Bewitched || P. Jackson

𝕎elcome to Cloudcroft

"Ash?" Thalia shook Nicki's shoulder. "Ash, it's time to go." Nicki peeled an eye open, staring sleepily up at Thalia. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"Oh, you're so funny," Nicki said through a yawn.

Thalia shimmied her way across the seats, leaning to reach the radio. "When did you even get here?"

"Well, Apollo visited last night and—"

"Like the Apollo?"

"Sparky, how many Apollos do you know?"

Thalia shrugged, pulling her jacket back on. "Maybe you had a cousin Apollo to match your cat."

"Will you just let me tell the story?" Thalia raised her hands defensively. Nicki nodded. "Thank you. So Apollo came for a visit, we had a chat, I got upset and so he plopped me in here with you and left. You're a very cuddly sleeper y'know."

Thalia pointed an accusing finger at Nicki. Her face was quickly turning bright red. "You tell a single soul, Ash, and I will kill you." Nicki giggled and slipped out of the car, giving no reply. "Driscoll, I swear to gods!"

Zoë and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks.

"Morning." Nicki smiled. Bianca waved back at her sleepily, while Zoë just nodded. Nicki grabbed her bag and jacket from the Maserati and threw them over her shoulders. "So, what's the plan for the day?"

"Well, hopefully at some point, Percy will finally get up." Bianca laughed, grinning at Nicki.

Nicki smiled back at her. They weren't friends. Nicki wasn't naïve enough to forget what Bianca said about Thalia, or even what she said about Nicki herself. She was okay at pretending things were okay, at least until they got home.

Thalia hopped out of the Mercedes beside Nicki. She slung an arm around the girl's shoulders. "Alright, we ready then?"

"We must wait for thy boy to awake." Zoë shot Nicki a pointed look.

"If he's anyone's boy, he's Grover's."

Thalia sniggered. "Whoever's boy he is, he needs to hurry. My toes are getting cold just standing here."

As if on cue, Percy and Grover stumbled out of their Lamborgini, falling harshly onto the train floor. Grover hopped to his hooves, grinning at Nicki. Percy groaned, clutching his side.

"Up you get." Nicki and Thalia hauled the boy to his feet. "We have places to be, Perseus."

Zoë led the group out into the cold air. They'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said welcome TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO.

The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

Thalia and Nicki huddled together as they walked in an attempt to stay warm. "You don't happen to have a spell to warm my toes do you?"

Nicki's fingers twitched as snakes of purple escaped them. "Incantare calesco." A thin layer of purple covered the walking demigods, instantly warming them.

Zoë shot Nicki a look, still against her using magic, but didn't complain as the feeling returned to her fingers.

We stopped in the middle of town. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.