I'm going to admit it: I've slept on worse.
Sure, the couch smelled like the 1950s and was covered in dust, which didn't look great on my already-partly ruined leather jacket. But hey. I've slept on the ground with no pillows, no jackets, nothing before. Compared to that, this was Elysium.
Annabeth had already fallen asleep by the time Luke and I returned to the room, on a separate couch. I was about done with the night too, and flopped onto my couch. Luke threw a blanket over me.
"Thanks," I said, but then sat up. "Um, you sure you want to watch guard?"
"Just go to sleep, Thalia," Luke said. "You deserve it."
"Well, wake me up if you're getting tired," I said. "Goodnight, Luke."
Luke nodded. "Goodnight."
And I fell asleep.
Of course, I had another amazing dream. And by 'amazing', I mean horrible. As usual, I was surrounded by darkness, and I couldn't see a thing.
You made a mistake.
"Who's there?" I asked.
You will regret this.
"What?" I asked, looking around. I held out my hands, but felt nothing. "Who… who are you?"
I felt the ground shake. No. Someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes, seeing my friends staring down at me.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Good morning, Princess," Luke said. "You really know how to sleep in."
"Oh, shut it." I snapped, slapping his arm playfully.
"Hi, Thalia!" Annabeth said cheerfully. She held up some toast. "Want breakfast?"
"You know I do," I said, taking some of the toast. It was covered in jam. "Where'd you find this?"
"In a fridge," Annabeth said. "Medusa has a lot of food stashed around here. Jam, bread, a toaster..."
I bit into the toast. The jam was the most amazing jam I'd ever tried. It was just the right amount of sweetness, bitterness, and full of flavour.
"Bring this jam with us," I said.
"We will," Luke laughed. He held up a bag. "I also did some… mild theft. Let's just say, we have some money now."
I gave him a thumbs up, and climbed off the old couch. "Then let's get out of here."
There was a railway station not too far from us, so that's where we headed. We bought three train tickets, and climbed onto the Amtrak train. It took two days, so yeah, that was a lot of games of charades and 'I spy' we played. Thankfully, we didn't get attacked by any monsters.
I spent some time looking out the window. I saw a herd of centaurs run past, and waved to a centaur that looked around my age. I then gazed at Luke, who had taken a nap. I wondered if he had kept his promise about joining our side. For the sake of Olympus, I hoped so. What would I do if he didn't?
I stared at my hands. Glumness settled over me, and I started following little scratches in the window with my fingernail. Luke had only managed to get around $200 (which was still impressive, I guess), so we could only go as far as Denver. Luke said we could sell some of the food from Medusa's, but I wasn't sure about selling monster-made food to mortals. It had made us kind of loopy. What would it do to normal humans?
I leaned back in my seat. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it made me miss the couch. I slipped on my headphones, and played some Green Day. I smiled, and began nodding along to the music.
"Hey, Thalia," I felt someone tugging my jacket. Annabeth was there. I pulled out my headphones.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"What were you dreaming about?" she asked. "You were muttering 'who's there', and 'get away from me' in your sleep. What was all that about?"
I frowned. "Well… uh, basically… I've been having these weird dreams for a little while. This evil voice in a crevice keeps speaking to me, telling me to help it 'rise', evilly laughing..." I had a feeling of who that voice belonged to, but I had a debt to keep, so I didn't tell her who. I also left out the whole bit about Luke.
Annabeth's expression was hard to decipher. "You think it's Hades?"
"Uh, sure," I said. "I mean…" I glanced at Luke, "... he stole the lightning bolt."
Annabeth frowned. "Still… sounds a bit weird though. I was talking to Chiron, and he said Hades usually doesn't like demigods, so he wouldn't want your help… and plus, he sits on a black throne, and doesn't laugh." She tilted her head. "Did it say anything else?"
"Yeah," I said. "It said I made a mistake."
Annabeth raised her brow. "A mistake?"
I nodded. "I don't know what it means."
"Maybe it's referring to this quest," she said. "After all, Hades doesn't like you that much."
"The feeling is mutual," I growled. "Trust me, I'm aware of the dangers. But I can handle it."
I hoped.
Annabeth looked away. "I'm sure you can, Thalia."
She didn't sound very confident. That made me feel no better.
"You know," I said. "The Furies have treated us worse. On the bus there was something… off about them. They kept asking 'where is it?' 'Where?' Remember?"
"Maybe they think we have the bolt?" Annabeth suggested.
I glanced at Luke once again. "Maybe."
Annabeth's expression was dark, and unreadable. It was kind of odd. "Thalia, you know… you can't barter with Hades. He's not honest. He'll try to kill you."
"Do I have a choice?" I asked. "I mean… it's Winter, right? Persephone will be there. Maybe I have a chance."
Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe you should think about it, Thalia. There might be other options that are better."
I was about to ask what she meant, but by then, train staff had come in to offer us lunch, so Luke woke up and we took a break.
It was eight days before the new year, and I'd seen so much snow I was afraid I was going to puke.
The Mississippi River was covered in chunks of ice, the sun making them shine like diamonds. Snow covered the brown grass, and in the distance I saw some kids making snowmen and snow angels. Mortals had no idea how lucky they were, taking the simplest things for granted. I almost wished I could run around and make some snowmen.
We passed the Gateway Arch, which Annabeth gazed at with wide eyes.
"Amazing," she said. "I'm going to build something just like that, someday."
"I'm sure you will, Annie," Luke said, kindly. "Your drawings are very impressive."
Annabeth smiled at him, gratefully. "I'll build something so great, even the gods will be impressed."
I had no trouble doubting that. Annabeth was very smart and creative for her age; she'd easily become an architect.
The arch disappeared behind a hotel, and the train pulled to a stop at the Amtrak train station. The intercom told us we had three hours before we departed for Denver.
