Song For This Chapter: Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey (This was playing in my head for the middle/end of this chapter)

Ch. 16 - Are You Stalking Me?

    There was an awkward silence laced through the tight air as the van barreled down the busy streets. Percy's hand was tightly clasped with mine, making my stomach twist and turn with not only butterflies, but worries. 

    This is wrong. I shouldn't be with him like this. Zeus was no doubt watching, and his thoughts about my loyalty would no doubt be dwindling down the closer and closer we became with each other. There was so many things that Percy didn't know about me. So many things that I had never said, that I knew I would probably never be able to.

    Sighing, I leaned my head against the cool, glass window of the van - pulling my hand from Percy's grasp and giving him a reassuring smile. "I'm a little tired, I think I'll rest for a while..." I murmured, feeling a faint ache in my torso.

    I'd been cut rather deeply; the injuries would have killed any other member on this quest, but not me. I was a goddess. The thought made the left over aching only amplify, bringing back the bitter realization once more. 

    I, Olivia Smith, was a goddess of light - I was not supposed to be kissing mortals or fraternizing with them either. I was supposed to do my duty as a daughter of Artemis, of the gods, and find my mother. I was supposed to do my duty as a sister and help get Penelope released from the grasps of Zeus - despite the fact that Apollo told me it wasn't my Fate.

    "You okay, Olive?" Percy asked, not pushing too hard, but still curious about everything. It gave me a pain to the heart to see his worries displayed for me. He was too sweet, and I was too cold. Perhaps I shouldn't have kissed him.

    Idiot. I cursed myself, feeling tears prick my eyes, but not letting them show. Forcing a believable chuckle out of my mouth, I grinned at him. "Well - despite the fact that I was just holding my large intestines in my hands a mere half-hour ago - I'm perfectly fine." 

    Thalia belted out a curt laugh at this, sparing me a smile. I was happy to see that I was on good terms with her, even though she seemed to strongly dislike everything involved with the Hunters. "You put up a grand fight, Olive."

    "Thanks, Thalia." I nodded, leaving a small smirk on my face as my eyelids slipped closed, sleep starting to creep up on me. 

    In the darkness left behind my closed eyes, my hearing started to pick up a distant sound, the sound of helicopter blades swiftly slicing through the air, propelling the machine closer and closer to our van.

    At first, I thought nothing of it. My superhuman senses were just picking up on random things you would often find in a large city, however, when the sound continually grew louder and louder, I realized something was wrong.

    Propping myself up, I snapped open my eyes and looked at Zoë. She too was glaring out the window towards the sound, a scowl glued tightly onto her face. "Helicopter. You hear it too?" I addressed her and she quickly nodded.

    Percy furrowed his brow and leaned over me to get a glance up at the plane. "They know the van." He cursed and got out of his seat, walking up to where Zoë was expertly steering the automobile. "We need to ditch this thing - or they will keep on our tail."

    Zoë growled with disgust as he addressed her, but I stood up and lay a polite hand on her shoulder, making her freeze slightly. "I agree, Zoë - and we need to do it soon."

    "Maybe... The military will shoot it down?" Grover pipped up, receiving an encouraging nod from Bianca as he did.

    Percy scoffed with a little anger. "They probably think it's one of theirs." At those words, Zoë swerved into the fast lane, cutting off a small car in the process and getting a blaring horn due to it. Zoë muttered a curse about mortals under her breath, but kept herself in control. 

    The military helicopter was gaining on us.

    There was a moment of absolute silence, then Thalia clapped her hands together with gusto and sent out a prayer to Zeus. "Hey, uh, Dad? If you could possibly send down a bolt - that'd be great." She paused, but the only thing that happened was the sound of the chopper getting closer. "Any time now..."

    "There!" Bianca suddenly spoke up, pointing out the window towards an abandoned parking lot. "The parking lot!" 

    I paused and gave her a confused look over while Zoë voiced my thoughts. "We'd be trapped, Bianca."

    "No, trust me." She pleaded. I examined the honest desperation in her eyes and nodded. Zoë sighed, but didn't hesitate as she cut across two lanes of traffic, cutting off the same small car again, and pulling sharply into the mall parking lot - so roughly that it cause all of us to clutch tightly onto the seats in front of us.

    "There's a Subway entrance right there." She mentioned as soon as Zoë put the van in park. In two seconds flat, we'd all vacated the van and were scurrying in the direction that Bianca was motioning us towards while I silently prayed to Artemis she knew where she was going.

