LUNACY; percy jackson

05.5

[act five; chapter five     -     and see the world in endless sleep]

Percy took the risk of using his mom's cell phone to call Andromeda for the second time. He'd called her once from the tunnel, but only reached her voice mail. He had surprisingly good reception, seeing as he was at the mythological centre of the world and all, but he didn't want to see what his mom's roaming charges were going to be.

This time, she picked up.

"Hey," Percy said. "You get my message?"

"Percy, where have you been? Your message said almost nothing! Also, my brother better be alive, or so help me, Jackson, I will drown you in the lake when no one is looking. Also, we've been worried about you guys, you just up and left without warning."

"I'll fill you in later," he said, though how he was going to do that he had no idea.

"Where are you?"

"We're on our way like you asked, almost to the Queens Midtown Tunnel."

"Okay, Perc, but what are you planning? We've left the camp virtually undefended and there's no way the gods—"

"Trust me," he reassured. "I'll see you there."

"Okay. Just...stay safe. Please."

Percy hung up. His hands were trembling. He wasn't sure if it was a leftover reaction from his dip in the Styx, or anticipation of what he was about to do. If this didn't work, being invulnerable wasn't going to save him from getting blasted to bits.

It was late afternoon when the taxi dropped him and Donnie at the Empire State Building. Mrs O'Leary bounded up and down Fifth Avenue, licking cabs and sniffing hot-dog carts. Nobody seemed to notice her, although people did swerve away and look confused when she came close.