"Wands?" the three all asked, Thalia scoffed and took one more cautious step away from the dog.
"Lady Hecate, this may sound stupid..." Percy began.
"It already does," coughed Thalia
"... but why do we need wands? Can't we just wave our hands and pretend like it's magic?"
Hecate crinkled her nose, almost disgusted by the question, "Listen closely you three, the wizarding world may seem powerful, but they also rely on their wands for practically all of their gifts. Even some of the greatest wizards, rely on what you would think of as a measly wooden stick," at this point, she began digging through her purse, and dropped the polecat onto the floor, "They are mortals. POWERFUL mortals, but mortals all the same."
Hecate then fished out four slender boxes, each around a foot long, and about 1/8 of a foot wide, "Now, who's first?"
Thalia shrugged, stepping forward and reaching for one of the boxes. When she caught hold of the one stacked on top, which Hecate managed to still balance all of them (Annabeth bet it was magic, how else could she keep them all in place?) the goddess snapped, "No! Yours is here."
She 'dropped' them, freeing her hands. But the boxes didn't topple over, they just floated in midair.
"Probably a godly thing," Percy murmured.
Hecate snatched one of the floating boxes swiftly, and carefully lifted the lid, "This wand is made of Ash Wood, with a Thunderbird tail feather at it's core," she shrugged slightly, "Rigid, 10 in a half inches." After twirling the wand in her hand, she handed the box and "gift" towards the demigod.
Annabeth began glaring around, noticing no unusual stares when there were just random boxes floating in the air. After a few more minutes, quite satisfied that the mist was doing it's job, she stepped forward.
"Ah, I believe it is this one!" Hecate plucked, yet again, another box from the air and stepped forward towards Annabeth.
By the time Hecate began taking off the lid, Thalia grasped her wand tightly. Strangely, a strong gust of wind filled the station, and then abruptly stopped. But Annabeth swore she saw a mortal drop his fork shouting on how it 'zapped him.'
"Here you are!" Hecate pulled her back to reality, handing her the wand. She too, grabbed hold of it. She inhaled sharply, as the tip of the wand brightened an luminescent hue of gold. It shone brightly, then faded to grey... and vanished.
"I thought that was a good fit, I usually don't suggest Fir Wood and phoenix feather... but it was a hunch," she pointed at the wand, still in Annabeth's grasp, "12 inches, unyielding."
"Now, only one more!" Hecate reached for another box, just as Percy began to step forward, "I personally suggested unicorn hair... but oh no! Poseidon had to poke his nose in, and INSIST on hippocampus hair...." she handed the third demigod the wand, and continued to talk, "That's cypress wood, 13 in a half inches, slightly springy."
Percy waved his wand a little too forcefully, and one of the water fountains below exploded.
"Whoops," he muttered, but not very apologetically.
"I guess that's that! I best be going now..."
"Erm, Lady Hecate?" Thalia stepped forward, timidly tucking her wand back in it's box and inside her backpack.
"What?" she pursed her lips, quite irritated at the question.
"I know this sounds weird of me asking, but why is there still one more wacky-wand-box floating in the air?" Thalia just pointed, as the remaining box slowly began to orbit in a spinning rotation. Just fast enough for them to notice it was still there.
"That is for the fourth."
"The fourth?" Annabeth and Percy raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. In the wizarding world I still hold some power over foresight and as they would call it, Divination. I have news that there will be a fourth member of your party..." she raised her hand, stopping the demigods as they began to question, "No, I do not know who it is. But I will tell you this... you will only be able to protect Harry Potter to a certain point. Then, his choices and actions are his own and you will have no say."
Percy gulped, "What's this certain point?"
"That is not for me to tell," she began to leave, picking up the polecat which was now wrapped around her ankle, "And do not forget, demigods! The wands are merely handicaps, but you are still not wizards. Be careful."
Fortunately, she did not use her godly form to make a dramatic exit. And the mortals standing around weren't incinerated. She merely snapped her fingers, and with a slight 'crack,' she disappeared in the same form as Mr. Crouch.
"Well, that was informative. Let's catch a train, shall we?" Percy rubbed his hands together, tucking his wand inside his duffel bag and swinging it over his shoulder.
"Ya, but we may have to handle that first..." Thalia pointed downstairs, leaning over the balcony.
Monsters really pick the worst times to show up, don't they?
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Down below, the three demigods spotted 5 telekhines, trying (and failing) to blend in with abnormally large sunglasses.
"Well, think of it this way," Percy piped cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood, "These may be the only monsters that we fight on the quest! Chiron says there's a border around the school."
"Well let's make it quick then, because the train leaves in," Annabeth quickly glanced at the clock, "9 minutes.."
Now, Percy was going to be honest. Telekhines weren't the scariest of monsters, the real problem was that they were smack dab in the middle of a bunch of mortals. It wasn't even rush hour and the train station was packed. No, the real problem was that they had to handle them discretely... so mortals didn't just see teenagers stabbing people... or... well... whatever the mist showed them.
