I opened the exit door and followed Payton with Theseus at my heels, barking.

"Not now, buddy." I said. I clicked a mechanism on my sword and it turned back into a closed hairpin.

"You killed my brother. And now we're cursed!" Payton yelled. He turned a corner and I followed him.

"No, You're not! I am! Poseidon is Antaeus and your dad! Your dad would never approve of that curse!" I said.

"But you are cursed! I already have enough to deal with! First Hallie dies, then Abigail turns into a statue, then Darrien goes rogue and betrays Olympus, now I'm told that you're gonna die because of Antaeus! I don't have enough friends!" He complained. Then, pointing to his face, he added, "This charm can only go so far!"

"Stop acting like a drama queen! You need to relax." I said.

Theseus barked and grabbed hold of the lower part of my right pant.

"Not now, Thesues!" I snapped.

Thesues whined and pulled more, knocking me down.

"Oof!" I grunted as my back hit the metal floor.

I heard a clicking sound and fell a through a dark tunnel. Theseus, being the loyal goofball that he is, jumped in as well. Payton looked down, prayed to Poseidon, and plunged down the trap door. I fell into a pool of water, making my skin feel like fire. I swam to the top and breathed in the fresh, pine smelling, air. My chest puffed in and out as I swam over to the grassy shore. Payton and Theseus splashed into the lake. The lake made a bubble around the pair and cradled them to the shore. Payton stood up, high and dry. Theseus wasn't as lucky. He shook his sagging chocolate fur, spraying Payton and me.

"Where are we?" I asked, ringing the edge of my shirt.

"A forest, I think." He replied, drinking in the scene.

Grassy ground were tickling my Converse and flowers were popping up from the ground. Trees blanketed the entire place. The small "pool" turned out to be a small lake, with fish and kelp living in the water. Theseus sniffed the ground. He zoomed to a small maple tree and and bit into the bark on the tree. He spit it out and a golden syrup dripped from the hole. The sky was real, and the trap door seemed to be invisible, as I was unable to locate it.

"Olympian Syrup!" Payton cried. He dashed over to the tree and licked it from the hole.

"Stop!" A voice shouted. The maple tree melted into a small girl, about eleven years old. She had coffee- coloured skin and a caramel coloured chiton. Golden Gladiator sandals adorned with red maple leaves were on her small feet. Her elbow was skinned, where Theseus had bitten into her. Olympian syrup still slid down her elbow, only it seemed more guilty to eat it. Payton had his tongue on her elbow. He awkwardly stepped back, blushing.

"Who are you?" Payton said.

"I am Courtney, wood nymph of this maple tree. How has thy entered our hiding spot ?"

"I fell down a trap door." I said.

Courtney's hazel eyes went wide with fear. "No! The Titans...... They......... They never could have found us."

"Then how is there a trap door?" I said.

"Us nymphs have found a different entrance and exit into the Titan base. We never made a trap door portal above this lake." Courtney said, looking at the sky. Somehow, there was no ceiling above us. It was all plain sky.

"That trap door portal must have been made from the Titan base camp. They could have never found us in our secluded forest." She assumed.

"That's a portal?" Payton said.

Courtney nodded. "With our woodland magic, we are able to create portals to wherever we wish out of thin air. But it is fairly impossible for Titans and DemiGods to make woodland portals leading to our forest."

"So no one except satyrs and nymphs and nature spirits can access this area?" I said.

"Correct. But my question is how the Titans have grabbed hold of an entry to our world but have not invaded yet?"

Theseus jumped into the lake and started playing around the waters edge, digging seashells. A water nymph popped out of the ocean. Only her upper half was above the water, but it still never got rid of the fact that she was gorgeous. She had blond hair, somehow dry, and wore a chiton woven together with kelp. A starfish sat next to her head, almost like a clip. She smiled and waved at Payton. Payton blushed and waved back.

"Oh, find a different DemiGuy, water nymph." I said, kicking sand at her. She submerged back into the lake, as a wave drowned my clothes, making me even more wet.

"She- Devils!" I screamed as I went for Abigail's bow.

