Phaedra gripped Thalia's hand tight as they ran through the forest. Luke was holding Annabeth's hand as the two older demigods tried to keep the younger ones upright as they ran up a steep hill.
"We're almost there!" Grover shouted, making Phaedra cry because her small seven-year-old body grew exhausted from all the running. She wasn't used to this much cardio. All the girl wanted to do was lay down and rest.
"Hey, star. Come on, we have to keep pushing. You can do it." Thalia told her and she adjusted the leather jacket around the small girl, although it was way too big for her.
Thalia had given her the jacket because she was cold. Phaedra told her that she was going to give it back once they got to camp.
Phaedra whimpered once she heard the sound of the monsters that were getting closer to the group.
She looked at Annabeth, who had dirt and twigs in her princess curls. She looked terrified. Her eyes were wide with panic, just like Phaedra and she looked like she was about to cry.
"The patrol will see us! Come on!" Grover yelled at them.
The girl felt as though she was going to collapse. Her legs were burning from running up the steep hill.
"I'm tired, Lia." She complained. Thalia nodded and reached her hand into the Long sleeve of the too big leather jacket to properly grasp Phaedra's hand.
"I know, star. We just need to move a little more and we'll be fine, ok?" Thalia told her
She nodded and Thalia lifted her up to avoid the tree root that was going to trip her. Luke had tried to lift Annabeth, but was too late as she had got her foot caught on the tree root and went tumbling to the ground. She started crying.
"Annabeth, come on. You can do it!" Grover said as Luke pulled her up.
"But she sprained her ankle." Luke told him
Grover's eyes widened in slits with fear. "We're almost there! You need to carry her! Please!"
Thalia started glancing around nervously, causing Phaedra to look up at her. The monsters' roars let them know they were gaining on them. Phaedra watched as Luke carefully put one arm underneath Annabeth’s arm and Grover did the same to the other side as they pulled her to her feet. Thalia's grip on Phaedra tightened. Annabeth tried to stop her screams as she was in terrible pain.
"They're getting closer!" Annabeth yelled as she was wobbling in between the satyr and demigod.
"Come on, we can make it!" Grover yelled.
"We won't make it." Thalia said. "It's too far"
"Yes we can." Luke told Thalia firmly. Thalia's grip on Phaedra loosened, causing her to hold on tighter. She looked up at the girl. She seemed lost in her thoughts. Her eyebrows creased over her eyes as they furrowed. She glanced back again and sighed as she looked at the seven year old. She cupped her face and looked her in the eyes.
"I need you to stay with Luke, ok? Phaedra, I need you to listen to him. And whatever you do, don't follow me. OK? You will be safe with him, Star." She started to cry because she didn't want to let go of Thalia at all.
Thalia wiped away her tears. "Promise me that you won't follow me. Promise that you'll stay and listen to Luke and Grover. Please, I need you to be safe."
She hesitated. "I Promise…" Thalia smiled and stood up "you'll be safe. You're like my little sister. You'll always be my little sister. Stay friends with Annabeth and you'll make new ones too. I love you, Star."
Phaedra sniffled and said "I love you too, Lia." And hugged her.
Thalia turned to face the direction of the monsters "you guys go! I'll hold them off!"
"Thalia, no!" Luke shouted "Are you freaking insane?"
"Just go, Luke! And grab Phaedra so she doesn't run after me! You better take care of her."
Phaedra was sobbing at this point, and she made the decision to run after Thalia, despite making the promise not to. Unfortunately, but also fortunately, her plan was thwarted by Luke, who grabbed her hand and pulled her along. He frowned at her tear-stricken face.
She glanced back once they neared the top of the hill. Thalia ducked a second swipe by the next Fury, but she didn't see that behind her, a hellhound raked it's claws along her back.
The older girl swayed to the side. Phaedra thought she would be dead, but she heard the sound of lightning crackling as it filled the air. Thalia raised her spear, and a bolt of lighting struck down onto her weapon and she pointed it at the furies and hellhounds.
