CHAPTER NINE
romeo, where is thy shield?
———— VERONA!
( CALIFORNIA )
"OF ALL THE weapons you had to choose, you shot off the one thing that alerted a building full of guards to our presence!"
Verona sunk down in her seat in the far corner of a local diner just up the road from her childhood home, her eyes glaring as heatedly as they could at Connor, who sat in front of her opposite in the booth, waiting impatiently for her to finish berating him so he could get a word in. Running out of the prison had been no easy trick — the guard had turned out to be a monster, but he had not been the problem. The problem had been that when he had kicked Verona over with his taloned feet (because he had those, too!), Connor had decided he had enough and chose to shoot him straight between the eyeballs — he had faded to dust pretty quickly, but the problem was that for whatever reason, the mist had not covered up the sound of the actual gunshot and the prison had quickly gone into lockdown upon hearing it, forcing Verona and Connor to hatch up a very detailed, quick, and terrible plan in order to escape without being seen (they had done it, alibi they were arguing the entire time, and had not stopped since).
"Will you please shut up for one second. For Gods sake," Connor groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. He, like Verona, had gotten rid of the exterminator costume at a gas station a few miles up the road from the prison, and was now sitting in front of her in his original clothes, his hair a complete mess on the top of his head and a small scratch still left on the side of his cheek from where the taloned creature had hit him after he pushed Verona back.
"No," Verona snapped back, feeling angry — she felt like she was on fire, she had felt that way ever since she left Ares. And she wanted to blame that feeling of chaos on Ares, she really did, but the daughter of Aphrodite knew full and well that she had been so angry at her father, and a two minute conversation between them Connor had let the two have had not cured that at all. "I want to know why the mist didn't cover that stupid gunshot."
Connor rolled his eyes — he had been doing that a lot lately. Verona thinks he's annoyed with her, and partially that makes her giddily happy inside. "The mist isn't foolproof, princess. Hecate controls it and it's usually only used for sight. If any of the guards were to go back to the corridor where we fought that creature right now, they wouldn't find an bullet she'll, but something like a piece of rubber or a bottle cap, probably."
"I suppose," Verona muttered, feeling herself simmer down after that explanation. Connor had his long legs spread out under the small booth and his knees were now pressed against Verona's — she scowled and sat back, though they're feet still remained pushed together. She paused after a moment, staring at him before kicking him with her right foot. "Are you trying to play footsie with me?"
He shrugged. Verona rolled her eyes. For a moment it felt like everything had gone back to normal as Connor tried to hook his foot around her leg and she waved it off, kicking him again and scowling at him, mischief was still gleaming in his eyes reminding her that he was still a son of Hermes.
He only stopped when a waitress appeared before them, holding a tray and setting down their orders in front of them. "One burger and a strawberry milkshake, and a batch of fries and a chocolate milkshake." She smiled, setting the burger down in front of Connor with his strawberry milkshake, and Verona's chocolate milkshake and fries down in front of her before letting them know to ask if they needed anything else and leaving.
"Are you sure you only want fries?" Connor frowned.
"Yes, I'm sure. Just like I was when you asked me the last time, and the time before that," Verona muttered exasperatedly.
"Just checking," Connor replied back irritably, and after that they lulled themselves into a quiet silence, Connor biting into his burger and Verona chewing on her fries. They had stopped at this diner because it was just down the road from her childhood home and that was where they needed to go next, hoping this was the easy part and they'd find the shield there. As far as she knew, the house was still in her father's name, meaning most things were still in it. From what Verona could remember, when the cops had busted her father, they had only taken into custody as evidence the things that looked like actual artwork from the top two floors, not even bothering to check the basement which was concealed and completely out of sight.
They were pretty terrible for their job, Verona thought, to let not only millions in valuable evidence go but also lose a little child who was in their custody and simply walked away from them.
The two minute conversation she had with her father occupies her mind as she eats, her eyes glazing over as she thinks about it. He had apologized — repeatedly. Verona was six when Paris Blaze had been arrested for two counts of armed robbery and was now serving a twelve year sentence that had told her had been reduced to ten on the basis of good behaviour — he was up for review by the parole board next month, and he would likely get out. And when he did, Paris wanted Verona to come live with him during the school year again — he promised he would figure out a way to make sure she could stay.
Verona had never gotten a chance to answer.
She was not sure she wanted to, for all intents and purposes. Verona loved her father very much, but his actions over the years had caused her a significant amount of damage and pain, and she was not sure she wanted to go back there, not when Camp Half Blood had become her home.
"So...are we going, or what?" Connor's voice lulled Verona back out of her thoughts, and she glanced up to where he was staring at her with furrowed eyebrows and what could possibly be described as concern for her. She nodded slowly, standing up, grabbing her jacket and reaching into the pocket, grabbing a few bills — Connor grabbed even more out of his pocket, adding to the bill until they reached the total amount.
