It was after dinner, and the breeze was tight but it sounded like smooth sailing from here on out. I was taking a light jog around the camp, way up east of camp. I was relatively closer to Lake Poseidon and sat on a log nearby the lake. I stared into the lake's shiny reflection, seeing myself. But who am I? I saw a girl with messy blond hair and glasses but who am I really? I can't even count on my own mother for answers or my friend, weird fact that I call them my friends—I have only known them for two weeks. Yet, I would trust them more than anything.

I kept staring longingly into the lake, questioning my life, when I heard a blaring sound. I scrambled to my feet, hearing Chiron's voice over loudspeakers.

"AMBUSH! MAKE YOUR WAY TOWARD THE SHRINES! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! MORE THAN ONE MONSTER IS RAIDING ALL AT ONCE!"

"What?!" I muttered in disbelief. Oh my gosh, I'm all alone! What do I do?! I calmed myself, pulled out my dagger, and ran towards a trail. That's when I saw it.

I quivered in front of a TEN-FOOT lion, standing before me. It had menacing eyes that glowed with bloody fury, deadly sharp claws, and crazy big teeth. The lion roared at me, raising its paw in the air, ready to slash me. I leaped away, its paw hitting the ground, but that didn't make the big kitty happy at all. I dashed away, screaming as the lion chased me.

How's it so big?! My dagger is no use to the size of that beast! I'm doomed! I panted, running away. My legs grew sore and ached as the lion showed no stop.

"Help! Anyone?! Oh god dang it! I—AAH!"

The lion slashed me off my feet, knocking me to the ground. I landed with a hard THUD, dazed from the impact. I sat up to see the lion drooling over my tiny body. My knees were bleeding and cuts were all over my arms. The beast opened its mouth, showing off its immensely large fangs.

"Help!" I cried but my voice was drowned out by the lion's terrible roar. Fudge.

Then an arrow clanged off the lion's hip, not wounding it, but distracting it. I wasted no time and scrambled out of that mess.

"Hannah?!" I shouted, seeing her with her bow and quiver. I also saw Elizabeth with her dagger of Artemis and Athena, Thomas with his crutches but with blades popped out at the ends, and Cora with a water bottle. A water bottle?

"Are you okay?!" Thomas asked but before I could reply, the lion roared.

"It—it can't be..." Elizabeth muttered, I blinked.

"What?"

"It's a-a Nemean Lion cub! The same one I killed as Eusebia!" she cried, I gasped.

"But how?! You killed it! And at that size?! That doesn't look like a cub anymore!"

"Wait, who's Eusebia?" Thomas asked, Elizabeth shook her head.

"No time to explain, but the lion's skin is untouchable to any weapon. And this seems to be a new generation of the Nemean Lion!"

The lion growled, running straight towards us.

"SCATTER!" Hannah hollered as we ran away. The lion rammed its head at a tree instead and was fazed for a bit. But when it regained its sense, it was boiling mad. If we wanted to make our escape then there was no easy way out, the lion was practically blocking all the way out. We would have to fight our way out.

Luckily we were in an open field with some trees, pretty good for fighting. We gripped onto our weapons, preparing for battle.

"Guys, aim for the eye, I know Heracles choked the lion and all but we're not strong enough for that. Stick in groups and don't stop," Elizabeth instructed, Thomas grinned ear to ear.

"That's good enough for me, ghost girl! I'd follow you anywhere!" he shouted and turned to face the cub, "you want some? Then you'll get some! Attack, guys!"

We ran forward, shouting random words. Hey, this is my first time. The lion was not amused and raised his paw. SLASH! The Nemean Lion cub pounded its paw and knocked Hannah onto the ground.

"Hannah!" I wailed, looking back.

"Oh my Styx, this dumb beast—I'm fine!" she yelled, and the lion stumbled forward, ready to hit again. No! I ran forward, grabbed Hannah by her shirt, and lunged away. We both fell face-first, panting and trying to process what just happened.

"Oh...thanks, that was unexpected," Hannah panted, I nodded.

"Let's not do that again," I replied as Elizabeth whistled with her fingers. The lion's attention focused on Elizabeth now.

"Hey, you! Wanna play? Let's play!" she hollered, running as the cub chased after her. Suddenly, Hannah pulled me by my shirt.

"I'm wounded," she whispered, her leg bleeding constantly, "take my bow and arrow, use them,"

"B-but what do I use them for?"

"I got a plan," Hannah chuckled. She whispered her idea to me and I nodded.

