Niah nodded and concentrated controlling the armor to start flying toward Mount Rushmore. "I vote we eat there. I'm sure we can get there quickly this way. I agree that it is probably better to just get there. If we get there fast enough it'll be the middle of the night and probably closed, which means fewer mortals to worry about."

After that Niah faced the direction they were heading to keep an eye on the sky. Hoping there weren't going to be any Venti or other flying monsters that made the rest of the trip annoying. She did want to eat before they headed into the Mountain she had no desire to go into a dragon's lair without food in her belly. If it was after hours they could probably just sneak into a food shack on site. They could leave one of the necklaces they found or something as payment, but it would keep them from being questioned.

---

---

---

---

"Then lets eat when we get there, then we can go ahead and find a way to get into the mountain from there." Madalyne said as she leaned back and looked down at the ground as it started to get smaller as they got higher and higher now. She tucked a stray strand of hair out of her face, looking over at Niah and Nancy smiling at the two of them, she was glad to be on this ques with them. "I could try and conjure up a camera for you if you'd like." Madalyne said looking over at her friend and smiled at her, it would be really nice to have some kind of memory of the three of them while on the last day of their quest.

It took a few more hours luckily there weren't any monsters that tried to destroy their little makeshift armor hot air balloon which Madalyne was grateful for. She could see a few shops there as she saw the mountain for the first time, and it looked like it had been destroyed and the area around the mountain looked like it was destroyed and on fire as well, and there was what looked like some dragon shit on one of the president's faces as well. "It looks like the dragon had a lot of fun." Madalyne pointed out, she wasn't an American at all she had been born and raised in the UK with her parents she wasn't really to phased by the sight of it however.

---

---

"Oooh, if we get there in the middle of the night, you know what would be totally rad? Putting graffiti on Washington's head," Nancy proposed, cackling slightly. She didn't know the context surrounding Mount Rushmore. Her amusement with the idea was entirely based as a rebellion against the patriarchy, unaware of the racist history surrounding the carved faces of United States presidents. Had she known, she would have suggested something a little more dramatic - like getting Greek Fire and using it to blast the entire thing to rubble. Maybe they could call in some friendly deity to do a lightning strike as a favor.

A few hours later when they arrived, Nancy had to wonder for a second whether one of the gods had heard her thoughts, decided they were amusing, and set things up so that way the dragon would totally trash the place. "How much do you wanna bet the mortals will think this was just some grody gas explosion?" Nancy commented, snickering slightly. It was awesome. There was so much unrestrained chaos here. The fires were a nice touch, as was the poop on one of the faces. "Oh bonus, if we get lucky, a news crew will film us and we'll become the terrorists who blew this place up."

Niah was glad they didn't have to worry about monsters as they flew from Fargo to Mount Rushmore. And she was very hungry by the time she spotted the mountain. She wasn't American so she hadn't ever been like 'gotta go to Mount Rushmore' and seeing it apparently defaced by the dragon only elicited a snort from her.

Niah looked around trying to find a good place to land. She posted an amphitheater looking thing. She nodded to herself and shifted slightly. Her legs were a bit numb. She focused on bringing them down though. Thankfully there weren't any people. She sighed released as all the armor touched down and she didn't have to concentrate on it anymore.

"I'm starving and want a nap." She said and flopped slightly over the edge of the boat onto the blown up part of the boat. Niah let out a long sigh. She wiggled her feet to get the blood flowing back into them.

---

---

---

---

Madalyne watched for a moment seeing a bit of fire coming out of one of the president's noses, which had a little bit of dragon poop on it as well which caused another blaze of fire coming out. Madalyne looked over at Nancy and laughed slightly and shook her head slightly at the comment about them being blamed for being potential terrorists. "Yeah I don't think that would turn out to well for the three of us." Madalyne said with a slight laugh as soon as their makeshift hot air balloon landed Madalyne climbed out of it and offered her hand to help Niah back up to her feet.

"I think theres a place to get food over there." Madalyne said gesturing over towards the café that wasn't to far, as far as she could tell there weren't any people around in the area at all either. "And by the looks of it the dragon has been having a little to much fun defacing the mountains, and people probably fled the area to maybe." Madalyne said as she started to make her way over towards the café, as she entered it she noticed that there was a lot of food that was just left there as well.

