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Leda crinkled her nose in disgust as Kristin asked her about duck face pictures. "Hell no. My mom's not Aphrodite, remember? I don't do dumb shit like that." She liked taking the occasional selfie with her camera, sure, but it was more of a hipster thing than anything else. Duck faces didn't really fall into her carefully crafted aesthetic. Of course, she could imagine Kristin making duck faces with Zeke. The two of them were so annoying, she had to wonder why Apollo, a god of prophecy, hadn't foreseen that this trio might not work out. Of course, she figured this might just be his source of godly entertainment. He probably was sadistic.

"Let's get a lift from Argus to Manhattan and then steal something flashy," Leda suggested. Sure, they could have gone with one of the camp cars but she couldn't help but imagine them taking a mustang or something for a spin. It would be so much cool to do some real grand theft auto. And if they completely destroyed a stolen car, they wouldn't need to awkwardly tell the camp staff about why the car never came back. Sure, she figured they wouldn't care but if pressed, she might resort to that explanation as to what thievery was more fun.

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"Really Kristin? Miss Perfect is okay with stealing a car? Well, the world really has turned upside down hasn't it?" He shifted his pack, getting used to the weight of carrying something again. "And I think flashy is a bad idea. We don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves. Let's just worry about getting to Manhattan first." Ezekiel started to walk forward, heading to the Big House so they could wrangle up Argus and get the heck out of dodge. Ezekiel was excited to leave camp, if not a bit nervous. He had never been to Texas before and he had never been on a quest for his father directly before. There was a lot of weight on his shoulders.
"So what kind of music do you two listen too? It's going to be a long drive, hopefully we have similar tastes."

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Kristin snickered slightly towards Leda and shook her head slightly, she was pretty sure that Leda would do one at some point or something along their little quest of theirs. "What? I cant have a little fun?" Kristin asked shaking her head slightly towards Zeke, she didn't think that she had a stick up her ass the whole entire time either. Leda followed shortly behind Zeke making sure that she had all of her supplies with her now as well and made her way towards the Big House that was at the very center of camp. She noticed Argus was there already writing something down. "Rock or classical music works for me." She answered Zeke.

"Hey Argus, mind taking us to Manhattan for our quest?" Kristin asked, as Argus turned to look at the three of them, with all of his eyes staring at them, before nodding. He was always very silent and didn't talk at all, supposedly he even had an eye on his tongue to the man then waved the three of them to follow him. As he made it to one of the cars that were used for camp to transport campers to wherever they needed to go to usually to New York.

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"Please, like mortals could pay attention to something that isn't an iPhone these days," Leda scoffed, though she did snicker at Zeke's teasing of Kristin. She didn't care for the child of Apollo too much, but she had to agree with him - Kristin's perfection was insufferable at times. "Anything from the 80's - as long as it isn't country," she then added. Leda adored listening to music and truthfully, she could lose herself in just about any song that was playing, but the sweet melodies of the 80's spoke to her soul. She had a soft spot for the 60's and 70's as well - and on the days when she felt a little less colorful than normal, the rock music of the 90's filled the hole inside of her heart.

She climbed into the shotgun seat of the car, not really wanting to sit next to either Zeke or Kristin - though she knew it would have to happen eventually, at least she could prolong it for now. "Hey Argus, luv, what sort of music do you listen to?" she asked him. Leda doubted that he would answer her, but she couldn't help but poke fun at the silent man with an eye on his tongue, a little bit of a smirk coloring her face.

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Ezekiel smirked at Kristen before following along to Argus and the car. Their music tastes weren't awful either, perhaps this wouldn't be so bad. Convientely, Leda slipped into the shotgun position, leaving Ezekiel stuck in the back with Kristen. He frowned a bit but got into the backseat without another word. Positivity Zeke, he instructed himself. Well, we would see how well the self motivation worked on a journey stuck with two teenage girls.
Leda asked Argus what kind of music he liked and he rose at eyebrow at Leda in silent question. Ezekiel was certain he had never heard the man speak a day in his whole time being at camp. Could be rather entertaining in a way and make the trip less boring if the man did decide to talk. He pictured them all rocking out to an 80s classic, complete with some stellar air guitar. He shook his head, ya right.

