【 𝓢𝓐𝓛𝓣 𝓐𝓝𝓓 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓢𝓔𝓐 】
. . . . . ⌗ 005! ───── TRAIN TROUBLE! 𖤐 ‧₊˚
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... 𝐀fter successfully mailing Medusa's head to Olympus, the quartet left her house and continued on their journey through the woods of New Jersey. They eventually made it out and found a train station, that would thankfully take them to Los Angeles, right where they needed to go.
Annabeth and Pandora stared puzzledly at the silver and copper coins, with a few notes. They hadn't had to use American currency in so long, being used to the simplicity of golden drachmas. Pandora tried to count the coins, feeling extra pressure under the bored look of the ticket standee, when Percy stepped in with a sympathetic smile, and counted the coins for her.
"Thanks." She smiled sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it." He said, taking the tickets from the woman and giving them to Annabeth, who place them in her bag.
They boarded the train and divulged in mindless chatter, before organising their sleeping arrangements. Grover took the very top bunk, Annabeth in the middle, with Percy and Pandora on the floor — much to her dismay. However, Annabeth had 'fairly' called dibs on the mattress.
The sun set rather rapidly, leaving the four of them in the dark, minus the moonlight which shone through the carriage window and onto Pandora's face. Grover was quick to fall to the grasps of slumber, his light snoring filled the small box. The brunette girl was fighting her sleep, but her consciousness slipped away as her eyes fluttered shut and her plump, pink lips parted, her soft breaths adding to the background noise.
Annabeth was in and out of sleep, waking up every now and then before passing out once more. However, no matter how hard he tried, Percy just couldn't fall asleep. It was beginning to frustrate him. He lay on his back, hands tucked behind his head and staring at the ceiling.
Eventually, he gave up and decided to distract his brain. His head turned, along with his body as he faced away from the window and was met by the heavenly face of Pandora Lamansoff. Percy thought she still looked beautiful with dishevelled, caramel-like hair and a slight crinkle in her brow. Her expression made him wonder what she was dreaming about. The quest? Her mother? Archery? Luke or Peter? Maybe even Percy himself. Wouldn't that be a dream come true.
The moon illuminated her face in the most glorifying ways. If Percy was to describe Pandora in one word, he would chose ethereal. Everything about her made him be drawn more and more towards her, urging him to look for reassurance for every decision he makes — and they've only been friends for less than a week.
A mumble escaped her lips as she turned on her side, now facing him completely. Her frame had curled into a ball and she looked very uncomfortable. Her face contorted, and her chest seemed to heave heavier than ever. Percy could easily recognise the signs of a nightmare or a panic attack. He reached a hand out hesitantly and fiddled with the ends of her hair.
Pandora's mind was racing with panic and fear, the image of one she had been trying to forget since her very first day at Camp Half-Blood was returning to her, and it was as clear as ever. As if it had only happened yesterday. Her breathing hitched as she face planted the grass, and eyes stared through her soul. A shrill, ear-splitting scream ripped through the air. It silenced the violent rain and the Fury's screeching was nothing compared to Pandora's volume.
"Just breathe." Percy whispered, his hand moving down to toy with her fingers.
Pandora's face seemed to relax slightly and her breathing slowed, returning to its normal pace, but her body was still tense. That was, until she rolled onto her front, one of her arms falling across his abdomen and her head resting half on his shoulder and half on the fabric of her makeshift pillow (it was his jacket).
She looked very awkward lying like that, so Percy took the initiative to gently grab her head and lift it so it was now fully resting on his chest. She stirred in her sleep, making him halt his actions and wince.
This new position was very comfortable for both of them, as Pandora had physically opened up to him, no longer curled into a tight ball. One of her legs had hooked over his and half of their bodies were moulded into one.
The night continued to bore on, while Percy managed to have a short, meaningful conversation with Annabeth before Grover awoke grumpily.
"He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough sleep." Annabeth commented with a smirk.
