Off To Alcatraz We Go (CLOSED)

Dean and I walked on each side of Luke just in case he decided on trying to run again. Roxy and Finn took up the lead with all of our tickets. I could tell Luke was getting pretty terrified as the boat got closer. His head was hanging lower, and he was getting pretty jumpy. Finn and Roxy handed our tickets to the man sitting in a booth near the entrance. Dean and I had to push Luke all the way up the ramp.
"Come on, Luke! I told you, we've got you, and this time I promise we won't deliberately throw you into the water," I assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked like he was going to be sick. Luke looked at me and puffed up his chest a bit, holding his breath and then letting it out.
"Alright... Alright, I got this," He assured himself. I patted his shoulder.
"Atta' boy," I said. Finn looked around.
"Come on, guys, let's go find our room," She said. We all agreed and followed her below deck where there were rooms lined up in a hallway, like in a hotel. It made me think of the Titanic... Which wasn't a good thing to think about on account of the risk we were already taking here with Luke. We found our room, 2C, and opened it with the key that had been exchanged for the tickets. It had two beds and a couch.
"Looks like we'll be sharing," Finn remarked looking at Roxy who blushed slightly.
"Greeeaaat," I said, flopping on the nearest bed and tossing my violin case carefully next to me. I felt someone slowly sit on the bed, and I took my face out of the pillow to see Luke, who looked like an unhealthy shade of green and pale white. Dean made his way over to a mini fridge that sat in the corner of the room. He opened it and started to rummage through everything.
"We've got water bottles, Coke, Pepsi and Root Beer," he said casually. I looked at Luke with a smirk. His face had lit up like a Christmas tree at the name of his favourite thing in the world, Root Beer. He rushed off the bed and almost threw Dean out of the way. He picked up some Root Beer, which was packaged in those fancy bottles and popped the cap expertly. He began to chug the fizzy drink as he made his way back to the bed. Dean watched him with one eyebrow raised, but he was obviously glad Luke had found something to make his little hell-like trip more bearable. Dean pulled out a Coke and looked at me, holding it up asking if I wanted one, I nodded and held out my hand. He tossed me one and I caught it, he then did the same to Finn and Roxy. Finn asked for Pepsi, and Roxy asked for water. We sat in silence, until we felt the ship lurch and start moving.
"Oh, Gods," Luke muttered, clutching the bed sheets. I lay on my side, holding my head up with my arm propped up on my elbow and nudged him with my Coke bottle.
"It's okay, Luke. You've got your floaties," I said. He took one off and whipped it at my face, I tried to dodge it by flailing my arms but that only caused me to fall off the bed, spilling a bit of my Coke on the floor. Luke then took the floatie, which had fallen on the bed and placed it back on his arm.
"Hey, man! I was just trying to lighten the mood!" I said as I got up. Dean, Roxy and Finn snickered and Luke grinned a little. I stretched as I got up and made my way over to a circular window. I looked out to see nothing but choppy waves. It hadn't been that windy when we had gone on the boat and that worried me. We hadn't sailed for long and it was already choppy? I didn't say anything, I didn't want to worry anybody. This ship was big, it was built to withstand waves. We'd be safe. I walked back to the bed and flopped down again, now laying on my back. Luke did he same and we both stared at the ceiling.
"So," Dean said.
"So," I answered.
"What's the plan for Alcatraz again?" He asked as if he thought he'd asked the question before.
"We go in, fight Charlie, get Lily, Justin and Liam and get out," Luke answered, throwing a fist into his palm.
"Yep, because all of those Greek monsters you said were hiding in there are just going to cut you all some slack, eh?" Dean said.
"I can dream, Harold," Luke said, waving his arms around.
"Who the fuck is Harold?" Asked Dean.
"Never mind," Luke dismissed. Dean looked confused for a moment sprawled out on the couch across from the beds and then turned his attention to Finn.
"Finn? Plan?" He asked.
"We'll fight whatever gets in our way or die trying," Finn replied.
"You know... I'd be quite happy if we could live trying," I said holding up a finger. The boat was starting to rock a bit now, which made Luke get tense.
"Fletch? What did you see when you looked out there?" He asked, looking at me with green eyes that revealed only the slightest bit of fear. His voice gave it away.
"I... Uh..." I started.
"Fletch?" Finn asked.
"It was choppy," I said. "Just choppy, I swear." I sat up. Roxy got up from laying on her side behind Finn and looked out the window. She turned around with a poker face after a good look and sat back on the bed.
"Blue skies, and growing waves," she said quietly.
"Shit, shit, shit," Luke muttered with his eyes closed.
"They sure are picking up fast..." Finn said. We all sat in silence with our drinks and payed attention to how violently the boat rocked with the waves. The only sound heard was the sound of harsh water attacking sheer metal.
"I told you guys this wasn't a good idea!" Luke exclaimed.
"Luke, we'll be fine," Finn said, although she didn't sound so sure herself. To make matters worse, over the intercom came a voice.
"Hello, passengers, this is your captain speaking. It's going to get a bit bumpy, don't be alarmed, we've got it under control." There was a click and the captain was gone.
"Aw, FUCK!" Luke yelled, grabbing a pillow and holding it to his face.
"Luke, Luke, it's okay, they said they had it under control," I said, placing my hand on his arm.
"How long do you think they'll have it under control, Fletch?" He asked through the pillow. I hung my head in defeat, not wanting to lie to him.
"Luke, calm down," Finn said. "You'll only make it worse."
"We all need to keep a level head," Roxy agreed with a short nod.
