy wink. she laughed as percy walked off grumbling about how nice it was to have super-powerful friends. the girl couldn't help but snicker as she watched percy tackle an old man, and the two of them went rolling.
"five drachmas that nereus tries to drown him," ashanti wagered to thalia, waggling her eyebrows mischievously.
"you're on," thalia grinned in return.
"oh no!" percy yelled out in an overly exaggerated tone, obviously wanting nereus to attempt to drown him as it would only end in his favor. "not the water!"
"ah, fuck," thalia murmured, knowing exactly where it was going from there. if you listen very, very closely, you could hear the sound of thalia's pockets crying. out for help.
nereus launched himself into the water while percy was on his back. ashanti grinned cheekily at thalia as they stayed under for a few minutes. "stupid blessing from nike," thalia grumbled while passing the daughter of dionysus a handful of cookie sized gold coins.
"my wallet thanks you," ashanti told thalia smuggly, counting the coins, "and so does that leather jack i'm buying when we get back." though it had never been confirmed farther than a joke between friends, ashanti had an odd thing were she had undeniable luck in the game department.
they all ran down to the dock as percy stood with nereus ( who laid on the ground gasping for breath ).
"you got him!" zoë squealed ( and ashanti had never heard the girl squeal before ) excitedly.
"you don't have to sound so amazed," percy said, a slight roll of his eyes, though it was much more light-hearted and playful versus after their conversation with artemis.
"thank you, fish guts," ashanti told him happily. the boy himself was confused as to why she was thanking him, but the girl was happy to provide him an explanation. "when you convinced old nereus to drown you, i wagered thalia and mama's getting some new leather."
nereus moaned pathetically. "oh, wonderful. an audience for my humiliation! the normal deal, suppose? you'll let me go if i answer your question?"
"question as in one?" percy said incredulously. he looked to nereus as if he were completely out of his old mind. "i've got more than one question."
"only one question per capture!" nereus snapped, like the thought of giving up more information than he was caught for was dead stupid. "that's the rule."
percy looked to all of them, his face showing what the rest were all thinking. this was not good. they needed to find artemis, and they needed to figure out what the doomsday creature was. but, ashanti also needed to know if annabeth was still alive, and how to rescue her.
how could percy possibly ask that all in one question? a voice inside ashanti was screaming at percy to ask about annabeth that's what she cared about, but what about artemis? ashanti loved artemis. what about postponing the bane of olympus? it was all so much at one time.
percy took a breath and released it sharply from his nose, gathering his thoughts. "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 percy's feet.
"what? where?" percy demanded, not appreciating nereus' evil grin, or the satisfied way he nodded to himself.
"the deal is complete!" nereus gloated. with a pop, he turned into a goldfish and did a backflip into the sea.
"you tricked me!" percy yelled, outraged. the boy looked seconds from jumping right back into the ocean right after him, and ashanti didn't want to know what would happen if percy caught him.
"wait." thalia's eyes widened. "what is that?"
"moooooooo!"
ashanti glanced down, and there was her friend ( well percy's first, but she was ashanti's friend, too ) the cow serpent, swimming next to the dock. she nudged percy's shoe and gave him the sad brown eyes.
"hi, bessie!" ashanti gushed happily at the sea animal. she was a sucker for an adorable animal. "awe, she's so cute!"
"ah, ashanti, bessie," percy chided, still looking pretty frustrated about nereus, and him tricking them. "not now."
"moooo!"
grover gasped, blinking in shock a couple of times before translating for them all. "he says his name isn't bessie. oh, yeah, and hi to ashanti."
"you can understand her...er, him?"
grover nodded, looking at the animal with the same faraway stare. "it's a very old form of animal speech. but he says his name is the ophiotaurus."
"the ophi-what?" percy stared at grover.
"i think it means serpent bull in greek," ashanti translated thoughtfully. "but what's it doing here?"
"moooooo!"
