I had not witnessed my brother beaten so badly in a fight since that time he decided to fight Poseidon in hand to hand combat a few hundred years ago. That had easily been one of the worst ideas he's had.

I couldn't look away. I couldn't take my eyes off the scene unfolding in front of me. It was almost like I was paralyzed, I do not recommend being paralyzed. It's a very unpleasant experience.

Despite the fact that Cade was holding my head to face my brother, I doubt i could have looked even if my head was free. It was like I entered some sort of trance, and I know ALL about trances. (im looking at YOU Hecate)

I'm not a god of healing, but I've had enough experience with mortals to know that Apollo really shouldn't be being kicked while he had broken ribs. In fact, mortals shouldn't be kicked like that ever. Your kind are much too fragile to sustain such damage. I watched as he curled into himself, trying to protect himself from their savage kicks. I could tell from here that his broken ribs made it so he couldn't curl up much smaller than a loose fetal position.

He was dealt blow after blow, kick after kick. I felt more panicked as time passed. Every time Mikey's foot collided with his body I flinched. I needed to get out of Cades vice-like grip. I needed to get Mikey away from my brother. Struggling did nothing, I couldn't budge his arms a centimeter.

Every time Apollo retched I fought harder. I couldn't break out of this mortals grip. The first time he blacked out I thought he was dead. He went completely limp all too suddenly and it was like my brain screeched to a halt. I found that I couldn't pull air into my lungs after a few moments black rimmed my vision. I couldn't make a sound. I couldn't even scream.

Everything felt numb. I was shocked. That's all my mortal brain could manage. For a good 10 seconds, I was unable to react, them what just happened smacked me in the face and his name was violently torn from my lips by some unknowable force. Then I was screaming. Thrashing and yelling and fighting as hard as I could. A hand clamped over my mouth and shushed me. I somehow struggled hard, thrashing in Cade's arms, then a shudder ran through Apollo's body and he started retching again. Relief washed over me. He was alive. He wasn't dead. That was followed by a mind consuming panic that resulted in more struggling.

He might be alive, but I needed to get them off of him. Passing out was never a good thing. He passed out a grand total of 8 times.

When we became gods again, I am going to make Hades give these two a special spot in the fields of punishment.

Eventually, the one holding me, Mikey wanted a turn. It made me sick how these mortal males thought that beating up my brother was a GAME! They reminded me of some of the more...unsavory...roman emperors, Commodus especially. That man enjoyed decapitating defenseless ostriches and slaughtering lions. I never could understand what Apollo saw in him. Despite that, I knew how attached to that certain mortal he had been. After Apollo killed him, he had been absolutely devastated. I was the one to find him sobbing over the emperor's body in that bath.

I needed to protect him.

Cade dropped me and I rushed towards Apollo, a fist collided with my stomach and I doubled over.

Mortal bodies are unfathomably weak. So weak I cannot even describe it. How do you not die? How do you survive so long?

Mikey's arms held me back. "You can't help him, why not just enjoy the show?" I knew struggling was pointless, but that didn't stop my futile attempts to wiggle free. My arms are weak as noodles in this wretched form. I watched helplessly as Cade hit Apollo over the head with a bag of garbage. He let out a sharp shriek of pain. Coffee grounds and fruit peels exploded out of it, covering him in rotting trash. He curled into a tighter ball. They patted him down, finding nothing they turned to me. They patted me down after, taking the wallets. The moment they let go of me, I was by Apollo's side. He was out like a light, I cradled his unconscious form to my chest. He felt so small. He wasscrawnyI realized with a start. My brother wasneverscrawny.

"There ID's read Livia and… Lester Papadopoulos. That's worse than Apollo and Artemis!" Cade snorted. I didn't care. My mind was racing. I had to get us out of here quickly. Maybe.. Maybe I could ask a favor… I looked up at the sky. "Hermes!" they looked at me oddly. "Do me a favor and transport us to Perseus's apartment." I waited for a reply. A stray can rolled across the ground and into my hand. Trash. So that's a no then. Apollo's nose had swelled up, I feared it was broken.

