Morgan's Quest

The Chimera.

I had read tales about it, mainly that one myth with Bellerophon, who had killed it while flying Pegasus. But nothing, no book, no movie, could prepare you to the view of the real monster.

It had a large lion head framed by a filthy forest of a mane and when it roared, it showed fangs as long as my upper arm. Behind the lion head came a goat head with enormous grey horns whose points looked particularly sharp. And behind that, the tail.... A living snake. It swayed from side to side, hissing, as the Chimera advanced towards us.

I couldn't believe it. We had been in this train for no more than two hours thirty... And there was already a monster attacking us?
Apparently, I had highly underestimated how attractive a child of Zeus smelled for monsters.

Hammer and Zack were already at the front, so I hadn't to jump over Zack's legs when I rose from my seat. With several swift movements, I tapped my bracelet, which unraveled into my large bronze hoplon, and drew Apokryphos from my pocket.
What button should I press? Kopis? Xiphos? Knife? Blazing whip?

The blazing whip was a bad choice, because I word burn half the wagon before reaching the monster. Besides, the Chimera could breathe much more fire than my whip could produce.
Knife would mean close combat, and that wouldn't happen: it would be a strategic error.
No, I had to keep my distance, so I turned Apokryphos into my xiphos. One meter thirty of stygian iron cocked out with a sound of metal scraping against metal. Just that noise galvanized me.

"Ready when you are, guys," Zack said as I took position next to him.

"Ready," I answered, trying not to think it may be the last time we were all three alive.

My heart beat faster, thundering in my chest.

I jumped on a seat, one row in front of ours, and stood there, collecting my strength before attacking.





Jumping behind him, I rolled on the ground and stood up on my feet, facing the green snake.

It hissed with warning or contempt, I don't know, and snapped at me. I jumped back just in time and its jaws  closed in the air with a clacking sound.
Without waiting, I aimed another blow at it and it bit my shield. Raising it, I hit it, but it just used that moment to get into my guard, and its bite ripped my leather jacket open, along with a bit of my shirt, on my shoulder.
Spitting out the cloths, the snake faced me again. I could see it's slit-shaped pupils staring at me with hatred and I knew I had to find a way to out-trick it in order to cut it off.

Both Hammer and Zack lunged when Morgan did, taking her cue. The chimera let out a giant blast of fire, making Hammer and Zack have to dodge, which left Zack with a small burn on his arm. Zack sent a blast of electricity from his sword to the creature, who tensed up, paralyzing it for a moment. Hammer, being in front of the creature, brought his hammer up to the air and with a mighty swing, forced it down vertically on it's head. The crack that came from the lion's head was sickening. It couldn't still be alive, right?

It let out a huge roar of pain, which sent terror through the air. No, it wasn't dead even yet, but it was pissed. Even more so than it just was. It blew a terrible flame at Hammer, who narrowly dodged it. He went up close and hand to hold the creature off with the staff of his mighty hammer. Zack went around the creature. While Hammer had it distracted in the front, perhaps they could kill it from behind. He had to block a stab from the goats head with a bit of difficulty (he got a cut on his forearm), and saw Morgan facing the eyes of the great snake tail. Luckily, it was staring at Morgan, who was across from Zack. Zack grabbed the neck of the snake with one hand and sliced it off with the other, winking at Morgan.

The beast let out another terrifying roar of pain, which Hammer, even more terrifyingly, roared back at it. He was completely into the battle. Zack could honestly feel the anger and excitement coursing through the veins of his friend. He had the look of blood lust in his eyes. He was even more intimidating than he normally was, and that was a right to poop your pants. Hammer swung again, and with another crack to the skull, hit the creature, who was starting to look out of it. But Hammer...Hammer was ready to kill.

The creature burst more fire at Hammer, this time getting a direct hit on the left arm of Zack's friend. Hammer rolled to the side. He already looked cut up from the fangs of the beast. He was right in the way of a stab from the goat's horns. Zack was on the opposite side of the creature, and Hammer looked like he was struggling to get a hold of his hammer.

"Figure out a way to kill this thing," Zack quickly said to Morgan as he jumped over Morgan, and sprinted to Hammer, and deflected a couple stabs of the goat's horns with a flourish of both of his swords from left to right. Hammer didn't say a word, but Zack could tell he was trying to work himself up to get back into his battle mind.

If Zack hadn't sliced the snake off, I would probably have been dead. He let the limp, elastic body fall to the ground. When I looked at it, I saw it was gazing at my without seeing me through dead eyes, and that made a shudder run down my back. That snake looked like a rattlesnake, with its triangular head, ocher scales and low hissing.

However, I shook myself free from that look and went back into the combat.
The Chimera had already breathed fire two times at Hammer, and two times he had very narrowly escaped it. Now, though, small flames were dancing on his shirt, but he didn't seem to notice the pain. He roared at the Chimera and at that point, I thought I had a son of Alala, not Kratos, in front of me; a son of the goddess of war cry.
That roar released the flow of adrenaline into my veins and I jumped forward.
Zack looked at me and said:

"Figure out a way to kill this thing," then made his way across the seats to get forward and stand next to Hammer.

'Well, whatcha think I'm doing?' I wanted to tell him.
I remembered the myth of Bellerophon: he had killed the Chimera with a bow and arrows. Oh yes, and little unimportant detail: he was riding Pegasus. So neither the snake, nor the goat head, nor the fire-breathing lion head could hurt him.
We had two problems.
1- No bow nor arrows.
2- No pegasus.

How great.

"I love those holidays," I muttered and lurked forward.

However, the goat head saw me and made a circular move, making the horns brush my skin and scarifying it at several places. Crimson blood dripped out of the wounds.
Cussing in German, I took two steps back, put my sword in my shield-hand and opened my right hand.

"Βολή πύρινη!" I yelled in Ancient Greek, and a short stream of fire escaped my fingers.

Putting a hand on the nearby seat, I steadied myself. It had taken quite some energy to shoot fire, and my breathing had gotten heavier, while a film of sweat started covering my forehead and cheeks. Wiping it off with the back of my hand, I took my sword back into my right hand and raised my gaze to see what damage I had done to the monster.

My stream of fire had hit the place just behind the goat head and had flourished there in a bouquet of dancing flames. The sour smell of burnt wool and skin reached my nose, making me feel a bit nauseated; but the Chimera roared in pain, breathing more and more fire.
The seats around us started burning, and thick steam went up in the air. If we didn't get out quickly, we could get asphyxiated.

But our escape was doomed if we didn't manage to kill the Chimera.
I started coughing because of the smoke, but advanced nonetheless. I wanted to cut into the monster's legs. However, I calculated the consequences quickly.
Should I cut them, it would stumble and fall on the ground. It would roar in pain and breathe fire, and that could hurt Zack and Hammer. After that, it would roll onto its back and probably breathe fire to the ceiling and to us. We could kill it then -- but with difficulty. How could you get behind a fire-breathing lion head to cut it off?
Frontal attack with a monster who could make pyrotechnical effects was definitely not a good idea.

Think, Morgan, think! I ordered myself. I was too cold-blooded in battle; I thought too much. I had to act quickly, on impulse, otherwise Zack and Hammer could get serious injuries!
Help me, mother, I thought. One of your attributes is Soteria, the savior. Please help us.

Then, without thinking, I jumped forward and buried my sword into the back of the monster.
It let out a deafening roar accompanied by a blinding stream of fire whose volcanic temperature made me recoil instrinctively, before the goat head, still roaring, swung its head back.

I was too slow.

The left horn missed me by a few inches... but the right one didn't. A jet of blood rained out as it hit a place near the inner of my right elbow, cutting through my jacket and into my flesh. Yelling out in pain and sudden panic, I banged on the horn with my shield. I couldn't cut it off, for the hand that held the sword was my right hand... And having a horn's tip embedded in my right arm, I couldn't swing my sword.

With a sickening noise, I managed to get the horn's tip out of my arm, but the blood continued streaming out. I put my other hand on it, trying to stop the flow, but the hot liquid slid between my fingers. I had to bandage it somehow, but now wasn't the moment.

I glared at the goat head, gripping my xiphos.

"You will not enjoy this," I hissed, then starting walking to it. "But it will be over quickly."

[Zack's post]

As soon Zack came back to the front, with Hammer, he heard Morgan shout something in Ancient Greek before seeing a stream of fire escape her hands, hitting the monster and burning some of its fur away. Sadly, the fire wasn't strong enough to make the Chimera anything but angrier; Zack was about to ask Morgan to do it again when he saw her grabbing a seat to steady herself -  sweat was dampening her forehead and neck. He realized it had taken much of her energy already, and it probably wouldn't be wise for her to repeat the incantation; he didn't know how many times she could do it before collapsing.
The Chimera spit fire at him, which drew him back to immediate reality as he instinctively raised one of his swords to protect himself from the baking hot sparks. However, the handle wasn't fire-proof and it grew drastically warmer in his hand until it started burning a little. Cursing through his gritted teeth, he took a step back between the row of seats.

Hammer, on his side, was still completely into the battle. His blood-red eyes shone with fierce determination as he repeatedly lashed out with his hammer before bringing it down with all his might wherever he could on the beast's body, roaring in unison with the monster.

Zack saw Morgan managed to leap forward and bury her stygian iron sword into its back, but then the goat head made a circular movement and dug one of its horns into the soft place of her elbow. The simple sight of it was sickening. Dark streams of blood escaped the wound, running down her arms like liquid streaks as the daughter of Hecate screamed.
Zack clenched his teeth. No matter who that beast was, it had been already killed at least two times. And he would make sure to kill it a third time.
Suddenly, the Chimera ducked before jumping forward with surprising speed, it's mane flying horizontally. It dug it's claws into Hammer's arms and was about to bite at his throat, when Zachary pointed one of his twin swords at the monster and released an electric deflagration.
Streaks of white-blue electricity wrapped themselves around it's feline body, tetanizing it and projecting it against the wall.
The whole wagon trembled from the force of the impact at the air got charged in ozone - he could see Hammer's hair starting to stand on end.... not to mention of Morgan's. Her long black-brown hair was starting to ruffle in a most comical way.
The Chimera didn't last more, though. The combined might of the electricity and the shock against the wall left it quite dizzy and Hammer finished it off with one mighty blow at it's head.
Monster dust exploded in the air and rained down onto the ground.
Zachary sheathed his twin swords, panting, and walked over to Morgan, his turquoise eyes focusing on the wound in her arm.

