Yay! Friday! Well, here's your present: chapter 3. Go on, read.
3/
Nico's POV
"Holy shit," I murmured. "Are they attacking us?"
Clarisse la Rue ran past us, brandishing her sword. "Hell yes, dipshit! Now hurry up and HELP!"
Percy and I looked at each other; we agreed silently. We both pulled our swords and ran for Half-Blood Hill, where Clarisse was already terrorizing the mortals.
"You're mutants!" one important-looking mortal roared in Clarisse's face. He waved a hand. "Ready the missile!"
"Stop!" There was Alice, as if on cue. She did that often. She got in the man's face. "Leave. Now." The words stung with authority.
The mortal stiffened. "Young lady, I'm here under orders of the Secretary of the Navy himself. You can't just tell us to leave."
Alice's glare turned icy. "I just did. Now leave."
"Before things get ugly," Clarisse added from behind her. He smirked, like they'd just told a funny joke.
"Devils!" a woman shrieked. "The power of Christ compels you!" A wooden cross nailed Clarisse in the forehead.
She snarled and lunged forward. Without breaking eye contact with the general or whatever, Alice grabbed the back of Clarisse's armor to keep her from ripping apart the mortal. She got in the general's face. "It's not in our blood to hurt you," she said slowly and carefully, "but we will if we have to."
"Is that a threat?"
"Hell yes," Clarisse hissed. "Back off, before I rip your head off."
"Missile ready, sir," someone called in a quavering voice.
"Elijah, Nico," Alice said. Elijah and I started at our names, but the both of us knew what she wanted us to do. Elijah nodded at me.
I leaped over the boundary line and stabbed my sword into the ground. The floor opened up under me and my skeletal army rose from the earth. People screamed. They trampled each other to get away. Elijah ran to the missile and started working on it immediately.
"We will be back!" the general shouted as he drove away in his army Jeep.
"And we'll be ready!" Alice yelled. She glared in the distance until the man was gone.
"Holy Zeus… Alice, what are we going to do?" Penelope Miller looked terrified, holding that baby I can't remember the name of in her arms.
Alice didn't answer. "Emergency Council," is all she said before marching off to the Big House.
I went to the basement with the rest of the head counselors. The whole room was silent when I slipped in. All eyes were on Alice and Percy.
Katie Gardner was the first one to break the quiet. "What are we going to do?" she cried.
Everyone started yelling at that. "LET'S NUKE 'EM!" Clarisse bellowed.
"WE DON'T HAVE MISSILES!" Elijah shouted back at her.
"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Elizabeth Bentley screamed.
"ENOUGH!" Alice roared. The room fell silent. "We can't attack mortals! It's against the Ancient Laws! Only if the mortals attack first can a war between us ensue!"
"We can't have a war with mortals," I stated.
"We don't have the right weapons," Clarisse agreed.
"No, I mean we can't have a war with them," I said. "They're just confused. They don't know about us. What we do. Who our parents really are. And that the gods will incinerate them if they do anything stupid."
"I know what we have to do," Percy said suddenly. Everyone looked at him.
"What?" Hayden Marsh asked.
"We have to tell the mortals everything," he said. "It's the only way they'll understand."
"Agreed," Butch from Iris said.
"It's how we can coexist," Percy said. "We have to break into the White House and tell the president everything."
The room was stunned into silence. Even Clarisse didn't speak. I leaned forward. "You realize how dangerous this is."
Everyone jumped a little at the sound of my voice; eyes turned to me. Percy nodded stiffly. "Yes."
"How many?" Landon, son of Nemesis, asked.
"Three," Alice answered, though the question wasn't for her. "Three is the sacred number."
"Tony and Annabeth," Percy said immediately.
Alice nodded. "Very well. Percy, go see Summer. Your quest begins tomorrow morning. You have to travel to the White House, and explain to the mortal president the need-to-know information. If you can, go take care of the problem we discussed earlier.
"Tyler, wake up Tony and tell him what's going on. Annabeth, you know what to do." Tyler Bryce, son of Dionysus, and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, left the room quietly. Alice went on, "Clarisse, I still expect your cabin to be keeping an eye on Tatiana Taylor. And Elijah, Cabin Nine should continue on the construction of the cabins.
"The rest of you: tell your cabins that, unless they are a Seeker or senior camper, they're not permitted to go anywhere near the boundaries. Only members of the Council will be on patrol until we get things under control. Please, be careful, all of you. Mortals are ignorant. They're foolish. We can't mess with them."
