GOOD EVENING WORLD! Tis I! Nicholas Friar! Hoo Wee, we are finally back on track guys! Yay! I had my computer fixed, so now we can actually get something done, and that's exactly what I'm here to do! I don't know if this will come out the seventh, or the eighth, it all depends on how I'm feeling about it in like two to three hours. But for now, I think it's time we hop right into the story!

Last time...

"First stop, Blue Amulet."

This time...

Malon looked at the map, and then back to Link. "It's all the way in Louisiana?! How are we supposed to get there?!"

Link paused momentarily, and realized that he hadn't thought of that. The camp car revved up, Argos inside ready to take them into the city. Link frowned.

"Come on, we'll discuss it in a moment. We don't want to keep Argos waiting."

The two shrugged, and followed him into the car, where they all crammed into the backseat. Link could've swore that the driver winked at him with one of his hundreds of eyes. Malon leaned over and whispered into his ear.

"I wonder if he has to wear contacts for any of his eyes. Imagine how annoying that would be."

Link went to question the random thought, but decided against it, nodding along to Malon's ramblings in silence. He studied the map for a moment, and then looked up.

"It seems that there's a railway that leads to Louisiana. Maybe we could take that, and then take a ferry to the..." He looked closer to the map. "Atchafalaya Basin? It's a pretty big area according to the map."

Aaron nodded. "The biggest wetland or swamp in the United States."

Malon rose an eyebrow at the tid bit of knowledge. He shrugged.

"My girlfriend is a geography buff. I listen to her sometimes."

Link nodded. "Well, hey, that's pretty convinient."

They chatted the rest of the ride there, and bid Argos a farewell, and a thanks (to which the thousand eyed man blushed). Their next stop was the train yard. A few homeless people sat in a circle around a fire, chatting and laughing. Link walked over to them.

"Hey, do any of you know where the train that heads to Louisiana is? We kind of need a ride, and we need it pretty quick."

One of the men grinned a toothy grin. "Ya runnin' away from home kid? I feel that."

The one sitting closest to the fire pointed to a train near them. "It's that one kid. Stay sharp out there."

Link rose an eyebrow. It almost seemed like this guy knew about them. "Thank you..."

He grinned a strangely white toothed grin. "Call me Fred, kid."

Link nodded. "Thank you, Fred."

The homeless man gave a knowing look, and Aaron gave a small gasp of realization. He pointed at the man with wide eyes, said Fred only covering his lips, and winking. They hopped aboard the train, and all got comfortable. Link looked over to Aaron, a curious look in his eyes.

"What was all that about?"

Aaron grinned. "That was my dad. He's looking out for us."

The green demigod thought back to Fred's perfect smile. Ok, yeah, he could definitely see that it was Apollo. He breifly thought back to the kiss Nayru blew to Apollo, before deciding that it was not something he wanted to think in depth about. He looked at his quest mates, seeing that Aaron was laid back, eyes closed and a grin on his face, and Malon was messing with something she had found in the cart. He moved over to her, and sat down beside her, looking at the object she was turning in her hands.

"What do you have there?"

Malon quickly looked up, and revealed the object as a horseshoe. She smiled fondly.

"Before I arrived at Camp, I lived on a ranch in Texas. We raised cows and horses and the like, but my favorite were the horses. They were just so much fun to ride. My mother actually taught me a song before she died, one that could attract any horse, and make cows produce the sweetest and most nutritious milk."

A flash of brown fur and red hair flashed through Link's mind, but it disappeared quickly. Horses and Malon though, a strangely familiar thought. He nodded.

"Back at my orphanage, I would explore the forest with my best friend Saria. Some days we would practice fighting, some days we would go out on adventures, looking for faries, or some days we'd just enjoy nature, and Saria would tell me stories."

At this point, both of them were a little misty eyed. Malon laid back in comfort.

"I think I'm going to hit the hay."

Link chuckled a little, at the obvious pun, and decided to lay back as well, on his own pile of hay, and wait until morning.

The next day, Link awoke to the sound of a moving train. He momentarilly panicked, but quickly remembered that he was indeed, on a moving train. He sighed in relief, and relaxed back onto the haybail. Malon and Aaron were already up, watching the countryside go by outside of their car. Link joined them, and they sat in silence for a few moments, before Aaron spoke up.

"Where do you think we are?"

Link looked at the passing orchards of peaches, or that's what it seemed to be. He frowned, and looked at the map.

"If I had to guess? Probably around Georgia."

Aaron nodded, and the silence returned. Soon, Malon laid back, and groaned.

"Ugh, now I'm bored. I'm tired of waiting!"

Link snorted. "Hey, have a little patience. The countryside is beautiful. Aaron is enjoying it."

As soon as he said that, a snore left Aaron's throat, signifying that he was in a deep sleep. Link sighed, and shrugged.

"Nevermind then."

Malon giggled, and sat back up. "You know, even though we've got a really big weight on our shoulders, I'm excited."

Link nodded. "I know what you mean. I can't help but feel a little bit of an adrenaline rush myself."

The red head grinned, and looked up to the sky. "You know, I hope my dad is watching out for us as well. Like Aaron and Apollo?"

Link nodded. "I'm sure he is."

