Okay, so, because the last chapter was so short I made this one extra long to make up for it. I hope you enjoy the chapter.

It's 2 am where I am so I will be answering reviews in the morning, so look forward to that. Now you may continue on reading.

[Edited 12/22/18]

Two hours later, I had a drawstring bag hung over my shoulder, sitting up against Thalia's tree with one leg pulled up to my chest. Bianca was supposed to meet me in a few minutes. Hades was supposed to have come to pick up Nico about 15 minutes ago, so I supposed they were saying bye and stuff.

I have ADHD, don't think that could have ever gotten out of that. So, being the fun person I am, I was throwing a rock at a tree and making it shoot back into my hand. Fun, right? Note my sarcasm. I did this with a plain face. If anyone were to watch me do that, they would probably think, "Man, that guy must hate his life,"

I heard footsteps approaching from the top of the hill where Thalia's tree was. I looked to my left and saw Bianca there with a backpack on, breathing heavily.

"Hills suck, don't they?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, they suck," She replied while resting her hands on her knees. "I hate gravity,"

I laughed then took her bag from her. The others on the quest should be arriving in a few minutes.

"The others should be arriving soon," I told her. "How was your dad?" I ask, trying to make the time go by faster.

"He was actually fine. Wasn't as depressing as I pictured him to be-"

"Hold up. Why would he be depressing?" I asked, slightly laughing.

She looked at me with wide eyes, "He's, like, the god of the Underworld and stuff. Everything I've read about him says that he is either the evil 'bad guy' or a depressing man with no self-conscious," She said back.

I nodded my head, "Yeah, I see that,"

"So, as I was saying, it was pretty okay, a lot better than expected. It was a bit embarrassing and awkward at first. Nico had practically tackled Hades - dad, I mean. We talked a little but they left soon after." Bianca explained. We talked a little more after that but stopped as the other arrived with Zoë in the lead.

I nodded in greeting and we all exchanged brief introduction until Chiron came up to the hill, approaching us. "I wish you all luck on your quest. May Hermes grant you safe travel," He said, holding out a bag which Thalia took from his extending hand. It contained drachmae, money, and food, we thanked him for the supplies then headed down to the van we were going to use to get to wherever we were going.

"Oh, and Percy?" I turned around, stopping myself from continuing my way to the camp van where everyone else was almost there already. "Watch yourself, there are deities that want you dead." Chiron finished, nodding toward me and walking off. I bit the inside of my cheek and went down to the camp van which now had everyone in it. What else was new?

Bianca asked me what Chiron had said to me as I got to the door, but I just responded with, "Just good luck and stuff, nothing special." I loaded my bag into the back and got into the very back seat, keeping my drawstring with me. I was sitting in the back with Bianca, Thalia and Grover sat in the middle row while Zoë sat in the front. She was driving. I'm not gonna lie, I was slightly afraid.

"You sure it's safe for you to drive?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, I agree with Percy. I'm 15 and know at least the basics and everything," Thalia added.

"Didn't you almost kill us all when driving the 'Sun Bus' as Apollo started calling it." I deadpanned.

"Who's side are you on?" She asked incredulously.

"I have been around since the first automobile," - I mumbled "automobile" to myself - "I am the most qualified. Age and knowledge wise," Zoë said.

"Mhmm..." I heard from Bianca. I couldn't sit still for five minutes, so I had half my upper body, arms, and head over the second rows backrest. Thalia kept on trying to push me off since I was, basically, right beside her and "in her bubble."

"Can we just go now? I am impatient, sometimes," I asked. Bianca gave me a look after I said sometimes. "Okay, I am impatient most of the time. Now can we go?"

"Yes," Zoë said. And we were off.

No, no, of course, the ride didn't go along smoothly. And I'll just tell you why: everyone in the car wasn't all sunshine and rainbows - except for Grover. We got into a fight. Plus, I had also got into a mess with Zoë right after. This is what happened and I am slightly ashamed, it was as if I went back to the age of eight.

I was back in the back seat, sitting down with my feet propped up on the middle rows seats when I spoke because it was getting so quiet.

"I love how everyone in this car is all depressed and moody. And then there's Grover." I spoke. I heard Thalia guffaw and try to stifle a laugh while Grover's face reddened.

