Chapter Text
Piper was having a relatively good day. She woke up in between her beautiful girlfriend Reyna and her gorgeous boyfriend Jason, and all seemed right. She lay there, waiting for her partners to wake up, listening to their breathing - a sense of calm in the chaos that is her life. The sun started to filter in, stirring Reyna. Piper kissed Reyna’s cheek as her eyes fluttered open
“Good morning.” Piper whispered, leaning into her girlfriend.
“Good morning.” Reyna mumbled, wiping at her eyes, She sat up and swung her legs off the bed, leaving Piper with Jason. Reyna walked around the bed to Jason’s side, kissed his forehead and disappeared into the bathroom. Jason slowly came to, his eyelids opening to reveal striking blue eyes.
“Mornin’” He said gruffly, stirring to face Piper.
“Mornin’” Piper echoed, smiling as she kissed Jason’s scar. She slid out of bed, Jason not far behind and the three of them fell into their comfortable routine and headed to breakfast. The sun was shining at the perfect temperature as it always did at Camp Jupiter. There was a light breeze flowing through the streets as they made their way to their favourite cafe.
Suddenly, they were surrounded by a bright light. Instinctively, Piper covered her eyes (it could be a God for all she knew). Slowly, Piper removed her arm from her eyes and gasped. She wasn’t at Camp Jupiter - that was for sure. She was in a room filled with couches, most of them taken up by… the avengers? She looked around the room and her eyes caught on Percy. Gods above, she sighed, what is going on?
Her thoughts were vocalized by someone behind her. Piper spun at the familiar voice.
Annabeth.
Annabeth stood there, Yankees cap in one hand, a dagger in the other. Her blonde curly hair was tied up in a ponytail. She still looked sixteen and it pained Piper that she never got to grow older.
“Annabeth?” Hazel let out a strangled gasp. It was then Piper noticed the other demigods had been transported as well. The seven, along with Reyna, Thalia, Clarisse, Grover, Rachel, Will and Nico, fanned out around the space. Annabeth smiled lightly, as if she wasn’t surprised at all. She probably wasn’t.
“Hey guys.” She gave them a small wave, almost unsure. Everyone just stared at her. The silence stretched.
“Wise girl.” Percy finally said, standing up, making his way to the dead girl.
“Seaweed brain.” Annabeth smiled back and she threw herself at Percy, who caught her with only the slightest stumble.
“Annie,” Percy looked resigned, kinda as though he wasn’t surprised to have his dead (ex?) girlfriend in front of him, “Why are you here?”
“The fates told me we are to read with you.” Annabeth shrugged, as if it were an everyday occurrence.”
“I’m sorry,” A voice cut in - one that Piper recognized as Tony Stark, “But who is this?”
“This is Annabeth,” Percy smiled, “My ex-girlfriend.” Piper studied Annabeth for any signs of hurt or surprise, but she seemed… content
“Who’s supposed to be dead.” Thalia spoke out, glaring slightly at Annabeth.
“Wait, what, rewind.” One of the avengers said.
“Yeah,” Annabeth shrugged, “I died when we were sixteen, but I’ve been relaxing in Elysium since.”
“Which reminds me,” Percy turned fully to her, “How’s Selina’s balcony going?”
“She’s loving it,” Annabeth grinned like the Cheshire cat, “Did Amy from finance and Mindy from marketing finally get together.”
“Yes,” Percy smiled, “It took them long enough.”
“Hold up.” I said, thoroughly confused, “What is happening,”
Percy and Annabeth shared a look before talking. Apparently, because of Annabeth being Percy’s mortal anchor, they were able to visit each other in Percy’s dreams. For numerous reasons, they agreed to break up and become friends, so while they’re still extremely close, they are no longer dating. Annabeth told him all the going-ons of Elysium while Percy told her everything that happens in the mortal world. After their explanations, everyone looked aghast.
