Weird relatives

Chapter 11: Fire-breathing Chihuahua

What happens when you put a hyperactive six years old inside the train wagon? You guessed that right, you will have your pants full. If Danny hadn't got used to that already, he will be very exhausted. Ellie wasn't sitting still and just paced around the whole vagon, interrupting only on food and gazing out of the window. The older Phantom tried to entertain his little daughter as much as he could. He wasn't complaining, being the king cuts his time like mower cuts the lawn. There was also a free sightseeing.

"Hey, daddy, look!" Ellie once pointed out of the window, "there are those pony guys!" Raising his eyebrow, Danny looked outside and laughed loudly.

"They are centaurs, sweetie," he explained, now chuckling. 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 gaze and waved. Percy looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed. The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines. Some people, however, looked weirdly at the small family. Phantom noticed a strange look Annabeth was giving them, but didn't comment.

They even saw a Nemean lion roaming in the woods. Yes, everything let's call it 'supposedly mythical', moved to America, but seeing a lion walking around pine trees and spruces was weird nevertheless. It was the size of Hummer, and its fur glimmed with gold under evening sun. Then the lion was gone, leaping back in the woods it came from.

The group returned Gladiola to his owner, but inflation be damned, they got money only to get to Colorado. Of course, Danny could just take some money from his treasury, and they will be in the Underworld in a blink. But he wasn't in the mood for questions which will undoubtedly arise.

Grover was sleeping very loudly, snoring and constantly bleating. Danny had a very sensitive hearing and a very sensitive sleep, he couldn't simply get a nap. Ellie, however, was calmly sleeping on his lap. Once, Grover 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 asked him, once they'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted, "Who wants your help?"

"What do you mean?"

"You keep mumbling 'I won't help you' when you sleep," Danny added, signaling that he was widely awake.

Percy told them about evil voice from the pit, who came to him twice already. He was reluctant at first, but in the end decided to share this information.

Annabeth was quiet for a long time, "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs"

"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"

"Something doesn't put up," Danny commented, "the part about your mother seems logical, but why would he ask for Lightning Bolt if he already has it?"

Percy shook his head. Phantom and Grover sensed his emotions, the last one turned around in his sleep and muttered something about vegetables.

Annabeth readjusted his cap so it covered his horns, "Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time..."

"This time?" Percy asked. "You mean you've run into them before?"

Her hand crept up to her necklace. She fingered a glazed white bead painted with the image of a pine tree, one of her clay end-of-summer tokens, "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom"

"What would you do if it was your dad?"

"That's easy," she said. "I'd leave him to rot"

"Haaarsh," Danny commented slowly.