Flat lands of corn and wheat behind them, the weary travelers headed towards Montana. Beyond what happened in Chicago, they had been lucky enough to not encounter any monsters. They were somewhere in western South Dakota, close enough to the state's borders with Wyoming and Montana that Lorelai really didn't think that it counted as the Midwest anymore.

They drove through beautiful, rocky terrain that looked as if it had been painted by Apollo himself. Lorelai was driving, though she wished she was in the backseat with her sketchbook, so that she could capture the beautiful colors herself.

"You know, nature is pretty when it's not trying to attack you," Percy joked.

Grover, who was in the front with Lorelai, let out a sad bleat. "That's what I've been saying for ages."

"It's getting late," Lorelai noted. "Should we stop soon?" She looked at the clock on the van's dashboard, seeing that it was well past eleven Mountain Time.

"Maybe we can pull over somewhere around here," Annabeth said, stifling a yawn. "These rocks might make good shelter."

Lorelai would have rather stayed at a hotel again, but they had passed their last city hours beforehand. As the leader of the quest, she knew she shouldn't complain. That's what they would have expected from a child of Aphrodite, and she wouldn't let that happen.

They drove down a dirt road that exited the highway, and Lorelai parked the van behind a large outcropping of rocks in hopes that no one would see it. She wasn't sure if the road was public or not, and the last thing they needed was a paranoid mortal approaching them with a rifle.

"I can take the first watch," Lorelai offered. She was really beginning to feel like she wasn't pulling her weight as the leader of the quest. She always felt herself relying on Percy and Annabeth instead of making decisions herself. It was easy, since they were practically veterans, but it still made her feel like a phony. The least she could do was take the first watch of the night.

"I'll join you," Percy offered as the rest of the group began to set up their sleeping bags. She supposed they could have slept in the van, but if the others were feeling the way Lorelai was feeling about the van, that was the last place they wanted to be anymore. Plus, it was beginning to smell like feet.

She watched Percy scramble up what Lorelai could only describe as a tower of stone. "This will probably be a good outlook," he said, beckoning for her to join him.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "I don't know about that," she said. The rocks looked unstable, and the last thing she wanted to do was fall and crack her head open. They were so far removed from society that she doubted an ambulance would even make it in time.

"Come on, Lorelai," he said. "I won't let you fall."

"You're the son of Poseidon, Percy," Lorelai said as she tentatively gripped a side of the tower. "And I don't see any water around."

Percy laughed as he watched her from the edge, holding his hand out to her. She was still too far away for him to help her up.

The son of Poseidon was right — it would be a great place for a lookout. They would likely be able to see anyone coming.

"Lorelai, why don't you get some rest? You drove this whole time."

Just as Lorelai was about to reach the top, she turned around to see Esme.

"Really?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah," Esme said, smiling. "You too, Percy. Get some sleep. I drank all that coffee from the gas station, so there's no way I'd be able to fall asleep for a while anyway."

"Okay, thanks." Lorelai said, looking at Percy with a smile. She was exhausted, even though she'd never admit it, and there were some definite dark circles under Percy's eyes, too.

They headed back to the others, who sat huddled next to a sad fire that one of them had started. She unrolled her sleeping bag and quickly got inside. Even though it was summer, it was quite chilly at night.

"Hey, there's some snacks in my bag that my brothers stole from the camp store. Feel free to dig into those!" Esme called out from atop the rock ledge.

"Thanks, Esme! I'm starving!" Grover said, immediately reaching for the girl's backpack. He opened it to reveal mini bags of chips, a box of cookies, and packages of fruit snacks.

"Score," Percy said, reaching for a bag of chips.

"Percy, care to go for a walk?" Annabeth said, looking firmly at her boyfriend.

Uncomfortable butterflies filled Lorelai's stomach. She'd been getting weird vibes from the couple since they left on the trip, and after giving them both advice, she'd been waiting for them to talk to each other. Now was that time, apparently.

"Uh, sure," Percy replied, putting the chips back down. "No one take those. I'll eat them later," he said with a short laugh. Lorelai could tell his joking tone was forced, and he was clearly nervous about his approaching conversation with Annabeth.

Grover and Lorelai shared a knowing glance as Annabeth and Percy left. As Percy's closest friend, the satyr likely knew more than Lorelai even did.

"They're about to break up, aren't they?" Grover asked, looking at Lorelai. "I mean, you can sense that stuff, right?"

Lorelai nodded, a frown on her face. It seemed likely that Percy and Annabeth were doomed in a romantic relationship, though she wouldn't say that.

