Just as I suspected, everyone started distancing themselves from me.

Clarisse stopped talking to me, Annabeth kept pushing Percy away from me, Luke would only talk to me when necessary.

So, in conclusion, I had no one.

That was fine. I was used to being alone. It was perfectly fine that way. Have partially been since I was four and that hasn't ended.

I finally had a chance to sit by the ocean by myself without anyone bothering me, I could disappear without anyone looking for me, I could just live in peace.

A few days after people found out about mine and Percy's parents, no one truly talked to either of us unless it was necessary, which it rarely was.

Percy and I never interacted after his claiming. He had his own cabin meaning that he moved out of Hermes, meaning that he never slept beside me bothering me anymore. Which was fine, I mean, we were never truly friends during this whole thing so why would he act like we were now?

Later after the whole thing I was sitting on a bench near the entrance of camp.

I just now realized that I never tried to leave camp. Is it because I know the dangers of leaving? Is it because I have a quest to complete? A quest I never even wanted in the first place? Why am I still here?

"Thinking about something?"

I looked at Chiron who trotted to me. I turned away from him.

"Nothing important."

I could feel his sympathetic stare burning the back of my neck. I sighed.

"I'm fine, I just..." I groaned, trying to find the words. "I just want to be alone."

"What about your usual spot near the ocean?"

"Occupied."

"And your cabin?"

"Crowded."

"You could play pinochle with me and Mr. D?"

I gave him a look that told him everything.

"Understood," he cleared his throat.

I groaned. "Chiron, please. I understand you trying to help everyone feel welcome here, but please. I will never fit in here. No matter what anyone says. It's best if I go back home."

That wasn't a lie. I wanted more than anything to go back to Willow. That was my home. Not here.

"I understand," he said calmly. "But this is your home now. I'm afraid you can't leave."

I scoffed. "Try me."

"Heather, I don't want to fight you on this."

"Neither do I just so just let me leave. Please."

Chiron gave me a sympathetic look. "I can't do that."

I groaned before getting off the bench. "Thanks for the pep talk," I groaned before storming off to the Hermes cabin.

I opened the door, slamming it behind me before burying myself in my sleeping bag.

I heard whispering coming from the other kids. Before I knew it, my sleeping bag was zipped up with a piece of it still open and I was picked up by the sleeping bag.

I was afraid of telling people this, but I hated enclosed spaces, which was why I never zipped up my sleeping bag all the way in fear of hyperventilating. No one here knew this.

I was panicking too much to try and grab anything plus the bag was too tight to reach down and get my daggers. And with all the moving I couldn't use my powers properly.

I was useless.

Before I knew it, I was being thrown and a loud splashing sound was in my ears before the sleeping bag started filling up with water.

I heard kids laughing as I was trying to unzip the sleeping bag, which was hard considering the bag only zipped from the outside and I couldn't move at all.

The water was to my nose at this point and I couldn't do anything. I tried to calm myself and try to shadow travel out of there but I couldn't.

Once the water made it to the top of my forehead I just accepted my fate. The daughter of the dead dying in the worst way possible? Awesome.

I was ready to let death claim me until I felt someone tug on my sleeping bag before unzipping it. There were two people. The first one unzipped my bag while the other pulled me out.

I grabbed onto the person who pulled me out, gasping for air. Once my vision cleared I looked at the person who pulled me out.

"You okay?" Percy asked, helping me up.

I looked around. Half of the kids were still laughing while the others looked scared or confused.

The other person, Clarisse, just stared at the ones who were laughing.

Annabeth, who was among the ones not laughing, gave me a concerned look, the first one I saw from her. I didn't care. I didn't care for anything at this point.

I got up, wet from the water. Percy helped me up while Clarisse walked towards the kids who ran away from her. She didn't pay them no mind and just continued to walk off.

I sighed before crossing my arms, having enough of everyone here.

"Funny joke," I said, void of any emotion as I walked off, but it wasn't to the cabins, it was towards the armory.

Maybe I could let off some steam by hitting a dummy.

But, of course, someone was already there.

Luke looked towards me, giving me a sympathetic smile. I tried to walk away but he grabbed my arm.

"Don't go," he said. "Please. Stay. It's big enough for the two of us."

I reluctantly stayed, grabbing a sword from the wall, trying my best to look busy.

"I saw what happened in the lake," Luke said.

I shook my head. "It's fine," I muttered.

"I know what you're going through," Luke tried to reassure me. "I know what it feels like to–"

"You know?" I let out a humorless laugh. "You know how it feels to be humiliated and accused just because of who your father is? You know how it feels to constantly be tormented just because the gods who you don't want to be associated with are constantly doing everything to ruin your life for validation? You know how that feels?"

"Yes, I do," Luke spoke softly. "My dad is Hermes. I met him once. He was a huge jerk. Never saw him again. Not willingly."

