❝𝘴-𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯❞
❝𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪.❞
𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗖𝗬 𝗝𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗦𝗢𝗡 had met a lot of people and he had seen a lot of things that had caught his eyes. But she was a different story. The girl with the long hair was just someone he coul...
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XII. THE DAY EXILE SEEMS BETTER THAN DYING
━━━━━━
"Now I'm in exile, seein' you out
I think I've seen this film before"
DODIE WISHED SHE COULD SAY that whatever happened back at the museum was merely a part of her demigod dreams, but then that would make her out to be some dumb girl who always wants to be in denial. Even so, even though she was not trying to be in denial, she was still finding it incredibly hard to comprehend what had just occurred; that was no ordinary museum field trip.
And honestly, Dodie didn't think she could even see museum field trips the same again. Ever. She was sure that when she got back to school, she would do her best to try and avoid any kind of field trips involving museums. Museums, right now, seem more of a big no-no than the yes she once held for it. But really, could you blame her after that tour with that bloody cat? Either way, they had other problems now. And Dodie hated to say it, but she rather the cat than whatever this was:
"Is it just me or is that thing kind of getting closer?" Dodie asked no one in particular.
"Um, pretty sure they are getting closer," gulped Grover.
"Well, that's good to know." She nodded slowly before she exclaimed in realisation, "They're gaining on us!"
Sure, Dodie never expected to be able to breeze through a quest, but she also did not expect a wild chase on the highway; they were crossing the Potomac when Dodie spotted a helicopter; it was a sleek, blank military model just like the one from Westover Hall. And it was coming straight at them.
"They know the van," said Percy, looking over his shoulder every once in a while before turning to the rest of them, "We have to ditch it."
Zoe swerved into the fast lane, but the helicopter was still on their tail.
"And how exactly do we do that, you reckon?" Dodie looked at him incredulously. "We can't just drop out randomly —"
"Of course we're not going to do that!" said Percy.
"Don't raise your voice at me, I'm trying my best too!"
"Maybe the military will shoot it down," Grover said hopefully; he was both hoping to mediate any argument that could ensue from the stress that was clearly catching up to the son of Poseidon and daughter of Apollo, as well as hoping that they had another possible solution that did not involve them having to abandon their only method of crossing the country.
Percy shook his head, "The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," he said. "How can the General use mortals, anyway?"
"Mercenaries," Zoe said bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid."
