waterworks - percy jackson

chapter 2

nothing capped off the perfect morning like a long traxi ride with an angry annabeth.

percy kept trying to talk to her, but she was acting like percy had just punched her grandmother. all he managed to get out of her when she wasn't talking to milla was that she'd had a monster-infected spring in san francisco; she'd come back to new york twice since christmas, and she'd stayed with milla and her dad; and that she'd learnt nothing about the whereabouts of nico di angelo.

what milla didn't tell percy and annabeth, or even grover, was that she knew exactly where the italian was. and what he planned on doing. She didn't tell them she'd grown up seeing signs of the same power and desperation and loneliness that nico di angelo held in him.

"any word on luke?" percy asked after an awkward silence.

annabeth shook her head. luke was a touchy subject for her. annabeth had always admired luke castellan, the former head counselor of the hermes cabin, who had betrayed them and joined the evil titan lord kronos. and she wouldn't admit it, but milla had told percy that she still liked him. when milla and thalia had fought him on mount tamalpais the previous winter, he'd somehow a fifty-foot fall off a cliff.

now, as far as everyone knew, he was still sailing about on his demon-infested cruise ship while his chopped-up kronos soup reformed, bit by bit, in a golden sarcophagus., bidding his time until he had enough power to challenge the olympian gods. in demigod-speak, this was pronounced "problem".

"mount tam is still overrun with monsters," annabeth said. "i didn't dare go close, but i don't think luke is up there. i think i'd know if he was."

"i couldn't sense him there either." milla added.

"what about grover?"

"he's at camp. we'll see him today."

"did he have any luck? i mean, with the search for pan?" annabeth fingered her bead necklace, the way she did when she was worried.

"you'll see," milla said, refusing to explain.

percy used milla's phone to call him mum. he left her a voice message when it didn't reach her number, and milla and annabeth chose to not pay attention to how percy looked like he was about to cry during it. he handed her the phone back, and they rode the rest of the way in silence.

the taxi exited on route 25a. they headed through the woods along the north shore until a low ridge of hills appeared on the left. annabeth told the driver to pull over on farm road 3.141, at the base of half-blood hill. the driver frowned.

"there ain't nothing here, miss. you sure you want out?"

"yeah, thank you," milla handed him a roll of mortal cash, and the driver decided not to argue. the trio hiked to the crest of the hill. the young guardian dragon was dozing, coiled around the pine tree, but he lifted his coppery head as they approached, and let annabeth scratch under his chin. steam hissed out his nostrils like from a teakettle, and he went cross-eyed with pleasure.

"hey, peleus," milla said. "keeping everyone safe?"

peleus was around 6 feet long when percy, annabeth and milla had rescued the golden fleece two years previously. now, he was at least twice that, and as thick as the tree itself. above his head, on the lowest branch of the pine tree, the golden fleece shimmered, its magic protecting the camp's borders from invasion.

the dragon seemed relaxed, like everything was okay. below them, camp half-blood looked peaceful— green fields, forest, shiny white greek buildings. the four-story farmhouse everyone called the big house sat proudly in the midst of the strawberry fields. to the north, past the beach, the long island sound glittered in the sunlight.