Percy POV:

"I'll say it once and I'll say it again," I groaned. "You drive like a crazy person would if they were high on nectar."

"I've been driving since automobiles were invented," Zoe shot back, her hands firm on the wheel as she weaved through traffic like how the Hunters navigate a forest. "That makes me the best driver."

"No, that makes you the most ancient," I yawned. "Plus, don't the Hunters spend most of their days on foot? Isn't that, like, a main component of being a Hunter?"

"Like thou can drive better," Zoe said, missing three pedestrians by half a foot.

"Yo, you missed some mortals back there," I deadpanned. "You wanna go back and hit them?"

The lieutenant ignored me, and instead, stepped on the gas as we entered the highway.

"And yes," I replied. "I can definitely drive better than you. I even have a driver's license to prove it. See, I'm the only one of age here. Thalia can get a permit, while Bianca, Annabeth, and Atalanta are all too young. And you're like... 18 or something?"

"13," Zoe almost whispered, making me throw my head back in surprise.

"OWWW!" I cried as my head smashed into the headrest. "Wait... you're 13?!"

"That's my appearance age," Zoe blushed.

I shook my head. I couldn't believe that I was attracted to a freaking 13 year old! "So all of you are high school noobs. Okay... this suddenly feels very awkward."

"Oh you just noticed?" Atalanta coughed, sipping her apple juice box. "We're in a van with a single 20+ year old male surrounded by teenage girls. What's the worst that could happen?"

I facepalmed. "Ugh, just forget it. Hey Zoe, where exactly are you planning to go?"

"The tracking spell points south, so that's where we're going," Zoe explained curtly. "Do thou have an issue?"

"Nope."

We ended driving in mainly silence afterwards, with Zoe continuing to drive without resting until we reached Maryland when she finally pulled over. Even then, we didn't do much but buy much needed snacks and drinks, breathe some fresh air, and immediately head back to driving. I had to admit that I kinda wished I was riding Blackjack overhead like last time when I had tailed these guys.

"DC is about sixty miles from here," Bianca was saying. "Nico and I..." She frowned, "We used to live there. That's...that's strange. I'd forgotten."

"I dislike this," Zoe said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."

I shrugged. "Perhaps there is something we need in the south first before heading west. Quests are never as straightforward as we want, isn't that right Atti?"

My sister nodded, making Zoe huff. "Alright then. But if you're wrong..." Zoe let the threat hand, though her eyes tole me otherwise. As angry as she was, she couldn't deny anything I said. She knew that I had come from the future, and that I had come to change it for the better.

I switched with Zoe for the driver's seat, letting the girl nap after taking a couple minutes to assure her that males weren't incompetent on the road either. I glanced at the huntress as I drove from time to time, the way the ferocity vanished from her sleeping figure so... not Zoe. I don't think I've ever seen her so relaxed, not even back then. Given the fact that she knew she had a high probability of dying even in my original timeline, Zoe must've busied herself with as many reasons and excuses to keep her mind off the fact that her death was inevitable for the betterment of the mission. I often wondered what went through Zoe's mind during the quest. She predicted her demise, yet still pulled through, and managed to make it till the end.

Our journey south came to an end as we crossed the Potomac River into central Washington. We passed parking lots and visitors, heading onto the streets just out near the Washington Monument. I parked the van at the curb, knowing the Mist would protect us from any mortal suspicions. By that time, Zoe had woken up, her warrior visage up and back on, like a suit of armor.

"Where's the tracking spell pointing to now?" Bianca asked, looking around as we got off the van.

"That building," I said. "The National Air and Space Museum. Also, take everything with you. We mostly likely are going to have to ditch the van."

"Why?" Zoe asked. "We still need a way to go west after whatever happens here."

"In case you haven't noticed," I said, "We were being tailed from beginning to end. See that black sedan? It's been on our rear the whole ride."

"How can you be sure?" Thalia asked. "We'd have noticed if it was right behind us."

I mentally cursed my mistake. "I spotted the sedan multiple times while Zoe was driving," I made up. "I got more suspicious after noticing it parked at the same gas station we stopped at when we left." That was the truth.

Thalia had no choice but to accept my reasoning. "So what do we do?"

"Annabeth, you have your cap?" I asked, the blonde girl looking at me in surprise.

"Yah... I always have it." Annabeth replied. "Why?"

"Annabeth and I can tail that guy," I said, "See if he's suspicious or not. Even if he's a mortal, we should still be careful. Mortal mercenaries will do anything for money, and bad guys have plenty of drachmas laying around to fool them."

"Why Annabeth specifically though?" Atalanta asked.

"Cause she can turn invisible?" I deadpanned. "Don't think I didn't realize your cap's ability after you tackled Atti and the twins into the snow at Westover Hall."

"Okay, what about us?" Thalia asked.

"You four head towards the Smithsonian," I said. "See what's up and why our tracker is pointing us that way. Maybe some monster or something?"

