Bolt: Hellows World! So, I apologize for the not updating thing. I think I convinced myself that I would update every two weeks or something.
ChiChi: Actually, she writes a lot slower than that.
Bolt: But this story is still very much alive! It's A-LIVE!
Chichi: Bolt and Chichi do not own anything. You have been told.
My knee bounced up and down as we drove down the Jersey road. Staring out the window, I smiled slightly to myself. I felt confident and excited. I had supplies, my bow and arrows, and my dog. Luke had nicked the camp van, and was driving me to the next Greyhound station, where I'd find out where the other three went. I was on my way to the Underworld.
I was going to rescue Aunt Sally.
Suddenly, Pinkie barked. I turned to frown at him. "What…"
The question died on my lips as Luke sucked in a breath. I peered forward, and my heart gave a jump at the sight of the wreckage in front of me. As Luke stopped the van, I threw open the passenger door and stepped onto the pavement. The word printed on the melted, twisted hunk of metal beside me was illuminated by a street lamp – GREYHOUND.
"Oh, no," I whispered. The three of them had clearly run into some monster or another.
"Quinn?" Luke asked. "Can you see anything?"
I stared at the remains of the Greyhound, and then replied, "They got away. There aren't any bodies."
He breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back in the driver's seat. "That's good. But I guess I can't take you any further. They probably went into the forest."
I nodded slowly. "Right. Thanks for the help, Luke."
He grinned crookedly at me as I shut the passenger door and let Pinkie out the back. As he started the engine again, he muttered, "If I get caught trying to park this thing back at camp, I'm really going to regret helping you." I laughed, and waved as he drove away, then turned and frowned at the wreckage. I knew that the three Quest members had gotten away…but how would I find out where they went?
Pinkie barked again. Oh, right. D'oh.
"Okay, boy, I need you to find Percy, Annabeth and Grover. Which way did they go?"
Pinkie barked once more, and then dashed away, his nose to the ground. I ran after him as we veered away from the road, into the forest.
There were no streetlights in the forest, and I had to go slow to avoid hitting the trees. Pinkie just wove around them without looking up. After a few minutes, though, I noticed that it wasn't so dark anymore. The trees were outlined in a reddish glow. That was weird.
Then I stepped out from behind a huge pine, into bright light. A huge neon sign lit up the entire clearing around me. I narrowed my eyes against the light to read it.
"Auntie M's Garden Emporium?" She really couldn't have any business here – who would come wandering in the forest looking to buy a gnome?
Suddenly, I heard a crash from inside, and a familiar bleating noise. It sounded like…Grover! I grabbed the door handle and yanked, but it was locked.
"Woof!" Pinkie nudged me with his nose, and then dashed away. I hesitated for only an instant before following. He led me around the building to a chain-link fence that towered above my head. Someone had put up wood behind it, so I couldn't see in, but I could hear the sounds of a fight going on inside.
"Percy! Duck!" Grover called. His voice was followed by a huge crash, and a shriek.
"Miserable satyr! I'll add you to my collection!"
Anger surged through me. Whatever was in there was attacking my cousin and my friend. And Annabeth, too.
It was going to be killed.
Grabbing ahold of the chain-link, I began to climb, putting my feet in the gaps, until I could see above the fence. All was quiet now, but I could see for myself that the danger wasn't past. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen, while Grover was stirring groggily near a ceramic bear. Percy was at the edge of a clearing full of ceramic lawn statues. He was walking slowly, staring into a glass orb in one hand, towards the figure in the center of the clearing. She was standing shock still, hissing words that I couldn't hear. Only her hair was moving.
Wait…that wasn't hair.
Ew. My gaze locked with that of a ceramic girl about my age as all the pieces fit together in my head. Her eyes were wide in terror.
That did it. I notched an arrow and aimed at Medusa's head. Percy was almost there, his sword held up, but Medusa looked ready to pounce on him. I wasn't taking any chances.
"Close your eyes!" I yelled. At the same moment, as the snake-covered head turned towards me, I shut my own eyes and released the arrow.
TWACK-WHOOSH! From this noise, I guessed that my arrow had hit at almost the same time that Percy had swung his sword. For a moment, there was silence, and then a nasty thumping noise.
"Don't look." I was surprised to hear Annabeth's voice – I hadn't seen her in the clearing. Then I remembered that she probably had her Yankees cap – the one that made her turn invisible.
