¹𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒 ! - percy jackson

-001

"Hey, miss, you okay?" The taxi driver asked, pulling her out of her daze.

Stella startled, jolting upright. "Yeah, I-I'm fine."

"I was just saying we're here," He said, pointing to the large brownstone building overlooking the East River.

"Oh, right," Stella responded, still somewhat disoriented, her mind lingering on the vivid images. Retrieving cash from her pocket, she handed it to the driver. "Keep the change."

As she stepped onto the sidewalk, she was surrounded by the embrace of the summer breeze. The warmth and tangibility of the air grounded her, snapping her back to reality.

Percy. She had to find Percy.

Running up the steps of the school, she pushed the doors open and entered the hallway. Her eyes darted around, scouring for any signs of a band room.

Group tours had started, teenagers crawling everywhere. Stella figured she'd blend right in, but as the tours dispersed into different classrooms, uncertainty clouded her next move.

Fueled by a spontaneous decision, she sprinted to the far end of the hallway opposite the gym, where two imposing double doors awaited. Twisting at her sun-shaped ring, Iliaktída joined her. She slung her bow over her shoulder, the weapon finding a careful rest at her side, before slowly creaking open one of the doors.

Stella was not sure she expected to see what lay behind them, despite her vision.

A girl with frizzy red hair threw a snare drum at one of the cheerleaders Stella had seen in her vision, who turned out to not be a cheerleader.

Her skin had turned as white as chalk, her eyes completely red as she bore her fangs. Below the cheerleader skirt, her left leg was brown and shaggy with a donkey's hoof. Her right leg was shaped like a human leg, but it was made of bronze.

As the door creaked wider, another cheerleader who had seemed to be guarding the exit turned sharply on her.

Stella wasted no time debating whether or not she was an empousa and shoved her to the ground, noticing the name Kelli stitched onto her uniform.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a xylophone flying toward the empousa before the monster swatted it away.

"I don't usually kill girls." She growled. "But for you, mortal, I'll make an exception. Your eyesight is a little too good!"

Without hesitation, Stella notched an arrow and released it in one fluid motion just as the empousa lunged at the red-headed girl.

The celestial bronze arrow pierced through the cheerleader uniform, and with a horrible wail, she exploded into dust all over the mystery mortal.

The redhead coughed, looking like she had just had a sack of flour dumped on her head. "Gross!"

A thank you would be nice, Stella thought.

Percy stood close to the girl, Riptide in hand. He looked completely bewildered that the daughter of Apollo was even in the room, mouth agape.

"You killed my trainee!" The other cheerleader, Kelli, yelled, pulling herself up from the ground as Stella backed into the band room, away from her and closer to Percy. "You need a lesson in school spirit, half-blood!"

Then, her wiry hair turned to flickering flames. Her eyes turned red as she grew fangs. She loped toward them, her brass foot and hoof clopping unevenly on the band room floor.

"I am senior empousa," Kelli growled menacingly. "No hero has bested me in a thousand years."

"Yeah?" Percy said. "Then you're overdue!"