Doris and the Olympians

[MarkAren]

Spoiler: Author's note

Well, it only took me over three years to finally complete that rewrite I talked about. It's also been over two and a half years since I last posted something related to this story.


Oops?


Well, it's finally here. It's less a rewrite and more a reimagining. The plot, backstories, and even the main cast has changed. Hopefully you will see better writing, a plotline that was planned out ahead of time, better characters, and an overall better story. I've already written the majority of the first arc (roughly 16,000 words at this point), so don't worry about this falling flat on its face right out of the gate.

Lastly, this is set in the wonderful world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I highly recommend the series if you haven't read it.

​

Now I could start this tale with a bang. A pegasus slamming through my apartment's balcony door like an oversized pigeon counts as one, but I believe a proper introduction is in order first.

My name is Doris, and this is my story. I'm a monster, a creature from Greek mythology. To be more specific I'm a scythian dracanae, which means from the waist up I'm a normal woman, but from the waist down I have snake legs. This would make blending in with the population here in New York City difficult, except for the existence of the mist.

The mist is so useful. It distorts what mortals perceive, and paying rent is much easier when your landlord can't tell the difference between a dollar and monopoly money. However, the day this started wasn't the first Saturday of the month so I didn't have to bamboozle him. June 15th dawned nice and sunny, with just a hint of cloud cover. I treated myself to some cereal while watching the morning news. The top story was about a fissure opening up in Central Park. It was the first clue that this day was going to go sideways.

"… News, live from Central Park, where a gaping chasm has opened in the ground. I'm here with an eyewitness who saw the whole thing. Sir, what did you see?"

The female reporter turned towards what looked like a crazy hobo. His eyes were wild, his hair unkempt, and as he began to speak I could see that his teeth were yellow. "It was terrible! First the ground shook, and then the earth opened up. I heard it leave, and I also heard the screams that came with it!"

The reporter seemed startled by this. "… Sir, are you trying to say that something came out of the chasm?"

The hobo fidgeted. "Well I didn't actually look into it. I've seen Indiana Jones, I know not to look at biblical things when they open up. And… and that hole there opening up while emitting the wailing of the damned was definitely something biblical!"

The reporter paused for a moment. "Well there you have it folks. Did a portal to Hell open up in Central Park, or just to my mother-in-law's soul? America, you decide."

The news then moved on to something more boring and I lost interest. Some human interest piece about a missing local woman and her delinquent son.

Continuing with my morning routine, I went outside to my apartment's small balcony. My snake legs needed sunlight and warmth to get the cold blood pumping. I was still there a few hours later when the pegasus streaked into my apartment like a feathered kamikaze. Of course I didn't actually know that it was a pegasus right then, I was too busy engaging my 'get out of the way' instincts. It was when I rose up from behind the couch to take stock of my apartment that I first saw her.

Doris and the Olympians: The Sword of Damocles​

The coffee table, the glass door, and half the kitchen chairs were reduced to kindling. Shards of wood and glass littered the floor. Lastly, the pegasus that had caused all of this lay on its side near my couch.

I moved closer to examine its body. If you've ever seen a horse up close, you'll understand it when I say that it was big. It's one thing to see an animal in drawings and sculptures, and another thing entirely to see several hundred pounds of flesh and muscle in person. The poor beast definitely wouldn't fit in a garbage bag, I'd have to dispose of it some other way. Its beautiful midnight black fur and feathers were marred by numerous cuts and scratches. The worst was a deep wound on its back between the wings, which was completely coated with blood.

I wondered how it had ended up here. Were pegasi like birds, unable to see glass until it was too late? Did an uppity halfblood try to ride to the home of the gods (currently anchored to the Empire State Building), only to get smacked down and sending it and its poor mount on separate trajectories? Was this the result of a failed test of an anti-monster PGM, a pegasi guided missile?

After all, while pegasi were monsters just as I was, they usually sided with the halfblood children of the gods in the age old struggle between monsters and (half) humans. Pegasus himself assisted the hero Bellerophon for a time, and his descendants have followed his lead.

Then its eyes opened. Two iridescent orbs rolled around in their sockets as I tried to process the fact that it was still alive. Then the eyes closed and the pegasus began to emit pained horse noises.

I froze. For a brief moment, I debated fetching my spear and ending the poor beast's misery. Isn't that what often happened with animals that were too badly hurt? I thought it was dead at first after all, and it was definitely in severe pain.

Then my mind flashed back several decades to a day when a young girl brought home an injured cat to her parents. I shuddered. Never again.

That still left the question of what to do with the pegasus. I couldn't just leave it here to bleed on my floor forever, and if I wasn't going to kill it, well, that only left one thing. Helping it.

I was very careful in approaching it. While I wasn't an expert on pegasi or horses, I knew that being kicked by one was similar to being hit by a car. That was not something I wanted happening to me. Plus, if I spooked it, it might injure itself in panic.

"Hey there." I said softly. "I'm going to try and help you."

At these words the creature's eyes snapped open to look at me. I felt like shrinking back under its gaze, but I wouldn't back down. For a brief eternity we both stared at each other. The pegasus was the first to look away, nodding slightly.

I set to work. Grabbing my first aid kit, I started with what was obviously wrong. I pulled out wooden splinters and glass shards, dressed the bleeding wounds, and tried to smooth out the ruffled feathers in its wings. As I worked I became acquainted with the facts that this was a female pegasus, and that her blood got into absolutely everything. After what felt like hours I managed to finish addressing her various cuts and gashes. If there were any broken bones or anything else wrong with her I couldn't treat it.

After checking again to make sure she was still alive, I grabbed paper towels and began to clean up the golden blood that coated the pegasus, the floor, and myself. Hours passed as I furiously scrubbed at the stubborn blood stains, swept up debris off the floor, and replaced the shattered balcony door with the spare bedsheet and liberal amounts of duct tape. By nighttime I was left with a battered apartment, two band aids, and a pegasus that looked more like an Egyptian mummy than a creature out of Greek myth.

In the meantime I had come across a problem. I didn't know the pegasus's name. Seeing as it lacked any tags, collars, or any other marks of identification, it was up to me, myself, and my imagination to come up with a name.

Unfortunately Pegasus was already taken. I looked at the pegasus's iridescent eyes, then to her midnight black fur. Back at the multicolored eyes, then to a mane that was the color of coal. Back to the rainbow eyes, and then to her pitch black tail.

"I'm going to call you Rainbow." I stated confidently. "Blackie is a dog's name anyways."

The newly named Rainbow sighed and closed her eyes. Whether it was a sigh of acquiescence, protest, or resignation was beyond me.

"It's a good name!" I defended, just in case.

Rainbow opened her namesake eyes to look at me and gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod. Score!

By this point it was well past dinnertime and I just wanted the day to end. As bad as I would feel if my guest died during the night, I did need to get some sleep. I had also done everything I could do for her. Yet I still found myself nervously standing near Rainbow, wondering if there was anything else that could be done. Her eyes opened and looked at me, and I shrank before them.

"I… I'm going to bed soon. Do you need anything?" I bit out.

She stared at me. Could pegasi even talk? I would feel silly if after this I learned that pegasi couldn't talk. She seemed to understand English though, so maybe she could write, or learn to write, or play charades, or –

The pegasus interrupted that train of thought by giving her head a small shake from side to side.

I went to my room and prepare for bed. Just before I fell asleep a flash of inspiration struck me. I took the top sheets off of my bed and dragged them into the living room. Draping them over my guest assuaged my conscience, and I returned to my room and fell asleep.
Thank you.

