Welcome to the sequel to Roxie Belle and the Demigods. New characters, new adventures, and a hidden prophecy?

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPAINS! RICK RIORDAN DOES! I also do not own any of the characters within this fan fiction, except the following:

Acacia Woolf

Tanek Woolf

Damon Woolf

Aileen Woolf

Mitsos Depp

Roxie Belle

Chapter One: Accessories Can Kill Monsters

Quite frankly, my life was nothing special. I lived in a boring old house in Maine, United States with my step dad and older brother, Tanek. Me? My name is Acacia Woolf and this is how I was forced to believe that my father was some kind of weird, super powerful Greek god…

I worked in the diner in our small town that my step dad owned with my older brother. I slid a couple plates down the counter lazily before I handed a shake to my one and only best friend who I had just met recently.

Her name was Jacqueline Mancinelli, otherwise known as Jack. She was a navy haired girl with eyes like a kaleidoscope and she liked wearing this Blue Oyster Cult t-shirt along with a patched up windbreaker, normal blue jeans, and a newspaper boy's hat. She was basically a tomboy, somewhat like me, even if I did wear a bright blue headband. Well, used to until Jack bought me a pair of bright blue barrettes to hold back some of my dark red hair that was tied in a ponytail at the time.

"So," Jack mused, twisting her straw around in her shake, "By the sound of the jingling in your pocket, you've got some goodies." She flicked her pinkie at my black jeans and I grinned. She always knew when I had got done borrowing. And yea, by borrowing, I mean stealing. I didn't like that work, though, it made me sound like a bad person.

It wasn't my fault, my brother told me. He said I couldn't help being a kleptomaniac and I think he just said that to make himself feel better because he had almost the same problem, except he mostly stole geeky things, like cards for this dumb game called Mythomagic. He never played it, just he said he liked the cards and how shiny they were.

"Yea, I pulled a heist with Tanek yesterday at the mall and here's what I got!" I exclaimed and set down the metal tray, reaching into my pocket. I dropped the goods on the table, listening to them clink around. Jack raised an eyebrow at the pile.

A rubber band ball made up of glow-in-the-dark rubber bands, a twenty-dollar bill, a fancy wedding ring, and two gold coins that looked pretty weird. One side of the gold coin had the Empire State building while the other side had some bearded guy with a lightening bolt. He reminded me of that guy from Greek Mythology… Oh, what was his name…? Oh yea, Zeus, the big guy.

"Where did you get those?" Jack asked, perplexed as she pointed to the gold coins. I blinked owlishly, then shrugged and looked over my shoulder at Tanek, who was somewhere in back.

"Tanek! Tanek, where did we get those gold coins?" I called.

"What gold coins?" Tanek's boyish voice carried over the pots and pans. I sighed, flipping my hair over my shoulder and scowling at the back.

"Come out here, Tanek!" I commanded. There was some crashing of pots and pans before my older brother came out in a black polo shirt to match his jeans and apron. His hair was a reddish brown and shorter in back than in the front, but it came up to the nape of his neck in the back so it wasn't that short and his eyes were a sky blue, which always confused me since our mom's eyes were silver. He probably got it from our dad, whoever that loser was.

He walked over to the counter and looked down, then blinked and nodded, picking up one of the coins while Jack picked up the other. They looked like archeologists, just studying them. My brother cracked a smile, though, and set it down.

"We picked them up from some woman at the mall, shopping for her kid. She looked pretty rich, though, so no point in feeling bad about it. What's funny is, the guy on the back there has to be Zeus, from Greek Mythology, the God of Lightening and the Sky. His lightening bolts can cause six hundred damage and-"

"Tanek, you're embarrassing." I deadpanned, giving him a look. Tanek rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest before pointing a finger at the coins.

"It's hard to tell if it's real, though, but I don't want to risk my teeth. I just got those stupid braces off six months ago and I'm not ready for more." He stated. Jack continued to stare at the thing like it was the biggest discovery in the whole world.

