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FIC: The Necklace of Harmonia, chpt 8
Title: The Necklace of Harmonia (Daughter of Wisdom 3)
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Chiron, Clarisse La Rue, Chase family, OCs, various others, Gen with slight Percy/Annabeth
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Summary: After an eventful summer, Annabeth Chase is on her way to boarding school for the first time. With her friends Thalia and Percy close by, she's looking forward to spending the year in New York. But soon, she finds herself dealing with unfathomable dreams, tangled plots, and a mysterious necklace that keeps finding its way back to her. Worse still, her father wants her to move to the most dangerous city in the country. The choices Annabeth faces this year will have her questioning the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and family. And most of all, just what it means to keep a promise. An alternate PoV retelling of Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse. Part 3 of the Daughter of Wisdom series.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: A Hippo Reads Our Future
Rating: PG
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace, Sally Jackson
Word Count: 3,296
Chapter Summary: Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy run into a strange monster.
Notes: The Orobas isn't technically a Greek demon, but I guess you guys are used to me co-opting creatures from various mythologies by now. Hey, I needed an oracular monster! I haven't stayed completely true to the wikipedia definition, but ah well, artistic license. The three symbols Annabeth described are παλ. (No, I don't know enough Greek to write out the actual prophecy in Greek, sorry.)
And Percy! I'm interpreting his line in TC-'I hardly ever saw them'-as he did see them at some point, just very rarely. And as we've gone months since his last appearance (and it will be another month until the quest), I think it's high time he showed up, yes? :)
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Percy advanced on the hippo.
It pawed the ground with one stubby leg, eyeing Percy's trusty sword Riptide with its beady black eyes.
Thalia and I ran forward to help. The Mist cleared as we got closer. Instead of a hippo, I saw a stout creature with the same round, bulky body, but the head of a horse. Except where a normal horse's neck should have been, this monster had a pair of stubby tusks protruding half a foot outwards. The wrinkly skin covering its hippo body was the deep purplish-red of a bad bruise, covered with a glistening sheen of sweat.
Riptide swung through the air, slicing off one of the horse-hippo's tusks. The monster rolled back on its haunches and bit at the blade with its malevolent row of black teeth. With his sword clamped between the horse-hippo's jaws, Percy was jerked off his feet. He stumbled and fell flat on his face at the monster's front legs. The horse-hippo tossed Riptide aside (the sword sailed through the air and plunged into the trunk of a tree) and made a gargling noise, like it was working up a throat-full of phlegm.
With the fleet-footedness that had put her in high demand for the cross-country team, Thalia reached Percy first. She dove between him and the horse-hippo, activating Aegis. At the same time, Percy brandished his wristwatch, which expanded into a massive bronze shield. I had a brief glimpse of the designs etched onto its polished surface-my own likeness, among others, captured in a Grecian engraving of heroes in battle-before Thalia and Aegis collided with him and inadvertently knocked his shield out of his hand.
A splatter of blood-red horse spit splashed Thalia's shield and trickled down Medusa's ugly face. It dripped to the ground in thick globules, making random patterns at their feet: three lines forming a crude stick-table, a squiggly symbol that resembled an infinity sign, two curves intersecting in the shape of a mountain.
At the sight of Aegis, the horse-hippo went into a panic. It picked itself up on its stubby legs and trotted in a crazed circle, braying and spitting more blood-red phlegm all over the place.
'What are you doing here?' Percy demanded.
'Saving your ass,' Thalia retorted. She got to her feet and brushed loose gravel from her jeans.
'I had it under control,' Percy grumbled.
I picked up his shield, which shrank back into a watch. Riptide had already vanished from the tree. Percy's hand dipped into his pocket, where his magical sword must have reformed in its disguised pen form. I handed him the shield-watch. He shook it at Thalia.
'I didn't need a shield.'
'Well, sorry for trying to help.'
Percy turned back to the horse-hippo, who had now spat a whole ring around itself of the same red blobs that had splattered Thalia's shield. (Medusa's face still bore bloody streaks.) They had fallen in curious patterns-a circle of symbols.
'Hey, Lard Tub!' Percy yelled. 'You owe me a skateboard!'
The horse-hippo responded by shaking itself like a dog. A wave of red sweat flew over, dousing us in a sticky, stinking shower.
'That's it,' Thalia spluttered. She shrugged off her monster-sweat-soaked jacket and elongated her spear. 'This thing needs to go back to Tartarus.'
Percy clicked his pen, which sprung back into Riptide. 'I'll distract it. You guys go for the kill.'
