24 chapter 23-A Deal

For the rest of the ride to Los Angeles, everything was quiet. When the train made a stop or two a monster or two would show up but after everything I went through they were easily dealt with. Kronos at the time hasn't even shown himself. It makes me wonder what he has in store for me in the future.

That is until we found out that the train would be overrun with cops looking for us, specifically me.

It started as an "ordinary day", we got breakfast, we talked, and we planned. Sadly I couldn't train around here. Heh, get it, train, because we're on a train. *Sigh*I need to work on my jokes. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked.

When the train stopped at the Kingman Amtrak Station, I noticed that Police were arriving at the station we currently were in. They tried to be sneaky but that just made them more suspicious.

"Guys we need to go," I told them.

Grover was still eating. So when he responded it was all muffled and food was going everywhere.

*Gulp*, but why, nothing is happening. Wait, do you see monsters," he then started to sniff the air," I don't smell anything, so what's the issue."

That's when Annabeth answered for me.

"The issue is that the police are currently on this train, which means they are either here for us or something else, and I don't think it'd do us any good if we were arrested because we didn't leave in time," she told him.

"Oh, we should be getting out of here then," he said in distress," we can't get arrested, this quest is too important."

"We know Grover, that's why we should leave right now."

We got out of our booth, but not too fast that we would look suspicious. We went to our rooms and got all our belongings.

We went to the exit all inconspicuously like. Sadly I was wrong. We were noticed and the chase was on. A cop had noticed us while holding a picture of me.

It was awkward, he did a double-take and then yelled out.

"Hey kids, I need you to come with me."

Too bad for him, as when he started talking we did a mad sprint, with him yelling out into his radio about finding us. I pushed a garbage can down, which ended up tripping him. He didn't give up though.

"We got a 10-80 over at Kingman station, convey at my location."

That made me frustrated, I would be on the news even more and would have to deal with the publicity after.

Getting out of the station a Humvee appeared in front of us. Instead of it being the military or the cops inside, what I found was a buff guy in a leather jacket with sunglasses.

"Come with me if you want to finish this quest," he said gruffly.

I immediately went to say no, but Annabeth stopped me.

"Percy, this is the God of war, Ares, we don't have time to say no. The police are right behind us," she said.

I look behind us and two blocks away I see a bunch of them running right at us.

"Fine, let's go."

The moment we got inside he immediately pressed on the accelerator. It was amazing how fast this was going. I know I've gone faster, but not in a situation like this.

"So, you're the kid everyone's talking about, eh cuz," he said looking in the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, I am. What's it to you," it annoyed me that I couldn't control my emotions very well, what with him having an aura that makes people mean and rude.

"What's it to me you say, kid I'm the god of war. You're the reason for a future war to happen. Then there are your skills. They're impressive for someone of your age. You fight like a would-be warrior. Not many people like that," he said.

"Okay, well that was informational but why did you save us?" Asked Annabeth.

"I've been busy looking for the old man's bolt and knowing that there is a bunch of kids sent on a quest that they're meant to fail. It just tickled my fancy," he said with a grin.

"Right but what do you want?" I asked.

"I'm bored," he said in a teasing voice.

I was starting to get a little more mad. I needed to keep my emotions in check, he's either doing this on purpose or this is just how he talks.

"Would you please get to the point?" Asked Annabeth. Seems I wasn't the only one getting frustrated.

"I want you to do me one favor in the future, and I will send you directly to Los Angeles. Just like that," he said pointedly, staring at me.

"There's gotta be more, what's the catch?" I asked.

"There's no catch, just take the deal and you'll be right there," he said.

Knowing how this may go, and with him being manipulated by Kronos. I can't accept this deal.

Instead, Annabeth took the deal for me.

"We'll do it, send us there," said Annabeth.

For a moment I was in shock, I couldn't believe she would take this deal. Then for just a second, I saw a gold shimmer in her eyes.

It can't be what I think it is, it must have been a trick of the lighting.

"Great answer", he said.

That's when he disappeared and I was in the driver's seat.

"Oh crud, I don't even know how to drive."

I accidentally stepped on the wrong pedal which made us stop. I switched pedals immediately.

I was still mad at Annabeth but I wanted to pay more attention to the road than her.

Grover on the other hand could do what I couldn't.

"Annabeth, what were you thinking? This is the god of war. Taking this deal was a mistake. He even lied, he said we would be there in Los Angeles, but we're not in Los Angeles. We're on the road."

"I-I'm sorry, I don't know why I agreed. I know that I didn't want to say yes, it was like my mouth had a mind of its own," she said in distress.

"It's not okay, but we'll just have to deal with it," said Grover.

"Percy, are you okay?" Asked Annabeth.

"No, didn't you hear what I said? I don't know how to drive. All I know comes from books and movies, not experience."

That's when they started to panic with me.

"Um, uh you're pressing the accelerator right?" Asked Grover.

"If I wasn't we wouldn't be moving right now but well I did make the mistake at the start."

"Right okay, uh do you know which route to take?" She asked

"Nope, can one of you check the glove box?"

Grover went to the front seat, leaving Annabeth in the back. He went through the glove box to find a small tablet with GPS on it.

"Okay, Grover can you input Los Angeles, please," I asked.

He put the tablet in my view, which conveniently had a magnet on it. The tablet said that it would take around six hours to get there.

For a few minutes, we stayed in silence, till a cop car showed up, then another and another.

"Get out of the car, do not escalate this." yelled out a cop.

I just increased in speed.

We spent a few minutes with this chase. I almost crashed every single time but with spider sense, I was able to save us. Annabeth and Grover were screaming in the background and the GPS was loading like crazy looking for a new route.

We managed to lose them and went back to the road, to finish this goddamned quest.

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