9 Chapter 9

"Come one, Gleeson. We can't stay here! Alex might be in danger!"

Hedge's ears were starting to hurt. He didn't know where Grover had gotten the idea that he didn't want to go looking for that kid, but that wasn't true in any shape or form. They had barely escaped the human police after the mist messed with their minds, making the officers believe Grover and he had rammed the car off the road on purpose. Hedge liked the mist — he could go anywhere with his club, and the humans would see it as a baseball bat — but now, it definitely wasn't helping. Thinking about his shattered club made him sad.

"Take a proper look at us, Grover," He said, applying pressure on the wound in his right leg. "If we go out there like this, the lion will make mince meat out of us. Not to mention the other monsters he might attract. You know how the smell works."

"…right." Grover looked down and took the other seat in the abandoned store they had hidden in.

It was hard for the young satyr, Hedge knew that. He would've liked to go out there and distribute beatings left and right — that was what he liked doing the most. But the way they were, they couldn't do anything.

"Alexander is a strong kid," He began, getting the attention of his job's partner. "But now that he knows of this world's existence, he'll begin to manifest his godly parent's abilities. And you know what happens after."

"The smell gets stronger when they become aware." Grover sighed.

"Sure, but that also means he'll have a better chance at fighting the monsters," Hedge continued. "And for the council to send two satyrs for just one kid, he must be pretty powerful."

"…that has been in my mind for a while," Grover admitted, fiddling with his horns. "What Olympian goddess apart from Lady Hera is powerful enough to emit such a strong smell? That was the Neman Lion, Gleeson!"

"Maybe the queen of Olympus finally got tired of her husband." The older satyr shrugged, ignoring the sudden sound of rumbling thunder.

"Don't say that! That's blasphemy!" Grover exclaimed, worried.

"Bah, don't worry." Hedge laughed and slapped the young satyr on the back. "Just focus on recovering your wounds. We'll wait for the sun to set and then we'll look for him."

Still, Grover's question lingered in his mind. Hedge met a lot of demigods in his life, and none, not even the big three kids he met when he was a simple upstart, smelled that strong. And not only that, Alex had a very distinct smell. The smell of power.

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"What the—"

Alex had passed out in the alley. Running away from a monster had taken a toll on him, and when he surprisingly defeated the lion, he let the sweet embrace of sleep get to him. But that wasn't why he was surprised.

Two things were baffling him.

First, his body was as good as new. His shirt was torn to shreds and red from the dried blood, but the wounds that had leaked said blood were nowhere to be seen. And not just the ones in his chest, but the claw marks in his back were gone as well, and his hand didn't feel broken anymore.

Then there was that thing on the ground…

Now, Alex kinda already concluded that when a monster died, they turned into golden dust. How? ...he had no idea. But he saw it happen twice during the car chase and again when he killed the lion, so he was pretty confident. Twice is a coincidence, thrice a pattern. Still, that didn't explain the Yankees varsity jacket lying in the pile of said golden dust.

Was it like a loot drop from a boss like in those Gamecube games he played with his dad?

Or was there a chance monsters would kick back and relax on game days, putting a time out on their demigod hunt? Maybe the Nemean Lion liked baseball.

Either way, finders keepers.

The wool of the jacket felt smooth to the touch, and the dark leather sleeves looked pretty awesome. The original ones were expensive, so Alex had never bothered asking his dad for one, so he had no idea how authentic this one was. Nevertheless, with the cold of the night creeping in, it was comfy and warm.

After putting the jacket on, Alex got to thinking. What now? Grover never mentioned monsters liking… what was it? — satyr(?)'s smell, so he and Coach Hedge were probably fine, as long as whatever hid the lion from the normal people also hid their goat legs. He should probably try to regroup with them, but where? He didn't want to admit it, but he was kind of lost. And he just couldn't go back to the school after what happened with Hunter, and even if he could, after the statues decided to come back to life, he'd never step foot there again.

Then… what about trying to find his way home? It seemed like the better idea of all of those his ADHD brain was coming up with. He just had to go to his apartment, gather some of his clothes and belongings, and then he'd be on his way to camp with those two. But first… he had to figure out wherever the hell he was.

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Okay, it wasn't that hard to get to his apartment's street. Two turns right and one left and Alex found himself right back on Fifth Avenue. From there, it was easy. Everything still felt surreal to him. The fight with Hunter, the statues coming to life, the fact that Grover and the coach were half-goat, the fight with the Nemean Lion.

Greek Mythology was real. Gods were real, and his mother was one. Was that why Dad never spoke about her? Why they didn't have pictures of her, not even of her holding Alex as a baby like all his friends probably had? If so, why? Why have a kid with someone if you're just going to leave them in the end?

Gods were supposed to be omnipotent. That meant they had unlimited power, and that meant they could do nearly anything. That meant his mother could've stayed with them. It meant Alex would have a female figure to look up to while growing up and his dad wouldn't have to be burdened with every single problem they had. But she chose not to.

Tightening his knuckles, Alex continued to walk, ignoring the stares. His wounds had somehow closed, and his new jacket hid his torn shirt, but the dirt all over his face seemed to cause people a serious case of gawking and switching sidewalks.

His back felt itchy again. Surely the ground wasn't that dirty.

At some point, the closer he got to the apartment, Alex began to feel like something wasn't right. The street looked normal, nobody was acting strange and there was nothing out of place. But the hair in his arms stood, and he felt a jolt down his spine. It was just a hunch… instinct, per se.

He fumbled with the keys to the apartment building when he arrived before the large door. The nerves made it hard to find the right one, and struggling to open a door wasn't something he wanted to do right now.

