Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO Series.

AN: "YO MISS AUTHOR IS THIS HALF-YEAR UPDATE GONNA BE A REGULAR THING FOR YOU?"

To be honest? I don't know. Had the story in my mind but whenever I opened my laptop I suddenly don't know how to write. Hence the (very)slow writing -_-

Actually, I kinda word-vomit for the last week because of a certain review I got in my email. Which was like a slap to the face for me that caused me to laugh and snap me out of my writing-not-writing state.

I'm giving a genuine thanks to dl-o-lb here. You managed what my best friend couldn't (she tried. I was just being lazy and a jerk) and that was virtually bitchslapping me to get to work (which I appreciate so much).

Please note that I'm saying all this in a light mood so If you think I'm angry at you, I'm not. You, all the readers I mean, have the right to be upset at me for this lmao. But honestly speaking you probably can't change how I write and when I update, so sorry for having to put up with all this ( - w - ;)

Anyways, on to the reviews!

LegacyOfIris: Lol, can't do that since I need him to be around nine or ten. You'll know the reason soon ;) And yep, It's gonna have curse words in this one, but not from Percy (yet).

Athena128, GuessWHAT, Guest (7), Guest (8): Thank you! Enjoy this chapter :)

Vanessa Masters: He really just sleeps wherever convenient lol. I'm so glad to see that you're enjoying the story! I hope you'll stay for more and not abandon this fic because of my incompetence :')

Guest (5): I will keep them rolling m8, but probably not as fast as you'd hoped :') Thank you!

The Trainer Grimm: He will, soon. And the couple was actually monsters in disguise. Thank you for liking this story, I feel so happy hearing that :D

yetanothersilentreader: YES I AM ALIVE and yes that's completely understandable considering how long I've kept you waiting (; w ; ) THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENT IT GIVES ME SO MUCH CONFIDENCE IN MY WRITING SKILLS! And yes kasian Percy-nya ga ada ortu, ga ada rumah juga :(

Omega Alpha Hydra: He will curse soon and when that happens people might get angry but they'll have to deal with it +(- w - ) I'm still juggling on the case with talking Nightfall. I'll ponder about it some more.

A Samhildanach: Thank you so much! Wow, I didn't know Ender was like that in the novel. Kinda curious now, so I might read it sometime. Yeah I liked that part also xD Regarding the tenses, you have to excuse me on that. I'm not a native speaker and sometimes I got confused on what tense I should use... Anyway, sorry for making you wait, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Jewel5189: I might just take you up on that offer, if your offer still stands. I also needed an American to tell me about anything USA-related anyway lol. Though it might take a while before you hear from me regarding the next chapter. Anyway if it still stands, just PM me 'kayy.

ReconstructWriter: OMFG YOUR REVIEW IS SO HELPFUL I LOVE YOU. Yeah, I also agree on how standoff-ish, I guess, Percy was about that in chapter 2. I guess I was too rushing it, so I didn't put the character's feelings into it more? I don't know. I might edit it later on, but maybe not in the near future (bcs I'm such a lazy person).

On the cursing part, yeah I was thinking along that lines actually. It's illogical to think that a nine year old will curse like a sailor, unless they've been exposed to it without filter. But Percy had Sally, who would have chastised him if he did curse (bcs he heard Gabe do it a lot), so I don't plan on making him curse yet. But his newest environment definitely won't be so filtered now, will it?

I was planning on gradually make this fic a more lighthearted one (somehow) in later chapters. We'll see if I can go on with that plan.

You definitely live up to your penname. I hope against all hope you'll do the same towards this chapter and all future ones. Thank you!

Guest (6): Thank you so much ( ; w ; ) I'm sorry you've had to wait again for an update. Wait no longer, because it's here!

