"AHHH!" donghyuck panicked as he saw the harpies approaching them dangerously.

this reminded him of the attack that had taken place at the half-blood camp a day before.

he recalled being completely lost, and not knowing what he could do, because he didn't know how to fight one bit.

"attack!" jaemin yelled, as he pointed his sword to the sky and plunged towards the harpies to kill them.

around him, the other boys were doing the same, each of them fighting with their assigned weapon.

the noise around donghyuck was deafening. it was a mix of cries and iron colliding, making donghyuck feel like he was in the middle of a war – which he was.

he felt sick and scared, not knowing what to do.

he didn't have a spear like renjun, a sword like jaemin, a trident like jisung, daggers like chenle, a whip like jeno, nor a scythe like mark. he had nothing but his little hands that didn't know how to fight.

"donghyuck!!" chenle yelled, catching the boy's attention.

as soon as donghyuck lifted his head to look at chenle, he squatted down, landing on the dirty ground, because chenle had thrown a dagger in his direction.

it's only after hearing a scream of pain behind him that donghyuck turned around, only to find one of the harpies on the floor, with chenle's dagger between her eyes.

"come here!" chenle added, signalling donghyuck to approach him.

donghyuck didn't waste a second to approach chenle, looking around him worriedly.

"renjun is going to bring you somewhere safe." chenle told, pointing at athena's son who had pierced a harpy's body with his spear.

donghyuck watched in disgust as the monster's body was thrown away, its body fluids dripping out.

"let's go, donghyuck!" renjun approached them, holding his hand out.

donghyuck voluntarily grabbed renjun's hand and followed him towards the nearest shop.

"we need a distraction!" renjun yelled.

"we're on it!" jaemin replied, using his bare fists to punch a harpy hard, making it stumble backwards. "mark!"

hearing his name, mark hit the ground with his scythe, making the eart tremble under their feet.

the ground cracked, allowing a dark smoke to get out of the depths of the earth, and making it impossible for anyone to see for a few seconds.

renjun and donghyuck used this opportunity to enter the nearest shop and lock themselves in before hiding in there, still being able to see the battle field thanks to the huge glass walls of the shop.

"are you sure they won't find us here?" donghyuck asked worriedly.

"i'm never sure of anything." renjun replied, looking carefully at the battle field and his friends.

"why are they attacking us?" donghyuck spoke again.

"because they want you." renjun replied casually, not sparing donghyuck a glance.

"what?!" donghyuck yelled.

"shit, jeno has some problems." renjun let out as he saw jeno on the floor, his whip a few meters away from him, and a harpy hovering over him. "i need to go. don't make any noise." renjun added before dashing out of the shop, leaving donghyuck on his own.

"no wait!"

but it was too late, renjun had already jumped out of the shop they were in, lashing at the harpy that was about to take jeno's life and making it fly a few meters away.

his sudden appearance caught the attention of another harpy who realised that donghyuck could be hidden in this shop.

"oh my god!" donghyuck exclaimed when he made an eye-contact with the harpy. "help!" he screamed.

he could see the harpy approaching him, and his cries weren't helping at all, because none of the boys could hear him because of the noise outside.

"help!!" he yelled again, tears welling in his eyes as he saw a smirk appearing on the harpy's face, showing its huge teeth.

donghyuck was already imagining how painful his death would be, he could already see this monster tearing his flesh open and eat his heart. he didn't want to die so soon.

as the harpy got closer, the ground under their feet tremble for a few seconds, a large hole appearing on the ground between donghyuck and the fury.

donghyuck's eyes were producing so much tears that he could barely see what was happening, but he was thankful to hear a low bark followed by a growl. the next thing he knew, the harpy was screaming and being chased away by a large black dog that he recognized so well.

"m-mavros?"

donghyuck wipe his tears away, his vision getting cleared and allowing him to see the harpy that had been disembowelled on the shop's floor, its bowels apparent.

the dog that was next to it faced donghyuck before wiggling its tail and jumping towards him.

"thank you so much, mavros." donghyuck said, hugging the dog, earning a small bark.

"donghyuck! come quick!" jisung appeared at the door.

donghyuck and mavros ran towards him, jumping over the dead harpy in the process.

stepping out of the shop, donghyuck heard sirens around, signalling that the police was approaching.

jaemin was still fighting a fury, and mark was too.

jeno, renjun and chenle were on the side, motioning for jisung and donghyuck to approach them which they did.

jaemin and mark did too after a few seconds.

"the other harpies left." jaemin stated.

"we need to leave this place right now." mark said. "they know we're here."

"we don't have anywhere to go." jeno told.

"we need to change continents. it's too risky to stay in asia." mark declared.

"let's go to the airport then." renjun nodded.

"but how?" jaemin asked, not adding any snarky remark for once.

"which one of you knows how to drive a car?" chenle asked.

mark, jeno and jaemin lifted their hands as the police sirens started getting louder.

"one of you three come with me. the others wait for us at the corner of the street, out of view from the police and everyone."

the boys nodded, running away as jaemin accompanied chenle in the opposite direction.

just when the five boys disappeared behind the street's corner, a few police cars appeared as well as medics.

"they will see the monsters!" donghyuck exclaimed.

"no, don't worry." renjun replied quickly.

"how?"

"it's something called the mist. it makes things that aren't for humans look normal." jeno explained as they stopped running. "i think that's where they're going to meet us."

mark lifted his head, looking at his surroundings, hoping to see a car that jaemin was driving approaching.

but there were none for the moment.

"fuck, the police!" jisung let out as he pushed the four other boys away to hide them.

the police van drove in their direction, stopping just where they were a few seconds prior.

the passenger's door opened, revealing chenle.

"come up, be quick!" he exclaimed as the boys looked at him with widened eyes.

"why did you steal a police car?" renjun asked, jumping inside the van.

"it was the only car that could fit us all." chenle exclaimed, closing the door as everyone had hopped in.

"they're going to notice that a car went missing." jisung spoke. "we're going to get busted."

"try seeing the positive in life a bit, jisung." jaemin told as he placed his foot on the accelerating pedal, making all of the boys jerk forwards because of the sudden move of the car.

"god, jaemin, be careful!" renjun rolled his eyes, rubbing his forehead.

"sorry for being too rough for you, sweetheart." the driver replied, sarcasm obvious in his voice. "where are we going?"

"to the airport." jeno replied. "and we'd like to get there without dying please." he added, undirectly criticising jaemin's way of driving.

"noted, thunderbolt." jaemin snickered before pushing harder on the pedal and making the car roll way faster than what was authorized.

Ω

"you again?"

"yes, we need to leave tokyo immediately." chenle explained as they stepped inside the private plane that was reserved for demigods.

"are you sure?"

"we were attacked by harpies as soon as we arrived there, so, yes, we need to fly away from there, IMMEDIATELY." mark spat, making the flight attendant roll his eyes.

"let me guess, hades?" he asked, raising a brow.

"yeah." jeno answered quickly, pulling the fuming mark away. "can you fly us somewhere else, please?"

"where to?" the flight attendant asked, closing the plane's door.

"to las vegas." chenle replied immediately with a beaming smile.

"las vegas it is, then..."