We're not in Kansas anymore... Oh wait, yes we are

[Hydros Sepna]

Hydros looked at the clock on the dashboard. The digital display flashed the numbers 22:47 at him. They'd passed the Kansas state border just under 2 hours ago, or at least that's what it felt like, Hydros thanks his luck, that the border guard had been on duty all day or he would question why the car smelled of whiskey and check the boot, to find all their weapons, which they'd decided to keep out of sight.

He made a right into a Motel, the neon sign illuminating the car park. The car came to a halt near the front office and Hydros rubbed the bridge of his nose, tired from the last leg of the journey.
"Alright guys, we're stopping here for the night."

Hydros lifted the handbrake then turned the key and pulled it from the ignition. He got out of the car and stretched his arms, and let of a sigh of relief. He'd changed into more casual clothes after the first day of constant driving. The car was a mess, with empty soft drink bottles and snack packets lying around, he didn't care, he'd clean it out in the morning when he'd had some sleep.

[Wolfezth Deraine]

Wolfezth cheered when they pulled up in the motel. "Finally we got some damn rest! This car gets fucking tiring after a LONG day of running from the poh-poh's in it." He said, and grabbed his backpack from under him and got out of the car. He then set down his bag and stretched his stiff muscles. He paid no mind that he stuffed his bastard sword and sabres in the backpack a while ago and the hilts were poking out of the backpack zipper. He then picked his backpack back up and said cheerfully, "C'mon rookie, we'll see how many beds there are. If there are only two I call floor!"

So we've began our search of Kansas; and the search for rampaging demigods in this state. They're probably a bunch of lousy Arrowhead Stadium loving Chiefs fans. Stupid panzies have no taste over here. I mean, their uniform is ugly red and white. I'm a DUDE and I know that looks bad; and that's pretty pathetic. Add that to the fact that the Chiefs are ABSOLUTELY terrible and we got a seal for a crappy state. Absolute garbage; but at least I hear the food's nice in the breadbasket of the United States once you get over the fact that there's a bunch of Kansas City caps around. A trip to Illinois and I'm a happy camper to be around like-minded, sensible Bears fans. We ever have a quest in Wisconsin though... Oooohhhh... I'ma burn down Green Bay for good... Stupid cheeseheads don't deserve to have a city or a team... Stupid cheeseheads. He thought aimlessly as he looked around and waited for Hydros to go inside.

"You're the senior camper, Hydros. Go inside and get us a room; 'cause if me or the rookie comes in they'll think it's a joke." Wolfezth said with his eyes closed; relaxed. "Rookie, just wait here 'til Hydros gets back with the room pass and key." He muttered, setting his backpack down in front of him and leaning with his back against the car. "If there's only one bed we'll just have to take turns Hydros." he said, grinning at the innuendo of his own joke. "Hop to it, Hydros. We don't got all night; and besides it's almost 11. Chop chop, 'eh?"

[luncia]

Once the car stopped Lauren was relieved. She should of brought a book to read and then reread and then re re read. She got out and stretched her aching muscles. Just being still and sometimes moving always mad her muscles stiff, she was not suppose to be still for long periods of time, that is what came with being a demigod. She went over to the back to get her back pack. She wondered what her swords and bow and quiver looked like to the mortals that couldn't see through the mist. She decided to put her swords into the long part of her pack. She kept her bow and quiver out just because she could explain if the mortals saw her quiver and bow. Could say she was out camping, or hunting.

I wonder if this motel isn't a trap, or has a lot of disguised monsters in it. What ever, I could still deal with them. I am not liking, having to be in the same room as them, for I need to get out later. Risk my neck for some alone, free time, sounds good to me! I wonder if they snore? I usually don't when in somewhere unusal but when ever I do it's more quiet. She thought to herself quietly. She sat down on the ground and leaned against the car. She would try what Annie advised her to do, she sat cross leged, body mostly straight, and hands on her knees, palms facing the heavens. Then she collected her thoughts and meditated some, waiting till Hydros to come back.

[Hydros Sepna]

Hydros walked into the main office, still stretching as he moved. He wore a plain white T-shirt and a pair of blue denim jeans. He approached the desk where a bored looking greasy man lounged while watching Ophera re-runs. Hydros looked at the man cynically, he looked like the sort of guy who only works in a motel because he was too thick to pass junior high, but Hydros just put on a face of a tired friendly traveller.
"Hey mate, any chance of a room with three separate beds?"

