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DAYS IN THE SUN

chapter five
❛ 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎. ❜

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AMARA LAID ON her side, staring at the night sky as she listened to Percy and Grover's conversation. Usually, she was against eavesdropping on people, especially when it was none of her business if she wasn't invited to talk. But this time, she couldn't help it. She couldn't fall asleep, and the boys talking was something she couldn't drown out. So she was forced to listen.

"How are we going to get to the Underworld?" Percy asked, his voice turning low. "I mean, what chance do we have against a god?"

"I don't know," Grover said, his voice echoing from where he laid in his tree. "But back at Medusa's, when you were searching her office. Annabeth and Amara were telling me—"

A scoff escaped from the demigod. "Let me guess, Amara helped with Annabeth's plan?"

"Don't be so hard on her, Percy." Grover scolded the son of Poseidon. "Annabeth either."

"It's not Annabeth that's the problem," he snapped. "She's at least trying to make an effort despite the feud between Athena and Poseidon." His eyes darted over to Amara before they moved back to Grover. "But Amara? Our parents are threatening to go to war, that doesn't mean we have too as well. It's almost like she wants to make sure I know that we're not supposed to get along."

"Well," Grover started. "You did insult her by making that royalty comment, and bringing up her father and insulting him, you called her Belle—"

"—How was I supposed to know she hated that? She could have just said so instead of holding a dagger to my neck."

The satyr nodded his head. "You're right about that, but the whole thing with Medusa and blaming Annabeth's mom, she gets defensive for those she cares about, which is not many."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, I just can't wait for this quest to be over, it'll mean never having to be around or talking to her again. Annabeth was right, the sky and sea never interact or get along, why should we?"

Amara stared ahead as she twisted her ring back and forth, anxious to hear what the satyr had to say next. "You don't mean that," Grover spoke after a few moments of silence. "Amara . . . she's had a rough past, Perce, sometimes, she lets it cloud her judgement and it gets the better of her at times."

Her eyes widened at Grover's slip up. It took everything in her not to turn around and tell the satyr to stop talking before he accidentally spilled more.

"What are you talking about?"

The protector also seemed to realize his mistake as he began to splutter. "I—it doesn't matter." He said quickly. "What I'm trying to say is that you should give her a chance, and maybe, she'll give you one in return. After all . . . she forgave me . . ." He faltered again.

Her ring fell from within her fingers as they instead found her necklace, holding it within her closed fist as her mind racked with memories that she desperately tried to block out, to drown them in hopes of never allowing them to replay in her mind. But it was too late, the satyr's words had opened up a dam as she was flooded with memories from five years ago, and more specifically, that night.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked in a fast pace. "Forgave you for what?"

There was a pause, and he continued to urge the satyr. "Wait a minute," He said. "Your first keeper job was five years ago. Amara and Annabeth have been here for five years. They weren't . . . I mean, your first assignment went wrong—"

A frown formed on Amara's lips as she tried to think of ways to help her protector, to end this questioning from the son of Poseidon. Finally, She came up with one. Stretching her legs out, she made it clear it looked like she was waking up, or close to waking up as she adjusted her jacket. The boy's eyes fell on her moving form, waiting a couple minutes after she stopped moving to continue their conversation.

But she didn't care to listen anymore, she had heard all she needed to. It's not like she wanted to keep the rivalry between their father's going, it was the fact that she genuinely couldn't stand the Jackson boy for more than a couple minutes. Within those minutes, he would say something that would tick her off, or start a fight. It would be different if it was a one time thing, but it's happened multiple times that she couldn't put it past her anymore.

Annabeth was right after all these years, Zeus and Poseidon kids? Will never get along, she'll make sure of that, her and Percy were complete opposites, they only clash, bash, and argue. She couldn't picture them getting along or being . . . friends. She shuddered at the thought of being friendly with the son of Poseidon.

It was then she made a silent promise to herself, she wouldn't allow the opportunity to become friends with the Jackson boy, not now or in the future. Besides, he was the son of the sea god, and that by itself was a major issue to the daughter of Zeus. With those thoughts in mind, she rolled over once more, closing her eyes to get lost in a slumber.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Amara woke up to the sound of a dog. Rubbing at her eyes lazily, she sat up. Grover and Annabeth were both awake, while Percy still slept, stirring every now and then. Her eyes hardened as last night's conversation between him and the satyr came to mind. She quickly switched her gaze to her comrades before she could do something rash to the unconscious son of Poseidon.