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Argus looked at Leda for a moment, though he never spoke due to having so many eyes, one of them being on his tongue he would reach into the glove compartment, and pulled out a CD a song started to play. Kristin looked at Zeke as soon as she got into the van, she knew the song pretty well actually having it on her Ipod as well, which was surprising to her as well. "Not bad of a song." Kristin said as she looked out the window, looking over at Zeke for a moment, and then over at Leda as well the two of them really did annoy her quiet a bit and she didn't really want to be on a quest with them, they both would drive her pretty crazy at some point to.

But it was to late now, as Kristin leaned back and quietly hummed to the song as well, a couple minutes later they were now in the city, as Argus drove over and dropped them off at the closest Grey Hound bus station. "Thank you Argus." Kristin said as she quickly climbed out of the van, grabbing her backpack as well slinging it over her back. She reached into her pocket and handed Argus a drachma and gave him a smile it was the least she could do for him giving them a ride into the city. "I'm going to go and get the tickets." Kristin said as she started to head into the building itself.

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Leda tilted her head slightly, listening to the song Argus was playing. It wasn't something she wanted to listen to again, but it didn't make her ears bleed - so that was saying something. "You don't have totally rotten taste," she complimented the security head. When Argus dropped them off at the bus station, her dreams of stealing a car to take to Texas were dashed. It was probably for the best though that they took a bus - they'd be less likely to kill each other in front of mortals. With as much as she hated Zeke and Kristin, at least they weren't all immortal. There was a reason that Olympus was so dysfunctional after all. "Alright, wise girl," she said, as Kristin went inside to get the tickets, leaving Leda alone with Zeke.

They only had five days to do this - to find Calliope, the missing muse, and rescue her from Marsyas. "So Marsyas... What do you know about him?" Leda asked Zeke expectantly. He had had a run in with Apollo in the past at some competition, so she figured that Apollo's son would probably remember more details on the myth. They were lucky that their quest had an arbitrary deadline - if they didn't get Calliope back in time for Apollo's competition with Hermes, the world wasn't going to end. She shifted slightly, tugging on the straps of her backpack. Odds were they wouldn't be able to take the bus the entire way to Houston. Something always went wrong.

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Ezekiel watched Kristen walk away to secure them some bus tickets. Hopefully they wouldn't have to wait long at the bus station. Waiting was always the annoying part, it left too much time to overthink things. He looked around the bus station, trying to find vending machines. It wasn't exactly a short trip to Texas and snacks would be needed. Leda spoke to him, asking about more details on Marsyas which brought him back from his hunt for vending machines. Ezekiel shut his eyes and sighed a little. He hated telling stories about the gods. They weren't exactly nice people. They were extremely vain and only cared for themselves and when there was a competition involved, it never ended well and the competition between his father Apollo and Marsyas was no exception.
"Ah good ol' Marsy and Pops had a bit of a music competition back in the day that was judged by the Muses. Naturally, Apollo won and the terms of the competition was the victor was allowed to do whatever they pleased to the loser. So, in typical god like fashion, Apollo skinned the saytar Marsyas and turned his pelt into a wine sack. Although another legend says Apollo pinned it to a tree. There's speculation that Athena cursed the flute Marsyas used in the competition as well." Ezekiel looked back at Leda when he was done his tale. "Fun right? You can always count on the gods for interesting bedtime stories," Ezekiel sneered.

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Kristin made her way into the station and approached the ticket counter, where she paid for their three tickets and started to look around the area for a moment. She spotted two vending machines, one with snacks and the other with soda, using her money Kristin said grabbing three bags of doritos and three bottles of coke. She looked down at the tickets seeing that their bus would leave in about fifteen minutes, she made her way back out towards where Leda and Zeke were throwing them their food and drinks. She couldn't help but overhear what Zeke mentioned what he knew about Marsyas.

