Hi guys! Before I begin this next chapter, I need to address a little error I made. In the fight with Abigail, I mentioned that she was wearing a bandana with a caucasus, which is the symbol of Hermes, except that I referenced several times that Abigail has apparent ties with Apollo. So I went back and changed it to a bandana with a sun. Sry about that. Anyway, back to the story!

Gohan had done a lot of strange things in his life, both before and after arriving to this new world. He'd traveled to alien planets, fought creatures straight out of his worst nightmares, traveled the Earth… twice. And yet this world kept managing to surprise him. Safe to say, he'd never imagined himself riding a giant boar. Though it was safe to say that it was far from a fun experience. Gohan already wasn't a fan of riding in particular.

Imagine riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day. He kept occasionally bouncing right on his tail, not pleasant given how sensitive it was. That's about how comfortable boar-riding was.

"OW!" Gohan yelled after a particularly nasty bump. Thalia smirked at him, clearly enjoying his exasperation. Clearly, she was still simmering over their early argument. And throwing her off a cliff probably hadn't helped that much.

They rode the boar until sunset. He wasn't sure many miles they covered, but the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub brush got sparser until they were traveling across a desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."

Nobody needed convincing. They slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"It likes the mountains better," Percy guessed.

"I can't blame it," Thalia said. "Look."

Ahead of them was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Zoe Nightshade was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills... but they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that. The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

"Whoa," Gohan said.

"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said. She looked at Graver. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made no sense to Gohan, but Grover looked concerned.

"That's us," he said. "Those six nuts right there." "Which one is me?" Percy asked.

"The little deformed one," Zoe suggested.

"Oh, shut up."

"That cluster right there," Grover said, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"A monster?" Thalia asked.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge..."

He pointed straight toward the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet. Just then, a loud roar erupted, scaring the living daylights out of the demigods. Zoe and Bianca had arrows notched in an instant, and both Percy and Thalia had they weapons ready as they looked around warily, anticipating the attack. Only Gohan remained unmoved, blushing furiously as he scratched his head.

"Errr… sorry. That was my stomach." Everyone stared at him in disbelief for a second before deadpanning.

"Really, man?" Percy shook his head.

"Why am I not surprised?" Thalia rolled her frowned. Now that he noticed, Gohan seemed a bit more... drained.

"You okay?" Percy asked. Gohan sighed.

I'm sorry, okay? It's just... I haven't eaten a full meal since Camp."

"Boo hoo." Thalia smirked. Gohan glared at her.

"Do you know why I eat as much as I do?"

"Because you're a greedy pig with a fast metabolism?"

"No. Let me give you a biology lesson, Thalia. The more actions you do, the more calories you burn."

"Okay."

"Look, you already know my dad was an alien. His species was bred to fight. They were natural warriors, it was all they did. And that comes at a cost. To do the things I do- flying, firing off energy blasts, enhanced strength, it takes a lot of energy, and a ton of calories. I need to consume that much food so I can keep my energy replenished. If I don't, that can be dangerous. My blood sugar will drop- which would make me vulnerable. I'll be slower, weaker. Let's just say it's not a pretty picture." Percy swallowed nervously.

"I think we stop for the night." They agreed to camp for the night and try the junkyard in the morning. No one wanted to go Dumpster-diving in the dark.

Zoe and Bianca produced six sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks. The night got chilly fast, so Grover and Percy collected old boards from the ruined house, and Gohan zapped them with a small ki ball to start a campfire. Pretty soon they were about as comfy as one could get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe said.

She was right. There were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way." Percy sighed.

"Say Gohan, does it look like this on your world too?" Gohan blinked as he looked at Percy.

"Ahhhh…pretty close. Really takes me back. When I was out on my own, I used to look at the sky at night, out in the middle of the wilderness. It was really something." Gohan sighed.

"But I have to admit, it was even cooler being up there in person." Bianca stared at Gohan.

"You've been to outer space?" she asked in disbelief. He smirked.

"Yep. In my world. We needed to travel to another planet to find… a special artifact. So we reverse engineered an alien spaceship and used it to travel into space. It's amazing to see just how big the universe really is. So many unique worlds." Gohan didn't mention the Dragonballs. That was something only a few people on this world knew about: him, Percy, Annabeth, Chiron, Zeus, Poseidon, Carter, Sadie and Amos Kane. The fewer who knew, the better. Percy frowned at Gohan's exclusion of the Dragonballs, but didn't comment on it.

