"Jason, you come with me"
He looked up, a man with blonde hair was specking to him, his face hidden in shadows, he got up and followed him
"Where is my steed?" the man asked
"They have it over there, what do you want me to do?"
"You are a strong demigod, I need you to guard me, You will ride by my side" The man said as they past people with blooded features.
"Are you going to wake up or not, were going to get some food" Piper's voice said, he felt her shake him awake
"What?" Jason asked, his mind still on his dream
"Get some food, unless you want to starve to death" Leo said, he came into view from behind a tree.
They were still in the woods but three days had passed, the food and drink Annabeth had packed wasn't filling their stomachs but making them feel hot.
It wasn't until Piper had been sick for a full day with a burning fever had all three of them chose to chuck it away.
"Some sick joke of hers" Piper had said when she felt better.
Jason got off the floor and knocked the leaves off his back, he looked up at the sky, the trees just coved the sun
"So were do we get food from? Are they any berries or fruit?" Jason looked around, nothing eatable was in site
"Well you can go looking for berries and fruit but I, I'm going to look for a plate full of beans and toast, with a fried egg and bacon" Leo asked, licking his lips and grinning
"And where are you going to find that? Were in the middle of nowhere Leo, we've walked for three days and nights, were lost and they's a few gods out there who are after our blood"
Leo winked to Piper
"He gets moody this one with no food in him, well Jason, just walk this way"
He waved Jason over
Jason followed Leo and Piper followed behind them, they went up a slope and down the other side the trees thinned out into a half full car park.
They was a gas station and a building next to it which had a logo with a knife and fork was over the top. It was a service station.
"Come on lets go in, we can freshen up and get something to eat" Piper said
"We have no money" Jason pointed out
"We're going to run after we've eaten, you know, pretend to use the bathroom or something, you go first, than Piper and me last as I am faster than you two" Leo told him
The three made their way through the car park, Leo was looking at the cars, his hands started twitching, he wanted to re-wire them all just for a laugh
"Oh this car's nice" Leo said, he had stopped next to a red convertible
"Walk on, were in enough trouble without you re-wiring someone's stereo" Piper warned, dragging him away
They entered the building through moving doors; they found the male and female bathrooms.
"Wait for me here" Piper said as she went into the females, she went to a mirror and had a look at herself, she was coved in mud so she started washing her face in the mirror.
In the boys restroom Leo and Jason were also washing their face, they dried themselves on the paper towels,
"Watch this" Leo muttered, he pulled at the piece of wood covering the pipes under the sinks; he fiddled on for a few seconds and placed the wood back over the pipes,
"Now wait for someone to come in" Leo grinned and ran away from the taps and beckoned Jason over too
The door opened and a teenager about their age came in, he had sandy blonde hair and wires from what looked like earphone dangling out his pocket, he looked at Jason and Leo suspiciously but they didn't see as they were pretending to dry their hands.
The teen walked over to the sink and pushed down on the hot water tap. Leo grinned slyly
"Eugh" cried the teen as water stayed straight into his face and all over the floor.
Leo giggled and walked out, Jason followed at a run
"Move" Leo whispered to Piper, they hurried down the passage and came to a shop they entered to keep out the way
"What did you do" Piper scowled at Leo
"Nothing, just washed the man's loos out" Leo smiled at her. They looked around the shop.
Leo was looking at the hats on sale, he grabbed a black and silver beanie hat and put it on, his pointy ears stood out and his curly hair flattened over his eyes which made him look more elfish than ever, Jason imagined him wearing a green pointed hat with a white ball of fluff on the end, he laughed
"What? Why you laughing?" Leo asked, one eyebrow raised
"Nothing" Jason said trying to keep his face straight.
Leo took the hat off and looked over at the salesman; Leo slipped the hat inside his jacket.
"Look at this" Piper said, she was sanding by a table which was selling loads of statues, a colourful cardboard box spelt the words
'Greek Myth Monsters'
"Excuse me, what are the names of all these monsters" Piper asked the man.
He looked at her with a board expression on his face
"This is the Hydra, Medusa, Minotaur, Manticore and this is a Griffin" The man spoke with a French accent
"Oh thanks. Erm...How much are they?" Leo asked, as he slipped handfuls of sweets and chocolate bars into his jacket.
"Oh mother says not to buy things like that, we should go" Jason added loudly as Leo dropped some bars on the floor
"Yes" Leo said and nearly ran out the door
"Did you see that guys eyes?" Piper asked "One was blue and the other brown"
"Contact lenses maybe" Leo said, putting his hat back on "Why did you ask about them monsters for?"
"In case we meet any, we need to know what they look like" Piper said, leading the way into the café.
They sat by the seats near the window, watching people come and go.
Jason looked up at the sun, which was right above them
"Do you really believe they are gods that can watch us from the sun or moon?" Jason whispered to Piper
"I have no idea, the moon and sun are out in space, so I can't see how a god can be watching but last week I didn't believe in any god or gods" Piper looked around for a waiter.