We split, with Annabeth and I hanging back slightly to follow the sedan driver. He was definitely mortal, because I had Thorn captured in my Tiber containment cell. The driver followed our friends automatically, like he was attached to them with a thread. It was when our friends slipped into the museum that the driver made a sudden detour, the jerking of his turn too sharp to not be an order of some sort. I nodded to Annabeth, before handing her a set of infrared goggles. The girl took one look and nodded in understanding, putting them on and activating them after going invisible. I did the same, my cyber suit activating millions of tiny screens that played realtime footage of the environment around me as if I wasn't standing there at all. Thanks to some magic, my shadow also vanished.

Annabeth and I followed the driver, climbing the steps of the Museum of Natural History and ignoring the big sign on the door that stated CLOSED FOR PRIVATE EVENT. Annabeth actually pointed at the sign but after seeing me shrug, shrugged as well and followed me in. From there, we passed multiple exhibits of skeletons of extinct species, until we neared a massive set of closed doors.

Annabeth, I whispered through my helmet, the goggles I gave her allowing her to hear my voice. She looked over at me in question.

When that door opens, run inside and hide. Don't make a single noise. I'll phase in, so don't worry about me. I said.

Okay. The girl responded equally softly. The moment the door opened and the driver went through, Annabeth bolted from behind one of the exhibits, sliding into the room and almost gasping at the sight. Thanks to my forewarning though, she managed to calm herself despite the horrible scene before her.

I phased through with vapor travel and grimaced at the sight. We were in a huge round room with a balcony ringing the second level. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony with AK-47s in their arms, plus four monsters, reptilian women with double-snake trunks instead of legs. I'd fought tons of these guys before, uglies known as Scythian dracaenae.

Though I couldn't clearly see Annabeth's facial expression, I knew she was in shock. Because the guards weren't even the worst part of the room. Standing between the snake women, was my very very old enemy Luke. It was surreal to see him like this, alive and grinning like a maniac, though he looked terrible from having to hold up the sky, with that cold pale skin that looked drained of life, his blonde hair more ashen than yellow, and his slouched posture that displayed his age to be older than he really was. The familiar angry light in his eyes was still there, and wouldn't disappear until he sacrificed himself to save the world. The scar on his face seemed to burn an ugly red, as if it had recently been reopened. In other words, Luke looked like a newly freed demon from Tartarus itself. And I wasn't exaggerating.

Next to him, sitting down so that the shadows covered him, was another man. All I could see were his knuckles on the gilded arms of this chair, like a throne, but I knew better. I knew that that man was no one other than General Atlas, Kronos' right hand man and military general, and Zoe's bastard father.

"Well?" Atlas said, his voice deep and strong, quiet yet powerful as it resonated around the whole room.

The driver took off his shades and bowed his head. "They are here, General."

"I know that, you fool." boomed Atlas. "But where exactly?"

"The Smithsonian: Air and Space Museum, sir."

"How many?" Luke asked.

"Four, sir." The driver replied instantly. "All of them are girls, one with spiky black hair and punk clothes–"

"Thalia," Luke mumbled.

"–the sea god's daughter, Atalanta, and two Hunters, one with a silver circlet." The man finished, making me frown. How did he know what the Hunters were, let alone the fact that Atti was Poseiden's kid? Somehow, he must not be fully mortal, I concluded. Maybe a rogue demigod?

"That one I know," Atlas growled.

Of course you do, you son of a bitch, I thought, as everyone in the room but me shifted uncomfortably.

"Let me take them," Luke said to Atlas. "We have more than enough–"

"Patience," Atlas said. "They'll have their hands full already. I've sent them a little playmate to keep them occupied."

"But–"

"We cannot risk you, my boy."

That seemed to work, and Luke sat down, looking thoroughly depressed.

"That being said, we must continue with the plan to isolate the half-blood Thalia," Atlas continued. "The monster we seek will then come to her."

Psyche, I thought, you ain't getting no monster cause I have it in my pocket!

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," Luke said. "Zoe Nightshade–!"

"Do not speak her name!"

Luke swallowed. I don't remember a time when I've ever seen him this nervous in my life. "S-sorry General. I just–"

The General silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you, my boy, exactly how we will bring the Hunters down." He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"

The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!"

"Plant them," Atlas ordered.

In the center of the room was a big circle of dirt, where I guessed a dinosaur exhibit was supposed to go. I watched with excited anticipation as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while the General smiled coldly.

The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "Ready, General!"

"Excellent! Water them and we will let them scent their prey."

The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daises painted on it, which was a little bizarre, because what he was pouring out was definitely not water. Thick, dark red liquid that was no other than blood.

The soil began to bubble.

"Soon," the General said. "I will show you, Luke, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant."

Luke clenched his fists. "I've spent a year training my forces! When the Princess Andromeda..."

He kept on talking but at the name of his boat, I stopped listening. Voices became murky as I was hit by a sudden flashback that made me kneel forcibly onto the floor. The flashback wasn't as intense as it used to be, back when I had just left Tartarus, but was still jarring. That ship alone had given me so much terror and fear when I was young, playing a big part in replaying my trauma built up in the war as I was forced to relive such moments over and over while being tortured to death in Tartarus just as many times. By the time I managed to recover, the whole kitten fiasco was over, the glimpse of the guard running out with the skeleton cats, making me smile as I remembered Small Bob.

