Goodnight Moon ↣ P. Jackson + A. Chase

2.10

Fingers flit over the keys of her flute, seeking the comfort of the familiar soft clacking as Zoe drove like a maniac over highway and bridge.

They were being followed by a helicopter, a group of mercenaries employed by a titan that was of the mind to hunt down Percy, apparently, though she imagined it was more than just him now that they were trying to prevent them from freeing the chained goddess and Annabeth by extension.

Her breathing came even as she focused on the sound of the approaching helicopter trying to judge the distance.

She tried to harness the sound, to focus it hard and volatile, destructive, around the copter to force it apart, to shatter it to bits and let it crumble unto nothing -- a big explosive wave flying off the sound of whirring blades cutting through the air letting those poor, foolish humans fall to their deaths.

(There was no thought of mercy in her mind as she considered freeing the world from the likes of guns for hire willing to work for anyone that had the right price. A fight the level of gods and titans would toss the world into ruin and destruction and endless death and she was selfish enough to wish to avoid that over the lives of a few mortals.)

At the thought, she felt the tension in the air, the ripple of electric power building, a sound like a zap forming.

Her eyes snap open, focusing on Thalia as she sits with eyes clenched, fist tight. Her brows were furrowed, sweat starting to form on her temple. She was trying to strike the helicopter out of the sky but it felt more like she was frying the air, pulling it away as she was prone to do from time to time.

"Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?" the girl prayed, forcing a little more.

Kassandra focused a little more on the buzzing, hoping to magnify the sound to do something but it was like getting feedback as it recoiled back towards her, snapping in her ears enough to give her an instant headache.

She slumped forward with a groan, fingers massaging her temples.

The sky stayed light and snowy with no sign of an exploding helicopter in sound.

"You okay?" Percy asks.

"I'll be alright," she answers. "No hope of me blowing it up like last time."

"Hey, don't worry about it. Your dad said it was dangerous, remember?"

"He said it was dangerous to scream. I thought this might be a little different, but I guess not."

He pats her shoulder as stares out the front window, looking for an exit that they might be able to ditch the van with.

"There!" Bianca shouts. "The parking lot!'

"We'll be trapped there," Zoe says.

"We won't. Trust me."

They pull off, parking the van in the lot. They all climb out quickly, grabbing their things and following Bianca as she leads.

"I've been here before with Nico last year," she explains. "It looked very different then. It was cleaner."

They went into the subway entrance quickly, hoping to get out of sight of the helicopter that was still following them.

"Subway entrance," Bianca says. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agrees.

They bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind them for any signs of pursuit. After a few minutes, they were safe aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As the train came above ground, they could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after the train.