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FIC: The Necklace of Harmonia, chpt 14
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: We Take A Road Trip To Maine
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson, Sally Jackson, Chiron
Word Count: 3,308
Chapter Summary: Sally Jackson chauffeurs Annabeth, Percy, and Thalia to find Grover.
Notes: All recognisable dialogue at the end of this chapter is taken from Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse.
Back to fic content page
My dad wrote to me at the start of December to tell me that he and my stepfamily had settled into their new home. The letter didn't get to me until mid-December, though, probably because he sent it to camp and not St Catherine's. The sting of our Thanksgiving fiasco had dulled by this time, although thinking about it still filled me with a layer of numbness, like the thin frost that covered our dorm windows.
In the letter, my dad persisted in inviting me to San Francisco for Christmas break. He promised they'd have a room in the house for me no matter what. Not for the first time, I wondered why he kept writing, kept insisting I belonged with him. It didn't gel with his refusal to choose me over his new family, or even over his job and his planes. Was it a lingering sense of responsibility? Did his conscience keep him from being able to abandon his daughter entirely to camp?
Maybe we would both be better off if I became a Hunter. I'd be taken care of-off his hands for good. He wouldn't have to feel guilty at all.
Enclosed with the letter was a scrap of notebook paper with my dad's new address, and a photograph of the four of them in the back garden of the house. In the background was the tall shadow of a mountain, reaching towards a dark, cloudy sky. Mount Tamalpais, my dad had scrawled on the reverse side. It was the same mountain backdrop that had been in Clarisse's last Iris-message.
I looked at their new address. It was south of the Golden Gate Bridge, but they were still in the shadow of Mount Tam, dangerously near to the bay where Clarisse had seen the Princess Andromeda docked. The city had to be crawling with monsters.
And my dad still didn't think twice about inviting me there.
The door to my cabin opened. My half-brother Malcolm stuck his head in. 'Chiron's doing archery class,' he said. 'You coming?'
I stuffed the letter and photograph back into their envelope and stuck it between the pages of my sketch pad. 'Coming,' I said.
My sketch pad felt heavy with indecision as I put it away. Lying among its pages now were the Hunter's brochure (which I'd read enough times by now to have memorised every word), Mrs Carlson's Cornell brochure (it bookmarked my sketches for my Ground Zero monument project, which was going so well, school had gone from being a chore to actually enjoyable in the past month), and now my dad's letter.
Chiron was distracted throughout the archery lesson. He didn't even bother to chide the Stoll brothers when they planted explosive arrows in the training sheaths and blew up half the range. I found out later that evening that he was worrying about Clarisse. She still hadn't checked in with us, and Chiron feared the worst. He wanted to send a search party to look for her, but Mr D forbade it.
'I am not authorising any more pointless excursions in search of this mystery maze,' he said sourly. 'What's the point of sending my satyrs out on red alert to collect more brats if you lose them faster than they can bring them in?'
Chiron drew me aside. 'Maybe at Christmas break, you could head to Phoenix instead of coming to camp?'
I thought of telling him about the Hunters-they might even have some tips for searching for missing people-but something made me hold back. Chiron certainly knew of their existence. If he'd never offered their programme to any of us, he must have a reason.
None of this made my dilemma any better. I wondered if the Hunters offered a two-week trial package. Maybe I'd be able to better ascertain if joining them was the right choice for my future if I could just try it out first. I added it to the list of things I should check out during Christmas break.
But it turned out that the Fates had other plans for me that week.
The second to last day of term, I was taking a shower after cross-country practice when Percy's face appeared on the bathroom wall.
I didn't notice the Iris-message until I heard his yelp. When I looked up, he had his hands firmly planted over his eyes and he was babbling something like, 'Shit-sorry-thought-sorry!'
I screamed and pulled the shower curtain around me. Percy disappeared; he must have cut off the message.
'What! Annabeth, what?' Thalia yelled from our room. I heard a swishing sound, like she'd activated her spear and shield.
'It's fine!' I squeaked. 'I just-never mind, no monsters.'
