𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔: 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐬𝐬
December 18, 2019
THE NEXT MORNING, PERCY AWOKE TO LEARN THEY'D ARRIVED ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF A SKI TOWN SOMEWHERE IN THE MOUNTAINS.
There was a sign that said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees (or as Alice called them, Thalia trees) loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, despite the sunny morning.
Despite his coat, Percy was freezing by the time they made it to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As they walked, Percy relayed the conversation they'd had with Apollo to Grover, and how the sun god told them to seek out Nereus in San Francisco.
Grover looked uneasy. "That's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first."
Percy didn't like their chances. Not only did they have to save Artemis in time for the council meeting, but General had said Olivia would only be kept alive until after the winter solstice. That was Saturday, only four days away. And he'd said something about a sacrifice. Percy couldn't help but feel sick.
Since Artemis had taken the sky, Percy wondered where Olivia was now, what with her being taken away by Luke after the moon goddess took her place.
They stopped in the middle of town, where Percy could pretty much see everything from: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.
"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."
"There's a coffee shop!" Grover said cheerfully.
"Yes," Zoë said. "Coffee is good."
"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."
Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you two go get us some food. Percy, Bianca, Alice, and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."
"Why not three and three?" Percy asked.
"Because neither you, me, or Pinecone are going with Zoë and to be honest, I don't trust Grover not to scare the hell out of Bianca," Alice mumbled to him.
"Oh," he said.
They agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with them, but she looked at Alice and apparently decided it was worth it.
Inside the store, they managed to find out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car.
"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."
Percy kind of wished they had Olivia's infinite credit card now. The clerk looked so lonely, he bought a rubber rat. Then they headed back outside and stood on the porch.
"That's an ugly fucking rat," Alice commented dryly. "It's almost as disgusting as you."
Percy sent her an unimpressed glare. "Thanks,"he said sarcastically.
She smirked. "You're welcome."
"Wonderful," Thalia grumped, slamming the door behind her. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."
"But the clerk said-" Percy began.
"I know," she sighed. "I'm checking anyway."
Percy let her go. He got the feeling that she was still mad at him after their talk about Luke.
Percy awkwardly stood with the girls. He was never very comfortable talking one-on-one with girls anyway, Alice seeming to be a sudden exception, and he'd never been alone with Bianca before. He didn't know what he could say to her, especially now that she was a Hunter and everything.
"You don't like me," she said at last. "I can tell."
Percy set his rat on the porch railing and turned to her, confused, but then he realized she was talking to Alice.
"It's not that I don't like you," Alice disputed. "I just don't know how I feel about you. I heard from Connor and Travis that you've got a little brother unclaimed in the Hermes cabin. When summer comes and all the year-rounders get to camp, it's gonna be cramped beyond belief. Sucks to think he'll be stuck there, but c'est la vie or whatever."
Bianca looked down guiltily. She pursed her lips. "You're not still mad at me for joining, are you?" she asked, turning to Percy."
"Nah," he said with a shrug. "Long as, you know... you're happy."
"I'm not sure 'happy' is the right word, with Lady Artemis gone," Bianca said. Alice let out a tired sigh. "But being a Hunter is definitely cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality."
Percy looked at her , noting that she seemed more confident than before, more at peace. Her face wasn't hidden and he kept her hair tied back, looking Percy right in the eyes when she spoke.
With a shiver, it suddenly occurred to him that five hundred or a thousand years from now, Bianca di Angelo would look exactly the same as she did today. She might be having a conversation like this with some other half-blood long after Percy was dead, but Bianca would still look twelve years old.
"I never understood immortality," Alice commented, staring at Bianca. "Or why anyone would want it. It's painful, thinking about being able to live forever while knowing that those you love are going to die. And then one day, you'll lose them forever."
"Nico didn't understand my decision, either," Bianca murmured. She looked at me like she wanted assurance it was okay. "He was really mad at me for joining."
"He'll be all right," Percy said. "Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids. They did that for Olivia and Annabeth."
Bianca nodded. "I hope we find her. Olivia, I mean. She's lucky to have a friend like you."
Percy felt his face warm as he looked away. "Lot of good it did her."
"Don't blame yourself, Percy," Bianca said. "You risked your life to save my brother and me. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like you there, Nico would be fine. You're a good guy."
The compliment took Percy by surprise. "Even though I knocked you down in capture the flag?"
She laughed slightly. "Okay," she admitted. "Except for that, you're a good guy."
A couple hundred yards away, Grover and Zoë came out of the coffee shop loaded down with pastry bags and drinks. Percy realized he didn't want them to come back yet. Being with Alice and Bianca was great. They were easier to talk to than Thalia and Zoë, at least.
"So what's the story with you and Nico?" he asked Bianca as Alice slipped away. "Where did you go to school before Westover?"
She frowned. "I think it was a boarding school in D.C. It seems like so long ago."
"You never lived with your parents? I mean, your mortal parent?"
"We were told our parents were dead," she explained. "There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school."
"Okay, Baudelaire orphans," Alice muttered to herself, still listening in as she walked forward slightly. She squinted her eyes as if she saw something, confusion on her face.
