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Ezekiel chuckled as he placed his notebook back into his bag. He shrugged before responding to Cassian. "It was that or a pair of rolled-up socks.” He turned to look at the others and saw a new girl was with them. Quick deduction skills told Zeke that it was Demi and not some new creature they had to fight off. Ezekiel blushed and looked away before mumbling to Demi. ”You’re someone else… again.”
Ezekiel fell into step with the others as they returned to their original train car. It dawned on him that the people around them were hesitant and cringing. He tuned into the conversation and Nancy’s urgency. He agreed with her, but they were on a moving train. It wasn’t like they could jump off. They would have to wait until the next station unless Nancy’s theory about Janelle’s power proved true. Ezekiel had faith in Janelle. Even if their friendship was in ruins, he didn’t doubt her or her ability.
”We could also play a tune, Nanc. Try and elicit a calming effect.” Thanks to Demi’s gift, Zeke had an easier way to transport his guitar. He always had it on him now.

---

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Well the conversation seemed to be going off the rails as others started moving back towards the original train car that they had started in. Yeah they had a million different ways this could play out, and everything was a bit... Chaotic to say the least. The mortals on the train saw something, and they didn't have much time to figure out what to do, anything to really do at this point, and she was trying to think of something, when Nancy asked her about what exactly her powers were or how they more or less worked, and apparently wanted her to try and make it so that to everyone else it had all been a dream or something.

"I'm naht sure ahn 'ow dat would wahrk out... Plus dat's a decent amount o' people, so I'm unsure o' 'ow dis'll wahrk out... But I guess I can try..." she ended up saying somewhat slowly. This was a bit above the sort of thing she'd done before. The most that she's done with dreams was to wander around in someone else's dream once in order to find some info, she never actually knew really how to do what Nancy was asking, but she was willing to try at least. Janelle started using her powers in an attempt to try and make things appear like some weird day dream, and unfortunately she never could really tell if she was successful, though to everyone else it seemed to have worked, since it eventually was working making everything appear as a day dream to the normal people on the train.

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"Maybe it wasn't so much abou de train... Maybe dey wanted to see if we were ahn de train ahr sahmethin, but dat wouldn't make sense. Dough pretty sure to dem we're de mahst interestin dings ahn de train aside frahm de food, but dey dedn't take anythin frahm us ahr whatever so I dahn't know..." Jason said, still unsure of how best to potentially deal with the situation. It didn't make sense what they were after, and now they were still there on the train, surrounded by an insane amount of chaos around them.

Of course, they had more issues to deal with as the train conductor decided to finally get over to the train car, and for the moment it seemed like whatever Niah had done had caused them to clearly see a bird attack or something instead. Which was useful, considering the fact that the area was chaos, and it was kind of showing how people were more gullible then one would normally think. He didn't openly say anything, as Stella seemed to have decided to lean into the whole getting scratched up thing, so that was going to be interesting overall.

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"Yeah this is probably not going to end super well I wouldn't think..." she ended up saying as they started heading towards what looked like a forest of sorts. Things were a bit calm, too calm to her, not to mention they were starting to get overdue for something to attack them. Going through the Labyrinth wasn't supposed to be a walk in the park, it was supposed to be filled with a bunch of monsters, so where were they and why did it seem like they were ignoring them or being incompetent or something?

Then again, the reality of the situation decided to create something to happen, as they started to walk into a wooded area of some sort, some weird birds seemed to be watching them. And then they were multiplying? "Ok... This is a bit weird..." she muttered, before the birds started to attack them and all. Mary followed along after Madalyne as she opened the door to the cabin and raced on in, more then a bit prepared to barricade the door when the other two were inside. She took a moment to look around the small area, it was a simple cabin, but there was a weird trap door in the floor, and that made her a bit worried as to what could potentially be down there.

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Just as Demetri thought Nancy was coming around to liking him, she immediately disproved that thought. If her refusal to take anything as a reward for her part in this wasn't enough, he next words were. She placed a vice grip around his heart, the beating feeling strained and forced as he stood there trying not to tear up in frustration. It wasn't his fault he couldn't control his powers. Hell it wasn't even the camp's fault for lack of training. It was all Aphrodite's fault. For a Goddess of Love she seemed to have a lot of malice and hatred inside of her. He stood there silently for a moment, words caught in his throat as he tried to think of how to reply. Nancy showed him exactly what it was he feared, people only liked him when he was useful. It was his powers they cared for, not him. If he couldn't control his powers…why would they even want him?

The Son of Apollos' chuckle caught Cassiam off-guard. He hadn't ever cared to see this side of him, though on quests like this it was a welcome change in comparison to some others attitudes. His nose wrinkled at the thought of Zeke using an old pair of socks as a mouth guard. Even washed, Cassian wouldn't dare bite down on it. He'd sooner bite his tongue and have Zeke work double healing it. As Zeke stood up so did he, following behind him to rejoin the others in the back car. Moving past the two love birds so that he could hear what it was Nancy had to say.

Demetri's head hung low, watching as he saw Zeke blush and then look away. At the very least Aphrodite was proving her point. Zeke proffered these prettier girls than he did him. Another tight grip inside his chest, that is until Zeke spoke while passing him by. A low whisper for only him to hear. But he sounded…upset, disappointed. Not at the form he'd unwillingly taken, but more so that it wasn't him. Zeke's words worked to combat Nancy's. Whereas she only seemed to care about his use, Zeke cared to be around the real him. He followed into the train car behind the rest, looking towards Nancy. "My track record was almost spotless actually until Aphrodite decided to meddle in with my powers. If you have a gripe to pick, look towards her, not me." He snipped back. Annoyed at her and the fact that she always seemed to have an answer for everything.

