Chapter Five: Eye Spy
"Do I really have to go, Gran?" Andros grumbled as we made our way up the steps to the library. "I could go visit mom at her gallery instead. You wouldn't even have to make a special trip, either. I know how to navigate the public transportation on my own."
"Sorry, sweetheart," Lydia said. "Your mother is going to be very busy with showings all day. And, while I know how unobtrusive you can be, you know how stressful showing days can be for her even when everything is going a hundred percent as planned."
"I guess," he said, reluctantly agreeing. "I still don't like it, though."
"I know, dear," Lydia said with a gentle smile.
"You seem really determined to avoid the library," I said. "What? Did a rabid book attack you when you were little?"
"There's nothing for me at the library," the son of Hades said, giving me his best withering glare. "I'm dyslexic, like every other demigod - except, apparently, you. Even if I didn't mind being read to - which yeah, no thanks - I'm kind of too old to be sitting around for Story Time."
"What about the computers?" I suggested.
"Oh, yeah," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "A strict time limit to browse the internet with no volume for music or reasonable right to privacy. That sounds like a great time."
"Come on," Percy said, bumping Andros with his shoulder. "This place isn't really my scene either, but maybe we can find something to do."
Andros hesitated for a moment longer before reluctantly following after Percy. I had to hand it to my brother - he had a certain unrelenting optimism that almost seemed infectious.
"Guess I'll tag along with those two," Jerry said. "How about we meet you ladies back up in a couple hours?"
"That sounds good," Lydia said. "We can decide what to do for lunch then."
"It's a date," he said, giving her a quick kiss before following after Percy and Andros.
"I don't know what's up with him," Andromeda said once the boys were out of earshot. "He actually really used to like reading - loved it even. Then, one day, he just stopped. Now he wont even pick up a book without the threat of academic failure hanging over his head."
"Just don't push him," Lydia said. "He'll come around on his own or not at all. Being stubborn is a family trait, after all."
"Yeah, I know," Andromeda sighed.
"So," Lydia said, switching subjects. "Where do we want to check out first?"
"Well, I was going to head to the reference section," I said. "I can meet up with you two after. I know the stuff that I'm looking for would be considered 'boring' for even the people who take it as a major in college, after all."
"If you're sure..."
"Yeah," I nodded. "Really, it's no big deal."
"Okay," Lydia said. "In that case, we'll be up on the second floor. I have a feeling Andromeda would like to check out the tour."
"Really?"
"I like history," Andromeda said, her cheeks coloring. "It's really interesting."
"Oh," I said. "Cool. In that case, I'll see you in a bit."
Once we parted ways, I activated my aura sight and headed off to begin my search. While I doubted that I'd find any kind of magical book in the New York public library, I'd still kick myself if I didn't at least look. Unfortunately, the world remained a uniform black and white as I made my way through the building. After about fifteen or thirty minutes (I'm not a clock, don't judge!), I finally found what I was looking for.
"Jackson?" a girl's voice called from behind me.
I was so focused on what I was doing that I jumped, dropping the book I had just grabbed, and spun around to see the familiar golden aura of the mystery demigod who attends my school. From this close up, she towered over me. I gulped. Then, seeing her wide eyed expression, I realized she could see my glowing eyes and quickly blinked my vision back to normal. Immediately she went from glowing golden to dark complexion with a hint of gold undertones. Her previously blue and teal hair was now streaked with red, blue and yellow dye that bled together in places to make a veritable rainbow on her head.
"Whoa!" the other girl said, taking a step back.
"Um... Hi?" I said, dumbly. "Chloe, right? We go to school together."
"It's Cleo," she corrected. "And I know. We're in all the same classes. What the heck was that?"
"Oh, um..." I started to say, picking up the book I had dropped. "Introduction to Mathematical Physics by..."
"I meant your eyes," she interrupted. "But that's weird too. How were they glowing like that?"
"Glowing?" I scoffed. "Must have been a trick of the light. Eyes don't glow."
"I know what I saw," she said, crossing her arms. "Your eyes were glowing just now, and it's not the first time I saw it happen. Your eyes have been glowing off and on all week at school. Your friend even got on your case about it a couple times."
"You've been watching me?" I asked, a little taken aback.
"I watch everyone," Cleo shrugged. "So, you gonna explain the glowing thing?"
"It's... Complicated," I said. "And potentially very dangerous."
"You're not radioactive or something, are you?" Cleo took a half step further back.
"No, no," I shook my head. "I'm not... My eyes aren't dangerous. But knowing about them could be."
"What do you mean?"
"If you don't know, then it's probably for the best," I said. "It's the sort of thing where not knowing is safer than knowing."
"Bullshit!" Cleo said, her voice raising enough to draw attention from some nearby patrons. She turned back to me, lowering her voice, "Bullshit. If something dangerous is around, then ignorance isn't going to protect anyone. In fact, it's more likely to get someone hurt or worse because they don't know what they're dealing with."
"I..." I hesitated. She was making a lot of the same arguments that I would in this situation. Was it better to keep her in the dark? Andromeda certainly thought so, but I wasn't sure. After all, my mom had no idea who she was for her entire life and still wound up on the wrong end of a hydra attack when I was six. I sighed. "You're right."