"Why'd you leave?" Percy asked Bianca.
She knit her eyebrows. "We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We traveled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks. And then... I don't know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up into Maine. And we started going to Westover."
It was a strange story. Then again, Bianca and Nico were half-bloods. Nothing would be normal for them.
"So you've been raising Nico pretty much all your life?" Percy asked. "Just the two of you?"
She nodded. "That's why I wanted to join the Hunters so bad," she confessed. "I mean, I know it's selfish, but I wanted my own life and friends. I love Nico-don't get me wrong-I just needed to find out what it would be like not to be a big sister twenty-four hours a day."
Alice turned to them with a questioning look. "I hate how complex you are," she said. "It's making my head hurt."
Percy could kind of relate to what Bianca was saying. He recalled meeting Tyson last summer.
"Zoë seems to trust you," he said."What were you guys talking about, anyway-something dangerous about the quest?"
"When?" she asked.
Yesterday morning on the pavilion," Percy said, not thinking it through. "Something about the General."
Her face darkened. "How did you... The invisibility hat. Were you eavesdropping?"
"No!" he argued. "I mean-"
"Oh, yeah," Alice said. "Didn't you find Nico listening in on their conversation and then he started talking about what he heard? I forgot you mentioned that last night."
Bianca turned to Alice, then back to Percy. "Nico," she said slowly. "Of course he would listen in on the conversation. I'm not surprised."
He didn't tell Alice anything about that. How'd she even know Nico was there? The son of Poseidon shot Alice a confused glance, and she winked at him. He gave her a grateful nod just as Zoë and Grover arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for Bianca and him. Coffee for them and Alice. Percy also got a blueberry muffin.
"We should do the tracking spell," Zoë said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"
"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to-"
He froze. Just when Percy was about to ask what was wrong, a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else-almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.
Zoë gasped. "Grover, thy cup."
Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away-a flock of tiny doves. Percy heard his rubber rat squeak. It scampered off the railing and into the trees-real fur, real whiskers.
Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. They gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.
"Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just... What's wrong with Grover?"
"I don't know," Percy said. "He collapsed."
"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.
"Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here."
They raced off, but they only made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of gray camouflage, they were now wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had the same transparent gray skin and yellow eyes.
They drew their handguns and pointed. Percy decided in that moment admit that learning how to shoot a gun was not as cool as he'd thought it'd be.
Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiraled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch at the sight of Medusa. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into him. Slowly, he drew Riptide, though he didn't know what good it'd be in a gunfight.
Zoë and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her. Alice pulled him off with her vines and flicked one wrist, a bracelet turning into a dagger.
"Back up," Thalia said.
They started to-but then there was a rustling of branches. Two more skeletons appeared on the road behind them. They were surrounded. Briefly, Percy wondered where the other skeletons were, since he'd seen a dozen at the Smithsonian. Then one of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it.
Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone.
He realized what was going on. The skeletons had split up to look for the group. These skeletons were now calling for backup.
"It's near," Grover moaned.
"It's here," Percy corrected.
"No," he insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."
Percy had no clue what he meant, but he panicked slightly as he realized Grover was in no shape to walk, much less fight.
"We'll have to go one-on-one," Thalia said. "Four of them. Five of us. Maybe they'll ignore Grover that way. And then one of us can help the others."
"Agreed," said Zoë.
"The Wild!" Grover moaned.
A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but Percy focused on the skeletons. He remembered the General gloating over Olivia's fate and how much it would crush Apollo to see the delayed consequence of him loving a mortal. He remembered the way Luke had used Paris to manipulate and betray her.
And he charged.
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THE FIRST SKELETON FIRED HIS GUN. Alice grew a cage of vines around Grover to protect him as she watched Percy deflect the bullet off the edge of his sword and keep charging.
He took the sword and sliced it through the skeleton's waist, cutting him in half. His bones unknit and clattered to the asphalt in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. A second skeleton clattered his teeth at Percy and tried to fire, but he knocked his gun into the snow.
Then the other two came out of nowhere and shot him in the back.
"Percy!" Thalia screamed.
He landed face down, but then he say up, staring at his coat in amazement. "The fur!" he shouted.
Alice and Thalia charged the second skeleton. Zoë and Bianca started firing arrows at the third and fourth. Grover stood there in his cage and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them.
There was a crashing sound in the forest to their left, like a bulldozer. Shit. Alice worried it was the skeletons' reinforcements were arriving.
Zoë and Bianca fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca. She whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest.
The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.
"How did you do that?" Zoë asked.
"I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Lucky stab?"
"Well, do it again!"
Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed the others back, keeping them at baton's length.
"Plan?" Percy asked said as they retreated.
They didn't answer. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.
"A gift," Grover muttered.
And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig Alice had ever seen in her life came crashing into the road.
It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.
"Che cazzo?!" Alice demanded, jumping backwards. "The fuck is that?!"
"REEEEEEEEET!" the boar squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, bones everywhere.
Then the pig turned on them.
Thalia raised her spear, but Grover's skinny ass squeezed through the vines Alice grew. "Don't kill it!" he said.
