Here's Chapter 14 guys! I hope you enjoy this one :)

When we made it to Raymond and Jessica I asked if Jessica was okay, her right arm seemed hunched up, like she was frozen in a shrug.

"Her arm's dislocated, I can fix it though." Raymond said. "What about you?"

"Bruised ribs, but I'll be fine." I said, waving away their concern.

Then Raymond looked at Daniel, almost warily. "Who are you?" He asked, he looked at me. "Do you know him?"

"I met him in Minnesota." I replied. "He lives here. I met him when I was trying to figure out where we were and I sorta ran into him a little while ago. Literally."

"I'm Daniel Zhang." He replied. "Listen, I live outside of town, my family can get you patched up there. And then I'll explain everything."

"What do you mean, explain?" Jessica asked.

"He knows." I replied. "He saw my knife and asked if I was a demigod. He knew what those monsters were, the lay something's."

Daniel chuckled. "Laistrygonian giants." He corrected. "They're cannibals, they live here in the north. I've never run into them before but I know about them."

"Are you a demigod?" Raymond asked, nervously gripping the hilt of his sword. Jessica played with her necklace, fingering the clay beads.

"No." Daniel replied. "I promise I'll explain but it's not safe out here. We have ambrosia and nectar at my house. You can have showers and food."

I cleared my throat. "Um, I kinda squished your groceries."

Daniel shrugged. "We still have food, I'm sure they'll understand."

"They'll?"

"My parents." Daniel said.

While they spoke I looked around for my knife, it was by Daniel's squished and muddy groceries so I slowly walked over and knelt, retrieving my knife. I found a surviving apple and picked it up before turning around. "I found a survivor." I said with a grin, chucking him the apple. Daniel laughed and caught it.

"We should get going." Daniel said. "That is, if you want to?"

Raymond and Jessica looked at me, asking for my opinion. I looked over at Daniel, wondering if we could trust him. I didn't know him for that long but he had saved my life and it seemed like he generally cared. I doubted he'd lead me into a trap.

I nodded. "Let's go."

Raymond and Jessica seemed hesitant but they followed Daniel down the street after Raymond popped Jessica's arm into place. I made her a makeshift sling with the bottom of my dress – the same one my mother gave to me – and we set off, following Daniel.

. . .

We were attacked once more before reaching Daniel's house. Another group of ogres approached and I threw my knife at the leader, the blade sinking into his forehead and making him disintegrate. Raymond pulled out his sword and concentrated.

With a defiant yell Raymond made the sewer water come up, it swirled around in the air before bending and hitting another ogre, knocking it back into the last one. At least I thought it was the last one, I was wrong.

"Here." Jessica said, handing me her dagger. "Throw this and kill one."

I nodded and turned the dagger around in my hands, it was a little heavier then I was used to but I was confident I could hit it. I threw the dagger and it sunk into the ogres chest. He looked down before exploding into dust.

"Pretty." A deep voice said behind us.

I spun around and saw another ogre standing beside a hellhound the size of horse. "J – Jessica." I stuttered, my eyes on the hellhound. I hated hellhounds, my shoulder throbbed remembering the old wound.

It growled and I realised we were both weaponless. The hellhound crouched down, eyeing Jessica and getting ready to pounce.

"Jessica run!" I screamed, lunging for her and knocking her out of the way as the hellhound pounced. It crashed into me and sent us both rolling.

"Jessica?!" Raymond yelled, spinning around as the ogre disintegrated.

The hellhound bent it's head and bit the back of my dress, straitening up, me dangling from its mouth. My arm was bleeding heavily from a long gash from its claw. I screamed in rage and fear, thrashing in the hellhounds grip as it growled and shook me back and forth. My arm throbbed.

"Dianna!" Jessica yelled, I saw her dodge a cannonball and a blast of water intercepting another one.

The hellhound turned and began to run off, I began to panic. I needed a weapon to fight it, I closed my eyes. I am a daughter of Hecate, I can use magic.

"People see what they want to see."

Well, I wanted to see a weapon in my hand. I closed my eyes and concentrated so hard I began to sweat, imagining a dagger in my hand. Then – when that didn't work – I imagined myself with daggers on my hips, decked out for battle.

The mist swirled around me and the hellhound dropped me in shock. I rolled when I landed, getting up and spinning towards the hellhound. Then I looked down and yelped in shock.

I was in a different outfit, a belt of throwing knives wrapping around my waist, there was a dagger in my boot and a quiver with a bow on my back, two swords on my waist. My outfit was a silver camouflage, hugging my body, my hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail and the bronze bracelet was still on my arm. It was all surprisingly lightweight.

"I left you a gift."

