Hello, it's Rachel! You're all probably wondering why I took down chapter six and reposted it... because I'm completely and udderly mad and wanted to add something to the end. So, if you've already read chapter six, skip down to the last linebreak before the bottom author's note.

Don't forget to follow me; sallyjacksoning on tumblr. The link is on my profile, if you'd like.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJATO.


- CHAPTER VI: ROBERT TORCHES THE BOOK -


The sun was setting by the time the five of us finally found a phone booth that some idiot hadn't stolen the book from. Who the heck wants to steal a phone book, anyways? I leaned against the brick wall of the coffee shop next to the phone, watching as Aaron leafed through the phone book, looking for the address. We'd volunteered to give it to him, since his dyslexia wasn't quite as bad as the rest of us.

"Delphi Strawberry Service, right?" he asked. I nodded, rubbing my eyes. Everyone else was practically asleep standing up. We were all ready to drop, but we needed to find this place. So, we just all stood and watched Aaron's finger run down the page, his eyes flying back and forth, looking over the pages. Suddenly, his face lit up.

"Did you find it?" Robert asked.

"No," Aaron said, "but there is a Dell store not far from here—"

"Aaron," Emma scolded.

Aaron blushed and shook his head a little. "Sorry. ADHD." He started reading the pages again, a frown wrinkle appearing on his forehead. His eyes stopped on the page, and he grunted in confusion.

"Uh... guys?" he said. "There's, like, a blank spot where it should be."

"A what?" I asked, peering over his shoulder. Sure enough, right below a store called 'Delphen's Sweets,' there was a blank space just the size for the business. Below it, it continued on through the D's. What the heck? If they wanted us to find it, how could they go around blocking out the address?

Robert sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. "Aaron, give it here. I think I know what to do..."

Aaron handed the book to him. "And what would that be?"

"Well, they don't want mortals finding it, right?" he said, looking at the page. "So... what blinds mortals specifically?"

"The Mist," I said. "You think they've got it altered with the Mist?"

He nodded. "Now if I just..." He pressed his right thumb over the blank space, muttered something in Ancient Greek under his breath, and all of a sudden his eyes clouded over bright green. I let out a little squeak of surprise—since I wasn't exactly expecting him to glow green. Had his eyes been doing that before? I couldn't remember, since his back had been to me.

Robert's eyes flicked to me for a fraction of a second before he mumbled something else, and—of course—the page began to smoke. He cursed, and waved the book around, trying to put out the little green flames on it while Emma and Aaron hovered around, beating it with their jackets. Kenny covered his nose with his hand, and coughed.

Finally, Emma threw the book on the ground and stomped it out. I looked at Robert, his eyes now their normal blue. "I'm guessing that wasn't supposed to happen?"

His ears turned pink. "Um... not exactly."

Emma picked the book up off the dirty sidewalk. The page was charred, all except for the one little space where the address burned in green, Ancient Greek lettering. "Well, at least it worked."

Aaron swatted at a green flame on his trousers, and grumbled, "The amazing Robert, specializing at blowing things up and setting other things on fire."

Robert grimaced a little, rosy-red coloring spreading over his cheeks. "It's harder than it looks..."

Emma ripped the page out of the phone book. "Not much use to the mortals now, anyways..." She studied the address. "Camp Half-Blood, Half-Blood Hill, Farm Road 3.141, Long Island, New York 11954."

"Camp Half-Blood..." I mused. "That's probably where we're heading." It felt a little nice to have a definite goal, and friends to accomplish it with. I squeezed Kenny's hand, imagining finally having peace again for the first time in a long time. I just wanted my little brother to grow up happy, not starving with a gambling uncle. Thinking of Uncle Mark made me feel a little guilty, but it wasn't like he hadn't brought it on himself. Survival of the fittest, right? Clearly, he wasn't the fittest.

Emma folded the page and put it in her pocket. She breathed deeply, looking up at the sun. "So, what now?"

I noticed that everyone was now looking at me. I smirked a tiny bit. "Already decided that I'm your go-to for instant plans?"

"Well, they're a heck of a lot better than my boyfriend's," Emma said. Aaron huffed. "Besides, you seem to know what you're doing."