SvalbardGirl: Thank you! The idea didn't come from me. I actually discovered it from tumblr (mormoc's site. Pay a visit! She does very beautiful arts, PJO included) and asked if I could write a story based in it, and was allowed. It can safely be said that Percy will be coming to CHB, but really for the time being I'm not going to pair him up with anyone. Mainly because I'm absolute shit at writing romance and if I do try I'm sure it'll turn into one of those sappy romance that you can guess the ending lmao.

That's some idea to chew on. I was wondering on what I should do anyway, so thanks for the input! Sorry for making you wait for so long (5 MONTHS LMAO).

dl-o-lb: Yes I was dead for 5 months lol. So enjoy this. I appreciate your sass towards me btw lol. Told my best friend about it and she said "serves you right" lmao.

READ TO AVOID CONFUSION: Before moving on to the fic, I need to clarify a thing. So you know that back part of trucks that carries things? Yeah, that. Well I don't know what it's called in English so I decided to call it a trailer. Yeah. Is this important? Probably not. Just felt the need to clear it up now. It'll be helpful if someone tells me what it's called later in the review lmao

I NEED BETA. But before you offer yourselves, you need to be aware that I'm a little reluctant. Considering my irregular writing time and all that, if you do become my beta you might end up waiting for a long time for my chapter. And I really don't like to make someone, who I asked help from, wait so long. This goes to both Jewel5189 (who I've referred above) and MemiSkyPirate (who PM-ed me almost a year ago but I have yet to reply. I'm so sorry) who had offered to be my beta reader. I appreciate your offers, but you really need to think this through because I can and probably will be annoying to deal with.

Well, if anyone actually decided to become my beta reader even after that warning, just PM me and we'll discuss the details later.

Anyways, enjoy!

.:-Chapter 03-:.

Michael Thompson, or Mike as his coworkers liked to call him, was an ordinary 30 year old man. He had an ordinary name, an ordinary face, came from an ordinary family, the list went on. Every day he got up sluggishly from the sound of the alarm, made himself a cup of horrible coffee (because he couldn't, for the life of him, make a descent one), actually woke up after a few minutes of standing in the middle of the kitchen dozing off, and got ready for work. When his job's done he went back to his dingy apartment where he'd sit down on the couch and watch the news with the noise of the neighbor's crying baby in the background. When it gets late he slept, woke up, and repeat.

But while Mike was an ordinary man, you couldn't say the place he worked at was ordinary in the slightest.

He worked as a courier in a no-name delivery company, so he usually went around delivering things for anyone who hires them.

But occasionally, he and some select few from The Company deliver things that are more in the... shady category.

Yes, his seemingly tiny and insignificant work place was actually pretty well off in the background. It was how The Company managed to stand on its own feet even though sometimes there wouldn't be any shipping requests coming in for several days.

No, Mike does not enjoy this job. When he first applied for the job he thought it'd just be another run-of-the-mill job. But just a few months into the job and he realized that The Company had tricked him into doing the dirty works for them and making quitting impossible for him, due to his already deep involvement.

There's no way The Company's "loyal customers" will let the possibility of any kind of information leak happen.

Between keeping the job and possible russian roulette with six out of six bullets loaded, he opted to stay.

Besides, even if his life isn't on the line, jobs are still difficult to find. You have to go to so many interviews and your chance of actually getting in is slim. It was the reason why he, who had actually gotten a degree in automotive maintenance, ended up working in this delivery company in the first place.

The workshops he tried to apply to had no need of an extra mechanic, and although he would love to start his own workshop, he didn't exactly have the fund. He spent all his money (and then some) on college tuition.

Plus, he had to take care of his mother who's hospitalized. When he realized that he was caught in the spider web The Company had created, they had given him an offer. They will help him pay off his mother's hospital bills in addition to his normal earnings in exchange for his cooperation in handling "additional jobs".

In the end, it wasn't as if he had any choice, so he agreed.

The "jobs" usually entailed delivering goods to a certain place at a certain time. Most of the times the goods are drugs, but there's the occasional illegal weapons here and there.