"Are you alright, my dear?" he asked with genuine care.

The wound seemed quite deep and would probably need a good dose of nectar and ambroisia to heal.
But before Morgan could say a single word, the wagon gave a start.

"What was that?" Zack wondered, all nerves tense.

"More monsters?" Hammer asked with obvious delight.

But then the wagon derailed.

The darkness suddenly started to melt away.
Pity, I had liked the darkness. It had veiled my vision ever since I had flown over that seat and hit the wagon's wall with all the might possible, bruising me with a short yet vivid shock that had knocked me out instantly.
What had I been doing in that wagon anyway? It wasn't like I took that kind of train often - the only trains I took on an every-day-basis were the S-Bahn in Berlin, in order to go to my school. And they hadn't that kind of fancy seats. What had I been doing in that train before having been knocked unconscious?
Okay, so obviously, I wasn't unconscious anymore. I had noticed it when I realized I was breathing consciously, yet I somehow didn't manage to open my eyes, casting myself in the darkness I just described. I had the strange sensation of floating.
Was that the feeling an astronaut got when being in weightlessness?

The darkness started to flutter and I understood my eyelids had open a little. Blurred colors came to reality: blue, white, a wee bit of green. My back hurted.
Darkness came over again, then the same colors reappeared. The white seemed to be moving for some odd reason.

"She has opened her eyes!," a voice suddenly said next to me.

The sound was muffled, but I had the certain impression that the person who had spoken was next to me. I tried to move my head, but failed. It felt like cast in iron. I was still trying to work out why the person was speaking in English, and not in German, when I felt something against my shoulder.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

I tried to fix my eyes on the source of the voice, my vision still blurred. Dark brown melted away into the white, and another color came into the play, a kind of pinkish one... skin-color, I recalled.
I tried to nod, but all I could do was blink. Once. Twice. My vision got less blurry and I saw an unknown man in front of me, a man with short brown hair, a little beard and prominent nose. All I could see of him was his face, which towered above mine.
I breathed in. Only then did I realize I had an oxygen mask on my face. My vision fluttered a last time before stabilizing definitely.

"Morgan!"

A deeper voice came to my ears, calmer than the one of the unknown man. I slightly turned my head and saw the angular face of a tall, over-muscled boy of around my age.
Something in my head pained me.
Hammer.
That was his name, wasn't it?
Yeah... Hammer.
Odd name.

"Hello, can you hear me?" the other man said again.

I nodded once, slowly. The man looked away, said something to another person I couldn't see before turning back to me and removing my oxygen mask. I breathed in sharply; the air seemed oddly sharp in my nose and mouth.

"Her state isn't critical anymore," I heard somebody say, "The wound is bandaged and she is conscious."

"Shouldn't we yet bring her to hospital?" someone else asked.

"I don't think so, she might be able to walk in about half an hour or so. We have other, worse wounded to attend to. Besides, the cops apparently want to talk to her and the two other blokes that were with her in the wagon."

Two other blokes? What two other blokes?
But at that moment, a particularly handsome boy with long hair kneeled down next to me and softly took the back of my neck in his hand.

"Morgan? Are you alright?"

He had a nasty bruise on the head, which had been stitched, but apart from that, he looked alright. Another painful pang in my head and I recognized him: Zachary.

Suddenly, it all came back to me: Leïla, Camp Half-Blood, Zack, the Quest.... my mother. I batted my eyelids.

"I..."

The word drew me to cough a little. I hadn't realized it yet, but my mouth and throat were extraordinarily dry.
I closed my eyes, caught my breath and tried again.

"I am alright... I guess."

But at that moment, I saw my arm and quickly looked away. The place in my elbow, the place where the Chimera's horn had hit me, was vivid red and bandaged, but soaked with blood.

"What happened after... the .... the dog?" I croaked, not wanting to say the word 'Chimera'.

Zachary still held Morgan's neck in his palm, supporting it. He could fee her brown hair against his skin, and it was still soft even though it looked quite tangled.
Hammer having been the only one who hadn't been knocked unconscious, he took the lead of summarizing, explaining that Zack and Morgan had both fallen down brutally and passed out. Morgan had hit the wall, while Zachary had been bruised by a particularly big glass splinter, which had dug itself into his forehead but had been fortunately stopped by his frontal skull bone. Hammer, on his side, had been stopped by a seat. It had knocked the breath out of him temporarily, but he had gotten better quickly; some glass had lodged itself in his arms, but it hadn't bothered him at all. His first reflex, when he had seen his two Quest mates lying limply in growing pools of blood, had been to grab Morgan's backpack and to take some ambroisia and nectar out. Morgan was more bruised than Zachary, since the goat's horn had hit her just at the place of her elbow where one of her arterial veins was; she would have bled to death in minutes. Hammer had put nectar around the wound, which immediate effect had stopped the bleeding - he had wanted to put more of the divine drink, but he had worried it would turn Morgan into ashes, so he had turned to Zachary.
Retrieving the glass splinter had proven to be a tough job, since it midway, it had shattered again into several other slivers and he had had to remove them too. In the end, he had put a little of nectar on the wound, and Zachary had come back to consciousness soon after.
Approximatively fifteen minutes later, several ambulances had arrived; Hammer had carried Morgan and Zack to them before retrieving their backpacks from the train's carcass, leaving his Quest mates in the hands of mortal medicine. Zack's wounds had been stitched, while Morgan had been given an oxygen mask, along with a needle in her arm, but Hammer had no idea why they had done it. He hadn't bothered to ask.

When the son of Kratos was done, Zachary looked back at Morgan; she was very pale, probably because of all the blood she lost. It ached him to see her like that. He wanted to make her better, to give her more divine food, but there again, Hammer was right. Too much of it could kill a demigod.

"Are you feeling better, my love?" he asked her, and she nodded, while Hammer looked away.

Love was nothing for the old lad. Pity for him, Zachary thought, there were many girls eyeing him in and out of Camp.

"You should rest more, perhaps," he added, but Morgan shook her head, whispering they had to get on with what they had to do and shouldn't be stopped by an accident.

Zack nodded and tried to help her on to her feet, but she immediately slumped down and would have fallen if Zachary hadn't caught her in reflex.

"Gimme.... ambroisia," I panted, out of breath.

"Hammer has given you enough already," Zachary replied, and there was a worried note in his voice, which I perfectly understood.

I might fall into ashes. On the other hand... The sole idea of being inhibited by this dumb Chimera made me angry. We had just started our Quest! We couldn't just... leave at that and get stopped by the first incident that happened. We had to move on, as quickly as possible, time was running out! We had a deadline!

"Give me that damned ambroisia," I insisted, my eyes showing my anger and determination.

With a sigh, Zachary put me back down on the hard ground; even the thick sheet of grass didn't make it any softer. Several seconds later, he came back to me, kneeling next to my head on the left side, and handed me a square of ambroisia. Moving my right arm with precaution (I really didn't feel like moving my left arm in this state), I took the square of divine food from him and took a prudent bite, as little as possible. I didn't know what ambroisia tasted like for other demigods, but to me, right now, it tasted just like a creamy hot chocolate,which would draw nice memories, like when my family and I were in the Alps in the winter holidays, and we always made a hot chocolate like this after a day of skiing.
As I swallowed the tiny bite, warmth spread through my limbs and the world seemed suddenly clearer, as if somebody had just removed a film of translucent plastic from my eyes. Zachary's handsome features were extremely precise. Invigorated, I took another bite, and heard Zack breath in sharply next to me; he suddenly bent forward and took the ambroisia from me.

"Stop it or you are really going to die," he said with authority. "I'm amazed you didn't turn into ashes yet."

When he spoke like that, he really had the voice of a leader, I thought. It wasn't surprising: as a son of Zeus, he was a leader. Unlike me, a mere daughter of Hecate. Even though the Quest had been assigned to us by my mother I didn't feel like a leader - I never felt like a leader. I wasn't a follower either, though. I was more the... solitary type. Of course I appreciate and seek social contact, that's not the question, but I make my choices independently and I like neither follow nor being followed.

However, the two tiny bites were enough to make me feel drastically better. I could stand up (with the help of Zachary) and could stay upright with only a slight feeling of dizziness and vertigo. It faded away after several minutes though, and I undid the bandage on my arm. The whole limb still felt a bit numb because of all the blood loss, but apart from that it seemed fine. The wound was already scabbed and would heal soon. When I looked at it, it looked like it had been a mere scratch, not a sharp horn digging into my veins mightily.
I smiled at Zack and Hammer before batting my eyelids, and my smile disappeared, replaced by a serious expression.

"We should get going. Like, now." I looked at them. "We have lost time here, and can't afford to lose any more. Furthermore, we need a new mean of transport," I added, looking at the carcass of the train.

Pity, it had been cosy and comfortable. Especially the seats.
Just at the moment where they nodded assent, a man came over to us. Judging from his blue uniform, his cap and the gun that hung at his belt, he was a policeman. Dear god what came now?

"You three. Follow us," he said.

"What for?" I defensively asked.

"We need to interrogate you, all three of you. The other people say you were the ones responsible for the derailment."

Hammer was honestly fighting the impulse to bash the man down. They had no time to lose with a Mist-blinded cop, they had to get on with their Quest. But then Zack looked at him, seemingly able to read his emotions and made an imperceptible shake with his chin. Hammer understood it and tried to calm down. No, he would not bash the cop's skull.
Pity.
Zachary stepped forward.

"I understand your suspicions, but it wasn't us, I can assure you," he stated.

Even though he spoke in a calm tone, the underlying note of authority was undeniable, even the policeman seemed to hesitate. But then his orders came back to his mind and he shook his head.

"Sorry, laddie. We have to take you to the police station, all three of you."

Two other men arrived, three witnesses with them. All three were wounded, and one even limped.

"It's them," the man in the middle said. "I recognize them. They were the ones to make the wagon derail."

