Scarred Siblinghood - A Percy Jackson And The Titan's Curse Fanfiction

8 - The General Needs Some Tylenol and a Hot Pad

The thing about flying on a pegasus during the daytime is that if you're not careful, you can cause a serious traffic accident on the Long Island Expressway. Percy had to keep Blackjack up in the clouds, which were, fortunately, pretty low in the winter.

I flew on my own, my wings beating through the air. I prayed that Zeus wouldn't blast me out of the sky.

We darted around, trying to keep the white Camp Half-Blood van in sight. And if it was cold on the ground, it was seriously cold in the air, with icy rain stinging my skin.

We lost the van twice, but we had a pretty good sense that they would go into Manhattan first, so it wasn't too difficult to pick up their trail again. Traffic was bad with Christmas Holidays and all. It was mid-morning before they got into the city. Percy landed Blackjack near the top of the Chrysler Building, and I stood beside and watched the white camp van, thinking it would pull into the bus station, but it just kept driving.

"Where's Argus taking them?" Percy muttered.

"Beats me," I replied.

"Which girl?" Percy asked, "Zoe?"

"What are you two talking about?" I inquired.

"Argus isn't driving, Zoe is," Percy explained.

The van kept snaking its way toward the Lincoln Tunnel. It had never even occurred to me that Zoe could drive. I mean, she didn't look sixteen. Then again, she was immortal. I wondered if she had a New York license, and if so, what her birth date said.

"Well," I said. "Let's get after them." We were about to leap off the Chrysler Building when Blackjack whinnied in alarm and almost threw Percy. I gave a yell; something was curling around my leg like a snake. I reached for my khopesh, but when I looked down, there was no snake. Vines-grape vines-had sprouted from the cracks between the stones of the building. They were wrapping around Blackjack's legs, lashing down Percy's ankles so they couldn't move, and grabbing me.

"Going somewhere?" Mr. D asked. He was leaning against the building with his feet levitating in the air, his leopard-skin warm-up suit and black hair whipping around in the wind.

Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!"

"Mr. D." I tried to keep my voice calm as the grape vines continued to wrap around my legs. "What do you want?"

"Oh, what do I want? You thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you leaving without permission?"

"Well... maybe," Percy muttered.

"I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse, and see how heroic you sound," Mr. D stated.

I looked up at the sky nervously, "Don't talk about that. The only thing keeping Zeus from blasting me out of the air right now is the belief I'm collecting someone's soul."

"Why do you hate us so much? What did we ever do to you?" Percy demanded.

Purple flames flickered in his eyes. "You're heroes. I need no other reason."

"I have to go on this quest! I've got to help my friends. That's something you wouldn't understand!" I growled.

The grape vines coiled tighter around me. Below us, the white van was getting farther and farther away. Soon it would be out of sight.

"Did I ever tell you about Ariadne?" Mr. D asked. "Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a young hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magical yarn that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?"