Chapter 17:

Thinking About Things That Could've Been

I still can't believe that Zeus would do that to me, especially because I've never done anything to him. Seriously, you want to punish me because of something my mom did? How stupid is that? And he put others in danger as well, he could've killed Connor and I, and it's not like he even cares.

Percy's told me about his friend Jason, and I've actually met him once, I think. But Jason is the son of Jupiter and I've heard that the Roman versions of the gods are even meaner. So that's gotta suck for him. I am so glad that I don't have Zeus for a parent.

Actually, thinking about it, I wonder what would've happened if I was a boy? Would my mom have hated me? Artemis isn't exactly known for appreciating men. Oh well, there's no real reason to be thinking about this right now.

It was still dark outside as I pondered my thoughts, and it was incredibly cloudy and there was no moon out, so it was pretty dark outside. I looked at Connor sleeping next to me and for once really appreciated that he was there. I barely knew this kid and yet he decided to help me. That's something that's rare in my life. I haven't exactly been one to easily make friends, Mitena and her family are basically the only friends I've ever had, actually. If anything ever happened to them I'd be beside myself, which is why I was so worried about Zeus.

Thankfully I have Connor and Hermes to help me, which is kind of crazy because the gods aren't exactly known for sticking around. Connor's lucky he gets to spend so much time with his dad.

I looked up at Hermes holding the reins to the chariot and thought about what my life might've been like if my mom was that close to me. But that's something I shouldn't really be thinking about.

I saw the sun slowly rise and decided to wake Connor up, I was bored and tired of thinking of things that could've been.

"Connor, wake up! It's morning! Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!"

"Bacon?! There's bacon?! Where?!"

"Connor! It's just an expression! You need to calm down! Trust me, if there was any bacon I would've eaten it already. I love that stuff."

"Thanks a lot, Arrow. You really got my hopes up. This sucks. We really don't have any good food to eat in here. I can't wait 'til we get to the moon and back."

"Me, too, Connor. I'm bored of spending all my time in this chariot. Way too much time to think up here."

"Yeah. I thought we were going to have more action. So far this quest hasn't been too interesting. Except for the falling out of the sky part. But even still, we didn't really get to fight any monsters or gods or titans or anything."

"I just wanted to say that I really appreciate you and Hermes helping me. I never really thanked you guys before and when we get back I need to get you guys something or take you somewhere or something. Seriously, we barely know each other and you agreed to help me!"

"Pfft, no big deal. I've always wanted to go on a quest. This is more about me than it is about you. I mean – I didn't mean it like that, Arrow. I've just always wanted to go on a quest. You're obviously the most important one here."

"No, I get it Connor. Spending all of your time hiding from monsters and gods can get annoying, I've always wanted to go on a quest, too."

"Hey, Hermes! How far are we from the moon, do you think?"

"Not too much farther Arrow, soon we'll pass out of Earth's atmosphere. I have some special gifts that I can give to you and Connor so that you can survive in outer space because outer space isn't exactly the realm of mortals, if you know what I mean."

"Haha, yeah. I guess I hadn't even thought about that. I just kept focusing on the fact that we need to get there, not that we'd have to go into space! Awesome! Did you even think about that, Connor!"

"Honestly, no I didn't. I kind of forgot that the moon is in space. Weird."

"Well, Hermes, tell me when we get to outer space!"

Author's note: I am so, so, sorry that I haven't updated in so long! I just have absolutely NO IDEA where this story is going and have total writer's block. So if any of you have any ideas that could be helpful, haha! Thanks for keeping up with my story, though. I'll try to update more, but no promises.