"Can we go to the Arch?" Annabeth asked, squirming in her seat. She put puppy eyes on. "Please?"
I glanced at Luke. He nodded.
"For a quick visit," I said, and Annabeth lit up with glee, making me temporarily forget all my problems.
"There might be a few mortals around that I can pickpocket as well," Luke said, winking at me. My heart started beating a little faster. I cursed at myself for getting flustered so easily.
"Let's go!" Annabeth said, jumping up. She grabbed our arms. "Come on, come on!"
"Whoa, Annie, chill!" I laughed, as we ran out of the train. We basically skipped the whole way to the Arch (yep, we skipped for a mile), while Annabeth told us random facts about historical architecture, and all her knowledge about the Arch. I put my arm in with Luke's, making us look like Annabeth's parents. Occasionally, he would run off and sneak behind an unsuspecting mortal, casually taking a few bills out of their wallets.
When we got to the Arch, the line wasn't too big, thankfully, but Annabeth didn't seem so excited anymore. She looked nervous, like she did at Medusa's.
"You okay, Annie?" I asked.
"I'm fine," she said. "I… just, wasn't expecting to see this place in real life."
Luke smiled. "Well, here we are. The elevator's this way. Come on, ladies!"
I rolled my eyes as we followed Luke. The elevator to the top of the Arch was tiny. Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach. Not because the elevator was tiny, but because the Arch was so high up… I'd been fine with seeing it from the ground, but actually going up there?
"Thalia?" Luke put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I'm… fine." I choked out, as we got into the elevator. I could've stayed down there, but I didn't want to leave my friends, so I made myself go. The only other one there with us were some older teens and this fat lady and her chihuahua, which had a rhinestone collar. The lady had beady eyes and a long, jean dress that barely covered her weight. She smelled like she'd had about 5 cups of coffee.
"No parents?" the woman asked.
"They're below," Luke said. "Scared of heights."
I felt like I was going to vomit.
The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now sonny. Behave."
It could've been height sickness, but I swore the dog glared at me. Annabeth was giving it a funny stare. She had gone completely tense.
Once the elevator finally opened, the room before us was not worth me almost throwing up to see. It was like a tin can with carpets, with rows of tiny windows to view the city. Looking out the window made me feel even worse. I turned away, going green. I almost tripped over.
"Whoa there," Luke held my arms. He turned to Annabeth. "Annie, Thalia's feeling sick. We should-"
"No, I'm fine," I said, standing up. "Really."
Luke frowned. "You don't look it."
"I am." I insisted, clenching my fists.
"The deck will be closing in a few minutes," the ranger said. "Make your way to the elevator when you can."
Oh thank the Gods. I was sick (no pun intended) of this place already. I trudged over to the elevator and climbed in, Luke holding my arm. That's what I noticed Annabeth was still outside, and the elevator was full. The fat lady was there too.
"Wait, Annie…" I said. The fat lady smiled at me, her forked tongue flicking between her teeth. Forked tongue. Suddenly I forgot about being sick, and shoved through the elevator.
"Thalia!" Luke yelled. Some of the teens there were glaring at me.
"Go on," I said, nudging Annabeth into the elevator. "I'll be fine."
Both my friends looked like they wanted to protest (my stomach did too), but the elevator doors closed, and they disappeared down the ramp. I instantly regretted my decision, and went back to feeling sick.
The chihuahua barked at me. I reached for my spear.
"Silly girl," the woman laughed. "Go on, son. Let's finish her."
The chihuahua grew in size until it brushed against the roof. It had a lion's head with blood-red mane, the body and hooves of a giant goat, a serpent for a tail, and a huge diamondback coming out of its behind. The woman had turned into what looked like an anthropomorphic snake, with green, scaly skin and slitted eyes. Her teeth were fangs.
The teens on the Arch screamed. The Park Ranger had frozen up.
I held up my shield. "You're Echidna. The mother of monsters."
"Correct, daughter of Zeus!" the monster laughed. "I am glad you recognise me! Destroying you will be a great pleasure. Be honored! So rarely do I get the chance to destroy a hero like you."
The chihuahua leaped towards me, maw open. I jumped out of the way. I was nearby some of the teens, who were pounding against the emergency exit. Protecting mortals wasn't my top priority, but I wouldn't feel very good if a few people died because of me. I moved away and waved my arms around.
"Hey, chihuahua!" I yelled. The Chimera turned towards me, fire coming out of its mouth. I yelped, holding up my shield as the fire seared a hole right through the wall. The metal melted like chocolate. Thank the gods Annabeth wasn't here, she would've been screaming.
I made the stupid mistake of looking outside the hole, and felt the sickness rise up in me all over again. I almost fell over.
"What's wrong, child?" Echidna asked. "Scared of heights? An interesting fear for a child of Zeus."
I gritted my teeth, about to vomit. "Shut up…"
Echidna laughed. The Chimera bounded towards me, roaring. I scrambled to my feet, and narrowly dodged the snapping jaws. No way I could fight when I was going to chunder any second now. The only other option was jumping out the window, and there was no way in Hades I was doing that. Just looking out there made my skin crawl.
I had to do something. I pulled my hand through my hair and screamed at myself to think.
"Die, you brat!" Echidna yelled, the Chimera charging towards me again. I held up my shield, which made it flinch. I then launched my spear into monster's underbelly. It roared, almost deafening me. But it wasn't dead. Just angrier.
"Fool!" Echidna laughed. "You really think that will work?"
The Chimera suddenly lunged forward and hit me. I flew backwards, landing right by the hole.
"Let's see the gods save you when you fall to your death!" Echidna laughed.
"No…" I groaned, but it was too late. The Chimera shoved me out of the window.