Spoiler: Invisitext

I went to my room and prepare for bed. Just before I fell asleep a flash of inspiration struck me. I took the top sheets off of my bed and dragged them into the living room. Draping them over my guest assuaged my conscience, and I returned to my room and fell asleep.
Thank you.

 

[MarkAren]

Spoiler: Author's Note

In case you are a newcomer, be reminded that one of the main characters often uses invisible text.

As much as I would have liked the night before to be a dream (or a nightmare I guess), when morning came I found the pegasus right where I left her. Her chest was still rising and falling in a slow rhythm, so that was good.

After I finished breakfast, I went to change Rainbow's bandages. When I took off the first bandage, I gasped. Instead of the raw or scabbed skin I had expected, there was perfectly unblemished skin underneath. Apart from noticeably shorter fur there was no way to tell that there had been a cut there in the first place. Did pegasi have accelerated healing?

I closely examined the rest of her. Short fur and small feathers coated the areas that had been injured yesterday. Where glass and splinters had dug into her hide, only scabs remained. The only part of her that remained visibly injured was her back, where blood continued to slowly ooze out from the much reduced wound.

I removed the unnecessary bandages and placed my penultimate band aid on the remaining wound. Then I paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

"Hey Rainbow?" I prompted.
What?
Her eyes opened, and I could feel the weight of her gaze press down on me.

"This is going to hurt." I warned.

The eyes closed, and I relaxed a little. I placed my hands on one of the now unnecessary band aids. The new fur had grown enough to push them off of the no-longer wounds and allowed me to easily peek under them. Unfortunately this meant that the band aids were now firmly attached to the pegasus's fur, and weren't far enough off the skin to cut with scissors. I yanked the first band aid off.

One of Rainbow's legs pistoned right past my head, moving faster than I could see. I yelped out a curse in ancient Greek, (something I'd rather not translate) and fell on my rear. For a moment all I could hear was the beating of my heart, and what I thought for a moment was an apology from Rainbow. But that would be silly, pegasi don't talk.
"Sorry."
My heartbeat slowed down and Rainbow's leg slowly retracted.

"I did warn you." I said with a half-hearted laugh.

I repositioned myself so that I wasn't in danger of being kicked to death and ripped off the next band aid. This time Rainbow's only reaction was to twitch a little bit. For the rest of the band aids she didn't move at all.

"There, done!" I said as I threw the last of them into the garbage bag that contained both the bandages and band aids from this morning and the debris from last night. The dried blood smelled pretty rank, I probably should have thrown it out last night.

While I munched on some cereal I ponded Rainbow's healing. It seemed abnormally fast in my completely uneducated opinion. Was this normal or a sign that something was wrong? What would happen once she healed fully? Would I part the bedsheet from the window and watch her fly off into the sunset? Did I need to call Camp Half-Blood and tell them I had one of their pegasi?

I really needed to get a second opinion to help answer these questions. Maybe I could…

Ugh. As distasteful as the prospect was, I would have to call Dogbreath.

Dogbreath and I are not friends. The idiot Telekhine did, however, help me out of a tight spot in Boston a while back. While normally being saved from certain death could help form the basis of a life-long friendship, Dogbreath doesn't have enough brain cells to comprehend a concept as deep and meaningful as that.

His main redeeming feature was that he was a social creature. He probably knew every monster in Manhattan by reputation if not personally. If you needed to find something or someone, Dogbreath would know which direction to point you. And right now I needed to find out how to not fail care of magical pegasi. I probably should have called him yesterday, but in my surprise and panic I'd forgotten I could phone a not-friend.

I picked up the phone and dialed him.

"Hello?" A nasally voice answered. Good, he'd remembered to charge his phone today.

"Hey Dogbreath! It's Doris, I need your help."

I could almost feel his hackles rise. "How many times do I have to tell you that's not my name?"

"As many times as it takes to get you to start using proper hygiene. Do you know anything about pegasi? I have an injured one and I need to talk to someone who actually knows a thing or two about them."

There was silence for a moment. "Doris, how'd you come across a pegasus?"

I looked towards my broken door. "It was more of a she found me kind of thing."

Dogbreath muttered to himself before speaking up. "Well, Enrico did tell me about the time he got stuck on a deserted island with a wounded pegasus… I'll do it."

"Thanks! Now she's be-"

"IF," Dogbreath interrupted, "you give me some of its feathers."

I paused. There were certainly enough feathers that had come loose to spare, so I guess I could do that. "Um, okay?"

Dogbreath made a high pitched yipping noise. "Great! Meet me at Fredward's place, he's showing me these cool new weapons he's got. You remember Fredward right?"

I coughed. "Ah yes… my good friend Fredward, uhhh..."

Dogbreath sighed. "You're not good with names are you?" He then gave me Fredward's address. It wasn't too far, I could easily get there within an hour.

"I'll head over there shortly." I said. "Bye Dogbreath!"

"My name's not-" I hung up.

I dug through the trash and pulled out a handful of the more intact feathers for Dogbreath, then closed the bag and prepared to leave.

"Hey Rainbow!" I called out as I headed for the door. "I'm going out for an hour or two. See you when I get back."
Where are you taking those?
From across the room, Rainbow stared at the hand that held some of her feathers. I began to sweat. "Oh! These are for Dogbreath, he's going to tell me more about pegasi in exchange so that I can make sure you're alright and figure out what to do with you."

Rainbow's eyes narrowed.
What to do with me?
"Well I'm going now, don't crash into any apartmentswhileI'mgoneokaybye." I bolted from the apartment.

---

After I threw the garbage bag down the trash chute, I made a pit stop by my landlord's room on the bottom floor.

"I need to get my balcony door replaced, a bird hit it." I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. So the glass is cracked and needs replacing?" He asked.

"No, the glass and the door are both shattered."

My landlord stared at me for a moment. "Doris, if you tripped or otherwise broke the door, it's fine. I have insurance that covers things like this."

I shook my head. "It was a very large bird." I assured him.

He stared at me some more. "Well, I can have some people come by to replace it within a few days. What times would be good for you?"

"Anytime would be great! Thanks!"

Spoiler: Invisitext

"Hey Rainbow?" I prompted.
What?
Her eyes opened, and I could feel the weight of her gaze press down on me.



One of Rainbow's legs pistoned right past my head, moving faster than I could see. I yelped out a curse in ancient Greek, (something I'd rather not translate) and fell on my rear. For a moment all I could hear was the beating of my heart, and what I thought for a moment was an apology from Rainbow. But that would be silly, pegasi don't talk.
"Sorry."
My heartbeat slowed down and Rainbow's leg slowly retracted.


"Hey Rainbow!" I called out as I headed for the door. "I'm going out for an hour or two. See you when I get back."
Where are you taking those?
From across the room, Rainbow stared at the hand that held some of her feathers. I began to sweat. "Oh! These are for Dogbreath, he's going to tell me more about pegasi in exchange so that I can make sure you're alright and figure out what to do with you."

Rainbow's eyes narrowed.
What to do with me?
"Well I'm going now, don't crash into any apartmentswhileI'mgoneokaybye." I bolted from the apartment.

 

[MarkAren]

A short walk, a brief subway trip, and a slightly longer walk later, I arrived at my destination. The path leading to the door was flanked on one side by a pile of empty fork lift pallets, and on the other side by a lime green mailbox that was leaning to one side. The building itself looked like some sort of small warehouse, and was in disrepair. What windows that weren't boarded up were covered in grime that dated back to the Second World War if I was feeling generous.

Altogether, I decided that Dogbreath needed new friends. This place could only be shadier if the police car in the adjacent lot was pulling over a sketchy white van. Even then they might just be warning the driver that the area wasn't safe.

