STYLE,, percy jackson

four,, never abandon your siblings kids!!

AVERY

.CHAPTER FOUR.

never abandon your siblings kids!!

AVERY REALLY HAD ENOUGH of what was going on that evening. she had to dance with the boy she hated most, she had been attacked by a manticore, she had watched her friend jump off a cliff, and now she was standing in the freezing cold snow with ripped jeans and a sleeveless top on. oh how she desperately wanted a cup of hot cocoa and to sit in front of a fire. but no. she was standing, watching perseus jackson make some real intelligent response to being told he was speaking to a goddess.

"um... okay." yeah. really intelligent.

that was nothing compared to grover. he gasped, then knelt hastily in the snow and started yammering, "thank you, lady artemis! you're so... you're so... wow!"

"get up, goat boy!" thalia snapped. "we have other things to worry about. annabeth is gone!"

"whoa," bianca di angelo said. "hold up. time out."

everybody looked at her. she pointed her finger at all of them in turn, like she was trying to connect the dots. "who... who are you people?"

artemis's expression softened."it might be a better question, my dear girl, to ask who are you! who are your parents?"

bianca glanced nervously at her brother, who was still staring in awe at artemis.

"our parents are dead," bianca said. "we're orphans. there's a bank trust that pays for our school, but..."

she faltered. avery guessed she could tell from their faces that they didn't believe her.

"what?" she demanded. "i'm telling the truth."

"you are a half-blood," zoe nightshade said. her accent was hard to place. it sounded old-fashioned, like she was reading from a really old book. "one of thy parents was mortal. the other was an olympian."

"an olympian... athlete?"

"no," zoe said. "one of the gods."

"cool!" said nico.

"no!" bianca's voice quavered. "this is not cool!"

nico danced around like he needed to use the restroom. "does zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? does he get extra movement points for—"

"nico, shut up!" bianca put her hands to her face. "this is not your stupid mythomagic game, okay? there are no gods!"

the anger in thalia's eyes subsided a little bit. "bianca, i know it's hard to believe. but the gods are still around. trust me. they're immortal. and whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well... our lives are dangerous."

"dangerous," bianca said, "like the girl who fell."

thalia turned away. avery looked to the ground. even artemis looked pained.

"do not despair for annabeth," the goddess said. "she was a brave maiden. if she can be found, i shall find her."

"then why won't you let us go look for her?" percy asked.

"she is gone. can't you sense it, son of poseidon? some magic is at work. i do not know exactly how or why, but your friend has vanished."

"oo!" nico raised his hand. "what about dr. thorn? that was awesome how you shot him with arrows! is he dead?"