nine
now boarding, bronze statue airlines

THE SKELETONS PASSED THROUGH A GROUP OF KIDS and pushed them aside. A kid yelled, "Hey!" One of the warriors turned, his face changing momentarily into a skull.

  "Ah!" the kid yelled, and his whole group backed away.

   This time Lennon was the one to grab Percy's hand and run for the visitor center. They were almost to the stairs when she heard tires squeal. On the west side of the dam, a black van swerved to a stop in the middle of the road, nearly plowing into some old people. The van doors opened and more skeleton warriors piled out. They were surrounded.

   Percy gripped her hand tighter as they bolted down the museum entrance. The security guard at the metal detector yelled, "Hey!" but neither had any time to even respond. They ran through exhibits before finally ducking behind a tour group.

  "Stop!" The metal-detector guy yelled.

   There was no place to go but into an elevator with the tour group. They both glanced at each other before ducking inside the elevator.

   "We'll be going down seven hundred feet," their tour guide said cheerfully. She was a park ranger, with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail and tinted glasses. "Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, the elevator hardly ever breaks."

   That was an unsettling thing to add, suddenly Lennon wanted to hold on to something for stability— in case the elevator does break.

   "Does this go to the snack bar?" Percy asked the tour guide. Lennon fought the urge to facepalm as a few people behind them chuckled and the tour guide looked at him oddly.

  "To the turbines, young man," the lady said. "Weren't you listening to my fascinating presentation upstairs?"

   "We were," Lennon nodded enthusiastically. "Very fascinating," The woman seemed pleased with her answer. "Is there another way out of the dam?"

   "It's a dead end," a tourist behind them said. "For heaven's sake. The only way out is the other elevator."

   The doors opened. "Go right ahead, folks," the tour guide told them. "Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor." They didn't have much choice but to go out with the group. "You two," the tour guide called. Lennon looked back to see the woman take off her glass. Her eyes were startlingly gray, a color that reminded her of Annabeth. "There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it."

  The doors closed with the tour guide still inside, leaving them alone. A ding came from around the corner, the sound of the second elevator opening. Lennon could hear the unmistakable sound of clattering skeleton teeth.

   As they ran after the tour group, Lennon realized that they were still holding hands. She and Percy eventually made it to a warehouse-like area, the large turbines thundered, making electricity. Another tour guide was talking over the microphone, telling the tourists about water supplies in Nevada.

  Percy looked to Lennon, "Got any ideas on how to get out?"

  She frowned. "Nope. You?"

  He shook his head. "Look around till we find something?"

  "Look around till we find something," she agreed.

   They worked their way around the crowd, finally reaching the other side of the balcony. They backed into a nearby hallway and watched the tunnel they'd come from. Then there was a sound like a skeleton's voice and they were immediately ready. Lennon snapped her hair tie and it elongated into a bow.

   Percy uncapped his pen/sword and slashed the skeleton, except it wasn't a skeleton. It was a girl with reddish-brown hair who yelped, dropping her Kleenex.

   "Oh my god!" she shouted. "Do you always kill people when they blow their nose?" Thank Hades the sword had passed through her harmlessly.

   "You're mortal!" Was all Percy said.

   She looked at him in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course, I'm mortal! How did you get that sword past security?"

   Lennon tilted her head in confusion. "You can see the sword?"

    The girl scoffed and rolled her green eyes (similar to the color of Percy's eyes, Lennon thought). She wore a big maroon Harvard sweatshirt and ripped mom jeans that were covered with paint marks.

   "Uh, yeah. And the bow, are you Robin hood or something?" She said, glancing at Lennon's bow and then back at Percy's sword. "Why didn't it hurt me? I mean, not that I'm complaining. Who are you two? And whoa, what is that you're wearing? Is that made of lion fur?"

   Lennon scrunched her brow and looked at Percy's jacket, it reverted back to fur. What was she talking about?

    Percy glanced at Lennon then back at the girl and snapped his fingers. "You don't see a sword. It's just a ballpoint pen." He was trying to manipulate the mist.

    The redhead blinked. "Um... no. It's a sword, weirdo."

    Manipulating the mist wouldn't work, it seems. "Look, this didn't happen." Lennon tried. "Maybe you're... uh, hallucinating the weapons,"

    The girl crossed her arms, "Are you trying to gaslight me?"

