Chapter 15:A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

Dear Journal,





The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the summer solstice, our train finally rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car. We hadn't even taken a shower since we left Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth wanted to call Chiron about what was happening, I said "We can't use phones, right." She said "I'm not talking about phones." Annnabeth was looking for something for half an hour, and we wandered through downtown. The air was dry and hot, it kind of felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Anyways, everywhere we looked at, the Rocky Mountains seemed to be watching me, like a tidal wave about to crash into the city. Finally, we found an empty car wash place, we walked toward the farthest stall from the street so that no patrol cars could find us. I asked them what we were doing at the car wash stall, Annabeth said " I-M-ing" I thought she was talking about Instant Messaging, but she corrected me and she said it was Iris messaging. The rainbow Goddess carries messages for the Gods. Then Grover took out a spray gun and gave to Annabeth. Annabeth fed in quarters and sprayed it in the air. The water broke out into colours. Annabeth threw a Drachma into the mist and the coin disappeared in a golden shimmer. For a moment , nothing happened. Then I was looking through the mist at strawberry fields, and the Long Island sound in the distance. Then I saw Luke standing there, holding a bronze sword. I called out his name he turned around and screamed "Percy!" We asked him where Chiron was and Luke said that he was down at the cabins. Luke said that there were issues going on with the other campers. Just then a big Lincoln continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum volume. As the car went into the next stall the bass from the sub woofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement.



Then Annabeth wanted to stop the car's loud music, so she grabbed Grover and went to the guy's car. Which left me by myself and Luke. So, I asked Luke what was happening at the cabins. Luke said "Chiron had to break up a fight." Then Luke told me everything that is happening at the camp. Well, things weren't going too good since we left the camp. There have been fights going on just because of the Zeus-Poseidon incident. Then I told him pretty much everything about our quest, including my dreams, it felt really good to see him again I felt like I was back at home. I didn't realize how long I talked to him until the beeper went off on the spray machine. Luke told me "I wish I could be there," then he wished me good luck and the mist started to evaporate. Annabeth and Grover came around the corner, laughing but then they stopped when they looked at my face, Annabeth asked me what happened, but I tried to change the subject, by saying "Come on let's look for dinner." A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. Around us were families eating burgers, and drinking malts and sodas. Finally the waitress asked us what we wanted but when she asked if we had money, we totally forgot that we didn't have money. Annabeth looked like she was going to pass out from hunger. I was going to tell her a fake story so that we could have free food, but then a rumble shook the building, a motorcycle had pulled up to the curb. Everyone in the diner had stopped talking and looked at the motorcycle that had pulled over to the curb. The guy on the bike looked like he could scare pro wrestlers really easily. As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. Then everyone in the diner went back to their conversations, just like nothing happened. The waitress said to us again "Do you kids have any money to pay for the food." Then the biker went into our booth and said "It's on me." I had this weird feeling, I wanted to punch the guy, what does he think he is. Then he introduced himself to us, he was actually the God of war, or Clarisse's dad, Ares. Ares talked to me about me breaking Clarisse's spear, I just sat there saying nothing. Then we talked for so long, until he talked about my mother. I wondered did he really know something about my mother.Then we went on this love ride that shows a camera at Olympus, everything was so clear, I was so amazed, until we crashed into a pipe. I thought we needed to talk to Ares again, about our problem.

Chapter 14:I Become A Known Fugitive

Dear Journal,

Things weren't going so well when I was in the river. The river raced toward me at a fast speed, the wind ripped the breath from my lungs, All the tall buildings and skyscrapers tumbled in and out of my vision. And then a whiteout of bubbles. I was sure I was going to sink down a hundred feet all the way to the bottom. My impact with the water didn't hurt at all. I was falling slowly now, and the bubbles were trickling through my fingers, then I settled down carefully on the river floor. A lot of disgusting garbage were all around me, beer bottles, old shoes, and plastic bags. But I realized two things, first I wasn't flattened down into a pancake. I couldn't even feel the Chimera poison boiling in my veins anymore, it was a good thing I was alive. Second I wasn't wet, I could feel the coolness of the water. I could see everything that happened to me, healing. But when I touched my own shirt, it felt perfectly dry. Then I saw a lighter that passed by with all the garbage. I flicked the lighter, it sparked, a tiny flame appeared, in the middle of the ocean. It was so weird! There, not five feet in front of me was my sword, I thought I lost it! Then I heard a woman's voice saying to me, "Percy take the sword. Your father believes in you. I knew the voice wasn't in my head or imagining it, her words seemed to come from everywhere. Then I saw the woman in the water almost like a ghost, I wanted to ask a lot of questions but she went away.

