This is a collaboration between Lao123, MonkeySlippers, and Hangrace60. MonkeySlippers will often appear as a Wikia contributor because she is too lazy to sign in. :)
This is the first book to The Shady Series.
Cast and Credits[]
Lao123- Nicole
Hangrace60- Alyssa
MonkeySlippers- Jenna
Credits
Chapter 1- written by MonkeySlippers
Chapter 2- written by Lao123
Chapter 3- written by MonkeySlippers
Chapter 4- written by Lao123
Chapter 5- written by MonkeySlippers and Hangrace60
Chapter 6- written by Lao123
Chapter 7- written by Lao123 (Jenna POV, and Alyssa POV)
Chapter 8- written by Lao123 and Hangrace60 (Nicole POV- Lao123, Alyssa POV- Hangrace60)
Chapter 9- written by MonkeySlippers (last line written by Hangrace60)
Chapter 10- written by Lao123
Chapter 11- writen by MonkeySlippers and Lao123 (Jenna POV-MonkeySlippers, Nicole POV-Lao123)
Chapter 12- written by Hangrace60 and Lao123 (Alyssa POV- Hangrace60, Nicole POV- Lao123)
Chapter 13- written by MonkeySlippers
Looked over and grammar fixed by Lao123.
Chapter One[]
Jenna POV[]
Rumble, rumble. The bus rolls on. And I'm about to die. Of boredom. I glance at my best friend, Alyssa Jennings. Her iPod is glued to her ear, and she's sleeping. I'm not gonna steal her iPod again, because last time I tried, she nearly killed me with a bunch of her skeleton warriors (Alyssa's the daughter of Hades, she can do that stuff).
We were sent here to this "deathplace" to search for my lost half-brother, Percy. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, our oracle had a good hunch about this place... the Petrified Forest. Sounds like a playground Alyssa would play in.
I glanced at the seat next to me. My other friend, Nicole Bloor was sitting there, reading a book intently. Gods, I was bored. I reached into my backpack and pulled out the iPhone I stole from my mom. This was for dire occasions, and this was a dire occasion, I was bored. I put the headphones in my ears and started listening to "I Love Rock 'n Roll".
"All right, I have booklets for you children to fill." Mrs. Anderson, our current teaching assistant said.
Oh, gee.
Nicole stopped reading her book, and Alyssa woke up, and I groaned. Another hour in this hot, stuffy bus was going to make me more irritable than a cat who's hungry.
When I saw the booklets, I groaned even more.
"I really don't think Ms. Anderson is human," Nicole joked.
"She might not be," Alyssa answered. Nicole stopped grinning.
We all knew it might be true. Ms. Anderson might not be human... But we shouldn't even think about it. It's too dangerous. Ms. Anderson was smiling sweetly at us.
"Jenna, Nicole, Alyssa, do we have a problem?"
"No, Ms. Anderson." we chorused.
"Good."
"Ugh, guys, I'm sarting to hate Rachel now for putting us here." I say.
Nicole nodded.
"I'd rather be at camp," Nicole whispered.
"I'd rather eat pomegranates from Persephone's garden." commented Alyssa.
We all look at her. "What? The Underworld is cooler than up here... but my cabin at camp is pretty cool also. There's this one thing-" Alyssa covered her mouth.
"All right, children! Just fifteen minutes until we reach the Petrified Forest! I will pass out pens for everyone."
Fifteen minutes later, we hopped out of the bus. I had an instinct to run straight to the water (1.250 miles away) but I held back.
Rachel wouldn't send us here unless it was important.
Alyssa stretched out her arms and took deep breaths, as if she were never going to breathe again. She stuffed her iPod back into her pocket. My mom's iPhone was safely in my backpack. Everything was in there. Food, water, nectar, ambrosia, drachmas, mortal money, extra clothes, our sleeping packs (small and inflatable), coats- everything.
Nicole stuffed her book into her bag. Now that we have gotten enough air, we have come to see the real Petrified Forest. It's different shades of green, dull, bright, and trunks so hard the bark is beginning to peel off.
Ms. Anderson looks pleased, as if the forest makes her so happy. "Okay, I think now would be good, though."
It took Alyssa about about 5 seconds to realize what was going on, and her sword suddenly appeared in her hand. I followed her movements just in time, because just then, the woods exploded.
Chapter Two[]
Nicole POV[]
I tagged along beside Jenna and Alyssa. Then I heard a scream. Jenna's shaking her arm. There's spit on it. Then I realized where we were.
"OH MY GODS, WHERE ARE WE?"