"Easy for you to say!" Luke said lowering the pillow, fear was now showing in his eyes now. Dean got off the sofa and came over to sit on the bed Luke and I were on to make sure Luke was okay. To be completely honest I had no idea what to do. The boat was rocking more violently now, and we hadn't set sail too long ago. Poseidon definitely wanted his clammy paws on a son of Zeus, and the sky was blue and cloudless, which only made me think either Zeus didn't want to make the waves any worse than they were, or he didn't want to object the sea with a storm. You could never really tell if Zeus was playing good dad or bad dad, which made me understand Luke's angst against his father. Well, Poseidon wasn't getting Luke in his grasp again, I decided. Finn and Roxy made their way over to the bed too, we all sat round Luke, who looked distressed.
"I need to stop putting you guys in danger," He said, sounding hurt.
"Luke, we're Demigods, there's danger around every corner, it's not your fault," Finn said, pulling her fingers through his light brown hair like she was petting a cat. I got up and slowly made my way to the window again. The skies were still blue, with white fluffy clouds and a shining sun to match, but when I looked down at the water, dark and mysterious it looked like the waves were going to battle, armed with their white-caps, charging violently against the shield that was the boat. They got higher and higher, knocking the boat up and down and side to side slightly. The boat was holding it's ground, like the Spartans in 300, we were definitely outnumbered. How could someone even think to defeat the sea when it was deliberately being controlled to drown us? But the boat fought on like a brave soldier at the hands of a determined captain.

I kicked the ground in triumph. A splash of water that littered the deck sprinkled onto the ashes of the serpent as I did. I could feel the adrenaline course through my body.
"Dude!" I said, looking at Dean. I probably looked like he had when he first saw Luke summon lightning "That was amazing!" Dean grinned, I pounded his fist with mine as I jogged over to Luke, who was trying to get up. I collapsed to my knee's as I got close to him.
"And you," I said, making my voice sound stern. He looked up at me weakly. "Do you WANT to die? Or do you just want to drown yourself again so that I can give you the kiss of life?" I asked with a grin, offering my hand. He punched me in the shoulder, harder than I had expected given his current state, and took my hand. I helped him up and helped him get his balance. Finn and Roxy were holding the doors to below deck open, the woman and her daughter were shuffling down the stairs, holding each other in a tight embrace.
"Guys!" Yelled Roxy over the waves. "Come on, lets-" She was cut off as a large wave engulfed the boat in it's violent attack. It pushed Dean, Luke and I full force into the railing, which the three of us grabbed onto. I held on for dear life, When the wave subsided I wiped the water from my eyes and looked over to Finn and Roxy, who had held onto both the door, and each other. Roxy looked up and spat some water out of her mouth. "...Go!" She finished her sentence. Dean, Luke and I dashed to the door, slipping and sliding on the wet deck as we moved.
"Roxy, we still need to know how long it's gonna take to get there," Luke said. He looked really stressed out puppy. Roxy looked regretful as she stepped away from the door.
"Right," she said, clenching her hands into fists.
"You can't go alone." Finn said, grabbing Roxy's wrist.
"I'll go with her," I volunteered. Nobody said anything for a while, I thought we were all scared of losing one of the others lives.
"No," Luke said. "I'll go with her."
"No," I protested. "Luke, it's way too dangerous right now. You NEED to get below deck where the water can't grab you."
"Then I'll go," Finn said.
"No," Roxy said desperately, as if she didn't want to risk even a little bit the possibility of Finn being taken away from her by the water. Finn looked at Roxy, and they shared a moment, almost as if something passed through them. Finn's slightly offended expression turned to one of soft understanding. She looked at me and her face hardened. she looked at me with an intense black gaze, as if to say 'if anything happens to her I'll kill you, Fletch' I knew she was worried.
"Finn, don't worry. I'll make sure we get back safely. I'm not letting the ocean take my friends from me," I said. Dean seemed to know that this wasn't a job for a mortal. An ocean being controlled by the god of the sea was no match for a mortal who could create his own fire-breath using alcohol and a lighter. Dean and Finn led Luke down below deck back to our room, leaving Roxy and I to fight the rocking of the boat and the crashing of the waves, making our way to the steering wheel, where the captain would be. Roxy held onto my arm, trying to keep balance, which honestly wasn't one of her best ideas, because I was slipping and sliding all over the wet wooden boat duck. Waves crashed over the boat, and each time little rice like droplets stung my face. I squinted to look through the mist that the water created. Roxy and I finally made it to the stairs that led up to where the captain was steering the boat. We wrestled with the door, and got it opened, locking it on our way in. We walked up the stairs and made it to a dry room. In the room was a man, the typical fisherman looking kind of guy, with a fuzzy grey beard, and a captains hat, a yellow rain jacket and yellow boots. He wore overalls over a shirt that showed a bunch of different kinds of fish on it. He held the wheel in a tight, experienced grip and was doing his best to keep the boat a float.
"E-excuse me, Sir?" Roxy asked. The man whipped his head around to see who spoke, he had a crazy look in his eyes that made both Roxy and I take a cautious step back.
"You two should be below deck," He spat.
"Please, we really need to know how close we are to Alcatraz Island," I insisted, taking a step forward.
"Oh, I'm sorry, am I not going fast enough for you?" The captain said. His voice was strained, and there was a blue vain popping out of his forehead.
"It's important!" Roxy insisted.
"Oh, really? Let me just fly there for you," The captain said.
"... Can you?" I asked stupidly.
"No, I can't do that!" The captain exclaimed at me, spitting fish-like breath in my face.
"Look, the sooner we get on the island, the sooner the waves will die down. Trust me," I said.
"Oh? What? Are you just controlling this storm? Could you tell it to stop?" Asked the captain sarcastically.
"You could stay that..." I said. The captain looked like he was going to make yet another sassy remark, before Roxy cut in, showing her momentary badassary once more.
"Just tell us where the island is!" She yelled, hitting a wall.
