VII| Aunty Em

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In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong.

For instance, when you're walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by monster hags and blown up by lightning, and it's raining on top of everything else, most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day.

So there they were, Daphne, Annabeth and Grover and Percy, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind them, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in their noses.

Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

Daphne was pretty much in shock herself. The explosion of bus windows still rang in her ears. But Annabeth kept pulling them along, saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."

"All our money was back there," Percy reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."

"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—"

"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine."

"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."

"Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.

Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans...a perfectly good bag of tin cans."

"If it makes anything better," Daphne said, "I managed to grab my bag but.. well Percy had most of the money and supplies."

Nobody responded.

They sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.

This is why Daphne didn't want to go on a quest, it wasn't the most glamorous experience ever.

After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to Percy and Daphne.

"Look, I..." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."

"We're a team, right?"

She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died...aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."

The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind them, leaving the group in almost total darkness.

Daphne couldn't see anything of Annabeth except a glint of her blond hair. Subconsciously, Daphne touched her own hair - as a child she used to have bright blonde hair but a few years ago Silena and Valentina got bored and she let them dye it.

They ended up dyeing her hair a brunette colour.

"You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" Percy asked her.

"No... only short field trips. My dad—"

"The history professor."

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