"Right," Grover said, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Fruit snacks?"

Lorelai settled in with her fruit snacks, though she barely made it through the entire package before her eyelids began to feel like lead. With the coziness of her sleeping bag, the warmth of the fire, and a long day behind her, it didn't take long before she was fast asleep.

༺❀༻

Lorelai's eyes fluttered open, her head pounding as she stared up into the dark night sky. The stars seemed almost too bright, and she fought the urge to close her eyes again and go right back to sleep.

She turned in her sleeping bag, taking in the rest of her traveling party. Annabeth and Percy laid on opposite sides of the campfire, and though neither of them were awake, their position to be as far away as possible from each other was evidence enough to Lorelai that something had clearly transpired.

The fire had been reduced to ashes, and she looked across the smoldering pieces to Grover, or where Grover should have been. His sleeping bag was wide open, and there was a half-eaten can next to it, along with an empty sleeve of the cookies he'd eaten. Lorelai looked around, though it was dark, so she couldn't see anything. She couldn't hear anything, either, but the soft breathing of her companions as they slept.

She stood, wrapping her sleeping bag around her like a cloak, as she headed over to the rock pile that had been deemed their guard tower.

"Esme?" She called up, hoping the daughter of Hermes hadn't fallen asleep.

"Hey," Esme said, swinging her head over the ledge to peer down at Lorelai. "What's up, blondie?"

Lorelai's face flushed as she pulled the sleeping bag closer around her. "Where's Grover?" she asked through chattering teeth.

"He said he was going to the bathroom," Esme said, glancing around them. "Something about the cookies he ate not agreeing with him."

"He did eat a lot of them," Lorelai said, recalling the empty sleeve. "How long ago was that?" She felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle, and not from the cold. The satyr wasn't the most defensive on his own, and she was worried about him.

"I don't know, like a couple minutes ago?" Esme replied. "If he's not back soon, I'll let you know."

"Okay," Lorelai said, chewing on her bottom lip. She turned to head back to the fire, though something made her hesitate.

"Go on, Lorelai. He'll be back soon. Grover knows how to handle himself, especially in the wild," Esme insisted.

"Of course," Lorelai said, flashing Esme a smile before returning to her spot. She walked past Percy, seeing a crumpled bag of chips remained in his grasp.

She settled back into her sleeping bag, though she had no plans of falling back asleep until Grover had safely returned. She leaned against one of the rock structures as she listened for any sign of Grover. She checked her watch, counting the minutes as Grover was yet to return.

Esme told her Grover had only been gone a few minutes, and it had already been ten minutes since Lorelai talked to Esme. The feeling in her stomach told Lorelai that something wasn't right. She grabbed Charmolipi and stood, moving to wake up Percy.

"Percy," she hissed in a low whisper.

The son of Poseidon remained fast asleep.

"Percy!" Lorelai tried again, this time a little louder. She gently shook his shoulder, apprehensive as she did not want to end up on the wrong side of Riptide by waking him in such a way.

He stirred slightly, his brows furrowing together as he let out a groan. "Hmm?" he said, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Gods, my head hurts."

"I think it's from laying on this rock," Lorelai replied. "But wake up, we don't have time for that. Grover is missing."

Percy sat up immediately, his hand in his pocket as he reached for his sword. "What do you mean?" he asked, his sea green eyes filled with concern over his best friend.

"Esme said he went to the bathroom, but that was a while ago. He should be back already," Lorelai said.

"Did Esme see anything?" Percy asked, gesturing towards the rock tower.

Lorelai shook her head. "She only saw Grover head out to go to the bathroom. She said he didn't feel good after eating all those cookies."

"Well, maybe he got sick," Percy said. "I mean, how long has he been gone?"

"I don't know," Lorelai admitted. "Maybe 15 minutes, if Esme's estimation was correct."

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Annabeth said from across the fire. Lorelai turned around to see that the daughter of Athena was awake and standing, her dagger clenched firmly in her hand. In her efforts to wake Percy, she must have awoken Annabeth as well. "We should go look for him."

Lorelai nodded in agreement. Part of her thought that everything was fine, that she was overreacting. Still, part of her felt that something was wrong, extremely wrong. It was that second part that concerned her, and it was that second part in demigods that was usually right.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ author's note ✫・゜・。.

we are getting into it! 

beyond that, i don't really have much to say lol. what were your thoughts on this chapter?

as always, thanks for reading! please leave a comment or two and don't forget to vote for this chapter, if you don't mind :)

xx,

madi