"Okay." I swung my legs over the fence and hopped to the ground before opening my eyes. Percy was standing next to Medusa's head, which lay on the ground. Except for my arrow, which stuck out of the side, it was covered by a veil. Grover was staggering to his feet, while Annabeth glared at me.
"What are you doing here?" she snarled. I froze, my hand still reaching for my arrow. For a second, I was shocked – why did she sound like that? Then anger surged through me.
"Why shouldn't I be?" I replied as I put my arrow back into its quiver. I glared up at her, and she seemed to shrink a little at my eyes. "I deserve to go on this quest as much as you."
"Quinn's right," Percy put in. He was the only one who really looked happy to see me. Grover was cringing, as usual, and Annabeth looked murderous. It probably didn't help that Pinkie chose that moment to leap over the fence and barrel into her.
"How'd you get here, Quinn?" Percy asked.
"Luke helped me," I replied, not noticing how Annabeth's scowl deepened at my words. "He swiped me some stuff and was driving me to the next Greyhound station, when we came across the poor, sad remains of your bus. By the way, what happened?"
"Mrs. Dodds and her twin sisters came and tried to blow us up," Percy informed me.
"Fun. And now," I glanced down at the lump still sitting on the floor. "What are you going to do with the snake-lady's head?"
For a second, there was silence. Then slowly, a smile spread across Percy's face. I grinned back. "Oooh, that's an evil smile. What are you thinking?"
"I think," he said slowly, "I would like to send the gods a little present."
Despite Annabeth and Grover's criticisms, I thought Percy's sending the gods Medusa's head was brilliant. I mean, they were probably smart enough not to get turned to stone, so what was the harm? It'd make them pay a bit more attention to us. Show them that this quest meant business. Maybe my dad would take some notice of me…
We decided to spend the night out in the forest; no one really wanted to sleep in the gaze of Medusa's ceramic statues. The moment my head hit the grass, however, I found myself standing on the edge of a seemingly endless abyss. A desolate, yellowish sky stretched above me, seemingly much lower than normal.
"Hello, Quinn." The voice that rose from the crack at my feet was the most terrible imaginable. It scraped like metal, hissing into my mind. It belonged in a nightmare. Which I seemed to be having.
"You've been shielded from my gaze, young demigod," the voice continued. It sounded as though it was trying to be encouraging and friendly, but the metal-on-metal effect could not be overcome. "But now I see you. You are small, scared, and alone."
Gee, thanks for the compliment.
"But it does not have to be that way, my little friend. You could have as much power as you ever dreamed. You could have everything. It's not hard. Just come to me. I can give you everything."
Suddenly, a burst of golden light shone in my eyes. Aunt Sally was hovering in a shower of golden flakes, frozen in an unnatural pose, unseeing. Her face was contorted into an expression of terror.
No. I stumbled forward, almost involuntarily. My brain was telling me that this was just a dream, but all my feet could do was carry me forward, toward the edge of the abyss; all my hands could do was reach forward, trying to grasp her outstretched hand.
"Yes," the voice purred. "Yes, come to me."
"No." A new voice spoke, one I had never heard before. It was deep, rich, and resounded with power. "Begone from this place, Quinn."
Instantly, I felt myself dissolving. The scene faded away into black.
"Wake up."
I opened my eyes to Annabeth's scowl. Not the best alarm clock in the world.
Sitting up, I stretched and scratched Pinkie behind the ears. "What's going on?"
"We're going. Grover found us a way west. That is, if you're insisting on tagging along." She glared at me for good measure as she walked over to wake up Percy.
I ignored her and turned to look at Grover, who was sitting on a tree stump with a pink rag on his lap. Then the rag moved.
"Uh…is that a poodle?" The pink rag growled at me. Pinkie growled back, and the rag shut up.
"Be nice, Gladiola," Grover chided, although he was cringing as he looked at me. Same old, same old.
I decided to show Annabeth that I wouldn't be difficult. "Hi Gladiola. What's up?"
The poodle barked. Grover nodded at it, and then turned to me. "Gladiola belongs to a rich family nearby, but he ran away. He says he'll let us turn him in for the reward money so that we can buy some Amtrak tickets."
I decided to accept this without question. Besides, Grover was half animal – I guess it made sense that he could speak to other animals. Still, it was the bottom half…
"Okie-dokie. Let's go turn in a pink poodle."
And that was a sentence I'd never thought I'd have to say in my life.