Blood Of Poseidon

X. The Mountain of Despair

Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on thehorizon when they finally got into Marin County and exited the highway. Once Percy had defeated Thorn, A question had remained. How will they protect the Ophiotaurus? They all agreed Poseidon is their best call and had Percy pray to his father. They offered the Nemean lion pelt and some more other stuffs as offerings to Poseidon. In moments, A herd of Hippocampi arrived to escort the monster along with Triton and Rhode, Percy's half siblings. Once that problem was, they needed to figure out their transport. Hence they went to the Chase, Annabeth's family. The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn't slow down at all. "Why does everything smell like cough drops?" Percy asked. "Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around them. "The stuff koala bears eat?" "And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons." "Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?" Bianca asked. "Believe me," Zoe said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too." Ahead of them loomed Mount Tamalpais.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" Megan asked. "Yes," Zoe said tightly. "Why do they call it that?" Bianca asked. Zoe was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides." "We have to concentrate," Megan said. "The Mist is really strong here. ""The magical kind or the natural kind?" Thalia asked. "Both." The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and they kept driving straight toward them. They were out of the forest, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog. Percy glanced down at the ocean and saw something that made him jump out of his seat. "Look!" But they turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills. "What?" Thalia asked. "A big white ship," He said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship." Her eyes widened. "Luke's ship?" "We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos's army." Percy was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!" Zoe must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff. "Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed them hard. The three rolled onto the pavement. The next second: BOOOM! Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. "One shall perish by a parent's hand" Thalia muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?" "That couldn't have been Zeus's lightning bolt. No way." Percy tried. "Whose, then?" Thalia demanded. "I don't know. Zoe said Kronos's name. Maybe he—"Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it." "Wait," Percy said. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!" They three got up and ran around the blasted VW. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. He looked down the cliff. No sign of her. "Zoe!" He shouted. Then she was standing right next to him, pulling him by his arm. Bianca was near her. "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?" "Yeah, why was I even concerned?" Percy muttered. And Zoe glared at him. "I mean are we here?" "Very close," she said. "Follow me." Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. Thalia and I looked at each other. "Concentrate on Zoe," Megan advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind." "Wait, Thalia. You know that Zeus didn't send that lighting bolt at the car. Right? It was Kronos. He's trying to manipulate you, make you angry at your dad." She took a deep breath. "Percy, I know you're trying to make me feel better. Thanks. But come on. We need to go." "I know for a fact that it wasn't your father mentioned in the prophecy cause I-" Thalia didn't wait for him to complete. She stepped into the fog, into the Mist, and the others followed. When the fog cleared, they was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of them. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples. "The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus." She wanted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had a hundred heads. He appeared to be asleep.