They were first wrapped tightly in plastic and were then taped inside several metal barrels, at the bottom. Then black petroleum oil were poured into the barrels, hiding the goods inside. Of course, this might not work if there's some kind of detector, but so long as there's no random inspection it should be fine.

Where did they get so many petroleum to hide the drugs? The only thing he could say is that The Company had really generous sponsors.

This time he'd been tasked to get some drugs from some people in New York and deliver them to the main office in San Francisco to be distributed again at a later time.

At the moment he's on his way back to San Francisco. Just him, his truck, and a dozen barrels of petroleum-covered drugs.

He had just reached the border between Pennsylvania and Ohio when the truck got shaken by some bumps on the road. He heard the unmistakable sound of a barrel falling in the back and cursed.

"Shit," it'll get messy if a barrel falls and spill petroleum everywhere. Might invite unnecessary guests. He parked the truck on the side of the road and then checked on the barrels.

He saw that there's no oil leaking from the back of the trailer so he assumed that it's save for now. He still had to check on the barrels though. So he opened the door connecting to the inside of the trailer.

What he saw inside was a barrel that fell, along with its lid off. And a kid. A fucking kid who still had half his body inside the barrel. What the fuck was a kid doing here?

"Oh fuck this job sideways," did they do child trafficking now?! What the actual fuck. This was not in his job description. He got inside and went to the kid. He couldn't be older than 10!

"Hey, kid, wake up." Mike tried to wake him up. No luck.

Although he very strongly disapprove of this, it's not as if he had a choice. If this was child trafficking, he couldn't do anything about it. Reporting it was borderline idiotic (he dealt with drugs for God's sake. Chances are instead of helping the kid, he'd get arrested instead). Letting the kid escape would result in The Company being displeased with him. And considering that his mother's life is in The Company's hands, he's got no choice.

Between his mother and some random kid, it's no brainer who he'd pick.

Still, he's not putting the kid back in the barrel. He picked up the kid (who still hadn't woken up yet. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest Mike would've thought he was dead) and got down from the trailer. He closed the door and locked it with some difficulty before putting the boy on the passenger's seat next to the driver's seat at the front of the truck.

After all that was done he got in the truck and proceeded to lock both the door and window, a precaution in case the kid wakes up and tries to escape.

On second thought, he also put on the kid's seatbelt. Not only to prevent him from falling, but also because the slot was actually a bit jammed and difficult to remove.

Mike started the engine and continued on his merry way. After a while he sighed. He did not sign up for this.

.:-Chapter 03-:.

Percy opened his eyes and found himself leaning his forehead against the window of a vehicle. His first thought was, the scenery is pretty. His second thought was, why is the world moving?

And finally, wait, where am I?

The memories of before he fell unconscious came back to him. He began to panic. He was in a truck. Why was he in a truck? Was he kidnapped? He was kidnapped! He had to get out of here.

He began to work with the seatbelt which wouldn't. freaking. detach.

That was when the man next to him realized that he was awake. "Glad to see you return to the world of the living, kid."

Percy, who couldn't get the seatbelt to let him free, tried to distance himself from the unidentified man as far as possible, which didn't do much to be honest.

Was he a monster? No, if he was Percy would be dead by now. Then who was he? Kidnapper, obviously!

The man, who he's gonna dub Mr. Kidnapper for the time being, seemed to sense his distress, since he said, "Relax, kid. I'm not gonna do anything to you."

Percy wasn't gonna start believing him. Mr. Kidnapper reached for something in his pocket with slight difficulty and pulled out a candy. He gave an offering look, which Percy just stared at with a distrusting look. A kidnapper giving his victim candy. Hell no.

Mr. Kidnapper looked a bit disappointed, but maybe he already expected the reply so he just shrugged and put the candy somewhere more accessible.

Several minutes passed in awkward silence. The only sound was that of the radio playing a song he had heard several times before.

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want, so tell me what you want, what you really really want."

"What I 'really really want' is getting out of here..." Percy mumbled.

"Well, for starters, how about you tell me how you ended up in that situation?"

.:-Chapter 03-:.

