CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

The quest was going horribly, by the way.

Sylvie knew it would be bad from the moment she exited her cabin and met up with her quest-mates. Zoë took one look at Sylvie and asked, "Why are there so many pockets on thy pants?"

So, yeah. Zoë didn't understand the concept of cargo pants. In fact, she judged Sylvie heavily for her fashion choices—it made Sylvie feel like she was back on her first quest wearing Uggs. However, instead of ranting about how Percy woke her with not enough time to properly choose her shoes, this time Sylvie went on a full tangent about how useful cargo pants were.

What? She was right. Sylvie could not only store things in her bag, but now her pants as well. This way, they would still have supplies if their belongings got destroyed (that tended to happen on quests), and if they were in a situation where there was no time to dig through bags, Sylvie would have everything they needed on hand. They stored useful items in each compartment. They also were pants, which provided warmth in the dreary cold of the season—So, yes. She was wearing cargo pants, and she was proud of it.

Their next complication—Phoebe was bedridden with hives from the prank that the Stoll brothers had pulled on her. Zoë told Sylvie, Grover, and Thalia this with an uncomfortable Bianca tailing behind her. The campers protested that they needed to pick a sixth quest-mate, but Zoë insisted against that. Apparently, there was no time, and she even started reaching with the argument that the prophecy said Phoebe could be the one they lost in the land without rain.

No one bought it, but she was right about one thing: they didn't have time to waste.

The final source of Sylvie's misery—Zoë was the one driving their white Camp Half-Blood van. She must've been holding such a big grudge against Argus after their argument that Zoë just booted him from the role of chauffeur and took it upon herself instead.

Zoë was a horrible driver.

You would think, for someone at her big age, that Zoë would have time to learn the acts of safely driving. You, however, would be wrong. Zoë was almost as horrible as Thalia when it came to manning vehicles (although Thalia was still so much worse). She predictably had the world's worst road rage, she didn't understand common courtesy for other cars, and there was no way she'd be able to pass a driver's ed class if ever forced to.

She also immediately shut down Sylvie when Sylvie suggested playing road-trip games. Sylvie was definitely not counting that as a bonus.

"I can't believe you're contemplating spending time around her," Grover muttered wearily, clutching his seatbelt like he was a koala on a tree.

Sylvie turned to him, face confused. "What? What does that mean?"

However, Sylvie never got to know. The second Grover opened his mouth to respond, Zoë must've been cut off from merging into a different lane. Sylvie knew this, because Zoë slammed the horn for a full minute while shouting curses so ancient Sylvie didn't even know what they meant.

A big contributor to Zoë's road rage was the traffic. No one had the heart to tell her (or, everyone was too scared to tell her) that this was a given due to the holidays and all. They just sat quietly and endured the torture of Zoë's driving to Manhattan. It was mid morning before they got into the city, and just when Sylvie thought they would finally brake for a bus stop, Zoë just kept snaking towards the Lincoln Tunnel.

"Uh—Zoë...?" Sylvie finally mustered up the courage to speak up. "Where are we... going, exactly?"

Zoë whipped around to answer Sylvie's question, momentarily forgetting she was driving a vehicle.

"Fuck, car!" shouted Thalia. She reached forward over the console to take a hold of the steering wheel and swerve the van away from heading straight into a large SUV. Zoë faced forward once more, and Thalia let go with a heaving exhale. "You could've killed us, Nightshade!"

"But I did not," spat Zoë. Eyes finally back on the road, she answered Sylvie with, "Thy goat friend says he knows where to go."

"I do know where to go!" Grover protested. "I did a tracking spell!"

"I do not trust thy tracking spell," Zoë said, seconds before moving into the right lane without using her blinkers and getting honked at by five different cars.

"I do not trust thy driving!" he mocked. "At least I can do my job right. We have to go south."

Sylvie suddenly understood why Zoë might be apprehensive about Grover's tracking spell—she would never give her that satisfaction though, and she would defend Grover even if he was wrong.

Still, she couldn't help herself from muttering, "South...? But—that's not west..."

"Well, it's where the tracking spell is leading me," Grover shrugged.

Sylvie slumped back in her seat without much care. "Eh, that's good enough for me."

"It should not be!" Zoë suddenly snapped. Sylvie barely heard it from the way she was brutally honking at a car to her left. "The prophecy says we are to be going west, so we should be going west."

