Chapter 7 Zoë Atlanta Georgia.

Zoë groaned, "Remind me why the hell are we putting a metal dragon head in the truck again?" she asked. The response she got was multiple clicks and clucks from the metal dragon head in front of her.

"Festus!" yelled two people who had been introduced as Leo and Esperanza, but apparently Esperanza liked to go by Anza or Espera. The latino was apparently Luke's age, her brown eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Estúpido dragón! El hecho de que ellos no pueden entender que no quiere decir que se debe jurar en ellos!" Espera scolded the dragon like a mother would with a child. She got multiple clicks in response. "¿Por qué usted Pest! ¿Quieres que te lleve una parte, y la convertirá en una licuadora o algo porque lo haré!" she ranted. The dragon huffed out a cloud of black smoke in response.

"Fuega. Calm Down, he's just trying empujar sus botones," Leo told his daughter, resting a hand on her shoulder. Zoë noticed him sneak a glare at the metal head.

Her mother seemed alright with the fact that a dragon's head was being installed into her car, but then again, it took a lot to surprise her mother. In fact, she hadn't seen her mother cry in years until today. When she saw the man named Leo she walked over to him and punched him in the gut and started shouting insults and swear words at him in greek, tears of joy and sadness running down her cheeks. The entire time Leo let her not even trying to block her punches or reply like he knew she had to get all her steam out before actually talking.

Once she had finished yelling at him Anza's mother decided to come out, introducing herself as Calypso. Zoë's mother's face feel flat at this like she was having a flashback, she'd been having those more often. She made a mental note to ask what it was about later.

Leo turned to the group and took a deep breath, "He's almost completely installed. He's been programmed with the directions to camp and a demigod locator, along with a monster detector," he explained, "I just need to fix his sneezing problem then we can hit the road. But I had a few things for you all."

Zoë was shocked, she had just met this man today and he was already giving them gifts. She watched as he ran into the shop and came out with a bunch of stuff in his hands, dumping it all onto the bed of the truck.

"Alright..." he started and pulled two golden batons out of the pile. She looked amazed at them, the way they showed in the sunlight. "Here we have two batons that can combine to form a single Bo-staff," he explained, holding it up to the sky. Zoë didn't know how he noticed her watching them with wonder but he did. She saw him smile slightly before holding them out towards her. She looked shocked and gulped down the saliva that had built up in her throat and took them from him.

They fit in her hands perfectly. She'd taken fighting lessons when she was younger and had learned to somewhat fight with a staff thanks to her mother signing her up for it. She spun them around in her hands, getting a better feel for them. She connected the two together, turning it into a bo-staff, practicing with that a little before taking it apart. She saw her mother smiling at her with worry and sadness in her eye.

Leo was smiling too, as was Luke. It made her happy. She'd felt out of place her whole life like she didn't know what to do, or what she was meant to do. She'd never meet her father like Luke had, the only reason she got good grades was because that was what she was good at, but it didn't feel like her. Buy now... this felt like her, the true her.

She turned to hand them back to Leo but he just shook his head no, the smile still on his face.

"They're yours. You know how to use them, I don't," he stated before turning back to the pile and pulling out looked like two leather dagger sheaths, only wider and thicker, "Here. These are the holders," he exclaimed, "One on each side, makes it easier to pull them out."

Zoë nodded and listened to him, attaching one sheath to each side of her body, slipping the batons into their holders.

The next thing Leo pulled out of the pile was a toolbelt. Anza's eyes widened automatically. Zoë knew that she knew exactly what it was.

"This is for you Fuega. You know exactly why you're getting this." Leo stated with a soft smile. He handed the belt to Anza, who took the tool belt reverently. She watched as the mechanic's daughter held the belt in her hand, looking over it like it was an ancient weapon that if she used too much pressure or jolted it, would break in two. Anza started to tear up a little but held back her tears before strapping the tool belt around her waist, letting it fall into a comfortable position.

He then turned to Luke, "You already got Riptide kid. You don't need anything else," he told him. Luke looked a little taken back by this, he knew that the sword was important but he hadn't realized it was that important. He opened his mouth to question Leo on why it was so important; he had yet to hear the story of how his father used the sword. He nodded at Leo, watching as the man rummaged through the pile, excepting the fact that there would be nothing for him like for Zoë and Anza.

That was where everything started to go wrong. Festus let out a fury of loud clicks, almost as if he was trying to make an alarm go off. Both Anza and Leo's eyes widened as they easily translated what the dragon was saying.

"All kids in the car. NOW!" the mechanic barked pointing at the Range Rover. He quickly shut the back, letting Festus's clicks become muffled by the trunk doors. That's when Zoë heard it, the roaring that echoed through the trees around them as Thalia and her mother ushered her towards the car doors.

She noticed Calypso pull a dagger out of hiding at the roar, along with Leo light his hands on fire, Anza following her father's lead. Her mother pulled out her dagger, while Thalia pulled her hunter's bow up and off her shoulder, even her brother reached into his pocket to grab riptide.

Leo's eyes flickered with worry when he saw all the kids reach for their weapons.

"GET IN THE CAR!" he yelled at them again. Zoë saw her brother send a quick glance at her before nodding. He wanted her to get into the car also, and that was an argument she wouldn't win. They all sprinted towards the car, Luke leaping into the driver's seat and starting the engine. Zoë climbed into the passenger's seat turning to look at Anza.

"Anza! Come on!" she yelled, sure she had just met the girl today but she already felt a connection to her. She noticed Anza hesitate, looking towards Leo for a quick second before extinguishing her hands and running to the car, climbing into the back seat.

It was at that moment that the tree line broke. Loping from the tree line came a screeching scaly beast, glimmering blood red in the sunlight.

"Go! We'll take care of the monster! Get to camp!" Shouted Annabeth, pulling a dagger from somewhere in her pocket. Luke hesitated but their mom had already sprinted towards the creature. Zoë watched her brother let out a breath of frustration before shifting the gear from park to drive.

Zoë turned around, watching the battle through the back windshield. She watched as her mother and Leo raced towards the creature, prepared to protect their children. Then when they were a few meters away, they were gone. All that was left was a couple sparkles of black dust.

"Mom? MOM!" she screeched, slamming her palms into the window as she watched the dust scatter with the wind.