Courtney sighed. "Water nymphs are very in love with Poseidon half- bloods. I myself do not get what all the fuss is surrounding boys."

She turned back to me and Payton. "Anyways, if you wish to come back to the Titan base camp, thy is thousand of miles away. I would allow thee to use one of our portals but it is only accessible to nature spirits and nymphs and satyrs."

"Where is the Titan base camp?" I asked.

"Near San Fransisco. It is very close to where the Titan Atlas used to hold up the sky. But getting through the Garden of Hesperides will be quite the challenge." She replied.

"But how do the Titans do it?" Payton said.

Courtney blinked. "I thought you Demigods would know. Atlas is the Hesperides's father. He can pass through the garden with whoever he pleases at will."

"But aren't the Hesperides, like, against him and all? The Hesperides fought against the Titans in the last battle." Payton reasoned.

"The Hesperides are coming to realize that this second battle between the Titans and the Gods is in more favour to their Father's side. They let him pass and hope that if the Titans win, they will rule with, as humans say, an iron fist with Atlas." Courtney explained.

"Regarding how you are to get out, thy have been transported to the very centre of the Nymph forest. Our forest is miles wide and can take days to travel through. The only way to get out in the quickest time is to take the woodland chariot."

"And?" I said.

"It is only able to run when Apollo goes through the sky, meaning it is solar powered. Therefore, since it is getting darker and Artemis is racing her chariot across the sky, I must ask Zoe if thy and thee's domesticated wolf may stay until morning." Courtney said.

"You mean Theseus my dog?" I asked.

"Yes." Courtney clarified.

               She walked deeper into the forest. She waved her hand for us to follow. As we got closer to her village, we saw Satyrs sitting on tree stumps, playing their reed pipes. As they did, trees started growing taller and thicker and the grass became much more green. Nymphs sat cross- legged on the ground, telling stories from thousands of years ago when lovesick gods would chase them. Even a girl who looked about nine years old was going on and on about how Zeus used to "have the hots for her."

           A village came closer into view as me, Payton, and Courtney stood on a tall hill that overlooked the entire village. Trees were bent into houses for the wood nymphs, whom weaved flower crowns inside their houses and picked berries from bushes. An even bigger lake than the last one sat in the centre of the village. Water nymphs swam in and out of the lake, splashing nearby satyrs and wood nymphs. Around the edge of the clearing, were trees all bent to sort of look like a room. Thrones sat at the front of the "room". One was made of water, yet it was like it was made of an invincible bubble, with small fish swimming inside of the throne. Another was made of flowers and twigs, all curved to shape a chair. The last one was made of grape vines with a portrait of Dionysus at the top of it.

"Zoe will not be pleased to hear that DemiGods have found the nymph forest." Courtney warned. She said DemiGods as if she said Smelly Cyclops.

"Who exactly is Zoe?" Payton demanded.

"She is one of Woodland Elders. She is the wood nymph Elder. Amber is the water nymph elder, and Connor is the Satyr elder. Thy is very lucky that tonight is a full moon, meaning that it is time for our monthly meeting, our more accurately,-"

"every 29.5 days." I finished.

           Courtney nodded, a little upset that she didn't get to finish her sentence. We followed her down the hill.

"If thy wish to have dinner, we shall have some berries and bean soup tonight." She chirped. "We will meet at the lake and go to the throne room right after."

         We made our way closer to the pond as a red haired water nymph emerged from the lake. When she left the water, her kelp chiton melted away into an electric green chiton. Gold sandals were on her feet. A seashell clip held back her fiery locks as she made our way towards us. She looked older than Courtney, about 15 or 16.

"Hello, Courtney. Are these nymphs from out of town? Or is the boy a satyr?" She said, eyeing Payton's pants. She seemed to talk like any teen you'd see at the mall, not talking like Courtney, all old timey.

"Hello, Marine. These are not nymphs nor satyrs. They are DemiGods." Courtney said.

"Really?" Marine gasped.

"Quite right. This is Payton, son of the sea God. This is Ariana, daughter of Athena." Courtney introduced.

