***||***
Today was Percy's last day of school. Tomorrow, the two of us were going back to Camp Half-Blood, and to say I was excited would be an understatement. I was ecstatic. Considering I haven't seen my friends in person in almost a year, and I haven't talked to them at all in a few weeks; it was going to be great.
I feel my phone vibrate on the desk beside me. Not expecting anything important, I still check who it is. I see Percy's name.
About to head to school!
Didn't get expelled!
Yet...
I quietly laugh at his messages. Demigods aren't technically supposed to use cell phones, but neither of us have actually followed that rule.
Well, try not to. I'll see you tomorrow to head to camp. Don't forget that Sally is the one driving us.
His next words surprise me.
About going to camp...
Mom said she got a message from Chiron. He said that we should postpone going.
I raise my eyebrows, surprised.
Did she say why?
His response didn't surprise me.
No. Said we'll talk this afternoon, so maybe then she'll tell me.
And I have something to tell you in-person.
My thoughts race with the possibilities. Another incident like Mrs. Dodds? Message from Luke? Something about Kronos?
I'll talk after school.
With that he ends the conversation, unable to talk any more.
"Well, great. Now I can't focus. What the Hades, Percy. Why would you leave me with no information like that?" I say, not meaning to speak aloud but it happened. My dad looks over from where he sits.
"What happened?"
"Percy said that Sally got a message from Chiron, telling her that we should put off going to camp."
"And he didn't say why?"
I let out a frustrated sigh. "Nope. Even better, Percy said he had something to talk about when we saw each other, and the last time he told me that he was attacked by a Kindly One."
"Sounds like that was fun."
"I didn't find out until after we were attacked by the Mintour."
"Oh, yeah. That was a great time to have no clue where you were."
"I think we were even after what happened in Afghanistan. And besides, I told Percy to get you the note when he could."
"And you weren't with them."
"I told you, I wanted to go, but instead I got magic practice with my sisters." I realized what I said and added, "Not that I'm not grateful, I was just worried about my friend trying to stop a war that would make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight. At least that's what Mr. D said it would be like."
"Hence why I had offered them help. The blonde refused."
"I totally believe that, knowing Annabeth." I say. "She's stubborn."
***
Music blasted from the speakers, helping me concentrate. All of a sudden, the lab went silent besides the work my dad and I are doing on the new suit.
"Miss Lillian, someone is here to see you." J.A.R.V.I.S. announces.
"Who is it?" I ask, looking at the time. I know that it isn't Percy, mostly because J.A.R.V. would have said his name.
"I don't know, Miss Lillian. She doesn't appear to be carrying any weapons, either."
"It better not be mom." I mutter. "And Celestial Bronze wouldn't come up anyways."
"Wait, have you met her yet?" Dad asks, a little surprised.
"No, but I'm not in the mood to talk to her."
"Show the camera," I tell J.A.R.V.I.S.
He does as I asked, and I immediately recognised the girl.
"Let her up, J.A.R.V.I.S. She's a friend of mine."
I set down the tool in my hands and walked into the living room, dad following me.
The girl who came through the elevator doors looked like she'd just been chased by ghosts. Her face was grimy and scratched. She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder, her baseball cap tucked in her pocket, and a wild look in her storm-gray eyes. I could only assume her knife was in her bag.
"Annabeth, I was just talking about you. What are you doing here?" I ask my friend. Despite me having seen her like this before, I'm still worried.. She looks around the room, amazed, and I remember that she loves architecture.
"Currently admiring the building here, and your guts to live in a place so full of technology. But, sadly, I need you to come with me. Percy's in danger."
"What do you mean?"
"I can explain on the way, but I seriously need you to come with me." I can tell she is tense, and I get a feeling that this is connected to what Percy told me earlier.
I turn to my father, who stands a ways behind me. "Well, bye dad."
"You sure you don't need any help?"
I look at Annabeth, who nods. "We're sure."
"Thanks for the offer," I say. "But the school is close and it's probably some monster anyways."
"Well then, bye, Lilly. Stay safe."
"You too, hopefully it isn't as bad as Annabeth thinks." I tell him with a hug, then I aim my next words at the blonde. "Lead the way."
***
Annabeth had taken me to Percy's school in Manhattan. When we arrived, it was in chaos. She explained that there were monsters in his school, but that was it.
"Really, Percy, you had less than a day before-" Annabeth glared at me, cutting me off.
She put on her cap, and I drew the Mist around me as a cover. We were both invisible, and I was carefully following the blonde through the school. I ended up finding Percy in the locker room, thankfully fully dressed. When I saw him, I had to try not to laugh. Tie-dye shirt and sky blue shorts, it was a strange look.
No wonder he didn't let me visit at school.
"Stop!" I hear Percy yell. When I looked at what he was yelling at I nearly let go of the Mist. He was yelling at a giant. A big, ugly giant. "It's me you want!"
