Book 1 - The Constriction in Breathing Air

Chapter 9

If Percy had to rate their ride so far, he'd give it a solid 0 out of 10 stars.

Not because of the animals, no, but because of how the animals were treated. He was angry with the situation and felt incredibly helpless as to what he could do about it.

Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns.

Nobody had gotten close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.

"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"

He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, but the truck's engine roared to life. The trailer started shaking, and they were forced to sit down or fall down.

But they couldn't just do nothing.

Percy found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then used his sword to drag the mismatched food out of their cages and to the right animal: the meat for the lion, the turnips for the antelope and zebra. Grover managed to get the antelope to calm down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn.

"When we stop in Las Vegas, we'll set them free," Percy said. "I still have my credit card, we'll find another way to LA."

They sat in silence, curled up on the turnip bags next to each other.

"Hey," Annabeth said, "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Percy."

"It's okay."

"It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders."

"You mentioned that," he hummed. "Is it because of the spider story? She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"

Annabeth nodded. "Her children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you."

"We're a team, remember?"

They were quiet for a moment.

"Hey, Grover...you mentioned it a while back, but what did you mean about the searcher's license? You're trying to find Pan?"

Annabeth shifted closer to listen. Grover turned to face them, still resting on the sack he'd chosen.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Pan, the God of the Wild, Shepherds, and Flocks. He's our patron; two-thousand years ago, a sailor cried out that he was dead, to spread the word: the great god Pan is dead! But we haven't given up hope. We've been searching for him ever since, and I want to do that. I want to try and find him...which means getting my searcher's license."

"I think you'll be the one to do it," Percy said confidently. "Pan...he's Hermes' son, isn't he? Has anyone ever tried asking Hermes himself?"

Grover's eyes lit up. "No," he said, "but that's a great idea! We can try to reach out to him when we get back. Hermes is one of the, uh..."

"Nicer ones," Percy finished dryly.

Annabeth started splitting up the Oreos. She passed one to him.

"In the Iris message...did Luke really say nothing?" She asked.