A/N: Hello my lovely readers! I have returned from the dead! Well...not literally, but you know what I mean. I'm sorry for the long hiatus, I was suffering from a bad case of Writer's Block. But no worries, I'm back with a new chapter and I'm pushing through to finish this story. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it and I would really appreciate it if you could leave me some feedback. All you have to do is hit that review button and type in what you thought about this chapter. Please and thank you! Now, ON WITH THE SHOW!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Percy Jackson series nor any of its characters. They are rightfully owned by the author of the series, Rick Riordan. And the Greek gods are of course originally owned by the ancient Greeks themselves. I only own the OCs: Seria Amagi, Cleo Morrison, Freya Blake and any changes made to the original story (sort of like an AU). :) Enjoy!

Running away from a whole group of skeletal warriors was no easy feat. Sure they were all bones in general, but let's not forget that these guys were once tough-as-nails Greek warriors. Add some modern-day weaponry to their impeccable battle experience and you've got yourselves a nearly unbeatable group of warriors. But luckily, Seria and the others had managed to outrun them.

Well, they actually managed to get separated from Percy and the others, but let's be honest here; making sure to get away from those see-through creeps was definitely top priority. And losing sight of the others may or may not have been Seria's fault since she decided to shadow-travel purely on reflex.

Oh! And they most certainly weren't lost. At least, that's what they were trying to convince themselves, but even that isn't really working.

Cleo let out an aggravated scream as she threw down the map she and Freya had bought at the Smithsonian. Seeing as they had no clue where they were exactly, a map was pretty much useless. The daughter of Aphrodite clenched and unclenched her fists on repeat; attempting to keep her rage in check. The last thing she wanted to do was take out all her frustrations on their equally tired, self-appointed "leader", Seria. But really, we all know she totally would if they weren't on a time-sensitive mission at the moment.

"How do you even manage to shadow-travel unconsciously?!" Cleo kicked a nearby pebble, sending it flying through the air. "I mean, is that even normal for children of Hades?"

Seria was bent over a trashcan, emptying all the contents of her stomach. Apparently the strain of shadow-traveling made her sick. Really sick. So it took a while for the daughter of Hades to look up and meet Cleo's hard gaze. Ever since their squabble at the museum, they hadn't been able to talk each other without erupting into some sort of demigod version of a Mexican Stand-Off.

"It's normal, believe me." Seria grimaced, disliking the sour taste that was in her mouth. "At least, that's what my father told me after my first dizzy spell when I shadow-traveled for the first time."

Freya cocked an eyebrow; she noticed Seria often mentioned her father, Hades, in conversations. "Just when was the last time you ever spoke to your dad, Seria?"

The Japanese girl frowned. "The night before I went out to face Medusa forty-years ago."

Freya sucked in a sharp breath in-between her teeth. She probably should've kept her mouth shut. "Oh," she smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't meant to bring up any bad-"

"No, it's fine." Seria grumbled, taking a swig out of her water bottle.

"Can we focus on our current problem please?" Cleo snapped, angrily folding the map she had thrown down a few minutes ago. "We're stuck in the middle of no-where! We've gotten ourselves separated from Percy and the others after we'd finally caught up with them! Why is it that we always draw the short-end of the stick?!"

Cleo only received two very nonchalant shrugs; something she really didn't need at the moment.

"Can't you guys take this seriously?!"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Cleo!" Freya swaggered up to her childhood friend and gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "We aren't that lost. Are we, Seria?"

The black-haired demigod stared out unto the half-empty streets. "Not exactly," she muttered. She pointed at a faraway street sign that was barely even visible with the fading sunlight. "We're on Sudley Road. It says so on the sign."

"See it isn't that bad, Cleo." Freya snatched the map from the blonde's grasp; quickly scanning it to check their location. "AH! See?" She pointed at a spot in their map. "We aren't that far from the Smithsonian. But we're far enough from those skeleton creeps. So I doubt we'll see their ugly faces again." The smile on the red-head's face seemed to grow even wider. (If that's even possible.) "See? We're also not that far away from a park. We can crash there for the night."

"A park?" Cleo looked disgusted at the thought of sleeping outside. "You mean, we're sleeping outside? Like on the ground? With the dirt and the bugs and-"

"Welcome to the life of a demigod, Morrison." Seria chuckled; stealing the map away from Freya so she could locate the park as well. "Follow me."

Of course Freya had no problems following Seria's orders but Cleo did. The blonde mocked Seria with her hand and begrudgingly dragged her knapsack behind her.

