Not Just Another God ✓

Chapter 21: Where in the world...

I had never been comfortable with heights, but as we fell through the air, the wind hollering in our ears, I felt strangely at peace. I was going to die and there was nothing I could do about it. All this time, all these years, all the monsters, titans, and people I had fought and survived, and I was going to die by falling out of the sky.

I squeezed my eyes shut and mentally prepared myself for the splat but with a rustle of feathers, something swooped under us and cushioned our landing with soft, downy feathers.

I blinked my eyes open in surprise and stared at the huge copper gryffin who then shapeshifted back into a grinning Alex.

"That worked, didn't it?" she said, plucking a glossy feather out of her hair.

"I guess," I said, shaking my head and trying to stop the blood swooshing in my ears. No one had thought to tell me Alex was a shapeshifter, but then again, no one really bothers to tell me anything.

"I'm going to have a permanent bruise now though," she added as an afterthought, "ya'll are really heavy."

"Hey!" I protested, "it's the gravity thingity whatnot that makes the impact more intense... Right?"

Annabeth's mouth twitched, but she didn't correct me, which meant my explanation was either correct, or the correct explanation would take too long to explain.

"So," Magnus cut in, staring at the emerald green fields that surrounded us, "anyone want to take a guess at where we are?"

Annabeth looked around thoughtfully.

"We are on a road," she said, "so we could just walk along it until we get somewhere."

"More like a rocky path," Magnus said, kicking up loose gravel as he walked.

The wind blew as we walked, piercing through our clothes and making goosebumps appear on our bodies.

"I would give anything for a cup of cocoa right now," I commented, imagining drinking a steaming cup of the warm beverage, wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket near a radiator.

"Mhm," Annabeth agreed, taking up my hand in hers while we continued walking along the road to nowhere.

The path just seemed to stretch on and on with absolutely nothing in sight, and my eyes burned from scanning the horizon too often. We passed small building and restaurants, but they all seemed to be abandoned, and with no signs of where we were.

"Hey, Percy," Magnus asked, "can you just, like, call on your godly powers or something and fly up there to see where we are?"

I paused for a moment, trying to feel the tug in my gut that would allow me to use my powers, but there was nothing there. I concentrated harder, attempting to do something, anything that would let me use the powers that came as a bonus of being a god, but still nothing.

I shook my head at Magnus, who huffed and kept on walking.

"Technically speaking, we could dump Percy in the sea and he would know where we are," Annabeth said, pointing to the dark blue ocean, which did not look very inviting in the cold winter weather.

I sighed and dragged my feet along the path, amusing myself by kicking up small rocks as I walked.

"Hey," Annabeth said, talking my shoulder, "am I seeing things or is that-"

I squinted at the blurred shape in the distance and fist bumped the air, silently thanking the gods.

"Yep," I replied, "now let's all pray there's someone there."