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FIC: The Golden Fleece, chpt 4
Title: The Golden Fleece (Daughter of Wisdom 2)
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Tyson, Luke Castellan, Clarisse La Rue, Chiron, Thalia Grace, various others, Gen
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Summary: Annabeth Chase returns to Camp Half-Blood to find the safety of her home shattered: Thalia's tree has been poisoned, destroying the magic barriers protecting the camp, and Chiron is blamed. Only one thing can save the camp, and it's up to Annabeth and her best friend Percy to find it. The problem is, they set off with a monster in tow. Once again, the quest and the surprises it has in store is about to change everything she thinks she knows. An alternate PoV retelling of Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: My Sushi Tastes Like Acid
Rating: PG
Characters: Annabeth Chase, OC
Word Count: 2,963
Chapter Summary: Annabeth runs in to save a demigod from monsters, but ends up springing a trap.
Back to Fic Content Page
I awoke to the sound of an argument.
A pair of sibilant voices were getting louder as they approached.
'We're not going to find the Princess Andromeda here, you idiot!' said a raspy, vaguely female-sounding voice. 'I tell you, we took a wrong turn.'
'It's close,' the other insisted. This one was deeper, more hoarse, and also emphasised its S'es more. 'I smell demigod.'
I froze. Slowly, quietly, I strapped my backpack onto my shoulder and crouched on my branch, ready to move quickly if I needed to. My bronze dagger, hidden up my sleeve, seemed to tingle against my skin, as if reminding me it was there if I needed it.
'Your nose is stuffed up,' the first voice said dismissively. I still couldn't see the monsters, though I studied the river bank around me carefully. Nothing seemed to be stirring in the dim morning light.
Then the creature continued, 'It's all the muck in this water. Blasted humans and their pollution. It's staining my Donna Karan, look!'
I turned my gaze to the river. Sure enough, two large shadows were gliding along the surface of the water. When they got closer, I could see that they had serpent-like necks rising up from bodies that from this angle looked only like dark shapes in the water. The skin of their necks was scaly. It shimmered such that it wasn't any distinct colour but a shifting blend of green, blue, and orange shades. They had raptor-like heads crowned with a plume of bright red. One of them tested the air with a forked tongue. The other yawned, revealing a row of crooked but sharp yellow teeth.
'We're obviously up a river,' Forked-Tongue said in her raspy voice. 'You're a miserable excuse for a ketea if you can't tell that.' My mind automatically translated the Greek: sea serpent. 'We should have gone up the coast. That's where we'll find the Princess Andromeda.'
The name was familiar. She was an an ancient princess, I remembered, who'd been chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster-at least until the Greek hero Perseus had saved her. I wondered who the modern day Andromeda was. I hoped she was good and hidden.
'I tell you, I smell demigod,' Yellow-Teeth hissed.
My hand closed around the hilt of my dagger. I could feel my heart rate increasing. The ketea glided on, however, not stopping. I waited, barely breathing …
'There!' Yellow-Teeth cried out.
Forked-Tongue let out an excited-sounding breath. Her tongue whipped about in the air. 'You're right! Breakfast time,' she said.
The ketea exchanged a look. Then they started charging forward with powerful strokes of their tails.
It wasn't me they'd noticed. I could have made my getaway then, while they were focused on their prey.
But there was a demigod upriver who was about to be in serious trouble.
I climbed down my tree, picked my way through my broken glass trap, and started sprinting up along the river bank, following the wake of the ketea.
A short way upriver, I heard a strange spitting sound, like a shot out of a water gun, followed by a sizzling noise. Thinking it was perhaps the demigod the ketea were after fighting them off, I sped up. I passed a rusty old bicycle hooked up to a wagon and then burst into a clearing. A big rock sat in the centre and someone was lashed to it. It wasn't a girl, though, as I'd expected, but a man in a pin-striped business suit.
The ketea were coming up from the river, moving slower now as they balanced on spindly legs that seemed too frail to hold up their massive bodies. Their powerful tails pushed against the ground behind them, steadying them as they crawled along. Now that they were out of the water, I could see that they were wearing well-fitted blouses over their upper halves. Forked-Tongue's was elegant peach silk with an oily-looking stain around the base. Yellow-Teeth had a vintage sort of design, and a set of ornate rings adorned his tail.
Both ketea stopped suddenly before they reached the man on the rock.
'What is that?' Forked-Tongue said.