I demanded, grabbing Jenna's icky arm. Alyssa gave me a warning look, and I knew from that, this was no joke.
"Do you realize the danger we're in?" Jenna grabbed my arm.
I noticed she had unsheathed Waterfall- her sword. We don't use our swords unless it's important. I mean serious important. It seems like a joke after that. I just noticed Alyssa had her sword, too.
"No," I admitted, sheepishly.
"He went there!" Alyssa pointed the tip of her blade to one of the deeper sections of the woods.
I also noticed the wood was petrified. But this was no time for day-dreaming. Stop gawking, Nikki, I pinched myself hard. Then I drew Midnight, my sword. It was black like Alyssa's. Jenna's shared a rainbow for shades of blue. We charged toward whatever it was. The sky crackled. Our luck. It began to rain. Jenna looked determined. Alyssa sighed, and her shoulders sagged.
"We've lost him," she finally said.
"No," Jenna said fiercely.
"He's there."
And to prove her point, the tree a few feet away from me turned to ice.
"Well, that doesn't look good." I muttered.
"Okay, Plan B," Alyssa said.
"We didn't even make Plan B, much less A!" I shrieked.
"Well, you're the daughter of the goddess of wisdom!" Alyssa argued.
We stopped, because just then, from behind the tree, stepped a blue giant that didn't look too happy.
Chapter Three[]
Jenna POV[]
Ms. Anderson smiled sweetly, and she began to change.
"Oh gods." Alyssa muttered.
"An empousa." Nicole breathed.
They seem to have got over fighting with each other, and were in some sort of trance to Ms. Anderson's change.
"Snap out of it, guys! There's more than one giant- there's three." I yelled at them.
"Oh no." Nicole said.
Ms. Anderson laughed. "Give it up, silly demigods! More of us are coming soon, and we will overpower you!"
"Not if I've got somthing to do with it!" Alyssa shrieked.
She slammed her sword on the ground, and 5 skeleton warriors stood there.
Ms. Anderson grinned. "More pieces to this game! Exellent. Who will win?"
"We will." Nicole said.
"Daughter of Athena. I would've thought you would know more."
Nicole growled at her.
"We come as a simple message- join Gaea or die!"
I responded by blasting her in the face with ice cold salty water. Then I jabbed her with Waterfall. She dissapeared in a wail and a bunch of gold dust.
Ty, one of the mortal kids, said, "Woah!"
"Get on the bus NOW!!!!" Alyssa screeched.
The mortal kids all jammed into the bus.
"It's showtime." Nicole muttered.
Chapter Four[]
Nicole POV[]
And how would three young half-bloods battle 3 smelly blue giants, a psycho demon lady, and protect the rest of the kids? It was impossible.
"Wait, aren't you dead?" I asked Ms. Anderson. The she-demon smiled wickedly.
"There are ways," she said. "We'll keep it ah- to ourselves." Then she turned to the blue giants. "Giants- deal with them!" She pointed a red fingernail at Alyssa and Jenna.
"How kind of you," I said sarcastically. "So let's start our talk."
I wasn't really worried about Jenna and Alyssa. The giants didn't stand a chance against them. They were very powerful.
"Bring it on, fang-face!" I yelled, throwing an arrow. It wasn't a random aim. I aimed it specially- at the empousa's arm. When it hit her, she schreeched.
"You'll pay for this, mortal!" she yelled. She bared her fangs. Every arrow I threw, every slash with Midnight, she dodged. She hit me- in the side. It stung. I fell, clutching my side. The pain was too much. I felt like a hot red poker had pressed into my side.
"And now," Ms. Anderson said. "The last straw!" She went in to bite me, sink her fangs into my skin. Perfect timing. I swung Midnight. She screamed. Another scream chimed in, it was Jenna's. I turned. Jenna's arm was a block of ice, so was Waterfall. Ms. Anderson hissed. She wasn't letting on too easily. For an empousa- she was strong.
"I'm senior empousa!" she growled. "As for you, half-blood, you won't live soon enough to find out!" She turned to dust, swept by the wind. I had a feeling she wasn't dead.
Giant #2 was having a great time with Jenna. Giant #1 and #3 were down. Alyssa's Stygian iron sword had hit them.
Jenna shook her arm, and the block of ice slid off. She grinned. Then she turned serious again. She began to attack Giant #2. Oh yeah, where was Alyssa? I'll tell you. She went inside the bus. Trying to explain stuff. There wasn't any point though- the Mist had covered as much as it could. Jenna said something like, "Curse you! That was my last knife!" then the giant mumbled something like, "Uh-oh."
