A / N: Hello! Thank you to all those people who reviewed on the last chapter!

Disclaimer: If Rick Riordan is on school holidays, then I own Percy Jackson. If not (which is true) then he owns Percy Jackson.

3

I opened my eyes to a dream that night.

I was in a dark chamber, with steel walls and concrete floor. The room almost seemed to rock slightly, as if on a boat. Dark green mold grew up the walls like moss. The back wall of the room was hidden in darkness, but I could make out the shadow of a figure slumped against it.

I walked up to the slumped figure, and saw that it was a man. He was thin and bloodied, is clothes torn. His hands were chained to the wall, and his posture was one of someone who knew their defeat.

I reached out to him, but my hands passed straight through. A frown line appeared on my forehead, and I bent down to see the face of the man.

My heart was chain sawed in half. Dad.

I dropped to my knees, trying desperately to take hold of him, but my dream-self passed straight through my father's body.

"Maia Lightwood," a dark voice murmured.

I whipped around, placing my back against the wall protectively, my heart hammering against my chest.

"Who are you?" I cried out.

"It doesn't matter," said the voice dismissively. A male voice, it sounded like. "What does matter, is you. You are quite the prize nowadays. The gods have a particular interest in you."

"Give back my Dad!" I demanded boldly, though inside I was shaking.

The voice laughed. "Why don't you just wait for the gods to aid you?"

"Because the gods won't help mortals," I murmured.

"Didn't quite catch that," said the voice.

"The gods won't help me."

It surprised me how easily I could say it. It just slipped off my tongue. Because it was the truth.

"That's right," the voice sneered. "And neither will I."

My Dad faded away.

"Dad!" I cried out.

I ran to where he had been, but the wall pushed me back. Wait, what?

My eyes were wide and terrified as on all four sides, the walls began to close in on me. I backed away, but my shoulder hit the wall behind me. I placed my palms on both walls, as with my feet, and tried to stop the walls. They kept on moving and I heard myself whimper.

"Dad," I whispered.

"Maia. Maia!"

I woke up with tears in my eyes, Audrey's anxious face hovering above mine.

"What happened Maia? You cried out," she asked worriedly.

"Nothing," I lied quietly, wiping my eyes hastily on my sheets. "Just a nightmare."

Audrey believed me.

After she went back to her own bed, I pulled my knees into my chest to stop myself shaking. I knew why I was so scared. It was because I knew the dream wasn't just a dream. It was real, in the way that most demigod dreams were. My Dad was in danger, and I agreed with my dream-self. The gods wouldn't help me.

I suddenly got out of my bed and grabbed my bag full of belongings. I was leaving. Now. I was not going to play around camp while my Dad was being tortured. If the gods weren't doing anything immediately, then I would, and I was.

I felt detached from my body as I dressed into warm clothes. I knew I didn't know where to go or how to get there, I just knew that I needed to get to my Dad before the voice in the room did anything more to him.

The patrol harpies weren't out this late, but when I left the cabin I snuck behind buildings just in case. There was a bus stop not too far from camp, so I decided to head in its direction. The quickest route was to go past the Big House, but I didn't want to be caught. Instead, I took the slightly longer route through the forest.

I was afraid of the forest at night and all the creatures in it, but I pushed my fears aside. That wasn't important.

Even so, I almost screamed when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Leo," I hissed. "What are you doing here?"

Leo's green eyes looked up at me accusingly. "I could ask you the same question."

I sighed, and quickened my pace, turning away from Leo. "I wasn't asking permission."

Leo stepped in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. His hair was stuck up in all directions, some locks curling on his forehead adorably, others defying gravity from being squashed against his pillow.

"Maia, why are you leaving camp in the dead of night?" he said, searching my face.

I pushed past him, dead leaves crackling under my feet. "Never you mind. Just quit following me."

"Well I wasn't asking for your permission," Leo said.

I rolled my eyes. "Ha ha."

"Maia stop," said a different voice.

I turned around. Jack was standing there, his grey eyes anxious, a matching grey backpack swinging limply from his arm.

"Jack, tell Leo to go back to his cabin,"

"No," he replied simply, his stormy gaze growing defiant.

