"NOBODY MOVE."

  The lion bellowed so loud it made Magnus stumble backward a step. Its fangs were sharper than the heroes' blades.

  "Split up on my call," Zoë ordered. "Keep it distracted."

  "Until when?" Grover asked.

  "Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

  Percy and Magnus sprang out to the left, arrows shooting past them from the Hunters. Grover fretfully played a sharp tune on his reed pipes. Zoë and Bianca were firing arrows from the top of the Apollo capsule, but the silver arrows broke harmlessly against the lion's steel fur. The lion knocked its paw into the capsule, sweeping the Hunters off the side of it. Grover played another ear-bleeding tune, turning the lion's attention on him, but Thalia stood in his path with her shield raised. The lion reared back. "ROOOOAR!"

  "Get back!" Thalia yelled.

  The beast snarled, but fell back, as if the shield was repelling him.

  It looked as if Thalia had things under control, until Percy noticed the lion's legs tensed back into a pounce-attack. He knew he was about to lunge on Thalia from the amount of alley-cat fights he'd seen in his time.

  "Hey!" Percy yelled, not really thinking. He charged the beast, hoping to get it away from his friends. He gave the lion a good strike to its flank that normally would've sliced a monster in half, but the blade just clanged against the beast in a shower of sparks.

  "Percy!" Magdalena yelled. But she sounded more annoyed than scared. Percy wasn't surprised. Magdalena was always getting mad at him for being stupid.

  The lion was about to shred Percy into straight spaghetti, but Magdalena charged him and knocked him out of the way as soon as the lion's claws struck the air where he had been standing.

  They hit the ground hard, Magdalena's entire body-weight crashing on to him, knocking the breath out of Percy. Out of reflex, his hands grabbed her waist to stabilize her. When he finally caught his bearings and looked up, he saw Lena's face barely an inch from his.

  "Uh, thanks," Percy said, blinking. Her blue eyes were glaring harshly into his. Up close, they looked a lot more unnerving— especially when she was angry. And, currently, she was fuming.

  From this position, all Magdalena did was scowl at him. "Stop being an idiot!" She hissed, and pushed for body off of his and turned to face the beast, which was preparing for its next attack on the both of them.

  The Nemean lion growled at them and prepared to lunge. Percy and Magdalena stood side-by-side, staring at the beast.

  "What's the move?" Percy asked.

  "I go left, you go right."

  The lion sprang at them. Magdalena went left, as planned, and, well, Percy went over the railing.

  To be fair, he wasn't exactly listening when Magdalena told him the plan. And, when the lion jumped at them, his brain flipped to autopilot. He landed on an old fighter jet, which tipped and almost flung Percy right off the side of it.

  The lion pounced onto the exhibit, which made the cords holding the plane creak and teeter from the weight. The monster took a swipe at Percy, and he jumped onto the next aircraft below: a weird-looking spaceship with helicopter blades. He glanced up and watched the lion screech— inside its maw, a tongue and throat.

  That's it. Its skin was impenetrable, but if he could get his sword in its mouth . . . It was a good plan, but the beast was too fast. With how much the monster moved its claws and teeth, Percy couldn't get close enough without getting shredded to bits.

  "Zoë!" Percy yelled. "Aim for the mouth!"

  The lion pounced, and Percy lunged for the ground floor, dropping onto the top of a floor exhibit of Earth. He slid down Asia and fell off the equator.

  Magnus ran up beside him with his sword as the Nemean Lion teetered on the spacecraft. But, it was too heavy, and the cords snapped. The spacecraft swung down and the lion hopped off the craft and landed on Russia.

  "Grover!" Magnus yelled. "Clear everyone out!"

  There were crowds of kids screaming and running around like maniacs. Grover did his best to usher them away as Thalia and Magdalena landed on the other side of the globe across from Percy and Magnus. The beast looked between the two pairs of demigods, like it was deciding which one it wanted to kill first.

  Zoë and Bianca were on the balcony over with their arrows notched, but it was too difficult to get a good angle on the mouth.

  Percy scanned his surroundings, desperate for an idea. Then he saw the gift shop. He had a foggy memory of him begging his mom to buy him something from there, and he'd regretted it. If they still had them . . .

  "Lena, Thalia," Percy said, "keep it busy."

  They both nodded.

  "Over here, Simba!" Magdalena yelled, and her hands started to glow like they had back on their quest last summer. She angled her hands toward the lion's eyes, and it roared in pain, the beast getting blinded by the pure light.

  "Come on!" Percy yelled to Magnus, and they raced toward the gift shop.

  "This is not a good time for souvenirs, boys!" Zoe screamed.

  Magnus and Percy stumbled into the shop, knocking over stands and hurdling over a table with miniature snow-globes filled on it. The cashier didn't care, as she was too busy hiding underneath her check-out desk.

  "There!" Magnus pointed to the back wall, which was filled with all sorts of astronaut food. Percy hadn't even explained his plan to Magnus— it was like he just knew.

  They grabbed as many as they could carry and raced out of the shop with their arms stacked with them.

  Zoë and Bianca were flooding the monster with arrows, but it was pointless. The lion knew its weak spot, and avoided opening its mouth a lot. Magdalena was struggling to angle the beams of light into the beast's eyes with how much it moved and slashed at them. It must've known about Lena's powers, too, because it kept its eyes narrowed in slits.

  Magdalena and Thalia struck the monster and stepped back. The lion advanced on them.

  "Percy, Magnus," Lena called, "whatever your planning— "

  The lion bellowed and swatted the two girls like they were flies, sending them straight into the side of a rocket. They fell to the floor like rag dolls— their heads slamming against the metal with a sickening conk.

