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We were in a damn bad way that night. We spent the night in the forest, about a hundred meters from the main road, on a swampy clearing where people from the village had obviously been partying. There were flattened drinks cans and hamburger bags lying around everywhere. We had taken food and blankets from Aunt Em's store, but didn't dare light a fire to dry our wet clothes. The Furies and the Medusa had caused enough excitement in just one day. We really didn't want to get ourselves into any more trouble. We decided to take it in turns to sleep. Percy volunteered for the first watch. Annabeth and I curled up on the blankets and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the floor.
Normally, nightmares were not unusual for demigods. But being visited by a god had never happened to me before. I was sitting on my bed in cabin 7 and when I looked up he was sitting on a chair. Tall, tanned, blond hair, my father looked like a clichéd surfer boy. "That was interesting," he began, the first words I ever heard him say. "OK, I'm responsible for the fear of snakes, but the fight against the furies was all you. Well done" "Wha... what?" "Lea vs monsters She uses the sun power New heroine yay" I still can't believe it, my father called me a heroine "And now find that lightning bolt, I can hardly listen to the others arguments anymore. Good luck little heroine" And then I woke up.
When I woke up, I saw Annie above me. "Percy is still asleep, and I wanted to prepare something for breakfast. You might want to recharge in the sun" "Thanks" Photosynthesis is one of the powers that every Apollo child has. Simply explained, we have to be in the sun and imagine that the rays are going into us. If you concentrate briefly at the beginning, you can then focus on other things. I closed my eyes, concentrated and when I opened my eyes, my previously blue iris was now yellow, a sign that it was working.
Grover was sitting further away from us, playing with some animal in his lap.
"My father came to see me," I began. She flinched briefly as she nodded, a sign that she was listening, "Just before we left, Lee told me to trust dad and when we walked into the store I heard dad in my head, at least I think it was dad." "He's trying to help you, you have to trust your instincts, it could be your dad." "I know, it just feels so weird that he cares and why now?" "I don't know" Words I've never heard from Annie before, "You should ask Lee when we get back to camp" I nodded and got up and helped her with her food. "I'm sorry" she said suddenly, "I know there's tension between us and..." "Shut it. You have nothing to apologize for, I know you Annie and I trust you with my life. If you think not telling me was the best solution, then it was the right thing to do." Annie dropped the dagger, she was using to cut the food, and hugged me "I'm still sorry." "If you're really so sorry, you can try to be nicer to our sea span" She let go of me and looked at me indignantly, "Just because you like him" I was about to reply, but was interrupted by Percy's screaming. "A nightmare... Go on and wake up your Aquaman" I gave her another angry look before I did just that.
I shook him awake. When he opened his eyes, he looked at me in shock. "It's all right, it was just a dream," I said. "We all have them." He was still shaking, "What's wrong with your eyes?" Oh right, there was something. "Another one of my dad's powers, I'll explain when we're not on a quest and could die at any moment," I explained, "Annie's just finished breakfast and Grover's been checking out the neighborhood. Look, he's found a friend."
Grover was sitting on a blanket with his legs crossed, and he had a cute pink poodle on his lap. For those who don't know, I am such a dog person. The poodle barked suspiciously at Percy. Grover said: "No, he doesn't." Percy narrowed his eyes. "You're talking ... you're talking to that thing?" The poodle growled. I went over and scratched him gently. "Yes, the evil Aquamen has insulted you. Don't listen to him, you're the cutest dog I've ever seen." "That thing," Grover said reproachfully, "is our ticket to the west. Be nice to him." "You can talk to animals?" Grover ignored the question. "Percy, this is Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."
Percy stared at Annie, assuming she was going to burst out laughing now because they'd played a trick on him, but she made a serious face. "Say hello to him," I suggested. "I'm not going to say hello to a pink poodle," he said, "Forget it" "Percy," Annabeth said. "I said hello to the poodle. You will greet the poodle." The poodle growled at him.
He greeted the poodle. Grover told him that he had met Gladiola in the forest, and they had struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich family nearby, who had offered a 200-dollar finder's fee for him. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to this family, but was willing to do so if it meant he could help Grover! "How did Gladiola know about the finder's fee?" asked Percy. "He read the posters," said Grover, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Of course," said Percy. "Stupid of me." "So we bring Gladiola back," Annabeth said in her best strategist voice. "We get the money and buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple as that."
"Not on the bus again," I said cautiously, "No," Annabeth agreed with me. She pointed down the slope to the tracks that I hadn't been able to see in the dark at night. "There's a train station a kilometer in that direction. And Gladiola says the train to the west leaves at twelve o'clock."
