Diego's mom is my favorite mortal, not that there's much competition. It really wasn't hard to guess how a god fell for her.

[I know you sure understood, Rory… hey, I'm just saying, you have a type. Brook could bench-press you.]

When she walked in she was carrying Alicia with one arm and a briefcase with the other. She was wearing a grey suit and she had her hair back in a bun so like, I thought she did something business-y but I guess that's only kinda right. It made sense why everything in the kitchen was up so high 'cause she was barely shorter than Diego and honestly if we were by the other Washington I would've thought she was maybe an Amazon.

"I hear we have visitors," she said, smiling. "I'm Maya; what are your names?"

I waited a sec to see if anyone else was gonna speak up before introducing all three of us. Alec had decided to join the rest of us by that point and he was being weirdly quiet but I figured maybe he was actually trying to behave himself or whatever. "So, uh, how much do you know about why we're here?" I asked after introductions were finished.

"I know you fought a monster with my son and I'm assuming you're from Camp Half-Blood. I thought this would happen eventually, but I wasn't expecting anyone today; I would've picked up take-out. Speaking of picking things up, mijo, did you get the milk?"

"Uh… let's talk about that while we eat!" Diego suggested, starting to back up towards the kitchen. "I made fried rice, and I don't think these guys have had much food today…"

"Well let's go, then, we can multitask, is there enough? I know we have beans, we can make those too…"

There was no way in Tartarus we were gonna go through all that rice, but I wasn't about to turn her down. We got to do another round of Fun Satyr Facts because Rory ate the bean cans. He took off his fake feet and everything. I guess we did kinda forget to mention the whole "half-goat" thing earlier but everyone took that really well. Alicia asked if she could be a satyr 'cause it sounded cooler than starting school in the fall, and like, she's super right but that's not really how things work.

Anyways, within about five minutes we finally got to eat and I dunno if I was just really hungry or what but the food was so good. Diego got to explain… pretty much the whole afternoon, but he left out the whole gun thing [I still feel really bad about that] and whatever the hell went on between him and Alec.

"Let me make sure I have this right. You ran away from the cyclops because you didn't think you could fight it without your sword, and then you went back to fight it… without your sword," Maya said. "While you left your sister with a stranger."

"It sounds worse when you say it like that," Diego responded. "I was going to take her to her friend's house, go back for my sword, and then fight the cyclops. But then we ran into these guys and there wasn't time for that and I figured it'd be better to fight in a group than to wait until it found me again, and with how the fight went… thank you so much for watching Alicia, Rory, if she'd gone with… I don't even wanna think about it."

"Any time. She's a good kid – you're both good kids. Your mother must be proud."

Maya beamed. "Oh, I am. And mijo, I'm not mad that you decided to help, that was the right thing to do, I just want to make sure you understand that you don't have to fight every monster you see."

"But Mamá," Diego protested, "if I don't fight them they might ki – uh, hurt someone!" I couldn't say he was wrong, but if he didn't want monsters to hurt anyone he'd have to go kill every monster in the world, and even if that was possible, they'd come back. They always come back, and it's not fucking fair.

[Huh? No, I'm good, I know nothing's fair but gods I wish things could be unfair the other way around sometimes.]

"You got hurt fighting a monster today; yes, the injury is healed, but that doesn't change the fact that it happened," she countered. "But we can talk about this later. What brings you all down from New York?"

"How do you know where Camp Half-Blood is?" I asked, 'cause her knowing the name wasn't weird, Alec was literally wearing the t-shirt, but just casually already knowing the state? Had she been there?

"I've been getting pamphlets in the mail. I'm guessing you're not here for recruiting, then."

"Nah, not really, that just kinda happened," Alec replied. It was the first thing he'd said in a while so I jumped a little bit. "Didn't know Camp sent pamphlets."

Maya got up from the table. "I have one from last month on the kitchen counter. They come right before summer starts every year."

"Since when?" Diego wondered. "I've never seen one!"

"When was the last time you looked at the papers on the counter?" He had no reply. "Exactly. They started coming after you got your sword. I think your father put us on a mailing list."