They dashed towards the stairs. Luckily the security guard walking by didn't notice the three demigods sliding down the banisters of the escalator. And spoilers, but it was NOT as cool as it looked on James Bond. Thalia's foot got wedged into the side of the escalator's handrail, and literally rolled the rest of the way down like a tumbleweed. Okay,... that kind of made it all worth it for Percy.
Relax, okay? She's fine. Well she did kind of twist her ankle, but nothing a little ambrosia can't fix, right?
She nibbled the last of the godly food which she could take, mumbling irritably about how she lost all of her nectar back at the airport.
Now jogging towards where they spotted the telekhine, they scoped the area. It was more difficult trying to spot them at eye level. Luckily, Annabeth was good at spotting things.
"There! Looks like they're heading to platform 10," and with that, the three sprinted in that direction. On their way there, Percy glanced at the time. 10:54, that's not good...
As if on queue, Thalia snapped her fingers, urging most of the mortals to leave the area. Percy could tell it was tiring, manipulating the mist in such a crowded area, but right now they had to catch a train. And kill some monsters.
The crowds left in waves, until only the five telekhine looked around confusedly. Scratch that, make it four. Annabeth lunged forward and in one clean arch, decapitated the first one into a column of dust.
Three of the others stumbled back in surprise, but the fourth simply frowned (humanoid reactions looked really creepy on a dog's face).
"You lost, demigods? You seem quite far away from home..." his lips curved into a wicked grin. But being the telekhine he was, began panting like a dog while sticking his tongue out.
"Oh shut up, this is getting ridiculous," with the mortals now gone, Thalia's fingertips emitted small crackles of electricity. She thrust her hand forward, sending a jolt of lightning. Two down, three to go... thought Percy.
Telekhines were always a bit wimpy, Percy thought. But when the final three began running away? That was getting a little ridiculous, even for the dog-creatures they were.
Percy sprinted forward, catching the closest telekhines by surprise, and shoved him into one of the brick pillars. Gripping the monster's "shoulder" with one hand, he jammed Riptide into its chest with his other. Annabeth and Thalia both managed to tackle the fourth. Thalia was practically sitting on top of the monster, as she and Thalia both stabbed the telekhines simultaneously. The corridor now caked in clouds of dust.
One more.
Percy didn't need to look, because as he began to walk towards Annabeth, a hand swiftly grabbed a hold of his arm. And with the remaining telekhine's free hand, dragged his talon-like claws along his back. He winced in pain, but before he even had to turn around, Annabeth handled the situation quickly. In fact, she seemed quite enthusiastic about it after seeing the blood dripping through his shirt.
"Percy!" she shrieked, embracing him in a hug, "Oh gods, look at your back!"
"They're barks worse than their bite, huh?" he chuckled, before slumping down against one of the benches
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"Cheerio!" Thalia screamed with a fake British accent, as she jabbed the fourth telekhines in the eye with her dagger.
Annabeth swung her sword as well, but abruptly stopped when she saw that Thalia had it covered. It was actually was quite comical when she slammed into the monster, her body weight crushing him against the floor.
That's when she turned around and saw Percy. The fifth telekhines crept behind him and swung his clawed-hand, grazing his skin and forming four long gashes vertically down his back.
"Percy!" she shrieked, and sprinting forwards in that direction. They've suffered through worse, it was true. But it still didn't soften the fear of any of monsters they have faced. The sheer panic of seeing the possibility of his death horrified her. And he is NOT going to die because of some stupid telekhine, she convinced herself.
Before it raised its clawed fingertips again, Annabeth impaled him through his lower back. Funny huh? Stabbing somebody in the back only to have the same thing happen to you, she thought. Percy smiled. He smiled after almost being sliced up by a freaking monster. Really, seaweed brain?
"Percy! Oh gods, look at your back!" after quickly hugging him, she swung her bag off her shoulder, rapidly searching for ambrosia. Thalia conveniently snatched one of Annabeth's bottles of nectar and stuffed it in her own backpack. 'Got to have at least some,' she muttered.
He still wore that goofy grin, "Barks worse than their bite, huh?" then he sat down against on of the benches lining the station. Before he could say more, Annabeth crammed a square of ambrosia into his mouth.
"Here," she forced a water bottle into his hand, then walked around the bench, looking at the blood seeping through the orange shirt's fabric.
He lifted his shirt, showing the scratches on his back slowly closing, "Is it bleeding anymore?"
"No," Annabeth said with relief, "but you have to be careful... ambrosia isn't the most reliable medicine. Who knows if some of it's healing will reverse?" Percy nodded, knowing she was right.
Ambrosia was useful for bursts of energy, but permanent healing? Just like an adrenaline rush, sometimes perks in its healing factors or reversed too. The Apollo kids were always driven nuts in the infirmary about it. But hey, it could save lives within seconds, then give the person time to figure out how to heal it properly.
Thalia jogged towards them, "You know, I would just bandage it up, and then see if it's healed in the morning. Hunters do that all the time." The other two nodded, as Percy began to stand up to change his now-bloody shirt.
The demigods shared a rare glimpse of relief once Percy was fully healed. Now with bandages wrapped around his back, beneath his new shirt. They seemed to only have one problem at the moment.
They had 2 minutes to catch a train.
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Word Count: 2,026