The Praetors sat me down and explained about a mission that involved me heading to New York and guiding the east coast demigods to Lupa. Sounds easy enough. "Okay, how am I going to get there?" I asked. "We'll make sure you are escorted. You will travel by South West Airlines." Andre said. "Great, when do I go?" I asked, standing up and twirling my thumbs together. "You'll leave at nightfall, on the twenty one hundred hour flight. Start packing, we'll see you in the mess hall." Andre tossed me a backpack, and then they left. I returned my knife to my sock and unzipped my backpack. I didn't have much to pack, all that was really important to me was a few photos from when I first got here when I was eight, my Imperial gold knife, a watch I found on the shore (it turns into a shield), and my medals. I shoved a SPQR t-shirt and another pair of jeans into my bag. I also added a Ziploc bag of Ambrosia to it. I put on the watch and my SPQR varsity jacket. I headed out to the mess hall and sat with the rest of my Cohort. I ate quickly and packed up to leave. I met Andre and Diane at the entrance to New Rome. "Anthony Parker will be escorting you to the airport. Best of luck." Diane said. Parker grinned next to her, he was tall compared to Diane and he looked like he wanted to pulverize me. We headed out and took a cab to the airport. When we got past customs, which is amazing because I have a knife at my ankle, the Mist must have covered it, Parker gave me a lanyard with a card clipped to it. I looked down at it. " 'Unaccompanied Minor'?" I asked. "Yeah, I'm not coming with you, Tiny Tony. Just don't die, I need someone to pick on." He ruffled my hair. "Fine, can I have my ticket now?" I asked. I may be fourteen, but Parker still looked like an adult compared to me, even though he was only two years older than me. He handed me a paper slip. It read: Long Island MacArthur Airport "Bye." I started to head towards the waiting area when Parker called me back. "Here," He shoved a small leather bag into my hands. "It's denarii, in case you need it." "Thanks," I said, dropping the bag in my pocket. The plane boarded within a few minutes of me getting there. I sat way back in the plane, it was safer that way. You see, children of Neptune and the sky don't mix very well. I fell into a restless sleep and woke every half hour whimpering. Sometimes demigods have weird dreams, and mine haven't been agreeing with me lately. I was relieved when the plane landed and I could get off. I made it through customs (another relief), and I got a coffee at one of the shops in the airport. "Now, one problem." I muttered to myself, "How am I going to get out of here?" I learned back in one of the comfy massage chairs. I was tempted to drop a coin in the slot and rest there for the rest of my life, when I saw something I shouldn't have. There was a cyclops in the middle of the airport. "How does that even get through customs?!" I leapt out of the chair and ran, jumping "gracefully" behind a water fountain. /If I can't kill it, I can at least throw it off with water/ I thought, channeling my inner tsunami energy that I could totally control. It had caught my scent off of the massage chair and started running towards me. I felt a tug in my gut and water spewed from the fountain, raining over the monster and helpless civilians. "Sorry! Gotta do what you gotta do!" I ran for the escalator, skipping the steps as I went down. It couldn't have been only a few hundred feet behind me. I raced out of the airport and into the busy streets of New York. I don't know what the mortals saw, but it definitely wasn't a seven foot, one-eyed, hairy cyclops.
Canva Rick Riordan