"Yeah, you're pretty smart," Robert kind-of blurted. He blushed. "I, uh, I bet you're a daughter of Athena."

"There's a pretty good possibility," Aaron said, mimicking stroking a beard. "Athena is the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, and you seem pretty fluent with both. Tell me, do you like owls?"

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, guys. The sun is setting. Maybe we can find a ride before it gets dark and all the monsters get hungry."

"Speaking of hungry..." Aaron commented, patting his stomach. Emma shook her head slightly and put her arm over his shoulders, which looked a little awkward since she was shorter than he was. "Come on! We don't need to drop dead of starvation, either."

Emma sighed. "Dinner wouldn't kill us."

Right on cue, my stomach growled. I smiled a little. "I suppose not."


Ten minutes later, the five of us found ourselves in a booth in one of the diners scattered around New York, perusing menus. Just looking at the food names made me hungry, and we couldn't order fast enough. The waitress had looked skeptical—I guess she figured a bunch of probably homeless kids couldn't pay for a meal—but I'd promised her I had cash. So, soon, we were happily munching on various dinner items, and talking amongst ourselves.

It felt strangely comforting, having people to talk to. I'd never really had many friends, between being labeled strange because of all the demigod funk, and because I didn't have time, taking care of my little brother and all. I didn't remember the last time I'd smiled and laughed this much—Aaron was a complete idiot. Robert was a little quiet—he was sitting next to me—but I saw his eyes flicker over to my face every once in a while.

But even as we were talking, I had this strange feeling in my gut. It was kind of fluttery, like someone had trapped a moth in my stomach. It made me a little nervous, and I kept glancing around, expecting monsters to jump out of the corners any moment now. The moment seemed a little too good to be true...

I stood abruptly. "I'll be right back."

I moved past Robert and headed towards the ladies room, looking around for anything suspicious as I walked. The diner looked completely normal—just families sitting and having dinner, conversations, and even a gentleman complaining to the cook about his steak being overdone. But something made me feel uneasy, so I quickly rushed out of the room and into the bathroom.

The feeling seemed to relax a little, and I walked over to the sink. I looked in the mirror, frowning at my appearance. My face was smudged with dirt, twigs and leaves were tangled in my hair, and there was a small scrape on my cheek. I sighed and cleaned up quickly, using a paper towel to wipe the dirt off and throwing my hair up in a short, sloppy braid with little wisps of hair flying all over the place. I changed the bandage on my arm, and then looked at my face in the mirror.

Seeing my face always tended to make me homesick—homesick for my father. I'd gotten my light blonde hair from him, as well as my thin eyebrows and face shape. His eyes had been a dark green, though, and not the honey color Kenny's and mine were. He'd been a handsome man, and I guessed that might have been how he had attracted a goddess—twice.

I gritted my teeth, thinking of my mother. I wondered why she'd had to come back and do more damage then she already had. I loved Kenny more than anything else, but I didn't understand why she'd had to come and break my father like that again. He'd completely snapped, and left me alone. I wondered how he could've done that. He'd brought two children into the world, and then had abandoned us because of heartbreak. Kenny didn't even remember his father, and didn't know his mother. And the only image of my father I could keep in my head was when I'd found him in the bedroom... and the only one of my mother, when I'd caught her sneaking out the last night I'd saw her, and she'd just smiled at me and told me to go back to bed.

I blinked the tears out of the corners of my eyes, and tore my eyes away from my face. Why was all this running through my head now?

I looked back down at the sink to wash my hands again before I left, and almost tripped over myself in surprise. Hanging from the faucet was a small golden necklace that definitely hadn't been there before. I picked it up, the metal sliding over my fingers like silk. It had a thin, bronze chain, with a little charm at the bottom. It was a tiny set of shiny, bronze laurels, with a small, amber-colored jewel in the middle—a garnet*, my birthstone for January. At the top of a necklace, a little paper tag was fastened. I pulled it off and it read;

I'm so sorry, Natalie.

The paper fluttered out of my hand. I clutched the necklace to my heart and looked around the empty bathroom, half hopeful, half scared. "Dad?" I whispered.

There was no reply. The necklace trembled in my hand. How had it gotten there? Who was it from? Why had they apologized? Questions whirred through my head at a million miles an hour, and the fluttery feeling in my gut returned, almost twice as strong. My pulse started racing, and I studied the necklace. The stone felt smooth against my palm, the metal freezing cold. I gently ran my finger over the garnet.

