AN 7/3/15: Hey there, so this is a bit of a shorter chapter so I will be posting its second half either later today or tomorrow. I felt the need to split up these because A: cliffhanger and we all know how much the Rick Riordan series loves to have one and B: It felt a bit more natural. Will have a question for you guys at the bottom. Enjoy!

For the next two days we spent our time on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills and fields. We weren't attacked at all, but everyone was on edge. I spent most of my time just letting myself heal and rest, taking doses of the nectar and ambrosia I "borrowed" from camp. We really should have saved it for emergencies but they all insisted I get back up to one-hundred percent. Percy was constantly pacing about the train, looking out the windows, etcetera.

I found myself waking up during the night from my dreams. They were consistently becoming more and more about the past. Back then, things like that didn't affect me as much, you couldn't think about it much, you just had to keep pressing onward. Now that I had the time to reflect more the impact of it, it was hitting. It hadn't really bugged me much before camp, but now being around all this stuff again it was dragging up the memories.

Percy and I had to keep a low profile; our faces were splattered across the front of several East Coast newspapers. Percy was wanted for the disappearance of his mother and adopted sister, and the bus incident. I was supposedly a missing child. I don't know why they spun it like that, but there wasn't much we could do about it without turning ourselves in. We soon found out why Percy had been singled out as the wanted one: Gabe. Percy had gotten a hold of a newspaper article saying there was a reward for his capture posted by him. That man was worthless.

Once, while Percy and I were playing "I spy", we spotted a lion the size of a Hummer whose fur glinted in the evening light. The Nemean lion. I don't think it took notice to us luckily, otherwise that would have been bad. We were traveling so fast in an enclosed train heading in the opposite direction, so that may have helped. The money we got from turning in Gladiola got us as far as Denver. We couldn't get anything beside plain old seats sadly with that though.

When I was sleeping at one point I woke to Percy and Annabeth talking about the dreams he had been having. That voice in Tartarus was trying to use Percy too I found out. I started to grow progressively more annoyed at that thing for messing with him too. That was not aided by Annabeth basically calling my father a stickler in that came conversation too.

"I guess.. if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants was with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?" Then it got quiet. I still had my eyes closed, pretending to be sleeping. Her question brought me to remembering what the trio had told me about the Furies, who only served my father, asking where 'it' was.

"Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy." Wow, tell me how you really feel. I clenched my fist slightly but slowly released it as to not be noticed. Why must everyone think so low of my father? Yeah, he was kind of the odd man out, but he was made to be that by the other gods. "I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time-"

"This time?" Percy asked what I had wanted to know myself. "You mean you're run into them before?" I peaked an eye open to see Annabeth fingering her first camp bead, the one with a large pine tree.

"Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead." Why don't they just make a club for that then? Seems like enough people hate him. "You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."

"What would you do if it was your dad?"

"That's easy, I'd leave him to rot."

"You're not serious?" Percy asked in disbelief. Annabeth explained her relationship with her father, bringing up how she was born. Percy tried to comfort her by telling her about Gabe, but the mention of what Sally put up with for our sake just made me sad. She was always thinking of others, not herself - kind of like Percy. I fell back to sleep before I could listen to the rest of their conversation, the warmth of the blanket coaxing me.

Sooner than expected I was shaken awake by Percy. Grover and Annabeth were mid debate about what to do during the three hour layover. Annabeth was persistent about going to visit the Gateway Arch. We couldn't very well leave her to go alone so we all got up and followed her. I had to stumble out of my blanket and rush to catch up.

The Arch was about a mile away from where our train was stopped. It was later in the day so the lines weren't as long as they could have been, otherwise we might not make it back in time to the train. Annabeth led us into the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other stuff from the 1800's. Annabeth kept rattling off facts about the Arch and its construction. Percy and Grover were content with just sharing the bag of jellybeans Grover had acquired, following dutifully. I would steal a few beans away every now and then to keep myself occupied. My fingers were tapping against my leg. I had a bad feeling about this, despite the underground being more welcoming.

Nothing had gone wrong in days, something was bound to happen. I realized, like the idiot I was, I forgot my sword back at our seats in the train, vaguely remembering something in my sleepy brain about not wanting to panic mortals at a national monument as had I untangled myself. If anything "godly" happened I would have to use my old weapons. I kept an eye on the other people around us in line, eyeing them and observing to pick out anything that might be a tip-off.

