(6:00 P.M)
The heroes of the quest were ready to embark on their journey. Danny, Katie, Percy, and Annabeth were about to leave on their quest. Danny was wearing black jeans, a brown shirt, and a black cotton jacket. Katie was wearing a yellow shirt with jeans, the pants faded in some areas. Percy was wearing a Led Zepplin shirt with jeans, and Annabeth had on a grey blouse with black pants. Argus would be driving them to the airport. Chiron came to see them off.
"Okay, you have a three days starting tomorrow to find the gem. Once you have it, get back to Olympus as fast as you can on the return flight, and please be safe. I've lost too many demigods already," said Chiron. He was talking about the Battle for Olympus, the thought of so many half-bloods, people he knew, who had gave their lives to defend Olympus against the armies of Kronos.
"Chiron, no one is going to die," said Percy, looking Chiron dead in the eye.
"Good luck on your quest. May the Gods be with you," said Chiron.
The bus was driving to La Guardia airport as the sun was setting. Percy and Annabeth sat next to each other, whispering sweet nothing to each other. Danny and Katie were sitting in the same row on opposite sides, facing away from each other. The two rode in silence for awhile. However, as Katie turned to him, she decided to try and do the unthinkable: talk to him.
"So, Danny, what do you like to do?" she said hesitantly.
At first Danny didn't answer and she was about to give up.
"I like to dirt bike," he said. It wasn't much, but it was a start. She didn't say anything else the whole trip, but luckily they were five minutes away.
Pulling into the drop-off zone, Argus stopped the car and let them get their bags. They had used a new invention Hermes had made to store all their stuff. It looked like a regular kind of duffel bag, but it could store a lot of items in there, like Paris Hilton's entire wardrobe. Each was a different color to denote who's it was. Annabeth's was grey, Danny's was brown, Percy's was blue, and Katie's was yellow. Each bag had their clothes for the trip, including 1000 euros in each bag and ten drachmas in case of emergency. Everyone also had their own backpack for personal items. As Katie looked she saw Danny with a jar of brown stuff.
"Uh, Danny, was it that?" she said.
"A jar of dirt," said Danny. She almost laughed and had to cover her mouth, but Danny glowered at her reaction.
"Danny, why do you need a jar of dirt?" said Annabeth.
"You do remember we're going in the air? Away from solid ground? In Zeus's territory?" said Danny. Percy ran off somewhere, and came back a minute later.
"Where did you run off to?" said Annabeth.
"I had to get a bottle of water," said Percy, showing them a bottle of Aquafina. Everyone, including him, laughed. They showed the man at check-in their tickets. He got their duffel bags for them and they all headed into the airport. The wait through the security monitors was hell on earth.
"I swear, ever since 9/11 I can't stand airport security," said Danny.
"At least we agree on something," said Katie.
"You do have a point. If mortals knew about monsters they would think terrorists were crackheads compared to them," said Annabeth. They finally got to the monitor, where they took off their shoes and had to put all liquids in the trash can. Percy had to give up his bottle of water, but not before drinking it all down. They placed their backpacks in the boxes and they sent them through scanning. However, as Danny's backpack went through the computer, a huge red alarm sounded.
"He has bombs in his backpack in his backpack!" yelled one of the security guards. Everyone started panicking and yelling "Terrorists!" Danny rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, the sound of it resonating throughout the entire security room.
"It's not a bomb, it's a book," said Danny. A sigh of relief went through everyone, except Katie, Annabeth, and Percy.
"False alarm," said the security guard, turning the alarm off. The group headed to their gate.
"What was that all about?" said Percy.
"I guess the Mist doesn't shroud Greek fire too well," said Danny. Everyone opened their mouths shocked.
"Do you know how dangerous it is to bring Greek fire on a plane?!" said Katie.
"Relax, it's in a container that is unbreakable, with a password on it, and is only accessible to me," said Danny. Everyone's expressions calmed down, but just a little.
"What? I don't what we're going to expect in Paris, and the oracle did say that an old enemy was going to come so we're going to need all the firepower we can get," said Danny. They continued walking until they got to their gate. Thankfully the plane was boarding so they didn't have to wait. They decided that Katie and Annabeth would sit in the the first row for them, and then Danny and Percy would sit in the row behind.
"Are you two okay?" said Annabeth.
"We're still on the ground so yeah we're good," said Danny. The flight attendants came through and did the usual dull procedures on what to do in an accident if the plane were to crash. Danny was praying that they wouldn't have to crash. After that everyone snapped their seat belts on as the plane edged away from the gate to the runway. Percy and Danny tensed on their armchairs as they were about to take off. Both hated the idea of lying, especially since they were on Zeus's hit list. The plane began to creep slow at first, but then began to pick up speed as it hurtled down the runway. Once enough speed was built it's wheels came off the ground and soon the pane was taking off towards it's destination.
Since it was nighttime and they wouldn't reach France till morning, the passengers got out the plane's pillows and blankets and began to fall asleep, including Katie. About an hour into the flight Annabeth turned to see of Percy and Danny were alright. When she turned around she almost woke up Katie from her laughter. Danny had Percy looked like frightened cats on a tree, shaking in the chairs and gripping the armrests with all their strength.
"Annabeth, can you just tell us when it's over?" said Percy, his teeth clenched to keep them from shaking, Danny doing the same thing. Annabeth nodded, still giggling, and turned back around in her seat to slowly going to sleep, making sure to not lean on Katie.