He waved Riptide at the horse-hippo like a matador taunting a bull. It bared its teeth and pawed at the ground again.
'That's right, Blubber Brain,' Percy challenged. 'Demigod snack right here.'
The horse-hippo waddled forward, out of its circle of spit.
Thalia and I split up, each taking one side of the circle. As I ran clockwise around the horse-hippo, the phlegmy ring it had produced rearranged itself into something meaningful. An 'E'. A small, cursive 'v'. One half of an infinity symbol. More letters like that.
Greek letters.
Something clicked in my head. A tale I'd read once, years ago, when I'd been obsessed with everything to do with prophecies.
But I didn't have time to think about it. Percy had met the horse-hippo's remaining tusk with his shield and sword, clamping it between them as he'd once done with Clarisse's electric spear, right before he'd snapped it. The monstrous tusk wasn't as easy to break. Percy held on for dear life as the beast tried to swing itself out of his clamp. His sneakers dug deep tracks into the dirt for purchase.
'Now!' he yelled.
Thalia and I let our weapons fly. My dagger and her spear soared through the air and stuck into each side of the horse-hippo's hide, embedding themselves into its round, fat flesh. At the same time, Percy released the monster's tusk and twisted Riptide so that he could jab it upwards into the horse-hippo's throat.
The monster gave a strangled, gurgling cry and exploded in a flash of grey. Percy's skateboard toppled out of its ashes and clattered to the ground inside the ring of red saliva. The bright red patterns emitted a brilliant glow. Now that I had recognised them as letters, I could read the ancient Greek writing:
A circle of three bound in love and hate;
An unwitting choice will seal their fate:
One that threads grey through their hair.
I only got halfway around the circle before the writing, too, vanished like the monster that had created it. All that remained was its severed tusk, our bronze weapons, and the shower of sweat still clinging to our clothes.
Percy gathered up his skateboard and tucked it under his arm. Thalia retrieved her spear. I stared at the place where the circle of writing had been, trying to fix the lines I'd read in my memory.
'Er, Annabeth?'
'What?'
Percy held out my dagger. I took it, becoming aware as I did so of the crowd that had gathered in our vicinity, gawking and pointing at the three crazy kids with weapons. Jogging towards us from the direction of the zoo were two keepers in ranger uniforms.
I didn't know what the Mist had made of our little showdown with the horse-hippo, but it couldn't be good. With our luck, we'd be blamed for setting a zoo animal free and then murdering it. (Well, discounting the fact that it wasn't actually a zoo animal, this wasn't exactly untrue.)
Percy grabbed my hand. 'Run!'
+++
Percy led the way to an apartment on the Upper East Side. I'd seen it once before-well, spied on it from the fire escape. That had been an accident, but the memory brought a blush to my cheeks.
'Mom, I'm home!' Percy called. 'And I brought friends!' He looked over his shoulder at Thalia and me. 'Come on in. My mom doesn't bite, I promise.'
'We do have to meet Argus to get back to camp,' I said.
Percy's face fell. 'Right now?'
'I guess we could stay a few minutes.' I looked down at my filthy clothes. 'And maybe get changed.'
Sally Jackson's soft, kind face popped up behind Percy.
'Who-' she began, then she saw me and her smile widened. 'Oh, hello, Annabeth, it's good to see you!' Her eyes travelled up and down our bedraggled forms. If our filthy states disgusted her, she didn't let it show. 'And you must be Thalia,' she said, opening the door wider. 'Percy's told me so much about you. Please come in.'
We followed Percy and his mom into the tiny apartment. It was cramped but cosy, with walls painted a cheerful sunshine yellow and a living room full of mismatched armchairs that were adorned with squishy blue cushions. One of the chairs had an open laptop sitting on it; a coffee mug with WIRLS BES MOM painted on it in uneven letters balanced precariously on the armrest.
Sally gestured to the armchairs. 'Make yourself at home.'
'Um …' I picked at the damp edge of my t-shirt. 'We're kind of-'
I meant to say that I didn't want to dirty her cushions (I could imagine the fit Janet would throw if I tried to sit on anything in our home in my current state). But Sally misunderstood me.
'Oh, how thoughtless of me. You'll want to clean up, of course. Percy, can you show Annabeth to the bathroom? I'll get a towel, and I think I have some old clothes that'll fit you both-I'm afraid we only have the one bathroom, but go ahead and have a seat while you wait, Thalia. Really, don't worry about the mess. I promise Percy's done worse.'
'Mom!'
