AN: Alright, so this is part four! Thank you to everyone who has favorited or signed up for the alerts on this story, I can't believe I didn't say this in the earlier parts. It's great to know who enjoys the story. And thank you to Xover Queen, AnimalBuddy32, xXPercidiaJacksonXx, k, Frenzi 99, and Bobeara for taking the time to review the last part!
Xover Queen, in answer to your question: Paul finding out about demigods is something that happens in this story, yes. Whether it's the main focus is something that could be argued. Hopefully, a little bit of this next part will set your mind at ease.
A minute later, a black pegasus appeared in the sky and landed beside us.
Yo, boss! We found you! Blackjack let out a whinny and did horsey double-take. Whoa, you don't look so good.
Yeah, no kidding, I thought. You've been here the whole time?
He seemed a little sorry. I've been keeping my distance, he said. Your lady said she'd call when she needed me. Arachne's one scary lady! Nothing with wings wants to get close to her web. There wasn't much else I could do.
It's fine, I thought, not your fault, buddy. You shouldn't even be here. What are you guys-
There was a bang down the alley as my shoe walked into a trashcan lid. "Okay," Annabeth interrupted. "Come on boys, you can catch up later. Escape now." I don't know how, because Blackjack wasn't much help, but somehow the two of them managed to get me lying on my stomach across his back.
Annabeth circled around to make sure I wasn't going to do anything inconvenient in my new position, like slide off and plummet to my death. As she passed in front of Blackjack, he nudged her shoulder. Sugar cubes? he asked.
She seemed to know what he meant, because she pushed his head away and said, "Later."
She said that earlier, he complained as she got on behind me. Now's later. I'm not going anywhere until she pays up.
My shoe hit the trash can lid again. The spiders were going to get bored with it soon, if they hadn't already, and then they would be back after us. Behind me, Annabeth fidgeted, trying to get settled before takeoff.
Look dude, I thought desperately, in the seventh grade I made a model of the Washington Monument out of sugar cubes. Hundreds and hundreds of them. It only got a C-, but I'll give it to you if you just get us out of here now.
His ears turned back toward us. The whole Washington Monument? he asked. Of sugar?
Yes! I thought, And it's all yours, if we leave now.
Annabeth twisted one hand in my t-shirt and grabbed onto Blackjack's mane with the other. She looked over her shoulder and said, "Okay, we need to leave. NOW."
I'm holding you to that one, boss. Then with one sweep of his wings we were airborne.
I would consider myself somewhat of an expert at flying pegasi. It's fun, and because I can talk with them, I'm pretty good at it. However, flung over the back of one like a sack of flour with my arms and legs dangling was a completely new experience. It wasn't very comfortable, in fact it sort of hurt, and alright, it was probably the stupidest I had ever looked riding a Pegasus, too. But I was so glad to be out of that alleyway and away from those spiders I really didn't care.
My head, at least had something to rest on. If by rest, you meant hit with every beat of Blackjack's wings. There was a canvas bookbag that had been tied around his neck, just underneath where I was dangling. A bag? I thought. What's next, Blackjack, a saddle? Should I get you some reins?
It's not mine. Blackjack said, sounding a little offended. Your lady left it with me when she went after her hat.
Stop calling her that. Her name's Annabeth. I thought. My head hit the bag again. What's in it?
Blackjack shook his head. Wouldn't know, boss. All I know is she needed a ride to New York.
"Blackjack?" Annabeth said over my shoulder. She had quit looking back, so I was hoping the spiders were long gone. "Can you take us to Percy's apartment? We might be able to make it there."
Why wouldn't we make it? Blackjack gave her a nod. He turned in the direction of my building and continued. Anyway, we were going to see you, so I figured it would be all right.
Really. I was suspicious. And you were willing to come all this way. Just to see me. My head hit the bag again.
Well, that and the sugar cubes she promised me when we got there. Could a horse sound sheepish? She said you'd have some for me too. Lots and lots of sugar cubes.
Uh huh. I thought so. Maybe I was a little mad at them. Blackjack wasn't exactly my pet or anything, like my hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary, but he was still sort of my Pegasus. I liked knowing that when I wasn't with him, he was safe at camp and really didn't like the idea of anyone, including Annabeth, taking him out for joyrides.
Blackjack seemed to sense my mood. Sorry, boss.
It's all right, man. Just get us back to my place. I was starting to feel something on my right side again, which might have been good if that something wasn't a lot like agony.
The nice thing about traveling through New York on a Pegasus is that there really isn't a lot of traffic. As long as you avoid the occasional newscopter, you make really good time. So it wasn't long before we were by my building, which was good because by then I could feel everything from every cut and bruise on my body, and let me tell you, I was in a lot of pain.