"He's super grouchy when he doesn't get enough— nyah!" Grover mimicked, bobbling his head as he spoke.
"Wow." Percy gasped, raising his eyebrows at his satyr friend.
"You've never been on the road with him before." Annabeth realised, staring up at the bottom of Grover's bunk. "A little different than froofy boarding school."
"Who's froofy? You're froofy! What's froofy?" Grover exclaimed half-dazed. "I think I need to eat."
His sudden increase in volume had awoken the sleeping demigod, who laid sprawled out across Percy. "Grover, I promise you, when it's time for breakfast, I'll shove a whole granola bar up your ass. Or in your mouth. Pick your poison and go back to sleep." Pandora mumbled into Percy's chest, hearing the vibrations of his laughing.
"Grumpy pants number two." Annabeth chuckled softly, shaking her head at Pandora's harsh words.
"I thought you were supposed to be nice?" Percy smirked down at her.
"Not in the morning." She muttered, keeping her eyes closed in fear of staying awake if she opened them.
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... 𝐈t felt as if five minutes had gone by when Pandora was being awoken again. The rising sun was blaring through the window, creating a blinding light which disturbed everyone's much needed slumber. However, after waking up and getting changed at a painfully slow rate, the small group of four were starting the feel the rejuvenation of energy.
They had sat in a booth in a community area, discussing the quest while Pandora fixed herself up.
"I don't understand why it's so important for you to constantly look good." Annabeth frowned, watching as her friend stared at herself in the mirror.
"Well, there's a high chance that I'm going to die on this quest, and I've decided, when that time comes, that I don't want to already look dead." Pandora poorly explained, making the three look at the her incredulously.
"Anyway, we've got two days until we reach Los Angeles." Grover changed the subject back to the quest at hand. "Plenty of time before our deadline to reach the Underworld."
"Can I ask a dumb question?" Percy intercepts.
"Have you ever asked a smart one?"
"It's like you need me to make fun of you." Pandora and Annabeth overlapped each other.
Percy sighed before asking his question, "I've never been to Los Angeles before, and I'm guessing neither of you have been to Los Angeles. So how will we have any idea of where we're going?"
Grover was about to speak before Pandora gasped and looked as if she was going to blurt out her idea, before she settled back down and mumbled a 'never mind' under her breath.
"No idea." Grover shrugged, sharing a look with Annabeth. "But that's like step 37, we're still on step four. Cross that bridge when we get there."
"Follow-up stupid question." Percy said, furrowing his brows and making Annabeth groan, "'And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end.' 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."
Percy's attention was now drawn to something outside the train, running alongside it in the countryside fields. Centaurs. It was a family of four, galloping with each other with seemingly broad grins on their faces.
"No one even knows they're there." Percy commented, looking around as the other passengers were oblivious to the magical world.
"The power of the Mist." Pandora muttered, lining her lips carefully.
"There used to be herds of them, everywhere." Grover said, watching the family emotionally.
"What happened to them?" Percy questioned, turning away from the centaurs and to his satyr friend.
"Humans." Grover simply elaborated. One word to explain a whole story full of destruction and chaos. "A few thousand years ago, the god of the wild — Pan — disappeared. 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 solemnly expanded.
"Your uncle we found in Medusa's, Ferdinand. He was a searcher?" Percy asked, looking at his friend with empathy.
Pandora observed as Grover silently nodded before thickly swallowing, staring at the passing fields and numerous trees. The blonde sighed before returning the topic of conversation. "The Oracle didn't say the quest would fail. 'Fail to save what matters most'. That 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 work to understand, the harder it gets to understand. Sometimes you've just got to let it come to you when it's ready. You can't force natural things to happen. You can't force stars and planets to align, you can't force beauty, you can't force love, you can't force fate. It just. . . happens."
Percy nodded, tugging on his bottom lip with his teeth as he listened intently.
"That was very insightful, Pandora." Annabeth said with a tone of impression and surprise.
