Chapter 11: Grover Gets a Lamborghini

"Why does Grover have a Lamborghini? I didn't think he could drive." Annabeth frowned.

"He wasn't really driving it. You'll see." Percy told her. She folded her arms and gave him an annoyed look. Percy smirked at her.

We were crossing the Potomac when we spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek, black military model just like the one we'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight toward us.

"Wonderful. You're not going to lose that easily." Hermes said.

"We managed." Thalia told him.

"They know the van," I said. "We have to ditch it." Zoe swerved into the fast lane. The helicopter was gaining. "Maybe the military will shoot it down," Grover said hopefully. "The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," I said.

"Most likely." Chiron nodded.

"I know the Mist works to make sure mortals don't see our world but it really seems to work against us most of the time." Percy complained.

"It works against you most of the time." Will corrected with a laugh.

"How can the General use mortals, anyway?" "Mercenaries," Zoe said bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid." "But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" I asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?" Zoe shook her head. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters."

Rachel sighed but she couldn't really argue with that. At least Zoe hadn't applied that to all mortals.

The helicopter kept coming, making a lot better time than we were through D.C. traffic. Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

"Na. That would only happen if Percy was in the helicopter." Nico sighed.

But the sky stayed gray and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm. "There!" Bianca said. "That parking lot!"

"A parking lot? Won't that get you trapped?" Clarisse asked with a confused frown.

"Bianca had a plan." Percy smiled.

"We'll be trapped," Zoe said. "Trust me," Bianca said. Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic and into a mall parking lot on the south bank of the river. We left the van and followed Bianca down some steps. "Subway entrance," Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria." "Anything," Thalia agreed. We bought tickets and got through the turnstiles, looking behind us for any signs of pursuit. A few minutes later we were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As our train came above ground, we could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after us.

"Good." Hades gave a stiff nod of approval.

"Very handy." Leo smiled.

Grover let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway." Bianca looked pleased. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C." Grover frowned. "New? But that station looked really old." "I guess," Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway."

"What?" Dakota frowned.

"Bianca and I were born in the 1930s." Nico reminded him.

"When's your birthday?" Will asked suddenly.

"January 28th." Nico told him, giving him a look of surprise. When's yours?"

"May 23rd." Will admits.

Thalia sat forward. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?" Bianca nodded. Now, I knew nothing about D.C., but I didn't see how their whole subway system could be less than twelve years old.

"It's definitely not." Annabeth told him. She opened her mouth, probably to state exactly how old the subway is, when Hazel kept reading.

I guess everyone else was thinking the same thing, because they looked pretty confused. "Bianca," Zoe said. "How long ago…" Her voice faltered. The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again. "We need to change trains," I said. "Next station." Over the next half hour, all we thought about was getting away safely. We changed trains twice. I had no idea where we were going, but after a while we lost the helicopter.

"Ok. That's good. Hopefully moving around so much will delay the skeleton things too." Reyna said.

"Let's not get too hopeful." Dakota told her wryly.

Unfortunately, when we finally got off the train, we found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here. I was glad for my new lion's fur coat. We wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years. A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. We must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave us a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!' We huddled around his fire, Thalia's teeth were chattering. She said, "Well this is g-g-g great." "My hooves are frozen," Grover complained.

"Really, Grover?" Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly.

"Feet," I corrected, for the sake of the homeless guy.

"Probably a bit late for that." Connor snickered.

"At least Grover still had his fake feet on. The guy might just think they are insane." Travis pointed out.

"He wouldn't be wrong." Chris smirked. "Besides, I have a suspicion that homeless dude is not just a regular mortal."

"Why?"

"Oh come on. He just happens to be there when they have reached a dead end?" Chris asked. The Gods all perked up at this wondering which of them it would be. Most of them turned to look at Apollo who was the most likely of the male Gods to interfere. Zeus was scowling and grumbling under his breath.

"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca said. "Chiron—" "No," Zoe said. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

"Camp is too far away to help anyway." Beckendorf pointed out.

I gazed miserably around the rail yard. Somewhere, far to the west, Annabeth was in danger. Artemis was in chains. A doomsday monster was on the loose. And we were stuck on the outskirts of D.C., sharing a homeless person's fire. "You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends." His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Definitely a God." Rachel nodded.

"Yes, sir," I said. "You know of any?" He pointed one greasy hand. Suddenly I noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

"Apollo!" Zeus yelled. "What part of non-interference do you not understand?"