    Suddenly, it cropped up - almost out of thin air - and Thalia waved everyone down into the sub station, waiting to check that everyone had made it before following herself. "Okay - let's get South." I piped up, scanning the ticket signs for a route that would take us there. "There's one leaving for Alexandria in ten?"

    "Anything," Thalia nodded and shoved her way past some considering tourists, and buying each of us a ticket. Soon, we were in the sub-car and making out way above ground - heading as South as quickly as possible.

    Grover let out a sigh of relief as we finally begun to feel as if we'd lost them. "Nice thinking with the subway, Bianca."

    Bianca grinned happily, most likely glad to have been of some use. "No problem, I remember seeing it last summer with my brother Nico. I remembered being really surprised to see it since it was not there when we used to live in D.C."

    I rose a brow at that, but decided not to say anything. It seemed strange that the Subway would just crop up like that - plus it seemed to have been around for a while. Frowning, I thought about the possibilities. "Are you sure about that, Bianca? The station seemed rather... old."

    Bianca's lips turned down in a contemplating grimace and she nodded. "Yeah, that's true. But - trust me; when I was younger - there was no subway."

    That's... not possible. I sat up straighter and sent her a sharp look of confusion mixed with masked horror. Biting my tongue, I refrained from saying anything on the matter, but, if there was one thing I was absolutely sure of, the subway project was started in the 1970s.

    Thalia paused at this too, sitting up and giving Bianca a withering look, trying to no doubt see if she was lying. "Wait, no subway - at all?"

    Zoë gave everyone a small look of knowing and leant in a little - making sure none of the mortals around us would be able to hear. "Bianca, how long ago..." But she paused, noticing the look I was giving her, and the threatening sound of chopper blades getting closer.

    Percy spoke up, quickly changing the subject. "They're getting closer. Next station, we need to trade trains." I quickly nodded in agreement along with Grover and Thalia. 

    Over the next half-hour, the only thing any of us were focused on was getting away from the helicopter. We switched subways twice, hoping from car to car, but being sure to keep heading south. After a while, we managed to lose the helicopter for good.

    Once the train made a short stop, we hopped off - unfortunately, we had not only managed to lose the people chasing us, but also we managed to hit the end of the line. Scattered around us were long abandoned freight cars and snow. So much snow that I could feel it seeping into the soles of my thick boots.

    "Come on, there's got to be another passenger train..." Grover sighed, numbly gazing around the abandoned area, but it was helpless, no one was going to come here. "Nothing..." He sighed, defeated and trembling in the frozen atmosphere.

    A few feet away from us, a homeless guy was warming himself near a trash-can fire; spreading his fingers out lightly to keep them from getting frostbite. Smiling a toothless grin at us, he waved the company over, calling out, "Y'all look pretty cold. Come over an warm yerselfs up."

    Hesitantly, I strayed back a little, eyeing the homeless man warily. There was something... off about this man, but I couldn't quite lay my finger on it. Maybe it was the way his blue eyes seemed to shine as they landed on Percy and I. 

    Those shiny blue eyes, the more I stared at them, the more familiar and lighter they became, as if a layer was lifting with each passing moment. They looked familiar.

    "Well, this is j-j-just awesome." Thalia glowered, rubbing her arms in distaste. However, I didn't take my eyes off of the mysterious hobo. He was just... off.

    The homeless man chuckled a low cackle and turned towards Percy, dropping my calculating glare in the process. "I think yer girlfriend likes me." He snickered a little, making me drop my gaze, slightly embarrassed. What if he really was just a grubby homeless man that I was giving the 'stink eye' to? 

    "Sorry." I muttered, shifting closer to Percy, slightly to keep warm, slightly to feel comfortable in the man's presence. "I'm just a little tired. It's been a long day."

    Bianca sighed a little, running a hand over her matted braid. "Maybe... maybe we should call camp? Perhaps Chiron-" 

    Zoë quickly cut her off with an exasperated sigh, but remaining in a respectful tone. "No, they can no longer help us. We are on our own, I fear." She nodded, but by her radiating confidence - I knew she really wasn't too fearful.

    Frowning, I thought about Annabeth and my mother. They were trapped somewhere - doing gods know what. 

    I feared.

    Maybe Zoë did not, but I did. Two people very close to me were being tortured by the enemy - whomever that may be - and there was practically little I could do about it. We were currently trapped here. With no where to turn.

    "You know." The homeless man spoke up, grinning a toothless smile. "Friends are closer than they seem." His eyes lightened again, mirroring the morning sky, mirroring my own. "You kids looking for a train heading West?"

    My heart stopped. Those eyes.

