Chapter 15: I don't black out.
I didn't black out. I kinda wish I did. I landed down the side of the slope and could tell right away I at least broke my left arm. Then I started rolling down. I didn't know how high up I was. From what I saw briefly, it was just trees and bushes. If I rolled into a tree It would break everything in my body.
I kept on rolling and rolling down not knowing when it would stop. Briefly I tried to time it right so I could open my eyes safely. When I finally decided to open them it was all a blur. Finally I could feel the motion sickness start. It felt like I was back on one of the fair rides with Sydney.
I blasted through a bush and completely demolished it. Needles stuck to me which amplified the pain even more. I tried to open my eyes again and when I did all I saw was the sky. It was just a bright blue sky. No flying eagles anywhere ready to kidnap me too. That's when I realized I was starting to slow down.
The slope started to become more even. I kept on rolling with my eyes closed and finally laid on my back. After another shockwave of pain washed over me I opened my eyes. Still a clear sky with nothing, not even a cloud. I tried to move my arms. Both of them shot up with sharp pain. I groaned and wanted to start crying but withheld tears.
I stared up into the sky not being able to do anything. I was lost in my thoughts. I thought about Sabrina and Glen and them being captured by monster birds. The thought of a war starting between the gods for no reason other than rumors of Percy starting it. This Percy Jackson, I've never met him before. What if he is planning a war? Everyone seems to have faith that he isn't. Nico, Will, Chiron, Sabrina and heck even Glen seems to think that Percy is innocent.
Glen and Sabrina crossed my mind again. Those two are always at each other's throats but they're also so similar when they're around each other. Glen is always seeking a fight and can be really rude. Sabrina is so cheerful but I've seen her nasty side too. Especially when she wants something her way. Sabrina has been my best friend at camp. Glen, he's kinda become something of a rival. He is someone who can get on my nerves especially when he's trying to act tough but I kinda look up to him for his strength.
I don't know why I started to think of them. I know they can handle themselves, heck they handle me better than I handle myself. Despair came over me as I started to think of our quest together. Fighting hellhounds, escaping from eros and fighting a hydra. All of that seemed to be for nothing.
"Hey don't give up man!" I heard a voice.
I tried to move my head but started to hear a cracking noise followed by pain. I rested my head back down on the grass. I started to open my mouth and force out a response. "Hello…?" Well I tried to force out a response. Instead it just sounded like a really quiet raspy Hello.
I waited a moment but there was no response. I think i'm finally going crazy. If there was someone around here I would have hoped they came to either finish me off. Or maybe they could help me save this quest.
I can't help you dude, you're a giant compared to me. Also, don't worry you're not going crazy.
I heard a voice in my head that sounded kinda familiar. If this was my first time experiencing this I would have one hundred percent think i'm crazy.
Can you read my thoughts? I thought.
Well, not exactly. You kinda just seemed distressed and you look like crap right now. I thought you would like some encouragement! Said the voice.
How do you know what I'm thinking then?
Come on dude, telepathy!
A small ember of hope started to light up inside of me.
So you're a bi- I mean pigeon right? Can you help me!
The pigeon was silent. I was hoping I didn't scare it off or worse, it went silent because of a monster nearby. After what seemed like an eternity the pigeon finally responded. I don't work for free and how can I even help. I'm just a bird.
My friends and I just fought some scary birds. They really gave us a run for our money and even split us up! I know you're more than a bird!
Flattery won't get you my help. The pigeon flew over and landed on my chest. I was still lying face up and heard the cooing sounds it made. More pain went through my whole body and I groaned and started breathing heavier.
Wow your face looks even worse up close!
Thanks. I tried my best to sound as sarcastic as the bird telepathy could make it. I tried to think of anything I could offer to the bird. I still had my backpack when I fell, but it came off as I was rolling. Maybe I could offer it free makeup? I was out of money and the snacks we had were in the trailer up top. Then I remembered the ambrosia Sabrina gave me during the chase.
I know where bags of chips are! Get me the bag that's in my pocket and I'll tell you where bags of chips are!
Really! Say no more my dude!
