Welcome back guys! Yet another installment! Sorry for the wait, yet again. I apologize that I'm not up to my old speed where I would put out a chapter every two to four days, but I have been working and busy, so I don't have as much time to write. To be clear, I'm not getting burned out on this series, that will never happen. I love this story and writing it, so don't expect me to just quit. It will however be longer before the next chapters come out. But I don't plan to stop!

Also, with this chapter we'll surpass 400,000 words! I honestly can't believe I've made it this far. To be honest, I'm not even close to being done, or halfway done for that matter! So expect a lot of content from me!

With that out of the way, let's get on to some reviews.

SuAvE ViPeR: "Hey sorry this review is late, but anyway great chapter and development for Matt. I understand his decision, although it will definitely come back to bite him soon as we saw at the end of the chapter. The fight was great and the inner struggle was good too. I really liked the vision of Harper because it showed how much he misses her. Anyway, I have a question for you if you don't mind.

Since the crossover with thesuperone342 is apparently coming up, I was wondering something and I hope you don't mind elaborating on this. But how will your Universe's characters react to current Zane? would they like him? and how different would things be if Zane was the MC of this story? I know the two are drastically different so I would like to know your opinion. Another thing, who would Zane's love interest be if he were in your story? Because I know he is gay, and many of the OC's here are straight, so I am curious. I asked these questions to thesuperone342 as well, to be fair."

Response: Thanks, and I enjoyed writing those scenes. The last chapter was crucial for Matt's development. Okay, about the Zane question, that's a tough one, but I'll do my best to answer it.

First of all, would my characters like current Zane? The short answer is yes. He's changed so much from what he used to be that I think he would get along with my crew. First arc Zane however, might not be Matt's favorite person. Talon wouldn't mind, and those two would get along great, Malachi wouldn't like him, Sera wouldn't, and Harper probably wouldn't hate him, but would probably find him annoying. So first arc Zane, no. But current Zane, yes.

About how things would be different if Zane were the MC. Okay, yes things would be different. You are right, him and Matt are different, even now. I think if he were in the story so far, replacing Matt, things would have gone a bit quicker. He wouldn't have taken his time with anything, and he wouldn't have been hesitant. Granted, he doesn't always have good mental fortitude, so that might not always have been a good thing. But nether the less, he would have defeated monsters and people without hesitation, killed unlikeable or untrustworthy characters immediately, like Mateo, Levi, and the rest of the Big Four. On the Island, I think things wouldn't have been much different. First arc Zane and first book Matt are about the same level, so the fight probably wouldn't have been changed much. Only that Zane might have tried to kill the Big Four as quickly as possible, but Malachi/Ouranos wouldn't have allowed that. As for the current book, I don't know. If he got training from his father like Matt did...he would be even more stronger, since it's Zeus. But as far as opponents go, the Sons of Thor are strong, and together they might overwhelm him, but individually he'd kill them. He'd beat Krios just like Matt did, and beat Hephaestus the same way too. As for Zane's love interest...that's an interesting one. I'd say either Nico, or Aiden. Both are around his age and are gay or bisexual, with personalities that Zane likes. He already likes Nico in his own story, and since Aiden is similar, I think he would maybe like him too. I'm not sure. (thesuperone, can you clarify that?)

Anyway, good question, and I hope that clears things up.

thesuperone342: "Damn, Sorry for this review being so late, since I had to work so much, but this chapter was badass. Epic fight, and badass action, complimented with amazing character development for Matt. I really can't wait for the next one. I also can't wait for darker Matt, and see him have his own Zane arc where he turns to the dark side. I wonder how you're going to get rid of Ouranos' influence, but I'm sure you already have that planned or are going to figure that out.

P.S. I'm going to name my Heavenly Diamond Morning Star Thymos, which is Greek for rage. Couldn't find any lightning related names for it lol"

Response: No problem man, I don't mind, and thanks. Yes, I can't wait to write a darker version of Matt, and have him struggle with Ouranos in his head. And Thymos sounds badass, can't wait to see it in your story, and the crossover.

Shadowhunter2077: "Well this was interesting to say the least, well Matt fucked up big time now but is not like he had a choice here.

And this Eliza is a new character or just a clear sighted mortal, because the mist is strong enough to even "cover" Typhon, making he look like just a "storm", so the mist should be able to warp her into something she could believe yet she was able to see everything, courios

And I want to see why the Sons of Thor are working for Ouranos, because they don't seem the likes who would follow orders from a being like Ouranos."

Response: Yeah you'll learn more about Eliza in the next chapter, as Matt's going to be spending a lot of time with her. And this chapter has a scene focusing on the Sons of Thor's backstory and their motives, so I hope you enjoy that.

NiHaR OP: "HOLY SHIT matt fucked up, also you have nearly got to about 400k words, the current biggest pjo story is about 633k words, lets gooo, Also that girl seems like a new character, hmmm"

Response: The biggest is 633,000? Wow, if that's true, then I'm definitely gonna be the longest PJO story. I plan on multiple more books and probably 2 million words total, so it's gonna be a landslide lol. Just depends on how long it takes to get there.

MountainBookSage25: "Goddamn do you punish Matt like this

This is reaaally getting Greek here, real Greek

At this point he'll take the point of Greatest Hero after all this"

Response: I hate to do it, but I gotta develop him and give him struggles to make him better. And yeah, things are getting real Greek real fast. Thanks for the review, I'm glad you're sticking around and following along, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters (except the OC's) Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Heroes Of Olympus, or Trials Of Apollo. All of that belongs to Rick Riordan.

Now then, on with the fourteenth chapter. Sera's family can't be that bad...right?

14. We Visit Psychopath Manor

Harper

"Griffith" Lipos said, "The Griffith Family, Children of the Snow Goddess."

The confirmation made my heart sink. Talon looked like he had lost his appetite.

The ex-assassin leaned on the table, "Griffith? You sure?"

Lipos nodded, "Positive."

Talon raised an eyebrow, "And it's in Indiana? Damn, I always thought it was in...Romania or something."

Now Lipos was confused, "Wait, you know of the Griffiths?"

I sighed, "You have no idea."

Lipos didn't change his expression.

Talon decided to elaborate, "We know one of the children, Seraphina. She's on our quest."

"You know one of the Griffith children?" Lipos looked like this was groundbreaking news. "That's unheard of. They rarely let their children interact with anyone, unless it is an enemy, or someone to kill..."

I held up a hand, "Well, they'd like her dead. They sent her to an Island to be enslaved...but she escaped, and she's been with us ever since."

The glutton god nodded, "I see, that doesn't surprise me at all. Slavery is one of the few things they deal with."

I had heard about them before from Talon and Malachi, and even more detail from Sera herself, but the family still seemed vague to me. I hated them though, after hearing what they did to her, let alone other innocent people.

I was still a bit curious though. "So what exactly are we dealing with here? Like can you tell us something about them that we don't already know?"

Lipos put a finger on his chin, "Hmm...well, they make money from illegal activity. Drugs, Slavery, Trafficking, Assassin work, and basically any other heinous thing. They've been around for generations, all of them are children of Khione, so they have control over snow and ice...and they train their children vigorously at a young age." He paused, and looked at us expectantly, "Am I missing anything?"

"That sums it up." Talon snorted.

But I wasn't satisfied, "What exactly do they have that'll get us to another country undetected by Ouranos?"

More thunder rumbled outside.

Lipos looked around with alertness, "The name, child, not the name." He sighed, "A dark name it is, evil and awful."

"Damn" Talon said sarcastically, "You'd think he was trying to take over the world or something."

"Sarcasm doesn't help, child."

"I ain't a damn child, I'm twenty one."

"Still a child to a god-"

"Guys!" I interrupted, "The Griffiths? What do they have?"

Lipos turned away from Talon with an eye roll, "What they may have a specific item, I don't know, but I'm sure they know a way to do what you seek."

Something about it didn't sit right with me, and I was growing frustrated, "What specific item could they have? I mean, that a god like yourself doesn't know about?"

"Yeah" Talon agreed, "You're the god here, tell us some stuff that can conceal people."

Lipos shook his head, "I am a minor god, and a young one at that. I came from the modern American love of fast food, and junk food in general, then the healthy diets, so on and so forth. Compared to the Olympians, who are thousands of years old, I am a mere two hundred, so forgive me if I can't rack my brain for invisibility items in myth."

