The Darkness Within

Chapter 24

Pax POV

We do the only sensible thing.

We walk.

No one talks, though. The memory of Jason being crushed by the ceiling is too fresh. Too raw.

I personally never got to know him well. But he is, no was the best friend and brother to everyone here.

Annabeth hasn't stopped shaking. Piper is a mess. Leo isn't as bright as he used to be. Hazel looks almost like Nico now, pale and gloomy. Frank tries to comfort her.

And Percy?

Percy has returned to the state I first met him in Tartarus.

Dark.

Sullen.

Lost.

A shell of his former self.

We emerge from the forest and see a 24/7 convenience store on the side of the road.

Piper rushes in an immediately buys some tissues. Leo follows her and mumbles something about Funzos.

Everyone takes off in a separate direction.

Percy and I just stand there, unsure of where to go.

"You okay?" I start off.

Percy shook his head and walked to the cashier, a teenager scrolling mindlessly through things on his phone.

"Hey! You over there." Percy waves his hand over the teen's face. "What is this place? Where are we? We're sorta lost."

The redhead shrugged and kept on scrolling through TikTok. "You're in Philadelphia. Convenient Food Mart, to be precise."

"We're close to New York!" I exclaim.

Percy frowned. "We're close to New York...we have to go back to camp, now. Arak, or Unknown, or whatever his name is might already be there."

My face drops. 'You're right..."

We gather everyone back at the entrance. Piper has a full set of makeup on and some new clothes.

"Ummm, Piper, this isn't the time for shopping." I mutter.

Piper sighs. "Courtesy of my mother dearest. IApparently, she thought it was to make me feel better."

"You were visited by Aphrodite?" Hazel raised an eyebrow.

"Mhmm." Piper nodded. "She told me to take the pegasus back to camp."

"There are no pegasi in Philadelphia." Percy suddenly spoke. "And even if they were, I wouldn't be able to communicate with them.

"Let's catch the train." Frank suggests. "I saw some signs on the way there."

"Except the fact that the train takes 1 hour and a half to get to New York alone." Annabeth pulls out a map. "We may not have enough time."

We all sigh. Percy stands behind us, motionless.

Hazel frowned. "It's our only chance."

"But it's not the pegasus!" Piper exclaims.

I look at the train schedule. 

"That's where you're wrong." I hold up the schedule. "Pegasus railways, departs in thirty minutes. We better hurry!"

"Great!" Leo exclaims. "All aboard the choo-choo train!"

A/N HELLO MY DEAR NOODLES.

I am currently working on two other projects! You'll see them soon! Hopefully!

I hope you enjoyed the latest update of....The Darkness Within!

Till next time, Noodles!

~ Sapphy