This Is Princess. She Totally Won't Kill You.
"Do you guys think we should do something to pass the time?" Percy said suddenly, interrupting the thoughts of each of his companions.
Annabeth and Harry looked like they were already planning strategies for when they reached the next station, just in case someone was waiting for them there. Grover, meanwhile, was watching through the window with a very gentle expression, observing the wild centaurs running across the fields. Some of them even lifted a hand in a quiet greeting when they noticed him.
"What?" Annabeth said, staring at him as if his words had not quite reached her ears yet.
"Something… to pass the time. Maybe a game," Percy said, feeling like he could not sit there doing nothing for much longer.
Before Annabeth could say anything in protest, wearing a slightly annoyed expression, a police officer walked toward them.
The four of them quickly covered part of their faces and looked in different directions.
As the officer passed nearby, he watched them for a moment with a strange look, clearly finding their behavior suspicious. But he only gave them a brief glance before continuing on his way.
"Fuu…" Percy sighed. "That might be the worst cop in the world… or he seriously needs glasses," he said while glancing toward the not-so-distant screen showing their pictures next to the word WANTED printed in enormous red letters.
"Don't be stupid," Harry said, giving him a slight look while tapping the magical tome resting on his legs.
"Just in case, I slightly altered our faces with a simple illusion. Normal people won't be able to see through it even if they stare at us. And…" he glanced around at the other passengers in the car, who were far too busy with their own lives to pay attention to what was happening nearby.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure no one will figure out it's us," Harry said with a bit of confidence.
For a moment he hesitated and frowned.
For some reason, maintaining the illusion felt… heavier than it should have, but he did not say that out loud.
"Magic is so useful," Grover said with a faint smile, as if remembering his days at Hogwarts as a first-year student.
To be honest, it had been quite an experience. Never in his life would he have imagined entering a school of magic and ending up finding two demigods there.
Normally satyrs attended regular mortal schools and searched for demigods in places like that. That was their job.
But it was rare for a demigod to be mistaken for a wizard. Except for the children of Hecate. Though they were extremely rare, and they usually reached the camp even before attending magical schools. Even so, several times letters had arrived at the camp with the exact address of some child. More than once that had put Chiron and the others on alert because of how easy it seemed to be to locate both the place… and the child.
Annabeth seemed slightly interested in that memory as well, but she quickly returned to what actually mattered.
"Listen, seaweed brain. You'd better stay put. It's true Harry's magic can hide you from mortal eyes, but I'm pretty sure smell can't be disguised from monsters. We'd better stay together and keep things quiet until we reach the next station. After that we'll have to hurry and find another way to travel if, like they said, they'll already be waiting for us there," she said in a serious tone.
"And…" before she could continue, the same police officer approached them again with a deeper frown than before, interrupting her.
"Excuse me. Could you show me your tickets?" he suddenly asked.
"Umm… uh… ah, yes," Annabeth replied as she pulled out everyone's tickets and handed them to the officer. Then she briefly glanced at Harry, who was watching the man with a confused expression.
The officer checked the tickets and then stared carefully at each of their faces.
"I need you to come with me," he said in a serious, authoritative tone.
"Excuse me… why?" Harry asked cautiously.
"I'll explain if you come with me," the officer replied calmly, already stepping forward as if there was no other option.
The people around them began looking their way, drawing a bit of attention. For a moment, some passengers glanced at the screen with the WANTED poster before starting to whisper among themselves.
Of course Harry noticed that. But he was even more confused than before. He tightened his grip on the magical tome resting on his legs while feeling more and more eyes turning toward them.
Percy looked at his brother, full of questions.
But Harry could only gesture that he did not understand what was happening either.
"Are we under arrest?" Annabeth suddenly asked, her gaze serious.
"Excuse me?" the officer said, making a slightly annoyed face at the girl's tone.
"I don't think you want to talk to me like that, little lady."
Annabeth stared at him even more intensely.
"I asked if we are under arrest."
…
"I think now we really are," Percy said while the four of them were escorted into a new compartment in the VIP section of the train.
There was no one else there except three train officers and a woman who seemed to be talking with one of them.
Ah. And also one of the most noisy and irritating puppies imaginable, barking nonstop at them from the top of the table inside a small pet carrier.
"If you wanted an answer to your question… I think we are under arrest," Percy said, looking at Annabeth.
She shot him an annoyed glance before turning toward Harry.
