Sorry for taking so long to update! Anyway here you go. The first 'monster' will be introduced in the next chapter so yeah, look out for that. Anyway leave a review- it's greatly appreciated. Also, this is totally unrelated to anything else, but does anybody watch Teen Wolf? That season premiere was intense! Just thought I'd share hahah! So yeah without further ado: Chapter 5.

(Leaving)

"And he just yelled at you. Just let you have it?"

"Yup."

"That's a little harsh." Sky said, disapprovingly.

"Nah, I got off easy. If it were the other way around, he would probably be missing a limb." Katie said grimly. "I mean I cheated on him. I did, like, the worst thing that you could do."

Sky cocked an eyebrow. "Really, Katie? The worst thing that you could do? Don't be dramatic. And please don't spend the whole trip wallowing in self-pity and loathing. You'll make it down right unbearable." She finished, her tone blunt and authoritative.

The two girls sat atop Half-Blood Hill, underneath Thalia's tree. They each had a backpack lying next to them on the ground, filled with clothing and weapons. They were instructed to bring anything they would definitely need, but to pack sparingly since they would be moving from place to place often. No camp shirts on quests was a pretty serious rule, not that either of the girls were complaining. Sky wore jeans and a loose coffee colored top. She also had tall boots on. Katie constantly made fun of her for wearing them in the summer, but Sky liked them. First of all, they looked great, but also they were practical. She had a knife hidden in each one. Katie also wore jeans, but instead of boots she wore converse. She had a loose fitting t-shirt and a beanie.

"So I never got to ask you. Is everything okay with you? During Capture the Flag, when you froze, I just- I mean you hadn't had an episode in such a long time and I didn't mean to-"

"Katie, its fine. It's awful and terrifying, but it's fine. Really. I just have to deal." Sky said. Katie nodded, but eyed her friend suspiciously.

"Hey, guys! You ready?" Asked Chuck, making her way up the hill towards them. The blue highlights in Chuck's hair was amplified by the deep red color of her crop top. Her flat stomach was exposed for a couple of inches before her skin was covered once again by her dark denim cutoff shorts. "I'm so excited! I've already said good bye to Juliette and promised to iris message her often. But can you believe it? A quest! It's kind of just hit me."

The other two girls just stared at her. They had never seen her so excited. As she spoke her voice started to take on an accent. Irish, maybe. Before either one could ask about it.

Aaron arrived next, his bag slung over his shoulder and a gleam in his eyes. "Wait until you see!" Was all he said. Only moments later, Owen appeared with a backpack and a large predatory bird.

"Nope. No. You are not bringing your eagle. Are you crazy?!" Said Katie, standing up.

"Yeah, I'm going to veto the large carnivorous bird." Added Sky.

Owen looked at Chuck for support. She shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"We are going in a van and it might be dangerous to have Aita in there with us." She said, looking at her friend apologetically.

"She wouldn't be in the van with us! She would fly alongside of it!" He scoffed.

"Cause that won't attract attention." Said Aaron under his breath.

"No bird." Sky said again. Owen sighed and remembered the saying about picking your battles. He shrugged his shoulder and Aita flew off. In the back of his mind he knew that she would find them, so he wasn't too upset about it. He would let the others think that they won.

"Now that that is settled, who's driving?" Asked Sky, gesturing to the van at the bottom of the hill.

"I may be a summer camper, but I'm from New York City, so I never learned." Said Katie with a shrug.

"Well, I'm from L.A. and we can drive there. I got my license a couple of months ago."

"Oh, great! That makes me feel real safe knowing our driver is so experienced." Said Chuck sarcastically.

"I can drive, too." Said Owen proudly. Most year rounders never learned to drive until after they left camp for good, but he had asked Chiron so many times that the centaur had finally caved, having one of the counselors teach him last summer.

"Ok, well I can drive first and then we will switch off whe-" He was cut off as a figure came running over to them.