The kid jumped on his seat. He probably didn't expect Mike to hear him.

Mike clarified his question, "Wanna tell me why I found you unconsious inside one of the barrels I'm delivering, kid?"

Kid took a long time before blurting out, "I was just, you know, uhh, taking a nap."

Mike couldn't help himself. He laughed. Even an infant would know that was a lie!

(Unbeknownst to Mike, it's not as if Percy could just say he was being chased by a cyborg-donkey lady and a lion-man, could he? That'd just prompt a trip to the mental ward.)

He could see the boy blushing from the corner of his eye. The boy knew that Mike knew that it was a lie and was probably embarrassed for giving such an obvious lie, so he tried to cheer him up. "You'll do better next time, kid," he said in an amused tone.

He wouldn't pry if the kid didn't want to tell him. But there's just one thing he needed to ask...

"Just to make sure, were you... kidnapped?"

"Well, aren't you kidnapping me right now?" was the reply he got, laced with confusion.

He hit the brakes. Hard.

SCREEEEEECH

The boy looked startled at the sudden brake. If he hadn't been using the seatbelt he would've been sent flying.

"No! I would never kidnap anyone!"

He was met with an incredulous stare.

"Uhh..." the kid gestured to himself.

Mike blushed, "Oh, well, yes I guess this can be called kidnapping... but it wasn't as if I did it purposefully, alright!?" He thought The Company was the one responsible!

"How can you accidentally kidnap someone?"

"Some kid just slept inside a barrel you were tasked to deliver to another city. I'd call that accidental kidnapping."

"Well, if you put it like that..."

Silence. After a while, Mike sighed. This was getting complicated. "Nevermind that. So you weren't forced to enter that barrel?"

(Well technically Percy was forced to go in it to hide, unless he wanted to be monster food. But his gut feeling was telling him to not say that so...)

The kid replied with a simple, "No."

Mike let out a relieved sigh. Good, so The Company's not moving to child trafficking. He could deal with that. "Okay. That's fine. Sorry kid, I just got mixed signals there. So you didn't know that the barrel was gonna be moved?"

"Yeah. I was just looking for someplace to hide."

Mike raised an eyebrow, "Hide? Not nap?"

Now the kid looked nervous, "That's what I said."

Well, he already promised himself he wouldn't pry, so he didn't. Though he did raise an eyebrow.

So far, he concluded that the kid wasn't actually a part of the goods he was supposed to deliver, but from the kid's perspective only. He needed to confirm with The Company.

But the question is, if the kid really was an unexpected cargo, how would he ask The Company without them discovering the kid's existence?

Uhh.

Oh wait, he had an idea.

"One sec, kid. Gotta make a phone call."

He got off the truck and walked to the door of the trailer. He opened it and counted the barrels in there. Thirteen barrels, one of which was the one that the kid was hiding in.

Wait, thirteen? He was pretty sure there were only twelve when he first had them loaded into the truck.

He pulled out his phone and dialled Dianne, one of the several people in position of power inside The Company and his close friend when he had been in high school.

Who was also the one who dragged him into this mess. Thanks Dianne.

After several rings, Dianne picked up the line, "What's up, Mike?"

"Hey, Dianne. Nothing big, really. Just wanted to confirm on the number of 'oils' I have to deliver."

"That's rare. Why'd you ask? Usually you don't bother with any of that."

He sweated, "Yeah, remember how the guys I picked these things up from are pretty new? I'm just trying to make sure they're holding on to their end of the deal, since they might think they can con us."

"Why? It's not as if you care, right?"

That's right, he didn't care at all. And she knew it better than anyone else since he complained about the job to her every time.

"That's true, but it's not as if I want The Company to be upset, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, Mike. Alright, gimme a sec to check on it."

He heard some rustling sounds and papers being flipped through.

"Ah, here it is. Seems like they promised us twelve barrels. How much did you get?"

Twelve. So he counted right the first time. Then how did the kid's barrel get in his truck?

