Left Out

Percy sat in the driver's seat of Grover's Lamborghini. Grover was asleep in the back. He'd finally given up trying to impress Zoe and Bianca with his pipe music after he played "Poison Ivy" and caused that very stuff to sprout from their Lexus's air conditioner.

As he watched the sun go down, he thought of Y/N - well, about the conversation he was about to have with her. About to. This...might not be the appropriate time to tell her everything. Besides, he wanted to be clean about it in front of Annabeth as well.

"What?" she asked looking up at him with those curious eyes.

He felt his throat tighten up and instead of revealing the matter to her, he choked out the words, "Thalia has gone back, you can get some rest here now."

It seemed like those words...bothered her a bit as her expression went down for just a second and then she was smiling again. She patted his chest lightly and moved away from him. He started feeling cold again.

To be precise, he missed her warmth already.

He looked back at Y/N, whose face was turned away from him. Maybe she was...sleeping, peacefully. He felt afraid to go to sleep. He was worried about what he might dream again.

"Oh, don't be afraid of dreams," a voice said right next to him.

As he looked over. Somehow, he wasn't surprised to find the homeless guy from the rail yard standing beside the shotgun seat and stroking Y/N's hair endearingly. His jeans were so worn out they were almost white. His coat was ripped, with stuffing coming out. He looked kind of like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck. But he was crossing the line.

"Hey," he snapped, "Don't touch her."

"Oh?" the man said, retracting his hand with an amused expression. "If it weren't for dreams, I wouldn't know half the things I know about the future. They're better than Olympus tabloids." He cleared his throat, then held up his hands dramatically:

"Dreams like a podcast,

Downloading truth in my ears.

They tell me cool stuff"

Apollo?" Percy guessed because he figured nobody else could make a haiku that bad. Suddenly he felt a wave of shame cover his body. He just told Apollo to back off from his own daughter. Maybe he should've read the atmosphere first.

He put his finger to his lips. "I'm incognito. Call me Fred. And don't worry, I'm glad to know you can take care of my daughter."

Percy's ears turned red. He wanted to change the topic. "A god named Fred?" he asked.

"Eh, well... Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody."

"Can you help us, then?"

"Shhh. I already have. Haven't you been looking outside?"

"The train. How fast are we moving?"

Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least."

"But where is Artemis?"

His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's... clouded from me. I don't like it."

"And Annabeth?"

He frowned. "Oh, you mean that girl you lost? Hmm. I don't know."

Percy tried not to feel mad. He knew the gods had a hard time taking mortals seriously, even half-bloods. Or maybe, he was a bit angry about the reaction he gave earlier for touching his daughter. He would like to think it's for the earlier case. For some reason, he didn't want to mess with Y/N's father.

"Percy," Apollo looked at him with a serious expression, "If my daughter wants to join my sister, don't stop her. It's a warning."

Percy couldn't find words to tell him. No, he didn't want her to join but how could he just go against a god's wish? "What about the monster Artemis was seeking?" he asked changing the topic. "Do you know what it is?"

"No," Apollo said. "But there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach 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 sometimes kept obscure from my Oracle."

"But it's your Oracle," Percy protested. "Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?"

Apollo sighed. "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search."

"In other words, you don't know."

Apollo checked his watch. "Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Percy, but remember what I said! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!"

Percy wanted to protest that he wasn't tired and he'd never made up a haiku in his life, but Apollo snapped his fingers, and the next thing he knew he was closing his eyes.

[ TIME SKIP ]

Percy sat bolt upright in the Lamborghini's driver's seat. Y/N was shaking his arm.

"Percy," she said. "It's morning. The train's stopped. Come on!"

He tried to shake off his drowsiness. Thalia, Zoe, and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks.

He fished his pen out of his pocket and stared at it. Anaklusmos, the Ancient Greek name for Riptide. A different form, but he was sure it was the same blade he'd seen in his dream.

And he was sure of something else, too. The girl he had seen was Zoe Nightshade.

"Are you okay?" Y/N muttered looking at his demeanor. She put her hand on his forehead, most probably to check his body for any kind of discomfort.

"I just...had a dream," he said.

Y/N gasped and looked curiously at him, "Anything about Annabeth?"

"No, I'll tell you later," he said and stared at her for some time. She soon realized how long they have been staring at each other. Clearing her throat, she was about to move away when Percy held her arm.

"You know your father was here right?" he said.

She smiled, "Oh the homeless guy back then? Of course!"

"Hey..I'm a bit curious," he said, "You are a child of Apollo. You're supposed to understand what the prophecies mean right? Then....why don't you tell us? It would help Annabeth. Unless..."

