Lou Ellen

Surely, this is the story that gets the most Reviews per chapter. 30+, actually, for the last chapter, and I'm impressed.

Anyway, here we have the bus ride, Medusa, camping, Gladiola the Poodle, and the development of Lou Ellen with backstory, jealousy, and a DelayedInspiration patented trope that's quickly becoming overused, although there's deeper meaning to it in this one than the others.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or AC

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Even doing something as simple as getting on a bus, Percy's mind was channeling everything militant about Vergil that it could. Examples included psychoanalyzing every passenger on the bus, the seating arrangements, the size of the windows, the locations of the emergency exits, every passenger's disposition, where the open seats were, who was sitting next to the open seats, and who was sitting around the open seats.

With demigod hyper cognition via ADHD, Percy was able to process all of this faster than Vergil or Faris were ever capable of doing.

With a strategy already played out in his head, the son of Poseidon skillfully got it to where he and his allies were sitting on the same row, with Grover sitting by the right window, himself in the middle, Annabeth by the aisle, Lou Ellen on the opposite side of the aisle, between Beckendorf, his foot in the walkway, and a sleeping old woman.

The Furies past by the half-bloods and satyr without any inkling of knowing the truth.

Unfortunately, Grover, Annabeth, Charles, and Lou Ellen did not know Assassin sign language, and so Percy's plan would have to be conveyed with words. The Assassin leaned close to the daughter of Athena, and she got the message and leaned over as well, putting her ear within whispering distance.

"I need you to give Beckendorf your hat."

Annabeth snapped back and looked at him as if he had just asked her to poop her pants. "Excuse me?"

Percy frowned, grabbed her shoulder, and yanked her close. "When we enter the tunnel in approximately five minutes, Beckendorf is going to put on your hat and get to the front, and yank the wheel. In the confusion and chaos, I'll take out the Furies with my crossbow. With luck, we'll make it through this with our transportation more or less intact."

"And when something goes wrong, like you miss, or Beck doesn't make it, or the bus flips? What's your backup plan?"

"Take advantage of the cramped space and maneuver in such a way that our enemies are inoperable. Now, give Beck your hat, please, and relay the plan. Time is running out."

While Annabeth didn't look wholly convinced of this idea, she did as she was told. Grover tapped Percy's shoulder. "What do I do?"

"Everything satyrly possible to stay alive and not die."

That was enough for Grover, because his eyes hardened and he nodded with determination.

The bus entered the tunnel, and Beckendorf vanished at the same time the elderly-looking Furies stood up en masse and declared in disturbing unison, "I have need of the restroom."

Such a facility was not even on this bus, but to Percy's knowledge of what he could see, no one had heard, but for those that did, they said nor did nothing. The Furies strolled up the middle of the aisle, and Annabeth looked at the Assassin, panicked message clear, Murphey's Law is doing its thing and Plan A just got shot straight to Hades; what are you gonna do now, smart guy!?

Percy looked back at her, his own message clear, Improvise.

Then, inexplicably, the bus slammed into the wall of the tunnel, knocking everyone off-balance even if they were sitting down. The Furies displayed how supernatural they were by remaining perfectly upright, no longer moving.

Percy popped over his seat, crossbow cocked, ready to fire, and fire he did. It was a good thing the Furies were standing up, because the swarm of bolts that ripped through them would have undoubtedly peppered the innocent sheep behind them had they been sitting down.

Unfortunately, Alecto was faster than her sisters, and she was able to dodge the tiny arrows by ducking. Seeing that, Percy immediately put his crossbow away, just as the bus shot out of the tunnel, down an exit, through more intersections than what should have been allowed by law, and then everything was New Jersey countryside.

Percy had a moment of ADHD in that, given the chaos of the situation, he couldn't help but notice the beautiful scenes of nature that he was surrounded by, and the ugly cityscape of Manhattan on the other side of the filthy river.

But anyway.

The bus ground to a sudden halt, and Percy concluded that Beckendorf had hit the emergency break. The main doors burst open, and the sheep stampeded out of the bus. In seconds, those left on the bus were the otherwise supernatural.

"Percy Jackson! Where is it!?" Alecto shrieked.

