When Sun Meets the Sea ~ PJO 1

~16~

        ~Percy's POV

        The group spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through the hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.

        They weren't attacked once, which Percy was grateful for, but he didn't relax. he felt as though they were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity to strike at them.

        Percy attempted to keep a low profile since his name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The Trenton Register News showed a photo taken by a tourist as he got off the Greyhond bus, there was a wild look in his eyes and his sword was a metallic blur in his hands. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick.

        There was a caption under the picture detailing about how Percy was wanted for questioning in the disappearance of his mother and how the picture shows him fleeing from the bus where he 'accosted several elderly female passengers'. It then went on to talk about how his stepfather, Smelly Gabe, had offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

         The whole thing just made Percy mad.

        "Don't worry," Annabeth told him. "Mortal police could never find us."

        The rest of the day, Percy spent alternately pacing the length of the train (he couldn't sit still) or looking out the windows (something tended to catch his attention outside). 

* * *

        Their reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. They managed to get a cart with enough space for them to sleep so they settled in and soon Grover was asleep above Annabeth and Andie was asleep above Percy. Percy laid on his back and stared at the bottom of Andie's bed as her arm fell off the side, swaying slightly. 

        He looked around, noticing that Annabeth's eyes were also open. 

         "Hey, you asleep?" Percy asked. 

        "Yes." Annabeth replied, causing Percy to freeze for a second but he quickly recovered. 

        "You and Thalia were really close right?" 

        "Yeah." 

        "What was she like?" 

        "Why?"

        Percy sighed. "She was the last forbidden kid before me, right? She must've dealt with the same kind of stuff." 

        Annabeth didn't say anything for a second. "She was tough. I mean, she knew she was a forbidden kid, she just didn't care. When Luke, Thalia, and Andie found me, Luke cared for me right away. So did Andie but we were the same age so we became fast friends, sisters really. But Thalia...she made me earn it."

        "Is that why you give me a hard time?" Percy asked. "I got to earn it with you too?" 

        "Yeah." Annabeth sighed. "Maybe." 

        "I gotta say, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me." 

        "What doesn't make sense to you?" 

        "The way you guys all talk. The way the gods want us to think." Percy spoke. "You have to burn an offering to get a parents attention, I have to beat up on Clarisse to just get my father to admit he's, my father. It isn't supposed to work that way. People who are close to you aren't supposed to treat you that way." 

        "Do you want to know how I ended up alone on the road in the first place?" Annabeth asked and Percy was surprised at her response, but he kept quiet, letting her talk. "I started out as a gift to my father. That's how it works with Athena. We're born from a thot in her mind, and then given to a partner she feels connected to. And for a while, I was treated like a gift. Muy father cared for me; he loved me. I knew it."

        Annabeth sighed before continuing. "Then he met a woman. They had their own kids and to her, I-I wasn't a gift. I was a problem. So, I left. I was seven. It isn't the gods who think that way. It's everybody. But at least with the gods you know the rules. Show them respect and they'll be in your corner, no matter what." 

        Percy was going to reply but Grover groaned from above Annabeth. 

        "You awake?" Percy asked him. 

        "Well, I am now. Thanks." Grover snapped back and Percy was a bit taken aback with his response. 

        "Are you okay?" 

        "He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough sleep." Annabeth answered for Grover. 

        "'He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough sleep.' Nah!" Grover mimicked. 

        "Wow." Was all Percy could say. 

        "You've never been on the road with him before. A little different than a froofy boarding school." Annabeth spoke. 

        "Who's froofy? You're froofy!" Grover snapped. "What's froofy?"

        Percy laughed at Grover just as a pillow from above him went sailing towards Grover, hitting him right in the face. 

        "Hey!" Grover shouted, wiggling around in his blankets and looking over to Andie's bed. "What was that for?"

        "You're yelling." Andie stated, her voice muffled by her other pillow. Percy watched as Grover grabbed onto the other pillow, she threw but as he went to throw it Andie put her hand up. "You throw it. You die." 

        "And... Andie's ten times worse than Grover." Annabeth said and after she spoke, Andie's other pillow when flying towards her. "Thanks Andie, I needed another pillow." 

        "Why are you all still talking? Who told you that you could speak at this hour?" Andie's asked and Percy decided it was best that he didn't speak. "Ugh, I need to eat something."