That night, it was safe to say, I didn't sleep very much. Despite my casual remarks the evening before about how I would be fine and wasn't at all nervous… yeah, well, I got the massive headache that I felt coming on at the beach, and in the dark and facing a giant Greek statue of my dad… I started to feel the dread.

It wasn't necessarily the thought of failing that had me tossing and turning. I was determined to succeed, I had to succeed… but it was a serious concern of mine that my friends were coming. I'd known Sofia all my life. She was my best friend and if I lost her because of some stupid quest for a petty goddess… I wasn't sure what I'd do.

Lucas, who I'd known for a year, was very important to me also. He was so silly and defenceless… how would he defend himself if we were attacked? Then Dean, my newfound cousin, I felt a bond with. And Sofia's deep care for him… she'd be torn.

A thousand thoughts ran through my mind like a swarm of bees, and as much as I tried to fight them off as I would an attacking monster - or a stray Ares camper - it was a lot harder to fight your own mind. However, by the time dawn had come, I was instantly tired. It was all I could do to drag myself out of my bunk and practically fall to the floor.

I looked around at my increasingly messy cabin, owing to the fact that I had been gathering more and more stuff since arriving at camp. There was no point me tidying up for Cabin Inspection, so I merely got changed into some comfortable shorts, orange camp T-shirt and a grey jacket, brushed my hair and teeth, and then packed my rucksack.

Being new to the quest business, I wasn't entirely sure what I was supposed to pack. I decided to throw in a new top, my black skirt, some ambrosia and nectar Amber gave me, and my purse. I wasn't aware, but Mum must have put it in my bag with all my savings. When I say 'all', I meant sixty pounds, for I always spent it, but that made me feel slightly more positive about the quest. We were all to be given thirty pounds as well, so the more money we got the easier it would be to travel.

After having left my cabin, I came to the realisation that I was running late. I could see Alfie and Sofia walking up the hill together in the distance, and Dean, Helia and Lucas waiting with Chiron at the top. Noticing this, my tired walk turned into a jog, and I quickly caught up with Alfie and Sofia.

"All ready?" I asked them.

"Of course." Alfie responded immediately.

"I think so…" Sofia answered uncertainly.

"Cool."

The rest of the walk up to the top was complete silence, which was abruptly broken by an annoyingly chirpy Lucas and Helia.

"Well you took your time! Amateurs." Lucas exclaimed.

"Come on, we need to go soon!" Helia urged.

"Guys, please stop talking…" Dean groaned, looking like keeping his eyes open was a massive struggle as he opened his arms out for Sofia to hug him.

"Chiron, when are we going?" I asked. Chiron was talking to some bloke with eyes covering every surface of his skin. I didn't really think much of it, what with everything I had seen in the last week or so. Once I had asked my question, Chiron turned and smiled slightly sadly.

"Ah, Scarlet. If I may have a word, before you go."

Absolutely charming; he evidently didn't think much of my questing abilities. Slightly worried - and slightly angered about his reaction - I walked towards him. I could hear Lucas clowning about with Dean, whilst Alfie, Helia and Sofia spoke quietly with one another. The man with all the eyes saw me approaching, nodded slightly, and then jogged slightly down the hill towards the parked up van, in the exact same spot where my mother had parked.

As soon as I made this connection, my mind began to fill with guilt over my lack of homesickness I had been feeling, but Chiron came to the rescue.

"I want to wish you the greatest luck on your quest. Which I'm sure you won't need." He added quickly to the end.

"If you don't think I need it then why wish me it?" I asked, glaring slightly, however also giving away half a smile.

"A little extra luck would never hurt, would it?" He reproached. I shrugged. "Scarlet, whether you admit it or not, you're incredibly worried about this. But you will do fine, I can guarantee. You're sword fighting is already exceptional and you have incredible power. You just have to watch out for your pride. Accept the help of your friends, for if you don't, that's when you will fail."