There was a clang of swords meeting. Sweat poured down Jenna's face. I stepped forward, about to help.
"No," Jenna sounded angry. "Back off, Nicole. This is my killing."
I didn't blame her. "Okay," I said. I backed down. In one second, there was a blur of blue, a quick beeping noise, and there was no more giant.
"OK, Jenna." I said. "Let's see who the poor mortal that Ms. Anderson subsituted."
Chapter Five[]
Alyssa POV[]
So I killed a hyperborean, right?
They're easy to kill, because:
1, They're big.
2, They're bumbling.
3, They're stupid and blue and I hate blue so don't even think about buying me blue stuff 'cause I'll stuff loads of godly geek stuff that'll burn you right on the spot and I'll laugh at you when I see you with Hades. End of story. :) Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Hyperboreans. They're fat, too. Reminds me a lot like Cookie Monster. Stupid, blue, NOT cute, thank you very much Jenna, I hope you die, (Just KIDDING, CHILL!!!!) and they have a weird accent.
I spotted a dracanae out of the woods and I was suddenly angry. More monsters?
I summon the skeleton warriors to them.
I summon 7 more.
Gods, I think I can only summon 7 more. Maybe 9. More than 9, though, I know I'll pass out.
But I won't.
So the drachanae slithered out of the woods.
She spotted me.
"Half-blood." she said.
"Hello. So, how should I kill you? Fast, slowly,or medium? Hm?"
The drachanae laughed. "That iss not your concern, iss it?"
I stabbed her in the gut, and she burst into gold dust.
Jenna was drowning every monster that got near her.
Nicole was dealing with a hellhound.
My skeleton warriors were just hacking through all the monsters. I summon 5 more to help them.
Hmmm. 17 skeleton warriors+ 3 demigods against so many monsters only the gods would know the amount.
I ran to Jenna.
"Get help!" I yelled at her.
I could sense a monster behind me, so I stabbed it.
"Ok, Alyssa." she replied.
After a couple of minutes, six pegasi came swooping down, three with campers on them.
One pegasus came imeadiately to Jenna. The other two came to me and Nicole.
Clarisse La Rue, Meg Alice, and Annabeth Chase came running to us.
"Did you find Percy?" Annabeth asked.
I shook my head.
Annabeth stomped her feet in frustration. A hellhound appeared behind her, and with no hesitation she jabbed at it's side. It howled and ran away. Annabeth ran after it.
"Huh. So I heard correctly. There is a war going on. YAHHHH!!!" Clarisse yelled, following Annabeth.
I sent 10 of the skeleton warriors to defend the school bus.
I was off guard, so a laistrygonian giant slashed me on the arm.
I took my sword out and growled at it.
It laughed.
"Tiny girl want spar, huh? Okay. MORRRRRREEEEEEE MEAT!!!!!"
I charged.
Chapter Six[]
Nicole POV[]
Don't think me stupid. Just standing there after Annabeth, Clarisse and Meg appeared. But that's not what I did at all.
I secretly crept deeper into the woods. I guess I could find out where the monsters were coming from. Midnight was unsheathed. I didn't need it now. Now wasn't the time for fighting. I need to use my head to desipher what the thing was- oh, yeah. I forgot to say what I saw.
It was a drain in the ground. Sucking up all the dirt particles around it. But- the puzzlement was- monsters flooded out of it. I sank deeper into the shadows, behind the trees. I moved from tree to tree, trying to get closer (I was not insane) to the portal thing.
I wanted to test something. I reached into my pockets- a lolipop wrapper and a piece of paper towel with jagged sides. I touched my belt- I tend to tie stuff to it. A packet of something. Silica. I had no idea how that got in here. Oh. I guess I know. From a clothing packet, probably. Hey, don't blame me. My uncle's a tailor! I took it out. Petrified rocks. I know it's illegal, but- I took one in my hands. I needed water! I looked around frantically. My water bottle was in the bus. No time to go back. Besides, I didn't want to face impossible-to-kill skeleton warriors. A puddle of water from the rain. I unwrapped the lolipop wrapper. It was a bit large, which was a good thing. I scooped some water into the wrapper, that I had shaped as a cup. I ripped open the packet of silica, and poured it into the water. The water turned milky white. Then, I ripped a fourth of the piece of paper towel. I dipped it into the mixture. Then, I took it out, Holding it with two nails. From the bottom, it began to wear away. Gee, I ddn't know silica was such a deadly substance. Probably some minerals, too, from the water. Okay, no time for talking about silica. I crept closer to the portal, which stopped flooding with monsters. I poured the mixture into the portal. The feverish tearing activity stopped. It was a normal hole now. I grabbed a rock that kept weighing me down. Then, I dropped it onto the hole. After that, I wiped my dirty hands on my jeans. I raced back to join my friends. Who were outnumbered.