Thalia punched me in the arm when I came out a few minutes later. 'Just give me a heart attack, why don't you?'
'Sorry,' I muttered, rubbing my towel over my ears. I'd finished washing up in such a hurry, they still had soap suds in them.
'What happened? Spiders again?'
'Got a call,' I mumbled, not keen to get into the details. I fumbled in my desk drawer for my prism and a drachma. Percy knew how risky it was to IM me at school, so he must have had a good reason to call. And embarrassing timing aside, I had to admit I didn't mind the chance to catch up with him. It had been more than a month since I'd seen him in Central Park.
'A call?' Thalia said. 'You don't mean a-an Iris-message? But who-?'
I made the offering to Iris and called out Percy's name and address. Understanding dawned on Thalia's face, followed closely by amusement.
'Ohhh, he-oh my gods-' She dissolved into laughter.
'Shut up,' I told her. 'No, not you,' I added quickly, as Percy's chagrined face appeared in the rainbow of my prism.
'I'm really sorry,' he said. 'I didn't think-'
'It's fine. Your timing could be better, but, um, yeah, never mind.'
By now, Thalia was laughing so hard she was doubled over and rolling about on her bed, pounding at the pillows in her mirth.
'Is that-?' Percy craned his head, but Thalia was just out of his line of sight.
'Ignore her,' I said sternly. 'What's going on? Um, not that something has to be wrong. As long as no mortals are around, I don't mind-I mean, we haven't talked since-' I turned to glare at Thalia as she let out another wild peal of laughter. 'Shut up, will you?'
'Grover sent me a distress call,' Percy said. This got both Thalia's and my attention. She stopped laughing at once and sat up straight on her bed.
'A distress call? Like-like last summer?' Grover had got into Cyclops-sized trouble and called on Percy for help by setting up an empathy link with him. As far as I knew, Grover was still in Maine scouting for half-bloods. I didn't think he'd run into another satyr-eating Cyclops there, but you never knew.
'Yeah, through the empathy link. Oh, no, I don't think he's in trouble exactly,' Percy said quickly, seeing the look on my face. 'At least, I hope not. He wasn't very clear. But he said he needed help urgently. And I knew you'd want to help, too.'
'Of course,' I said. 'How are we getting to him?'
Percy's face broke into a grin. 'My mom said she'd drive me up tomorrow. I'll get her to swing by your school for you, okay?'
I gave Percy the address for St Catherine's and we disconnected the message.
Thalia got to her feet, all laughter forgotten as she strode across the room and started pulling clothes out of the closet. 'Better get packing.'
'You're coming, too?'
She snorted. 'Well, duh. It's Grover.' She said it like he was a little brother she had to go pull out of trouble.
I started to pack as well. Not knowing how long it would take to sort out whatever Grover had gotten himself into, I made sure to stuff as many warm layers into my bag as possible. I remembered my overnight escape to camp last month. It was even colder now, and Maine was further north. With our luck, we'd end up camping in the snow at some point.
I'd just finished packing in my sweaters when I slapped my forehead, realising the flaw in our plan. 'We'll need to get out of school early.'
Thalia looked pleased with herself. 'Leave that to me.'
+++
The next morning, we stood by the main entrance to the school, each bearing a signed permission slip to leave for winter break a day early. Thalia's private lessons with Chiron were evidently paying off. She had manipulated the Mist so that Principal Kellis herself had come to tell us at breakfast that we were being summoned home immediately for a 'family emergency'.
The snow started to fall as Sally Jackson's little purple Mazda pulled up in the driveway and we hopped into the back seat.
'Annabeth, Thalia!' Sally's smile was as warm as ever, but there seemed to be a nervous edge to it. I didn't blame her; she was a mortal driving her demigod son and his friends into what could be a deadly battle. It was already remarkably brave of her to act as our chauffeur.
Percy twisted around in the front seat to look at us. 'Hey,' he said.
'So what's up with Grover?' Thalia asked as we pulled out of the school lane and onto the motorway.
'I don't know. He only gave me the address of the school and said he'd meet me there. I haven't heard anything since his distress call yesterday.'
