𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙩 • 𝙥. 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣

04

It was safe to say that Aurora was already fucking sick of this quest, but alas, she couldn't just leave in the middle of it and go home. She thinks that being at Westover Hall with Dr. Thorn was actually a better bet. They were all in the car driving peacefully before Percy just had to open his big mouth.

"They know the van, we have to ditch it." Percy stated when he nervously saw the helicopters floating around the van.

"If there's one thing I hate more than Luke's army, it's humans who think money is the center of their universe." Aurora growled, concerned at what they were going to do.

"How can the General use mortals anyways?" Percy asked.

"Mercenaries," Zoe said bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid."

"But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" He questioned again, confused as to how people could ever work for Luke.

Zoe shook her head. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it

would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than

monsters." Aurora nodded along to Zoe's words. There was a bigger problem though, the helicopter was quickly approaching and the traffic was the one thing preventing the group from doing anything productive.

Thalia quickly prayed to Zeus hoping that it would have done anything, but unfortunately only clear skies remained. "Stupid Lord of the sky." she mumbled under her breath. The sky boomed in the background. The daughter of Zeus clacked her tongue in annoyance. "So you can hear people disrespecting you but you can't help your daughter in need...great father you are." She mumbled again under her breath. This time a huge lightning bolt struck mere inches away from her. "Sorry father, won't happen again." Thalia said a little louder this time. The clouds cleared slightly. Aurora giggled at the whole encounter. She knew first hand how Gods could be petty because of her father, the King of petty and dramatics.

Zoe was busy weaving in and out through traffic, and Bianca was the only one with any input of where they could go. Aurora had never really taken any sort of public transit, her mother had driven her everywhere because of the risk that being a demigod held. Her mother just never felt that it was safe enough to let Aurora go on public transport alone. They ended up in an old parking lot and the group made a straight beeline towards the subway entrance. Grover wiped his brow of sweat and said, "Nice job Bianca, thinking of the subway."

"I saw the station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C." Bianca replied as she frowned thinking of the city that she grew up in. So much had changed since her and Nico were locked in that casino, and she couldn't help but think that so much of her life was already taken away.

"Wait new? The station looked kinda old and crusty though..." Aurora trailed off when she saw the expression that Bianca sported. Grover nodded violently in agreement.

"I guess," Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no

subway." Aurora and the rest of the group frowned at the revelation.

"Bianca," Zoe said. "How long ago..." Her voice faltered. The sound of the helicopter

was getting louder again.

"We need to change trains at the next station." Percy rushed out. The rest of the group shook off the odd feeling and nodded in agreement. When the group got off at the station, they were met with a dead end. Aurora's stomach growled extra loud because of the lack of food that they have had.