The skeletons moved forward, forming a crescent around them. Their brethren from the café was running up to join them. No matter what Drako tries, they still got up and reached them. One was still putting its skull back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup and mustard. Two more had burritos lodged in their rib cages. They didn't look happy about it. They drew batons and advanced.
"Six against eleven," Zoe muttered. "And they cannot die."
"It's been nice adventuring with you guys," Grover said, his voice trembling.
Drako was thinking hard. What can he do in this situation? He could "kill" them, but they were going to revive in the next second. He couldn't use a Noble Phantasm in this place, as it would not only destroy this historic and famous place, he will also kill the rest of people and even his own teammates!
And, even if he uses the Noble Phantasm, Drako didn't know if they were going to kill the skeletons at all!
They were unkillable!
No, there was a possibility.
Bianca killed one of those skeletons back then. Maybe, if they can coordinate well, they could manage to kill some of them.
"I have a plan," Drako said.
They didn't say anything, but Drako knew they were listening to him.
"The same strategy as before, each one takes one skeleton."
"We can't do that!" Percy said. "They are too much of them!"
"Zoe, Percy, Grover and Thalia, you four are going to fight against other four skeletons," Drako explained. "Try not to die."
They hesitated, but Zoe finally nodded.
"What about me?" Bianca asked.
"You are going to fight with me, against the other seven skeletons," Drako said.
"But—" Bianca hesitated.
It was normal for her to hesitate. She only had 12 years, and this was her first mission. Not only that, as she almost killed all the team with a mistake the past day.
"You just need to stay beside me and follow my orders," Drako said. "If I'm correct, we can kill these undeads if we work together."
Bianca was still hesitating, but she finally nodded. They didn't have any more time, as they had the skeletons a few meters away of them.
"Let's go!"
The skeletons closed in. Just like Drako has ordered, each one of them ran into a skeleton.
Percy raised Riptide, and the sword met with the baton of one of the skeletons. Thalia held up her shield, protecting herself from the bullets. Zoe pushed Grover behind her and aimed an arrow at a skeleton's head. Behind Zoe, Grover continued with his Burrito's strategy, throwing them to another skeleton.
Right now, each one of them was with one skeleton. Drako ran into another one who tried to sneak behind Percy and kicked him a few meters away. The kick was so strong that the skeleton bones spread out on the ground.
"Now, Bianca!" Drako said. "Attack those bones with your knives!"
Bianca ran towards those bones with her Celestial Bronze Hunting Knives. Drako tried to protect her and the rest of the group from the other six skeletons using his bow.
The skeleton had already rearmed itself when Bianca reached it, and they started a close combat fight. Bianca wasn't as skilled with the knives as Zoe, not even near, but she was far stronger than the monster. Even if she struggled while fighting, sooner or later she managed to hit the skeleton.
Just like last time, the skeleton erupted into flames.
Drako's theory was more or less prove at this moment. For some reason, Bianca could kill these skeletons.
To Drako's frustration, he didn't get any exp from that kill. It was such a pity that Bianca was the only one that could do it.
How? And… why?
How could Bianca kill those skeletons?
She has the same knives as Zoe, and she was a demigod as Thalia or Percy. Thalia was also a mix of hunter and demigod. There was nothing special on Bianca.
So… why could she kill them? What was the difference between Bianca and the others?
Drako had a theory, and it was related to this difference.
The only difference between Bianca and the others was their parents.
Drako knew that at least his mother was a dragon, although he didn't know anything about his father. Percy was the son of Poseidon and a mortal, the same goes with Thalia and Zeus. Zoe is one of the Hesperides, so Drako knew more or less who her father was. And Grover… he is a satyr.
But who was Bianca's godly parent?
Is a he or a she?
Drako's theory was that Bianca's godly parent was related to death.
Thanatos, Nyx or… Hades.
There were more death or dark related gods in the Greek pantheon for sure, but those three were more or less the more prominent ones.
Well, it doesn't matter right now. The truth is that Bianca can kill the skeletons, so they have a way to win this battle.
Drako continues fighting against the other six skeletons. Percy, Thalia and Zoe were doing pretty well, but it was obvious that they were starting to get out of fuel. The accumulated fatigue was showing in the battle. It was especially present in Percy and Grover, the two who had not received Artemis' blessing.
When he saw that Bianca has finished the skeleton, he threw another one to her. As the monster was already "dead", Bianca only need to strike once to kill it definitely.
With that, two of the skeletons were dead.
The skeletons were… well, skeletons. But they didn't seem to be stupid. Just like last time, they started to be wearier of Drako and Bianca.
"Huh? You guys know what being scared means?" Drako muttered, amused by this sight.
"But, even if you don't want to proactively attack, I can go for you."
