¹On This Spring Day.

009.

ON THIS SPRING DAY
━━━━━ chapter nine

━━━━━ FOR A CITY that never sleeps, Violet almost found the silence of millions of sleeping New Yorkers comforting—but then, in the silence, she swore she heard the whoop and hollers of monsters closing in on her and her friends. The silence wasn't so comforting after that, not with how her mind wandered. The silence didn't last for too long; as she and the rest of the other demigods made their way down to the mortal world, Violet started hearing the occasional creaks of old, settling buildings. She heard the occasional huffs and snores from napping mortals. Violet almost envied the clueless mortals—they get to take naps as she had to contemplate the ( potential, but still likely ) end of the world.

               And perhaps the silence of millions of New Yorkers let Violet's mind wander, and wander enough for her anxiety to rise. This is the beginning of the war, her mind hissed at her as she looked up at all the looming buildings. She looked back down at the sleeping mortals that lined the street all the way from one end to the other. This is what Morpheus was telling Grover, and his promise has followed suit.

               Mrs. O'Leary was the only one happy about the sleeping city. They found her pigging out at an overturned hot dog stand while the owner was curled up on the sidewalk, sucking his thumb. Violet didn't care about that now; it wasn't like the owner would wake up ( if he ever did ) and think What hellhound took all my hot dogs?!

               Argus was waiting for the forty demigods with his hundred eyes wide open. He didn't say anything; he never did, but Violet understands, if what she heard about him is correct ( that Argus has an eyeball in the middle of his tongue; so the rumor goes, but she is inclined to believe it ). But his face made it clear he was freaking out—certain eyes were darting back and forth, and Violet felt like she was trying to play wake-a-mole with her own eyes trying to watch each individual darting blue eye.

               Percy told the immortal many-eyed guard what they had learned in Olympus—the gods would not be riding to the rescue for the safety of Olympus. Violet hadn't been shocked at the news, and clearly, neither had Argus; the many-eyed guard rolled his eyes in disgust, which looked pretty psychedelic since it made his whole body swirl. Silena's face—which Violet could see from the corner of her eye—turned a dark, nasty shade of green. Clearly, Argus's eye-roll hadn't set well with her stomach, either.

               "You'd better get back to Camp," Percy told Argus. "Guard it as best you can."

               He pointed at the son of Poseidon, and then he raised his eyebrow quizzically.

               "I'm staying," Percy told him.

               Argus nodded as if this answer satisfied him. Then the guard looked at Annabeth and drew a circle in the air with his finger.

               "Yes," Annabeth agreed. "I think it's time."

               Violet frowned slightly, realizing she was left out of the loop; that fact bugged her more than she cared to admit ( and so as not to look any more hypocritical than she already did—she hid her legacy from anyone she could ). "Time for what?" she asked curiously.

               Argus rummaged around in the back of his van, the blue eyes from the back of his neck blinking at the impatiently awaiting demigods who were watching him. He brought out a bronze shield and passed it to Annabeth. It looked pretty much a standard issue—the same kind of round shield they used to practice with or in Capture the Flag; however, when Annabeth set it on the ground, the reflection on the polished metal changed from the sky above them and buildings looming over to the blue-green Statue of Liberty—which wasn't anywhere nearby.