Disclaimer: I do not own or have affiliation with the PJO/HOO series.

Warrior of the Underworld

Third POV

As Zoe drove, Phoebe sat in the front passenger seat of the SUV, and Annabeth sat in a bucket seat. Thalia decided that she would sit in the back with Percy's head on her lap as he was sprawled on the backseat. Thalia was stroking Percy's black untamable hair as Phoebe looked at them in disgust, but then she started to have these thoughts in her head as she started to remember she had to apologize to Percy. She was thinking 'What did I do for him to save me?' 'Why did he save me? I've been nothing but rude to him the entire trip.' 'I am going to have to apologize. It seems that I misjudged this boy.'

As these thoughts went through her head, Percy started to stir and he wrapped an arm around Thalia and snuggled his face into her stomach. Thalia's face reddened as Percy did this. Zoe and Phoebe looked in the rear view mirror and snorted in disgust. Annabeth turned around to see what they were looking at and had to stifle her laughter as she realized that the big bad Percy was snuggling into Thalia.

Zoe looked at Thalia and said "You must wake him up. We will be at the Hoover Dam soon." Thalia nodded and shook Percy awake. Percy shot up like a bullet out of gun. Percy looked around while asking "Huh? Wha?" Thalia laughed and said "Percy, first wipe the drool off of your cheek. Secondly, we're at Hoover Dam." Percy blushed furiously before wiping his cheeks off and replying "How did I get here?" Thalia looked down as she remembered her meeting with the boy she likes father. Seeing that the others were not going to answer him, Annabeth took the liberty to answer his question. "Your father had you in his arms and found us and gave you back to us. He must have healed you, since he said you would need rest to get your energy back. Although, he did threaten us when we told him what happened." Zoe and Phoebe bristled as they remembered that moment. They were not proud they were threatened by a male, even though it did happen to be the god of Death who coul kill them with nothing but a touch, and could do nothing about it.

Percy looked exasperated at his father's protection. He mentally thought 'Father, I told them to leave. You did not have to threaten them. They are my friends, ya know?' Thanatos replied 'I must look out for you. You are my only child. I do not want to reap your soul son. Please do not recklessly put yourself into danger. Think about me before you make such decisions. Think about how I would feel reaping your soul.' Percy looked down and said 'Alright, father. I am sorry for neglecting your feelings. I had not thought about such things. I was merely trying to protect my friends.' Thanatos grinned before replying 'Of course, son. Are you sure it was not for the daughter of Zeus you seem to have taken a liking to?' Percy spluttered 'Wha? Huh? How? Father, I know not what you speak of.' Thanatos smirked 'If you say so son. It was good talking to you again but I must go. My duties won't perform themselves now, will they?' Percy looked down before replying 'No, no they won't dad. Talk to you soon.'

When Percy ended the conversation the entire car was looking at him in worry. Zoe asked "Are you alright?" Percy seemed confused before replying "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Thalia looked at him like he was crazy. "You were staring out into nowhere for like 5 minutes and then you blushed really hard and then you turned sad like something happened. Are you crazy? I'm pretty sure you're crazy. Actually, I'm positive you're crazy." Percy blushed before rolling his eyes. "I'm not crazy. I was having a conversation with my father. " They all nodded accepting the explanation.

Zoe said "We have reached Hoover Dam. Everyone out." They all piled out of the van. Annabeth's eyes lit up at the sight of such amazing architecture. They started walking towards the entrance. They got separated in the large crowd at the entrance. Annabeth walked towards the elevator to go to the bottom of the dam. Zoe and Phoebe went to the food bar to stock up on foods even though most of it was unhealthy. They still had to be prepared. Thalia and Percy decided to just walk around talking to each other and enjoying the sight around them.

Thalia seemed uncomfortable, and that wasn't okay with Percy, even if he didn't understand why she was uncomfortable. Percy had little to no experience with girls seeing as he had grown up in the Underworld. He didn't like the fact that Thalia was uncomfortable. He wondered if he did something wrong. He decided to ask her about it. "Thalia, have I done something wrong? You seem uneasy." Thalia looked at him incredulously, wondering how somebody could be so dense. She slapped him upside the head and said "How can you be so dense. I like you. Have you not noticed the hints I've been dropping?" Percy reeled back in shock. "I... I also have feelings for you. I had no idea how to express them. I have like no experience with girls. I did grow up in the Underworld. Not exactly the best place to look for girls."

