Saving Thalia Part One: The Quest Begins (Thalia, Inferno)

I stood up and grabbed Kyle's hand to pull him up. I looked at Sam. "I agree. Let's go." I looked at Kyle and smiled. "Come on."

I shook Hal's hand. "I am Elizabeth. You can call me Liz. As for our mission, it's a long story. And if they don't succeed, you will know how dangerous this mission is."

"First, before we make any decisions, let's get into that alley over there. That way it will be harder for monsters to spot us." He pointed to an alley just across the street from there current location. They had to move a couple of streets down, so they wouldn't be detained by the cops. Police sirens went off in the distance. No doubt there would be some witnesses that would blame it on seven kids that they'd seen just moments before.

He smiled sadly as they got together in the alleyway, and he said,"Alright, so we've lost out vehicle, but that doesn't mean we can't go west. I'm thinking we can get another vehicle, somewhere. However, I think we need to get out of here. I'm thinking Phillidelphia will be our next best bet. We need to make some kind of move. We've been here for an hour now. Anyone have any thoughts?"

Kyle smiled back, and said,"Yes, ma'am." As they walked, Kyle thought about how beautiful Solania was, but he was still a bit worried about her cut. She'd just been slashed by a Hellhound. There was no way it was just a scratch.

When they got to the alleyway, his knecklace started glowing. While no one could see it, he could feel it. He slipped to the back and then around the corner. He kept his eyes peeled, and sneaked around another corner before anyone could see him.

Pulling out his necklace, he said, with an annoyed sigh,"Yes, Lord Kronos."

The Titan Lord replied, How goes the quest, Kyle? Report.

"We are in Manhattan, now, we got attacked by some of your monsters. Perhaps, you should make it get harder as we get farther. That attack was way too soon."

Very well, Kronos replied, It will be done. Very soon, the son of Athena will get what is coming to him, then we shall be able to strike the camp without its precious leader.

Kyle put the necklace away, and rejoined the group before they could suspect anything. It was close, but he had a feeling he would be caught sometime in the near future. That was unless, he could ignore Lord Kronos.

"I know a train headed to Philly, from there, we could get a bus to a small town, and a bus from there to Columbus, Ohio."

Samuel folded his arms and pursed his lips. He did not want to take any suggestion of Kyle's, because he knew that the boy was most likely a traitor. However, he didn't know if the others would believe him, and in any case, revealing that right now would be a bad idea.
Keep it a secret until you can find concrete proof, lad, Malcolm had told him. You're no charismatic speaker, and you ain't popular either. Chances are some of your mates will think you're up to no good framing someone rather than consider the possibility that you're right.
Malcolm had a good point there. Samuel resolved to tell Odysseus about his theory later, in private. For now, he'd just keep on his toes.
"Well, I should have enough money in the pack for train tickets," he said aloud. "Anyone else have another idea?"

Odysseus ignored Zoey's remark. He was getting very tempted to tell her the truth about how he had been playing her, but that wouldn't be right; not when they needed her on the quest. He also realized that she had a point. There could very well be information vital to the quest in that note, but why would Solania hide it from him, to protect him, perhaps? He was certain, but even though it wasn't right to hide information vital to a quest back, it was just as wrong not to trust the person a chance to tell the truth when they thought the time was right. He would give Solania that chance.

"No, Zoey," he replied,"Solania may be hiding something, but I believe she will tell us when she believes the time is right. I trust her to do that. After all, if it is vital to the quest, then we will need to know."

After handing over the note to Solania, Odysseus turned to Sam and Kyle, and said,"Well, I have another idea. There is a bus that will take us to Philly, and a train that can take us as far west as Missouri. That's pretty much a good chunk of the country in one train ride. Let's get ready to go."

Kyle said,"I know where the nearest bus station is, if you guys want to hail a taxi. I can give him the address, and we can be on our way. We do not want to be in Manhattan any longer than we have to." He set his bag down and produced a small leather-bound book. He opened it, and started sifting through the pages for something.

"Ah, right here. I'm ready whenever you are," he said as he pointed to a page in his book.

Samuel opened his jacket and pulled both his pistols out of his shoulder holsters to check their load. Once he was confident they were ready to fire at a moment's notice, he replaced the weapons and gestured forward.
"Alright then. Are we waiting for anything? If not, then let's go. Kyle, lead the way."

Odie rushed out of the alleyway and hailed two taxis. He got in the second one with Zoey, something he wasn't comfortable with, and let the others get in the first one. That way, Kyle could give the taxi driver the address. He turned to his driver, and said,"Just follow the other taxi. Wherever it goes, we go." They took off toward the bus station.

He turned to Zoey, and said,"I'm a little bit worried about where this quest is leading us. I seem to be regaining my memory in small bits and pieces. If I cannot remember everything, soon enough, I will not be able to defeat Pallas, and we will have doomed Camp." He sighed. Nothing was simple anymore.