One thing you'd eventually have to get used to as a demigod is that you'd have to accept the fact that you'll end up sleeping in the most uncomfortable and oddest of areas. It's only once in a blue moon that a demigod can afford to sleep in a proper bed or find a hotel that would overlook their usual raggedy appearance. Usually the owners of those establishments, or the employees, would take one look and then send them out with threats to call the cops. Seria was used to it; it happened a lot back in her time period. Freya and Cleo on the other hand, were still newcomers to the thought of being a demigod, so they still hadn't accepted the thought (more so on Cleo's side).

The park was vacant, thank goodness. It's often better to sleep in areas where mortals aren't around to notice them. It's better to avoid drawing some unwanted attention; it keeps demigods from getting in trouble from the law especially when it involves fights and wielding their weapons.

The park was completely white with snow. Winter had kicked in, so it wasn't a surprise that there were no people in sight, nor were there any animals. It was just Seria, Freya, and Cleo. The benches and a few picnic tables were covered in snow. There was no inch of greenery in sight, just huge piles of snow stacked on top of each other.

"How are we supposed to sleep with all this snow?" Cleo asked, swiping a huge pile of the cold substance off of a bench. Honestly, she was filled with nothing but complaints the whole day. "We'll probably get hypothermia overnight!"

Seria rolled her eyes; sometimes Cleo's dramatics were extremely annoying. She turned her head to Freya, who met her gaze with a wide grin. It seems that they both had the same solution to their problem.

"No prob, Cleo," the red-head snapped her fingers and instantly, a ball of fire manifested in her hand. "If we can get some wood, we can make a nice campfire to keep us warm."

Cleo narrowed her mood ring-like eyes. "We're in a park. What if the police notice our little campfire, hm?"

Freya pouted. "I'm sure we'll be fine. Look around you," she gestured to the whole park, "Do you see any guards around us? Do you hear any sirens? Nope. I'm pretty sure it's okay to make a fire. Anyways, dealing with the police isn't as bad as dealing with those... What do you call them again?"

"Spartoi?"

"Yeah, them!" Freya grinned. "So why don't you go get some firewood, Cleo?"

Cleo frowned even more. "Why me?"

"'Cause Seria's already clearing off an area for us."

Looking to the side, Cleo definitely saw the daughter of Hades clearing off some of the snow from the ground using one of her swords as a makeshift snow-shovel. And since Freya was going to be providing their only source of warmth, that left Cleo as the only person in their group who hasn't pulled their weight in work...yet. It irritated the blonde to no end to be proven wrong.

With a grumpy huff, she stormed off into a large cluster of trees in the park and began to pick up some sticks and break off some low tree branches. By the time she returned, Seria had already finished clearing off an area of snow for them and was sitting Indian-style in a corner with Freya, who was playing with her ability to control fire.

"Here," she said, dropping a whole bundle of sticks and branches into the center of their clearing. "Firewood. Now make a fire, Freya. Now."

When Cleo's eyes flickered to a menacing shade of red, the child of Hecate immediately threw a fireball at the bundle of wood, quickly setting it aflame. The sudden blast of warmth relaxed the trio. Though they could still feel the biting cold winter air, at least they now had a reasonably sized fire to sooth them.

Freya opened her knapsack and took out some sandwiches and threw some to Seria and Cleo. "I managed to snatch these from some vendor during the fight against the Nemean lion."

Seria and Cleo both shot Freya a judging stare when she explained how she got the food.

"What?" Freya shrugged. "Be grateful that I did, or else we wouldn't have anything to eat for the night." Then she promptly shoved her sandwich into her mouth; how ladylike.

As they ate their makeshift dinner, they began to discuss what course of action they should take next. Thinking about their odds, they realized their chances of success were very bleak. They'd lost sight of Percy and the others (which was promptly blamed on Seria's impulsive shadow-traveling) and they still had no clue to Artemis' location. In short, they were sitting ducks.

Cleo sighed. "Maybe we should just turn back. What's the point of continuing on if we have no clue where to go next? We'll just end up in a wild goose chase."

"No," Seria pounded her fist against the ground; determination fired in her eyes. "We can't just give up now! We may still have a chance to rescue Artemis and regroup with the others."

"Oh?" Cleo scoffed. "Then please, enlighten me."

Seria explained to the others about what she had overheard back in the Museum of Natural History during the General's little meeting; how the General plans on capturing the Hunters and killing them all with his skeletal warriors and how a few managed to get Percy's scent.

"Okay, first," Cleo said, "how in the world did you manage to sneak into that meeting without us? And two, what's your point, Amagi?"

"To answer your first question, I just simply walked in while you two were occupied," Seria explained. "And my point is, if the General has all these skeletal warriors after Percy then we can just follow them and let them lead us straight to the others. Plus, don't forget we still have the prophecy itself to act as our guide."

