a group of demi-gods were now gathered together for the quest picking. "the oracle has confirmed what we expected, that this quest will proceed toward the underworld, where you will confront the god who has rebelled against his brothers. Hades. the entrance to Hades's domain lied under the city of Los Angeles. this is where you will journey to. time is short. i have selected our most compelling candidates, from which you will choose three to join you on this quest and ensure that we succeed" Chiron says.
"Vida" Percy shouted out. "customarily, one waits to at least hear a name or two before choosing. are you sure you dont wanna hear more?" Chiron asks. "this thing, Zeus's master bolt, we need to get it back, right?" Percy asks. "yes." "and its gonna be hard to get, yes?" he says. "extraordinarily" chiron says.
"and if the mission required someone to push me down a flight of stairs for it to succeed...you'd want someone who wont hesitate when they do it" Percy says. "the first quest-mate shall be Vida Sade!" Chiron announces. Vida smiles and looks at Percy with glory in both of their eyes.
"now, on to the other candidates" Chiron says, "Annabeth" Percy says. "shes strong and cool" Percy says. "the second quest-mate shall be Annabeth Chase!" Chiron announces. "one more, Percy" Chiron says.
a kiss goodbye from luke to vida, then the four were off. Grover, Annabeth, Vida, and Percy were off to save the world. Annabeth and Vida stopped by a tree. Vida hugged the tree then sat against the tall tree watching the two boys.
"shes really gonna miss that tree, huh?" percy asks gesturing towards annabeth who was always hugging the tree. "when annabeth first arrived here with Thalia and Luke, they were being chased by monsters. agents of Hades. sisters." Grover explained. "furies. Mrs. Dodds?" percy caught on.
"yes. one was out algebra teacher. Alecto. Thalia turned back to fight to buy her friends some time. her satyr protector tried to stop her, but she wouldnt listen. so, at the last moment...Zeus intervened to save her life and...changed her form. also, Thalia is Vida's step-sister, they grew up together."
"the most powerful being in the universe's best idea to save his daughters life...was to turn her into a tree?" percy asked. "she was the bravest demigod i ever knew. she was my sister" vida butted in. "she fought valiantly, and she met a hero's fate" annabeth said walking towards the other three. "she met a pinecones fate"
"haha so funny, you made me laugh so hard. you should be a comedian" vida said with a straight face the whole time. "forbidden children are always in danger, even the strongest ones, even thalia. and you are not thalia. do exactly as i say, and maybe you survive this. are we clear?" vida says feeling hurt about what percy said about thalia. she loved thalia so much. she sacrificed herself.
vida walked away from them with rage, annabeth following behind, "does she think shes in charge?" percy asks grover, "whod you think would be in charge?" grover asked as if it was obvious, "i guess i assumed we'd do a show of hands or something." percy followed along
the four arrived in new york, they headed into a bus station and onto their bus. they sat all the way in the back and vida takes the window seat, not wanting to talk to anyone. percy then sits next to her, feeling guilty about what he said. "hey" percy sighs, vida looks to her right to see percy sitting there awkwardly.
"im sorry about earlier. i didnt mean to make fun of thalia like that. i know you loved her. uh, yeah i just wanted to say im sorry." percy says quietly, "i dont forgive you, yet" vida smirks in amusement. "yet. yet is good. yet is hope" percy smiles. vida then shivers out of the ac hitting her face.
"are you cold?" percy asked concerned."im fine" vida said but then goosebumps ran down her arms. "here, take my jacket" percy says taking off his plaid jacket as someone gets out of the bathroom next to him. "there is no way this is what sacred smells like." percy says, "we're soldiers on a mission. its not a vacation" annabeth adds.
"thank you for clearing that up. but if this is so important, why didnt chiron spring for plane tickets? this seems kind of low priority, doesnt it?" percy asks. "sorry, i assumed someone had told you" grover says, "tell me what?"
"percy, its not just monsters trying to stop us. since you are poseidons son, that means youre a forbidden child, zeus might go after you too. the sky is his playground. he would be eating you on a silver platter for us messing with his playtime" vida explained. "yeah, no one mentioned that." percy says as the bus halts at a gas station.
"okay. im gonna go get us some snacks. lets go annabeth" vida says. "ill come with you" percy offers. "no, youll stay right there" vida says. "why? it smells terrible back here" percy asks. "monsters cant smell you through that, so thats where i want you" vida says. "i wanna vote. who thinks that we should all go get to breathe fresh air and buy our own snacks?" percy raises his hand
"theres no voting. chips and sodas okay for you guys?" annabeth added in. "i dont think you should just get to decide we dont vote" percy shakes his head. "im sorry to hear that" annabeth says. "okay. i wanna vote on whether you get to decide we dont vote" percy says. "grover, please, can you help your..." vida groans but grover starts clapping. "...friend?"