Y/N furrowed her brows hearing him and snatched her arm away, "Unless what? I want to leave her to die? Is that what you mean?"

"No, that's not what I-"

"Yeah okay whatever. Look here Percy. Even though I have a vague idea of what the prophecies mean, I cannot be sure about it. Sure I can give you an idea of what I think it means but being the child of Apollo, it also means I'm disrupting the flow of events. My information could change the prophecy itself and lead to a disaster. I'm not even sure if that can happen. All I know is that if everything changes because of me then I might be the cause of a lot of deaths." Y/N frowned, "Sometimes you should think from my perspective. You think I enjoy keeping this all to myself when I know it might help Annabeth?"

With that little statement, she went away to the back.

They'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said 'WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO'. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.

As they walked, Percy told Grover about his conversation with Apollo the night before—how he'd told him to seek out Nereus in San Francisco. Ofcourse, leaving the whole conversation about Y/N aside. Although he wanted it to be an ice-breaker and make Y/N calm down from before, it somehow made it worse. Sure, all of them started being warm as she was angry before but his information made her angrier. He knew cause she was emitting more heat than before.

"So my father talked to you but didn't even feel the need to talk to me?" she asked him, almost like it was his fault. It made him realize how she felt for all the times he accused her of something that wasn't his fault.

"Sorry," he said.

"Why are you sorry?" she asked angrily, "It's not your fault!"

"Sor-" Percy was about to apologize again but stopped after seeing her expression. Y/N didn't ever use her powers on him but for once he felt that she might.

"This is why I didn't want a boy in this quest," Zoe said, stomping away.

Grover looked uneasy and whispered, "Anyways, I think it's good that you talked to him. But we've got to get there first."

Percy tried not to get too depressed about their chances. He didn't want to send Grover into panic, but he knew they had another huge deadline looming, aside from saving Artemis in time for her council of the gods. The General had said Annabeth would only be kept alive until the winter solstice. That was Friday, only four days away. And he'd said something about a sacrifice. He didn't like the sound of that at all.

They stopped in the middle of town. One could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great," Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" said Grover.

"Yes," Zoe said. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you three go get us some food. Percy, Bianca, and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

They agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with them, but she did.

As Zoe was busy choosing muffins and drinks for everyone, Grover pulled Y/N away from her a bit and asked, "Are you...going to join them?"

Y/N smiled at him, though, a smile full of guilt, "I'm not sure yet."

"Please don't," he said almost immediately.

"Wait, why not? I mean-"

"Because I don't wanna lose you! I'm sure Percy and Annabeth would think the same!" he said.

"Why do you think Annabeth won't join with me?" she asked, amused.

"I-I mean-" Grover stuttered trying to find the right sentence.

"For Percy?" said asked, "I know."

"No, not for him," he sighed, "I'm not supposed to tell you this but...it's for Luke."

A part of Y/N always believed that something happened between Luke and Annabeth but they never talked about it. Ever since Luke turned on them, even speaking of his name is a touchy subject. But...the reason for staying should be Percy. It's the right thing to do after all. Not for Luke, but for Percy. As always, there seems to be something that happened in the group that she isn't aware of.

"Grover, how's their relationship going? Are they-"

Unfortunately, before they could finish their conversation, Zoe was already done with the orders. They took the bags and started walking towards the grocery store. Grover almost looked like he was glad how the conversation is over.

And this could mean only one thing. Percy and Annabeth were dealing with problems in their relationship. Something both of them didn't want to talk about with anyone. Either they told this to Grover, or he once again used his power to read their feelings. Y/N felt like there was a huge gap between her and the group again. Everyone was aware of everyone else. It was only her - it's always her who's left out of it.

Fine. She didn't want to be nosy either. Y/N was done trying over and over again. She won't be somewhere she's not wanted. Not anymore.

When they arrived with the drinks and pastries, Percy looked like he already said something to offend Bianca going by the looks she was giving him.

"We should do the tracking spell," Zoe said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to—"

He froze.

Percy was about to ask what was wrong, when a warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else—almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup."

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away—a flock of tiny doves. Percy's rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees—real fur, real whiskers.

Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. They gathered around him and tried to wake him up. He groaned, his eyes fluttering.

"Hey!" Thalia said, running up from the street. "I just... What's wrong with Grover?"

"I don't know," Percy said. "He collapsed."

"Uuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

"Well, get him up!" Thalia said. She had her spear in her hand. She looked behind her as if she were being followed. "We have to get out of here."