I crossed my arms, leaning against a wooden pole. "I saw my father once, too. When I was nine. It wasn't obvious to me at first, but once I could recall it, I couldn't let the image out of my head. He was talking to my mother and I was eavesdropping on them. I heard him tell her that she should hide and that it's not safe for her to be out. My mother refused, saying that she would rather die than have her kids be alone without her."

"What happened then?"

I shook my head. "That was all I remember. Everything after that is just...fuzzy."

Luke nodded. "I left my house when I was young. While I was running away I met Annabeth and Thalia."

"Thalia?"

"She died," he said. "While we were so close to camp. Her father turned her into a pine tree. It protects the camp."

I nodded, understanding.

"The gods..." Luke huffed. "They don't care for us. Never had and never will."

I scoffed. "Finally, someone who has some common sense around here."

Luke smirked. "Everyone wants validation from their parents, but when you get it it feels like it was thrown towards you rather than genuinely given."

I nodded. "And once you realize that you figure out that it's better to be without them than to constantly try to fight for their love."

Luke motioned towards me, smiling. "You got it."

I sighed. "Too bad there's no other way to stop loving the gods and try and live your own life."

Luke's smile faltered a bit. "There is one way."

I gave him a curious look. "I'm listening?"

Before he could say anything Grover ran towards us, breathing heavily.

"Grover," Luke said, going over to hug the satyr. "What brings you here?"

Grover continued panting and turned towards me. "Chiron...Chiron needs you in the big house."

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"And why am I here?"

I was in the Big House with Chiron, Mr. D, and Grover, supposedly waiting for someone but they didn't tell me who.

"I have chosen you for something very important," Chiron told me.

I had my suspicions on what it could be, but I let him continue talking.

"You have to go down to the underworld with Percy to retrieve the Master bolt from Hades."

"No."

Grover and Chiron gave me confused looks.

"What?" Grover asked.

"I'm not going to the underworld." I shrugged. "And you can't make me."

Grover walked towards me. "Heather, please! We need you."

"And why do you think that the master bolt is in the underworld of all places?"

Chiron and Dionysus exchanged glances with each other. It was then that I found the answers.

"Oh, I know why. Because he's oh so bad, right? He's the bad guy just because he lives in the underworld, huh?"

Before they answered, Percy came into the Big House. Chiron looked relieved to see him.

"Good to see you're back from The Oracle in one piece." he said. "How was it? What prophecy did they give you?"

The Oracle?

Percy then recited the prophecy The Oracle gave him. It was the same one Elder Venus shared with me. Does that mean I'm supposed to–oh gods no.

I felt Chiron's stare burning the back of my neck.

"I guess I have to travel overland," Percy assumed, looking at the four of us. "I just don't understand something."

"What is it, Percy?" Grover asked.

"Why would I be doing this? I mean, I just got claimed, why would now be a good time to send me on a quest like this?"

"I know it feels unfair now," Chiron said. "But it will get better over time, I know it."

I scoffed. "I doubt that."

Percy looked at me. "Why are you here?"

Chiron cleared his throat before I could say anything. "She is going to join you in the Underworld," he explained. "Since we assume that it might be there."

Percy kept his eye on me before he just shrugged. "Okay."

"Normally I would choose only two people to join you since 3 is a sacred number, but for this quest, and since Heather is vital for this mission, I will allow you to bring two more campers with you. Luckily, one has already volunteered for this."

Percy looked both bored and annoyed. "Oh joy, who would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"

I snickered at his tone. Then, the air shimmered around us and, much to my disappointment, Annabeth stood beside Grover with her cap off.

"Athena's no fan of Poseidon," she started. "But if you're going on a quest you're going to need someone to keep you from getting killed. And I most certainly do not trust her to be around you for more than a second."

I rolled my eyes. "Trust me, I hate being here with you just as much as you do."

Annabeth's eyes narrowed as she gave me a death stare, walking closer to me as if daring me to say anything else. I gave her one back and we just stared at each other until Chiron cleared his throat.

"Girls, stop it," I scoffed before walking away from her towards the couch. "Anyway, Percy, why don't you choose the last person to go with you on this quest."

For some reason I turned towards Grover who was chewing on a tin can. Percy and the others looked at him too. Grover finally noticed our looks and paused.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, his chewing stopping.

Percy motioned towards him. "I want you to come with me."

Grover started stammering. "Oh, uh, me? Uh, I don't know, Perce, I–"

Percy walked over and put his hands on Grover's shoulders. "G-man, you're my best friend. You're the only one I want to be with on this quest."

I tried my best not to look bored but it was hard too.

"Then it's settled," Chiron spoke again. "Annabeth, Heather, and Grover would accompany Percy on his quest to retrieve Zeus's Master Bolt from Hades in the Underworld."

"Do I have to come?" I asked Chiron. "I mean, they look like they are very much capable of doing this on their own."

Annabeth scoffed. "You always find ways to avoid doing something important, do you?"

"Yes, Heather," Chiron said, ignoring Annabeth. "You have to come. You are the daughter of Hades. You might have a greater advantage in the underworld than any of them."

I huffed. "Fine."

