Chapter 3: Bonnie and Clyde

The next day in homeroom, after Helen's annoying announcements, I told Thalia about my dream. As I told her about it her eyebrows knit closer and closer together. When I finished she was silent for a moment. "So," she said finally, "whoever we're dealing with could sense when you visited in your dreams. Also, you said something about Helen having a counterpart that was assigned with taking care of me?"

"Right," I said. "The shadowy dude said that someone named Andromeda had been assigned to take you out."

"What exactly did he say?" Thalia asked. "It might give us a clue about who he is, or who this Andromeda is."

"He said - " I racked my brain to remember. "He said, 'Grace will pay for humiliating me. But, no matter, your counterpart will handle Grace.'"

"I don't remember fighting anyone like that," she said. "Funny how he refused to use my first name, though."

I shrugged. "Not really. Usually people I've made enemies of just call me Jackson, probably the same sort of thing. What we need to do is figure out who has a grudge against you so that we can narrow down the list of possibilities. We also need to keep an eye out for this Andromeda, whoever she is."

"Wow," Thalia said. "I see Annabeth is rubbing off on you."

I chuckled. "Good. I could use being smarter."

"You're right, though," Thalia said. "I'll try to come up with a list of people, gods, titans, and monsters that have a grudge against me. Hopefully we can narrow who it might be down to just a couple of possibilities."

I nodded. Then, my ADHD brain supplied me with a random question. "Hey, Thalia, you never said where you were staying. Where are you staying? Not Camp, the commute would be hell."

"No, you're right," she said. "I'm on the streets."

"What? That's awful!"

"Chill, Seaweed Brain," Thalia said. "I lived on the streets for years; I know how to take care of myself. Plus, with any luck, this little side-mission won't take very long and I can rejoin the Hunters."

I frowned. "That doesn't sound pleasant at all. Even if you are here for only a little while, it would be much better if you weren't out on the streets. Hm… tell you what. I'll talk to Paul during lunch and ask him if you can come to live with us."

Thalia frowned this time. "Are you sure, Percy? I really am fine on the streets. Honest. And I wouldn't want to be a burden."

"Please," I said, "you wouldn't be a burden. Plus, my mom would kill me if she knew that you were living on the streets and I didn't offer you a place to stay."

"Alright… well, thanks Percy. I try to do everything by myself. Sometimes I forget that my friends can help me out. Even Seaweed Brains like you."

"What else are friends for?"

At lunch I talked to Paul. Then we called Mom on speaker, and she said that of course Thalia could stay, though she spent a good deal of time fussing at me for not finding out about Thalia's situation sooner. I was walking to my first class after lunch, gym, when I heard a commotion down the hall. I turned, and started walking towards the source of the noise. The noise seemed to be coming from the courtyard. I exited through the doors and into the small courtyard. The courtyard was a small area enclosed on all four sides by the school. There were a couple of plants, some gravel, and a picnic table. In the center of the courtyard was a huge mass of kids yelling, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

I was about to turn around and re-enter the building – I didn't want to be around when the teachers showed up, that would just give Echidna a chance to spend some quality time with me – when I heard the voice of the bully. "I'm gonna beat you into a pulp, half-blood."

I spun around. Apparently the other kids thought that "half-blood" had meant half some race or another, but I knew otherwise. Whatever was attacking the kid wasn't a mortal bully.

I ran over to the circle to get a better view. The group of kids had formed a ring around a seven-foot Cyclops and a tan kid with blonde hair, who wore designer brand clothes, and had sunglasses hanging from the front of his shirt. He didn't look so great. The sunglasses were shattered, his face was already bruising up, and what appeared to be a couple of his teeth were on the ground. But he had his fists raised, and he stood his ground. He was brave, I'll give him that.

The Cyclops had a wicked grin on his face. Not only was he tall, but he was built too. Not scrawny like some Cyclops who live on the streets get. He wore tattered jeans and a leather jacket, like he was trying to be a badass.

The kid threw a punch at the Cyclops, who grabbed his fist and squeezed. I heard an unpleasant crunching sound. The kid cried out in pain. That was my cue to enter. I burst through the ring of onlookers, who apparently didn't notice anything odd about the fight at all.

"Hey!" I snapped. "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?"

The Cyclops grunted. "You smell like a half-blood too." He (I think it was a man Cyclops) chuckled. "I'll be eating well tonight."

I had to think quickly. I couldn't pull out Riptide; I had no clue what the others would see through the mist. I also had to get out of there quickly, before teachers or Echidna showed up.

And I didn't want to admit it, but a small part of me really didn't want to fight this Cyclops. He reminded me too much of Tyson. Not that I had a choice, but still.

The Cyclops threw a punch while I was thinking, and I was caught off guard. He managed to hit my shoulder, which didn't hurt, but it did cause me to stumble backwards. The Cyclops threw another punch, but I dodged it and stepped inside his guard. I pulled back and punched him right in his single eye. He cried out in pain. I punched him again in the stomach and in the collarbone. The Cyclops collapsed.

