They stood around nervously. Firefighters, ambulances, and police cars surrounded them, including the tourists who had been visiting the Arch during that time. Eira glanced nervously around her.
"They're looking at us," Grover noted nervously.
"Yeah . . . ."
Eira wasn't paying attention to Grover's comment. At that moment, she caught sight of the three Fates. Her face paled when she saw a ball of blue yarn that reminded her of Percy's eyes. They must have caught her staring, because the sister in the middle snipped the yarn. That could only signify that someone was about to die. And it could mean any of them.
"Hello? Are you listening, Eira?" Grover asked. He waved his hand in the girl's face, catching her attention. She blinked, confused.
"What?"
"We need to get out of here. They're staring at us. We don't want to spend the rest of our day being asked stupid, useless questions."
She sighed. She knew Grover was right. She nodded.
"Let's go find Percy," she finally said.
"Eira, I hate to say it, but he's not going to -"
"Don't!" said Eira sharply. She had tears in her eyes. Grover and Annabeth stared at her in surprise. She stared back with a look of determination on her face. "He's alive, guys. I know it. I feel it. Let's go look for Percy."
The two of them had no choice but to trudge behind Eira, who was determined to find Percy. They called out his name as they walked along the riverbank. He had to be here, somewhere! Eira was not leaving without him!
"Per —" Eira called again.
But they were interrupted as they turned the corner. A splash of water startled them. There, in front of them, stood Percy. He was drenched in water from head-to-toe, but he looked alive. And didn't look like he was in pain as he had been just a few minutes ago. Everyone stood still. He waved shyly. He couldn't take his eyes off of Eira. She stared at him, stunned.
"Hi," he greeted, sounding embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Eira should have listened to you earlier, instead of shoving you into the stairwell. Even hearing myself say that sounds terrible. But I knew that you would never agree with me —"
The girl cut him off by throwing her arms around him. She had walked quickly over towards him as he spoke. Percy was stunned. He stood there, shocked, for a few moments before hugging Eira back. He buried his face into her shoulder, taking in the feeling. The scent of amber and sandalwood from the perfume she had put on that morning filled his nostrils. He chuckled at her reaction to seeing him alive.
It was a comforting feeling for him. He did not want that feeling to end. He wanted to hold onto her for as long as he could. Finally, Annabeth cleared her throat, catching the duo's attention. Percy had been so lost in the moment that he had forgotten that his other two friends stood there. Annabeth had a knowing smirk on her face. Grover averted his eyes from the sight.
"So," said Grover at last. He smirked at the boy who held the girl in his arms. "You're not as dead as we thought you would be."
Percy finally let go of Eira. He gave them his signature mischievous smirk.
"Surprise."
"What happened?" Annabeth demanded.
"Long story short," said Percy as we began to walk down the pier again, "we need to head to Santa Monica."
"Like, right now?" Grover asked, amazed.
"My father said that he would meet us there," Percy explained. "He's going to help us."
He suddenly felt so confident. He didn't know where the confidence came from, but he liked the feeling.
"Okay. There's only one problem with transportation," said Grover nervously.
"What's that?" Percy asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
"So, the police think that we crashed the Amtrak, and did that to the Arch." He pointed up to the Arch, which was still burning at the top.
Percy sounded full of disbelief. "The cops are after us?"
"That seems like it," Eira answered nervously. "That's going to make it hard for us to find a train. . . . or any other sort of transportation."
In the end, they had no choice but to walk. Eira had suggested hitch-hiking. But they figured that they would be easily recognized from the news and escorted to the police office instead. So they dropped that plan. They didn't trust anyone now - whether under the Mist or not.
Eira suddenly felt awkward, now. She had hugged Percy without thinking about it. And now, she was embarrassed with herself. And she was more embarrassed around him. She tried to keep her distance by going on Annabeth's other side as Annabeth walked next to Percy.
"Hey, guys," said Percy out of the blue as they continued walking down the highway. "I've been thinking about it. This quest may be a bit harder than we thought." Eira rolled her eyes. "None of you have stolen the bolt. We're pretty sure that Hades has the master bolt. But he couldn't have stolen it himself. I mean, we don't know who actually stole the bolt. Or how deep this thing actually goes." Everyone continued to stay quiet. Percy glanced over at all three of his friends. "I'm the last one to finally realize this, aren't I?" he finally asked.
"Yeah . . . .," said Zoira awkwardly. She forced herself to turn away from Percy. She hoped he wouldn't notice that she'd been distancing herself because of him.
