ESTELLA CRUZ NEVER THOUGHT Percy Jackson would see the inside of her bedroom, let alone her apartment, yet there he was.
Granted, the only reason he was there was because he was early. He had sent Stella an Iris message yesterday telling her that he would be picking her up first before driving to Maine for their mission. Since Stella also lived in Manhattan, she was Percy's first stop before they picked up Annabeth and Thalia from their boarding school in Brooklyn.
The drive was going to be long, but everything was fine because it was planned out. That was until Percy showed up half an hour early. She was trying to collect all the spare ambrosia and nectar vials she had lying around her room when she heard a knock at the door.
Stella opened her apartment door to find Percy standing there, a few inches taller than when she last saw him in August. His tousled black hair had also grown a bit longer, she noticed. Gods, why was he more handsome?
"You're early," Stella pointed out.
Percy looked at her, noticing her long brown hair had been pulled into two braids, and her amber eyes seemed darker in the winter. Yet, she still managed to effortlessly emit a warm glow that mortals or others couldn't notice unless you truly looked at her.
"Hello to you too," Percy grinned, "so are you going to let me in, or am I just going to stand here?"
Stella rolled her eyes and stepped aside, allowing Percy to enter her apartment.
"If you were coming earlier, you could have let me know, I'm not ready yet," She said gesturing to the school uniform she was still wearing. It was the Friday before winter break, and Stella hadn't changed out of her uniform since she left school early.
Percy looked down sheepishly at her outfit, and Stella could see the light blush that coated the son of Poseidon's cheeks. She was wearing a white polo, a plaid blue skirt, below-the-knee socks, and loafers.
Stella laughed at his reaction, and he quickly looked back at her face. She playfully hit him on the arm, "Come on."
Stella led him to her room and resumed what she had been doing. She had left all the vials dumped on her bed, so she started packing her overnight bag with as many vials as possible. Once she finished stuffing her bag, she turned around to see Percy still standing in the doorway of her bedroom awkwardly as if he shouldn't be stepping foot inside.
"You can sit on my bed as you wait instead of standing there all weird," Stella commented.
Percy rolled his eyes but followed what she said and sat at the foot of her bed, "Is your mom home?"
He didn't know it, but he struck a nerve. Stella felt her body freeze for a moment before she felt the words come out of her mouth, "No."
"Is she at work?" Percy continued. He looked at her as she emptily stared at her bag. Stella only shrugged.
"Oh, okay." Percy mentally face-palmed at the fact that he didn't process that it was obviously something Stella didn't want to discuss.
She had never spoken about her family situation, always staying quiet even when others like Thalia or Annabeth talked about their own. There was a lot Percy didn't know about Stella.
They had become good friends at Camp Half-Blood the past summer, but Percy felt nervous being alone with her. Even though they had spent plenty of time executing amazing pranks and laughing together at camp, seeing her at home with nobody around felt oddly intimate.
Silence lay between them as Percy watched Stella hastily grab clothes out of her closet before walking into her bathroom and closing the door behind her.
Stella swiftly changed into her favorite black mom jeans, a grey long-sleeve, and a black light-down jacket. She let her braids loose, reverting to her wavy hair. Opening the door, she saw Percy still sitting, his blue eyes looking around her room. She grabbed her Doc Martens from her closet and walked over to her bed.
"We can go once I slip these on," Stella told him as he watched her wobble on one foot, trying to squeeze her other foot into the boot.
She felt herself start to lose her balance and start falling forward before Percy quickly stood and steadied her by holding onto the sides of her shoulders. She looked up at him, "Thank you. I almost ate it."
He laughed and stole the boot out of her hand, and before he realized what he was doing, he knelt on one knee and placed the boot next to her foot.
"Come on, if I don't help you I don't think we'll ever get on the road," Percy said, and Stella let out a laugh. He looked up at her, noticing her bright smile.
"Fine," She said cooperating with him as he helped her put her boot on, "but from now on you're my personal helper."
Percy laughed with her as he helped her with her other boot, "I wouldn't mind." He stood back up grinning, "See, wasn't so hard now, was it?"
She narrowed her eyes playfully at him and reached over to grab her bag, throwing it over her shoulder. Making a quick scan of her room, she ensured she had everything she needed before they walked out and closed her bedroom door behind them.
She slipped her keys out of her pocket and locked up the front door before turning to Percy smiling, "Vamos."
"Where's your mom parked?" Stella asked as they walked down the four flights of stairs.
"Well, that's why we were early. She thought she would have a harder time finding parking, but we got lucky," Percy said.
She snorted, "She's a trooper for driving around New York."
He nodded in agreement, "She found a spot down a block, just our luck."
"Lead the way, Aquaman." She smiled as they stepped out into the chilly street.
