𝐎𝐋𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒; 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐙𝐞𝐮𝐬 || 𝐏𝐉𝐎

Chapter Six

"THE LOTUS"

Animals' shrieking as they clamor about their small enclosures is what Percy awakes to. Grover nearly falls of the stack of metal barbed cages as he attempts to look outside the skylight to locate their proximity to Vegas, all the while trying to free up room to help cool the animals down while retaining sunlight in the shipping container, they were travelling in.

"Is that good?" Sighing, Grover rests his back on the metal walls of the shipping container they were travelling in.

"Well, I guess we're about to find out," Annabeth concedes, adjusting the clear crystal in her hands, "can you see where we are?"

"We're almost there," Grover confirms, wiping his eyes after removing his head from the hole in the roof—his eyes already agitated from the harsh wind speeds outside.

Percy slides himself beside Annabeth as she admires the glowing crystal before calibrating it to shine perfectly on the steel wall in front of them. Abby was fast asleep near one of the cages by Grover. More specifically, she was sleeping beside a malnourished horse.

It had a beautiful buckskin coat, and the snip on his muzzle had a gorgeous glow to it, as well as the star on its forelock. It's halter from on the floor beside Abby, it being removed after seeing how tight it was on the poor creatures' face (the raw indents and linings on his pole and bridge being a good indicator).

To Abigail, horses were a representative of endurance, power, and victory. Every battle ever won, before the inventions of cars and tanks, were won on horseback. With the lineage of the standard Quarter Horse; as well as the Desrier, a breed genetically modified specifically for war and Calvary, it proved horses were the perfect symbol of valiance. That's why she vowed to bring the animal to safety. All of them.

She didn't think about how she was able to communicate with the animals.

"There! I've got a signal." Annabeth reported, turning expectantly towards Percy, who just stared at the stone in her hands, "Well? Toss it seaweed brain!"

Bringing himself back to reality, Percy looked down towards the Drachma in his hands before flicking it into the green-blue abyss in front of him, watching as it disappeared into its void, "This will never stop being weird."

"if you want the god's attention, you have to pay for it," Annabeth elaborated, before closing her ayes and looking down in a prayer position, "Oh, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering."

Suddenly, the once green and blue hues turned to a fiery red and orange, mimicking a red version of the aura-borealis, "Okay, show me Camp Half-Blood. Chiron's office."

"Luke?" Percy mumbled, his brows furrowing, watching as said boy turned around to look at them. He was there, as an astral projection.

"Annabeth? Percy! Are you okay?" He questioned, a concerned smile appearing on his face.

"Yeah, we're fine. Where's Chiron?"

"Chiron's holding camp together with both hands. Everyone thinks we're going to war, so the cabins are taking sides. Please tell me you're calling with good news."

"We know who stole the bolt," Percy admits, Annabeth nodding alongside him.

A groan was heard faintly at the other end of the illegal zoo transport service vehicle. Abby felt herself wake up, her eyes not opening as a growl left her throat, her arms stretched above her head as she attempted to comfort her aching muscles.