Hey! I'm back. And I only made you wait for a month. Hey-it could be worse. Now that school and final exams are over this story should, hopefully, probably will be updated more frequently. Thanks for reading. Enjoy. Also, I'm changing the rating to T because the content of this may be a bit explicit. Nothing too bad or graphic, I promise, but I'm kind of paranoid.
Katie blinked at Jed, shocked. Travis stopped singing mid lyric and choked on his chewing gum. Even Nico looked up, though he looked more irritated than surprised. For a few seconds the three demigods just stared at Jed, waiting him to grow another head or something. Surprisingly, nothing happened.
Jed chuckled. "You three look like you've seen a ghost. Come on, it was just a question."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Katie stuttered weakly. It was very unconvincing though and she shot Travis a look which said something like this- You got us into this mess. Now get us out! Or at least that's how Travis perceived it. Katie may have added more colorful language.
Then, to Katie's irritation, Travis started laughing. Katie leaned down and spoke quietly to Nico. "I think he's finally lost it. Will you just throw him onto the highway?" Nico grinned while the deranged son of Hermes continued laughing.
"Jed, Jed, I underestimated you," Travis said in a smooth voice after he'd finally calmed himself. "What gave it away?"
"Probably when you shouted that you were a son of Hermes," Jed admitted, grinning.
Travis's mouth formed into a little 'O'. Katie shook her head in dismay and Nico just sighed.
"You may wanna be a little more careful bout' what you say in public. Anyone could be listenin'," Jed warned.
"Travis, you're an idiot," Katie hissed.
"Hey!" he cried back at her.
"It's true," Nico agreed. He was smirking.
"Thanks, guys," Travis mumbled bitterly.
Jed chuckled. "You kids don't have to worry. I ain't gonna hurt you. It was probably a good thing you shouted that out loud, Travis. I wouldn't a' taken pity on a couple a' mortals."
Katie eyed him. "What are you?" She asked.
He grinned. "Well, I'm one of you. I know what it's like. Us demigods gotta stick together, which is why I asked that question. It's a mighty dangerous time for you young folk to be venturing outside of Camp Halfblood unprotected. Dark times."
"You're a demigod?" Katie asked.
"Cool!" Travis cried. "You went to Camp Halfblood?"
Jed nodded, still smiling. "Course I went there. It's the only place for us to go. But that was a long, long time ago. Even met my ol' pops, the war god, once. He hated it when I called him pops."
"You're a child of Ares." Katie said. When she said it aloud she wondered why she hadn't seen it sooner. She'd seen the war god in person once and there was definitely some family resemblance. Jed was just as huge, strong, and scary looking as Ares and the rest of his children.
Jed nodded. "And you're Hermes' kid," Jed said, addressing Travis. "And you," he said, pointing at Katie, "Are a Demeter spawn."
"How did you know that?" Katie asked. Unlike Travis, she hadn't screamed her godly parent's identity aloud.
Jed smirked. "You smell like one." Travis chuckled and Katie rolled her eyes.
Then Jed turned to Nico. "But you, you've been quiet. I ain't sure what cabin you're in." Jed seemed to be waiting for an answer.
"Hermes," Nico answered coolly. He, unlike Katie Gardner, was decent at lying.
Katie flicked Travis hard in the arm before he could say anything different. He turned his head towards her in irritation and Katie quickly flashed him a gaze that told him to keep his mouth shut. Telling Jed Nico's real identity would require too much explaining.
"Hmm… I see," Jed muttered. "You and Travis, here, seem nothing alike," he commented.
Travis nonchalantly strung his arm around Nico's shoulders and ignored the son of Hades' death glare. "Yeah, he's sorta the odd one out at our cabin but he's still a great kid. Had a hard childhood," Travis explained, which was technically half true.
"Ah, well, don't we all," Jed answered.
"Touché," Nico muttered.
Jed chuckled. "Ya kids ain't bad. So, really, why are you goin' so far from Camp in dark times like these?"
"We have to rescue a captured demigod," Katie replied.
Jed chuckled. "Yeah, you young folk always are heroic. Gets you killed though. Your chances aren't too great. Take it from someone who knows from experience, it's not worth it. More people will die." Travis tensed up and for a second Katie swore she saw concern in his eyes. Travis and Connor did everything together and she had nearly forgotten that Travis, despite his cockiness, was very worried about his little brother.
"You underestimate us," Nico replied. "Sure, Travis is an idiot and Katie bosses us around but they're both determined. I'd say we have a chance."
"I don't boss you around!" Travis and Nico shot a look at her and she scowled.
"You're just a kid. Who am I to burst your bubble? I'll take you as far as I can but it's foolish, what your doin'. Whatever you're up against is probably worse than anything you've trained for," Jed answered.
"We helped win the Titan war just last summer. I say we have a fair chance. Besides, we're not children of Athena; we don't pretend to be smart," Nico said, his voice still cool.
