A/N: Hey guys, I'm able to work on this story now so hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently! Thanks for reading and enjoy the chapter. Also, Happy New Year!

I had another weird dream that night.

A beautiful woman with butterfly wings - who reminded me of Isabella, now that I think about it - was flying through the sky. The woman gave me a gentle smile, before disappearing with a flash of light. Then I saw tons of monsters, all glowering at me from the top of a mountain. I thought they were going to pounce on me, but they all disappeared as well.

Demigod dreams for you, huh?

Then I saw Isabella standing on top of the mountain, eyes glowing.

Soul's Child, she whispered.

I wanted to call out to her, but before my eyes, I was disappearing as well.

"Hey, Nico, you okay, man?"

My eyes fluttered open. Jake's brown eyes were right in front of my face.

I shoved him away, tensing up. "Personal space, Jake."

Jake blushed, brushing off his shirt. "Sorry, man."

I sighed. I noticed we were in Jules-Albert's jeep, but we weren't moving. Leaning my head against the side of the car, I gazed out of the car window. We were parked in some bushy area, trees everywhere. In the distance, I saw an old picnic table, covered in vines. It looked like it hadn't been used in a while. Clouds were surrounding a tall, imposing mountain. I tilted my head. That was it, alright. Mount Othrys.

"Why've we stopped here?" I asked Jules-Albert.

He stared at me, blankly.

I groaned. "Oh, I get it. You can't take us any further. We have to go by foot from now on, right?"

Jules-Albert kept staring at me.

"That's what I thought," I sighed.

Isabella laughed, catching me off-guard. The sudden swarm of fear I got told me she wasn't as happy as she looked.

"You're nervous," I told her.

Her smile faded. "Just a little…"

"And I'm hungry," Jake commented.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for your input."

"I'm kinda hungry, too," Isabella agreed. She sighed, sadly. "But we left all our stuff back at the hotel…"

"Hey, Jules," I turned to my zombie chauffeur, "can you take us to any place nearby that has food?"

He started up the engine. Well, at least he could do that, I suppose.

Another short drive later, we were at the convenience store. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it was better than nothing. It wasn't that big, and there weren't too many people around, either (which was fine with me). It seemed kind of old fashioned, too. Right up my alley. The three of us stood in front of it, cool air in our faces.

"I've got ten bucks," Jake said, holding up a tattered wallet.

"Save it," I told him. "You'll need that to catch a taxi."

Jake frowned, creasing his brow. "Huh?"

"To go back to the hotel," I told him. "No way in Hades am I letting you come with us."

Jake knitted his brows. "C'mon, man! I can help!"

"You're a mortal," I retorted. "You don't know anything about what we're going up against. You're going to get yourself killed."

"But…" Jake trailed off. He raised a clenched fist. "I don't wanna go back to that boring crap! I wanna do something exciting, for once! Fighting monsters! Using super powers!"

I sighed. "Jake, you have no idea how many demigods wish they had your life. That includes me. This may look like fun, but trust me, it's not. It's not all about fighting monsters and 'using superpowers'. Our lives are under threat 24/7. We could be killed at any time."

Jake's forehead creased. "Nico-"

"No," I told him, firmly. "For your own safety, just go home. Please."

Jake glowered at me, before storming into the convenience store. I sighed deeply.

"He's naive, isn't he?" Isabella asked.

I nodded. "He doesn't understand a thing."

A few minutes later, we were all sitting around a wooden picnic table, eating dirt-cheap food. I'd bought some energy bars with some spare cash, while Isabella bought candy (not the most nutritional option, but I'm no advocate for healthy eating). Jake had bought a chocolate muffin, but he hadn't touched it. Isabella was giving him a sympathetic stare, so I assumed he was still upset about before.

"You know," I faced Jake. "You're pretty brave. Most mortals would run away from monsters."

Jake poked his muffin, dejectedly.

"He's got a point," Isabella agreed, brightly. "Most mortals are big pussies."

I almost choked on my energy bar. Even Jake had to snort a little.

"When'd you learn that word?" I asked.

Isabella shrugged. "Some kids at the hotel were saying it."

Jake chortled. "And to think you were innocent!"

Isabella winked at him, giggling. Weirdly enough, the expression on her face reminded me of the woman from my dream.

So I decided to tell the two about my dream. They both looked confused.

"Do all demigods have trippy dreams?" Jake asked.

I nodded, sighing. "Afraid so."

"She had butterfly wings…" Isabella muttered. She crunched a candy bar wrapper in her fist. "That sounds… kind of familiar, for some reason."

"Really?" I asked.

Isabella nodded, a shadow passing over face. "Not sure why…" She looked away, anger radiating out of her. "Um, Nico, are all godly parents this… unresponsive?"

I nodded, gritting my teeth.

"Unresponsive?" Jake asked, tilting his head.

"Let's just say godly parents aren't so godly when it comes to parenting," I answered.

"Oh," he replied, staring at his muffin. "I'm… sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I sighed. "Eat your muffin. You've got a long trip back to the hotel."

Jake scowled. "I…"

"Do it for our sake," I told him. I coughed, awkwardly. "Isabella and I want you to be safe... since you're our friend... I guess."

"We're friends?" Jake asked.

"Maybe we shouldn't be," I frowned. "A mortal who's friends with a demigod is putting their life at risk. I wouldn't want to do that to you."

"I don't care about that," Jake said, putting his hands on the bench. "A friend wouldn't care about all of that, right?"

"You're an alright friend, then," I commented. "But seriously, go back to your family. They're probably worried about you."

Jake laughed bitterly. "I wish. I'm the runt of the litter. I bet they're happy I'm gone."

"I understand that," I told him. "But... still. They'll probably send the police or something after you. You don't want to deal with that, right?"

Jake took an angry bite out of his muffin. "Well, no. Not really."

"There'll be someone there that cares about you," I told him. "That, or you'll meet someone who will."

There was a pause between us.

Jake put down his muffin, breathing in slowly. "I guess I really don't understand, do I…?"

Isabella and I shook our heads.

"Just... be a good person," I told Jake. "Do something good with your life. You don't have to be a demigod to be a hero. Be Elysium-worthy."

Jake nodded, wiping chocolate muffin off his face. "Thanks, man."

"Uh, you're welcome," I replied, still feeling a little awkward. I'm not great at giving heartfelt speeches.

Isabella giggled, spilling some M&M's. I finished off my last energy bar, enjoying a serene silence. Yeah, I could hear traffic in the distance, and my ADHD was keeping me alert, but at least there weren't any monsters. Once we were done, I nodded at my friends.

"Jules-Albert will take you out of here," I told Jake. "Isabella and I will head over to Mount Othrys."

"Alright," Jake said. "Good luck, man."

He held up his hand for a high-five, which I decided to accept. Then he hugged me.

"Personal space," I grunted, tensing up.

"Sorry," he said, stepping back.

"I'll forgive you," I said, "just because I'm feeling nice."

Jake gave me a toothy grin. He then gave Isabella a big hug, and saluted me one last time. He then followed Jules-Albert to the jeep. I gazed down at Isabella.

"Ready?" I asked.

She nodded. "Let's tackle Mt. Othyrs."