As the ball of light hurdled down towards us, I just sort of accepted the faith the god had given us. Instead of screaming for my life and waking up Skylar I just thought "Well, I had a good run. My only regret was not eating more free chocolate chip pancakes."

But as the light grew closer I began to grin as my skin tingled with a happy realization. That ball of light was my dad. The god of the sun, music, healing, prophesies, the sacred lyre and blah blah blah more stuff, was coming towards us on his sun chariot.

He landed near by the pond, sending a couple of scared ducks flying. The night sky no longer shines brightly as if it was day for the run god had landed. I looked around half expecting tourists to be freaking out about the end of the world but no, the Mist covered it up perfectly yet again.

I shook Skylar and she soon woke up pulling out her sword.

"Bah!" She bolted awake swinging her sword around. "Who's there?!"
I jolted backwards against the bench avoiding her sword.

"Calm down, Dead Sea! It's just me! We have company..."

She rubbed her eye and lowered her sword. As she sat up her shoulder brushed by my chest sending goosebumps down my arms. Strange...

"Who?" Her eyes were big and round, glistening, her head twitching in every direction. She foreshadowed an owl, turning, curious, and hungry for intelligence and advantages over her enemies.

"Ha! What's up dudes?" My father was never one of formal greeting. He wore flip flops, basketball shorts and a baseball jersey; an interesting choice for a god.

Skylar's eyes widened even more and she threw herself at the ground, praising my father. A couple walked by looking at us as if we had gone crazy. The idea of Skylar worshipping a hobo made my lips twitch into a smile.
I rolled my eyes. "You know you don't have to do that right Skylar?"

"Yeah," chimed in Apollo. "If anything you should be doing more. Or else I'll obliterate you and sprinkle your ashes over my ambrosia."

I shook my head. "As if. All of her stress would make her taste horrible. I swear she stresses over EVERYTHING. Just feed her to your horses."

"What did my horses ever do to you? As if I'd feed her to my pristine horses. She's not worth it am I right Aiden?"

I snickered. "Aw come on at least
Take her arm or something! Make it her mouth so she'll quit being so loud."

"She's so loud I can hear her from Mount Olympus! Hypnos called he can't sleep because of all the noise."

Skylar looked horrified and about to cry. I was probably a jerk but I started laughing. And when Apollo joined in, we probably only made her feel worse.
Her checks were flushed and she balled her hands up into fists and punched me.

"You're such a jerk. I can't believe I actually.... UGH!!"

She stormed off, no where in particular but she was soon gone.

"I...I should go check on her." I began to walk away but Apollo grabbed my shoulder tightly.

"Listen, son. I know what you're up to. I know the quest you're going on but do you really want to get involved in this? This is Skylar's fight after all."

"She's my best friend...of course I have to help her."

Apollo looked nervous but he nodded and lowered his hand. "Okay. That's alright I understand. But while you're on your way I... I need a little help with a bit of a situation."

I raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"Okay so um.... I may or may not have had a kid with this one chick a while back and his mom sort of got...iced. Ya know..."

He dragged his pointer finger across his throat.

I winced and nodded. "Yeah...yeah I know."

"Well this kid...he may or may not have been on his way to Camp when his saytr was eaten and he got stuck in a...let's say... a certain location that just happens to be very near by. And I, as a responsible and non reckless god—"

He glared at the sky.

"—would never come down to tell you exactly what to do but merely point you in the direction of where to go. Just to help this young demigod who may or may not have an important part to play  in the near by future and may or may not affect the entire balance of the universe as we know it if he is killed..ha ha... yeah...."

He awkwardly pulled on the loose collar of his tank top and fiddled his fingers, waiting for me to to respond.

At first I thought, of course we'll help that's what demigods do! We're heroes we save people. But a burning sensation in me began to grow, a sudden pain of anger hit my side. This...this demigod had a special part to play? Why him? Why not me? I had spent my entire life training, I had gone through hell my entire life never knowing what happiness is and here the gods decide that HE was more worthy than I was?

My hands curled into a fist and I shook with anger. I was suppose to just save this kid and let him have the glory?

Why would I want to do that? I could save Olympus... we didn't need him. Apollo saw my expression and his expression went serious. I'd never seen my dad serious before. I hope I never have to see it again.

"Listen to me, Aiden. That boy is very important. As your father I am asking you to be kind and save him but as a god I am telling you that if he is not saved the whole world could be put in grave danger. All the people you know and love gone forever, demigods as slaves to higher monstrous beings, the gods slowly being forgotten one by one until all the stories of Greek myths become just that... stories. Myths. Something everyone isn't sure happened anymore. Because there will be nothing of it left all of it forgotten or changed into vague memories that people argue are true or false. Find that boy. Put your ego aside Aiden. You're not always going to be the best."

The air was cold and thin and I stood silent. I didn't know what to say, I just stared at the floor. I didn't know what I wanted or needed to do. I looked around avoiding his gaze and finally mumbled.

"Your chariot is getting a parking ticket."

He looked up and shrieked. "Careful! You'll scratch her! My baby! She's my favorite!"

And on that sour note he left running to the cop that was putting a boot on the wheel of his chariot. That's what he got for landing on a loading zone.
I kicked a pinecone and walked away. Why would this kid mean so much? Greek mythology wouldn't fade away. So many demigods both Greek and Roman were out there to keep it alive.