The giant grinned. "You wish to die first, young hero?" I spotted Percy's jeans at the same time he did, seeing Riptide poking out of the pocket. I used a bit of the shadows to push it closer to him, and it reached his feet. He jumped, not expecting it to move. The giant laughed when Percy picked up an innocent looking pen.
"My lunch approaches." The giant said as he raised his arm to throw. Before I could do something, I could see Annabeth's form shimmer. Percy couldn't see it, neither could the giant, and I knew I only could because I could see through the Mist clearer than most other Demi-gods. Even some monsters.
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 grew the tip of Annabeth's blade. 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. Standing in the smoke was Annabeth. That's when I dropped my hold on the Mist, figuring now was a good time.
"The one time I was about to kill a monster-" I tell Annabeth, who shuts me up with another glare strong enough to kill.
The boy who'd been standing there dumbfounded the whole time, finally came to his senses. He blinked at Annabeth, as if he dimly recognized her. "That's the girl...That's the girl-"
Annabeth punched him in the nose and knocked him flat. "And you," she told him, "lay off my friend."
The gym was in flames. Kids were still running around screaming. I heard sirens wailing and a garbled voice over the intercom. Through the glass windows of the exit doors, I could see a man who I assumed was the headmaster, wrestling with the lock, a crowd of teachers piling up behind him.
"Annabeth..." Percy stammered. "How did you...how long have you..."
"Pretty much all morning." She sheathed her bronze knife. "I've been trying to find a good time to talk to you, but you were never alone. I had to make a quick stop during your social studies class, though other than that almost the whole time."
"The shadow I saw this morning- that was-" Percy's face went a bright pink. "Oh my gods, you were looking in my bedroom window?"
"There's no time to explain!" she snapped, though she looked a little red-faced herself. "I just didn't want to-"
"There!" a woman screamed. The doors burst open and the adults came pouring in. "Meet us outside," Annabeth told Percy. "And him." She pointed to the boy not far behind Percy, who was still sitting dazed against the wall. Something about him looked strange beneath the Mist, but when I moved it from my eyes, what I saw surprised me. Annabeth gave him a look of distaste. I could tell exactly when she saw.
One eye. One large calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes.
"You'd better bring him."
"What?"
"No time!" she said. "Hurry!" She pulled her Yankees baseball cap down on her head, which was a magic gift from her mom, and instantly vanished. I did the same with the Mist, following her and leaving Percy standing in the middle of the burning gymnasium.
***
Annabeth and I were waiting in an alley down Church Street. We had pulled Percy and the other boy off the sidewalk.
"Where'd you find him?" Annabeth demanded, pointing at the boy.
"He's my friend," Percy told her.
"Is he homeless?"
"What does that have to do with anything? He can hear you, you know. Why don't you ask him?"
She looked surprised. "He can talk?"
"I talk," the boy admitted. "You are pretty."
"Ah! Gross!" Annabeth stepped away from him.
"Tyson," Percy said in disbelief. "Your hands aren't even burned."
"Of course not," I muttered. "I'm surprised the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around."
Tyson studied Annabeths hair, and when he tried to touch it, she smacked his hand away.
"What are you talking about? Laistry-what?" Percy asked us.
Annabeth answered. "Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They're a race of giant cannibals who live in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once, but I've never seen them as far south as New York before."
"Laistry- I can't even say that. What would you call them in English?"
She thought about it for a moment. "Canadians," she decided. "Now come on, we have to get out of here."
"The police'll be after me."
"That's the least of our problems," she said. "Have you been having the dreams?"
"The dreams...about Grover?"
Her face turned pale. "Grover? No, what about Grover?"
Percy told us about his really weird dream about Grover. "Why? What were you dreaming about?"
"Lillian, have you had them?"
"Outside of camp I really only have one thing I dream about, so no." I answer Annabeth, not talking directly about Pitch. The stress of the dreams can be a lot, especially since they often come true in some way. Only Ginny knew about him and what it was like to have dreams about the future, and telling them wasn't on my to-do list for today. I guess part of me was scared that it would put them in danger.
Annabeth's eyes looked stormy, as if her mind were racing a million miles an hour.
"Camp," she said at last. "Big trouble at camp."
"My mom was saying the same thing! But what kind of trouble?" Percy asked her.
"I don't know exactly. Something's wrong. We have to get there right away. Monsters have been chasing me all the way from Virginia, trying to stop me. Have you had a lot of attacks?" Percy and I both shook our heads.
"None all year...until today." Percy answered.
"Not for me. But I also have some of the best security in the world."
"None? It makes sense for Lillian, but how ..." Her eyes drifted to Tyson. "Oh."
"What do you mean, 'oh'?"
Tyson raised his hand as if in class. "Canadians in the gym called Percy something...Son of the Sea God?"