Alyssa's eyes widened when she saw me.
"Nicole!" she yelled. "What were you doing? Get over here!"
Okay, now it was time to fight. I unsheathed Midnight, and slashed my way to my friends, who were stattered. I could see Meg, creating some pretty horrifying illusions.
"Where were you?" Jenna demanded.
"I stopped the enemy from coming," I said. "I'll explain later. Now- it's time for the fighting."
"Time?" Alyssa asked. "So while you were away, you weren't fighting?"
"I was- in a way!" I argued. "I'll tell you guys later."
And the enemy advanced. I had sealed the portal- the monsters were slowly dying in population.
"You did it, Nikki!" Jenna said.
Alyssa looked white.
"No!" I yelled, jabbing at a hellhound. "Don't summon anymore!"
After we had killed all of them- some had escaped- Annabeth demanded of us, "What trouble have you guys gotton yourself into?"
Alyssa pointed to the blue and white bus. "Uh-"
"No," Annabeth interrupted. "There's a teacher in there, anyway. Besides- they didn't see anything." She mounted on her pegasus.
"Hop on," she said. "We're off to camp." She raised an eyebrow at me. "So tell us how you took care of the portal."
Chapter Seven[]
Jenna POV[]
Nicole's story seemed pretty wacky. As we flew across the sky, Annabeth asked if we'd found Percy.
"Nope," we said in unision.
Annabeth looked distressed. "I sent search teams. Some satyrs, and of course Grover. The Hunter of Artemis, Tyson, Nico, some campers and even Mrs. O'Leary! Oh gods, I really miss him. I hope my hair doesn't turn gray with worry and stress."
"Let's hope." Nicole muttered.
"What?" Annabeth shot Nicole a nasty look. She turned to me with pleading eyes. "Take either Nicole or Alyssa with you."
I bit my lip. "Alyssa."
"Go, then." Annabeth said, pointing to the north. "Find Tyson- you guys have a link. Being the children of Poseidon, you can talk to eachother. Think of him, send a message. Tell him what's going on."
"Okay." I gave Alyssa a look, to indicate that we were off.
"Nicole," Annabeth said. "I need to ask you a favor. But, first, we need to get to camp."
Nicole didn't say anything. She looked across, off to the sky. She seemed pretty nervous.
"Well," I said to Alyssa. "Let's go. It's all about you and me."
Alyssa POV[]
How did I get myself into so much trouble? I wanted to attack something right now. I felt distraught with craze. But I follow Jenna's pegasus over the clouds. I wanted to touch a cloud all my life- so, hey, I did. To my dissapointment, it was only air.
Jenna's pegasus was speeding now- I stared at its behind as it sped farther.
"Jenna!" I screamed.
She didn't slow down.
"JENNA!" Okay, it gets to a point, where it just doesn't fit as a puzzle. I haven't met anyone who could deal with this kinda stuff.
Jenna turned around. "What?" she called.
"Slow down," it comes out a bit low, because I wasn't looking at her. I was looking at the ground below us. All of a sudden, I felt sick. I fought the feeling. Jenna's pegasus flew toward me.
"I think I've found Tyson," she said.
"Oh really?" I asked.
"He's down in.. Connecticut."
Chapter Eight[]
Nicole POV[]
Once we were in Camp Half-Blood, past the borders, Annabeth led me into the Poseidon cabin.
"Hey, what the-" I began. Why were we in the Poseidon cabin, anyway?
Annabeth led me to the back of the cabin.
"No time to explain," she said.There was a box. It was gold, and blue with decorations on it. She fumbled with the lock, and with shaky fingers, inserted the key. She twisted it, and there was a click. Annabeth flipped the lid open.
Inside, there were large peices of blue ice. They were like Waterfall, Jenna's sword, different shdes of blue. I stared.
"Take a piece in each hand," Annabeth instructed. She looked at the ice with distaste, and slid her shaken hands into her jean's pocket. I knew she was nervous and excited at the same time. Her heart was probably beating fast in her chest. Hey, I know stuff like that. I'm clairvoyant, and I get glimpses of the future, can read people right off where tthey were.
"Shady," I muttered, but I didn't oblige. Once they were in my hand, my arm began to change color. The color of my skin drained to white.
My fingers felt numb. I wanted to let go, drop them. There was a sudden pain starting at my fingers. It was stinging- cold, and I felt lifeless and very ill.