"Hey, Livia, care to explain why you don't have a phone or credit card?"

I ignored them. Cade took a step closer to me. "The boss said these guys would be loaded."

Boss. They had a boss.

"Boss?"

"That's right, Livia." Cade took a step towards us. I tried not to flinch. "'Go to that alley,' the boss told us. 'Easy score.' He said we should rough you up, take whatever you had. But this" he waved the bills around. "this isn't much of a payday."

"Who's your boss? Is it Ares?"

They looked at each other like "Can you believe these two?" Before cade picked up his knife and Mikey took off his belt and wrapped it around his first.Shit.

I was prepared for the worst; completely ready to shield Apollo from their wrath. I doubt his new mortal form would be able to take much more abuse. The thugs took a step forward and I leaned over him, gathering him in my arms and curling over him, hoping this would be enough to shield him. Suddenly, a voice yelled "HEY!"

The thugs turned. Above us, a girl about 12 was perched on a fire escape. She wasn't one of my hunters, but she was the age of one I would recruit.

Maybe I wasn't about to be beaten up. This girl could be our savior yet. I couldn't help but notice that she was dressed like a traffic light. I could tell from here she was strong. The expression on her face told me could easily drive away the thugs.

The thugs, however, did not seem impressed.

"Get lost kid."

The girl stomped her food. "My alley my rules!" So she was homeless. She would be a wonderful recruit to my hunt. "Whatever these losers have is mine. INCLUDING their money"

"You've got to be kidding me. Beat it, you brat!" Cade glared at the girl, his face was almost as red as his hair. He picked up an apple and threw it at her. The apple landed harmlessly at her feet

The girl didn't even flinch. She would be an EXCELLENT recruit.

"You want to play with food?" The girl says slyly. This was gonna be interesting. "Okay."

I didn't see her kick the apple, but it came flying back and hit Cade straight on the nose. Pacifism is sweet my friend, but payback is sweeter. Mikey made an angry snarling noise, not unlike a jackal. He made his way to the fire escape ladder, but he gracefully stepped on a banana peel and fell on his ass.Wonderful. "OWWW!"

I dragged Apollo away from the thugs, I wondered if we should make a run for it, but I knew we wouldn't be able to make it far. At least not without hurting Apollo further. The girl climbed over the railing. She dropped to the ground without missing a beat and grabbed a garbage bag from the Dumpster. I was going to recruit this girl when this was over.

"Stop! Let's talk about this!" Cade sounded nervous. Great.

Mikey groaned and flipped on to his back.

The girl's lips were chapped. She had wispy black fuzz at the corners of her mouth. I felt obligated to protect her. If they made a move against her I will intervene.

"I don't like you guys," she said. "You should go."

"Yeah!" Cade said. "Sure! Just…" He reached for the money. The girl swung her garbage bag. In mid-air the plastic exploded, revealing a ton of rotten bananas.

"Leave my alley. Now." in the dumpster, trash bags burst and exploded. Showering the thugs with trash. Despite their injuries, they scrambled to there feet and made a run for it. I turned to the girl, grinning weakly. "Thank you." I left my protective stance behind and laid Apollo down flat on his back, he showed no sign of waking up. The girl had two rings with crescents on them. My symbol. I knew she wasn't one of my hunters so obviously I was confused. Maybe I had blessed her as a child. My memory was still painfully fuzzy.

"Don't thank me," she said. "You're still in my alley." She walked a full circle around us. Studying us like Apollo used to with those cows of his. "Your gods?"

"WERE gods." I corrected bitterly.

"You don't look like gods."

"Well, wewerejust mugged. Our father expelled us from Olympus." I paused, then cringed eternally as I realized I did it for dramatic effect. "And who are you?"

She smelled faintly of apple pie, which was surprising since she looked so dirty.

"The names Meg."

"That's a good name, Meg. Are you a demigod?"

