𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙗 | 𝙥. 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣

₀₆

Astrid didn't know whether to be thankful gods existed or not. On one hand, it was lovely to blame bad things happening to you on them, the other hand, well, when one of them is your parent, it was just like being double sucker punched.

So, there they were, trudging through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind them, and the smell of Hudson reeking in their noses.

Astrid was pretty sure this was the most miserable situation she's been in, and their quest only just started. She was going to choke Percy the second they got that damned bolt and returned it for bringing her along. The only thing that made her almost gleeful was the fact that her bag only had the horrid orange camp shirts for a change of clothes, then she remembered she didn't have any other and was stuck with the same outfit for a long while. Quests stink, literally.

Beside her was Grover, who looked as miserable as she felt. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

Astrid had never been more thankful that Annabeth was there to pull them along, being more clear-headed than anyone saying: "Come on! The farther away we get, the better."

"All our money was there," Percy reminded her. "Our food and clothes. Everything."

Fuck. Astrid forgot about the money.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight—"

"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy, I would've been fine."

"That's just your pride speaking," Astrid muttered to herself. She hoped Annabeth didn't hear her.

"Sliced like sandwich bread," Grover put in, "but fine."

"Shut up, goat boy," said Annabeth.

"Hey, that's my line," Astrid interjected.

Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."

Astrid entertained Grover's funeral for his snacks, leaving room for Annabeth and Percy to have their little talk she could hear them muttering behind her. But don't blame her for being a sucker for good gossip, so she strained her ears only to hear the last bit.

"You know," Annabeth said, "maybe I should tell you... Something funny back on the bus..."

Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot that was too close to Astrid's ear for comfort.

"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"

He puffed out a few notes, but it only made Astrid wish he knew Edith Piaf. Instead of finding a path, Percy immediately slammed his head into a tree and got a nice-sized knot on his head.