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SPOILER ALERT! This chapter briefly references events from The Sun and the Star, so if you haven't read it, don't say I didn't warn you!
Nico's POV
"Are you going to be okay?"
I roll my eyes at Will, having had this discussion with him a million times.
"Will. I can teleport through shadows, call legions of skeletons, my dad is the lord of the Underworld. I'll be fine."
He smiles at me. "I know. There's ambrosia in your bag–"
"I know–"
"No shadow travel except in emergencies–"
"I know–"
"Don't lose your unicorn juice–"
"I know–"
"And IM me every day."
"Will! I know! I love you too, now can we please go before nightfall?" I beg him. He laughs.
"Okay, okay. Stay safe, and bring Julia back."
"That's literally the whole point of this quest!"
"Hey, Nico! Stop flirting with your boyfriend and get your butt over here!" Percy calls, laughing. I glare at him.
"We're not flirting!"
"Suuure you're not. I also just found out my mom is half unicorn."
"Shut up! I'm coming!" I turn back to Will. "Should I bring some of the Cocoa Puffs?"
"No! They'll be fine with me, and you'll have a hard enough time trying to keep our secret from Emily without hauling literal demons around with you!"
I nod at him. "Okay, I expect to see them during the IMs."
"Of course. Now go!"
I kiss him once before running over to where Percy and Annabeth are waiting.
"Sheesh, guys. You guys are gonna have plenty of time for each other when we're doing this, but I'm not gonna see Will until we get back. Hold your hippocampi!"
"We're actually going by pegasus, not hippocampus," Percy corrects me, that look on his face that says he knows he's being annoying. I throw my hands in the air.
"Can we just go, already?" I turn and march towards the pegasi, hearing them laughing behind me.
It's been five days since we got permission to go on this quest. We would have left sooner, but Rachel insisted that we had to wait. Now, we just want to find Julia as soon as possible. I climb up on Guido, while Percy rides Blackjack and Annabeth hops on Porkpie. In seconds, we're in the air.
Hold on, Julia.
We're coming.
Bella's POV
We're hunting in the forest near the house when I smell it.
Edward catches the scent first. He turns from the deer he's hunting and bolts after whatever it is, and I'm just seconds later when the smell hits me.
It's amazing—better than human. It smells like…oh. Creosote. All the smells I remember from my childhood. I don't know how, but it smells so nostalgic that I can't help but run after it.
Edward is far ahead of me. I know I'm getting closer to that irresistible scent. I burst into the clearing where it should be and see…
A girl, about fourteen, who looks, strangely, almost exactly like Emily Young. She's staring at me with wide eyes, and my eyes travel to the ground.
I see Edward's clothes, a crumpled pile of fabric, and I see the tiny bronze-haired child sleeping underneath.
It's her.
She's turned him into a baby.
I sink into a crouch, snarling at the girl. She takes a step back, and then I feel my eyes start to grow heavy.
No. No!
It's too late. As I fall, one thought is clear in my mind.
Emily has some serious explanation to do.
Annabeth's POV
By the time we land in La Push, the sun is high in the sky—not that you can actually see it here. We dismount and Percy turns back to the pegasi.
"Thanks, guys. Blackjack, I'll get you doughnuts when this quest is over."
Blackjack neighs, and then the three pegasi fly back into the air and disappear above the clouds. I turn to the others.
"Okay, it's time to find Emily Young. Do you both remember the address?"
They nod, and then we start walking. It's barely half an hour before we arrive at the house. I raise my hand and knock twice. The door swings open, and I see a woman who looks like an older version of Julia, except for the scars that cover half of her face.
"May I help you?" she asks uncertainly. I nod.
"Are you Emily Young?"
She nods at me. "Yes, Emily Uley now. Why are you here?"
"It's about Julia."
Her eyes widen. "You'd better come inside. Sam will be here in a few minutes. I'm guessing you were the people on those pegasi I saw earlier?"
My jaw drops. "What? Wh-what?" Emily laughs.
"I've always been able to see this stuff. That's why I wasn't surprised about Sam."
"What?"
Emily waves me off and opens the door wider. "Come, come in!" We follow her inside and sit down. She smiles at us.
"So, what do you want to say about my sister?"
"Well, we think Julia might have been kidnapped by something…mythical. We've got people looking at the possibilities on our side, but it occurred to us that some of your myths might also be true."
Emily's been nodding the whole time that we've been talking.
"They are. My husband Sam is a werewolf–"
"A what?"
"Don't worry about it, the pack exists to protect us."
Percy frowns.
"Protect you? From what–"
Emily cuts him off. "Oh, look at the time! I'm supposed to be over at Jacob's house right now, sorry!"