"Thalia, come on!" The satyr yelled. "Come on!"
She glanced back again, Thalia ran towards them. She stared, waiting to go back into Thalia's arms as she got so close. Close enough, she should have made it.
Suddenly, a huge hand came out of the bushes on her and plucked her off of the ground. She rose in the sky and with a roar, the monster threw her.
"THALIA!"
Their screams stopped when Thalia landed. A loud crack filled Phaedra's ears and tears were flowing down all of their faces. They watched as Thalia took one last shuddering breath before her face lost all color and her electric blue eyes lost their spark.
Phaedra let out a pained, heartbroken scream. She yanked her arm out of Luke's grip and raced towards her sister. Luke ran after her and picked her up before she could get far.
She tried to wrestle out of his arms, but to no avail. She sobbed loudly. She screamed at Luke to let her go. But he wouldn't let go. In fact he tightened his hold. She started hitting him saying that she had to go to her sister.
It felt painful to use that word now. Her sister, who wasn't her sister by blood, was lying lifeless on the ground.
She kept trying to get away from Luke and get to Thalia, but they heard a loud noise. They all looked up at the sky once they heard the sound of thunder, even monsters looked up. They watched as Thalia's fingers stretched out and into the ground. Her skin turned to bark and moss, and out of her torso sprouted a pine tree. It rose, higher and higher until it was taller than any other tree.
During the action, an explosion happened. A blue light flashed, spreading around them. Luke pulled her closer as Phaedra's small hands gripped the big jacket that was once Thalia's. Then the light faded, as if it was never there. The cyclops raised its fist towards Luke, who was holding the child in his arms. The older boy turned and hid her head in his shoulder with a hand on her head, cradling it, as if he was trying to shield her from it, as if he would take the brunt of the force to save her. But when the Cyclops went lower his hand, his fist was caught in a barrier of blue. He kept trying but was continuously held back.
She lifted her head off of his shoulder and looked at the tree. The others watched the monsters for a few moments, and Luke snapped out of it first. "Come on, Annabeth needs medical attention." Grover continued to walk with Annabeth towards the camp. Luke started walking away with Phaedra in his arms. He held her on the front side of his body and she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
Once she realized that they were leaving Thalia's tree, she started screaming and yelling because she didn't want to leave.
Phaedra woke up with a loud scream. She realized she was drenched in sweat. She touched her face and noticed that she was crying.
Her mother, Christina, came walking in quickly. "What's wrong honey? Are you ok? You were screaming. I heard it from downstairs." She looked over her daughter, before sitting down on her bed, and wiping her tears.
Her relationship with her mother had definitely improved during the year. They talked about everything that happened. Phaedra had let her mom know how she felt about everything that happened to her. Christina had explained why she did what she did and that she should have tried to keep in contact with her. It was awkward at first, but they got closer and Phaedra was happy that everything was working out.
She nodded and said "I'm fine. Just my demigod dreams."
Christina frowned and put a hand on her daughter's head. "These demigod dreams usually have you waking up screaming, honey? What were you dreaming about?"
"Sometimes. I was dreaming of a friend who was gone too soon…" She looked away from her mother.
"Oh...I'm sorry that happened to you, baby." Her mother said, feeling guilty because Phaedra would have never been through that had she not left her in the alleyway.
"It's ok, mom. Don't stress about it. We worked everything out. Stress will affect that spawn inside of you." She pointed to her mother's growing belly. Her mother chuckled and pushed her hand away.
"Yes, now you need to get up and get ready for school. It's your last day of school."
"Yeah, and I need to go to camp." Phaedra said. Her mom frowned. "What?"
"About that. Someone named Chiron said that I needed to keep you here and not go to camp. That something was wrong with the camp and it's not safe." Christina said.
"Mom, I need to go to camp. There's no way I had a dream about my old friend and suddenly camp isn't safe. I'm going." Phaedra told her mom.
