𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄
ghostbusters...but carjacking!
——— 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐀!
( DECEMBER '07, WASHINGTON DC )
SO, THERE'S A COMPLETELY reasonable explanation for why Verona wanted to go to New Orleans — her dream had told her to. She knows that sounds weird, (no, she really does) but demigod dreams are supposed to guide you on quests and aid you. Demigods have intuition and precognition — they're made to be heroes. Sometimes in the midst of remembering that demigods are half mortal and very much killable, people (monsters, specifically) seem to forget that demigods are still half god or goddess. Verona's half goddess, she's got this (she thinks).
She'd dreamt of an abandoned naval base (at least, she assumed it was abandoned judging by the triad of cobwebs and overgrown vines). It was tall and it gave Verona an eerie sense to get out while she still could — however, she was in a dream, so, of course, her dream self just had to venture further. She cringed at the cobwebs and looked out for spiders (sometimes, Verona felt more like a daughter of Athena with her copious fear of the eight legged insect). It was out of nowhere that she felt flashes, like something was clawing at her, vines and branches wrapping around her hands, and her feet and her body, wrapping her in and sinking her into her depth. Next thing she knew, she was falling through a dark pit. The vines were now shocking red, but still wrapping around her in the sourest way possible. She heard a chuckle, she felt herself flash towards a sign.
Welcome to Louisiana, it said in bright white. Another flash and she was flashing towards a brilliant array of lights, the loud music jamming her ear in, her heart pumping to the rhythmic beat.
The french quarter, Verona thought. She, ironically enough, grew up in Louisiana for the first eight years of her life — she remembered what New Orleans looked like, she would be able to identify it like a needle in a haystack, like the back of her hand.
She remembered when her dad had taken her to the french quarter for her birthday one year — they lived a bit out of New Orleans but her dad worked in the city, he was a bartender. It was her seventh birthday and they had a nice dinner after her dad got off work, and then walked throughout the city. There was loud music and people dancing, and her dad had stopped at a small jewelry shop and bought her a beautiful necklace, with a small gold dove adorning the pendant (of course, Verona hadn't known what the dove meant at that time, now, she did).
Verona could still feel the weight of the necklace as it sat on her neck right under her camp beads to this day.
When Verona had awoke in the morning, it was still dark out. She had, coincidentally enough, run into Percy who was also trying to escape camp. One heartfelt conversation and a explanation on how to get the chariot of damnation to appear later, Percy had taken off on Blackjack and Verona had made her way towards Thalia's tree to start her own quest.
So, yeah, maybe she didn't have a plan — she had an inkling though.
However, as she stood on the burnt rubble of what was once an frozen yoghurt shop in the middle of Washington DC, staring at Connor who was wide eyed and bleeding from his cheek in front of her — she wasn't sure she had that inkling either.
After all, it had been only four days since they had left Philadelphia and already, all hell had broken loose.
NINETY SIX 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐑
( PHILADELPHIA )
"Well, crap."
Verona stared at the bright blue sign in front of her. Welcome to Philadelphia — Enjoy our past...Experience our future! This was not going the way Verona wanted it to. When Percy had said the Gray ladies took the cab to neighbouring areas from New York, she had not expected it to be the next state over. At least, in New York she could get a train ride or something to Louisiana. Where the hell was she supposed to get a train ride in Philadelphia? Flying had been checked off her bucket list eons ago — although it was safe to fly for the four of them as Fay was a satyr, and none of the other three were children of the big three like Percy was, Verona had technically been a missing child for the last six years. While Connor and Emilia's one living, mortal parent knew where they were, Verona had run from the foster system at the age of nine after her father was arrested, meaning there was no way she could get on a plane without TSA questioning why there has been a missing persons case open for her for the last six years.
Which left her to stare at the sign, dumbfounded.