A two-headed creature was waddling towards them. It was about the size of a duck and its four legs did end in webbed feet, but the two necks that sprouted from its body each ended in a scaly head with pointed ears and stubby horns. One head opened its mouths and spat a jet of acid straight at the ketea. The jet made a sizzling noise when it hit Yellow-Teeth in the chest.
'That's vintage Oscar de la Renta!' Yellow-Teeth howled. He looked down at the little acid hole in his blouse and the singed ring around it. 'You'll pay for that.' He took a deep breath, opened his mouth wide, and breathed out a column of fire at the two-headed duck creature.
The tiny monster let out a squawk of terror and ran from the flames. It hid behind the rock. The man strapped to it groaned and shouted, 'Noooo!'
I gathered my wits quickly. The little monster was distracting the ketea for now-Yellow-Teeth was trying to chase it, but his progress was slow and lumbering-but they would turn their attention to the poor man tied to the rock soon enough. I leapt up onto Forked-Tongue's back. Before she could twist around to see what had attacked her, I buried my dagger into the base of her neck.
I had to jump off quickly as Forked-Tongue shot flames towards me. My cap flew off my head as I hit the ground and rolled away. That flaming attack was her last, though. With the celestial bronze sunken in her flesh, the ketos disintegrated around my dagger. I snatched it up quickly as Yellow-Teeth turned to see his companion crumble to ash. He focused his attention on me immediately.
'Demigod!' he screamed. His head darted forward at me and I ran back, avoiding another burst of flames. I'd distracted him from the two-headed duck, though, and it resumed its acid attack, this time with both heads. The acid stung Yellow-Teeth in the legs, which collapsed under him. His body made a loud whump as he hit the ground. He twisted his neck back to face the two-headed duck and I took my chance. Once again, I repeated my leap onto the ketos's back. My blade found the weak spot in his neck and drove in.
In a shower of fine ash, Yellow-Teeth followed his companion to Tartarus.
I ran to the man on the rock, but he shook his head frantically at me.
'Don't let your guard down!' he cried. 'Behind you!'
I cursed and turned just in time to dodge a spray of acid from the two-headed duck. We'd been momentarily united against the ketea, so I'd forgotten that it was still a monster, too.
'You have to cut its head off!' the man on the rock advised me. I didn't have time to wonder how he'd managed to end up tied there with such a small monster terrorising him. The two-headed duck waddled towards me, shooting more acid. One jet grazed my left arm, sending pain searing across my nerves as it ate at my skin. Luckily, it wasn't my knife hand.
It was a good thing the monster was small, or I'd have been hard-pressed to slay it without a sword. I managed to jump right over it. Once I handed behind it, I brought my dagger across both its necks in one stroke. Two football-size heads dropped to the ground, severed by my bronze blade.
I went back to the man on the rock and sliced through the ropes tying him down. As soon as he was freed, he clapped his hands together in delight.
'Thank you!' he said. 'That was excellent!'
Schloop. The sucking noise behind me made me whirl around. I watched in horror as the monster I'd just decapitated started regenerating its scaly heads. Worse still, out of each stump, two new heads grew, making it a four-headed monster now.
The ground started to shake. The man pulled me aside as the rock he'd been tied to split apart. A building burst fully-formed out of the ground. It had an oriental design, with a bamboo roof and cherry blossoms hanging from the windows. Neon letters over the door shouted SLUSHY MOSS TEA.
I blinked and decided it probably actually read SUSHI MONSTER.
The now four-headed monster squawked in a self-satisfied sort of way.
'Yes, yes, well done, Kaiju,' the man said. He reached into his pocket and tossed four little white balls into the air. The monster's heads snapped them up immediately.
'What-how-' I stared between man and monster.
'Oh, would you like a rice ball, too?' said the man pleasantly.
'Um, no, thanks. It-that thing-it wasn't attacking you?'
'Oh no, Kaiju's … well, a business partner, of sorts.' He glanced at my arm, which was still stinging from the acid. 'Allow me,' he said, taking my arm. He passed a hand over the wound and muttered a few words in Ancient Greek. I'd seen some of the Apollo campers do it before-a healing incantation. My arm didn't stop hurting entirely, but the stinging burn eased a little, as though someone had sprinkled cool water on it.
'Thanks,' I said. 'Who-who are you?'
'Tyler Ichiro, at your service,' the man said. He reached into the breast pocket of his suit and handed me a name card. 'Son of Apollo.'