"Yep, the girl was the one to shatter the glass door, remember?" the woman to his right said.

"What?" Morgan asked. "I didn't do that!"

"Sure you did. You were trying to get rid of that dog, I saw you, and you broke the glass door."

Morgan crossed her arms and Zachary smirked; he knew that look of cold defiance she bore when arguing.

"Oh really? Well if you really had seen me, you would've noticed that I put the dog out, closed the door and got back to my seat. After that, the door shattered. It broke when I was already seated. What you say is invalid. Furthermore, you can't accuse me of having made the wagon derail if all I did according to you was shattering a mere glass door."

That seemed to throw the three of them off balance, but not the policemen. Hammer, Zack and Morgan were forced to come with them and to sit in their car as it pulled away smoothly.

"Vlakas," I cursed in Ancient Greek, but I did not know if I was insulting the policemen, the Parcae, or us.

Or probably me.
Yeah.

I was sitting in the back of the car, between Zack and Hammer. My backpack - which Hammer had fortunately retrieved from the carcass of the train - lay at my feet, but it had suffered some damage, like my clothes. As I looked through the window, I caught a glimpse of my reflection: a dirty, scratched face and messy hair. That must be what every demigod must look like on a Quest, I guessed. Dirty. Wounded. Scarred. Sweaty.

"We can't let them take us," I murmured in Ancient Greek to my fellow companions.

Fortunately, the motor covered my low voice.

"Thank you," Zack said, and I cringed at the tone of his voice. I hoped he was just stressed. "Any ideas?"

I gazed at him with determination.

"Nai," I said in Ancient Greek. "Ma Dia."

Which meant: 'Yes, by Zeus.'
Perhaps invoking Zeus right now might be dangerous; who knew who listened? I knew my mother was trying to shield us for now, distracting Hera and the other gods, but it would not hold long. Really not.

And then I told them what I would do.

Hammer was a bit disappointed at Morgan's plan, because it didn't involve bashing skulls and beating the policemen to a pulp; however, he accepted nonetheless.

Zachary nodded at her plan, it seemed just right; he gave her a smile, and took her hand softly, stroking her skin with his thumb delicately.
Morgan didn't take her time searching for the perfect occasion; as soon there was a sign saying there would be a gas station in two miles, she asked the policemen (with a dose of courtesy he had never seen her with) if they could stop there because she needed to go to the bathroom. After a minute or so of discussion, they eventually gave in.

The car stopped smoothly on the parking next to the gas station, and Morgan squeezed her way past Zack to get out; one of the two policemen went with her (logically).

During that time, Zack and Hammer exchanged banalities in English... Suddenly, Zack turned to the remaining policeman - a willowy dude with sleek blond hair and green eyes - if he too could go to the bathroom. The cop said no, they had to wait until his colleague came back with Morgan, they couldn't let Hammer alone in the car. Zack glanced at Hammer and suggested the cop could handcuff him somewhere - which caught him a warning glance from the muscular young man - Imma get you for this, boy. The policeman said no, of course.

Zack cursed in his mind, but held his tongue.
All three together, they waited. And waited.
And waited.

At least twenty minutes. The blond policeman started to get impatient, checking his watch every few seconds, before muttering something misogynous under his breath and getting his phone out. Judging from the model, it had to be a professional phone.

He selected a number - without doubt the one of the other policeman - and put the phone to his ear, waiting. Zack and Hammer exchanged a look again as the policeman waited for at least thirty seconds, before trying again.

When he had tried five times, he turned to Zack and Hammer.

"I am going to see where they are. You two... "

"No need to handcuff us. We stay in the car," Zack said in his most persuasive voice.

But it did not suffice. The policeman shook his head, and checked his watch again.

"Twenty-five minutes..." he cursed, before turning back to face the two young men. "I can't leave you alone in the car, it's against the rules. I am afraid I have to take you with me." He drew his gun. "If one of you goes the wrong way or attempts anything, I shall use this without hesitation," he warned. "Get out."

Zack and Hammer obeyed, getting out of the car on either side, and started moving towards the gas station shop, the cop marching behind them. The guy at the cash desk looked at them weirdly as they entered, especially when he saw they were off to the women's bathroom, but didn't comment.

The cop asked Zack to open the door, and so he did. He tensed - who knew if Morgan wasn't waiting behind the door, thinking it was the other cop, ready to knock him out?
But the bathroom was empty.

"Hello?"

The voice was so near I shuddered. I had to be faster. Cursing, I zipped the jacket shut, made sure the gun was at my side, then peeped through the lock hole. I only saw a pair of legs in blue uniform advancing; it must be the other policeman.

Right.
Now or never.

I unlocked the door, kicked it open in the same motion and shot a bolt of green electricity at the police officer, intending to freeze him for a short amount of time, just the precious seconds I needed to knock him unconscious with the pommel of my xiphos. The blonde policeman collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and I caught him before his head hit the bath tub. He was heavy, so I had to put him down the next second, before hitting his head with the pommel of my sword to be sure he‘d stay unconscious for some time.

The two boys were staring at me, and I looked back at them.

"What are you doing in a cop‘s uniform?" Zack asked me.

"Going to a disguised party," I replied. "Come on Zack, put this one‘s clothes on and let‘s get out of here."

The guy I had just knocked out was too slim for Hammer to put his clothes on, but for Zack, it would be perfect. A bit too small perhaps, but still good.
After having put his actual clothes in his backpack, Zack put on the policeman‘s uniform, which made me chuckle for some reason.

"You look damn beautiful," I told him and he made a hairflip.

"Let‘s go," Hammer grunted. "We've lost too much time already."

"Wait, first, let‘s hide the cop," I said.

We pulled him into a closet and closed the door, like I had done with the cop I had come here with, then we dashed out. The guy at the cash desk stared at us, but we didn‘t look back -- I quickly wondered whether we shouldn‘t knock him out too, but decided against it. We would lose time, and that was precisely what we needed to save.

"Can you drive?" I asked Zachary, who replied with a 'honestly girl?' kind of look.

I opened the front door and jumped in while Zack sat on that driver‘s place and Hammer took a seat behind us. Zack didn‘t wait for us to close the doors and started the engine. The car shot forward, pushing me against my seat.

I have to say, Zachary is a damn good driver. He drove smoothly but with speed. The landscape melted away either side of us as we raced on the highway, and Hammer and I helped Zack take the good directions, since he was focused on the road and had more difficulties than us reading the panels.  
While giving him occasional indications, I felt myself relax. Now we had a car, we might catch up the time we lost by all these derailment-and-consequence events. Since we were in movement, monsters would have more difficulties catching up our scent -- well, Zack‘s scent. Hammer and I hadn‘t a strong demigod smell.
Looking out of the window, I put my hands in my pockets and felt a pack of tissues in my right one. The gun at my belt laid against my thigh. It felt weird to be in a policeman‘s blue uniform, but it felt weirder to have a gun. I had never had a real one in my hands, and I didn‘t know how to use it -- I disliked firearms.
At first, I had always given a start when the talkie-walkie that I had at my belt crackled. It were mainly conversations between cops, orders, and comments. I had tried to shut it down, but it hadn't worked.
Suddenly, it started spluttering: 'Attention, the car registered GBQ-4397 has to be stopped. I repeat...'
I looked at Zack.

"What is our car's immatriculation?" I asked him.

"No idea."


We looked at each other, then at Hammer.

"There!" I said, pointing at a panel that said 'NORFOLK -- 15 miles‘. "We gotta stop there and change the car."

Zachary nodded and increased his speed -- he was fairly over the speed limit now. As we arrived at the city, he exited the highway smoothly and stopped at a traffic light.

"Now all we have to do is to find a concessionaire," I said, tapping with my fingers on my knee.

"We‘re going to steal a car from them?" Hammer asked with a smile.

"Immediately the big words. No, we won't steal, we'll requisition," I smirked at them. "We're cops. We can do that. Besides..." I searched in my jacket pocket, "we've got their cards."

I showed them the card of my cop that had the identity picture, the name, the birthday and other personal information on it. I looked at the name.

"Mine's called Edward Dillinger," I told Zack. "And yours?"

"I don't know," he laughed, "I'll look later. Now tell me how we're gonna find a dealership here," he told me as the traffic light turned green and he drove forward.

"Easy. Hold up there -- right there," I told him.

"Here?"

"Yup."

He stopped the car next to the street pavement, and I lowered my window.

"Excuse-me!" I called at a bypasser, who stopped and looked at me. "Do you know where there might be car rental or a concessionaire somewhere nearby?" I smiled.

"I don't know about car rentals, but there‘s a Porsche concessionaire at some kilometers from here, in the area of the botanic garden, some BMW dealerships near India River and North Central," he said, and quickly checked his phone. "As far as I know, there must be a Mercedes dealership in Farmington, on the other side of the James River."

I nodded with a smile, hoping I would remember all that.

"Thank you very much. Have a nice day!"

With that, I made my window go back up and Zack pulled away smoothly.

"So Porsche, BMW or Mercedes?" he asked.

"Ah, all those German cars," I sighed, "I feel at home."

Zack glanced at me.

"I'd say BMW," I quickly replied. "They have powerful engines, and even though a Porsche would probably be faster, it would also raise attention. We don't want attention."

Also, if we went to Porsche, I'd spend half an hour dreamily examining the Cayman S, Turbo, Boxster, Spyder, 911 and other models, but I kept that for myself.

"BMW it is," Zack smiled and took left at the next road, heading for Indian River.

The guy we had asked mustn't have been near that dealership for quite long, because it took us at least twenty minutes, including pauses to ask other bypassers, to find the concessionaire.
We left the police car in a nearby street, checked we hadn't forgotten anything, then we ran our way to BMW.

There was a queue at the desks and I helplessly glanced at Zack, who went to one of the desks, getting in front of everybody.

"This is an emergency situation," he told the woman at the desk in an urgent voice."We need a fast car, the fastest car you got, in which three persons can fit, right now."

To add effect, he drew the card of the policeman he took the uniform from and briefly showed it to the woman.

