Umbra

Chapter 31

Charleston seemed boring.

It was hard to be impressed by a regular city when Emilia had seen such stunning things... literally anywhere else. Just the night before, after she'd told Hylla about her sweet conversation with Frank and listened to her rant about a problem with the Amazon website that no one was capable of fixing just yet, the two had spent time debating which cities they should visit based on how beautiful they were.

This would not have made the list for any reason. Leo had docked the ship at a pier in Charleston Harbor, right next to the seawall. Along the shore was a historical district with tall mansions, palm trees, wrought-iron fences, and antique cannons pointed at the water.

Jason, Frank, and Leo left before the girls did, promising to be back by sunset. Percy told them that he'd be in the harbor while they were gone, intending to communicate with the local Nereids. They set out along the Battery, through the White Point Gardens.

The ocean breeze swept away the muggy heat of the summer afternoon, and it was pleasantly cool under the shade of the palmetto trees. Lining the road were old Civil War cannons and bronze statues of historical figures. Charleston Harbor glittered in the sun. To the north and south, strips of land stretched out like arms enclosing the bay, and sitting in the mouth of the harbor, about a mile out, was an island with a stone fort

The park wasn't crowded, and as they strolled uninterrupted along South Battery Street, they saw lines of four-story Colonial mansions with brick walls blanketed with ivy. The facades had soaring white columns like Roman temples. The front gardens were bursting with rose bushes, honeysuckle, and flowering bougainvillea. Emilia wasn't really big on flowers– she couldn't keep one alive to save her life.

"Kind of reminds me of New Rome," said Hazel and Emilia glanced boredly at everything. "All the big mansions and the gardens. The columns and arches."

Annabeth nodded, a grim smile on her face. They didn't speak– Piper kept looking around like she expected an ambush, Hazel was lost in thought after a few seconds probably thinking of Nico, and Emilia was simply wanting to get this over with and leave this strange place. Nothing here called out to her.

Piper suddenly grabbed Emilia and Annabeth's arms. "There." She pointed across the harbor. A hundred yards out, a shimmering white figure floated on the water. It glowed, forming the distinct figure of a woman.

"The ghost," said Annabeth.

"That's not a ghost," said Hazel. "No kind of spirit glows that brightly."

"Do we approach–?" Emilia's question died in her throat as Piper walked across the street toward the edge of the seawall, narrowly avoiding a horse-drawn carriage. She rushed after her, the other girls trailing behind.

At last, when the ghostly apparition was only a few yards away, Piper glared and grumbled, "It is her."

The glow faded suddenly. The woman before them was breathtakingly beautiful and strangely familiar. Her face was hard to describe. Her features seemed to shift from those of one glamorous movie star to another. Her eyes sparkled playfully— sometimes green or blue or amber. Her hair changed from long, straight blond to dark chocolatey curls.

The woman was dressed like a Southern belle, just as Jason had described. Her gown had a low-cut bodice of pink silk and a three-tiered hoop skirt with white scalloped lace. She wore tall white silk gloves, and held a feathered pink- and-white fan to her chest.

Emilia was the first to bow her head respectfully. "Lady Aphrodite."

"Venus?" said Hazel in amazement.

"Mom," said Piper with no enthusiasm.

"Girls!" The goddess spread her arms like she wanted a group hug.
The girls did not oblige. Hazel backed into a palmetto tree and Emilia instantly crossed her arms over herself. Aphrodite was unfazed, "I'm so glad you're here. War is coming. Bloodshed is inevitable. So there's really only one thing to do."