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Andy nodded; she wasn't totally mollified, but if her aunt insisted she was fine, she'd accept it. She closed the box and put it back in her backpack. "Yeah, I'm good to go." She glanced at where the monster had been.

Chocolate was close to her, whimpering nervously. She was glad the pup had stayed out of danger. She looked down and patted him gently on the head. "I'm glad you're here. Though that means Arthur doesn't have you." She didn't like that he didn't have the pup with him anymore. They had found Chocolate together. So maybe the puppy had just wanted to be with her instead. Arthur was supposed to be heading underwater, and maybe he couldn't take him with him. That made sense and made her feel better about it.




Niah did not envy Jason. Speaking with your godly parent was always...awkward. She and her mom got along well enough, but she was raised among Romans. She had little interaction with her mom. But he was bringing some good news. The cyclopses were no longer a problem. She didn't want to guess what the spear would be for, but it was a godly gift so it would be useful later.

"Yeah, I could eat too." She told Stella. She tucked her new book under her arm and started down the train toward the dining car. She had eaten Amtrak food before. It wasn't anything to write home about, which meant it was neither the worst thing nor anything fancy. But it was food.

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Amtrak Train:

Ares looked to the two girls wanting to head out and head to the food car at the back of the train, he then turned his attention back towards Jason. "To use the spear just break it in half when you are in need of it, it'll summon something to aid you." Ares explained as he gently rested a hand on his shoulder. "Be careful on your journey back to New Rome, there has been more monster activity lately." Ares warned him, before he quickly disappeared in front of Jason. Jason would find a small button on the handle of the spear, if he pressed it would collapse into itself and be easily put into a pocket.

Over in the food car there were a few people in there already, just sitting and enjoying the quiet little ride there were a few seats available for them to take as well to. The windows of the train car were well lit and giving a good view of the scenery around them as well to. There was a man at the counter tending to some customers, and a menu was tapped to the surface of the table as well as plastered on the wall containing drinks and very small and basic menu as well to for them to take a look at as well.

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The car was slightly lopsided due to Hercules's size and weight, he did try to buckle himself in despite Leda telling him not to bother even trying it. But he tried anyway, and there was a snapping sound as the cyclops ended up ripping the whole thing by accident. "Oops." Hercules said awkwardly as he tried to hide the whole thing on the floor rubbing the back of his neck slightly. Kiera looked over her shoulder and giggled slightly at the cyclops as she turned to look at Sera. She was curious now about her new half-sister and did want to get to know her. "So where are you from Sera?" Kiera asked her.

Once they had gotten back to the pier that they were at moments ago, there was a small dock for boats and whatnot to travel along the rivers around the city. At the end of the docks there was three Hippocampi grazing by the water they were wearing what looked to be saddles as well to, one looked to be large enough for a cyclops to sit on. Kiera had seen them all back at Camp Half-Blood before and they were always very friendly as well to. "They are really cute." Kiera said as she quickly got out of the car and made her way over towards one of them, she counted the three of them as she looked at her girlfriend. "Care to ride with me love?" Kiera asked Leda. One of them had a small bottle attached to the saddle and it was addressed to Sera as it read.

'These are for you, see you soon when you get here.'

From, Dad.'

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"I'm good to keep moving." Madalyne said looking at the both of them and nodded slightly as she started to make her way over towards the tunnel, she then grabbed a nearby torch she had found on the ground. She gave it a little look over seeing that it was dry enough and looked like it was fairly new and lit it on fire using some of her stuff to illuminate the area. There were a few skeletons that littered the floor looking like they had been there for a really long time. Some of the clothes appeared to be from the early 1800's while some looked fairly recent.

"So, you guys have any fun and interesting stories back at camp?" Madalyne decided to ask looking at both Mary and Andy, figuring she'd get the chance to get to know Mary and her niece a little bit more. The arrow would suddenly turn left for the map that was in Mary's hands that led to a door. If she opened it there was a flight of steps leading upwards to another large room, it looked like it was some sort of workshop, but it had been ransacked and everything was ruined by the looks of it. Maybe there was something useful among the junk that they could use against the monsters here.

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Kristin shook her head slightly towards Demi, wondering off and being a demigod werent really good combinations, that could lead to people dying. "Stay in eyesight of everyone." Kristin said mostly to everyone as she boarded the train, she took a moment to see where they all could seat. The back of the train car had a good amount of seats for them to all sit together. Kristin quickly took the window seat and slipped her pack off laying them on the floor as she watched the other people boarding the train.