I was a bit taken aback by the sudden motivational speech, and so it was a couple of moments before I responded with; "I will, um… try and bear that in mind. Thank you, Chiron." I tried to make the last bit sound a bit more genuine, for I felt the first bit sounded kind of blunt.

"Can we go now?" Dean asked impatiently, and I looked round and he was resting his head against Sofia's and appeared to be half asleep. Sofia, on the other hand, looked completely awake and alert, while also nervous.

I smiled slightly to myself, then quickly wiped it away in case somebody saw me looking, then looked back up to Chiron, for he hadn't answered yet. He was watching the man with all the eyes at the bottom of the hill, and they seemed to be having a silent exchange, which I tried to follow but my brain just wasn't with it.

"Argus is ready to take you all up now." Chiron informed me suddenly, with a sense of urgency about him.

"Who's Argus?" I asked, dazed.

"Argus," Alfie just had to answer the question, "is the head of security here, hence the eyes covering his entire body."

"I see." I simply replied, as we all half walked, half jogged down the hill. Before we climbed into the van, we all, simultaneously, looked back up at Chiron, who was standing in his giant horse form, looking down on us.

"Heroes." He called out. "Good luck."

We all thanked him, although Lucas was by far the loudest and most dramatic. Sofia and I climbed into two of the three front seats of the van, whilst Alfie, Dean and Lucas climbed into the back. Helia, however, remained outside, and continued to look up at Chiron. Sofia looked at me, confused, then looked outside at Helia. Eventually, she climbed into the back, squeezing next to Dean, and her blue eyes were definitely shinier than normal and she kept averting eye contact.

Of course. Helia had been at camp since she was three, pretty much brought up by Chiron. She had never left camp before. This must be a very strange experience for her, and it was then that I really began to see what a mystery Helia Underwood was. Pretty much as soon as I noticed her emotional exterior, she was straight back to ordinary Helia, who was flirting with Lucas and mocking Alfie and Dean. I looked at Sofia to see if she had noticed, and she had. We looked at each other meaningfully, before we silently began to mutter to each other.

"How are you feeling, then?" she asked me.

"Brilliant, this is going to be fun, you?"

"Yeah… fine." Sofia answered uncertainly. I looked at her, not sure whether to venture into discussion, but looked back and was aware that the others were listening in, so I decided against this.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. As we headed into London, it became apparent at how unused to human society Helia was. The best bit was probably when we started driving through the M25, amidst the mild traffic, with people with "strange white things" in their ears and mobile phones in hand. She mused over the fast food restaurants, and everything else so, utterly human. Alfie, having lived in London for nine years, was fairly used to it, however, as quick as ever, noticed some advances.

"Look at the size of that TV!" He exclaimed from the back. I heard him talk about dimensions and mass to the others in the back, which, as per usual, I drifted away from, only to find Sofia nudging me excitedly with her elbows.

"Scarley! Look where we are!"

Sceptically, I looked out of the window, and gave a quick gasp in shock. We could only be in Enfield Town High Street. The streets were almost empty at half past six, only the early Church goers were around, who were off to St Georges Church around the corner.

"Check it out!" Lucas exclaimed. "We're in Enfield!"

"Enfield?" Dean questioned.

"Sofia and I were brought up here." I answered.

"Interesting." Responded Alfie.

"Not really."

Argus swerved into the car park where the market took place every Saturday, next to the rundown Kings Head pub, and managed to obtain the last free space. Once parked, the sound of unclicking seatbelts filled the van and the sliding sound of the the doors opening created a jolt of nervous excitement through my veins. I followed Sofia out of the car, and regretted not bringing leggings. The sun shone brightly, yet a cold chill trickled through the air.

Argus came out with us, and handed us all the thirty pound each, which we thanked him for greatly, and placed into our rucksack. He smiled at us, before he hopped back into the van and started it with a jolt, before driving off. That was it. We were alone now, and unsupervised. The quest had begun.

