Blood Of Poseidon

VI. The General

"Going somewhere?" A voice asked. A man 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. God alert! Blackjack yelled. It's the wine dude! Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'wine dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!" "But you're the god of wine making you the ultimate wine dude," Percy smirked. "But seriously, 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." "I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse, and see how heroic you sound on the way down." "Okay, I didn't inform you, my mistake. But does that make it offensive enough to trap me here above a building? Seriously, Mr.D, I have to go on this quest! I've got to help my friends. That's something you wouldn't understand!" Purple flames flickered in his eyes. Um, boss, Blackjack said nervously. Seeing as how we're wrapped in vines nine hundred feet in the air, you might want to talk nice. The grape vines coiled tighter around Percy. Below them, 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?" "Whatever it is I don't care. But can you finish it faster." Mr. D sneered. "Theseus had promised here he would marry her to get the magical yarn. He took her aboard his ship and sailed for Athens. Halfway back, on a little island called Naxos, he... What's the word you mortals use today?... he dumped her. I found her there, you know. Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out. She had given up everything, left everything she knew behind, to help a dashing young hero who tossed her away like a broken sandal." "Okay I admit that's a wrong thing to do," Percy said. "But that was thousands of years ago. What's that got to do with me?" Mr. D regarded him coldly. "I fell in love with Ariadne, boy. I healed her broken heart. And when she died, I made her my immortal wife on Olympus. She waits for me even now. I shall go back to her when I am done with this infernal century of punishment at your ridiculous camp." Percy stared at him. "You're... you're married? But I thought you got in trouble for chasing a wood nymph—" "My point is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then you betray everyone around you. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoe Nightshade." "What do you mean, ask Zoe?" He waved his hand dismissively. "Go. Follow your silly friends." The vines uncurled around Percy's legs. He blinked in disbelief. "You're... you're letting me go? Just like that?" Dionysus snapped his fingers. His image folded up like a paper display. There was a pop and he was gone, leaving a faint scent of grapes that was quickly blown away by the wind. "The prophecy says at least two of you will die. Perhaps I'll get lucky and you'll be one of them. But mark my words, Son of Poseidon, live or die, you will prove no better than the other heroes."

Too close, Blackjack said. Percy nodded agreeingly. "Come on, Blackjack," He said, "I'll buy you some donuts in New Jersey." As it turned out, He didn't buy Blackjack donuts in New Jersey. Zoe drove south like a crazy person, and They were into Maryland before she finally pulled over at a rest stop. Blackjack darn near tumbled out of the sky, he was so tired. I'll be okay, boss, he panted. Just... just catching my breath. "Stay here," Percy told him. "I'm going to scout." 'Stay here' I can handle. I can do that. Percy put on Annabeth's cap of invisibility and walked over to the convenience store. It was difficult not to sneak. He thought to go inside and warm up, maybe get a cup of hot chocolate or something. But his whole plan was ruined by Zoe, Thalia, Bianca, and Megan all coming out of the store. "Megan, are you sure?" Thalia was saying. "Well... pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. The locater spell works perfectly unless there isn't any magic tampering around" "And you did this with coffee powder?" Bianca asked, like she couldn't believe it. And Megan looked offended. "It's a time-honored tracking spell. I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right." "D.C. is about sixty miles from here," Bianca said. "Nico and I..." She frowned. "We used to live there. That's... that's strange. I'd forgotten." "I dislike this," Zoe said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west." "Oh, like your tracking skills are better?" Thalia growled. Zoe stepped toward her. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!" "Oh, scullion You're calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?" "Whoa, you two," Megan interfered. "Come on. Not again!" "Megan's right," Bianca said. "D.C. is our best bet." Zoe didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Let us keep moving." "You're going to get us arrested, driving," Thalia grumbled. "I look closer to sixteen than you do." "Perhaps," Zoe snapped. "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go."