"They're right," Annabeth said with a shake of her head. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says."
Grover kept sniffling. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Andromeda."
"You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet both Andie and Jakob are really glad you're here right now."
She kicked said demigods in the shins.
"Yeah," Andromeda said, glaring at Annabeth for the kick before focusing on Grover. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."
You could hear a deep, satisfied sigh. Andromeda waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, they realized he'd fallen asleep.
"How does he do that?" Andromeda marvelled.
"I don't know," Annabeth said. "But that was a really nice thing you said to him."
"I meant it."
"You didn't have to kick me, though," Jakob grumbled. "Did you not hear the motivating speech I gave him?"
Annabeth chuckled. "Yes, yes. I did hear that."
The trailer went into silence after that, bumping around on the feed snacks. The zebra munched on a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at Andromeda hopefully.
Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts.
"That pine-tree bead," Andromeda said. "Is that from your first year?"
Annabeth looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing.
"Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counsellors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress – now that was a weird summer…"
"And the college ring was your father's?"
"That's none of your –" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."
"You don't have to tell us," Jakob said with a shake of his head.
"No… it's okay." She said with a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her… That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him."
"That doesn't sound so bad." Andromeda said, not seeing what was wrong.
"Yeah, well… the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmother was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood." Annabeth said with anger.
"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?" Andromeda asked.
Annabeth wouldn't meet her eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicting pain. Just as Jakob wouldn't want to go back to Asgard and face his own father."
"You shouldn't give up," Andromeda told her. "You should write a letter or something."
"Thanks for the advice," she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with."
Jakob put a hand on her shoulder, causing her grey eyes to lock with his blue ones. "Annabeth, listen to me. We may not have had the best of fathers, but yours can still redeem himself... mine's cannot. I suffered years of physical, mental and emotional neglect and abuse at my father's hands, so there's zero chance at us having the right father/son relationship. But it's not too late for you. Don't dwell on the past, focus on what you have now. Understand?"
Annabeth gave him a small smile, which he responded back with a nod.
The group passed another few miles in silence.
"So if the gods fight," Andromeda said, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"
The blonde leaned her head against the side of the trailer. "I don't know what my mum will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."
"Why?" She asked in surprise.
"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Anymore stupid questions?"
Andromeda couldn't think of an answer. Fortunately, she didn't have to. Annabeth was asleep, leaning on Jakob's shoulder, the Son of Thor having fallen asleep this time.
Andromeda had trouble following their example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at him, but eventually she closed her eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jakob snapped awake when he felt the truck stop and the sound of doors opening and closing. Quickly, he woke Grover and Annabeth up, and Grover quickly woke Andromeda up.
"Hide! Now!" Jakob hissed, ducking down behind a cage while Annabeth put her cap on, turning invisible.
Grover had to dive behind feed sacks and hoped they looked like turnips.
The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in.
"Man!" One of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.
"You hot, big boy?" He asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face.
The lion roared in indignation.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.
Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous.
The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin, Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"
"Not today." Jakob's voice said behind the trucker, causing him to whirl around in surprise only to be clobbered in the face by the Son of Thor so hard that several teeth went flying and the trucker was knocked out.
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