I finally slept that night. Damasen had made a makeshift bed from copious amounts of furs and pelts from monsters I couldn't name. The next morning, we began getting ready. Damasen measured Charlie's feet, which was an amusing sight. I went out with Bob and gathered some bones and herbs that grew around the hut for a few hours. Many of the herbs were poisonous, so it was a long treacherous job. It was high stakes gardening in hell.

By the end of the first day, Damasen had crafted Charlie a pair of Maeonian Drakon pelt shoes. They looked like something you'd expect a caveman to wear. But they were durable and according to Charlie, comfortable. While Charlie and Bob went outside to test his new shoes, Damasen pulled me aside.

"Many years ago, Bob found this while searching for supplies. I think it rightly should go to you," he said as he held something towards me. It was a dagger, but not just any dagger. It was golden with beautiful inscriptions alone the casing. I pulled it slowly and gently from its sheath. It was my mother's, given to her by Luke Castellan. I knew it was. Mom had described it to me in detail. She explained that it was supposed to protect its user, and she told me about the promise Luke made when he gave it to her. The promise he broke.

"How," I couldn't finish the question.

"Like I said, Bob found it near the Cocytus and brought it to me. I've kept it safe here in memory of its owner, your mother."

I shivered, remembering my own experience with the River of Lamentation. "Thank you," I whispered. I was doing everything I could to hold back tears, but a few slipped out anyway. Damasen smiled and gave me a slow nod.

A roar broke through the hut, ruining the moment.

"Drakon," Damasen growled. His demeanor changed towards the monster. I raised my hand to keep him from going after it.

"We've got it this time," I promised. I squeezed my hand around the handle of my mother's dagger and ran towards the door. I grabbed Charlie as I ran by and tugged him out the door.

"Come on!" I shouted. He asked where we were going and I answered, "Fighting the Drakon."

"What?!" Charlie freaked.

"You said you wanted to train!"

"Well I didn't think your first lesson would consist of fighting a fucking dragon!"

"Not a dragon!" I protested. Once outside, we finally saw the creature. Mom was right, it was beautiful. The colors reminded me of the forest at Camp on a sunny day. It was a elegant leaf green with blotches of yellow, almost as if reflecting the non-existent sun. It's massive claws made Charlie squeal and back away. I raised my mom's dagger and dug my back foot into the ground.

"Stay back, but be ready," I warned. Bob had crafted him a sword made of Drakon bones and minotaur teeth (he'd pulled them from my foot.)

Poisonous green smoke beckoned from the beast's throat and I carefully took a step to the side. "Avoid the gas, it's poisonous. But keep in mind, it's flammable as well. Raise your sword, dominant hand on top." I kept my eyes trained on the monster as I instructed. I moved in swift movements to avoid it's gas.

"Ok, got it. I think. Next lesson?"

I smiled, narrowing my eyes. I made sure to make eye-contact with the monster, keeping it focused on me and not Charlie. "Watch me," I said. "And copy my movements. Stay back, don't actually fight it. Just copy what I do."

I ducked beneath the gas and swiped smoothly at its throat. Gas spewed uncontrolled from the cut and the Drakon hissed. I needed fire, but I didn't want to take Charlie from his training. I lead the drakon forward a foot or so and swept my dagger across a rock at precisely the right angle. A spark formed, and it was all I needed. The spark caught on the gas leaking from my enemy's throat and it went up in flames. The flames traveled through the air and into the wound, so a small explosion occurred in its stomach. It wasn't fatal, but it was enough to keep the Drakon from spewing any more gas or roaring. It raised it claws and swiped at me. I avoided the first two blows and intercepted the third. I used my dagger to take the majority of the blow and let it move backwards. Then, I quickly pulled the dagger back and thrust it forward while the drakon's claws were still to the side. The drakon's heart was further down than most monsters, so I dragged the dagger down, tearing the pelt until I reached it's heart. Since I'd already caused an explosion in its vocal cords, the drakon's death was silent.

"Woah," Charlie breathed. "I don't think I've seen you look that confident before."

I smirked. "Let's go inside. I'll teach you the correct fighting positions," I said.

We continued his training in the back of the hut near the sheep. Charlie kept getting distracted and going to pet the sheep. I worked with him the entire day and by that night, the only thing he'd gotten was a correct fighting stance. He may have been a quick study of Greek mechanics but fighting was a whole nother story.

When we finished training, Damasen had soup waiting. Instead of telling stories, he had us update him on the outside world. How things worked, what was new. Charlie spent most of the night talking with Damasen about what a hashtag was. I updated Bob on how Nico was doing, which made him happy. At the end of the night, after we'd all eaten, I told them about the crack somewhere in Tartarus.

"Charlie got the idea that if we followed the monsters, the big ones that would have been alerted about the crack, we can follow them out," I said. Damasen looked to the corner of the hut as if deep in thought. "You and Bob will come with us, right?"

Bob didn't speak. He looked at the ceiling. Damasen stood and paced around the table. "We may attract many more monsters to you, it would be dangerous," Damasen warned.

"And we'd also be stronger. You and Damasen took on Tartarus, you're stronger than we are. Plus, I owe you for saving my parents lives. You've given your sacrifice already, you deserve to live out your life in peace now," I promised.

Damasen smiled and nodded gratefully. "I will come with you," he said.

We looked to Bob, who answered with, "I would like to see the stars."