𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐧 || Percy Jackson

Twelve

Annabeth had a good idea.

"Los Angeles, please." She had loaded them into the back of a cab, the driver scoffing and blowing smoke from his cigar.

"That's three hundred miles." He sized them up, Aurora digging in her pocket. "For that, you gotta pay up front."

"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth pulled her card before Aurora got hers.

"Some of 'em. Same as credit cards, I gotta swipe through 'em first." Annabeth handed her card over, the man looking at them skeptically.

"Try it." Aurora encouraged, not wanting to waste anymore time. He did, his meter rattling. Lights flashed and an infinity symbol appeared next to the dollar sign. His cigar fell from his mouth and he looked back at them.

"Where to in Los Angeles, uh...Your Highness?"

"The Santa Monica Pier." Annabeth sat up straighter. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

The cab driver sped off, the speedometer not dipping below ninety five the whole time.

Percy told them everything he could properly remember about his latest dream, the hotel seeming to have short circuited his memory. Because he "forgot" about Aurora helping him wake up.

Aurora tuned them out, focusing on keeping herself calm. It didn't help that Annabeth was insisting it was still Hades.

"Ow- hot!" Grover hissed when he touched Aurora's hand, Percy and Annabeth looking over at her. She was zoned out, unaware of her heating body temperature as she tried to keep her anger at bay. "She's trying not to explode. Exploding anger is better than cool anger."

"Why?" Percy let the topic drop for a second, wondering why Grover seemed to pale.

"Aurora's a lot more powerful than we give her credit for."

Ryland and Phoenix's anger techniques weren't working. She'd gone through all of them over the course of the quest that she was out of ways to calm herself down. Aurora needed to let her anger out. But, she just slowly forced herself to calm down as they continued talking.

The cab sped west and all too soon, they were dropped off at the Santa Monica pier.

Aurora tugged her hood over her head, stuffing her hands in her pockets and blankly taking everything in.

"Warm anger, we're entering a danger zone." Grover hissed, having pat Aurora's shoulder to see where her anger was at.

The air smelled bad but the beaches looked like they do in the movies. There were carnival rides lining the pier, palm trees along the sidewalks, homeless men sleeping in the sand dunes, and surfers waiting for their perfect wave.

"What now?" Annabeth asked as they walked to the edge of the surf. Aurora was muttering as she watched the setting sun, which was nice since she was still willing to speak to the gods.

"What are you doing?" Percy had stepped into the surf, Aurora's nose scrunching at that. He kept going, the water going to his waist then up to his chest. "The water's disgusting."

"Yeah, do you know how polluted that water is?" Annabeth called after him, agreeing with Aurora. "There are all kinds of toxic-"

His head disappeared under the water, Aurora scoffing.

"'M not going in there." Annabeth and Grover anxiously waited, Aurora blankly staring at them. "Okay, yeah, let's worry about the son of Poseidon who's chance of drowning are slim to none."

"Your Phoenix is speaking."

The first thing Percy was met with when he got back, was a ball of aluminum. To the face. And it was hot.