"Right away," she said, quickly apologized to the other customers, and beckoned us to follow her. We passed next to a large variety of cars before the woman stopped in front of a sleek black one. "We have the BMW 4 Series Convertible and the BMW M6 Convertible that would fit your requirements," she stated in a very professional voice. "The first one costs 54,900 dollars, the other 108,350 dollars."

"We won't be paying now," I said in a stressed voice, "you'll see that with our colleagues. This is an emergency situation, so give us the keys to either of the cars. We need to go. Now."

I should probably not have talked because the woman looked at me strangely; I knew I looked older than 15, but I still looked pretty young. She might have doubts.

"We have no time," Hammer grunted in his deep voice.

"Are you also from the police?" the woman suspiciously asked, since Hammer was dressed normally.

"We don't always need to be in uniform," Zack angrily said. "So will you give us the keys or do you want me to give you  a fine?"

"No, no, I‘m sorry," the woman said.

She quickly went into a nearby office, glanced at one of the cars again through the glass door, selected a folder and came back with it under her arm.

"Here‘s the key," she told Zack, giving it to him. „It‘s the BMW M6 Convertible. Do you want to have the documents as well?"

"No, thank you," he impatiently said and stepped into the car.

"He means yes, of course," I said and snatched the folder from her. "Thank you for your cooperation."

With that, I took the seat at the back this time, letting Hammer and Zack take the front seats. Zack started the engine and I closed my eyes, enjoying the deep sound of it before he drove forward, the glass doors opening, and we were on the road.

"Why did you take the documents, Morgan?“ Zack asked, frowning in the rear-view mirror.

"Imagine the police realizes we were at this precise place to take a car and they go there. Without this folder, they may have some more difficulties to find us, because there is a lot of information in it."

"Legit."

"That won‘t hold them off for long," Hammer stated. "They have copies of that folder."

"Of course," I replied. "I'm just stating that the time they‘ll need to find those copy-folders might be precious for us."

Starting from that point, we drove silently. Zack concentrated on the route, Hammer giving him indications from time to time, and I looked out of the window. This car was much faster than the police car -- and also more comfortable. The seats were sheathed in coffee-colored leather and had that fragrance I liked so much in new cars. There was even a mini-bar, but it was empty.
A propos mini-bar... I realized how hungry I was. My stomach was hurting.
I put my backpack on my knees and searched through it, moving aside rope, clothes, ambrosia, and water-filter. Finally, my fingers found a package of dried meat chunks. I battled with its opening for several seconds -- I have disastrous skills in opening things, even doors -- and eventually managed to victoriously retrieve a couple of those chunks, putting them into my mouth and chewing them with relish. They were a bit spicy. I asked Hammer the water bottle and took a mouthful of it before continuing with the meat chunks. I stopped soon enough and took dried fruits from another package, starting to eat them as well. Dried fruits and dried meat are extremely calorific, so I was soon satisfied and gave the water bottle back to Hammer.
The sun started setting, coloring the sky and clouds in red, orange, salmon-pink and yellow. As I watched that, my eyelids felt heavy. I realized how sore my muscles were... my head rolled to the side and I closed my eyes. After the battle against the Chimera, the derailment, and the incidents with the police, a bit of rest was good. I relaxed my muscles and let my head slump down.
I didn‘t even feel the sleep coming over me.

"Morgan!"

I opened my eyes.

"What?"

The car had stopped and as I looked out of the window, I could see the moon crescent. Don‘t ask me how I know it, but I knew it was waxing.
Do you know that feeling when you fall asleep without even noticing, and when you wake up you realize hours have flown by?

"How long have I been asleep?" I yawned.

"Couple of hours. We stopped now to sleep a bit; Hammer's putting up the tent."

I stretched my arms. My back felt stiff, and so did my legs after sleeping in a seated position; I really needed to get out.

"Coming," I yawned again, released the security belt, took my backpack and stepped out of the car, slamming the door shut behind me.

Outside, I stretched again, then looked at Hammer, who had just finished putting up the tent.

"Who takes the first guard?" Zack asked.

"I can," I replied.

"You look super tired, Morgan, you should sleep, first."

"I‘ve slept for a couple of hours already. I can do it," I firmly stated.

As a proof, I took the water bottle from Hammer‘s backpack and splashed some onto my face. The cold liquid washed my sleep away.

"You shouldn't waste our water," Zack frowned, a strict look in his steel-blue eyes.

"Don't worry about water," I replied. "I can create some if we need."

"Good point," he agreed.

We sat around, outside the tent, and managed to find some dead branches, which I set on fire by starting a little flame on my thumb. Every time I used that power, I felt warm energy spread from my shoulder to my hand, the further it moved through my arm, the warmer it became, until it turned painfully hot and erupted on my finger in the form of a flame.
We ate some sandwiches and drank water from the bottle, then the boys went inside to sleep while I stayed next to the fire, pulling my leather jacket around my shoulders, my sword lying across my lap.

The big challenge would be to stay awake.

You may think it's easy... but it was not. You can feel your eyelids growing heavier, your eyes starting to burn a bit, and your whole body slumping down.

In order to make the time pass, I took out the documents of the car out of my backpack and started to read them -- reading usually kept me from sleeping. But as my eyes registered the words in the flickering light of the fire, I felt them grow even more tired. There were articles about the M TwinPower Turbo V8-engine, auto start stop function, brake energy regeneration, fuel consumption, cylinders and valves, tyre dimensions front and back....

Yeah. Totes gonna help me.

Frustrated, I threw the documents into the fire; the flames eagerly bit them with crackling sounds, and I watched black patches appear. The fire sprayed orange sparks as it ate the paper. Grey-black smoke billowed and attacked my nose; I coughed, and stood up, grabbing the handle of my sword.

My hand had grown used to its weight, after several weeks, and I felt that my fingers and wrist had gotten stronger. Same for my other hand, which carried my hoplon. The muscles in my shoulder had grown. I wondered for a quick second if I would get the look of a body-builder in a couple of years.

Yeah.
Admitting I got back alive from this Quest.

I suddenly felt the need to call my parents. I wanted to tell them... well, the whole truth. Who I was. Who my mother was. Where I was. What I was doing right now. Just let them know -- and talk with them once again. Who knew if I would ever see them again?

That thought clenched my heart painfully and I knelt down. No, I would not cry. No, I would not. I would come back alive. No matter what. For my parents. For my brother. For my family. For Zack. I would make it, alive.

Breathing deeply, I tried to calm myself down and brought myself to sit back at the fire, cross-legged. I laid my sword on my lap, where the black leather of the sheath reflected the fire light in a string of iridescences. My knees were hot from being so close to the fire, and the fabric of my trekking trousers clung to them. The smoke was acrid.

Finally, I took my phone and headphones out and put Skrillex on -- dubstep really could wake you up. As the beginning of 'Kyoto' crashed into my ears, I tilted my head back to watch the stars. I couldn't make out many, but I nonetheless saw Ursa Major -- the only constellation I knew to recognize.
I knew it was dangerous to listen to music. My mind and attention had to be focused one hundred percent on my surroundings. Draining out the sound was risky, so I pulled one headphone out, then checked my watch. I had been guarding for twenty minutes.
Only one hour forty to put up with.
Easy.

The grass was uncomfortable to sit on, but I didn't dare get my sleeping bag out of fear I would fall asleep on it. The air grew colder as the night advanced, and I itched closer to the fire, my lower lip trembling a bit. The music switched to Bangarang, then later to Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites, still by Skrillex.

Wait what? I didn't have Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites on my phone. I clicked and saw that it was indeed that song that was playing.

What the hell? I jumped up, and looked around, then switched the music off.

Immediately, a hiss was heard right behind me, and I spun around, drawing my sword in the motion. The stygian iron blade gleamed dangerously in the fire light; it was so cold that it started releasing strings of silky white steam.  My hand was sweaty on the leather-coated hilt.

Who's there? I wanted to call, but held my tongue. Either way, I guessed no monster would come out like 'Wooohooo, I'm over heeeeeere!'

I tapped my leather bracelet with the back of my sword hand and my hoplon unfolded like the objective of a camera.
I knew I should call the boys, but I didn't want to do anything before I first knew a) who the creature who had hissed was b) if there were more of them and c) if they were hostile.
Calling Zack and Hammer could be risky because if they dashed out of the tent, they could be an easy prey for ... whatever there was.

Come on, I thought. Show yourself.

The hiss echoed again, nearer this time, and to my right. I turned to it spasmodically, but saw nothing. The creature -- whatever it was -- dared not come into the ring of fire light.

Oh, is that so now? Fine.

I pointed my sword to where the hiss had come from and concentrated. There was a tugging sensation in my right shoulder, and the temperature rose in my veins, hot energy sliding from my shoulder through the muscles of my forearms and my elbow, growing hotter and hotter, until the burning became unsustainable in my fingers. I focused and channelled my power through my sword until a bolt of fire shot from its burning cold tip and hit the ground a few meters from here, casting my sword in fire for the fraction of a second.
The flames spread on the grass, the acid smoke sliding in through the air. It cast its flickering orange light onto a creature that immediately retreated. A creature that, clearly, was not human.

It had large, insect-like eyes which were completely black, set amidst a long face ended by a doggish snout. It's dark skin gleamed in the fire light like oiled leather as it moved; and it hissed, revealing yellow-white fangs of irregular sizes, like their creator had stuffed them randomly into its ugly muzzle. Gods of Olympus, it looked hideous.

"Guys!" I yelled, not taking my eyes from the creature.

I tried to see it more clearly in the changing light and whispered: "What are you...?"

It hissed again.

"What are we, you mean," it grunted, crouching and baring its fangs. A string of saliva connected its upper and lower jaw, and I realized it had several rows of teeth... Like a shark.
With a sudden shot of fear, I couldn't help but think these could be my final moments. I could die, here and now.

I was panicked, panicked like I had never been before. I now grasped the whole meaning of the word 'afraid' as I felt my heart plummet in my chest, beating wildly.

"There are more of you? What do you want?"

Its hiss had the color of a laugh.

"What most monsters want when they stumble upon lost demigods."

"We ain't lost!" I made a trembling move with my sword. "Go away!"

"You don't command us, demigod. We are the Keres, the spirits of violent deaths, and we will feast on the marrow of your bones.