I wish I had thought to bring my spear. Ah well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took my first step onto the property and nothing brutally murdered me. Feeling more confident, I took another step. Then another.

Then I tripped over a loose brick and fell on my face.

I reached the door and rang the doorbell. It pealed out one of those musical tunes, only off-key and it shorted out halfway through. Note to self- don't even think about using whatever horror passes for a bathroom in this place.

When the door opened, two figures stood inside the dilapidated entryway. One was a vaguely familiar lumbering giant who wore a wrinkled suit that looked like it came from the previous century. This must be Fredward. Next to him was Dogbreath the telekhine. Like all telekhines, he looked like the result of a threesome between a man (or woman), a seal, and a dog. He waddled towards me in excitement.

I took a sniff. "You haven't brushed your teeth in at least three weeks, have you?"

Dogbreath smiled, revealing the most disgusting pair of choppers I'd had the displeasure of seeing today. "Not in over two months!"

"That's disgraceful."

He ignored me in favor of the feathers I was carrying. "You brought the feathers!" He said as he reached out and grabbed them with his weird flipper hands. He then held one up to his face. "They look even cooler than I imagined. This'll look great in a hat. I enjoyed it when feathered hats were in fashion."

"I preferred stovepipes myself." Fredward rumbled.

"Come on!" Dogbreath said as he grabbed my hand and began to drag me along. "You've got to see these weapons! The craftsmanship on them is really interesting."

He pulled me past broken doors and rotten furniture into a part of the building that was relatively better kept than the rest. Of course it still looked like moths and spiders had declared war on the place, but it was an improvement. Dogbreath opened one final door and gestured for me to enter. "In here! Look!"

I entered and froze. Oh great, not this again. You see, every few years some monster gets it into their heads that halfbloods hadn't ever heard of guns over the past centuries, and decided to try and out-tech them with the mortal weapons.

Of course the halfbloods knew about guns, they even used them from time to time. From what my parents had told me, the armor worn by halfbloods has been either smithed or enchanted to the point of being bulletproof since at least the American Civil War, and probably even earlier. That's why monsters and halfbloods alike used weapons made from celestial bronze (a metal mined from the home of the gods itself), as it's the best way to block or penetrate weapons, armor, and enchantments made from other pieces of celestial bronze. Sure you could make a bullet out of celestial bronze, but unlike arrows you can't exactly reuse bullets. The metal is extremely rare, and I'm lucky to have as much as I do for the tip of my spear.

Anyways, the only times that guns are useful against halfbloods are when you get a lucky shot, or ambush them out of armor. In both situations, a bow and arrow would do just as fine for a fraction of the price.

Now Fredward and Dogbreath seemed to have bought the whole 'gun down the halfbloods' thing hook, line, and sinker. Dozens of guns filled the room, ranging from a pile of pistols and revolvers on a table to what looked suspiciously like a machine gun resting against the back wall. Were these two trying to outfit an army?

"Yeah, that was my first reaction too." Dogbreath said, completely misreading my reaction. "We're totally going to stick it to those halfbloods! You want in?"

"I already asked the gun salesman, the mailman, and the tax collector, but they just kind of looked at me in horror." Fredward rumbled.

For a moment I debated telling them just how bad of an idea this was, but decided not to. This would end in a learning experience for the sea child and his giant companion, and I wasn't going to get in the way of it. "No, maybe another time."

Dogbreath shrugged. "Suit yourself. We don't actually have any ammunition yet, so I'll get back to you when we have some."

I grimaced and internally cursed myself for my poor wording. Then I changed the subject by bringing up my whole reason for being here. "I've brought you your feathers, so can you help me out?"

"Oh yeah, that. So what's the problem with the pegasus?"

"Yesterday I thought she was probably going to die from her injuries, and this morning she looks like she's almost ready to fly again. Do pegasi heal fast, or is something else going on? Also, I'm not exactly certain what to do with her once she heals."

Dogbreath tilted his head. "From what Enrico told me pegasi don't have any special regeneration or healing abilities. Are you certain that it was badly injured when you came across it? Maybe you're just remembering wrong."

I stared at him. "She crashed through my balcony door. Her smallest wounds were dozens of wooden and glass splinters in her hide, and I'm surprised she didn't break her neck."

He looked like he didn't completely believe me. "Well maybe Enrico lied or forgot something. Anyways, if you're dead set on nursing it back to health and then sending it home you should probably just call Camp Half-Blood and ask for a satyr to come pick it up. You should probably make sure you aren't there when they come to pick it up, just in case."

I sighed. Well this was a bust, Dogbreath hadn't told me anything that I didn't already suspect or know on my own.

Dogbreath frowned and held up one of the feathers to his face. There was a small spot of dried blood on it, and the telekhine stared at it intently. "Doris, did you drop this in paint or something? At first I just thought the feathers were just naturally black and gold, but this almost looks like dried blood."

I shook my head. "No, that's definitely dried blood. Rainbow's fur and feathers were all black, but like I said, her blood got into everything."

Dogbreath turned white as a sheet. "Wait, did you say golden blood? Not golden sand, or red blood, but golden blood?"

"Yes. It was sticky and hard to get out with water and elbow grease, if that helps."

"Doris! Pegasi don't bleed gold, nothing does except–"

But before he could finish, loud sirens suddenly pierced the building.

"This is the Police! Come out with your hands up!"

We both froze. Mortal law enforcement and monsters do not mix. Sure, most monsters could take a cop in a fist fight with ease, but police were like cockroaches: hard to kill and always bringing friends with them. It was better for both sides if we didn't interact.

Of course, if the police were raiding the building it was too late for that. I spun on Dogbreath. "We have to get out of here!"

"This is MY home!" Fredward yelled, then lumbered out of the room. Okay, no help was coming from him.

Dogbreath darted off deeper into the building and I followed. Soon we came to a large, double door and through them we emerged behind the building. My elation at freedom was short lived though, as over a dozen police were approaching to surround us. They must have already had the building surrounded.

I stopped and slowly raised my hands. I didn't have my spear with me, and even if I did taking on this many with only Dogbreath for backup was a risky proposition. Tasers are nothing to sneeze at, and those were the smallest weapons these officers were packing. Dogbreath seemed to come to the same conclusion, and was also putting his hands up.

We could always escape from wherever they took us. Restraints meant for humans were not up to the task of restraining a monster, and we could get away once there were fewer humans around.

The police eventually approached us and put us in cuffs. Don't ask me how they stayed on Dogbreath's flipper hands. Whatever was supposed to happen next was interrupted with a sharp bang from behind us. The police quickly moved past us, and I twisted around to watch. With another loud bang, the door shook in its place. After a third bang the door flew off its hinges to reveal an extremely angry Fredward. He roared in defiance before darting towards the police. Before they could react he reached the first one and sent him flying with a swipe from his arm. He then made the mistake of stopping to roar in victory.

The moment he held still, at least half a dozen tasers hit him at once. As he fell to his knees in convulsions, police with weapons much larger than a pistol approached to surround him, while a few helped the fallen officer to his feet.

I turned to give Dogbreath my harshest glare. "This is totally about those guns you were going on about isn't it."

"It's totally about the guns." Agreed a policewoman from behind me. "Turns out when you mouth off your plans to everyone you meet, the police get called pretty quickly. Now, you have the right to remain silent…"

 

[MarkAren]

By the time I felt comfortable in my ability to both break my restraints and use the mist to hide my doing so, we'd been driven away and I'd been left alone in a small room. I could probably escape with the use of my above-human strength (not anything to write home about when compared to that of other monsters, like say the minotaur, but I still had some), and then use the mist to hide my presence while I escape.