That explained his healing powers. The back of the card had a picture of the monster-with only two heads-juggling a circle of sushi. I looked from it to the SUSHI MONSTER building. 'That's your … restaurant?'
'Newest outlet!' Tyler said proudly. 'I'm trying to break into the franchising business, so of course I had to breed Kaiju here to help.'
'Breed him,' I repeated, not quite getting what a monster had to do with a business-or how it could make a restaurant spring out of the ground.
'Bonsai Hydra,' Tyler explained. 'You tie their life force to your store and when they regenerate …' He spread his hands towards the restaurant as if to say, tada!
'You bred a Hydra on purpose.'
'Bonsai Hydra,' he corrected. 'A lot of the early enterprises back when the technique was invented in the 50's-well, a son of Hermes perfected the magic, I think, totally genius-anyway, they did use actual Hydras. I mean, they are bigger and more powerful, so your expansion will be more rapid. That's how a lot of the big chains got their start. You know, Walmart, Food Lion, Jack in the Box …'
I guessed that made sense. Chain stores had really taken off in the last fifty years or so. I just had never considered that there might be some magic driving it.
'Problem is,' Tyler continued, 'there was that pesky detail of the Hydras tending to eat the owners and take over the business. Most of them are still going strong-they just wander around and find new areas to nest, and next thing you know, boom! Instant franchise.' He opened the restaurant door and Kaiju the bonsai Hydra waddled in contentedly. 'The bonsais are much tamer, even if getting them to regenerate is more complicated. But if we're going to talk business, let's do it over tea and sushi.'
'I don't-' I started, but my stomach gave a loud rumble, reminding me I hadn't had breakfast. Tyler laughed and guided me into the restaurant.
Inside, it was set up with a central table where colourful dishes of sushi came out of a flap in the wall and revolved on a conveyer belt. Bar stools were set along it at regular intervals. Kaiju sat at one end, scarfing sushi-plates and all-as it emerged. I wondered who was actually making it, or if Kaiju's life force was enough to power the cooking as well.
Tyler motioned at me to take a seat, and pulled several plates onto the table in front of us.
'Eat up,' he said. 'I do apologise for the deception just now, but it was necessary, you see. The problem with bonsai Hydras is that they can't be beheaded by their breeders. I had to get someone else to fight Kaiju.'
'You just tied yourself to a rock and staged a fight? That was really-' Stupid, I wanted to say, but I decided to go with, 'dangerous! How did you know anyone would come round to help?'
'Oh, I saw your little trap with the tree in the park. I guessed there was a fair chance you'd step in. Most demigods have quite the heroic streak. The guy who did Kaiju's first head-well, he couldn't resist jumping into the fight. Pity what happened to him. Those other monsters turning up-well, that was an unexpected complication, but I guess entrepreneurship is always risky, isn't it?'
It struck me that I was quite possibly dealing with an utter madman. And what had happened to his first demigod fighter? I thought about asking, but I got the feeling I wouldn't like the answer.
'Anyway, you handled it beautifully, my dear,' Tyler said. 'I'm sure we're going to make fantastic business partners.'
'Um,' I said, 'thanks, but I don't really want to go into business. I'm on my way to New York, and I really should be going.'
'Oh, New York. Yes, excellent idea, a sushi joint would really take off there. Marvellous. See, that's what I'm talking about. You've got a good sense for business. We shall definitely build the next franchise outlet there.'
'That's great,' I tried again, 'good luck with that. And thanks for the sushi, but I really have to go.' I stood up, but so did Tyler.
'Now, now,' he said, 'don't be so hasty. I've got a good business set-up here. This is a great investment. And all you'll need to do is fight Kaiju daily. It's hardly a chore.'
Kaiju stopped eating and waddled over to stand by Tyler's side. He had grown in the last five minutes, now approximately the size of a pit bull. All eight of his eyes fixed on me.
'I really don't-'
Tyler shook his head. 'I really must insist.' His voice was carefully pleasant, but with a slightly unnerving undertone. Kaiju was less subtle. He made a low, threatening growl deep in one of his throats.
I swallowed hard.
Tyler raised his eyebrows and smiled predatorily. My eyes darted to the door, wondering if I could make it there before Tyler blocked me, or worse, Kaiju sprayed me with acid. I didn't think Tyler would be so generous with his healing powers this time.