'I thought you guys had an empathy link?' I asked. 'Can't you, I don't know, feel him?'
'It's not like it's a telephone or something,' Percy said. 'I don't even know how to switch it on or off. He's the one who knows how to work it.'
We lapsed into silence, wondering what could have made Grover send out a distress call and then go silent. My imagination didn't help. It kept conjuring pictures of different monsters-Laistrygonians and hellhounds and other terrifying creatures that might hide out in a school up north. I thought of Kitsune. Had the Hunters managed to track her down, or had she escaped? Would she be waiting for us up there?
Sally let out a shaky laugh and turned up her windscreen wipers against the intensifying snow. 'It's really coming down hard,' she said. 'I hope it doesn't turn into a real blizzard. We've got a long drive ahead.' Her voice was tight and her words came out quickly, not unlike Percy when he was nervous about something. 'I hope it doesn't end up like that time we had to drive to Gabe's aunt's funeral. You remember that, honey? Maybe not, you were only six …'
'Twelve hours in a car with that jerk,' Percy muttered. 'Hard to forget.'
He met my eyes and I winced in sympathy. Percy's ex-stepfather made Janet seem warm and cuddly.
'Percy loved the countryside, though,' Sally told us. The reminiscing seemed to help her to relax. 'Ms Ugliano lived near a lake-though it was frozen that winter. I had such a time keeping him off it. He kept telling me the fishies were trapped underneath and he had to set them free.'
'Mom …' Percy groaned. 'Annabeth and Thalia don't need to hear about all that.'
Thalia grinned wickedly. 'No, tell us more, Ms Jackson.'
'Call me Sally, dear.'
Percy sank lower in his seat as his mom regaled us with the adventures of Percy Jackson, six-year-old knight in fish-scale armour. He shrugged his coat up as if he were trying to hide inside it, until all I could see of him were the tips of his ears. They grew redder and redder as Sally segued into more childhood stories, like the time she'd bought him a goldfish and he'd insisted on taking baths with it. Or the time he'd pretended he was a dolphin and slid naked on his belly through the house because 'dolphins don't wear clothes, Mommy!'
'Mom, stop!' he moaned, casting a mortified glance towards the back seat.
I smiled sweetly back at him. This was apt revenge for the embarrassing timing of his Iris-message yesterday. (Okay, fine, so that hadn't really been his fault.)
At first, Thalia listened to Sally's ramblings down memory lane with amusement, but her attention began to wane around the third bathtub tale. She was fidgeting in earnest, spinning her mace canister in her hands and twisting the spray cap back and forth. I was afraid she might accidentally set it off and punch a hole through the roof of Sally's car with her spear, so I asked her, 'What's the longest road trip you've ever taken?'
'My mom drove us up to Sonoma once,' Thalia said. She shoved the mace canister back into her pocket and went very still, like she was retreating into the memory.
'What about you, Annabeth?' Percy asked, picking up on the change in subject with relief. 'Besides our quests, I mean.'
We were winding around Boston on the I-95 just then, reminding me of the longest road trip I'd ever taken with my dad-up here to visit family. He had a brother and sister in Boston, but I hadn't seen them since the Thanksgiving I was six. My mind circled back to the visit, to watching the adults through the upstairs banisters, and hiding out with my cousin Magnus in the library while the argument raged on outside. He was the only one I'd told about my plans to run away. I think I'd hoped at the time that I'd be able to live with him and Aunt Natalie (my seven-year-old brain hadn't quite comprehended the distance between Richmond and Boston). But then I'd met Thalia and Luke and put all thought of going back to my real family out of my head.
I wondered where Magnus and Aunt Natalie were now. As far as I knew, my dad hadn't kept in touch with his family after that massive fight. He never even spoke of them to me. I didn't even think he sent them letters, unlike the way he continued to write to me.
My fingers, which had unconsciously started toying with the beads on my camp necklace, froze around my dad's college ring. In a couple of years, would my dad stop writing to me, too? Would my name drop from his lips, never to cross them again?
