Out of the shadows under the tree Max had chosen as her refuge appeared Sage, holding his sword loosely at his side as he stepped ever so slowly to where Max currently sat against the base of the tree. He wore a blank expression on his face, his hair completely covering his eyes, as he went, his sword gently tapping against the side of his leg as he walked. When he was close enough, he raised his arm half-heartedly into a stabbing position. He brought the blade down in a swift motion, the blade flying straight and true through the night air.
With a “thunk” the sword was embedded into the ground a mere yard away from Max's side. Sage leaned against the blade, panting heavily as sweat fell from his face onto the earth below. “I think I'm done...” Sage said between pants, his eyes fixed on Max, who had obviously been injured by the fall, most likely in a way that would keep her from fighting any further. He hoped she wouldn't make for a desperate attack with the small dagger she held.. He didn't want to fight any more and risk hurting her any more than she was.
Sage watched Lucas and Ish fight just across the stream, the two having gotten into a much more instense battle than he expected. Ishmael had already resorted to one of his tricks, using the stygian iron metal shavings, from the projects Sage had commissioned and supplied the materials for, to blacken the area around Lucas; using the metal's natural ability to absorb energy and light to his advantage. Of course, this threw Lucas into a panic... One that was probably short lived, judging from the loud thunk, indicating that a heavy piece of metal hit a decently padded helmet. “That probably hurt...” Sage said as he watched Lucas fall into the stream.
However, unlike most people who'd suffered a concussive blow to the head, Lucas got up looking invigorated... Even confident. He immediately started to taunt Ish, which was never a smart idea. Ish, however, had caught onto something, as Sage could see by his new attack methods. Sage himself hadn't expected the sudden transfer from land to water to make a huge difference, or at least didn't expect anyone to be effected by it... But apparently it was making Lucas stronger.. Which set off a lot of alarms in Sage's head. Of course, larger alarms were set off when out of nowhere, a big wave of water hit Ish. “Whoa!” Sage half shouted as he leaned forward against his sword, watching with a stunned expression as a green light appeared of Lucas' head in a trident. “Oh man, that is not good!”
That was when things got chaotic... There was a huge cheer across the field, one that unmistakably came from the members of the Hermes' cabin, whose voices far outnumbered those of the other cabins. Then came the sound of voices approaching them as a horn blew from the middle of the field, signaling the end of the game. Ethan entered the clearing with almost the entire blue team following him. The flag was in his hand, its banner already changed to hold the symbol of cabin 11. Apparently, while they'd been fighting Lucas and Max, Ethan had already shut down his entire team. “Well, da-” Sage didn't even get to finish his sentence, as he was interrupted by an overwhelmingly loud sound pierced the night sky, sounding something like the howling of a wolf.

Lucas heard the cheering and then the horn, which he caused meant they won, with a smile on his face he turned to his soaked opponent wanting to get one more smartass comment in, but he’d never get the chance. A loud howling could be heard, and he turned his full attention to where it came from, and he could have sworn his blood ran ice cold. A large black dog looking thing stood on top of a large pile of rocks, and he could have sworn it was glaring down at him. He had no idea what to do, paralyzed to the spot, all he could do was watch as the thing jumped down, and charged him. Within a short amount of time he was pinned under the hulking mass of the big hound, clawing up and down his chest like he was a rag-doll, and just before he thought his chest would give several arrows flew by piercing the hound at the throat.
Lucas was sure if he looked down at his chest it would look like ground meat, but it didn’t, he was perfectly fine, the wounds were already starting to heal and the barest of white lines indicated the scaring, and even that was healing, he sat up quickly looking off in the direction from where the arrows came to see Chiron with a very distraught expression. “I think we should all return to camp right away, Lucas, I want you to come to the big house.” He turned his attention to Ish. “Ishmael you should go get changed and come along as well, Sage; bring Max to the big house as well!” He called out knowing both were nearby as he galloped off, leaving Lucas sitting there feeling very self-conscious about the fact his chest wasn’t a mound of ground beef

After regaining his composure and finding his dagger which he had lost when he got pounced, he made his way briskly to the big house, tapping on the door twice before entering. “Um..Chiron I’m here,” He looked around a couple of times and made his way into the den, only to find Chiron had someone gotten back into his wheelchair. “Ah, welcome come sit, let us await the others..” He said, his tone had sounded welcoming but he could tell that what he was about to find out was going to be probably something that was going to ruin the rest of his summer.

Ishmael scowled and braced as best he could as the wave rose up and crashed into him. Even so, he still ended up out of the river, on the ground while completely and utterly soaked. He was anything but amused, and was picking himself up, noting a floating green symbol above Lucas. That confirmed his theory, sure as sure, but he very well wished he was wrong for once. This made things many times more complicated, to say the least. Of course, this wouldn't have stopped him from re-engaging, but another event completely did keep him from actually attacking again. One, whooping and hollering announced that his automatons had either failed before, or after, the people left to defend the flag had fallen and he would have to go salvage them. Two, a rather loud howl pierced the air shortly before a hellhound appeared inside the grounds. One, hellhounds were bad news in general and two, how in the hell did that thing get here? Someone had to summon it here, that was just how things operated here thanks to the protection the camp had. It pounced Lucas and tore into him, before Chiron stepped in and put down the hound. Lucas was unharmed, further reinforcing the claim laid by barnacle beard.