Percy blinks at the obvious avoidance of the topic. "Are you hiding something?"
I roll my eyes at him.
"Percy, if she's not saying something then there's a good reason for that! You can't just keep asking people things like that when they're not comfortable answering!"
Emily's phone rings, and she picks it up.
"Hello, Jacob. What's up? Did you accidentally tick off our allies again?"
She listens to whatever the other person is saying, then nods.
"Yes…no…it's about Julia. Not yet…why?! You know she'll get you back, she always does when you mess with her…no, it was a terrible idea…yes, three teenagers…they know, apparently some other myths are true, too…no, I think they're human…I told them about the pack, but not…I wouldn't do that. No! …how's the situation over there?...okay, I'll be there soon, should I bring our guests?" She listens again, then nods.
"Okay, if they're okay with it…you do know that these people might figure it out…pity Alice can't tell us anything. Bye." She hangs up and turns back to us.
"Sorry about that. Do you mind coming with me? I'm going to visit…friends of a friend, and they want to meet you guys."
I glance at the others. We all know how easily things like this can be traps, but…
"Sure," I decide. "We'll come, and then we can try to get some answers."
Jasper's POV
I hold Alice in my arms as I try to feed her her breakfast. We've discovered that she and Esme now need both blood and human food, but Alice is being stubborn today.
"No, Jazzy! No, no, no!" she wails, pushing away the spoon full of oatmeal I'm trying to feed her. I sigh.
"Alice, you need to eat. You're almost human now, you need food. Esme isn't complaining," I add, glancing at my tiny mother, who's patiently eating her own bowl of oatmeal with Carlisle's help. She blinks at me, then at Alice.
"Ali, it yummy! Pwease?" she begs. Alice shakes her head.
"No," she cries. "Don't wanna!"
"Okay, how about if you eat I'll take you shopping for nice new clothes since none of your old ones fit you, and we only had time for a quick shop last time?"
Alice stills, blinking at me. She sighs and nods, opening her mouth to let me feed her. I smile, giving her a spoonful.
"See? It's not that bad, see?"
Alice swallows with a thoughtful expression, which then turns to mischief.
"If it yummy, Jazzy, why you no eat it?" she asks me. I stare at her.
"You know why, Alice. I'm a vampire, I can't eat human food."
She huffs. "Fine. I hold spoon?"
I give it to her, and she fills it with oatmeal. She's raising the spoon to her mouth, but then in less than a second, she twists and flicks it so the glob of oatmeal lands on my shirt. Alice bursts into giggles, as Esme watches with wide eyes. I sigh, shaking my head.
"Looks like we're not going shopping after all," I say. Alice stops laughing and her eyes widen.
"Sowwy!" she squeaks. "Sowwy Jazzy! I be good now, I pwomise. Pwease can we go shopping?" she begs me. I laugh.
"Sure, Alice. If you eat up."
She sighs again and opens her mouth again. It takes ten minutes for her to finish, and then she wants to go straight away. I'm getting her ready to go out when I hear footsteps and heartbeats. Humans are coming near the house. They're a few minutes away, so I finish up with Alice and bring her into her bedroom, where Carlisle brings Esme and they immediately start playing together. I glance at Carlisle.
"What's the likelihood that those are the guests Jacob warned us about?"
"The ones who might figure out what we are? Yes, it's probably them."
I nod and walk into the hallway. The humans have stopped outside the door, but they haven't knocked yet. I open the door and see the four figures standing there.
Emily smiles nervously. "Hi, Jasper. Did Jacob tell you we were coming?"
"Yes. Are you going to introduce your…friends?" I ask her, my eyes flicking to the three teenagers behind her. I feel suspicion and mistrust emanating from them and suppress a sigh. Yes, they definitely know something is wrong. Emily nods.
"Of course! This is Percy, Annabeth and Nico," she says, gesturing first to the green-eyed boy, then the blonde girl and finally the younger boy. I frown as I register their scents. Percy smells like the sea, Annabeth like new books and Nico like…death. Blech. I only know one thing: they are not human. Percy keeps reaching for his pocket and then stopping himself; I wonder what he's hiding in there. I turn my attention back to Emily.
"Why did you bring them here?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Emily hesitates.
"They know something about Julia, and they asked if anything strange had happened around here."
I nod. "Well, strange is one word for it. You'd better come inside–all of you," I add to the newcomers. "I'm Jasper, by the way." I step back into the hallway to allow them to pass into the living room. I can feel their discomfort, but they oblige, walking inside.
AN
Okay, it's getting good now! At least...I hope it is. Review if you don't think this fic is a complete waste of time.
