~Annabeth's POV
Once everyone had cleaned up the compartment, they all headed out into another train car to get breakfast and Andie happily ate her eggs and ham as if she hadn't just attacked almost everyone in the cart earlier for talking.
"Can I ask a dumb question?" Percy pipped up.
"It's like you need me to make fun of you," Annabeth replied and Percy rolled her eyes at her.
"Shoot," Grover said.
"I've never been to Los Angeles before. I'm guessing none of you have been to Lost Angeles. So, how will we have any idea where we're going?" Percy asked.
"No idea." Grover answered. "But that's like step thirty-seven and we're still on step four. We'll cross that bridge when we get there."
Annabeth watched Andie finish up her plate, scraping it clean before she leaned back, cocking her head to the side to look at Annabeth. Annabeth raised an eyebrow at her, watching as she slapped her hands onto her stomach.
"Food baby." Was all Andie said and Annabeth shook her head with a smile, leaning over and hitting Andie's stomach a little harder than she should've but it was funny watching her sit up and immediately put her head on the table in pain as she whined. "She killed my food baby."
"Follow-up stupid question." Percy stated, ignoring Andie's antics.
"Dude." Annabeth sighed; she had no idea how many more of Percy's 'stupid' questions she could take.
"'And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end.'" The Oracle said this quest would fail. And no one's mentioned it. This seems like something we ought to be taking a little more seriously." Percy spoke before his attention was taken by the Centaurs running past outside.
"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." Annabeth explained, taking back Percy's attention. "It can mean a lot of things. The harder you work to understand, the harder it gets to understand."
Then, all of a sudden, a transit officer appeared in front of them.
"Excuse me. Can I see your tickets, please?" He asked and Annabeth knit her eyebrows together, but she grabbed the tickets and handed them to him. "You're in Cabin 17B?"
The kids nodded and the transit officer motioned for them to follow him. Annabeth was hesitant but she figured this was a mortal, so she followed along back to their cabin where she saw it was absolutely torn apart.
"You want to explain?" The officer asked.
"Wait you think we did this?" Percy asked from behind Annabeth.
"Did you?"
"Sir, when we left to get breakfast, everything was intact. We don't know how this happened." Grover answered.
"We got a witness here, says she heard a window smash, and then heard children's voices." The officer said and Annabeth heard Andie mutter something under her breath. "Can you tell me what time you left the cabin?"
"Are we under arrest?" Annabeth asked instead, looking up at the officer who did not seem impressed with that.
"I don't think you want to take that tone with me, little girl."
Annabeth tolerated a lot of things. That name wasn't one of them.
"Are we under arrest?" Annabeth repeated, much more firmly and snarky than the last time and soon the officer had ordered them to go back to their breakfast table and now they had another officer watching over them, but she kept pacing back and forth, so the kids managed to talk.
"So, we're just killing time until we find out that guy is like a werewolf or something, right?" Percy asked as an announcement over the PA said that the train would be arriving at St. Louis Gateway station in ten minutes.
"Percy, he's just a transit officer." Andie stated.
"Well, if he's not a monster, what's going on here?" Percy shot back. "Why would anyone tear our room apart?"
"Maybe they were looking for something." Grover said. Annabeth watched the 'witness' talk to the transit officer and she felt something was off about her.
"We don't have anything." Percy replied.
"The people who think you stole Zeus's master bolt might disagree." Annabeth commented.
"Well, look, they're not going to find something that we don't have." Percy mumbled as the officer who had been watching them walked by. "Either way, we aren't spending the day answering questions in the St. Louis police station."
"Then we need to get out of this before we get delayed." Annabeth declared and right as she was going to try and figure out a plan, the witness woman appeared beside them.
"D-Do you mind if I sit?" She asked but she didn't wait for an answer, instead she sat right next to Annabeth who had to smush into Andie in order to make space. "You poor dears. Your parents aren't here, are they?"
Annabeth stared at the woman as the animal in her carrier began to whine.
"Isn't that right, precious?" The woman asked the carrier. "Don't children get scared when they're all alone? It's okay. I'm a mom, I know how scared you must be."
Annabeth looked over at Andie who shook her head slightly, as if trying to tell Annabeth that this woman was not a good woman and Annabeth nodded, agreeing with her.