Chiron spoke to them, Sage being sent to help Max while he was told to go get into a dry change of clothes and scowled standing. "I'll get to that, right now my automatons need salvaged. Bastard son of thieves had to have wrecked them, stupid bloody idiots probably didn't listen to any instruction on their use..." He kept muttering as he stalked off to salvage what he could. He managed to find the wrecked parts of all four automatons, and he dumped the parts into the duffel bag he transported them here in, shouldering the bag before stalking off to the cabin he worked and lived in. Arriving, he dumped the bag next to his cot and changed clothing, leaving the soaked outfit out to dry for the time being. It was the same outfit as before, just dry, and he strode off to meet at the large house as instructed. His wrench had been tucked into his belt, and as he wandered in and crashed in the nearest chair he could find, not appearing to give Lucas a second thought or look. The centaur wouldn't begin until everyone else was here, and all this probably had to do with the fact of who claimed Lucas, which was trouble all in itself. But that would no doubt be covered, for now he leaned back on the chair, only two feet of the four on the ground like a normal person would sit, waiting for whatever would come of this.

Sage could do little more than watch as the Hellhound pounced on Lucas and brought him to the ground, where it immediately began to dig into the demigod. Bits of armor flew everywhere, then came the cloth and the blood. Another second more and Lucas would have definitely been killed, but lucky for him, Chiron intervened. The hellhound was suddenly filled with arrows and an instant later it dissolved into dust, as most monsters did when slain. He almost expected to find Lucas torn up after the encounter, but apparently the water had helped him yet again, healing all of his wounds in mere moments. The rest of the campers just stood and watched in shock, unable to say anything. For a time, there was silence.. Until Chiron announced that everyone should head back to the camp. Except for Lucas, Max, Sage, and Ismael.. They were to head to the Big House... After Ish had changed into drier clothes, of course.
Sage slipped Soulrender back onto his finger in its ring form and turned to Max. “Sorry about this.” He said quickly before crouching down and wrapping an arm around her back and the other around her thighs. He rose then, carrying her awkwardly in his arms, and walked, half stumbling, towards camp. Sage and Max arrived just a bit after Lucas, who'd already been seated near Chiron. Ishmael hadn't arrived yet.. Knowing him, he hadn't even changed yet. He was probably still on the field, picking through the wreckage left over from his automatons, cursing the Hermes' campers all the while. It was too bad he couldn't be there to help.. Ish had a tendancy to create some very imaginative, very detailed curses that were all too useful later on...
He stood there for a moment or two more, waiting for someone to notice him, while shaking a bit from the exhaustion caused by the capture the flag game and from carrying Max all the way there. While he didn't necessarily mind it, he wouldn't object to them finding him a place to put her down.

Max jumped as she heard the thud of the sword striking the tree, glad that Sage announced he was finished fighting for today. She nodded once in reply, lowering her dagger back to the ground, though she still held it close for comfort's sake; seeing as she didn't have her bow. Her gaze wandered back to the scene infront of them, wondering how Lucas could have possibly recovered from a hit like that so quickly. She knew water sometimes helped to wake people up, but that was ridiculous in this case. Her eyes widened at the sight of the wave that hit Ishmael, glancing over at Sage as he made his opinion of the move quite clear. She remained quiet as she watched the green light form a trident above Lucas,
"Well that would explain things..." She murmured.

The fight seemed to be over when the rest of the blue team came charging in, no weapons drawn though cheering loud as Ethan carried the flag. Though the celebration was not long lived as howl ripped through the crowd, a hellhound pouncing on Lucas and trying to tear the poor kid apart. Just when he was getting a good footing in the camp as well. Chiron felled the beast himself before telling all the campers to return to camp; with the exception of Lucas, Ish, Sage and herself, who were to meet him back at the big house. She glanced at Sage again, a questioning look on her face. Why would Chiron want to speak with them as well as Lucas? Ish had already skulked off in another direction to the others, leaving herself and Sage as the rest of the crowd departed back to camp.

Before Max had a chance to object, Sage had lifted her from the ground, cradling her in his arms as he carried her to the big house. She gingerly held his shoulders to keep herself steady, having tucked her dagger back into her boot. They had left her bow behind, Max could only hope that one of the Apollo cabin had seen it and picked it up for her.
"Thanks," She said, starting to feel a little guilty for letting him carry her all the way as she could feel his arms trembling a little. "I could've hobbled there just as quick with some help."

She didn't know why she was starting to feel guilty, it was his fault in the first place for cutting her out of the tree! Carrying her back was the least he could've done. Once they were in the house, she couldn't handle being carried anymore.
"I can stand now," She assured Sage, wriggling in his grasp until he put her down. She stood on one leg, leaning against the nearest chair, being careful not to lower her injured foot to the ground as she searched for a seat to take, hopefully where she could stretch her foot out in front of her until she could return to the Apollo cabin to have it looked at properly.

