Chapter six
Percy P.O.V.
Lyra only slept for a few minutes, waking with a start and shooting into a sitting position. Her breathing slowed substantially within seconds and her mismatched eyes looked less frantic as she realized we were still in the back of the guy's pickup truck.
"Nightmares?"
She nodded, leaning back against the cab.
"Wanna talk about it?"
"No."
We fell silent for a bit. There wasn't exactly much to do on a moving open-topped truck, the wind too loud to really carry on a conversation without much effort, and after escaping, we didnt really have anything dire to talk about—like how we were going to escape the facility.
"I've an idea about what we can do?" I shouted. I'd had enough of only guessing about Lyra.
Her eyebrows furrowed in question.
"A bit of Q 'n A," I smiled
"How about no."
"I barely know anything about you! And you can go in my mind whenever you want." I prompted.
She frowned and traced the fading marks on her arm.
"Fine."
"Okay...—you keep saying your mind reading isn't mind reading. What is it?"
She pursed her lips and thought about it for a minute. "It's like—a picture book with audio. I can see images and—hear? But I also feel it. Friends have a soft feel. Bright lights like blue and green and silver. Enemies come off harsh and cold. Generally red." She paused. "It's sometimes hard to decipher things. There are so many thoughts that go through your mind. And actions and thoughts mix together. When I conpletely open my mond, everything is dark and almost nonexistent. I can sense stuff as the person thinks about it, so I can deflect it—at least that's how my fighting style works."
"How do you talk in your mind?"
"That I wouldn't be able to describe. Try—a—land with no fence or restrictions?" She laughed, "when I do it to my dad, he gets grumpy. Over the years he learned when I do it and always tries to block me."
"How does he know?"
"If you know what to look for, you can feel a presence in your mind. Kind of signature of my personality? If I do it enough, you'll start to notice."
"I feel that with animals. Marine animals and horses or descendants of horses. I talked with a zebra once."
"Did it feel black or white?" She mused seriously.
I glared at her. "I'm going to ignore that." My mind wandered to all of the questions I'd had while talking with Lyra, most of which pertained to her wandering-thing. She'd seemed so mysterious with her psycic readings, probably how she liked it. It would have been useful to have during the Titan War. I realized with a start I'd never seen her before. Not on the Gods' side or the Titan's side, but she was definately trained and had experience before this excurion. "How come I never saw you at camp?"
Lyra raised an eyebrow. "That's because I didn't go."
"Then how do you know about everything?"
"Everything?"
"That you were a daughter of Hecate. Me. The war." I stopped. "What side did you fight for?"
"I didn't fight for a side," she said a little testily. "I can hear people's thoughts. It's not like I wouldn't realize I was different. Mom told my dad about the myths. He told me." She played with the frill of her dress, refusing to look straight at me. "Before the war really took off, Hecate came by. She explained things and even took me to her palace. She also gave me this protection necklace and helped develop my strengths." Lyra laughed sardonically remembering something ironic, "actually the day I was taken was the first day I had taken the necklace off."
Without knowing how to reply, our conversation dulled away. Leaning my head back, I watched as a wispy cloud puffed and blew around in the sky. My eyes began to close, opening and falling back shut. My thoughts drifted to my friends, family, Annabeth. I could see the soft tangles in her curly blonde hair, that knowing smirk she always got when calling me Seaweed Brain. The small laugh in her voice as she called me stupid. The dark storm that was always turning in her eyes.
She and I were laying on a grey blanket, watching the waves crash onto the camp beach. We were on a plaid blanket, a wicker basket filled with picnic foods.
"Perrrrrrcy!" A voice behind me bleated excitedly. Grover flopped down beside me and smiled proudly. "I did it! I wasn't sure it would work, but it did?"
"What would work?"
"The empathy link."
I furrowed my brow and glanced next to me. Annabeth was frozen in place, brushing away a strand of princess blond hair from her mouth. My heart sank as I realized it was a dream. But then I remembered how much I missed my best friend.
"Grover? Grover!" I tackled him in a bear hug. "Dude, it's so good to see you! You've no idea!"
"Percy, where are you?" Grover asked, now serious.
"Somewhere in Mexico. We got out from the holding facility. There were about ninety kids in all. They're all heading to camp."
Grover stopped, looking at me strangely, "Mexico? Really?"
I waved it away. "Lyra and I are making our way past the border. To the city El Paso."
"Nico is out looking for you. Find a place and stay there. He can come and get you and bring you to camp without interference from blue hand guys."
"Guy." I corrected. He looked at me quizzically. "I killed one."