"Alright, Lass!" The captain said. "If it will get you two out of my hair we're about halfway, but it will take a while to get there with these waves. Best go back down to your room and wait it out. I've been everywhere with this boat, she 'aint goin' down today." The captain said, shifting his weight to the right as he tilted the steering wheel. Roxy and I looked at each other and ran down the stairs. We walked back out to the deck reluctantly and dashed towards the doors that led to the deck below. We opened the doors and stumbled down the stairs. We opened our room door and fell to the floor sopping wet, coughing and panting in a heap on the ground. Finn ran to Roxy to make sure she was okay. I lay there on the ground, resting on my back with my eyes closed. I opened them to see Luke's face upside down, as he stared at me.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Just fine," I answered sarcastically.
"What did the captain say?" Asked Dean.
"He said we were almost half way there," Roxy answered as she sat up, leaning against Finn. Her black hair covered her face in thick strings.
"Though with the waves, he says it will take a little while longer to get there," I finished Roxy's sentence. Luke looked as if he were doomed.
"What do you suppose Poseidon will just give up?" He asked, hanging his head.
"Not likely," Finn answered as she stood up, making her way to a linen closet, where she pulled out two blankets. She helped both Roxy and I up and draped the towels over us for warmth and to help us get dry. She led us over to a heater, which was already on. I could tell she, Luke and Dean had been sitting in front of it earlier. Roxy and I curled up next to each other and shivered next to the heater, trying to conserve body heat. Finn sat down and huddled next to us, her damp clothes clung to her skin as she did. Luke crawled over to us and collapsed next to me. Dean did the same and curled himself in front of the heater. We all sat there trying o get warm and dry.

I had been in and out of sleep the whole ride. The waves had shaken me awake and lulled me back to sleep. I was curled up near the heater, my now dry back was facing it. I opened my eyes to see Luke, who's hands were on my arm and were shaking me violently, disturbing my sleep. I can't say I was dreaming of anything. I'm sure I had, I just didn't remember anything.
"What is it?" I asked him. From the pale look of his face it seemed like something was wrong, that or he was going to be sick.
"We're here," He answered, removing his hands from my shoulder and turning to shake Finn, Roxy and Dean awake. I guess Dean had been sleeping like I had, because he sat up and pulled the brown hair out of his light eyes when he heard Luke's answer.
"We're at Alcatraz?" He asked in a sleepy, croaky voice.
"Yeah, everyone is getting off now," Luke said. Finn sat up and yawned as Roxy rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"You won't be needing your floaties anymore then, Luke?" Asked Finn. I was impressed, even half asleep she could sass Luke, although I guess it wasn't that hard. Luke pushed her shoulder, and if she didn't have the balance that she did she probably would have fallen over. Luke stood up and turned the heater off. I grabbed my violin case, which I had been using as a pillow, and swung it over my shoulder. I followed Luke with the others out of our room and up the stairs to the above deck. There were huge crowds of people rushing to get off the boat, not that I could blame them, that would have been a traumatizing ride for anyone who didn't know what was going on. We pushed past people who shouted at us for going in front of them. It felt like I was in a mosh pit at a metal or a rock concert and everyone was trying to get to the front to be close to the band. When it was finally our turn to get onto the ramp the crew had lowered from the boat, I held my breath. I let it all out when I took my first step on Alcatraz Island. We were finally here. We were going to save the campers and defeat Charlie. The island didn't seem as deadly as I pictured it would. The huge building was white, and to those who didn't know what it held inside of it at the moment, it would almost seem welcoming. It had gardens that looked to be tended to expertly, no hedge or bush was unevenly trimmed and there were flowers of all colours, yellow, pink, you name it. My grandmother would have appreciated the gardens. Like any old lady, my grandmother had developed a flare for flowers. Our apartment had always smelled amazing. Birds like Seagulls flew overhead, occasionally landing near a group of tourists to see if they could snag any possible food. But they were always shooed off. Now that the waves had died down in the water, and Luke was no longer on board, I got my first glance at how beautiful the sea was. It was a beautiful colour of blue, reflected from the sky, it looked clean and unpolluted. The five of us were silent, almost like we were all taking in the scenery of the island. I almost couldn't even comprehend that back when the jail had been open, it had held inmates like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly.
"Well," said Roxy, breaking the silence between the five of us. "Are you guys ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Finn answered, staring at the jail with her black-hole-eyes.
"So," Dean said with a sigh. He looked nervous, almost scared. I could tell the anticipation of what he was going to encounter in the jail was eating at him. "Just in case we all die here, I just wanted to thank you guys for busting me out of jail. You're all pretty cool and I hope we all live." I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and looked at him, he was staring at the ground, his hair in the way of his eyes.
"You and me both, brah. You and me both," I said.
"Don't worry, Dean. You're a natural monster fighter," Luke said, "remember the boat?" Dean grinned, his confidence in himself seemed to boost. He threw a lighter he was holding in the air and caught it. His shielded gaze turned to Finn.
"You still have those guns we found in that car?" He asked her. Finn lifted up her shirt a bit. Placed against her hips poked out the handles of two hand guns. Dean nodded.
"Better give me one of those when we get in, I don't know if it will do anything, but I'd feel safer having one," he said.
"Of course, dude," she said as she let her shirt fall again. The five of us nodded to each other and began our walk to the entrance of the jail. As I walked I watched the people around me, they all seemed so calm. I was having a hard time figuring out how they were, but then again, none of them were about to walk into what could be the cause of their demise. As we got closer to the jail my pulse was starting to quicken. My adrenaline was already running wild and we hadn't even entered the building yet. I couldn't believe how big it was. It was the biggest jail I had ever seen, not that I'd ever seen that many. It had it's own island for Zeus's sake. On our walk we passed a huge lookout tower. A lot of tourists were climbing up to the top with their cameras so they could take a picture of the view. I must admit, the view from up there would have been amazing. I watched them all pile in. Families, elderly couples and teenagers who were just looking for something to do. I wished I could be here solely for the purpose of a vacation, but no, I had scary monsters to defeat, man. Demigods never get a break. When we all found ourselves standing at the entrance of the jail we stood there in silence, examining it for a while. Finally, Finn was the one to break the silence.