I let out a yelp as the chain of the necklace molded together, and it became heavier and thicker in my hand, turning into the shaft of a spear. The laurels fused together and became a sharp, pointed spearhead, with the garnet sunk into the shaft at the bottom, the word 'καθορισμός' engraved above it.

Kathorismós. Determination.

I was so stunned I dropped the spear on the floor.

I don't know how long I stared at it before I picked it up again, the weight seeming right for my hand. I moved it around a little, still staring at it, and wondering how the heck I was supposed to walk back through a diner with this thing in my hand. How had it gotten here? How did a necklace turn into a spear? How do I change it back?

My hand trembled a little bit, but I reached up and brushed my fingers over the stone again. The spear shrunk back into the necklace, resting daintily in my palm. I was shaking, and I felt strangely sick. I wanted nothing more than to get out of that bathroom.

I clutched the necklace in my fist and went back out, slipping back into my seat at the table the rest were sitting at. I felt so rattled I just sat there and stared out the window, looking right through all the people passing. The edges of the necklace dug into my palm. Had my father sent me help from the dead? Was that even possible? Was he trying to make up for his mistakes? Had he been listening to me? If it wasn't him, who did I have who needed to apologize to me?

Suddenly, someone waved a hand in front of my face. I blinked, trying to bring myself back to reality. Robert was sitting there with a concerned expression on his face, while Aaron continued to wave his hand in my face. Kenny was looking up at me as well.

"Hmm?" I asked, swatting Aaron's hand away.

Emma raised her eyebrows. "You okay, Nat? You've been really pale since you came out, and you haven't said a word."

I squeezed my hand tighter around the necklace. "Ah, oh. I'm okay. Really."

I most definitely was not okay.

Robert frowned a little. "You sure?"

"Yeah," I said a little too quickly. I tried to smile reassuringly, but it didn't exactly come out like that. Luckily, I was saved from interrogation by the waitress, who was now walking over with the bill. I started to pull my money out to pay for it, but the waitress smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, there's no need for that. The lovely woman at the table next to you volunteered to put your meal on her tab," the waitress said, setting down the receipt. Just as she started walking away, I turned in time to see the woman walking out of the door. She had long, dark black hair, and I saw a flash of her eyes.

Honey brown.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I was out of my seat and heading for the door. I swung it open and charged out into the street, looking around the crowded sidewalk. I tried to look for her hair, or even her eyes, just so I could... I could... I didn't even know what I wanted. I just wanted to see her, and to make her feel guilty for everything she'd left me with.

But the streets were only filled with strangers, people who were not the honey-eyed goddess that I had the displeasure of calling my mother. The other four rushed out of the diner, calling my name, and looking even more concerned. I clenched my fist around the necklace. It'd been her who had given it to me.

"I don't need your charity!" I shouted at the sky, earning a few strange looks from the passing pedestrians. I was shaking with emotion. Thunder rolled.

Emma gripped my shoulder. "Nat, what's wrong?"

"I..." The words stuck in my throat. The anger and hurt drained out, and my shoulders slumped forward. I rubbed my face with the heel of my hand, trying to figure out how to explain my sudden weirdness.

Robert was studying me with his sharp, blue eyes. "What happened?"

Emma tugged me into an alley, the two boys and my little brother following close behind. I slumped against a wall, still gripping the necklace until my knuckles turned white. They were all looking at me expectantly except Kenny, who was standing behind Emma's legs and absentmindedly sucking his thumb.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "That was probably very strange."

"What's going on?" Emma pressed. "You knew that woman?"

I scowled. "That was my mother."

"I'm guessing you didn't like her very much...?" Aaron reasoned.

"Not at all," I spat. "It's a complicated thing." I got up off the wall. "Sorry about that. We should probably get going."

I started walking, making it clear that the conversation was over. I didn't want to talk about her, because if I did, then I'd have to get into my father, and... no. I just took Kenny's hand, and the five of us walked in silence towards the nearest bus station. We bought five tickets to the nearest station in Montauk, and reasoned that we had enough money to take a cab the rest of the way.

