Do-over (A Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

8. Ares sucks

It was another day before we reached Denver. Annabeth had said something about contacting Chiron but I wasn't really paying attention. Every single time I saw something in the corner of my eye, I would instantly go on alert. Maybe I was a bit paranoid but what Echidna had said was stuck in my mind.

I didn't even notice when we arrived at the empty DIY carwash. 

'It's seventy-five cents,' Grover grumbled as he detached the spray bottle from the wall. 'You guys have any spare change?'

'I have some.' I said as I pulled out four quarters. Annabeth took three and inserted them into the machine. Grover set the knob for the spray bottle to FINE MIST.

'Excellent. We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arms gets tired of pumping.' Grover grimaced.

'Here, I'll do it.' Grover handed me the spray bottle and let out a subtle sigh of relief.

'So what do I do?' I asked Annabeth. Even if I have used Iris-Messaging before, summoning the Goddess of Rainbows with a spray bottle was still weird to me.

'Aim the nozzle at the sunlight,' she pointed at the rays of afternoon sunlight streaming through the air. 'And just spray the water to make a rainbow.'

I nodded and started pumping. It wasn't long until a rainbow shimmered in front of us. Annabeth rummaged through her backpack until she took out a pouch of gold drachmas. She fished one out from the leather pouch and held it out in front of the rainbow.

'O goddess, accept our offering,' she threw the coin in the rainbow and it shimmered before it disappeared. 'Half-Blood Hill.'

I blinked and the misty rainbow was replaced with the strawberry fields of camp. Long Island Sound glittered in the distance. The Iris-Message had popped up at the Big House Porch. There was one person there: Luke leaning against the porch railing, looking down the meadow as if the campers had broken up into a fight. 

Knowing them, they probably did.

'Luke!' I called out, startling him.

Luke whirled around, his face breaking into a grin. His smile made the scar on his face stick out more and it unsettled me. Nonetheless, seeing a familiar face calmed me down, albeit slightly.

'Percy!' Luke exclaimed happily. 'Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?'

I nodded and watched Annabeth as she blushed and stuttered in front of Luke. I never realised how much she had a crush on Luke and instead of feeling jealous, I found it quite amusing. I was too busy trying not to laugh as Annabeth tried her best to straighten naturally curly hair, I almost stopped pumping.

'Where's Chiron?' I interrupted Annabeth's stammering.

The smile on Luke's face instantly vanished, 'He's down by the cabins. We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you?'

The way Luke was talking to us made me think that he really cared about what happens to us. How could he change his intentions so quickly?

'Yeah, we're fine,' Grover cut in. 'What kind of issues?'

Luke opened his mouth to reply but before he could get a word out, sounds of people singing horribly and music filled the air. A car pulled into the carwash and slid into the stall next to us, the volume of their music so loud, the entire block was shaking. I could feel the vibrations coming from the ground. 

'What's that noise?' Luke had to yell to be heard.

'Some idiots!' I yelled back just as Annabeth yelled, 'I'll take care of it.'