"You know," she said, with her arms crossed. "After being in that last jail, I really don't want to go into this one."
"None of us do," Luke said.
"Please, you have no idea," Dean said.
"So... What exactly ARE we gonna do?" I asked. "Just stroll in there and hope that the monsters don't smell us so that we can find Charlie?"
"I told you," Finn said, turning her gaze to me. "We'll fight whatever get's in our path, and then battle Charlie and get our friends back."
"Oh, yeah. Solid plan." I said nervously.
"This definitely isn't going to be easy," Roxy said as she looked through her multiple pouches on her tool belt for what medicines she had left, then searched through her bag.
"Well, that we knew from the start," Luke said.
"Alright," I said, looking forward at the large, ominous building. "We ready?"
"Ready," the four said in unison. The five of us took a deep breath and entered into the dimly lit jail.

"Really?" I yelled, "already? We've been in this godamn prison for what? Five minutes? A WHOLE FIVE MINUTES?"
"Fletch, shut up and let's help him!" Roxy shouted at me. I ended my rant there and turned the tuning peg on my violin. I knew I wasn't going to be shooting anything with my arrows right now, but I felt safer with my violin as my bow now. Both the quiver and bow hung on my back, the string of the bow and strap of the quiver crossed against my chest. Roxy, Finn, Dean and I all had the same idea. We backed up, and on Finn's count, we dashed forward, barreling into the huge guy holding Luke by his head. I dug my head into the mans abdomen, which was a very bad idea on my part. It felt as if my spine had just moved an inch lower in my body. The man was like a brick wall. Still with the weight of all four of us, the demon fell back. Roxy, Finn and Dean rolled off before I could. I was still dizzy from my head collision with the man. He grabbed my neck, which really didn't help me and held his pudgy looking face close to mine. I couldn't help but stare with my mouth open. Even through a mortals eyes there seemed to be the reflection of fire dancing in his sockets. It was both nerve-racking and mesmerizing, and I couldn't pull my simple blue-eyed gaze away.
I've seen those eyes before, hissed the demon in my mind.
"N-no, I'm pretty sure you haven't," I managed to say. "Can't say these eyes have ever seen you."
No, you fool. Who is your Olympian parent? It hissed.
"A-Apollo?" I said suspiciously.
Was that a question, or an answer, idiot? It asked harshly.
"Hey, come on, don't you think that's a bit mean?" I asked, shrugging. It shook me by the neck and threatened to raise my higher off the ground.
"An answer," I spat. There was a shrill hiss that sent shivers through my body. I could feel every muscle in my body tense as I held my hands up to my ears and shut my eyes tightly, although it did nothing to make the sound stop, or at least muffle it. The demon threw me to the ground with a disgusted look on it's face. My spine made impact with the floor directly, and I slid towards my friends, who weren't that far away gasping for breath. My lungs felt like they had closed up for a moment. It felt like I had absolutely no air left in me, like I had just held my breath for literally as long as I could. Roxy was at my head. She grabbed it softly and looked it over quickly looking for bumps. I guess she had thought I hit it. My breathing started to come back and sat up slightly with a wince.
Your father is a filthy man! The demon yelled in rage, advancing a step on us. We all instinctively shuffled back a bit. He stoned us on sight back in Epheseus! Finn looked rather confused at the thought.
"Why are you so angry, dude? I'd smoke a bowl with Apollo, he 's pretty cool." She said.
No, you dense girl! He egged the people of Epheseus on to throw rocks at us until we were completely buried! The demon advanced once more, and we all shuffled back again.
"Alright, Gollem, what was the reason for that?" Asked Finn, although she pretended not to seem too interested.
He stoned us on sight! the monster wailed.
"Doubt it," Finn said in a sing-songy voice.
"No, Finn. Our father did stone the monster on sight," Roxy said, staring at the large man who had taken a defensive stance, keeping his hands balled up in fists and raised, one leg out and a scowl on his face. The rest of us stared up at her in disbelief. My dad? Stoning people for no reason? He'd never do that... Would he? "The people of Epheseus were experiencing a plague in their city. They asked Apollo to help and work in their infirmary. He agreed, and when he was taken to the city, he noticed an old beggar, or as we know him, this giant asshole right here. When Apollo ordered for him to be stoned, the people of the city didn't think it was fair to stone an innocent old man. But Apollo could see what he really was, a plague demon. If they stoned him, the plague would be gone. The beggar begged and prayed for mercy, but Apollo showed him none. Then, this idiot went and showed his monster form, and got stoned."
"See? Now that you've explained it, it sounds better," Luke said with a satisfied smile.
"Jeeze, Rox, you sure know your medicine history," I commented quietly. She grinned and shrugged.
You study medicine foolishly, just like your father! Hissed the plague demon.
"Well, it seems like it didn't do him wrong in the end, doesn't it?" Roxy asked in a sassy tone, which took the four of us by surprise, as usually it was Finn who did the sassing. She looked impressed with Roxy, as she scoffed in agreement. The monsters mortal eyes reflected pure rage and anger. There was another shrill his, more harsh and sharp this time, as if someone was scraping knives down the sides of my head and back. I groaned when it was over, and blinked the dizziness from my eyes.
Enough pointless talk, half-bloods! exclaimed the plague demon as it lurched forward and tried to grab one of us. The whiplash had worn off, and I had gotten wind back into my lungs, so I didn't miss this dodge, but Dean wasn't quick enough.
"Agh!" Yelled Dean in a terrified tone. The monster was holding him from the collar of his jacket, lifting him up far from the ground. "Guys! Help!" Dean exclaimed as a sadistic grin played on the face of the large man that held Dean.
"Fletch!" I heard Finn yell. I turned to see her holding two guns, she tossed one to me and I caught it, turning the safety off with a click and taking aim, resting my head slightly on my shoulder. Finn did the same, only held it straight. Roxy and Luke turned and a look of horror replaced every single other emotion they had portrayed through their facial expressions.
