Penny Ranger and the Lightning Thief

Chapter XXII: We Call Home

We arrived at Denver on the afternoon of the day after the St Louis incident. We hadn't eaten anything since the previous evening and we also hadn't showered since we left Camp Half-Blood. Our clothes were dirty and smudged and I'm pretty sure we also didn't smell that well. I had been sharing the clothes I had in my backpack with Annabeth, but the encounter with Medusa and the battle with the Chimera and pretty much drained my supply of clean clothes.

"Let's try to contact Chiron. I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit." Annabeth said as we began wandering around Denver.

"We can't use phones, right?" Percy asked.

"I'm not talking about phones." Annabeth answered.

Percy stared at her in confusion. I could understand it. After all, no one had really told him about all the different forms of communication half-bloods had access to. But it was easier to just show him.

We roamed around until we found an empty self-service car wash. We tried to seem as inconspicuous as group of four children dressed in dirty clothes that hadn't showered in days possibly could. We took the stall furthest from the street. It wouldn't exactly help us if our friend, now a wanted fugitive, was spotted by the police.

"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked while Grover grabbed the spray gun.

"It's seventy five cents." Grover noticed.
"I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me. The dining car wiped me out." she said.

Grover turned his gaze towards me.

"What're you looking at me for? I bought you that extra sandwich, remember?" I pointed out.

Grover scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he realized I was right.

Fortunately, Percy still had some change left. Praise be to his ability not to spend it all on food. Of course, we were now completely out of money. But that was a problem for later.

"Excellent. We could do it with a spray, of course, but the connection isn't as good and my arms get tired of pumping." Grover said.

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked again.

"I-M'ing." I answered as I put in the coins and set the knob to 'fine mist'.

"Instant messaging?" he guessed.

"Iris-messaging." Annabeth corrected.
"The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for demigods."

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?" Percy asked skeptically.

"Unless you know a better way to make a rainbow." I replied.

The water from the spray gun turned into a thin mist. As the light shined through, a small rainbow appeared.

"Drachma please." Annabeth said, holding her hand out to Percy.

Confused, he reached into his pocket and handed her the golden coin.

Annabeth took it and walked up to the rainbow, holding the coin above her head.

"Oh goddess, accept our offering." she recited, throwing the coin into the mist.
"Half-Blood Hill." she requested.

For a few moments nothing happened. Then, a view of Camp Half-Blood appeared. I felt slightly homesick upon seeing it. I missed seeing it.

The image didn't show Chiron, who we were planning on talking to. Instead, it showed Luke standing near Thalia's tree.

"Luke!" Percy called out.