Hey! I know my writing has not been top-notch and this one is not very good as well, but I hope my next story will be better.

Chiron clapped in his hands. 'Come on, step into the vans, please,' He said, while motioning the demigods into the vans. Lacy hopped into one of them. She pulled her brother Jack along. 'Come on! Come on!'

Jack groaned. 'Well, you have a reason to be happy, you're braces are going to be removed.' Jack pointed at his braceless mouth. 'I am going to get them.' he shuddered. 'Hm.' Chiron pushed softly against his shoulder. 'Come on, Jack, it's good for your teeth. Get in.' Jack rolled his eyes and stepped into the van.

Chiron turned around, to Dionysus. 'Are you dreading chaperoning these kids this much or are you being a drama queen again?' Dionysus rolled his eyes.

'Thanks for the trust, although I have to agree that I am not particularly enjoying this.' Chiron smiled at him. 'Get in. We can just about fit all sixteen kids plus the two of us into this van. Also, you have to drive.' Dionysus sat down on the driver's seat, rolling his eyes so far back that Chiron wondered if it was healthy. 'I had expected as much.'

Lacy let her tongue go past her teeth. 'I think it will feel weird to suddenly... not have braces,' she said to no-one in particular. Miranda, from the Demeter cabin, nodded, while she also slid her tongue past her teeth. Jack grimaced. 'Yeah, yeah, really weird,' he muttered. Lacy patted him on the shoulder. 'Come on. It will hurt for only a few days!'

'In which I cannot eat anything substantial.'

'Well, fries.'

'A diet of fries is not exactly healthy, is it?'

'Well, no, but you can also eat lettuce.'

'Dead-man's' food.'

'Hey, Johnson, if you really despise getting nice teeth that much, you could also just not get braces to save three days of your diet,' Dionysus muttered. Chiron punched him against his arm. 'Are you afraid of braces, Jack?'

Jack blushed. 'No,' he answered. An Hecate-girl in the back snickered.

'Awh, come on, Jack, it's not that bad.' Jack scoffed.

'Shut up, Sarah.'

'You wish Rose was here?' she teased. Jack didn't answer (or say anything the rest of the ride, for that matter).

When they arrived in New York city, Jack, Sarah and a boy called Jamyny (His mother swore it was pronounced 'Jamie') Helped Chiron out of the car, while Dionysus was trying to get them into one line on the other side of the car. Jamyny and Sarah disappeared to stand in line when they were done. Jack lingered by Chirons' wheelchair. Chiron looked at Jack.

'Jack?'

'...yeah?'

'You are scared, aren't you?'

'Hm.'

'Do you know Hazel?'

'You mean that girl who is part of the seven? Of course.'

'The first time she went to a modern dentist, she cried. That's of course because dentists in the thirties were horrible, but...' He let the words linger in the air. Jack stared at him with open mouth. 'She was... so scared?'

'Yes. Please don't tell her I told you,' Chiron said with a wink. Jack nodded and skidadelled to the other side of the van. He slid into the line.

Chiron rolled around the van. 'Alright. As you all can see, we are standing in front of a orthodontist. That is slightly different than a dentist, because they only look at braces and not at the overall state of your teeth. Lacy and Miranda will have their braces removed, Jack will have them placed and the rest is only her for a check-up. Those who are only here for a check-up, please wait in the waiting room on the rest.'

'Can't we walk around New York?' Sarah asked. Chiron shook his head.

'No. I am too afraid I'll lose you all and that we'll be stuck in here for days.' Sarah rolled her eyes.

'Yeah, yeah.'

Dionysus and Chiron ushered them all inside. Chiron looked at his nephew, who was plucking his sweater. 'Why did we have to wear clothes mortals often wear again?' Chiron laughed.

'You know why.' He put his hand on Dionysus' shoulder. 'Come on, it's only a day. And about 17.885 days after that,' he answered. Dionysus chuckled.

'Thanks for the uplifting speech, uncle.'

'You're welcome, Nephew.' They stepped into the orthodontists' office, after the campers.

All thirteen of them sat in their chairs, waiting for the orthodontists. Miranda, Lacy and Jack were called in first, because they would be there the longest.

Jack was trembling on his feet. He shook his head. He once thought a hellhound. He had fended of multiple smaller monsters during his trip to camp Half-blood. Yet, somehow, this scared him a lot. Lacy was called to go into one of the chairs. He swallowed, knowing that he would be next.

After two minutes, a regular kid walked out. Jack heard an orthodontist calling his name. He slowly got up and basically ran into the office (he honestly did not want to hear Sarah laugh). The orthodontist looked surprised when she saw him. 'Well, hello. That was quick.' She pointed to the dentist chair. 'Sit down, please.' Jack bit his lip and sat down in the dentist chair.

'So. You need clasp bracket?' Jack shrugged, which was difficult to do in a laid-down chair. The dentist did not answer. 'Alright. You have had two appointments here before, nice and dandy.' She clapped in her hands, which made jake veer up. She turned around and gave him a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring, but made Jack feel like he was in a horror movie.

'Calm down. Come on, it's not that scary. It doesn't even hurt.' Jack gave her a single nod.

'Of course not,' a murmured. The orthodontist rode her chair over to him, which made him shiver.

'Open your mouth, please,' she said, while putting on plastic gloves. Jack opened his mouth. 'Wider.'

The orthodontist grabbed her dentist utensils. She sighed. 'Come, I can't see your teeth like this!' Jack opened his mouth as wide as he dared. The orthodontist started looking around, with her mirror on a stick.

'So, are all of those your brothers and sisters?' She asked.