A minute later, after some careful maneuvering, Annabeth stood on the fire escape by my window while I lay at her feet. She tried to open it, then pounded on it when it was locked. I told Blackjack to go ahead and wait on the roof. No one would bother him there.
Don't forget about the monument, he said as he started back up.
I won't, sheesh! Promise.
Annabeth pounded on the window again, just as Nico opened it. He had to jerk his head back to avoid her fist. I guess a giant horse flying outside of your window was something not even a child of Hades could sleep through. He took a look at Annabeth, and then at me. "What the heck?"
"Give me a hand with him." Annabeth had to have been surprised by Nico appearing at my window, but she didn't let it show.
Nico crawled out the window and picked up my legs as Annabeth got my arms. "What did you do to him?"
"It wasn't me!" Annabeth snapped. "Watch it!" They managed to hit my head against the window sill as they laid me on my bedroom floor. Ow, ow, ow, OW.
That's when the door opened, and I could just see Tyson's feet in the doorway. I could tell the three of us didn't exactly make a pretty picture, because he promptly burst into tears. Not good.
"It's all right!" Annabeth tried to calm him while closing the window. "Tyson, it's okay."
"Tyson?" that would be my mom. "Tyson, what's wrong?" She reached my doorway and stood beside him. Rachel was with her. "Percy!"
I really hated that my mom's voice could sound like that, like everything good and happy had just been taken away from her. I wanted to try to move, to let her know that I was all right, but all I could do was lie there and feel guilty that I was worrying her like this.
Annabeth moved toward them. She quickly said a couple of words to my mom I didn't catch. Mom frowned, but nodded and set off back down the hall.
"He was just fine a little while ago." Rachel said, looking down at me. A wrinkle had appeared in between her eyes. "He said he would be all right."
Annabeth ignored her as she stood in front of Tyson. She put her hands on his face and made him look at her. "Tyson! We need your help. Can you carry Percy into the bathroom? It's important, and he needs to get in there quickly." She took his hand and led him over to where I was.
"He's dead!" Tyson sobbed, big fat tears rolling down his face and dripping off his chin.
"No, he isn't," said Nico, from where he was kneeling beside me. He said it with such certainty that no one questioned him. Just then, I was really glad that he was there. I had been a little worried about ending up buried alive, or something stupid like that, but I knew that with Nico around, that wasn't going happen.
"He was poisoned by the venom of Arachne." Annabeth said grimly as she helped Tyson gather me up. She picked up my dangling arm and crossed it over my chest.
Nico walked ahead of us out the door and into the hall, "Well then, he's not dead yet."
Suddenly, I wasn't so glad to have Nico around.
Rachel spoke up. "What can I do?"
Annabeth's mouth became a hard line. I thought she was going to say something nasty for a second, but then she pointed where Nico had left and said, "You could start some water in the tub."
Rachel nodded, and started out the door. Then she paused and turned back around. "Hot or cold?"
"Doesn't matter!" Annabeth snapped. "Go!"
Tyson slowly got to his feet. For a Cyclops, I wasn't too heavy to carry, but he was being very cautious about where he held me to avoid aggravating my injuries. Carefully, he started forward and out my bedroom door.
In Tyson's arms, the trip was pretty smooth. I wasn't knocked into any walls or doorframes, and nothing hurt much worse than it had before, although that wasn't saying much. I could feel that the wound on my side had started to bleed again. All together, we made a strange little parade going down the hall in my apartment.
When we got to the bathroom, Tyson walked straight over and lowered me into the tub without being told. It was about half filled with water, and I think Rachel had tried to make it warm, but it hadn't had the time to heat up.
It felt awesome to be in the water. It had quickly turned pink as it started to mix with the blood from my clothes, but wherever the bathwater touched on my lower body, all the pain was taken away, just like the numbing effect of the poison was working again, only about a thousand times better.
By my feet, Rachel reached over and turned on the shower head. The water rained down on my head and chest, dulling the ache in my shoulder, soothing the cuts on my arms and numbing my side. Everything felt better in the water.
Annabeth stood by the edge of the tub and emptied a small bottle of golden liquid from her pocket into the water near my side. The nectar made the water feel bubbly there, like my mom's bath salts. As bizarre as the whole situation was, it felt pretty awesome.
"This is your plan?" Nico didn't sound all that impressed.
"This is my plan." Annabeth answered watching the water carefully.
He screwed up his nose. "This is it?"
"Not quite."
"Well good," Nico said. "Because he wasn't stung by a bee, you know. It's going to take more than a nice, warm bubble bath to heal him."
Annabeth turned around. "Do you have a better idea?" she huffed.
"No."
"Then shut up." She turned back around. Behind her back, Nico made a face.
"Sally?" We heard Paul call down the hall. Rachel turned off the tap. Tyson's hand pushed my head underwater and out of sight. One nice thing about being the Son of Poseidon? I can hear and see underwater as well as breathe. I could just see Paul walk past the doorway from the corner of my eye. "Have you kids-" He stopped and took us in. "What's going on?"