"I'm sorry that I am not 'depressing and moody', but I actually like life and nature, unlike the likes of you and your dark humor and personality," He jabbed at me. My eyes widened and I gave an incredulous at the back of his head, beginning to unbuckle my seatbelt. Grover saw this and unbuckled, trying to get to the passenger seat as fast as he could.

"What are you doing! Get back there!" Zoë shouted, taking her eyes off the road and almost hitting another car in the process. There was a chorus of honks and a car zoomed past us. Zoë flipped them off and focused on driving again.

I was halfway in the second row and trying to grab at Grover. He was bleating and backed against the right side of the van now.

"Come here, you filthy animal!" I said with my teeth clenched together. He bleated some more with a panicked face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He yelled.

Bianca was trying to pull me back into my seat while Thalia was laughing her ass off and trying to push me back with only a single arm. I gave up on trying to punch him and sat back with a huff and a frown present on my face.

Thalia was laughing so hard now, "Yo-you look so s-sad!" She said while laughing, holding her stomach. Bianca gave out a chuckle that soon turned into a laughing fit of the both of them when they saw me pouting with my arms crossed. I heard Grover bleat and his head appeared above the seat in front of me with a laughing Thalia. I glared at him and his eyes widened again while bolting straight back down into his seat.

The car swerved slightly in traffic, switching lanes, and I was thrown into the window. That sent another laughing fit about while I was rubbing my now sore face.

"Shut up or I'll do it again!" I heard Zoë yell into the back, straight after the swerve.

"What if I buckle up? I won't be sent flying, now will I?" I retorted. I watched her eyes narrowed through the rearview mirror. I narrowed my eyes as if challenging her. I buckled back up beside Bianca. The car swerved very roughly off the side of the road. Now, I know how "Seatbelts Save Lives!" but that was not the case. I was thrown forward knocking my head against Thalia's skull. She cried out in pain while holding the back of her head. Then I was thrown to the left, straight against the window as Zoë got back into her place on the road. I held my head in my hands.

"Oh, shit!" I said with my head down.

"What were you saying about a buckle?" Zoë asked smartly while the car came to an abrupt stop, pulling into a gas station.

"I get that it would've been hilarious. But his head hit mine. It hurts like hell!" Thalia yelled. Grover was green and got out of the van to puke but came back laughing at Thalia. Bianca was white in the face and staring at my head while not moving.

"You good, Bi?" I asked with a slight grimace, holding the right side of my head while looking to her.

"What the fuck?"

That the most eventful thing that happened at the beginning of the drive. The middle was mostly spent chatting with each other and me listening to music through my iPod.

I was halfway through a song when I heard an "Uh oh" from Bianca. I took my headphones out and heard Thalia cursing and gave Bianca a confused look.

"How did we go from heading to Maine to freaking D.C.! How does that happen?!" Thalia yelled out. Zoë had pulled over and they were arguing with each other. Grover was out cold sleeping with his head against the window.

"We're in D.C.?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes! I kept telling her that we should pull over - but nooo!" Thalia said while sending a glare at Zoë.

"Let's just pull over. Stop somewhere." I said.

Bianca had a distant look in her eyes and I felt a connection to my father appear. Not like a mind message with him trying to talk to me. But like his essence of time.

"I-I know this place. Nico and I used to live... somewhere here. I can't really remember." Bianca said while looking outside from the backseat window. My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, looking at her and she looked around.

"Fine, we'll stop here. The van needs gas anyway," Zoë said while taking the keys out of the ignition and stepping out while closing her door.

Thalia and I exchanged looks before I crawled into the second row of seats and out through the sliding door on Thalia's side. Bianca was out after me. Grover was still asleep in the car, though.

"Who's gonna wake him up?" Bianca asked. My eyes lit up and my hand shot into the air. Thalia mumbled, "Oh, no," and then I was walking over to the right side of the car. I reached towards the door handle and yanked the door open as quick as I could. Grover fell face first to the ground with a shriek while holding his cheek that used to be pressed against the window. He got up off the ground.

"Told ya that I would get back at you somehow," I said with a grin. He nodded in respect before joining the others who were heading over to a mall that was a few blocks away from the gas station where we parked. Zoë said that we could take a break for a few so that she could fill the car up and they could figure out where they would be going from here.

