Kingsman agents (private for Dylano and myself)

"Wow. Okay now that was just epic."

We were walking out of the movie theater, trading lighted steps and padded seats for the hot pavement and screeching tires of downtown Manhattan. The sun was shining off car windows, voices echoed around, a cell phone rang somewhere, but my eyes and ears were still full of the movie's images. After watching the trailers I already had had high expectations but the movie managed to turn out even better than I expected. Packed action scenes, comedy, breathtaking shots, snarky exchanges and deliciously brutal fights.. I was definitely going to buy it when it came out.
My mouth still tasted of popcorn, which I washed down with the rest of Fanta I had before tossing the now-empty cup into a nearby bin. I was dressed in my navy tee from the University of Athens and a pair of white shorts, walking in sneakers. My dark hair was gathered up in a ponytail and I was shielding my eyes from the sun with a pair of shades; as usual, I had no make-up and no jewelry apart from the camp necklace which now carried one proud bead. Make-up was tiring to put on and jewels got in stuff and hurt when you tried to fight.

"Whatcha wanna do now?" I asked Benjamin. We could go back to Camp Half-Blood but I felt like hanging out a bit more in New York before taking the cab to Long Island. New York was a splendid city and there was so much to do! Normally when I came here it was to meet up with my father every week or every two weeks, depending on our schedule. Yeah my dad. The 42 years old guy who looks like he's 27. Once we were sitting at this café and an old man was like, isn't he a bit old for you? If any mortal asked, I usually said he was my cousin because the truth was really too complicated.
But yeah, we had visited the Chelsea art galleries, the public library, the Brooklyn museum and Saint Patrick's cathedral -- I may not be Christian anymore but churches like that one always filled me with awe.
Now if Benjamin was up for it too we could go and hang out in Central Park, walk around Times Square (touristy but why not?), or just chill out somewhere. Heck why not even go to the City Hall Loop? Apparently it had really nice architecture and with this hot sun, anything underground sounded tempting.

Benjamin walked out of the theater with Morgan smiling at her amazed thoughts of the movie. As for himself he thought it was about what he expected and his personality left him with just moderate reactions of awe, but he was glad that the daughter of Hecate enjoyed herself. He glanced around Manhatten thinking of how much of London he got reminded of by the city...you know besides the architecture because America hardly ever took from their Mother Country. He glanced around thinking of what their was to do when Morgan had asked what else they could do. The day was young(it was like 1 in the afternoon) and he debated what things they had at option. And then he realized something.

"You know..I may have been in this country for some time and lived at camp 3 years...but that doesn't mean I'm exactly...city savvy on the sites around here. Sooo you pick." he told her, his accent rolling off the tongue as if he never left London a day in his life.

Ah, his British accent was always a delight to my ears.

"Depends what you most feel like. We can hang out in Central Park or something, have a walk on the High Line, or go to the City Hall Loop. Y'know, this abandoned subway station in Civic Center. I heard from some friends it's quite nice, pretty architecture and rather quiet."

I had to raise my voice a bit to cover the noise of cars speeding by, honking, the whirr of bicycle tires, the loud conversations and shreds of music echoing around -- New York was really the most noisy city I had ever been at. We passed a street corner vendor, briefly breathing in the smell of warm food then the scent of gas fumes and hot pavement took over again.

Ben considered the option he brought up, though in the back of his mind he was more lost on another thought. One that was in a way like the mistake that he made, but it had a better side to it even if it spawned from that horrible Halloween with that other couple. 'You aren't dating her...stop using that term..' he thought as he came back to reality for a brief moment.

"Perhaps the Civic Center...anywhere to be alone and away from the noise." He said to her, tentatively holding a hand out to her. He wasn't so much nervous about being alone with her, or even talking to her in general...but it's what he felt that left him a little jittered. They had become good friends since that night at the forest and he was glad to have met Morgan. So he was rather nervous of his feelings ruining a good thing. After all, he was far too used to every one turning and looking at him like he was a player because of how he was raised.

