craving |PERCY JACKSON| [book 1] UNDER EDITING

XII

ANNABETH SOON APPEARED AND BEGGED to be apart of the quest, and Chiron agreed without a thought. He knew this quest was meant for them, that they were apart of something bigger.

Selena was happy that her best friend was coming along, but was overwhelmed. Another person she's going to have to protect.

Chiron gave Selena and Annabeth each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies if we were seriously hurt. It was god food, Chiron reminded them. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn them up, literally.

Annabeth was bringing her magic Yankees cap, it had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She carried a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she got bored, which Selena made fun of her for, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve.

Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as human. He wore a green rasta-style cap, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. His bright orange backpack was full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket was a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knew two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 12 and Hilary Duff's 'So Yesterday' both of which sounded pretty bad on reed pipes.

Selena put on a jean jacket and stuffed her portable bronze knife in the pocket that was sewn inside. She placed a beanie on her head and grabbed a small satchel to put money into the Chiron had given Percy and herself. She didn't need much and didn't want to lug too may things across the country.

They waved goodbye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

Selena paused at the base of the tree, "You should've been the one to go on this quest." She whispered out of ear shot from the others.

Chiron was waiting for them in his wheelchair. Next to him stood Argus. Today, he was wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so you could only see extra eyeballs on his hands, face, and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron told Percy. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

Luke came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes. "Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you." Selena laughed when Annabeth blushed, the way she always did when Luke was around. "Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told Percy. "And I thought ... Um, maybe you could use these."

He handed Percy the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. They even smelled kind of normal. Luke said, "Maia!"

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Percy so much that dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared. "Awesome!" Grover exclaimed.