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It was already dark when he returned from the sing-along. The sun had sunken below the horizon and the sky was painted a deep blue, laced with stars.
However, Percy didn’t stop to admire the view; the only thing he was looking forward to was getting a full night of sleep. Spending your day improving your swordsmanship and climbing up boulder walls could do that to people.
In retrospect, Percy reflected that he really should have known better.
He must have been asleep for only an hour when he was jolted awake again by somebody shaking his shoulder and whispering urgently into his ear. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but in the haze caused from going from deep sleep to fully awake in the blink of an eye it was difficult to make out the words, let alone place the speaker.
“Come on, Percy! Get up!”
He did the only thing he thought he was capable of right at this moment, namely rolling around and mumbling, “Go ‘way.”
No such luck.
“Come on now, Seaweed Brain. Wake up!”
Seaweed Brain. The only one who ever used that nickname was Annabeth Chase, so it had to be Annabeth… hang on a second. What was Annabeth doing in his cabin in the middle of the night?
Percy sat up and stared uncomprehendingly at Annabeth. “What are you doing here?”
But Annabeth only waved his question away impatiently. “Would you please get up now? I need to show you something.”
In the middle of the night. When it was dark. And they would be sneaking around after curfew. Which brought on another question…
“Well, what about the harpies?”
He could almost see Annabeth rolling her eyes in the dark.
“What about the harpies?” she asked, exasperated.
“Won’t they eat us when they catch us sneaking around?”
“They most certainly will not. It’s two ‘o clock in the morning, for gods’ sakes; nobody would expect any of the campers to be up to something at such an ungodly hour. Besides, we’re going to be careful. And they’re also very susceptible to woodland magic. So if you don’t mind, I’m going to wait outside now until you’re dressed. If you’re still coming, that is.”
When Percy left his cabin fully dressed, Annabeth was nowhere to be seen. For a moment he stopped right in the doorway of his cabin, wondering whether or not she was playing a trick on him.
He nearly jumped ten feet when somebody whispered, “Boo!”
As he turned he found himself face to face with Annabeth, who was holding her magic Yankee cap in the one hand and a six-pack of Coke in the other.
“Where did you get that?” Percy wondered aloud while staring at the Cokes; as far as he knew, no outside snacks and drinks were allowed into the camp.
Annabeth smirked.
“If you had been around as long as I have, Seaweed Brain, you would know that if you talk to the right guy in Hermes’s cabin and gave him some golden drachmas, he could smuggle in nearly anything from the nearest convenience store. It’s simply what they do. And believe me, some of them are really good at it. I take it you’ve already met the Stoll brothers?”
Percy nodded silently and decided that nothing she said or did should surprise him anymore. Who knew? Maybe this was all some kind of crazy dream. After all,
he had already had worse.
Annabeth cocked her head and listened for a moment, then motioned him forward.
“All right, let’s go. Grover is already waiting for us.”
It just seemed natural for Annabeth to take the lead since she knew exactly where they were going and it felt just as natural for her to take his hand. After all, Percy told himself, she did it only in order not to lose him in the dark. It might be quite disastrous if they happened to be separated.
They left the cabins behind quickly and made their way around them in the shadows of the washrooms.
As they passed Mess Hall, they entered the pavilion and took a look around: The windows of the Big House were dark and the building seemed to tower over the camp. In the darkness, the camp looked deserted. There was no light glimmering in any of the cabins. In fact, the only sources of light were the moon high in the sky and the lava pouring down the climbing wall. It was easy to forget that the camp was brimming with activity in the daylight.
For a moment Percy was reminded of the sinister feeling he had gotten while battling Ares. Seeing the camp that empty made him think of the hopelessness he had felt. Next to him, Annabeth shuddered as if she had had the same thought and then tugged him along.
As they trudged across the open field behind the pavilion Annabeth nudged Percy in the ribs and whispered, “It’s not far now. In fact, we’re almost here.”
In the distance Percy could make out the music of reed pipes mixed with the sounds of the sea.
When they finally left the grassy plane behind and set foot on the sandy underground that was the beach, Percy gasped in wonder.
The sight was simply breathtaking: A strip of sandy beach reaching as wide as he could see was shimmering in the pale moonlight. The ocean itself looked like a dark blanket that was gently lapping at the sand, and the sky above was dotted with stars which were reflected as tiny bright spots in the dark water below.
Almost immediately he felt at peace and much calmer than he had since returning from his quest.
For the moment, all of his ill feelings about the prophecy and what might or might not be stirring down there in Tartarus were forgotten, lost in the moment.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Grover said behind them. Annabeth had been right; he had been waiting for them. He had spread a worn looking picnic blanket on the beach and was softly playing his reed pipes. The song wasn’t recognizable and sounded slightly off, but somehow neither of them seemed to mind.
“I see you’ve brought some tin cans,” Grover said, looking immensely pleased as Percy and Annabeth plopped down on the blanket, broke out the six-pack and popped the first tabs.
“See why it was so important to bring you here at night, Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth asked blithely. “But that’s not all I wanted to bring you here for. Did you know that the sailors used to navigate by the stars? What do you know about the constellations in the sky?”
Percy had to confess that his knowledge about the stars in the sky was pretty limited. They simply were there. Period. He knew that there were certain constellations and yes, in fact, he did know that they were used by sailors, but he hadn’t really had the time or the interest to pursue that topic further. There had always been something else to worry about. Besides, there weren’t that many stars to look at in New York.
“Well, I might go easy on you, then. See that big glowing one in the middle?” Annabeth asked. “It belongs to a constellation called Aurea borealis. That’s Latin and means ‘crown of the north.’ It was one of the forty-eight constellations that Ptolemy listed in the 8th century.”
“Legend has it that it represents a crown that Mr. D gave to one of his girlfriends,” Grover put in.
“Was it the wood nymph?” Percy wondered out loud.
“Nah, it was another one. And let me tell you, she was very pretty. Very sad, too,” said Grover, nibbling at the pull tab of his Coke can. He shifted uncomfortably and changed the topic. “And do you see the one that looks like a stick-figure, drawing a bow? That’s Sagittarius.”
“Sagittarius represents the centaurs,” Annabeth said. “Some even say that it honours the memory of Chiron. Another one you need to know is the constellation of Heracles. It’s right over there…”
Percy leaned back, sipped his Coke, stared up at the stars and let his friends explain the wonders of the sky to him.