CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

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"We will not make it," Zoë said. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo," Bessie said. He swam next to Percy as they jogged along the waterfront.

They'd left the shopping center pier far behind. They were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was a lot farther than Sylvie realized. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it," Sylvie said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoë said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"What happens if we miss it?" asked Percy.

"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"But what about Bessie?" asked Sylvie.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," Percy said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following me," Percy said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo," Bessie said forlornly.

"I... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

Sylvie stared at him. Grover was no fan of the water. Just like Sylvie, he'd almost drowned last summer in the Sea of Monsters. And he couldn't swim very well with goat hooves.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."

He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

Sylvie didn't understand how they could possible swim back to Long Island from California. Then again, monsters didn't travel the same way as humans. She'd seen plenty evidence of that.

"Dad," Percy said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."

Sylvie thought Thalia was implying they sacrifice Bessie again and was sure Thalia had gone crazy. But apparently she was the only one stupid enough to think that. Everyone else was just watching in shock as Percy took off his coat.

"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"

As soon as he said that, Sylvie realized something.

She glanced at Zoë, who was watching Percy carefully. Sylvie realized she did know who Zoë's hero had been—the one who'd ruined her life, gotten her kicked out of her family, and never even mentioned how she'd helped him: Hercules.

"If I'm going to survive," Percy said, realizing the same thing, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."

Percy threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water.

The sea breeze picked up.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink. Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.

"Be careful," Sylvie told them.

"We will," Grover said. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."

"Moooo?" Bessie said.

"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And... it's long. Oh, let's just start."

"Mooo!"

Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just through I'd mention—" Glub!

Under they went, and Sylvie hoped Poseidon's protection would extend to little things, like breathing.

"Well, that is one problem addressed," Zoë said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"

"Thalia's right," Percy said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one."

Sylvie didn't like that option. Sure this was a life-or-death situation, but still, it was stealing, and it was bound to get them noticed.

"Wait," Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "There is somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."

"Who?" Sylvie asked.

Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."

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Annabeth didn't tell Sylvie much about her dad, but from what Sylvie did know, she didn't have the best relationship with him. Going off of that, Sylvie was not expecting him to be wearing an old-fashioned aviator's cap and goggles. He looked so weird, with his eyes bugging out through the glasses, that they all took a step back on the front porch.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice. "Are you delivering my airplanes?"

Sylvie, Percy, Thalia, and Zoë looked at each other warily.

"Um, no, sir," Percy said.

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," said Percy, though clueless. "We're friends of Annabeth?"

"Annabeth?" He straightened as if Percy had just given him an electric shock. "Is she all right? Has something happened?"

None of them answered, but their faces must've told him that something was very wrong. He took off his cap and goggles. He had jet-black hair like Annabeth and brownish-black eyes. He wasn't as attractive as Annabeth, though. He hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.

"You'd better come in," he said.

Sylvie was shocked to hear they'd just moved into the house, by the state of things.

There were LEGO robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled like fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home—the kind of place that had been lived in forever.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"

"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to them. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman (represent!) with red highlighted hair tied in a bun.

"Who are our guests?" she asked.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is..."

He stared at them blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

They introduced themselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice. She asked if they were hungry. They admitted they were, and she told them she'd bring some cookies, sandwiches, and sodas.

"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."

Mrs. Chase pursed her lips and looked concerned. "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food." 

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Upstairs, they walked into Dr. Chase's study and Percy said, "Woah!"

The room was wall-to-wall books, but what really caught Sylvie's attention were the war toys. There was a huge table with miniature tanks and soldiers fighting along a blue painted river, with hills and fake trees and stuff. Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight.

Dr. Chase smiled. "Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I'm writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much greater role than they've been given credit for."

He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making airplane engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers.

"Oh, right," Percy said... for whatever reason.

Zoë came over and studied the battlefield. "The German lines were farther from the river."

Dr. Chase stared at her. "How do you know that?"

"I was there," she said matter-of-factly. "Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other. And how foolish, too. The battle was a complete waste."

Dr. Chase opened his mouth in shock. "You—"

"She's a Hunter, sir," Thalia said. "But that's not why we're here. We need—"

"You saw the Sopwith Camels?" Dr. Chase said. "How many were there? What formations did they fly?"

"Sir," Thalia broke in again. "Annabeth is in danger."

That got his attention. He set the biplane down.

"Of course," he said. "Tell me everything."

