Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson & The Olympians

Chapter Ten: On the Road Again

I grabbed my bow and quiver off the picnic table and wrapped them around my body, feeling much better knowing that they were here. I hadn't noticed how dependent I'd grown on them until I was faced with using just my sword.

Annabeth and Percy double wrapped Medusa's head with plastic shopping bags then plopped it down on the table as we all sat around it, exhausted. I let my head rest on the table, waiting for the fog in my mind to clear.

"So..." Percy finally said after a few moments of silence, "We have Athena to thank for this monster."

I groaned audibly. Where we back on this already?

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him, "Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him.

Percy glared at the table, "Oh, so now it's my fault we met Medusa."

"It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"

"Forget it! You're impossible."

"You're insufferable!"

"You're-"

"Hey!" Grover yelled, rubbing his temples, "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even get Migraines."

"Thank you." I grumbled under my breath, ignoring the death glares both Annabeth and Percy sent my way. "What are we gonna do with that." I pointed to the goopy mess on the table.

We all turned to Percy, waiting for his order. It was his quest after all. I silently wished that he wasn't going to take it with us. In the movie they did that, didn't they? I really didn't want to have to carry that thing around.

But instead of responding, Percy stood up angrily, "I'll be back."

"Percy?" Annabeth asked in confusion as he stormed away, "What are you doing?"

He walked into the back, not answering Annabeth's question. She grunted and leaned back, crossing her arms.

I looked at it in disgust, "Please tell me we're not taking it with us."

"We should." Annabeth said immediately, "It could be useful."

"Yeah well..." I wrinkled my nose, "I'm not carrying it."

But it turns out I wouldn't have to, because a few seconds later Percy roared like a wave back into the room, holding a large box and a small leather bag.

"What is that?" I asked him.

He ignored me, picking up the bag with Medusa's head and throwing it into the box, grabbing a delivery slip and quickly filling it out:

The Gods

Mount Olympus

600th Floor,

Empire State Building

New York, NY

With Best Wishes,

PERCY JACKSON.

I let out a low whistle, admiring the sheer nerve of the kid standing in front of me. Grover just frowned, "They're not going to like that. They'll think you're impertinent."

Percy dropped a few of the large golden Drachma's into the leather pouch and it, along with the package.

"I am impertinent." Percy smirked, looking at them as if daring them to argue with that fact.

I just raised my arms in surrender. It wasn't my ass that would be in the fire should the gods take offence.

"Come on..." Annabeth grumbled, "We need a new plan."

We ended up sleeping outside again, as none of us wanted to stay in the creepy warehouse. It was better than earlier, at least the rain had stopped. We found an area that obviously was used for high school parties. Beer cans and empty fast food wrappers littered the ground.

I wanted to light a fire to dry myself, but that idea was quickly shot down by Annabeth, who said that it would only attract monsters. I couldn't argue with that. If every day on this quest was going to be like this I didn't know what I would do.

So I moved some of the garbage into a small pile and moved the wet dirt out-of-the-way to reveal a dry spot underneath.

"I'll take first watch." Percy said, laying down a blanket he had taken from Aunty Em's.

Nobody argued, everybody was far to tired.

"I'll take second." Annabeth piped up, "Grover can take third."

"I can keep watch for a bit." I argued, feeling hurt that she didn't trust me enough.

Annabeth shook her head, "After your stint with Medusa it's probably best you sleep. You got hit with the mist harder than us."

I could hear the underlying accusation. Get your rest, otherwise it'll just be easier for the monsters to control you.

I lay back down on my spot, not taking a blanket that they had stolen. I curled in on myself, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

In the dream I was freezing cold.

I was laying back on an air mattress which was on a large field of snow. It was pitch dark and a soft breeze blew through the open air.

"Dad." I whined, wrapping my arms around myself. "I'm cold. Can we light a fire, please."

"No, love." My dad said softly, his eyes fixed on the black night sky, "Your eyes are used to the darkness. Any light and you'll not be able to see it as well."

I knew what this was. The last trip I'd taken with my mum and dad to my father's home town. He was from this small place in northern Manitoba, Canada. In the winter it was a bitter cold that came down from Hudson Bay, and further than that the cold arctic islands that climbed north, around the globe and towards Siberia.

It was also the spot of the beautiful Aurora borealis. My dad had kept track of sun flare activity, waiting until one would come into contact with us and result in the green and purple ribbons that danced across the night sky.

It was a cloudless night, which resulted in it being even colder. A dry cold which clung to me like clay.

