Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: If you're thinking the chapter title looks kind of familiar, it's a rip-off from the song Midnight Train to Georgia by Gladys Knight & the Pips, which was covered by Chase, Foreman, and House in an episode of House MD. That scene is one of my favorites from the entire show, and I am a huge fan of House, so that says a lot lol.

Anyways, that's all I have to say about today's chapter, besides that I hope you enjoy it! Until the next one,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis


~The Finding Home Saga~

~Finding Home~

~Chapter 62: Midnight Train To I Have No Idea Where~


"Do you have any idea of what you've just done?" Thalia spat at me when we made it back to the van.

"Yeah," I said with a lot more confidence than I felt. "I listened to what Zoë wanted us to do. She had a pretty fair idea that she and Iphigenia would be fine without us."

"She doesn't know that for sure!" Thalia retorted, waving her hands in the air for emphasis. "What happens if something happens to them because we weren't there to protect them? What happens if your actions have killed them, Percy."

Truthfully, inside I was wondering if she was right. I hadn't felt confident in this decision when I'd made it back at Jefferson Field, and I was feeling even less confident about it now that Zoë and Iphigenia hadn't come following behind us. But, I'd made my decision. I couldn't change the past. And, "The prophecy said none of us are going to die until the land without rain or unless by a parent's hand. I don't think any of those situations apply right now."

Thalia looked ready to tear her hair out. "But you don't know that!" She took out the Mace canister that turned into her spear from where she'd hidden it away as we'd run from the National Air and Space Museum. "I should go back there and – "

"What's done is done," Katie interjected firmly. "We should get in the van and wait for Zoë and Iphigenia before we're spotted. I'm sure they're going to come back soon."

With her being one against two, Thalia still looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn't push it. Angrily, she stomped over to the front passenger side of the van and pulled the door open, got in, and slammed the door behind her.

She really was a petulant brat, wasn't she? And she called Zoë one. I couldn't believe the hypocrisy.

Katie and I got into the van. I thought I felt something brush up against me as we got in, something soft, but when I looked down at the van floor and the ground, there was nothing. I was hesitant to just leave it at that, but we had more important matters to think about.

After fifteen minutes of waiting and us half-expecting to be found out by the assholes on the other side, Zoë and Iphigenia came back. Zoë appeared in the driver side's window, making Thalia let out a shriek of surprise, before she opened the door and got in and Iphigenia did the same. "Must you shriek?" Zoë asked Thalia. "You knew we were coming back."

Both of the Hunters looked a little ruffled, but alright. "Did you get all of the saber-toothed tigers?" I questioned Zoë.

"We got eleven of them," she answered. Her nose wrinkled. "It was...strange. The blood that was used to make them grow must have been magical. They melted into spoils that we did not have time to collect or exploded into dust."

"Only eleven? There were twelve!"

"The twelfth one was not among the others," Iphigenia pitched in. "It must have been killed beforehand."

I wasn't sure if I agreed with that idea, but I couldn't come up with one that was more plausible. I kept my mouth shut.

Zoë started the van. She drove us across the Potomac, but after that she didn't want to go much further in the van. "As loathe as I am to depart from our transportation, the Spartoi are still following us, as I am sure that their creators are. We must find a different mode next," she said.

We found a subway entrance not far away, keeping our eyes peeled for something like that. Zoë parked the van and we all got out. I was the last one out because I'd sat in the third row of seats, letting Katie and Iphigenia take the middle one. As my feet landed on the pavement, I heard a familiar sound from behind me. "Mew?"

Immediately, I turned around. "What the – ?"

It was the twelfth saber-toothed tiger – it had to be. It was still small, no larger than a house cat, the canines that it was named for looking like tiny little daggers instead of swords. It still had the stripes that the others did not. It was looking up at me with its wide, yellow eyes, peaking out from underneath the seat Iphigenia had been sitting in.

Thalia gaped beside me. "Is that – ?"

"I think that's the twelfth saber-toothed tiger, yeah," I said faintly. "I have no idea why it's still a baby, though." Maybe the dragon blood had interacted with it in the wrong way? Or had the guard that selected the wrong teeth picked up a baby saber-toothed tiger tooth, as hard as it was to believe?

