Quick A/N: Yes, that's a real brand of gum haha

Chapter 2: Heading North

Two Weeks Later

"Score!"

Thalia snickered as she pulled a wide pack of gum from the top row of the display. When she proudly presented it to Percy, he had no choice but to break out in a fit of laughter. Thalia then laughed at him laughing, and their voices echoed across the expanse of the Buc-ee's they were "shopping" in.

After composing himself, Percy took the gum box from Thalia's hands, reading it much more slowly to ensure his dyslexia hadn't got the best of him. It hadn't.

"'How about a big pack of Shut the Hell Up?'" he read aloud, "How is this real?"

Thalia shrugged, taking it back and tearing through the packaging. She handed Percy a wad of the oddly red gum and grabbed a piece for herself. Without questioning the strong scent of cinnamon, they both popped it into their mouths and bit down. A moment later, violently scrunching their faces, their horrified eyes met.

Percy's eyes began to water as he mirrored Thalia's disgust. The gum was coated in a ridiculous amount of ground cinnamon, and the powder was pricking across Percy's mouth like needles and pouring into his throat like sand. Doubling over, he hacked the wad of gum onto the floor and clawed at his tongue with his fingertips. At the same time, Thalia was vigorously licking her palm in the midst of a coughing fit as she tried to remove as much of the powder as she could.

Once they'd purged their mouths of the terrible taste, the pair shared a silent glance with their hands on their knees while they gulped heaving breaths. It didn't take long for them to burst out laughing and get hit with another wave of coughs as the final traces of cinnamon puffed out of them.

The urgent pounding of boots against tile jerked them both upright, and Thalia swiftly kicked her spit-up gum beneath the aisle. Without questioning her, Percy did the same just before a panicked Luke and Annabeth jumped the corner with their weapons drawn. The armed duo paused when they found Percy and Thalia standing oddly straight. Percy fought the smile tugging at his lips when he realized why Thalia had hidden the gum.

Luke sheathed his sword and Annabeth's knife returned to her belt as they both approached.

"What was all that noise?" Luke asked, "It sounded like someone was dying."

"Mmhm," Thalia groaned, smacking her lips like she was chewing something, "We were just laughing. Found some stupid candy."

Percy followed her lead, exaggeratedly clenching and unclenching his jaw as he nodded.

"Shut the Hell Up," he said, "Try it."

Luke's brow furrowed until Thalia held up the opened box. He and Annabeth regarded it, both snickering when they'd read it for themselves, and grabbed pieces of the red gum. Thalia and Percy waited for their victims to bite into the horrible mounds of cinnamon before they took off running.

Luke shouted after them while he and Annabeth devolved into their own coughing fits, but Percy and Thalia had already escaped the aisle. They made a pit stop at the bathrooms to wash their hands but emerged to learn that Luke and Annabeth were much quicker in their recovery.

Panting, the tricked duo stood before them with fingers stained cinnamon red. They were both staring at the targets they'd apparently selected on the way over; Percy nearly shivered beneath Annabeth's glare. After a shared look with Thalia, who nodded, they broke into a sprint in opposite directions. Thalia and Luke disappeared towards the back of the store, Thalia's laughter trailing behind her.

Annabeth tore after Percy, and the demigod's chortling died in his throat when he realized she was gaining on him. He zig-zagged between aisles as quickly as his legs would carry him but slowed down to scoop up Luke's bag from where he must have dropped it. Annabeth also slowed to grab her own, but Percy's lead had still been cut to almost nothing.

"You're done, Percy!" she shouted from right behind him.

Percy jerked around a corner and found Thalia running right towards him, Luke on her tail lugging both remaining bags. They sprinted past each other, slapping hands and swapping chasers as they both turned to make a break for the store's front doors. Neck in neck, Percy and Thalia cleared the aisles and ran past the closed cashier booth, finding themselves just feet from the exit.

That was when Annabeth, willfully shoved forward by Luke, caught Thalia's legs and dragged her to the sensor mat. Their tumble opened the automatic doors for Percy, who made it outside and watched in horror as he turned to find Luke already bounding towards him.

"Wait!" was all Percy got out before the older demigod slammed into him like a freight train, hoisting him from the ground and less-than-lightly tackling him onto the pavement.