The man looked Hydros up and down, then leaned past him and looked towards Wolf and Lauren. Then with a grunt replaced himself on the chair.
"Those your kids?"
The man asked in a gritty voice, showing his less than perfect teeth. Hydros looked at the man oddly, then put a hand up to feel his chin to find stubble, it was then he realised he must look much older because he hadn't shaved in a week, and laughed.
"Na those are my cousins, we're on a trip to see relatives."

Hydros had always been a good liar, an ability that often got him in trouble in his younger years but now he thanked his starts for it. The man seemed to accept Hydros's story and put a key on the desk. The key had a large plastic tag on it with the number 29 on it in a large bold font.
"That'll be 79 bucks."
Said the man with a cough. Hydros reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet and set down a 50 a 20 and a 10.
"You can keep the change."

With that, Hydros lifted the key and walked back out of the office. He walked toward, Wolf and Lauren, who seemed to be meditating, not that Hydros was that phased by it, he just found it odd that she would want to sit still after sitting still all day.
"You two go find the room and while I get my stuff and lock up the car."
He shouted and threw the room key to Wolf.

[Wolfezth Deraine]

Wolfezth looked at Lauren quizzically when she sat down and began... Meditating? "Why is it that you want to sit down and stay still to calm down... When we've been sitting down and staying almost completely still all day? Kids these days, I swear!" He muttered as he watched Hydros talk to the man at the desk. He saw the man glance in himself and Lauren's direction and waved to him with his right hand. He then watched silently as Hydros walked outside and shouted a command to them. "It's not like you're raid boss or anything, Hydros; don't get too cocky." Wolfezth said as he caught the key effortlessly with his left hand.

Wolfezth then picked up his backpack with his sword hilts poking through it and muttered to Lauren; "Come on, rookie. Don't talk unless spoken directly to and answer in the most normal way you possibly can when you ARE spoken to... Got it?" as he slung the backpack across his back. He then started walking toward the motel at a normal mortal walking pace. Before long he was in the lobby and raised his head slightly to the man at the desk; who returned the gesture in the universal 'ghetto' greeting sign. Wolfezth then turned to where the left where the stairs were; not waiting on the rookie by any means and started climbing up them. He quickly made it to the second floor by doing a slight jog rather than a walk up 'em. He glanced at the key and it said #29 so he started walking down the hallway. He could see the single digit numbers go by, and then the double digit numbers start. When he reached the end of the hallway he realized that the numbers only went to #19 on this level and felt sort of stupid. He then lightly jogged back to the stairs and up to the third floor where the exact same layout was arranged. It didn't take long before he found #29 on the right hand side in the middle of the hallway.

Wolfezth then quickly slid the key in the lock and and turned it. The room unlocked instantly, which ment the locks were probably newer than most. The motel wasn't bad, and it had three basic beds sitting side by side one another with about two feet of space between them. It had a shower to Wolfezth's immediate right walking in, and a closet to his immediate left. There was a dresser on the left hand side of the room, but no TV. As he walked farther in, not bothering to shut the door because he knew Hydros and Lauren were behind him he noticed a large table that was ment for internet connections. Looks like I got dibs on the plans table, hell yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about right here! Rather average, but compared to what we've been sleeping in for the past... Week, two weeks - a month? Time isn't really counted by me, but anyways this is better than sleeping in the car. The rookie hasn't been complaining as much as I thought she would, and that's good. Hope she doesn't start whining and complaining now though. He thought to himself as he set down his backpack next to the bed nearest the door. My ass is the first thing a monster'll see if there's one around here. And that sight should be enough to send it running from here to West Virginia! he thought contentedly as he flopped down on the bed and waited for the others to come so he could go to sleep.

[luncia]

Lauren didn't mind that she made Wolf confused, it was fun, and soon her mind was clearing out and she could hear the keys thrown to Wolf caught and she picked up her back pack on the way up. She listened as Wolf muttered to her and then thought of something. Wouldn't the normal mortal think the name Wolfezth and nickname Wolf would be weird, since the campers at Camp half-blood were use to the weird? "Hey Wolf, change your name, it's just to weird for mortals to hear that someone is called Wolf usually. Just thought I should mention that," she said to him. She was just going to act like a normal person, but more mortalish, like a normal girl that doesn't kill monsters or can be killed by disguised monsters.