"I'm glad I caught you!" Said Garreth, catching his breath. "I just wanted to see you off." He said holding his hand out for his brother to shake. Owen clasped his brother's hand in his.

"Just hold down the fort until I get back. I won't be gone for too long, so you couldn't do anything too drastic if you do mess up." Owen told the younger halfblood. Gar's face fell at his brother's words, then changed to an emotionless expression.

"Yeah, sure." He responded. Owen turned and started walking toward the van. Katie placed a hand on Gar's shoulder.

"Don't worry about anything. He's just Owen, ya know? That's not how he meant it." She assured the son of Zeus. Garreth nodded.

"I'm not even mad, not really. He's still my brother even though he's an ass. I just want him, everyone, to come back." He said.

"You're a good guy, Garreth. Everything will be fine. Don't worry too much. And keep practicing your soccer skills! We'll team up when we get back and will crush your brother." Katie said with a laugh. Gar laughed, too.

"Will do!"

Garreth walked back down the hill toward camp. Katie headed the other direction, away from the only place she called home, to start a journey that she might not come back from.

(Driving)

They had been driving for hours. The monotony of the highway had lulled half of the questing party to sleep. Sky had dozed off first, head resting against the left back seat window. An hour or so passed before Chuck, too, had finally succumbed as well, head resting on Owen's shoulder. Owen quickly followed suit, his chest rising and falling methodically, mouth slightly open. Classic rock music played softly from the radio.

Katie hugged her knees to her chest, head resting against the passenger side window. She couldn't fall sleep, she was too anxious about what was to come and too scared of what she might dream. She picked her head up and looked over at Aaron. One of his hands was resting lazily on the wheel as he lightly nodded his head along to the music. Katie let out a breath.

"What's your family like?" She asked, resting her chin on her knees. Aaron looked at her for a moment, surprise on his face, before turning back to watch the road, his expression once again stoic.

"You don't have to do that."

"What?"

"Fill the silence."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "I'm not filling anything. I was just asking a question."

"And you don't have to try to 'get to know me' just so you can validate what we did. We made out; it was no big deal." He said. Katie turned around in her seat to make sure the three half-bloods behind them were still sleeping. They all were. She turned back around to face the front, not looking at Aaron.

"I'm not doing that either." She sighed. "Look, I have trouble trusting people. Sky, Felix, maybe Matt, but that's it, those are the only people I truly trust in the whole entire world. If we are going to be on a quest together, I'm probably going to have to trust you with my life. I need to know you to trust you."

There was an extended pause.

"What about Arthur?" Asked Aaron finally.

"What about him?"

"You don't trust him?"

Katie opened her mouth to answer, and then closed it. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. "I don't want to talk about him right now."

There was another long silence.

"I have a mom and a younger brother. My mom, well, you've probably heard of her. She's a famous supermodel." Aaron said in a tone that sounded almost bitter. His once lazily set hand gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Matthew, he's thirteen, he's- he's a little drastic. I control him as much as I can when I'm there, but when I'm at camp I just-" He stopped talking abruptly. "I worry sometimes, is all."

He expected Katie to say that his brother wasn't his responsibility or that all that matters is that he's trying or any other bullshit response he always seemed to get when he explained his family. Instead, she simply nodded.

"Yeah." She said thoughtfully. "I worry about them when I'm at camp, too." Katie seemed to be speaking, not to Aaron, but rather to herself.

"You have siblings?" He questioned. Again, she nodded.

"Carter and Becca. They're twelve and ten. Sometimes I worry about what Adam says about me when I'm gone. I worry about whether they'll ever start to believe him." She said, then started chewing on her lip once again.

"Adam?"

"My mother's husband."

"You're step-father."

"I guess."

Aaron sighed and said, almost wistfully, "Having someone, no matter who they are, is better than having absolutely no one."

"I guess." She said again, though this time the edge to her voice had softened and her tone was a thoughtful one.

