Crystal: and we are back for chapter 7!

(amanda is listening to some music on Crystal's iphone)

Anna: Um what are you listening to, Amanda?

Amanda: Ten Minutes Ago from the new Cinderella show on Broadway.

Nihil: Aw! (looks to Nico almost expectingly)

Nico: (completely clueless) huh?

Monkey: (facepalms) You are just as bad as Percy.

Nico: Wha?

Monkey: (gets a cattle prod)

Tori: Monkey, calm down. Don't kill the boy.

Nihil: (Looks like she got an idea and gets on her cell phone) Taios? Yeah... I need two costumes from the Asteria... I'll explain it there. (puts on a coat and whispers something to Crystal)

Crystal: :) (nods approvingly) Good photo idea. Go for it, Nihil.

Will: Anyway...

Monkey: Aren't you three supposed to go back to my house?

Liz: We figured we'd stay and make sure you don't burn down the place. Like you did with your own house...

Monkey: Okay, that was a complete accident!

Nico: You tried to kill a bug with a flamethrower.

Monkey: ... I'm afraids of bugs...

Crystal: anyway... (whispers to Monkey)

Will: While they're doing... whatever, let's get the disclaimers done.

Liz: Monkey and Crystal don't own PJO and their OC's belong to them.

Tori: Flames will be used to make smores and power the flamethrower.

Nico: Enjoy.


Chapter 7: Little Dogs are Evil

That night, I had another weird dream about that bottomless pit in the cave. That same feeling was coming from the pit and the voice spoke again. Like before, it felt like someone was stabbing my ears, but the voice seemed stronger now.

Such a little Keeper. Do you think you can survive this quest? The voice asked, mocking me and I could almost imagine a face smirking. You know your sister wants to be the Destiny Keeper. The gods gave you this fate, but you can strike back. Help me gain the Master Bolt…

"No way." I said, feeling a little stronger. This voice was just a voice. I noticed it didn't have a solid form so I thought he couldn't hurt me. I turned to leave but someone grabbed me. I turned and stared at the person who held me back; it was Amy. Her eyes were cold and angry.

"You promised, Amanda." She said, coldly. "You said you were okay if I became the Destiny Keeper, but you took that from me."

"No, I didn't do anything like that." I urged, but the voice laughed.

"Then why wasn't I chosen? I'm perfect for this." Amy argued. The voice in the pit just chuckled coolly as Amy glared at me. "Please, Amanda, just help me."

"I…"

"Amanda, wake up." I woke up to see Percy shaking me. He looked like he just woke up too, with an expression that said he wished he had a normal bed. I had to remember I wasn't back in the Hermes Cabin; rather I was in the middle of a dirty forest.

"Morning, sleepy head." Annabeth said, as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"How long were we asleep?" Percy asked, looking to Annabeth.

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." She said, tossing us each a bag of nacho-flavored corn ships from Medusa's place. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."

I looked to see Grover siting on a blanket with something fluffy in his lap. It was dirty but the first thing I noticed was that it was pink and really small. It sure wasn't a stuffed animal since it yapped at us and I jumped away. It was a toy poodle, ones you see in purses or with women who used them as fashion statements. Another thing I'm scared of… small dogs. I don't exactly have good experiences with small dogs since my aunt was one of those people who bought cute little dogs to be an accessory. Sadly though, that dog was really violent and it actually bit me till I bled one time and let's just say that dog is going through doggy therapy. The poodle yapped at Percy and me and I jumped behind Percy.

"No, he's not." Grover said, as Percy blinked.

"Are you… talking to that thing?" Percy asked and the poodle growled at him.

"This thing," Grover pointed out, "is our ticked west. Be nice to him." A pink poodle that's a guy… I wasn't as scared as before but I feel bad for it.

"You can talk to animals?" I asked, keeping an eye on the poodle, which seemed to be glaring at me.

