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percy pov
i blinked twice, coming out of my little visit with dinoysus and stared at riley.
she must've noticed, because she frowned, "what?"
"uh, nothing."
i gazed down the avenue, wondering what mr. d had meant by nasty surprises. how much worse could it get?
my eyes rested on a beat-up blue car. the hood was badly dented, like somebody had tried to hammer out some huge craters. my skin tingled.
why did that car look so familiar? then i realized it was a prius.
paul's prius.
i bolted down the street.
"percy!" riley called out from behind me. "where are you going?"
paul was passed out in the driver's seat. my mom was snoring beside him. my mind felt like mush. how had i not seen them before? they'd been sitting here in traffic for over a day, the battle raging around them, and i hadn't even noticed.
"they... they must've seen those blue lights in the sky." i rattled the doors but they were locked. "i need to get them out."
"percy," riley said gently.
"i can't leave them here!" i snapped. i knew i must've sounded crazy, but these were my parents. i pounded on the windshield. "i have to move them. i have to—"
"percy, just... just hold on." annabeth waved to chiron, who was talking to some centaurs down the block. "we can push the car to a side street, all right? they're going to be fine."
my hands trembled. riley took them in her own, and forced me to look at her.
the sunlight made her blue eyes look lighter. even in the middle of a war, she managed to look beautiful.