When I came out to exchange places with Thalia a few minutes later, dressed in Sally's old slacks and one of Percy's camp t-shirts, Percy had already changed into clean jeans and a blue shirt with a big, grinning fish splashed across the front. He had his shield open on the table and he was rubbing its surface with a cloth. It did indeed have my picture on it, as well as Percy and Tyson, his Cyclops half-brother. Our adventures from last year's quest were hammered into its face, making a beautiful Grecian mural. The intricate carving was the work of a master.
'Did Tyson make that?' I asked. 'It's beautiful!' And very flattering. I'd never been the subject of a mural before.
'Yeah. Handy, too, against that horse-hippo thing.'
'An Orobas,' I said.
Percy looked up from his shield. 'Oro-what?'
'Orobas,' I repeated. 'An Oracle demon.' I'd read about them when I was ten, right after I'd heard the Great Prophecy. Obsessed with figuring it out, I'd searched high and low for any information I could get on prophecies, oracles, or divination. My book had neglected to provide an illustration of the Orobas, which was why I hadn't made the connection until I read its salivary writings. 'It has prophetic spit.'
Percy raised an eyebrow. 'How does that work?'
I explained about the Greek writing and the lines I'd read in the ring of spit.
'Huh,' said Percy. He stopped cleaning his shield and frowned at the images. There was a light red smudge over one of the Laistrygonian giants Tyson had depicted me fighting. It had probably featured more Greek letters before he'd started rubbing the stain away. Now, it was completely indistinct.
'Well, it sounds like a good thing you were there to help,' Sally said. She set out three steaming mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of blue muffins. Her own mug had disappeared and her laptop was packed up. 'I'm sorry to be a bad host, but I have to run-I have a class to get to, and I was just about to go when you guys showed up. If I'd known earlier you were coming …'
'No, don't worry,' I said quickly. 'We'll be fine.'
'Stay as long as you like. There's plenty of food. Percy will get you whatever you want.'
Percy's eyes gleamed. 'Can we order pizza?'
'As long as you save me a piece.' Sally kissed Percy's cheek, gave me a quick hug, and headed out the door.
Percy and I looked at each other.
'Well,' I said.
'Yeah,' Percy mumbled. 'It's, uh, good to see you.'
In the awkward silence that followed, I became very aware of the fact that we were alone in his living room.
This was so stupid. Percy was my best friend. Less than an hour ago, we'd been fighting a monster together in our normal style. I'd wanted to see him again ever since he'd IM-ed me on my first day at St Catherine's. How could I suddenly be at a loss for words?
More for something to do than because I really wanted a drink, I grabbed a mug of hot chocolate. Sally had made it nice and thick, with plenty of cream and marshmallows on the top. Percy copied me and we both sat there swigging the sweet, warm liquid. A foamy white moustache appeared on his upper lip when he put his mug back down, making me smile. He grinned back, and I realised I probably had an identical one.
'You should have a muffin,' he offered.
'Are they as good as the cookies?' His mom had brought a whole basket to camp last summer.
'Better,' he promised.
'Don't mind if I do.' Thalia's voice made us both jump. She'd emerged from the bathroom in another pair of Sally's pants and a borrowed black blouse. I sat my mug down abruptly and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Thalia shook her head at us. 'Sorry to crash the date.'
'Don't be ridiculous,' I snapped. To my mortification, my cheeks felt hotter than the chocolate.
'I IM-ed Chiron and told him where we are,' Thalia said, still looking annoyingly smug. She plucked a muffin from the plate. Through a large bite, she continued, 'He said we could stay until the evening if we liked. I thought you'd want to.'
'I don't-I mean, I do, uh-' I reached for my mug again. So did Percy. Our fingers brushed. It was like being near Thalia when she was channelling her electric powers.
Thalia smirked and took another bite of her muffin.
'Annabeth says the hippo thing was a prophecy demon,' Percy said quickly.
'Oracle demon,' I corrected. 'An Orobas.'
'Really?' Thalia sounded intrigued. She sank into Sally's vacated armchair.
I repeated the two lines of the prophecy for her.
Thalia shook her head. 'Can't make head or tail of that.'
'You're the Wise One,' Percy said to me. 'What do you think it means?'
'Well, it's kind of generic, isn't it? I mean, "a circle of three"-practically everything in the Greek world comes in threes: the Three Fates, the three Kindly Ones, the three judges of the Underworld-'
Percy grinned. 'The Three Stooges.'
'They aren't Greek, you idiot,' Thalia said. 'And there were three of us fighting the Orobas.'
'"Bound in love and hate?"' Percy glanced at me, then became suddenly interested in the muffin crumbs on his saucer. My cheeks burned again, though there was no reason why they should.