The bird then jumped to my side and started to poke around my left pocket. Other pocket. I let the bird know. It then jumped to the other side and rummaged around. After a minute I could feel it pull out the little plastic bag with smashed up ambrosia. It dragged the bag and placed it on my chest.
The pigeon came right up to my face with its beak open. In its mouth was a smashed up piece of ambrosia. Hey this stuff is pretty good. It said as the food went down its throat.
Hey, feed me some! I shouted telepathically. The bird seemed scared by my response and flapped its wings. It grabbed another piece and dropped it in my mouth. It tasted like the street tacos my mom used to make me. The pigeon started to feed me more as I swallowed. Look, being fed by a pigeon seems gross but it beats dying.
I remembered a lesson at camp about nectar. If demigods drink too much of the stuff at once we burn up. I don't know if that's the same case as ambrosia and I prayed it wasn't. Luckily after a few minutes of being fed like a baby bird. I started to feel better and regain some strength coming back.
I moved my arms and started to sit up. Everything felt really sore, but it didn't hurt like before. I examined my left arm. It seemed to have healed although it was still bruised. I looked down at the rest of me. My clothes were all torn up and dirty. I looked up to the top of the slope where the trailer was. No way I'm going to be able to climb back up there.
"Up the hill there's a trailer that crashed. In the wreckage there should be at least two bags of chips," I looked at the bird as I pointed up the hill.
Two bags! The pigeon exclaimed and I got worried. I hit the jackpot, thanks dude. Oh and good luck on your quest. It finished telling me before flying up. I grabbed the ambrosia bag but all that was left were crumbs. I looked around for my backpack and found it yards away from me. After reuniting with my makeup, I just started walking.
Surrounding me were massive trees. I had no idea what state I was in. It was still daytime but the trees made my surroundings seem dark. I forced myself to go forward even though my body was aching. Eventually I started hearing the sound of cars driving. I followed the sound with excitement. I had made it back on the highway.
I looked both ways. Cars were speeding down the highway from both sides. I didn't know which way to go. I looked further down on my left and saw an exit. I figured that would be a good place to start. I started walking far from the road. It would be hilarious if I died by someone not paying attention to the road. When I finally made it to the exit, I read the signs.
Fun fact, most demigods have dyslexia. Some demigods lack dyslexia although a majority of those who lack it are from the Athena cabin. I don't have dyslexia and I didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse since I struggled with my Greek. Sabrina talked to me about it one day and she told me it's kinda just like whose left handed and whose right handed.
Anyways, I read the sign. Klamath, California it read. We had finally made it to California! I don't know why but also knowing Glen and Sabrina were somewhere in California gave me some comfort. I continued reading the signs. One was an advertisement for a roadside attraction that was half a mile down off the exit. I decided that's better than anywhere to start.
I started to think of a plan as I was walking. Nothing came to mind, I knew I was in California and that was it. When I came up to the buildings I felt a little intimidated. On one side was a generic gas station. This gas station was the complete opposite of CharrCharrs in every sense. It was a small building with only two gas pumps, Its sign just said gas-mart while on the other side was the attraction.
On the other side of the road was a thirty foot statue of Paul Bunyun. Next to him was his blue ox that stood right below its shoulder. Paul had a wide smile that made Sabrina's look miniscule. In Paul's hand was a giant ax that looked a little too real. When I got closer I was honestly expecting it to come alive and start to chase me.
I had a sigh of relief when I sat down on some benches in front of the gas station. I looked in the window and in it sat an older woman reading a magazine. She had an unamused look and didn't seem to care that a hitchhiker that looked like he fought a bear was sitting in front of her store.
I sat there for I don't know how long just thinking. I couldn't just think of one thing as my mind just went around in circles. I thought of camp, then my friends, then the quest, Percy Jackson and then back to camp again. I tried to think of anything. I even thought of maybe getting together an army of pigeons to fly me around to look for Camp Jupiter. The only problem with that plan of course being I don't know where Camp Jupiter is.
I was sitting there, nothing was happening. It felt like I was wasting time. I looked up and by the sun it seemed like midday, maybe noon or one. I looked back down at my feet thinking of a plan when I got distracted, shocker. Something started to shine in my face. I looked across the street to Paul.