"You!" The General roared. "Get me the right teeth! Now!"

The new guard ran off to carry out his orders.

"Imbeciles," muttered Atlas.

"This is why I don't use mortals," Luke said. "They are unreliable."

"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," Atlas said. "I love them."

The moment the guard came back with the teeth, Atlas jumped down from the balcony, landing on the marble floor with a deafening boom, cracking the floor underneath his leather shoes. Though I had seen him before, Atlas was no less impressive than the last I'd seen him in my world. He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit like the guys on Wall Street wear, but you'd never mistake this dude for a broker. He had a brutal face that looked like it could easily smash through a wall, huge chunky shoulders that shadowed even the biggest American football players', coupled with hands that looked strong enough to snap a flagpole if not a human spine clean in half. His eyes were stony, his gaze hard, fierce and terrifying all at once. This man was born a general the moment he stepped onto the planet, and there was no question about it. He didn't need a uniform, he was a commander the moment his genes began to come together.

He rubbed his sore neck, a symptom of his eternal punishment, and straightened up, approaching the guard with the newly brought teeth. Atlas held up one of the teeth and grinned, his smile colder than Khione's breath.

"Dinosaur teeth – ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely." Atlas planted twenty massive teeth into the ground, before sprinkling the soil with the blood from the can.

"No way..." Annabeth muttered into the goggles. "He's not doing what I think he is...!"

The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping the air.

Atlas looked up at the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"

"Yessssss, lord." one of the snake ladies said. She took out a sash of ripped silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore.

It was at that moment that I realized that they must've sliced a piece off of Artemis' uniform, because all the Hunters were at Camp Half Blood, and there was no way a spy could've gotten hold of the Hunter's material across the country in less than a day.

"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue their owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. There were 20 of them, exactly the number that the General had planted. They were nothing like the cheesy depictions and cliparts of skeletons you find on Google Images. These were growing flesh as I watched, turning into men, men with dull gray skin, yellow eyes that glowed with no pupils or irises, and modern combat fatigues, gray muscle shirts, camo pants, and combat boots. Like all Spartoi, they looked human, but on close observation, you could see their skeletons underneath their smoky gray skin, their flesh translucent so that you could see each ridge of their bones.

Expressionless, extremely dangerous killers and hunters. Invincible to practically everything but two metals, and absolute monsters. These guys worked more efficiently than any murderer, spy, CIA agent, terrorist, or individual trained to follow a target and kill. I lost my right leg to an army of Spartoi on a mission once, the prosthetic looking exactly like a normal leg thanks to Leo's flawless invention skills and a bit of Hecate's magic. In fact, I had forgotten about my leg for 3 years now, only upon seeing the Spartoi slightly igniting that memory, making me self-consciously rub my right thigh where the leg was ripped off.

The snake lady released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoe and the others until they were extinct.

Annabeth moved before I could, dashing swiftly from her hiding spot and snatching the scarf straight out of the air, turning the cloth invisible.

SHIT, I thought. I couldn't have told her off for it though, because I had done the same before.

"What's this?!" bellowed the General.

Annabeth landed at the feet of one of Spartoi, making it hiss and reach out, snagging and ripping the sleeve off her shirt.

"An intruder!" Atlas growled. "One cloaked in darkness! Seal the doors!"

"It's Annabeth Chase!" Luke yelled. "It has to be."

Annabeth sprinted for the exit, slipping through the gap before the door shut. I vapor traveled outside and snatched Annabeth up, surprising her a bit. With the two of us both invisible, we flew out of the Museum and towards the Air and Space one. I fingered the twin daggers on my belt, named Blaze and Shade. A fight was coming. And I would need them to win.

§§§§§

We tore through the Mall and burst into the Air and Space Museum, flying through the admissions area. The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids, probably doing one of those holiday school trips.

We flew into Thalia and the others, landing next to them before Annabeth and I deactivated our invisibility, startling the four of them as we appeared out of nowhere. Zoe's bow was aimed at my chest, before she realized who I was.

"Riptide!" Zoe said, sighing in relief. "What did thou find?"

"The General is here," I said bluntly. "He's got Spartoi, who have Annabeth's scent. We're in big trouble soon."

Zoe's face tightened. "Anything else?"

"We have a kitty problem to deal with," I said. "Any minute now..."

At that very moment, a monstrous roar almost ripped my ears off. I grabbed Annabeth by the shoulder and turned her towards me. "Annie, you good with a knife?"

The blonde surprisingly didn't tell me off for calling her that. "Yah." She said breathlessly, the exhilaration of flying invisibly having not escaped her yet.

I handed her Shade. "Use this instead of your bronze one. It'll be much more effective against that thing."

Annabeth turned the knife in her hand, which looked like a normal steel blade. "You sure this is better?"

I nodded firmly. "I can't tell you exactly what it's made of, but it'll hurt monsters a lot more than you think. Think you can handle it?"

