Chapter 5, Act I - The Highway to Camp.

"Satyr! Over here." I called, waving him over. He glanced over at me, surprised, and scurried over to me. "I didn't see you there. I'm Alex. Nice to meet you..." The satyr, now known as Alex, started. "Niko." I offered. "Nice to meet you, Niko." He finished. "Pleasure to meet you, too. Now, shall we make our way to Camp?" I asked.

"Yeah, uh, one small problem. There was something following me from the airport. I don't know what it is, I just smelled monsters nearby the whole way here." He said a little shakily. I summoned my gauntlet and my sword from my inventory and grumbled. "Guess it's time for practice, then. Shall we wait, or shall we run?" I offer.

He yelps at the sudden appearance of my gear. "We should probably run. It'll be safer." He decided. "Lead the way, then, Alex." I said. I would've offered to lead, in case the monster found us, but I have no idea where we're going. He nodded, and started jogging into the forest, and I followed behind him.

Fortunately, I've got the Gamer's Body perk, so I have minimal trouble with exhaustion. While I still can feel it, it doesn't interfere with my performance. I hear a "Ding!" and a message pops up in front of me, saying "Behind you!" So, naturally, I twirl around and my sword is at the throat of some girl. I frown. Something felt off about this girl. This is our monster, I suspected.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Why are you following us?" I felt an odd sense of deja vu, but I ignored it. Alex, being the courageous satyr he is, was cowering behind a fallen tree. I figured this was definitely our monster. I clenched the fist with my gauntlet on it, and used Mist Manipulation to clear the Mist around this girl, revealing a donkey leg, a metal leg, and what seemed to be fire for hair.

"You're an empousa. You serve my mother, don't you?" I ask. Something seemed wrong about this. Something was telling me she meant no harm, and it wasn't to do with the empousa's powers.

She nods carefully. "I'm meant to help guide you to that wretched Camp of yours, on Lady Hecate's orders." She hisses in distaste. I knew they didn't like demigods, and I know the empousai in the House of Hades weren't strictly loyal to Hecate, but they seemed to be outliers at the moment. "Well, we were headed to the airport. Alex! Come out. She's friendly, for now." I called out. She narrows her eyes at the for now, but I knew she'd stab Alex in the back at the first opportunity, considering I was the only one she was supposed to keep safe.

Alex peeked out, and stepped behind me, quivering. "Lead the way, since I doubt the satyr's gonna be much use currently." I didn't want to be rude, but I needed to try and persuade the empousa to not hurt either of us, and I suspected this may be the way to do it.

The following morning, we were on the plane, preparing to take off. I tried to clear away the Mist around everyone, just to scan and make sure we were all safe, and no monsters were present, aside from the empousa, who currently hadn't provided me with her name.

"What's your name?" I finally asked her. She was seated on my right, the satyr on my left, so they didn't get into an altercation. She seemed to flinch at my question. She probably wasn't used to people, demigods no less, trying to get to know her. "Maria. Yours is Nikomedes, right?" She thankfully kept a hushed tone. I didn't want people knowing my full name.

"I just go by Niko, but yeah. It's nice to formally meet you." I say, extending a hand. She hesitated, but shook it, as soon as she sensed no deception. "Thank you." She said simply. That thank you held more meaning than I think most would realize. She's probably used to demigods just trying to kill her. I know I was her current charge and all, and under other circumstances, things might've been different, but some kindness can go a long way.

"Of course. Honestly? I'm glad you're here. Better conversation than the goat boy, surely, not to mention the fact that you're likely warding off monsters by being here. Also, getting a real and friendly interaction with an empousa isn't something you see every day." I replied. Aside from the jab at the poor satyr, I was being completely honest. I'm sure that if she weren't here to guide me, she would've killed both Alex and myself with ease.

I mean, think about it. I only won against Taserface's zombified twin because he summoned skeletons that I was able to use, and he was literally the stereotype of a brute. Slow, dumb, and hits like a truck. Empousa are fast, clever, and powerful magic-wielders, as servants of Hecate.

