The next day they were to be off to London, their midpoint destination between New York and Beirut. Of course, they were going to be stuck in London for extra layover, but during that time they could all try and catch up on their sleep. And no matter how much time they lacked to complete the quest, Chiron insisted trying to blend in with the mortals as much as possible.

Sasha slept in as much as possible, for the first time in weeks.

Until Percy shook her awake.

"Up Sasha, up."

Sasha shrugged away from her brother's grip, pulling the bedcovers up above her head, only to have her brother tediously yank them away.

"Come on Sasha, you're the one who wanted to do this so badly," he said mockingly, and Sasha exhaled, exasperated, and sat up. Percy's eyes narrowed, and he shrugged, walking over to where his younger sister's bags were packed and began rechecking everything for the hundredth time. Oddly enough, Sasha didn't think it'd be the last time. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, walking over to her brother and moving his hands away from her bags, zipping them shut.

"Percy, you're obsessing."

"I'm ADHD, did you expect any less?"

Sasha muttered snarky remarks under her breath to Percy as she grabbed a pillow from her bunk and tossed it across the room to her twin brother.

"Shndt yuf awlredy weft fay nuw?"

Sasha's eyes narrowed. After years of living with Ryan, she'd learned to speak his weird morning language.

"I'm gonna miss you too," was her retort.

After washing her face, brushing her hair and changing, she and Percy made their way out of the cabin with Sasha's luggage. The demigods had had to pack lightly, so she was taking only a backpack from the camp store and a small rolling suitcase. The siblings met with Arya, Annabeth, Orlando, and Nico at Thalia'a tree, just at the borders of camp. Off to the side, sleeping with his enormous body curling around the tree and serving as a guard of the Golden Fleece was Peleus. As he exhaled, sparks flew into the crisp morning air.

Arya and Annabeth went around, frantically finalizing everything. Chiron ascended the hill and watched, eyebrows raised, as the rest of the drowsy demigods' patience grew thin. Finally Nico, who seemed even more on-edge than usual, three his hands up in the air and shouldered his backpack, starting down the hill. Arya snapped at him that at least she was smart enough to do things properly, but Nico ignored her and climbed into the car at the bottom of the hill. A few minutes later, the two daughters of Athena seemed pleased with everything, and Orlando made his way down the hill to the car below. Arya, after saying goodbye and thank you to her sister and Chiron, followed suit. Sasha was the only one to linger behind. She turned to look at her brother's eyebrows, furrowed with worry, and smirked.

"I'll try not to get myself into too much trouble–"

"–that makes me feel so much better, thanks for the reassurance," he snapped bitterly, and Sasha smiled.

"Thanks, Percy."

He eyed her doubtfully and gasped in mock horror.

"Sasha actually thanking someone? There's something seriously wrong with you. I'm not sure you can go in such an unstable state of mind."

Sasha rolled her eyes and took a step backwards, away from her brother.
"Excuse me, but I have manners. Just because I don't use them with you doesn't mean —,"

"Sasha! We're gonna be late because of you!" Arya yelled from the base of the hill, and Sasha turned to look at her best friend over her shoulder, rolling her eyes. She faced her brother again.

"Chill, Perce. It's not the end of the world."

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. They both knew it very well may be the end of the world, but better not to dwell on that too much. Sasha turned to address Chiron.

"Who's driving the car?"

"My mom." Percy responded, and Sasha raised an eyebrow. Percy held her gaze almost daring her to protest. Sasha shook her head and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Children of Poseidon. I'll never understand them."