Of course, being a son of Athena, Odie had done the homework. He knew that the dreams he and Solania had about the Thalia girl were conjured up in order to bait them into going. Thalia had had herself brainwashed. There was no way that she could be fighting it that hard, unless she remembered him. The last part was highly unlikely. Even though he was beginning to regain his memory, he still couldn't remember her for the life of him, so he knew that she couldn't either. He laid his head back, and closed his eyes. It would take a few minutes. Until then, he would get a power nap, and hopefully wake up with some level of solace about the whole thing.

Kyle jumped into the back seat with Solania, leaving Samuel to jump in the passenger seat with the driver. He quickly wrote down the address of the nearest bus station on a napkin that he had in his pocket, and handed it to the driver. He said,"To this address, please, and I'll pay extra the faster that you get us there." The driver nodded, and both cars were away. He told Samuel,"You know, something doesn't seem right about this quest. It seems like we are being led into a trap. I would be careful if I were everybody. I may not know much about the Lord of Time, but I would sure as hell want to avoid being near him for any amount of time, enemy or not."

He sighed, and said, to Solania,"Smile. You look so much better when you do." It was true, she did. However, he knew she didn't like him. Besides, he told himself, I serve Lord Kronos. When she finds out, she will never want to see me, again. I wish I could just quit serving him, but that is not possible. No one leaves the service of Kronos, and lives.

He watched as they passed cars going from street to street as they headed to the bus station for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was going to be a long trip.

Samuel snorted. "We're five teens going to Mount Tam. There's something inherently wrong about visiting the Titans' home base with anything less than a mechanized battalion. Trust me, I don't have to be told to stay on my toes. It's why I'm still alive."
At that point, the son of Morpheus was tempted to tell Kyle point-blank that he was onto him, but he found some restraint. Pointing fingers now would only screw up the quest.

I smiled at Kyle. I really liked him. I trusted him. I leaned over and hugged him. "I trust you." As I was leaning away, I slipped the note in his hand. I needed someone to explain what this meant. He was my first choice.

I smiled and kissed Odie's cheek. "We should just go back. Maybe Kronos will spare us." I sighed and leaned back against the seat. I whispered, "After all. she still loves you."

Odysseus looked at Zoey, and said, with a look of horror,"Did you just say go back? Why would we do that? You obviously don't know the Lord of Time. He doesn't spare his enemies, unlike the gods. They spare their enemies from time to time, but the Lord of Time doesn't work that way."

At that point, he nearly slipped that he was playing her, but he held his tongue. He needed to get some information out of her. Now was better than any other time.

"So, Zoey, tell me what you did the other night, when you left early from dinner?" He already knew the answer. As he waited for her answer, he all of sudden passed out and started dreaming.

In his dream, he was at a creek. He saw some girl standing near the edge. He felt himself say,"Nice place you have here. Thank you for returning my pen."

The girl fell in the water, and he felt like yelling, NO!!! Instead, he jumped into the water after her. He pulled her out of the water, and when she wasn't breathing, he quickly performed mouth to mouth resuscitation. She woke up coughing, and he comforted her. Then, he held out his hand, and said,"I am Odysseus Carlson, son of Athena."

The girl looked up at him, and replied,"I am Thalia Elizabeth Rose Grace, Daughter of What's-his-name."

Odysseus woke up with a start, he finally knew who Thalia was. He had met her before. Thalia Elizabeth Rose Grace was his girlfriend.

Kyle smiled when Solania gave him a hug. It made the day so much brighter. When she said,' I trust you,' he groaned inside. It wasn't fair. Here she trusted him, and he was a spy for Kronos who was going to betray all of them, which included her. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't someone else be the spy, and him have a normal life with Solania at his side as normal half bloods?

She gave him the note he'd seen Odie give her, and he took it. He looked at it a moment, and his eyebrows raised. She was having dreams about Thalia? That was good. He decided to see what other dreams she had. This way, he could tell if Kronos knew yet. If the Titan Lord didn't know, then he wouldn't tell him. He care for Solania too much to betray her.

"So," he wrote on the back side of the note,"what other dreams have you had about Thalia? That will be able to help me explain the dream, better. There are several things this dream could mean, and if I knew what other dreams you were having, I could better be able to tell you the answer." Obviously, she didn't want anyone else besides Liz to know, so he would keep quiet about it. He passed the note with the question back to her, and waited for her answer.

Samuel felt his head throb once was Odysseus suddenly lapsed into a brief, albeit important, dream. As a son of Morpheus, he could feel these things when they happened, though he didn't induce it. Samuel had not been there when Odysseus rescued Thalia, so he couldn't have known that memory of theirs.
Something else just gave that guy his memories back. The important question is who or what, Samuel thought. As he pondered these thoughts, he asked the cab driver how much longer it would take to get to the train station.
"Five minutes, tops," the cabbie replied. "I told ya I'd get ya there fast."

Kyle looked at the paper, grimly, and wrote back,"It looks to me like the first dreams were nothing more than Kronos putting them into your mind to lure you into a trap on Mount Othrys. The last dream you had was an accident. You weren't meant to see it, which means that Thalia still has no memory of Odie. If it comes down to a fight, he may have to remind her of their love."

