Annabeth

Annabeth heard a loud thud near her seat.

Slowly, she closed her book and removed her earphones. She was reading about Greek and Roman Mythology. You've got to be prepared to what you are about to experience, right?

She glanced at the unconscious person at the floor. Sensing nothing important at the scene, she began to open her book when she heard Hedge call her.

"Chase! Would you heave that cupcake over there back to his seat?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Why do I have to? He seems like enjoying himself, sleeping at the floor"

Hedge huffed. "Have enjoyed sleeping at the floor, Chase?"

"I don't know. Never tried doing that before." Annabeth crossed her arms.

"Well, do you want to try? I'll gladly help you" Hedge grinned, reaching for his baseball bat.

Annaberh silently gulped. She was quite sure that getting hit by a baseball bat would hurt - not that she got hit by a baseball bat before.

"Why do I have to do it? Can't you do it?"

"You' re the nearest person, cupcake."

Annabeth grumbled. She slowly stood up, walking to the unconscious person, careful not to lose balance.

She heft the unconscious person, and settled him on the seat adjacent from her seat. She analyzed the person - windswept hair, and tanned skin. He reminds her of the surfers back in California.

"Hey, Chase! You've done what I've told you to do, no need to stare" Hedge smirked.

Annabeth blushed - correction, she slightly blush. She glared back at Hedge. "I wasn't staring! I was looking for signs of concussion!"

"Nice save, Annabeth!" She mentally patted her back.

After securing the body, she returned to her own seat, put her earphones on, opened her book about mythology, and planned how to get back to both Hedge and the unconscious person.

No person or satyr will ever get away after humiliating her.

-X-

By the time they arrived at their destination, Annabeth already planned 47 ways to get revenge on Hedge and the unconscious person. She also finished reading the book aboit Greek and Roman mythology - which is a gift from her mom.

Based on the book, she tried to analyze who the godly parents of her companions could be - yet she drew a blank. It is quite difficult to guess who their godly parents are based on looks.

She grabbed her bag and other belongings. As she stood up, Hedge called her attention once again.

"Chase, Wake Jackson up!"

"Ugh?! Why me?" Annabeth threw her arms up.

"Because you're -"

"What? I'm the closest person? Well, sad to say, I won't wake him up. Period" Annabeth walked passed the unconscious person but was blocked by Hedge.

"No. You wake him up, cupcake" Hedge blocked her, arms wide spread.

"Why?! I'm not the nearest person anymore! See! Why not ask him or her?" Annabeth pointed towards the last two person standing behind her.

The girl behind Annabeth glared at her. The girl pushed past Annabeth and Hedge, successfully walking out of the bus.

"Well, she's out of the question, so you do it" Hedge smirked.

"Then he'll do it! Why do you even push me to do it, huh?" Annabeth pointed towards the guy, who visibly flinched.

"Nothing. I just wanted to know how far you'll go for an old man's request." Hedge shrugged.

Annabeth raised her eyebrow. She don't know if she'll believe the satyr or not. She was about to make herself believe the satyr when he sighed.

"Just wake him up, any of you two would do. We have to be by camp in an hour. The trail is short but I assure you that it won't be easy - especially with 6 of you guys. It will be a pain in the ass" Hedge shuddered then walked out of the bus.

"So, umm -" Annabeth paused.

"Frank"

"So, Frank, Should I or should you wake him up?" Annabeth pointed to the still unconcious body.

"I think you should wake him up. I'm not good with people, so..." Frank adjusted the bow slung at his shoulder.

Annabeth sighed. She cautiously walked towards the uncounscious person, as if the person is a monster in disguise.

Annabeth analyzed the unconscious person once again and noticed that he, in fact, is drooling.

"You really do stare at him, huh?" Frank chuckled. Annabeth glared at him and he gulped. "Sorry" Frank sheepishly scratched his neck.

Annabeth put her attention back at the unconscious person.

"You're not good with people and I'm not good with drool" Annabeth stepped back.

"What should we do then?" Frank walked over next ro Annabeth.

"We leave him. There's no other choice" Annabeth clapped herbhands and closed her eyes. "May your soul find -"

Annabeth opened her eyes when she heard a loud crack. She noticed that the window in front of them was cracked. She tried to look over what caused the crack, causing her body to hover the unconscious person. Before she could even say a word, she felt something hard resting on her chest.

She looked over to Frank, who is blushing, as red as a tomato.

"What?" She growled.

Frank cleared his throat, shook his head, looked away and pointed at the body under her.

"Um, He's, uhm, kind of awake now."

Annabeth looked under her, checking if the person really is awake. She found out more than she wished for.

The hard thing that bumped her chest was this guy's head.

"You pervert!" Annabeth slapped him. "I'm done! I'm out of here!" She grabbed her bags and stormed out of the bus.

Annabeth noticed that most of her companion is waiting for them impatiently.

The blonde guy was talking animatedly with the girl with choppy hair. She couldn't hear what they were talking about, though.

The scrawny guy, however, was visibly flirting with the braided girl - and he was failing, big time. The braided girl rolls her eyes, then turns away, which in return, the scrawny guy would shift his position where she could see him.