"Don't drop them," Annabeth said. "Think of them as daggers. You can feel the person who owned them. You know them. You-"
I dropped the ice. I screamed in pain and buckled. The pain was too much. I couldn't handle it.
Alyssa POV[]
When me and Jenna landed, I felt like stabbing her. Why? Well, techincally, I am the daughter of Hades, so I'm pretty sure it's natural. But the main reason was beacause Jenna went 9,000 MPH.
Well, pegasi don't like me. Jenna told me that they told her to tell me that I smell like death. Thanks for the cheeriness. :(
"Hello? Death to Alyssa? You on Earth or down in the Underworld?" Jenna was waving her arms in front of me like a flustered duck who couldn't find her hat. "HELLOOOO? I SAID-"
"SHUT UP!" I shrieked. If she took a test called, "How High Can You Annoy People?", then I swear, she'd get an A+.
"No, no, I don't think I said shut up, I said he- OHHH... I get what you mean. You're telling me... to be quiet!"
I pinched her on the side, and Jenna squealed. "Alright! Alright! Geez, Louise!"
I rolled my eyes. "Well, we have to go to Tyson-"
I stopped. I could hear "Peanut butter!" roars, and something like a metal fork scraping a glass plate. I cringed at the sound.
"Oh my GODS! What is THAT?!" I yelled.
Jenna looked completely unaffected by the sounds made from the Peanut Butter group. She just rolled her eyes.
"Huh. Well, it's OBVIOUSLY Tyson and his group. What else can make such a horrible sound like that?" Jenna smirked and flounced away like a bratty five-year-old.
Well, you can, I thought. I sighed and just followed Jenna to this man-hole that had a big brown eye on it.
Chapter Nine[]
Jenna POV[]
The man-hole had a big brown eye on it. Duh, cyclops!
It was really dirty around here, and Alyssa started complaining.
"Oh my GODS, it's SOOOOOOOOOO dirty here! Oh my gods, oh my gods. Tyson should clean up better."
"That's mean. Besides, they are making swords for us."
"I've got one already."
Oh gods.
Alyssa tried to open the man-hole, but it wouldn't open.
"Damn it!" she cursed.
"Let me try." I touched the center of the eye, and the cover leaped apart.
"Hmm. Well, I probably helped open it-" Alyssa began.
"Shut up."
"I feel like killing you now."
"So? A bunch of cyclops are going to kill you next!"
"What if they don't?"
"What if they do?"
"But what if they don't?"
"Shut up and follow me."
"What if I don't want to?"
"Fine. Stay here. Get eaten by monsters. Guard your pegasus."
Alyssa just rolled her eyes.
"Just kidding! Gods, you're dense. Can't even make a simple joke with out being criticized."
Alyssa and I walked into a teddy bear and roach filled tunnel. We didn't say a word... Until the teddy bears started to come to life.
Chapter Ten[]
Nicole POV[]
"Jenna! Alyssa!" I called. I began walking through the tunnel. Wierd. There were roaches swarming around. Teddy bears with devilish grins.
Okay. Freaky. So Annabeth told me the ice job wouldn't work, so I had to go after Jenna and Alyssa in Connecticut. There I had found a man-hole open, and two pegasi flying off. Jenna's orders, probably.
"Jenna?" I called again. This seemed freaky. The teddy bears were closing in. I drew Midnight. No way I want my death to end at a fight with devil teddy bears.
"Alyssa!" I shrieked as a teddy bear ripped across the wall and flung itself at me.
I ran. Oh yes, I ran. It was so scary. The teddy bears began jumping at me- it was so odd.
"HELP!" I tore across the tunnels. I came across a horrible sight- it was Jenna and Alyssa. Tied up. There were teddy bears all over them, and rope. Their mouths were gagged, and roaches swarmed the ground. They began crawling up my leg.
"Eee!" I squealed. Jenna lifted her head, and her eyes widened. I began jumping around, trying to avoid roaches. No suck luck. They were everywhere.
No more items in my pocket. No deadly substance.
I was helpless. Here, with roaches at me, killer teddy bears, and two of my friends, helpless, tied up right under my nose.
I swung midnight at a wall of teddy bears and roaches. They exploded, yes, exploded, and landed at my feet. I squealed and jumped away. Teddy bears without legs grabbed my foot. I began to scream, so loud it could reach high heaven. This time, I swung midnight at Jenna.
Her bonds broke, teddy bears and roaches on her exploded. She jumped down, and murmered, "Thanks," but then yelled, "Nicole, these are evil-minded teddy bears!"