"Yeah kind of sounds like something your dad would actually do." Kristin said as she looked over to where their bus would leave. "Also here's your guys tickets, the bus leaves in about fifteen minutes." She said, as Kristin handed out their tickets to the two of them, and stopped when she started to get the feeling that they were being watched. She played with her bracelet ever so slightly, before heading over to where they would get on their bus.

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"Gives you something to think about," Leda agreed. She wasn't going to openly disparage the gods. She believed in worshipping them all, preventing them from fading, and very much did not want to aggravate any of them into cursing her. Sure, some heroes had managed to get by even with having some gods hating them, but she just didn't want to try her luck that way. Her own opinion about how disgusting it was for Apollo to decide the appropriate punishment for losing a contest was to skin someone would just have to be private.

She then glanced up just in time, catching her coke and bag of doritos. In another seamless move, Leda opened up her bag and put them away inside. She wasn't going to start eating just yet. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up slightly and she couldn't help but feel they were being watched by a monster. Did monsters camp out at Greyhound Stations, waiting for Argus to drop off the next batch of demigods for them to eat? She took her ticket, her necklace glowing faintly red to mirror her apprehension. With her free hand, she grasped the pendant, ready to tug down and transform the necklace into her sword, Ultraviolet, at a moment's notice. "We're being watched," she murmured to her companions as she followed Kristin. "Going onto the bus might be an excellent way to be trapped."

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Ezekiel caught the bag of chips and pop gratefully. He opened the bag and ate a few of the delicious chips before he put them away so he could hold the ticket Kristen gave them. Fifteen minutes, well it was ten minutes but it was better than nothing. He looked over at Leda when she mentioned they were being watched and then saw her necklace start to glow. "Small confined space bad yes but so is being surrounded by mortals in a bus station." Ezekiel looked around them, wondering if they should end it now or try and avoid this. They did only have fifteen minutes before they needed to be on that bus.
He watched Kristen walk off towards the bus and looked around them. They needed to lure the monster away from the public, that was their first problem. Ezekiel looked up at the sun, weighing their options of creating a distraction or just the three of them walking to the back side of the building or something. There could be other people on the other buses so they may easily be seen if they start fighting someone on the other side of the bus.

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"Yeah i'm getting the feeling that we are being watched as well.." Kristin said towards Leda as she played with her bracelet some more, as she started to look around. She then noticed a man wearing a rather nice black business suit with slightly greying hair and a pair of round shaped glasses, staring at her for a moment and when she blinked the man was gone. The bus wasn't a good idea to use either as she looked between Leda and Zeke. "There's a guy in a business suit staring at the two of us." Kristin pointed out while looking at the two of them, she started to think of an idea.

"If you two can cause a little bit of a light show and blind him, we could maybe escape onto the bus when it's our time." Kristin suggested, maybe they would be able to find a way to escape long enough to blind the monster that they was stalking them. She really did hate the feeling being watched always made her really paranoid whenever she was off camp grounds as well.

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"They'll probably flee? The Mist'll tell them that OJ Simpson is going on a rampage or something," Leda whispered to Zeke. She didn't want to endanger mortal lives, but all of the mortals on the bus with them would be endangered too if they let the monster follow them onboard. It was one thing that would have been safer about just stealing a flashy car - no civilians would be risking their lives just by being unlucky enough to also need to take a bus south. It wasn't much longer until their bus was going to be pulling away and she doubted they'd be lucky enough for another bus to Houston to leave soon after. They needed to act and fast.

"Blinding light, coming up," Leda said, concentrating. Her hands began to glow all of the colors of a rainbow and she thrusted them forward, blasting two beams of light at the monster - the businessman. She found it a bit funny that monsters never appeared as homeless ramblers, they seemed to always pick the disguise of some important rich person. There was a lesson there, she felt. Her blast hit the monster in the chest and she tried against for the eyes, only to miss. It was a little bit dangerous, firing off blasts of light in this crowd. Her blasts would be enough to blind the monster if they hit him in the eyes, but she didn't want to think about the sort of damage they could also do to a mortal.

