Aby sat on her bed and stared at the wall in front of her. Chiron had let her go finally (though not after dissecting the prophecy with Annabeth and discussing all the possibilities) and now she had a raging headache that seemed to be getting worse as the minutes flew past. She knew she should have been at dinner, but what was the point? She wasn't hungry, and by now the entire camp would know about her quest and the fact that if she didn't succeed, she could be kicked out and left to fend for herself- or worse. It's not fair, she thought tiredly, lying down. How could anyone think I'm a threat? I'm nothing special. What could I possibly do that could hurt the gods?

As hard as she thought through the headache, Aby couldn't come up with an answer. Was this just them being paranoid, or maybe the gods knew something about her that she herself didn't? Finally, she gave up and closed her eyes. It had been a ridiculously long day, and she was asleep within seconds.

Aby left for her quest the next day at dawn, accompanied by Percy, Annabeth and, surprisingly, Nico. She didn't know the boy very well, though they had met a couple of times, but her only other choice was Grover, and he was busy looking after the nature spirits in national parks and had decided that he'd seen enough action for a lifetime. So Nico it was- Percy and Annabeth had assured her that he was trustworthy many times, somewhat unnecessarily. He was nice enough, maybe a bit quiet, but considering his life, he had every right to be.

They left in the van, Percy driving, and while the others were chatting amongst themselves (actually, Percy and Annabeth trying to engage Nico in a conversation on weaponry- the son of Hades was just scowling), Aby stared out the window in one of the back seats and fiddled with her necklace. At least that part's taken care of, she thought. Killed by a bow, from an ally, a gift.

Apollo.

But what was his part in this quest, anyway? He never really gave her a straight answer when she asked why he was helping her. Just a vague response that left her with more questions and confusion. Why was she special? What did he know about the outcome of this quest that she didn't?

"Aby," Annabeth's voice broke her from her musings, and Aby worked to clear the frown on her face. "Aby, where do you want to go first?"

That was a good question, actually. Aby had experienced quite a sheltered life, and before she went to camp she had barely left her town. She knew nothing about anywhere, and decided to leave it up to the, so to say, experts.

"Surprise me."

The first week or so was kind of a blur for Aby. They drove around random places, the landscape flying past the window and nothing really sticking out. She was plagued with headaches from all the stress and the only thing she could think was, any minute, a monster could come out and be the one I am waiting for.

As you could imagine, it wasn't the most pleasant time, and after a while even Percy grew tired of speaking, and the constant chatter was replaced with soft music playing from the radio.

Sometimes, they could encounter monsters- the two hellhounds were taken care of by Nico, the Empousai left them with a couple of scratches, but was taken care of with a few swings of Riptide, but as they were entering their ninth day on the road, Nico was seriously considering summoning a few hellhounds just to keep them entertained.

"Come on, Percy! We can find somewhere without any mortals, fight a couple of demon-dogs and get all this energy out of our system! I don't know about you guys, but sitting in this car all day is really getting on my nerves."

"He has a point," Aby said, stifling a yawn. "We've been on the road for days, and achieved nothing... Do you think my quest was actually supposed to be, say, not dying of boredom?" There was a crack of thunder outside, and she muttered an apology. "Seriously, though, we might not have to wait too longer. With this mixture of boredom and paranoia, someone has to take pity on me soon, before I go insane."

Percy bit his lip. "Aby, it's up to you what we do, it really is, but are you sure we're in the right place?"

The girl frowned, and looked around. She didn't recognise the landscape. "I actually don't know where we are, Percy."

"Yeah, neither do I."

Annabeth, who had been listening without a word, groaned into her hands. "I just wanna beat something up!"

"You're the weirdest heroes I've ever met."

The four of them jumped at the new voice, and turned to see Apollo grinning through Aby's open window. "Normally demigods would be thankful for such an uneventful quest." He let himself in and squeezed in between Aby and Nico. "But you guys are actually upset about it."

"You know us, Apollo." Percy said dryly. "After the war, we can't adjust to a peaceful life. And, well, I think Aby here is just plain aggressive."

The god grinned at the demigods. "Well, I just came to check up on you. See how you were going, making sure none of you were dead, the usual." He looked at Aby. "Abyss, can I have a word alone?"

He tilted his out to the window, and for the first time Abyss noticed his bright red car. Nodding, a little confused, she got out.

Once they were in the car, Aby in the passenger seat feeling a fair bit uncomfortable, Apollo turned to her with the oddest expression in his blue eyes. "Are you okay, Abyss?"

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you really want this quest over. Any hero would. The others do, too, I guess, but it's not their quest. In the end, they can't help you defeat the- well, defeat the monster that's coming your way. It's making you fidgety, paranoid."

Aby stared at the god. "Why do you care, Apollo?"

He hesitated, and for a split second, Aby could have sworn that he looked incredibly unsure. Reaching out, the god touched the necklace she hadn't taken off yet, his fingers brushing her collarbone. "I don't know." he murmured quietly. Behind her, the door popped open, she took the hint. Apollo gave her one last smile. "Good luck, Abyss Moon." and he and the car disappeared in a flash of golden light.

"What did he want?" Annabeth asked as Aby got back in the van, eyes a little wide at her encounter with Apollo. Seriously, what was with him?

"Honestly, Annabeth, your guess is as good as mine."