"Why are we running again?" Annabeth asked after hearing Harry's completely panicked voice telling her to get as far away as possible from the man she had just run into.
"Because you didn't fool him at all. Our mom says Dorien is a monster who can read you like a book," Harry said, still under the invisibility cloak together with Percy and Grover, who were trying not to trip over each other as they ran shoulder to shoulder into an alley.
"Not to mention Mark says you're a villain with a friendly face… and the fakest guy on the planet," Percy added. "He also says it's always better to be on his side than against him," he continued. "Besides, that dyed hair doesn't fool anyone," he added for some reason.
"That's because if it were the same color as Adrien's, people would confuse us all the time. And that wouldn't be fun. I have a lot more enemies than he does."
The voice appeared suddenly in front of them in the alley they had just entered.
All four of them let out small cries of surprise when they saw it was the same man Annabeth had crossed paths with earlier. Dorien was standing there in the middle of the alley, as if he had been waiting for them the whole time. The faint smile on his face was enough to send a chill down everyone's spine.
"So that's the invisibility cloak. I had heard about it, but I hadn't seen it before. It's quite interesting how it hides everything completely… except the sound," Dorien said while looking directly at the spot where the three of them should be standing beneath the cloak, as if he could sense them just from the sound of their hurried breathing. "It's different from the cloaks we've encountered before. Those can't hide someone's presence completely," he added with curiosity.
Harry and Percy knew there was no point staying hidden now that Dorien had already discovered them. The two of them removed the invisibility cloak at the same time, revealing themselves in front of him… along with Grover, who looked nervous, like a goat that had just realized the cougar had already spotted it.
"Mr. Dorien, we have something important we need to do. If you stop us—"
Before Harry could continue, Dorien interrupted him.
"You lied to your mother. She is very worried about you right now. If it weren't for Lady Mor, I'm sure she would already be on a plane heading here… even if that put her in danger, as she herself said," Dorien replied in a slightly more serious tone while looking directly at them.
The words landed like a blow on Harry and Percy's faces.
"Do you know that we left an important rescue mission just to come look for you?" he added.
That left the two of them completely speechless.
"I don't know how you managed to escape from Gema, but it would be best if you gather your things and come with me. Luther will take care of you while we finish our mission, and then we'll all return to England," Dorien said calmly.
"Excuse me, sir, but they can't abandon our mission," Annabeth said suddenly.
Dorien's gaze shifted toward her.
Immediately Annabeth felt a heavy pressure fall over her body. It was exactly the same sensation she had felt when she locked eyes with Gema.
"It's true. If Percy and Harry don't complete this mission, the world will be in danger. And—"
"Sending children on a dangerous mission to save the world…" Dorien's voice fell over the alley with a heavy calm that made both Annabeth and Grover fall completely silent. "If the world requires the sacrifice of four children, then I think it doesn't deserve to keep existing."
His words hung in the air.
"Protecting the world for children is the job of adults. You should understand that by now," Dorien added while looking directly at Harry and Percy.
"We're not interested in the world," Percy muttered before lifting his gaze to him.
"Mm?" Dorien raised an eyebrow slightly.
"We want to save our cousin Dred. And if we happen to save the world along the way, great. But if we don't, we're not going to waste time worrying about it. We don't care whether two gods who act like noisy brats end up fighting or not," Percy said in a serious tone while looking directly into Dorien's eyes.
When Percy said that, both Grover and Annabeth widened their eyes in surprise and stared at him. Harry, on the other hand, glanced at his brother for a moment… before turning his gaze back to Dorien, making it clear he felt exactly the same way.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Dorien, but we have to continue on our path," Harry said with a serious expression while pulling out his wand.
"And if we have to fight you to keep moving forward… then that's exactly what we'll do," Percy added with the same serious tone as he pulled a training sword from the necklace around his neck.
Grover and Annabeth were about to prepare themselves as well, but Harry and Percy looked at them slightly and said at the same time:
"You two stay out of it."
There was a firmness in both of their voices that made the daughter of Athena and the satyr stop.
Dorien looked at the two children he had watched grow up, now standing in front of him without fear, ready to fight him.
He could not help letting out a faint smile.
"Do you really want to do this, children? Unlike Luther, I'm not very good at holding back when I play with you," Dorien said while observing them carefully.
"We're not playing," the two of them replied at the same time.
Percy stepped in front of Harry and took a guard stance, holding his sword with both hands.
Meanwhile, Harry raised his wand… and with his other hand pulled his magical tome from his bag.
The tension in the alley grew heavy.
As if the air itself were waiting to see who would attack first.
Dorien simply shrugged slightly before slipping one of his hands inside his coat. Then he slowly drew a sword from its sheath, the metallic scrape producing a crisp sound that made Percy and Harry swallow.
"You never had a class with me, right? The others made sure of that," Dorien said calmly, while the aura around his body seemed to grow heavier and heavier, making the children break out in a cold sweat. "You learned etiquette… strange etiquette from Luther and Arthur, history with Gema, strategies with Adrien, strange potions with Mark. So I suppose I'll take this opportunity to give you a lesson," he added, his tone becoming increasingly serious, breaking the false smile that usually made him seem friendly.
"Professor Gema said that if we learned from you we'd turn into villains," Percy said while swallowing nervously.
Harry glanced at his brother, feeling that this was not the best moment to say something like that. But with his wand held tightly in his hand, he turned his gaze back toward Dorien.
"Oh, but if you think about it… whenever you defeat your enemy, to him you will always be the villain," Dorien replied calmly.
Harry froze for a moment and tilted his head slightly, as if what Dorien said actually made sense.
Percy easily ignored his foolish, easily influenced brother and asked,
"So what are you going to teach us?"
"To fight someone who has an overwhelming difference in strength," Dorien replied before raising his free hand and gesturing for them to attack.
Percy, seeing that arrogant gesture, felt a small spark of irritation burn in his chest. He quickly took his stance and ran toward Dorien.
Harry wanted to stop him, since they had not made any plan yet. But seeing Percy charge straight at Dorien like that, he simply raised his wand above his head.
Several fireballs shot toward Dorien at once, passing along Percy's sides as if they had appeared right behind him.
Dorien simply moved his black sword and struck the fireballs. Flames wrapped around the blade for a moment, but that did not seem to bother him in the slightest. He flicked the sword downward and the fire went out easily… just as Percy arrived in front of him with a downward slash.
Dorien stepped aside with almost insulting ease.
His sword moved slightly forward, colliding with Percy's. At the moment of impact, Dorien barely shifted the hilt and Percy's sword slid toward the ground.
A second later, his foot stepped on the tip of the blade.
Percy was surprised for a moment and pulled at it, but it barely moved.
"Percy!" Harry shouted.
Percy lifted his head and saw Dorien's fist right in front of his face. He closed his eyes slightly, waiting for the punch.
But instead of a fist, he felt a repeated tap against his forehead. It hurt, but it did not cause much damage.
He opened his eyes while bringing a hand to his forehead, wincing.
Dorien had flicked him on the forehead with his finger, looking at him with a small mocking smile.
"It seems no one taught you that the strongest strike doesn't always win… but the one who observes his enemy and waits for the right moment to attack," Dorien said calmly.
Then he lifted his foot.
Percy, who had been pulling at the sword with one hand, nearly fell backward when it suddenly came free.
At that moment Dorien tilted his head slightly to the side, as another fireball whistled past near his face.
"Alright… I'll give you another chance," Dorien said calmly.
The sword in his hand spun lightly between his fingers.
As if all of this were nothing more than a simple game to him.
The tension in the alley rose once again.