The Daughter Of Olympus

Chapter 6: The Warning

The sky had clouded over and rain had started pouring down onto the city of...wherever they were. The limo was speeding by buildings so fast that the concept of still being in New York was like Hades giving candy to children. Zan looked outside the windows at the shops and houses whizzing by. They might have been in the Pennsylvania countryside, at least that's what it looked like with the cows and horses grazing the large fields, surrounding houses isolated by the large amounts of land.

It had been an hour since they had left the minotaur in the capable hands of Ambrosius. Zan hadn't known Ambrosius for very long, but she knew that he would be able to take on that minotaur, and probably dozens like it, single handedly. Obviously the old man could kick butt, but when Zan glanced at Nick, he didn't look as convinced. He was staring at the color changing floor, fumbling with his fingers.

Nick hadn't spoken during the entire ride, and neither had anyone else- except for Jasper. He had violin music playing on the speakers which was definitely not correspondent with the flashing lights and bubbling liquids. He hummed along and occasionally watched them from the rearview mirror as if checking if everything was alright. Right now his focus was on Nick.

"Nickolas, we both know how capable your grandfather is, you can't possibly be worried."

"I know." Nick muttered, not sounding convinced.

"I'm honestly more worried about what Ambrosius would do to the minotaur after it rudely entered the house without asking." Jasper said, smiling. Nick cracked a small smile. Mission accomplished.

"So where are we headed?" Zan asked, Jasper readjusted his mirror.

"Well, Ambrosius gave me directions to a house in Ohio." He said. Zan nodded and continued to look out the window. Under normal circumstances, she would have been worried that she was in a limo with two guys she barely met, and a girl who could easily kill her, but the rules of the normal world didn't apply here.  

Suddenly a sign flashed by the window, it went by too fast for Zan to see. She looked at Luna, who was glaring out the window with her arms crossed. Luna's head suddenly snapped to look at Jasper's reflection.

"You said Ohio, right?" Luna asked suspiciously, still glaring.

"Yes."

"Oh ok, well how come a sign welcoming us to New Jersey just passed by?"

"You must be mistaken, it was going much too fast for you to read."

"I've lived in New Jersey and traveled these roads many, many times. I need a sign as much as you need a GPS. Spill before I slit your-"

"Yes, we're going to New Jersey." He said calmly, "It's simply a small side trip, nothing to worry about."

"So you lied?"

"No, I said Ambrosius gave me directions to go to Ohio, I never said we were going."  

"What is it with you two and indirect answers?" Luna grumbled.  Maybe normal rules do apply here. Zan thought, glancing at Luna who had her hand on her sword hilt.

"It's sort of a defense mechanism." Nick said.

"You mean kidnapping mechanism." Luna replied, raising an eyebrow. Nick ignored her and turned to Jasper.

"Where are we going?"

"To find a map to Camp Half Blood."  

 ___________

Hercules stood high above the massive group of monsters that continued as far as the eye could see. He had once been loved by all, known by all, talked about by all. Now he was a nobody, no one talked about him, they spoke only of Percy Jackson and his group of heros. His pictures in olympus had been replaced by pictures of Jason Grace and his sister Thalia. Hercules was fading, and it was all Zeus's fault for putting him on that wretched island, and not letting him live with the gods, or lead the camp of half bloods. It was all his fathers fault, and Hercules would get his revenge. He would fight for his name to be brought back to first place, or he would die trying. He cleared his throat.

"The gods have brought misfortune upon us for many, many years. Now, as we approach the lands of their children, we will plot their deaths. You will kill them just as I once killed you!" He shouted above the growls of the monsters. The monsters gave a hesitated cheer, not enjoying being reminded of their embarrassingly quick deaths.

"Aye, Black Bottom!" a voice yelled from within the crowd. Monsters shuffled aside as a small creature made it's way to the front. Hercules watched as a dwarf who was four feet tall, and had chimp like feet (Basically if a dwarf and a monkey had a baby, this would be him) pushed past the minotaurs and cyclops as if they were human. He wore pants with bright red suspenders that went over a flannel shirt.

"Akmon the cercopes," Hercules said, "how dare you call me 'Black Bottom'."  

"You didn't care when I called you black bottom all those years ago, infact, you laughed with me!" he grinned, Hercules sighed.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Well, I just thought you should know that you have some competition." The cercopes said, smiling mischievously.

"What? The campers? Jason? Percy? I can take them all with my army!" Hercules said, causing the crowd to start up. The cercopes clicked his tongue.

"Nope. There's someone else." he leaned against a minotaur who didn't seem to care, "I heard some nymphs talking about a warrior sent from the gods who's getting an army. They're gonna fight you and destroy you."

"A warrior?" Hercules laughed, "The gods wouldn't know a warrior if he slapped them in the face. I would know, I tried!"

"Whatever. I'm just saying."

"How do I know you aren't lying?"

"Why would I lie to you?" the cercopes asked. The monsters laughed. Cercopes are known for lying, stealing, and being just plain immature. The cercopes laughed too, he knew it was true. "I owe you. You didn't kill me during our last acquaintance."

"Either way, we're ready. Nothing can stop me. Look around you, no warrior could defeat this. Tell me, what's the name of the poor little boy who's going to painfully die." Hercules said. The cercopes rolled his eyes, This guy inherited Zeus's overconfidence. he thought, waking up closer to Hercules.

"I don't know the name, but what I do know is that it'll be something that you won't be expecting." He said, now stopping in front of him.      

"Is that a challenge?" Hercules's eyes narrowed.

"No. It's a warning." he whispered into Hercules's ear, then bounded off back into the army.  A bead of sweat made its way down Hercules's face. A warning?  

His worried expression faded as a realization overcame him.This warrior was new, and no one, not even himself could learn enough by the time the army of monsters attacked. There's nothing an amateur could do to the vast army of the Tartarus.