Snow White- Percy Jackson¹

Chapter Eighteen

To ease his mind, even just slightly, she laid her hand on top of his. Percy’s eyes opened and he turned to Snow with barely masked fear. She smiled and squeezed his hand gently. 

“Do you want to hear a story? You probably already know which I’m talking about,” laughed Snow. At first, Percy didn’t say anything and Snow wondered if he was too scared to say or didn’t want to hear. But when he nodded slightly, she beamed and started talking. 

Snow had read the Snow White story a lot of time, and while she didn’t have her book with her, she still recited the words from memory. She narrated the story throughout the whole flight. Whenever there was a slight bump, Snow would rub Percy’s knuckles and talk a little louder. 

Thankfully the flight wasn’t that long, and they rushed out of the plane as soon as possible. But then they hit a roadblock when they saw the press with their cameras ready to start clicking as soon as they saw them. They only managed to escape thanks to Annabeth and her cap when she put it on and diverted their attention somewhere else before quickly joining them at a baggage claim. 

They split up at the taxi stand. Percy told Snow, Annabeth and Grover to make it back to Half-Blood Hill and let Chiron know what was happening. None of them agreed to the plan, and all three protested stubbornly. No way were they going to leave Percy alone to face the gods without any support or backup. 

But while they were stubborn, Percy was ten times worse. Snow didn’t know how, but he managed to convince them. She felt horrible as she entered the taxi with her friends, her eyes never left Percy who ran away from them. She wanted to run after him, stick by his side no matter how much he protested. But she couldn’t. There was no time for arguing, and they needed to act fast. 

As the taxi started driving, Snow prayed that Percy would make it on time. 

The ride to Half-Blood Hill felt slow. Everytime the car stopped at a red light, or there was slight traffic, it made all three of them anxious and impatient. Snow could tell that Annabeth was tempted to step out of the car and run to camp herself, with the way she was staring intensely at the door. Grover was gripping his pants tightly, and he wanted to chew on a tin can to ease his nerves. Snow, well, Snow was just as impatient as the rest of them, but she was forcing herself to stay calm. On top of that, she’s been pressuring the taxi driver to move faster so much, she was slightly worried he was going to kick them out. 

As soon as the taxi stopped at their destination, Annabeth practically threw the money at the driver and they all jumped out of the car. Snow huffed as she ran up the steep hill, her skin and clothes sticky from sweat. They passed by Thalia’s tree and entered the camp. Upon seeing them, everyone paused what they were doing to surround them and cheer on their success. It was clear that a lot of them didn’t think they would make it out alive. 

Annabeth had to bulldoze her way through the crowd in order to get to Chiron and explain to him everything they had learned. During that time, Percy joined them, and Snow brought him into a tight hug after Grover. 

“How’d it go?” Snow asked.

“Well,” was all he said. Both Grover and Snow knew there was more to it, but they didn’t press. “What about Chiron?”

“Annabeth’s talking to him right now,” said Grover. 

It took a while for the blonde to come out, but when she did, she greeted Percy. “Nice to know you’re not dead, Seaweed Brain.”

From that day, the three were treated as celebrities. Camp tradition dictates that the victors are to be wearing laurel wreaths to a big feast in their honor, then lead to a bonfire, where they get to burn the shrouds made for them in their absence.