Two days. We were on the Amtrak train for two whole days. We could only get tickets to as far as Denver, so we would have to find other ways to continue our journey. I was getting antsy and I didn't feel safe at all. Despite us not being attacked once, I felt exposed. My fingers were tapping relentlessly against my thigh to distract myself, and the bandage around my left arm felt uncomfortable, but I refused to take it off. We came across a couple of newspapers with Percy's face plastered across the front page, it showed him near the greyhound bus explosion sight. The caption read that he was wanted for the disappearance of his mother and then went onto explain how he attacked the furies and then the explosion after we got off. It seemed to speculate that I, the oldest of the group with him, had convinced Percy and the others to come with me to do something nefarious, and I wouldn't be surprised, my appearance is what many mortal parents think is 'evil' or 'bad'. "Don't worry." Annabeth assured Percy, "Mortal police could never find us." Grover soon fell asleep, bleating and snoring the entire time, which had woken Percy up. Grover's shoe fell off at one point, which Annabeth and Percy had to stick back on.
"So, who won't you help?" I asked, gazing out the window at the rolling fields.
"What do you mean?" Percy wondered.
"You were mumbling annoyingly in your sleep. 'I won't help you'. So, who'd you dream about?" Percy was quiet for a moment, before telling us about an evil voice that echoed fom a pit.
"That doesn't sound like Hades." Annabeth decided after a long pause. "He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."
"He offered my mother in trade." Percy added. "Who else could do that."
"I guess...if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?" Percy shook his head in confusion.
"Here's the thing, Jackson, it's not a good idea to barter with Hades, or any God for that matter." I warned him. "You got lucky, this time, with the Kindly Ones. They weren't as aggressive this ti-" I cut myself off, gritting my teeth and looking away.
"This time?" Percy asked. "You mean you've run into them before.
"Let's just say we have no love for the Lord of the Dead." Annabeth muttered angrily, her fingers messing with the pine tree bead on her necklace. "You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mum."
"What would you do if it were your parents?"
"That's easy. I'd leave him to rot."
"You're not serious?" Annabeth turned her stormy gaze to Percy.
"My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy," she said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."
"But how...I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital..."
"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."
"When I was born, Mum dropped me off at dad's." I revealed, leaning back in my seat. "It wasnt as flashy as a golden cradle, Mum left me in a box on Dad's doorstep. A couple years later, when I was about four, Ethan showed up the exact same way. Dad didn't really care for us, mainly left that to the maids and whatnot, and he had about a dozen girlfriends, so on our mortal side we have a crazy amount of half-siblings that we hate. So, in my opinion, I'm with Annabeth. I'll let my father rot in the Underworld."
"My mom married a really awful guy." Percy revealed. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."
"He doesn't care about me," she said. "His wife-my stepmom-treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened-you know, something with monsters-they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."
"It got to the point where Dad was putting pressure on me to continue the family business, 'cause I was the oldest, and when I refused he threatened to kill Ethan. So, I did the most logical thing I could think of. I took Ethan and ran. We met some people along the way, came to Camp and the rest is history. I go back every school year to make sure Dad hasnt killed himself, but other than that I'm here always."
"How old were you?" Percy wondered.
"Same age as when I started camp. Seven." Anabeth stated.
"I was about eleven when I ran, Ethan was the same age as Annabeth." I added.
"But...you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself." Percy said.
"Not alone, no." Annabeth argued. "Athena watched over me, guided me toward help."
"We found her a little while after we ran." I said softly. "Annabeth joined up with us, we found a couple others along the way who joined us and we were all together, for a short time anyway."
TIMESKIP
On the second day of our journey, eight days before the Summer Solstice, we passed ovee the Rississippi River and into St Luis. We gazed out the windo to the Gateway Arch. "I want to do that." Annabeth sighed.
"What?" Percy questioned.
"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"
"Only in pictures."
"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."
"You?" Percy laughed. "An architect?" I hit a button on my ring and a spear formed in my grasp, the tip dangerously close to Percy.
"No laughing." I ordered. I only let my spear retract when Percy shakily nodded.
"Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention. Sorry. That was mean."
"Can't we work together a little?" Percy pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"
"Your parents worked together on the Chariot didn't they?" I questioned. "Athena designed it and then Posiodon created the horses from the crest of a wave to pull it, right? Without one, the other couldn't do anything.
"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?"
"I suppose." Annabeth said. Once we pulled into the Amtrak station, the intercom announced that it would be a three hour layover until we headed on to Denver. We woke Grover up befor the four of us headed to sightsee. Annabeth wanted to do it, and I just wanted to stretch my legs. We trudged off the plane and towards the arch, it was about a mile away, and when we got there, the midday lines weren't as long as I thought they'd be. We wove through the underground museum, Annabeth spouting facts about everything she could. Grover said he couldn't really tell if there were any Monsters around, because according to him all underground smelt like Monsters.
"Guys." Percy called softly. "You know the gods' symbols of power?" Annabeth turned to him.
"Yeah?" She replied.
"Well, Hade-" I elbowed Percy, causing to let out a grunt of pain.
"We're in a public place." Grover warned him. "You mean, our friend downstairs?"
"Um, right. Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"
"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth started to explain. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."
"He was there?"
"That's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus." I continued. "The darkest day of the year, but his Helm is much more powerful than Annabeth's cap. But, if the stories are true…"
"It allows him to become darkness." Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"
"But then...how do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" Percy asked.
"No one knows." I told him. "We just have to deal with it."
"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better. Got any blue jelly beans left?" We soon made it to a tiny elevator that we were supposed to ride up to the top of the arch. We were shoved into the elevator with a plump lady with bendy eyes and covered head to toe in denim, and her Chihuahua, clearly spoiled as it had a rhinestone collar. The elevator went in a curve, and my stomach didn't like me for it.
"No parents?" The plump lady asked us.
"Our parents are still in the museum." I told her, crossing my arms. "They're scared of heights.
"Oh, the poor darlings." The Chihuahua growled at us. I glared at it. My eyebrow studs burned slightly as it scanned them. Their morality was in the deep, deep reds. "Now, now, sonny. Behave."
"Sonny. Is that his name?" Percy asked.
"No." When we got up to the observation deck, I eyed the rows of tiny windows with distrust. You could see the city out one side and the river out the other. Annabeth was muttering on bout architecture, however Percy seemed uncomfortable. Soon the ranger announced that the observation deck was gonna close in a bit, and Percy hauled us to the elevator. There was already a tourist inside, so everyone but Percy could make it.
"Next car, sir." The ranger said.
"We'll get out." Annabeth said. "We'll wait with you."
"Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom." Percy said. Annabeth, Grover and I exchanged looks, but the elevator doors close and we descended. I gazed upwards woridly, my thumb caught in between my teeth. It wasnt until a shaking rocked the entire elevator car that my worries were confirmed. It was a Monster. How did my studs not recognise it? Was it some sort of memory? I had to see the monster first to identify it as one? Percy, Annabeth and I pressed our faces to the window of the elevator, only to see a figure turn and leap off the Arch, straight into tje water below. The distinct orange shirt was the only thing to clue us in as to who it was.
"Percy!" Annabeth screamed.