---

I stomped up the few stairs onto the Hephaestus Cabin's porch, knocking incessantly.
"Nyssa? Hey! Anybody home?" I hear a quiet scuffle and then see doorknob jiggle. I step back, not wanting to be directly in the person's face, almost at the point to throw my ire at anybody. Thankfully, it's Nyssa. Still on crutches, she hobbles outside and sits on the bench, patting the seat next to her for me to sit. I don't. Having a ginormous jumble of feelings bottled up inside, I couldn't afford to sit. Instead, I start to pace. "What have you found out about Valerie?" I ask. Nyssa rubs sand out of her eyes, as it is almost midnight. "Not much, really. She died in the 80's on a quest to the Underworld, searching for something nature-related to help heal Pan. She, a satyr named Hank, and a son of Apollo never returned." I stop pacing for a moment to ask her a direct question. "Had she met Hephaestus before?" "Uhhh..." As she fumbles her hands into her hoodie pocket to pull out a piece of paper, I resume my walk. "Yeah, she had. She spent a lot of time at the Mt. St. Helens forge with him. For some reason he wanted to make something up to her. No one knows what, though. She never talked about it." Things are beginning to click into place, now. "Haley, what's going on? What's happened?" Worry tinted her voice. "You heard about the Hellhound, I'm sure," I begin. "Yeah, of course." "Persephone sent it to kill me," her face starts to pale as I continue speaking, "and now I'm going on a quest to the Underworld." With that, she quickly stands without crutches, limping over to me. "Hey... stop." I turn from my pacing, facing her. She puts her hands on my shoulders, and I can't help but put my hands upon hers. She stares directly into my frightened eyes, then pulls me into a hug. "You'll be okay. I promise," she whispers into my ear. I didn't realize how starved for a human touch I'd been. My hands clench the loose fabric on Nyssa's back, my fears slowly retreating with the comforting words. Not wanting to create a scene, I pull back, silent tears streaming down my face. "Don't worry," she begins with her classic smug smile, "You'll be fine. Anyway, who'd you choose to go with you?" I help her back to the bench, before admitting that I asked Mark Silverman and Danielle Forrester. "You asked Mark? Mark Silverman. Gurlll, how'd you manage that? He rarely talks to anybody, even Clarisse." Now for sure I felt sheepish. "I dunno. I just asked him after sword 'n shield practice. He asked 'where,' and all that, and then he agreed to go." "Dang. He must like you," she grins in the moonlight. I blush and go "Pshttt. Sure. Whatever." We both laugh. After a minute of silence or so I told her that I was leaving in the morning. "That soon?" "Yeah," I reply, a hint of sadness intruding both our voices. "I'll miss you." "Sure you will," I say, trying to sound lighthearted, "but I'll miss you too." She pulls me into another hug, and I walk to my cabin.

---

We met at the entrance to camp at the edge of the barrier. Chiron was already there, giving us last minute advice and who we could go to in each city lest we become separated. Mark was his usual solemn self, meanwhile Danielle was Mrs. Bubbly asking questions a mile-a-minute to Chiron. I checked and double-checked my gear, making sure everything was secure. Chiron escorted us to the road, where a car was waiting along with our... driver. Argus, as Chiron was now telling us, was created by Hera, was a servant to her, etc. etc. But I wasn't paying attention to him. What I was paying attention to was that all of Argus' 100 eyes were looking directly at me. I'd never been stared at so hard in my entire life. It was hard to look at him, blue eyes everywhere on him. I decided to look at his blond hair instead. Chiron voiced directions to where we needed to go first, and that from there we were on our own. "We get it," Mark said. "Make it to DOA Recording Studios, get into the Underworld. Find the Flower, etc." the centaur nods his head, then wishes that the gods' favor be upon us.

Argus' eyes stare at me in the rear-view mirror all the way to the bus station, making me rather uncomfortable. Danielle kept gazing out the window like everything outside camp was a magnificent wonder. But thankfully, she'd quieted down. Mark piddled with one of his swords handles, picking at a loose grip. When we arrived at the station, we unloaded our gear and bought our tickets with the mortal money given to us. Overhead the megaphone speakers announced our Greyhound bus number, and we left to get on. I was about to get on behind Danielle, when Argus grabbed my forearm. "My lady," he began, with yet another eye on his tongue, "Be safe, and find the Red Lotus. Here," he fumbles for something in his pocket, and places a small token in my palm. His eyes direct their gazes on my face again, then he turns and leaves.
I board the bus, plopping down next to Danielle in a window seat, watching the last bits of familiarity slowly fade behind.

Notes

What's the token?
Does Mark like Haley?
Will Danielle ever shutup?

Find out soon! :D