"Well, since you're useless..." Talon said unappreciatively, "Let me see if I can rack my brain." He tapped his index finger on the table for a moment, and tightened his lips in thought. After a minute or two, he said, "So, Hades has the helm of darkness, that's one. Could they have...smoke from it or something? Like enough to allow a demigod to go invisible?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Smoke? Are you stupid? How would they even get close to the Helm of Darkness? It's in the Underworld."

"Well excuse me, just throwing ideas around!"

"Well throw better ones." I gestured around with my hands, "Like a cloak...or some kind of potion?"

"How are those better?"

Lipos pointed his finger at me, "No, the girl may be on to something. I have heard of a substance called...the Elixir of Invisibility, I think that's what it's called. It's a liquid that allows the consumer to become a shadow temporarily. I've heard other gods mention it, but I always put it off as nothing. However, knowing what the Griffiths revel in...it could be possible."

I was suddenly interested, finally having something tangible to think of, "Would they have enough for four people?"

"I don't know if it even exists. But if it does, then I'm sure they have some in their possession. It would make sense, considering the children are hitmen, using the elixir would make it very hard for targets to detect them."

Talon seemed to no longer think the possibility was laughable, because his face had turned serious. "Can it mask auras? Like could a person with aura sense find us with the drink?"

Lipos shrugged, "Like I said, I've only heard of it, I don't know the specifics."

Talon and I looked at each other, exchanging a look that said- well, better than nothing.

He picked up his sunglasses from the table and put them on, masking his eyes once again. He stood up and I slid out, ready to leave.

"Thanks for the help, Lipos." I said, and ribbed Talon.

He grunted, "Uh yeah, thanks a lot."

The god smiled, "My pleasure. And I thank you for getting rid of the Storm Spirits, they are quite a nasty group of monsters."

"Well, if that's all then we'll-"

He interrupted me, "Hold on a moment, you both came here because you thought you would get food, right?"

"Well, that was the original intention, yeah."

He snapped his fingers, and two large brown paper bags appeared in our hands, the word Lipos written on the side, each was piled to the brim with fries and burgers, both not smelling disgusting anymore, but now...amazing. My stomach rumbled at the scent, and the sight of them right in front of me.

"There you are. Enjoy."

Talon looked like he wanted to hug Lipos, "Thanks dude!"

"No problem. Good luck on your quest."

I waved at him, and with that, we walked outside and to the truck.

The ride back to the Inn was mostly uneventful and silent, unless you count the sound of lip smacking and bag rustling. The two of us were starving.

I practically inhaled my cheeseburger and fries. I had always loved this type of food. Shocker, I know. Based on my appearance, you'd expect me not to eat at all, or if anything, salads and what not. Well, the truth is, I love this type of stuff, and have ever since Levi took me to our local burger joint when I was little.

I mean I eat healthy at Camp, don't get me wrong. But I train so much and burn so many calories that I have a little leeway to eat what I want. And right now, I'm splurging.

After a few minutes we were done, and crumpled our bags into balls and threw them in the back, silence ensuing. I looked out of the windows at the night sky, no lights in the area, just trees and the road before us.

It didn't take long for Talon to break the silence. "Okay, we need to address the elephant in the truck."

I kept my gaze on the road straight ahead, "What do you mean?"

"Are you kidding? I'm talking about telling Sera."

Of course I knew what he meant, but I dreaded it. Trying to convince Sera this would be a good idea would be hard, considering what she had been through. I totally understood that she probably wouldn't go for it. But...we didn't have a lot of options here, so convincing her...would have to happen.

I sighed, "What's there to talk about? We'll have to convince her."

He chuckled, "Oh no no no, you'll have to convince her."

I turned to him now, "What?! Me? By myself?"

He nodded like it was obvious, "Yeah, you. I'm gonna have to convince Malachi, you know. So it's not like I'm trying to escape confrontation."

I had forgotten about Malachi's disdain for Sera's family, which of course he would have, since he knew her best. Convincing him would be an equally difficult job. But Talon's plan sucked. Why would we split up and talk to them separately? That would only make it harder.

"No, we need to tell them together, all of us in the same room. Splitting up will only make things worse."

When he didn't look convinced I elaborated. "The two of us together is better than one on one. You know that, and you know both of them better than I do, so I don't understand what the problem is."

"It's just-" He started with annoyance, then slumped back in his seat, biting his lip. "It's just...I know what she's been through, and I hate..." he paused like he was about to admit something he didn't want to. I leaned in to hear a whisper, but got nothing.

"Spit it out." I said.

He exhaled, "I hate seeing her sad. There, I said it."

I reared my head back, baffled that he'd be uncomfortable to admit it. But then again, I guess I was the same way at some point.

I still wanted to understand. "Well of course you do, you're her friend. Why didn't you want to say that? Are you ashamed or something?"

He shook his head, "Hell no. Those two are the best things to ever happen to me. I just...don't show my emotions that much, okay? It's a sign of weakness. Master always said to hide your emotions. I figured out a good way to read them is by looking in someone's eyes. So..." He pointed to his sunglasses, "I wear these."

I was a little stunned at the revelation. I mean, I had gotten a hint a few days ago in my cabin when we talked about the Norse Pantheon, but now, he was saying outright why he wore them. I always thought it was to look cool or something, but this took me by surprise.

I found myself relating to it though. Back when I was hell bent on revenge...which is basically how I am now, but I'm talking about the "Cloaked Man" not my brother. Anyway, back then I tried to stay as emotionless as possible, so no one could see the true pain I was in. And I also knew that I would have to be once the time came, so I could show my father's killer that I held no bones about murdering him.

Of course, that didn't happen.

But the point is, I understood the reason, and where it was coming from. But still, we were friends. As much as I don't want to admit it, I admired Talon, and considered him to be a good guy. He could share his feelings, and I wouldn't laugh.

I laughed humorlessly, "Dumbass, it's okay to show your emotions around your friends."

"Sure." Was all he said.

I knew he wouldn't change his thought process, so I didn't push any further. Instead I focused on something rather normal. How much I needed a shower.

I felt the mustiness all over my body, and it was disgusting. Sitting still here, not moving at all, I finally realized how awful I must smell right now. It had been what, one or two days? Which may not sound like much, but trust me, showers have to be a daily thing if you want to not be repulsive.

I shifted uncomfortably, promising myself that I would first thing when we got back.

My thoughts were interrupted by the low rumbling of our motor, and a slow decline in speed. I looked at Talon in confusion as he steered the truck to the side of the road and onto the flat grass, soon stopping completely and putting it in park.

"What the hell?" I asked.

"You wanna know the truth about the golden aura?"

"The what?"

He sighed impatiently, "Don't play dumb, you know what I'm talking about. On the roof, when we were fighting those Norse assholes...I got stronger, and my sword glowed."

I remembered now, the vision in my head perfectly. Talon seemingly beating the little brother Boris with ease, slicing him with the sword and shooting a slug point blank to the face. Now that I think about it...yeah, his sword was golden.

"Uh...sure, tell me the truth."

"It's...my father." He went silent, letting the words hang in the air.

I decided to supply, "Nikandreos."

He nodded, not looking at me. "Yeah. It was a boost from...him I think. I'm not sure, but I keep having these visions, of him."

"How do you know it's him?"

Talon shrugged, "I don't know. I've never met the guy before, but it's like I can feel his aura, it's...familiar. And the image matches up to what Master told me. Spartan armor with a Xiphos and Shield."

He seemed uneasy about all of this, like it was a big problem.

"So you're dad's helping you out, what's the issue?"

He groaned, "The issue is, the guy defeated every single Olympian at one point in time, and he's giving me some of his energy. What does that mean? And why now? I mean, it's not like I've had the golden thing all of my life."

I was speechless. I don't pretend to understand the whole Nikandreos thing, or even what he's all about. Newsflash, my attention span sucks, and I unfortunately didn't pay much attention when Talon's mentor Jack Colter explained everything last year. But I still knew that something was up, and maybe he did have a right to be worried.

"Maybe he realizes that the war's getting bad...and he wants to help?"

"I don't know..."

"Look Talon, I don't know what to tell you. I'm not exactly an expert on the subject."

He turned to me now, "You just said it's okay to show your emotions around...friends." He said it hesitantly, like the word was foreign. Which it kinda was with us, since we liked to mess with each other. "So here you go, I'm talking about it, to you. It's been eating away at me for weeks, and I'm talking about it."

"I appreciate that, but I don't know what to say. Uh..." I tried to think of anything that could help. Then a question hit me, "Has he said anything to you? In these visions?"

