the archer - percy jackson x reader

xiii.

chapter thirteen
when you hold me, it holds me together

***
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were worried about me, Sunshine."

🝮

It was Annabeth's idea.

She loaded Percy, Grover, and Y/n  into the back of a Vegas taxi while she sat up front as if they actually had money, and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."

The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized them up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."

"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked.

He shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."

Annabeth held her palm out to Y/n who handed her a green LotusCash card, which she then handed to the driver. He looked at it skeptically.

"Swipe it," Annabeth invited.

He did.

His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.

The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at them, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles...uh, Your Highness?"

Y/n snickered and Annabeth said "The Santa Monica Pier," making sure to sit up a little straighter, it was obvious she had liked the "Your Highness" thing.

"Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

Halfway through their journey, Y/n realized that maybe Annabeth shouldn't have told him that.

The cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert. At times, Y/n had to grip tightly onto her seat as to not fall into Percy or Grover, or the cab's windshield seeing as she was squeezed in the middle.

On the road, they had plenty of time to talk. Percy remembered his weird dream from the Zoo Transport, which had escaped his mind in the Casino, and told Y/n, Grover, and Annabeth. However, the details got sketchier the more he tried to remember them. The Lotus Casino hadn't only short-circuited his memory in there, it had effects on him even after apparently.

"The servant''s voice sounded like someone I knew," He said, Y/n looked at him skeptically, he continued, "The servant also called the monster in the pit something other than 'my lord.' Some special name or title..." He trailed off.

Y/n shifted uncomfortably in her seat, accidentally brushing shoulders with Percy who began to pick up on her discomfort. Not to mention her eyebrows were scrunched and she was starring off into the distance, something he noticed she did when she had a deep thought or idea.

"What?" He asked turning to face her, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm not sure..." She started, then looked to Annabeth who had her head turned to look at them, "What are you thinking?"

She sighed, "What the 'servant' called him...The Silent One, maybe?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."

"Maybe..." Percy said, though neither sounded quite right.

"That throne room sounds like Hades's," Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."

Percy shook his head. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit...I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."