She erupted from beneath the seats, throwing them about the bus, in full Fury form. Bat wings, clawed hands, large ears, ugly face, sharp teeth, and burning eyes. She also had a fiery whip in her hand, and looked pissed.

Percy took a stand in the middle of the aisle, looking calm and serious as ever. "Where's what? The Bolt? I'm looking for it, care to help?"

The Fury hissed. "Do not mock me, little b—" Alecto suddenly grinned something devious— "do not mock me little girl."

Percy twitched, then Anaklusmos sprung to life in his hand. "And there goes my tolerance for cordiality. Tell Hades I send him my regards and that I'll see him soon."

Alecto raised her whip to strike, and the Assassin, recalling the many times he had done this, threw his sword like a spear, capitalizing on the opening left by his opponent. The celestial bronze weapon did its job well, piercing Alecto straight through the heart, and lodged itself into the roof.

That was how hard Percy had thrown Riptide.

That was how mad he was being called a 'little girl.'

He did not take such insults lightly, or at all, really.

A foul smell filled the air, and it definitely wasn't the smell of dead bodies or feces. It smelled atmospheric, ozone-ish—Percy's eyes widened. "Out! Now!"

The quest did not have to be told twice, and they all had their various methods of escape. Beckendorf, Annabeth's hat in hand, bolted out the doors, Lou Ellen, Grover, and Annabeth right behind him, while Percy, even in this heated situation, knew that he was a wanted boy due to Gabe, and realized that showing his face to a large crowd of idiot sheep after a bus blew up, would not be a good idea. So he logically dove out of the window opposite the gathered crowd, thankfully not getting cut by any glass, and sprinted for the trees.

Lightning struck the bus, causing it to go up in flames, but there wasn't any shrapnel that could have done any damage, just a smoldering bus in which everything was on fire and melting.

Beckendorf poked his head around the bus's corner, motioned with his arm, and then came running, the rest of the quest following close behind.

"Perfect," Lou said. "What now?"

Percy turned on his heel and trekked into the woods. "We continue heading west on foot until viable transportation presents itself."

Realizing that he wasn't going to stop for conversation, the quest followed, and it was Annabeth, ever the logic one, who rattled out the list of problems.

"Not to rain on whatever parade you have going here, but we all got stupid and left our bags on that bus, which is currently on fire, meaning that we have no money, no food, no medical supplies, no changes of clothes, and worst of all: no toilet paper."

…

Yeah, Percy had twice lived in a time where there was no such thing as toilet paper, or indoor plumbing, for that matter, so there being a lack of tickets was not a bother to him. Whenever he had had to relieve himself, Faris/Vergil would either find something on hand, or simply use their hand and then wipe it off in the dirt before washing in the nearest stream.

Let it not be said that Crusades and Renaissance were sanitary time periods.

The lack of food was also nothing that he worried about, because Faris, having been surrounded by Muslims, Muslim Assassins, and Muslim friends, and once decided to take up the tradition of Ramadan, in which he basically didn't eat for a month, and Vergil, during his training with Lupa, had been dropped in some random country and told to survive for a week without food.

Through nothing but sheer will, Vergil dominated the challenge.

The experiences of these two men were branded on Percy, and he highly doubted he was going to undergo a week, much less a month, without food. A few hours, at best, a day, at worst, but it was hardly nothing he couldn't handle with frightening ease.

The problem of money was also a nonfactor because, in his Minotaur horns, was his wallet stuffed full of the liberated cash of gangbangers, muggers, and robbers, collectively amounting to a few thousand dollars of assorted hundreds, fifties, and twenties. It was a very thick wallet.

The other problems, clothes and medicine, were also woes that Percy gave no heed to, because wherever there was water, there was basically unlimited possibilities. He could heal himself and others, and he could clean laundry with more efficiency than Oxyclean.

So, in summary, all of the things that Annabeth claimed were problems, were not actually problems.

At least in Percy's book.

"Did you even hear me? No. Toilet. Paper."

"I heard you, and I do not worry about toilet paper."

Annabeth adopted a miffed expression. "I am a girl. Lou is a girl. Unlike you three guys, going pee is not so simple."

"Neither is pooping, but when you gotta go, you gotta go."

"What? Behind a tree or something?"

