AN: Sorry guys! It's been to long since I've uploaded a new chapter and I'm really sorry about that. You have no idea how much. I hope you've all had a great summer so far and that it will continue to be great until it officially ends.
This is only a half of the intended chapter and I should be uploading the other half tomorrow or the day after that. Sadly, I will have to put this story on hiatus after the next upload. I should be continuing the story next summer, after I graduate and get into college.
Hope you'll like this chapter (I know I'm not completely satisfied with it) and please leave your comments and opinions in the reviews. They mean so much to me and help me bring you better characters and plot lines.
Chapter 7"So, your grandpa is a demigod?" Percy asked to what Merri nodded while keeping her sea green eyes on the road.
"And so is your grandma but your mom isn't one?" Grover asked and she nodded again.
"And your dad is Poseidon?" Annabeth asked.
Merri smirked. "Exactly what I said earlier. My grandpa is a son of Hephaestus, my grandma is a daughter of Apollo and my mum is completely human. So is my step-dad and my step-siblings. The only thing that could make you suspect my mum of not being human would be her cooking. Trust me, you do NOT want that woman cooking for you."
Annabeth frowned in confusion. "Why not?"
"Well, unless you're dying to get food poisoning there's nothing wrong with my mum cooking. I swear, one time I saw her burn water!"
"How'd she manage to do that?" Percy asked.
Merri shrugged. "My guess is as good as yours." She gave a big yawn and blinked her eyes a couple times to make them stay open. "We need to stop somewhere to rest," she said. "I'm exhausted and don't know how long I can keep up with the driving and I sure as hell am NOT letting any of you kids to drive."
Annabeth checked on the map they had found in the glove compartment a few hours ago and pointed to a small icon on it. "There's a motel not far from here. About ten more minutes of driving, I'd say."
Merri nodded her head, wisps of her ginger hair falling on her face. "Alright kiddies, it seems like we'll be stopping to grab some shuteye in no time.
...
True to Annabeth's word, they arrived to a motel in precisely ten minutes. Getting out of the truck, they all grabbed their bags and made their way to the front desk. Percy approached the manager.
"We need a room," he said. The manager gave him an odd look.
"You got an I.D.?" Percy started digging through his bag, probably looking for some money to bribe the man, while the manager stared them all down suspiciously. Letting out a sigh, Merri came to stand at Percy's side and gave the man her I.D. The manager looked at her I.D. for a few seconds before lifting his gaze and comparing Merri to the picture.
"The spittin' image," the manager said. Merri smiled at him, paying for the room and taking the key the man gave her.
They entered room 6 to find a small, musty, old room with only one queen size bed. Sometime between Merri getting the room for them and them getting to the room, Grover managed to raid a vending machine and now, his pockets were full of different snacks.
"Only one bed," Annabeth noted to what Merri sarcastically thought: 'Thank you, Captain Obvious!'
Merri dropped her bag on the floor near the foot of the bed and sat down, taking her shoes off and throwing them next to the door where they landed perfectly.
"I'll sleep on the chair," Grover offered. He dumped out a pile of snacks from his pockets on the bed, plopped himself down on a chair, turned on the TV and started eating a Snickers bar, wrapper and all making Merri giggle silently at the young satyr. When she noticed he'd gone to the Adult Movie Pay Channels, she grabbed the remote and promptly turned off the TV, earning herself a glare from Grover.
"What?! I can't watch a movie?!" Grover practically screeched at her. Merri returned his glare with one of her own famous 'don't even think about it or I'll castrate you right here, right now' glares that sent even the bravest of campers miles away from her. Seeing her glare, Grover quietly whimpered and looked at his feet while continuing to eat his Snickers and trying to make as little noise as possible so that the ginger haired demigoddess' silent threat wouldn't come true.
Percy grabbed a Snickers, sat on the bed and looked at Annabeth. "Pretty big bed. Maybe we could -"
Annabeth cut him off by throwing a pillow on him. "You'd make your sister sleep on the floor?" she asked him.
"N-no, o-of course n-not..." Percy stammered.
Annabeth arched an eyebrow at him. "Floor or bathtub. Your call."
Sighing, Percy stood up and made for the door. "I'll go get some ice for the head," he said before disappearing outside.
Sometime later, Percy and Merri had filled the sink in the bathroom and put Medusa's head in it. They both grimaced at the head that had, in the meantime, turned a sickly greyish blue shade before returning back to the room. Grover was already fast asleep on his chair, covered in crumbs, candy wrappers and half-eaten junk food, snuggling into the pillow Merri had given him and mumbling gibberish. Annabeth was also asleep on the bed and completely dead to the world.
