Author's Notes: Here's chapter 19. Been a little stressed out lately with regents and all that jazz. For the people who care, the next chapter in Nari's Story is out as well.

It was one day later that we arrived in Las Vegas Nevada. Since neither Landon nor Nico wanted to fly, we had to travel by train all the way across the United States. Oh well, at least we were able to get here in only one day.

"Finally, we made it to Nevada. Maybe now we can finally get this quest rolling." Brent had become insufferable, most likely due to his recent embarrassment in the last battle.

"Oh shut it Brent. If you say one more thing, I'm going to hit you." Annabeth had said what was on all of our minds. Nobody was in the mood to listen to him anymore.

She took out her laptop, "According to Daedalus' computer, he has a workshop in the Mojave Desert. If we go there, we might find some useful weapons for anyone who doesn't have weapons yet."

I nodded my head, "Agreed. We'll go through the Mojave Desert in search on Daedalus' workshop."

Everyone nodded, even Brent. During the last battle, he had broken his celestial bronze dagger, so he was in dire need of a new one.

We left the train station in search of a supply store. We came across a giant store called Walmart, which claimed to have everything we needed.

"Ok, Percy and Annabeth, you two go look for bottle water and sea shells. David, Nico, and Brent, you three go pick out foods to eat. Landon and I will find gather any miscellaneous things that people may need, like deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, things like that."

Annabeth grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen out of her pocket, "Here Landon, these are the brands of deodorant, body wash, and shampoo I use. Make sure to get these exact one. I don't care about the scent."

Landon took the paper, "Got it."

"Alright everyone, we have one hour to shop. It's 2:30 pm now. When you have everything you were assigned to get, meet up at checkout station twenty-three. That's where we'll use Ryan's card to pay for everything." Percy was beginning to sound more and more like an army general.

Everyone nodded and went there separate ways, leaving me alone with Landon.

"I'm sorry we never got a chance to start our session. Maybe after we finish in Nevada we'll have some alone time." I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He just shook his head and smiled. "I don't mind waiting. But while we're here, maybe we should pick up some more condoms and lubrication, just to be safe."

I nodded my head. Those were the two things we didn't need to run out of. "Alright, let's start our shopping." I grabbed a shopping cart and we headed over to the beauty aisle.

Landon picked up a thing of deodorant, "This is the brand I like to use." He placed twelve sticks of deodorant in the cart. "Two for each boy." He went around looking for the brand that Annabeth had told him to get. "Here it is." He picked up two sticks of deodorant for Annabeth. "Alright, next stop, dental care aisle."

We walked down two aisles and found the dental care. I picked up seven toothbrushes, all different colors, and placed them in the cart. "There, now everyone has a different color toothbrush."

"Very cleaver Ryan, now nobody can claim that they don't have a toothbrush. Ok, what's next?"

"Well, we have dental and odor control. Why not get the more erotic things next?"

Landon came up behind me, "That sounds like a plan, but do we actually need them? You said that you still have like four left, right?"

He mentally checked himself, "I do. Green, orange, yellow, and purple."

"Then I don't think we need to buy any more yet. Let's use at least three more before we buy some more."

"That sounds just as good, but now what do we do?"

I ran through the checklist I made in my head. We already got the deodorant and dental care. "We still need to get body wash and shampoo."

Landon nodded, "That's right. It's even on the list I checked." He pulled my hand, guiding me towards the soap aisle. "I use the same brand of shampoo and conditioner as deodorant. It's just easier to remember." He chuckled mildly.

"That makes sense." I picked up nine bottles of body wash and five bottles of shampoo. "We can all share shampoo; nobody needs their own bottle of that considering none of us have really long hair."

"Agreed. So, how much longer will we be here?"

I looked over at a clock hanging on the wall. It read 3:10 pm. "We still have twenty minutes until we need to leave. What do you want to do?"

"That's not too long of a wait. How about we go up to the front and wait for them? They may be done with their shopping too."