I could see his eyes widen a little behind the sunglasses, "Actually yeah. I can't believe I forgot to mention this. He keeps saying two words, barely, but I catch them every time."

I was waiting expectantly, "What does he say?"

"Seek me."

I felt my eyebrows raise in surprise. I wasn't expecting that. "Seek him?"

Talon nodded grimly.

"So he's still out there?" I hadn't paid attention very well to the story Jack Colter told us, but that didn't mean I hadn't paid attention at all. I remember him saying that Nikandreos basically disappeared off the face of the Earth, basically sacrificing himself for the human race.

Finally the ex-assassin shrugged, "I have no idea. I guess he's out there somewhere. The exact location...I have no idea. But still, it's all so damn weird. What does he want me to do? Scour the fucking globe looking for him?"

I was at a loss. "I don't know, maybe. Maybe he knows of a way to defeat Ouranos."

Talon snorted and looked at me like I was an idiot. "Don't lose your head. We have a way to defeat Ouranos, and we're gonna do it on this quest. We ain't gotta worry about my father or nothing. Hell, I think I'll just use his energy and get on with my life. If he wants to visit, fine by me, but we don't need his help."

He was good at hiding it, but I could tell he wasn't sure. Wasn't sure about the whole situation, if we would beat Ouranos or not, or even make it to Scandinavia. I had the same concerns.

Before I could respond with anything, he quickly took the truck out of park and looked in the side mirror for traffic.

"Ah let's not worry about it. What we need to focus on is this damn family and that invisible juice, right?"

It was clear he didn't want to talk any further about his father, so I didn't. I just nodded, "Yeah."

A few minutes after our "conversation" we got back to the Inn.

As we walked up the steps to our rooms, Talon said, "You wanna do this now? Or..."

I shook my head, "No. I need to get a shower, first thing. And a change of clothes."

"You didn't pack any extra?"

"Why would I? Can't you create anything just by thinking about it?"

He pursed his lips, "It's not that simple. I have to have seen the object in person to create it. Or at least a very good image of what it looks like."

I raised my arms to my side, "Well, just create a copy of what I have on now." I wanted to change, but keep my usual look. These clothes were already worn and musty from the fighting earlier, and I needed something more comfortable.

He looked me up and down, "Alright, hang on." We stopped walking and he seemed to close his eyes behind the sunglasses, then he outstretched his hand, and within seconds, my apparel appeared out of thin air. A short leather jacket, tank top, jeans, and socks all piled up on Talon's hand, all colored black, the way I liked it.

One problem though...

"Uh..." I felt my ears get hot. Not in a million years would I ever think that I would need him to do this, but I was seriously uncomfortable in what I had on.

He grew impatient, and tried to get me to take the clothes, "What's the problem?"

I looked away from him, suddenly finding the railing very interesting. I hated what I was about to say, but I spit it out anyway.

"I need underwear too."

He stood there for a second, his hand still outstretched, and a deadpan expression on his face. I was almost relieved he hadn't heard me, cause I regretted what I said the moment I said it.

But he did, and to my extreme annoyance, he started laughing.

"Shut up!" My face was full on red now, "Stop laughing, dumbass! I'm sweaty and I need some! So just..." I had to keep myself from kicking the wall in embarrassment. I lowered my voice some, not wanting anyone to witness my pathetic display. "Just be quick about it." I reached under my shirt, and prepared to go back to my room.

But he held out his other hand to stop me from doing anything crazy, "Whoa! No, don't do that. I ain't trying to become a sex offender, kid."

I let go of it and shoved him, "I'm not going to strip out here, pervert! I was gonna go in my room and take it off so I could hand it to you!"

"Well, that's equally awful."

My face was practically on fire now, "I know, but how else are you gonna do it?!"

He chuckled, "I've seen bras and panties before, plenty of times. All I gotta do is picture it and I can make it, like I said. No need to do anything stupid."

I wanted to scream with frustration. If he could then why didn't he just say so?

I glared at him, "I hate you."

He grinned, "Sure. What color?"

"Black." I mumbled angrily.

"Shocker." He handed me the clothes he already made and concentrated some more, but it took far less time. Only two seconds passed before he immediately tossed me the black underwear.

I caught them, and decided to return the teasing. "That was awfully quick. You go to the club or something a lot? Or did you steal them?"

He mock laughed, "Very funny. Let's just say I have a lot of experience."

I snorted, "Sure you do." And put my hand on the doorknob, "I'll come get you and Malachi in a minute, then we'll talk about the Griffith's."

He nodded, "Got it." And went inside the door next to ours.

I turned the doorknob, only for it to stop halfway. It was locked.

I sighed, understanding why. Sera always was timid, and I had warned her of the monsters that could be lurking nearby, so it made sense for her to lock the door. But I was ready to shower, so I was kinda impatient.

I knocked on it lightly, just under the peephole.

A few seconds later, and she opened it, clad in her pajamas that she wore often. They were adorable, and I usually don't say that word, since it's so...girly, but I can't help it, they were, especially on her.

First of all, her hair was let down completely from it's usual long braid, which I liked so much that I decided to wear my hair that way instead of a plain old ponytail. But right now hers wasn't tied, it was long and thick, all around her shoulders and back, every inch of it pure white. The pajamas she wore consisted of a shirt and fluffy pants, both blue with little snowflakes on them. I glanced down and yep, she was wearing the slippers.

So Sera has these slippers that she's always wore. Each one was a fluffy white Unicorn. Or at least...it was supposed to be. It wasn't very hard to tell because of the soft little horn that came off the end, right above it's eyes. Anyway, she wore them because ever since she was a kid, she loved Unicorns. Apparently one of her butlers Peter, the only person who was ever nice to her at the manor, told her stories about them when her parents and siblings weren't around. So eventually the butler bought her the slippers in secret, and she wore them all the time. But that was the problem, and that's how her family found out about the butler and the whole thing.

So naturally, they killed him in front of her, and destroyed the slippers.

Sera told me this one night in my cabin, when we were having one of our frequent talks. It told me a lot about the monsters that resided in her family, and how broken she truly was. I know it sounds odd, comforting and hugging a twenty one year old woman on my bed, and at first, it was weird, because I had never been used to that. I had only experience with Matt and Aiden in that department, and even then, they were boys, and they handled everything on the inside, so I didn't have to do much to help them really. But Sera...she was a pacifist by nature, and literally the sweetest person on the planet, so of course she would sob and cry, and I would be there for her.

A little off track, but I figured the context was necessary, to give you an idea of how hard it's gonna be to convince her to return to that hell she had to go through.

She smiled when she saw me, "Hi Harper, you're back!"

I stepped through the doorway, "Yep."

She closed it and locked it back, turning to me with a confused expression, "What took you two so long?"

I threw the change of clothes on my bed and sat my boots next to it on the floor. "Ah, Talon and I met this fat god and fought some storm spirits before we ate."

She giggled, "So nothing out of the ordinary then?"

I smiled, "No, not really." Then I pointed to the bathroom, noticing that the light was on, "Were you about to get in the shower?"

Thankfully she shook her head, "No, I already took one. You can get in, the water should be back to hot by now."

I sighed in relief, not wanting to wait my turn. "Okay, I'm gonna hop in then. I feel..." I gestured to myself, "Disgusting."

"Now that you mention it..." She stepped a little closer and sniffed the area around me, then her face scrunched, "You do smell of perspiration."

I laughed and playfully shoved her, "Gods Sera, just say sweat. Remember what we talked about?" I was referring to my "lessons" on modern lingo that took place often throughout the last year. They had made an improvement of course, but sometimes she used longer words that just didn't fit. Malachi though, I didn't give such lessons, so his speech was still formal as ever.

I meant it jokingly to her, expecting a laugh, but instead, she looked hurt.

My humor melted, "What's wrong?"

Her eyebrows furrowed in slight anger, "You pushed me! Why did you do that? I can't help how I talk."

I rolled my eyes, "I was just teasing you, Sera. I didn't mean anything by it."

She looked like she was angry though, and started to do something, but hesitated.

"What is it?" I asked.

Then she surprised me. She stepped forward and shoved me this time, harder than I did to her, but still nothing that would hurt me. I stumbled back a step.

"There! Now we are even."

I chuckled, "Okay, feel better now?"

She gave a half hearted smile, "Yes, I do."