"Why the tone of surprise?" Pandora asked, sitting up straight and sliding her pocket-sized cosmetics back into her handbag.
"Excuse me, can I see your tickets, please?" A police officer asked, approaching the group suddenly.
Everyone watched as Annabeth pulled four identical slips of paper out of her back and handed them over compliantly.
"You're in Cabin 17B?" The officer double checked, watching as the four nodded.
He then stood up straighter and ordered them to follow him. They walked through the corridors on the train, before stopping in front of their box-sized room.
The sight was dreadful. The window was smashed inwards, allowing the wind to billow around inside, making their bedsheets and covers dance around in the whipping air. The shards of glass had sliced some of the seating and bedding, making loose feathers float around as well. The two beds that folded out of the walls had its hinges hanging on for dear life. It looked as if an animal had ripped it apart.
"Do you wanna explain?" The cop queried, unimpressed.
"Wait. Wait, you think we did this?" Percy exclaimed with offence.
"Did you?" The officer pushed, raising his eyebrows and tightening his lips.
"I mean. . . How? And why?" The dirty blond was beginning to get annoyed, his tone raising as an indication of his frustration.
"Sir, when we left to get breakfast, everything was intact." Grover interrupted, trying to diffuse the situation. "We don't know how this happened."
"We got a witness here. . ." The man gestured to a middle-aged woman with wrinkled skin and chestnut hair, talking to a female officer, clearly giving a report. "Says she heard the window smash, and then heard children's voices."
"Oh, come on!" Percy scoffed, rolling his eyes and throwing his hands up in irritation.
"Can you tell me what time you left the cabin?"
"Are we under arrest?" Annabeth asked, looking at the cabin with confusion. If it were possible, you would've been able to see the cogs in her mind working to formulate a reason for this wrecking.
"I don't think you want to take that tone with me, little girl." The policeman said in a patronising way.
Annabeth's head snatched up, glaring threateningly at him.
Pandora stepped forwards as she saw Annabeth's mouth open to respond. "Listen, officer." She began politely, tilting her head down and look at him through her lashes and batting them. "If we did this, why would we willingly give you our tickets? It seems a bit counter-productive, no? To cause this. . . absolute mess — send my condolences to the captain, by the way — and then hand ourselves in. Not to mention the fact that we have to sleep two more nights in here. Besides, I would never do something like this. And I can promise that from the bottom of my heart." She pouted, placing a hand over her chest, drawing undeniable attention to the area.
The cop cleared his throat and nodded sharply. He shook his head, trying to make it discreet, but it couldn't be more obvious. "Right, well. . . We still need to take you all in for a proper questioning."
Pandora's flirtatious smile grew into a broad grin as she nodded eagerly, and gestured for her friends to follow his retreating figure.
"That was disgusting." Annabeth spoke under her breath, the boys nodding in agreement. "Amokenesis on a fully grown man?"
"You think I liked it anymore?" Pandora replied, trying to ignore the goose bumps arising on her skin. The daughter of Athena looked at her with a sympathetic look and small smile, which was shaken off by the blonde.
They walked in a straight line in order to pass through the train carriages without tripping up. Pandora felt a hand ghosting against hers, to which she turned around to see Percy staring at her fingers intently. The curly-haired boy looked up after feeling eyes on him and widened his own, before retreating his hand and shoving it into his jean pocket.
"Hi." He said with a little voice crack.
"Hi." She said with a growing smile.
The quartet made it back into the communal area, returning to their seats from dinner, Grover and Percy by the window with Annabeth and Pandora taking the aisle seats.
"So we're just killing time 'til we find out that guy's like a werewolf or something, right?" Percy spoke lowly, glaring at the tanned officer that had accused him and his friends of blasting their cabin to pieces.
"I don't think he's a monster." Annabeth whispered, turning back around to face the group.
"Hard to say." Grover shrugged.
"Well, if he's not a monster, then what's going on here?" Percy questioned, looking at his friends for an answer. "Why would anyone tear our room apart?"
