Ok guys. I'm sorry that the last few chapters have been a little boring, but all they seem to do is talk! It's driving me crazy! I have no idea what to do! NO HUMOR ITS KILLING ME! Be patient, when the action comes, I'll try to pick it back up! Dreadfully sorry {:-)
Percy Does Some Bungee Jumping
We spent two days on the Amtrak train, going so fast that the scenery was just a blur of colors. Luckily, we weren't attacked again, but with Percy's luck, you just never knew.
I could tell Percy was on edge too, the way he always stared outside with a frown on his face, and how he always kept a protective hand in his pocket, fingering the deadly pen, Riptide. The latest news didn't seem to help him either.
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here, fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers, The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.
I grimaced. Percy's bad luck just never stopped. I tried to comfort him, but there wasn't much I could say to cheer him up. "Don't worry, mortal police could never find us." Apparently I didn't help much, because he just went back to frowning outside.
We only had enough money to get to Denver, and we didn't have couldn't afford to buy those overnight train cars, so we were stuck dozing uncomfortably every now and then. Twice I woke up finding myself leaning against Percy's drooling, sleeping body, which is not the most pleasant sight, let me tell you.
Grover wasn't much help either, bleating and snoring, waking me every now and then.
I was leaning against the window, watching farm after farm pass by, with the occasional monster stepping out of the field, or some other creature that wanted to chomp on some corn or other agricultural produce. Percy began mumbling something, and I turned to listen. "I…I won't help you…" he began drooling more profusely now. "Jumping jellybeans!"
I was about to wake him up and ask him what in the world he was dreaming about, but Grover bleated extra loudly, and rolled over, one of the shoes coming off his feet, exposing the goat hoof.
Percy jumped into consciousness, and we quickly put the fake foot back on before any mortal passengers could start freaking out about a goat boy.
I decided this was a good time to ask what he was dreaming about, excluding the whole "jumping jellybeans" part.
"So, who wants your help?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" He asked, confused as usual.
"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you'. Who were you dreaming about?"
He seemed reluctant to answer, fiddling with his fingers, Riptide being tossed from hand to hand.
Finally he told me about his dreams, of a deep, dark, forbidding voice coming from the bottom of a never ending chasm. He told me of how the voice seemed to grab him, like it was trying to pull itself out.
That sounded so much like my dream, it was impossible that it was a coincidence. But Percy didn't need to know about that yet. I had doubts myself on whether these dreams had anything to do with the quest.
I was quiet for a long time, arguing with myself, deciding whether I should tell Percy my thoughts and ultimately tell him my dreams, or to keep it to myself, and let things play out on its own. Knowledge was not always good, when in the wrong hands. Percy might be a good person, but from what I've learned, I wasn't sure if he could keep it to himself. He had a tiny issue with blurting out things.
I decided to tell him what I had already figured out, leaving out my dreams. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."
Percy seemed unsure though. "He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"
He had a point. "I guess… if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"
Percy just shook his head. It infuriated me that we had no other clue, other knowledge that would help us make sense of this… this thing that's trying to rise.
Grover mumbled something about vegetables, and I straightened his hat so the horns were once again hidden.
"Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that right? He's deceitful, heartless and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time-"
"This time? You mean you've run into them before?" He said incredulously.
My hand crept up to my necklace, and I fingered the bead I knew instinctively as Thalia's pine tree. My mind flashed back to when I was just seven years old.
We were almost there. Luke was holding my hand, begging me to run faster, but I couldn't. I was just too tired. He grabbed me by the waist, lifting me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Thalia was in front of us, yelling at us, encouraging us to move faster. Grover had reached the big blue house, and was running inside.
I glanced up, and saw the horde of monsters only ten feet away. There were three bat women in front, screaming, their fiery whips crackling, urging the pack of hellhounds forward.
We weren't going to make it. Even in my seven year old mind, I could tell there was no hope for all of us to survive.
I could feel Luke limping now, from when the Fury had wrapped its whip around his ankle. He couldn't carry me anymore. I squirmed in his arms and broke free, grabbing his hand again, and pulling him towards the blue house I saw in the distance.
