I looked around and saw that we were in Washington, D.C.

"We're definitely not in Florida." Annabeth said as she adjusted her backpack.

"No, we're in Olympus. We can ask Zeus for help to get to Florida. Zeus! Zeus! Zeus!" Tyson shouted while waving his hands, wildly.

People started to stare at us. Percy quickly went up to him.

"Hey this isn't Olympus, ok? This is the capital building. We're in Washington, D.C." He explained.

"Oh. Looks like Olympus." Tyson said.

"We need to find a bus station." Percy said.

I said.

~

We went into a coffee shop. Annabeth went to the ATM to get more drachmas while Percy, Tyson, and I grabbed some coffee. I saw Tyson grab a handful of sugar cubes but I ignored it.

We walked out of the shop and walked down the sidewalk. I took a sip of my drink. In the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Chris Rodriguez in an alley with two other guys. I stopped walking and looked again just to make sure. But there was nothing.

"(Y/N) are you coming?" Percy asked.

I nodded slowly.

We kept on walking but then two guys grabbed Annabeth.

"Hey get off me!" She yelled as she tried to get out of their grip.

I yelled as I ran towards her with Percy and Tyson behind me.

I grabbed the guy's shoulder, so I could punch him in the face.

👊🏽

He groaned but then kicked me in the stomach, making me fall down and hit my head against a wall. Then he grabbed me and dragged me in the alley.

"Hey, let go of her!" Percy yelled angrily.

I saw Percy grab Riptide from his pocket, turned it into its sword form, and used the hilt of it to knock down my captor. I fell on the ground as Percy helped me up.

"Tyson make sure to keep (Y/N) safe." Percy said as he ran towards Annabeth.

I tried to run and help him but Tyson held me back.

I demanded.

"I can't. Need to keep you safe."

I saw Annabeth hitting her kidnappers with her dagger but it was no use. One of them grabbed a glowing green amulet and used it to make them disappear. I finally got out of Tyson's grip and ran towards Percy.

"Damn it." Percy said. "I bet Luke has something to do with this."

I said as I clutched my head.

Percy sighed.

"When I fought with Luke last summer he said that there were other half-bloods who turned." He explained as we walked out of the alley.

"Turned?" Tyson asked.

"To his side." Percy said as he turned to look at us. He came up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders "Luke has Annabeth, and he was trying to get you too. But that won't happen not as long as I'm here to protect you."

He looked directly into my eyes while saying this, making me blush.

"I don't know. Maybe. But if we're gonna get Annabeth back, we need to find Luke." Percy said.

"Where?" Tyson asked.

I looked at the streets and saw an UPS store across it. An idea came into mind.

I said as I jogged across the street with Percy and Tyson behind me.

We stood in front of the UPS store.

"What, are we shipping ourselves overnight express to the Sea of Monsters?" Percy asked sarcastically.

I said as I walked towards the door.

I looked back and saw that Percy was staring at the sign. Probably because of his dyslexia turning the sign UPS into OPS.

Once we entered there was an old lady at the desk with a middle aged man behind the counter. Apparently the lady needed to send some things to Hephaestus and Hades but we didn't have time for this.

"Yeah, I'm sorry to be the god of obviousness, but I'm with a customer right now." He looked back at the customer while we waited impatiently. "Ok that will be 250 drachmas."

The lady gave him the drachmas and left the store. The guy grabbed a shield and but it to the side.

"Now, you are here about Hermes?" He asked.

"His son, actually. It's kind of important." Percy said.

"Yeah, I could tell the way y'all just burst in here, all rude-like." He said as he turned his back to us, putting some things away.

The guy stopped on what he was doing.

"What has that wayward boy of mine gotten himself into now?" He asked.

Realization hit me.

The guy, that I found out was the god of messengers, turned back around and looked at us.

"Hermes. Little insulted you didn't recognize me." Hermes said as he walked out of the desk.

"Sir, we're looking for Luke because he kidnapped our friend." Percy said.

Hermes just looked at us for a couple of seconds before pointing to Percy and me.

"Are you two dating? Cuz that's really cute how you finish each other's sentences."

I felt the heat rush into my cheeks.

"I'm just going to take both of your blushing faces as a yes. Now follow me." Hermes said as he opened the door behind him.

His outfit transformed into a business suit. A worker gave him his caduceus.

"This is the state-of-the-art sorting, processing, and packaging facility. If you can box it, we can ship it at the speed of...well me." Hermes said as he pointed to himself.

