Chapter Fourteen - Grounded
I couldn't get the conversation with the goddess out of my mind, so I started to meander around the New England area in an effort to center my thoughts. It helped, but not as much as I hoped it would. I couldn't stop thinking about the statues in Persephone's Garden. Who had they been, and why had they been turned to stone in the first place? I couldn't imagine a world where such a thing could be considered acceptable - let alone merciful as she had claimed. And then there was her cryptic warning.
More statues? She had to know we'd killed Medusa, but did that really matter to a goddess? I got the impression she didn't want that, however, despite her unwillingness to elaborate on the subject at the time. Eventually my thoughts circled around to other matters and, by the time lunchtime started to roll around, I found myself thinking about Percy and Tyson back at school.
For a moment, I briefly considered going back - I still had our packed lunches in my backpack, after all. Of course, I had already skipped half the day anyway. I figured if I was going to get in trouble, I might as well not punish myself prematurely by going straight back to all that. Another part of me debated on heading straight to Long Island to talk to the oracle about the statues. Though, remembering the way I'd gotten my prophecy in the Summer, I wasn't in a hurry for a repeat performance. Just thinking about the shriveled mummy in the attic sent a shiver up my spine. At least I was sufficiently distracted from... other things.
Glancing up as I passed a city limit sign, I saw that I was heading into a town called Westport. I honestly had no idea how I had managed to travel from New Jersey to Connecticut without passing through the city. In the end, I decided to just cut my losses and head home instead - figuring that it would probably help put my mind at ease to not see the city on fire. With that decision made, I finally turned my bike back around and headed back toward the city.
As I rode into the city, I noticed a familiar looking girl with chin length brown hair - though it seemed to have grown out and been chopped off with a dull knife since the last time I saw her. It was the speedster that had once led me on a merry chase through the boroughs after making off with uncle Joe's deposit. Unsurprisingly, she was easily matching pace with my bike. Willing my head to catch on fire like a certain comic book character that also rode a motorcycle, I revved the engine to catch her attention, and smirked as we made eye contact. At first, her eyes narrowed in confusion before widening in shock as she tripped over a pot hole
Oops.
In less time than anticipated, I was flying through Upper Manhattan when I heard a familiar voice call out; "There ya are!"
I jerked, fighting to keep control for a heart-stopping second before the bike seemed to adjust itself. Thankfully, it wasn't the speedster again. I turned to see Ari, the wind nymph who hung around with Uncle Joe, had appeared out of thin air and was easily keeping pace as she hovered next to me.
"Ari?" I asked, dumbly. "What are you...? Hang on, I'm pulling over."
I came to a stop in a nearby parking lot and leaned over the bars to try and slow my heart rate.
"What are you doing here?" I finally asked.
"Your mum an' everone's real worried 'bout you," the nymph said. "Got a call that you went missin' from school. Now everyone's been out lookin' for ya."
"Who's everyone?" I asked, feeling my stomach start to sink.
"Well, to hear it told, first your mum called up Desi," Ari said. "Then Desi called her mum an' dad. Not sure who it was after that called up that satyr who slings dogs in the park, but he got the other nature spirits that weren't treebound to start searchin'. Meanwhile, your mum an' Desi went t' pick up your brother an' the cyclops from school so they could all go lookin'."
"Oh..." the pit in my stomach suddenly felt like it was full of lead.
"...an' then I spotted ya comin' on that bike o' yours," Ari finished. "So, where'd ya go, an' where're ya headed?"
"I was just on my way back home," I said. "I... I got a little overwhelmed and had to clear my head."
"You should stop by the restaurant instead," Ari said. "Then everyone can see that you're safe an' sound. Go on, I'll let 'em all know that's where you'll be at."
"Wait, no... I..." Before I could even begin to protest, Ari vanished into thin air - a gust of laughter blowing through my hair as she flew away. "Shit."
I sighed, kicking my bike back to life after a couple minutes, and started riding toward uncle Joe's place. Knowing that everybody and their cousin had apparently been out looking for me did nothing to ease my mind - though it did at least finally remove all lingering thoughts concerning the current events. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad?
"What the heck were you even thinking?" Andromeda glowered after I'd handed my shrunken bike over to my mom.