I decided I didn't have a choice. If I tried fighting, I'd be doing exactly what Tyler wanted.
In a sudden flash of inspiration, I flung my arms across the conveyor belt and flipped a bunch of plates into the air. They flew at Kaiju, whose four heads were distracted, snapping up as many as they could catch. Tyler lunged at me, but I swiped my dagger through the air in an arc before me, driving him back. He was a demigod, too-just as susceptible as his pet to celestial bronze. I turned and fled, pausing only to pick up my Yankee's cap where it had fallen off in the clearing. I jammed it on my head, buying myself more time as I vanished from view. Tyler stopped, confused by my disappearance.
I ran on out of the clearing. The bicycle and wagon I'd passed earlier were still parked where I'd seen it. I had another stroke of brilliance: I unhitched the wagon, swung my leg over the bicycle frame, and pedalled frantically. I sped away from Tyler and his monstrous franchise, a bit put out by the experience. On the whole though, maybe it had been sort of a godsend. Hijacking Tyler's bicycle (at least, I assumed it was his) meant I now had a much faster mode of transportation than my legs.
I made steady ground all the way up the Delaware, past Philadelphia, through Trenton, before things started to go wrong. Don't ask me why it took that long for the bicycle to start rebelling.
For the first couple of hours, I wouldn't even have suspected that it was anything but a normal bike. Then it started to buck underneath me like a wild horse. I had to grip the handlebars tightly to keep from getting thrown off. Then the handlebars started warping. I found myself grabbing hold of two large, floppy ears. The saddle I was sitting on expanded into the furry round backside of a giant hare.
Its powerful hindquarters pounded along the pavement, still charging ahead at full speed while it tossed its head from side to side, trying to unseat me. Pedestrians swerved out of its way, swearing at me. I don't know what they saw through the Mist-probably just a girl on a wobbly bicycle weaving an erratic path through their midst.
We burst into a park with rows of neatly planted trees and bushes, where my leporine steed bumped up fiercely against the thick trunk of an oak tree. The force of it threw me off at last. I landed heavily on my butt and lay, winded, flat on my back. The hare took a vicious swipe at me, its sharp claws ripping through my jeans, but fortunately it seemed to consider this suitable punishment for my crimes. With a final baleful glance at me, it bounded off through the park.
Chapter 5
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Tyson, Luke Castellan, Clarisse La Rue, Chiron, Thalia Grace, various others, Gen
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Summary: Annabeth Chase returns to Camp Half-Blood to find the safety of her home shattered: Thalia's tree has been poisoned, destroying the magic barriers protecting the camp, and Chiron is blamed. Only one thing can save the camp, and it's up to Annabeth and her best friend Percy to find it. The problem is, they set off with a monster in tow. Once again, the quest and the surprises it has in store is about to change everything she thinks she knows. An alternate PoV retelling of Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: My Sushi Tastes Like Acid
Rating: PG
Characters: Annabeth Chase, OC
Word Count: 2,963
Chapter Summary: Annabeth runs in to save a demigod from monsters, but ends up springing a trap.
Back to Fic Content Page
I awoke to the sound of an argument.
A pair of sibilant voices were getting louder as they approached.
'We're not going to find the Princess Andromeda here, you idiot!' said a raspy, vaguely female-sounding voice. 'I tell you, we took a wrong turn.'
'It's close,' the other insisted. This one was deeper, more hoarse, and also emphasised its S'es more. 'I smell demigod.'
I froze. Slowly, quietly, I strapped my backpack onto my shoulder and crouched on my branch, ready to move quickly if I needed to. My bronze dagger, hidden up my sleeve, seemed to tingle against my skin, as if reminding me it was there if I needed it.
'Your nose is stuffed up,' the first voice said dismissively. I still couldn't see the monsters, though I studied the river bank around me carefully. Nothing seemed to be stirring in the dim morning light.
Then the creature continued, 'It's all the muck in this water. Blasted humans and their pollution. It's staining my Donna Karan, look!'
I turned my gaze to the river. Sure enough, two large shadows were gliding along the surface of the water. When they got closer, I could see that they had serpent-like necks rising up from bodies that from this angle looked only like dark shapes in the water. The skin of their necks was scaly. It shimmered such that it wasn't any distinct colour but a shifting blend of green, blue, and orange shades. They had raptor-like heads crowned with a plume of bright red. One of them tested the air with a forked tongue. The other yawned, revealing a row of crooked but sharp yellow teeth.
