Hunter inhaled sharply as he woke up. He immediately yawned and stretched his arms. Glancing around, he pushed himself into a sitting position and cracked his back. He slowly stood up and ran a hand through his hair, yawning and stretching again. Hunter glanced at the still sleeping Will and Kyle and rubbed his eyes. Sleeping on the floor wasn’t something strange for Hunter. On quests or in the woods at camp or even in the Hermes cabin while he was a resident. The previous night was not a wonderful night of sleep. He looked down at his bedroll which was a piece of garbage. His pad was flat and his pillow was basically useless. It was probably time for a new one. He picked it up and crushed it into a ball before tossing it into the trashcan.
His stomach grumbled loudly and he quickly slipped out the door of the guy’s sleeping room. He immediately heard noise coming from the kitchen. There was a hissing and a clanging noise. Hunter cautiously drew his knife and stepped slowly toward the kitchen. There was talking, well more whispering. Hunter stepped closer and carefully peered around the corner into the kitchen. He saw smoke pouring out from an opened window and he hurried toward the door, only to hear giggling and the water being turned on.
“Well, that didn’t go well.” Philippa’s voice said with a giggle. Hunter leaned against the wall, listening into their talking. “I followed your instructions, Penny.”
“No, I said 350 not 450. That’s kind of a big difference.” Penny said with a giggle. “Here. We’ve got more. We’ll just try it again.” Hunter raised an eyebrow as they spoke. Were they cooking?
“Marina, is it okay if we use all of this?” Philippa said. He heard giggles and the shifting of pans, making a loud clanging. He could’ve sworn he heard whispering too.
“Sure. The guys have to make breakfast tomorrow, so the less they have to work with, the harder it is.” Marina said with a giggle.
“That’ll be good. Will can’t cook worth beans.” Penny said with a laugh. “And knowing Kyle, he can’t either. That brother of mine.” Hunter leaned closer to the door.
“The wild card is Hunter.” Philippa said with a sigh. There was the sound of the oven opening and closing.
“Hunter…Philippa you are one lucky girl.” Hunter’s eyes widened at Marina’s words. “He’s strong, brave, smart, unbelievably handsome. I just wish Kyle were half the man he is.” Hunter leaned even closer to the door, baffled at their topic of discussion.
“Did you know he speaks 6 languages?” Philippa said, a tinge of showing off in her voice. “He speaks six languages AND he’s a mortal. How hot is that?”
“Oh, so hot.” Penny said, moving closer to the door. “If he weren’t under that oath…” her voice trailed off. Hunter’s eyes widened and he leaned even closer to the door, actually leaning on it.
“The things I would do to him.” Marina said, moving next to the door. “I just want to tear his shirt off and-“ Hunter felt the door swing open. Hunter stumbled in and turned bright red. He realized, then, that he was still in his pajamas which happened to be no shirt and a pair of pajama pants.
“Uhh…I…smoke…” He looked around and blushed even harder. Philippa bit her bottom lip and took a step closer, putting a hand on his chest. He blushed even harder. “I’m…just…I’m going…to…” He put his hands up and backed out of the kitchen, quickly heading back to the guy’s sleeping room. “Guys, wake up. The girls are making breakfast.”
“No. Eleven more minutes…” Will said, rolling onto his stomach. “I don’t want to go there anymore. Their mean there.” Hunter grabbed his bag and set it on the counter.
“This…I’m…” Kyle muttered in his sleep. “Stupid…things…” Hunter rolled his eyes and walked over, kicking both of them lightly in the ribs.
“Get up. Breakfast. Women. Swimming.” Hunter said, trying to get a reaction from them. Will sat up groggily and rubbed his eyes.
“You would not believe the dream I just had…” He said, stretching a little. “I was swimming and then Penny was there and she had breakfast. She was also naked. It was weird.” He said with a nod. He finally stood up and shuffled over to his bag. Hunter turned to Kyle who rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling.
“These women…” He said quietly. “They have us watch 4 movies last night and then they expect us to wake up. It’s only…
“Noon.” Hunter said, looking at his watch. Kyle blinked a moment before standing up and pointing accusingly at Hunter.
“No. No, we changed time zones. It’s…”
“Noon. This watch goes by the moon. It’s always right and it adjusts with my location.” He said waving his wrist in his face. “Ha!” He said, turning back to his bag and starting to change into his swimsuit.
