CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

Every Adventure Needs A Side Quest

Theoretically, the Argo VII’s armored plating should be able to withstand cannon fire from a battleship. Yet one mysterious beast smashing into its side was enough to shove the school bus off the road and into the grassy field to the right of the freeway. It was lucky there had been no other cars around or the collateral damage from their crash would have been quite high.

As for the Argo VII’s crew—the team, as Farsight liked to call them now—they survived the collision. Although the sharp objects that had been dislodged from the equipment lockers did turn the living room into quite the danger zone.

“Why didn’t—”

Jackboot had just avoided getting stabbed by one of Farsight’s combat knives.

“—secure your—”

He ducked away from one of her arrows nearly stabbing him in the face.

“—gear when you”—with hare-quick reflexes, Jackboot caught another one of Farsight’s arrows—“got in the—”

However, the small metal canister attached to Farsight’s trick arrow exploded, showering Jackboot in fire suppression foam that carried with it the scent of fresh pine.

“Argh!” Jackboot screamed. To which, Farsight, who sat snugly in her state-of-the-art cockpit despite the bus rolling around in the dirt, replied, “I was in a hurry to get us out of there!”

As for Sam and Thunder, they’d grabbed onto each other right as the Argo VII was struck by its mysterious attacker and protected each other from the impact while they rolled in the air, bumping against seats and tables, and ceiling and floor until they fell with a crash a compartment away from the living room.

It was a while later when Sam heard Thunder calling his name, but his mind was had been too muddled for him to respond.

“Wh-what did you say?” Sam asked.

“You’re bleeding,” Thunder said, her voice finally carrying through the buzzing of Sam’s ears.

“I’m”—Sam smelled an iron scent in the air—“bleeding?”

It took another second, but Sam eventually noticed the droplets of his blood dripping down Thunder’s cheek, which was also when Sam realized that he and Thunder were pressed so close together that his nose was brushing hers.

“Holy—”

Sam sat up out of embarrassment and then raised his hand to his face so he could feel the gash across his brow.

“I’m…bleeding,” he said in astonishment.

For a guy who could now endure a lot of pain, Sam still couldn’t stomach the sight of his blood coating his fingers. Mostly because his injuries were stark reminders of how helpless he’d been before Triple-A. This remembrance of past failings filled his chest with anxiety so that Sam was suddenly hyperventilating. But then a notification from Triple-A informing Sam not to move while Regeneration worked to heal him appeared in the air, and Sam’s feelings of inadequacy receded quickly, which also helped to stabilize his breathing.

“I’m not useless anymore,” Sam reminded himself. “I can do this…”

A flash of memory hit him; a pair of glowing silver antlers racing toward their window.

Sam’s brow creased. “What in Hades was that thing…?”

“You saw it too?” Thunder asked.

So she could sit next to him, Thunder started clearing away the many sharp objects that had fallen around her and Sam. They’d somehow managed to avoid most of these, although at least one of Farsight’s collection of knives must have hit Sam’s brow during the collision which would explain the deep gash on his forehead.

“I think I saw antlers,” Sam said, uncertainly. “But…they were—”

“Glowing like moonlight?” Thunder finished for him. “Yes, I saw them too.”

As soon as Triple-A was finished healing Sam’s wounds, he turned his gift on the bumps and bruises Thunder had earned during the crash. Although that was all he could do. Sam couldn’t take away the fatigue and weakness that he saw clear enough when he helped Thunder to her feet.

Thunder noticed his anxious gaze and brushed off his concern with, “We just survived a car crash and I’m still standing… I’ll survive the Blight too.”

She wiped at the dried blood on Sam’s brow with the sleeve of her coat.

“You’re going to heal me,” she said in a tone full of such confidence that Sam suddenly found he couldn’t look her in the eye.

That confident look she’d given him was Thunder trying to make him feel better, and it made him feel sick to his stomach that Thunder thought she had to. Sam was supposed to be the one reassuring Thunder and making her feel better. Not the other way around.

“If you’re finished healing Thunder, I could use a little help too,” Jackboot called.

The spandex-clad hero appeared by the equipment room door with a swelling bruise above his right eye that he hoped Sam could heal.

“Having a healer in the team’s very convenient, isn’t it,” Jackboot said as he let Sam’s gift work on his bruise.

“For everyone but the healer,” Sam replied. “Hold still, Jack…almost done.”

“By the way,” Jackboot gave Thunder a side-eye glance, “do either of you know what attacked us?”

“I know.” Farsight strode into the equipment room looking only slightly disheveled. She had that ‘seer sees all’ expression on her face when she turned her gaze on Sam. “Apollo’s got an errand for you.”

