Hello all! Turns out I forgot to get the chapter up after I finished my update concerning said chapter. Whoops!

Anyway here's chapter nove. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 9

I Work Out with Trees

"Ok, so what time is it?" I asked my group.

"Well, it's around two in the morning. Percy here already got the right idea. We should get some sleep before continuing," she said pointing to a sleeping Percy next to her. I laughed quietly and nodded. Lyra didn't say anything and went back into the room, after which I heard a loud whump. I helped Annabeth pick up the raven-haired boy and set him on the bed I was sleeping on earlier. Annabeth said she'd sleep with him and I decided to annoy her by putting my hands on my hip and tapping my foot and looking disapprovingly at her like our mom might do. She blushed and told me to go back into the tub.

I laughed on my way out and decided that I would actually go and take a bath. I was still a bit cold so surrounding myself in nice, warm water would be just what I needed. I got an extra pair of clothes and ran into the bathroom in Lyra's room.

After I came out I realized I had no bed. I frowned and slept on the couch. As I was falling asleep the only thought on my mind was my dream.

Turns out I had another dream.

I was in a large cavern with stalagmites and stalactites. An open area in front of me the size of our arena had a large man standing in the center. There were ram horns on the helm he was wearing and he held a large lance and shield in his meaty hands. He was easily eight feet tall, maybe even taller.

His Greek armor was gold and black. He looked really intimidating and I hoped the warm surge I felt wasn't me peeing my pants. I was staring and shouting things at him but couldn't hear them. I could only hear two dark, ominous laughs, one sounding like it came from underwater and the other I realized was the man in front of me, or the Titan for that matter. That was definitely Krios.

We were about to start fighting when the ground started shaking. I lost my footing and fell down. Then I woke up to Annabeth standing over me and shaking the whole couch. "Get up! Come on, we gotta go now!" I mumble something I couldn't even understand and then she dragged me off the couch and dropped me on the floor.

"Ow…"

"Well that's what you get for not waking up! Now let's go! I already got shotgun and Percy's driving. We'll probably make it to Indiana today if we stop twice." She explained to me.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. "Ok, lemme get up and grab my stuff then we can go." She stood above me impatiently tapping her foot. I grinned and grabbed my duffle bag. "Are Lyra and Percy already out there?" She nodded and we walked out.

On our way out I glanced over at the bellhop. That was a mistake, because the woman smiled and revealed fangs and a forked tongue. Her red suit started to ripple and I sprinted out of the lobby grabbing Annabeth's arm.

"What are you doing Aran?"

"You'll thank me later. Now we run!"

We did and eventually reached our blue car in the parking lot. We hopped in at the smiling Lyra and Percy and yelled at Percy to go. He responded by slamming on the gas and running over the sidewalk and onto the road not bothering to take the proper exit.

"Ok, now why did you yank me out of there?" Annabeth asked me after we got a ways away.

"Ok, there was this bellhop on the way out. I looked at her and when she saw me she smiled. She had sharper-than-normal teeth, like of a dracanae and she also had a forked tongue. I didn't want to chance anything so I grabbed you and ran." I told her.

She thought about it then reluctantly said thanks. I beamed as she said that and asked innocently, "What was that? I couldn't hear you."

She glared at me and everyone except Annabeth laughed. We drove for a long time in silence before I got bored and fell asleep.

When I woke up I heard Annabeth telling Percy that we needed to stop for gas and to stretch our legs. I sat upright and asked, "Where are we?"

The sun was starting to set behind some hills in the distance. "We are in Indiana. We're going to go a bit further and then stop at a hotel for the night after we get some gas here. Wake up Lyra while you're at it," Annabeth said.

I gently shook Lyra until her eyes shot open and sat bolt upright. "Um hey. We're in Indiana getting some gas." She looked dazed and then nodded. I looked out the front and watched as we pulled into some old gas station.

We all got out as some people came over and started washing our car and filling it up with gas. The crew told us it would be ready in an hour, so we took the time to take a walk. Something about those guys didn't settle alright with me and I found myself glancing over my shoulder more often.

