Donuts, Monsters, and Old Hideouts
Annabeth led them toward what looked like a swampy area, thick with overgrown vegetation and twisted trees. Mosquitoes seemed to surround them in swarms, feasting on them, while Percy watched every step carefully after a snake had brushed against his shoe just moments earlier.
“It’s here,” Annabeth said, pointing toward what looked like a tangle of thorny vines.
Percy frowned, confused, but when Annabeth pushed the plants aside as if opening a door, he realized there was something inside. What lay beyond was an improvised shelter, surprisingly large. Interwoven, waterproof plants formed the roof and walls, creating a hideout that looked far sturdier than it had any right to be.
In one corner, there was everything needed for camping. Sleeping bags, blankets, a portable cooler, and a kerosene lamp. Even weapons. Javelins, arrows, a sword, and even ambrosia.
The smell of mold made it clear the place had not been abandoned recently, and without a doubt, it was a half-blood hideout.
Percy glanced briefly at Annabeth, realizing this could have been one of the shelters she had used in the past while she was on the run with Thalia and Luke, before they ever reached the camp.
“And you… don’t you think Luke might know where we are?” Percy asked, a faint irritation rising in his chest for a moment, a feeling whose source he did not fully understand.
“I doubt he even remembers it. We made a lot of these back then, and maybe… he just doesn’t care anymore,” Annabeth said, slowly shaking her head.
She dropped her backpack onto one of the blankets and started rummaging through it, a pretty clear way of saying she did not feel like talking about it.
“Tyson, could you go see if there’s some kind of jungle supermarket or something to buy chips and donuts?” Percy asked his brother.
Tyson nodded as if he had just been given a life-or-death mission and took off so fast that Percy did not even have time to add anything else.
Percy then sat down not too far from Annabeth, making a few quiet noises with his mouth, as if trying to figure out what to say.
“Just say it,” Annabeth said, clearly annoyed by the sounds.
“Well… don’t you think Luke let us go a little too easily? I mean, honestly, I was expecting some kind of chase on the water, with jet skis, boats, maybe more gunfire,” Percy said.
Annabeth stopped rummaging through her backpack and looked at him, nodding.
“Yeah. I noticed it too. They didn’t follow us. They didn’t even bother taking another boat to get closer, like they actually didn’t care about letting us escape,” she added. “Maybe they’re waiting for us to take the Fleece before coming after us. Waiting for us to get close to Grover. You said you saw Alison trying to take him, not attack him directly,” she said, staring at Percy.
Percy nodded, agreeing with her. It was something he had already suspected.
“The event and all that is just to—” Percy stopped for a moment before looking back at Annabeth. “What did Luke mean when he said Thalia would have been on his side?” he asked, unable to keep it to himself.
“He’s wrong,” Annabeth replied immediately.
“You don’t sound very convinced,” Percy said calmly, earning a sharp glare from her.
“Do you know who you remind me of all the time, Percy?” Annabeth said suddenly. “Thalia. You’re so alike it’s unsettling. I mean, you either would have been inseparable friends… or mortal enemies who would’ve tried to strangle each other,” she said, looking him straight in the eyes.
Percy said nothing.
“She hated her father too, just like you. That’s why I know she wouldn’t support Luke. Because you didn’t, and you’d have plenty of reasons to do it. Just like her. Thalia wouldn’t be on his side,” Annabeth said, though it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself.
Percy opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything, Tyson suddenly walked back into the shelter holding a box of donuts, his face bright with happiness as he ate one, sugar smeared all over his mouth.
“Donuts!” he said cheerfully.
Annabeth stood up at once, her expression completely serious.
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“Where did you get that?” she asked, staring at him.
“There’s a donut shop,” Tyson replied, trying to offer her one. She refused immediately, while Percy watched them, completely confused by her reaction.
“Idiot, we’re miles away from the nearest store. How could you find a donut shop in the middle of the jungle?” Annabeth said quickly.
She headed out almost at once, following the direction Tyson pointed to, with Percy right behind her.
The three of them were now crouched down, staring at a shop that looked completely new. Just as Annabeth had said, it stood in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by nothing but trees. Inside, a clerk could be seen sitting down, reading a newspaper while calmly eating a glazed donut.
The smell of chocolate donuts reached them even from where they were, as if they had just come out of the oven.
Annabeth and Percy could not help but feel that the scene was deeply unsettling. A shop so isolated, standing alone in the middle of nowhere, with the name Donuts Monster
“Mmm… maybe the franchise has a really terrible expansion manager,” Percy muttered, trying to come up with a logical explanation, while feeling that the name of the place was strangely familiar.
