A/N: I am forcing myself to do this because I desperately want to finish the book I'm reading called The Scorpio Races. Anyone heard of it? I'm completely in love with it. I can't express how much I love it. Gods, I want one of the water horses, I also seriously want to meet Sean because he is the best horse trainer in the world! So I am ranting about this book, because I love it and I have a kindred spirit in Puck Connolly, and I love the horses and the racing and EVERYTHING about it. I – I simply LOVE it. Everyone's been saying it since I started reading the book. So ... just read so I can shut up and read!

Percy: We Get Money From a French Man

It was a bit strange being in (what I figured was) Hunter's house. I mean my whole childhood I had lived in a tiny apartment. It wasn't until my mom sold that 'statue' that we moved to a bigger place. And even more recently, when me, my mom, and Paul moved into an even bigger one. One that actually had a lot of space. Anyway, Hunter's house was huge.

It was mostly gold and white. Which, judging by the way his dad was acting, did not reflect him at all. His dad was almost eccentric. Very high-strung, very excited. The look in his eyes reminded me of May Castellan; Luke's mother. It was like something was right below the surface, ready to snap. It made me nervous. Mrs Castellan had seriously scared me when I was sixteen. I wasn't sure what to expect.

We were ushered into a spacious living room. After we were introduced, Hunter and his dad started talking. I had no idea what they were saying, but since Cora's face looked bored, I figured either it wasn't important or she was an amazing actress. From what I had seen, Cora was not the best actress – she couldn't hide her emotions at all. Which meant they weren't talking about anything important.

Eventually Hunter's dad stopped talking to his son and turned to us. He shook our hands and introduced himself.

"Bonjour! Bonjour! Je m'appelle Pierre Benoit!" he exclaimed. So his name was Pierre . . . I could have laughed as the oddest thought struck me. That is Dionysus' second favourite name to call me. After Peter Johnson. Laughing would have been rude and confused even Annabeth, so I didn't. Turning back to Hunter he said, "Pourquoi sont vous ici?"

"Le papa nous sommes sur une quête," Hunter told him (oh, I officially stopped trying to translate. Cora stopped explaining things because she didn't like me knowing what she and Hunter talked about. I had a weird sister). Hunter's da - err, I mean Pierre's eyes widened in surprise.

"Vraiment? Pour quelle raison? Est tout bien? Pourquoi sont vous ici?" Pierre exclaimed, giving what was supposed to be a clap on the back. But it was a little too forceful. Hunter staggered.

"Uh, longue histoire. Nous sommes venus parce que nous sommes un peu courts sur l'argent . . ." Hunter mumbled quickly.

"Est cela tous? Mais pourquoi sont vous ici?" Pierre questioned. At that, Hunter looked uncomfortably at us. I guess his dad asked about the quest or something . . . but he clearly had no idea what to say. He gave us a pleading look.

Cora coughed to get his attention. Hunter looked at her for a second and she mouthed something to him. He gave her a small nod and turned back to his dad, who hadn't even noticed this exchange.

"Nous allons le nord," Hunter told him. They immediately started having a small conversation. I got bored and lost my attention, so did Annabeth. Cora, she struggled to not look interested. Her attempt at looking bored almost could have made me laugh. She just couldn't help but listen.

Eventually, Hunter turned back to us, a relieved smile on his face. He told us something hurriedly in French that I couldn't catch. Once he said it, Cora smiled too. I wish she would just tell us what he said.

"His dad said he'd pay for the train tickets!" she whispered to us. I did my best to look happy. But it was a little weird for a dad to help his kid financially on a quest. Then again, Pierre wasn't a normal person.

"Really?" Annabeth whispered back. Cora nodded quickly. Then Pierre walked past us and opened the front door. He sure was eager to see us off.

We all walked out and followed him as he led us through the streets. They twisted and turned and changed heights so often, I thought we had stumbled into someone's attempt to recreate the Labyrinth (I knew what I was talking about).

Finally we arrived at a train station. All of us were panting in the summer heat. Except for Cora, whose breathing was only slightly quicker than normal. That wasn't surprising, but it made me wonder all the more who she really was, and where she was from. Hopefully this quest would answer those questions.

Once inside, we discovered that the next train heading all the way north wasn't for another hour. Surprisingly convenient, which made me think someone was trying to help us. Pierre bought us our tickets going all the way north and we sat down in some chairs to wait.

We all sat in an awkward silence. Well, it was a little hard to not have an awkward silence. After all, two people spoke only English, two only spoke French – well one might have known some English - and then there was Cora who spoke every single language and couldn't let anyone know. Yes, we were all sitting in a very awkward silence.

It took what felt like forever (thanks ADHD) but the train finally did arrive. As soon as the announcement for our train finished, we all jumped up and went off to the flat. Okay, once the others told Annabeth and me we all went.

The flat was extremely crowded. Apparently a lot of people wanted to go north. Most were Indians, wait, no that wasn't it . . . they were called natives Americans. Most of the people were Native Americans, because there was supposed to be a reserve up there.

It took us a long time, but we did reach the train through the crowds.

As we were boarding, I couldn't help but see something out of the corner of my eye; Pierre was slipping cash in Hunter's pocket. Hunter's face was pale as we left. But he also looked relieved . . . strange. Maybe I should have tried to talk to him later. Ah, who was I kidding? That wouldn't happen.

We shouldered our way on to the train, and me and Annabeth grabbed seats next to each other. Cora and Hunter sat in front of us. They ended up sitting in a booth with a table, a stroke of luck. Only thing was, I thought Cora may have been glaring at me subconsciously; why did that seem to happen a lot?

It wasn't until thirty minutes later that the train pulled out of the station. We rolled forward, metal screeching as the engine started. It was actually nice on the train as we moved. It gave us a view of Quebec City, and then took us into more country landscape. I figured this wasn't going to be hard. This wasn't going to be too hard a quest. Or so I thought.

A/N: We met Hunter's dad. That man . . . oh I'm not going to bother. Partly because if I do I'll have some of the world's most powerful demigods breathing down my neck ... I already have it enough, I don't need it any more. So you met his dad, who's a little strange. Anyone think "May Castellan"? I did when writing it. So I'm gonna go read The Scorpio Races now and finish it! So let me know your thoughts, through with fav or alert or review! Don't care how, just let me know!