AN: Sorry it's been so long updates will keep coming and I won't leave it so long again. Thanks for sticking with me.

In which Clarisse's Pop Pops in

Come the next day, and Leo was all packed for the quest, with his backpack from Chaos, and his toolbelt, he was pretty much ready for anything. And he was suddenly realising that was something he should never think. Just for thinking that he was ready for anything, the fates would decide to send the worst monsters after them. Damn; that was going to cause problems later. He'd said goodbye to newbie and left a letter to be delivered to his foster family, he'd also asked Chaos via the notebook if he'd watch over newbie. The camp was normally safe, but with Percy getting poisoned last year and Thalia's pine being poisoned. The monsters coming into camp were becoming a massive issue, so hopefully newbie would be ok.

The only current problem however was trying to get the third member for their quest. Leo had forgotten that the camper who goes on a quest gets the option of challenging for leadership of the cabin. Normally this wasn't a problem, because those who had been on quests didn't want to challenge, or the leader had been on more quests anyway. But since Drew was one of the options, he wouldn't put it past her to go on the quest, just so she could challenge Silena. But Drew was good at charm speak, and they were going to need that. Leo didn't know how good Silena was as charm speak, or if, at this point she was a spy or not. This could end badly. Leo still wasn't sure if Clarisse had managed to convince either of the two to come along.

It was so early in the morning that the sea mist that occasionally came up from the bay was spreading over the part of the beach beach that Clarisse had barked at him to meet at. The bay was still and quiet, and the trail back to the cabins was undisturbed. No-one else was up this early, even the harpies were gone. Frankly it was the type of quiet where you were looking over your shoulder waiting for the inevitable monster attack: it was sending Leo's monster sense mad.

Leo wondered why Clarisse had decided to leave so early, he would have thought she would want the camp up for a giant send off. But, well, guess he didn't know her as much as he thought he did. How much of what he thought of his fellow campers was seen through the lens of Percy and Annabeth's opinion? He grew to know Clarisse a little in the endless fighting during the giant war, but only a little. It's hard to learn a lot about someone when every time there isn't fighting, you're either patrolling on guard on sleeping as much as possible.

Two people were walking through the mist toward him, well, at least Clarisse had managed to convince on of the two to come along, as they got closer Leo noticed that the second figure was Drew. Leo was a bit surprised at that, he had honestly thought if any of the two was going to come it would be Silena. Leo resigned himself to spending most of the quest interceding between the two and stopping them from killing each other.

As the two met up with Leo, Drew grinned at him. "So, a quest to retrieve the golden fleece huh, exciting."

"Deadly…" Clarisse added, with a snarl "…for my enemies at least."

"Great, can't wait to kill things…" Drew trailed of with a sideways glance as Clarisse, stepping slightly further away from her as she did so.

Leo almost laughed at that, but instead decided to get the quest underway before the rest of the camp woke up, the sooner they left the sooner they'd bring the fleece back and stop the attacks on the camp. "Clarisse, was there a reason you wanted to leave this early?"

"Had a dream the day before I was given this quest. Dad told me to be here."

"You mean the dad that might sort of hate me for, ya know, interfering with Percy's sort of quest thing last year, and sort of ruining his…."

As Leo was nervously talking, a giant fire burst into existence a couple of feet in front of the three demigods, and a man in bike leathers with skulls all over that back, and a real aggressive look on his sunglass clad face. Sunglasses, in the early morning, when the sun was barely up. Real mean, and appearance over intelligence… Must be Ares.

Clarisse immediately bowed, and Leo followed suit, pulling Drew down with him. If he was the sort to demand his kids bow to him, he certainly would spare a son of Hephaestus who didn't 'show the proper amount of respect'. Ares grunted and gestured for Clarisse to stand.

"Daughter, it about time you got a quest. Now listen. I'm not the type to help. The weak die, that my way. The Spartans had it right. But recently, thanks to old seaweed's brat, Dad's a bit miffed at me. So, you must show him up. I'll give you a head start to the sea of monsters, but if you fail… Well I don't appreciate my blood failing. If you can't get the fleece, you won't get back. Better die than return a failure, or a disappointment to me. Got it"?

"Yes, sir."

"Good. With this ship you'll get to the sea of monsters at least, even with demigods that are keeping secrets as your companions." Here he looked at Drew, with his eye's burning so hot his sunglasses were warping. Ares then gestured behind him and a ship appeared out of the fog, the zombie crew, in scraps of the uniforms they used to wear, lined up on the deck, saluting. The ship itself looked a bit iffy, nothing compared to the Argo II, but given that they didn't have any other transport it was decent.

"REMEMBER, DON'T DISAPOINT ME!"

With that the beach was empty again save for the three demigods, and the ship at the end of the pier, with it's ghostly flags rippling in the wind.