Ch 2: New York or Bust!
Two unfamiliar men stood in a dark room. One had black hair while the other had curly dark brown hair. Their faces were hidden in the shadows. The brown haired man pointed to a golden box that sat on a lone table in the room. The other man walked over to the box and lifted the lid. His eyes widened. He slowly shut the lid of the box. The man turned to the other man in the room. "I thought he had been killed," he said. The first man shook his head. "You can never kill a Titan."
My eyes flew open. I was momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight. Where am I? Then I noticed Shadow and Sparrow's sleeping forms next to me. Oh, yeah. We're in the woods. Our once blazing fire had turned to ash. I sat up and stretched out my stiff arms. Then, careful not to wake my friends, I went off in search of food. During my search, I came across the sound cars. I walked towards the sound and found a bridge. The Wisconsin boarder, I thought. A Welcome to Wisconsin sign on the other side of the bridge confirmed my observation. I noticed a small town on the other side of the bridge as well.
I went back to our little camp in the woods to tell the others. Shadow and Sparrow where still sleeping. I went up to Sparrow and started shaking her back and forth. "No, mom, it's the summer. I wanna sleep in," she mumbled. "I have bacon," I whispered in her ear. She shot up immediately. "Where?" she asked, excitedly. "Just kidding," I said with a laugh. "You jerk!" she said. I walked over to Shadow. "Come on, Shadow. Sleepy time's over," I said, nudging her with my foot. Her hand shot out as fast a lightning and grabbed my ankle. I nearly had a heart attack. "OK, Shadow, you can let go, now," I said, trying to pry her hand off my ankle. Her grip only tightened. I looked at Sparrow. "Help me," I said, quietly. She walked off and came back with a bucket of water (Don't ask me where she go the bucket from). She walked over and dumped the bucket of water on Shadow's head. Her eyes flew open. She looked at Sparrow. "What was that for?" she asked, ticked off. "Losing circulation in foot!" I said. "Oh, sorry, Terra," she said and let go of my ankle.
When everyone was fully awake (and dried off in Shadow's case), I told them about the small town on the other side of the bridge. Sparrow smiled. "I bet we can get some real food there," she said. I nodded. We cleaned up our "camp site" and headed towards the direction of the bridge. The cars sped along the road and quickly over the bridge. We took to the sidewalk as not to get hit by cars. When we reached the town, we went into a gas station to get a quick breakfast.
While I was looking at the sandwich selections, Sparrow ran up to me with a package of ham in her hand. She looked peeved. "Canadian bacon!" she said, shoving the ham in my face. It clearly read Canadian Bacon on the front. "They have the nerve to call this bacon? It's just ham!" she exclaimed. I laughed.
After we had all gotten out food and paid for it, we walked out of the gas station and sat down on a bench outside. It overlooked the river. It was wide and dark and yet so beautiful. Many different boats rode up and down the waters, seeming to have a beauty of their own. It was mesmerizing. "The Mississippi," Sparrow stated in an enchanted voice. I nodded nonchalantly. We ate quickly and continued on our way. We walked all through the day, only stopping to eat (or the occasional bathroom break). We finally collapsed in an alley way in Chicago, IL. (We move fast, OK?) I immediately fell into a deep sleep.
A woman with short, dark brown hair sat in an empty room. Her chair faced a window, overlooking a river. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and the curly haired man from the previous dream appeared in the room. "Do you think it will work?" he asked the woman. She laughed. "I should be asking you that. It was your plan, after all," she said to the man. "That's not what I meant. I mean, do you think it will be any different? You remember what happened last time, right?" The woman laughed again. "Of course I do," she said. "And, don't worry. This time, it'll work." Then there was another brilliant flash of light and they were gone, leaving the room barren.
"Terra!" a familiar voice whispered to me in a panicked voice. My eyes flew open. Shadow knelt over me. I was about to ask why she had woke me up when it was still clearly dark out when I saw a shadow coming from around the corner. The dark outline looked huge and frightening and the heavy footsteps accompanying it seemed to match perfectly. I was far too big to be a human and yet not nearly big enough to be a giant. Yet, whatever it was, it didn't look like it was going to come over and offer us a bunch of cookies. I quickly grabbed my bag and we ran in the opposite direction.