The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.
"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoë said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."
"It's a gift," Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"
The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoë and Bianca dived out of the way. Alice dropped to the ground and rolled away from the boar. Percy had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain like an idiot.
"Yeah, I feel blessed!" Percy scoffed. "Scatter!"
They all ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.
"It wants to kill us!" Thalia shouted.
"Of course," Grover said joyfully. "It's wild!"
"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked incredulously.
Apparently, the pig was offended and charged Bianca. She quickly rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast.
It lashed out with its tusks and destroyed the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.
"Keep moving!" Zoë yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced
around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Alice was really unlucky. She'd gone in the same direction as Percy and Thalia. When the boar turned on the trio, the daughter of Zeus made the mistake of raising Aegis in defense. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage before he charged them.
They turned and ran uphill, Alice spewing profanities nonstop as she panicked.
They dodged in and out of trees while the boar had to plow through them, giving them an advantage.
"This way," Percy ordered, grabbing her and Thalia's arms and leading them along the rails while the boar roared behind them, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. They were lucky enough that its hooves weren't fit for these conditions.
"Follow me!" Percy shouted.
Thalia slowed down, but he pulled her along and she hesitantly followed him and Alice.
The pig was knocking down trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased them through a tunnel.
"No!" Thalia screamed when they came out on the other side.
She'd turned as white as ice. They were standing at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below.
"We're gonna die..." Alice murmured, feeling her heart drop.
The boar was right behind them. They were screwed.
"Come on!" Percy urged them. "It'll hold our weight, probably."
"I can't!" Thalia yelled. Her eyes were wild with fear.
The boar smashed into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed.
"Now!" he yelled at the girls.
Thalia looked down and swallowed. Her face was almost turning green.
The boar was charging through the tunnel, straight toward them. Alice sent Thalia a concerned look just before Percy tackled them both and sent them all sideways off the edge of the bridge, into the side of the mountain. Thalia and Alice screamed as they all slid on Aegis like a snowboard, going over rocks and mud and snow, racing downhill. Alice closed her eyes and prepared herself for death. Overhead, she heard the boar give a mighty squeal before there was a huge POOOOOF! beneath them.
She opened her eyes as she felt them slowly skid to a stop. They were hyperventilating, Percy cut up and bleeding while Thalia had pine needles in her hair. Alice shook the snow from her hair. Next to them, the wild boar was squealing and struggling, stuck in the snow.
They all stood up slowly, Percy stretching his arm out.
"We're alive," Alice gasped, turning to Thalia.
"Oh, my fucking gods, we're actually alive," Thalia agreed.
Alice let out a cheer and tackled Thalia with a hug. "We're still alive! YES!"
Then she impulsively grabbed the blue-eyed girl's face and kissed her passionately, running her hands through the other girl's hair. Thalia made a shocked sound, but kissed back regardless, pulling Alice closer to her. They stayed there for a moment, nearly falling over when Thalia suddenly decided to try French kissing and Alice's brain short-circuited.
When they finally pulled away, Alice was out of breath, smiling at the daughter of Zeus. Thalia smiled back at her. "You're a good kisser," she said.
"Thanks," Alice laughed. "Same to you. That was my first kiss."
"Same," Thalia said through a breathless grin. "Uh, thanks for that, by the way."
Alice started laughing hysterically, leaning on Thalia for support. Thalia's laughter followed hers, the two of them practically manic on adrenaline. Their laughter took a while to die down, leaving them both somewhat tired and their faces hurting from how much they smiled.
"Um..." Percy said, awkwardly looking at the snow.
Seeing him standing there so awkwardly was kind of funny. She stifled her laughter as Percy finally looked up. "So... you're afraid of heights."
Thalia stiffened. "Don't be stupid."
"I won't snitch," Percy said. "It's just kind of ironic, that's all."
Thalia took a deep breath and brushed the pine needles out of her hair. "Fuck it," she said. "I'll have to take your word on it. You will not ruin my first kiss."
"Helloooooo?"
They looked up to where Grover stood, peering down to look at them.
"Down here!" Percy called.
A few minutes later, Zoë, Bianca, and Grover joined the trio. For a moment, they stood watching the wild boar struggle in the snow.
"A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated for once.
"I agree," Zoë said. "We must use it."
"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. She still looked like she was halfway between tree and human, pine tree needles falling out of her hair. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."
Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"
"Really fast," Alice laughed, still high on exhilaration.
"Fun," Percy said hesitantly. "Like... pig cowboys."
Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish... I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now."
"What's gone?" Percy asked.
Grover didn't seem to hear him, walking over to the boar and jumping onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went crazy trying to get it. Alice was reminded of Tantalus.
"Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great."
She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of the group. She helped Alice up, and Zoë and Bianca walked toward the boar.
"Wait a second," Percy said. "Do you two know what Grover is talking about-this wild blessing?"
"Of course," Zoë said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong... I never thought I would sense that presence again."
"What presence?"
She stared at him. "The Lord of the Wild, of course," Zoë said. "Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan."
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