She walked next to Hedge, not wanting to meddle with the "couples". She leaned at the bus, near the door.

"Anything interesting that happened?" Hedge wiggled his eyebrows.

"Shut up" Annabeth growled.

Annabeth analyzed her surroundings. The bus is parked at what looks like a drop-off point for campers. Surrounding the area are tall, thick trees, which could have at least be century-year old. She could barely see few trails but she could not fathom which trail they would take.

A minute later, the pervert walked out, Frank behind him.

"I told you, it was an accident! I never meant to snuggle with her breast!" The pervert shouted, throwing his arms in the air.

"You already told me quite a few times already, and I believe you. No need to explain" Frank slumped his shoulders in defeat.

"No! You have to explain! What's with snuggling and breasts? Tell me!" The scrawny guy ran next to the pervert.

Before the pervert could protest, Hedge grabbed their attention.

"Not now, cupcakes. We should head over at school now. The sun's already starting to set and we don't want to be out here when it's already dark. Now, follow me, stay close together, ready your weapons, and keep quite. Also, forget about the breast thing. I'll castrate whoever brings that up, understood?" Hedge grabbed his baseball bat.

"Your legs! Holy shit! I'm not dreaming!" The pervert pointed at Hedge's legs.

"Later, Jackson. Hopefully, you'll get some answers later"

"How could you react like this is normal?" Jackson looked at them.

Annabeth huffed. "Do you what Greek and Roman mythology?" Jackson nodded. "Well, good news, they're real. Hedge here is a satyr. Do you know what a satyr is?" Jackson nodded again. "Good. The reason we're here is because we are demigods - mortal children of gods - that are born from a god and a human. Basically, one of your parents, most likely your missing parent, is a god." Annabeth nodded to herself, glad at her own explanation.

"So, my dad's a god? Wow. Do you know who he is?" Jackson asked her.

"Why would I know who your father is? Even I don't know who my mother is I bet they also don't know who their godly parent is."

"And I thought you are a wise girl" Jackson snorted.

"Excuse me? Don't call me wise girl. My name's Annaneth, pervert." Annabeth glared.

"Excuse me? Don't call me pervert. My name's Percy" Percy mocked her, imitating her.

"I do not sound like that!"

"Yes, you do"

"I hate you" Annabeth growled.

"I love you too" Percy blew her a kiss.

"Don't want to interrupt your lovey dovey thingy but we need to get going. I don't know how the teachers handle you ADHD and Dyslexic demigods but you're already driving me nuts!" Hedge pushed the bickering demigods away from each other.

"But I'm not ADHD nor Dyslexic" Frank muttered.

"I heard you, Zhang. Now, grab your weapons"

Annabeth drew her celestial bronze knife, and made herself alert. She also noticed most of her companions did the same: Frank readied his bow, the blonde guy had an imperial gold lance at his hands. The girl with choppy hair also had a celestion bronze knife at her hads. The scrawny guy has a hammer ready, while the braided girl had an imperial gold sword. The only one that don't have a weapon is the pervert.

The pervert is staring at our weapons. "Is that even legal? Where did you get those?"

"Jackson! I told you to bring your weapon out!" Hedge poked his side with his bat.

"I don't have one! All I've got is this bag and nothing else" Jackson gestured to his backpack.

"You should at least have one! Your father must have sent you one! He knows about this quest, for Zeus' sake" Hedge opened Jackson's bag and rummaged his belongings. Jackson protested with 'Hey' but that did not stop Hedge. "Ah ha!" Hedge zipped Jackson bag before giving Jackson a pen.

"A pen? Are you sure, coach? What would he do with that pen? Stab monsters in the eye?" The scrawny guy joked.

"Shut up, Valdez. Of course, this is a weapon. This is Riptide - once wielded by the mighty Hercules, himself!" Hedge uncapped the pen and it turned into a sword. He handed it over to Percy, who reluctantly took it.

Percy tested a few swings and smirked. "Feels natural. Is it really safe, coach? What if I accidentally stabbed someone"

"The only someones you have to kill are the monsters. I'm Jason, by the way" The blonde guy offered.

"I'm Piper" The girl with choppy hair waved.

"I'm the super McShizzle, bad boy supreme, Leo Valdez!" The scrawny guy puffed his chest out and stood tall, which is not a lot.

"I'm Frank" Frank scratched his neck.

"Reyna" the braided girl looked away.

"I'm Annabeth"

"And I'm Hedge. Enough with the chit chat and move your lazy asses. We don't have much time left before it goes dark" Hedge pushed the nearest people, which is Frank and Percy.

Silently, everyone followed him through the silent and eerie forest.

-X-

Hedge wasn't lying when he said that the trail was short. He wasn't also lying when he said that the trail won't be easy.

Few minutes in and they already found themselves surrounded by 9 hellhounds.

Each hellhound is about the size of the bus that they took. Its glowing red eyes and sharp fangs scared - correction, shocked - Annabeth to her core.

Her group huddled together in a tight circle. They were surrounded by the hellhounds in every direction.