Quietly, Percy turned to Merri, whispering: "So, what's our dad like?"
Merri shrugged her shoulders and gave him a sad look. "I've no idea. I've never met him in person. The closest contact I'd ever had from him when I'd been attacked by that nasty, old Fury." Percy looked crestfallen, like Merri had been his only way to learn more about his father. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but all I know of the man is what I've read in various books on mythology while I was a kid."
Percy shook his head. "No, it's fine, really. It's no big deal."
She put her hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile making him smile in return. "Come on," she said. "It's pretty late and we have a long way ahead of us tomorrow so you should better go and get some sleep. Okay, kid?"
"Yeah, and don't call me 'kid'!" he mock-threatened. "You're not that much older than I am, you know?"
Merri smirked and gave him a 'whatever you say, mate' look before getting in the bed next to Annabeth. The girls had agreed to share the bed and let the boys manage with their own sleeping arrangements. Sleep came quickly that night, thanks to the exhaustion she felt from her current lack of sleep, so Merri was out like a light.
...
The next morning, Merri was the first one awake. She quickly checked the clock on her phone to see it was 5:30 in the morning. Sighing to herself, she got up as quietly as she could without waking Annabeth and Grover, noticing that Percy was nowhere to be seen, and went into the bathroom to get a shower all the while yawning like a fish.
"G'morning," Merri sleepily greeted Medusa's head in a thicker than normal Australian accent. It tended to get thicker when she got angry or was plain sleepy and tired, like now. She had already grabbed her little cosmetic bag from her backpack and proceeded to take a cold shower to wake herself up.
After her shower, Merri brushed her teeth and dried her hair, which she put in a side fish plait that reached just below her ribcage. She put on a Nirvana T-shirt, black skinny jeans that had holes and rips on them, her plaid hoodie which she tied around her waist and her converse. She exited the bathroom to find Annabeth stretching on the bed and Grover trying to rub sleep from his eyes. She briefly wondered where Percy had gone to until he entered the room in his swimming trunks and went directly into the bathroom after grabbing some clothes.
"When did he go to the pool?" Grover questioned.
"No idea," Merri answered. "When I went to sleep, he was still here. Must've woken up before me and went for a swim."
It took them almost half an hour, but they had all managed to take a quick shower, get dressed and were now ready to check out of the motel. Merri sent the boys and Annabeth to the truck while she checked them out. She came to the manager's desk with a dazzling smile on her face.
"G'day, sir!" The man gave her an odd look at her accent but she ignored him and gave him the key of the room back. Without another word, Merri turned on her heel and made for the big red truck.
Sitting in the driver's seat, Merri revved up the truck and pulled back on the highway in the direction of Nashville, trying to pay little to no attention to the ominous dark clouds and heavy wind that seemed to follow them everywhere.
...
Around noon, they passed the sign that said: 'Welcome to Nashville. Athens of the South!' Merri wanted to laugh her ass off at the notion of the home of country being anything like the home of civilized culture, but, instead, settled down for a snicker.
She pulled up at a park crowded with people, street performers, joggers... Percy was now wearing the hood of his hoodie up to try and conceal his identity since he was a wanted fugitive now. The four made their way through the park and masses of people to stand before the Parthenon, an exact duplicate of the ancient Greek architecture that stood directly in the middle of a modern Nashville park. Annabeth, Grover and Percy checked the map, while Merri stood a little to the distance and observed some of the street performers, to look back up at the Parthenon.
"The second pearl," Grover said. "It's in there. Somewhere."
"Wish Luke's map had been a little more specific than 'Parthenon'," Annabeth complained.
Merri shook her head and followed the group inside where it was crawling with people.
The space inside was surrounded by imposing columns and housed a 41' statue of Athena. It was like they had stepped back in time four thousand years. Annabeth gazed at the statue with a slightly moved expression while Merri tried to look around for any indication of the pearl.
Percy noticed the name 'Athena' in the bottom of the statue and turned to Annabeth. "Hey, it's your mom."
Annabeth got a look of longing in her eyes, one that Meri and Percy could both sympathize with. "Wonder if she really looks like that."
"We'll find out," Percy assured her before glancing at Merri who was looking at her younger half-brother with a mix of sadness and confirmation in her eyes. She offered him a small smile, which he returned, before searching for the pearl with her gaze. Just as she spotted what she was looking for, Grover called the attention of the two lovebirds who were gazing in each other's eyes.
