Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Lightning Thief

| Chapter XII || Off We Go! |

*January 2, XXXX*
*Percy's Point of View*

***

Later that day, Luke caught up with me. "Hey Perce, I heard that you're going on a quest, and I thought that these might help." He said, handing me a pair of old running shoes.

I smiled, knowing exactly what they were. "Thanks Luke, I'll be sure to use them." I said.

Luke smiled. "Don't mention it. Good luck." He called, turning to walk away.

A thought suddenly struck me and I called him back. "Luke! Wait up! I was thinking...about the quest..." I told him my idea.

The whole time, he listened, and when I was done, he nodded. "Sure thing. I'll be there," he said. He flashed me another grin, which completely hid his scar and made him look like a normal teenager. Then he waved and went down to the sword's arena, pulling out his sword as he went...

***

*JANUARY 3RD, 2006*

***

The next morning, I went to the Oracle for my prophecy. It spoke,

"You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.

You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end."

After that, I was pretty shaken up, but I pulled myself together and picked two companions, waking them up.

At around seven thirty, my two companions, and I met at the top of Half-Blood Hill. The sun was just rising and bids chirped in the trees, giving a peaceful feel to the morning. There was a light draft blowing through the trees, causing them to rustle.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Annabeth replied.

Now, before, she may have been cold to me, but I think she's starting to warm up to me ever since I chose her for this quest. She had even given me a hug! Usually she wouldn't even touch me, so I think that the hug was a huge step forwards.

I smiled at her, and then turned to our other companion. "How about you?" I asked.

"I'm fine, but couldn't you let me sleep in a little more? I'm tired, and I also didn't want to wake the others in the Hermes cabin," he replied.

I gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I forgot. Besides, we need an early start for this quest if we are going to find the bolt by the Solstice."

The son of Hermes shifted nervously. "This master bolt...once we find it, how are we going to get it to Zeus without being blasted? Because he can be...uh...irrational, and if we have it, he might think we stole it and are trying to make ourselves heroes," he said.

I smiled, "Don't worry. Zeus and I are very close. Aren't we Uncle Z?" I asked, turning to the sky for my last sentence. A bald eagle flew out from the distance and landed on Thalia's tree, squawking at me.

"Yeah, yeah. Just cool it. We'll get the bolt soon." I said, and the bird gave a nod before flying away.

After my conversation with the bird, the three of us walked down the hill, towards the camp van, where Argus was waiting for us. We climbed in and Argus drove us into the city, where we caught the closest train west.

Sitting on the train was pretty boring, with nothing to do except stare out the window. Annabeth was watching me with an evil eye, so I couldn't pull any pranks, which was sad. I would have really enjoyed that.

We were halfway there when disaster struck. I nearly died. It was just too awful! I ran out of cookies! All of the blue cookies that Artemis sent me were gone. Now what will I eat? I'll starve to death!

Oh wait; I still have some other food. I packed it into my bag when I was getting ready. I pulled out a chocolate covered granola bar and opened it, taking a bite. I savored the chocolate covered goodness as it melted in my mouth. I will survive!

When I finally calmed down, relieved that I still have food left, I decided to get some sleep in. The other two were already asleep, snoring away.

I woke up Annabeth, knowing that it was her shift to watch for our stop, as well as monsters. She woke up, slapping me in the face as she stretched, and rubbed her eyes.

Once I informed her about her shift, I felt straight to sleep, barely making it to my seat before I collapsed and started to snore...

***

I woke up to someone shaking my shoulder, and opened my eyes to see that Annabeth's face was right in front of mine. I jumped away, getting into a defensive stance, before relaxing. "Why did you do that?" I demanded.

She shrugged, and turned away from me, checking her bag. "You drool in your sleep," she said. She then pulled out a power bar and tossed it to me. "Here, our stop is next."

I unwrapped the bar and ate in silence, seeing that my other to companions were doing the same. The other passengers on board were the same as always, but there were three old ladies that were freaking me out.

The three old ladies were sitting near the back of the train, knitting to pass the time. What didn't make any sense, however, was what they were knitting. The largest pair of socks in the world. I bet I would be able to fit in one of those socks, and I mean my whole body would fit!

The yarn was electric blue, and was held by the lady in the middle. The other two, who were sitting on either sides of her, were the ones knitting. And the scary thing was that they were staring straight at me!

Suddenly, the lady in the middle grabbed a large pair of gold and silver fabric shear, and positioned it along the string of yarn. She snipped it, and I could swear that I heard the snip all the way down the train! Behind me, our last companion yelped. I looked over at him, asking a silent question.

He smiled at my concern, "I'm fine. I just pricked my finger," he said, holding up his finger. There was a small bead of blood on the tip of it, oozing out of a small cut.

I nodded and gave him a small smile, sitting on the edge of my seat, anticipating the next stop.

"Okay, Travis," I said to him...

***

Published: Sunday, November 13, 2016

~CSP2708~