From behind us, Zoë huffed. "It does not matter. We must get going."

I knew she was right, and so did Thalia. The daughter of Zeus turned back to face her.

But I remained rooted in my spot. For some reason, I felt bad for the saber-toothed kitten. It was probably lonely with its brethren having grown up so fast and killed by Zoë and Iphigenia. I knew how that felt. I mean, I didn't want to take it with us and then have it grow up and kill me, but I didn't want to leave it behind, either. Not when it didn't have a mom...

...Maybe this was just the Nemean Lion coat talking. Maybe it was getting to my head. I knew I shouldn't have taken it instead of Zoë.

For the first time since that summer, I felt a voice inside my head that wasn't my own. "It's not the Nemean Lion pelt, sugar. And you're right with the baby tooth assumption. It's not gonna grow up to the size of the other ones."

My back went ramrod straight. I casted my eyes to the sky. "Despoina?" I asked.

"What are you doing, boy?" Zoë demanded of me.

There was no response from my immortal half-sister besides a giggle.

...Okay, then.

With the assurances from a goddess, I didn't feel as bad in picking up the saber-toothed kitten by the scruff and shoving it into my coat. It automatically started purring at the warmth. I pivoted on my foot. "I'm keeping it," I announced to the rest of the group.

All of them looked at me like I was insane – even Katie. "Percy, you can't just keep a saber-toothed tiger," Thalia said slowly.

"Kitten," I corrected her. "And too bad. I am."

"You have no idea how fast it's going to grow up! For all you know, in a couple of hours, it could be full-grown and trying to kill us! And even if it doesn't, it can't just come on the quest with us!"

Of course, I actually did because of Despoina, but I wasn't going to tell her that. "If it starts to get really big, really fast, I'll kill it," I reasoned. "And who knows about that? She could come in handy on this quest in the end."

"'She?'"

"Just a feeling I have." I stalked past them. "Now, come on. Let's get going."

Zoë, Iphigenia, and Katie didn't even bother trying to argue with me, because I suspected that the Hunters already thought I was insane with the space ice cream trick and Katie just knew me better not to. Thalia wound up cursing as she caught up to us.

We bought tickets to the subway and got through the turnstiles, looking for any sign of pursuit, but there were none. Not a single mortal batted an eye at how I was obviously smuggling a kitten in my coat, saber-toothed or not, as we were safely aboard a southbound train a few minutes later, riding away from DC. As our train came above ground, we could see a black helicopter, military style, circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after us.

Katie sighed with relief. "Thank goodness for that."

I, meanwhile, was looking down at my cat (yes, I was already referring to her as "my cat"), petting her head softly as she continued to purr. If you looked close enough, you could see that she was similar to the Spartoi, as her skin was almost see-through, meaning you could see her bones. I thought about what I should name her. Bob sounded like a good name for a cat. But I didn't say that out loud, because I didn't want the rest of the group to think I was more insane than I honestly probably already was. I was secretly dating the traitor of Olympus, after all. That already was a point against my favor.

Over the next half hour, all we were concerned about was getting to safety. We changed trains twice. I had no idea where we were going, but after a while we lost the helicopter.

Unfortunately, when we finally got off the last train we found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here. I was glad for my new lion's fur coat and the extra addition of warmth burrowed into my side.

We wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.

A homeless guy was standing at a trash can fire. We must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave us a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!"

We huddled around his fire. Thalia's teeth were chattering. She said, "Well, this is g – g – great."

"Maybe we should contact camp," Katie said.

"No," Zoë spoke. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

Even with the joy from my new companion, I couldn't help but gaze miserably around the rail yard. Somewhere, far to the west, Silena was in danger. Artemis was in chains. A doomsday monster was on the loose. And we were stuck on the outskirts of DC, sharing a homeless person's fire.

"You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends." His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," I said. "You know of any?"

He pointed one greasy hand.

Suddenly I noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

"That's...convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh..."

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him.


An hour later, we were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because we all got our own luxury car. Zoë and Iphigenia were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Katie was napping in the driver's seat of a Lamborghini. And Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from DC.

