Okay, I am finally done with this chapter. Hopefully it turned out well.

About two hours later the trio was driving north through Pennsylvania. Travis had taken to counting all the blue cars they passed in his boredom. So far he had gotten to forty. His eyes were peeled when suddenly their car jerked and swerved towards incoming traffic. He shot up in panic and turned his attention to Katie who was slumped forward on the steering wheel.

"Katie!" he shouted. "What the Hades are you doing?" He grabbed the wheel and steered them back into their lane.

Katie blinked and sputtered. "What happened?" she asked, suddenly wide awake. She pushed Travis away from her. "Get off me, Stoll; I am perfectly capable of driving."

"No you're not, you nearly got us killed. Pull over and let me drive."

"There is no way in Hades I'll let you do that. I remember when you crashed that golf kart two years ago."

"That was Connor's fault! You just drove us into oncoming traffic. We'd all be safer if you let me drive." He made a grab for the steering wheel.

"Um, guys," Nico said from the back, attempting to get their attention. They ignored him.

Katie pushed Travis away again and glared at him. "I'm just a bit tired. We'll stop for coffee at the next town."

Travis lunged for the wheel again. "We won't make it to the next town at this rate."

"Guys, you do realize we are swerving between lanes, right?" Nico asked. Neither of them paid him any attention.

"Shut up, Travis," Katie shrieked, elbowing the son of Hermes in the gut.

"Just let me drive!"

"No!"

A car horn blared and Travis and Katie both returned their attention to the road, only to see they were heading straight for a semi. Katie screamed and Travis seemed frozen in place. Nico momentarily thought of how ironic it would be if, after so many near death experiences with monsters, they were killed by something as normal as a car crash. Luckily, they didn't have to wait and see. He came to his senses just in time, leapt forward, and managed to pull the car out of the way moments before they became demigod pancakes.

He drove the car onto the shoulder and by some miracle Katie had enough sense to hit the brakes.

They all sat in momentarily stunned silence.

"Great going, Gardner," Travis mumbled.

That was not the right thing to say. Katie's face turned bright red. "If you wouldn't have been so immature and just let me drive, we would have been fine. If Nico weren't here we'd both be dead."

"If I weren't here you'd be dead," Travis grumbled, averting his eyes.

Katie nearly ripped his head off. "Is it my fault if I didn't get any sleep last night?"

"Just let me drive!"

"Katie, just let Travis drive," Nico agreed, stepping in before matters got worse. He hoped she wouldn't get mad at him too.

"But, Nico…."

"Travis has his license and you need to sleep. You won't be much use in a battle if you're so exhausted and it wouldn't be good for any of us if we died in a car accident because you fell asleep again. Besides, we're wasting valuable time arguing about this."

Katie pursed her lips. "Fine… I guess. You have a point, Nico. But, Travis, you have to swear on the River Styx you won't take your eyes off the road. And anything if happens to my car…" She left that to the imagination.

Travis shrugged. "Okay, I swear on the River Styx that I'll be careful. Happy?" Katie shrugged. "I don't see why you even care about this old car at all. It's not really your style."

She looked pretty offended. Her car may not have been the nicest vehicle, a red Volkswagen Jetta, but she had saved every dollar she earned for years to buy it. It was her baby. "Well, at least I have a car. Without it how can we get anywhere?"

"I could steal one."

Katie shook her head in exasperation. "Yeah, I'm sure doing something illegal would be a great idea."

Travis was about to retort when Nico cut in again. "Let's just go!"

About an hour later Travis was enjoying his victory. The road was pretty deserted now and the sun had just set, leaving the sky pink and colorful. Katie had passed out almost instantly when she got in the car and was still fast asleep now.

Nico had taken to looking out the window. They were in some forest and there were no cars passing… at all, which was definitely not normal. The son of Hades straightened up and watched the scenery pass by. He waited for a few more minutes but still no cars came. Something was up. He noticed an abnormally large amount of flowers.

"Hey, Nico, look at all the flowers. I bet Katie would like this if she weren't passed out," Travis observed. Nico hardly heard him. The wheels in his brain were turning and he was putting two and two together. Then it hit him.

"Travis, pull over to the shoulder," he commanded, abruptly.

