Deadly Waters | Percy Jackson

15. Of Zinnia and Peonies

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, their train rolled into Denver. They hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. They hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and Percy was sure that was obvious.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"We can't use phones, right?"

"I'm not talking about phones."

They wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though Percy wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere they turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at him, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.

Finally, they found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. They veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping their eyes open for patrol cars. They were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure they were up to no good.

"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.

"It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out."

Pez fished out her wallet from her bag passed Grover a quarter, the only one of them that had managed to salvage anything from the bus explosion. Percy only had a quarter, two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place.

"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are you talking about?"

He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."

"Instant messaging?" Pez asked.

"Iris-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."

Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colours. Annabeth held her palm out to Percy. "Drachma, please."

He handed it over and then murmured to Pez. "You should probably get out of sight – I don't know how Chiron will react to you being here."

She nodded and casually pulled her hood up, only walking a short way to rest nonchalantly against the wall, just out of sight the mist but still in hearing range – had Percy not watched her leave, he would've glanced right over her.

Annabeth raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."

She threw the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer. "Half-Blood Hill," Annabeth requested.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then Percy was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island Sound in the distance. They seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing with his back to them at the railing was a sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Percy called.

He turned, eyes wide. Percy could swear he was standing three feet in front of him through a screen of mist, except the boy could only see the part of him that appeared in the rainbow.