Penny POV

Wow. Okay. Trains are really boring. You can't move around that much and well, I don't know! That's pretty much an ADHD kid's nightmare! Al seemed almost as fidgety as me. Must have the same level of problems that I do. Reyna was a different matter though. She was facing the window seeming deep in thought. It seemed that moments like these she didn't bother keeping her face in check. I mean emotions. Of course, I meant emotions, what would face even mean? (Clearly Athena's blessing does not help me enough) Her eyebrows were creased, and she had a frown on her face with a worried look in her eyes. Her hair swept in front of her face almost covering half of it. All in all, she was beautiful. Hey sue me! I liked her for a long time, but Annabeth just meant way too much to me for me to even realize I had feelings for her (To that I assume Annabeth would shake her head and mutter 'Seaweed Brain' and walk away).

Only problem… yep you guessed it! We're the same goddamn gender! I know that I'm apparently bi, though the liking guys still does make me feel weird (why wouldn't it?), but news flash! That doesn't make Reyna the same too. I mean she once offered (when I was a boy of course) which meant she had feelings for me too, but now…. Ugh! I really hate you Aphrodite!

After about another hour or so, the train seemed to slow down, and the conductor announced our stop. Al jumped off the seat and said, "Meet you at the main entrance. I'm about to burst" He then rushed out of the train, much before I could point out that there was a bathroom on the train.

Reyna and I stepped out of the train and immediately my vision was compromised. Black strands flew in and out of my vision, sometimes completely blinding me. I think you know where I'm going with this. I growled in frustration. Reyna looked at me with both a sympathetic and amused look on her face. "You do realize that you could just tie your hair back right?" she asked. I scoffed, "I know that…" I replied hesitantly. She looked at me in surprise and said, "You've been like this for so long and you still don't know how to do that?"

I grumbled and said, "Just shut up and help me. There should be one in my pack" She took one out and yanked my hair back. "Ow! What the hell! You trying to rip my hair out of my skull?" I yelled with quite a few people around us staring. I looked down, embarrassed, and let Reyna finish. I tugged annoyed at my hair. It felt so irritating like someone was constantly tugging at it from behind and trust me I know what that was like. Sometimes the seven from the prophecy were not the nicest and most understanding people (*cough* Leo *cough*).

We walked on and saw Al waiting at the entrance. He looked at us and impatiently said, "Where the hell were you guys? I've been waiting here for like 15 minutes!" I glared at him, but didn't respond

We headed through the city and sat down to rest on a bench next to Lake Michigan. We got bored, so we started having a rock flipping contest. Reyna was badly losing. Hey! No one told Al and I that we couldn't use our powers! Before Al could throw the rock he had ready in his hand, a ripple appeared in the water and moved towards us. Underneath I saw a naiad waving at me and beckoning me inside the lake. I shrugged and turned to my friends. "Looks like it's a message from my dad. I'll be back in a bit" I said as I followed the naiad into the lake. Once we were deep enough, the naiad turned to me and then vanished. I felt a presence behind me and then I heard a familiar man's voice saying, "Hi Penny"

I turned around and saw my dad standing there in his signature fishing shirt and Bermuda shorts with a full smile on his face. "What are you doing here dad? I thought gods can't directly help and seek out their children in a quest?" I asked. He raised his eyebrow and answered, "Why Penny, I didn't seek you out. You just happened to come across a naiad who was near me. You were probably sharing beauty tips or something" He gave a big hearty laugh as I glared at him because of his comment. "Not funny dad. Not funny at all" He smiled before morphing his face into a serious one. "I told you Penny" he said, "I'll be there whenever you need me" I smiled gratefully before he continued, "But enough stalling. Let's get to the main point"

"I'm going on a hunch here, saying that you don't have any idea where in Montana you have to go" I nodded, feeling embarrassed. "I can't help you too much because of my brother's cursed rules, but I can tell you this. Look out for an old enemy's place here in the city and you'll find what you need" and with that he dissolved into the sea.

Reyna POV

As I sat there waiting for Penny to return, my mind began to wander – not exactly, it was to the person for whom we were waiting for – Penny. Percy or Penny, it didn't matter, but there was always something that she found fascinating about her. I mean he was incredibly good looking as a guy, but she was also drop dead gorgeous as a girl. I spaced out and I was suddenly nudged out of my thought because of Al screaming my name. "Wow, you're unresponsive sometimes. What were you thinking about?" he asked to which I replied a simple 'nothing'. He grinned and said, "Right. My bad. Let me rephrase the question. Who were you thinking about? You got a little crush you're thinking about?" I looked at him with a guarded expression and said, "Of course not. I was thinking about the quest"

He looked at me with another grin and said, "Right cause that's totally true. You want to know something about me? It just so happens that when people swear they are telling the truth, it's usually on my mom's river. So, you know what that means? I can detect a lie from just about anyone. Regardless of how well you guard your emotions" I looked at him dumbfounded. "Wow. That's like Apollo level stuff" I replied. "So, who is it?" he asked.

"Never mind, why am I asking? The answer is so obvious. You've been admiring her for the past few days. Someone like a certain daughter of Poseidon?" I blushed, but quickly hid it. "You sure you're not a child of Aphrodite?" I asked? He grinned and said, "Nope, but that's all the confirmation I need. Just took a guess. You shouldn't give up to people that easily" I glared at him and sighed, "Yeah but it doesn't matter. Right now, we're on a very important quest. Plus, she's going through stuff right now hat just wouldn't make it right… I said as I trailed off" Al waved all of that off and said, "Yeah yeah, but if there's anything that's obvious, it's that that girl likes you back. She keeps stealing glances at you. I don't know what this problem she's going through is, but don't you think it's the kind where some extra love will benefit her?" You don't know what you're talking about Al" I said irritated, "It's so much more complicated than that. It's just…" and I was interrupted with a figure walking towards us. I turned to see the ever-beautiful Penny walking out of the lake.

"Anything I missed?" she asked as she looked at the pair of us, "You two seemed to be getting into a heated argument" "It's nothing" I said waving my hand to pass the subject, "But what happened down there?" I asked. Penny filled us in on her conversation with her dad. "Well, I've never encountered anyone in Chicago before, but I think we both know of three people who have" I said. Penny nodded her head and said gravely, "I don't like it but it looks like we have to go to the lair of Medea"

And there's the next chapter guys. I didn't expect to be writing this so fast, but reviews piled in, and well I'm just happy that there are still people who want this story to continue. So, thanks guys and I hope that I can give you good content in the future. Apart from that, I finally decided to start with the whole love pairing thing. I'm not that good of a romance writer so bear with me.

Oh, that reminds me. What kind of writer do you guys think I am? It's been bugging me. Leave your answers in a review cause seriously I'm really curious. Maybe that'll even give me an idea as to how to continue writing this story. Anyway, see you guys next chapter!