He was just being an over dramatic...god. He was a god. I should've known better than to question a god, challenge their judgment. Gods, I sure was an idiot. But this idiot had a mission at hand. He wouldn't waste time on any demigods.
I had a quest to save Percy and I was going to complete it. Was I willing to risk the entire balance of the universe and existence of the gods in the process? Yeah. Yeah you could say that. Was I an idiot to do so? Yeah. You could say that too.

I pulled out my bow tracing its engraved letters, all the curves and edges it had. The low hum and subtle glow calmed me, made me less angry. Had that kid gotten a bow like this? No, he hadn't because I was the best. And I would prove that to my dad. My fingers curled around the grip of the bow tightly, my knuckles going white. I was worth it. I could do it.

I didn't notice when Skylar arrived huffing, mad at me, yelling at me for pulling such a prank on her. I turned to look at her and suddenly her eyes widen and the slight anger in her words faded.

"Aiden...? What's wrong? Why are you crying...? What happened?"
When she said my name, gentle, softly, with so much care, a sob that was stuck in my throat escaped. I tried to push it back but another one came after another. And before I knew it I was crying, knees on the ground, bow thrown back, tears burning down my cheeks.

She sounded so much like my mother. It hurt so badly and I didn't even know what hurt. The scolding, the emptiness or the thought someone was better than me?

"Aiden no...." She sat next to me hugging me tightly, stroking my hair. "Aiden come on what happened? You know you can tell me. We'll work something out. It'll get better. I'm sorry I was so mad I know it was just a joke but you know I don't like jokes like that. I just..."

Her voice broke when I hugged her back tightly. She gasped but didn't move. And in that moment I felt relieved to have her. Her hair smelled of the ocean, a sweet scent lacking bitterness or control. Her cheeks were tinted red from the cold, her gas station  jacket only zipped up half way.
And I don't know why or what happened in that moment. All I know is that it lasted forever. I almost didn't want to leave. But Percy was waiting.
The moment ended, and we brushed ourselves off and walked off in silence. She hoped to reach Percy, and I hoped I could save Olympus on my own.

                                   ***
We didn't walk for very long before we came to a cafe across the street from the casinos. We ordered a few pasties and some drinks and sat outside discussing what we would do next. My appetite came back when I smelled the chocolate fudge oozing out of my muffin. I swallowed two whole and drank half of my hot chocolate only to to begin to munch on a sandwich and fries. 

Skylar brought out a tourist map she had found while she had left Apollo and I alone. She had circles and diagrams scribbled everywhere as well as a couple doodles here and there. My mind basically left my body and floated around the butterscotch muffin she hadn't touched.

When she finally finished she asked me on my thoughts of the subject on hand.
"I think you should give me that muffin."

She blinked and her eyes twitched before slapping her forehead.

"Was that your ONLY thought this ENTIRE time?!"

"Well..."
I said as I reached for the muffin. I peeled the wrapper off and took a bite, the center still warm and gooey.

"I was also going to say maybe we should go to Camp Jupiter since we seem to be having a little bit of extra time on our hands. That way we can figure out a way to kill the giant."

She frowned. "Kill? We can't do that... we need a god to kill a giant. We need a plan to save Percy and escape without getting eaten or thrown into lava."

"Yeah but..." I licked butterscotch off my fingers. "Nothing's impossible. We could get him to fall into the lava and bam he'd be dead! Or at least hurt enough we could figure out another way to kill him. "

I shoved the rest of the muffin into my mouth before the butterscotch could drip out of the center. I licked my lip happily.

"Or something like that. Really it's up to you."

Skylar rolled her eyes and took out a napkin wiping butterscotch off my cheeks. I frowned and moved her hand away.
"Im not a baby, Dead Sea!"

"You sure eat like one."

"At least I'm not as tall as one."

"You're right, you're shorter."

"I hate you."

"I hate you more."

"You love me."

"You love me more."

"Kiss me."

"What?"

"What?"

I blinked my cheeks growing red, what in the world had I just said?! Skylar was staring at me funny waiting for a valid response from me. I laughed nervously.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding it was just a joke... ahahaha....yeah...."

Skylar smiled and laughed. "Good one Sunflower. Im going to go get more muffins since you ate mine. Be right back."

She got up and looked at the line and sighed. "I think by the time I finish the line, the giant  will have died of old age."

"Giants are immortal."

"Exactly. Wouldn't be surprised if the gods died too."

She chuckled again and ran off to end of the line.

"Bring me back another hot chocolate!" I called out after her. My voice lowered to a self mutter. "And a reason to die of embarrassment..."

I banged my head against the table violently when I heard laughter behind me. I turned, frowning, and saw an amber haired lady staring at me, a tall man with smooth black hair standing behind her emotionless. He wore shades and a tuxedo, a wire poking out of his ear. He reminded me of the Terminator but without the metal body parts.

The lady was fairly tall, with wavy hair, sand colored skin and sparking eyes. She giggled again, her smile white and radiant, teeth perfectly straight behind her full red lips.

"Well aren't you cute?" Her voice was high pitched, but smooth as if she was singing.

"Me...?" I almost had no courage to speak to her. She was just so beautiful and stunning and I was there with butterscotch and bruises on my face.

"Yes, you. You're so cute around Skylar."

I blinked. "How did you...?"

She rolled her glittering Barbie eyes.

"Honey don't tell me you don't recognize me. I'm your Auntie! I'm Zeus's son's half brother's wife!"

"Huh....."

"I'm Aphrodite, the goddess of love! And I'm here to help you win Skylar the girl of your dreams!"