I was currently riding shotgun in Alecto's bright red Mustang, some obscure Greek music blasting from the radio. I didn't even know we had Greek radio stations in the U.S., but Alecto proved me wrong.
The Fury was currently disguised as a businessman, her leathery face and talons taking the form of a clean-shaven man with normal limbs. She was wearing a gray pin-striped business suit, her gray hair having completely receded, leaving the man she was impersonating to be bald.
In the back seat were the two children of Hades, staring at Alecto for her taste in music. I didn't dare change the dial, not after learning about what Alecto had done to Tisiphone when she tried to turn off the voice wailing about pain and suffering and death. I enjoy having my hands attached to my body, thank you very much.
We'd only been in the car for a few hours when Nico started complaining that he needed to use the bathroom. Alecto pulled onto the side of the road and told him to go into a bush, but after earning a glare from me and a scared look from the di Angelos, she took us to an actual rest stop.
While Bianca took Nico inside to use the bathroom, I stayed with Alecto as she started to refuel the car. I shucked off my jacket and threw it back into my seat, the heat outside insufferable even though the sun was setting.
"You know, if you're trying to scare the kids, you're doing a great job," I said, placing a hand on my hip.
"My orders were to bring the children to their school," Alecto said, her lip curled into a nasty sneer that would've sent any person running. Fortunately for me, I'd hung out with the Fury enough times to be immune to most of her threats and attitude. "If they're uncomfortable, too bad."
"Take it easy on them. I mean, we did just tell them their father died."
"A necessary lie."
"Yes, but one that has devastated them. Try to be nice?"
"No."
I sighed as Alecto returned the gas pump to its station, swiping a pure black card through the card reader. Technically, she didn't need to pay for the gas, what with being a monster and all, but Hades had given her the card to keep up appearances and lower the chance of mortal police trying to investigate us.
She got back into the driver's seat and slammed the door shut, the sound of Greek wailing beginning to shake the entire care. I shook my head and walked towards the rest stop building, a large cube that held two mini-stores, seven different fast food restaurants, a dining area, and bathrooms in the back.
After taking advantage of the bathroom break, I went around the rest stop, trying to find the di Angelos. It wasn't that hard, actually. They'd been standing in front of one of the Dipping Dots vending machines, staring at the eight different flavors like they came from outer space.
"Superman?" Bianca asked, her eyebrows furrowed together. "What kind of ice cream flavor is that?"
"Ooh, ooh! I want cookies'n'cream!" Nico said, pointing to the picture on the front of the vending machine. He then turned to me and pulled out his puppy dig eyes, huge brown eyes that could convince anyone to do anything if he tried hard enough. "Pretty please, Bianca?"
"If Andy says it's okay…"
"Yeah, don't worry about it," I said, pulling out five dollar bills. "Do you want one?" I asked Bianca, putting in the money and pressing the cookies'n'cream button for Nico.
Bianca pursed her lips together, her eyes scanning over the different flavors before saying, "I think I want cookies'n'cream, too. If it's not too much trouble."
"Of course not," I assured her, adding in some more cash and pressing the button again. I then bent down and got the two cups of ice cream, handing one to each of the di Angelos.
"Thank you," they both said respectfully before tearing into the ice cream.
I wonder how long it's been since the two of them had gotten ice cream. I mean, I knew they had it within the Lotus Hotel and Casino, but I knew Bianca didn't let Nico go downstairs all that often, and if they did go, I knew she wouldn't have let her brother within ten feet of ice cream, or anything with a lot of sugar.
My intention had been to let the two eat their ice cream in peace inside of the rest stop, but when I heard Alecto's car horn, which sounded like a vulture getting its insides torn out, I knew she had been annoyed by us taking so long.
"We better head back," I told Nico and Bianca, "before the lawyer loses it."
"I don't like him," Nico said through a mouthful of ice cream. "He's scary."
"And strange," Bianca added. "I've never met a lawyer who told a ten-year-old to use a bush for a bathroom before."
"Neither have I," I said. "But he was your father's most trusted lawyer, so we have to obey. Trust me, he'll leave once you're both situated in your new school."
"Where is Westover Hall anyways?"
"Bar Harbor, Maine. I hear it's very nice this time of year."