“And you’re… just fine with this Bucky?” Captain America asked accusatorily
“Yes.” Bucky answered simply, “I’ve almost always known about Annabeth and how important she was - is - to Perce. However, I didn’t know that you were still contacting each other in dreams” He looked pointedly at Percy. Percy rubbed the back of his neck but shrugged all the same.
“Why don’t we start?” Jason broke the silence. Everyone agreed and sat themselves on the empty couches, all demigods trying to find a way to be near Annabeth. They were definitely talking later. Once everyone was settled, Percy asked it to continue and a young voice filtered out of the machine.
- THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH
“Wait, was this when…” Grover asked, eyebrows raised. Percy nodded.
“What does that mean?” The Falcon added, getting hums of agreements from the majority of the room.
“I forgot how squeaky you used to sound!” Annabeth laughed. The truth came to Piper like a bullet train. They were going to listen to Percy talk about what happened. Gods, he sounded so young. It made Piper’s stomach twist.
I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.
“That must have been so annoying.” The Scarlet Witch said. She was curled up next to Captain America, like some kind of victim. Her statement earned many hums in agreement.
“You don’t say.” Percy snarked and Piper had the feeling that if he had eyes, they would have definitely been rolled.
Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.
“Maybe that’s because you are.” Leo laughed, earning a slap on the arm from Nico.
“I like you.” Tony said. In response, Leo grinned like the Cheshire cat. This was the start of something horrific.
It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.
Almost.
“Let me guess,” Thalia sighed, “Grover?”
“Grover.” Percy confirmed. The satyr in question let out a frustrated bleat.
But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.
“Dude,” Percy said, “You are a really bad liar." This caused everyone to laugh as Grover huffed.
“I can lie!” Grover defended himself only to be met by disbelieving looks, “Think about the wedding dress.”
“I guess you can lie.” Annabeth amended. Though Piper had no idea what they were talking about - and so it seemed with the majority of the room - it made her laugh. It was still insane to Piper that the daughter of Athena was sitting there, still a sixteen year old, looking like nothing had happened.
Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.
“You don’t say.” Rhodey snarked, leaning against Stark.
I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.
“Oh, I hate it when that happens.” A young brunette boy sighed. Piper remembered Percy mentioning a kid running around the tower. This must be Peter, then.
“Kid,” Tony Stark groaned, pinching his nose, “You need help.”
“But it is horrible.” Leo smirked, “Nightmares are the worst.”
“Here, here!” Piper agreed, raising her hand as if she was holding a glass.
The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the HudsonValley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.
“Why is the weather mentioned so much?” Bruce Banner asked. Piper was still in awe of the sheer amount of famous people in this room. And she was the daughter of Tristan Mclean..
“Actually, it makes quite a lot of sense.” Will noted. Piper assumed it had something to do with the gods. So, yeah, it did make sense. She was clearly not the only one thinking that as it as all the demigods were nodding along in agreement.
I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.
Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.
This immediately set off rounds of laughter. Percy’s inner monologue was gold.
“What does it mean?” Surprisingly, it was Frank asking this.
“It means old drunk.” Annabeth told him once she recovered from her round of laughter.
“So, Mr. D?” Rachel asked, eliciting more laughs from the demigods.
“Practically.” Percy shrugged. Gods, it felt so good to just be able to laugh.
The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to YancyAcademy.
Fine, I told myself. Just fine.
I was homesick.
“We all would be if Sally was our mom.” Grover announced. Everyone immediately agreed. Aunt Sally was the best person to exist.
I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.
And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees.
“Aww,” Thalia cooed, “You’re gonna miss me.”
“In your dreams, Pinecone Face.” Percy laughed, confusing all the newer and Roman campers as well as the avengers. What on earth did pine trees have to do with Thalia? Piper assumed it was funny to those who knew because they were giggling.
I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.
“Bro, that’s rude.” Jason declared. Percy just shrugged as Grover bleated indignantly
I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.
As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.
“It’s a good thing you did.” Nico told Percy. The boy in question just nodded while all the demigods started laughing to each other. Wasn’t that the truth? Life or death. The demigods often took it a bit too seriously.
