My knee was on fire. It had thrown me off so horribly while we were fighting that Leo had actually managed to tackle me. If Nick had been here, he would have me running laps or doing pushups or… actually, if Nick was here, it wouldn't have happened. It was such a beginner's mistake. I was going to blame it on the terrible burning lancing up and down my leg.

I made some cheesy joke to mask my pain, and it seemed to work. Everyone laughed anyway. Then Frank recruited Leo to help him search the back part of the store, where Thalia had made up the drinks that were still sitting on the counter. I stayed with Piper to search the bits of the store that hadn't been demolished in our little scuffle.

I'm not sure what Piper was looking for, but I rummaged through the bottles and books anyway. It was a lot of the stuff we had joked about coming into the store. Suddenly my knee gave out and I stumbled forward. Fortunately, I caught myself on the nearby shelf. Unfortunately, that shelf then collapsed, sending me tumbling to the ground along with about fifty glass bottles. In case you didn't know, glass shatters when it falls to the floor.

"Son of a sugar monkey…" I cursed, shoving myself back up.

Piper laughed, but tried to hide it, "Are you okay?" she snickered.

"I'm fine. Totally covered in this sticky goop, but, hey, I'm sure it makes me totally attractive, right?"

This time Piper didn't bother to hide her laugh. "Very. Now, what was that you were saying about sugar monkeys?"

I rolled my eyes, trying to wipe off some of the slime on my arms. "Kids tend to mimic any bad words they hear. I haven't said an actual curse word in… three years? And the last time was at the gym, none of the kids heard."

Piper turned that over for a moment, then shrugged and went back to searching shelves still giggling. I was pulling some stray pieces of paper off my jeans when a memo caught my eye.

Minor God Meeting

Thespiae, 8:00

· Discuss game plan for TAG-TWO

· Latest Prophesy Reading

· Nectar and Ambrosia will be provided

· New monsters released!

If frozen veined half-blood is revealed, kill on sight.

"Hey, uh, Piper?" I said, slowly. "I think I may have found something."

Piper came over, and I held out the note. Piper scanned it quickly then looked up at me. "You get that you're the frozen veined one right?"

I rolled my eyes even though I had been nursing a secret hope that it had meant someone else. "Duh, I mean, Chiron basically told us as much right?"

Piper nodded, still looking over the note. "Come on, we should probably tell the guys."

We moved towards the back of the room, but the boys in question were just headed for us. We collided in the narrow doorway, and I stumbled once again. Leo caught me, and I felt the blaze, which was becoming less unpleasant every time, shoot up my arm.

"Sorry." All four of us blurted at the same time. We grinned.

"We found…" Frank and Piper started speaking at the same time. Frank blushed and gestured to Piper.

She shook her head. "You first."

"We found a delivery truck out back, and a map hanging up in the kitchen." Leo said, "It seems we're somewhere in Illinois right now. I should be able to get us to Lake Michigan by this afternoon, and then we'll ferry across the great lakes and drive up to Quebec."

I raised an eyebrow along with my knife. "Don't you think we might have a few problems getting through customs with these?"

Frank shook his head. "It's something called the mist. It keeps mortals from seeing what's really there." He quickly looked away from me; I suppose he was still embarrassed after last night. I had already gotten over it, so I tried to help him out.

"Like in the Iliad?" I asked.

Piper raised her eyebrows. "You've read the Iliad? Like the whole thing? In English?"

I shrugged, "Well, yeah. I'm kind of like a super-nerd, you know? And when you're stuck in a room without TV or Wi-Fi, reading's kind of the only thing you've got."

"Cute, funny, and smart." Piper stated, throwing a significant look at Leo. "I'm amazed you don't have a boyfriend yet."

Leo's face reddened, matching my own, and he quickly turned away. "Let's get going." He muttered.

The kitchen was cluttered and dim. I could barely make out the shapes of cupboards with doors hanging on busted hinges and a pair of fridges with half of their doors missing. I was a tad shocked that the sisters of grace would be so sloppy.

Then we darted out to where a bright pink delivery truck was parked outside, as promised. Piper's eyes widened at the atrocious color, "Wow. Could you have picked a more conspicuous vehicle?" she asked drily.