"Um... I'd rather not."

Yeah, laugh at me for saying stupid things. Wait till you're in the same situation.
The creature bared its fangs in a snarl and I suddenly fell to the ground. 'Ouch!!' I thought, and then realized something was on my back. I wriggled, slapping around with my sword until I felt a single, lukewarm claw rest on the back on my neck and I fell still.

"What should I cut out first," I heard. The voice sounded like a piece of parchment crackling. "The eyeballs? The tongue? Or should I start with little bones like the kneecaps?"

I knew whatever was on my back wasn't bluffing. You can't imagine how mad I grew with fear. My wrists were shaking as I caught myself whispering incoherent things... "Non s'il-vous-plaît pas aujourd'hui... Maman s'il-te-plait... Bitter morgen vielleicht, nicht heute, nicht jetzt, wirklich......"

"I was told you were the descendant of a Spartan," another Ker hissed. "A Heraclid, the blood of Heracles and Zeus himself. Typhoon once took Zeus's sinews away. Would you like us to try the same on you?"

I winced. They couldn't be serious.
And what was this trip with Heracles and Zeus? Wait wut?
That was secondary now. I could feel another claw on my leg and wriggled more than ever. I was so panicked that I didn't feel I was calling on my power until a bow of vivid green electricity started on my neck and bounced down my spine. I heard a shocked hiss and suddenly, the weight on my back was gone. I immediately staggered to my feet.
Another string of electricity shot from behind me, a blue-violet one this time which let a smell of ozone in the air. It pulverized the first Ker I had seen and I spun around. Zack lowered his sword, which I guess the electricity had come from. He was holding his other sword in his left hand.

"Next time, yell louder," he told me, but I was so happy to see him I could've cried. Hammer was next to him, his weapon out.

"How many are there?" He asked, but at that moment, a Ker flew down on him and he had to fight it off with his hammer.

Everything became blurry. A tornado of black leathery wings and claws came flapping down on us as if they were metal and we were magnets. If I hadn't raised both my shield and kopis, I would probably have been a plate of ground beef. Well, ground Morgan. Whatever.
Zack shot random lightning bolts from his swords, strings of electricity as fine as hairs running on the smooth surface of his blades and pommel, not harming his hands in the least. My sword cut through an anonymous wing and the Ker burst into green flames, while Hammer lashed out repeatedly with his weapon, making skulls and ribcages crunch, along with various random limbs. The chaos was total. I could barely defend myself.

We retreated into the tent slowly, but the Keres teared it open like it was made out of paper, bringing us back to square one. I raised my shield over my head, making my shoulder ache and shot a stream of stones through my sword at an attacking Ker, who hissed and fell.

Zack, Hammer and I were fighting back to back now, all of us facing a different direction; my shield was protecting our heads but apart from that, I got a number of cuts from their underworld knives that seemed to erase the blood from my veins where it struck me. Soon enough, my limbs felt numb and a thick sheet of sweat dampened my face from forehead to chin, trickling down to my throat. The sound was just a cacophony of hisses and blows of metal scraping against metal; the air smelled of ozone from all the bolts Zack had fired, putting a metallic taste on my tongue.
My arm holding my shield was trembling.

"We gotta get back to the car," I whispered as I commanded a large stone to hit the head of a Ker. "They're too many. Zack.... could you?"

"Just a second!"

Behind me, an explosion casted green highlights on my skin, meaning another Underworld demon had been fought off. But I didn't care. I didn't know how many they were, and I just couldn't imagine myself keeping on fighting, not even for five more minutes. The wounds I had were sucking the blood out of me and true exhaustion was making my eyelids flutter, blunting my reflexes. I knew I wouldn't last one more minute. The Chimera had been bad enough, but this was just too much. I wouldn't make it.

A Ker flew down towards me with a screech and I raised my sword to parry; it feinted and attacked with its claws, but I brought my shield down from over our heads and gave the demon a rough hit with it.
Big mistake.
Now our heads were free, the demons were streaming down on us.

"Heads down!" Zack yelled and raised both his swords, one vertically above him, one to the front. He fired two electricity bolts at once, and explosions occurred all around me, like bubbles popping randomly one of after the other.

"RUN!" he shouted and dashed forward. Hammer and I didn't hesitate; we rushed after him.

As I sprinted after the son of Zeus, I bent over to grab my backpack and jumped into the car, slamming the door shut behind me. This time, it was Hammer in driving position, and his driving ways were much more brutal than Zachary's. He wrenched the steering wheel like he wanted to pull it off, flattening the gas pedal under his large foot, his eyes focused on the road.
I gave a start as something heavy hit my window and caught the glimpse of an angry demonic face with insect eyes. After two seconds, I put my palm onto the glass, stared at the Ker and channelled my power through the window. Threads of green electricity erupted on the other side and the demon disappeared.

I didn't realize I had used my powers too much until that moment, when I immediately collapsed on my seat and lost consciousness.

