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Demi watched as Zeke's hand twitched before dropping down to his side. Following the motion with his eyes only and lingering on the sight of his hand for a moment. He stood by, watching as Zeke began to ramp up, seeing how what Cassian had said bothered him. As Zeke took his step forward so too did Demetri, grabbing him by the wrist as darkness began to envelope the both of them into complete darkness. He turned Zeke on the spot, pressing his forehead against his as he spoke in hushed tones. "It's fine. Please, don't get so worked up over this. Cassian's just an ass and you're still my boyfriend." He gave Zeke a soft kiss on the lips before pulling back and having the darkness fade away as the space grew between them.

But just as the space began to grow, Rosie began to speak. Snapping Demetri back from his maladaptive daydream while Zeke regained a spot next to him. He blinked twice, looking around wondering just how much he'd actually missed. Rosie was reciting the prophecy, Cassian didn't have a bloody nose or black eye, and Zeke seemed equally unscathed. Luckily there hadn't been a fight. He let out a shaky breath he hadn't realised he was holding, letting his arm drop to the side as he died to hold Zeke's hand. " It's fine. Please, don't get so worked up over this. Cassian's just an ass and you're still my boyfriend." He said closely to Zeke in hushed tones so that no one could hear them in the room. He wished he could say it allowed, but he had to break the news to Janelle first, that was the agreement.

"Well lucky for you Zekey boy, my brains already mush. So good luck to those Lotus guys trying to get me into their little trap. The King of Giants however? That's a bit more of an issue. Supposedly you can only kill him with the combined power of a god and a demi-god. Aaand we seem to be in short supply of gods." Demi didn't want to mention that the last known ones to attack this giant was daddy dearest and some hyped up jock. Making him potentially target numero uno. That'd likely spiral Zeke into more of a worry than he already was. He also didn't wish to mention that their little werewolf friend was likely who they were helping out in this quest, because that would give hope and hope is what breaks people.

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Cassian couldn't make heads or tails of Zeke. He and Demetri had spent so long fighting one another he'd assumed them enemies of some kind, then suddenly this morning they're dining together, and he's worried about the condition of his shirt and the blood that's on it. Zeke said it was his healing nature that made him zone in on the sleeve, but even then he hadn't thought it'd've struck that much of a nerve. He quickly glanced over Zeke as he spoke to him, and then Kristin as if he were entertaining an audience, trying to decide what it was that made him tick at this very moment.

Before he could zero in on an answer, Zeke began to take steps towards him. Cassian immediately put his hands up in a sign of peace, letting Zeke and the room know he wasn't here for an altercation. He let Zeke's threat sink in, swallowing his spit when the child of Apollo finally turned around. His hands slowly went back to his sides, hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his pants. "Wonderful. So we need a god after all. Know any minor ones we might be able to call up? Or…Roman ones? Just because our gods are tied up doesn't mean theirs have to be right?" Cassian addressed to the room, fully ignoring the situation that'd just happened.

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Nancy's stomach flip-flopped as Mads told her she was going to do great on the quest - she didn't intend on actually participating. She was going to answer questions as best as she could, point them to the door of the Lotus Hotel and Casino, and she would then wait for them to emerge from the hotel when they finished the quest. That was going to be the extent of her involvement - it would take an act of the gods to force her to walk through those doors again, to breathe that air. She knew the ghosts there were emotional, not literal, but it was still a haunted place to her all the same.

She nodded as Niah said her farewells and left. "I'll see you two again," Nancy promised, before letting them both go. She stared at Niah's back for a moment, committing her friend's image to memory, just as she memorized Mads'. And then, Nancy took a deep breath and headed inside the Big House. She came across the people she had seen in her vision in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, along with the Greek Oracle and Chiron. If this had been any other subject, Nancy would have made her presence known as she came into the room - she would have taken charge, taken leadership over this situation, and laid out a battle plan for accomplishing this quest.

Instead, Nancy hovered slightly on the outside of the group. She didn't say anything. If it turned out they didn't need anything from her, all the better. She didn't want to talk about this. She was already feeling drained from the small meltdown she had had not too long ago.

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Leda laughed, shaking her head. "If I make it to my forties, I'll be impressed - I always figured I'd end up dying young, hot, and sexy," Leda teased. She honestly couldn't imagine being forty years old - she never really considered what her life might look like after all of this. Her entire world was myths and quests, gods and goddesses - the idea of getting old and slowing down just never occurred to her. And why would it? Leda adored her life as it was, she felt fulfilled, she was living her best life here. She didn't care that it could be cut short - the inevitability of death just made her appreciate each moment of life even more. She lived intensely and passionately for a reason.

