Melancholy Kaleidescope | PJO

Ch. 5: Exploding Bus

Argus drove the four of them out of the countryside and into western Long Island. Jinora watched in absolute wonder as the city came into view. She couldn't remember much of her time before camp– other than being hunted down by monsters–and most of what she knew about skyscrapers and city life came from pictures some of the kids who didn't stay year round brought back to her.

Jinora watched regular people go on with their regular lives, completely oblivious to the reality of gods and monsters. In an inverted type of way, the real world seemed like a fantasy. She stared at every restaurant and store sign with wide eyes, intrigued by the things she hadn't got to see in her five years at camp.

"So far so good," she heard Percy say from behind her. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

Jinora spun around in her seat with an incredulous look on her face while Annabeth just looked irritated.

"It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain," Annabeth reprimanded him.

"Yeah," Jinora agreed. "Saying that is basically opening the invitation for all sorts of monsters to come attack you."

Percy couldn't seem to get past the new nickname Annabeth had conjured up for him. "Seaweed brain?"

Annabeth nodded from the front seat. "If you don't like it, I can come up with something else."

"Waterboy, fish head," Jinora began listing off. Annabeth couldn't help but laugh from the front seat.

"Bubble brain," Annabeth added. Jinora made a noise of approval and high fived the girl.

"That's a good one," Jinora applauded. She looked over and saw Percy's face tinted pink. "Oh, lighten up waterboy. We've still got until the solstice. I'm sure we'll come up with a good nickname for you by then."

The pink hue deepened as the girls laughed. Jinora missed the way the blue eye on the back of Argus' neck winked at Percy.

Percy decided to try and look anywhere else, looking back at Grover who was eyeing him suspiciously.

"What," Percy asked.

Grover looked between Percy and Jinora before leaning against the back of his seat. "Oh, nothing."

It had taken them longer than Jinora thought it would due to such congested traffic. By the time they had finally made it to Manhattan, it began to rain.

Jinora pulled her hood over her head as she stepped out of the car. Argus unloaded their bags and made sure they got their bus tickets before driving away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch them as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Percy looked around, clearly recognizing the area. He turned and looked down the road as if someone should be waiting for him that way.

Grover shouldered his bookbag and followed Percy's gaze. "You wanna know why she married him, Percy?"

Percy nodded, then shook his head. "Were you reading my mind or something?"

Jinora decided that this was a conversation that she didn't need to be part of. She walked over to Annabeth, who was standing in front of a machine with a bunch of snacks in it.

"You getting a sense of deja vu," Jinora asked her friend. Annabeth nodded.

"I think we came this way with Grover to get to camp," Annabeth recalled, deciding she wasn't interested in anything the machine had to offer.

Jinora nodded, sucking in a breath. Her time just before making it to camp wasn't something that she liked to think about. In fact, she did everything she could to avoid it. That was probably why, when she actually tried to recall anything from before camp, she had a hard time doing so. She cleared her throat and decided to change the subject.