Hey guys I'm back with more. Okay so I don't really think the Percy Jackson books ever really specified where Silena and Beckendorf lives so for this story we'll say Silena lives in New York City and Beckendorf lives on Stony Brook. So without further delay our story, enjoy.
Second Earth
Clarisse and Beckendorf sat in silence after finishing Silena's latest journal. The whole experience had been pretty earthshattering, but the revelation that Saint Dane had not only visited Second Earth and taken on the form of Percy Jackson, but could potentially be anyone they encountered, had really shaken things.
"So if Saint Dane disguised himself as Percy once… do you think he'll do it again?" asked Beckendorf.
"I guess, but if he were to disguise himself as a camper my money would be on Annabeth, would explain why she's suspicious of us," said Clarisse.
"Uh Saint Dane is a guy, and Annabeth's a girl."
"So, Silena never said Saint Dane couldn't disguise himself as a girl did she?"
"True, and I get what you mean about being carful but… I don't know it seems like you're being paranoid, I mean Annabeth seems pretty trustworthy to me," said Beckendorf.
"Let just forget about it for now or we'll both go mad with paranoia!" laughed Clarisse.
"Good plan, but still what about Silena's dad? And she did say she was in Stony Brook, which is my home town and not too far from here all things considered…"
"Thinking about sneaking out? Didn't know you have a rebel in ya Beckendorf!" said Clarisse as she playfully punched Beckendorf's arm.
The two agreed that they have a hard time explaining to Chiron why they needed to go into the city without raising questions that would inevitably lead to the even hard explanation about Travelers and Halla, so it was decided that they would hotwire one of the camp van early the next morning and go for a quick trip to both New York City and Stony Brook, wait overnight, and then return early the next morning before they or the van was missed. As he waited all night a recurring thought kept tugging at Beckendorf; Pendragon, Dimond, Chetwynde, where had he heard those names before? The answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't figure it out.
Five in the morning was awfully early by anyone's standards at Camp Half-Blood, but Clarisse and Beckendorf made sure to set their watches for that precise time. Being a son of Hephaestus Beckendorf made short work of hotwiring the van; everything was just about ready when Mr. D came out of the Big House wearing a leopard skin vest and carrying a jug of grape juice in his hand.
"What are you brats doing up so early, and why are you around the vans?" asked Mr. D in a nonchalant tone.
"Oh hey Mr. D! Oh this? We were just… going to deliver some strawberries into the city because we know you work so hard here at the camp and it shouldn't be on you to have to help drive the vans," said Beckendorf, making up an excuse on spot.
The bored expression on Mr. D face didn't change, "This is about that Milena girl isn't it?"
"Here name is Silena Beauregard and you now it!" snapped Clarisse.
"You know it's been awhile since I turned anyone into a dolphin…"
"You're not gonna tell Chiron are you?" asked Beckendorf.
"Hmm I suppose I should… but then again if I let you go you might die in a car wreck and I'd have two less brats to worry about… oh what do I care? Well Claret and Chucky I hope you have fun on your little quest to find Milena!" said Mr. D, as usual getting everyone's names wrong on purpose in order to be mean.
Ironically it was the trip to New York that was the quickest, for once they got into the city Clarisse and Beckendorf found themselves in a stream of traffic that seemed to be moving at a snail's pace.
"I'm tellin ya if we had turned right a few blocks ago we'd have made it to Mr. Beauregard's shop by now!" said Clarisse as she dangled her arm out the window in boredom.
"Be patient, we're almost there… I think," said Beckendorf.
After spending a few more minutes arguing over directions the duo decided to brake for breakfast, which the settle on at a bagel shop. While sipping on their beagles and sipping coffee they came to the conclusion that neither knew where Mr. Beauregard's shop was and decided to consult a list of phone numbers Clarisse had with her, but when they looked for it they found to their shock it had vanished.
"But that's impossible! Silena put it right there next to… oh my gods her cellphone number, it's gone!" exclaimed Clarisse.
