Penny Ranger and the Lightning Thief

Chapter XIX: Annabeth Analyzes My Dreams

We managed to buy train tickets for all for of us with the money we got from handing in Gladiola. Unfortunately, we only had enough to get to Denver and we couldn't afford a place in the sleeper car, so we resorted to dozing off in our seats.

Percy was pretty restless for the whole journey. He kept wandering around the car and looking out the window. I attributed it to the ADHD. I myself needed to occasionally tap my fingers on the window or my seat's armrest in order to be able to sit relatively still.

At one point I saw him reading a newspaper. The front page had a picture of him.

"Don't worry. Mortal police could never find us." Annabeth assured him.

I wasn't too sure, but I didn't want to get Percy anymore on edge than he already was. Instead I decided to get some shuteye.

Of course, that didn't work in my favor. And if you guessed 'because of the nightmares', then you are correct. Once again I dreamt about the mass of darkness consuming me. And once again, I woke up with a jolt and gasping for breath.

I tried to steady my breathing and not make much noise in order to not alarm the others. But Annabeth was awake and she had noticed.

"What was your nightmare about?"

"Huh?"

"You just had a nightmare, right? Probably the same one you had this morning?" she deduced.

"Yeah." I confirmed with a sigh.

"What was it about?"

"It's probably nothing." I dismissed.

"Penny, it's never nothing with half-bloods. You know that. And if it helps with our quest..."

"I really don't think it has anything to do with the quest, Annabeth."

"Just tell me what it is!" she insisted.

With a sigh, I told her about the nightmare. When I was finished, Annabeth had a frown on her face, her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to decipher the meaning behind a dream that I was pretty sure had no significant meaning. At least none that could impact our quest.

"Maybe Hades is behind it. His Helm of Darkness does give him control over shadows." she suggested.

"I guess. The voice didn't really sound like a god's though. And why would Hades send me nightmares?"

"To threaten you. Maybe even make you betray Percy. The voice did say it wanted you to join it, right?"

"But why me? Why not you or Grover?" I wondered.

"You and Grover have known Percy the longest. He probably thinks he can get more out of you than me. And satyrs don't get affected by dreams like we do."

I sunk into my seat in defeat. You know how some people would love to be special in some way. Well, right now I hated being special.

Annabeth seemed to notice my rather unhappy mood.

"I could be wrong though." she told me.

I reckoned it was mostly in an effort to cheer me. She hated being wrong and liked admitting it even less.

"It's okay. I just wish I could be a normal half-blood sometimes."

"Those two words don't work in a sentence together." Annabeth pointed out.

I gave a dry laugh.

"I suppose not."

My gaze drifted towards Annabeth's shoulder. And what I saw immediately sent me into a fit of giggles.

"What? What is it?" Annabeth asked, confused.

"You... you might... want to check your shoulder." I managed to say.

She looked over to her shoulder, and saw Percy's head leaning on it as he slept. And there was a string of drool flowing from the corner of his mouth to her shoulder.

"Ew! Gross!"

*

On the second day on the train we passed St. Louis. From the window we could see the Gateway Arch. Annabeth strained her neck in order to see it. Her eyes widened in wonder as she marveled at the architecture.

"I want to do that." she sighed.

"What?" Percy asked, clueless as always.

"Build something like that. You ever seen the Parthenon, Percy?"

"Only in pictures." he replied.

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."

I smiled at Annabeth's enthusiasm. Percy however, laughed.

"You? An architect?"

Annabeth blushed with embarrassment. I smacked him hard, but unfortunately it didn't do much. This was her dream. He shouldn't laugh about it.

"Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention." she snapped.

This time I turned my glare to her. Couldn't those two idiots just get along?!

Upon looking at Percy, who was now gazing at the Mississippi River with a scowl on his face, Annabeth's angry frown seemed to soften. In fact, I'm almost sure I saw guilt flash through her eyes.

"I'm sorry. That was mean." she apologized.

I sighed.

"Can't you two just find a way to get along? Did Poseidon and Athena never work together on anything?" I asked.

Annabeth thought for a bit.

"I guess... the chariot. My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. They had to work together to make it complete."

"Then we can co-operate too. Right?" Percy suggested hopefully.

"I suppose so." Annabeth replied.

I smiled. At least there would probably less bickering on their behalf now.

The loudspeaker announced that there was a three-hour delay before we could move on to Denver as the train stopped. One look at Annabeth told me she had no intention of staying put.

"Come on, goatboy." she said as she woke him up.
"Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?" Grover mumbled in confusion.

"The Gateway Arch. This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?" she told them.

Percy and Grover glanced at each other, then at me. I got the feeling that they didn't share Annabeth's excitement at all. Truth be told, neither did I. But we were her friends. And sometimes, that meant we had to indulge her obsession with architecture.

"Come on, guys. It might be fun."

Percy sent me a look that said he did not believe me in the slightest, but he got up anyway.

"As long as there's a snack bar without monsters." Grover said, getting up as well.