It wouldn't solve all my problems though. The police already knew who I was thanks to my wallet, so once they noticed my disappearance they'd head right on over to my apartment. They could plaster my face all over national news if necessary. Ugh, I was going to have to find a new apartment now. That's always a pain, finding an available apartment with just the right view and angle to get the morning sun. I was also going to have to use the mist to distort my facial features. That was going to be draining to keep up.

All of this was because of Dogbreath and Fredward's stupidity. I seethed in anger at the two for a moment before a snapping sound struck me out of my reverie. Huh, looks like I'd snapped my handcuffs.

I was attempting to pull the remains off of my hands when the door opened. I quickly hid my arms behind my back and tried to pretend nothing was wrong. A police officer was holding the door open while staring blankly ahead. Then a woman entered.

The first thing I noticed about her was how big she was, and I'm not talking about her waist. She was well over six feet tall and had muscles like a professional athlete. The second thing I noticed was that her odd white belt did not go with her black hair and all black outfit at all, and made her look like a minimalist zebra in human form. The third thing I noted was that there was something familiar in her eyes. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but it was sending me feelings that I'd definitely met her before.

She turned back and gave the officer a nod, and he closed the door. Then her eyes turned back to me and I felt like a kid in the principal's office.

"Are you my lawyer?" I asked. I had asked for one after all, though mostly out of a desire to get the police to stop asking me questions.

The woman didn't answer, merely smiling and sitting herself down across from me. I glanced between her and the door, and judged my chances of slipping past her to the door as low.

After a moment of awkward silence, the woman spoke up, totally ignoring my question. "First of all, I'd like to thank you." She said in a dull monotone. If I hadn't already been on guard, that creepy line would have done it.

"Uh, you're welcome?" I hazarded. "What exactly are you thanking me for?"

"Why for your recent kindness of course." She replied.

I looked at her blankly. My only recent acts of kindness were towards Rainbow, and –

My eyes widened as the dots connected. The same black hair (or fur), the same massive amounts of muscle, the same presence in her eyes, and a white belt that suspiciously resembled a bandage around her middle?

There was no question of who the woman was. My eyes pierced through a veil of mist I hadn't even noticed was present, and I found myself face to muzzle with the pegasus from my apartment. Now the question was how?

I thought back to all the oddities. The accelerated healing, heck just surviving the crash at all, the ability to manipulate the mist, the ability to speak, the golden blood…

The answer came to me almost immediately, and I began mentally kicking myself for not seeing it sooner. Dogbreath had been right, pegasi didn't bleed golden blood, no monster does. It wasn't ordinary blood at all, but Ichor, the golden blood of the gods and other immortals.

Who was Rainbow really? I thought. It took me a moment to voice that question aloud. "Who are you really? What are you?" I asked.

She kept on smiling. "You wouldn't recognize my name," she said, "and I think you know what I am."

I narrowed my eyes. "You're not really a pegasus are you?"

"This is actually the form I take most of the time while on business." She said.

Yup, immortal status confirmed. Aside from some of the rarest monsters, shape changing was a skill only used by those for whom the mortal form was a plaything. Aside from that though it was decidedly unhelpful. "Well then what do I call you?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "You can just keep calling me Rainbow, it'll do for now."

I looked at her dubiously. "Are you the goddess of the rainbow? I've heard of her before."

"As amusing as that would be, no."

"So how did you end up in my apartment?" I asked. What could possibly have injured her into the state I'd found her in?

A frown came across Rainbow's face. "The winged messenger and I had a… disagreement. I lost."

I gave her a flat look. "A disagreement?"

Rainbow's cheeks gained a hint of pink to them. "Our discussion got somewhat heated."

I snorted. "What on earth were you arguing about?"

"Something I should have never brought up in his presence." Rainbow admitted. "Now, I'm going to convince the police that you're out on bond. You've earned that much."

"So you can't make all of this go away? I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time!" I pleaded.

"There are limits to what I am allowed to do in thanks, especially when it comes to interfering with mortals." Rainbow said, neatly sidestepping the question. She then turned to leave.
Come on, ask the question…
"Where are you going now?" I asked her.
Yes!
"To go speak with your… acquaintances. If they accept my proposition, I'll also be getting the charges dropped from them."

"WHAT?!" I exploded. "Why do they get the charges dropped and not me? What have they done for you?"
To use gratitude as a pretense to extort someone would be unacceptable.
"It's not what they have done, but what they will do. I have an errand that needs to be done. If they accept, I can't have mortals interfering in my business, so I'll need to take steps to prevent that from happening."
But for someone to offer to do something themselves? That's perfectly fine.
In the heat of the moment, I opened my big mouth. "Whatever it is, I'll do it! I bet I can do it ten times better than those two morons."

I regretted saying those words almost immediately. Rainbow smirked at me like the pegasus that had caught the scythian dracanae. "You're hired. Wait here until I return."

As she left the room, I wondered what I had just gotten myself into.

Spoiler: Invisitext

"There are limits to what I am allowed to do in thanks, especially when it comes to interfering with mortals." Rainbow said, neatly sidestepping the question. She then turned to leave.
Come on, ask the question…
"Where are you going now?" I asked her.
Yes!
"To go speak with your… acquaintances. If they accept my proposition, I'll also be getting the charges dropped from them."

"WHAT?!" I exploded. "Why do they get the charges dropped and not me? What have they done for you?"
To use gratitude as a pretense to extort someone would be unacceptable.
"It's not what they have done, but what they will do. I have an errand that needs to be done. If they accept, I can't have mortals interfering in my business, so I'll need to take steps to prevent that from happening."
But for someone to offer to do something themselves? That's perfectly fine.
In the heat of the moment, I opened my big mouth. "Whatever it is, I'll do it! I bet I can do it ten times better than those two morons."

 

[MarkAren]

About an hour later, Rainbow returned with a very subdued looking Dogbreath.

"Where's Fredward?" I asked.

"He refused my generous offer." Rainbow replied. I wondered if that made him smarter than I. I couldn't even really blame Rainbow, it was all on my moment of impulsiveness. She hadn't forced me to accept her offer after all.

We exited the police station and headed to the nearest subway station in an awkward silence. There we encountered our first problem.

"I'm not sure you're going to fit." I commented to Rainbow. The subway car was almost full, and there definitely wasn't room for a fully grown pegasus inside.

Rainbow stared intently at the car, as if she could force it to increase in size through force of will alone. "You're right." She eventually said.

Then she trotted towards the doors, and with each step she took she shrank in size. By the time she entered the subway car she was much shorter than I was. She hopped up into the only remaining seat and gestured with a cartoonishly small wing for us to join her onboard.

The only incident that occurred on the ride that followed was when a small child pointed at Rainbow and yelled "Pony!" To my amusement, the child's mother apologized to the pegasus. Rainbow nodded in response, but I saw her allow the child to pet her when the mother wasn't looking. It was adorable.

"Hey, this is my stop." I commented as we exited the subway station.

Rainbow nodded. "We are headed to your apartment. You might need your spear for this errand Doris."

"How do you know about my spear? Did you go through my stuff while I was gone?" I accused.
Maybe.
Rainbow didn't answer, and for the first time since we left the police station Dogbreath spoke up. "Why didn't we go to my house?"

"Do you need anything from it?" Rainbow asked.

"Well, no." He admitted.

"Then we won't go to your house." Rainbow said with finality.

---

We were gathered in my apartment. Dogbreath and I sat on opposite ends of the couch, while the still miniaturized Rainbow stood in front of the television. After several awkward moments of silence, Rainbow spoke up.

