Champion of Love

I Didn't MEAN To Commit Accidental Vandalism

They spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of
grain. They weren't attacked a single time, but that just made Percy even more on edge. It felt like they were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity.

Percy read newspapers marveling at the east coast weather that was getting more and more extreme by the day. The seas had calmed some, but the skies did not. Percy was glad to finally be out of that.

The rest of the day he spent pacing the length of the train (because he had a hard time sitting still)or looking out the windows.

Once, he actually spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field alongside the train, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch. The little boy centaur-who was the size of a second-grader on a pony-caught Percy's eye and waved.

Percy waved back and the boy smiled, running off with his dads.

Another time, toward evening, Percy saw something huge moving through the woods. He could've sworn it was a lion-a specific mythological lion if he was correct. Its fur glinted gold in the evening light as it ran beside the tracks. Then it leaped through the trees and was gone.

The reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. They couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so they dozed in their seats. Percy's neck got stiff and his shoulders ached, but he'd slept in worse places-i.e. the floor of his old apartment.

Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking them up. Once, he shuffled and his fake foot fell off.
Annabeth had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.

"So," Annabeth asked Percy, once they'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"

"What do you mean?"

"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"

Percy was tempted to just say "Nunya." and let her fall for it, but then he'd be no better than Ares and that thought was truly horrifying, so he answered eventually. It was the second time he'd dreamed of the evil voice from the pit, but it bothered him so much that he told her.

Annabeth was quiet for a long time. "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black
throne, and he never laughs."

"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"

"I guess....if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?" Annabeth reasoned. Percy sighed.

"If you think about it, we basically just assumed it was Hades being a bitter old fart. But if it's not, we're gonna have to figure it out ourselves. We'll still go to the Underworld, to make sure, but we'll be on guard for things to not be what we thought." Percy decided.

He almost felt guilty for wanting to go to the Underworld just to say goodbye to his mother and not for the actual quest. But, they did need to make sure Hades really wasn't up to something. Percy just hoped they didn't get killed along the way thanks to the information they lacked.

"That sounds like a good plan. It's bad not to have information in quests, but we have battle instincts for a reason. And we have me, a strategist, Grover, a protector, and you, a warrior. I think we'll make things work no matter what happens." Annabeth agreed, getting a smile from Percy. Her cheeks tinted red and she looked out the window.

"What's it like?" Annabeth asked suddenly after a moment of comfortable silence.

"What's what like?"