"I suppose you could always use your pants. I mean, when you stop and think about it, panties are just really thin, cotton diapers."

Now Annabeth looked like she had just been personally offended. "I am not ever using my pants as a toilet."

"Then I guess you better suck it up, buttercup, and get mentally prepared for the possibility of taking a dump in the woods. I do suggest taking extra care to pick out which leaves you use to clean yourself, because getting Poison Ivy around your anus would far more amusing for all of us, than you. Or you could just cut out the middle man and use your hand, wipe it off in the dirt when you're done."

Annabeth stopped, and indignant look on her face. "What. Is. Wrong with you!? Normal people do not simply think so lightly of going to the bathroom outside a toilet!"

"Survival 101. Desperate time call for desperate measures. Strategize. Improvise. Here, if it'll help ease your mind, brainstorm ways to relieve yourself in a natural setting with the end result being the maximum comfort you can think of."

And just like that, Percy had Annabeth occupied for the foreseeable future, much like giving a small child a new puzzle toy to work out and solve.

Children of Athena did enjoy puzzles and brainteasers.

"What about you, Lou? Any worries about answering the call of nature while surrounded by nature?"

"Nope," the witch popped the P. "I've had solutions to that problem for years now."

"Oh? Care to share, for the sake of conversation and time passing?"

"Sure." Lou Ellen promptly raised her jacket and shirt, and lowered the waistband of her jeans.

"…that's certainly not common."

The witch let her close back in place. "Whenever we went on long road trips, my dad always made sure I was wearing one, and we had plenty of changes, because rest stops were few and far between, and truck stops on the side of the highway were filthy, smelly, stinky, and crawling with undesirables. So whenever I had to go, I just went. Pulling to the shoulder and taking care of business was much simpler than dealing with a changing table of possibly getting raped, mugged, or killed. Since this is a quest going all the way to LA and back to NY, a quest that's clearly going to be chock-full of monsters that'll prevent us from getting any more than a night's rest, I thought this was a great idea. It's even better when you know locomotion spells, and changing takes less than ten seconds."

Everyone stared at the witch.

"What? It's practical," she sniffed in defense of herself. "And it's only for long travels, so no one get any ideas!"

Beckendorf shook his head. "Lou…you are a strange one."

"Our entire family is a strange one!"

"You got a point there," Percy said. "Moving on before this gets any more awkward than it already is."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When the scent of American food (grease, fat, salt, and sinful goodness) reached everyone's noses, everyone, besides Percy, started to water at the mouth as the smell intoxicated all of them. For Percy, when he smelled the fast food, and heard the whispering, he knew that something terrible was afoot.

A monster, more than likely.

The quest exited the trees and saw a road, and an establishment that was so remote it was a wonder it was still in business. While the neon cursive sign was impossible for anyone to read except for Grover, who informed everyone that the sign read Aunty M's Garden Gnome Emporium, all the life-size stone statues hanging about raised many red flags in Percy's head.

M, and stone statues…

Eagle Vision was activated, and a glowing red figure appeared behind the walls.

Percy looked at his allies, and saw that they were all glaze-eyed and mesmerized, even Lou, clearly under the spell of the monster within. Percy rolled his own eyes, and made a small detour away from the front door, away from his allies.

Lord willing, he could take down whatever monster this was before anyone died, and if this was the monster he suspected it to be, then death would come in the simple form of eye contact.

'God, be with them, and be with me. Amen.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lou Ellen was well-versed in magic and spells, being a daughter of Hecate, so she should have known she was under the hypnotic spell of the Gorgon. Alas, she did not. She was effectively so drunk, drunk on the smell of food and delicious grease, that she didn't find it the least bit strange to see a woman wearing dark glasses, a black dress, and a shawl inside the Emporium, a hand on her hip, like she had been expecting them.

"Welcome, children," the woman greeted kindly. "You are all not lost, are you? Where are your parents?"

Annabeth, even in her drunken state, still had enough mental function for a white lie. "Our bus was in an accident on our way to our parent's house, so we started walking, and we found this place."

"Oh, you poor dears," the woman cooed sadly. "Here, why don't you sit on these stools while I go get you all some food. Then we'll call your parents and make everything right, kay?"