The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards.
“Is that truly how dyslexia is?” Bucky asks, pinching the bridge of his nose. All the demigods (but Frank, who just shrugged) nodded. The assassin looked at them with sympathy. Piper had only met Percy’s boyfriend a couple times but she already loved him. He was quiet but observant and obviously cared for Percy. He was good for him.
There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,
“I hope you know that now.” Annabeth laughed and Piper took a moment to soak up just how alive she was.
“Yes I do. It’s hard to forget.” Percy groaned good-naturally
“Oh really?” Grover asked, “Do you also remember the bathtub?” This caused the trio to burst out in full on cackles. It concerned Piper slightly.
or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.
“But you’re good with Latin?” Hazel’s eyebrows furrowed.
“I’m not sure why.” Percy shrugged, “Since I got to Camp Jupiter, I just inherently started understanding it.”
Piper saw Annabeth bite down on her lip. That was always a sign she was trying to work something out.
I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.
“Oh, I hate that feeling.” Peter groaned, leaning into the couch he was sitting on. Piper had only met the boy once but immediately loved him and felt the urge to adopt the spider-menace.
I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.
I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.
“That’s a first.” Reyna snorted, arms crossed.
“Not my fault dyslexia is a bitch.” Percy sighed. All the demigods nodded along with him.
“You could’ve still tried.” Annabeth teased electing a groan from the man in question.
I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.
“Aww,” Hazel smiled, “That’s so sweet.”
“Yeah, I never had a teacher as understanding as Mr. Brunner. It felt like he might have actually cared about me.” A soft smile lingered on Percy’s face. It was nice to see the man so relaxed.
I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.
I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said "... worried about Percy, sir."
I froze.
I'm not usually an eavesdropper,
“Sure you aren’t.” Grover rolled his eyes and sniffed slightly.
“I’m not!” Percy yelped as Grover threw a wad of paper (how did he even get that?) at him.
“So, what about all the times with Kro-Your grandpa?” Annabeth smirked
“First, I was dreaming and it wasn’t my choice,” Percy put up his fingers as he spoke, “And second, I was not an eavesdropper when I was twelve.”
but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.
“That is true.” Shrugged one of Peter’s friends. It was the only other boy there, so Piper assumed it was Ned, Peter’s best friend who he would not shut up about when they met.
I inched closer.
"... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—"
“A kindly one?” Thalia gasped. Piper knew there was some history behind Fury’s and Thalia but Piper was unsure exactly what it was.
“Yeah, we already read about Mrs. Dodds.” Percy told them. Annabeth and Grover nodded but that just made Piper even more confused. She really should have asked more questions about what happened at Camp before she came.
“I thought your first monster was-” Nico started only to be cut off by Percy
“No spoilers”
"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more."
"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline— "
“What's with this deadline?” Rhodey asked. He was met with shrugs or knowing eyes.
"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."
"Sir, he saw her... ."
"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."
“I felt crazy.” Percy complained, burning himself into Bucky
“You are crazy.” Nico snarked, causing the demigods to chuckle. It felt good to relax with her friends. Piper never got to see all of them at the same time anymore. She sometimes found herself missing
"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."
“You didn’t fail the first time, okay?” Thalia snapped, glaring at the poor satyr. There was a pregnant pause as Percy and Annabeth started nodding and glaring at Grover.
“Okay.” The satyr finally said, voice weak.
“No, it's not okay.” Thalia told him as his best friends agreed. Gover nodded reluctantly.
"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"
The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.
Shit
Mr. Brunner went silent.
My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.
“Good, get away.” Princess Shuri nodded almost feverishly.
A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.
“Not strange at all.” Tony rolled his eyes, leaning lightly against Percy who pushed back slightly. Piper was glad her friend had found other people to support and love him.
