I had been awake for far too little of the time I've actually been at camp. I've learned how to not sword fight. I've learned how to not fire a bow and arrow. I've learned how to become somehow despised by all of the Olympian gods, but for some reason, I was the best choice to go on a quest that involved words like, 'hurt' and 'bottomless pit' and 'scrape.' I finally stopped clapping and Rachel Elizabeth Dare sat back in her chair, rubbing her eyes.

"That would be really nice if there were some sort of warning system. Like, a bell or a whistle or something other than the feeling of getting hit in the face." She said, taking a drink of water from a cup that appeared in front of her, more than likely conjured by the only god in the room.

"So, uh…" I mumbled, looking around nervously. "So, that was a prophecy."

"It certainly wasn't a grocery list, genius." Jillian said, rolling her eyes.

"You said three demigods, right? So, where's the third one? It's not me, since I'm unclaimed and will get killed." I said with a nervous smile.

"Kind of the point." I thought I heard Mr. D mumble, but he didn't seem like the kind of guy who wouldn't just hit you in the face with the idea that he's not a fan of you. I turned to look at him and he simply shrugged.

"You will be going with them." Chiron stated. "It seems that the questant—Ms. Tracey—was not given the choice in this situation. The gods were clear."

"Zeus and Athena were very clear." Dionysus said. "And very loud as a matter of fact." He said, clearing his throat.

"Jillian and Walker are both capable fighters and will train you while you are gone. Demigods are natural born fighters, so you should have no problems becoming a proficient fighter in time for your destination."

"Do we know if we're facing any resistance?" Walker asked. Chiron shook his head.

"We would tell you if you were. We honestly know just about as much as you do."

"Peter, these prophecies…They're not tricks or traps that are setting you up for failure." Rachel said, leaning toward me.

"The gods can't handle every single little tiny issue that affects the world. And on top of that, we never want to be represented as the aggressors in a situation." Dionysus explained. "If we just busted into any situation and simply disposed of the bad guys then people would fear us. Being universally feared kind of sucks."

"I disagree." Walker said, popping his knuckles.

"Yes, but you're also a bit slow." Dionysus said with a wave of his hand. "Anyway, that's why we have mortal children. You're our errand crew."

"Can we go get some groceries, then? That's an errand. What we're being sent on sounds like a death trap!" I said, taking a step forward.

"Stop being such a wuss!" Walker shouted at me.

"I'm not being a wuss! I'm being realistic!" I shouted back. I'd been in worse situations in Mythomagic and my character lived through everything, but this was different. This was real people doing real things getting really hurt and then not even getting any awesome loot out of it. "We're teenagers! It's not our fault that we're demigods, yet we're being punished for it! Being sent on these reckless missions and in my case with little to no training! There is something you're not telling us and I want to know what it is!" I shouted, pointing at Dionysus. He had an unimpressed expression on his face, but I soon felt my skin starting to smoke and his face turned angry.

"You better watch yourself, kid. I'm one of the gods who voted that we don't kill you." He said, standing from his seat. He spoke in what sounded like a calm voice but the look on his face showed nothing but the opposite. "Don't get on my bad side." He said before vanishing. I stood there a little stunned. I think the whole room stood there a little stunned, but it could have just been me. After a moment, Chiron spoke.

"Walker, Jillian. Why don't you go out to the arena and start a little bit of training?" He said quietly, turning his chair to the table. He exchanged glances with Rachel who looked up at me and smiled softly. I turned and left before anyone else, but Walker and Jillian soon joined me as we headed to the arena. My fists were clenched and I was on the edge of exploding, but I was controlling myself enough to not set the whole camp on fire. We entered the arena and I grabbed a sword off of the wall and walked to the middle of the arena.

"Walker, go get some food." Jillian said, walking toward me. Walker shook his head.

"Who do you think you are?!" He said, shoving me. I landed hard on my butt and looked up at him angrily. "You think you can just say no to a quest!? It's an honor to go on a quest! It's an honor to fight for the gods!"

"It's also an honor to live past 17!" I said, standing up and tackling him. I straddled him and punched him hard in the face. I really think he was just too surprised to do anything, but he quickly stopped my next punch and went for one of his own, but it's like my mind clicked into fight mode and I dodged around it, trapping his arm. He went to kick me off, but I trapped his legs and soon held him in some makeshift submission hold.

"You big coward!" Walker shouted in a strained voice. I could feel my skin getting hotter and hotter and I let him go worried that I would burn another person or explode and take Walker with me in the blast. I let go of him and backed away quickly, closing my eyes.