"Acacia, Tanek… This is real gold. It's a drachma." She murmured in awe, then placed the coin in the table. I paled, staring at her. Tanek blinked and dropped his arms limply to his sides.

"Drachma? Isn't that Ancient Greek currency?" He managed to ask. Jack merely nodded, staring at the coins. Tanek and I stared at the coins as well for a long time, both of us probably thinking the same thing before we broke into grins and high-fived.

One of those times when Tanek and I really felt good about ourselves.

"This is great," Tanek exclaimed as he wrenched off his apron, tossing it at a coat rack in the corner and missing it by a foot, "Real gold! Gold's worth a whole lot, Acacia! A whole lot, enough to get us out of that old shack with Damon!"

"And more! We can more buy more fast food and more of those Mythomagic cards for your collection and a bigger tank for Neon!"

"And we can ditch this old dinner and-"

"Hey, you two," Jack protested, waving a hand between us and cocking an eyebrow before pulling her hat down a bit, "You two really have no idea how valuable those are in a, ah, different… Way. I'll explain it to you later." It was like she predicated that Tanek's annoying friend, Mitsos Depp, was going to walk in. He was a dark-haired older teenager with hazel eyes, but he had a huge long scar running through his left eye and never told me about it, but I guess he told Tanek because when I asked him, Tanek told me it was none of my business and he looked pretty sad about knowing. He always wore one of those beanie caps with the small duckbill and he wore it crookedly, matching his dark jeans and his MAINE sweatshirt.

"Hey, what's up, Tanek? Jack. Acacia…" His voice trailed after he said my name and he always smiled at me, but I just glared back at him and huffed. Tanek ignored the flirtatious attitude Mitsos broke and looked up, pointing at the coins.

"I think we're rich, Mitsos!"

"Think or know? Either way, I wanna know!" Mitsos exclaimed with a whistle and came over to the counter, plopping in a stool and peering over Jack's shoulder. He stared at the coins for a long time, glanced at Jack, who frowned, then back at Tanek and I.

"What's wrong?" I asked. The looks they were giving each other looked concerned. Tanek rolled his eyes, snatching up the coins and the twenty, shoving it into his jeans pocket.

"Oh, please. They're just interested in some of the share. We'll see how much we have left for you two." He retorted. I scowled.

"Tanek-"

"Come on, Acacia, Damon's probably wondering where we are. It's getting late."

"But, it's only eight-"

"NOW, Acacia."

"Fine, fine." I grumbled stubbornly and pulled my apron off, putting it on the coat rack and also taking the time to do that with Tanek's. Tanek went to the back room and I followed so we could empty out our lockers, but even from back there, I could hear Jack and Mitsos talking.

"It's just like the prophecy," I heard Jack whispering, "It's them and it's obviously they're his children. That skill doesn't come naturally to any other demigod."

"I know, I know, but how do we get them to camp? It's all the way in New York City and there's no way we can take the cab."

"We'll have to think of a way and fast."

I frowned and turned back around to see Tanek putting on a pair of black leather gloves as he scooped up his black messenger bag. The only color, other than his eyes and hair, was the orange pumpkin on his bag.

"Tanek, did you already lock the front?"

"Hm? Yea, why?"

"Let's leave through the back today."

"How come?"

"I have a weird feeling is all. Please?" I put on the best puppy pout I could manage and Tanek sighed.

"All right, are Jack and Mitsos gone?"

"Yup." I lied quickly. Tanek bought it and shrugged, gesturing for me to follow. We walked out the back after Tanek shut off the lights and shut the door behind him. As soon as he clicked the lock, the air outside seemed to get colder. Tanek frowned and looked up.

"Did you hear that?" He asked. I cocked a brow, folding my arms over my chest tightly.

"Hear what?" I asked. Tanek crinkled up his nose, something he did only when he was thinking really hard about something, concentrating.

"It sounded kind of like… I don't know, a really big snowball…" He murmured and his eyes suddenly widened.

