ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ : ᴀʀᴇ ᴡᴇ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴋɪᴅɴᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ?

I need to find a way to get Percy back.

I'm with Grover as the Gateway Arch is smoking. The police had arrived awhile ago to take up the scene, talk to witnesses, and save anyone if needed. Sirens blare loudly as I look around nervously. People are probably going to blame us if they do suspect anyone.

"They're looking at us," Grover says, pointing to two policemen. They are talking to someone and jotting notes down on a notepad. I turn to see 3 elderly ladies sitting in lawn chairs, knitting.

"So we should probably get out of here, don't you think?" Grover questions. I'm not fully paying attention since I'm watching the old ladies. One cuts the string while looking at me in the eyes, and I freeze.

"Dude, they're looking right at as," Grover repeats. I turn around.

"What?" I ask. "Come on. Let's go find Percy." Grover looks at me with confusion and sympathy.

"Serena..." Grover's voice trails off.

"He's alive. I know it," I reply, starting to walk away from the old ladies and officers.

While on the bridge, Grover and I call out Percy's name. I really can sense that he's alive, and I hope he is. We run and turn a corner to see Percy hopping out of the river. Grover and I freeze in shock.

"Hi," Percy starts. Grover and I start to approach him. "Look, I'm sorry about shoving you in the stairwell. Even hearing myself say that sounds really bad, but I just-" I cut Percy off by running the rest of the way and hugging him. I feel the water transfer to my clothes, but I don't really care. I just, for some reason, missed him. Our embrace lasts long until Grover says something.

"So," Grover utters. Percy and I realize our position and release from the hug. I feel my black long sleeve and notice its wet spots. "You're not as dead as we thought you'd be."

"Surprise," Percy responds, his blond hair coiled.

"What happened?" Grover questions. I focus back at the quest.

"Short version, we need to go to Santa Monica," Percy explains. Grover and I give each other confused looks.

"What, like now?" Grover expresses. Okay, that is an unrealistic standard. There is no way we will be able to reach Los Angeles from St. Louis.

"My father's gonna meet me there. He's gonna help me."

"Okay, uhm, just one problem with this plan," Grover starts. "The police think that we crashed an Amtrak train, and then did...that." Grover motions toward the burning arch.

"The cops are after us?" Percy asks like it wasn't obvious.

"Yeah," I reply. I shake my head at the dumbass.

"Isn't that gonna make it hard for us to get on a train? Or a bus? Or really anything you need tickets for?" Percy wonders, looking at the both of us. I sigh as I realize the only form of transportation that won't have us arrested. I readjust my bag, add shiny lip gloss on, and sigh again.

~

Birds are cawing over our heads as we are roughly 80 minutes into our journey. My legs start to fall asleep, but I try to ignore it. I start to think, what happens if we fail this quest? Well, for starters, the war between Poseidon and Zeus will definitely occur, and Zeus will still blame Percy for stealing the bolt. Also, Percy won't get his mom. But that means I won't get Summer. I just want to make my cabin like me, and I think getting Savanna's sister back from the Underworld is like, the perfect gift.

"Hey, guys," Percy starts, breaking the quietness. "I think the quest might be harder than we thought." Here we go again. Of course he didn't realize it, he's Percy Jackson: dumbest of them all. Yeah, that's a new nickname for him.

"I've been thinking. I didn't steal the master bolt. You guys didn't steal the master bolt. We're pretty sure Hades has the master bolt, but he couldn't have stolen it himself." I shake my head as I don't listen to the rest of his rant. "I'm the last person to realize this, aren't I?"

"Yes, Percy, you are," I reply. I turn back down to my ring, seeing Percy smiling in my peripheral vision. I gently rub it to feel relaxed and calm. "I wish my sword was bigger. Honestly, it would probably make me feel more comfortable fighting-" A second later, my ring slowly shifts into a sword. It rises, the ring shifting off of my finger and collapsing to the road. Once it is in full form, Grover and Percy stare at it. It's a sword made out of probably bronze with a red handle with golden stars.

