Back at it again :)

Percy

X

Winter 2010

We actually did make it through Nevada without stopping. When we'd reached the van at Lake Tahoe, Bobby had dumped a very dazed Gwen into the backseat of the van and Dakota had joined her, the two of them looking a little worse for wear. Hazel and I took the middle while Bobby drove and Melody helped him navigate from the passenger seat; no one was feeling all that talkative.

We sped across the desert, the sparse landscape whipping by us outside the windows. It wasn't much of a view. We had opted not to risk stopping for food, and my stomach wasn't happy with it. Sure, you can get by on a diet of CLIF bars, but no one should have to consume them for three meals of a day.

It was about two in the morning when Bobby pulled the van into a motel parking lot on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. Gwen and Hazel went in with a roll of cash and came out ten minutes later with two keys.

As we were walking up the stairs to our rooms on the second floor, Bobby yelled, "Dibs on Gwen sharing a bed with me!"

Gwen rolled her eyes, but she was trying to suppress a smile. "I already have plans to split with Hazel."

Bobby grinned. "All three of us then. Hot."

Dakota's eyes flicked between Melody and me, the only two remaining, and he frowned when he did the math. "We're obviously splitting up the guys and the girls."

Bobby's smile melted, but Gwen laughed while opening the door to the girls' room. "See you in the morning, buddy."

Once we were in our room, Bobby groaned. "Really, man?"

Dakota gave him a pointed look. "I don't know why you're so upset. It's not like anything would have happened. Think of it as a favor to you: the girls always take longer in the washroom."

Bobby walked away from him cursing under his breath still while Dakota shook his head.

I awkwardly stood on the far side of the room from them, going through my pack. There's nothing like being on the outside of a group of people who know each other well. I felt like I had a friend in Melody, but also felt that everyone else didn't quite know what to make of me. And, obviously, Dakota was still not my biggest fan.

We took turns in the washroom: Bobby first, then me. After I'd showered, I climbed into the double bed on the far side of the room. Bobby was already in the other one and it was a fair assumption that Dakota didn't want to bunk with me. Maybe kill me in my sleep, but definitely not cuddle up.

Bobby noticed my gaze and glanced back towards the closed bathroom door where Dakota was still showering, and then looked my way. "Don't worry, he'll probably warm up to you."

The 'probably' didn't sound promising. I replied, "Well, it's not like he could get colder."

Bobby smiled widely. "He's just a little jealous. Definitely is mad that he needed to get saved today—by you, of all people. Plus, I mean the whole 'showing up to camp with Melody' thing rubbed him the wrong way."

My face felt hot. "It's not like...that."

"Yeah, yeah," Bobby waved his hand. "It's not really your fault. Dakota's first week of camp as a 13-year-old, Melody shot him in the leg, bulldozed over him, and took the win for her team in a warfield battle game. From then on, he was a goner. Gods, we used to tease him for it—he followed her around like a puppy for years."

"An ass-kicking makes the heart grow fonder, I guess."

Bobby grinned. "When they started dating, it was kind of a relief because he stopped whining about her all the time but now it's back to square one and, as a result, I will be sharing a bed with a dude who snores instead of a daughter of Venus."

"Are you and Gwen…?" I didn't really know how to finish the question. There was clearly something going on there, but I wouldn't know what to call it.

Bobby laughed at my visible awkwardness, then sighed. "We've been doing the whole obvious flirting thing for a while. I mean, it started out as a joke years ago, and now it's almost been a joke for so long that it would be weird if something did happen. But like, obviously she's cool and hot and…"

"Yeah, yeah," I said in a mocking tone.

He threw the Kleenex box on the nightstand at me. "Girls are difficult. I'm sure you'll do fine at camp Mr. Son of the Sea God. You're basically the varsity quarterback of being a demigod."

"Nope, girls still confuse me too." I sighed. "I guess I haven't asked yet, but who's your godly parent?"

"Bacchus," Bobby said. "Which pretty much just means that I can throw a good kegger."

"You're allowed to drink alcohol at camp?" I asked, thoroughly shocked.

Bobby sent me a sly smile. "Allowed to do and actually do are two different things, my friend. But for the most part, I keep that behavior for when I'm at home. My family lives in Napa Valley and owns a winery, so it's not hard to go back and forth between camp and home. I'm pretty sure my mom caught the attention of my dad by making a particularly stellar Zinfandel one year."

I don't know anything about wine so I wasn't sure what a Zinfandel was, but I nodded. I liked Bobby—he was easy to talk to.

Dakota then stepped out of the bathroom, looked at us both over once, then turned out the lights.