Luke's face was filled with anguish, and he collapsed on the ground. Thalia screamed, and ran back, pulling me behind her, and lifting Luke up. "Go! I can take them!" She pressed her wrist, the bracelet from her father expanding into the shield Aegis. She had found it one day next to her sleeping bag, with a note beside it.
Luke pushed himself to his feet, grabbing me in his arms again, and stumbled down the hill, to where a group of people were gathered. He pushed me into someone's hands, and turned back to where Thalia was battling fiercely against the monsters.
Tears ran down my face as the whips seared Thalia's skin, and the hellhounds snapped at her. "Thalia!" Luke screamed, and began limping back up the hill. A man came out of the house with Grover following close behind. "No boy!" said the man, who I realized was half horse, half human. He grabbed Luke around the stomach and into the air. Luke struggled but it was no use. "No!" I yelled, taking out my knife and stabbing my holder in the arm.
He dropped me, crying out in pain, and I ran towards Thalia, on her knees now, the hellhounds snarling and biting. I scrambled up the hill, the sounds of the campers behind growing louder, but they couldn't do anything. Trying to go after me was suicide, and they weren't willing to hurt me. I reached Thalia, stabbing a hellhound in the neck and turning it to dust. A Fury loomed up above me, its whip raised, and thrust its hand down, the snap of the fiery rope echoing in my ears. I braced myself, but a body flew in front of me. It was Thalia. She screamed in pain, her clothes catching on fire.
I cut the whip from her body, but Thalia didn't get up. She looked at me, her eyes slowly glazing over, and with one last burst of adrenaline, she whispered, "Get back!" and gave a forceful push.
I rolled back down the hill, right to the feet of the other campers, where a girl lifted me up from the ground, turning my face from the horrible scene. I could hear Luke whimpering beside me, his futile attempts at escaping becoming weaker and weaker.
I wriggled around in the girl's arms, looking back to the top of the hill. Thalia was on her side, all three Furies surrounding her, and the hellhounds barking and growling behind them.
This was it. Thalia had lost.
A great lightning bolt flew from the sky, hitting the Furies and the hellhounds, lighting up the world. I squinted in the bright shining light. It subsided, and the world went into focus. The monsters were gone, dust settling onto the green grass.
Thalia was in a column of light, just like in those cheesy movies. Her eyes were half open, and she gave us a crooked smile. Roots climbed out of the ground, wrapping around her body, like a caress, her arms becoming great branches, her hair turning into pine needles, growing taller and taller, into a fully grown, majestic pine tree.
Thunder boomed above us and Zeus's voice roared from the heavens.
"Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus has sacrificed herself for her friends, and should be honored for eternity. This pine tree will protect half-bloods from now on. Once they pass the tree, none of them can suffer the fate that my daughter has."
I was jolted out of my flashback, where Percy was looking at me with a concerned face.
It wasn't the time to tell Percy what had happened. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."
"What would you do if it was your dad?"
"That's easy. I'd leave him to rot." I replied.
He just stared at me. "You're not serious?"
My expression showed what I thought. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy." My voice quivered in anger and sadness. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."
"But how… I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital…"
I sighed. I was getting tired of telling this story. "I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five, he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist." It still hurt, that he didn't want me, even if it was five years later.
Percy's frown got deeper, and he stared out the window. "My mom married a really awful guy," he started. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."
I fingered my necklace, pushing my finger through father's college ring, the one that I stole as a last remembrance of him. As much as I wanted to believe Percy, I knew he was wrong.
"He doesn't care about me. His wife- my stepmom-treated me like a freak." My voice lowered to a whisper. "She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. When ever something dangerous happened-you know, something with monsters-they would both look at me resentfully, like 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."
"How old were you?"
"Same age as when I started camp. Seven." I said.
"But… you couldn't have gotten all the way to Camp Half-Blood Hill by yourself."
"Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time anyway."
I lost myself in the memories of running with Luke and Thalia, closing our little conversation of the past.
On our last day on the train, we went by the Gateway Arch. I watched it go by with longing.
"I want to do that." I sighed.
"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?" I asked.
"Only in pictures."
"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."
Percy started laughing. "You? An architect?"
I flushed in anger. Was it really so hard to believe that I wanted to create something great?
"Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention." I snapped.
Percy's face fell, and I knew I had crossed the line. "Sorry, that was mean."
He looked up at me with new desperation in his eyes. "Can't we work together a little?" He practically begged. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"
I had to think about that for a while. Athena and Poseidon were two total opposites, and not the kinds who attract, they were the kinds who strangled each other around the neck.
"I guess… the chariot. My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete." It wasn't the best example of 'working together' but Athena and Poseidon didn't have a good relationship.
Percy seemed satisfied though. "Then we can cooperate too, right?"
The arch disappeared from view, and I sat down with a huff of disappointment.
"I suppose," I answered.
We pulled into the Amtrak station for a pit stop, and the voice over the loudspeaker said that we had about three hours until we headed for our last leg into Denver. It gave me a great idea.
Grover stretched, mumbling about food, and I grabbed his wrist and pulled him up. "Come on, goat boy." I said. "Sightseeing."
"Sightseeing?"
"The Gateway Arch. This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"
Grover and Percy exchanged looks.
"As long as there's a snack bar with no monsters."
The Arch was about a mile away, but I kept us entertained by sporting facts about the monument.
"Did you know the Arch was built in 1963, but it was actually placed in 1965. It's also the tallest monument in the United States, standing at 630 feet. Athena actually put it there, as a birthday gift to Hera, who hadn't had a particularly large monument in a long time. She had been complaining for years about it, too." I rambled, Percy and Grover letting out occasional grunts, which I took for interest. I spotted a small pamphlet about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, and was immediately sucked in.
Percy seemed to have other ideas though. "Guys, you know the gods' symbol of power?"
I glanced up from my reading. "Yeah?"
"Well Hade-"
Grover cleared his throat, interrupting. "We're in a public place… you mean, our friend downstairs?"
"Um right. Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth?" asked Percy.
"You mean the Helm of Darkness," I said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."
"He was there?" asked Percy, surprised.
I nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus- the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful then my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true…"
Grover confirmed my hunches. "It allows him to become darkness. He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. 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?"
"But then… how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" asked Percy.
I looked at Grover.
"We don't," said Grover darkly.
"Thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better." Said Percy sarcastically. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"
We got to the Arch, climbing in a small elevator-like lift to bring us to the top. I was bouncing with excitement. Percy was bouncing too, but from the look on his face, it seemed more like constipation then happiness.
We were squished with an old lady with a Chihuahua. I thought the animal was going to have an accident on a national monument, but the guards didn't seem to care.
"No parents?" She asked.
I had to think fast. "They're below. Scared of heights."
"Oh the poor darlings."
The Chihuahua growled, and the woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave."
Percy, obviously trying to be friendly, said, "Sonny. Is that his name?"
"No," said the lady with a smile. Weird.
We finally got to the top of the Arch, I was disappointed. Tiny windows only gave you a small glimpse of the outside world.
"This place would be so much better if it had bigger windows. Imagine the view if there was a see-through floor? Oh my goodness, look at these support beams! The exactness is amazing!" I was in architect heaven.
Too soon, Percy steered us towards the elevator, pushing Grover and I into one, when he realized that he wouldn't fit, because there were more people already in it.
"Next car, sir," said the park ranger.
I didn't want to leave Percy. Something was wrong, I could feel it.
"We'll get out. We'll wait with you." I said.
"Nah, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom," said Percy.
I reluctantly sat back, the door closing. I tried to comfort myself. What in the world could Percy do on a national monument? An image of the Arch toppling into rubble popped into my mind. I decided I would just take my mind off things by reciting facts of numerous monuments.
We finally reached the ground and I glanced anxiously up. A crowd was gathering, and the distant sound of screams were heard.
I sighed. Percy was just a magnet for danger. And that wasn't the worst part. The next thing I knew, there was a flaming figure falling off Gateway Arch. I didn't even have to check. I immediately knew it was Percy. He dived into the dirty Mississippi River and was gone.
A/N I hope Annabeth's flashback was sad, because I realized that I was never going to get a laugh from this chapter. Too depressing. But I'm not good at writing depressing scenes either, so I just tried my luck here!
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