We walked around the mall for a few before we decided to go into the National Air And Space Museum. I had been here once before on a "fun" educational field trip with Gaea and Ananke. The only thing that I got out of it and distinctly remember was getting to eat Astronaut Ice Cream, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was prepared for. It wasn't overly crowded there, it was too cold and was the weekend.

I looked behind me before entering since I was taking up the back. I saw a man with slicked back hair, dark sunglasses, and a black overcoat. The man took off his glasses revealing a blue eye and a brown eye, he lifted a phone up to his ear and began talking into it. A black van that used to be behind him pulled out and drove off. He tucked the phone into his coat pocket, put back on his shades, then walked towards a Staff Entrance. He was let in immediately.

"This just got interesting," I mumbled to myself while walking into the museum, trying to catch up to the group. Zoë joined us soon after, mumbling about some "idiotic playboy" The group went around looking at stuff while I went off, deeper into the building saying I needed to use the restroom and that I'd meet back up with them soon.

I sorta remembered the layout from when I was younger, just barely, though. I walked to the restrooms and waited until an employee exited the Employees Only room to get in. I made sure no one was looking before turning myself into, basically, shadows. Erebus said that I hadn't mastered it yet, so I more or less looked like some sort of very transparent phantom. I prayed that no one would see me and ventured on. I went through corridors filled with monsters of all shapes and sizes, plus a few mortals that would do anything for money. I was never spotted. I went inside a room just before the door closed. Wasn't like I could open any of the doors, it'd be kinda sketchy if a door just pulled itself open when they were there.

I entered a room filled with beefy monsters watching from every position while others ran around taking orders. I looked towards the most prominent part of the room, there was a shape of a man sitting in a shadow so that no one could see any part of him, bar his arms resting upon the armrests of his throne. But I didn't need to see him in order to know who it was, I could tell just from his aura alone. I was looking at Atlas, the General of Kronos.

"Shit," I said before I could stop myself. The guards that were watching where I had entered from turned in my direction with narrowed eyes. The guards were a Cyclops and two dracaenas. The dracaena hissed and moved towards my current position. I mouthed shit over and over again while trying to go somewhere- anywhere else. If I get noticed by them, I'll get noticed by everyone.

The dracaena that had advanced hissed one last time before lunging. I watched as she hit the wall I where I used to be. The other dracaena guffawed and the Cyclops scoffed, turning away.

"Shut up!" The dracaena hissed in embarrassment. She rubbed her sore face and walked off to the other two while they laughed at her. I took a few breaths, calming my nerves and advanced into the shadows so that I could see nearly everything from one point. I heard shuffling coming from one of the entrances, Dr. Thorn appeared, walking straight for the General as everyone kept calling Atlas. Damn, that son of a bitch reformed fast.

"They're here, sir," He said in his French accent, taking off the glasses that covered his eyes.

Atlas' hands clasped together, "I know, you imbecile." He said, "But where are they?" He asked.

"The rocket museum, General," He said.

"The National Air and Space Museum," A boy said. I hadn't noticed him standing by Atlas' throne, Atlas' aura completely overwhelmed his masking it. He had mischievous features, sandy blond hair that was turning a light gray already, and a scar going down the side of his face. My mouth formed a frown, this was the Luke I had been hearing of.

"How many?" Atlas asked.

"Five, sir," Thorn said. "That satyr, Grover, the daughter of Zeus, Thalia, the daughter of Hades, Bianca, the supposed son of Erebus, Perseus, and lastly, the Hunter with the silver circlet, Zoë-"

"I know who she is," Atlas growled out, cutting off Dr. Thorn.

Luke gave Thorn two thumbs up and mouthed, "Good job, dumbass!" Everyone else shifted uncomfortably while Thorn looked at the ground with a red face under Atlas' gaze.

Luke stepped up, "Let me take them," He said. "We have more than enough-"

"Patience," Atlas said, stopping Luke from talking. "They'll have their hands full already. I've sent them a surprise - a playmate! It'll keep them occupied."

Luke tried to reason with him but was cut off once again.

"We cannot risk you, my boy," Atlas said.

Thorn's mouth formed a smirk. "Yes, boy. You are much too fragile to risk. How about you let me finish them off, sir," Thorn suggested.

"No," Atlas said while rising from his seat. He had light brown skin, slicked back dark hair. He was very muscular and wore an expensive brown silk suit. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. His eyes were like stone but a very dark brown, almost onyx color like Zoë's.