"Ah." Grover pursed his lips and glanced behind me, at Annabeth. He wore a knowing expression and indicated Annabeth. "She's okay. She's here at camp in charge of everything."
"Where's Chiron?"
Grover shrugged, not looking me in the eyes. "They're all gone," he said listlessly. "Annabeth went to Olympus. It's empty. Mr. D. Chiron. Athena. All of the gods just vanished."
"That explains why they did nothing when we were in that place—" suddenly the earth shook, the vision blurring like an old T.V. Set.
"What the hell?" I cried out in alarm. The shaking became more prominent. Rhythmical—like someone was shaking me awake. "Lyra!"
"What?" Grover asked.
"Lyra is trying to wake me up."
"Percy remember to stay where you are! Do not under any circumstances leave El Paso until Nico finds you!" His voice was fading too so I emphasized my nod and yelled as loud as possible that I'd stay put. Before the world completely vanished, I memorized the picture of Annabeth smiling happily on the beach, her hair blowing eternally by a soft ocean breeze.
I cracked my eyes open. A somewhat less welcome sight greeted my harsh awakening. A blue and a green eyes glared down at me, encircled by an paramountly bright sun.
"If you say I drool, I'm throwing you off this truck."
"Fine." Lyra conceded. "You're sun burnt."
I raised my arm to shade my eyes. "I was having an exceptionally good dream," I frowned, "A certain blond in a bikini splashing in the waves, non-virgin piña colada in my hand."
Lyra tried to act unamused. She jabbed my arm with her nail, which hurt my bright pink arm, and heaved herself to her feet. Having just woken up, I hadn't completely become aware of certain facts. I grabbed her wrist harshly, yanking her down so she wouldn't fall out of the speeding truck, but the action didn't work as I had planned. Lyra lost her balance and tumbled out of the side of the truck bed. Lucky for me, she had good reactions and landed on her feet, on unmoving ground.
"We're not moving," I stated thickly.
"Course we're not moving, Jackson! I wouldn't 've stood up if we were, idiot!" She yelled. She rubbed her arm, looking almost murderous.
"Hey! Sorry, alright? Gods, I didn't think you'd fall out of the truck."
She glared some then stalked away, without looking back. She walked straight towards the expansive city that had seemed to magically grow from the ground.
"Why are girls always bitchy around me?" I asked of no one in particular.
I lumbered out of the truck bed and set my eyes on El Paso for the first time. It was medium sized and had lots of skyscrapers surrounded by mountainous hills. Lyra was already halfway down the main road, glancing over her shoulder and half smirking at me. I jogged down to catch up with her. We kept our heads down and our feet moving quickly. I always had one hand on Lyra's elbow, guiding her through the crowded streets because each time I let go, she would walk into some innocent bystander. For someone so graceful she was also really clumsy when using her ability and focusing on something completely different. Finally, when she had walked straight into two police officers, I pulled her into a local coffee shop. The police officers' gaze followed us to the shop.
"Duos cafés, por favor." I said to the lady behind the counter and gave her the remainder of our money.
"Sit," I ordered Lyra.
She collapsed into a seat and rubbed her eyes. "There's too many people," she groaned.
"Headache?"
She nodded. The waitress, Sophia, brought our drinks, eyeing us suspiciously. I drank mine in one gulp, milk with no sugar. Lyra, however, took a sip of hers and scowled, walking over to the corner bar for sugar. When she came back, she held to papers angrily in one hand and three packets of sugar in tbe other.
"Doesn't that destroy the coffee flavor?" I joked, indicating the sugar
She ignored me and rubbed the papers in my face, obviously upset.
"That's rubbish! Jackson, look at that."
I took the papers and stared at them.
WANTED
BY THE FBI
Suspect in Terrorist Activities
PERSEUS JACKSON
DESCRIPTION
Date(s) of Birth Used: August 18, 1997
Age: 16
Height: 6'0
Weight: 172 lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Green
Sex: Male
Race: Caucasian
Nationality: American
Remarks: Most likely to be seen with other fugitives. See FBI website for information on known associates.
CAUTION
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking the location of, and information about, Perseus Jackson, a suspect in Terrorist Activities and a prison escape resulting in the release of other dangerous fugitives.
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
If you have any information concerning this person, please call 1-800-CALL-FBI, 911
I flipped to the second paper, suspecting what it would read.
WANTED
BY THE FBI
Suspect in Terrorist Activities
SIMONE LYRA THORN
DESCRIPTION
Date(s) of Birth Used: October 31, 1997
Age: 16
Height: 5'3
Weight: 118 lbs
Hair: Copper Brown
Eyes: Heterochromic: Right, Green. Left, Blue
Sex: Female
Race: Caucasian
Nationality: American
Remarks: Most likely to be seen with other fugitives. See FBI website for information on known associates.
