Daughter of Kronos

Chapter 19

          The time came for Luke to begin his transformation. I could tell he was a bit reluctant, I would be too if I was about to offer my body up to a god, but he did a very good job of hiding it. A few days before, the Andromeda had docked near New Orleans. According to Luke, that was where it was the easiest to sneak in to the Underworld without having to go through security. (He had apparently already had some bad experiences at the entrance.)

          Early that morning, Luke and his small team took me into New Orleans. 

          "Let's have some fun before we die, shall we," a burly guy joked. I barely knew anyone's name on board - I was so busy training and had little time to socialize. 

         We strolled through the winding brick streets. It was just after sunrise, and already the city was coming to life. Horns honked, vendors shouted, and jazz musicians played at every corner with open cases. I had never seen anything like it. The city looked so old, yet so modern at the same time. Some streets and buildings looked decades old, while others looked like they were built yesterday. It was so different from Oklahoma. 

          Luke led the way to a cramped alleyway. The lean girl kicked an industrial sized dumpster. Before I knew what was going on, a man popped up from beneath the lid. He shook some stray wrappers off of him and climbed over the lid. 

          "Hello, Luke," the man drawled in his thick Southern accent. 

          "You have a banana peel on your head, Clark," Luke pointed out. 

          The trash can man, who was apparently named Clark, shook the peel off his head. He shook Luke's hand. Luke treated this man with more respect than the men in suits, despite the fact that he had literally crawled out of a dumpster moments before, doing who knows what. 

         "So, what ya need," Clark said. He apparently was a man of few words. 

         "We need to pay a visit to the Big H. Where did the entrance move to this time?" 

          Clark gave Luke some directions, and we followed Luke out of the alley. We trailed along the streets until we found the one we were looking for. Luke pointed at a rusty manhole. 

          "That's the one." 

         The burly guy's face scrunched up. "Are you sure this is the one? Do you have any idea how many people are in this city? And you want us to go into the sewer system?"

         "Man up, Dominic," the lean girl said. "It probably smells better than you anyways." 

          "Shut up, you two," Luke commanded. "I bet ten drachma every soul in the Underworld can hear both of you bickering." 

           The lean girl muttered something under her breath. I couldn't hear it, but based on her facial expression, it wasn't anything nice. It was probably a good thing that Luke couldn't hear her either. 

           He shoved Dominic and the lean girl into the manhole. Then he helped me down. It was only a short drop, and, to my surprise, my feet landed in the soft sands of a riverbank. 

          Luke popped down the manhole and took in our surroundings. "Well, would you look at that! I just can't believe our luck today guys! First Clark was actually helpful for once, and now were right where we need to be. What are the odds?"

          "Not very likely," retorted Dominic. I nodded in agreement. We were already pushing our luck by being here. It was a miracle some three-headed dog hadn't popped out of the bushes and eaten us alive yet. 

            We stood not far from the edge of a roaring river. A dying tree wilted over the banks, looking sad and lonely. Water rushed down the riverbed, forming mini white-capped waves like I'd seen before in the ocean. It was unlike any other river I'd ever seen. The waters were gray and mucky, like someone had poured gallons of oil into it. It kind of looked like the ocean after that really big oil spill a couple of years ago at BP. I'd seen that on the news. I wasn't sure what river this peculiar body of water was, so I waited for someone else to talk. I could find out by listening. 

             Luke gave a long, drawn out sigh, and ran his hands through his hair. "Well, gang. Let's do what we came here to do and then skedaddle."

            He waded into the water. It had to be cold and disgusting from the look on his face. Suddenly, a gust of water pushed him down into the current. He cried out. I tried to run after him to help, but the lean girl held me back. She shook her head at me sternly. 

          "He has to do this on his own."

         A little while later, Luke's head popped up over the current. "I'm fine," he yelled. "Don't worry about me!"

         Luke trudged through the waves. I knew what he was doing - he was becoming invincible - but I couldn't see a change in him at all. He didn't have a glowing aura or look super strong like I thought he would. He just looked...normal. Luke climbed onto the banks and shook the water out of his hair like a dog. 

          Speaking of dogs...did I hear barking in the distance? Dominic heard it too, apparently, because his head shot up.  

         "RUN," he shouted. The lean girl pulled my arm as we ran. I didn't look back to see what was following us. I heard big pounding footsteps and skull-shattering barks as we clambered up the ladder one at a time. 

          We all clambered out of the manhole, gasping. We got a few strange looks from pedestrians, but this was New Orleans, so I'm sure they were used to way crazier things. Luke slammed the manhole shut. From the bottom, we could hear muffled barks. 

         "What was that," I asked. 

        "A hellhound, probably," the lean girl answered. I still didn't know her name. "They live in the underworld, and can shadow travel. We need to get somewhere sunny, and fast."

          Luke, who looked paler than usual, didn't even object. "You're right, Angelica. We should get going. We need to get back to the Princess Andromeda  quickly." 

          We ran out of the city (Luke with a slight limp because he apparently wasn't reacting very well to becoming invincible-how ironic). Finally, we got to the dock where the Princess Andromeda was waiting and scrambled on board. Angelica (apparently that was her name) looked behind us frantically. 

        "I guess they let us get away? Weird."

        "Don't let it worry you," Luke said, cheerfully. He already looked much better than before. "The important thing is, we accomplished our mission and got out. Alive too, which is more than some can say." His voice wandered off. "Sam, why don't you go inside and wash up. It's getting late, and you haven't eaten yet. I'll be outside discussing what happened with Dom and Angelica."