"You've already disappointed me, Thorn," He said. Thorn tried to speak up but was just shut down by Atlas at every attempt.

"I gave you a very simple task, yet you came back with NOTHING! No child of one of the eldest gods! We had to substitute with a Roman to lure Artemis in! Thank Kronos she just needs to save every maiden!" Atlas yelled at Thorn.

"But you promised me revenge!" Thorn protested. "A command of my own!"

"I am the General of Kronos!" Atlas yelled back. "I will only choose lieutenants who give me results! It is only thanks to Castellan that we salvaged the plan. Now, get out of my sight until I find some menial task for you to do." Atlas said.

"Now, we must separate the daughter of Zeus, Thalia, from the others. The monster will be drawn towards her." Atlas said.

"The others will be difficult to get rid of, sir, for example, the Hunter, Zoë-" Luke was cut off by Atlas telling him to never say her name. Luke apologized before backing up.

"Let me show you how we will take care of the rest of the group." Atlas pointed to one of the mortal guards. "You have the teeth?" He asked.

The guard stumbled forward, "Yes, sir." He said.

"Plant 'em," Atlas said while sitting back down into his throne.

The guard pulled out a small bag and carefully pulled out sharp white teeth and planted them in a single soil spot. He backed away after all the teeth were buried. Atlas said excellent before telling them to water them. Another guard came up with a watering can, he poured its crimson red contents onto the soil. I watched as the soil began to bubble.

Atlas went on to a short rant saying that he should show Luke an army that would make his army on his ship seem highly insignificant. It's safe to say they got into a heated argument since Luke had been heavily training his army, taking offense to how Atlas' comments seemed to make a mockery of his army.

Soon, though, they stopped as the previously bubbling soil began to split where a tooth had been planted.

"Behold, my ultimate killing machine!" Atlas said, standing up.

The first struggling creature out of the dirt said, "Mew?"

The creature was a kitten. An orange tabby cat with white stripes like a tiger. I was expecting to be scared when I first saw what was going to appear, now I was staring at the kitten playing with the other kittens that just came out of the earth as well, wobbling around on their newly born legs.

Atlas' hands balled into fists. "What is this? Cute kittens?! " Atlas yelled. "Where did you find these teeth?" He asked.

The guard was white in the face and started stuttering. "I-in the exhibit, sir. Just like you said; the saber-toothed tiger exhibit-"

"You imbecile! I said the Tyrannosaurus!"- I did a double take, how do you mistake a tyrannosaurus rex with a saber-toothed tiger? - "Gather these infernal little beasts. And make sure I never see them again!" Atlas yelled at the guard. The guard and two others quickly gathered up the kittens and ran off.

"Someone get me the right teeth!" Atlas yelled. Another mortal guard quickly exited the room.

I think Luke thought that Atlas would back him when he said, "This is why I don't use mortals. They are unreliable."

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

A few minutes later, the guard hustled in carrying a hand full of large, pointy teeth.

"Terrific," Atlas said. He jumped down from his highly placed throne, cracks appeared where he landed on the ground.

"I shall do this myself. I do not need any screw ups happening." Atlas said.

He held up one of the teeth. "Dinosaur teeth - brilliant! Those idiotic mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth right in their hands. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They are perfect." Atlas said.

He planted all twelve of the teeth into the ground, sprinkled the soil with the crimson liquid, tossed the now empty can, and held both his arms out wide. "Rise!"

The soil trembled and shifted. A single skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at air.

Atlas looked towards his throne, where Luke was. "Quickly, do you have the scent?" Atlas asked holding out his hand.

Luke nodded towards a dracaena. "Yesss, milord," the dracaena said. She pulled out a stash of silver fabric and my eyes widened in shock, feeling my stomach drop. How did they get that? Maybe they attacked the hunt to get it?

"Great," Atlas said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue her relentlessly. No weapons known to half-blood or Hunter can take them down. There will tear the Hunter and her allies to shreds. Toss it to me!"

As he said that all the other skeletons erupted from the ground. There were twelve of them, each tooth Atlas planted created one. They weren't any skeleton type of stuff you see on Halloween. They were just bones and modern army clothes, that is until they started growing yellowish gray skin and everything else. If you didn't look as closely, you would've thought they were normal, living people. But their skin was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath the skin.