"I'll follow your lead." He told her.

It took us about fifteen minutes to get to the subway station, making our way through the tight traffic and large crowds of NYC. I came from a city where we were about three million hillbillies so logically getting to a metropolis filled with more than the double of that required some getting used to. I was mainly surprised at how open people were though, addressing others in the street with things like "Hey how you doin'?" or "nice jacket, man!", that kinda stuff; in Berlin it was pretty much unthinkable. Most you could do was give strangers a smile, but if you started talking to them out of the blue, they'd probably think you're crazy. Same in France, by the way.

Benjamin had held out a hand towards me, probably not to get lost in all this downtown mayhem, so I gladly took it at least to know where he was. His was much colder than mine which is saying something since I generally have icy hands.

We finally got to the grove of dogwoods under which the subway station was and I let go, adjusting my black leather satchel on my shoulder, feeling grateful for the sparse shadow. Who knew New York temperatures in spring could be so warm? It must be about twenty degrees Celsius.
We reached the slab of concrete set with glass tiles which let us gaze down at the platform below; normally if you wanted to visit it you needed membership to the museum thing and book a tour in advance, none of which I had done. Fortunately for us though, we didn't need to play by the rules. A quick glance over my shoulders showed me the few people around were busy doing other stuff, walking their dog, phoning, two kids arguing. None were looking at us. Without warning, I took Benjamin's elbow and our world melted away into shadows; burning cold was all I felt for the three seconds that followed. Cold and wind and strange things brushing us in the dark, a random noise like someone stepping on a dead branch. Then it cleared and we were standing in the mezzanine area above the platform, daylight coming from an ornamented skylight above us. I could see branches from the dogwood grove we had been standing in but moments ago, high above. I met Benjamin's gaze, gave a grin, then tilted my face up again to look at the ceiling, the tall arches curving gracefully above our heads to meet the skylight. The walls were set with gleaming green and yellow tiles placed in patterns; a staircase rose up to our left while a metallic door barred access to our right. Behind us, a second larger staircase led down to the platform.
Not hesitating, I made my way down those stairs into the ghost station -- gods did it feel refreshing down here. Smiling wide, I took some paces to take everything in, my footsteps echoing around against the rather dirty floor. Polychrome tiles, elegant arches running along the platform, brass fixtures, all of this lit by wrought iron chandeliers.

"Cozy," I said, my voice reverberating twice. "Whatcha say, son of Hades?"

It felt weird to be in an empty subway station but somehow captivating as well. Either side of us, the tunnels were dark, like two open mouths swallowing shadows and while I knew a train could come at any time, I still wanted to see what they looked like. Crouching down at the edge of the platform, I let myself drop onto the rails and scouted the tunnels for fun, going about fifty yards in either side before reluctantly turning back. I liked this place. It was cold, empty and nicely made, a real oasis in the middle of this bustling city life. Being in here felt like actually breathing.

Ben was glad that they were at an underground station. Nice quiet and alone, things that Ben looked forward to about being underground. He was glad more so that Morgan was there with them. It was nice to be there with her. Especially with all that was on his mind, it was calming to see her smile and be happy around him. It felt nice.

As she came back from the second scouting he walked up to the tracks and placed a hand on the ground, feeling out with his will and sensing the treasures that may or may not be there. He could naturally do it, not requiring any kind of exert of energy to do so. He stood slowly sensing the lack of precious material that littered the Underworld.

He heard Morgan's question and smiled. "I like it, love. It's nice...especially being here with you." He told her as he turned back to her, part of his mind hoping he didn't just f*ck up with how he played that.