"They are going to rescue my sister. Of course I'm going to help." Apollo shot back defiantly. "Besides, it means I helped out your daughter too." Zeus continued glaring but made no further argument.

"Thanks Apollo." Percy grinned.

"Anytime." The Sun God winked at him and Percy felt his face go a little red. Then he saw Apollo smirking which made him go even redder so he looked away.

"That's… convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh…" She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him. An hour later we were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because we all got our own luxury car. Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Grover was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. And Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C.

"That's a much nicer ride than the one Lord Mar... Ares got for them on Percy's first quest." Dakota noted.

"I should hope so." Apollo stated, looking offended.

"Join you?" I asked her. She shrugged, so I climbed into the shotgun seat. The radio was playing the White Stripes. I knew the song because it was one of the only CDs, I owned that my mom liked.

"So you do have some taste in music." Thalia mused looking a little surprised.

She said it reminded her of Led Zeppelin. Thinking about my mom made me sad, because it didn't seem likely I'd be home for Christmas. I might not live that long. "Nice coat," Thalia told me. I pulled the brown duster around me, thankful for the warmth. "Yeah, but the Nemean Lion wasn't the monster we're looking for." "Not even close. We've got a long way to go." "Whatever this mystery monster is, the General said it would come for you. They wanted to isolate you from the group, so the monster will appear and battle you one-on-one."

Zeus glowered at the book while Hera pursed her lips in annoyance. It seemed these book readings were getting to her husband. While he had always cared about his children, he had never really shown it, especially in front of her. If he was willing to risk her wrath by showing how much he cared for the little brat then that was not a good sign. Hera knew she had to do something. Hopefully one of these books would tell them about the girl dying, preferably in a painful manner, and then that would be that. She would simply have to make sure that those events happened.

"He said that?" "Well, something like that. Yeah." "That's great. I love being used as bait."

"Who doesn't." Jason said sarcastically.

"Me." Leo told him.

"He was being sarcastic." Piper rolled her eyes.

"No idea what the monster might be?" She shook her head morosely. "But you know where we're going, don't you? San Francisco. That's where Artemis was heading." I remembered something Annabeth had said at the dance: how her dad was moving to San Francisco, and there was no way she could go. Half-bloods couldn't live there. "Why?" I asked. "What's so bad about San Francisco?" "The Mist is really thick there because the Mountain of Despair is so near. Titan magic—what's left of it—still lingers. Monsters are attracted to that area like you wouldn't believe."

The Romans all frowned. It still struck them how unfair the Camp placements were. While their camp seemingly had much better protections, and was a lot bigger, that seemed to be partly out of necessity. They were in a much more dangerous place than the Greeks and Reyna definitely wanted to know why.

"What's the Mountain of Despair?" Thalia raised an eyebrow. "You really don't know? Ask stupid Zoe. She's the expert."

Thalia winced at that.

She glared out the windshield. I wanted to ask her what she was talking about, but I also didn't want to sound like an idiot. I hated feeling like Thalia knew more than I did, so I kept my mouth shut.

"You don't seem to mind when Annabeth knows more than you." Thalia frowned.

"Yeah but that's expected because of her mom. Plus she's marginally less likely to completely rub it in my face than you are. Though it's a close-run thing." Percy grinned.

The afternoon sun shone through the steel-mesh side of the freight car, casting a shadow across Thalia's face. I thought about how different she was from Zoe—Zoe all formal and aloof like a princess, Thalia with her ratty clothes and her rebel attitude. But there was something similar about them, too. The same kind of toughness. Right now, sitting in the shadows with a gloomy expression, Thalia looked a lot like one of the Hunters. Then suddenly, it hit me: "That's why you don't get along with Zoe."

"You and your stupid unnatural abilities." Thalia grumbled.

"In all fairness, it wasn't a hard guess." Jason told his sister with a laugh.

"This might not be but he figured out more about me in about a week than pretty much anyone else had in my entire life." She complained.

"Hey, you were willing to tell me. Eventually." Percy reminded her.

"Yeah but only because you have some creepy power."

"No I don't. How would I even get such a power?"

"I don't know but it can't be natural." Thalia scowled. Percy just rolled his eyes and let it go.