In my dream, I was standing on an island, looking out over murky water that looked almost oily in the darkness. The kind of water you'd have to be nuts to swim in. I turned around and looked up to see the Statue of Liberty lit up against the night sky with a billion lights glittering on a larger island across the water. Manhattan.

I heard voices whispering. "We know it's a risk, but he's grown to hate the gods even more than his children before them. He's had time to think things through and, you know, the enemy of our enemy..."

The voice was ancient and old: you could feel the power in it. It was also definitely female. Something unintelligible was murmured back, but it wasn't like a voice speaking so much as a rumble in the ground.

The first voice responded, oddly gentle. "I understand why you're apprehensive, but I'll act as a buffer between the two of you."

The ground seemed to say something again.

"Yes, that's why we must do it at night when I am strongest. I can control it then and shield him from the gods until it's too late."

I tried to skirt around to see who was talking, but it was like the figure was a silhouette against the world around her—a pitch black shadow imposed onto the shimmering city lights in the background.

The ground rumbled beneath my feet violently.

"There's an eavesdropper?" The woman asked before scoffing. "Well, that won't do."

In an instant, my vision went completely black.

When the light came back into my view, I was somewhere else: a café patio right next to a street made of cobblestones. The sun was streaming down around me, the patio covered by a bright green awning. A paper menu was on the table in front of me and I thought that my dyslexia was acting up until I realized all the words were in a foreign language.

"Bonjourno, Percy." A man was suddenly sitting on the other side of the table from me, sipping a small cup of espresso. "Long time, no see."

I studied his face: he had perfectly tanned skin and wavy blonde hair styled fashionably with a pair of expensive-looking sunglasses on. He was dressed in a sleek designer suit. "Have we met?"

He smiled, and the whiteness of his teeth almost blinded me. "Yes and no. I guess I was slightly different when we met. A lot of the gods are more polar lately, but I've always been a little more consistent over time. The sun rises and falls all the same, you know? Poetry remains poetry. Music is still music. Then again, I heard a rumor that you're not remembering much these days."

I blinked. "Apollo?"

"The one and only!" A group of tall, well-dressed women walked past us on the sidewalk. Apollo made no effort to hide that he was checking them out. One blushed, and he grinned. "I love Milan and the fashion of the city."

You mean the fashion models of the city, I thought. I leaned back in my seat. "I'm assuming you didn't bring me on an Italian trip for my opinion on runway looks."

Apollo straightened up and refocused on me. "Oh no, of course not. Your style is frankly embarrassing. I'm here because I think you're the only person who can help me help my daughter and, since we go way back and I practically taught you everything you know, you should be eager to do me a favor."

"You taught me everything I know?" I asked in disbelief.

"Of course I did! Now, Jupiter has been extra strict about us contacting demigods and, naturally, we're more likely to get busted sneaking a chat with our own children so I cannot deliver this information to Melody myself; besides, I don't know if she would want to listen to me right now."

"What makes you think she'd listen to me?" I asked incredulously.

He smiled. "Because you weren't present for the things that have made her cynical and you don't have a reason to lie to her. That's why, when the time comes, you will need to tell her something crucial for me."

That didn't sound particularly upbeat. I furrowed my brow. "What is the important message?"

He took off his designer sunglasses and I was surprised to see a deep sadness reflected in his bright blue eyes. "You'll have to tell her that there were never meant to be two, and that she is much stronger on her own than she could imagine."

I felt confusion bubbling up in my head. "What does that even mean?"

Apollo waved his hand flippantly. "She'll understand it fine. Just make sure you don't tell her too early."

"But when is the right time?" I asked frantically, feeling myself slipping away from the dream.

The god put his sunglasses back on, scowling. "You'll know."

My eyes flew open to see Bobby holding another dreaded CLIF bar out in front of my face. "Rise and shine, waterboy."

Dakota was back in the driver's seat as we made our way through Wyoming; as it turns out, he, Bobby, and Gwen were the only ones who had driver's licenses. The radio was playing country music and I couldn't help but wonder: did no one have an AUX cord?

I had, once again, been relegated to the backseat and Melody had climbed in with me. She was absentmindedly staring out the window at the fields around us, with a frown on her face.

I was about to ask if she was alright when she turned to face me, as if she could sense my attention. She hesitated for a second before whispering, "I know it's dumb, but I just keep looking outside in case we just find Jason. As if he would be wandering the wilderness of Wyoming."

"It's not dumb," I responded. "Being hopeful isn't dumb."