Sasha went to hug Percy before running down the hill after the others. She hopped into the back seat with Nico on her left, and turned to look out the window at the trio on top of the hill. She watched them as the car drive away, and she watched until the demigods and their trainer were nothing more than little spots, before they disappeared completely.
Percy's mom and Arya were having a conversation about flights and terminal and what the demigods were going to try to accomplish on their quest, and Mrs. Jackson kept looking at Sasha through the mirror, smiling sweetly. Sasha shifted uncomfortably. She knew Percy's mom meant well, but it was just…weird. Her brother's mom, but not her own mom. Sasha felt sick.
"Uhm, it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Jackson." She managed to say, and the woman smiled.
"You too dear, and it's okay to call me Sally. Percy told me about you and your brother."
Okay, now what was Sasha supposed to say? Her cheeks reddened and she nodded, turning to look out the window. Nico and Orlando smirked, and the son of Hades slid Sasha a paper.
'Brace yourself, you're about to get smothered.'
"So, Sasha, how has camp been for you so far?"
"Uh..it's good. I'm still trying to adjust to everything.."
"I'm sure it's difficult. Have you seen your mom ever since you arrived at camp?"
Sasha bit her lip. Of course she'd have to ask that.
"Recently….my brother and I tried to contact her. She, uhm..well, she didn't respond well to the Iris message. She kinda freaked at the sight of us."
It was true. A few weeks ago, after officially deciding to take on a quest, Sasha had Ryan help her send an IM to their mom. She'd been in the middle of the courtroom, arguing with someone and doing what she did best—persuading people to believe everything she said. Sasha had gone with her mother to work before; she'd been required to stay absolutely silent in a huge courtroom for two and a half hours when she was ten. She knew how her mom liked to work: with nothing unexpected diverting her plans from their goal, no surprises.
So you can just imagine the displeasure her mother's face portrayed when a rainbow of mist appeared in the middle of the courtroom, interrupting the case she'd been arguing in.
Yeah…they hadn't tried contacting her again.
"Oh, dear, you know she was probably just shocked."
'Psh, that's an understatement.' Sasha knew her mom would get over it, but it would be a long time before she checked again. She cleared her throat.
"Yeah, I know…" She felt so small. Not that Sally was intimidating in a vicious sort of way…..but intimidating in a smothering mother sort of way. Sasha'd never had to deal with that growing up, and she had no idea how to handle the situation. She slumped down in her seat.
"Have you been attending school ever since you've arrived at camp?"
"Erm, no..not really…"
Sally looked disappointed. "You should really try to stay on top of your schoolwork, Sasha. It's very important."
'How does Percy deal with this woman?'
The conversation continued on how although demigods have to train and survive they also should receive an education. Nico's face was buried in his hands and his shoulders shook with laughter. Orlando was chuckling quietly to the window, and Arya was agreeing with everything Sally said. Finally, Percy's mom told Sasha:
"If you'd like, you can come live with us during the school years and attend the same school as Percy."
Nico and Orlando couldn't take it. They burst into laughter, and Sasha smiled weakly, slumping in her seat and burying her face in her hands.

-
The JFK airport in New York was complete, utter chaos. And it wasn't even around the time of a holiday. Sasha feared of what the airport would be like if it was around the time of a holiday when they were traveling. She'd already lost the others twice, and she barely had enough room to breathe. Finally, they had made their way past the several security checkpoints and boarded their plane. Sasha took the seat as far away from the window as possible, sure that if she did, her queasy feelings would magnify most undesirably. Arya sat next to the window with Orlando next to her, and an elderly woman to the demigod's left. Nico's and Sasha's seats were next to one another, and another boy sat on Sasha's other side. He had the strangest shade of eyes; dark blue, almost a navy color. His hair was dirty blonde, and atop it sat a flat-brimmed hat with Big Bird on it. He smiled at Sasha, who smirked up at his hat.
"Cookie monster is better." She said, and he laughed.
"I have to say I disagree." His voice had a strong British accent. Sasha's eyes widened and she quickly averted her gaze, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Bing "Welcome aboard British Airlines flight 283 from the JFK airport in New York to Heathrow Airport in London, this is your pilot speaking; the local time is 11:23 a.m., estimated travel time seven hours forty five minutes, approximated arrival 6:15 p.m. We hope you enjoy flying with us today." Bing

Sasha closed her eyes. She'd only travelled by plane once before: with her mom and her brother when she was three. They'd gone to Hawaii. Of course, Sasha couldn't rememeber a thing, and she couldn't help but fear being on a plane now. This was….foregin territory. People weren't meant to fly. If they were, they'd be born with wings and look like those weird chicken-things in Legend of Zelda that Leo had shown her once. Her hands tightened on the armrests. She turned and cracked her eyes open to see Nico reacting in much the same manner as she.
"Nico…?"
His eyes snapped to her. "This is stupid. This is really stupid. Mark my words, something's going to go wrong. Chiron has more sense than to put the two of us on a plane together…"
The boy on Sasha's other side chuckled. "First time fliers? Turbulence is hard, yeah, but it gets easier when you're up in the air."
Nico grit his teeth. "I doubt that will be the case."
Sasha sighed. She was not looking forward to the next eight hours.

A.N.: Yes, the action hasn't started yet. I'm sorry. Actually, there might just be a bit more trouble in the romance department of Sasha's life before the quest really takes off...;) Sorry about the wait, too. I've been falling behind in my studies at school and I was struggling to catch up. In a few weeks I have finals, too, so don't expect updates until after they're over and done with :( (Which is pretty depressing for me, because I am totally in the mood to write non-stop) Also, when Ryan says "Shndt yuf awlredy weft fay nuw?", I realize that not all of you have lived with him for years and that you might not be able to understand his weird-ness like his sister. He's saying 'Shouldn't you've already left by now?' Ah, the consideration.
Oh, and about my reference to Legend of Zelda...I've only played the game a few times with a friend of mine and I forgot what those things are called, the half-human half-bird things? I only remember what they look like because my friend once drew herself as one...:3 If you know the name of them, please tell me, because it's driving me crazy that I can't remember. Anyways, Enjoy! (P.s.: I love hearing from you guys! Pretty pretty pleaseee review review review!) :)