"No," Annabeth agreed.
She pointed downhill, towards train tracks that they hadn't seen last night in the dark. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile that away. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."
The group nodded and set forth.
Jakob and Annabeth walked ahead with Grover and Andromeda a bit behind them. Along the way, Annabeth looked at Jakob. "I'm... I'm sorry about last night, telling us about your experience with your father."
"It wasn't even the worst of what happened." Jakob said dismissively, trying to not talk about it.
"I also didn't have a good family life before I was on the streets." Annabeth said quietly, causing Jakob to glance at her.
"You were seven when you were on the streets." Jakob said with a frown. "That's pretty young and dangerous for a child of that age. If I may ask, what happened that led you to being driven onto the streets?"
"Dad married another woman who already had kids and..." Annabeth stopped there, looking like she didn't want to go any further due to the memories.
Jakob placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him and see sympathy in his eyes along with a small smile. "You don't have to tell me. Whenever you're ready."
Annabeth smiled back. "Thank you, Jakob. And the same to you... when you want to talk. Sometimes it's good to get it out and talk to somebody, as aunt Hestia told me."
"You've spoken with her then?" Jakob asked, curious.
"After a... incident not long after I came to camp." Annabeth said quietly and said nothing more about it, which Jakob was alright with. "So, tell me about your family. Not just Thor, I mean. You have siblings, right? Magni, Modi, and Thrúd."
"Yes, I do. Magni and Modi are my brothers, and complete assholes. Both of them are just as sadistic, bloodthirsty and arrogant as the rest of our family. The only positive thing I can say about Magni is that he's the less impulsive and immature of the two. Having his own twisted sense of honor, but still prefers battling strong opponents. As for Modi…nobody likes Modi and probably wouldn't care what happens to him." Jakob said with anger in his tone, confusing and even shocking Annabeth.
"But... he's your brother." She reminded him.
"Modi is nothing but a bully with powers, he never fights anyone that's stronger than him. Always preferring to fight those he knows are much weaker than him, opponents who wouldn't even be able to scratch him. Along with taunting and insulting people to make them angry. He…" Jakob said before stopping and clenching his fists in anger, with the Daughter of Athena looking at him in concern.
"What did he do?" She asked softly.
"He insulted my mother... so I took his mace and bashed him in the face with it over and over again until his face was bloodied and teeth missing." Jakob said darkly, shocking Annabeth as she stared at him with wide eyes. "I told him if he ever spoke of my mother like that again... I'd rip his heart out and force him to eat it. he was smart enough to know that I would follow through and has never insulted my mother again, least not in front of me."
Seeing Annabeth's reaction, Jakob took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before looking at her.
"Sorry, I just…get really angry when anyone talks about my mother the way Modi did. But together, he and Magni are a dangerous team, and both of them are driven by their desire to impress our father. To be the one he chooses to inherit his hammer." He said, with Annabeth nodding in response.
"It's…it's fine. I guess anyone would get angry if their mom was insulted." Said Annabeth. "What about Thrúd? That's Thor's daughter with Sif, right?"
"Yeah, that's her. Thrúd is the one member of my family I'm the closest to, helping me whenever she can and always being there when I need her. She was the first person to fully welcome me, when I was brought to Asgard. She's also a born warrior, being one of the strongest fighters I know. But she's also got a temper, if you get on her bad side then you're liable to be hit by lightning." Jakob said with a small smile.
Annabeth smiled as if in remembrance. "Reminds me of Thalia..." She whispered softly but Jakob heard her.
He then remembered something. "May I have my jacket back now?"
Annabeth suddenly blushed, remembering she was still wearing it. It looked good on her, Jakob noted.
She removed it, and then handed it to him. She pursed her lips while doing so. "What?" Jakob asked, while taking his jacket and putting it on him, hooking the Leviathan Axe to the hook on the back.
"…Last night, I… I had a nightmare about something," Annabeth mumbled. "When I woke up… and saw your jacket covering me, I… I knew it was you that put it there. So, thank you."
Jakob shrugged. "No problem. Don't think too much on it. Just worried, I guess."
Annabeth blushed, and then rolled her eyes. "Idiot."
"Love you too, Wise Girl."
She glowered, and then smiled. She was so confusing at times. "Well, anyway, thanks for that."
"No problem." He said. Then he added, "You look good in it, by the way."
He didn't understand why he said that part. Apparently, Annabeth had the same thought, though her face was starting to look like a tomato.
Then Jakob pointed in the direction the others were going. "Come on. Let's go."
Annabeth followed, smiling a bit along the way. Jakob had no idea why... but he liked seeing her smile.
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They spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.
They weren't attacked once, but the group didn't relax. Who knew where an attack could come from?
Andromeda had to keep a low profile since her picture was tagged at the greyhound incident and were in the paper for it. She looked like she held a bat or something. Andromeda looked like she had a wild look on her face.
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