Chapter Text
They made it to Denver the next afternoon. June 14th. Seven days before the solstice. They had only been eating as much as they absolutely needed, with the exception of a small trip to the dining car the previous night. They were all dirty and tired after sleeping sitting up for several nights and having no access to showers.
"We should try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "We can tell him about your talk with the river spirit."
"And we can't use phones, right?"
"Nope, but I'm not talking about phones."
They wandered around for a while, maybe half an hour. Annabeth didn't say what she was looking for but the boys didn't bother asking. The air was dry and hot, different from the humidity of St. Louis. The rocky mountains rose up around them on all sides like a tidal wave ready to crash into the city.
Eventually they got to an empty do-it-yourself car wash, going to the farthest stall from the street to hopefully avoid too much suspicion. Three pre-teens hanging out at a car wash without a car.
"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked skeptically as Castor took out the spray gun.
"It costs seventy-five cents."
Percy went into one of the backpack's pockets and pulled out three quarters, once again thankful for their raid on the Emporium.
He handed it over to the other boy.
"We're gonna use an IM."
Percy raised an eyebrow and Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Iris Message. Iris is the goddess of rainbows and is also a messenger of the gods."
"So we're going to summon her with a hose at a car wash?"
"We aren't going to summon her," Castor corrected. "We're going to ask her to send our message using a rainbow."
"It'll be like talking to Chiron face-to-face." Annabeth said, pulling a couple drachma out before speaking while holding one up in front of the rainbow formed by the afternoon light passing through the mist being sprayed. "O goddess, accept our offering."
She tossed the drachma into the array of colour and requested "Half-Blood Hill".
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Percy was suddenly seeing strawberry fields through the mist. They seemed to be on the porch of the Big House and standing against the railing with his back to them was a familiar sandy-haired guy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword, seemingly staring intently at something down in the meadow.
"Luke!" Percy called, a smile coming to his face.
He turned, eyes wide. Percy could swear the older boy was standing just three feet away except for the fact that he was cut off wherever the rainbow didn't reach.
"Percy!" Luke smirked, glad to see the Hufflepuff was still alive and well. "And is that Annabeth, too? Where's Castor, is he alright?"
"Right here, Luke." Castor said, ducking in front so he could be seen briefly while still holding the spray gun.
"Thank the gods. So how's it been going?"
"Uh... it's been... we're alright." Percy stammered awkwardly, blushing slightly. "I- I'm sorry... we were kind of... looking for Chiron..."
"He's down at the cabins." The thirteen-year-old's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers."
"Issues?" Annabeth inquired. "What kind of issues?"
Just then a truck pulled into the stall next to them, music booming from the speakers so loudly that they struggled to hear the Son of Hermes.
"Chiron had to- what's that noise?" Luke yelled.
"I'll take care of it!" Annabeth called before snatching the nozzle out of Castor's hands and handing it to Percy.
"What? Hey!" Castor's protests went practically unheard as he was dragged away.
Percy readjusted hid grip so he could keep the rainbow running and still see his friend.
"Chiron had to break up a fight," Luke shouted over the pounding base. "Things are getting tense around here. They know about the Zeus vs Poseidon standoff and the gods are starting to pick sides. The campers are lining right up with their parents."
Percy clenched his jaw. It was times like this where he felt useless. He couldn't force everyone to believe him (he never could), he couldn't just tell a bunch of all-powerful beings to stop fighting and grow up.
There was some shouting from the other stall followed by the music being turned way down.
"You guys are on a quest, so focus on that, we can handle things here. What's your status?"
Percy bit his lip before telling Luke everything that had happened so far, including his dreams.
"Hmm... if Hades is missing his helm of darkness... maybe Annabeth was right."
"What do you mean?" Percy frowned.
"Well it would make sense to get rid of any suspicion by claiming to have lost his own symbol of power. And if he had given it to a demigod with instructions to steal the bolt, well..."
The pair of them fell silent, thinking over the mystery.
"Either way, just keep heading west and the prophecy will sort itself out. Trust your gut. If you guys ever need anything, just let me know."
There was a sharp cry, the sound of a car door slamming, and a screech as the car tore out of the next stall.
"Chiron's gonna be sad he missed you."
Annabeth and Castor got back as the machine beeped to show they were running out of time.
"What'd we miss?" Castor asked, a little out of breath.
"Listen guys, enjoy Denver. Remember, you're doing great, no one is gonna be turned into any sort of plant this time as long as-"
The connection was cut, leaving the three demigods alone in the empty car wash.
"Come on," Annabeth said as she replaced the hose. "Let's go get something to eat and you can fill us in on what he said while we were gone."
<><><>
At Camp Half-Blood, Luke sighed and turned to lean against the railing again. He'd almost asked about the flying shoes but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Those were three kids, not even at their second year of Hogwarts and he could send one of them to their death with that supposed 'gift'.
He had fallen so far, so fast. But how could he stop now?
<><><>
The trio entered a nice chrome diner and sat in a booth. Castor beside Percy and Annabeth across from them.
A waitress came to their table, looking at them with a barely concealed look of judgement and her pad raised to take their order.
"We want to order dinner." Castor said with a bright smile though the response he got was a little less friendly.
"You kids have the money to pay for it?" She asked, an eyebrow raised skeptically.
"Umm..." Annabeth turned to root through her bag.
Percy, anticipating the eventual question of where their parents were, started coming up with some hopefully believable story in his head when a loud rumbling came from outside. A large motorcycle pulled up to the curb, almost shaking the building and casting red light in through the window from its headlight. The gas tank had flames painted on it and several gun holsters attached to it. Guns included.
The one riding it was quite intimidating. A large man in jeans and a red muscle shirt, a black leather duster over it. He had a hunting knife strapped to his thigh and red wraparound shades hiding his eyes. His face looked cruel, scars from previous fights marring his - admittedly rather handsome face.
He walked in followed by a hot, dry wind that swept through the entire place.
Percy watched with increasing concern as all the other people in the diner stood, seemingly in a trance. The biker waved a hand dismissively and they all sat once more. The waitress blinked and turned back to the children.
"You kids have the money to pay for that?"
"It's on me." The biker said, sliding into the empty seat of the booth.
It was a tight fit, Annabeth got slightly crowded against the window.
"Are you still here?" He growled, looking up at the waitress who had been gaping at him.
She spun and marched back to the kitchen, her motions jerky, like those of a string puppet, as the biker turned to stare at Percy.
The boy frowned as he started to feel, odd. All the anger and resentment he had felt towards the Dursleys and his bullies bubbled to the surface and he suddenly felt like punching the guy in the face. A table over, a pitcher of water started boiling.
"Percy, calm down!" Castor hissed
The man grinned wickedly.
"So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"
"Yeah."
"And a Brit too."
"What's it to you?"
Annabeth glared a silent 'shut up' towards Percy but the biker looked unfazed.
"Percy-"
"S'okay." the man said with a smirk. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"
Percy's eyes narrowed a moment before it clicked. This man shared the same cruel expressions as a certain group of kids at camp, and his least favourite house mate.
"You're Clarisse's dad. Ares, the god of War."