"Back up!" I shouted, dropping to my knees and putting my head down on the ground. I could feel the heat coursing through me and I tried to control it or focus it or gather it in some way, but it was everywhere. I shut everything out and I prayed. To the gods. To God. To my mom. I prayed to anyone who would listen and it felt like everything slowed down. I could feel a current in my body. Like liquid fire coursing through me and I managed to branch the heat into my arm. I sat up then quickly threw my arm forward and a giant jet of fire shot out of my palm scorching the side of the arena and obliterating a dummy. I stood and closed my fist, staunching the flame. I stared at my hand. It didn't look like it was firing out anymore, but I could still feel the heat. I turned to another dummy and fired a ball of flame at it. I went around firing more and more fire at the targets, balls of fire whirling out of my hands like grenades. I wasn't feeling the heat anymore, but I could still do it. I scorched the wall and burned another dummy then drew my sword and directed a bolt of fire out the tip, slashing through the air in quick succession, then finally coming to a halt, my breathing heavy and sweat beading down my forehead. I didn't do much but I felt tired. I let my sword fall to my side and then looked down and watched disintegrate into nothing and blow away, my hand empty.

"Wow." I heard from near the entrance. Jillian and Walker both stood there, looking at me then at the destruction I had caused. I looked around and my mind seemed to revert back to normal. Like I lost whatever Zen-chi-chakra I had opened was now reclosed. I threw my hand forward again but nothing happened.

"Take a break, Peter." Jillian said, looking at me with an expression I couldn't read. She and Walker left and I was left in the arena feeling confused. I had control over my power for only a moment, but it was enough to make me tired. And I didn't pass out. Maybe my powers worked like a muscle. I had to exercise it and then it would be stronger and more stable. Not that I knew much about exercising. I guessed that I would have to get a lot more familiar.

I walked out of the arena and headed toward the mess hall, but I felt a hand on my arm and turned to see Lindsey looking at me.

"Hey! There you are!" She said with a grin. "You skipped out on the climbing wall." She said then looked a little more closely at me. "Wow. Are you okay?" She said, putting an arm around my shoulders. "You can talk to me." I nodded softly and looked down at my hands.

"You're…I don't know. Smart?" I said awkwardly. She scoffed.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to respond to that, but I immediately feel a little insulted." She said, stepping away. I sighed and shook myself.

"Okay. I'm going to say a lot of things and if any of it pops out to you, please help me with that." I said before taking a deep breath. "I'm about to go on a quest and I'm completely unprepared for it and I don't know where we're even going or what we're doing there, but I'm going with Jillian and Walker who just tried train me, but I got angry and I controlled my powers for a minute, but now it feels like they're gone and I need to reopen my mind or reach peak clarity or something." I said very quickly. Lindsey stared as she seemed to process everything.

"Well, I'm not much of a fighter, yet, but I do know a lot about meditation. Will that help?" She said. "I think it's based on my parent of Apollo…ness." She offered her hand and I took it without thinking and immediately I was being yanked toward the beach. She lead me to the canoe dock and faced me.

"Are we here to reach a higher enlightenment or something?" I asked, looking around. Most of the canoes were back in, it looked like, so it didn't look like being interrupted was much of a worry.

"Come on. Humor me. Sit down." She said, sitting down in front of me. I sat down across from her, our legs crossed and our knees almost touching. A few weeks ago, I would have been flipping out about this, but now me and her hanging out didn't seem like that big of a deal. And whatever hero worship I had going on for her, essentially disappeared when we got here. I'm not sure why.

"Ohmmmm…" I started, but she flicked me in the forehead. "That was not chakra clearing at all." I said, rubbing my injury.

"Meditation is not about learning to fly or about speaking to a higher power." She said, sitting up straight and closing her eyes then taking a deep breath through her nose. "It's about self-discovery. It's about getting as far away from everything and just being with yourself."

"And you, in this case." I said quietly. She flicked me again.

"Don't talk."

"Why do you know so much about this?" I asked, dodging back as she went to flick me.

"My mom and I had a stint with Buddhism. She was always a little…odd." She said, opening her eyes and slouching forward. "My earliest memory is being told to get ready for another trip around the neighborhood, handing out magazines. I was only 3 or 4, but I remember feeling really uncomfortable. After that it was Baha'I and a brief stint learning Korean so we could get into heaven. Then it was Buddhism for a long time. Until a couple years ago. Who knows what it'll be once she realizes or finds out that her daughter is half-god."

"Wow…That's impressive." I said quietly.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah…" She said, laying back on the dock and looking up at the sky. I moved next to her and laid down, looking up as well. "Close your eyes." She said quietly. I turned to look at her and she was looking at me.

"Lindsey, I—"

"For the meditation, you dummy." She said, smacking me. "Come on. Just try to focus and stop…looking at me." She said, turning away from me, a small smile on her face. "Weirdo…"