Wow. I would have to make a giant sacrifice to my mother to thank her. I pulled out a throwing knife and chucked it at the hellhound, it yelped as it sunk into its shoulder. It leapt at me and I rolled to the side, yanking the dagger out of my boot and slashing the hounds muzzle. It yelped and skidded to a halt as I grabbed it's coarse fur and hauled myself onto it's back. I brought my dagger up and stabbed it between the hellhound's shoulder blades, causing it to disintegrate with a howl. I dropped to the ground, monster dust raining down on me. I sheathed my dagger and picked up my throwing knife, I was about to put it away when I noticed something odd about it. The dagger was three colours all swirled together; bronze, gold and black.

"Wow." I said, sheathing it. "Thank you mother."

The moment my dagger was back the mist enveloped me again, when it dispersed I was back in my normal week old clothes.

I ripped off more of my dress and tried to wrap up my arm, but the cut was too long.

I walked back to the others, clutching my arm, trying to slow the bleeding. I made it back and saw Raymond duck a club and stab the final ogre in the gut, disintegrating it.

I stumbled over a club and looked at Daniel. "How much farther?"

"Another mile or two." He said, standing on his toes and searching for more enemies. I saw shallow claw marks on Daniel's chest that bled a bit but otherwise he seemed fine.

I looked around for my knife but couldn't find it. "Hey, where's my knife?"

Raymond looked guilty. "Um . . . it sorta got washed away."

"Raymond!" I yelled. I was angry and sad, that knife had been Christian's, the last thing I had of him. No, not the last, there was still his bush. And I wasn't weaponless thanks to mom's cool gift. "It's okay I guess." I grumbled.

Raymond smirked a little and shrugged as if to say, my bad.

I walked over to Daniel and saw some hay in his hair and I smirked a little. I walked over and picked out a strand.

"Why do you have hay in your hair?" I asked.

Daniel grinned at me. "Well, one of the ogres thought it would be funny to dump me in a pile of hay."

I laughed softly and picked out another strand. "We should get moving." I said. "Lead the way, unless you're lost." I teased.

Daniel chuckled. "Follow me." He said.

. . .

"You said you lived in a house, not a mansion."

I stared up at Daniel's 'house'. It was three stories high with a sort of balcony at the top, the windows glowed softly, lighting up the surrounding area. Dusk was settling, making the forest surrounding us creepier, the shadows lengthening. Daniel led the way to the front porch and reached inside his pocket for his key, he opened the door and stepped inside yelling. "I'm home!"

"In the kitchen honey!" A woman's voice yelled.

I stayed on the porch, peering over Daniel's shoulder into the house. I could see stairs heading upwards and a hallway leading off the kitchen and dining room. I could see a sitting room to the right, a fire roaring in the fireplace. It felt cozy but I was hesitant to enter.

"Coming?" Daniel asked softly.

"Um . . . I don't want to bleed on your floor." I said, shuffling my feet.

Daniel smiled softly. "Don't worry about it." He said.

I entered slowly and Raymond followed, Jessica coming in last and closing the door.

"Mom! I brought friends!"

"Did you get the groceries?" The woman yelled from the end of the hall.

"Um . . ." Daniel said. I smiled softly, knowing he had lost the apple.

A woman stepped out of the kitchen, she had long black hair and warm brown eyes, she was wearing an apron covered in flour and she was dusting her hands off. She looked like she was in her early thirties. "What do you mean um?" She asked. Then she spotted us and her eyes widened.

"Hi." I said, waving. My face burned as she studied us in shock, her eyes landing on Raymond's sword.

"Daniel who are they?" She asked, a warning in her voice.

"Friends." Daniel said. "And they need help."

"Hi." Jessica said with a smile. "I'm Jessica. Sorry if we're causing any trouble. If you want we'll leave and you won't hear from us again. But your son Daniel said he could help us and we're a little curious to know how you know about the Gods."

The woman glared at Daniel. "What did I tell you about getting involved with people from camp?" She said sternly.

I shuffled nervously, holding the makeshift bandage on my arm in place. I noticed Raymond reach up to nervously play with the beads around his neck.

"What rank are you?" The woman asked.

"Um . . ." I said. I lifted my arm and sniffed myself. "About a seven."

Jessica and Daniel laughed while Raymond smacked me softly. "No stupid." He said with a smile. "She's talking about rank, position in leadership. Like at the roman camp."

"Oh." I said, my face burning.

"Roman camp?" She echoed.

"We're from Camp Half-Blood." I piped up.

"Jessica Brooks, daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty." Jessica introduced herself.

"Dianna Ross, daughter of Hecate, goddess of the mist, magic and crossroads." I said, following Jessica's example.

"Raymond Rodriguez, son of Poseidon, god of the sea." Raymond said with a nod.

The woman observed us. "Greek? We've only known Roman's."

"If you don't mind us asking, how?" Raymond said.

"We're descendants of Poseidon." Daniel's mom said.

"D – descendants?" I stammered. I couldn't imagine living long enough to have kids.

"Yes." She answered. "I'm Marian Zhang, come on, let's get you patched up and fed, I'm sure you're hungry." When we nodded Marian looked up. "Gerald? We have visitors! Get the ambrosia and nectar!"