As each camper made it in, Chiron looked more, and more saddened. Once everyone had found a place to sit, or stand he let out a sigh. “Well young Lucas, it’s good to know who your parent is, but it also came at the worst time, and well specially because of the treaty” Lucas looked at the Old centaur with a tilted head and quizzical expression. The old Centaur stroked at his beard some. “You know of the three big gods correct? Zeus, Poseidon and Hades?” Lucas nodded. “Well after the last big war they swore never to have children, where you and Sage are well hints of how easy it is for god’s to go back on their word..” He said this calmly as he looked at each one of the children here smiling softly, but it was a pained one. “Young Lucas I think it’s time you meet our Oracle, and learn of your destiny.” He moved his wheelchair towards the hall, Lucas following.
Once He had gotten up into the attic, and began to look around; there finding all trophies from quests he figured, reading some of the names on the plates and such, though he continued to close the distance between him and this chilling feeling inside him. He found what he figured was the oracle, but it was an old mummy wearing a tye-dye shirt amongst other things that look like from the seventies. He walked closer, gingerly as he frowned slightly. “Whats..” He looked around like this was some sort of joke, swallowing hard as he finished his sentence. “What is my Destiny?” He asked. He stood there for several minutes, feeling like everything around him was deathly still, and before long the oracle opened its mouth as a green smoke-like substance seemed to move around the mummy, encircling it, and him as well. “You shall go west, and face the god who has turned. You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned. You shall he betrayed by one who calls you a friend. And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.” When it was finished the smoke disappeared seeping back into the mummy, leaving Lucas standing alone, and feeling violated and terrified at the same time.”
He returned to the Den where Chiron and his friends were, looking pure white and pretty shaken up. “I…I know what I must do now..” was all he said as he took a seat trying to regain a bit of himself, and hopefully that meant the color in his face. “Will you, please recite what you were told.” Chiron said, looking to Lucas; which the boy nodded his head taking a deep breath. “You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.” He paused taking another breath. “You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned.” He paused again, this time trying to think if he should mention this part; but not wanting to disappoint. “You shall he betrayed by one who calls you a friend. And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.” Once he was done he frowned slightly looking up at Chiron, who nodded to him. “We have our Quest, all of you return to your cabins, and get some sleep; we will send you all on your way in the morning…rest well for I doubt you will see camp for awhile.” The old Centaur said wheeling his way out of the Den.
Lucas had left just after Chiron, not really looking at his friends as he did, considering he felt really low for some reason, the part about being betrayed really hitting home; specially considering he had just met all of them, trying to make a mental note on who it could be or why. His thoughts were interrupted as he stopped in front of his new cabin, the Poseidon cabin; once inside he found that some of the Hermes’ campers had been nice enough to move his stuff to the cabin, smiling a little as he walked towards his bunk, to find something that didn’t seem to belong there. a package not very big, something that held jewelry most likely, and as he opened it he found an earring, something simple, with a silver katana hanging on a silver chain. He smiled picking it up, but once it was in his left hand the pendent grew, until it was a large sword having to be held in both hands. “Wow..” was all he could mumble as he looked down on the card on the bed. placing the sword down on it as well, as he picked it up and read over it, a small smile growing over his lips. “Thanks dad..” He said softly as he touched the bottom of the hilt, the sword returning to earring form as he placed it on his dresser for now, curling up on his bunk, hoping for sleep to come soon, and just to wake up and this all to be a dream.

Ish had his arms crossed as he listened to what Chiron went on about as he explained matters to Lucas. Yes, being the son of one of the big three was not a good thing currently, due to the minor and troublesome fact that they had made a deal not to have kids post WW2. Of course, Sage had went and shown that the dead king backed out on that agreement, as did barnacle beard. Then there was the whole thing with Zeus having backed out of the deal as well, that being a subject that he didn't approach ever. Not because he was respectful, mind you, but because he really had no interest in mocking that because it wouldn't get him the desired result. Lucas was told that it was time to see the Oracle, and he furrowed his brows. If it wasn't for the fact that things were as screwy as they were, and that Lucas's real father was who he was, none of this would be occurring. He did eventually return, and went on about what the Oracle had spat out. Well, wasn't that just ominous, dangerous, and ruinous all rolled up into one wonderful bundle of potential failure? Chiron just sent them all off to sleep once, and the bit about apparent friend betraying sticking in his mind. Watch him be observed like a hawk for that bit, even if he had steadily went out of his way to call him out and mock him for the time they had known each other. While he did return to his cabin, he had work to do before he slept, mainly fix the fact his wrench just did not have enough reach.

There was no time to forge anything, but he could use something else in the interim at the very least. Rummaging through some of his old creations and belongings, he dug out an old creation of his. Only one edge was sharpened, and was made into a very slashing orientated weapon, and held the form of a Scimitar. It was early on, before he preferred to make most weapons, barring specific requests, double sided and equally capable of thrust and cut. It even was transportable as an armband, something most of his common work didn't do, again, barring specific request. He crashed on the bed after having dug out the scimitar out of his box of old projects and passed out nearly instantly. He was too tired to question why he was being sent out with Max, Sage, and Lucas, considering his generally anti teamwork outlook and inability to be nice to anyone, ever. Being away from his forge would also make him unhappy and generally grumpy when not doing anything while they were traveling, but that would be dealt with in the morning when it dawned on him that all the prior were in fact reality, and not some long ass dream.

Sage was more than a little relieved, in more than one way, when Max wriggled her way out of his arms and found a spot to prop herself against. Honestly, besides the apparent drain on his energy the task of carrying her all the way there had caused, he'd always felt a little awkward around her.. Or maybe the better word was nervous? Whatever that jittery, “look the other way”, feeling was. There was no real way to explain it all, but it was there. Shaking the feelings, Sage focused on Chiron's drawn out speech, which put into detail information Sage was already more than aware of. Sage knew about Poseidon and Zeus' spat over the loss of the lightning bolt.. And that with Lucas' claiming, Poseidon had pretty much set the kid up as a suspect... After all, he had been in New York during the time of the winter solstice, when the bolt was stolen during one of many fights between the sky and sea gods.

Seeing as no god was allowed to steal an object of power, it would only make sense for a demigod to have stolen it, thus the new problem placed on Lucas' shoulders. However, he apparently wasn't going to have to go on this quest alone.. Max, Ishmael, and Sage all had the misfortune of following along with on this quest that would almost certainly end in someone's death. He was actually rather shocked that he and Ish had been chosen to go with... With Sage's father's relations to the other Olympians, one would assume that he'd be passed over... And with Ish's “problems”....
Sage wasn't allowed to think any more on this, as Lucas came back from the Oracle with a prophecy that ended up weighing heavily on his mind... “Go west to face the god who has turned?” He thought aloud as he stepped back from the others. West? God who had turned? Could that mean... No... There was no way... But, what if? He had so much to gain if the others went to war... Maybe... “No, no, no..” The words fell out in a whisper as he closed his eyes, clearing his mind of the accusations and the doubts.

“But, what if?” He asked the empty air, as Chiron had already sent the others to their cabins and had gone away to his own quarters already. He let the question hang before walking off to the room in the Big House where he stayed (after all, his father had no cabin in the camp), and flung himself on the bed. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, the question repeating itself in his mind the entire time, the words growing louder with each repetition. “I guess we'll find out.” He said at last as he closed his eyes.