While the situation was light hearted, there was a dark undertone to it, and it hit me right then. If we went to the Griffith Manor, and they became hostile...we would have to fight back, and that included Sera.

I had seen her use her Ice powers, and in magnitude, it could be very dangerous and hard to deal with. If we were facing an entire family, then we would need her.

But could she fight them? Could she do it without crumbling? If she hesitated to shove me, then of course she's gonna hesitate when attacking her own family, the people she fears above all others.

It made me guilty, knowing that we were about to basically force her to go. We shouldn't do that. If she doesn't want to, we shouldn't make her.

But then how would we get to Scandinavia undetected?

It made my brain hurt, all of this confliction, all of the decisions. I just wanted it to end.

Sera must've noticed I was in distress, because she reached out to me and touched my shoulder, "Harper, are you okay?"

I shook the thoughts from my head, "Yeah, why?"

"You looked like you were in pain."

I retracted her hand and waved her off, slowly walking to the bathroom, "Nah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Harper, you forgot these." She tossed me my change of clothes and I caught them, nodding a thanks to her and shutting the door behind me.

I dropped them on the floor, sighing and rubbing my forehead. Gods, what were we gonna do?

On one hand, we could go by plane like Malachi suggested, but that would bring the possibility of getting attacked by Ouranos brought up a hundred fold.

Then on the other hand, we could take a chance that the Griffith's will give or tell us of a way to do it, and maybe not try to kill us.

I'd like to chop both hands off.

I mean, it was a tough decision, but the latter sounded better, it just did. And if we forgot about it completely, then we may have missed a chance that we could've gotten the Elixir or whatever, and got out of there safe and sound.

But that sounded unlikely...

I groaned, just done with all of it. Right now, I didn't care about any Griffith other than Sera, what our plan was, or anything involving the looming decision we would have to make. I just wanted a refreshing shower.

I peeled the leather jacket away from my arms and threw it on the floor next to my fresh clothes. My tank top and jeans soon following, then finally, my underwear and socks.

I was standing their completely exposed, looking at myself in the mirror. I decided to give myself an examination.

I know I said I hadn't changed all that much over the year, but I was talking about what you could see on the outside, not what was underneath. Sure, I had changed my hairstyle and stopped caring whether I looked good or not, but that didn't change the course of nature.

I had grown quite curvy and my training showed all over my body. My stomach was more toned than before, my leg muscles showed a bit more, but not to the point that it looked weird.

What I was really checking for was bruises, or any signs of cuts. I felt pain in that Storm Spirit fight, but I ignored it, and decided I would check for wounds later. Well, later was now.

But I didn't spot any on my front. My chest was good, stomach, arms, collarbone. I scanned everywhere and didn't find anything. Huh, I guess I was a bit more durable than I thought.

I turned around and looked over my shoulder to check my back, and sure enough, two bruises lay there, on my spine, about six inches distance between them.

I sighed, and touched one of them, pressing my index finger to it, and immediately felt a throb through my nervous system. I winced and pulled my finger away. Yep, I was gonna need some ambrosia for that one.

It's not like I'm ashamed of my body or anything, cause I'm not. I'm aware that I have attractive features, and I'm proud of that, the only things I hate are the pale skin, and the eye. That damn eye.

I always hated how it set me apart, both of them. I get the typical emo thing a lot, due to my pigment, but I guess my personality kind of matches it as well. But still, I don't like being put into a category, a type of person. It's just wrong to me.

And the eye, well...you know that story, best not dive into it again.

After a second I finally stopped looking at myself and got in the shower like I intended. I turned the water on and found it surprisingly hot right from the get go. I immediately sighed in content, the feeling of it was amazing, like it was washing away all of my stress and troubles. I could practically feel myself melting into the drain.

I didn't even bother looking down to see the dirt come off of me, I just closed my eyes, leaned my hands against the wall in front of me and let the water crash against my back.

After a minute of enjoyment, I decided to start cleaning myself. I grabbed a bottle of shampoo that belonged to the hotel. It was sitting on a stand attached to the back wall of the shower.

I held the white bottle upside down and poured out a pink substance of goop into my hand. I instantly caught a whiff of it's incredible scent. It smelled like Strawberries, no...even better than Strawberries. It was like some kind of godly tropical fruit scent.

I rubbed it all over me, scrubbing thoroughly on my skin and hair. Eventually I stood under the shower head and let it wash the foamy soap off of me, it's smell lingering.

My hair was now wet and heavy, but clean, along with my skin. Both were caked with the shampoo smell, something I could get used to smelling. I had used the same brand so long back at Camp that I stopped being able to smell it, but with this fresh stuff...I would have to get Talon to make me a bottle, or ten.

I was done showering, but the water felt so good, I decided to stay in for another minute or two, and just enjoy the peace. Who knew what would happen at Griffith Manor. No doubt chaos and battle, so I would have to take in every moment of tranquility I could.

After those blissful couple of minutes were up, I turned the nozzle off and stepped out, the air in the bathroom hitting me with a cold wave and causing me to shiver. I grabbed a large towel off the hanger on the wall and covered myself with it, tying it above my chest.

I dried off quick, and allowed my hair to stay damp. I put on my new set of clothes, (save for the leather jacket, since it's stupid to wear it inside) and just left the old ones sitting there on the bathroom floor. I'd get em' later.

I creaked open the door and walked out of the bathroom, a pillar of steam following me.

Sera smiled, "How was it?"

"Amazing." I breathed, then gestured to the wet towel in my hand, "Where should I put this?"

She pointed behind me, "Just put it back on the hanger, it will dry."

I did as she said and turned the bathroom light off, sitting on my bed shortly after with a groan.

"Holy crap, this bed it so soft."

"I agree" Sera said, "Very comfortable."

I laid there for what seemed like hours, nearly dozing off every few seconds. I was more tired than I had thought.

But that would have to wait, because just then, I remembered that we needed to talk.

I sat up and propped myself on my elbow, my body turned towards the white haired girl.

"Sera, there's something that we need to talk about."

She raised a thin eyebrow, "What is it? Is it about our transportation?"

"Yeah, uh...we've come up with a plan, that'll probably get us there undetected."

She lit up, "That is great! What is it?"

I looked at the nightstand and bit my lip in guilt, "Sera, Talon and I have only discussed it, and it's risky...for everyone."

"What?"

"Let me go get the boys and I can elaborate." I got up from the bed and walked over to the door, Sera close on my heels.

"I am worried now, what's going on?"

I opened the door and walked out, "You'll see."

After I knocked on their door, Talon opened it near instantly and said, "You ready?"

I nodded, and motioned for him to bring Malachi over. Soon, all four of us huddled around Sera's bed, where she sat next to the Demi-Primordial, Talon and I remained standing.

A moments delay of silence, I looked at Talon, trying to figure out if he wanted to start, after an awkward second or so, he sighed and spoke up.

"We think we've found a way to get to Scandinavia undetected."

Sera had already heard that part from me, but Malachi was completely in the dark. His eyes widened, "Really? What is it?"

Talon tightened his lips, "Not something enjoyable. You're gonna protest this, I already know, but it's the best shot we have."

"Okay, just tell us!" Malachi said impatiently.

I decided to chime in, "Our plan is to go to Griffith Manor. Apparently they have something that can conceal us."

Instead of Sera freaking out, the opposite happened. Sera looked down at the bedsheets while Malachi stood up quickly, anger on his face.

"No." He practically snarled, "We will not go there. Under any circumstances."

Talon held up a hand, "Malachi-"

But he cut him off, "No, Talon! How could you even suggest that, knowing what she's been through?" He turned to me, "Same for you. In what world is this a good idea?"

"This one." I argued, "Look, It's our only shot, unless you wanna get attacked by Ouranos or the Sons of Thor again, and waste time?"

He started to retort but held his tongue, and sat back on the bed angrily.

"Man, I know it's risky, and the last thing we wanna do." Talon said, "But hell, we gotta get to Scandinavia and surprise them. How are we gonna do that in a plane? Or any other way?"

"I could teleport us."

"I thought you said-" I started.

"I know what I said, but...I could try, concentrate maybe. I'll figure out a way."

But Talon was ready for that one, "Then what? They'll sense your aura right when we reappear, and it'll all be for nothing. Face it man, we need what the Griffith's got."

Malachi glared up at him, "Which is?"

I was about to supply the answer, but surprisingly, Sera spoke up for the first time in this conversation.

"The Elixir of Invisibility." She whispered.

I raised both eyebrows, "They have it?"

