Percy stood before a gaping pit, the darkness of the cavern he was in pressing in on him. Gray mist creatures churned all around him, whispering incoherently. Spirits of the dead playing like clouds of smoke. They tugged at his clothes, beckoning him away from the edge but he resisted their pleas, feeling compelled forward.

Looking down made him dizzy. The darkness was so completely all-encompassing that he knew it must be bottomless. And yet, he couldn't help but feeling that something was trying to rise from the abyss, something huge and evil. Its presence was oppressive.

"The little hero," an amused voice echoed from far down in the darkness, its source obscured. "Too weak, too young, but perhaps you will do."

The voice felt ancient, cold and heavy. It wrapped around Percy like sheets of lead, weighing him down.

"They have misled you, boy," it said. "Barter with me. I will give you what you want."

He had stopped listening, the word 'boy' hitting him like a bucket of ice water, but his attention was recaptured as a golden image appeared over the pit. It was Harry, frozen in the moment of his... disappearance. His emerald eyes wide in fear.

Percy tried to cry out for him but his voice wouldn't work. Cold laughter rumbled deep within the chasm as an invisible force pulled him forward. He dug his heels in, standing firm to avoid tumbling into the pit.

"Help me rise, boy." The voice became hungrier. "Bring me the bolt. Strike a blow against the treacherous gods!"

The spirits of the dead continued to whisper, growing louder until their words gained meaning, "No! Wake!"

The image of Harry faded as the darkness ensnared him, acting as shackles leading into the chasm. It was then that he realized that the being within wasn't trying to pull Percy down, it was using him to pull itself out.

"Good," it crooned. "Good."

"Wake!" The dead cried, their whispers becoming hollow shrieks. "Wake!"

<><><>

When Percy woke up, Annabeth was already up and had packed everything but three water bottles, six Twinkies and a bag of nacho flavoured crisps.

"Just in time, I just finished making breakfast." She said with a smirk. "Do you want to wake this one or shall I?"

Percy took a moment to breathe, pushing his hair out of his face with a trembling hand.

"Yeah, I can wake him." He said with a smile that felt all too brittle.

There was a tug in his gut as he summoned water from a nearby river and doused their sleeping companion who shot up with a gasp.

"Merlin's pants that's cold!"

After that, Percy's smile became a bit more real.

"Yeah, ha ha, very funny. Now could you please dry me off? I'd rather not have to deal with hypothermia on this trip."

Percy chuckled but put his hand on his house mate's shoulder and willed him dry.

"Well that's handy."

"Alright," Percy said as he opened his twinkie, "what are we doing now?"

"Well gentlemen, if you glance slightly to your left you'll find a train track. There's a west-bound train leaving at noon." Annabeth said smugly.

"And how do you know this?" Castor asked, starting on his own little breakfast.

"I may have taken a small trip into town before you guys woke up."

Percy stared at her, his chest tightening. 

"You what?"

"Well you guys were asleep and I didn't really have anything productive to do so I figured I may as well find out how we could continue with this quest." She shrugged it off.

"You should have woken us up."

"Why? We didn't need all three of us to go look at a train schedule."

"She does have a poi-" Castor started but was quickly cut off.

"But what if something had happened to you? What if you had run into some monsters and gotten yourself taken or killed? We wouldn't have known until we woke up and found you missing. How were we supposed to know where you were?"

Annabeth started looking guilty after the second question.

"Sorry Percy, I guess I just didn't think-"

"Yeah. You didn't think. I have spent almost my entire life thinking of two people. It was never just me. Now, once again, I'm not just thinking of me. This is my quest, if something happens to either of you, that's on me."

"Percy, both of us are older than you, you don't have to worry about us."

"But I do! I just-! You don't get it. For years, Harry was the only one I cared about and vice versa. Now I have friends and I just- I need you to be safe. Alright?"

Both blondes were solemn.

"Alright Perce."

"Yeah, no more wandering. From now on, unless absolutely necessary, we stick together."

"Good." Percy said.

They watched as he rolled up his own sleeping bag. 

"So we have enough money for tickets, right?"

"Yes, if we had lost our stuff on the bus we probably wouldn't seeing as Medusa didn't make a ton of mortal sales."

"Good thing we grabbed our bags before the bus exploded then. Annabeth, did you happen to notice how far west the train is going?"

"Yeah, its heading to Los Angeles."

"Alright. We should go."

The other two nodded and followed him through the trees.

His outburst had startled them. It seemed this quest had their friend in a strange state of mind, not that they blamed him. Walking a couple steps behind him, Annabeth and Castor had a silent conversation and decided to keep a better eye on the younger boy.

<><><>

They were on the train for two days. All three of them were weary getting on and that apprehension only got worse as the days passed without attack. They kept to themselves as much as possible. As they wanted to save money, they didn't get berths in the sleeper car and they only went as far as Denver.

"What will we do for the trip back?" Annabeth had asked in response to the question of why they couldn't just go all the way.

Three demigods on a train made for a rough journey as their ADHD started acting up. At one point, Annabeth almost clothes lined Castor because the Son of Dionysus was pacing in their compartment and it was getting on her nerves. Thankfully, as night fell, Castor fell asleep, leaving the other two to sit quietly. As much as he itched to move, Percy had spent many years practicing in ignoring the urges that were called "unnatural" by the Dursleys. 

"Do you ever think about what it'd be like if we weren't demigods?" Percy asked quietly, trying to let their companion sleep.

Grey eyes looked at him with inscrutable intent.

"No, not really."

"Why not? I know we're already witches and wizards but... do you never think of a regular life, with a normal, loving family?"

She snorted suddenly, rolling her eyes as she leaned back.

"Gods no, I already tried that. If I couldn't have a normal, loving family as a seven year old kid, I'm not betting on it now."

Percy looked at his friend in a new way.

"Annabeth... did-" he hesitated before forcing himself to follow through. "Did your parent ever... hurt you?"

"What?! No, of course not! They just didn't really want me around."

Percy relaxed slightly, glad that his friend didn't have to go through that. He didn't know how he would've handled it if she was abused as a child and he didn't know about it. Then again, he supposed he couldn't really say anything about that.

"My dad never wanted me. I just appeared one day in a little golden cradle. I was an inconvenience. I kept him from his work. Then he married my step-mother and they had two regular kids. I knew I wasn't wanted. So I left."

Both of them fell silent in light of this information. Percy could understand the desire to runaway, to leave a place with people who so obviously don't like or want you around. The difference is he was being physically abused and had a brother to worry about. That's not to say emotional abuse or child neglect was any better than physical abuse.

With a sigh, Percy resigned himself to the rest of the day in silence and slight claustrophobia. Thankfully, near the end of the second day there was a three-hour layover in St. Louis before leaving for Denver which gave them the perfect opportunity to stretch their legs.