"Guys, check this out. It's the pearl." They went closer to the pearl and both Percy and Annabeth finally noticed it.
There, the second green pearl was imbedded in the middle of Athena's crown, surrounded by other rare and colourful jewels.
"That was easy," Grover quipped.
"Easy? It's 30 feet in the air and this place is filled with tourists," Annabeth said.
Merri corrected her. "Actually, it's more like 40 feet."
Annabeth turned to glare at her. "What does that have to do with anything?!"
"I'm just trying to make it as accurate as possible," Merri shrugged innocently. Annabeth gave a frustrated groan at the older girl who just snickered to her chin. No matter where they were, Merri loved annoying 'Little Miss Perfect', as she liked to call her, and enjoyed getting reactions like this.
"I've got an idea," Percy told them. "We'll come back after this place closes. Come on, follow me." He motioned them to follow him.
"Or I can just throw my crutch up there, shake the pearl to fall out of there," Grover offered earning himself a 'Grover!' from Percy and a snicker from Merri. "Perce, just sayn' it's not a bad idea."
Merri hesitated a bit. She had a bad feeling about all this but decided to trust her baby brother's judgement. After all, it was his quest and she was the one intruding on it so she shut her mouth and followed the trio of younger kids out of the Parthenon.
...
'Memo to me! Memo to me: Never listen to Percy's stupid ideas ever again!' Merri thought to herself while they were hiding in the bathroom for the entirety of the day, waiting for the cover of night. They exited the bathroom stalls with Percy in the lead and Merri at the end of the group, watching their backs for anything unexpected.
"It's been closed for an hour," Percy informed them. "Let's move!"
At the same time Merri and Grover shot him a sarcastic 'Yes, sir!', Merri's complete with a mock-salute as well.
On the way Percy informed them of his plan. "I'll fly up," he said. "using Luke's flying shoes and get the pearl. Then-" He cut himself off and pulled Grover and Annabeth behind a column to cover.
Four janitors were in the Parthenon cleaning and shining things up for the next day.
"Okay, so what are we gonna' do?" Grover asked.
From behind them, Annabeth answered. "Okay guys, I've got this." They all turned to see her pulling a miniature crossbow from her bag and loading it with a dart.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah... You're gonna' kill the janitors?" Grover whisper-yelled at the grey-eyed demigoddess, who only said 'chill' and proceeded further without listening. "Those are working class Americans!"
Within the next thirty seconds, Annabeth had disposed of all the janitors, the men in brown uniforms deep asleep from the sleeping solution Annabeth used to cover the tips of her darts.
"Why did you do that?!"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "They're not dead, they're unconscious! Now, come on! We've only got thirty minutes!"
While Grover pulled all of the janitors on a pile off to the side, Percy was busy putting on the flying shoes that Luke had given him and Annabeth and Merri had managed to Skype Luke to explain the usage of the shoes to Percy.
"Ah, g'day mate!" Merri greeted her friend when he appeared on the screen. "We've got a little bit we need for you to help us with."
Luke grinned at the ginger. "Well if it isn't my favorite Ausie?! What can I do you for?" He leaned closer on the screen and put his head on his fist, as if in thought.
Merri was about to answer, when Annabeth beat her to it. "How do you turn on the shoes?"
"What, no 'hello'?" Annabeth glared at him. "Okay, okay... Tell Percy that he's gotta' break into a run. He's gotta' build up speed, kinda like a jet on a... on a runway. But it's gonna' take some practice which is why I would recommend for you guys to let Merri to use the shoes since she's already got some experience with flying in them." They all looked at Merri with questioning looks to what she simply shrugged. She looked back at the screen with a smile.
"Alright, thanks Luke. Hooroo!" She waved him and powered down Annabeth's laptop. Merri stood up and put her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, which she had put on properly after the sundown. "So, who's gonna' be flying those thingies?" she asked the group.
Percy shrugged and broke into a run, moving fast. He begins to lift of, like a jet, being propelled ten, fifteen feet into the air before suddenly flipping in the air and missing the pearl completely, falling down but managing to grab onto the statue's hair in the last minute. Merri cringed at the sound of her brother smashing into the marble statue. With some help form the winged shoes, Percy managed to climb to the top of the statue, the pearl now within his grasp. He pulled the pearl from its resting place on the crown and showed it to the others with a winning smile on his face.
"I got it!" he yelled and slowly but wobbly flew down. "Here it is!"