Questing Again

Percy

I pulled Riptide, still in pen form, out of my pocket, and uncapped it. The shiny bronze sword sprang up, my hand on the hilt, as the rest of the seven fell into formation around me. A big, black slobbering Hellhound was bathing in the fountain. For a moment, the image flickered, and I saw what the tourists must be seeing: a cute little puppy, splashing around in the water. Piper stepped forwards with her dagger in hand and said to me, "Hey, Percy, have you angered any gods lately?"

I made an indignant sound, then thought for a sec. "Actually, probably. I doubt any of the gods are all too happy with me. I mean, my nosebleed did kinda start the apocalypse," I said. "Although I did then help fight against her, I think we owe her defeat to Leo," I nodded at him.

Leo bowed and said,"Hey, all I did was set her on fire. I think she was kind of easy to beat."

    Suddenly the hellhound lunged at us. Annabeth slashed at his snout with her dagger from the armoury. It fell back, but recovered quickly. I rolled forward and stabbed Riptide into the underside of the beast wincing a bit as I rolled out. Mrs. O'Leary had changed my perspective on these things.

The dog collapsed and Leo finished it off by shooting a blast of fire. It dissolved.
I stood up, breathing heavily. Looking around at the other seven, I said,
"We should really get out of here. I don't know what people saw, but we probably looked awfully suspicious."

The others nodded, following me out of the airport quickly.

Once we were far enough away, Piper voiced what I'd been thinking.
"What now?" she asked.

Frank stepped forwards.
"Let's check into a hotel and figure out our next move there," he suggested. No one had any complaints, so we began to walk.

"I wish we could use cell phones safely," Annabeth mused. "My cousin showed me something that could find places for you. Google Maps, I think?"

I nodded my head in agreement. "Yeah, Paul has one. I wonder how they're doing," I trailed off, remembering how I'd left them at their wedding without a word. Hopefully, I would be able to IM my mom and Paul when we made it to a hotel.

Annabeth squeezed my hand, as if she was able to read my thoughts. "I'm sure they'll understand," she whispered in my ear. I smiled.

"Look!" Hazel pointed up at a building rather conveniently labeled 'HOTEL' across the top in big, bold letters. The outside of the hotel was an off-cream colour, and it looked fairly old judging by the cracks in the walls and ivy running up the tall building.

I shrugged, "That'll do. Annabeth, you've got the money, right?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes at me. "Yes, Seaweed Brain," she stated, pulling out a wad of cash as she and Piper brushed by me into the lobby.

I followed them in, as did the others. When I walked in I found Annabeth and Piper leaned over the counter, talking to the man behind the desk. I could hear parts of their conversation as I got nearer, and it was clear Piper was trying to charm speak him to give us the best rooms for the least amount of money.

I grinned as I watched the man, evidently in some kind of trance, hand Piper a key. Annabeth presses a stack of money into his open palm and the pair sashay towards us.

"Top floor," Piper says proudly.

Leo leaps in front of me and grabs the key out of Piper's hand.

"Nice one, Beauty Queen," he threw over his shoulder, already half way to the elevator.

I rolled my eyes started to the stairs. I hadn't really trusted elevators since the St.Louis Gateway Arch thing. I preferred to take the stairs where ever possible. Most of the others took the elevator with Leo, but Hazel and Frank chose to take the stairs with me.

"So, what do you think should be our next move?" Frank asks Hazel and I. Hazel jumps in and replies,"I think we should get our rest first, and start on our quest tomorrow."

I nod in agreement. "We're all tired from the flight and from the fight. Tomorrow we can set off and try and find Valerie, and hopefully Rachel too. What do we know about where Valerie might be?" I question, hoping one of the others might have caught something I'd missed.

"Well, the prophecy stated that she'd be found 'laced with heather'. What do you think that could mean?" Frank said.

"I don't know. Maybe if there's one specific place where heather grows?" I muse.

By this point we had made it all the way to the top floor. Leo, Annabeth, Piper, and Jason stood in the hallway. Piper noticed us and said,"We have two rooms, so we were thinking boys in one room and girls in the other?"

No one has any complaints, so Piper hands me the key to our room. I unlock it, desperate to get into a real room with a bed and hot water. The key sticks in the door, but I move it around a little bit and the lock catches. Jason steps past me and pushes the door to our room open. We file in and I gasp upon seeing the elaborately fancy room.

The main room has cream carpets with pale blue walls, and several couches in the middle of the room. There's a coffee table in front of the couches and a small kitchen with a mini fridge, oven, microwave and cupboards. There's three doors leading off the room, and when Leo shoves them all open, eager to see what's inside, he reveals two enormous bedrooms and a bathroom. Both bedrooms contain king sized beds and one wall is made up entirely of windows, giving way to a breathtaking view of a shining blue river, dotted with silver bridges and sailboats. There's easily enough room for all three of us in here.

Leo throws himself on a plush bed while I head for the bathroom, hoping to wash the awful airplane scent off me. I step inside and close the door. A quick survey of the room displays once again the blinding white walls and tiles, with a huge mirror surrounded by an ornate gold frame hanging on one wall. I frown as I step closer, plucking a seemingly miscellaneous piece of paper from under one edge of the frame.

I unfold it and gasp.

Hey to anyone who still cares about this! So its been like months but I've had this draft saved so here you go! This chapter is dedicated to anyone and everyone who's reading this right now and any commenters asking for an update or showing support in the past while. Thanks!