"Acacia, duck!" He yelled and grabbed me around the waist, making me yelp in surprise as we hit the grimy parking lot. I winced as my elbows scraped on the dirty asphalt and I looked up as Tanek lifted himself off me, jerking his head up.

"No way." He managed. I frowned and went to question him, but I followed his wide-eyed gaze toward the window near the back entrance. It was busted open with a clean hole, from some kind of fired projectile.

"Gun?" I asked him, glancing up as he slowly rose to his feet. He held out his hand, jerking me up and brushing us both off as he scanned the darkness around the parking lot.

"No, not a gun. The hole's way too big… It… Something's out here." He said at last, his eyes wide. I stiffened and looked around quickly, clenching my fists and ready for anyone who'd be willing to risk coming at us both. I wasn't getting cocky or anything, but when Tanek and I fought together, we were basically unstoppable, which is why we got suspended a lot.

"We need to get back inside, fast."

"Ah, no, but, Tanek, we can't." I managed as he headed for the door. He fumbled for his keys, his eyes darting around after he sent me a weird look.

"And why not?"

"Well… I sort of… Maybe kind of a fibbed a little earlier. About Jack and Mitsos."

"Just what do you mean by that?" Tanek got that over-protective brotherly look about him, glaring at me as he stopped fumbling. I shifted from foot to foot, nervously tucking my hair behind my ear as I chewed on my lower lip, which tasted like my blueberry chap stick.

"Should we really be talking about this now? I mean, really-"

"Acacia! You know, you're so irresponsible sometimes."

"ME? Look who's talking Mr. I-Steal-Lame-o-Cards."

"They're not lame! Dionysus gets five hundred attacks points and his holofoil card-"

"NOT NOW, Tanek!" I shouted angrily and he opened his mouth to make more of his geeky comments when that same WHIIIIISH sound exploded through the air. Tanek flinched and we both ducked, covering our heads as what looked like a huge spike shot through the door of the diner, busting the glass out. Tanek immediately jerked me close against his chest, covering my head from the glass. I winced watching as shards cut into his hand, drawing thick, dark droplets of blood.

"Youch! Come on, we need to get inside!"

"Tanek-"

"Now, Acacia!" He grabbed my arm and we hurriedly rushed into the diner, stumbling for a second when we heard a tapping sound. The lights flashed on, flooding us with white as we winced and blinked. Jack stood in the opening to the main dining area with a mechanical pencil tucked behind her ear and Mitsos standing beside her, a long black sword touching to the ground, almost like a cane or something.

"Nice job, running out on your own." Jack muttered dryly and looked at me. I stiffened as I felt three pairs of eyes lock on me.

"I'm sorry, but I heard you say something about a prophecy or something and demigods and a camp? Quite frankly, I thought we were trapped with a couple of psychos." I replied with a nervous shrug, reaching up to tuck my hair back behind my ear, but it just fell back over again. Jack sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Look, this is going to take a while to explain and we just don't have the time if he's out there." She grumbled. Mitsos frowned, pushing off his sword and holding it up.

"All right, I'll go out there and stall. Jack, get these two back to their house and tell Damon that they're coming with us." He stated, heading for the back door, but Tanek grabbed his elbow.

"What the heck are you guys talking about? Stall what? Where are we going?" Tanek demanded. Mitsos stared at him.

"In that order? Life. Monster. Camp Half-Blood. Good luck, now go!" He commanded, nodding to Jack, who nodded in turn.

"Come on, you guys! We have to hurry! Your scent's probably drifted to more than just the manticore." She muttered as she led us to the front doors. Tanek undid the lock with the key, glaring at Jack.

"What are you talking about? None of this is making sense. And did you say manticore?" He asked, looking very unimpressed now. I frowned.

"What the heck is that?" I asked. Tanek rolled his eyes, but didn't open the door when Jack tried to. Instead, he kept his hand on it, keeping it shut and getting a dagger glare from Jack.