"Okay!" chorused four voices in tandem. They all hopped on the stools in front of the counter, eager to be fed.

"Lou, honey, could you come with me, please?"

The daughter of Hecate was so deep under the spell that she didn't think twice of the woman she didn't know knowing her name.

"Coming, ma'am!"

Lou Ellen bounded from her stool, eagerly following the kind woman to a kitchen-like area.

The woman turned around, a warm smile on her face. "You're a very beautiful young girl, Lou, one much too beautiful to turn into a statue."

"Thank you, ma'am!"

"You remind me of myself, when I was young. Alas, it has been such a long time since I've felt the touch of another person, much less a fellow woman. Lou, would you be so kind as to come to me and let me have my with you? Please?"

The witch beamed. "Sure!"

When she was within reach, Medusa grabbed the girl and greedily began to feel her up, running her hands over Lou's chest and stomach, before moving lower. Medusa found the thickness of the girl's jeans to be odd, but it was nothing that couldn't be overlooked for the sheer sake of finally having an opportunity for release.

Medusa eventually decided that the outside of Lou's clothes were no longer a viable source of pleasure, and went about slipping her hands inside the girl's pants. She expected cotton panties that would be easily moved aside so that her fingers could play with both of the girl's holes; Medusa's digits did not feel cotton panties, and it gave her pause.

"What the fu—"

SCHLING

"Language, qabih."

Medusa's head rolled across the ground, and her body and clothes turned to golden dust. Lou Ellen's eyes went blank, before focus returned to them.

"I think I was just raped."

"Almost. Your weirdness caused Medusa to freeze up before any penetration could happen."

"But she was touching me."

"Agreed. However, as there was no penetration, there was no rape, only molesting."

"That doesn't make me feel any better!"

"Twas not my intention to make you feel better," Percy smiled happily. "I was merely correcting your false understanding of the given situation. Your reactions amuse me."

Lou Ellen frowned. "You're a sociopath."

"Among other things, yes. Also, there's a strange smell in this air, and it seems to be coming from you."

Lou paled and immediately patted her front and her rear. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and then she saw the grin on Percy's face.

"You. Jerk."

"You make this too easy for me. Now, I believe we have friends that are most likely confused and hungry in the other room, and at our feet is Medusa's head." Percy picked up the spoil of war and placed it at his back, where it was sucked into the little slit in his jacket that gave access to the Minotaur horn. "Might be useful later."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After everyone's stomachs were full, to which Percy realized they were either not going to burn all of that and end up in an awkward situation, or that food wouldn't last long and hunger would strike again. Annabeth had beaten herself up about not realizing this was Medusa's lair, Grover being the same, while Beckendorf was just happy he wasn't a statue and hungry anymore. Lou, felt she had the worst, and she did, honestly, because she was the one whom Medusa molested.

Anyway, the quest was once again on their way west, but night was falling, and stamina was starting to run low. Percy could've kept going for who knows how long, but, being the leader he was, he made the decision to set up camp for the night. He took first watch, only he wasn't alone. Lou and Grover couldn't sleep.

"It's disgusting," the satyr said, referring to all the litter about the clearing. "Humans are destroying this world, and everything in it. Landfills, pollution, toxic waste—it all just gets dumped, and none of those laws the government passed are being enforced. You can't even see the stars anymore."

Grover knew nothing about what the sky used to look like. Percy had lived as Faris in the 1190s, and as Vergil in the 1500s, when the wonders of coal and oil had yet to be discovered. Without such pollutants, the night sky had been a dazzling tapestry of lights and colors the likes of which could only be seen today via special equipment or special locations. Back then, the sky had been an every night occurrence, no different than clouds or the sun, and it was something that treated as commonly. Now, however, looking at the sky now, Percy realized how much the wonders of the night had been taken advantage of.

"What do you want a searcher's license for, Grover?" Percy asked.

"To find Pan, of course, the God of the Wild. With my license, I can go wherever I think I need to, spend as long as I need to, in order to find him. When I do, he'll fix everything that's wrong with nature today, and the world will be better."

Grover's eyes blazed with more passion than when he was devouring enchiladas, and that was saying something.

"Pan disappeared several thousand years ago," Percy said, "and no satyr has found him since."

