Crossroads of Two Worlds

4- A Really Big Problem

Waterloo Station

9:58 AM

"She should be here any second now," I told my mother as we waited for Maya. I searched the station, craning my neck in attempt to see over the top of an old man's wispy grey hair. Families bustled around, everyone on a mission. I waited with my mother by the fountain that I'd visited yesterday, wondering where my new friend was.

My mother raised her eyebrows at my comment, "She, huh? Thank goodness, I thought it was a boy."

"Mom!"

She held up her hands in self-defense, her eyes twinkling with laughter that had been restrained for too long. Right as she was about to speak again I saw a familiar face around the corner. Maya grinned at me, her golden hair swishing as she walked over to us, wearing new clothes that weren't holy. She held out her hand for my mother and my mother took it, "I'm Nalani Faye, pleased to meet you dear."

"Maya Jackson."

My mother paused and asked inquisitively, "Jackson? As in Percy Jackson?"

Maya frowned, "Do you know my father?"

My mother smiled, her tanned face hinting at the near-forgotten memories, now resurfacing, "I used to, you have his eyes. Tell him I said 'hi'."

Maya nodded, a small smile gracing her lips, and my mother pushed me toward her.

I walked away with few regrets.

Long Island, New York

June 4th

6:15 PM

I'd been traveling with Maya for days. She had neglected to mention that the camp was in America, though I really should have known. Where else could we be going that could be home to a demigod with a New York accent? We'd flown to New York, but we'd had to take a boat part way to get to the camp in Manhattan. She'd been teaching me about demigods the whole way and I figured that I had to be one of the most educated 5 day old demigods in existence. I had a pretty severe case of photographic memory, but I also for some reason, remembered mostly everything heard as well as saw. I would therefore remember about ninety percent of what Maya taught me. It was a blessing and a curse, as many things are, but it could be worse. It was a blessing to me most of the time because, as much as I tried to hide it, my dyslexia didn't do well for studying textbooks, so if a teacher lectured the material, I was fine. Maya explained that she was a granddaughter of Athena so she naturally had a way of seeking knowledge.

Finally, after four long days, two plane flights and a long boat trip, we saw the strawberry fields that hid the camp, according to Maya. But just as we were about to start climbing the hill by the strawberries, the earth beneath our feet shook. Simultaneously, we froze in place. The earth shook again, once, twice... it wasn't an earthquake, I knew that. It came in spasms, like footsteps, footsteps of a...

"Giant," Maya whispered, more terrified than I'd ever seen her. We'd fought off many creatures on our journey and she barely showed a lick of fear. Not anymore.

The footsteps were coming from behind us.

We both turned around slowly and stared, wide-eyed, at the phenomenon in front of us. The giant, with crusty green skin and mud-brown eyes, was terrifying, yet ridiculous enough that a small portion of the fear dissipated. It's nose reminded me of Marcus when his whole head had swollen up. If I squinted, the giant almost looked like the bully himself. The prison uniform it wore was truly what made it ridiculous. The uniform was ripped on the side seams so it hung around his neck like a baby's bib. The pants were the same, so I averted my eyes, feeling no need or want to see that. It's dreadlocks seemed to be made of seaweed and dead (mostly brown) human hair. A disturbing streak of black ran down one dreadlock on the left side of his head. In other parts of his 'hair', tangled in knots, were several spoons, a bottle of Suave shampoo that obviously hadn't done its job, and bits of all sorts of food.