"A manticore is a fictional creature from Greek Mythology. He's part of the Mythomagic game too and gets-"

"This isn't a game, Tanek," Jack snapped firmly, "This is real life! If you don't believe me-"

"I don't, there's just no way. Whatever game you guys are playing is seriously not funny because this is Damon's diner, not ours and we can get in serious trouble if you guys don't stop the antics." Tanek snapped back. I cringed and started to open my mouth when there was a loud crash from behind us. We all whipped around in time to see Mitsos go flying through the back room and something scary appeared.

At first, I thought it was giant cat, but the closer I looked, the more I realized… I had to be going insane too. It had the face of a middle-aged man with silvery gray hair and brown eyes while his body was that of a gigantic lion. It had a huge leathery tail that flung back and forth, knocking down walls and counters and sending for a huge thorn-like object that exploded into a cupboard. My jaw dropped.

"N-No way… There's just no way…" I managed. Tanek even paled now and he grabbed my hand immediately like he did when we were little kids. I would have protested if I wasn't so scared that I was squeezing his hand right back.

"Run!" Jack yelled and jerked open the door. Tanek and I shared looks and had no choice, but to bolt after Jack into the cool late-winter air. Our sneakers smacked the pavement as we ran and the sound of the battle behind us was fading from loud explosions and clanging to faint crashes and booms.

"Jack, you have to explain what's going on! What the heck was that thing doing there? They're not real, there's no way…!" Tanek couldn't even spit it out as we ran down the sidewalk toward our house a couple blocks down. Jack panted as she sprinted ahead of us, removing her mechanical pencil from behind her ear and thrusting it downwards so it burst into a sword.

Now that was just freaking awesome.

"It's kind of hard! Look, in a nutshell, one of your parents was an Olympian! One of the Greek gods or goddesses and you're called a demigod! Monsters have a particular taste for us and they're always trying to eat us, especially those of us with strong scents, now hurry! I don't think Mitsos can hold that guy for long!" She explained hurriedly.

"That's unbelievable," Tanek protested, "You have no proof-"

"I'm sorry, would you like to turn back and take a closer look at the manticore to make sure it's worthy of your proof?" Jack demanded over her shoulder. Tanek didn't say anything else as we ran. Soon, our shabby old house came into view. It had partially been burnt down a while back, resulting in the death of our mother and our family dog, which left our step dad heartbroken and basically a clueless alcoholic. He hardly had money to pay for all the renovations on the house.

Jack led the way onto the porch, throwing the door open without even bothering to knock and barreling in. We followed quickly and were blasted with the warm scent of spaghetti and garlic bread. It made my stomach growl, but I guess there was no time for pit stops.

"Where's your step dad?" Jack demanded. Tanek visibly flinched.

"Damon. He's probably in the kitchen." He muttered. Jack nodded and we went into the kitchen where Damon was standing near the stove in a really ugly apron that read I LOVE COOKING on it with little food running around with faces. He was kind of young, mid to late thirties with dark hair and dark eyes. He turned around and looked at us in surprise, glaring a little.

"You guys, don't bring company over-"

"Mr. Woolf, I'm seriously very sorry, but this is important, highly important. Please tell me Aileen left you information on your stepchildren." Jack demanded. Damon stared at her, his mouth moving like a fish out of water for a moment before he set down the spatula and tore off the apron, frowning.

"Yes… Yea, Aileen left the information. Is it really time? Right now?" He asked, looking uneasy and maybe even more broken than he already looked. Jack frowned.

"Yes. We were attacked at your diner. They need to leave and they need to leave now, it's only a matter of time before that monster catches up with us." She informed. Damon nodded slowly, then went to the nearby closet. He started to dig through it like his life depended on it. Tanek waved his hands, glaring at Damon.

"Wait, wait, wait! You're not honestly playing along with this!" He protested angrily. Damon didn't look at him, neither of us as he kept his head in the closet, throwing it out in a frantic.

"I'm sorry, Tanek, but your mother said it was better that you guys didn't know! The more you know, the more monsters you attract!" He called.

