Running Over Water

[1 - Jitters]

Percy

"Another metahuman attack on a civilian  yesterday—"

Click.

"Stir the noodles and sauce together—"

Click.

"We have a GSW on the lower abdomen—"

I sighed and turned off the television. My feet swung back and forth at the edge of the bed, my fingers drumming to a random beat on my thighs. I look towards my right at Annabeth who was unpacking a few of her womanly things in the bathroom.

"Nothing good on?" She asks while unzipping a pouch, her toothbrush fell out when she wasn't looking, knocking over a plastic cup. When her head whips around, she frowns at it as if it was a child who broke something. I shake my head because I still know she's looking at me with her peripheral vision. I flop down on the freshly-made bed and inhale the soft aroma of candles that we just lit.

We had just arrived at a hotel in Central City. The room was enormous, and we got a good deal out of it too. I don't doubt that I could fit my entire apartment in here from when my mom was still with a certain Smelly Gabe.

Honestly? I was still shocked that we paid the hotel with drachmas and not actual cash. It's a funny story, really.

We walked in, lugging in our heavy bags after hours of riding with Blackjack and Porkpie. And as we were going to check in with the hotel, a petite lady sat at the desk, her dark hair pulled tight in a bun.

She looked as if she was once pretty, but it looks like age caught up too quickly. Her cheekbones were high, but the skin sagged off her cheeks like bags. Her fingers were long yet wrinkled. Her skin was so translucent, you could see the veins that trailed across her face.

We greeted her quietly and Annabeth pulled out the credit card Chiron gifted us. But in doing so, she fumbled and accidentally dropped a few drachmas on the counter. Annabeth swore under her breath and frantically gathered the coins back, but I saw the woman at the desk was looking straight at the coins, almost drooling like a baby.

"Wait!" The lady held out her hand right before Annabeth was going to shove the coin bag in her backpack. "Where'd you get those? Not many people can have those."

She eyed us suspiciously and I didn't know how to respond. Was I just supposed to tell her? "Camp," I told her.

I could tell the woman immediately understood but gave no sign of showing it and leaned in. She licked her lips, wiping the dead skin off and whispered, "I'll give your room for free if you give me some of those drachmas. I'll say you just paid with cash."

At first, we said no, as one should after getting a mysterious offer from an even more mysterious woman. But she pleaded and begged and begged, she insisted she knew we were demigods and told us how she hadn't felt the touch of the golden coin in decades. After hesitation, we agreed. Only because we didn't have to pay for the hotel.

So here we are.

She reminded me of that dude at the entrance of the underworld, Charon, who was very easily bribed with drachmas. He also had a weird thing for Italian suits.

I was still bewildered at the fact that out of all the places we could've gone, Annabeth chose Central City. I half-expected somewhere tropical, or maybe even Paris again! But she said she couldn't miss this science event that happens annually, and since she missed it last year, she just had to go this year. I was hoping for a beach or something. But Annabeth had told me there was a park right next to the docks that we could visit when he had the time. I'm low-maintenance, so that's all I really wanted to do while we were here.