Thalia frowned. "What?" "The Hunters tried to recruit you," I guessed. Her eyes got dangerously bright. I thought she was going to zap me out of the Mercedes, but she just sighed. I almost joined them," she admitted. "Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once, and Zoe tried to convince me. She almost did, but…" "But?" Thalia's fingers gripped the wheel. "I would've had to leave Luke."

Zeus' eyes widened marginally and then he scowled angrily. He had thought his daughter was just friends with the traitor but she liked him as more than friends. He must also be why she joined the Hunters. Then he recalled his conversation with his daughter where she had given Luke's name as a reason for joining the Hunters. He would make sure that boy was never born!

"Oh." "Zoe and I got into a fight. She told me I was being stupid. She said I'd regret my choice. She said Luke would let me down someday."

Thalia glowered at anyone who looked like they were about to open their mouth. She did not want to hear people saying that Zoe was right. Of course, Zoe had been right, but that did not mean she had to hear it.

"Thalia…" Jason began.

"Read." She barked at Hazel who jumped and quickly began reading. Thalia felt a bit bad for scaring the poor girl but she did not want Jason to finish that sentence. Frank glared at Thalia for her tone of voice and put an arm around Hazel as she read.

I watched the sun through the metal curtain. We seemed to be traveling faster each second—shadows flickering like an old movie projector. "That's harsh," I said. "Hard to admit Zoe was right." "She wasn't right! Luke never let me down. Never."

"Maybe not while you were alive." Jason said slowly and quietly. "But he did let you down." Thalia glared at him.

"I know." She spat.

"I'm sorry he sucks. But you have other friends. Annabeth would never let you down. Or Percy." He reached out to squeeze her arm. "I wouldn't either." Thankfully her face softened at that.

"I know you wouldn't, Jay." He nodded and then said nothing more.

"We'll have to fight him," I said. "There's no way around it." Thalia didn't answer. "You haven't seen him lately," I warned. "I know it's hard to believe, but—" "I'll do what I have to."

"Of course you will." Zeus said proudly. His daughter would definitely cut down that traitor. Thalia grimaced.

"You did do everything you could." Annabeth whispered to her friend.

"I know but...this was the first and last time I saw him before…" Thalia trailed off unable to vocalize that he was no longer Luke. Not really anyway.

"Honestly, maybe it's better that way. Seeing him just hurts more. Trust me." Annabeth sighed. She still sort of regretted not going with Luke when he had asked her. Maybe she could have stopped him becoming a host for Kronos. Thalia nodded. Hearing about the times Annabeth had met Luke during their quest last summer were more painful than just knowing he was out there being evil.

"Even if that means killing him?" "Do me a favor," she said. "Get out of my car."

"I can't believe you pushed it that far and she didn't blast you." Will told Percy.

"Knowing something and seeing it are two different things. I didn't want her unprepared."

"Nothing can prepare you for seeing someone you cared about betraying you. Being willing to kill you." Annabeth told him flatly. "But I get your point."

I felt so bad for her I didn't argue. As I was about to leave, she said, "Percy." When I looked back, her eyes were red, but I couldn't tell if it was from anger or sadness. "Annabeth wanted to join the Hunters, too. Maybe you should think about why."

"Was that really necessary?" Annabeth asked her friend.

"Yes." Thalia replied. "Although I see it didn't do much good." Annabeth went a little red.

Before I could respond, she raised the power windows and shut me out. I sat in the driver's seat of Grover's Lamborghini. Grover was asleep in the back. He'd finally given up trying to impress Zoe and Bianca with his pipe music after he played "Poison Ivy" and caused that very stuff to sprout from their Lexus's air conditioner.

All the Greek campers burst out laughing at this as Grover went very red.

"You weren't going to impress anyone with your music back then Grover." Thalia told her friend. "Especially if you do that."

"I didn't mean to." He protested. "I just got a little carried away."

As I watched the sun go down, I thought of Annabeth. I was afraid to go to sleep. I was worried what I might dream. "Oh, don't be afraid of dreams," a voice said right next to me. I looked over. Somehow, I wasn't surprised to find the homeless guy from the rail yard sitting in the shotgun seat. His jeans were so worn out they were almost white. His coat was ripped, with stuffing coming out. He looked kind of like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck.

"Hey!" Apollo protested.

"Urgh." Aphrodite wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Was that disguise really necessary, Apollo?" She asked.

"Given that we aren't supposed to help on quests, probably."

"Oh yes, because father won't know it's you if you look like a homeless mortal." Hermes scoffed.