"Sometimes it really feels like it is," she said with a sad smile. "I appreciate the sentiment, but even this stupid quest gets to me: where are we supposed to be going? We're just driving with no real destination and we're in a bit of a time crunch."

I ran my hand through my messy hair. "Actually, I think I might have an idea of where we need to be."

I quickly recounted my dream about the conversation the two figures were having at the base of the Statue of Liberty, choosing to leave out the other part with her dad.

The light danced around her brown eyes as she listened. "Interesting; I wonder who the two figures that were talking… I have this weird suspicion that they're related to Niobe and the way she had mentioned that she was supposed to kidnap us."

I nodded, thinking back to the events the day before. "Yeah, she was talking about someone being a mom or something? Is there a goddess of maternity in Roman mythology?"

Melody's eyebrows drew together. "The deity most associated with motherhood is Latona, the mother of Apollo and Diana. But since she's the reason that Niobe's kids all got slaughtered, I doubt that Niobe would ever work for her. It has to be someone else."

She looked troubled thinking back on the tale, clearly uneasy about the story behind our captors. I mean, I generally wouldn't feel too great about hearing the tale of how my dad killed a bunch of kids who technically hadn't personally done anything wrong.

I try to divert the conversation. "So it has to be another mythological mom that's planning our demise."

Melody straightened up. "Yeah, for sure. At least we have a location to put into the GPS now." She yelled, "Hey guys, we're headed to New York!"

Bobby whooped! and Gwen's eyes glittered. "You mean we can shop on Fifth Avenue?"

Gwen and Hazel started to excitedly chatter about getting to sightsee in the city.

Dakota's annoyed voice broke out from the front. "How did you come to that conclusion, Mel?"

She shrugged. "Percy had a dream and it seemed pretty clear."

Dakota didn't look too convinced. I explained my dream again for the benefit of everyone else in the car, and Hazel nodded in agreement. "It seems like we need to get to the Statue of Liberty as soon as we can."

"But you know we're not supposed to go to New York," Dakota said cautiously, his eyes flickering with the slightest hint of discomfort in the rearview mirror.

"What's wrong with New York?" I blurted out. Oddly, my tone was a bit defensive. I tried again. "I mean, why is New York off limits?"

A concerned look crossed Hazel's face. "It's just that the home of the gods is in New York—the Empire State Building to be specific. The area is extra dangerous to demigods because of the proximity to all the power they radiate. It attracts monsters. We've always been told to stay as far away from New York as possible for our safety."

"Oh," I responded dumbly.

"It's bold for Uranus to choose a place so close to the centre of the gods' power, but the fact that he thinks it's a good idea makes me uneasy."

Gwen reassuringly put a hand on top of Hazel's shoulder. "It's weird, but also he is pretty overconfident according to the myths. Maybe he's just being arrogant by choosing New York."

"Maybe…" Hazel said unconvincingly.

We didn't have time to contemplate things any further, because at that very moment, Dakota cursed loudly before sharply jerking the steering wheel. And then I saw why.

A giant winged creature had dropped down onto the middle of the freeway, obscuring our view with a huge collection of feathers. Dakota turned sharply to avoid crashing into it, taking us onto the shoulder of the highway. Mortals were slamming their brakes aggressively, a few of them hitting the huge feathery creature and other cars around them.

"Why does it smell like Fireball shots?" Bobby yelled.

Gwen groaned. "You drinking-obsessed idiot! It smells like candy hearts."

Melody's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "No fucking way."

"What is it?" I asked, but she didn't have a chance to answer because something hit her side of the van, denting the size in and knocking us slightly off course.

The source of the rock? A large group of the earthy-looking ogres that had attacked us the day I had first stumbled across Melody's van. There were at least 20 of them closing in on us from the side of the highway.

Melody was yelling at Dakota. "Use the button to auto-open the trunk and get the Earthborn behind us so I can pick them off."

"The damn safety features won't let me open it while the vehicle isn't in park!" He replied.

"Then park!"

Bobby looked back warily. "Are none of you worried about the huge bird in the middle of the freeway?"

Melody was drawing her bow and notching a couple arrows in it, kneeling on the middle seat and aiming over the top of it and through the back mirror. "It's a Cinnamon Bird. I don't think they're typically violent. Dakota, get the back open now!"

Dakota relented, "Okay, hold on everyone!"

His foot hit the brakes hard and I could smell the rubber burning against the asphalt. The gearshift slid into park, Dakota jammed the "open trunk" button in the front, and the back door started to ascend at a glacial pace.

"So no one is worried about the giant bird?" Bobby prompted again, watching wide-eyed out the window while the ground shook as the bird took to the skies again, engulfing us in the enormous shadow of its wingspan.

