˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
BOOK THREE
CHAPTER NINE.
❝ well, you thought wrong. ❞
THEY HAD arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said welcome to Cloudcroft, New Mexico. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.
Aria was freezing to death by the time they got to main street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As they walked, Thalia told Percy and Grover about their conversation with Apollo the night before--and how the god had told them to seek out Nereus in San Francisco.
Grover looked uneasy. "That's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first."
They stopped in the middle of town. Everything was pretty much visible from there: a school, a bunch of tourist cafés, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.
"Great," Thalia grumbled, looking around grimly. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."
"There's not even a wingstop," Aria said with a sigh.
"There's a coffee shop!" exclaimed Grover.
"Yes," Zoë said. "Coffee is good."
"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."
Thalia let out a groan of annoyance. "Fine. How about you two get us some food. Percy, Aria, Bianca, and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."
They agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable going with Thalia and Percy, but she followed.
Inside the store, they found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the magazine collection was too big for the population of the town, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and the only easy way to get in and out of town was through a personal car.
"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get there. Cost several hundred dollars."
"There's no fucking way Alamogordo is a real place," Aria muttered under her breath, and the clerk shot her a dirty glance, not fond her of her language usage.
Percy placed a rubber rat on the counter and dutifully paid for it, giving the worker a sympathetic look. However, when his eyes landed on Aria, his expression contorted to one of pure anger.
"Wonderful," Thalia grumped. "I'm going to walk down the street, see if anybody in the other shops has a suggestion."
"But the clerk said--" Percy started.
"I know," she said. "I'm checking anyway."
Bianca looked between Percy and Aria and then ultimately grabbed the daughter of Apollo's hand, dragging her outside. Percy shot daggers into her head.
If looks could kill, Aria would be six foot under by now.
The two girls stood on the porch, tired elbows resting on the rails.
"So," Aria began. "How do you like the Hunters?"
Bianca gave her a smile. "It's good. I feel...calmer, somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality. Are you still thinking?"
Aria let out a sigh. "I want to join, I really do, there's just..."
Bianca raised her immortal eyebrow. "Percy?"
Aria let out a noise of surprise. "What!? No!?"
Bianca looked taken aback by the daughter of Apollo's response. "Oh. I just thought-"
"Well, you thought wrong," Aria cut off angrily.
Yes, it was because of Percy. But was she going to admit that to a girl she had only known a few days? No.
Besides, she was mad at Percy right now.
Bianca didn't have a chance to ask her more questions, as Grover and Zoë arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for Bianca, Percy, and Aria. Coffee for them.
"We should do the tracking spell," Zoë said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"
"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to-"
He froze.
Aria was about to ask what was wrong when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had got lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else--almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.
Zoë gasped. "Grover, thy cup."
Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away--a tiny flock of doves. Percy's rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees--real fur, real whiskers.
Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. They gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.
"Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just...what's wrong with Grover?"
"I don't know," Aria gushed out, placing her hand on his forehead. "He just collapsed."
"Uuuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.
"Well, get him up!" Thalia shouted. She had her spear in hand. She looked behind her as if they were being followed. "We have to get out of here."
They made it to the edge of town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of grey camouflage, they were now wearing blue Mexico state police uniforms, but they had the same transparent grey skin and yellow eyes.
They drew their handguns. Thalia tapped her bracelet, Aegis spiralling to life on her arm. The warriors had no reaction though, barely even flinching. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into Percy, who drew Riptide. Zoë and Bianca drew out their bows, although, Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her. Aria drew out her golden dagger.
"Back up," Thalia said.
They started to--but then Aria heard a rustling of branches. Two more skeletons appeared on the road behind them. They were surrounded.
One of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it. Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone. Suddenly, Aria understood what was going on. These skeletons were now calling their brethren. Soon, they'd have a full party on their hands.
"It's near," Grover moaned.
"It's here," Percy corrected.
"No," the satyr insisted. "The gift. The gift from the wild."
Aria was beginning to think that his sickness was getting to him.
"We'll have to go one-on-one," Thalia said. "Four of them. Five of us. Maybe they'll ignore Grover that way."
"Agreed," said Zoë.
"The wild!" Grover cried out.
A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but Aria kept her eyes on the skeletons.
Percy charged.
The first skeleton fired. Percy deflected the bullet off with the edge of his blade and kept charging, the movement looking as fluid as the water he could control. The skeleton drew a baton and Percy sliced off his arms at the elbows. Then he swung Riptide through his waist and cut him in half.
His bones unknitted and clattered to the tarmac in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth at Percy and tried to fire, but the boy knocked his gun into the snow.
Aria thought he was doing pretty well, until the other two skeletons shot him in the back.
All the anger she had once held for the boy disappeared in that moment, her only thoughts being on whether he was alive or not. "Percy!" she screamed.
The son of Poseidon had landed facedown in the street. Aria felt herself relax as she saw Percy move, the boy rising without a single scratch. The Nemean lion's fur! His coat was bulletproof.
Aria and Thalia charged the second skeleton. Zoë and Bianca started firing arrows at the third and fourth. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them.
The daughter of Apollo saw the skeleton Percy had cut in half had reformed and attacked the boy once again. She realised there was no way to stop them. Zoë and Bianca fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, and Aria thought she was a goner, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.
