In the Middle

Chapter Five

     I awoke with Lance's arms around me, warding off the previous nightmares. I was about to wake Lance and get up when Mavis opened the door and walked into the cabin. When she saw me a look of horror crossed her face.

     "Starr!" I pushed Lance's arm off of me and sat up.

     "It's okay, Mavis, I can explain." I told her about my nightmares. The answer still didn't seem to satisfy her. Mavis looked pointedly at Lance, who was still asleep.

     "He can't be in here. There's a rule." Mavis crossed her arms and glared at me, then at Lance.

     "I know." I shook him awake. When Lance realized Mavis was also in the room he exited quickly, not saying a word. "Good morning to you to."

     "Oh, right. Good morning." I shook my head and laughed.

     "So what are you doing here? I thought you were with the halflings fighting crime and Vortex." Mavis shrugged and leaned against a bunk bed.

     "Thought we'd stop by, you know, check in on you guys."

     "Do you want to go on a small quest?" It was an impulsive thing to do, but I was restricted to have two other campers on the quest. There weren't enough campers and with the threat of the attack, they were already training all day. The remaining children of Athena were working on a battle strategy to discuss with Annabeth. Mavis raised an eyebrow.

     "What kind of quest?"

     "Nothing special. No monsters or anything. We're going to go get Annabeth from San Francisco." Mavis frowned.

     "Why would you need to do that?" Oh, right, she didn't know. I explained the situation with the rebels and Mavis straightened, she stopped leaning against the bunk bed and stood right in front of me, looking concerned.

     "Of course I'll come." I sighed with relief.

     "Great. We leave today in about," I looked at the clock on the wall, "an hour." Mavis nodded and walked staidly out of the cabin. I was alone now, with only my thoughts as company. I didn't even want myself as a companion, my thoughts were too confused, the panicked feeling that now served a permanent place in my gut was only making matters worse. I slumped back into my bed, laying there, staring blankly at the ceiling. It seemed like hours had passed when I sat up again, but when I glanced at the clock it had only been minutes. I made my bed even though I hadn't slept under the sheets. I packed everything I would need for the quest in the backpack Chiron had given me. It looked small but it was much bigger on the inside and it would expand at my will. I put my bow and the quiver of arrows into it and dressed quickly in regular jeans and a plain sweatshirt. I strapped my knife onto the non-existent belt on my jeans. I was suddenly thankful for the modification. When I had finally combed out my hair and put it up, my hour was also up. I slung the backpack over my shoulder and met Mavis at the entrance to the camp. She had a bag similar to mine. Her determined expression reminded me of just how much alike she and Annabeth were, even when they were so different.

     "Ready?" I nodded and we walked out of the camp, into the real world.