Lucas’ sleep was riddled with nightmares; of his new found friends betraying him, one after another all under different circumstances, and all in one different nightmare after another; but after that his nightmares seemed to fade, as he began to float along in another way, his dreams leading him off somewhere dark, a cave-like area, but before anything could happen, he awoke; the sun barely breaking over the crest of the hill as he sat up in his bunk rubbing at his eyes. “ugh… need more sleep..” he groaned out as he fell back wanting to sleep more but knew the quest was suppose to begin now.
He had only one spare outfit, consisting of a regular pair of jeans and a camp half-blood T-shirt. picking up his new earring and undoing the stud in his left ear, and put in his new piece of jewelry, feeling a tad more confident with a weapon given to him by his own father, but still not completely ready to take on such a task laid before him. He exited his cabin stretching out his limbs, as he looked off towards the hill. He figured they’d all meet there, considering it was the highest vantage point, and nearest place to the road. He looked at his cabin one more time before he turned his full attention to the hill and made his way for it. He passed several campers seemingly going about their business, or heading to the pavilion for breakfast and such. He gave a timid wave to each that he passed, and they waved back; but out of pity or actual friendliness he probably wouldn’t get a chance to figure out. Once he made it to the top of the hill, he looked at the tree, just now really noticing it, as he inspected it. A lone tree on a hill by itself, it was something to see, now completely lost in thought as he awaited his traveling companions on this one-way trip quest.

Ish's dreams, if you could call them that, were more like feverish flickering images of various outcomes his mind could come to, very few of them good. He never slept well, or dreamed terribly well when he did sleep, and when he woke up he scowled as he yawned. If it wasn't for the scimitar shaped weapon resting at the foot of his bed, he would have been tempted to write of the past week or so as a unusually long bad dream. Maybe waking up was part of the dream, and he was still fast asleep, or in a coma maybe. That could be comforting, in some way, being in a coma while all this madness went on. He shook his head, that train of thought being incredibly unlikely, to say the least. Grabbing the sword and letting it take the form of an armband as he sat at the edge of the bed, a scowl still planted on his face, before standing up and getting changed into a fresh outfit, still very reminiscent of his normal outfit. He didn't see the point of having a variety of clothing, refusing to wear the camp uniform so long as he had a reasonable alternative. A bit too celebratory of their collective curse, really, for him to parade around showing it off like it was a gift.

He went about packing essential items, extra sets of clothes, some tools so he could tinker and work on things when they were in private while resting overnight and such, other items that would prove useful on the trip that he had time to pull together. Mostly essentials for travel, he and his dad, his real one and not that damned cripple in the sky, had spent a fair amount of time away from him whenever Ish could escape school, so he was used to packing light for travel. Shouldering the backpack that he had stuffed with the necessary supplies for travel, he walked out of the Hephaestus cabin and ignored each and every other camper here and they ignored him in kind. No friendliness, no pity, and from Ish, no wasted breath or effort, nor a care that things worked that way. For anyone concerned, he was damn glad to be finally away from the camp, and he would have agreed with them completely. He spotted Lucas looking at the lone tree and approached, a loose grin on his face. "Quite the oddity, a tree alone on the hill, eh Coralbrain?" He didn't even sound slightly disturbed with the fact that he was being dumped on this suicide attempt at a blaze of glory to save the day. The Gods, specifically barnacle beard, were relying on an untrained and recently claimed Son, dead king's son, an Archer who being confronted in hand to hand resulted in a sprained ankle and a lost bow, and himself. They finally found a way to get rid of him without the awkward questions, it seemed, and he awaited the others and the metaphorical boot off camp into the world, maybe literal depending on who specifically saw them off.

Max was quiet as Chiron spoke with Lucas, watching as the boy disappeared to find out his destiny. She was finding it quite hard to understand why they had been selected to accompany Lucas on his quest. They were all so young, and it would have made more sense to send a couple of older more experienced demi-gods out with Lucas. Perhaps it was because he had not had enough time to meet other demi-gods that could have been chosen.
"I think you got the record for the quickest quest assignment after joining camp," She said as the group disbanded back to their cabins. They were told to get well rested for their adventure, but Max doubted that anyone was going to get a good night's sleep tonight.

When she got back to the Apollo cabin, she was glad to find some thoughtful soul had picked up her bow and left it at the end of her bed. At least she wouldn't have that on her mind throughout the night. The next port of call was to have her foot seen to. One of the older Apollo's children sat with her on her bed, her injured foot sat on the older girl's lap as she used her powers of healing to ease the pain in Max's ankle.
"It's not a major sprain. You'll be back to normal in the morning." The older girl, Nym, told her with a smile. Max gave a weary smile in return, "What did Chiron want with you and those boys?" Nym asked, noticing Max's unease. The younger girl sighed heavily before explaining what had happened in the big house. When the story was told, Nym finished her healing as quickly as possible, and ushering Max to bed. She would need as much rest as possible, even if she could not sleep properly.

Max awoke with the sunrise, shuffling round the cabin as quietly as possible as she washed, dressed and tried to pack as many essentials as possible into a small messenger bag. She looked similar to the day before, just not as dishevelled. While was still asleep, Nym had left an assortment of healing items by Max's bed. Max was trying to learn how to heal like the other children, but she was not good at it yet. She was grateful that there were some items to take away with her, as she had a feeling they would all come to good use at some point in their journey. There was only enough room for a spare change of clothes. When packed and ready, Max emerged from the cabin the bag over one shoulder, her quiver on her back and her bow in hand, meeting Nym by the pathway as she returned from an early hunt.
"Good luck," The older girl said, unable to stop herself from bringing Max into a hug. Nym had taken Max under her wing when she joined the camp, and now was sad to see her go out on a quest while she was still so small. "I'll be seeing you soon!" She said, giving Max a confidence boost before letting her go.

