Thalia didn't understand a lot what the nervous 9 year old was saying. So she merely nodded her head, which caused the biggest smile to grow on her face. She seemed as if she was saying, "I did something right!"
But still, Lucy wasn't the best source of information, so after talking to some of the older hunters, she pieced together what was going on. It wasn't too hard, news spread across their camp like wildfire (which was currently somewhere on the borders of Canada and Montana). All she had to do was eavesdrop on the hunters' gossip.
Thalia's heading to camp? Right after the war? she overheard one of the hunters mumbling.
I heard she's going on a quest with a BOY. chimed in another, startling the first and began twisting her blonde braid.
Oh shut it Bethany, he seems nice. And he's already got a girlfriend.
So, they finally caught the Horntail?
No... but I heard they found the people who captured it, then dragged it all the way up North to Scotland...
What type of idiots do that anyway?
Bet it's a boy...
For the love of gods Bethany! I heard he's not that bad! The first girl threw her hands up in the air. And besides, whoever captured him was OBVIOUSLY a boy.
So, that's the strategy how Thalia figured out she was going to Camp. After a half an hour or so of listening, she eventually pieced together why she was leaving and eventually go to Scotland. To end the barbaric reign of this menacing dragon.
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Percy and Annabeth left the Big House. On their way back to their cabins, to start packing, they jumped at the sound of...
"Percy! Annabeth!" they turned around, Jason obviously catching on to their upset mood, "What's up? Aren't you suppose to be at the campfire with us?" he poked his glasses a little higher up on his nose.
"Hey man." Percy slapped him on the back, trying to lighten the mood, "Can't talk a lot right now. But we're gonna be gone for a while."
"Let me guess,... another quest?" Jason winced at the word, like the rest of them, quests always meant a bad experience.
The two paused for a moment, then began to nod.
"At least Thalia is coming," Annabeth shrugged, "Speaking of which,... there she is right now." She jolted up and began jogging towards the border.
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"Thalia!" Annabeth leaped forward into a warm hug from her childhood friend.
"Hey Annabeth! Still hanging around this Seaweed Brain over here?" Thalia smirked, waving a silvery arrow in her right hand.
"Hardy har har..." Percy smiled, "It's good to see you, Thals."
Jason waved too, but turned around quickly towards wicked cackles in the campfire's general direction. The flames were currently 20 feet tall, and if you looked closely, you could spot Leo waving his arms like a maniac while jumping through the fire.
"Errr, right. I better go make sure this situation doesn't get out of hand," and with that Jason hurriedly tried to stop Valdez from burning down the camp.
The other three began cracking up
"Good luck with that,..." smirked Thalia, resting one of her hands along a strap on her silvery backpack.
"So, Chiron said we should get packed. We'll meet you back here in an hour."
Thalia nodded firmly, "Yep. I'll talk to Chiron about our cover story, then fill you guys in."
The three dispersed, with Percy quickly pecking Annabeth on the cheek before they parted ways.
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"So let me get this straight..." Percy gestured towards Thalia to pause her explanation, "We're halfbloods, but not in the demigod way..." he began counting along with his fingers, numbering each statement, "Everyone thinks we're from this school called 'Olympian's Institution of Combat Magic,' and we are about to die in an airplane."
Thalia's face turned slightly green at the thought, then swallowed, "That's basically it. Zeus swore that he wouldn't kill us. Which actually took a lot of convincing on Athena and Hera's part, and that he wouldn't try electrocute us for the whole year."
"Why would we need to..." Percy glanced up at the sky, "but I am very grateful for the leeway... fly during the school year?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes, but smiled lightly towards him, "Didn't you listen? There's this game called Quidditch, which involves flying broomsticks. Chiron thought it best that we fit in as much as possible."
Thalia grumbled something about 'kissing Leo before she ever got on that death stick,' then glared out the window.
Argus began turning the steering wheel as they pulled up in front of the airport. There were a few frustrated honks when Percy began opening the car door, but froze midway to look back at the other two.