Thalia argued, "The prophecy also says there should be six of us, but you were the one who went against that."

Zoë opened her mouth, no doubt gearing up to yell at Thalia right back.

"Guys, please!" Bianca groaned, face painted in all things miserable. "Please, can we just stop fighting for one second. We only have five quest members, and we're not going west. All of you, just accept that!"

That shut them up real quick.

So they sat in silence, but not in safety. Zoë continued driving south like a crazy person, and the only other words uttered were between Sylvie and Grover.

"You know what's funny?" Grover asked her, looking amused.

Sylvie turned to him. "What?"

"If you put our names together, it's Sylver!" and then he grinned like he'd never been prouder of any conclusion in his entire life. Sylvie couldn't help but smile with him.

"Sylver," she snorted fondly. "I love that."

When Zoë made it to Maryland, she finally pulled over at a rest stop. Her passengers practically threw themselves out of the car in relief.

Grover broke off quickly, determined to prove that his skills as a tracker were not to be questioned. Sylvie promised she'd buy him his favorite snacks as he did so—They practically liked all the same foods, anyways... Well, apart from the aluminum and furniture.

"I refuse to believe that thee is confident we should be going south," she heard Zoë stirring up another argument with Thalia on the other aisle.

"You are," Thalia corrected her with an agitated growl.

"No, I am not!"

"That's not what I mea—Never mind," Thalia rolled her eyes as Sylvie came over to their aisle. "Maybe we shouldn't be going south, but... Grover seems really convinced that we should be."

"Yeah, and I trust Grover," Sylvie said.

Thalia whipped around, startled. "Shit, Duvall, we need to put a bell on you!"

Sylvie only smiled, because she'd heard that before from Percy. In her arms she held a couple apples, chips, and trail mix. The cold kind of made her crave hot chocolate, but Sylvie doubted it wouldn't spill all over in the car with Zoë's driving.

The three of them got into line to buy what they deemed necessary, and Bianca eventually joined them too. It was when Sylvie (the last of the group) checked out that Grover finally scurried over with his most recent news.

"Okay," he panted. "I did a new tracking spell—with acorns this time. They're more reliable than sticks. Anyways—We have to go to D.C."

The girls shared blank, startled looks. No one said anything until they were walking out of the convenience store.

"Grover, are you sure?" Thalia asked.

"Well... pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent."

"And you did this with... acorns?" questioned Bianca, like she couldn't believe it.

Grover looked offended. "I already told you: It's a time-honored tracking spell! I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right."

"D.C. is about sixty miles from here," Bianca said. "Nico and I..." She frowned. "We used to live there. That's... That's strange. I'd forgotten."

"I still dislike this," Zoë said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west—"

"No," interrupted Sylvie. "Nope. We're not having this conversation again. Remember what Bianca said?"

Bianca sent Sylvie a grateful smile and nod in return.

However—

"I remember that, but I don't remember Zoë having tracking skills, all of a sudden!" Thalia growled.

Zoë stepped toward her. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!"

"Why do I even try?" Sylvie sighed to herself, eyes drifting closed.

"Oh, scullion? You're calling me a scullion? What the fuck is a scullion?"

"Woah, you two," Grover said nervously. "Come on. Not again!"

"Grover's right," Bianca said. "D.C. is our best bet."

Zoë didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Let us keep moving."

"You're going to get us arrested, driving," Sylvie grumbled.

"Perhaps," Zoë snapped. "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go."

╰━━━ ◦ ❀ ◦ ❀◦ ━━━╯

So they continued south, and nothing really improved much in any department—Zoë still couldn't drive, her attitude was still hateful, and she and Thalia argued at every slightest opportunity. It made Grover so nervous that he'd already eaten the snacks Sylvie bought for him and some of hers. Luckily, Bianca saw this and offered Sylvie the rest of her granola bar.

"You know what would make this experience fun?" Sylvie asked, after Zoë got honked at for the sixty-fourth time.

"No," Zoë deadpanned.

"Road-trip games!"

"No," Zoë deadpanned.

"I spy with my little eye," Sylvie ignored her, peering out the van window curiously, "something... green!"

Despite being absolutely adamant on Sylvie's idea of fun, Sylvie found Zoë guessing, "That bush?"

"Nope!"

Grover guessed, "Is it that bush?"

Sylvie beamed at him with a nod. "Yup!"

"What?!" Zoë protested. "But they are both bushes! That should count!"

