Flying into New York sent the frogs in Elli’s stomach to jump. She had been to New York before but never this high up. She could see the Empire State Building and the statue of liberty. By this time, Tucker had calmed dowm and was now checking the time.
He cursed in Greek and Elli nudged him. He raised an eyebrow in amusement that she understood that but then apologies. He showed her the time and explained that the trip took longer than he intended. Flying over Central Park made Elli smile. Nudging Tucker again, he looked at her confusion and she pointed.
“Will you take me there some day?” She smiled.
Tucker blushed in response of being caught off guard. “Uh…” He shrugged. “Sure, why not?” He smirked. “You have to train for a few weeks though. Anything can happen outside of camp,” He warned.
She groaned. “You don’t have to tell me that twice.” She said while shaking her head.
“Have you ever been to New York?” He asked as they approached their destination.
“A few times for the NYPD.” Elli shrugged. “I helped solve a couple of murders…” She smirked. “It wasn’t exactly the greatest memory.”
Tucker frowned. “Murders?”
Elli nodded. “Yea, I mean, mortals are insane too you know.” She tried to give a small smile.
Tucker took the gesture and smiled back. Landing near the entrance, Tucker dismounted and helped Elli off Haley. Taking a sugar cube from satchel, Haley gladly took the sugar cube and took off the moment after.
Elli look at Tucker in surprise, “You’re going to leave the saddle on her?”
Tucker shook his head. “She’s going to the stables, there are other demigods who’ll take it off for her, if anything she’ll come back over here but she knows that the information is important.”
Approaching them was a girl with blonde hair and grey eyes. Elli wasn’t tall, but Elli hadn’t been around enough people, or demigods to register 5’9 as being a normal height, especially for a girl. Tucker gave a small salute and then explained the journey. From some of the trouble he ran into before he found Elli, to the minotaur, and then to the Imps.
Annabeth put her hand on Tucker’s shoulder and assured him that his mission hadn’t failed. He had gotten the information they needed and also saved Elli in the process. To Elli, Annabeth looked stern. She could feel the uneasiness that Annabeth felt. She wondered what kind of lies Annabeth had buried up inside her.
Holding out her hand, Annabeth smiled. “Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, sixteen, I have many titles here but you don’t have to worry about them. Call me Annabeth.” She nodded.
Elli blushed. Annabeth was a sweet person, her handshake proved that much. Tucker watched the two in observation, obviously showing interest to see if Elli would work magic on his higher authority. Elli gave a slight adjustment in her stance and let go of Annabeth’s hand.
“Name’s Elli Triad.” She smiled. “Daughter of Aletheia, Alatheia, or Vertias depending on how you look at it.”
Annabeth’s eyes lit up with interest. “You haven’t been claimed yet, how could you possibly know that?”
Elli looked at the ground in despair. Tucker tilted his head and then placed his hand on her shoulder for assurance. “Go on, Annabeth’s willing to help despite the fear she can cause, she’s a tough gal but she knows who the real enemy is so she won’t hurt you.” He smirked.
Annabeth shrugged. That wasn’t exactly how she would have introduced herself but Tucker Homestead looked up to her and her skills. She found it more amazing on his talent with animals. Being able to sooth an animal’s fear was one of the many talents she wouldn’t mind having.
Elli looked up with a sigh. “Ever since I was little there had been people following me. I didn’t know my mother and my father’s been dead for whole life. I had been admitted into an orphanage in Dallas, Texas where I soon found Officer Vas who adopted me. I stayed with him until I was seven. During that time we found that someone was stalking me and so to protect me, Officer Vas put me under police protection. Since then, up till now, I’ve been working for the police helping solve crimes and testing testimonies on whether or not a person was telling the truth or not.” She smirked at the interest in Annabeth’s eyes. “Weird I know, but I’ve always had this feeling about people and whether or not they’re telling the truth. The more I used my power the more intense it got. Now, I can hear, see, feel, and taste lies and truths which isn’t always an ideal meal for my stomach.” She gave a small laugh and Annabeth and Tucker joined her.
“Actually…” Elli sighed. “Today’s my fourteenth birthday. I’d love to go back and be with my dad but when Tucker saved us from the minotaur he made it clear that I was safer here since…” She gulped. “the person following me was getting worse.”
Annabeth took Elii’s hand. “What do you mean by ‘worse’?”
Elli held back the tears and Tucker whipped them away, holding her head against his chest in support. Hugging him, she cried silently for a while and then turned to face Annabeth again. This time, Tucker put his arm around her for support.
“At first the person or thing, I guess since that’s possible now, would follow me. Nothing would happen except for me feeling creeped out and being sleep deprived. Recently, I had been working more jobs than usual over murders across the States. The last one I helped in was in Missouri. I was in an interrogation room with a girl named Viana and she was telling the truth about her murdering but then suddenly, she was telling me that she didn’t murder and she began to panic. Then she went all possessed on me and said ‘Daughter of Aletheia, rise for you have been chosen to battle.”
“So, it murdered to get your attention…?” Annabeth looked at her in shock but not complete surprise.
Elli nodded. “And so did the others who were there to testify against someone. They all murdered. They called me the Daughter of Veritas, Aletheia, and Alatheia.”
No comments:
Post a Comment