A Demigod Life

A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

Luke and Grover returned to the Arch. There were a lot of cops around now, and well they looking at them and Grover said "They're looking at them."

"Yeah."Luke said looking at something else.

"So we should probably get outta here, don't you think? Dude, they're looking right at us."Grover asked looking around trying to avoid the cops eyes.

"Come on. Let's go find Perc Perci."Luke said and started walking. Grover followed her and says "Luke."

"She's alive. I know it."Luke told him and walked faster. They walked near a railing that was next to a lake.

"Perci!"Luke and Grover both shouted.

Then they went to the railing. And out of nowhere Perci climbed the railing.

Perci told them "Hi. Look, I'm sorry about shoving you in the stairwell. Even hearing myself say that sounds really bad, but I just... I knew you'd never agree, and there wasn't enough time..."

She was interrupted by Luke hugging her. Grover stood there awkwardly. Then after a moment, they let go and Grover opened his mouth and said "So... you're not as dead as we thought you'd be."

"Surprise."Perci smiled.

"What happened?"Luke asked.

Perci stated "Short version, we need to go to Santa Monica."

"What? Like now?"Grover asked.

Perci said "My father's gonna meet me there. He's gonna help us."

"Okay. Uh, just one problem with this plan. The police think that we crashed an Amtrak train and then did that."Grover told her as he pointed to the Gateway Arch.

"The cops are after us?"Perci asked.

"Yeah."Luke said.

Perci asked and they all sighed "Isn't that gonna make it hard for us to get on a train? Or a bus? Or really anything you need tickets for?"

They all ended up walking. Right now, they were walking on the side of the road. Nobody was talking, letting Perci be in her own mind for a bit until she spoke up "Hey, guys. I think this quest might be harder than we thought. I've been thinking. I didn't steal the master bolt. You guys didn't steal the master bolt. We're pretty sure Hades has the master bolt, but he couldn't have stolen it himself. I mean, we don't even know who actually stole the thing, or why, or how deep this goes. I'm the last person to realize this, aren't I?"

"Yeah."Luke said.

Perci sighed "Okay, so... maybe when we started, my head wasn't fully in this, but since the river... it all feels different somehow. He saved me. My dad. I guess I just really never thought that's something he'd do for me. So maybe I gotta take things more seriously now."

A motorcycle engine was heard.

"Car."Grover said.

"That's not a car, it's a bike. Just let it pass. Come on."Luke said as they moved over to the side of the road, hiding behind a cement barrier.

Perci said "I'm saying, we're not just trying to retrieve a thing. I think we might need to be detectives here, too."

"Yeah..."Luke muttered and Perci looked at him.

Perci asked "Why are you being weird?"

"I'm not."Luke said.

"Yes, you are. What's going on with you? Is it about me shoving you into the stairwell, because..."Perci replied.

Luke cut her off "I saw the Fates. Back at the Arch, I saw the Three Fates, and I saw Atropos cut a piece of thread."

"And that's bad or...?"Perci asked.