"Sorry, Zoë," shrugged Sylvie. "You've gotta guess it right to get it right—Grover, your turn."

"I spy with my little eye... something green!"

Before any of them could say a thing, Zoë hastily guessed, "That tree?"

"No, not that tree."

"What about that tree?" Thalia asked. She caught onto what was happening here, and a smile was creeping onto her features.

"Yeah, it was!" Grover encouraged. "I knew you could get that one, Thalia."

"The trees look the same!" Zoë hissed incredulously. "We had the same answers!"

Grover sucked in a breath through his teeth. "I mean, not really..."

"Yes, really!"

"Thalia, your turn!" Grover said.

"I hate this game!" Zoë declared.

As they got closer to Washington, Grover directed Zoë to slow the van down. I-Spy was a game long in the past, considering the rage it added to Zoë's driving, and how horrible of a combination that truly was. Sylvie still thought it was worth it, because she surely was in a better mood, and so were Grover, Thalia, and Bianca.

They crossed the Potomac River into central Washington per Grover's instruction. Somewhere a few blocks away from the Washington Monument, they finally made it to the place Grover was looking for. Zoë parked alongside the curb of Washington's National Mall. It had Sylvie thinking of Mickey, who would've loved to be here. Sylvie wished Mickey was here—either to swap places with her for this quest or keep Sylvie company, she didn't know.

The group of five climbed out the van for a second time, stretching their limbs and throwing away their trash.

"That's where we need to go," Grover pointed toward one of the big buildings lining the Mall. "I can tell."

Sylvie was a pretty bad dyslexic, and they weren't that close to the building, so she couldn't read what the long sign said. She just shared a look with Thalia, and both girls nodded.

"Alright, Underwood," Sylvie clapped him on the back. "Then let's get going."

And the five of them trudged off into the cold wind.

Sylvie knew she mentioned this already, but it needed to be said again: Demeter kids did not like the winter. It was cold and it was miserable, and it made crops die, so there was really no point to get so hung up over it. Who really wanted to willingly tread through the snow in the freezing weather with never-enough layers on? 

Sylvie wouldn't believe you even if you said you did, so don't dare try.

Grover led them in front of a big building that said NOTIANLA ARI DAN SPECA MSUEUM. Or, to Sylvie it did. However, she was a dyslexic who knew that wasn't what it actually said.

So she asked, "What is this place?"

"That Smithsonian," Grover answered, because he knew he was travelling with demigods who struggled to read. "But that sign says 'National Air and Space Museum.'"

"Holy shit," Sylvie said, without even meaning to. She couldn't help it. She'd heard of the Smithsonian before, but it looked so much bigger than she ever could've imagined. Seriously—if you were here, you'd be saying it, too.

Thalia checked the door. It was open, but there weren't many people going in. Too cold (Sylvie could agree), and school was out of session. They slipped inside.

They had to buy tickets to get through the admissions area, which Sylvie found a waste of money, but she was still hearing Grover out, so she made them all do it. Once they were through that, they were in.

The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips.

"Nerds," Thalia had muttered.

Sylvie tried not to laugh but it came bubbling out of her anyways. Sorry to the nerds out there, though.

"Where to now, satyr?" Zoë asked, turning to Grover.

"It smells," Grover analyzed, but not in the stinky sort of way. Satyrs just had the ability of enhanced smelling directed towards monsters. "This monster has to be really powerful. Come on—let's go to the top-floor."

"Are you sure?" Bianca asked.

Grover didn't look sure. He just repeated, "Come on."

Sylvie and Bianca shared wary expressions, but they followed him regardless.

The group of five climbed up each different floor, ending up on each different balcony. When they finally made it to the top, Sylvie had a perfect view of the museum below—it would've been cool if she was into these kinds of things.

However, she wasn't.

But something did catch Sylvie's interest. She stumbled upon an Apollo space capsule, and she pointed that out to Thalia. Like, It's named after that guy we think is hot, you know? The two girls found that very entertaining, until they didn't anymore.

Because Percy Jackson was suddenly slamming into Sylvie, knocking her into aforementioned Apollo space capsule.

Thalia jumped back and Grover yelped in surprise. Quicker than light, Zoë and Bianca had arrows notched, aimed at Percy's chest. Sylvie rubbed her head on the ground, still trying to recover from the whole fall.

"You!" Zoë kept her bow pointed in disdain. "How dare you show thy face here?"

