Chapter Text
Gem eased her sprint into a jog, out of breath and exhilarated. She looked over to Pearl, who was matching her pace but didn’t look tired at all.
“Were those cops? ‘Cause I swear I heard them bark.“
“Wouldn’t be the first time that happens, but I’m pretty sure that they were cynocephali. Which shouldn’t be around here.”
“Cyno- what?“
“Dog-men, Indian mythology. Definitely the wrong pantheon for the area.“
They stopped running and looked back at the fences they had jumped over to evade the monsters, Pearl was sure that they had left a mess of the gardens they had crossed.
“Well at least we lost them with only minimal trespassing.“
“Only five backyards we tore through, that’s a new record for this trip!“
“Honestly landscaping agencies should pay us with all the work we have made for them!“
Pearl cocked her head at Gem, who was used to her friend’s confusion after the weeks of travel they had done together, and she quickly explained.
“They are gardeners, just grouped together in an organization.”
“Uh, makes sense I guess.”
“So, any idea where we are?”
“Bronxville.”
“How do you even know that? Is Lady Artemis giving you powers of compass on top of the power of self isolation?”
“There was a sign.”
“Ah, well then. I heard a train, we should find the tracks and follow them south, we’ll probably find a subway stop that way.”
“Why do we need a subway? I’m good walking.”
“Because it’s gonna take us three days to get through New York if we don’t, and I am so tired of walking. And running. I need to sit down and let some rails do the walking for me. So we are going to get a train.”
The demigod didn’t wait for an answer, grabbed Pearl’s hand and started dragging her in the direction of the rail tracks. They walked together, neither of them saying anything, fearing words would shatter the moment and their hands would break apart, back to reality, where they couldn't be together, not like that. Then it ended anyways, once they reached the tracks and a train went by, forcing both of them to put their hands up to shield themselves from the sudden wind. Gem looked over at Pearl, lingering for a moment on how beautiful she looked with her hair wild and messy in the wind.
“Well, I think we found the train. Where to now?”
“Let’s just head south, eventually there is gonna be a subway station.”
“What if I’m hungry?”
“Pearl? You alright? I haven’t heard you express one normal need once in three weeks.”
“Well now I am.”
“Still, unless you’re starving, I would suggest we wait, because in a couple of hours we’ll be in Manhattan and there you can find literally anything to eat. Have you ever had Pizza?”
“Yes I’ve had pizza! How old do you think I am? It was invented in the 18th century, that’s not that long ago!”
“Proving my point there Pearlie. Bet you never had a hotdog though.”
“People eat dogs here?”
“Nope.”
Gem chose to not elaborate, leaving her immortal companion to wonder in hopes that curiosity would lead her to try something new. They had been traveling together for a few weeks, ever since Gem had stumbled onto Pearl’s camp, lost and injured, all the way up in Nova Scotia. Pearl had introduced herself as a lone scout for the goddess Artemis and had explained that if Gem was being attacked by monsters she was probably a demigod. She had told her about a camp all the way in Long Island for people like her and was meaning to send her away that same morning, so that she could get there, but Artemis instructed Pearl to accompany Gem. She did so begrudgingly, moaning about the traces she’d lose, but soon they had become friends. They had a hard journey together, traveling through the monster infested wilderness, and despite all the reservation that a traumatized young girl and an immortal huntress can have, they were closer now to each other than they had ever been to anyone else in their lives. Eventually the suburb turned into town and the New York skyline appeared through the fog, Gem finally found what she was looking for.
“Look! The sign says the subway is that way! Let’s go, I wanna get to the city before dark! It’s just incredible with all the lights!“
“Wait, you’ve seen it before?”
“As a kid, I came here on holiday with my mom, before well… I ran away. I was like eight years old, but I remember looking at all the billboards and thinking that it looked like the stars had come down to stick to the buildings.”
“Now I’ve got high expectations. Let’s see it!“
The short walk to the station gave Gem a bit longer to talk about her first trip to New York, of the happier times before the monsters attacks began and she started running away. Once they reached the stairs up to the rails, Pearl stared at them confused once again.
“I thought the subway went underground. That’s why its sub? ‘Cause it’s subterranean.”
“Honestly I had forgotten, but this one starts out above ground, elevated over the street. It’s pretty cool…”
“So I have been preparing myself mentally to be underground for nothing?”
“Oh don’t worry, it does go underground after a bit. No preparation going wasted!”