"Well, we looked for the electric green Jeep with the daisies on the side, but couldn't find any around here. Just shout if you see one though. I'd be glad to swap." Leo said, returning her tone.

Piper sniffed, dropping the argument she clearly lost. "I call shotgun."

Leo cast a nervous look back at me, huddled in the air conditioned doorway of the shop—though it was more out of habit than from actual concern for the mild morning heat—as though asking me if I would die.

I grinned, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine in the backseat."

Piper's hand covered the perfect O shape her mouth fell into, "Oh, sorry, I didn't think… of course you can have the front seat, Alexix."

I shook my head. "I said don't worry about it. I'll be fine, promise. If I start feeling sick, I'll tell you and we can trade. Besides, there's too much leg room up there, it's been driving me crazy."

Piper grinned, even if it was a tad uncertain, and climbed into the front seat. Frank was already in the back. I moved across the dew covered lawn as quickly as possible, trying not to let Leo see my limp. He frowned at me anyway, but I hopped into the truck before he could say anything.

Frank smiled at me from across the bench.

"Dude," I said, "you turn into a bear?"

He blushed, "Yeah, it's an, uh, inherited trait. I can do any animal so long as I can focus. The bigger ones are hard though, they always leave me… so…" he broke off in a yawn. He tilted his head back against the window and immediately started snoring.

I turned up front with a stunned expression. Piper and Leo were trying to suppress laughter. "Does he normally do this?"

They looked at me and shrugged. "It happens a lot when people use their powers, it takes a lot out of you." Piper explained.

"Hey, what did you guys want to tell us? Did you find anything?"

I hesitated, "Um, well, I'm sort of a hot commodity right now…" I said slowly. If I told him the truth would he still want to help me on my quest?

Leo looked back at me in the rearview mirror. "What? What's that mean?"

"It means she's wanted, dead or alive, but preferably dead." Piper explained, showing him the paper we found.

He read over it, even flipping it over a few times to see if there was anything on the back. I was slightly freaked out when he ignored the road, but the truck drove itself. Only Leo could drive without actually driving.

I blushed when he turned around to look at me, turning my face away. "I'd understand if you don't want to, you know, stay on the quest with me anymore. You could quit."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? This is great! Finally this thing will get interesting. New monsters, dangerous battles, every minor god there is out to get us. I'm looking forward to it."

Piper looked at him like he was nuts, which was exactly how I was feeling.

"Right, yeah, okay. You know that you guys are all certifiable loons right?"

Leo shot me an impish grin. "You're not that much better yourself. So hey, do you guys know where this, uh, Thespiae is?"

Piper shook her head and I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I, the demigod of—what is it now? Seventy two hours?—have already memorized the exact location of every Greek related building in the continental US."

But even as the sarcastic comment passed my lips, there were tiny bells ringing in the back of my head. Piper laughed, Leo blushed, Frank snored, and I thought. Why did that name sound familiar to me?

"Wait…" I said slowly, "I think, actually I do know. I'm pretty sure that there was a place called the Thespiae next to the arena where I fought in… Angeles? Yeah, Los Angeles."

Leo shot a significant look at Piper. "See, it was a question worth asking." It was Piper's turn to roll her eyes.

"No it wasn't, she probably would have pieced it together sooner or later. Even if she hadn't, we could have just asked her dad. Your question was useless. Don't flatter yourself."

Leo shot a wicked grin at her, making some sarcastic comment himself, but I tuned them out. I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, so I was tired. I fell asleep in the backseat of a stolen bright pink delivery truck in the middle of a quest to find my father that I never knew with three other half-bloods while carrying a deadly weapon and nursing injuries. How many people can say that?

"Leo," someone called softly. I opened my eyes and blinked a couple of times. It was still pitch black out, but I wasn't in a truck anymore. Instead I was crouching down behind something with a bunch of leaves.

There was a person standing in front of the bushes swinging a flashlight around, but they weren't looking at me. "Leo," the voice called again, "come on out, dear, we'll find someplace else for you to go. You can't keep running away like this."

Then another, deeper voice called out. "Forget it; I don't think he's around here. Let's go check around Maple Street; doesn't he have an aunt around there?"

