Hey there everybody! As you readily see, I have returned! And thanks for the reviews last chapter, guys, they made me feel better. I was startin' to think Amber was the only one who remembered me. Anyway, moving on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson. If I did, I'd be freaking rich.

Chapter 14: Our Party Expands

I was, in a word, depressed. French Accent had taken yet another demigod out from under our noses. And if I was doing the math right, they now had all the heroes they needed. Fudge. Oh, did I tell you guys? I named my sword! I call it Nyx, the name of the Greek goddess of night. Because that's what the Stygian iron blade looks like. A starless, endless night. But I'm getting off topic. Artemis was quite unhappy about her lieutenant going MIA. We said that we would be handling it, but someone (*cough*Quinn*cough*) felt it necessary to tell the Goddess of the Hunt about our lack of battle experience. So now Artemis was going to select a Hunter or two to go with us. A little while after the battle, we were informed that Good-shot-but-has-a-kinda-bad-foot Harley, and Tactical-genius-that-is-easily-distracted Quinn would be the ones coming on mine and Hope's quest, which kinda made us the unofficial leaders. Hmm. I wasn't particularly sure why Artemis chose Quinn and Harley. Maybe she wanted to minimize exposure to our special brand of insanity. There could've been another reason, but I prefer that one, since Artemis was giving Hope and me some pretty funny looks. Maybe she heard about the master bolt thing on Olympus. But I'm getting off topic again, so let's move on.

"So how are you guys going to help us find the half-bloods?" I asked our new companions after we'd been given the news in the tent.

"We," Harley indicated Quinn and herself, "Can track and lead you to Thalia, and presuming they're all being held in the same place, the other missing heroes as well."

"How?" Hope asked, "I don't think teleportation leaves a trail of any kind. And wait a minute Harley, how'd your foot get better so quickly if can't ingest ambrosia?"

"Artemis," the brunette Hunter answered, "The Goddess used her magic on it. My foot is fixed, and it might be a little tender at the most. As for tracking . . ." Quinn came forward, holding a compass and a scrap of silver cloth. Noting the confusion on mine and Hope's faces, she placed the cloth in the center of the little silver compass. Then to my amazement, the compass needle began to spin, faster and faster, until it was a blur of movement. Then the needle came to a sudden halt, pointing to the setting sun behind us. West. Why did it always have to be west?

"Quinn," I asked, "How does your compass know that we need to go west?"
"Well, Amber, it's not actually a compass," Quinn explained, "It's a tracker. You place a possession on the center, and the needle will point you in the direction of the owner. This," she gestured at the scrap of cloth, "Came from Thalia's jacket. So now we can get a directional lead on where she went."

"But we can't get an exact location?" Quinn shook her head. "Well, a directional lead is better than nothing. Let's go, shall we?" Uber-prepared Hunters they were, Harley and Quinn had packs of medical and hunting supplies and whatnot with them already. We set off on foot as the sun was still sinking into the sky. Quinn's compass (yeah, I know she said it was a tracker, but it looks like a freakin' compass) led us out of the forest and into a peaceful little suburb. At least, it was peaceful. Then we got there. Night had fallen, and we were walking down the main street when I, at the back of the group, heard a boy's nervous voice.

"Uh, Angie . . . I don't think we're ready for this."

"Oh come on," a girl purred, "You're just nervous. Don't worry; I'll take good care of you." I instinctively turned my head toward the noise, and saw two teenagers in an alleyway. The boy had his shirt off and the girl was nuzzling his neck. Now that by itself wasn't all that unusual, but something felt off. First of all, I couldn't figure out why I kept smelling barnyard. Second, there was something wrong with the way the guy looked. His eyes didn't look right, and his expression seemed to have gone slack. I looked back my companions who were proceeding down the street, made a snap decision and darted towards the alleyway.

My common sense was telling me that this was a bad idea, but I didn't want to call the whole gang on what could just be a couple of teenagers ahem, showing their affections. I crept up on the couple on silent feet, trying to get a closer. Don't get the wrong idea; I'm not a perv or anything. I just wanted to make sure nothing supernatural was going on here. The girl was still nuzzling the boy's neck, and now I could clearly see the vague, glassy look that had taken residence in his gaze. Unless he was drugged (which I honestly kinda doubted), something weird was definitely going on. I focused my mind and tried to dispel the false image the Mist was creating. Bit by bit, the disguise of the pretty girl fell away, and was replaced by chalky white skin, smoldering hair, and mismatched bronze and animal legs. An empousa! An empousa ready to sink her teeth into the poor, unsuspecting dude's neck. Alright then, time for stealth: over.

