The day had come for Penelope, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover to go. To be honest, she was dreading today to come but did she have a choice? No. Now, there was a saying by Jim Henson that if you could not beat them. Join them.
That was what Penelope would do.
Join and enjoy the adventure to the fullest. Who knew? Maybe she would get something unexpected in the middle of the journey, no?
The quartet was busy, re-checking their equipment and whatever they deemed useful when someone approached the son of Poseidon. Penelope, who was aware of her surrounding, was the first one to notice the blonde newcomer. To say she was surprised was an understatement. She was stunned.
Luke Castellan.
A rather tall and fit boy came walking towards them. He was– as expected– handsome, to say the least. Blonde hair, blue eyes, he was the perfect epitome of the stereotype of white people. His eyes met hers and he smiled, oh so charmingly. Unfortunately for him, Penelope knew what disaster he created, what a mess he made. So, even though she smiled back, she really wanted to throw him down to Tartarus.
Really, if he did not steal Zeus' lightning bolt, she would be at home right about now.
What a shame.
She meant, she knew that he had daddy issues, most of them had. But, he was the only one who would steal the king of the gods' weapon just to get back at his father. Who did that? Was he even sane? He really needed a therapist, it seemed.
"Hey, Perce." He greeted. Percy, who did not know anything his friend did, beamed as he threw himself towards the blonde boy. The latter chuckled as the two hugged. Penelope wanted to scowl so hard. The blonde boy had the audacity to be buddy-buddy with her twin brother when he was about to betray him. What a scary bastard.
"Luke! What are you doing here?" Percy grinned.
"I just want to give you these two things. I hope it can help you with the prophecy." Luke answered, shoving a shield and a pair of winged shoes towards the raven-haired boy. Luke also gave the black-haired boy his backpack as he said, "I also packed a little gift for you as well. Have a safe trip, Perce."
Penelope bit her lip. She really wanted to just snatch the backpack and give it to Zeus just so that she would not go on this adventure, but, she held it in. Really, he said hope it could help them? Have a safe trip? He must be joking, what a clown.
Though, the girl was a little intrigued to know what her twin brother would do when he found out his friend betrayed him.
Mean, she knew.
More so, Penelope knew that Percy would wear the shoes which would drag him down to Tartarus. She did not want to be a bitch, but she admitted, the sight would probably be amusing. Who would pass a good comedy, right? Besides, it could be her little revenge since he basically forced her to come.
Thus, she kept quiet.
The three children and one satyr left after a few farewells here and there. Penelope could not care less about the campers since she did not really have that many friends. Now, the quartet was sitting inside an empty bus–exclusive for demigods, probably, driving from the long island where the camp was located to the west since the prophecy told them that.
The journey was unexpectedly comfortable and safe, it was suspicious. However, she did expect it since ever since she was reincarnated, she only ever encountered a few monsters which did not even notice her in the first place. But, the demigoddess was still on her toes, heightening her senses. She did not want to die just because she let her guard down, it was not a good enough reason to die.
Penelope thought they would arrive to wherever their destination as safely and danger-free. Seemed like being in the same place with Perseus Jackson overruled her ability to stay undetected.
Since wherever Percy Jackson went, danger always followed him.
It was a good thing that Penelope never let her guard down as she jumped sideways as soon as she felt something was wrong. Almost like mocking her, not even a second later, something rammed hard against her side of the bus. If she were a second too late, she would definitely be dead right now. Because of the hit, the bus turned so hard it almost flipped. The raven-haired demigoddess did not even spare a glance towards the other three before dodging an upcoming attack from a hellhound. She did glance a little to make sure that the other three were able to defend the monsters that were rushing towards them.
Penelope slipped off her ring and threw one of the swords towards the lump of black, straight towards its forehead. Unfortunately for her, the hellhound seemed to be a bit smarter than the other monster she had encountered as it dodged sideways before lunging towards her. Forgetting her surprise, the girl readied her stance to defend the hellhound's attack. Penelope did not move when the hellhound was about to pounce her. However, before it could actually bite her head off, the girl slid down across its stomach, slicing it up.
The hellhound yelped before jumping, turning around. Penelope did not waste another second to jump on her feet and stabbed the hellhound between its eyes, killing it. She did not celebrate though, since she was sure at least ten hellhounds were attacking them. Penelope watched how one hellhound was creeping behind Percy and was about to use her water power when she watched Annabeth jump from out of nowhere and slice its head off. Penelope was not about to admit it, but she was reassured that the three would not really need her help. Thus, with that thought, she began to kill the hellhounds one by one.
As she killed the last one, Penelope sighed. It was not that hard, truth be told. However, she believed that if she were to use her water power, it would end faster and she would not feel like she was about to pass out.
Yes, Penelope was tired after only killing a few hellhounds.
But, in her defense, she had not exercised in a long time. Her stamina had plummeted down the drain. The girl had depended too much on the water power that she forgot that she needed to keep exercising and train her stamina and strength for unexpected situations where she needed to save her powers, and she thought that it was a good time to converse her water power to gain back her lost muscles and strength.
Penelope looked around, the bus was a complete wreck. The glass windows were broken, the right side of the bus was completely shoved in. A complete wreck. It was a wonder how they could fight in such a place, actually. Letting her eyes wander, Penelope's sight fell upon her teammates and noticed that Percy had slight bruises and cut wounds while Annabeth was clean, fortunately. Sighing, the girl brought out ambrosia and gave it to her twin brother. Percy looked at her in gratitude as he ate the biscuit.
"Now, where to go and how to reach there?" The girl asked.
Annabeth was the first to answer, "If it's west, I think we need to go to Hades?"
Percy cocked his brow, "Why do you think so?"
"The entrance of the underworld is the only place on the west, correct?" Penelope confirmed. Of course, she knew this piece of information from the book. Annabeth looked at her surprised. It seemed like the blonde did not think Penelope would know something like that. Shrugging, she asked, "Do any of you know where the exact place is?"
"I know." Annabeth answered, "Under the Hollywood Sign."
"Now, how do we go there? And, do any of you have money? If yes, then let's book a train or a bus? Or a taxi?" Penelope asked, crossing her arms in front of her.
"I have a few bucks on me. If we were to get a bus, how about the mortals? I'm not sure about the monster attack that will definitely follow through..." Annabeth muttered. Before anyone could utter their opinions, however, she added, "We should probably walk, no? The safest for the civilians...?"
"Screw the civilians, man. Let's just take a bus. The Fates will probably help us, no?" Penelope argued. In her opinion, comfortable with the safety of the civilians. Since she was not obliged to protect anyone. She was a murderer, an assassin for Hades' sake. Why would she care about whether one died now? Besides, why would they walk? It was from New York to Los Angeles, why would anyone walk? She continued, "No objection? Good. Let's go."
"But-" Annabeth was about to argue back when Penelope shoved her hand against the blonde's mouth, shutting her up.
"Nuh-uh. Blame Percy since he was the one who chose me to go. Now, let's go, we don't have enough time. Chop-chop, bitches."