---

---

Nancy applauded as Niah skillfully landed their flying raft. She once had heard that any landing you could walk away from was a good landing, but this one was masterful in her opinion. Not very many demigods could have boasted such a feat, controlling armor and using it to fly from Fargo to Mount Rushmore without incident. "That was so very!" Nancy praised. "If New Rome ever gets an air force, I definitely think you ought to be the one in charge of it. I wonder if you could fly to space with this thing... That'd be so rad. Can you imagine being the first girl on the moon?" Though, she had to imagine the title of first goddess had to have gone to Diana.

She got out of the raft and did a quick stretch, having been sitting in the raft for a little while and she was feeling slightly stiff from it. The café Madalyne had pointed out wasn't too far away and tons of the food had been abandoned. Nancy was a little bit surprised more tourists fleeing the scene hadn't tried to bring their food along with them, but she wasn't complaining. She picked up an abandoned basket of food and popped a piece into her mouth, before holding it out to Niah and Madalyne. "It's free. Want some?"

Niah took Mads offered a hand to get out of the makeshift flight-craft. With both her feet on solid ground again Niah felt better. She did a couple of toe touches and reached up stretching for the sky. "Next time is should be lawn chairs or something." She joked. Her stomach grumbled. Nancy's offer of the abandoned food was fine with Niah. She grabbed a forgotten basket of fries. She didn't dare try for the chicken, not certain how long it had been sitting unattended.

"I wonder what the mortals are seeing the dragon as? The mist has got to be working overtime to keep them in the dark about it, but they still fled for safety." Her little bit of experimenting with the mist had taught her the basics, but she didn't know if there was a way to see what the mortals were seeing. Whatever it was it must have been terrifying. She considered the possibilities and all she could think of was some giant bird. Humans didn't have a lot of natural predators, not to mention flying ones. Maybe everyone thought pterodactyls had come back from extinction.

Niah munched on her food and assessed what they would need to do. She'd probably have to put on the armor, or use it in another creative way to get them up into the air. She might stand an actual chance against a dragon as a small flying thing. Like an obnoxious fly. If Mads and Nancy created a distraction maybe she could just get the gem and they could get out of there without any fighting.

---

---

---

---

Madalyne looked at all of the abandoned food that was there, she was surprised that there was a lot as well, some of the food was already half eaten while some of the others werent eaten at all. "I wouldnt mind getting a bite." Madalyne said as she snatched a fry out of the basket that Nancy had offered her. She started to look around for a moment finding a drink station and quickly started to fill it up with coke, halfway before adding the other half with sprite and drank it.

"I'd probably assume a gas leak of some kind, I think thats the usual excuse that most people would say." Madalyne said giving a slight shrug as she found an uneaten burger and quickly started to eat it, closing her eyes and enjoyed it as she scanned Mount Rushmore in the distance. "We might need climbing gear or something maybe?" She asked looking at Niah and Nancy.

---

---

Nancy nodded in agreement, finishing the abandoned food she had found. Unlike her companions, she wasn't picky when it came to eating cold chicken. She didn't really care how long it had been abandoned for - as long as there weren't flies crawling around in it, it was all good in her book. Besides, they ate way too much healthy food at Camp Jupiter. The coffee shop in New Rome was her main outlet for her cravings. It wasn't often she got genuine tourist trap chicken strips and fries. It tasted practically like fresh ambrosia. "I'd suggest we could take the Niah Express again, but I'm gonna doubt you're up for that, doll," Nancy said.

She tossed her trash in the waste can, before looking around at the abandoned equipment the mortals had left behind. Most of it was fairly run of the mill stuff - bags of purchases from a shop, the occasional stuffed animal, a pair of cheap sunglasses. In the back of the restaurant though, she hit the jackpot. Nancy smirked, producing three packs of climbing gear. She slung one over her shoulder, carrying the other two in her arms out. "Did I mention how awesome I am?" she asked her companions. She had the ego of the sun god.

Niah finished her food. It was good to have something in her belly. It had been much too long since they had gotten food. She didn't talk much while eating, but once she was finished. She got a fresh cup and filled it with water and chugged the water quickly. Then she spoke.