Max nodded a little, murmuring her thanks to the older girl before they parted ways. She made her way up the hill to meet the two boys already there, fiddling with the zip of her black hoodie as she fought the last of her nerves. She would be fine once they got going, it was just the thought of it all that made her uneasy. She looked up from where she was walking as she reached the top of the hill, trying to mask her nerves with a small smile as she approached the small gathering. She wasn't exactly sure what to say in a situation like this.

Sage's dreams had been anything but ordinary that night.. Or maybe it was normal for a demigod to be plagued by so many cryptic visions and nightmares? No one had ever told him otherwise, so he really didn't have much information to work with... And he had no idea what do do about what he was seeing now... Where he was... It made him feel as if he were home... Which was completely ridiculous! Surrounding him were walls of black, areas where light seemed to fade away completely, that blocked any exit from the large, circular area he seemed to be trapped in. In the center was a large throne comprised of thousands of bones. A large silhouette of a man, or at least Sage thought it was a man, sat in the throne, staring down at the young demigod, who found himself unable to move. ”So, the young hero ventures home, does he? What sort of welcome awaits this prodigal son? Will he survive?” The silhouette leaned forward, its glowing eyes staring at the boy with a sort of twisted humor behind them. ”If only..” Those last few words hit Sage like the sound of a knife being drawn across slate. Darkness rose around him and soon filled his vision as demonic laughter filled his ears. He could hear the whispers of spirits around him screaming, ”wake... Wake... WAKE!”
Sage woke with a start, half ripping soulrender from its home on his finger as the panic rose in him, then immediately subsided. “Oh gods..” He said as he pushed the ring back to its home position, and sat up, wiping the sweat from his brow as he did. “What could that mean...?” He questioned the empty air in the small room. He didn't bother waiting for an answer and got up and out of bed, grabbing clothes from his nightstand as he did. “It was just a nightmare.. A stupid nightmare.. Can't hurt me, right?”

Sage marched his way up the hill to the spot under the tree where Lucas, Max, and Ish were waiting for him. He sighed with obvious disappointment, having not wanted to be the last one to arrive. Today he was wearing a new black t-shirt with a silver skull in the center, loose black jeans, and combat boots with metal plates decorating the sides. Over all this, he was wearing his favorite white coat, which was barren of all decoration, other than a small patch on the left shoulder, made to look something like a leaf, that had sustained a bit of damage in the form of a tear through the center. On Sage's back was a white backpack filled with the various provisions any demigod would need for a long journey. It also possessed some more personal effects that would most likely go unused, or just unnoticed by his companions. “Hey guys!” Sage said with great enthusiasm and a smile as he neared the small group. “Everybody ready for an adventure?”

After Sage came Ethan, who held his usual smirk as he marched up the hill, carrying a shoe box under his arm. "Well, well.. All of my favorite little newbies heading off on their first quest, and none of them talks to me about it first." He was apparently trying his best to sound disappointing at the last bit, but couldn't seem to rid himself of his playful smirk. Ethan shoved the shoe box into Lucas' hands and stepped back, just out of arms reach, most likely to avoid any give-backs. "Those should serve you well. They were gifts from my father for my first quest, and they're pretty much the only reason I'm still alive. When you want them to work, just say Maeia and take a running start. You might want to get a bit of practice before really using them..."

“Coralbrain huh? Bet that took you all night to think of huh?” He asked with a playful smile as he shook his head, turning towards Ish. “good to have you around Ish, never know when I’m going to need a smart-alecky remark and a human shield around” He said with a laugh, and it wasn’t too long before Max, and then Sage joined the small gathering. “As ready as I’m ever going to be..” He mumbled to Sage’s question; then just as he was about to turn and walk down the other side of the hill to their ride, a familiar face stopped him. Ethan came marching up the hill, making a statement, and trying to sound disappointed even though he had a smirk, Lucas smiled a little and shook his head. “Well it’s easier to just go and not say goodbye ya’know?” he stated before a shoebox was shoved into his hands. He listened to what the male said tilting his head curiously but nodding some and smiling. “Thanks Ethan, We’ll see you when we get back” He said that last bit half-heartedly, as he made his way down the crest of the hill.
Once he, and his small group had climbed aboard the van, they were off down the countryside. He sat near a window staring out watching fields and fences roll by. His mind was everywhere else but where it needed to be, wondering about the prophecy; and how things were going to play out, not to mention the fact that he was being blamed for taking the lightning bolt when he hadn’t even know the gods had existed until two days ago, and even then he was out for three before that! He turned his attention to his friends trying to give a reassuring smile. “So…Sage, Ish you wanna make a bet if we make it back alive or not?” He asked trying to throw out a joke to lighten the mood.

Ish shrugged when asked about thinking all night. "Not really, considering your oh so stellar intelligence you've displayed thus far." Of course he just raised an eyebrow in mocking disbelief when told it was good to have a meatshield and smart ass about, although he didn't call it what it really was. Of course, Sage arrived as enthusiastic as ever while Max hadn't said a word to anyone here. Understandable, considering how royally screwed they probably where with the people going along for this quest. "Dead boy, morning doesn't mean upbeat. It's an indicator of too early for people to be up and about." Of all people to see them off, Ethan showed up practically forcing a gift on to Lucas. It was his winged shoes, from the sounds of things, and he smirked when he said favorite newbies. "Well, thieves son pawning off his shoes as a gift. Hoping to steal them back later, or have you finally gone far enough fairy that you can float without the bloody things? Ethan offers them a gift to help, and Ish goes and mocks and makes jokes at his expense in return. It was a good thing the gift wasn't meant for him, or that might have earned thief boy trying to take them back. Or not, he wasn't terribly receptive at times in that manner.

