𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚔𝚒𝚍 - percy jackson x oc

019

XIX - FRED, THE ALMIGHTY GOD

PERCY DID NOT SHOW UP for dinner.

Later, after Chiron had already bothered him enough, Valeria found him in his cabin.

"Knock knock," she announced her presence, leaning against his doorframe.

Percy sat up and said, "Hey."

Valeria sat down next to him and said, "Something happened. You are much less pouty."

"My mom said I should go. She said..."

Well, Percy was not going to tell her that his mom basically said that Percy should tag along so he could protect Valeria (he was scared after the manticore and cliff incident, okay?) and that his heart is always in the right place. That would send the gold-eyed girl on an hour long rant about how capable she was.

"Well," Percy continued, "she said that I need to do what I think I need to do. And I know I need to come on this quest."

Valeria pondered that. They already had six members for the quest. Any more would technically be breaking the prophecy and would result in some disaster.

Then again, she had not been on a quest without the boy. As annoying as he could be, she quite enjoyed his company.

"Well,"— she placed a hand on his arm which sent his heart pounding— "I think you need to start packing, Kelp Head."

【☆】★【☆】

As soon as the sun came up, they took a van—curtesy of Zoë—into the city.

The Hunter was a fairly good driver for being so old. Valeria assumed that all elderly people were horrible drivers but apparently Zoë was the exception.

Bianca sat in the passenger's seat and made small talk with Zoë. Valeria sat in the seat directly behind Zoë. Thalia sat behind Bianca and Grover happily took the middle seat (because he said he could see both Hunters equally—which was fairly creepy—and because he did not want to see the polluted city).

They drove straight through to Maryland without much arguing—except for Thalia making a comment about Zoë's driving—and stopped at a convenience store.

They all piled out of the van, glad to be able to stretch their legs. Valeria tucked her hands into her coat pocket, realizing she forgot gloves. Of course she forgot gloves.

They went inside and decided to buy some snacks for the road. Valeria went to the back wall and opened the cooler. She reached inside and grabbed a bottle of orange juice. She looked to her right and saw Bianca grabbing a can of Coke.

"I love Coke!" the girl told her. "I've been drinking it since I was little, but I've never seen it in a can before!"

Valeria found that slightly odd, but shrugged it off. "I am not the biggest Coke fan. Juice is great."

"It's alright," Bianca said. "Hey, I've been meaning to tell you...thanks for keeping Nico company. He could use someone like you on his side."

Valeria felt her heart warming. Bianca still cared about him greatly despite everything. She was just a kid, too.

"He is a great kid," Valeria told her. "You have been a great sister to him."

"You think so?"

"Of course. Come on, let us go find everyone else."