บท 42: Deer caught, Camp ruins

{Pyrenees, October 4th 2001}

"Haah, haah, fi- finally I hah caught you." I said between heaving breaths as I looked upon the mythical deer ensnared at my feet by my shadow tendrils too tired from our chase to phase through them.

As my tiredness from our continued chase finally settled in I closed my eyes still holding onto the legendary Hind.

{Odysseus' Dreamscape, Unknown Time}

I once again appeared in an infinitely large space, with millions of eyes looking at, meaning I had completed my quest. "Good job son." My father's voice trembled through the space.

I didn't reply to my father's words instead I just asked him something which I had been meaning to ask for more than a year "Is there a way to return Thalia to her human form?"

"Yes." My father replied as the eyes shook at his words. "Please tell me." I pleaded towards my godly parent. "You shouldn't worry about her everything will come in due time." My father replied.

"Please." I pleaded once again, tears falling from my eyes and falling to my knees in this shadowy place.

"Sadly I cannot." My father once again his voice wavering slighlty. "Please." I pleaded once more. "I can't." My father once again replied as a tendril with a hand materialized at my side and placed its hand on my hand. I fell silent and cried, thinking that maybe even if it was a slight chance my godly father would have helped me.

After what felt like an infinite long time of silence and,y eyes had rung dry, I stood up and asked "Fine what is my next quest then?"

My father sighed as he replied "You must heal the three mortals wounded by Apollo's snake. This labor is based on Asklepios another of Chiron's students and the god of medicine. As for your hint they will all be in Hospital's in the USA in their ICU's."

I nodded after hearing his words, then with my own thoughts I sunk into the ground.

I once again regained consciousness but I realized I wasn't in the place where I had fallen from exhaustion, right now I was in a rundown wooden house, which seemed eerily similar to a cabin hanging over a boiling pot.

With a thought I sunk into the darkness on the roof appearing at the doorway of the cabin, I used my sight and noticed something, this place had 12 cabins all rundown with overgrowing moss.

The weirder thing was that in all these cabins and on the outside were tens of cyclops. It looked like a group of cyclops had taken a base in an ancient Camp Half-Blood.

The cyclops seemed to have noticed my escape as they all suddenly started smelling the air and turned to face the cabin in which I was previously hanging. "Well at least I can let off some steam." I deadpanned as I summoned my spear into my hand.

-ROAAWWRRR-

Tens of cyclops roared as they rushed at the cabin in which I was previously going to be cooked, which now that I looked at it seemed similar to the Big House at Camp Half-Blood.

I used the shadows and teleported myself behind the last shadow, lunging with my spear and imapling his head with my spear, its body bursting into dust.

The cyclops seemed confused for a few moments at the sight of their fallen companion but they swiftly recovered from their confusion, their red aura flaring up in anger.

But I paid no heed to their animal and guttural roar, I just sunk back into the shadow appearing once again behind another cyclops, lunging forwards and imapling his torso.

Two close cyclops noticed my location and smashed their huge clubs at me, as they let out angry roars.

Still they couldn't catch me unprepared, four of my tendrils quickly appeared from my shadow as two grabbed the clubs while the other two tips sharpened impaled the cyclops, all three cyclops turned to dust almost simultaneously.

"You will pay for this, demigod" One of the cyclops roared. "Yeah, I am already hated by your father, don't think this is gonna do much of a difference." I replied to the cyclops in indifference as I once again sunk into the shadows.

Our battle continued, the cyclops clumsily and angrily trying to smash me with their clubs each time I reappeared but it was for nothing, my spear and tendrils kept on killing the cyclops one by one, until finally the last one was left.

"Come on demigod, fight me honorably." The last cyclops yelled. "Well, isn't that ironic." I laughed as I reapered from a shadow.

"You didn't fight honorably either, you tried jumping me, hell you even caught me while I was sleeping so don't go whining now." I continued. The cyclops slightly growled at my words and dashed at me.

I pushed my back foot against the ground cracking it slightly, and met the cyclops head on, soon we were face to face, the cyclops slammed his wooden club downward , but I just moved slighlty to the side evading the strike and lunged putting my entire force behind it.

-PHUISSH-

My spear impaled the cyclops' eye, and through its head. The cyclops let go of his club, a loud thud ringing out, in a moment the cyclops body burst into dust.

In place of were the cyclops previously stood now just a simple tooth lay with a slight amount of Mist surrounding it. "Well that is disappointing." I said as I thought that maybe I would get something better from my efforts (which wasn't a lot).

I decided not to grab it, and started inspecting the place in which I was in, now with 26 clubs laying on the floor.

I inspected each cabin, hitch seemed almost identical to the cabins at Camp Half-Blood just more used and ancient, it honestly felt weird seeing everything be the same, but no demigods in it.

I couldn't find anything interesting to put into my shadow so I decided to start on my newest labor, with a clear destination in mind, I thought of the Empire State Building which I had visited with the campers a few times before, then I sunk into the shadows beneath me.

[Greek Myth Fact: Today's fact will be about Asklepios since I don't think he is well known. Asklepios was the son of Apollo and the Trikkaian princess Koronis. His mother died in labour and when she was laid out on the pyre, Apollo cut the unborn child from her womb. From this Asklepios received his name which means "to cut open." Asklepios was raised by the centaur Chiron who instructed him in the art of medicine. He grew so skilled in the craft that he was able to restore the dead to life. This was a crime against the natural order and so Zeus destroyed him with a thunderbolt. After his death Asklepios was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Ophiochus.]

*Author Note: I started a patreon called Joanjudo Stories it will end up having 10 chapters in advance, access to the secondary fanfic (will write in spare time) and polls to decide some of the future plots/characters.*