"No! Finn! Fletch!" Luke yelled, holding up his hands and stepping into my line of fire. As soon as he did I put the safety on, so that I wouldn't accidentally shoot him. I looked over at Finn and Roxy, Roxy was standing in what Finns line of fire had been, but Finn was pocketing the gun in annoyance.
"What, guys?" Finn asked.
"He's still in a mortals body. As homophobic and asshole-ish this mortal is, he's still mortal. You can't just kill people!" Luke exclaimed. Finn looked almost guilty, or mad at herself for almost killing a mortal. I felt guilty and mad at myself, although I kind of wished I could teach him a lesson on respect for others.
"Guys!" Dean reminded desperately. Without thinking, Luke barreled to the side of Dean and ripped him from the grasp of the demon, who sent a string of ancient Greek curse words our way. Dean and Luke rolled out of the way of the demon before it could pick one of them up and panted. I looked at Luke with wide eyes. I didn't know what else to do.
"Run?" I asked.
"Run," Luke answered. You didn't have to tell any of us twice. The five of us made a mad dash going in the direction we came from. The demon ran after us, his heavy boots making loud noises on the floor. When the sound of shoes were more out range, Finn side tackled us all into a cell block. We pressed ourselves against the wall opposite to the wall that had a neatly made bed and a toilet against it. We heard the demon coming again.
"Oh my gods," Luke said in a whisper scream.
"Ohhhh my gods," I said, almost in the same tone. We repeated that over and over until Finn put a a finger up to her lips to let us know when should shut the fuck up. Luke covered my mouth with his hand, and I covered his mouth with mind. Our words became muffled mumbles. Finn The demon looked through the window of the cell, and kept walking when he saw nothing. Finn let out a slow breath, and Luke and I let our hands drop from each others mouths.
"He's patrolling now," Finn mused quietly.
"Oh my Gods, THAT's what he's doing?" Roxy said in a whisper that sounded more like a scream. "W- Well, where are we going to go?" She asked.
"He's in front of us now," Dean pointed out.
"That's right, so if we just snuck by, ducking into cell blocks when we needed to we could get out, but we'd have to be stealthy," Luke said.
"Stealthy? Shit," I complained.
"What's wrong, Fletch?" Asked Roxy.
"I don't know if you guys have noticed, but I seem to trip over my own feet more than humanly possible. Stealthy is not my thing," I said, scared that I would put the lives of my friends at risk.
"Don't worry, Fletch," Finn said placing a gloved hand on my shoulder. "I'll teach you how to be stealthy. It's most definitely my thing."

"You mean to tell me that we're going to sit here and wait for these two ladies to finish their arm wrestling competition after all we've been through?" I asked. I couldn't believe it, this couldn't be happening. After all the monsters I'd helped fight, and all of the times I had been punched, kicked, thrown out of trains and slapped on this journey I wasn't about to let the fate of these two women arm wrestling determine if I was going to live or die. No way. Not today, Sugarpumpkin. I looked around at my friends, they all looked like we had the same idea. Luke and Finn looked equally annoyed, while Roxy and Dean looked more worried and shocked than anything.
"Looks that way, doesn't it?" Sneered Adikia. I shot a glare her way.
"I wasn't asking you," I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting.
"What was that?" She asked as she seemed to tighten her grip on Dike's hand. Dike tightened her grip and the two locked eyes.
"N-nothing," I said hesitantly.
"That's what I thought," Adikia hissed.
"Sorry about him," Finn apologized placing a hand on my slumped shoulder. "I'm not exactly sure he has all his screws tight up in that pretty little head of his." I wanted to say something but I stopped when I realized it was probably a good idea to be on the good side of the goddess that could have us ripped to shreds by hellhounds in seconds. Luke looked around like he didn't know what to do.
"What now?" He asked.
"How about a cheer squad?" Dike said sarcastically. Luke and I looked at each other and sighed. Finn backed up, at first looking confused, then a wide smile played on her face when she realized what we were about to do.
"Give me a D!" I shouted.
"We all know you want one," Finn coughed into her glove while looking up at me with a cheeky grin. I spat my tongue out at her, and she blew me a joking kiss with a wink. I could feel myself blush slightly. I looked over at Luke, waiting for his D... Wait.
"D!" He shouted and jumped into a star position.
"Give me an I!" I shouted again. Doing the same as he did, and jumping into a star position.
"I!" Dean, Finn and Roxy all snickered at us from behind, and Dike looked at us like she wanted to seem disgusted, but was really quite amused.
"Give me a K!" I yelled.
"K!" Luke repeated.
"Give me an E!" I finally shouted.
"E!" Luke and I both did a cartwheel over to Dike, demigod training is good for making you nimble, and held our hands up.
"Remind me when we get back to make sure I buy you two a nice pair of matching Camp Half-Blood cheer leading outfits," Finn said, wiping a tear of laughter from her black eye.
"I think that would be glorious," Roxy agreed, placing an arm over Finn. They both looked us up and down, as if trying to imagine us in short skirts and pom poms.
"Dudes..." I said uncomfortably. Dean was just holding his head in his hands. He looked up at me with a sympathetic stare.
"You're gonna have to do a lot to get your manhood back, boys," He said. Luke and I looked at each other and shrugged.
"Ready to end this off fabulously?" I asked.
"I was born ready, baby," he said.
"Oh, no, please, that last one was horrible," Dike pleaded.
"Dike, Dike, she's our man! If she can't do it, no one can!" Luke and I said in unison. We began to jump around and scream and cheer.
"WOO,"
"WOOPITY, WOOPITY,"
"Alright!" Dike said, pushing both of us away . "Remind me NEVER to ask for a cheer squad again," she said to Adikia.