"Council dismissed," Connor Stoll announced. Travis banged his beloved gavel, but for once, he didn't grin.
Tony's POV
THE NEXT DAY...
"Tony! There you are!" I jumped and fell out of bed at the sound of my brother's voice.
"What?" I demanded.
Tyler gave me a weird look at my tone. "You've been chosen for a quest. Pack your stuff and meet Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase by the west border."
A quest? I thought as Tyler left. I wondered for what. Then again, considering our last quest, I didn't really want to know. But that didn't mean I didn't want to go.
By the time I got to the border, Percy was staring off into space and Annabeth was getting impatient. "Finally," she snapped as I wheezed up.
"What?" I protested. "I just woke up, okay?"
She pursed her lips. She nudged Percy. "Percy. Come on."
"Be careful, you three," Alice appeared out of nowhere. "Mortals will be hostile."
"Okay," Percy said. "We'll IM you when we get to Washington."
"Thanks, Hayden," Annabeth said absently.
Percy and I blinked. Alice grinned, then changed into Hayden Marsh of the Leto cabin. "How'd you know?" she asked. In case you didn't know, Hayden's mom, Leto, is the goddess of disguises or something, so Hayden can change her looks into however she wants, which means she's the best impersonator. It also means you can't trust anyone, 'cause the Stoll twins pay her to play pranks sometimes.
"You forgot the bracelet," Annabeth told her.
"Damn!" Hayden cursed. "I almost nailed it!" She sighed. "Any messages back?"
"Yeah, tell her what I said," Percy told her. She nodded, then morphed into Percy. She—er, he—did a mock salute.
"What's the plan?" I asked.
"This," Annabeth whipped on her hat and disappeared. "I'll throw you guys the hat when I get down there," her voice told us. The boundary shimmered a little as Invisible Annabeth walked through it.
Percy sighed. I looked at him. "Percy, man, what's up?"
He started a little. "What? Nothing. Nothing."
"You're a bad liar," I chided, but then Annabeth's Yankees hat slapped Percy in the face.
"My turn," he said hastily. He put the hat on his head and followed in Annabeth's footsteps.
"You're just avoiding my question," I called after him. I frowned. What could be wrong? Nothing wrong wrong had happened since 1) Alice got set on fire [which was hilarious, by the way], 2) that Tatiana chick showed up, and 3) the mortals went crazy. So that meant a number 4 happened. I didn't like that.
But Annabeth's hat landing in my hands pulled me back to Earth. I put it on. The air rippled gold around me as my invisible self stepped over the boundary. Percy and Annabeth were standing at the other end of the highway, talking about something in low voices.
I decided to sneak up on them and freak them out. "…are you sure?" Annabeth was saying.
"Annabeth, I saw it with my own eyes," Percy insisted.
"There's seaweed blocking those eyes," she reminded him. But she frowned. "You talked to Nico?"
"Yeah," Percy nodded. "He said—"
"BOO!" I shouted.
Annabeth shrieked. Percy had his sword out in two seconds. I doubled over laughing, Annabeth's hat falling off my head. I laughed so hard I thought I was going to die. "That's so NOT funny!" Annabeth yelled. She punched me.
"OW!" I complained.
Percy smiled. He slapped me a high-five. "Dude, that was pretty good."
"I know," I said.
Annabeth glared at me. She snatched her hat from my hands. "Come on," she grumbled.
"We're not using the Gray Sisters, are we?" I asked tentatively.
"No way," Percy shuddered. "Last time I threw up."
Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "Right… That's why we're going on foot."
"What?" I whined.
"We can't go by air," she reminded me. "Not using the Gray Sisters. What else can we do?"
I tried to think of an angle to argue with. I couldn't. I sighed. "Fine," I grumbled.
She smiled, which only made me more irritated. "Good. Hayden said we have around three days to make it to Washington on foot."
"I guess we should get going," Percy shrugged. The three of us started walking toward New York City.
After twenty minutes of walking, my feet started hurting like hell and my stomach growled. Percy was staring off into space like he was thinking hard. Annabeth, as usual, was multitasking. She was reading a book in Greek and walking at the same time. I sighed. Annabeth stopped. Percy ran into her. I ran into Percy.
"Ow," I muttered. "What?"
"There's a subway right there," Annabeth pointed up ahead. She pulled us along. "There should be one going to D.C." We walked faster with a new burst of energy. We practically skipped down the stairs; well, Percy and Annabeth went fast. I fell.
I was just getting back up while the two of them left me behind and went to buy tickets from the vending machine-type thing.