Lying on his back, Percy groaned while a grinning Luke climbed off of him.

"That's what you get, Barnacle Boy," he teased before offering a hand up.

Taking it, Percy pulled upright and dusted off his clothes. Thalia and Annabeth were already sitting shoulder to shoulder on the nearby curb and chewing on protein bars. Percy and Luke exchanged backpacks and made their way over, sitting down on either side of the duo as they all slowly caught their breath. Above them, an ocean of stars shone in the cloudless night sky.

"Wow," Luke breathed, "it's beautiful tonight."

Percy nodded silently, staring up into the shining expanse. Like most nights, his mind filled with memories of his mother. He remembered all of the times they'd sat on their little apartment's even littler balcony and she'd pointed out dozens of constellations that he couldn't keep straight. Living in New York City had meant that stars were sometimes impossible to see, but he and his mother had found them often enough.

Percy didn't cry anymore when he thought of her. The memories didn't sting like they had the first week, but he still missed her more than anything. And the indignation he felt for her death had only become worse since being claimed by a god. Percy's jaw clenched.

"Could Poseidon have saved my mom?" he asked aloud as his arms wrapped around his knees.

Three heads shifted from the sky to Percy. Nearest to him, Thalia went to speak, but Luke beat her to it.

"Yes," he answered curtly, his voice taking on the hardness it always did when talking about the gods, "It'd take a flick of the wrist if they decided to care."

Annabeth looked like she wanted to say something, but she just glanced somberly between Percy and Luke.

"Doesn't that make most bad things at least kind of their fault?" Percy then asked.

"Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"This doesn't help anyone," Thalia cut in, "Screw 'em."

The conversation ended there. Percy's silent gaze returned to the sky, drinking in the sparkling night while his eyelids became heavy. It was 2 AM, maybe 3, but he was too tired to know for sure. He could vaguely hear Annabeth narrating the different constellations above, and her soft voice was only making it more easy to drift to sleep.

Once his eyes had closed, Percy's head began lilting forwards and backwards and side to side, shifting direction each time it was about to settle. Eventually, Thalia rolled her eyes and guided his head to her shoulder. She rested her own atop his and closed her eyes, neither demigod aware of the other's cheeks flushing.

Several minutes passed before Luke noticed the pair. He nudged Annabeth in the middle of her explanation about Ursa Major, and they both looked over together. Annabeth was smiling ear to ear, gesturing at them wildly while Luke put a finger over his mouth. Quietly, he reached into his army rucksack and fished out a disposable camera. He put an arm around Annabeth, who nuzzled into him, as he turned the camera lens on them all.

"Say cheese," he whispered.

Luke and Annabeth grinned into the blinding flash that accompanied the snap of the photo. The same burst of light wrenched Thalia and Percy awake, both of them wincing while Luke quickly stowed the camera in his pocket.

"What was that?" Thalia groaned, rubbing her eyes.

Percy could only murmur incoherently in agreement. Before Luke could offer any kind of explanation, Annabeth excitedly pointed to the sky.

"Shooting star!"

The flash was forgotten as four heads traced the bright comet spearing through the night. In that moment, each of the demigods made a silent wish that they kept for themselves, unaware that all of their wishes had to do with each other.

(Line Break)

Percy flicked the shrubbery he was sitting beneath, breathing in the morning dew that doused him a moment later. He sighed, stretching his legs out in front of him and reaching to touch his toes. His legs had been seriously sore the past few days following the training he'd begged Luke to start giving him. It'd all begun after Percy had learned a few nights ago that Annabeth could pretty easily chase him down.

The demigod groaned and straightened back up. There was another hour to kill on morning watch before Percy was supposed to wake the other three. They were sleeping in a shelter a dozen yards away that was nearly an exact copy of the one in Virginia. Percy still hadn't wrapped his head around the idea that Luke had built five of these hideouts down the East Coast by himself. They were in South Carolina now, the furthest south Luke had ventured alone, and they'd decided to turn back around towards Maryland when they all woke up.