To nobody's surprise, I was grounded. It turns out that skipping school and taking a magical motorcycle for an unsupervised joyride around New England while still underage is frowned upon by general consensus. To be fair, I was only really grounded for taking my motorcycle without permission - which meant that it was going to be confiscated with a possible return date of 'never, pending further judgement'.
"What does it matter?" I asked. "It's not like you were there."
"I wasn't there because it's the eleventh," Andromeda said, matter-of-factly. "It doesn't matter what school you go to, they always do something like show clips of the attacks, or make the daily lesson something related. There's really no avoiding it, so mom just lets us stay home instead."
"I wish someone would have clued me in," I mumbled. "I might have tried staying home myself."
"Percy!" Andromeda hissed.
"What?" Percy asked, taken aback. "I'm used to living at school. Skipping the day isn't exactly possible."
"So, you weren't avoiding me?" I asked as her words finally sunk in. She'd been avoiding the day!
"Don't be stupid," Andromeda huffed, punching me in the shoulder. "But seriously, what the heck were you thinking? You could have been really hurt or..." she trailed off, her eyes darting over to our parents, before continuing; "You could have been really hurt. Nevermind how stupid it was to be riding that motorcycle, you're also a powerful enough demigod that monsters would probably come sniffing after you before too long."
"I wasn't thinking," I admitted. "They started playing that clip of the footage, and I just had to get out of there. And then, once I got out, I had to keep going."
"I get that it sucks, but seriously?"
"I was freaking out, okay?" I snapped. I could feel my inner fire rising with my emotions, and fought to keep it below the surface. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, regaining some composure. "Sorry, I... That wasn't..."
"'Meda," Percy said, softly. "Penny ran away when we were six."
"What's that got to do...?" She cut herself off as she mentally did the math. A look of dawning realization crept over her face and, before I knew what was going on, I suddenly found myself pulled into a crushing embrace.
"Eep!" I said, mustering as much dignity as I was able. She was... soft.
"You dummy!" Andromeda sniffed.
"Obviously I'm okay," I said, awkwardly. "I mean... Yeah, I was in the Financial District at the time, but it's not like I was at Ground Zero, you know?"
"Why would you even be in the area to begin with?" Andros asked, surprising me by speaking up. It's not that I forgot he was there, it's just that he's usually so quiet that I couldn't be blamed if I had.
"Well, the Financial District can usually be a pretty solid spot for handouts," I said, slowly getting used to being held. I could even ignore the scratchiness of her hair poking me in my left eye. "Between the suits and the tourists, there was always something to be gotten. Even if most people were tight with their wallets, there was still plenty of perfectly good food being tossed away. You could even eat around the parts that had already been bitten..."
I was cut off as she crushed me even tighter. it might have been my imagination, but I could swear I heard my ribs cracking - not that I really cared at that moment.
"Ahem." We were interrupted by the sound of my mom clearing her throat. "Alright, girls. It's time to say your goodbyes. Penny is grounded now, after all."
"What about me?" Percy asked. "Can I at least still hang out with Andros?"
Mom seemed to consider for a moment, before turning to Desi; "Is that alright with you?"
"I don't see a problem with it," Desi said.
"Alright," Mom nodded. "Come on, Tyson. Penny."
"Um... I'm stuck," I said, sheepishly. "You can let me go, now..."
"Nuh-uh," Andromeda replied, doing her best impression of a constrictor snake - refusing to let me go and slowly squeezing me to death.
What a way to go...
"I am so sorry about this," Desi said, apologizing to my mom before turning to her daughter; "Andromeda Serenity..."
"Mom!" Andromeda gasped.
"Let her go, now."
"...Fine," she said, pouting slightly.
The way her lips puckered was almost enough to distract me from the quick, final rib-cracking squeeze before she released me. Except the release never came. I felt my breaths starting to come in short gasps as darkness crept into the corners of my vision. Was this what people meant when they said 'too much of a good thing'?
As I hit the floor, I heard Andromeda protest; "I wasn't squeezing her that hard!"
The last thing I heard before completely blacking out was my mom's voice saying; "Much as I'd rather not reward her behavior, maybe I can put off grounding her for one more day."