We all settled into our seats on the bus, Emma and Aaron on one side of the aisle, and then Robert, Kenny, and I on the other. Kenny quickly fell asleep on my shoulder, and pretty soon Emma and Aaron were snoring. I just slumped back into my seat, watching the buildings pass outside the window in the dark. I tried to put my mother and father from my mind, but it was hard. I ended up missing my father more than I had in a long time. I'd gotten kind of used to not having him around, but now the feelings felt as fresh as ever.

"You alright?" Robert's soft voice said from my other side. I turned to look at him, resting my head on the seat. It was hard to make out his features in the dark, but occasionally a sliver of moonlight would flicker across his face. I wondered why he seemed to care so much.

"No," I admitted, looking down at my hands, where the necklace was still clutched.

"I figured," he sighed. There was a moment of silence. "What happened... before? I mean, before the waitress came over..."

I sighed and pushed a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. I held up the necklace, and let the chain dangle from my finger. "This... it just appeared. There was even a little note that said, 'I'm so sorry, Natalie.' It's a concealed weapon. It turns into a spear. It just... made me angry."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Angry? Why?"

"Because it kind of felt like a slap to the face, you know?" I said, letting Kathorismos drop back into my palm. "Sort of like, 'Hey, I haven't been there for years, here's a little gift to make it all better.'"

He chewed his bottom lip. "Gods never stick around, Nat. We can't really hate them for it."

"I'm not mad that she didn't stick around," I said bitterly. "I'm mad that she came back."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed. Did I really want to tell him about this? "My father and I were happy. He'd gotten over her a long time before, and it didn't affect him anymore. But when she came back... he fell for her much harder than before." I ran my fingers through Kenny's hair as he slept. "Kenny was born, and my father was so happy, thinking that she had come back for him because she'd loved him enough not to stay away. And then she left again. He was completely torn apart."

Robert was still listening quietly, his eyes trained on my face.

"For around a year, he struggled really badly with depression. He was fired from his job from missing days, he hardly ate any more, and he didn't take care of me or my younger brother at all. Then, when I was twelve, I came home from school one day..."

I swallowed hard, and stopped. The words were stuck in my throat, and I couldn't make them come out. I didn't want to relive this, I didn't want the images of my father's body to be flashing through my mind. I didn't want to remember the way I'd been crying when I'd had to call the police, and the way Kenny had started crying too, not really knowing why. I didn't want to remember being put with Uncle Mark, and having to adapt to a life of independence.

Robert gently squeezed my shoulder. Somehow, I found the words. "H-he committed suicide. I found him with the gun, you know? So if my mother hadn't have come back... then maybe I-I'd still have a father."

He was silent for a long time. "Parents can be selfish, Natalie."

I glanced at him in dark. "I... I don't understand."

He closed his eyes and rested against the seat. I could hear the rumble of the buses engine, and feel the bumps as we went over the road. "Your father was selfish. He should've been able to control his feelings and focus on the things he did have—his children. But instead he chose to take the easy way out, and didn't care about what would happen to either or you. My father did the same thing."

"Your father's dead?" I asked, only realizing how tactless that was after it had already come out of my mouth.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't remember him at all. I don't even know his name."

I shifted a little in my seat. "How was he selfish?"

Robert breathed out slowly. "He abandoned me. When he found out that my mother was a goddess and what I was, he just kind of... bailed out. Left me on the doorstep of a church when I was only two weeks old. He didn't think about what I would have to go through as a demigod without a parent, or what would ever happen to me. He only thought about how it would change his life. Sometimes I wonder if he ever thinks of me, and wonders what happened. I wonder if he regrets it."

We were both silent for a while. Kenny nuzzled into my side in his sleep. "I guess we have more in common then we thought," I said quietly.

He nodded a little. "Next time, can we just see if we like the same kind of pizza?"

I chuckled. "I like sausage."

He smiled sleepily. "Me too."

I leaned back into my seat, and closed my eyes. It started to rain, the drops making a continuous beat on the windows. The bus was silent except for this and a few hushed whispers from other passengers, and it felt peaceful. I realized I kind of liked talking to Robert, and I felt like I could trust him even after knowing him for such little time.

"Hey, Nat?" he mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Is this what it feels like to have a friend?"

