I gave Shane one last glance before turning and leaving the Big House, my mind crowded with confusion and ideas that most likely were terrible and involved frogs.

San Francisco. Where the...other...demigods reside. Perhaps we can seek assistance from them when we get there.

I knew it was not the best of ideas, but it was better to have a greater amount of people working together than people scattered about, being careless and uncooperative. Especially since it seemed that the son of Hermes could not hold his emotions together long enough to actually think. It was silly of me, but I had already gotten basic necessities ready in case Chiron let me go on the quest. I had already known that he would most likely say yes…

Which meant I had absolutely nothing to do now. I could wander aimlessly around Camp, but what was the point in that? My nerves were causing me to act like some spastic hand-puppet that had lost control. I could not sit still for more than a few seconds, and I was certain that people would not appreciate me yelling “Hurry! Move faster!”

My feet began to move as though they suddenly had a mind of their own. I did not pay attention to where I was going...that is, until I tripped over a rock and crashed into a body of water. I must note that the experience was not enjoyable in any way. The water was cold--freezing, even, to the point that I could not feel my fingers after only a few short moments.

However, it was the first (and perhaps last) interesting thing that happened today.

With an annoyed groan, I grabbed onto a rock and pulled myself up, creating a large muddy puddle around where I stood. I ignored the harsh coldness that suddenly wrapped its fingers around me and decided to focus on the more pressing matters.

How exactly were we supposed to get to San Francisco? And the city was so large--my navigational skills became disappointingly dull when there were too many people.

Well...the others won't be completely useless, I think. I reassured myself. I'm just the tool they're using to achieve their goal, nothing more. Don't become too involved, or attached…

Flicking a droplet of water that had landed on my arm away, I decided to walk back to the cabins. Even if they were not ready to leave, I could still discuss with them how the quest would proceed (ideally, of course. Nothing could ever be guaranteed.) The last thing I wanted was a disaster and utter failure. It was true that I was prone to failure and catastrophes, but I could try to avoid them and hopefully do what needed to be done without too many mishaps.

---

A few minutes later, I was invisible--manipulating the Mist had its uses at times like these--and inside the Hermes cabin. Shane was in the back corner of cabin, occasionally muttering things to himself as he got ready. I couldn't help but let my lips curl up in a small smile. The floorboards creaked slightly when I walked over them towards the son of Hermes, but he never reacted. I was behind him…

“HEY!” I shouted in his ear, quite nearly inducing deafness.

“Ah! I'm never going to get used to that. Is that you, Sadie?” Shane asked, rubbing his ear and glaring at a spot a few feet to the left of me.

“Other side.” I said, pulling away the layer of Mist and flicking water at him. “Do you have any idea at all about what we are going to do? Have you given this any thought at all?”

“Yeah, I've thought about it.” he snapped. “I've been thinking about getting an important quest for a long time, and now I get an annoying person to work with. Do you expect me to actually think about the minor details of the quest all the time?”

"You wound me, Shane.” I said, pretending to take offense at his comment about me being annoying. It did sting, no matter how much I hid it under sarcasm and laughter. “Since you aren't being very cooperative right now, I think I talk to Avalon. She might be more concerned about this than you.”

I heard a loud, aggravated sigh from Shane as I exited the Hermes cabin. Maybe it was my imagination, but he blurted out, “This is one of the only things I actually care about.”

Notes

Hope you enjoy!

-Demigods United Crew