"You see there." Her father pointed to a spot right beneath the huge arm of the Milky Way which spanned across the sky. "That constellation is called King Cepheus, or just Cepheus."

"Um...okay?" I said. All I could see was a bunch of stars in the sky. I had never been able to pick the various constellations from the bunch.

"In Greek Myth, he was the father of Andromeda." He continued softly, "The beautiful princess who later married the hero Perseus. He, like all fathers, often liked to brag about his daughter's beauty. He claimed that she was more beautiful than the sea spirits. This upset Poseidon, god of the sea, and he sent a Sea Monster to kill Cepheus and his Family."

"That's a bit of an over reaction." I muttered under my breath. My dad had always been weirdly into the Greek Myths, and I'd never really understood why. Well, I guess I did now.

"It was." Her father agreed, "Instead, Cepheus and his wife Cassiopeia offered their daughter, Andromeda as a sacrifice. In the end Perseus saved her and killed the monster."

I nodded, wrapped my fleece poncho around myself further. I wished that the lights wold just come so we could start the walk back to our cabin. If my memory served me right, they should come any second now.

"So here's the question for you." My dad continued, making me frown. I didn't remember this, "Does the punishment fit the crime?"

"What?" I turned my head to look at my father.

He didn't look away from me, "Poseidon would have killed their entire family because of a petty brag. Did the punishment fit the crime?"

"What?" I asked again, narrowing my eyes, "I-I don't..."

"Jane." He said, staring me deep in my eyes, "This is something you must think of. Victory is certain but Justice can be...unfair. Did the punishment fit the crime? Does the punishment ever fit the crime? Remember this in your days ahead."

And then I woke up.

There was a kink in my back, but I didn't expect anything worse. I sat up slowly, groaning and pulling a couple of twigs out of my hair. Looking around I saw Annabeth leaning against a tree, fiddling with her bronze knife the same way I'd seen Luke do back at camp.

"Morning." I grumbled, standing up and stretching.

Annabeth started, looking over at me, then nodded, "Morning. How're you feeling."

"Well, I'm not about to go crazy and kill you if that's what you're worried about." I snapped, huddling into my coat. It was freezing, or maybe that was just left over from the dream

But instead of getting offended, Annabeth just snorted, "Not a morning person?"

"Now that you've asked, no." I growled, pacing around the camp. I never wanted to sit down again.

Annabeth chuckled, "Well if it makes you feel any better, even if you did go crazy, I doubt you could kill me anyways." And with that she threw the knife where it slammed into the tree across from her.

Instead of being alarmed I just laughed, "I guess that's true." I looked around the small clearing with a frown, being entirely too reminded of my dream, "Where's Grover?"

Annabeth shrugged, "He woke up, got a weird look on his face, then wandered off."

I frowned, feeling uncomfortable that he was out there by himself, but a soft yapping sound shook me out of it.

I whipped around to see Grover waving his hands around animatedly, chatting with a small dog that walked along beside him.

Well, at least I thought it was a dog. It was dog-ish shaped and had four legs, but besides that it was the strangest thing I've ever seen.

"What is that and do we have to kill it?" I raised my eyebrow.

Grover bleated at me, not amused, "Hey guys, This is Gladiola."

"Uh, huh." I nodded, looking at the dog. "Dude...I'm sorry."

The Dog yipped and Grover turned to me, "He says thank you. His family is a bit...exuberant."

I blinked at him, then at the Dog, then over to Annabeth who shrugged. "Grover...can you talk to animals?"

"Sure." Grover said like it was nothing, "Say hello."

I looked at the pink dog, "Er-Hello?"

Annabeth crossed her arms and wrinkled her nose, but Grover gave her a pointed look and she rolled her eyes, "Hello dog."

Grover nodded, "He say's there's an Amtrak station half a mile...that way." He pointed towards the train tracks, "Westbound train leaves at noon."

"Grover, we don't have any money." Annabeth pointed out.

"Should we..." I waved over to Percy who was still out cold, one skinny arm over his eyes as he blocked out the sun.

Annabeth crouched down beside him and poked him a few times. He mumbled something until finally Annabeth smacked him in the arm.

His eyes shot open, looking at Annabeth with dazed look.

Annabeth smirked at him, "Well, the zombie lives." She stood up and wandered over to her plastic bags.

Percy blinked, sitting up, "How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." Annabeth tossed his a prepackaged bag of nachos. Percy caught them with a jump, "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."

She sounded less than thrilled.

The poodle yapped at Grover who shook his head, "No, he's not."