“Wait!” Leo yelled. He had been surprisingly quiet the whole time, “Is Mr. Brunner Chi-”
“Yes, Leo.” Annabeth sighed, “No spoilers, remember?” Leo grumbled in response.
I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.
A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.
A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.
“What on earth just happened?” It was Captain America who spoke. Piper had never liked the man. He always seemed too… perfect and it annoyed her so much. And then, Percy became friends with Stark and well, she had a proper reason to hate ‘America’s Icon’ now, to say the least.
Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."
“Again, with this deadline.” The Falcon groaned. Did he ever shut up?
"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."
"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."
"Don't remind me."
The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.
I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.
Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.
“Good, you need sleep.” Bucky berated kindly. All of Percy’s friends nodded or hummed in agreement. Piper knew it was hard for a demigod to sleep. Nightmares often plagued their dreams, making it hard to rest. But the son of Poseidon’s to sleep schedule was seriously fucked. And coming from Piper, that was saying something.
“I’m glad you didn’t get caught.” Peter smiled at Percy. Gods, he was too innocent for this world.
Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.
"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"
“So, he can act but not lie.” Rachel said, causing almost everyone to at least snicker as the satyr leapt out and indignant bleat.
I didn't answer.
"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"
"Just... tired."
I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.
“That didn’t work.” Grover seemed all too smug with the statement.
“I know that now.” Percy sighed. Wanda opened her mouth as if to ask what he meant but quickly seemed to think better of it, clamping her lips together.
I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.
But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.
“I mean,” Reyna cut in, “You weren’t wrong.”
The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour
“Three hours!” Presumably-Ned exclaimed, “How did you survive!”
“I honestly think I would have just died then and there.” Peter added. Soon, all Peter’s friends and the demigods (including Annabeth) were lamenting on how horrible it must have been for Percy.
Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.
For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.
"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."
“Oh,” Peter looked slightly downcast, making Piper want to scoop him up in her arms and hug him better, “This is the worst.“
“Mr. Brunner really needs to work on his people skills.” Jason commented, his lips turned down into an adorable frown.
“You think he'd be better by now.” Annabeth said and Piper couldn’t help but agree. Chiron, for she was told about his alias a while ago, should really be better at talking with children. Especially considering it’s his entire life purpose.
His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.
I mumbled, "Okay, sir."
"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."
“Owch” Piper had no clue who said that.
My eyes stung.
Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.
“Oh, that’s really rough.” Rhodey winced.
"Right," I said, trembling.
"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"
"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."
"Percy—"
But I was already gone.
“That was painful.” Frank shuddered slightly, putting an arm around his girlfriend.
“Imagine being there.” Grover complained.
“I don’t have to.” Percy deadpanned.
On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.
The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.
“Oh, if they heard you say that!” Will gasped out, laughing into the crook of his boyfriend’s neck.
They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.
What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.
"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."
They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.
“Ok, that’s just straight up rude.” Bruce Banner sounded affronted
"That's kids for ya,” Tony snarked, “Right, Pete?”
“Hey,” the precious innocent baby angel yelled, "What did I do?”
The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.
During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.
Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.
I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"
“PERCY!“ Annabeth scolded, frowning deeply. Percy rubbed the back of his neck, almost awkwardly.
“Why would you do that?” Thalia snapped.
“That scared me so much!” Grover complained once again, throwing his hands up in frustration. Percy shot him a sheepish smile.
Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"
I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.
Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"
"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"
“Not much - just the entire conversation.” Nico snarked, rolling his eyes. Piper chuckled lightly at the son of Hades' sarcasm. It was almost on par with Percy’s. Almost.
He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."
"Grover—"
"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."
Everyone started nodding and agreeing with the statement as Grover grouched with his arms crossed.
His ears turned pink.
From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.
The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:
Grover Underwood
Keeper
Half-Blood Hill
Long Island, New York
(800) 009-0009
“I hate that Mr. D printed it like that,” Clarisse grumbled. Piper was surprised by her quietness since they had been there. She hadn't even teased Percy, her ‘sworn enemy’.