"i really dont wanna be a tiebreaker. i have a better idea." grover started clapping faster, "oh golly, the roads gettin' bumpy 'cause i got me some friends who just cant get along. oh dear! when the teams gettin' grumpy the trick to gettin' through it is singin' this song —" Grover sang while continuing clapping
"dude, what are you doing?" percy asks. "its the consensus song. verse two encourages us to say nice things about each other. you get a few rounds in and you'd be amazed at how disagreements just kind of...fade away"
"chips and sodas okay for you guys?" annabeth asks again. "whatever" "yes, please" grover and percy say at the same time while annabeth and vida head of the bus and into the gas station. "our voting systems broken" percy says to grover
"im gonna get drinks. you get the food" vida tells annabeth as they both nod. vida grabs a pack of dr.pepper, knowing that percy really wanted one. she read it in his mind. vida walks over to the cashier with annabeth. they both feel an unsettling presence like someone is watching them or following them. they pay and head back into the bus, both turning behind them to see if someone was stalking them.
annabeth put her hat on while vida snapped her fingers, turning herself into an ant on the seat. the two girls sit behind a fury. "if you guys were better at your job, we might not have noticed you here so easily" annabeth says to the fury, still invisible. "if thalia were better at hers, there might not be a family of squirrels making her their home" the fury says causing vida to get filled with rage
"is that why Hades sent you here? to gloat over a job you almost did right once?" annabeth asks. "how things have changed. you, annabeth, are not the frightened little i came for all those years ago. oh and vida i can smell you on my shoulder"
"dont kid yourself. i wasnt that frightened" annabeth says with attitude. "maybe so. maybe so. either way, now it would seem that you two are exactly what they say you are. the pride of athena and zeus's offspring. perhaps the most formidable gods children alive" the fury says causing Vida to be in shock. Zeus is her father?she ran back into her seat next to percy and snapped her fingers.
"oh hey" percy says. "i know you wanted this so here" Vida hands a dr.pepper to him. "thanks. hey, you okay?" Percy takes the drink from her. "guys, you need to open that window! now!" annabeth exclaims. "i dont think these windows are supposed to—-" Grover says before seeing Alecto coming for them. "go, go, go, go" Grover and Percy push onto the window.
"Vida, lets go" Percy tries to grab her arm but w fury glides right into the bus pushing Vida to the ground. "hey!" annabeth throws a dagger at the fury and it fades away. "were done here. lets go" annabeth says as Percy helps Vida up. "are you okay?" he asks worried and panicking. "im fine. we have to go" Vida groans
the four jump out of the bus and start walking through the woods. Grover and Annabeth walking together while Percy is a bit behind them, making sure to be close to Vida as much as possible. he didnt want her to get hurt again because of his mistakes. Vida stayed behind Percy thinking about what she had heard.
Zeus is my father? How? I'm not a demigod?, Vida thought. all her life, was a lie? Percy catches up with Grover while Annabeth is in the lead. the three talk while Vida is wandering behind them. "why are you so afraid of who you are?" annabeth asks. "what?" percy asks
"you know, what's interesting about this particular satyr path is its actually the one my Uncle Ferdinand took when he set out on his own quest" Grover tries to defuse the tension. "what was that supposed to mean, afraid of who i am? im not afraid" percy accuses
"yes, you are. you arent just some kid who has dyslexia and ADHD. 'just a kid' doesnt do what you did to Clarisse back at camp. 'just a kid' doesnt have Hades sending top lieutenants to retrieve them. you jnow, you are a part of something so much bigger than we can understand right now. we have to move forward, whether you like it or not. whether you want to or not" Vids walks up and adds.
"you dont want to call camp, fine. then, at least lets call your mom, vida. maybe she can help since she is the queen of the gods" percy declared. "excuse me?" vida says. "hera? your mother. id call my father, but we arent exactly on speaking terms. you know, because of the lifelong neglect and all, but you and your mother seem close. so, why dont we ask her for help?"
"grover, will you explain to this crook that he needs to pull himself together?" vida says to grover. "you cant ask her, can you? when was the last time she talked to you?" percy says. "grover" vida warns. "i dont know why you keep pulling him into this. hes on my side"
"what makes you think that?" vida said. "hes my protector, its his job" percy says. "he was annabeths protector first?" vida spit. "first? what do you mean 'first?'" percy asked. "very exciting, getting to walk in Uncle Ferdinand's footsteps. next best thing to getting to talk to him again" grover says
"Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth had a satyr protector. that was you. why didn't you tell me?" Percy asks Grover. Grover looks down then smelled something in the air. "do you guys smell that?" Grover sniffed around
"Grover, im not kidding —" Percy shouts but Grover stops him, "no, neither am i. just shush" he kept sniffing until he said "hamburgers" he kept walking, "grover. what are you doing ——" Annabeth asks, "somebody's making hamburgers in the middle of nowhere, on a satyr path. whoever it is...they're from our world." Grover says and they reach a garden gnome emporium.
"oh, come on. really. i dont wanna die yet" vida groans, "what?" percy squints, "aunty 'em' has a garden full of petrified stone folks. yeah, this is someone from our world, all right. anyone wanna guess what 'em' is short for?" annabeth explains. "oh" grover realizes. "lets get out of here, please while we still can" annabeth pleaded but once they turned around, a fury was behind them.
Percy gives Grover the shoe box and pulls out his pen and turns it into a sword. "you should have accepted my offer when you had the chance" the fury says to Annabeth. "offer? what offer is she talking about?" Percy asks and looks at Vida like she betrayed him.
"not today, friends. not on my doorstep" a voice approached and everyone looked but quickly covered their eyes, "oh, shoot" "shit" they all looked away including Percy, once he saw the others did too and the voice got closer.
"if you have something to resolve, why not come inside and ill help? alecto? will you be joining us? no, well i wouldnt think you would. she wont bother you as long as youre with me. but it isnt as though she'll leave either, not if it means reporting that she failed to retrieve the son of Poseidon." the voice said. "how did you—" Percy spoke up.
"a forbidden child has been claimed. how long did you think that secret would keep? its a pleasure to meet you, son of Poseidon. im Medusa."
AUTHORS NOTE:
should i make a luke castellan fanfic. hope u enjoyed.
not edited
2275 words