"He hates his aunt. She thinks he's demon spawn." But the voice sighed, "Alright just let me check through these bushes."

I felt myself freeze up. Surely they would run out of places to send me, right? I twisted a small device that I didn't know I had in my hands, and there was a large amount of rustling in a group of bushes farther down the street.

The flashlight and feet darted away, and I slipped quietly down the other end of the road. Wherever I was headed next, it wasn't going to be Maple Street. My Tia definitely wouldn't take me back. An image flashed into my mind of a Latino woman screaming at me and waving her arms at my face. Nope, there was no way I was running to her.

I woke up back in the truck as we headed over hills. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but this area was full of them, just one after another after another. I almost felt bad for sleeping so long, but I heard Frank give a monstrous roar beside me. When I looked at him, I realized he was still asleep, his face smashed up against the window in a way that was pretty unattractive from the inside and must have looked hilarious to anyone viewing him from the other side of the glass.

Looking into the front seat, I saw Piper dozing lightly while Leo messed with some tiny gears and what looked like pipe cleaners. Frank let out another ghastly snore beside me, and I couldn't help but flinch a little.

"Please tell me I don't snore like that." I whispered up to Leo. He turned, startled, and grinned at me. I thought about the dream. Was that his memory? I couldn't bring myself to ask him about it.

"Nah, yours is a bit louder, more tapered at the end."

I rolled my eyes, but I felt a blush burning across my cheeks anyway. "Oh, I'm sure." Leo's grin widened. "So how long have we been driving?"

Leo shrugged, "A couple hours. The sun should start coming up in a moment. We should be there soon."

I settled back into my seat, but leaned forward a second later, "Leo, stop!" I yelled.

Leo looked out the window, and jerked the wheel frantically to the left, but it was no use. There was a sickening thump, and something went flying farther out into the road. Leo hit the brakes, and I scrambled to get out of the car, trying to ignore the way my knee was aching. Once out though, I shoved my hands into my pockets. The last thing I needed right now was to be accused of another murder.

Leo met me in front of the truck and together we dashed over to where the figure had flown. Shockingly, whoever it was had gotten back onto their feet already. He was standing with his hands raised to the east, chanting some crazed tune.

"Um, hello?" Leo called nervously, "Are you alright? Listen, we didn't mean to hit you, we just…"

The… it was a woman; in a long flowing dress… she didn't stop chanting. I stepped nearer to her, "Excuse me, are you alright? Do you need to get to a hospital?"

The woman glared at us. "Don't you demigods have somewhere better to be? I'm a little busy right now."

"Sorry," Leo said, "I just thought that, since we hit you and all…"

The woman ignored Leo, narrowing her eyes at me. "Your eyes are such a… lovely shade of blue dear… perhaps you should wait… we could talk a while. Just give me a moment."

I exchanged nervous looks with Leo, but he just shrugged. The woman turned away and started screaming. "Get up already, you lazy bum! I've got company. I'm not going to call you again. Either you get your butt out here or…"

The sky lightened a smidge in the east as the sun rose, and the woman stopped screaming with a satisfied smile. Now I was positive she was crazy. I took a small step backwards, but the woman whirled and stared me down until I stopped moving.

"Sorry about that, my dears." She looked between us. "What did you say your names were?"

"We didn't." I said, taking another step towards the truck silently screaming at Leo that we needed to leave, like, now.

Leo didn't seem to be a very skilled mind reader though. He held out his hand, "I'm Leo, son of Hephaestus."

The woman smiled, "Why of course you are dear, I was asking her. Unless I'm mistaken she's… new."

There was something about the way she said that word that made it sound criminal. I shook my head. "No ma'am. I've been at camp half-blood for the last three summers now. My name is, um, Daisy, daughter of Demeter."

The woman's smile dimmed a little bit, and I almost felt bad for lying, but then I remembered the note in the truck. It was probably better if I didn't tell everyone that I was the half-blood of the next great prophesy.

She shook Leo's hand anyway, "I'm Eos, goddess of the dawn." She held her hand out to me, and I shook it as well because I'd look like a freak child if I refused to shake her hand.

