Alstroemerias {Percy Jackson}

29

Maggie hadn't slept in the woods for a while. There had been a period of time where she would escape to the small thicket of trees behind her house when things weren't particularly bright. She still remembered the countless nights that she slept under the stars, even to the point where she had given herself hypothermia at some point. She had also spent quality time in the woods on her way to camp, although she hadn't been alone then. This seemed different though, more hopeless than what she had experienced every other time. Usually the woods were her escape, they would tell her that everything would be alright. Now, however, laying on the damp ground, surrounded by the trash left behind by careless teens, the situation seemed to scream out at her like someone telling her they were really alone or that they would fail. It wasn't the best feeling.

Annabeth had curled up on top of the pile of blankets they had taken from Aunty Em's. she had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the ground, leaving the rest of the group without blankets for themselves. Maggie was kinda mad about that, she was cold.

Grover had taken up a spit on a low branch of a tree, while she and Percy had found shelter underneath it. She tried to ignore the conversation Percy was having with Grover, somehow almost succeeding. She had begun to fall asleep when Percy turned and tapped her hand.

"Maggie," he whispered, "are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you seemed pretty freaked out back there... with Medusa."

"Well, yeah... we had to fight a monster. You were freaked out too."

"Yeah, but you've fought a bunch of monsters before. This was a different kind of freaking out. What's wrong?"

Magnolia was determined to dodge the question, but she made the mistake of looking at his eyes.

"I- "

"You know that you can tell me anything right? That's what best friends are for."

"I've fought medusa before." she started, and Percy instantly straightened up.

"When?" he asked softly.

"It was-" she started. "A year after I came to camp, Luke got a quest. Out of the original three, he was the only one to come back. But, he brought someone else with him. He and I became really good friends really fast." she took a shaky breath before continuing. "I convinced Chiron to let Carlos go to the same school as me for a year because my dad had finally sent me to a school in New York instead of one in another state. He was older than me, but it didn't really matter because we always sat together during lunch and stuff. But, half way through the year we got attacked by Medusa while walking home from school. Before either of us could even think of attacking her back, he looked her in the eyes." she stopped. "I- I didn't know what to do, and I probably would have died if Chiron hadn't been following us that morning."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Percy didn't say anything else as he pulled Maggie's head into his shoulder. The two of them quickly fell asleep. 

When Percy woke up after his dream, there was something heavy on his stomach. It took him a few seconds to remember that he and Maggie had fallen asleep on top of each other and their positions must have changed as they were sleeping. Her body was curled up next to his, and her hand tentatively clutched the hem of his jacket. The young girl's short, bright green hair was splayed around her head like a halo. She looked even smaller than she usually did.

Percy maneuvered himself carefully from underneath the small girl, taking care not to wake her up. As soon as he managed to do so, Annabeth's voice rang out through the clearing, "So the zombie lives."

Percy realized that his hands were still trembling as a result of the dream. He hurriedly tried to straighten out his jacket, hoping that the blonde had not noticed. "How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast," she said as she tossed the boy a bag of nacho flavored chips from Aunty Em's snack bar. "Can you wake up Magnolia? Grover went exploring and found a friend. He said it would be considered rude of she wasn't awake for that."

He crouched down and softly placed a hand on Maggie's shoulder, trying to shake her awake. Not long after she sparing up, only to quickly sit back down.

"You okay?" he asked her

"Yeah, sorry, just got a bit dizzy. Probably stood up too fast."

Behind Percy, a pink poodle yapped. Grover answered with a "No, he's not."

He blinked. "Are... Are you talking to that thing?"

The poodle growled.

"This thing," Grover warned, "is our rocked west. Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?"

Grover ignored the question and Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy. And the green haired girl over there is Magnolia."

Percy stared at Annabeth, hoping she'd crack and say that it was all a joke, but her face remained deadly serious. He tried to get reassurance from Maggie, however he found the girl had extended her hand to the dog in a sort of handshake. The dog returned it by placing his hand in her palm. Then, everyone turned to him.

"Absolutely not. I am not saying hello to a pink poodle. Forget it."

"Don't piss him off Percy," Maggie whispered.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. Therefore, you say hello to the poodle."

The poodle growled.

Percy said hello to the poodle.

Grover explained that he had come across the small dog in the woods and that they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who had posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola did not want to go back to his family, but he was willing to go if it meant helping Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked.

"He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."

"Of course," Percy responded, and Maggie could smell the sarcasm dripping off of his words. "Silly me." The green eyed girl took a moment to look up from her petting of the pink poodle and give him the look.

"So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best grown-up voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

"Please, no more buses!" Maggie pleaded.

"No more buses," Annabeth agreed. She pointed downhill toward the train tracks that hadn't been visible in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon." 

Another short and crappy chapter for you all to enjoy. I'm very sorry that it takes me forever to update, but drowning in homework is not fun. 

Merry Christmas!! I hope you all had a wonderful time over the holiday.

Now, if you will excuse me, chocolate is calling. 

Love you all! 

- Ellie  

...

So i added more to this chapter. i was trying to start the next chapter, but i realized that the whole morning scene after the Medusa fiasco would work better here...

If you don't to go back and read it that is totally fine, I didn't really change much from the original other than add Maggie so.... :P