"Excuse me. Might you give us a little space? I think-I think you're making them nervous." The woman said to the officer who had been watching the group and Annabeth was sure she'd say no but instead the officer nodded, going over to talk to her fellow officer. "I want you to know, I don't actually think that you made that mess back there. I just wanted a moment alone with you. There are some things I need you to understand-
"You have something on your jacket." Grover interrupted the woman and Annabeth looked at Grover in warning, not knowing if this woman was a monster or not but Grover continued on. "It looks like...it looks like glass."
There was a tense silence amongst the group and Annabeth found herself gripping her dagger.
"No one smashed out the windows from inside our cabin." Grover declared. "Someone smashed them in from the outside."
The animal that was in the carrier began to whimper again but soon the whimpers turned into snarls. The woman turned to the carrier, petting it affectionately. "Yes, sweetheart. I know, I know. You're impatient."
There was something else that the woman said but it was too quiet for Annabeth to hear and that made her suspicion grow even more.
"This isn't your fault." The woman stated, she had now stood up and was staring at the group from the end of the table with a sickly-sweet smile on her face. "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 knew what you are." Percy insisted. "We've run across a few monsters like you, and we've sent them all packing."
"Monsters like me?" The woman scoffed. "Well, of course they're like me. They were my children."
Finally, it all clicked for Annabeth.
"Children? What does that mean?" Percy asked.
"The Mother of Monsters." Annabeth stated with a bit of horror in her voice, but she kept it down making sure she stayed confident. "Echidna."
Echidna chuckle softly as the animal, or what Annabeth figured was a monster, began to growl. Echidna cooed to the monster, shushing it like it was a baby.
"Monster," Echidna stated. "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 demi-god is the most dangerous creature."
The growling in the carrier got angrier.
"Disruptive. Violent. If I exist for anything, it is to stand in the way of monsters like you." Echidna spoke as if it were the most civil thing in the world. Annabeth glared at her, waiting for her to strike at any moment. "My little one here. She's just a pop now. Bless her heart. Today...you will be her prey."
The grip that Annabeth had on her dagger grew, she figured her knuckles were white by now, but she had to figure out a plan to get them out of here. They couldn't die to whatever the creature was in that carrier.
"Are you afraid yet?" Echidna asked, her smile growing more wicked. "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. So that she could learn and grow, because that's what a good mother does for her children."
Annabeth's breathing got more ragged as Echidna spoke, there was just something so eerie about sitting in front of the Mother of all Monsters, waiting for whatever was in her carrier to attack.
"Not that you would know." Echidna had added on, and that comment made everyone immediately more upset. "You should run now."
All of a sudden, a tentacle like thing shot out from the carrier. It pushed into Percy, keeping him pressed up against the window behind him and Annabeth acted quickly, jumping up and stabbing her dagger into the creature. It cried and Annabeth quickly ushered them to go. The group ran down the train cars, hearing shouts of protest from the officers behind them.
"I wanted a second plate." Andie whined from behind Annabeth, and she huffed out a laugh as they passed through another train car. She quickly grabbed the chain and blocked off the door so that the officers couldn't get through. The group ignored the officers' shouts for them to open the door and Annabeth saw Andie pluck something from Percy's shoulder. "Oh no, it's a stinger. Annabeth, Grover."
"Oh jeez, Grover do you know what kind of monster has one of those?" Annabeth asked, grabbing hold of the stinger from Andie and inspecting it.
"I don't know. I mean, nothing good probably." Grover answered with a panic.
"Do you feel alright, Percy?" Andie asked him.
"I think so. Why? Do you think it's poisonous or something?" Percy replied. Annabeth watched as Andie grabbed his face, lifting her finger as a little light appeared at the end of it. "What the-
"Shh, daughter of the god of light remember?" Andie cut him off as she checked his eyes. "Everything seems fine, breathing is stable so far."
Annabeth was going to tell Andie to use her healing wrap but there was the sound of metal creaking from behind them. the group turned and they couldn't see the monster, but Annabeth was not taking any chances. She grabbed the closest to her, which happened to be Grover, and pulled him to get off the train as he pulled the other two. The group quickly exited the train, hearing the monster growl again but it sounded like it was retreating.
"Why isn't it still chasing us?" Percy asked.
"Echidna said whatever she was hiding in that carrier, it's young. It won't venture too far from her mother. She's learning to hunt...and it this seems like the hunting part." Annabeth explained as she led the group further and further from the train.
"We aren't going to be able to outrun them for long." Grover stated.
"We don't need to run; we just have to find somewhere that's safe and where they won't be able to find us." Andie said. "Hopefully."
"Any ideas where we might find one of those?" Percy asked, his question more so directed to Annabeth.
"I do."