“This is all your fault anyway.” Kyle said with a scoff. “You and your…lack of…Disney movies.” He said, waving his hand dismissively. Hunter waited for the others to get dressed before they all headed into the kitchen.
“Good morning, gentlemen.” Marina said, lightly kissing Kyle on the cheek. “And Hunter.” She said with a giggle. Philippa came up behind him and put her chin on his shoulder.
“Hello, handsome.” She said before kissing him lightly on the cheek.
“Hi.” He said, still blushing from earlier. “Breakfast looks amazing, ladies. Thank you so much.” Hunter said, trying to recover from his earlier mishap. He smiled and sat down with everyone else at the kitchen table. They ate in comfortable silence, mostly because the food was so good. “I wonder how Capture the flag is going.” Hunter said quietly. Everyone scoffed.
“Seriously. Only you would be thinking about that.” Will said with a chuckle. “We all know it’s your favorite thing ever, but we’re on the other side of the country. Just relax.” Hunter sighed and picked at his food a little.
“I’m relaxed. I was just trying to make small talk.” He said with a shrug. “This is really good, by the way.” He said, taking a bite of egg. Everyone finished eating and put their dishes in the sink.
“Alright! Time for swimming!” Kyle said as he started to run out of the house. Marina snagged him by the back of the shirt.
“Nope. No. No. We just ate.” She said, shaking her finger at him. “30 minutes. Then we swim.” Everyone sighed and sat back down except Penny. She rolled up her sleeves and stood at the sink.
“You guys do what you want. After swimming to Atlantis, I’m done for like…ever.” She said, waving her hand. She turned and started to do the dishes.
“Thanks, Penny.” Marina said quietly. “I am not going to be carrying anyone out of the water because they cramped up. 28 minutes left.” She said, firmly.
“Oh, thanks, mom.” Will said with a scoff. “She follows us into battle with any monster that Tartarus can cook up, but when it comes to swimming cramps….” Will shook his head and casually played with the condensation on his glass of water. He floated it into the middle of the table and then made a ring out of it. He shaped it into a star before making a small square out of it and splashed it onto Kyle’s face. Will laughed when Kyle flinched and reached up to wipe it off. He pulled it away and put it in the middle of the table again. With a laugh he splashed it onto Marina and Philippa, dodging it deftly around their hands when they grabbed at it. He threw it towards Hunter and he dodged at the last second, sending the sphere of water straight at Penny, hitting her in the butt. She gasped and jumped a little.
“What was that?” She said, turning around and looking at the table. She put a hand on her butt and felt it. “Why is my—Dang it, Will.” She said, walking over and smacking him with a towel. With red cheeks, he smiled and winked at her. She shook her head and went back to doing dishes. Will took some water out of his cup and started playing with it on the table again when Marina huffed and stood up.
“Fine. Go swimming. I’m sick and tired of Will and his water tricks.” She smacked him in the arm and laughed. “If I wanted to get wet, I’d just go swimming.” She said with a roll of her eyes. Hunter laughed and followed the others out the door, pulling his shirt off and running into the water. He dove under the water and swam for a little while before emerging.
“The water is perfect!” He said with a smile as he saw Philippa looking at the water cautiously. She was edging her way toward the water, baby step by baby step. Hunter jogged over to Marina who was on the beach only trying to get a tan. “Watch.” He said, tapping Marina on the shoulder. She raised an eyebrow and lowered her sunglasses to look at Philippa. A devious smile spread across her face. Hunter ran toward Philippa and laughed. “Philippa!” He shouted. She turned around and then gasped as Hunter swept her into his arm, running into the water. He finally fell back and dragged Philippa into the water. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and stood up.
“I cannot believe you!” She said, smacking his chest. He laughed and hugged her tighter. “You are so mean to me!” A smile slowly broke across her face. She finally stopped hitting his chest and put her hands on his arms. She grinned and looked up at him before running her hands to his chest, digging her nails lightly into his skin before standing on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the lips. Hunter couldn’t help, but lean in a little, kissing her back. It was an odd feeling, but he liked it. He finally pulled away and let her go, leaving her looking very disappointed. He heard wolf whistling and a howl from behind him and he looked over to see Kyle treading water and clapping.
“’Atta boy, Hunter!” He said with a laugh. Will emerged from the water next to him and grinned, clapping as well. Hunter turned red and started to head toward the shore. Will suddenly appeared in front of him.
