Sorry I didn't update yesterday! Fanfiction kept coming up with some stupid error message :(

To An-Unnamed-Goose- Yes, I am seriously sending them all the way back :3 I really need a new glue gun, my one is so leaky and stringy D: I've done the iron thing too, but I knocked it over and caught it like that, for some stupid reason. Big ouchie. I'm not very good at Minecraft, but to be fair, I've only sat and done two things on it properly- the first one was putting TNT everywhere in my little sister's recently built house and the other one was stealing all the animals of a village and then blowing it up.

To 8Ball3- Lou and Raijin are seven, Ruby is 10 and Huxley is 12. And I hate that they're pronounced differently, that's so dumb!


"What's it like?"

"What?"

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Poseidony stuff." Raijin grinned. "Can you turn into a mermaid?"

"No."

"A fish?"

"No."

"Oh! Oh! What about a shark?"

"I can't turn into anythin'."

"Oh." He pouted. "What can you do then?"

"Punch people that ask too many questions."

"Don't you dare." Huxley warned from behind them. Louisa ignored him. Raijin motioned to him, in a handling-this kind of way.

Louisa slid down an embankment, landing neatly at the bottom without breaking her walk. Raijin landed in a heap beside her, having tripped on a root and gone sprawling. Huxley stumbled upon reaching the bottom, catching himself on a tree. Ruby and Storm stayed at the top.

Don't like this! Storm whinnied, pawing the ground nervously.

"Help." Ruby squeaked.

"Just come down." Huxley gestured to them, helping Raijin up. The younger boy had leaves in his hair, mud on his face, still grinning.

"C'mon, Storm." Louisa called. "You-" She froze, staring past the pegasus. Storm snorted at her, requesting her help, demanding it when Louisa didn't move.

There it was again- a shadow. Big, quick, darting behind the two at the top. "Move." Louisa croaked, her bow jumping into her hand. The boys did a double take at it.

Storm looked behind her, whinnying in alarm. She shoulder-slammed Ruby and they tumbled down the embankment, tangling in the growth. The monster appeared, swiping at the air where they had been. Its claws dug into the earth, snarling at its missed prey. Louisa fired on instinct, but it vanished. "Move!" She ordered, grabbing Ruby by the arm and wrenching her free. Storm kicked and thrashed, braying in panic.

A clicking in her ear, Louisa spun on her heel, reloading. "Help Storm!" She shouted over her shoulder, sprinting towards the treeline. The clicking was getting louder, quick like a chatter. The shadow flashed into her peripheral, she dropped into a forward roll. The air whooshed her hair, claws grasping for where her head had been. She came up in a crouch, firing again. The shadow twisted around a tree and her arrow sunk into the trunk.

Notching another arrow, she threw herself after it, shoulder skimming the tree as she rounded it.

The monster snarled at her, crouched between an oak and a sycamore. Louisa aimed at its face, at its weirdly human face. A man's face, growling at her from amongst a lion's mane. Its body was a lion's too, but that tail was that of a scorpion's, tipped with a wicked point.

A crash behind her, Huxley standing beside her.

"What is it?"

"Ugly."

"RAAARRR!" The monster pounced. Louisa fired and dived to the right, Huxley to the left. The monster crashed into the ground where they had been, screeching in outrage at the arrow through its ear. With a swipe of its claw, it snapped the arrow shaft in two.

Huxley reached into his pocket, squeezing whatever he withdrew. A bronze, double-headed axe sprang into his hand. With a roar, he rushed forward, swinging his weapon at the monster's head. It ducked and zipped away, melting into that blur of a shadow. Louisa turned in time to catch its tail on her bow, the point a handful of inches from her face. Poison dripped from it. With a yell, she shoved her weight against her bow, flinging the tail away to the left.

A paw swept in from somewhere and knocked her flying. Huxley ran in, burying one side of his axe into its shoulder.

It roared in pain, swinging around to bat him away. Huxley crashed into a tree trunk, his axe left behind.

Louisa jumped up, bow in her right hand. With her left, she grabbed the handle of the axe and swung on it, feet momentarily leaving the ground, wrenching it through the shoulder and down its flank. It screamed, she yanked the axe free, spinning and landing a kick on the wound. The monster buckled and shrieked. She tossed the axe back to Huxley, loading her bow again.

"Whoa, that's a manticore!"

"Raijin! Get down!" Ruby tackled him, the monster- the manticore- rounding on their voices. Huxley went for its back legs, pushed back by its tail. Louisa shot it in the backside- a cheap shot, but she got its attention.

It charged her. She flicked her bow. It shimmered, turning into her sword. She stood her ground, swinging upward in a wide arc as it jumped. A wailing filled her ears, something warm splattering her arm. A paw hit the ground, claws still extended. The manticore hobbled away, hissing and spitting at her.

"Seaspawn…" It snarled. Louisa glared back at it, shaking droplets of blood from her sword.

Movement behind the beast, Ruby had stood. She flung her arm back, whistling sharply. The manticore turned its head. She brought her arm down, a bronze flash flying from her hand. The beast recoiled, howling miserably, a knife embedded in its left eye. Ruby flicked her other hand, an identical blade jumping from her sleeve.

Louisa ran up behind it, jumping up. She vaulted off its injured shoulder and landed on its back, tangling one hand in its mane. The tail flicked up at her, she slashed the point clean off. Huxley charged in, going again for its back legs. Louisa stabbed down, between its shoulders. It screamed, falling onto its bloody stump and toppling in pain.

Wrenching her blade free, Louisa watched it turn its head, groggy and in agony. It bared its teeth at her. "More will come for you, seaspawn." It snarled. "You cannot begin to fathom what awaits you."

