The rest of their time on the mountain was less eventful. Though Marcus tried to keep himself focused on their journey, he couldn't help but notice the tension still in the air between the two he was now traveling with. Gone was the easy silence or jokes that had passed between him and Phil, and Chastity hardly seemed in the mood for her usual flirting. Wow… Whatever happened must have been pretty serious. Marcus sighed inwardly. While he wasn't usually one to be bothered by something like this, he really didn't want to deal with the awkward lovebirds the entire way back to camp. Glancing at the two, one on each side of him, he noticed something peculiar.

"Hey, what's that on your hand Phil?" He asked, trying to seem casual, though his voice being the one to break the silence just seemed so wrong to him.

"This?" Phil gestured, giving Marcus a better view. It was a simple glove, brown and green in color, almost camouflaged but not quite. "Took it from the other archer."

"Isaac." Marcus nodded. "But why?"

In answer, Phil gestured again, this time with a snap of his wrist, and before his eyes Marcus saw a bow form, seemingly out of thin air. Intricately carved where Phil's previous one had been simple, Marcus saw Ancient Greek letters carved around a wrapped handle. The bow string gave off a subtle glow.

"A blessed weapon?" Marcus stepped closed, examining the bow closely. Something about the aura it gave off was familiar…

"That's what I thought as well." Phil said simply, nodding his head. "I took the opportunity while I was on watch to take a few shots with it. It feels as natural as breathing for me to use its abilities now."

"Abilities?" Chastity spoke up for the first time, though Marcus could hear her reluctance to get involved.

Marcus watched as Phil gave her a small smile. "Yes. Though I'll leave what they are to be a surprise for now." Phil told her, almost teasingly.

Chastity scowled for a moment before throwing a fake pout at Phil. "Fine. But you better tell me all about your… abilities once we're alone."

Marcus couldn't help but feel a bit out of place, watching the interaction between the two. He knew if he had said something like what Phil had when Chastity was mad at him, she wouldn't have let it go easily, let alone reply with a flirting comment. Maybe it was because it was just him with the two of them, whereas before there'd been the entire group, or maybe he just hadn't noticed before… It doesn't matter. He forced himself to keep moving forward, letting the two love birds lag behind. He felt a small fire in his chest, but he didn't know why. I'm just anxious to report back to Chiron. Get this over with.

He hurried down the mountain, the other two falling behind at first before speeding up to match his pace.

"Marcus, slow down!" Chastity called out, out of breath.

Marcus slowed his pace a bit with a sigh. He looked around himself and realized that he had been moving faster than he had intended. He hadn't really meant to… He wasn't even running full out… but he realized they were near to where they had had Randy park the bus. Taking a moment, he realized he wasn't even out of breath. In fact he felt… light? His breath came easily, and he could feel each one he took giving him strength. Huh… guess the air was thinner up there than I thought.

He turned to see Chastity and Phillip finally catching up with him, and even the stoic Phil seemed out of breath.

"What…. Is…. Your…. Issue!?" Chastity gasped between breaths.

Marcus raised an eyebrow and couldn't stop a comment coming to his lips. "Aren't you always saying you enjoy my stamina?"

Chastity caught her breath and answered him with a stern look, saved by Phil responding. "The bus should just be ahead." Marcus watched him with a small amount of amusement. He had recovered quickly, but his usual calm demeanor was slightly ruined by the beads of sweat still on his forehead.

Marcus clapped Phil on the shoulder, probably a bit rougher than he meant to. "Just try to keep up old man." He said with a small grin. He was met with a challenging glance from Phil and before he knew it, the two were racing off into the distance, leaving poor Chastity behind.

"Oh come on!" He heard her shout after them, but Marcus couldn't stop now.

For some reason, he needed to beat Phil at something, even something as small as a race. This is childish. But he did it anyway, reveling in his newfound lightness and pulling ahead of Phillip. Each step he took seemed to barely brush the ground as he raced forward, the bus coming into view far faster than he thought it would. He jumped forward, his hand slapping the back of the bus as he stopped dead and turned to see Phil catching up to him, walking now as he saw he had lost, with Chastity lagging behind. Taking stock, Marcus shook his head at his own childishness. What the hell was that?

Phil shook his head with a smile as he caught up with Marcus at the bus, gently tapping it with his own hand as Marcus had. "Guess the phrase 'fast as the wind' means something."

Marcus was about to argue the point when he stopped. He had called upon his fathers blessings on the mountain… had that changed him? Ever since he had felt lighter. He was more in tune with the world around him, feeling the air currents shifting easier than he had before. Marcus felt a touch of fear hit his heart. He had always prided himself on his own skills, skills he had taken the years to master. Sure he had used his demigod abilities sparingly, altering the air around him and using it to aid his other senses, but that was it. Now he felt like he was cheating somehow.

Chastity caught up, a scowl on her face. "Great. Marcus finished first. Congrats. Can we not do that again?!"

Marcus smiled at her. "Don't worry Chastity. When it matters, I know how to take my time."

He was rewarded for his comment by a raised eyebrow from Phil, who otherwise let what he said pass without comment as Phil walked onto the bus. Chastity on the other hand fixed Marcus with a questioning look, before a small smile appeared on her face in response. "Naughty boy, Marcus. Making jokes like that in front of my boyfriend."

Marcus shrugged. "You know me. Always the center of mischief, even though I try my best to avoid it." He added a touch of fake innocence to his comment and was rewarded with a small laugh from Chastity.

"Well don't cause too much here. I'm still in charge of you, remember? So as much as I'd love to see two men fight over me, I'd have to stop you." She said with a wider smile and a wink, before sauntering onto the bus. If Marcus didn't know any better, he would swear she purposefully swayed her hips more…

Fucking Hades Marcus! He scolded himself. Get a hold of yourself! You two are finally back to good terms. Don't ruin her relationship! Marcus took a deep cleansing breath, probably taking more time than he needed to, but he wanted to give the two a moment on the bus by themselves. That way it's clear I didn't mean anything. Taking one last look at the mountains, he felt there had been a major shift here. They had responded to the killing of Joey and Elliot by killing one of Aaron's half bloods, and took his artifact besides. He knew he'd probably look back at this moment later as the moment he started thinking of this as a real war, despite Aaron's earlier remarks… Dammit. Why did it have to come to this…