Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson
Chapter 11: Visiting Hours
Near the end of our first day we stopped in St Louis Missouri. Annabeth was practically attached to the glass window as she stared at the Gateway Arch sticking out of the city.
"I want to do that." She said quietly.
Percy looked at her, "What?"
"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"
Percy shrugged, "Only in pictures."
"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."
Percy laughed, "You? An architect?"
She blushed, glaring at Percy, "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."
I turned to Grover and mouthed, 'smack down', which made him quickly raise a hand to cover his laugh.
Annabeth sighed, "Sorry, that was mean."
"Can't we work together a little?" Percy looked at her with pleading eyes. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"
Annabeth thought about it and I was almost impressed by the consistency between the two gods. If they were going to feud, it looks like they went all out.
"I guess..." Annabeth looked dubious, "The Chariot? My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."
"Then we can cooperate too, right?"
Annabeth frowned, her pride still holding. Finally she conceded, "I suppose."
The train started to slow down and I sighed in relief. Annabeth reached into her bag and pulled out some of the money that they had stolen from Aunty Em's
"Food?" Grover grumbled, waking himself up.
Annabeth shook her head, looking beyond excited, "Come on goat boy. Sightseeing."
Grover frowned at her, confused, "Sightseeing?"
"The Gateway arch." She explained, "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"
We all exchanged looked. None of us really wanted to go, but Annabeth couldn't go alone, so we all sucked it up and decided to tag along.
"As long as there's snack bar without monsters." Grover grumbled under his breath.
I grimace, "I don't think I'll be able to eat a burger for a very long time."
We'd spent a lot of time in the museum underground. I wasn't a huge fan of it, especially with my ADHD, but Annabeth was enthralled. Percy was half paying attention to her ramblings, but he seemed more focused on munching the jelly beans that Grover passed to him.
Grover kept looking around nervously, claiming the underground always smelt like monsters.
"Guys..." Percy asked, looking around, "You know the gods' symbols of power?"
"Yeah?" Annabeth asked.
"Sure." I agreed, "Lightning bolt and fork thingy."
Percy looked at me, slightly offended at the jab at his dad. Annabeth tried to hide her smile for the sake of her truce with Percy.
"Trident." Percy correct me with a grunt, "Well Hade-"
Grover cleared his throat rather audibly, which made several tourists look over at him, "We're in a public place...you mean, our friend downstairs?"
Percy rolled his eyes, "Um, right. Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"
I raised an eyebrow at that. Did he? I didn't know that.
"You mean the helm of Darkness," Annabeth nodded, "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."
"He was there?" Percy looked confused.
"It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus - the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true..."
"It allows him to become darkness." Grover continued, "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark."
"Are you saying human's aren't rational?" I asked him. I didn't have a fear of the dark, but I sure did now.
"But then..." Percy looked around nervously, "How do we know he's not here right now, watching us?"
"Oh, thanks for that, Perce." I walked away, looking at a display board, "Why don't you just ask. 'Yo Hades, you watching us?'."
"No he is not."
I screamed so loud I swear I momentarily lost my voice.
I swung around, expecting to see everyone in the museum staring at me, but they were all looking at the display boards, frozen.
Even Percy was frozen, the question still on his lips. Annabeth's eyes were mid eye roll at my sarcasm.
Standing in front of them was my mother.
"Holy crap," I leaned on the display board, gripping my heart, "Wear a bell or something."
She wasn't so intimidating now that she wasn't wearing her greek robes, or standing in a greek temple. Even her wings were gone, or at least I thought they were until one of them knocked over a table. Just invisible then.
She wore a white fleece jacket over dark jeans and (I laughed inwardly at this) a pair of Nike running shoes. Her long hair was braided into twin identical black brains that ran down her front all the way to her hips.
"It is very cramped down here." She grumbled, shifting to get her wings somewhere safe.
I gapped at her, "What're you doing here?"