"Percy, Amanda, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy and Amanda." Grover ignored me and I stared. A pink, male poodle named Gladiola; thinking about it, I feel bad for the dog. But back then; I was a little scared of it. We stared at Annabeth, I thought this was some kind of joke but she looked as serious as ever.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle. Forget it." Percy said, and I nodded.

"It looks ready to attack us. You sure it's safe?" I asked, and Gladiola barked at me more, showing his teeth.

"Percy, I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle. You too, Amanda." Annabeth said, calmly. Gladiola just kept growling at I decided to stay behind Percy as long as the pink terror was gone. Percy said a quick hello to the poodle and everyone looked at me.

"I don't like little dogs." I stated, not looking at the poodle.

"Amanda…" Annabeth side and Percy patted me.

"I said hi to the poodle. It'll be okay." I looked at the poodle and waved at it.

"Hi." The poodle stopped growling and looked content against Grover.

Grover told us that he ran into Gladiola and they started talking. Turns out the poodle had run away from home, and his owners were rich; yeah, I can imagine how much the poodle had to go through then. Still, the part that got my attention was that the family had a reward for Gladiola's return, which was about $200. It was enough to buy us train tickets and I also had a bit of mortal cash in my backpack; it just wasn't enough to pay for all our train tickets. Gladiola said he didn't want to return to that family, big surprise, but was willing to do it for Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked, and really I was thinking about that myself.

"He read the signs. Duh." Grover said, as if it was obvious.

"Oh yes, of course. Dogs can read. I didn't know." I said, with a sigh. Gladiola growled at me again but I didn't care by this time. I was ready to throw the dog at his owners and run for it without the reward, because really Gladiola was mean. He kept trying to nip me if I was close enough.

"So we turn in Gladiola, we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple." Annabeth said, but it didn't seem right. If Hades had sent the hellhound and the Furies after us, not to mention the fact that the lord of the sky doesn't like Percy at the moment; it's highly doubtful that it would be easy. Then again, when has a quest ever been easy?

"Not another bus." Percy said, and Annabeth and I nodded.

"No." Annabeth agreed. She pointed down the hill and I noticed some train tracks that I couldn't have seen in the darkness last night. "There's an Amtrack station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west-bound train leaves at noon."

To be honest, when we gave Gladiola back to his owners, I was happy. The dog annoyed me and I took a little pleasure to see his owners glomping him. I hope Grover never reads this. Still, we rode in the train heading for California for two days. For once, we weren't attacked by Furies, hellhounds, or any other monsters so I was able to sleep, eat, and watch as the country flew along us. There was one issue that was a problem. Percy probably knew this back then, but apparently he was a wanted kid.

Turns out old S.S blamed the whole car explosion on Percy and since he didn't know Amy or me by name, we weren't mentioned. I manage to look at a copy of an article about Percy and it did mention us, but there wasn't much to go on. Percy on the other hand, now had all of East America looking for him; I think that's become a thing for him in the recent years. But it was worse when I saw the picture of what happened on the Grey Hound bus and how S.S is offering up a reward.

"Don't worry." Annabeth said, as I told Percy, Grover, and her about the article. "Mortal police could never find us." But it sounded like she wasn't even sure of this herself.

Other than that, the trip was pretty normal. Nothing happened and it was peaceful; we saw a few wild centaurs, and even what looked like a huge lion in some woods. But our train wouldn't send us straight to California. The reward was enough to take us to Denver and we used some of the money I had in my backpack to get some food. We couldn't get beds in the sleep car on the train so we have to sleep in our seats. As much as I said I could sleep anywhere when traveling on a moving vehicle, I still got stiff in the neck. Every now and then, I'd wake up to hear Percy and Annabeth talking but I went back to sleep.

It's when we got into St. Louis, near the end of our second day on the train, that our time without monsters ended. We passed by this huge archway that I noticed Annabeth looking dreamily.

"I want to do that." Annabeth sighed, as if she was imagining something.

"What?" Percy asked, as we stared at her.

"Building something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?" Annabeth asked.

"What's a Parthenon?" I asked.

"You shouldn't have asked that…" Grover muttered, and looked like he was bracing himself.

