JADE’S POV
On Friday morning there was a knock on my cabin door. Percy had been spending the night with Annabeth, so he couldn’t answer. It came again , more urgently, but I refused to move. I closed my ees and listened to the rhythmic pounding, trying to morph it into a lullaby so I could fall asleep again. Without any permission Nico just crashes in. I would have yelled at him, but I didn’t have the energy, you know finding out your inheritantly evil taks a lot ot of you.
“I hope you didn’t forget that we do have a quest we need to go on” he says leaning against the door. He looked different, tired, the color had gone out of his skin, or whatever little color he had, and he seemed skinnier then usual.
“I didn’t forget” I say softly, pointing to a bag at the end of my bed that jenny had packed with everything I could want. It was a never ending bag, so anything I needed I could get, it was smart. I was impressed, and I would have thanked for, but I didn’t. I hope she knew I was grateful. I would tell her when I came back, if I came back. Nico rolled his eyes and grabbed my bag, slipping it over his shoulder.
“Well lets go, our train to los angles leaves in an hour” he says. I slowly sit up and start tieing the laces on my combat boots. The familiar leather was odly comforting agasint my familiar jeans. But frightening at the same time, this is what I wore to get here, and now, not even a week later I was forced back to where I had run away from. It dawned on me that they might be sending me back because I was evil.
If anyone could turn their back and leave me in my hell, it would be nico and Kelly, probably while they’re making out as well. “los angeles? I thought we were going to san diego” I say rubbing my eyes.
“I need to make a stop along the way, and los angeles holds the easisest way to the underworld.” Great, he was ditching me in literal hell.
“bring you girlfienf home for dinner with the family?” I taunt, but only half heartedly. Nico smirks a me but its only half heartedly as well.
“well” I say, grabbing my leather jacket, and holding out my hand for my bag, “lets get this over with” I sigh. He hands me my bag and we make our way p to the top of half blood hill where Kelly , Percy and Chiron were waiting for us.

“…And I asked jenny to put a lot of drachmas in your bag so you cn message me whenever you need” Percy remindss me again, checking me up and down for the fourth time making sure I had everything. I thought itw as sweet at how worried he was. He was the best older brother I could ever ask for. At least there was one good thing about being our fathers bad side; Percy was the good side. And the world needed Percy.
I smile at him and kiss him on the cheek. He takes the opportunity to hug me so tight I think he's about to deflate my lungs. “Jade, no matter what happens, I love you. Ok, we may just have been brought together a week ago, but I could not have asked for a better little sister, and I love you” he whispers again fiercely. I chuckle lightly.
“I love you too Percy” I whisper in his shoulder. He relaxes a little. “Take care of annabteh okay?” I say, moving back. I take a breath and turn to chiron, who chuckles lightly and pats my head.
“Take care of yourself, come back to us” he says seriously, “no matter what anyone thinks or says, I have never seen anyone more pure or good then you” he reassures me, which surprises me a little because I didn’t know he knew about that. But of course he did, everyone did.
We wave goodbye to them and mount the van that would take us to the train station with Agron, the bus driver who was covered in eyeballs, each would blink at different intervals, which really wasn’t the weirdest thing I’ve seen my entire life. The whole time Kelly was raving about how excited she was to finally get to go shopping in Beverly Hills, while Nico and I stayedsilent, the tension growing so thick I was afraid it would make the van explode.
Agron finally drove up to the train, and I was relieved to get out of the van and into fresh air, before deflating again at realizing that I was stuck with those two for the rest of the week. “thank you so much agron” I say smiling at him while he grabs kellys huge duffel bag. He doesn say anythgin, but smiles slightly, and seems to tell my with his multiple eyes that he fees for me. “I’ll see you soon ok!” I say, reassuring myself more than him. He just puts a hand on my shoulder, which gives me more courage than I would have thought. If a stranger like agron thought I could do good, then maybe I could.
Nico goes and gets us our tickets while Kelly and awkwardly sit next to each other on the bench. “what do you need such a big duffel bag for?” I ask, trying to start conversation.
“you never know” is all she answers before nico appears again, giving us each our tickets without a sound. I couldn’t count on him to break awkward times, in fact, he probably would just make them worse, I thought to myself as he took a seat next to me and I felt kelly tighten up on the other side, turning her nose up at me. I roll my eyes, it was just because her huge bag took up the seat by her.