"Of course not. I'm usually so good looking, this disguise would throw anyone off." Apollo said proudly.

"I don't know. That description sounds just like you brother." Artemis smirked.

"That is not true!" Apollo glared at her. "I'm gorgeous and very very handsome."

"If you say so." She said, voice full of disbelief.

"I am, aren't I?" He turned to look at Percy, hiding a grin. The son of the Sea God looked rather stunned by being asked this and incredibly awkward. His face was the colour of a tomato which made Apollo smirk happily.

"Err...you usually look better than a homeless guy, yeah." He agreed. Apollo pouted. "Hey, you already think you're hot, you don't need my opinion." He added, seeing the pout. "Go ask a mirror." A few people chuckled at that while Will hid his face in his hands at his dad's antics.

"But I want your opinion." Apollo told him. He lowered his voice so the rest of the room wouldn't be able to hear except those on the bench. Percy bit back a groan even though he secretly liked Apollo's teasing.

"Fine. Yes, you're sort of handsome." He said grudgingly.

"What do you mean 'sort of'?"

"What do you think?" Percy rolled his eyes. Apollo pouted once more but let the matter drop for now. Hazel decided to start reading again.

"If it weren't for dreams," he said, "I wouldn't know half the things I know about the future. They're better than Olympus tabloids."

"That is true." Apollo nodded.

He cleared his throat, then held up his hands dramatically:

"Dreams like a podcast,

Downloading truth in my ears.

They tell me cool stuff"

"Apollo?" I guessed, because I figured nobody else could make a haiku that bad.

"Hey!" Apollo pouted once more.

"It's not your best work." Will told his dad.

"You said that about my limericks."

"Yeah, well, you haven't really done your best stuff for a while." Will admitted with a resigned sigh. "Haikus and Limericks are not really...they aren't great. Your older stuff is definitely better."

He put his finger to his lips. "I'm incognito. Call me Fred." "A god named Fred?" "Eh, well… Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong.

"A rule nobody seems to follow anymore." Zeus said angrily.

"Well these are strange times and frankly, each of these quests have been incredibly important. Not just to our children but in preventing father from rising." Poseidon pointed out. Zeus continued to grumble about how nobody listened to him these days but nobody paid any attention.

But nobody messes with my baby sister. Nobody."

Artemis rolled her eyes but didn't scold him. Apollo was helping her Hunters so she wouldn't complain. Besides, he had every right to be worried considering the mess she had gotten into.

"Can you help us, then?" "Shhh. I already have. Haven't you been looking outside?" "The train. How fast are we moving?" Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least."

"Thank you." Athena and Artemis both smiled gratefully at Apollo.

"Of course." He said happily.

But where is Artemis?" His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's… clouded from me. I don't like it." "And Annabeth?" He frowned. "Oh, you mean that girl you lost? Hmm. I don't know."

"Feeling the love." Annabeth said dryly.

"In all fairness, Artemis being missing was probably far more important to the Gods. Or at least the ones who cared." Thalia pointed out. "Plus the quest was officially for Artemis. We were lucky you were held in the same place."

I tried not to feel mad. I knew the gods had a hard time taking mortals seriously, even half-bloods. We lived such short lives, compared to the gods.

"Oh so when Apollo says something like that you totally understand. When it's Artemis or Mr. D you blow a gasket." Beckendorf laughed. Apollo considered this. It was true. He recalled how close Percy had come to getting himself blasted by Dionysus but he took Apollo's own dismissal of Annabeth pretty well. He took that as a good sign. There had been lots of good signs lately and it gave him hope that his plan to charm Percy would work.

"I hadn't really thought about that. Plus, Apollo was the only one who had been actually helping us. Even if it was for Lady Artemis not Annabeth, he was helping. So I didn't want to risk upsetting him and make him stop helping." Percy tried to explain. Honestly he had no idea why he had reacted like that. This didn't stop Apollo smiling. He could tell Percy was lying, or at least making excuses. He hadn't been thinking about that explanation at the time.

"What about the monster Artemis was seeking?" I asked. "Do you know what it is?" "No," Apollo said. "But there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea.

"Yes, he would know." Athena nodded.

He has a long memory and a sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure from my Oracle." "But it's your Oracle," I protested. "Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?"

"Afraid not." Apollo said regretfully.

Apollo sighed. "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search." "In other words, you don't know."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't have to." Percy laughed.

