Chapter 9:Aphrodite's Help

Aaaahhh, put away those pitchforks, and douse the fires. Sorry for updating so slow, but i have Finals. Yeah, real joy. I have three finals on the same

day, so i'm kinda busy right now. I'm squeezing this one little chapter in, before its back to studying. That's the bad news. Good news, is that once

finals are over (next week) probably chapters every two days, so please don't lose your faith in me. Review! I'm happier with the amount of reviews

that i got for chapter nine, so... here goes. I'll try and make this one a long one, since i won't be updating for a while.

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We traveled hurriedly. I mean, how slow were you going to travel if the fate of the world rested on your shoulders? We weren't going to be wasting time

checking into five star hotels every day. Man, a small part of me wished that the labryinth still existed. We go in, another day, and we're halfway across the

world. Handy. While we were traveling, i couldn't help but get the feeling that someone, or something was following us. Every time the hair on the nape of my

neck tingled, i would look back, but no one was there. I guess I was overreacting. We traveled by foot, and sometimes on pegasi, if some of them were

nearby, or by train, when we could, but mostly it was one gruelsome step after the other. Our luck finally broke on the third day.

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We were able to hitch a ride west, aboard a train. It seemed that at least one god was on our side, for the train was called 'Aphrodite's train of love'.

The conductor seemed to acknowledge who we were, or had been bribed, for he waved us on, without a single word slip past his mouth for money. We

took the time to rest in the train's business class, while the countryside sped past. Annabeth and I shared a room, Nico and Grover and Connor shared a

room, and Thalia and Clarrisse shared a room. As they settled down, I could hear Clarrise, "Touch my stuff and you'll pay, punk."

I heard Thalia snort. "I don't want to touch your things. Don't know when the last time they were washed was."

I dumped my bag onto the floor, which kept on bumping up and down. Annabeth tossed her bag onto the top bunk.

"Hey, i was going to take the top bunk," I whined.

"Live with it, Seaweed brain."

She climbed the ladder onto the top bunk, when she slipped and fell. Reflexively, i caught her.

Her stormy gray eyes met my sea green ones. "Thanks."

Instinctively, I leaned in to kiss her... 'Bang!'

"Sorry," said Thalia pointedly. "We're having lunch in the main carriage." She left, but not before, respectively, closing the door. I sighed, and let Annabeth

down. She smiled, and then climbed onto the top bunk to grab her cap from her bag. I waited for her, and then followed her. We headed to the main

carriage where food was laid out. It seemed like there were invisible servants just like Ogygia. All the plates and cups were in heart shapes, and the song

was a dopey lovey dovey kind of music. It seemed like it really was Aphrodite's car. Thalia and Clarrisse were gagging, and Nico, was testing his stygian

blade on the plates, and Grover was eating the plates. I sighed, and sat down. I helped myself to some potatoes, which someone had altered to look like

a heart. Thalia stabbed her fork, a little too viciously in my opinion, into a potatoe.

"How long until we're in Los Angeles? I want out," Clarrisse growled.

Connor yawned, "About thirty minutes."

I looked up. "Thirty minutes?"

Connor nodded, and pointed a thumb at the curtained (in pink) windows. I kicked my chair back, and strode over to the window. I pushed back the

curtains, and the landscape was speeding by, at a pace at which i new wasn't normal. I sat back down. Connor laughed, and so did Nico.

Connor smirked, " What distracted you in your carriage?"

Annabeth flicked a bean at his face. "Mind your own business," she said calmly, "or i'll have to see if i can find a decent sized tree and some rope."

Connor squirmed in his seat, and I laughed.

"That's why I'm her boyfriend, mate. So i'll never be tied up." I ducked a punch, and smiled. "I was just kidding, Annabeth."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't funny." I wasn't fast enough that time.

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I stepped off the train platform, to the bustling sounds of L.A. The others followed suit. I shouldered my bag, and I headed off into a general west

direction. We reached the underworld at noon. We breezed past Charon. One look from Nico took care of that. We made it to Cerberus, who looked at us

with all three of his heads. He whimpered at Annabeth. Dang. Dogs have good memories. He looked at Annabeth's hand, and then moaned piteously.

Annabeth looked uncertainly at him. We tried to go around him, but he was just too huge, and he mirrored our footsteps. We finally made it through

when Nico looked Cerberus in the eye, and patted him. He stood up, and we passed underneath him. We reached Hade's palace, where Nico waved his

hands, and the guards would nod, and wave us through. Pretty soon, we reached the throne room itself. There, Hades sat in thought, along with Demeter,

who was cursing the soil for not bearing her crops. Hades looked up when we entered, and Nico kneeled. The rest of us followed suit quickly, and Hades

waved his hand. "Rise, my son, and your friends."

We all rose, and I stepped forward.

"Uncle, I have a favor to ask of you."

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