"You smell anything?" I caught Percy murmur to Grover. Grover took his nose out of the jellybeans just long enough sniff around a bit.

"Underground," he said distastefully. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything." That feeling of foreboding just increased, my foot tapping along with my fingers. I was almost hoping just for a straight up fight right now instead of having to sit on it and wait to be ambushed.

"Guys," Percy started. "You know about the gods' symbols of power?" Annabeth, who had been in the middle of reading some type of plaque looked over to us.

"Yeah?"

"Well, Hade-" Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place.. You mean, our friend downstairs?"

"Um, right, our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?" I nearly choked on a jellybean. Did he just compare the Helm of Darkness to Annabeth's baseball cap?

"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said after giving me a weird look. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."

"He was there?" Percy asked.

Annabeth nodded. "The darkest day of the year-the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus. But the helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true.."

"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into the shadows or pass through walls. He can't be touched, seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?" I smirked a bit, it was wise for things to fear the dark. Hades controlled that darkness, and that also made his kids have some wicked powers too, if I do say so myself.

"But then.. how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" We exchanged looks. I wouldn't be able to tell if he was here until it was too late, he was a lot more powerful with the shadows than I.

"We don't."

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," Percy grumbled. "Hey! Allison, stop stealing all the blue ones! Mine!" He looked at me, my hand in the bag and tried to swat it away. Typical Percy, just like a little kid at times. I had to smile, waving a couple blue jellybeans in his face then popping them into my mouth, sticking out my tongue after I swallowed for the added bonus.

We all piled into the little elevator car that would take us to the top of the Arch. I could tell Percy was getting antsy in this confined space, I was too frankly. Especially going up into my Uncle's domain with another kid of the Big Three that wasn't his own kid, there was a lot of room to be shot down. There was also this big lady and her dog who stuffed herself into the car with us. The dog looked like a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. Red flags went up in my head. Dogs weren't allowed in this place unless they were service dogs, and this dog didn't have the identification of one. The doors closed and we started moving up.

"No parents?" She asked us. She had beady eyes, pointed coffee-stained teeth and wore all denim, her dress bulging so much it made her look like she was about to burst.

"They're below," Annabeth lied easily. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings." Her dog growled. "Now, now, Sonny. Behave." The dog had the same beady eyes as its owner, they glinted with intelligence and viciousness.

"Sonny, is that his name?" Percy asked wearily.

"No."

"Um, ma'am? Is that dog a service dog?" I asked.

She just smiled, as if that cleared everything up. I found myself holding my wrist over my bracelets and watching her and the dog.

At the top of the Arch was the observation deck. There were rows of tiny windows that looked out over the city on one side, the river on the other. The view was pretty good, but I didn't like being so high up in a can like space like this with that lady and her dog without a child of Zeus with me. I would much rather be back below in the museum.

Annabeth was going on and on about the Arch, how she would have made it different and so on. She could have easily stayed up there for hours but the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes. Percy and I both steered Grover and Annabeth to the exit and loaded them into the elevator. We were about to board ourselves but there were some tourists already inside. No room for us.

"Next car, please." The park ranger said, going to close the elevator.

"We'll get out," Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you." I was about to agree but Percy insisted that it would be fine. I looked back nervously to see that the lady and her pet were still on the deck. She had a grin on her face that made my skin crawl and was staring straight at us. Once the cart went down all who were left up here was us, a family with a little boy, the park ranger, and creepy lady. I saw a forked tongue flick between her teeth. I grabbed Percy and pulled him further away from the pair.

The Chihuahua started barking at us, jumping down from creepy lady's arms.

"Percy, get your pen out." I whispered. He was frozen though so I shoved his arm a bit. "Get your pen out, now!" I hissed.

"Now, now, Sonny," the lady was saying. "Does this look like a good time? We have all these nice people here."

"Doggie!" The little boy cheered. "Look, a doggie!" His parents pulled him back further from the dog thankfully. The dog bared his teeth at us, foam dripping from its black lips. I made sure I had my hands poised to activate my weapons at a moment's notice.

"Well, son," she sighed. "If you insist." I saw Percy reach for his pen out of the corner of my eye. I clutched my necklace, madly trying to come up with a plan of action. I heard a clicking of locks behind us and I glanced over to see the emergency doors locked. Styx.

What do you hope to see from this story? Can be literal or generalized theme things. Thanks :) It helps a lot to get feedback and I want you guys to enjoy it as much as I did while writing.