"Mike? Hello? You there?"

He'd think about the answer later.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was counting them again."

"So? How many barrels are there?"

"Twelve, just as promised. Seems like they still had some brains in them."

Dianne laughed, "Well this might mean that they can be trusted for the time being. That's done, is there anything else you need from me, Mike?"

"Nah, thanks Dianne."

"Anytime." The line went off.

Mike felt the tension he had on him disappear. He's now a hundred percent sure the kid's not cargo. The question is what he should do to the kid now. He really couldn't turn back and drop the kid back in New York. Maybe he'd just drop him off at the next police station he came across?

Not a solid plan but what else could he do?

He locked the trailer and went back to the driver's seat. Apparently the kid had been trying to set himself free, to no avail. That seatbelt is amazing.

He started the engine again. He delayed the journey long enough already.

"So kid, let's just cut to the chase. Just so you know, my truck is currently headed to San Francisco and as much as I want to return you to New York, I can't considering I'm on a deadline. So I'm just gonna drop you off at the nearest police office, okay?"

"No!"

What?

"No? What do you mean, no? Don't you wanna go back and return to your family and friends?"

"My parents are in The Underworld and I don't have friends."

The kid said that so easily he needed a few seconds to process the fact that the kid's parents are dead and he's friendless.

"I'm... sorry for your loss, kid."

But why did he say that his parents are in the underworld? Did he mean hell? Whatever. Not his business.

There was a bit of silence before the kid answered, "It's fine now. Kinda." He said that, but his voice went a bit shaky.

"Don't you at least have a home to return to?"

"Nope."

Again, the kid said it so nonchalantly, as if living in the streets at such a young age was no big deal. He needed to somehow help this kid.

As if reading his mind, the kid said, "Please don't send me to the police or child service."

"Why shouldn't I? You obviously need help, kid. And they can provide you that."

The kid replied quickly, "It's just that, uh, I kinda found some clues to the whereabouts of my relatives on my dad's side. And I, uh, couldn't find them if I'm put in the orphanage."

He put so much emphasis on the word 'orphanage' Mike immediately knew that the kid just didn't want to be sent to one.

"But the police can help you found those 'relatives' of yours, you know?"

The kid answered with a deadpanned voice, "They're not those who can be found by the usual police."

Since they're hidden from people without The Sight. But Mike didn't know that yet.

Instead, Mike thought that, by "couldn't be found by the usual police", the kid was saying that his 'relatives' are one of those 'underground' people. The ones who do crimes and manage to hide in the background since they had enough resources to avoid the police.

Which explained the kid's reluctance to go to the police.

And while Mike really, really don't wanna get involved any longer, he couldn't find it in him to bring the kid to the police anymore. It'd feel as if he was throwing the kid into a lion's den.

Mike glanced at the kid's face. All color had drained from his face, as if the police was his worst nightmare. The sight made him feel sick in his stomach. He sighed.

Curse him and his sympathetic self.

He guessed that he could only take the kid to his place for now.

"If that's really the case, kid, then I have no choice but to actually kidnap you now."

He could practically hear the relief in his voice, "That's fine. So long as we're not going to the police. Or child services."

What kind of kid would think getting kidnapped is better than getting help? This one, apparently.

"You're insane, kid."

Kid had the gall to grin, "I'm really not."

.:-Chapter 03-:.

Mr. Kidnapper introduced himself as Mike ("And just Mike. No need to add Mr. at the front). No full name or anything. That was perfectly fine with him.

His gut told him that this man could be trusted, so he had no qualms in giving his nickname at least. But he was still wary.

Mike told him that they were still somewhere in Ohio, and it'd take at least two more days to reach their destination, which was San Francisco.

It was kinda awkward in the first three hours of the ride, with none of them uttering a sound. He, personally, was fine with it. He was appreciating the scenery, because it was the first time he went somewhere Not New York.

Although he did get distracted after a while. His ADHD kicked in and he started fidgeting on his seat.