I looked around, bored, rubbing my face. My eyes settled on a girl not far away. Her hair was blonde, I guess, but it was so pale it looked white. Her skin was white too. Her breath was icy. Her eyes were pale blue, and looked frosted over.
Her eyes flashed to me, but when she realized I was looking at her, the eyes flicked away, like she wasn't supposed to be watching me.
I went over and elbowed Percy. "What?" he muttered.
I jerked my chin in the girl's direction. He turned to look, but I stopped him. "Don't look look," I told him. "Something's weird about that girl."
He peeked over his shoulder. "She looks…frozen," he said.
"That's what I thought," I said. Percy nudged Annabeth, who was just grabbing the tickets from the teller guy.
"What?" she said, annoyed.
Percy and me grabbed her elbows. "We'll tell you later," I said in a low voice. We dragged her onto the subway car.
"What?" she demanded in exasperation as we plopped her down between us.
"Gods, she followed us," Percy muttered as she started for the train. I looked up. As soon as the icy girl stepped in the entrance, the whole car got colder. All mortals aboard shivered without knowing it.
The girl's frosted blue eyes passed over everyone inside, settling on us for a second. Those eyes seemed to freeze us for a second before the girl sat down five rows ahead of us. Even from where I was sitting, I could see the bench she was on turned cold.
"Who is that?" I asked quietly.
Annabeth looked really irritated now. "Who?"
"Her!" Percy and me hissed. We pointed at the girl as un-obviously as we could.
Annabeth looked. Her eyes widened. "Oh, crap."
"What?" Percy asked.
"Look at her tattoo," Annabeth said.
"Tattoo?" we repeated. We turned to look. The girl's pale hair was swept over to the left, giving the three of us a clear view of her right shoulder. A dog was tattooed in black on the white skin, small, but there was no mistaking it.
"Shit," I muttered. "Order."
"Order," Percy agreed.
"I thought they only had thirteen members," I said.
Annabeth gave me a strange look. "They do. Leo and Tess are dead. Or did you forget?"
Flashbacks of the day. Leo yelling as he was crushed under the Minotaur's foot. Tess screaming. The monster's fist closing around her throat. Catching Cadmus. I closed my eyes. "No, I didn't forget," I said quietly.
When I opened my eyes again, she looked like she regretted what she said. Percy cleared his throat. "Um…right. So they had to fill their ranks, right? We met Eliana already."
"So this girl must be the thirteenth member," Annabeth concluded.
"And…she's coming this way," I said.
It was true. The girl was now one row in front of us. The lights flickered suddenly as we stared at the back of her head. Annabeth reeled back. "Shit!"
I rushed to cover her mouth. Mortals glared our way.
"Shit," she said again more quietly. "Tell me that's not—"
"Yep," I said.
"Damien Morneau," Percy finished. The British kid was now sitting right next to ice-girl, the both of them perfectly still.
"You've got to be kidding me," Annabeth cursed under her breath.
The lights flickered again. Percy flinched so hard he punched the seat in front of him. "Oh, f***!"
"Anastasia," I murmured.
Madyson's POV
I was sitting in the corner when Percy Jackson entered the room. He snapped to attention in front of Alice, grinning. "'We'll IM you after we get to Washington'," he recited.
Alice nodded. "Thank you, Hayden. You're dismissed." Percy's black hair grew to shoulder-length. His sea green eyes darkened to amber. The boyish features changed to girly ones. Hayden Marsh did a mock-salute, then danced out of the room.
I slipped out quietly too. No one talked to me, but everyone looked at me. I knew they knew about me. Who's that? Madyson Grace. What happened? She used to be so beautiful. The bronze dragon happened. Poor Madyson. That's what they all said.
Zeus's Fist was deserted when I climbed up on top. The waters of the Long Island Sound were calmer than usual, lapping gently at the sandy beach. The sun wasn't so burning. The air was cool. I took a deep breath. I pulled off my veil as I produced a mirror from my pocket.
I held back a sob; I hated to see the long, white scar running from my forehead to my jaw, cutting right through the center of my face. I choked back tears as I looked away. I used to be so beautiful. Everything was painful now.
I had been dating Nathan Taren from the Janus cabin, before my attack. I was good enough for him then. Hot, he called me. But after Miranda released me from the infirmary, Nathan left me for my sister, Alyssa.
Now I was too lonely. I didn't stop the tears now. They racked my body with sobs. My heart felt broken. This stupid scar marred my face forever. I would never be beautiful again.
"Hey, whoa."