Cassian raised an eyebrow at Nancy's suggestion. Having one of their members suddenly attempt to manipulate the Mist was a Hail Mary and a half. Even with her reasoning for it. But her concern for the Zeus kids ability to maintain his draconic shape was also valid. He was about to offer up a solution, similar to what Nancy was asking for but in a different light. It wouldn't require The Mist, but he didn't like to use it against those who weren't deserving of it. "Between you, me, and Nancy I'm sure we could make some musical calming. Help distract them while Janelle figures it out." he replied to Zeke before noticing how the passengers' attitudes had begun to change.

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Amtrak Train:

The train conductor believed Stella's story as he stared at the three kids, though he was wondering why they didn't get out of the train car when they did. "We'll get you checked out, we'll have some paramedics at the next stop to check you all out, why don't you head back to your seats?" He told them, there wasn't much that they could do about the food that was in the train car now. "We'll get you all refunds for whatever you bought her." He then held the train door open for them to make it back to their train cabin.

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"Its nice to finally meet you as well Sera." Poseidon said to his daughter and looked at Leda for a moment and gave her a slight smile, sadly he didn't really make the ocean and just mereily inherited it from the titan Oceanus, his rival who he was currently at war with right now again. "So what can I do for you all?" Poseidon asked the three of them, Kiera looked towards her girlfriend for a moment and then at Sera. Her sister had never been to camp yet so she didn't really know about the quest that they were on at all she had only been with them for a few minutes now.

Kiera looked around she didn't see her father's trident anywhere as she looked up at him. "Well we are on a quest to find your trident, and we were hoping that you knew where it would be? And maybe that Oceanus had been behind it." She asked him she didn't remember the prophecy for their quest word for word really and she hoped that Leda could recite it. She hoped that he could point them in the right direction, he sighed slightly as he looked at the three girls, he suspected that either Zeus or Hades had taken it. He had also gotten reports that Oceanus also had it as well to. "Well there are reports that Oceanus has been attacking Camp Fish-Blood, it maybe there, you should start there." He suggested to them.

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Madalyne took a moment to take a few deep breaths as she looked around the little cabin that they were all in it looked like it was pretty small and was made for like one person maybe three at max. Then she heard several loud banging sounds and caught the sight of the bird's beaks pecking at the door. Seeing the small glimmer of celestial bronze on them and realized that they were Stymphalian Birds, the doors won't last long then as she head more of the birds throwing themselves at the door trying to get in. Madalyne started to panic slightly as she took a moment to stare around the room that they were in and noticed the trap door as well to.

Madalyne quickly made her way towards it and pushed the rug away from it seeing that it was indeed one, and quickly lifted it up revealing a cellar of sorts. "Quickly get into the cellar." Madalyne told both Mary and Andy as she held it open for the two of them to get inside, she would hold them off until the two of them got in. Inside it was a small cellar that had quiet a bit of food that looked like it was well stocked as well to and a few barrels with water to.

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Everyone who was in their care and the car that they were in before all seemed to be calmed down now thanks to Janelle's powers, Kristin looked at Janelle gently resting a hand on her shoulder as she noticed that. "You did a good job it actually worked." Kristin said to Janelle as she looked towards the others, tensions still seemed to be pretty high right now with the entire group. She decided to cough slightly to get their attention, since they had just dealt with the Minotaur it was probably wise that they leave the train as soon as possible.

"So back on topic, if we have to deal with more monsters here i'd rather do it in a more open area than in a small cramped train. We should try and get off at the next stop and figure out on our next move and find another way of transportation." Kristin suggested looking at everyone there. They could probably try and rent a large car and go from there maybe that would work, or they had to just simply walk it which would take a lot longer than she would like to.

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Birds. Like the Hitchcock film. There were so many descending upon them. Andy ran with Madalyne and Mary into the cabin. Her heart pounded in her ears. She had never been afraid of birds before. But she also had never seen them act like this. It was horrifying. She understood why people could be afraid of them now.

Inside the cabin, Mads found a cellar. Inside it seemed to be someone's bolt hole. Useful for them, but how dangerous was it in the long run? Who lived in the Labyrinth? That seemed insane. It also was not what Andy had expected.

"What do we do now?" How long would they be done there? Maybe there was a secondary route out? She looked around trying to see if she noticed anything. She also looked to see how much dust there was. If this place had been recently used there would be signs of it, compared to a place that had been abandoned for a long time.




"Thank you. We appreciate it." Niah responded both for the mention of having paramedics look at them and the offer of a refund. She was more hungry than anything though. "Uh, I don't know if it is possible, but really we'd just like the food again I think. We hadn't gotten to eat much and are pretty hungry. But I understand if the birds took everything it'd be hard to do that. We're on the train for the long haul though." She explained.

"For now let's go back." She said to Stella and Jason. She headed out of the dining cabin and back to the small room they had claimed. Hoping no one had decided to move into it while they had been gone. Thankfully the feathers had done the trick. Even if it was ridiculous that they had stayed in the room when everyone else had fled. But the conductor didn't mention that.

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Location: New York City

Skills: Hydrokinsis

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Sera had no idea on what the full task at hand was, just it was a quest, but hearing what they needed to get.... Oh boy that was a surprise. Needing Poseidon's trident seemed very serious. It wasn't like a pitchfork, it was a very powerful weapon. Would he really have handed it over to them just for a quest?? She pondered while listening to them talking. Oceanus was a name she somewhat knew but not very well. She didn't really read up on the titans very much when she'd read mythology books.

"Camp Fish-Blood?" The young girl questioned quietly. It sounded funny when said but hey she wasn't going to judge the name. Obviously it was named that for a reason. "Well, at least we have a lead on where to go, right?" She looked over at the other two girls. "Plus we can help out the camp from Oceanus' attacks."

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Stella was thankful that the conductor bought her literal sob story, and she sniffled and dried her eyes with her hands a bit. He even promised them a refund on the food, which wouldn't solve the issue of their current hunger but it did meant they hadn't wasted their money. Yes, it hadn't technically been their money, but it didn't mean that they wanted to waste it on food that they hadn't even gotten to enjoy. There was still the mystery of why the harpies had attacked, if it wasn't about the food, but Stella swore up and down all she saw taken was the food, and nothing else, unless she had missed something.