"Excuse me, sir, but we're in a hurry." Percy said.

"Relax, my friend, take it slow."

"Oh, come on! Give me a break!"

"Yeah, easy for you to say, Your Eminence."

"Actually, Martha, it's not easy for him. He's the god of freaking speed."

I looked where those voices are coming from until I saw the two snakes from Hermes's caduceus started moving. My face paled when I saw them slither around the pole.

Snakes are my biggest phobia. The last time I hanged out with snakes was with Medusa and that was NOT fun.

I got a little closer to Percy, he looked at me before he grabbed my hand.

"I'm here." He whispered.

This made me a little bit better.

"But he's not the one whose butt is stuck to a big silver stick forever!"

Hermes lifted up his caduceus to talk to the snakes.

"George, Martha, what did I say? When we meet new people, protract your S's. It's more dramatic. Makes an impression."

"Ugh! I'm personally insulted. Snakes don't talk like that. It is a stereotype and it's offensive." Martha said.

"Mmm-hmm! Bad enough some of our relatives are hanging out with Medusa, turning people into stone." George said while looking at Percy.

That last comment isn't really true...

"Ohh! I love your hair. I wish I had hair like that." Martha said as she came close to me.

My breath hitched as the snakes got closer. Hermes noticed this.

"Daughter of Apollo?"

I nodded.

"Apollo's daughter. Well that explains why she's scared of us." George said.

"Why don't you guys make yourselves useful? These kids are looking for Luke." Hermes said.

"Why? Do they have a death wish?" George asked.

"It doesn't matter. Just go." Hermes said as he handed his caduceus go a worker.

"Didn't even say please." Martha said.

"Told ya! We should have taken that job with Hercules." George said.

Hermes looked at us.

"They're an aquired taste." He said as he walked ahead as we followed him. "Luke. I don't know what to do about him. I've tried reaching out but the kid's angry. He's resentful. And he holds a grudge like nobody's business. Just like his mother, come to think of it."

"Yeah, he's not my biggest fan either." Percy said.

We stopped walking.

"Well this might help you on your little quest." Hermes said as grabbed a package and opened it. It was a thermos bottle.

"Collector's item, mint condition. From Hercules Busts Heads, Season One."

"Hercules Busts Heads?"Tyson asked.

"Best TV show ever. So, of course, canceled."

He gave me the thermos.

"You twist the cap off this you release the winds from the four corners of the Earth."

I started to twist off the cap since I was too curious while Hermes talked to Percy. "Now, you tell me that isn't cool."

Hermes glanced at me.

"Whoa! Whoa! No, not in here!" He exclaimed as he tighten the cap. "By the gods, George was right. You do have a death wish."

He handed the thermos back to me.

"Now, you're also..."

He looked back at me as if I was going to uncap it again.

"You're also gonna want one of these."

He clapped his hands and a metal claw with a duct tape roller came down. Hermes gave it to Percy.

"Um, thanks for the mythical box sealer?" Percy said uncertainly.

"You wound me. Truly, I am wounded. Anything you outline with that will disappear."

The worker came back with the two arguing snakes.

"All right you two, have you found Luke?" Hermes asked.

"He's on a yacht called the Princess Andromeda. It's passing by Chesapeake Bay as we speak." Martha said.

"Thank you."

"Your sssso welcome." George said and looked at Hermes, "There, you happy?" He asked.

"Hush." Hermes said as he made the two snakes solid again.

"Thank you very much." Percy said as he shakes Hermes's hand.

"Hey listen...um" Hermes began before looking at me and Tyson.

I took noticed that he wanted to talk to Percy alone. I looked at Percy before walking towards the door with Tyson.

I watched as (Y/N) walked away with Tyson, leaving me with Hermes.

"Listen Percy, if you see Luke, please explain to him for me, that parents, make mistakes sometimes. And he has every right to be angry with me. Just please tell him not to be angry with the world."

"I'm not sure if there's anything that I can say that will change him." I said.

"Maybe not but maybe your girlfriend can. She has known Luke since she was seven. Maybe he'll listen to her. If I learned anything in the last 3,000 years it's that you can't give up on family. No matter what."

I looked past Hermes's shoulder to see Tyson, who smiled at me. I faced back to Hermes.

"I'll try." I said and walked back to (Y/N) and Tyson.

"May the gods be with you." He said behind me.