Chapter Five: A Destroyed Bus Left Behind.
— I need you to run to me, run to me, lover !
There wasn't much time to prepare.
The quest had been dealt that morning and that same afternoon was when they would leave. The quartet didn't have much time to waste anyway. They needed to complete the quest as fast as possible. The world couldn't possibly handle another war between the gods. Annabeth Chase knew that very well. She had listened to all the stories her best friend told her from her father, they were all so tragic and horrifying. She had learned through pretty and silk words that the Greeks had practically invented the word tragedy and she was terrified for her own future. However, she couldn't help the excitement that bubbled in her gut at the prospect of finally getting out of camp. It had been years since she had and, gods, was she ready to finally see the world again. She watched as her best friend ran to Cabin Seven, bombarded by her siblings. She held back a laugh at the sight of the blonde so overwhelmed by the amount of questions being thrown at her. It was funny because Annabeth got the same treatment from her siblings. All the gray eyes staring at her with expectancy.
She gave them her most disappointed face, fighting back a reaction at their sympathetic sighs before breaking out into a bright smile. "I got the quest!" She exclaimed, earning happy squeals and cheers from her siblings. Immediately, they got to packing. The experience being too anticipated for any of them to sit out of it. They were all living vicariously through her and they couldn't wait for every last detail when she got back.
Annabeth waved to all the campers she knew as she trotted up to the top of the hill, near where the tall pine tree that protected the camp. It was only her and Chiron for a while before the bane of her existence ran up. Percy was panting slightly, holding his bag to his back tightly. Grover wasn't that far behind him, bleating anxiously. They were all waiting for their favorite daughter of the sun. "This is Argus," the centaur introduced to the new camper. "He will drive you into the city and, er, well, keep an eye on things."
Annabeth stifled a smile at his pun.
Suddenly, there were two sets of footsteps behind them. Luke Castellan was running up the hill with Colette right in front of him, wearing a sunny smile. "Hey," he panted, placing his hands on his knees and catching his breath.
"Take your time, buddy." Colette teased her brother, patting his shoulder with a smirk. Annabeth smiled at her best friend warmly, she loved seeing her so friendly and free.
"Shut up, Sunny." Luke sneered playfully, finally straightening up and standing all the way up to his full height. "I'm glad I caught you all." He smiled, letting everyone notice the sneakers he had in his hands. "Just wanted to say good luck," he directed to the son of seas. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these." He handed the boy the sneakers, which looked pretty normal. "Maia!" He shouted and white bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Percy so much that he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.
"Awesome!"
Luke smiled genuinely at the satyr's praise. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. They're a gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days ..." His expression turned sad and so did Colette's. She pursed her lips, placing a hand on his arm and squeezing it comfortingly. Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows in thought at the interaction, the daughter of the sun had always known more of what happened on Luke's first quest. Colette had been the only one the son of thieves let heal him when he came back and she was the only one he'd talk to. The daughter of wisdom always wondered what really happened and why.