He turned to the cabbie, and said, aloud,"Well, then, I will follow through with my part, and pay you well."

Odysseus replied,"It was nothing. I am just exhausted from the nightmares I've been having about that Thalia, girl." He had to keep up with the whole charade until they got to Mount Tam. He turned to look at her, and he felt a feeling of revulsion go through him. Luckily, he wasn't transparent, so his face showed no sign of it.

"So," he continued,"where were you Zoey, because no one saw you for a couple of hours."

I looked out the window so he wouldn't see I was lying. "I took a little nap. Why do you ask?" I continued to stare out the window and frowned.

I nodded toward Kyle as the reply to his note. I trusted his judgement but I couldn't shake the feeling that Thalia wasn't angry at Odie anymore. Everytime I saw her in my dream, I felt a her emotions. I didn't feel anger or hate except for when she was near Kronos or Pallas.

"Whatcha looking at, Zoey?" Samuel asked. "I don't see anything of interest out there. Listen--when someone speaks to you, you look at them. Basic manners. And while I'm not surprised you haven't mastered those yet, now would be a good time to learn."
In any other circumstance, to any other person, Samuel's comments would have been heavy-handed, completely uncalled for, flat out BS. But in this case, it was to agitate Zoey so she would be more likely to let something slip. Odysseus would know that even if the others didn't.

Odie didn't have all of his memories back, yet, but he knew who Thalia was. That was good, at least he was starting to regain his memory. He knew she hadn't taken a nap, that she was lying. That was the first night he'd accepted that she wasn't his girlfriend. He'd gone looking for her to confront her, but she had disappeared completely.

"You were taking a nap, huh? In your cabin?" That was the most logical answer, but he was going to see what her answer would be.

Kyle sat there in silence. He hated himself right now. He had just gone against Lord Kronos, and given Solania the truth. Sure, Lord Kronos wouldn't care, since they were on there way there anyway, but it was the idea that he'd just betrayed his master for the girl he really liked. If the Titan Lord found out about the feelings that he had for Solania, Kronos would kill her in a heartbeat to make a point. He already did want to for her betrayal, but not as badly as he would for Kyle's.

He sighed, and looked down sadly, he was going to have to make a choice very soon. He wasn't sure what it would be, yet, but he had an idea whose side he would take. He just needed to listen to his heart.

I frowned and sighed. "Yeah. Sorry i didn't telll you." I lied. I was about to be caught. I knew that much.

I smiled at Kyle. "You seemed troubled. Want to talk about it?" I scooted closer to him and patted his arm. "You can tell me anything. You can trust me."

Odie looked at Zoey, and said,"No, Zoey, you weren't in your cabin, because I asked around. Now, I'm going to ask you again, and you'd better get it right. Where were you?"

He was tired, but he waited patiently for her answer.

Kyle looked up at Solania, and smiled in a weak attempt to cover the fact that he was about to make a huge decision in his life. He looked back down, and replied,"I can't tell you, now, but make sure to ask me again once we get some kind of progress in the quest.

Samuel smirked. Odysseus was a son of Athena. He was smart enough to handle this wench. And now Zoey was going to have to give something away.
Let's see you lie your way out of this one. You can't--he's got you.

I gasped. He was on to me. I had to think quickly. "Oh. I must have been thinking about another night. That night I took a walk in the woods." I thought for a moment. I decided to play the guilt card. "I am your girlfriend. How can you not trust me?"

I smiled at Kyle but I was confused. I was sure I looked ike a dog because when I was confused my head tilted to the side. "Sure, Kyle. I will do anything you ask."

"Because you aren't to be trusted," Samuel growled. "You're not even--you're not even a competent camper. Why would anyone trust you if you start coming up with conflicting alibis?"
He came within inches of point-blank accusing Zoey of pretending to be Odie's girlfriend, something everyone actually knew, and only stopped at the last second when he remembered Odie's advice. And the Athena guy was right--saving the outright accusations for later would end up being more effective for everyone.

"So, you were in the woods, huh? I wonder, weren't we in the woods training, Sam? I didn't say I didn't trust you, I was just wondering where you were." He made a mock puzzled look. Asking these questions without being down right accusing was a much better strategy.

He turned to Samuel, and said,"No need to make any kind of accusations, Samuel. I can take care of this. I'm just wondering where she ran off to."

Kyle chuckled when Solania tilted her head. It reminded him of a confused puppy. "No worries, I promise I will tell you in due time. I give you my word."

He took a look outside, and saw they were parked in front of the bus station. "He looked back at Solania, and said,"Looks like we're here. Philadelphia here we come."

"We were in the woods that day," Samuel replied as he paid the cabdriver and got out of the taxi. "We were practicing on my assault course, and then we went elsewhere and sparred. I'm not doubting your ability to handle it, Odie. But you must admit, the alibi is a little strange."