We spent the next hour chatting a bit, though I can't say I could make very interesting conversation. I've only technically been conscious here for about a day, and past that was just my time in the void. Part of me wondered how long I spent in that void. Years? Months? Days? We may never know.

Regardless of that, she had a ton of stories. After she ran dry of any interesting ones, I thanked her, and we spent the rest of the flight in a comfortable silence. Most of that time, I was making a plan. "Maria?" I said, trying to get her attention.

"Yes?" She replied. "Can you do the flame teleportation thing that some of your species can do? I'm trying to make a plan to get to Camp. It wouldn't necessarily be a good omen if someone they view as a monster helps escort me to the Camp, you know? I don't want to kill you, either." I whispered to her as we boarded a taxi to get us closer to Camp.

She bit her lip, and nodded hesitantly. "I've been working on it. It's not entirely perfect yet, but I should be able to help put on a show, if that's what you're asking." She confirms. "Good." I described my plan to her carefully, Alex looking pale and anxious the entire time.

By the time we got close, the plan was as close to perfect as it could be. We got out the car, and started sprinting in the direction of Half-Blood Hill. I was calling for help as Alex played his reed pipes, his woodland magic activating, as the grass grew around Maria's feet, twisting around her ankles to trip her. You see, Alex had confided in me on our flight that he's been working for his searcher's license to find Pan, who's been missing for thousands of years. I'm his assignment that would get him that license. He needed to get me across the Camp's borders safely.

As we ran up the hill, Maria chasing not too far behind us, some kids came running up the hill from the other end, holding various weapons. A few of them were holding bows, and I beckoned them towards me, and I held the kids with swords back. "She's really dangerous. We shouldn't risk getting close." I lied smoothly, in an attempt to convince their melee fighters to not get close, in hopes of making this at least a little convincing.

"Apollo! On my mark!" A lanky kid ordered. The kid started counting down, and finished with "Fire!" You see, I was counting on this, and told Maria to get ready when they counted down, and on their mark, to use it and teleport away. As several arrows rapidly approached her, she closed her fists and her eyes, then burst into flames. I heard a galloping, and turned to face the centaur I'd called before.

"Di immortales. You're lucky to be alive, child." He claimed. He did, however, notice something was off, as his eyes lingered on something off in the distance for a second. He had me come to the Big House, which is this big, baby blue house in the center of the camp.

We walked in, and found a pudgy old man sitting in a chair at a round table. I bowed in recognition of him. "Lord Dionysus." I greeted. He made a noise. "At least someone in this miserable camp has manners." The god mused.

Chiron approached a box that looked suspiciously like a motorized wheelchair, and something weird happened. It was like his body shrunk to fit into it, so now he just looked like some teacher in a wheelchair. "Impressive disguise." I noted. "Ah, yes. I usually use it for first impressions, but you were a more urgent case. But, as it were, your story. Tell us everything."

So I did. I avoided Poseidon's involvement, explaining only that I appeared on a beach, with no previous memory, aside from knowing my mother, and I was left with my sword, gauntlet, and tent. I did, however, neglect to tell him about the plan with the empousa. I didn't want to risk Alex's chances with a searcher's license.

By the time I was done telling them, Dionysus looked suspicious, and Chiron looked intrigued. That's when Alex barged in, looking extremely happy. Before he could speak, Chiron spoke up. "Ah, Alex. Incredible timing. Niko here needs a tour of the camp, and I would hazard a guess we can skip the orientation film for him. Would you please show him around? I have master's archery at two, otherwise I would."

I snorted internally. Liar. He was trying to get me out before Dionysus could interrogate me. He knew something was weird, and so did Chiron. "Of course! Let's go! C'mon, Niko!" He buzzed, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me out. I turned to look at the old centaur, and he gave a look that said one thing.

"We're discussing this later, child."

A/N: Maybe I made Chiron look a little bit gullible with the whole thing with the empousa, but hey, y'know what, even though I probably could've done better, I do end up writing better quality chapters in the near future, so that's fine, I hope.