    Lennon opened her mouth in disbelief, "No? I mean, that wasn't the original intention," The girl only looked at her unconvinced.

    "Who are you?" Percy demanded.

    The redhead huffed indignantly. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Now, are you going to answer my questions or should I scream for security?"

    "No!" Percy said. "I mean, we're kind of in a hurry. We're in trouble."

    "In a hurry or in trouble?"

     After a beat, Percy and Lennon replied in unison, "Both,"

     Rachel looked behind them and her eyes widened. "Bathroom!"

    "What?"

    "Bathroom! Behind me! Now!"

    Lennon and Percy looked at each other in confusion as they slipped into the bathroom, leaving Rachel behind. They could hear the clattering, hissing sounds of skeletons as they came closer.

   Lennon flicked her bow down into a sword as Percy gripped his sword. They shouldn't have left Rachel weaponless with a bunch of homicidal skeletons. Then she starts talking.

   "Oh my god! Did you see those kids? It's about time you got here. They tried to kill me! He had a sword and she had a bow, for god's sake. You security guys let lunatics inside a national landmark? I mean, jeez! They ran that way toward those turbine thingies. I think they went over the side or something. Maybe they fell."

   The skeletons clattered excitedly and moved away.

   Rachel opened the door. "All clear. But you'd better hurry." She looked shaken.

   "Nice quick thinking," Lennon said to her.

   "Thanks," the girl sighed, running a hand down her face in exhaustion.

   Around the corner, three skeleton warriors were running toward the other end of the balcony. The way to the elevator was clear for a few seconds.

   "I owe you one, Rachel Elizabeth Dare," Percy said. "

   What are those things?" she asked. "They looked like—"

   "Skeletons?" Lennon provided.

   She nodded uneasily.

   "Do yourself a favor," Percy said. "Forget it. Forget you ever saw us,"

   "Forget you tried to kill me?"

   "Yeah. That, too."

   "But who are you?"

   "Percy and—"

   "Lennon," she finished his sentence.

   Then the skeletons turned around and Percy gripped her hand once more, "Gotta go!"

   "What kind of name is Lennon Gotta-go?" Rachel's voice was lost to the wind as they bolted for the exit.

Lennon would never have expected that she would find herself being flown through the air by two bronze statues. There's a first time for everything! Now, she wasn't scared of heights or anything but clinging to the arms of a giant bronze angel definitely couldn't be safe.

Eventually, they reached the West Coast. It was the destination of their quest but standing on the ferry dock with no idea what to do felt pretty anti-climatic. It was with a brief discussion that they decided they needed to figure out what the mystery monster was.

"But how?" Percy asked.

'Nereus," Grover said.

"What?"

"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do? Find Nereus?"

Percy nodded. "The old man of the sea. I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. But how do I find him?"

Zoë 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."

"Smell?" Lennon repeated in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked.

"Come," Zoë said without enthusiasm. "I will show thee."

They'd stopped at a Goodwill box where Zoë had outfitted Percy in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat. His face was hilarious.

"Oh, yeah," Grover said, trying not to bust out laughing, "you look completely inconspicuous now."

"It's definitely a disguise," Lennon shrugged giving him an unsure thumbs up.

Zoë 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. She pointed down the pier to the soup kitchen, where a huddle of homeless people was waiting for it to open for lunch.

"He will be down there somewhere," Zoë 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. And once I find him?"

"Grab 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 said. She picked something off the back of his 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."

Grover and Lennon gave him a big thumbs-up— Grover's was probably more convincing than Lennon's.

Percy grumbled again before turning his back to them and heading towards the dock.

"You got him!"

Catching the old sea god wasn't too hard. (Or maybe it was, Lennon and the others had only watched as Percy held onto Nereus while he turned into a whale)

"You don't have to sound so amazed," Percy said to Zoë.

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," Percy said.

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."

How could they ask all they needed to know with one question? Lennon could see Percy thinking it over as he glanced at them.

He 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 Percy's feet.

"Where?"

"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.

"Wait." Thalia's eyes widened. "What is that?"

"MOOOOOOOO!"