"Enough chitter-chatter, get in," Alecto growled, her eyes shining cruelly in the fading sunlight. I rolled my eyes at her theatrics, helping Nico and Bianca to get into the backseat without spilling ice cream onto the leather seats. I think Alecto would've actually ripped their throats out if they so much as sweat while being in her prized vehicle.
The little conversation we had going ended abruptly thanks to Alecto's choice of music. However, by the time we were on the freeway, I turned around to find Nico and Bianca sleeping, curled up with each other in a way that would cause most mothers to take a picture of and keep as future blackmail.
"Are the godlings sleeping?" Alecto asked, her eyes lifting up to the rearview mirror for a split second before returning to the road.
"Yup, they're out like a light."
Alecto smiled, revealing her fangs as she did. Now I knew where vampires came from – the author clearly had an encounter with the Furies and then lived to tell the tale. Screw the version of empousai being vampires, Furies were a hundred times worse if you weren't on good terms with them. At least with an empousa, you'd die, but the Furies could torture for the rest of your afterlife too.
"Excellent," she purred.
Her hand then shot down to the clutch, pulling it all the way back. I didn't have time to ask her what she was doing when Alecto floored it, leaving my stomach behind somewhere in Colorado. She laughed, more like cackled, hysterically, shadows racing outside the windows. It sounded as if we were driving in a hurricane, wind howling by and flinging small pieces of debris at us, light breaking through the shadows like lightning.
When Alecto finally eased her foot off the accelerator and returned her stick shift to where it should've been, I asked her to pull over, my meager breakfast making a reappearance on the side of the road. I heard Alecto hissing in disgust from the car, but I told her if she had warned me that we were going to shadow-travel, I would've been fine.
She shrugged, muttering, "Weak stomach," under her breath as we took exit 73A to Bar Harbor, Maine.
I'd only ever been to Maine once before on a mission for Artemis, who needed me to hunt down her sacred stag for the gods' animal show and tell that they did one year. Yes, this was a real thing, and it was just as amusing as you can imagine it to be.
From what I remember, a lot of Maine was mainly (pun intended) wilderness, tall trees and bushes and dirt roads wherever you looked. Bar Harbor pretty much fit the description, except that the ocean was only a ten minute walk away if you lived in the city proper.
We reached Westover Hall at three in the morning EST, the time zones from "driving" from Las Vegas to Bar Harbor making it the middle of the night. Even Alecto wasn't crazy enough to try and sign in the di Angelos at this hour, so she took us to the closest hotel and got us two rooms for the night. One for her, and one for the three of us.
I offered to sleep in the reclining chair that was in the room, but Bianca wouldn't let me, forcing Nico to sleep in the same bed as hers for the night. I don't know what had been in that ice cream, because although sleeping the majority of the way here, they were still able to sleep the whole night.
Thankfully, I didn't have any dreams that night, abating a whole ton of conversations I really didn't want to get into. I woke up before the children of Hades, swearing internally after I realized that we hadn't passed through D.C., something that was critically important in Bianca's story. Before they woke up, I implanted those memories into their heads, making sure to send a note via aura to Alecto so that she was aware as well.
Her response had literally been the letters IDC scrawled out in messy handwriting on the back of my original note, which I promptly flushed down the toilet afterwards. Oh, Alecto, ever the sympathetic one.
Once Nico and Bianca were awake, I took them downstairs to eat at the complimentary breakfast bar that came with the hotel. While they went to make themselves waffles, I found Alecto sitting in the far corner, nursing a paper cup full of pure black coffee. I knew she was a creature of the Underworld and all, but seriously, not even a packet of sugar? Now I knew why she was so bitter all of the time.
I ate a blueberry muffin and got some of my own coffee, pouring cream and sugar until it was a light brown. Alecto scowled at my coffee disapprovingly, but I didn't care. Bianca and Nico ate their waffles and also brought some boxes of cereal, which I kept for them in my bag.
"The office opens at nine," Alecto said, setting down her now empty cup onto the table. "We must head out now."
I held up a hand, preventing her from rushing us out of the hotel. "Are you guys ready?" I asked, finishing the last of my coffee before stacking Alecto's cup inside of my own. The two of them nodded, Alecto checked us out of the hotel, and I went ahead to get the children inside the car before Alecto left us behind.
"Your bracelet," Alecto reminded me in Ancient Greek as we parked in front of the school, the black castle-like structure looming over us like we were about to enter Hogwarts instead of a boarding school.
"Already done," I replied in the same tongue, rolling the star charm between my fingertips. I then turned around to the di Angelos. "We're here."