She reached down and gently pet Arbor and looked at Niah as she said they should head back. It wasn't like staying in the messy dining car was going to make food magically appear for them, and it was a mess there still. She nodded and gently picked up the leash and went to lead Arbor back to their sleeping compartment, as it seemed that they might need to regroup a bit. Thankfully it seemed their compartment was fine, at least from the outside. She opened the door and went to head inside.

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It hadn't even occurred to Nancy that they could use their musical skills to calm people. She tended to use her voice as a weapon, blowing people's minds - literally. A slight red tinge colored her cheeks. As a Roman, she prided herself on seeing how her abilities could be used to aid the group as a whole, to strengthen them and weaken their enemies. It was somewhat embarrassing that she had not considered a non-combat capability of her musical gift. Maybe she could use her voice to do more than hurt people.

The brief feeling of shame though did not last long on her face - not as Demetri, for whatever reason, seemed to be angry with her. It honestly surprised Nancy. She didn't think about him very much, he was just like any other Greek here, the only one she gave two shits about was Zeke. The others were just allies in this quest, nothing more, and nothing less. Yes, Nancy had been somewhat snippy with Demetri, but she hadn't been expecting him to snap back at her. "I don't have a problem with you, actually," Nancy told Demetri. She wasn't going to back down. "Or your bestie Venus. I'd rather gag myself with a spoon than think about either of you." she snapped.

Her ire then was diverted, at Cassian's - ludicrous - suggestion that he, Zeke, and herself could work together to calm down the passengers. Anything Nancy had preached about Roman teamwork was out the window. Her eyes had widened in shock, before narrowing. "I think I'd rather be arrested than perform with you, son of Bacchus," she said sternly. At any rate, it looked like Janelle had been successful in calming down the passengers on the train. She was winning points in Nancy's book. If she had to rank the Greeks, it would be: Zeke >> Janelle >> Kristin > Demetri >>>>>>> Cassian. "Good work, Janelle," Nancy praised, although her tone was clipped and even, not filled with positive emotional inflections, as if she was commenting on the weather.

Kristin redirected their attention to the matter of transportation. Nancy didn't like it. She had barely worked up the nerve to commit to this quest, and she didn't want to find another way to get to Las Vegas. Before the mortals had calmed down, she had seen no other choice. But now, they had a choice. They could continue to ride this train and fight in close quarters, or they could steal a car, hot wire it, and drive the rest of the way... Either way, Nancy was certain monsters would find them. No quest was ever easy.

"The next stop is... Philadelphia," Nancy murmured. They hadn't really gotten any closer to Las Vegas then. Nancy didn't want to think about it, but her knowledge of US geography also made her think they might've been slightly farther away actually. "I'd prefer to ride this train as long as we can. Monsters are going to come for us no matter where we are. At least this way, we can zip through a lot of territory." She wasn't scared of more close quarters fighting.

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Leda, luckily enough, did remember the words of the prophecy. It wasn't her first quest, so she had known how important it was to commit them to memory. She didn't pick up on Poseidon misunderstanding her compliment - she knew her myths very well, she knew that he hadn't made the oceans, but she assumed he was maintaining and renovating them or at least tinkering around with them. "To find the trident, the child of the sea, rainbow, and the dead must enter the depths to find the lord of the sea and with the camp of the sea," Leda recited.

"We had another with us on the quest - a son of Hades - but... Hades seems to have, like, grounded him," Leda explained. Prophecies could be weird sometimes. Maybe Sera wasn't necessarily a part of this prophecy, but she was a part of this quest. Though, Leda supposed that anyone there might've been a child of the dead, assuming one of their parents had passed on. Maybe that's what it had meant - literally dead, not Hades dead.

Poseidon had more or less already confirmed what the prophecy had said - that they needed to go to this sea camp, Camp Fish-blood. Leda was sure there was a copyright lawsuit pending between Fish-blood and Half-blood, things would get ugly any day now. But if the camp was being attacked by Oceanus, and it was the place named in the prophecy, she was certain that was where their quest would lead them.

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Ezekiel noted Nancy’s cheeks pinked slightly from his words. What he couldn’t determine was the emotion that caused it. All the same, he nudged her shoulder to help her feel more grounded before focusing on what the others had to say. He looked at Cassian when he interjected himself into playing music with him and Nancy. She spoke before he could, and it brought a smirk to his face. He crossed his arms and looked back at Cassian. ”I’d rather be eaten by Kronos,” he added. Ezekiel shook his head, smirk still firmly planted on his face, and gently pushed Cassian’s shoulder. ”Stick to chaos, son of Dionysus. Leave the archery and music to the children of Apollo.” He chuckled while relaxing his stance. Zeke was simply teasing and didn’t want to start anything. Of course, he did believe Cassian should stay in his lane, but Nancy wanted to teach them how to work as a team, too. Every asset was important.
The tension growing between his half-sister and boyfriend was a bit troubling. Zeke knew Nancy and her tones. He could tell when she was serious or joking - mostly. Demetri, however, well... to put it bluntly, was sensitive, and Zeke knew he was trying extra hard to be on Nancy’s good side because of him. Truthfully, Zeke figured all Nancy really cared about was if Demetri was going to be helpful to the team or a liability, and unfortunately, with Aphrodite having her fun, Demi was a liability.
Zeke nudged Demi’s shoulder with his, still slightly uncomfortable with Demetri’s new look. With all the constant shape-shifting, Ezekiel felt like he didn’t even know who he was speaking with. It was like Demi had multiple personalities or something. It wasn’t Demi’s voice, hid dark hair, vibrant eyes or even comforting touch. Right now, Demi seemed a stranger to him.
”Maybe, for now, don’t worry about helping through shape-shifting. You have other talents that could help,” Zeke said and smiled tentatively before Kristin cleared her throat.
Zeke leaned on the back of Kristin’s seat and shrugged. ”We could hotwire a car again. Although, I like the idea of remaining on a train to go across the country. Besides, Janelle paid for our tickets, which wasn’t cheap, and if you think about it, we can control the environment a lot more in a closed space than we can on an open highway or field. I believe we all know a little first aid, so we can always help the other passengers should the need arise.”