Now Alyssa was awake. I swung at her, the roaches and teddy bears exploded. In our faces.
"Eww," Alyssa flung a dead roach off her.
She got her sword out, and Jenna got Waterfall.
Time to defeat an army of killer roaches and evil teddy bears.
Alyssa POV[]
We were at Jenna's house, watching Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief on Jenna's TV.
"Shut it off! Shut it off!" Jenna cried. "I can't bear to watch it anymore. I miss him so much."
Nicole sighed and pressed the power button on the remote control. "Well, Tyson said the afternoon, right? I mean, can't you just whistle for Bluestar, and then-"
"Why, why, why?" Jenna sobbed. I began to shake my head.
"Jenna, we will find him. I agree, it's not a game, but we need to try. At least stop bawling for a while." I patted her shoulder. Jenna stopped.
"Now would be the perfect time." She mused.
"Yeah," I said sarcastically. "After I've just gotten 50 roach bites and evil teddy bear prints all over my body. Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes.
"True," Nicole said. "Jenna, do you have that kind of cream for scars? I have one, but it's at my house."
Jenna shook her head miserably, then scratched at a roach bite. "Nope. I don't carry that stuff, unless-"
I snapped my fingers. "Unless you carry it along with your camp stuff!" Nicole and Jenna stopped to stare at me for a while. "What?" I asked. "Why are you staring at me like that? I mean, isn't it obvious you'd have cream for scars in your camp trunk, but not know what it is?"
"True." Jenna stopped to think. "I'll go look." Nicole and I immediatly stood up with her.
"I'm going, too." We both said at the same time. Jenna nodded.
"Then, I guess we'll put on the stuff on our bites and marks." She then paused, and asked, "Wait a second. Won't nectar and ambrosia help?"
"Oh. My. God." Nicole said. "We totallly forgot about that!" She shook her head. "Oh well, we still need the ointment anyway." We followed Jenna to her room, and she flung open her bag. Reaching in, she pulled out a tube that suspiciously looked like toothpaste. It read "Scar Gel" on the front in dark purple letters. Nicole took it, and turned it over, her eyes scanning the text.
"Yup," she finally said. "This is the one. The ambrosia?" Jenna searched in her bag, then fished out a zip lock bag that had tiny ambrosia squares.
"I call lemon," we all said at the same time.
"Oh, come on." Nicole whined. "I love lemon. Please?"
"I love it more than you!" Jenna argued.
"So I'm left out?" I demanded, making a grab for the bag, just as Jenna steered it out of the way.
"Fine. I get strawberry then." Nicole said.
"I get lime," I put in.
"Yay!" Jenna said happily. We lined up to get our squares. I got jealous of Jenna, so when it was my turn, I "accidently" squashed the lemon. Jenna looked crushed.
"That's not fair," she said. Jenna glared at me accusingly. "You squashed it."
"Yeah," I grinned. "I squashed it."
Chapter Eleven[]
Jenna POV[]
So we were crashed out at my house.
Who cared if the lemon was squashed?
It was still the best.
"To make it all fair, let's divide the ambrosia in thirds, and share." I declared.
"Fine." Alyssa and Nicole said.
I divided mine in thirds giving Alyssa the most squashed part.
But I got perfect thirds.
Alyssa looked surprised.
"You squashed it, you get it." I told Alyssa, biting a peice off my square.
"That's not fair!" she protested.
"So?"
Alyssa made a wild grab for my lemon third, but I stuffed it into my mouth before she could.
Nicole was savoring the lemon third, breaking off little pieces at one time.
Then she saw Alyssa glaring at her, she stuffed the lemon third into her mouth, chewing it haughtily at Alyssa.
Alyssa laughed. "I still got a lemon third!!!!!!!!" she sang.
I rolled my eyes. Nicole started eating the strawberry. Alyssa glared at us, and then we ate the thirds in silence.
It was still good.
I stared at the clock on the wall.
"Remember that girl, the daughter of Kronos?" I asked.
"Yeah." Nicole answered.
"She ran away a week before Percy dissapeared." I continued.
"And she left Percy looking pretty stupid, if you ask me." Alyssa commented.
I laughed for a while, but then I stopped.
It wasn't so funny after all.
Nicole POV[]
I got up, and wiped my hands on my leggings.
"An hour passed. Tyson'll be waiting." I reminded them. Alyssa and Jenna looked up.
"Speaking of the daughter of Kronos, I think she's a sick loser." I added to the "conversation".
