Chapter 192 - A god named Fred

An hour later, they were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now because they all got their own luxury car. Zoë and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Grover was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. And Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C. Percy joined her in the car. Percy had returned the Nemean's Lion fur to Drako since he didn't need it inside the car.

Drako just sat at the front of the train. He was taking his time to think about his girls back on home; he was already missing them. He wondered what were they doing right now.

"How should I call you? Apollo?"

Drako turned to the homeless guy from the rail yard, who was sitting by his side. His jeans were so worn out; they were almost white. His coat was ripped, with stuffing coming out. He looked kind of like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck.

He put his finger to his lips. "I'm incognito. Call me Fred."

"A god named Fred?"

"Eh, well… Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody."

"Can you help us, then?"

"Shhh. I already have. Haven't you been looking outside?"

"The train. How fast are we moving?"

Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least."

"But where is Artemis?"

His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's… clouded from me. I don't like it."

"And Annabeth?"

He frowned. "Oh, you mean that lost girl? Hmm. I don't know."

"What about the monster Artemis is seeking?" Drako asked. "Do you know what it is?"

"No," Apollo said. "But there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure from my Oracle."

"But it's your Oracle," Drako protested. "Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?"

Apollo sighed. "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search."

"In other words, you don't know."

Apollo checked his watch. "Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Drako, but hear me this time! Get some sleep!"

Drako wanted to protest, saying that he wasn't tired, but Apollo snapped his fingers, and the next thing he knew was that he was closing his eyes.

Even at that moment, Drako couldn't help but feel the difference between him and Apollo. He had been sent to sleep with one gesture!

…

In his dream, he was somebody else. Drako was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic, which was a little to breezy downstairs, and laced leather sandals. The Nemean Lion's skin was wrapped around his back like a cape, and he was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping his hand.

"Hurry!" she said. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but he could hear the fear in her voice. "He will find us!"

It was night-time. A million stars blazed above. They were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, and yet the girl was leading him through it, as if they were about to die.

"I'm not afraid," Drako tried to tell her.

"You should be!" she said, pulling him along. She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight.

They raced up the side of the hill. She pulled him behind a thorn bush and they collapsed, both breathing heavily. Drako didn't know why the girl was scared. The garden seemed so peaceful. And Drako felt strong. Stronger than he'd ever felt before.

"There is no need to run," he told her. His voice sounded different, deeper. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."

"Not this one," the girl said. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way."

The hurt in her voice surprised Drako. She was really concerned, almost like she cared about him.

"I don't trust your father," he said.

"You should not," the girl agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die."

Drako chuckled. "The why don't you help me, pretty one?"

"I… I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out… they would disown me."

"Then there's nothing for it." Drako stood up, rubbing his hands together.

"Wait." The girl said.

She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.

"Take it," she told him. "And make of it a weapon."

Drako laughed. "A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It may not," she admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist in being stubborn."

The girl's voice softened his heart. He reached down and took the hairpin, and as he did, it grew longer and heavier in his hand, until he held a familiar bronze sword.

"Well balanced," he said. "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name thi blade?"

"Anaklusmos," the girl said sadly. "The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."

Before Drako could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl said, "Too late! He is her"!

...…

"Hey, wake up!"

"Zoë?" Drako asked, still thinking about the dream he just had.

"The train's stopped. Come on!" She said. "What is with that look on your face? It's disgusting."

Drako looked at Percy, who was talking with Grover. On his hand, he held the pen that transformed into a weapon, Riptide.

Anaklusmos, the Ancient Greek name for Riptide. A different form, but he was sure it was the same blade he'd seen in the dream.

And he was sure of something else, too. The girl he had seen was Zoë Nightshade.

He remembered Chiron's word, saying the Zoë disliked Percy for that sword. Now, it makes sense.

Drako rose. "Come on, we still have a lot to do."

................................

They'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

They had only four day until they reached winter solstice.

They stopped in the middle of the town. They could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you two get us some food. Percy, Drako, Bianca, and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

They agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with them, but she did.

Inside the store, they found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car.

And, obviously, Golden Drive wasn't enough for all the group.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."

The clerk looked so lonely; Percy bought a rubber rat. Then, they headed back outside and stood on the porch.

"Wonderful," Thalia grumped. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."

"But the clerk said—"

"I know," she told me. "I'm checking anyway."

They let her go. Drako knew how it felt to be restless. All half-bloods had attention deficit problems because of their inborn battlefield reflexes. They couldn't stand just waiting around. Also, he had a feeling Thalia was upset because of her conversation with Percy.

Bianca and Percy stood together awkwardly while… Drako was chilling. Drako didn't even seemed to notice the awkward situation, he just closed his eyes contemplate about that dream.

"Nice rat," she said at last.

"So… how do you like being a Hunter so far?" Percy asked.

She pursed her lips. "You're not still mad at me for joining, are you?"

"Nah. Long as, you know… you're happy."

"I'm not sure 'happy' is the right word, with Lady Artemis gone. But being a Hunter is definitely cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality."

Drako didn't believe what he hearing, so he just ignored the two kids.

Less than a week being immortal and you already feel it?

LMAO.

Well, at least she was different than before. More confident, more at peace. She didn't hide her face under a green cap anymore. She kept her hair tied back, and she looked right in the eyes when she spoke.

"Nico didn't understand my decision," Bianca murmured.

"He'll be all right," Drako intervened. "Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids."

"They did that for Annabeth back then," Percy added.

Bianca nodded. "I hope we find her. Annabeth, I mean. She's lucky to have a friend like you."

"Lot of good it did either."

"Don't blame yourself, Percy. You risked your life to save my brother and me. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like you there, Nico would be fine. You're a good guy."

The compliment took Percy by surprise. "Even though I knocked you down in capture the flag?"

She laughed. "Okay. Except for that, you're a good guy."

A couple hundred yards away, Grover and Zoë came out of the coffee shop loaded down with pastry bags and drinks. Drako didn't want them to come back yet. It was weird, but he realized he liked talking to Bianca and Percy. They wasn't bad. A lot easier to hang out with than Zoe, anyway.

"So what's the story with you and Nico?" Drako asked her. "Where did you go to school before Westover?"

She frowned. "I think it was a boarding school in D.C. It seems like so long ago."

"You never lived with your parents? I mean, your mortal parent?"

"We were told our parents were dead. There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school."

"Why?"

She knit her eyebrows. "We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We travelled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks. And then… I don't know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up to Maine. And we started going to Westover."