Then I came ashore next to a floating McDonald's. A block away I could see every emergency vehicle in St. Louis surrounding the arch. There were even police helicopters in the air, and circled over top of the arch. As I got out of the water, I started thinking about Grover and Annabeth if they were okay. Then I heard a familiar voice bleating, "Percy" I turned around and got tackled by Grover. They thought I went down to the Underworld the hard way. There was one reporter that found out who I was and what my name is. I was kind of scared being known by other people, they might try to find me. Then Grover told us, "First things first, we got to get out of here. Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted by the police. We got on board just before the train pulled out of Denver. The train went west as darkness fell, police lights still flashing behind us. We almost got caught by the police!

Chapter 13:I Plunge To My Death

Dear Journal,





We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through the hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain. It's good we weren't attacked once, but I didn't relax. I felt that we were being watched from above and maybe from below, that something was waiting for the right opportunity. I tried to keep a low profile because I was all over the front pages of newspapers. One newspaper had a picture of me, with a sword in my hands. I read the picture's caption beside it and it said, "Twelve year old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be travelling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture." After I read this I was really worried that the Police might find me. "Don't worry, Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't look so sure of it.

The rest of the day I spent the whole time pacing the whole length of the train because I had a really hard time trying to sit down, or I just spent my time looking out the window. There were so many things that I saw when I looked out the window, once I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted for lunch. The little boy centaur, who looked like the size of a second grader on a pony, caught my eye and waved. I looked around the train, but nobody else had noticed the centaurs. Another time, toward evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I knew it was a lion moving through the woods, but lions don't live wild in America., and the animal was the size of a hummer. Our reward money for returning Gladiola was only enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. We couldn't get a place to sleep in the sleeping car, so we just stayed in our seats and slept. Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up, he did this so many times that his fake foot fell off and we had to put it back before the other passengers noticed it. After me and Annabeth finished putting the fake leg back on she talked about her childhood and how she got into Camp Half-Blood. Her life was really complicated, and it was kind of sad of where she had to go through.

Toward the end of our second day on the train, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi river into St. Louis. We started going up, inside the Arch. I'd never been in an elevator that went in a curve, and I wasn't feeling so good. Then we ran into a fat lady that had a chihuahua. Something was weird about the chihuahua, it kept growling at us, even when the fat lady told the dog to be quiet. The dog looked to be very vicious and I was kinda thinking it was a monster. The dog kept barking and barking until one boy came up and said "Look a dog!" Then the dog's bark became a roar. The little boy screamed and went away to his parents. The dog changed into a chimera and it was so tall! It's back rubbed against the roof. It's head was the size of a lion, the body and hooves of a giant goat, and a serpent for a tail. Even the fat lady changed, Echidna was a snake lady. I had to face a fire breathing monster and its mother. They took my sword out and it went all the way in the water. Then Echidna told told me that if I was the son of the sea God she wouldn't harm. I had no choice but to jump in and retrieve my sword, it was actually a bad idea. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere!