The son of the Wild and daughter of Athena were talking to one another, when her eyes landed on the pink poodle who sat in Grover's lap. It stared back at her for a moment until it let out a small yap. "Amara," the satyr gestured his hand at the poodle. "Meet Gladiola,"

Her lips formed into a straight line as she stared down the boy, her dark brow raised. He nudged his head towards the dog, and it was clear he wanted her to say hello. Letting out a sigh of defeat, she raised her hand lazily as she waved. "Hello," she spoke tiredly before falling back to the ground, throwing her arm over her eyes.

Gladiola snorted, and she could only guess the pink poodle was satisfied. Annabeth chucked a bag of nacho flavored corn chips at the daughter of Zeus, landing on her face. She sat herself back up, holding the bag of chips as she raised a brow at the blonde.

"Breakfast," she stated.

A few moments passed while Grover continued talking to Gladiola and Amara ate in quiet. When suddenly, she saw Percy's eyes snapping open out of the corner of her eyes, looking startled as he sat up.

"Well," she spoke, her electric eyes turning harsh with a cold look as she did her best to hide her obvious anger towards the boy. "The zombie lives."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough for me to find breakfast." Annabeth tossed a bag of corn chips at him. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."

The pink poodle jumped out and began yapping in Percy's groggy face, a smirk formed on the brunette's lips as she watched the interaction. "No, he's not." Grover said to the poodle.

"Are you . . . talking to that thing?" The poodle growled at Percy's words, causing Amara's smirk to widen as the son of Poseidon scooted a little away from the animal.

"This thing is our ticket west." Grover retorted. "Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?"

"Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy." Percy glanced at Annabeth, his eyes flickering to Amara afterwards. She had wiped the smirk off her lips. Instead, one of her brows were raised as she nudged her head in the direction of the poodle. "Be nice, Barnacle Breath."

His eyes narrowed at her, he opened his mouth as if to say something about another nickname she had given him, before he quickly changed his mind. "I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle." He said. "Forget it!"

"Percy," Amara spoke in a stern manner. "I said hello to the poodle, you say hello to the poodle."

Gladiola growled.

Percy said hello to the poodle much to the brunette's amusement.

Grover then explained how he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a two hundred dollar reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

Throughout the story, she couldn't believe how smart animals actually could be, well, none greek animals. She knew the god's sacred animals were all picked wisely. For example, the eagle. Turning around, she directed her attention to an eagle that was sitting on a tree branch staring her down. It had been following her the whole quest, her father's sacred animal. When she blinked, it was gone, probably to another position to try and hide itself from her.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked, pulling the brunette's attention back to the conversation at hand.

"He read the signs." Grover added. "Duh."

"Of course, silly me." He nearly rolled his eyes but Amara had beaten Annabeth to the punch, literally. She punched his arm to make him stop before Annabeth had the chance to even get close to him. The Jackson boy shot her a look as he held his arm, narrowing his eyes at her as he glared. She gave him another sweet smile before it dropped completely, rolling her eyes as she focused on the matter at hand.

"So we turn in Gladiola." Annabeth explained. "We get money and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

"Not another bus." Percy murmured.

The blonde shook her head, agreeing with Percy, "No way." Pointing downhill, Amara's eyes landed on the train track. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."

"Well," the daughter of Zeus stood up, dusting off her jeans. "Looks like we have a train to catch."

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

On the train to Denver, Amara had fallen asleep. But about halfway through the long ride, she woke up due to the bumpiness and loudness of the train. But she opted to keep her eyes closed and give off the impression she was asleep as she listened to the children of Athena and Poseidon. "Who wants your help?" Annabeth asked.

"What do you mean?" The brunette positioned her head so it was leaning against the cold window, her arms crossed over her chest as she re-crossed her legs. "You don't just drool in your sleep." Percy immediately told her everything, and Amara couldn't help but speak up, revealing she was awake.

"That doesn't sound like Hades." She spoke, hiding her amusement when she saw Percy jump at her voice. "He always appears on a black throne and he never laughs."

"How long have you been listening?" Percy wiped his mouth as he questioned the girl. She stifle a smirk at his actions, knowing he was trying to make sure he didn't drool. "He offered my mother in trade," the sea green eyed boy continued. "Who else could do that?"