She noticed Pearl shiver and in a moment Gem had to decide weather to continue poking fun at her, or if to offer comfort. She decided to continue having fun, she could apologize later, saying sorry was her specialty as a Canadian after all.
“You are afraid of going underground? Big, bad, all powerful Pearl is scared of something?”
“I just- don’t like not being able to see the sky. Not like in a building, that’s fine, but buried… brings back bad feelings.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from the scary dirt, you’ll be just fine. I have fought much scarier things than dirt.”
Pearl gave a half-hearted chuckle that told Gem that she wasn’t sold, but at least she was willing to try, either way before that would be a problem they had to scramble enough cash together for their tickets. That included some pick-pocketing and some begging people for change trying to look just the right amount of pitiful so that they would give them something but not call the police on them. They had twice what they needed in less than twenty minutes, which left them a good amount to grab dinner later and soon they were stepping on the train for their journey south.
“Ah finally, civilization.”
Said Gem, with relief in her voice, as she sat down on the plastic seat, gesturing for Pearl to join her.
“If you say so, this looks kinda depressing.”
“Depressing and also doing the work for me. Which is great. It’s my turn to enjoy the trip, you have had like three weeks of straight forest.”
“I thought you liked the wilderness.”
“I do, really, it’s pretty and it’s relaxing. But sometimes I need a break, I don’t come from a time before the wheel.”
Pearl, in reaction to that umpteenth jab at her age, sat down and looked Gem in the eyes, putting on her most serious face.
“How old do you think I am?”
“Somewhere between five-hundred and twelve-thousand years old, I guess? Did you ever meet Jesus?”
That was enough to crack the immortal’s though act, as she broke down in a fit of giggles, sentences blurted out half finished without any coherent answer.
“Well? Did you?“
“No I didn’t- I was in China at that time-”
“Wait, actually you are older than Jesus?”
Pearl finally regained control, just enough to explain herself a bit.
“So, yes, I am quite a bit older than Jesus, when he started doing his Dionysus copycat act, I already was seven… eight-hundred years old? Who’s counting at this point…”
“Wait, if you don’t count, how do you know how old you are? How do you celebrate your birthday?”
“I don’t really, it seems a bit redundant after so long.”
“That’s so sad! And unacceptable! We are picking you a new birthday and it’s getting celebrated when we get to Camp Half-Blood!”
“You know I’m not staying, right?”
“Yeah you said, gotta get back to hunting… yada, yada… gotta be edgy and alone… yada, yada… Well I have simply decided you will not. I say you are getting a birthday and you will be getting one! I’ll do you one more: we are picking you a proper age as well, no more of this mysterious and ageless act!”
“But I’m good at mysterious and ageless…”
Pearl tried to protest, but Gem’s puppy eyes were not something even three millennia of existence could teach her to resist.
“Fineeee…“
“Yay! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
Gem launched herself into a hug, holding Pearl tight while bouncing up an down on her seat. She had just decided that was enough physical affection for that year, when the sky went dark and they were underground. She gasped and instead of pushing Gem away she clung to her tighter, letting herself feel afraid and vulnerable for just a moment. It was Gem who let go first then, untangling herself from the hug enough to look Pearl in the eyes.
“It’s fine. You are gonna be fine. We are gonna be out of here in like thirty minutes and then you are trying a hotdog.”
Pearl took a deep breath, steadying herself by letting go of Gem’s hands and holding onto the edge of her seat, much to Gem’s dismay. Staring straight ahead, she looked at her reflection in the window. Her face hadn’t changed in the past three-thousand years, no new scars from her countless battles, but sometimes she felt that the youthful spark that had once been in her eyes, the one that never left her Lady’s eyes, was gone. She was supposed to be a protector of the young, so why did she feel so old. The subway car jolted suddenly, shaking Pearl from her stupor, and she gripped Gem’s arm tightly, digging her nails in her skin, but the demigod didn’t complain, she just put her other hand on top, making small circles with her thumb, laying her head on Pearl’s shoulder. She could have stayed like that forever, but eventually they reached their stop.
“C’mon lone wolf, we are getting off now.“
“Finally! Sorry about your arm.”
“It’s fine really, glad it could be helpful. Now, let’s find us some hotdogs!”
“I still do not know what those are. And I will not be eating any dogs.”
“You’ll see…”
“I thought that being ominous was my thing, but sure, you do you.”