Chapter 12: We Get Advice From A Poodle

We were really miserable the next day. We had to camp out in the woods, a hundred yards away from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was full of garbage, such as flattened soda cans and fast food wrappers. We took some food and blankets from Aunty Em's so that we could actually live during the night. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. We didn't want to attract any more monsters, so we decided to sleep in shifts. I volunteered to take watch first. Annabeth and Grover slept while I watched them. Grover was scared that something might come out and attack us, so I told Grover that I will wake them up if there is trouble. But Grover didn't want to sleep, so he told me to look at the sky and he said " This makes me sad. Look at the ground and the sky. You can't even see the stars. They have polluted the sky. This is a bad time to be a satyr." Then he told me something about a Great God named Pan. At first I thought he was talking about Pam, the cooking spray. Well, Pan was the lord and master of the Satyr's and one day someone screamed that the God, Pan, was dead. Since then, all Satyr's have been looking for him but no one was successful to find him. Grover said he wanted to be the first searcher to come back alive. I asked him "Why the first?" Then he said " No searcher has ever came back alive.

After a while, I started to think about what Medusa said to me, that I was being used by the Gods, I tried to forget about it, so I told Grover that I didn't care about the master bolt, I just wanted to go down to the underworld and see my mom again. I was thinking about my mom again, I started to feel a little sad. Grover had his reed pipes with him and he was playing Mozart, soft and sweet, I fell asleep. In my dreams, I stood in a dark cavern before a gaping pit. Grey mist creatures were all around me, whispering rags of smoke that I think were the spirits of the dead. They tugged my clothes, trying to pull me back. I felt like I knew I had to walk forward to the very end of the chasm. I felt dizzy when I looked down the pit. The pit was really wide and completely black, I knew it must be bottomless. Then I heard voices all around me. The voices wee scaring me until I felt someone shaking me, It was Annabeth and it was daylight. I was trembling from the dream. I could still feel the grip of the chasm monster around my chest. I asked Annabeth "How long was I asleep?" "Long enough for me to cook breakfast." Then she threw me a bag of nachos from Aunty Em's snack bar. I looked for Grover, he was sitting cross-legged on a blanket with something fuzzy in his lap. It looked like a dirty, unnaturally pink stuffed animal. Wait, it wasn't a stuffed toy, it was real, it was a pink poodle. I was scared, it might have been another monster looking for us. But, Grover said "No. It's not a monster, his name was Gladiola, and she ran away from her rich family. Grover could talk to animals, so he asked him where to go. Grover said "Gladiola says to go to the to an Amtrack station half a mile away." According to Gladiola, the west bound train leaves at noon. It was kind of weird listening to a poodle, but I knew it was the only to get out of the woods.

Chapter 11: We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

Dear Journal,

If you think about it, it's nice to know there are Greek Gods out there because you have somebody to blame when something goes wrong. For example, when you are walking away from a bus that's just been attacked by three old monster hags, getting struck by lightning, and its raining on top of everything else. Most people think that this is bad luck, when you are a half blood. So there we were, Annabeth and Grover and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey river bank. Grover was shivering so much, that his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. I was pretty much in shock of what happened. Everything came back to me, the explosion of the bus windows still rang in my ears. I wanted to go back and get all our money, clothes and everything else, but Annabeth kept pulling us, saying, "Come on! The farther away we get, the better. What was I going to do now? I didn't have any clothes, any money, and the Ambrosia squares to eat when we were seriously hurt, really bad. We kept on walking and walking, We even sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry.After tripping and cursing and literally feeling miserable for another mile or so, I started to see light up ahead, almost like the colours of a neon sign. I could even smell food. Fried, greasy excellent food. I realized I hadn't eaten anything unhealthy since I'd arrived at Half-Blood Hill. There we lived on grapes, bread, cheese, and extra lean cut barbeque. I knew what I needed to eat, a yummy double cheeseburger.