One of the earthy ogres wound two arms back with a boulder in each hand. I yelled, "Drive now!"

I must have sounded urgent enough because Dakota took the instruction without even snapping at me. The van started moving with a screech! and the volley of rocks landed barely short of our bumper. The trunk door was now open enough for Melody to start shooting out the back, but there were even more of the monsters than I had originally counted—at least sixty coming from the sides, back and diagonally from the front—and we were pretty outnumbered.

I'm not going to lie, I felt pretty dumb and useless sitting in the backseat with no water in sight and no real use for my sword. Dakota did his best to control the vehicle, but was working overtime to dodge rocks that were hurtling toward us at all sides. We were taking a few hits from all sides while Melody did her best to keep them at bay, launching arrows at rapid speed.

Bobby kept glancing warily up to the sky. "You sure it's harmless?"

Gwen nodded without much conviction. "There's this myth that a Cinnamon Bird used to collect and carry home huge pieces of cinnamon because it liked to make its nest out of the spice. People apparently would try to lure the bird out because it would drop pieces of cinnamon for them to take home and cook with. But the bird wasn't violent."

Dakota swerved hard to the right, making us all slide hard into the left side of the car. We were no longer on the road, but now instead tearing through a grassy field. We drove past a few grazing cows who looked at us like, Moo?

"How did they lure the bird?" Bobby asked.

Gwen furrowed her brow in concentration. "I can't quite remember."

As it turns out, she didn't have to remember because a group of the ogres grabbed hold of a cow and, using their superfluous number of hands—like, who would ever need six arms to themselves?—they picked up a brown cow and gruesomely tore it open. Out of fear that PETA will come after me, I won't describe the scene but I can tell you: I don't think I could eat a cheeseburger for a while after that.

Then, strangely, the ogres launched segments of the cow carcass at our van, chunks of meat and guts hitting the roof of the car.

"EW!" Hazel screamed as a piece of leg slapped the window next to her.

We didn't even really have time to register the shock before the bird's enormous feet swooped down over us, snatching the van up in its talons and taking us airborne.

The sudden shift caused us all to shift violently in the van. I'm so glad I decided to make the safe choice and wear my seatbelt. I had to quickly snatch onto the back of Melody's shirt as she flipped half-way over over the back of the seat and almost fell out through the open trunk door, the bird climbing through the sky at a startling pace. Already, the ground was 300 feet below us. I yanked her back in with a harsh tug and she smashed into my chest.

Melody met my gaze, a wild look in her eyes. She was clutching my arm like it was her lifeline which, I guess, it technically was. Her tone was shaky and grateful as she said, "Thanks, waterboy."

I was so shocked that I didn't even complain about the nickname—partially because we were rapidly gaining altitude and partly because I realized Melody's whole body was on top of mine while she held tight to me. She didn't let go.

Dakota hit the button to automatically close the trunk and, by the time the door had shut, we were over 10,000 feet above the ground.

All six of us were just trying to acknowledge that we were still alive when Gwen said, "I remember now. People would lure the Cinnamon Bird by splitting open oxen and leaving the carcasses out. The bird would swoop down for the food."

Bobby looked out the window to survey the clouds that were starting to surround us. "So are we about to be a meal? Because I don't want to end my days like an ox carcass."

Luckily, the bird did not want to eat us. Unluckily, it did not care if we survived a drop from several thousand feet in the air. After carrying us for about an hour, it released us from its grasp, keeping only the fragments of meat that were hooked and tangled in its talons.

We would have died if Hazel hadn't done some child-of-Ceres plant magic and grown an enormous mattress of interwoven soy plants from the icy ground to meet us in the air and cushion our fall to the ground. Even then, the van hit land at a rough pace, crumpling the whole front of the vehicle. There was no way it would ever function again.

Dazed, bruised, and generally worse for the wear, we managed to smash one of the back windows and crawl out of the battered vehicle one-by-one. I was pretty unscathed thanks to my whole invincibility thing, but everyone else was covered in scratches. Gwen most definitely had broken an arm on the impact. Bobby had a thick gash along his hairline. Melody's legs were mottled and blue from where she'd slammed into the seat in front of her.

We had landed in a farm field (soy, of course), though the only living plants were the ones Hazel had cultivated to come to our rescue. The winter sun had already set, leaving us in the oppressive darkness of night. We salvaged what supplies we could from the van then fed some ambrosia squares to the injured. I felt kind of guilty as the only person who wasn't banged up.