Percy considered practicing some of the fighting moves Luke had taught him yesterday. He climbed to his haunches when, suddenly, the hairs on his arms shot straight up. Percy immediately crouched behind the nearest tree and unsheathed the dagger Annabeth had let him borrow. Staying low, he peered through the surrounding underbrush from behind the tree.

A crunch from a few yards away caught his attention. It was between him and the shelter, so he prowled towards it with the bronze knife held at the ready. Slipping behind a thick row of bushes, Percy heard panicked rustling and crumpling leaves from the immediate opposite side. He was about to punch through the foliage blade-first when he froze at a sudden, high pitched bleat.

"How could this happen?!" a voice moaned, "I knew the– Chiron already said– my license! Pan– the kid– is he okay?!"

Percy's confusion only built with each fragment of a sentence, but he shook it off and tightened his grip on the blade. He lunged blindly into the bushes while swinging his weapon, and his forehead slammed into a mouth that'd pushed into the hedge at the same time. A bleating shriek erupted from the retreating enemy, and Percy echoed it with his own shout as he resorted to running towards the shelter.

He slipped around the long row of bushes, lacking any kind of real plan, and ran headfirst into his panicked counterpart. They both fell to the ground clutching their heads, still yelling until they came face to face. Both voices died instantly, and their hands dropped in tandem with their jaws. A shocked silence stood between them for a few moments before they pointed in unison.

"You?!" they both shouted.

Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth came barreling through the trees seconds later, all three of them still half asleep. Percy didn't understand when they visibly brightened at the sight of the kid with brown curly hair and…goat legs?

"Grover!" Luke exclaimed, helping both him and Percy up.

Thalia and Annabeth crushed him in a hug, but his eyes were still wide and locked on Percy.

"How–how is he here?" Grover asked after he'd been released.

Luke's brows knitted.

"Percy? We ran into him in Virginia."

Percy eyed the boy suspiciously, the knife back in his grasp.

"You're their Grover?" he asked, "Why were you stalking me and my mom in New York?"

Confusion spread through the rest of the group while Grover shifted nervously. Thalia stepped in front of Percy with her hands out.

"I'm sure Grover has an explanation, Percy. Give Annabeth her knife, and let's go back inside to hear it."

Percy lowered the weapon and handed it back to its owner, but his gaze didn't leave Grover. He stared at him the entire way back to the hideout and sat across from him once they'd all ducked their way inside. The area was smaller than the other shelter, but it had more empty space since not much was stored by the group so far south.

Once they'd all settled in against the few crates lining the space, or inside a sleeping bag in Grover's case, Luke cleared his throat.

"Alright," he said, noticing Percy's levied stare, "Grover, can you explain to Percy who you are?"

"And why you were following me outside my school. And hanging around my apartment— oh and why I saw you eating a coke can once!"

"Percy," Luke interrupted, smirking, "give him a chance."

Grover kicked at the inside of the sleeping bag.

"I'm, uh, a junior Protector at Camp Half-Blood."

"The safe place for us," Annabeth added, addressing Percy.

"Yeah. I found Luke, Thalia, and Annabeth more than a month ago in North Carolina, and I was supposed to guide them to camp. Pretty quickly, I got an urgent message from Chiron–"

"The actual Chiron? The hero trainer?" Percy asked in momentary awe, remembering the stories.

Grover smiled.

"Also the activities director at our camp. Anyways, he told me I needed to get to New York City as soon as physically possible. Camp is right next to it, and monster attacks get more frequent the closer we get, so I couldn't safely and quickly bring three demigods with me. Especially a Forbidden Child."

"That's me!" Thalia grinned, raising her hand.

"Percy is, too," Annabeth pointed, "He's a son of Poseidon."

Grover's face turned sheet white.

"Wh–what?"

"What's a Forbidden Child?" Percy asked.

"A child of the Big Three: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades," Luke explained, "They made a pact or something a while ago to not have any more kids, which they obviously broke. Tell him, Grover."

Grover's face was still slack.

"T–two, two Forbidden Children?!" he finally said, "In the same place? And I have to guide them?!"

Luke and Thalia exchanged an amused glance. Percy remembered his first night out with the group when Thalia had first mentioned Grover and his nervousness. She'd honestly undersold it, but it made Percy feel less suspicious towards the boy.