Leda got into the back of the van, sitting down next to Kiera and then throwing an arm around Kiera's shoulders, hugging her close. "Also, don't forget, I won the bet - so now you have to do whatever I say," Leda said with a smirk. "And I'm going to save that little victory for an opportune moment, so be on your toes - I'll let you know when I'm cashing in." She did tilt her head slightly at Arthur - he seemed like he was having a rough go of it, and Leda understood. The first quest could always be really scary - going out into the world, knowing monsters were going to try to kill you at every turn, not everyone found it as exciting as Leda did.

Arthur Stanford

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Location: Van
Skills: N/A

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Arthur raised his head towards Kiera, and exhaled. He just said, "This is all just a lot, and I wish it wasn't happening, but what can we do about a prophecy, right? It's this or bad stuff is gonna happen." The silent part was, of course, that bad stuff would very probably happen either way, it just happened to be their jobs as heroes to sacrifice their personal happiness for the greater good. This was the sort of thing that sounded noble on paper, but in reality was dystopian, much like children selling lemonade so their parents could afford chemo. They were children, and they had to risk their lives and their loved ones to keep monsters and gods and titans and other wretched things from hurting all other people.

Arthur's eyes drifted on Leda, and a twinge of deep unfairness ran through him. Why, he wondered, did the fates not only separate him from the person he card for most, but also kept together two people who were clearly close? It was like somebody had him in mind specifically, and was mocking him. Maybe he could be pragmatic, and take time from these two to learn how best to deal with such separations, but for now, he felt more bitter than anything else, and it kept him from so much as

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Stella smiled a bit as Jason assured her that he was as ready to go on the quest as one could be to go on a quest. She shifted the backpack on her back, hoping that she really did have everything she needed for her first real quest. However, she had done the best she could in preparing, and Marygold had been with her, so she was sure that she had everything she could in her bag. She could see that people were starting to get into the van, but she wanted to make sure that all of her group was there before she got into the car. Thankfully, it seemed that the Roman girl would be joining them in time, as she joined them.

She clambered into the van, setting her bag in her lap as she found a free spot to sit in and buckled up. She looked around the van, seeing that it was quite crowded and only getting more so as more people poured into the van. She wasn't sure what to say to anyone, even as new people sat next to her in the van. She had made sure to be close to her group, or as close as she could, in the van. She was close enough to Jason, as she was sure that the Roman girl might want to be close to her friends. Stella started to fiddle with the seed bag she had, pausing and running her fingers along the string as she waited.

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"I know that it's a lot to take in, but if we work together and get along well enough with each other then we can survive this quest together." Kiera told Arthur as she gently pat him on the shoulder and gave him a slight hug, before she felt Leda wrapping her arms around her and pulled her into a hug and returned the same hug as well to and smiled at her girlfriend. She turned to Leda and gave a fake pouty face towards her before nudging her slightly. "You cheated anyway with your superspeed." Kiera said teasingly to Leda as the other Roman chick came into the van and nodded slightly.

"Alright then." Kiera said as she leaned back slightly, the van was pretty crowded right now at the moment and felt slightly claustrophobic but she didn't really say anything about it. She turned to Arthur and Leda since they were her quest mates and shifted slightly as she thought for a moment. "So once we get to the city whats the plan and where do you think we should head?" She asked Leda since she had the experience of going on a quest once before if she remembered right it was with Zeke and Kristin a quest for Apollo. A few seconds later she felt the car turning on as she looked over to see the last Roman coming down the hill. "About damn time." Kiera said softly to herself.

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Madalyne leaned in and gave Nancy one last hug and kiss on the cheek. "You be careful and if the Greeks piss you off just pop their heads with that voice of yours." Madalyne said to Nancy a she gave her a slight nudge and gently started to pet Joanie under the chin before walking off towards the camp enterance, looking at Nancy one last time before heading down the hill. Seeing the van that was there waiting for her she sighed slightly knowing that it was a little bit cramped in there seeing the other Greeks that were inside the van already.

"Sorry for the wait everyone." Madalyne said as she climbed into the van and moved her way over towards Mary and Andy sitting down next to her niece and looked at her. "Lets get going now." Madalyne said as the doors closed and Argus started to pull off and onto the road she leaned back slightly and sighed she hated leaving Nancy alone by herself as she looked at Niah and nodded towards her, at least she got to spend some time with Niah. "So how is everyone doing?" Madalyne decided to ask she might as well get to know the rest of this group before they all went their separate ways once they were dropped off in the city.

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Kristin looked towards Zeke and rolled her eyes slightly towards him, of course Zeke was going to make a jab at her due to her being a daughter of Athena and being knowledgeable on a lot of things. "You are such a pain in the ass you know that right Zeke?" Kristin said to him as she turned to look at Cassian asking if there was a god that they could contact and gave a slight shrug. "Sometimes you just bump into them on the journey there. Also the Greek and Roman gods are pretty much the same person, basically think of it as a multiple personality disorder for them, one personality being our Greek parents and then the other side the Romans." Kristin told Cassian since he probably didn't know that really.