They all boarded the van that was driving them out at this point, and he half dozed in the farthest back seat he could have gotten to until Coralbrain, in his infinite wisdom, brought up making bets and he smirked. "Five dollars says Ethan wants me dead rather than see me return to camp. What the hell, most, if not all, of that bastard son and daughter camp of misfits and freaks probably want me out of their collective hair for good. Hell, that crippled old freak upstairs probably would be happy to see me gone too, eh?" He returned to his half dozing, putting half an ear to any responses from the others, but otherwise not seeming worried in the slightest. He still half expected to be the one accused of being the future traitor, simply due to his general outlook in dealing with the other campers, and Greek Gods in general. But that would wait until it came up, became an issue, whatever. He was taking advantage of the fact he could catch up on sleep on the van trip, dozing in the hopes of trying to catch up on his lack of sleep last night. Of course some epic quest to save the world, not like anyone would care if they succeeded or even know, would not lend itself well to a good nights sleep, which was why he was aiming to doze, half doze while listening to chatter, whatever he could make work.

Max looked over at Sage as he asked whether they were all ready to go on adventure rather cheerfully, in which Ish reacted with a sarcastic comment as expected. She had to agree with Ishmael on the matter, not able to be that cheerful when it was early and they were heading out to face their possible death. She was surprised as Ethan shoved a shoebox into Lucas's hands before disappearing off down the hill again, not thinking to wave them off or anything. It was probably better this way, to slip away unnoticed by the rest of the campers, although after last night everyone would be able to guess what had happened to the group.

She took one of the seats in the middle of the van, having sat her belongings on the floor in front of her and curling up onto the seat with her legs crossed. She was small enough to get away with such a feat without being uncomfortable. She frowned as Lucas suggested making a bet about whether they would make it back alive or not,
"You can't pay your debts if you're dead." She said quietly, looking over her shoulder at Ish as he ranted on about how everyone would probably prefer it if he didn't return to camp after this. Her frown remained as he spoke, casually attempting to doze off again after his words.

"Would you prefer it if it were that way, Ish?" she couldn't help but ask, unable to understand why he would talk like everyone hated him. He might have been unsociable and inulting at every opportunity, but he was still a demi-god like the rest of them. Well, this was starting out to be a miserable quest so far.

Sage piled into the van after the all the others, taking a seat in the back with Ishmael. He wasn't particularly interested in whatever Ethan had given to Lucas, though he was sure it was that pair of shoes that the teen had received from his father. The shoes sprouted wings and flew when you used the command word, making them a fairly cool magic item to have... However, as a son of Hades, Sage could never hope to use them. Being in the air, especially now, was dangerous for both him and Lucas. That was Zeus's domain, and if he felt the two demigods violating it, they'd be shot full of lightning before either of them knew what was going on. Either Max or Ish would have to use them... If they had to be used at all. Hell, they could just leave them in the van... Would probably be safer to go without the temptation.

Sage stared out the windows of the van as they passed very slowly through Queens, seemingly catching every bit of traffic on the way to Manhattan. Then came the subject of a bet on whether they'd live through the quest or not. Oddly enough, Lucas had started this one... He'd never been the betting type at Yancy... Ish naturally threw in his own bit of pessimistic speculation, stating that everyone at the camp wished for him to not return. This wasn't true. The members of the Hephaestus cabin would want him to return home, and so would Chiron. He would have mentioned this, but it was hardly necessary or wanted at this time, he was sure. Still, he had to add to this bit, if only for the sake of talking. “I'll bet a grand that all of us return alive.” He didn't expect anyone to respond to this, but it broke some silence after Max's comment about not being able to pay the debt when dead... Though, that was untrue.. You could still pay a debt in the underworld..

He listened to Ish talk, shaking his head some as he frowned slightly. “Ish you really are a pessimistic guy, I figured it was just how you welcomed new demi-gods, but it’s good to see you’re as shallow as the kiddie pool” He said feeling like giving the insults back if just a bit for now. He then listened to what Max had to say, nodding a bit but not saying anything about it as he looked out the window of the van. While watching the countryside go by, something caught his eye, a flash of golden fur, and an outline of a… giant lion? He rubbed at his eyes for a split second and it had disappeared; almost like it had never been there; or maybe a sign of something to come later, either way he couldn’t worry about that now. He turned his attention to the group just as Sage began to speak. “A grand huh, well let’s hope you’re right, cause I’d really not like to die at twelve years old” That being the last thing he said as the ride continued.
Once they had reached their stop, it being a bus station somewhere in Manhattan, they bid their driver farewell, (which Lucas hadn’t noticed before, the dude had like millions of eyes over his body, but he figured if he came back at all he’d get to ask then) who handed them bus tickets and then was off. He turned to the group before shoving the shoe box into Ish’s hands. “Here dude, I think dive bombing our enemies with that lethal wrench will do us all some good; besides with how big of a dent you put in my helmet when not sneaking you might be more of a challenge being able to sneak up on me” He said with a slight smile, testing the waters a bit seeing as he knew Ish already would have some way to insult him and say something shitty about the gift. “Besides if what Chiron said is true, and I’m sure it is I’m sure Zeus would love nothing more than zapping me out of the air, and I’d rather not die by electrocution by my very own godly uncle you know?” He turned his attention to the bus station, looking down at his ticket. “So…We’re off to risk life and limb to stop a war between the gods and clear my name….” He said with a hint of sarcasm. “Hey Sage do you ever miss Yancy at all? cause right now I’d rather be, being picked on then nearly killed..” He mumbled under his breath.

