Grover Gets a Call
Our clothes were sitting in a basket in the living room when we returned to it. Dr. Annabeth had even gotten Annabeth's shoes from outside and she'd gone to work on them. I don't think they'd been that clean since the day they'd been bought. Annabeth spotted them as she walked in and immediately went to hold them up to the light, smiling. My shoes had also had the works done to them. And they smelled nice too.
There were other clothes in the basket after Annabeth, Grover and I had pulled out our things, and it didn't seem right to just leave them in the basket after everything Dr. Annabeth and Percy had done for us. So I sat down and began to fold things. Annabeth went to go change, but when she came back, she saw what I was doing and decided to help. We made fast work of the pile.
Percy, Grover, and Dr. Annabeth had gathered around the kitchen island to discuss what to do next. I could tell Grover was frustrated because he kept pulling at his horns. I wondered if he had a headache, and if that helped or hindered.
They were discussing an imminent return to New York.
I'll be honest, I was torn about leaving. I liked it down here. I could have easily stayed a week. Annabeth and I hadn't talked, but I got the feeling she could move in here and be very happy for the rest of her life.
I kept thinking about asking her how she was doing, but it felt weird. I barely knew her. She seemed sad. I didn't know how to help sad girls my age.
I had just about worked up the courage to ask when some music started playing very suddenly. "Here's to the lives that you're gonna change! Here's to the infinite possible ways to love you…"
Annabeth and I both turned and saw Grover fishing in his pocket for a phone. That surprised me. Why did he have one? "Is that a phone?" I asked.
"Grover!" Dr. Annabeth said, frowning. "Was that on-"
"I only turned it on once we were down here!" Grover exclaimed. "I wasn't putting them in danger!"
This phone… was weird. It didn't flip or slide open. It was a screen, and the screen had a button, and Grover pushed the button, and then another button. And then I saw the curly redhead, Rachel Elizabeth Dare.
"Hey, Grover," she said.
"Rachel!" Percy leaned over to wave emphatically at the camera. Dr. Annabeth did the same. Rachel shrieked hello. Annabeth and I got up to wander over to see what was going on and when Rachel Elizabeth Dare saw us all, she gasped and said, "Wow, they look like your kids. That's crazy."
Percy sighed and shrugged, and Dr. Annabeth smiled without humor and ducked out of the shot. Grover turned the camera back to him. "Don't you dare, Dare," he said. "I'm serious."
"Sorry, Grover," Rachel said. "You knew this was coming."
Percy and Dr. Annabeth went still on the other side of the island. Their eyes were wide. Percy said, "Rachel, you know how much Grover's already done-"
On the screen, Rachel's eyes suddenly began to glow. I thought it was a glitch at first. You know how you sometimes get green bars in broken tech? We were pretty far under the water, after all. I had no idea how Grover could even get a signal. But then this green mist came out of her mouth and she began to speak.
A Demigod shall swipe the threads of time
A God shall raise the tragedy from a bottom line
A Dissident stand at Laus Deo, all alone
The two lost shall finally return home
I watched Grover's face. His mouth twitched here and there as he thought. Dr. Annabeth had snatched a sticky note off the counter and written it all down as she spoke.
Rachel's eyes went back to normal, but my skin still felt icy. I glanced to Annabeth. She was mumbling the words and looking like she was going cross-eyed from the effort. Brilliant.
"Thanks, Rachel," Grover said, finally. "Anything else?"
"Good luck," she replied, and her image went away. Grover set the phone down on the counter.
"So that's how we get home," Annabeth said. "A demigod – that's you or me, Percy, will get the threads of time and then we can go home and-"
"No," Grover interrupted. He was shaking his head and staring at a point by the refrigerator. "No, it says swipe. Not get. Swipe. As in steal. But the yarn is in the Smithsonian… the only reason we couldn't get it is…" He paused, then pushed off the table. "Small Percy, Small Annabeth, grab your stuff. Get changed. We have to get out of here."
"Why?" I asked, stumbling over my long pant legs as I backed towards the white couch.
"The only reason we'd need to steal the Fate's Yarn is if the Gods have changed their mind about helping us," Grover explained. "The first thing they'll do is tell Eudora not to bring Annabeth up. She'll be stuck down here. Maybe me too. Come on."
He grabbed his stack of folded clothes and turned to Percy and Dr. Annabeth. "I'm sorry to leave so quickly… I'll be back to visit soon. I'll ask Chiron if I can bring some demigods. Y'know, break things up."
I grabbed my stack of clothes. Grover began pushing me faster towards the hall. Annabeth didn't need to change, so she sat down at the table to read the prophecy. "But, we have a paper…" she said, and then I was around the corner.
I changed back into my clothes as fast as possible and then sprinted back into the kitchen. Who knows what I missed, but Annabeth and Dr. Annabeth were sitting at the bar with Annabeth leaning into her side and Dr. Annabeth rubbing patterns on her mini-self's back. Percy and Grover were still examining the prophecy. "Have to get to the Smithsonian… think Zeus will knock us out of the air?"
All hairs on my arm stood on end.
Dr. Annabeth stood up when she saw me. "Do you have weapons?" she asked us. Annabeth and I both shook our heads. She waved at us and her Legend charm had us following like chicks after a hen. She marched us into the weapons room.