She nodded, still looking anywhere but us, "They do, in a small dosage, but that is enough."

Malachi held her hand, "No. After everything you've told me..." His face darkened, and the room suddenly became a lot hotter. The ground began to shake slightly, like the entire Inn was gonna explode.

"After everything you've told me. If I go in there...I'd kill them all. I'd slay every one of them and destroy the manor with a single bolt." Malachi's face was murderous, almost mirroring his former self. When possessed by Ouranos.

Talon tried to calm him down, "Sera just confirmed that they have it, Malachi. We have to go now, no more hesitancy."

"Oh I'm not hesitant to go there. I don't want Sera to go."

"She doesn't have to." I stated, "She...shouldn't have to relive her trauma. No, the three of us will go and get the Elixir...diplomatically or not." I looked at Sera, "If you could just tell us a bit about their powers. Maybe some traps in the manor, and some weaknesses-"

"I'll go." She said.

I wasn't sure I had heard her right. I stopped talking, everyone looked at her, bewildered.

She finally raised her head, and to my shock, she didn't look scared, or timid. She looked...vengeful, and determined.

Malachi's face was full of disbelief, "Sera! What are you-"

"I'm not afraid anymore, Kai." She sighed, "At...first I was, when I realized we were so close to my old home. I knew this plan would come up, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the Elixir before. It would have saved so much time..."

"There is nothing to be sorry for." Malachi said softly, "We aren't going there-"

For the first time since I've known them, Sera didn't melt into Malachi's touch, instead she pulled away and looked at him with determination.

"Yes we are, Kai. It's the only way, and I'm...I'm not afraid anymore. I...know what I signed up for when I came, and I'm going to be strong, for the sake of this quest."

"Sera, are you...sure?" I asked hesitantly.

She looked me dead in the eye, "Yes, I'm positive. Besides, you will need my help if things go wrong, which they most likely will."

Another awkward silence.

Talon chuckled half heartedly, "So! Sera's going! That'll give us a hell of an advantage."

Nobody responded to him, we were all focused on Malachi, who looked like he had just eaten a lemon.

This time Sera took his hand, "Are you okay with this?"

He glanced at her, then back at the floor, "I...to be honest, no. I do not trust these people one bit, and what they are capable of. But...if you think you can do it...and with all of our strength combined, it shouldn't be a problem."

"It's you we're worried about man." Talon said with a neck scratch, "You could destroy fucking planet if you wanted, let alone a mansion. We're gonna try for diplomacy first...as much as I'd like to slaughter the bastards too, who knows? Maybe we can come to an agreement."

Sera considered, "For a price, perhaps, or some kind of service."

"Service?" I leaned my head forward.

"Yes. Money may be out of the picture since the Elixir is quite rare, so they will most likely have us do them a favor."

"What kind of favor?" Malachi asked.

She closed her eyes and shook her head grimly. We all shut up after that.

Except me. "Talon, you don't mind doing them a favor, right? You being the ex-assassin and all."

I cringed at the way I said that. I was being genuine with the statement, not snarky. But my tone suggest otherwise.

He didn't seem to take offense though. He just shook his head, "I ain't in that game no more. I don't kill innocents."

"I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, kid."

Great, now I feel guilty. It's not like I hadn't noticed Talon's change in demeanor. Before, on the first quest, he enjoyed killing almost, and craved it. But over the last year, he had changed quite a bit, and I regretted suggesting such a thing.

Malachi attempted a subject change, "What about monsters? Perhaps they need a beast slayed?"

Sera sighed, "There aren't many monsters that they could not kill by themselves, so it's doubtful."

Talon crossed his arms, "How about retrieval? Like, they need us to pick up something."

I raised an eyebrow, "Like drugs?"

"I don't know. Lipos said they deal in everything."

Sera had enough, "They do. But no, they would not have you do that. All of the people that retrieve narcotics are brainwashed for weeks, so they don't steal the product."

"Okay...forget I said anything."

Malachi stood up again, "Let's not worry about service, or any kind of favors. We should go in there and request the Elixir, see what they say, and if they refuse...we fight."

I snorted, "So their just gonna hand us the Elixir? I'd bet my other eye that they'll have us do something for them, or just try to kill us."

"Like I said, we wait and see what they say." Malachi responded calmly.

I didn't want to argue with him. I was too tired and honestly, winging it might be all we've got. I couldn't think of anything better.

There was a moment where we all looked at each other, unsure if anyone had anything else to add.

After a few seconds, Talon decided no one did and said, "So, we'll go in the morning?"

"Guess so." I mumbled.

He clapped his hands together, "Alright, let's get some sleep. If anyone thinks of anything else, we'll discuss it tomorrow."

We seemed satisfied with that, so I nodded at him, and he walked to the door, waiting for Malachi.

The Son of Ouranos walked over to Sera and pecked her on the lips, to which Sera happily reciprocated. He waved at her, "Goodnight, Sera."

She waved back, "Goodnight, Kai."

The show of affection made my heart twinge. It made me think of you know who...

Not now, Harper. Not now.

My pained thoughts were broken by Talon opening the door, and the guilt of having suggested he go back to his old ways crept in. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't apologize, I just knew it.

So I jogged out the door and grabbed him by the shoulder. Malachi was already inside of their room, not noticing my urgency.

Talon himself had taken his sunglasses off, and raised a brown eyebrow.

"What?"

I retracted my hand and sighed, "Look, I'm sorry about what I said, okay? I just forgot you had...changed."

He looked at me for a moment before chuckling. He looked off the side over the railing at the night, talking seemingly not just to me, but to himself.

"Don't sweat it. Hell, sometimes I forget that I've changed too."

"You think things'll go good tomorrow?" I already knew the likely answer, but I asked anyway.

"Honestly, hell no." He turned to me, "These fucking people are psychopaths. You actually think they'll just hand us the juice and let us be on our way?"

I frowned, "No. Of course they won't"

He scoffed, "Exactly. There's gonna be a fight, no way around it. The question is...how soon will it happen?"

With that happy question, an eerie silence ensued. Of course we'd have to be cautious, we're gonna be stepping into their territory, with Olympus knows what kind of guards and traps.

"I just wonder how Sera deals with it all. A childhood like that...makes you wonder, does she want revenge?"

I was taken back by the sudden question. I was about to say of course not, it's Sera we're talking about, but I wasn't so sure. I'm a firm believer that all people are capable of both great things, and horrible things. Two paths, you just have to decide which one you want to walk on.

"I think I'm somewhere in the middle." I whispered out loud, not meaning to.

Talon heard me and furrowed his eyebrows, "The middle of what?"

I walked over to where he was and leaned on the railing, looking out into the night, not able to see anything but the faint outline of trees, which every once in a while swayed to the wind, along with my hair.

"I was just thinking, anybody's capable of good and evil, it's like two paths. And...I think I'm somewhere in the middle."

He leaned a couple of feet from me in the same position, "How do you figure?"

I huffed lightly, "Some of the things I've done for the sake of revenge. They're despicable, Talon. But I've tried to do good too, and be a hero. I just..." I sighed, and looked down at the parking lot below, "I feel like I'm split. Like Levi's right. He keeps saying that he does what it takes to survive, and pointed out that I'm the same way. I...can't really argue with that, because it's true. But I'm so ashamed of some of the stuff I've done, and it was all a waste anyway."

I didn't expect a response, and to be honest, I didn't need one. I was letting some of it out right there, and it felt pretty good, to get some of my worries out in the open. With Talon of all people, but hey, It's whatever at this point.

He didn't chuckle, he remained serious. "I understand that. I feel the same way sometimes. Like I've dug too deep a hole to get out of."

"How do you get out of it?"

He cocked his head, "Move past it. Accept that it happened, and move on."

"It's not that easy."

He nodded, "Of course it's not, but that's what you gotta do to stay sane. I know the feeling. After I escaped the Island, saving myself and leaving behind Malachi and Sera...I felt so shitty that I wanted to die. I started acting out, and eventually...got mixed up with the assassin gig."

I don't remember hearing that story. "You escaped without them?"

"Yeah. The thing I regret the most, is that. I ain't making excuses, but the guilt ate me alive, so I tried to hide it. Well, that shit didn't work."

"Move past it..." I repeated lightly.

He stepped away from the railing and nodded, "Yep. You have to." He started walking to his door, before he turned around, "Oh, and for the record, you're a good person, that got dealt a bad hand. Don't beat yourself up for what you did in the past. Everyone makes mistakes, shit happens."

