gnossienne
n. the realisation that you didn't actually know someone as well as you thought you did
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'Look, I never wanted to be a half-blood.
Let's start from the top, shall we?
My name is Cassandra Jackson, but everyone usually calls me Ca...
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I woke with up to Annabeth shaking me.
"The truck's stopped," Grover said, waking Percy up. "We think they're coming to check on the animals.
"Hide!" Annabeth hissed. She made it sound easy. All she had to do was put on her cap and disappear into thin air. Grover, Percy and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hoped we looked like turnips.
The trailer door creaked open. Sunlight poured in.
"Man!" One of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes. "You hot, big boy?" He asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face. I flinched back, ready to fight the man, but Percy held me in place as the lion roared in indignation.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." The man said, unfazed.
Next to me, Grover tensed. I couldn't see his face from my position, but I think he was just as ready to fight the man as I was.
The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How you doing, stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!" I gritted my teeth.
Looking up, I saw the zebra staring right at Percy and me, wide eyed with terror. There was no sound, but clear as day, I heard it speak. Free me, lady and lord. Please.
I was too stunned to react.
Percy?
Yeah, I heard it too.
There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer.
The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"
A voice inside - Eddie's I presumed - shouted back, "Maurice? What'd you say?"
"What are you banging for?"
Knock, knock, knock.
Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?" Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.
A second later, Annabeth appeared by Percy's side. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."
"No kidding!" Grover huffed, "The lion says the these guys are animal smugglers!"
That's right, the zebra spoke in my mind.
"Yeah, zebra's saying that too." I said. Percy nodded, so he must have heard it too. Annabeth had said Poseidon had created horses. Was a zebra close enough to count as a horse?
"We've got to free them!" Grover insisted. Annabeth and him looked between Percy and me.
The zebra spoke again, Open my cage, lord and lady. Please. I'll be fine after that.