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Nancy's initial comment caught Demetri by surprise. She doesn't have a problem with me? The words felt almost reassuring for a moment until she had continued to speak, launching another jab at his heart. How anyone could consider Aphrodite his bestie was beyond him. He clearly had no love for the Goddess at the moment. Yet before Demi could say anything Nancy had already moved her attention towards the next target of her verbal assault, Cassian. For a girl who had previously just been preaching about togetherness and comradery, she sure knew how to pick her own teammates apart. He crossed his arms, looking towards his boyfriend wondering if he would back him up in this.

Cassian took a step backwards as he was addressed by Nancy. Her stern voice was enough to make him wonder what it is that he had done to gain such ire from her. It felt more than simple Greek Roman rivalry, deeper almost. As if his existing somehow offended her very being. But he'd never met her till they'd come to camp, so how was it that in such a short time he fucked up so badly? Zeke served to ease the growing tension, adding a bit of light hearted humor into his words, though his shoulder push seemed a little to hetero for his liking. Cassian simply tried to smile back at Zeke as he tucked a hair behind his ear. "Right. Children of Apollo, should've known better than to attempt to join in." he said, trying his best at a light hearted tone, but hiding the clear bit of insult that he felt from the exclusion.

Zeke’s reassurance never came. It seemed in this matter at the very least, he had his sisters back. Demetri hadn't felt so small as he did at this moment. His crossed arms slowly lowered down until one hand gingerly held the other's wrist. What other talents did Demetri have? Aside from being a constant screw up and sandbag to the party? If he didn't have his powers…he didn't have anything. Even at this moment Zeke felt distant to him, as if he was just out of reach. His voice was low, almost a whisper, as he replied back to him. "Right." was all he could muster out. He didn't dare meet Zeke's eyes, once again finding the car's floor far more interesting.

Cassian shifted his weight to one side as he listened in to everyone's opinions. On one hand the train and its advantages. It traveled faster than any other mode they had access to right now, and as Zeke pointed out, they could attempt to manipulate the small space to their advantage again. The biggest issue was the passengers. Mortals could get finicky with all the fighting, what's more they were a potential distraction for Janelle and her hearing abilities that she needed for fighting. What was a boon to some was a bane to others. But in the end…"I'm with Artemis and Apollo over here. This trains our best bet. We should stay on it for as long as we are able and defend to the best that we can. If we reach a point where authorities may be an issue, well we ditch and run."

"Whatever"

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Well somehow Nancy's idea seemed to work with regards to convincing the normal people on the train that the minotaur incident was little more then a day dream, or well, day nightmare really, or something of the sort. She honestly hadn't expected it to fully work like that, but hey, it was something, and it meant that they wouldn't have to necessarily abandon the train ride. Personally she'd rather they not have to worry about finding a new means of transportation, especially when they still had to go across the country to reach their destination.

Janelle listened as everyone else was commenting about their options, so she figured she'd make known what her opinions on the matter were. "Train is better. We'll get dere faster naht to mention we den wouldn't 'ave to wahrry about tryin to fend anahther way to where we're goin," she responded with a shrug. Made sense for them to try to stay on the train as long as possible in her opinion.

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This was interesting turn of events. Personally, he was incredibly surprised that the conductor seemed to have just sort of gone along with the whole story or something that they were saying. It was not the most believable of lies, since no one else had remained in the compartment aside from them. So that instantly stuck out as a bit odd probably to most normal people, but he wasn't going to complain about the entire situation, since it worked in their favor.

"Thank you," was all he really said to the conductor, before he hurried along after Niah and Stella back to their initial compartment away from the chaos that had occurred there. It still bugged him that the harpies had seemed to be after something, but they obviously hadn't said anything about it. Jason couldn't quite figure out what it was that they might have been after, since just being after food made no sense to him at all.

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Mary wasn't entirely sure what the plan was going to be after they all were in the cabin, since afterwards they'd be stuck in a corner with no way out unless there was a secret tunnel or something through the trap door that was on the floor. Which when would they ever get that lucky? Never, which meant that they'd have to potentially go back out of the cabin and swing their weapons at the birds and hope to manage to get out of there alive at some point. Here was hoping anyway with that.

When Madalyne opened up the trap door, she followed the other two down, and immediately looked around the new room they had found themselves in. "What's with the doomsday cellar and whose cabin is this anyway?" she couldn't help but ask out loud as she started looking through a bit more the area they had found themselves in. Since now they were stuck in a basement, with killer birds up on the surface who were going to attack them. "We can't stay here, but going back up through that trap door and out the front door seems to be out of the question at the moment..."

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Amtrak Train:

As the group made their way to their cabin in their original car they would see some of the train staff tending to some of the passengers who had been injured thanks to the harpies. Luckily the mist made them think they were a bunch of rabid birds or something like that, sadly their next stop wouldn't be for another few hours. They had sometime to actually relax and get a little bit of rest before the next leg of their journey there was a a TV in the corner of the room if any of them chose to turn it on as well to.

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"Camp Fish-Blood is the ocean counterpart of Camp Half-Blood, and Camp Jupiter most of them are demigods." Poseidon told them as Kiera listened to her father and nodded it did make a bit of sense. "Looks like thats where we need to go then." Kiera said looking at Sera and Leda, she was glad that her girlfriend was able to recite the prophecy to her father that they were on. "I'll have some of my men escort you all there." Poseidon told them as Kiera smiled towards her father. "Thank you." Kiera said as she offered her hand to her girlfriend and looked at Sera. "It'll be fun." Kiera said to her as she headed out of the throne room.

