Chapter Eighteen:
Meeting an Actual Goddess.
— It looks ugly, but it's clean. Oh, mama, don't
fuss over me !
Demigods thought humans were ... funny.
It was especially humorous to see the way they could wrap their minds around things and fit them into their version of reality. According to the L.A. news, the explosion at the Santa Monica beach had been caused when a "crazy kidnapper fired a gunshot at a police car." He accidentally hit a gas main that had ruptured during the earthquake. This "crazy kidnapper" was the same man who abducted four adolescents in New York and brought them across the country on a ten-day odyssey of terror. Colette Victoire put on her best performance, fighting back the laugh that wanted to leave her as she listened to the story the news gave out. She wasn't the only one either, Annabeth and Grover were both shaking, pretending it was the relief and exhaustion of being "free from their kidnapper," but it was the laughs that wanted to leave them that left them shuddering to fight it back.
The reporters fed the quartet the entire story, and all they could do was nod along to it, acting tearful and tired (the latter of which wasn't hard because they all were), and playing victimized children from the cameras.
Colette stood beside Percy as he gave a few words for the screens. Annabeth and Grover stood right behind the two. Percy had his arm wrapped around Colette's shoulders as tears falling from her eyes. He played the part in comforting her. (They'd sneakily made the plan to do something dramatic and, given who her father was, she was the best actor out of the group.)
"All I want," Percy began, choking back tears, giving Colette the signal to let out a sob loud enough for the microphones surrounding them to catch. He rubbed her shoulders comfortingly, "is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time I saw him on TV, calling me a delinquent punk—" her shoulders began shaking at that, giving off the impression that she was crying some more, but she knew Percy could hear her quiet and breathless chuckles against the skin of his neck. "—I knew ... somehow ... we would be okay. And I know he'll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city of Los Angeles with a free major appliance from his store. Here's the phone number."
The police and reporters were so moved by their act that they passed around the hat and raised enough money for four tickets on the next plane to New York. Colette still felt uneasy by the idea, she could only hope that her grandfather would cut them some slack given the situation and the baggage they were carrying for him. She and Annabeth had to grab each one of Percy's arms to get him on board, while Grover carried the backpack (despite trembling).
Colette took the window seat and Annabeth took the aisle seat, making sure Percy felt somewhat secured in the middle. Grover sat on the aisle seat next to their row, keeping a lookout and sniffing every few minutes to make sure no monsters had hopped on board with them. Percy kept his hands clenched on the armrests, only slightly relaxing his tense arms when Colette and Annabeth shared a look, putting a hand on each of his arms. He didn't let go of the armrests, but he was less wound up and afraid with their comfort. Every time there was turbulence, he would shudder and clench his eyes shut. Colette had to rub his shoulder and whisper that her grandfather wasn't going to make a move, she knew it. Percy knew of her abilities, how she'd heard the prophecy when he'd gotten it. He trusted her.
Percy let go of the armrests when they finally landed in La Guardia, but didn't tell the girls to move their hands from his. Colette almost smirked, he was going to be the second to accept their bond (given that she was the first), she knew it. The local press was waiting for the quartet at security once they'd disembarked, but they managed to evade the questions thanks to Annabeth. Colette's smart girl lured the press away in her invisible cap, shouting that the group was lingering by the frozen yogurt stand. She regrouped with them at baggage claim.
