Grian walks in with a mischievous grin...

(TNT EXPLODES LIKE) THUNDERRR

That was the Incredibly Random Thing of the Day that went through Ren's head when Grian asked him for help sneaking away.

Well, it wasn't really that random. When Grian walked into a room, chaos was sure to follow.

"Do you want to sneak out?" Grian whispered excitedly.

Ren sat up and hit his head on the bunk above him. Isaac let out an impressive snore. "What are you doing in my cabin, dude?"

Grian backed up a little. In the semi-darkness, Ren could see him grin. "Asking you if you want to come."

"Are you kidding?" Ren said. "I'm not ready! Of course not! And I guess it's coincidence that you choose to leave on the morning that Percy Jackson does, too?"

"Nobody will notice because they'll be too busy talking about him."

"The other Hermits will notice!"

Grian frowned. "Okay, that's a problem. But why don't you want to come? You were helping me plan earlier."

"I didn't think you actually meant it!"

"Okay. Fine. Bye, Ren!" Grian left.

Ren immediately rolled out of bed and threw some clothes on, not noticing or caring that his shirt was on backwards. He threw some toiletries, drachmas, and diamonds into a bag, and then opened the door as quietly as he could, hopped expertly around the land mines, and ran after the probable son of Hermes while still putting on his shoes.

"Grian, wait!" Ren called, trying not to trip as he pulled on his sneaker.

Grian turned back and grinned. "So you are coming."

Ren nodded. "But shouldn't we get the others?"

Grian shrugged. "Nah. It's only for a little bit."

Ren's internal alarms were blaring, but he followed Grian up the hill.

Ren glanced at the pine tree. He sensed something that had happened here. A battle, maybe a few years ago.

Ren passed off the sense as some Ares-related power and followed Grian to the other side... into the mortal world.

"We should not be going around at night," Ren said.

"Why?" Grian asked.

"What do you think? We're two teenagers with no adults in sight on a Friday night."

"Ohh," Grian said, and frowned. "Yeah, I didn't think this through."

"The mortals might be more dangerous than the monsters in this case," Ren said, wishing he had remembered to bring his axe. Of course, it wouldn't hurt any of the mortals, but it was still comforting to have.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ren asked.

"No."

"Well, then," Ren muttered, and joined Grian as he ran down the hill.

They wandered through streets with little incident. At one point, a group of kids maybe two or three years older than them cornered them against a fence, but Grian pulled out his sword and they backed off. Ren wasn't sure what they saw through the Mist, but it probably wasn't good.

Sorry about this, I have no idea what city life is like because I've lived in small towns my whole life

After that, the local kids stayed away from them.

"There's so much of it," Ren said in awe. "And there's so many people."

"Do you think they have trades?" Grian asked.

Ren shoved at him. "How would villagers be this advanced? This is another world, dude! Of course there's other people besides players and mobs. You've met the demigods."

"This world is so..." Grian said, trying to think of the word. "Circular."

"Round," Ren corrected. "You should know this stuff. We've been at Camp Half-Blood for, what, a month?"

Grian shrugged.

And then the monster came out.

"Does the world being round surprise you, godlings?" A slithery voice rasped.

Grian's sword was instantly out. Ren reached for his axe before remembering that it wasn't there.

Then the old lady came out of the shadows.

Ren instinctively backed away. She had the head of a normal old woman. She wore a rather ugly floral dress and carried a handbag. But the weird thing was the razor teeth, glowing eyes, claws, and leathery bat wings.

Ren and Grian faced the monster, faces pale in fear. They had never seen this type of thing before.

"Demigods," the monster hissed. "But not ones I've seen before. Strange. Perhaps you are some of the ones who keep evading death, who insist on respawning like we monsters do?"

Oh, great. Monsters respawn. So we can't just go on a killing spree and make them go extinct.

"Wait, monsters respawn?" Grian blurted.

"We die, over and over again, as you demigods slaughter us," the monster spat. "Then we return from Tartarus."

Ren coughed. "Excuse me," he said, trying not to laugh. "Did you say you're from Fartarus?"

"Tartarus!" The monster yelled angrily. "Teenagers! They never get anything right! They all deserve to rot in the Fields of Punishment!"

Grian made a fart noise put of the side of his mouth. Ren snickered.

That just infuriated the monster even more. She pulled a fiery whip out of nowhere and cracked it in the air.

"My sisters and I are supposed to be hunting Perseus Jackson," the monster hissed, the glow in her eyes intensifying, the wings growing larger. Ren and Grian backed up. "But he comes out of the camp tomorrow. Why not bring my master a couple of escapees while we wait?"

"Escapees?" Grian yelped.

"We haven't escaped from anything!" Ren agreed.

What they would have said next dissolved into screams as clawed hands seized the backs of their shirts and lifted them into the air. Grian's sword dropped to the ground and clattered on the pavement.

"Why's his shirt on backwards?" A voice rasped.

"I don't know," the first monster snapped. "Just bring them to Hades."

"So much for equal power," a third voice grumbled. "Since when do you get to be the boss, Alecto?"

And then they were off, struggling as they were taken into the sky on leathery bat wings.

~~~

Ha.

-Indigo 😏