"What's going on? Did your magic fail?" she asked seriously.
"It didn't fail. I honestly don't know what's happening. I can still feel our magic working," Harry replied with a completely confused expression.
"All the passengers on the previous platform didn't seem to think the same," she said with a slightly sarcastic tone.
"Hey, last time I checked Harry wasn't the one answering the police officer and making the situation worse," Percy said, defending his brother.
"It's fine, Percy," Harry said, stopping him.
"It's true that something isn't working. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to see us so clearly. But for now let's just wait until they get distracted and use the invisibility cloak to slip away," he said calmly, offering a quick plan.
Woof. Woof. Woof.
"That dog is seriously starting to drive me insane," Percy said with complete irritation as he turned to look at the tiny chihuahua that kept barking at them.
And only at them.
As if the rest of the train car didn't even exist.
It was, without question, the most annoying thing he had encountered so far among all dogs.
Even more than Fluffy.
Though unlike Fluffy, that one hadn't been annoying.
That one had simply tried to kill them.
"It's just a dog, Percy," Grover said immediately. As a defender of animals he could not help saying it… though every time the dog barked he himself could not stop trembling slightly because of how irritating the sound was.
"I guess escaping while invisible is the best plan right now," Annabeth said, continuing the conversation. "We just have to wait until we reach the next station and…"
"Excuse me," a woman said.
It was the same one who had been speaking with the officer earlier. She approached with a gentle, almost maternal smile while carrying the dog carrier in her arm. The animal now seemed a little calmer.
"Is it alright if I sit here?" she asked before sitting in one of the seats in front of them, her voice soft.
The four of them looked at her slightly.
"Maybe this is partly my fault that you got into trouble. I saw you all sitting here alone… without your parents. I'm sure they must be worried. I'm a mother myself, and I know what it would feel like if one of my children ran away and ended up wandering around in such a dangerous world," the woman said softly, wearing a genuinely guilty expression.
"What? You were the one who told the police?" Annabeth asked, staring at her.
The others could not take their eyes off the woman either.
"Yes. Though I suppose I must look like the villain to you right now. You'll understand when you have children," she said gently.
"We can never let them go too far away from us. Right, princess?" she added while speaking to the dog, which immediately began barking again.
At the same time, something… strange seemed to leak from inside the bag. The barking sounded different now. Lower. Rougher. Almost… hungry.
"For example, whenever my little princess wants to go out to eat, I follow her everywhere. Just in case she might get hurt," the woman added without losing her maternal smile.
"Y… you treat the dog like it's your daughter?" Percy asked cautiously.
But at the same time he could feel the atmosphere around the woman slowly changing as she watched them.
"And how else should I treat her?" the woman replied.
Then she turned toward the police officer who was standing nearby watching them.
"Excuse me, could you give us a little space to talk? I think your presence might make her nervous, and then she won't take even a single bite," the woman said.
The way she said it made it sound like she was talking about Annabeth, who looked confused. She definitely had nothing she was about to eat.
But Harry and Percy had a strong feeling the woman was actually talking about the dog.
"Uh… personally I don't mind being constantly supervised by the police. I think I might have some serious anger management issues and stuff," Percy said quickly.
His instincts were screaming at him that something was very wrong.
It felt a little like when he had spilled Auntie Mor's favorite wine.
But much… much more dangerous.
"Kids are so funny these days," the woman said to the officer.
The officer looked at the children for a moment…
But suddenly her eyes blinked slowly, as if a thin invisible fog had drifted through her mind.
Then she simply turned around and walked away without saying anything.
"So… so funny," the woman added as she looked back at them.
But her smile was slowly beginning to fade. And for just an instant, something behind her eyes no longer looked human.
Seeing that, Harry shot up from his seat and pulled out his wand, pointing it directly at the woman's face.
"Stupefy!" he shouted instantly.
But the woman raised her hand quickly and caught the spell as if it were a small glowing sphere.
And immediately brought it to her mouth.
She swallowed it like it was nothing more than a small glowing snack.
Without even looking at it.
"It's not quite at the right point yet… but it will be enough for my little one," she said calmly.
The bag twitched once. Then again.
Then the carrier shook violently.
From inside it, a massive scaled tail burst out, ending in a black stinger.
And it struck directly toward Harry.
Percy had already drawn his sword at the same moment Harry raised his wand, using it to block the stinger. When it hit the blade, a shower of metallic sparks burst into the air while the impact forced them both backward.