We stepped off of the train in Cloudcroft, New Mexico- a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The air was cold and thin, with the roofs heaped with snow. Dirty mounts piled up on the sides of the street, and tall pine trees loomed over the valley and cast long, dark shadows as the morning sun rose between the two mountain peaks.
It was freezing cold, even Penny was shaking by the time we got to the main street. That in itself was almost half a mile from the tracks. As we walked, Penny spoke about how she'd had a conversation with 'Fred' the night before. He had told her to seek out Nereus in San Francisco.
"It is not a bad idea," Zoe begrudgingly acknowledged. "Nereus is a Sea God, one of wisdom who has been gifted with the power of Prophecy. He is bound by the rules to answer a single question when he is captured. If anyone could find Milady, or tell us of this 'Bane of Olympus,' it would be him."
"That's great, but we need to get there first," I pointed out. "And not to be a downer, but I'm not liking our chances in the middle of bumfuck nowhere."
"He's got a point," Uta nodded in agreement with my words. "We need to find a way out of this town."
"First, let's see if we can find anything," Thalia said. "Any information about the town... Zoe, Penny, you two go to the coffee shop- I think we could all use a pick-me-up."
"Coffee is good," Zoe agreed without hesitation.
"I could do with a nice pastry," Penny murmured.
"Bianca and I will head to the grocery store," Thalia continued. "We'll see if they have anything decent and see what we can find out. Yuno, Uta, you two see if you can find anything that might get us out of this town. Even a broken down car will work- we can think of something to do with it maybe."
Uta nodded. "Got it..." She shuddered and wrapped her arms around mine. "I'm doing this for warmth," she told me, though there was a playful glint in her eyes.
"Won't hear me complain," I told her as the two of us set off... Though, I was certain I'd heard Thalia click her teeth as we left.
We didn't learn a lot of good things about the town... For one, there was pretty much no way out of the town unless you had a car. Theoretically, you could get a taxi to come down from Alamogordo, but it would take an hour to get here- and cost us several hundred dollars in the process.
We didn't find anything useful either- no broken down cars like Thalia had asked or anything else remotely useful.
We returned to the town centre, where Thalia and Bianca were talking. I saw Thalia's face looking a little concerned, while Bianca looked like she was trying to remember something- but couldn't.
'They must be talking about Bianca in the Lotus Hotel,' I realised quickly. Thalia likely suspected Bianca had been in there by now and was on the track to slowly realising there was far more to hers and Nicole's story than she initially realised.
"Everything okay?" I asked as I approached, their attention turning to me.
"Yeah, just talking about some stuff," Thalia told me, shaking her head. "What'd you learn?"
"Nothing good," I told her. "Best we can hope for is a taxi that's gonna take an hour to get here and cost us several-hundred dollars."
Thalia grimaced and frowned. "I hate when things don't go well," she said, turning her eyes to Zoe and Penny emerging from the coffee shop.
Suddenly, there was a shift in the air.
I could instinctively tell- this was not a blessing from the wild as it had been in the original. This was something else, something different...
I saw everyone else tense up... They could feel it too, the change in the air.
"We need to go," Zoe said, her face turning pale. "Immediately."
None of us argued as we quickly began to make our way to the edge of the town.
We only just arrived before the first two skeleton warriors appeared, dressed in Police uniforms from New Mexico. They had transparent grey skin and yellow eyes- a disguise to aid in fooling mortals.
As they pulled their handguns out, each of us readied our weapons. Thalia called forth Aegis, but the warriors didn't pay any mind to the snarling visage of Medusa. Instead, their eyes were locked on Penny- the one who's scent they had captured.
"Back up!" Thalia called out, only for two more Skeletons to appear on the road behind us- trapping us between them.
One of the skeletons lifted a phone, making a series of clattering, cracking sounds with its teeth and jaw. It was calling the other skeletons that were missing to help aid them in the fight.
"Why are literal Skeletons able to use a fucking phone?" I voiced the question aloud.
"The teeth, even when not active, are conscious of the world around them," Zoe grimaced. "They observed mortals using their phones when they were teeth. And now, they are aware of how to use them as well."
"And we don't use Dragon Teeth warriors because...?"
"Because nobody wants a repeat of Medea," Thalia grimaced.
"Of fucking course that's the reason," I muttered bitterly... All of the most useful things were things avoided despite how useful they were. Why care about using Kronos's Scythe as long as you killed the right person, after all?
Suddenly, Penny charged at the Skeletons with a cry of rage.
"Idiot," Thalia hissed out but moved to help fight with her.
I moved my attention to the Skeletons behind us, charging at them.
A bullet surged towards me, but all my training had been paying off. I sank down into my own shadow- my first time revealing my shadow abilities- before I melded into the Skeleton's shadow.
It looked around in confusion before I emerged from the darkness, my scythe cutting off its head in a single movement. The skeleton combust into black flames, leaving behind a pile of ashes and a police badge where it had been moments before.
Bianca and Zoe looked at me in surprise. I also felt surprised, but I didn't let myself get distracted as I swept the legs out from the other skeleton and bisected it in two midfall. It exploded into flames as well, leaving nothing behind.
"How did thou do that?" Zoe asked in pure confusion and a hint of suspicion.