I wondered what the poodle had asked.

Percy blinked, "Are you...talking to that thing."

The Poodle growled at him.

"This thing." Grover glared, "Is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?"

Grover rolled his eyes, "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."

Percy looked over to me and Annabeth like he was being Punk'd, but I just shrugged.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle. Forget it."

"Percy." Annabeth all but growled, "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

He said it, although it was accompanied by a sarcastic eye roll that Grover didn't appreciate. Then he explained that Gladiola came from a rich family who'd put out a $200 reward for his return.

"So we turn in Gladiola." Annabeth said, "We get money, and we buy ticket's to Los Angeles. Simple."

"Yeah, thanks for the play-by-play." I said, ignoring the dirty look she shot me.

Percy shook his head, "Another bus?"

Annabeth agreed with him, "No." She pointed to the tracks, "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."

We spent the next two days on the train, which was only slightly more comfortable than walking through the mud in the forest at night.

It seemed that every hour seven different kids ran through the cabin, which confused me as the train hadn't stopped. I had concluded that these children were doppelgänger monsters and must be destroyed.

After that Annabeth took away my bow.

Not that I hated kids or anything. In all reality I loved them. If anything I despised the parents with their faces pressed into the business section of their newspapers. It brought back unfortunate memories of the foster parents who care for dozens of children to collect the checks, but left the handling of the younger children to the teenagers.

A little girl, no older than six, sat next to me, chewing on a strand of blond hair as she stared at me with big blue eyes.

"Hi." She said with a giggle.

I sighed, looking down at her, "Hello. What's your name?"

"I'm Mary." She giggled. "Is that a real sword?"

I blinked, looking down at my 'sword'. We'd been in the mortal world so long the mist had permanently turned it into a walking cane which leaned up against me in the seat. I found it strange that it was different then the guitar case that it had been before, but it was much smaller without the archer's bow strapped around my back.

"Er-" I looked at the kid for a second, "No."

"Really?" She swung her legs under the seat, "Cause it looks like one."

Instinctively I reached over and pulled the blond hair out of her mouth, "That's bad for you." I said softly.

A couple of her friends ran by and she giggled, jumping off the seat and running after them. I rolled my eyes in aggravation and leaned back in my seat.

"You're good with kids." Percy mumbled, looking out the window as he fidgeted. He looked like he wanted to join the kids in running around the train.

I shrugged, picking at the dirt under my fingernails, "I've had practice."

Percy looked at me curiously, but didn't push, instead he looked out the window, studying the countryside as we moved through West Virginia.

Annabeth was reading one of the newspapers with a nervous look on her face. She silently handed it over to Percy who looked at the front cover with a nauseous expression.

It was a picture of him running from the bus which was about to explode. His sword was out, but it was all blurry so you couldn't tell what it was. I let out a low whistle knowing this was going to be a bit more complicated.

It was even more amazing that nobody on the train had noticed they were there. They had all read these papers, had all seen this paper. It shows how truly blind people could be about these sorts of things.

"Don't worry." Annabeth assured him, "Mortal police could never find us."

We all did something different for the rest of the day. Grover slept, Annabeth pulled out her book and read it, Percy paced the length of the train. I stared enviously at Annabeth's books, wishing I could read Greek well enough to have brought my own. Instead I opted for reading the various stories in the newspaper, but I quickly gave up. Trying to read the normal english was just giving me a headache.

Once Percy poked my shoulder and pointed to a family of centaurs outside. He waved at the baby centaur, which was cute beyond words, but I was still wondering why the Dad was wearing a giant foam finger on his hand.

Eventually Percy fell asleep as well, leaving me in the company of Annabeth.

She was being friendlier now, not shooting me and Percy death glares. Whatever it had been that was eating her, she'd gotten over. Every now and then I saw her eyes shoot down the cabin, looking for monsters no doubt.

"I won't help you..." Percy grumbled in his sleep, his face wrinkling into a frown. Annabeth looked down at him with a curious look on his face. I did as well. Back at camp he'd mentioned he'd been having dreams about the quest, I hadn't realized he'd still been having them.

Grover bleated in his sleep, shifting and kicking Percy with the chucks, causing him to jolt awake. We watched with a gasp as his shoe came loose, revealing his cloven hoof.

Annabeth and Percy quickly shoved it back on as I stood in front and pretended to stretch in order to block the view from the other passengers.

"So." Annabeth said, sitting back in her seat, "Who wants your help?"

I leaned in as I had been about two seconds away from asking the same question.