Joanie decided to fly off of Nancy's shoulder and plopped herself on the head of one of the car seats and curled up slightly and promptly fell asleep right then and there. Once everyone had boarded the train it started to move out of the station and off on their journey across the country. Kristin then decided to try and work on some tactics as she looked at everyone to try and get them all to work together somewhat. "So whats everyone's strengths and weaknesses when it comes to fighting?" Kristin decided to ask.

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Location: New York City

Skills: N/A

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Well a question could take her mind off being cramped in the back seat. "Kamloops, Canada. When I turned ten me and my mother headed to Las Vegas. After a few months I heard that my uncle had moved up to New York and I decided to run away to live with him. He raised me when I lived in Kamloops.... so I wanted to be close again." Sera liked her uncle way more than her mother. So of course she ran away to be with the person that raised her. He was a pretty amazing person.

"Of course that didnt work out so well, travling by myself.... But maybe after this Ill write a letter to him. At least let him know Im safe."

Sera was thankful to get out of the cab when they parked alongside the pier. She sighed quietly to herself. Following the three over to the end of the docks. "Oh what interesting creatures." She says while reaching out for the bottle. Opening it to read the note. "Oh.... thats rather surprising. I guess dad sent these for me. Ah gosh." The girl was nervous to meet her father, he was expecting her.

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Cassian's pace slowed slightly as he overheard Demi and Zeke's conversation. So the child of Apollo and Zeus were dating. Sure it was an…interesting Dynamic, especially given the shadows that had seemed to follow Demetri that night at the campfire, but if they were happy who was he to judge. He quickly quickened his pace in order to close the gap he had left for them before. Seeing as the train pulled up and the others were now waiting for them.

Demetri watched as the others got on the train, his hand brushing up against Zeke's for a brief moment before he'd pulled it back and into his pocket. "Just had a thought, now that I've at the very least identified that mysterious woman, why couldn't I just shift into a dragon and fly us all there? Surely it'd be faster." He joked, a small laugh escaping him as he shrugged and rolled his eyes as if to say 'oh well'.

Demetri looked towards Zeke and did a small hop up, shifting as he jumped and turning into a cat. He landed down onto Zeke's shoulder, wrapping himself along the nape of his neck. His fur was jet black, including his nose and inner ears. There was no color on him save for the jade green eyes. Demi-cat began to purr loudly, small meows following after a few in an attempt to tell Zeke to sit down. He'd much rather be lounging in his lap.

Cassian followed shortly behind the pair, passing by Zeke as he offered a gentle pat on his arm and gave him a smile. He was genuinely happy for the pair, but there was also a load of pity for them as he knew just how bad Aphrodite could be. Wars had been fought in the name of love, and he hoped for their sake it wouldn't come to that. Cass stood with the rest of the group, awkwardly waiting in the silence before speaking. "I suppose I can start us off. I'm good with a sword and bow, aside from that I know some first aid, including distinguishing which plants are good for what uses, I handle animals very well, and have my parents gifts. I do prefer to stay at range with a bow but I don't mind using a sword if need be."

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Ezekiel took a seat next to Kristin, opting not to sit beside Nancy due to the pet dragon she had and assumed it may want to harass Demi and they really didn’t need to draw any attention to themselves on the train. As it was, Ezekiel was trying to relax. The purring helped some, but it was also rather annoying. Ezekiel had never had a pet, so the sound was new to him.
”You don’t need to be that loud,” Zeke mumbled to Demi before he focused on the group and Kristin’s question. The idea of revealing his weaknesses was unappealing to him, but he took one look at Nancy and sighed. For the good of the group, he reminded himself.
”Well, archery of course, I’m also proficient with a murakumo. I’m not particularly fond of heights or the dark. For obvious reasons.” He said, a slight glow shifting over him before disappearing. A son of Apollo, it made sense Ezekiel feared complete darkness. He didn’t mind moonlit nights, finding comfort in that due to Apollo’s twin sister but no light, it was like suffocating to him.

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Stella smiled happily at the fact that Niah was willing to go to the dining car with her, and so she stood up and gently put the leash on Arbor and checked to make sure the little 'vest' was on display for the mortals. She bowed her head gently to the God before leaving the compartment with Niah and Arbor. Her little pup seemed so happy to be out of the compartment at that point, and was more than happy to enjoy some walkies. She walked the length of the train till they arrived at the dining car.

Stella picked one of the tables by the windows, so that Arbor and herself could look out of it, and then she looked over the menu that was tabled to the table. "Hmmmm I wonder if they'll do just like a hamburger patty for Arbor or something like that. It's not like they sell dog food. Unless... what do you eat boy? Maybe you need some water, sun and nutrients huh?" She chuckled softly and gently pet him softly, knowing full well he really couldn't respond with words. "Hmmm let's see... do you think we order at the counter?"