  "Hey!" Percy called to the beast. He wasn't in striking range, so he played a gamble: he hurled Riptide like a javelin. It ricocheted harmlessly off the lion, but it did enough to get its attention. It turned to Magnus and Percy with a snarl.

  "Charge!" Percy yelled.

  Him and Magnus ran straight at the monster, chucking packages of space food into its mouth as it went to cut them off.

  The lion's eyes widened and started to gag, like it had a baseball lodged in its throat.

  Percy didn't blame the thing. He knew how disgusting that space food was, because he'd had the same reaction to it as the oversized cat did.

  "Zoë, be ready!" Magnus yelled.

  They stumbled away from the lion, which had managed to swallow down the freeze-dried strawberry parfait. It stared at the two boys with pure hatred.

  "I don't think it likes us very much," Magnus said, gripping his sword.

  "Probably," Percy said. "Snack time!"

  The lion mistakenly let out a large roar at the two boys, giving them the perfect opportunity to launch some more space food into its maw. It was a good thing the both of them were pretty good a pitching in baseball, because they kept getting perfect aim into the lion's mouth as it continued to gag.

  The beast's eyes gaped. Its mouth shot open and it winded back onto its hind-paws, trying to escape.

  "Now!" Percy yelled.

  Arrows lodged straight into the mouth— all six of them perfect shots. The beast stumbled and fell backward, going still.

  There were alarms sounding all throughout the Smithsonian, people sprinting to the nearest exit. Security guards ran around without a clue on what was happening.

  Magnus ran over to his sister when he saw Grover trying to get her and Thalia to their feet. They both looked okay, just a little out of it. Zoë and Bianca jumped to the ground floor and walked up to Percy.

  Zoë looked at Percy suspiciously. "That was . . . A strange strategy."

  Percy shrugged. "It worked."

  Zoë didn't argue that.

  The lion was starting to melt like any other monster did when it died. All that was left of it was its shimmering gold fur coat, which was shrinking down to the size of a normal lion pelt.

  "Take it," Zoë said to Percy.

  Percy looked to her. "The lion's pelt? Isn't that, like, a violation of animal rights?"

  "It's a spoil of war," Zoë said. "It is thy's to take."

  "You killed it," Percy argued.

  She denied him, a ghost of a smile on her face. "I believe thy ice-cream sandwich did that. It is only fair, Percy Jackson. Take the pelt."

  Percy grabbed it, the fur being oddly light. It was soft and comfortable, not something that should be able to stop a blade. The pelt transformed into a full-length golden-brown duster jacket in his hands.

  "Not really my style," Percy muttered.

  "We need to dip," Magnus said as he supported Magdalena on his side. "These security guards aren't going to be confused for much longer."

Percy just then realized how weird it was that the guards hadn't rushed them yet to throw them all in jail. They were running around in circles, running into walls and exhibits— going everywhere except them.

  "You did that?" Percy asked Grover.

  Grover blushed. "A little bewilderment song. It won't last much longer, though."

  "We have bigger things to worry about," Lena said, pushing herself to stand up straighter as Magnus held her by her shoulders. "Look."

  Outside the glass windows, gray men in army-uniforms were marching toward them. They couldn't see their eyes from the distance they were at, but they were heading straight in their direction.

  "You guys go," Percy said. "They're after Magnus and I. We can hold them off."

  "No," Zoë said. "We leave together."

  Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "I thought— "

  "You and Magnus are now on this quest," she said grudgingly. "I do not agree with it, but fate has been decided. You two are our and sixth and seventh members. What that means for the prophecy, I do not know. But, we are not leaving anyone behind."

  THEY BARELY made it ten minutes before they noticed they were being followed. There was a black chopper not far behind them in the distance, like the one they'd seen back at Westover Hall. And it was headed straight for them.

  "We need to ditch the van," Percy said. "That's how they're tracking us."

  Zoë whipped into the fast lane as the helicopter got closer.

"The military might take it down," Grover said with hope.

  "They most likely think it's one of them," Percy said. "How's the General getting mortals to work for him, anyway?"

  "Mercenaries," Zoë said distastefully. "A crude truth, but lots of mortals will put their lives at risk for any cause to get money."

  "Can't these people see who they're fighting for?" Percy asked. "They see all the monsters around them, don't they?"

  Magdalena shook her head. "The Mist distorts what's actually happening. Who knows what they're really seeing. Regardless, I doubt it'd even make a difference."

  Zoë nodded. "Thy is right. Sometimes, mortals can be even more evil than monsters."

  Thalia tried to pray to her dad as the helicopter kept making progress toward them.

  "Dad? If you could send a lightning bolt or something down on that helicopter, that'd be really nice. Please?"

  Her prayers weren't answered, and instead the sky remained dark and snowy.

  "There!" Bianca pointed. "That parking lot!"

  "We'll be trapped," Zoë said.

  "Trust me," Bianca said.

Zoë swerved through three lanes to veer off into the parking lot just off the bank of the Potomac. They abandoned the van and Bianca led them down a stairwell.

"Entrance to the subway," Bianca explained. "We should go south. Alexandria."

They got their tickets and quickly made their way to the train, keeping their eyes out for any sign of pursuit. Within minutes, they were safely riding out of D.C.

Grover sighed in relief once they saw the helicopter circling the parking lot and not pursuing them. "Good thinking for the subway, Bianca."

Bianca looked proud. "I've seen that station before, back when Nico and I were here last summer. I was shocked to see it since it wasn't there when we lived here."

