Annabeth chase and the lightning thief

Chapter 9: grover makes friends with a poodle

Ok, the reason it took me a long time to update last time was because my wifi wasn't working. I wrote the whole thing, but I couldn't save it so yea. Anyways I'm at my grandpa's house for a while. The next update might take a while cause the problem might stretch till February. Anyways enjoy. Don't forget the review and vote. 😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

We were pretty miserable that night.

We camped out in the woods, Away from the main road, in a marshy clearing that kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.

We'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dare light a fire to dry our damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa had been enough excitement for one day. We didn't want to attract any more attention.

We decided to sleep in shifts. Percy volunteered to take first watch.

I curled up on the blankets and instantly fell asleep

I dreamt I was back at camp half blood, on half blood hill. For one second, their was peace in the air. Then from the forest I heard someone cry for help. I ran into the wood, wondering who would be stupid enough to go into the woods alone. Unfortunately I had a good idea. I was right, and my heart stopped. Percy lay on the floor, completely motionless. Some yellow liquid was running out of his hand. His skin was pale and his eyes, which were usually moving like the sea, were still, as if the sea had dried up. From the corner of my eye I saw Luke looking down at his body. " good" he murmured, "that's one obstacle removed."

Luke had done this? I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry and ask him why. But again, his eyes were the same golden color as before. The aura around him was cold, and it felt like time around him had melted, slowed down. In every dream, they were the same gold. His skin started to glow, and I woke up with a start. I was still trembling from the dream. I still felt like I was in that cold aura.

Grover was still up, and noticed me awake. " morning, do you know how to cook breakfast?" He asked typical Grover

"Yeah, great way to greet someone" I replied

"But can you?"

"Sort of"

I quickly shook my self out of that, and realized I was Hungry. Weird since I had eaten like 2 burgers and 3 shakes yesterday. Grover and i didn't really talk much, probably because he still felt guilty and nervous about five years back. I got up, and noticed Percy thrashing around, as if someone was holding on to him. I went back inside, praying that medusa was still in Tartarus.

Inside were frozen fries, patties and other fast food items. I didn't know how to cook with these frying utensils, so I choose the easy way. I grabbed some corn chips, and some eggs. Outside I started a fire, and "borrowed" a pan. I whipped the eggs, and made what was suppose to be an omelette. No salt or pepper, so it wasn't the best breakfast, but when you are traveling cross country, being chased by monsters and looking for a lightning bolt, this a best you can get. We ate in silence, and the next thing I knew, we finished the egg. "Opps, guess Percy will have to eat the chips"

"Should be enough for him, " Grover said" he had 3 burgers and 2 fries yesterday. That's more than enough for even him"

I smiled " you know him well, don't you?" I asked

He smiled broadly, as if he was remembering good memories. " yeah, he's a good guy."

I raised my eyebrows "don't lie, just because you want us to get along" I said

" no, I'm not lying" he said, " he protected me from bullies, helped me in quizzes and never let me take the blame, even when it was my fault. I could tell the guy really cares about his friends and family." Hearing this about Percy, I changed my mind about him. He might be clueless, annoying, but the guy was brave, and really loyal. He might not be as bad as I thought.

"Annabeth?" He said, stopping my train of thoughts. "I have an idea on how to get some money ."

"How?"

"I'll explain later" he said. Grover got up, and went deeper into the woods. I looked down hill, and saw a train track. Good, I wasn't in the mood to go on another bus. Minutes later, he came back with a dirty pink poodle. He sat down cross legged with the dog in ip his lap."Annabeth, say hi to Gladiola"

"Um hi" I said. It's weird to talk to animals, especially unnatural pink poodles. It looks like one of Aphrodite's pets. I knew Grover could speak with animals, so he must have many animal friends.

"I've explained to her about the quest, hades, everything," before he could say more, Percy stirred and woke up.

"Well," I said, "the zombie lives." He was trembling. He probably had a bad dream.

"How long was I asleep?" He asked

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." Why did i tell him about cooking? I tossed him a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips from Aunty Em's snack bar, and hoped he wouldn't ask questions. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."

The poodle yapped at me suspiciously. Grover said, "No, he's not." I wondered what else Grover said to her.

He blinked. "Are you ... talking to that thing?"

Gladiola growled.

"This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?" I thought Chiron taught him about Greek mythology. With the questions he asks, I'm not sure about that.

Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."

He glanced at me, as if he were asking if this was a joke or not.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," he said. "Forget it." Wrong move seaweed brain

"Percy," I said. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

Gladiola growled again

He said hello to the poodle.

Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy, dogs have eyes and a brain, unlike you.

"He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."

"Of course," he said. "Silly me."

"So we turn in Gladiola," I explained "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

"Not another bus," he said weakly.

"No," I agreed. 2 things we agreed on so far

I pointed downhill, toward train tracks. I saw a train passing by last night as well.

"There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."