Chapter 20
Percy blinked. "Excuse me?" he said.
"I said... I told you..." The man trailed off, a look of puzzlement crossing his face. "Who are you?"
Percy exchanged a wary look with Annabeth. "My name's Percy Jackson. Sir," he added hastily.
"You... You are related to Poseidon Jackson?" said the man uncertainly.
Percy nodded. "He's my father."
The man sucked in a sharp breath. "What do you want?" he growled.
"I..." Percy didn't know where to begin. The man, presumably Zeus, spared him.
"Who's she?" he said, jerking his head towards Annabeth.
"'She' can be directly addressed!" huffed Annabeth indignantly before Percy could answer. "My name's Annabeth."
The man - Zeus - sat back down at his desk. He rubbed his temples and muttered, "God, you look just like them." Percy glanced at Annabeth to see if she had heard. If she did, she didn't show it. Instead she sat down at a chair facing Zeus's desk.
"We need information on Poseidon Jackson," she said cooly.
"What makes you think I know Poseidon Jackson?" said Zeus, his eyes flaring.
Annabeth did something very brave. She pulled off her necklace and set it down on the desk. "This," she said, with an air of authority in her voice. "Is a symbol. It's on my necklace, on Poseidon's old uniform, and," she nodded towards Zeus. "On your sleeve." Zeus tugged his arm off the desk, but not before Percy spotted the red and gold swirled emblem embroidered on it.
"And you were the one who mentioned him first," pointed out Percy, sitting down in the other chair.
Zeus looked like he was ready to burst with anger. For a minute, Percy thought he might. "You have no right to be in here!" roared Zeus.
"I have every right to be here!" retorted Percy. "My father lied to us for years. I'm here to find out the truth."
"And she is, too?" said Zeus gruffly, once again referring to Annabeth.
"I'm here to help Percy find his father," she said firmly.
A look of surprise flashed across Zeus's face. "That's all?"
Annabeth stiffened a little. "Well, I kind of want to know why my locket-"
"So," Zeus interrupted. "Whether I knew your father or not, here is not the place to be talking about him."
"I think it is," Annabeth declared lazily, swinging her locket around in her hand.
"And what," spluttered Zeus, "Makes you think that?"
"If you don't tell us what you know about Poseidon," she said idly, still swinging the necklace. "We'll go to the police and say that you kidnapped us, and that we just escaped. I mean, we look pretty beat up, don't we?"
As Annabeth said this, Percy realized just how true it was. He had a forming bruise across his jawbone and a barely staunched bloody nose. Annabeth was no better. She was limping, and, as he noticed, had blood in her hair.
Zeus opened his mouth and then closed it again angrily. He stood up from his desk. "Stay here," he said stiffly, striding out of the room.
"Blackmail?" Percy muttered under his breath. "I didn't know you had that in you."
Annabeth shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."
Zeus returned a moment later carrying a cardboard box. He set it heavily on the desk and began rummaging through it. He pulled out a piece of navy-blue cloth. Percy ad Annabeth jerked back as he spread it over his desk. It was a banner with the red and gold emblem on it.
"This," he said gruffly, as if he wished he could be anywhere but here. "This flag bears the symbol of the Freedom Corps."
"The what?" said Percy dumbly.
"Let me finish!" snapped Zeus. "It..." He cleared his throat. "It is an orginazation that gathers intelligence for the United States government."
"Like spies?" inquired Annabeth.
Zeus nodded stiffly. "Very much like spies."
"And my father was connected to this organization?" said Percy.
Zeus nodded again. "He is one of our top agents."
"Is?" Percy breathed. Zeus looked furious with himself. "You mean... he's not dead?" Percy's mind was spinning. Was his Dad really, truly... alive? If so, why had he abandoned them this whole time?
"I have no way of knowing," Zeus declared. "I haven't seen Don in years."
"Don? Is that what you called him?" said Annabeth.
Zeus sighed and nodded. "There was a time when Poseidon and I were, er, what you would call close. But that time is long gone. I must say, I thought you were your father when you entered."
"Where is he now?" demanded Percy.
Zeus pursed his lips. "I'm afraid that is classified information."
