Mrs. O'leary obviously felt better the next day. Luke was still pretty lightheaded but was throwing small logs for the hellhound to play fetch with.
I doubted Mrs. O'leary could get us all the way back to Camp, but she could get us close. Once she was well rested, we got ready to leave. Charlie insisted we leave an apology note on the wreckage of the car we stole.
Luke and Grover really didn't enjoy being squished together on Mrs. O'leary's back. Once all of us were situated and Charlie was holding onto my waist almost tight enough to suffocate me, Mrs. O'leary began to run into the shadows of the nearby forest. I clenched my eyes shut at the last second.
The sudden overwhelming feeling of cold was somewhat of a shock, even though I've done it many times. I was nearly taken over by bitter memories of the Arai digging their hand through my chest. But I could also feel Charlie's hands firmly on my hips, anchoring me to sanity. He was shivering, no doubt remembering the Arai for a different reason.
The trip was over just as quickly as it had begun. When I opened my eyes, it was colder. There was a slight morning frost on the grass beneath us. I slid off of Mrs. O'leary's back in awe.
We were in New York. Well, we were almost in New York. The small Welcome to New York sign stood a few feet away, securing our victory. Charlie cheered and tugged on my arm in excitement, then promptly bent over and puked.
I was really worried about this sickness of his. It was only getting worse, despite everything Damasen had done to cure him.
"Luke, think you could steal some toothbrushes?" I said, only half joking.
Charlie was still feeling sick half an hour later. I sent Luke and Grover ahead to scout, much to Luke's disagreement. We only decided they'd go a few miles away before coming back and reporting what they found. In all honesty, I mostly did it because I wanted them to make nice with each other before we got home.
We'd use the day to rest up. We needed to make sure Charlie was ready before we continued on our way. I sent Mrs. O'leary ahead to Camp, just in case the fight started earlier than anticipated. That left Charlie and I to sit on a hillside in the countryside of New York and relax.
Finally.
"I need a barf bag," Charlie groaned.
I rubbed his back comfortingly and tried not to laugh while I soothed him. "I've never seen anybody react to shadow travel this badly."
"Don't judge me and my sensitive stomach!"
I laughed and leaned back, resting my head behind me. We both knew the shadow travel was why he wasn't sick but we relished in pretending we didn't.
The clouds slowly migrated across the sky in graceful patterns I never realized were so beautiful. It was vast and endless in the same way Tartarus was deadly. Of course, the fates couldn't allow me to be relaxed for too long.
Charlie stiffened beside me, signifying that something wasn't right. "Is there a such thing as giant snake thing in the mortal world or should I be worried?" he asked.
"Uh, what?"
"Oh wait it has a face, definitely not from the mortal worried. I guess that means I should be worried then."
I pushed myself up onto my elbows. Slithering up the hill towards us was the creature Charlie had described. Well, not just what Charlie described. There was a small pack of them, each about the size of a fully grown moose.
"What do we do?" Charlie yelped as we jumped up and down the other side of the hill.
I shook my head and tried to think. "I don't know," I said. "Maybe we can make a plan—"
"Run, bitch run!" Charlie screamed, grabbing my hand and making a beeline for the woods. I think Charlie had his eyes closed the entire time we ran because he nearly ran into everything in our path. I was tempted to lift him onto my back again.
Right when the snakes began to catch up, I felt a tug in my gut signifying that there was water nearby. I let go of Charlie's hand to pull the water towards us and smash it into the snake behind us. This gave us about thirty seconds head start.
We weren't paying much attention to where we were going, which meant we missed the two silver arrows against a nearby tree marking a campsite.
Passed the trees was a clearing full of small tents and dried out campfires. Bows and arrows were strewn across the campsite, causing me to finally realize what we'd stumbled into.
"Uh oh," I mumbled, slowing to a stop.
"Uh oh? What uh oh?!" Charlie squealed.
"Duck!" I dropped to the ground, pulling Charlie with me. We hit the dirt just before a stream of arrows flew above our heads. I decided not to tell Charlie about the small chunk of missing hair from a near-miss arrow. The arrows took out the mob of snakes following us, but it didn't stop there.
"Can we stop the whole trying to kill the two random kids in the forest?" I yelled. The arrows ceased. "Thank you!"
I slowly peaked up over the rock we were taking cover behind, only for another flow of arrows.
"Any more great ideas?" Charlie hissed. "Come on Jack, she's about to kill us! I thought you said she was the cool aunt!"
My heart was beating out of my chest. Charlie was right, my cool aunt was here. I took the backpack from Charlie and carefully dug my silver pendant from one of the pockets. I held the pendant in my hand and stared at it for a moment. It was the only thing that had survived Tartarus, and it was a gift from Thalia when I was a baby.
Before Charlie could ask me what I was doing, I balled up the necklace and threw it over the rock. The arrows, again, stopped.
"Where the Hades did you get this?" A familiar voice yelled.
"If I remember right, you gave it to me!" I yelled in an equally accusing voice. I decided to take my chances and crept over the rock again. Nothing was shot at me this time. "Do I get that back now that you're not actively trying to kill me?"
Thalia looked the same as last time I'd seen her- perks of being immortal. Her bow was sitting carelessly on the ground beside her and she was holding the necklace in both hands. She finally looked up at me. I saw recognition spark in her eyes, but she didn't tell her hunters to back down yet. "Who are you?" she growled.
You're unrecognizable now.
I wasn't sure how to answer that question, so I didn't. I stood up, forcing Charlie up with me. "Chuck, this is my aunt Thalia. Thals, this is Charlie Valdez. Nice to see you again and please don't kill us?"
After a moment of hesitation, Thalia grinned and ran forward, attacking me in a hug.
The hunters stood by warily, unsure how to react. Thalia squeezed me tightly, which hurt more than I cared to admit. My old broken ribs ached in resistance but I let it be. I was glad to be in her arms, but I still didn't let go of Charlie's hand.