Chapter 21

Sweat poured down my face, stinging my eyes and packing quite a bite as it pasted hair to my rosy cheeks. For those of you who have ever taken a kick-boxing class, or karate, or fencing, or some kind of fighting experience, you might know the feeling I was talking about, or you may not. The feeling that your muscles are lead, your limbs are on fire, and all you want to do is scream for death. I was surprised I hadn't died yet, though that was thanks to Percy and Annabeth, as well as the fact that I could dodge blows easily. I hadn't landed a slash on the silver and golden canines yet, only jumped upward and crouched and ran to the side to block their mad swipes. My whole body was screaming at me, screaming at the monsters to just lie down and die, and soon.

That was when they decided to blow fire.

A massive tongue of flame exploded out of the golden canine's maw, whipping right past my head, singeing my hair.

"Hey!" I screamed, praying my hair wasn't on fire. All I could focus on was the giant paws trying to smack me around as I slashed and dived and cowered away from the beast. Izaya fought the same dog a few feet away from me, trying to weaken it in the back. There were a total of five dogs, two of which I could see running rampant around the hotel parking lot. The other three were scattered around us, making a rough triangle. Izaya and I held our own against the first golden mutt, while Annabeth and Percy took on the other two silver ones. Jessie was somewhere near, probably scared out of her mind I was guessing.

"Lexi, get back!" Izaya bellowed in the distance. I rolled and tumbled a few feet behind me and turned my head toward the beasts. The golden one spit fire once again at me, missing my feet by inches as I scrambled backward. I thought I was doing rather okay at fighting, being in a life or death situation an all. Izaya, Percy, and Annabeth had training; all I had was a few random karate lessons from Maddi. Those didn't include how to wield a sword or dagger, but I was doing okay besides the weight of the metal.

I tried to regain my balance as Izaya continued to beat down the creature, slashing and stabbing the metal furiously. Nothing but a strange gold liquid came out of the gashes, but I could see the creature begin to give. Percy and Annabeth were doing fine; I was amazed by how much Percy could use water on the offensive side. He held a golden sword in his hand, celestial bronze; the metal that could kill monsters, if I had heard Annabeth correctly. My blades were a mixture of both, but they were coated with silver as well. My mind flashed back to the few hours Annabeth and I had walked around the camp, her spouting information freely as I yearned for as much information as possible about the camp, demigods, and Greek monsters. She had even let me watch her and that girl Clarisse spar for the fun of it; I had loved to watch them fight. Percy and Annabeth had even more grace as they fought the two beasts; I could see the love in their eyes. So this was her world-renowned boyfriend, Titan slayer and son of the sea god. He was rather hot, I couldn't disagree with that. He was level with Izaya, though Percy was around five years older and had a cl+-eaner look to him, while Izaya was rough and scarred.

"Hey, watch out, fight!" Izaya screamed, snapping me out of my thoughtless analyzing spree. Shaking my head, I wobbled a bit as I struggled to dodge the next wave of fire shooting right at me.
"Focus Lexi, focus," I murmured to myself, raising my sword and regaining my balance. I was still in front of the monster, sashaying back and forth to distract it as Izaya cut it up from behind. He ran around and under the legs, slashing every which way as I jumped and dodged, trying to not get my skin melted off.
"Need some help over there?" Annabeth shouted, worry imminent in her tone.

"Got it!" I yelled back, stabbing the beast in the front leg. It yelped in surprise before turning its large golden eyes on me.

"Lexi, move!" Izaya screamed, but I didn't have time. My eyes widened as the blaze came toward me and I prayed I wouldn't die. Before the fire burned my flesh, someone slammed into me. We were both knocked to the ground, out of reach of the razing flame.

"Hey Percy, take care of your newbies, will you?" A feminine voice yelled, close to my ears. I looked up to see a pair of electric blue eyes staring down at me thoughtfully. "Hm, Annabeth's kin looks like. Daughter of Athena, right kid?" The girl looked no older than fifteen, with spiked black hair. A silver wreath shone on her head, and she wore a silver parka and skinny jeans.

"Uh… yeah?" I replied, eyes widening. The girl chuckled a moment and turned behind her.

"Girls, finish them off will you? I have friends to visit." It was then that I saw thirty other girls just like her charge their way toward the monsters. Percy and Annabeth had disposed of theirs and I could see them helping Izaya finish off the third. The girls charged at the two beasts destroying the hotel, shooting silver arrows at them with strangely perfect accuracy. The blue eyes girl in front of me stood up and held out her hand.

"I suggest you stop staring so we can finish these things off. What's your name?" The girl's voice sounded oddly casual since we were in the middle of a battle, but I replied regardless.

"Everyone calls me Lexi. What about you?" The girl's smiled turned into playful shock.

"Surely Annabeth told you about me! Huntress, her best friend, turned into a tree; ring any bells?" I shook my head, eyes widening. Turned into a tree, Huntress… what was this girl on anyway?

"Thalia, don't scare the girl. Wise girl only knew her for a day before Lexi here got put on her first quest." Percy came bounding toward the "Huntress" and put an arm around her shoulder. The girl's eyes grew icy.

"Hands off Jackson, now." She growled, sending him an icy glare.

"Thails, don't be mean!" Annabeth joined the conversation as well now and rushed over to hug her supposed friend. "Lexi, this is Thalia, lieutenant of the Hunter of Artemis, and one of my best friends. Thalia, this is Lexi, my newest half-sister. Oh, and Seaweed Brain, you've already met Lexi I guess… Lexi, this is Percy Jackson, my boyfriend. Also, over there is Izaya and the new demigod… what's her name?" She directed her question at me, and I was finally able to speak.

"Oh, uh that's Jessie. She's a daughter of Demeter, or so Persephone told me. I have to talk to you about that Annabeth, by the way. Persephone attacked us, and apparently she was… controlling Jessie. I'm not sure, but that doesn't sound good."

"I'll talk to her Lexi, I promise. For now though, we should set up camp or get some rooms. We need to all have a meeting about this quest of yours."

"It isn't completely my quest though—"You're on it, aren't you?" Annabeth cut me off, and I nodded, frowning. "It's your quest then, as well as the other five demigods who are a part of it." Her gaze went to Thalia. "Do you have money for rooms?" The huntress grinned and snapped her fingers. A silver satchel appeared and she rummaged inside.

"Will this due?" She extracted a few rolls of one hundred dollar bills, and I gawked. Thalia smiled.

"Kid, I work for Artemis; technically. Don't be so surprised; I mean look at that Izaya kid over there. He's got something going for him, if you hadn't noticed." A puzzled look crossed my face; I had no clue what she meant. What was wrong with Izaya? I didn't see anything "going for him" besides the strange red sword or the "good looks". Dismissing my thoughts, I tried to create a friendly reply.

"I'll try; anything else I need to know about you?" I kept my voice light, and Thalia grinned.

"If you get me angry like Seaweed Brain here does sometimes, I might strike you with lightning. Daughter of Zeus and all of that, you know." That information brought me up short, and I swallowed.

"Uh, okay, nice to know." Izaya and Jessie joined my side as the three half-bloods began to chuckle, clearly old friends. The three began to chat and walk back toward the hotel, the demon beasts disposed of.

"Meeting in a half an hour; see you later!" Annabeth yelled back.

"Well, this will be interesting." Izaya mumbled, analyzing the group.

"Tell me about it," I muttered.