Chapter Title: Colton And The Burning Bush

(A/N: Originally, this was going to be "Lavinia V" but due to some considerations on my end, I decided to switch the places of these two chapters. Also, I know the chapter title sounds biblical to be honest, but I couldn't think of anything else.)

June 22nd, 2010

The morning of the next day dawned about as early as the last day did, which considering that yesterday was the Summer Solstice, meant that I was waking up very, very early since my father was the literal Sun. To be fair, I was more annoyed with it than anything else, but at least on this occasion, I had spent the previous night in an actual bed rather than the floor of a convenience store in a sleeping bag, which was nice. Either way, I couldn't really afford to go back to sleep once I had gotten up — especially more so on this occasion, given that what we had came here for awaited us only a few miles away.

It seemed too easy, if I had to be honest. Here we were, deep in the mountains, having been given about five days to do this thing — and by the third day already, we had located the exact position of what we were after. Not to be snarky or anything, but by comparison, on the third day of Clarisse's quest for the Golden Fleece that Percy, Tyson, and Annabeth had tagged along on, they still hadn't retrieved the item they were looking for at all. While they did eventually do so, it took at least four more days to do it. So, believe me when I say, I was a bit on edge about how easy this whole quest had been so far.

I mean sure, we did have to face some difficult points already — but Colton did much of the leg work in overcoming these challenges, much to Lavinia's apparent chagrin. I mean, look — I had a feeling that the girl really wanted to prove that she was more than just another poor soul in the Fifth Cohort, but she was paired up on a quest with me and Colton — and I'm fairly certain that the two of us might as well be some of the toughest and hardest fighters of the Olympian forces by far — and that's when we were operating as a heavy weapons team. Individually, Colton was far superior — no doubt about that in my mind — with me out of his league but probably no less impressive at the same time, so I think naturally, Lavinia did kind of feel a bit insecure when compared to the two of us.

With that in mind, it was no surprise that I really wondered as I got myself together for today exactly what her contribution to this whole affair would be. I mean, to be fair, she had already determined that I was the son of Apollo that would be on this quest with her — since she already knew that Colton was the Monster King, but there had to be more to it than that, because since leaving Camp Jupiter, Colton had done basically all of the legwork for the quest as I have stated above him, with Cháris doing a small portion of it too. So where did that leave Lavinia then?

It was a question that as of right now, I had very few answers to at all. In retrospect looking back on all of this though, I think the fact that I had very few answers right now in trying to answer that question was probably the first sign in how unexpected the actual answer was.

Walking downstairs from the second floor bedroom with all of my stuff on, body armor and all, I found Colton just sitting on the couch in the living room, just watching the morning news. Something about the ongoing protests over in Iran due to their recent presidential elections, and something else about Greenland gaining self-rule, from what I heard since Colton had the volume turned down a bit.

I walked past him and just plopped into a seat, eating one of the pop tarts I had taken from the convenience store yesterday for breakfast. I hadn't heard anyone else up yet, so it was only the two of us here for now.

"Morning.." he muttered, his eyes simply farting between the TV screen and the window to his left, looking towards the loop — though it was not visible from the window due to the terrain. "..annoyed as usual about having to wake up with the Sun..?"

"You betcha I am.." I said back, finishing up my pop-tarts. "At least I could sleep in an actual bed again last night, that was nice."

"Fair enough.." Colton said back, both of us keeping our voices down so as to not wake anyone else in the house up. "I have the plan of attack that we'll use to dig up Argonaut worked out. Spent a good chunk of last night planning it out."

"Of course, of course.. because Colton Reynolds never goes anywhere without a plan, unless it's with his girlfriend.." I said jokingly, to which Colton just let out an annoyed sigh.

"I might not be Annabeth Chase, but at least I'm not the bone-headed dumb-dumb bullies that most of my siblings are back at Camp Half Blood.." he said back, and to be fair, this was true.

Colton never really was one to partake in the kind of bully-like behavior many of the other kids in the Ares Cabin took part in, much like Austin Maxwell had refused to do during his time at camp. If anything, the only real time he even came close to partaking in it was with his rivalry with Percy, and even then, it felt way more toned down in comparison.

"Speaking of Kayla.." I continued. "How is my sister and my siblings back at camp?"

"They're doing fine.. Hephaestus Cabin is working on the final stages of something, which she hasn't revealed what yet.. but other than that, things are going fine at camp.." Colton replied, touching his hands repeatedly during this time — which I'm guessing was more out of anticipation than anything else, given what was going to happen on this day.

"That's nice" I said back. "Gods.. I really miss Jake man." I got tears in my eyes now, and I tried to keep it together. "It's hard being out here without him here."

Colton looked more sympathetic right now, if anything. He definitely seemed to be less fidgety now too. "Hey look.. it's gonna be okay.." he said. "..and I get how you feel — believe me, part of me hurts inside without having Kayla by my side. I know she feels the same way — which is going to make our reunion all that more sweeter."