Mike noticed this and then stopped the truck. He got off for a while and returned with an ice cream in each hands, one vanilla, one bubblegum.

"Thought this might cheer you up."

It was at that moment Percy decided that Mike was a pretty cool guy.

"Which one would you prefer? I bought the bubblegum one because my friend's son liked it, and since the both of you looked the same age I thought you might like it too. But you can have the vanilla one if you want."

He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. "Thanks, Mike!" he said, and took the bubblegum one.

Mike looked relieved. They continued the journey with a slightly lighter mood between them. They made some small talk, and while enjoying his ice cream, Percy learned a thing or two about Mike. Apparently he worked in a delivery company and was living alone in an apartment in San Francisco.

Mike had also been trying to learn some things about Percy.

"So, Percy, when's your birthday?"

"Oh, it's the eighteenth of Aug-" he stopped suddenly.

He couldn't believe he had forgotten. That horrible (so cruel, so dreadful,so repulsive) day when Big Ugly striked down his mom. It was his birthday. They had planned on baking a blue cake together and celebrate together and it was supposed to be the best day ever.

But instead, he ended up losing the most precious person to him on his special day.

Suddenly he couldn't contain his feelings anymore. His hand went slack and his ice cream fell, but he didn't care. All he could feel at the moment was grief. At the back of his mind he noticed that Mike had started panicking, asking him what's wrong, but he could care less.

He began to cry. His mom was only one person, but that moment when she was gone felt as if he was just robbed of his whole world.

They were both so excited that day. Percy was so happy he could spend another birthday with his mom. While his mom watched him and his excitement. She had that look on her face that just screamed happiness. It was as if she was so grateful of his existence.

Him, the troublemaker, the kid with ADHD, the kid who couldn't read.

He had been unsure of himself at that moment. Why would his mom be grateful with such a broken son like him? She deserved better.

His mom hugged him and said that he was wonderful just the way he was.

She had promised to buy him a birthday present another day, but to be honest those words were enough to be his present for all his life.

But then, as soon as that joyful moment appeared, it was gone the second he opened the door leading to their apartment.

He started calling out for his mom, in between sobbing and hitched breathing. At that point Mike seemed to realize that he wouldn't be much help, so he decided to let Percy let it all go.

After a while the heavy crying lessened into sobs, and by the end of it he suddenly felt drained. He had promised he wouldn't cry anymore, but he couldn't help it. The pain was just still too raw for him to ignore for long.

Although he was tired, he didn't feel like sleeping just yet. He ended up staring blankly at the darkening scenery in front of him.

Suddenly he found a water bottle shoved up his face.

"You need to stay hydrated, kid."

He suddenly remembered that he wasn't alone. He felt embarrassed for crying in front of a stranger.

He took the bottle, "... Thanks. And, uh, sorry."

The man waved him off, "What, the ice cream? It can be cleaned later, so don't worry."

"That's... not what I meant."

Mike raised an eyebrow, "What else could you mean? There's nothing else worth apologizing other than that, kid."

The man had such a roundabout way of telling him not to apologize for crying, but Percy really appreciated that.

Percy drank the water he was given. Suddenly he remembered something and choked.

Mike looked worried at that, "You okay, kid?"

"Yeah" -cough- "I'm okay." -cough, cough- "Ahem. Anyway, Mike, have you seen my belongings?"

He seemed to be remembering something, "Well, I wasn't paying attention, but it might be in the barrel you were in. Do you want me to get it for you?"

"Can I come with you?"

"Sure."

Mike parked the truck at the side of the road and they both got down (they had some difficulty getting Percy out of the seatbelt. In the end they decided to just pull the seatbelt until it was loose enough so that Percy could step over it. Percy felt so stupid for not thinking of that earlier when he had tried to escape). He opened the trailer's door and let Percy retrieve his things. It was dark, but he managed to locate it anyway.

He got his bag and his beloved Nightfall and got out of the trailer.

"Whoa, what's with the spiked bat?"