"Are you absolutely sure Silena gave you the numbers?" asked Beckendorf.
"Of course I'm sure! Given that I'm her best friend it stands to reason I'd have those firkin numbers, she even drew a little heart and smiley face next to them!" shouted Clarisse as she banged her fist on the table and caused a few of the patrons' heads to turn.
"Okay, okay, calm down Clarisse! Let's stop and think, did she ever tell you where it is?"
"Now that you mention it I think she said something about it being on 5th avenue."
"That makes sense, 5th avenues the fashion district after all," said Beckendorf.
After finishing their breakfast Clarisse and Beckendorf got back in the van and made their way to 5th avenue, after what seemed forever they made it, as they passed row after row of stores displaying the latest in designer fashions Clarisse began to remember where Mr. Beauregard's shop was, but upon arriving at it Clarisse and Beckendorf could not believe their eyes. Where the shop should have been was just a square of dirt and a gap between the buildings, it was like it had just disappeared into thin air without leaving a trace.
"But… but that can possibly be real, it was right here, I just know it!" exclaimed Clarisse.
"There's no signs of it having been torn down, besides the gap's a perfect cut, you can't do that with anything I know of. It's like it just… vanished," said Beckendorf.
The two of them next checked Silena's apartment to see if Mr. Beauregard was there and knew anything about the disappearance of the store; when they asked the desk manager for the number of the Beauregard's apartment he couldn't find it in the register book, yet he clearly remembered both Silena and her father living in the apartment building. With the front desk being a bust Clarisse and Beckendorf decided to continue the investigation on their own; eventually they came to discover a huge hole where an apartment ought to be, yet there was nothing there but an empty space of blank walls.
"Okay I'm startin to get a little freaked out here!" said Beckendorf as he stared in disbelief.
"Then forget New York, let's get the Hades over to Stoner Brook…"
"Stony Brook," corrected Beckendorf.
"Whatever, the point is the sooner we get there the soon we get our answers," said Clarisse.
As they drove to Stony Brook Beckendorf kept coming back to those names, Pendragon, Dimond, Chetwynde, where had he heard them? It was like having all but the most critical piece of a puzzle, and frankly it was starting to irritate him. What was even more troubling was that possibility that they might not find the answers, in fact they may just find more questions, but he tried not to think about that too much.
As they pulled Stony Brook it was around lunch time and Clarisse was not in the mood to wait, so after parking the van along the Ave the duo made their way over to Garden Poultry on Beckendorf's recommendations.
"This place is great, but you have got to get the fries, they're just… wow! They come in boxes like Chinese food and they're beyond words!" said Beckendorf, practically water at the mouth at the mere mention of best fires in the world.
"Sound better than ambrosia, but frankly I'm hungry enough to eat the box they come in!" said Clarisse.
After making their way inside the two each order a box of fries and a drink, Clarisse got Coke while Beckendorf got Mountain Dew, as they walked outside the bumped into someone.
"Oh sorry I… Charles Beckendorf, is that you?"
"Dimond… Mark Dimond! We got to school together, and we're in Sci-Clops together, our robot won that big science competition a couple of years ago!" said Beckendorf, now realizing why the names sounded so familiar.
"Where have you been, I haven't seen you all summer… wait why did you just list the places you know me from?" asked Mark, somewhat confused.
"That is a good question, why did it take me so long to figure it out? Well I guess those fundamental changes in Halla also affected the Mist and made me forget how I know you, Bobby, and Courtney from school and how Bobby mysteriously disappeared a few years ago along with his family and all traces of his existe… are you okay Mark?"
By now Mark had noticed the acolyte's ring on Clarisse's finger, and the mention of the word Halla hadn't exactly helped things either.
"Hey Charles, you know if you have any secrets… you know you can trust me right?" said Mark, beginning to hyperventilate a bit.
"Look pal I've take lunch money from kids twice your size! Now do you know anything about Silena Beauregard or not?" demanded Clarisse, grabbing Mark by his shirt.