"Percy!" Grover said "Thank goodness!"

Zoë glared at him, and he blushed.

"I mean, um, gosh. You're not supposed to be here!"

Percy grabbed both of Sylvie's hands and hoisted her up. "Sorry, didn't see you there."

"Ha," Sylvie grunted, partially convinced she was concussed, partially convinced she was just freaking out because Percy had held her hands for three seconds.

"Luke," Percy told them all, trying to catch his breath. "He's here."

The anger in Thalia's eyes immediately melted. She put her hand on her silver bracelet. "Where?"

Percy told them about his time spent in the Natural History Museum. Apparently, Dr. Thorn, Luke, and the General were all having a little cozy party there while they grew skeletons and plotted on world domination.

"The General is here?" Zoë looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors—"

"What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?"

"Twelve."

Sylvie threw her hands up. "Well, that's awesome. Two for each of us."

"That's not all," Percy continued. "That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate,' to distract you over here. A monster."

Sylvie and Grover exchanged looks.

"We were following Artemis's trail," Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent... She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

"Zoë," Bianca said nervously, "if it is the General—"

"It cannot be!" Zoë snapped. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," he told her.

Zoë took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Sylvie didn't know why Zoë was taking it so personally, or how she knew this General guy, but Sylvie had spent enough time in the car with Zoë that she knew better than to ask.

"If Percy is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," Zoë said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible... We must leave now."

Sylvie raised her hand out of her pocket. "I'm down with that."

"Good idea," Percy said.

"I was not including thee, boy," Zoë said. "You are not part of this quest."

"He is trying to save our lives," Sylvie vouched awkwardly. She sort of preferred not running into skeleton warriors and not getting turned into a skeleton.

"Percy shouldn't have come," Thalia said grimly. "But he's here now. Come on. Let's get back to the van."

"That is not thy decision!" Zoë snapped.

Thalia scowled at her. "You're not the boss here, Zoë. I don't care how fucking old you are! You're still a bitch-ass, conceited brat!"

"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoë growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

Thalia looked like she was about to hit Zoë. Then everyone froze. Sylvie heard a growl so loud she thought one of the rocket engines were starting up.

Below them, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

Something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck, with silver claws and golden glittering fur.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Sylvie cried miserably.

"Hah," Percy laughed, amused despite the horrible timing. "'Kitten' me."

Eyes still on the monster, Sylvie threatened, "Perseus Jackson, I will skin you."

"Try it, Silviana," he teased.

"Guys!" Thalia snapped. "That's the Nemean Lion. Don't move."

The lion roared so loud it blew back Sylvie's hair. Its fangs gleamed like stainless steel.

"Separate on my mark," Zoë said. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

Sylvie curled her right hand to summon Halcyon, and with her left, wielded Cereal from the golden armband under her coat. She darted to the right. Arrows whistled past her, and Grover played a sharp tweet-tweet cadence on his reed pipes. Sylvie turned and saw Zoë and Bianca climbing the Apollo capsule. They were firing arrows, one after another, all shattering harmlessly against the lion's metallic fur.

The lion swiped the capsule and tipped it on its side, spilling the Hunters off the back. Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him, but Thalia stepped into its patch, holding up Aegis, and the lion recoiled. "ROOOAAAR!"

"Hi-yah!" Thalia said. "Back!"

The lion growled and clawed the air, but it retreated as if the shield were a blazing fire.

For a second, Sylvie thought Thalia had it under control. Then Sylvie saw the lion crouching, its leg muscles tensing. She could tell—the lion was going to pounce.

Sylvie and Percy, probably idiotically, rushed the beast from either side.

Percy slashed its left flank with Riptide, and Sylvie sliced its right flank with Halcyon before following that up with Cereal. They were both good strikes that should've cut the monster into Meow Mix, but their blades just clanged against its fur in a burst of sparks.

The lion raked with them its claws, but Sylvie had learned fast enough reflexes from sparring with Phoenix. She crossed her daggers up to shield herself from a collision—while she was successful, Percy didn't fare off as lucky. The monster ripped off a chunk of his coat.

See, the lion didn't quite like that he managed a hit on Percy but not Sylvie. It chose her as its next target, springing on her, one thousand pounds of monster, and Sylvie had no choice but to turn and jump.

"I do one thing right, and this is what I get?!" she bellowed furiously.

Sylvie landed on the wing of an old-fashioned silver airplane, which pitched and almost spilled her to the floor, three stories below.