Drako ran straight to one of the skeletons, not even caring to look at the other five. With a slash of Laevatein, he severed the head of the skeleton. Drako grabbed that head and threw it toward a ready Bianca.
Without fear in her eyes, Bianca stabbed the skull of the skeleton.
Now, three of the skeletons were dead.
This team Drako-Bianca was destroying the skeletons, monsters that induce fear to Zoe, like they were little and harmful monsters.
It happened at that moment.
Suddenly, Drako noticed that two unanimated objects gained life.
"Man, it feels good to stand up!" A tinny and rusty voice was heard by Drako. He looked over jus to see the two big bronze statues in the air in front of Thalia and Percy.
They were obviously protecting them.
The other skeletons opened fire, but it was useless. The bronze angels stepped in front of everyone and folded their wings like shields. Bullets pinged off of them like rain off a corrugated roof. Both angels slashed outward, and the skeletons went flying across the road.
"Get us out of here!" Thalia yelled.
Both angels looked down at her. "Zeus kid?"
"Yes!"
"Could I get a please, Miss Zeus' Kid?" an angel asked.
"Please!"
Then angels looked at each other and shrugged.
"Could use a stretch," one decided.
One of the angels grabbed Thalia and Percy, the other grabbed Zoe and Grover, and they flew straight up, over the dam and the river.
"Wait, did they just leave us here?" Bianca asked.
The skeletons started to surround both of them. Now that the rest of the team has left, all of the skeletons went to attack the pair dragon-demigod.
"Well, I think that we must follow them," Drako said. "We're going to lose them if we don't hurry."
"But… how are we going to do that!?"
"Flying, of course."
As Bianca looked on wide-eyed, a pair of dragon wings flew off Drako's back.
"Hold me tight," Drako said.
"What do you—"
Drako carried her like a princess before flying off in the direction the statues had gone.
The statues had been flying for about thirty seconds but were considerably slower than Drako. It did not take him long to find them and reach them.
When they finally reached the rest of the group, they heard Zoe speaking.
"We are in the Sierras," Zoe yelled. She and Grover were hanging from the arms of one of the statues. "I have hunted here before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours."
"Hey, hey, Frisco!" the other angel said. "Yo, Chuck! We could visit those guys at the Mechanics Monument again! They know how to party!"
"Oh, man," Zoe's angel said. "I am so there!"
"You guys have visited San Francisco?" Percy asked.
"We automatons gotta have some fun once in a while, right?" Percy statue said. "Those mechanics took us over to the Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady statues, see. And—"
"Hank!" the other statue called Chuck cut in. "They're kids, man."
"Oh, right. Back to flying."
They sped up, so Drako could tell the angels were excited. The mountains fell into hills, and they were zipping over along over farmland and towns and highways.
Grover played his pipes to pass the time. Zoe got bored and started shooting arrows at random billboards as they flew by. Every time she saw a Target department store—and the passed dozens of them—she would peg the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour.
Thalia kept her eyes closed the whole way. She muttered herself a lot, like she was praying. Bianca holds herself close to Drako, afraid of falling off his arms.
......…
"Where you guys want to land?" Hank asked after a while.
Right now, they have already reached San Francisco. Without a doubt, it was the most beautiful city Drako had ever seen: kind of like a smaller, cleaner Manhattan, if Manhattan had been surrounded by green hills and fog. There were a huge bay and ships, islands and sailboats, and the Golden Gate Bridge sticking up out of the fog. He felt like he should take a picture or something.
"There," Zoe suggested. "By the Embarcadero Building."
"Good thinking," Chuck said. "Hank and I can blend in with the pigeons."
They all looked at him.
"Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humour?"
As it turned out, there wasn't much need to blend in. It was early morning, and not many people were around. They freaked out a homeless guy on the ferry dock when they landed. He screamed when he saw Hank and Chuck and ran off, yelling something about metal angels from Mars.
They said their good-byes to the angels, who flew off to party with their statue friends.
Then, they realized that they have no idea what they were going to do next.
They'd made it to the West Coast. Artemis was here somewhere, and Annabeth too.
But neither of them had no idea how to find them, and tomorrow was the winter solstice. Nor did they have any clue what monster Artemis had been hunting. It was supposed to find them on the quest, but Drako hasn't seen it. It was supposed to "show the trail", but it never had. Now they were stuck on the ferry dock with not much money, no friends, and no luck.
After a brief discussion, they agreed that they needed to figure out just what this mystery monster was.
"But how?" Percy asked.
"Nereus," Drako said.
Percy looked at him. "What?"
"I had a brief conversation with Apollo, he told me to find Nereus. The Old Man of the Sea might know what this monster is. But, how do I find him?"
