DEVOTION, percy jackson

Tallulah Becomes The Queen Of Hearts

Tallulah had never been one for hiking, so walking through the woods was not her cup of tea.

The group had been walking silently for some time, before Grover broke the silence and said, "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once." His eyes were wide with the terror of what had happened. Tallulah grabbed his hand as they walked.

Annabeth kept pulling them along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better." Tallulah rolled her eyes. "Can we take a break? We've been doing this for like three hours." Annabeth just scoffed and said, "Tallulah we've been walking for less than an hour."

"Are we should we can't just call camp?" Percy asked. "I mean, we obviously need help." Annabeth stopped and stared at Percy like he was insane. "We are not calling camp, and we do not need help."

Percy just responded and said, "Considering we are walking through the woods in New Jersey, which is a place I didn't even know had a forest, I think we need help."

Grover and Tallulah stood to the side. Tallulah was exhausted of the fights. They needed to sort their shit out.

"What are you so afraid of?" Annabeth asked. "You aren't just a kid. Just a kid doesn't have Hades' top lieutenants coming to retrieve them!" There was a beat of silence.

"I'm not afraid-" Percy started to say before Grover cut in and said, "Do you guys smell that?" 

"Oh gods, he hit his head too hard in the bus explosion." Tallulah said to the group. Percy gave a small laugh.

"No, I'm serious, it smells like hamburgers." the satyr said. Tallulah could smell it too. "Why would someone cook meat on a satyr path?" The girl asked. It was common knowledge satyrs don't eat meat.

They followed Grover down the path. There they came across a restaurant. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. There was a sign above the gate that read AUNTY EM'S GARDEN GNOME EUPHORIA. There were stone statues surrounding the place.

Percy crossed the street. "Hey . . ." Grover warned. "The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open." "Snack bar," Percy said wistfully. "Snack bar." Tallulah agreed. 

"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "Yeah, probably but I'm hungry so I don't really care." Tallulah said. "I'm with Tallulah." Annabeth said.

"This place is weird." They ignored him. The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps. "Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"

A woman opened the door to the restaurant. She was tall, and wore a pink dress. It was an old fashioned dress, complemented with one of the old hats women used to wear.

She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?" "They're . . . um ..." Annabeth started to say. "We're orphans," Percy said. Tallulah could have smacked him on the back of the head right then and there. "Orphans?" the woman said. "But, my dears! Surely not!"

"We got separated from our caravan," Percy said. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten." Tallulah picked up where the boy left off and said," Anyway, we're lost, like really lost. Is that food I smell? We sure are hungry."

"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area." They thanked her and went inside.

Annabeth muttered to Percy and Tallulah, "Circus caravan? That was the best you could come up with?" "Always have a strategy, right?" Percy said. 

"Yeah daughter of Athena, appreciate a strategy." Tallulah said to Annabeth teasingly. "Your head is full of grass." Annabeth said to the shorter girl with a smile.