"I'm not that good."

He groaned, "Yeah, you are. A little annoying at times, but you are."

I smiled, "Thanks."

"Sure. Now, get some sleep. Don't wanna have you missing the action tomorrow."

I gave a two finger salute to him, "Aye aye." And we both went into our respective hotel rooms, the doors closing behind us.

Sera was laying down in her bed, on her side, half asleep. The lamp on the nightstand in between our beds was still on.

I walked over and looked at the clock. It read ten minutes until two AM.

I sighed, "Ugh, how did it get so late?"

Sera turned over and faced me, a groggy expression on her face. "Time flies when you have fun, right?"

"Yeah." I snickered, "If you count fighting storm spirits fun." I sat down on the bed and felt how comfortable it would be if I slept in my jeans. I didn't want to waste any time tomorrow, so I figured I would just sleep with what I had on.

Turns out, tight jeans and beds don't mix.

I usually slept in Pajamas, but dumb me didn't bring any, and Talon was already in his room, so I wasn't about to go back over there. I'd just sleep with them off I guess, like I used to to when I was little. Back when I thought pajamas were too hot.

I took off my jeans and placed them on the floor at the foot of my bed. My now bare pale legs illuminated with the lamplight.

"More comfortable this way." I said, figuring she wouldn't mind. Cause I sure didn't. I had the same locker room code as boys do, where you don't mind being half naked in front of the same sex for the sake of changing or being comfortable. It was just a casual thing for me.

Sera giggled as I walked back at sat down on my bed.

"What?" I asked.

"Is everything black with you?" She said, pointing to my underwear. I was a little surprised. Did Sera just...tease me?

I decided to play along, sliding underneath the covers as I did so. "Is everything white with you?"

She laughed, "I suppose so."

I reached over to turn off the lamp, but hesitated, still a little worried about tomorrow, and her condition.

"Sera...you gonna be okay? I mean, honestly?"

Her playful smile turned into a soft one, "Yes, Harper. I'll be fine. You don't have to worry so much. I am older than you after all."

Inwardly I thought, could've fooled me. But that would've been a smartass thing to say, so I kept it to myself, and just replied with, "Okay, goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I turned off the light, and closed my eyes. Within ten minutes, I felt myself drift away.

At first I simply floated in the void of sleep, my eyelids letting me see only black. But soon, I started to see something, and I knew immediately it would be a vision.

I floated on top of a snowy mountain, thousands of feet in the air. It was night time here as well, and everything sat still, aside from the whistling wind. I saw a form of mist in front of me, and it looked almost...human.

I didn't have much time to focus on it, because behind me a bright flash of blue appeared and crashed into the ground, shaking it.

The Sons of Thor walked from their landing and stepped up to the mist figure, waiting expectantly. I recognized them immediately, having nearly been killed by them a couple of days ago.

"Ouranos. We're back."

The mist figure turned, and sure enough, it looked like Ouranos's typical form. He had an outline of long hair that came down to his shoulder blades and a beard equally as long. His toga seeped gray smoke and billowed off into the wind. I looked closer and saw that his eyes were glowing blue, like snake slits.

"You're late" The primordial said disdainfully.

Bjorn chuckled humorlessly, "Yeah well, the boy's father was with him."

"Is that so? And what of the two? Did you accomplish what I asked?"

Bo smiled wickedly, "We killed the boy, sir. Hercules however, escaped us."

I knew right then they were talking about Matt. Sudden worry filled me. Killed him? There was no way...

Ouranos turned fully now, and walked closer to the two Norse brothers, a skeptical look appeared to be on his blurred face.

"You killed Matthias Beckett?"

They nodded, "Indeed. Sent him flying all the way to...what was it called again brother?"

Bjorn grunted, "Kansas, I believe."

I almost wanted to shout in victory. Finally, after a long year of worrying and crying, I knew where he was. Or at least had a good idea of where he was. Kansas...that wasn't far from here. Or well, maybe it was, but at least it was in the country.

Part of me wanted to wake myself up right now and go after him, but I knew that would be stupid. We had to get this Elixir tomorrow, and I wanted to see what else the Norse jerks would say.

But it was Ouranos instead. "So you did not inspect the body? See for sure that he was dead?"

The brothers exchanged a confused look, then back at Ouranos, "Uh, we didn't think we had to, sir."

Ouranos's eyes flared, "Of course you do! Why the hell would you not?!"

Bo protested loudly, "We put a hole through his fucking stomach! And sent him all the way across the region! What more do you want?!"

Ouranos shouted, and a thunder struck above the three of them.

"FOOL! This is not some meek prey you can walk away from! This is the Son of Hercules! The same one that delayed my plans last year! Killed Krios and nearly killed Hephaestus! You have to be sure he's dead!"

Okay, now I was actually starting to believe they had hurt him. At first, I thought it was a lie to get on Ouranos's good side. Because for whatever reason, these guys worked for him and wanted to please him. I had just figured Matt was too strong for them, so they made up something. But the things they said were pretty specific, and I detected no signs of lying in their tone.

Oh gods...

Bjorn scowled at Ouranos and stepped backward, tapping his brother on the shoulder. "Let's get out of here, Boris. This job isn't worth it anymore."

Bo agreed and began to follow his older sibling, but Ouranos wasn't having it. The air seemed to bend around us with energy, and Ouranos's anger.

"You dare walk away from me?! You dare half ass the assignment I gave you?! Have you forgotten my promise to you? The reason you work for me in the first place?"

As if I had jinxed the conversation, the very subject I was curious about had come up. I listened in to hear better.

Bjorn didn't look at him, and mumbled, "We haven't forgotten. But we aren't gonna be your slaves. We killed the damn boy. If you don't believe us, then screw you."

I expected Ouranos to attack them, but he simply laughed, "And where will you go? Back to the cave you came from? Face it, without my promise, you are nothing. You have nothing. It truly seems you are forgetting the magnitude of what I will give you."

Bo turned around furiously, "We'll take it over ourselves! We don't need your help!"

I was confused now. Take over what?

Ouranos knew exactly what he was talking about, "Really? Because when I first came to you, and let me get this straight...you had been kicked out of Camp Asgard for weeks, due to your bloodthirsty nature contrasting with who was it...Sigurd? Was that his name?"

Bjorn's expression became enraged, "Don't speak of that bastard!"

Ouranos raised a finger like he had gotten the answer right, "Yes, Sigurd Borgarsson, Son of Odin if I recall, banished you from the Camp forever. Your father, enraged, tried to enact revenge and destroy Sigurd, but the god was unaware of the leader's power, and was utterly defeated by Sigurd. Thor, broken and defeated, began to live in a cave. You two found him, and lived with him, vowing revenge. Am I right so far?"

"Shut up!" Bo yelled, Bjorn gripped his hammer, ready to attack Ouranos.

But the Sky god didn't seem concerned, as he continued with the brother's past, "That's about the time that I came to you, and offered a reward in turn for your services. I would grant you and your father the power to kill Sigurd and destroy Camp Asgard, allowing you to rule over it yourself. All you had to do was one favor...kill Matthias Beckett." Ouranos loomed over them, and the brother's backed away autonomously, his dark shadow like a giant cloud of hate, it was dangerous, and flashed white lightning.

"I am willing to give second chances. So I am going to give you two one, and grant you even more power. You are to travel to Kansas and find Matthias, then...make sure he is dead. Do you understand?"

Bjorn and Bo quickly agreed, silently. I hadn't seen them fearful at all the day we fought them, but standing before an angry Ouranos, they looked downright terrified. As they should be. Even at weak strength, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Ouranos glowed even brighter than before, all over his body, and transferred that light to the brother's. Streaks of it colliding with their chests and entering their skin.

After a few seconds, it passed, and the brother's looked like they had been reborn. They looked at their weapons and hands like they had never seen them before, which was odd, because nothing had changed appearance wise. But I guess they had gotten stronger, and I couldn't tell. You know, not having aura sensing abilities.

Ouranos seemed to wince, and his blue eyes dimmed three shades, like he had been weakened. "There, that much energy should suffice. Now go! Kill Matthias and that petty Strength god!"

They nodded, and grinned like demons, "Yes sir!" And with a CRACK! They disappeared faster than light into the sky.

My eyes shot open, and I was brought back to the reality of our hotel room.

It was nearly pitch black in here, with no light coming in through the window. I took that as a sign that not much time had passed.