"So, my little, half-human friends, where do we go?" Lucas asked casually.

All heads turned towards me expectantly. Was I supposed to have revised where we were ought to be heading? If so, then we were screwed.

"The Garden of the Hesperides." I answered, knowing full well that this wasn't the answer that they needed. I couldn't let on that I had no idea where I was going, though.

"Which is where?" Dean continued to ask.

"Devon." Alfie immediately answered. I glared at him.

"What?"

"The Garden of the Hesperides is in Exmoor. Didn't you look it up?"

"Evidently not." I retorted, angry. This was supposed to be my quest, and I refused to let Alfie take over.

"Guys, let's not argue!" Sofia pleaded suddenly. "We've only been on the quest for five minutes, and already you two have started. We need to work together for this to be a success. No more swiping, please?"

Dean, as an automatic reaction, reached over to hug Sofia and looked at her protectively.

"I'm sorry, I just can't stand the arguing." Sofia said guiltily.

"Don't be sorry, Sofia." Dean reprimanded.

"Hm, right." I stammered. "Yes… let's, um, head to the tube. From there we can get to the train station and reach Devon."

"Will we be able to afford it though?"

"We'll have to find out when we get there. Probably." Was all I could come up with.

"Let's get going then, I'm bored." Helia sighed. "Plus, I want to see more of London."

"This area isn't particularly exciting, Helia." I almost grinned.

And things seemed almost normal for the next few minutes. I led the way to Oakwood tube station; Sofia and Dean held hands and I overheard them speaking about their childhoods. Soppy idiots. Helia was apparently entertaining Lucas and Alfie with her astonishment at all things human. Which left me to muse over the quest.

So, the Garden of the Hesperides was in Exmoor. From my experience of train travel, I was beginning to feel panicked that maybe we couldn't afford to get from the south east to the south west. Thirty pounds each… even if we could, we would have practically no money left for emergencies, such as food…

We were just walking down Slades Hill, heading towards a pub called the Jolly Farmers, when we faced our first attack. The monster flew down in front of us on the pavement, and I was shell-shocked. It was a shrivelled bat, with leathery wings, claws and a mouth full of fangs. The eyes were charcoal coloured. It brandished a fiery whip and it screeched at us, definitely the most intimidating monster I had faced.

"Di immortales, a Fury!" Lucas gasped, automatically retreating. I clicked my fingers, as Alfie joined me with his spear, and Helia with her bow and arrow. Dean was cursing as he tried to retrieve his sword from his rucksack.

"Your time is up, Daughter of Zeus." The Fury hissed, and swooped down to me. I rose my sword but Helia pulled me out the way.

"Helia, what the fu…" I started, but then noticed that the whip had been swung exactly where I'd been standing. I'd have been burned to death in a matter of seconds.

"Scarlet, fly!" Alfie shouted. "Helia, attack plan 7."

I noticed how I got the simple direction, while Helia got a fancy 'attack plan', but I did so, rising into the air.

It was easier said than done, what with the Fury also being able to fly.

"Accept death, Scarlet Swan."

"Hmm, no."

I then made the ridiculous decision to fly onto the Fury, grabbing it by the neck and wrapping my legs on either side, being flung around as it tried to shake me off, shrieking as it did. This was logical to me, as it meant that I was out of range of the whip, its mouth and claws, yet I could easily fall off, and then I'd be buggered. Helia sensed the opportunity I had given her and aimed an arrow for one of the Fury's eyes. Being the superb archer that she was, the arrow blinded one of the monster's eyes in a matter of seconds. The Fury shrieked some more, beginning to sound slightly mad.

"Hades will have your souls!" I carried on gripping, only the energy was being drained out of me. I knew that if I let go, the Fury would kill me straight away, yet I ached to be down on the ground, fighting with my sword.