"How are you so strong, puny half-blood?" he asked. "Who are you?"

"Heard of Achilles?" I responded. "That's me." Then I hit him in the temple, knocking the Cyclops out. I turned to the kid. His hand that the Cyclops had crushed was already swelling, but he pretended to pay it no mind as he gazed inquisitively at me. "Come on, let's go." The ring of onlookers were so stunned at the rapid end of the fight, that the kid and I were able to push through pretty easily.

Once back inside the building, he burst out, "What was that? What's going on? Who are you?"

"Wow," I said. "Lots of questions. First, I'm gonna need your named."

"I'm Clyde," he said as we rounded the corner. "Now, give me some answers."

I pulled the list of half-bloods out of my pocket. It was in alphabetical order by first name. After scanning down through the 'B's I found him. Clyde Wright, son of Apollo.

"Hey!" he snapped. "Are you gonna give me some answers, or just stare at that paper?"

"I will on the way. First we've gotta go get Thalia, then we have to leave."

Clyde stopped moving. "No. I'm not following you anywhere until you answer my questions."

I sighed. Why did he have to be so stubborn? "Alright, fine. In order. Your first question was 'what was that', right? That was a Cyclops. Most are friendly, but some can be dangerous; case in point being the one back in the courtyard. What's going on? Well Clyde, you are what we call a half-blood. If I told you the truth about what that means, you wouldn't believe me, so I'll just leave it at it makes you noticeable to monsters like that Cyclops. And yes, there are other kinds of monsters. Lots of other kinds. Now that you've been discovered, my friend, Thalia, and I have to get you out of here to Camp, which is the only safe place for you. As for who am I? The name's Percy Jackson and I just saved your ass, now come on."

"Wait," Clyde said. "That was real? Monsters are real?"

"Yes," I said. "You've seen them before, haven't you? But no one ever believed you?"

He nodded. "I eventually stopped pointing them out, because all it ever did was cause people to make fun of me. Clyde the Monster Kid they used to call me."

"I'm sorry," I said. "Where I'm taking you, everyone can see the monsters. And I don't mean that as in, like, a mental hospital. Because the monsters are real Clyde. And Camp? Where I'm taking you? Everyone there is trained to fight monsters. And we're gonna train you to fight them to. But we have to go. We've wasted too much time already. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it is for us."

"Alright," he said. "But I have to talk to my girlfriend first."

"What?"

"I'm not leaving until I talk to my girlfriend," he said, his stubbornness quickly returning.

I sighed, exasperated. "We don't have time. We have to get you out of here."

"No, I have to talk with my girlfriend. I've got to warn her." He pulled a cellphone out of his pocket and began texting; his girlfriend, no doubt. I smacked the phone out of his hand. It broke on the floor. "Hey! What was that for!"

"No cellphones!" I snapped. "They attract monsters right to you."

"Can you even hear yourself?" Clyde snapped back. "'They attract the monsters?' Dude, what are you smoking? That doesn't make any sense!"

"You're just going to have to trust me on this one," I said. "Now, I'm sorry, but we don't have any more time to lose. We have to go!"

"I'm not leaving until I talk to Bonnie!"

"Wait, Bonnie? Is that your girlfriend's name?"

"Yeah," he said. "So?"

I started laughing. "Bonnie is dating Clyde?" Clyde had a look of slightly disgusted shock on his face. "Oh, c'mon, Bonnie and Clyde? It's too perfect! You're just like the gangsters!" Then a little light bulb went off in my head. "Wait, hang on. Bonnie isn't exactly a very common modern name, is it?"

"So? Are you gonna tell me there's time travel involved now too?"

"No, no, of course not. Though, that would be cool. But, if Bonnie isn't a very common name, then why do I recognize it? She's probably the only Bonnie at Goode." I pulled out the list of demigods and scanned through the names again. There she was. Bonnie Hoover, daughter of Aphrodite. "Right, change of plans."

"Does this change of plans involve me getting to talk to my girlfriend?" Clyde asked sarcastically.

"Even better," I said. "We're going to get her. She's coming with us."

It took a few moments for Clyde's look of surprise to vanish. By the time it did I heard the sound of the door to the courtyard open, followed by the angry bellow of a Cyclops.

"Dammit!" I said. "Clyde, go get your girlfriend. Make something up if you have to."

"None of this makes any sense to me," he said. "But… okay."

He dashed off, and I turned to face the Cyclops. The Cyclops came lumbering around the corner, looking very angry, with bruises appearing on his now bare skin. "You will pay for that!"

I drew Riptide. "Wanna think about that buddy?" The Cyclops flinched at my blade. "That's right. You recognize the celestial bronze, don't you? One slice of this, and you die. You've seen what my fists can do. Do you really want to see what my sword can do?" I was trying to talk the Cyclops out of attacking me. No matter how brutal this Cyclops was, he still reminded me of Tyson.