Malon looked over to Link, grin still present. "You need to loosen up a bit, you know? You've got this just really 'no funny buisiness' attitude about everything, you know?"

Link snorted, and Malon put a hand over her mouth in mock shock. "Was that a laugh I heard?!"

The green clad teen smirked. "It was more of a snort."

They chuckled, and Link sighed. "I can't really help it. I feel like everything was suddenly thrown at me like this. I mean, I literally just came out of an orphanage like, three or four days ago. And now? I'm off to Louisiana to get an amulet so I can weild a sword that can kill a Demon King. Don't even get me started with the gods."

Malon nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, it's not healthy to let the stress get to you."

Link smiled, and nodded. "I hear you. I'll try I guess."

She returned the smile, and the two stayed that way, before the train suddenly shook violently. Aaron shot up, and Link and Malon looked around in panic. The son of Apollo looked over to the other two demigods, a perplexed and panicked look on his face. The train shook again.

"What the hell is that?!"

A voice shouted out, and they all looked out the car. It looked like an octopus, but it's long tentacles scuttled across the dirt, and towards the train. It was about ten feet tall, and crimson red, and it was shooting huge rocks out of its mouth. Aaron stared at it.

"I have never seen a monster like that in my life."

Malon nodded in agreement. "Yeah, well, doesn't matter we have to kill it before it gets the mortals. They're obviously clear-sighted!"

They nodded, and jumped out of the train, Aaron drawing his bow, and Link drawing a sword. Malon looked over, spinning a couple of knives in her hands.

"Ok, what's the plan."

Link scanned the area. "Aaron, keep it distracted with arrows. Malon and I will get in close and kill it. It doesn't look like it has very tough skin."

They nodded, and Aaron climbed to the top of the train. He yelled out to the monster.

"Hey! Tentacles! Over here!" He shot a few arrows at the monster, embedding them in the skin around its mouth. It bayed in annoyance, and got ready to shoot a rock at him. Aaron quickly took cover, and avoided the rock. Malon and Link ran towards it, staying low to the ground. They sliced off a couple of it's tentacles, and when it lost balance and fell forward, Link shoved his sword into its head. Malon looked at it in surprise when it burst into black flame instead of golden dust.

"That's not normal."

Link nodded. "It's not a greek monster. Octorocks, although I don't remember them ever being able to go on land..."

Malon rose an eyebrow. "So it's hylian. Oh boy, we've got two parthenons out for us now. This may get interesting."

Link rose an eyebrow. "You're just now realizing this?"

She ignored him, and Aaron came running over. "What the hell was that thing?!"

The red head simply sheathed her knives, and shrugged. "Octorock."

He went to question it, before deciding not to. He pointed over to the car they were staying in.

"Thank the gods that we avoided that one. That thing was like a walking cannon!"

Link nodded. "That was bigger than a normal Octorock. So it was technically a Big Octorock."

Malon snorted. "Creative."

A mortal walked over to them. "Hey, you kids! What happened to that huge octopus thing?"

Link went to say something, before Aaron held his hand out. He winked. "I've got this."

He looked back towards the mortal, and snapped his fingers. "What octopus? A meteor flew out of the sky, and hit the train. Three of them."

The man seemed dazed for a minute, before shaking his head. "What? I saw that octopus thing with my own two eyes! And you all beat it up with some bats or something! Where'd it go?"

Link stepped up this time. "It went back to the ocean. It's usually an octopus that is native to Africa, a Land Octopus. Someone must of brought it home as a pet."

The man scoffed. "Darned forieners and their exotic animals. Messin' up my train. Well, thanks for getting rid of it kid. You can hitch a ride with us to Louisiana. I'll have to get the train fixed up there. I'm sure she'll ride like she is."

They thanked the man, and hopped into a new, less destroyed car. Malon looked at Aaron, a deadpanned expression on his face.

"Dude, really? If you're gonna do the mist thing, do it right!"

Aaron looked offended. "I did it perfectly! I learned from Chiron himself! I don't know what was going on there."

Link shook his head. "He wasn't clear-sighted. He saw our weapons as bats. It must be the sudden appearance of different monsters. The mist doesn't cover the hylian monsters like it does the greek ones."

Malon frowned. "That may cause problems in the future."

Link nodded. "Definitely. We've got to be really careful now. Try and avoid majorly populated areas. Keep away from most people."

Aaron frowned as well. "That's going to be a problem if we want to get to the basin quickly."

Malon shrugged. "We could just steal our own boat."

The son of apollo looked at her incrediously. "What? We're not stealing."

Link nodded. "We'll steal a boat. What's one boat to the fate of the world?"

Aaron went to argue, before sighing. "Okay, whatever. Fine. But I didn't hear any of this. I like to keep an honest persona."

Link shrugged, and laid back. It was beginning to get dark outside, and they had a long journey ahead of them. He closed his eyes, and drifted into sleep.

AAAAAAAAAAAND THAT'S A WRAP FOLKS! Look, I know that this chapter is super late. I got caught up in other stuff. Also, my internet is out right now because it's storming pretty good outside. Kinda sucks if you ask me, but it happens. So I hope you all enjoyed it. Don't forget to follow if you're curious to see what happens next, and leave a review telling me what you thought! I'm looking to improve here. Stay Frosty my friends, and as always.

See You On The Flip-Side~Nicholas Frair