Thankfully no one mentioned my moment of insanity the next day and everyone did their best to act normally around me. The girls all did fine, the boys not so much. Jason seemed to go out of his way to keep his distance as if his mere presence would set me off again, Percy remained worried and constantly fussed over me like somehow our roles had been reversed, and Frank bless him was so awkward and unsure of how to act or speak around me that he just stuttered and stumbled even when he was just trying to say 'good morning' to me. Only Leo was completely ordinary, cheerful and humorous as always as his chaotic energy bounced all over the place as I joined everyone for breakfast and immediately helped myself to the doughnuts I could smell. I found it hilarious that my baby brother had been caught asleep with his girlfriend, grinning as I teased him for being such a bad boy and that he should know better than to try and corrupt poor Annabeth to which he defended that it was Annabeth's idea in the first place. Arguing back and forth, I was glad Percy was no longer sending me worried glances and asking me repeatedly if I was okay, though all lightness and laughter soon left when Percy began to recite his dream to us all.
Nico was in big trouble and more than that, the giants knew we were coming. This came as no surprise since Gaia would have spies pretty much everywhere keeping an eye on our progress. The disconcerting part was the fact that they were preparing to meet us with a trap which apparently involved rocket launchers. Why did the old monsters have to suddenly go all high-tech? What's wrong with good old fashioned swords and bows? They were far easier to fight against. Nico was holding on by eating some kind of seeds from Persephone's garden, though they would only last him five days more so we had no choice but to hurry up, though some people seemed hesitant to rescue him as Leo raised the point that Nico had known about both camps all along and never told anyone, Jason agreeing that this was a rather shady factor to consider. Hazel grew angry which I could understand since she was technically Nico's sister, turning on Jason with so much anger that she could barely speak. In the end, she stormed out of the room.
"We will be rescuing Nico." I announced after a few moments of tense silence, Piper having ordered everyone to give Hazel a moment to herself. "I don't care what anyone else thinks about Nico. I've known him for a long time and I'd say I know him better than all of you combined. Maybe even better than Hazel. Even if Nico knew about both camps, the gods would never have let him tell us the truth. Besides. If Nico had walked up to you, Jason, and announced that there was another camp full of Greek demigods, how would you have responded?" I reasoned as I rose up from my seat so that I stood over everyone else, hoping that this might help me seem a little more intimidating since I was now facing down the son of Zeus. Lightning and ocean don't exactly mix, but I was not going to allow anyone to judge Nico without him being there to defend himself. I listened as Jason shifted and I was glad to hear that he at least sounded slightly apologetic.
"I probably wouldn't have believed him…and the others would probably have viewed you all as a threat. Either way, it would have probably resulted in someone declaring war out of fear." He admitted so I nodded my head in satisfaction.
"Exactly. Nico knew exactly what he was doing, so don't go making any judgments without knowing all the facts. Times like these, it's imperative we don't go running away without thinking ahead, or assuming the worst of one another. This team needs to work, which means you will all have to trust one another because one day soon, your lives may very well depend upon that trust you've built." Feeling that I had successfully conveyed my point, I sat myself down once again and reached for another doughnut. Just as I took a bite, Festus began to whir to tell us that we were nearing our destination so Leo got to his feet in order to go check on him.
"That's Festus, I've got him on autopilot, but we must be nearing Atlanta. I'll have to get up there…uh, assuming we know where to land?" It fell to Percy to make the decision as Jason so eloquently stated, he was Captain Salt Water. I sensed a lot of friction between Jason and Percy, which I could well understand. It had been the same between my brother and Thalia, as I understood it, two children of the Big Three, it was inevitable that they would start to square off against one another. Despite the tension in the room having skyrocketed, Percy took it all in stride and decided that landing somewhere high up would be a good start, deciding to take Frank with him since he had the blood of Poseidon and might be able to help him find the salt water. I got the feeling that Percy just wanted to get Frank off the ship for a while. There was tension everywhere today. Jason and Percy, Frank and Leo…maybe a break would be a good thing. Percy was also going to choose Annabeth to go with him, however Coach Hedge firmly put his hoof down on that one.