"Don't know what 'fathom' means." Louisa stabbed down. It stopped talking. She fell to the floor, landing ankle-deep in a pile of ashes. "Well." She puffed hair from her face. "That was fun." She saw Ruby first, pale and wide-eyed. Raijin was sitting up just behind her, with a similar expression. "What?" She turned to Huxley, hoping he would make more sense.

Huxley pointed. Louisa looked down, moving her arm slightly. "Huh."

The manticore had struck her in the ribs. Now, her right side was soaked with blood, the material of her clothes shredded and scarlet sodden. The weird thing was it didn't hurt. Probably not a good sign, but she wasn't complaining right this second.

Her sword landed with a soft thump on the forest floor. A startled neigh, Storm appeared, ducking under Louisa's arm just as she swayed, about to fall. The foal snorted at the other three, startling them into helping.


At some point, she awoke in the shallows of a river. The headache was back, squishing at the sides of her head instead. A shadow fell over her with a relieved whinny.

Yay! You're not dead!

"Ow."

"Oh my gods, she's up!" There was a series of splashing around her, hands grabbing her arms. She whined, wanting to pull her arms away, but they were as compliant as sacks of concrete. "Lou?" That was Ruby, her voice lilted with a higher pitch, concerned. "Are you OK? Storm made us put you in the water, did it work?"

"I have nectar!" Raijin declared, brandishing the canteen under Louisa's nose.

"Give her room." Huxley butted in, shooing the younger two away. Louisa was set back in the water, her head resting on the verge. She blinked, squinting. She saw him, a blurry indistinct shape. Storm nuzzled her cheek, mumbling worriedly.

Don't die, don't die, don't die.

"Not… gonna die…" Louisa croaked, reaching groggily to pat the filly's head. She felt Storm relax immediately, her relief washing through Louisa. With an arm around Storm's neck, she struggled to sit up. Her side ached and strained at the movement, constricting on her lungs. Huxley offered her Raijin's canteen. "Thanks." She muttered. She took small, careful sips, each one bringing that little bit more clarity to her vision. Her headache wound down to a dull throbbing.

She handed the canteen back, finally made herself look down. Her jacket had been removed and she still wore the bloodied, torn T-shirt, the white of bandages peeking through the rips. Specks of crimson had stained the bandages, though it was hard to tell if from the injury or her own ratty clothing.

"We're not doctors." Huxley shrugged a shoulder. "But we did what we could."

"Who's Arnie?" Raijin asked. Shards of ice bristled in her throat. Numbness dulled her chest. Raijin was talking again, throwing his words out in place of her silence. "We're not as prepared for all this demigodly business like you, so I had a look in your pack, see if I could find anything to help. So yeah, anyway, I found this drawing," there was a rustle of paper, "and was just wondering who Arnie was? And I may have also eaten one of your cookies. I was hungry, sorry."

Louisa looked over her shoulder at him. Instead, she saw Arnie. Or her drawing of him, at least. He smiled at her, with his mismatched eyes and the crooked grin. She blinked and saw him again, staring at her pleadingly, caught in the hands of Ma Gasket-

"Put it back."

"Wh-?"

"Put. It. Back." She snarled. Raijin scrambled, folding the drawing as neatly as he could in his haste and tucking it back into the front pocket of her backpack.

"Hey." Huxley retorted. "Don't be mad at him, he was trying to help you." Louisa hardly heard him, facing forward shakily. She pressed her fingertips to her forehead, trying to breathe through the steel clamp around her lungs. Simmering behind her eyes, the echo of crunching in her ears.

Huxley hopped out of the river as it began to bubble and churn, rising and soaking over the riverbanks.

"I'm sorry!" Raijin squeaked. "I'm sorry!"

"What's wrong with her?" Ruby asked. Storm snorted at her, pawing the ground irritably and shaking her head. Ruby flailed her hands. "I don't understand you!" She hissed. The foal bucked, neighing and huffing. When Ruby continued to stare at her, Storm turned, biting the back of Louisa's shirt and tugging. "Get her out. Huxley, help me get her out!"

They each grabbed an arm, dragging Louisa from the water. She screamed and thrashed against them, smacking Huxley in the jaw. Storm bounced around them, pulling on the backs of their jackets, pulling them away. Louisa rolled onto her side, curling up, gasping for air and trembling. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine." Huxley grunted, rubbing at his jaw. He narrowed his eyes at Storm. "What the hell is going on?" She snorted at him, ear flicking. "Right. Course. Totally understood." For his cheek, she bit his arm. "OK, OK!" He shook her off. "What do we-?" He stopped. Raijin had stepped in, billowing his blanket and laying it over her. He gently tucked it in around her, hopping around her in a crouch. Then he sat by her head, stroking her hair with the lightest of feather touches, humming the tune of a lullaby.

Louisa continued to shake, eyes squeezed shut, clutching at the blanket as she hiccupped in air. Raijin kept humming, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face. Ruby and Huxley stayed still. Storm lay down beside Louisa, resting her head on her shoulder. Raijin smiled and scratched the pegasus behind the ears, getting a grateful snort in response.

Within a few minutes, Louisa's trembling had reduced to the odd flinch here and there. Her breathing had levelled out- she was asleep. Storm was too, comfortable where she lay, guarding her human.

"Wow." Ruby breathed. "How'd you do that?"

"I had nightmares too." Raijin replied simply, readjusting the blanket. "Mom… when I was little, Mom used to tuck me in and sing."

"Well, you're on Louisa-duty from now on."

"Does that mean I get her sword?"

"No."

"Poo."