"Why do you have goat legs?" he blurted out before realizing he'd spoken.

Annabeth laughed through her nose while Grover stiffened. The random question seemed to bring him back to his senses.

"I'm a satyr," he said proudly, "Half-man, half-goat!"

"Is that why you were eating the coke can outside my apartment building?" Percy deadpanned.

Grover blushed a crimson red.

"Y-yes," he answered, "they taste good to me."

Percy considered that for a moment before he shrugged.

"Cool. You like what you like, I guess."

"See?" Grover gestured pointedly at both Luke and Thalia, who snorted, "Percy doesn't think it's that weird either! Him and Annabeth are my new favorites."

Percy couldn't help but laugh.

"Not yet. First, you have to keep explaining why you went to New York."

Grover's face fell, and it was Percy's turn to be nervous.

"For you, actually. I had to find 'Percy Jackson' and safely bring him to Camp Half-Blood. It took me a long time to confirm who you were because your scent was being blocked. It's why you saw me so many times."

"Hold on, my scent?"

"Yes. All demigods have scents; it's how both satyrs and monsters can find you. But yours was masked," Grover explained, "I figured out that it was being done by a monster, and at the same time, your mom discovered me."

Percy's stomach clenched as Grover continued.

"Sally caught me one morning, and I realized she was a mortal that could see through the Mist, the veil that separates the human world from the mythical one. But the monster you were living with was specially hidden so that almost no human or demigod could see his real form. Your mom and I planned how to get you both out safely, but on the day we were supposed to leave, I came to get you two and–"

Grover's voice failed him while Percy's eyes welled.

"I'm sorry, Percy," he eventually said, "I was too late, and I was terrified that the monster had taken you–"

Percy lunged forward and hugged Grover, stunning him. The satyr eventually wrapped him just as tightly and cried into his shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault, Grover," Percy whispered, "Thanks for trying to help us."

The three other demigods joined the embrace, adding their own words of encouragement for both Percy and Grover. It was several minutes before they pulled apart, all sniffling to some degree. Luke thumbed the corner of his eye before pulling out a box of tissues for the group. By the time everyone had cleaned themselves up, Percy had found a seat beside Grover.

"Alright, now that we're all friends," Luke paused, smirking at the new duo sitting on the same sleeping bag. "and we were already planning to head north, let's move."

The four demigods shouldered their backpacks and filed out of the tent with Grover trailing behind. They didn't make it far through the woods before Grover paused.

"We're heading towards a car, right?" he asked, only to be met with laughter.

"Yes, Grover," Thalia said, "We have a car that one of us ten-to-fourteen-year-olds can drive the rest of us around in. Come on."

"I can," he said seriously, "Satyrs physically age half as fast as humans, so I'm twenty-eight."

"WHAT?!"

(Line Break)

A prep school closed for the weekend was just across the street that ran parallel to the woods. Once the group had run across the road and climbed over the fence lining the private parking lot, it was a short jog to the row of student shuttles. And then, the rest was up to Luke.

The locked van door was child's play, but the son of Hermes had never hot-wired a car before. Still, they all knew he loved a challenge. The rest of the demigods piled into the van through the sliding door while Grover waited in the passenger seat. Somehow, the twenty-eight year old satyr had a valid license from the state of New York that would pass any test cops could throw at it, so he was obviously driving.

Percy sat facing Thalia and Annabeth in the parallel backseats while Luke wrestled with the wires poking out from beneath the steering wheel. It took less than a minute of cursing and banging before the engine turned over, and everyone cheered for the thievingly-talented demigod.

Luke dusted off his hands and slid into the seat beside Percy. Grover called for them all to fasten their seatbelts and stepped on the gas before any of them could obey. He bleated an apology as the demigods caught themselves mid-fall and furiously strapped in before Grover could pull out of the parking lot onto the actual road.

Once they were on the way, Percy began kicking his legs under his seat.

"Grover," he called, "You sure you don't want anyone sitting in the passenger seat with you?"

"It's okay," Grover answered, "Two kids in the front probably doubles the chance that we get pulled over. And if we do, the story is that I'm a chaperone taking you all on a school trip, so you have to sit back there anyways."