Kristin moved over slightly towards Janelle seeing that she was kind of being quiet and gently tapped her on the shoulder to let her know that she was there. "Are you alright there Janelle?" Kristin whispered to Janelle this was Janelle's second quest now as well to that she just realized as well to.

Danielle quickly perked up seeing that Nancy had finally joined them and motioned for her to come over as Rosie turned her attention towards Nancy as well to. She was slightly annoyed that they were waiting and had to start up anyway without her, but Rosie didn't make any indication of that. "Do you want me to fill you in on what we discussed?" Danielle asked her, and she shifted slightly a little bit nervous that Nancy was going to be leaving on a quest as well to.

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Andy felt safer nestled by her aunt. She was thankful she would be on the quest with her aunt. Though upset it wasn't also with Arthur. She figured not everyone could travel with only those they wanted to. If so the group would be very differently divided. And probably lose the important groups of three. Currently, there were nine of them in the van.

She leaned a little into her aunt when asked how she was doing. There wasn't a good response to that. She could lie and say she was fine. But she wasn't and she didn't want Arthur to hear her lie. So she went for a shrug. That was as good a response as any. She also half-listened to what Kiera and Leda said to Arthur. Suddenly a pang of anxiety hit her and she was mad that they got to be on an adventure with him and she would miss out on some inside jokes or something. Dangers aside, he would change over the quest, maybe the change would be too much and it would put a wedge between them.




It was fairly quiet in the van. Some small conversations were happening. She smiled when Mads joined them. "I'm alright." She smiled. Then looked over at Stella and Jason. "Jason, I know you've been to California. But what about you Stella?" Niah considered California her home as she had lived there for so long. Though when she thought of her mortal life she considered the Philipines as home. She of course hadn't talked to Stella much so she had no idea about the girl's past.

The three of them probably would be getting to know each other pretty soon. Niah knew the way to where they were headed. But despite having lived in California for years she didn't know much of the state beyond the Bay Area. There was a lot of traveling that would be done though. They had to get all the way from New York to California. And this time they didn't have the flying ship that the Greeks had shown up with.

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Ezekiel looked back at Kristin and blew her a kiss when she called him a pain in the ass. It was a job he took rather seriously and Cassian seemed to get his point as well since he backed off. Ezekiel smirked a little and returned his focus to the rest of the room. Periodically he looked towards the door, waiting for Nancy’s arrival. Demetri stole his attention first when he whispered, trying to keep his voice low. Ezekiel felt a tinge of elation followed by anger. His eyes quickly darted over to Janelle before looking back at Demetri and glared. Demi should know Janelle had better hearing. It was probably better than the average mortal due to being a demigod, too. Talk turned to gods helping them out and Ezekiel snorted.
”Sure. I mean, Auntie Artemis showed up when Janelle, Kristin and I went on our quest but I mean, they aren’t exactly straightforward with their help. They give you advice but you’re on your own pretty much the rest of the way. Her Hunters helped us but not until the very end but we had to get to the point of needing them all on our own.” He looked over when Demetri piped into the conversation and rolled his eyes. Ezekiel was still riding the wave of being an asshole to Cassian and his frustration with Demi over his whispered comment, so it was easy to answer Demi with an annoyed tone.
”Mush brain to start with doesn’t matter. They’ll find a way,” he said. Zeke looked back to the door once more and that was when he noticed Nancy near the back, staying on the outskirts of the group. His fingers twitched at his side, wanting to go stand with her but he didn’t want to draw attention to her either, so he just looked back at the drawings on the table.

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She was still just sort of listening to everyone around her, and something was going on with Demi and Zeke. The thing was, people tended to forget one thing that can happen when you lose one sense, that being, the other senses try to make up for it. In her case, that resulted in her having really sensitive hearing. It was something that people always forgot about, and right now, if it was really supposed to be so much a secret in general, then maybe Demi should have remembered that right at this moment. Why was that?

Janelle heard his hushed words to Zeke, particularly the part where he called him his boyfriend.

Her head did not have much time to process what exactly had been said though, as Kristin started talking to her. She pushed what she had just heard off to the side for now, as she turned her full attention to Kristin. "Yeah, I'm fine, what about you?" she said, more or less partially lying about the whole being fine thing, but not really wanting to explain to anyone why she was a little annoyed with who she was currently in a room with.

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Being in the van was a bit boring, and Mary still was more then a little annoyed that it took the last Roman forever to even get there. Of course it also turned out to be with the person she was going on the quest with. Maybe that was a bad sign, that she was late to head off on her quest. Who knew really, but still, it was more then a little annoying as everyone else clearly wanted to get this whole thing over with, and the Romans were dawdling along.

"I'm alright, what about you?" she ended up saying in response to Madalyne's question. There wasn't a whole lot that she could really say. They were going off on quests, and possibly be off marching to their deaths. Though that part just sort of was an unspoken thing about quests. Some tried to stay optimistic, where she preferred to be realistic about everything. Who knew what the hell was going to happen.