'We're obviously up a river,' Forked-Tongue said in her raspy voice. 'You're a miserable excuse for a ketea if you can't tell that.' My mind automatically translated the Greek: sea serpent. 'We should have gone up the coast. That's where we'll find the Princess Andromeda.'
The name was familiar. She was an an ancient princess, I remembered, who'd been chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster-at least until the Greek hero Perseus had saved her. I wondered who the modern day Andromeda was. I hoped she was good and hidden.
'I tell you, I smell demigod,' Yellow-Teeth hissed.
My hand closed around the hilt of my dagger. I could feel my heart rate increasing. The ketea glided on, however, not stopping. I waited, barely breathing …
'There!' Yellow-Teeth cried out.
Forked-Tongue let out an excited-sounding breath. Her tongue whipped about in the air. 'You're right! Breakfast time,' she said.
The ketea exchanged a look. Then they started charging forward with powerful strokes of their tails.
It wasn't me they'd noticed. I could have made my getaway then, while they were focused on their prey.
But there was a demigod upriver who was about to be in serious trouble.
I climbed down my tree, picked my way through my broken glass trap, and started sprinting up along the river bank, following the wake of the ketea.
A short way upriver, I heard a strange spitting sound, like a shot out of a water gun, followed by a sizzling noise. Thinking it was perhaps the demigod the ketea were after fighting them off, I sped up. I passed a rusty old bicycle hooked up to a wagon and then burst into a clearing. A big rock sat in the centre and someone was lashed to it. It wasn't a girl, though, as I'd expected, but a man in a pin-striped business suit.
The ketea were coming up from the river, moving slower now as they balanced on spindly legs that seemed too frail to hold up their massive bodies. Their powerful tails pushed against the ground behind them, steadying them as they crawled along. Now that they were out of the water, I could see that they were wearing well-fitted blouses over their upper halves. Forked-Tongue's was elegant peach silk with an oily-looking stain around the base. Yellow-Teeth had a vintage sort of design, and a set of ornate rings adorned his tail.
Both ketea stopped suddenly before they reached the man on the rock.
'What is that?' Forked-Tongue said.
A two-headed creature was waddling towards them. It was about the size of a duck and its four legs did end in webbed feet, but the two necks that sprouted from its body each ended in a scaly head with pointed ears and stubby horns. One head opened its mouths and spat a jet of acid straight at the ketea. The jet made a sizzling noise when it hit Yellow-Teeth in the chest.
'That's vintage Oscar de la Renta!' Yellow-Teeth howled. He looked down at the little acid hole in his blouse and the singed ring around it. 'You'll pay for that.' He took a deep breath, opened his mouth wide, and breathed out a column of fire at the two-headed duck creature.
The tiny monster let out a squawk of terror and ran from the flames. It hid behind the rock. The man strapped to it groaned and shouted, 'Noooo!'
I gathered my wits quickly. The little monster was distracting the ketea for now-Yellow-Teeth was trying to chase it, but his progress was slow and lumbering-but they would turn their attention to the poor man tied to the rock soon enough. I leapt up onto Forked-Tongue's back. Before she could twist around to see what had attacked her, I buried my dagger into the base of her neck.
I had to jump off quickly as Forked-Tongue shot flames towards me. My cap flew off my head as I hit the ground and rolled away. That flaming attack was her last, though. With the celestial bronze sunken in her flesh, the ketos disintegrated around my dagger. I snatched it up quickly as Yellow-Teeth turned to see his companion crumble to ash. He focused his attention on me immediately.
'Demigod!' he screamed. His head darted forward at me and I ran back, avoiding another burst of flames. I'd distracted him from the two-headed duck, though, and it resumed its acid attack, this time with both heads. The acid stung Yellow-Teeth in the legs, which collapsed under him. His body made a loud whump as he hit the ground. He twisted his neck back to face the two-headed duck and I took my chance. Once again, I repeated my leap onto the ketos's back. My blade found the weak spot in his neck and drove in.
In a shower of fine ash, Yellow-Teeth followed his companion to Tartarus.
I ran to the man on the rock, but he shook his head frantically at me.
'Don't let your guard down!' he cried. 'Behind you!'
I cursed and turned just in time to dodge a spray of acid from the two-headed duck. We'd been momentarily united against the ketea, so I'd forgotten that it was still a monster, too.