Thalia made an impatient noise. 'What about the next line-"an unwitting choice will seal their fate?" Or "threads grey through their hair?" Neither of those sound good.' She licked her lips nervously. My mind flickered over the Great Prophecy. One of its lines specified that Thalia would make a choice that could bring Olympus to its knees.
'My mom I always give her grey hairs when I scare her to death,' Percy said. Thalia gave him a dirty look. I don’t think she was keen to think about death in close proximity to choices.
'It's just as generic as the other line,' I said firmly. 'Like, people get grey hairs all the time. And, duh, the stuff we choose will have consequences. That's why wisdom is so important!'
'Sure, Wise Girl,' Percy said. 'I'll remember to think long and hard whether to kill a monster next time it's trying to eat me.'
'I didn't say think about it for a long time! You just have to make a wise choice!'
'I'm just saying, you can think too much about stuff.'
'I don't recall you complaining when I was coming up with strategies to get the Golden Fleece. Or sneak into the Underworld.'
'None of which actually went according to plan.'
'That doesn't mean we shouldn't make a plan!'
'Geez, will you two just kiss and make up already?' Thalia said. I took a step back, my heart pounding. Somewhere during our argument, Percy and I had gotten to our feet. We were now standing face to face. Thalia helped herself to another muffin, grinning like she was watching an entertaining TV show.
When neither of us spoke, she said, 'Anyway, back to the point-prophecies are usually for quests, right? And none of us is actually on a quest, so maybe it doesn't apply to us.'
'Do me a favour,' Percy said, with an attempt at a laugh, 'don't accept any quests this month.'
I thought of Clarisse, who must have left on her scouting mission already. 'We might not have a choice.'
Percy and Thalia looked at me quizzically. I almost started to tell Percy and Thalia about Clarisse's mission, but then I remembered Chiron's admonition to keep it under wraps for now. Anyway, I couldn't see how the Orobas's prophecy would apply to Clarisse's task.
'I'm just saying, Kro-the Titan lord is out there, trying to bring down Olympus. If we have to stop him, we can't hang back to save our own skins.'
There was silence. Then Percy cleared his throat. 'Speaking of quests, what are you guys doing in Manhattan? Don't you, like, go to school in Brooklyn?'
Grateful for the change in subject, I explained about our weekend visits to camp and our excursion to Olympus. ('Better you than me,' Percy said to Thalia when he heard about her audience with Zeus.) The topic took us to school and what an all-girls' academy was like. Percy had been to boarding school before, but his schools had always had mixed enrolment. We had plenty of stories to trade nonetheless. He nodded in sympathy when I told him about Melanie, matching me story for story with tales of the bullies from his own schools.
Once we actually got talking, the weird nervousness from before disappeared, and so did the time. When Argus honked for us downstairs, I was amazed at how quickly the afternoon had melted away. We'd caught each other up on two months' worth of school stories and camp gossip (the way Beckendorf and Silena were currently dancing around each other was a hot topic), polished off all the muffins and ordered what Percy claimed was the best pizza in New York (he was probably right), and heard all about Percy learning to drive in his mom's Mazda (I wondered if my dad would ever take the time to teach me).
'You guys should, uh, come over more,' Percy said. 'Now that you're in Brooklyn, I mean. Your school's not too far from here, right?'
'We go to camp on the weekends,' Thalia reminded him. 'Training to do and all that.'
An idea crept into my head. 'Why don't you come to camp for the weekends, too?'
Percy twisted his feet and stared down at them. 'I-it's kind of far. I mean, Mom would drive me if I asked, but she's doing her writing class on the weekends, and if she had to take me all the way there and back-it's two trips for her, and she's got enough to do, you know?'
'Oh. Maybe Argus could drop by for you after he picks us up, or before …'
Percy scratched his head. 'I don't wanna put him out either.'
'Or maybe …' My voice trailed off as I realised how desperate I must sound, trying so hard to get Percy to camp. Thalia was smirking again. My face reddened. 'Never mind.'
Before we got into Argus's van, I looked back up the fire escape to Percy's apartment. There was a light on in the window. I thought maybe he was standing at it, watching us leave, but it was too high up to see clearly. In the twilight, the shadows over the building fell in an interlocking pattern. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but they seemed to form familiar shapes. They weren't from the lines of the Orobas's prophecy, but the first oracle it had spat out, which I hadn't consciously registered. Until now.
Three Greek letters-Pi, Alpha, Lambda-wound tightly around each other, wavering in the twilight.