I actually didn't know how I would've replied to that (was there something? Was he just being friendly?) if a train hadn't burst into the station at that second, my hair whipping back in the wind; it gradually slowed down and came to a halt in a creak of wheels, and my immediate thought was, Oh sht. Museum people. We're gonna have to move. But I quickly realized the thing was empty. And I mean empty -- no driver. (Of course it could simply be automatic but I had seen much more driven trains than automated ones in my life so this detail immediately drew my attention.) I didn't have the time to think about it further though: the doors right in front of us swung open and, with the most unpleasant feeling in the world, I got sucked into it.
Next thing I knew, a bewildered Morgan was sitting on a seat in the carriage, eyes darting around as the subway started moving again, the windows flashing to opaque black as we entered the tunnel. Ben was next to me, so that was okay. In front of us sat a guy in his mid-twenties looking particularly worn out, with a lackluster mop of blonde hair and waxy skin. He was good-looking, no point arguing that, very good looking indeed, but he had just an air of negligence and dirtiness about him that disgusted rather than attracted me. He looked at us with pale but intense eyes and my immediate reaction was to grab Benjamin's arm and melt into the shadows back to somewhere safe -- well, try to at least because as soon as I gave the impulse in my thoughts, I felt curiously empty, as if I had been robbed of my power. Nothing happened. I clenched Ben's arm tighter and tried again, only to feel even more helpless than before. In front of us, the guy gave a chiding sound.

"Trying to shadow-travel?" he asked in a raspy voice. "Afraid it won't work."

"Who are you?" I retorted with a direct glare.

He gave us a long tragic stare, rose a hand and declaimed: "No one knows me now / I was so popular though / Despair is like ice."

I frowned at the haiku, glanced at Ben, then back at the guy. Could it be -- "Apollo?" I asked.

"Of course, now I showed my poetic genius, you recognize me. Yes I am Apollo, who else could I be?"

Biting my lip not to say something imprudent, I went back to business. "And why are we here?" The train was still moving along the tunnels, the black windows reflecting the inside of the carriage.
Apollo beamed at us, sitting up on his bench. "I have a very interesting proposition for the two of you." He looked at our faces then went on, spreading his hands. "See, I have a kind of problem that should be taken care of -- oh nothing serious, don't worry, you'll be done with it before you know it."

"Sure, what is it."

"The Python of Delphi."

"Pardon?"

He coughed. "The Python of Delphi." He saw my expression and broke into a chuckle. "Oh it's nothing really, don't look at me like that. Just a bit of sport, y'know?"

"We're talking about that ginormous snake who guarded the navel of the Earth while also possibly killing half the surrounding population?"

"Bah, an arrow in the head should do the trick. That's what I did anyway, and I was four when I killed it."

"You're a god though."

"And you're half gods! Never underestimate yourself, young lady," he wagged a finger at me. "Right, now this is settled --"

"Why don't you kill it then? Why do you need us?"

His stare turned cold. "I have other matters to attend. Don't interrupt me again."

I apologized in a half-hearted voice and listened to him go on about the "opportunity" he was giving us, repeating we were very lucky and promising that if we succeeded, he'd compose a single to narrate our actions. After about five minutes of that, he realized we weren't looking particularly enthusiastic, coughed into his hand and looked at his watch. "Oh look how time passes quickly, I must be off. Thank you two for accepting my generous offer, you won't regret it."

"Hey, I didn't accept anything. What if we don't want to--" He waved his hand and the carriage melted away like a dream, making way for ruins, olive trees and very hot weather "--go?" My voice died in my throat and I clenched my mouth shut, raising my eyebrows. So much for arguing with gods. "Well then," I said after a moment, and stood up.

Apollo had made us appear on the bottom steps of the amphitheater, in the middle of the sacred site. I had been here before but last time, it hadn't smelled as badly as now; wrinkling my nose, I looked over my shoulder. It smelled of sulfur, smoke, and something else I didn't feel like identifying. Stale hamburgers or something.

