Chapter Twenty-Five


Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan, nor do I own Star Holder Commander's character, Walker. I do own all of the other OCs mentioned.


Adrienne's POV

When Jade had composed herself after a few minutes of sitting on a bench by the gazebo, we went back to meet up with the others. We had just been sitting there in the peaceful quiet, watching children play on the playground and a group of three friends throw a Frisbee back and forth. Sometimes I wished I could have a normal life like that.

The first thing I noticed when we reached the guys was how distressed James looked. He was sitting on a bench and Tristan and Keegan were on either side of him, leaning against the thing. He had his chin propped in one hand and his foot was tapping like crazy on the the paved sidewalk. He was staring into space and he had that little worry line on his forehead, kinda like the one that was permanently worn into dad's forehead.

When he heard us coming near, he completely froze then looked up and focused on Jade. She made a point of completely ignoring him, and it definitely didn't go unnoticed by the rest of us. No one said a word though.

Tristan looks at the two of them warily, then clasps his hands behind his back, making a small clapping sound. We all look to him, Jade the last one as she had been glaring at James as soon as his attention was on Tristan and off her.

"So, any idea where we'll be going next? I'd kinda like to get out of this city soon,"

I was about to say something, when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turn around to see an elderly man standing there. His dark skin was wrinkled with age, and there were smile lines around his honey colored eyes.

"I believe you will have more luck in the city of Newport in Maine," he says, his voice tinged with a slight Boston accent.

"I uh, we don't have a car or any other type of transportation," James says, standing up from the bench.

The old man, who was obviously Walker, scuffles forward a little towards James and takes his hand. He puts something in his palm and then pats James's hand, smiling. "I think you'll find a way,"

With that, the old man turns away and starts off down the path heading further into the park. We all look at James's closed hand, wondering what the old man could have possibly given him. He uncurls his fingers, revealing a colorful lucky die. Everyone moves closer to him to see what exactly was on each side of it.

That's when everyone gasped, even Keegan. On each side of the die were different types of transportation. On one side there was a jet plane, and another a convertible, while yet another had a bicycle on it.

We all look up at James and he meets my eyes. "We have to find a secluded place to roll this," James says.

Everyone nods their head in agreement. We didn't have a clue what would happen when it fell. For all we knew a jet plane could just materialize out of thin air.


After searching the city for a good hour, Tristan finally asked someone and they pointed us in the direction of an old abandoned warehouse. It was ginormous inside, and completely empty save for a few rotting boxes.

The roof was spotted with holes and the late morning sunshine was peeking through. There were also puddles of water on the floor where it had rained.

"You guys ready?" James asks, his hand clenched into a fist, holding the die.

Everyone nods and I hear him take a big breath. He lets out the breath, then throws the die up into the air. It flies and flies, then plummets to the ground. It hits the scratched concrete floor, clicking and clacking a few times before finally stopping.

We all cautiously inch forward to see what it had landed on. It had landed on the red colored side with the convertible on it. I look to James and shrug. Driving a convertible to Maine wouldn't be too bad. Unless there happened to be a long-distance acid spitting monster along the way. Now that would be a problem.


We waited and waited for what felt like forever for something to happen to that die. Nothing ever did though, and we were all starting to get a little anxious.

"What if he was just toying with us?" Jade says, pacing around.

"Nah, Walker doesn't usually toy with people he's trying to help. Not his personality, even though it is for most gods," Keegan says.

"Well then why the Hades is this taking so long?!" she asks, grinding her teeth.

We suddenly hear the sound of tires outside the giant warehouse doors. I look to James, panicked.

"Dude, you said this place was abandoned, as in no one comes here," James says, staring daggers at Tristan.

"That's what that local guy said!"

"So we're demigods and we're suddenly trusting the locals? Come on, Tristan!" he whispers, his tone fierce.

"Will you two shut up?" Keegan hisses.

Everyone freezes, then dives behind the old boxes as one of the doors starts to rattle open. It screeches open, an abundance of golden sunlight pouring in. There was a silhouette of a man standing at the entrance.

