Percy's not here because it's really late right now where I live. Two readers made a really good point recently. My writing hasn't been up to par recently. I haven't been updating as much either. I have a perfectly good explanation for the updating problem though. I've had a lot of tests recently, and I've been studying for them ridiculously hard. The writing, I don't have an excuse for at all. I could make one up, but that would be wrong. Anyways, I thinks this chapter is way better. It is dedicated to you guys, mykindleisawesome and ashnicatthelibrary. Thanks for giving me your opinion so kindly and pointing out my mistakes. I really appreciate is. Argh! I had to spell appreciate four times before I got it right! I got through about 170 pages in exactly 1,922 words. Yay me!
Review-
Jay Madeline Gryff: I loved how Sirius snapped back at Octy too!
ashnicatthelibrary:Thank you so much for your opinion. Keep going with your story, it's great. I'm really sorry about my update pattern right now, but I really have been studying my butt off. I'll try and update again before New Years.
Guest: Got to love Mars' prophecy.
TheNorweiganAuthor: P
: I was so mad at J.K. for killing him. He's my favorite. Also, he's like Freya's funny uncle. I can't just kill him off.
-sonofChaos: Sweet name. Thanks for the compliment!
I'm a bookworm and I'm proud: Originally, I was going to make the sequel that, but my friend got her story deleted because it was a reading the books. I may post it on another sight. I'll make sure to post it on my profile if I do. I won't even think about that right now until I finish this which will hopefully be before the end of the school year.
mykindleisawesome: Never apologize for giving polite criticism. I appreciate it like I said before. Keep going with your story, and I hope you like the new chapter.
DPJacksAniBrony: Here's your new update
Chapter Seventy Eight: Washington
I stepped onto the boat after Percy. I could tell Frank and Hazel were nervous. They were the other two that were going on the quest with us. If I wasn't a daughter of Poseidon, I would be freaking out too. I looked over at Percy. He refused to look at me. He was mad at me for some reason. I think it's because I'm in a different cohort. I don't see how that is my fault, though. If he wants to be mad at me about it, then so be it. I am so not apologizing.
Percy used his mage powers to pull the boat away from the dock. I swear on the Styx it was just a little dinghy. Argh! Octavian is probably laughing his head off right now. I looked back to see a hippocampus following behind us. I smiled and waved at it. It neighed, rearing its head.
Hello, Nina, it said in my mind.
Do I know you? I asked, albeit somewhat impolitely.
It's Rainbow, Nina, the hippocampus snorted. Your brother Tyson's friend.
Biting my lip, I furrowed my brow. Tyson, now why did that name sound familiar? Tyson must be my brother, according to the hippocampus-er, Rainbow. I'm sorry, I sighed. The name isn't ringing a bell.
The hippocampus sighed before diving back under the waves. Hazel looked at me funny. "What?" I asked. She just shook her head and turned back to looking at the bottom of the boat. She was looking a little green. Every now and then, I would catch her staring at me. I wondered why.
A few hours later, Percy suggested we land for a while. Frank and Hazel agreed. I didn't know what to think. I was getting this uneasy feeling in my stomach like something was off. Suddenly, I felt extreme pain in my head. I gasped and clutched at it. "Are you okay?" Frank asked. I didn't answer. I was too lost in my own mind.
We were all standing together at the edge of a field. For some reason, Percy left. Frank and I were talking as Hazel looked out at the field. For some reason she fell to the ground. Something invisible started dragging her off.
My eyes shot open. My head was still throbbing. The memories inside began to get fuzzier and fuzzier. "No," I gasped. "We can't land yet. Something bad will happen if we do. I didn't see the whole thing, but I don't want to take any chances."
"How do you know?" Hazel asked suspiciously.
"I-I don't know. I just got this insane vision of something dragging you off."
Hazel's eyes immediately softened. Yeah, I know what you mean."
"What?" I asked, confused. Hazel blushed and refused to say anything else.
Percy groaned. "How much farther do you want me to go?" he snapped. "I don't have endless power you realize."
I started to feel really bad. I hadn't thought of the power drain going this fast must give him. "I'll take over," I offered. Percy just glared at me and stared back out at the ocean. I sighed and tapped into my own powers, subtly taking the strain off of Percy. He seemed to realize what I was doing and backed off his powers a little. I had no idea what had gotten into him. I used my senses to find out where we were, somewhere off the coast of Oregon. We were getting close to Washington. I figured we could stop off in some town in Washington.
I looked out at the sea ahead of me. It looked beautiful. The sun had just started to set. Beams of light were bouncing off the calm water. "Thanks, Daddy," I murmured under my breath. I couldn't help but feel like he had made the ocean calm just for Percy and me. The water itself was a rainbow of colors. Little fish were darting in and out of my vision. As I felt my power start to wane, a killer whale offered to pull the boat for a while. I smiled and thanked him before throwing him a rope. The whale bit down on it and started to pull.
I moved to the back of the boat. Plopping down in a corner, I curled up into a tight ball. Almost instantaneously, my eyelids drooped and I fell asleep. I never noticed someone throwing a blanket over me.
When I woke up, the boat had stopped and Frank was carrying me on his back. "Where are we?" I asked.
"Portland, Washington," Hazel responded. I thanked her.