As if on cue, a notification popped up in front of Sam—and this one was of the golden variety.

SECRET MISSION: RECAPTURE THE CERYNEIAN HIND! CONDITION: Hey, Sammy-o! Listen, I accidentally set free one of Artemis’s pets and I need you to get it back for me. Alive not dead. Or my twin will pepper us both full of moonlight arrows that even I’ll have trouble healing from. To reiterate, capture, don’t kill… Also, I guess I should tell you that this is the same Ceryneian Hind Hercules had to catch, but it was infected recently by this seriously annoying relic I’m not allowed to talk about and now the sick beast is on a rampage… By the way, it’s a beta-level sacred beast so good luck…you’ll need it!

Sam let out an exasperated sigh after he read the message because only one god would sound so irresponsible, and it was his godsdamn patron.

REWARDS ONE: Earn great favor with Apollo, the shining star, brightest among the…

Sam brushed away that bloated reward description.

REWARDS TWO: 1,500 Golden Drachma, 1x supplementary gift to Healing Hand, a new and exclusive OTC collectible: 1:100 scale Master-Grade Argo VII kit complete with attachable javelin launcher and Archimedes Mirror (comes with a certificate of authenticity)

Sam glanced over to the shelf above his bunk bed where his 18in Apollo and Sun Chariot statue was sitting snugly between his 12in Crow-Man and 12in Superion action figures and then imagined an Argo VII on that shelf with them.

Yeah, okay, I would like an Argo VII figure, he thought.

As for the supplementary gift to Healing Hand, Sam realized he still hadn’t cashed in the last one he’d received and that there was still a gift point waiting to be used in [POWERS].

I really should check on that later...

As appealing as these rewards were though, Sam wasn’t sure he could go on this side-mission right away because his team was in a race against Apex and the evil organization backing him to see which side would claim the Golden Fleece first. Although the last time Sam completed a quest for Apollo, it did lead him to the existence of the Golden Fleece.

“It had been worth the trouble,” he sighed.

Sam was torn between fulfilling his promise to Thunder as quickly as possible and keeping his patron happy and generous. Apollo must have sensed this hesitation in him because the god was quick to sweeten the deal, which probably meant he was desperate for Sam’s help.

REWARDS THREE: Succeed in this mission and you will automatically complete the secret mission [THE SECOND LABOR], which means a boost to that power whose name you like shouting at the sky.

“It’s not like I’m shouting it by choice,” Sam complained.

It was Thunder, however, who once again helped push Sam in the right direction. She placed a hand on his shoulder and reminded him of his Argonaut’s oath. “In life, seek adventure. Never tarry on the shore and let it pass you by.”

They spent a brief moment staring into each other’s faces before Sam nodded.

“I’ve got to go,” he said.

“I know, lame-brain,” she replied.

“Wait…what?” Jackboot cut in. “Go where?”

“Sam’s got a solo quest he needs to finish. He’ll catch up with us later,” Thunder explained.

“But”—Jackboot glanced between Sam and Thunder in confusion—“Farsight hasn’t even explained the situation to us…”

“Apollo must have spoken to Sam directly,” Thunder replied.

That was technically true, although it also sounded like Thunder’s lie of omission was an attempt to cover for Triple-A’s existence. Something even Farsight wasn’t supposed to be aware of.

“I’d be happy if he would just talk to Sam directly from now on,” Farsight added as she sank into the stool beside the weapons bench. “Apollo can get whiny in my head, and I’m still not used to these premonitions Maeve left me.”

“Um,” Sam gave her an apologetic look, “I need you to give me a vision…one that tells me how to find this sacred beast.”

“I can’t just give you a premonition, Sam,” Farsight frowned. “They don’t just—”

The irises of Farsight’s eyes turned white and her face scrunched up in sudden concentration.

Jackboot moved to stand next to her so he could wave his hand in front of her face. When she didn’t respond, he glanced over his shoulder and said, “So, all I had to do to shut her up was ask her for a premonition?”

“Jack,” Thunder chided.

“I was joking,” Jackboot replied.

A moment later, Farsight rhymed, “…To chase the sacred beast that’s lost its mind, a trail through rock and sky you have to climb… But to free the hind’s soul from shadowy chains, you must drain the box’s poison from its veins,” in that otherworldly tone she adopted whenever she channeled the Fates.

Sam frowned. “What trail?”

It turned out the Ceryneian Hind wasn’t shy about leaving a trail as its extra-large hoofprints were imprinted on the freeway’s asphalt and veered left into the direction of—

“The Ozarks,” Thunder deduced.