I realised I hadn't answered Percy. Not that it mattered. In the long silence, Sally had, to Percy's dismay, started up again with a spirited story about three-year-old Percy deciding to go snorkelling for 'deep sea treasure' in the bathtub.
The blizzard continued to swirl around us as we crossed the border into New Hampshire, and finally, into Maine. Sally's store of stories seemed to be never-ending. It was comforting to hear her going on like any normal, proud mom. Even the stories that involved Percy dealing with dangerous stuff (like strangling a pair of snakes in the crib at playschool-Thalia was quite impressed by that one) were told in the same affectionate tone. I wondered if my dad had ever looked back on my childhood quite so fondly. Had he ever seen my toddler escapades as anything besides a nuisance?
I had a strong urge to call him and ask. Which was stupid. I already knew he and Janet had been perpetually annoyed by the monster attacks that plagued me as a kid.
All thoughts of my family were pushed aside when we finally pulled up at the military boarding school Grover was attending. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale, with stone walls and turrets that stood out sharply against the snowy backdrop. Even its location, on an ocean cliff at the edge of a deep forest, was perfect storybook material.
Thalia grimaced as she stared out of the car window. 'Oh yeah. This'll be fun.'
I twisted up my hair and tucked it carefully under my ski cap, mentally preparing myself for battle.
'Thanks, Mom,' Percy said. He leaned over as if to kiss her cheek, then seemed to remember we were still in the back seat and pulled away.
'Are you sure you don't want me to wait?' Sally asked. She looked uncertainly at the school.
'No, thanks, Mom,' Percy said firmly. 'I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay.'
Sally was still hesitating. I could tell even before she said it that she was really worried about him. Not that I blamed her. Percy had a real knack for attracting monsters, and with Thalia and me here, our scent would be at least twice as strong.
But we'd also have thrice the fighting power. And Grover needed us.
'It's okay, Ms Jackson,' I said. 'We'll keep him out of trouble.'
She must really have been anxious, because she forgot to remind me to call her 'Sally'. She turned her head to look at Thalia and me. 'All right, dears. Do you have everything you need?'
Thalia held up her bag. 'Yes, Ms Jackson. Thanks for the ride.'
Sally squinted at our bags as though trying to check the contents by visual X-ray. 'Extra sweaters?' she asked, with a frown at the swirling snow outside. She turned back to Percy. 'You have my cell phone number?'
'Mom …' Percy complained. The back of his neck was glowing as she interrogated him about his supplies. It was kind of sweet how concerned Sally was, checking on every last little detail. I couldn't help contrasting it with my dad's apathetic response when I ran away.
Percy was so lucky.
He didn't act like it just then, though. With a last, 'Mom, seriously,' he opened the car door.
We got out of the car. Sally gave us a wave and pulled out of the drive. The purple Mazda disappeared into the blizzard.
Thalia looked wistfully after it. 'Your mom is so cool, Percy.'
Percy looked like he was sorry he hadn't kissed Sally goodbye after all. 'She's pretty okay,' he said. He wrapped his arms around himself, pulling his coat a little tighter. I did the same; the biting wind seemed to cut through every layer I had on.
We headed up the path towards the school. Up close, it looked more like a medieval castle than ever, with the shadow of its entrance looming over us. All it needed were a couple of gargoyles sitting on the eaves. WESTOVER HALL, said the carved letters over the large double doors. I didn't like the look of it. This seemed like a place that could hold any amount of bloodthirsty creatures.
'What about you?' Percy said. I was confused, until I realised he was talking to Thalia. 'You ever get in touch with your mom?'
The air was suddenly charged with a freezing intensity that had nothing to do with the snowstorm. 'If that was any of your business-'
I sighed and stepped between them before the fight could even begin brewing. Percy hadn't meant any harm with his question, but I guess Thalia wasn't as over her mom's death as she'd pretended to be. 'We'd better get inside. Grover will be waiting.'
Thalia cast a distasteful look at Percy, then said, 'You're right.' She put a hand on the handle of the oak door and repeated the question that had been in our minds all the way up: 'I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call.'
'Nothing good,' Percy said grimly, and we pushed open the doors.
