1894 words

Raiden P.O.V.

We assembled on Half-Blood Hill early the next morning with our luggage. I placed my rucksack in the back of the van and slammed the trunk door shut. I jogged over to where Orion and Zoë discussed last-minute tactics with Chiron.

"We should go," I said. "The longer we stay here, the longer Ainsley and Artemis are captured."

Orion nodded. "Yes, let's go!" He turned to call over his shoulder. "Grover, Thalia, we're leaving."

"May the gods give you luck," Chiron said gravely. "I shall look after Phoebe while you are away."

Phoebe had broken out into hives in the night, thanks to the Stolls. The shirt they'd given her was covered in centaur blood, and we had awoken to discover her in terrible pain. Orion had vanished for an hour before we left, and I'd suspected that he'd punched the sons of Hermes.

"Is everyone ready?" Orion asked.

The other three murmured their agreement and climbed into the white van. Zoë nodded to Chiron, opened the front passenger door, and settled down.

"I'm gonna sit in the middle row." Orion whistled. "Snow, c'mon!"

I watched the pair settle into their seats before I headed over to the other side of the van. Just before I got inside, Chiron grabbed my arm.

"Raiden?"

I stopped and looked over my shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Be careful. Be wise with your decisions. The final line of the prophecy... worries me. It may apply to you, and if you do not control your emotions, the consequences may be deadly."

"I know. I'll be careful, Chiron."

The centaur's face relaxed slightly, and he handed me the keys. "Good luck, Raiden."

I climbed into the driver's seat and started the ignition. I pulled out onto Farm Road and watched Chiron in the review mirror. He gazed into the distance, appearing to study Thalia's Pine, but I knew that he was seeing something beyond the tree. I observed him until we rounded the corner, and he vanished from view.

"Okay," I said once we were traveling through central Manhattan. I only know we need to go west, which isn't very specific. Do you have any ideas which place west we should go?"

"Grover will know," Thalia answered from beside Bianca. "Show them your tracking song."

The satyr nodded and removed several acorns and reed pipes from his coat pocket. He tossed the acorns and began performing a lively tune on his pipes. The acorns spun through the air, formed an arrow, and pointed to the left out the window. The acorns appeared very nutty to me, but Grover examined and seemed to perceive them.

He clapped his hands together. "Washington D.C.! That's where we should head."

Orion chuckled and glanced at Zoë with her clenched jaw. "That should be fun."

"What's so funny?" Thalia asked.

"Let's just say I'm not very welcome there anymore."

Zoë's eyes glimmered and loosened her jaw. "Indeed. The last time the Hunters visited the capital, Orion 'accidentally' ignited the White House lawn."

"It's not my fault! We were fighting the Chimera, and I didn't want to be charboiled."

"Orion, if I recall correctly, thou was the one who ignited the lawn when thou transformed into a dragon."

"Your memory is getting faulty, my friend; I clearly remember it was the Chimera who did it."

"Ronald Reagan begs to differ."

"Well, he's dead, so if you want to go to the Underworld and ask him, be my guest. Although I doubt it would be hard for you to go into the Underworld."

Zoë arched an eyebrow. "Why does thee think so?"

"Because your memory is deader than George Washington."

I snorted and swerved into another lane and back again. "Are you gonna take that, Zoë?"

"Certainly not, Raiden." She summoned her knives and twisted around in her seat to face Orion. "Would thee like to rephrase thy statement?"

Orion yanked on the golden bracelet on his right wrist, and it expanded into a two-foot-long, leaf-shaped Greek Xiphios. Its Celestial Bronze blade was surrounded by swirling saltwater and carved with a minute trident at the bottom. The word spelled in gold lettering spanning the cross guard read: Τσουνάμι. Tsunami. He grasped the leather grip tightly, pointed it at Zoë, and grinned widely. "If you want a show, Zoë, I'll give a show."

Oooh, showdown! barked Snow. Orion vs. Zoë!

"Not while I'm driving!" I shouted. "Can you two please put your weapons away? I don't wanna get stabbed on accident."

                                                                                        ***

I arched my eyebrows. "Are you sure the acorns said to come here? It doesn't seem like we'd find anything here."

The six of us stood outside the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

Grover nodded. "The acorns read that we need to go here."

"Okay. I guess if the acorns said so..."

"Are we really trusting a bunch of nuts?" Bianca asked.

"Yep," Orion answered. "Let's go inside. Not to mention the monster aroma is really strong."

We entered the building and proceeded through the admissions. It was eerily quiet, and it unnerved me. I clutched my axe and clenched my fists, prepared to obliterate any monster that cross my path. The museum's central part was colossal, not unlike Notre Dame. Pendulous airplanes and rockets swayed slightly from the ceiling by iron cords, and three balcony tiers coiled around, granting visitors views of the exhibits from different levels.

There was a sound of rapid footsteps behind. I whipped out my axe and brought it swishing down. The bit of my axe was parried with a Celestial Bronze Sword. My muscles tensed, and I pushed down harder, forcing the sword down. While my opponent's weapon was down, I used the throat of my axe to jab them in the stomach. My opponent sailed back ten feet before landing on the floor. I charged forward with my fist raised before I registered the sea-green eyes. It was Percy.