“We’re just kidding around, man. Take it easy.” He said, patting him on the arm.
“Guys?” Kyle said. Hunter turned around and looked at him. His happy expression changed into a very worried one. “Guy-guys, I think-“ His eyes widened.
“I told you to wait 30 minutes, sweetie!” Marina shouted from the shore. Hunter bust out laughing.
“No! Guys, shut up! There’s something down there!” He said, starting to swim back to the shore. Hunter immediately sobered up and started to back out of the water. He grabbed Philippa’s hand and started to pull her with him. Will took a few steps forward and then dove under the surface of the water. There were a few muted noises from under the water and they were all standing on the beach waiting for him to emerge. Suddenly, Will burst out from the water, shooting like a bullet out of the water.
“Run! Get away!” he shouted before landing in the sand. Hunter helped him up and drew his knife. He looked at the water and waited. There was a large splash and a huge snake-like monster burst from the water, looking right at them. It had a fish tail that was about as big as Hunter and had thick scales and sharp teeth. It roared and Hunter switched to his bow, quickly notching an arrow. It walked toward them, big clawed feet plodding through the water.
“What is that?!” Philippa said, running over to the pegasi and grabbing her bow. She stood next to Hunter and notched an arrow, taking aim at the beast.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t look friendly!” Hunter screamed as he fired an arrow. It flew through the air and helplessly glanced off of the thick scales. There was a gurgling sound and it faced them before shooting out a stream of water. Hunter dodged, but could feel the heat emanating from it. The monster took a step toward them and swung its tail at them. They dodged, but there was loud crack and Hunter turned to see a big chunk taken out of the condo. The house looked weak at best and it looked like it could break at any moment. Hunter could see a room though. It was the kitchen.
“Penny!” Will screamed as he ran toward the house. Philippa ran and stopped him. “Philippa, get out of the way!” He shouted trying to push past her. Marina stood next to her and stopped him.
“Will! We’ll get her. We need your help to take this thing out! We’ll get her. Go!” She shouted before running into the house. Hunter fired another arrow and cursed under his breath when the sea monster ran after him.
“Come on!” Hunter shouted as he drew his knife. The monster roared again and walked after him. Hunter ran, trying to lead him away from the house. He found himself backed against a line of rocks and he swallowed as he saw the beast looming over him. He suddenly watched as the monster suddenly seemed frozen in place. It couldn’t move any closer. Hunter looked down to see water surrounding its feet.
“Get back here, you scaly son of a bitch!” Will shouted, tears rolling down his cheeks. He stepped forward and raised his hands as he dragged the sea monster back toward the water. The beast roared and Hunter heard the gurgling noise again. Will quickly put another hand up and stopped the spray of water in its throat. “Hunter, aim for his mouth!” He shouted. Hunter nodded and aimed an arrow, waiting for another opportunity. Will dropped to his knee and Hunter could tell he was tired. Even standing in water, he couldn’t keep control like this forever. Hunter watched as vines shot up from the ground and starting wrapping around monster. Kyle appeared next to Will and helped him up. The monster roared and Hunter fired, his arrow sinking into the pink flesh of its mouth. The vines wrapped tighter and tighter and Hunter fired into its mouth again. The vines finally crushed the beast into a pile of dust, quickly being washed away in the water. Will finally looked down, breathing heavily.
“Penny!” Will shouted before doggedly hurrying into the house. Hunter hurried after and found Will cradling Penny in his arms. “Come on. Penny. Wake up. Penny you have to wake up. This isn’t right.” He pleaded, wiping tears away from his cheeks. He sighed and picked her up. “I’m going back to camp.” He said hurrying over to his pegasi. Hunter looked on helplessly as Will quickly took off.
“We fed her some ambrosia. She’s alive, but she’s weak. We found her under a chunk of debris.” Marina said solemnly. “What was that thing?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know, but it wasn’t your average monster. I’ve never seen it before.” Kyle said, putting an arm comfortingly around her.
“We need to tell Chiron. Pack up as much as you can. We need to go.” Hunter said, trying to sound calm. Philippa wrapped her arms around Hunter’s midsection and buried her face in his chest. “Marina, we’ll need you ride a pegasi.” He said as he wrapped his arms around Philippa. “Why did this have to happen?” He muttered quietly.