"Will do," she replied shortly. Luke and I walked back to our friends. Finn patted us on the back, and we all went back to wondering what we could do to help Dike win this battle. There was no way to talk about a plan together, as the two ladies were in front of us, and the huge wall man was patrolling back where we had come. The two seemed to be straining now, Adikia was on the upper hand at the moment with Dike's hand tilted in the opposite direction we all, except Adikia, wanted it to go. Every strain on Dike's face made me want to leap into the arm wrestling match, grab both of their hands, and push Dike's hands to victory. I didn't think that would slid too smoothly. Hey, Fletch. You just interfered with the fate of this arm wrestling match to determine whether or not your quest goes as planned or not, but that's cool, let's just go get some pizza. Yeah. No. I could tell everyone else was feeling the same way I was. We were all twitching up a storm. Every forced grunt that came from Dike felt like our deaths were so much closer. To be fair, she was putting up a good fight. The two matched each other in strength. Ever time Adikia looked like she was having difficulties, her face reflected fatigue, like she was close to getting tired, but she was still on the upper hand.
"Hey, Adikia," Dike said, her voice sounding strained.
"What. What do you want?" Adikia spat back.
"Do you remember that one time I beat you to the ground with a hammer?" Dike asked.
"You what?" Asked Roxy, sounding slightly horrified, which I didn't understand seeing as Adikia was the one who was trying to get us killed.
"Please, how could I forget? That idiot with the paint brush and vase painted it on there for the world to see," Adikia said her voice was flooded with an annoyed tone. If it were me, I would have been a little bit more than annoyed, but hey. Finn looked like she had an idea. I looked at her questioningly. She returned my gaze and looked at my pocket, where I had placed the gun she had tossed me earlier.
"Shoot her?" I mouthed silently with a confused expression on my face. I knew the bullet wouldn't affect her in the slightest, and I really didn't want to get in the way of this. Finn looked at me with a look that read 'no, you dumbass.' She took her fist and made a motion towards the back of Deans head like she was hitting him. She then pointed to my pocket, and did the motion again. She wanted me to hit Adikia in the back of the head with the bottom of a gun so that Dike could take advantage and win. I looked at Luke for help, who had been watching Finns hand motions also. He was looking at the ground and seemed to be in deep thought, maybe weighing the consequences.

Dean, Roxy, Finn and I looked at Luke, who looked at all of us.
"Well, Mr leader man?" Finn asked. Luke looked past us at the door that the plague demon had gone through.
"Looks like that's the only way to go, huh?" He said pointing at the door.
"Really? The door where the plague demon came from?" I asked in a weary voice.
"What's the matter, Fletch? Too pussy?" Finn asked with a smirk.
"Hey, I haven't heard you getting all excited about going through that door," I retorted.
"Are you saying I'm a pussy? I'm not a pussy," Finn defended.
"Well, I mean, if you are what you eat..." I said with a cheeky smile. I couldn't believe it, I had just beaten Finn at her own game. She looked at me, and looked like she could tell how proud I was, because she seemed to take great joy in stripping me of it.
"Well, Fletch, would that make you a dick then?" She said, putting her hands on her hips. I hung my head in defeat and listened to the 'ooohhh's' of Dean and Luke from behind me shamefully as they clapped me on the back. "Good try though," Finn said. Roxy grinned and looked at Finn.
"Alright," Roxy said. "Are we going through the door then?"
"Looks like it," Luke said with a nod. We followed Luke around the hellhounds and through the door. In front of us was a long catwalk that stretched all the way to the entrance of the jail. To the sides was a set of stairs that I could only guess went to the basement, and on the other side it looked like it lead down another hall. Luke lead us towards the part that looked like it opened to another hall, which made me happy, because I didn't really want to walk down a flight of stairs that lead to a dark gloomy basement in a jail. We all walked in silence, before Luke stopped to look at a door none of us had noticed before.
"Wonder where that leads," I wondered out loud.
"Should we open it?" Dean asked.
"Why not?" Finn said with a shrug, pushing past Dean, Luke and I, and trying the knob. It was unlocked. She pushed the door open and it revealed another entrance to the courtyard we had found Dike and Adikia in, only they and their arm wrestling table were gone. It was empty, so the five of us walked out into the courtyard. We were welcomed by a darkening sky, evening was here, and now it was the moons turn to take over the suns place in keeping the world lit, but the sun wasn't finished yet. It was shining as it slowly made it's way down the sky.
"There's nothing here?" Luke asked in a surprised tone.
"What were you expecting?" Dean asked.
"I dunno, maybe a deadly monster or something? I mean it's a courtyard, it brilliantly seems like the kind of place you would hold big monsters," Luke said. Finn hit up in the back of the head with her glove.
"Ow!" He said, rubbing the back of his head as she fit it back around her hand.
"Quit jinxing things, Puke!" Finn said. Luke looked around, as if to look for more wood to knock on, but no such luck.
"Fuck," he mumbled. just then, a small bird flew into the courtyard and gave a sharp 'caw' sound. It stared at us with black eyes, not like Finns black eyes, these black eyes didn't shine in the light of the sun, they showed no emotion what so ever. They looked as if they were balls of coal in it's sockets. It's feathers were black, like it had rolled around in soot. I stared back at it, wondering what kind of bird it was.
"Guys, we need to leave," Dean said in a hushed voice, backing away slowly.
"What? Why?" I asked, breaking my glance from the bird to look at Dean who had his mouth open and eyes wide. Dean simply pointed at the bird. The five of us watched as it started smoking.
"What's wrong with it?" Roxy said in a horrified voice, she was about to run to it, before Dean grabbed her arms and held her back. There was an eruption of heat as the bird was sent up in what looked like a tornado of fire. Dean let go of Roxy and stared at the fire. He looked hypnotized, mesmerized even. The tornado parted, and in the middle of it, spreading it's long wingspan was a huge bird. It's feathers glittered beautiful colours of red, orange and yellow. It's beak looked gold, it's feathers reflected in it, making it look multicoloured. It's talons looked sharper than any knife I'd ever seen, and looked so hot you could see the heat radiating off of them.