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Ezekiel smirked from Leda's words. He had to admit, that would have been rather entertaining but it probably wouldn't end well for the horde of people that would go after the fake OJ Simpson. Bringing out their weapons in such a public place would be a bad idea as well so physical ability it was. He watched Leda follow Kristin's instructions and fire off some of her rainbow light towards the business man monster. The irony was not lost on Ezekiel. Leda's rainbow light was beautiful but it was potentially deadly as well. Sometimes the most beautiful things were the most deadly.
After Leda hit the monster in the chest, Ezekiel twisted his hand, calling the sunlight to his fingers in order to blind the monster. The nice thing about working with sunlight was it was hot too. A few burns over the monster's face would be an excellent remodel Ezekiel thought. This is for you dad, so how about a little extra boost for your favourite? I'll throw in a genuine Texan steak for you when we get to Texas, Ezekiel added in, in silent prayer to his father. As much as he disliked the whole worship and sacrifice alter thing, he was superstitious.
He managed to concentrate the sun enough to do some damage but not to the intended target, which of course he was never going to hear the end of that. Around him a few civilians started to look rather red, one or two even blistering from the damage. "Oh fuck off," Ezekiel cursed. He felt more like the titan Helios and his daughter Circe than Apollo's son at the moment. Ezekiel redoubled his efforts and focused on the monster's eyes again. This time he hit the intended target and disorientated it a bit. "Now would be a good time for running and confusing it," he decided. He looked over at the civilians he had done damage to, aching to help them, especially since it was his fault but time wasn't on his side.

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As Leda and Zeke attacked the man, he started to shift and started to get onto all fours and his appearance turned into a Manticore, the face looked almost humanoid, with the upper body of a lion, and the lower half with a scorpion like tail at the very end of it. "Yeah now would be a really good time to get onto the bus!" Kristin said loudly as the people started to board onto the bus. While it was disoriented the manticore started to swing it's tail around blindly, and spikes started to shoot out, two spikes managed to hit Kristin in the back.

Zeke got hit in the shoulder, Leda luckily lucked out and only received a graze on her cheek from one of the spikes. Kristin groaned loudly as she started to stumble her way onto the bus, making her way towards the very back of the bus, the poison wasn't fatal but it caused a whole lot of pain to anyone who was affected by it. Kristin reached with her free hand, and quickly pulled the two spikes out of her back. She started to dig into her pocket and pulled out her small bottle of nectar she had on her and took a drink from it.

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Leda winced sympathetically as some of Zeke's light ended up giving some nasty sunburns to the civilians standing by. She prayed to the gods that a medical team would be able to go on the scene for them soon, especially since the trio couldn't just give out ambrosia and nectar to the mortals to heal them. They also didn't have the time to stop for Zeke to use some of his Apollo magic. The mist then started to clear around the monster, revealing that it hadn't been a businessman after all - her memory short circuited for a moment as she tried to identify the monster they were fighting. If she could just remember what it was, then she'd have a better idea of what to do... Why reinvent the wheel after all if some other hero found an easy solution? It was probably Heracles. It was almost always Heracles.

"Manticore!" Leda blurted. All she could remember about it was that its spikes were poisonous. They weren't a complete death sentence however. A second later the manticore grazed her and she cursed in Ancient Greek under her breath, especially seeing that it had sent spikes into Kristin and Zeke. She tugged down on her pendant, breaking the necklace chain, as it then morphed into her glowing sword, Ultraviolet. She dashed in as fast as she could and swung her sword, trying to lop off the Manticore's head, but she only managed to nick its neck. "Its skin is too thick!"

