Kosmos♕percy jackson [CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN]

επτά

     "So, um, how did you sleep last night?" Amara asked.

     "Considering everything, it was okay. Not like I haven't done it before," Annabeth replied. Amara looked at her confused. What did she mean by that? But before Amara could ask, Percy woke up, shifting their attention to him.

     "Well," Annabeth said, "the zombie lives."

     "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. Got a long day ahead of us," said Amara.

     "How long was I asleep?" Percy asked.

     "Long enough for me to cook breakfast," Annabeth replied, tossing him a bag of chips. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend." 

     The poodle yapped at Percy suspiciously. Grover said, "No, he's not."

     "Are you... talking to that thing?" Percy blinked.

     The poodle growled.

     "This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

     "You can talk to animals?"

     Grover ignored his question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."

     Percy looked at the two girls. Amara shrugged. Annabeth looked deadly serious.

     "I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," he said. "Forget it."

    "Percy," Annabeth said. "Amara and I both said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

     The poodle growled at Percy again, resulting in him finally saying hello.

     Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd begun talking. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover. 

    "How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked.

     "He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."

     "Yeah, duh," Amara grinned at Percy.

     "Of course," Percy said. "Silly me."

     "So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple." 

     "Train tickets, right? Because bus and plane are out of the question," Amara said.

     She pointed downhill, toward train tracks Amara hadn't even noticed were there. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the west-bound train leaves at noon." 

Ψ

     They spent two days on the train, without any attacks from monsters but that didn't provide any comfort to Amara's nerves. If anything, Amara became more uptight and even a bit paranoid.

     Amara learned that Percy was wanted for questioning by the police for the mysterious disappearance of his mother, who was actually abducted by the Minotaur and trapped in the Underworld.

     As they rode through the country side, Amara saw a herd of centaurs hunting for lunch. She figured the mortals would see them as horses through the mist.

     Percy said something about a huge Hummer-size lion. Amara joked about it being the Nemean lion but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that there was an actual possibility of it being the Nemean lion.