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16: Waiting and Jumping

Percy didn't show up for dinner that night so I sent Grover and Chiron to check on him. Chiron came back half an hour later, saying I should go see him. I jogged to my cabin to see Percy by the spring.

"Who ya' calling?" I ask.

"Mom." Percy said flatly. I walked to the edge of the saltwater spring, rubbing my hands and trying to figure out what to say to my mom.

I really wasn't in the mood to have one more fight with her to tell me what the answer to my question is, but I figured our mom deserved an update.

Finally, Percy took a deep breath and threw in the coin. "O goddess, accept my offering."

The mist shimmered. The light from the bathroom was just enough to make a faint rainbow.

"Show me Sally Jackson," Percy said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."

And there in the mist was a scene I did not expect. My mom was sitting at our kitchen table with some... guy. Oh, Hades.

They were laughing hysterically. There was a big stack of textbooks between them. The man was thirty-something, with longish salt-and-pepper hair and a brown jacket over a black T-shirt. He looked like an actor-like a guy who might play an undercover cop on television.

I was too stunned to say anything, and fortunately, our mom and the guy were too busy laughing to notice our Iris-message. Why was mom with a mortal?

The guy said, "Sally, you're a riot. You want some more wine?"

"Ah, I shouldn't. You go ahead if you want."

"Actually, I'd better use your bathroom. May I?"

"Down the hall," she said, trying not to laugh.

The actor dude smiled and got up and left.

"Mom!" I said.

She jumped so hard she almost knocked her textbooks off the table. Finally she focused on me. "Percy! Amanda! Oh, honeys! Is everything okay?"

"What are you doing?" Percy demanded.

She blinked. "Homework." Then she seemed to understand the look on our faces. "Oh, honey, that's just Paul-um, Mr. Blofis. He's in my writing seminar."

"Mr. Blowfish?" I snickered.

"Blofis. He'll be back in a minute, Amanda. Tell me what's wrong."

She always knew when something was wrong. Percy told her about Annabeth. The other stuff too, but mostly it boiled down to Annabeth.

My mother's eyes teared up. I could tell she was trying hard to keep it together for my sake. "Oh, Percy..."

"Yeah. So they tell me there's nothing I can do. I guess I'll be coming home."

She turned her pencil around in her fingers. "Percy, as much as I want you to come home, as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. You need to do whatever you think you have to."

I stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you really, deep down, believe that you have to help save her? Do you think it's the right thing to do? Because I know one thing about you, Percy. Your heart is always in the right place. Listen to it." I clapped for that motivational speech.

"You're... you're telling me to go?"

My mother pursed her lips. "I'm telling you that... you're getting too old for me to tell you what to do. I'm telling you that I'll support you, even if what you decide to do is dangerous. I can't believe I'm saying this."

"Mom-" I started.

The toilet flushed down the hall in our apartment.

"I don't have much time," Mom said. "Percy, whatever you decide, I love you. And I know you'll do what's best for Annabeth. Amanda, when you are a week away from sixteen, I'll spill. But until then stop bothering me about it. I love you both."

"How can you be sure?" Percy asked.

"Because she'd do the same for you."

And with that, our mother waved her hand over the mist, and the connection dissolved, leaving me with one final image of her new 'friend', Mr. Blowfish, smiling down at her.

--page break--

I woke up to a loud banging. I looked around the cabin. It was dark outside. The salt spring still gurgled. No other sounds but the hoot of an owl in the woods and the distant surf on the beach. In the moonlight, on my nightstand was Annabeth's New York Yankees cap. I stared at it for a second and then: BANG BANG.

"Percy, you get it." I murmured. I need my sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, Percy was gone. Great, my brother's gone after the quest.

I later figured out that Phoebe is now bedridden and is not on the quest. Percy takes spot number five. Seaweed Brain.

A couple days later, I had this dream. The five on the quest was battling a giant hunk of metal. It was weird because Percy was talking to Bianca and kept pointing to the giant's left foot.

Then, Bianca sprinted up next to it, Percy caused the foot to go up, and Bianca ran under and went through a trap door. The monster collapsed moments later without a trace of Bianca.

Waking up with a start, I started cursing everything I knew in Ancient Greek. I pulled on my shoes and ran to the Big House.

"CHIRON!" I screamed running onto the porch. Mr. D and Chiron sat playing cards. The horse had turned his head looking amused at me running at him this early. I looked down to see me in t-shirt and pj shorts. Oh well.

"I had a dream. Bianca's gone. We need to find the replacement." I said, finally at their table.

"Well, go ahead and get ready Amanda. I assume the replacement is you. Do you know where they are?" Chiron asked.

"Hoover Dam." I smiled and ran of to pack my bag.

--page break--

"Okay. Money? Check!" I say to myself. "Extra clothing? Check! Hurricane? Check! Water? Check! Snacks? Check! All right! Let's go!" I run back the Big House, checking in with Chiron before trying to find a shadow.

I found a dark one in the woods, given to me by a nymph's tree. Juniper, the tree nymph, was happy to help and didn't mind me running full speed at her.

Back about ten feet away, I took a deep breath in. And out. I stood on the tip of my toes before sprinting of towards the tree, imagining Hoover Dam.

If I said I made it alright to the dam, I would be lying. I almost fell into the river. I was tumbling into the river when I used the wind to push me back onto a ledge.

Falling on my hands and knees, I collapsed as the darkness took over my drained being.

__________________

Hello demigods!

You know, I love summer. All my favourite authors update my favourite books a lot more frequently.

AND I HAVE TIME TO WRITE!!! YAY!

Two updates in two days? Woo hoo!

Ems out!✌