"You don't know what the Parthenon is?" Annabeth asked, looking like I just told her the world had ended. I shook my head.

"I'm only seven after all." I stated.

"The Parthenon is a temple dedicated to my mother Athena, in Athens, Greece since she was the patron goddess." Annabeth said and went on a rant about the pillars, the building process, and a bunch of other stuff that gave me a huge headache. That's the first time I learnt not to ask Annabeth about old buildings.

"Only pictures." Percy answered Annabeth's previous question and saving me from the headache.

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever." Annabeth said, looking like she could see it right before her eyes. "Something that'll last a thousand years."

"You? An architect?" Percy laughed, making Annabeth's cheeks flush.

"Yes, an architect." Annabeth answered, huffily. "Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention." Percy didn't like that jab because he looked away from Annabeth. He probably didn't mean to insult her or her mother and Annabeth seemed to realize this.

"Sorry," Annabeth said, calming down. "That was mean."

"Can't you guys work together?" I asked, looking at the two who stared at me. "There's got to have been a time when your parents worked together."

"She has a point." Percy said. Annabeth had to think for a minute but finally answered.

"I guess… the chariot." She reasoned. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crest of the waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."

"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?" Percy asked, hopefully. It took a while for Annabeth to reply but in the end, she agreed. Soon, we got into the station and the intercom said we had about three hours before we had to leave for Denver. By now, everyone was fully awake and Grover did his usual moaning for food.

"Come on, goat boy. Sightseeing." Annabeth said, looking excited.

"Sightseeing?" Percy asked.

"The Gateway Arch." Annabeth said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?" Grover, Percy and I looked at each other. I really didn't wanna go, I'm scared of heights and if a monster appeared I'd be too scared to even fight back. Still, if that was the case we couldn't leave her alone.

"As long as there's a snack bar without monsters." Grover shrugged and with that, we went off. The Arch was a mile or so away from the train station and it was nice to walk after being stuck in that train and stiff from sleeping in chairs. It was actually nice to go through the museum, looking at everything from the past and Annabeth would tell me a thing or twenty about everything and for once, I didn't mind.

"Guys. You know the gods' symbol of power?" Percy asked, and Annabeth look up from reading about the construction equipment use to build the Arch and I looked to him.

"Yeah?" Annabeth asked.
"Well, Hade…"

"Not here, Percy." I muttered, looking around at the people. Anyone could hear us and it would be hard to explain to anyone normal.

"Yeah, you mean our friend downstairs." Grover continued.

"Um… right." Percy said, realizing what we meant. "Out friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"

"He does?" I asked, looking to Annabeth. I've come to learn she knew everything about the Greek world then.

"Yes, the Helm of Darkness." Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."

"He was there?" Percy asked, and I listened carefully. That gut feeling returned again but it wasn't in my stomach, this time I could feel my back shiver.

"It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus… the darkest day of the year." Annabeth stated. "But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true…"

"It allows him to become darkness." Grover said, and I shivered.

"So he can form into shadows and stuff?" I asked, and Grover nodded.

"He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen or heard." I shivered again, it sounded too much like that darkness Xehanort's Heartless used that night but I focused on Grover's words. "And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

"If that's true, what if he's here right now?" I asked, shaking and Percy had to grab my arm to keep me from falling to my knees out of sheer terror. But it didn't help that Annabeth and Grover looked to each other.

"We don't." Grover said, and I felt the blood leave my face.

"Oh great, just what we needed to know when we're going up to a very high place." I whimpered, and Percy patted my head, but he looked just as nervous as I was.

"Got any blue jelly beans left?" Percy asked. So the two of us snacked jelly beans as we got to the small elevator that would lead us to the top of the Arch. It was very small inside the elevator and I was kind of glad I was so small, but the person inside the elevator made me want to scream and run.