"What?" A man yelled. "Is Daniel okay?"

"He's okay Gerald!" Marian yelled.

"Then why do we . . . oh." Gerald said, sounding much closer. I looked up and saw a tall man with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes. He stood at the top of the stairs and nodded at me before turning to get the supplies.

"Come on in. You don't have to stand in the doorframe."

She led us into the room with the fireplace and I sighed as it warmed me up. I closed my eyes, the flames reminding me of being a kid again. I opened my eyes and saw Daniel's dad walk in with a first aid kit. He fed me some ambrosia while he stitched up my arm to help it heal. I mumbled a thanks before he moved onto Jessica, who was dozing on Raymond. I took a sip of nectar, smiling at the taste of hot chocolate. It reminded me of snowball fights before camp and building snowmen with my dad.

Then my eyes filled with tears as I remembered that Gaea had kidnapped him and that I may never see him again.

"You okay?" Daniel asked softly, sitting beside me.

"Yeah." I whispered, wiping away the stray tears. "Fine."

"Mom?" A teenager said, walking in. She was Asian to, with long black hair and warm brown eyes, she had one a white dress that trailed against the floor, she looked like she was eighteen or nineteen. "The soup is boiling."

Marian got up and nodded at her daughter. "Let's go get it."

"Who's that?" I whispered.

"That's my older sister." Daniel whispered. "Although she's not as nice as she looks."

"Hey!" I protested, smacking his shoulder lightly.

Daniel smirked. "Trust me, look's can be deceiving. Never get on her bad side. You'll get grounded for a month."

I snorted, then covered my mouth as Daniel laughed.

"Shut up!" I hissed, my face burning. He kept laughing so I mock threatened. "If you don't stop laughing your sister will be the least of your worries."

Daniel smirked. "Oh really?"

I analysed Daniel, he looked ready for whatever I could dish out. He was expecting me to lash out or tackle him, he was expecting a trick. So I would use that against him.

"People see what they want to see."

I finally understood.

I imagined a spider on Daniel's hand, a nice big one. I could almost see it on his hand, big and black and hairy, I imagined it crawling up his arm and I imagined what it would look like through Daniel's eyes. He'd look down and see a giant spider on his arm, starring up at him with its beady little eyes.

Daniel followed my gaze to his arm and yelped in surprise, flinging his arm up to try and shake the 'spider' off.

I started laughing so hard I lost my concentration and the spider dissolved. Tears sprung in my eyes and I grabbed my stomach, bent double. It hurt to laugh but at the same time it felt good, I was almost hysterical.

"It's not funny!" Daniel reported, his face burning. "I hate spiders!"

"Y – Your face!" I managed to gasp out. I giggled. "Oh, that's rich."

Daniel looked around for the spider warily. Turning around, his eyes scanning the floor nervously.

"Sure you're not a descendant of Athena?" I asked, my eyes sparkling.

"Oh shut up." Daniel reported. He looked around again and said. "Do you see it anywhere?"

I wiped the tears from my eyes. "It wasn't real." I said.

"What do you mean it wasn't real?" Daniel reported. "I could feel it on my arm. It was huge!"

I looked at him, trying to hold back my laughter. "I told you your sister would be the least of your worries."

Daniel's eyes widened in shock. "It was you? You made the spider?"

I nodded. "Watch." I said.

It was easier this time, the spider appeared on the floor and scampered towards Daniel, he leapt back and said. "Okay! Okay I believe you!"

I laughed and made the spider dissolve. Daniel looked at me, his eyes huge. "How did you do that?" He asked.

"I'm a daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic." I said dramatically. "The famous Rossini! My most famous trick –" I paused for dramatic effect "making three demigods . . . disappear!"

Raymond rolled his eyes. "I'm not running Ross."

I pretended to pout. "You're no fun." I whined.

Jessica laughed lightly.

"Hey guys, guess what?" I asked.

"What?" Raymond said.

"Good guess!"

Raymond groaned.

"No I'm serious." I said. "You know how my mom's Hecate? I can manipulate the mist. Watch and be amazed."

I looked at Jessica and smirked, imagining a zit on the end of her nose. It suddenly materialised and Jessica gasped, covering her nose. Then she glared at me. "Dianna!"

I laughed and she smirked. "Two can play at that game."

Uh oh.

I plugged my ears. "I can't hear you!" I said.

'Can't plug your ears forever.' She mouthed.

'I'll give you more zits.' I mouthed back.

She glared and I glared back, full force.

Then Marian came back in, balancing trays. She gave us all some soup and I devoured mine. After three more bowls my eyes started to droop.

"You guys can use the guest rooms upstairs." Marian said. "We can talk tomorrow when you're all rested up."

But I had no strength to get up, I curled up in front of the fireplace and instantly fell asleep. I had a good few hours of sleep before my worst nightmare yet.

And Chapter 14! See ya'll in 4 days.