"Tell me!" Percy shouted. He stood up and banged his fist on the desk furiously, surprising himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Annabeth's eyes widen. For some reason, that gave him more willpower. "Tell me where he is! I've spent too long worrying, too long waiting!"
Zeus suddenly seemed very interested in the face of his desk. "I can't believe I'm about to tell you this," he murmured. "But... go to Miami. Miami, Florida. There's a base there. If you can find it, they'll tell you everything you need to know. About the Freedom Corps, about your father, about the locket, everything."
Annabeth stood up. She opened her mouth, and closed it again. "Thanks," she whispered.
Zeus looked away. It didn't seem that he was inclined to say more. Percy gently took Annabeth's hand in his own and led her out of the office. They walked numbly through the hall, down the stairs, and out the door. Percy was subconsciously aware of the fact that he was still holding Annabeth's hand, and she didn't seem to mind.
"Miami?" Annabeth's voice sounded small, as if it wasn't really her speaking. "We have to... we have to go all the way to Florida?"
"I have to," Percy corrected. "I don't want you getting mixed up in this."
Annabeth gave a sudden tug and wrenched her hand out of his. A fiery light shone in her eyes, making them look bluer than ever. "I had the locket," she reminded him furiously. "I'm part of this. I'm connected to the Freedom Corps, somehow. You know as well as I do that there was something Zeus knew about me - my past - that he wasn't telling us."
Percy shifted uneasily, unsure of where the conversation was headed. "Annabeth-"
"No," she said firmly. "If you're going to Miami, than so am I. We're partners now."
Percy couldn't help but grin at this. "Partners in crime?" he teased, taking her hand and continuing to lead her to the bus stop.
Annabeth didn't pull away. "I was thinking more Partners in Investigation."
"So we're turning this into a CSI marathon, are we?"
Annabeth sighed. "I feel like it's doing that all on it's own."
Percy and Annabeth stumbled through the Jackson's front door at 11 'o clock that night. They had just barely made the bus back from New York, having to clean themselves up at the station. Percy prayed that no blood was left on them. Bleary-eyed and exhausted, Annabeth mumbled something about going home. Percy was overtired, too. That was, until he saw Paul and Sally in the kitchen. Their faces were white.
"What's wrong?" said Annabeth. So she had noticed it, too.
Sally's lips pursed into a thin line. She didn't speak.
"Oh, come on!" groaned Percy. "We were gone for a day. How much could we have missed?"
Paul stepped forward. "The town council decided something today," he said slowly.
"Summerville has a town council?" said Percy, surprised.
"They passed a motion," said Paul, ignoring Percy. "A motion to bulldoze Annabeth's mansion."
Percy blanched. "What?!"
Sally shook herself slightly. "They said that... The house was the source of toomany superstitious tragedies. They want it gone."
"What about me?" protested Annabeth. "What am I supposed to do?"
Paul and Sally exchanged glances. "Tomorrow Sally's going to try to get an appeal for the house," said Paul gently. "But if it doesn't work..."
Paul didn't finish. Everyone knew what he was thinking. Annabeth couldn't stay with them. They couldn't keep a runaway in their house. Someone would find out and drag her back to the foster system. It occurred to Percy that they could be Annabeth's foster family, but one look at her face told him not to say it out loud. Annabeth's skin was ashen, her eyes frantically searching his for some kind of solution.
"I can't leave my mansion," she whispered, only loud enough for him to hear.
Percy started. After all the time that he'd known her, she had always referred to it as "the mansion", never "my mansion". But they all knew that it was. It was her mansion, and he wasn't going to let anyone take it away from her.
I HAVE WIFI. THE GODS HAVE SPOKEN.
Today's theme song is for Percy and Annabeth (shocker)!
Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift
Special thanks to jenna Jackson (guest) for this theme song!
Just so you know, Ghost Girl is drawing to a close. There are only a few new chapters left. But fear not, for I have a sequel planned! (I mean, not that you would actually care, but...) I've had the sequel planned since I started the story. Kind if sad, huh?
Oh my gods, though. I realized today that people search this story on the internet. Like, it says that more than 200 people have typed in "Percy Jackson fan fiction Ghost Girl" on the search engine. *squeals* And I have over 23,000 hits! Thank you guys so much!
-Rebel