"Join you?" I asked her, a tin of wet cat food in the hand I wasn't propping up Bob with. I'd found it one of the other luxury cars; it seemed that not all of them were brand-new, but being carried off across multiple state lines to be transferred to their owners' second or third homes instead.

Thalia snorted at the sight of the cat food tin, but she didn't say anything else, all she did was shrug, so I climbed into the shotgun seat.

The radio was playing the White Stripes. I knew the song because it was one of the only CDs I owned besides the stuff by the Killers that my mom liked. She said they reminded her of Led Zeppelin. Thinking about my mom made me sad, because I didn't think Silena and I would make it home in time for Christmas so we could figure out what the hell was going on with our parents.

I pulled Bob out of my coat, which made her mewl in protest, but she quickly recovered when I opened the tin and set it in front of her. I hoped that she wouldn't cut herself on the sharp edges. She sniffed the wet cat food, strips of chicken and beef in gravy, warily, and then started to tear into it with abandon. Thalia and I both chuckled as I petted Bob while she ate.

"I still think you're fucking crazy for bringing that thing with us," Thalia said.

"I know," I answered. That was all we spoke of on that subject, as I quickly brought up the one that I knew she needed to know. "Whatever this mystery monster we're chasing is, the General said it would come for you. They wanted to isolate you from the group, so the monster will appear and battle you one-on-one."

"He said that?"

"Well, something like that. Yeah."

"Great," she deadpanned, "I just love being used as bait."

"No idea what the monster might be?"

She shook her head morosely. "But you know where we're going, don't you? San Francisco. That's where Artemis was heading."

I knew. There was another reason why Annabeth's family moving there wouldn't work like how Bianca talked about at Westover Hall. It was because that the mountain near San Francisco, Mount Tamalpais, was the new location of the Mountain of Despair. Mount Othrys. The ruling seat of the titans just like how Olympus was for the gods. And –

"It's where Luke got the scar on his cheek," I mentioned offhandedly. "Where his boyfriend, Alan Bolloré, died."

I really wasn't trying to offend her with that. I mean, she had been Luke's girlfriend, his first romantic partner, but I knew who he'd chosen out of the two of us, and it was me. Besides, it wasn't like she could deny that Luke had moved on after she'd died – and I mean "move on" in the sense of time passing, not getting over her death.

But Thalia tensed anyways, I could see it out of the corner of my eye as I watched Bob eat her meal, and I instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean – "

"I know," she said sharply. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry, too. He's just...an especially sore subject for me right now with Zoë and Iphigenia here." Before I could ask her what she meant by that, she continued on, "The Hunters tried to recruit me a long time ago. Well, long for you."

"What?" I asked. I knew that I shouldn't have been surprised. The Hunters had tried to recruit Katie, too. But...

Thalia smiled bittersweetly. "Yeah. Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once, and Zoë tried to convince me. She almost did, but..."

"'But...?'" I didn't want to say the words out loud.

Thalia's fingers gripped the wheel. "I would've had to leave Luke."

Well, that wasn't the admittance I'd thought it was going to be. But still. "Oh."

"Zoë and I got into a fight. She told me that I was being stupid. She said I'd regret my choice. She said Luke would let me down someday."

I looked up at the sun through the metal curtain. We seemed to be traveling faster each second – shadows flickering like an old movie projector.

"That's harsh," I said.

"She wasn't right, though! Luke's never let me down. Never."

I wondered if she would still be saying that if she knew what I did.

"We'll have to fight him," I reminded her. I'd already come to terms with this idea, the fact that I was going to have to play the part that I was meant to so that my relationship with him didn't garner any suspicion. But that was different. "There's no way around it."

Thalia clenched her jaw. "I'll do what I have to do."

Now, that. That scared me.

But I kept my voice even as I asked for the clarification that I so desperately did not want, "Does that mean you'd kill him if you thought that you had to?"

"Do me a favor, Percy," she said. "Get out of my car."

I felt so bad for her for so many reasons, I didn't try to argue with her. Bob wasn't done with her cat food yet, so she protested when I took the can from her to get out of the car, but I assured her quietly that I would let her finish it off in a minute.

After I closed the door behind, Thalia rolled up the power windows and locked the doors to her car, shutting me out.


