"It's a Manticore!" Andrew yelled, pulling out his sword and backing away from the mighty beast. Argus, who Eirene thought unconscious quickly got to his feet and hurried away.

"What the hell is a manticore doing in New York?" Connor also pulled out his sword and held it in front of him as he attempted to jab it in its toe. It bucked, throwing Connor across the street and right into a pole.

"Connor!" Eirene screamed, attempting to run to his side but was held back by Andrew.

"He's fine, just let him be. We have to take care of this monster first…" He cursed when he looked around and saw the amount of passerby's screaming and pointing. He had no idea what the mist was showing them, maybe a giant elephant attacking a couple of teenagers. "What in blazes name a Manticore is doing here is beyond me…"

"What do you mean?"

"I swear, don't you know anything? Manticores are higher upper power demons. They reign in Hades, and never leave unless during a time of extreme war or by a direct order of Hades."

Eirene stared at him, and then back at the beast. At the moment all they were doing was running from it, as it kept spitting out a foul-coloured liquid that melted everything in its path. It was true that this type of demon seemed out of placed in such a environment but to spend all their time wondering what it was doing here would be foolish, as it would continue destroying the town if they didn't conquer it. Connor was beginning to stir, and Andrew suddenly took a running-start towards the beast and leaped from a car unto its tail; slicing the telson in one clean motion. Connor also charged towards it, avoiding being smacked sideways as the beast swung its claws his way. He proceeded to stab the beast's ankle, attempting the severe it in half. The beast stomped around, trying to throwing off Andrew who was bucking against its tail like he was riding a bull, and grabbing at Connor who kept avoiding his swipes and stabbing its hand with his sword.

Feeling quite useless, Eirene threw her ring in the air and caught it as a sword, activating her shield and running towards the beast herself. Though her venture was cut quite short when the manticore simply picked her up from the middle of the road and held her over its lips; The reaction from the boys was almost immediate, she could hear her name being chanted from them both as she struggled to be released from the monster's grip, but also trying not to fall into its mouth. She suddenly imagined how this must look, on her first quest and already seconds away from being killed by the first monster they encounter. A damsel in distress, they would call it. The thought of it sent fury coursing through her veins and she was suddenly burning in ways that did not harm her but the beast instead. It felt the heat from her skin and let go of her with a yelped of pain. And Eirene fell; she fell right into the beast's mouth.

Connor yelled and Andrew was thrown off the Manticore's tail when the shock of what had just happened distracted him. His head hit the pavement and he groaned as he reached and felt his head for blood. But he had no time to worry about himself and his injuries; Eirene had just been swallowed by the Manticore and was probably being digested by its toxic stomach acid.

Connor ran over and helped him get up. Without time for formalities, he pointed at the beast and practically spat. "It's eaten her! She's dead, how're we supposed to kill that thing?"

Andrew brandished his sword. "Celestial bronze, if we can reach its heart—what the hell is it doing?"

Connor turned around and saw that the beast's stomach was glowing, a king of greenish colour that got brighter and brighter until finally it busted, unleashing a wave of energy so strong that the boys had to hold onto a pole to refrain from being blown away. Their eyes were closed and once they were able to open them they saw Eirene lying on the ground in the spot where the Manticore once stood. Connor was the first to react as he ran towards her, Andrew following behind. She was still lying on the ground when they reached her, arms splayed over her head and eyes closed.

"E-Eirene? Are…are you alive?" Connor beckoned.

Her eyes snapped open and were glowing a vibrate green, momentarily rendering him speechless. Andrew came up behind him, demanding to know what had happened.

"Blimey, what did you do? Did you, you, puncture its stomach or something?"

Eirene blinked, her eyes returning to blue. The boy's faces were a mixture of shock and horror. Though they were badly battered, they both had multiple bruises and cuts on their faces and their clothes were tattered. Andrew's hair was matted with blood and Connor had a split lip. They looked like they had just emerged from battle, while she imagined she looked like she had just sat in the sidelines. "I'm sorry?"

"We thought you were dead!" Connor reiterated.

"Why would you think that?"

"Because we watched the Manticore swallow you whole!"

"Oh. Well I'm not." She sniffed the air. "Does anyone else smell pretzels?"

Connor started to laugh at the same moment that Andrew collapsed next to her muttering 'she's mad' under his breath. "What?" She questioned, staring at the laughing fit that was Connor and Andrew who was lying next to her. "What is it?"

"You're ridiculous. Are you kidding me?" Andrew sat up, suddenly angry. "You just busted from the stomach of a Manticore, completely killing it in the process and the first thing you notice is the ruddy smell of pretzels?"

Eirene felt at her suddenly growling stomach. "I haven't eaten since yesterday." In honesty, Eirene was purposely acting this way to draw attention from what she'd just done. She gazed at her hands, flexing them as she remembered the feeling she had just experienced. She had never done it before, never thought she could. But she had been so angry and so in distress when the monster had swallowed her that her skin started to radiate energy so toxic she could feel it coursing through her, and thought that if she didn't let it out she'd explode. She knew that she would not die if she stayed here, the stomach acid she was standing in didn't even register on her skin and she felt quite dry. So she'd placed her hands on the layer of the beast's stomach and channeled all her energy into them. The results: well they had seen it. She had practically imploded the monster from inside, and something in the back of her mind told her she had been channeling the power of the Styx.

Connor stopped laughing and clutched at his ribs. "Ow ow, okay ow. So I think my ribs are fractured. Can someone reach into my bag and pull out ambrosia?"

Eirene moved away from Andrew and assisted Connor in retrieving the ambrosia, which he ate gingerly. A few moments later, he straightened up and beckoned towards the pretzel cart at the corner of town. "Let's go get some hot pretzels."

Eirene nodded and almost followed; until she got the nagging feeling she was forgetting something. Then as she allowed the noise of the background seep through, she realized the crowd of people staring and pointing at them. Undoubtedly, mortals couldn't see monsters or a demigod's power in action. They would've seen something else, and it must've been pretty bad for them to be reacting this way. "Wait, you guys!" Andrew and Connor turned around. "What are we going to do about them…?" She pointed to the wave of people who were pointing at them and talking loudly. "We can't just leave, can we?"

"Of course we can!" Connor exclaimed. "You see, in these situations it's best to leave quickly before we can get caught…"

Andrew used the back of his hand to smack Connor lightly on the back of his head. "Always wanting to run away like an idiot, we've already been caught." He nodded his head in the direction of multiple officers who were approaching the teens swiftly. One of them walked up directly to Eirene; he was a short man who was pudgy with a fat black mustache.

"What is the meaning of this? Can you kids explain yourselves—?"

"Officer! Please, no need to worry. We were only doing our jobs." Andrew shoved Eirene out of the way and flashed what looked like an I.D. to the officers, except it was blank. Eirene was about to ask him what he was up to until the portly man seemed to nod with understanding.

"Hmm, I see…well then. Everything seems to be in order. I'm assuming we take it from here?"

Andrew nodded, and the officers cleared out. Soon they were telling all the onlookers to keep walking and get on with their days and Andrew gestured to the pretzel stand.

"Now we can eat."