"Do we have to go to school?" Nico whined as I opened the door, pushing my seat up so that they could get out of the back.
"This is what your father wanted, for you both to have an excellent education. In fact, he chose Westover Hall after learning of its academic accolades," Alecto said, picking up her briefcase from the trunk.
"I don't know what accolade means," Nico pointed out, walking to the trunk and slinging his backpack over his shoulders.
"Awards, fratellino," Bianca said, sliding her own backpack over her shoulders. I picked up the two duffel bags from the trunk. That was everything that Nico and Bianca owned, even after spending over seventy years inside the magical hotel.
The three of us followed Alecto inside. After some dreadful meetings with the vice principal, Dr. Thorn (a.k.a. the Manticore), I was allowed to take Nico and Bianca to their dorm rooms while Alecto stayed behind to finish the logistics of it all.
We set up Nico's room first, helping him unpack his clothes and circling all his classes on the map we'd been provided with. Nico took care of his Mythomagic stuff, refusing to let us lay a single finger on any card or figurine as he carefully placed them on his bookshelf. The other half of the room was empty, but seeing that there was another bed, I figured it was that he hadn't gotten an assigned roommate yet.
Nico tagged along with us to set up Bianca's room, which had just been unpacking her clothes. She had brought her colored pencils and sketchbook, setting those down on the nightstand closest to her bed. The other bed in Bianca's room was dressed, and judging from the anime posters on the wall, I knew she'd get to meet her roommate later tonight.
Once I was sure that they were both completely settled in, I gave them both hugs, promising that I'd try to visit during the school year when I had vacation. I then dropped them off at the school store for their uniform fittings, waving them goodbye as two of the school's ambassadors showed up, promising that they'd take care of the di Angelos from there.
I met up with Alecto in the parking lot. She had shifted back to her true form, her leathery bat wings protruding from a ratty white dress. But she had managed to keep her human hands, though I wasn't sure why.
"Tell Hades that they're situated," I said, watching as Alecto pressed a button on her dash, causing for her prized car to shimmer for a second, revealing her poison-laced whip that she usually carried at her waist. "I'll check in periodically throughout the school year to see how it's going."
"Sounds like you've got this taken care of, honey," Alecto said, smiling smugly as she saw me roll my eyes. She knew how much I hated being called honey, yet she did it anyways.
"I do. See you around, Alecto."
The Fury then launched into the air, vanishing into a dark speck amongst the clouds.
I followed suit, turning into mist and traveling back home.
I'd been working in the lab late one night when I got the call.
It was December now, and semester exams in Columbia had just finished, leaving all of us brain dead. Most of my mortal friends had taken advantage of winter break to go back home, but I stayed behind, working on the research project my chemistry professor, Dr. Atomos, had put me in two months ago.
I'd been in the middle of peering down a microscope, taking note of how the mutated cells were reacting to the new drug we were testing when I heard someone yell, "Andy!" so loudly that I almost snapped my pencil in half.
"Jesus, a little warning next time?" I half-shouted, setting down my pencil and notepad, lifting up my goggles so I could see clearly.
"Sorry 'bout that," Thalia said, a sly grin on her face, letting me know that she wasn't really sorry at all.
"What's up?" I asked. "I seriously doubt you're calling about my research."
"You do research?"
"I rest my case. Anyways, what can I do for you?"
"Grover called us about some powerful demigods in the school he's at right now. Chiron wants us to go get them."
"Who's us?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at the daughter of Zeus.
"Percy, Annabeth, and me."
"You're all capable demigods, so why am I needed?"
Thalia pursed her lips, trying to find the right words. "Grover said something about smelling you on them. Crazy, I know, but it's a lot easier to convince kids to follow us when they recognize a familiar face."
"Is this absolutely necessary?" I egged on. "Does Grover think my presence will be essential to this mission?"
"What? Is your bacteria going to die when you're gone?"
"Not what I'm testing, first of all; and second of all, I can freeze it, and it'll be fine. But you didn't answer my question, Thalia."
"Yes, we think you're the key to getting these kids to camp, especially if they know you. Maybe you've run into them before on one of your missions."
"Probably," I shrugged. "Okay, I'm in. Where do you need me to be?"
"Sally Jackson's apartment, ten minutes."
"I'll see you there."
I waved my hand through the Iris-message, severing the connection. After making sure that all of my lab equipment was safely put away and all my tools were being sanitized, I tucked my research into my folder and turned on the alarm to the lab. Once my duties as a research student was done, I walked into the nearest shadow, appearing right outside Sally Jackson's door.
It didn't take long for Sally to open the door after I rang the doorbell, the older woman immediately engulfing me in a hug. I returned the gesture, relaxing as she smelled of her famous chocolate chip cookies.
Sure enough, when I went in, I saw the Percy and Thalia attacking the cookies like starving hellhounds, shoving one in their mouth the second they had room. I laughed at their chipmunk-like cheeks, taking a cookie for myself before they were all gone. I made sure to snag one for Annabeth as well.
"You're a part of this, too?" Sally asked me, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.
"Just got recruited by this one," I answered, gesturing to Thalia, who gave me a smile despite her mouth being close to bursting.
"Well, if it's any consolation, Percy told me how grateful he was to have known someone when he found out about being a demigod. Made his transition much easier."
"Mom!" Percy shouted in embarrassment, his face a bright red, causing Thalia to snicker at him. He responded by slapping her arm in a good natured manner, earning himself a static shock from Thalia when she poked his chest.
"Hey, I would've liked to know someone before learning the truth, too," Thalia said after swallowing down the rest of her cookies with a glass of water.
"Same here," I added.
Percy was saved from any further embarrassment when the doorbell rang again, signaling Annabeth's arrival. She came inside, dressed in a light gray winter coat and matching ski cap, a few of her blonde curls cascading around her face. On her shoulders, Annabeth wore Tyson's new gift for her – a navy blue backpack with a silver owl embroidered on the front most pocket. I don't know who he got to do the embroidering, but it was beautiful nonetheless. Sheathed at her waist was her dagger, the hilt hidden underneath her jacket.
"Ready to go when you are," Annabeth said, taking a bite of the cookie I'd saved for her.
"Let me get my keys, and we can go," Sally said, finishing buttoning up her winter coat and wrapping a light blue scarf around her neck.
"I've got them, Mom," Percy said, dangling the keys from the end of his index finger.
"Thank you, Percy. Now we should really get going if we want to make it to Maine before nightfall."
Thankfully this car drive to Maine didn't involve a crazy demon lady driving us through shadows at breakneck speed.
I was seated in the back of the car alongside Annabeth and Thalia, allowing Percy to take shotgun with his mom. Sally had wanted me to take the passenger seat as I was the oldest, but I told her I was fine hanging out with my friends in the back.
For the duration of the eight-hour drive, Sally rattled on and on about Percy as a baby, before I'd ever met him. Many of her stories seemed to revolve around Percy in a bathtub, which of course had him redder than a ripe tomato, while Annabeth and Thalia tried hard not to burst out laughing the entire time.
"One time, Percy got stuck in the toilet," Sally began, but Percy cut her off by reaching for the volume dial for the radio and cranked it up until her voice was drowned out by whatever song was playing.
Eight hours and about ninety or so baby stories later, we pulled up outside of the black castle that was Westover Hall. In the four months that I'd been gone, the school had added gargoyles to the turrets at the four corners of the building, giving the impression of being in a prison rather than a boarding school.
"Oh, yeah. This'll be fun," Thalia said, wiping away the fog on the car window, peering outside.
"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" Sally asked.
"No, thanks, Mom," Percy said. "I don't know how long this will take. We'll be okay."
"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."
"If things go south, I'll get us out of there," I said.
"We'll keep him out of trouble, Ms. Jackson," Annabeth said, earning herself a faint smile from Sally.
We then got out of the car, waving goodbye to Sally as the silhouette of her car faded in the thick fog that was pouring from the forest. Behind the school, I could hear the waves churning below, crashing against the rocky hillside.
"Let's go," Percy said, leading us towards the front door.
"No," I said, stopping dead in my tracks. Dr. Thorn would recognize me on sight, Mist or not. After all, I'd been the one to bring the di Angelos here. "We're not going in through the front entrance."
"Why not?" Thalia questioned.
"I've been here before on a mission. I'd get recognized in a heartbeat. That gives us two options: you three go ahead and I wait out here as your escape plan, or I shadow-travel the four of us inside."
"We'll go ahead," Annabeth decided for them. "Plus you're too old to pass off as a boarder here. No offense."
I smiled. "None taken. Call me if you need me."