Attention passengers, we are now arriving at Charles de Gaulle National airport. Standby for landing. Please have all seat belts fastened," said the pilot to the sleeping passengers. Annabeth and Katie woke up almost immediately. Turning to see how the boys were doing, they fought to suppress their giggling. Danny and Percy looked like they hadn't gotten any sleep the whole trip, the shadows under their eyes telling the story. The plane landed on the ground, the national anthem of France playing on the loudspeaker. Danny and Percy automatically relaxed when they felt the plane touch the ground.
Once they were allowed to retrieve their stuff and get off the pane, they headed for baggage claim. Retrieving their duffel bags from there they headed outside to find a taxi to the city to find a hotel.
Getting a cab driver was hard.
"I don't understand French," said Annabeth.
"Stay here, I'll find a translator dictionary," said Percy. Danny just calmly walked up to and cab driver.
"Me et mes amis ont besoin d'obtenir a un hotel. Pouvez-vous nous prende? (Me and my friends need to get to a hotel. Can you get us their?)" he said.
"Oui monsieur (Yes sir)," said the driver.
"Come on," said Danny. They all put their bags in the trunk and got into the cab. The driver took off towards the city.
"How did you learn to speak French?" said an astonished Katie.
"It's a thing the children of the Earth get. We know every known language just as fast as we learn our alphabets," he said.
"It's a very good thing you know that," said Annabeth. The driver drove towards the city. Going through the historic district they saw many monuments and buildings: the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre Dame, the Louvre, and many others. Annabeth rambled on and on about the way the buildings were and how they were made, so it was no surprise that Danny and Katie were in a state of near sleep, Percy hanging in there as best as he could.
"Ici monsieur? (Here sir?)" said the driver. He had stopped at a hotel called Hotel Elysees Regencia.
"Oui, merci (Yes, thank you)," said Danny. He gave the man 75 euro, which the man was very thankful for. They got their bags out of the trunk and headed to the hotel to check-in. A pencil-moustached clerk stood at the desk.
"Bonjour, how long will you be staying?" said the clerk.
"Four days, three nights," said Percy. "Room for four."
"Oui, here are your keys. Rooms 212 and 213. Enjoy," said the clerk, giving them two room keys. Percy and Danny took them and they all headed to the elevator. As they came to the rooms they put the keys in their slots and went into the rooms.
The rooms were gorgeous. The beds were French style, with a picture of a French villa on the walls. The windows gave a spectacular, unblocked view of the Eiffel Tower, and there was two beds for each room.
"So, I guess that me and Annabeth will take this room and Danny and Katie can take the other one," said Percy. At first, Danny and Katie opened their mouth to say something, but they thought better of it. They were both thinking of what Percy and Annabeth would have been doing. This was probably their honeymoon time, and they were spending it on a quest. The least they could do was let them sleep in the same room.
"I.....guess...it's..okay," said Katie. Annabeth gave her a 'Thank you, I owe you big time' look and she and Percy went into the other room.
"Which bed do you want?" said Danny. Katie turned, shocked because she forgot Danny was still in the room.
"Umm, the one closest to the window," said Katie.
"Okay," he said. He placed his two bags on the bed nearest the wall and lay down on it, taking his shoes off as he did. The next thing she heard was his light breathingm which meant he was asleep. She then remembered that he didn't get any sleep on the flight, and that meant he was exhausted. Thinking that she could do the same thing she lay on her bed and began to fall asleep. They slept in there for four hours, Danny's breathing still at the same level he was on before. They heard a knock on the door connected to theirs. Danny woke up and opened it.
"Umm, Danny. Do you mind if you and Katie can go into the city to have a look around?" said Percy.
"I thought we were all going?" said Danny.
"That was the original plan, but me and Annabeth need to do something?" said Percy.
"Like what?" said Danny. Percy gave him a knowing look.
"Oh, you mean that. I don't know man, me and her's chemistry level isn't that high," said Danny.
"Please?" said Percy.
Danny gave a long sigh.
"How long do you need us out?" said Danny.
"It's three o'clock right now, so at least till seven," said Percy.
"You two four hours?" said Danny.
"We have a lot of catching up to do," said Percy.
"Okay, we'll leave," said Danny.
"Thank you Danny, I owe you big time," said Percy.
"your welcome, but just remember this moment when French police come back to the room with a body bag," said Danny. Percy grinned and closed the door. Danny one of his shirts out of his bag and threw it at Katie. Feeling the fabric on her face she tugged it off.
"Come on, Sky. Percy wants us to see Paris," said Danny.
"Aren't they coming?" said Katie. Danny knew he couldn't tell her that him and Annabeth wanted them out to have sex, so he smudged the truth.
"They said they'll come later," said Danny. Katie got off the bed and got a jacket from her bag. She and Danny went out the room into the hall.
"Wait, I forgot my belt," said Danny. He ran back into the room and got off his bed. As he pulled it on he heard what sounded like moans coming from Percy and Annabeth's room.
"Newlyweds," said Danny, shaking his head in disbelief. He went outside, where Katie was waiting.
"You ready?" she said.
"I guess so," said Danny. Danny and her went up to the clerk.
"Excuse me, do you know where the bust stops to take people into the city," said Danny.
"Yes sir, the bus is in front of the hotel right now," said the clerk. Danny and Katie turned to see a red tour bus outside.
"Merci," said Danny. He and Katie went towards the tour bus, payed the tour guide, and hopped on with a bunch of tourists from around the globe. The bus drove away towards it's many destinations.
