For the first time, I used my blade for real. But I looked like a fool getting it out.
I fumbled with my pack furiously, brushing away pink, sweet-smelling dust that Aphrodite probably put in there, and had to dig my way through to find my sword. And by that time, everyone had regrouped.
The boys had been worked at pretty well, too. Leo was decked out more like me, like a popular actor seen on the covers of magazines all the time. He had a snazzy fedora, sunglasses, a black vest with a white shirt underneath, and snazzy black pants and boots. Both Percy and Phillip were like Sophia, and looked a lot more Greek.
An accurate description of Percy would be a 'Greek male model.' He was decked out in a dark blue toga, with laurel leaves behind his ears. And I think his eyes shone a little bit greener.
Phillip was a lot more war-like than the rest of us. He actually looked appropriate for the situation we'd met. He wore a gold chestplate, and his sword had upgraded. He also fashioned a gold plated fauld that fit well with the chestplate, and chain mail. And to add to that, he'd already gained a few good claw marks. He looked more like offspring of Ares, then.
I was brought back to business by gaining a claw mark, myself. Right across the cheek, but it quickly went away. I felt Aphrodite had something to do with it.
I finally unsheathed my blade, and held it up unsteadily. I wasn't exactly pro with it yet. Sophia, however, was firing ten arrows at a time with her rad bow.
I finally worked up my courage, and swung my blade at a Fury flying over my head. I missed, though. They were as quick as a blink. Just great.
There were at least three of them, flying over our heads as if they were going to pick us up by the shirtcollars and carry us off. They never did, but it looked like they tried.
I later found out that they had brought along a huge reinforcement. They screeched some things that sounded like they were trying to speak, but I didn't speak Fury, unfortunately. Everyone else didn't seem to understand, either, and kept fighting. Two Furies were stabbed into dust, but the remaining two kept flying around and clawing us and screeching.
When they finally flew off, I was slightly confused, and lowered my blade. That's when he showed up.
He was huge, with two curved horns on top of his head that were even bigger. He looked like a way overgrown, massive walking bull-man. And his bellow nearly made my eardrums explode.
"You again!" I heard Percy yell.
He couldn't see very well, but he could very much hear and smell us. So his swings at us with his horns and meaty arms were nearly too accurate.
I poked and jeered at him with my blade, but he dodged them rather easily. He wasn't dangerously swift, but he was fast. And massive.
Not even Sophia's celestial bronze arrows destroyed him. They either missed, or he swatted them away like flies. I knew somewhere inside that we were doomed.
It was then, just after Leo had been knocked down and Phillip was losing strength, that the Minotaur made a grunting noise like he'd just been gutted and stopped suddenly. He then exploded into a poof of dust, and where he once stood, some gothic guy about my age had taken his place.
He sheathed his sword, and looked at us all with a smirk. "Wow.. you guys are whipped."
Percy stared the stranger down, as if trying to decipher who he was. I had a feeling that they knew each other. And the stranger responded with an arched eyebrow and hard stare.
Leo stood up from where he'd been knocked down, and looked around. He was as white as a ghost. And then he fell back down in a dead faint. Too much action for the poor guy.
Sophia nearly lost it. "Leo!" She screeched, then ran to his side. Just so she wouldn't be the only one worried, I ran to his aid as well.
Sophia shook his shoulders furiously. When that didn't work, she slapped him across the face. "Wake up."
He finally regained consciousness, and looked up at Sophia, in a daze. "A-am I dead? Are you an angel?"
"No, it's Sophia." She explained.
".. oh."
She helped him back to his feet, and he finally saw the newcomer. "Nico!" He grinned like a little kid, to which the stranger (who I think was Nico) looked horrified.
"Amath," Percy said. "I don't think you've met him yet. This is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades."
'Were all Hades kids gothic?' I began to wonder. I later learned that he wasn't gothic. But he - almost - looked it.
He wore a black aviators jacket and black jeans with a studded belt. His hair was a shoulder-length black, and his eyes were a very deep, darkish brown. I could tell he'd seen quite a few things in his day.
I looked back at the prophecy. 'To meet a demigod along the way.'
"Do you think he's the one in the prophecy?" I mused, glancing at Percy, then Nico.
"Which line?"
"'To meet a demi along the way."
Percy looked over him hard, thinking. I could almost see the gears and wires turning.
"Maybe."
"I don't have to join you people, do I?"
"I believe you do, pretty boy." I teased, with a wink.
"Okay," He replied, almost monotonously, then shook his head as if shrugging something off his mind. "I mean-"
"You're coming along," Leo insisted.
"You know? Fine. I'll tag along on this 'quest' of yours. But I'm staying in the back." He growled, glaring at Leo.
"Fine by me," Percy replied, brushing dust off his toga.
They acted so bitter toward each other, I realized. Either they were in a bad mood, or they had some sort of history of muttering and snapping at each other.
Sophia opened her pack to check and see if everything was still there. She was greeted by a poof of the sweet-smelling pink dust in the face. Brushing it away, she gave the approval that everything was there. "We should continue today, see if we find a town or something."
"Okay," I felt myself reply, but I didn't will it. It was strange, it seemed the same happened when I talked to Nico.
"All in favor of continuing, say 'I.'" Percy said, looking at us all.
"I," replied everyone but Nico. I guess he'd just follow.
"Let us be on our way, then." Percy shouldered his bag, and went in the direction of west.
Off we headed once again, hoping to find civilization soon.