At first I thought it was Paul's ax. Upon further inspection I saw that the gleam was coming from his right shoulder. I got curious and walked across the street. I looked both ways before crossing of course. When I looked up I saw a bird. This one was in fact a bird I didn't know and not a pigeon. I looked to see what the bird had and got excited.
"Shoo, Shoo!" I yelled at the bird. When it flew away it knocked down its object. I reached out my hand and caught it. Fate was back in my hands. I looked up to face the giant man. "Thanks Paul," I told the statue before heading back to the gas station. I sat down and the lady working came out.
She had short white hair. She had long hoop earrings and wore thin glasses. The lady had a newspaper and handed it to me. "Wanna paper to read while you're waiting?" She asked me.
"Uh, sure, thanks!" I took the paper. After she handed it to me she took out a cigarette and started smoking. I scooted down further on the bench. I took out the newspaper. I didn't really plan on reading it but I looked at the date. May 27th. How long were we in the trailer for? We only have three full days left to complete the quest!
I started to sweat a little bit and then started to sweat even more when I heard music blasting. My head shot up to see what was coming. Which didn't do any favors for my aching neck. I thought it was some more traveling spirits coming to finish the job. Instead what came down the road was a red car coming to get gas.
Four older teenage girls got out of the car. They were all screaming and talking to each other. They were so excited about something that I couldn't understand what they were talking about. The girl who was the driver had black hair. She wore a red crop top with shorts and went to pump gas. Two blonde girls who had matching tan outfits headed into the store.
The girls entered the gas station and the smoking granny put out her cigarette and sighed before going back in. A plan was starting to brew in my head. I looked at the car and saw the last girl. She had dark, clear skin and curly hair. She went up to the side of the road and looked at the statues. I decided to practice my acting skills.
I approached the girl. "Pauls got some pearly whites doesn't he?" I asked the girl. She had her hands behind her back and looked at me.
"Its a pretty statue, not like the picture our map has," She was eyeing me up and down. Probably wondering why I looked like I lived in the woods. She had an elegant look to her. She was calm, like nothing ever bothered her.
I wiped my face to try and get any more dirt off of it. "Your map?" I asked her.
"We bought a map of all the roadside attractions in California. My friends and I graduated high school and were going on a road trip before going to college!" Her attitude almost reminded me of Sabrina.
Bingo, just what I needed. She stared at me. I don't know if it was my glow up or if it was because I looked crazy.
"So where's next on your list"?
"We don't have any specific attractions we want to see. Our next stop is Oakland." She kept staring at me like I was hypnotizing. After a couple seconds she snapped out of it and was now interested in me.
"So what about you? Why do you look like you just came out of a cave"?
A cave not so much. Although spending nights in a trailer is pretty close. But I had an idea. "Oh, its for a movie i'm doing"!
"What?! No way you're an actor? What movies have you been in? Have you been in any Netflix shows?" She started bombarding me with questions. I looked over and her friend who was pumping gas was now staring at me.
"Well, it's my first movie… I'm actually co-starring in it with Sabrina Driver. Have you heard of her?" Her eyes lit up even more.
"No way. Tay, come over here you have to hear this!" She yelled for her friend. Despite the girl asking her friend to come here, she took my arm and dragged me over to the car.
"I'm Justice by the way!"
"Tay guess what! This kid is doing a movie with Sabrina Driver! She's your favorite actress!" I could feel I was starting to sweat again. Tay was now eyeing me up and down. She looked at her friend confused.
"Uh huh, and who are you?"
"I'm Adin Peterson," after saying that I regretted using my real name.
"I've never heard of you before," She took out her phone. She started typing something up while the two blondes joined the group. Both didn't seem to know what was going on but started staring at me dreamingly.
"You don't have an IMDB page and no credits come up for you anywhere else!" she raised her voice.
"It's my first movie," I repeated myself.
"Ok, well call up Sabrina Driver if she's your co-star!" This girl was starting to get really aggressive.
"I can't, I don't carry a phone…" I started to get nervous.