I nodded, pushing the cart to the front of the store.

We past by some very interesting aisles along the way with some very interesting people in those aisles. One aisle had a couple just making out for everyone to see. Another was an empty aisle that contained the condoms and other things needed for sex. The funny thing was, right next to the condoms were pamphlets talking about the dangers of sex and how people should just wait until they're married. Those made me laugh for a few minutes.

We made it to the front of the store and saw Percy and Annabeth waiting near the cash register.

Annabeth was the first one to notice us. "Hey guys, you done?"

"Yeah, how about you?" Landon was leaning up against the cart.

"We grabbed five cases of twenty four packs of water. In total, that's one hundred twenty bottles of water and we also grabbed a cooler with ice to keep them cold."

"That's perfect, but what about sea shells? Those are good for both of us Percy."

He lifted a giant bag of seashells off from on top of the cooler. "Oh, I think I found sea shells Ryan."

I laughed, "I can see that now." I hugged Landon, "So, have you seen David and the rest of the group?"

"Last time I saw them, they were going around picking out many different foods to eat. By the way Ryan, how do you plan on us getting through the desert?"

Shit, I forgot about that. "Well, we'll go…buy a car. That'll get us through the desert."

His eyes widened, "You're going to buy a car!"

"Yeah, why not. If anything it'll give us a way to get home after we complete the quest."

Annabeth nodded her head. "It's a good idea. There's just one thing that's been puzzling me. What's the actual quest we're going on? I mean, I know we have to go through the desert and find friends, but what exactly are we accomplishing with this quest?"

I started to think. What exactly were we doing on this quest, aside from finding new campers? "I…don't really know. The only thing I can think of is that we're helping to revive Kronus by bringing him his next puppet. Is it possible that the quest was a grand prophecy? I mean, we found David, but what if he's not the right person we were supposed to find. What if we're on this mission right now for nothing?"

Landon cringed, "If that's the case, I say we contact Chiron and get his opinion."

"I agree." Percy reached into his pocket and fished out a gold Drachma. "Where do we go to contact him?

I grabbed his hand, "Come with me, we'll go outside and message him. You two stay here and wait for the rest of the group."

Landon and Annabeth nodded their heads and I pulled Percy outside Walmart.

We went around back and I pulled out one of the seashells from the bag Percy picked up. I threw it on the ground, creating a small squirt of water shooting into the sky and creating a rainbow. "Percy, make the call."

"Right." He threw the drachma into the rainbow. "Oh goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering." He flicked the coin into the rainbow and it disappeared. "Chiron at camp half blood."

The image calibrated and we were faced with Chiron standing in a field, training some Apollo children who didn't know how to use a bow.

"Chiron!"

He looked over at us and smiled. "Hello boys. How's the quest coming along?"

We looked at each other, "We're a little confused. What exactly are we doing on this quest?"

He looked away, "Let me think. The words of the oracle often have hidden meanings." He stood there for over five minutes, making us wait for him. Suddenly, he turned back to us with a smile on his face. "I've got it. Your quest is to figure out if Kronus is trying to revive. If he is trying to revive himself, you will be first to find out."

I thought about it. His reasoning did make sense. "So this is just basically an intelligence gathering mission. We aren't doing anything too dangerous."

"I would bet against it. This mission is either going to be a dud mission or this will start another titan-god war. I pray to the gods it's the first choice."

"So do I. I don't want to fight another war like that. We lost too many good friends." Percy tried to hide it, but I saw him wipe a tear away. "So let's go back in and tell the rest of the group."

"Alright, I'll talk to you another time. Keep me posted if anything about the prophecy comes true."

He was just about to wave his hand threw the message when I remembered David. "Wait Chiron, something about the prophecy might have come true. We met a new demigod named David while in New York and we are in a desert right now, or at least a state with a desert in it."

