Chapter Twenty one

"So, what were you and Chrion talking about?" Thalia looked at me skeptically. "Nice try, Thals. That's not going to work on me." She scoffed.

"Fine, fine. You caught me." She shook her head. "I didn't want to be found out this way."

"So, what were you guys talking about?" I asked. She looked up at me.

"Annabeth's birthday party." What?

"Wait, so you and Chiron were talking about Annabeth's birthday? At a time like this?" I didn't seem to buy the story.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but she has been in San Francisco for almost her whole life. She finally got to come here and I want her to enjoy it. But Luke just had to kidnap Jason, Nico, and Althea. It's just not fair." Thalia put her head onto her hands. She took in a deep breath and out. I almost felt bad. "I was going to surprise her at camp, but because of what happened here," she shook her head. I don't think that I'll ever be as good as a friend that she thinks I am." I patted Thalia on the back.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. But you and Chiron were talking about monsters and somebody having a plan. What's that all about?" Thalia stayed still for a few seconds.

"Annabeth's dad was supposed to come here and congratulate her for turning seventeen. I never thought that this would happen." She gestured to the train that we're on.

"It's okay. I just hope she didn't hear all of that." I pointed to Annabeth. She was laying on the window and her cheeks were rosy. She looked really cute. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, she inhaled through her nose and exhaled through her mouth, and her position was pretty funny. There was an empty seat next to her's so she put her foot on it, avoiding the arm rest. I smiled. Thalia seemed to notice the way I was looking at her.

"You know, Luke is very close to Annabeth." My heart dropped. I didn't need to hear that right now.

"Really?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

"Yeah. She met him at camp and they were the best of buds when you two didn't hang around. She was so happy back then. I can't believe how much she's grown." Thalia stared down at Annabeth. She was like a big sister figure to Annabeth, besides being her best friend.

"Why would she still have feelings for Luke? I mean, he kidnapped our friends, made us go on a dangerous quest, and made us feel sluggish. Why would she defend him?" I looked at Annabeth reluctantly. I can't believe that she trusts Luke, after all he did. She should just leave him.

"It's not that easy, Percy. Like that quote. 'It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, & a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. . ."

It made sense. Somehow. Suddenly, the speakers on the train activated.

"Attention to all passengers traveling to San Francisco. We will arrive there early in the morning. Please be prepared and wake anyone up if you find them asleep. Thank you," the PA said.

"Well, I guess we better catch some sleep." Thalia layed back on her chair and stuck her foot out next to Annabeth's, one the seat across from ours.

"Okay." I watched as Thalia fell into slumber. I couldn't help, but feel like I was missing something. After what Thalia told me about Luke and Annabeth feeling close, I felt...left out. No that's not the word. Jealous. I felt jealous. Jealous of Thalia and Annabeth to have close friends like that. Jealous of Thalia and Luke spending time together that I never really got to understand. Jealous of Luke because of his relationship with Annabeth.

I groaned. Why do I feel this way? My heart was pounding, faster and faster every second. Soon, I fell asleep.

Of course, being a demigod, I had another demigod dream. This time, it wasn't a dream, but a flashback. A flashback of the times Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth were all together, a group. They were at camp, sword fighting, all with scratched somewhere on their bodies. Annabeth stood in the corner, knees bent, dagger in hand. She looked about seven or eight years old. She still had the blond hair and tan skin plus the gray eyes. But this Annabeth was different than the one I know now.

Thalia was in the right of Annabeth, wearing her usual black clothing and spiky hair. She looked around twelve years old and had a spear in one hand, and her camp necklace in the other, twirling it on her fingers. She stood up strait, her weight shifting onto her right leg. I looked on the left of Annabeth and found Luke. He looked around fourteen or fifteen. His scar wasn't on his cheek and he looked cheerful and happy. His smile was warm and it made sense why everyone liked to be around him. He made the best out of situations. But I knew that Luke had a bad past and it was affecting him in some way. His short cropped sandy hair was wet and his sword was in his right hand. He just stood up strait, like Thalia, but had his sword on his shoulder, the blunt side touching his skin.