Jed tensed and frowned. He seemed to clench the steering wheel a bit tighter. However, his response was calm. "Well, if you insist. But don't say I didn't warn you."
After their conversation Jed was quiet. He kept his gaze focused on the road and turned the music up. Travis, too, was quieter and, besides complaining that he had to pee every few minutes, didn't really say much. Despite Travis' complaints they didn't stop for seven hours. Finally, near Toledo, Ohio, Jed pulled off the highway. He drove into truck stop that had a small convenient store where they could finally use the restroom. A few other men where outside getting gas but the truck stop was mostly deserted.
"Okay, kids, we'll take a five minute break. Hurry back, I have to be at Chicago before tomorrow morning."
Travis, Katie, and Nico all raced inside to use the restrooms. Once they were done Nico went back to the car. Travis seemed ready to raid the shop but Katie pulled him aside. "Travis, I really don't like this," she explained.
Travis rolled his eyes. "Katie, don't be so cautious, nothing bad has happened yet. Jed is a friend."
Katie sighed. "Travis, don't be so dense! Did you see how he tensed he got up when we mentioned the war? What if he was on Kronos' side?"
Travis shrugged. "You're being paranoid, Kates." Katie scowled at the new nickname. "Even if he was on the Titan side tons of demigods have come to camp after the war from Kronos' army and they are all nice. Maybe he just regrets it."
Katie bit her lip. Travis had a point but she had a bad feeling in her gut. "Please, I really don't," she began but Travis cut her off.
"Now, now, Katie, you're probably just hungry. I'll get you and Nico something to eat and meet you outside in five, kay?"
Katie frowned. "But…" However, Travis cut her off again by touching her face with his fingertips and tilting her chin up to meet his eyes.
"Look, Katie, its okay if you're scared. We'll all be fine," he said, his eyes glowing.
For a moment, Katie couldn't help herself from getting lost in his gleaming blue eyes but she quickly caught herself and averted her gaze, ignoring her cherry red cheeks. "I'm not scared," she insisted. Then she looked back up at Travis. "And don't touch me!" With that she smacked his hand away and turned away from him.
Travis smirked. "Oh, and Travis," Katie called over her shoulder as she was exiting the gas station.
"What?"
"Please pay for the food."
"Aww… come, on." Katie rolled her eyes and smiled despite herself. She let the door close behind her and quietly walked back towards Jed's truck. She climbed into the seat to find no one there.
"Nico?" she said quietly, as if she was expecting him to be hiding under a cushion. "Nico!" There was no response. She jumped out of the truck and pulled the gardening spade out of her pocket, allowing it to become a sword. "Nico! Nico! Nico!" she called, slightly panicked. There was still no response. One of the men getting gas looked at her like she was crazy. Katie took a shaky breath. Suddenly two strong hands grabbed her from behind the truck with such force her sword was knocked out of her grasp and clattered away. One of the hands covered her mouth to muffle her scream. It was so big it even covered her eyes. She squirmed but it was useless.
After a few moments the hand removed itself from her face. Katie was going to call out but she was interrupted. "Stay quiet or the boy gets it." She turned her head to see her captor and sure enough it was their new friend, Jed. He was grinning like an idiot. About a dozen other men were standing there. Well, they couldn't really be considered men. They all had features that showed they weren't really human, like fur, a third eye, scales instead of skin, or claws instead of hands. One of these men was holding Nico back, covering his face with what appeared to be a bear paw. The other paw held a knife to the boy's neck. It occurred to Katie that these men must have been what she heard in the cargo area.
Katie didn't know what to do. She froze there. How would they get out of this? "Foolish kids you are." Jed commented. He sounded pleased with himself. "I thought it might be hard to catch one demigod but then three just come along and travel cross country with me. You really are idiots."
Katie squirmed in his grasp. "Let us go. You said it, demigods have to stick together. So let us go," she whispered angrily. She summoned some poison ivy to come and wrap itself around Jed's legs. He shook it away easily.
"Your little Demeter tricks won't help you against me." Katie knew he was right but continued to summon plants to tangle themselves around his body.
Jed shook and cussed. "Stop it!" He shouted. He slashed at Katie's arm with a knife and formed a nice cut along her arm. She gasped and the poison ivy died.
Jed merely laughed at her. "Sorry, little lady, I may have said that demigods stick together, but times have changed. Like I said, these are very dark times. I never lied to you. I'm a demigod. And I really do have a delivery in Chicago. But I forgot to mention that I was deliverin' you."
"Delivering us?" she asked weakly.
He chuckled. "Yeah, you coulda enjoyed a comfortable ride all the way there, not even knowing your fate. Too bad that boy figured it out. He's smarter than he looks. Can't take me on though." Nico thrashed violently and his captor clutched the knife closer to his neck. A thin line of blood became visible and Katie tore her eyes away.
"But why?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking and ignore the pain in her arm.
"Why? Do you have any idea how much collectors are payin' demigods for. I'd say you and your friends will go for over ten thousand dollars."
"That's disgusting," Katie said. "You're one of us. You can't do this."
"I'm a kid of Ares. I don't need morals."
"So you're going to make us slaves?"
"Oh no, sweetheart, I never said they want ya alive. You'll make wonderful trophies for my private collectors." Katie's knees nearly buckled. She weighed her escape options but each one seemed worse than the last. She didn't know what to do. No one at the gas station seemed to realize anything was wrong and if they did they didn't care. Travis wouldn't really be able to help. She hoped if he saw this he would run for it. He didn't need to die too.
Jed was watching her, smirking. "Aww… look boys, the little beaut's terrified. Let's put her out of her misery first." Jed brought the knife he had slashed Katie's arm with to her neck. She was shaking violently.
"I don't think so!" Jed looked up in surprise. Nico had somehow managed to shake his captor's paw off his face for a moment. Suddenly, a half dozen undead soldiers rose out of the depths. Everyone was so surprised that Nico was able to shake himself free and knock the knife away. Katie too managed to free herself from Jed's grasp before he recovered and raced to grab her sword from the pavement. Nico pulled out his own sword, and in one fluent motion, sliced the monster that had held him captive into a pile of dust. The undead soldiers attacked violently. Jed's crew was in a panic. Half of them were destroyed within seconds.
"I thought you were a measly son of Hermes," Jed told Nico. He had regained himself and was going after the son of Hades with a knife. Nico's undead warriors seemed to have the rest of the monsters under control.
Nico slashed at Jed with his Stygian Iron sword and only narrowly missed. "You thought wrong," he answered, smirking. Then, Nico landed a clean hit right on near Jed's thigh. The son of Ares let out a cry of pain. Nico went in for the kill but Jed staggered back.
"Let's get outta here boys," he cried. Within a second the three remaining monsters that hadn't been slaughtered by Nico's soldiers had grabbed Jed and pulled him back to the truck. They drove away quickly and disappeared into the distance.
Nico and Katie stood there, panting and bleeding. Nico's knees buckled and Katie caught him with her good arm. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I'll get ambrosia." Then it hit her. "They have our packs." She cursed in Greek and helped Nico walk to a grassy area nearby so he could lie down. He was as pale as a sheet.
"It's okay, I just… need a nap… you, however, might need… that arm… looked at," he said quietly. Then he passed out. Travis chose this moment to finally reappear. He was carrying a huge stack of snacks that he could hardly see behind.
"Hey, guys, sorry it took so long but I got lots of food," he announced, looking out from behind the pile. Then, his face fell. "Wait, Katie, you're bleeding. Gods, that looks bad." He said, sounding concerned. "And what's up with Nico? And where's Jed?" His voice was rapidly speeding up.
Katie gave him a grave look. "Travis, they took our packs. He needs nectar, now. "Travis nodded and for once didn't say anything. He dropped all the food he just bought and dug through his pack before pulling out two ambrosia squares and a jug of nectar. He raced forward and handed the ambrosia to Katie. "I'm fine," she mumbled.
"You're bleeding like crazy," Travis pointed out. Katie sighed and carefully took a few bites of ambrosia. Her arm healed quickly and she watched as the bleeding cut transformed into a bright red scar. Travis shoveled Nectar into Nico's mouth so quickly that it dripped out the corners.
"Careful, you'll burn him up," Katie warned. Travis recapped the nectar because Nico had already developed a bad fever. The thirteen year old coughed twice and seemed to relax a little more but didn't regain consciousness.
"What happened?" Travis asked.
Katie sighed. "I'll explain later, Travis. People are looking at us funny." It was true. As people drove by they stared. Some people slowed down, as if considering offering assistance. "We need to get Nico to somewhere he can rest. Let's go to that motel across the street," she suggested, gesturing to the dinky little hotel nearby.
Travis shrugged. "Looks cheap," he commented. Katie wasn't amused. She looked really shaken. "Katie, are you okay?"
Katie nodded. "I'm fine. I'll explain soon but just help me carry Nico. And don't forget your pack."
Travis sighed and helped her lift the unconscious son of Hades. "Katie, whatever happened, it was my fault, wasn't it."
Katie didn't answer but Travis knew what that meant.
So, ends chapter 6. So if you have a moment, I'd appreciate a review. I hope you enjoyed. Jed is mean.
In other news did anyone else read the Son of Neptune chapter one? Percy remembers Annabeth! *fangirl squeal*
Also, I just read the Throne of Fire. It was so good! I fell in love with Walt and little Felix who likes to summon penguins. If you want to talk to me and go book crazy I could use a vent because my sister hated everything about Walt and won't listen. Thanks!