Demigod-Witch

Chapter 12

The man standing in front of me is so bright that I can barely see his features. My eyes finally adjust, and the man's glow dies down a little.  His blonde hair looks gold and his blue eyes are shining as bright as his dazzling smile.

"Apollo," Percy says through his slightly lifted gag.  I look over and see that Annabeth is also awake, and she is trying her hardest to look away from Apollo.  Yet her eyes keep flicking back to his shining figure.

"What are you doing here?"  I ask, then remember the dream about my mother.  She said help was on the way, but I didn't imagine it being so blinding.

"Well, I'm here to help!  That is, if you want to get out of here."  Apollo's voice sounds like a male model's.  He flashes another blinding smile at us.

"Yes, please."  I say to Apollo.

"Oh, I see.  Even the newbie is dazzled by me."  Apollo flexes his muscles, and I feel the strong urge to laugh in his face.  But I seriously need his help.

"Yeah, right."  Percy says.  I elbow him in the side.  He winces, but shuts up.

"Can you help us please?"  Percy asks through gritted teeth.

"That's better.  I'll help you, but know that you seriously aren't going to like the way the quest turns out for you, Ariana.  There is an answer that you will not find.  Are you sure you want me to help you?"  He asks cautiously.

"Anything to get out of here."  Percy says.

"Fine.  You are going to have an opportunity to escape, in exactly..."  Apollo looks at his wrist, but frowns when he sees no watch.  I hold back a laugh.

"Um, lets say about five minutes.  Drake will be out of the house, and you can leave if he doesn't lock the doors.  I will untie you, but don't even think about messing this up."  Apollo explains.

"How will we know when five minutes have passed?  What if Drake locks the doors?  Will you help us if we don't get out?"  Percy  asks quickly.

"Slow down!  Geez, there is a clock right there,"  Apollo points to the wall on the left of us.  This room has basically nothing except for walls and us, so I'm seriously wondering if Apollo put that clock there.  How totally un-obvious.

"If Drake locks the doors, then that isn't my problem, and I won't help you if you don't get out.  But I guess somebody else might.  I'm just far too busy working out to help you any further than this."  Apollo sighs and flexes his muscles again.

"Okay, so we-" Apollo cuts Percy off.

"Uh uh uh, time is almost out.  Don't mess this up!" Apollo practically yells.

"Look away!" Percy shouts at me.  I hesitate, but close my eyes.

"Okay, open.  You shouldn't ever see the real form of a god, it burns up humans."  Percy explains.  I move my hand, and realize that Apollo actually did untie us.

"I couldn't get my gag off!  I only barely took it off."  Annabeth whines.

"You can talk now, so you're good."  I say to Annabeth who frowns slightly.

"Sorry, but it has been five minutes."  I say after a short period of silence.

"Let's go."  Percy says confidently, then walks up to the basement door.  He turns the handle, but it won't open.

"Locked."  He sighs, frowning at the handle.  "Wait, I got this."  Percy says as he takes a step back, then slams his body against the door.  He slumps down after the impact, winching and rubbing his shoulder.

"That was very effective."  I say and step toward the door.  I point my wand at it and mutter, "Alohomora."  The door handle turns with a satisfying click.

"If you gave me one more try, I could've done it."  Percy mumbles sheepishly.  Annabeth whacks him in the arm.

"No, you couldn't have." She corrects him.

I push the door open and see Drake's kitchen.  There is trash everywhere except for a clear path on the white tile floor that leads to the door and other rooms.

"Ewww, oh my gosh."  I wrinkle my nose at all of the trash.

"So Drake is a demigod, a loon, and a hoarder."  Annabeth says with a look of disgust.

"Percy, don't touch that!"  I yell as Percy reaches for a moldy piece of bacon lying on top of a sock.  He quickly draws his hand away.

"I'm so hungry."  He whines.

"Everybody is.  Now, if you would please stop trying to eat everything you see, we would move quicker."  Annabeth snaps at Percy.

"We would move quicker if we didn't have to step over empty cereal boxes."  Percy retorts.

I cannot even describe what Drake's house looked like, due to the fact that I couldn't see the walls or furniture.  I only knew this was a kitchen because I saw a pan on a stove filled with dirty laundry.

"Everything here looks like it has been pawed through."  Percy notices.

"Well, he may have been looking for his keys."  I joke.

"There is something seriously wrong with this man." She says and shakes her head.

"It doesn't matter, let's just find the door."  I say, as I look around for a front door.

"There."  Percy points to a stained door that is barely visible with all the trash in front of it.

"Thank the gods."  Annabeth sighs and runs to the door, nearly tripping on a cardboard box.

"Locked again."  Percy says as Annabeth jiggle the door handle.

"Alohomora."  I say again, and the door clicks.

Percy pushes it open and I breathe in fresh, Drake-free air.

We are in a neighborhood with neat and tidy lawns and cookie-cutter houses.

"I hate cookie-cutter houses.  They have no individuality."  Annabeth sighs.

"Not the time for architechture, no offense.  We need a car."  I look around for a ride, a taxi, something.  I would've never stole anything before this quest, but now it seems like a pretty good option, considering there is no way of getting to the Underworld without transportation.

"To the rental cars!"  I yell and skip down the street.

"What about our stuff?"  Annabeth asks.  "It could be anywhere in Drake's house!"

I frown, then get an idea.

"Accio magic map!  Accio backpack!"  I continue calling for our things while Percy and Annabeth cover me, so nobody sees me doing magic.

Slowly, backpacks and money come floating toward us.

"Which one is yours?"  I ask Annabeth, pointing to the five backpacks in front of us.  She picks up her own, and I put the money I collected into the back pocket.

"Isn't that more money than we had when we started this quest?"  Percy questions.

"What?  Drake didn't do anything good for us."  I say innocently.  Percy smiles and shakes his head as he grabs the stack of drachmas that are floating by his head.

"Let's get new clothes, then rent a car."  I say as I run over to a bicycle leaning on Drake's house.  I search around and find another bicycle and a wagon.

"I've got an idea."  I smirk at Percy, then nod at Annabeth.

Ten minutes later, we are zooming down a street with two bicycles carrying Annabeth and me, with a wagon attached to the back, carrying a fuming Percy.