𝐍𝐘𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀 || 𝐡𝐩 𝐱 𝐩𝐣𝐨

013

The three walked through the woods on the New Jersey River bank, silent except for the sounds of rain pouring around them. The glow of New York City made the night sky yellow behind them and the smell of the Hudson River was prominent.

Grover was shivering and braying, eyes full of terror. "Three Kindly ones. All three at once."

"Calm down Grover," Irene said as she stepped over a fallen log. "We made it out didn't we?"

"Yeah just barely!" He shrieked. He was still panicking, and Irene was never very good at comforting people.

"We'll find somewhere to set up camp for the night and check our supplies." She said firmly.

"You guys still have everything, right?" Theo asked, remembering the various charms Irene had placed on their bags.

"Yeah, the only thing lost in the explosion was Grover's bag of cans."

The thunderstorm was finally beginning to let up. The city glow faded behind them, leaving the woods in near-total darkness. The adrenaline from their fight was fading now, and Irene sighed.

Grover was walking ahead of the two demigods, blowing into his reed pipes and trying to get them to work. He had lost his bag of tin cans and such, but they could always get more later.

"You weren't hurt too bad were you?" Irene asked Percy. She grabbed his hand gently, examining his wrist where Mrs.Dodds's whip had grabbed him.

"Yuck," Nico stated, deadpan. "Affection."

"Oh please, you and Will can be just as bad." Thalia rolled her eyes. She was satisfied with the subtle red on Nico's cheeks at being called out.

"Nothing a bottle of water won't fix," He responded as he moved some large tree branches out of her way.

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a shrill noise and she let go of Percy's hand.

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

He puffed out a few more notes, and the tune sounded suspiciously like Hillary Duff.

Instead of finding a path, Percy immediately slammed into a tree.

Plenty of people laughed at the sight, but the demigods were laughing the hardest.

The scene fades to the three stumbling out of the woods, visibly more dirty and tired than when they had entered.

"You guys smell that?" Percy asked, inhaling the smell of fried food. Up ahead, they could see the bright lights of a neon-colored sign.

The three kept walking until they reached a deserted two-lane road and finally left the woods. In front of them were a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard, and one open business, which was the source of the lights and good smell.