"Wait a minute, you said that we were representatives..."
"Yes." Annabeth and Thalia both replied irritatibly as they began unbuckling their seat belt.
"Wouldn't it be weird that there's only three of us representing the school? I bet the other schools have a lot more people coming..."
Annabeth bit her lip as she opened the car door,
"Guess we'll figure that part out on the way there."
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The airport itself wasn't too bad. Well, it wasn't as bad as other things the demigods have suffered through. Such as Valdez singing during Karaoke Night at camp. Let's just say Karaoke Night was from then on a one time thing... Will still has nightmares.
But there had to be a security fiasco.
Surprisingly, Riptide and Annabeth's drakon bone sword went through the metal detector with ease. But when Thalia tried to jam her bow and quiver through the 'devil box,' as she recalled it, it started blaring with red lights.
"Stupid thing..." she grumbled as stepped past the line of people, toward her backpack.
"Ma'am, are you carrying anything metal on you?" A security guard started marching forward. She wore the normal uniform, dressed in dark navy blue, but wore squeaky black rain boots. Percy didn't know why he stared at her shoes, it really threw off the 'I take my job too seriously' vibe she had going on. Besides, they also made an annoying 'squeak' each time she took a step forward.
"No," she grumbled. Thalia now held her bracelet, thumbing the clasp worriedly in her palm. Which thankfully, at the moment, was not in the form of her frightful Medusa-head shield.
"Then it must be something in your carry-on," her light-brown ponytail whirled around as she began rummaging through her bag. Pushing aside a bag of ambrosia, she picked up a flask of nectar with slight irritation. "No liquids on the plane," she rolled her eyes, and began dumping the godly liquid into the trash.
Thalia's fist clenched. Sure, looking through her stuff was just one layer to invasion of privacy, but throwing it away? And not just anything, but something that could save their lives when in danger?
Before she could say anymore, the security guard reached for her bow, holding it out carefully.
"Ma'am care to explain why you have a pair of nunchucks in your carry-on?" she held it forward, eyeing it with distaste.
Percy squinted, attempting to see through the veil of mist, and quickly replied, "Those are for practice."
"Practice?" she raised an eyebrow, and held the bow warily to her side. Her grip on it was completely wrong, but that's expected when she didn't see it correctly through the mist.
"Yep," Percy replied popping the 'p,' "We're instructors, and a client wanted us to head to Europe for face-to-face training."
"Face to face?"
"Most of our tutorials or online."
"Really?" her eyebrows raised even higher up on her forehead, which nearly seemed impossible. Then there was a quick pause before she grumbled, "Just leave them inside the bag during the flight..."
The three gathered their things, and were immediately shoved into the food court.
After ten minutes or so, they finally reached their airplane's gate. Thalia leaned back in one of the chairs, attempting to make herself comfortable, but couldn't quite find the right position. She continued mutter things like 'stupid thing's as hard as ice' or 'the darn back of it is slanted forward, who sits like that?' Finally, she stopped fidgeting with her legs arched over the armrest and atop the seat-beside-her's cushion.
Annabeth rolled her eyes, "How is that even comfortable?" she gestured towards her back, which was being shoved forcefully into the chair's other armrest.
"Hey, at least I am not sitting on the table like Percy is so rudely doing," she pointed towards him, who quickly stood up. She cackled, and began leaning her head backwards.
But because her chair was at the corner of the row, it merely swung down, letting gravity do the rest. Her spiky hair was now lopsided and in her eyes, as her head merely dangled upside-down. With a groan, she sat up properly in the chair, and rested her head against her chair's actual cushion.
It's funny how little things make people laugh. Like the fact that Thalia, being the tough warrior she was, just lost a battle with a poorly-made chair. Especially after she spent 5 minutes fidgeting around, with the other two just watching with amusement. Annabeth at least tried to hide her smile, but Percy slumped back onto the table, grinning like a mad-man.
"Comfortable?"
"Shut up, Prissy."
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Word Count: 1,569