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Nancy was happy with the choice of the back of the train car - there would be less foot traffic back there, hopefully. Joanie had already found a spot she was happy with, curled up on the headrest of one of the seats, so Nancy sat in that same seat. She figured Joanie could ness in her wild mess of hair if she wanted to - that or eat it. Nancy truthfully didn't mind, as she had curls for days.

Whatever brief sense of calm that Nancy had felt was gone, replaced with knots of anxiety, as Cassius confirmed he had his parents powers. Nancy avoided looking at him. She didn't want him to know that that scared the shit out of her. For better or worse, Nancy couldn't help but see the Lotus Hotel and Casino when she thought about Bacchus, the terrifying god of wine and madness. Knowing that Cassius had Bacchus' powers made her want to throw herself out the window of the train while it was in motion. He repulsed her.

Nancy listened to the weaknesses and strengths the demigods were offering, doing her best to focus on tactics, and to resist the urge to pick up Joanie and pace up and down the aisle of the car to soothe her nerves. "Biggest strength is my voice. I've got killer pipes. I'm handy with daggers, swords, and a bow - and most used to group rather than solo combat," Nancy said. When it came time to say her weaknesses, however... Her voice failed her for a moment. There was one huge weakness, one gigantic liability, and it was difficult to voice. She intentionally hadn't mentioned her prophetic ability in her strengths, as she considered it a curse. "Weaknesses, I... I..."

Nancy closed her eyes. Her hands were shaking and she took a deep breath, trying to force the words out.

But the more she tried, the more raw she felt. The more every fiber of her being started to scream at her, like an electrocuted nerve. The more she thought about taking her dagger and ending it all, rather than ever go back there. "Zeke can tell you all," Nancy whispered, her body pale, as she got up and marched off down the aisle, just wanting to put distance between herself and the others - especially that Bacchus kid. This was a secret she hadn't revealed to very many people, one that the megabitch Leandra had violated her privacy by attempting to weaponize. She didn't want these people to know, but with they were going, they'd find out one way or another. Nancy didn't want their pity.

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Leda rolled her eyes slightly, as Hercules ended up breaking the seatbelt. She didn't really care that he had damaged the car, it was stolen anyways. If it had been her own car, that she had spent every last drachma she had saved on, then they would have an issue. "Cute," she commented, looking at Hercules through the rearview mirror. She listened as Kiera and Sera chatted, Kiera Leda imagined was pretty stoked to finally have a sibling. Leda was mildly intrigued in how Sera had managed to get from Vegas to New York City all on her own, but she didn't pry. She was certain that Sera was capable - kidnapping withstanding.

Or at least, Leda hoped she was - everyone else in the group was pretty brand new at this questing business and while Leda felt she could carry the team, she didn't want to be forced to do so.

Leda got them to the pier and she parked the cab, doing a decent job - she could've just left it in the street, but it was a point of pride. She had worked hard to get her license. Leda left the keys in the ignition as she got out. Someone else could take the cab if they wanted to. "They're called hippocampi," Leda explained to Sera. "And 'course, luv - it'll be a nice change, not having to carry you," she teased, a playful smirk creeping up her face.

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Of course the group once they were on the train instantly started talking about potential weaknesses and strengths within the group. Janelle had chosen a seat as far as possible from where Zeke and Demi currently were, since she still didn't want to be near them or anything like that. Though now they were in a train car off to other places, figuring that they had all the time in the world at this point with regards to everything now.

"My weaknesses are pretty apparent. I'm very much reliant on sound, and too much or too little can make a big difference. Though it is hard sometimes to hear myself think when Demetri decides to start talking which gets annoying considering how much I rely on sound to get around. If something deafened me or something like that, I'd basically be useless, which is why I do better in fights with a smaller number of enemies then in large groups as they are easier to hear, but that's just me..."

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Jason wasn't entirely sure how well things would work out for this spear, or how they were supposed to potentially get around New Rome to figure out the best potential solutions to everything. He really had no idea what sort of situation they might need the spear in, or how it could possibly help them out. Would make things easier if the gods actually told them everything that was supposed to happen or what situation a specific item might be useful for. But that was asking too much clearly.

"Uh, ok, guess that makes sense... Not surprising that the area is more overrun by monsters or anything like that," Jason said, but before he could ask any more questions or say anything else, he was gone. "Well bye then," he ended up saying, before finding the switch that allowed the object to collapse and fit in his pocket. He put it away, before going to go find where the other two were, having heard them say something about going to the dining car or something like that.