I sheathed my axe and extended my hand to help him up. "Sorry, Percy. I thought you were one of Kron...Kro...Kronos's minions."

"Why did you think I was with your father ?" Percy accepted my hand, and I pulled him to his feet. "Do I look like I would be a traitor?"

"Yes, thou does," Zoë growled, her bow pointed at his face. "Thou has quite the nerve to show thy face here."

"Can we talk about I'm a boy and blah blah blah later? We have bigger problems to worry about!"

"Like what?" Orion said. "Snow, what do you smell?"

Snow growled. Monsters and an evil camper.

"Who's here, then?" I snarled. "Which traitor is it: Aidan or Luke?"

"Both of them," Percy replied.

Thalia's face turned pale. "He's here? What happened? And who's Aidan?"

"No one of importance," Orion spat. "Aidan is nobody but a traitor and a lieutenant of Kronos. Percy, what happened?"

Percy recounted his adventure in the Natural History Museum with the manticore, Dr. Thorn, Luke, Aidan, and someone called The General.

I glanced at Zoë. "That's not good. That is really not good."

"It cannot be the General," Zoë muttered. "Thou art lying, boy!"

"There's no reason I would lie!" Percy said.

"Thou must be lying," Zoë insisted. "It cannot be the General!"

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Zoë, Percy isn't lying. I can tell someone is lying by their breath and it's normal; he's telling the truth."

"But it cannot be true!"

"Zoë, it's true," Percy said, "but's not our biggest problem. There are skeleton warriors-"

"How many of them are there?" Thalia demanded.

"There are twelve and the General dude said he's sending 'playmates' over here, to mislead you."

"Where are they?" Orion glared around. "I'll kill it!"

I whipped out my axe. "Yeah! Let's do this!"

"Let us not act rashly," Zoë said. "We must-"

Her sentence was interrupted by a growl louder than a rocket engine that echoed below us. Mortals screamed, and another growl echoed up. We dashed to the railing and looked down at a pickup truck-sized lion with gleaming golden fur, fangs as long as my forearm, and silver claws creeping up the stairs toward us.

"I'll handle this! Snow, let's go!" Orion's sword vanished back into its golden bracelet form, and he transformed into a towering black bear. He roared, charged at the monster, and tackled it. The pair tumbled head-over-paws down the stairs, claws and teeth ripping at each other.

"Behind us, guys!" Grover yelled.

The six of us whipped around. Four Cyclops and a drakon were bearing down on us. All of us summoned and extracted our weapons. My eyes darted around, calculating our strategy.

"Zoë, Bianca, you take the two on the left!" I yelled. "Thalia, Grover, you two handle the other Cyclopses. I'll take care of the drakon!"

We charged into battle. I sprinted around to the back of the monster and punched it on the scales. I barely made a dent, but one scale still fell off and an excruciating pain erupted in my right fist. My fingers dangled at an odd angle, and I gritted my teeth as the drakon whipped around.

The monster hissed and spat its poison at me. I dodged and willed time to slow. The drakon's movement grew sluggish and then, it froze. My legs and arms trembled, and I fell on my butt. My vision blurred, and I watched the battle in a haze. The colors shifted before my eyes for a moment before I shook my head. I forced myself to my feet, dashed to the wall, and smashed it with my left fist.

"Scatter!" I bellowed. "It's about to rain."

A rift erupted from the hole I had just created and spread rapidly, widening with every second. Chunks of ceiling, planes, and rockets began to pound down, disintegrating the nearest Cyclops. Orion rushed up the stairs with crimson lacerations across his chest, carrying what appeared to be the fur of the Nemean Lion as a long jacket.

"Let's go!" Thalia yelled.

Percy glanced up at the chasms in the ceiling, filtering in winter sunlight. "Nice, Raiden! You really lit up the place with your skylights!"

"Thank you!" I shouted, smashing a ruined biplane.

"Is your hand okay?" Bianca yelled.

"It's fine! I think it's just broken!" I glanced back.

"How is that fine?"

"I've suffered worse!"

The seven of us rushed out of the museum, jumping and dodging raining rubble. Mortals screamed, scrambling for the exits, and security guards attempted to calm the crowd before fleeing themselves.

We exited the museum and piled into the van. I jumped into the driver's seat and slammed on the accelerator. I clutched the steering wheel with my left hand, and we careened away as emergency personnel screeched past.

"Wasn't there an easier way to defeat the monsters?" Thalia scowled. "Also, why are you driving with a broken hand?"

"Sure," I responded, "but we defeated the monsters didn't we?"

"Yes."

"Well then, there you go."

"But why did you have to destroy the museum? Why are you driving with a broken hand?"

"We don't have time for battles. We need to rescue Ainsley and Artemis. As for why I'm driving, it's because Orion will crash if he drives and Zoë wants me to!"

"One time," Orion grumbled. "We crashed One. Time."