One of free waiters came over to them
"Can I take your orders?" She asked them kindly
"Yes, I'll have" Jason squinted his eyes down the menu, the words moved around "Erm..Pie with Fish and Peas please with a Coke"
"Pardon…it's pie and fresh peas" The waiter said
Jason blushed
"I'll have that"
"I'll have the same" Piper said, she wasn't going to make a fool of herself with trying to read the menu
"Make that three please" Leo said
The waiter walked away.
"Right after our lovely meal we'll bail out, Piper pretend to use the bathroom, Jason follow her and go both go outside and I'll run, I can run faster than both of you, I'll be half way to the woods before they notice I've gone" Leo told them
The café was filled with the smell of food, the three tried to ignore it as it made them more hungry, at last the women came with food.
All three loaded their mouths with food and wolfed it down, they hadn't ate since they left camp. In a short time the plates were empty.
Leo looked up at the counter, a few workers were serving food and collecting payments
"Piper go now" he muttered.
She got up and walked out casually enough. They waited
"Jason now" Leo told him
He got up and walked out the café, a few workers watched him leave.
Leo got up from the table and walked near the exit, he could feel the workers watching him.
"Wait" A women called
Leo broke into a run, a few people stood up and made a grab for him, he ran into them and knocked them down. A hand reached on the inside of his jacket and pulled him back, his hand was stronger than the others.
Leo twisted his arm behind him and tried to throw it off but the person wouldn't let go
"Call the police we have a thief" The waiter shouted to her work colleagues
"Oh I believe this matter is between Mr Valdez and me" A French accent announced, Leo turned to see who had spoken, it was the man from the gift shop
"I'm sorry, I'll pay for the hat" Leo said quietly to him.
The man gripped Leo's arms hard, he gasped at the pain
"This matter shall be settled" The man said, he walked outside, holding Leo in his hands
Once outside the man turned to Leo
"Now…What shall I do with you?" The man carried Leo to a van and slammed him against it "The gods have issued a reward for you, did you know that?"
He reached into his jean pocket while keeping hold of Leo with one hand, he showed Leo a poster
"You and the girl are worth 30 Drachmas each while the boy is worth a hundred, together the set is worth two hundred Drachmas and I want the full reward money so where are the other two?"
'"Demigods escaped from Camp Half blood, Dangerous, Must be reported immediately to Olympus, Travelling together"'
"I left them, we parted ways" Leo panicked
"Yes sure you have…I saw you together less than an hour ago, now tell me where they are" The man shouted
Leo looked around, why weren't people helping him, they was people less than a few foot away but they moved on like they didn't see
"Ok I'll take you to them" Leo said
"Good" The man said
Leo lead the way through the cars
"No stupid moves now, I can stop you if you run" The man was so close to Leo that Leo could feel him move
Leo dropped to the floor and rolled under a truck
"Godling, you will pay for that" The man screamed
Leo shuffled on his front to the other side of the truck but it was lifting up!
Leo looked behind him as the truck was lifted off the ground and thrown away. Standing where the man had been was something with a man's head and what looked like a lion's body, Leo recognized it from the toy model
Leo got to his feet and ran for the nearest car, he dived over the bonnet and took a look at it, it was the red convertible from earlier, he tried the door but it was locked and they was no time to jump in.
The strange thing lifted something over it's back, Leo saw it was a tail filled with spikes; he aimed his tail at Leo, who ducked. The spikes hit the car seat and the metal.
"Do you mind?" An angry voice cried out
Leo looked up, the teenager from the bathroom was standing looking at the monster, he waved his hand and a bow appeared with a golden arrow
"I hate monsters who damage my sun chariot just ask Typhon, next time remember it! I'm sure Artemis wont mind me taking you out" The teen raised his arrow
"No, you don't know who that is Sun God" The monster shouted
"Oh but I do" Apollo fired at the Manticore, who vanished into a pile of dust
"Now for you" The handsome teen said to Leo
Leo made to run but the god was too fast, he had hold of Leo and held him over the bonnet
"Now, What do you think you are doing with my chariot, I seen you trying the door"
Leo remind silent he didn't know what to say, but someone else did. A cold high voice told him what to say
"Say you wanted to steal it"
"What?" Leo gasped looking around for another person
"I said what are you doing with my Chariot" Apollo repeated
"I wanted to steal it" Leo told him, his eyes wide
To his surprise the god gave a small laugh
"If Hermes is not stealing my cattle, he is teaching his children to steal my chariot"
The god let Leo up
"What are you doing so far away from camp?" Apollo asked
And they it was again, that cold voice
"Say you're on a quest"
It sent a shiver down Leo's back
"I'm on a quest" Leo took a step back from the god
"Quest...who gave you the quest?" Apollo said, his eyes narrowed
"Say you are accompanying a fellow demigod, who got the quest from the Oracle"
Leo repeated what the cold voice told him, the god looked satisfied.
"Ok, run along then…and I'll be telling Hermes I ran into you, what's your name?" Apollo called after Leo
"Oh my name is Connor" Leo lied, saying the first name that came into his head
Apollo nodded and Leo walked out near the road, when he was sure he couldn't be seen he ran into the woods to find his friends
Apollo frowned to himself, he wasn't aware of any quest taking place, he was going to contact Camp and Olympus just in case...