Hello there! I know that I promised this chapter earlier- sorry! Actually, the only reason that you're getting it today even is because I had some major help from CloudyAlore. So thank you billions, Faye! And SO sorry that I'm posting this a half hour late! I started writing at nine my time and only just got finished
The next six days passed by in a blur for Sholeh. She spent her time alternately packing for the journey, training to the point of collapse, and patrolling the North Woods alone. Annabeth and Percy ended their argument in less than a day; Sholeh believed that neither could bear to be away from each other for longer, though they wouldn't admit it.
Sholeh's moods swung from extremes at the most unpredictable moments. Once, she comforted a young unclaimed demigod who had begun crying at sword practice. Sholeh took the boy, who was only eight years old, to the bathroom, cleaned the dirt off his face, and told him that swordplay just took practice; it didn't mean anything that he was the worst in the class. He only sobbed harder, until Sholeh told him that maybe his father wasn't a swordsman, anyway, and he would be claimed soon.
"In fact," she reassured the boy whose name she discovered later to be Aaron, "one of my very best friends is worse with a sword than you are." The boy protested that it wasn't possible for anyone to be worse. "Oh yes," Sholeh continued seriously, crouching down to Aaron's level. "His father is Apollo though, so he's an amazing archer and musician."
"Who is he?" the little boy asked. Maybe he could see himself in the description, or maybe he was just curious. Either way, Sholeh's words calmed Aaron down, and she noticed that the tears had stopped falling.
"His name is Leo," said Sholeh wistfully. "You'll find something that you're good at," she finished, ruffling the boy's blond hair and turning to leave.
"Wait! Can I meet him? I want to see if I'm really better at sword fighting than he is." The boy's voice was eager. Sholeh couldn't bear to turn around, but answered.
"Well, he's not here right now," she explained slowly. "But I'm going to go find him very soon, so as soon as Leo gets back, I'll tell him to find you, and you two can fight. I bet you'll win." She walked out the door of the bathrooms, unable to stand the sadness in her heart, but leaving a very happy boy to run back to class with new determination.
Just two hours after that, Sholeh attacked the Ares cabin as they walked by. Most of the War God's sons only got off just with singed eyebrows, but Clarisse and two of her siblings were sent to the Medical Cabin with nasty burns. Sholeh herself admitted that the attack was unprovoked; "I just wanted to," she told Chiron later on. She had to wash dishes for the next four days.
Finally, the night before she, Percy, and Annabeth were going to leave, all three were called to the Big House. Inside sat Dionysus and an anxious looking Chiron. Sholeh looked angry, but smirked when she saw burn marks on the carpet and pinochle table.
"Well, well, well. Well. So you decided to show up, punk?" Mr. D asked, finished his question with a loud yawn.
"What is it, sir?" Annabeth asked, stopping Sholeh from answering. The daughter of Athena knew that it would not do to anger Mr. D or Chiron right before they were about to leave.
"Chiron," prompted Mr. D. The centaur sighed wearily and began to explain.
"Well, I really do regret to inform you that you three cannot leave for the Underworld," he said quickly, as if trying to get it over with as soon as possible.
There was a pause and then, "WHAT?" Sholeh screamed. Instantaneously, the fire in the hearth went out of control, filling the entire fireplace, and sending a wave of heat through the room. The flames began to lick the walls, and Chiron brayed.
"Well, you have in the past days destroyed Camp property," the centaur motioned to the burned carpet, "and attacked Campers. This behavior certainly does not merit a quest," he yelled above the fire's roar. Looking again at Sholeh, he saw the pain and despair reflected in her eyes- or was it just the flames? "I'm sorry, child," he added.
"You're lucky I don't feed you to the Furies," Dionysus added viciously. "You think just because old Corpse Breath is your dad, that you can get away with anything, but—"
Sholeh turned and walked silently out of the Big House, barely able to see because of the tears, which so rebelliously filled her eyes. Percy and Annabeth followed, but only after shooting angry glares at Chiron, as if to say, 'Mr. D, I can understand, but you?' They sat down on either side of their friend after finding her on the steps to Hades cabin.
