This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―xii. frightening theories & cosmic jokes

THEY TOOK THE AMTRAK TRAIN WEST—through the hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. Naomi had never left New York before, but the novelty the new sights might have had was lost in the frightening reason she was even seeing them in the first place. She was on a quest to retrieve a deadly weapon and prevent a war between the gods. 

Sight-seeing was the least of her concerns. 

They weren't attacked once, but Naomi wasn't foolish enough to relax. She figured it was only a matter of time before something noticed them and decided to ruin the tiny sliver of peace they'd acquired on their quest. 

Contributing the complete lack of relaxation was the fact that Percy's name and likeness were now splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The Trenton Register-News showed a picture taken by a tourist as he got off the Greyhound bus. He had a wild look in his eyes. His sword was a metallic blur in his hands—it could've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick.

The picture's caption read:

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be travelling with three teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

"Don't worry," Annabeth told him. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound too sure.

❊

Their reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver, Colorado. They couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so they dozed in their seats.

At some point, Naomi managed to fall asleep, dreaming of nothing (which, really, she wasn't complaining about—her dreams were rarely pleasant, even before she discovered that mythological monsters existed and wanted to eat her for dinner if given the chance). 

When she woke up, the sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, coloring the train car in golden hues. Percy and Grover were passed out, and only Annabeth was awake. Her Ancient Greek architecture book was open on her lap, but she wasn't reading it—she was staring out of the window, worrying her camp necklace between her fingers.

"Where are we?" Naomi asked quietly, rubbing her eye with the sleeve of her jacket—a hand-me-down from one of the Hermes girls.

"We passed the sign for Illinois an hour ago," Annabeth answered.

Naomi frowned, trying to figure out how far that put them from Colorado. She'd never been great with geography, but she was fairly certain they still had a few decent-sized states to go. "Did I miss anything?"

Annabeth looked at Percy, frowning slightly. "I think he wants to try to barter with Hades for his mom's life," she said softly.

Naomi thought back to the Greek myths she could remember. She knew there were a few about heroes trying to retrieve the dead from the Underworld, but she couldn't recall any that had happy endings.

"I get it," she murmured, drawing her legs up onto the seat. "Sally didn't deserve to die."

"You knew her?" Annabeth asked.

Naomi nodded. "I went over a few times over school breaks whenever Percy's stepdad was out," she said. "Sally was always nice to me. Nicer than the nuns, anyway."