"Well, crap?" Connor questioned from beside her. He had a bruise forming on the side of his forehead again from the ride in the chariot of damnation, and he looked just a little bit pissed. Okay, so maybe he had a bit of a right to be — Verona hadn't really told him anything about where they were going, what they were doing next (then again, she didn't really know, so...). "We're stranded in the middle of Philadelphia and all you have to say is, well, crap? Really, Blaze?"
Verona rolled her eyes. Connor's tone was snarky, and it was giving her a bigger headache than the chariot of damnation had each time it bumped a pothole (and be warned, there were a lot of potholes when they drove through New York). She looked around — they seemed to be on the corner of some street. "Technically, I doubt we're in the middle of Philadelphia," she started. Fay snorted. "Besides, we're not stranded. We just...need to find like a bus station or something so we can move forward."
"Washington DC's two hours away, I think," Fay chimed in. He looked a bit better than he had been in the cab, but while Connor and Verona had been arguing he had helped Emilia after she had thrown up. "If we can get there, we can probably catch like a one way train or something to Louisiana."
"Okay, so then how do we get to Washington DC?" Connor questioned.
"I'm seventeen," Fay said suddenly, though there was a look of anguish on his face. "Which means I can technically drive, even though I don't really have my license."
"Fay, no offence," Verona furrowed her eyebrows at him. He looked nervous, but Fay always looked nervous for as long as Verona had known him. "But why do we need to know that?"
He let out another goat like noise, sounding even more nervous before pointing to a shop across the street. Verona and Connor both turned, and let out identical grins of success.
ED'S MARVELLOUS CAR RENTALS — COME ONE, COME ALL, RENT A CAR, RENT A HEART!
"How do you suppose we get a car from there?" Emilia asked quietly, gulping a little too loudly. Her brown hair stuck to her face, and her bag was slung across both shoulders as opposed to Verona and Connor who both had there's hanging like it was a meaningless sack close to their bodies. "They'll never rent a car to a seventeen year old with no license."
Verona looked at Connor, who had a mischievous look in his eyes. She had seen in multiple times — every time he wanted to play a prank on her, gain some ground over her or win at a sword fight against her. He had that same glint and the elvish smirk whenever he was planning something completely diabolical and a new level of mischievous. His eyebrows furrowed together, and he pulled his coat closer to him as he pushed his hands into his pockets. "Leave that to me," He muttered mysteriously. He turned to Verona, giving her a once over. She gave him an odd look — what was he looking for?
"You got a bobby pin in that big bundle of hairspray, Goldilocks?" Connor questioned jokingly. Verona looked at him weirdly before nodding. Goldilocks? That was a new one, she wasn't even blonde. Goldilocks was called that because of her perfect, pretty blonde locks. Connor grinned at her when she amended his statement, looking thoughtful. "Good girl."
He turned to Fay and Emilia, slapping Fay's hat onto his head to hide his horns. "Okay, listen to me carefully. You two—" He pointed a finger at Fay and Emilia. "—are going to go into the car rental store. You're not going to ask for a car, your going to ask for directions to the nearest bus station or something. You see that car over there?" He pointed to a baby blue mustang that was parked in the corner of the lot, away from surveillance tapes and camera footage, as well as other people. "You're going to distract the clerk in a way that he faces away from the window facing that car, that way he can't see Goldilocks and I when we go to grab it. Distract him, and leave the rest to me."
Fay and Emilia both nodded, looking determined. With a confident look on her features and straightening out her hair, Emilia walked towards the store with Fay on her heels leaning against his crutches. Connor turned towards Verona — his blue eyes were sparkling wildly with cleverness as he pulled at her arm, bringing her towards the gate that had the cars locked behind it. They ducked down in front of the large lock, away from pedestrians and the security camera, which was facing a bit too far up.
"Now'd be a good time for that pin, princess," Connor muttered to Verona, looking left and right as if he was scared somebody would walk by at any second. Verona was sure they wouldn't — there were no houses nearby and no other shops, save for the convenience store that looked to be shut down across the street. It was farm land.