"She's the main reason you still want to breathe, right..?" asked a familiar voice suddenly. Both of us turned to see Lavinia, dressed in her usual armor, standing in the doorway.

Colton, caught off guard by the question for the moment, thought about it for a moment. Lavinia just stood there, observing him.

"Yeah.." Colton muttered. "She is. I used to think that revenge on what killed my parents was the only thing worth living for — since it would avenge their needless and painfully cruel deaths. But when I fell for Kayla, that gradually changed — she taught me that revenge as a motive to live only goes so far until it is completed. Living for another person gives one a reason to live out the rest of their lives for that person. I'd move mountains, part oceans, move Heaven and hell for her if I had to — that's how much I love Kayla Elizabeth Knowles."

The last part caught me off guard, since Kayla had never told me she even had a middle name. "Wait.. her middle name is Elizabeth..?" I asked, and Colton turned to me.

"She never told you..?" He asked, and I shook my head no.

"I don't think she even told anyone else in the cabin to be honest.." I replied, which was true at least from my perspective. I had never heard any of my other siblings refer to Kayla at all when using full name other than as just "Kayla Knowles". To find out she even had a middle name was just surprising.

"She told me Darren and Apollo gave her that middle name because of how graceful they felt she would be — the potential of that apparently reminded Apollo of that one Queen of England Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen.. at least that's what her dad told her.." Colton continued.

I had to admit, this was very fascinating for sure.

"Is she still a virgin then..?" Lavinia asked, and Colton's face turned red. Not the kind of angry red you'd usually see from him, but more of an embarrassed type of red, which was rare to see from an Ares kid, and especially from Colton Reynolds himself.

"Yes.. she is.. I don't particularly plan on doing the dirty with her — not when Lee threatened to kill me over it.." he muttered, and that just caught me by surprise.

"Wait.. what..?" I asked, because Lee had never said anything about this.

"Yeah — 6 days after the Battle Of The Labyrinth, I was going to have a date with her at the lake, just the two of us. Both him and Aruna were waiting outside Cabin Five when I walked out of it that morning. He didn't specifically state it, but the way that he said, and I quote, 'I swear on the gods to the River Styx, Colton.. that if I find out you did you know what with her..' .."

He trailed off after quoting what Lee had said to him, and while I was a little slow at first, eventually I put two and two together. I shuddered.

"Yikes.. talk about psycho.." I said back to him.

Lavinia had a worried look on her face. "Is such behavior common for Apollo kids at Camp Half Blood..?" she asked, nervously.

"Not usually.." I replied. "We all share a sort of protectiveness over our other siblings. Unfortunately, when our other siblings happen to get a significant other, this protectiveness can become psychotic in a way. And to be fair, this wasn't the first time my siblings decided to leave Colton scared shitless over his relationship with Kayla. They did something similar the day right after they hooked up, which I remind you, was only a couple days before the Battle Of The Labyrinth. I was there for it too — and believe me, I felt bad about it all the way through."

"I thought I honestly was going to die when they were done with that talk, man.." Colton muttered, shaking a little. He caught himself soon enough though. "Like holy hades, your siblings really need to tone it down with that shit."

"Do they ever.." I muttered, because to be fair, Jake had been on the receiving end of something similar to the talk my siblings had gave to Colton. He had outright avoided the rest of my siblings for the better part of three full weeks afterwards because of it.

"God, I still have nightmares sometimes just thinking about that after every time I remember that.. Lee scarred me for life.." Colton groaned, and for a brief moment, I could feel the facade of that angry, level-headed boy cracking, collapsing under the weight of that.

Sensing that she had hit upon a sore topic, Lavinia decided to shift the conversation. "So.. Colton.. how exactly do you plan on getting Argonaut out of its current location..?" she asked, and Colton instantly resumed the focused, eyes on the prize type stars he was usually in — in a flash for that matter. He smirked.

"Glad you asked — because I do happen to have a plan on that front.." he said, with that smirk on his face being only what could be described as, and I quote on my part, feeling like testing the waters.

- — - — - — -

A couple of hours later, we were off — well, most of us anyway. Colton had convinced Leclerc, Dale, and the Professor to stay behind and watch over Joey at the safe house — which seemed like a logical choice in my opinion since they were without weapons for the most part, and Colton had at least given up the MG42 and one of his swords for them to use just in case — while the rest of us headed for the loop.

I was in the backseats, near the back of the car this time around, trying to at least get some more sleep due to having to wake up so early. It happened to be the one part I hated about being a son of Apollo. If only I didn't have to rise to the tune of my own father..

Lavinia was in the seat behind Cháris, looking quite a bit nervous at the moment. Colton as usual was riding shotgun, his rifle planted between his feet at an angle with the barrel of it going pass the left side of his head. He was humming something on this occasion, and it seemed to be music — maybe classical, but I wasn't really sure since I was focused on trying to get some sleep. So, I didn't really pay attention that much to what he was humming as Cháris drove the car off the mountain and down towards the town of Tehachapi, from which there was a road that would lead straight to the loop.