Percy leaned back into the seat, already fidgeting and itching to do anything but sit still. He could tell the other three demigods were feeling the same way, and he laughed internally that the incessant behavior that made him weird to most kids was the main denominator between the ones he'd be with from now on. It was a comforting thought.

Not comforting enough to keep him occupied for a thirteen hour drive, though. Percy stared out the window above Annabeth's head, watching cars on the highway until he thought his entire body was going to explode. Once he'd reached his limit – about ten minutes into the trip – he sighed aloud.

"Let's play a game!"

The other three demigods jumped at the idea, all talking at once until Annabeth suggested they start with I Spy. And that's how the first hour and a half flew by, with Luke leading in score and Percy in second place. They tried the License Plate Game next, but Grover dominated by a massive margin because he was the only one without dyslexia, meaning he could actually read the state names on quickly passing cars. Annabeth easily won almost every competitive game like Chopsticks and even the luck-based ones like Rock, Paper, Scissors to the point that Percy swore she was cheating.

The hours began to meld together as each game they played led to another that someone thought they'd have the best shot at. Morning quickly became afternoon, which quickly became evening, and they hadn't even had to stop for a break yet. But by nightfall, the group had been thoroughly tired out by a mixture of their bickering during the games and being confined to a shuttle all day.

Percy's head lulled against Luke's shoulder as he groaned.

"Are we there yet?"

Grover yawned from the front seat.

"We're basically through New Jersey, so maybe an hour left."

Thalia leaned back in her seat and deftly kicked Percy in the shin. By the time he jerked upright, Thalia had positioned herself casually in the next seat down, too far to have reached him. Percy still narrowed his eyes at her, but she innocently shook her head and pointed to Annabeth, who was half asleep in the seat across from him. Percy got his own bright idea.

He kicked Annabeth's foot and immediately pretended to be asleep, leading to her kicking Luke, who'd silently watched the entire scenario unfold. About to bring it all full circle, Luke reared his leg back while Thalia roared with laughter and pleaded with him not to. Percy and Annabeth, realizing they'd been played, began chanting for him to do it before Grover suddenly whimpered.

At the same time, all four demigods shed their excitement, and their heads snapped towards the back window. Percy felt the hairs on his neck stand on end as their car sped up.

"Grover, what do you smell?" Luke asked, unbuckling his seatbelt and peering into the dark road behind them.

"S–something big. Really big!"

Percy stood from his seat, pressing against a side window as he tried to find the source of their collective worry. Annabeth and Thalia did the same on their side. There were no cars on the road behind them, so Percy looked past the highway divider towards the opposite lanes. All he saw were red tail lights moving away from him, nothing out of the ordinary. His heartbeat began to slow down before two of the cars swerved in opposite directions.

Honks erupted from the highway as screeching cars wheeled into crowded lanes. One car burst with sparks as it sideswiped the central divider before coming to an instant stop. The hood crumpled, and its entire frame began to creak and groan. Percy didn't understand what he was seeing until the vehicle's back wheels and trunk came off the ground. Cars on either side turned on their high beams and illuminated an impossibility. Percy choked on his breath.

A ten-foot humanoid with a bull's head and muscles out of a comic book had hoisted a sedan overhead. When it reared back and unleashed a deafening roar, Percy stumbled away from the window.

"It's the Minotaur!" Luke shouted.

The car left the monsters grasp like a runaway rocket, arcing through the sky down towards their van.

"Grover, swerve left!" Annabeth yelled as the red tail lights grew nearer.

Luke dove towards the trio behind him, wrapping them just before Grover spun the wheel and threw them all against the side door. Luke's back took the brunt of the impact, and Annabeth shouted his name. The sedan struck the road inches from their back right wheel, shearing and throwing sparks as it tumbled to a stop. Grover straightened the van out and floored the gas while the demigods hurriedly climbed into their seats. Luke winced when he pressed his back against the leather, gritting his teeth as Percy pulled his belt on for him.

"You okay?" Percy asked, and Luke quickly nodded.

Another roar shook the van as, behind them, the Minotaur tore through the highway divider and hurtled after them on all fours.

"Thalia, can you call down lightning?" Percy asked, trying to keep his voice level.

