𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 - 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒚 𝒋𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒙 𝒐𝒄

¸„.-•~°ˆ˜¨𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬¨˜ˆ°~•-.„¸

Phoenix wouldn't recommend shadow travel if you're scared of:

a) The dark
b) Cold shivers up your spine
c) Strange noises
d) Going so fast you feel like your face is peeling off

In other words, she thought it was awesome.

One minute she and Percy couldn't see anything. Percy could only feel Mrs. O'Leary's fur, his fingers wrapped around the bronze links of her dog collar, and Phoenix's arms around his waist so tight he felt like he could barely breathe.

The next minute the shadows melted into a new scene. They were on a cliff in the woods of Connecticut.

At least, it looked like Connecticut from the few times Percy had been there: lots of trees, low stone walls, big houses.

Down one side of the cliff, a highway cut through a ravine.

Down the other side was someone's backyard.

The property was huge—more wilderness than lawn.

The house was a two-story white Colonial. Despite the fact that it was right on the other side of the hill from a highway, it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere.

Phoenix could see a light glowing in the kitchen window.

A rusty old swing set stood under an apple tree. Phoenix couldn't imagine living in a house like this, with an actual yard and everything. She'd lived in a tiny apartment or a cabin her whole life.

If this was Luke's home, she wondered why he'd ever wanted to leave.

Mrs. O'Leary staggered. Percy remembered what Nico had said about shadow travel draining her, so they both slipped off her back.

She let out a huge toothy yawn that would've scared a T. rex, then turned in a circle and flopped down so hard the ground shook.

Nico appeared right next to Percy, as if the shadows had darkened and created him.

He stumbled, but Percy caught his arm.

"I'm okay," he managed, rubbing his eyes.

"How did you do that?" Percy asked.

"Practice. A few times running into walls. A few accidental trips to China," Nico replied.

Mrs. O'Leary started snoring. If it hadn't been for the roar of traffic behind them, she probably would've woken up the whole neighborhood.

"Are you going to take a nap too?" Percy asked Nico.

He shook his head. "The first time I shadow traveled, I passed out for a week. Now it just makes me a little drowsy, but I can't do it more than once or twice a night. Mrs. O'Leary won't be going anywhere for a while."

"So we've got some quality time in Connecticut."

Phoenix gazed at the white Colonial house. "What now?" She asked.

"We ring the doorbell," Nico said.

If Phoenix were Luke's mom, she would not have opened her door at night for three strange kids. But Phoenix wasn't anything like Luke's mom. She knew that even before they reached the front door.

The sidewalk was lined with those little stuffed beanbag animals you see in gift shops. There were miniature lions, pigs, dragons, hydras, even a teeny Minotaur in a little Minotaur diaper.

Judging from their sad shape, the beanbag creatures had been sitting out here a long time—since the snow melted last spring at least. One of the hydras had a tree sapling sprouting between its necks.