"I guess . . . if he meant, 'help me rise from the Underworld' he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring the Master Bolt if he already has it? That doesn't make any sense." She pointed out, leaning her head on her hand as she stared at the boy.

"You can't barter with Hades, Percy. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't aggressive this time—" Annabeth looked over to Amara, sending an apologetic look for the slip-up. The demigod gave a small wave of her hand, signaling it was okay.

"This time?" Percy asked. "You mean you've run into them before?" He turned his gaze on Amara, causing the girl to raise a brow. "When they saw you, they had said 'you' like they recognized you. So you have run into them before."

Annabeth quickly changed the topic. "Let's just say we've got no love for the lord of the dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."

"Especially, for your mom." Amara chimed in, leaning back in her seat as she stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets. Percy's eyes flickered back to her, sending her a glare. "What would you do if it was your mom?" He snapped.

A grin twisted onto her lips as she shrugged. "Easy," she spoke. "Leave her to rot."

His eyes widened as he switched his gaze back and forth between her and the daughter of Athena. "You're not serious?" He looked at the blonde, who gave him a shrug of her shoulders, agreeing with Amara. "You guys can't be serious."

"My dads resented me since the day I was born, Percy. He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent." Annabeth explained, taking the attention off of Amara, who sent her a sly nod of appreciation.

"But how, I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital . . ."

"I appeared on my fathers doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. Though you'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos, or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it was the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a regular mortal wife, and had two regular mortal kids, and tired to pretend I didn't exist."

It was quiet for a moment as Amara observed Percy, watching as he let the words sink in. Sea green eyes met electric blue for a brief moment, before they ultimately switched to stormy grey ones. The girls were completely serious, the smirks wiped off their lips as they waited for him to get it through his thick skull.

"My mom married a really awful guy." He finally spoke to the pair. Raising a dark brow, she made eye contact with the Jackson boy once more as he continued to talk. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."

"My dad doesn't care about me. His wife — my stepmom — treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened, you know, with monsters, they both look at me resentfully, like, 'how dare you put our family at risk!' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."

"How old were you?"

"Same age I was when I started camp. Seven." Annabeth looked at Amara. Breaking eye contact with the son of Poseidon, she turned her attention back towards the window. This part of the story was the part she wasn't fond of, she would rather go a century without hearing or speaking about it again.

"You two went to camp by yourselves?" Percy asked.

"No, Athena watched over me, guided me towards help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway, but that's where I met Amara." The brunette could feel the blonde's eyes lingering on the side of her head at the silent mention of her deceased older sister. She was a matter that Amara considered forbidden, not wanting to talk about someone who would never be able to talk back.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

The gateway arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long, something Amara was grateful for. She wasn't fond of waiting in lines all day, or to be more specific, waiting for anything. She may not have a temper like most children of Zeus, but she did inherit the impatience that they were most commonly known to have. The demigods and satyr began threading their way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other junk from the 1800s.

It wasn't all that thrilling to the brunette, but Annabeth kept telling them interesting facts about how the Arch was built. If it wasn't for Grover who kept passing Amara jelly beans and making small talk with her every now and then as he did so, she would have been bored out of her mind.

"You smell anything?" Percy murmured to Grover.

She watched from besides Grover as he took his nose out of the jelly bean bag long enough to sniff around before looking at the demigod. "Underground," he said distastefully causing the youngest Grace to shake her head with a grin. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."

"Guys," the son of Poseidon spoke again. "You know the gods symbols of power?"

"Yeah?" Annabeth looked up from a sign she was reading, while the electric blue eyed girl had somehow managed to find herself in between the satyr and Jackson boy.

"Well, Hade—"

Grover cleared his throat from besides Amara, making her wince at the loudness next to her ear as she shot him a look. "We're in a public place . . . you mean our friend downstairs?"

"Um, right. Our friend way downstairs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"

"You mean the Helm of Darkness?" Annabeth asked, turning around to speak with the boys as Amara realized who she was standing next to. Not hiding her disgust as she shot Percy a look, she made her way to the daughter of Athena's side. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his throne during the winter solstice council meeting."

"He was there?"

Annabeth nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus—the darkest day of the year." The brunette twisted her eagle ring back and forth at the thought, darkest day of the year, and it just so happens to be the day she had been born. "But his helmet is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat. If what I've heard is true . . ."

"He can become darkness." Grover finished. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane, or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

"Then how do I know he's not here right now, listening to us?"