"Yaaaaah!" I yelled, jumping out from behind a trash can and brandishing my sword in an energetic matter. "Die demon!" Angie the Empousa snarled, released her 'date', and began to stalk towards me with her hair aflame. The guy (I'm going to call him Joey) made a very unmanly noise and ducked behind another trash can (seriously? What is it with alleys and trash cans?) I didn't have much time to think, however, because Angie the Empousa kicked in the shin with her donkey leg. I swore colorfully in Greek, then bopped her on the head with the hilt of my sword. Okay, so slicing her to ribbons probably would've been more effective, I have this issue with thinking before I act. And this was about the point where I was taken completely by surprise as I was clobbered from behind with a trash can lid.

"Lay off my girlfriend, you psycho!" Joey yelled. Seriously? Why can't the Mist actually show the monsters doing stuff, instead of the half-blood who inevitably has to come save the day? Really, they don't even have to be shown as monsters; just give credit where credit is due. It's kind of annoying being perceived as the bad guy all the time. So now I had a monster and a mortal to deal with. Joy. While I'd been distracted Angie gave me a hard shove, and I landed on my butt in the dirt. Now I was already in a bad mood, but that was the last straw.

"Oh, it's on now!" I snarled and, abandoning my sword, tackled her. If you think there were demonic or demigod powers involved in this particular conflict, you'd actually be quite wrong. This was a good old-fashioned catfight, plain and simple. See? You don't have to be a half-blood to fight monsters. Wait maybe you do. Most regular people cannot see the true forms of many things (hence Joey's moronic attack on me), and that can slightly impede one's progress. Whether you don't recognize the person sitting next to you as something unnatural or you get paranoid and attack that poor homeless guy across the street. Anyhow, back to the catfight.

I had actually been in physical fights prior to this experience, and apparently so had Angie. That witch took a big ol' fistful of my hair and yanked, taking full advantage of the fact I couldn't do it back. A few dozen strands came ripping out, and I yelped. In full retaliation mode, I drove my knee into her stomach, then landed a punch on her nose, and was quite satisfied when I felt something break. One hand still gripping my hair, Angie raked her claws down my arm, but I was too pumped full of adrenaline to notice or care. Using a well known technique I slammed Angie's head repeatedly into the concrete, willing her to sink into unconsciousness. This caused sparks to fly from her hair and catch in the trash, starting a fire that was quickly beginning to spread.

It was Joey's frantic yelling that snapped me and my adversary out of it as we noticed the rapidly growing flames. Jumping off of my demonic foe, I scooped up Nyx and whirled back around to finish the job . . . just in time to see the flash and hear the click of Joey's camera phone. He would take a picture. Jerk! Losing his nerve, Joey yanked his 'girlfriend' to her feet and out of the alleyway. When they were about ten feet out she came to her senses and began to stalk towards me again, throwing Joey off her like he was a piece of litter. That was her fatal mistake, as a silver arrow flew out of nowhere to impale her side.

I don't think Angie even had time to register what had happened before becoming the power-fanned sand castle. This left me standing in a still-burning alley, which I quickly made my way out of. There was Joey, who was looking extremely confused, and, further down the street, my quest companions. Quinn was still holding up her bow, and was also eyeing me with the universal 'you are so in trouble' glare. Gulp. Harley went to go help Joey, but he squeaked in fear and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. Probably to tell the police all about his encounter with a pyromaniac girl gang. I guess all's well that ends well, but it really made me wonder, could getting rid of the Mist really be such a bad thing?

Reviews:

Amain 4ever: Yes, they probably would, but there will inevitably come that 'well meaning' scientist who thinks: Ooh! Let's see what this does to their genetic structure! Then the military gets involved and it's all one big mess. And keep in mind with no Mist; everyone would be able to see monsters, thus leading to mass panic. But you do, however, raise a good point about people not believing.

Heros Legacy: Amber will be glad to know she has a fun-sized kindred spirit! And I won't say anything about spelling unless I don't know what you're saying.

: Glad you like it!

Amber: Congrats on your phone! Though the 'sorta' implies it's not all that great. : P Oh well. At least you're not Erin and your uncle won't throw it out the car window.

White Fairy Writer: Thanks! I enjoy your story as well.

Flamingfawkes007: Again, thank you. And you can never be too old for Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. It is simply impossible.

Well, that's all for now everybody. Thanks again for the reviews, and I'll see you all next chapter. ยกAdios amigos!