Ish smirked as Max asked if he would prefer it that way, and he shrugged. It was worth some thought, when they weren't heading on a suicide mission, but he didn't have to indicate that he was going to take the thought seriously. "Why, tree hugger, that would make things easier. Beat the three of you to seeing dead boy's pop, see if I can't get the red carpet rolled out and everything!" Lucas decided to sling insults back, and he grinned at the boy as he did so. This was going to be fun, if the entire trip was spent shooting insults at each other and such. "Barnacle beard's kid, using pool insults? Way to quickly fall into poppa's lap there, coralbrain. I bet he'll be so proud of you." Sage remained silent during the entire 'discussion' between himself, Lucas, and Max, if one could call it that. It was a long enough trip to the bus station, where they were dumped tickets and Sage had made a comment on betting a grand on their survival. "Dead boy, inheriting all the dead millionaires money. And I thought thief boy was chilling back at camp."

Lucas dumped the shoes of flying on him, and Ish raised an eyebrow as he decided to try and beat him to the punch on insults, and chuckled. Oh yea, this was going to be a lot more interesting then he had initially thought. "Thank you oh so much, I always wanted a pair of shoes that can fly! My life is now complete, now that I can say a word and fly, while traveling with the accused thief of one of the big three's godly weapon, who is the god of air. Yes, that is such a perfectly brilliant gift, I cannot fathom the logic coming from such a thing." He hoped the sarcasm was clear enough, it shouldn't have been too hard to pick up on, and he shook his head and stuffed the shoe box in his bag. Sarcastic mockery or not, he might as well keep the damn things in case they had use at one point or another. He didn't rise to the bait of the helmet meeting wrench, he didn't have to. A wrench had badly dented in the helmet, transferring kinetic force. The water had all but cleared that up, but if he hadn't been barnacle beard's kid, that would have went vastly different. Some days he did have to hate the unknown variable, such as that. He did mutter to himself once more while waiting for the bus, ticket in hand. "Quest to save the world, glorious chariot of choice? Early AM bus ride..."

Max's brow rose slightly at Ish's 'Tree hugger' comment, though disregarded it as he continued to joke about being the first to meeting Sage's dad and seeing if he'd be welcomed as if he were famous. Before she could comment on his reply, he continued to pass insults on to Lucas and Sage before they were ushered out to the bus stop. She glanced around the place, hugging her arms around herself as she waited for their next bus. She hadn't really explored America when she arrived around 2 years ago now, the aim of the trip had been to take her straight to camp with the help of her mother's friend. Because of this, she only really knew the area round camp, and was a little nervous about being somewhere she had no idea about. They seemed to be heading into more urban areas, which unnerved Max even more. She understood the forest and how to hunt efficiently in the woods. The city was completely different by comparison. She couldn't help but smirk as she realised that Ish's earlier statement about her was quite fitting, as she would have much preferred to be in the wilderness than in a city.

She gingerly wrapped her arms around herself as she waited for their next ride, glancing at Ish as he made another comment about their transportation,
"What were you expecting?" She asked him, glancing at the ticket in her had before looking at the others.

Sage crawled his way out of the van with the others and stepped onto the curb in front of the greyhound bus station. While everyone else, or just Ish, bickered Sage took his time to analyze their surroundings. The mortals were minding their own business, hurrying about the station to find whatever bus they, or their family members, were taking. Only a few seemed to notice the kids, which somewhat surprised Sage. You would think people would find it odd to see four kids not even in their teens walking about a bus station alone. He was sure weirder things happened, but shouldn't at least one of them be concerned by their lack of a chaperone? Or were mortal adults really just that apathetic?
Sage threw his white bag, which he'd taken off for the van ride, over his shoulder and waited briefly for the banter between Lucas and Ish to stop. It did eventually end, but with unexpected results. Lucas gave over the magic shoes to Ish, which Sage could only imagine was a bad idea. Ish was already dangerous enough... And now he could fly... He almost felt bad for those kids at camp who'd earned the mechanic's ire.
Lucas started talking about their quest and his particular role in it, then asked Sage if he missed Yancy academy, continuing to comment on how he'd rather be there, getting picked on rather than being nearly killed.
“I don't miss Yancy at all... Having to play a weak and innocent mortal was pretty boring, and also pretty annoying.. I really wished I could have beaten those guys who picked on us senseless, but I couldn't... Had to watch over you, which really wasn't easy. That school was loaded with monsters, all of which wanted to bite a piece out of you.. Like that Latin teacher Chiron replaced..." Sage shivered at the mention of the latin teacher who'd disappeared a week after the school year had began. He wanted a subject change then, wanting to avoid the questions Lucas would probably want to ask then. "So, which bus is ours? Since everyone's rushing around, I'm guessing some are probably leaving soon."

He slightly listened to Ish’s negativity and only waved a hand. “oh shut it Grease-monkey” He said, before smiling at Max. “He probably expected a limo to ferry us to our doom, or something of grandeur” He said with a shrug as he looked down at his ticket to check for a bus number. “Bus number…” He squinted at the ticket for a second and smiled. “Bus 82..” Though before he could begin to look around to find it he heard Sage mention the other Latin teacher, He looked back at Sage and shook his head. “Well at least I know I’m not crazy now from all the weird things that happened back then.” He said with a slight laugh as he began to look around checking for the bus. “There it is, come on” He said and took the lead. He closed the distance between himself and the bus, patiently waiting for his time to climb in, once he had a chance he made his way towards the back, sitting there.

Once all the passengers, including his friends had made it on board the bus pulled out of the station and was off, he stared out of his window watching as the city slowly passed by. He really had nothing to say at the moment, though he was sure; that if he stayed quiet enough Ish would have something amazingly negative to bring to whatever conversation sprung forth. He laughed softly to himself at that thought as the city was gone and replaced with a comforting sight of nature. He smiled softly and just stretched out starting to finally feel a little better, even with the knowledge of imminent death, was waiting for them at the end of their quest, or maybe just one of them, who knows considering the it was his quest; it would most likely be him dying at the end of it most likely by a lightning bolt. He frowned at the thought, hoping Zeus wasn’t paying too much attention to his thoughts and liked the idea of roasted Poseidon spawn.