As much as I was actually curious about all that, I decided to give her a real answer to her question from before. "We're down here for a quest, but if Diego wants to come back with us…"

"I do," he confirmed. "But wait a second… if I go, are monsters still gonna come after Alicia? We have the same dad, so…"

Oh, duh. She'd noticed the cyclops, of fucking course she was a demigod. "Probably not," Rory assured him. "Remember when we talked about how satyrs can smell demigods? Brenna's right next to me, I've known she's a demigod for years, but your scent is so strong that I can barely even find hers. I was alone with Alicia for at leasta half hour today and I didn't know she was a demigod until just now."

"Plus, like, she's still a little kid," I added. She extra wasn't paying attention to us but I looked over at her anyways to make sure. "Usually monsters don't notice them until they've been in school for a bit."

"Hey, still-kinda-on-topic question, does that pamphlet say anything about the internet attracting monsters?" Alec chimed in.

"No," Maya answered, "it only mentions cellphones, so I made sure not to let the kids use mine. Is that why this last year was so much worse?"

Diego put his head down and groaned, "Gods, I get it, I'm never touching a computer again." A good call. Way too late, 'cause no monster with a nose would ever mistake him for a mortal, going off of what Rory said, but at least he wouldn't be sending off signal flares to them.

"And neither is your sister. I think we can manage that. Now, you mentioned a quest? What do you have to do?"

Yeah, looking back, I definitely have so many questions about how the heck she knew so much demigod stuff already. Maybe she's just really good at guessing? The pamphlets can't be that thorough if they don't even cover something that's been around since the nineties, right?

Anyways, we told her what our task was and what the plan was so far and she actually thought Alec's idea was good… in theory. "It's important to know what you'll be walking into, especially since an ambush is your best option and you have a time crunch. But it's really not a good idea to stay out alone. You need to rest before something like this. Tired people make mistakes."

"Yeah, okay," Alec grumbled, like he wasn't already tired from everything. "So where's a good place to start, then?"

"Look for a dead end, preferably away from residential areas. There's a lot of narrow side streets in the business district south of town; one of those could work."

"I see, and then we all go in the morning to wherever he finds and hopefully the bull is drawn to the scent," Rory said. "But as far as actually trapping it, we don't have anything to help with that."

All I'd thought about was "find the thing", "catch the thing" was above and beyond what I'd been told to do, really, but I remembered there was a weird thing in the bag from Dad so there was a chance that we actually could. "I'll be right back guys, gotta check something quick," I called as I sprinted to the front entryway where we'd left it (so like, really not that far).

I found what I was looking for almost immediately, because I didn't pack a lot of metal discs, weirdly enough. I presented the gold frisbee-shaped thing to the others when I got back. "I have no idea what this does, but it's from Dad so it's probably useful somehow! Let's see!"

"Not in the house!" Rory warned. Maya smiled like she'd been about to say that and he'd beaten her to it.

"All right, we'll go outside then!" Alec declared, obviously excited about our mystery object. Or maybe he just wanted to get going already.

"Outside is good," Maya agreed. "Go ahead, I'll stay in here with Alicia."

"I can't go outside?"

Well shit, maybe she'd been paying more attention than I'd thought. Good thing we hadn't talked about anything like, super bad. I guess if Maya hadn't wanted her to hear stuff she would've told her to go play in the other room or something, though, so it was fine.

"We'll play outside after, okay?" Diego promised her. "This won't take long."

She seemed to be okay with that, so me and the guys went outside to see if we could work the frisbee thing. "I don't see any buttons," I said.

"Throw it," Alec and Diego suggested at the same time. They turned and looked at each other.

"To me, I guess," Alec shrugged.

As I threw the "frisbee", it expanded into a golden net, large enough to cover the whole swing set. "Oh thank you, Dad, this is just what we needed!"

Somehow Alec had managed not to get tangled in the net, so he started gathering it up since he was closest. "I hope we didn't just –"

The net shrank back into a frisbee. "Cool," Diego said. "Your dad gave you that? Do you, uh, know who he is?"