Grover frowned. "Really? That station seemed pretty old to me."

Bianca shrugged. "I guess," she said. "But, believe me, when Nico and I were little, we didn't have a subway."

Lena and Thalia glanced at each other warily.

Thalia leaned forward. "No subway at all?"

Bianca nodded.

That didn't seem right. Magdalena had been to D.C only a hand-full of times, but that was enough to know that their subway system wasn't new. And by the looks on everyone else's faces, they all seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Bianca," Zoë said. "How long ago . . . " her voice fell. The sound of helicopter blades started to grow closer again.

"We need to switch trains," Magnus said. "Next station."

Throughout the next hour, all they were focused on was losing the helicopter. They hopped on two different trains, not caring where they were going. Eventually, after a few rounds of train-hopping, they finally managed to escape the chopper. That was the good news.

The bad news was that when they arrived at their final destination, they'd found themselves at the end of the line. They were at a large industrial field littered with warehouses and railway tracks. It was also a lot colder there, the snow coming down harder and thicker.

They strolled through the area, hoping there was another passenger train around, but there was only lines of freight cars left and right. They all looked like they hadn't moved in ages.

There was a homeless man lingering near a trash-can fire. They must've looked pretty pathetic, because he shined them a gummy grin and said, "Y'all lookin' for some warmth? Come on over!"

They all huddled around the heat, too desperate to care about if the homeless man was a threat or not.

Thalia's teeth chattered as she spoke. "Well, this is f-f-f-u-n."

"My hooves are ice blocks," Grover complained.

"Feet," Percy corrected, for the homeless man's sake.

"You g-g-got some room in that c-c-coat?" Magnus shivered, looking to Percy. "You're looking pretty cozy."

Percy wrapped his arm around Magnus's shoulder, giving him a look. "Better?" He asked sarcastically.

"Does that t-t-thing have insulation?" Magnus asked, huddling into the golden fur like his life depended on it. "It's like a heater."

"Should we try to contact camp?" Bianca mentioned. "Chiron— "

"No," Zoë said. "They are no help to us anymore. The quest is up to us to finish."

Magdalena ear's felt like they were getting frostbite, despite being covered by her winter hat. She felt miserable as they stood in the abandoned rail yard, knowing that Annabeth and Artemis were in terrible danger somewhere. And here they were, making friends with a homeless man over a dumpster fire.

"You know," the man said. "You are never truly without friends." His face was streaked with ash and dirt with a tangled beard, but his expression was kind. "You kiddos looking for a westward train?"

"Yes, sir," Magdalena said. "You know where to find one?"

He pointed behind them.

  That's when Magdalena noticed one of the freight trains was gleaming, like it was brand new. It was the type that carried cars, with steel-mesh curtains and a tri-layer deck of other automobiles inside. On the side, it said SUN WEST LINE.

  "That's . . . Convenient," Thalia said. "Thank you— "

  She turned to thank the homeless man, but he was no longer there. The fire was extinguished in the dumpster in front of them, as if he'd disappeared along with the flames.

  WITHIN THE hour they were heading west. They didn't have to argue on who'd be driving now since they all got their pick on their own luxury vehicle. Zoë and Bianca were asleep inside a Lexus on the highest level. Grover was Nascar driving behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a Mercedes SLK, listening to the alternate rock stations from the nearby towns. Magdalena found herself reading a book in the driver seat of a light-blue convertible, while Magnus had his headphones in as he snored in the back of a Ferrari.

  Percy had been sitting with Thalia for a while, talking about the Hunters and why she held a grudge against them. But, of course, he'd run his mouth too much and got kicked out as soon as he'd said one too many of the wrong things.

  But, after hearing her story, Percy felt so bad for her that he didn't even argue. So then he made his over to Magdalena's car, where he saw her curled up in the driver seat with her jacket spread over her legs as a blanket, the heater on full blast inside. Percy was reminded how Lena always looked a lot more approachable when she wasn't worried. Her expression was softer, and her body language was lax. Her eyes didn't have their usual flare in them. They were dim, and inviting.

  Percy knocked on the passenger-side window, giving her a small wave when she looked up. Lena smiled at him and gestured for him to join her, to which he did. When he sat down, he instantly felt warmer, the hot air from the vents blasting his frost-bitten face.

  "Couldn't find a car you liked?" Lena asked, placing a bookmark to save her place in what she was reading, and set it down on the center console.

  Percy shrugged. "Thalia kicked me out of her's," he admitted. "So I figured I'd join you instead."

  "Why'd she kick you out?" Lena asked, though she didn't seem too surprised by the fact. She already knew how much of an annoyance Percy tended to be, especially towards someone like Thalia.

  "I just said some things I probably shouldn't have," Percy said. "You know, like always."

  Lena nodded. "You tend to do that quite often," she agreed, to which Percy sent her a look. She laughed softly, which was nice to hear. The group had been nothing but stressed on finding a way to get to safety this entire day that hardly anyone had found any time to even smile. Hearing someone laugh, especially Magdalena, for that matter, was refreshing.

  "I never knew she almost joined the Hunters," Percy said, absently twirling Riptide (in pen form), through his fingers.

  Magdalena's expression changed. "Thalia and I both almost did," she said softly. "But . . . We both had our reasons for not. Zoë didn't seem to understand them."

  Percy nodded. He tried to ignore the weird pit in his stomach that formed whenever he heard Lena mention joining the Hunters. It was the same feeling he had that night in Artemis's tent, when he realized that the goddess was asking her to join them.