He totally forgot about that. He needed to think of a good lie fast.

"It was a present from my dad." There. Technically he didn't lie so it came out easier than he had expected.

Mike looked incredulous, "Your dad gave you a spiked bat as a present?"

Well that did sound ridiculous. "Uh, no! He just gave me the bat. Someone else, uh, he hammered the nails on it. But I still liked the, uh, bat so I carry it around with me even though I couldn't use it."

Mike just hummed in reply. Percy took that as a good sign.

Nice save, Percy.

They returned to their seats and continued with their journey.

Though not long after, Percy's stomach started to complain. He realized he hadn't eaten anything since he accidentally left New York.

"Let's stop at that diner there."

He felt so bad for being such an inconvenience. Not only did he cried in front of him, he's also leeching off of him.

It was all because he was so stubborn on not wanting to go to the police. But he honestly didn't feel as if an encounter with the police would be good.

There's the fact that the police probably already knew by now that he's a missing child and if they found him he'd definitely be sent to an orphanage. Also that his mom and Big Ugly died and he's the only one out of the family who's missing. It might raise some questions which he doubt he could answer truthfully.

In short, he couldn't get caught.

So for now, all he could do was swallow this uncomfortable feeling of being a burden.

"I'll pay you back some day, Mike."

He just ruffled his hair, "Don't sweat it, kid."

.:-Chapter 03-:.

They stopped at a cheap motel to rest for the night. Mike got them a room with one single bed and a sofa. As soon as the door was opened Percy took off his shoes and jumped on the sofa.

He knew what Mike was thinking. Mike was planning to give him the bed. Well too bad for him, Percy was not moving from that sofa until morning comes.

Apparently Mike realized he'd been found out, since he just sighed in defeat and said, "I'm gonna go shower, okay?"

Percy didn't reply. He was promptly reminded that he hadn't bathed in days. And it suddenly made him feel self-conscious.

He sniffed himself. He really stinked.

Percy took his cleaner set of clothes from his bag. As soon as Mike was out of the shower he went in, but not before claiming that if Mike took the sofa while he was gone, Percy was going to sleep on the floor. He heard Mike reply with a dry, "Yeah, yeah," before Percy closed the bathroom door.

Dear gods and goddesses was it great to shower after so long.

When he got out Mike was already sleeping on the bed.

Sleep sounded really good right now. So he laid down on the sofa and immediately fell asleep.

.:-Chapter 03-:.

Percy was in the dream world, he was sure of it. If only because some girl just walked through him.

It felt weird and he tried not to dwell on it too much.

Anyway, in this dream world he was standing in a forest, in front of some kind of camp site, he guessed. He saw a guy, blonde, looked like he was sixteen or seventeen, saying his farewell towards some other people, most of which are around Percy's age, some older, but none of them are of an adult age.

Well there's one but he was a centaur. You know, half man half horse? Anyway, he's a bit wary now since his experience with the 'other-worldly' wasn't really favorable so far. He observed a little more and also saw one or two half man half... what, donkey? Well, yeah. That.

He was pretty sure his mom told him something about this kind of creature but he couldn't remember.

He was brought back from his thoughts when a girl went up to the teen and hugged him. Maybe his sister? They're both blonde. Yeah, not all blonde people are related, he knew, but in this kind of situation isn't that the logical assumption?

After a while the girl let go. Her eyes were a bit wet and she looked like she was trying hard not to cry. The teen ruffled the girl's hair, presumably to cheer her up, but that just caused her to give him light punches to the side.

The teen laughed and sidestepped her punches. He gave a fistbump to one of the half man half donkey person and finally waved goodbye to the rest of the people there. Although a few steps later he stopped by a pine tree and laid a hand on its trunk. He then proceeded to say goodbye to the tree in a sad tone before continuing on with his journey.

Weird.

(Unfortunately Percy failed to realize that he was the one who gushes over his sword as if it was a newborn baby. Which can also be deemed, in his words, weird.)