Chapter 15
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: We Take A Road Trip To Maine
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson, Sally Jackson, Chiron
Word Count: 3,308
Chapter Summary: Sally Jackson chauffeurs Annabeth, Percy, and Thalia to find Grover.
Notes: All recognisable dialogue at the end of this chapter is taken from Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse.
Back to fic content page
My dad wrote to me at the start of December to tell me that he and my stepfamily had settled into their new home. The letter didn't get to me until mid-December, though, probably because he sent it to camp and not St Catherine's. The sting of our Thanksgiving fiasco had dulled by this time, although thinking about it still filled me with a layer of numbness, like the thin frost that covered our dorm windows.
In the letter, my dad persisted in inviting me to San Francisco for Christmas break. He promised they'd have a room in the house for me no matter what. Not for the first time, I wondered why he kept writing, kept insisting I belonged with him. It didn't gel with his refusal to choose me over his new family, or even over his job and his planes. Was it a lingering sense of responsibility? Did his conscience keep him from being able to abandon his daughter entirely to camp?
Maybe we would both be better off if I became a Hunter. I'd be taken care of-off his hands for good. He wouldn't have to feel guilty at all.
Enclosed with the letter was a scrap of notebook paper with my dad's new address, and a photograph of the four of them in the back garden of the house. In the background was the tall shadow of a mountain, reaching towards a dark, cloudy sky. Mount Tamalpais, my dad had scrawled on the reverse side. It was the same mountain backdrop that had been in Clarisse's last Iris-message.
I looked at their new address. It was south of the Golden Gate Bridge, but they were still in the shadow of Mount Tam, dangerously near to the bay where Clarisse had seen the Princess Andromeda docked. The city had to be crawling with monsters.
And my dad still didn't think twice about inviting me there.
The door to my cabin opened. My half-brother Malcolm stuck his head in. 'Chiron's doing archery class,' he said. 'You coming?'
I stuffed the letter and photograph back into their envelope and stuck it between the pages of my sketch pad. 'Coming,' I said.
My sketch pad felt heavy with indecision as I put it away. Lying among its pages now were the Hunter's brochure (which I'd read enough times by now to have memorised every word), Mrs Carlson's Cornell brochure (it bookmarked my sketches for my Ground Zero monument project, which was going so well, school had gone from being a chore to actually enjoyable in the past month), and now my dad's letter.
Chiron was distracted throughout the archery lesson. He didn't even bother to chide the Stoll brothers when they planted explosive arrows in the training sheaths and blew up half the range. I found out later that evening that he was worrying about Clarisse. She still hadn't checked in with us, and Chiron feared the worst. He wanted to send a search party to look for her, but Mr D forbade it.
'I am not authorising any more pointless excursions in search of this mystery maze,' he said sourly. 'What's the point of sending my satyrs out on red alert to collect more brats if you lose them faster than they can bring them in?'
Chiron drew me aside. 'Maybe at Christmas break, you could head to Phoenix instead of coming to camp?'
I thought of telling him about the Hunters-they might even have some tips for searching for missing people-but something made me hold back. Chiron certainly knew of their existence. If he'd never offered their programme to any of us, he must have a reason.
None of this made my dilemma any better. I wondered if the Hunters offered a two-week trial package. Maybe I'd be able to better ascertain if joining them was the right choice for my future if I could just try it out first. I added it to the list of things I should check out during Christmas break.
But it turned out that the Fates had other plans for me that week.
The second to last day of term, I was taking a shower after cross-country practice when Percy's face appeared on the bathroom wall.
I didn't notice the Iris-message until I heard his yelp. When I looked up, he had his hands firmly planted over his eyes and he was babbling something like, 'Shit-sorry-thought-sorry!'
I screamed and pulled the shower curtain around me. Percy disappeared; he must have cut off the message.
'What! Annabeth, what?' Thalia yelled from our room. I heard a swishing sound, like she'd activated her spear and shield.
'It's fine!' I squeaked. 'I just-never mind, no monsters.'
Thalia punched me in the arm when I came out a few minutes later. 'Just give me a heart attack, why don't you?'