"Isn't a mother allowed to see her child?" She asked with raised eyebrow.
I gapped at her "NoI"
She chuckled, "Very well. Have you given any thought to the dream I sent you."
I frowned, "In the temple? No, I told you already you were too cryptic, I can't do cryptic."
"Not that dream." She said kindly.
I paused, "The snow dream?"
She tilted her head, "A god cannot give direct assistance to their children, it gives the appearance of favouritism."
"I'm your only child." I pointed out, "Favouritism is expected."
"You would expect to be Victory's favorite?" She demanded of me in an expecting tone.
I huffed. I couldn't care less about 'Victory', I was just looking for an inkling of proof that the woman in front of me was my mother. So instead I glowered at her, "No, I just want to take the blue pill and go back to the fucking matrix!"
I expected her to chid me for my language, but she just looked at me sadly. She wasn't going to repeat what she had already said. It was impossible, this was my home now and I better get used to it.
I shook my head, suddenly feeling exhausted, "Just...tell me about the dream."
She smiled, "You must understand it yourself, Jane. It is the only way you can comprehend it's significance."
I shook my head, feeling overwhelmed, I had so many things to worry about already. But to add this to it?
I rubbed my skull, "You must know how all this is going to end." I whispered, "Be able to predict it, or something."
She walked over to Percy and looked at him curiously, "Your quest? Yes, I do know the ending. But to know the outcome of 'all this'..." She trailed off, looking worried, "That is beyond me. There hasn't been a battle so large, a prophecy so extreme for many centuries. It worries me..."
"You mean, Percy's prophecy?" I asked, thinking about the one he'd gotten from the oracle. The one which I still didn't know all the details for.
She looked amused, like she was sharing her own private joke, "Perhaps. But know this Jane, when it comes to 'all this'...I am as useless as you."
"Gee thanks." I mumbled, but looking up, she was already gone.
Percy was fine until he saw the elevator.
"You okay?" I asked him. I hadn't told any of them about my encounter with Nike. It just seemed so private, but I still felt bad about keeping it from my friends.
He nodded, but didn't look convinced, "I'm good. It's just...confined spaces."
I knew what he was talking about. ADHD does not like small places were you can't move. But I couldn't help but notice how his eyes were fixed firmly on the sky. I didn't even think he realized that he had a pretty extreme fear of heights.
There was only five os us in the elevator. Us four and this really large women with the tiniest dog I'd ever seen, a chihuahua. It was about the most unfriendly chihuahua I'd ever seen, as it yipped loudly the entire ride up.
"No parents?" The fat lady asked us. She didn't sound disapproving, only curious.
"They're below." Annabeth lied easily, "Scared of heights."
"Oh, the poor darlings."
Percy was still silent, his face pale white. Obviously our 'parents' weren't the only ones. I hoped for his sake that we would make this quick.
The Chihuahua growled at Annabeth who looked at it strangely. The fat lady clicked her tongue, "Now, now Sonny. Behave."
Percy swallowed, trying to calm down, "Sonny. Is that his name?"
"No." The lady said with a smile.
We waited for her to continue, but it seemed like that was all she wanted to say.
Percy looked ready to go as soon as he stepped off the elevator. We moved out of the way to let a group get into the descending elevator.
Annabeth immediately started to spew out facts and information at a hundred miles an hour, explaining how she would have designed it and the changes she would've made. I felt a bit queasy when she mentioned a glass floor, thinking of the 600 foot drop beneath us.
Soon the park ranger informed us that they were closing and we realized we'd have to leave to get back to the train.
Me, Annabeth and Grover got into the elevator with two other tourists, and Percy was about to step in when the ranger stopped him, "Next car, sir."
Percy hesitated, looking nervous. I stepped forward, "You go ahead, Perce, I'll wait here."
He paused as if considering my offer, but then shook his head, "Nah, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom."
And before we could argue the elevator door shut.
