Melpomene (PJO)

20. A brush with death

"This way," Rachel said.

Percy, as it turned out, had been right. Rachel Dare was better than any GPS. Better than Mari. Mari tried not to feel too put out about that.

Rachel only needed to hear the words 'New York' to know where they were going. She led them through the damp dirt tunnel as it morphed into a stone walkway, and even got them through when the tunnel split into seven different passageways. Mari had closed her eyes, prepared to try and push her instincts into the mist again, but Rachel had set a hand on her shoulder and pointed to the passage on the far left. It had taken her less than a second.

"So," Annabeth said, as the three of them walked ahead, Percy and Nico talking quietly a little further behind. "Mortal girl. How did you manage to get us a ride so fast? And what did you mean earlier, about being able to leave for days without your parents noticing?"

Rachel went quiet. Mari cringed. Annabeth was probably trying to find some kind of common ground with Rachel, and there was no common ground quite like issues with parents. It was something Mari knew Annabeth would relate to, as would she. It was practically a given for most demigods to have had some kind of bad experience, whether the parent in question was mortal or not. Still, Rachel did not look like she wanted to open up about it. Even with Percy and Nico's muffled conversation in the background, her silence felt stifling.

"Uh, you said you did volunteer art, right?" Mari asked. "What's that like?"

"I love it." Rachel smiled. "We teach elementary classes in the week, since schools are cutting finding for the arts. Right now, we're doing a project on abstract expressionism. Most kids will usually throw out a drawing because they didn't stay in the lines or they were told it looked wrong. I hate that. The best part of being an artist is that there aren't any mistakes. Going outside of the lines usually makes things more interesting. I wish more kids were taught that."

"What other projects have you done?" Mari asked.

"Oh, loads of stuff," Rachel said. "Art Deco with collage pieces, clay sculptures... We actually had this huge assignment last year, where we had the kids make their own pieces inspired by different architectural landmarks across the country. That's actually how I met Percy. I was visiting the Hoover Dam to take pictures for the class, and he literally ran into me while being chased by a skeleton monster."

Mari expected Annabeth to be annoyed at being reminded of Rachel and Percy meeting, but instead, the daughter of Athena's eyes sparkled with interest. "You've been to the Hoover Dam? Did you know it's over 700 feet tall?"

"Yes!" Rachel nodded. "I managed to get some really great shots of the intake towers. The parts above water were really tall and sleek. Geometric. You can really tell it was designed in an Art Deco style. The kids loved the photos."

"I'll bet," Annabeth agreed.

The three of them talked for a little longer, and for a second, Mari thought that Annabeth and Rachel might actually be getting along. It was nice. Annabeth had the intelligence level of a human encyclopaedia when it came to architecture (and most other things), but Rachel didn't appear to be anything to sneeze at either. The redhead was animated, waving her hands around her head as she went on about the facades on different buildings in Manhattan that Mari had never heard of but sounded cool.

Mari would interject here and there, mostly to ask about different types of media and where Rachel got her art supplies, but she was happy to listen to the other two talk. There was a particularly awkward moment when Rachel asked her what she enjoyed drawing, and Mari had to think fast. She couldn't just say Adela. Her cheeks burned. She went with 'flowers' instead.