The three walked inside, the great wooden door slamming shut behind them, keeping them within the walls of the school.
I turned in the direction of the forest, expanding my senses for Artemis' aura. I knew her Hunters were around here somewhere, I just needed to find them first. There was something I needed to tell her, something that would keep Zoe and Bianca alive.
The fog and snow made it damn near impossible to walk through the forest without tripping over roots or slamming into trees, but a little fire later, and I was fine. I decided to wait for the Hunters to show up by the clearing next to the cliff that overlooked the ocean, where Dr. Thorn would disappear with Annabeth on his back.
Sure enough, a few minutes before the fight would begin, I sensed Artemis closing in. I shadow-traveled to her location, swaying slightly on my feet as I did. Geez, I was out of practice with my powers from living at college. I'd have to work out a schedule where I got some training time by myself. Anyhow, when I found Artemis, she was alongside her Hunters, the twenty-some girls all moving swiftly in the direction of Westover Hall.
"Halt! Who goes there?" the girl in the front, Zoe, asked, the Hunters all training their bows on me.
"It's just me," I said, my fire dissipating the fog around me.
"Andy, what are you doing here?" Artemis demanded, her silvery yellow eyes glinting dangerously in the mist. "I thought you were off in school."
"Brought into an extraction mission, but that's not important. I need to talk to you, urgently."
"My lady, what about the monster?" Zoe asked, her silver circlet glowing around her forehead, standing out against her inky black hair.
"Pursue him. If he threatens anyone, kill him."
"Yes, my lady. Move out, girls!"
Zoe and the rest of the Hunters continued ahead, leaving me alone with Artemis. We kept walking behind the girls in case that we were needed, but we left enough distance that none of them would be able to overhear us.
"What could be so urgent that you interfere with a hunt?" Artemis asked, genuinely curious.
"Something bad is about to happen, and when it does, I need you to give this to Apollo." I handed her a folded sheet of paper that held everything he needed to know about this upcoming prophecy.
"Why don't you deliver it to him yourself?"
"I'm not allowed to explain, I'm sorry. Let's just say, I'm not going to be around very much in the upcoming week."
"Andromeda, explain."
"I can't, my lady." I sighed and readjusted my ponytail, having a feeling this would be the last time I did it for a while. "Take care of them until they're at camp."
"And here I thought my brother was the cryptic one," Artemis muttered under her breath, pocketing the note inside her parka. She then looked up, swearing under her breath. "He's here."
She took off, and I shadow-traveled back to the clearing, where Dr. Thorn was holding Nico and Bianca hostage. Percy and Thalia were in front of him, their weapons drawn, their bodies taut as they waited for an opportunity to strike.
Nico was about to say something when he caught sight of me, but I held a finger to my lips, telling him to stay quiet. If Dr. Thorn didn't know about our friendship, they had a better chance of not being killed right then and there.
Percy and Thalia's opportunity came in the form of Annabeth. She was invisible at the moment, but when Dr. Thorn yowled in pain, I knew she had landed a blow. He sputtered curses in Ancient Greek, revealing his true form as he did.
The three of them began fighting, giving Bianca and Nico enough time to get out of the fray. Thorn shot a volley of thorns at Percy, denting the shield that Tyson had given him during the summer. Thalia had gotten distracted by Percy getting hurt, allowing for Thorn to rip Aegis off her arm. Annabeth was fighting to keep Thorn's tail away from her and the di Angelos. Grover was on the floor, having been plowed down by Annabeth earlier.
Then, the first silver arrow sprouted out of Thorn's shoulder, and I knew it was my turn. Annabeth tried to charge the Manticore, but I pushed her out of the way, jumping forward with my two hunting knives and landing onto Thorn's back, digging my knives into his flesh.
He yelled again, the Stygian iron draining his very essence while he thrashed around, trying to knock me off. I pushed my knives in deeper. If I was about to go over this cliff, he was going to suffer first.
"Fire!" Zoe ordered, though I couldn't really hear much from the wind whistling through my ears as I held on for dear life.
"No!" Percy screamed.
But it was too late.
The Hunters unleashed their arrows, pegging Dr. Thorn in his neck, chest, and leg. He staggered back towards the cliff, wailing, "This is not the end, Huntress! You shall pay!"
"Andy!" my friends shouted, but by then, the Manticore had already jumped off the side of the cliff, taking me down with him.