Annabeth, Percy, and I exchanged looks. I didn't know how I could explain, but I figured Tyson deserved the truth after almost getting killed.
"Big guy," Percy said, "you ever hear those old stories about the Greek gods? Like Zeus, Poseidon, Athena-"
"Yes," Tyson answered.
"Well...those gods are still alive. They kind of follow Western Civilization around, living in the strongest countries, so like now they're in the U.S. And sometimes they have kids with mortals. Kids called half-bloods."
"Yes," Tyson repeated, like he was still waiting for Percy to get to the point.
"Uh, well, Annabeth, Lillian, and I are half-bloods," I said. "We're like...heroes-in-training. And whenever monsters pick up our scent, they attack us. That's what those giants were in the gym. Monsters."
"Yes." Percy stared at him. "So...you believe me?"
Tyson nodded. "But you are...Son of the Sea God?"
"Yeah," my friend admitted. "My dad is Poseidon."
Tyson frowned. Now he looked confused. "But then..."
A siren wailed. A police car raced past our alley.
"We don't have time for this," Annabeth said. "We'll talk in the taxi."
"A taxi all the way to camp?" Percy said. "You know how much money-"
"Trust me." Annabeth told him.
Percy hesitated. "What about Tyson?"
"We can't just leave him," He decided after a moment. "He'll be in trouble, too."
"Yeah." Annabeth looked grim. "We definitely need to take him. Now come on."
The three of us followed her down the alley. Together we made our way through the side streets of downtown- careful to avoid detection -while a huge column of smoke billowed up behind us from the school gymnasium.
"Here." Annabeth stopped us on the corner of Thomas and Trimble. She fished around in her backpack. "I hope I have one left."
She looked even worse than I'd realized at first. Her chin was cut. Twigs and grass were tangled in her ponytail, as if she'd slept several nights in the open. The slashes on the hems of her jeans looked suspiciously like claw marks.
"What are you looking for?" I asked. All around us, sirens wailed. I figured it wouldn't be long before more cops cruised by, looking for juvenile delinquent gym-bombers.
"Found one. Thank the gods." Annabeth pulled out a gold coin that I recognized as a drachma, the currency of Mount Olympus. It had Zeus's likeness stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other.
"Annabeth," Percy said, "New York taxi drivers won't take that."
I laughed. "I don't think most would, but let's be honest, some that aren't even from the Greek myths would totally take it.
"Stêthi," Annabeth shouted in Ancient Greek. "Ô hárma diabolês!"
As usual, the moment she spoke in the language of Olympus, I somehow understood it. She'd said: Stop, Chariot of Damnation!
That wasn't exactly a great sign.
She threw the coin into the street, and instead of hitting the asphalt, it sank through and disappeared.
After a moment, the asphalt darkened right where the coin had fallen. It melted into a rectangular pool about the size of a parking space- bubbling red liquid like blood.
Then a car erupted from the ooze. It was a taxi, all right, but unlike every other taxi in New York, it wasn't yellow. It was smoky gray. I mean it looked like it was woven out of smoke, like you could walk right through it. Written on the side were the words GRAY SISTERS in bold black lettering. The passenger window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out. She had a mop of grizzled hair covering her eyes, and she spoke in a weird mumbling way, like she'd just had a shot of Novocain.
"Passage? Passage?"
"Four to Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth said. She opened the cab's back door and waved at me to get in, like this was all completely normal.
"Ach!" the old woman screeched. "We don't take his kind!" She pointed a bony finger at Tyson.
"Extra pay," Annabeth promised. "Three more drachma on arrival."
"Done!" the woman screamed.
When the others had all piled in, squeezed in tight, I hesitated to climb in. My options were to sit basically on Percy's lap, or to fly at least eighteen minutes. Or I can just try to shadow-travel, but that doesn't always work the best.
"I'll fly and pay you back at camp." I tell them, shutting the door. Annabeth looks at me through the window, practically begging for me to take her with me. I shake my head, and we all say that we'll see each other soon.
They sped off, and I immediately realized just how good an idea it was not to go with.
I cover myself with the Mist, then darken the nearest corner- just enough to attempt shadow-travel. Stepping through, I am reminded just how cold the shadows are. I pulled my light flannel around me, protecting from the crisp winds and the icy air that makes up this place.
Quickly I rushed through the shadows, ending up in the Camp Half-Blood woods, nearly collapsing. Every time I have attempted shadow-travel, I feel drained of energy and magic for a few minutes after.
"I've got to practice that."
Taking a seat against the tree, I took a moment to regather my strength. Then I walked slowly to where I knew camp was, but what I saw scared me more than I thought it could.
***
A/N: Chapter 1: Published. My hair: Dyed. My Sanity: Gone.
Anyways, be prepared for reading book 4. It is going to be pretty long. And what do you think happens to Lillian to make her search for her own cure? (Evil wink and Agatha Harkness cackle)