The Ghosts Among Us: A Percy Jackson Halloween Special

15 | In Which Some Hocus Pocus Stuff Goes Down

"Hey!" Percy said, squeezing Annabeth's hand. "No one, and I mean no one, gets away with talking to my girlfriend like that! This isn't her fault, it's yours!"

"Why are you even doing this?" Thalia growled. "I mean, I know you want revenge on Percy or whatever, they always do, but why do you want revenge on the Kelp Head? Who are you?!"

"I suppose it doesn't matter if you know anymore, now that you're surely to die in ten minutes tops," They all said, pursing their lips. Percy looked at Annabeth. She usually stood strong, but there was terror in her eyes. The whole Nico scene really shook her, and Percy couldn't blame her. Percy just pulled her closer to him, though kept his sword ready in his other hand.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Thalia snapped. "Tell us!"

"Patience, girl," They all said, still speaking in the creepy unison, "But as we were saying, we've all been possessed and controlled by the almighty goddess, Melinoe! Quiver before her!"

Percy frowned, raising his eyebrow in confusion. He turned to Annabeth whose mouth was wide open. "Uh, Wise Girl? Who's Mealworms?"

"Melinoe, Percy, not Mealworms. She's the goddess of ghosts, nightmares, and Funerary rites. The ghost thing makes a lot of sense now, actually," Annabeth said with a thoughtful look.

"Are you serious?" The possessed demigods said with an in sync eye roll. "You actually don't know who I am?"

"Percy, you, me, and Nico literally fought her. She tortured us?" Thalia said, crossing her arms.

"Oh, right!" Percy said, snapping his fingers. "Sorry, I've kind of lost track of all the monsters and gods I've fought." No, Percy wasn't trying to brag. He was genuinely confused.

"How could you forget me! I have got to be one of the most powerful beings you've ever faced!" The possessed demigods said, clenching their fists.

"Nah, I can think of a ton of others that were a lot harder to face then you. Kronos and Gaea are more up there. Oh, and that one cashier at Chipotle. Man, that guy was a jerk. And persistent. I knew I had seven cents in change but he just wouldn't give it to me! But yeah, you're definitely not one of the biggest threats I've faced, Mealworms," Percy shrugged.

Annabeth patted her boyfriend's shoulder, feeling sorry for how pitiful that sounded.

"Wait!" Thalia said, cutting the possessed demigods off who were about to say something. "How come you're out here mainly for revenge on Percy, saying he's the only true threat?! I'm the one that shot the arrow at you and made you disappear!"

"He was the only one powerful enough to break out of my spell. The only reason you were able to break out of the spell was because the boy distracted me," The now evil demigods said.

"So? He still missed when he swung his stupid sword at you!" Thalia said.

"Humph. Enough chit chat. It's time for you to die, foolish demigods."

"Percy, I hate asking this, but what the Hades do we do?" Annabeth said, a look of sudden fear in her eye. "This is horrible! I always know what to do, but for once, I don't. You've faced Melinoe before! How do we defeat her?"

"I don't know! Apparently we didn't even defeat her last time, we just turned her into mist and made her temporarily go away!" Percy said, waving his sword around in the air crazily.

"Well it's not like we can just shoot her now! There's hundreds of her!" Annabeth said, panicking.

Percy turned to the crowd. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, how do we defeat you?"

The possessed demigods burst out laughing. "As if we would actually tell you, Perseus!"

"Wait!" Annabeth said, suddenly gasping. "Hades forbid Melinoe from haunting the mortal realm during the daytime. We just have to wait until the sun rises and we'll be safe! What time is it?"

The possessed demigods' eyes widened. "Now just wait a min-"

Thalia looked up at the sky. "Well... judging by the position of the moon, it's around 1 in the morning," Thalia said, still looking grumpy about what happened before.

"And the sun rises around 6:50," Annabeth said, "We just have to make it around... six more hours! And fifty minutes..."

"Dang, there's some real Hocus Pocus stuff going on right now," Percy laughed.

"Hocus Pocus?" Annabeth raises her eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah. Really good Halloween movie. Umm... just forget I said anything," Percy said, running a hand through his hair.

"Uh, okay. So let's go find a place to hide for six hours and fifty minutes!" Annabeth said.

"Mortals really are dumb," Leo said, "Discussing their plan in front of the supposed enemy. Not very smart.

"Dude, shut up. It's hardly even a plan. And it's not like we really have a choice. I mean, would you give us space if I asked?"

"Of course not," Leo said.

"My point is proven. So why don't you shut Valdez's mouth and eff off, huh? I'm also still angry about not being considered a threat," Thalia crossed her arms.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Get them," he said lazily.