A super long chapter today. I have been pretty busy up until today, but I have a couple days off. Also I don't own any mentioned TV shows. Just so you know.


Charlie's point of View

I'm not going to lie. I cried. I sat down in a pile of hay and cried. I didn't care that it was itchy. I was just really frustrated and scared. Have you ever been so stressed that it feels like the world might implode? This quest was important. Maybe it would be a better idea for me to let Eric lead.

'Time to dry your tears, girl. Get off your butt. Take care of the horses. Check the chariot.' I went through a mental checklist.

When I got to the chariot, I made sure everything was still stable. I realized one of the wheels was loose. I picked up my hammer. This would not do. I really needed a wrench.

'Creek.'

"Doing some maintenance?" Simon same over and leaned against the chariot as I kneeled next to the wheel.

"I might as well just be the fix-it girl. I'm dressed like one." My voice getting softer. I added with a mumble, "Eric is more fit to lead this quest."

Simon glanced at me, but didn't say anything. Sometimes it was better to not say anything.

"I need a wrench!" I growled in frustration.

Simon looked afraid to speak, but he did. "Like the one in your hand?" I glanced at my hand, then at Simon about to ask him if he knew the difference between a hammer and a wrench. But I didn't say anything when I swung my head back to my hand. A wrench sat in my hand. Not only was it the right tool, it was the right size. 7/8.

"What the?" I suddenly realized what my father had given me. I thought it was just a dumb hammer, but this was so much more useful!

Simon's point of view

I watched as Charlie's expression changed from anger to one of pure delight.

'She's cracked. She finally cracked.' I sighed and shook my head.

Thankfully Charlie wasn't looking at me, she was busy cranking the bolt's tighter on the wheel. Charlie was scary strong, but in a totally cool way. She finished and looked over at me and smiled with the biggest grin. "My dad is the best!" She twirled the wrench and then it was a hammer. Maybe I was the one going crazy. And then it dawned on me. Her dad was like the god of tools, so he could make a magic hammer that turned into other tools. That was cool. I was nodding as she was grinning and humming.

"So… Are you feeling better?" I should have kept my mouth shut. Charlie's face fell and I could tell she wasn't feeling better. That moment had been just that. A moment. She had forgotten her problems for just a moment.

"You can talk to me Charlie. Just think of me as like your, really good looking, totally cool, awesome singing best friend." I gave her my cockiest grin.

Charlie smiled. I sat down leaning against the wheel and patted the spot next to me. She sighed and sat down.

"So, what's wrong?"

She groaned and put her head on her knees. "I don't know. I guess I feel like everything is going wrong on this quest and to top it all off I froze out there. I froze. Heroes aren't supposed to freeze. Especially on a quest."

I started to laugh. I couldn't help it. "Everything is going wrong? Our entire lives have gone wrong. We fight monsters instead of going to scout meetings. One of our parents has the power to cause major catastrophes. Oh, and don't forget about the other parent who lives in Olympus."

I was happy to get a laugh out of Charlie for that one.

I went on, "all quests go wrong. Just ask Percy Jackson. We've all heard his stories. Heck he led us in the Battle of Manhattan. Lots of things went wrong. Things aren't meant to go right on a quest."

Charlie lifted her head and nodded.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok to freeze. Just remember, you've got to stop doubting, and fight when it's important."

She gave me a half-hearted smile and opened her mouth to speak.

That's when a yell pierced the air.

Charlie's Point of View

I unsheathed my sword, running out the barn doors. I could hear the blood pumping in my ears. "Eric!"

There was another giantes. Or maybe it was the same one. Weren't the monsters still reforming like crazy? Stupid, we should have moved camp once he was killed.

I ran forward. No thoughts other than I had to keep Eric safe. He was fighting the monster, but he was not making much headway. I watched as two arrows embed themselves into the back of the giantes. That just made it much angrier.

Slash, perry, slash. Eric had taught me how to fight and I needed to trust myself as much as I trusted him.

Eric turned to look at me.

'Stupid idiot. Focus on your fight.' I thought. Eric barely looked back up at the fight before he got sideswiped. Eric was sent flying.

"No!" I swung my blade, making contact with the big oaf. He turned to me and I slashed at him again. Rolling away I heard him cry out in pain. Eric was shooting fast, but precise. I could tell he was trying to hinder the giantes.

I turned to Simon, "Shoot for all his injuries!"

Apparently, I still hadn't learned about the whole turning your back on your opponent. I felt a large hand pick me up, knocking my sword out of my hand.

"Put me down you big idiot." The arrows stopped coming. Simon don't stop. I groaned. My right hand was free. I still had one trick up my sleeve. Or in my belt. If only I could- Gotcha.

"Simon, shoot the injury."

"But-" he started to protest.

"Trust me Simon. You won't hit me. Trust yourself." Simon might have acted cocky, but he could be just as uncertain as the rest of us.

I swung the hammer. It turned into a saw halfway through. I pulled when it caught on the giantes ear. It wasn't a clean cut, I didn't expect it to be. The ear was hanging halfway off. I felt the squeeze around my body tighten

"Shoot!"

Monster goo splashed at me when the arrow inserted itself in the giantes. For a moment, I didn't know what was going to happen. Partly because I was too focused on the fact that I was being squeezed to death. I fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"Charlie!" Simon was sprinting towards me.

"Where's Eric?" I asked between gasps.

Simon helped me up. I felt like I was going to throw up, but we had to get going. We couldn't get caught by another monster. Not in our condition. I picked up my sword and hammer, while Simon called for Eric.

"Simon, find Eric. I've got to get the horses hitched. We need to move camp." I spoke over my shoulder heading to the barn.