  "Thalia couldn't leave Luke," Percy assumed, which he already knew to be true. "And you couldn't leave Magnus."

  Magdalena nodded, her eyes trained on her hands, which were pulling at the loose strings of her coat. "Zoë only understood my decision a little more than she did with Thalia's. Mine was because of family. Her's was because of a friend. A friend who Zoë knew would let us both down in the end."

  Percy observed Lena's behavior, noticing her how eyes had turned sadder at the mention of Luke. He constantly forgot how close the two demigods were before he'd known either of them. He didn't know much about their relationship, but it was clear that Magdalena had seen him as a brother just as much as she did with Magnus. Percy thought about how betrayed he'd felt when Luke poisoned him that night he disappeared, and he couldn't even begin to fathom how hurt Lena had felt when she'd found out what he'd done.

  Percy had lost a trusted friend that night, but Lena . . . Lena had lost a brother.

  "We have to fight him," Percy said, his voice softer than before. "There's no way around it."

  Magdalena swallowed. "I know," she said. "It's just . . . hard to believe that Luke would really kill me if it came down to it."

  "He's not the same person," Percy tried to reason. "He's changed. Kronos is changing him. You have to remember that."

  Magdalena looked at Percy. "I realize that," she said, her tone clipped. "You just don't get it. It'd be like if Tyson put a knife to your throat and threatened to cut off your head if you didn't do what he said. How would you feel?"

  Percy winced, knowing what she was referring to. Back in Miami, after they'd managed to send the Golden Fleece back to camp with Clarisse transporting it, they'd ran into Luke and his goons at the docks. Luke hadn't even hesitated to put his sword to Lena's neck and threaten her life if they didn't do what he said. Percy never thought about how that must've made Magdalena feel. He had been too focused on escaping Luke to even think about it.

  "I would feel like I'd failed," Percy admitted. The more they talked about it, the more he was beginning to understand why Lena felt the way she did. He'd never put himself in her perspective and think about how betrayed she must've been feeling.  He imagined how he'd feel if Tyson had betrayed him and threatened to kill him without thinking twice about it. He felt pained at the mere thought of it.

  "Exactly," Lena said, sounding more defeated than upset, now. Percy hated seeing her look so anguished— over Luke Castellan of all people. A murderous traitor who'd betrayed everyone who cared about him. It made him angry.

  Percy sighed, and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. Magdalena's eyes caught onto how it flopped uselessly over his forehead, and a flicker of a smile appeared on her face.

  "You need a haircut," she said, her eyes a little less sad than they were a few moments ago. That made Percy feel better— even if it was from the fact that he had chronically messy hair. At least he was able to cheer her up.

  "I've been a little preoccupied," Percy shrugged, an amused smile on his face. "Fighting Manticore's and saving goddesses. The usual, you know?"

  Magdalena's smile grew. She leaned over and pulled at the boy's hair, trying to flatten it, but that only made it more of a mess. She was failing terribly. Percy, totally blushing, swatted at her hands, complaining as she pulled at his dark locks, which made his scalp ache.

  "Stop it," he complained, lurching away from her to stay out of reach from her. "That hurts!"

  Lena giggled. "Aww, you have a sensitive scalp?"

  "No, but when you're pulling my hair out of it, it's not exactly pleasant," Percy protested, but his tone was completely harmless. He couldn't even stop the smile that was pulling at his lips. 

  Magdalena smirked at him. "Excuses."

  Percy glared at her, and reached over, tugging a strand of her hair. Lena yelped and slapped his hand away.

  "Hey!" She protested, rubbing the side of her head where he'd pulled at her hair.

  "Aww, sensitive scalp?" Percy said in false pity. He had a smug expression on his face that Lena wanted to smack off.

  The look Magdalena gave him could've sent a Manticore running the other way with its tail between its legs. "Asshole," she muttered, readjusting her body to face the steering wheel.

  Percy chuckled, also getting more comfortable in his seat. They fell into a comfortable silence as the sun continued to fall outside the car window. With the warm air flowing through the air conditioner, and the steady hum of the train as it rode west, Percy felt himself growing more and more exhausted.

"You should get some rest," Lena said, breaking the silence. "We won't be getting much of it after this."

Percy's lips pursed in thought. "I'm worried about what I'll dream about," he admitted quietly. After all the dreams he'd been having lately of Annabeth and Artemis, he was almost afraid of falling asleep. He was scared that he'll dream of something that he doesn't want to see if he does.

"Oh, don't fret over dreams," a voice said from the backseat.

Magdalena and Percy both turned. Oddly enough, neither of them were surprised to find the homeless guy from the industrial field sitting in the middle seat.

"If not for dreams," he continued, "I would barely caught up to date with information about the future. They're more efficient than Olympus tabloids." He cleared his throat and raised his hands in a dramatic gesture.

"Dreams like a podcast,
Downloading truth in my ears,
They tell me cool stuff."

"Apollo?" Magdalena guessed. She assumed nobody else could mess up a haiku that terribly.

He shushed her. "I'm incognito. I go by Fred."

"Fred," Percy repeated.

"Not my best work, but Zeus is strict on his rules. Keep to ourselves when a quest is underway. Even when there's something horribly wrong. But, nobody messes with my little sister. Nobody."

"You'll help us, then?" Percy asked.

"Hush. I have been. Have you cared to look outside recently?"

"The train. How fast are we going?"

Apollo laughed. "Fast enough. Bad news is, we don't have a lot of time. The sun is setting. But, at this pace, I believe you'll get through a healthy portion of the country."