"There's just no way," Tanek decided, as if he wasn't listening to anything Jack, or Damon were even saying, "This is just ridiculous. If this is just your idea of trying to get rid of us because you're too much of a lazy bum, then it sucks! You could've just…" His voice trailed as Damon pulled out two bags from the closet and I noticed just now that his dark eyes were covered in a film of crystal tears. I blinked.

"Damon…?" I asked, confused. Damon came over to us, handing us the bags quickly, zipping them open and throwing random things from a drawer in; a bottle of some weird liquid, some yellow squares of… Something, Oreos, MickeyD coupons, just really random stuff.

"I really didn't want this day to come," Damon said as he packed the things into the bag, "Believe me, I didn't… I've already lost two of my wives, I've lost my own son, my job in New York. I'm not going to lose you two. I won't let it happen. I know this is all sudden and you're scared, I know, but Jacqueline here will take care of you. She knows what she's doing, right?" He looked at Jack, who nodded confidently, but she looked a little sad. Damon zipped up our bags. Tanek was at a loss for words now, I could tell by the way he was just staring at our stepfather with big blue eyes.

"I wish you could call me, but there's no electronics allowed at camp, but I'll try and visit when I can. You guys have to be careful. Acacia, remember to brush your teeth and stop stealing things from people at the bus stops, okay? Tanek, don't forget to eat and for the gods' sakes, take care of your little sister. Okay, I think that's everything…." He waited, staring at us both as we stared back, both confused. It was all happening so fast and I felt like he was really sending us off, but the tears in his eyes and the fact that he kissed us both on the head said otherwise.

"Mr. Woolf, I hope you have a car we can borrow. It's a long way to Long Island, New York." Jack stated. Damon nodded, wiping at his eye uneasily as he reached into his baggy jeans pocket, tossing her the keys to his old Ford truck.

"Please, be careful." He said. Jack nodded to him.

"We will, sir. We'll contact you as soon as we have them safe at camp. There's no need to worry. Incidents like this are a lot more common now." She assured, but that didn't seem to help the worry on Damon's face. He just nodded and watched us as Jack took us by the wrist, dragging us out to the dark blue truck. Jack got in the drivers' seat with me in between her and Tanek as he shut the door like a robot.

Jack started the engine and we roared out of the driveway. I looked behind us out the window to see Damon standing out on the porch, watching us drive away. I turned back around slowly, my silver eyes wide in confusion and hurt.

"Jack… Who are you?" I asked, looking at her. She frowned as she watched the road and sidewalks, probably looking for Mitsos.

"My name is Jacqueline Mancinelli and I am a daughter of Aphrodite. I was sent here with Mitsos Depp, son of Nemesis, to obtain two demigod children known for their kleptomania." She explained as she drove along. I looked back at my lap, then out the windshield in time to see something dart across the street. My eyes flashed.

"Look out!" I shouted. Jack hit the breaks and we all flung forward. I heard Tanek curse as Jack stopped the truck, just in time to see Mitsos come bolting across the street, waving his black sword around.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap," He was yelling, "That thing is so freaking annoying and huge! I swear, one more stupid correction about my grammar and that thing is so dead!" He came on Tanek's side and threw open the door. Tanek and I both winced as Mitsos smashed in with us. Thank goodness Mitsos was rail thin or else we'd be completely crushed.

"Where is it now? Can we out run it?" Jack demanded as she started up the truck again. Mitsos looked behind us, around us, in front like a frantic rabbit as he held his sword across his lap. The cold flat of the blade touched the top of my hand, making my eyes widen and jerk my hand away.

"I don't know, let's find out! Drive!" He commanded. Jack scowled, but she hit the gas and we flew down the road. Behind us was the faint sound of an animalistic roar before the only sound was the rumbling of the truck and Percussion Gun on the radio. We sat in silence, Mitsos panting for a little bit before he threw his head back on the seat, closing his eyes to rest. My eyelids were just starting to feel heavy as the sky turned pale blue and orange, signaling that sun was rising at it was almost morning. I rested my head on Tanek's shoulder and he didn't look the least bit tired, just confused and maybe just a bit angry.