Chapter 9
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Chiron, Clarisse La Rue, Chase family, OCs, various others, Gen with slight Percy/Annabeth
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Summary: After an eventful summer, Annabeth Chase is on her way to boarding school for the first time. With her friends Thalia and Percy close by, she's looking forward to spending the year in New York. But soon, she finds herself dealing with unfathomable dreams, tangled plots, and a mysterious necklace that keeps finding its way back to her. Worse still, her father wants her to move to the most dangerous city in the country. The choices Annabeth faces this year will have her questioning the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and family. And most of all, just what it means to keep a promise. An alternate PoV retelling of Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse. Part 3 of the Daughter of Wisdom series.
In this chapter
Chapter Title: A Hippo Reads Our Future
Rating: PG
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, Thalia Grace, Sally Jackson
Word Count: 3,296
Chapter Summary: Annabeth, Thalia, and Percy run into a strange monster.
Notes: The Orobas isn't technically a Greek demon, but I guess you guys are used to me co-opting creatures from various mythologies by now. Hey, I needed an oracular monster! I haven't stayed completely true to the wikipedia definition, but ah well, artistic license. The three symbols Annabeth described are παλ. (No, I don't know enough Greek to write out the actual prophecy in Greek, sorry.)
And Percy! I'm interpreting his line in TC-'I hardly ever saw them'-as he did see them at some point, just very rarely. And as we've gone months since his last appearance (and it will be another month until the quest), I think it's high time he showed up, yes? :)
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Percy advanced on the hippo.
It pawed the ground with one stubby leg, eyeing Percy's trusty sword Riptide with its beady black eyes.
Thalia and I ran forward to help. The Mist cleared as we got closer. Instead of a hippo, I saw a stout creature with the same round, bulky body, but the head of a horse. Except where a normal horse's neck should have been, this monster had a pair of stubby tusks protruding half a foot outwards. The wrinkly skin covering its hippo body was the deep purplish-red of a bad bruise, covered with a glistening sheen of sweat.
Riptide swung through the air, slicing off one of the horse-hippo's tusks. The monster rolled back on its haunches and bit at the blade with its malevolent row of black teeth. With his sword clamped between the horse-hippo's jaws, Percy was jerked off his feet. He stumbled and fell flat on his face at the monster's front legs. The horse-hippo tossed Riptide aside (the sword sailed through the air and plunged into the trunk of a tree) and made a gargling noise, like it was working up a throat-full of phlegm.
With the fleet-footedness that had put her in high demand for the cross-country team, Thalia reached Percy first. She dove between him and the horse-hippo, activating Aegis. At the same time, Percy brandished his wristwatch, which expanded into a massive bronze shield. I had a brief glimpse of the designs etched onto its polished surface-my own likeness, among others, captured in a Grecian engraving of heroes in battle-before Thalia and Aegis collided with him and inadvertently knocked his shield out of his hand.
A splatter of blood-red horse spit splashed Thalia's shield and trickled down Medusa's ugly face. It dripped to the ground in thick globules, making random patterns at their feet: three lines forming a crude stick-table, a squiggly symbol that resembled an infinity sign, two curves intersecting in the shape of a mountain.
At the sight of Aegis, the horse-hippo went into a panic. It picked itself up on its stubby legs and trotted in a crazed circle, braying and spitting more blood-red phlegm all over the place.
'What are you doing here?' Percy demanded.
'Saving your ass,' Thalia retorted. She got to her feet and brushed loose gravel from her jeans.
'I had it under control,' Percy grumbled.
I picked up his shield, which shrank back into a watch. Riptide had already vanished from the tree. Percy's hand dipped into his pocket, where his magical sword must have reformed in its disguised pen form. I handed him the shield-watch. He shook it at Thalia.
'I didn't need a shield.'
'Well, sorry for trying to help.'
Percy turned back to the horse-hippo, who had now spat a whole ring around itself of the same red blobs that had splattered Thalia's shield. (Medusa's face still bore bloody streaks.) They had fallen in curious patterns-a circle of symbols.
'Hey, Lard Tub!' Percy yelled. 'You owe me a skateboard!'
The horse-hippo responded by shaking itself like a dog. A wave of red sweat flew over, dousing us in a sticky, stinking shower.
'That's it,' Thalia spluttered. She shrugged off her monster-sweat-soaked jacket and elongated her spear. 'This thing needs to go back to Tartarus.'
Percy clicked his pen, which sprung back into Riptide. 'I'll distract it. You guys go for the kill.'
He waved Riptide at the horse-hippo like a matador taunting a bull. It bared its teeth and pawed at the ground again.
