"Don't do it." Aricia begged."Please!"

"We need the Ares cabin, and they won't fight unless Clarisse does." Silena said calmly as she put on the armor she had stolen from her friend. "It's the only way."

"What if something goes wrong?"

"It's war Aricia; something can always go wrong." Silena murmured and laid a hand on Aricia's shoulders. "I'll be alright."Silena drew Aricia into a hug and held her there firmly. "You be careful out there Calf. I love you."

"I love you too big sister."

With so many regrets in her life, Aricia was thankful, and would forever be thankful that her last words with Silena had been those six. So many people never parted for forever on such precious words, but they had.

For three years Aricia's dreams had not been plagued by nightmares, but now all she saw when she closed her eyes was either Silena's bloody death or her mother trapped, caged like some animal. She had actually grown quite good at manipulating her own dreams (she'd asked several of the Hypnos kids to teach her) but now all her training seemed to be in vain.

Aricia felt Rahl gently nudge her awake. "Hey, we're here." He said and then dropped his voice. "You're cute when you sleep." He teased.

Hera's child yawned and playfully whacked his across his chest with the back of her hand. "Sorry, you must hate that I keep falling asleep on you."

"No, not even close." Rahl teased. "At least it's not like earlier, when you had nightmares."

Aricia shifted and sighed in discomfort. "I am sorry, it'd just….I'm scared."

"Gee, what jerk would ever blame anyone from being scared of going to the underworld?" Rahl whispered as Britani reentered the cabin.

"Umm are you two getting up anytime soon? We're like here."

"Yeah, yeah shut up." Aricia stood up and grabbed her backpack. "We're coming you yappy little poodle."

Britani's mouth dropped as Aricia brushed past her. Even Rahl couldn't hide his shock and awe as he heard what Aricia had said. The daughter of Hera however, didn't think twice about her actions as she strolled down the compartments and on to the platform where Clarisse was waiting for the three of them.

"Glad that ride is over." Aricia mumbled and cracked her back with a sharp twist in each direction. "The Great White North at last!" She exclaimed and zipped her jacket up a little closer to her chin. "It's been a while since I was last here."

"You've been here before?" Clarisse asked. "I thought….you know…" She dropped her voice and finished, "You were left in an orphanage in Boston."

"I was, but one of the families…one of the many families who attempted to make me a part of theirs, took me to Canada once. While here, I thought I saw my mother and even though I'm sure I was mistaken….I like to pretend that when I am here, I am with her."

"Hurry up!" Britani's voice appeared as she emerged from the train with Rahl in tow.

"I'm coming calm down." Rahl grumbled and stepped off on to the platform beside Aricia. "Okay, so now we need a ride to Quebec City."

"No, now we check in to a hotel for the night. Get some food, get refreshed and start off in the morning anew." Aricia said firmly.

"Good idea." Clarisse agreed gruffly and shot Britani a look that dared her to argue. "We'll all go get some rest and some food."

"Whatever." Britani sighed and began to reapply her lip gloss.

The four half-bloods checked in to a small bed and breakfast, renting out two rooms for the night which included a continental breakfast. The only problem was; who was going to room with whom?

"There is no way you and Rahl are going to room together." Clarisse told Aricia, thankfully when Britani and Rahl were elsewhere. "You're mother would incinerate me, and if she was alive so would Silena."

"Well, my mother and Silena aren't here." Aricia stated flatly. "I'd rather die than room with Britani, and I refuse to let that snake spend a single night with my boyfriend."

"Damn it Aricia there is only one bed in each room!" Clarisse spluttered. "You're mother…."

"I don't care!" Aricia hissed and suddenly grabbed Clarisse by her collar. "And I don't give a damn what….what…."

Clarisse took Aricia's hand away gently and said, "Yes, yes you do care. And don't lie to both of us and say you don't give a damn what Silena would have thought or said." The daughter of Ares smiled sadly. "You've lived your life doing what Hera and Silena would have wanted for you."

"Listen, Rahl and I aren't going to do anything…. inappropriate." Aricia promised with a dark blush on her cheeks. "I mean di immortals! My mother is the goddess of marriage, and even though I may live under the Aphrodite banner, I'm not letting my lust rule my mind."

"Alright, alright you two can share a room. I'll try not to kill Britani in her sleep." Clarisse joked.

Right as Clarisse's words died on her tongue the two demigods were unfortunate enough to hear Britani returning from the public bathroom. Her makeup was all retouched and reapplied perfectly, her hair done up in the latest style and she had even somehow managed to change her outfit.

"Where's Rahl?" Aricia asked.

"Who?" Britani asked in a bored tone as she checked herself in one of her multiple hand mirrors.

"Rahl, you know….the other member of this quest?" Aricia said impatiently.

"Ohhhh right him." Britani sniffed and snapped her mirror shut. "Oh he's somewhere."

"I'm right here." Rahl grumbled.

"Hey, where were you?" Aricia asked and gifted Rahl with a warm, wide smile. "We were getting kind of worried about you….well Clarisse and I at least were getting worried."

"You're sweet, but don't worry I'm a big boy." Rahl teased.

