The nine were in the train now in their first class seats thanks to Piper.
"Oh, I love these seats Piper," said Percy. "They're great!"
"Thanks! Nice to know some people like it." replied Piper.
"Would you like any snacks now that we are officially in Maine?" asked a server who just came by.
"No thanks," said Frank. "We have enough."
"Are you sure? We have a great variety today: pastries, cupcakes, cookies and some... nectar."
There was no one else in the cart so Annabeth pulled out her knife (which Nico and Will gave to her when they came back from Tartarus).
"Who are you?" asked Annabeth, holding the knife to her neck.
A snake emerged from the back of the server and the snake grabbed the knife from Annabeth's hands and held it in its mouth.
"It appears that you don't remember me," said the server. "Such a shame after I nearly succeeded in killing you at the Sea of Monster."
"Scylla." said Percy. "We meet again."
"Mr Jackson, nice to see your face again." said Scylla.
They all grabbed their weapons but as they got them out, five more snakes emerged from Scylla's back and grabbed hold of their weapons.
"Relax," sighed Scylla, calmly. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now."
"Then what do you want from us?" asked Jason.
"To warn you, son of Jupiter. I followed your taxi from when you came out from camp, I thought I was going to have a large course of demigods for lunch but then I heard you talking about your trip to Maine. I stopped all monsters from attacking you and followed you here."
"Why?" asked Leo.
"Because Maine is dangerous, this new threat is not just against the Gods but also us monsters. I've decided to be a helping hand and save you."
"It's hard to hear that from you." said Percy.
"Well it is. Heed my warning, all of you! Those new... things are dangerous."
"Looks like you speak from experience." said Nico.
"When the Doors of Death were open a while ago, I was in Maine and I followed a red car into this new place, suddenly a big border came and chopped the back part of the car off and it killed me."
"What did this monster do to you?" asked Alabaster.
"No monster, just magic. Far greater than what your mother has seen, son of Hecate. If only just the magic can kill a monster like me, I only wonder what kind is in Maine."
"So what do you want us to do?" asked Piper.
"Don't go to Maine, I speak from the bottom of my heart. Abandon this quest."
"The Gods will kill us." said Leo. "We're not idiots."
"They will kill you, but that fate is better than what will happen in Maine."
"No, Scylla," said Percy. "We will go to Maine and finish this quest, if anything is unleashed from there if abandoned the quest, it will be our fault. We need to protect the world."
"Ugh, how noble. That's what I hate about you demigods but, I do not wish for you to mess up this quest and set whoever is trapped there free. So now... die."
Scylla transformed into her monster form and attacked Percy. Jason jumped in and held her by the neck but she pushed him to the ground. Leo used his belt to make a new weapon but Scylla's snake grabbed it and held it in its mouth.
"Distract her." said Alabaster and that's what the other eight did.
Meanwhile, Alabaster cast a spell which made the snakes open their mouths and the weapons fell out. Alabaster grabbed his imperial gold sword and slaughtered Scylla by stabbing her in the back.
"She's dead." he said as he handed them their weapons back.
"Thanks man." said Percy. "Things would be so much easier if we had a son of Hecate on the team earlier."
Alabaster smiled, "You're not too bad either, son of Poseidon."
"Hold on," said Leo. "Aren't we going to talk about what Scylla said?"
"We will," said Annabeth. "We need to talk about Maine."
"Agreed," said Piper. "If Scylla is scared of what's over there, we definitely should be worried at least."
"For now, let's follow the map and get us to the adress." said Jason. "Now that Scylla is not here to keep us safe, more monster will be after us."
"Ugh, that feels so weird to say." said Percy.
They headed back into their seats and awaited their fate in Maine and Annabeth continued to wonder what Nico was hiding and approached him.
"Nico, please, tell me what's going on," she said. "You know you can trust me?"
"How can I if I can't trust you?" said Nico.
"Nico, enough with the games. You heard Scylla."
"Fine," said Nico. "I don't want to give the details but after me and Bianca left the Lotus Casino we... we... I'm sorry, Annabeth! It just hurt so much."
"It's alright, tell me when you're ready."
"Thanks."
Annabeth returned to her seat and held Percy's hand. If the son of Hades as well and Scylla fears what's in Maine, this could be the last few days to be with her love.