There were all sorts of Greek style armor in there. Dr. Annabeth handed us two that fit surprisingly well. I supposed she kept things stocked to help random demigods passing through on their quests. She gave Annabeth a celestial bronze dagger and me an imperial gold sword. I noticed, on the wall, a ballpoint pen that looked like the one Mr. Brunner had thrown me. The one that had killed Ms. Dodds. I reached for it, but Dr. Annabeth cleared her throat, looking pained. "Percy," she said, "That belongs to my husband. Even though we can't leave, it's one of his prized possessions. I can't let you take it without asking him."
I withdrew my hand. "I'm fine with this sword," I said. "I was just thinking… it looked like the one Chiron threw me last week."
Dr. Annabeth suppressed a smile. "He gave it to my husband when we left on our first quest."
We had to be careful with what we grabbed since we did have to go through airport security and customs, but Dr. Annabeth told us that the Mist would cover things up so long as we didn't behave like we were transporting weapons. I hoped she was right. We wouldn't have their Legend ability to get everyone to agree with us.
When we were protected, I made for the door. But Annabeth didn't. She hovered, and then said to Dr. Annabeth, "Can I talk to you?"
I glanced in the direction of the kitchen. Grover had practically run me into the hall in his effort to get me changed. I assumed that meant he wanted to leave ASAP.
Dr. Annabeth nodded. "Of course. Let's step into my office."
Annabeth shook a little. I guess it was the sort of thing she'd love to be able to say herself one day.
We left the weapons room. Grover caught sight of us immediately. "Great! You're out! Let's go!"
"Not yet," Dr. Annabeth said. I felt all the same things I'd felt when I first saw her. My body went a little weightless and my hair stood on end and I ended up turning to face her and inclining my head automatically. And I never inclined my head to anyone.
"Annabeth," Grover said, sounding strangled. "We have to go! We have to go now!"
"I want you to wait here patiently," Dr. Annabeth said, and all thoughts of leaving left my brain. Waiting here seemed perfectly logical. After all, Dr. Annabeth was a doctor. A doctor of what, I didn't know, but she had to be smart. I'd stand in this section of hallway til kingdom come if she-
"Please, have a seat. We will be in my office. Do not knock for a bit."
My feet moved of their own accord and I wandered over to the couch and deposited myself there. So did Grover. Percy didn't. He just furrowed his brow at Dr. Annabeth. I guess he was immune. Or just stronger than her. Dr. Annabeth and Annabeth disappeared into Dr. Annabeth's office. Percy looked over at me. "Did they say what they were talking about?" he asked.
"Annabeth just asked to speak to Dr. Annabeth," I said.
He nodded, expression stormy, and then shrugged. "Okay."
"What happens if we get stuck down here?" I asked.
Percy came over and sat on the third couch, so we each had one to ourselves. "You won't get stuck down here, Percy. And if worse comes to worse, I can take Grover and Annabeth to the surface."
"You can do that?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I know I can create a bubble of pressurized air, like Eudora can. I know I can control the tides, like she can. If worse comes to worse, I'll take a can of soda or something and I'll practice transporting it up and down. Then I'll take Annabeth and Grover up. Everything will be fine."
"But Percy," Grover said, "You'd need to go up the whole way to make sure she's safe. If you leave within a mile of this place, the Gods will destroy you."
Percy nodded, thinking. "But you have to get out," he said. "You have Juniper waiting at home for you. The Council of Cloven Elders, too."
Grover bleated nervously.
Percy looked at me. "My mom has the Polias. Grover called her while you were getting changed. She knows you're on your way. She's guarding it very carefully in her safe. The combination is the same as it was when I was twelve."
My mom's safe was kept in the ceiling behind an electrical entrance, where Smelly Gabe didn't know about it. It was a three-foot by one by one. The combination was my birthdate, but we didn't go advertising that around.
"If for some reason she can't put the code in," Percy said to me, "You know it, right?"
I nodded.
"Get the yarn first," Percy said, the commands washing over me like warm air, "And then book it to the polias. Get home. Got it?"
"Yeah," I said. "And then… don't become a Legend?"
Percy shook his head. "I wouldn't change anything of what I did," he said. "I did the best I could with what I could. I worked hard. I was a good person. I am a good person. Just try to be a good person, no matter what the Gods offer you instead. You'll be fine."
I'll be sitting in a locked house on the bottom of the sea, going stir crazy, I thought. But saying that would put a damper on the mood.
"And you, G-man," Percy said, frowning at Grover. "Be careful."
Grover responded robotically, "I will."
"I mean it, Grover," Percy said. "I know you're mad about what happened to us, but don't let yourself get banished too. If this really is it…"
"Is what?" I asked, feeling every ounce the little kid.
Percy glanced between Grover and I. "Grover did most of Annabeth's and I's quests with us," he said. "And he's done a lot over the years. The reason Grover didn't want Rachel to give him a quest is because we think he's nearing Legend territory now. One more quest might push him over."
I looked at Grover. He seemed normal, not glowy and powerful to me. "How can you tell?" I asked.
Percy just shrugged. "Just a hunch," he said, and then reached over to bump fists with Grover. "Be safe, man," he said.
For a moment, there was a stern quality to Grover's back. A focus in his eyes. But when Percy's words hit his ears, he relaxed. "I'll be safe," he said. "Really. And you will be too."
I wasn't sure which Percy he was talking to.
2/15's chapter will be called "We check out of Le Grand Mariana Trench."
