Stormy night, reawake

The stomach ache that I've acquired

From feeling down, things look grim

And I'm so sick of being tired

I woke up the next morning groggy and disoriented. The previous day had been a little too much for me. Luckily, the campsite wasn't on fire when I woke up, and no monsters had come in the night.

Or so I had thought.

The rest of them were already awake, except for that kid, Robin.

He must be still sleeping, I thought.

"Hey, Leo, got any breakfast in your toolbelt?" I asked hungrily.

"Oh, yeah, I was just about to pull out some cornflakes."

"Hurry up," Amber snapped. "I'm starving." She still sounded angry from last night.

"Okay, okay."

He produced a massive box of cornflakes, and Kyler was solidifying some water into bowls when his head whipped around to stare at the dark forest behind him.

"I thought.. I thought I heard something. I'm sure it's nothing, but..."

He was interrupted by a muffled scream.

"What was that?" Calliope whimpered.

"I have no-" Kyler was silenced by another shout. "Hey, that sounds like.."

The son of Poseidon jumped to his feet. "Robin! He's in trouble!"

Luna grabbed a sharp bronze throwing knife from her leather jacket's pocket.

I unsheathed Katropis and beckoned the others to follow.

We pushed our way through the undergrowth. There were thorns everywhere, but Luna and Kyler didn't seem to notice them. They were at the front of the group and were listening hard.

Suddenly, Luna started running, as fast as she could.

"C'mon! I know where he is! This way!" she yelled. She led us through a path we hadn't seen before. The brambles cleared and we stepped into a clearing.

My heart pounded so hard It was hard to believe no one else could hear it. Amber froze and looked as if she wanted to scream, or cry, or go home. Calliope put her hands over her eyes. Kyler made like he was going to go over there but Luna pulled him back. Her eyes narrowed.

"Sister," the daughter if Hecate hissed. "I thought she would leave me alone!"

"Aphrodite help us," I prayed.

It was a woman, a beautiful woman with chocolate brown eyes and flowing dark hair. She was wearing a snakeskin dress- I briefly wondered how there could be a snake that big- and studded black boots.

But I almost had a heart attack when I saw her teeth.

They were long and pointed, like a dog's. No, not like a dog's.

Like a vampire's.

She was tying Robin down with a rope- no, it was a living snake. The boy looked unconcious, but as I looked closer I saw his hand inching down towards his sheathed sword. The woman-vampire-thing smiled and leaned in, aiming for his neck.

Quick as lightning she recoiled, and I saw why. Tiny lights flashed in front of her eyes, like flashbulbs. I swore I saw Calliope click her fingers. The woman screeched and looked as though she was blind. All of a sudden, Robin reached his sword and sliced through the snakes holding him down. He swished his sword and, in a few seconds, had the woman pinned down and he was holding his sword to her neck.

"Now," the vampire woman cooed. "You wouldn't want to hurt a pretty girl like me? I'm your friend. Everything will be fine if you just let me go.."

For a moment I thought Robin would fall for the obvious charmspeaking, but I was proved wrong when Luna called out, "Don't listen to her! She tried to kill you! Robin, please!"

The boy shook himself and stabbed the vampire-woman in the heart. Yellow dust rained down on him. He kicked them apart to make sure that she didn't reform, but the sand still rattled ominously.

We stumbled over to him. I pulled Calliope with me, muttering, "You can open your eyes now."

Kyler spoke first. "That was some.. amazing swordplay there."

Robin grimaced. "I let her get me. I was the only one awake, and then, she just... grabbed me. She, she was so.. persuasive. I can't believe I let that happen to myself."

"Don't worry, Robin. Even the most valiant warriors have been persuaded by charm-speak," I reassured him.

He still looked unsettled, but Luna put her arm around him. He suddenly looked a lot calmer, and I knew she must have done some sort of magic or something.

Amber blinked, hard. "Robin, that- that was Lamia. The child-eating vampire-woman. It's a miracle that you somehow survived that. Robin, you're.. amazing!"

Robin looked a little calmer, and gave a shaky smile. I felt sorry for him. Not many people can take the stress of actually fighting to the death. I knew I barely survived it.

"Come on," Leo said. "Lets get back to camp, and maybe we can finally get to Jason."

We trudged back to the campsite. Luna kept her arm around Robin the whole way. It definitely soothed him. I didn't know what kind of magic she was using, but it was working. Juliet grinned when she saw them, and she whispered in Kyler's ear. He chuckled and whispered something back.

When we finally reached the campsite I spotted Leo looking sad. I sidled up to him and asked him what was wrong.

"Well, don't we have to get to Jason? I mean, they're probably already at Camp Jupiter by now," he replied. "And there are eight of us. That's way too many. More monsters than the Lamia will definitely find us if we stay too long. And I just want to see Jason dead, locked up or far, far away. Is that too much to ask?"

I figured it was a rhetorical question, so I merely nodded and joined the others.

"So, do you think we should stay here for a while?" Luna was saying. "Robin's kind of shaken up."

I went up to her. "Wasn't the point of the quest to find Jason and destroy him? Also, more monsters could come. I'm sure I saw Lamia reform, and who knows what else could happen? It would be easier just to go."

They all looked uncertain. "I guess you're right, we should leave pretty soon," Kyler said. The others nodded.

"Oh, and as for Robin, I'll get him some nectar," Juliet added. Luna gave her the same look I gave her when she had offered to give Leo some of the godly drink.

I thought for a second, and the answer came to me. Duh! I thought. Luna and Robin like each other. Gods, it's obvious now!

I watched the two of them sneak looks at each other. I scooted over to Leo and held his hand for a moment. His hand was really warm. I couldn't tell if it was his fire or just him being sweaty and nervous.

"Hey," I murmured, leaning into his chest. "We'll find Jason. Everything will be alright."

"I know," he sighed. "I'm just worried that we won't have a happily ever after."

I was left with that thought. It wormed itself into my brain and ate away at my happy thoughts.

We won't have a happily ever after. 'We won't have a happily ever after. We won't have a happily ever after.