'Nuo.' Jack wondered why she decided to ask him something while she was pricking around with her metal utensils. The orthodontist raised her eyebrows. 'Hm. What are you, then? A special type of school? Are those two adults friends, or something?' Jack felt like punching her, but he didn't act on that desire (obviously, punching a dentist sounds like a bad idea. They bite).

'Wer a champ.'

'Yes, yes, you're a champ.' The dentist reached behind her to grab something from the table. 'Here, I'll just put these in your mouth' - she showed him a couple of cotton tubes - 'and then I'll first put some glue on your teeth, champ.' Jack pushed her hands and utensils away and got up. 'No, I... huh... I don't want it.' He shook his head (getting up to fast from a dentist chair is not nice).

The orthodontist smiled at him. 'Can you wait here, darling?' She said. After that, she walked away, leaving Jack on the dentist chair. Jack looked around. There was a window next to him. He wondered whether he could escape via that window if it was really necessary.

The orthodontist walked into the waiting room. She made direct eye contact with Chiron. 'Sir? Would you mind keeping the child company? Because I believe he is nervous.' Chiron sighed.

'Do you mean Jack?'

'I believe that was his name.'

Chiron looked around the room. There were still nine children waiting to get their check-up. He looked at Dionysus, who was staring out the window. Chiron tapped him on the shoulder. Dionysus turned quickly turned his head around. 'What!?'

'Don't be scared.' Dionysus rolled his eyes.

'What's the issue, Chiron?'

'Could you please comfort Jack?' Dionysus gave him a confused look.

'Can't you...'

'Well, I want to keep my eye on the others.' Dionysus stood up.

'Well, I guess.' The orthodontist smiled at him. He followed her to the room where Jack was still sitting on the dentist chair. Jacks' expression got even more sour, if that was possible.

'Come, please sit down again!' The orthodontist chirped. Jack shot her an furious look and refused to do so. The orthodontist went to grab a new pair of gloves. Meanwhile, Dionysus moved closer to the dentist chair.

'Having these things placed will be less painful in the long run.' Jack turned around.

'What does that even mean!?' He didn't even care that he was being rude to a god. It didn't do a lot to make Dionysus mood better, but the god stayed calm.

'I mean that those three days your mouth will hurt are better than having bad teeth for the rest of your life.' Jack shrugged.

'So what? I... I don't want her picking around in my mouth with her metal knifes!'

'She won't, because she doesn't have any metal knives. Listen, Johnson, the actual placement of the braces doesn't hurt.'

'How do you know that? You are not exactly the god of dentists!'

'Because this is not the first time I have been on orthodontist duty and this is also not the first time I have comforted someone who needed to get braces.' The orthodontist came back with her new pair of gloves. Jack gave her another nasty look.

'Jack, it is not like She will be disappointed because you need braces.'

'Of course Aphro... my mother will not be disappointed. Yet, maybe I am disappointed in her for not just fixing my teeth!' he said, slightly to loud. The orthodontist raised one eyebrow.

'I believe that is impossible, Jack,' She said, in an uplifting tone, which did not made Jack feel any better. 'Ma'am, I'll call you in. Could you please leave us here?' Dionysus requested. Jack nodded. The orthodontist shrugged and left the room.

'Johnson, please listen to me. I know Aphrodite can be a forgetful ditz, but... I think it's better like this.'

'How?'

'Because the gods can never fully be in someone's' life. If she would give you perfect teeth, then it can't be the only thing she does for you, and... his voice faded. 'It's more messy than you think. But, Jack, I think she will appreciate it if you get those braces and take care of your teeth.'

Jack shrugged and stared out the window. He thought he understood what Dionysus was saying. He also remembered that Dionysus did not have... the best mortal life. 'I'll... do it, I guess. Although I don't agree.' Dionysus nodded.

'It really won't hurt, Jack. I'll stay here.' Jack nodded. Dionysus went to get the orthodontist.

Chiron was looking around the waiting room. It had been an hour now. About six kids had gone through their check-ups. Most children were reading, two others were talking to each other. Yet, he felt in his bones that something was about to go wrong - after four thousand years, you can feel it.

At that moment, Sarah came walking back into the room after her check-up. 'Well, they took out my braces immediately!' She bragged. No-one really reacted. Sarah smiled. Another girl rolled her eyes. 'We know you used the mist on your mouth, Sarah.' Sarah shrugged.

'Alright then,' she remarked. She sat down next to Chiron and folded her arms over each other.

Lacy came prancing into the room. She smiled widely. An Ares kid looked up from his magazine. 'Looks nice, Lacy.' She Smiled and blushed a little. Sarah scoffed.

'What if I used the mist on her, huh?' Chiron sighed.

'Come on, Sarah, calm down a little.' Sarah shrugged.

'Why?'

'We'll have to be here for some more time.'

She jumped up. 'So what?'

'Sarah, sit down please.'

Sarah shook her head. 'No. I'll just go home.' She stomped out of the dentists' clinic.

Chiron stared at the door. 'Aren't you going to follow her?' Lacy asked. Chiron smiled at her.

'I'll check up on her in about fifteen minutes.' Lacy nodded.

'Alright.'

The rest of the appointment went calmly, which Chiron thought was a miracle. Usually, he and Dionysus were constantly walking around through the clinic because of scared or unwilling kids. As Chiron expected, Sarah was waiting right next to the bus. She slipped into it without saying a thing.

Lacy gave Jack a hug. 'So?'

'Kind of strains.'

'That'll be over in a few days.'

She put her arm around his shoulders. 'Come, let's go home and get some fries.'