'Sorry,' I muttered, rubbing my towel over my ears. I'd finished washing up in such a hurry, they still had soap suds in them.
'What happened? Spiders again?'
'Got a call,' I mumbled, not keen to get into the details. I fumbled in my desk drawer for my prism and a drachma. Percy knew how risky it was to IM me at school, so he must have had a good reason to call. And embarrassing timing aside, I had to admit I didn't mind the chance to catch up with him. It had been more than a month since I'd seen him in Central Park.
'A call?' Thalia said. 'You don't mean a-an Iris-message? But who-?'
I made the offering to Iris and called out Percy's name and address. Understanding dawned on Thalia's face, followed closely by amusement.
'Ohhh, he-oh my gods-' She dissolved into laughter.
'Shut up,' I told her. 'No, not you,' I added quickly, as Percy's chagrined face appeared in the rainbow of my prism.
'I'm really sorry,' he said. 'I didn't think-'
'It's fine. Your timing could be better, but, um, yeah, never mind.'
By now, Thalia was laughing so hard she was doubled over and rolling about on her bed, pounding at the pillows in her mirth.
'Is that-?' Percy craned his head, but Thalia was just out of his line of sight.
'Ignore her,' I said sternly. 'What's going on? Um, not that something has to be wrong. As long as no mortals are around, I don't mind-I mean, we haven't talked since-' I turned to glare at Thalia as she let out another wild peal of laughter. 'Shut up, will you?'
'Grover sent me a distress call,' Percy said. This got both Thalia's and my attention. She stopped laughing at once and sat up straight on her bed.
'A distress call? Like-like last summer?' Grover had got into Cyclops-sized trouble and called on Percy for help by setting up an empathy link with him. As far as I knew, Grover was still in Maine scouting for half-bloods. I didn't think he'd run into another satyr-eating Cyclops there, but you never knew.
'Yeah, through the empathy link. Oh, no, I don't think he's in trouble exactly,' Percy said quickly, seeing the look on my face. 'At least, I hope not. He wasn't very clear. But he said he needed help urgently. And I knew you'd want to help, too.'
'Of course,' I said. 'How are we getting to him?'
Percy's face broke into a grin. 'My mom said she'd drive me up tomorrow. I'll get her to swing by your school for you, okay?'
I gave Percy the address for St Catherine's and we disconnected the message.
Thalia got to her feet, all laughter forgotten as she strode across the room and started pulling clothes out of the closet. 'Better get packing.'
'You're coming, too?'
She snorted. 'Well, duh. It's Grover.' She said it like he was a little brother she had to go pull out of trouble.
I started to pack as well. Not knowing how long it would take to sort out whatever Grover had gotten himself into, I made sure to stuff as many warm layers into my bag as possible. I remembered my overnight escape to camp last month. It was even colder now, and Maine was further north. With our luck, we'd end up camping in the snow at some point.
I'd just finished packing in my sweaters when I slapped my forehead, realising the flaw in our plan. 'We'll need to get out of school early.'
Thalia looked pleased with herself. 'Leave that to me.'
+++
The next morning, we stood by the main entrance to the school, each bearing a signed permission slip to leave for winter break a day early. Thalia's private lessons with Chiron were evidently paying off. She had manipulated the Mist so that Principal Kellis herself had come to tell us at breakfast that we were being summoned home immediately for a 'family emergency'.
The snow started to fall as Sally Jackson's little purple Mazda pulled up in the driveway and we hopped into the back seat.
'Annabeth, Thalia!' Sally's smile was as warm as ever, but there seemed to be a nervous edge to it. I didn't blame her; she was a mortal driving her demigod son and his friends into what could be a deadly battle. It was already remarkably brave of her to act as our chauffeur.
Percy twisted around in the front seat to look at us. 'Hey,' he said.
'So what's up with Grover?' Thalia asked as we pulled out of the school lane and onto the motorway.
'I don't know. He only gave me the address of the school and said he'd meet me there. I haven't heard anything since his distress call yesterday.'
