𝙇𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙨 (𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙭 𝙁𝙚𝙢! 𝙊𝘾) 𝙏𝙏𝘾

Karen Mode

They'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO.

At least, Sylvia thought it said that. It was either that or ELWOMEC OT CORFLO,UDCT WNE OCIMEX.

The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny. 

Even with her hoodie, Sylvia was freezing by the time they got to Main Street, which was about half a mile from the train tracks. As they walked, Sylvia discussed her dream with Fawkes (and listened to Percy telling Grover about how he needed to go see the guy named Nereus in San Francisco).

Grover looks uneasy, her phoenix noted from the tree she'd just landed on.

"That's good, I guess," the satyr said to Percy. "But we've got to get there first."

And Percy looks like he's trying not to be sad about the chances of finding Nereus and Artemis and Annabeth, Sylvia added, shutting the sadness at Annabeth's name in a tiny box full of all the sadness and fear she'd stored over the years. Which, of course, is how we're all feeling, but he's not very good at concealing emotions.

To be fair, today is Monday, and the solstice is Friday. He does have every right to be stressed, Fawkes reminded her.

Thanks for that, Fawkes. I really needed to be thinking about those things at the moment. Sylvia forced more emotions into the box. 

They stopped in the middle of town. They could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourists stores and cafes, a run-down motel, some ski cabins, and a Walmart.

Lux tugged on Sylvia's hand, bringing her to look at them. "I've go-gotta go to th-the-the washroom," they murmured, cheeks a rosy tint. "I'll-I'll be right ba-back."

"Ok." Sylvia smiled at her sibling. "Just come here when you're done, and we'll meet you after we finish doing...whatever we're going to do."

The child of Apollo nodded once and scurried toward the Walmart, almost running into an elderly woman at the door and quickly apologizing.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental."

"No way out," Sylvia summarized, grabbing a hair elastic and pulling her golden hair into a ponytail.

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

Sylvia glanced at the Starbucks, frowning at the thought of the overpriced drinks that'd be there.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Grover agreed dreamily. "And wax paper."

Sylvia wasn't quite sure how satyrs could eat half of what they did. The last time she'd tried wax paper (for a dare and totally not because she was hungry and didn't feel like stopping her art to go get food), it'd tasted awful and way too heavy. She highly doubted it tasted any different only six months later.

"I'll go with you. I could use some caffeine and sugar," the daughter of Apollo admitted.

Thalia sighed. "Okay. How about you three go get us some food."

Sylvia nodded. "You, Percy, and Bianca should go check in the grocery store. Maybe they could give you directions."

Percy looked like he wanted to argue against the order, then decided not to.

"Fawkes will circle the area. She'll alert us by shrieking really, really loudly if something is wrong."

That's so undignified, Fawkes grumbled.