"Yeah, he's Hermes. I met him for the first time… yesterday." Wow, it'd really only been one day. Crazy. "Hey, Alec?"

"Right, on my way, I'll see you guys in a couple hours," he replied. Not what I was gonna ask him, but okay. "Just need to go back for my crossbow."

"Dude, you broke the string," Diego pointed out. That was a great thing for neither of them to mention to me earlier. But it would explain why Alec hadn't even tried to fight. "Do you know how to use a sword?"

"Yeah, but I have a back-up string so I'll be fine. Thanks for the offer, though."

Oh, so now they could get along? I'll never understand boys. "Yeah, man, be careful out there."

"Sure thing, man. Adios." Alec was in and out of the house in less than a minute; he yelled back another goodbye as he ran down the street.

"Okay, bye," I said like I totally wasn't worried at all. [I should've been more worried, I forgot about… no, later, that's later.]

"I still think someone should've gone with him," Rory grumbled.

"I think he just wants to be alone for a bit. The cyclops was… uh… let's just say… a lot happened…" I didn't wanna talk about it [And I'm not gonna do it again, we just went over that].

Diego picked up where I left off. "We did almost die, and he was with the cyclops for a while before we got there… and that's probably my fault."

Rory gave us one of those Looks, like, I-know-you'll-tell-me-eventually-but-right-now-I'm-worried; that kind of look. "It's no one's fault. Heck, Alec's mom could've been there for all we knew at the beginning."

"Is she… human?" Diego asked.

Through all the actual hours we'd spent together our godly parents hadn't come up at all? Well, I guess, like, we talked about my dad kinda but that'd been just a couple minutes earlier. "No, she's the goddess of the dawn. Eos."

"Huh, okay. I thought all the cabins were named after the Olympians, though?"

So they'd talked about those already, and still Alec hadn't mentioned his mom? Maybe I should've tried to help more with Demigod 101. "They are, but the Hermes Cabin doesn't just take unclaimed campers; children of minor gods stay there too."

"And there's a lot of minor gods," I added. "They don't have cabins."

Diego thought that over. "Maybe they should. It doesn't really seem fair to them or the Hermes kids."

"Thank you," I responded. "Like, if the issue's space, they could just make a 'minor gods' cabin and call it a day; there's not that many people." Anymore, since Luke fucking left with half the damn cabin. "Not a lot of minor gods' kids stay at Camp."

"Because they don't tend to attract many monsters," Rory explained. "Most of them lead normal lives, maybe spend a couple summers at Camp… some of them never even learn about it."

"That sounds nice," Diego said.

It actually kinda did, but even if everything was good with my mom I'd still be a year-rounder. I've been attacked by too many monsters and I'd rather be paranoid about my half siblings' pranks than worrying about figuring out which teachers are mortal.

"Should we go inside?" I asked.

"Probably," Diego agreed. "I'll need some help convincing my mom to let me come with tomorrow."

I should've expected that. "You don't have to if you don't want to," Rory said. "We can stop back here for you after we finish."

"No, I want to go. Maybe that way, when I get to Camp…"

He didn't have to finish the sentence; I knew where he was going with that. He wanted to maybe impress his dad and get claimed. I could relate.

I got claimed… kinda fast, really, it was only a couple of months, but those months sucked. I just, like, I dunno, I wanted one parent to want me. I didn't care so much about not meeting him, I just wanted him to know I existed and like, be not-ashamed of me enough to actually acknowledge me.

[Yeah, I'll take a hug, thanks.]

[But everything worked out, apparently getting Chiron to leave me unsupervised in the Big House for five minutes was impressive enough. See, Luke dared me to steal some Diet Coke from Mr. D. and holy shit I think I figured out what the oracle meant about already having a prophecy! Oh gods, I can't deal with this right now.]

[Basically, there was some paper on the desk with Ancient Greek writing and I yoinked it 'cause it was there and it's still in my fucking trunk and I'll go find it after whatever the fuck this is that we're doing right now. Speaking of, where was I?]

I was totally fine with letting Diego come with us. He'd said I saved his life earlier but he totally saved ours too and I really hope I remembered to thank him. I think I did, at some point. Plus, it'd be so much easier to get the bull to go after us if he was there.