I smiled softly. "Yeah, Robert. I guess it is."

"Well," he whispered, adjusting himself a little, "I kind of like it."

His breathing became even, and he slumped over a little in his seat, asleep. I sighed to myself and placed my cheek on the top of Kenny's head, my eyes drooping closed. I hadn't really realized how tired I was from walking all day until now.

"So do I," I murmured, and drifted off to sleep.


By the time we got off the bus, it was about three in the morning. We stumbled into the nearly empty bus station, all of us still half-asleep and stiff from the lumpy seats. We all collapsed on a set of green plastic chairs near the bus entrances, stretching out and trying to get our bearings to go from there.

"Well," Emma said cheerfully, "welcome to Montauk!"

"We're that much closer to paradise..." Aaron sighed.

"It might be like a military camp," Robert pointed out.

"So?" Aaron said. "A bed is worth marching during the daytime."

Robert laughed. I smiled, and yawned. "So, what now?"

"You mean the incredible daughter of Athena doesn't have a plan?" Aaron said, feigning surprise. I rolled my eyes.

"You don't know if I'm a daughter of Athena or not," I said. "Besides, haven't we had this conversation before?"

He waved a hand. "Pssh, whatever. Let's just hop in a cab and find paradise already."

"I don't know that 'paradise' will let us in at three in the morning," Robert said, making air quotes with his fingers. "That would be kind of inconvenient, wouldn't it?"

"Well, demigods aren't the most convenient people, now are we?" I said. "But for once, I agree with Aaron. Let's get out of here."

So, there we were, twenty minutes later, arguing with a cab driver who must've hated his job if he was required to drive around at three o' clock in the morning. Aaron was arguing animatedly, waving his hands and the charred piece of paper that held the address to the Camp. The driver finally slammed his enormous cup off coffee down on the dashboard of the cab.

"I told you kids, there isn't such a place!"

"But we have the address right here," Aaron said, shoving the page into the man's face. Clearly, he'd forgotten that mortals can't read Ancient Greek.

"Is this some kind of joke?" the driver said, rocking back in his seat. "Because three A.M. is too early for me to call the cops on you punks."

"Call the cops?" Aaron yelled. "We're just trying to—"

Emma grabbed his arm and murmured, "Stop."

The driver scowled at us before rolling up his windows and speeding off into the night. Aaron flipped him the finger before turning back to us, looking positively enraged. I frowned at him and made sure to mention to Kenny that he should never do that to anyone.

"What was that guy's problem?" Aaron seethed. "How can a place just not exist?"

"The same way we couldn't see the address," I pointed out. "The Mist."

"But they have a cover company!" he yelped, attracting the attention of the few pedestrians wandering the streets.

"Shh!" Robert said, clamping a hand over his mouth. "Do you want someone to actually call the police? We're just five underage children traveling around with no supervision whatsoever... not to mention the fact that I'm pretty sure the foster care system is still looking for me."

Aaron shoved his hand away. "Fine."

Emma sighed and pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "So what if mortals don't know where it is? We've can find another way to get there! Like... like... walking!"

"We are not walking there," Aaron mumbled.

"Well, how else are we supposed to get there?" Robert said. "None of us have a license—even if we are sixteen."

"Maybe I can be of assistance."

We all jumped, turning at once to see where the new voice had come from. There was a girl about eleven standing behind us, looking slightly interested, as if we amused her. Her hair was long and black, cascading over her shoulders with smaller strands braided on the sides. Her eyes were a coffee brown, but they had a cold, hard edge to them. Her skin was pale and contrasted greatly with her other features. She wore a simple white dress.

"Hello," she said. Her smile sent shivers up my spine. "You can call me Korianne."


*Garnet does, in fact, come in an amber color. I looked it up.

And now, I'm sure you can probably guess where the romance in this is going to come from, other than our pre-existing couple. I seriously like a shy guy and strong woman—such cute couples. What should we name their ship, guys? Vote in the reviews, if you'd like! Either 1) Natabert, 2) Robalie, or 3) Ronat. I'll tally up votes in the AN for the next chapter.

Also, Aaron/Emma's ship name is going to be Emron, just because I can.

I hope you enjoyed! Reviews are appreciated. I'll to try reply to you ASAP if you have questions. :)