"he says that percy is his protector, and ashanti is his friend," grover announced to the group, continuing to translate the ancient animal speech to the rest of the questors. "and he's running from the bad people. he says they are close." in the back of her mind, ashanti was wondering how he got all that out of a single moooooo.
"wait," zoë cut in, looking to percy and ashanti for more answers. "you know this cow?" percy told them the story to them impatiently, wanting more answers on the ophiotaurus, and why nereus had told them false information.
thalia shook her head in disbelief. "and you just forgot to mention this before?"
"well...yeah."
"it didn't seem really important for percy to mention a sea animal he saved before he snuck to join the quest," ashanti said, once again defending percy. she gave them a half-shrug. "also, you didn't ask."
"i am a fool," zoë declares suddenly. "i know this story!"
"what story?"
"from the war of the titans," she answered, thinking back. she gave a really, really summarized version, then wrapped it up for them. "my...my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. this is the beast we are looking for."
"ophi?" ashanti looked down at the bull serpent. "but... he's too cute. he couldn't destroy the world."
"that is how we were wrong," zoë said gravely. "we've been anticipating a huge, dangerous monster, but the ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. he must be sacrificed."
"moo," ophi glowered unhappily at them.
"i don't think he likes the s-word," grover informed them. ashanti patted the ophiotaurus on the head, trying to calm him down. he let her scratch his ear, but he was trembling.
"how could anyone hurt him?" percy said in shock, gesturing to his sea animal friend incredulously. and ashanti couldn't help but see his point. who in their right mind would attack ophi when he'd done nothing? he didn't even look capable of hurting a fly. "he's harmless. "
zoë nodded grimly in agreement. "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 cut in, his eyes focused on the ophiotaurus who looked very displeased at their conversation. "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?" ashanti didn't like the way thalia was staring at ophi, or all the questions she kept asking.
"no one knows," zoë revealed. "the first time, during the titan war, the ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the titan's, 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 down on the dock. she stretched out her hand. ophi went right to her. thalia placed her hand on his head. ophi shivered. thalia's expression continued to bother ashanti. she almost looked...hungry.
"we have to protect him," ashanti told the zeus girl, fearing that she'd gut the creature without a second thought if it meant power. "if luke gets hold of him –"
"luke wouldn't hesitate," thalia muttered robotically. "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." the ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged.
ashanti looked up. they'd been so busy talking, they'd allowed themselves to be ambushed. standing behind them, his two-color eyes gleaming wickedly, was dr. thorn, the manticore himself. "this is just pairrr-fect, " the manticore gloated.
"i fucking despise you," ashanti said scathingly to thorn, hate dripping from every word. after all, he'd been the one to take annabeth away. percy couldn't say he wasn't surprised by the amount of pure malice in her tone. he'd never heard it before, and would be lying if he said it didn't impress him to some degree. he liked it.
dr. thorn was wearing a ratty black trench coat over his westover hall uniform. it was torn and stained. his military haircut had grown out spiky and greasy. he hadn't shaved recently, so his face was covered in silver stubble. basically speaking, he didn't look much better than the guys down at the soup kitchen.
"long ago, the gods banished me to persia," the manticore said, his tone shaking in anger at the recall of his memory. "i was forced to scrounge for food on the edges of the world, hiding in forests, devouring insignificant human farmers for my meals. i never got to fight any great heroes. i was not feared and admired in the old stories! but now? that will change. the titans shall honor me, and i shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods!"
on either side of him stood two armed security guys, some of the mortal mercenaries ashanti had seen in d.c. two more stood on the next boat dock over, just in case they tried to escape that way. there were tourists all around-walking down the waterfront, shopping at the pier above them, but ashanti knew that wouldn't stop the manticore from acting.
"where...where are the skeletons?" percy dare asked the manticore.
dr. thorn sneered at him. "i do not need those foolish undead! the general thinks i am worthless? he will change his mind when i defeat you myself!"
ashanti needed time to think. they needed to somehow find a way to save ophi. percy could dive into the sea, but how could he make a quick getaway with a five-hundred-pound cow serpent?