"I need for you two to go to Ohio and retrieve the Sword of Damocles. It's a powerful artifact that is infamous for hanging by a thread above the head of Damocles. Damocles, out of hubris and ignorance, had switched places with the tyrant king Dionysius the Younger of Syracuse for a day and learned a lesson in the danger those in power face. The sword embodies both the immense power wielded by tyrants and the ease with which it can be lost. It has led a bloody trail throughout history, giving its wielder terrible power in exchange for the possibility of doom at a single misstep. The last person to carry the sword was George Armstrong Custer, who with it rode to fame and victory in the American Civil War and death and infamy at Little Bighorn. The sword is currently being exhibited in the museum of-"

"Question." I asked. "This sounds like a job for halfbloods. Why don't you just get some of them to do this?"

Rainbow seemed to debate something for a moment before answering. "I already tried to obtain the services of a halfblood. I was shot down quite violently."

My eyes strayed to the blanket that covered the broken door, putting two and two together.

"So what's guarding it? Is it a dragon, do we get to fight a dragon?" Dogbreath begged.

No! Bad telekhine! "I refuse to fight anything more draconic than I am." I stated.

One of Rainbow's ears flicked. "What guards the sword is a security system. The museum staff and a security guard as well during the day."

My jaw dropped. "If that's the case why don't you just go get it yourself?"
If I was lucky, Artemis might simply curse me to remain a pegasus forever.
For a moment Rainbow's eyes stared into the distance. Then they focused back on me. "I would not make it past Harrisburg if I were to take up the sword myself. Considering recent events, the gods are being extremely cautious on who can handle powerful artifacts. You, however, they would not deign to face themselves. In any case, I'll warn you if anything does pursue you. Currently all eyes are on the spat between the king of the gods and the lord of the seas, so if you can return by the 21st you can avoid almost all attention. The next train to Harrisburg leaves in less than an hour. From there you'll take a bus to your destination."

For a moment nothing was said as we waited for Rainbow to continue. "That's your cue to leave." She said eventually.

Fifteen minutes later I exited with my spear, a backpack full of spare clothes and monopoly money, and Dogbreath as we headed off towards the train station and adventure.

---

The next morning, at Camp Half-Blood

In one of the cabins a boy jolted awake. "Man, that was a weird dream."

"What did you say?" A fellow camper sleepily asked.

"I had the weirdest dream. A scythian dracanae, a telekhine, and a miniature pegasus walked into an apartment."

"What's the punchline?"

"The pegasus was sending the other two on a quest."

"Are you feeling okay?"

The first camper shrugged. "Like I said, it was a weird dream."

Spoiler: Invisitext

"How do you know about my spear? Did you go through my stuff while I was gone?" I accused.
Maybe.
Rainbow didn't answer, and for the first time since we left the police station Dogbreath spoke up. "Why didn't we go to my house?"


My jaw dropped. "If that's the case why don't you just go get it yourself?"
If I was lucky, Artemis might simply curse me to remain a pegasus forever.
For a moment Rainbow's eyes stared into the distance. Then they focused back on me. "I would not make it past Harrisburg if I were to take up the sword myself. Considering recent events, the gods are being extremely cautious on who can handle powerful artifacts. You, however, they would not deign to face themselves. In any case, I'll warn you if anything does pursue you."

 

[MarkAren]

As soon as we reached the train station, Dogbreath ditched me.

Or at least I think that's when he ran off. I didn't notice he wasn't following me until after I bought our tickets. Peeved, I gave the air a sniff. I wasn't the best tracker, but telekhines have a rather unique scent to them, sort of a combination of wet dog and black magic. Catching onto his trail, I followed it until I found the sorry excuse for a sea dog at one of the food vendors. He was going to town on a hotdog, and blissfully unaware of my presence. I marched over and stood behind him.

"What are you doing? We need to leave." I demanded.

Dogbreath jumped a good foot off the ground. "I'm not going." He said petulantly, before going back to his food.

"We made a deal." I reminded him.

"A deal I never intended to keep." Dogbreath put down his food. "That abomination that calls itself Rainbow tricked me into agreeing to go on a quest for her."

I thought back to the offer Rainbow had made. While it was true that she showed up at a rather convenient time, she hadn't forced me to accept her offer. That was all on my impulsiveness. It wasn't even a bad deal, we spend less than a week fetching a (relatively) unguarded item, and in return gain access to reality warping powers to wipe clean our criminal records. While I would normally have spent some more time thinking the offer over, it was far from a deal I was opposed to.

Dogbreath seemed to feel otherwise. Maybe he valued not being harassed by mortal law enforcement differently than I did. Maybe Rainbow was more… forceful in her discussion with him. Maybe it was something else.

"Why exactly are you so opposed to doing this?" I probed.

"Because it's a quest." Dogbreath spat the last word out like a curse. "Monsters don't do quests."

So that's what it was. "So you won't do it because this seems like something halfbloods should be doing?"

"Yes! It's our duty as monsters to prevent quests from being completed, just like it's our duty to fight halfbloods. You've fought halfbloods before right?"

I nodded. "Four times. I lost all of them. Fighting halfbloods is honestly quite terrifying and not really worth it."

He looked appalled at my words. "Not worth it! It's only a chance for the best meal of your life!"

I blanched. I knew of the tendency of monsters to devour their fallen foes, and it honestly disturbed me. On the one hand I could sort of understand the 'don't waste food' mentality, but on the other I couldn't reconcile it with the ease of obtaining a quality meal in the modern world. Why fight to the death for food when you can just buy a nice steak dinner? There's a much lower risk of dying involved and no eating of sentient beings.

"Besides, don't you want to take this chance to get back at one of the gods?" Dogbreath continued.

To be honest, I wasn't sure Rainbow was a god. Sure, there were a lot of minor ones she could be, but they weren't the only immortals out there. In addition there were titans, protogenoi, the odd ex-humans, and other assorted spirits from throughout the ages. But I decided to shelve that discussion in favor of answering his question.

"No, not really. None of the gods, and certainly not Rainbow, have done anything to me. I don't see any reason to prompt them to rectify this."

Dogbreath's eyes darkened. "Then you're lucky. Us telekhines used to be the most respected blacksmiths of the gods. We made their most powerful weapons, and in thanks they killed all but one of us! All because our dark magic was 'killing the animals' and 'poisoning the plants'."

I narrowed my eyes. "Were you even alive back then?"

"No."

"Then you're refusing to do a task you've agreed to do because of something gods who possibly weren't Rainbow did to telekhines who definitely weren't you millennia in the past?"

Dogbreath looked me dead in the eyes. "Yes."

I grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a shake. "You're being an idiot. Do you know what's worse than an immortal that's angry with you? An immortal that's angry with you because you've betrayed their trust. Rainbow either knows or could easily find out where you live, so unless you want to spend the rest of eternity hiding from her we're going to complete this. Together, because I'm not going to let you do something this stupid."

So I dragged Dogbreath, metaphorically kicking and screaming, onto the train. As we sat down, someone muttered "Someone's sleeping in the doghouse tonight."

I felt nauseous at the implication.
​

 

[MarkAren]

Spoiler: Author's Note

I will be slightly revising the earlier chapters as we go along to improve them. So far the only changes is the removal of the following from Chapter 5 so that it is not in conflict with this chapter.

Spoiler: Chapter 5

Rainbow turned to Dogbreath. "You have a cell phone, correct?"

"Yeah!" Dogbreath said proudly. "I even have the demigod 2.0 tracker app to keep up with the latest halfblood sightings! By the way, I lost your feathers somewhere between the police arriving and them arresting us. Do you think you could-"

"Touch my fur or feathers, or even think about making a hat out of them and it will be the last thing you do." Rainbow warned, before turning back to me. "I'll stay here and use the apartment's phone to contact you."

