Chapter Twelve - Interlude
Sally Jackson let out a sigh of relief as she closed the front door behind her. Getting the kids to school hadn't been as bad as she'd feared - thanks in no small part to the fact that they'd gotten out the door early enough. Unfortunately, getting back into the city wasn't as smooth, and it had taken nearly an hour to get home. Tossing her keys on the kitchen counter, she noticed the light on the answering machine indicating a missed call. So, grabbing a can of Coke from the fridge, she pushed the playback button.
"Hey, Sal," Desi's voice spoke. "I was calling to see if you had any special plans or just wanted to get out of the city for the day. Call me back."
Shrugging to herself, she popped the top of the can and took a quick sip before picking up the phone and calling her friend. Desi picked up on the third ring.
"Hey, D," Sally said. "Just got your message. What's up?"
"Not a whole lot," Desi responded. "I was mostly just wondering if you had any special plans for the day?"
"Not really," Sally said. "Other than just staying in and keeping the T.V. and radio turned off, I figured I'd probably catch up on some reading."
"Oh? So, how are the kids holding up?" Desdemona asked.
"The kids? They're as fine as can be, I suppose," Sally replied. "I managed to get them out the door early enough, so we beat the traffic getting them to school."
"You sent the kids to school?" Desi asked, incredulously. "Today?"
"It is a weekday," Sally replied, a little confused.
"Sal, it's the eleventh! You know they're gonna do something for that."
"Yeah," Sally said, nodding despite knowing the other woman couldn't see her. "I think Percy might have mentioned something about that before. According to him, it usually 'sucks', but he mostly just tunes it out."
"And what about Penny? You do remember where your daughter was in oh-one?"
"Oh, gods," Sally gasped, eyes widening. "I..."
Whatever she was about to say was interrupted by the tone of an incoming call.
"H-hang on, someone's calling in. I'll be right back."
"Okay," Desi said.
Sally switched over to take the other call, and was back on the line with Desi less than a minute later; "Penny never made it to first period!"
"Oh, fu-..."
Meanwhile, in a small art studio across the city, Andromeda and Andros Johnston were taking turns playing around with an interactive exhibit while their mom was taking a call in her office.
"So, what do you think we'll end up doing today?" Andros asked, stepping back to let his sister take a turn.
"Dunno," she replied, sliding a lever here and twisting a knob there with well practiced ease. "I mean, I get why mom decided to come into the city today despite... everything... but maybe we'll just take the Jacksons and go back to our place."
"...-UCK!"
The twins jumped, turning incredulous faces to their mother's closed office door. She didn't usually have strong outbursts like that - and given the recent historic events of the day, both twins felt their anxiety levels spike sharply. With a shared glance and a nod of understanding, the pair moved quickly to listen at the door.
"Okay, stay calm. Yes, I know I don't sound calm. Look, I'll make some calls and get ma' and dad on it," their mom was saying, her accent the thickest they'd ever heard. "Maybe call in a few markers with some other people that I know and who owe me. Then, I can take my two and come get you so we can start canvassing."
Canvassing? Andromeda shot a look of growing concern that was mirrored by her twin. Somebody was missing? And on today of all days? What was going on? Before they could say anything, the office door flew open - shocking both twins and their mother who hadn't expected them to be standing so close.
"Kids, do you have a drachma?" Desi said, as soon as she'd composed herself.
"What's going on?" Andros asked, even as Andromeda rushed over to fish a golden coin out of her bag. She normally carried a drachma or two on her person ever since she'd started going to camp, but since getting a sponsorship deal, she suddenly had more drachma than ever and had taken to carrying it in a small pouch.
"Sal took the kids to school today," her mom replied. "But apparently Penelope went missing."
"What?!" Andromeda's voice cracked - most certainly not squeaking. "What do you mean Penny went missing?"
"The school called while I was on the phone with Sally, and according to the office, Penelope never showed up for first period," Desi said.
"Gods damn it, Penny," Andromeda groaned.
"I'm going to call your gran and gramps and see if they can get in contact with the Broadway Bunch," Desi continued, choosing not to reprimand her daughter over her choice of language given the current situation. "I need you to contact Tino. Have him rally the nature spirits and see if they can get an idea of her whereabouts."
"On it," Andromeda said, fishing out her prism necklace to cast a rainbow.
...
In less than fifteen minutes after hanging up the phone, Sally heard a quick succession of knocks on her front door.
"Miss Sally?" a girls voice called.
"Coming," Sally replied, opening the door to see Desi's daughter Andromeda standing there.
"Mom sent me up to get you," Andromeda said sounding slightly out of breath.
"How did you...?"
"Get here so quickly?" Andromeda finished. "The god of travelers owed mom a favor."
"Right," Sally said. How else was she expected to respond to that information. "Lead the way."
Sally followed Andromeda to where Desi's minivan was idling off the curb, and got into the front passenger seat.
"Hey, Sal," Desi said, looking her friend in the eyes. "It's going to be alright. Mom and dad are coordinating the search here in the city, while a Satyr friend of ours is coordinating the local nature spirits. If she turns up, they'll find her. In the meantime, we're going to head to the school and pick up the boys, alright?"
