Lord of the Eclipse

17 | Percy Jackson is Here

"What in Hades is that?"

The daughter of Athena frowned slightly, her hand slipping onto the sheath of her celestial bronze dagger.

Just a few feet away from the small group, in the middle of the dam, was a creature that none of the demigods have ever seen. It was bizarre; the creature had the top half of what looked like a small calf, and the bottom was, well, a sea serpent. It was quite cute in its own way.

But Perseus could only stare at the majestic cow-serpent, mouth slightly agape in shock. He had heard about it, of course, but it was a myth. Well, he thought to himself glumly, I should be a myth too, and yet here I am. But this? It was the sort of creature that the elder mythical deities would tell the younger immortal generations as a bed time story of some sort. It wasn't supposed to exist.

"That's the Ophiotaurus," the god said weakly. It was a beautiful creature, really, but it was dangerous; no matter how innocent-looking it is. "I must bring it to a safe place immediately,"

A small disapproving frown appeared on the face of Zoë, but she just shrugged. "Thou art to do what thou must,"

"In the middle of a quest?" Grover squeaked. "When there are currently undead soldiers in our trail? Yes, that's an amazing idea."

Perseus narrowed his eyes at them.

"You do not understand," he seethed. "The Ophiotaurus is the most valuable creature in the hands of the enemy!"

"Well, then, Mr.Know-It-All, would you care to elaborate?" Annabeth scowled, her stormy grey eyes hardened and unwavering. It annoyingly reminded Perseus so much of Athena.

"Not right now. Not when there's too much potential spies eavesdropping. I will be back; I promise. I will only be gone for a few minutes at most,"

Then the lord of the Eclipse turned on his heel and promptly leapt over the railings, gracefully diving into the dam.

"Well," Phoebe said, chuckling. "Ever so dramatic, he has to be."

"We should rest up and get some food," Annabeth murmured, shaking her head slightly. "And, I guess, wait for him to return. Assuming that he actually does,"

"Do not have so little faith in him, demigod." Zoë sighed, glancing briefly at the railings, as if the god would return in a mere matter of seconds.

"We should get going before the Spartus arrive," Phoebe said, her eyes darting from one mortal to another.

"The what?" Grover yelped, his face pale. "That's what's been following us?"

The hairs on the back of Annabeth's neck stood, and she immediately unsheathed her dagger.

"Let's go and see this damn snack bar now. Perseus can probably do some sort of godly grand entrance later on," she said, walking into the small shop before anyone could protest. The hunters and the satyr had no choice but to follow.

———————

Perseus was lost as he stumbled along the crowd of humans. They seemed to be going in all different directions, and he had no idea where he was supposed to be headed. Everywhere he looked, he spotted undead skeletal monsters wearing mathing dull grey outfits.

At the road down at the east side of the dam were two men who were walking slowly towards him, their skin almost translucent, showing the outline of their skulls and bones. They each had complex looking sticks slung over their shoulders.