Hey, guys. Can you believe it's been a month?! I apologize for being so slow and lazy…

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Chapter seven: Maia

We walked for a very long time. A very, very long time. By noon, I was so tired I was ready to give up a limb so I could have a foot massage. My flats weren't exactly the best for walking for hours nonstop. Nico said that we had to keep moving because monsters catch up to us faster if we stay in one place for too long. He had tried to shadow travel all the way to Long Island after we ate but for some reason, when we just stepped into the shadows, we got shoved back out by who knows what was lurking in there. Nico tried again but to no avail. It was like something in the shadows was blocking our path.

"Some god must be messing with me," Nico had muttered. None of us had any money so in the end, we decided on good old fashioned walking. After three hours I was ready to die. (Yeah, I'm in great shape, I know.) Nico seemed rather tired himself but I couldn't blame him. He did have an injury. Einstein looked like he was enjoying this little walk at first. However, after a few hours, he whimpered and nudged my shoulder.

"Are you hungry, Einstein?" I asked. He jumped onto me and licked my face in response.

Nico watched us, clearly amused, as I tried to push Einstein off me.

"We have to get him some food," Nico said. Einstein got off me and jumped onto him.

I nodded in agreement, feeling guilty. I didn't know when Einstein last ate. I've been with him for almost three days but I haven't fed him anything.

"So…uh…any pet shops nearby?" I asked. "I don't know this part of the town very well."

"Let's look around," Nico replied.

We did manage to find a pet shop but I forgot we didn't have any money.

"We could steal, I guess…"Nico said slowly. Einstein walked around sniffing the ground.

"St-steal?" I stuttered. "How do you steal a bag of dog food without getting caught?"

"I meant steal money."

My eyes grew wider.

Nico merely looked at me. "It's kinda hard not to steal when you're living on the streets. Usually I get my money from the Underworld but right now, we're nowhere near Los Angeles."

Los Angeles…oh, yeah. The entrance to the Underworld. I still find that hard to grasp.

"You're…you're right. It'll take weeks to walk to California alone." Still, it felt wrong to steal. I was pondering over our situation when I saw Nico staring at me weirdly.

I blushed, feeling a bit flustered. "W-what is it?"

"Don't you mean it'll take weeks to walk to Los Angeles? We're in California already."

I blinked. "What? No, we're not… We're in Portland, Oregon."

We stared at each other for a few minutes. Nico looked confused but I could see in his eyes that he didn't believe me.

"No…" Nico said. "We're in California."

"Did…did you shadow travel from Oregon all the way to California?" I asked.

"No…actually, I found you in California. You must've gotten here by yourself somehow."

Huh? What the heck was he saying?

Nico frowned. "Maia, think. Did you perhaps fall asleep somewhere and woke up somewhere else? Or found yourself in a different place all of a sudden?"

"No…It can't be…no, wait…" My eyes widened. "The river!"

Yes, I know, this was a very short chapter. I had to finish this chapter up because I wanted it to switch to Nico's POV.