Champion of Olympus

National Monuments Are Surprisingly Flammable

"G'morning." I quietly said as I felt Annabeth's head stir. I watch as she slowly opens her eyes, still squinting from drowsiness. She sat up and stretched, holding her arms above her head. Her hair was a mess, tangled up on top all the way to her ponytail.

"Wha- wha- what time is it." she says, stifling her yawn.

"Probably around seven. Not too sure."

She rubs her neck stiffly, rotating her head around in a circle to get the tightness out. "Ah, why is my neck so stiff?" she complains.

"Hm... probably because your head was bent on my shoulder," I say with a chuckle. "Also, you drool in your sleep." There was a slight damp spot on my shoulder where Annabeth drooled on.

Annabeth's face turned pink. She got up like a spring and turned around in embarrassment. "I'm going to go wash up." She said as she walked away quickly.

"What was that about?" I hear Grover said as he plops down from the tree.

I just shrug. "Morning, Grover."

"Good morning." Grover said, "I'm going to go take a look around to see what we can scrounge up."

I nodded as I went to our supplies for breakfast. There wasn't really anything that one would call an actual meal. Some chips, cookies, and tin cans. Scratch that last one actually.

I grabbed the nacho-flavored chips and started munching on them as I sat down next to the tree. Annabeth came back from her 'washing up'. She looked at my chips with a question. "Where's mine?"

I pointed over to the supplies as she walked over and grabbed a bag as well. We were eating in silence, then there was rustling in the bushes. We both turned to the sound as Grover came through. Except he had a small pink poodle in his arms.

I tilt my head in wonder. Where did he find a pink poodle in these woods?

"A poodle?" I ask.

"His name is Gladiola." Grover said. "There was a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola said he didn't want to return, but was willing to do so to help me."

"Huh." I just say. "Thanks, Gladiola." I walked over and petted the dog.

Gladiola gave a small yip.

Grover walked the poodle over to Annabeth, "Say hi, Gladiola." The dog gave another yip.

Annabeth stared at the dog before eventually saying back, "Hello.... mmm do you know if there's a train or something that will get us west?"

Gladiola gave a few barks and Grover translated. "He says there's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. The westbound train leaves at noon."

"Well we better get Percy up then if we want to make it." I say as I made my way over to Percy and shook him awake.

Percy's eyes opened, squinting from the sunlight.

"Wake up, blue boy. We got a train to catch." I said.

"How long was I asleep." he asked.

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast," I say as I toss him a bag of chips. "Also Grover brought a friend who can help us."

It took a while trying to explain to Percy. Well mainly because he didn't want to say hello to Gladiola, but we got through to him in the end.

"So we turn in Gladiola, we get the money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple." Annabeth explained.

"Not another bus," Percy said warily.

"No," Annabeth agreed. "There's an Amtrak station that we are going to take. It leaves at noon so we should start up now."