Daughter Of The Moon

Chapter 23

Luna

Kai wrinkles his nose as he squints into the sun. "Of course this isn't Washington." He says. "We're in London, moon-pie."

Shock winds around my features, and I get the pleasure of seeing my goldfish-like expression reflected in the windows of a big red bus as it trundles on down the road before us.

London?

"Why did we end up here of all places?" Muses Zack. Unlike the son of Poseidon, he doesn't squint into the sun at all; he stares pensively at it with a normal gaze like it's an old friend, but turns his head away to strike up a complex kind of conversation with Kai about the various possibilities. I catch snippets of their sentences: The gods moved to New York from here about twenty years ago... rotten old hags... get back?... shut up sunshine... stuff some kelp in it, Murphy... a llama? Really?

When llamas come into a conversation, I feel I have to step in.

"Stop a second." I tap them on the shoulders, cutting Kai off mid-insult. "You can discuss the exact science of the ground we're standing on later, but right now I just want to know where we are."

Zack looks down at his feet in shame, but Kai does the absolute opposite and scowls at me. "We're in London, in case you weren't listening. Besides, I thought you would have noticed on your own. Look:" He stabs a finger in the direction of a bronze-coloured building across the road. It has intricate carvings around the windows and a huge clock face at the top of the tallest part of the building. "Big Ben."

I follow his gaze and we all watch in silence for a moment as the huge minute hand finishes its journey around the clock face and the bell tolls. The booms seem to shiver up the pavement, and my hyper-aware demigod senses pick up the vibrations in the ground.

I count seven rings of the bell.

"Zack," I tug on his sleeve, "have we... um... gone back in time?"

He laughs, and several assorted Londoners shoot him suspicious looks as they hurry past. "No, Luna. It's just the time difference. We're six hours in front in New York."

Kai smirks at me, his green eyes sparkling like the sea in midday sunlight. "I thought you said you knew science, Jacy."

"Technically that's geography." I correct, assuming a haughty air. "And in contradiction to your thoughts, the only science I really know is astronomy. I don't consider matters as insubstantial as this world to be worth spending time on."

"Well I may not be the size of a galaxy, but I assure you that I am more interesting than anything else you'll find in this universe." The son of Poseidon winks at me. "But if I die and you get stuck with sunshine here, that statement will be proved true."

Zack mutters something unintelligible, for once looking darker than the sky above, which makes me notice something. I've always heard that London was this smoggy, rainy place where everyone is pale and serious and gets nervous at the sight of anything green, but it appears that I couldn't be more wrong. The sun is shining in the sky, and white puffy clouds drift lazily in the blue. It isn't as hot as New York, but the people of the city seem to be enjoying the summer, with smiles on their faces and sandals on their feet. A few people are even having picnics in a little square of green signed as Parliament Square, looking sunburned and happy and carefree.

I shake my head and try to ignore the happy scene.

I'm on a quest. I tell myself sternly. I am not going to relax until I'm back in Camp Half-blood with a golden apple in my hand.

"So what are we going to do next?" I ask, making my tone as businesslike as possible.

"Find a museum." Replies Kai.