"It is a little strange." I conceded.
Quickly after we had noticed the writing on the card was in Ancient Greek, a number had appeared under the writing, as if it were there the entire time. I was completely stumped. It was hard to not be concerned, but I knew if I was worrying about it, Annabeth would get worried and she would want to go directly to Chiron and Camp Half-Blood.
"What do we do?" By now, her voice was so low even I had trouble making out her words. I stuck the card in my jacket pocket.
"Easy." I said. "We'll get Leo to look at it."
"Why Leo?" She asked, as if he was the last person that he should've suggested.
"This is some kind of mechanical card. Maybe he could find something out about it."
"This isn't a good sign." She sighed. "I knew we shouldn't have stayed in New York after they revealed themselves."
"Look." I looked around before packing up her food in a to go box that the waitress has brought over. "Let's just go home for now and figure things out, all right? We can't get too carried away."
She flinched slightly. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. This isn't another one of those times, I promise." I took her hands, helping her out of the seat, although she didn't need it. I pulled out my wallet, leaving a $100 bill on the table to pay and leave a hefty tip. I moved my arm around her shoulders, placing a kiss on her forehead.
"You're right. Let's go home."
I opened the door for her, shooting Tony a quick wave. He waved back, a polite smile on his face. We would definitely have to keep a closer eye out. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to start checking where we were going from now on. The card being written on Greek was just too much of a red flag to ignore.
"We need to stop by your mom's place too." Annabeth said, looking at her cell phone in her hand.
It had taken us a long time to concede into getting a cellphone. We both knew the dangers of having and owning one, but after the war Leo had fashioned us some cool phones that didn't transmit our voices out to the monsters. Still, we were cautious and shared a cellphone, and it was a flip phone at that. The lowest tech we would risk having.
"What did she say in the text message?" I asked.
"Estelle just got home from school." She replied. "Also she wants to see how we're doing."
I smiled. Estelle, my baby sister, had started third grade this year. We all loved to be around her, almost as if it were an addiction. She had the most vivacious laughter, and the brightest smile. She also loved to sing, and we would both help Estelle sing her best, even though she was young.
"Yeah, let's head over." I said. I looked both ways down the street, and together, Annabeth and I crossed along with everyone else as the light turned green for pedestrians. Sometimes I vaguely wondered why we continued to act normal like this. We were rich, famous musicians and we could afford to drive our cars around the city, but sometimes I preferred to walk. Especially on snowy days like this where the air was crisp, cold, and clear. I knew Annabeth hated being trapped in cars as much as I did.
Luckily, Annabeth and I had pulled our hoods over our heads, and so far our 'disguise' was working. Nobody recognized us anymore. Nobody was taking pictures. For the first time in two years, we were just a young married couple walking down the sidewalk.
As we were walking, I noticed a camera flash from an alleyway. I turned to look at the guy as I walked, and quickly noticed I recognized the guy. It was the same guy from earlier that had been taking pictures. The guy's hood was pulled over his face, but there was no mistaking it.
"We're being followed." I told Annabeth, the smile not melting off of my face.
"I know." She said with the same smile on her face as before.
Neither of us wanted to show that we knew we were being followed, so we continued to act as normal. "How many did you see?"
"One at 3 o'clock, another at 11 o'clock." She replied.
I nodded. Back when we were always fighting, we had come up with a way to say direction without having to know where to look. "I saw the guy at 3. Who was at 11?"
"It was a woman. Brown hair pulled up in a bun. Wearing a black coat with a low collar."
"Why now?" I muttered. "Eight years of peace until now."
"You haven't used your powers, have you?" She lowered her voice until I could barely hear it.
"No. Not since leaving camp." I breathed, almost silently.
"Let's just get to your mom's. We'll decide where to go from there."
It was a tense walk. The wind had seemed to pick up, but we walked faster until we reached the door. I pressed the buzzer, anxiously waiting until they buzzed me in. I pulled open the door at the impossibly loud bell, letting Annabeth go first. As she ducked inside, I casted a parting glance around the door, looking for any signs of the man or woman. Convinced that they were still watching us, I let the door slam behind us as we got into the elevator.
Ever since Tartarus, Annabeth and I were wary of elevators. It had taken us two years to get over the fear of them, but every time the small metal box shook, I felt myself holding the guardrails for dear life, hoping and praying it wasn't going to drop out of the air any time soon.
The doors opened with a quiet ding, and we both stepped out, a sigh of relief rushing past my lips. I didn't think it would ever get easier being trapped in elevators.
Annabeth's lithe fingers weaved through mine. She gave me a small smile. She knew exactly what was running through my head, and she knew that I needed comfort. However, all the comfort I needed was knowing she was standing right beside me.
"We're together." She said.
That was the most important thing. We were together. I smiled in return, squeezing her hand slightly. We continued to walk down the hallway of the building until we stopped at the door. I raised my hand to knock on the door, the sound echoing loudly off the door.