We were just getting out of the elevator when the entire monument shuddered.
We could hear screaming immediately and looked up. 600 feet above us a huge burst of flames exploded out of the side of the Gateway Arch.
"You've got to be kidding me." I whined.
Annabeth immediately ran back to the elevator, attempting to get in, but a Park Ranger blocked her path, "We have to get back up there." Annabeth hissed.
The ranger looked at her like she was insane, "No can do, Kiddo. Where're your parents."
"Up there!" I yelled the first thing I thought of, hoping that maybe he would let us go up.
The ranger looked at us sympathetically, "Kids, go wait over their until the cops get here alright? I'm sure your parents are fine."
Then he ran off, speaking rapidly into his radio.
"Nice try Jane." Annabeth nodded, but frustration laced her words. "What're we going to do?"
"I don't know..." I frowned, "They'll bring firemen, go up the stairs, but that'll take gods know how long."
As if on cue the sirens of a firetruck blared and pulled up to an emergency exit. They pulled on huge CO2 canisters and started their climb, heading upwards.
I thought about the family up there. They had a little boy with them. I prayed that Percy was still alive, because he was the only one who could save them.
Grover bleated mournfully, looking around, "He's too high up. We can't do anything"
He was right. We couldn't do anything. Only watch, and pray.
When the firemen brought down the half hysterical family, but no Percy, we started to panic. Trying to avoid the park rangers and the police, we ran through the crowds of people, desperately trying to find Percy.
The reporters had shown up, a huge line of them all speaking in different languages and to different news channels. we kept out of their line of sight.
Annabeth looked around nervously, "We needed to get out of here."
"We need to find Percy." I corrected her.
Annabeth shook her head, "That's not what I meant. It's the cellphones."
I looked around and noticed that almost every single person was either talking, texting or taking photos on their mobile phones.
"They're like beacons for monsters." Annabeth swallowed.
"Perrr-cy."Grover bleated. I jumped and turned to see where he was looking. Percy was walking beside the reporters, his head down into his hoodie as he walked by
Grover ran up and hugged him, almost knocking him off his feet.
"We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way." Grover half whimpered. I looked him up and down. I could see a couple new tears in his clothing, but other then that seemed completely fine.
Annabeth had crossed her arms, and as looking at him in a strange mixture of exasperation and relief, "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"
He scratched his head, "I sort of...fell."
Annabeth gapped at him, then pointed back at the arch dramatically, "Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet!"
"Gangway!"
We jumped to the side as cop's started to push people out of the way, allowing the paramedics to come through with the people who'd been stuck at the top of the arch.
"And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua!"
I blinked, then turned to look at Percy who gave me a look saying 'I'll tell you later.'
"Okay ma'am." The paramedic attempted to calm her down. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."
"I'm not crazy!" The crazy lady said, hysterical, "This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared. There he is! That's the boy!"
Percy took that as our cue to leave and grabbed us, pulling up into the crowd. Once we were good and lost and out of view of the reporters, Percy stopped and let out a quick breath.
Annabeth glared at him, "What's going on? Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
"Er, it wasn't a Chihuahua." Percy said slowly. Annabeth gave him a look and he sighed, "Don't freak out. It was a...Chimera."
Annabeth paled, "How are you still alive."
"I jumped." He pointed, "Into the River."
I held up my hand, "Okay, back up. Tell us the whole story, from the beginning."
And he did, talking about the Chimera and Echidna (not the ant-eater), and how he fell. Finally he spoke about the sea spirit who had talked to him. I felt guilty when he said that apparently his father wasn't allowed to speak to him directly. My mother had spoken with me, despite everything. She hadn't been particularly helpful though.
Maybe that's the flip. They can only speak to us if they're not going to help us.
"Whoa." Grover said, nervous, "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."
"Percy Jackson. That's right Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by the authorities for a series New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For out viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."
"Okay." I nodded, "Time to go."