I whirled in surprise. Elijah Andrews was in the middle of pulling himself up next to me. I quickly ducked under my veil. "What do you want?" I tried unsuccessfully to keep my tears out of my voice.
The son of Hephaestus sat beside me. He smelled like soot. Even without looking I knew he was covered in it. I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose. "I know how you feel," he said after a while.
I looked at him sharply, though I knew he couldn't see my face. "What?" It occurred to me he was probably listening to me cry.
"People think I'm ugly too," he said quietly, like he was afraid to say it out loud.
I frowned. Elijah wasn't ugly. Sure, he wasn't hot like Nathan, or Will Solace, maybe, but he wasn't ugly.
He looked at me. "I'm sorry the dragon attacked you."
Me too, I wanted to say. "It's not your fault," I said aloud. "It's no one's fault."
"It's okay to cry," he told me. "Half my cabin's considered ugly here. 'Cause our dad got thrown off Olympus. We all cry sometimes." An awkward silence settled over us. I could feel him squirming for some reason.
"I don't think you're ugly," I whispered. He blinked at my words. I watched as he seemed to struggle with himself again.
"I like you, Madyson," he blurted finally. Immediately he flushed.
I hesitated, but I took his hand, ignoring his flinch. "I… I like you too, Elijah," I murmured. I laid my head on his shoulder. I closed my eyes.
Tony's POV
"Okay, who takes who?" I said immediately.
"Rock Paper Scissors," Annabeth suggested.
"Um, Rock takes crazy magical bitch, Paper takes filthy limey, Scissors takes icy chick?" I said. They nodded. We played. Annabeth got Rock. Percy got Paper. I, of course, got Scissors.
"Dammit," I groaned. "I get icy chick."
"Crazy magical bitch," Annabeth grumbled.
"Filthy limey," Percy sighed.
I sighed too. "Should we attack first or—GAH!" Percy shoved me out of the way with lightning-fast reflexes as a long shard of ice stabbed at the place where my face just was. "NO!" I shouted at icy chick. "DO NOT GO FOR THE PRETTY!"
"Tony, MOVE!" Annabeth yelled. She tackled me while more ice-shards whistled by.
Mortals screamed. "Mutants!" one of them screamed. "Go out the back!" Within seconds the subway car was empty of crazy mortals. Good.
"Go!" Percy shouted. We all pulled our weapons and ran for our enemies.
I batted away another ice-shard with new energy. "So, didn't get your name," I said to the girl as I dodged more of her ice.
"Jessica Marina," she told me, using her now-frozen hand to block my hack. "Daughter of Khione, goddess of snow."
"Figures," I sighed. I slashed at her again, but her frozen arm sparked against the blade and she smacked me across the face. My cheek stung, and I'm sure it was bleeding, but I went back for more. I leg-sweeped her, then swiped at her. This time my sword sliced her. Blood seeped out the cut, but it froze instantly. Jessica growled at me. She punched me in the stomach with her frozen fist, but lost some of her hair to my sword.
"Damn you, son of Dionysus!" she yelled.
"Go to Tartarus, bitch!" I yelled back. She ran at me. I sidestepped and tripped her. Her head smacked against the bench. Lights out.
Annabeth's POV
I tackled Tony, saving him from a dozen icy daggers. He jumped up fast and went to fight the ice-girl. I pulled out my knife, turning to face her.
"Annabeth," she smiled.
"Anastasia," I spat. I blocked her first strike with the hilt of my knife. She dodged mine. I elbowed her in the face, but she just gave me a nasty cut on my shoulder. I gave her one back.
"You're good," she complimented.
"We all know you're better than I am," I snapped, jumping back as she tried to stab me.
"Thank you, dear," she said with a smile that made my blood boil.
"Wasn't a compliment," I muttered. A beam of black left her fingers, throwing me back fifteen feet. It hurt, but I went back to kick her ass.
I kicked her in the chest, forcing her back. The car lurched suddenly, throwing me off balance. Her blade bit into my thigh. I gritted my teeth and swiped at her face. The heel of her foot crunched into my jaw. I held back a yelp. I threw my knife hard into her leg. I kicked her knee, and she fell. My wounds hurt, but I gritted my teeth and pounced on her while she was down.
"Whoo! Catfight!" Tony yelled from somewhere to the left.
"Not now!" I growled through my teeth.
Anastasia smiled once, a cold, soulless smile that chilled me to the bone. "You know, he's not that great of a kisser, even for a distraction."
I smacked her on the head with my dagger hilt. "Go to hell, bitch," I muttered. "Nobody kisses Percy and gets away with it."