Outside of the palace itself, Sera's Hippocampi was already there and waiting for them along with a few Merpeople that Poseidon had told them about. "Camp Fish-Blood isn't that far from here if you all will mount up and follow us." He told the four of them, Hercules the Cyclops quickly climbed up on his. "Do you want to take the reins love?" Kiera offered her girlfriend giving her a smile.

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Madalyne closed her eyes and started to use her magic and the mist to make sure that their little hatch couldn't be seen by the birds, she could hear them all flying around and flapping their wings, and cawing on the floor above. "Well I managed to use my magic to keep the trap door hidden, that should buy us some time." Madalyne told Mary and Andy, the cellar itself looked like it was used fairly recently not that much dust was on the surfaces aside from a few hand and finger prints here and there. And it looked like there was some food as well to someone had made their home here pretty much.

The birds started to quiet down somewhat until they started to make noise again and started to fly away, either that was a good thing or bad thing she wasn't really sure. "I think they are leaving." Madalyne said, but she didn't want to poke her head out just yet as she started to look around the room. Both Andy and Mary would find a book on top of barrel, maybe they could find out who might have used this cabin.

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It seemed that everyone had came to the same conclusion and remain on the train for as long as possible to the end of the line, though she didn't like it having to fight in close quarters like they had gone against the Minotaur not to long ago they were really lucky. "Alright then we ride the train for as long as we can until we have to bail or to the end of the line." Kristin said as she looked between Nancy, Demi and Cassian, there was some tension as well to.

The next stop was Philadelphia which was a few hours away for now, she looked at a nearby passenger's ipad, they had fallen asleep and the screen was on. It was around four in the afternoon, it'll be dark by the time they get to Philly, they needed to work on watch schedules for now. "Well I suggest some of us start a watch cycle we have some time to kill before we get to Philly, I can take first watch. Also I suggest pairs to no one should be alone." Kristin said she was fine with taking the first watch, they needed to stay alert despite the constant bickering between the group.

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Andy paced a little. She was nervous. The birds sort of freaked her out. "Are you okay? It seemed like the bird got you pretty good there." She asked, petting Chocolate to calm herself down. She noticed the book, tilting her head slightly. Andy had a whole lot of questions about this place, but no idea how they could find out the answers. And if the answers were even important. She could appreciate the small space of sanctuary. As long as it seemed they wouldn't get in trouble for using it.

"Think this book might have some answers about this place?" She pointed the book out, not knowing Mary had seen it too. She flipped open the cover of the book, it took a few pages, to find writing but when she did the journal mentioned Camp Half-Blood. "Uh...This seems important."




In their compartment, Niah turned on the TV. There was nothing of interest on the T.V. "Let's leave the door open so they know we are injured too." Niah says, but then adds in a whisper. "Means we should be careful about what we say. I also sort of want to eavesdrop."

The mist did tend to twist what people heard enough so no one thought too much of it. And adults tended to discount what kids were saying most of the time anyway. But there was something strangely suspicious about the attack. That was why she wanted to listen to the conversations going on in the car.

Niah sat near the entrance of the cabin and opened the book she had found. She half listened to the conversations going on outside their cabin, and half read the book.

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Location: New York City

Skills: Hydrokinsis

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'Jupiter? That was the Roman counterpart of one of the gods right? Which one was it again...?' She thought while nodding. "Yes, thank you, father." Sera giggles softly at her sibling. "Oh yeah. It'll be cool to see the camp!" She was rather excited, wondering what it would look like. Of course she hoped it wasn't too damaged since they were getting attacked. Well that would stop soon. The demigods would do everything in their power to help save the camp. "Heya sweetie." She pets her Hippocampi before mounting the sea creature. Once everyone was ready they followed the merpeople to Camp Fish-blood. It was nice to travel the ocean again. The scenery was just so lovely. She always did love going to the aquarium.

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Stella made sure to hold onto the leash until they got to the sleeping compartment, and once they were back there, she gently took off the leash and pet Arbor's head softly. She reassured him that he was a good boy and had done very well. She sat down and when he climbed into the seat next to her and offered her his paw she checked him over. She cleaned his own scratches and then bandaged them with some clean cloth she found in her bag. Sure, it wasn't the best patch job but it would do for the moment, and it was better than trying to let the mortals look him over.

She looked up at the TV when it had been turned on, and tilted her head a bit. It was nothing of interest, so she decided to just rest a bit. She was still hungry but there wasn't too much they could do about that at the moment. The dining compartment was closed while they cleaned it up and took inventory of what was left after the 'seagull' attack. Stella closed her eyes, and leaned back against the seat and sighed softly and pet her puppy softly. There was really nothing else to do but wait.

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Zeke frowned when Demi refused to look into his eyes. He knew his boyfriend struggled with self-confidence, but he had to know that his shape-shifting was off because of Aphrodite’s involvement. Didn’t he? They couldn’t risk Demi shifting mid-flight from dragon to mouse. Ezekiel continued to stare at Demi, willing him to look when Kristin suggested splitting into watches. Zeke snapped his head back to Kristin and grasped Demi’s hand.
”Take a break, Kristin. Demi and I will take the first watch,” he said. He pulled Demi to the back of the train car, where they would have a good view of the whole car and be out of everyone’s way. Zeke stopped and nodded to the window seat before looking at Demi.
”Sit…Please,” he added.

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Demetri could feel Zeke's eyes boring holes into him. A few times he almost caved and looked up at him, his head shifting up slightly before inevitably looking back down. How could he look at his boyfriend right now? With everything that was happening with him. Kristin suggested splitting into teams for night watches, it made sense and allowed for everyone to get some good rest. She volunteered herself to go first as she attempted to find someone to watch with her when Zeke abruptly gripped Demi's wrist and volunteered them both. That was enough to catch Demi's attention and force him to look up. He was actually looking forward to getting some rest, at least in sleep he couldn't be a hindrance. He knew he couldn't back down from this now though, it would look bad and so he simply decided to go along with it. "Yeah easy peasy. We got first watch, you should all get some rest while we can." he said with a cheeky grin.

