NINE, fugitives
❀ ✿ ❀ ✿
ASTER PASSED OUT FROM the pain before they hit the water. Apparently, even when she was about to die, she couldn't simply be unconscious. There always had to be some kind of vision for her to experience. Good to know that the gods had some compassion.
Aster was standing in what looked like a throne room—everything was made of sleek black marble, except for the throne, which glowed white. She looked closer and... the throne was made of skeletons. Human skeletons. But Aster didn't have much time to focus on the throne itself because the person occupying it was staring intently at her; studying her, she realized.
"Aster Reed," the man said—though man didn't seem to be the right word. He seemed more powerful than that. "You aren't supposed to be here. Not yet, anyways."
Aster's brow furrowed. "What do you mean, not yet? Where is here?"
"Well–" he began, but the man tilted his head, as if someone was whispering in his ear. "I'm afraid I cannot give you that information. The Fates would have my head, apparently. My sister as well."
"Who–"
"You'll have to return to the land of the living, dear niece. It's not your time—yet." The man snapped his fingers, and the room around her began to fade. "Although that poison almost had you. How unfortunate."
Aster reached out, but the man was almost gone. "Wait! Who are y–"
But the throne room disappeared, and Aster's eyes shot open as she breathed deeply.
"Oh, thank the gods!" she heard Annabeth exclaim.
Percy peered down at her, his eyes dim. "Had us worried there for a minute, Flower Power."
Aster sat up slowly, and Annabeth practically tackled her in a hug.
"We thought you went to Hades the hard way!" Grover said, patting her on the back.
They were sitting in a patch of grass by the river, far removed from the Arch. The monument was smoking, and it was surrounded by firefighters and policemen. On-lookers and media outlets tried to move in close to see what had happened, but the police pushed them back.
"What happened?" Aster asked, turned towards Percy, who rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Why am I not wet?"
"So after I jumped with you–"
Aster hit his shoulder. "You idiot! Why would you jump?"
Percy glared at her. "To save your life. You were very much poisoned." Aster crossed her arms and glared at him, but he continued. "We fell in the river, but the water cushioned our fall somehow. You were unconscious, but then there was just an air bubble around you, suddenly? I'm not really sure how that happened. And the whole non-wet thing, I think that's just a Poseidon thing."
"Weird," Aster commented.
"I'm not really sure what happened after that, and there's a good chance it was all a fever dream, okay? What I'm most confused about right now, though," Percy continued, "is how you're alive right now."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Seaweed Brain," Aster replied.
"That's not what I meant–"
"No, I know. I'm not really sure either. The poison should have killed me. Water doesn't heal me like it does you, Percy."
Percy shrugged. "Maybe it did this time because you went in with me."
"Maybe."
Annabeth went pale. "Poison?"
Aster ignored her and looked down at her legs, which were wrapped in grass and roots, almost in a comforting gesture. "Have these been there the whole time?"
"Since Percy set you down, yeah," Annabeth said, her voice hoarse and cheeks wet. Aster reached out and squeezed her friend's hand. "They just curled over you, like they were protecting you."
"The plants really do like you, Flower Power," Percy said with a grin.
Aster rolled her eyes, but she was distracted by a news reporter speaking.
"Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."
"We should probably get moving," Aster said.
The group of four moved closer to the crowd to figure out what was going on.
"... an adolescent boy and girl," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show two adolescents, a boy and a girl, going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities..."
"Gangway!" someone shouted behind them. The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. The woman muttered nonsense.
"And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua–"
"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."
"I'm not crazy! The boy and girl jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." The woman looked over to the group of four and a flicker of recognition flickered in her eyes. "There they are! That's them!"
Aster and Percy shared a look, and grabbed Annabeth and Grover, pulling them away from the scene.
"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
Percy and Aster explained the full story of what happened on the Arch. Grover had bleated nervously, mumbling that his nose was unreliable and mustered apologies, though Percy waved him off. Percy told them about the underwater lady he'd spoken to after they'd landed in the water and Aster had passed out. The woman told him to go to Santa Monica, that they had to as it was his father's will. She also mentioned something about not trusting "the gifts."