Chiron's face became worried. "Thank you for telling me. It seems that your quest is starting to come true. If someone leaves the group while you're in this state and you meet someone else, you must call me so I can inform the gods. In fact, let me contact one goddess that might be able to help you, or at least her disciples could help you."

"And which goddess is that?" My curiosity was starting to get the better of me.

"Artemis and her hunters. I'll tell her to meet you in…where are you again?"

"Nevada."

"Right. I'll tell them to meet you there. She's a very good friend with Annabeth and Percy here and you'll also get to meet Thalia."

"Who's Thalia?"

Percy laughed, "She's a daughter of Zeus and very good friend of ours. She used to be in the pine tree that guards the camp but when we retrieved the Golden Fleece, she was revived. I have a feeling you'll get along with her."

Chiron nodded his head, "Right, I'll let you two continue with your quest. Just remember to keep me posted and be on the look out for the hunters of Artemis."

"Got it. See ya Chiron." I waved my hand through the message and Chiron vanished. I turned to Percy, "Let's go."

He nodded, "Right." We walked back into the store and saw the rest of the group waiting near the cash register. "Good, we're all ready to leave."

"We've been waiting for you to get back." Brent gave us his usual attitude, which was really starting to get on my nerves.

"Anyways…are we ready to get going?" David was trying to be a peacekeeper. He and Brent had become friends since he joined the group. I think he may even like Brent, although he really only wants Percy.

"Yes, we're ready. After this, we're going to a car dealership to purchase a car or two to make it through the desert." I took out the miracle green card out of my pocket.

Brent and David's jaw dropped. "We're getting cars. Why not get one car for each of us. Wouldn't that be smarter?"

"Not really. The prophecy said that one person would leave the group in a valley of sand. Giving everyone a separate car would give the traitor an easy way to escape. Each car must have at least two people in it so that no one person can leave."

Brent huffed a little, but realized that this was a smart idea and stopped himself. "Alright, let's just cash out and get out of here."

We all nodded and pushed out two carts full over to the cashier.

When he noticed how many things we were purchasing, he almost had a heart attack. "Are you sure you kids can afford all of that?"

I stepped up to the front, "If we weren't sure, would we be buying all of this?" There was a long silence, "I thought so."

We created a system. One group loaded the food and things onto the conveyor belt and the others were at the other end bagging things and replacing them in the carts.

When the last item was scanned, the cashier just stared at his screen. "Your total is four hundred seventy three dollars and fifty six cents. Will that be cash, credit, or debit?"

I handed him the card, "Whatever this counts as."

He slid the card through the scanner and the familiar green infinite sign came up across the screen. "Oh my god," He looked at me and then back at the card. "I'm sorry for doubting you sir. Is there anything else I could interest you in?"

"Actually, do you know of a good car dealership around here?"

He nodded, "There's a dealership right down the street. It's not even a mile away."

"Thank you sir." I took my card back, "Alright, let's go to this car place and pick out some cars." I turned back to the cashier, "We'll be borrowing these carts for a few minutes."

"A…all right."

I nodded and started pushing the cart out of the store.

When we got outside the store, Percy stopped us right in front of the story. "Alright, are we really going to push these carts all the way to that car shop?"

"Would you rather carry all the bags almost a mile down the road? I know I wouldn't."

For once, Brent wasn't complaining. In fact, he was abnormally quiet. He just stood next to his cart and kept his mouth shut.

"I guess you're right. Let's go and find this place." He grabbed his cart and started pushing it, with all of us entail.

We arrived at the car dealership and let me tell you, it was a dump. There were tires scattered all across the ground and piles of scrap iron all over the place.

"Man, this place is a dump." Landon stood next to me, holding my hand.

Annabeth took out her laptop again. "I want to see how much farther we need to go to find Daedalus' work shop." She sat down on a pile of tires and booted up the computer.

I pulled Landon's and Percy's hand, "We're going to have a look around for someone. Maybe we can find at least a decent car to purchase."

