mastermind - percy jackson

xiii. rachel elizabeth dare

"I want to fight her!"

They arranged a meeting in times square. Cassandra, Percy, and Annabeth found Rachel Elizabeth Dare in front of the Marriott Marquis, and she was completely painted gold.

Her face, her hair, her clothes, everything. Her and five other kids stood as still as statues, also painted in various metallic shades. They were frozen in different poses while tourists hustled past or stopped to stare. Some passers-by threw money at the tarp on the sidewalk.

The sign at Rachel's feet said, URBAN ART FOR KIDS—DONATIONS APPRECIATED.

They stood there for solid five minutes, staring at Rachel, but if she noticed them she didn't let on.

"Are we supposed to be doing something? I really don't want to stand here for another hour watching a bunch of kids stand here like statues" Cassandra said, tapping her foot on the ground.

Like most demigods she had ADHD so standing still wasn't one of her best abilities.

"Maybe if we push her over" Annabeth suggested.

Cassandra shrugged, "I'm in."

"Cassie, no" Percy interrupted, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She huffed and shrugged his hand off of her shoulder. "Fine."

After another few minutes of staring at her, a kid in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand where he had been taking a break. He took a pose right next to Rachel. She unfroze and stepped off the tarp with a grin.

"Hey Percy" She grinned. "Good timing! Let's get coffee."

They walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, Cassandra, Percy, and Annabeth got fruit smoothies. The four sat down at a table right under a stuffed moose. Nobody even looked twice at Rachel in her golden get-up.

"So" She said. "It's Annabelle, right?"

"Annabeth" Annabeth corrected her.

Rachel waved her off and turned to Cassandra. "And you're Cassidy right?"

"Cassandra" She corrected, through gritted teeth. "And you're Rochelle?"

"It's Rachel actually" Rachel corrected.

"Do you always dress in gold?" Annabeth interrupted, before Cassandra could retort.

Percy grabbed her hand, and placed it on his knee so she wouldn't try to stab Rachel.

"Not usually" Rachel said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. You guys are half-bloods too?"

"Shhh!" Annabeth said, looking around. "Just announce it to the world, how about?"

"Okay" Rachel stood up and said really loud, "Hey everybody! These three aren't human! They're half Greek god!"

Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. "They don't seem to care."

"That isn't funny" Cassandra said. "This isn't a joke. Our lives are dangerous, unlike yours mortal girl, whose only concern is—"

"Hold it, you two" Percy said. "Just calm down."

"I'm calm" Rachel insisted. "Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"

"Look" Percy said. "I'm really sorry about the band room. I hope they didn't kick you out or anything."

"Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb."