Chapter 7. Wayward Tracks and Flying Trains

Sorry for taking forever to upload! Here is a long chapter as a little sorry-gift. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan is the master-mind. I'm the settings-barrower.

The morning dawned bright and early. Too early, in Peter's point of view. Why would anyone ever want to meet at dawn to leave on a quest? It wasn't like they were on a huge, time sensitive mission, right? But at least he could go. Better to go on a cool quest with a creepy emo and a cute girl at 5:30 in the morning than to sleep in but stay at camp, where everyone stared at you like you were a weirdo.

So he got up, sighing to himself and wincing sharply as he flicked on the light and rummaged through his drawers for something to wear. He dragged a pair of worn jeans, a camp T-shirt, and a dark purple hoodie out of the dresser, hoping he had remembered to pack last night instead of just laying out a knap-sack. It was too early to think; much less pack.

Peter tripped around the room, searching for any signs of having packed last night. He sighed. Not even an open drawer. He hoped Eve had packed a kind of group bag or something.

Yawning heavily and rubbing furiously at his sleepy eyes, Peter opened the top drawer of his dresser and emptied it into his pillow case. There. That's good enough, Peter thought, and sullenly opened the door and walked into the soft light of dawn…and straight into Eve.

"Hello sleepy-head! I was about to make sure you were up. I've been up since four, I'm so excited! This is going to be great! Do you have a sword? Or bow and arrow? I know you're pretty good with that too. I've got my knife. Whoa. Is that your pillow case? You don't have a backpack or something? You should've asked one of the kids from the Hermes cabin. They can get you anything. Even new kids. Do you know when we're going to start? It's getting kind of late; the sun is almost up." She paused, maybe waiting for an answer, or maybe catching her breath.

Peter hoped he didn't look as bewildered as he felt. If Eve was hyper and crazy in the day, she was insane at five in the morning. Talking with her was like getting hit with a bunch of pillows when you just woke up; you're too confused to know how to respond.

"Umm…" Peter finally said, real intelligently. Then Nico walked up, and Eve turned the torrent in his direction and Peter was saved from having to answer.

"Hey Nico! Have you seen Chiron? Peter needs something other then that dumb pillowcase and we need to leave like right now. I've been ready for hours, how about you? Annabeth wanted to see us off, and she's up at the Big House now. Come on you guys! Hurry. Have you eaten? I packed enough rations for all of us in my bag, but we need to eat something before we leave, probably. Do you know where we are going, Peter? Aren't you like the leader or something?" She would have kept it up, but Nico broke in.

"I know where we're going, and no, Peter is not the leader of this quest."

Then he turned on his heel and started up to the big house.

Eve blinked, as though surprised, opened her mouth to say something, then snapped it shut and started up the hill after him. Peter shrugged to himself and followed.


Nico leaned forward on the couch, trying to gauge the expressions on his fellow questers.

They stared forward, each seeming lost in thought, considering the plan. To his left, Chiron clopped into the room holding two mugs of hot chocolate, and Annabeth followed with the third cup, coffee, for Eve.

"So," Peter finally broke the silence. "We are taking a train to the middle of no-where, where we'll stumble around the foot of some mountain in hopes to find a little cave that you're not even sure still exists, fight an army of monsters, capture a cow, bring it to my psychotic father while hiding it from your psychotic father, then hopefully explain everything in a way that nobody gets blasted and no wars get started. Am I missing anything?" He raised an eyebrow as if to say, you really think this is going to work?

Nico glared at him. The sky rumbled with low thunder.

"He can hear you calling him psychotic, you know." Eve said into her mug.

"Do you have any better plans?" Nico challenged, irritated.

Peter shook his head, and then took a long draught of the hot chocolate. Nico rolled his eyes as the boy fell to the floor, coughing and sputtering, his face as red as his hair.

"Careful, redhead. It's hot."

Peter glared at him, but he just smiled. This was going to be an interesting quest.

Argus came into the room, took their bags, and motioned that he wanted them to follow. Annabeth smiled grimly, hugged Evelyn goodbye, patted his shoulder, and waved at Peter.

The three piled into the van, waving goodbye nervously as the doors closed and they officially started the quest.

Their first quest.

Nico wasn't entirely sure about Evelyn, but this was certainly Peter's first and his own…technical first. Though he had left camp multiple times for many different things, he had never actually been sent out on a traditional quest, much less with two partners.

He felt the responsibility, knowing that even though Peter had received the oracle, it was him who was the senior camper here, and it was him with the most experience.

He just hoped Peter felt the same way.

Glancing over to Peter and Eve, Nico smiled. The two were arguing about something, Peter was apparently taking up the whole backseat with his bag, and Eve kept grabbing her hair and pulling it in frustration. Peter was saying that Eve could sit next to him, but she kept blushing and shaking her head.

In the front, Argus glanced up at the rearview mirror occasionally, but seemed a lot more focused on the road. Nico glanced out at the snow-dusted hills, dotted with beautiful pines and the occasional centaur family. It wasn't so bad actually, Nico thought to himself, to be on a "normal" quest, something he had previously thought was just for "regular" campers.

The van slowed down to a halt in front of a big train station, and Argus hopped out and opened the door for them. Nico scrambled out first, and slung his black-skull backpack onto his back. Peter and Eve slid out after him, grumbling at each other and grabbing their bags. Argus got back into the van, saluted them all, and drove away, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. Nico turned to the others and shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly. They seemed to feel as lost as he did, and for a second even Eve had nothing to say. Then Peter cleared his throat.

"Well, guess we better go buy those tickets. Are you guys coming?" He turned on his heel and started into the building.

Eve looked at Nico, shrugged, and turned to follow Peter.

Nico sighed. Who was he kidding? He couldn't lead these people. He was more of a solo guy.

Suddenly, just for a second, Nico considered running off. He could melt into the shadows, be at the spot in seconds, fight the monsters, and be off to Olympus by the end of the day. It couldn't be that hard, could it? So long as he didn't have these fumblers hanging on to him and slowing him down.

He pictured himself, the hero of Olympus, saving the gods all by himself. Smiling, Nico adjusted his pack on his shoulder and headed for a shadow in the crack of the wall. He had just reached it, but he paused. The words of Chiron from the night before rang clearly in his head. It had been after the campfire, after answering as much of the crazy campers questions as he could stand, he had said goodnight to Peter and headed off to his cabin, where he had found Chiron waiting for him. Chiron had chatted with him a little about the quest, telling him what he needed to pack, stuff like that, but just as Nico was about to head into his cabin Chiron had called him back. Looking him straight in the eyes, with a touch of sadness as though it were bad news that he gave, he had said,

"A lone hero is a doomed hero, Nico. All of you are needed for this quest to succeed." Then without any explanation he had turned on his heel and left for the big house. Nico had been exhaustedly tired, and without much thought, had simply went to pack and then to bed.

But now the words rung in his head so clearly it was as if Chiron were standing right behind him, warning him not to give up on the klutzy, cocky redhead and the fiery, talkative Eve.

Suddenly he heard a call from the other side of the train station.

"Nico! Nico? Where are you? We got the tickets! Let's go!" It was Eve, her voice full of infectious excitement.

Sighing heavily, Nico turned from the dark crevice in the wall and started for the other side of the train station. He couldn't give up even before he began, could he?


Eve sighed contently as she gazed out the window. It was a beautiful day, and the country side of New York was rolling by, a light snow melting in the sunlight, the trees dusted with white. Turning from the lovely scenery, Eve looked at her companions in the seats next to her. They had both fallen asleep, and had rolled so that they were leaning on each other, and Peter was kind of drooling.

Even with drool at the edge of his lip, Eve thought Peter looked cute. His rumpled jeans and wrinkled camp half-blood t-shirt looked nice somehow with his red shaggy cut, and he was wearing purple converses. He rolled in his sleep so that he was facing her, and mumbled something she couldn't make out. Her heart beat a little faster and she licked her lip nervously, glad he was still asleep. The three of them were sitting in a row together, with her at the window and Nico at the aisle, and of course Peter was in the middle. Eve had been half happy, but half nervous, knowing she couldn't possibly nap while knowing that she might fall asleep on Peter Taylor.

He moaned again in his sleep, and rubbed his left arm with his right. Eve sucked in her breath with surprise. She had never noticed before, but Peter had white scars running across the whole length of his fore-arm, as though he had been slashed with a knife. They were pale and slightly raised, as though they had been pretty deep. Even so, the scars appeared almost purposeful, running in a perfect diagonal pattern from his elbow to the inside of his wrist. What could they be from? Eve frowned. She couldn't remember him saying anything about his past, other than that he was an orphan and wouldn't be missed.

Suddenly the train jerked and bucked, the lights blinking across the ceiling as though the power had been knocked. Nico blinked sleepily, but just rolled over and went back to sleep. No one else seemed to notice that anything had happened.

Eve frowned suspiciously. Maybe she would get up and take a look around, see if the other passengers had heard anything from the driver. She quickly tied up her curly black hair, and slid her grey jacket off her back and unto the seat. It wasn't cold enough to use it. On a last impulse, she grabbed her celestial bronze dagger and slid it in the sheath strapped inside of the leg of her jeans. She had the funniest feeling she should take it along.

Sliding along the edge of the aisle as so not to wake the boys, Eve slid out from their bench and into the main aisle. Some passengers glanced up at her as she passed by, but many were sleeping or playing on electronics.

She was walking along, guessing she just might check with the attendant in the back to see if she could buy them a couple of Seven Ups, when some passengers caught her eye. They were sitting in the second to last row, and one was a beautiful woman with bouncy blonde hair and a business skirt, while the other was a very large man in a trench coat. They were hunched down over some map or something, and didn't notice her walking up to their bench. She was stared at them curiously, something niggling at the back of her brain, as if to say that something was wrong; something wasn't as it should be.

Then the man glanced up, and Eve's heart jumped into her throat. In the middle of a wide, dirty, forehead the man had a large brown eye. One eye.

