Published: July 8, 2021
Edited: July 18, 2022
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The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since we left Camp and I was sure that was obvious.
"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth decided as the four of us climbed off of the train. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."
"We can't use phones, right?" Percy asked, confused.
"We're not talking about phones." I informed him, rolling my eyes.
We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, looking for somewhere we could make a rainbow. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.
Finally we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure we were up to no good.
"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked in bewilderment, as Grover took out the spray gun.
"It's seventy-five cents," The satyr grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"
"Don't look at me," she protested. "The dining car wiped me out."
I fished out my last bit of change and tossed Grover a quarter, which left me two nickels and five drachmas from Medusa's place.
"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."
"What are you talking about?" Percy demanded, annoyed now.
Grover fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing." He answered as he did so.
"Instant messaging?"
"Iris-messaging," I corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."
"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"
Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."
Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors, but the mist sputtered and the rainbow kept breaking up.
"It's not enough to establish a connection..." Annabeth lamented. I frowned.
"Let me try." I asked. I held out a palm towards the water and focused on stabilizing the mist and by extension, the rainbow. I felt a tug in my gut and the mist converged, a clear rainbow filtered through.
"Way to go Neridia!" Grover cheered.
Annabeth held her palm out to Percy. "Drachma, please."
He handed one over.
She raised the coin over her head. "O Iris goddess of the rainbow, accept our offering."
She flipped the drachma into the rainbow where it disappeared in a golden shimmer.
"Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then I was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. We seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to us at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.
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'•' The Lightning Thief '•'
FanfictionThe Neridia Jackson Series - 1 '•' Never in the five years she has been in camp has Neridia Chase ever gotten a sign of who her godly parent might be. She doesn't even know if it's her mom or her dad. But one day, a stranger comes staggering into ca...