"When I count to three, run as fast as you can but try not to run far. Just distract them. There are 9 of them so we'll take them on, one versus one. Once you killed your hellhound, regroup at this area. Understood?" Hedge instructed. All of us nodded.

"One..."

The group prepared theirselves to run.

"Two..."

Annabeth tightened her grip on her knife.

"Three! Go!"

All of them ran at random directions. Annabeth ran north, where a giant tree is nearby. She hoped to get advantage by hiding behind the trees.

She heard a growl behind her and she ran to find another tree to hide in. As she glanced back to the tree she hid in before, her eyes widened in surprise as the tree got snapped like a toothpick from the hellhound's sharp fangs.

Annabeth glanced around her as she saw Piper gracefully dodging the helhound's massive paws while stabbing her knife at the hellhound's belly, disintegrating it into golden dust.

Annabeth followed Piper's strategy. Dodge. Run. Dodge. Stab. She mimicked Piper's movement until the hellhound disintegrated.

Wiping some sweat that formed in her forehead, she headed towards Piper's location.

"Smart move back there, Piper. I'm sure that it is worthy of Athena. Are you a daughter of Athena?" Annabeth asked.

"I wish. Athena is much better than most goddesses you know. I hope Athena is my mom - I mean I would rather have any god as my mom except Aphrodite" Piper chuckled. "Shall we help the others?"

"Sure. I think I can handle this while I still got adrenaline rushing through me" Annabeth gripped her knife tight.

They ran back to their rendezvous point to see their companions fighting their own hellhounds.

Jason was doing the same technique Annabeth and Piper used. His agility making it difficult for the hellhound to land a hit. His lance also gave him more advantage than Annabeth and Piper due to its longer range.

Frank, on the other hand, is running around the forest, using the trees for temporary cover while he shoot volleys of arrows at the hellhound, each arrow finding its target. Annabeth estimated about 30 arrows embedded at the hellhound's side before it turned into dust. Frank, then, grabbed his arrows that hell from the monster's remains before he walked back to their rendezvous point.

Leo seem to have found a funny way of distracting the hellhound. From his toolbelt that hung from his waist, he grabbed various tools - wrenches, hammers, mallets - which he throwed at the hellhound's head before he ran out of the monster's vision. While the monster is dazed, he would silently tredge towards the monster's side with a hammer ready. It took Leo one huge swing at the monster's aide before it disintegrated to dust.

"Want some more of Leo Valdez? Come and get me, you puppies!" Leo screamed while running towards us.

Reyna is fighting with two metallic dogs by her side - one is gold, while the other is silver. Each of Reyna's dog flanked the hellhound, successfully distracting it from Reyna, who ran straight to the hellhound's snout at slashed her sword, disintegrating the hellhound in the process.

Hedge took a wilder approach. He went for direct assault. He momentarily dazed the hellhound using his hooves to send a powerful kick, before releasing a barrage of heavy blows using his bat before the hellhound exploded in golden dust.

Percy, on the other hand, is having no problem at all. He fought the hellhound like he's been killing monsters his entire life. The way he swing his sword temporarily puts Annabeth in a state of shock and awe. She is amazed by his strength and agility, as well as his resourcefulness. Percy even used the fallen leaves as distraction by kicking at the leaves, obscuring the hellhounds vision. After few strong slashes, the monster finally disintegrated.

As Annabeth and the others met at the rendezvous point, she had a gut feeling that she missed something important.

"Annabeth really does like staring at Percy, huh?" Piper wiggled her eyebrows, sending playful smirks at her direction.

"Shut up, Piper. You were also staring at Jason, you know" Annabeth retorted.

"What? My sweet little sister is already having a crush, and with my best friend! Don't you dare hurt my little sister!" Leo tried to look angry which fails because of his scrawny build.

"Shut up, Leo. I'm taller than you meaning you're my younger brother. Also, stop overreacting." Piper punched Leo's arm. "By the way, Annabeth, I have the right to stare at Jason because he is my boyfriend, right Jase?"

"I don't know if you have the right to stare though. It kind of creeps me too, Pipes" Jason shuddered while Piper pouted. "I'm just kidding. But seriously, it's creeping me out. No offense, Pipes"

"I swear I'll wrap duct tape around your mouth if you don't stop talking!" Hedge glared at us.

"Each of us killed at least one hellhound, right?" Annabeth grabbed their attention. Everyone nodded. "That means we killed 8 hellhounds" Annabeth gasped. "We only killed 8 of them!"

"Of course, we only killed 8 of them. What do you expect? There were only 8 of them to begin with!" Percy chuckled.

"No! There were 9 of them, I'm sure!" Annabeth proclaimed.

"Annaneth's right" Reyna intercepted. "And now, there are more of them"

Annabeth and the others turned at where Reyna is looking at. At first, she couldn't see anything until she saw multiple red dots - the glowing red eyes of the hellhounds.

Hedge seemed to notice them too as he started shouting orders. "Follow me, cupcakes! The school's quite near. We could make it! Run as if there's no tomorrow and no turning back!"

Hedge started running, almost leaving them behind.

Shocked, Annabeth and her companions hastily ran after Hedge, not bothering looking back.