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"Alright, continuing onwards we go," she said, following the arrow a bit on the map, but she had to think a bit on the question that Madalyne had posed about any interesting or fun stories from back at camp. Well that was an interesting question that was brought up really. She didn't really have too many interesting things to think about. Nope, most interesting things about her happened really before she had gotten to camp, since she'd never really gone on quests or anything like that before this point.

"Most of the interesting things about me are from before I got to camp, since I've never actually gone on a quest or anything before hand. I'm actually from Germany, but my family ended up moving here when I was younger... Though chose to be a year round camper because I couldn't really stand my twin sister too much, she could get insanely annoying, and because I felt like I finally belonged someplace. English is my second language, my first is German, though guess technically Ancient Greek falls into those categories somewhere. I still have a slight accent at times when I'm stressed, or will randomly spout German words, usually swearing or something, if the time calls for it, does that count as anything interesting or whatever? What about you?" she ended up sort of rambling a bit, before turning the question back to Madalyne.

Following the arrow even more so, she was a bit surprised to see what was beyond the door that the arrow had pointed her to. The room was some weird sort of ransacked workshop, and it definitely was a place of interest. "Well this is definitely an interesting place..."

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Andy listened as Mary talked about herself. She was trying to think if she had heard anything about Mary having a twin sister. If they were twins, was the sister at camp too? They paused as they entered a new room. This one looked like a wreck.

"Wow." She bet a Hephestous kid would have a field day in the room. "I'm gonna poke around to see if anything is interesting." Andy wasn't much of a tinkerer. But maybe she'd find something useful. She carefully started to poke around. "You too, Chocolate; let me know if you find anything cool." She suggested to the pup.






Niah went up to the counter of the food car. "Can I get a coffee and a roast beef sandwich?" The cold food on the train was not always great, but she didn't want to think about the hot food. It'd all be microwaved. But the coffee was what she really wanted. Jason had all their money.

"Stella, come order too." She had no idea what Arbor could eat. "You can offer him something and see if he likes it." Niah shrugged. She knew monsters could have weird needs. She hoped she could delay enough for Jason to join them with the money. They probably couldn't use credit cards, but cash would be fine.

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Amtrak Train:

The person who was manning the food car looked at Niah asking for some coffee, she looked a little bit young to have coffee, but kids these days usually drank a ton of energy drinks which were worse than coffee sometimes. "Sure thing." He said as he went and started to brew up some coffee for Niah. On the menu there was also some baked goods as well to as some sugar cookies, and chocolate chip cookie as well to, as he looked at Stella.

"What would you like?" He asked her, Jason would be able to get to the back of the train without any issue and be able to spot Stella and Niah nearby. A few seconds later the train would start to slowly slow down as they started to reach their first station along the train tracks, some people started to fill in the food car as well taking some seats that were open still. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary for now that is anyway.

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Kiera listened to Sera as she mentioned where she had been from, she of course had never been to Canada before, the furthest she had been out of the country was to the Bahamas when she was little years before she found out that she was a Demi-God. "I've never been to Canada before." Kiera said to Sera giving her a slight smile, she decided to not bring up about her running away and figured that she probably didnt want to talk about that really.

The Hippocampi looked at the two daughters of Poseidon for a moment only the two of them would hear one of them talking. 'Hop on already!' The hippocampi said, to both Leda and Hercules it sounded more like it was a snort coming from it. 'Also put anything you don't want wet into the saddle bags.' It told the two of them, to the other two it sounded like a whinny from it, Kiera had heard the Pegasi and horses at Camp Half-Blood talk before, sometimes they did have a personality. "One of our abilities being a kid of Poseidon is that we are able to understand what horses actually say since he is the god of them as well to." Kiera told Sera giving her a smile figuring that she was still new to all of this as well.

"Are you saying i'm fat?" Kiera said teasingly to her as she looked at her girlfriend and gestured towards the saddle bags that were there, which were large enough for them to put an entire backpack inside of it which looked to be pretty watertight when you closed it up. "We can put our stuff in there so it doesnt get wet they said." Kiera told her girlfriend and smiled towards her as she went and climbed up onto the back of the Hippocampi and offered her hand to Leda and smiled. "Need help on there?" Hercules asked looking over at Stella offering her any help in case she needed to get up.