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Ezekiel's eyes widened as the mist cloaking the businessman faded and a Manticore stood looking back at them. Absolutely perfect. For once couldn't it be simple? Like a unicorn or some shit. He raised his hand again to try and blind it but the Manticore swung around, releasing spike at them. Leda was missed but Kristen was hit twice and when Ezekiel stepped forward he was hit in the shoulder. He cursed, reaching for his shoulder as the world seemed to temporary fade and narrow around him when he was hit with an unbelievable amount of pain. He stumbled forward again, trying to find Kristen when he heard Leda swing out Ultraviolet and try to hit the Manticore. Ezekiel knew it wasn't going to work before Leda informed them but other than the creature's tough hide and painful spikes, there wasn't much else Ezekiel knew about Manticores.
Ezekiel turned his head back around to watch the Manticore and Leda. He wasn't entirely sure getting on the bus with mortals was a wise idea unless Manticore's were slow and the bus driver was fine with speeding. "Is it guarding itself somewhere? Most creatures have a soft spot," Ezekiel said, fighting to stay conscious because of the pain. He shoulder off his bag as carefully as he could but found he couldn't actually pull the spike out of the shoulder by himself. If he couldn't get the spike out it would continue to inject poison into him and the nectar or any other healing remedy wouldn't be able to do a thing for him.

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The manticore was still dazed from Zeke's attack, however it managed to get a better look now seeing the closest demigod was Leda and quickly tried to swipe at her with it's massive claws. Though it missed, but its claw managed to tear at Leda's shirt pretty easily, and it shot out more spikes from it's massive tail. Luckily no one got hit by any of the spikes, Kristin slowly got back up to her feet a little bit, groaning loudly in pain. Kristin pulled her bracelet off which turned into her spear and ran forward, despite her being in a lot of pain at the moment and felt like she was on the verge of passing out.

Kristin managed to hit it on the shoulder cutting the hide slightly, looking over at Leda and Zeke for a moment. "Either aim for it's tail or stomach that should take it down." Kristin said to them, as the manticore swiped at Kristin sending her down onto the ground, and slowly got back up to her feet again. The crowd in the bus depot started to scatter seeing three kids holding weapons, they were scared now at this point as well.

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Leda assumed that Kristin had supplied the correct answer to Zeke's question about the weak spots on the manticore - she was the daughter of Athena after all. Letting her impulsiveness rule, Leda looked for an opening on the manticore, figuring she would go after the stomach. She didn't want to even try getting near the tail. Even with her speed, the manticore was quick. It was flicking its stingers faster than bullets left the chamber of a gun. The manticore seemed to be focused on Kristin for the moment, so she took her chance.

Leda rushed in with her sword, jabbing it forward in an attempt to spear the manticore like a kebab. She missed though, the beast moving out of the way just in time. And before even the speedster had a chance to react, the monster clawed her in the stomach, leaving deep, bloody gashes. She didn't feel the chilly hot presence of poison in her system - it must have only been in the tail. At any rate though, it was pure adrenaline that was keeping her on her feet. She was clutching her wound with her free hand, having changed her grip on her sword to just be one handed. It wasn't as secure, but she needed to do something about the bleeding. She didn't even know what her blood type was.

"Agh!!!" Leda yelled, somehow heroically, as she slashed upwards at the manticore's stomach again. To her surprise, her aim was true and the monster burst into dust, crumbling away before her eyes. "....I did it! I did it?" she mumbled, a bit woozy from the blood loss.

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Ezekiel finally managed to yank the stinger from his shoulder but didn't drop it yet. He pulled out some nectar from his bag and took a swig before he stashed the bottle back into his pack and turned to face the monster. Kristin managed to make it back to them and provide Leda with a bit of a distraction but the Manticore was still able to do some damage. He watched the blood drip from Leda, already going into his more natural mode of healing. He tossed the spike into his bag as well, putting it in an area that would allow it to not do damage while he shuffled around in there. As he swung his pack back on and heard Leda's strangled battled cry before she managed to take the Manticore down and it disintegrated.
Ezekiel turned his focus back to Leda. "Kristin, are you good?" he asked as he walked over to Leda. "I think we should do this outside of the bus so people aren't staring, I'll try and make this quick." But with his track record, who the hell knew what would happen when Ezekiel tried to heal Leda. He placed his hands over her wound, not even bothering to wait for the consent of his patient. Let her freak out at him later for touching her stomach. His hands started to glow a brilliant yellow colour, almost like soft morning sunshine as his healing factor kicked in and stitched her up. He gave a sigh of relief once her wound was healed inside and out before he handed her a bottle of nectar, just encase. He wanted to save the bit of ambrosia he had for something more damaging, should it occur.