"Maybe they were looking for something." Pandora guessed, sitting upright with a smile as she gave an educated guess.
"Yeah, well, we don't have anything." She knew his tone wasn't meant to be that harsh, he was just dissatisfied with the way the quest had been going so far. Every step of the way their had been trouble, an obstacle, that they'd had to overcome, and now this? Pandora recoiled into herself and slouched back against the seat.
"The people who think you stole Zeus's master bolt might disagree." Annabeth reminded him, watching with a frown as Pandora removed herself from the conversation. "So, 'Dora wasn't too far off." At the mention of her name, the daughter of Aphrodite sat forwards and leaned her elbows on the table.
"Right." Percy groaned, completely forgetting that he was being held accountable for something that wasn't his fault in the slightest.
"Well, look, they're not going to find something we don't have." Grover spoke up, glancing in between the group.
"Either way, we aren't spending the day answering questions in the St. Louis police station." Annabeth emphasised a few of her words. "We need to get out of this before we get delayed."
A finger tapped on her shoulder, making her whip around defensively. "D— Do you mind if I sit?" It was the woman who had raised the complaint and reported them. She carried a puppy bag, which had an animal inside of it — a very vocal animal.
"Oh, you poor dears." The woman cooed, taking the seat besides Pandora.
The brunette shuffled along the seat uncomfortably, after she had given the woman the dirtiest look of her life. Her thigh came into contact with Percy's making him smile at her reassuringly and hook their pinkie fingers together under the table.
"Your parents aren't here, are they?" The strange brunette continued, clearly not expecting a reply as she looked at the concerned look the four of them displayed identically. Her pet made an agitated noise, making her become attentive towards it. "Isn't that right, precious? Don't children get scared when they're all alone?"
She turned back around to look at the children. "It's okay, I'm a mom. I know how scared you must be." She then spoke to the female officer who was observing the interaction, asking her to leave and suggesting her presence made them feel uncomfortable and intimidated.
"I want you to know. . ." Her tone had changed. It wouldn't have been noticeable if the kids weren't on edge, but their senses were high, and it was easy to tell when anything was odd. "I don't actually think you made that mess back there. I just wanted a moment alone with you."
All four of the young teens shared subtle, unnerved looks, and Pandora felt Percy's hand fully encase her own.
"There are some things I need you to understand—"
"You have something on your jacket." Grover noticed, staring intently at the folded corner on her blazer. "It looks like. . . It looks like glass." Everyone shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "No one smashed out the windows from inside our cabin. Someone smashed them in from the outside."
The stranger hummed before turning to her loud and annoying animal and talking to it. Pandora, Grover, Annabeth and Percy huddled together and muttered to each other.
"I knew it! Bad people always have terrible fashion sense." Pandora exclaimed in a whisper, earning 'really?' looks from her friends.
The creep had no stood up in front of their table, looking down at the group with a sickly sweet smile. "This isn't your fault. But sadly, you're going to have to bear the burden of your parents' mistakes today."
"Listen, lady, I don't know who you are, but I think I know what you are." Percy began, speaking sassily. "We've ran across a few monsters like you and we've sent them all packing."
She scoffed, "Monsters like me? Well. . . of course they're like me. They were my children."
"Children?" Percy said confused, although his companions all had realisation decorating their features. "What does that mean?"
"The Mother of Monsters." Grover shuffled, sitting upright.
"Echidna." Annabeth snarled, glaring viciously at the enemy.
The thing in her bag began rattling and growling again, making Echidna shush it. "Monster. It's an odd word. Considering my grandmother is your great-grandmother, and this has always been a family story. But. . . to my eye, the demigod is the more dangerous creature. Disruptive. Violent. If I exist for anything, it's to stand in the way of monsters. . . like you."
"Yeah, well, everyone has their opinions. Yours just happens to be wrong." Pandora rolled her eyes, making Grover connect his hoof to her shin.
