The Path Of Glory (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

23. All Aboard!

Y/N, Ethan, Percy and the tall, strange boy found Annabeth waiting for them in an alley down Church Street. She pulled Y/N off the sidewalk just as a fire truck screamed past, heading for the college on fire.

"Where'd you find him?" she demanded at Percy, pointing at the tall guy.

"He's my friend," Percy told her.

"Is he homeless?" she continued.

"What does that have to do with anything? He can hear you, you know. Why don't you ask him?"

"He—He can talk?" Ethan stammered.

"I talk," the boy admitted. "You are pretty," he added to Annabeth.

"Ah! Gross!" Annabeth stepped away from him.

Y/N was quite stunned to see her so rude. "What's wrong with you? You look like you just saw—"

"Tyson," Percy said in disbelief. "Your hands aren't even burned."

"Of course not," Annabeth muttered. "I'm surprised the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around."

So-called Tyson seemed fascinated with Annabeth's blond hair. He tried to touch it, but she smacked his hand away.

"Annabeth," Percy said, "what are you talking about? Laistry-what?"

"Laistrygonians. The monsters in the gym. They're a race of giant cannibals who live in the far north. Odysseus ran into them once, but I've never seen them as far south as New York before."

"Laistry—I can't even say that," Y/N said. "What would you call them in English?"

Annabeth thought about it for a moment. "Canadians," she decided. "Now, come on, we have to get out of here."

"The police'll be after me," Percy said.

"I think that's the least of our problems, Percy," Y/N said.

"Have you been having the dreams?" Annabeth asked.

"What dreams?" Y/N said. "I've been having the same dream for one year nonstop." He told them his dream. "Why? What were you dreaming about?"

Annabeth's eyes looked stormy, like her mind was racing a million miles an hour.

"Camp," she said at last. "Big trouble at camp."

"My mom was saying the same thing!" Percy said.

"Chiron also told us something like this," Ethan said. "But what kind of trouble?"

"I don't know exactly," Annabeth said. "Something's wrong. We have to get there right away. Monsters have been chasing me all the way from Virginia, trying to stop me. Have you had a lot of attacks coming here?"

Y/N shook his head. "No. Chiron dropped us off here. We had a giant for Christmas, but that's hardly a news item."

"He took us an hour," Ethan complained. "And it was fries this day. He ruined everything."

"I got no monster until today," Percy said.

"None? But how . . . ?" Annabeth's eyes drifted to Tyson. "Oh."

"What do you mean, 'oh'?" Y/N and Percy asked as one.

Tyson raised his hand like he was in class. "Canadians in the gym called Percy something. . . . Son of the Sea God?"

Y/N, Annabeth, Ethan and Percy exchanged looks.

Percy took a deep breath, as if he was going to announce something complicated, and said, "Big guy, you ever hear those old stories about the Greek gods? Like Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena—"