    There was no mistaking them. My small, comforting smile had slipped off my face and I was now baring a malicious grimace. Was he stalking me? Or was he really here to help? 

    "Yes," Percy perked up, smiling despite my sudden change in mood. "You know of any?" 

    The 'homeless' man pointed a slimy, dirty finger to an area beside him to showcase a shiny freight train with no snow around it, unlike the countless others. The train read 'SUN WEST LINE' and it was a triple-decker automobile carrier. 

    Everything about it screamed towards who the person really was. It was then that I knew, without a doubt, who this 'man' was. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but he was gone. Disappeared into thin air.

    "That's convenient..." Thalia nodded appreciatively. I just shook my head, not really understanding why I was so furious to see my Father helping us. Perhaps I felt it was because it meant he thought I couldn't do this alone. 

    An hour passed since we'd hopped into the train, each of us picked a luxury car to sleep in for the time being since it was getting rather late. The Hunters decided to take a Lexus on the top deck, while Grover finally found the Lamborghini of his dreams and decided to play race-car driver in the front seat. 

    I decided to slide into the back seat of Thalia's Mercedes and learn how to hot-wire a car. I'd stolen a car, broken into a couple, but never had I learned about hot-wiring. And, Thalia was a good teacher. Once we got the sleek baby purring, we found an old alternative rock station to listen to, something we both agreed happily on.

    We talked about bands for a little while until Percy popped his head into the passenger seat, interrupting our discussion about which band was better, The 1975 or Goo Goo Dolls. "Hey." He smiled a little shyly, probably thinking I didn't want to see him right now. Perhaps he was right, maybe I didn't. "Can I join you?"

    Thalia spared me a curious look, most likely wondering if I was interested in seeing him right now. Grinning, I waved him in and slid back into the back seat. "Yeah, come on in."

    Percy smiled back, scooting into the empty passenger seat. "Thalia, there's something you should know." He paused and waited for her to say something, but she just waited on him to continue. Taking a breath, Percy kept talking. "Whatever the monster we are looking for is, the General said that it would be searching for... you. I guess they are going to try and isolate you from the group so you'd fight it one-on-one."

    Thalia raised a black brow. "They said that?"

    "Well, something like that..."

    She let out a low sigh and leant back in the drivers seat, closing her eyes. "That's just great - I just love being used as bait." I couldn't help but feel the increasing sense of irony when she'd said that, but I kept silent.

    "You have any idea of what the monster might be?" Percy asked, looking over at me to keep me from feeling left out of the conversation. I only shook my head in response.

    "No idea," Thalia shook her head as well, "But you know where we are going right? San Francisco. That's the last place Artemis was heading before she disappeared."Titan magic still lingers there," She explained throwing me a knowing look. I too wasn't aware of this. "Monsters are like flies there. They are everywhere."

    "Really?" I rose a brow. "I'm from California, but I never had anything happen to me when I was there... I never knew."

    Thalia just shrugged in response. Looking at Percy's slightly befuddled face, she sighed and explained a little further. "It's because of the Mountain of Despair."

    "What's that?" He rose a brow, frowning a little.

    Thalia threw her hands up in a huff, not wanting to talk about the subject anymore. She spared me a look of annoyance and replied to Percy. "You really don't know? Then, ask Zoë - I'm not a Google Answers board."

    We were quiet for a little while, I was watching Percy in curiosity while Percy was watching Thalia with a calculating gaze, trying to put something together. After a little while of the White Stripes playing lowly in the background, Percy spoke again. "That's why you don't like her, isn't it?"

    Thalia gave him a sharp look, one that seemed to threaten even I - and I wasn't even being looked at by her. "What?"

    "The Hunters," Percy waved around the car, making sure to single me out too as a Hunter. It slightly offended me that he grouped me with them. "They tried to recruit you, didn't they?"

    The atmosphere in the Mercedes began to spark with electricity, the air was growing tense. For a moment, I almost thought Thalia was going to sock Percy in the jaw. However, after a few seconds, Thalia let out a low sigh and nodded. 

    "Yes - they almost got me to join them too." Her eyes glazed over as she peered out the window, seemingly lost in past memories. "We -Annabeth, Luke, Grover, and I - ran into them when we were running for camp. Zoë had almost convinced me, but..."

    Leaning forward a little, I gave her a curious look over. "But?" I prodded, I knew I was being nosy - but she couldn't just leave the story like that. 

    "But, then I'd have to leave Luke." She bit out, closing her eyes as she did.

    Percy and I looked at each other and said the same thing. "Oh..."