Nancy didn't seem too pleased with the idea of staying on the train. After all she was the one to suggest that they head off the tracks and find a new way to the city. But the majority ruled here, whether that was the right call or not was yet to be seen. So Cassian listened along as the task of taking shifts was being delved out. As much as he would love to take one with Nancy and figure out where all the animosity was coming from, he doubted she would ever actually allow for such a thing to happen. That left Kristin or Janelle as his potential watch partners since apparently Zeke and Demi were taking first watch. Something told him Janelle and Nancy might be a bad mix, so perhaps it was best if…"I'll take watch with Janelle when the time comes. So Nancy and Kristin that leaves you two together."

Demi followed Zeke towards the back of the train car, noting that Zeke had pointed out a window seat for him. Why did this feel like the watch was an excuse to have a talk? A part of him wished it was Zeke's way of stealing a sliver of time for themselves, but deep down Demi knew there had to be more to it. He didn't fight it, following along as he took the window seat in the car and looked up at Zeke with a large smile. "Don't gotta tell me twice, I'm sure we'll be walking a leg of this journey at some point so I'll take the sitting while I can." he replied in a playful manner, clearly trying to avoid whatever it was Zeke was up to. Demi tapped the seat next to him. "You going to join? Or are you standing the whole way?" he said before he turned to look out the window and watch the scenery go by.

Once all of that was settled, Cassian moved over to a far off seat. It wasn't so much that he was avoiding the others, however he felt as though the two lovebirds were trying to steal some alone time together. It was admirable he supposed, trying to get as much affection as you could before facing certain doom or dying. History was plagued by stories of lovers who died together in an embrace or some tragic way that connected them, so why couldn't those two? He quickly went through his inventory of things, making sure nothing was out of place before curling up on the seat. If anything was to happen, Zeke and Demi should be able to wake him before it was too late. His bag was ties to his arm, hugging it so that others couldn't steal from it.

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Nancy scoffed slightly as the Bacchus boy referred to her and Zeke as Diana and Apollo. If one of her friends had compared her to Lady Diana, Nancy would've taken it as a compliment - but from Bacchus spawn, she was certain he meant it as an insult. She wasn't going to bother explaining herself to him though. It wasn't worth the time and effort. At least Zeke did seem to be in agreement with her on that one, as he had previously echoed her sentiments about leaving Cassian out of any musical inquest. Nancy hadn't been kidding when she had said she would prefer to be arrested than sing with him.

She didn't notice that Demetri was in a bit of a sour mood, largely because - true to her words - Nancy didn't really spend time thinking about him. Instead, she was thinking about the watch structures. Kristin had volunteered to go first, only for Zeke to interject that he and Demi would. Nancy realized she should've anticipated that. Truthfully, her ideal watch partner would have been Joanie, but there was an even number of them. And just as Nancy had been about to volunteer to take watch with Janelle, as Joanie would give them a third pair of eyes to help make up for Janelle's blindness somewhat, Cassian spoke up. His voice felt like nails on a chalkboard. But by the grace of the gods, he had good sense not to pick Nancy.

"Fine, that's fine," Nancy said, her words clipped as she was relegated to taking watch with Kristin. She followed with her eyes as Demetri and Zeke went to the back of the car, before finding a spot off by herself. She hesitated for a moment, as if what she was about to do was going to be some great evil sin, before she reached into her overall pockets. Nancy pulled out a deck of well worn tarot cards. She closed her eyes, concentrating on her question. What lies in the path ahead of us? Her hands were trembling and the back of her throat felt dry, before the familiar sense of compulsion overtook her, and Nancy pulled a singular card from the shuffled deck. She opened her eyes, staring at it - the Seven of Wands.

"More monsters," she muttered, before putting the card away and shoving the deck back into her pocket. She didn't need the curse of prophecy to be able to see that. It wasn't a quest without monsters to challenge them along the way.

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Leda had a lot of questions about Camp Fish-blood, the primary one being why children of Poseidon weren't trained there. Not that she was complaining, of course - she rather liked having Kiera at Camp Half-blood, although Leda guessed that Sera being here meant that the Poseidon cabin would no longer be a private little place for just the two of them to go to. Things were changing, for better or for worse. But it was probably selfish, Leda recognized, to be worrying about that when the fate of the universe and civilization was in the balance, hinging on this series of Greco-Roman quests. She headed out of the throne room with Sera and Kiera, a bit relieved to no longer be in front of Poseidon (the Big Three were scary as shit).

The hippocampi were outside, three of them again, meaning she would have to share one with Kiera - something Leda also wasn't complaining about. "Sure, luv, can't be that much different than driving stick, eh?" Leda teased. She got one foot in and then swung the other leg over, mounting the gorgeous little creature. She then offered a hand down to Kiera. "My lady," she said with a smirk, "if you would be so kind as to hop on up here."

Ezekiel rolled his eyes and shrugged off his backpack. He set it down on the seat across from him before sitting down and took Demi’s hand. He knew Demi was trying to avoid talking, but Ezekiel wasn’t going to let him avoid this one.
”Demi, I wasn’t trying to be mean earlier. It’s just, with this Aphrodite thing… You can help the group in other ways you know.”

Demetri was still looking out the window, trying to avoid Zeke's gaze once again. He jumped slightly when he felt Zeke's hand against his, holding back the sigh he wanted to so desperately let out. He never was good at talking about his feelings. It felt easier to simply bottle them up until the container broke than to actually acknowledge them in any way. "I never said you were mean. Nor did I say you were trying to be mean. I know…sigh I know that Aphrodite's curse has made it more difficult for me to shift appropriately. But…that's all I can do. I don't shoot blasts of thunder like Andy can, I can't fly or have the strength of Hercules. I'm no medic, or sharpshooter, I'm just…" Demi let the words trail off. "I can't help. I'm a burden."