Sholeh's jaw and fists were clenched tightly, and her head throbbed. "Gods curse it," she muttered, wiping away the tears. Her sadness was suddenly swept away by rage. "HOW DARE THEY?" she yelled, startling her two friends. Percy jumped at the sound and fell painfully down a step. A fissure cracked open in the ground in front of Hades cabin, and flames burst from it.
"It's going to be OK, Sholeh," soothed Annabeth, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. The daughter of Hades and Hestia made a motion with her hand, and the crack disappeared, leaving only a line of dirt to show where the earth had ripped apart. Cradling her head in her hands, Sholeh was a picture so unlike what they were used to. Now she was not the Titan-Slayer, daughter of the Lord of the Dead and Lady of Flames, but just a lost sixteen-year-old girl.
"Well, that's mildly annoying," said Percy in a bright tone. "Nothing to cry about, though."
Sholeh looked up at him, darkness shining from her eyes. "First of all, I'm not crying." Percy scoffed at this, and Sholeh glared more intensely. He immediately turned the disbelieving laugh into a cough. "Second, what the Hades are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on, Sholeh," said Percy. "Since when have you ever followed rules? We need the van to get to L.A…" he trailed off.
"But not Chiron or Mr. D," Sholeh finished, her lips twisting into a half smile. "What about the keys, though?" Dionysus always keeps them near him." Once, a camper had tried to take the van for a little joy ride. Tried, because he didn't even make it out of the Big House with the keys. At least he looked good as a porpoise.
Luckily, at that moment, Travis and Connor Stoll walked past, whispering to each other. Percy didn't hear exactly what they were saying, but could've sworn that he heard Connor ask his brother, "When do you think they'll notice that the shampoo turns their hair green?" He didn't want to know the rest.
"Travis! Connor!" Sholeh called, motioning for them to come over.
"Yeah?" they asked in unison.
"Has anyone ever caught you two stealing?" she asked casually.
"Once," began Travis.
"When we were about five," continued Connor.
"But other than that, we're undefeated," his brother finished. "We stole Chiron's bow right off his back, once." The two twins puffed out their chests proudly, eyes sparkling in memory of the heist.
"Good," said Annabeth. Percy had never seen his girlfriend look so mischievous before, and had to admit that he too was thrilled by their secret plan. "We have a job for you two."
"Are you sure this is going to work?" hissed Sholeh. It was now a little past one in the morning, and all of Camp Half Blood was silent as the grave. Except of course, for the three demigods leaning up against the van, which was parked just a hundred feet from Thalia's pine tree. Sholeh, Percy and Annabeth had been crouched there for over half an hour, waiting for Travis and Connor Stoll to return with the keys. The two sons of Hermes had agreed to help; apparently they believed it would be a true test for their thievery to steal keys right off a sleeping Dionysus. Now, their three friends were beginning to get worried. And to make matters worse, for the past fifteen minutes, Sholeh had a sneaking suspicion that someone was watching them from the trees. Every time she caught a glimpse from the corner of her eye and turned to check who was there, though, the figure vanished.
"Of course it is," Percy snapped. Sholeh was the only one who could see in this complete darkness; clouds hid the moon and stars, so he and Annabeth could barely see anything five inches away.
"Well, where are they then?" retorted Sholeh, with equal venom. If Travis and Connor got caught, it would be all her fault. "What if Mr. D…?"
Suddenly, a voice came from right behind her. "Mr. D doesn't even know what hit him," the voice smirked. Instinctively, Sholeh grabbed the person by the neck and threw them to the ground. Travis Stoll managed to choke out, "It's me, you lunatic!"
"What the Hades?" he whispered angrily, massaging his neck once Sholeh released him.
"Sorry," she whispered, "I thought you were… I don't know. But anyway," Sholeh continued, shaking slightly from the adrenalin rush, "Did you get them?"