'You have to cut its head off!' the man on the rock advised me. I didn't have time to wonder how he'd managed to end up tied there with such a small monster terrorising him. The two-headed duck waddled towards me, shooting more acid. One jet grazed my left arm, sending pain searing across my nerves as it ate at my skin. Luckily, it wasn't my knife hand.
It was a good thing the monster was small, or I'd have been hard-pressed to slay it without a sword. I managed to jump right over it. Once I handed behind it, I brought my dagger across both its necks in one stroke. Two football-size heads dropped to the ground, severed by my bronze blade.
I went back to the man on the rock and sliced through the ropes tying him down. As soon as he was freed, he clapped his hands together in delight.
'Thank you!' he said. 'That was excellent!'
Schloop. The sucking noise behind me made me whirl around. I watched in horror as the monster I'd just decapitated started regenerating its scaly heads. Worse still, out of each stump, two new heads grew, making it a four-headed monster now.
The ground started to shake. The man pulled me aside as the rock he'd been tied to split apart. A building burst fully-formed out of the ground. It had an oriental design, with a bamboo roof and cherry blossoms hanging from the windows. Neon letters over the door shouted SLUSHY MOSS TEA.
I blinked and decided it probably actually read SUSHI MONSTER.
The now four-headed monster squawked in a self-satisfied sort of way.
'Yes, yes, well done, Kaiju,' the man said. He reached into his pocket and tossed four little white balls into the air. The monster's heads snapped them up immediately.
'What-how-' I stared between man and monster.
'Oh, would you like a rice ball, too?' said the man pleasantly.
'Um, no, thanks. It-that thing-it wasn't attacking you?'
'Oh no, Kaiju's … well, a business partner, of sorts.' He glanced at my arm, which was still stinging from the acid. 'Allow me,' he said, taking my arm. He passed a hand over the wound and muttered a few words in Ancient Greek. I'd seen some of the Apollo campers do it before-a healing incantation. My arm didn't stop hurting entirely, but the stinging burn eased a little, as though someone had sprinkled cool water on it.
'Thanks,' I said. 'Who-who are you?'
'Tyler Ichiro, at your service,' the man said. He reached into the breast pocket of his suit and handed me a name card. 'Son of Apollo.'
That explained his healing powers. The back of the card had a picture of the monster-with only two heads-juggling a circle of sushi. I looked from it to the SUSHI MONSTER building. 'That's your … restaurant?'
'Newest outlet!' Tyler said proudly. 'I'm trying to break into the franchising business, so of course I had to breed Kaiju here to help.'
'Breed him,' I repeated, not quite getting what a monster had to do with a business-or how it could make a restaurant spring out of the ground.
'Bonsai Hydra,' Tyler explained. 'You tie their life force to your store and when they regenerate …' He spread his hands towards the restaurant as if to say, tada!
'You bred a Hydra on purpose.'
'Bonsai Hydra,' he corrected. 'A lot of the early enterprises back when the technique was invented in the 50's-well, a son of Hermes perfected the magic, I think, totally genius-anyway, they did use actual Hydras. I mean, they are bigger and more powerful, so your expansion will be more rapid. That's how a lot of the big chains got their start. You know, Walmart, Food Lion, Jack in the Box …'
I guessed that made sense. Chain stores had really taken off in the last fifty years or so. I just had never considered that there might be some magic driving it.
'Problem is,' Tyler continued, 'there was that pesky detail of the Hydras tending to eat the owners and take over the business. Most of them are still going strong-they just wander around and find new areas to nest, and next thing you know, boom! Instant franchise.' He opened the restaurant door and Kaiju the bonsai Hydra waddled in contentedly. 'The bonsais are much tamer, even if getting them to regenerate is more complicated. But if we're going to talk business, let's do it over tea and sushi.'
'I don't-' I started, but my stomach gave a loud rumble, reminding me I hadn't had breakfast. Tyler laughed and guided me into the restaurant.
Inside, it was set up with a central table where colourful dishes of sushi came out of a flap in the wall and revolved on a conveyer belt. Bar stools were set along it at regular intervals. Kaiju sat at one end, scarfing sushi-plates and all-as it emerged. I wondered who was actually making it, or if Kaiju's life force was enough to power the cooking as well.
Tyler motioned at me to take a seat, and pulled several plates onto the table in front of us.
'Eat up,' he said. 'I do apologise for the deception just now, but it was necessary, you see. The problem with bonsai Hydras is that they can't be beheaded by their breeders. I had to get someone else to fight Kaiju.'