Jason was glad that everyone was finally all in one group, heading off to start their quests already. He was a bit curious as to what had taken everyone so long to get to the van in the first place. Of course, he wasn't going to ask, since he figured it could be a number of different things that were going on that could have caused it. He was just glad that the van was turning on and getting ready to finally head off now that everyone had finally gotten there.

Turning his attention towards Niah as she asked about the whole California thing, and he sort of shrugged. "I mean, technically I've been dere, but I've also lived in New York fahr a few years and no next to nahthin about de area. We go to Ireland and I can 'elp you out dere, tryin to fend me way along in de states, and I'm 'ahpeless," he ended up saying. Yeah, he didn't know anything about the geography of the states, so he was a bit lost on how they were even supposed to get to California from here the quickest.

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Nancy made her way on over to Danielle, Joanie resting on her shoulders. She shook her head slightly as Danielle offered to fill her in on what she had missed - "I'm good. I don't need to hear the details," she told Danielle. She had seen the future already, Nancy knew what this was going to entail - but she had also been clear with Zeke. She wasn't going to go inside of the hotel - she would answer their questions, maybe even accompany them to Vegas, but that was it. That was Nancy's limit. She then paused, looking at those who were gathered there. He was standing next to the Jupiter kid - his boyfriend, Nancy recalled, the little bit of information somehow retained after her epic meltdown.

She wasn't in much of a mood to talk here - she wasn't going to tell them that they could ask her questions. If they didn't know her connection to the Lotus Hotel, Nancy didn't feel a need to elaborate on it. Zeke knew and that was enough as far as Nancy was concerned. She was here as a courtesy, as a potential guide to Las Vegas, but nothing more. And certainly not as an augur.

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"You might even find out you like this stuff - quests are sorta the highlight of our lives as demigods, they're what we're built for," Leda told Arthur - that had been her experience, at least. She always felt her most alive when her back was up against the wall, her sword in her hand, as she faced down a countless number of enemies. She loved being a Greek hero - even though she knew that their stories had tragic ends. She just hoped she hadn't reached that part yet. And on this quest, she was thrilled to get to share it all with Kiera - and Arthur was an alright quest partner as well, if not a little gloomy, but could the kids of Hades really help themselves there?

"And pff, it's not cheating - I'm just that fast," Leda insisted. She kept an arm around Kiera, enjoying having her close - even though the van was extremely crowded at this point. "Well, we're the water world quest, so I think we make our way to the harbor, see if we can get a boat, and then sail out into the Atlantic. This underwater quest isn't going to have much time on dry land," Leda said with a shrug. She rolled her eyes slightly as the last Roman got inside, asking how they were all doing. "Bit annoyed, luv - we've been sitting here for an eternity waiting."

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Demetri gave Zeke a look back as if to ask him What I can't be comforting? He shook his head slightly trying to push past any thoughts he had in his mind about the situation. He couldn't help but follow Zeke's eyeline, making sure to not be obvious like all the times before when he'd stolen glances. But this time it was because he was worried about what was pulling his attention away. He doubted anyone else noticed, most people didn't tend to look his way. "Right. So Roman and Greek gods are all AFK while they throw a tantrum over missing items that we are already questing for. But we need the help of the gods in order to fight the King of Giants, yet they don't offer help directly only in cryptic riddles and even then it's not until it's almost too late that they come? Tell me again why we aren't just passing off Hera to summon Thanatos to ask him to move the doors a bit closer to home?"

Demi huffed a puff of air up so that a stray light of hair was moved out of his face. He crossed his arms and leaned against the nearest wall, looking across the room to everyone gathered. They seemed to be caught between a rock and a hard place and Demetri just wished he could spit in the eye of fate and not go. Keep Zeke, Nancy, and himself here while the others went off on some crazy quest. He let out a sigh of defeat, knowing full well what happened to heroes in Greek tales that tried to defy their destiny. "Alright. Rosie, any idea on maybe which god will help us? Anything that might help point the way when we get there?"

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Cassian was relieved to see that Zeke was backing off of him, though he clearly had triggered something inside of him given how now he was being an ass to everyone in the room. Well at least everyone in the room but Janelle. He rolled his eyes thinking about how Cupid's arrow must've struck the pair but tried to avoid any mental jokes about how love truly was blind. His thumbs remained hooked into his pockets as he took a step forwards, re-examining the images before placing a delicate finger upon his chin. His face got more serious in tone as he tried to find a solution, though one they didn't need at the immediate moment.

"We get money to go on missions right? While upsetting The Queen of the Gods might be a bad idea, especially from the illegitimate child of her unfaithful husband, perhaps your idea isn't fully without merit. Why not use some of the cash and drachmas to purchase different offerings? Each one can try and reach our respective parents in some way to help us defeat this King of Giants. If Zeus was the last to fight him then perhaps he would be willing to do it again, but I don't see why we should put all of our eggs into one basket. It could be Apollo, or Hypno, Athena, or even Dionysus. That might be our best plan for now." He'd already been considering calling upon his father for aid, but this opened up the floor to others to do the same. "Could also try extended family like Cupid or other minor gods."