"Yeah knowing that it's somewhere in the west and located on a mountain is definitely great help," Cleo rolled her eyes. "But may I remind you that a few of the warriors got a good whiff of your scent too. So if we got near a group of them, they might attack you instead of leading us to Percy, Seria."

The Asian girl frowned; so much for her plan.

"Hey, at least she brought up a good point. We still have clues from the prophecy to guide us." Freya emptied out her knapsack and took out the map she and Cleo bought, but at the same time the golden canister that she'd received from Calliope as a present from her mother, Hecate, had fallen out as well.

With the light from the campfire shining off of it, the canister had gotten the attention of both Cleo and Seria.

"Freya, what's that?" Cleo asked, pointing to the golden object.

The red-haired demigod picked up the canister and stared at it. "I can honestly say that I have no clue as to what it is. All I know is that it's a present from my mom. Calliope gave it to me."

"If it's from your mother, the least you can do is open it." Seria said. "It might be helpful."

Staring down at the golden object, Freya couldn't possibly see as to how it could be helpful. It was a canister for pete sakes. It's only function was probably just to hold water and act as a water bottle. But then again, her mother's the Goddess of Magic -who knew what could happen.

She grabbed the lid and twisted it open. For a split second, nothing happened. Freya almost thought that she'd been right all along, but then a blast of wind blew from inside the canister, followed by a bright light. The two escaped from the canister's confines and floated into the air above their campfire. It manifested itself as a collection of dim light; it almost looked like a...

"Is that an Iris message?" Seria asked, standing up to get a closer look.

Freya didn't know for sure, but it sure did. But how was that possible? There wasn't a ray of sunshine or mist anywhere. She even stood in front of it, expecting her mother's face to appear and give her a message but nothing happened.

'Maybe...' Freya looked over to Seria. "Do you have a drachma with you by any chance?"

Seria nodded and reached into her pant's front pocket, taking out a golden drachma and throwing it over to Freya. The fiery-haired demigod didn't know if this would really work, but she had to try. She threw the drachma into the apparition. "Show me Apollo," she said, "at Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York."

The apparition flickered for a second but eventually the image changed to Apollo, who was sitting at the steps of his cabin with a worried expression on his face.

"Apollo?" Freya didn't mean to say his name and get his attention; it was the shock that her idea worked that made her speak up.

The sun god heard her clearly and looked up; a look of shock crossed his face when he noticed the Iris message. "Freya?" He stood up and approached the apparition. Though she knew Apollo wasn't really in front of her, it felt like he was. She wouldn't admit it but she really did miss seeing the god's face every now and then.

"The one and only," she laughed nervously. How smooth.

Apollo smiled, he looked almost elated to see her but that expression was short-lived and was quickly replaced with anger. "I can't believe you three snuck out of camp!" The three girls flinched from the sheer volume of Apollo's voice. "Do you know how worried I-... I mean, Chiron was when he found out that you three were missing?!"

Freya frowned. "We didn't have much of a choice. It was the only way we could join the quest."

The sun god groaned, running a hand across his face in exasperation. "Again with the quest... What if you three weren't supposed to even get involved? Then you'd be just putting yourselves in danger for no reason!"

"But we are!" Freya screamed back. Her patience with the God of the Sun was wearing thin (as always).

Apollo was livid. "I want you three to come back to camp immediately! Or so help me, I'll come and get you myself!"

"We aren't returning to camp until Artemis is found," Freya growled. She crossed her arms firmly in front of her, stating that she meant business. "And you couldn't find us even if you tried. You have no idea where we are."

"Wanna bet?" Apollo grumbled. The two of them just glared at each other, neither backing down until the sun god finally let out a defeated sigh. "Is Seria there?"

Nope, that totally wasn't a spark of jealousy that Freya felt. Nope, not at all. "Yes, she is." Freya muttered.

"Can I speak to her?"

Freya stiffly nodded her head and motioned Seria over, allowing the black-haired demigod to take her place.

"Yes, Apollo?" Seria said.

Apollo sighed. "Good you're alright. Seria, hear me out. You have to return to camp. This quest is dangerous. You have no clue what you're up against."

Seria's gray orbs narrowed. "You want me to abandon this quest? Apollo, do you even hear what you're saying?"

"I mean it Seria. Go home."

"You're prophecy clearly said that three more campers would sneak out in the dead of night -which is what we did! We are clearly a part of this prophecy, so we are not returning to camp until Artemis is found." Seria stated. She couldn't believe Apollo would even try to convince her to return to Camp Half-Blood. Didn't he care whether or not his own sister would even be found?