"Good," I stood up, holding her bow and arrow. I ran off, looking for a large oak tree. I finally found an oak tree, one with strong branches, and I began to climb. I was honestly so nervous as I was stuck in a tree for quite some time last night. I found a strong branch that could (probably) support my weight. I crawled on, sitting on the branch. Whoa. This is way higher than the tree from last night. Oh my gosh. I couldn't help but look down, and I saw Thomas limping away from the lion.

Suddenly, Thomas got punched by the beast, striking him to the ground. He was bleeding quite a lot from his side and was no match for the lion. Where were Cora and Elizabeth? Just then, Elizabeth jumped in front of the Nemean Lion cub, lashing out a bigger sword from his belt.

"No one hurts my fire boy!" she shouted as Hannah, who was also limping, helped wrap Thomas in a bandage.

"Guys!" I yelled, placing my hand on the bow, "I'm going to try to shoot its eye! Try to get the lion in one place!"

"Okay!" Cora cried, running forward with a water bottle in her hand. She opened the cap but instead of the water dripping, it floated in the air. The blob of water got bigger and bigger.

"You look thirsty!" Cora chuckled under her breath and launched the blob of water at the lion. It fazed the creature, stumbling back.

I stretched back my arrow but there still wasn't a clear shot. And with two of our team members injured, chances were looking slim. Then a battle cry arose.

"FLY YA LITTLE HEEL!" Leah hollered, appearing with Jarvis Reins who was holding a spear, and Leah's heel went flying into the lion's chest. The heel bounced off, of course, but at least we had two members of the team here! I took a deep breath, remembering Hannah's steps, and aimed. I could only pray that I got it right. Then I heard a roar. I opened my eyes to see an arrow pierced through the lion's left eye. I was just as shocked as everyone else as I only got a few days of training with Hannah. And to hit such a tiny target was a miracle!

"Amara, you did it!" Leah shouted, though her voice sounded so small since I was so up high.

"Guys!" Jarvis yelled, "The lion isn't dead yet! We still need to kill it somehow!"

"Well we can't bloody stab it with a spear now can we?" Hannah shot back, "And we are too short to choke it like how Heracles did!"

"Wait—"

I didn't finish my sentence because the dumb lion rammed its head at the tree I was sitting on. The whole tree jilted, shaking me.

"GUYS, HELP, I REALLY DON'T WANT TO—AAH!"

I heard a slight snap, and I could feel the branch titling. The Nemean Lion cub rammed its head again, leaves falling from the tree.

"Can someone kill it already?!" I snapped, angry.

"Hold on!" Jarvis hollered and slid under the belly of the lion on his knees.

Suddenly a spear thrust up from the lion's back, killing it. Jarvis ran away from its belly and the lion stumbled back, bleeding onto the ground. The Nemean Lion cub was now dead.

"How'd you do that? I thought its skin was untouchable by any weapon!" Thomas cried, standing up, his waist covered in a bandage.

"I guessed that the stomach of the beast would be weaker as that's how its food is digested. Simple, really, "Jarvis shrugged, Leah turned to the group.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked, surprising everyone.

"Yes, but how did you know how to find us?" Cora asked, and Leah pointed to me.

"Amara told me that she was going for a jog and I knew she was going to be alone, so yeah. I decided to grab my heel and find Amara,"

"Speaking of me," I grumbled, "ahem, but I AM STILL STUCK IN THIS TREE!"

Everyone jumped to their senses after they promptly forgot that I was clinging to an unstable branch.

"Can you climb down?" Hannah said, I shook my head.

"You want me to climb down this death trap? I can climb up but not down!"

"Oh what the Hades? Just teleport down!" Elizabeth snapped, and I shook my head again.

"No way! I could glitch all the way to Mexico for all I know! I'm not risking it—AYYYYY!"

The branch snapped, one swig away from breaking. I screamed, closing my eyes. I suddenly felt a light jolt and I opened my eyes. I was now standing in front of everyone, on the ground, alive. Thank god!

"I'm alive? I'm alive!" I cheered, beaming with joy.

"Hey, Leah," Elizabeth said, looking uneasy.

"Uhm, yeah?"

"I just wanted to say—you and Jarvis saved our butts, thanks," Elizabeth replied, and Leah smiled.

"The same thing to you, we make a good duo," Leah grinned.

"Nuh-uh, we're not going that far as a duo,"

We burst out laughing, forgetting the fact that there was a large dead lion behind us. I suppose you're thinking it's a happy ending now, right? Then you are wrong. All hell was going to break loose in a matter of minutes.