"This sky is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk like you're not human," Percy said.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"For you," Thalia corrected. "Not thee"

"But you use you for the beginning of a sentence."

"And for the end," Thalia said. "No thou. No thee. Just you"
Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "I hate this language. It changes too often!"

Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking about the light pollution problem. "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Zoe nodded sadly. Gohan let out a loud sigh at that moment, drawing both Zoe and Grover's attention.

"Got something to say?" Zoe snapped. Gohan sat up, dusting sand out of his hair.

"Look, I've listened to all you guys talk about how Pan will make everything right again. How Pan will restore the Wild. How?" Zoe bristled.

"What do thy mean?"

"I mean… how will Pan fix the Wild?" the air was silent, save for the cracking of the fire. Seeing no opposition, Gohan continued.

"Is Pan going to flick his hand and turn cities into forests? Okay, but what happens to everyone who lives there? Are you guys going to be fine with exiling thousands of people? Where are they going to go? And the rest of the gods are going to be fine with that?" More silence followed.

"And another thing. I haven't been here very long, but I've met enough gods to notice something. Gods aren't exactly subtle."

"Meaning?" Thalia asked, her voice brisk.

"What I mean is… you guys say that Pan's been gone for two thousand years. I've seen a lot of the Earth in the past year and a half. This just may be my perspective, but if you guys have been looking for Pan that long and haven't found anything… maybe there's a reason.

"And what is that?" Zoe asked.

"Maybe… Pan doesn't want to be found." Grover shot to his feet, his eyes blazing in anger.

"You're wrong! Pan is alive! He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

"I said this before, I'll say it again. Maybe it's time that you all stopped running around looking for Pan and started trying to take care of the Earth yourselves." Grover bleated angrily.

"Guys, come on. Enough." Percy pleaded, clearly not eager to watch another brawl between the two. The savior ended up being Thalia, who butted in as always.

"What I want to know," Thalia said, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them." Grover sat back down as Thalia spoke, still glaring at Gohan.

"Good point. Those things were immune to even my attacks. Nothing I did seemed to work." Gohan added.

"To be fair, Gohan, your energy attacks have never really worked against the monsters we've fought in the past. They were more like stunners, unless you really went all out. But then there's the collateral damage." Percy pointed out.

"True. But these skeletons are an frustrating problem."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife," Percy said.

"It is the same as mine," Zoe said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," Percy said.

Bianca looked uncomfortable with everybody paying attention to her.

"What about those guys that attacked us back at Cloudcroft? They practically totaled that town." Thalia winched, rubbing her sore stomach.

"True. Those guys were… on a whole other level. I hit that big guy with everything I had, and I barely even fazed him. He was powerful. Like a freaking tank."

"Don't forget Abigail, that girl is just as dangerous. Her skills with a bow are quite formidable, on par with the skill of a Hunter. I still owe her vengeance for my fallen sister." Zoe added.

"What do you think they were? Demigods? Monsters posing as humans through the Mist?" Bianca asked. Zoe frowned, deep in thought.

"No, I don't think they were manipulating the Mist to appear human. What we saw were their normal form. But what they were… my first thought would be demigods."

Percy nodded.

"Makes sense. We know that some of the kids from camp have been joining up with Luke. We saw them on Luke's ship last year." Zoe shook her head.

"The boy certainly looked like a spawn of Ares. Similar temperament and build. And Lady Artemis herself called that girl a faint copy of Apollo. And that other one… the one that enthralled the Otherworlder."

"Amortentia?" Gohan's face darkened, clearly not wanting to be reminded what she did to him.

"That one's the most dangerous so far if you ask me. She certainly has exhibited several of the traits that the daughters of the love goddess can possess. The ability to change their appearance, charmspeak-"

"What's that?" Percy asked. Zoe glared at him.

"Charmspeaking is a rare ability that a few daughters of Aphrodite possess each generation. Essentially, they have the ability to make people do anything on their command just through speaking to them."

"You mean like mind control?"

"In a form, yes. It can be a very powerful weapon in the hands of the wrong person." Percy shuddered.

"Guys… I saw them before. Back at the museum with Luke's partner and the General." Gohan noticed that Zoe seemed to flinch at the mention of the General.

"Yeah, they're working with the Titans, we already know that."

"No! I don't mean that. I mean… Luke's partner was there."

"No surprise there."

"No! I mean… I remember now. Amortentia called him… their father." The air was silent.

"Father? You mean… he's their dad? So, they're all siblings?" Zoe's expression frowned.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Thalia protested.