'That's right, Blubber Brain,' Percy challenged. 'Demigod snack right here.'
The horse-hippo waddled forward, out of its circle of spit.
Thalia and I split up, each taking one side of the circle. As I ran clockwise around the horse-hippo, the phlegmy ring it had produced rearranged itself into something meaningful. An 'E'. A small, cursive 'v'. One half of an infinity symbol. More letters like that.
Greek letters.
Something clicked in my head. A tale I'd read once, years ago, when I'd been obsessed with everything to do with prophecies.
But I didn't have time to think about it. Percy had met the horse-hippo's remaining tusk with his shield and sword, clamping it between them as he'd once done with Clarisse's electric spear, right before he'd snapped it. The monstrous tusk wasn't as easy to break. Percy held on for dear life as the beast tried to swing itself out of his clamp. His sneakers dug deep tracks into the dirt for purchase.
'Now!' he yelled.
Thalia and I let our weapons fly. My dagger and her spear soared through the air and stuck into each side of the horse-hippo's hide, embedding themselves into its round, fat flesh. At the same time, Percy released the monster's tusk and twisted Riptide so that he could jab it upwards into the horse-hippo's throat.
The monster gave a strangled, gurgling cry and exploded in a flash of grey. Percy's skateboard toppled out of its ashes and clattered to the ground inside the ring of red saliva. The bright red patterns emitted a brilliant glow. Now that I had recognised them as letters, I could read the ancient Greek writing:
A circle of three bound in love and hate;
An unwitting choice will seal their fate:
One that threads grey through their hair.
I only got halfway around the circle before the writing, too, vanished like the monster that had created it. All that remained was its severed tusk, our bronze weapons, and the shower of sweat still clinging to our clothes.
Percy gathered up his skateboard and tucked it under his arm. Thalia retrieved her spear. I stared at the place where the circle of writing had been, trying to fix the lines I'd read in my memory.
'Er, Annabeth?'
'What?'
Percy held out my dagger. I took it, becoming aware as I did so of the crowd that had gathered in our vicinity, gawking and pointing at the three crazy kids with weapons. Jogging towards us from the direction of the zoo were two keepers in ranger uniforms.
I didn't know what the Mist had made of our little showdown with the horse-hippo, but it couldn't be good. With our luck, we'd be blamed for setting a zoo animal free and then murdering it. (Well, discounting the fact that it wasn't actually a zoo animal, this wasn't exactly untrue.)
Percy grabbed my hand. 'Run!'
+++
Percy led the way to an apartment on the Upper East Side. I'd seen it once before-well, spied on it from the fire escape. That had been an accident, but the memory brought a blush to my cheeks.
'Mom, I'm home!' Percy called. 'And I brought friends!' He looked over his shoulder at Thalia and me. 'Come on in. My mom doesn't bite, I promise.'
'We do have to meet Argus to get back to camp,' I said.
Percy's face fell. 'Right now?'
'I guess we could stay a few minutes.' I looked down at my filthy clothes. 'And maybe get changed.'
Sally Jackson's soft, kind face popped up behind Percy.
'Who-' she began, then she saw me and her smile widened. 'Oh, hello, Annabeth, it's good to see you!' Her eyes travelled up and down our bedraggled forms. If our filthy states disgusted her, she didn't let it show. 'And you must be Thalia,' she said, opening the door wider. 'Percy's told me so much about you. Please come in.'
We followed Percy and his mom into the tiny apartment. It was cramped but cosy, with walls painted a cheerful sunshine yellow and a living room full of mismatched armchairs that were adorned with squishy blue cushions. One of the chairs had an open laptop sitting on it; a coffee mug with WIRLS BES MOM painted on it in uneven letters balanced precariously on the armrest.
Sally gestured to the armchairs. 'Make yourself at home.'
'Um …' I picked at the damp edge of my t-shirt. 'We're kind of-'
I meant to say that I didn't want to dirty her cushions (I could imagine the fit Janet would throw if I tried to sit on anything in our home in my current state). But Sally misunderstood me.
'Oh, how thoughtless of me. You'll want to clean up, of course. Percy, can you show Annabeth to the bathroom? I'll get a towel, and I think I have some old clothes that'll fit you both-I'm afraid we only have the one bathroom, but go ahead and have a seat while you wait, Thalia. Really, don't worry about the mess. I promise Percy's done worse.'
'Mom!'