Nico impatiently patted his fingers on his knee, as I impatiently tapped my foot, while Kelly impatiently cheked her hair for non existent split ends. Having ADHD was tough. Finally our train arrived and we boarded, making sure to check all the exits and people, keeping our senses on high alert. Nico and I were traveling targeys, and being so powerful, we were proably flashing from a 100 miles away.
We got our own little booth and Kelly quickly dropped her bag and threw herself at the window seat. I rolled my eyes and I heard nico grunt as he pishes her bag away and sit next to her uncomfortably. I slid on to the other side and adjusted myself agasint the windowsill.
“two rows behind us, the man with a hat, kabolai, doesn’t mean us harm exactly, just wants to rob us” I say quietly enough for no one to over hear but for them to listen. They both don’t visually react, since weve been trained not to, but they move in a way to let me know they hear.
“Im hoing to head t the bathroom, see what he wants” I say standing up, making sure I had my knife. They both move again to make sure I knew they understood, nico shoots me a quick glance letting me know he’ll be there if I get ino troube. I nod and start carefully walking towards the back of the train. The kabolai flashes a smile at me, and stands up, following me deeper into the more secluded parts of the train. My heart begins to race, and my fingers tense up with adrenaline.
I stepped into a dark room that probably held the cargo and was about to turn around when someone stepped in front of me. “tickets please!” the man said holding his hand out. The kabolai behind me handed him a slip of paper, which the man punched a hole into and then handed back. He looked me down impatiantly.
“urr.. its on my seat, I was just going to the bathroom-“
“no ticket no ride ill have to kick you off, unless you can pay for it now?” the man asks, and it sinks in. there was not only one, but two. I get a little more tense.
“how much”I say warily, reaching for my dagger.
“I don’t want your money dauger of Poseidon” the ticket man screechs before launching himself at me. I duck at the last second and he ends up knocking over his partner. They were both on the ground for a split second before they got up circled me again, their clothes morphing into their scaly skin, and their tongues slithering out like a snake.
“ah great” I say, and grab my dagger, they look at it warily in the light, licking their lips and flashing their eyes as if it were a weapon. Well, it was.
“two against one daughter of the sea? Not in your favor” one says, trying to reassure the other. They both laugh and step forward. I look around for another weapon, and find a small purse made out of crocodile skin. Funny.
“I keep hearing that a powerful demigod like me smells. Would you guys mind telling me what I smell like? Because trust me, I try to take as many showers as possible, but you know” I shrug, stepping non chalantly back towards the bag.
“you smell like my lunch” one og them says, which was really lame, but the other one found it hilarious. In a quick move I grab the small hand bag, punt it as hard as possible at the one on the right, then throw my dagger at the one on the left. He exploded intot gold dust, which along with the minor concussion, seemed to confuse the one on the right long enough for me to grab my dagger and stab it in the back. It also exploded into a gold dust, which then flew away inot the wind.
I turn on my heels about to walk back into the train when I almost stumble ino the man in front of me. His eyes were huge, and he was muttering, his entire body shivering. This was not good. I was jut figuring out how to push him off the train without killing him when I heard a loud clear snap. I look past the man to see nico standing there, calm and dangerous as ever, his blue eyes aflame with power. “you saw nothing, you’ve had a lot of coffee, and you are late to start gathering tickets. I suggest you go get them” he says in an ominously clear voice. The man nods, his eyes blank, then turns and stubles past nico yelling for tickets.
“that’s… impressive” I say, ignoring the small shiver running down my back. It was creepy, that’s what it was.
“Manipulating the mist, usually it does a god job of it itself. But for some reason humans are noticing our world more and more, that’s why I need to stop by los angles. See if I can talk to Hecate, theres a statue of her in the los angeles museum of art” he says.
“and you're going to talk to the statue?” I ask.
“well no, not directly, but the statues carry a piece of the gods that represent them, their face or their animals or their weapons and symbols, things that could bring a god to someone asking for them easier if needed be. Why do you think they made stautes?” he asks, but not really asking, just making me feel stupid. I shrug and push past him.
“if we go to see Hecate, wouldnt that mean there woud be other statues of gods and goddesses as well?” I ask. He nods silently.