I frowned. "Don't you immortals have your own ways of long distance communication?" I asked. I was fairly certain that Iris and Hermes both ran some sort of messenger services.

"Do you wish to attract the attention of the gods?" Rainbow asked.

I paled and backpedaled. "Nope! The current amount of attention is fine!"

"Then you both would do well to leave immediately.

Hopefully this will begin to address the issues brought up with regards to Rainbow.

The landscape was desolate. I rode past rocky outcrops and jagged fissures as I approached the gate made of horn. It towered over the barren landscape surrounding it.

As I passed through the gate my steed began to slow. Irked, I attempted to lead it forwards. When it continued to ignore the reigns and came to a complete stop, I tried giving it a little kick.

"Go!" I urged.

An ominous feeling came over me, as if I'd done something unexpected and wholly unappreciated. I frowned down at my steed, and in response a pair of eyes formed on the back of its neck and glared at me.

I leaped from its back in shock. You could not have moved me faster if you shot me out of a cannon. Once I gained a healthy distance, I calmed down a bit and took a second look.

What I had first thought was my steed wasn't even a proper horse. Instead, a dense mass of shadows roiled and writhed in a vaguely equine shape. Dark wisps rose from what passed for its back, functioning either as wings or smoke given off by an internal fire. A pair of brilliant eyes regarded me coldly.

I may have uttered a small 'meep', and took a step back. The being responded with a glide forwards. I quickly shifted into full reverse, and it more than matched my movements, gaining ground as my panic rose.

I was so focused on what was before me that I wasn't paying attention to what was behind me. The back of my head collided with the gate, and I -

- Shot straight upright in my seat as I woke up inside the train.

---

"So which hotel do you want to stay in? There's a Motel 6, a Marriott, a Scythian Inn, a Hampton –"

I interrupted Dogbreath. "Scythian Inn, we're staying there."

He frowned and stared at the screen of his phone. "It only has three stars. Are you sure you want to go there?"

The bus and train had taken a lot out of me, and the weird dream I had hadn't helped matters. It was late in the evening and I just wanted to crash for the night. Plus, with a name like that the place probably catered to monsters. It was no 'Echidna Suites', but neither was it particularly subtle.

---

I was right. A fellow scythian dracanae looked at me from behind the front desk.

"So with two rooms, one with a heat lamp, for two nights you'll also be getting complimentary breakfast."

I nodded dreamily, focused on the prospect of using the heat lamp to warm up my snake legs in the morning.

"You're in luck this week, some Canadians will be providing a Laistrygonian Special for breakfast your second morning here."

I nodded absently, still focused on the heat lamp.

"Will that be cash, credit, debit, or drachma?"

My mind stuttered to a halt. "What?"

The monster at the desk narrowed her eyes. "Cash, credit, debit, or drachma. You do have to pay for the rooms."

I began to sweat. I had planned on us taking mortal transportation, eating mortal food, and staying in mortal hotels. The only payment I had brought with me was funny money that with the help of the Mist would be indistinguishable from the real thing. While the Mist could work on monsters, it certainly wouldn't work with my level of skill against someone who was already suspicious. I also certainly didn't have any drachmas, the currency of ancient Greece that the gods still used.

"Well, uh, you see…" I began.

Then Dogbreath slapped one of his shoes on the front desk. Both of us dracanae stared at him as he dug one of his flipper hands into the depths of the shoe. Eventually, he pulled out the sweatiest, smelliest, and most worn out drachma I'd ever seen.

"Here." He said as he handed over the coin. My fellow dracanae took it gingerly and held it as far away from herself as possible.

"… Thanks." She said, eyeing the coin as if it might bite her. Then she tossed the two room keys onto the desk.

Dogbreath put his shoe back on and grabbed the keys. "That was my emergency fund." He said as he handed me the key marked with a lamp.

"Thank you." I told him honestly.

Ten minutes later I was asleep.

---

I was riding in the desolate wasteland again.

I came to my senses just beyond an ivory gate, and immediately sprung from the back of the shadow horse. Careful to not run into the gate this time, I continued to back away towards the safe distance of 'as far away as possible'.

Compared to the previous time, the smoky figure seemed to be more agitated. The inky blackness that composed it kept twisting into itself, and what on second glance were definitely wings were fluttering. Then the figure dissolved into black sand and shot towards me. I tried to run, but it caught up with me and I was soon surrounded by darkness.

I screamed, but there was no sound. I ran, but there was no movement. I tried to wake up, but there was no escape. Finally, the darkness that surrounded me dissolved and I found myself in an entirely new location.

Where once there had been the endless expanse of unfertile rocky ground was now the interior of a building. A short hallway greeted me, with indistinct blurs hanging from the white walls. I moved forward and inspected one of the blurs. It sort of looked like a painting done by an impressionist who trained under Jackson Pollock.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed movement, and I turned to find the spectral horse forming itself, from bottom to top, right next to me. I flattened myself against the wall in fear.

The mass of shadows didn't do anything though. It simply sat there, watching me. Its brilliant eyes looked vaguely familiar, but before I could remember why it turned away and floated down the hall.

"Hey! Staring is rude you know. Aren't you going to apologize?" I called after it halfheartedly.

It didn't show any signs of having heard me and kept on its merry way as it glided down the hallway. When it reached the end, it flowed head-first through a set of double doors, neither opening them nor blasting a hole through. Instead it just floated through, kind of like a ghost.

Leaving me alone in the hallway with nothing to do. Against my better judgment, my curiosity got the better of me. I jogged down the hallway and pushed open the doors.

I found myself in a large room. Wide, hazy columns rose up from the floor here and there, reaching towards but never touching the ceiling. Hazy blurs, like those from the hallway, covered the walls. Finally, the mass of shadows stood near the far end of the room, situated between two more columns. Its smoky wings were extended horizontally, one pointed towards each column.

I approached slowly and cautiously. The closer I got, the more in focus those two columns became. Oddly enough, all of the other columns remained hazy and indistinct. By the time I was halfway across the room, I realized the two resolving columns were actually transparent. Once I stopped at a safe distance from the mass of shadows, I could tell the columns were in fact display cases. Inside of them were several items, but only two were not a fuzzy indistinct mass.

The shadow's right wing pointed towards a celestial bronze sword, and its left wing pointed towards a sinister looking knife. Then the shadows writhed, as if they were particularly unhappy about something. The left wing slowly retracted, and after a moment the being was only pointing towards the sword.

"Okay, you're more of a sword person… thing. I'm actually more of a spear girl myself." I commented.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as the being began to writhe again. I took a step back. The creature's still extended wing shook a bit, as if emphasizing 'sword'.

"I still don't get it." I said.

The shadows dissolved into the floor. From behind me I heard the sound of doors opening, and I turned. My jaw dropped as I saw perfect duplicates of Dogbreath and myself enter the room. Well, almost perfect, typically the two of us weren't transparent.

"Hey!" I said, but the two ignored my call. They came closer and closer until they stood beside me, completely oblivious to my presence. They were focused on the sword.

"We have to be quick." My duplicate noted. Dogbreath smirked, then tried to punch a hole in the display case. His hand bounced off, and my duplicate and I sighed in unison. As she began to smash her way through the glass with her spear a thought struck me.

"Wait, is this the sword of Damocles?"

But no one answered. Dogbreath reached into the broken display case and pulled out the sword, and commented on how light it was. I didn't hear my duplicate's response as I focused intently on the sword in Dogbreath's hand. It certainly looked like a sword and was made from the right material. It could be the Sword of Damocles.