Apollo checked his watch. "Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Percy,

"You've done more than enough." Zeus grumbled.

"I barely did anything. I gave them a ride and made it go a bit quicker." Apollo shrugged. "They were on a deadline."

but remember what I said! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!" I wanted to protest that I wasn't tired and I'd never made up a haiku in my life, but Apollo snapped his fingers, and the next thing I knew I was closing my eyes.

"Thanks for that. I would never have gotten to sleep otherwise." Percy smiled.

"You're welcome." The God grinned back.

In my dream, I was somebody else. I was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic, which was a little too breezy downstairs, and laced leather sandals. The Nemean Lion's skin was wrapped around my back like a cape, and I was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping my hand.

Artemis inhaled sharply. She had a strong suspicion what the boy was about to see. It certainly explained how he knew about Zoe's dislike of Heracles without her telling him.

"Hurry!" she said. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but I could hear the fear in her voice. "He will find us!" It was nighttime. A million stars blazed above. We were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, and yet the girl was leading me through it, as if we were about to die. "I'm not afraid," I tried to tell her. "You should be!" she said, pulling me along. She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight. We raced up the side of the hill. She pulled me behind a thorn bush and we collapsed, both breathing heavily. I didn't know why the girl was scared. The garden seemed so peaceful. And I felt strong. Stronger than I'd ever felt before.

Artemis nodded while Thalia looked over at Percy. They had a silent conversation as she realised what he was about to see.

"There is no need to run," I told her. My voice sounded deeper, much more confident. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands." "Not this one," the girl said. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way." The hurt in her voice surprised me. She was really concerned, almost like she cared about me.

"Of course she did." Artemis spat angrily.

"I don't trust your father," I said.

"Nobody should." Thalia muttered.

"You'd think that was fairly obvious." Percy agreed.

"What's going on?" Leo asked.

"It will probably explain." Percy told him.

"You should not," the girl agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die.'" I chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?" "I… I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out… they would disown me."

"Not that he cared in the slightest." Thalia grumbled.

"Then there's nothing for it." I stood up, rubbing my hands together. "Wait.'" the girl said. She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

"She gave him her immortal powers?" Thalia asked sharply.

"That's what she said." Percy shrugged.

"But...Riptide." She mouthed the last word at him so people wouldn't catch on too quickly and Percy's eyes widened. Was there more to Riptide than he had first thought?

The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone. "Take it," she told me. "And make of it a weapon." I laughed. "A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It's not just a hairpin you idiot." Annabeth rolled her eyes. She had worked out what was going on and knew what moment this was. Percy had confided in her about the full story of Riptide's past with Zoe and Hercules once they were back at Camp.

"It may not," she admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn." The girl's voice softened my heart. I reached down and took the hairpin, and as I did, it grew longer and heavier in my hand, until I held a familiar bronze sword. "Well balanced," I said. "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?" "Anaklusmos," the girl said sadly.

"Riptide?" Clarisse looked over at Percy.

"Like Chiron said, it had a long and tragic history." Percy gave a sad smile.

"The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea." Before I could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl said, "Too late! He is here!" I sat bolt upright in the Lamborghini's driver's seat. Grover was shaking my arm. "Percy," he said. "It's morning. The train's stopped. Come on!" I tried to shake off my drowsiness. Thalia, Zoe, and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks.

"How far did you get?" Nico asked.

"New Mexico." Grover told him.

"That's pretty good." Will said.

I fished my pen out of my pocket and stared at it. Anaklusmos, the Ancient Greek name for Riptide. A different form, but I was sure it was the same blade I'd seen in my dream. And I was sure of something else, too. The girl I had seen was Zoe Nightshade.

"So your sword was once a hairpin and belonged to Zoe?" Jason summed up in surprise. Percy nodded.

"So who did she give it too?" Piper asked.

"Heracles." Will stated.

"How do you know that?" Nico asked in surprise.

"Percy said he was stronger than he had ever felt and had the Nemean Lion skin. Given that he was also dressed like an ancient hero there was only one choice."

"So Zoe helped Hercules by giving her a hairpin with her power in it and I'm guessing he screwed her over given how much she hates men." Beckendorf summed up. Zeus glared at him. His son wouldn't do that. He was a true hero.

"Chapter's done." Hazel announced, very glad it was over.

"My turn." Frank gave her a smile.