The bad thing when you over-use your powers is that it doesn't just stop when you pass out. When you wake up, you have one HELL of a headache.
I had the impression a cartload of sticky stones had been emptied into my skull, and it felt so heavy I could barely lift it up, as if the seat was a magnet and my head something metallic.
My mouth even tasted like metal.
Too exhausted to try to look up, I let my head rest on the leather of the seat, feeling it vibrating smoothly beneath my forehead, which indicated the car was in motion. I briefly wondered where we were, how far we were from the place where we had established our camp at night, but my thoughts had difficulties roaming about the boulders in my skull so I drifted back into a drained slumber, barely aware of my surroundings.

~~~

"Morgan? Hey Morgan?"

The sound irritated my ears, and I slowly opened one eyelid. The world was blurry. Suddenly, it stabilized after a couple of seconds and I saw Zack's handsome face hovering over me, his blonde streaks underlining his sharp cheekbones.

"Are you hungry? We stopped at a Mac Donald's earlier, because well.... we felt like we needed more than, you know, dried fruits and cereals (he chuckled)."

Argh, don't speak so quickly, my fried neurons are trying to process the information, I wanted to tell him. But from all he had just said, there was one fact I held back: Mac Donald's.
Mac Donald's = food, right?

Yeah.... just a second... yeah, right. Got it.

I dared to open my second eyelid. If somebody mentioned food, there was no reason I should remain still. My stomach was aching like mad, throbbing almost as hard as my head did, and I steeled myself into lifting my heavy skull. Ouuuuch.

"Here, lemme help you."

He passed an arm under my shoulders and lifted me into a sitting positing.

"Owwww," I mumbled through clenched lips, though that didn't express by far the pain and throbbing this simple action had generated inside my limbs. Especially my poor head. Even frowning hurt.  

"Sorry," he immediately said. "Didn't mean to...."

I raised a hand, like, 'it's okay'.
Soon enough, I realized that the metallic taste I had had in my mouth was in fact the taste of blood. I had just been too K.O. back then to realize it. Zack handed me a hamburger and a bag of chips with mayonnaise, along with a paper cup of lemon Fanta.

"We bought some cherry Coke too," he added and smiled, pecking my cheek. "Aren't they your two favorite sodas?"

I blinked, smiling, and took the bag of chips in my heavy hands; if my skull was full of stones, my hands seemed stuffed with thick cotton. Every move was slow and awkward. I slid one chip out and opened my mouth in slow motion, feeling the salty taste on my tongue before biting a part off; the molecules seemed to fall apart against my palate, erasing the disgusting taste of blood that had been there and replacing it with the chip's own delicious aroma. I closed my eyes. Damn, that felt good. I felt my heart beat in a clearer pace, as if it had just woken up, and I breathed easier, taking two other chips, dipping the tip into the mayonnaise sauce and chewing them with relish. I was so hungry that I briefly let go of the chips to wolf the hamburger down in a very.... un-ladylike way..... But seriously, all I was thinking was 'Calories... big fat calories for me... gotta eat them all...'
It took me maximum one minute to eat it and when I had finished, my stomach and ribcage hurt from having swallowed too quickly. I had sauce all around my mouth, from cheek to chin, and Zachary handed me a paper napkin with a chuckle. Quickly, I wiped the lower part of my face clean while taking a mouthful of my lemon Fanta.

"You still got some on the nose," Zack informed me with a laughing smile.

I wiped it off too, hoping nothing was left now.

"There," he said, and passed the napkin on a part of my cheek. I looked at him through little eyes, then my mouth cracked open in a grin.

"Thanks," I told him in a croak. Removing the cap from the paper cup, I gulped down several mouthfuls of the sparkling liquid, which finished to bring back to life my boiled taste buds, then went back to my bag of chips.

"Where's Hammer?" I asked with my mouth full, not looking up.

"Right in front of you," Zack smirked. "Driving. We arrived in South Carolina twenty minutes ago, and we're following the coastline," he briefed me as I ate. "The demons have followed us for a couple of hours, I fried some with my swords's lightning bolts, but they were simply too many. Fortunately though, they left at sunrise."

"You fink fey'll be 'ack?" I munched -- yeah, not very polite, I know, but I was hungry like I had never been before.

"It would be expectable," Zack stated, pursing his lips and my heart dropped in my chest.

I remembered the way that one Ker had pinned me down and had debated what she should cut off first, sinews, eye, tongue.... I could almost still feel her lukewarm claws on the back of my knee, ready to cut through the soft skin and tear the kneecaps out backwards.
Stop thinking about it, I told myself with authority. Focus on your food, it's more important.
Bending my head, I continued eating my chips in silence, their savory taste filling my mouth as I mashed them with my teeth, alternating with sips of fizzy lemon Fanta. My fingers and palms were sprinkled with salt, greasy from touching the chips and I had some mayonnaise sauce on my fingernails. I didn't care. I engulfed everything I could.
Zack let me eat without a comment, his hand resting on my knee affectionately.
I started eating slower after some time, but when I had eaten the very lasts chips, using them to clean the mayonnaise from the bag, I realized I was still a bit hungry.

"Do we have more?" I asked, wiping my fingers with the napkin, then throwing it out the window after having opened it.

"What, you're still hungry?" Zack laughed.

"Sorry," I blushed. "I'm just kinda drained."

Honestly, I doubted I could use any of my powers today. I was so exhausted. I could perhaps manage to fight if we got attacked, but using a power? Even while calling upon the green electricity, it didn't seem possible.

"Not a problem," the son of Zeus grinned. "We still have one Hamburger each. Do you prefer a Chicken Camembert burger or a Bacon McDouble? We got two of the latter. Oh, and we still have one McMuffin left, if you want to."

I licked my lips, my stomach begging for more.

"I'll take the Chicken Camembert, if you guys have nothing against it."

"Go for it," Hammer mouthed, driving a bit calmer now.

I wolfed it down. The combination of the deliciously runny cheese and the slightly crispy chicken felt perfect in my mouth, sliding down my throat with every bite. It seemed I had never tasted something better. And to hell with the calories.

Good enough, the food helped to clear my head from its ache, and when I moved or thought, it produced only a superficial, easily ignored pain. With my stomach full, I felt strangely rested and comfortable. A good blowout like this at the beginning of the day gave me a sense of power, I don't know why, even though I was still kind of exhausted. First time I ate burgers for breakfast.

A disturbing thought interrupted me though.

"You say they left at daylight," I stated.

"Yep." Zack looked at me and again, he could read my expression. "You got something on your mind. What is it?"

"The Keres are Underworld spirits. They didn't just stumble upon us, they were looking for us. Which means they had been sent."

Zack's expression got blank as he understood.

"But I thought your mother was trying to veil us from the other gods's sight!"

"She sure does. But even gods aren't fooled forever; they have to concentrate hard enough, and they will see through the Mist. Especially if the night gives them additional power." I toyed with the hem of my shirt. "Besides... the Lord of the Dead surely knows how this works, doesn't he?"

"Of course he does," Zack replied with a gloomy expression. "And he's not the only one. All the Underworld divinities must be on his side, except your mother of course. Dammit."

I groaned, thinking about all the Underworld deities. Melinoe, Thanatos, Hypnos, Persephone, Geras,... why not Nyx as well, really. Not to say Hades had the three Furies, Tisiphone, Megaira and Alecto, at his service, and he hadn't hesitated to send one at Percy Jackson when he thought he was threatening him.

"Say it. We're doomed."

"We're doomed," he sighed.

"Dude, look at your happy faces," Hammer grunted. "We're not even half-way through the Quest and you guys are ready to give up."

"Who said we were gonna give up?" I asked, straightening my back.

-------------------

We stopped at another highway fast food a couple of hours later, after having arrived in Georgia, to buy a rather chewy pizza margherita that we shared and washed down with the rest of soda we had left. Zack and Hammer switched places, Zack taking the wheel and Hammer getting behind to sleep, while I went onto the co-driver's seat. Day two of the Quest was almost over, but I felt closer to Hammer and Zachary than I felt to any of my other friends. Leïla being kind of an exception, of course. The empousa had fought a Cyclops right in front of me and brought me to Camp.

As I chewed on my cold-getting pizza, I talked with Zack in a low voice, not to disturb Hammer during his sleep. As Zack said, this would be a long night.

"Dude, if they come back again," I whispered.

"Don't worry, Morgan," Zack immediately told me. "We got your back."

But even I could hear that he was unsure about what he was saying. Last night had been close, very close. None of us three would say the contrary. And if we couldn't rest properly, than our Quest was really doomed; people often underestimated sleep. In our case, it was really primordial.
I could see the plan I had made yesterday in the car crumble in my thoughts. Despite all the planning and getting ready... I had no idea where we were going. I mean, sure, I knew we had to go to Miami and get the submarine. But I had no idea where we were going in the sense it was all so... hazardous. I could die here like I could die in the sea of Monsters or at the gates of Camp Half-Blood, if we ever got back. I now understood what it was like to risk your life for something....

My head got heavier and I yawned.

"I might slumber a bit, if it's alright."

"Sure. We got a good part of the road behind us." He smothered a yawn as well. "We're somewhere between Savannah and Brunswick. Which means we still have approximatively seven hours ride."

"Seven hours... duuuuude." Even now, my legs were protesting. Being in a car for so high amounts of time was not acceptable, but we had no choice. Our only chance was to stay in motion so monsters would have lesser chances of catching our scent.

"Yeah. Somewhere in the middle of the night, I'll stop and have Hammer take the wheel again. Or you can."

"Man, I can't drive."

"Really? How old are you, fifteen, right?"

"Yeah. But you guys get your license earlier, I'd have to do mine at what, seventeen, eighteen. I don't know how to drive, at all."

"Then your job will be to hold the demons back when they come. I saw you channeling your power through the window, it was quite nice."

"Wait a second. You're talking about me having to use my powers?"

"Got a problem?"

"Zack, I overused them last night. Do you remember how K.O. I was afterwards? I doubt I can cast even the slightest spell."

"Then rest. But if you can't use your powers, I'm sorry to say, we're dead." He looked at me. "Rest, eat, do the necessary. But please. Get your damn powers working."

Sighing, I nodded. "You know I'm doing my best."

The son of Zeus's smile at that moment warmed my heart up like a summer wind. I took a sandwich from yesterday and chewed on it with closed eyes, trying to get myself to relax in anticipation of the Keres's return.

Which didn't return, in fact. Instead, we were met by a huge BANG! one hour later that projected us off the empty road.

And we landed on the roadside. My head hit the window with such force I passed out for a couple of seconds. I came back to consciousness only when somebody dragged me out of the window; immediately, I thrashed around, kicking and punching, but a large hand covered my mouth.

"Calm down, chick, it's me," Hammers deep voice said and I relaxed, slowly coming to my feet.

"What in Olympus's name was this?" Zack's voice came up right next to me, having me give a start.

"I have no idea," I whispered, then looked to the side. In the dark, I had more visual acuity, which would have been really surprising if I wasn't a minor Underworld demigod. "There's a building over there, we might be safe there."

Looking back on this, all I can think is 'oh, my sweet summer child'.

Walking as quietly as possible, we reached a kind of wall over which we climbed one after the other to find barbed wire on top. Bruised and bleeding we jumped down to the other side, washing our hands with droplets of nectar while cussing under our breaths. We reached another building whose door was locked, but it was no match for one of Hammer's kicks. A corridor, stairs leading up, another corridor, dust and spiderwebs everywhere.

"This place is obviously abandoned," Zack whispered, observing the surroundings in the beam of his flashlight. "It must be some kind of barrack or military basement, just look at all the uniforms and equipment."

"We should just find somewhere to sleep," Hammer suggested, looking out of the window; I joined him, my vision slightly enhanced at night.

"Guys. Check this out."

Outside, I could see a plane hangar whose door was slightly open, revealing the head of what looked like a fighter plane. "It seems you're right Zack, this is indeed a military basement."

"But why is it abandoned? Why is everything still here?"

"Perhaps it's haaaaaunted," I said in a playfully spooky voice, casting the light of my flashlight under my face to achieve a pseudo-scary effect.

