little bird - Percy Jackson

chapter eight

"Thar she blows! Kansas, ahoy!"

Wren had only just fallen back asleep when Coach Hedge bellowed from the top of the Argo II, the low ship horn ringing through the cabin walls. When she finally managed to push herself out of bed, Wren pulled on a large orange camp shirt that almost fully covered the jean shorts she'd slipped on.

The girl made her way up to the deck as the ship placed down in the midst of a sunflower field, but even that didn't seem to lift her spirits.

Dreams about Luke really threw Wren off her game.

Annabeth couldn't help but frown at the sight of her friend. Each day Wren managed to look even more tired than the last, but the especially tired look of sadness in her eyes couldn't help but send a tingle of worry up the Chase girl's spine.

"Gods, Wren looks exhausted." Annabeth had said it to Piper, who was munching on the bagel she'd just plucked from the Chase girl's hands, but Percy had quickly turned from the railing to face her, "I heard her up all last night."

"You did?"

"Yeah, she had the shower on for a while and everything." Percy shrugged.

"What's weird about that?" Piper quirked an eyebrow.

"Wren thinks showering at night is bad luck."

Both girls sent the boy a look of confusion - Piper, because 'what?', and Annabeth because 'why do you know that?'.

"What? She talks so much, I'm bound to remember something."

Still, Percy's words only seem to unnerve Annabeth even further, "I'm worried about her. She's been really bad lately-"

"Morning, nerds." Wren greeted as she appeared beside the McLean girl, "What's going on?"

"Trying to figure out our plan now that we landed." Annabeth covered before Frank, Jason, and Leo joined the group at the rails. Wren grinned at the sight of the Grace boy, poking him in the side, "I thought they were lying when they told me you were actually conscious again."

"Shut up, Wren." Jason rolled his eyes, but there was a glimmer of amusement on his face.

Annabeth chuckled at the interaction before turning to the girl next to her, "What were you saying before, Piper?"

"I want to check out the highway." Piper, who had been saying nothing, was quick to shoot out her idea, "Find the sign that says Topeka 32."

"We shouldn't be far. Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could." Leo said, spinning his Wii controller in a circle to lower the sails of the ship, "What do you expect to find at the mile marker?"

Piper explained most of what she'd seen in Katropis - the Topeka 32 mile marker, and the man in purple with the goblet. She refrained, however, from mentioning the images of Wren, Percy, Jason, and herself drowning as she had yet to make any sense of that.

"Purple shirt, vines on his hat?" Jason asked, "Sounds like Bacchus."

"Dionysus." Percy muttered, "If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr. D-"

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with that one. If we came to Kansas just to see Mr. D, I'm gonna be pissed." Wren dropped the hand she had raised to interrupt, "I'm pretty sure he's still mad at me because I covered his little camp house in strawberry vines that one time."

"That was you?!"

"... no?"

"Well Bacchus isn't so bad." Jason shrugged, "I don't like his followers much... but the god himself is okay. I did him a favor once up in the wine country."