"Are we going to shadow travel?" Heather asked, shouldering her new backpack as she walked down Half-blood hill. Nico didn't answer her, placing his hands in his jacket pockets and trudging along ahead of her. The daughter of Dionysus sighed and shook her head helplessly. That boy...
"So begins another hero quest," a voice droned behind her. Heather turned and saw Mr. D coming down the hill, sipping at his coke as usual. She sighed and folded her arms, waiting for the parent lecture that was sure to be coming. Mr. D didn't speak for a long moment, studying her with purple eyes. When he finally did, it was short and not at all stern.
"Quests are hard," he said simply. "People change when they go on them, for better and for worse. Remember that."
Heather played with the strap of her backpack a moment before nodding. Mr. D seemed satisfied with that final piece of advice and waved her onward. The dark-haired girl studied her father for a long moment before trudging down the hill, joining her quest partner.
Nico didn't seem to have noticed the interaction, but he could have been ignoring her. He had gotten a little touchy about Heather's packing list-which had included two water bottles per person and a giant tube of sunscreen each-and she suspected that he wasn't talking to her now as a form of revenge.
"You didn't answer me, you know," Heather told him, jogging so she could look him in the eye. "Are we shadow traveling or not?"
"Just for a short way," he said quietly. "Chiron gave me some plane tickets, so we'll go to the airport through shadow travel, but after that, we're going into Zues' territory."
"How does a centaur get plane tickets?" Heather wondered aloud. Nico didn't answer, but instead stopped just past the tall Dephi Strawberry sign. He held out his hand stiffly, and Heather took it without hesitation; she had done this before, she could handle it.
The dark and cold were not nearly so troubling this time, but the whispering voices still gave Heather the chills. She blinked furiously when the light returned, willing her eyes to adjust. She looked up at the large white building, reading a sign standing before the double doors: JFK International Airport.
"It looks like the Opera House in Sydney," she remarked, squinting upwards.
"No it doesn't," Nico said coldly. Heather shrugged.
"Does to me."
"Let's just get through security and find our gate, okay? We're on a quest, not a vacation," the son of Hades snapped, walking away.
"Party pooper," Heather mumbled, trudging after him. Nico glared over his shoulder as if he'd heard.
The inside of the airport was like any other: security guards everywhere, swarms of people dragging their luggage behind them, long lines, and the infamous long wait to get through security checkpoints. Heather had just taken off her shoes when a sudden commotion erupted behind them.
As mortals screamed and ran, Nico cursed in Ancient Greek.
"Something's caught our scent," he said, drawing his short, black sword. "Get ready to fight!"
Heather rummaged in her backpack, pulling out a golden net and a bronze knife. Thank goodness they hadn't gone through the metal detector yet. There was a loud boom and the whole airport shook.
"It's the gremlins!" someone screamed. Heather raised an eyebrow.
"Gremlins? Those didn't start showing up until World War two, right? There's no way those exist in a world of Ancient greek monsters."
"It's worse than gremlins," the son of hades growled. "With my luck, it'll be Kobaloi."
"The what now?"
"Those!"
Heather peered over the heads of panicking mortals, unable to see anything unusual except the stampede. Nico sighed in exasperation, placing his hand on her head and forcibly directing her gaze towards the floor. Then she understood-sort of.
Running between the panicked mortals, no taller than a garden gnome, were a pair of tiny imp-like creatures. Their skin was green, their heads an unpleasant-looking oval shape, and their ears were pointed like a sprite or pixie's. They appeared to be wearing nothing aside from a simple loincloth knotted around their waists.
"The imp things?" Heather asked, glancing at Nico with a raised eyebrow. "What's so bad about them? They don't look dangerous."
"Kobaloi are mischief-makers. They taunt mortals for fun," Nico replied, his patience clearly running out, "but when they cross half-bloods on a quest...I'm not the only one who wants to send them to Tartarus."
Heafting his sword, the son of Hades waited for a gap in the crowd before charging at the tiny imps. The Kobaloi spotted him as he ran, but did not appear alarmed or even surprised: rather they both cackled and sprinted towards him. The crowd closed over the scene and Heather strained on her tiptoes to see what was happening, but there were too many tall people in the way! Frustrated, she made her way over and caught a glimpse of Nico's situation.
It was not going well: the sword had been knocked from his hand, and one of the Kobaloi was attempting to pick it up and drag it away. Nico's jacket sleeves were positioned so his coat had become a straitjacket, the ends of the sleeves ties together behind his back. The dark teen struggled against the knot, but it appeared the Kobaloi were very good at tying knots.
"Nasty little demigod, trying to ruin our fun," one of the imps said, shaking its finger in Nico's face in a disapproving way. Its voice was raspy, but also strangely squeaky, and the sound of it almost made Heather burst out laughing. "Do I have to put you in your place?"
This was too much for Heather, and she couldn't stifle a single, very loud laugh. The Kobaloi whirled to face her for the first time, and suddenly they looked nervous.
"Is, uh, is this on yours?" one of the little monsters asked, gesturing at Nico. This Kobalos was little taller, his pointed ears a little longer than the other one. Heather laughed again.
"Well, he doesn't belong to me, but we are on a quest together," the daughter of Dionysus said, knowing that she shouldn't be so amused, but unable to help herself. "And I'd be much obliged if you'd let him go."
"At once, ma'am," the Kobaloi said in unison, and jumping around so rapidly that they turned into green blurs. In a moment, Nico was free, though his sword was still behind the two imps and out of reach.
"Thanks," Heather said, surprised that they had actually listened.
"Not a problem," the taller imp said, bowing alongside his shorter companion. "We were finished with these boring mortals anyway. If you ever need some mischief, call for Zepip and Ormos!"
With that they both disappeared with a loud crack. Nico stood, seizing his sword and sheathing it. The son of Hades glanced at her.
"What?" Heather asked. Nico didn't answer, moving back into the security line. Heather followed, taking back her shoes as they passed through the metal detector-which surprisingly didn't go off; it was like the celestial bronze simply wasn't there.
"What?" she repeated. Nico's eyes narrowed as he took another look at her.
"Don't talk to me on the flight," he said shortly. "I need to think."