Reach for the Stars (Percy Jackson AU)

Chapter Four

Zoe woke up, sweating, as the sun reached around the corners of her room. Her braid had come out, so her dark hair was falling over her face, her bangs drooping over her black eyes. Her gray tank top, which had a cartoon golden star, was drenched. And she had to physically stop her hands from shaking.

She barely remebered the previous night, but the minute she thought of it, she choked out a sob. Percy was gone too. Zoe gripped her head in her hands and curled into a ball as the tears slid down her face.

Normally, Zoe was the strog confident leader of the archery team. But this was just too much to handle. Zoe was shaking as the hot tears slid down her face, sliently sobbing into her arms. And unfortuantly, Zoe had a lot of practice crying without noise.

A few minutes later, Zoe had dried her eyes, and stopped shaking. She took a shaky breath and stood up, before the room burst into green spots and she heard Rachel.

"Their not dead, just missing. And they need their friend," Zoë flopped back down on her bed, shaking her head back and forth.

"No, no, stop it!" She muttered, "I'll go missing next, then all of us will be gone, every single one of-" Zoë looked up.

"Just us," She whispered shakily, "Only us. No one else." Zoë leaped off her bed,heart racing. Not bothering to change, she slipped on her old sweatshirt after going to her closet to grab it. As she unhooked it from its hanger, she knocked into another shirt, which caused one at the very end to peek out , pushed back so she wouldn't have to see it. A flash of orange, and hose five letters.

Teens Against Monsters Every Day, it was a stupid name, as Zoë mentioned years ago, but it stuck.

"I need to go and see Sally." Zoë out on her headband and tiptoed through the house braiding her hair, as she walked through the kitchen snagged a golden apple and stuck it in her pocket. Sticking her keys into her pocket Zoë headed out the door. Tying her braid with a hairtie, she took the apple out of her pocket and took a large bite of the golden fruit.

She stood on the side the road, and held out a golden coin, the currency of her town, Olympus. As if by teleportation, a gray taxi cab skidded to a stop in front of Zoë, as if it could sniff out the money.

The back seat opened, and Zoë ducked her head under the door and climbed into the cab, ignoring the awful smell that lingered in its interior. And soon as she closed the door, a withered hand, almost as grey as the cab, reached out from the front seat. Snapping its fingers for the golden coin. Zoë placed it in her hand, and coolly said,

"Kelp-Head." Immediatly, the driver pressed on the gas and Zoë was launched back into the seat, swearing at the top of her lungs.

"WHAT THE FUCK! A LITTLE SHITTY WARNING NEXT TIME WOULD BE FUCKING NICE!" She swore, as the driver turned a sharp corner, launching her into the other window. Rubbing her cheek, Zoë somehow managed to buckle the army grade seatbelt that the driver had installed a few years ago.

Finally, finally, the cab stopped in front of an old apartment building, and Zoë quickly excited the car which immediatly speed off, to go hunt for more unfortunate people that needed a ride.

Zoë waited for a second, allowing her stomach to settle before heading into the building. Ignoring the women who asked why she was here (She was obviously new). And headed for the elevator. Pressing the button, and stepping inside, she pressed the seventh button and leaned against the railing as the awful elevator music played.

"Gods." Percy groaned, holding his hands over his ears. "Why do they have to play Apollo Tunes in the elevator? He's a bad enough music teacher!"