"Seriously, sunshine?" He narrowed his eyes at her, a small smirk on his lips, as they began walking.
Stella rolled her eyes, "It's only funny when I do it."
Percy laughed, and dramatically said, "You wish you had my comedy skills."
She nudged his arm, "Kelp face."
"You're a violent one, glowstick," He said, rubbing his arm.
"If you call me glowstick ever again, I'll show you violent."
Percy raised his hands in surrender, "No, please. I think I have enough on my hands with Clarisse and gods who want to kill me."
Stella smirked, "Hm... I'll consider it."
They had fallen into step together by the time they reached Sally's car. She slid into the backseat as Percy settled next to his mom.
"Alright kids, let's get this show on the road!" Sally Jackson said, before turning around to face Stella, "You must be Estella, Percy's spoken about you."
Stella darted her eyes at Percy who was avoiding all eye contact, grinning she said "Has he?"
She was so going to tease him about that.
Before Sally could elaborate, Percy interrupted her, "Mom this is Stella, Stella this is my mom Sally. Now let's go."
Sally gave a knowing look at Percy before looking at her, "Well, it's nice to meet you, Stella."
Stella smiled back at her, "It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Jackson."
Sally began to pull out of the parking spot and looked at Stella through the rearview mirror, "Please call me Sally. So, your godly parent is Apollo?"
Stella's heart warmed at the mention of her father, "Yes! He's quite the character. The last time we spoke he was trying to convince me to start a slam poetry class at camp."
She heard Sally chuckle, "I bet you must be a great archer."
"She's the best at camp," Percy said before turning to her, "but don't tell Lee I said that."
Stella blushed at the compliment. She knew she had a gift, but sometimes she forgot others around her noticed. Percy noticed.
She began toying with her charmed ring subconsciously at the mention of archery. It was also her weapon, a bow and arrow. Apollo had gifted it to her when he had claimed her, and Stella never went anywhere without it. She had named it Iliaktída, sunbeam in Greek. It was a simple gold band with a sun in the middle, and as a weapon, it held an unlimited supply of celestial bronze arrows.
"My lips are locked, or else you'd be speaking in rhyming couplets for the next few days," Stella teased, and Percy laughed.
They settled into a comfortable silence, and Stella found herself drifting off to sleep. She wasn't awoken until Annabeth and Thalia were piling into the backseat next to her. Stella greeted them, glad to be reunited with her best friends.
There were several hours left to get to Bar Harbor, Maine, but as they continued on the road, a snowstorm caught up to them. Between the blizzard and the anxious energy bouncing off the demigods, nobody was talking except for Sally. She recounted several stories from Percy's childhood, each making Stella smile even wider.
It was almost nightfall when they arrived at Westover Hall. Thalia wiped the fog off the car window, "Oh yeah. This'll be fun."
Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.
"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" Sally asked Percy.
He glanced at the backseat before he said, "No, thanks, Mom. I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."
Sally continued, "But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."
The love and worry Percy's mother had for him was evident. It caused a pang in Stella's heart that she tried to ignore.
"It's okay," Stella smiled reassuringly at Sally, "we'll keep him out of trouble."
Sally hesitated but said, "All right, dears. Do you have everything you need?"
"Yes, Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."
"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?" Sally continued.
Percy tried to cut her off, "Mom—"
Sally persisted, "Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"
Percy unbuckled his seat belt, "Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on, guys."
Stella smiled sadly at Sally as they piled out of the car into the cold night. She knew she should be thinking of their mission, but she could only think about how a mother could be so adoring of her child. They watched as Sally's car faded out of sight, Stella was slightly shivering.
"Your mom is so cool, Percy," Thalia said.
"She's pretty okay," He said. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?"
Stella couldn't ignore how ironic the situation was. He had struck the same nerve only a couple of hours ago. She had to refrain from laughing at his obliviousness.
Thalia glowered at him, "If that was any of your business, Percy—"
"We'd better get inside," Annabeth interrupted, "Grover will be waiting."
Stella was glad Annabeth said something, or else she might have had to witness Thalia pulverize Percy to a pulp.
They all looked at the castle, dreading what was to come.
"You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call." Thalia said.
"Nothing good," Percy added.
The oak doors groaned open, and the four of them stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow. Westover Hall reminded Stella of a castle; it was enormous with tall ceilings. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff.
Stella didn't have Grover's satyr ability to smell monsters, but she could sense something dangerous lay ahead. She started fidgeting with Iliaktída and looked next to her to see Percy's hand in his pocket, probably holding Riptide. Even Thalia was rubbing her charmed silver bracelet, also known as her shield Aegis. They all felt it. A fight was coming.
Annabeth started to say, "I wonder where—"
She was cut off by the sound of the tall oak doors shutting behind them. The rush of air made Stella shiver again. She was not in her element.