When I came out to exchange places with Thalia a few minutes later, dressed in Sally's old slacks and one of Percy's camp t-shirts, Percy had already changed into clean jeans and a blue shirt with a big, grinning fish splashed across the front. He had his shield open on the table and he was rubbing its surface with a cloth. It did indeed have my picture on it, as well as Percy and Tyson, his Cyclops half-brother. Our adventures from last year's quest were hammered into its face, making a beautiful Grecian mural. The intricate carving was the work of a master.
'Did Tyson make that?' I asked. 'It's beautiful!' And very flattering. I'd never been the subject of a mural before.
'Yeah. Handy, too, against that horse-hippo thing.'
'An Orobas,' I said.
Percy looked up from his shield. 'Oro-what?'
'Orobas,' I repeated. 'An Oracle demon.' I'd read about them when I was ten, right after I'd heard the Great Prophecy. Obsessed with figuring it out, I'd searched high and low for any information I could get on prophecies, oracles, or divination. My book had neglected to provide an illustration of the Orobas, which was why I hadn't made the connection until I read its salivary writings. 'It has prophetic spit.'
Percy raised an eyebrow. 'How does that work?'
I explained about the Greek writing and the lines I'd read in the ring of spit.
'Huh,' said Percy. He stopped cleaning his shield and frowned at the images. There was a light red smudge over one of the Laistrygonian giants Tyson had depicted me fighting. It had probably featured more Greek letters before he'd started rubbing the stain away. Now, it was completely indistinct.
'Well, it sounds like a good thing you were there to help,' Sally said. She set out three steaming mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of blue muffins. Her own mug had disappeared and her laptop was packed up. 'I'm sorry to be a bad host, but I have to run-I have a class to get to, and I was just about to go when you guys showed up. If I'd known earlier you were coming …'
'No, don't worry,' I said quickly. 'We'll be fine.'
'Stay as long as you like. There's plenty of food. Percy will get you whatever you want.'
Percy's eyes gleamed. 'Can we order pizza?'
'As long as you save me a piece.' Sally kissed Percy's cheek, gave me a quick hug, and headed out the door.
Percy and I looked at each other.
'Well,' I said.
'Yeah,' Percy mumbled. 'It's, uh, good to see you.'
In the awkward silence that followed, I became very aware of the fact that we were alone in his living room.
This was so stupid. Percy was my best friend. Less than an hour ago, we'd been fighting a monster together in our normal style. I'd wanted to see him again ever since he'd IM-ed me on my first day at St Catherine's. How could I suddenly be at a loss for words?
More for something to do than because I really wanted a drink, I grabbed a mug of hot chocolate. Sally had made it nice and thick, with plenty of cream and marshmallows on the top. Percy copied me and we both sat there swigging the sweet, warm liquid. A foamy white moustache appeared on his upper lip when he put his mug back down, making me smile. He grinned back, and I realised I probably had an identical one.
'You should have a muffin,' he offered.
'Are they as good as the cookies?' His mom had brought a whole basket to camp last summer.
'Better,' he promised.
'Don't mind if I do.' Thalia's voice made us both jump. She'd emerged from the bathroom in another pair of Sally's pants and a borrowed black blouse. I sat my mug down abruptly and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Thalia shook her head at us. 'Sorry to crash the date.'
'Don't be ridiculous,' I snapped. To my mortification, my cheeks felt hotter than the chocolate.
'I IM-ed Chiron and told him where we are,' Thalia said, still looking annoyingly smug. She plucked a muffin from the plate. Through a large bite, she continued, 'He said we could stay until the evening if we liked. I thought you'd want to.'
'I don't-I mean, I do, uh-' I reached for my mug again. So did Percy. Our fingers brushed. It was like being near Thalia when she was channelling her electric powers.
Thalia smirked and took another bite of her muffin.
'Annabeth says the hippo thing was a prophecy demon,' Percy said quickly.
'Oracle demon,' I corrected. 'An Orobas.'
'Really?' Thalia sounded intrigued. She sank into Sally's vacated armchair.
I repeated the two lines of the prophecy for her.
Thalia shook her head. 'Can't make head or tail of that.'
'You're the Wise One,' Percy said to me. 'What do you think it means?'
'Well, it's kind of generic, isn't it? I mean, "a circle of three"-practically everything in the Greek world comes in threes: the Three Fates, the three Kindly Ones, the three judges of the Underworld-'
Percy grinned. 'The Three Stooges.'
'They aren't Greek, you idiot,' Thalia said. 'And there were three of us fighting the Orobas.'
'"Bound in love and hate?"' Percy glanced at me, then became suddenly interested in the muffin crumbs on his saucer. My cheeks burned again, though there was no reason why they should.