We all snickered. Then, Jenna got up and tugged at her shirt, probably wanting it to be a bit longer, since in my opinion, it was kind of short.
"You're right, Nicole." She said. "I mean right for both of them, but I mean the 'Tyson thing' ." Alyssa stood up and stretched, then yawned.
"Hey, guys? Can I just... take a nap? I haven't slept for a while... mmm." Alyssa murmered sleepily. Jenna snapped her fingers at Alyssa's face.
"No, Aardvark! We have to see Tyson." She said. I had a stifle a laugh at the "aardvark" part.
"Aardvark?" Alyssa demanded, suddenly awake. "Okay, then, Jellyfish!"
Jenna balled her fists and glared at Alyssa. "Bring it on, Aardie!"
"Guys, guys, stop it! We need to go! I'm serious. You'll never see Percy if you keep this up!" I said.
"Back off, Nikki." Jenna scowled at me. My whole body was on fire now. Jenna knows how much I hate that nickname, but she still uses it!
"That's it, Jackal!" I said, clearly annoyed. Alyssa stood beside me.
"That's right, Jenny," she sneered, saying the name wrong on purpose. "You shouldn't annoy your friends!"
Just as we were at eachother's throats, the beeping started. It was loud, and annoy-ing. Alyssa was about to strangle Jenna, when Jenna yelled, "Wait! It's the call!"
We froze. The call.
"Get outside!" Jenna screamed. "Out! Out! OUT!" We ran to the door, and flung ourselves outside. Jenna whistled, so loud, I felt deaf afterward. Alyssa felt it, too, because she clutched her ear and said, "Ow! What the heck was that?"
Then, three pegasi appeared in the sky, and landed on the sidewalk. A kid and her mom were walking around the corner.
"Look, mommy!" The kid said. "There are three unicorns!" She jumped up excitedly. Jenna waved off the pegasi behind a hedge about 7 feet tall, and the mom turned, and saw the three of us.
"Now, Penny," The kid's mom chided. "That's not very nice."
"But- but-" the little girl began to protest. Once they were out of sight, the pegasi trotted back to us. We mounted on them. Alyssa was having a bit trouble with her pegasus. It kept backing away from her.
"Now, Cherrycake," Jenna scolded. "If she smells like dead people, ignore it. We need to see Tyson, fast. If you do it, I'll give you a huge sugar cube and a lot of apples."
"Cherrycake? Nice name, and I mean it. I can see why you were named that- do you like cherries? I'll give you a lot of cakes that taste like cherries." Alyssa tried. Cherrycake refused, then Alyssa lost it. She stomped her foot and said, "Fine! Go without me! I wanted to take a nap anyway."
"Cherrycake," I said. "Listen- Percy, I guess you know him, was captured. If you don't take Alyssa, the girl you keep backing away from, you'll never see im again! If you do, there's a 80% chance he will be rescued. And you'll get a lot of apples, and sugar cubes, so that's double prize!"
That fixed him up.
So off we went, toward Connecticut again, and this time, we would be staying there shorter than I had expected.
Chapter Twelve[]
Alyssa POV[]
The pegasi were flirting with me, sad to say. No, seriously. They were trying to smile, (NOT a pretty sight) and they were all batting their eyelashes towards me. I don't know, but if they were girls, I was SOOO outta here. But Cherry-Something wasn't flirting. Good. I was TOTALLY giving her extra apples- NOT!!
So, like yeah. I saw these huge people who were eating peanut butter. Then, out of nowhere, they took out the most delicious looking cupcakes. It had purple icing, and the cupcake was chocolate flavoured. I got jealous of them, so I sort of cracked Waterbury Street.
Jenna screamed. "OH MY GODS, WHAT DID YOU JUST DO TO TYSON?!?!?!"
Oh. Whoops.
"Um.... Oh.... That was Tyson? Forgot. Sorry."
Nicole was looking at us like she was watching a tennis ball game.
"You FORGOT? YOU FORGOT?!?!?!?! How can you for-"
"Well, he didn't give me the cupcake, did he?" I sneered. Dude, she was playing this game? I'm not gonna lose. She was REALLY bad at these games.
"The freaking CUPCAKE is made outta PLAY-DOH!!!" Jenna screamed. "Tyson gave me one for my birthday. Chiron had to get Apollo's kids to help, too. It was THAT bad."
Oh. Well, George Lopez FINALLY got his facts right.
I glared at the ground, then, at Jenna. "Fine. Want him back? Give me 15 drachmas."
She stared. "No."