"Well, if you're sure, then let's go talk to your mom," Rory said. "We can strategize when Alec gets back."

"Trust me, it'll take at least until he's back to convince her," Diego muttered.

He was right. Me and him cut out for like a half hour to go play with Alicia and when we got back Rory was still trying. Turns out, Maya wasn't super happy about us going off and running into danger either, but she knew we had to. I, uh, think she thought the whole "quest" thing was more official than it actually was; that was probably my bad.

[So what'd… oh, she asked why children had to do this kind of stuff? Yeesh, that's rough. Did you tell her Camp doesn't have adults? …Oh gods, okay, thanks for not explaining that while we were in the room.]

"C'mon, please? It's not like we'll have to fight anything… probably…" Diego was so, so wrong about that, but… ugh, we'll get there later.

"You're really not helping your case."

"Uh… well, you have tomorrow off so you don't need me to watch Alicita and Tía Carmen's only four houses down if you do need someone…"

"No."

"What if I just watch?"

I decided to try and help him out. "Yeah, that could work, and we don't exactly know our way around…"

"Yeah! I know where things are, and if it does turn into a fight – which it shouldn't – I'll be able to help!"

…damn, I guess he did just keep tempting the Fates there, huh. But yeah, it took a full hour to talk Maya into letting him come, and he was gonna have to call her if anything went wrong, and she insisted on driving us to wherever Alec found. She also insisted on us staying the night, which we hadn't really thought about but like, that was super awesome of her.

When Alec eventually got back, he looked like he'd been running. "So… y'know how I said I had a back-up string? I kinda forgot to wax it, so it snapped." His eyes went wide. "I didn't need it though, everything's good, I found a place and I only ran to get back faster!"

"Sure you did," I commented. "Glad you made it, though. How lost did you get?"

"Not very."

Right. I had a better sense of direction than he did, and I can't fucking read maps. And when he actually told us where the place was, it was only a twenty minute walk away according to Diego. Alec was gone a lot longer than forty minutes, but that made sense, he didn't exactly take the direct route.

So once we figured out all the important stuff like when to leave in the morning, Alec pulled me aside. "Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Everyone else had moved onto figuring out sleeping arrangements, which neither of us could really help with anyways, so I said, "Sure. Sixty, fifty-nine…"

"Cute. Congrats on figuring out how long a minute is."

That actually kinda was an accomplishment; up until May I thought it was a hundred seconds. "Yeah, thanks; what's up?"

"I heard what you guys did while I was gone. Are you sure it's a good idea to bring him with? We've already got three people."

"Look, I know you guys had a fight or whatever, but –" I quick looked to see if the others were listening. " – we don't know this area. He does. Like, I know Rory could track the bull down easy but we don't know what time it's gonna pass through either, and playing the songs takes time."

"Okay, see, that makes sense. And we didn't really fight, I was just kinda… uh… there was a lot going on, and it's a lot easier to play nice when I'm not scared out of my fucking mind."

"Fair enough. Uh, sorry about that."

He rolled his eyes. "How the hell were you supposed to warn me about anything when the fucker was right there? Anyways, you know what we're doing tomorrow is dangerous, right?"

"I know, yeah."

"Does he?"

"Gods, yeah." That was technically true; Diego knew it was dangerous but I don't think he cared.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure. 'Cause bringing him to Camp is one thing, but if something happens tomorrow, I'm out, and I shouldn't have to tell you why."

Yeah, that was fair; one of the reasons Alec switched to being a year-rounder was he had to tell his stepmom about his stepsister dying during their end-of-the-year field trip so no shit he didn't wanna do something like that again.

"Nothing's gonna happen," I said like an idiot. "So how're we gonna send an IM?" I added to get off that topic.

"Hopefully we won't have to… oh, I found a prism, so we're set there. We'll be able to contact anyone we need to."

Something about the way he said that didn't feel right. "Hopefully we won't have to…?"

"Fight. We suck at close-range combat."

"You're telling me," I grumbled.