The what chance do you have was left unsaid, but it rang loud and clear in the silent night, and Grover lowered his head, frustration at the facts and statistics getting to him. His face darkened as harsh reality sat upon his shoulders, but he refused to be beaten.

He looked back at Percy, and now his eyes were alight with something akin to hostility. "I will find Pan. I swear it on the River Styx."

Thunder sealed his oath, and where Lou looked stricken, Percy just stared at his acquaintance. "I wish you the grace of God on your journey, Grover."

It lifted the satyr's spirits tremendously to hear that, because with the way it was worded, Percy made it clear he had every confidence that Grover would obtain his searcher's license.

"You two need your rest. We have a long day ahead of us."

Grover yawned, now tired. "You're right."

He got up, treaded over to Annabeth, and promptly collapsed next to her. Seconds later, there was a new set of snores reverberating around the trees.

Percy looked at Lou, and her expression made his sentence die in his throat. "What's wrong?"

Lou seemingly ignored him for a good ten seconds, content with staring fiercely at the dirt, then she looked at him. "Can I tell you a secret? Well, a few?"

Percy raised a brow. "Secrets are very personal items that are called secrets for a reason, and we are barely more than acquaintances. You want to share multiple?"

"Maybe I want to be more than acquaintances, maybe I want to be friends."

"…okay…"

"Just…humor me, please?" Lou said, straining.

Percy settled into a relaxed position, channeling his experiences as Il Mentore. This was the same thing he did when an Apprentice came to him wishing to confess something, of which there were many interesting stories that could be told, but Percy focused on the present, focused on what Lou had to say.

"Go on," Percy said gently. "I am listening."

Lou took a deep breath, and that's when it became clear that her secrets were going to be very personal details about her person.

"Well, first off, I guess is the easiest one to tell. Remember earlier when I said I only wore them for long trips?"

"That was a lie."

"Yeah…I also have to wear them at night, unless I want to wake up soaked. See, my mom operates on the idea of alchemy, the equal exchange principle and all that. I think it's bull, but she insisted that it was the Ancient Laws, but whatever. What I got was advanced abilities. By my siblings' standards, I might as well be a minor goddess. That's how powerful I am compared to my brothers and sisters.

"Anyway, because I got super magical intuity, my mom had to get something from me as well. Compared to the very long list of things she could've taken from me, like hearing, seeing, speaking, touching, intelligence, body parts, etc., nocturnal urinary control is hardly something to cry over, but still. It sucks being a tween and still being a bedwetter, and it's going to suck being a teenager, an adult, and—well, not so much an old person, if I live that long, because then it won't matter, but yeah. What I have to look forward to every morning is a wet bed. Granted, I typically avoid those situations by cutting my fluid intake and going to the bathroom beforehand, but still.

"Although it could be much worse," Lou cracked a self-mocking grin to alleviate her sense of self-pity. "Instead of being a bedwetter, I could have been a daywetter, or even worse, not have any control over my butt. That would have been terrible. I could even be autistic, and be in diapers 24/7, or Mom could've taken a couple chromosomes, and then I'd really be in trouble. So yeah, it could be much worse. Look at the bright side, right? Think positive and all that jazz."

Percy vividly recalled how Vergil's daughter, Christina, had been a bedwetter until she was fifteen.

"Well, that's my first secret. I'm a bedwetter for life because I didn't ask for super powers and my mom had to take something away from due to the Ancient Laws dictating equal exchange. My second secret," Lou's joy faded, replaced with lucid dark, "is that I see things about people.

"When I see someone new that I'll end up having some kind of important interaction with, I see things about them. Their past, mostly, but sometimes their future, too. For instance, Annabeth ran away from home at seven because she was attacked by spiders and her mortal parents didn't want her. She spent over a month on the streets before running into a couple other demigods, half starved and a major case of diaper rash because she couldn't find anything to wipe herself with. That's why she was freaking out earlier about not having toilet paper.

"I could tell you about Charles and Grover, but I like them. Annabeth annoys me, with her snotty attitude and her sense of superiority that comes just from being the wise-ass daughter of Athena. I could turn her into a field mouse and let the owls have her if I wanted."

"You're jealous of her."