"Right," Verona muttered. She daintily pushed her fingers into her hair, which Silena had braided out of the way this morning, and picked a bobby pin out from the side, watching as a few pieces of her hair that were shorter fell into her face.
Connor took the pin. He bit his lip and looked at it for a moment, and the bent it backwards until it was one long metal rod. Without a second thought, he shoved it where the key would normally go into the lock and pressed his ear to the lock, shuffling it around as if it was doing something — she was sure it was, there was a reason he was a son of Hermes.
"Hey princess," Connor muttered. Verona hummed, looking to her left where he was crouched beside her. He nodded towards the window where she could see Fay and Emilia talking animatedly to the clerk at the front desk. "Keep an eye on them for me when we walk past, yeah?"
Verona nodded as she realized that he had indeed managed to pick the lock within seconds. "How did you—"
Connor rolled his eyes. "Oh, please," He said mockingly. "This is nothing compared to the camp store, and that lock's locked up with magic."
Verona grinned. Sure, he may be good at thievery, but here it was coming in handy to her, so she didn't mind much. She moved forward behind him, making sure to hug her back close to her body so it didn't make noise when they walked across.
"You ever think it looks weird?" She muttered to Connor as they walked towards the mustang. If the security tapes caught them, they'd be long gone before anybody could find them. "Two fifteen year old kids out in the middle of nowhere with no parents, and nobody questioning them?"
"Oh, I think it looks more than weird," Connor smirked back at her as they finally made it to the mustang. Fay and Emilia were still talking to the clerk when Connor reached into his bag to pull out a long knife made of celestial bronze. "That's the power of the mist, though."
Crash.
Verona jumped, grabbing onto the arm of Connor's that hadn't shoved a knife down the car door's lock in order to open it. He looked back at her, a look of fear clouding his face as he peered towards where the noise had come from. Verona glanced back at the window to the car rental building — Fay and Emilia were still chatting up the clerk, keeping his eyes away from Connor and herself.
"What—" She questioned, but Connor put a hand to her mouth as he let go of the knife when he heard a click from the door, it opening wide up.
"C'mon," He muttered. Verona tossed him a look before they both swung their bags into the car and tiptoed around it towards where the sound had animated from. Verona grabbed onto her knife from it's sheath, poising it and kept a hand on her bracelet, ready to turn the golden chain into her shield, kardiá.
"Now, now, Iapetus, you can wait a little bit longer," A gruff voice called out. Connor shot Verona a look — be ready, it said. He had his gun out, and he loaded the celestial bronze bullets in it quickly, it made a clicking noise as it loaded. Verona gritted her teeth, forcing her shield to shift itself. She breathed in deeply, covering her body and Connor's behind it as they peaked from behind it.
"I haven't had half blood for days, Crius," The other voice complained. Verona inwardly groaned as she set her eyes on who said that — Connor met her eyes, he seemed to be having the same thought as her. We're fucked, Verona thought. Not one, but two cyclops stood side by side in the yard, scavenging aimlessly through and kicking cars aside. They were both oddly tall, with one, striking eye and sloppy hair, and a sick smile twisting their faces — Verona didn't like them as much as she liked Tyson.
"Crap," Connor hissed.
"You take the one on the left, I'll take the one on the right," Verona whispered to him, nodding her head towards the one the left — he was the first who had spoken, Iapetus. The right one, — Crius — who had complained about wanting half blood for food looked a bit less welcoming than Iapetus, and Verona was slightly jealous she had let Connor at the one with a more sophisticated attitude.
With a sigh, she nodded her head and both her and Connor shot up, banging against the car as they poised their weapons. Verona breathed in deeply, grabbing their attention with her shield while Connor yelled out in order to alert them of demigod presence.
"Hey, one eye wonder," The first one, Iapetus, looked at him with a scoffed look on his face. "Yeah, you, dungbucket! Come here!" Suddenly, he didn't look so welcoming.