"we beat you once before," percy reminded him bravely.
"ha!" ashanti hated the way the manticore scoffed at them as if they were a joke. an evil smile decorated his face. "you could barely fight me with a goddess on your side. and, alas... that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. there will be no help for you now."
"yeah?" ashanti said evenly, taunting him. "i didn't have my knives last time. let's test how my aim measures up." she slipped a handful of sharp knives from an invisible holster, and into her hands threateningly.
zoë notched an arrow and aimed it straight at the manticore's head. the guards on either side of them raised their guns.
"wait!" percy said. "shanti, zoë, don't!"
the manticore smiled. "the boy is right, zoë nightshade, ashanti prewett. put away your bow. put down the knives. it would be a shame to kill the both you before you witnessed thalia's great victory."
"what are you talking about?" thalia growled. she had her shield and spear ready.
"surely, it is clear," the manticore gestured around them. "this is your moment. this is why lord kronos brought you back to life. you will sacrifice the ophiotaurus. you will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. you will gain unlimited power. and for your sixteenth birthday, you will overthrow olympus."
no one spoke. it made terrible sense. thalia was only two days away from turning sixteen. she was a child of the big three. and here was a choice, a terrible choice that could mean the end of the gods. it was just like the prophecy said. ashanti wasn't sure if she relieved, horrified, or disappointed. percy wasn't the prophecy kid after all. doomsday was happening right at that second.
ashanti waited for thalia to tell the manticore off, but she hesitated. she looked completely stunned.
"you know it is the right choice," the manticore told her. "your friend luke recognized it. you shall be reunited with him. you shall rule this world together under the auspices of the titans. your father abandoned you, thalia. he care nothing for you. and now you shall gain power over him. crush the olympians underfoot, as they deserve. call the beast! it will come to you. use your spear."
"thalia," percy yelled, "snap out of it!" she looked at percy and ashanti the same way she had the morning she woke up on half-blood hill, dazed and uncertain. it was almost like she didn't know either of them.
"i...i don't—"
"your father helped you," ashanti told her, her voice borderline broken. "he sent the metal angels. he turned you into a tree to preserve you, so you wouldn't die." thalia's hand tightened on the shaft of her spear.
percy looked at grover desperately. ashanti was glad that he understood whatever percy needed. grover raised his pipes to his mouth and played a quick riff.
the manticore yelled, "stop him!" the guards had been targeting zoë, and before they could figure out that the kid with the pipes was the bigger problem, the wooden planks at their feet sprouted new branches and tangled their legs.
ashanti's eyes began glowing purple as several thick, thorned green vines rose, creating cracks in the ground, joining the branches and wrapping tightly around the legs of the guards.
zoë let loose two quick arrows that exploded at their feet in clouds of sulfurous yellow smoke. fart arrows! the guards started coughing. the manticore shot spines in their direction, but ashanti expertly launched a few knives that easily sliced through the thorns in the air.
"grover," percy commanded, his voice gaining a leader-like strictness, taking over for thalia, who was still murmuring the cow dazedly. "tell bessie to dive deep and stay down!"
"mooooo!" grover translated. ashanti only hope that the ophiotaurus got the message.
"come on!" shouted ashanti. she snatched thalia's arm, and pulled her along as they ran up the stairs to the shopping center on the pier. they dashed around the corner of the nearest store. the dionysus girl heard the manticore shouting at his minions, get them!
tourists screamed as the guards shot blindly into the air. they scrambled to the end of the pier. they hid behind a little kiosk filled with souvenir crystals. wind chimes and dream catchers and stuff like that, glittering in the sunlight.
there was a water fountain next to them. down below, a bunch of sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks. the whole of san francisco bay spread out before them: the golden gate bridge, alcatraz, and the green hills and fog beyond that to the north. a picture-perfect moment, except for the fact that they were about to die and the world was going to end.