One of them looked straight at me coldly and a few monsters looked in my direction. Only they could see me, not the monsters. The dracaena moved toward Atlas, an arm extended to hand the cloth to him. As if in slow motion, I watched Atlas move to grab it and thought, "Well, it's now or never," I shot out of the shadows and intercepted the fabric from getting to Atlas, running straight past the creatures in the process and into Atlas' massive shadow, appearing across the room, unfortunately, blocked in by walls that kept me from escaping. But one of the skeletons had already gotten a whiff of me and was running towards me. I looked down at my right side, there was a piece of my shirt missing. I looked back up and saw the other skeletons passing around a gray fabric and sniffing it with closed eyes. They all turned to me. Fuck.

Atlas yelled in outrage and Luke started going down the stairs from the throne, trying to get to me along with almost all the monsters in the room. I turned around swiftly and ran straight through the wall separating me from all of them for at least a few minutes.

"Oh, shit. It worked. Ghosting out actually worked. Thank you, Erebus!" I said to myself. In the split second that I ran, I heard Atlas yell out my name along with Luke.

I caught my breath then took over, hearing screams coming from where the group had headed in the first place. I ran off down the museum, passing by mortals and trying not to push anyone over. I ran into the area and saw a mother and her son. The mother was trying to get the kid out of the place while a few ran past, a couple screaming.

The boy turned around when they were about to leave the area, agitating the mother more so. "Look, mommy, a kitty!" My eyes widened and I ran off to where he was looking.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" I yelled out when I saw Grover playing his reed pipes far away from the Nemean Lion that was trying to eat Thalia while she tried to stab it with her spear that was dancing with electricity. The spear wasn't penetrating the beast, neither was Zoë's arrows or Bianca's quick jabs at the beast trying to find a weak spot. It wasn't penetrating the beast, but the electricity did a little bit to the beast making it shrivel for a few seconds before becoming annoyed and lashing out at her.

"A little help here!" Thalia and Bianca shouted taking notice to my arrival. I nodded and ran towards the Nemean Lion. I pressed down on Revenge and I had a sword in my hands in seconds. I knew that my sword would have no effect on it, but I had to get its attention.

I swung my sword like you would do with a baseball bat. It lurched sideways almost falling over and stumbling. It steadied itself and bared its teeth at me and getting into a pouncing position facing me. I tapped my sword against the floor a couple of times before running off to the shops. I jumped over a rack of tourist toys and gifts before knocking over a stand of photos. I reached towards a rack and grabbed bags of Astronaut Ice Cream. I said it wasn't as bad as I expected - but it was still pretty damn awful. I could just stand eating it.

I ripped open a packet and put some in my mouth, "Didn't change." I commented, quickly spitting it out while grimacing. I wiped my mouth and ran out of the store. I had a plan, I had learned shit, I had already proven that. Hercules strangled the Lion since he couldn't find its weak point and just decided to use the strength he got as a baby. I did not get any super strength as a baby, obviously, and fortunately already knew its weak spot, the mouth, to make up for my lack of super strength.

I ran up to Bianca and Thalia who were holding it off while Zoë's arrows bounced aimlessly off its pelt. Grover was off to the side playing his reed pipes, plants from underneath the foundation split the floor open and wrapped around the Nemean Lion's legs trying to hold it in place, it worked for only a few moments, but that was all I needed.

"Nice to see you're back!" Thalia yelled sarcastically. Bianca had her teeth clenched together, staying silent and running up to where Zoë was in the back, taking a bow which Zoë held out to her.

"I know how to kill it! If you don't want me to, I will walk away and put everything back!" I yelled back at her sarcastically. She huffed and struck at the lion again. I quickly made my way up to where a massive model of a space shuttle hung from the rafters, standing atop it, above the Nemean Lion. I waited till the plants and vines wrapped themselves around the lion's limbs once more before telling Thalia to shock it quickly. She yelled out and a much bigger arc of electricity shot out of her spear and to the Nemean Lion's body. It shivered and twitched, shriveling up, opening its mouth to roar out in anguish. I took my chance threw the previously opened packets of Astronaut Ice Cream into its mouth.

Its eyes bulged and it clawed at its throat. It started gagging and doing that hurling thing where it looked like it was trying to cough up a furball.

