Danny Jackson (Percy Jackson/Harry Potter)

The Bolt

 It was sunset when we were dropped of in Santa Monica. It defiantly looked better than it smelled. There were carnival rides, palm trees along the sidewalk, and most people there were either homeless of some surfer dude. We walked to the edge of the surf.

"What now?" Annabeth asked.

The sun was making the sea look gold.

"I don't know." Dakoda asked breaking the silence.

As we looked at the sea I started to wonder how Poseidon could control all that water. Then I thought about my dad, Zeus. How could he be the king of the gods AND do everything else he did. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Annabeth's voice.

"Percy? What are you doing?"

He keep walking. Annabeth keep talking."You know how polluted that water is? They're all kinds of toxic-"

I don't think he heard anymore. I keep silent, but I was really worried about Percy. I knew his dad was the sea god, but could he really breath under there. I didn't know what was going to happen.

"Well." I said after a little bit. "All we can do now is wait." I sat down in the warm sand.

It wasn't that long till Percy came back out of the water perfectly dry. As soon as he got onto the beach he showed us four pearls.

"No gift comes without a price." Annabeth said.

"They were free." Percy replied.

"No." she shook her head. "'There is no such thing as a free lunch.' That's an Ancient Greek saying. There will be a price. Just wait and see." We all stayed silent for a minute. Taking in what she said.

"We'll worry about that later." I said. "WE got other things to worry about."

With that said we walked away from the beach.

Percy found just enough change in Ares's backpack to pay for a bus ride to West Hollywood. I used my hat to sneak Dakoda on. That's how we got him in public places. Percy showed the bus driver the address slip he and the others had taken from Aunty Em's Garden Emporium where they fought Medusa (long story) but the driver had never heard of DOA Recording Studios.

"Do I know you kids or are you from TV or something?" he asked.

"Uh...were stunt doubles." Percy said.

"Yeah! We uh...do it for a lot of kid actors." I added.

"Oh! That explains it!"

We thanked him and got of as quick as possible. We wondered around, on foot, for miles. Nobody knew where, or what, the DOA Recording Studios was. And it wasn't in the phone book. We had to duck into alleys to avoid cops. Percy was having a little trouble with the law and if they got us they would be wondering why my name doesn't show up.

Percy stopped in front of an appliance-store window. Some really ugly dude that Percy later explained to be his stepdad was on one of the televisions. He was in the middle of a poker game with a blonde lady next to him. Barbara Walter was interviewing him.

"Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife.....my Camaro....I-I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it."

"There you have it, America ." Barbara Walters turned to the camera. "A man torn apart. An adolescent boy with serious issues. Let me show you, again, the last known photo of the troubled young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver. He appears to be with three other teens, a German Shepard dog, and a man."