ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ : ᴅᴜᴅᴇ, ʜᴏᴡ ᴀᴍ ɪ ꜱᴜᴘᴘᴏꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴋɴᴏᴡ?

I secretly want to run around this casino like a maniac.

Percy and I walk around as we search for Hermes. The casino is huge, filled with brainwashed people. I bite my nails as the thought of getting back to camp pops in my mind. I'll eventually have to go back. Back to the safe, sheltered life. Back to the games of Capture the Flag. Back to seeing the Lightning Thief.

"What's on your mind?" Percy asks, breaking the silence. I keep my head down.

"Nothing..." my voice trails off. I don't want to cry in front of him, but Clarisse is my best friend. He stops and turns to me. His hands reach for my shoulders, comforting me.

"There is something wrong, Serie. I know you," Percy expresses. "I probably know you more than I know my own father." I sigh and try to think of what to say.

"I, I just can't fathom how Clarisse is the lightning thief. My Clarisse," I rant. My voice starts to weaken. I start walking and Percy catches up. "She knew that I would be looking for it. She knew that I have to go to the Underworld to get this damn thing. And she still let me go unknowingly? She's my best friend. Does she remember every promise and secret we have kept since we first met?" After we claimed each other as best friends, Clarisse and I made a promise that we wouldn't betray nor lie to one another.

~ ~

I patiently wait for the daughter of Ares in my cabin. I doodle on a sheet of paper when I hear a loud knock.

"Serena, get the damn door!" Izzy shouts. I huff and walk to the door. I swing it open, revealing Clarisse.

"Hey, can I tell you something?" I whisper, dragging Clarisse to my bed.

"Yeah, what's on your mind?" Clarisse responds. She plops down on my bed and notices Izzy struggling to curl her lashes. She pinches her eyelid multiple times, causing the both of us to chuckle quietly.

"Well, you are probably the funniest, most genuine person I've ever been friends with in my life. Can we make a promise? Like, a pact that we will never lie nor betray each other for however long we are friends?" I express. This is probably the most emotional I've ever gotten. Clarisse smiles empathically.

"Of course. I would never betray you on Dolus," Clarisse replies truthfully, referring to the god of trickery. I smile and stand up.

"Okay, let's go to the river. Kinda wanna steal Demeter kids' food," I reply. We take a sheet of paper from Savanna's bed and write a promise note while walking to the river.

~~

Percy taps my shoulder lightly. I jolt my head up.

"Yeah, what's up?" I respond quickly.

"Look... if I tell you something, do you promise not to make fun of me?" Percy inquires.

"Now that you asked, uh, no," I reply.

"Great. Right. Okay. So, I've been having these dreams. For a while, they were weird. Then, like Luke's mom, they got scary. You have these too, right?"

"Yeah, of course," I answer.

"And then this guy started showing up and talking to me. But not like in a regular dream," Percy says. "It's more like he knows we're in a dream. But today, it was different. Like I somehow ended up in his dream. Like I was eavesdropping on him talking to..." his voice trails off. I wonder what he's going to say next.

"Take your time, it's okay to take it slow," I reply jokingly. He smiles and turns a light shade of pink.

"To the person who stole the master bolt for him." I release a heavy sigh.

"You're eavesdropping on Hades who is working with the person who stole the master bolt in your dreams?" I question.

"The part I don't get, though, is that they were talking about what comes next. Like getting Zeus and Poseidon to fight was only the beginning, and they're planning something bigger on top of it," Percy adds. "So, do you think it's real? Because if it's real, something the gods don't even know about, I mean... what are we supposed to do about that?"

"Dude, how am I supposed to know?" I retort.

"Well, if you don't know, I basically have no chance. You are way more practical than me," Percy notes.

"Well, it won't make any difference if we don't get to Santa Monica in the first place. C'mon, let's go." So, we continue our journey to find the god of messengers and thieves.

I overhear a man telling a story to a group of people. It's probably Hermes, since he looks a little familiar.

