Melpomene (PJO)

32. An unplanned trip

It was a sunny winter day in Zilker Park when everything went pear-shaped.

Every Friday after school, Naomi took them there to run around and practice sword-fighting behind the treeline, where no mortals would see two children swinging swords around and freak out. Today, Mari and Will were playing catch, while Naomi sat under a nearby red oak tree, writing down song lyrics. It was Christmas in a few days, but Mari was surprised at how warm the climate still was. It was still about 14 degrees (Celsius, as she'd had to remind Will twice already). Texas, she was quickly figuring out, didn't really do snow.

Mari thought back to this time last year. She would've been in the labyrinth, with Adela. Or Clarisse. It was hard to believe all that had been a year ago - it felt like so much longer. So much had changed. A gust of wind flew by, causing a couple of strands of white hair from Mount Tam to flash in front of Mari's face. She grimaced. If she could go back, she would do a lot differently.

"Earth to Mari!" Will yelled, from where he'd leapt up on a rock. "Catch!"

Mari grinned, and caught the baseball mid-air with the mist.

She supposed she'd do a few things the same, as well.

Children of Apollo were generally good at catching things - it came with the perfect aim. But Mari had taken to catching the ball using the mist, to try and hone her skills. That was a lot harder, but she was getting the hang of it. Her record was 55 without stumbling. It would've been more, but Will had a habit of refusing to throw her the ball whenever her nose started bleeding, and Naomi had a habit of agreeing with him and making Mari sit down with a tissue pressed against her nose until it stopped.

Mari flexed her fingers. The mist sent the ball sailing in a perfect arc towards Will. That was 47.

Get fucked, Circe, Mari thought.

She remembered that conversation she'd had with Adela, two weeks earlier.

The ten minutes after that talk had been like a nightmare. Her own, personal nightmare. Her mind had been a wreck, imagining the worst possible things. Adela too late to stop Lou Ellen. Adela getting to Lou Ellen in time but Lou Ellen not listening. Lou Ellen making Adela go with her... that last one had made Mari hyperventilate.

Mari had been genuinely considering contacting the dark forces (iris-messaging Travis and Connor Stoll and convincing them to burn down every single trireme at the lake), when Adela's face had popped into view again, via Iris-message. Then Adela had told her what she'd convinced Lou Ellen to do.

An oath on the Styx. Everyone knew what that meant. It meant that no matter what, Lou Ellen would never step foot on that gods-forsaken nightmare-spa.

Mari had nearly sobbed with relief. The only thing stopping her was the quietly devastated look in Adela's eyes, but Adela refused to talk about it when Mari asked what was wrong. When Mari pressed further, Adela made an excuse and cut the connection. She did that a lot.

Mari might not have actively cried, but the relief had still been enough for her to sleep peacefully that night.

She actually did start crying when she woke up and realised that the snake repellent had worked.

The noise had sent Will running in with a panicked expression, but he'd looked really confused when he found the room monster-less. Then Naomi had come in, and she'd looked a lot less confused. Mari remembered nodding a lot, and then Naomi had hugged her, and Will had hugged her too even though he clearly hadn't been sure what was happening.