Chapter Twelve
After some hours, Garrott stops us at the Hoover Dam. We hide ourselves in some bushes and scrub our faces. Now alert, I hear voices near us.
"Right now we are entering the Visitor Center. You will find many pleasing things to do here. Come right in."
It's a tour guide leading several bored middle schoolers into a building. The tour guide is slightly prettier than a regular woman, with shiny black hair pulled into a high ponytail and solemn, wise gray eyes.
"sdijflsejlkf," Garrott mutters.
"What?" I peer curiously at Garrott.
"It's her. Athena!" he frantically whispers.
I shrug and ignore him until I notice his frantic whimpers of longing. His face is pale and his wavy hair matted and damp from sweat. After the kids have gone inside and the guide is about to shut the door, Garrott comes out of hiding and flings his arms around Athena.
"Athena, ma mère!" Garrott cries. Silent tears drip down his face. To my surprise, the tour guide isn't confused by the sudden man who hugs her. Instead, she tenderly pats his shoulder.
"Garrott! I haven't seen you in many years," the woman greets.
On my right, Mia murmurs, "I guess she is Athena," and Mia trots out.
I remember Mia's godly parentage when Mia awkwardly says, "Uh… hi Mom…"
Athena walks over and pulls Mia into the embrace. They stand there for awhile when Athena says, "I have to go. My group is waiting for me." She disappears under the shaded doors.
Garrott takes out some pills from his backpack. "Swallow this," he tells us as he gives each one of us one pill. Mia looks at her cautiously while I open mine. Little small leaves tumble out and I reluctantly swallow them. Immediately my body is gone. No, invisible. Garrott swallows his own until I can't see him. He reappears though, and instructs, "This is a gift of Athena that allows you to be invisible at will. They last for an hour. When you are invisible, you are the air. This means you are not solid but cannot pass through solid object, although solid objects can go through you. You have no body heat or distinctive smell. This is useful when stalking monsters. Anything you touch will become invisible if you want, but only if you remain touching them. This is useful when carrying a weapon while stalking monsters."
Mia swallows hers and reappears quickly. I struggle. My body keeps on flashing like a TV screen that's flashing. I give up and let my shoes become visible. We enter the building and follow Athena's group. I nearly fall asleep listening to Athena talk about the "fascinating" and "interesting" facts about the dam. I came here before on a mission to conserve energy, so these mind-numbing tours were reviving the past I had shut out.
We all clamber into a narrow elevator when I hear guffaws coming from the back.
"Hey! Watch it! Ouch!" The struggles were nearly funny if it wasn't coming from Percy Jackson. He calls for help from the rest of his gang, but they are nowhere to be seen.
Garrott smirks and whispers, "He thinks he's superior for being a son of Poseidon, but wait til he meets the climax of the prophecy."
As the elevator reaches to a stop, everyone shoves their way out of the cramped space, resulting in Percy lagging behind with Athena. She seems to understand who he is, and starts a deep conversation with him. She soon leaves him, and as Athena walks back to her group, I see a flash of red near the elevator.
Leaving my friends, I run towards the source and find Percy swinging blinding through her. He bears a beautiful sword that shrinks into a pen. The girl is slightly confused, while Percy speaks with greater confusion.
"You can see my sword!" Percy declares, flabbergasted. The girl nods and Percy nearly shouts, "And you can see through the Mist!"
Out of nowhere, a whole pack of skeletons come crashing, brandishing swords. The girl makes a quick "I got this" comment while Percy dashes to the nearest hiding place, possibly to cower while pretending to strategize.
The girl talks to the skeletons and points to my direction. They scamper towards me, but I dodge it in the knick of time.
I will myself to become visible and I am delighted to see it work.
"Hello," the girl speaks up when seeing me.
"Hi," I awkwardly wave, and she replies, "You saw him too?"
I nod, and she extends a hand.
"I'm Rachel. Rachel Elizabeth Dare."