Percy smiled, "Alright, I'm coming." He leaned down and kissed Annabeth on the cheek, "See ya in a few."

She smiled but never took her eyes off the screen.

We walked into the tiny building, but there was nobody inside. "Hello. Anyone home?" Again, silence.

"I take it nobody's here." Landon picked me up and kissed me lightly on the cheek. "Except for us."

Percy laughed, "You two only think about sex, don't you?"

I turned to him, "Like you don't, Mr. Peeper."

His eyes squinted and a frown came across his face, "Will you ever let me live that down?"

Landon smiled, "Nope."

Percy closed his eyes and tried to walk away, but when he started to walk, he tripped and knocked over the desk. "Ouch."

I started laughed, "Oh karma, you do always come around." I walked over to him, "Need a hand?"

He nodded, a smile on his face. "Thanks Ryan."

I lifted him up and when he was off the floor, I noticed something on the ground. "What's that?" I bent over and pushed some of the papers aside, revealing a symbol on the ground. I took a closer look; it was a Delta sign, the symbol of Daedalus. "Percy, come here and look at this."

He bent down next to me and froze. "That's a Delta sign." He looked around the room, "This is Daedalus' workshop. We found it." A smile came across his face. He ran outside screaming, "We found it! This is Daedalus' workshop!"

I stood up and smiled, "Well, that's at least one thing we found one thing we were looking for."

Landon pulled me in, "Yeah, now this quest is starting to get interesting."

Annabeth ran inside the building. "Is it true? Is this Daedalus' workshop?"

I pointed to the Delta on the floor. "See for yourself."

She ran over and sank down to get a closer look. "This is the mark of Daedalus. This is it." She started pushing aside the scattered papers until she found another Delta mark on the floor. "This place has three marks to open the actual workshop. Help me find the last one."

I started looking around the room, scouring it for another triangle.

Percy came back in, "You guys, Brent's gone."

We all looked at him. "What? He's gone!" I knew that boy was a jerk, but I honestly didn't want to believe he was the traitor.

"Yeah, but that's not the only thing. So is David."

My jaw dropped. I didn't think that David would leave as well. "Are you sure they're both gone?"

"Positive." Nico walked into the room, "I always had my suspicions that Brent would be the traitor, but David shocked us all. I went around back to go to the bathroom and when I returned, they were both gone. I yelled for them for a couple minutes, but I got no response."

I ran my hand through my hair, "Damn it, how didn't we see that happening?" I slammed my other hand against the wall. I looked over and noticed that something was glowing under my fist. "Annabeth, touch the other two marks."

She nodded and touched the remaining two Deltas. A tremor shook us all and the people standing fell to the ground. "You found it Ryan. You found the third mark." She hugged me while we were on the ground.

The floor opened and reveled a staircase.

Percy stood up and stabled himself. "Let's hurry up and gather some weapons. If we hurry, we can find them." He ran down the stair and we followed him.

We arrived in a very large room filled with many different types of technology and machinery.

"Whoa, this place is huge." Annabeth was in marvel over the piles of metal all around.

"I know." My mouth was hung open. I couldn't believe all the machinery.

We went looking around for new weapons. Landon found a sword and a mini shield. Annabeth took another bronze dagger to match her other one. Neither Percy, Nico, nor I took anything because we already had the perfect weapons for us.

Suddenly, we heard something fall from a part of the workshop that we hadn't been to yet.

"Someone's here." Annabeth drew her daggers and got in a fighting stance.

I took out my fork, "I'll go find out who it is." I walked over to where the sound was and found a girl sitting on the floor. "Hello miss. Who are you?"

She looked up and I froze again. "Hello Ryan. I finally found you."

No, no, no, no, it couldn't be her. She should be either dead or ancient. "Is…is that you?"

She stood up, her light brown eyes filled with lust. "It's me Ryan."

I teared up. Why of all people did it have to be her? It was Tammy Finnegan, my ex girlfriend from camp in the 1940's.