Being blinded in one eye by Helia meant that the Fury could no longer fly properly, and it fell down. Alfie, expecting this, quickly swooped in with his spear. The Fury swung its whip in his direction, and for a horrible moment there was silence. Then a screech that I thought would deafen us all filled the surroundings, and the Fury vaporised - Alfie standing victorious. This happened all very suddenly, and so I fell - once again - to the ground, only this time I didn't sprain my ankles. I quickly sprang back up, adrenaline still pumping my veins.

"You guys okay?"

"Yeah, course I am." Helia breathed heavily, putting her bow back in her bag.

"I did nothing." Dean sounded a bit like a petulant child. I looked at Sofia, who was pale and her eyes were a sad green. I wondered whether the Fury had startled her, but I had to deal with Lucas.

"A Kindly One! Here! Hades has it in for you, Scarlet."

"Lucas, get a grip and tell me what a Fury even is."

"Basically," Alfie intercepted, "the Three Furies are Hades' personal torturers. They only listen to him, and so if one has attacked you, it's very likely he wants you dead."

"Why?" I asked scornfully. "I've done nothing to offend him. Bit like Hera. Why are all these gods wanting me dead?" I was seriously angry at this point. I watched a coach drive past and screwed my eyebrows up in thought.

"It's because you're…"

"Yes, Alfie, I know it's because of who my daddy is." I snapped. I noticed everyone staring at me. "Sorry."

"Did she just say 'sorry'?" Lucas exclaimed. Dean laughed.

"Yes, I did. Let's just hurry up and get to the tube." I surged forwards, and was shortly joined by Sofia.

"What's the time?" Is what she asked me. I checked the time on my iPod.

"It's now quarter past seven. Tube shouldn't be too busy, should it?"

"Not on a Sunday, no… you were really good back then."

"Yeah, but I wish I actually fought it."

"At least you did something."

"Hey." I stopped, and tried to look straight at her, but her height made it difficult. "That was only one fight, and it just so happened it played up to our strengths. Guaranteed that during this quest, we'll all be in awe at some brilliant win of yours."

"Really, though?"

"Yes."

Sofia smiled at me gratefully, and we found ourselves at Oakwood station. We went in, and used the self-service to buy tickets. I went up first, and the ticket cost me two to three pounds. A simple ticket; no line changes. Just Piccadilly, to get to Kings Cross. I estimated, from my time on the Underground, it should take about half an hour. While the others bought their tickets - Sofia helping out Helia and even a frustrated Alfie with using self-service - I calculated the timings. I estimated the predicted arrival time at Kings Cross was about eight o'clock. I hurried the others along down the steps leading to both the Westbound and Eastbound stations. The Westbound platform was practically empty, and as Oakwood was the first stop on the Piccadilly Westbound train, I was sure the entire tube would be empty too.

"I thought the tube was supposed to be underground?" Helia asked, confused.

"Oakwood isn't, it goes underground later." Alfie answered. How he knew this I didn't know.

"Never been on a tube before." Dean announced.

"Same…" Helia sounded more ominous than Dean.

The tube pulled up, and we all piled on, managing to get a carriage to ourselves.

"Just think you guys should know," Lucas started, "that satyrs and the underground… don't make a good combination."

"Neither does the underground and children of Apollo…" Helia added, sitting with her legs up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them. Helia put on such an act of being great and fearless at everything, that this took me by surprise. I looked at Sofia in disbelief.

"So that's why you didn't want to come to Covent Garden with us." I said to Lucas, in sudden realisation. The tube began to move, and while Alfie tried to comfort a petrified Helia and Lucas, I conversed with my best friend and cousin.

"Having fun?"

"Tons." Dean replied, full of sarcasm.

"You never had to come."

"No, I know. I wanted to. But listening to Lucas screech isn't fun." Dean turned to Lucas. "Mate, seriously. Goat up."

"Okay, son of flowers."

"Agriculture." Dean then got up to try and distract Lucas, and I looked out to the zooming darkness, lost in thought.