"A son of the sea God," Marine mused, "You know, your father's sons have been known to be very handsome."

"You clearly haven't met Antaeus." Payton mumbled.

Marine giggled. "Handsome and funny!"

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Payton, you will be bunking with the Satyrs. Ariana, thy shall share a house with me."

"No rush, Courtney! Payton can hang with the water nymphs! Come meet my family!" Marine said. She waved at seven girls at the water's edge. They giggled and waved back, smiling at Payton. He walked over with Marine to them.

Courtney sighed, watching Marine. "Water nymphs. Terrible flirts."

"Not to mention Sea boy suck- ups." I added.

"I'll never understand why nymphs do this. At such an early age, too! At age 500, start obsessing over DemiGods." Courtney exploded.

"500?" I echoed.

"Of course. But Marine started much earlier than that, as water nymphs do. Yet most nymphs do not appreciate the love from a satyr. Thy must remember that nymphs and Satyrs mature half as fast as humans. And most of us are late bloomers, even by woodland standards." Courtney explained.

"It's you. Not thee. Not thy. Just you." I corrected.

"Except at the end. In the first sentence, it is okay." Courtney added.

"No, it's just you. Or your." I insisted. " Like if I was saying, 'Your dog is cute.' "

Courtney started mouthing out the sentence, as if she was forming the word. "Yerr. Yerrrrr dog is cute."

I shook my head. "Whatever."

    Courtney threw her hand up in exasperation. "I hate this language! It changes too often!"

"Besides, how does Marine talk like a modern person?" I asked.

"She has recently left the forest and visited"- she paused to form the word-" yerrr Olympus. Before, she talked even older than I talk."

As if on cue, Marine shrieked as she hopped into the water, her legs looking scaly. She looked almost like a mermaid, but not quite. The scales on her legs were a neon yellow, complimenting her red hair.

"She looks like a mermaid." I admitted.

Courtney grinned and raised an eyebrow. "Where do you think that myth started from?"

"Echo was the one who had it worst. She was in love with Narcissus, a half- blood of Aphrodite." Courtney went on.

"Narcissus was a half- blood?" I said.

Courtney nodded. "Yes. Though it does not say so in books and such. Aphrodite glossed it over so that all of her kids would not be judged based on him."

"Anyway, he completely rejected her. He fell in love with his own reflection in a pond and died there. His mother granted him a new life as a flower." She continued.

"Ariana!" Payton called. "The water's perfect! Hop in!"

Marine narrowed her eyes and her sisters glared at me.

"Borrow my sister's bathing suit." Courtney offered. She grabbed my wrist and led me to her house.

A big oak door stood in the front. I twisted the door knob. It stood still.

"What humans do not realize is that the key is often in nature. For this instance, literally." Courtney said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small lotus flower. She plucked a petal from the flower and inserted it into the key hole. She twisted it and it opened.

A girl who looked about 18 years old sat on a bed. She had Courtney's coffee skin and eyes. She had her dark brown curly hair. She wore a teal chiton and was carrying a basket.

"I thought you left to pick berries." Courtney said.

The girl shrugged. "I was grouped in with the water nymphs and they got lost." She snorted. "They can't even walk half a mile in the forest without getting lost."

"Ariana, this is Gabriella, my sister." Courtney introduced.

"New nymph?" Gabriella asked.

"No. She is a DemiGod. There is also a boy hanging out at the lake." Courtney said.

Gabriella scoffed. "Let me guess: with Marine?"

Courtney nodded.

"We just came here to borrow a swim suit." I said.

"Don't bother." Gabriella said. "Marine is just gonna push thee further away from thy's friend. She is obsessed with boys."

"Don't discourage her, Gabby." Courtney said. "Can she use thy's grey bathing suit?"

Gabriella nodded. "I'm meeting up with Connor at the lake, anyway. Courtney, why don't thy play with Malley while thy is there?"

Courtney's eyes widened. "I told you. We are not friends anymore."

Gabby shrugged. She walked over to her wardrobe and handed me a storm cloud grey one piece bathing suit.