𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗𝐈𝐑, 𝐏𝐉

𝟎𝟎𝟖

Juliet wanted to punch Percy, but she let it go. He was going through much more emotions than her, this was his first quest, he was bound to make mistakes.

They sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.    After a few minutes, Annabeth fell into line next to Percy and the duo had their own conversation while Juliet and Grover walked by the front.

"Here, it's not much but you should still have it," Juliet pulled out a tin cherry coke can for Grover from her jacket, she didn't even know why she had it, but she wasn't complaining, Grover's eyes lit up as he took the can eating it in one gulp.

Juliet watched the satyr fondly before saying, "Don't be hard on yourself Grover,"
She pushed her hands in her jacket and turned to stare ahead, It was dark around them, she didn't like the dark.

"I'm not, I just..." Grover spoke sadly and Juliet passed him a sad smile back.

"I know, feel like you would never be good enough to achieve your dreams," She patted his shoulder lightly, "Trust me, feeling like that brings you no good but self destruction. You are one of the best satyrs I've ever met. And take it from a daughter of Apollo," she leaned towards him a little as if sharing a secret, "Something tells me you'll be the one to discover Pan."

Tears build up in Grover's eyes as he slightly sniffled, "Thanks Juliet,"

"Juli, call me Juli, all my friends do."

The tears were on the verge of being shed, "Thanks Juli, I needed that."

"I got you," Juliet smiled at him, she'd just said words to the satyr that she'd wanted to hear from someone.

"Let me play a song for you on my pipes," Juliet wanted to tell him no, but that had been awfully rude so she let him do it, "Maybe a find the path song!"

    He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff.    Instead of finding a path, Percy immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on his head. Juliet finally laughed and felt the pressure escape her body.

After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable for another mile or so, they started to see light up ahead: the colors of a neon sign. Percy could smell food. Fried, greasy, excellent food.

They kept walking until Juliet saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell.

It wasn't a fast-food restaurant like she'd hoped. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for them to read, because if there's anything worse for their dyslexia than regular English, it's red cursive neon English.    To them, it looked like: ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.

"What the heck does that say?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth said.

"We all have the same dyslexic problem if you forgot," Juliet replied.

Grover translated: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken. Percy crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers.

"Hey . . ." Grover and Juliet warned, the vibe of the area wasn't it.

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."