He saunters into the building, straight toward the die in the floor. He reaches it and bends down, gazing at it. Standing up, he cups his hands around his mouth. "Okay, whoever rolled this stupid thing, come out where I can see you!" he shouts.

I glance at Tristan, then James. They were both just staring at the strange man, confusion plastered all over their faces. Then, James stands up, coming out from behind the box. He was shortly followed by Tristan, and they go closer to the man.

The man spins around upon hearing them, and grins. "Ah! My two favorite grandsons!"

A/N:

Heh, in case you haven't guessed who the man is already (even though it's pretty damn obvious), well, you're just gonna have to think about it until he's officially revealed in chapter 27. And I was just going to have Walker give James a car key, but then I thought about it, and it seemed like he would take a more creative route than just handing them a car on a silver platter.

And I apologize for the late update. It's been a long day. I had a dentist appointment this morning, then I came home and had to get some schoolwork out of the way. Then, I went and picked up Frank Iero's new CD, Stomachaches. Holy shit, it's absolutely fantastic! I'm so proud of him and all that he's accomplished since MCR broke up, and I look forward to what he and his new group put together. I highly suggest checking out the album.

And on Friday, for some reason, I agreed to teach a kids clay class this Saturday at nine-fucking-thirty in the morning. Ugh. Actually, no, I know the reason. I want to show my teacher/boss that I can do more than just clean and do other miscellaneous things around the studio. I want her to know I can be of even more help than that.

So yea, I'll have to be up at probably 8:00 so I can have enough time to wake up and get ready, then get down there and get the shop up and running before they get there. There are eight kids. Eight.

And I work tomorrow as well, and probably Friday. I dunno. She said we'd talk about it sometime tomorrow.

In other news, but also job-related, my mom handed in her three-week notice yesterday! I'm so happy she'll be home again. That's one of the things I've really been struggling with for the past few months, on and off. I felt really selfish for wanting her home all the time because I wanted her to able to do what she wanted, but I also really missed her. But since she stepped up to assistant manager, she's now on her feet for about fifty hours a week, five days a week. She has really bad arthritis in her joints, and those hours are killing her feet and legs. She told me the other day that she just couldn't do it anymore.

That and the other assistant manger has just started being a real bitch to her and the other employees when they work together. She just can't take it anymore, and she doesn't deserve that kind of treatment from anybody. No one does.

Oh! And before I give you the M/A, I want to tell you something that made me incredibly happy and excited the other day.

See, we have this local coffee house downtown and I go there like three times a week. I get the same thing every time, and sometimes they ask for your name, and sometimes they don't.

But anyway, I'm now on a first-name basis with one of the guys there! I ordered the other day, and he didn't ask for my name, and when he called it out, he said my name and looked at me! So that contributed to the happy week.

I told my boss on Friday when I was at work that I was just generally really happy and excited about life right now, and that it's a strange feeling for someone like me who usually isn't. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice feeling, but still strange nonetheless. Most of the time I'm not too excited about my life at all, I just get through it to get through, y'know? But I feel like things are making a turn-around, and maybe I can start feeling this way more often.

And I also think I finally know what I want to be when I grow up. I know, I know, I haven't gone on this long in an A/N in a while, but a lot happened this week to me, and I made a lot of decisions. I think I want to be an art therapist. I've thought about it before, like two or three years before now, and I really considered it, but I just kinda forgot about it. But for some reason it just popped into my head again this past week, and the more I think about it, the more I think it's something I'd really enjoy doing. I dunno, I still have like two or three years before I really have to decide, but it would be nice to figure it all out beforehand, y'know?

M/A:

"'A daydream spills from my corked head

Breaks free of my wooden neck

Left a nod over sleeping waves

Like bobbing bait for bathing cod

Floating flocks of candled swans

Slowly drift across wax ponds'"

Behind the Sea by Panic! At The Disco

XOXO,

Mrs-diAngleo25