Chapter two (A friend is Turned)
"G, what do we do?" Asked Savanna.
"Well we have to contact Ananke to see if it is time to act, after that ..." Started Gary.
"I think you should act now, no one knows where she will be tomorrow, she's been missing for just under Six years and now she surfaces in Manhattan and just so happens to ask directions to Central Park, from Graham no less a member of your team." Said Chiron chiming in.
"Chiron that would mean taking resources from the war effort and we can't afford to lose any more half bloods." Said Gary to everyone's surprise Melody reached for his hand.
"Gary, this is something we have to do I'm sure the Satyrs can deal with recruitment until we return, and the war can't be won with General's minds in the clouds trust me I am A daughter of Ares after all." She said with a comforting smile.
"Chiron and Melody are right G, she's been missing for six years who knows if we'll ever get a chance to find her again." Said Savanna.
"not to mention we don't even know what they've been doing to her for all this time..." Said Sara getting softer after every word. When she saw everyone's sad faces she perked up and said "but I'm sure she's fine if she is able to function in normal society." But everyone especially Gary knew she was hiding some dark thoughts.
"Graham and I will help out in any way we can." Said Jordan, he looked at Graham who smiled innocently.
"she looked okay other than they wicked cut, she seemed fine." Said Graham trying to be comforting.
"So how do we track her down." Said Gary finally giving in.
"I think we should start our search in the City, focus on Central Park, do you think she was trying to find the door of Orpheus?" Said Sara thinking hard.
"It would make sense if that's why she was going to Central Park unless there's something else there." Said Kelsey Looking at the old Centaur.
"As far as I am aware there isn't anything significant at the park other than the door," he looked almost worried that if Kronos' army had been cleaver enough to sneak something into the city that it could prove hazardous to the Olympian's.
"Okay here's what we're going to do," said Gary getting back into his leader mode placing the Necklace around his Neck "Sara you and Kelsey will stay here at camp we'll contact you via Iris messages if we need back up, Melody; You, Savanna and Jordan will go back to Olympus and Finnish up security there make sure the defenses are at full power," she nodded in agreement.
"What about me?" Asked Graham.
"Graham your with me we're going to search the Park," said Gary placing a hand on the boys shoulder. "Chiron Could you tell Cookie, Jasmine and Tabbie to Meet us there when they arrive." Said Gary.
The old Mentor agreed. Gary, Graham, Jordan, Melody and Savanna loaded into the quest van and drove off toward the city leaving Kelsey and Sara behind.
"Chiron do you think its smart to go after her?" Asked Sara through her Telepathy so Kelsey couldn't hear he replied out loud.
"Don't worry, Gary wouldn't have started getting these feelings if it weren't time." He didn't seem to direct it to her, he seemed to be saying it to himself like trying to convince himself of the missions importance they all trudged back to the camp through the snow.
A tree branch rustled loudly Kelsey looked up and saw a short girl's form, her hair was very long but it seemed to be tied back in a ponytail, She wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a winter coat, her boots were dark but very stylish the girl matched Jamie's description exactly; Kelsey was frozen in place at the barrier for some time by the girls burning red eyes, when she turned to get Chiron and Sara to look the girl was gone.
On the road Gary is concentrating hard on the road due to the sudden and harsh wind and blizzard conditions, he was praying hard to his father to lighten up but there was no answer and he couldn't stop the conditions and Drive, he didn't want to give the wheel to Jordan because Driving cleared his head.
They reached the city within an hour and split off like they said they would, Melody Savanna and Jordan went into the Empire State Building while Gary and Graham went into the subway systems to get to the park faster. After a few minutes of silence Graham shifted in his seat.
"So Gary... Um I think this is the first time we've...yah know actually...hung out." Said Graham twiddling his thumbs, he was a tall boy and very skinny he had elvish features like his other siblings he kind of reminded Gary of a Brown haired Luke but much kinder and his outlook was much less sinister than his older brother.
"Yah your right, so whatcha want to talk about while we have time?" Asked Gary trying to sound upbeat.
"Could you tell me about Luke, and what happened on Atlas' Mountain?" He asked almost afraid to.
"Sure, I'll tell yah..." Gary told him about the events of the fight on the Mountain, but seeing the look on Graham's face about when Luke fell Gary felt obligated to tell Graham that he suspected that Luke was still alive but he would have to be dealt with in the end. The truth was Gary felt that Luke could be saved. The boys were very close for many years and it hit him hard while talking to Luke's younger brother.
"What was Luke like before all of this?" Asked Graham.
"Luke was very distant but his heart was always in the right place, when it came to his friends, especially Annabeth. They were inseparable until his quest into the Garden of Hesperides after that he became cold and cruel," Said Gary. "But looking back at the old days I find it very hard to fight him even now."
They talked about sports and many other things. Gary was surprised on how similar they were, when they talked about monsters the other people in the train thought they were talking about some stupid card game or something.
The train stopped at the station they were there for. Gary didn't want to leave he was having fun talking with Graham he understood why he and Cookie became good friends like they did.
The snow was falling harder than ever, Graham was shivering so much if he could have he would have caused an earthquake, but Gary was unaffected due to being the child of the Winter God Boreas, he was immune to cold weather.
"So when we get to the Park what do we look for?" asked Graham.
"Something that shouldn't be there," replied Gary.
If you've never seen Central Park in the winter I highly recommend you do because it's beautiful, snow covered everything the trees, fields even the fountains that were usually on were frozen solid and covered in a layer of fluffy white snow. Kids ran around throwing snowballs at each other, people were ice skating on a frozen lake and others were walking dogs or taking pictures. Gary and Graham trudged off into a patch of woods that lead to a secluded patch of grass surrounding a large rock covered in snow and vines.
"This is it, I remember we fought the Rock Titan here about four years ago there's the tree he used to knock Friedan and Cody out with." said Gary looking at a tree that looked like it was ripped out of the ground by a bulldozer.
"Wow you guys fought a Titan?!" Said Graham in surprise.
"Yup, it's like I'm going down memory lane." Said Gary with a slight chuckle. He felt his head where a rock had struck it and now there was a soft spot that if touched it felt like you were poking his brain.
Cookie Jasmine and Tabbie were traveling by bus on their way back to Manhattan when they stopped at a gas station to have a stretch.
" So who is this Jamie person?" asked Tabbie.
"She was a very dear friend to us all," began Cookie.
"Not only that she's Gary Steven's and Savanna's cousin she was very kind and pretty much the girl equivalent of Gary." Said Jasmine.
"why haven't you guys mentioned her before?"
"Sara and Gary repressed our memories of her so we wouldn't go after her for our own protection I guess they must have had their reasons or they wouldn't have done it." Said Cookie.
"Well we can't blame him for wanting to protect us and most of the time Gary has a reason for doing the things he does he doesn't do them for the sake of doing it." Said Tabbie.
The two demigods just looked down as if they were ashamed on how they overreacted when Sara told them the news. "Let's get going we have to get back before something happens." Said Jasmine.
"yah let's go." Said Cookie.
they started walking to the bus but Tabbitha saw something out of the corner of her eye it looked like an arrow.
"Josh look out!" She yelled. He stopped moving at just the right time, the arrow soured past him just narrowly nicking his nose they all turn to see themselves surrounded by Monsters.