Heart pounding, she rushed past them and ducked into the restroom, breathing hard. A Cyclops on the train! And who was the lady? Almost undoubtedly another monster, unless some demigods were working with the monsters. What had they been discussing?

She turned and looked at her self in the tiny cramped mirror. Her face was pale, and her eyes were wide, completely terrified. Strands of black hair were falling from her messy bun, and her chest was heaving under her black cotton turtle-neck.

Think. Think! Eve scolded herself. She was a child of Athena; she needed to think up a game plan. Somehow, without waking up the boys, she had two kill the monsters. No, what about the other passengers? And she couldn't take down two of them herself. Maybe if she slipped past them they wouldn't notice her, and she could warn the boys not to go to the bathroom, and the monsters wouldn't even know that there were half-bloods on the train.

Suddenly a chill went down her back, and she saw her jaw drop in horror in the mirror. What was she thinking? Traveling across the country with two of the most powerful demigods in the world? Big three kids! There was no way the monsters hadn't smelled them yet.

But…if they were already discovered, why wasn't anything being done? Most monsters would kill any demigod that came within a hundred meters. Unless… unless they were part of a plan. A plan to be captured later, maybe questioned…

Eve shook her head in frustration. Guessing would only get her so far. If she could slip out without any sound, maybe she could crouch down in the bench behind the two. Nico and Peter's scent from ten rows ahead was probably overwhelming enough to cover up her own. She could eaves-drop on their conversation, maybe figure out what was going on, then slip past and tell the boys. If there was a trap, she'd find out and be able to get them out of it. She could do it.

Taking a deep breath, Eve stood up straighter in the mirror and tried to look confidant. She could do this. Annabeth wouldn't even have hesitated. Reaching over to the door handle, she turned the knob and slipped outside, and slid right into the bench behind the two monsters.

At first, all she could hear was her own heart, beating in her chest, and her breathing, coming out in short, terrified gasps. Then she calmed down. No one had caught her, at least not yet.

The conversation came into focus.

"…three half-bloods, just right up there in their seats. They don't even know that we're here." The female's voice said.

"I told you; we have to kill them quickly. They might get away in the confusion of the train wreck. It's about to crash anyway; we might as well go up there and create a commotion." Eve's heart was beating even faster, if that were possible. The Cyclops had said that they were going to kill them? And what was this about a train wreck? Suddenly she realized that the monsters were talking again.

"…too late, but if we make our way to the front of the train…" The female announced and then the two rose from the bench and started to make their way down the aisle.

Eve's body went cold all over. They were going now! To kill her friends! She had to save them! Rising from the bench, Eve yelled out as loud as she could, and ran down the aisle, dagger drawn.

Using the side chairs as vaults, she launched into the air and landed like a cat in the girl-monsters back, plunging her dagger to the hilt in the base of the neck. The woman screamed like a banshee, her skin turning milk-white and her hair bursting into flames, as she collapsed on the floor in a pile of gold dust. Eve jumped up, as fast as she could, expecting a sword in her face from the Cyclops, but as she looked up she saw his face twisted in pain as a death-black sword protruded from his chest. Then he faded away in a pile of dust, and Eve saw the shocked, slightly sleep-puffy face of Nico, his stygian iron sword held out in front of him, and a dazed, bed-head looking Peter behind him.

"What in Hades…" Nico began, but Eve cut him off.

"No time. The train is about to crash. We need to get to the front and warn the…"

Suddenly a huge slam hit the side of the train and it went air-born.

Screaming, her dagger knocked from her hands, Eve went flying through the air and crashed through the window, tumbling onto the cold, snow-slushy ground. She tried to get up, as she saw the train flying through the air into the field, rolling before coming to a stop on its side. Eve struggled to stand, but her head felt like lead. Putting a hand to her forehead, she felt something warm and wet. Black balloons loomed in her vision and she stumbled backwards, falling down, the world spinning into blackness.

Right on top of the train tracks.

(Please Read! It's important!)

There it was! What do you guys think? I'm completely fine if you flame me. Any feedback is good, to help me know if I'm doing ok writing the story.

So I have something fun. A few chapters ahead, like chapter 9 or 10, I'm going to be bringing in an OC character. I already know what I'm going to do with her, she's going to be a kind of throw in to Peter and Eve's almost thing they have going on, to kind of bring out their relationship. I already know that she's going to be a kind of tough girl, who is a half-blood, but isn't currently in camp half-blood. But I can't say everything because it's a surprise! The thing is; I haven't made up her actual person yet, as in godly parent, looks, exact personality, etc. So if anybody's interested, I need some help.

Here is the info I need:

Name:

Godly Parent:

Background: (sad please, but not too detailed because I have something really specific planned for her)

Hair:

Face:

Abilities/skills:

Personality:

Fatal Flaw:

Weapon of choice:

Mortal family:

Other notes:

Thanks guys! I will accept any godly parent, any ability level, but remember that I have something really specific in mind (plot wise) for this character, so please don't be disappointed if I don't choose your OC.