Percy mumbled, "Oo-kay. Guess we'll stay a while."
Dance music echoed from the other end of the hall. They decided to stash their bags behind a large marble pillar and started down the hall. They had barely gone far when a man and woman marched out of the shadows, intercepting them.
Stella froze.
They both walked stiffly towards them, wearing black military-style uniforms. "Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"
She heard Percy next to her lowly say, "Um..."
They hadn't talked at all in the car about how they would get inside. They had absolutely no plan. At this moment, Stella felt very grateful that she was a good liar.
"Ma'am, we're just—" Percy started.
"Ha! Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!" The man said in an accent. He was tall, with a hawkish face, and his eyes were two different colors—one brown, one blue.
Thalia stepped forward and snapped her fingers loudly. Stella felt a light gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. It washed over all of them, making the banners rustle on the walls. Stella knew Chiron had been teaching her how to manipulate the Mist the past summer, but she wasn't sure if Thalia had mastered it. She prayed to the gods that she had.
"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir. We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Annabeth, Stella, and Percy. We're in ninth grade." Thalia said.
The male teacher narrowed his two-colored eyes. The man hesitated, looking at his colleague, "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"
The woman blinked as if she had been in a trance. "I...yes. I believe I do, sir." She frowned at them. "Annabeth. Stella. Thalia. Percy. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"
Before they could answer, Grover ran up to them, breathless. "You made it! You—" He exclaimed before noticing the teachers. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh—"
"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" said the man. It was clear the supposed Dr. Thron wasn't Grover's biggest fan. "What do you mean, they made it? These students live here."
Grover swallowed. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant I'm so glad they made...the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"
Stella stifled a laugh. If she made the punch there would be some loopy middle schoolers.
Dr. Thorn glared at them, but before he could say anything, Mrs. Gottschalk said dreamily, "Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!"
They left, adding a lot of "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" and a couple of salutes when leaving. It was ridiculous. Grover hustled them down the hall in the direction of the music until they reached a door that had GYM written on the glass.
"That was close!" Grover said. "Thank the gods you got here!"
The girls hugged Grover while Percy gave him a big high five. Stella rolled her eyes, boys.
"So what's the emergency?" Percy asked.
Grover took a deep breath, "I found two."
"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed.
"Here?" Stella furrowed her brows.
Grover nodded. Because of the war, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. They were losing campers, and they needed all the help they could get. New fighters.
"A brother and a sister," he said. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."
"Monsters?" Thalia asked.
"One." Grover said nervously, "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"
Blocking him? That sounds like Dr. Thorn. Stella felt the gears in her brain start to churn. Dr. Thorn had to be a monster, or monster adjacent. He was a bitch but he was also suspicious as hell.
"Right. These half-bloods are at the dance?" Thalia said.
Grover nodded.
"Then let's dance," She said, "Who's the monster?"
"Dr. Thorn," Stella deduced before Grover said anything.
He looked around nervously, "How'd you know? Yes, it's him, the vice principal."
Stella shrugged as she felt all their eyes on her, "Just a feeling."
They entered the gym to see they were interrupting a school dance. There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each other's faces while girls moved around in cliques.
"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "Bianca and Nico di Angelo."
The first thing that stood out to Stella was their olive complexion and dark silky hair. The girl wore a floppy green cap, and the boy was obviously her little brother. He was shuffling some kind of trading cards. The sister seemed to be scolding him about something while looking around as if she sensed something was wrong.
Annabeth said, "Do they... I mean, have you told them?"
Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger."
"So let's grab them and get out of here," Percy said, starting forward before Thalia put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
Dr. Thorn was now standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in Stella's direction. Guessing by the look on his face, Stella knew Thalia's Mist had not affected him. He knew who they were.
"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered, "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."
"How?" Percy asked. Stella was asking herself the same question.
"We're four powerful half-bloods. Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids."
"Dancing?" Annabeth asked.
Thalia nodded before making a face, "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"
Grover looked hurt. "I did."
"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"
"Green who?"
"Never mind. Let's dance."
"But I can't dance!"
"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said. "Come on, goat boy."
Grover yelped as Thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor. It was a sight to see. Stella wished she had her film camera with her. She needed to immortalize the sight of Grover dancing.
Annabeth grinned, turning toward Stella and Percy, "I'm going to try to scope out the place. Just do what Thalia said, act natural."
Before either of them could protest, Annabeth slipped her blue Yankees cap on, and she turned invisible. She was gone.
"So... How's school been?" Percy asked her awkwardly.
Stella turned toward him, "It's whatever. It's an all-girls school and has a dreadful uniform I have to wear every day."
Percy blushed, "Hey, the uniform wasn't that bad."
"Like what you saw, Jackson?" Stella laughed, "Joking aside, I hate it. And I have a few friends but it's not like camp or Cabin 7."