"You bet." Annabeth replied. "Though, exactly what are we fighting?"

I looked over the balcony and Annabeth followed my gaze, her face hardening as she saw the monster beneath.

"The Nemean Lion," I laughed humorlessly, "A 5 ton killer kitty cat with silver claws and indestructible skin."

"You said this knife would work?" Annabeth palmed Shade, before jumping down from the balcony and navigating her way down to the floor where she joined Thalia and the others attacking the lion. The moment she left, I leapt off the edge too, vapor traveling to the gift shop.

See, the funny thing about Tiber metal is that it attacks just like a normal knife in terms of damage. It can damage both mortal and immortals, like Luke's sword Backbiter. This thing that makes it better than Imperial Gold, mortal steel, and celestial bronze though, is that Tiber metal directly attacks the soul of an opponent. Doesn't matter if you're mortal, immortal, a monster, or god, and just recently found, a titan. The longer you touch it or get exposed to it, the easier you are to beat. The metal saps your inner physical and mental strength, and makes up most if not all of the containment chambers and traps and weapons in the future. Indestructible, long lasting, and easy to create if you have the right blacksmiths and materials, Tiber metal is the ultimate weapon. Demigods have higher resistance to the Tiber effects, especially if they are trained to resist the exposure effects over time. Thought Annabeth didn't seem like she was doing much external damage, she was seriously sapping that beast's healthbar and concentration with each slash. The lion would only get rasher and rasher with its attacks, making it prone to mistakes that would cost it its life.

The store lady of the gift shop was cowering behind the counter as I charged in. Honestly, I wouldn't blame her. The Nemean Lion was fucking terrifying, and I had almost pissed my pants back then when I fought it. I slapped two hundred dollar bills on the counter and took off with 12 different space food flavors, 12 equally disgusting dehydrated meals that would serve as excellent ammunition.

I strapped the bundle of nasty snacks to my belt and whipped out Blaze, spinning the knife in my left hand. I whizzed past Zoe and Bianca, sticking one foot out to push myself up above the lion, before delivering an extremely complicated series of knife slashes that left a clear visible artwork of lines all across the lion's back. I flipped forwards and landed behind the beast, which roared in pain as its insides began resembling the feeling of being microwaved. It snarled and turned towards me, its eyes alight with hate, ignoring the others and swatting Thalia and Atalanta aside.

"Per-! Riptide!" Atalanta screamed as the lion charged me.

I only smirked and charged at the lion as well, rearing back and punching it in the face. It roared in more surprise than pain this time, shocked that a puny human like myself had actually had the gall to punch its face. It roared, its jaws wide open like it was going to bite my head clean off.

"Fuck yah," I laughed manically. "Snack time, buddy!" I chucked in two flavors of freeze-dried dehydrated de-oxygenated ice cream straight into the lion's maw, to which it couldn't help but close its jaw down onto.

The lion's eyes bugged. First, I had subjected it to internal soul torture, and now I was forcing it to swallow the most disgusting food on the planet. In some aspects, I felt terrible, but also, it was trying to kill me and my friends, so I didn't feel too bad.

It gagged, allowing me to launch the rest of the food bundle inside, making the lion writhe in agony.

"Yo, night princess!" I yelled. "Could you and Bianca please honor this guy with a volley of arrows?"

Honor they did, shooting a rapid fire onslaught of silver arrows that pierced the lion's vulnerable mouth, making it thrash, stumble and fall. The lion twitched for a moment then lay still.

Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were flocking to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on. Which I guess made sense, since Thalia did call down like five or six lightning bolts inside a flipping building.

Annabeth knelt at Thalia's side to help her up. She seemed okay, just a little dazed. Annabeth tossed Shade back at me, her gaze a bit disappointed.

"I thought you said it would work," Annabeth said. "But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't cut the lion at all."

I chuckled. "Annie, this metal attacks the soul of the opponent, not their physical outlook or form. You couldn't see it, but you were draining the beast's focus and energy."

"Really?!" Annabeth stared at the knife she threw back at me with newfound respect. "Are you being sarcastic again?"

"I swear on the River Styx that it's true," I said, seeing no point in lying. That's what Tiber metal could do anyways, so no harm in swearing the oath.

Zoe and Bianca dropped from their shooting positions on the balcony and landed next to us.

Zoe eyed me curiously. "That was... an interesting strategy."

"Bet you've never seen those hunting strats in your 2000 years hunting," I smirked, making the huntress smile softly.

"I have not," Zoe replied. "Very ingenious of thee."

"Thank you mi'lady." I bowed, making her blush.

"Anyways," Annabeth interrupted, her face looking like her brain just short-circuited. "What do we do with that?" She pointed to the Nemean Lion's fur coat, which was all that was left behind of the beast.

I picked it up, watching it shrink into a cute glittering hunting jacket.

"Take it." Zoe told me.

I shook my head. "Look princess, I already got an Iron Man Mark 50 suit alright? Plus, you got the final kill, so it is rightly yours."

Zoe put her hand up like she was trying to push me away but didn't do much as I draped it around her, to which she then silently agreed to take the coat, slipping her arms through the armholes of the jacket.