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Stella was a little nervous as she buckled up, as both Niah and Jason were older than her, and way more experienced with quests. She had been feeling nervous about potentially being the weak link in their chain. However, when Niah asked her if she had ever been to California she brightened up and grinned. Home... she was going home! That was right! Her quest was going to take her close to her beloved San Francisco, and she would be able to maybe see her dads when this was all over. That thought comforted her and she visibly relaxed into her seat as Jason answered first. Stella had figured that Jason and his sister were from Ireland given their accent, but to hear him confirm it just made her feel a bit better.

"I'm from San Francisco, so California is a bit of my home turf. I know the Bay Area pretty well, or at least I thought I did. Didn't know there was a secret Demi-god camp in the Oakland hills, but that does explain a bit. I always felt... weird when we passed through the tunnel in Berkley." Stella tilted her head as she tried to remember the last time she went through those tunnels. "Also there was that weird island I swore I saw once but it didn't exist on any map. Is that also a Greek or Roman thing?"

Arthur Stanford

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Location: Van
Skills: N/A

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Arthur gave a long blink at Leda, and searched for words. In what ways could fighting for your life ever be fun? This felt like a thing people told themselves to be happy about the absolute hell of a situation they were in. It was fun up until the people they cared about were murdered. It felt so difficult to understand, but he just didn't want to push back that hard, so instead he gave a quiet nod, and said, "I hope I can see it that way sometime soon." Trying to sound as sincere as possible. He knew Leda was jus trying to help, and didn't wanna spite that.

Arthur didn't care much about the fact that they would be underwater, and him brain, for a moment, thought about how they'd be able to survive underwater, before he remembered that they now lived in a world with magic and gods. He was actually kinda excited to see a space like that, cool and dark, somewhere unlike he'd ever been. It was perhaps the only part of their adventure that he was really looking forward to. The only thing he could do was hope that things would ultimately be okay, and that nobody would get hurt. The rest was in the hands of the fates.

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As Argus started to pull out of the camp and onto the main road that would take them all the way to New York City, Kiera leaned herself up against Leda although it did feel really claustrophobic with this many people in the van. She turned to look at her girlfriend and gave her a slight nudge. "Still thats totally cheating." She said jokingly as she turned towards Arthur, and nodded slightly she could understand that he wasn't really comfortable being on a quest for their first time. After loosing two of their friends already which she felt sad that they weren't here anymore.

She was cuirous how they would even be able to get underwater in the first place, she wasn't sure how Leda and Arthur could survive underwater. She was perfectly fine being under water and could create an air bubble around them maybe that could help she nodded slightly towards her girlfriend, going to the harbor would probably be the best place to start and go from there. "Sounds like a good place to start then to me and we can go from there then." Kiera said as she looked out the window and could see the city starting to appear in the skyline, she always did like going to the city whenever she could

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Madalyne looked towards Andy as she moved closer towards her and smiled softly towards Andy and held her closely, she was going to do her best to watch over Andy as well as Mary to and make sure that the two of them would make it back safely home. Madalyne turned to look at Mary and gave her a slight shrug letting out a slight sigh she really did feel guilty for leaving Nancy behind and hoped that her friend would be okay. "I'm alright just worried about my friend is all." Madalyne answered Mary She was with a bunch of Greeks to and she was pretty sure that they might end up getting on her nerves to, though Zeke was there. Madalyne turned to look at Leda and rubbed the back of her neck slightly as she looked at the two of them for a moment.

"I'm sorry for making all of you wait on me I was helping Nancy with something before we all left." Madalyne lied she wasn't going to actually say the actual reason why she was late, as she turned to Stella she was surprised that she was actually from the San Fransico area. "You guys could probably take the train there, or by bus though that would take a few days, or you could try taking a flight over there to which would make things go faster." Madalyne told them looking over at Niah at least she was going to be going home now, she could tell that Jason was from Ireland from his accent.

"I've been to Ireland once, when I was younger i'm actually from England myself." Madalyne told Jason, as she saw that they were now entering the city now, as Argus ended up parking the car near the side walk just a block or two away from the Empire State Building. Madalyne then got up and opened the door for them as well as Kiera and Argus as he started to pull out three wads of cash as well as three bags filled with Drachmas and started to hand them out to the three groups.

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Danielle nodded towards Nancy as she stayed near her at the moment. "I guess we should do a meeting with the Senate, or do you just want to get this all done and over with?" She asked Nancy that was up to her really since she was the only other Praetor at the moment other than herself, Madalyne had stepped down the night before. Rosie turned to look at Demetri and gave a slight shrug, she didn't get to see which god was going to be able to help. "It could be anyone, a minor or major god or goddess, like I said you'd most likely run into one of them at some point before you get there." Rosie told Demi, as she stared at Cassian. "The gods most likely aren't going to answer unless you want to really piss them off somehow which isn't that smart." Rosie warned Cassian, the gods were really well known for being quick and easy to temper and were known to be really petty.

