Lost

11

"Of c-course I'm in, but are y-you sure—?" Grover asked.

"Yes, Grover," I interrupted, cutting his sentence off. He gulped nervously, his eyes occasionally peering out the plane's windows. "This is Annabeth we're talking about, Grover. I can't...I can't lose her again."

Grover sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "I know, P-Percy, but you d-didn't lose her, not r-really. I just think s-she would want us to t-think this through mo-more..."

I shook my head and watched as the entire sky grew dark as the plane plummeted downwards. "But I have, Grover! When we land we find a rental car. San Francisco's not too far away from here, right? Maybe a three hour drive, right?"

"Well, y-yeah, but in a s-storm?" Grover protested weakly, knowing I couldn't be convinced.

"Grover, we have to," I pleaded. "It's just...I know she's alive out there. And weak, and she left it up to me. That letter was to me, Grover, and I can't lose her. Not again, anyways."

Grover nodded, although I could tell he still hated the idea. "Okay, okay...m-maybe that would w-work..."

The plan landed quickly after that and the storm started to clear the second I stepped off the plane. Grover and I quickly located a car rental place and rented the cheapest car we could find.

When we hit the road, me at the wheel, the storm started up again, but it was less threatening than when we were on the plane.

"Jeez, what did we do now? We got out of the skies..." I murmured while it thundered intensely, causing Grover to wince.

After a somewhat smooth drive for a couple hours, the storm started to pick up again and in a flash a giant boom happened and something hit the car with a thud.

Grover and I screamed as I did my best to get the car to the side of the road, but between the screams, rain, and continuous thudding on our roof it wasn't too easy.

"It's a m-monster, I can s-smell it!" Grover cried as he peered out the window. "A h-harpy! I saw her t-talons!"

I shook my head as I decided to keep on driving to shake the monster off our trail rather than fighting it. "No, a harpy is not that strong..."

Then the car stopped as if it'd been grabbed by some super human. I tried to keep driving, but it just sputtered in response.

"I t-think they w-want us out of the c-car," Grover shrieked in fear. "And I t-think there's two o-of them..."

I sighed and I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and uncapped it. "Fine, but we're not going down without a fight."

Grover, in response, pulled out his backpack and a few tin cans. "You s-sure we have to f-fight them?"

"You stay here, I'll go and investigate," I assured Grover. He opened his mouth to protested but I cut him off. "I'll call for you if I really need you, okay? I can handle this, Grover."

"I don't l-like that idea, P-Percy," he bleated. "But I k-know you won't let me c-convince you otherwise. Seriously, ca-call if you need me, al-alright?"

I nodded as I pushed open my car door and ran out, peering out through the rain. The car had a large dent in the roof and a crack in one of the back windows.

"Hello?" I called out. "Stop hiding!"

Then a giant figure bounded towards me, a smaller figure behind it. I gripped onto Riptide and focused.

"Brother!"

I knew that voice anywhere. I instantly dropped Riptide as Tyson pulled me into a bone crushing hug.

"Hey, Tyson, what are you doing out here, man?" I asked as Ella the harpy came into view and hesitantly waved at me.

He shrugged and smiled at me, his one eye wide in excitement. "The pony called Reyna and she sent us out to find you! When you were missing I came out here to find you!"

I frowned. "I wasn't missing. I wasn't even going to Camp Jupiter."

"Reyna wanted to talk to you," Ella butted in skittishly. "So we came and tracked you. Those huntresses helped us, they're quite smart."

"The hunters of Artemis? Like Thalia? Is she here?" I asked, desperately wanting to break the news to her of Annabeth still being alive.

Tyson shook his head. "The scary one with pretty hair? No, she's not. Is the goat here? His hair makes me sneeze."

"Oh, Grover. Yeah, Grover it's alright! You can come out here, it's just Tyson and Ella!" I yelled to him.

The door opened slowly as Grover hesitantly walked out. "You didn't have to scare us like that. What's happening?"

We explained everything to Grover and then all crowded into the rental car. Tyson and Ella gave us directions and eventually we made our way to New Rome.

"Crap, this car looks awful," I said as I locked it. "I'm gonna have to buy it now or something."

Tyson shrugged and grabbed the car. He pulled the dent out of the top and grinned. "I can work on fixing the window, it's just tiny crack!"

"Uh...cool, thanks," I said. "Now where's Reyna and what does she want to talk to me about?"

"I'm right here."