"Great," he said. "We can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan this afternoon, after that you're on your own."

"Perfect," I muttered. "Just perfect."

Thunder boomed overhead and rain poured down furiously. It made me remember when Zeus struck down in Willow.

"Okay," Chiron muttered. "No time to waste. You all should get packing."

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

I was in the Hermes cabin, packing up for the trip, only packing the things that were in my backpack. Luke came up to me and sat down beside me.

"You were saying?" I asked, referring to the thing he was going to mention before Grover interrupted us.

Luke looked around. "It's too crowded," he said. "Why don't you come with me somewhere more private."

"You are speaking my language," I said as I got up and followed him past the cabins and into the woods. When we were in the woods we stopped and he leaned his back against one of the trees.

"How would you like to get back at the gods for mistreating you?" he asked.

"Go on," I urged him.

"A force," he started. "An army gathered together for one purpose, to completely demolish the gods for good."

"How?" I questioned. "We're demigods, as much as I hate them, how are you going to stop all powerful gods?"

"That's the thing. You know Kronos?"

"The titan of time? The father of the original 6 gods?"

"That's the one."

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"We're trying to revive him. Every oath to his cause helps him to get stronger. Once he gets back to his full strength we'll go with him to stop the Olympians and create a new era."

"Hmm," tempting. "That is very tempting."

"What do you say?" Luke held out his hand. "You want to join me? We could use a super powerful demigod on our side."

We could stop the gods once and for all? Or...

"We could immobilize them," I suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the Master Bolt is gone, we could take it from Hades so Zeus wouldn't use it. And with one god down the others will topple just as fast. We could take them at their weakest."

Luke smirked. "That is just the brain we need for this. You're in?"

I thought about it. "I'll think about it," I told him. "Maybe if this quest fails we won't be able to stop Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades from going to war, I'll come back to you."

"What if the quest doesn't fail?"

"Like I said, I'll come back to you. Now, speaking of the quest, I have to go."

Luke followed me outside the entrance where Thalia's tree was. He stared at it with what looked like sadness.

He then noticed Annabeth, Percy, Grover, and Chiron standing near a white van. He ran towards them with me following behind him.

"Glad I caught you," he panted.

Annabeth blushed at him but when she noticed me standing beside him her blush faded and she glared at me. I rolled my eyes.

He had a pair of baseball shoes which I didn't know he had earlier. He handed them to Percy.

"I wanted to say good luck, and I wanted you to have these."

Percy looked confused at the gift, which honestly I would've been too considering the fact that they looked like regular shoes.

"Maia!"

Before I knew it, the shoes sprouted wings and started flying up. I looked surprised and Percy was so startled that he dropped the shoes. They flew for a minute until the wings retracted and fell back to the ground.

"Awesome!" Grover exclaimed.

"They helped me on my quest," he explained. "They were a gift from my father. I don't use them anymore now."

Percy picked up the shoes. "Hey man...thanks."

Luke sighed. "Listen, Percy...people care counting on you to win this so...mess up some monsters for me."

Percy and Luke shook hands, Luke ruffled Grover's hair between his horns, he gave Annabeth a tight hug which almost made her pass out from how red she got. I scoffed at that.

Luke then turned to me, giving me a hug.

"Remember my offer," Luke whispered in my ear. "We could benefit from you greatly."

"I'll think about it," I whispered back.

We separated and he patted my shoulder before walking away.

"You're hyperventilating," I heard Percy say. I turned towards him and saw him talking to Annabeth.

"I am not," Annabeth told him.

"You let him capture the flag, didn't you?" Percy asked.

I snickered. "Well, she would've if she was there to see the flag get stolen in the first place."

Percy smiled at me while Annabeth looked angry.

"Why would I want to go anywhere with either of you?"

She stormed away towards the van. A guy with a ton of eyes walked towards her. I suspected that it was Argus.

I looked towards the entrance and saw Clarisse and her siblings as well as other campers staring at us from above. I walked towards them, well, towards Clarisse.

"Daughter of Hades," Clarisse scoffed. "Should've known. No one else would've gotten to riled up that quickly."

"No one else but the Ares kids I suppose," I said back.

Clarisse glared at me but said nothing.

"We're not friends are we?" I asked. Not sure why I was asking, of course we weren't.

She looked down for a minute. "That determines if you're worthy of pulverization or not."

With that she walked away with her siblings behind her.

I shook my head before walking away towards the van. I sat as far away from Annabeth as possible. I closed my eyes, trying to sleep.

"You're not fooling anyone, you know that right?" Annabeth spoke to me.

"You are super annoying. You know that right?" I sat up, looking at her, mocking her tone. "Like can you get it into your brain that I'm not hiding anything and that I want to be alone? I'm sorry I'm not the perfect image you were hoping for. I will never be so shut up and leave me alone."

I went back to my position, ignoring Annabeth as she scoffed and quieted down. Soon enough Percy and Grover joined us in the van and we were finally off. I finally fell asleep.