Kristin shook her head slightly and just gave Zeke the middle finger as she looked at him. "Uh don't you mean Leda, our quest was kind of like way before Janelle and the others got here." Kristin corrected him before turning her attention back towards Janelle wrapping an arm around her. "I'm alright, do you need any kind of supplies before we head out on the quest?" Kristin asked her as she looked over towards Chiron as he looked over at Cassian.

"Stella had asked that question earlier during breakfast we will give you some money and drachmas to help you with your travels on your way over there." Chiron answered Cassian as he looked at the group that was there before speaking again. "Do any of you have any other questions? I'll let Argus know to come back and pick the rest of you all up you all are free to go if you choose to." Chiron told them.

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Ezekiel looked about the room and realization creeped in on just how screwed they were. As far as he was aware, himself, Kristin, Janelle and Nancy had been the only ones to go on a quest. The rest were asking questions like answers would just fall into their lap. They were so screwed. Cassian piped in once more and Ezekiel rolled his eyes. That look on his face just made Zeke want to punch him more. Why did he have a face that was so punchable? Maybe it was a family trait.
Kristin tried correcting him that it had been her and Leda and Zeke couldn’t believe his ears. Yes, he had gone on a quest with that pair as well but he couldn’t believe Kristin forgot the one with Janelle. The one that happened immediately after her arrival. Ezekiel started to laugh. Full on, belly deep laughter. He wiped tears from his eyes. Clearly the day had begun to wear on him since it wasn’t that humorous. ”Gods Kristin, I needed that. Don’t tell me you seriously forgot about the quest we went on as soon as Janelle and Jason arrived. Houston, mother of monsters? The others went to New Rome?” There was a grin on his face as he asked her these questions before shaking his head and looked at the others.
”Look, we could sit here and debate on how to get the gods involved but it isn’t going to happen. They will help when and if they want to. What we need are supplies for travel and to fight because there is going to be plenty of that before we even get to the hotel.” At least there were more of them than the usual three but of course more meant more risk and Demetri was a beacon for monsters due to his status as a child of the big three. Zeke couldn’t compare his last two quests to this based on that fact alone.
”Let’s just get our shit together and then we can meet at Hestia’s hearth to hold hands and make friendship bracelets.” He turned and headed for the door. He glanced at Nancy, speaking to her quietly.
”We are all so incredibly screwed,” he said and left the Big House. Nancy was the most experienced leader in the group and he would bet his prized copy of The Odyssey that she was thinking the same or worse.

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Demetri couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh. He knew it wasn't Rosie's fault, but why couldn't any of these prophecies be even the least bit helpful? They had absolutely no direction to go except towards a hotel that was essentially a demigod trap. All thoughts were immediately cut off once Zeke began to laugh. It startled Demetri so much he had actually taken a step back away from the blonde demigod and began to wonder if he was ok. It had been less than 24 hours since he and Zeke had begun dating, since they'd spent a wonderful night together, and it had been one of the most stressful days he had ever been through. Between breakfast with Janelle and Kristin, then the rush to the infirmary room, then Nancy and her refusal to help, the manticore, now this? If Demi ever found whoever the fuck Murphu was he was going to punch him in his face for making his damned law.

In only a moment Zeke had said his peace and exited the Big House. Demetri stared at the empty space he left behind in disbelief that he was just gone. He wasn't one to want to be clingy, but his heart ached for a moment as he fought back his urge to get misty eyed. He cleared his throat to fight the croak that was building up. "Right. Great chat guys, really, glad we got it all sorted then. Chiron just point me in the direction of where I can get some coin so I can prepare for this quest. Doubt anything I have back at my cabin would do us any good so…" Demi mind felt like there was a storm swirling inside his skull, he felt light headed and numb while his stomach churned in knots and he wondered how any campers ever got excited for quests.

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Cassian raised one hand out of his pocket to pinch the bridge of his nose. Of Course the gods would be temperamental enough to throw a tantrum while their kids were attempting to contact them on a quest against a monster that required them. He took a sharp inhale and then let it out slowly and calmly before finally lowering his hand and hooking his thumb into his belt loop. He wasn't quite sure how to respond, though thankfully he didn't have to. Zeke made a whole scene all by himself, virtually silencing the room while he spoke to them all before simply just walking away and leaving the Big House. Cassian didn't say anything after the fact, he simply followed suit and left shortly after.