“A trail through rock and sky,” Farsight repeated. “Yep, that would be it.”

“That’s a huge swath of mountain range to cover to hunt one beast though,” Jackboot added.

They had all gone outside to help Sam figure out Farsight’s rhyme and to survey the damage done to the Argo VII which Farsight happily reported was minimal.

“We can get these scrapes fixed in the next city which we can go to as soon as Sam pushes the bus back onto the freeway,” she insisted.

As soon as he was certain that the trail did lead off into the Ozark Mountains—a range large enough to bleed into the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas—Sam obliged Farsight’s request and began pushing the Argo VII back onto the road.

“Hey, master”—Sam’s palms pressed against the rear end of the bus—“does Triple-A have a tracking system?”

You’ve never turned on the map feature without my help, have you, kid? Chiron asked. If you did, then you’d know the system can do that and much, much more...

“I’d know about it…if you ever…bothered to write a tutorial,” Sam huffed.

Hades’ balls...you and your generation needing to be spoon-fed everything, Chiron grumbled.

Sam frowned. “You don’t…spoon-feed me… You keep telling me…mortal danger’s the best way…to learn on the job.”

A long moment of dead air passed before Chiron replied. Ah, yes, that does sound more like my style, doesn’t it?

Sam finally got the Argo VII back onto the road, which was surprisingly easier to do compared to his experience with the runaway bus only the day before.

Are you going? Chiron asked.

“I have to…” Sam’s gaze honed in on the hoof-shaped craters peppering the freeway and the flatlands beyond. “I can’t let a sacred beast that’s lost its mind run wild out here…”

“Apollo chose the strangest time to send you on a mission,” Jackboot said.

“I know,” Sam sighed.

They were fitting some rations into Sam’s backpack just in case he needed to be out there longer than a day.

“Are you sure you don’t want backup?” Thunder asked for the third time.

She had just finished polishing Sam’s hammer over by the weapons bench, because he, as she put it, “Doesn’t know the meaning of proper weapon care.”

“Yeah, you guys go ahead to Kansas and scout out the museum.” Sam accepted Onus from Thunder and returned it to the holster on his belt. “I’ll meet you there in a few hours...I hope.”

“You’ll need these too.” Farsight passed Sam a quiver of arrows whose tips ranged from reinforced hypodermic needles and triangle-shaped canisters to plain, extremely-sharp arrowheads that shone with the soft glow of enchanted bronze. “You’ve got your standard tranquilizers in there, some paralytics and stun options too.”

She also gave him one of the hunting bows that came with the Argo VII’s equipment locker.

ITEM: Armistice Arsenal Recurve Bow I QUALITY: Common TYPE: Mid-Range Hunting Bow DESCRIPTION: Designed by Armistice Arsenal Inc., this recurve bow is the ideal and affordable tool for hunting big game. Its user-friendly design and decent-quality iron alloy frame make it light and easy to carry on long excursions. And, with an adjustable draw weight of 40-55 lbs., it’ll surely penetrate the hides of most low to mid-level horrors one might find in the wilds. BOONS: Critical Chance +2%, Critical Damage + 1, Headshot Damage +5%

“Thanks.” Sam strapped the bow to the clip of the quiver he’d slung over his back, adjusting them slightly so they would fit with his suit. “This will be useful.”

“How are you planning to chase after the Ceryneian Hind?” Jackboot asked.

Almost as if she’d been waiting for someone to ask, Farsight let out a loud chuckle that was followed up by her thumb pointing back to the front of the bus.

“Follow me, boys and girl... I’m going to show you something cool,” she said.

That ‘something cool’ turned out to be the nondescript adjustable seat on the passenger’s side of the front row.

“Um, you sure you didn’t hit your head during the crash?” Sam asked.

“Just sit down already,” Farsight insisted.

He shrugged and then did what she asked, which was when Farsight pulled down the lever that had been hanging above Sam’s seat. Then the clank and clink of machinery started up from underneath him.

“What the—”

“Stay frosty, Sam,” she winked.

Sam didn’t even have time for goodbyes. He was too focused on the transformation happening around him. Two handlebars attached to a speedometer and a motorcycle’s gas tank popped out from the compartment in front of Sam just as his seat began to lower him to the ground.

“Holy—”

With the sound of whirring wheels, the entire bottom side of the bus opened up to set free the motorbike that had been conveniently hidden there this whole time.

“—Zeus!”

Sam barely had enough time to wrap his hands around its handles before the motorbike was tearing through the asphalt and carrying him off into the horizon.