She walked into the motel and went up the stairs and saw that Wolf was coming back from the end of one hall, so she followed him up the second stairs coming to their room. She went in after Wolf and was pleased to see a nice room. She went over to an outer bed and placed her pack on it and sat down falling backwards, it was so good to be on a regular bed! She saw a big window on the outer side of the wall that faced the open land. She wondered if there were any cities near by.

[Hydros Sepna]

Hydros walked round the car to the boot and opened it up, and took out his bag and sword. He noticed Lauren say 'Mortal' then after closing the boot, and locked the car with a flash of the lights, telling anyone who'd noticed the alarm was armed, followed them up to the third floor and into the room. He threw his bag down next to the multipurpose vanity table that looked like a desk with a mirror on the wall, he looked at it again.
It IS a desk with a mirror on the wall, those cheap bastards.

Hydros looked over to Lauren who was now laying on her claimed bed, obviously enjoying the felling of a mattress.
“You say mortal as if you can’t die, trust me on this, you’re no more immortal than that guy downstairs at the desk, and you’ll do well to remember that in the coming fight.”

He sat his sword next to the last remaining bed and sat down on it facing the door.
“We need to decide what we’re doing tomorrow, there’ll be plenty of time for sightseeing once we’ve dealt with the quest, but if we’re not ready, we’re dead.”

Hydros looked to Wolf.
“I know you’ll want to draw up a plan and I’ll do the usual pre-battle routines, but you”
He looked at Lauren.
“Will need to find something to do.”

[Wolfezth Deraine]

Wolfezth ignored Lauren's comment about his name, because who was the one with the battle experience? Who was the one who has been on more than a few quests? Who was the one who grew up in a small town ghetto and knew without a doubt what was and what was not considered 'normal'? Not her, that's for sure. Wolfezth calmly observed Lauren flop down on the bed. Naive as HELL. Hopefully this quest'll fix that. Why the hell are we sitting here wiping out demigods 'running amok'? Isn't that what... Y'know; WE do on a daily basis? I can understand the NEED to do things like this DURING the war, but this is POST-WAR and thus isn't needed unless they're actually doing vile things. I'ma check newspaper records tomorrow to see if there are any clues. I think the gods and the Oracle are overreacting like hell to any even mention of Kronos... Like scared little ants from a kid taking a piss on their anthill or something. Might be blasphemy or whatever the hell you want to call it, but it's one hundred percent true. In fact, if I were them if I knew where we were I'd come in in a sort of stealth operation and rob 'em blind, kidnap one of 'em, and interrogate 'em in the dead of night. Hopefully there aren't any downdrums kids in their group that would think the same way, and if there are I hope the leader's an idiot that doesn't listen. By the gods, I try to out-think myself all the time thinking like this; oh well... It's kept me alive so far in life; just like gut instinct... Right now gut instinct is telling me to keep an eye out for trouble, but I don't feel any immediate danger anyway - or is that my head? Either way it works out; 'cause that's the usual strategy. We have no idea what they know, and they have no idea what we know. Most likely one of us will act out of fear and uncertainty first -- just hope it ain't us. He thought to himself, trying to think this quest through from all angles before doing something he'd regret doing. He was so lost in thought he didn't realize Hydros was there until he started to Lauren. He nodded to his first comment. "You could die just like anyone else in a trillion and one different ways. Each second you actually LIVE is a miracle, because you face countless ways to die in any situation. Live each day like it's your last, and try to make the world a slightly better place than you left it." He said in a very reflective tone of voice, even philosophical. In response to Hydros' second comment, Wolfezth said in a very serious and somewhat grave tone; "I need more information before I can determine what we need to do; and to tell you the truth I'm starting to have real doubts about this one. I've never seen eye to eye with the Oracle's commands... But I'm seriously starting to think our..." he paused to find the right word, and said it gratingly when he found it; "leaders are acting in their own interests instead of the interests of everyone." He sighed; "Y'all just leave me alone for a while... I need some time to think."