"I… uh… she… help!" stammered Mark nervously.
"Put him down Clarisse, you're not gonna get anything out of him that way!" said Beckendorf, reluctantly Clarisse let go of Mark.
"So you're her acolytes huh? Well that figures, she talks the world of you Charles."
"She does! What does she say? Is it…"
"Stay focused here lover boy! Look punk has your pal Pendragon told you about Greek mythology being real yet?" asked Clarisse.
Mark nodded his head, "It's kind of hard to miss that one. It's been happening across Halla, and now even I can see all the weird things, it's kind of cool but also kind of scary."
"And that camp I spend my summers at… do you know about that?" asked Beckendorf.
"Sort of, Silena said that she spends time at a camp and that she's a daughter of a Greek goddess… Aphrodite I think. So are you…"
"I'm a son of Hephaestus, and Clarisse here is a daughter of Ares."
"Oh… well that would explain why you're so good with machines, which I've always wondered about, and why she looks like Andy Mitchell as a girl… but then again Andy is pretty smart when it comes to science, like with the compound he made, and he's actually not such a bad guy when you get to know him."
"Seriously? I mean I knew about the science part but I never figured…"
"Hate to break up the nerd-fest, but do you got info on where Silena is?" said Clarisse.
"Oh! Right, follow me!" said Mark a bit nervously.
In the little pocket park in-between some of the buildings on the Ave two girls were sitting on the bench; one of the had long wavy brown hair, gray eyes, and was none other than Courtney Chetwynde; the other girl had gorgeous long black hair, dazzling blue eyes, and was wearing the latest in designer fashions, she was of course Silena Beauregard, the Traveler from Camp Half-Blood. As soon as Silena saw Beckendorf she rushed up to him as fast as her heels would permit and hugged him.
"Charlie! I can't believe it, you're here and Clarisse is with you! Oh my gods this is so perfect!" said Silena, feeling more overjoyed than she had in a while.
Courtney motioned for Mark and Clarisse to turn around in order to give Silena and Beckendorf some more privacy, and Mark went thru the quick-fire introductions.
"So you're a demigoddess… what's that like?" asked Courtney, in an effort to make conversation.
"It's interesting," remarked Clarisse flatly.
Courtney glanced over to Mark, who intern glanced over at her nervously.
"What?" asked Clarisse.
"Well Mark told me you and Beckendorf went looking for Silena's dad, but his shop and apartment were missing, and all evidence of Silena's existence had diapered, yet people still remembered her and her dad…"
"Does that happen a lot with Travelers?"
"It always happens with Traveler's, as soon as they realize they're destiny as a Traveler not only does all evidence of their existence disappear but so do their family members, but Silena's mom probably won't disappear given that she is a goddess," said Courtney.
"So Silena's dad, he's gone… why?"
"Your guess is as good as ours, because we really don't know, trust me you can burst your brain trying to figure out this Traveler stuff."
"I don't want to have to do that to her. Just look how happy she is, it would just completely crush her, and she my best friend, I can't do that to her."
"You don't have to do it immediately, believe me it took me and Mark a while to break it to Bobby, but eventually she's going to have to know the truth," said Courtney.
Clarisse nodded in acknowledgment and it was about then that Silena and Beckendorf walked over to the three of them.
"Hey guys! Sooooo since I'm still reading Bobby's journals and I'm still hanging out on Second Earth Charlie and I figured I could take a break and we could hang out and have a fabulous time here in Stony Brook. Sooooo any thoughts?" said Silena with her usual perkiness.
"I game, Mark, Courtney, what about you?" asked Clarisse.
"Sure!" said Courtney.
"Sounds great!" said Mark.
Even with Silena happily by her side Clarisse was still troubled, because in the end she was going to have to break the news to Silena about everything, this she knew, but how would Silena take it?
So what's the verdict? You know how much I love you guys and your reviews so please leave one! :)
