Snow White- Percy Jackson¹

Chapter Nine

Percy Nearly Gives His Friends A Heart Attack

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It was June 13th. Eight days before the summer solstice. It was the second day the demigods and satyr were on the train, they passed some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch.  She stared at the structure, taking in every little detail and recalling what she had learned from the books she had read on its history.

"I want to do that." She sighed wistfully.

"What?" Percy asked. 

"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"

"Only in pictures."

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."

Percy laughed. "You? An architect?"

That earned him a hard slap on the head by Snow. 

Annabeth's cheeks flushed angrily. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention." 

There was silence. 

"Sorry," Annabeth said. "That was mean." 

"Can't we work together a little?" Pleaded Percy. He was honestly getting tired of all the petty arguing he and the blonde had been having since they met. "I mean, didn't Athena and Posideon ever cooperate?"

Annabeth had to think about it. "I guess ... the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."

"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?"

They rode into the city, Annabeth watching as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel.

"I suppose," she said at last.

Snow clapped her hands, beaming at her two friends finally getting along. 

"And I guess this could also apply to me and Snow." Annabeth added as an afterthought.

Snow blinked. "Wait, we had problems? I thought we were friends."

The blonde shifted in her seat, not wanting to go into detail of how odd she found the girl and how often she underestimated her abilities, like the capture the flag game. Annabeth genuinely didn't think Snow could have held on her own before, especially against Luke even though it was a short fight. And the bubbly girl had proven to be very skilled and competent on the quest.

"Um, sort of. Maybe. It's in the past now." She quickly brushed off. Snow stared at her for a moment, then slowly nodded, accepting the words.

They pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told them they have a three-hour layover before departing for Denvor.

Grover stretched. Before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."

"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"

Snow nodded, interested to see the architecture Annabeth gazed with admiration. Percy and Grover, however, glanced at each other with uncertainty and hesitancy. They both wanted to say no, but Annabeth was already looking determined and none of them wanted to let the girls go alone.