Leo caught my arm and held it firmly, so that I couldn't wriggle out of his grip. "I want to know why you decided to run away from camp without even telling me you were leaving."

He said it so straightforward and Leo like, that I just couldn't argue. It might be fun to be travelling with just Jack, Leo and I, like old times. I told them about the dream. Jack raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

"So where are we going?" asked Leo.

I thought for a moment. Where was I going? After the bus, I mean.

"Um, west, I think," Now I know the true meaning of going with your gut instinct.

"And how are we getting there? Train?" asked Jack.

"Bus," I corrected.

"And what travelling supplies did you bring?" Jack pressed.

"Um …" I hadn't really packed any proper supplies.

"I told you she wouldn't remember," Leo said to Jack. He turned back to face me. "Lucky for you, I grabbed one of the questing backpacks from the Big House."

Leo held up a grey backpack identical to the one we used last summer.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

We proceeded to walk through the dark forest in the cold night air. I suck close to Leo, despite telling myself is was silly to be afraid of the forest. The proximity of Leo's warm body comforted me in the way only Leo could. Jack reassured me by telling me Leo's bed hair alone would scare away any monsters. Leo then elbowed Jack in the stomach, not unkindly.

In a few short minutes we reached the gravely road. A shiver went down my spine as I realised this was the exact place my Dad was taken. Leo must have sensed my tension, for he put a comforting arm around my waist.

The gravel crunched under our feet as we walked in darkness. The road to camp was so narrow and unimportant that there were no street lamps except on the odd occasion. The trees slid past us like marching soldiers, and I pulled my jumper sleeves further over my hands.

The bus stop was lit by a solitary broken street lamp, casting irregular patches of gold as the light bounced of broken shards of glass. I pressed the button on the speaker, and the monotone voice informed us that our bus was ten minutes away.

Jack, Leo and I waited in silence. It was so quite I wouldn't have been surprised if we had heard crickets. Even though it was only ten minutes, waiting for the bus was like waiting for the world to end.

The worn looking bus screeched to a halt, lurching at the curb. The yellow door opened slowly and stiffly, and Leo and I hopped in. The bus immediately began to move, leaving Jack alone on the curb.

"Hey!" he called, jogging to keep up. "Wait up."

I held the door open, laughing as Jack struggled to keep up with the bus. With one final leap, he grabbed hold of the handle and with Leo's help, pulled himself up.

"You'd think they'd give you at least ten seconds," Jack panted.

I laughed. "Come on slow coach, let's get a seat."

We took seats near the very end of the bus, Jack and I sitting next to each other, and Leo opposite us. There was a grumpy old lady with a basket of roses next to Leo; he winced as the thorns dug into his arm. I stifled a laugh.

The bus took a route that avoided the city traffic, and soon new were passing lush golden fields of grass. I took a double take as I saw a large lion as gold as the grass around it. It roared and prowled the fields dangerously.

"A Neman lion," Jack murmured into my ear.

For once I wasn't bothered of his constantly sprouting facts. The lion's metallic coat shined in the sunlight before it disappeared into the tall grass. Centaur children came galloping out of grass on the other side, and pointed out the bus to each other excitedly. Their palomino coats were glossy and they wore lose yellow t-shirts on their upper halves. I waved, smiling, and they waved back with glee.
I looked around the bus, but no one else had noticed. I wondered what it was be like, being a regular mortal.

Leo rested his against the window, lost in thought. His eyes were frosted over from not blinking, his usually vivid eyes a beautiful pale green.

Jack's body suddenly stiffened against mine.

I frowned. "What is it?"

Jack pointed at a small black jumping spider on the wall.

I laughed, and pulled a scrunched up tissue from my pocket. I squished under the tissue and placed the tissue in the bin on the back wall of the bus.

I sat back down in my seat and turned to Jack. "Are you really afraid of spiders?"

Jack nodded. "Have you ever heard the story of how Athena turned Arachne into the first spider?"

"Yes, in the weaving contest," I replied, egging Jack on.

"Well, ever since all spiders have –"

"- been getting revenge on all the children of Athena," I finished, my eyes softening. "Sorry."

Jack sighed as the bus slowed to a stop. "It's alright. Are we getting off here?"

I looked out the window and shook my head. "I think our stop is Las Vegas."

A / N: Please review!