"So, a big wave comes and washes the boy back onto the beach. So the lady falls to her knees. She looks up at the sky, and she says... 'He's wearing a hat!'" Hermes jokes, the crowd erupting in laughter. The joke wasn't even funny, for goodness sake! "Hey demigods, welcome!" Percy and I look at each other and back to Hermes.

"We we're sent to find you," I say, looking skeptical.

"Well, you found me. Come join us. You kids know how to play craps?" Hermes distracts. I glare at him.

"Uh, look dude, we don't have a lot of time, we need help to-"

"I know what you need my help for. You want my help to sneak into the Underworld," Hermes assumes, looking at the two of us.

"Wow, you're a really good guesser," Percy responds.

"I exist beyond space and time, kid. Why do you think they put me in charge of delivering the mail?" Hermes says. My thoughts circulate to Medusa's head. He delivered it! "Look, you're not the first demigods to ask and, trust me, you won't be the first demigods to walk away disappointed. So you might as well at least play a little..."

"We know Luke," I state. The god's eyes widen and his smile fades. He grabs us and shoves us into a room similar to an office.

"Time and space are easy, kids," Hermes rants. "Parenting is...something else entirely. Have a seat." Percy and I glance at each other and have a seat. He takes his arm and wraps it around my shoulder.

"I remember you. Stalking Chiron and I when we were having a grown up conversation," Hermes says condescendingly. I stand up.

"Listen, you don't have to bring that up. I hand my reasons," I justify.

"Which are?" Hermes wonders, standing up as well.

"Well..." my voice trails off. "Well none off the top of my head but cause you're pressuring me!" I sit back down, fumed. "Plus, you were talking about an upcoming war. You must've known. Help us get to the Underworld, and I may not tell Luke and Clarisse and Savanna that you know."

"Smoke is basically coming out of your ears, Pretty Girl," Percy whispers in my ear. I pluck his arm and he winces.

"There is a way into the Underworld. A secret way. I've helped others find it before," Hermes admits. I smile. "And do you know what happens every time? I mean, every single time. You don't want my help, trust me."

"Uh, no, we actually kinda do," Percy replies. It's silent for a minute. A minute of Percy and I glaring at Hermes. The god sighs.

"I was warned to stay away from Luke and his mother. Warned that no matter how much I tried to help, I would just make things worse," Hermes explains. "And I went anyway. And it wasn't just awful for Luke. It was awful for all of us."

"Do you know what that feels like? To be so close to someone you love, knowing neither of you has any choice but to keep hurting each other?" Hermes asks. "I know you do." He touches Percy's wrist, and Percy freezes for a second.

"Do you want me to remind you?" Hermes asks. Before I respond, he touches my wrist. A dark house. A man, which is probably my dad, dashing out the house and leaving me by myself. He didn't know what to do with me, since he had to work and he knew I was a demigod. Then, I'm sent back into the room. What did he just do? My eyes look frantically around the room, catching at something that could be very helpful.

"Ugh, are you gonna help us or not, fucker?" I exclaim, my nails digging into my palms. Percy grabs my shoulder. I turn my head to him, and he looks worried. I nod and turn back to Hermes.

"I don't get involved anymore. It's just not worth it. I'm sorry," Hermes explains, apologizing insincerely. I stand up again, arms crossed.

"So, you took us here just to waste our time?" I shout. "Well, guess what, we don't have time to waste." I pull my chair out, walking out of the room. Once I'm out, I scurry to a corner.

"Okay, ring, I wish I was invisible. Like how Annabeth gets with her special cap from her mom," I request. I guess it does understand me, because a few seconds later, multiple people bump into me without saying sorry. Hypocrites. I slither around the walls, trying to be sneaky. I creep back into the room where Hermes and Percy are talking. I walk up to Hermes and steal her keys. Then, I walk directly back out. Easy. Now, I just gotta wait for the son of Poseidon.

~

Percy runs up to me as I look at the entrance. The deadline is coming up, and I need to remind myself on the true reason I wanted to go on this quest. Not just to save Summer. Not to talk to Percy (that was probably the worst thing about it at the beginning.) No. I have to show everyone that my mom and I hold power. Not just the power of beauty. The power of fighting. And I think I'm doing a pretty damn good job at that.