Nobody argued with me.
By some miracle of fate, we made it out of Saint Louis without getting arrested
We decided to contact Chiron in Denver, to inform him of our process, which was actually quite impressive. I couldn't believe that four 12-year-old had somehow managed to traverse more than half the country while being the subjects of a nation wide manhunt.
It was also nice to be out of Kansas. The train had spent most of the day going through the flat field of wheat. It was nice to see greens again.
Annabeth also wanted to talk to him about Percy's talk with the River spirit. I knew she wasn't saying anything, but she wanted to double-check a few things with Chiron about Percy's dreams.
"We can't use phone's right?" Percy said, and I remembered what Annabeth had said about phones being like a demigod beacon.
"I'm not talking about phones."
Annabeth and Grover dragged them through Denver looking for something. Eventually she pulled them toward a half run down building besides a gas station.
Grover pull up a garage type door and we walked inside. It was one of those car washes. We closed the door down behind us and Grover quickly grabbed the water sprayer.
"What exactly are we doing?" Percy looked at them, confused.
Nobody answered him. Grover pulled out his changed and grumbled, "It's seventy-five cents. I've got two quarters left. Annabeth?"
"Don't look at me." She snorted, "The dining car wiped me out."
Percy flipped a quarter over to him and he caught it, inserting it with his quarters.
"Excellent." Grover nodded, "We could do it with a spray bottle of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."
Me and Percy exchanged glance, both feeling extremely left out.
"Do you guys do that on purpose?" I asked them.
Annabeth gave me a look that suggested that yes, they did do it on purpose.
Grover held up the spray pump, "I-M'ing."
Percy furrowed his eyebrows, "Instant Messaging?"
"Iris messaging." Annabeth corrected him, "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."
"Well." I nodded, "Let's hope she's not too busy, we don't have enough money for another call."
But Percy was just looking at the gun strangely, "You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"
"Unless you know a better way to make a rainbow." Grover turned the water to mist and sprayed into the air. A small window high in the wall let in the sunlight, which refracted in the water and a rainbow shot through the sky.
Annabeth held out a hand, "Drachma, please."
Percy held her a drachma out of the pouch we'd stolen from Medusa's.
"O' Goddess, accept our offering." She tossed the drachma into the rainbow. I half expected it to go right through and fall to the floor. But instead it shimmered into nothing. Annabeth looked relieved and cleared her throat, "Half-Blood hill."
Nothing happened for a few moments and I wondered if it wasn't going to work. But then an image came into view.
I snorted, turning to Annabeth who's turned bright red, "Should've been more specific."
"Luke!" Percy called, looking ecstatic. Luke, who was standing on the porch of the big house looking out into the camp, jumped, turning around until his eyes settled on the iris message. I wondered what he was seeing on his side. A rainbow maybe? Just hanging in the air.
"Percy!" Luke actually looked quiet relieved to see them, "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay."
"Relatively speaking." I grumbled.
Luke looked worried, "What's she talking about?"
"Nothing." Annabeth defended, then smirked, "Well, Percy blew up the Gateway Arch, but other than that, nothing."
"I did not!" Percy glared. I rolled my eyes.
"Guys!" I yelled before this turned into another full-blown argument, "Seriously, not the time."
They both stopped, looking at me bashful. I realized I'd used my 'mom' voice without noticing. Luke looked at the three of us, amused.
"Where's Chiron?" Percy asked.
Luke's smile became more fixed, "He's down at the cabins. We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, are you sure everything is cool? Is Grover all right?"
I realized he couldn't see Grover, as he was holding the spray gun.
"I'm right here." Grover called, before leaning into view, "What kind of issues?"
But before Luke could answer a car drove into the stall next to us, the bass turned up all the way as it blasted music. I snorted as Percy actually looked affronted by the language being used in the rap song.
"I'll deal with it." I went to move, but Annabeth stopped me.