[luncia]

Lauren listened as the two guys fused over her not being more than a mortal, like she didn't know that! "Guys, I know I'm not more than a mortal, I can die by steal and that celestial or what ever bronze, and that just goes through mortals like it's ghost weapons. But I think if a celestial arrow went through them, the wood part would hurt...hmm....I wonder... Also, why not call people by their right placing? Anyway, I just said that to Wolf because mortals are not use to the danger and the different name like us. That was all that I was referring to so chill," she said to the two guys then sat up. She patted down her hair and went into the bathroom to look not as, travel worn. She came out looking refreshed, and like a person who hasn't been traveling for about.... forever in her opinion. She was only in there for a few minutes so it didn't take long, she looked over to the two guys.

"See ya later, I'm going to look for shops," she said and stuck a hand in her shorts making sure she still had some of her real world money in there. She opened the door and without looking back shook her hand once bye. I wonder what I will find, she thought to herself. As she started to go down the stairs she made sure she had her knife and pack with her. She wondered if there were even shops around, Hydros would know but she didn't want to ask him.

As Lauren stepped out into the twilight, she knew that the night was almost upon the day. Even better, she could walk around and be a target for anything looking for demigods, oh joy, she thought to herself. She walked out a bit and looked around to see almost nothing but wide open space and a few giant old trees that looked like they have been there for almost a hundred years. She started walking to one of those trees and found that it was an apple tree. She found a low branch and started to climb up. she sat down on a wide branch that her pack sat on and looked down. It was a good ways down, she was higher up than she would be if she ever sat on a horse. She then upped her senses, straining them to sense and be on alert for danger. Her instincts also were not held back as she usually held them back slightly in camp since it was safe there, well... Somewhat safe that is. She then just sat in the tree swinging her legs think what to do next, she was glad she was away from the two guys, she just needed to find another girl to hang around with and she would be happy as a fiddle.

[salty]

Soulflame slowed to a walk, she had been running for quite some time. She felt wary, mortals weren't know for their friendlness to the strange and out of place. She saw the flickering sign of a hotel and paused. She wasn't sure if she should risk it. She swerved over to some drooping apple trees. She smiled and and folded her legs under her. She had seen the ones she was looking for and would talk to them tommorrow. She was about to fall asleep when she her a noise above her...

[luncia]

Lauren was thinking of what she should do when she heard the grass under her branch being flatten. She looked down to see a centaur. It seemed as if she was about to go to sleep when she heard Lauren. Lauren stopped swinging her legs and talked softly down to the centaur, "Friend or foe?" She had her bow and arrow in her hands but somewhat down because she figured the centaur would be a friend. She didn't know for sure but it was always better safe than sorry for a demigod.

[Hydros Sepna]

Hydros spun his keys round his index finger absent mindedly, catching them on each rotation. Lauren spoke just as Hydros had thought she would, he didn't really care if she thought she was immortal or not, it was her life she was gambling not his.

Wolf spoke what could be considered treason, but Hydros knew Wolf too well for it to matter, he was however surprised that Lauren didn't even bat an eyelid at him. He found it decidedly queer that a girl so young and new to the world of mythology would just so blindly accept the words that could have a demi-god branded a traitor and marked for death.

As Wolf finished, Hydros stood up and gave himself a stretch.
"Well I'll go out for a drive, probably to a supermarket or something to stock up on supplies, since we seem to have went through 2 weeks of food in 1. You want anything brought back?"

[Wolfezth Deraine]