"We're running out," Verona muttered as they left the small diner, walking down the street towards the neighbourhood Verona used to play in as a child — she recognized the park Paris would take her to all the time.
"We'll see if we can trade some drachmas in somewhere," Connor reassured, pushing his hands in his pockets. The sidewalk was small and the two of them walked side by side each other, squished together. The sun was almost setting by now, scorching heat gone and a cool wind blowing her hair back as she thought of Fay and Emilia, wondering how they were doing — demigods often ended up separated on quests, but it didn't make her feel any less guilty. She could feel her body weigh down from the tiredness of the day, the feeling of being trapped by Ares just this morning now finally hitting her.
The two demigods walked in silence, neither of them up for speaking and each in their own thoughts, with the exception of Connor repeatedly glancing at Verona, which she took no notice of, until they reached the house she was looking for. It was midsized, but extremely large for when Paris and Verona had lived there, old, victorian and despite being extremely rackety, not worn down at all. There was an abundance of mail out front, mostly fliers and advertisements from years past, and with a startling groan as they ran up the stairs to the house as inconspicuously as they could do in what was now the dead of night, Verona realized that she did not have a key to the house.
She turned to the son of Hermes, who had already been staring at her before he silently plucked another bobby pin out from where it had clipped her bangs back, bending it until it was straight and move towards the door — he fidgeted with it for a few moments as Verona watched intently, until he got it open and pushed the creaking door wide, letting the two of them in and locking it shut behind him. Verona wondered how he was so good at doing that — she knew Hermes was the god of mischief, but she found it almost interesting how intelligent Connor really had to be in order to constantly pick locks and pull of the schemes he and Travis did.
Inside, the house was pretty clean for the fact that it had been abandoned for almost ten years. Most things were covered in a layer of dust, but the two couches in the living room were covered in plastic, and most of the appliances from the kitchen were still there, though Verona doubted the electricity was still on — and she was right as she tried to flick on a light switch and it simply did not turn itself on. Connor rummaged through his bag, grabbing a flashlight and handing one to her before she gestured them towards the basement. The stairs were creaky, and she found that inside it was much darker and she stumbled her way down the stairs behind Connor, narrowly missing a step and grabbing onto the top of his arm to steady herself.
He glanced back at Verona as she muttered an apology, rebalancing herself and letting go of him. The basement was filled with stolen artwork (go figure, Verona thinks) and she resisted the urge to torch it, rummaging through the boxes and telling Connor to do the same until they found the shield.
"Gods, look at this," Connor let out a laugh, holding up a scrapbook with a photo of Verona inside — she was nearing one and had accidentally flipped a bowl of spaghetti her father had left in front of her onto her head. "Baby Blaze, what a sight."
"Ha, ha, ha," Verona rolled her eyes, a light smile making it's way on her face as she continued rummage. Connor paused momentarily, entranced with flipping through the scrapbook of her childhood memories, probably getting all the blackmail he can whilst he still could. "Here!"
Verona pulled out the shield from a box at the bottom — Paris had been right. Half of the shield was celestial bronze and shimmering, and the other half had been covered in red paint and oranges mixed with yellows (Connor was right, Ares was just going to love that).
"Is that—"
And then with a shriek, Verona dropped the shield quickly from her hands, watching it clatter on the floor in a circle as she stepped back towards the wall, kicking at her feet.
"What?" Connor looked curiously at her, startled as she pulled him in front of her out of habit. She said nothing but pointed out with her finger at a furry creature crawling a few inches away from the shield now, trying to go as fast as you it could. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," Verona muttered, already moving back upwards towards the stairs as fast as she could. With a shake of his head and a chuckle, Connor picked up the shield and made a big deal of shaking it and showing her there were no more spiders crawling on it before he too followed her up the stairs into the other wise dark hallway. "Okay, how are we getting this thing to Ares?"
Connor seemed lost in thought for a moment. "This is California, there's bound to a Hermes Express store hidden in plain sight somewhere around here."
"The courier service?" Verona questioned. Connor hummed in agreement, explaining to her how it worked quickly — they could directly send the shield back to Ares on Mount Olympus within an hour. "Alright — maybe we should stay here tonight and go tomorrow morning, once we've slept."
Connor nodded in agreement, muttering about how they probably wouldn't get to for a while before he helped her pull the plastic over the only two couches not covered in dust, throwing it into the corner of the room. Verona found a few candles in a drawer in the kitchen and Connor pulled a lighter from his bag, lighting up each one and placing them on a table in the corner so they didn't have to hold onto their flashlights all night, and the battery didn't run out. She turned off her flashlight, using her jacket as a blanket and turning on her side of the couch, her arms wrapped around herself.
"Goodnight, I guess," She muttered to Connor quietly, sleep already taking her body over after the long, long day the both of them had. She hoped that nothing would get them in the night and she could get one moment of peace, as she began to fall asleep.