"Aim at the mouth! Now!" I yelled out. Before it could even close its mouth, arrows rained down on it. Bianca was arching arrows off quickly alongside Zoë, obviously having a natural gift for it.

The Nemean Lion rolled over, opening and closing its mouth while clawing at its throat some more before turning into gold dust, leaving behind its pelt.

"Ugh, that's gonna have to be a victory short-lived," I said, jumping off of the shuttle and falling to the ground, righting myself once I had landed, crouched.

"What do you mean?" Bianca asked with Zoë close behind her, bows in hand.

"Well, Zoë? Did the Hunters get into a fight with some monsters recently? And by chance, did they get away with some of your clothing?" I asked. She nodded slowly, giving me a skeptical glance.

"Well, there are now Spartai after us - well, me, technically," I said. Zoë's eyes widened.

"How many Spartai? And how?" She asked.

"Twelve. And they were about to get the scent off your clothing but I intervened and took it before they could, sadly enough, one of them ripped a piece of my shirt off and passed it around to its buddies when I raced to get the piece of your clothing." I explained while showing them the part of my shirt that had been ripped.

"Great, but where were you and who summoned the Spartai?" She asked.

"Uh, I was in the employees only area. And the summoner was the General, his monsters, and lieutenants," I said while I was slapped upside the head by Bianca. Zoë paled when I said the General but quickly masked it with trained precision. I couldn't just say Atlas, it freaked them out enough when I said the General.

"Hey!" I said rubbing my head.

"The General?" Bianca asked confused.

"We'll explain later. We need to go now if twelve of them are after you." Zoë said. She grabbed the pelt off the ground and threw it to me while heading to the exit with everyone behind her. I was a little miffed holding the pelt and considered throwing it aside. But that means that the enemies would have it in hand, plus I didn't want it to go to waste.

"Wait up! Thalia, shoot this, please." I said. She shrugged.

"What do you mean 'shoot it'?" She asked. I pulled over a trashcan, popped off the lid of it, and laid the pelt on top of it, it had transformed into a hideous jacket. I picked it up off of it.

"Shoot it with lightning, please. I have no need for the pelt." They knew how it was technically my winnings from being the one to have a plan on how to kill it. She nodded and held out her hand. An arc shot out and the trashcan set afire, I mumbled Lady Artemis before throwing it into the quickly depleting fire. But it didn't burn, so much for that. I cursed and picked the hideous thing up, brushing off the remnants of soot.

"Forget it, we have to go," I said and ran off to the exit.

We quickly left the building and ran outside to be greeted by three mortal guards who were working for Atlas. I heard Zoë curse in Greek beside me and pull out her bow.

"You can't kill them, Zoë!" Bianca whisper yelled at Zoë while she was taking aim. Zoë grimaced and put her bow away.

"Then what do you suppose we should do? Kindly lead them off? It's obvious they're not normal mortals working." She said while watching the guards with narrowed eyes, her bow held in a position to fire at a moments notice.

"I'll lead them away, they've already seen me and will recognize me. Plus, the Spartai are after me, not you guys. I'll find you. Now go." I said, pushing Thalia and Grover lightly in the opposite direction of the guards.

They didn't have time to say no before I walked up to one of the guards and punched them. The other two turned to me and their eyes widened.

"It's the kid!" One yelled while pulling the punched mortal off the ground. All three of them advanced towards me and I ran off in the opposite direction of the van. I signaled for the rest of the group to go and they didn't put up much hesitation, booking it to the van.

I took multiple turns and alleyways, seeing if I could lose them. Upon seeing they were still following me, I kicked it up a notch. I pushed stuff over and jumped over a fence which blocked the alleyway I was in. It slowed the guards down a bit, but they were still coming. I grimaced and hopped up onto a dumpster. Two of them were now trying to work their way over the fence while the last watched me curiously. I jumped off of the dumpster, grasping onto a broken fire escape ledge. I pulled myself onto the platform then went up from there. They were way too fat and out of shape to possibly jump as far as I did, not mentioning strength and grip wise.