The Cyclops snarled, and chose to ignore my warning. He ran at me. I sidestepped and brought riptide upward in a wide arc, severing the Cyclops's head. I closed my eyes as the Cyclops dissolved to dust. Sorry Tyson, I thought.

I turned. "Shit," I said aloud. I had just realized that I'd sent Clyde off and I had no clue where he'd gone.

I started sprinting in the direction he'd come. "Clyde!" I called.

My math teacher, Mrs. Rolle, stuck her head out the door of the classroom. She was an older woman with steel gray hair and glasses that almost seemed to glint when she was angry. They were glinting now. "Mr. Jackson, will you keep it down? What is going on out here?"

"Sorry, Mrs. Rolle," I said. "I'll try to keep it down."

"And why are you holding a baseball bat?" she asked, pointing at my sword. I just realized I'd forgotten to put it away. Damn, I cursed silently. Today was just not my day. "You know that all bats belong in the gym, or the locker room," she continued. "This is the second time I've had to speak to you about this."

I smiled guiltily and rubbed the back of my neck. Last year there'd been an incident involving an Empousa, and Mrs. Rolle had caught me afterwards with my "bat" still out. "It won't happen again," I assured her.

"Why aren't you in class?" she asked.

"Uh… free period," I lied. I was supposed to be in gym right now, but missing one period wouldn't affect my grade too badly.

She stared at me skeptically, before sighing, and saying, "Alright. But keep it down, Jackson. Some people have tests to take." On the second day? I thought. A little harsh, but I knew better than to say that out loud.

At that moment Thalia appeared in the doorway, looking at Mrs. Rolle, "What do you want us to do when we finish the test, Mrs. Rolle?"

"Thalia?"

"Percy?"

"Mr. Jackson, stop distracting my student," Mrs. Rolle snapped. "Just set it on my desk dear," she told Thalia.

"Okay," Thalia said. "Also, can I go to the bathroom?"

Mrs. Rolle looked like she was about to pop. "Fine! Just… take your stuff with you. The period is almost over." And with that, she snapped the door shut.

A few moments later, Thalia came out with her bag. "What did you do this time Seaweed Brain?"

I briefly explained all that had happened. "And now I can't find Clyde," I concluded. "I know it was really stupid of me, but we have to go and find him and his girlfriend, and somehow get them to camp."

"How?" Thalia asked. "How are we gonna get them to camp? You don't have a car. I don't have a car. Percy, think for a moment. It's no good to say 'We'll find them and get them to camp' if we don't have a vehicle. We'll have to split our efforts."

"Okay," I said. "You find Clyde, and I'll go ask Paul if we can borrow the Prius."

"Yet again, not thinking," Thalia said. "I don't know Clyde, and he doesn't know me. Even if I could find him, he'd probably freak out at the sight of some random girl saying 'come with me.' You have to be the one to find him. I'll go talk to Mr. Blofis, explain the situation. Do you know where he is right now?"

"Yeah," I said. "He's in the teacher's lounge probably. This is one of his free periods."

"Right," Thalia started running off.

"Oh," I said, "By the way, Thalia." She stopped. "You've got a place to stay now. Mom said we'll set you up in the spare room."

Thalia smiled. "Thanks Percy. You're a pretty good cousin."

I smiled back. "See you in a bit. Meet in the foyer?"

She nodded, then disappeared around the corner. I turned the other way and continued to run in the direction Clyde went, but I made sure to put Riptide away first. I ran along the long hallways of Goode, past countless doors, hoping to find Clyde before the bell rang and the halls were crowded with students. It would be nearly impossible to find Clyde in that mess.

Unfortunately, fortune was not my friend that day. Just as I ran upstairs, the bell rang. I cursed. What was I supposed to do?

I racked my brains. With any luck, Clyde would be smart enough to hide and not just go to his next class. And, hopefully, he had Bonnie with him now, too. I waited until the onslaught of students had stopped, before I picked my search back up. Now I was missing English, but oh, well.

I was about to give up hope, when I decided to stop at a bathroom. All that running around had made me have to pee. The first thing I saw when I entered was a very pretty blonde girl leaning against the wall wearing a blue dress. "Oh, my bad," I said. "Wrong bathroom."

That's when a voice said, "Percy!" It was Clyde. "I went back to where I'd left you, but you were gone."

"I was looking for you!" I said.

"Well you didn't tell me where to meet you," Clyde said.

"Yeah, you're right," I sighed. "It was my fault, I know. I assume that this is Bonnie?"

"No," Clyde said sarcastically, "this is that other random chick that happens to be with me in the men's restroom."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Sorry about him," she said. "It's been a pretty stressful day. I'm Bonnie."

"Right," I said. "Time to go."

When we arrived in the foyer, Thalia was already there. "Got the keys?" I asked.

She raised her hand, in which she held the keys to Paul's Prius. "Got the kids?" she asked, pointing at Bonnie and Clyde.

"Yep, let's go."