"You don't." Amara spoke up as she gave a shrug, plucking a jelly bean out of Grover's hand before tossing it in her mouth.

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better." Percy turned to the satyr. "Got any blue jellybeans left?"

The protector pointed at the brunette as she laced her fingers together before placing her hands behind her head, walking off besides the blonde. "She ate the last one." The Jackson boy's eyes narrowed as he let out a deep breath, gritting his teeth. "Of course she did." And with that, the boys wordlessly followed after the girls who were further ahead.

Once they entered the elevator car to ride to the top of the Arch, Amara's eyes narrowed as her gaze landed on a rather large lady and her dog, a chihuahua with a rhinestone collar. She's always hated tiny dogs, she preferred much bigger ones, the size of a wolf or even bigger.

The brunette was shaken out of her thoughts by the elevator going up, causing the demigods and satyr to grab onto the nearest thing at the unexpected shake. The ladies eyes landed on the four, "No parents?" She asked with beady eyes, pointy, coffee-stained teeth, a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged so much she looked like a blue-jean blimp.

The daughter of Athena spoke up. "They're below," she explained. "Scared of heights."

"Oh," the women let out a soft gasp. "The poor darlings, you four must be brave to wander by yourselves." Amara gave the women a fake, sympathetic smile as she turned around, meeting glances with Percy.

She only turned back around when the chihuahua began growling at the demigods and satyr. "Now, now, sonny." The women scolded. "Behave." The dog had beady eyes like it's owner, intelligent and vicious.

"Sonny," the son of Poseidon spoke up from his place besides the brunette. "Is that his name?"

"No." The lady told him, smiling, as if that cleared everything up. The daughters of Zeus and Athena shared a look, annoyance visible on the former's face. In order to distract the youngest Grace, Annabeth began telling her about structural supports as they walked around and how she would've made the windows bigger and designed a see-through floor. She probably could've stayed up there for hours, but luckily for the brunette and the boys, the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

They came to a stop in front of the elevator, Grover, Amara and Annabeth walking inside, with Percy about to follow but the ranger had stopped him. "Next car, sir."

"We'll get out," Annabeth spoke. "We'll wait with you."

"Nah, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom." He waved at them, Annabeth wanting to get out but Amara pulled her back before the doors could slid shut on her.

"He'll be fine." The demigod reassured. "I mean, what could happen in one elevator ride?"

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

The daughter of Zeus glared at the blonde besides her as she screamed the son of Poseidon's name. Her hands were over her ears as she tried to block out the unnecessary loud noise. Her prayers were answered when Annabeth stopped and pointed in a random direction. "He's over there! Percy!" She ran over, Grover second and finally Amara as she walked behind them, hands stuffed into her jacket pocket as she watched the duo grabbed ahold of him. Annabeth flew into his arms, giving him a giant hug that he was too shocked to return before she was pushed away by Grover just for him to do the same.

"We thought you had gone to Hades the hard way." The satyr patted him on the back, giving Percy a huge smile.

Annabeth jutted her hip out, leaning her hand on it. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

"I sort of fell." He explained vaguely and he was replied with a hand grabbing onto his shoulder, jutting him backwards as he managed to keep his balance. "Two hundred meters?" Amara questioned, raising a dark brow as she scanned his face, only to stop once her eyes made it to his and she let go of his shoulder.

He let out a sigh as he pulled the three away into the crowd for privacy in the busyness as he explained everything that had happened. "Whoa, we've got to get you to Santa Monic. You can't ignore a summoning from your dad." Grover told him.

"First things first," the daughter of Zeus twisted her eagle ring. "We've get to get out of town."

The three demigods and satyr retuned to the Amtrak, continuing their way west, far away from the police sirens and monsters of the Mississippi.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

On June fourteenth, seven days before the solstice, the train rolled into Denver sometime in the afternoon. The last meal Amara had was the night before in the dining car somewhere in Kansas, and she was starving.

"Let's try to contact Chiron." Annabeth suggested, gripping onto the brunette's jacket to make sure she didn't get lost in her thoughts and lose them. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"We can't use phones, right?" Percy asked.

"She's not talking about phones." Amara gave the Jackson boy a grin, earning herself a raised brow from her actions.

