A/N: I made this chapter quite long. I'm trying to shift the focus to the characters being weaker and learning to be deadly warriors. Did I pull it off well? Please leave a review once you've finished the chapter.

Argus, the camp's many-eyed guard and driver gave us a van ride into Manhattan, and from there we were left to find our own way to wherever we needed to go. I let a tiny amount of the gold dust go, and it floated off in the general direction of Florida.

"So what are we doing for transport?" Mark asked.

"Get a taxi?" suggested Amber.

"That won't cost much." I said sarcastically.

"Steal a car." Jule cut it, being as open to theft as any child of Hermes.

"That's illegal. We'll get the police coming after us." Mark replied logically.

"Meh." Henri commented.

"Hire bikes." Sam said.

"We probably need to go to Flordia, you want to cycle all that way?" I replied.

"Shadow travel." Mark said.

"No." Henri said, "Too many of us. Too far."

"Well isn't this quest starting brilliantly." I snapped at no one in paticular.

"You're in charge, you should have thought this through." Jule growled.

"Why don't you just f-" I started, but Mark stepped between us.

"Everybody calm down." he said, "No point in getting at each other's throats already."

"Yeah, that's for later in the quest." I said.

"Steal a car sneakily?" Jule suggested.

"Theft is wrong." Amber said.

"Shut up sunshine girl." Jule snapped angrily.

"But who could drive, even if we did get a car?" Mark asked, breaking up the fight a second before I was going to step in.

"I bet I could drive." Sam said.

"Bet I could reach the pedals!" I laughed.

"Oi!" Sam said.

"Just kidding, mate." I said.

"Stop flirting." Jule replied.

"Shut it." I growled at the Brunette.

"How about a bus?" asked Amber.

"Boring." yawned Henri.

"Well, if you want a fun route, Danger Mouse, feel free to suggest one." I said sarcastically.

This conversation was getting annoying.

"Danger mouse?" snorted Henri.

"I found a bus map." Mark called from twenty meters away.

We walked over and found the bus that would take us to New Haven, Connecticut, the logical first step in our journey. Trying to get as close as we could to Florida could mess us up if it turned out to be closer to us than I guessed, so going state by state was speedy enough but also allowed regular checks of the golden dust.

Fifteen minutes later we were sitting on the bus, spread across the five back seats and the double sets of facing seats right in front of them. I tucked my bag into the gap between the back row and the one in front and sat down in the left corner, Sam just in front of me. Henri sat in the other corner on his own with Jule in front and to the left of him. Mark reclined across two of the back seats and Amber was slightly to the right of me in the back row. Me and Sam talked for a while about our favourite video game, Forgotten, a shooter featuring a once famous hero coming back twisted and evil to find he had been forgotten, and setting out for revenge. We only stopped our conversation as we passed through Brooklyn. We got a hostile feeling, like all demigods did, but there was never any problems, so I just put it down to a silly superstition. After a while, I remembered that I had packed my tablet, and that I had Forgotten: Compact on it, a tablet version of the actual game.

"I've got Forgotten: Compact on my tablet, want a go?" I asked.

"Sweet! Thanks Tom." Sam replied excitedly.

"No problem." I said.

After a few minutes of silence, I decided to talk to Amber.

"Hey." I said.

"Hi." she replied.

"Sooooo... This your first quest?" I asked.

"Yep. You?" she said.

"It is indeed." I answered.

"Why did you choose me?" Amber asked.

I thought for a second.

"We needed a healer, and I knwo you more than anyone else from Apollo." I answered.

'And want to get to know you a lot better.' I thought without wanting to.

That was the second that the bus was hit hard on the left side and throw off the road. It crashed into a ditch by the side of the road, hurling everyone into the side of it.

"What the fuck was that?" I gasped as I pulled myelf to my feet and got my breath back.

My question was answered by the hand of a monster like the one from earlier, only flaming, smashing through the window and reaching for me. I quickly drew a dagger and stabbed it into the monster's hand, wincing as the flames licked at my fingers. It roared and tried to hit me, but Henri tackled me and shadow travelled me out of the bus and into the monster's shadow. It span as Henri vanished back into the now flaming bus, and it grabbed a tree from the other side of the road to the field. It swung it's improvised flaming club at me, and I hit the dirt. Well, concrete, but you know what I mean. Jule ran at the thing, stabbing a spear into it and leaping onto it, balancing through sheer luck. Her sword sliced though its jaw and it hurled her off. I slid in, slicing it's thigh with my sword. It hit me hard in the chest.

I would have screamed in pain as I hit the bus but all air was knocked straight out of me and I slid to the ground, tears in my eyes. The monster rushed me but an arrow hit it and it spun, roaring, to face Amber. I slowly clambered to my feet as Amber rushed out of the monster's way. Jule rushed in from the side and stabbed the monster in the side with her spear. I looked around for my sword and saw it five meters away. I jogged over to it and grabbed it as Henri shadow travelled around the monster, hacking and slashing wildy. Eventually the monster landed a lucky hit and Henri bounced away over the ground. The monster turned towards a mortal.

"GET THE MORTALS TO SAFETY!" I screamed.

I wondered what the mortals were seeing. An angry elephant? It charged the Mortal and Jule slid into it's way as Amber and a newly conscious Mark ushered the monsters away. The monster batted Jule off into an oak tree, which shook slightly, and a few leaves fell off. Henri leapt up to he mortal and they both vanished. I threw a knife at the monster, missing competely. I tried again and hit it in the arm. It roared and blew fire at me. I screamed in pain until someone grabbed me and rolled me over the ground until the flames went out. I opened my eyes and found myself looking into Amber's, which were blue like a tropical lago- I stopped myself and thanked her as she helped me to my feet.

I rushed the monster blindly, and leapt forward, swinging with no plan or pattern, arrows and bullets whizzing past me, and found myself tumbling through golden dust. I hit the ground and got to my feet. Me, Henri and Jule were kneeling, panting by the golden dust pile, Amber was tucking a strand of her behind her ear as she lowered her bow, and Mark was reloading his rifle, which he had kept in his bag. His bow had been broken in the fight.

"There's someone missing." I said.

"Meh." Henri gasped before passing out, worn out by using his powers.

"Sam!" I shouted.

There was a moan from the bus, and I climbed in through a giant flaming hole. Sam was lying unconscious, and the flames were near the engine. Mark ran over and together we carried Sam from the bus, as the girls grabbed everyone's bags and my tablet at a quick order from me.

"Well, shit." I said as our ride to New Haven exploded.

A/N: Well, how did I do? Please review.