'I thought you guys had an empathy link?' I asked. 'Can't you, I don't know, feel him?'
'It's not like it's a telephone or something,' Percy said. 'I don't even know how to switch it on or off. He's the one who knows how to work it.'
We lapsed into silence, wondering what could have made Grover send out a distress call and then go silent. My imagination didn't help. It kept conjuring pictures of different monsters-Laistrygonians and hellhounds and other terrifying creatures that might hide out in a school up north. I thought of Kitsune. Had the Hunters managed to track her down, or had she escaped? Would she be waiting for us up there?
Sally let out a shaky laugh and turned up her windscreen wipers against the intensifying snow. 'It's really coming down hard,' she said. 'I hope it doesn't turn into a real blizzard. We've got a long drive ahead.' Her voice was tight and her words came out quickly, not unlike Percy when he was nervous about something. 'I hope it doesn't end up like that time we had to drive to Gabe's aunt's funeral. You remember that, honey? Maybe not, you were only six …'
'Twelve hours in a car with that jerk,' Percy muttered. 'Hard to forget.'
He met my eyes and I winced in sympathy. Percy's ex-stepfather made Janet seem warm and cuddly.
'Percy loved the countryside, though,' Sally told us. The reminiscing seemed to help her to relax. 'Ms Ugliano lived near a lake-though it was frozen that winter. I had such a time keeping him off it. He kept telling me the fishies were trapped underneath and he had to set them free.'
'Mom …' Percy groaned. 'Annabeth and Thalia don't need to hear about all that.'
Thalia grinned wickedly. 'No, tell us more, Ms Jackson.'
'Call me Sally, dear.'
Percy sank lower in his seat as his mom regaled us with the adventures of Percy Jackson, six-year-old knight in fish-scale armour. He shrugged his coat up as if he were trying to hide inside it, until all I could see of him were the tips of his ears. They grew redder and redder as Sally segued into more childhood stories, like the time she'd bought him a goldfish and he'd insisted on taking baths with it. Or the time he'd pretended he was a dolphin and slid naked on his belly through the house because 'dolphins don't wear clothes, Mommy!'
'Mom, stop!' he moaned, casting a mortified glance towards the back seat.
I smiled sweetly back at him. This was apt revenge for the embarrassing timing of his Iris-message yesterday. (Okay, fine, so that hadn't really been his fault.)
At first, Thalia listened to Sally's ramblings down memory lane with amusement, but her attention began to wane around the third bathtub tale. She was fidgeting in earnest, spinning her mace canister in her hands and twisting the spray cap back and forth. I was afraid she might accidentally set it off and punch a hole through the roof of Sally's car with her spear, so I asked her, 'What's the longest road trip you've ever taken?'
'My mom drove us up to Sonoma once,' Thalia said. She shoved the mace canister back into her pocket and went very still, like she was retreating into the memory.
'What about you, Annabeth?' Percy asked, picking up on the change in subject with relief. 'Besides our quests, I mean.'
We were winding around Boston on the I-95 just then, reminding me of the longest road trip I'd ever taken with my dad-up here to visit family. He had a brother and sister in Boston, but I hadn't seen them since the Thanksgiving I was six. My mind circled back to the visit, to watching the adults through the upstairs banisters, and hiding out with my cousin Magnus in the library while the argument raged on outside. He was the only one I'd told about my plans to run away. I think I'd hoped at the time that I'd be able to live with him and Aunt Natalie (my seven-year-old brain hadn't quite comprehended the distance between Richmond and Boston). But then I'd met Thalia and Luke and put all thought of going back to my real family out of my head.
I wondered where Magnus and Aunt Natalie were now. As far as I knew, my dad hadn't kept in touch with his family after that massive fight. He never even spoke of them to me. I didn't even think he sent them letters, unlike the way he continued to write to me.
My fingers, which had unconsciously started toying with the beads on my camp necklace, froze around my dad's college ring. In a couple of years, would my dad stop writing to me, too? Would my name drop from his lips, never to cross them again?