The knob turned with what sounded like some hesitation. The door swung open, and a small kid with blue eyes looked up at me.
"Stella!" I broke out into the biggest smile ever. I scooped her up in my arms, nuzzling her and placing a kiss on top of her nose. "How's my girl doing?"
Estelle giggled. "Good."
"I want you to tell me everything about school." I told her.
"Well, my teacher Ms.…" She hesitated. "Oliver is really nice and really pretty."
"Oh?" I said. "You hear that, Annie?"
"I guess I have some competition, huh?" Annabeth laughed.
Estelle held her arms out, and I passed the child to Annabeth, who cradled her like a baby.
"Hey, Pers." My mom called from the kitchen. I turned to look at her. She was wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt and light blue jeans. Her brown hair had streaks of grey running through it. "How's work?"
"Same old, same old." I replied with a shrug.
"They still having you sing those songs?" She scoffed.
"Yup." I replied.
"We've decided we hate them." Annabeth said from behind me. She was currently playing a game of 'got your nose' with Estelle.
"I told you that when they first gave the lyrics to you." Mom replied. "Want something to eat?"
"No thanks, we had shwarma." I replied, closing the door behind Annabeth.
"How did you get Annabeth to get shwarma? Did you have Piper charm speak her?" Mom laughed.
I knew that Annabeth hated shwarma, but every so often she relented and ate it with me. Her favorite was Thai food, which I wasn't a huge fan of, so we each compromised for the other.
"No, I willingly went." Annabeth set down Estelle on the floor, where the kid immediately ran away with a shout of 'school!'.
"So, how's this new school of hers?" I asked.
"You know, it's actually not bad." Mom replied. "You went there when you were her age."
I paled. "Please tell me there's no snakes."
"No snakes." Mom agreed, finally walking out from the kitchen. She had two plates of food, and they smelled absolutely delicious. It was making my mouth water, and we had just eaten. One plate was stacked with a huge steak, mashed potatoes and corn. The second plate was smaller, with tiny, cut up pieces of steak and mashed potatoes and corn. Mom set the second plate in the middle of the living room, on a child-sized table in front of the TV.
"Good." Annabeth said, taking a seat beside Mom on the couch.
Mom turned on the TV, and the first thing that had come up was a recent newsreel of the Avengers in New York.
"Please tell me you weren't drooling over them again, Mom." I sighed.
"I was not." A light blush had crept across Mom's cheeks. "It's just interesting to watch, that's all."
"That's what they all say." I rolled my eyes.
"We met them today." Annabeth said. "Show her the card, Percy."
"You did?" Mom asked, while I fished the card from my pocket. I handed it to her. "I can't read this." She complained. "It's in—"
"Ancient Greek." I said, and Mom's eyes widened.
"You haven't exposed yourself, have you?" She asked.
"Not that I know of." I replied.
"But how would the card be written in Greek if they didn't know something?" She looked down at the card, a worried expression on her face.
"I've been thinking." Annabeth said. "Our band name is named after Blackjack, our Pegasus. So the only connection to Greek would be the band name. What if Tony thought it was some aesthetic to write the card in Greek?"
Mom's lip perused. "It's possible."
"Unlikely." I said.
"You two should run this card by Chiron." Mom placed the card into my hand.
"We haven't been to camp in eight years." I sighed. "Who knows whats waiting for us there?"
Annabeth nodded. "As much as I want to run home and see how camp is, I don't want to risk the security after those guys following us."
"What guys following you?" Mom sat up straighter. "Did they see you come here?"
"Yes. But I doubt they'd do anything to you or Stella." I replied.
"Where's Paul?" Annabeth asked.
"He's still at work." Mom replied off-hand. "He's got detention duty today, so he won't be home till later."
Annabeth stretched out on the couch, halfway leaning into my arm. I adjusted my arm, putting it around her shoulders, and she snuggled into my chest as we glanced at the news.
"Can you put that other show on?" Annabeth asked. "The building show."
Mom picked up the remote and flipped the channels until we came across the show Annabeth liked. "I don't know why you two haven't had children yet." She sighed.
"We've discussed this, Mom." I rolled my eyes. "We don't want to put any children of ours through that life."
"I know." She sighed a second time.
"How about this." Annabeth said. "We'll adopt a dog, dress the puppy in a onesie and call that your grandbaby?"
Mom smiled. "Works for me."
Estelle ran back out of her bedroom. She had taken so long in changing into her school uniform, I had begun to wonder if the room had swallowed her. The uniform was a simple blue shirt with a vest over top of the shirt, a medium-length blue skirt and black leggings. However, Estelle had managed to turn the vest backwards, her head through the armhole, and the skirt on inside out.
"Mommy help me!" Estelle squealed.
As Mom detangled Estelle, she patted down her daughter's ruffled brown locks, soothingly. "Honey, I know you wanted to show your outfit to Percy, but you need to eat. Your food is going to get cold."
I settled deeper into the couch, yawning.
Nothing could kill this moment.