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65.08% Reincarnated as a dragon egg in DxD with a Fate System! / Chapter 192: A god named Fred

章 192: A god named Fred

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

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

"How should I call you? Apollo?"

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

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

"A god named Fred?"

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

"Can you help us, then?"

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

"The train. How fast are we moving?"

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

"But where is Artemis?"

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

"And Annabeth?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Wait." The girl said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...…

"Hey, wake up!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They had only four day until they reached winter solstice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"But the clerk said—"

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

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

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

"Nice rat," she said at last.

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

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

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

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

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

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

LMAO.

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

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

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

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

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

"Lot of good it did either."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Why?"

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


章 193: A blessing of the Wild

It was a strange story. Then again, Bianca and Nico were Half-Bloods. Nothing would be normal for them.

"So, you've been raising Nico pretty much all your life?" Drako asked. "Just the two of you?"

She nodded. "That's why I wanted to join the Hunters so bad. I mean, I know it's selfish, but I wanted my own life and friends. I love Nico—don't get me wrong—I just needed to find out what it would be like not to be a big sister twenty-four hours a day."

At that moment, Zoë and Grover arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for Bianca and Percy. Coffee for Drako, Grover and Zoë.

"We should do the tracking spell," Zoë said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to—"

He froze.

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup."

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly, the birds peeled off the cup and flew away—a flock of tiny doves. My rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees—real fur, real whiskers.

Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. They gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.

"Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just… What's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "He collapsed."

"Uuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here."

They made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of gray camouflage, they were now wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had the same transparent gray skin and yellow eyes.

Most of them need a moment to realise how fucked they were when they saw them using handguns. The only one who was immune to them here was Drako, so they needed to be careful.

Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiralled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch.

Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into Percy.

He drew Riptide, though Drako wasn't sure what good it would do against guns.

Zoë and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her.

"Back up," Thalia said.

They started to—but then two more skeletons appeared on the road behind them. They were surrounded.

"They are only a group of shity skeletons," Drako said. "What are you afraid of?"

Drako didn't understand why were they so cautious. Each one of the skeletons was at the level of a mid-class Devil, maybe a little bit better than the average.

"You will understand when you see it," Zoë said.

Then, one of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it.

Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone.

Drako understood what was going on. The skeletons had split up to look for them. These skeletons were now calling their brethren. Soon, they'd have a full party on their hands.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's here," Percy said.

"No," he insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

"We'll have to go one-on-one," Thalia said. "Four of them. Four of us. Percy, you have to protect Grover."

"Agreed," said Zoë.

"The Wild!" Grover moaned.

A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees. Drako got shocked by the pressure that he was sensing at that moment.

Something was coming, something really powerful.

A skeleton fired at Drako, but the bullets didn't do anything. Drako lost like 10 hp for each bullet, and he got back that hp in the next second.

Drako summoned Laevatein, and charged toward the skeleton. He swung the sword and cut him in half.

It was so easy to kill the skeleton.

But, Drako didn't receive any experience.

The bones of the skeleton unknit and clattered to the asphalt in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth at Drako and tried to fire, but he knocked his gun into the snow.

In that moment, the other two skeletons shot at him.

But, they didn't have enough strength to do any serious damage to Drako.

Thalia charged to the second skeleton. Zoë and Bianca started firing arrows at the third and fourth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to huge them. Percy was looking over the fight, prepare to help at any moment.

There was a crashing sound in the forest to their left, like a bulldozer. Maybe the skeletons' reinforcements were arriving.

Drako understood why the skeletons were so scary for Zoë and the rest. They were unkillable; they didn't die even with Laevatein.

There was no way to stop them. Zoë and Bianca fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, and Drako was about to go to her, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest.

The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.

"How did you do that?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Lucky stab?"

"Well, do it again!"

Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now.

No matter how many times did Drako cut them, they still reappeared. It didn't stop.