CAUTION
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeking the location of, and information about, Perseus Jackson, a suspect in Terrorist Activities and a prison escape resulting in the release of other dangerous fugitives.
SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS
If you have any information concerning this person, please call 1-800-CALL-FBI, 911
Both of our pictures from high school smiled back from the paper. Both pictures didn't scream fugitive or terrorist, though it was very official and threatening, showing thelengths these people would go to. I stared at it for a little longer then burst out laughing. Lyra glared daggers and snatched the paper.
"Your name is Simone? Ha, who named you?"
"Says the boy named Perseus. Besides, Simone de Beauvoir was a very influential female in her time. And my dad did. He's a historian."
"You don't have much of a Hakuna Matata attitude."
"That's Timone, idiot,"
"And Perseus is for good luck."
Lyra mumbled something else about luck, but I didn't hear
"What's that, Simy?"
Lyra spun quickly and kicked my shin, hard enough to make me jump
"Call me that again, Jackson, and we have a little talk about my specialties," she growled. I cracked a sheepish grin and held up my hands.
"What ever you say—"
She nodded and glanced around the room. Some of the patrons were staring at us so Lyra almost jogged to the door.
"—Simone."
"I heard that."
I smiled, chuckling, and followed close behind. The police were still outside to our left, and they found our reappearance worthy of their full attention. I saw them nudge each other's shoulders and point to us. Lyra seemed oblivious to them and began walking to the right.
"Lyra." I tried grabbing her shoulder, but she shook me off. "Lyra. Simone!"
She turned angrily. "Seriously, Jackson, don't call me that."
I inconspicuously pointed to the group of law enforcers moving towards us. "Maybe we should speed up the progress?"
Lyra nodded, and we sped walked through the masses and alleyways trying to lose the policias. But to no avail. They stayed on our trail like the laelaps hounds of Crete, and we started to run, careless of where we were going. Careless enough to run down a dead end. I swore and began to retrace our steps when the police appeared at the entrance of the alley, twenty feet from us.
"Don't s'pose you still have that gun on you?"
"You want me to shoot them?" Lyra asked skeptically.
"No. I just want to scare them."
"Try yelling boo," she smirked.
"Can we help you, officers?" I yelled to the approaching men.
"¿Hablas español?" inquired the first man.
"No," I said. I wanted to have the advantage, maybe we could convey the misunderstanding if they thought we were harmless kids. The three officers exchanged glances, an officer from the back stepping to the front.
"You need to come con us. Turn to la wall, las maños above t'your head." The speaker un clipped his gun warningly. Hesitantly, I complied. Lyra did as well, though she didn't look happy about it. Two of the officers moved towards us, the other with his gun pointing at us. First, they patted our arms, then our legs. The officer covering his friends spoke rapidly into his radio, distracted, probably telling the station that they apprehended some American fugitives.
I struck first. My leg went back and connected with the officers knee. I faced him and kicked him in the jaw. The officer fell unconscious. Lyra had used her officer's arm as leverage and was currently using him as a shield, the other arm wrapped around his throat.
"Soltar el arma!" She yelled. I believed she said drop the gun, and as confirmation the policeman dropped his firearm. I cautiously went up and grabbed the gun.
"Sorry, dude," I whispered before pistol whipping him. I dragged his limp body to the other and cuffed them to a drain pipe. Lyra carefully laid the other on the ground. He was considerably red in the face. "We have to find a place to stay before we get arrested. Grover told me Nico was gonna find us so we just gotta find somewhere to stay until he does." I nodded to the policemen slumped against the wall. "Did d'ya hear what they said?"
"I'm gonna guess we apprehended the American fugitives? I didn't hear— I was a little busy getting arrested."
"Okay, whatever. Maybe we could find a rainbow and beg Iris to deliver an IM."
"What's an IM? I'm guessing its not a regular IM."
"Is there something you don't know?" I mocked, and Lyra stuck her tongue at me, bending down and plucking all of the cuff keys from the unconscious bodies.
"It's a way of communicating with a rainbow." I explained. "Voice and video chat through misty water and a drachma. Problem is Grover mentioned the gods disappearing. Would it still work without Iris?"
"Maybe it'll be free?"
"Anyway we have to get far away before backup gets here."
We found an isolated mini park four blocks from the alleyway. A mini fountain set in the corner, just enough sun shining through the spray. I ran my hand through the spray and said, "Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please allow this exception of sending a message to Grover at Camp Half-Blood." Nothing happened. I sighed and fell to the ground. "I'd really hoped that would work."
