Chiron personally escorted us out.

Along the way, we found Hermes. He was sitting at a table with a bunch of kids, playing a game of Blackjack with them. He seemed to be winning every hand. He saw us and instantly stood up, telling the kids that all the winnings were theirs, which made them cheer loudly.

The messenger god came up to us. "What's the plan?" he asked me.

"You are to stay here," I answered.

Hermes looked like he was about to protest, but I held up my right hand, the blue tattoo exposed so that everyone could see it. "Someone must stay here and help set up the defences of this place. Plus, you are a god – you'll be making it tough on the Typhoon Army to win. I couldn't think of anyone better to help out."

I breathed through my nose, regretting my next words. "And as heir to Cyclone City, I seriously need you to help me on this one."

Naturally, the whole school heard the conversation. They crowded around us in a semicircle, looking at me in awe. It took all my will not to say to them "get lost." Hermes glanced at my branded arm for a long time.

"Alright," my immortal cousin finally said. "But if you die out there, I will not be happy."

I smiled. "I know."

I looked at my sister. "Ready?"

In response, she gripped her bow tighter. "You really need an answer for that?"

Katie and Jake just nodded in reply.

"You crazy demigods," Paris cursed from the crowd of students. "You'll most likely get killed out there. If Proculus is out there–"

"SHUT UP!" Chloe, Jake, Katie and I shouted at the demigod, making him jump backwards, his face flushed in embarrassment when every student laughed at him.

A couple of other students ran up to the doors and was about to open them, but Chiron raised his hands, signalling them to wait.

"You might need these." He trotted up to one of the walls and removed several sets of armour. All the armour was made of bronze, including the greaves and helmets. Except for one of the sets – it was made of platinum and silver. The helmet had a black plume on top of it, with a scowling expression on it. On the breastplate, carved into the metal, was a trident, my father's ultimate symbol of power.

"That armour belonged to another son of Poseidon," Chiron told me. "His name was Bradley."

"What happened to him?" I asked, dreading what the centaur would say.

Chiron pointed at the armour in arms. "He died of old age, way before Proculus came into the school. He was one of a few who got to live to an old age. He was the best before the Cyclone Prince." He waved his hand across the wall. "All of the armour on the wall is dedicated to all the famous heroes that attended this school, and all of them where good friends."

Everyone cheered as the doors opened, where I was greeted by the night sky, the stars shining above us. I shook Chiron's hand and rushed outside, carrying the set of armour in my arms. The white van was still there. Jake, who was already in his bronze armour, opened the back door and everyone filed inside.

Jake continued to muscle us through the streets of L.A.

In the back, Chloe had placed her armour on, the pieces of random armour looking quite slim, even though it suited her thin frame. Her bow was laid across her lap, where she was fitting two sharp looking daggers on either end of the weapon, tying them off with strong strings of tough steel. I was still having trouble fitting my armour on, due to the fact that I never had to wear armour in my life because of my invulnerability.

"Need some help?" Katie asked me, wearing no armour at all.

"Please," I pleaded.

The daughter of Demeter walked forward and started tying the straps of my breastplate. I managed to get the shin armour on my legs and I managed to tie the greaves on my wrists.

"Never thought I would be wearing armour," I muttered.

Katie was still tying the straps of my armour, her eyes frowning in concentration. Without meaning to, I started paying close attention to her. The way her hair brushed to the side made my heart flutter. Gods, she was pretty.

"It's a demigod tradition," she told me. "Even if you haven't worn any before, you can be able to get the hang of it."

I noticed that Chloe was looking at me. She was covering her mouth, since she was giggling. She pointed her other hand at Katie, then at me and placed her hand over her heart.

I think you're blushing, Marcus, she thought to me. I think someone has got a crush on you.

Will you just shut up? I thought back to her. My face felt hot.

Chloe just continued to giggle.

As soon as Katie was done, the van lurched to the side, making me tumble to the floor of the vehicle. Chloe got thrown to the other side and slammed into the wall. Katie lost her balance and fell on top of me, landing straight on my chest.

"Okay," I groaned, "that hurt."

"Sorry," Katie apologized.

Jake's face appeared at the side of the driver's seat, looking sheepish. "Some drunken idiot swerved right in front of me. Sorry about that. You okay?"

He glanced at me, noticing Katie lying on top of me, and smiled sarcastically. "Getting comfortable already, Marcus? A bit early for that, don't you think?"

"Oh, shut up," I grumbled.

Katie looked just as embarrassed as I was. She got to her feet, grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. We locked eyes in that moment and held our gaze for a long time. Her eyes were a fiery blue, sparkling like exploding stars.

"Hey! Love birds!" Chloe waved her hand in front of us, breaking our focus on each other. She was laughing. "Did you hear what I asked you?"

I cleared my throat. "Um...no, we didn't. What was it that you asked?"

"Nothing," she chuckled. "I was checking if you were present."

She sat back down and laughed her guts out. Jake just smiled in the front, clearly amused.

"Just ignore them, Marcus," Katie said, scowling at the amused demigods. "They just think they're funny." She sat next to me on the other side of the van, bringing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, which made her look more younger than she was. She looked about seventeen, but I couldn't be sure.

I sighed. "Chloe always think she's funny. The problem is that she thinks she's always funny."

"Children of the Big Three these days," Katie sighed. She looked at me and smiled, "Well...all apart from you and Jake, of course."

I raised one of my eyebrows in a not convinced way, before the van lurched to the side again, making me grip the handlebars of the van.

"For the love of god," I shouted. I stormed over to the driver seat. "Jake, will you be more careful and drive more slowly! You're acting like an unreliable driver, and that is not a compliment before you even say anything!"

Jake seemed to shrink at that point. "Sorry."

I returned back to my seat next to Katie and raised my eyebrows at her. "Still think that Jake is not that bad?"