"Perseus Jackson, please come to the Front Office. Tyson Thal...Thallas..." There was a brief pause of silence as the intercom clicked off before the secretary returned; "Tyson Thalassopoulos, please come to the Front Office. Repeat, Perseus Jackson and Tyson Thalassopoulos, please come to the Front Office. Thank you."
Percy and Tyson shared a look before gathering their stuff and heading for the hall.
"What do you think that's about?" Percy asked.
"Mrs. Jackson is here," Tyson said. "And Mrs. Johnston, too."
"How do you know that?"
"I can hear them," Tyson said, frowning. Then, he did something Percy never expected; he opened his mouth to talk - but it was his mom's voice that came out instead. "How do you lose a teenager? My daughter is missing, and all I can get from you is a half-hearted shrug?"
"What the...?" Percy blinked.
Tyson's voice changed again, this time he sounded exactly like the principal; "I'm sorry, ma'am. We're doing everything we can on our end. Security has already provided local law enforcement with her description so that if she is picked up by truancy, they'll know to bring her back here, and we contacted you as soon as we realized..."
Percy didn't bother hanging around to wait for the conversation to finish, and instead started running toward the office as fast as he could with Tyson following close behind him. As he rounded the final corner, he felt himself run into something... Somebody... solid, and fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs and hair. Hair?
"Ack!"
"Oof!"
"Are you alright?"
Percy looked up, now slightly winded, to see Andromeda looking down at Andros and himself. "Penny's missing?"
The look of concern on Andromeda's face morphed into one of resolve as she leaned down to help the boys up; "We'll find her."
"That's not what you were saying five second ago- Oof!" Andros said, only to be nudged roughly in the side by Andromeda's foot.
"We're going to find her," Andromeda said, more firmly.
"Yes," Tyson said, speaking up and drawing the Johnston siblings' attention. "We will."
"Yeah, about that," Cleo Mossinger said, stepping into view from around a corner. "I'm not sure how you will."
"What are you doing here?" Andromeda asked, incredulously.
"What's you're problem with me?" Cleo snapped. "Seriously? I haven't done shit to you except exist. First off, I'm only trying to help, so back off. And second, I was going to say that she's probably a lot further away than you might be anticipating. I saw her breaking the sound barrier on a motorcycle as she was leaving."
"You saw her leave?" Percy asked.
"Yeah, I did. I also sat out in front with her waiting for you to show up," Cleo said, turning back to Andromeda. "She was so sure you were coming, we were almost late to the assembly. Then we get in there, and she started to freak out. Like... Really freaking out, you know? She bolted outside, and I followed to see if she was alright. Next thing I know is she's hopping on a motorcycle that she pulled out of her magic bag of tricks before taking off like a bat out of hell."
"She had that thing in her bag?" Andromeda screeched, her voice nearly reaching levels only small dogs could hear at night.
"She wasn't supposed to," Percy said.
"I'll tell mom. Then she can..." Andros trailed off, looking at Cleo, before finishing; "Make some more calls."
"I'll go with you," Percy said. "Besides, we probably shouldn't keep the secretary waiting. They did call me and Tyson, after all."
"Are we going to just ignore the fact that that kid has one eye in the middle of his forehead?"
"Yes." Came the unanimous reply.
"Okay, okay," Cleo said, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "Touchy subject, I get it."
"Come on," Percy said, motioning for Tyson to follow. Soon, only Andromeda and Cleo were left standing outside the office.
"So..." Cleo said, after a minute of awkward silence.
"Look, I don't have anything against you as a person," Andromeda said. "Really. I'm sure you're... Nice. But, you really shouldn't be involved in..."
"Your magical Harry Potter world?" Cleo interrupted, and Andromeda glared. "Yeah, news flash. I've always seen the weird shit going on around me. It ain't exactly easy to ignore. Did you know that Penny was the first person to treat me like I wasn't certifiably insane for seeing the things I see? She even managed to explain things in a way that was almost easy to follow - even if most of the explanation she gave was bullshit.
"I don't really know what's up with your world, and I'm sure you'd prefer it stay that way. But, ignorance can be just as dangerous. Like it or not, I am involved in your world. At least a little bit. Not knowing what was going on didn't stop that snake-headed bitch from turning me into a living statue at the start of last summer, for example."
Andromeda made a face, unimpressed with the other girl's choice of description for Medusa. While even her own mother often used ...colorful language... to describe other mortals and even some of the gods, she had also made a point to teach all the kids she was raising that it's not great to use gendered insults.
Cleo sighed, rubbing her face before looking Andromeda in the eyes; "I'm not asking for full disclosure. Even I can see that's a losing argument. I just don't want to be left completely defenseless when the weird shit comes for me again. Is it that unreasonable to you?"
"I know you don't like hearing it, but ignorance really is the best defense," Andromeda said. "I know you can't help seeing things, but if you just pretend you don't see anything, or better yet ignore it, then you'll be far better off."
"That clearly isn't an option for me," Cleo said. "So, how about we settle for 'second best'?"
"You're not qualified for that."
"Try me."