Paul had been a high school teacher for too long not to know that something was up. He started to walk in, caught sight of me in the tub, and his face went from curious to concerned. "Hey his head is underwater, he can't-"
Rachel jumped in front of his path and stopped him in the doorway. "You see, Mr. Blofis…" she started, buying time and sounding like she had a perfectly good explanation. She looked around at the room. Then she looked at the others for help. "Um, it's just that…"
Thankfully, my mom showed up then. "Paul!" she said. She was holding a canister and shifting it between her hands.
Paul was trying to get around Rachel but she was still blocking the way. "Sally, what's going on?" He turned back to the tub. "Tyson, just pull Percy's head up, please. He's been holding his breath for way too long."
My mom handed the canister to Annabeth. Then she grabbed Paul by the arm. "Paul, it's alright. Just leave them alone, let them work." She glanced over at me, and I could see that she was more worried than she sounded. "It will be fine." Then she led him out of the room.
"Thanks, Mrs. Jackson," Annabeth said and closed the door before returning to the edge of the tub. She opened the canister and poured something into her hand, then squinted at the water in the tub and poured a little more.
"What's that?" Nico asked.
Annabeth held her hand over me. "The rest of the plan," she said. Then she let what she was holding fall into the tub.
The salt hit the water and sent a shock through me. Annabeth had poured just enough in to make the bath become just as good as seawater. My every nerve was on high alert and they were sending signals to my brain like crazy. The water stung in my scratches and scrapes like… salt in an open wound. My eyes smarted, and my side felt like it had been set on fire. I could feel my skin stretching as it tried to cover all the places it had been broken. But even with all that, I still felt better. I could even think more clearly.
I guess it wasn't as dramatic for the others watching me. I still wasn't moving, and I think they had been hoping I was going to jump out of the tub perfectly fine, or at least see something different. Instead nothing had really changed, on the outside at least. I mean, they couldn't see me healing.
Tyson started to cry again. Some of his tears dropped down into the water above my face. Annabeth reached over and wrapped an arm around him. I heard her ask him if he would go watch at my window. He opened the door so hard it came part way off its hinges and lumbered out, sobbing all the way.
The other three sat in silence for a moment, then Rachel softly asked, "Now what do we do?"
Annabeth ignored her again. She was glaring down at me, like it was my fault her plan hadn't worked yet.
Nico had been sitting against a wall on the bathroom floor, kicking a cabinet door. "So, now what?" he repeated.
Annabeth watched me not moving in the water for another moment, then sat down on the side of the tub. "I don't know," she finally admitted. She rested her forehead on her hands. "Mom?..."
There was a roaring sound as my heart started beating faster. No one reacted to it, and I realized it was the sound of my blood rushing in my ears. It meant I was still healing, which was good, but I also couldn't hear what it was they were planning to do with me, which could be bad.
Nico was saying something. "...deal with my dad. Maybe there's still a way."
"He likes squeak toys." Annabeth sounded like her mind was million miles away. "Take a couple with you."
"Hang on a second," that was Rachel. "You can do that? Just go to the land of the dead. It's that easy, even without the Labyrinth?"
It was like Annabeth suddenly snapped out of whatever trance she had been in. She lifted her head and said "No, she's right, you can't go."
Nico scowled at her. "You're out of ideas. This didn't work. We have to try something, fast, or else Percy is dead!"
"You can't fly. How long do you think it will take you to get to Los Angeles?" Annabeth said matter-of-factly. "You'd never make it in time."
"You don't know that, there's a lot you don't know-"
"I know one of the few people less likely to help Percy than my mom, is your dad." Annabeth continued on. "He hates him. Percy being dead would be something he could take off of his to-do list. He might even send Arachne a gift."
That was true. Well, he wouldn't have to send it far, seeing as Arachne was dead and waiting somewhere near Tartarus to be reborn. Nico looked away. "He doesn't want him dead," he said. "That would create a whole new set of problems. And he definitely wouldn't want him to die a hero's death, because he then he would just go to Elysium."
"He sounds like a real nice guy, your dad." Rachel commented. "How petty is it to not even let someone have a happy death?"
Nico glared. "Like you're one to talk, Rachel Dare," he countered.
Rachel turned a little pink and studied the sink.
"Well, it doesn't matter, anyway," Annabeth continued. "If you left right now, you won't even make it two steps out of this apartment."
They turned back to her. Nico narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"
Annabeth sighed. "Because by now every spider in Manhattan has made its way here to kill us."
AN: Yes, another cliffhanger. I'm sorry, they just seem like such good places to break up the different parts. The next part will be out soon, so hopefully you won't have long to wait. Let me know what you thought!