When Hunter woke up it was morning. Sunlight was streaming in from the windows of the cabin and shining on his face. Today was going to be a long day. He took a deep breath and sat up before rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He didn’t have any dreams that night. It was odd how soundly he slept. He sat up groggily and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “This is just another quest. It’s just another quest.” He said quietly. He stood up out of bed and took a deep breath. Setting his bag on his bed he unzipped it and made sure he had everything. He wondered why he was so nervous. This quest seemed more significant. “The fate of the world….” He said quietly before getting dressed and stepping out of his cabin. He looked around the camp. It was quiet. It was times like this that he missed. There was always something in Olympus. It was always some hunt or some party or some something that kept him busy. He never had a time to breathe. Now that it was actually quiet, he had to leave on a quest. He had to go risk his life to save the world again. He sighed as he walked into the mess hall. He had a couple of hours before they were leaving, but he was anxious to leave. He just wanted to be away from here. Even if that meant that he would be off fighting something. He wanted to be gone. He got in line and started to fill his tray.
“Hey, Hunter.” Hunter turned from his spot in line to see Marina behind him. He swallowed his nerves and waved.
“Hey, Marina.” He said quietly. “I’ll talk to you in a second.” He said before leaving and sitting down at the Artemis table. He held his cup in his hand. He felt no motivation to think of something creative to challenge his cup with. “Orange juice.” He said simply as Marina joined him at the table. He took a sip and looked at her drearily. “How’d you sleep?”
“Not bad.” She said with a shrug. “I was a little beat up from falling off my Pegasus one too many times yesterday, but overall I slept pretty well.” She said before looking at him a little concernedly. “Are you okay? You seem bothered by something.” Hunter shook his head.
“Yeah, yeah.” He said, clearing his throat. “I’m fine. Just uh…nervous.” He lied. He honestly wasn’t sure why this was bothering him so much. Maybe it was the dreams he’d been having. Something felt off. “So did you finally get the Pegasus riding down?” He asked, trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, well enough.” She said with a shrug. “I had no idea that Kyle was so talented on a Pegasus. He said that it was his first time, but he could have fooled me.” She said with a chuckle. Hunter nodded.
“I was surprised. I thought you would be the one who was good on the winged horse.” He said with a nod. “No offense.” Marina looked at him and smiled.
“None taken. I was surprised too.” She said as she finished her food. “I wonder where Kyle is. We leave in an hour. Knowing Kyle, he isn’t even close to being packed up.”
“I am packed up, as a matter of fact.” Kyle said, as he joined the table. “Good morning, Hunter. Good morning, Marina.” He said with a nod and a kiss respectively. Hunter eyed him suspiciously.
“You’re surprisingly calm. You do remember that we’re leaving for a quest in an hour, right?” Hunter said with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course I do. I’m just…okay with it. I feel good about this.” He said with a nod. “Things are going to go perfectly.” He said with a happy sigh and a smile on his face. Marina turned his face toward hers.
“Are you okay? You didn’t get into Addie’s stash, did you?” She said with narrowed eyes. Kyle chuckled.
“No, of course not. I’m just…okay with this.” He said with a smile before taking a bite of egg. Hunter shook his head.
“Well, whatever. I need to go take care of something. I’ll meet you guys there.” Hunter said as he stood up from the table and excused himself. He walked out of the mess hall and to the Artemis Cabin. He walked over to the fountain in the corner and tossed a drachma in. “Philippa Simon. Philippa Simon’s quarters. Mount Olympus.” He said quietly. The mist glowed for a few moments. “No one is there. Wait. Of course no one is there. She’s missing.” He said quietly before leaning his head on the wall by the fountain. “I wish I could talk to her.” He said quietly. He always talked to her when something was bothering him. She always made it clear that she was there for him. The one time that he absolutely needed to talk to her…She’s gone. He took a deep breath and grabbed his bag off his bed. He slung it over his shoulder and made his way out of the cabin. He arrived at the stables early and walked Ulysses out. He patted him on the nose as he fed him a sugar cube. “Let’s get this show on the road, huh, buddy?” He said quietly. After a few minutes of sorting through things and waiting impatiently, Marina and Kyle showed up hand In hand.
“You guys ready?” Kyle asked with a deep breath. Marina and Hunter nodded. The three of them mounted their Pegasi and took off toward Pennsylvania.