"go over the side!" zoë pleaded percy, she urged him in the direction of the water. "you can escape in the sea, percy. call on thy father for help. maybe you can save the ophiotaurus."
zoë was right. percy could leave, and still save ophiotaurus. ashanti was even willing to give him back his stuffed animal in case she didn't make it. maybe he'd look at it, and remember her.
as if reading her mind, percy looked ashanti deep in her violet eyes, "we fight together."
"you have to get word to camp!" grover insisted. "at least let them know what's going on!" then, ashanti noticed the crystals making rainbows in the sunlight. they was a drinking fountain next to percy...
she slipped off the large, brown jean jacket and tossed it to percy. it's form immediately changed back to the lion skin. percy looked at the girl confused. she gave him a vague elaboration, hoping he'd catch on. "i have a feeling we won't be needing this anymore," ashanti told him.
"get word to camp," percy muttered, understanding why she'd given him back the lion pelt. "good idea." he uncapped riptide and slashed off the top of the water fountain. water burst out of the busted pipe and sprayed all over them.
thalia gasped as the water hit her. the fog seemed to clear from her eyes. "are you crazy?" she asked. ashanti tried to ignore the mild bitterness she felt at thalia's temptation. she'd nearly risked them all.
"no, he isn't," ashanti said firmly, knowing of his plan. her stare was cold staring at her best friend, daring the girl to say anything after what she'd just pulled moments before.
grover also understood. he was already fishing around in his pockets for a coin. he threw a golden drachma into the rainbows created by the mist and yelled, "o goddess, accept my offering!"
the mist rippled. "camp half-blood!" percy called, and there, shimmering in the mist right next to them, was ashanti's father.
dionysus, wearing his leopard-skin jogging suit and rummaging through the refrigerator. he looked up lazily. "do you mind?"
"hi, dad," ashanti chimed, despite the bad situation.
"where's chiron!" percy shouted at dionysus, not wasting time with any type of greeting, or pleasantries with the god of wine
ashanti elbowed him, "percy, that's my dad."
"how rude," dionysus agreed with his daughter, taking a hearty swig from his gulp of grape juice ( it looked absolutely delectable by the way ). he sighed, giving the jackson boy a bored expression, "is that any way to say hello?"
"hello," percy amended for both ashanti and dionysus. they'd both been giving him matching unimpressed expressions. his eyes frantic, he looked away from his crush to her dad, "we're about to die! where's chiron?"
dionysus considered that for a moment. ashanti wanted to tell him in the politest way possibly to hurry up, but she knew that wouldn't work. the wine god did not like being rushed, not matter the circumstances.
behind them, footsteps and shouting-the manticore's troops were closing in. "about to die," dionysus mused aloud to himself. he took another drink of grape juice, not at all rushing to their aid. "how exciting. i'm afraid chiron isn't here. would you like me to take a message?"
percy looked at the rest of them, crestfallen. "we're dead."
thalia gripped her spear. she looked like her old angry self again. the thalia ashanti had heard stories about, before she'd reawoken from being the camp's protective force. she held firm, but her eyes were scared, "then we'll die fighting."
"how noble," dionysus drawled, stifling a yawn. "so, what is the problem, exactly?" ashanti encouraged percy to tell her father what was going on, though the poseidon boy lowly grumbled to her how he didn't see that it would make any difference.
"mmm." dionysus studied the contents of the fridge, debating on what to eat at that moment. as much as ashanti knew he was trying to come off as indifferent, ashanti knew her father cared. no matter how much he tried to keep it from showing. "so that's it. i see."
"you don't even care!" percy shouted at the god. "you'd just watch us die!"
"percy!" ashanti shouted at him, frustrated that he wasn't understanding. it wasn't exactly his fault he wasn't getting it, as her father was acting as if he didn't care an ounce. they had to ask for help from the god in order to receive it. she didn't know how to communicate that to the poseidon boy without her father overhearing. she tried anyway, "that's not going to get him to help us." enunciating the word so he knew to go about it at a different angle.
"let's see," dionysus hummed thoughtfully. "i think i'm in the mood for pizza tonight."