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Madalyne thought for a moment as she looked into the room that they were in as Mary told her a little bit about herself she was surprised that the Daughter of Ceres opened up to her. Most of the Greeks that she had gotten to know were a little bit uptight around her and didnt really reveal much. "Huh I didn't expect that you were actually from Germany, i'm from the UK myself." Madalyne said as she looked around the room it looked like it was pretty well burnt. "My friend Nancy, Niah and I had a quest together, to find a gem from my mother, that a dragon had stolen. It ended up messing with Mount Rushmore which was kind of funny seeing that the dragon had defaced the faces there." Madalyne said with a slight laugh.

In the corner of the workshop Andy would find a chest that looked surprisingly well intact for the most part, and she'd see what looked to be three pairs of metal wings. Though they looked to be slightly incomplete, and had a few pieces missing, Choclate would trot off and search around the room barking loudly finding a tool box that was under a burnt table.

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Kristin listened to everyone as they started to speak up about their strengths and weaknesses and thought a little bit before speaking up. "I'm really good with tactics and strategy, i'm also able to learn how to use other weapons pretty quickly. But they aren't as powerful as some other demigod abilities or anything like that." Kristin answered her own question as she looked at Nancy as she got up and started to pace up and down slightly. Something else was clearly bothering Nancy it seems as Kristin looked over at Zeke wondering what she actually had meant by that.

Kristin didn't really want to pry to much on Nancy she figured that the daughter of Apollo would bring it up on her own if she needed to. Joanie started eyeing Demi-Cat as a potential meal as she licked her lips staring intently at the little cat boy, the baby dragon was always hungry it seems. The little dragon then sensed Nancy's distress and quickly flew over landing on Nancy's head nuzzling slightly letting out a little sound.

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Cassian couldn't help but notice the growing animosity coming from Nancy. Any time he'd attempted to speak to her or engage her in any way she brushed him off or ignored him. The way her eyes wouldn't meet his, reminded him of the kids back home. He wanted to address it, to try and resolve whatever wrong he had done to her, but before he could even voice his thoughts she had gotten up and marched a ways off. She clearly was rattled by something, whatever her weakness was. She needed space for now, and Cassian needed to respect that. He took a deep breath in, letting out a short sigh of disappointment to himself.

As soon as Zeke had taken a seat Demetri jumped down from his shoulders and into his lap. Stretching his body, elongated to its full extent as his paws spread wide and claws came out before curling back in. Zeke's comment struck him rather harshly, replying back with a rather sharp meow before curling up on his legs and resting his head down. He watched and listened to everyone talking about strengths and weaknesses, though Nancy seemed to dump hers onto Zeke but having seen how she reacted earlier and once again now, it was clear this was all a touchy subject for a touchy mission. Once Kristin finished up, Demi perked his head up. Opening one eye after another as his ears twitched lazily.

Cassian bit his lower lip, examining everything that was laid out before him. Nancy had entrusted Zeke with spilling her big secret weakness, which meant whatever secret she was hiding couldn't have been easy to say. "Zeke, before you tell us, I suppose I should throw in two things that I would like never to leave this train car. The first is my weakness, I don't do well in fires. Especially ones within a forest. I don't know what it is but…" Cass cleared his throat. "The second is an extension of my strength. I said I have my parents powers, I mean that to say in plurality. I'm a legacy of Discord and Chaos. As such…I'm used to people giving me wide berths. After all, who wants to be close to a child of Chaos and Madness? So I try to keep that half of me secret. I'd appreciate it if you could all do the same. Now, that leaves…Demetri. Who is currently a cat. Anyone have any idea on what his strengths and weaknesses are?" Cassian asked, opening the floor to everyone.

Demi-cat rolled his eyes before finally speaking up. "Fiiiiiine. I'll pitch in as well. I'm fairly decent at impersonation, both voice and appearances. As you can see I can mix and match as well. I'm handy with my dagger, not too shabby with a sword, but I feel most natural swapping around different animalistic styles. I hate heights unless I'm the one personally flying, and well…I don't think there's much else to me is there? Oh wait there's also this weird shadow stuff that happens sometimes around me." Demetri didn't want to bring up his two biggest fears, he doubted they'd come up within this quest, and it was more of a private conversation Yo be had with Zeke.