“It’s revenge. Payback if you will.“
The girls walked out of the station together, for the first time in weeks no one was staring at them while they went about their way, the metropolis was too weird for anyone to care about two kids with thorn clothes that, in Pearls case, looked a bit too ancient to be appropriate for the twenty-first century. And that was without anyone noticing the weapons they carried, thankfully the Mist did a good enough job hiding that.
“Wow, it’s even more beautiful than I remember.”
“I don’t like it. I can’t see the stars.”
“Light pollution will do that to you, feeling better now that we are above ground though?”
“Yeah, and now I am starving.”
Gem quickly located a hotdog stand, and with the little cash they had leftover she got two, handing one to Pearl, who inspected it thoroughly before speaking.
“This is a sausage. With bread.”
“Correct.”
“How is that any different than every other sausage with bread I have eaten, it’s like a traditional meal in every other culture.”
“I think it’s the harmful chemicals and plastic it’s made of, they make it special.”
“Why would I want to eat that, if it’s harmful and full of plastic. Why would you eat that? You are mortal.”
“It’s yummy, and my life expectancy is already low enough that I don’t care what goes in my body, the monsters are probably getting me before the microplastics. You are immortal, so you are eating that because I am asking you to.”
The huntress sighed and took a big bite, imitating Gem’s hotdog eating technique. She chewed for a moment, making up her mind, before speaking again completely unaware of the mustard mustache she had given herself.
“This is incredible! Who knew that plastic could taste so good!“
Gem chuckled fondly, before daring to clean up Pearls lip with her own tissue, which she let her do, before taking another bite and smearing mustard on her face once again.
“There’s no hope for you, is there?”
“It’s fine, there is at least twenty different kingdoms where getting dirty is a sign that you appreciate the food.”
“I am not sure there are twenty different kingdoms in the world, like existing right now.”
Soon they had finished their food, but it wasn’t late and the lights of the city made it so everything was well lit, so they walked around, no particular direction if not south. On their own, with maybe just a little help from the fates, they made it to a subway station which would take them to a train for Long Island.
“Well, are you ready for another round of underground? Oh, that rhymed!”
“Yeah, I’m sure if Apollo were to claim you it would be now, you’re just an artist with words.”
“Ouch! You are so mean to me!”
“Well you are mean to me!”
“When was I ever mean to you?”
“Right now, making me go underground!”
“I’m sure you will survive, you are so brave and strong.”
Gem grabbed Pearls hand, who put up some playful resistance before letting herself be dragged into the the station, this time around they bypassed the tickets completely, jumping over the turnstiles without any regard for the rules. As they ran for their train, both of them giggled, the fear forgotten. The subway car was packed, so they were forced to stand.
“It’s only twenty minutes or so, it’ll be fine!”
“I just wish it didn’t feel so oppressive. I am very… squished.”
“Personal space isn’t something the subway usually allows for…”
With a screech the train came to a halt, catapulting Gem, who was definitely not holding onto the railings like she should have, into Pearls arms with a small screech. Pearl, in an attempt to catch her let go of the railing as well, which ended up with them both on the floor, laughing and uncaring of the stares from the other commuters, as they made a minimal effort not to step on them.
“Are you alright? I’m sorry, I guess it’s been a while since I was on one of these too!”
“I’m fine, this is exactly what I meant to do.”
Gem laughed and laid her head on Pearl’s chest for a moment before standing up again, holding out her hand for her friend to take, which she did gladly. They both held onto the railing the rest of the journey, which went off without any further incident, save for some last side eyeing from the more elderly travelers, less inclined to forget their spectacle quickly. It was getting quite late in the evening when they reached the train station and they found out that the trains out had stopped running, which left them stranded. But at least now it was a less busy area, where they could camp out for the night.
“I think we might be the first people to actually choose to sleep out around here.“
“It’s fine, I don’t sleep much anyway, and there isn’t a criminal that is more dangerous than us in this area.“
“And what about monsters?“
“I’m hoping the native bad smells of the area covers your demigod stench.“
“I hate when you say it like that. We both smell. We have been traveling for days!”
“You are too sensitive, demigods smell to monsters. There is no denying that. You just also smell because you haven’t showered in weeks.”
“If I’m stinky then you’re stinky!”
“I’m not stinky! I’m too ethereal for that!”
“Well I’m too godly to be stinky then!”
Stinky or not, they both were exhausted and soon they fell asleep, hidden between a dumpster and a fire escape stair landing, Gems head laying on Pearl’s shoulder, while she clutched the demigod’s sleeve for comfort, as the old nightmares of being deep underground visited her once again.