He looked back for a while, but was surprised to find that the camp he saw before suddenly turned into some kind of farmhouse. Wait, was it a farmhouse? Actually he couldn't be sure now. He saw a farmhouse but he somehow knew that the farmhouse didn't exist. Kinda.

Before he could inspect more, he was dragged away and woke up in the motel.

"Finally. Get ready, kid. We're having breakfast and after that we're continuing the drive to San Francisco."

Dammit, he was curious about that farmhouse. But he couldn't keep Mike waiting.

He took a quick shower (he would shower whenever he could. He would never underestimate bathing again), got dressed, picked up his bag (he left Nightfall in the truck the night before since it wasn't very inconspicuous, even though he didn't want to), and followed Mike to the motel's restaurant.

Just like how he savored the feel of showering, he did the same with his breakfast. While he would be staying with Mike for the time being, it's not gonna be forever. So he's appreciating every moment he could.

After breakfast, he got on the truck while Mike checked them out of the motel. While he was waiting for Mike, his mind went back to the dream he had.

Basically it was about a guy he didn't recognize waving goodbye to his friends, humans and non-humans. And the campsite which turned into a farmhouse.

One thing's for sure, that place has got to be related to the Greek business that's been around him lately. And if he really wanna find a clue on how to enter The Underworld, that place might be able to help him.

Mike finished with his business and drove them away. When they passed some forest all Percy could do was stare. It would be great if he could camp there sometimes. He hoped that's possible someday.

This kidnap didn't turn out to be so bad after all. Maybe he could take it easy on his quest to find the entrance and enjoy life a little. If being a demigod meant that he's gonna be chased by monsters all around, he better enjoy what peace he had, right?

.:-Chapter 03-:.

That's done. Cliffie ending? Definitely.

I couldn't wait until tomorrow to post this and the Wi-Fi connection to my room is shit so I had to move to my living room which is scary at night and I'm a coward but I still do it anyway because I'm stubborn.

On another note, I had fun changing the perspectives between Mike and Percy lol.

I need some help because I have absolutely no naming sense.

Michael Thompson? Random common name I thought of.

Dianne? I was reading a manga called Seven Deadly Sins and there was a character whose name I really liked (no, the character in here is nowhere near SDS Dianne's personality). I don't even have a surname for her yet!

The Company? I couldn't think of a name.

It would be great if you guys could give me some ideas on The Company's name. Also if you can help me come up with names for future OCs who may or may not appear and may or may not be relevant to the story. I don't know. According to how I bring this story later on I guess. Just names. And physical description would be nice too, I guess. Don't care what their physique looks like, I just want suggestions. But I don't suggest offering your personal OC to me since I might not do their personality justice and you might not like the way I write them. And as I've said before, they might not appear!

But if you're fine with that, than go ahead :)

(btw if you wanna help me determine Mike's and Dianne's physical appearance, that's be great.)

The distance between New York and San Francisco? Google Maps. Yeah. I don't know the traffic there but Google Maps said that the distance was two days, give or take. So just imagine there's no traffic jam okie :)

This is what I get for writing a story with a background location I don't recognize.

And I'm sure some of you noticed already, but Percy stutters or basically have difficulties whenever he lies. I count that as Sally's achievement in raising Percy to be a good kid (which honestly wouldn't last. He'd have to lie a lot to hide his Greek heritage afterall).

Also sorry if my description of CHB is wrong in any way. Been a long time since I've read the novel and you know what? I've only read the first novel. I got spoilers on the other novels and know important characters but I've never actually read them. Why? Because I couldn't find the English copy in my area. *cries*

"You can just read the PDF yanno." I really would, but there's this indescribable difference between reading from a PDF and from the actual, physical book. It's much more satisfying for me to read from the book and if you think I'm such a nerd then yeah, I am such a nerd and I won't change my way of doing things.

When's the next update? Nobody knows. Even I don't know. Don't lose hope, dearies.

Reviews are good. They ignite motivation for me to write.

Choppa, out.