Hera's Daughter | Luke Castellan¹

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔽𝕚𝕧𝕖

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

𝐼 𝒫𝓁𝓊𝓃𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝑀𝓎 𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

They spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, and past amber waves of grain.

They weren't attacked once, but none of them felt relaxed. Percy felt that they were traveling around in a display case, being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity.

Percy tried to keep a low profile because his name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The Trenton Register-News showed a photo taken by a tourist as he had gotten of the Greyhound bus. The boy in the picture had a wild look in his eyes. His sword was a metallic blur in his hand. It might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick. Next to it was a photo of a disheveled Selene picking herself up after the bus had exploded.

The picture's caption wrote:

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance if his  mother two weeks ago is shown here fleeing from the bus, where he had accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplices and a young female adult. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

"Don't worry," Annabeth told Percy. "Mortal police could never find us."

On the other had Selene was pouting over the newspaper. "Why does Percy get cool photo? I look like I had just had my ass handed to me." She complained.

Once, the group had spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch. The little boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader on a pony, caught their eyes and waved.

Another time, towards evening, Percy could have sworn that he saw something huge moving through the woods. He could've sworn it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a tank. Its fur glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leaped through the trees and was gone.

Percy had tried to get Selene's attention to identify it, but once she looked out the window, the animal was gone.

The nights were the worst, considering they hadn't been able to get berths to sleep in. Percy did his best not to drool in his sleep since Annabeth was sleeping next to him. Grover kept snoring and bleating, which kept waking Percy up. Selene had an eye mask and ear plugs to sleep with, so she slept through all of the sounds that Grover made next to her.

Once, Grover had shuffled around and his fake foot fell off, Annabeth and Percy had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.

"So," Annabeth spoke once they'd gotten Grover's trainer readjusted. "Who wants your help?" She questioned.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked.

"When you were sleeping just now, you mumbled 'I won't help you'. Who were you dreaming about?"

Percy was reluctant to say anything about it. It was the second time he had dreamed about the evil voice, but it bothered him so much that he finally told her.