Percy just looked confused, "What do you mean?"

"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"

Percy hesitated, looking more than a bit worried himself, finally he told them about the nightmare's he'd been having.

I shuddered when he finished, feeling a bit ill. Annabeth just shook her head, looking disturbed, "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that."

Annabeth paused, probably going over a list of gods who could offer him his mother. Eventually she shook her head, "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?"

I felt a flash of guilt strike me. Hades didn't have the had been in the shield. But Luke hadn't given them a shield, so did Luke still have the bolt? It seemed like the only option. But I hadn't told them that. How could I? They all worshiped the ground Luke walked on, they would never believe me.

Annabeth sighed when Grover's Rasta cap shifted, showing his tiny horns. She pushed the hat back into place and looked at Percy, worried, "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?" Percy furrowed his eyebrows, "You mean you've run into them before?"

Annabeth flinched, grabbing her beaded necklace and fiddling with the first bead. "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?" Percy asked Annabeth. I started, thinking about my dream, before pushing it from my mind.

Annabeth snorted, "That's easy. I'd leave him to rot."

Percy gapped at her, "You're not serious."

I shifted awkwardly. This was something people with a loving parent didn't always get. The sheer resentment one can have for absent parents. I'd lived with enough foster kids to know about it.

Annabeth looked at Percy with a cold stare, "My Dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy. 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 parents."

"But how..." Percy blushed, "I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital..."

"Percy." I hissed, but he blinked at me, completely clueless.

Annabeth just smirked and continued, "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." She scoffed, looking down, "He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."

Despite everything I could still a see a sort of sparkle in her eyes as she talked as the two 'regular' kids. Obviously she had a bit of fondness for her siblings.

Percy looked out the window, a thoughtful look on his face, "My mom married a really awful guy. 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."

Annabeth looked thoughtful, but then shook her head, "He doesn't care about me. His wife- my stepmum - treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever 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 we're you?"

"Same age as when I started Camp. Seven."

Percy gapped at her, "But...you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself."

"Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me towards help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time anyway."

They both kind of looked towards me then quickly looked away, embarrassed. I knew they were curious about my home life. I didn't really want to say anything but they had both sort of spilt their guts in front of me and I felt bad for not sharing.

"I er- well." I swallowed looking around, "My parents, they weren't. Um..." I felt myself tearing up a bit.

"Hey, You don't have to say anything." Percy said quickly, blushing right down to his neck.

I laughed a bit at that, but shook my head, "No, it's okay. Um...you know how Children of Nike are put somewhere...safe. Before they're needed."

"Yes." Annabeth said quickly.

Percy looked between us, "Um...no."

"Well yeah." I said awkwardly, "I had parents, my parents. And they died, nothing dramatic, car accident. After that I was in foster care, jumping from home to home, you know. One day I just found myself back in this...world. I don't really know how to explain it."

Actually I knew exactly how to explain it. Alternate reality, universe...whatever. But I didn't want to say it. I was kind of terrified once I said it out loud I would realize how incredibly stupid this entire thing was and go back into my panic stage.

Percy nodded, but I could tell he looked confused, "And then you came to Yancy."

I paused. I didn't want to tell him that half the time he knew me was just false memories, but at the same time I did. I wanted to have somebody else know this besides Chiron. Chiron was nice but he was pretty unapproachable about these sorts of thing.

But I couldn't help but think that he wouldn't trust me afterwards. He was my best friend, even if I wasn't his and I didn't think I could bear for him to hate me.

"Yeah. I was still with foster care and well..." I lied through my teeth.

Annabeth nodded and looked away, while Percy awkwardly patted my shoulder, "Sorry bout your mum and dad."

I rolled my shoulders in the weird shrug, and cleared my throat, "It was a long time ago."

A/N: Gahh, I feel like I haven't updated this story in forever! I'm super sorry guys but the semester is all but over so hopefully I'll be able to work on this beauty for a bit. The main problem was that many of you might know, the Doctor Who 50th anniversary came out a couple weeks ago. Now for all of you who you aren't in that Fandom, let's just say it's kind of a huge freaking deal. And I've been freaking out about it ever since, and that means (again, as many of your might have noticed), that I've been focusing pretty heavily on my DW fic.

I don't really have much to say today folks. I have a week before my next exam and then it's christmas break so we'll see if I can update before then.

My art for this story is linked on my profile, as well as my Percy Jackson Blog. As always review with any thoughts, concerns or questions! I love hearing from you guys!

Until Next Time,

-Ash