𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒, apollo

𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐯. like skype?

"PERCY!" I YELLED AS I tackled my friend, "Gods, I thought you had gone to my father the hard way!" He snorts and I pull away with a wide grin as Grover goes to hug him.

Annabeth came to stand beside me, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see him, "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

"I sort of fell."

I laugh, "Yeah, we saw."

Behind us, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" Confused, I immediately turned to the commotion where a bunch of paramedic and cop cars were. A woman from a stretcher began yelling, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—"

"Okay, ma'am," The paramedic sighed. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."

"I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared," Then she noticed us and pointed at Percy, "There he is! That's the boy!"

He turned and pulled the three of us after him. We quickly disappeared into the crowd. "What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"

"The one who gave me the freaks?" I ask. Percy stops in his tracks and sighs, telling us the story of the Chimera, Echidna, his high-dive act, along with the underwater lady's message.

THE NEXT AFTERNOON, JUNE 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a proper shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that was obvious.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth suggested. "I want to tell him about Percy's talk with the river spirit."

I knitted my brows, "We can't use phones, right?" Annabeth gave me a look, "I'm not talking about phones."

We wandered through downtown for about half an hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Finally, we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We walked towards the stall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were four adolescents hanging out at a car wash without a car; any cop worth his doughnuts would figure we were up to no good.

"What exactly are we doing?" Cy spoke up, as I took out the spray gun. "How weird would I look if I sprayed myself with water?"

The other three gave me a weird look and I sighed, whining, "Oh, come on. I feel disgusting, I need a shower," I scrunched my nose before continuing, "We all do."

"If we get any time left on the hose, it's your choice," Annabeth said, and I nodded. Percy waved his hands, getting our attention, "Okay, I'm going to repeat myself, because I've just been left on read, or heard, or whatever, in real life. What are we doing?"

"It's seventy-five cents," Grover grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?" Percy scoffs at the fact that yet again, he was ignored. He stares at me, arms stretched out, annoyed. I just shrugged, trying to keep in my laughter.

I fished out my last bit of change and passed Grover a quarter, which left me two nickels and one drachma from Medusa's place. "Excellent," Grover smiled. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. He fed in the quarters and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing." I stared at Grover dumbfounded, his reply making me even more confused.