"We have a huge problem. I know it seems like we've only been here for like 20 minutes, but it's already Thursday," Percy says, talking quickly. My eyes widen. "We've been here for days. Time moves differently here. Faster. Every second in here is like minutes outside."

"Hermes let us sit at that table the whole time, knowing that the time was ticking for our quest. That bastard," I utter.

"Yeah."

"Wow, now I don't feel so bad about stealing his keys."

"Exactly. Wait, what?" I pull the keys out of my pocket, smirking. "That's my girl."

"Yep. Now, all we have to do is find his car and it'll instantly transport us anywhere we wanna go. Even Dubai, which would be incredible. Okay, anyway, we still have time to finish this quest before the solstice, if we rush," I ramble, stuffing the keys back into my pocket.

"Hermes told me something else," Percy mentions. "The reason we can't feel time passing is because of the lotus fruit."

"We didn't eat any lotus fruit. Actually, we didn't eat anything," I add.

"They pump it into the air. It makes you forget," Percy explains. "Hermes reminded me there was something we needed to do before we could leave." I take a minute to think.

"Oh, Grover. The nymph. Wait, no, satyr. Right?" I question.

"Who's Grover?" Percy asks. I mentally face palm. I point to a satyr traveling down an escalator. "Grover. I remember Grover. Man, Grover got really old. How long have we been here?" I storm up to the satyr. Yeah, that can't be Grover. Right?

"Hey, you!" I exclaim. "We're looking for a satyr friend, you seen him?" The satyr looks around, silent.

"Where is he?" Percy asks. The satyr frantically runs away. "Hey!" We chase after him. I split the other way, trying to catch him from the other side. I run and look around for this stupid satyr. I find a group of kids using some type of glasses and controllers. They look like what rich people would use.

"Grover? Grover," Percy says. He takes the thing off of Grover's face.

"I was so close," Grover mutters.

"I know, I hate it when someone does that to me," Percy replies. "And I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but it's really time to go." The blond boy looks at me and I nod.

"Of course. Where are we going?" Grover questions.

"Oh gods, you don't know who we are, do you?" I ask, looking at a dark brunette boy screaming a girl's name.

"Yeah. No, I don't. Have we met?" Grover wonders. I groan and Percy hits my shoulder.

"Percy. Serena. We're your best friends," Percy says.

"Really?"

"Oh, boy. Grover, we're on a quest. We can't do this without you," Percy explains. "We're short on time, and we gotta go. Right now."

"A quest? That sounds amazing! But is it dangerous? It's not a deal-breaker, I'm just curious," Grover rambles. "Also, I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

~

We walk around in a semi-full parking lot, trying to find Hermes's car. The horrid smell of cigarette smoke and piss is not making this bothersome quest any better.

"Okay, god of travelers. What kind of car does the god of travelers have?" Percy wonders aloud.

"Guys, I gotta say, so far, this quest is really exciting. Really hoping we find that car," Grover says obliviously. Is this bitch serious?

"Finding the car isn't the quest," I mumble, looking at Grover.

"There's more?"

"We'll explain it to you on the way," Percy replies. "We're in a bit of a hurry."

"We're late?" Grover asks. I start to walk ahead of the two slow boys, in search for a car. I actually have no idea what car could possibly be his, but a bright yellow taxi catches my eye. I speed walk up to it and observe it. There is a note on the car.

"Guys!" I exclaim. The two guys come rushing over to me.

"Hermes drives a cab?" Percy questions.

"And left us a wonderful, kind, and joyous note!" I say with sarcasm.

"How do we know that's for us?" The son of Poseidon asks. I show them the back of the envelope. To the dumb kids. "Nice." I open the envelope up.

"Well, my fault. Should've known the god of thieves knows when he's been pick pocketed," I mention. "Back door to the Underworld, magic word, map in glove box. Oh, and he says we'll become travelers once we're on the road or whatever. And then the car will take us wherever we want to go, which is pretty damn cool in my opinion."