"Oh, no! Young lady, you are grounded!" I spluttered so hard that I started to choke on my doughnut as the bite had taken became lodged in my throat and it only came free when Frank gave me a hefty whack on the back. Annabeth sounded appalled, however Coach Hedge was adamant that she and Percy would not be left alone together for the rest of the trip in his head. "You and Jackson are not going anywhere together! I'll go with Frank and Mr Sneaky Jackson. The rest of you guard the ship and make sure Annabeth doesn't break any more rules!" For a few moments everything was silent, nobody daring to argue or question the satyr since we all knew he was very ready and willing to use his baseball bat on anyone who tried.
"This is going to be so much fun." Percy groaned so I grinned and reached outwards to my left, seeking out his head until I could ruffle his hair.
"Don't worry about it Perce. I'll come too. Three descendants of Poseidon together? We'll find saltwater in no time." I assured him and he seemed a little happier with the promise of my company to balance out the presence of the half-crazy satyr.
"Um…won't that attract more monsters though? You and Percy are pretty powerful demigods, I mean…" Frank started nervously, so I sent him a smile before lifting my wrist which had not only my bracelet gifted from dad, but my camp bracelet with beads and also the pearl string that I had coiled around my wrist today, helping to keep me healed.
"This bracelet dampens my scent and covers it so monsters can't track me easily. Don't worry Frank, it'll be like I'm not even there. So, who's up for a little family outing then?" With the plan made, we all set out to gather what we needed before disembarking. I could smell trees around us when I stepped off the deck. Grass and nature and such things, so I figured Leo must have found a sheltered spot high up just as we needed. Fiddling with my bracelet and pearls, I took a deep breath before fixing my backpack more firmly on my shoulder then set my foot on the ground, Snowstorm following behind me as her hooves clattered down the ramp.
'Are you certain you do not wish for me to come with you, Lady Lily?' She fussed as she nipped and pulled at my hair which I had tied up in a ponytail.
"I think taking a pegasus into town would be a little too inconspicuous. Don't worry, I'll call for you if we're in trouble. Why don't you stretch your legs and wings for a while and graze? The grass smells good around here." Rubbing her nose Snowstorm pressed against my palm before eventually agreeing that stretching her legs did sound nice. She had been cooped up in the stables for a while now and even though my room and her stall were adjoined with a retractable window that allowed us to see and talk to one another, Snowstorm was really meant to be out here in the open. I knew she liked to stay close to me out of worry and I felt bad that she felt obligated to keep an eye on me, so I wanted her to take this opportunity to just relax for a while. Wrapping my arms around her neck, I heard Coach drop down off the ramp before taking in a deep breath of the fresh air.
"Ah, lovely spot. Good choice, Valdez."
"I just picked a tall hill. That's a presidential library or something over there. At least that's what Festus said." Leo answered nonchalantly, however this didn't seem to be what Coach was thinking about as he admired the hill.
"I don't know about that, but do you realise what happened on this hill? Frank Zhang, you should know!" However Frank sounded completely clueless about whatever Coach was on about. "A son of Ares stood here!"
"I'm Roman…so Mars, actually."
"Whatever! General Sherman, Union leader. He stood on this hill watching the city of Atlanta burn. Cut a path of destruction all the way from here to the sea. Burning, looting, pillaging – now there was a demigod!"