I hitched the horse in minutes. I had plenty of practice. I snapped the reigns bursting out of the barn. Eric was still lying on the ground, Simon was assessing him.

"Nothing's broken, but he's out cold. Help me get him in the chariot."

I dragged Eric in, only taking a moment to create a makeshift pillow out of one of the backpacks. I urged the horses on, faster than normal.

"Charlie?" I glanced down to find Eric trying to sit up. Simon had been tending to him. I slowed the horses and pulled them to a stop. It had been perhaps three hours since we fought with the giantes.

"Hey Eric are you ok?" I could tell from his face that he was not feeling so great. "I'm glad you're awake now," I offered.

Eric didn't say anything else. I offered to go look for a gas station or something. We had no clue where we were and honestly, we needed a map, and I was not in the mood for a PB sandwich.

It took me longer than expected. We were more than a couple of miles from the nearest highway. When I got back, both boys were quiet, not saying much.

"Idaho."

"What?" Eric and Simon asked in unison.

"We're in Idaho." Part of me was glad that we were so far from the danger. Another half of me was chiding myself for thinking all this was necessary. No one said anything and we finished our food. It was getting dark. I told the boys to go to sleep, there was too much going on for me to sleep.

Simon put his hand on my shoulder, "You didn't freeze that time." His smile was contagious. I nodded and told him to get some sleep. It wasn't long before I heard Simon snoring. I looked to Eric who hadn't moved a muscle.

"I'm sorry," Eric pulled his knees closer to himself. Almost like he was cold. I didn't say anything and just stared at him in confusion. "I'm cursed." He shrugged, "that's why I keep messing up. Every blade I wield is cursed."

"What?" Good job Charlie, that was real intelligent. I tried again. "How? Eric, what are you talking about?"

"I ticked off the wrong person and yeah, I'm cursed now. I'm trying to fix it." Eric stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. "I know I'm useless on this quest, I just didn't know it would be this bad. And I'm sorry for trying to take charge-" he stopped when I noticed my glare.

My gaze softened and I looked away. "I don't want an apology for either of those things. You were chosen before I even knew about this quest. I would have chosen you anyway. And you taking charge, that was a good thing." I had my dagger in my hand. Sticking it in the dirt, I drug it back and forth creating a small trench. "You should go to bed." I mumbled, breaking the silence.

Eric shook his head, "I couldn't sleep. Even if I wanted to."

There was silence again.

"Simon," Eric started. "He said you totally took charge when I got knocked out. He said you were great."

I rubbed the side of my ribs remembering, "Yeah, until I turned my back and almost got squeezed to death."

For a second Eric smiled, then he looked worried. "Did Simon take a look at you?"

I shook my head, "No. I'm fine. Maybe a broken rib, nothing too awful. Plus, you looked worse." I was smirking.

Eric rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. I got tossed like a sack of potatoes." We sat there, silence ensuing again, but this time neither of us broke it. We just waited.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I do remember Eric throwing a blanket over me.

Simon woke me up. He was singing something from a musical. It sounded familiar, like something my mom would have watched.

"What are you doing?" I asked attempting to sit up.

Simon held me down by my shoulder. "Healing you. Eric ratted you out." Simon was smirking. He went back to his singing as he did his healing magic. The sharp pain in my ribs slowly ebbed into a dull throb.

Simon looked exhausted. He could sleep on the way back to Kansas. Or wherever we were going. I wasn't quite sure. I had spent all night thinking about it. I mean the dove had lead us there, but that had been a total disaster.

Simon helped me sit up.

"Do you guys have any ideas what to do?" I asked.

"We could ask Achilles…" Simon suggested.

Eric came over from where he had finished putting the horses in their harnesses. "That's not a bad idea, but we don't have a demigod of the deadly decent."

I nodded, "Yeah, Nico would be super useful right now." I turned from Eric to Simon and back. "I have the son of the sun god and the son of the war god. What to do? What to do?"

"Maybe we could phone a friend?" Simon exaggerated the last words in an almost booming voice.

"Or ask the audience." Eric was laughing. I was missing something.

"Didn't you ever play a school version of that game show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'?" Simon asked.

I just looked at them like they were crazy. They sighed.

"I know what game I'm suggesting back at camp," Simon wiggled his eyebrows. They continued to joke back and forth while I sat wondering what to do.

I pulled out the map I had bought last night.

"What's that?" Eric and Simon piled behind me.

I gave them both a glance before turning back to my map. "It's a map. It was for some promotional deal, so it was free. It has enough important roads and highways all over it, so it could be helpful." I pointed to where we were at.

Simon pointed to Kansas and then at a path, already drawn in the map. "What is this?"

I looked all over the map. Nothing, but a legend with the different road signs. I flipped it over and started to read.

"Come visit 'Weapons Through the Ages' the traveling Museum. The exhibits will include both weapons and the armor. We will be showing you everything from spears to m-16s to armor and so much more." There was more, but I stopped reading, scanning through the pictures. There was no way. This had to be a joke. One, it couldn't be this easy. Two, it couldn't be this difficult. The armor couldn't be this easy to find. It also shouldn't be this hard to obtain. Sure, fighting monsters was hard, but when it came to mortals? Well, stealing was stealing, and they didn't tend to see the real threat. I didn't want to be the next kid "blowing up a bus" and then the press turn around saying I got "kidnapped". I didn't want to be known as a public menace. I didn't want to steal from a traveling museum.

"Look!" Eric pointed excitedly at a picture of Greek armor. It looked exactly like what I saw in my dream.

I had to steal from a museum.


Who noticed the nod toward one of Percy Jackson's first quests? Thanks for reading guys!