нυє αη∂ cяy, percy jackson ¹

i. back in business

i.
CHAPTER ONE:
Back in Business
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TO SAY AELLA WAS ANNOYED was an understatement. She was aggravated, irritated, and quite pissed off.

Aella expected Chiron to leave her be for at least a few days, yet here she was, leading two Big Three kids—and Annabeth— to what she assumed would be another battle. So, yeah. She was annoyed. But did she show it? No. Aella's face was free of any worry lines and wrinkles, but her movements were a bit rough.

Aella felt a bit bad to be honest— she was pretty sure she was scaring the crap out of Ms. Jackson. Her movements were sharp as she took quick turns (almost falling over a few times), nearly running into vehicles in her path. But she made sure not to put the demigods behind her in her line of fire. After all, Thalia was in the car.

And she couldn't mess that up again.

      Her motorcycle hummed as she sped up more, keeping a safe distance between her and the group following her. She glanced at the tall castle like building in front of them, "a military school" she was told. It seemed a bit overkill for a bunch of kids to learn math, but who was she to judge.

      She pulled into the grass by the forest, a safe enough distance between the school incase someone decided to look out the giant windows. A motorcycle isn't the most inconspicuous thing, but it was easy to hide. And she was very good at that.

      She heard the car pull up next to her, along with the opening and closing of doors. Aella turned off the gas on her bike and kicked the parking stick to the grass. Sliding off the bike, she removed the helmet swiftly off her head. Her tangled black hair fell down over her shoulders and eyes. She sighed at the feeling of the cool air on her face after being contained in the uncomfortable helmet. She probably looked like a mess, with her unruly hair, scarily pale skin, and wrinkly clothes (from the deepest depths of her cabins clothes bin). At least her jacket wasn't wrinkled. She decided that evened out the rest.

        Aella saw Ms. Jackson staring at her from the corner of her eye, so she turned to meet her gaze. The woman smiled shyly, embarrassed for being caught looking. Aella softly smiled at the woman, giving her a nod of greeting. Ms. Jackson smiled back before finishing her conversation with the other demigods. The interaction didn't bother her as much as it would in the past. She's gotten used to people staring at her. She never really understood why, but she assumed it had something to do with her mother. It always had something to do with her mother.

        She was also a mess. That may have been the real reason.

        She got her bag from the back of her bike and glanced towards the other demigods, not-so-subtly eavesdropping on their conversation.

        Ms. Jackson was the first one she heard. "Do you have everything you need?"

      "Yes Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. Thalia. Aella knew it was going to take a while to get used to that. "Thanks for the ride."