We kept walking until we saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed down gas station, an old billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the place where I smelt the yummy food. Well, it wasn't a fast food restaurant liked I expected it to be. The neon sign was kind of hard for me to read or impossible to read. It said ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM. I asked Grover what the sign meant and he said "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." At the front entrance there were two cement garden gnomes, and they were smiling and waving looking like they were about to have their picture taken. When we were about to go in, a tall Middle Eastern woman, well, at least I thought she was. The lady said, "Children it is too late to be out alone. Where are your parents?" We couldn't think of anything to say, so I told her we were orphans and that we got separated from our circus caravan. She let us inside, and there, the smell was relaxing me, I was so hungry, I walked inside looking like an idiot. Anyways, I noticed Grover's nervous whimpers, and he looked like he was scared of the other garden gnomes. Aunty Em led us to a table, so that we could eat. I couldn't wait for the food! Then a hostess brought us plastic trays full of double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of french fries. They looked so mouthwatering! Then Aunty Em sat with us, just staring at us, while eating. It was kind of weird eating with someone that was staring at you. I tried to do something, so I asked her everything about her and her store. Her stories were interesting to me. Then she asked if we could have a photo with her, so we said yes. But, when she backed up she had a cement centaur beside her. Grover said "That looks like Uncle Ferdinand." He took a closer look and he said "That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Annabeth screamed "Look away from her!" She took her invisible cap on and she pushed us off the bench. Then I heard a rasping sound above me. I looked above and Aunty Em's hands turned gnarled and warty, with sharp bronze talons for fingernails. I was about to look up even more but then Annabeth screamed at me "No! Don't!" More rasping. It sounded like tiny snakes, at about Aunty Em's head would be. "RUN!" Grover screamed and he ran to the gravel field trying to kick start his flying sneakers.

Then I looked up, but I looked at the mirror on the left side of her. I saw her dark reflection on the mirror and her hair was moving like they were serpents or snakes. She turned into Medusa, and she said "Annabeth's mother did this to me! the cursed Athena!" She told that I should be turned into a statue, and not go with the Gods. I wanted to run away but my legs didn't let me. I didn't know what to do, until Annabeth told me that I had to slice Medusa's head off. So, I took out my pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade grew right in front of me. I swung my sword randomly and I sliced her head off. The head landed right in front of me, I felt like throwing up. After that, We ran away from the store, but I remembered something. I went back to Medusa's office and In the cash register I found twenty dollars and everything else that we lost at the bus. I was relieved! We had everything back except clothing.

Chapter 10:I Ruin A Perfectly Good Bus

Dear Journal,

It didn't take me a long time to pack my things. I decided to leave the Minotaur horn in my cabin, so I only brought an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me. The camp store gave me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. The coins were huge! They were as big as girl scout cookies and they had images of various Greek Gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. Chiron gave Annabeth and me each a canteen of nectar and a Ziploc bag full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. Ambrosia squares was God food, and it could heal us of almost any injury. If we had an overdose, it would burn us up literally. Grover wore his fake feet and his pants to pass as a real human. Grover also wore his green rasta-style hat, because when it rained his curly hair flattened and you could just see the tips of his horns. When we were done packing our things, we waved good-bye to the other campers, said bye to everything else in the camp then we hiked up Half-Blood Camp, to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, the daughter of Zeus. I was really nervous about the quest, but I knew I had to do it.

Chiron and the surfer dude that was watching me in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. He actually had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised about what was happening around him. Then Luke caught up to us and he gave me these shoes that had bird's wings on them. Luke also wished me and the others "Good Luck!" Then Chiron gave me an ordinary ballpoint pen that looked like the one that I used to vaporize Mrs.Dodds. "Thanks." I said. When I took off the cap the pen grew heavier and turned into a sword. Chiron said it was called, " Anaklusmos." I translated it to "Riptide." Then Chiron told me that I can never lose the pen, so I threw it really far away and it reappeared in my pocket. I was amazed! Anyways, for the first time the quest actually felt real. We were actually leaving the camp.

Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt weird being on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover looked like regular people when they sat beside each other. It was kind of weird for me they were just sitting there like they were normal, ordinary kids. So, in the front seat Argus kept smiling at me, and looking at me with his one blue eye on the back of his neck. Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was unset and starting to rain. Finally Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side. Then I saw a picture of me that said "HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOY?" I ripped it out before Annabeth and Grover could see it. Argus unloaded our bags, pulled out of the parking lot and drove away. I was not comfortable when Argus left.