We ran until we were sure it wasn't following us. Then, Sparrow noticed a pamphlet on the ground. "Hey, guys! Check this out!" she said. Shadow and I walked over and read the pamphlet over her shoulder. I was a pamphlet for one of those cross-country train things. It read, Cross-Country Train Service! Take a fun filled ride across the US. Whether you're taking a vacation, visiting family, or just want to do some sightseeing, this ride will get you where you need to go. Pick up/Drop of Stations: Phoenix, Arizona, Tampa Bay, Florida, Chicago, Illinois, New York, New York. There was more but I stopped reading after the part about stopping in New York. "Guys, we could ride this train to New York!" I said. Sparrow shook her head. "I would agree with you but look at the price," she said. I did. "Holy Potato Muffins!" I exclaimed. I had money, but not THAT much money. Then Shadow got an idea. "Who said we need to buy tickets? We could just stow away when no one's looking," she said. I grinned at her. "You're an evil genius." She laughed in reply. "Why thank you. I try."
So, when morning arose, we followed the directions enclosed in the pamphlet to the Chicago station. We waited until the New York train rolled in and then, our plan was put into action. OK, so it wasn't really much of a plan. We just snuck onto the train and hid in the bathroom (yes, this train has a bathroom) while the attendants were collecting tickets. We then went back to our room and prayed to the gods that they didn't check back in on us. I guess the gods took pity on us, because no one noticed that we weren't on the passengers list. We spent the whole day on the train (Their food is AMAZING!) and before we knew it, it was 10 PM, so we headed back to our room and went to bed.
Then next day, right after we had eaten lunch, a voice on the loud speakers announced that we'd be arriving in New York in 15 minutes and that we should start gathering our belongings. I grabbed my bag and went to find my friends. I found them just as the speakers announced that we had now arrived in the New York station. We walked out and found our way out of the station area. My eyes widened as I took in New York City for the first time. It was huge! And, seeing Chicago, that's saying something. Skyscrapers and apartment buildings towered over us. Streets traveled for miles in every direction. People rushed by, some wearing the strangest attire. It made me feel, well, small. And that was not a feeling I liked. Yet, the hugeness of it was sort of wonderful, in a way. Oh, the wonders of architecture. I shook myself out of my trance and followed my friends to call a taxi.
We finally caught a one and asked to go to Long Island. We rode in silence and, before we knew it, we were there. I paid the driver and then he was gone. Leaving us, alone, facing a huge hill. Half-Blood Hill. The sun was now beginning to set so we started walking up the hill. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a lion's roar from behind us. Very close behind us. We turned slowly. Before us stood a creature with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent. A Chimera.
It wasted no time in attacking, and immediately charged at us. We jumped out of the way, but its tail swung out behind it and sent me flying backwards. I slammed into a tree. And it hurt. I stood up, shakily. I looked up in time to see it kick Sparrow with its hooves, sending her flying. It then hit Shadow the same way it hit me, sending her into another tree. I made a growling noise. No one hurts my friends! I pulled out Sparrow's Minotaur horn from my bag. The Chimera's full attention was on me. "You're gonna wish you hadn't done that," I hissed at the monster. It ran at me, fangs wide. Time seemed to slow down. When it was just inches from my face, I ducked under it and plunged the horn into its chest. It let out another roar as it turned to dust. Sparrow and Shadow ran over, and they seemed alright so I let out a sigh of relief.
We had finally reached the top of the hill. I felt a strange tingling sensation as we cross the magical boarder. Then, I heard the sound of hooves and an all too familiar centaur galloped into view. He came up to us. "I heard the sound of a Chimera. Are you all right?" he asked us. We nodded. It was strange seeing Chiron in person. Then, a boy with black hair and sea green eyes approached us, accompanied by a blond girl with stormy grey eyes. I gasped. "Hey, are you new half-bloods?" the boy asked. I nodded. "Percy and Annabeth…" Sparrow said, quietly to herself. Chiron noticed. "Ah! I knew those books would come in handy!" he said. I laughed. Suddenly, a boy with black hair and dark, almost black, eyes walked over. "More half-bloods?" he asked Chiron. I felt my eyes widen. I whispered so quietly that only Sparrow and Shadow heard. "Nico…" And then, I fainted.