"Sylvie, don't let it get you!"

"I'm fucking trying, Percy!"

An arrow whizzed past Sylvie's head. The lion jumped onto the aircraft, and the cords holding the plane began to groan.

The lion swiped at Sylvie, and she dropped onto the next exhibit, a weird-looking spacecraft with blades like a helicopter. So much for not letting it get her.

"Zoë!" Percy shouted again, and Sylvie hoped he had advice that was more intelligent this time. "Target the mouth!"

The monster lunged. An arrow zipped past it, missing completely, and Sylvie dropped from the spaceship onto the top of a floor exhibit, a huge model of earth. She slid down Russia and dropped off the equator.

The Nemean Lion growled and steadied itself on the spacecraft, but its weight was too much. One of the cords snapped. As the display swung down like a pendulum, the lion leaped off onto the model earth's North Pole.

"Sylvie," Percy appeared out of nowhere. He was gripping either of her biceps, and there was a crazed look in his eyes. "If that lion makes it down here, just distract it, okay?"

"Oka—What? How'd you get down here so fast?!"

"Just do it!" Percy let go of her arms. "Grover! Clear the area!"

Groups of kids were running around screaming. Grover tried to corral them away from the monster just as the other cord on the spaceship snapped and the exhibit crashed to the floor. Percy's voice was in Sylvie's mind telling her to distract it. Then Thalia dropped off the second-floor railing and landed across from Sylvie, on the other side of the globe. Sylvie was grateful for the extra help, because Percy had run off to do whatever the hell his probably-incredible plan was.

The lion regarded Sylvie and Thalia both, trying to decide which of them to kill first.

Zoë and Bianca were above them, bows ready, but they kept having to move around to get a good angle.

"No clear shot!" Zoë yelled. "Get it to open its mouth more!"

The lion snarled from the top of the globe.

"Hi-yah!" Thalia pointed her spear and a spidery arc of blue electricity shot out, zapping the lion in the tail. From behind, Sylvie decided to target its tail too, hacking with Halcyon.

"ROOOOOOOAR!" The lion turned and pounced. Thalia rolled out of its way, holding up Aegis to keep the monster at bay, and ended up next to Sylvie.

"Where is Percy?!" Zoë yelled.

"Uh—I think I saw him run into the gift shop?" Grover called from somewhere.

"This is no time for souvenirs!" she snapped.

"Tell that to him!"

Arrows rained down onto the lion as Sylvie and Thalia found a rhythm to keep it occupied. They would just dart around, never staying in one particular place, and confuse the monster so that he could never decide where to attack. It was working for the most part.

Until.

The lion whipped around to narrow its eyes onto Thalia, meaning its tail whipped around, too. It smacked Sylvie quicker and harder than she could do something about it—Sylvie went flying into the air and crashing into a command module, her head slamming against metal.

"Ow."

Zoë and Bianca sped up their showering of arrows on the monster now that Thalia was all alone, but it was no good. The lion seemed to know better than to open its mouth too much. It snapped at Thalia, slashing with its claws. This time, it even kept its eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Sylvie tried to stand up and help Thalia, but she stumbled and tripped and suddenly her ass was sitting down again.

Thalia jabbed at the monster and backed up. The lion pressed her.

"Percy," she called, "whatever the fuck you're going to do—"

The lion roared and swatted her like a cat toy. Similar to Sylvie, Thalia was sent flying into the side of a Titan rocket. Her head hit the metal and she slid to the floor.

Two peas in a pod, huh? Sylvie thought, or maybe she said it.

"Hey!" Percy yelled at the lion. He was far too away to strike, so he took a risk: he hurled Riptide like a throwing knife. It bounced off the lion's side, but that was enough to get the monster's attention. It turned toward him and snarled.

Percy charged, like the fucking idiot he was. As the lion leaped to intercept him, he hurled a space food pouch into its maw—a chunk of cellophane-wrapped, freeze-dried strawberry parfait. Or, at least it seemed that way. Sylvie was starting to think she was seeing things.

The lion's eyes got wide and it gagged like a cat with a hairball.

"Zoë, get ready!" Percy yelled.

Behind Percy, people were screaming. Grover was playing another horrible song on his pipes.

Percy scrambled away from the lion. It managed to choke down the space food packet and looked at Percy with pure hate.

"Snack time!" he yelled.

