The Daughter of Hecate (Percy Jackson/Harry Potter)

The Underworld

Percy was the last the wake up the next morning.

"How long did I sleep?" Percy asked when Grover woke him up.

"Long enough for Vitani to cook breakfast." Annabeth replied, putting a plate of stacked pancakes onto the table.

Before Percy could put a bite into his mouth, he saw Grover holding a pink poodle.

The poodle yapped at Percy suspiciously.

"No, he's not." Grover said.

Percy blinked. "Are you ... talking to that thing?"

"That's not going to go well with said thing." Annabeth said, rolling her eyes at the sea spawn's stupidity.

The poodle growled.

"This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?"

Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."

Percy stared at Luke, Vitani, and Annabeth, figuring they'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on him, but Annabeth looked deadly serious, Vitani was busy stacking more pancakes onto another plate, and Luke shrugged his shoulders helplessly as he helped Vitani.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle." Percy said. "Forget it."

"Percy." Annabeth scowled. "Luke, Vitani, and I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

The poodle growled.

Percy said hello to the poodle.

Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked.

"He read the signs." Grover said. "Duh."

"Of course." Percy said sarcastically. "Silly me."

"So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

"Not another bus..." Percy said warily.

"No," Annabeth agreed. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile away. According to Gladiola, the west bound train leaves at noon."

Luke smirked. "One step closer to the Underworld." He said with a dark glint in his eyes.

The group spent 2 days on the Amtrak, the money they had gotten from returning Gladiola was only enough to get to Denver. On the Amtrak, they all found out that it was Annabeth's dream to be an Architect and build something that'll last a thousand years. When the Amtrak pulled up for a brief stop, Annabeth didn't want to miss the chance to see the Gateway Arch.

While Percy and Grover agreed to go up with Annabeth, Luke and Vitani decided to go on a small date. They all agreed to meet back at the station in 3 hours, half and hour before the Amtrak left for Denver.

"Where are they? The Amtrak is about to leave." Vitani said, shifting nervously.

"There they are!" Luke said, pointing to the trio who ran towards them.

"Go go go!" Annabeth shrieked as they jumped onto the Amtrak just before it left.

Luke and Vitani allowed the three to catch their breath before they demanded an explanation.