We decided to spar while we waited. We set up a round robin and started fighting. I got thrashed by Percy this time, because I couldn't activate Athena's Blessing and Lyra surprisingly beat Percy. I won the rest of my matches and Annabeth did the same. It turned out that Annabeth and I were fighting in the last round. We decided to make it a best two out of three. Annabeth won the first round and I won the second. As I finished disarming her one of the crew came over and told us the car was ready. Percy went to bring it over to us and Annabeth and I took a break and stood shoulder to shoulder watching Percy. Lyra went to go with him, only Zeus knows why, and Annabeth and I started getting ready to go again.

As Lyra was just about to open the car door a hand shot around and covered my mouth. Another grabbed Annabeth and we were being pulled backwards into a forest. We were struggling and kicking as hard as we could but it was useless. I looked at Annabeth and she had pure hatred in her eyes. As a desperate attempt I bit the hand and drew blood. While the hand loosened for a split second I tried to yell for my sword, but it came out something like, "SMPHYA". Obviously that didn't work because that sounded nothing like "Sophia", so we were dragged deeper into the woods. Eventually after much dragging and a sore ass, we were brought to a clearing with a tree and some ropes tied to four pegs, each with a separate rope.

Annabeth's eyes widened and she started a stronger struggle. I was pretty much exhausted, but watching Annabeth reminded me that we were in danger. I picked up too, and eventually our heads were knocked together, very hard. We both stopped and grabbed our heads and groaned. Eventually I blacked out for a bit.

When I came to I immediately saw Annabeth. She had ropes around her ankles and had tape over her mouth on the other side of a tree. I too was tied down and had tape over my mouth. I looked around and saw the tree next to us. It wasn't too big, but if you used it for a catapult you'd end up in New York. And standing next to the leafless tree was a man. He had raven-black hair and sea green eyes, but not ones that belonged to Percy or Lyra. I figured Annabeth already had a plan to get out of here. My arms were free, but I had no weapon. I looked at Annabeth and she showed me her empty dagger holder on her arm.

"Well, well, well. Looks like it's time to start the fun," said the man. His toga was really out of place. He looked angry, but his Greek getup was pretty funny. He even had the sandals as well.

He saw me laughing and glared at me. "Looks like we have a volunteer to go be ripped in half first!" I knew who this was. This was Sinis, the tree bender. He tried to kill Theseus on his way to his father but ended up getting killed by his own trick.

He bent the tree and held it in front of me. If he let go, that would be the end of my head. I reluctantly took hold and would have been flung if it wasn't for the ropes. They held my feet to the ground but they didn't make it any easier really. I could feel my back start to stretch. I debated about letting go, but that would mean the end of Annabeth on the other side.

I looked at her and her eyes were telling me to let go. I shook my head and then I felt something overcome me. I got stronger and knew what I had to do. I got a better hold on the tree and bent it all the way to the ground. Sinis had been laughing and sat on a chair, but when he saw this he got really confused. This was all going as I had instantly planned.

He bent over as well to see what was wrong with the tree and I took this opportunity to get him good. I knew that if I let go in the position I was in now I'd kill Annabeth. So, I pushed the tree as hard as I could away from me and the tree did as I wanted it to. It snapped back and hit Sinis in the head, knocking him unconscious while the tree slammed right next to Annabeth. The tree straightened and Sinis sank to the ground. I ripped the tape off my mouth causing immense pain and even ripped off the rope from my feet.

I don't know how I did it, but then afterwards I went over to Annabeth and ripped her ropes as well. She hugged me after that. After she took off her tape she said, "Serves Sinis right; we should tie him up to the tree."

I nodded and I tied him up. I tied him good so that when he came around he would be unable to move for at least three hundred years. "Well that should be good enough," said an impressed Annabeth.

Then came the part I was dreading. I calmed down immensely and felt pain erupt from my back while I almost collapsed. If Annabeth hadn't caught me I would have given myself a nasty concussion. But she did, and she helped me back to the car.

Percy came out and met us halfway as well as Lyra. Percy helped Annabeth, who looked pretty tired, and Lyra helped me. I saw my sword in the same spot I had left it and called, "Sophia!" and it came to me. I tapped it and stuffed it in my pocket. We all started get into the car when the sun had just disappeared, turning the sky a vibrant shade of yellow and orange while darkness started to fall.

"What happened to you guys?" Lyra asked.