"We're going to find someone called Phineas," Percy continued. "He was supposedly a prophetic seer like you." I nodded my head. I remembered his myth. He had revealed too much and the gods blinded him as punishment.
"Don't you guys think he probably has a vendetta against the gods?" I asked.
"Yeah," agreed Frank. "But we need some info from him. He knows where Alcyoneus' lair is. Ah yes, the entire reason for our quest. We were to find Alcyoneus, the eldest giant, and steal Camp Jupiter's weapons and eagle back. Agile and graceful, I leapt off Frank's back and maneuvered myself to walk on his right. Nobody else was next to me. I looked to see that Percy was farthest away from me. What was with him?
I heard the squawk of a harpy as I watched an old man swing a weed whacker at the poor, scrawny thing. She was a blood red color and had a burlap sack covering her body. She was shorter than me. Quite a feat if I do say so myself. The old man hit the harpies wing. Squawking, she flew off down the street.
"I think we found Phineas," Percy mumbled. Frank, Hazel, and I nodded our heads. Percy walked up to the old man and started talking. Frank and I let him and Hazel do most of the talking. I wasn't in the mood. I was very grossed out to find out that this man was my half-brother. He was starving the poor harpies.
Eventually, we settled on an agreement. I didn't like it though. The man said he would give us our information if he brought us the red harpy. We didn't have any other choice, so we just did what we were told to do. We found the harpy entering a library. We followed her in. We were about to continue up the stairs to the roof when Percy froze. He was pointing at a book, shaking. I read the author's name. It was written by Sally Jackson. It was a book on architecture. Sally Jackson. That name sounded familiar. Sally Jackson...Jackson...Christina Jackson!
"Percy, I think she's our mom," I gasped. Percy blinked owlishly at me.
"Who?" he asked.
"The author of the book you're staring at," I groaned, rolling my eyes.
Percy blushed. "Yeah, maybe," he agreed. He shook his head and started up the stairs to the roof. Soon enough, we were in front of Ella. Hazel ended up bribing her with cinnamon to get her to agree to come along. Ella was really smart. She had memorised a bunch of books. Ella mentioned how Phineas would do anything for his sight back and that he was a huge gambler because he couldn't see the outcomes.
"Gorgons blood," Percy and Frank grinned together. Hazel, Ella, and I just stared at each other, confused.
When we got back to Phineas, Percy made a deal with him. He showed him two bottles of gorgon's blood. One was from the right side of the gorgon, and the other was from the left. Percy swore on the Styx that no one knew which bottle of blood was with. Phineas and Percy agreed that Phineas could choose which person would drink from this bottle. If Percy drank the poison, Phineas would get Ella. If Phineas drank the poison, we would get the address. Percy had Phineas write the address down and stick it in his pocket. He swore on the Styx it was true. Thunder crackled in the distance.
After a few minutes of studying the bottles, Phineas chose one and gave the other to Percy. I counted to three and they both downed the entire bottle. Percy doubled over in pain, and Phineas stood up excitedly. He could see again. I groaned. Phineas had chosen the correct bottle. Suddenly, Percy straightened, and Phineas was in pain. I realized that Gaea had switched the bottles. Phineas slowly crumbled to dust. Carefully, I picked the napkin he had written the address on up out of his pocket. It read HUBBARD GLACIER.
Soon enough, we were in Seattle. I decided to wait on the boat with Ella. I had no urge to meet a bunch of crazy woman. I ended up falling asleep while waiting for them all to return. When Frank, Hazel, and Percy returned, they were in a chariot with a golden horse attached to it. "This is Arion," Hazel smiled proudly. I waved hello at the horse. I climbed onto the chariot with Ella in my lap. All I could say was, wow, that horse goes fast.
The chariot travelled at the speed of sound, literally. I threw up three times. Normally, I don't get sick that easy, but something about going faster than a freight train made me feel extremely ill. Needless to say, I was very glad when the wheels fell off. Frank recognized where we were as somewhere in Canada. He said his grandmother lived nearby. I began to sing a song from when I was really little.
Over the river and through the wood,
To Grandmother's house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh,
Thru the white and drifted snow.
Over the river and through the wood,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.
Over the river and through the wood,
To have a first-rate play;
Hear the bells ring, "Ting-a-ling-ding!"
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
Over the river and through the wood,
Trot fast, my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground like a hunting hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river, and through the wood,
And straight through the barnyard gate,
We seem to go extremely slow,
It is so hard to wait!
Over the river, and through the wood,
Now Grandmother's cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!
When I finished, everyone looked at me strangely. I shrugged them all off. Oddly enough, we actually did have to go over the river and through the woods to get to grandmother's house. In the woods, there were a bunch of 'Canadians' as Percy so eloquently put it. They were really Laistrygonian Giants. I pulled out my wand and muttered a quick 'petrificus totalus'. Hazel stared at my wand with frightened eyes before turning her glare on me. I honestly had no idea why she hated magic so much. We snuck through the camp, and made it into Franks grandmother's house. Frank showed me and Hazel to a room. He gave us some pajamas that used to belong to his mom before she passed away in war. They were a little big on me and Hazel since we were both so small. Frank left us so he could go talk to his grandmother. I went off in search of a nice shower.
Shout out if you know why Hazel is scared of Nina!