He made a beeline towards his Cabin, ignoring the son of Apollo as he walked past him. He'd considered saying something, sparky, maybe sassy, hell maybe even something considerate to see if he was ok. But regardless of how he ran the scenario in his mind it always ended in some form of fight with him. So he chose silence, making his way past campers and others until he was finally at his bunk, opening his chest and rummaging through his own supplies. He snagged his quiver full of arrows, grabbed some canned tea canisters that could be both delicious to drink and double as herbal and medicinal ingredients, he went under his mattress and pulled out his bow that lay unstrung, grabbed the string that was placed below his mattress and a backup just incase. Cassian stuffed his bag with the usual assortment of goodies along with his newly acquired ones, strapping his sword to his side as he took a last look at his room.

The cherub-like demigod made quick work of his time, hastening over towards the supply store and looking about for general questing materials. Non perishable food for the trip, a first aid kit for minor injuries, and a stock of trick arrows. There was an array of arrows from as lowly as stink to as deadly as an explosive arrow and a few others in between. He hoped to the gods that he wouldn't need any of them, but they had to be prepared for anything at this rate. As he walked around the store gathering supplies he tried to think of each demigod's strengths, weaknesses, hoping to ensure they didn't shore up all their talents into one side. All ranged would make for poor melee, but an all melee team would be helpless against artillery groups.

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"Thank you for the ride, Argus." Andy said before she climbed out of the van. She didn't want to leave Arthur's side, but it seemed it was time. They were going separate ways. When Arthur got out of the van, she gave him a hug. Hoping it wouldn't be their last.

She looked up at her aunt. "Which direction are we going?" Where they needed to go was a little less straightforward. She looked around the city. It was weird being back in a city. She had done so much travel on her own for so long that part of her wanted to disappear into the crowd and forget it all. But she knew she'd never leave Arthur behind. So she had to do the quest so they could be back together again.




She nodded as Jason explained. She wasn't surprised. His experience in California was the same as a layover while flying. "I figured we'd see about taking the Amtrak. Worked well enough for me before. They could also fly since none of them were children of Neptune.

Well, Mortals aren't supposed to know about New Rome."[/color] Niah said; she smiled sadly. California was her home too now. Those hills were where she wanted to be more than anything. "We are going to Mount Tamalpais. I've been there once before." She was proud that she didn't look at Mads as she said that.

"As for the island. I'm not sure what you mean." She tried to think of what Stella could be talking about. "When did this happen?" If it had happened before Niah had come to California, that might explain why she didn't know about it, at least. Though Stella seemed a little young, she was old enough that Niah hadn't been there for most of her life. She had only lived at Camp Jupiter for five years, and those had been fast-tracked.

Niah took her turn, getting out of the van as soon as she could. She collected her group's money from Argus. Niah wasn't used to being the one in direct control of a group, as both Nancy and Mads had stronger personalities than her, but she knew her way around the ticket counter. And wasn't certain Jason or Stella, especially Stella, could get away with ordering tickets from the Amtrak station.

Arthur Stanford

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Location: Van -> streets
Skills: N/A

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Arthur gave Andy a hug that perhaps lasted a hair too long. This was the last time they'd see each other for a good while, but he was committed to doing everything he could to make sure that this was not the last time. Exhaling, he let go, and actually felt a little better about everything. It was a lot like ripping off a bandaid, it hurt in the moment, but not as much as your brain tells you it will, and the sting doesn't last much longer than a moment. He knew sleeping tonight would be hard, but for now, he was as okay as he possibly could be, given the situation.

He tried to get himself to look up about the situation, and forced a smile at Leda. "I've never been out to the ocean before!" He said, a tremor in his voice, "Maybe it'll be nice, new experiences, right?" He quickly looked away, sneaking a glance back at Andy, not having the will to actually say goodbye. He didn't want to, because it wasn't goodbye. They'd be back together in not too long, sitting in their cabin, telling stories and killing time. They just had to both make it back, and then everything would be okay, and the world would be a little safer for the two of them.

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"Oh I've never been on Amtrack before! Trains, yes, Amtrack, no. Maybe not train. Does BART count as a train?" Stella paused as she tried to think about if BART was considered a train or not, but those thoughts were dashed away quickly as Niah mentioned that Mortals weren't suppose to know about the camp, as well as Mount Tamalpais. "I guess it makes sense... but I don't think I've been to Mount Tamalpais really. If we ever went to the mountains it was up to Tahoe or Big Bear to do skiing, which we haven't done in years..." She blushed as she realized that she was just yammering on and not answering the question that the older girl had asked of her.

"Uh maybe it wasn't an island? I don't know. Sometimes I think I see things one way and then I see them another. Like... monsters? But then they seem normal? Some times that happens with places. Like... around the Caldacott tunnel. I get the worst headache when we go by there. Is that another demi-god thing?" Stella got out of the van, and then slung her backpack over her shoulder and followed Jason and Niah to the ticket counter. She wasn't sure that she could go get them herself, as she was a twelve year old, and clearly a little lost.