I was too tired to speak so I nodded at Annabeth and she told them, "Well after you guys left to go to the car Aran and I got kidnapped by Sinis, you know the tree bender? Yeah, he tried to rip us apart, but Aran's blessing saved us."

Percy grinned at me and Lyra stared in shock. I gave them a weak smile and got into the car. Annabeth sat in front of me and she fell asleep after taking a drink of nectar. I followed her lead and soon I was being shaken awake by Percy.

The room was the same as the last one, so even though it was at a different hotel I could tell that our reservation was magic: always giving us the same room. I didn't mind, although I did hate it when I got the couch again. There was no water incident, but Lyra did test out her ability to freeze or thaw water. It was pretty cool, but after freezing my water for the eleventh time it got annoying.

I had another dream that night.

I was stuck in a giant hole. This was an unusual hole, though. The floor was ceramic tile and the walls were made of smooth obsidian. As I sat down trying to think of a way to get out a ladder appeared and an old man stood at the top. He said, "They have forgotten."

He started growing brighter and brighter until I woke up.

My eyes shot open to Lyra hovering over me. "Hey Aran. We need to start going, but I need to talk to you before we go. Meet me by the car ten minutes before we leave." I nodded and sat up and stretched. She walked away into her room and I glanced at the TV, which displayed the time as twelve-thirty. We needed to leave at one, so I got up and packed my stuff. I made a split second decision to get Lyra to come out earlier. Percy and Annabeth were watching something in their room and, by the sounds of it, Percy hated it. I laughed to myself and found Lyra in her room watching some special about dolphins.

"Hey Lyra. I think I need to talk to you about some things as well. So maybe we could leave now?" I said.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just grab my bag and we'll go down together." She said. I nodded and went and told Percy and Annabeth that we were going to go grab something to eat before we left. I didn't like lying to them, but I didn't want them to worry about my dreams. After all, they were about Percy. It almost brought a tear to my eye watching them sitting together, holding hands, and just being together in each other's company and I knew that it would be destroyed. I quickly shook my head and met up with Lyra at the elevator. We rode down in silence and walked out to the car in a continued silence.

When we got there Lyra started talking, "Ok, I've been having these dreams about someone. I've dreamt about them three times. The first time I was sitting in a tree and saw someone getting chased by monsters. I alerted camp and began to run back when I heard someone yell like they were in excruciating pain."

She paused for a second and continued, "The second was about leaving someone to go fight the Titan. I was so scared for them and as I was running with two others I heard a scream and the cave the person went into blew up."

She paused for one last time before she told me her final dream, "The last dream was about someone glowing gray and fighting a ton of monsters. They had him surrounded and he killed all of them. I don't know what any of these mean." She looked panicked and scared at the same time. I didn't know what to do so I told her my three dreams.

"Ok, well it looks like one of our dreams is intertwining with the others. Our first dreams take place in the same area. But the other two… I don't know. I think they are Percy, but I've never seen Percy glow gray. The other person could be Annabeth, but I don't know what could make her glow gray either. That leaves you or me, but we still don't know," she explained. We both thought for a minute before we heard Percy and Annabeth call our names.

"We'll worry about this later," I said to her. She nodded and we greeted the couple coming towards us.

The final leg of the trip to California took about two days. The date was the eighteenth of June and Annabeth thought we'd be done by the twenty-third. I was pretty happy, because Chiron IM-ed us that we could relax for a day in California after we finished. We were ecstatic, to say the least.

The ride after the incident at the gas station in Indiana, the trip was quiet, safe, and smooth. We moved at a rate of three states a trip, so it almost made a week since we were gone. It really was cool to see the real world and not just the local Long Island. Everything seemed so new to me and I found myself staring at every rock and tree that we passed.

Finally we arrived at a hotel next to some lake in Northern California. It was pretty darn big, having at least twenty floors. It was beautiful with the surrounding image of trees, a lake, and green grass you can't find in camp.

We made our way to the receptionist and I quickly glanced at any nearby bellhops, just to be sure, you know? We got our magic room and it was on the sixteenth floor. There was a pool with a retractable room in case of rain or precipitation or things of the like. I thought it was really cool and so did Annabeth, but Percy and Lyra were too busy looking at the pool. Annabeth and I laughed while we dragged a still staring Lyra and Percy to the elevator and hit the button with the sixteen and started riding up.