"So, you know where Artemis is?" Percy asked.

His face went dark. "I know much. See much. But, this I do not know. She's . . . Hidden from my vision. I don't like it."

"What about Annabeth?" Lena asked.

He frowned. "That girl you lost? Oh, I don't know."

Magdalena did her best to keep her anger at bay. Gods struggled to take mortals seriously, even half-bloods. They lived such small lives in comparison to the gods.

"Do you know anything about the monster Artemis was hunting?" Percy asked. "What it might be?"

"No," Apollo said. "But, I know someone who might. If the monster is not found by the time you reach San Francisco; find Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. His memory is old and long, and he has a sharp eye. His gift of knowledge at times outdoes my Oracle."

"But it's your Oracle," Percy argued. "Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?"

Apollo sighed. "It's like asking an artist to explain his art, or having a poet explain is poem. It ruins its entire purpose. The meaning will only become clear through the search."

Magdalena stared at him. "So what you're saying is, you don't know."

Apollo looked to his watch. "Ah, my time is up! I must go. I fear I can't risk helping you guys again, but don't forget what I said! Get some rest! And when you succeed, I will be expecting a fresh haiku about your travels!"

Percy wanted to argue that he wasn't tired, and he'd never even thought about making a haiku once in his entire life, but Apollo's fingers snapped, and the next thing him and Magdalena knew, they were closing their eyes.

PERCY SHOT up from the backseat of the convertible as Magnus slapped his hand across his face.

  "Ow!"

"Finally," Magnus said with an eye roll. "You both sleep like the dead. It's morning and the train's stopped. Get Lena up and come on."

Percy blinked the sleep out of his eyes, trying to understand why both Lena and her brother always resort to violence when it comes to waking a person up.

  He shook it off, knowing it was probably just some genetic thing, and Percy turned to his right to see Magdalena sound asleep on his shoulder. Percy froze, his heart doing an entire gymnastics routine at the sight. Her face was pressed against his shoulder, making her cheeks squish together into a pout, which Percy thought was absolutely adorable. Then he scolded himself for thinking that.

Get a grip, dude.

But as he sat there, Percy realized that he wasn't in the backseat when he'd fallen asleep. Or Magdalena.

Apollo . . .

Percy mentally rolled his eyes, cursing the god for his tantalizing antics. He tried to gently shake Lena awake, but he quickly found that to be a lost cause. The girl hardly budged, except for making a sound of protest and leaning further into Percy's side. She looked so peaceful, he almost felt bad having to wake her up.

Percy really hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt. Especially since Magnus was standing right outside the car witnessing the entire thing.

"Lena, wake up," Percy urged, shaking her a little harder.

Nothing.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," Magnus said from outside the car. "Lena won't even wake up to a leaf-blower outside on our cabin porch."

Percy huffed. "Lena," he said hardly.

A grunt, and more weight getting pressed into his side. She tucked her neck into the fur of his coat.

"Lena."

"Dude, pinch her or something!"

"MAGDALENA!"

"What?!" Lena snapped, sitting bolt upright in her seat. Her eyes were glazed over from her slumber, and her hair was frizzy. She glared at Percy as if he'd just woken her up some from insane, life-altering dream of her winning the lottery.

Percy sighed, shaking his head. "Do you go into a coma when you're sleeping or something?"

"Maybe I just don't like when people scream at me when I'm asleep," Lena argued.

"I'm sorry, Princess, do you want a few more hours?" Magnus questioned from outside the car with his hands on his hips. "Or did you forget that you're on a life-threatening mission to save a goddess and our best friend!"

Magdalena turned her glare from Percy and instead directed it at Magnus. "Magnus, if you don't shut up, I swear to the gods— "

"If you both don't start moving in the next thirty seconds, we're leaving without you!" Thalia yelled from across the freight train. She seriously would never get used to the amount of bickering Magnus and Magdalena threw back and forth at each other. She'd dealt with it before she died, and now she was continuing to have to deal with it after she had come back to life.

Magnus, Percy, and Magdalena all corralled out of the convertible and made their way to the rest of the group, who were all observing the landscape around them. The sun was rising in a deep burgundy between two mountain peaks, all with dozens more snow mountains around that.

They made their way towards the outskirts of a small ski town deep in the mountains. There was a sign that said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was dry, but cold. There were thick layers of snow on the cabin roofs and in thick piles around the streets. Sky-scraping pines surrounded the valley, creating large shadows over the town, though the morning was bright and sunny.

  They walked until they reached the center of the village. They got a good view of everything from there: a school, tourist stores and cafes, all the cabins and a small convenience store.

  "Perfect," Thalia said as she scoped the scene. "No trains or buses. No taxis. No car rentals. We're stuck."

  "There's a coffee shop!" Grover said.

  "Yes," agreed Zoë. "Coffee is good."

  "And deserts," Grover sighed. "Wax paper."

  Thalia rolled her eyes. "Fine. Why don't you two go get us some food and coffee. The rest of us will see if the convenience store has anyone who can give us directions."

  They agreed to linking back up in front of the grocery store in ten minutes. Bianca didn't look too comfortable going with the other demigods, but she didn't argue.

  There wasn't much information from the store: they only learned that it wasn't snowy enough to ski, the store sold rubber rats at a dollar per rat, and there was practically no way out of the town unless they had their own mode of transportation.

  "You could get a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said, trying to be helpful. "The town's at the bottom of the mountains, but it'd take at least an hour to reach it. It'd be pricey, though. Over a few hundred dollars."