Alex twisted the lock eerily, ready to fight. The door creaked open, and he slowly pushed it open to find… nothing. There was nothing. Just the usual brick stairs with the brass railing and the old elevator to the right. He sighed in relief.

Okay, maybe he lied before when saying he didn't feel tired. He was exhausted. Not sleepy, but his arms hung heavy to the sides, and his legs felt like they weighed a few too many extra pounds. He really didn't want another fight at the moment. A break would be really nice.

Walking up the stairs, he continued to ponder over his all-powerful mother until he reached his floor.

There was a distinct, metallic smell in the air. Alex thought it smelled similar when you held on to a coin for too long. Where had he smelled this before? Well, as long as that pipe in the bathroom didn't burst, the day couldn't get much worse. Oh, how wrong he was.

The first thing he noticed was the red carpet. But what was wrong with it? Well, it used to be white, but now it had a large stain, almost like a puddle, in the middle, of what was either red paint — they didn't have a can of it anywhere — or… blood.

He remembered now. When he beat the lights out of Hunter, his knuckles had the same smell. What the hell had happened in here?

"Uhh… anyone home?" Yeah, not very smart, but that was the only thing that came out of his mouth.

There was a mix of hurried steps that came from the kitchen, and a few seconds later, a voice echoed.

"Look, Sonny, we have a guest!"

When Alex laid his eyes upon the speaker, confusion overtook his wariness and worry. It was a… to put it nicely — a plus-sized woman. She was dressed in a very strong denim dress, and had tried to compliment it with a blue felted hat that had gone out of trend some…. he didn't know, seven decades ago?

"Eh — miss, this is my apartment," Alex said, raising an eyebrow at the not-very-cute chihuahua that came from behind the woman.

She audibly gasped at this, as if what Alex said was the epitome of rudeness. "B-But… I even made some tea…"

Oh, she didn't. Alex swore, if she'd touched his kitchen, he'd do unspeakable-

"Oh, I know what this is!" She grinned from eye to eye, and Alex was sure she saw what looked like a snake's tongue in her mouth. "You're just embarrassed! Come on now, don't be shy little demigod, my and sonny made a very nice meal for you."

Was 'Sonny' the dog? Probably. It was a bit weird to call him the way you'd call your son, but Alex didn't judge.

Alex complied for a second, taking a seat at the kitchen counter while the woman served him a cup of tea and a nice try of a muffin. Average looking — he could do both better — but he was hungry enough to don't care.

Only when he was about to take a bite from the muffin, did he think for a moment.

"Wait," He dropped the cake on the counter, suddenly afraid of it. "Did you say demigod?"

Her smile faded for a second, and Alex didn't fail to see it. She ran her hand across the counter until she grabbed the muffin.

"Demidog?" She asked innocently. "No, my sonny is half me, half his father. A cute little thing he is, isn't it?"

Alex jumped so fast from his seat that it fell to the ground with a thud. He looked down to see the small chihuahua eating from a metal bowl he knew he and his dad didn't have at home.

"No, I'm pretty sure you said demigod," Alex slowly circled the kitchen island, getting his back to the door. "And what the hell is he eating?"

"Oh, sonny? Just a little snack before the main meal." She laughed, and Alex saw that reptilian tongue again. "You see, when a demigod with such a strong smell like you spends a lot of time around a mortal, they get some of their scent…"

"What… what are you?" Alex asked. He had to run again.

"I think you already know what I am, little demigod." Her body began to morph. Her arms snapped and elongated, growing greenish scales. Her legs disappeared, giving way to a large body of a snake. Her teeth turned to fangs, and her eyes became yellow and slit. "But what you don't know is WHO I am."

Yep, time to bail. Alex took a chance at running towards the door, only to have something strike him from behind, sending him tumbling across the carpet towards the window.

"WHAT!?" Her screeching voice almost made Alex's ears bleed. "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT FROM?"

What was she talking about? Alex got up to his feet shakily, barely any strength left in him. He tried to feel where he'd been hit, but there was nothing on his back.

"Oh, this?" He said with a smirk, trying to set her off. "I got it from one of your friends. Supposed to be invulnerable, but I guess he still needed air to breathe."

Instead of getting angry and lashing out, possibly giving Alex a chance at escaping, the woman began to laugh.

"I suppose it's an eye for an eye." She said with a haunting smile. "The Crooked One will be happy."

There she went, rambling again about things he had no idea about. He'd found out he was a demigod like, four hours ago! Just get straight to the point, miss! The chihuahua, who until now had been entirely focused on his meal bowl, turned and walked near his owner, his snout red from whatever he was eating.

"Don't think food colouring is that good for your dog," Alex quipped, now trying to buy some time. He could maybe gamble and jump out of the window, or give the door another try.

"Food colouring? Oh, that's not what it is at all," She laughed again. "I said it before and I'll say it again. He just had a snack before dinner. And I believe it's fitting. You get to kill my family, demigod, and I get to kill yours."

What?

"Poor thing. I have no interest in mortals, really — they're not important enough — but my sonny here… as long as it smells good, he'll eat anything." She scratched the dog behind his ears. "Isn't that right, my little bundle of death and suffering?"

No…

"Your dad came home early, wanting to surprise you, only to meet us. My sonny… he couldn't hold back."

His dad was…?

"Now… how about we get this over with?" She straightened her back, and the dog suddenly didn't look like one anymore. It had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, a blood-caked mane, and a ten-foot-long diamondback snake-headed tail which grew out of its shaggy behind. "Bow down before me, demigod, for I am Echidna, Mother of Monsters!"