The demigods and satyr wandered their way through downtown for roughly half an hour, before the daughter of Athena finally found a empty do-it-yourself car wash. The group of half-bloods and protector veered to the stall farthest from the street, Amara keeping her eyes peeled for patrol cars. She knew no matter where they were, Manhattan or Denver, four adolescents hanging around at a car wash without a car or parental figures, wouldn't look good. And any cop would figure they were up to no good, which she had to admit, they weren't wrong.

"What exactly are we doing?" The son of Poseidon asked as Grover took out the spray gun.

"It's seventy-five cents," He grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me," she held up her hands in surrender as she spoke. "The dining car wiped me out."

Amara rolled her eyes as she reached into her jean pockets, fishing out a quarter and placing it in the satyr's hand "Excellent." Grover flashed her a smile. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are you talking about?" Percy frowned.

Grover fed the quarters and set the knob to fine mist.
"I-M'ing."

"Instant messaging?" Percy looked at the label.

"Iris-messaging." Annabeth corrected for him. "The rainbow goddess, Iris, carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and if she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods." She added in greater detail.

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?" He gestured at the spray gun Grover was holding. The brunette almost groan at how slow he was putting the pieces together.

"Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow." The protector sprayed the gun in the air, a rainbow appearing through the waters.

Annabeth turned to Percy. "Drachma, please." She took it, ready to throw it. "O goddess, please accept our offering." The coin disappeared through the rainbow. "Half-Blood Hill." She requested.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Camp Half-Blood shimmered into view. The strawberry fields shone in the afternoon sun and Amara could see Long Island Sound in the distance. Standing with his back to the demigods and satyr, at the railing was a sandy-blond haired boy in shorts and an orange tank top. He was holding a bronze sword and seemed to be staring intently at something down in the meadow.

"Luke!" Percy called.

He turned, his eyes wide. His scarred face broke out into a grin when he saw him.

"Percy! Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're, uh . . . fine." Annabeth blushed feverishly as a snicker escaped the brunette's lips at her blushing friend who shot her a quick glare. "We thought—Chiron, I mean—"

"He's down at the cabins. We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"

"I'm right here." He called stepping into vision for Luke.

"Good, where's Amara?" Luke asked, looking around as his blue eyes shined with confusion. "I don't see her, is she alright?"

"Relax, Luke," Amara made her way forward, a smile appearing on the blond's sacred face once his eyes landed on her figure. "I was just in the back."

"Just making sure. Now—" before the son of Hermes could continue, a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum volume. The car rolled into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers shaking the pavement.

"Chiron had too—what's that noise?" Luke yelled.

"Hold on," Annabeth yelled. "I'll take care of it." The blonde looked grateful to have an excuse to get out of the older demigod's sight, a realization that caused a smirk to twist onto the Grace girl's lips. She had a plan to bring up this moment later to tease the Chase girl. "Grover, Am, come on."

The satyr frowned. "What?" He asked. "But—"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come on!" The blonde ordered, grabbing onto the protector and storming off.

Giving Luke one last look, Amara was prepared to follow after the demigod and satyr when the older demigod called out her name. "Wait, Ara!" She stopped in her tracks, making her way back into his tracks as a smirk appeared on the blond's lips. "Amara, if I find out you got your butt kicked during the quest, I'll never let you live it down!"

The son of Hermes' smirk turned into a smile. She shook her head at the male, waving him off as she followed the other two towards the next stall with the obnoxious noisy car.

"Hey," Annabeth called. "Turn the music down!" The older man turned away, his eyes landing on the two demigods and satyr.

"And what are you gonna do about that, huh?" He taunted. Amara glanced to Annabeth and Grover, her brow raised as a grin appeared.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Grover shouted something as the man screamed and got back into his car, speeding away from the sight of seeing the satyr's goat feet. Annabeth howled with laughter as she had an arm wrapped around Amara to keep her upright, the latter had a grin as laughter of her own seeped from her lips. The trip made their way back to the stall where they had left the Jackson boy talking to Luke.

But their happy moment was gone when they saw Percy's face. Luke was gone, and the spray bottle laid limp in Percy's hand. Annabeth's smile faded. "What happened, Percy?" She asked. "What did Luke say?"

"Not much," He replied, but the brunette could tell he was lying. He wasn't good at it, he was almost as bad as Grover. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

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2-23-23

hello hello! finally, a consistent updating schedule, now to hopefully keep it up! anyway, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and i'll see you next week for the next one. have a great rest of your week/weekend, and thank you all so so much for the appreciation and supportiveness! it means more then you all will ever know <3