Behind the Shadows

A little girl sits on the bench across from the fountain. Her face is a mess from the melted chocolate in her hands. There are no adults around who could be her parents. She stares at Sapphire with fascination. Its creepy, but kinda cute in a weird way. Sapphire squares her shoulders and pretends not to feel the little girls stare. She pulls out the a small mirror from her backpack and attempts to find the right place to catch the sun to make a small rainbow. It takes a while and Sapphire's arm begins to ache but that could also be because she broke it from jumping out of a moving car. Monsters always liked to rain on demigods parades. Her worst fear would be that the sun would disappear before she got the chance to find out where Percy lived. It was still bright and sunny so Sapphire still had time. The little girl is now humming a song that is not familiar to Sapphire. It's a wonder how the girl is still sitting up right from the amount of sugar she has eaten. The tune she hums goes on and on and Sapphire's crunches her teeth together from the pain in her arm and her impatience. Her hand is clenched very tightly around the mirror but her grip is the only thing stopping her from smashing on the ground in a fit of rage.
"Whatcha doing" A small voice sings behind Sapphire. It's the little girl. It was not hard to guess since the smell of chocolate oozed off of her. Sapphire was not much of a fan of chocolate or anything sweet. Her sweet tooth vanished when a younger Sapphire thought it would be fun to eat so much sweets that she threw up. She swirls around to look at the little girl. She is small and has her two front teeth missing. Her large grin shows a lot more than missing teeth. It also shows everything she has recently eaten. Sapphire takes a deep breath and smiles at the girl.
"I-eh, was just admiring the fountain" Sapphire mutters. She grabs her backpack and swings it over her shoulder. The girl frowns and looks behind Sapphire at the fountain.
"But the water is green and yucky so why would you want to admire it?" The little girl grumbles and continues to frown. Sapphire shrugs and glances at the water. Alge floats about in it and empty cans and rubbish lay on the bottom. Its sad to look at. The park is so beautiful and for a fountain to be treated this was is slightly heartbreaking. Surely the nymphes around this park must notice it too.
"I don't know. It must of been worth admiring at some point" Sapphire frowns down at the water. The little girl steps forward and stands beside Sapphire. "I'm Sapphire"
"I'm Olivia" The girl sticks out her hand for Sapphire to shake. Her hand is a mess with sticky chocolate and what looks like bits of grass and dirt. Sapphire politely shakes it and wipes her hand on her jeans while the girl is not looking.
"So Olivia, where are your parents?" Sapphire asks and is answered with a grunt. The little girl stares at the ground frowning. "Yeah, parents suck". Olivia wipes her head up to face Sapphire. Her face is filled with a mixture of shock and amazement.
"I don't need my dad and a ten year old is well old enough to look after herself!" Olivia stubbornly says. Sapphire frowns when she sees herself in the girl. It scared her to think this is what she acted like and thought like when she was on the run with her Luke. No child should feel they should just give up on their parents. Olivia could wander these streets for years and no one would even notice that there was a problem. Sapphire had her friends to run away with but Olivia has no one. Sapphire kneels down to level with the girl.
"What about your mum?" Sapphire keeps her voice calm. Olivia shrugs and huffs out a deep breath.
"I don't know who she is" Olivia's reply is simple but it nags at Sapphire. A little girl on the run with only one parent. "Dad says she was around when I was a baby but did not hang around"
Sapphire sighs and restrains herself from grabbing the little girl and telling her that the world can be nice sometime. Only sometimes though. To avoid becoming even more dull Sapphire changes the subject. She pulls out the demigod address list and hands it to Olivia.
"Favour for a favour?" Sapphire asks. This kid is a new yorker and maybe she might be willing to be Sapphires guide. The little girl grins and nods. "Okay, If you can lead me to this address I will be willing to help you with you dad problem". The girl frowns but looks as though she is considering it. "Okay let's go" Olivia chirps and hands the list back. Sapphire stands up and tucks the sheet in to her pocket.
Percy lives on a busy street that looks nearly impossible to drive along with the amount of cars parked on each side. Olivia skips ahead and hums that annoying song. Sapphire starts to feel like a protective big sister to her. Olivia stops in front of a building and waves Sapphire over. Its an apartment building. Sapphire looks at the list and memorises the door number. Olivia follows her into the building. Sapphire could not leave her on her own so she would have to tag along. The building is dimly lit and Sapphire nearly trips several times on the stairs. After a long journey out of camp and to new york Sapphire finally has made it. She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves. Olivia makes a fake cough noise to hurry Sapphire up. She raises her hand and knocks on the door. A plate smashes from inside. Sapphire looks down at Olivia and frowns. The door opens and Percy appears. He frowns when he sees Sapphire and then the frown is replaced with shock when he sees Olivia.
"I've got a small problem" Sapphire mutters. "And it has nothing to do with the girl here"
Percy rushes in to action and opens the door wider for Sapphire and Olivia to enter.

Notes