Amaurosis

XII: Little Pink Hearts

"North Africa?" I blurted out, throwing my hands in the air. "Gods, after this quest is over, we'll have been everywhere!"

We started in the Americas. Then, we sailed to Europe and detoured near Asia. Next, Annabeth tells me we're going to Africa. Maybe next time, they'll send us to Antarctica.

Speak of the devil, I thought, rolling my eyes.

She brought her finger to her lips, shushing me. "I told you, that's where we need to go!" she whisper-shouted as she sat across from me. I plopped back on the bed, letting the silken sheets catch my fall as I slightly bounced back up.

Movie posters covered all four walls from ceiling to base along with dozens of newspaper articles about mysterious occurrences in New York and San Francisco, most likely traceable back to Percy and herself from a couple years ago during the Second Titan War. Red paint messily hugged the walls and the carpet screamed, "I need a vacuum!"

"Stop shushing me," I snapped playfully, making sure I was smiling so she wouldn't take it the wrong way. "You just surprised me, that's all. Why on Olympus would we have to go to North Africa? Don't they have more mortal diseases than, like, anywhere else on Earth?"

"Does it really matter?" she asked, her face devoid of emotion. When her mind was set, there was no changing it. "I told you that this is where we need to go. Tiresias' prophecy stated 'The golden fruit grants three immortality.' What fruits do you know that allow the person who eats it to become immortal?"

I racked my brain, trying to come up with some plausible answer, but I was no good in this category. I'd be terrible at Jeopardy...

I may have lived through it, but Annabeth knows all the history behind the gods and titans. I was only a newborn when I was sent to live with my brother. I don't remember anything except for the perennial darkness and all-too-familiar stench of death.

She bobbed her head. "Yes, that is correct. Thank you, Alex. It is the Hesperides. Good job. I'm so proud of you." She applauded my nonexistent answer, sarcasm dripping from her tongue. "You see, the Golden Apples of the Hesperides were presented by Gaia to Zeus after his marriage with Hera. They have the ability to give immortality to whomever eats it. Supposedly, the tree that grows them lies in the Garden of the Hesperides. And supposedly, the Hesperides guard that garden."

"Then why North Africa?" I thought aloud, sitting up once more to face her. "Aren't the Hesperides the daughters of Atlas? So why don't we just ask him where they are? Didn't you meet him a few years ago?"

"The Hesperides are nymphs, and, yes, they are the daughters of Atlas," she told me, flopping back on the bed and grabbing a fluffed pillow to hug. Anyone who didn't know we were on a quest and walked in would have thought we were having a 'girl talk.' "They are notably called 'Daughters of the Evening' or 'Nymphs of the West.'" She threw the pillow at the board of her bed and began to waltz around the room. "Boom! North Africa."

I still didn't get it, but she was the genius here. I didn't have any better ideas, so what was the point of fighting her intelligence? I was sure that behind all those nonsensical conclusions, there was some completely reasonable explanation. I hoped, at least.

A soft knock rapped at the door, and that stench of death wafted in.

Nico, I thought. Great.

Annabeth called for him to come in and froze as she stared at the two of us having a war with our eyes. Silence filled the awkward atmosphere until I finally spit out, "What are you doing here, di Angelo? Don't you have better things to do than sneak around near girls' rooms?"