When our fingers met, Eos' nails suddenly turned into claws. I let out a small gasp, but Eos spoke over me. "Daughter of Demeter, hmm? Well, my dear, you feel a bit cold to be a daughter of Demeter. I would go so far as to say that you aren't her child, that in fact you're a Boread."

Leo finally seemed to realize that this woman wasn't exactly mentally stable. He pulled a good-sized hammer out of his tool belt and held it uncertainly in front of him as though he was waiting for the right opportunity to bash in the random chick's brains. "Does it really matter?" he asked casually, "Why would the goddess of dawn care what a group of demigods do?"

The woman scowled. "A goddess of dawn? Why would a goddess of dawn care? I'm just as important as the other gods you insolent demi. But you wouldn't know that, would you? No, they don't make you study the minor gods at your stupid training camp. Well, news flash, half-blood, there's a new era coming, and this one will be all about us minor gods. Once we overthrow the major gods, all of you offspring who never bothered to learn our names will be executed." She leaned into my face. "And you'll be the first."

Apparently, Leo figured this would be the right time to attack because he lunged forward with his hammer. Eos didn't even turn around. She simply lifted the hand that wasn't locked around my wrist and Leo flew backwards, disappearing among the trees.

"Leo!" I cried out, trying desperately to pull myself away from her. Her grip was like iron though, it reminded me of handcuffs, only there was no way I could steal myself a key to get out of this one. "Let me go you stupid witch!"

Eos just cackled. "Just wait until my brother gets here. When the other minor gods learn that we were the ones to catch you, we'll be the leaders of the dawning era."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised that she would have such an obvious flaw. "You need your brother's help to take me prisoner? I thought you were just talking about how great you were. How could you possibly think that you're strong enough to take over Olympus?"

Eos' eyes sparked with fury, and she slapped me. She was surprisingly strong; I tasted blood. "How dare you insult me? Every day, I wake up while it's still dark, and I summon my brother so that he can get out the chariot and bring light to you weaklings. You would be nothing without us. You hear that? Nothing."

I shrugged moving my free hand to my hip. "Well, I don't know about that. I mean Apollo's pretty good with—"

She slapped me again. "Don't you speak his name here. Everyone just assumes that he brings the light around and he's the one that drives the chariot of light. My brother and I get no credit, none! And then you meager…" she cut herself off with a gasp as I drove my knife into her stomach. Her eyes widened while her blood, which was strangely gold, streamed over my hand. Her body heated and I saw flames in her eyes. "You fool!" she screamed, "You don't know what you have done! The world will be plunged into darkness because of you. Then there will be no one to help you discover your destiny. Did you think of that? Of course you didn't."

I twisted the knife, and she let go of my wrist, clutching her stomach instead. "Why don't you just die already?" I snapped. "Now I wish I had let Leo run you over."

"I'm … immortal." Eos gasped out. "You may have forced me to head to the underworld, but I'll be back. Oh yes, I'll be back." Then she started glowing, becoming brighter and brighter as I stared.

It occurred to me that stabbing a goddess might not have been the brightest move. I tugged at my knife, but it seemed stuck in her, held fast by the golden liquid that was flowing over it. Her skin became so radiant that it was hurting my eyes. Snapping them shut, I yanked hard at the knife, and it slid free. At the same instant, there was a wave of heat and the world went supernova bright. When I opened my eyes, she was gone.

"Well it took her long enough." A voice said from the woods. I whirled, holding my knife out in front of me, but I sagged in relief when I saw Leo.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

Leo shrugged, "I bruised my ego pretty good, but I think I'll get over it. I saw your little ninja move. Very slick."

I looked down, ashamed. "I didn't want to kill her, but she said she's immortal, so I don't think she's actually dead, right?"

Leo nodded, and started walking back to the truck. "Don't worry about it. They all come back, some sooner than others. If we're lucky, Nico and Hazel will keep her down there for a while."

We hopped into the truck and at the sound of the doors, Piper jumped. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. "Why did we stop? Are we there yet?" she asked blearily.

I rolled my eyes. "Go back to sleep, Piper. We're not quite there."

Piper mumbled something I didn't catch, but Leo laughed. Then Piper was asleep again. The engine roared, and we continued to the lakes.