"Wait, is all this why you guys were freaking out about those coins?" I asked, sitting up after a while Jack shrugged.

"Drachmas are pretty useful when you want to send Iris-messages or packages through Hermes." She answered.

"This is unbelievable." Tanek said again. I elbowed him a little, glaring.

"Tanek, Damon was freaking out, these two are freaking out, we were attacked by an oversized kitten, and we're riding off toward some camp. I think it's starting to get a little more realistic… Even though we don't want it to." I added under my breath. Tanek just scowled and hunched his shoulders a bit, glaring at his lap.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Mitsos sighed, "But you'll get used to it after a while. I freaked out so bad when I found out that when they took me to camp, I ran away, of course, with harpies, you hardly get anywhere."

"Harpies?" I asked, confused. Mitsos nodded.

"They're kind of like the guards… And clean up crew of the camp. We also have pegasi, Nero's big mutt, Rex- Jeez, that guy is annoying. I thought he was bad when he was just a puppy."

"He's still a puppy." Jack retorted.

"Yea, a big puppy, about the size of a bus puppy." Mitsos snorted. I stared at them in confusion. A dog the size of a bus? That was freaking weird! And so was the thought that pegasi could actually exist. I was starting to feel like Tanek, unable to let all this process correctly.

"This is so weird." I said at last. Mitsos shrugged. Jack drove off onto an exit ramp as we neared New York. The radio was began to play Monster by Skillet and I felt like falling asleep, but Tanek kept jumping in his sleep, so I gave up.

"He looks like he's having a nightmare." Mitsos muttered. Jack grimaced.

"That's not good… We have to get to Camp Half-Blood faster, but this old truck isn't built for the speed." She grumbled, gently patting her foot up and down on the gas. I frowned.

"What's wrong with nightmares? He has them all the time." I replied. Jack and Mitsos stared at me. I blinked, shifting uncomfortably.

"What?" I asked uneasily. The way they were staring at me told me, no, it wasn't normal to have nightmares. I asked and Mitsos answered as Jack had to hurriedly look back at the road to avoid a head-on collision with a semi-truck.

"It's not good if a demigod has a nightmare," Mitsos began calmly, "It usually means something, some of it being true. You could have a nightmare about Rex taking a giant crap and next day, he could do it."

"A) That's gross," I muttered, making Mitsos shrug and Jack roll her eyes, "And B) Isn't that basically telling the future? Because now you're starting to sound very unconvincing with all this demigod stuff." Mitsos sighed as he leaned back in his seat, then looked at me. The scar on his face suddenly seemed a bit older, rougher.

"Look, it's easy to understand. You're both children of a Greek god. And if you're the children of who we think you are, then you might just be burdened more than you think-"

"All right, that's enough explaining for now," Jack interrupted sternly, glaring at Mitsos out the corner of her eye, making the boy shrug innocently, "We need to get them past the borders of the camp and hopefully by the time we touch the borders, they'll be claimed. At least, that's how it goes."

"And if it doesn't?" I asked. Jack frowned.

"You'll be undetermined, but that's not supposed to happen. Our last undetermined…" Her voice trailed. I stared at her waiting, but she didn't continue, so I frowned and looked at her curiously.

"Your last undetermined what?" I asked. Jack sighed, frustrated, but said nothing as she continued to drive. Mitsos frowned, then shrugged as he kicked his feet up onto the dashboard, making Jack scowl at him.

"Our last undetermined wasn't exactly undetermined, she was just claimed by the enemy… But she got what was coming to her." He answered. I grimaced.

"That's not nice." I mumbled.

"Neither was she." Mitsos replied.

"You didn't know her." Jack countered. Mitsos rolled his eyes as he dropped his feet and leaned forward, glancing over Tanek and I to look at Jack with a cocked brow.