  All eyes turned to Magdalena, who'd been standing in the back, oblivious to the conversation.

  She looked up. "What?" She said defensively. "I don't carry cash like that."

  The cashier looked so depressed, Percy and Magnus each bought a rat. They went back into the frigid air outside and stood on the porch.

  "Great," Thalia huffed. "I'm gonna head further down the road, see if anyone else in the other shops has an idea on how we can get out of here."

  "But the clerk said— "

  "I know," she interrupted. "I'm going anyway."

  Percy let her go. He understood how it felt to be trapped and restless. Nearly every half-blood had some level of ADHD from their battle reflexes. They couldn't handle waiting around. He also had a good feeling Thalia wasn't over the conversation they'd had the night before.

  Magdalena smiled pitifully at the group. "I'll go with her," she said. "So she isn't alone."

  Magnus nodded. "Here," he handed her the pink rubber rat he'd bought from the store. "Take this for good luck."

  Magdalena eyed the rubber rat, then looked at her brother with the same expression. "No, thanks."

  "Seriously?" Magnus asked, the rat still extended toward her. "This rat has good fortune. I can tell."

  Magdalena raised an eyebrow. "It was a dollar."

  Magnus shrugged. "Price is just a number."

  Lena, now with a new expression on her face, grabbed the rat from Magnus's hand and smiled at him. "Okay," she said. "I'll take your word for it."

  Magnus smirked. "I'll bet that rat gets you a ride out of here."

  Lena nodded. "Okay."

  She turned and began to walk towards where Thalia had gone off to, and within about thirty seconds of her leaving the group, they watched her toss the rubber rat into the nearest trash can.

  Magnus's face dropped in pure betrayal. "Hey!"

  Magdalena turned around with a grin. "Thanks for the good luck!" She yelled as she continued walking away.

  Magnus's fists clenched. "Lena!" He snapped. "You are so going to regret that! Just you wait— !"

  Percy laughed, and he turned to see Bianca laughing too. It was nice to see her smiling every once in a while. Ever since she'd joined the Hunters, she'd gotten a lot more serious. But, even before the Hunters, she'd been pretty reserved. It was probably because Nico took up most of the amusement and childishness between the two of them, not leaving her much room to have any fun. With having to take care of him for her whole life, Bianca had never gotten the chance be a kid.

  WHEN MAGDALENA and Thalia came back from their search, they found Grover collapsed on the ground.

  "Hey!" Thalia said, slowing down in front of the group. "We just . . . What happened?"

  "No idea," Percy said. "He collapsed."

  "Uuuuuuhhhh," Grover groaned.

  "Well, get him up!" Lena said. Her and Thalia both had their weapons unsheathed. They were glancing around nervously, like they were being followed. "We need to get out of here."

  They got to the outskirts of town before the first of the skeleton warriors saw them. Two of them came out from the trees on either side of the street. They were wearing New Mexico State Police uniforms instead of the gray camouflage, but they still had the same foggy gray skin and murky eyes.

  They lifted their handguns. Naturally, Magnus put his shoulder in front of his sister's, like it was second nature to put himself in front of her in the face of danger.

  Thalia released Aegis, but the warriors weren't phased. Percy released Riptide, along with Magnus unsheathing his sword, although they both knew a sword wouldn't do much in a gunfight.

  Zoë and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca struggled with Grover still leaning on her for support.

  "Draw back," Thalia ordered.

  They tried, but two more warriors appeared behind them. They were surrounded on all sides.

  "It's close," Grover moaned.

  "It's here," Percy confirmed.

  "No," Grover argued. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

  Magdalena had no idea what he was talking about, but she was growing concerned over his condition. He was not fit to walk, let alone fight an army of skeletons.

  "We have to divide and conquer," Thalia said. "There's six of us, and four of them. Maybe they'll ignore Grover if they're distracted with us."

  "Agreed," Zoë said.

  "The Wild!" Grover cried.

  A warm wind whistled through the mountain, but Lena stayed focused on the warriors. She thought about Annabeth needing her help. She thought about Luke's betrayal. Rage began to fuel her system.

  And she charged.

  She disarmed the first skeleton to attack her, knocking the gun out of his hand just like how her adopted father had taught her to do. With him being a military general, she'd gotten her fair share of practice with guns.

  The skeleton chattered in shock, like he didn't expect a demigod to know how to disarm him that easily, but Lena took that as a chance to slice her sword through the warriors midsection, cutting him in half.

  The bones collapsed in a large pile in the street. But they almost immediately began to reassemble themselves. Another skeleton charged her, but she just sliced through him like she did with the first one, decapitating it.

  Magdalena thought everyone was in pretty good shape, but that's when she saw Percy get shot in the back.

  Magdalena's heart stopped. "Percy!"

  He fell face first into the road. But that's when Lena realized that Percy wasn't dead. The Nemean Lion's fur! His coat was bulletproof.

  Magnus and Lena fought side-by-side against three of the skeletons, while Thalia, Zoë, and Bianca fought the other three. Grover stood off to the side with his arms outstretched toward the trees, like he wanted to give them a big hug.

  A crashing sound came from the left side of the forest. It could've been reinforcements for the skeletons. Percy quickly jumped to his feet and charged the same skeleton he'd just sliced in half, who'd already reformed again.

  They would never be able to defeat them. Zoë and Bianca's arrows went straight through the gaps in their heads. One of the warriors charged at Bianca, and Lena was certain she was dead, but she unsheathed a hunting dagger and stabbed the skeleton in the throat. The entire skeleton bursted into flames, leaving nothing but a police badge and a pile of ashes in its wake.