“Why would he do that if you have dyslexia?” Bucky scrunched his brows.
“To annoy us.” Leo shrugged
"Don't say it aloud!"
“Why?” The Scarlet Witch asked, “That's creepy.” The demigods stayed decisively silent
he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."
My heart sank. Grover had a summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.
“Oh yes, definitely a mansion.” Rachel teased
“The big house may as well be.” Percy shot back. There really wasn't anything you could say to that. The blue building was massive.
"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."
He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."
"Why would I need you?"
“Why would you say that?” Captain America asked. Piper scowled at him.
“That’s rude.” Michelle Jones said bluntly as ever. Piper admired the teen for that.
“I didn't mean it!” Percy defended himself, crossing his arms.
It came out harsher than I meant it to.
“See?” Percy gestured to the strange glowing box the sound was coming from.
“It's fine, Perce.” Grover smiled.
Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you."
I stared at him.
All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended me.
“That’s sweet.” Bucky smiled at his boyfriend. The Aphrodite in Piper wanted to squeal.
“I mean, no offence Grover,” Annabeth looked at him with a shit eating grin, “But you were a lot weaker than Percy.”
“Still am.” Grover grumbled.
"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"
There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.
“That doesn't sound natural.” King T’Challa noted.
“I wonder why.” Percy rolled his eyes. Piper would have loved to say she was surprised by his disrespect to royalty, but that would have been a lie.
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.
We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.
The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.
I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.
All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.
“Perceus Achillies Jackson!” Annabeth scolded, almost yelling, “If that’s who I think it is…”
Percy rubbed the back of his head in response. Piper felt a chill down her spine as she realized who was at that stall. Gods, how had Percy survived?
The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.
“No!” Frank yelled, inordinately passionate. It was strange to see him this worked up about anything.
‘This can't be happening.” Piper muttered, wringing her hands. Reyna and Jason took a hand each, squeezing them. She squeezed back, grateful for the grounding.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Annabeth looked uncharacteristically worried. And Piper couldn’t blame her.
I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.
"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"
"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"
"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"
“Not funny.” Will said lightly, the strain evident in his voice.
“I think it's funny.” Leo tried to lighten the mood. Key word being tried.
“What is going on?” Captain America demanded, only to be met with tense silence.
"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."
The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.
"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."
"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."
“Just go, Prissy!” Clarisse snapped, glaring at Percy, “Stop arguing, you idiots.”
"Come on!'" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.
Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic.
Piper paled and clutched Reyna and Jason’s hands with all her strength. She heard gasps and the other demigods looked faint.
“No!” Hazel's breath catched, as she leaned into Frank.
“What happened?” Wanda asked, sounding impatient. Piper was too frozen to even occupy that thought.
Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.
“Not a time for jokes.” Annabeth reprimanded lightly, voice strained.
At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.
The passengers cheered.
"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"
Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.
“That’s not normal.” Hawkeye noted, arms spreading onto the Black Widow.
“You don’t say.” Percy scoffed.
Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.
"Grover?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you not telling me?"
He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"
"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?”
His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."
"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."
“You said it so casually.” Leo snickered. Despite his airy tone, Piper could see the concern in Leo’s scrunched forehead.
He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.
He said, "You saw her snip the cord."
"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.
“Of course it’s a big deal, Seaweed Brain.” Annabeth scoffed. To be fair to Percy, he didn't know about the godly side of himself yet. Piper was sure she would have been just as - or maybe even more - confused as to what was happening. She was slightly confused now.
"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."
"What happened last time?"
"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."
“Real reassuring, Grover.” Thalia rolled her eyes, stenching her arms out in front of her to hang on the poor satyr's shoulders. She looked like a cat.
"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"
"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."
This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.
"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.
No answer.
"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"
“How did you know?” Will peered at Percy, eyebrows scrunched.
“He’s always been ridiculously intuitive.” Grover mumbled, glaring at his best friend.
He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.
Percy was the first to break the silence, “So, what did you pick?”