Apollo frowned. "Seria, I trust Percy and the others are fully capable of finding Artemis without your help. Just, please, return to camp before something happens to you."

This got Seria's attention. "You know, don't you?"

"What?"

"You know what's going to happen on this quest, don't you?" Seria glared at the man. "It is your prophecy isn't it? Instead of trying to convince us to abandon this quest, you should be helping us! Tell us where to go so we can find and rescue Artemis!"

Apollo let out an exasperated sigh. "Seria, it's not that simple. Just because it came out of my oracle's mouth doesn't mean I already know where Artemis is and what's going to happen. Sure, I know a few things but I don't know everything. If I did, you'd know damn well I'd be at her side in a heartbeat."

This just angered Seria further. "Then this conversation is over. We are not going to return to camp, Apollo, and that's final. Obviously you don't care enough to even lend us a single hint."

Before she could cut the connection, Apollo looked at her with the most serious expression she had ever seen. "Seria, just because I can't tell you everything doesn't mean I don't care." Then the Iris message faded away into the air.

"What does he mean by that?" Cleo asked, a tad bit frazzled by the whole argument between Seria and Apollo.

"I don't know," Seria muttered. "But let's just call it a night. We'll figure out what to do in the morning."

The others nodded their head in agreement and all three lay down on the ground and attempted to get comfortable as they drifted off to sleep.

At the crack of dawn, Seria received quite the wake-up call. A shrill, yet familiar shriek pierced the silence of early morning, sending Seria jolting to her feet and frantically scanning the area for any type of danger. But there was none. If you had to receive an ear-splitting scream as your alarm at the crack of dawn for no reason at all, you'd definitely be extremely pissed like Seria was.

She stomped over to the source of the horrible sound, spotting a certain blonde drama queen easily in the stark white scenery. "Why on earth would you scream like that in this unholy hour for no apparent-" Seria's words died out when she saw the reason why Cleo had screamed.

Parked on the street across from them was an all-too-familiar red Maserati Spyder. Just seeing the vehicle made Seria's head spin and for a second, she almost thought that she was still dreaming. 'Am I still dreaming?' She pinched herself. 'Nope, still awake.'

Cleo was completely gushing over the car; obviously despite how wealthy she was, even her father couldn't afford a car like the one right in front of her. "Whose car is this? Is it for us? If it is I call shotgun!"

There was a small little note pinned to the windshield by one of the windshield wipers. Freya picked it up and read it out loud for everyone else to hear. "No scratches. Good luck. From, P.A."

A slight silence fell upon the trio, but it was quickly broken by Cleo. "P.A.? Who's P.A.?"

Seria already knew who "P.A." was, but imagine her surprise when it was Freya who spoke up with a big smile on her face.

"It's from Apollo," she said. "It's definitely him."

"Remind me to give him a hug when we return to camp when this is all over," Cleo said, running over to the shotgun seat. "Let's hit the road!"

"I'll drive," Seria announced, getting into the driver's seat. "Don't worry; I know what I'm doing. Sort of."

"What about me?" Freya pouted. "There are no backseats. How on earth will I fit?"

"Think you can use your magic powers and shrink yourself?" Cleo asked. She wasn't smirking so that meant that she was being serious. "If you can, I can fit you in my shirt pocket."

Honestly, Freya didn't know if she could manage that type of magic. But she had to try. So she closed her eyes and focused on shrinking to about the size of a regular school eraser. She felt a slight tingle all around her body; it almost tickled. When she opened her eyes, the world had suddenly grown larger all around her. Instead of standing in a snow-covered park, she was now on a mass of white snow.

"It worked!" Freya cheered.

Cleo got out of her seat and picked up the minimized Freya and placed her in her shirt's pocket. "There," she giggled. "Best seat in the house."

"Heck yeah," Freya cheered. "I feel like Stuart Little."

The girls laughed at Freya's silliness.

"Do you have any clue on where we need to go, Seria?" Cleo asked.

When she started up the car, in the center near the radio, a screen lit up showing their current location and a blinking light that was slowly on the move.

"Apollo's car has a GPS?" Freya gasped. "Oh that lucky bas-"

"Freya," Seria frowned. "Language."

"Sorry."

Cleo looked at Seria. "Do you think that blinking light is our destination?"

Seria's hands tightened around the steering wheel. "I guess so." It looked so odd to see someone as small and dainty like Seria take the wheel. They'd grown used to picturing Apollo behind the wheel, not Seria.

"But why is it moving?" Freya piped up, pointing to the blinking symbol that marked their destination.

The engine to the sports car roared to life as Seria prepared to hit the gas. "We're about to find out."

She slammed her foot down and the red sports car went racing down the road and towards their destination.