  "How'd you just do that?" Zoë asked.

  "Uh," Bianca stammered. "Lucky stab?"

  "Well, keep doing it!"

  Bianca attempted to, but the last three skeletons were cautious now. They pressed the group back, keeping them within baton distance.

  "Ideas?" Percy asked.

  No one responded. The trees behind the skeletons were rustling, with branches snapping.

  "A gift," Grover murmured.

And then, with a loud roar, the largest hog Magdalena had even seen bursted through the treeline. It was over thirty feet tall, with a large red snout and tusks as big as kayaks. Its back was coated in brown hair, with wild, rage-filled eyes.

"REEEEEEEET!" It squawked, smashing its tusks into the three skeletons. The skeletons flew into the air over the forest, smashing into pieces against the side of the mountain.

Then the boar looked at them.

Thalia hefted her spear, but Grover cried, "Don't kill it!"

The pig huffed and scratched the ground, preparing to pounce.

"It's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoë said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "It can't be killed."

"That's the gift," Grover insisted. "A blessing from the Wild!"

"Nothing about that is a blessing," Magnus argued.

"REEEEET!"

The boar launched its tusks. Zoë and Bianca barely managed to dive out of the way. Percy slammed into Magdalena while Magnus dragged Grover so that he wouldn't get vaulted fifty feet into the air on the Boar Tusk Express.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" Percy said. "Scram!"

Everybody ran in different directions, creating momentary confusion for the boar.

"It's trying to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Obviously," Grover said. "It's wild!"

"So what makes it a blessing?" Bianca demanded.

She asked a fair question, but that seemed to offend the pig, and it pursued her. Bianca was quicker than she let on. She rolled away from the beast's attack and ended up behind it. Its tusks landed into the welcome sign for Cloudcroft.

  Magdalena's mind was racing, trying to think of the myth of the Erymanthian Boar. She was almost positive Hercules had destroyed it once, but all she knew was that it'd destroyed multiple Greek cities before he'd managed to kill it. She couldn't remember how he'd done it.

  "Don't stop moving!" Zoë ordered. Zoë ran one way, while Magnus ushered Bianca in the other when the boar tried to attack them. It turned on Grover once he started playing tunes on his reed pipes. But Lena, Thalia, and Percy won the lottery for worst luck. When the pig wheeled around towards them, Thalia mistakenly raised her shield. The sight of Medusa made the beast reet in outrage. It must've looked too similar to one of his relatives, because it ran full speed toward them.

  The only reason they were able to stay ahead of it was because they were going uphill, and were able to weave through the trees while the boar had to plow through them.

  When they reached the other side of the hill, there was an abandoned stretch of railroad tracks covered in snow.

  "Over here!" Percy grabbed each of the girls' arms and they sprinted down the tracks with the boar close behind them, making its way down the slick hillside. Its hooves were simply not cut out of these conditions, which was really the only blessing that had come out of this so-called gift.

  There was a tunnel up ahead. Beyond that, a deteriorated trestle bridge overtop a gorge. Percy had a crazy thought.

  "Follow me!"

  Both Thalia and Magdalena faltered, though Percy didn't have time to think about why. He continued to yank them forward, the two reluctantly following. Behind them, the ten-ton tank of a pig was tearing across the tracks to get to them.

  They ran through the tunnel and went out the other side.

  Magdalena stopped so abruptly it yanked Percy back a step. Her face was as pale as the snow beneath them.

  "No!" Thalia screamed.

  She looked just as white as Lena. They'd made it to the edge of the bridge. Underneath them, the hill dropped down seventy feet into a snow-covered gorge.

  The boar was seconds away from them.

  "We have to!" Percy said. "The bridge won't collapse. Most likely."

  Lena looked at Percy with pure fear in her eyes. And that's when Percy remembered how terrified of heights she was.

  "I can't!" Thalia cried. Percy was more confused on why Thalia was so afraid. She had a wild look in her eyes, like she'd just seen a ghost.

  The pig plowed into tunnel, barreling through at top speed.

  "Now!" Percy yelled.

  Thalia glanced down and swallowed. She was turning green instead of pale, now.

  Percy wasn't in the right headspace to understand why. The hog was about to reach them and turn them into missiles flying into the air with its tusks. Plan B. Percy tackled the two girls and sent them all sideways off the side of the bridge, down the mountain.

  They snowboarded down the mountain on Aegis, Lena inconveniently on top of Percy from the lack of space. She was too terrified to care, and Percy didn't have time to process anything that was happening. He had his arms locked around her as they tore down the mountain.

  The boar was unlucky. It wasn't unable to turn quick enough, so its entire body charged out onto the dinky bridge, which collapsed under its poundage. The boar dropped like a rock into the gorge and landed in a huge pile of snow with a POOOOF!

  The three demigods skidded to a stop. They were all out of breath. Magdalena had cuts littering her face, along with Percy. Thalia had pine needles sticking out of her hair. Beside them, the boar was squealing and stuck in the snow. It wasn't hurt, by the looks of it, but it certainly wasn't going anywhere.

  "Is it over?" Lena asked. Percy saw that her eyes were squeezed shut, and her arms had looped themselves around Percy's neck, her hands gripping the back of his jacket. She looked to be on the verge of tears.

  "Yeah . . . " Percy said quietly, patting her arm. "Yeah, it's over."

  Magdalena took a shaky breath, and moved off of Percy, her entire body shaking from their little joyride down the mountainside. She sat in between Thalia and Percy in silence.

  Percy turned to Thalia. "You're afraid of heights."