Echidna tilted her head at Pandora before bending down next to her doggy bag. "My little one here. She's just a pup now. Bless her heart. Today. . . you will be her pray. Are you afraid yet? Oh, it's alright, fear is natural. It's also essential to the hunt. Your fear. Your doubt. Your confusion. I needed you to understand what was happening so that she could track the scent."
Everyone's breathing increased as the monsters growling became more rabid and impatient, the zipper slowly unravelling. Pandora could see, from the corner of her eye, Annabeth pulling something out of her pocket.
"So that she could learn and grow, because, well, that's what a good mother does for her children. Not that you would know." Echidna looked between the two girls.
Pandora's grip on Percy's hand suddenly became painful, as her jaw clenched and he winced at her angered grip, but stayed silent.
They all glanced down at the bag, seeing the zipper fully undone.
"You should run now." Echidna advised, as a large stinger shot out of the bag.
Pandora let out a scream as Percy forced her head down, blocking her from being attacked by the monster. Annabeth jumped onto the stinger and impaled it with her dagger, ordering her friends to go, to which they didn't argue. The rush had alerted the officers, who ran after them.
"Screw you, and your ugly ass jacket!" Pandora shouted as she ran off, slamming doors open as she went.
They made it far enough down the train to where they could stop evading the officers, and Annabeth chained the door shut, locking the authorities out. They banged aggressively on the door, trying to slam it open.
"Percy!" Grover exclaimed, pulling a needle-thin stinger out of his shoulder blade.
"What is that?" He asked, looking down at it.
"It's a stinger!" Annabeth panted, "Grover, do you know what kind of monster has one of those?"
"I don't know, I mean, nothing good, probably." Grover rushed out, examining the skinny piece of metal.
"Fantastic!" Pandora shouted, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Multiple monsters have stingers, poisonous or not, and considering we just ran into Echidna, it could be anything!"
"Do you feel okay?" Annabeth asked Percy, as the blond gripped his shoulder.
"I think so. Why? Do you think it's poisonous or something?"
"Whether it is or isn't, you're going to be fine." Pandora said, placing a hand on his bicep supportively.
The train suddenly came to a harsh stop, jolting around aggressively as some of the lights flickered out. The three demigods and the satyr looked down the corridor they just ran. In the distance, a large beast stared at them, crashing its skull into the metal door and leaving a harsh imprint.
"We gotta move!" Grover panicked, ushering his friends away.
The train came to a complete stop, allowing the children to rush out and onto the gravel underneath the tracks.
"Why isn't it still chasing us?" Percy heaved, glancing around at the train, no sign of the monster anywhere.
"Echidna said whatever she was hiding in that carrier, it's young." Annabeth noted from earlier. "It won't venture too far from her mother. She's learning to hunt. . . and this seems like the hunting part."
The four made their way through another short wood, before finding an alleyway and following it through, assuming it would lead them to the main city.
"We aren't going to be able to out run them for very long." Grover said, negatively.
"We don't need to." Annabeth replied, shaking her head. "We just need a place to hold up."
"Some place safe." Percy expanded.
"Well, yes, preferably." Pandora muttered under her breath.
Percy had a tendency to say the most obvious things. "Any ideas where we might find one of those?"
"I do." Annabeth nodded surely. "A sanctuary, dedicated to Athena, built by one of her demigod children a long time ago."
"There is an Athenian temple hidden somewhere in the middle of downtown St. Louis?" Grvoer sarcastically clarified.
"Yes. Except it's not all that hidden." Annabeth corrected, her eyes falling upon the temple.
It was the Gateway Arch. Large, silver and metal, gleaming in the sunlight.
— 𝒋𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔
wow. i'm rereading this to edit
before publishing and it feels
like this episode was so long ago
but it was literally just two weeks
isn't that mad???
also if there's any moments where
pandora is mentioned to be blonde
please let me know because after
this chapter i decided to change her
fc from alyvia alyn lind to michelle
(ryan reynolds is such a dilf omfg)
(possible adam reed fanfic???)