There was another long pause, although this one was not uncomfortable.

"Tell me a secret about yourself. Something no one else knows." Said Katie, thoughtfully.

"No, we're not there yet."

"Oh, come one. One little secret!" When Aaron shook his head, Katie continued. "Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Plea-"

"Fine! Fine. I can Shadow Travel. There, you happy?"

"Really?!" Katie asked in honest amazement. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah, I just don't like telling people because they always ask you for something once the find out."

Katie looked at her hands. "No, yeah, I totally get that."

"So, what about you. You owe me a secret." Aaron said with a crooked half smile.

Katie thought for a moment. "It's kind of embarrassing." She started. "Maybe it's cause my dad is the sun God or whatever, but, uhh, I'm scared of the dark."

Aaron stole a glance at her, eyebrow raised. A couple of minutes went by before either of them spoke again.

"I'm sorry about you and Arthur." Aaron said abruptly. "I didn't mean for that to happen, I jus-"

"You didn't, like, take advantage of me or anything." Her words were rushed and awkward. When she spoke again her words were clearer, her tone serious. "I was an equal part in what happened. There are consequences for every choice we make."

"Still, I'm sorry how it ended between you two." He said quietly. Aaron then reached forward and turned the radio volume up slightly. Katie took the hint that the conversation was over and closed her eyes, willing herself to go to sleep. Praying to her father for a dreamless night.

(Driving part 2)

Owen and Aaron had switched about half an hour ago. He sat in the driver's seat talking with Chuck who sat in the passenger's seat.

"So, do you think we'll be able to do it? Finish the quest, I mean." Asked Chuck. Owen let out a low laugh.

"Of course! I'm here and I never lose." He said confidently. Chuck rolled her eyes.

"Have you had any dreams about the quest? I haven't. The Gods are utterly useless, as soon as we need something they do the exact opposite. No wonder they rely on a bunch of teenagers to do their dirty work. They're practically incompetent." Grumbled Chuck. She really didn't think highly of the Gods.

"I've been having this one dream. But I have no idea what it could mean. I'm flying, but I'm not moving, it's more like floating, really. I'm staring at a ceiling and it's dark. Then I feel something. It's like this buzzing in my chest and it feels so good at first, but then it gets to be too much. It's awful and painful and then all I can see is gold, like intense sunlight, everywhere." He had been talking very fast; he paused to catch his breath. "And then I wake up."

Chuck looked thoughtful for a second. "Yeah, I have no clue what that could mean." She said with a shrug. Owen just shook his head. He then checked his rearview mirror. In it he could see the three demigods in the back seat, all fast asleep.

"So what do you think about our little questing group."

"I think we're all good fighters. I think I may kill Merton before we get anything done and that would be bad since it would probably slow us down. Its good Sky is here. She's is reasonable and calm among all these strong personalities."

"Yeah, I figured."

"What?"

"That you would be glad that the daughter of Athena was here."

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, come on, Chuck. You like her."

"Yeah, she's nice."

"No, you like her. Or at least you're starting to. I've been able to tell since Capture the Flag that you're look at her differently. You thought she was interesting anyway because you like the challenge of quiet people, but now you know she is a little bit broken, too. It's only a matter of time."

She furrowed her brow, angry that he knew her so well. "Oh, shut up."

"I could help you take your mind off of it." Owen said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, no thanks. We tried that. It didn't work out."

"It only didn't work out because you met Juliette."

"It still wouldn't have worked out between us. You're too much like me."

"All I was doing was offering to be a good friend and distract you from your confused feelings." He said, feigning humility.

"Ok, now, I'm going to sleep. That bit you in the ass didn't it?" She poked him in the shoulder. And maneuvered her body in her seat to find the most comfortable position and shut her eyes.

Also if you guys want any specific monsters or to see something happen with a specific character or a flashback or anything just let me know! I will do anything I can to make you guys happy! Just PM me your request!

Kassidy :)x