I realised I hadn't answered Percy. Not that it mattered. In the long silence, Sally had, to Percy's dismay, started up again with a spirited story about three-year-old Percy deciding to go snorkelling for 'deep sea treasure' in the bathtub.
The blizzard continued to swirl around us as we crossed the border into New Hampshire, and finally, into Maine. Sally's store of stories seemed to be never-ending. It was comforting to hear her going on like any normal, proud mom. Even the stories that involved Percy dealing with dangerous stuff (like strangling a pair of snakes in the crib at playschool-Thalia was quite impressed by that one) were told in the same affectionate tone. I wondered if my dad had ever looked back on my childhood quite so fondly. Had he ever seen my toddler escapades as anything besides a nuisance?
I had a strong urge to call him and ask. Which was stupid. I already knew he and Janet had been perpetually annoyed by the monster attacks that plagued me as a kid.
All thoughts of my family were pushed aside when we finally pulled up at the military boarding school Grover was attending. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale, with stone walls and turrets that stood out sharply against the snowy backdrop. Even its location, on an ocean cliff at the edge of a deep forest, was perfect storybook material.
Thalia grimaced as she stared out of the car window. 'Oh yeah. This'll be fun.'
I twisted up my hair and tucked it carefully under my ski cap, mentally preparing myself for battle.
'Thanks, Mom,' Percy said. He leaned over as if to kiss her cheek, then seemed to remember we were still in the back seat and pulled away.
'Are you sure you don't want me to wait?' Sally asked. She looked uncertainly at the school.
'No, thanks, Mom,' Percy said firmly. 'I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay.'
Sally was still hesitating. I could tell even before she said it that she was really worried about him. Not that I blamed her. Percy had a real knack for attracting monsters, and with Thalia and me here, our scent would be at least twice as strong.
But we'd also have thrice the fighting power. And Grover needed us.
'It's okay, Ms Jackson,' I said. 'We'll keep him out of trouble.'
She must really have been anxious, because she forgot to remind me to call her 'Sally'. She turned her head to look at Thalia and me. 'All right, dears. Do you have everything you need?'
Thalia held up her bag. 'Yes, Ms Jackson. Thanks for the ride.'
Sally squinted at our bags as though trying to check the contents by visual X-ray. 'Extra sweaters?' she asked, with a frown at the swirling snow outside. She turned back to Percy. 'You have my cell phone number?'
'Mom …' Percy complained. The back of his neck was glowing as she interrogated him about his supplies. It was kind of sweet how concerned Sally was, checking on every last little detail. I couldn't help contrasting it with my dad's apathetic response when I ran away.
Percy was so lucky.
He didn't act like it just then, though. With a last, 'Mom, seriously,' he opened the car door.
We got out of the car. Sally gave us a wave and pulled out of the drive. The purple Mazda disappeared into the blizzard.
Thalia looked wistfully after it. 'Your mom is so cool, Percy.'
Percy looked like he was sorry he hadn't kissed Sally goodbye after all. 'She's pretty okay,' he said. He wrapped his arms around himself, pulling his coat a little tighter. I did the same; the biting wind seemed to cut through every layer I had on.
We headed up the path towards the school. Up close, it looked more like a medieval castle than ever, with the shadow of its entrance looming over us. All it needed were a couple of gargoyles sitting on the eaves. WESTOVER HALL, said the carved letters over the large double doors. I didn't like the look of it. This seemed like a place that could hold any amount of bloodthirsty creatures.
'What about you?' Percy said. I was confused, until I realised he was talking to Thalia. 'You ever get in touch with your mom?'
The air was suddenly charged with a freezing intensity that had nothing to do with the snowstorm. 'If that was any of your business-'
I sighed and stepped between them before the fight could even begin brewing. Percy hadn't meant any harm with his question, but I guess Thalia wasn't as over her mom's death as she'd pretended to be. 'We'd better get inside. Grover will be waiting.'
Thalia cast a distasteful look at Percy, then said, 'You're right.' She put a hand on the handle of the oak door and repeated the question that had been in our minds all the way up: 'I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call.'
'Nothing good,' Percy said grimly, and we pushed open the doors.
Chapter 15