Percy hummed, "Yeah, I feel that. Have you seen anyone from camp since summer?"
"Yeah, actually—"
"Hey!" Thalia called out to them, interrupting Stella. She was slow dancing with Grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. Gods, Stella really wished she could make a camera appear out of thin air.
"Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there."
Percy looked nervously at Stella and then at the crowd. "So, um, who are you going to ask?"
Stella looked around the gym, scanning all the possible boys. "He's cute," She pointed out some tall, buff guy who was playing basketball. She watched Percy narrow his eyes at the guy.
"Sure, I guess." He said with a certain tone Stella couldn't really decipher.
Percy looked like he was trying to size up the guy. Stella started laughing, "I'm joking. Gods, Percy, you're so easy to mess with. Dance with me, water boy."
He looked at her, "We need to work on your sense of humor, glowstick."
"Call me that again and you're going to have to find a new girl to dance with," Stella said.
"No, there's nobody else I'd rather dance with, sunshine," Percy said.
His words made her stomach flutter. Nobody else? Stella tried not to smile at his words. What did that mean? As friends, of course, she figured. It would be funny to think of them as anything but. He would be way awkward asking anyone else.
"Much better," She said.
They went onto the dance floor, she saw him look over at Thalia and Grover. Percy put one hand on her hip, "Uh, is that okay?"
Stella smiled at him and nodded, grabbing his other hand. They began to dance slowly.
"So what were you saying before?" Percy asked her.
She racked her brain trying to remember their previous conversation. "Oh, yeah. Lee stayed with me during Thanksgiving break and the Stoll brothers have dropped by a few times."
"It's nice not being alone in that apartment," She added under her breath.
Percy frowned, "Alone? What do you mean?"
Stella wished she hadn't said anything. "Nothing, my mom wasn't in town so Lee came to keep me company. My dad even dropped by Thanksgiving night."
"Oh, that's nice," Percy said, "but you're not always alone, right?"
"Um, I mean," Stella began. Fuck, she was supposed to be a good liar. Why couldn't she just lie to him? Percy began to frown again.
She looked around the gym as she tried to come up with a response. Her eyes looked at the bleachers and saw no di Angelo sibling in sight. Stella froze, "They're gone."
"What?" Percy said, following her gaze. Dr. Thorn had also disappeared, and the door next to the bleachers was wide open.
Stella looked around them but saw none of their friends in sight, "Fuck, where did they go!"
Percy stilled, "Stella, look." He was pointing at something lying on the gym floor. Stella realized it looked just like the floppy green cap Bianca di Angelo had been wearing. Next to it were a few scattered trading cards Nico had held.
"Come on, we have to follow them," Percy said grabbing her hand and starting to run to the opposite end of the gym. Stella looked in the direction they were running and saw a glimpse of Dr. Thorn steering the siblings out of the gym by their necks.
The door they had escaped from led into a dark hallway. There were sounds of scuffling up ahead, then a painful grunt. Percy uncapped Riptide and Stella twisted the sun on her ring. Suddenly, she was holding Iliaktída. Both her arrow and Riptide's blade glowed faintly, casting some light.
They looked at each other in understanding before jogging down the corridor. There was nobody there, however. Percy pushed open a door, and they found themselves back in the main entry hall. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight, but the di Angelo siblings stood on the opposite side of the room.
They stood frozen in horror, staring right at them. Percy advanced slowly, lowering Riptide, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
They didn't answer. Their eyes were full of fear. Stella didn't know what had them so scared. Where did Dr. Thorn go?
"My name's Percy," He said, "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe."
Bianca's eyes widened. Her fists clenched. Stella immediately turned around and saw Dr. Thorn standing several feet behind them, a maniacal smile on his face. "Percy!" She exclaimed.
It was too late. By the time Percy whirled around, a spike shot out and slammed him to the wall, pinning him by his coat and shirt. Percy tried to free his shoulder but couldn't. He winced and Stella noticed the black dagger-like projectile had cut his shoulder. She rushed over to him.
Dr. Thorn's cold laugh echoed through the hall. "Yes, Perseus Jackson, I know who you are."
He stepped into the dim light. He still looked human, but his face was ghoulish. He had perfect white teeth, and his eyes reflected the light of Iliaktída.
"Let him go!" Stella bellowed, stepping forward. She raised her bow at him, ready to shoot.
Dr. Thorn laughed, "I know who you are too, Estella Cruz. Thank you for coming out of the gym. I hate school dances."
Before she knew it, a second projectile shot from somewhere behind Dr. Thorn, and she found herself pinned next to Percy by her jacket. Great. The spike had grazed her side, and it began to burn. Poison.
Stella knew what it was before she felt the burn. A little side effect of being the daughter of the god of healing, disease, and plague.
"All four of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."