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Ezekiel tried to ignore the purring in his ear so he could focus on what the others were saying. It was rather difficult, and he lost track a few times, but he didn’t miss Nancy’s movement. He watched her stand abruptly, not being able to say the biggest weakness to her and well, everyone on this trip before she departed, saying he could tell the group. Ezekiel watched Nancy leave until she disappeared into her new seat. He slowly turned back around and started tapping the side of his leg in a nervous rhythm.
It wasn’t like they had talked about this part before. Nancy had told him not to say anything and now she wanted him to. There was a fine line of saying too much and not enough and Ezekiel had no idea where that line was. Before he could even say anything, the others all divulged their weaknesses and secrets. Ezekiel half listened as he tried to figure out what to say.
During that time, Demi moved from Zeke’s shoulders to his lap and Zeke used the distraction to clear his mind. He had seen cats before but never owned one or been friends with one. It was strange to have one sitting in his lap now. Stranger still to have one speaking.
”Wait, shadows following you? How long has that been going on?” Between Cassian and Demi, it seemed there was a lot that the demi-gods were keeping to themselves. He shook his head and looked out the window for a moment before speaking.
”You know Nancy’s been inside the Lotus Hotel already, she ended up trapped there in the 80s. Unable to age and everything. Well, something incredibly traumatic happened to her that none of you need to know about in order to get the job done as far as I am concerned but that is her biggest weakness. The Lotus Hotel. Period. But she is here all the same because she understands the importance of a quest. So, even if the rest of us don’t get along or are mad at someone, we need to put our differences aside for this mission because Nancy is sacrificing a lot to be here and lead us back to her own personal hell and if we want to get out of that cursed place alive, we need to listen to what she has to say and do what she tells us to.” Ezekiel finished and stared at the black cat in his lap. Up until this point he hadn’t touched Demi but now he rested a hand on the cat and found his fur to be quite soft. How strange. He used the textile distraction to keep him from worrying if he had spoken true for Nancy or simply disappointed her.

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Stella walked over to the counter, and then hopped up on one of the chairs, and let Arbor sit by her feet, and pet his head softly. He was being calm now that he wasn't being cooped up in the cabin at that point, and thankfully it seemed that the train ride would be restful one for a bit. Of course the moment she thought that she mentally cursed herself. Why had she thought that? Just because Ares had promised that the Cyclops monsters were gone it didn't mean that something couldn't easily hop on at the next station or the one after that.

She was jerked back to reality as Niah spoke. "Oh yes, a turkey with cheddar cheese sandwich and a hot cocoa for me, and could I get a bottled water and some turkey slices for my dog please?" She was sure that Arbor would want something better when she had the time to make up a good fertilizer mix, but for the moment she didn't have good access to anything that could be used to make such a thing. And she was pretty sure that if she asked for egg shells, scrap meat and dirt from the cook on the train he would have called her crazy or something else like that. So, sliced turkey would have to work for the moment.

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Nancy didn't mind as Joanie landed on her head. She kept pacing the corridors of the train, doing her best to focus on her breathing. She felt too emotionally worn out already to have another meltdown, and she didn't know what the Mist would show the mortals if she started shattering all of the glass in the train with her voice. She almost wished that some sort of monster would show its head, just so she could focus on killing something rather than memories of her own trauma. It was crazy for her to be doing this, to be going back here - she hated that she was doing this - and she hated that it was necessary, that it had to be her.

As Nancy walked up and down the corridor, she didn't look in the direction of where the others were sitting. She didn't want to catch a pitying glance or see them whispering about the poor, damaged, broken Roman praetor. So instead, she people watched. She looked at the mortals who were completely clueless, just going about their day. In her mind, she made up stories about them. The old woman there was going to visit her grandchildren for the first time in 10 years. The man over there was preparing to propose to his boyfriend. The pair of twins she saw playing some sort of handheld game had been separated at birth and only recently reunited under Parent Trap like conditions. Nancy doubted any of these stories she told herself were true.

But thinking about these stories was better than thinking about reality...

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Leda snorted at Kiera's comment, shaking her head. She could be a bitch at times, and Leda didn't try to hide it, but she wasn't going to body shame her girlfriend. There were some lines that Leda wasn't willing to cross, because being a bitch was one thing - being cruel was another. "Right, tell your mate that he better not lose our stuff," Leda requested, before putting her bag into the saddle bag. She wasn't thrilled at the idea of being underwater this long, already thinking about how much the saltwater would end up stinging her eyes when they reached the ocean.

Leda took Kiera's hand and got onto the back of the hippocampus. She was hoping that Kiera would be able to keep her relatively dry as they went. Otherwise, things would get annoying pretty quickly. Leda's blonde hair would probably end up looking light a slight shade of green. She secured her arms around Kiera's waist, in order to keep herself from falling off. She glanced over at Sera, noticing that Hercules was offering to help her up.