"Haha, very funny. Come on, let's just find somewhere to sleep."

We went down the next staircase, trying to find the barracks, when suddenly, a large noise was heard, somewhere in the building. Like something huge and metallic had been dropped.

"What was that?"

None of us replied. Silently, our hands went to our weapons, then we heard a distant, muffled voice. "Help! Heeelp!"

After having shared a look, we ran; now I'm not good at running. I don't have much endurance, and I'm not exactly fast, so I easily fell behind the two guys and lost sight of them at the next turn, but I could still hear their footsteps. Urging my legs to move quicker, I sprinted, listening to the sound of their shoes on the floor; several moments later, a door creaked open then slam shut, and that was it.

I stopped. I couldn't hear anything, make out anything. Concentrating, I tried again, but it was as if somebody had muted the whole building.
Calm yourself, I thought as my breathing quickened even more, and walked forward quickly. If Zack and Hammer were in danger, I'd know it.
Fact is, I was kinda scared for myself. I hate being alone in general, but being alone in an abandoned building, at night, just no. I felt like I was in the Gruselkabinett in Berlin. Walking past a showcase displaying special trousers for flying the fighter planes, I reached a crossroad.

Mum, you're the goddess of crossroads, now would be a nice time to tell me where to go.

Of course, nothing happened. Would've been too easy. No glowing light appeared, no floating arrow. Yeeha.
Left, right, straight ahead? I tried to listen to my gut feeling, but all it was telling me right now was 'Get the hell outta here'.
Kay, thanks. On a whim, I decided to go right. My footsteps were spookily loud on the floor, it sent a shiver down my own spine. I wanted to call, but I couldn't hear them, so how could they hear me if I tried to communicate with them?

After several moments, the beam of my flashlight fell on a large door and I stopped. I could hear my heart pulsing in my ears. My hand trembling a bit, I swept my flashlight from left to right before pointing it to the floor. There were clear footsteps in the small blanket of dust. Exhaling in relief, I pushed the door open to enter another room. Two forms were crouching in the opposite corner, and I exhaled again.

"Wow guys, you two really gave me a sca..."

My vision faded to black as my skull split open.

There was a light buzz in my ears. Almost quiet, as if a cat was purring on my head. It was very pleasant, I decided. I didn't know where I was, and I found I didn't really want to find out. Who cared? It was warm and quiet here, and that was all what mattered. Snuggly.
Ouch, I thought as a bolt of pain shot through my head. It was probably the cat, sticking its claws in my skin and hair. Bad cat. Get off me. I tried to move but my hands didn't answer and all I did was a ridiculous wriggle. Ouch, another sting of pain. When would that cat leave me alone already? I wasn't its toy. All cats were dumb, I decided. In addition, it had stopped purring and was pressing itself more on my head, making it warmer and warmer. Almost hot. It wasn't cuddly at all anymore. I could even hear voices though couldn't understand what they were saying, the words just didn't make sense. Voices were funny. Somebody I knew had voices in his head. Who was it again....? I couldn't remember. It probably didn't matter.
Now the cat was sprawling all over my face like a burning hot carpet.

"Geddofme," I mouthed, but the cat didn't listen. Cats never did.

"Did she just say something?" One of the voices asked. It was deep and gruff, like some piece of old bark turned into sound waves.

"Hi voice," I said, but the voice didnt reply. I didn't care, though, I liked to be polite. Something hot and sharp touched my cheek and I felt another dimension of me screw my face up in response. If that cat didn't leave me alone, I'd rip its skin off and wear it as a hat. Perhaps I could scare it off....that seemed like a good idea. It was hard to concentrate, but I managed to set up a small bow of green electricity from my forehead up at the cat.

The booming noise made my ears pop and I opened my eyes without realizing it.
The world was weird. It was all upside-down. Stuff was hanging from the ceiling without falling to the ground and there were ashes everywhere.
Oh, and the voices. They were there too, but this time, they were talking quickly in howling tones. I didnt have the time to tell them to relax, because a screaming wave of pain annihilated every thought in my brain. Wait.... it was actually me screaming. I screamed so loud my own ears hurt. I wondered if perhaps I shouldn't have scared the cat off...But as I looked down at the ceiling, I realized there had never been a cat on my head. Over me snored a vivid fire, the orange sparks almost touching the tip of my hair. My hands were bound to my back and my feet attached over me. I was hanging upside-down over a fire.
Everything came back to me: the Quest, the military basement, the shock on my head. Panic welled up. Where was I? Where were Hammer and Zack? Who were the voices?

"Zack? Hammer?" I asked, wriggling around, my body swinging in circles. No reply came. Just the moment when I was going to address the voices, I heard:

"...Morgan?"

"Hammer! Where are you?"

"Right next to you. Zack's at my right, he's out."

"Shut it!" A voice boomed. Something grabbed me and pulled me up. The world started to make sense again, the old gym equipment sticking to the ground, the dust and ashes covering the dirty floor. A huge bloodshot eye was looking straight at me, blue with a circle of brown around the pupil. "One more trick like that, half-blood, and I'll squeeze the air from your lungs."

Oh hell. A Cyclops.
He dropped me and I fell back, circling upside-down over the fire.

"Knock her out, Dever," another voice said. "She'll do it again."

A grunt could be heard and one thing was sure: I only had a second to act. My hands flamed up, the smell of burnt rope reaching my nose, but it wasn't fast enough. Just as his fist was about to connect with my temple, I sent a bolt of green electricity from my forehead and his wrist froze. The rope burned up and I fell into the fire, bringing my feet under me just in time. The flames burned the ropes from my ankles and I kicked them off before my combat boots started burning too. The two Cyclopes stared at me and I felt my pockets for my ballpoint pen, but couldn't find it anywhere. My backpack had been taken, so all I had to defend myself was my leather bracelet, which I tapped into my Stygian iron shield.
Different patches of my skin were red from the burns and ached, but I had no choice but to manage to keep my shield upright.

"Really?" The other Cyclops grunted. "You against the two of us with only a shield? Save us all time and tie yourself back up."

People always talked in movies when fighting, but I didn't. I was too scared. I knew that if I talked now, my voice would waver in a most pathetic way; it was bad enough that my limbs felt like half-roasted marshmallows, I didn't need to embarrass myself more. How was I going to defeat these Cyclopes? My head still hurt like hell, causing my vision to flicker. Behind me, Zack and Hammer were being roasted into nice crunchy demigod gigot and I needed to cut them free before they did, which'd involve me turning my back to the Cyclopes. And thus have me die.

"Just put her back up there," the first Cylops said and yawned widely. "I only wanna eat and sleep now. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day."

You have to know I actually didn't know what to do. I had no idea. In a situation like that, you don't have the time to think up a plan. I had about ten seconds until I was tied back up over the fire -- if they didn't decide to kill me right away to save themselves the bother of dealing with my sloppy escape maneuvers.
The Cyclops -- Dever -- was coming straight at me, curling his huge hands into fists, so I did what first came to my mind: I blasted fire at him.
Yes, I did it. I threw fire at a creature who's as immune to fire as you can get. Once you're done applauding me, we can move on.
Dever flicked the fire away like one would dust his shoulder, then raised his fist to smash me. I kind of cowered back, putting my arms over my head in a reflex but the next second, his body was shaking with green electricity. I didn't even know how it had gotten there. He was screaming as if he was burning up, which was totally irrational. Cyclopes don't burn.
The second one stood up and came over to me. I barely had the time to run between his ankles when his fist smashed the wall where I had just stood.

"Morgan! To your right!"

I looked in the direction Hammer had just indicated and saw our backpacks next to our weapons. I immediately dropped down, rummaging through them to find Apokryphos. I had no time though. The Cyclops was right behind me. Out of ideas, I just grabbed one of Zachary's swords and turned around, the electricity crackling on the bronze sword. I don't even know how it happened. The electricity jumped from the blade to wrap itself around the Cyclops's limbs, causing him to suddenly freeze in his tracks, tetanized. My heart was beating loudly in my ears. My vision flickered and blurred, causing me to bat my eyelids really quickly.

"Morgan!"

I turned my head to the boys and knew what I had to do. I pointed the sword at their ropes; the electricity jumped over to Zachary's then to Hammer's, burning right through them. They fell right into the flames, but like me, they managed to bring their feet under them first. There was rage in Zack's burning blue eyes. I tossed him his sword while Hammer took his... well, hammer, and I finally had the time to find my own weapon. The son of Cratus didn't lose time and charged with a wild battle cry. He smashed the knees of the first Cyclops with his weapon then broke his neck as he fell down with another powerful blow while Zack attacked the other one, alternating between stabs with his two swords and electricity attacks. I came to his help with Apokryphos on shaky legs, baring my teeth in the effort of wielding my sword and holding my shield upright. We finished the Cyclops together then protected ourselves with our arms as they exploded in a column of flames.

The next minutes passed a bit in a blur. We all sat down shakily and ate some of our food from our backpacks, passing around a bottle of ambrosia for all of us to take a tiny sip which immediately cleared my view and injected energy in my veins. We were just starting to get comfortable when the dust on the ground started to move. Zack perked up.

"Did you guys see that?" he asked.

"Nothing to worry about," Hammer replied. "Just a bit of wind."

"Yeah, except there is no wind. I'm a son of Zeus, I can sense that kind of stuff."

"Guys." I pointed at another spot on the floor, where dust and ashes were moving together to form something that looked disturbingly like a leg. We exchanged a look.

"I think we should move," Zack said as another leg started forming, attaching itself to the first one and growing a trunk.

We scurried to our feet and dashed out as quickly as we could, our backpacks on our shoulders. We had no idea which way we had come but we still made a run for it down the first stairs we came across.

"We're not gonna make it," Zack panted next to me. "Even if we make it out in time, they're gonna get us. We have no car anymore and who knows if that thing that hit us isn't still out there."

"So... what do we do? Stay there and fight?" I breathed in a low voice, my heart pounding against my ribs painfully, my throat sore. "Wait for them to reform each time?"

The two guys stayed silent for a minute, our panting echoing around us as we hurtled down the stairs, then Hammer suddenly raised his voice. "The hangars."

"What about them?"

"There are planes in there, right?"

That sounded like a good idea, except... "I can't fly a plane."

"I can though," Zack said, his breath hacked as we reached ground level -- finally. My muscles were sore and hot with the effort and I was sweating.

"Those are fighter planes. There are only two seats in each."

Nonetheless, we kicked the heavy door open and ran across the concrete yard towards the hangar. If the nectar hadn't pepped me up, I would've collapsed right there.
Hammer was the first to make it past the huge sliding doors, slipping away into the darkness. Zack and I followed him in, looking up at the fighter planes we could barely see in the darkness -- well, they could barely see. I was fine.

"Okay, let's see if three of us fit in there," Zack said as he climbed up one of them and opened the lid things to sit in.

I went to look at the other fighter planes, most of them weren't in good shape. I let the beam of my flashlight sweep across them and one looked strangely familiar. I don't even know why. I was never interested in planes, that was my brother's job. I knew a couple of names like F22, Mirage 2000, F18 and such but that was it.. There was no reason this specific plane should look familiar to me. I had to get in. I had to get into that plane right now, it was the only purpose of my life. I squinted, starting to climb onto the aircraft then realized the guys were calling me. That took me out of my trance. Why the heck had I done this? What was wrong with me? Shaking my head to clarify my thoughts, I came back the way I had gone.

"Okay, there is really no room there... It's gonna be tough even with backpacks. We gotta find another solution."

"We don't," I said after a moment of silence. I had that voice when I just realized something. Looking back at the plane, I felt this weird urge inside of me to go over to it... "I think I can manage. You guys take that plane. I'm in the one over there."

"Um... You can't fly a plane. You said that yourself."

