Katie woke up in the softest, most comfortable bed in which she had ever slept. She yawned and stretched before realizing something. She had no memory of how she had gotten there and had no idea where Travis and Nico were. She sat up quickly and looked around the room. It seemed to be a spring themed hotel suite that smelled of flowers. Her pack was against the wall and when she went to examine it she found it was now stashed with several more changes of clothes, two more packs of ambrosia, and ten drachmas.

She swept it up in a single fluent motion and was going to go find her friends. It wasn't that hard to do. She threw the door open and was greeted by a loud "Ouch!" Lying on the floor right outside her door was Travis Stool. Nico was passed out on the couch of the room and both their packs were in the corner.

"What are you doing lying on the floor right outside my room?" she snapped.

"Well, I was sleeping."

"Why were you sleeping there?"

"I have no idea, the last thing I remember Nico and I were…" Suddenly Travis stopped talking and his eyes went all googly. "Woah, Katie," he muttered.

"What the Hades? Travis, what are you staring at?" she looked down to see she was wearing nothing but a very short and revealing lacy nightgown. "What the…?" Nico, who had apparently been woken up by Travis and Katie's argument, coughed awkwardly.

Without another word Katie raced back into her room and slammed the door. She changed quickly and came out with a defiant expression on her face. "No one will speak of that," she commanded, glaring at Travis. He nodded quietly, wide eyed.

"Okay then, are you both ready to go?" Katie began.

"Erm… well," Travis muttered. Katie finally paid attention to what they were wearing and realized that both boys were outfitted in Pokémon pajamas made for little kids. She sniffled and tried to hide her laugh. "Shut up, Katie, you weren't any better." She glared at him and both the boys quickly went to change clothes.

Twenty minutes later the trio was sitting in a small diner that was in the lobby of the hotel they woke up in. Katie told them all about her conversation with Persephone. "So, basically we have to find a way to get to Minnesota."

They sat in momentary silence until Travis slammed his coffee down on the table and jumped into the air. His companions merely stared at him warily.

"Err… Travis, what are you doing."

"Katie, I just had an epitome."

"Don't you mean an epiphany?"

"Whatever!"

"What are you thinking?"

"Nico, can't you, like, shadow travel?" The son of Hades nodded wordlessly, not taking his eyes off his breakfast.

"Then bam, transport us to Minnesota right now. We can have this quest done before noon."

"I can't."

"Sweet!" Travis shouted, jumping up. Then his face fell, "Wait, why?"

"Well, I could if you two would like to spend the next three weeks in a creepy alternate universe."

Travis scrunched his brow together. "What are you talking about?"

Nico sighed. "Look, I've sort of gotten the hang of shadow traveling when it's only myself. But bringing two people would be super difficult. We could get stuck in limbo forever." Katie cringed. Travis scowled.

"Oh, come on Nico, you have an awesome super power. Let's just take the chance."

Nico glared at him. "Even if, by some miracle, we managed to make it to Minnesota I'd still pass out for about a week and might die."

Travis shrugged. "Travis!" Katie reprimanded.

"Could you two really get by without me?" Nico asked, with an eyebrow raised.

They both looked offended. "Hey! Of course we could," Travis shot back. Nico looked like he was going to laugh. "Well, I guess it would be a little bit harder…"

"I don't even want to think about that," Katie muttered. "We are definitely not shadow traveling because I don't think I could survive alone with you, Stoll."

"Hey, I have feelings!" Travis shouted.

"No offense," she added.

"And yet, somehow, I'm still offended."

Katie ignored him. "If we can't shadow travel how are we going to get to Minnesota?"

"I could steal a car," Travis suggested.

"No way, I don't want to get arrested," Katie shot back.

"We won't get arrested. I'm a child of Hermes! Come on, you don't give me enough credit." Katie glared at him. "Look, Nico is the leader of this quest. Let's ask him!" Both Katie and Travis turned to Nico who didn't seem happy with having to make the decision.

"I don't think we should steal a car," he finally said. "Katie may be right. It would be better to remain on the 'down low' than to become wanted criminals." Katie smirked triumphantly at Travis.

"But I'm a freakin' son of the god of thieves. We won't get caught. I'm a trained professional," he argued.

Nico shook his head nonchalantly as he took another bite of cereal.

"Fine!" Travis exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "How do you propose we get all the way to Minnesota?"