"Well if there's one thing I know about you is that, whatever I say, you're going to do the opposite so, I'm letting you go to camp. Just, let me know if you're safe. Or I'll take you there. Do you have a plan?" She asked.
"Of course. I'll go after school. I'll have to use my drachmas for that taxi thing Annabeth told me." Her mother nodded.
"Be safe. Don't cause trouble. Simba will miss you. He'll have puppy separation anxiety or something. Go get ready."
She nodded and got ready for school.
"So you think there's something wrong with the camp?" Her friend Zaria asked.
Phaedra had met Zaria at camp. They had come to camp after the whole quest thing. They were a daughter of Athena. Zaria didn't look like their siblings with the exception of the Grey eyes all Athena kids have. Although they was as smart as Annabeth, maybe smarter, don't tell Annabeth they said that, they definitely did not like her sister.
Zaria was about 5'7 and had reddish brownish curly hair that stopped at her shoulders. Their Grey eyes were a little darker than Annabeth’s. They wore glasses, which Phaedra thought made them look smarter. And they were kind of a loner in their own little special way which made Phaedra want to be their friend more.
"Yeah, I had a nightmare last night and this morning my mom told me that Chiron didn't want me going because it's too dangerous." She told the Athena child.
"So if you're not going, does that mean I don't have to go? Cause I totally wont." Zaria asked.
Phaedra laughed. "But you get to see your favorite sister, Annabeth." Zaria gave her a disgusted face.
"I don't know about that. She's kinda stuck up. She's so prideful and it's annoying." Zaria told her.
"Ok, she may be prideful but she's a good person. It's just her pride that gets in the way." She defended her Annabeth.
"Fine, but as long as she keeps that pride away from me." They retorted. Phaedra nodded.
Phaedra looked at the time. "Oh, I'll see you at camp. I gotta go get Percy. Bye!"
"Wait, I thought you couldn't go!"
"Who told you I was gonna listen to the rules?" She yelled as she ran to get to Percy's school.
Phaedra had further developed her powers. She finally learned how to turn invisible. It was by accident. She was playing around with her powers and conjured light big enough to cover her and it wrapped around her body, causing her to blend in with her surroundings. She ended up scaring her mom that day, when she appeared behind her.
She used her newfound abilities to make her way into Percy's school. She wandered around until she saw him in a classroom. She smiled to herself at how much he changed. He lost some baby fay and his face got slimmer. He got a little taller but Phaedra just assumed she was still taller than him. It definitely helped her ego.
She went to the back of the classroom where she could see him clearly. Apparently they were in social studies, drawing latitude/longitude maps. He seemed to be staring at something inside his notebook. She craned her neck to try and see what he was staring at but she couldn't see. She stood up in all her invisible glory and looked over his shoulder.
Inside the notebook was a picture of Phaedra. She was wearing a blue shirt with a picture of a sunset on a beach on it. she was wearing dark blue skinny jeans and had a jacket with a Fluffy hood over the t-shirt. She was wearing a ponytail with her straightened hair. She'd gotten a dog over the school year. It was a Siberian husky with blue eyes that matched hers. She named him Simba because it was the first thing that came to mind after watching the lion King. He was a very small puppy, only a few weeks old and she was holding him in her arms with her signature Apollo smile.
Phaedra felt her cheeks heat up. She didn't expect him to carry around her picture to school all day. She didn't expect him to carry it around at all. She felt a little fuzzy about it.
She’d e-mailed Percy the picture after spring break, and every once in a while Percy would look at it just to remind himself she was real and Camp Half-Blood hadn’t just been his imagination. He wished Phaedra or Annabeth were there.
Percy was about to close his notebook when Matt Sloan reached over and ripped the photo out of the rings.
“Hey!” He protested.
Sloan checked out the picture and his eyes got wide. “No way, Jackson. Who is that? She's hot...for a black girl.. She is not your-“
And "Sloan" you have more grease in your hair than the guy behind WikiLeaks. And your momma a bitch. I hope you fall down some stairs and fuck your knee up.