"How did you do that?" Zoë asked.
"I don't know," Bianca replied nervously. "Lucky shot?"
"Well, do it again!"
Bianca tried, but the remaining skeletons were wary of her now. The skeletons pressed back on them, keeping them at baton's length.
"Plan?" Percy said as they retreated.
Nobody gave him an answer. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.
"A gift," Grover muttered.
And then, with a might roar, the largest pig Aria had ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild an angry.
"REEEEEEET!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere.
Then the pig turned to the group.
Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it!"
The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.
"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoë said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we can kill it."
"It's a gift," Grover said giddily. "A blessing from the Wild!"
The boar said "REEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoë and Bianca dived out of the way. Percy had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the boar tusk express.
"Yeah, I feel blessed!" Percy said. "Scatter!"
They ran in different directions, and for a moment, the boar was confused.
"It wants to kill us!" Thalia cried out.
"Of course," Grover said, like it was no big deal. "It's wild!"
"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.
To Aria, it seemed like a fair question, but the pig was offended and charged the Hunter. Bianca was faster than she realised. She rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverised the welcome to Cloudcroft sign.
"Keep moving!" Zoë yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. But Thalia, Percy and Aria won the prize for bad luck. When the boar turned on them, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defence. The sight of the medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage. Maybe it looked too much like one of his cousins. The boar charged them.
They only managed to keep ahead of it because they ran uphill, and they could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plough through them.
On the other side of the hill, Aria found an old stretch of train tracks, half buried in the snow.
"This way!" she yelled, and the two other demigods pursued her closely, the trio racing across the rails while the boar roared behind them, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its hooves were just not made for this, thank the gods.
Ahead of them, Aria saw a covered tunnel. Past that, an old trestle bridge spanning a gorge.
Percy gave the group a look that in his terms meant 'I'm about to do something stupid'. "Follow me!" he said.
Thalia slowed down-- Aria didn't have the time to ask why--but the daughter of Apollo pulled her along as Percy continued to usher them closer to his running frame. Behind them, a ten tonne pig tank was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased them.
Aria, Percy and Thalia ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side.
"No!" Thalia screamed.
She'd turned as white as ice. They were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about twenty metres below.
The boar was right behind them.
"Come on!" Percy insisted. "It'll hold out weight...probably."
"I can't!" Thalia yelled. Her eyes were ignited with the fire of fear.
The boar smashed into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed.
"Now!" Percy shouted at Thalia.
The daughter of Zeus looked down and swallowed. Aria swore she was turning green.
She didn't have a chance to process why. The boar was charging through the tunnel, straight towards them. Percy tackled Thalia and Aria, sending the three sideways off the bridge, into the side of the mountain. They slid on Aegis like a snowboard, over rocks and mud and snow, racing downhill. The boar was less fortunate; it couldn't turn that fast, so all ten tons of the monster charged out onto the tiny trestle, which buckled under its weight. The boar free-fell into the gorge with a mighty squeal and landed in a snowdrift with a huge POOOOOF!
The three skidded to a stop, breathing hard. Aria had scratches all over her face, demigod blood dripping like raindrops onto the snow. Percy mirrored her scars, the boy panting heavily on the ground. Thalia had pine needles in her hair. Next to them, the wild boar was squealing and struggling. All Aria could see was the bristly tip of its back. It was wedged completely in the snow like styrofoam packing. It didn't seem to be hurt, but it wasn't going anywhere either.
Percy looked at Thalia. "You're afraid of heights."
Now that they were safely down the mountain, her eyes had their usual angry look. "Don't be stupid."
Aria shrugged. "We don't have to talk about it."
Thalia gave her a thankful glance, steadying her breath. Then she brushed the pine needles out of her hair. "If either of you tell anyone, I swear-"
"No, no," Percy said, although there was a teasing smile on his lips. "That's cool. It's just...the daughter of Zeus, the lord of the sky, afraid of heights?"
Percy was about to be knocked into the snow when, above them, Grover's voice called, "Hellooooo?"
"Down here!" Percy called, cupping his hands around his mouth to project his voice.
A few minutes later, Zoë, Bianca and Grover joined them. They stood watching the wild boar struggling in the snow.
"A blessing of the wild," Grover said, though now he looked agitated.
"I agree," Zoë said. "We must use it."
"Hold up," Thalia said irritably. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."
Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"
"Fun," Percy said. "Like...pig cowboys."
The son of Poseidon looked over at Aria as if looking for validation about his joke. He was met with nothing but a blank stare.
"We need to get aboard," Grover announced. "I wish...I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now."
"What's gone?"
Grover didn't seem to hear Percy's question. He walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose and the animal went nuts, straining to get it.
"Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Great."
She trudged over and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of them.
Zoë and Bianca walked towards the boar, Aria following closely.
"Wait a second," Percy said. "Do you guys know what Grover is talking about--this wild blessing?"
"Of course," Zoë affirmed. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong...I never thought I would sense that presence again."
"What presence?"
"The lord of the wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan."
camp notes!!
aria and percy in their real life enemies era...
percy pov next chap...lets see what bf has to say about this
stay safe my angels
- gracie