"I'd be worried about being spotted if we fly up this way." She nudged the collection of armor that she supposed she should put on. While Nancy wandered off she did just that. Of course, part of her worried the armor was cursed still. It was probably just waiting for the right activation. Hopefully, that activation wasn't a dragon's waiting jaw.

When Nancy returned with the climbing gear Niah wasn't certain if she was more excited about that then using the armor to fly. Well at least if she fell off the cliff face she could use the armor to catch herself. She shrugged hoping that she could get the climbing harness over the armor.

---

---

---

---

As Madalyne finished up eating the fries on the table she looked over at Niah and Nancy. "So, why do you Americans call chips french fries anyway?" She asked Nancy, it was always something that had confused her and why Americans called football soccer as well and football in the US was something else completely different. She walked over towards the trashcan and dropped her empty container of food into it, wiping her hands clean with some unused napkins that she had found on a nearby table as well. Madalyne watched Nancy walking over towards the back of the restaurant as she looked at Niah.

A few seconds later Nancy came out with a pack of climbing gear and smiled, though she had never done any kind of mountain climbing before it always did seem like it was a lot of fun. "Thats perfect." Madalyne said smiling as she looked at Niah for a moment and thought. "I think Niah should be the first to start the climb, we attach rope to each other, if one of us slips we wouldnt end up falling maybe?" She asked looking at her two friends.

---

---

"Only a shrug? No standing ovation? Tough crowd," Nancy commented, shaking her head slightly. Niah's non-reaction hadn't really been what she was looking for - at least Madalyne said what she found was perfect. She'd just have to up her game a little bit more, she thought with a smirk. Maybe she would see if she could cause the dragon to explode by her singing. That would definitely cause their jaws to drop. She cared a lot about her friends and keeping them safe, but Nancy was also very prideful. She liked people being impressed and in awe of her deeds. It was the type of attention she wanted - unlike the attention she had received back in Vegas on the strip.

"I think that's a good plan though - Niah first, she can fly as needed, and if we slip we'll just dangle from her," Nancy mused. "It'll definitely beat scaling things in war games," she chuckled. She hoped that neither of them were afraid of heights. They didn't bother her really. She wasn't scared of going up high - she didn't feel a sense of panic at the thought of falling. She had her own fears to deal with.

"Sorry just thinking of all the ways this can go wrong." Niah explained and put the armor on. It took a moment. Once that was finished she put the climbing gear over it. Together it was a little awkward of a fit, but at least she knew with the armor on if she fell she'd be less likely to end up as jam on the ground below.

"Alright, let's get this over with." She said, and started toward Mount Rushmore. The cliff was huge. She tried to imagine what it had looked like before it had been defaced by the white people who stole this land. "I wish I could have seen it before it was this." She waved her hand at it. "Do you think the dragon has been here since before white people made this a road sideshow? Or did it move in after? Maybe they woke it up?" She realized she didn't know how long dragons lived or how long ago Mount Rushmore had been made. That would have to be looked up later. It didn't change what needed to be done now. Once the others were ready and hooked up to her she started to climb.

---

---

---

---

"Scaling the walls during the war games is soooooo much fun." Madalyne said with a slight laugh and shook her head slightly as she followed shortly behind Niah and Nancy as well, looking up at the defaced mountain. "You mean before the dragon defaced it, or before the mountain became mount rushmore?" Madalye asked as she continued to follow until they were at the base of the mountain, looking up at the defaced presidents faces. She was born in the UK, but knew enough about the US after living in the states for awhile now, Madalyne then took the pack of climbing gear and started to slowly put it back on.

"So, you guys ever thought of ever having a normal life or anything like that?" Madalyne asked mostly out of curiosity, all of the people that she cared about were probably already old or dead by now. She hadnt really aged since being trapped in the Lotus Hotel & Casino, along with Nancy to as well, she looked up at the mountain once more getting ready for the long climb.

---

---

Nancy had no idea as to the answer to Niah's question. Her education hadn't exactly been stellar. Most of the things she knew she had learned from the Legion - which tended to be relevant trivia for fighting monsters and working with the gods, not the history of cultural attractions. "Beats me. I don't even know when this thing was carved," she admitted. Though, she guessed that it had to have been after America was founded, which didn't narrow it down too much. She guessed she also knew it had to have been made by the 80's, since she knew it had been a thing when she was a kid, so she had a period of a few hundred years to guess from.