Lou glared at the ground. "Her mom cared enough about her to guide her to help and give her a magic hat. My mom cared enough about me to make me a life-long bedwetter."

"Fair enough. However, you mentioned that when your father took you on long road trips, and that whenever you needed a change, he would simply pull over to the shoulder, and just now you said that it was both of Annabeth's mortal parents that drove her away. From what I gather, your father cared enough about you to make you comfortable during an extended period of time trapped in a seatbelt, while Annabeth's father cast her from his house."

"What? You saying I don't have any room to complain?"

"No, you can complain about anything you want, just as I can, just as anyone can. What you do not have any room to do is pity yourself. Self-pity is something no one has any grounds to feel, for there is someone who always has it worse. Your father loves you, remember that, Annabeth's did not. Now, get some rest."

"Get some rest," Lou echoed hollowly. "Yeah, can't wait to hasten my waking up with pee all over me."

Once more, Percy recalled how his daughter in a previous life had been wetting her bed until she was in her mid-teens.

"As you said, Lou Ellen Williams: it could be much worse. Be thankful that your situation is as it is."

The witch rounded on him, green eyes glowing with magical power. "Be. Thankful!? I—"

Percy bolted to his feet, drawing up to his full height in an instant. He was taller than Hecate's Daughter, and his sheer presence dwarfed the girl beyond measure. No longer did she stand before Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, but before Virgil Cavaliere, son of Virile, father of Giovanni, Christina, and Maria, husband of Claudia, Mentor of the Assassin Brotherhood.

One did not simply use that tone of voice when speaking to Il Mentore.

"Yes, be thankful, for the Lord has blessed you with friends and family, clothes and food, power and strength. Do not be quick to judge harshly your standing in life, for there are those who would be quick to change places with you, and you would soon come to find that a hindrance such as nocturnal enuresis is much more preferable to begging for food and sleeping in the dirt."

Vergil's eyes bore into Lou Ellen's, far outstripping her in power, experience, magnitude, everything.

The witch was like dry grass to his inferno.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Upon waking the next morning, to which Annabeth, Charles, Grover and Lou were all disgruntled at Percy shouldering everyone's watch instead of getting his allotted rest last night, you would never have known that deep conversations took place and an argument had broken out last night. Percy was friendly, cordial, and borderline sociopathic as usual, and Lou was her usual chipper self, and Grover had become clumsy and nervous again.

Though he had found a pink poodle by the name of Gladiola (who was a male), who was willing to help's the quest out on their transportation problem, by informing them that his owners had put up a $200 reward for his safe return…not that the poodle wanted to return, but he was willing to help. There was a train station further down the way, and while all of that was well and good, there was still a small problem.

"$200 bucks won't be enough to buy tickets for all of us to get to LA," Annabeth correctly surmised.

"Not to worry," Percy said happily. "I've got it covered."

"What? Is the Lord going to provide for us?"

"Oh, he already has. Several months ago, actually."

"The heck are you talking about?"

"Language," Percy chastised. "And how about instead of questioning things, you let just let everything flow."

Realizing she wasn't about to win this battle, Annabeth conceded.

The quest dropped Gladiola off, received their reward, and found the train station.

"All right, what's was your plan, exactly?"

Percy took his wallet out of the slit he had cut in his jacket, and his allies all stared at how fat it was. The Assassin approached the ticket booth, and out of the corner of his eye he saw that the line only went as far as Denver…and something else. He also only had five hundreds in his hand, not his entire wallet. It would raise enough brows to see a child of twelve with so much money as it was, they did not need to see his overflowing wallet.

"Good morning, ma'am. Five tickets to Denver, please."

The grizzled woman raised a heavily-done eyebrow. "You got money for that, kid?"

"I believe this will suffice."

The woman was treated to the sight of five Ben Franklins, and her eyes widened, and then they narrowed in suspicion.

Percy turned serious. "Enough for the tickets, the rest to not ask questions. Check their authenticity yourself if it eases your mind."

The woman quickly did just that, and then she quickly set about printing off the tickets and pocketing the monstrous amount of change.

"Enjoy your ride, children!" Her yellow teeth were speckled with dip.

Percy accepted the tickets. "Thank you, ma'am. Have a blessed day."

