The Nature of a Demigod

Uncomfortable Truths

"We need to change trains," I said. "Next station." Over the next half hour, all we thought about was getting away safely. We changed trains twice. I had no idea where we were going, but after a while we lost the helicopter.

Unfortunately, when we finally got off the train we found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here. I was glad for my new lion's fur coat.

We wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.

A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. We must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave us a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!'

We huddled around his fire, Thalia's teeth were chattering. She said, "Well this is g-g-ggreat." "My hooves are frozen," Grover complained.

"Feet," I corrected, for the sake of the homeless guy. Y/N stood back from the homeless man cautiously, shivering in the cold, and spewing frozen air from his nose. When I wondered why, I got too far from the fire and pulled my attention away from my friend.

"Maybe we should contact the camp," Bianca said. "Chiron-"

"No," Zoe said. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves." I gazed miserably around the rail yard. Somewhere, far to the west, our friend was in danger. Artemis was in chains. A doomsday monster was on the loose. And we were stuck on the outskirts of D.C., sharing a homeless person's fire.

"You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends." His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," I said. "You know of any?"

He pointed with one greasy hand.

Suddenly I noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

"That's... convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh..."

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him. Y/N let out a tired sigh, trying to breathe warmth into his hands. We piled into a train car and waited.

***

Not long after the train got moving, conflict was brewing again. Y/N had done nothing but state how we needed to come up with a better plan than just charging headfirst after Artemis. Zoe countered that with a slew of rapid insults.

"Why do you think you have any say in this quest! It's your fault any of this happened!" Zoe sounded manic. "You've disparaged my lady's good name by being here. She doesn't need your help, and it's your doing that she went looking for that stupid girl!"

I could've sworn Y/N was about to explode. His jaw was clenched tight, and his eye twitched, looking almost psychotic. "First off," he growled, taking a deep breath and blinking slowly.

"Annabeth is smarter than everyone in here put together. Second, I'm only on this stupid quest because you and those hunters decided to try and shoot Thorn while she was on his back!" He took another shaky breath. "Zoe, I didn't ask for this. If I could be at camp with her, with my friends right now, I would be."