"Okay, so maybe it hadn't fully wrapped around my head when we first started this quest," Percy continued to rant. "But ever since the river, it's all felt different, somehow. He saved me. My dad, I mean. I guess that I just never thought that he'd do something like that for me. So maybe, I've gotta take things a bit more seriously, now."
"Duh," Eira muttered under her breath. Luckily, no one heard her. At the same time she spoke, they heard an engine sputtering. They turned to see a motorcycle coming down the street.
"Car," said Grover flatly.
"That's not a car, you idiot," Zoira huffed. "That's a bike. Let it pass. C'mon."
They made their way towards the curb. They could see something that they could hide behind. Her stomach sank when she realized that she was sitting next to Percy, and that Annabeth had somehow managed to make Eira go ahead of her.
"Hey, guys. We're not just trying to find the master bolt. We're kind of like detectives, too. Aren't we?" Percy asked.
"I guess. . . .," Eira railed off again.
Her cheeks were dusted pink from embarrassment. Percy noticed how weird she'd been acting ever since they hit the road. He wanted to confront her about it.
"Why are you acting so weird towards me again?"
She only scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Weird? I'm not acting weird."
"Yes, you are. You've been acting weird ever since we left the Arch," Percy stated. Eira continued to avoid his gaze. She didn't want him to know that she liked him. But Percy thought otherwise. The realization hit him like a wave crashing down on him. "Oh," he finally said quietly. "I get it. It doesn't have to be a thing, y'know?" The girl snapped her head in his direction. Her eyes widened and she began to panic. "That you hugged me."
Eira took in a shaky breath and looked away. She could feel the blush coming hotter.
"Oh, boy," she grumbled, embarrassed.
"I mean, that's what friends do, isn't it?" Percy concluded awkwardly.
"I saw the Fates," she finally blurted out. "Back at the Arch, I saw them. The sister in the middle cut the string."
She didn't tell him that the yarn looked like the same color of his eyes.
"The Fates weave the life strand of every living soul here on Earth. It means . . . . It means that one of us is going to die soon."
"We're all going to die eventually," Percy tried soothing her. But it didn't seem to work. She just glared at him. "One way or another, life doesn't go on forever."
"It was a warning, Percy. Don't you get that? One of us is going to die. It's an omen."
"Oh, c'mon. Three old ladies with a ball of yarn? Do we really need to talk about this kind of thing, guys? They can't know what's about to happen, can they? What I choose to do changes what's going to happen. And I can choose to do anything I want."
The motorcycle that had been following them came to a halt.
"You guys need some help?" a gruff voice asked.
Grover looked over their protection.
"Pardon?"
"I asked if you needed any help," the man repeated, acting as though it were obvious.
"No. No, I think we're good. But we appreciate your concern, though."
"Goodbye," said Eira as she, too, peeked her head from their protection.
"So long!"
"Are you sure?" the man insisted. "You don't seem too good. And from what I know, the four of you are clearly behind schedule." That made the four of them stand up. The man continued talking. Eirag couldn't help but feel like she had seen this man somewhere. But what frustrated her was, she couldn't remember. The man continued rambling. "I mean, the Summer Solstice is only a few days away. That's the deadline, isn't it? As much as I'd love a good ole war to pop off between my siblings, I feel like, as your big cousin, I should lend you a hand."
"Cousin?" Percy echoed, confused. Eira didn't blame him.
"Ares," Annabeth spoke up, sounding bitter about it.
"Hmm. You must be Athena's kid. Always smart and wise, those kids are."
"Why in the name of Hades would you want to help us?" Zoira asked stubbornly.
"Hmph. Daughter of Apollo, aren't you?"
Eira could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks again. She clenched her fists together.
"And how would you know whom I'm related to?"
"I know you get the stubbornness from your father. And, not to mention, he talks about you a lot."
"Lately, he hasn't."
"Hey. Us gods and goddesses get upset with their children from time to time. But, in the end, we always forgive our children, don't we?"
She ignored him.
"Why would you help us? How do you even know what we're doing here?"
"Because I'm doing the same as you. Zeus has sent all of his kids to look for the master bolt, as well. Listen here, dummies. I'm hungry. There's a decent diner up the road. Meet me there if you want my bloody help. But don't dawdle. I won't wait forever. I'm not that patient."
Eira followed her eyes. Of course he wasn't patient. He's the god of stupid war. He's never patient.
Ares put down his glasses again before revving his motor. He took off without giving the four teens another glance. Percy stared after Ares, stunned.
"That's my cousin?" he finally asked. Eira smirked at his reaction. "What kind of family is this?"
"A messy one, that's for sure," she answered. "Well, c'mon. We don't want to get on Ares' bad side."