Along the ride Percy and Lyra started fidgeting a lot, like more than a usual ADHD kid does.

"What's up Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked, obviously concerned for her boyfriend.

"Well we're gonna be pretty high up, and you know how a certain God of the sky doesn't like a certain son of the Sea God," he told her, "I'm just a bit worried I guess."

Annabeth and I chuckled a little. "Don't worry man, you have the favorite daughter of Athena here as well as one of her siblings. Athena happens to be the favorite child of Zeus, so I don't think he'd blast you out of a hotel with us around," I said to him. He seemed to get this and leaned back against the wall. Annabeth rested on him until we had to get out.

Too bad we thought this would be easy. There was a big chain-link fence in front of us, blocking our way to our room right on the other side with a sign that said, "DETOUR: TAKE PLATFORM TO RIGHT". It took a few minutes to decipher, though, with my dyslexia, but once I finished I also realized the fence was made out of celestial bronze.

"Well, I say we cut through it," Percy said. Annabeth and I rolled our eyes while Lyra shrugged. He took this as an "OK" and proceeded to bring Riptide down on the fence. All was good until the sword glanced harmlessly off the fence.

Percy tilted his head sideways and looked at his sword in disbelief. Annabeth and I shook our heads slowly. Lyra was confused as well until I explained, "It's made of celestial bronze. It wouldn't break from our weapons. We'll just have to follow the detour outside, but keep your guard up. There's clearly a monstrous force at work here."

They nodded and we stepped out the ceiling-to-floor window and onto the platform, sixteen stories above the ground and about five feet wide held up by support beams. Percy and Lyra looked terrified and they hugged the wall of the building to keep as far away from the edge as possible. Annabeth intertwined her fingers in Percy's and Lyra looked as pale as a ghost, so I held her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She looked at me and blushed and I did too, but it just felt right, so I smiled the best I could at her. She seemed to calm down and loosened up as we continued.

The platform was pretty long. We obviously couldn't crawl through any of the room windows, and the other hallway window was on the opposite end of the building. When I looked to my right I could see the pool below us and a magnificent view of the water. I couldn't see the actual beach because of all the buildings in the way, but it still took my breath away. The Pacific was sparkling in the evening sun and I even stopped walking to admire it.

I was brought back to reality by Lyra tugging my arm gently. I snapped back to looking at the stretch of platform in front of me and I saw Lyra looking a bit pale again. I walked next to her and smiled again. She gave a weak smile back and we continued.

It is so typical of seemingly easy trips to get screwed up or complicated.

Ahead of us I could see a janitor in a dark blue jump-suit. He was leaning against the wall and was looking down at his shoes. Reluctantly Percy let go of the wall and walked around the man. I instantly thought he was a jerk because he wouldn't move for a terrified person.

As Lyra and I got to him I leaned to Lyra and whispered, "Come on, we have to go around him." She looked at me with pleading eyes that screamed NO!

I sighed and stepped in front of her and grabbed her shoulders softly. She looked down and I put my hand under her chin and lifted her head to face me. "Listen, I know you don't want to do this, but we have to. I'll be right next to you the whole time. I promise nothing will happen to you. Do you trust me enough?" I asked softly.

She hesitated for a bit and then nodded. Her face paled and I smiled reassuringly. "What if you close your eyes and I lead you to the other side?" She thought for a bit then nodded. "Ok, I'm going to walk behind you and point you. We'll go as fast as you want. There's no rushing. I will put one hand on your shoulder and one on your waist…" I trailed off blushing at the thought of it, but Lyra nodded like it was no big deal.

I walked behind her as she closed her eyes. I took a deep breath and put my left hand on her shoulder. She immediately grabbed it with her right hand and I told her softly, "Don't worry, it's just me. Relax." She was shaking as I spoke but calmed down as I finished. I nervously placed my right hand on her waist and she placed her left hand over it. I was blushing wildly, but I managed to stay calm on the outside. Her hands were sweaty and she was keeping her eyes shut tightly.

"Ok, I'll steer while you walk. I promise, I'm right here and you'll be ok. Start walking whenever you are ready," I spoke calmly to her. She nodded and started shaking a bit more.