I was confused for a moment as well... But the answer came to mind quickly. In this world, I was the son of Tezcatlipoca. Tezcatlipoca, while being a Sun God and the God of Night, also ruled Xibalba- the Mayan Underworld. While the power over death had not appeared in my skill list, I was still the son of the God of the Underworld- even if it was a foreign one. The skeletons combusted when faced with an authority of death greater than their living abilities.
Of course, it was natural for Zoe to be suspicious. She probably thought that I might be the Son of Hades.
"However I did it, let's do it a few more times," I said with a grin... Before I tensed as I felt the air shift again.
Something was coming-!
ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAR!!
A pair of shockingly huge lions pounced from seemingly nowhere... But not at us, at the Skeleton Warriors. With ferocious intensity, the lions tore apart the undead with ruthless power, the force of their strikes separating their bones and flesh so far that it would take a long time to actually regenerate.
Finally, with the threat neutralised- at least for the moment- the pair of lions turned to us, staring at us, and giving a good look at them.
They were a pair- a male and a female. While they seemed close, it was easy to see that the female wanted little to do with the male. They were both huge, easily the size of a house. The male shook his mane, while the female flicked her tongue at him, seemingly giving him an annoyed look.
All of us tensed up, when the lioness approached and knelt down in front of Zoe, staring into her eyes.
Zoe gasped, her eyes widening in pure shock. "... Is it... Truly thou...?" She whispered.
The Lioness nodded.
Zoe stared in shock and quickly lifted her hand to her face, wiping a stray tear. "They will take us," Zoe said. "They are... Friends."
"You know these lions?" Bianca asked in shock.
"It is... A long story," Zoe told her. "Come, we must not delay." Zoe didn't hesitate to climb on the back of the lioness, helping up Bianca and Penny.
Thalia, Uta, and I all climbed onto the lion's back. Once we were all comfortably situated, the lions turn and began to pounce and dash- heading west.
"Zoe knows these lions..." Thalia murmured and frowned. "Just who are these giant lions that Zoe knows about them...? And who sent these lions in the first place?"
Thalia was confused... However, I had my own suspicions.
A pair of lions- one male, one female.
A connection to Zoe.
Zoe's reaction to the Lioness...
If I was right... Then these lions were Atalanta and Hippomenes. Atalanta had once served in Artemis's Hunt. However, her father- after accepting her back once she became famous throughout the land- desired for Atalanta to get married and give him children. So, Atalanta decided it would be a race. Whoever could beat her would be able to take her hand...
And Hippomenes received aid from Aphrodite, who wanted to steal one of Artemis's hunters away. She gifted Hippomenes three golden apples, which he used to distract Atalanta and win the race.
However, in the joy of finally being married to the woman he had desired, Hippomenes had forgotten to give thanks to Aphrodite for her aid. As a result, Aphrodite drove the two of them mad with lust when they visited the Temple of Zeus, causing them to have sex right in the middle of the God King's temple.
Zeus, angered at the insult of mortals copulating in his temple, cursed the both of them. If they desired to mate like animals, then they would be animals. They were both turned into Lions and thus were forced to forever live in the wilds. Supposedly, they were cursed to mate as lions for the rest of eternity.
Clearly, that wasn't true given Atalanta's seeming disdain for Hippomenes. It seemed that a relationship doesn't quite work out over several millennia when you only got into it thanks to trickery, and then your own stupidity turned you and your lover into literal animals.
Finally, as the sun set, the two lions finally stopped their charge. They stopped at a Creek Bed and lay down- allowing us all to slide off of them safely.
Zoe gently placed her hands on Atalanta and pressed her forehead against her. "... Thank you, my old friend... I am happy to see you have persisted this long."
Atalanta merely shook her mane and grunted. Clearly, an eternity trapped as a lion wasn't something Atalanta appreciated. But she gently nudged against Zoe, showing she appreciated the thought.
Slowly, Atalanta turned her gaze towards... Me?
I was confused as she prowled over to me and then lay down, looking at me-
No, wait... She wasn't looking at me.
"Hm...?" Tez raised an eyebrow. "What do you want, little Lion?"
Atalanta let out a low growling noise, one I couldn't understand. But Tez, it seemed, could.
"You want me to fix your curse?" He blinked and then chuckled. "Well now, that is certainly within Yuno's abilities... But why should I do that? I'm quite the cruel God, you know. I don't do things for free."
Atalanta made a low purring noise, and Tez's eyes lit up. "Well now... That is interesting... Alright, girl... You have a deal. But it will have to wait until after the quest. You have Yuno's scent; you know how to find him I trust?"
Atalanta nodded and gently made a show of sniffing me before she slowly stood up and turned away. She cast another look of disdain at Hippomenes, who was drinking from the muddy water, before she bounded off. Hippomenes took a moment before he realised that she had left and quickly followed after her.
I raised an eye. 'Care to explain?'
"You'll see," he said simply.
The others all looked at me with confusion, Zoe in particular seemed a bit conflicted, before we all focused up.
Another tracking spell showed us that our trip would take us through the Junkyard.
"There is danger there," Zoe told us. "I am not sure what it is, but it is dangerous."
"You know, we've been through a lot today and, frankly, my back is killing me," Thalia groaned. "What say we set up camp for the night, and worry about the junkyard tomorrow?"
With how long we'd spent riding on the backs of those lions, nobody argued with her.