It made the mistake of roaring at Percy, and he got an ice-cream sandwich in its throat. Before the lion could stop gagging, he shot in two more flavors of ice cream and a freeze-dried spaghetti dinner.

The whole ordeal was so bizarre Sylvie was thoroughly convinced she was dreaming—she slumped back onto the command module exhaustedly.

The lion's eyes bugged. It opened its mouth wide and reared up on its back paws, trying to get away from Percy.

"Now!" he yelled.

Immediately, arrows pierced the lion's maw—two, four, six. The lion thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. And then it was still.

Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on. Grover kneeled at Thalia's side and helped her up—Sylvie wanted to snap something petty at him for not helping Sylvie too, but someone had already slid to her side before Grover could contemplate it.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked.

One of his hands gripped hers, and the other was on her shoulder. Together, they shifted Sylvie into a sitting position.

"'Sort of got me," she mumbled. "Sorry."

But Percy laughed out in utter relief, and his hand squeezed hers a little tighter. He didn't look upset at her, in fact, he kind of seemed a little fond.

"Come on, Sylv, let's get you some ambrosia."

Percy stood first, carefully hoisting Sylvie up by the hold of their hands. She was proud of herself for only stumbling a little into Percy when she was finally standing. It was a quick fix too, just Percy steadying her then letting go of her hand.

Sylvie looked to see that Grover, Thalia, Zoë, and Bianca had finally made their way over to the two—Thalia seemed in the same boat as Sylvie. Okay enough, but surely dazed. Sylvie pulled out two squares of ambrosia from her cargo pants (see, helpful!), and the girls quietly started eating them.

"That was," Zoë eyed Percy cautiously, "an interesting strategy."

"Hey, it worked," he shrugged.

She didn't argue.

The lion seemed to be melting, the way dead monsters do sometimes, until there was nothing left but its glittering fur coat, and even that seemed to be shrinking to the size of a normal lion's pelt.

"Take it," Zoë told him.

Percy stared at her. "What, the lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animal right violation or something?"

"It is a spoil of war. It is rightly thine."

"You killed it," he said.

She shook her head, almost smiling. "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur."

Percy lifted it up surprisingly easily. It looked smooth and soft, nothing at all like something that could stop a blade. As Sylvie watched, the pelt shifted and changed into a coat—a full-length golden-brown duster.

"Not exactly my style," Percy murmured. Sylvie snorted.

"We have to get out of here," Grover said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long."

Sylvie noticed for the first time how strange it was that the guards hadn't rushed forward to arrest them. They were scrambling in all directions except the questers', like they were madly searching for something. A few were running into the walls or each other.

"You did that?" Percy asked Grover.

He nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "A minor confusion song. I played some Barry Manilow. It works every time. But it'll only last a few seconds."

"The security guards are not our biggest worry," Zoë said. "Look."

Through the glass walls of the museum, Sylvie could see a group of men walking across the lawn. Gray men in gray camouflage. They were too far away for the questers to see their eyes, but Sylvie could feel their gazes.

"Go," Percy said. "They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."

"No," Zoë said. "We go together."

Percy stared at her. "But, you said—"

"You are part of this quest now," Zoë said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You are the sixth quest member. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

╰━━━ ◦ ❀ ◦ ❀◦ ━━━╯

BAILEY YAPS...

Nature freaks duo aka Sylver has never been more real I fear like I physically can't stop writing Sylvie and Grover bestfriendism. I can't stop. I can't stop. I can't stop...

Sylvie getting older and more mature started scaring me so much that I made her play I-Spy. Sue me. Shes just a girl. I'm just a girl. We're just girls. Who want to have fun.

Road Road Road Road Road Road When I'm on the road Road Road Road I see stuff going by Road Road When I'm on the road Road Road I've got a bug in my eye Road Road When I'm on the road Road Road Looks like clear skies ahead Road Road When I'm on the road Road Road Please stop touching my head Road RoadRoadRoad LET'S ALL SING THE ROAD SONG CLAP CLAP I WANNA SING IT ALL DAY LONG LET'S ALL SING THE ROAD SONG CLAP CLAP LETS ALL SING ALONG

And Sylvie and Grover said How much money for you guys to sing that with us^^^ 

I um I repeat I repeat son of Poseidon Perseus Jackson calls Silviana Duvall the nickname Sylv for the first time in a sort of soft voice.

There is a Persylv opportunity everywhere for the eye to see