"How can you do it so fast?" Emily called up to Lily who was standing at the top of the Climbing Wall.

"Lots and lots of practise." She shouted back.

Emily huffed and grabbed another hold. Lily turned towards where Thomas was pulling himself up onto the platform. "Hard - work." He puffed, placing his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath.

Lily smirked at him. "Too tired to race me back down?"

"Yeah, probably." Thomas said. "I'll just sit down and wait for Emily and Maria."

Lily moved towards him and they stood next to each other, watching as the twins struggling to climb up.

"Nice view, eh?" Lily said.

"I know." Thomas replied. They stared out at the Canoe Lake for a moment.

"So..." Lily said. "The quest."

Thomas sighed. "I knew you'd bring that up."

"Are you still making up your mind or have you chickened out?" Lily asked.

"I don't know yet." Thomas shrugged. "You only asked me yesterday."

"Hey," Lily placed a hand on his shoulder. "Remember, you're as much a part of this group as I am. It'll be fun."

"You think fighting monsters and surviving in the mortal world will be fun?"

"Yeah, duh." Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm insane, remember? You're the level-headed person, I'm the one with all the bad ideas."

"Good point."

Suddenly, there was a huge gust of wind. Lily stumbled. They were standing quite close to the edge, so she was waving her arms around to try and keep her balance.

And then, she felt as though she were falling. The wind rushed in her ears. She gasped as she realised that she was leaning over the edge, but not falling. Also the fact that Thomas had his arms wrapped tightly around her. Their faces were so close together, Lily could see his eyes and all the patterns in them, like they were a whole other universe. It was electrifying, that moment, like no one was watching. Two people staring into each other's eyes, sea green on mud brown.

But then Lily glanced away and the moment was lost. Thomas sighed and helped pull her back upright.

"Thanks." She muttered, cheeks bright red.

"No problem."

Lily glanced back down. She took in a deep breath as she saw how high up they were. Emily was only a few hand holds below her. Maria, however, was still only halfway up.

"C'mon Maria!" Lily cheered. "You can do it!"

"Yeah, Emily! Good job!" Thomas started clapping beside her. Lily quickly joined in.

Emily heaved herself up onto the platform. "Good game." She coughed. Thomas helped her up and gave her a hug, patting her on the back.

Lily looked away from Thomas and Emily, a sinking feeling shooting through her stomach. Why I am so jealous all of a sudden? She scolded herself. It's not as if I actually like Thomas.

Once Maria had made it up, the four friends sat down on the side of the Climbing Wall, legs dangling over the side - or in Lily's case, tucked folded.

"So..." Emily began. "The quest."

"Not again." Thomas sighed.

"Are you coming?" Emily asked.

Thomas shrugged. "If you can find a way of transportation, then I'm in."

"We still have rivals, you know." Lily said. "Most of the camp wants this quest."

"Well Chiron's pretty blind to not see it." Maria said. "The new lines were 'The journey shall now begin,
So bear forth the seven's kin', and it literally states 'the seven's kin'. That's us, right?"

"Not me." Thomas said. "I'm not apart of your 'Children Of The Seven' Club."

"Yes you are!" Lily cried. "Thomas, you're allowed in our Club. It doesn't matter who your parents are, just that you're a legacy."

"So no demigods allowed?" Emily raised her eyebrows.

"Yes - no - maybe," Lily shrugged. "I dunno."

"Oi you four!" A voice shouted below them. Lily looked down to see Noah standing far below, waving his arms around. "I gotta show you something!"

•••

Lily, Maria, Emily, Thomas and Noah headed down to Bunker Nine. Once they were in there, Noah showed them the boat.

"It was originally the Agro II, but I call it the Argo III." Noah said proudly.

"It's a ship." Maria said.

"No, you don't understand!" Noah was bouncing up and down with excitement. "This was literally the ship. You know all the stories about how our parents flew around the world and conquered Gaia on the Argo II? Well this is an upgraded version! I discovered it two nights ago, and I've fixed most of the engine up. It just needs a mast, a cleanup and some supplies and we'll be good to go for the quest!"

"Okay, good." Thomas nodded. "But, who else is going again?"

"Us five, Hayley and Ethan if we can persuade them, and Mia if she ever wakes up."

The room was suddenly silent thinking about their comatose friend.