୨⎯ The Daughter of Ares ⎯ ୧ ☾P. JACKSON x FEM OC☽

8. "Were you awake the whole night?"

THE KIDS HAD LUCKILY CAUGHT A TRAIN TO CONTINUE THEIR QUEST WITH.

Percy was on the floor as Erika was on the floor, next to Percy's bed as she was trying to go to sleep.

"Hey, you awake?" Percy asked. Hopefully, someone would be awake.

"Yes." Erika said as she opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. "What do you want?"

"Annabeth and Thalia were really close, right?" Percy asked Erika, shifting his body to turn to look at her.

"Mhm." Erika responded, looking outside.

"Did Annabeth ever tell you how she was like?"

"Why?"

"She was the last forbidden kid before me, right? She must've dealt with the same kind of stuff."

"She was tough. I mean, she knew she was a forbidden kid. She just didn't care. When Luke and Thalia found Annabeth, Luke cared for her right away. But Thalia... she made her earn it."

"Is that why you two give me a hard time? I gotta earn it to her, too?"

Erika sighed, "Yeah. Maybe."

"I gotta say, that doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

"What doesn't make sense to you?"

"The way you guys all talk. The way gods want us to think. Gotta burn an offering to get a parent's attention. Gotta beat up on you just to get my father to admit he's my father. It isn't supposed to work that way. People who are close to you aren't supposed to treat you that way."

".... There's no difference, really. My mom, She adored me, okay? She loved me to bits, I am the oldest kid in my family." Erika said as she opened up. She sniffled as she turned her head to look at Percy. "As much as I hate to admit this, I did not have an innocent childhood. My mom was at least 18 when she had me, Orphan with her best friend, Sally Jackson or whatever her name was. My mom met my dad at a bar, Trying to get a drink, Ares came in, Being the youngest guy in the motorcycling group he was in. The two began dating and then. Boom. I was here." Erika said as she looked at him. "My Mom's not a terrible person. She's just busy with her own kids. She treated me as a gift for years until Richie Richard as a husband came in and married my mom. Toxic man he is. And there I was, cornered in my own family."

'Why didn't you say anything about it?" Percy whispered, looking at the girl as the moonlight shined down at her.

"How was I supposed to? I escaped my house at the age of 9. It has been like 3 years since I haven't gone home, 2 years since I was claimed." She said as she looked back at the boy. "My dad gave me the loudest lecture since I lost to you." She added, looking at him. "But. If you're on the God's good side, they'll be with you. If you annoy them, they'll prefer if you die."

"Wait.. Sally Jackson? That's my Mom's name." Percy said as he looked up at her.

".... Okay that was not the plot twist I was expecting. Never knew two woman had kids with two gods at the same time." Erika joked as Percy just smiled and shook his head. Realising that their mother's were best friends when they were young.

Grover groaned as Annabeth got awake, too.

"You awake?" Percy asked.

"Well, I am now. Thanks." Grover responded.

"Are you okay?"

"He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough sleep." Annabeth said.

"He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough.. NYAH." Grover mimicked Annabeth.

"Wow." Percy mumbled.

"You've never been on the road with him before." Annabeth said. "A little different than a froofy boarding school."

"Who's froofy? You're froofy. What's froofy? I think I need to eat." Grover said as Percy sat up, "Were you awake the whole time?" He asked as he looked at Erika.

"Yeah, I was definitely watching a cute boy like you sleep." Erika responded sarcastically. "What do you think, Sherlock? obviously asleep."

"Didn't seem like it. We're you just flirting with me?"

"In your dreams, blondie."

In the morning, Erika was sitting next to Percy as she had her head on the table and hair messy as hell.

"Two days until we reach Los Angeles. Plenty of time before our deadline to reach the Underworld." Grover said as he looked at Percy.

"Can I ask a dumb question?" Percy asked as he looked at Grover. Erika stopped resting her head on the table to look at Percy.

"It's like you need me to make fun of you." Erika said as she looked at Percy.

"Shoot." Grover said, ignoring Erika's remark for his question.

"I've never been to Los Angeles before. I'm guessing neither of you has been to Los Angeles. So, how will we have any idea where we're going?"

Grover shrugged, "No idea." He said. "But that's like step 37, and we're still on step four. Cross that bridge when we get there."

"Follow-up stupid question." Percy said.

"Dude." Annabeth said as Erika rested her head on the table again.

"And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end." Percy repeated as he remembered what the Oracle said. "Back in Jersey, I told you the Oracle said this quest would fail. And no one's mentioned it since. Seems like something we oughta be taking a little more seriously - Hey. Look at that. Are those..?" Percy asked as the kids looked out of the window.

"Centaurs." Annabeth responded.

Erika looked around before she said, "No one even knows that they are there."

"There used to be herds of them everywhere." Grover said.

"What happened to them?" Erika said as she looked at Grover.

"Humans." Grover responded. "A few thousand years ago, the god of the wild, Pan, disappeared. And ever since, without Pan to protect the natural world, Humans have been trying really hard to chip away at it."

"The bravest satyrs volunteer to become Searchers, trying to find Pan. None have ever returned." Annabeth added as Erika paid attention to the two's words.

"Your uncle we found in Medusa's, Ferdinand. He was a Searcher?" Percy asked, looking at Grover.

Grover nodded, saying yes.

"The Oracle didn't say the quest would fail." Erika said as she rose her head up again. " 'Fail to save what matters most.' Thie could mean a lot of things. That's how prophecies work, that's how fate works. It could mean a lot of things. The harder you get work to understand, the harder it gets to understand. Sometimes, you've just gotta let it come to you when it's ready."

Erika looked outside of the window, trying her best to resist Percy's presence beside her. She had a feeling that something bad was gonna happen. She had a deep, deep feeling that this train ride would not go great.