It wasn't easy, but they tried. Meanwhile, the afternoon light was fading outside. They were running out of time.

When they'd finished, Dr. Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands. "My poor, brave Annabeth. We must hurry."

"Sir, we need a way to Mount Tamalpais," Sylvie said. "And we kinda need it, like, now."

"I'll drive you. Hmm, it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two."

"Woah, you have an actual biplane?" Sylvie said.

"Down at Crissy Field," Dr. Chase said proudly. "That's the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel—"

"Sir," Thalia said. "Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It's too dangerous."

Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I... I can't just—"

"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced.

She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, Cokes, and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey.

Sylvie, Percy, and Thalia inhaled a few cookies while Zoë said, "I can drive, sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."

Personally, Sylvie didn't agree with the I can drive part, but she wasn't going to say that aloud.

Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"

"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but... apparently it's no place for mortals."

It sounded like it was really hard for him to get that last part out.

Sylvie waited for Mrs. Chase to say no. What mortal parent would allow four underage teenagers to borrow their car? But to her surprise, Mrs. Chase nodded. "Then they'd better get going."

"Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. "My keys..."

His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right!" Dr. Chase said.

Zoë grabbed a sandwich. Sylvie said, "Thank you both. We should go. Now."

They hustled out the door and down the stairs. They ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down. Sylvie figured they had less than an hour to save Annabeth.

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"Can't this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded.

Zoë glared at her. "I cannot control traffic."

"Oh, so now you want to start driving like you're sane?" berated Sylvie.

"You all sound like my mother," Percy said.

"Shut up!" they said in unison.

Zoë weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when they finally got into Marin County and exited the highway.

The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoë didn't slow down at all. This was the kind of driving from Zoë that Sylvie had come to know.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" Percy asked.

"Eucalyptus." Zoë pointed to the huge trees all around them.

Sylvie questioned, "The stuff koala bears eat?"

"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons."

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?"

"Believe me," Zoë said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too."

Sylvie didn't question Zoë, but she did keep her eyes peeled more closely as they drove. Ahead of them loomed Mount Tamalpais. Sylvie guessed, in terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as they were driving toward it.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" asked Percy.

"Yes," Zoë said tightly.

"Why do they call it that?"

She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"The General," Percy said.

Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top.

"What's going on up there?" Sylvie asked anxiously. "A storm?"

Zoë didn't answer. Sylvie swallowed. She got the feeling Zoë knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it.

"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here."

"The magical kind or the natural kind?" questioned Percy.

"Both."

This was going to be a fun trip...

The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and they kept driving straight toward them. The four were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.

Sylvie happened to glance down at the ocean as they passed a scenic curve, and she saw something that made her jump out of her seat.

"Look!" But they turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.

"What?" Percy asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"A big white ship," she said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."

Percy's eyes widened. "Luke's ship?"

Sylvie wanted to say she wasn't sure. It might be a coincidence. But she knew better. The Princess Andromeda, Luke's demon cruise ship, was docked at that beach.

"We will have company, then," Zoë said grimly. "Kronos's army."

Sylvie was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Shit, stop the car! NOW!"

Zoë must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"Out!" Thalia shouted.

Percy opened the door and pushed Sylvie hard. They rolled onto the pavement. The next second: BOOOM!

Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. Sylvie and Percy probably would've been killed by shrapnel except for, in Sylvie's quick panic of throwing her forearms up, she'd accidentally pulled roots up from under the ground—it was by pure coincidence they created a wall in front of Sylvie and Percy like a shield. From the other side of the (exploded) car, Thalia used her shield to protect her and Zoë.

Sylvie heard a sound like metal rain, and when she opened her eyes, they were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

Percy swallowed the taste of smoke out of his mouth, and looked at Sylvie. "You saved my life."

Sylvie shrugged as though the action wasn't a big deal, just grateful that Percy was alive. She held out two hands to help him off of the ground, pulling him up.

"One shall perish by a parent's hand," Thalia suddenly sneered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? Me?"

It took Sylvie a second to realize she was talking about her dad. "Oh, hey," Sylvie walked to check on Thalia and Zoë, being followed by Percy. "That couldn't have been Zeus's lightning bolt. No way."

"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded.

"I don't know. Zoë said Kronos's name. Maybe he—"

Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it. That fucker—!"

Zoë gripped Thalia's arm with an imperative look. "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"You mean we're here?" Percy blinked.

"Very close," she said. "Follow me."

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoë stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. Sylvie, Percy, and Thalia looked at each other.