Even though Phaedra has a tough skin, she had to have one dealing with Clarisse, she felt hurt by that comment. All she could think was 'Am I not pretty because of my skin?' And she was starting to feel a little self conscious, despite her fuzziness a couple of seconds ago.
“Give it back!” Percy was blushing. He looked like wanted to punch this guy just for the comment he made.
Percy was angry at the boy's words. How could he say such a thing? That was racist. She's not pretty for a black girl. She's pretty, no need for her race to be included. She's a very pretty girl. Don't tell Annabeth or Phaedra he said that.
Sloan handed the photo to his ugly buddies, who snickered and started ripping it up to make spit wads. They were new kids who must’ve been visiting, because they were all wearing those stupid HI! MY NAME IS: tags from the admissions office. They must’ve had a weird sense of humor, too, because they’d all filled in strange names like: MARROW SUCKER, SKULL EATER, and JOE BOB. No human beings had names like that.
They're probably monsters. Very Hurtful monsters who hurt my feelings and dwindled any confidence I had today.
“These guys are moving here next year,” Sloan bragged, like that was supposed to scare somebody. “I bet they can pay the tuition, too, unlike your retard friend.”
That's not very nice.
“He’s not retarded.” Percy looked like he was holding all of his anger in.
Go ahead. Punch him. I'm not opposed.
“You’re such a loser, Jackson. Good thing I’m gonna put you out of your misery next period.” His huge buddies chewed up the photo. Phaedra wanted to pulverize them, but it would be weird for him to get hit by an invisible force. She had to save her fighting for monsters.
The bell rang.
As Tyson and Percy were leaving class, Phaedra whispered, “Percy!”
He looked around the locker area, but nobody was paying him any attention. He turned around and kept walking. Phaedra sighed and followed him.
Phaedra had found herself going into the gym after hearing a whole bunch of commotion.
“Tyson!” She heard Percy Scream, but it was too late.
Both balls slammed into him ... but no ... he’d caught them. He caught fiery metal balls speeding toward him at a zillion miles an hour. He sent them hurtling back toward their surprised owners, who screamed, “BAAAAAD!” as the bronze spheres exploded against their chests.
No human could do that…
The giants disintegrated in twin columns of flame-a sure sign they were monsters, all right. Monsters don’t die. They just dissipate into smoke and dust, which saves heroes a lot of trouble cleaning up after a fight.
“My brothers!” Joe Bob the Cannibal wailed. He flexed his muscles and his Babycakes tattoo rippled. “You will pay for their destruction!”
“Tyson!” Percy said. “Look out!”
Another comet hurtled toward them. Tyson just had time to swat it aside. It flew straight over a man's head and landed in the bleachers with a huge KA-BOOM!
Kids were running around screaming, trying to avoid the sizzling craters in the floor. Others were banging on the door, calling for help. Sloan himself stood petrified in the middle of the court, watching in disbelief as balls of death flew around him.
The coach dude still wasn’t seeing anything. He tapped his hearing aid like the explosions were giving him interference, but he kept his eyes on his magazine. Surely the whole school could hear the noise. The headmaster, the police, somebody would come help them.
“Victory will be ours!” roared Joe Bob the Cannibal. “We will feast on your bones!” He hefted another ball. The other three giants followed his lead.
Percy had his crazy idea face. He ran toward the locker room.
“Move!” he told his teammates. “Away from the door.”
Explosions behind him. Tyson had batted two of the balls back toward their owners and blasted them to ashes. That left two giants still standing.
A third ball hurtled straight at him. He forced himself to wait-one Mississippi, two Mississippi-then dove aside as the fiery sphere demolished the locker room door.
Now, Phaedra figured that the built-up gas in most boys’ locker rooms was enough to cause an explosion, so I wasn’t surprised when the flaming dodgeball ignited a huge WHOOOOOOOM!
