I might be updating every 10 days but reviews make me want to keep going and tell me that some people are actually reading this

so here is the next chapter

chapter 11 - I Meet the God of Homeless Hippies

"There's another!" Grover yelled, "Behind us."

"In the parking lot," Annabeth ordered, "Trust me." Zoë drove across two lanes of traffic and into a small parking lot. Annabeth jumped out and we followed, well… I slowly climbed out, trying to not waste too much energy; my shoulders were heavier than they should be. Grover helped me out and we jogged to catch up with the girls.

"It's a subway entrance," Annabeth explained as we ran after her. "We'll go south, to Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

We quickly bought tickets and raced through the turnstiles. I briefly scanned the area around for any signs of pursuit. Soon we were aboard the train and heading away from D.C.

"Nice job, Annabeth," Grover sighed, "thinking of the subway."

Annabeth looked pleased. "I was prepared and studied the route we were taking, unlike you four."

"I didn't even know I was coming, until Nico nearly ordered me to." I smiled slightly.

"Seth, is that a smile I see?" Thalia grinned, "Look, Annabeth. He can smile!" I jabbed her in the ribs and she bent over clutching her stomach. "You…" Thalia lunged at me and I twisted out of the way so she slammed into the train door.

"Knock it off, Seth," Zoë ordered.

"But I didn't do anything!" I argued and Thalia snickered.

"You too, Thalia, people are staring."

"Hey, Zoë?"

"What, Seth?"

"What did you do with the pelt of the Nemean Lion?" I asked. The four of them stopped what they were doing and stared at me incredulously.

"Boys really are stupid," Thalia remarked.

"What was that for?"

"Have you not noticed what you are wearing?" Zoë questioned.

"What am I…?" I looked down and saw I was wearing a lion fur coat. "Oh. That's why my shoulders feel heavier than usual."

"If you are done admiring the pelt," Grover said, "the helicopter is following our train."

I looked out the window of the train to see we had emerged from the underground and were heading away from D.C. The helicopter was following us and getting louder.

"We need to switch trains," Zoë ordered, "At the next station."

Over the next half hour we switched trains twice, only thinking about getting away from the helicopter safely. Eventually, we got off the train and found ourselves at the end of the line. There was nothing but warehouses, railway tracks and lots of snow.

"So… What now, Annabeth?" I grinned, "You got us here."

"There has to be a train somewhere here that works." Annabeth replied already walking away to search among the snow. I sighed and trudged after the determined daughter of Athena.

There was a homeless man standing beside a trashcan fire warming his hands. When he saw us he grinned and gestured for us to come over. "Y'all need to get warmed up kids?"

We all huddled around the fire. I saw everyone was shivering; I was fine with my lion skin coat. We are on a quest together I reminded myself, we are a team. With this mantra running through my head I flicked my wrist and the fire grew hotter immediately. I stretched out my hand and reached into the fire. I could feel the heat but it did not burn me.

"My hooves are frozen." Grover complained. None of us bothered to correct him, I would have but I could sense a slight godly aura to the fire.

"We should contact camp," Annabeth suggested, "Chiron could help us."

"No." Zoë disagreed, "They cannot help us anymore. We are on our own, this is our quest."

I looked around the railway yard. On Atlas's mountain Bianca and Artemis were struggling, possibly for their lives and I am not there to help my little sister. There was a monster that is the bane of Olympus on the loose, while we are stuck on the outskirts of D.C. sharing a fire with a homeless person who had a godly aura.

"You're never completely without friends, kids." The man said, "Do you need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," Annabeth nodded, "Do you know where we could find one."

"Of course I know! I know everything," The homeless man gave us a toothless grin and pointed to a freight train that was gleaming and free of snow. Inside was a triple deck of cars. The side of the freight train read, SUN WEST LINE.

"That's convenient," Thalia murmured and turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The flames were still burning brightly in the trashcan though they had lost a bit of their glow. I was almost convinced that the homeless man was a god… was there a god of smelly, grimy homeless people?

"Let's go. The longer we take the less chance there is of getting to San Francisco."

Inside we headed straight for the cars. Zoë had claimed a Lexus on the top deck. Grover was racing a Lamborghini and Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK. Annabeth decided to get in out of different cars and inspect them. While I found a gold Bugatti Veyron Super Sport tucked away in a corner. I pulled the lion skin coat around me as I reclined the chair and closed my eyes. I started thinking about Bianca. I knew what was on the mountain we were going to and I was sure the others did too. I was afraid. Afraid of what I could dream if I slept.

"Don't be afraid of dreams." I started and looked towards the voice, the homeless man was sitting beside me "If we didn't have dreams, I wouldn't know half of what I know about the future." He cleared his throat and held up his hands:

"Dreams like a podcast,
Downloading truth in my ears.
I am so cool."

Now, I had never heard a god recite poetry. But looking at all the hints he had given I came to the conclusion that this was the god of poetry. I thought gods were supposed to be good at what they ruled over?

"The last line was only four syllables, Apollo."

How about… They tell me cool stuff." He muttered to himself. "Ah, right. Don't call me Apollo, Zeus's will be beyond pissed if he finds out I have been here. Call me Fred."

"Fred?" I asked and Apollo shrugged.

"Zeus enforces certain rules. No touching on human quests. But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody."

"I thought she was older than you?"

"That is a very small detail that we need not go into at this point."

"Are you helping us, then?" I smiled slightly.

"Of course, haven't you looked outside?"

"No. Not really."

"You are moving fast enough. It's almost sunset. You'll cross a large part of America, and then you're on your own."

"Is Artemis on Mount Tam? Is Bianca there? What about what Artemis was seeking? How long-"

"Stop! I don't know it is all clouded from me." Apollo frowned, "If you don't know the answers to your questions ask Nereus, the old man of the sea." I nodded and settled down again to get some sleep. The was a flash and Apollo was gone.

So tell me what you think

Poll results so far:

Adonis(lord) - 1

Aigeus(protection; a shield) - 1

Evander(good man) -1

Silas(forest, woods) -1

Theron(Hunter) -1

Xylon(woods, wooded) -1

I need some votes, if you can read this chapter you can answer one poll