When Hydros mentioned the concept of food, Wolfezth nodded. He was hungry as hell but didn't show it in any way. "You can bring back some gatorade, some glazed donuts, some cheese and bread so I can make some grilled cheese and some cereal. He then abruptly sat up and immediately grabbed his backpack. He opened it up, then set it down on the bed and jumped off the bed entirely. He got out his bastard sword and two sabres and strapped them on in the usual fashion, which was the two sabres on either sides of his belt and the bastard sword on his back. Wolfezth then said to Hydros softly, "I'm going out for a walk; and I need to think. If I don't come back, don't look for me 'cause you won't find me... Damn, I'm just not sure anymore." he paused, seemingly done talking but got his sunglasses from his backpack and put them on quickly for looking cool purposes and continued; "Might desert soon; dunno where. There'll be bound to be other demigods that share my concerns, and maybe there's already an offshoot group that's aligned to neither the rat gods that served Kronos or the Olympian gods. If not, I might just start one if I can stay alive long enough to." He then sighed and walked to the window, and opened it slightly. The motel had a generic layout, with windowsills outside of the windows about three feet long. Although jumping them would be absolutely insane for a human, Wolf was a demigod with pretty good agility and he was used to the climbing wall which was a lot more dangerous than a three story fall. "See yah in a bit." Wolfezth said, closing the window back up and then he started hopping from windowsill from windowsill, taking a few seconds between each leap to gather himself and gauge the distance and force needed to get to the next one. He fell just short of the fourth one, so he reached out with his hands and grabbed it; a lucky grab. He hauled himself up, making sure not to lose his grip and took a few more seconds each leap to gauge how far he needed to go from then on. When he got to the bottom, he ran past the grassy area he was in and jumped over the fence that ran around the motel because they were too cheap to get real security. When he got to the street he had a sudden realization slash idea. The humans will think I'm strapped with guns, which'll look odd but perfectly legal for the most part. Any demigod will see me fully armed and probably attack me if they feel threatened or think I'm with the opposing side. One helluva pickle I'll be in if any god-associated persons decide to kick my ass fifteen or so against one. 'Eh, screw the gods; screw the titans. Screw all of 'em and the whole concept of a god. He thought to himself as he crossed into the street and meandered along the sidewalk; not really paying attention to anything around him due to lack of caring.

[Hydros Sepna]

Hydros smiled knowingly as Wolf leapt from the window. Hydros lifted the room key from the table and left the roof, locking the door behind him. He walked down the flights of stairs and to his car, he looked at his car keys, then to the line of tree's where Lauren had wandered off to. He turned on his heels and walked into the main office and up to the man at the desk.
"Hey there, my cousins seem to have went a bit wayward, and I need to get some food and such for a few days, so if you see either of them, give them a room key for me, thanks."

Hydros was already half way to the door when the man nodded drowsily in acceptance. He walked to the car and opened it up using the remote locking control on his key. As he sat in the drivers seat he reached under his seat into a hidden pocket, pulling out a Heckler & Koch USP with a leg holster, he strapped it to his thigh in plain sight.
I know it's against the rules to have a human weapon, because we're here to protect them, but I'm not taking the chance with these backwater lunatics.

He started up the car with a roar and turned the car around, driving out onto the open road.

[Wolfezth Deraine]

Wolfezth was dressed in navy blue shorts and a gray shirt with no sleeves to speak of but a T-shirt style collar. Since he wasn't paying attention to anything around him and pretty much kept walking in a straight line; he didn't realize what was around him until he walked about four blocks out... Where he felt someone tackle him from the right side. "Wha--?!" he gasped as he realized he was in an old alley, with old and probably abandoned buildings around him. He realized in his daze he must've walked to where his mind was most familiar with - the downtown, poorer part of town. He was lying on his side with a weight on his right side; and he looked over to see a guy a little shorter than Wolfezth but more well-built. He was white, with black hair a little bit longer than Wolf's own with an odd shine to it. The man had black eyes, and his lips were curled into a snarl as he was holding Wolf down with one hand while holding a celestial bronze longsword in the other.

"Who the hell do you think you are, walking around with all that shit strapped onto you and without a care in the world?!" the man snarled to Wolfezth.

Wolf sneered back at the man; "C'mon you punk; get off'a me before I make you."

The man's snarl remained as he said in an irritated rather than angry voice; "I ask the questions here, now who the hell are you?"

Wolfezth put on a completely serious and slightly threatening face and said in a low, serious tone; "I am Chuck Norris; now let me go before I roundhouse kick your ass in the ground."

The man started to seethe visibly, and started to move his sword hand... As soon as he did; Wolfezth suddenly and violently shook his whole body in an effort to shake the man off, and it worked. The man and Wolfezth were both on the ground for the moment.

"Son of a bitch!" the man muttered as he rose up.

"What now; biaatch?!" Wolfezth said in a low, mocking tone as he drew his bastard sword with his right hand. The alleyway wasn't a small one, having plenty enough breathing room to use the rather large blade.

The man raised his blade in a ready stance; ready to charge as Wolfezth did the same. As they did, they studied each other visually. The man was really just a kid about the age of fifteen or sixteen; Wolfezth realized as he readied himself for the coming attack.

