Legends of Olympus

Chapter 16

The city of New York sprawled before Ash, its skyline marked by towering buildings and a cacophony of noise that seemed to stretch endlessly. For a moment, she stood at the outskirts, her expression tinged with a hint of discomfort. Cities had always grated on her nerves, the constant hum of activity and the persistent noise forming an urban symphony she could never quite appreciate.

As they made their way deeper into the heart of the city, the noise intensified. The hustle and bustle of New York enveloped them, a chaotic melody that clashed with the serenity of Camp Half-Blood. Where Ash came from in Virginia was way more quiet. Granted she lived in the middle of nowhere on a horse farm, but still. Ash glanced at Aubri, who seemed more focused on the practicalities of their journey.

Navigating the maze of the city, they arrived at a subway entrance. The metallic screech of trains and the echoing chatter of commuters merged into a dissonant harmony. Ash winced at the noise but followed Aubri into the Amtrak transit system.

Aubri studied the subway rails map, her eyes scanning the network of tracks to decipher their path to Chicago. Ash, still adjusting to the urban rhythm, observed the determination in her friend's eyes.

"Do we have to use Amtrak, especially the New York one? I mean, have ya seen it? It's a train wreck, no pun intended," Ash said and looked to one area that had a trash can. "Is that a rat with half a pizza slice? Or is that a chihuahua?"

Aubri chuckled and added, "Or is it a Chimera? They are worse than chihuahuas."

Zavik sighed and rolled his eyes, "No, it's a fat raccoon, now let's move on."

The girls laughed, Lincoln, wanting to add to the laughter, added, "I want to pet it. Can I pet the giant New York rat?"

Ash looked dumbfounded at Lincoln and just blinked. "So you have a death wish to get rabies, be my guest, but in the country, I call that a trash panda with the wrath of a chihuahua."

Zavik and Aubri exchanged glances, and then Aubri started to say, "That sounded very...," Zavik covered her mouth to shut her up before she could say the word southern.

"Let's just get on the train now and get to our destination. Please for the love of the gods." Zavik groaned, getting really annoyed at the constant distractions and stops that the group had.

"Oh, come on Zavik, some of us have never been to New York before, lighten up." Aubri rebutted. "Besides, we made one stop the entire time in the city, and that was to the Nintendo store, because of this idiot," she added, pointing to Ash.

"In my defense, I've been to New York twice in my life, and that was before I had a Pokémon obsession. And second, look at the precious Eevee," Ash said, holding up a plushie. "I dub thee Churro."

Aubri rolled her eyes and groaned, "Yeah, Ash, I've known you since elementary school, and you've always had a Pokémon obsession. And, yes, the Eevee is adorable, but it was expensive too, and we still need money for when we are in South Dakota."

Just as Aubri stopped talking, a train horn blared through the tunnel, and with great speed zipped through and came to a stop. Lincoln's eyes widened in excitement, while Aubri fixed her ponytail that blew violently from the train. "The train's here, hooray! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" He jumped and ran onto the train with great excitement.

Aubri followed behind, more concerned about Lincoln's safety than anything else, "Lincoln, wait for us! Ash, Zavik, come on!"

"A child. He's a literal child," Ash deadpanned.

Zavik laughed and followed, "Well then we better not leave the child unattended. Aubri's going to lose him on the train."

Sitting on the train, well, mainly only Lincoln, was sitting so he could look out the window. Ash was standing in the private room while Aubri was sitting in the bed over top of Lincoln. As it moved Zavik forgot to grab onto something and fell into the door.

Ash chuckled and said, "Nice going goat."

After the train left the underground tunnel Lincoln fell backward and pointed outside. Ash just looked at the window and said, "There's nothing there weirdo."

Aubri looked down from her bed, and asked Lincoln, "Lincoln, what did you see? I felt the shake from up here when you fell backward. I can't see anything from up here so you guys tell me what you see."

Lincoln stuttered, "I- I saw a bird that had the head of a man... at least I think that's what I saw." He started whimpering in fear, shaking, and continuing to point out the window, "Is it still out there?" He asked, his voice trembling.

"A bird with the head of a man? Ya mean a Harpy, and probably not since I didn't see it," Ash said with a yawn.

Aubri sighed, "Lincoln, did you not learn anything from what Chiron told us about the different monsters out there?"

"I did. I just forgot what the name of the monster is, there are so many." Lincoln said, his voice going back to normal. "And besides, it was flying pretty fast, so I couldn't tell if it was a woman or man, just saw a bird with a human head."

"είστε όλοι ηλίθιοι. A Harpy can't be male. They don't exist. It had to be female," Ash pointed out her knowledge of mythology coming out.

Lincoln shrugged, "Yeah, I know that now Ash..." he trailed off as Ash gave him a look. "Don't hurt me please," he added, shrinking down into the bed.

Aubri sighed again, "Ash stop it. Can you all be quiet now, I want to sleep."

"Sleep is for the weak," Ash declared.

"Wait what did Ash say at first? I'm still a little slow with my Greek," Lincoln asked, sitting up again.

"She said, 'You all are stupid,' and Ash, Aubri is mentally and physically exhausted, as most of us are as well, so not sleeping will make you weaker." Zavik shot a look at Ash to stop her from making any more comments and added, "Now we all should get some rest since Lincoln could've been hallucinating, Aubri is tired, and Ash, well, Ash, just rest for a bit if you can't sleep."

"Nope, knowing me I'll stay awake for probably only an hour when the lights go off. So, night," Ash said before plopping down on the floor with Zavik. "However, I might just say random things to annoy everyone. Or just start saying questions of life to break your brains."

"No, please, just stay quiet and sleep," Zavik said, turning out the lights.

As soon as the lights went out everyone went quiet. Ash, like she said, was awake, but she did stay quiet. It was dark outside. Ash was looking at the stars trying to find constellations through the window. Ash spotted Pegasus, a summer constellation. Ash started naming a few she could see such as Ursa Major and Minor, Draco, Lyra, Orion. The others were out of view from where she lay on the train floor.

Her mother used to tell her stories of the constellations. Whenever she would have a nightmare and would be crying when she was younger, Ash's mother would take her outside. Her mother's voice was always gentle when she told her the stories of the gods or how the constellations came to be. Ash can hardly remember the woman's face from how young she was.

Ash touched the metal bracelet. Ash had memorized every curve of it. It was shaped like a spear. A gift from her mother, all she had left of her. Ash wondered where she was now. She knew she had to be alive, Ash just knew it. Ash closed her eyes finally. Her hand still resting on the bracelet.