"Ugh, tell me when it's over," Thalia whined, eyes shut tight.

Percy glanced down, then at Ashe, who was sitting on the angel's shoulder and holding his arm. It was wrapped in Aphrodite's scarf to quicken his healing process, but it'd be long before his arm was at full strength.

"Everything's fine."

"Are... are we very high?" Thalia asked.

Percy went to say yes, but Ashe beat him to the punch. "Nah, we're about to land."

Thalia opened her expectantly, but was met with a range of snowy mountains zipping by down below them.

She screamed and clung to the arm of the angel even tighter. "Ashe, I'm going to kill you when we land!"

Ashe snickered weakly, "I'll hold you to it."

"We are in the Sierras!" Zoe 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!" our angel 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 there!"

"You guys have been to San Francisco?" Percy wondered.

"We automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?" Percy's statue said. "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. "They're kids, man."

"Oh, right." If bronze statues could blush, Hank definitely did. "Back to flying."

The mountains fell away into hills, and then we were zipping along over farmland and towns and highways.
Grover played his pipes to pass the time. Zoe got bored and started shooting arrows at random billboards as we flew by. Every time she saw a Target department store-and we passed dozens of them-she would peg the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour.

Thalia kept her eyes closed the whole way. She muttered to herself a lot, probably praying.

"You did good back there," Percy commented. "Zeus listened."

"Maybe." She didn't seem convinced. "Wait, how did you get up here from that height, Ashe?"

Everyone looked at the human. "Hatchet. Instead of calling it back to me, I can call myself to it apparently."

"Such precision is impressive. If they were a woman, you'd make a great asset to the Hunters." Zoe exclaimed.

"...I'm honored..." Ashe wasn't sure how to take the compliment.

~•~

San Francisco was exactly like the postcards to those who hadn't seen it. There was a huge bay and ships, islands and sailboats, and the Golden Gate Bridge sticking up out of the morning fog.

"Where do you guys want to land?"

"There," Zoë suggested. "By the Embarcadero Building."

"Good thinking," Chuck said. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons."
They all looked at him.

"Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humor?"

They landed and said goodbyes, watching as the angels flew off back into the sky. They five turned to see a homeless man staring at them in horror.

"Boo." Ashe said.

The homeless man suddenly screamed and took off running into the distance.

With that, the five had finally made it to the West Coast. Now, their only lead was to find Old Man Nereus and see just what monster they were up against. After revealing to the ignorant that her mother was a sea goddess, Zoe said she had the means to find him.

•

Zoe forced Percy and Ashe to change clothes, since they had been the most dirty and wounded.

Percy was wearing massive baggy jeans, a red flannel under his Nemean coat, bright red sneakers, and a rainbow bucket hat.

Ashe had on black cargos, a green bomber jacket, a white sweater underneath, and manipulated Aphrodite's scarf to form a bandanna around his bullet wound.

"Have to give her credit, she's got fashion down." Ashe praised, but Percy wasn't feeling the style personally.

"Why of course. I designed the hunters uniforms." Zoe referred to the white parka and black jean combo of the hunters.

•

With new drip and their mission debriefing from Zoe, the five arrived at a pier. She pointed down it, where a bunch of homeless people 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 we know which one is him?" Percy asked.

"Sneak up," she said. "Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell...different."

"Great." Percy didn't want to ask for particulars. "And once we 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 Percy's shirt-a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. "Eww. On second thought...I don't want your back. I'll take Ashe's."

As Thalia pat Ashe's head, Grover could only muster a big thumbs-up.

"How do we act homeless?" Ashe wondered, grabbing Thalia's hand and removing it.

It didn't take long to find him.

At the end of the pier, a guy who looked a million years old was passed out in a patch of sunlight. He wore pajamas and a fuzzy bathrobe that used to be white. He was fat, with a white beard that had turned a pasty yellow, and according to Percy: like Santa Claus, if Santa had been rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill.

Ashe and Percy shared a skeptical glance, but as soon as they got within range, the pungent smell of the foulest stenches of the ocean invaded their nostrils.

Almost offended by such a smell, Ashe cracked his knuckles, ready to extort information from the poor man.

"Cuse me, sir," Ashe began. "I'm from the IRS, and I'm here under the orders of extracting highly classified information." Ashe grabbed the old man's collar.

•

Ashe and Percy watched the old man turn into a goldfish, flailing out of his hands and into the sea.

"Bessie... is the monster we're after?" Percy muttered in disappointment.

The five were staring down at the cow-serpent, who was nudging Percy's shoe affectionately.

"He says his name isn't Bessie." Grover replied.

"You can understand her- him?"

Grover nodded. "It's a very old form of animal speech. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."

Ashe and Percy's jaws dropped in confusion.

"It means serpent-bull in Greek." Thalia informed. "But what's it doing here? This is twice now..."

He let out a moo.

"He says Percy is his protector," Grover translated. "And he's running from the bad people. He says they are close."

The two didn't look any less confused.

"I am a fool," Zoe said suddenly. "I know this story!"

"What story?" Ashe asked.

"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."

Bessie let out a sharp mop of fear, "I don't think he likes the S-word."

Percy tried to calm Bessie down by letting his head, and frowned feeling him tremble. "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."

Bessie groaned out a frightened moo again.

"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," Zoe said. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand and Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head, but Bessie shivered.

Percy and Ashe noticed her expression. Hunger. Danger.

"We have to protect him," I told her. "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."

The Ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged back underwater.

Standing behind them, his two-color eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr. Thorn, the manticore himself.

He was wearing a ratty black trench coat over his Westover Hall uniform, which 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. Put simply, he didn't look much better than the guys down at the soup kitchen.

"Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia," Thorn said. "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 seen in D.C. Two more stood on the next boat dock over, just in case we tried to escape that way. There were tourists all around-walking down the waterfront, shopping at the pier above us-but it was clear that wouldn't stop the manticore from acting.

"No bone cronies to back you up this time?" Ashe taunted.

"I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

"Yet ever the entourage behind you, huh?" Ashe continued his taunt, earning a malicious snarl.

"Hm. It would be a shame to kill 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 said. "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 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. Percy wasn't sure if he should be relieved, horrified, or disappointed. He frowned, telling himself he wasn't the prophecy kid after all. Doomsday was happening right now.

Thalia didn't even rebut him. Ashe grew nervous hearing no reply from her.

"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 cares 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 said, "snap out of it!"

She looked at him 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 them. "I...I don't-"

"Your father helped you," Percy barked. "He sent the metal angels. He turned you into a tree to preserve your life!"

Her hand tightened on the shaft of her spear.

Percy leered at Grover desperately. Luckily, he understood the plea and raised his pipes to his mouth to play a quick riff.

Thorn yelled, "Stop him!"

The guards had been targeting Zoe, and before they could figure out that the teen with the pipes was the bigger problem, the wooden planks at their feet sprouted new branches and tangled their legs. Zoe let loose two quick arrows that exploded at their feet in clouds of sulfurous yellow smoke.

Fart arrows that had won them capture the flag.

The guards started coughing. Thorn shot spines in their direction, but they ricocheted off Percy's Nemean coat.

"Grover, tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down!" Percy ordered.

"Mooooooo!" He shouted...

Ashe rushed at Thalia and sent a haymaker across her jaw, scrambling her out of the daze she'd been in. Nearly knocking her out, he threw her on his back and front kicked the guard beside Thorn.

"Let's go!" He shouted, forcing the others to follow his lead.

They ran down the pier and were forced to duck behind kiosks and stalls as the guards began firing their handguns wildly into the crowds of people. Screams of terror and horror roared from the boardwalk. Percy noticed a water fountain and took the initiative in slashing it in two.

Grover fished around in his pocket for a coin, flipping up a golden drachma into the rainbow that formed from the gushing water, "O goddess, accept my offering! Camp Half-Blood!"

The mist revealed Mr. D in his leopard print track suit, rummaging through a refrigerator. He lazily looked up with disdain.

"Do you mind?"

"Where's Chiron?!" Percy shouted.

"How rude," He brought up a jug of grape juice and sighed. "Is that how you say hello?"

"Hello." Ashe spat. "Where's Chiron?"

Mr. D rose a brow seeing the fury in his eyes. The desperate tone of whatever matter they bothered him with was evident, not that he cared much.

"Ah, about to die, are we? How exciting. I'm afraid he isn't here. Would you like me to take a message?"

"We're dead." Percy mumbled in annoyance.

Thalia shoved Ashe and held her spear with a glare, "Then we'll die fighting."

"How noble," Mr. D said, stifling a yawn. "So what is the problem, exactly?"

Percy wasn't sure if it'd matter in the slightest, but he decided to tell him about the Ophiotaurus.

"Mmm." Mr. D studied the contents of the fridge. "So that's it. I see."

"You don't even care!" Percy screamed, fed up with his attitude. "You'd just as soon watch us die!"

"Let's see. I think I'm in the mood for pizza tonight."

Thorn screamed, "There!" And we were surrounded.

Two of the guards stood behind him. The other two appeared on the roofs of the pier shops above us. Thorn threw off his coat and transformed into the manticore, his lion claws extended and his spiky tail bristling with poison barbs.

"Excellent," He glanced at the apparition in the mist and snorted. "Alone, without any real help. Wonderful."

"You could ask for help," Mr. D murmured to me, as if this were an amusing thought. "You could say please."

Everyone stood ready to fight for their life, and Percy lowered his head desperately. "Please, Mr. D. Help us."

Seconds passed only for nothing to happen.

Thorn grinned with his razor sharp teeth. "Spare the daughter of Zeus. She will join us soon enough. Kill the others."

The men raised their guns, and something strange happened. Adrenaline rushed through the teens bodies. The sunlight tinged with purple. The smell of grapes and something more sour- wine- crept into their noses.

A violent crack like a whip echoed across the beach.

It was the sound of many minds breaking at the same time. The sound of madness. The guards ran crazy, all acting like different farm animals in a hazy mess.

"No!" screamed Thorn. "I will deal with you myself!"

His tail bristled, but the planks under his paws erupted into grape vines, which 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...

The manticore was no more.

"Well," said Dionysus, closing his refrigerator. "That was fun."

"I have so much more respect for you now." Ashe muttered in relief.

"Ah, that's the gratitude I love to hear. The mortals will come out of it. Too much explaining to do if I made their condition permanent. I hate writing reports to Father..."

He stared resentfully at Thalia. "I hope you learned your lesson, girl. It isn't easy to resist power, is it?"
Thalia blushed as if she were ashamed.

"Mr. D," Grover said in amazement. "You...you saved us."

"Mmm. Don't make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Percy Jackson. I've bought you a few hours at most."

"The Ophiotaurus," Percy began. "Can you get it to camp?"

Mr. D sniffed. "I do not transport livestock. That's your problem."

"But where do we go?" Percy pestered.

Dionysus looked at Zoe. "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, making him raise his eyebrow.

"You called me by my right name," I said. "You called me Percy Jackson."

"I most certainly did not, Peter Johnson. Now off with you!"
He waved his hand, and his image disappeared in the mist.

Percy looked at Zoe. "What did he mean? You know where to go?"

Her pale face was the color of the fog. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate and into the distance, where a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer.

"The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."