”You’re not a burden, Demi. Most demi-gods have similar natural abilities, like sword-fighting. I can give you my sword and you can use that. Besides, you made a pretty good distraction back there,” he said, trying to make Demetri feel a little bit better. ”What else have you practised back at camp other than shape-shifting?”

Demetri rolled his eyes, not that Zeke could see, as his boyfriend told him that he wasn't a burden. He knew that he was a good distraction, because monsters always picked off the weak ones first. He didn't know how to explain what it was that was eating him inside, what it was that he was feeling. So he just let out a huge sigh as he rambled on what he'd done at camp in a monotonous tone. "Friendship Bracelets, I learned how to forge, I can make a pretty nifty collapsible guitar now, ummm painting, very good at running away, let's see…oh I cleaned dishes with the harpies, yeah that sounds about right." He gave Zeke a leveled look, finally turning to see him. "I never thought I'd actually be on a quest, let alone without my powers. I have swords and daggers enchanted by magic and gods but…I'm used to fighting with them in tandem with my powers. Not just as well…me."

Zeke squeezed Demetri’s hand while he continued to look away from him. Demi was still in his female form and even though it still unnerved him, it was Demi’s words Zeke was hearing. Zeke wanted to see Demetri’s eyes because at least then he could envision the male version of Demi. The version of the boy he kissed all those months ago.
Demi’s tone wasn’t encouraging, and when he finally looked at Zeke, his eyes were flat. Ezekiel frowned and looked down at his lap. He unconsciously squeezed Demetri’s hand tighter.
”Well, the only magical thing I can do is heal people. Yes, people get hurt a lot on quests, but I can’t do anything magical when it comes to fighting or battle strategy. I have experience, but every quest is different. Demi, we all have incredible reflexes and agility. You just have to believe that you can do it. Your powers I think allow you to hide a part of yourself from the world, but you are the talent, not your powers.” Ezekiel hadn’t intended to get so philosophical this early in the conversation, but like Demi, he just rambled on.

There it was again. What was the point of meeting Zeke's eyes if every time he did he looked down or away. Ever since this quest had started it was like they couldn't see each other, another 'gift' from Aphrodite no doubt. He turned his head to look straight, away from Zeke but keeping him in his periphery as he talked. When Zeke mentioned believing in himself, Demi couldn't help but let out a huge laugh, catching himself short and covering his mouth with his free hand. "Sorry. I didn't mean to laugh but…believing? That's corny as hell Kel."

Demetri took his free hand and placed it under Zeke's chin, lifting his head up so that he would look at him. "It's not the powers that I'm upset about. Ok well no I am upset about that too but…" he squirmed in his seat uncomfortably as he tried to find the words and courage to speak. "I'm upset that when I felt like I needed you most…you weren't there to back me up. That you have barely been able to look at me since we've started. That, that I…it's clear that this isn't going how you wished it. Janelle, Nancy, Me…and I can't help but feel responsible for it all. It's not just the mission I'm fucking up…it's your life."

Ezekiel frowned when he heard Demetri laugh. It wasn’t at him, but it felt like it was. He loosened his grip on Demi’s hand, feeling like he wasn’t going to get through to his boyfriend when Demi turned Zeke’s head. His chin tingled from the contact. The warmth slipped through his body like a comforting hug, and Zeke kept his eyes on Demi’s.
”I have a hard time looking at you because it’s not you. It’s someone else or something else. Another woman, a cat, a snake…another woman. I just miss, you. I miss your stupid hair,” he declared.
Zeke leaned into Demi’s hand before he moved it from his chin and held it in his other hand. Zeke sighed, looking at their joined hands before he looked away, and scanned the train. They were on first watch, and even though Zeke picked Demi so they could have a moment together - alone - he still wanted to do a good job with the watch. After he cleared the car, Zeke looked back at Demetri.
”I do have your back, Demi, but also the groups’. Nancy is right that we need to start working as a team. You are my boyfriend, but this quest is so much bigger than just you and I. Of course, I would rather be stuck at camp with you, defending the border and whatever horrors befall the camp, but we are here. And don’t blame yourself, please. Blame Aphrodite. The gods put us here, make us do their bidding, fight for survival, and pin us against each other for their entertainment. Don’t let them pull you down.”

Demi tried hard not to laugh again as Zeke spoke. Something about the list of things he had been made him want to chuckle, especially at 'another woman'. But he saw how upset it made him the first time he'd laughed and so he kept it in. While Zeke spoke, he listened, only interrupting when he'd heard him call his hair stupid. Demi reached up and felt his hair, looking at his boyfriend confused as he said in a mixture of hurt and confusion "You think my hair is stupid?" But that didn't matter, as the more his boyfriend spoke the cornier he got and the more in love Demetri fell. There was a slight flicker of a shift, and without realizing it, Demi had shifted back into his old self just before going in and giving Zeke a kiss. He held it there for a moment before pulling back and smiling at him with a dopey smile. "Boy do I wish we were back at camp. Sure would be better than all this that's for sure." He laced his fingers into Zeke's while wrapping one leg around his boyfriends.

There was a flicker of amusement on Demi’s face, but he kept it in. Zeke was thankful for that. He watched his movement to his hair, nodding in confirmation. Zeke looked back at Demi, and found he was looking at Demi. His eyes, his face, his stupid hair, and his lips as they neared his. It was a brief kiss, but it made Zeke smile all the same.
After Demi pulled away, Zeke’s eyes wandered Demi’s face, taking it all in just in case it was all an illusion that would quickly fade on them. ”Mmm, much better. I’m sure Coach Hedge would love to get a few more wacks in,” Zeke said and messed up Demi’s hair. His hand traced down the side of Demi’s face before he pulled Demi in for another kiss.
”Are you okay? I know this hasn’t been easy and it won’t get easier while we are on this quest, but I just wanted to know where your head was at.”