"ooh! order tumby's!"
it was no surprise who chimed in with that, she in return, she felt the weight of the stare of her friends. she apologized profusely, though she wasn't enjoying the judgment when percy had quite literally shouted at a god, and thalia had almost betrayed them for the titans because of the temptation of power.
the manticore screamed, there! and they were surrounded immediately. two of the guards stood behind thorn. the other two appeared on the roofs of the pier shops above them. the manticore threw off his coat and transformed into his true self, his lion claws extended and his spiky tail bristling with poison barbs.
"excellent," thorn cackled. he glanced at the apparition in the mist and snorted. "alone, without any real help. wonderful."
"hey," ashanti snapped, defensive of her father, "that's my dad you waste of space, monster trash!" sure, he wasn't big three powerful like percy's dad, or some war goddess like annabeth's mom, but dionysus had something the other olympians didn't. he'd started out as a half-blood. he knew the struggles, and most definitely knew how to fight off a monster had he been stripped of his powers.
"thanks, ashanti," the god said amusedly, appreciating the defense of his honor by his daughter. his deep purple eyes roved over to her crush, percy. he wrinkled his nose, unimpressed. "peter johnson, you could ask for help," dionysus murmured to percy, as if this were an amusing thought. there was a slight smile on his lips, as if he doubted the hero's ego would even allow it. "you could say please."
"when wild boars fly," percy scoffed spitefully to the god in response. "there is no way i am going to die begging to you so you could laugh when we die." ashanti admit, it took an awful lot of guts, but it was going to get them killed.
zoë readied her arrows. grover lifted his pipes.
thalia raised her shield with a grim expression, and depressingly, ashanti couldn't help but think of how the situation had occurred to the zeus girl before. she had been cornered on half-blood hill. she'd willingly given her life for her friends. but this time, she couldn't save them.
percy slowly raised his sword, shifting in front of ashanti, to defend her.
that wasn't enough for her. if percy couldn't set aside his ego, then fine, ashanti would. she moved around him, facing her dad in the rainbow apparition, standing firm, "dad," she tried to keep her voice steady. she met the eyes of her father head on, and he paid her full attention, his eyes watching her as if she were a whole new person in his eyes. "please. i need your help."
there was a moment of silence, before he gave a slight nod. he raised his wine colored eyes, "alright, child," he drawled, leaning on the refrigerator door. "it's just as we practiced. deep breaths, focus on your targets."
"spare the daughter of zeus. she will join us soon enough. kill the others," the manticore commanded. he'd already deemed the god not a threat as he seemed opposed to helping the demigods.
the men raised their guns, and something strange happened.
leaning down, ashanti put her palms to the concrete. there was a harsh, almost painful tugging in her gut. her eyes began to glow purple, mist of the same color creeping up from the ground, and rising eerily. the smell of grapes and fresh pressed wine began to waft from literal nowhere.
"don't push too hard, child," dionysus reminded, "we don't want to drive everyone here insane."
SNAP!
it was the sound of numerous minds breaking at the same time. the sound of madness. waves of the creepy purple mist washed over the guards in waved, clinging around the space by their heads. one guard put his pistol between his teeth like it was a bone and ran around on all fours.
two others dropped their guns and started waltzing with each other. the fourth began doing what looked like an irish clogging dance. it would have been funny if it hadn't been so terrifying. the purple mist hung around their heads, menacingly, refusing to dissipate, their eyes glowing a violet that nowhere near rivaled ashanti's.
"no!" screamed the manticore. "i will kill you myself, half-blood!"
"ashanti?" zoë shouted when she noticed the small trail of blood going down her left nostril dripping onto her upper lip slowly, her glowing purple eyes not leaving the guards for one second. her hands shook against the floor as she focused on breaking the sanity of the guards that tried to attack them.