"I didn't need to know her. She broke so many rules and not to mention, she got you in trouble taking you on that quest to find out who her father was. And after all that, she ended up getting cursed. A bad curse for us demigods." He drawled as if he were the smartest kid in the world. That highly irritated me about Mitsos. It made me wonder if all children of Nemesis were like that.

I blinked and mentally smacked myself. No way, I couldn't be believing this. I mean, there had to be an explanation as to why that huge manticore looking thing attacked Damon's diner. Maybe it was some kind of mutant, genetically altered thing that- I had no idea what I was thinking about. It made me cringe and want to stop thinking.

I had a good excuse because as we neared a wooded area, somewhere on Long Island, something slammed right into the truck in the back. We all lunged forward and Tanek was jolted awake, panic flaring in his blue eyes.

"What happened? Where the heck are we?" He demanded, turning around in his seat to look around. I did the same and my eyes widened. Tanek paled, his blue eyes turning into huge pools of blue as his lips parted, but no sound came out. I was probably looking the same because charging up behind us was a weird looking old man with the body of a lion and a huge gross looking tail covered in thorns; one of said thorns being flung forward.

"Duck!" Tanek commanded me and he jerked me down. Jack tried to swerve and the spike shot through the back window and out the windshield in front, both windows bursting out of the panes into shards. Jack jerked the wheel and we went flying right over a ditch and into the woods. We bumped up and down and around in the car. I yelped as my head hit the ceiling and Tanek's elbow went into my gut.

We heard a vicious roar from behind us and Mitsos was squirming to turn around.

"I need help!" He shouted against the roaring and shrieking of the wind as he wiggled into the truck through the bust window, probably cutting himself.

"Acacia, take the wheel!" Jack ordered. I yelped as she jerked my hands onto the steering wheel, whipping around to go through the window. A tree was coming up in front of us and I jerked to the right, making Tanek slam into the car door while Jack and Mitsos teetered in the trunk of the truck.

I jerked and turned to dodge trees and fallen logs, Tanek yelling at me to turn left, right, left right. My mind was whirling and I yelped every time we hit a huge bump. Tanek grabbed onto the edges of the seat, gritting his teeth and wincing. There was a yell and I looked in the review mirror to see Jack slash at the manticore's tail, just as a thorn flung from its tail.

"Come, little demigods, is there really a reason for you to keep fighting? Come, stand still and let me devour you!" The manticore roared and lunged forward at Mitsos, but he spun around and slashed his sword across the manticore's old face, causing blood to spew out like a fan across Jack and Mitsos's clothing. The manticore shrieked in pain and swung its tail forward into the trunk. Jack shouted something at me, but I didn't catch it as she was thrown off the truck along with Mitsos, who barked out several curses in some other language, but I somehow knew it was very bad.

The truck went tumbling over and Tanek had his arms around me in an instant, yelling at me to hang on. I gripped the steering wheel and squeezed my eyes shut, screaming as my body crashed around inside the truck. Pain exploded in my head, arms, legs, ribs, everywhere. Finally, the car stopped rolling near a hill in the woods. Tanek coughed weakly and struggled to move. I could only suck in shaky breathes, pain numbing my every limb. The truck was on its side and crumpled up like my math homework, metal sticking out in random places.

"The door… Acacia, get out…" Tanek managed to groan. I gave him a weak nod and fumbled for the door, pushing it open. With Tanek's help, I was slowly getting to my feet and peering out. I didn't see Jack nor Mitsos… Or the manticore. It looked safe.

I pulled myself up, heaving Tanek up after me. We were both cut up pretty badly, bruises dotting our skin. Tanek had a huge gash running from just under his right eye to the base of his neck, his eyes a bit dimmed like he was dizzy or confused.

"Tanek, are you okay?" I asked quietly, holding the side of my head near my temple and pulling my hand back to see blood. Tanek glanced up and noticed the blood on me, his eyes filling with a new light, but I could tell it was hysteria.