At the top of the fire escape, I climbed onto the roof of the building and looked around. The whole place was illuminated and definitely not quiet, but it seemed almost a good kind of thing, I was brought back into memories of the old apartment, living with my mom and hearing this all night and day. I grit my teeth and forced myself to look away, searching around from the rooftop. My gaze quickly locked onto the van which stood out, it was white with the strawberry field logo on it. They were in traffic and there was the black van only seven cars behind theirs. I looked into the alleyway to see all of them trying to get onto the fire escape, obviously struggling as one guys' hand slipped and he fell onto another who was trying to help him up to it. I let out a chuckle and jumped onto the rooftop of the building to my right, which brings me that much closer to the van. I hopped down onto a fire escape, climbing down it and exiting the alleyway which brought me right to the street the vans were on.

I ran about half a block while watching traffic and my back. I needed to find the damn van again, it's wasn't just gonna stay in place. The sidewalks were awful, it was the afternoon and it was bustling. But, for better or for worse, the traffic was slow because of it. I let out a relieved sigh when I finally spotted the van after another half block. I looked behind me one last time to see two Spartai emerge from an alleyway. My eyes widened and I ran into traffic. I know, it was stupid, but I just wanted to get in that damned van and relax for at least a few minutes before dealing with more shit. Cars honked at me and I didn't even try to wave sorry and instead flipped the most annoying ones off, which were the ones just repeatedly honking their horns and the ones that kept it blaring. I pulled opened the side door and jumped in, closing it behind me swiftly.

"What the hell?" Thalia asked, looking at me incredulously.

"'Sup," I said while falling back into the seat and wincing. I forgot that the pelt was still folded up in my drawstring bag, it's not a good feeling to fall back on an almost rock hard object on the outside. I pulled it out and laid it in my lap.

"I was wondering why they were blaring their horns," Bianca murmured while sitting back in her seat.

"Yeah, I'm glad you're not dead too," I said sarcastically.

"What happened to the guards?" Grover asked.

"Couldn't get past a fire escape. Stumped 'em at that one." I replied.

"Spartai?" Zoë asked.

"Oh, they're very close. I suggest that you pull off of the main road." I said. I heard her mumble something before making a U-turn, pulling off from the crowded road.

"Why are you out of breath?" Thalia asked.

"I'm not, really. Just anxious and all, plus running around and turning down multiple alleyways, and jumping over and pushing stuff while running, and going up flights of stairs and jumping off of two buildings tends to get your blood pumping," I said while breathing out.

"Parkour?" Grover asked with wide eyes.

I grinned. "Parkour, bro," I said. He grinned, too, and we fist bumped.

Thalia muttered something about boys and I heard Bianca mutter, "Unbelievable. They go from wanting to kill one another to this." Zoë grimaced and turned off onto an even less crowded road, trying to work her way around the city. I remembered something and got into the passenger seat.

"What are you doing?!" Zoë asked while hitting me and trying to keep me back. I pushed against her and got into the passenger seat.

"From the rooftops, I got a good view of everything, you guys were being followed by them," I told her and looked into the rear view mirror. Sure enough, they were right there, a few cars behind us now. Zoë huffed and switched lanes.

"We gotta ditch the car," Thalia said while unbuckling.

"And what are we going to do after that?" Zoë asked while speeding past a few cars, trying to lose them.

"I know!" Bianca yelled suddenly. "Go into that parking lot!"

"But we'll be trapped-" Zoë was cut off by Bianca.

"I know. Just trust me." She said. Zoë grudgingly turned into the parking lot. We all got out of the van, following Bianca down some stairs. We got our things out before so, but I could sense I forgot something. You can always feel it when you forget something.

"Subway entrance," She said beaming. "Let's go South. Alexandria." Bianca said.

"I'll take anything," Thalia said. "We lost them, or at least we will," She added.

We bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind us for our pursuers. A few minutes later we were safely aboard a sound-bound train, that was heading away from DC, with us all sitting in a less crowded compartment, surprisingly. When the train went above ground we spotted a black helicopter that belonged to the General's men, it wasn't coming after us, though, seemingly scouring the area. We lost them, but I knew it wouldn't last.

"Good job, Bianca, thinking of the subway station," Grover said.

"Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C." Bianca said. I did a double take.

"New? But the station looked really old." Grover said with a frown.

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

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

Bianca nodded.

I sucked in history and all, but I knew that D.C.'s subways couldn't be less than twelve years old. I guess everyone thought the same by the looks of it.

"Bianca," Zoë said. "How long ago..." Her voice got drowned out. The sound of the helicopter from before was getting louder.