"You're an actor that doesn't carry a phone?"
"It's, uh, part of my technique! You know, uh, method acting!"
She raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly are you supposed to be "acting"," I thought about it for a second.
"Well uh, the movie is called Ride Race. My character is um with Sabrina Drivers character and I get stranded and have to hitchhike!"
"Your hitchhiking as a method acting? That seems a little dangerous. And why are you starting to get nervous?" She started to get aggressive with the questions.
"I take my acting career very seriously. I'm just looking for a ride to… San Diego!" That was the only city in California I could think of at the moment. "If you could take me to Oakland then that would help me out and give me tons of experience!" I didn't know where Oakland or San Diego even was, but I hoped Oakland was on the way.
Justice chimed in." Oh come on Tay! It will be fine"!
"No, we agreed no hitchhikers! We don't even know this kid"!
"Come on Tay pleasseee," The two twin blondes said in unison. Both of them still had their eyes fixated on me.
"No! This is supposed to be a girls trip! We agreed on that!" She yelled. I kinda started feeling bad for her.
"Just because Josh…" Justice started to say.
"This has nothing to do with him!" She snapped.
"Oh come on Tay, this is our adventure!" One of the blondes said. If they really wanted an adventure then they should try looking for Percy Jackson with me.
After the blonde was done talking, Tay rolled her eyes. "Fine, let's just get in the car." She didn't sound happy, but all of the other girls cheered.
The ride lasted five hours. That was by far one of the worst car rides I have ever been in. Second to the car ride to New York with Glen and Sabrina.
The whole five hours I was stuck in the back between the twin blondes who never spoke a word. It was creepy. They were identical and just drooled over me, along with Justice. I was worried they were some kind of monster that was going to just eat me when I least expected it.
The only one who didn't make the ride so bad was surprisingly Tay. She ended up interrogating me even more about Sabrina which didn't really bother me. She asked basic questions like how old is Sabrina, what's her favorite smoothie flavor, what makeup does she use. I only knew Sabrina for about two months, but knew every answer.
The thought of Sabrina just made me sad not knowing where her and Glen were. Justice joined the conversation every now and then. She came to my defense a couple of times. Whenever it seemed like Tay went too far, Justice kept bringing up Josh.
"Josh is her boyfriend," Justice began saying. "He's going to a different college and she's afraid they're going to break up". Tay didn't say anything but by looking in the mirror I could tell she was either sad or mad. Thinking of moving away from someone you love just made me think of Sydney.
"I'm sorry that's really rough." I said. She looked me in the eyes through the driver's mirror.
"My friend Sydney moved away before I was able to say anything to her. When I found out she was moving we got into a little argument. I was petty and gave her the cold shoulder while avoiding her. By the time I came to my senses it was too late, I ruined our friendship and any chance of it being more." Everyone else in the car ride gave me a synced Aweeee.
Tay locked eyes with me again. "What would you do now if you saw her"?
"Right now I would tell her I love her. But the truth is I don't know if I could go through with it. I- I have too much guilt. One thing I learned is that love is crazy and can be scary at times. But the pain of not being with someone you love is worse. " Her eyes started to get a little teary.
"Have you ever seen High School Musical 3?" I asked Tay. "Maybe pull a Troy and Gabriella and pick a college that is closer to Josh"?
She smiled a little bit. "That's a good Idea Adin, thank you".
The car ride ended the second we arrived in Oakland. Tay pulled over while the other girls still stared at me. "Good luck on your acting career Adin".
"Thanks for the ride! I'll make sure to have Sabrina send you that email once the movie is done shooting!" I promised her an email from Sabrina during the car ride. I don't know if Sabrina uses email but I'll figure something out.
I got out of the car and started walking. Eventually the girls red car was out of view. The city didn't seem like anything special. There was a canal going into the ocean but that was it. It just seemed like Springfield or even Cleveland. There was a mountain in the distance, that was kinda cool.
I kept on looking around for anything. If there was one thing I found is that cities are like magnets for anything mythological. I didn't know exactly what I was looking for, I'll just know it when I see it. Maybe there will be a magic bus that will take me to my friends. Or maybe I'll find another bird whether that be a giant eagle or another pigeon.
