Christmas With The Seven

Chapter 1: Hit The Road

Art by @frostbite.studios on Instagram

  "Is that everything we packed?" Reyna whispered. Barely anyone was fully awake at this time, with some Roman's still just waking up. Annabeth checked the luggage against her list. The bags and suitcases were piled high in Reyna's truck.

"No, we still need Percy, Grover, and Nico's stuff and then we'll be ready to go. Who's going to wake them up again?"

"I think Hazel and Frank went to wake them up, but odds are that they'll just have to be carried out." Reyna chuckled. Sure, 6am was early, but she didn't realize they'd be this tired.

Frank and Hazel then appeared with Frank carrying Nico, and Grover and Hazel carrying Percy. Grover was the only one who was starting to wake up, and the other two looked completely knocked out. With them were their bags, all packed and ready to go.

"Okay, I think that's everyone now. So, who's gonna sit in what seat?" Reyna asked.

"Let's put Percy, Grover, and Nico in the middle seats and then me and Frank can sit in the back, is that alright?" Hazel chimed in. Nobody really had much of a problem with it, so they loaded into the truck. Reyna took the driver's seat and Annabeth naturally rode shotgun. As everyone settled into their seats, Annabeth ran down her road trip plan.

"First stop will be in Vegas around noon. Reyna suggested a Venezuelan place there that should allow take-out. Preferably we'll order enough food in Vegas to last us till tomorrow but if we really need to we can make a short stop in Colorado. We should be in Nebraska by tomorrow so we can stop in Lincoln for lunch. We can eat dinner in Chicago; Frank suggested Culver's."

"I went to Culver's once in Wyoming when I was first headed to Camp Jupiter and it was really good! I couldn't have any of their custard though..." Frank .

"After that," Annabeth continued, "It should be only about a 10 hour drive and we should be at camp the next morning." Hazel tentatively raised her hand to speak, as if she were in a classroom.

"When are we going to sleep?" She asked.

Annabeth folded her itinerary and put it in her pocket before responding. "We're not stopping for sleep. Reyna, Percy, Grover, and I will take turns driving. The rest of you can sleep whenever you want, just be awake for meal times. Also, try to go to the bathroom when we stop for food. We want to make as few stops as possible."

Frank glanced at Hazel, sharing a worried look. "Shouldn't we slow down a little? We still have five days 'till Christmas."

"We want to be at camp by Christmas Eve at the latest. That gives us three days at most, but the earlier we get there, the more time we have to hang out with the others," Annabeth explained.

"Don't forget-" Reyna added, "we're picking up Thalia and Clarisse in Iowa, so the last stretch is gonna get a bit crowded."

Before either Frank or Hazel could say anything, a groan came from the middle row.

"Enchiladas..." they heard Grover mutter before falling quiet again.

Annabeth clapped her hands. "Well, we've got a lot of land to cover. Let's hit the road."

Reyna was glad she had offered to drive first. Others would say they prefer not to drive so early in the morning, but driving first meant that she wouldn't have to drive at night.

Reyna saw that Annabeth had claimed the AUX cord and started playing music. Apparently, Piper had sent her a link to her Ultimate Road Trip Playlist. Bohemian Rhapsody started blasting in the truck, and soon enough both Percy and Nico were awake and rubbing exhaustion out of their eyes.