I sat in the driver's seat of Katie's Lamborghini, letting Bob resume her meal in my lap. Katie was asleep in the back.

As I watched the sun go down, I thought of Silena – and Luke, even though he was't with her anymore. I was afraid to go to sleep. I was worried what I might dream.

"Oh, don't be afraid of dreams," a voice said right next to me.

I looked over. Somehow, I wasn't surprised to find the homeless guy from the rail yard sitting in the shotgun seat. His jeans were so worn out they were almost white. His coat was ripped, with stuffing coming out. He looked kind of like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck.

I had a feeling of who he was, given the other half-sibling that had come to visit me today, and if I was right, I didn't particularly want to hear him give another one of his awful haikus. So, I guessed, "Apollo?"

"You're no fun. I was going to give you a cool haiku," he said, sure enough. He put a finger to his lips. "But I'm incognito. Call me Fred."

"A god named Fred?"

"Eh, well...Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something major is really wrong. Some of the minor gods like our lovely sister – " Despoina, I assumed " – ignore his rules, but he doesn't care about their interference like he does the Olympians', and the same is true for a patron goddess helping out her champion. But nobody messes with my twin sister. Nobody."

"Can you help us, then?"

"Shh. I already have. Haven't you been looking outside?"

"The train," I realized. "How fast is it moving?"

Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get across a good chunk of America, at least."

"But where is Artemis?"

His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's...clouded from me. I don't like it."

"And Silena?"

"Your friend? Hmm. I don't know about her, either."

"What about the monster Artemis was seeking?" I tried next. "Do you know what it is?"

"No," Apollo said. "But there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure by my Oracle."

I narrowed my eyes. "But it's your Oracle. Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?"

Apollo sighed. "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search."

"In other words, you don't know."

Apollo checked his watch. "Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Percy, but remember what I said before you cut me off! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!"

I wanted to protest that I wasn't tired and I'd never made a haiku in my life, but Apollo snapped his fingers, and the next thing I knew I was out like a light. Get it? Yeah...you probably do.


In my dream, I was somebody else. I was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic, which was a little too breezy downstairs, and laced leather sandals. The Nemean Lion's skin was wrapped around my back like a cape, and I was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping my hand.

"Hurry!" she said. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but I could hear the fear in her voice. "He will find us!"

It was nighttime. A million stars blazed above. We were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, and yet the girl was leading me through it, as if we were about to die.

"I'm not afraid," I tried to tell her.

"You should be!" she shot back, pulling me along. She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight.

We raced up the side of the hill. She pulled me behind a thorn bush and we collapsed, both breathing heavily. I didn't know why the girl was scared. The garden seemed so peaceful. And I felt strong. Stronger than I'd ever felt before.

"There is no need to run," I told her. My voice sounded deeper, much more confident. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."

"Not this one," the girl said. "Ladon is strong. You must go around, up to the mountain to my father. It is the only way."

The hurt in her voice surprised me. She was really concerned, almost like she cared about me.

"I don't trust your father," I said.

"You should not," the girl agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die."

I chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, little one?"

"I...I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out...they would disown me."

"Then there's nothing for it." I stood up, rubbing my hands together.

"Wait," the girl said.

She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She is a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.

"Take it," she told me. "And make it a weapon."

I laughed. "A hairpin. And how will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It may not," she admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."

The girl's voice softened my heart. I reached down and took the hairpin, and as I did, it grew longer and heavier in my hand, until I held a familiar bronze sword.

"Well balanced," I said. "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"

"Anaklusma," the girl said sadly. "The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."

Before I could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl said, "Too late! He is here!"


I jerked as I woke up in the Lamborghini's driver seat. Through the steel mesh curtains, I could see that it was still dark out, but dawn was on the horizon. The train was still going. Bob was nestled in my lap, having knocked the empty cat food tin at my feet and somehow managed to get a section of the Nemean Lion coat pulled over her. She was sleeping.

I fished my pen out of my pocket and stared at it. Anaklusma, the Ancient Greek name for Riptide. A different form, but I was sure it was the same blade I'd seen in my dream.

And I was sure of something else, too. The girl I had seen was Zoë Nightshade.


Word Count: 4,101

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