The train ride was boring at best. We couldn't afford the sleeper car so we had to sleep in our seats. My entire upper body felt like someone rode over it with a tractor and then started growing wheat on it.
The only somewhat interesting times were when Grover and Percy were asleep. Me and Annabeth would talk about multiple things such as our interests, past times etc. It was nice to have conversations with her because it helped me learn more about her like uh... architecture, right. She loves architecture I can't have a conversation with her that isn't about architecture. She told me about all of the landmarks and about all of the things that could improve with each of them.
Those conversations were fun but the rest of the train ride was just complete boredom and/or paranoia. The dream just gave me extra paranoia. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the image of my mother being stabbed over and over again while I watch helplessly. I heard her screams as if she was really there. It.... I don't enjoy talking about it. Annabeth tried to get me to talk about more but i couldn't. I think she understands.
Right now, Grover just had his fake foot fall off in his sleep which, I have to admit, was probably the highlight of my day. After we put it on I turned to Percy.
"Who wouldn't you help."
"What?"
"In your dream you said you weren't going to help someone. Who?"
He wore a look of reluctancy and hesitated.
"Fine." He said. (I assume you know what the dream is so I'm not going to say it here)
The only part I really paid attention to during Percy's dream was the voice that was in it. Percy described it as a "condescending voice that emanated disgust with what ever lied before it, like sword in stone."
That sounded way too close to the voice in my dreams and started trying to piece things together but when in doubt talk to the child of Athena.
"That doesn't sound like hades. He usually appears on a throne and he never laughs." Me and Percy nodded our heads in understanding.
"But one thing still doesn't make sense." Annabeth continued. "Why would he want the bolt if he already has it?"
I could sense a vibe of confusion creep through us. It was deathly silent in the cabin, all you could hear was the wheels of the train going along the tracks. I looked over at Percy and he had a face of determination as if someone told him to run through a brick wall he'd do it.
"You know you can't barter with Hades, right?"Annabeth said. "He's deceitful, heartless and greedy. I don't care if his kindly ones weren't as aggressive this time..."
"This time?" Percy asked
"You mean you've run into them before?"
Her hand crept up to her necklace while she messed with many of the beads that were attached to it. She held onto it like it was an attachment to a memory.
"Let's just say I have no love for the lord of the dead." Annabeth vaguely answered before continuing. "You can't be baited into a deal with your mom."
"What would you do if it was your dad?" Percy questioned. Annabeth's eyes looked at Percy with a look I have never seen before but it had a looks of pain but also defiance.
"I would let him rot." That line caught me off guard. I was expecting her to say the usual, "oh, I'd be doing what you're doing." But no we got that. I felt bad for her. I wanted to give her the shoulder to cry on but knowing Annabeth she would likely cut my shoulder in half.
"You can't be serious." Percy continued the conversation
"My dad has resented me ever since I was born, Percy." She said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him that heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."
"Well, you weren't born in a hospital." At this point my attention was solely placed on Annabeth. In our conversations I never really brought up her family because I heard she ran away when she was younger so I decided to not talk about it.
"I came to my father's doorstep in a golden cradle carried by zephyr, the west wind. You would think my father would see that as a blessing but he talks about it like it was the worst thing that ever happened to him. He then forgot all about Athena and married a regular mortal wife and had two regular mortal kids and tried to forget about me."
At this point I just wanted to shoot Mr.Chase in the head with an arrow as fast as possible. Her face only showed a hint of sadness but was mostly.... what's the right word..... persevering.
"My mother married an awful guy but Grover said she did it to protect me. Maybe that's what your father was trying to do." Percy said trying to make her feel better. I wanted to make her feel better too but it just seemed as if me entering the conversation (having no personal experience with terrible parents) would make it 15 times worse. I forgot the rest of the conversation as my ADHD got the best from me and I started twiddling with my necklace which happened to be an eagle.
I tried thinking about my dream, even though I hated doing it, trying to figure out who the voice was.
Sifting through the memory I tried thinking about someone who would want me and Percy to help him rise from the depths and get him the lightning bo-
"Y/N, you coming? " I looked up and saw Percy staring at me. I looked out the window and saw we were in an Amtrak station. I guess we arrived.
"Yeah." I got up and followed Percy through the train and out to the station. I saw Grover standing there as if he was still asleep and only pretending to be awake and Annabeth looking out over the city. The city in question had a giant arch which looked as if it was watching over the city.
"We have a three hour layover until we can catch our train to Denver." Annabeth told us while walking out of the station.
"Well what do you gu-" Percy quickly got cut off by Annabeth.
"Sightseeing." I turned to look at her and saw a giant arch.
"Sightseeing?" Grover asked still not fully awake. "The gateway arch?"