"Cute." I chuckled, making the huntress glare at me. "Now that that's figured out, we should get out of here. Those skeletons are coming, and I don't think they'll be stopping anytime soon." I pointed to the museum doorway, and among the smoke and burning wreckage, the silhouettes of the spooky scary skeletons were visible, marching towards us with the same precision as a trained military soldier.

"They'll be hunting us from start to finish." Thalia said worriedly. "Like Riptide said, we'd better get moving, or we're dead."

We quickly made our way towards the back of the room, dodging between security to hide at least our visibility from the Spartoi. The moment we left the museum building, we headed towards the parking lot only to be stopped by an approaching helicopter.

"Okay, we can't use the van," Annabeth concluded. "What now?"

"Now we search for a different set of travel," I said. "But let's keep moving on our feet until we find one."

We navigated through the DC traffic as efficient as possible, but the chopper in the sky was making far more progress than we were. Thalia even closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

I laughed when nothing happened. "Looks like you ran out of your daily dose of lightning bolts. Honestly, have you ever asked Big Daddy Zeus whether or not you could increase that limit?"

"Big...Daddy Zeus?" Atalanta coughed, her face twisted in slight disgust. "Riptide, why do you say the things you say?"

"I'm bored." I deadpanned. "If it were me personally, I would take down that chopper right now. But that would lose the point of us running, soo..."

I was about to get bitch slapped right then by everyone before Bianca suddenly shouted out. "There! That parking lot!"

"We'll be trapped." Zoe said, settling for punching my shoulder instead.

"Stop punching me!

"Trust me," Bianca said over my whines.

We shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. We followed Bianca down some steps.

"Subway entrance," Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

We bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind us for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later we were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from DC. As our train came above ground, we could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after us.

Annabeth let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of a subway."

Bianca looked pleased. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in DC."

Annabeth frowned. "New? But that station looked really old."

"I guess," Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway."

Thalia sat forward. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?"

Bianca nodded.

Everyone stopped to ponder in confusion. Really, it was a baffling thing not knowing that Nico and Bianca had gotten stuck in the Lotus Casino for 70 years in order for Hades to hide them from Zeus without bringing them to the Underworld.

"Bianca," Zoe said. "How long ago..." Her voice faltered. The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.

"We need to change trains," Atalanta said. "Next stations."

Over the next half hour, all we though about was getting away safely. We changed trains twice. I had a semblance of an idea of where we were going, mostly because well... you know.

When we finally got off the train we found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothin but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder her. My cyber suit activated its Greek fire heating system, making the tubes decorating the various joints of my suit fill with glowing green liquid that fizzled and popped. I looked like the Arkham Knight, if his armor was black, silver and green. I also opened the shoulder vents, which wafted the warm air out around me, creating a small bubble of warm air around the surface of my body. Atalanta and Annabeth noticed this immediately and moved to stand or run closer to me, trying to sap the heat.

We wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.

A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. We must've hooked pretty pathetic, because he gave us a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!"

I smirked and shook my head. "Quite sunny over here ain't it?" I joked, the homeless guy looking up at me in momentary surprise. I winked. "I feel the need for a haiku–"

Thalia pointed a finger gun my direction. "Riptide, don't even think about it."

I held my hands up in surrender, side-eyeing the homeless guy, aka Apollo in disguise. His grin seemed to get bigger as he caught my subtle gaze.

"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca said. "Chiron–"

"No," Zoe cut her off. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

It was a really depressing situation in the grand scheme of things. We were stuck in a rail yard with no ride, with two deities in chains, and followed by a bunch of relentless death skeletons.

"You know," the homeless man said. "You're never completely without friends." His face was grimy and his beard was tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir." Annabeth said. "You know of any?"

He pointed with one greasy hand.

A freight train, gleaming and free of snow, sat on the far side of the tracks. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said Sun West Line. I laughed. How did I not realize it last time?

"That's... convenient." Thalia said. "Thanks, uh..."

We turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him.

§§§§§

An hour later, we were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, as everyone got to choose their own luxury car. Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Annabeth and Atalanta were relaxing in the fine interior of a Lamborghini. Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the altrock stations from DC.

I didn't bother joining her this time, knowing quite enough about her mother, her past, and her reason for hating the Hunters. I sighed. This quest was maybe the most disturbing of all my quests before the Titan War, filled with regret and pain and death that I relived over and over again in Tartarus. Bianca's death, Zoe's death, Luke falling off the cliff and surviving, holding up the sky by myself, nearly dying several times, really, just a typical day in demigod history. Instead, I found myself decked out in a massive silver Suburban in the back lower section of the cart, taking advantage of the large interior to store my various doodads and weapons that I could finally take off of myself. The suit was far from heavy, its just that I enjoy having it off as much as I do on.