"Concentrate on Zoë," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."

"Wait, Thalia," said Percy. "About what happened back on the pier... I mean, with the manticore and the sacrifice—"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You wouldn't actually have... you know?"

She hesitated. "I was just shocked. That's all."

Sylvie suddenly snorted. Percy and Thalia looked at her incredulously.

"Sorry, that's not—Shit—I'm not laughing at you, I swear. I was just—You said 'shocked'... and I thought... that was funny..." Sylvie admitted, increasingly growing more embarrassed.

The tension between the three lifted.

"Zeus didn't send that lightning bolt at the car," Percy told Thalia confidently. "It was Kronos. He's trying to manipulate you, make you angry at your dad."

Thalia took a deep breath. "Thanks. But come on. We need to go."

When the fog cleared, Sylvie was still on the side of he mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a bloodred slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of them. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight.

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If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place Sylvie had ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples, and Sylvie didn't mean yellow golden apples like at her farm. She meant real golden apples. Sylvie couldn't describe why they were so appealing, but as soon as she smelled their fragrance, she knew that one bite would be the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

Sylvie wanted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree.

Now, Sylvie doesn't know what you think of when she says dragon. Whatever it is, it's not scary enough. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than Sylvie could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.

Then the shadows in front of them began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. Percy reached for Riptide, but Zoë stopped his hand.

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoë. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like bronze. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. It was strange, but Sylvie never realized how beautiful Zoë was until she saw Zoë's siblings, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoë—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.

"Sisters," Zoë said.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see three half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."

"You've got it wrong." Percy stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die."

The girls studied him, with their eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Who said I was a threat?"

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Not without Annabeth," Sylvie said.

"And Artemis," Zoë said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoë insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoë said.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

Then Zoë did the last thing Sylvie expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoë, "Are you mad?"

"You never had any courage, sister," Zoë said. "That is thy problem."

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoë took a step forward, her arms raised.

"Zoë, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoë said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."

"Should," Sylvie said. "Not exactly reassuring."

"It is the only way," she said. "Even the four of us together cannot fight him."

Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down Sylvie's back, and that was before his breath hit her. The smell was like acid. It made Sylvie's eyes burn, her skin crawl, and her hair stand on end. This stench was like that of a dead animal, except a hundred times stronger, and mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus.

Sylvie wanted to draw her weapons, but she decided to trust Zoë's judgment.

Sylvie and Thalia went left. Percy went right. Zoë walked straight toward the monster.

"It's me, my little dragon," Zoë said. "Zoë has come back."

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoë continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

The dragon's eyes glinted.

Sylvie, Percy, and Thalia were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, Sylvie could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.

They'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. Sylvie felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoë got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoë.

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in their direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.

Sylvie drew Halcyon and Cereal to help.

"No!" Zoë panted. "Run!"

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoë cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoë sprinted past them up the mountain, and they followed.

The dragon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but Sylvie guessed he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn't going to be lured off, even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.

The four ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind. The music didn't sound so beautiful to Sylvie now—more like the soundtrack for a funeral.

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At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoë said. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" Percy asked.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoë said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was—" She winced and held her side.

"You're hurt," Sylvie said. "Let me see."

"No! It is nothing. I was saying... in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But... how is it here?" questioned Percy.

Thalia looked around cautiously as they picked their way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good."

"Why?"

"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoë said. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

They had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of them, gray clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains.

"My lady!" Zoë rushed forward, but Artemis said, "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. Sylvie had never seen a goddess in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis.

Zoë was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests and tugged at the chains.

A booming voice spoke behind them: "Ah, how touching."

They turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Luke's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat. There was another silhouette nearing closer, but Sylvie didn't really have time to think about that right now.

Sylvie met Annabeth's eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. But hers were just trying to send one message. Sylvie didn't know what it was.

"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go."

Luke's smile was weak and pale. He looked really shitty, as per usual, but it was worse this time. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."

Thalia spat at him.

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoë. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

"Wait a second," Percy said. "You're Atlas?"

The General glanced at him. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoë," Percy said. "I won't let you."

The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

Sylvie frowned. "A family matter?"

"Atlas is her father," said a new, familiar voice. "Funny how families work, isn't it?"

Eurydice Arandel had finally reached the group, her silhouette having finally become tangible in Sylvie's eyes.

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BAILEY YAPS...

Ummmmmmm

That's all for today, folks!

Heh