"So, one of us just has to drive it out of the garage," Percy says, stating the obvious. Grover and I turn our heads to Percy.

"Oh, I'm still not 100% sure what we're doing here, which seems disqualifying," Grover explains. I chuckle quietly as I notice Percy huff.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure," Percy remarks. "I mean, I killed the Minotaur on my first try, right? How hard could this be?"

Very hard, actually. Do you know the number of times Percy has nearly killed me in this car? 24 times. The tires screech and the car bumps into something. I thought going to the Underworld is scary. This fiasco is worse.

"My fault. That was me," Percy groans. "How do you make it go backwards?" He touches a button and the car launches back into a pillar. My back slams against the passenger's seat.

"You're doing great!" Grover chants.

"Hey, you're trying your best, but try aiming for the middle next time!" I reply. He turns to face me and touches my hand.

"Serie, you're welcome to try this," he says and turns back tot the wheel. I shake my head and look at the part of my hand that he touched. He finally pulls out of the parking space and starts driving. A guy zooms the other way, catching all three of us off guard. Is this how we die? The car blares his horn at us.

"That guy didn't even slow down!" Percy shouts angrily. He honks the horn.

"Just a few seconds late," I mutter. Percy slowly turns his head to me.

"You know, just cause you're pretty doesn't mean you can be a little annoying," Percy mentions. He faces the wheel again.

"Okay. Alright, keep going. Up to the street," I guide, motioning to the end of the car garage. Percy nods and takes his time to start driving. He stops when he has to make a turn. I can see he's nervous.

"Don't worry, you got this," I add. He takes a deep breath and starts to drive where the arrow is pointing. He slowly turns the wheel as the car goes up the ramp. He's actually driving it smoothly! I smile at him and he looks at me. His blue eyes...just simply...looking at me.

The car scrapes against part of the wall on my side, and a flame arises. I jump and scoot over, further away from the door. Flames keep sparking from the walls. Percy drives into multiple cones and tries to swerve out of the way. He keeps crashing into stuff as I say a quick prayer to God. Dear Lord, please give me the strength to deal with not getting killed in a horrible accident. The car finally makes it out of the garage. The last thing I hear are tires screeching and Grover and I screaming before I completely black out.

~

The rain patters against the damaged car as I hear Percy panting. I can't see anything. It's like I'm too nervous to open my eyes, but I feel arms wrap around me. I can assume it's Percy, but I finally open my eyes. It was. I see Grover smiling at us. We release.

"Where are we?" Percy wonders aloud.

"Turn off the lights," I order. He shuts the car lights off. Thunder booms in the distance. All of us step out of the car, staring at the ocean.

"Percy, Serena, wait," Grover realizes. "You...you guys are my best friends."

"Little weird that I forgot a lot more stuff than you guys did. Wonder what that's about," Grover wonders.

"We weren't alone. It's easy to forget what's important when you're alone," Percy explains, staring at me. I step closer to him and slightly lean on the blondie. Even though I can't see his face, I know he's smiling. I can just tell.

"I think I gotta go meet my dad now," Percy says. Grover and I face Percy.

"We'll be here when you get back," Grover replies. Percy's lip quivers.

"What do I say to him?" He questions. I try to think of a solid answer, but how would I know? The god of the sea is pretty unpredictable.

"You'll know." The son of Poseidon smiles. He slowly approaches the sea. I couldn't do it, honestly. The water would scare me. That's why I'm glad I'm the daughter of Aphrodite. Even though people have judged me, my half sisters, and my mom, I think I am doing a great job at showing her power. Maybe she doesn't see it, but all the monsters and gods did. Medusa. Echidna. Hephaestus. All of them. And I'm pretty damn proud of myself.

𝔄/𝔫 - 𝔲𝔥𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔢'𝔰 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 4 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔩𝔢𝔣𝔱. 𝔄𝔩𝔰𝔬 ℑ 𝔡𝔦𝔡 𝔠𝔯𝔶 𝔬𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔴 𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔡 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔢...💔

𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨𝔰 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 🫶