Percy Jackson Back in Time

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It's funny how humans can wrap their minds around things and fit them into their version of reality. Chiron had told me that a long time ago. And as usual, I didn't appreciate his elderly wisdom until much later.

According to the L.A. news, the explosion at the Santa Monica beach had been caused when a crazy kidnapper fired a shotgun at a police car. He accidentally hit a gas main that had ruined a small portion of L.A.

This crazy kidnapper (a.k.a. Ares) was the same man who had abducted me and two other adolescents in New York and brought us across the country on a ten-day odyssey of terror.

Poor little Percy Jackson wasn't an international criminal after all. He'd caused a commotion on that Greyhound bus in New Jersey trying to get away from his captor (and afterward, witnesses would even swear they had seen the leather-clad man on the bus—"Why didn't I remember him before?"). The crazy man had caused the explosion on the St. Louis Arch. After all, no kid could've done that. A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the man threatening his abductees outside her diner, gotten a friend to take a photo, and notified the police. Finally, brave Percy Jackson (I was beginning to like this kid) had stolen a gun from his captor in Los Angeles and battled him on the beach. Police had arrived just in time. But in the spectacular explosion, five police cars had been destroyed and the crazy kidnapper had already fled the scene.

No fatalities occurred. Percy Jackson and his two friends were safe in police custody.

The reporters fed us this whole story. We just nodded and acted tearful and exhausted, which wasn't hard, and played victimized kids for the cameras.

"All I want," I said, choking back my tears, "is to see my mom again,” I said crying. “I WANT TO GO HOME!” I shouted, breaking down in front of everyone making Grover and Annabeth look at me with wide eyes. They looked at me with concern once they realized I wasn't faking. “I-I just want to see my mom again. A-and that’s not gonna happen because… because s-she’s dead,” I cried.

Annabeth and Grover pulled me into a hug. Letting me release all of my pent-up emotions. This caused me to cry in front of everyone live on TV much to my embarrassment, but my emotional breakdown moved the police and reporters so much that they passed around a hat and raised enough money for multiple plane tickets to New York.

I knew there was no choice but to fly. I hoped Zeus would cut me some slack, considering the circumstances. But it was still hard to force myself on board the flight.

Takeoff was a nightmare. Every spot of turbulence was scarier than a Greek monster. I didn't unclench my hands from the armrests until we touched down safely at La Guardia. The local press was waiting for us outside security, but we managed to evade them thanks to Annabeth, who lured them away in her invisible Yankees cap, shouting, "They're over by the frozen yogurt! Come on!" then rejoined us at baggage claim.

We split up at the taxi stand. I told Annabeth and Grover to get back to Half-Blood Hill and let Chiron know what had happened.

They protested, and it was hard to let them go after all we'd been through, but I knew I had to do this last part of the quest by myself.

I hopped in a taxi and headed into Manhattan.

Thirty minutes later, I walked into the lobby of the Empire State Building. I must have looked like a homeless kid, with my tattered clothes and my scraped-up face. If you add in the fact that I hadn't slept in at least twenty-four hours it made me look even worse.

I went up to the guard at the front desk and said, "Six hundredth floor." He was reading a huge book with a picture of a wizard on the front, which made me realize he was reading Harry Potter. He ignored me and continued to read his book "No such floor, kiddo."