Sorry guys! Summer has gotten to me DX. And I don't use Fanfiction much... My RP gets in the way of it. After school starts (i.e in a week), I'll be more active on here! I just... have a really messed up RP. I smashed two of my iPod's once because RP feelings turned into Real Life ones... But you don't want to hear about that c:. On with da chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own nothing.

AJ's POV:

Crap, I think.

I feel arms claw at my shoulder — Will, no doubt trying to pull me back — but I run towards the scream, Bay's scream.

Why am I trying to save her... again? I think as I run in the cold air. I guess cause once together, always together...

I'm so absorbed in thought, I don't even notice it until I hit her and we both fall onto the ground, Eme and I.

"What are you doing?" I ask her.

"I heard a scream!" she says peppily. Leave it to her to make even looking for someone screaming seem peppy.

"Where are Mac and Bay?" I ask again.

"They're still asleep," she shrugs like it's no big deal.

Oh... it was the cyclops, not Bay... trying to divert us apart and kill us individually. While at camp, I'd heard a story like that coming from one of the senior campers. Cyclopes use their voices as a distraction to eat the heroes individually. Huh. Cool, I guess.

Eme looks me in the eyes. The first thing I notice is fear, not her usual bright gleam she has before doing a show. But also something I've never seen. Complete determination.

"Cyclops..." she whispers.

I nod. Then... she slaps me on the arm. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't want to put you through more danger than we're already in!" I say, desperately wanting to get her away.

She rolls her eyes. "I'll go get Mac and Bay. Doubt they would wanna miss a fight." She laughs lightly and even my lips tilt up in a smile. When she walks off, I get the feeling I'm floating.

I snap myself back to reality. Focus!

I walk the rest of the way to the back of the train, which is about thirty paces to be honest, and force the door open. I'm nearly jerked out the door by a gust of wind, and would have been if I hadn't caught my grip on one of the bars on the window.

I turn around to hear feet stomping, Bay muttering curses under her breath - really, my mom would have put a bar of soap in my mouth if I'd said half of what she said - and a tired looking Mac. Eme seems horrified about the language Bay is using and keeps snapping at her to shut up.

Bay and I decide we'll go first, then Mac and Eme will jump together.

I lock hands with Bay and jump out into the cool night air. Quickly, I see the ground rushing towards us, the train disappearing into the black background. I wrap my arms around her waist and hit the hard ground.

"You okay?" I ask. Bay nods, but looks a bit shaken.

"I'm fine too, thanks for asking." Eme says sarcastically behind me. We can already see Ray and Will, swords drawn, fighting against the cyclops, a giant shadow in the cool air.

Eme tosses her bow off her shoulder, an arrow already notched and ready to shoot, Mac draws her knife, Bay summons a purple fireball, and I notice its raining lightly, so her choice of weapons might not be the best. I draw my knife, and together we attack the monster.

"This is the beginning!" Eme shouts, pulling the arrow back to her cheek and shooting a nearby tree. Ray turns around and looks a little worried.

"Eme!" I shout out. "This is not the time to be quoting Les Mis!"

"I wasn't!" she shouts back angrily. Then mutters to herself, "I was quoting Godspell."

I roll my eyes at her. Will draws his dagger, and stabs the Cyclops in the foot. The beast simply kicks him away, and pulls the knife out as if it was a needle.

Bay summons her powers and pulls out a huge, flaming spear from the shadows. She curses. "Where did this come from?!" she tosses it into thin air and pulls out a small shard of glass shaped like a knife.

Ray turns into a shadow and becomes a black mastiff, and freaking jumps on the cyclops' head, shaking around like a big, angry wig.

Eme stands nearby, wobbling her loaded bow back and forth for a clear shot where she can hit the cyclops in the eye, and not kill Ray by doing so. I could hear her singing something under her breath.

"Eme! Stop singing about death!" I shout to her.

She ignores me and continues to sing. "Don't you fret, monsieur Marius. I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain. Can hardly hurt me now. And rain, will make the flowers grow." then yells to me. "Okay, that's from Les Mis!"

I roll my eyes and then my heart sinks. I see the cyclops grab her by her midsection and start to lift her into the air.

She lets out a blood-chilling shriek. I look at Eme's hand, which is covered in small light, that burns almost as bright as the sun. I move my eyes through the air and her hand moves with it. She looks over at me and sees she's forming a staircase of light by me. I run over to it and start to walk on a column of light, and draw my dagger at the ready.

I run on the light, which is bright as the sun, and wish I had remembered to wear sunglasses. The light keeps reflecting off my knife, and into my eyes. I nearly run off the side until Eme extends it to the left, and I look up with determination.

The second the light stops, I jump from it and onto the cyclops' shoulder blade. I must weigh about nothing compared to him, so he makes no notice of me, just staring through the waves of disappearing light.

I slide down on him, and drag my knife across the skin and sink it in hilt deep.
The whole time I'm doing this, Eme's singing: "The rain that brings you here, is heaven blessed. The sky's begin to clear, and I'm at rest. A breath away from where you are, has come so far."

The cyclops howls in pain and I see Ray turn into human form, draw his sword from his scabbard, and cut through the giants calves. I drop out of the sky as he disappears into thick yellow sand, as if I'm hit with sand blowing through a power fan, and I'm laying stomach down on the ground, groaning in pain.

Eme rushes over to help, but I wave her off and say I'm fine.

I get up and pop my shoulder-blade, and then walk over to Bay. "That cyclops was pretty stupid. I never scream for help, just not my thing." Her lips tilt into a smile, and for a minute, I think that Bay would be a worse enemy to have, even worse than that cyclops.

Sorta a cliffhanger... again, sorry for the long wait! I won't leave you hanging again. :3 This was also a two-part chapter idea, thanks to TeamPiper for writing TWO ideas for this!

And... we're still moving, so I might (MIGHT) not be able to update for a while again.