Zoe made a face. "Old Nereus, eh?"
"You know him?" Thalia asked.
"My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him. Unfortunately, he is never tough to find. Just follow the smell."
"What do you mean?" Drako asked.
"Come," she said without enthusiasm. "I will show thee."
Five minutes later, Zoe had Drako outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.
"Oh, yeah," Grover said, trying not to bust out laughing, "you look completely inconspicuous now."
Zoe nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."
"Thanks?" Drako grumble. "Why am I doing this?"
"I told thee. To blend in."
She led the way back down to the waterfront. After a long time spent searching the docks, Zoe finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down a pier where a bunch of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch.
"He will be down there somewhere," Zoe said. "He never travels very far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."
"How do I know which one is him?"
"Sneak up," she said. "Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell… different."
"Great.��� Drako didn't doubt that he could find this guy. "And once I find him?"
"Grab him," she said. "And hold on. He will try anything to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster."
"We've got your back," Thalia said. She picked something off the back of Drako's shirt—a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. "Eww. On second thought… I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."
Grover gave me a big thumbs-up. Percy nodded towards the dragon.
Drako shrugged, he doesn't need their help. He just needed to grab an old man, nothing complicated.
Drako headed toward the dock, stealth activated. He pulled his hat down and stumbled like he was about to pass out. He passed their homeless friend from the Embarcadero, who was still trying to warn the other guys about the metal angels from Mars.
He didn't smell good, but he didn't smell… different. Drako kept walking.
Drako had a different way to search for Nereus. He can use Inspect Status on every homeless guy.
A couple of grimy dudes with plastic grocery bags for hats pass by Drako's side, they didn't notice him because he was using stealth. They weren't they old man Drako was searching, so he just ignored them.
At the end of the pier, a guy who looked about a million years old was passed out in a patch of sunlight. He wore pyjamas and a fuzzy bathrobe that probably used to be white. He was fat, with a white beard that had turned yellow, kind of like Santa Claus, if Santa had been rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill.
And his smell?
Drako froze. He was a Drako, so his senses were enhanced compared to a human. Even from a distance, he could smell that ocean bad smell. Like hot seaweed and dead fish and brine. If the ocean had an ugly side… this guy was it.
Drako near him. Santa opened one eye suspiciously, confirming Drako's thoughts. He was still using stealth, but this guy had detected him. Drako could feel the old man staring at him, but he didn't look.
Santa Claus went back to sleep.
Without a doubt, Drako jumped towards Santa.
"Ahhhh!" he screamed. Drako had grabbed him. "Help me!" he screamed as he tried to escape from Drako's grip.
"That's a crime!" one of the other homeless guys yelled. "Kid rolling an old man like that!"
"Fuck off," Drako said. He leaked his aura, scaring to death the homeless guys who were trying to defend Santa.
"I don't have any money!" He tried to get up and run, but Drako locked him to the floor. His rotten fish smell was awful, but he held on.
"I don't want money," Drako said with calm. "I just want the answer to a question."
That just made him struggle harder. "Heroes! Why do you always pick on me?"
"Because you know everything!"
The rest ran towards Drako.
"You got him!" Zoe said.
"You don't have to sound so amazed," Drako said.
"He really smells awful," Bianca said, her face reflects disgust she was feeling right now.
Nereus moaned. "Oh, wonderful. An audience for my humiliation! The normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your question?"
"I've got more than one question," Drako said.
"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."
Drako looked at the rest.
This wasn't good. They needed to find Artemis, and they needed to figure out what the doomsday creature was. There was also Annabeth. Even if Drako didn't give her much importance, it wasn't the same for the three campers. How could he ask all that in one question?
Making up his mind, Drako sighed. "All right, Nereus. Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting."
The Old Man of the Sea smiled, showing off his mossy green teeth.
"Oh, that's too easy," he said evilly. "He's right there."
Nereus pointed to the water.
"Where?" Drako asked.
"The deal is complete!" Nereus gloated. With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and did a backflip into the sea.
"You tricked me!" Drako yelled. He was angry right now.
"Wait." Thalia's eyes widened. "What is that?"
"MOOOOOOO!"
Drako looked down, and there was the cow serpent, swimming next to the dock.
Wait, why didn't he feel that cow's presence?
"Ah, Bessie," Percy said. "Not now."
"Mooo!"
Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."
"You can understand her… er, him?"
Grover nodded. "It's an ancient form of animal speech. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."
"The Ophi-what?"
Drako had a chill for a moment when Grover mentioned Ophi-, since its really similar to Ophis. If the Infinite Dragon was the enemy of the Olympus, Drako didn't want to fight.
"It means Serpent bull in Greek," Thalia said. "But what's it doing here?"
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