"Of course," scoffed Connor arrogantly. He tossed Sholeh the keys, which she caught, appreciating the feel of the cool metal on her callused palm. "Had to roll Mr. D over though; he slept with the keys underneath him."
"And his pajamas," interrupted Travis.
"Are definitely not something you would ever want to see."
"Thanks a lot, guys," said Sholeh gratefully. Finally, finally, she was leaving. I'm coming, love, she thought, the meaning of the words sending a shiver down her spine. Sholeh felt electrified, ready to go and prepared for anything.
"Let's hit the road," she said impatiently, opening the door to the front seat, throwing her duffel bag in and jumping in herself. Percy and Annabeth did the same, but sat in the back seat, seeing as Sholeh was the best driver of the group. Annabeth had a tendency to be too cautious, whereas Percy was completely reckless behind the wheel.
Travis and Connor cautiously approached her window, which Sholeh rolled down so that she could hear them. "What will you do if you can't save Leo?" one of the twins asked; Sholeh couldn't tell which one it was.
"I will save him," she said, her voice strong as steel but at the same time, crackling like fire. There was no doubt in Sholeh's mind. She knew only that she was finally doing something, that she would finally be able to end the pain of the last few months. Quests were what Sholeh, Percy and Annabeth did best, and they had the most powerful reason of all to succeed on this one.
"OK, but what if you can't…?" Travis asked again.
"Look," Sholeh said, her temper rising once more, "When we get back to Camp, there will be four of us." She turned the key, starting the engine.
Travis looked like he was about to argue, but Connor cut his brother off. "Good luck," he said simply, and Sholeh nodded before driving the van across the hundred feet of grass, and into the wide, unprotected world.
The slightest warm-colored hints of dawn began to streak the sky. Sholeh drove the van looking straight ahead, the radio playing softly. Percy was asleep, and so was Annabeth, her head in her boyfriend's lap. The three demigods had been driving for hours, but we were now on some deserted road in the middle of nowhere. At least they hadn't been attacked by anything yet.
There were no cops, no cities. And so Sholeh sped now, over one hundred miles per hour, and she got a strange joy from seeing the speedometer tick higher and higher. It would get her to Leo sooner. As Sholeh continued to accelerate, so did her thoughts. Her mind suddenly thought of the first night she had been in the Apollo cabin, and how sleeping against Leo's warm body had made her feel so unreasonably safe and happy, as if only the two of them were invincible, more powerful than the gods themselves. She envied Annabeth for being able to sleep beside her love in the backseat, but it was not the rush of rage and resentment that she would once have felt. It was a simple, plain kind of jealousy.
Suddenly the van jerked over a pothole and Annabeth woke, as did Percy. "How are you doing up there, Sholeh?" Annabeth called sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
"I feel like shit." It was true; Sholeh had been driving for hours without sleep, and was now hungry and tired.
"Pull over, and I'll drive." Percy offered.
Sholeh thought about it for a while. I can risk all three of our lives by letting Percy drive like a bat out of Hades or I can be selfish and get some sleep.
"Fine. One second." Sholeh pulled to the side of the road and staggered clumsily out of the van. Percy helped her into the backseat, and then gently shut the door. Sholeh had to admit, the gesture was a particularly kind one when she considered how happy he must have been sleeping beside Annabeth. The daughter of Athena leaned on Sholeh's shoulder, and she in turn leaned awkwardly, shyly against the crown of Annabeth's head; Sholeh had rarely been so close to another person, excepting Leo of course.
Sholeh was suddenly jolted awake, and daylight was streaming through the windows. "Where are we?" she asked, her voice scratchy from just waking up. "How long have I been asleep?"
Sorry about the cliffie, guys. And sadly enough, I'm not ending the chapter here to increase suspense, or anything, I just have the vaguest idea about what to write next. But I also thought this chapter was long enough, and I really wanted to post it.