The perfect monster

Dinning with the false god of war

Code

AN: Arthor notes

"Thoughts"

Text

reading

"Speach"

*onomatopoeia*

'Importance'

Expression

*action*

Diffident meaning

Percy POV

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. Halo told us to try not to draw attention, he had his hood up. 

We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that was obvious.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."  

"We can't use phones, right?"  

"I'm not talking about phones."

We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be staring at me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city.  

Finally, we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We veered toward the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure we were up to no good.  

"What exactly are we doing?" I asked, as Grover took out the spray gun.  

"It's seventy-five cents," he grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me," she said. "The dining car wiped me out. Halo?"

"I don't carry cash on me... my family... doesn't trust me." Halo said a bit sheepishly "Not... after last time."

I fished out my last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left me two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place.  

"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are you talking about?"  

He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."  

"Instant messaging?"  

"Iris-messaging," Annabeth corrected. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."  

"Cheaper than paying premium for Hermes." Halo muttered "A scam from the god of thieves."

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"  

Grover pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist. "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow."  

Sure enough, late afternoon light filtered through the vapor and broke into colors. Annabeth held her palm out to me.  

"Drachma, please."  I saw Halo adjusting his sleeve. "Coins, Halo."

I handed it over.  

She raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept our offering."