As the trio took turns using her suite's shower they caught Alexa up on their story. Percy was the son of Poseidon who had turned up on Olympus's radar at roughly the same time Zeus's master bolt was stolen. The natural conclusion there was that Percy was the thief given the rivalry Zeus and his father had, but they were all working under the theory that Hades was the real culprit and that he had kidnapped Percy's mom in order to get him to take the fall. They had made their way across the country, getting blown off monuments, screamed at by demon grandmothers and decapitating garden gnome retailers along the way. Alexa had to say, the story was a bit of a ride.
"On behalf of my own dad, I gotta apologize for the whole Thrill-ride of Love business." Was the first words out of Alexa's mouth when their tale was concluded. This brought a slight flush to Annabeth's cheeks, though Alexa didn't really know if that was because of the robotic spiders…or other reasons. Percy rolled his eyes, completely oblivious to the color in his blonde friend's cheeks.
"It wasn't his fault. It was Ares! He knew we'd get caught up in it, your dad just had his trap found out, that's all." Percy assured her.
"Still, I'd feel bad if I didn't do something. So first off, you three are staying here tonight, and I'm treating you to room service. After that, I'll make sure you all get to where you're going."
"Alexa, what about your own quest? You can't just-" Annabeth started to protest but Alexa cut her off.
"I finished the hunting phase of this labor, all that's left is going back to Olympus for new orders. I think I can swing this as a pretty major detour if worse comes to worst." Alexa smiled sadly "Besides…I owe you…all of you. It's the least I could do."
"How?" Percy asked. Before Annabeth could hush him, Alexa explained.
"I owe Grover here because his dad was the one who rescued me." Alexa said, giving Grover a smile, which he returned with a nervous chuckle. "Annabeth helped me figure out how to find the Gargareans a little bit ago, and you…well…your mom helped me at one of the lowest points in my life."
"She did?" Percy asked.
"Yeah. A couple of years back, at the very start of my labors your mom helped me figure out a few of my issues, just by being someone to talk to. It was only one day and one conversation, but it really meant a lot to me." Alexa explained.
"But how do you even-?" Percy began to ask.
"You ran past me when I was leaving, ran up and hugged her. Kinda hard to forget something so adorable. Even without this." Alexa grinned and tapped at the little ball around her throat. Percy's cheeks flushed and Annabeth smirked slightly. Alexa pretended not to notice, turning to grab the hotel's phone. After placing an order for one veggie lover's pizza with extra olives, one triple pepperoni pizza, and several sodas, Alexa returned to the group.
"So what's the plan?" She asked, plopping down with a slight wince. "I've never actually been to the underworld myself, where do we start looking?"
"Percy had a meeting with a nymph after the arch." Grover pointed out. Percy nodded in agreement.
"Poseidon wants me to visit the beach before we go kick Hades' butt!" Percy explains. At that moment Alexa had no doubt in her mind that Percy would absolutely fight a god if it came down to it, even one of the Big Three. The kid seemed dedicated to a fault and impulsive enough to throw himself into anything. Honestly it reminded Alexa a little too much of herself, and that both relieved and terrified her just a bit.
"As much as I think the Lord of the Dead could use getting his bell rung a bit I would suggest diplomacy first. Hades has a heart, as much as he tries to deny it, and he can be reasoned with. But that's not till later, first thing's first." As if on cue there was a knock at the door. Alexa grinned "First pizza, then the beach, then we kick undead butt!"
The next morning found all four members of their little band on the strip, Percy reluctantly carrying Ares' bright yellow bag stuffed with food and toiletries. Alexa had decided to send Luna ahead to Santa Monica while she and her three young companions took the road. Luna was…reluctant to leave Alexa alone, to say the least.
"You're exaggerating!" Alexa said. "I don't get into trouble every time you leave me alone!"
Luna's response was a growl that sounded like a choking lawn mower.
"You were there! Just unconscious! Trust me we'll be fine!" Alexa assured her. Luna eventually took off, flying westward. Alexa sighed and turned to find all three kids staring at her.
"What…?" She asked defensively.
"You were arguing with a robot dog." Percy pointed out.
"A robot dog with wings." Grover added.
"Yeah, a robot dog that I've known since she was an engine and a bunch of wires. It's not that surprising!" Alexa huffed. She shepherded her young charges towards a taxi and clambered inside. The driver, an older looking woman, smiled warmly at her.
"Where to, dear?" She asked sweetly.
"Can you take us to Los Angeles, near the beach?" Percy asked from the back. The driver pursed her lips.
"Mmm…afraid you'll have to pay in advance for that sort of trip, dearie." She announced. Alexa nodded and pulled out Aug's card. She quickly stuck it in the card reader and watched as the number indicating the card's balance shot up. Percy and Grover's mouths both dropped, while Annabeth made a small choking noise as their eyes landed on the number which was at the higher end of twelve digits.
"And…how much would the fare be?" Alexa asked, totally deadpan. The old woman quickly typed in their total and Alexa nodded and confirmed the payment.
"How…?" Annabeth asked in a small voice.
"I'll tell you later." Alexa chuckled.
"Seatbelts on, please." The driver said as she put the old cab into gear. They had just gotten out of the city when the woman started talking again.
"So Los Angeles, huh? Rather long way for a couple of kids and…their older sister?" Her eyes flicked to Alexa.
"We're part of a cir-" Percy began, but Grover's hand shot over his mouth.
"Oh, no ma'am, I'm only the blonde's cousin." Alexa said quickly. "The other two are her friends. Her mom, my auntie, sent her out to me. I showed them the sights, fed them, and now I'm taking them to one of their parents to spend the rest of the summer…all last minute." She added with a grumble. She turned around to look at Annabeth, grinning slightly and offering her a slight wink.