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Location: New York City

Skills: N/A

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"Canadas a lovely place to live. Have to take a visit up there some time Kiera." She smiled gently. "Oh! Ive heard horses talk before... it was strange to me. Thought I was sleep deprived." Sera admitted, it was rather odd when it happened years ago to her. The girl didnt have any belongings on her so she didnt need the saddle bag at the time. "But interesting we can hear them speaking."

She looked over to Hercules and let him help her up onto the Hippocampi. It probably would have been a bit tricky by herself since she was short statured. But at least she got some help from the cyclops in order to get upon the creature. "Thanks. Alright, well we can head off as soon as Hercules gets on his Hippocami." She made sure to keep hold onto the sea beast. It would suck to fall off midride in the middle of the ocean!

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Andy thought the things she found were interesting. "Good boy, Chocolate." She told the hellhound before starting to open the chest she had found. Inside seemed to parts for the sets of wings that were nearby. That made sense. She had no idea what the purpose of the wings was.

Andy then moved over to the toolbox thing that Chocolate had found. Inside were more parts for the wings. She frowned. These wings must have been a major focus of whoever worked in the room.

"Hey, Mads, I think I found something important, but I don't get it." She said, looking up from the stuff. She held up a part of the wings.




Niah waved as Jason joined them. She was a little antsy. Even knowing that Ares said they were safe from the cyclopses. Or maybe because of that. She knew how many quests could go sideways. She always slept better after a fight on a quest.

Stella placed her order. She was glad that the guy didn't seem to want to parent her. She hated that she was still underage. When she turned, 18 quests would be easier. Unaccompanied minor issues abounded. Usually, the mist seemed to make it easier.

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Janelle was listening to what everyone else was saying. Though she was not thrilled with everything that was going on, she listened as others were stating their issues or weaknesses. She could understand Nancy's reluctance to go back to the hotel if she had gotten stuck there for decades. It made perfect sense why her reluctance to go back was there. However something else that Zeke said struck a bit of a nerve, and she stood up from where she was, her head somewhat turned in the direction of his voice.

"If you paid attention to anythin, you'd realize all o' de prahblems seem to 'ave stemmed frahm one persahn. Dat persahn bein you. People talk about needin communication ahr talkin pahtentially in needin to wen fights and all, 'owever you couldn't even really do dat and sahrt o' lied straight to me face dis mahrnin. So fahrgive me fahr naht wantin to even dink about wahrkin wit you ever. Io dink I ever actually 'ad feelengs fahr de selfesh preck dat you are, sence you seem to be in de mendset o' just push everythin under de rug when dat is 'ahnestly near impahsseble because o' you," she said simply, not really talking to anyone else, but directly towards him alone. "And what is wahrse is dat fahr sahme reasahn I seem to care what you dink and only really what you dink, dahn't care what anyone else dinks boeht fahr sahme reasahn I do now with you, 'owever now isn't de time fahr dat... You laht maybe see about tryin to figure out what to do while we're at de 'ahtel, sence I'm naht exactly de best fahr dat sahrt o' din." she ended up going a few seats away from the group, but not near Nancy since from what it sounded like she wanted to be left alone at this point too. Well this certainly was a great group to be around now isn't it?

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He glanced around as he got to the back part of the train to the dining car, where the other two were, and looked to see if he could find the pair. Seeing them, he walked over to where the pair was as they were ordering food, "Well dat was a fun cahnversation," he ended up saying to the pair with regards to the whole situation where his father decided to pay them a visit and give him an object that was supposedly going to help them.

Yeah, this was going to be a fun adventure, since he had no idea how useful this thing was going to be when all he got told was that he probably would be able to figure out when it was that they might need it. That was going to be interesting to discover how everything would work out. Though he was keeping an eye out on things right now considering the fact that now would literally be the time, knowing their luck, when more monsters would decide to appear on the train.

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"Ich meine, es ist nicht sehr allgemein bekannt," she spoke to Madalyne fluently, her accent poking through with it ass she did so effortlessly. "Not exactly common knowledge, but also I didn't even really learn to speak English much until I was 8, I preferred my native language first... Was just better off for me that way. Just the way things were for me over all... Just sort of how things were for me. But yeah, if I randomly started speaking in German or with an accent to my words, that usually means I'm stressed or freaked out unless it's in a setting like now where there isn't chaos. It is fun cursing in German though, that's always nice."

Mary glanced over to see what it was that Andy was doing, and walked over to look at the wings and such that she had found in the workshop. "Wow, those are kind of cool... Too bad we don't have a Hephaestus kid or something with us, since there might be enough to get them to be repaired around here. Since who knows, those things could be useful if they were fixed up or something for any number of reasons..."

