Chapter 7:

Trouble in Anaheim

~Winnie~

When I saw Grover on the ground with blood seeping out from a cut in his leg, my heart jumped inside my chest. I didn't have time to consider how bad this all would be if Grover did turn out to be my soulmate – I just charged forward until I was at his side. "Grover!" I gasped, shrinking down to his level and checking for any other injuries. "Are you OK?"

He smiled nervously. "Interesting. I wasn't even sure you knew my name! Winnie, right?" He paused for a second, and I nodded. To go along with his nervous smile, Grover laughed nervously. "Anyway, Winnie, I'm fine." With that, he reached forward . . . and grabbed my hand.

Biggest mistake ever.

The world seemed to drop away beneath me, but somehow I managed to remain kneeling next to Grover. The scene twisted and morphed around us, until I was transported somewhere totally different. The half of the scenery I was on was deep forest green with surrounding foliage and nature, but the half of the scenery that Grover was on was tinged pink with swirls of orange and strawberry blonde – the same color as my hair – mixed in.

I – I know you, Grover whispered, a confused look crossing his face. He stepped forward – closer to the middle of the two-sided scenery – and I followed his lead. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. What is this? Wait – you have a word for this kind of thing in the Night World, a . . . a . . . soulmate? He paused. I was now standing right in front of him now, and he grabbed both my hands and held them in his. It's weird, it's like I'm searching your thoughts . . .

And I can see yours, I answered him, smiling. Suddenly, though, my heart dropped to the ground. One of Grover's memories depicted he, Annabeth, and Percy standing in front of a girl with red hair as green smoke swirled around them. As I watched the memory like a movie or TV show, the girl opened her mouth – a strange voice pouring out of it.

Rendezvous with a child of witchcraft,

Journey to the land of long time spent before.

The creatures of the wild that you must encounter

Are essential to the quest for success to be insured.

The fighting spirit comes from within,

And the true magic lies in the innocent's heart.

But ever wary of deception you shall be,

As the love of two that would tear the quest apart

Are among you, and to complete the scene,

And lay the dreams of the past to rest,

One must face the greatest decision –

One must face the ultimate test.

Noticing that I was looking at that memory, Grover's eyes widened – but he didn't let go of my hands. The prophecy, he whispered. "As the love of two that would tear the quest apart are among you." He looked into my eyes now, and he wore a fearful expression. The soulmate principle for Night People is the belief that there is only one true love for you in the entire world, and that you're destined to be with that person forever. But – he cut off for a second, his eyes widening more – if that was even possible. According to the prophecy, love of two on separate sides will tear the quest apart. Winnie – this is a problem. A BIG problem.

Why? I wondered, suddenly confused. Why is it such a problem? As soon as I spoke the words, I had my answer.

Grover just reiterated my suspicions for me. I – I think I'm in love with you, Winnie. I may have just met you, but – oh, no. This isn't good at all. He squeezed my hands tighter. Can this soulmate thing be reversed?

I blinked tears out of my eyes. This – connection – between Grover and I was destined to destroy the entire quest. As tears streamed down my face, I shook my head – my curls bouncing wildly around me. No – it can't be reversed unless we both die. And then it's not even guaranteed that the connection will break. I sobbed, and more tears flowed down my face. He dropped one of my hands to swipe a tear off of my cheek. In the Night World, we have these things called Old Souls. Usually it's just mortals that keep getting reborn, but sometimes – on rare occasions – it's Night People, too. If they had a soulmate link with another person, they will always be that person's soulmate – it doesn't matter if you're living or dead.

At this point, I was catapulted out of that space in our minds and transported back to reality. I was still kneeling next to Grover, and he had just let go of my hand after setting it back down at my side. My face felt wet from crying, but when I reached up to touch it, any tell-tale sign of tears was gone.

When I looked back at Grover, his eyes were sad – but he was looking at me in the same way Galen had looked at Keller after they'd just found out that they were soulmates. He looked at me with an expression saddened by the idea that we were in love with each other, but that our love could never be. Forbidden love, I thought to myself. This would definitely be looked down upon in the Night World – Grover was a Greek satyr, not a Night Person at all. I just had to face the facts: our love could never be.

"Grover? Winnie?" Nissa asked warily, eyeing us both suspiciously. "What's going on?"

I met Grover's gaze for a moment, and a form of silent communication passed between us. I understood immediately. We couldn't tell ANYONE about this – especially not our quest-mates. Turning back to Nissa, I managed a smile and said: "Nothing! It's fine, Nissa!" I beamed, trying my best to get her to believe my lies. "Everything is super! Well, except for Keller, of course." I rose to my feet and started walking back toward the car. "She needs our help right now."

I could tell from the look in Nissa's eyes that she didn't believe me one bit, but she shrugged and followed suit – turning toward the car. "Alright, Winfrith. But now we need to get to Disneyland, so I can't confront you about this right now." But I will later. Although Nissa didn't say the last words, I could almost see them hanging in the air between us. I opened my passenger side door and threw myself into my seat. After slamming my door, I slumped back in my seat and closed my eyes.

~Percy~

Once we were all back in the car, most of the attention was focused on Keller. She was still breathing and still had a pulse, but she was out cold from the Echidna attack. Winnie was staying out of the whole ordeal, and the Daughter of Hecate – Iliana, or whatever her name was – was making her best attempt at a healing spell. Nissa was driving, so there wasn't really much she could do, and Galen was holding Keller in his arms, stroking her hair back from her face and occasionally kissing her forehead gently. With the look I could see in his eyes, there was no doubt in my mind that those two were in love. Vaguely, I wondered if I'd ever looked at Annabeth like that. When I turned toward her and tried to put that look in my eyes, she looked at me funny.

"You OK, Seaweed Brain?" she asked, laughing a little. "You look like you're straining against something."

I sighed and blinked a few times, laughing along with her. "No – I'm fine. I was just trying something." To take the conversation away from the constipated look I'd just had in my eyes, I looked over at the window on the other side of Annabeth – the window that Grover was staring out of. "Grover," I said, reaching in front of Annabeth to poke him in the arm. "You OK, buddy? You haven't said much since we got back in the car."

When Grover turned toward me, I held back a gasp – and I could feel Annabeth's tension as she gripped my arm. The expression on Grover's face was one of sheer and utter panic – he never looked like that, not unless we were in the middle of a fight. His eyes were wide, and I could tell from looking at him that he was holding something back that he just wanted to tell somebody. "E-everything is fine, Percy. Don't worry about me."

I couldn't help but worry. Grover only looked like that when things couldn't possibly get any worse. Usually, as I remembered from previous quests, this sort of thing happened when we were on a quest and a bad part of the prophecy we'd received before embarking on the quest had come true. The answer started to form in my mind, and I looked at Annabeth. Her eyes had grown as wide as mine felt, and she didn't hold my eye contact for long; she turned her head to look sideways at Grover, and then her gaze shifted to the front passenger side seat, where Winnie was sitting. Even from the back of the car, Annabeth and I could see the blonde witch slumping down in her seat, almost as if . . .

. . . As if she was upset. With one glance at the rearview mirror through the passenger-side window gave us a good look at her face – but that just confirmed our suspicions even more. The girl that had stood in front of Annabeth and I on Olympus and threatened to hurt us if we didn't drop our weapons was gone now. In her place sat a girl that mirrored her appearance, but with a depressed expression and no fierce aura surrounding her that would indicate how much of a warrior she was. The shine in her eyes came from recently-shed tears, I could tell – though no tell-tale lines streaked her cheeks.

"I'm worried about her," a new voice said in hushed tones, joining our conversation.

I looked at Galen quizzically where he sat between Iliana and Keller in the middle row of seats. "You're worried about Keller?" I questioned him. "I mean, yeah, everyone is. She's one of our best fighters – we need her to help us with this quest."

Galen turned his green gaze toward us and shook his head. "No – I don't mean Keller. I know she'll be fine – she's already recovering." He jutted his chin toward the passenger seat. "I was talking about Winnie. She's never looked this depressed before. She's usually the Energizer Bunny with blonde hair." He shook his head. Then, however, his gaze drifted to Annabeth. I followed his eyes and saw that Annabeth still had that stricken look on her face. Galen shifted in his seat until he was twisted around to look at us. "What? What do you know?"

I realized suddenly what Annabeth must be thinking about, and I shut my eyes. With my eyes still closed, I recited the prophecy the Oracle had given us to Galen. As I came to the part that talked about the love of two that would destroy the quest, Annabeth stiffened and sank her nails into my arm. After I was done, I opened my eyes and sat back in my seat, looking at Galen solemnly. "Do you understand it now?"

Galen's eyes had widened, and he glanced down at Keller – still sleeping in his arms – before looking back at us to answer. He muttered something that sounded like "the soulmate principle" under his breath, but he was really quiet, so I couldn't really tell. Loud enough for only Annabeth and I to hear, he said: "Winnie is in love. With your satyr. She saw the prophecy you just told me when she entered his mind – she had to have – and now she thinks the same thing the rest of us do: if they let their love happen, it will destroy the entire quest." He paused momentarily. "Do all your prophecies usually end up coming true?"

I nodded.

Galen shut his eyes. "Fantastic." He turned back around and stroked Keller's head – almost like he was petting her.

"Welcome to Anaheim!" Nissa announced from the front seat. I craned my head to look out Grover's window just in time to watch the sign announcing where we were drift by.

I took Annabeth's hand in mine and squeezed. "Almost there," I said softly, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "One torch down, one to go. Then off to Vegas."

She smiled, but I could tell that it was forced. "We don't even have it yet, Percy. Wait until we actually have it to say that we do."

Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt. Those of us in the back and middle rows slammed into the seats in front of us, and a waterfall of black hair jolted up in the middle row of seats – now wide awake. "Nissa!" Keller barked, and I could detect a new-found strength in her voice. "What just happened?"

Nissa turned around momentarily to look at Keller. "Boss! You're awake." She turned back toward the window. "Um, I'm sorry I had to do that, but you really need to see this."

All of us looked out toward where Disneyland – our first destination – was located, and everyone that wasn't familiar with the power of the Greek gods gasped. Annabeth, Grover, and I just groaned. A single storm cloud hovered over the theme park – and only the theme park. Lightning flashed down and illuminated the metal roller coaster tracks in the dark of the night, and spirits drifted down from the storm cloud, surrounding the park on all sides.

"Fan-freakin'-tastic," Nissa remarked from the front seat. "Hecate's pissed now. That's the only reason she'd be sending down all these spirits." She took a moment to consider something as lightning illuminated the park. "And Zeus isn't a particularly happy guy right now, either." With this pause, she sighed and turned around in her seat to look at everyone else in the car. "Now we don't just have to fight to get the torch once we're inside the park. Now we actually need to fight to get into the park."

Please review! I'd like to hear what you guys think of the story so far, and maybe you have some ideas of what you'd like to happen in the story! Either way, please review! :) Oh - and please go vote in the poll on my profile for which crossover you'd like to see next! It would be greatly appreciated! :)