I turned my head on the pillow to see Sera turned on her side, facing me. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was partly open, fast asleep.

I smiled. She looked like a small animal, peacefully sleeping in the forest. It was cute, to be honest. I was glad she was getting some sleep, not riddled with nightmares and visions like me. She would need the energy tomorrow.

I stretched my arms and legs and felt no sweat or any uncomfort down there, to my relief. The vision hadn't troubled me as much as I thought it did.

But my mind was on a roller coaster. So many things had been revealed in that vision, I didn't even know what to start thinking about. Matt being badly hurt worried me the most, obviously. As if I wasn't already filled with anxiety at every thought of him.

But knowing where he was made it a little better. Of course, coming from the mouth of those jerks, I wasn't sure If I could trust it. But it was all I had to go on, a piece of hope to cling on to.

Kansas...

I would have to tell the others what I heard, and tell them we had to go to Kansas, to find Matt. I wouldn't take no for an answer.

But another thing that confused me was the brother's story. A lot of the words replayed in my mind. Camp Asgard and Sigurd being the two main ones.

It didn't take me long to figure out what he meant by Camp Asgard, but the thought was almost ridiculous. A camp for Norse demigods? I mean, we're called Camp Half-Blood, which makes sense, because Half-Blood is a Greek alternative term we use for "demigod" and Asgard was some city in Norse myth from what I remember.

But that only made more questions rise, like where is it? How many people are there? Are they aggressive? Would they work with us? How big is the place? Who was their leader?

Well, at least I knew the answer to the last one. According to Ouranos, it was a guy named Sigurd. Sigurd...huh, must be an Irish name or something.

Either way, Ouranos called him a Son of Odin, basically the Norse Zeus. That told me this guy was powerful. And if that wasn't enough, he apparently defeat Thor. By himself, I wasn't sure, but if so...then we needed to link up with this guy.

Gods, this quest just got even more complicated.

For the entire time, we just wanted to get to Scandinavia and find Ouranos's new HQ. But now...a Norse Camp has been brought into the picture, giving us a million different scenarios. We could ally with them, get them to help us...

Or they could try to kill us...

But something told me that wouldn't be the case. I had paid attention to my vison, which is a shocker, I know. But anyway, Ouranos said that Sigurd kicked the Sons of Thor out because of their bloodthirsty nature. That told me that he didn't approve of them, and most likely had a different ideology. A good thing.

I sighed, looking up at the ceiling. So much information, and so little time to do anything about it. We'd have to wait and see. Norse Camp or not, that was miles away. Right now, we had to worry about a mansion of psychopathic ice users.

I glanced at the clock and it read 4:30 AM.

I silently groaned, and turned over the opposite way, burrowing under the covers some more.

If I had any chance of staying alert tomorrow, I needed rest. I needed it...

Telling myself this, I closed my eyes, and tried again.

Surprisingly, when I woke up, I didn't feel like crap.

I was still a little tired, but I quickly shook that off and figured another shower would cure my grogginess.

I shoved off the covers from my body and looked beside me, to find that I was alone.

"Sera?" I called. No answer.

Then I heard a faint noise in my ear, and used my finger to twist around in there, so I could listen better.

I did, and it made it easier. I identified the sound as the water running from the bathroom. The shower.

I nodded my head to myself. She was in the shower.

Ugh, now I'd have to wait.

"Oh well." I threw my legs over the side of the bed and sat there, looking at the clock yet again, it was 7:15 now. So I had gotten about three more hours after my vision? Not bad.

It would have to be enough, that was for sure.

I sat there for a minute or two, just zoned out and waiting. Until I got bored and grabbed my dual knives from their waiststrap in the corner of the room. I twiddled with them for a few minutes, spinning them and tossing them and what not. I loved doing that. It was a good way to pass the time, and ever since i was little I had gotten the hang of it. The trick is to keep the blade as close to your hand as possible, and to not be stiff. If you wanna spin your knife and make it look badass, you gotta be loose with it, let your fingers go half-numb basically.

After a bit, the noise of the water finally turned off and I heard a bit of rustling inside. It wasn't long before Sera popped out with her change of clothes. She wore a short blue dress that came just above her knees, a thin rope tied around the waist, and a necklace around her neck. Her white hair was tied up in a long thick single braid, coming down on her left shoulder. She had on Greek sandals. In fact, looking at her, she looked downright like an ancient Greek Princess.

She smiled when she saw me, "Good morning, Harper. I hope I didn't stay in there too long."

I waved her off, "Nah, you're good. Nice outfit by the way."

She glanced down at herself, "Oh this? Thank you. It's my favorite."

"Looks good." I got up from the bed and walked over to the bathroom, not before adding, "Hey, can you do my braid once I'm done?"

"Of course."

I nodded and closed the door behind me.

I'll cut to the chase. I brushed my teeth, took a shower, dried off and put on the change of clothes Talon gave me last night. There you go, quick and easy. I doubt you want to hear everything I do, as I went into great detail last time.

Once I finished everything, including drying my hair completely, to the point where it was soft and straight, I walked out and spotted Sera at the foot of her bed, doing something with her hand.

"Sera, what are you doing?"

She looked at me and I saw her face morph into that of concentration.

"I'm practicing."

I looked closer and saw that she had ice in her hand. She was morphing it and messing with it like clay. It was actually kind of crazy to watch.

I got closer, "Wow, you're pretty good."

She smiled and held up a finger, "Watch." She moved her other fingers around and her hand occasionally. The ball of snow and ice shifted and moved, changing shape every few seconds. I watched in awe, and within a not even ten seconds, it took form of a little statue like thing.

Then finally, it morphed into...me. A little ice replica of me.

Sera lifted it and showed it to me. I took it from her hand and held it, like a little kid that got someone to draw him at the fair.

"Sera, this is...amazing." It wasn't tall, maybe six inches or so, but it looked just like me. It had my hair, my facial features, my clothes, and even my white eye.

"Although my family considers me the weakest offspring...I've found my skill to be perfectly normal. I've had plenty of practice with it. Although I don't fight with it per say...but I could."

"You definitely could." I absentmindedly muttered, still admiring the little sculpture. Hell, if Sera could do this, what else could she do? She could make ice knives, swords, arrows, jagged spikes from the ground, and probably whatever else she wanted. It was a useful ability.

I gave it back to her, and she forced it to melt into little snowflakes. They flew around the area before falling to the carpet.

"Shall I do your braid?"

I nodded and she shifted on the bed so she was on her knees behind me. I sat down in front of her.

She began to run her fingers through my hair and knead each strand, clumping together some and twisting it skillfully. I relaxed and waited.

After a few minutes, and about halfway done, we heard a knock on the door.

I groaned, "Wonder who it is."

Sera laughed and called out, "It's unlocked!"

Talon and Malachi opened the door and peeked in, the former saying, "Oh, didn't mean to interrupt the salon session."

"What are you doing here?" I asked with slight annoyance.

"Seeing what the hell was taking so long." They stepped inside and shut the door.

"I'm almost done." Sera said, continuing the braid.

Malachi looked around, "We just wanted to discuss some things."

"What things?"

Talon raised an eyebrow, "Like what we might have to deal with. Guards, traps, butlers, whatever."

I had to agree with him on that one. We needed to know exactly what we were dealing with, just in case. Walking in there blindly would only result in chaos.

I said over my shoulder, "Actually Sera, that sounds like a good idea. Can you...maybe tell us?"

She looped another piece of hair, "Yes. But just know that this is what I remember. I haven't been to the manor in years, so if something is off, then I apologize."

"That's fine, just tell us what you remember." Talon said patiently.

Sera nodded, "Well...first of all, the mansion itself is very large, four stories high, and it takes up nearly one hundred thousand square feet. It is surrounded by snow, and a constant blizzard to hide it, just in case the mist doesn't work. As for guards...our butlers are trained and they guard the house, but they do not appear at the gates. That job goes to the Yetis."

Talon leaned in closer, like he hadn't heard right, "Wait a second, Yetis?"

"Yes."

"Like the giant furry snow gorillas?" I asked, vaguely remembering the creature from old stories.

"Yes, the very same. Only these are intelligent, and each one is equipped with a high powered rifle. They are very accurate and physically strong. They also blend in well with the snow."

"I can detect them with my aura sensing, no problem." Malachi said.

Talon still had disbelief all over his face, "Yetis? Like, for real?"

"Yes, Talon. Yetis."

I was just as shocked as he was, "I had no idea they were real."

