Legend of Perseus 3: Curse of Atlas

~Chapter 1~

The Friday before winter break, my mom packed me an overnight bag and a few of her divine blue cookies and took me to a new boarding school. We picked up Annabeth and Thalia on the way there.

It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Annabeth, Thalia, and I hadn't seen each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much. Except for my mom. She talks more when she's nervous. By the time we finally got to Westover Hall, it was getting dark, and she'd told Annabeth and Thalia every embarrassing baby story there was to tell about me.

Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. "Oh, yeah. This'll be fun."

Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" my mother asked.

"No, thanks, Mom," I said. "Besides, you should get back home so you can get Estelle and Abigale ready for their first day of Preschool."

"I still can't believe that father of yours left your 3 year old at that hotel all these years." Sally sighed annoyed.

"Trust me, when I see him I'll ring his ear for the both of us, you want me to shadow travel you back or do you want to drive?"

"Can you shadow travel me back please, I am kinda tired after 8 hours of driving." Sally responed yawning. "But how will you get back- right nevermind, Why didn't you three just shadow travel here anyways?"

"Because someone begged me not to." I responded. "Well get some rest when you get home."

"It's okay, Ms. Jackson." Annabeth smiled reassuringly. Her blond hair was tucked into a ski cap and her gray eyes were the same color as the ocean. "We'll keep him out of trouble."

My mom seemed to relax a little. She thinks Annabeth is the most levelheaded demigod ever to hit eighth grade. She's sure Annabeth often keeps me from getting killed. She's right, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

"All right, dears," my mom said. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."

"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"

"Mom—"

"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. I'll send you home now, Love you."

"I love you too, baby." Sally replied smiling as the shadows consumed her and the car before returning to how they where.

"I still can't believe you are the son of all three, Big Three gods." Thalia muttered. "Your mom is really cool, Percy."

"She's the family Queen." I admitted. "My step-dad, my sisters and I always spoil her rotten, she deserves it after what she been through."

I fixed my leather trench coat as I looked at the building.

"We'd better get inside," Annabeth spoke up. "Grover will be waiting."

Thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

I stared up at the dark towers of Westover Hall. "My guess, demigods of some powerful god," I replied, not hinting I knew the truth.