"That's why," Dean whispered as the Pheonix beat it's wings in the air, lowering itself to the ground. It let out a horrible shriek as it set it's claws on the ground. I could feel the heat off of it, like in the nightmares I had. I grabbed my bow from my back and swung it over my shoulder, grabbing an arrow to knock to it. The Pheonix narrowed it's coal like eyes when it saw the bow and shrieked again, this time straightening itself and flapping it's large fiery wings. Each time it flapped them, it felt like I was being whipped in the face with current of boiling hot air. I pulled the string on my bow back and let go quickly, aiming at it's chest. The air hot air the bird was directing towards us slowed the arrow down. It hit the chest of the Pheonix, but it definitely didn't go deep enough to make much damage. Luke drew his sword, and Finn drew her knife. Dean pulled out the only things he had, his lighters and looked at them, then at the fire bird.
"Fuck," He said. The Pheonix lifted itself from the ground with one large swoop of it's wings and flew towards us. We all hit the ground and covered our heads. It pulled up before it could hit the door and did a magnificent loop in the sky, landing right where it had been. Grass burnt where it stood. I didn't know how we were going to defeat this. If I could get a clear shot to it's chest, or maybe it's throat, maybe it would die. Finn and Luke wouldn't be able to get anywhere near it close range. They would get hurt. Dean and Roxy didn't have anything to defend themselves with, they could get badly hurt too if they weren't careful. The only way to kill this thing was from long range. We all got up and the bird jumped forward, aiming pecks at us with it's golden looking beak. I dodged one narrowly, jumping to the side. It would have gotten a hold of my shirt if I hadn't jumped sooner. My friends ran around dodging pecks from the bird. I took another arrow from my quiver and knocked it to my bow again, pulling back, this time I aimed for it's shoulder, something that would slow it down. I let go, and the arrow went where I had wanted it to go. I jumped in triumph as the bird reared up again and took a couple of steps back at us. It's feathered had ruffled up in pain, it tried to rip the arrow out with it's beak, but it couldn't quite reach. As it sat trying to rid itself of the discomfort I yelled to my friends.
"Guys! You need to get out of here! You can't use your weapons against it," I said.
"What? And leave you to fight this thing? No way, man!" Luke said, jogging over to me.
"Luke, you have to. You can't get into close range without being burned or chomped at," I pleaded. Luke looked at me with a stubborn look.
"Finn definitely can't fight it with just her knife," I said. Finn glared at me, but I knew she thought I was right. She was just too proud to admit it. "Roxy and Dean don't have much to defend themselves with, and arrows are the only way to wound this thing," I said. The Pheonix wailed as it finally got hold of the arrow and ripped it from it's skin, pulling red feathers out along with it. Instead of blood, it seemed to bleed ash, which floated through the air. I looked at Luke with a pleading expression, knowing if they didn't leave soon, they probably wouldn't have time. Dean ran forward to me and grabbed my shoulder.
"Fletch, I'm a pyromaniac, I know how to handle a bit of fire. Let me help you as best as I can." I figured it might be good to have a guy who plays with fire for fun to help me out a bit.
"... Fine," I said, "but the rest of you need to go." The Pheonix let out another scream and charged toward us. We all jumped out of the way, and I grabbed an arrow as I rolled to the ground. This time I aimed for a place farther down the shoulder blade, something that would keep the Pheonix busy so that I could get my friends out of harms way. I let go, and with another bellowing shriek, a shriek that could have broken glass, the Pheonix staggered as it tried to rip the arrow out. I looked at Luke as Roxy and Finn made their way to stand beside him and wait for his decision.

By now, Dean and I were dirty, bruised and scratched from diving left and right to avoid the Pheonix as it made multiple intricate dives through the air. I half wondered how Dean wasn't getting distracted by all the fire that sparked through the air with every beat of the birds wings. He seemed focused, but forcefully so. Our clothes were singed from close calls, and I had gained a couple holes in my white shirt around my chest and sleeves. Looked like I wasn't going to wear this again. I had been shooting off arrows into the Pheonix like a redneck spits into a tin can. Whenever I found that one spot I thought would weaken it, I let go of the arrow, and most of the time it went in. Dean and I weren't the only ones dodging attacks. The Pheonix wove itself in and out of the way of my arrows, letting out shrill caws and shrieks when I hit it. My original target had been the chest, where the heart of the bird would be, but it was always protected by large wings. The only way I could get a clear shot that would go deep enough was if I slid under it while it was doing a low dive in the air. But with those talons, I didn't want to get anywhere near the underbelly, so I chose either it's coal like eyes, or in between them to it's scull. It was a hard target, and I was running out of arrows. They were strewn around the floor, some broken from being ripped out and chomped on, but most were still in once piece and ready to fire. I needed to go and gather them. Dean and I dashed around the courtyard together, as the Pheonix chased us, obviously growing tired and frustrated of this game of tag.
"Dean, I need you to distract it," I told him urgently, huffing between words. I didn't know how long I could keep this up. My body was growing tired from the last two monsters we had met in this hell hole.
"What?" Dean asked looking at me as if I was crazy. I knew it was a risk to put all of the Pheonix's attention on him, but it was the only way I would be able to collect my arrows.
"Just fall back a bit and make it think you're slowing down. It will follow the weaker looking pray and I'll be able to collect my arrows. Without them we don't stand a chance," I looked at him with a pleading stare. His gaze hardened from disbelief and worry to determined and brave. He began to fall backwards, running slower so that the Pheonix could catch up with us. I heard him grunt as the bird aimed a swipe at him with it's sharp heated talons, but I heard no sounds of pain so I decided he had probably dodged it.