Eventually I came across an oasis, almost an oasis. It was hot out and luckily the city prepared for this. I found a public splash park. I saw the sign that said free and took the opportunity to take a break. There were kids running around with parents lounging nearby.
I made my way to the corner of the splash park. There was a water pipe that was broken. It seemed like it was supposed to blast water into the air, instead it just sprayed mist out of the side. A rainbow was shining through the water mist. I got an idea, I was out of cash, but not godly cash.
I searched throughout my backpack. Eventually I pulled out the remainder of the golden drachma that I had. At camp I saw kids throw coins into rainbows to send messages, since demigods can't have phones. Sabrina explained the process to me before, I have to say a prayer to the goddess Iris and throw a drachma in. Afterwards I have to say the person and their location.
I started the process. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering," I said and threw in the drachma. The coin seemed to disappear. I thought about who to contact. "Show me Sabrina Drive, California!" The rainbow seemed to have gone static for a moment before an Error: Location to broad showed up instead of Sabrina. I let out a sigh before thinking again.
"Show me Chiron, Camp Half-Blood," The rainbow went static again before an image appeared. Chiron had his back turned, yelling at some campers running around the cabins. The place seemed to be in total chaos. Streamers were going around the cabins, mythological animals and creatures were scattered around the scene. Campers were dressed wild and seemed out of control.
"Connor, get the Hermes kids! Will come to the med bay! Nico-" I couldn't hear what he said after that. He was pointing everywhere trying to get the campers under control. Did Mr. D really have this much control over the campers?
"Chiron!" I tried to shout without bringing attention to myself. The centaur turned around. He seemed like he aged ten years since we left.
He seemed happy to see me "Adin! Did you find Percy? What about Annabeth"?
I shook my head. "No, I got separated from Glen and Sabina. I need help. We found out Percy was last at Camp Jupiter so we were heading there. I don't know how to find the camp!" I tried to raise my voice. Some of the parents were starting to notice me.
Chiron had his hand up to his ear trying to hear me through all the noise on the other side. "Keep on searching, I know you will find them!" He didn't seem to hear the part about Camp Jupiter.
I was about to repeat myself but got interrupted by an explosion behind Chiron. "That was Cabin 9! I'm sorry Adin but I have to go! Please hurry, I know you can do it!" He started running away and the image faded.
I had my mouth open in annoyance. That was my only hope of getting help. I sat down outside of the kiddie pool staring at the mist coming from the water pipe. I had no one to call now. I looked up at the sky. It was probably around dinner time and my stomach started rumbling.
I tried to think of anyone to call. Maybe my dad? No, I don't want him worrying about me. I really don't want him to know I left camp on a dangerous mission and I'm now in California. Maybe I could call Sydney? No, I can't let her get roped into all this. Also, I don't know where she is in California. The Iris message let me know California is too broad.
I thought about everyone at camp. Michael, Will, Nico, they all seemed to be in chaos right now. I thought of everyone else I've talked to at camp and finally thought of the perfect person. I repeated the prayer and threw in my second drachma. "Show me Mr. Timber, Boston Massachusetts."
After another scene of static, Timber showed up. He seemed to be in an empty room with his satyr legs kicked up on a desk. He had a book that just said Shakespeare over his face. That's when I started to hear snoring.
"Timber, Timber!" I tried to wake him up.
"Huh, whoith goes thare!"He tried to sound Shakespearian.
"Mr. Timber, it's me Adin!"
His eyes adjusted. "Oh Adin! How are you? How's camp going"?
I decided to spare him the details of what I saw Chiron having to go through. "It's fine but I need help. I'm on a quest-"
"A quest that's wonderful! Who did you choose to accompany you?"
"That's my problem! I chose Glen Warren and Sabrina Driver but we got separated. They got kidnapped by giant birds"!
"Oh dear, well that does seem to be a problem…"
"Can you help me?"
He started thinking "Well I'm no good from Boston. I don't know how long it would take me to get to California…"
My faith started to waiver. "But I can contact any satyrs nearby to come help"!