"How does that empathy link work? Would your friend be able to find us?"
"I don't know. Maybe? But Grover's not the one who is coming to find us. It's Nico."
"Nico?"
"Yeah, son of Hades."
"Longish black hair. Travels with a bulldozer sized dog?"
I sat up. "Yeah, you've met him?"
"No," Lyra sat down beside me. "I dreamt about him calling dead people."
"Bianca?" I said worriedly. I didn't want him to get into bad habits. Last time he talked with Bianca hadn't been a happy time for him, and he'd tried to kill me a lot because of her.
"No, the first suit."
I stared blankly.
"J. Edgar Hoover? The guy who made the F.B.I. How do you not know these things?"
"I don't speak conspiracy. Or read."
Lyra rolled her eyes and narrowed them. "Why?"
"I have dyslexia. Wait, don't you?"
"No. Mind you I do have an exceedingly high form of ADHD."
"How does that not surprise me?" I joked. Lyra lightly punched my arm. "And Mrs. O'Leary is not Nico's hellhound. Daedalus gave her to me."
"You have a hellhound as a pet! Named Mrs. O'Leary?" She laughed, snorting slightly and causing me to laugh. Once she stopped snorting, Lyra said, "I have a year old dog. A white Northern Inuit named Ghost."
"Simone's Ghost. How cute."
Before Lyra could hit me, a commotion in the park brought us to our feet. Lyra swung out, catching the person by surprise and knocking them off balance. She took him down, pining him against the cobblestone courtyard with her forearm, but when I saw a mop of dark tangled hair, I stepped back from the flailing pair and laughed. Nico may had grown fast and strong over the years, but he couldn't throw Lyra.
"Good to see you, Reaper."
Lyra flipped her hair to the other side and raised her eyebrows at me.
"Yes, I know him," I answered the unasked question. "I think you can let him up."
Nico jumped to his feet and brushed himself off. "Percy," he nodded to me. "See you're not in prison."
"True. I'd always wanted to be a fugitive of the law."
Nico smiled mischievously. He inspected Lyra with narrowed eyes. "She coming with us?"
"Yeah. Lyra, meet Nico. Nico, meet Lyra, daughter of Hecate."
Lyra tilted her head and stared. Nico seemed unnerved by her stare and returned it with a ghost of a smile. He made the first move, raising his hand out to her. She stared a minute more then shook it.
"So should we head back to camp?"
"Yeah, I need a familiar place."
As soon as Nico grasped my arm, shouting ensued. Agent Smith came running towards us, followed by six men. Their guns extended. Nico stared in disbelief, but after my encouraging, tore into the shadows.
"PERCY!" Curls of blonde hair engulfed my face, arms cutting off my supply of oxygen. Annabeth pulled away and nailed me with a kiss with a followup full force punch. "Gods, don't do that again, Percy!"
"Good to see you too, Annabeth," I smiled. I looked beyond Annabeth to see almost half of the kids who were in the Mexican prison. Annabeth noticed and commented.
"Grover ordered the nature spirits to help find them once you told him everyone escaped. They're still coming in but were not sure if everyone got away..."
"What about Clarisse?"
"Here." A tall brunette pushed her way to the front. I breathed a sigh of relief seeing her there.
"What's the situation with the gods? How is it that Chiron disappeared and no one noticed?"
"We woke up and he was gone! It's not like we just lost him," said a peeved camper. I didn't know his name.
"Well, why are the nature spirits still here? If everyone else disappeared, then why didn't the spirits?" Everyone turned to Lyra. She had been silent for the last few minutes, observing the happenings. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at her.
"And who exactly are you?"
"Lyra Thorn. I was on the run with Percy." Lyra gave Annabeth a coy smirk and turned to the other campers. "Is there any food? I'm starved."
"Why don't you all get dinner. Percy, can I talk to you for a minute?" Annabeth didn't wait for any reply but grabbed my shirt and dragged me down to the lake a few feet away. Something was bothering her, and I had a feeling I knew what it was. But I let her find her thoughts and tell me herself.
"Can we trust her?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"I don't. I just feel it. Trust me, Wise Girl. I wouldn't have stayed with her unless I trusted her to have my back."
"I just don't like thinking you spent four days on the run with Heterochromiac over there." She pointed her thumb at Lyra, who was jumping up and down in place.
"She's a friend. Nothing more. Plus without her, I would've not been able to get out."
Annabeth heaved a sigh and finally nodded. "Let's get to know her."
I extended my hand and, together we walked to the dining pavilion.
COMMENT! More comments=more chapters
and I do actually love the name Simone but Lyra likes Lyra better...