"Sweet dreams, Blaze," Verona heard Connor let out an endearing laugh before he too closed his eyes.
That was the last thing she heard before she fell into a deep slumber.
THERE HAD TO be something more to the house to have allowed both demigods to get a peaceful night's sleep, Verona was sure of it. When she woke up, the sun had just been peaking above the horizon and she blinked her eyes open, yawning and shifting on her side, her arm hanging over the side of the couch. She glanced to her right, only to find Connor's arm dangling not so far from hers off his couch, still sleeping with a peaceful look on his face and soft breaths escaping from between his lips. She pushed herself up off the couch, noticing the jacket he had been using as a blanket having fallen onto the floor in the middle of the night, and pursing her lips with a sigh before picking it up and gently placing it back on top of him so he'd stop shivering.
Connor freezing to death was not going to be any good for Verona at the particular moment, after all.
Verona scoured through her bag until she found a drachma, making her way up the stairs towards the master bedroom's bathroom. Now that it's bright outside, she pulls the curtain just enough for the light to come in, but not so that anybody can see inside, and turns on the water until it heats up and creates enough mist for a small rainbow.
Verona rubs her eyes sleepily, pushing a hand through her hair as she drops the drachma into the small made up rainbow and falters as she tries to remember what words she's supposed to use. "Oh Iris, Goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Silena Beauregard."
The mist slowly dissolved into a fuzzy video of Silena, her black hair tied back in a frenzy braid on her back as she sits at a long table in what Verona recognizes as the Rec Room. Chiron sits at the head of the table, seemingly talking about something unimportant judging by the way Travis seems to be bored out of his mind and staring not so subtlety at Katie through his peripheral vision.
"Oh shit," Verona widened her eyes and swears out loud before she can stop herself, seemingly much more awake than she was five seconds ago. Her voice seems to catch the attention of Silena, followed by the rest of the campers, as they turn towards her. Silena squealed in surprise, smiling widely as she approaches the Iris message.
"Look at you! You're alive," She smiled widely.
"Of the sort," Verona muttered, sleep still entrancing her brain. Despite getting a solid amount, she still feels as though her mind is not completely put together — probably because, as Connor had so kindly reminded her over and over the previous night before she went to bed, she still has a small concussion (he had proceeded to toss a bag of ambrosia straight at her head — it had hit her on the forehead and so had commenced a five minute argument about why he had thrown it).
Silena furrows her eyebrows, Travis appearing at her side worriedly as he questions Verona. "Where are you? Oh shit, is Connor dead?"
"If dead means dead asleep and snoring like an elephant, then yeah, he's six feet in the ground," Verona grimaced, shaking her head. "We're in California. I was wondering if either of you guys had seen Emilia or Fay?"
"Fay made it back last night, he's still unconscious — he got caught in a hurricane off the coast of South Carolina, which is where he somehow ended up. How did that happen, by the way?" Travis asked worriedly.
"Ares," Verona grumbled, pushing a hand to her forehead to relieve the growing tension in her head. "And Emilia?"
"Not yet, Ver...We'll let you know if she does get back, yeah?" Silena reassured. She looked extremely tired, probably having to take on all the Aphrodite children on her own now that Verona was gone. If there was one thing about Cabin Ten, it was that when all of them were together (even just the year rounders) it was still a handful — especially when they started to compare themselves to one another (which happened much too often). Verona had no doubt that despite the golden egg Connor and Travis had dropped over a week ago, her siblings would likely still be fighting over who the hottest was. "Where are you guys headed next?"
"New Orleans, I'd assume," Connor had appeared at the door of the bathroom, pushing it open from where she had it half closed and taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub beside Verona. His hair was still a mess one restless night of sleep, and the jacket Verona had draped over him when she left the living room was now around his body, hugging himself for warmth considering it was the middle of December and there was no heat in the house. He shrugged towards Verona. "That's where we were headed before Ares showed up in the first place."
Silena sighed, biting her cheek. "Take care of yourself, guys, yeah?" She stared an extra moment at Verona as Chiron called her over from behind. "I'll let you guys know if Emilia shows up."
"Thanks," Verona muttered quietly, until she was gone and it was just Travis, her and Connor left sitting awkwardly between the bathroom and the Iris message.
Verona slowly rose to her feet, nodding her head. "Right," She muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll give you guys a minute." Travis sent her a thankful smile as she closed the bathroom door and headed downstairs.
Whilst Connor would speak to his brother, Verona would spend the next ten minutes formulating a way to get from California to New Orleans on less than fifty bucks and a bag full of drachmas.
So...not as easy as she was hoping, that's for sure.
NOTE ——— this is kind of a filler? to catch up on shit? next chapter should be up by tonight, it's almost done (spoiler alert: a guest appearance from hermes himself, which doesn't make connor too happy) :)