Chapter 20: Petra

Credence and Percy

"I will slap you if you say 'it's gonna be ok' one more time," Sam said to his brother as he and Percy helped Credence unload out of the thestral carriage. The two of them, along with their sister, had come back to the tunnel where they were used to being dropped off by these carriages at the end of school. This time, a few weeks into the summer, it was Credence who had been flown in by carriage, and they who were greeting him in the abandoned section of the Old City Hall Station.

Percy, for once in his life listening to Sam, shut his mouth, and focused on keeping his body at a perfect angle with the carriage so that he wouldn't have to look at the skeletal horse that had pulled its sole occupant to this spot. Credence ogled at the brick-lined cave as he stepped out, looking right through the thestral.

"Is this Manhattan?" he asked Percy.

"Yeah, but it's still a ways from our place. Don't worry, ok? Everythin's going to be OK. C'mon. My sister Petra is outside." Credence took the tiny suitcase that his friend had gotten out for him. Percy had been talking like this ever since he had gotten within earshot of the carriage, and his comforting chatter was a little like listening to a time bomb tick towards a panic attack.

Sam used his longer legs to take up the lead of the group as they made their way to the entrance of the tunnel. Credence had learned earlier that carriages for the New Yorkian students couldn't just drop the children off at their doorstep the way that they would in all-wizard villages or rural areas. Here, the No-Maj and wizard worlds bled together like red and yellow on a sunset painting. Percy jabbered on as they made their way out of an abandoned train tunnel. Old City Hall Station, he called it, except for it wasn't that old. Back when it was being built, in 1904, wizards had gotten hold of the blueprints and made a few alterations. One of them was to add another track beyond the crowds with boards of wood at its entrance and a sign which for over a decade had said 'DO NOT ENTER; UNDER MAINTANENCE'.

When they reached that sign, Percy's history lesson was interrupted by a female voice that cut in - "'Bout time. I was startin' to think the thestral had eaten yous."

Credence came into sight of the young woman who had sent Percy the howler about him.

She was much more fashionably dressed than either of her brothers. Her black hair, on level with her chin, was ringletted from curlers, and the bow in her hat perfectly matched her navy-blue silk dress. Still, the Boyd resemblance that tied Percy to Sam, much to both of their annoyance, was definitely shared with Petra. She had that same washed-out sort of tan, and a mischievous flash under the serious exterior of her eyes. The thick, New York drawl was also reassuringly familiar.

She and Credence stared each other up and down. Credence's eyes soon dropped, unable to handle that challenging gaze.

"Huh. I thought you'd be… bigger," she finally said. Credence wasn't sure what the right response to this was so he didn't move. A short laugh forced his eyes upward. "I think we could handle a pipsqueak like you if things got ugly. You don't got nothin' to worry about here with us, ok?"

She gave his shoulder a quick squeeze – which startled him – then turned on her heel to lead them through to the exit of the train station.

Credence looked at Percy.

"Yeah, it took a while," he said out of the corner of his mouth, "But I think I've gotten her to come around. If you can get her to think of you like a third little brother you're home free. Just try not to get on her bad side or she might never let me go back to school again. But it's fine. Just be normal, OK? Don't worry."

"Keep together, would you?" Petra called from ahead, and the boys broke into a jog as if propelled by her voice.

A/N: This chapter was what made the last chapter take several days to get published. I have written and edited this three times. Yes, 3. It was very important to me to get Petra's character right. She is someone who has been mentioned in sprinkles for the past two books, and yes, she was the one who sent the howler to Percy after the world found out that Credence was an Obscurial. Credence didn't know what a howler was at the time (the chapter about his eleventh birthday in Fall from Winter), so it might have been a little confusing. Please review!