"Good job, guys!" he yelled. Annabeth and Thalia smiled at each other. "That was great! You should have seen yourselves. You two are going to be awesome fighters." He lightly punched Annabeth and Thalia on their shoulders as he walked over.

"Thanks, Luke. We couldn't have done it without you." Thalia gave Luke a reassuring smile. Annabeth gave him a toothy grin, except that her two front teeth were missing. She was really adorable when she was little. I still can't believe that this is the girl who I'm on a quest with.

"You're welcome, guys. Or should I say girls?" He raised and eyebrow and Thalia rolled her eyes. A conch shell blew in the distance.

"Time for dinner. I guess we can go now." The three of them all walked out of the arena, leaving me behind. Suddenly, my dream changed.

I was still in the arena, but the air seemed tense. For some reason, I felt like something bad was going to happen. And let me tell you, I'm almost always wrong.

Luke was in the corner, slashing dummies and stabbing them in the gut. My eyes widened as he actually kicked one of their head's off. He seemed angered. His scar appeared this time, only adding to the evil on his face. Then, Thalia and Annabeth walked in. They looked older. I guess I fast forwarded.

Thalia was at least seventeen or sixteen now, though her clothes didn't look any different from her hair. Annabeth was about twelve. Her two front teeth looked like they had grown back. Her hair was longer and she was wearing a camp necklace, something that I missed in the flashback. A ring was in the center of it. I could recognize this as the time I went to camp with them, but I was nowhere to be found.

"Luke, what's wrong? You've been acting kind of strange lately," Thalia said, her arms crossed over her chest. Luke didn't take his eyes off the dummies. He just kept stabbing them. "Luke, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?" Thalia asked again. This time, Luke snapped.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" He stormed towards them, Annabeth taking a step back behind Thalia. "What's wrong is that I didn't train hard enough thanks to you two. I got this scar," he pointed to the long scar on his face, "because you two kept bothering me with your silly little games. I failed my quest. And it's probably going to be the last chance I ever get one! And I have something to add to that. Do you think that it's fair to receive a quest that was already done? NO! Someone already accomplished it. What good is that? My father can't even make good quests. And they normally cause trouble anyway." His face was a few inches in front of Thalia's. But she didn't flinch. She seemed fine with it.

"So what? At least you got a quest. Have you seen the kids in your cabin lately? Most of them aren't even Hermes's kids. Their parents chose to ignore them. Some have even stayed their for years not knowing when or why their parent's won't claim them! Think about it! Those kids aren't lucky enough. Show some respect. Even if someone failed a quest, they'll feel good about it, knowing that they tried everything they could to prevent something bad from happening. Even if it means doing something that has already been done. And don't blame us. We had nothing to do with you." Thalia stared intently at him. From the look of his face, he seemed shocked. Then, it turned back to anger.

"Just leave," he said gritting his teeth.

"Gladly. Let's go, Annabeth." Thalia stormed out the arena without looking back. And when I said stormed, I mean, it literally stormed. Lightning and thunder rumbled and flashed in the skies. It started to pour, but it didn't affect camp, because of it's border.

Annabeth was reluctant to walk away from Luke.

'No, Annabeth! Leave!' I wanted to say, but my voice didn't work. Neither did my mobility.

"Luke?" Annabeth whispered to Luke as he went back to slashing the hay dummies. "Luke?"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT? I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I DON'T NEED YOU HERE!" he screamed at Annabeth. This surprised me, and Annabeth. But it surprised Luke the most. His expression softened. "Look, I'm sorry, Annabeth. I just haven't felt right anymore. So is it okay if you leave?" He hung his face down low. Annabeth nodded and exited the arena.

I woke up with someone shaking my shoulder.

"Wake up, Seaweedbrain. Wake up!" I found Annabeth shaking me.

"Huh,what?" I got up fast and Annabeth's face was only a few centimeters from mine. Our eyes turned wide and our cheeks burned. Then, we turned back to reality.

"Guys, we're in San Fran," Thalia said, looking out the window. That dream will haunt me forever.

Sorry, if you read my first chapter for this, it said Annabeth's birthday then Jason's. I meant for it to say Annabeth's. Thanks for noticing it!