After Aiden, Aru, Brynne, Ezra, Jemisha, and Mini had gotten back to the street, Ezra held up a car key. "Anyone want to drive?"

"Oh! Oh! Me! I'd like to drive! Pretty please?" Aru begged.

Brynne grabbed the keys. "There's no way I'd let you drive, Shah."

"Awww."

"I'll get you ice cream after this is over," Aiden offered, sighing.

Aru jumped up and down joyfully. "Ice cream!"

"It's like taking care of a child," Mini complained.

Ezra laughed. "Come on. The van's over here."

Brynne got into the driver's seat while Aru called shotgun. Meanwhile, Aiden and Mini were put into the middle, and Jemisha and Ezra climbed into the back row.

"Can I see your phone?" Ezra asked. Brynne handed it over so he could put in the GPS coordinates.

As they started on a long journey, a mischievous smile lit up Aru's face. Everyone's face turned to horror as they dreaded what was about to happen next.

"I daresay we need some tunes if we're on a road trip. Wouldn't you agree?" she asked. Before someone could snatch it away, she started playing some music on it.

"A duck walked up to Santa's sleigh
And he said to Santa, who was loading his sleigh
'Hey! (Bum bum bum) Got any grapes?
Santa said, 'Well, hello there Duck
Grapes up here?
Sorry, no luck
This is the North Pole.'
The duck said 'Gotta roll.'"

"Aru, turn that song off!" Brynne demanded.

Aiden covered his ears. "Shah, listen to Brynne. It's barely even summer."

Aru huffed and slouched down in her seat. "Y'all are no fun." She turned to music off and switched to a song that was just as bad, making everyone else in the car groan.

"Space unicorn
Soaring through the stars
Delivering rainbows all around the world."

Ezra sighed at the choice of music and snuck a glance at Jemisha. She looked as emotionless as before, but there was the barest hint of a smile on her lips. She was pretty, in a I-could-slice-you-up-into-a-million-pieces-before-you-could-blink kind of way.

"Have you always lived in Atlanta?" he asked her.

She tore her gaze from the window to look at him. "Hm? No, I used to live in Hawaii."

"Space unicorn
Shining in the night
Smiles and hugs forever
All around the world."

"Come on, sing with me!" Aru tried.

A bubble of laughter floated out of Jemisha. Ezra couldn't help but laugh too. "She better not be planning on making us listen to this the whole time."

"I hope not," he agreed.

She turned her attention back to Ezra. "So, where are we going?"

"Uh, there's this summer camp I go to," he explained. "They have to deal with monsters and stuff all the ti-" He paused a thought occurred to him. "How'd you see the giant scorpion?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're not supposed to be able to. The Mist should've made it look like something else to you."

Jemisha scrunched up her nose as she tried to think. "What mist?"

"The Mist is what keeps mortals from discovering what's really going on," he explained. "Have you ever heard about the Greek gods?"

Jemisha narrowed her eyes. "Why is that relevant information?"

"So pure of heart
And strong of mind
So true of aim with his marshmallow laser
Marshmallow laser."

"This is the headbanger part!" Aru shouted, banging her head like a rockstar.

Ezra took a deep breath. "Becausethey'rerealandI'machildofone."

"Can you say that again but slower this time?"

"Because they're real, and I'm a child of one of them," Ezra replied, fidgeting with his fingers and avoiding her gaze.

"Really? Which one?" Jemisha asked.

Before he had a chance to respond, Aiden twisted his body to face them after winning a game of sticks with Mini. "You're a child of who?"

"I'm a child of Hermes," Ezra replied. It felt easier to say that to people once he had already told the hardest part to someone moments before.

"Like the god?" Mini asked, trying to look into the back.

"Exactly like the god."

"So is your dad named after him or is your dad the actual god?" Brynne asked, trying to ignore Aru who was still singing along.

"Space unicorn
Soaring through the stars
Delivering the rainbows all around the world."

"The actual god," Ezra responded.

Mini smiled. "That's cool. We're all reincarnations of heroes from Hindu mythology. Well, except Aiden. He was our wife. And Jemisha, of course. We didn't even meet her until a couple of weeks ago."

"And now that you know, you too can call Aiden Wifey!" Aru told Ezra as she took a break from singing to join in on the conversation.

"Am I the only normal person here?" Jemisha asked.

Ezra smiled. "You could see the monster. You're not normal. Actually, I'm not even sure if they'll let you into camp."

Jemisha scowled. "Oh, come on! The only interesting thing to happen to me, and I don't even get the experience the best part!"

"Don't feel bad," Brynne comforted her. "When Aru first woke up the Sleeper, I had to stay behind on the quest while Mini and Aru got to have all the fun." She glanced at Aru who had gone back to annoying everyone with the power of music.

"Delivering the rainbows
Delivering the rainbows
Delivering the rainbows all around the world
Delivering the rainbows all around the world."

"What's camp like?" Mini asked. "Do they have plenty of hand sanitizer? Is it full of germs?"

Ezra shrugged. "I don't know about those last two questions, but it's a lot of fun. It's a camp for demigods, and it has a bunch of stuff to train us. Like archery classes, rock climbing wall with lava, drakon lessons, etc. There's also cabins for each of the gods, so if you're the child of Ares, for example, you'd sleep in Cabin 5, the cabin for children of Ares. If you're unclaimed, which is rare ever since the end of the second Titian War, then you get to room with me in Hermes' Cabin since he's the god of travelers."

"What does unclaimed mean?" Aiden asked.

"It means your godly parent hasn't claimed you as their child yet," Ezra explained. "Now they're required to do so before you turn 13."

"What cabin would I be in?" Aru asked.

"I'd say you'd be in Zeus because of the lightning bolt weapon-"

"Vajra," she corrected.

"Right, Vajra. Brynne would be in Ares, Mini is a little tough, but I'd probably say Apollo because he's the god of medicine, Aiden would be in Aphrodite, and I wouldn't know where to put Jemisha. Maybe with Aiden or in Hades, but one of the minor gods like Hecate might be more suitable."

"All around the world
All around the world
All around the world
All around the world."

"Hear that, Wifey? You're such a pretty princess that you belong in the beauty cabin!" Aru teased.

Aiden blushed and mumbled something rude. "How many cabins are there?"

"We used to only have 12 for the 12 olympians, but now we're nearing 100," Ezra replied.

"Impressive," Brynne noted. She yawned and turned her focus back on the road.

"Do you need someone to switch places?" Mini asked. "I can drive."

Brynne waved her away. "Nah, it's fine. I got it." She blinked back her weariness and drove on for a little while longer before admitting it."Yeah, I guess you drive."

She pulled onto the side of the highway and got out of the car so Mini could take her spot. Once everyone was situated, they started back on a peaceful drive toward Camp Half-Blood.

"Then he waddled away, Merry Christmas
'Til the very next day, bum bum bum bum bum ba-dum."

"Aru, what did I say about playing the Christmas Duck Song!"