She didn't respond. I figured she hadn't heard that word before.

She pushed up her rhinestone glasses. "Why would you think that?"

"You have some sort of power. You chased off those two with rotten fruit. Quite the talent, if I were immortal I would offer you a place in my hunt. As for your parent… Controlling garbage in an interesting power. My brother here once dated a Roman goddess, Cloacina, she protected the city's sewer system. Perhaps you're related?"

Meg frowned, Did I say something wrong? "I think I'll just take your money." My eyes widened. "Go on, get out of here."

"Wait! I- I need a bit of assistance!" I hoped this girl was as kind-hearted as I hoped. It felt… odd to ask for help from a mortal. But I couldn't drag Apollo uptown alone… At least not without him paying for it.

"Say I believe you" Her voice turned singsongy, reminding me of Hermes when he was planning something. "Say I decide to help. What then?"

"That's.. That's a good question... We ARE in Manhattan right?"

"Mmm-hmmm. Hell's kitchen." I nodded gravely. I knew that going to the empire state building was a dead end. The security would either call police or Zeus would smite us. Camp half-blood was our only option. Camp Jupiter was too far, and I have always disliked Romans. But getting to camp would be dangerous, two defenseless mortal gods would be top targets for monsters. Then there was Cade and Mikey's boss. "I know a guy who lives on the upper east side. If you can get us to him, I will reward you."

Meg made a sound between a sneeze and a laugh. A sound Hermes would make. But children of Hermes don't have garbage powers. "Reward me with what?" She twirled around, snatching the 10 twenty-dollar bills off the ground. "I'm already taking all your money."

"Give it back!" I'm not sure how much of my panic made it into my voice. I NEEDED that money to hail a taxi.

She threw me the wallets, now empty except for the ID's and our junior driver's licenses.

"I've got your money, I've got your money." She sang.

I stifled a rude remark. "Listen, mortal, we won't be like this forever. Someday we will become gods again. Then we will reward those who helped us—and punish those who didn't."

She put her hands on her hips, laughing. "How do you know what will happen? Have you ever been mortal before?"

"No. But he has. Twice now. His punishments only lasted a few years at most." I suddenly remembered I had yet to check over his injuries. I started gently prodding Apollo's chest, looking for broken and cracked ribs. His entire right side was spanned with cracks and a few breaks. I winced in sympathy. He wouldn't be walking far anytime soon. Hopefully Zeus gave us fast healing. If only to make us able to suffer more faster.

"Oh yeah? And how did he get back to being all goddy or whatever?"

"Goddy isn't a word." Apollo would make a haiku with it. "But our father required him to be a slave to an important demigod. I assume those rules apply to me also. The person uptown I mentioned, he'd probably be the demigod we are too work for. As long as we behave, we should be allowed back to Olympus." I explained impatiently.

"How do you know what demigod?"

"Well… I don't really know-"

"I'm Meg McCaffery! And I claim your service!" Overhead, thunder rumbled. It echoed through the city, almost sounding like laughter.

"Well… I walked right into that one. I guess that's that then."

"I'm a demigod."

"Well yes, our father confirmed that with the thunder"

"And now I have two sidekick gods, Lester and Livia!"

I groaned and put my hand on my forehead. "Father, I am not abandoning Apollo, but please recall us back to Olympus... I beg of you…"

There was no response. I had made my choice the moment I refused him what felt like hours ago.

"Cheer up," Meg said. "Who's that guy you wanted to see, the guy on the upper east side?"

"A demigod.. one of the most powerful of your generation. He beat the war god in a fight when he was 12, that was what? 6 years ago? Aresstillhasn't lived that down. If anyone can get us to camp in one piece it's him." My stomach growled. I realized I was hungry. Mortal bodies are pitiful things. "And food" I added silently.

"Good food?"

"Yes, I suppose."

"Then that's my first order, we're going to find this guy to take us to that camp you mentioned."

I nodded. "As... As you wish..let's find Percy Jackson."