"I know. And I can't. But my mother is a goddess with powers over the sky, I think it's worth a try."

It wasn't easy at all, mind you. I didn't just walk over there and an Underworld pilot just happened to be in the seat, waving me in. But if it hadn't been my mother who had given me this urge, than I really didn't know who the heck it was. As far as I know, she was still shielding us from the other gods's view.
First off, I took the best food I could find in my backpack (aka cereal bars) and burned them with flames that I generated in the palm of my hands.

"Hecate," I whispered as the food burned away. The fire released a strangely green smoke that carried the scent of forests, earth, sap and caves... it was kind of heady. Please mother, help me on this. If it really was you, help me. I was mad to do this. Hecate hadn't helped me last times I asked her, but she had sent me one or two warnings, like the time when she had made Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites play on my phone when I was listening to music to warn me of the Keres.

When the two cereal bars had burned away -- I was sorry I hadn't anything better, but that was literally all I had right now -- I stood up and went to the shelf Zack and Hammer had found to put on the special trousers, helmet and oxygen mask.

"Morgan," Zack said. "You do know it sounds really crazy. We can find another solution..."

"And what would it be? You said yourself there was no time and even if we made it out, they'd get us. We have no more time, we..."

The door of the main building creaked open, heavy footsteps echoed.

"I'm gonna pray to Hecate too," Zack said as he accompanied me to my plane while Hammer slid the rear doors open, the ones leading to the runways. I climbed into my plane and closed the lid, breathing in. My hands were shaking hard. I felt so crazy, I didn't even know how to fly a plane, this was so irrational! I had to get out! But somewhere in my mind, a thread of thoughts calmed me down, telling me everything was okay, that I just had to relax and act automatically. I breathed in shakily, trying to calm down, then I heard the heavy footsteps inside the hangar. Oh my gods. My heart dropped into my stomach. When I looked at the board in front of me in the darkness though... the screens, switches and the buttons made sense. I felt this sense of urgency flow into me and didn't lose a second. I turned on the battery and the MPU then started the engine. Making it go forward, I heard the shouts of the two Cyclopes and urged the plane to go faster, following Zack's plane out. I caught a glimpse of Hammer climbing into the plane but then directed my own jet to the parallel runway and accelerated. The strength of the speed pinned me against my seat, my whole body thrumming as the aircraft raced down the runway. Sweat trickled down my face, my hands clutching the control stick. I had to do this, I had to. There was no going back now, even though my only wish right now was to stop the plane and get out while I still could. But as I thought that, the plane took off and I flew into the night sky, following Zack and Hammer who had already taken off, the sound of the aircraft deafening.

Flying this jet was probably the weirdest thing I had done in my life. I tried to think rationally but realized it was no use. Everything I did was automatic and even though my hands shook, I knew with perfect clarity what I had to do. I was shooting through the night sky above the clouds, keeping an eye on Zack's plane in front of me through the radar, glancing every now and again at the artificial horizon, pulling the yoke back gently in case I fell behind it, my feet on the rudder pedals.... Everything felt smooth and natural.

I had also lost knowledge of time. How long had we been flying? No idea. All I knew was to keep behind Zack because he would obviously know where to go, as a son of Zeus.

It seemed to be a couple of hours later when the anemoi thuellai paid us a visit.
First, I had thought they were clouds, but then I had seen the lightning bolts and the weird angel wings. Zack banked, and so did I. The anemoi thuellai kept sending lightning bolts at us or making the air wild and unstable. The control stick was slippery between my fingertips. My knuckles were white from clenching it so tightly. One anemos galloped across the nose of my jet in the form of a wild horse, causing me to bank wildly .... then I did a spin... without wanting to.... My heart literally dropped into my stomach as I clenched my eyes shut, thinking I was going to die... But then it came back to balance and I let out the biggest sigh of relief you can possibly imagine.

But it wasn't over. Ahead of me, Zack's plane drew white streaks in the atmosphere as he banked and spun and did loops to escape the anemoi. He was natural at this of course. An anemos suddenly pressed itself against the lid of my jet, right above me. Another one did the same at my left, and another one came at my right. I couldn't see anything but dark smoke and occasional strings of electricity. I had no idea where I was going. I banked to the left and to the right, my heard pounding so powerfully I could feel the blood pumping into the veins of my throat and ears. If I didn't get my sight back fast, this was going to end badly. And I couldn't even manipulate the air because it was too thin up here.
I shouted, but to what use? Nobody could hear me.

And suddenly, everything cleared. I was under the clouds, flying fast, and loosing altitude. To my far right were lights of roads and a small town. But that happened only in a fraction of a second, then the anemoi thuellai obstructed my sight again.

There was only one solution and I knew it. And it had to happen now. Looking up, I localized the lever and pulled it.

Activating an ejector seat literally makes you leap through the sky. The sudden sight made me smile, but then I was too busy fighting off the anemoi thuellai as I fell down, my parachute opening behind me. My jet flew down uncontrolled and a few seconds later, an explosion burst up, stinging my ears and eyes.
And that was when one of the monsters cut through my chute and I actually fell down towards the earth. I didn't even hear my shouts in the loud howling of the wind. I just fell down, still attached to my seat, rolling around in the air, the sky and the ground melting into one navy blue pattern.

Then it ended. Well, if that was dying, it wasn't that bad. I didn't even feel myself go splat. Only thing bothering me was that I had no drachma to give Charon.... I wondered if Hecate would jump in to help me out. That was, if she wasn't too ashamed of how badly I had messed up. Hecate wasn't exactly the type of mother to be chillax with her kids.

"Morgan? Morgan, are you okay?"

I opened my eyes as I heard Zack's voice. Under us, the ground raced by and I realized we were flying.

"Whoa!" I shouted through my oxygen mask.

"Calm down!" he yelled back over the wind. With the loud inhalations, we all sounded like Darth Vader. "Everything's under control!"

"Are you kidding me, they're right behind us," Hammer's deep voice echoed back.

"I'm doing my best!"

We flew across the sky over a snaking patch of darkness glistening like a river. Zack had obviously seen it too as he was following its course, holding both me and Hammer which was rather unbelievable as we were both kind of heavy.

"The house! Zack, aim for the house!"

There was a small cottage five hundred meters ahead of us, windows yellow with light. Our shirts flickered around us as he accelerated, the cold biting at our skin. My hair got into my face and mouth. Goosebumps grew on my arms. I could feel him slow down progressively though, zeroing on the house.

"Heaaaads up."

And he kind of dropped us.
Fortunately it was only one meter fifty or something, or I else would've been screwed. It took me some time to unfasten the belt that held me to my seat and stand up, but I managed it as fast as I could with my shaky limbs. I felt very weird standing on the ground like that after shooting and falling across the sky.. Almost like I was about to throw up. Then I caught sight of the anemoi thuellai.
Awwww hell no. Another fight? Now? They had to be kidding me. If I drew my sword now, my arm would fall off and don't you even ask me to use my powers.
Suddenly, one of them caught fire and burned up with a screech.

"Well done, Morgan!"

"What? I didn't do anything!"

Another one caught fire, then another one, and soon all that was left of them were little patches of dust trickling down to the ground.

"What the ...?"

"Good evening, demigods. Why don't you come in for dinner?"

We all jerked around towards the cottage. In the doorway stood a woman with brown hair and glowing orange eyes. It was obvious we didn't have much of a choice.

Zack stopped us with his arm, looking at the woman. "Wait up. Swear on the Styx you will not do us any harm."

She gave a mere chuckle, her eyes glowing like hot embers. "Why would I harm you? I'm Hestia, goddess of the Hearth."

The Olympian was a fabulous cook. She sat us down at the table and gave us what seemed like an infinity of oven baked vegetable pies, roasted potatoes and cucumber dices. Neither of us demigods talked for a very long time, too focused on emptying and refilling our plates under the caring eye of Hestia. It was the kind of heavy but healthy dinner you'd expect to get at a country farm, with a variety of dips for your carrot sticks and creamy sauces for the juicy grilled steaks. When I finally leaned back with a full and warm stomach, I felt like I had just put back on the five or six kilos I had lost since the beginning of the Quest. Aka two days ago.

"The food is exquisite, Lady Hestia," Zack commented while putting his cutlery sideways across his plate, "but I've got to ask. Why are you helping us?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She replied. She had taken on the appearance of a tan young girl in a brown wool dress, her hair up in a little bun. If not for the blazing orange eyes, she would've looked like a 19th century farmer child. "This quarrel between the gods is a threat to us all, and Hecate is the only one to have done something sensible by giving you your quest. Olympus is my home and the gods are my family; as the goddess of the hearth, I have to do whatever I can to protect them. Incidentally, that means helping you." She looked at us in turn. "Only Zeus can rule the gods. If anyone else were to sit on his throne, the scales of power would be unbalanced. In these times, that would be terribly dangerous as we're at the brink of a war with the Giants."

"Yeah we got that much," Hammer commented, chewing on a big slice of rump steak.

Zack folded his hands, leaning forward. "We're headed for Miami, and could use some advice."

"Demon is your underwater aid," I suddenly added, remembering a verse of our prophecy. "Do you know anything about that?"

"Demon... It comes from "daimon" which means "deity", "spirit"," Hestia thoughtfully said. "You have to find Thetis, the Nereid; she is on our side and will give you further informations on how to find Briareus. She was the one to fetch him the first time the gods overthrew Zeus so her advice will be most helpful."

Thetis. We shared a glance, now we had something more to work with.

"Great. How do we find her?"

"Find her sisters, and they will lead you to her, but be careful. Some are on Amphitrite's side," Hestia said, which wasn't much to get on with. We opened our mouths to ask for an explanation but Hestia raised her small hand. "That is all I can tell you. The Parcae are very finicky about their laws, especially those about how much gods are allowed to meddle with the mortal world. Now off to bed, all of you," she said, gesturing at a mezzanine on which two bunk beds awaited us. "Tomorrow will be a big day."

As I passed next to Hestia, whispering a few thankful words for the dinner and the help, I wondered how much she actually knew. Could she see our whole quest stretching out or just pieces?

My eyes met hers and a feeling swept through my stomach, a feeling I hadn't had for a long time. Warmth and security, cosiness and solidarity, comfort and trust,...homeliness. It felt so deliciously reassuring I could've broken into tears right there if not for the glow in the goddess' eyes.

"You're neglecting your hearth, Morgan Landry," Hestia reproachfully said, low enough for me only to hear. "Your family loves you. Stop pushing yourself away from them."


----------

We woke up at sunrise. It was difficult to roll out of our comfortable beds, but after a quick shower we packed our bags and went down. There was no sign of Hestia in the kitchen, though a hearty breakfast was laid out: a big bowl of scrambled eggs, bacon, toasts, different sorts of homemade jam, thick pancakes and loaves of still oven-warm brown bread. There was even a small saucer of Kräuterquark, like back home in Germany. Steaming kettles of tea and coffee as well as a jar of cloudy apple juice were ready too and we sat down knowing full well it was the best breakfast we would probably get in the days to come, granted we survived.


We found Hestia outside, feeding a couple of birds. The little girl looked peaceful, singing a song in Ancient Greek about fresh streams sweeping through a warm pine forest, and how the sun glittered on the waves of the coast. When we arrived, she turned her calm glowing eyes to us. "Further down the road, your ride awaits you," she said.

"Thank you for everything, my Lady," Zachary stated with a respectful bow, to what Hestia replied with a wary smile.

"Off with you now, don't waste time. May Tyche be with you. And heroes!"

We turned around, already halfway to the road. "When you're in Miami, beware of the hungry." With these cryptic words, her childish body started to glow from the inside and we averted our eyes as the goddess took on her true form.
When we looked back, everything was gone: the house, the girl, even the birds.