As the two calmly but quickly exited the room, I was still focused on the sword, trying to burn its image into my brain. I –

– Woke up.

 

[MarkAren]

George Kimbrell gave the alignment one last examination before grinning in satisfaction. "And with that, your door is fixed."

The woman in the apartment didn't respond. She was an odd one, he could tell. She was so quiet that if she hadn't opened the door and sat on the couch, he wouldn't even have known she was here. Her dark clothing made her look drab and sad, so he'd tried to engage her in conversation.

Nothing had worked. All his attempts at making small talk had been met with dead silence. Even the completion of his job apparently didn't merit a 'thank you'. He wasn't a vain man, but he did enjoy knowing that people were happy with his work.

"Well, I'm going to go now – oh, hello there." He said as he noticed the apartment's third occupant: a large black dog. He wasn't sure how he'd missed it before, perhaps it had been asleep? At the moment the dog was sitting at the foot of the woman, the very picture of a perfect guard dog.

"What kind of dog is this?" He asked.

To his surprise the woman answered. "He's a hellhound." She said in a low monotone, as if she was unused to speaking.

George thought for a moment. "Is that some sort of special breed of mastiff?"

"Somewhat." The woman allowed.

He eyed the dog, who was about the size of a grown man. He knew some great danes got around that big, but he didn't know mastiffs could too. Then again he'd never seen a mastiff outside of pictures.

"How big is he?" He asked out of curiosity.

"He's young, so only 350 pounds."

He had to have heard that wrong. That or the woman had misspoken. Either way, a dog that weighed 150 pounds and got bigger?

"I've been meaning to get a guard dog to watch the house and kids while I'm away. What's his temperament like?"

"Fiercely loyal." The woman said, raising her head to fix him with a piercing stare.

He smiled. "Where'd you get him? I might have to get one myself."

The woman stared at him. Just when it was starting to get uncomfortable, she responded. "He's actually my mother's. She wanted to check up on me."

George subtly licked his fingers and cleaned out his ears. "So they're your mother's? Do you think you could put me in contact with her?"

The woman smiled. It was not a nice smile.

Spoiler: Author's Note

I imagined that Nyx with her hellhounds would say something like, "This is Spot. He is seven months old and weighs 350 pounds. He enjoys belly rubs, long walks in the park, and eating cats. If he doesn't decide to eat you within the week, you can keep him."

This is just a funny side-story that popped up into my head when I thought about what repairing the broken door would look like. It's canonicity is dubious, but I had fun writing it and I hope you have fun reading it. In the next chapter we will return to Doris and not-friend as they break the law and trash a museum. I'm hoping to post the next three chapters together, as I have the second and third 90% written, and the first about halfway done.

 

[MarkAren]

The inside of the museum was exactly like the building from my dream.

Okay, it wasn't exactly like it. The hazy images on the walls were actually pictures and paintings, and the display cases were not out of focus. But with regards to what I was here for, the dream was spot on. At the end of the main gallery were the two display cases that had featured prominently in my dream.

One was labeled Knives of the Natives, and featured a variety of knives and other sharp objects. Apart from noting that there was indeed a dark, sinister looking knife, I ignored it in favor of the case next to it.

George Armstrong Custer – the Victor and the Vanquished it read. It featured some articles of clothing, a few odds and ends, and most importantly, a celestial bronze sword. I briefly glanced at the information card next to the sword to confirm that it was indeed Custer's, then dismissed the rest of it as unimportant. I'd found what I'd come here for.

"Doris, are you okay? You haven't spoken since we got here." Dogbreath asked from beside me.

I turned and gave a fake smile to Dogbreath. "Yup, just thinking about something."

Truthfully, the dream was freaking me out. While the first one could have just been the odd product of my sleeping mind, the second was definitely more than that. I'd never been here before and yet I'd dreamed of this place. It gave me chills when I looked at the sinister knife and goosebumps when I looked at Custer's sword. Spooky sorta-but-not-really-prophetic prophetic dreams were not normal for monsters.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and focused on our next task. "We've found it. Time to get ready."

Dogbreath sighed and complained that this was the boring part.

---

I was inclined to agree with him as I waited for hours in a stall, hidden behind a veil of the Mist. Yes we hid in the bathrooms. Yes it was awkward. Yes it was boring. Yes there was probably a motion sensor that was tripped the moment we left them. But considering that our smash and grab shouldn't take more than three minutes, I was confident in our ability to get the sword. Once we were outside we could use the mist to hide from any police that showed up. Then we'd head back to the hotel, then head back to New York tomorrow morning.

We met back up in front of Custer's sword thirty minutes before midnight. I glanced around the gloomy darkness, trying to see if I could see my dream self from the night before. I couldn't see anyone else, but it was pretty dark.

Then Dogbreath punched the display case and let out a cry of pain. I sighed and readied my weapon. While glass might be mightier than the flipper, it certainly loses out to the spear. Soon there was a sizeable hole, and Dogbreath eagerly reached into the display case to grab the celestial bronze sword within.

"Huh." He said as he removed it from the display case. "I thought it'd be heavier."

I frowned. "Well it supposedly was held by a single horse hair, so it'd have to be pretty light."

Dogbreath barked in laughter. "Hah! As if any sword could weigh that little."

"Well don't blame me, that's what the stories said. Now let's get out of here before –"

A low, rumbling growl interrupted me from somewhere behind us.

"Doris," Dogbreath whispered. "Please tell me that was your stomach."

"No." I whispered back."

"Well it sure wasn't mine!"

We turned around just in time to see a large shape melt into existence at the end of the room. Deep red eyes glinted in the low light, and teeth the size of my arm were bared at us. The bottom dropped out of my stomach as I realized that an actual hellhound stood before us.

Hellhounds are probably the most dangerous monster that comes in larger numbers. They're rarely seen outside of the Underworld, and when they are it's usually because someone had pissed off Hades very badly. I cannot begin to describe how screwed we are if that was the case. Even if it wasn't, a hellhound on its own is frightening enough.

We both screamed and backed up against the broken display case. I jammed the butt of my spear where the floor met the display case and pointed the tip towards the demonic canine. Maybe if I pretended it was a very large horse, I could defeat it the same way cavalry had been defeated for centuries: by letting them impale themselves on long, pointy objects. Of course, most horses weren't the size of a small truck, and my plan suffered accordingly.

The Hellhound leaped at us with its mouth wide open, its teeth glinting in the darkness. A split second before it hit there was a cracking sound as it hopefully impaled itself on my spear. Then several hundred pounds of angry dog smashed into the two of us like a bowling ball.

I was knocked to my left and smashed my way through the side of the knife display case. I hissed in pain, both from the impact and from something that had dug into my left snake-leg. My legs and I hissed again as I yanked out a mortal blade and tossed it away. If that had been Celestial Bronze, I would be a pile of dust right now.

As I got to my feet, I noticed something was wrong with my spear. Holding it up for inspection, I realized that it had snapped in half. Instead of a menacing six foot pole with celestial bronze death on the tip, I had a very menacing stick. I threw the useless length of wood aside and looked around for a weapon that wasn't broken or coated in my own blood. My eyes fell upon the sinister looking hunting knife, and I scooped it up.

"Back! Back I say!"

Dogbreath was fending off the hellhound with Custer's sword. Either he had gotten in a few lucky hits or the celestial bronze in my spear tip was starting to poison the hellhound. Either way, the demon dog was swaying on its paws like a drunkard with the top third of my spear protruding from its chest.

Clutching the knife in my hand, I ran up behind the distracted hellhound and leaped onto its back. The canine yelped, first in surprise and then in pain as I raked the knife up and down its back. For a mortal blade it worked surprisingly well; it must have been exceptionally sharp.