"Alright, Fletch! Any time now, buddy!" I heard Dean yell in a panicked tone. I looked over my shoulder for a minute, the bird was flying low behind Dean who had sped up his pace. He was definitely one fast mother fucker. I quickly tried to run around, collecting all of my arrows that were usable. I had almost collected them all, I just needed two more. Unfortunately they were close to the Pheonix, who by now was getting tired of Dean and was glancing at me. I thought I could make it, so I dashed to the arrows when it wasn't looking. I had to turn my back on the bird. My biggest mistake. I picked up the first arrow and threw it into my quiver, like I had all the rest, before I heard Dean yell.
"Fletch! Behind you!" I barely had time to react. I tried to jump away from the bird, but before I could even think there was a ear piercing sound from the Pheonix, and the most pain I had ever felt in my life shot through my body, starting on my right shoulder. I hit the ground with a thud, and gave an agonizing scream of pain. It felt like someone had cut me with three knives, bigger than anything I had ever seen, and right after went to burn the fresh wound. I could feel my blood boiling. My vision blurred, and I felt my pupils grow small at the pain. There was a ringing in my ears, and the combination of a burn that felt like it had to be worse than a third degree, partnered by the largest knives I had ever experienced seemed to weaken me to the point where I didn't know what was going on anymore. I could hear Deans muffled shouts in the distance, it sounded like he was telling me to get up. They got closer, and all of a sudden I felt something collide with me. I didn't think it was dean at first. I thought it was the Pheonix, which made me brace my self for pain I couldn't even imagine. How do you brace yourself for something you can't imagine? I hit the ground once more, this time on my stomach. There was a blast of heat near me, which told me that the Pheonix must have pulled into a low dive once more, going for the final blow. My vision came back to me, but my body was shaking with the pain that continued to shoot through me. Well, wasn't that just great for an archers aim.
"Fletch, Fletch I'm so sorry, I didn't see it turn away," Dean rushed his words helping me up.
"No, no it's okay," I said. There was no hiding the strain in my voice. I wasn't mad at Dean at all, in fact, I was glad the Pheonix had attacked me instead of him. He wouldn't have been able to survive that. The Pheonix flew around us, creating a circle of fire so that we couldn't run. It landed on the opposite time and shrieked once more, unfolding it's wings and going into a battle like stance, where it seemed to crouch, lowering it's head and spreading it's wings out with it's beak wide open.
"Shit," I grunted. I went to pull an arrow out of my quiver, but pain shot through my shoulder.
"Agh!"
"Fletch, are you okay?" Dean asked, placing his hand on the shoulder where my quiver hung, the opposite to where my pain was coming from. The Pheonix waited for me, almost like it wanted me to show I was ready to fight. Well, what an honorable gesture for such a little shit. Dean pulled an arrow out of the quiver and handed it to me. I proceeded to knock it to my bow, bracing myself for more sharp pain in my shoulder. I pulled back as far as the string would let me, gritting my teeth tightly together, while giving muffled groans of pain. I bit my lip so hard it bled as I took aim right between the Pheonix's eyes. My hand was shaking from the pain, and I couldn't quite get my target down. I knew I needed help.
Please, Dad, help me kill this thing. Just one shot is all I need. I prayed, hoping my father would hear me. The Pheonix shot up into the air and pulled down, it wanted to make an overhead dive, and with the right precision would have embedded it's beak into the very crown of my scull. I pulled my arrow up, and yelled. It felt like my shoulder was being ripped open from all of the strain I was putting the wound through. I found the target once more, right between the eyes. Still biting my lip I let go. I heard another bellowing screech come from the bird over head. Instead of a giant heavy bird stabbing me in the head with it's mouth, ashes danced around me like snow, black snowflakes that put an eerie mood on the whole battle. Feathers joined the ashes and floated down with them. The Pheonix was a popular myth, one of Casper's favourites. He had told me about how the Pheonix would rise from ashes once it had been killed, and that if you ever wanted to kill a Pheonix you would have to send it's ashes into the sun, where it would be trapped. He liked the idea of the Pheonix's 'magnificent quick rebirth' as he put it.
"Thanks buddy," I mumbled to Casper.
"You're welcome?" Dean said, unsure of himself. I had almost forgotten he was there. I grinned and looked at him.
I ripped the already ruined sleeves off of my white shirt and used an arrow head to open it up a bit more. I then took a hand full of ashes and stuffed them into my sleeve. I tied closed and tied it to the end of one of my arrows. I then did the same to the other sleeve and let both arrows off towards the sun with my bow and arrow. Dean ripped the sleeves off of the black shirt he was wearing and I managed to fit the rest of the pile into them. Straining myself, I let the arrows go and watched them disappear into the light of the sun. I collapsed onto my stomach into the pile of feathers, all beautifully sparkling in the light like fire. Dean sat beside me and held his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry Fletch," he said again.
"No, Dean. You got me out of the way there, you saved me. Thank you," I replied gratefully. Dean looked at me, but didn't smile. There was barely any emotion on his face.
"How dose it feel?" He asked.
"Numb now," I replied. "At first it didn't feel too great though." I ran my fingers through my hair, pulling at my cow-licked bangs, trying to get some pain elsewhere so I could forget about my shoulder.
"Would you... Uh... Like some aloe vera?" Dean asked.
"Have you got any?" I said hopefully. He looked at me sadly.
"Roxy might?" He offered. I gave a short smile, trying not to show too much pain, although it felt like it was tearing me up inside. I really didn't want to make dean feel worse than he already did.
"We should get going," I said, trying to get up. Dean got up quickly and offered me his hand, which I took with my left arm. I looked at the feathers on the ground, bending over to pick a few up. I could use some of these for fletching for my arrows, and maybe put one on a string for good old Casper. A little souvenir to thank him for sharing bits and pieces of random information on mythical creatures with me, which ended up saving my life. I pocketed the feathers and hoped they wouldn't get smooshed as Dean and I made our way out of the courtyard.