40 Chapter 40

"But how… I guess you weren't born in a hospital…" Percy dumbly trailed off.

"I appeared at my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist." The blond spat in resentment.

Knowing that he and Annabeth were similar when it comes to their fathers, Jakob was able to sympathize with her and understand. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, which she unknowingly leaned into. He wasn't going to say sorry because it really wouldn't help. Annabeth had to deal with a dad that didn't want her, Jakob dealt with a godly father that put him through years of abuse and neglect.

Annabeth's eyes showed that she was thankful for the comfort. Jakob smiled back in response.

"And when the monsters came around." She continued, "they would both look at me resentfully like, 'How dare you put your family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."

"How old were you?" Andromeda asked after a moment, smiling slightly at Jakob's way of comforting Annabeth but couldn't help a small twinge of jealousy for some reason.

"Same age as I started camp. Seven." Annabeth said, shocking Andromeda while Jakob started to connect the pieces into the puzzle.

"But… you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself." Andromeda stated.

'Thalia...' Jakob thought, recalling Annabeth quietly murmuring how his sister reminded her of Thalia.

"Not alone, no." Annabeth shook her head with a small smile. "Athena watched over me, guiding me towards help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."

Towards the end of their second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, they passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to see the Gateway Arch.

"I want to do that," she sighed.

"What?" Andromeda asked while staring at the giant bag handle stabbed in the ground.

"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon?"

"Only in pictures," Andromeda replied.

"Same," Jakob offered.

"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years." Annabeth said with a smile.

"A great dream to aspire to." Mimir said, impressed. Annabeth's smile widened at his words.

Andromeda laughed. "You, an architect?"

Her cheeks flushed. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."

"Okay, enough." Jakob cut in before things could turn into an argument. "Annabeth, stop comparing Andromeda to her father. You and her are not your parents, so you shouldn't act like them."

Annabeth winced and looked down, realizing he was right. She looked at Andromeda. "Sorry, that was mean of me."

"Can't we just get along ?" Andromeda asked, not wanting to continuing arguing with Annabeth. She wanted the friend she had, back before it was revealed she was Poseidon's daughter. "Poseidon and Athena worked together at one point, right?"

"Aye, they did." Mimir said, recalling that story. "They helped design the chariot, I believe."

"They did." Annabeth nodded. "My mum invented it, but Poseidon created the horses out of the crest of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."

"Then if our parents can cooperate, so we can we." Andromeda said firmly.

They rode into the city, Annabeth watching as the Arch disappeared behind a hotel.

"I suppose," she said at last.

Jakob just rolled his eyes. Gods, was she always so stubborn.

They pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told them they'd have a three-hour layover before parting Denver.

Grover stretched. Before he was even awake, he said, "Food."

"Come on, goat boy," Annabeth said. "Sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch," she said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"

The three exchanged looks.

Jakob shrugged. "Well, we've got nothing better to do."

Andromeda caved in, seeing it was better to go together.

Grover shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."

The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't long. The group threaded through the underground museum, looking at the covered wagons and other stuff from the 1800s. It wasn't all that thrilling to the boys.

Jakob listened to Annabeth as she kept explaining and telling them interesting facts that he didn't care about. Grover kept passing them jellybeans, so it was bearable.

Andromeda kept looking around, though, at the other people in the line. "You smell anything?" She murmured to Grover.

He took his nose out of the jellybean bag long enough to sniff. "Underground," he said distastefully. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."

But something felt wrong to Andromeda. She was getting a bad feeling, like she really shouldn't be here.

"Guys," Andromeda said. "You know the gods' symbol of power?"

Annabeth had been in the middle of reading about the construction equipment used to build the Arch, but she looked over. "Yeah?"

"Well Hade-"

Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place… you mean our friend downstairs?"

"He's not the Devil." Jakob said with an amused look. "That's a whole different story."

Andromeda looked at him, confused, then realized who he mentioned and understood. "Fine, my uncle then. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"

"You mean the Helm of Darkness," Annabeth said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice meeting."

"He was there?" Jakob asked curiously.

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