As if sensing my mood, Melody snatched the ambrosia square I had brought for her from my hand. "Hey, it's not your fault that you're so superhuman. It's a little rude that you haven't found a way to share that skill, but I can forgive that."

Everyone was spread out in little groups. Hazel and Gwen were lying down using their backpacks as pillows while they waited for the ambrosia to do its work. Dakota was wrapping up the wound on Bobby's forehead with a roll of gauze.

I said, "Honestly, I still feel kind of guilty."

She waved it off, and I sat down next to her on the ground. She sighed deeply and then leaned her head against my shoulder; I stilled at the touch. From fifteen feet away, I could see a sly smile break out on Bobby's still-bloody face as he watched. I could feel my ears getting hot.

If she noticed how awkward I was feeling, she didn't let on. She scrunched her nose, looking at the time on my watch in disdain. "Not even seven o'clock and the sun is already down for the day. I hate the winter."

I looked her over quickly. It's true: she just seemed like a more vibrant person during daylight hours—probably par for the course when it comes to the children of Apollo. At that thought, I was forced to remember what Apollo had made me promise in the dream; the cryptic message I would have to deliver to her. I wanted to just get it over with, but Apollo's terrifying warning about the timing made me keep silent.

I replayed the words in my head: there were never meant to be two, and she is much stronger on her own than she could imagine.

Something about the sentence unnerved me, and it occurred to me that it was the last part of it. Selfishly, I thought back to the line in the prophecy about someone not returning. What if it wasn't a hint about death, but instead meant that she would go off on her own and leave us behind?

I didn't know much about my life, but I knew that I liked her company and that it would suck for her to disappear and leave me alone to go back to Camp Legion without an ally. I felt the self-centered thoughts swirl in my chest as she shifted the position of her head on my shoulder and her hair tickled my neck. I swallowed hard. Her hair smelled like tropical fruit.

"I didn't tell you everything about the dream," I blurted out and cursed myself internally.

I felt her tense up next to me for a millisecond, and then she made herself relax. "Not you holding back on me. I thought we were in this together?"

Her tone was dry as if she was joking, but I could sense that, under the facade, she actually meant it a bit.

I looked at the ground. "I talked to your dad."

She tensed up again, and this time couldn't relax. "What did he have to say to you?"

"He asked me to do him a favour. For you."

She looked up at me in confusion. "You? For me?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I'm feeling like a bit of a middle man."

She looked amused despite her tenseness. "So what exactly did Apollo want you to do for me?"

The dirt was so interesting that I had to keep staring at it. "He wants me to give you a message."

She mimed taking out a notepad and getting a pen ready to jot down whatever I said. She pressed her fake pen to fake paper. "Okay, let me have it."

I smirked at the silly gesture before I sighed. "He said I had to wait until the right time to tell you and that I couldn't be too early."

She frowned. "That's so unfair! Why would you tease me with that information only to not tell me what the message is? You simply must spill."

"Sorry, can't," I tried to convey the regret in my voice. "I probably shouldn't have told you anything about it. I don't know. I just felt like maybe I should warn you that something's coming."

"Is it a bad thing?" The fear was audible in her voice, though she tried to seem nonchalant. She looked away from me and out into the dark horizon to avoid letting me see whatever emotion lurked in her expression.

I got a sinking feeling in my chest; I shouldn't have said anything. "I don't know exactly what it means if I'm being honest."

"So you're saying I shouldn't shoot the messenger," she joked, but I could sense her disappointment. She sighed, relaxing a bit. Her tone was fully back to being playful when she said, "You're lucky I'm all bruised up so I don't have the energy to pester it out of you."

A flush of relief came over me. I cleared my throat before speaking again. "He did say that he chose me for a reason though."

Her gaze snapped back to my face. "Please, do tell."

I looked directly at her eyes, pinpointing the visible desperation expressed there. "He said it was because I didn't have a reason to lie to you—which, to be clear, I don't—but it makes me wonder: do other people have a reason to lie?"

She averted her gaze, her features turning melancholic, the way women in romantic drama movies look when they stand on a balcony and stare out into the sky while clutching a cardigan around themselves. She was silent for a few moments before she whispered, "People will sometimes lie to get what they want from you."

"And you trust that I wouldn't lie more than you trust people you've known for years?" I asked incredulously. "I mean, I'm just some guy."

Melody's eyes flicked across the group, so quickly that I almost thought I'd imagined it, before looking down at her hands. She looked like she was getting smaller by the second, her body collapsing in on itself. "Yes."

"Why though?"

She couldn't meet my eyes while she said, "Because you don't know what to want from me."