"Yes! That would be perfect! I'm at some splash park in Oakland!" I started to feel relief.
"Got it! I'll send a message to all nearby satyrs in the area. Just stick tight.
The message faded and I started to grin. I just hope Sabrina and Glen aren't bird food by now. I went to a bench and sat down. I started to bite my nails before forcing myself to stop. I kept on looking around for anyone who could be a satyr.
Half an hour passed and nothing seemed to change. Parents and kids left and some teenagers joined the park. They kept on glancing at me but I paid no attention to them. I decided I wanted to wash my face. I went up to one of the pipes. I took off my shoes and socks and went into the kiddie pool which was only a few inches deep.
The cold water felt refreshing on my feet. I went up to a pipe and it blasted my face. I wiped all of the dirt off. The smell of chlorine filled my nose. I wiped my face some more. By the time I opened my eyes up, some teenagers came up to me.
"Hey," said one of the four males who came up to me followed by an entourage. There were some girls behind them eyeing me.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked them.
"My girl has been eyeing you!" he got into my face.
"Ok? Sorry, a lot of girls have been staring at me lately," I told him.
His eyes widened and he breathed in through his nose. He took me by my shirt and pushed me down into the pool. I landed hard, that's when I was reminded by how sore my body is. I grabbed fate from my pocket and jumped back up.
"What's your problem man!" I yelled at him. I pointed fate at him but he didn't seem to care.
"Stay away from my girl and get your comb out of my face!" I don't know why, but I wasn't expecting him to push me down again. I landed with a thud this time. My body still felt tired. I tried to get up again but was interrupted.
A man got in front of me. He seemed pretty tall by the way I was lying on the ground. He picked the guy up and threw him down. "Really? The typical, 'stay away from my girl'? He said sorry, didn't he?" He partially turned around and whispered "Not like you did anything."
The teen got up and headed back to his group "Whatever, not worth my time".
This guy has to be very calm because that would send me into a rage. The man in front of me turned around. He had jet black hair with sea green eyes. "You alright dude?" he asked me while extending his hand to help me up. I grabbed it and he launched me to my feet.
"Yea I'm alright thanks. I don't know what that guy's problem was. I barely noticed that group ."
" Yea I saw that. Hey bullies are the worst, sometimes you just gotta do more than ignore them,"
We got suddenly interrupted by some people yelling HEY. We both turned to our side to see a blonde girl around his age running to us. By his side was a man with a goatee, he seemed like he was limping.
"Seaweed brain, why did you run off?" The girl said.
"Sorry Annabeth, I uh saw something I couldn't ignore." He said it like he couldn't really explain himself. Wait, Annabeth?
"Come on Percy, we have to look for this-" The man with the goatee said as he looked at me with concern. "-person of interest."
I looked at all their features and noticed they looked familiar. "Wait Percy? Like Percy Jackson?" I looked at the man and my brain started to become tingly. I didn't know a lot of people named Percys walking around with an Annabeth.
"Yeaaaaa, why?" He started to reach into his pocket.
"Im- I'm Adin Peterson, I-I-I asked Timber for help and he asked for satyr backup!" I was beyond joyous. That means the quest is complete right? The trio looked at each other.
"You're Adin?" The man with the goatee and beanie said. He started to look at me
"Yes! And I've been looking for you two! I pointed at both Percy and Annabeth.
The couple looked at each other and they both started to go pale. "Is that what your quest is? To find us?" Annabeth looked back at me.
"Yes! Yes! My friends and I were sent on a quest to find you two! Percy there's rumors going around that you're planning on starting.. a war against…. the gods…" I had to catch my breath. I was gasping for air
Percy put his hand on my shoulder and I looked into his brightly colored eyes. "Hey, Adin don't worry, I swear on the river Styx I'm not starting some weird revolution or 'war against the gods'. That would be just stupid of me".
"You are known for doing stupid things." Annabeth said.
"Hey!" Percy looked back and all of the trio started to laugh. The laughter slowly died down and Percy put his arm around his girlfriend. "Adin, come with us. Also explain everything by the way".