"Which one?" Demi quipped with a cheeky grin as he eyed downwards before laughing it off. "Am I ok? No. Not at all. Not one single bit. But…I am with you, and that's all I need for now. Aphrodite isn't making this easy for me, or…us. But please just…try and remember, whether I'm a woman, cat, another woman, or a snake, it's all still me." He wanted to go for a third kiss, but if Demi was being honest, he wanted to pull Zeke away from view. He could tell his true self wouldn't hold for much longer, a lovely gift by Aphrodite. But till it faded, he ran a hand down Zeke's face, and just to tease him a little, ran a finger up from his navel lifting his shirt ever so slightly before letting it fall down. "I can't hold this form right now. I can feel her fighting me…"

Zeke laughed, a good, unrestrained laugh. He rested his head against the side of Demi’s while he spoke about not being okay. Zeke supposed he was okay with that, he had to be. So much was out of their control, but at least they were together. He shifted when Demi’s tone got a bit more serious about his shape-shifting. Zeke’s eyes flickered away for a moment before he looked back and did his best to memorize Demi’s face.
The mood shifted quickly. With Demi’s touch, his stomach tightened from the effort to seem relaxed. His eyes drifted to Demi’s lips while he spoke words Zeke didn’t want to hear. He swallowed, eyes flickering back to Demi’s before speaking. ”It’s okay.”

A devilish grin spread across Demis face as he saw Zeke's eyes drift downwards a little. A part of him wanted to joke around and tell him his eyes were down there, but they were still surrounded in a car full of friends and family. Demi inched closer to Zeke, moving his inclined leg up a little higher as he scooted closer. "Shame we couldn't spring for private cabins. Then we wouldn't need to worry about watches huh?" He spoke knowing full well that his body language was saying one thing while his words another. While he'd of enjoyed the privacy right now, they were supposed to be keeping an eye out…but what're the chances of an immediate monster attack after the one they just had?

Zeke found himself shifting as well to allow Demetri to move closer. He was sure they would never be allowed to be on watch together again at this rate. Zeke’s hand instinctively rested on the leg Demitri inched up his own, his eyes locked on Demi’s for the time being. That was, until Demi spoke.
Zeke flushed and instantly looked away from Demi, scanning the train car several times over as he struggled to really see anything.
”You are the absolute worst,” Zeke whispered. He didn’t trust his voice at full volume.

Demi gave a mock scoff at Zekes comment. "The worst? I think I'm rather charming. Thank. You. vVry. Much." Every word after charming was punctuated by a finger moving up Zeke's chest. His hands finally back underneath his chin as he went to turn Zeke's face for one last kiss. It was, unfortunately, at that moment that Demetri shifted back into the girl he was before, the 'other woman'. "Oh for fucks sake." he huffed under his breath as he dropped his hand back down to his lap. For a Goddess of Love she had the worst timing.

Zeke turned his head slightly, half his focus on Demi’s fingers running up his chest and the other half on the train. Until Demi made Zeke look at him again. He shut his eyes, knowing what was coming, but then it didn’t, and Demi cursed; however, it was in a rather feminine voice. Tightness gripped Zeke’s stomach again, but not in a warm way. He opened his eyes and saw the girl from before. Zeke couldn’t help the fall of his face, but he told Demi he would try. Zeke kissed Demi’s cheek and planted a smile on his face. It quickly shifted into a smirk though as he thought of something.
”So, with all this shape-shifting into other people, does this mean we are in a poly relationship?”

Leave it to the son of Apollo to turn a bad situation around. Demi couldn't help but smile at the act, seeing that even though they were both crestfallen, Zeke was still trying. He rolled his eyes at Zeke as he poked him in the side. "You wish , Casanova. Just because I can be anything you dream of doesn't mean you can go off with another. Besides, that'd be my job. I am the child of Zeus after all." He joked before giving him a grin. It wasn't perfect, far from it at the moment, but Demi was happy with how things were at this point in time.

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The conversation now seemed to be shifting to them going along with the whole thing where they should have a watch cycle of sorts for the rest of their train ride, allowing others to potentially sleep or something in the meantime. Personally she wasn't entirely sure how helpful she'd be in that sort of thing, since the most she'd be able to really help out in general aside from noticing sounds that might be occurring nearby. She personally didn't seem to overly care who she got paired with, as long as she didn't actively have to deal with two certain people she'd be fine with whoever.

Hearing Cassian offer to more or less pair up with her, she just sort of shrugged a bit, "Sure, dat's fine wit me. It dedn't matter to me really who I was paired wit anyway," she ended up saying to the group. Janelle found a spot to sit in the train car, still sort of wanting to be alone, or well, as alone as possible during the entire situation. She just wanted this quest and all to be over with all ready.

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Well that whole situation was dealt with and all for now, leaving the three of them back where they started, in their train compartment sitting on the train, and getting a little bit bored honestly. Jason wasn't sure what to do at this point, since they sort of were stuck having to continue on the train ride, and wait for a long time before the next stop along their path to the other side of the country. Not to mention there was always the chance they might run into more monsters along the way.

Though... The harpies and what they had said before taking off, about having what they had gone there for. That was still the biggest question in his head that was probably going to bug him until they either were done with the quest or they ran into the harpies again and potentially discovered what it was that had happened. He was unsure of what to do, as the TV didn't have anything interesting going on in general, so he was unsure of what exactly to do at this point.

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"Well let's hope that works out in our favor and prevents them from potentially swarming us again, at least soonish or whatever," Mary commented, looking a bit at the trap door, and really really hoping that the birds didn't decide to try and break down the trap door that they were currently hanging around in and all. The room definitely was a bit strange and all in her opinion and still reminded her a bit too much of a doomsday prepper's bunker of sorts, but she decided against saying that part again.

Her attention shifted, but she stayed on guard a bit when Madalyne mentioned that she thought they were leaving the area or something, and she looked over at her, "I vote we stay in here a little while longer to just make sure that they are actually gone and not potentially just waiting for us to pop up again a few seconds later or something..." she added, before turning attention to the book that Andy had, "I mean maybe, it's the only interesting looking thing around here anyway really, so taking a look at it is not a bad idea."