"Oh wow, it's this ring that Aphrodite only gives to her favorite children. I heard Chiron talking about it once," Grover explains. "If you rub the ring and wish for something, it will give it to you. Only if Aphrodite approves, though. And I guess she approved of a bigger sword." Wow, my mom really knows my favorite color and shape. I hear an engine similar to a motorcycle's.

"Car," Grover alerts, and we look for a hiding place. We decide to hide behind the road (or whatever it's called) and sit on the ground.

"I'm saying we're not just trying to retrieve the thing," Percy says. " I think we might need to be detectives here, too." I fiddle with my thumbs, the thoughts of the Fates recirculating in my brain. All of my thoughts are jumbled up and mushy like pea soup. Percy taps on my shoulder.

"Why are you being weird with me again? I thought we weren't doing that anymore," Percy reminds, resting his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm not being weird," I defend, finally looking up at the curly haired boy.

"Yes you are, Serie. You've been weird since we've left the Arch," Percy replies. I bite my nails as the two guys look at me, waiting impatiently for a response. Then, Percy's eyes widen.

"You know, it doesn't have to be a thing that we hugged," Percy explains.

"Um, what the fuck Percy." The blondie throws his hands up in surrender.

"I mean, we're like friends now. That seems like a thing friends do," Percy continues, making the situation worse. Grover smirks, and I throw a pebble at him.

"I saw the Fates," I explain. "I saw those wrinkly grandmas back at the Arch, and I saw Octopus or whatever her name is cut a piece of thread."

"And that's bad or...?" Percy asks, very lost.

"The Fates weave the life strand of every living thing. When you see a string cut, it means one of us is going to die," Grover says, trying to be calm. Obviously, he isn't, since I can see a high level of nervousness on his face.

"We're all gonna die eventually," Percy replies. I sigh heavily.

"Soon," I say. "Like, super soon. It's a warning." I quietly wish for the sword to turn back into a ring as I hear a motorcycle approaching.

"Okay. Guys, we need to talk about this whole fate thing. 3 old ladies with a ball of yarn can't know what's gonna happen," Percy utters. "What I choose to do changes what's gonna happen, and I can choose to do anything I..." the son of Poseidon's voice trails off as all three of us duck our heads so the driver won't see us. Unfortunately, it halts to a stop.

"Need some help?" A guy asks. He sounds around the age of 35, but I could be wrong. All I know is that my dad told me not to talk to strangers, and I have broken that rule a thousand times on this quest.

"Beg pardon?" Grover asks as the three of us peak our heads up. A white man with a patchy beard has parked his black and silver motorcycle and is waiting for us.

"I asked if you could use some help," the man says again. Percy, Grover and I look at each other, wondering if this is safe.

"Nope. No, we're good. Appreciate you asking, though. So long," Grover responds in one, long run on sentence. The man deeply sighs.

"Are we about to get kidnapped?" I whisper to Grover, and he shushes me.

"You don't seem too good." I huff as I peak my head back up.

"Listen, we don't want anything from you," I answer in my nicest leave-us-the-fuck-alone voice.

"You sure? Because you guys are so behind schedule." My eyes widen, and I fully stand up with Grover and Percy. "I mean, summer solstice is just a few days away. And as much as I'd love to see a good war pop off, as your big cousin, I feel like, maybe, I wanna give you a hand." Wait, what?

"Cousin?" Percy asks, extremely confused.

"Ares," Grover says, helping me understand this a lot better.

"And you must be Aphrodite's kid. Your mom has told me a lot about you, and you seem like a cool kid. Come dap me up real quick," Ares comments, holding out his hand. So, I walk closer and awkwardly dap up the god. I hear Percy chuckle as I turn and glare at him.

"Okay, but why would you help us? How do you even know about what we're doing out here?" Percy questions.

"Because I'm doing exactly the same thing as you. Zeus sent all of his kids out looking for the master bolt, too," Ares adds. "Listen, dummies, I'm hungry. There's a halfway decent diner up the road. If you want my help, you'll meet me there. But don't dawdle. Won't wait forever." Ares puts his sunglasses on and restarts the engine to the motorcycle. The engine roars as Ares gives us one last look, and drives off.

"That's my cousin? What kind of family is this?" Percy inquires.

"A really fucked up one, for sure," I answer as we start our walk to this diner Ares is talking about.

𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 🫶