"What? Nico, is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. It just seems like… Holy Hades, look out!" A random tree had sprouted right out of the middle of the road and they had no chance of avoiding it. The car crashed head on into the tree with a loud, terrifying crunch. Luckily, Travis had managed to slam on the brakes and they were all wearing their seat belts but the car was totaled.

They sat in momentarily silence. Nico was looking around for whatever threat was there. Trees don't just pop out of roads for no reason. He drew he sword and threw his door open (causing it to nearly fall of its hinges.)

Meanwhile, in the car, Katie moaned. Travis cringed. Her eyes opened and she blinked twice, as if expecting the image to disappear.

"Katie?"

"Travis Stoll, What have you DONE?" she shrieked. Travis recoiled.

"I am such an idiot. Letting you drive my car. What the Hades was I thinking?" she moaned.

"Look, Katie, I swear it wasn't my fault."

"Of course it wasn't. I trusted you, Travis, and you let me down. How are we supposed to save your brother now?"

"Seriously, a random tree just popped out of nowhere."

"What?" Katie looked out window to see, sure enough, that a sturdy maple was right in the middle of the road. She cursed in Greek. "I wonder who's playing with us."

"Who knows, but we're going to have to find out."

Katie's nostrils flared. "You're still not off the hook."

Travis smirked. "But you're not going to kill me." She rolled her eyes.

They both emerged from the car and drew their weapons. Katie flicked her gardening spade and it enlarged into a light, sturdy sword. Travis held a curved dagger in one hand and a rifle in the other. They went to join Nico..

"So, who wants to kill us?" Travis asked.

Nico shrugged. "Plenty of people, but I don't think whoever crashed the car had our death in mind."

"What do you mean?" Katie asked.

Nico sighed. "I'm pretty sure I know who's here… but I hope I'm wrong."

"That bad?" Travis asked.

Nico shrugged. "Some might say."

"I hope you're not referring to me," a voice said. Nico groaned. Standing before them was a beautiful young woman. She had long black hair and multicolored eyes that somehow resembled spring flowers. Her long gown depicted awe-inspiring scenes of springtime. She smelled of the first rain of the year and little birds were flying around her head.

Travis gaped at her. Katie was wide eyed. "Lady Persephone?" she whispered. The goddess of springtime flashed a smile.

"Hello, little sister, I hope you're well," she greeted.

Katie blinked at the goddess. It wasn't like this was the first time she'd ever met an immortal. But even when you were used to it meeting a god or goddess was shocking. "Um… well… I've been better." She answered, glancing at her car.

"I suppose you have, what with the world ending again, and that Stoll boy in danger, and," she glanced at Katie's car, as if noticing it for the first time. "I suppose I just damaged your car." Damaged was a bit of an understatement. More like totaled nearly beyond repair. The car would definitely cost a couple thousand dollars to fix. And she did not have a couple thousand dollars lying around.

"So you're not blaming me anymore, Katie?" Travis asked. She wisely ignored him.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now."

"I'm sorry to make you bitter, but it was the only way to draw your attention," The goddess explained.

Nico snorted and grumbled something inaudible to himself. Persephone pretended not to notice.

Katie looked up hopefully at her half-sister. "You can fix it, right?"

She frowned. "Well, machines really aren't my forte, that's more of Hephaestus."

"But you can fix it?" Katie asked.

Persephone shrugged. "I can try." She flicked her finger and the totaled car turned into a daisy. "Woops," the goddess mumbled.

"Holy crap, it's a flower!" Travis exclaimed. He seemed very excited.

Katie cringed, she would have burst into tears had it not been for the fact that she was afraid to offend the goddess. She couldn't completely hold it in though and she let out a little yelp.

Nico rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't have trusted her. Your car isn't the first thing she's turned into a flower."

The goddess shot Nico a warning look out of the corner of her eye. "I can fix it," she insisted. She flicked her finger and the flower burst into flames and then shriveled up into a pile of ashes. "Shoot," she muttered. For a few moments the flower switched back and forth between a daisy and a pile of dirt before she shrugged. "It wasn't a very nice car, anyway."

Katie looked at the daisy that had once been her beautiful car and groaned. Luckily, they had grabbed their packs because it looked like her car and everything in it was gone for good.

Nico looked up disapprovingly at his step-mom. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Persephone huffed. "You do realize that if I weren't so patient with you, you could end up like that car over there."