"Fine, but Hades isn't a convincing guy." I shrugged. "Well, lets just... Pray to Poseidon, and let him forgive me, because-"
Jenna started bawling, and I tried not to giggle.
She shoved 18 drachmas into my hand. I didn't mind. I just wanted 5, but 12's mine now, eh? ;)
Nicole POV[]
Play-doh cupcakes? I mean, I didn't know cyclopes were that bad.
And 18 drachmas? Not worth the price if you ask me.
Jenna looked angry, her eyes swirling with tears. Alyssa was a grinning, looking at the shining drachmas in her hand, her eyes huge.
I couldn't wait to see what would come next.
"Tyson, Tyson, Tyson, why?" Jenna wailed, rocking back and forth on the ground, cradling her arm (I don't know why).
"Soooo, I guess that ends our... mission." I said. "Let's get back to camp and tell Annabeth."
Alyssa snapped out of her awe, then said, "Yeah, and she'll be distessed."
"She'll blame it on you," Jenna said fiercely.
"Come off it," Alyssa said. "I didn't even know that was Tyson."
"If you guys want to stay here and pray to Poseidon... all fine with me. I'll just go mount my pegasus and-"
"NO!" Alyssa and Jenna both shoted at the same time.
"Oh, yes." I said. "I'm done with this place, so bye, bye." I went on my pegasus.
"Okay, I'll leave with Nicole and Bluestar." Jenna said.
"Bluestar?" Alyssa asked. "A boy or girl?"
"I like to talk to pegasi," Jenna frowned. "Hang out with them- you know."
"Are you serious? Hang out with pegasi?" Alyssa and I said at the same time. Jenna turned beet red.
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" she demanded. Alyssa and I rocked with laughter. Then Alyssa joined us on Cherrycake.
"I wouldn't dream of hanging out with pegasi." Alyssa said, her smile slowly fading as she eyed Cherrycake's mane warily.
Once we were at camp, Alyssa decided we settle things in her cabin, which was Hades.
There are 8 campers in the Hades cabin, and today, all of them were here, because the beds were messy.
"Sit on my bunk." Alyssa said. " 'Cause my siblings don't like their stuff messed up, kay? You'll find skeleton warriors following you back to your cabin if you do."
Jenna and I shruddered at the thought.
That's when the door opened, and a girl blond hair with a quiver on her back came in, grief-stricken.
I glared at her, partly because have a dislike for children of Apollo, and partly for interrupting us. I don't exacly hate them, but very close to it, like 86.5%.
"Jenna, Alyssa and Nicole, right?" the girl asked. "Annabeth wants to see you. She said now."
Chapter Thirteen[]
Jenna POV[]
The girl led us to the big house.
Annabeth was waiting on the front porch. She looked worried.
"Come on. I need to show you something."
I glanced at Nicole and Alyssa. They shrugged.
We followed Annabeth.
"So, why'd you bring us here?" I asked.
"Jenna, this might upset you greatly......."
"What?"
"Jenny- Jenny's condition is getting worse and worse, by the minute. She's dying."
"Jenny?" Nicole asked. Alyssa sucked in her breath.
"She is dying. But her spirit is going to Elysium. I can feel it."
I glared at Alyssa. I could feel tears streaking down my face.
"Shut up! Just-shut up! She's not dying! She's not! She- she can't." I looked at the floor, hoping for Nicole and Annabeth and Alyssa to just go away and leave me alone.
I felt a reassuring pat on the back- Nicole.
"She wants to see you," Annabeth muttered. "Just Jenna."
I shook off Nicole's arm, and walked into the room.
Silence inside.
Jenny was on a bed, a glass of nectar and a plateful of ambrosia next to her.
She took a weak sip of nectar and a tiny bite of ambrosia.
She smiled when she saw me.
I don't know why a person would smile on her deathbed, but Jenny managed.
"Hey, Jenna." She looked fine now, but I looked a little more closely, and I could see what Annabeth was talking about.
Jenny was deathly pale, coughing violently, and she didn't look any better than last time. Heck, she looked better last time!
"You're- you're not gonna-"
"Whatever happens, happens. Neither you or I could change time. It is inevitable."
I bit my lip.
Jenny coughed some more, then fell limp.
I screamed, and Nicole, Alyssa and Annabeth walked in.
There was a grim silence.
We all knew, of course, but we didn't say it.
Jenny Craig is dead.
Her funeral was that night.
I was crying the whole time.
Dionysus appeared, too.
I don't know who made Jenny like that, weak. Dead, even.
But I was going to find out.
And I am going to make them pay.
The End[]
Hope You Liked Shady.
Next adventure/collaboration: Sleep.