Nina's Destiny

Council and the Smithsonian

'Two Campers should definitely go," said Silena.

"Oh, I see. And I suppose you wish to volunteer?" Zoe said, sarcastically.

"I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me."

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. I growled at her. "What would thy mother say?" Silena stood up, ready to attack Zoe. Beckendorf grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back to her seat. When she kept struggling, he pulled her into his lap and wrapped an arm around her, rendering her immobile. Aw, they would make such a cute couple! Shut up, ADHD!

"Which three Hunters will go?" asked Beckendorf after telling them to stop it.

"I shall go. I will take Bianca and Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people?" asked Travis.

"The one who put those arrows in my helmet?" asked Connor. Zoe nodded. "Give this T-shirt to her, will you?" Zoe rolled her eyes, but took the shirt anyways. "What of your campers, Chiron?" Chiron looked at us.

"I already said I was going," I said. I leant back in my chair and put my feet up on the table. I pulled out Mov and began to clean underneath my nails. I could feel all the eyes on me. Grover offered to go and my brother and cousin offered at the same time. Zoe chose Thalia, something about refusing to travel with a male. I guess satyrs don't count as male.

That night, after dinner, I made a promise that I would keep. "I will search for her, fratellino. I will look for Annabeth. I do not know if I will find her, but I swear on the Styx itself that I'm going to try my best to find her." My brother just smiled sadly and hugged me. I may not like Annabeth very much, but she was one of his best friends.

"Thanks, Nina. Try not to die, will you?"

"I make no promises, Perce."

"You just did."

"Shut up." Percy grinned at me and I turned back to finish packing. This would be my first quest without my brother. I got to say, it kind of scared me. I had done some pretty dangerous stuff at Hogwarts, but this was different. There were no teachers that would come running to my aid if I asked. It was just me and five other kids. I barely even knew three of them! I had trouble falling asleep that night.

The next morning, Zoe woke me up before dawn. I yawned, but grabbed my duffel bag and followed her. We met up with Bianca, Thalia, and Grover on top of Half-Blood Hill. Our guard dragon, Peleus, came up to greet me. He protected the Fleece and would never even dream of harming a camper. He and Blackjack were Percy's familiars. "Where's Phoebe?" I asked.

"That T-shirt was covered with something. Phoebe is now in the infirmary," Zoe said. I tried not to laugh. You can't trust the Stoll brothers with anything unless it's in battle. Zoe glared at me and stalked down to the van. I assumed Argus was going to drive us, but Zoe got into the driver's seat. Oh well. I climbed into the back with Thalia and Grover. Bianca sat up front with Zoe.

Zoe drove like a maniac. Let's just say I'm shocked we weren't pulled over about 500 times just getting into Manhattan. I have never seen someone drive as crazy as Zoe did. She zipped straight through rush hour and made it to New Jersey in less than half an hour! You can't do that when there are absolutely no cars on the road. I was really glad we had seat belts.

I sensed a couple presences following us. One seemed evil, but the other seemed like it meant us no harm. I was still wary of it. Eventually, Zoe stopped the car. Somehow, we made it all the way to Washington D.C. I felt sick and could hardly walk. Zoe hadn't let us eat any breakfast. I was grumpy about it before, but now I was thankful. I think I might have thrown it back up if I had eaten anything. Thalia and I were leaning on each other for support. Grover, Bianca, and Zoe seemed unfazed.