La Vie en Rose // Percy Jackson

ii. we hail the taxi of eternal torment

Annabeth and I were waiting for Percy and Tysom in an alley down Church Street. We pulled Tyson and Percy off the sidewalk just as a fire truck screamed past, heading for Meriwether Prep.

"Where'd you find him?" she demanded, pointing at Tyson.

Now, under different circumstances, Percy would've been really happy to see us I'm sure. They'd made their peace last summer, despite the fact that her mom was Athena and didn't get along with his dad. It was clear Percy missed Annabeth and I, given how he kept looking at me, probably more than he wanted to admit.

"He's my friend," Percy told us.

"Is he homeless?"

"What does that have to do with anything? He can hear you, you know. Why don't you ask him?"

Annabeth and I looked surprised. "He can talk?"

"I talk," Tyson admitted. "You two are pretty."

"Ah! Gross!" Annabeth and I stepped away from him.

It seemed like Percy couldn't believe we were being so rude. He doesn't understand. He examined Tyson's hands, which he seemed sure must've been badly scorched by the flaming dodge balls, but they looked fine—grimy and scarred, with dirty fingernails the size of potato chips—but they always looked like that. "Tyson," Percy said in disbelief. "Your hands aren't even burned."

"Of course not," Annabeth muttered. "I'm surprised the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around."

Tyson seemed fascinated by Annabeth's blond hair and my brunette curls. He tried to touch our hair, but we smacked his hand away.

"Annabeth," Percy said, "what are you talking about? Laistry-what?"

"Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They're a race of giant cannibals who live in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once, but I've never seen them as far south as New York before."

"Laistry—I can't even say that. What would you call them in English?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Canadians," she decided. "Now come on, we have to get out of here."

"The police'll be after me," Percy said.

"That's the least of our problems," I said. "Have you been having the dreams?"

"The dreams... about Grover?"

Annabeth's and my face turned pale. "Grover? No, what about Grover?"

Percy told us his dream. "Why? What were you two dreaming about?"

Annabeth's eyes looked stormy, like her mind was racing a million miles an hour. "Camp," she said at last. "Big trouble at camp."

"My mom was saying the same thing! But what kind of trouble?"

"Annie and I don't know exactly. Something's wrong. We have to get there right away. Monsters have been chasing me and Annie all the way from Virginia and South Carolina, trying to stop us. Have you had a lot of attacks?"

Percy shook his head. "None all year... until today."

"None? But how..." My eyes drifted to Tyson. "Oh."

"What do you mean, 'oh'?"

Tyson raised his hand like he was still in class. "Canadians in the gym called Percy something... Son of the Sea God?"

Annabeth, Percy and I exchanged looks.
Percy didn't know how he could explain, but I guess he figured Tyson deserved the truth after almost getting killed.