Thalia blushed as she realized that he was right. "I'm sorry Percy. I had forgot about your upbringing." Percy waved it off. "No hard feelings. However, I do have a question. What does that make us?" Thalia stopped and pulled Percy into her, smashing her lips into his. Percy was so shocked he was frozen. However, he quickly recovered and kissed back. They were so engrossed in the kiss, they failed to notice the Sparti closing in on them. They only noticed when Thalia was sent flying from a kick from one of the Sparti.

Percy immediately drew his two swords and turned to face them. He sent a quick prayer to his uncle. 'Uncle, please bless my sword so I may kill these Sparti.' Hades replied 'Your swords are now blessed.' Percy grinned before running towards the first Sparticus and swiping downwards trying to slash his chest. The Sparticus blocked it with his spear shaft and pushed him backwards. Percy rushed forward again and feinted to the left side and as he went to block it Percy stabbed at his right side with his other sword. The Sparticus burst into flames and turned to ashes.

Percy wondered why the other Sparti weren't attacking him until he realized the others had showed up and were trying to keep them busy. Percy yelled out "Keep them busy until I can get to you! I can kill them!" The others just focused on keeping their opponents busy for the time being. Percy looked to where he was needed most. He dashed towards Phoebe as he realized she slipped and her Sparticus was advancing on her fallen form. He hurriedly thrust his sword into its chest and watched as it turned to ashes. He turned to Phoebe and asked "Do you mind giving the others support fire?" Phoebe nodded and pulled out her bow.

Percy ran towards Thalia since she looked like she was having problems facing two even with her Zeus powers. Percy blocked one Sparti sword and grinned at Thalia. "Having troubles?" Thalia gritted her teeth and swung her spear at the other Sparti's head and replied "Just kill them so we can help the others." Percy slipped inside the Sparticus guard and thrust up into his chin effectively turning him to ashes. He immediately turned around and thrust his sword into the other Sparti's back. Percy leaned over and kissed Thalia's cheek and then turned around to go help Annabeth.

Percy rushed towards where Annabeth was struggling to fend off her opponent as he held a way longer weapon. Percy didn't seem to mind as he shoved aside a spear thrust meant for Annabeth and swung at his head but it was blocked by his shield. Thrown off by the miss, Percy stumbled backwards and the Sparti took advantage of this and tried to jab his spear into his stomach. Percy regained his balance and spun away from it but it still cut his side pretty deep. Percy willed the shadows to hold the Sparticus down by his limbs and drove his sword into his chest.

Percy stumbled back as the blood loss made him dizzy. Thalia rushed over and fed him some spare ambrosia she had in her pockets. "Dammit Percy, you need to be more careful." Percy laughed "It's only a scratch babe. Calm down." Annabeth looked over as he said that and asked "Did I miss something between you two?" Percy intertwined his hand with Thalia's as Zoe and Phoebe looked on in disgust. Percy said proudly "I am proud to say that Thalia is now my girlfriend." Annabeth nodded her head in acceptance as they all started to walk away but Percy heard a noise. He told the others "Go on ahead. I'll catch up. I think I heard something." They didn't want to leave him behind again remembering last time but they nodded. He looked over the edge and saw that there was some animal in the water. It tried to call up to him but he couldn't understand a word it was saying. He wasn't a child of Poseidon. All it sounded like to him was "MOOO!"

Percy was confused on why this half-serpent, half-cow creature was trying to talk to him. It should know he wouldn't understand what he was saying. He walked away feeling confused and guilty which just made him even more confused. He walked back to the others and they asked where he went. He replied with "Nothing important. Just some sea creature." They accepted the explanation.

Thalia asked "So where do we need to go next?" Zoe looked over before replying "We need to go to San Francisco to see Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea." Annabeth paled upon hearing those words. She did not want to have to go back to her hometown, especially where her mortal family was located. Thalia was the first to notice this as she left Percy's side to comfort her best friend. Percy looked over in confusion before asking "Are you okay Annabeth?"

Annabeth shook her head before burying it farther into Thalia's shoulder. Thalia looked over at him and said "Her mortal family lives there. She ran away when she was seven. They aren't exactly on the best terms. Let's just move on." Zoe said "Well, we were going to have to head there anyways. Mount Tamalpais is located there and that is where my father used to hold the sky along with the Titan base of operations." They said nothing, as Thalia continued to comfort Annabeth. She looked down at her and asked "Are you okay? We need to get moving." Annabeth nodded before stepping out of Thalia's embrace, not trusting her voice at the moment.

Percy said "Well, let's get moving folks. We're on a time limit here." They all nodded before moving forward, following Percy out of Hoover Dam.

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I had an essay to do for English and couldn't find the time to finish this but I made it slightly longer to try and make up for it. Please leave reviews for me. It gives me motivation to continue writing for you guys. I won't abadon this though, if you decide not to review.