I exhaled, closing my eyes to meditate as I sorted through the thoughts that rampaged through my mind. Humor and sarcasm helps control them, but in times of silence, they come back with the power of a hurricane, buffeting my bravado and attempting to rip my mental barriers to smithereens. Each demigod of the 7 have this problem, but some of us dealt with it better than others. As far as I was aware of before the alternate universe jump, Annabeth, Jason, and I were the only ones who suffered extremely painful memory attacks.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even realized that a visitor had joined me, strumming a banjo softly in the shotgun seat.

"What's in your head, haiku bro?" Apollo asked, still dressed up as the homeless man from the rail yard.

"Apollo." I nodded respectfully. "Truthfully, a lot of crap."

"I suppose, coming from the future of an alternate reality is tough ain't it?" The god said.

I nodded again, not surprised whatsoever by Apollo's knowledge of my origins. "I dunno why I'm here, or why I was sent back to this exact moment. Why the third quest in particular?"

"I see all, and know all, usually," Apollo said. "But even I don't have an answer to your plight."

I sighed. "This quest sucked from beginning to end. And as we get closer to the end, I feel worse and worse."

The god stopped strumming and turned around, his face serious. "I'm sure you know already, but Artemis is clouded from my sight. I don't know what's going on, or if she's alright or not."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "I know you're nervous Lord Apollo. I also know how much you care about Artemis, despite the fact she acts like you're another piece of the scum of the earth. And I will save her, just like I did in my world. But she's strong, like always. And there's really not much else we can do but stay strong too."

Apollo went silent for a moment, as if he was sponging up my words of wisdom. "My Oracle isn't showing me what's up. You know who to seek for answers right?"

"Yep." I said. "Nereus, the old man who points a middle finger at me every time I ride past the coast of California. All because of that one incident."

"What did you do to him?" Apollo chuckled.

"Zoe forced me to dress up and smell like a hobo and I then tackled the man into the sea in order to restrain him," I deadpanned, making Apollo burst into giggles.

"I need a clip of that," He said. "Must have been hilarious."

"It's funny when I look back at it," I shuddered. "But it's not happening again so..."

"Darn."

The god sighed. "Well, that's really all I got. I've got to run, got you know, stuff to do. I dunno if I can help you guys much more than this."

I clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You've done plenty. Let us handle the rest. I'll personally buy you a drink after this is all over."

"Swear it?" Apollo asked cheekily.

"Sure sure," I grinned. "Pinky swear."

"I'll take my leave now." Apollo said, flashing the banjo away. "Get some sleep. The ride's gonna be long."

I didn't protest and just smiled, and the moment the god vanished, my eyes shut, pitching me into darkness.

The nighttime sky in my dream was all too familiar. A million stars blazed above, the tall grass and scent of a thousand different flowers enveloping me as I ran through the grass with a girl pulling my hand. I couldn't sigh in annoyance, since I was someone else in my dream.

I wore an old-fashioned Greek tunic and laced leather sandals, an outfit I would never pull on in my actual life. The Nemean Lion's skin was wrapped around my back like a cape. Goddamn, I thought in my head. Why is the dream showing me this?

"Hurry!" The girl said. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but the fear in her voice was clear, as was her identity. "He will find us!"

"I'm not afraid," I said in Hercules' voice, though my mind spat at the words.

"You should be," the girl cried.

I watched the memory play out, becoming more and more furthermore disgusted knowing that Hercules abused Zoe's kindness and courage just for the sake of the moment, before leaving her heartbroken and cast out by her own family afterwards. During the part where Zoe transformed a hairpin into Riptide using a part of her immortal essence, the actual blade suddenly felt cold next to my thigh, despite me being asleep. I thought about the words of the prophecy as the dream faded away and I slowly woke up.

"Must occur a sea blade's return," I mumbled. "The only sea blade we have is Riptide. That wasn't part of the original prophecy from before..."

I rolled to the side and bumped into something, which moved making me look up. When I saw who it was, I shot up like a rocket and nailed the ceiling of the car.

"Z-Zoe!" I chuckled. "What are you doing here?"

The huntress looked to the side. "I-I came to talk to thee."

I sat up and moved to the side, brushing off the seat to allow Zoe more room. "Thanks."

"No problem," I said. "You sure it's a good idea, talking right now?"

Zoe pointed outside the car. "Everyone is asleep. Plus, this car you chose blocks off the main view."

I nodded. "What is it it that you want to talk about?"

"What..." She paused for a moment, as if she were rethinking her question. "What were thou dreaming about?"

I blinked. "Umm..." I looked up and saw her cheeks pink slightly, and wondered what made her ask such a thing.

"I heard thou whispering my name," Zoe stared at me defiantly. "I thought, for a moment, that maybe thou were–"

I shook my head frantically. "No, no, you know I'm not like that. I would never..."

"Dream about me lustfully?" She asked.

I sighed. "I did dream about you. But it was a rather old memory I'd rather not have seen again."

Zoe waited for me to continue, her hands clasped in front of her.

"You and Hercules," I said, seeing her hands tense. "Hey, I know how much you hate that guy okay? You're not the only one."

Zoe turned away, silent.

I mentally berated myself for what I was about to do, but decided that it needed to be done. I scooted over and enveloped the huntress into a hug, wrapping my arms around her.