The man charged with a swinging slash to Wolfezth's left, and Wolf moved to block it but it was a late feint maneuver. The real slash was in the middle, a stab; and Wolfezth leaped to the right in response; and he did a quick right handed slash with his bastard sword as well. The slash was blocked expertly, but Wolf; so close to the man saw an opportunity to do a surprise attack. He kept the sword on sword contact on, and sidekicked the man in the chest; kicking him back and breaking the contact at the same time he drew back his leg. The man quickly stepped backward and Wolfezth grinned at his mild success.

"What now; biaatch?" Wolf repeated in a mocking tone.

"You with Kronos; you bastard?" the man snarled the question as he resumed his ready stance; ready to charge once more.

"Hell naw! I ain't with shit right now!" Wolfezth snarled back, resuming his ready stance as well. "Camp in body but not in spirit, so if you are from Camp; you might as well try your chances now yah punk." he added softly.

The man seemed surprised, and let go of his ready stance rather dangerously; letting himself go to an upright position and sheathed his blade. "So you ain't with Camp or Kronos? What're your reasons?"

Wolfezth's snarl turned into an inquisitive frown as he sheathed his own blade. "Why the hell is it your business?"

The man's face molded into an odd grin in an instant; "Because I got a feeling you and I are a lot alike; kiddo."

Wolfezth shrugged his shoulders and said in a rather indifferent tone, ready to fight as he didn't trust that the man wouldn't attack when he was talking. "'Cause the more I think about it, the more this whole concept of being the gods' lackeys, bodyguards, garbagemen and women, toll collectors, donations and sacrifices to each other sounds dumber and dumber. The more you rationally think it out, Kronos' side entailed him owning everything and you helping him for short-term gain, and the gods side was much the same in the respect that you helped them maintain a long-term power while enjoying short-termed glory and a 'good' death."

The man grinned widely, and said; "That's about right; and I know where you can find many like-minded people like you-us."

Wolfezth, suspicious of such a proposition said calmly and seemingly uncaringly; "How the hell do I know you're not just going to stab me in the back as soon as I get in front of you or as soon as you get me to your allies so you can gangbang kill me; huh?"

The man grinned, and said; "Well, you honestly don't. You COULD be walking straight into a trap, straight to your own death. I'm not going to guarantee your eternal salvation or anything like that; dude. It's your choice, your life; not mine."

Wolfezth sighed and asked; "How many total?"

The man shrugged his shoulders; "It fluctuates, but last time I checked about thirty."

Wolfezth, not missing a beat said in a very serious tone; "Name them."

The man grinned at Wolfezth's distrust and said; "Nice way of doing business you got there. We got Clarence, a Nemesis kid... We got Tyler, an Athena kid... We got Ned, an Ares kid... We got Blake, me; an Athena kid... We got James, a Hephaestus kid... And we got Alaina, an Apollo kid..."

Wolfezth interrupted him there, "Describe them."

Blake grinned, "Well, I'm Blake. Ned is a kind of average sized dude, but well-built and muscled like hell. He liked Slipknot and kicking people's asses, quite frankly. We got James, a little bit more well-built with these big meaty arms that say 'Don't mess with me, I'ma kick yo ass!' and he likes classic rock. We also got Clarence--"

Wolfezth interrupted him again and said; "Well, Blake... I'm Wolfezth; Wolf for short... Child of Athena. I think you're either a VERY good liar or telling the truth. If you're the former I can guarantee I'm a better swordsman than you are judging by the spat we had earlier. I assume you travel in groups?"

Blake nodded slowly, "Yeah, as a matter of fact. I was going out for a movie and some booze when I saw you all weaponed up walking around casually like a total moron."

Wolf shrugged, and said; "You know you got a quest after y'all then, right?"

Blake shrugged, "There always is... That's why there are so few of us compared to how many campers y'all got. We usually travel in groups of four or five, but Clarence ditched 'cause he broke his arm in a monster encounter. Ned and Jimmy, another son of Ares are in my squad right now. You wanna come meet 'em?"

Wolfezth looked around to assure himself no one else was watching, which was silly because they were completely alone but he did it anyway to assure himself and saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Lead on, Blake; lead on." he told Blake, grudgingly trusting him for the time being.