When they made it to the cliff, Nancy made sure that she had all of her climbing gear on and ready to go. She glanced over at Madalyne when she asked if they'd ever thought about having a normal life. "A normal life would be totally grody," she explained. "Y'know, I can never imagine myself growing old even. And when I think about dying and going to Pluto's domain, assuming I've been heroic enough and all, that never-ending party... bah, count me out. I'd rather be turned into a tree after dying in battle."

"Before humans defaced it. I don't care about four old white dudes who had slaves." She shrugged. Looking up the cliff face her stomach did some flips. She had never thought she was afraid of heights but it was certainly seeming that way right now. Each time she had to rely on the armor she was about ready to throw up. Hopefully, she'd get used to that eventually.

She started climbing after a quick test of the ropes connecting them. If they fell she'd hopefully be able to keep them safe. Keep them from falling. That was a lot of figurative weight. She breathed slow and low keeping concentration as she made the climb. Watching where she put her feet and hands. She had never climbed this high before. And she wouldn't have ever called climbing a skill. But being at camp made her more fit than the average teen at least.

---

---

---

---

"Living a normal life would have been pretty boring anyway." Madalyne said with a slight laugh, she never could imagine herself living a normal human life either. She enjoyed the magic and fighting monsters, and just working together with people who were similar to her, just as she started to climb, they made it about half way up the side of the mountain when the three could hear a familiar sound. A group of five harpies came swooping down and started to attack the three of them with their taloned claws.

Madalyne started to shield herself with one arm, before turning around and throwing a fireball from her hand setting the one harpy attacking her on fire. One of the harpies was lucky and managed to claw at Niah's hand forcing her to let go of the mountain and started to fall. While another harpy was trying to tack Nancy's pack off of her to try and steal it.

---

---

Nancy's eyes widened, seeing Niah start to fall. With the system they had rigged up, they hadn't really put much thought into what would happen if Niah fell and the other two were still clinging to the mountain. She hoped that Niah would be able to stop her own fall, especially since one of the harpies was currently trying to take Nancy's pack from her. "Eat my shorts, you oversized chicken nugget!" Nancy shouted, carefully clinging to the side of the mountain with one hand. With her other hand, she took her imperial gold dagger and stabbed at the harpy, managing to get it to break away from her.

She then whistled, using her powers of audiokinesis to manipulate the sound and the pitch. She had been aiming to just blast the harpies backwards, but instead when the sound waves of her whistle connected with them, it did more than just that. It pushed three harpies away from the side of the mountain, ripping apart the winged beasts like they were made out of confetti. The remains of the harpies sprinkled away to the ground. "Niah, you good?" Nancy called out.

Dang harpies pulled Niah's hands from the rock wall and she started to fall. The first thing she did though wasn't trying to control the armor no it was stopping the Harpies from attacking. There was only one left. "I bind you by the River Styx to stop attacking us." She didn't feel the normal rise in power that she did when she bound someone by an oath, which made sense this wasn't an Oath. She went a different approach. She also had Odikinesis. A gift she never understood why she got. She was no child of Mars or to her knowledge a legacy of him.

Sometimes using it had the opposite reaction the one Mars preferred. But she liked to use it to calm people down. To get them to lose their battle fury. And it worked. Now she could focus on the armor. But nothing happened. She was still falling. "Hold on tight!" She screamed. Of course, the fall was her fault. Of course, she was going to drag them down to their deaths because she couldn't control the damn armor well enough.

---

---

---

---

Madalyne watched as Niah started to fall once the Harpies were dealt with and Niah was falling and if she did then they all were probably going to fall to their deaths. She closed her eyes using her free hand and held it out to where Niah was falling, she started to concentrate as best as she could as a net appeared right behind Niah preventing her from falling any further. Doing her best holding on and controlling her magic to prevent Niah from falling again her nose started to bleed slightly.

"I suggest you start flying again, I can't grip and hold my magic at the same time." Madalyne called out to Niah doing her best to hold on her hand started to slip and loosing grip. There werent any monsters coming again which was good then they could get to the summit as quickly as possible.