“Have you ever wondered why franchise stores spread so fast?” Annabeth asked in a serious tone, without taking her eyes off the shop. “Like exact replicas scattered all across the country. Coffee shops, burger joints, every kind of store,” she added.
“I never thought about it,” Percy replied.
“That’s because those stores are connected, in a magical way, to the life force of a monster. Some children of Hermes figured out how to do it back in the fifties. They created—” Annabeth suddenly fell silent.
“What did they create?” Percy asked.
Annabeth’s expression turned serious, almost nervous.
“Don’t make any sudden movements,” she said slowly, without shifting an inch, as if her life depended on it.
Percy was about to turn his head, but Annabeth spoke again.
“Slowly. Very slowly,” she said.
Percy obeyed and stayed completely still. That was when he heard a faint rustling sound, not far from them. When he finally turned his head toward where it was coming from, he saw it.
It was about the size of a rhinoceros, slithering between the trees. Constant hissing echoed through the air, and its front half twisted in every direction. When Percy looked closer, he understood why. It had multiple necks, at least seven of them, each ending in a head, or rather, several reptilian heads that hissed with every movement. Hanging beneath each neck was a sign that read:
By reflex, Percy slipped his hand into the bag hanging at his waist, but Annabeth stopped him with a single, sharp look. Not yet.
It seemed the hydra had not noticed them yet, maybe because of its poor eyesight. It was less than a meter away, searching with five of its seven heads, while the other two appeared to be chewing on one of their backpacks, tearing it apart with their teeth.
It looked like it had recently been inside the hideout, found it, and was now following their trail.
Each of the creature’s heads had a diamond-like shape, similar to a rattlesnake’s, but unlike them, its mouths were filled with shark-like teeth, arranged in double rows.
One of the heads biting into the pack suddenly paused. It sniffed the air, lifting slightly, then sniffed again, more insistently.
Then, as if they were all connected by that same scent, all seven heads turned at once toward the three of them, who were still hiding.
Percy shoved Annabeth aside in an instant, while he jumped in the opposite direction and Tyson dropped flat to the ground.
The heads spat a foul, green slime that splashed against one of the trees behind them and immediately began to melt it, releasing thick smoke.
The tree fell straight onto the hydra, trapping two of its heads. That only seemed to enrage it further, and it began spraying acid in every direction, filling the area with vapor and a nauseating stench as trees dissolved around them.
The hydra tore free the two heads trapped beneath the fallen trunk, while another head lunged at the closest target. Percy.
By pure reflex, Percy had already drawn Riptide and slashed with speed and precision at the neck of the first head that attacked him.
“No, Percy!” Annabeth shouted when she saw it.
But it was already too late.
The head hit the ground, and blood began to pour out, but only for a moment. In its place, a stump formed and split in two, and from it, two new heads began to grow, rapidly reaching the same size as the others. Now there were eight.
“Percy, you just opened another Donuts Monster branch somewhere else,” Annabeth snapped.
“Is that really what you’re worried about right now?” Percy shouted back as he fended off another bite, carefully avoiding cutting the head so it would not multiply again, then ducked to avoid a blast of acid.
“We need fire!” Annabeth yelled.
That reminded Percy of the hydra’s weakness, the same one Hercules had used long ago to defeat it. Percy turned his head toward Tyson.
“Tyson, fire magic!” he shouted, keeping the beast at bay.
Tyson nodded and raised his hands, pointing them toward the hydra. He was just about to speak one of the spells his master had taught him.
But before he could—
Something suddenly fell onto the hydra, and it exploded into thousands of pieces, which turned into dust that showered over Annabeth and Percy, even getting into their mouths.
Both of them immediately started spitting in disgust.
“That’s disgusting,” Annabeth said.
Percy completely agreed and looked at Tyson.
“I said fire magic, not full-body explosion magic,” Percy said.
“That wasn’t me,” Tyson replied, staring at his hands in confusion.
That was when he noticed a sound approaching.
“Steam engine,” Tyson said, mildly puzzled.
Percy heard it a few seconds later. Both of them looked toward the sea, just beyond the forest, and then they heard a familiar voice shouting.
“Surround them!”
It was Clarisse.
She advanced toward them, walking confidently, followed by an army of people who looked literally dead, like zombies, dressed in clothing from different eras and time periods. Behind her loomed a massive metal ship, fully armed, with cannons and a gigantic machine gun mounted on top, along with the boat they had used to reach the shore.
“Finally found you, Jackson,” Clarisse said when she spotted Percy.
She was clad in her Greek armor, gripping her spear tightly, a gift from her father, as she stared straight at him.