Finally the bus came, and we all boarded the bus. As the last passengers got on Annabeth clamped her hand onto my knee. An old lady boarded the bus, my heart skipped a beat. It was Mrs.Dodds, but older, way older. Then two other old ladies , looked exactly like Mrs.Dodds. I was starting to get really scared. They sat right at the front looking normal, but I knew one thing that they don't want anybody to leave the bus. So, the bus pulled out of the station and into the slick streets of Manhattan. I was shaking so much, I can tell that the old ladies were coming for me. Then the old ladies stood up and went down the aisle. Then Annabeth gave me her invisible hat and said, "You are the one they want,Percy. Go down the aisle and let them pass you." I was too scared but I knew I had to do it. I was free, they never saw me but I think they could smell me. But then they found Annabeth and Grover and they started to look for me. Then Annabeth took out her bronze sword and Grover took out a tin can from his back pack. They started fighting back at Annabeth and Grover, so I took off the invisible cap and I grabbed out Riptide. I swung my sword and I hit one of them, watched them turn into mist. Then there was a huge thunder bolt that hit the bus. Annabeth screamed "Get Out!" So we got out, and the bus exploded right in front of our faces. But we forgot our bags inside. I was relieved! I thought I was going to die!

Chapter 9: I am Offered A Quest

The next morning, Chiron moved me to cabin three, which is Poseidon's cabin I didn't have to share with anybody, I had plenty of room. I got to do anything I wanted to do, I sat at my own table got to pick all of the activities, and call lights out whenever I wanted to. I also didn't listen to anybody else I got to listen to myself. It was great being by myself but I felt miserable. Nobody mentioned anything about the hell hound, but I got the feeling they were all talking about it behind my back. The attack scared everybody and it sent two messages: one, that I was the son of the Sea God Poseidon and two, would stop at nothing to kill me. They could even come and invade this camp that had always been safe. I noticed that the campers started to become afraid of me. Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with me after what I'd done to the Ares cabin, so my sword fighting lessons with Luke became one-on-one. The worst thing was that Luke pushed me harder than ever and he wasn't afraid of bruising me up in the process. Annabeth still taught me Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted, because every time I tried to say something she would scowl at me. Then after the Greek lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself, almost like she had a lot in her mind. One thing that was really surprising was that even Clarisse kept her distance too. But her evil looks made it clear that she wanted to kill me or something. I know somebody at camp that made me mad, because one night when I came into my cabin I found a mortal news paper dropped inside the doorway. It was talking about the car crash that involved me and my mom. The article took me almost an hour to read, because it made me really angry.

That night I had my worst dream yet. I remembered I was walking down a beach in a big storm. There was a city behind, and it was not New York. It was somewhere else that I didn't know. Then I saw two people in Greek clothing fighting over something, like they were kindergarten students. Then I woke up. When I woke up, a storm was brewing, then I heard someone knocking on the door. "Come in!" I screamed. It was Grover, he told me that Mr.D wanted to see me. I was really nervous, because Grover seemed to be nervous. I think they want to talk to me about the storm because the storm hasn't been this big before. Anyways, When me and Grover went up the porch and went in the big house, Mr.D seemed to be really mad at me almost like he wanted to kill me. He kept saying all these things to me until Chiron stopped him. Then Chiron dropped his cards and said to me " Will you accept your quest?" I said "But I never got the details yet." "Well, That's the hard part." Then I told them if it was Poseidon and Zeus fighting over something really valuable, after I said that, Grover and Chiron looked at each other. Chiron said "Well you are right Percy, They are fighting over something really valuable that was stolen, to be precise a lightning bolt. I laughed a little bit and said "What?" "It is Zeus' master bolt." he said. "And they think you stole it." I was shocked. Then he continued to tell me everything about the problem with the Gods right now. Then Chiron told me to go up in the attic and talk to the oracle. Anyways, I went up to the attic and there was something there that looked like a snake's head. Then it said I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker and ask. So I asked it "What is my destiny?" All of a sudden, mist swirled thickly until it became clearer, it was smelly Gabe and his buddies. Gabe turned towards me and said "You shall go west, and face the God who has turned, then You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned, then you shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, and you shall fail to save what matters the most." Then the mist just disappeared. I am finally on to my quest and two people with come with me on my quest. Grover and Annabeth.