"Maybe it's a symbolic thing. Like, he's not actually their biological father, but a symbolic one. Like Fagin from Oliver Twist. Just a guy who gathered a bunch of runaway kids and manipulated them to do his bidding."

"Would explain how he manipulated Luke. There's plenty of demigods who are runaways…" Thalia muttered.

"Bahhh! Whoever that guy is, he's been a thorn in our side from day one! He helped Luke steal the Master Bolt and framed Percy for it! He started this whole mess!"

"Even earlier than that. Luke told me that he met this partner two years before that, after his quest when that dragon scratched his face as he stole that golden apple." Zoe sat up, her eyes blazing.

"Well, whoever this guy is, we'll take him down." Percy frowned.

"You didn't see this guy fight, Thalia. You've never even seen this guy in person before. He's… intimidating. He even scared Annabeth."

"I thought that you've never seen his face." Percy shook his head.

"Still, Thalia. His voice, his presence… whoever this guy is, he is on a whole other level. Worse than Ares, worse than anything else. He took down Thorn like he was nothing. He made it look easy, Thorn couldn't even scratch him. I swear, he fought like… like…"

"Like what?" Gohan asked. Percy turned to look at him.

"He fought like you." The group was silent.

"What could all this mean?" Bianca asked. No one answered. Perhaps no one knew. Or perhaps they did- and no one was willing to put it into words.

"Never mind," Zoe told her. "The answer will reveal itself in time. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

"Nope, nope nope nope." Gohan stammered, his eyes wide. He was about to protest that he, Grover, and Percy had had bad experiences in that town, but Bianca beat them to it.

"No!" she said. "Not there!"

She looked really freaked out, like she'd just been dropped off the steep end of a roller coaster.

Zoe frowned. "Why?"

Bianca took a shaky breath. "I... I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember..."

Suddenly, Percy had a really bad thought. He remembered what Bianca had told him about Nico and her staying in a hotel for a while.

"Bianca," he asked. "That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Her eyes widened. "How could you know that?" "Oh, great," Percy said. Gohan shot up, his eyes blazing.

"HAH! I knew it!" he cheered, a look of triumph on his face. Everyone else just stared at him with expression of shock on their faces.

"W-what?" Bianca stammered. Gohan pointed at her.

"I knew I saw you somewhere before! I knew it! It's been driving me nuts since I first met you!" Gohan turned towards Percy.

"I saw her at the casino- I was chatting with Nico and then Bianca dragged him off!" Bianca stared at Gohan with wide eyes.

"Wait," Thalia said. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"The greatest timewaster in the universe." Gohan answered. Percy rolled his eyes.

"A couple of years ago," he said, "Grover, Annabeth, Gohan and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave, and it makes time speed up. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed."

"No," Bianca said. "No, that's not possible."

"You said somebody came and got you out," Percy remembered.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I... I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Zoe sat forward, her eyebrows knit with concern. "You said that Washington, D.C., had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but—"

"Bianca," Zoe said, "can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. She told them the correct name of the president. "And who was the president before that?" Zoe asked.
Bianca thought for a while. "Roosevelt."
Zoe swallowed. "Theodore or Franklin'?"

"Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

"Bianca," Zoe said. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"Huh."

"That's impossible," Bianca said. "I... I'm not that old." She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled. Thalia's eyes turned sad. "It's okay, Bianca, the important thing is you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

"But how?" Gohan asked. "We were only in there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have escaped after being there for so long?"

"I told you." Bianca looked about ready to cry. "A man came and said it was time to leave. And—"

"But who? Why did he do it?"

Before she could answer, they were hit with a blazing light from down the road. The headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere. They grabbed their sleeping bags and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of them.

"Well, that's not suspicious at all." Gohan frowned.

The back door of the limo opened right next to him. Before Gohan could step away, the point of a sword touched his throat.

He heard the sound of Zoe and Bianca drawing their bows. As the owner of the sword got out of the car, Gohan's breath rushed out of him as his eyes blazed with rage.

He smiled cruelly. "Not so fast now, are you, you little freak?"

He was a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but Gohan knew what was behind those glasses—hollow sockets filled with flames. Gohan knew exactly who this was: the same person who tried to kill him and his friends almost two years ago- Gohan's least favorite god. To be frank, Gohan had never expected to see him again: given that Gohan had blasted him into a thousand pieces.

"Ares," Gohan snarled. The god grinned.

"Long time no see, brat."