"No chance," she answered, worriedly glancing at Luke, "The sky is clear, and I don't even know if it would kill him."

"We need to try it anyway."

Thalia grimaced before nodding and pulling out her can of mace.

"Open the back doors."

Percy wrapped a belt around his arm before he inched over to the handle. Once Thalia's spear had transformed, he threw the doors open so the Minotaur was in their clear line of sight. The monster roared again, lowering its horns and picking up speed, but there was still significant distance between them.

Thalia thrust her spear out of the van, tipping it towards the heavens, and she shut her eyes tightly. Her forehead immediately broke out in sweat as her face turned red. She grunted through gritted teeth, her arms shaking before her speartip erupted with a shower of sparks. Thalia dropped her spear and fell to one knee, breathing heavily while Annabeth held her upright.

"I can't," she grated, "No storm."

"We're still ten miles from our exit!" Grover warned from the driver's seat, "That's way too far!"

Annabeth's head snapped up, her grey eyes burning with intensity.

"Doesn't matter!" Annabeth shouted back, "We need to take the closest one."

Grover didn't question her, moving into the right lane.

"One mile!"

Annabeth unsheathed her knife and threw a water bottle to Percy.

"Pour it on a cloth and press it against her head; she needs energy to make the sparks again."

Percy crawled over to Thalia, wrestling a washcloth from his rucksack. He steadied her head on his knee while the hurling van shook. As Percy drenched the cloth, Annabeth stabbed a clean hole near the back corner of the van and cleaved it into a circle. Grover shrieked from the front seat.

"Guys! We're leaking gas, and it's going pretty fast!"

Percy's gaze snapped between the front and the back of the van, his head starting to spin from holding the cloth against Thalia. Her grip tightened on his wrist, and her breathing became steady. Fighting through his lightheadedness, Percy noticed the trail of gasoline their van was leaving behind them.

"Annabeth, what did you do?"

From his seat, Luke laughed as he held onto his belt, wincing against his own laughter.

"Gods, Annabeth," he wheezed, "You're a genius."

She flashed him a smile before kneeling beside Thalia. Percy toppled backwards, his head falling against the seat while Thalia slowly sat up. They all watched as the Minotaur gained on them, hurtling like a feral beast, before losing his footing on the gas-slicked lane and rolling through the acrid liquid.

The monster tore upright terrifyingly quickly, and Annabeth grinned as if that was good news. It was only when she handed Thalia her spear again and whispered to her that Percy realized what the daughter of Athena had planned. His jaw dropped while Thalia's eyes widened, and the daughter of Zeus shoved to her feet.

"Let it go when Grover takes the exit," Annabeth said.

Thalia nodded, bracing herself while the other three demigods edged towards the front of the van. Shutting her eyes again, Thalia gritted her teeth and waited for the moment that Grover swerved off of the highway. As the van jerked, the demigod thrust her weapon with a shout, and a beam of sparks erupted from the spear again. It instantly set the road ablaze, the flame roaring down the trail at blinding speed and engulfing the Minotaur in an inferno.

The creature's roar became a shriek as its legs buckled while trying to turn after the van. Falling onto its side, the Minotaur met the metal shoulder of the highway with its spine and was incinerated in a ball of fire that the demigods had to shield their eyes from.

Once they'd driven far enough away to know the Minotaur was dead, cheers broke out in the back of the leaking van. Annabeth held a satisfied smile as the other three demigods wrapped her in a hug. They closed the flailing back doors of the vehicle when Grover pulled off the main road, driving into a dark industrial area just as they were finally running out of gas.

The van sputtered to a stop in front of a seemingly abandoned building, and the exhausted group tumbled out to hopefully find some kind of comfortable place to stay. One by one, they looked up at the sign above them and froze.

"Jones' Mattresses," Percy read slowly, "Eye Can't Bl– Blee– Belie–"

"Eye Can't Believe It's Not Feathers," Grover read for him, giving him a sympathetic glance.

"No way," Luke exclaimed, "This is ridiculously convenient. I need a bed badly."

"Isn't this a little too convenient?" Thalia asked, supporting herself with her spear, "What are the odds we just happen to find an abandoned mattress store right next to where we broke down?"