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Nancy sighed slightly. The Greeks seemed really concerned about finding a god to help in the quest and varying strategies to lure one out, but Nancy knew enough about the gods to know that when they truly needed one, one would be there, if for no other reason than the fact that this quest would directly benefit the Olympians. That wasn't what really made her sigh, though. No, it was - as Zeke whispered to her on his way out - that everyone in this room seemed to be incompetent to varying degrees. Nancy wanted to sit this out and not set her old wounds on fire, but she was forced to come to the conclusion that that would not be an option. This group needed more than just a guide to Las Vegas, someone to point them in the direction of the Lotus Hotel - they needed a leader.

Most of them had left the room now, as Nancy turned to her newly sworn co-praetor. "This isn't fair to you. I'm sorry." Danielle deserved to have an experienced co-praetor with her, now more than ever. "I'm not ready to stop serving Rome. Can you handle things solo?" Nancy asked, before motioning to Danielle to walk with her. She made her way back to her living quarters, grabbing her things and throwing them into a bag, and slinging it over her shoulders. "You can trust Alexandra, if you need support," Nancy said. "She's got a good head."

It was odd, the sort of steely calm that had settled over Nancy. She had always claimed she'd have to be dragged back kicking and screaming to return to the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Maybe it just hadn't properly settled in yet what she was going to do.

But she felt that she had to - without her, the Greeks were doomed to fail, and Mads and Niah's efforts would be in vain. The people of Rome would be in danger. She couldn't ignore this call to arms.

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Leda could tell that Arthur had no idea what she was talking about, but it didn't bother her. She had always been a bit of a daredevil, a thrill seeker. And Arthur was young, probably still sleeping with a nightlight and afraid of what monsters (probably real, if she were honest) were lurking under his bed. Maybe this quest would help him find his courage though, and he'd start to come around to the life of a demigod. If he didn't... Well, Leda figured that way would only make him miserable. This was their lot in life; they had to make the most of it.

"Yup, these things have a way of working themselves out - like, wouldn't be surprised if we run into some sort of monster or whatever that drops an item that helps us breathe underwater," Leda explained. "Quests are sorta like video games that way. Well, the quests that you survive are - you usually end up finding exactly what you need when you need it, and probably not a minute before that." She realized after she said it that it probably sounded a bit grim to everyone. "Not that anyone is going to die - we'll all be fine, it'll be fun, you'll see," she promised.

When the van came to a stop not too far from the Empire State Building, Leda hopped on out, and grabbed the bag and cash that Argus offered her group. Leda opened up the bag of drachmas and tossed the cash inside, before closing it up to consolidate it. "Think it's a bit of a walk, but doable to get to the harbor from here," Leda said. "Should probs save the money if we can for later."

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She was still only really half paying attention to what everyone was saying with regards to things. OR well, how the quest was going to go, or what they should do to head off. This was not a good situation, since they still knew next to nothing about what was really going on, or even what it was that they were doing, that wasn't going to end well, that was just a given. Then again, people seemed to be arguing a little bit over everything, as usual, and really she sort of hoped everyone would just shut up or something at this point.

Janelle's attention was turned back to Kristin, since she asked if there was supplies or whatever that she wanted to get before hand, and she just sort of shrugged, holding her cane in her hand. "I've gaht me cane, we prahbably should grab sahme basic stuff befahre 'eadin off, but nahthin too specific ahr whatever I dahn't think..." she said. Janelle wasn't too sure what it was that they might really want to grab so soon, she just figured that from what she was hearing, things were going to go horribly wrong.

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The talk sort of shifted around a bit, as the idea of taking trains or whatever once they were able to came up, and he honestly was fine with that. It was fine with him to travel that way, though it was interesting to hear Stella go on about how she was from the San Francisco area, once more an area he knew next to nothing about in general. It'd be nice if he actually knew more about the area they were going to, but he had been completely honest on the whole not knowing anything.

Mary wasn't entirely sure what sort of situation would result in Madalyne sticking back with someone for a little longer in general when you probably could have done that sort of thing any time before then, so you weren't having people wait for you. But no, that would make way too much sense and all to do that right? She couldn't help but be a little annoyed still with Madalyne, especially since her explanation gave her no reason to not be annoyed, since it didn't tell them much.

She didn't say anything though, as eventually they reached the city itself, and all sort of just were able to spill out of the van and set off on their quests, hopefully anyway. The quest seemed straightforward (at least with what they were trying to accomplish), but she knew that quests hardly ever were, and that they were going to run into trouble sooner or later. "Well, the main thing would be seeing about finding a way to our destination, or at least close enough to it where we could have an easier time reaching where we have to go..."

"Um, could use a better explanation fahr what you are all really talkin about. I dahn't know where dis is, or even what it is dat you bot are talkin about. Though fine wit de idea o' goin ahn de train and all, travelin by train isn't de wahrst way to go, been on mahre den a few," he ended up saying after following both Niah and Stella out of the van and off to the side. He still knew next to nothing about where they were heading, and he knew nothing about the west coast of the country. Honestly he knew next to nothing about the east coast too.