"Plan?" Drako asked as they retreated.

Nobody answered. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.

"A gift," Grover muttered.

And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig Drako had ever seen came into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.

"REEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bone twirling everywhere.

Then the pig turned on them.

Drako raised his sword, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it."

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoe said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."

"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "REEEEEY!" and swung its tusk. Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way. Percy had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Express.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" he said. "Scatter!"

They ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

Only Drako stayed in front of the Boar.

This monster was the biggest he has ever found. He wanted to have a fight against him with his real form.

"GrrrrrRRR!" Drako started to growl as scales started to appear on his skin.

"WAIT! IT'S A BLESSING" Grover shouted when he saw what Drako was going to do.

Drako stopped the transformation for a moment. He wanted to hear what Grover had to say.

"It want to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Of course," Grover said. "It's wild!"

LMAO

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

It seemed a fair question to Drako, but the pig was offended and charged her. She was faster than he'd realized. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled.

The boar turned towards Thalia, and she made the mistake of raising Aegis in defence. The sight of Medusa's head made the boar squeal in outrage.

The boar charged towards her.

Fast, Drako ran towards Thalia.

"This way." He grabed Thalia's arm and they ran along the rails while the boar roared behind them, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its hooves just were not made for this, thank the gods.

Ahead of them, Drako saw a covered tunnel. Past that, an old trestle bridge spanning a gorge. Drako had a crazy idea.

"Follow me!"

Thalia slowed down—Drako didn't have time to ask why—but he pulled her along and she reluctantly followed. Behind them, a ten-ton pig tank was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased them.

Thalia and Drako ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side.

"No!" Thalia screamed.

She'd turned as white as ice. They were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below.

The boar was right behind them.

"Come on!" He said. "Jump!"

"I can't!" Thalia yelled. Her eyes were wild with fear.

The boar smashed into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed.

"Now!" He yelled at Thalia.

She looked down and swallowed. Drako could swear that she was turning green.

"Tch."

Drako pushed her, throwing her down.

She started to scream. Drako jump behind her and opened his wings, he embraced her while trying to find the balance.

The boar was less fortunate; it couldn't turn that fast, so all ten tons of the monster charged out onto the tiny trestle, which buckled under its weight. The boar free-fell into the gorge with a mighty squeal and landed in a snowdrift with a huge POOOOOF!

Drako went down to the ground. Thalia was breathing really hard. Next to them, the wild boar was squealing and struggling. All Drako could see was the bristly tip of its back. It was wedged completely in the snow like Styrofoam packing. It didn't seem to be hurt, but it wasn't going anywhere, either.

Drako looked at Thalia. "You're afraid of heights."

Now that they were safely down the mountain, her eyes had their usual angry look. "Don't be stupid."

"That explains why you freaked out on Apollo's bus. Why you didn't want to talk about it."

She took a deep breath. "If you tell anyone, I swear—"

"No, no," Drako said. "That's cool. It's just… the daughter of Zeus, the Lord of the Sky, afraid of heights?"

Thalia blushed and looked at other place in shame.

That moment, above them, Grover's voice called, "Hellooooo?"

"Down here!" Drako shouted.

A few minutes later, Zoe, Bianca, Percy and Grover joined them. They stood watching the wild boar struggle in the snow.

"A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated.

"I agree," Zoe said. "We must use it."

"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"

"Fun," Drako said. "Like… pig cowboys."

Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish… I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now."

"What's gone?" Percy asked.

Grover didn't seem to hear Percy. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back.

Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

"Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great."

She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of them.

Zoë and Bianca walked toward the boar.

"Wait a second," Percy said. "Do you two know what Grover is talking about—this wild blessing?"

"Of course," Zoë said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong… I never thought I would sense that presence again."

"What presence?" Drako asked. He wanted to who was the one who could emit the strong presence that he had detected earlier.

Zoë stared at Drako like he was an idiot. "The lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan."


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