Percy yawned, pressing a palm to his temple. Annabeth surveyed the tired demigods before she looked over at Grover, her eyes drooping.

"Do you smell anything?"

They all followed Grover to the entrance of the building as he sniffed both the air and the ground. He tried the front door, and it opened without so much as a creak. After sniffing inside, Grover shook his head and stepped through the doorway. The relieved demigods followed in lockstep and let the door swing shut behind them.

They stood awkwardly in a dimly lit, laundromat-like lobby as Grover paced and sniffed towards the three open doorways that led into the actual building. One was directly ahead, with the other two on either side of the room. All three were too dark to see into, and that didn't help Grover's anxiety. He made his way from the right door to the middle one, finding nothing.

Meanwhile, three of the four demigods had almost resorted to falling asleep standing up. Only Annabeth was still vaguely alert, but even her eye slipped as Grover approached the left door. The satyr yelped and jerked all four demigods awake, but when they looked left, the doorway was empty.

Before anyone could move, a voice spoke from the middle doorway.

"Guys! This way!"

It was Grover's.

A/N: I don't plan to make cliffhangers a habit, but I couldn't resist here heh. Regardless, I'm sure most of us know where this is headed and what k(eye)nd of monster can mimic voices. Anyways, I wanted to focus on building their relationships here and showing how close they've become because, real soon, we're yanking away from the actual canon in some big ways for how this story is gonna go. I've sidelined Annabeth a little bit so far, but I can't wait to bring the focus to her once we get to camp. Don't want to spoil anymore, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)

mastercheif1229: Incredible first chapter! I can't wait for the next one! Perlia is probably my favorite Percy Jackson pairing, followed by Pertemis, Perianca, Percabeth, and Preyna, in that order.

So glad you enjoyed it. I have next to no experience with Perlia when it comes to reading/writing it, but I think it's a really cute idea, so I hope my handling of it lives up to your standards!

Anonymously96: Looks good. Based on initial interactions looks like it'll go the perlia route, which I do like, though percabeth is favourite lol. Luke seems to be at same levels of asshole levels as in canon. Let's see how you take it forward

Percabeth is also my favorite, but I decided to go another route after just completing my Percabeth story. I think Luke is such an interesting character in canon, and I want to explore him in more depth and tie him even more deeply to some characters before he does certain things. Hope you like it.

KirbyLover1201: Love it so far. From the looks of it youve opened for demigods to be a lot more powerful and in tune with their parents domains, which I love. I look forward to seeing how this goes and how you develop Percys character, as well as his relationship (both platonic and romantic) with Thalia.

Yes! So glad that's something you saw. I want to raise their ceilings and make them all more powerful much earlier on in the story, so don't expect them to get tired for much longer :) Percy's still ten years old, so I want him to learn more about his domains before really amping up, and the same goes for the rest. We'll see them getting strong soon enough!

owl-forge-hearth: yayayayayay the story came out! just dropping a word of encouragement to express how happy i amreally hope percy gets revenge on manticore-Gabe. really excited for the next chapter (at least this isnt the worst of cliffhangers)

Man! I knew it'd be early, but I didn't expect Gabe being unmasked as the manticore on the third day of my story haha. I promise Percy will get revenge on the manticore soon enough, but there's also far bigger players involved, like the ones who may have "told" Gabe to mask Percy's scent... I've said too much.

levisorous: holy shit man, welcome back. ive missed your storiess. i hope youve had a great time since ya last posted the epilogue to eclipse. i also hope youve had a great christmas and praying you have a great new year. was lowkey excited for jan cause i thought youd post then but i'lll never complain about an early update LOL. welcome back bro, cant wait to follow you on this one. shits already got a great start.

Always great to hear from you. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to you and everyone else reading! I'm glad I got around to posting early. So nice to hear from people who've read my past stories as well as all the new people who've favorited/followed/reviewed. I hope this stories is up to par with my past ones :)

I wish I could consistently reply to everyone without inflating the word count, but thank you all for reviewing. It makes it feel like I'm having a conversation while writing and it becomes so much easier to get chapters out. If you're on winter break, hope you've had a great one and I'll hopefully see you next week!