"Ah, just in time!" Crius called, looking too joyful for Verona's mind. "Just in time, I'm starving!"
"Have fun finding food in Tarturus, buddy!" Verona called, swinging her knife at his leg. She left an ideated hash, but let out a scream and hid behind her shield as Crius threw a car door that had been ripped off it's hinges at her. By now, Fay and Emilia has been alerted of the cyclops presence, and she could see the clerk knocked out cold in the corner — Emilia looked a bit guilty as she ran towards them.
"Run, run, little half blood," Crius taunted, looking around as Verona hid herself behind a car. She could see Connor firing bullet after bullet at Iapetus — he seemed to be doing more damage to his cyclops. "I'll have you for dinner either way."
"You're too stupid to find her!" Emilia taunted Crius, slashing with her sword. He screamed, whacking her in the air. Verona watched with wide eyes as she catapulted and landed on top of the same blue mustang that Connor had been trying to steal.
"Where'd this half blood come from?" Crius wondered, pausing momentarily. That's all it took for Verona to run forward with Fay on her heels, splashing at Crius with her knife as many times as she could.
"Crap," She muttered. Suddenly, she let out a scream as he grabbed her by her legs and held her backwards in the air — her head felt dizzy.
"Time for dinner," He cackled. He looked towards Fay, who had let out a neigh as he hit Crius's legs with his crutch in an effort to let her down. Connor was still firing bullet after bullet at Iapetus, the cyclops looked worn out by now. "You'll be next, goaty!" Crius taunted Fay. The satyr's eyes widened considerably.
With a last battle cry, Verona screamed and pulled herself up long enough to stab Crius in the eye with her knife.
"I'll get you for dinner, daughter of Aphrodite!" That seemed to be Crius last words before he started turning to dust. Verona could already see the dusty remains of Iapetus beside Connor — she let out a loud scream as Crius's arm turned to dust and she fell out of his hand, barreling towards the ground. There was a sickening thud as she hit the ground — no, she had hit a person.
"Holy Zeus," A voice groaned from underneath her. Connor, she thought, a feeling of relief flooding through her. "How much do you weigh, Blaze?"
Verona rolled her eyes, pushing herself off Connor and onto the ground as she picked up her knife and sheathed it, and turned her dagger back. Connor propped himself onto his elbows, and then pushed himself up before offering Verona a hand.
"Thanks," She muttered. His hand was warm in her cold one as he pulled her up — she brushed the snow off her jeans and looked back towards where Emilia was still unconscious, but obviously breathing on the car. She sighed, heading towards her. "Just our luck — ten minutes in and we run into not one, but two monsters at once."
"We're three half bloods and a satyr travelling along an abandoned part of Philadelphia — monster city — with no sense of direction. What'd you expect?" Connor grumbled. He and Fay pulled Emilia into the car, laying her down along the back. Fay strapped himself in beside her.
"Hey! Hey!" A voice sounded from behind where Connor and Verona still stood outside the car — the clerk was very much awake and running towards them, looking angry.
"Crap, crap!" Verona yelled, pushing herself into the passenger seat. Connor jumped into the driver's seat, looking frightened.
"Keys, keys, keys," He muttered repeatedly, searching until he pulled open the glove compartment and a pair of keys fell out. He pushed it into the ignition, the car lighting up.
"Do you even know how to drive?" Verona hissed at him as he pushed the gear into drive, taking a deep breath. From behind, Fay helped Emilia up as she awoke from unconsciousness, looking pale.
"Travis and my mom taught me the basics," He looked back at where the clerk was still running towards them — it was a far journey from the parking lot to the actual store. Then, with a deep breath he pushed his foot down on the acceleration and drove forward, crashing out of the gate and straight into the road and swerving right. "It'll have to do," He screamed, driving as fast as he could to get out of Philadelphia.
Gods, Verona thought as she strapped on her seatbelt, we're screwed.