Thalia made an impatient noise. 'What about the next line-"an unwitting choice will seal their fate?" Or "threads grey through their hair?" Neither of those sound good.' She licked her lips nervously. My mind flickered over the Great Prophecy. One of its lines specified that Thalia would make a choice that could bring Olympus to its knees.
'My mom I always give her grey hairs when I scare her to death,' Percy said. Thalia gave him a dirty look. I don’t think she was keen to think about death in close proximity to choices.
'It's just as generic as the other line,' I said firmly. 'Like, people get grey hairs all the time. And, duh, the stuff we choose will have consequences. That's why wisdom is so important!'
'Sure, Wise Girl,' Percy said. 'I'll remember to think long and hard whether to kill a monster next time it's trying to eat me.'
'I didn't say think about it for a long time! You just have to make a wise choice!'
'I'm just saying, you can think too much about stuff.'
'I don't recall you complaining when I was coming up with strategies to get the Golden Fleece. Or sneak into the Underworld.'
'None of which actually went according to plan.'
'That doesn't mean we shouldn't make a plan!'
'Geez, will you two just kiss and make up already?' Thalia said. I took a step back, my heart pounding. Somewhere during our argument, Percy and I had gotten to our feet. We were now standing face to face. Thalia helped herself to another muffin, grinning like she was watching an entertaining TV show.
When neither of us spoke, she said, 'Anyway, back to the point-prophecies are usually for quests, right? And none of us is actually on a quest, so maybe it doesn't apply to us.'
'Do me a favour,' Percy said, with an attempt at a laugh, 'don't accept any quests this month.'
I thought of Clarisse, who must have left on her scouting mission already. 'We might not have a choice.'
Percy and Thalia looked at me quizzically. I almost started to tell Percy and Thalia about Clarisse's mission, but then I remembered Chiron's admonition to keep it under wraps for now. Anyway, I couldn't see how the Orobas's prophecy would apply to Clarisse's task.
'I'm just saying, Kro-the Titan lord is out there, trying to bring down Olympus. If we have to stop him, we can't hang back to save our own skins.'
There was silence. Then Percy cleared his throat. 'Speaking of quests, what are you guys doing in Manhattan? Don't you, like, go to school in Brooklyn?'
Grateful for the change in subject, I explained about our weekend visits to camp and our excursion to Olympus. ('Better you than me,' Percy said to Thalia when he heard about her audience with Zeus.) The topic took us to school and what an all-girls' academy was like. Percy had been to boarding school before, but his schools had always had mixed enrolment. We had plenty of stories to trade nonetheless. He nodded in sympathy when I told him about Melanie, matching me story for story with tales of the bullies from his own schools.
Once we actually got talking, the weird nervousness from before disappeared, and so did the time. When Argus honked for us downstairs, I was amazed at how quickly the afternoon had melted away. We'd caught each other up on two months' worth of school stories and camp gossip (the way Beckendorf and Silena were currently dancing around each other was a hot topic), polished off all the muffins and ordered what Percy claimed was the best pizza in New York (he was probably right), and heard all about Percy learning to drive in his mom's Mazda (I wondered if my dad would ever take the time to teach me).
'You guys should, uh, come over more,' Percy said. 'Now that you're in Brooklyn, I mean. Your school's not too far from here, right?'
'We go to camp on the weekends,' Thalia reminded him. 'Training to do and all that.'
An idea crept into my head. 'Why don't you come to camp for the weekends, too?'
Percy twisted his feet and stared down at them. 'I-it's kind of far. I mean, Mom would drive me if I asked, but she's doing her writing class on the weekends, and if she had to take me all the way there and back-it's two trips for her, and she's got enough to do, you know?'
'Oh. Maybe Argus could drop by for you after he picks us up, or before …'
Percy scratched his head. 'I don't wanna put him out either.'
'Or maybe …' My voice trailed off as I realised how desperate I must sound, trying so hard to get Percy to camp. Thalia was smirking again. My face reddened. 'Never mind.'
Before we got into Argus's van, I looked back up the fire escape to Percy's apartment. There was a light on in the window. I thought maybe he was standing at it, watching us leave, but it was too high up to see clearly. In the twilight, the shadows over the building fell in an interlocking pattern. Maybe it was just a trick of the light, but they seemed to form familiar shapes. They weren't from the lines of the Orobas's prophecy, but the first oracle it had spat out, which I hadn't consciously registered. Until now.
Three Greek letters-Pi, Alpha, Lambda-wound tightly around each other, wavering in the twilight.
Chapter 9