"You too, honey!"

Hanging up in the ticket booth was Percy's face, captured by thousands of pixels, with a caption underneath in bold black letters, the most prominent being those that spelt out the word wanted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There wasn't enough room in a single compartment for five teenagers of varying size, which was why there was two. Percy took one for himself, Annabeth took one for herself, Lou Ellen and Grover roomed with Percy, and Beckendorf roomed with Annabeth to keep her company, and then Grover was soon kicked out because the witch wanted to talk to Percy alone.

"So, about last night…"

"Yes?"

"What you told me…about being thankful for what I had, and that my life was only as bad as it was because it could've been so much worse…I did thank Him. I…prayed…apologized for how I acted…and said thank you that it was only as bad as it was."

Percy smiled warmly. "Good."

"Yeah, and the funniest thing happened, too."

"Oh?"

Lou blushed faintly. "Nine times out of ten, I wake up wet, right? Well, last night, this morning, I didn't…I drank a lot at Medusa's, and I thought for sure I was gonna…Percy. I woke up dry."

"Congratulations."

"I know, right!? I mean, that's never happened, beyond when I literally don't have any fluids in me for the night! Whenever I drink something, and then don't pee before going to bed, I always wake up wet. But this time I didn't!"

Percy smiled, "Praise the Lord."

"Yeah!" Lou's face fell just a little.

"Something wrong?"

"…kind of. I prayed to God, and then, for the first time ever, I woke up dry, and it's just…coincidence?" she said uncertainly. "I mean, I don't want to keep praying, keep waking up dry, and then miss a prayer one night, and wake up soaked. It defeats the purpose of praying, doesn't it? Praying just to get something only to stop when you don't get it anymore…I don't want to pray like that."

"Then don't," Percy said simply. "Maybe it was God's will that you woke up dry this morning, or maybe you drank less than you thought, or maybe Hecate took pity on you. Who's to say? However, the Book of John tells us to pray with confidence for what we want, and if we know that He has heard us, and that it is His will, then we shall have it. So, pray every night that you wake up dry, and believe in Him that you will."

"Okay…" the witch said slowly. "Then what do I do when I pray to wake up dry, only to wake up wet?"

"Don't lose faith, and keep praying."

"That seems counterproductive."

"Perhaps, but faulting God for not answering a prayer is like faulting your parents for not buying you that toy you wanted. There is a reason why they didn't buy you it, perhaps they were saving up for a bigger surprise, perhaps the money was needed for a larger reason, or perhaps they were keeping financial secret from you so that you did not worry about a problem above your head, and there is a reason behind all that God does and does not do. As children, both of our own flesh and blood parents, and of His, it is not our place to question; brainstorm, theorize, and infer, yes, but not question, for one day we will be the parents, and we will recognize the burden of not buying that toy, and then we will understand the pain of not granting our child the happiness that they wanted."

Lou stared at the Assassin with wide eyes. "Wow…"

Percy grinned. "I can be long-winded."

"I see that."

"I think you mean you hear that."

Lou cracked her own grin, then it faded as her face lit up with remembrance. "Hey, I forgot to tell you last night about my third secret."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Lou got up and opened the door. "I like you."

She slammed it shut and bolted away.

Percy stared at where the witch had been. "Oh."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Conversations of a philosophical and religious nature. That's always fun. Hope you enjoyed it.

Now, Lou wets her bed because Hecate ripped off Truth from Full Metal Alchemist, and she wears diapers for that, and long trips. Before anyone gets up in arms with annoyance at how diapers are once more reappearing in my work, allow me to explain.

A friend of mine was recently involved in a car wreck, and the seatbelt caught their front, bruising their bladder, and their head took a blow. While that sounds bad, the only real damage is that they have some urinary control issues right now, but the doctor said they'll be fine after their brain heals. They know that I write fanfiction, and this was my way of paying homage to them.

The diapers on road trips comes from my aunt doing that to her children, two boys, one seven and the other eleven. Like Lou's dad, she doesn't deal with truck stops and public bathrooms, and the diapers are only precautions. But anyway.

Now that I'm on a roll, I think I'm gonna finish the Lightning Thief arc before moving forward. Depends on you guys.

Fav, Follow, and Review!