Ben didn't know really how to respond to the random ass train appearing in their area, and he bloody well didn't like being the reverse end of a vacuum as he was sucked into the train. But the thing that bothered him most, his cousin the god of the sun sitting in there acting like a depressed little scamp from Morgan questioning who the hell he was.

Ben didn't have anything against Apollo, he just always seemed to full of himself for Ben's liking, and it showed now with the reason behind the kidnapping his cousin had pulled. The young son of Hades had tuned out of the conversation up until the god had mentioned killing the Python of Delphi...to which Ben would've said something about if Morgan had taken care of the conversation aspects of this none too pleasant visit. Ben sighed as Apollo came up with the 'Oh you're half me, don't sell yourself short' excuse for Morgan's objection to killing the snake.

Ben glared at Apollo as the god turned to a near death stare at Morgan for bringing up why he couldn't just kill the bastard snake himself but sighed as the god left.

"Leave it to family to be a giant b!tch about trying to have a few hours out of camp.." He muttered to Morgan as the train carried them along before being spat out in the middle of Apollo's site. The stench was overwhelming to say the least and Ben couldn't help but think that something bad was about to happen. Which of course when you try to kill something that only a god has killed before it kinda pretty much spells bullsh!t coming up.

"Bet 10 drachma that this snake doesn't show up for 5 minutes." He said to Morgan as he re-positioned his cane so that when the attack came he'd have a sword out and ready to fight back.

"Keep your money, Corpse Face," I told him, pointing to the upper levels of the site. Right there, twisting between two columns, laid a part of a giant snake body; I squinted and put a hand on my brow to protect my eyes from the sun, but couldn't make out much more.
The body of the snake was a murky brown color with glistening yellow markings, which rather made sense considering he was supposed to be born from the sun and the slime of the deluge; of Helios and Gaea. However, even the small part of it we could see now showed it was huge: I could fit vertically in there twice.
It seemed pretty motionless now, maybe it was asleep. Maybe it was just sunning itself between two killings.

"Right." I took my leather satchel from my shoulder and roamed around in it, pulling out my jacket and a folded trecking stick which lengthened with a snap into a six feet long spear at my touch. The ice cold stygian iron tip gave a hissing blast of white smoke as it came in contact with the hot Greek atmosphere. I shrugged into my jacket, which turned into a full stygian iron cuirass, my helmet covering my head and black greaves growing on my arms and legs. The sudden weight felt crushing, but I tensed my muscles and straightened my back.

"What's the plan?" I asked Ben.

I wasn't only turning to him because he was the child of one of the Big Three. Overall, he had more experience with demigod life than me and had probably more knowledge of monster fighting strategies than I had, so he should technically know how to handle such situations better. Granted, this was probably the most dangerous monster we had ever battled. Screw the Chimera. I had only fought one giant snake in my life (cough, if you can call it fighting considered Thaddeus had killed it), and it had been a sea snake. No oversize boa whose Mom happened to be one of the most bloodthirsty deities to have ever spawned from Chaos, not to mention she kind of embodied planet Earth itself.

Was I ready? Haha. Probably not in a million years. Did I want to run away? You have no idea.

Problem was: now I was here, I didn't really have a choice.
Admitting, I manage to run away. Where do I go? I have no euros, no credit card, only my passport. Good luck getting a plane ticket back to New York -- and even if I made it there, I'd have to face Apollo's wrath. (To be honest, I was a bit pissed off at him. He had tried to kill me six months ago, and now he asked for my help?)

But that was only a part of the problem. I may not smell a lot compared to other demigods but I did smell, and Python probably wouldn't say no to a little snack whenever he woke up. So either we killed him in his sleep, or we were minced meat. No choice on our side.
I wasn't exactly happy about having to battle one of Greek mythology's most dangerous monsters when all I had planned for today was an afternoon in New York with a good friend, but now wasn't the time to whine. I had my spear, my pen, and my armor, plus the Mist. If both Ben and I made the best of our skills, we actually had a shot at getting out of here in one piece.