"she's doing this?" thalia whispered, her voice filled with slight fear. never had she seen the daughter of dionysus display such power.
dr. thorn's tail bristled, but the planks under his paws erupted into grape vines. they immediately began wrapping around the monster's body, sprouting new leaves and clusters of green baby grapes that ripened in seconds as the manticore shrieked, until he was engulfed in a huge mass of vines, leaves, and full clusters of purple grapes. finally the grapes stopped shivering, and somewhere inside there, the manticore was no more.
"well, that should be enough," said dionysus, his voice coming out smooth, and coaxing, so ashanti could snap out of it. she blinked away the trance-like state she'd been in focing the madness on the guards and nearly collapsed on her face had it not been for percy. the mist still hung around the heads of the guards, but they were occupied. dionysus closed the refrigerator. "that was fun. great job, child," the god praised, "amazing performance. four minds for your first time? ten out of ten, my dear."
percy stared at him, horrified. "how could you...how did you –"
"such gratitude," he distastefully under his breath, a look of pure disgust in percy's direction. "the mortals will come out of it. too much explaining to do if ashanti made their condition permanent. i hate writing reports to father."
"wait, ashanti did the vines and the madness?" thalia asked, used to the girl only manipulating thorned vines as she'd done several times throughout their quest. never did the zeus girl even think that the girl had inherited her father's trademark control over madness.
dionysus shook his head as if that were pure silliness, and it was for now, "oh, no. i did the vines. if she'd done anymore at this state, she would have combust."
"i'm good," ashanti slurred from leaning on percy, her energy completely drained from manipulating madness. she rested her head on the poseidon demigod's shoulder, sniffing him a little because he smelled a bit odd. then, stopping once she realized a, that it was because he was still wearing the homeless disguise, and b, everyone was staring at her. she nodded convincingly, "i swear."
dionysus stared resentfully at thalia. "i'm glad you learned your lesson, girl. even if you nearly put my daughter in danger to learn it. it isn't easy to resist power, is it?" thalia blushed as if she were ashamed. served her right in ashanti's opinion.
"mr. d," grover said in amazement. "you...you and ashanti saved us." everyone glanced to the nearly unconscious girl. she did a dopey two-finger salute, and an unhinged half-grin of delight.
"mmm. don't make me regret it, satyr. now get going, percy jackson. my daughter and i have bought you a few hours at most."
"the ophiotaurus," percy asked, adjusting ashanti's weight so she'd be more comfortable. "can you get it to camp?"
dionysus sniffed in disgust, turning his nose up to the poseidon boy. "i do not transport livestock. that's your problem."
"but where do we go?"
"does anyone ever know where to go?" ashanti asked deliriously, blinking hard, then poking percy's cheek repeatedly. she kept missing where his dimple was, but was determined to get it right. "do we even know which way is the way?"
percy glanced down at her in concern, and dionysus looked to zoë seriously for once. "oh, i think the huntress knows. you must enter at sunset today, you know, or all is lost. now good-bye. my pizza is waiting."
"mr. d," percy called. the raised his eyebrow ( like percy has seen ashanti so a few times, but it was wayyy more attractive when she did it ). "you called me by my right name," he noticed. "you called me percy jackson."
"i most certainly did not, peter johnson," the wine god insisted, then took on a much more serious tone. he pointed to where the catastrated monster was wrapping in grape vines. "make sure my daughter eats one of those wine grapes, it should restore most of her strength."
"i like grapes," ashanti murmured to percy, her head nestled between his neck and shoulder so it was easy for her to talk to him. "'cause they're purple, and i like purple, so i like grapes. but that means i like beets? beets are not purple, so no. but i don't like plums either – no! no, i do like plums, nevermind."
"deal with that, please," dionysus waved his hand, and his image disappeared in the mist.
all around then, the manticore's minions were still acting completely nuts. one of them had found their friend, the homeless guy, and they were having a serious conversation about metal angels from mars. several other guards were harassing the tourists, making animal noises and trying to steal their shoes.
percy looked at zoë. "what did he mean...you know where to go?" her face was the color of the fog. she pointed across the bay, past the golden gate. in the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer.
"the garden of my sisters," zoë said gravely, "i must go home."
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