It wasn't too complicated and theoretically meant that we had at least enough power to potentially deal with anything, including giants, that came our way on our end. Plus, if we were quick enough, we should be able to get there, dig up Argonaut — considering that Colton had Cháris go out and buy a couple of shovels last night — and get out without Gaea throwing anything serious our way.

For the first couple of minutes for the ride, things seemed normal — and I felt like I was going to at least get a few minutes of extra sleep before we got there. And then..

Screech!

We came to a sudden stop, jerking my body forward against the seat belt and waking me right up. Needless to say, I was annoyed. "Hey Cháris.. what gives..?" I asked, lifting my head up to see over the seat in front of me.. only to see a burning bush roughly 10 yards in front of the car.

Yes.

You heard that correctly.

A large burning bush.. in a intersection in the middle of Tehachapi that like the gas station a couple days ago, was affected by magic given that the mortals were avoiding this area like the plague. Needless to say, I was dumbfounded.

"What the fuck..?" I muttered. I was so damn confused right now as to what was even happening, because this just seemed like something out of another religion to be honest. I mean, a burning bush.. in front of a Roman quest? Like what even is this?

Lavinia had a similarly mind-boggled look on her face, as she tried to comprehend this strange turn of events. Colton just turned to Cháris, completely puzzled - a rarity for the man. "So.. am I just supposed to like.. walk out and talk to this.. thing..?" he asked hesitantly, and Cháris could do little but just shrug in response.

Colton, with that, then did precisely that, opening the door on his side, getting out with the rifle in his hands and after closing the door, walked straight up as close as he felt to the burning bush. He had left the window rolled down just so the three of us still in the car could hear the conservation unfold, if one did break out. Much to my surprise, one actually did.

"Uh buddy.." Colton started, trying to maintain his composure. "..would you mind moving out of the way?"

"I am here to speak to Colton Reynolds.. on behalf of the Catholic Church.." the bush said back, and believe me, that took me by surprise. What the hell did the Catholic Church want with Colton?

"That would be me.." Colton responded. "What do you want..?"

"This is a warning from God, Colton Reynolds.. do not return Argonaut to the Romans after the coming storm.. grave consequences await you and the others should you do this.." the bush warned, and to be honest, this whole conversation sounded creepy to me.

"How serious are we talking..?" Colton asked the bush.

"Given that the fate of two mythological worlds is currently at stake, I think a man of your intelligence should be able to answer that question rather quickly.. certainly the Lord would have said as much.." the bush replied and Colton just nodded, understanding quickly.

"Why exactly does the Catholic Church take an interest in me at this time..?" Colton continued, and to be honest, I felt similar questions boiling within me. It seemed absolutely odd in every conceivable way.

"The lord has foreseen many things, Colton Reynolds.. and he has foreseen a few things involving you.. your adventures in the mythological world will soon become broader than just Greek and Roman.." replied the burning bush, and believe me when I say, that answer just puzzled me greatly. What exactly did it mean by that?

"Seriously..?" Colton responded, basically in disbelief before he got more serious. "Look.. buddy.. I do appreciate you coming here to inform of what may or may not potentially happen down the road, but I got a sword to retrieve.. so can you please move..?"

The burning bush, in response to this, simply extinguished itself and rolled away like a normal tumbleweed, but not before giving off an ominous and cryptic warning.

"The lord knows what might come for you in the future, Colton Reynolds.. you cannot outrun what the lord has foreseen for you."

Colton simply watched the bush roll away, and stood there for a few more seconds, before he turned around, jogged back up to the car, and got back in the passenger seat. Buckling his seat-belt, he simply muttered while closing up the window, "Well that was weird."

"No shit Sherlock.." I said from the back seat. "What the fuck is the Catholic Church doing in informing you of stuff that might happen down the road..?"

"Yeah.. it just seems very, very odd indeed.." Lavinia added.

"The Catholic Church has been known for such tactics in the past.. usually in order to control individuals that they see as threats from other religions and bend them to their will.. but they never have employed such a warning with a Monster King in quite some time.." Cháris admitted. "Usually, their tactics when it comes to the Monster King are usually much more forceful, if not downright bordering on attempted exorcism."

I shuddered at that. Yikes, I thought to myself. Talk about insane.

"Well.." Colton stated. "We can deal with whatever the Catholic Church wants to do with me later. Right now, we have a sword to unearth. Onward, Cháris."

"As you wish, young master.." Cháris said back, stepping on the gas and driving forwards once more, and as he did, I took one last look towards the downtown area to the east, where the bush had rolled into. My mind was definitely wondering as thanks to the bush, I was fully awake now. What my mind was wondering was what exactly did the Lord - or deity of the Christian religion - had foreseen when it came to the current Greek Monster King that was my best friend.

Little did I realize that it would be a good long while before I had those answers revealed to me. And when I found out, boy was I in for a few surprises indeed.