She didn't move, nor did she push me away. Instead, she whispered, "Why?"

I leaned backwards but was stopped by her hand. "Why what?"

"Thou know my past," Zoe said. "In fact, thou know everything about me. Thou are probably my most dangerous enemy. And thou are male. So why don't I hate thee, like I do him?"

I leaned back and exhaled. "You know, you were possibly the hardest person I've ever had to work with in my life. Actually, that's a lie. There's another asshole that could take that spot pretty well, but he got burnt up by a meteor." I turned serious again. "But, in doing so, I learned how to earn a trust of a person who despised me simply because of my gender, and not anything else I had ever done."

"The main thing I have against you Hunters is your arrogance and fierce belief that all guys are absolute assholes. And in some ways, you're right," I said. "We can be real jerks if we want to. But the thing is, life teaches you how to respect someone, and it's something you get to learn as you grow. However, a lot of the Hunters are younger than that age," I said. "Including you. You're what? 13? What do you know about the growth of a person who isn't born as Zeus' kid?"

"Of course, you don't know anything." I said. "Cause you were hurt by the single man you placed your trust in entirely, then became an immortal huntress afterwards. And fighting by Artemis' side as her lieutenant, you wouldn't have ever seen how normal boys grow into men."

I stared at Zoe. "Do you really think that love is worthless? That all men are the scum of the earth? That the male gender is as useless and disgusting as you say they are?"

"There are very few...like thee." Zoe managed.

"Because you've only met very few." I said. "Because anytime you see a male, mortal, half mortal or immortal, you assume the worst."

Silence.

"Why don't I hate thee?" Zoe asked again. "Why can't I hate thee?"

"I showed your alternate self what a warrior can prove, what a friend could prove, what a fellow quest member could prove, despite being male. I got chewed out by Dionysus who almost threw me off a building by breaking the rules to follow the quest, even though you made it quite clear how traveling with a boy was preposterous, even making the excuse that my friend Grover could go, because he counted as a satyr, not a boy." I said. "In no circumstance during that time did I make a single move on you, partially because I had a crush on someone else, and well, you were terrifying as hell."

"Then why... why do males flirt with us so much?" Zoe asked, the question tumbling out as if she thought it would be awkward.

I laughed, making her huff. "I'm going to say this without any lust, so please don't castrate me."

Zoe managed a small smirk. "No promises."

"You're all freaking goddesses," I said, pretending to miss the blush on Zoe's face. "And I'm not kidding. You may be 2000 years old, but your physical age and appearance is one of a teen. It's normal for guys to come up to a pretty girl and flirt and whatnot. You guys just treat it as an automatic castration request."

"It's not our fault that all–!"

I silenced her by placing a single index finger on her lips. "There you go again. The use of the word ALL. You're so blinded by your hate for Hercules, and encouraged by Artemis' and your sisters' thoughts, you instantly default to the word ALL the moment you are told to describe males."

Zoe shut up, still as I kept my finger on her mouth.

"You don't hate me," I said. "Because I've shown you I can be a proper human male without being an absolute dick. I've shown you my true colors, especially since I wield this." I drew Riptide, the humming of my familiar sword so similar to Zoe's aura, it was almost unreal.

"You know, I've never gotten the chance to discuss this possibility with you," I said, softly grabbing her hand, to which she flinched at the touch.

"Wha-what are thou doing?"

"Shhh, nothing bad." I said, grabbing her hand again and placing it on the handle.

Blue light flared from the sword, enveloping both Zoe and I. She let go, though her arms retained a light bluish glow.

"The sword was made from a part of your immortal essence," I said, holding the blade up. "So I figured that at close contact, you would have some sort of connection with it."

"Why though, did thou do that?" Zoe asked, her face tight.

"The prophecy," I said. "I was pondering on it before I slept, thinking about the line that says to return the sea blade. And after that dream, I remembered that the blade originally belonged to you."

Zoe shook her head. "It's... no..."

I sighed and capped the sword. "I know. Chiron told me back then that you had one main reason of me not wanting to go on the quest, and it was because of Riptide's tragic history. I learned of its origins in that very same dream, and well... since then, I've wielded the blade in your honor, properly this time."

Zoe was silent again. Then she spoke. "I'm glad that thou is a part of this quest."

I chuckled softly. "Never thought I'd hear those words out of your mouth."

"Thou said I was going to die in the end." Zoe said bluntly, her breath quick. "And that thou would fight fate to make sure it didn't happen. Why go so far, I ask again. If fate decrees it, then it's our duty to follow it."

I frowned. "I've personally had it with Fate fucking up my friends' and my own life. My personal life, my love life, my daily life, everything is controlled by the strings of fate and god. And it sort of makes me understand why some demigods went rogue to join Luke, to join people like Atlas who want to destroy the gods. They yearn for that freedom that the demigod life ties them away from. So they join the ones who want to destroy the traditional system."

"I was sent here for a reason." I stated firmly. "I don't know why, but if I was given a second chance to do things over, then I will take it, damn the consequences. Me being here is already a break in this reality. In fact, I'll say it right now."