Ish smirked as both Max and Lucas made commentary towards his mutterings about the transport provided to them. "Oh, I guess I am the only one who finds it a tad odd that no better or more reliable transport can be provided than dumping us in some bus terminal and hoping we can make our way across the US in a rather short time span, find the item of value, and return it before all hell breaks loose, possibly literally, all the while praying to whatever's listening that things work out for the better, and previously mentioned thing doesn't decide to use us as pawns in some grand joke that leads to the end of everything as we know it. Yes, I did hope things wouldn't come down to that." He had utterly ignored the hushing from Lucas, of course, more talking to himself at this point than anyone else. His thoughts had returned to the group itself. An untested spawn of Barnacle Beard, a son of the god of the dead that could have very well swiped what they were looking for, a pessimist, cynic, and anti social blacksmith and engineer rolled into one, and an archer who was probably the most stable out of all of them right now. Of course trusting the future of everyone in the hands of such a team couldn't go wrong in the slightest!

Lucas and Sage went back and forth a bit on the whole Yancy Academy thing, which Ish didn't pretend that he had an idea what had gone on there. He didn't, and didn't make a comment for once, at least in that regard. The bus number, 82, started boarding and Lucas led the way, which Ish didn't particurally care about. By all means, let the one accused of theft, although if one would approach things logically it was highly unlikely, from what he knew, the boy had stolen anything, let alone an artifact of such power, lead the way. It was technically his quest after all. He sat but did not remove his backpack of gadgets, tools, supplies and what not. He muttered, breaking the silence between the four of them with a classic past time, gambling. "$5 says things start going south before the day is done." It was abrupt, and he smirked at the thought. Worse came to worse, he would have to pay but it would be a situation where it wouldn't hurt to be wrong.

Max couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of a limo taking them straight to their doom. At least they would be arriving in style. She listened to Lucas and Sage conversing about the last school they were at together before Lucas joined the camp, talking about how many monsters were at the school.
"I'm still surprised Chiron let Sage look after you at the school," She piped up, glancing over at Sage with a questioning expression, "I thought you would also attract a ridiculous amount of monsters, whether you were good at acting as a mortal or not." She shrugged a little, knowing it was all in the past now. At the end of the day, Sage had done a good job getting Lucas to the camp eventually.

Her brow rose at Ish's rant-to-self, shaking her head a little as she was pretty sure it was better not to react to it. She followed after the others, clambering aboard the bus and taking one of the empty seats at the back of the bus with the rest of the group, setting her bag on her lap with her bow behind it close to her stomach. Luckily the mortals didn't seem to notice them too much.
Max scowled at Ish as he made up another bet that everything would start going downhill today, shoving him in his seat a little, though not as hard as she would've liked. He was no doubt stronger than her and would not appreciate a shove back from him. "The more you talk like that, the more likely it will happen!" She hissed, preferring not to attract any unwanted attention by talking about their impending doom in front of so many mortals.

“Ish, you should be glad we even got a bus.” Sage said to the cynical demigod as they all moved along to bus 82's station. “And Chiron only let me do it because there were no free satyrs to send... He needed someone Lucas' age, and not many would miss me at camp...” He started to get a bit down as those words left his mouth, but, as he always did when he started to feel that way, he switched back to his usual enthusiastic smile and started to speak quickly. “I'm sure he knew I could handle it, anyway. I killed a few of the monsters we attracted, and Chiron's presence kinda scared the others away.. The only one we couldn't deal with right away was the kindly one, and Lucas ended up splitting her from head to talon.”
Sage receded into silence as they boarded the bus and made their way to the back of the vehicle, which was conveniently devoid of adult, for the moment. That was a lucky break.. If any of the mortal adults were sitting anywhere near them, they'd have to keep silent, lest they be sent to the crazy house. Once they'd taken their seats, Ishmael started his usual routine of predicting their doom while laying the usual amount on the table in favor of his prediction. Usually he'd take the bet, since they always ended in his favor. (Ish owing Sage ruffly sixty five dollars to that date), but Sage wasn't exactly feeling so confident in his chances this time around. It was just when Max started to chastise Ish over his cynical statement that Sage saw what would be the start of the day's downward plunge.
“Lucas!” Sage said in a quick, sharp whisper as he reached over and back handed the kid's shoulder, trying to get his attention. He pointed, as discretely as he could, at three old women that were just boarding the bus. The first was the one that caught Sage's eyes. Thiough she was more withered now, the woman looked exactly like Ms. Dodds, their math teacher, who'd turned out to be a Fury in disguise. The other to women that boarded with her looked almost identical to her and carried mid-sized hand bags that seemed to make the air around them ripple, as if they were heated. “All three... All three kindly ones...”

Before Lucas could really comment on Ish’s bet, Sage slapped his shoulder and got his attention pointed to the three old grandmas that had just got on the bus, then he pointed out that it was all three furies. “Greaat….thanks Ish you just had to say something and jinx our luck..” He mumbled towards the male as he ducked down in his seat a little hoping they hadn’t spotted him yet, seeing as his friends weren’t the one they wanted. “Sooo…what do we do, needless to say in a confine space a fight isn’t going to work out..” He said calmly looking to Sage for some sort of guidance, seeing as himself; personally had no real experience in actually fighting monsters. “I think there’s an emergency exit here somewhere, but are we going to be able to get away from them even if we get off the bus?” He questioned to the entire group.
He sat there in silence with nothing but his thoughts. “I could always run interference….I mean they do want me not them” He thought to himself as he looked to Sage, then Max; and last Ish; who he happened to glare at seeing as him saying something had to have lessened their chances of getting away today without an incident.