"So, does that mean you're going to explain it to me?"
"No," I said, holding up a hand when she started to open her mouth. "Not today. I need to talk to my friends and figure out how to explain everything properly."
"Why wait? They're all here now," she said with a challenging smirk.
"Because it's a whole huge thing," I said. "If I try to tell it, I'll probably cock it up." Cleo snickered. "What?"
"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "Alright, fine. I'll wait until Tuesday at lunch. But, let me tell you right now; don't try to bullshit me. I'll see right through it."
Her golden aura, plus the way her eyes glinted as she said it, told me that she was definitely not bluffing. I could only nod my head.
"Be seeing you around," she said, walking away. "Oh, and nice color job on the hair. It suits you."
"Thanks..." Crap.
I let out a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding onto and felt the tension in my body go slack. Maybe Percy would be able to help me talk to her about everything? He only just recently learned about his own heritage, after all. Yeah, I reasoned, he'd be the most able to empathize with her situation. There was no way Andromeda would agree to help me talk to this girl about everything. She wouldn't even entertain the idea that I could be right about her being a demigod in the first place. Then, something she had said the day before repeated in my head.
"We can just ask Apollo about it over the weekend."
She never elaborated on what she'd meant, and I had dropped the subject not long afterward. I resolved myself to bring it up when we got back to her grandparents' Brownstone. Until then, I figured I would meet back up with everyone. I was about to head for the second floor when i felt the muscles in the back of my neck go tense. On a cursory glance around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but for some reason my instincts were screaming danger.
Almost against my will, my aura sight flickered back into effect washing away the background colors of the world around me. Instantly, I saw a flash of sea-green followed by a murky brown aura outside a nearby window. Percy was in trouble! Without a second thought, I pushed through the crowd of people and burst through the doors leading outside.
"Hey!" someone shouted, but I ignored him and kept running.
Following the trail of sea-green magic, I rounded the corner to see a huddled mass of sea-green cowering on the ground - a four legged creature with wings between the two of us. Taking advantage of the fact that it didn't seem to notice my approach, I wasted no time summoning a basketball sized mass of fire into each of my hands and hurling them at the creature's unprotected back. The creature screamed in shock and outrage, whirling around almost faster than I could track. While it had the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle, it's face was that of an attractive woman. A sphinx.
"Godling," she hissed. "This does not need to concern you."
"You've got my brother cornered," I said, willing another ball of flames to appear in my hand. "I'm not concerned, I'm pissed!"
The sphinx dodged as I lobbed another volley of fireballs, one of which narrowly missed Percy who was still huddled on the ground. It was be really bad if this fight dragged on for too long. Pyrokinesis was great, but not in an urban environment. I really needed to get a sword like Percy's that could transform.
"You should have run when I gave you the chance," the sphinx growled, lunging for me. I cringed away as she stopped inches from gouging my eyes out with her claws. "What the...?"
"Bad bird kitty," a slow, deep voice said. "Don't hurt big sister."
With a heave and a grunt, the sphinx was dragged away and then thrown almost a hundred feet away into a side street. The monster landed heavily on it's side, and I imagine the impact must have cracked a couple of ribs. Getting slowly to it's feet, the sphinx spared us a withering glare before running off with a pronounced limp. I watched it go before letting out a sigh of relief.
"That was a hell of a throw," I said, turning around. "How'd you... do... that...?"
I trailed off as I came face to stomach with someone that definitely wasn't Percy. I looked up... then jumped back with a startled yelp. The sea-green aura belonged not to my brother as I had originally assumed, but instead to a cyclops! I was so shocked that my vision flickered back to normal.
"Uh... Hi there, big fella," I stammered.
"Hi there," the cyclops said in his slow voice. "Little fella."
After my initial shock wore off, I started to take stock of his appearance. The first thing I noticed was his height. It might be strange to call a six foot tall person who was built like brick shit house 'small', but for a cyclops, he was tiny. That meant he must have been young. Then I noticed his clothes. I had worn less dirty rags when I was living on the street.
"Are..." I hesitated. "Are you okay?"
"Thanks to big sister," the cyclops said, his large eye getting misty.
Big sister? Oh, that was going to be something to unpack at a later date. Hopefully never? Before I could say anything, we were interrupted by shouting.
"Penny!" Andromeda's voice called out. "Hang on, we're coming!"
Looking, I saw Andromeda leading the charge with Andros and Percy not far behind. Crap. Unlike me, they were all probably well armed. They also probably wouldn't hesitate to fight a cyclops.
"You need to go," I said, making eye contact with the cyclops. "Now. My friends might react badly to you, and I don't want anyone getting hurt, okay?"
"But..."
"Please," I said. "It'll be okay."
"Okay," he nodded. "See you around, big sister."
"Yeah..." I had a feeling he wasn't wrong. I watched as he ran off, disappearing around the corner of a building, turning around just in time for Andromeda to practically body slam me to the ground.
"Are you okay?" She asked, her dark curls framing her face as she pinned me to the sidewalk beneath her. I struggled briefly against her grip before looking up into her gleaming, violet eyes. I could only nod as my throat suddenly felt very dry.