We stood there for a good couple of minutes and all the while we stayed in the same position, including the lazy jerk janitor. Finally, by the time Percy and Annabeth made it to the window already and waited for us, Lyra took a step forward. I blushed even more thinking of what Percy and Annabeth would say to me.

"There you go. Good job," I encouraged. I could've sworn I saw the edges of her lips turn upwards slightly.

She continued to take small baby steps, and by the time we got to the other side she was practically walking. The whole time the janitor didn't even acknowledge our presence.

"Ok, it's over," I told her in her ear. She shuddered and slowly opened her eyes. When she opened them all the way she let out a huge sigh of relief. I smiled and she looked over her shoulder at me. I think she realized the way our hands were and she took a step towards the rail and grabbed on to it, releasing my hands. I blushed and was about to go over to her so we could finish this trip but two hands clamped on my shoulders.

"Hey -," was all I could before I was forced to the ground with a grunt and forced to turn to see the janitor.

He was smiling smugly at me and said quietly so only I could hear, "Clean my shoes you stupid demigod." My eyes widened at the last word. Then he took out a sword and held it to Lyra's back, unknowingly to her. I knew that if I spoke that would be the end of her, and I also couldn't get my sword out fast enough. I nodded slightly, glaring daggers at this creep. I glanced at his nametag and it said something like, "RNIOSC".

He brought out a bucket of water from out of nowhere and handed me a rag. Then Lyra spoke, "Aran? Where are you?"

The janitor brought his sword up and I panicked. "I'm here, just don't turn around. Keep your eyes on the building and don't look away. Promise me you'll do this." I ended almost pleading, but I stayed calm.

She nodded and said, "I will. I trust you, Aran." That made me smile but I was jarred back to reality when the man dragged me over to his left foot so his right foot could kick me in the chest… oh gods.

I knew who this was. He was Sciron, the guy who kicked people off a narrow path to be eaten by a giant turtle. I had a feeling he was still angry that Theseus had sent him off his own cliff and he was venting on me.

I reluctantly dipped the rag in the water and started rubbing his dirty shoe. I was thinking of all the possible things I could do, but I came up with nothing, which was unusual. The only thing I could do was diligently clean his stupid shoe.

Eventually I finished and I looked up at him. I saw him bring his foot back, and then THUD! Pain instantly shot up from my chest and I heard several cracks. I didn't dare even make an attempt to speak, so I bit down, hard, on my bottom lip, drawing a lot of blood.

The jerk was standing over me, ready to push me off the edge since I didn't fall off from his kick. He was angry and completely ignored Lyra.

You know what? Screw it, I'm gonna take this guy down with me! I thought to myself. It hurt getting up quickly, but I managed to knock the sword out of Sciron's hand and, after a bit of a painful struggle, had him leaning over the edge. He had a hold on me, though, so I couldn't just push him without falling myself.

"Lyra, turn and look at me," I said to her. She turned slowly and gasped at what she saw. "Lyra, I want you to get to the window and tell the others what happened. Get out of here and finish the quest. You have to trust me on this," I said. "You need to go, NOW!"

She shook her head violently with tears streaming down her face. "NO! I won't leave you! Just hold on, I'll go get the others."

She started to go but I called her back. "Lyra, I know you want to help," and I was kicked in a very, VERY, uncomfortable spot. I winced and continued in a higher tone, "If the fates say it's my time, then I'll die here. If they don't then I'll see you soon."

I was about to turn back when Lyra let go of the side of the building and ran towards me. I thought she was going to slap me or punch me, but instead she kissed me.

As cheesy as it sounds I was filled with new strength. I closed my eyes as she held my face in her hands. I didn't realize it, but I started to tear as well, thinking that it really was the end of me. She pulled away and ran to the window with her head down.

"Aw, how cute. Now it's high time I killed you," I heard the angry janitor yell. He started to struggle but I looked back at him with pure hatred. I felt even more powerful now and I took out my sword, holding Sciron with one hand.

I had no qualms about what I was going to do. Since he was there then he had to be a monster, so killing him wouldn't result in an actual casualty (understand?). He knew what was coming and tipped himself backwards, sending both of us over the edge.

Oh to noes! What will happen? Will he die? What was up with that kiss? Is there a romance breaking out?

Find out next time! Remember, REVIEW!