"Yes. That definitely sounds like a son of Ares." I noted dryly with a roll of my eyes as I sent Snowstorm off to have some fun and enjoy herself for a while. Percy made a point of suggesting that we did our best not to burn down the city this time around, more for Coach's benefit than anyone else's before we all set off, heading for downtown since it was as good a place to start looking as any. We were given a ride into town by a lovely woman named Esther who was very chatty and perhaps a little too bubbly. The only reason any of us got into the car was because Coach assured us that she smelled completely human. You learn to be cautious when strangers offer you free stuff. Usually they were monsters in disguise wanting to eat demigods like us and considering all three of us were children or descendants of Poseidon, I expected we'd make a rather excellent monster Surf n' Turf. Esther seemed to know pretty much everything about the city so when Percy asked her where we might find salt water in Atlanta, I shouldn't have been surprised when she gave us the answer so easily. Whale sharks. Who knew? The answer seemed so simple it was almost unbelievable, especially considering how easily and quickly we'd got it that I couldn't help but wonder if someone was messing with us. Either the gods or Gaia. Maybe both at the same time. I wouldn't put it past them. So that's how we ended up visiting the aquarium in downtown Atlanta. Esther remained as lovely as ever, dropping us right at the main entrance, giving us her cell phone number as well as money for a taxi back and weirdly, a jar of peach preserves. I remained utterly suspicious about her, but when she took my hand to pat it I felt nothing bur warmth around her, so I smiled and thanked her for everything.
Maybe it was because we had a blind member in our party people were treating us so nicely. I walked with a cane to make it more believable that I really was blind even though I didn't need it at all, I could sense my way around just fine but when out in public however when I started to walk forwards, the crowds naturally parted for me to let me pass as I fitted my sunglasses over my face to hide the scars. "Are all people in Atlanta that nice?" Frank wondered aloud as we started to move, Coach grumbling behind me.
"Hope not. I can't fight them if they're nice. Let's go beat up some whale sharks. They sound dangerous!"
"I honestly worry for your sanity. How has something not eaten you yet?" I muttered under my breath as Coach Hedge strode on ahead. We waited in line like everyone else, though a nice family in front tried to insist that we go on ahead on account of me, but I assured them that it was fine and that waiting a little while never hurt anyone. Percy worried about the admission fee, everyone else coming up short save for Roman currency, Canadian dollars and some spare change. Other than the taxi fee Esther had given us, the boys came up short. "What would you guys do without me? Honestly, you come out exploring and you don't even think to bring any money with you? Rookie mistake Perce." I teased him as I then pulled off my backpack in order to pull out the money I'd brought with me. I had about a hundred dollars in mortal money and ten golden drachmae. I hoped that would be enough, but apparently we needn't have worried about the fee after all as someone approached us with a bright attitude which told me that she must have worked at the aquarium because only an employee would talk so brightly to impatient and crotchety customers because they had no other choice but to be polite.
"Ah, VIP visitors!" Immediate warning sign. "You have your payment, I see."
"What?" Choosing to risk it, I switched on my sight so that behind the dark shades I saw this woman scoop out the three denarii that Frank possessed and plucked a single drachmae out of my hand that I had just been showing everyone. I just blinked at the frizzy haired lady who I'm pretty sure should have still been in Junior School. She smiled at us brightly, so much so that I had to wonder if smiling like that hurt her face, before telling us that we should follow her. I let my sight fade again, the comfortable sensation of sightlessness but complete clarity of my surroundings settling upon me as I leaned my head towards the others to hear what they had to say. It was most likely a trap as Frank and Percy thought, and according to Coach Hedge she wasn't a mortal, but other than that he wasn't very helpful in distinguishing what she was.
"Probably some sort of goat-eating, demigod-destroying fiend from Tartarus." Which of course meant we were going to follow her straight into whatever trap awaited us. What other choice did we have? We were demigods on a quest, it was inevitable that pretty much every scrap of information or useful things we needed could only be found in monster infested traps. Just once, I would love to hear a story about a demigod who went on a quest, found all the answers they needed from the first person they crossed paths with and located the item they needed in a glade filled with butterflies and bunnies. The end. Unfortunately, no such ending would ever happen for kids like us, so instead we followed the possible monster into the unknown and hoped that we didn't get eaten. Just another regular day in the life of a demigod.