Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Thirty-Five

Percy Jackson POV:

"You told her that we're scared of flying?" I laughed, throwing my bag over my shoulder.

"What else was I supposed to say, 'the Greek god of the sky would shoot down the entire plane if we rode on it'?" Annabeth laughed, closing the front door behind her and walking over to the driveway. Mrs. O'Leary excitedly bucked her head when Annabeth walked up, scratching her behind the ear.

"Fair enough. We already have Caleb on our trail, we really don't need anything else." I said, jumping up onto Mrs. O'Leary's back and reaching a hand down towards Annabeth. She gripped my hand and followed me up.

"Gods, don't even remind me. What are we going to tell Chiron?"

"I have no idea... I imagine he'll already be pretty upset that that many demigods were in one place together, who knows how he'll react when we tell him a mortal found us out."

"I hope he's not too disappointed..." Annabeth muttered, digging through her bag. Luckily we were able to pack pretty lightly since my mom's house is in New York. Clothes or any other necessities we might need are already waiting for us over there.

"You can be worried for Chiron, but I'm more scared of Mr. D. He already hates being at camp, but now we're actually going to make him work? He might just smite us on the spot."

"Not if my mom gets to you first," Annabeth joked. "Look at you, getting me into trouble again."

"This is not at all calming my nerves, Wise Girl."

I patted Mrs. O'Leary's side and she began bolting down the street. Because of her truck-like size, she'd have no trouble getting to New York if we took long-enough breaks.

Maybe we should've just taken the plane, though. Getting blasted to pieces by Zeus doesn't sound so bad compared to the entire camp finding out that a mortal has discovered us.

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Mrs. O'Leary slowed down for a break, letting Annabeth and I slide off of her back. We took a moment to enjoy the surroundings. I wasn't quite sure where we'd stopped, but the sun was beginning to set so we couldn't be too far from camp now.

I took a look around, noticing the tall trees blocking the sky from view. There was a small log cabin near the edge of the clearing, although it didn't look like there was anyone inside.

I grabbed Annabeth's hand, gesturing towards the cabin. "Want to go check it out?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, looking past me and studying the cabin.  "Looks safe enough. I don't think monsters tend to hang out someplace like that."

I nodded in agreement, starting off toward the building, leaving Mrs. O'Leary to chase the butterfly that flew by. Her excited barks rustled the leaves on the trees around us and sent the butterfly flapping vigorously upward.

Annabeth whistled, waving me over to the side of the cabin. "You have any drachmas?" She held a hose up, messing with the nozzle. I fished around in my pockets, pulling out the large golden coin and tossing it in her direction. She caught it, reaching for the nozzle against the wall. It made a thick gurgling sound as the water began to flow through the hose.

A heavy stream of water smacked into my chest, sending me down onto the ground. As quickly as I'd felt the pressure, it vanished and was replaced with a gentle mist. I lifted my eyes to look at Annabeth, who was covering her mouth to keep from laughing.

"You absolutely did that on purpose," I joked, standing up and dusting the dirt off of my pants.

"I didn't, I swear!" The guilty look on her face was meant to reassure me, but she was still close to laughter. I pursed my lips, feeling my fingertips tingle as the water rose out of the soil beneath me, crashing over Annabeth's head. She dropped the hose, her mouth open in shock and her wet shirt clinging to her arms and stomach.