"Whoa," Grover said when Percy was finished. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."
On their way out of the crowd, they passed another reporter doing a news break. "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. The boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."
The reporter paused, two fingers on his earpiece.
"We're just getting word that Percy Jackson is believed to be traveling with a missing child from Vermont: Aster Reed. They were spotted together in the observatory deck right before the explosion. Aster Reed was identified by one of St. Louis's police officers. Aster first went missing–"
Aster, Annabeth, Percy and Grover ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.
"You're a missing child?" Annabeth asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah, maybe, if you put it in technical terms." Aster swallowed hard. "Didn't I ever tell you that?"
"All things aside," Percy said, "we've got to get out of town!"
Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. They were able to board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trudged west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind them.
The next afternoon—June 14, seven days before the solstice—the train arrived in Denver. They hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. They also hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill.
"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "You need to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."
"We can't use phones, right?" Percy said.
"Finally, you remember something that I taught you," Aster said, and Percy shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Besides, she's not talking about a phone."
They wandered through downtown Denver for about half an hour, and Aster was on full alert to find something that could make a rainbow. Percy and Aster tried to keep their heads down, after the news reports that mentioned them, especially them traveling together.
"So, you're a missing person?" Percy asked.
"Of course I am," Aster said, "I ran from the cops and social workers when I was seven years old. I just thought they would have stopped looking by now. Thought I was dead or something."
"Let's just hope they don't think I kidnapped you," Percy said, and Aster chuckled with him.
Eventually, they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. The group of four went for the stall farthest from the street, keeping their eyes open for patrol cars. They were four pre-teens hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure they were up to no good.
"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.
"It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"
"Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out."
He looked at Aster, who shook her head.
Percy fished through his pocket and found a quarter to hand to Grover.
"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."
Percy looked between him, Aster, and Annabeth. "What are you talking about?"
Grover fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."
"Instant messaging?"
"Iris-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods. It's the easiest way to talk to anyone without a phone."
Percy looked at her, brows raised. "You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"
Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist.
"Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow," Aster said.
Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors.
Aster held her palm out to Percy. "Drachma, please." Percy obliged.
Aster raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering." She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer.
"Half-Blood Hill," Aster requested.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then the strawberry fields appeared in a small circle of mist, and Aster knew it had worked. They were on the porch of the Big House it seemed, and a familiar guy with sandy hair and in shorts and an orange tank top was standing in front of them. He had his bronze sword in hand, and looked to be contemplating something that was happening down in the meadow.
"Luke!" Percy called.
He turned, eyes wide. Aster was relieved just at the sight of him. It seemed like they were in the same place, though they could only see the part of him that appeared in the rainbow.
"Percy!" Luke's scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Aster, too? And Annabeth? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"
"We're... uh... fine," Annabeth stammered. She was madly straightening her dirty T-shirt, trying to comb the loose hair out of her face. "We thought—Chiron—I mean—"
"He's down at the cabins." Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"
"I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?"
Before Luke could answer, a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement.
"Chiron had to—what's that noise?" Luke yelled.
"I'll take care of it!" Aster yelled back, grinning. "Grover, Annabeth, come on!"
Annabeth looked more than happy to get out of sight. Grover, however, took a bit more convincing.
"What?" he said. "But—"
"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" she ordered. With that, Aster, Annabeth, and Grover left the two boys to talk.
– ❀ –
Aster held the sides of her stomach, laughing along with Grover and Annabeth as they walked back to the stall Percy was in. The look on the guy's face when he had a twelve year old screaming at him was very entertaining. He had peeled out of the car wash quickly after a few choice words from Aster. But when she saw Percy's face when they returned to their own stall, Aster stopped, her smile fading.
"What happened, Percy?" she asked. "What did Luke say?"
"Not much," Percy said, but he couldn't look her in the eye. "Come on, let's find some dinner."