stollen things || c. stoll

5.4 ~ A Visit To The Pharmacist

Travis and I were two of the very few campers that could be spared to leave the hotel. It was just us and two Hephaestus campers. We grabbed plastic bags from behind the counter, carefully avoiding the sleeping cashier, and went wild. We swept bandages, painkillers, ointments, and splints right off the shelf and into the bags. We may or may not have grabbed some snacks and alcohol as well. It isn't every day you get this type of chance. We made sure the get the snacks and drinks in a separate bag to avoid a lecture from Will or anyone else.

We rushed back to the hotel and dropped off the medical supplies with Will, then left the rest in the kitchen under the counter where no one would find it.

I helped Will tend to the wounded — which seemed like far too many of us — while we waited for the evening to come, along with the next step of the invasion. Percy was called to the lobby to meet with Prometheus, who had come under a flag of truce. I wasn't made aware of what they had talked about, but based on Percy's expression, it couldn't have been good.

I decided to get some sleep before the invasion, considering the amount I'd missed out on the previous night. It just so happened that Connor ended up in the same bed. Now, we didn't do anything, I swear. That would be in poor taste. We laid there together on top of a freshly made bed in our dirt-covered clothes. It didn't matter, we'd find a way to clean it later. Make Percy into a washing machine.

When we woke up, the sky was pink in the sunset. Had it been any other night, it would be a comforting sight. We got back into our armor and headed down to the lobby. Everyone was there getting ready to stop the army at Central Park. Kids were strapping each other into their armor, faces grim. There wasn't a person in the group without at least a sprain or bruise. Except Percy. I had my suspicions, but I didn't want to act on them or talk to him about it. The head counselors gathered briefly and touched base on our plans for the coming night.

Thalia had confirmed that the army had begun marching on us. After meeting Percy, we made to disperse across the city. As I rushed to meet my cabin and the nature spirits, I felt a tight grip on my arm.

Connor spun me around to face him and pulled me into a kiss. I'd kissed the boy a hundred times, it wasn't anything new. But this one was different. We put everything we had into it. It was incredibly likely that we wouldn't see each other again. We parted, and he looked down at me. "Mads, I..." Before he could finish his sentence, he went back for another kiss, as if to silence himself. I smiled at him, and pulled him into a hug.

I heard a gruff voice groan from behind me. "Oh, hurry up. We have places to be."

I turned around to see an old satyr, donned in wooden armor, with his hands on his hips.

"Leneus?"

"That's right. Now stop kissing and come with me."

I squeezed Connors hand and headed after the old satyr. Before I could let go of Connors hand, he pulled my hand up and pressed his lips to my knuckles. "For old times' sake." He winked.

The one gesture broke my heart even more to leave him. If we wanted to win this war, I'd have to forget about Connor. Nothing could hold me back or distract me.

Connor left me, running after Travis. Just minutes later, we heard the army. The sound of their yelling and running was deafening.

Hundreds of monsters poured through the woods into view. We were no match for them. Just the Athena cabin, the Hunters, me and the two girls from my cabin that were fit to fight, and the few dozen nature spirits Grover had collected.

"Positions!" Annabeth yelled. Her cabin scattered. I joined the nature spirits with a few of my siblings while the rest shot with the Hunters. My energy wasn't fully recovered from the afternoon, but I was still needed.

As the army got closer, our defenses worked. The greek fire took out a lot of monsters, along with our arrows and grappling hooks.

Grover called our attention and began playing a song on his reed pipes. Most of the dryads and satyrs charged, while some others and myself stood back, growing tall grasses and trees. It worked for a bit, but giants started smashing down trees and killing the dryads' life force.

That's when the worst began. Hyperion, the titan lord of light, started marching straight toward us. Percy didn't waste any time walking over the water to get to him. His courage was terrifying sometimes.

I didn't have time to stand and watch Percy fight the titan, because there was still an army coming straight for me. I let off arrow after arrow, stabbing left and right. I tried to save my powers and use just combat, because it was much more tiring to use the flower power.

Soon, it got too windy to push through the monsters, so I looked into the sky and almost had a heart attack. There was a hurricane standing right in the center of New York. And on it, Percy Jackson. Our favorite teenage psycho. He was controlling the entire storm, fighting this ancient being of light.

He slammed Hyperion out of the sky and sent him hurtling down to our feet. Immediately, Grover and the other satyrs began playing their pipes and encasing the titan in roots and branches. I helped where I could, but my own power was nothing next to music. Damn those reed pipes. Maybe I could get my hands on one, but considering the fact that I dropped out of band class in sixth grade, maybe it wasn't the best idea to pick up a flute again.

Hyperion was soon engulfed in a massive maple tree. Some of the satyrs passed out, and I crouched down to help them.

The Titan army began retreating. We started to cheer, but it didn't last long. I let out a small noise; I'd been cut. Deep. I was not stranger to cuts, I'd been using a sword for six years at the least. I looked to my shoulder. No, not cut. I'd caught a stray arrow in my left shoulder. Nothing set in for a few seconds, but I soon realized what had happened. I was getting dizzy already, and my head was swimming. I needed to get to Will. I needed to get to Connor.

I stood to run to get help, but I made it about three steps before everything went black.

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