In my mortal vision, it was a really big woman and her Chihuahua with a with a rhinestone collar. But when the Mist wavers thanks to my Destiny Keeper abilities I saw something horrible. She looked like a giant lizard lady, her skin was scaly and green, her fangs and forked tongue made me think of vipers with eyes like crocodiles. The Chihuahua had the head of a lion with dried blood in its mane, the body and feet of the world's largest goat, with a reptile tail.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked, and I realized I was shaking and sweating.

"It's that lady and her dog…." I whispered, and my voice trembled just as much as my body.

"It's okay, the dog won't bite." Percy reassured and I wanted to step on his foot so he would bend down and I could whisper the truth but the lady was watching me. She probably knew I figured out who she was but worst of all, I think she knew then who I was.

"No parents?" The woman asked, in a sickly sweet tone that just spilled false kindness. Those eyes of her switching from beady eyes to her lizard ones, looking at each of us.

"They're below." Annabeth said, calmly, probably not knowing what she was too. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings." The woman cooed, and I wanted to hug someone to look away from her. I yelped as the monster Chihuahua growled at Percy. If Percy had to fight that thing… well, he did but that's beside the point.

"Now, now sonny. Behave." The woman said, and the Chihuahua stopped but kept his eyes on Percy.

"Sonny. Is that his name?" Percy asked, trying to make small talk.

"No." The woman said simply and we got to the top. I stuck near the elevator, not daring to look out the windows but it gave me a chance to watch over the woman and her dog. Soon the park ranger on the landing announced that the observation deck will be closing for the day in a few minutes. Thankfully, Percy brought Grover and Annabeth to the elevator and we got in. Sadly, before Percy got inside, two other people got inside so there wasn't any room for Percy.

"Next car, sir." The park ranger said.

"We'll get out." Annabeth said, and I was about to jump out. I didn't want Percy alone with the demon lady and her devil dog.

"Yeah, we can stay with you." I said, but Percy patted my head.

"Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom." Percy said. I wanted to tell Percy right then about the monsters but I saw the woman and her dog were glaring at me but I didn't care.

"Percy, there's…" But I doubled over in pain. The tugging in my stomach seemed to tell me not to speak and really I couldn't. Grover and Annabeth caught me and looked to Percy.

"We'll take her downstairs." Annabeth said, rubbing my back and we went down the elevator. The pain in my body didn't stop until we got down and out of the elevator. But things weren't calm downstairs. The alarms went off and I heard security guards yelling something was happening in the observation deck.

"Oh gods, Percy!" Grover shouted, looking panicked.

"It's that monster." I groaned, and my two older friends stared at me.

"What?" Annabeth asked but we were ushered out by guards. We got outside and we quickly got away from the crowd but we could still see the Arch and something happening on the observation deck, Percy fighting for his life against something huge. "Amanda, did you see something? A monster?" Annabeth asked, looking deadly serious. Thankfully, I was able to reply without getting hurt.

"Yeah. That woman and her dog." I described to them what I saw through the mist and they went pale.

"That's Echidna, the Mother of Monsters." Grover whimpered.

"Amanda, why didn't you say anything?" Annabeth asked, and I felt like crying.

"I couldn't. I tried to tell Percy just earlier but…" It seemed to hit Annabeth and she nodded, her eyes softening a little. "Anna once told me Destiny Keepers aren't meant to change anything. This was meant to happen to Percy one way or the other. If a Destiny Keeper tries to change fate, something happens to them."

"So then, when you got hurt…" Grover said, his eyes wide.

"It was a sign saying not to say anything." Annabeth finished, and she looked like she wasn't sure what to think about that. I wasn't sure what to think myself. When Anna tried to change fate, she couldn't use her attack. I guess keeping me from speaking is the best way to not ruin anything since I didn't have magic powers; but couldn't the Fates do it in a less painful way?

"And that monster, it's a Chimera but how did it get out of Tartarus?" Annabeth asked, and Grover shook in fear.

"Oh, Percy…" Grover whimpered. "Poison fangs, razor sharp claws…"

"Percy!" I shouted, pointing and we all thought of the worst.