"Well, they get them from Russia. Most of them have been there for years, but I remember my father saying he bought a small army of them from a Russian man long ago."

"Maybe monsters from a Russian Pantheon?" I looked around at everyone.

Talon grunted, "Let's not get started with that."

Sera continued, "But yes, they will be probably the first things we see when we arrive, and they do not speak. I am hoping that when I am mentioned, they will send one of my relatives to the gates. If not...we will most likely have to defend ourselves. The bullets from the Snipers are made of Celestial Bronze, laced with poison."

I nodded, "Steer clear of the snipers, got it."

"Anything else?" Malachi asked.

"One more thing, my siblings. Should we engage combat with them...do not hold back. They have been trained since birth to use their powers efficiently to kill. They are very skillful, will not hesitate, and they work very well together."

We all silently agreed. No messing around. If we had to fight, we wouldn't be soft, we would bring it.

"All done!" Sera said and let go of my hair. I examined it in the mirror to find that it was perfect.

"I love it. Looks amazing!"

"You're welcome."

Talon impatiently put his hand on the door, "Good, now can we hit the road please?"

The car ride was...long.

Longer than I thought it would be. Turns out, it takes a while to get from one state to the other. Go figure.

But along the ride, I kept thinking about the vision I had. Sigurd Borgarsson, Matt still out there...

Matt...

I had to tell them. If I didn't now, then we'd never see him again.

But would that jeopardize the mission? Would it make things harder?

Did I care? If it meant seeing him again, did I?

I struggled with it for a moment, and decided that I didn't. I had to tell them.

So I spit it out, "Guys, I had a vision...and I think I know where Matt is."

Sera called out from the back, "Really? That's great!"

Malachi leaned closer to the front seats, "Where is he?"

"Kansas, I think. The Sons of Thor-"

Talon interrupted, "Those assholes?"

"Yeah. They said they wounded him or something, and sent him flying all the way to Kansas, the other end of the state or something."

"And you believe them?"

I hesitated, "At first...no, but I didn't detect anything close to a lie in their tone, so...I don't know, it seems plausible to me. What do you guys think?"

I expected them to shoot it down, say it was too risky, that we shouldn't do it.

Instead I was greeted with smiles, and Talon saying, "I think we go to Kansas right after this Griffith business and get your boyfriend back."

"Yes, Harper deserves to be happy again!" Sera cooed.

Even Malachi was cheerful, "Indeed. I have missed Matt. Even though I haven't known him very long. Besides, his assistance to this quest would be a great help."

I couldnt' believe them. I had worried for nothing the entire night, thinking that I wouldn't get to see him again, that I'd be overwhelmed by the majority. I was dead wrong, stupid to believe they wouldn't want to see him to. He was a friend to all of us, of course they would.

"Thanks guys." I said gratefully.

"Did you see anything else in this vision?" Talon asked curiously, turning down a side road, watching the GPS carefully.

"Actually yeah, and it's pretty important..." I went on to tell them about the mention of Camp Asgard, and this Sigurd guy, how he banished the Sons of Thor and even defeated Thor himself. That earned a couple of uneasy looks and a silence.

I tried to make it sound like a hopeful thing, which to me it was. "They could help us, don't you see? A Norse camp, with a leader that doesn't like the Sons of Thor."

Talon wasn't convinced, "But does he know about Ouranos? Would they help us with that? I don't know, there's just too many unknown variables."

"Like Griffith Manor? Yet here we are." I retorted, and saw his lips tighten. He knew I had gotten him there.

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, we need to focus on the current task."

I wanted to argue, and cement this Norse Camp plan further, but it was no use. It would take some getting use to, some thinking. And Talon was right, we needed to put all of our focus on what was coming shortly, not what was in the distant future. Well...if you count a few days as distant future.

I sat back in my seat and looked out the window, watching everything pass by. Soon the scenery changed, and just like that, we were in Indiana, it was like no time had passed at all. Only it did. My racing thoughts were what kept me from getting bored.

Sera led us from there to the manor, a series of winding roads and hills ensued, but after an hour, we made it.

We kept our distance for the first minute, scanning the massive area. And yeah, it was massive.

We couldn't see the mansion, but the gates were as long and tall as the Great Wall of China. Spiked at the tip and separated by only a couple of inches, not allowing any leeway.

Like Sera said, a blizzard raged on inside of the gates, heaps of snow covered the landscape from what we could see. It looked very odd in contrast to the rest of the state, and the fact that it was summer. But the manor was kind of by itself, down a neat driveway a mile off of the main road. So regular mortals couldn't see it anyway, mist or no mist.

"You were not kidding." Malachi breathed in awe at the Antarctic-like landscape.

"No escape." Sera said, "The blizzard acts as a mask, constantly controlled by my parents."

"Your parents control that?!" I asked incredulously, not even trying to fathom the kind of stamina it must take to keep that up every second of the day. These people had to be powerful.

"They do. I told you, they know how to use their abilities."

"Yeah?" Talon said, a smirk on his lips, "Well so do we. Let's get a closer look." He suddenly gunned it towards the front gate, closing the distance in seconds.

"What the hell?!" I shouted.

His smirk turned into a grin, "Relax!"

He drifted it to the right, skidding across dozens of feet of snow. I noticed the front gate now. It stood twenty feet tall, with what seemed to be multiple sniper towers on each side, probably twelve in total. That must be where the Yetis stay.

Finally we came to an abrupt halt, the tires screeched like crazy, and Talon seemed to be having the time of his life.

"What is wrong with you?!" Malachi said, eyes wide, "Now they're most certainly going to attack us!"

Talon shrugged, "Nothin' like a good entrance."

Sera sighed warily, "Well at least you didn't crash into the gate. I don't think the Yetis will become hostile, so that's good."

We waited, and I looked at the Sniper towers. Nothing. Not a Yeti in sight.

I turned to them, "I think she's right!"

But a series of low growls interrupted. I looked up at the Sniper towers again and saw twin red glowing eyes in each one, then a metal glint.

"You just had to say something, didn't you?"

I shoved Talon, "It was you that drove crazy!"

"We have bigger problems!" Malachi warned, "Get out of the vehicle!"

We did as he said and threw the doors open, jumping out for dear life. The split second we did, the truck exploded to bits, a heat wave and a fiery roar following, sending all of us flying into the snow.

"Exploding bullets!" Sera cried, "Watch out!"

Another round fired, this time at me. I was still dazed by the sudden explosion that I had no idea I was supposed to dodge.

Luckily to my left, a small bolt of lightning connected with the bullet and exploded in mid air, in between me and the Yeti that fired. I looked to the source, to see Malachi with his hand outstretched.

"Thanks!"

"Take Cover!" He shouted back.

There was a series of shots fired, explosions all around. I had to get my ass in gear. I super sped over to the nearest cover point, which happened to be a pile of uprooted rock from a previous round.

I peeked over the top to see another round fired at me. I noticed just in time and dodged, the bullet whizzed past and hit the ground, piercing it through, not exploding this time. I guessed they had switched back to regular bullets.

I pulled out my knives and gripped them, my mouth forming a grimace.

Talon soon joined me behind the rocks, firing his revolver at the Yetis.

He ducked down next to me, "What the hell you doing over here?!"

"Taking cover you idiot! Just because you can't feel pain doesn't mean I can't!"

He looked me dead in the eye, "Harper, you agreed that if things went sour, we would fight. And well...things have already gone sour, so...it's time to kick some ass. You ready?"

I stared at him for a second, then looked over at Sera and Malachi, who were waiting for Talon's instructions.

Guess we were gonna fight.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

He grinned like a madman, "Hell, diplomacy was never the answer with these people anyway."

"To be fair, you started it."

"Ah, shut up."

With that, we rose from behind our cover, and returned fire.

(000)

Just when the fight started, huh? Sorry guys, I did it again, yet another cliffhanger. Gonna have to wait until the chapter after next to see what happens. And trust me, you don't want to miss it. I plan on that chapter being one of my best, so stay tuned.

We covered some good development in this chapter I thought, and got some insight on Harper and Talon's ideas of themselves, and redemption. I thought that was interesting to write and explore.

We also saw some of the Sons of Thor's backstory, and a bit of their motives. Camp Asgard, Sigurd the Son of Odin, I'm bringing a lot of stuff into play here, aren't I?

All in good time everybody, just gotta be patient.

Anyway, that's the chapter, and I'll see you for the next one.

Until Next Time.