  Her eyes had returned to their usual angry look. "Don't be an idiot."

  "That's why you were so scared on Apollo's bus. Why didn't you say anything?"

  She inhaled sharply, plucking the pine needles from her head. "If you even utter a word about this, I swear— "

  "No," Percy said. "I wouldn't. It's just . . . The Lord of the Sky's daughter, scared of heights?"

  Thalia was about to pummel Percy into the snow when, above them, Grover called down, "Hellooooo?"

  "Down here!" Percy yelled.

  A couple minutes later, Magnus, Bianca, Zoë, and Grover grouped back up with them. They all watched as the boar writhed around in the snow.

  "A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, looking more irritated now.

  "Yes," Zoë said in agreement. "We need to use it."

  "Wait a second," Thalia said grumpily. She still looked like she'd lost a fight with a Christmas tree. "Enlighten me on how you're so positive this hog is a blessing."

  Grover glanced at the beast. "It's our way to get west. Don't you know how fast this boar can run?"

  "Fun," Percy said. "Like . . . Pig cowboys."

  Magnus chuckled. "Pigboys."

  Percy and Magnus fist-bumped.

  Grover nodded. "We need to ride it. I just . . . I wish I had longer to search this place. But it's gone now."

  "What's gone?" Percy asked.

  Grover ignored him. He made his way over to the pig and hopped on its back. The boar had already began to make some progress escaping the drift. There'd be no way to stop it once it broke free. Grover began to play a tune on his pipes and tossed an apple near the boar. The fruit lingered in front of the boar's nose, and the beast went berserk, struggling to grab it.

  "Automatic steering," Thalia murmured. "Cool."

  She stomped through the snow and mounted the beast behind Grover, leaving lots of room for the rest of them.

  "Hold on," Percy said. "What did Grover mean about a wild blessing?"

  "Did you not feel it, boy?" Zoë asked. "The presence was so powerful . . . I was sure I'd never sense it again."

  "What presence?" Magnus asked.

  Zoë stared at them like they were stupid. "The Lord of the Wild. For just a moment, when the boar arrived, I felt the presence of Pan."

  IF MAGDALENA wasn't able to use the stars to her advantage, they would've been lost hours ago.

  Even though it was daytime when they were traveling, both Magnus and Magdalena were able to navigate where to go just based off where the stars were positioned, even with the sunlight blocking them from view in the sky. She'd tell Grover which direction to tilt the apple that was dangling in front of the boar, and which path to take whenever they went through a crossroads.

  It was really impressive to Percy, and it seemed to be for everyone else. Zoë was pleasantly surprised at how well Lena was doing at directing them— not even hesitating when she told Grover where to go. She sounded so confident in her own ability, nobody questioned her. Magnus was just as impressive as well, though he mostly let Lena do the work. He trusted her word more than his own, even if he knew he was right.

  They traveled west until the sun began to dip underneath the horizon, which was quite a relief. Riding boar-back with no saddle to support your body was about as comfortable as riding a steel brush over gravel for an entire day.

  Magdalena had confirmed that they'd gotten close to seven hundred miles of distance from Cloudcroft in the time they'd been riding, which was crazy to think about, but also a good sign that they were getting closer to Annabeth and Artemis. The mountains had long since disappeared behind them, and now they were surrounded by miles of smooth, arid land. The father they traveled, the more desert-like the terrain got.

  Once they hit night fall, the boar stopped to get a drink at a muddy creek bed, ripping an entire cactus out of the ground for dinner. Thorns and all.

   "He won't go any further," Grover announced. "We should leave while he's distracted."

  That was all that needed be said for the group to hop off the wild boar and waddle away with aching legs before he noticed they were gone.

  They watched from a distance as the boar turned and ran back towards the east, where they'd originally traveled from, squealing and snorting as it disappeared.

  "Guess he's more of a mountain-guy," Magnus said.

  "Don't blame the thing," Thalia said. "Look."

  In front of them, there was a long two-land road that was piled up with thing. Across from it was a collection of old buildings too irrelevant to be any sort of town. There was a boarded-up shack, a taco shop that looked so old it might've been around when Zoë was born, and a white stucco post office with a crooked sign saying GILA CLAW, ARIZONA. Further past that were hill-like mounds that were filled with old cars, industrial machinery, and other rusty old scraps. It was a mechanical junkyard that stretched for miles.

  "I have a feeling we won't find any car that hasn't been used in the past twenty years here," Thalia said, looking at Grover. "I'm assuming you don't have another Blessing of the Wild at your disposal?"

  Grover looked uneasy as he sniffed around. He drew up a few acorns from his pocket and tossed them on the ground, and then proceeded to strike a note on his pipes. They moved around in the sand in a strange pattern that only made sense to Grover, because he suddenly looked worried.

  "That's us," he said. "Those seven nuts."

"Which one am I?" Percy asked.

"The little deformed one," Zoë suggested.

Magdalena and Magnus snickered. Percy shot them both a glare.

"Whatever."

"That pile to the left," Grover gestured to a little cluster of acorns. "That's some danger."

"A monster?" Thalia suggested.

Grover didn't respond, only looking more worried. "I haven't smelled one, which confuses me. These acorns don't lead me astray, though. So, I'm guessing our next obstacle is . . . "

He looked dead ahead toward the junk-mountains. And with the way the sun had gone down, the metal hills looked more like something from an alien planet than anything less.

ANNA'S NOTES!
Magnus and Lena are everything to me I fear

Unfortunately Percalina crumbs are all we have rn so we need to savor it🍽️