We saw Percy falling through a window right at the top of the Arch. The three of us stuck together as we searched through the crowd and tried to get to the river. Annabeth reasoned that maybe Percy was alive but how? Percy may be a son of Poseidon but back then it didn't make sense when he fell into the water so high up. Well, I've been proven wrong many times on what may kill the boy I kind of look to as a brother. Soon, we found Percy, perfectly dry and very much alive; yeah like he's going to die.

"Percy!" Grover shouted and caught Percy in a tackle hug. "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!"

"We can't leave you alone for five minutes!" Annabeth shouted, looking angry but only a few close people could tell she was happy to see Percy was alive.

"Percy, you fell out of the Arch to get away from Echidna, right?" I asked, and Percy now stared at me.

"How'd you…"

"Gangway!" The huge crowd parted as the paramedics came, rolling a woman on a stretcher. The poor woman was talking about what happened up on the Arch and it was clear she was able to see everything; the Chimera, Echidna, the fire, and especially Percy since she yelled and pointed at him. We quickly ran as the woman pointed to Percy.

Annabeth and I told Percy about my pains and also I was able to see Echidna and her "pet." Percy seemed surprised but he had some other news. While he was down in the river, some underwater lady told him to go Santa Monica. I know it seems mean but I was glad my pains happened that one time. I knew tiny dogs were evil. First Gladiola, and now the Chimera as a Chihuahua. Unless the dog was a puppy, I vowed never to own a small dog after that.

"Whoa. We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad." Grover gasped.

Before Annabeth could speak, we passed another reporter since well, the Arch was kind of a big deal. But the news guy was talking about Percy and something about terrorist attack. I didn't get to hear too much since we had to duck away from the news crew and got into an alley. No one was in it since everyone was probably looking at the smoking Arch.

"First things first, we've got to get out of town!" Percy said, urgently and I nodded.

"The sooner the better." I added and we went back to the train station.

We left town in the train with no trouble but as we traveled and the dark came, we could see the police lights shining the city of St. Louis. At the time, two things went through my mind. One, that trains may be the safest form of travel now. Two, little dogs are spawned from the devil himself.


Tori: hey, where's Nico?

Liz: (shrugs) not sure. He disappeared off somewhere...

Nihil: I'm back! (holds up some clothes in a hanging bag) now where are Nico and Amanda?

Will: they disappeared off somewhere... and so did Monkey and Crystal for that matter, actually.

Crystal: we're back! (comes with Amanda tied up)

Amanda: TT^TT not another dress up thing!

Monkey: oh, yes! (has Nico in chains)

Nico: you are cruel.

Monkey: did you just figure that out?

Liz: what are you two doing now?

Crystal: well, listening to the songs from Cinderella gave me the idea. I had Nihil ask Taios to fetch some of this costumes from his never ending closest and well, here we are. ^-^

Amanda: Wait, i get to dress up as Cinderella this time... (thinks: I guess it isn't that bad...)

Monkey: and Nico here is your prince!

Nico: wait, what?

Liz: (sighs) you never change.

Monkey: that's what you love about me! get the cameras.

Will: ma'am, yes ma'am! (goes off)

Liz: (shrugs) why not. I need something to do. (follows)

Amanda: ... (looks to Anna) is it weird that I like this idea?

Anna: Nah, when you actually don't mind seeing your boyfriend in Princess Jasmine's outfit, that's the time to get worried.

Nihil: ^^;

Monkey: i'm thinking we spice it up a bit.

Crystal: (smirk) how?

Monkey: by using this dress (holds it up a very short Cinderella dress)

Crystal: um... (shows Amanda) seven year old here.

Monkey: we can use the poweres of bending reality to make her older.

Crystal:... well...

Monkey: trust me. if we do this right, not only will this make great pictures, but we can get a huge profit off of them. not to mention, if they're older...

Crystal: yes!

Anna: first the ending!

Nihil: ^^;

Crystal: alright fine... hope you enjoyed this chapter and join us next time in Chapter 8: A Favor for a Ride. See you soon!