Daughter of Magic (A Frank Zhang Fanfic)

VIII. Ancient Lands

I woke up a loud ass siren. I sat up suddenly and jumped out of bed. I raced out of bed, still in my pajamas. I grabbed my wooden bat on the way out. I rushed upstairs, joining the others on the way.

When I got to the deck, there was a cruise ship about hundred yards or so away. There was a bunch of tourists on the ship, watching us. They were waving and taking pictures.

I stared at it, trying to work with the Mist better. I almost gave myself a bloody nose standing there. The boat passed us quickly.

Hazel rubbed her eyes. "Where are - oh . . . wow."

I followed her gaze and placed my hands on my hips in astonishment. There was a mountain about a half mile or so away from us. This mountain was pretty impressive. I've seen the Cascades in Oregon and I had a vague memory of the mountains in Germany.

"The Rock of Gibraltar," I said. "We're at the tip of Spain. And over there -" I pointed towards the distant stretch of red hills. "That has to be Africa. We're in the Mediterranean."

"What not?" Piper asked. "Do we just go in?"

"Why not?" Leo said. "It's a shipping channel. Boats go in and out all the time."

"Not ships full of people like us," I pointed out.

"In the old days," Annabeth started, "they called this area the Pillars of Hercules. The Rock was supposed to be one pillar. The other one was in the Africa mountains. Nobody was sure which one."

"Hercules, huh?" I said. "That guy was like Starbucks. Everywhere you went - there he was."

The loud boom shook the ship. I dropped to the ground, looking around. The skies were clear and there weren't any ships around.

I stood up and looked around, lifting my bat a little. "So, these Pillars . . . are they dangerous?"

Annabeth kept her gaze on the cliffs. "For Greeks, the Pillars were marked as the known world. Romans said there was a Latin warning -"

"Non plus ultra," Percy said.

Annabeth looks surprised. "Yeah. Nothing Farther Beyond. How did you know."

Percy pointed. "Cause I'm looking at it."

I followed his finger and an island shimmered into reality. There wasn't an island there beforehand. There were two columns on it.

"Should we dip?" I asked nervously. "I think we should dip."

No one said anything. It was then I noticed the figure standing on the beach. He had dark hair and was in purple robes. He was giving the ship a very intent look.

"That's not . . ." I trailed off. "Is it? It can't. Is that who I think it is?"

"Yep," Jason said. "That's Hercules, the most powerful demigod of time."

I watched the figure. He wasn't doing anything, but he was giving the boat a strong look. He knew we were coming. Something bad was going to happen.

"Won't Hercules be on our side?" Piper hopefully asked. "I mean . . . he's on our side, right?"

I grunted. "He was a son of Zeus. When he died, he became a god. You can't be sure with gods like him."

"Great!" Percy said. "Eight of us against Hercules."

"And a satyr!" Hedge added. "We can take him."

"I got a better idea," Annabeth said. "We send some people down to the shore. Not many people - one or two at most. Talk to him."