"Seriously, your mom owes me big time. Springing this all on me while you're on route is pretty low!" She said with a passable imitation of annoyance.
"Oh goodness!" The woman chuckled as she turned back to face forward. "Your aunt seems quite rude, not asking for permission like that."
"Oh I don't think so." Alexa said quickly, casting a small glance towards the sky. "A bit out of the blue, sure, but I'm happy to have them."
"Well at least you respect your elders." The driver mused as they got onto the nearly deserted highway. Something began to feel a little off about the car ride…though Alexa had a hard time putting her finger on what. She glanced out the window. There was nothing out there besides dirt, sand, and the occasional cactus. Nothing…but her internal radar was going off nonetheless. Grover shifted uncomfortably in his seat, she could see his head swiveling in the mirror. He was scenting something…
"By the way, honey, I simply have to ask…" The driver began as a pair of shadows seemed to materialize on either side of the cab. Alexa turned just in time to get a clawed hand wrapped around her throat.
"How's your shoulder?" Hissed the Fury in the driver's seat. The Fury clicked its tongue against its fangs and in an instant more elastic bands snapped out of the seats and wrapped themselves around Alexa. She could just barely see the same thing happening to the three in the back via the mirror.
Grover looked like he had been trying to push Annabeth out of the trap, his left arm and leg were extended at a funny angle and wrapped in the bindings, Percy she could see the least but she could just make out the end of a ballpoint pen sticking out of the wrappings on his arm, Annabeth, though, was wiggling in her seat. She was shifting, working one arm…a child of Athena only did that if they had a plan. That meant Alexa's plan was clear; keep the Fury talking.
"Not the best." Alexa admitted with deadly calm. "For the first year or so I had a lot of motion issues in that arm. I still wonder if it fully healed."
She glanced out the window to find one of the other two Furies struggling to fly next to the car. Their driver slowed down a little so that she could keep pace, not like the traffic was going to care out in the desert at this time of day.
"Which one is the one we killed?" She asked. The one on the driver's side hissed loudly enough to be heard through the window.
"Ahh, that one." Alexa said lightly "Guess she's still a bit sore about it."
"Shall we gut you and see just how 'sore' you are about it?" The hag hissed.
"Why? I've done nothing wrong." Alexa countered. "Nothing bad enough to warrant your attention anyway. "
"Aren't you on that soul cleansing journey of yours for kin killing?" Asked the Fury maliciously. Those words almost ruined everything; Alexa's face flushed, her nostrils flared,her blood boiled beneath her skin, her muscles strained, she felt a pounding in her head, …but she managed to pull herself back. Now was not the time for fruitless shouting.
"No. She might've died because of me but I wasn't the one holding the knife. I had hoped those supposedly built for punishing the guilty could tell the difference between a criminal and a second victim." Alexa growled. It was the Fury's turn to flush and hold back her rage.
"Aiding and abetting is still a crime!" The hag hissed. Out of the corner of her eye Alexa could see the movement from Annabeth had stopped, she prayed that meant she was about ready to do whatever it was she needed to do to get them out of this.
"There's no crime here, except for the kidnapping you're doing!" Alexa shot back.
"We'll see." The Fury said devilishly, flicking on the turn signal and slowing the car. There was an old run down gas station up ahead with a busted up sign that seemed to indicate the place was called "Gnasty Fred's". She had no idea what gnasty meant but she was fairly sure if they went to Fred's their odds of escape would go from low to none.
It was at that moment that Annabeth sprung into action. The Fury's eyes went wide as a bronze dagger seemed to sprout from the back of her skull. The other two shrieked and the one on the driver's side dove for the door, but with the death of their sister the restraints were released on the demigods. Percy drew his sword and thrust it through the window, just missing the wing of the Fury on the passenger side. Alexa, meanwhile, jumped into the cab's driver seat, wincing at the acidic smell that still clung to it.
"Hold onto something!" She cried as she jerked the wheel. The cab slammed into the Fury on their driver's side and sent her spinning. Alexa stomped on the gas, sending the car rocketing forward down the empty stretch of desert highway. The two gargoyle grannies struggled to keep up, hissing and spitting. Grover leaned past Percy and let out the most bizarre battle cry Alexa might ever hear.
"Eat peas!" He hucked a bright green tin can out of his pack right into the snarling face of the speeding hag. As it impacted he played a few sharp trills on his reed pipes and the can exploded in a mass of stalks and vines. They shot down towards the poor soil and anchored there, the momentum causing the Fury to do the first ninety mile an hour vegetables faceplant.
Alexa's grin quickly died as the third Fury broke through the window. Claws raked at her shirt as she struggled to pull away, however her salvation was within view.
"We will have it!" The Fury shrieked. Alexa couldn't resist
"The grill of this semi?" Alexa asked.
"Huh?" The Fury asked. Alexa yanked the wheel again, dashing the third of their would be captors to bits on the front of the oncoming semi along with the driver's side mirror and a fair bit of their paint job. An eerie, tense sort of silence settled over them with the monsters gone. Annabeth broke it.
"That could've been really bad! Way to go Grover, you kept her from binding my throwing arm!" Annabeth smiled and gave the blushing satyr a side armed hug.
"No problem." Grover said with a small, not unsatisfied smile.
"But.. eat peas? Seriously?" Percy teased.
"You try to think of a good one liner in the moment!" Grover defended
"Luna's never going to let me live this down." Alexa sighed from the driver's seat.