Nico merely rolled his eyes. "Been there, done that," he muttered.

Persephone's eyes flared but she chose to ignore his last comment. "I'm here to help you. Yet, I don't know if I should considering how rude you've been."

"You've been quite a help so far, smashing our ride and all," Nico said, sarcastically. He had nearly gone too far. Persephone's eyes were glowing and it was clear it was taking all her energy not to just disintegrate them, then and there.

Katie stepped in front of the glowering Nico. Even Travis had enough common sense to casually block the angry teen from view. "Excuse him, Lady Persephone; he is under a lot of pressure." Katie said, attempting to make an excuse.

Persephone raised an eyebrow. "You don't say."

"Well, yeah, we all kind of are. And you know, my brother's going to be killed by monsters so any help you could offer us would be greatly appreciated," Travis said. "And if you really can't help us, then we better be on our way because we have a lot of walking to do since, you know, you wrecked Katie's car." Persephone glared at Travis. Katie shot him a look.

She attempted to smile at the goddess kindly, though it may have come out more like a grimace. "What our idiotic companion means to say is that we have very limited time and we don't know what we're supposed to be doing or where we're supposed to be going."

Persephone nodded. "Wait, um, Lady Persephone," Travis began. "How come you're here? Didn't Zeus, put like, everyone from Olympus on lockdown?"

She smirked. "My father has no power to keep me locked up in Olympus for who knows how long. It's spring now. Spring is my season and the earth needs me." An ominous lightning bolt appeared far above them. Persephone glanced at it, looking slightly peeved. She turned to the boys. "You two stand guard," she instructed.

"Stand guard from what?" Travis asked. Persephone glanced in two directions but didn't answer. Instead, she grabbed Katie's arm and pulled her away.

"It may be good for me to get out of the open," she explained. Katie nodded. Persephone led her to a small but cozy cave that smelled of Lavender. The room was virtually empty besides a table with four chairs surrounding it. The goddess of springtime sat in one and gestured for Katie to sit beside her. She flicked her hand and a china teapot appeared. "Tea?" she asked. Katie nodded. Persephone poured both Katie and herself a cup then sipped it quietly. "Do you like it? It's my special lilac blend," she explained.

"Yes, it's delicious but, Lady Persephone, why have you come here?"

"Well, I've already explained, to help you."

"Lord Hermes sent you."

Persephone shrugged, neither confirming nor denying the statement. "He may have pushed me, but I was not forced into this."

Katie frowned, confused. "Then… why?" she asked.

Persephone rolled her eyes. "I swear, demigods these days show little respect," she grumbled. Katie hastily mumbled an apology. "But that's beside the point," the goddess continued. "By embarking on this journey you are all putting yourself in extreme danger. There is a very large chance that any of you could die. Now, I can't say I care too much for either Stoll boy, but if either you or the di Angelo kid doesn't make it back I will be in trouble. If you die my mother will be crabby and probably even angrier at my husband. If di Angelo dies Hades will go back into another fifty to a hundred years of nothing but sulking. And if both of you get yourselves killed then I won't ever get a break."

"So you're doing this for your own good?" Katie asked before she could stop herself.

Persephone looked momentarily offended but regained her composure. "That, and the fact that I care. I don't want you all to die. I've always liked you, Katherine Gardner, you have real talent."

Katie blushed furiously at the comment. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"Our time is limited so I suppose I should cut to the chase. You have to go to Minnesota, that's where the Stoll boy is being kept."

"Minnesota? But that's not really north of here, more west."

"It is the most northern state," Persephone countered.

"Where in Minnesota?"

"You'll have to find out for yourself, I've already said more than I should have."

Katie sighed. It wasn't much help but at least it was a lead.

"I'm afraid I cannot be of more help now. I can, however, find you a place to stay and give you more provisions. Remember, Katie Gardner, Minnesota. You will have success if you can learn to believe in your friends and work together. I wish you luck; you'll need it. I hope the fates are on your side."

The world was fading. "Good bye, young hero," the goddess whispered. Then everything was gone.

So, what do you think? Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone that did review. Minnesota is my favorite state and I'm always hoping that some book characters that I like will go there. But they rarely do, so I'm pretending that they get to. Thanks for reading!