    "Zoë and I got into a big fight after I'd told her why I couldn't join. She was angry and told me that Luke would only betray me in the end. She told me that I would regret my choice. That I was being childish." She bit out bitterly, still obviously angry about the whole ordeal.

    "Man, that's rough." Percy sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hard to admit that Zoë was right." 

    I glared at him and smacked the back of his head in a burst of anger. Percy gave me a confused look and I just glared slightly. "That's rude, Perc." 

    Thalia put an angry glare onto her face and shook her head. "Luke has never let me down! Never. She wasn't right." I felt my heart sink a little, remembering the day I found out that Luke had been a villain all along. It was the same day his knife pierced me through the chest. Biting my lip, I kept myself from saying it out loud - even with the look Percy was throwing in my direction.

    I gave her a small look of concern. "You know we are going to have to fight him, right?" Thalia lifted her electric eyes onto mine, but didn't say anything. "It's unavoidable." I whispered a little. More to myself than to her. Truthfully, I never wanted to see Luke again.

    Thalia didn't respond.

    "You haven't seen him lately, Thalia. You don't know -" Percy stressed, but Thalia cut him off.

    "I'll do what I have to do." She muttered, avoiding our gaze. In that moment, I felt as if me and Thalia were on the same level. I'd never respected her more than I did now. We both were being faced with our pasts, and we both had a duty to our parents.

    "Even if it means killing him?" I asked, just genuinely curious, however she tensed up at the sound of my voice. 

    Slowly, Thalia hit the unlock button on the car door and waved a hand towards the both of us. "Do me a favor," She paused, swallowing a lump in her throat as her words came out thicker. "Get out of my car."

    "Alright," I muttered lowly, not wanting to harm her any further. I could tell she was stressed just by thinking about fighting with Luke - let alone being the one to kill him. And, honestly, when Hera asked me the same question about Percy - I felt the exact same way.

    Sliding out of the backseat, I pulled Percy out of the car and gave Thalia an understanding nod to which she returned with a small, reassured half-smile and rolling up the power windows so she wouldn't have to see us any more. 

    "Well, Olive, guess it's just you and I." Percy heaved a low sigh, trying to shake all the tense emotions that had built up in the luxury car. "So, pick a car?"

    I smirked at him a little and looked around the lines of cars for something comfortable, but gave him a sarcastic look. "Don't you think it's a little inappropriate for a boy and a girl to say in the same car together?" 

    He looked a little taken aback and thought it over. "Well... I guess if you put it that way." He scratched his neck, pink tainting his cheeks a little. "I guess I could go stay with Grover or something."

    Rolling my eyes, I zeroed in on a big Sedan and pointed towards it. "I was kidding, Waterboy. How about that one?" Not really caring for a response, I walked up to it and yanked the door open, Percy following a little awkwardly.

    We sat in the car, watching the sun set, in silence. Neither of us knew what to talk about, and I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts for a little while. I was too worried about Artemis, about Penny, and about Annabeth to even think about sleeping - despite how tired I was.

    Perhaps Percy felt the same way. I turned to look at his face, but was greeted with the heart-melting sight of him already looking at me. Blushing a little, I bowed my head and looked away. "What?" I gave him a side glance. "Why are you looking at me?"

    "I was just curious." He quipped, smiling softly before looking back out of the windshield.

    "Curious. About what?" I prodded, turning back to face him. Percy motioned towards the setting sun and then towards me.

    "I was curious to see if you light up with the setting sun the same way you light up with the sight of the stars." He shrugged, but his words made me feel a little self-conscious. He noticed my discomfort and rose a brow. "What?"

    "You mean, you wanted to know if my skin glowed a different color during the day compared to night?" I bit out, feeling slightly angered and like an outcast. I felt like a freak now more than ever, I already glowed, but maybe now I shone in the sun too - perhaps I was golden. This day just keeps getting better.

    Percy quickly shook his head, chuckling a little as he did. "No, I wasn't talking about how you glow, Olive." His eyes softened as his sea green eyes met my sky blue ones. "No, I was talking about how you light up. There is this certain look you get in your eyes, a sense of fulfillment, of contentment, you get when looking up at the stars. I wanted to know if you did the same look when looking at the sun set." He explained, making a blush spread up my cheeks.

    I twisted my fingers together with his, cradling his hand with my own. "And, do I?" I smiled lightly.

    Percy chuckled and gave me a nod. "Yeah. You do."

    Curiously, I cocked my head to the side, turning to fully face him - the sun set long forgotten. "And, what about you? What sight gives you 'a sense of fulfillment, of contentment'?" I copied his words with a small chuckle, but still curious all the same. 