"It would've worked better if you'd gone back for the sword. Your knife kinda sucks."

This was his idea of… fuck, I don't even know, trying to make me feel better? "You would've died."

"Eh, I could've stalled longer, and you're the one who almost died."

"Not that anyone looked into that…"

"We figured it out eventually. But I guess thanks for not blaming me for that whole situation."

"I didn't know you'd met your mom," I admitted. "That threw me off. If it'd been my dad I probably would've run off too."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "You thought I meant like, Mom, the goddess? Nah, I heard Louise – y'know, my stepmom, and I guess I just wasn't thinking. I miss her. But anyways," he continued a bit louder, "your knife was like, the worst possible choice for that."

Gods forbid he show his actual feelings for more than five seconds. [Yeah, yeah, I know I'm a hypocrite, but I'm talking about them now… 'cause I have to…] "No kidding. By the way, you're welcome."

"Okay, sure, you can have a non-sarcastic thank you. Don't get used to it," he replied.

"Speaking of, we gotta remember to thank them before we leave," I said.

"You sound like Rory. But I guess you're right; they really didn't have to help us."

"Yeah," I agreed. Especially after… well, literally all of the things we'd done before getting to the house. "I'm really glad they did, though. Gods, I hope everything goes well tomorrow."

He rolled his eyes. "What happened to 'nothing's gonna happen', huh? And whatever does happen, we had a good run, right?"

"It's been all right," I responded.

"Only all right?"

"Alec, most of our friends betrayed Camp, died, or both." I'd started whispering, 'cause I sure didn't like bringing that up. "You and Rory are the only reason it's been that good."

"Ah. In that case, thanks for tolerating me."

I smirked. "Right back atcha."

"You're actually not that bad… to me, anyways. I think today's the first time you haven't just totally shut out new people."

"Hey, I…" I let that sentence die, 'cause he was right, I hadn't let anyone in at all since Luke fucked everything up. [No, Sean doesn't count, he won't leave the fuck alone even when I'm being a bitch. I think he thinks it's funny or something.]

"So why the change? Do you liiike him?"

"You're so lucky I'm unarmed right now," I muttered. "But I don't know. Maybe I let my guard down 'cause of how we met?"

Alec snorted. "Yeah, right. Must be the other way around, then. That's not gonna go anywhere."

Okay, I don't get crushes, but I'm pretty good at noticing when other people have them so I was pretty sure that wasn't right. "He trusted my incredible judgment, so maybe."

"A mistake, really, but it saved my life so I'll let it slide."

"Well, what would you have done?"

Alec didn't hesitate. "I would've run."

"I thought about that, but friends don't let friends die alone."

"Touching."

"I had to try," I protested. "I'm not losing anyone else. I just… I won't."

"And of course Rory's great in a fight, so there was no chance of that happening at all." [Sorry, it's what he said…]

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, fine, next time I'll just ditch you."

"Good. No sense in all of us dying; learn to cut your losses."

"Maybe we would've won," I said unconvincingly.

"Hate to break it to you, but we only 'won' because you made a friend," he pointed out.

Like I didn't know that? "So you –"

"Y'know," he interrupted, "I probably would've ended up risking it too, I guess. Like you said, friends don't let friends die alone."

"Ah. You'd run if you'd been alone, though, is what I'm getting."

"Yup. I know my limits. I can't take on a cyclops – not if it knows I'm there."

"Oh, and I can?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes so far back I couldn't see the irises. "You literally did, today."

"Not alone."

"If your aim was better you could, though."

I shook my head. "I was too close. It wasn't gonna die in one shot unless I got really lucky, and obviously I didn't."

"Whatever. Let's go, like, pretend we're trying to be useful."

We weren't useful. Everything got figured out without us, and honestly that was probably for the best. The guys took the living room, I was in the guest room, and we tried to get, like, any sleep.

Author's Note: Remember when I said "hopefully I get the next update done on time?" Work hit me like a freight train. But the update's here now! We've got two to three more chapters to go, y'all, and thank you so much for sticking with this fic. Next time: they actually try and accomplish the main objective.