The wall blew apart. Locker doors, socks, athletic supporters, and other various nasty personal belongings rained all over the gym.
Percy turned just in time to see Tyson punch Skull Eater in the face. The giant crumpled. But the last giant, Joe Bob, had wisely held on to his own ball, waiting for an opportunity. He threw just as Tyson was turning to face him.
“No!” he yelled.
The ball caught Tyson square in the chest. He slid the length of the court and slammed into the back wall, which cracked and partially crumbled on top of him, making a hole right onto Church Street. The girl didn’t see how Tyson could still be alive, but he only looked dazed. The bronze ball was smoking at his feet. Tyson tried to pick it up, but he fell back, stunned, into a pile of cinder blocks.
“Well!” Joe Bob gloated. “I’m the last one standing! I’ll have enough meat to bring Babycakes a doggie bag!” He picked up another ball and aimed it at Tyson.
“Stop!” he yelled. “It’s me you want!”
Stupid. But I understand. I'd probably do the same.
The giant grinned. “You wish to die first, young hero?”
Phaedra quickly tapped a button on her watch and her bow materialized in her hands and her quiver was on her back. She ran into the gym and tried to find a good spot to aim.
Then Percy spotted my jeans in a smoking heap of clothes right by the giant’s feet. As the amazing impulsive idiot he is, he charged.
The giant laughed. “My lunch approaches.”
He raised his arm to throw. Phaedra aimed at his stomach, knowing that she would be able to pierce an important organ, killing him. She shot her arrow into his stomach.
Suddenly the giant’s body went rigid. His expression changed from gloating to surprise. Right where his belly button should’ve been, his T-shirt ripped open and he had the glowing tip of an arrow sticking out of him.
The ball dropped out of his hand. The monster stared down at the knife that had just run him through from behind.
He muttered, “Ow,” and burst into a cloud of green flame, which she figured was going to make Babycakes pretty upset.
Standing in the smoke was Phaedra. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder, a bow in her hand, and a wild look in her sky blue eyes, like she’d just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts.
Matt Sloan, who’d been standing there dumbfounded the whole time, finally came to his senses.
He blinked at Phaedra, as if he dimly recognized her from my notebook picture. “That’s the girl ...That’s the girl-“
Phaedra kicked him where the sun doesn't shine and when he leaned over in pain, she punched him in the nose and he fell backwards. “And you,” she told him, “if you ever mess with mine again, I will seriously hurt you. We wouldn't want you to go blind would we? Kids can be very clumsy. I could get very clumsy with a pair of very sharp scissors. And trust me they wouldn't know a thing. I'm very discreet” she said with a deadly smile and calm eyes. She let go of him and walked to Percy.
The gym was in flames. Kids were still running around screaming. She heard sirens wailing and a garbled voice over the intercom. Through the glass windows of the exit doors, Percy could see the headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, wrestling with the lock, a crowd of teachers piling up behind him.
“Phaedra ...” he stammered. “How did you ... how long have you ...”
“Pretty much all through your history class. I see you love looking at my pictures...” She transformed her bow back into her watch and her quiver was gone. “I’ve been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone.”
“There!” a woman screamed. The doors burst open and the adults came pouring in.
“Meet me outside,” Phaedra told him. She looked at Tyson and she saw one eye. Once she realized what he was, she felt like her throat was closing up. She couldn't breathe and it felt like the world was closing in on her. Her face started to get pale and voice started getting farther away. All she could remember was that one night she first got to camp. She felt someone tap her shoulder and she saw Percy and everything went back to normal. She timidly glanced back at Tyson and said “And him.” She shakingly pointed to Tyson, who was still sitting dazed against the wall. Phaedra gave him a look of distaste and fear that Percy didn’t ’t quite understand. “You’d better bring him.”
“What?”
“No time!” she said. “Hurry!”
She snapped her fingers and instantly vanished.
That left Percy standing alone in the middle of the burning gymnasium as she jumped through the gaping hole in the side of the building.
Word count: 4036