"If you want, I could give you a ride," a rough, deep voice suggested. They all glanced up from their little table to see an extremely buff man who seemed to be in his mid-forties. He wore a t-shirt and a ripped jean jacket over it that had a Jolly Rodger on the back. He was at least a foot taller than even Travis and was overall a pretty intimidating guy.

"Sweet, thanks!" Travis answered excitedly. Katie and Nico looked at the son of Hermes as if he was insane. The man gave a toothy grin and revealed a shining gold tooth.

Katie gave a nervous giggle. "Umm… could you excuse us for a sec?" she asked the man. Then, without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Travis by the collar of his shirt and dragged him into the nearest hallway. Nico reluctantly followed them.

"What the Hades are you thinking, Travis?" Katie asked, exasperated.

"Well, I was thinking that that guy was offering us a free ride west," Travis answered with a shrug.

"Travis, that guy looks like a thug," Katie answered.

"You shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

"We have no idea who or what he is," Nico stated. "But… he is offering us a free ride."

"Yeah, my point exactly!" Travis agreed.

"You've got to be kidding me, both of you," Katie reasoned. "He could be an ex-criminal or- even worse, a monster. How would you like it if we are driving down the highway and he transforms into a hydra? Plus, even if he is just a mortal, normal people don't offer a group of teenagers a ride half way across the country. You have to admit this is sketchy."

Nico sighed. "I know… but what other choice do we have?"

"I could steal a car!" Travis offered. They both shot him a look. "Look, guys, if you don't want to jack a car we should accept this golden opportunity. I bet Persephone sent it. Plus, even if he does try to pull something we aren't trained demigods for nothing. We could take that dude."

Katie sighed. "This is a really, really bad idea that will inevitably get us killed," she mumbled.

"But you don't have a better one," Travis finished, triumphant.

"I guess we might as well just go back and talk to him," Nico reasoned, knowing full well that they were making a mistake. Travis grinned and practically ran back inside the diner.

"Err, sir," Katie began. The man looked up at her and smiled, with his crooked teeth. It gave her Goosebumps. "You said you could give us a ride to Minnesota?"

"That I did, little lady. The name's Jed. I'm drive trucks and my latest shipment is off in Chicago. I could take you that far. I don't normally offer people rides but you three sounded pretty desperate."

"Man, thanks, Jed," Travis said, looking pleased. Katie exchanged a nervous glance with Nico who merely shrugged.

After they finished breakfast the teens followed Jed out to his huge truck. "Here's my ol' pride n' joy." He told them with a grin. It was a normal truck that you would see driving down the highway with a huge cargo box behind it. Katie swore she heard a loud crash from inside it and took an unsure step backward.

"This isn't a good idea," she whispered to Nico. He grimaced and gestured to Travis who was excitedly listening to Jed tell him all about how the truck worked.

"He's gonna get us killed," Katie hissed.

"When did you figure that out?"

Jed opened the door to the front of the truck and the four of them squeezed in. The front was just one bench and it was a tight squeeze, especially considering that Jed wasn't exactly skinny. Katie clutched her pack to her chest as they drove away and went through her escape plan in her head. If this trucker dude tried to pull anything she'd throw the door open and barrel roll onto the highway. Some kid from the Ares cabin had taught her how to escape from a moving car awhile ago so at least she had a small chance of survival.

They drove off onto the highway and Katie noted they were going west, which was good. Nico kept placing his hand on his pack where he kept his sword. She could tell he was uncomfortable too. Travis seemed to be completely at ease though. He was having a pleasant conversation with Jed about how he always wanted to drive trucks when he was little. Katie noted that he had a mischievous glint in his eyes which probably meant that Travis had already stolen anything the poor man had that was of any value. Great.

About an hour into the drive Katie was finally starting to calm down a little. Jed had turned the radio to some country music station that played songs she actually liked. Travis was jamming out, even though he always said he hated country. Nico had his head in his hands and she could have sworn she heard him mumbling curse words but other than that all was well. Jed was quietly humming along to the music. She thought they might have actually caught a break. Then Jed dropped the bomb.

"So, what are a bunch of demigods like you doing traveling halfway across the country?"

And the chapter is over. Here I introduce one of the few OC's, Jed the trucker. We'll learn more about my friend Jed in the next chapter. He makes me crack up. And no, Travis does not like him because he's all buff and intimidating. Travis likes him because he is easy to manipulate and steal from, a son of Hermes' best friend. This story is definitely not on hiatus. It's just on, may update next week , may update six months from now. So, sorry. Please review if you can spare a second. I love to hear what people think.