“and monsters, and bad stuff. But, it’s the only way I know to contact her, and I need to contact her, so, it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Will you come with me?” he asks, turning unexpectedly, making me back into the wall behind me. He was a foot away from me, so close I could feel the power radiating of off him and making my head dizzy. I felt as if I were standing at the edge of a cliff, which had no bottom, and the last thing I wanted to do was get too close and fall off.
“Do I have a choice” I say, trying to blink the smoke out of my head. He chuckles lowly, the sound making me shiver. And then, just as quickly as it happened, he backs away and walks toward our seat. I stand there, blinking a few times, trying to figure out what just happened. I shake my head and slowly make my way to the booth. Not surprisingly but still a little annoyingly, I find Kelly all over nico, nibbling on his ear. I roll my eyes and sit on the opposite side, rummaging around my bag for some ambrosia becaue I felt as if my head might explode.
I hear low murmurs and groans of pleasure, and I dig harder, trying not to puke all over everything. I finally find a small square, which I take, split of a corner, and pop in my mouth, letting it dissolve on my tongue. My mind instantly clears and my stomach unclenches.
“what does it tastes like?” I hear nico asks. I open my eyes to see that he had pushed Kelly off of him, which made her pout and it looked like she was aboit to cry, or stab him, either way. He was staring at me intently, as if he really wanted to know the question.
“is it supposed to taste like something?” Kelly snaps out fo her tantrum to look at me confused. Nico also looks almost interested, the first time I saw that.
“its supposed to taste like your happiest memory, the time you’ve felt the happiest and safest.” Kelly says, brushing her hand through nicos hair, “mine tastes like whip cream” she giggles seductively in his ear, “do you remember when we stole that can of whipped cream and headed over to your cabin and-“
“mine tastes like caramel cheesecake” he says cutting her off, studying me, trying to see if it had any meaning for m. I drew on a blank. Caramel cheesecake, that’s an interesting choice I thought.
“guess I don’t have a happiest memory then. Never really felt safe.” I say shrugging. They don’t say anythgin after that and we all fall inot a uncomfortable awkward sleep. With kelly of course asleep on nicos lap.
A loud screech made me sit up in a start, my hand instantly went over to my boot where I kept my dagger but a cold hand stopped me, pressing my hand against my leg. I look up, and alsmot but heads with nico. He was staring at me intently, telling me to be quiet. I nod and silently sit back up. I let my mind ponder over how weird it was that I could tell what nico wanted to tell me without him telling me, especially since he's so dark and I’ve never been able to tell what he was thinking before, but I let it go.
The train was dark, and it was dark outside as well. The entire trip from New York to los angeles takes about three days, and weve barely survived a day. I realized we might have been asleep for hours. I try to look for a watch, but come up short. I look outside, and deduce that its almost morning, meaning we slept just around 12 hours.
I hear a tumble and snap my head around, nico herd as well an was on his feet in a millisecond. Kelly finally woke up as well, fear in her eyes. I put my finger to her lips and she nods, going back to sleep, snoring softly in remarkable time.
“I don’t see anything” I say softly, but of course it was pitch black, I wouldn’t be able to see anything If I wanted to. He merely shakes his head.
“being a son of hades has its benefits” he says, softly moving next to me so he wouldn’t have to whisper as loud, “one of them includes being able to sense when dead things are around, and monsters trying to kill us are definetly dead things” he says, leaning seemingly casually back into the seat, but I knew it wasn’t casual, nothing he did was casual. “lean on me and pretend to sleep” he whispers, closing his eyes.
“why the hell do I need to lean on you” I argue, but still rest my cheek on his shoulder. The cold from his skin almost seemed to seep through his clothes.
“it makes us seem more vulnerable, but its actually the opposite, trust me” he says, ending the conversation. The last thing I wanted to do was trust the son of hades, but it seemed as if I had no choice.
“is it still there” I ask what seem like an eternity laetr but was probably only two hours. Nico is quiet for a moment, then sits up, brushing me off him and by Kelly again in a milli second. I try to keep my frown on the inside, that was very rude.
“I don’t know where it went, but its not on the train, we’ll look around tomorrow, but for now, I don’t think its going to bother us, not tonight anyways” he says, relaxing against the back and closing his eyes. I mutter somrthinh very rude, which I was hoping he heard, and drift back to sleep.

Notes

Hey guys! Please let me know what you think. I'll try to post more regularly. I hope you guys like it!