Suddenly, the hellhound jerked and gave a pitiful whine. Then it crumbled into dust. I was unceremoniously dropped face-down onto the floor below, and moaned in pain as shards of glass dug into my body. To make it even worse, the same glass that was cutting into me was also coated in dust from the hellhound. Ew, that was just gross.

"I totally thought I was going to die." Dogbreath said from somewhere in front of me. "But then you jumped onto its back like a madwoman, which I guess was pretty cool, and it cried in pain. Then I stabbed the sword right into the roof of the Hellhound's mouth."

I grunted in response. I rose to my knees and began the arduous process of pulling shards of glass out of my arms and face. Dogbreath stood a few feet away, staring reverently at Custer's sword in his hand.

"I'm totally keeping it. With this sword I'm unstoppable!" He declared.

I sighed. He really was an idiot wasn't he? "You'd have to ask Rainbow about that. She totally has plans for that sword. By the way, could you help me with all this glass?"

"Oh I'll ask her alright." Dogbreath muttered to himself before turning to me. "Sure, I'll lend you a flipper."

Once we finished prying bits of broken glass out of me, I located the top of my spear. It was nearly useless as a weapon at its current length, but it was better than nothing. I needed to save the tip for the celestial bronze in it anyways.

After glancing once more at my broken spear, I decided to take the sinister knife with me. With my spear broken, I felt very exposed. If the knife was good enough to slice open a hellhound, it was good enough for me. It truly chilled my cold-blooded heart to take another item from the museum we had just trashed, but I did it anyways.

Spoiler: Author's Note

Whelp, my first real fight scene in over three years. Expect one, and possibly even two more chapters to come out tonight.

 

[MarkAren]

About thirty seconds after we limped out of the museum, the first police car arrived. Hidden under the heaviest veil of Mist we could manage, we crouched in some bushes. One keen-eyed cop stared in our direction for a moment, but he soon moved on.

The rest of the trip back to the hotel was long and boring. It was almost an hour's walk through the dark streets of the city, and my stomach reminded me that I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. Unfortunately, we didn't pass any 24-hour restaurants on our way back, so I consoled myself with promises that there would be food back at the hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel, Dogbreath went on to sleep and I began my quest for food. Surely there was a vending machine nearby, didn't most hotels have one on every floor?

Apparently not this one. I spent half an hour wandering the halls searching, but I didn't find a single crumb. Frustrated, I returned to my room, took a shower, and tried to fill my stomach with vague promises of a hearty breakfast.

I did my best to go to sleep, but hunger prevented me. By now it was almost three in the morning and my stomach was audibly moaning. I gave in, and headed downstairs to find the kitchen. I'd already committed one crime tonight, what was one more?

The kitchen wasn't too hard to find. I just snuck downstairs, past the telekhine drooling on the front desk and into the room where breakfast was served. After a moment's exploration, I found a door marked employees only.

The door opened with a whimper, and I set about finding myself some food. A large refrigerator looked promising, and I approached it. Inside I found lots of food meant for the breakfast tomorrow, including a large ham. I eagerly dragged it out and ate the whole thing in one bite. Well, not really, but not for lack of trying. My stomach roared in approval, tears were shed, and my snake legs hissed at my tears to be quiet.

Wait, what? Those weren't my tears or my snake legs. I stood still, the piece of ham sticking out of my mouth, and listened. Yup, tears were being shed, and they weren't from me. I quickly ate the rest of the ham before creeping towards the noise. It was dark, so when I saw something move in the corner I drew my new knife.

I looked closer, and realized that it was two figures tied up. A young boy, maybe eight years old, was crying softly while a teenage girl glared at me with steel in her eyes. The last pieces of ham dropped from my hands.

"Surprised?" Hissed the girl at me.

"Yes, very much so." I replied honestly. Why on earth would two children be tied up in the kitchen unless…

I took a sniff, and the air confirmed my suspicions. At least one of them was a halfblood.

"Well you shouldn't be." The girl continued. "We can hear them going on about the upcoming Laistrygonian special from in here."

A deep pit began to form in my stomach. It clicked in my head a moment later. Laistrygonians were cannibal giants from the north. They were the Canadians mentioned when we had first arrived at the hotel. "You're the special." I said.

The girl nodded. "Apparently the birthday of someone named 'Babycakes' is tomorrow, it's the only reason we aren't dead yet. Whatever the giants don't eat will go into the special."

I wondered how often it came to this for halfbloods. How often did they survive their final battle, only so they could be killed later like the lamb for slaughter? It didn't feel right. Fighting and killing a halfblood in battle was one thing. But this? Keeping a halfblood or two chained up in the kitchen to be served as food at a birthday party? It made me very uncomfortable.

The girl spoke up again. "As nice as talking to you has been, I'd like to spend my last hours with my brother in private. Kill us, help us, or get out of the room."

I should leave. One of the two (on closer inspection, the scent of halfblood wasn't strong enough for both of them to be one) would sooner kill me than leave me be, if given the chance. They would gladly gut me in my sleep. They would place no value on my life. But the other one didn't. Apart from the astronomical chance that the human was a clear sighted mortal, the other would happily chat with me in the street. Was completely oblivious to what truly lied beneath my Mist-given mask. Was an innocent bystander in the age old fight between halfbloods and monsters.

The girl spoke up. "Look, whatever you're debating, could you find it within that black hole you call a heart to at least free my brother? He's not involved in any of this, just someone who was at the wrong place at the wrong time."

One of them was me at Fredward's when the police arrived. Only present because of someone else, only taken because of another's crimes. But where I'd at least had a choice between a rock named Rainbow and a hard place named prison, this human didn't have that luxury. At least, not until now.

A feeling came over me as I drew the knife from my belt and advanced on the two. I could show them either mercy or death with a short swipe of the blade. My parents would urge me to kill him, arguing a traumatized, lost young boy wouldn't survive to find home anyways. My not-friend would tell me to kill him, arguing that it was my duty as a monster to stick it to the gods. My brain provided more concrete reminders. I could feel the swords, fist, and spear that had pierced my chest and killed me the last four times I'd encountered halfbloods.

The knife found the ropes, and I began to saw at the ropes binding both of them. My heart, or whatever was in my dust filled chest, said that freeing a young boy only to damn his sister was needlessly traumatic. I also didn't want to deal with the fallout of freeing the boy but leaving the sister. For one I didn't want to have to babysit him, nor did I want to just turn him loose on his own at three in the morning. Mostly though, I didn't want to chance the girl spilling the beans on who had helped them.

A few minutes later I watched as the girl shepherded the now hopeful looking boy towards the back door. "Whatever your reasons, thank you." She whispered.

I nodded in response, not wanting to chance verbalizing a reply. A moment later the two vanished into the night, and I went to go finally get some sleep.

Spoiler: Author's Note

When I wrote my first snippets of what would become the previous iteration of this fic, I asked myself, 'what would it take for a monster to not eat a halfblood when given the chance?' For the first run, I made a character so empty-headed she wouldn't put two and two together and munch down. This time, I tried to make a character who could feel empathy towards a halfblood and have mercy. This scene right here is as serious as I wanted to take this fic.

Trivia note: This, along with the previous fight scene, are some of the oldest scenes in the fic (they survived being cut or being drastically rewritten). The fight scene was the first one written that didn't take place in Doris's apartment, and this scene was the second bit of writing I did after I actually outlined the fic.

Also, for anyone who is slightly confused, Babycakes is from TSOM, where Joe Bob the cannibal giant claims he will take her a doggie bag (implying she also eats teenaged demigod)

Thoughts?