"I swear on the River Styx that when the time comes, I will save your life, Zoe Nightshade." I said, not even blinking when thunder shattered the air.

The huntress was silent. I sighed and scooted away to give her space. That kind of promise to save her life was overwhelming even for me, but it was a choice I had chosen to take. And one that I would take in 100 realities, no matter what.

"Perseus," Zoe murmured, crawling over to me, her hair covering her eyes. "Take it back."

I raised an eyebrow. "Sorry princess, but in case you haven't noticed, oaths on the River Styx are sort of binding."

"Thou don't know me," Zoe whispered, her voice urgent yet accompanied by another tone I couldn't exactly recognize. However, she was getting dangerously close, well, close for a person with her position. "I am nothing but a fellow quest member to thee. Why would thou swear on something so stupid?!" She raised her head, and it was then that I noticed the tear streaks on her face.

I smirked. "Because we're friends Zoe."

"Friends? With a man?" Zoe giggled, a strange sound that accompanied her tears. "In your dreams."

I shrugged. "In one of the billion realities that exist, I'm sure that there's one where you believe me."

"Well you don't have to search for long," Zoe said, closing the distance. "Because that reality is this one."

"Zoe...?"

She leaned towards my ear and whispered. "I like you."

I jolted back in surprise. The blush was visible on my face, so much that I could feel the heat. "Umm... isn't that against the Hunters' policy or something?"

"Thy explanation about us being blinded by our assumption," Zoe began, leaning back from her intimate gesture that clearly left her red as well. "I've decided to trust thee on that and attempt to see thee as a normal individual."

"Well hallelujah." I grinned. "Now we just gotta program the rest of the Hunters...!"

"Have fun with that." Zoe snickered. "They aren't as easy as me."

"You're anything but easy." I shot back. "The fact I managed to change you and Artemis is a major feat in itself."

A knock on the window interrupted us, making Zoe duck into the seat as I laughed. I rolled down the tinted window to find Atalanta giggling outside. "Atti, what the hell do you want?"

"Well, Bianca woke up and found Zoe missing, and so she woke me and Annabeth up to help search and well, I didn't think I would find you cozying up with said huntress in a car like this." Atalanta smiled slyly. "Having fun in there Zoe?"

Zoe blushed as she tunneled deeper into the seats.

I facepalmed. "Atti, as your older and more mature self, get the hell out of here so that Zoe can leave without her face showing up like a tomato...OWWW–DAMMIT ZOE THAT HURT!"

Atalanta blushed. "Oh, I forgot you were a masochist. Carry on, sorry I interrupted!" She dashed away before I could chew her out even further.

"She knows?" Zoe asked, her hands locked in mine as I forced her to stop punching me.

"Yes," I sighed. "I mean, she is me, just younger, a girl, and less mature. So, I had to tell her at some point."

"How did my past self like you then?" Zoe asked. "If you were anything like her and male...ugh." The huntress shuddered.

I coughed. "I wasn't as bad as you thought okay? Look, just to prove I'm not a jerk male like you think I am, I'll take you out for some fun purely as a friend."

"Isn't that what mortals call a date?" Zoe asked suspiciously.

I rammed my head into the car seat top in front of me. "This is exactly my point. You Hunters see every interaction between a male and female as a sign of romance. Look, some people can be friends with the opposite sex okay? You don't just date a girl cause you like her. Plenty of people have friends who are just... well friends. You really think we're still in whatever century you lived in where girls and women had no rights?"

Zoe blushed.

"That's what I thought," I said. "Come on, princess, we're in the 21st century! Women can vote, do jobs that men do all the time, and many of them serve in the military and in political positions. Anyways, I'm just trying to say, stop treating the world like you did back then and start looking at the modern world where things have changed since then. You'll be surprised to see the things that you see."

"I'll... I think I'll enjoy going out with thee." Zoe said, making me blush.

"Now see, you just said you would enjoy dating me," I laughed, making her glare at me. "Gosh, not only do I have to teach you proper English, but also slang and whatnot."

"Ugh, since when did going out mean dating?" Zoe growled. "This stupid language is so confusing."

"More like you never bothered to learn it properly," I said. "Then again, you have been using thy, thou, and thee for 2000 years, so I guess it makes sense why you talk so old-fashionedly."

"Yo, if you guys are done in there, we need to go!" Atalanta's chirpy voice interrupted. "I thought the Hunters couldn't like guys?"

"See what I mean?" I gestured out. "Hey Atti! Shut up and go away!"

"Just saying!" Atalanta called before running away.

Zoe just smiled warmly and put her hand on the door. "I enjoyed this. Perhaps... we can talk again in the forseeable future?"

"Sure, anytime." I said. "I mean, given the rumors that are bound to be circulating in the group soon, I'd say we have plenty of excuses to go talk in private."

Zoe only shook her head in silent laughter before pushing the door open.

"By the way, that jacket looks good on you." I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Zoe stopped, the door an inch from shutting.

"Thanks, Perseus."

A/N:

Nothing much to say, just I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't sit on a pinecone anytime soon!