"Acacia! Oh my god, are you all right? You're bleeding, oh god, what did I do?" He held my face in his hands, staring at me with those wide blue eyes. I tried to smile, but a cut in my cheek made me wince.

"Tanek, it's okay, you didn't do anything. I didn't see that-that thing coming…"

"I was supposed to take care of you! And I let you get hurt! I let you get hurt, oh god, we have to find a hospital find-find-"

"Tanek!" I grabbed his face in my hands, avoiding the gash on his face and he stopped, staring at me. I glared at him firmly and bit into my lip for a second before I jerked him into a hug and held onto him. I wanted to cry for a while, from the pain, from the confusion, everything, but I managed to keep somewhat calm as Tanek finally hugged me back tightly, almost crushing the air right out of my lungs. Our moment of piece didn't last long as a cackle echoed through the air. Tanek and I scrambled to the ground on our feet, staring at the top of the wooded hill to see the manticore slinking up between the trees with a wide grin on his old face.

"How cute, siblings that actually care for one another… Ah, hopefully you can do the same… While being digested!" The manticore chortled as he got closer. Now, I knew I wasn't dreaming. That thing, that huge manticore thing was real as anything I ever thought as only real. It's stinking rotten breath curled around me like a thick fog and I wanted to puke, but I swallowed the bile enough to speak.

"Who-Who are you? What do you want from us?" I demanded shakily. Tanek flinched and went to shush me, but the manticore chuckled."Who am I? My name is Phil, although, that shouldn't matter to you brats as your time as come. The children of-" The manticore cut off, his eyes flashing and widening as a rock hit him right in the back of the head. He roared and whipped around, hissing. Jack and Mitsos stood at the top of the hill now; Jack holding another big rock in her fist, her sword in her other hand while Mitsos wiped blood from his face, his sword resting on his shoulder.

"Back off, kiddies! I called dibs first!" Phil barked.

"Shove off, ugly!" Jack retorted and chucked the rock just in time to collide with one of the thorns thrown by Phil's spiked tail. Phil snarled, then whipped around faster than I could think, lunging at Tanek and I.

"ACACIA! Your barrettes, take them off, quick, and touch the pointed ends together! NOW!" Jack shouted down at me. I stared up at her like she was crazy, but my body was moving before I could. I unclipped the blue barrettes from my hair, letting it fall like a curtain as I brought the things forward, touching the ends together.

For a frightening moment, nothing happened as Phil reached his claws out to grab us, but then the barrettes glowed a bright blue and flashed. They swirled into a pair of black daggers with bronze handles, the metal cool and comfortable in my hands. I blinked in surprise, then looked up as Phil was basically over top me.

"Acacia!" Tanek cried. In that moment, I thrust the daggers upwards together right into Phil's gut. Phil's eyes bulged and his mouth popped open in a silent scream before he roared and stumbled back. He crumpled to the ground and burst into a pile of dust. I stood staring in pure shock at the pile of dust that billowed away in the wind. There was silence until I heard Jack and Mitsos gasp. I looked up to see them pointing and an eerie glow seemed to be emitting from over my head as well as Tanek's.

A warm, reddish orange glow emitted from a gently swirling caduceus. I didn't know what that meant, but Tanek did. He just stared, his eyelids fluttering a little.

"That symbol…"

"What…? Tanek, what's wrong?"

"It's one of the symbols of Hermes, the God of Thieves, Travelers, and Messengers."

A/N: Phew, that was a lot of work. Hopefully this is a good first chapter. I'm trying to improve on details and the way the characters think. So, hopefully I'm doing good in that department. I'll need your guys' help through reviews, so if you want more details, just tell me! It can be battle scenes, thought processes, etc. I have to make my writing better :) Anyway, yup! A son and daughter of Hermes :P I thought it'd be cool since I know quite a bit about Hermes to begin with. So, thanks for reading, hope the characters sound right, and if you want to submit an OC, just PM me a bio and I'll find a place for them! Please review!