It was true, Rahl was at least six inches taller than Aricia was and had a well toned body from all the training he did. Aricia was in shape too, but her body was soft rather than hard and muscled. She wasn't weak, not in the least, just fair.

"Let go grab something to eat." Rahl suggested to the three girls. "I don't know about you guys, but I am starving."

"Same." Britani agreed, for once.

The four went across the street to a local tavern to sit and get some food while the sports games played on multiple televisions. The look of ice and blade caught Aricia's eye and she turned to see the Montreal vs. Boston game going on. Bruins were ahead by 2 goals already and she grinned like a loon.

The tavern erupted into excited gibberish as Montreal skated with possession over the blue line and took a shot on net. Without thinking Aricia slammed her fist on the table when the goal was thwarted and hollered. "Atta boy Tim Thomasssss!"

Everyone turned and glared at her. Had she been older, or a man she probably would have been beaten up and shot on spot. Clarisse quickly stepped in between Aricia and a possibly murderous angry mob. "She's kidding. Lost a bet with, wanted to see if you guys would chuck her in the snow for me."

Aricia grinned and raised her glass towards the television, as if she were toasting Montreal, rather than being the hardcore Bruins fan she was born to be. "Please don't kill me." She chuckled nervously.

People laughed and paid her no more mind. The waitress bent down close to Aricia and whispered, "Wouldn't recommend doing that too often; might die.'

"Sure thing."

A few minutes later the waitress returned and pointed across the tavern. "That table over there wants to buy you a drink."

The drinking age in Canada Aricia knew was 18, and she was barely 17 but she looked close enough. Besides, it's not like a drink would affect her like it would a mortal. "Uhh sure thanks."

She looked across the floor space to see four college students waving enthusiastically at her. There were two girls one blonde and one brunette who looked only a few years older than Aricia herself. The two boys they were with looked to be in their early twenties, but both had boyish faces and grins. They all were wearing a combination of Bridgewater State University college gear and Bruins apparel. They waved Aricia over and she slipped away from the other demigods who were watching different television screens.

"Pretty brave wearing that here." She commented and sat down at their table with a grin.

"Not as brave as you cheering for Thomas." One of the boys answered. He wore a Bruins hat and a gray Bruins sweatshirt. His shirt underneath read: Bwater Bears in black and crimson. "I'm Pat by the way. This is my good old friend Eric, and these two are Meghan and Lemoncups."

The blonde girl squealed and whacked Pat's arm. "Patrick, my name is Vicki thank you very much."
"Yeah okay Lemoncups. We'll be ready to pick you up off the bar floor in a few minutes." He turned to Aricia and winked.

Aricia's smile grew. It didn't seem like any of them were dating, just friends on a road trip from Massachusetts. It was nice that normal mortals could do that and not worry about being torn apart by monsters.

The second girl, Meghan wore a Lucic Fight Club tshirt and a #24 O'Reilly black and yellow hat. Her ponytail hung out from the end and bounced around quite a bit when she moved. Aricia pointed and said, "I love O'Reilly."

"Dude, that's her dad." Eric stated.

Aricia almost felt her mouth drop. When you're a demigod, people's parents don't usually impress you much. Unless of course you are Aricia and the father is one of the greatest hockey players ever. "Really?"

"Ha ha, no he's just saying that. But my last name really is O'Reilly. No knowledge of the relation though."

"Ari!" A whinny voice above Aricia snapped. From the way the boys suddenly went slack jawed, Aricia assumed it was Britani.

Aricia pushed her chair back reluctantly. "Sorry, nice to meet you all though."

They all nodded and waved. "Be careful on the streets at night!" They teased and tipped their black and gold hats. Britani practically dragged Aricia out in to the frigid night air, all the while complaining about….well everything.

"And I can't believe you had to go and make a scene like that! We could have been killed and it would have been all your fault."

"Whatever." Aricia grumbled. "We weren't, and you're welcome."

"OKAY!" Britani grabbed Aricia's arm and held on tight. "What is your problem with me?"

Aricia glared back. "Me? You're the one who uses every opportunity to shoot not only me, but everyone else down. Sure, I know I'm not the prettiest Aphrodite daughter but shut up already! The whole point of camp is to make everyone feel like they have a safe place, but all you and your master Drew do is make home unbearable and now you're dragging that poison on the quest!"

Britani stood silent for a moment before saying, "Well you go around acting like none of us in the cabin are worthy to clean your hideous converse sneakers just because you were Silena Beauregard's favorite. Yeah, I get it; you two were close even though you can't stand the rest of us and now she's gone so you hate all of us. Well, it's not fair!" Britani scrunched up and face as if she were trying not to cry suddenly. "Some of us loved Silena too!"

With that the daughter of Aphrodite stormed away before she would let the daughter of Hera see her cry. Surprisingly, Aricia didn't feel much guilt. Sure, maybe Britani had been harboring grief all these months, but she followed and obeyed Drew like a puppy. Worse, Aricia had heard Britani speak out against Silena with her own two ears.

Snow began to fall from the clouds above. Aricia looked up at the stars, which were so easy to see in Canadian skies. She sighed and looked away. "What do I do now?"