'You just tied yourself to a rock and staged a fight? That was really-' Stupid, I wanted to say, but I decided to go with, 'dangerous! How did you know anyone would come round to help?'
'Oh, I saw your little trap with the tree in the park. I guessed there was a fair chance you'd step in. Most demigods have quite the heroic streak. The guy who did Kaiju's first head-well, he couldn't resist jumping into the fight. Pity what happened to him. Those other monsters turning up-well, that was an unexpected complication, but I guess entrepreneurship is always risky, isn't it?'
It struck me that I was quite possibly dealing with an utter madman. And what had happened to his first demigod fighter? I thought about asking, but I got the feeling I wouldn't like the answer.
'Anyway, you handled it beautifully, my dear,' Tyler said. 'I'm sure we're going to make fantastic business partners.'
'Um,' I said, 'thanks, but I don't really want to go into business. I'm on my way to New York, and I really should be going.'
'Oh, New York. Yes, excellent idea, a sushi joint would really take off there. Marvellous. See, that's what I'm talking about. You've got a good sense for business. We shall definitely build the next franchise outlet there.'
'That's great,' I tried again, 'good luck with that. And thanks for the sushi, but I really have to go.' I stood up, but so did Tyler.
'Now, now,' he said, 'don't be so hasty. I've got a good business set-up here. This is a great investment. And all you'll need to do is fight Kaiju daily. It's hardly a chore.'
Kaiju stopped eating and waddled over to stand by Tyler's side. He had grown in the last five minutes, now approximately the size of a pit bull. All eight of his eyes fixed on me.
'I really don't-'
Tyler shook his head. 'I really must insist.' His voice was carefully pleasant, but with a slightly unnerving undertone. Kaiju was less subtle. He made a low, threatening growl deep in one of his throats.
I swallowed hard.
Tyler raised his eyebrows and smiled predatorily. My eyes darted to the door, wondering if I could make it there before Tyler blocked me, or worse, Kaiju sprayed me with acid. I didn't think Tyler would be so generous with his healing powers this time.
I decided I didn't have a choice. If I tried fighting, I'd be doing exactly what Tyler wanted.
In a sudden flash of inspiration, I flung my arms across the conveyor belt and flipped a bunch of plates into the air. They flew at Kaiju, whose four heads were distracted, snapping up as many as they could catch. Tyler lunged at me, but I swiped my dagger through the air in an arc before me, driving him back. He was a demigod, too-just as susceptible as his pet to celestial bronze. I turned and fled, pausing only to pick up my Yankee's cap where it had fallen off in the clearing. I jammed it on my head, buying myself more time as I vanished from view. Tyler stopped, confused by my disappearance.
I ran on out of the clearing. The bicycle and wagon I'd passed earlier were still parked where I'd seen it. I had another stroke of brilliance: I unhitched the wagon, swung my leg over the bicycle frame, and pedalled frantically. I sped away from Tyler and his monstrous franchise, a bit put out by the experience. On the whole though, maybe it had been sort of a godsend. Hijacking Tyler's bicycle (at least, I assumed it was his) meant I now had a much faster mode of transportation than my legs.
I made steady ground all the way up the Delaware, past Philadelphia, through Trenton, before things started to go wrong. Don't ask me why it took that long for the bicycle to start rebelling.
For the first couple of hours, I wouldn't even have suspected that it was anything but a normal bike. Then it started to buck underneath me like a wild horse. I had to grip the handlebars tightly to keep from getting thrown off. Then the handlebars started warping. I found myself grabbing hold of two large, floppy ears. The saddle I was sitting on expanded into the furry round backside of a giant hare.
Its powerful hindquarters pounded along the pavement, still charging ahead at full speed while it tossed its head from side to side, trying to unseat me. Pedestrians swerved out of its way, swearing at me. I don't know what they saw through the Mist-probably just a girl on a wobbly bicycle weaving an erratic path through their midst.
We burst into a park with rows of neatly planted trees and bushes, where my leporine steed bumped up fiercely against the thick trunk of an oak tree. The force of it threw me off at last. I landed heavily on my butt and lay, winded, flat on my back. The hare took a vicious swipe at me, its sharp claws ripping through my jeans, but fortunately it seemed to consider this suitable punishment for my crimes. With a final baleful glance at me, it bounded off through the park.
Chapter 5