"No I got it." She squeaked, "Grover, come on."
I frowned at her, looking confused.
"What?" Grover looked equally confused, "But-"
"Give Jane the nozzle and come on!"
Grover shook his head, grumbling something about Girls and the oracle of Delphi, before giving me the spray nozzle. The spray shifted, causing the image to disappear for a second, before it settled back onto look.
Luke sighed when we came back into view, "Chiron had to break up a fight." He told Percy, "Things are pretty tense here, Percy. Word leaked out about the Zeus-Poseidon standoff. We're not sure how - probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound."
I snorted so loudly it actually hurt. Percy gave me a strange looked, but I just shook my head. To anyone else, Luke probably looked exasperated, but to me he looked threatening.
"Anyway." Luke continued, "Now the campers are starting to take sides. It's shaping up like the trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less. Athena is backing Zeus."
The music in the next shall lowered and I sighed, finally able to hear myself think.
"What's your status?" Luke asked, "Chiron will be sorry he missed you."
Percy told him everything, something which made me increasing nervous. He even told him about the dreams he'd been having, adding a few new details that he'd left out when telling me and Annabeth.
A beeping alerted us to the fact that we only had a few moments left.
"I wish I could be there." Luke said wistfully, "We can't help much from here, I'm afraid, but listen...it had to be Hades who took the master bolt. He was at Olympus at the winter solstice. I was chaperoning a field trip and we saw him."
We already knew this, as Annabeth had said much the same thing.
Percy frowned, "But Chiron said the gods can't take each other's magic items directly."
"That's true." Luke nodded, "Still...Hades has the helm of darkness. How could anybody else sneak into the throne room and steal the master bolt? You'd have to be invisible."
I clenched my jaw. That dirty little...
But to be fair, Luke looked properly mortified after he'd said that, like he hadn't actually realized what he'd said, "Oh, hey." He shook his head immediately, "I didn't mean Annabeth. She and I have known each other forever. She would never...I mean, she's like a little sister to me."
The music in the stall next to us stopped completely, and with a shrill scream the car peeled out of the car wash.
"Jeez." I looked over at the empty stall, "What did she do to him?"
"You'd better go see what that was." Luke agreed, "Listen, are you wearing the flying shoes? I'll feel better if I know they've done you some good."
Percy didn't notice the emphasis on 'you', but I sure did. I felt like Luke had spoken to me in that moment and I remembered his warning to me back on Half-Blood hill.
"Oh...uh, yeah." Percy lied, "Yeah, they've come in handy."
The relieved look on Luke's face worried me. Why was it so important that Percy wear the shoes? And why had he only warned me not to wear them? It's like he hadn't even considered that Percy might ask Annabeth or Grover.
"Really?" Luke grinned, "They fit and everything?"
But before Percy could answer the water shut off. The rainbow hung in the air for a few more moments.
"Well, take care of yourself out there in Denver! And tell Grover it'll be better this time! Nobody will get turned into a pine tree if he just-"
But this mist was gone, and so was Luke.
I put the nozzle back on the rack, and turned to Percy, "Pine tree? You think that's a Satyr thing or what?"
Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, practically hanging off each other as they laughed. But then they saw us and their smile's faded.
"What happened, Percy. What did Luke say."
"Not much." Percy lied, "Come on, let's find some dinner."
As we walked over to the door, I turned to Annabeth, "What did you do to that poor man?"
And Annabeth and Grover were laughing again.
A/N: Yay for updates! I am truly appalled at my own update rate for this story. But I will be finishing it. I don't have a lot to say about this chapter except it's the only time I've have to squish two book chapters into one fanfiction chapter. So it's a filler. But Hopefully I'll be able to actually pump out some more story so I can update more for you guys.
Super special thank you to everyone whose stuck with me! Don't be scared to review with any comments, concerns, or questions. I love hearing from you guys!
Until Next Time,
-Ash