    Percy's eyes lost all sense of joking as he gazed at me. "You."

    My mouth ran dry, and I opened my lips to tell him that he should not like me anymore. That I wasn't his anymore. That I was a pawn of the gods now. But, Percy leant forward and kissed me lightly on my lips.

    Tangling my hand through his black hair, I kissed him back, feeling the familiar pounding in my chest as I did, and I felt the familiar feel of streaks splashing down my cheeks as tears rolled from my eyes. Kissing Percy I tasted red, I felt orange, and smelt blue.

    Colors were the only thing that could describe the way he made me feel. Red with passion. Orange with chaos. Blue with calm waves of security. It was confusing. It was beautiful. It was wrong. 

    And, it was interrupted.

    "Ehem." A low voice cleared their throat from the passenger seat, making me roughly push Percy away and turn towards the homeless man now sitting in the backseat with a dirty, raised brow pointed at the two of us.

    "Are you stalking me?" I growled, turning around to face him with a renewed sense of distrust. "Why are you dressed like that anyway?" I sighed, pushing my bangs behind my ear and giving Apollo a smart look.

    "How'd you know it was me?" He grinned a little, but shot Percy a small look of displeasure - making me roll my eyes. Now he wanted to act like the father I never had.

    "The eyes." I pointed towards mine, motioning that we had the same ones. 

    Percy rose a brow and turned to me. "You know him?" I only nodded in response.

    "I think you should both get some sleep, Oliviae." The dirty hobo scolded me, making me sigh and lean back in my seat - glaring up at the ceiling due to the fact that he was being so protective. 

    "I don't want to dream." I muttered, thinking about my last dream with Artemis and Annabeth - I was linked into their troubles, and I didn't want to see them suffer any more. 

    Apollo gave me a weary look and shook his head. "Don't be afraid to dream. If it weren't for dreams, I wouldn't know half the things I do about the future. Better than the tabloids." He joked a little, smiling a toothless grin.

    Holding up his hands dramatically, Apollo cleared his throat for a second time:

                    "Dreams like podcasts,

              Downloading truth in my ears.

                    They tell me cool stuff."

    "Apollo?" Percy guessed, trying to force down a chuckle. I noticed that he begun to slide away from me as soon as he pieced together the fact my Father had caught him kissing me.

    Apollo noticed too; he couldn't help but smirk at this. "Shh, I'm incognito. Call me Fred."

    "A god named Fred?" I spat dryly, giving him a blank look. I wasn't sure of what to make of his appearance. I was sure he just wanted to help, but my ego was still hurt none-the-less.

    "Uh... Zeus has certain rule when it comes to gods getting involved in human quests. Even when something major is going wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody." I opened my mouth to mention that Artemis was born first, but Percy spoke first.

    "You are with the train? Have you seen where Artemis is?" He asked, trying to get as much information as possible before Apollo disappeared again.

    "For the train, yes - but we are running out of time. Once the sun sets, I can't help you any more. And, as for my sister, I know a lot and I see a lot - but not her. I can't see her, it's as if she is clouded from me."  Apollo spared me a concerned look. "I don't like it."

    "And, the monster she was seeking?" I rose a brow, seeing if my Father was willing to give up that bit of information. "Did you know anything about it?"

    "No," Apollo sighed, "But, I may know someone who might. If you don't find the monster before reaching San Francisco, seek out Nereus - the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge that is sometimes kept obscured from my Oracle."

    "Okay, then." I sighed. "Meaning that you really know nothing whatsoever."

    "Oh, look at the time!" Apollo feigned a yawn, glancing down at his watch that he didn't own. "I have to be on my way - get some sleep you two." He cast me a small frown and gave Percy a sharp eye. "I'll expect a haiku about your adventures when this is done, Percy. I don;t think I'll be able to help you out any further." Apollo nodded and sighed, morphing from his Fred the Hobo disguise into his normal appearance.

    Before Apollo headed out, I called out to him. "Dad?" He shot me a small smile, happy to hear that from me. "Thanks... for helping."

    Apollo smirked a little and planted a small kiss on my forehead, muttering to me in Greek. His words were ones of endearment, muttering about how I was his daughter that he loves. "Good luck, Oliviae. Remember, your mother and I love you."

    I wasn't sure why, but I didn't think he was talking about Artemis just then.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys, so we seem to be having a problem! The 'Ship' name for Percy and Olive! So, here are the nominees - you need to comment your choice, then, the one with the most votes - WINS. Okay?

Olercy,

Perlivia,

Polive

You decide!