"We have to change trains," I said. "Next station."

We only thought about getting away safely for the next half hour. We had to switch trains twice. I had no clue where we were going, let me rephrase that, I had no clue where we were, I did know where we were going.

Unfortunately, when we got off the last train, we were at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. I don't know if I have mentioned this yet, but I strongly hate snow and the cold in general. I just don't like it. Snow and I don't mix, fire and I are a whole different matter.

We wandered for a while, hoping to find another passenger train somewhere, but we came up empty handed. There were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow and looked like they hadn't moved in years. My nose was cold, red, and beginning to get runny. I kept mumbling to myself, pulling my jacket off and handed it along the lion pelt to the girls to share. Grover had his fur which kept him content, even though it only covered his bottom half.

We found a homeless guy standing by a trash can fire. We must've looked pretty damn pathetic because he gave us a toothless grin and said, "Come on over here. Y'all need to get warmed up."

We huddled around the fire. Thalia's teeth were chattering, wearing the Nemean Lion pelt and Bianca had my jacket pulled tightly around her. "Well, this is g-great," Thalia said, trying to lighten the mood.

"My hooves-feet, feet are frozen," Grover complained while trying to catch his slip up.

"Maybe we should call camp," Bianca said. "Chiron-"

"No, they cannot help us anymore. We must finish this ourselves." Zoë said, staring deeply into the fire in thought.

I remembered what I forgot in the van suddenly. I gazed at the railroad yard silently, thinking upon my now gone iPod. It had more than 500 songs downloaded on it. I sniffed and wiped away a small tear. It was somewhere lost in DC, just waiting to be found by some person and taken advantage of. I steeled my nerves and looked away from the railway.

"You know," the man said. "You're never completely without friends." His beard was tangled and his face grimy, but his voice was kind and warm. "You kids need a train going west?" He asked.

"Yes, sir," I responded politely. "Do you know of any?"

He pointed a greasy hand behind us.

Suddenly, I noticed a freight train, gleaming, without an ounce of snow of it. It was one of those automobile carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and three decks of cars inside of it. The side of the train said, "Sun West Line"

I looked back to the guy, he smiled a toothless smile at the train. I noticed now that he had a bright, sunny, glow. I then looked back to the freight train and the name imprinted on it.

"Bullshit," I mumbled.

"Well, that's... convenient," Thalia said while turning back to the man. "Thanks, uh..."

The homeless guy was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty as if he had taken the flames with him.

An hour later we were heading west. There was no problem with who would drive now since everyone had their own car. And a variety to choose from. Zoë and Bianca had gotten closer since they both were shooting arrows at the Nemean Lion and were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Grover was playing racecar driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. And Thalia had hot wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock.

I was planning on joining her later but went to the very top floor and sat on the edge with my legs hanging off, pulling my jacket which I had gotten back from Bianca closer to me. My hair kept being blown into my eyes, I had bangs that just reached there, but they were usually swept to the side. I thought about what Bianca had said at the subway, about how the subway hadn't been there. And it all came to me. The Lotus Casino is what Chronos had called it, I remembered Ananke giving me a lesson on it and how to never go in there. I would most likely never come out, no matter how strong my will, I would be persuaded.

It was dark out and very cold, not to mention how the wind kept blowing straight on me from my position. I started thinking about why my dad hadn't told me before. Had he just forgotten? I decided to think about it more tomorrow than to dwell on it now. I relaxed and laid down on my back, my drawstring bag underneath my head, facing the stars. I decided to maybe go see Thalia after an hour or so of peace. I deserved it.

I breathed out and closed my eyes in bliss, relaxing.

Just the actual chapter by itself, not including the A/N's and stuff and the not yet included review responses, was nearly 7000 words. Sorry for the delay and all, but I think that the length of this makes up for it. During most of writing this I was listening to a playlist of Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy, and Imagine Dragons. Damn I love Bleeding Out - Imagine Dragons and Victorious - Panic! At the Disco. It is literally 1 am when I am finishing this and I am tired as hell now. One second it's 11:58, the next it's 1:00 - now it's freaking 2:00! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Favorites, comments, all that jazz it highly appreciated. Lastly, #PrayForParis. Gotta show support for them.

Again, I will be putting up the pairing results on the next chapter to see the actual difference and stuff.

~ FindADifferentUsername