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Amtrak Train:

"Sure thing." The person at the counter said as he started to make the order for the food that Stella had requested and Niah's as well to, he then turned to look at Jason as he joined the rest of them. "What can I get you?" He asked Jason as some other people in the car started to go to the counter and started requesting some food and drinks. In the corner of the room however a rather old looking man could be seen staring at the three of them rather intently, before getting up and leaving the train car behind and headed down somewhere down train. A few seconds later the man finished their food for Stella and Niah. "That will be fifteen dollars." He asked the two of them, handing over the food once they had paid for it.

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Hercules nodded and helped Sera up onto her hippocampi and then he climbed up onto his own, then the two of them looked at each other as one of them spoke up. 'Hold on tight.' It said as the three water horses suddenly moved forward rather quickly, in one of the saddle bags that was on Sera's hippocampi she could hear something moving around inside of it as they moved forward. Inside of it would look like some sort of smartwatch that was bronze in color as well to. Once they were a good distance away from the pier the three hippocampi started to dive under the water slowly.

Kiera quickly started to use her ability around the water and started to form an air bubble around herself as well as Leda just to keep the two of them dry. "You alright there love?" Kiera asked as she looked over her shoulder at her girlfriend and smiled as they started to get deeper. They could see the underside of a few boats and ships that were moving around the river, as well as various kinds of fish and even a few naiads that were in the water and started to swim alongside them being friendly and waving at them.

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"Maybe you could teach me sometime?" Madalyne asked when she heard Andy and made her way over towards her as she took a look at what she had found, and looked around the room once more as she thought about it. The room looked to be a workshop of some kind, although almost everything looked like it was completely destroyed except for some of these items it looks like. She remembered a little bit about the Labyrinth itself and who made it in the first place.

"If I remember correctly those wings were made by Daedalus himself or something like that, and this destroyed workshop must have been his then." Madalyne suggested sadly she wasn't a daughter of Vulcan when it came to building things it wasn't really her forte, usually kids of Vulcan were really good with metalworking and things like that. "It might be useful though." Madalyne said as she looked between Mary and Andy. "Unless you guys know how to fix them?" Madalyne asked, she knew that Camp Half-Blood did have some forges in their camp that other campers were welcome to use and Hephaestus kids had their own private one in their cabin to.

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Kristin listened to everyone as they continued to talk finishing up with what their strength and weaknesses were, she didn't have any issue and would work with just about everyone really even having issues with someone. Kristin was more than willing to burry it all as she heard Janelle speaking up and basically snapping at Zeke. Kristin closed her eyes and sighed slightly as Janelle decided to take a seat that was open away from the group. Nancy was sitting elsewhere in the car as well to, and she could understand from what Zeke had said something bad happened to her in there and didn't really want to bring it up at all either.

"Well that went well.." Kristin said muttering to herself as she leaned back slightly looking at the others who were there, things seemed to be calm enough for now as she got up setting her pack down. "I'm going to look around the train if anyone wants to come with." Kristin offered as she decided to head up train to see if anything was out of place.

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Stella waved softly to Jason as he joined them after talking to his father. He said it had been a fun conversation and there were many ways that could have been interpreted but, it seemed that Jason was no worse for the wear, and it didn't seem like there was any immediate bad news, right? She looked up as the man at the counter set the food in front of them and told them the amount. She fished out some of her cash and set it upon the counter and then picked up the sandwich and sliced meat.

She handed over one of the slices to Arbor, who seemed to accept it for the moment. He seemed happier with the water when he was offered that, and Stella made a mental note to get one of those travel doggy water bowls when she could. The next thing she would figure out to do for him was some compost or something he'd love to eat. She gently pet him, and noticed the old man head down the train but paid it no mind. There were plenty of people on the train. "Should we eat here or go back to our compartment?"

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Location: New York City

Skills: Hydrokinsis

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Sera had also conquered up a bubble, knowing they'd be going deep into the sea it'd be best to be safe than sorry if her body didn't adjust to the changes. She decided to take a look in the saddle bag, seeing the smartwatch and put it on her wrist right away. It must have been some sort of weapon right? She'd figure it out later. It'd be bad to try it while riding a a fast moving hippocampi. Maybe once they settled down on ground she'd figure out the new accessory.

The ocean looked amazing underneath the surface. Fishes of different sorts swam around in clusters or by themselves. Seeing naiads was new, they were very pretty. The demigod waved gently as they had joined swimming beside the group. Sera felt as if she could stay down here forever. The ocean was peaceful, unlike the chaos that was on land. Of course she knew she couldn't stick around down in the ocean forever.