Lennon followed Thalia's gaze to see the cow serpent Percy had named Bessie. She nudged his shoe, 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." How did he get that out of a single Moo?

"Wait," Zoë said, looking at Percy. "You know this cow?"

"He was at the Hoover Dam," Lennon said.

Percy fidgeted impatiently as he told them the whole story.

Thalia shook her head in disbelief. "And you just forgot to mention this before?"

"Well... yeah."

"I am a fool," Zoë 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?" He 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. "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. Lennon couldn't help but frown. Poor Bessie sacrificed?

"How could anyone hurt him?" Percy said. "He's harmless."

Zoë 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"

Lennon looked at the cow with a puzzled look. "What would happen?"

"No one knows," Zoë 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. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head. Bessie shivered.

"We have to protect him," Percy said with determination. "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. They looked up. They'd been so busy talking, that they had allowed ourselves to be ambushed. Standing behind them, his two-color eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr. Thorn, the manticore himself.

"This is just pairrr-fect,"

Being ambushed by the stupid manticore from Westover Hall wasn't the highlight of Lennon's day. After he had his little villain monologue on how he'll feast on the flesh of half-bloods! (not a pretty image by the way), they all dashed down the pier and hid behind a souvenir kiosk.

Percy uncapped Riptide and slashed off the top of a water fountain. Water burst out of the busted pipe and sprayed all over them.

Thalia gasped as the water hit her. "Are you crazy?" she asked.

Grover began fishing through his pockets, pulling out a golden drachma which he threw into the rainbows created by the mist. "O goddess, accept my offering!"

"Camp Half-Blood!" Percy said.

There, in the shimmering mist, was Mr.D. He was wearing his leopard-skin jogging suit and rummaging through the refrigerator.

He looked up lazily. "Do you mind?"

"Where's Chiron!" Percy shouted.

"How rude." Mr. D took a swig from a jug of grape juice. "Is that how you say hello?"

"Hello," Percy tried again. "We're about to die! Where's Chiron?"

Mr. D considered his words. "About to die," He mused. "How exciting. I'm afraid Chiron isn't here. Would you like me to take a message?"

"Mr. D, we really do need help. Like, right now!" Lennon spoke urgently.

He blinked at her. "Is that sass, Lemon Tart?"

She blinked right back at him, "Uh... no?"

Percy looked at them. "We're dead."

Thalia gripped her spear. "Then we'll die fighting."

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

Percy told him about the Ophiotaurus.

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

"You don't even care!" Percy screamed. "You'd just as soon watch us die!"

"Let's see," Mr. D said, ignoring his outburst. "I think I'm in the mood for pizza tonight."

Lennon let out an exhale of disbelief. She should be surprised but this is Mr.D, he'd never seemed to care about the demigods he'd been put in charge of.

The manticore screamed, "There!" And they were surrounded. Two of the guards stood behind him. 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," he said. He glanced at the apparition in the mist and snorted.

"Alone, without any real help. Wonderful."

Mr.D murmured something to Percy. Zoe readied her arrows. Grover lifted his pipes. Thalia raised her shield. Lennon had already summoned her weapon, flicking her bow down for her sword to appear. She pushed her fear to the back of her head. They were cornered and there was a small chance they could get out of this. But she would fight, fight until she couldn't.

Percy muttered something to Mr.D.

The manticore grinned. "Spare the daughter of Zeus. She will join us soon enough. Kill the others."

The men raised their guns, and something strange happened. There was a rush all around Lennon and then a sound like a huge sigh. The sunlight was tinged with purple. She could smell grapes and something more sour, like wine.

SNAP!

It was the sound of madness. 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.

"No!" screamed the manticore. "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, and Lennon had a chilling feeling that somewhere inside there, the manticore was no more.

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

Percy stared at him, horrified. "How could you... How did you—"

"Such gratitude," he muttered. "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 said. "Can you get it to camp?"

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

"But where do we go?" Lennon asked.

Dionysus looked at Zoë. "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 said. Mr. D raised his eyebrow. "You called me by my right name. 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'?"

The color in her skin had trained. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate. In the distance, a single mountain rose above the cloud layer. "The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."

AUTHORS NOTE:
well hello.... this chapter has actually been done for a while but i didn't realize. sorry for disappearing but here's this!