It's time for a disclaimer which I forgot about last time: I Twilit Bakery, doth swear upon mine quill that neither Harry Potter, nor Percy Jackson and the Olympians are owned by me, I too swear that all of mine writing below was written by myself, and that animals of the feline variety are superior to those of the canine.

"I Love to Talk!" (... okay)

'I Hate Thinking...' or also 'Sarcastic Verbal Quotation'

Italics were used in the making of this production.

December 2003

Bianca POV:

The Hunters moved to the back of the bus, trying to avoid contact with the… boys at the front. Bianca followed along with Penelope, walking to somewhere in the middle of the bus, leaving a couple of rows of seats between them and the campers.

Bianca's heart hurt at the thought of leaving Nico behind like she was doing now, but she also didn't want to be forced to well… take care of him, like she had been over the months following their parent's death. She flinched slightly at that thought, a wave of self-loathing rising as she realized that she had thought of Nico as a burden. Penny seemed to realize something was wrong, and pushed her into a seat, before staring at her own, deep in thought.

Bianca was startled when out of nowhere Penny pulled out her knife and started brutalizing the seat next to her.

"Penny?! What are you doing?!" Bianca yelped, startled by Penny's sudden act of violence. Her sudden outburst drew many looks, some of the Hunters laughing a little before looking away.

"Fixing the seat," Penny responded, looking at Bianca in confusion.

"Fixing the… oh… oh! Sorry, do carry on." Bianca said, Penny's tail coming back into view as she turned, sitting down, her tail settling in the stuffing-gutted seat. A flush of embarrassment worked its way over Bianca's face as she watched Penny settle in, stretching her upper body as she did so.

Bianca turned away quickly, looking towards the front of the bus where Thalia was in the driver's seat. Apollo was standing over her shoulder, gesturing to something before Thalia nodded.

Bianca didn't know that Thalia knew how to drive, she was a little impressed - Thalia only looked like she was 14.

As it turned out Thalia didn't know how to drive. Bianca tensed in her seat as they flew through the sky, hitting large bouts of turbulence as they were taken on a ride - a roller coaster ride.

Thalia only had one speed - full speed, and her sudden jerking turns on the wheel really didn't make it any better. Bianca crashed into Penny, who had her claws driven through the roof as she grinned wildly.

"Bianca! Isn't this so fun! Thalia really knows what she's doing!" Penny cried out in joy as Thalia hit another turn.

Bianca looked into Penny's excited green eyes, her catty pupils staring right back at her as Bianca clung to Penny desperately. "No! We're all going to die, Penny!" She shouted in Penny's ears, making her flinch.

"No, look at Thalia! She's just shaking in excitement!" Penny said, nodding her chin towards where Thalia sat, trembling as she stiffly operated the vehicle. "She just wants to have a good time, relax!" Penny declared.

Bianca clung tighter to Penny, her words not calming Bianca in the slightest. She glanced around briefly, noting that Penny was the only person who seemed excited about Thalia's driving.

The Hunters - her sisters all looked a little green, holding onto the seat in front of them as they glared between Thalia; the driver and Penny; who's excitement in the face of their inevitable death was a little disturbing.

The campers didn't look any better, Percy seemed pale as a sheet as his eyes drilled into Thalia's head. Nico looked a little better, but that might have been because he was normally that pale. Grover looked near catatonic as they passed over the landscape, fires starting as Thalia drove them too close to the ground.

Bianca looked out the window, before looking away as she felt one of Penny's arms snake around her, Penny pulling her tighter to her body as she watched out the window, Bianca glanced at where Penny was looking, where the ground was approaching quickly, some buildings visible as they careened towards the area. Bianca watched as Penny's brow furrowed, before she felt Penny tense, apparently realizing that they were all about to die.

Bianca closed her eyes tight as she held onto Penny, hearing Apollo yell, 'Brake!' In panic didn't make her feel any better.

She felt Penny shift slightly and heard something pierce the floor as Penny stabilized herself in preparation for the upcoming impact.

Suddenly the bus took a sharp pitch down, she heard some of her sisters being sent out of their seats at the sudden shift.

There was a splash, followed by a hiss of steam as the bus suddenly stopped, sending some of its occupants to the floor.

Bianca opened her eyes, meeting the large cat-like orbs of Penny as Penny started grinning again, "See, told you Thalia knew what she was doing!" She said excitedly, before she pulled her left arm off of the ceiling, leaving behind a handful of vicious holes. Bianca watched Penny struggle to yank her tail from the floor, where she had lodged it in the final leg of their journey.

"Yes Penny," Bianca said, her tone dry as she detached herself from Penny, helping her pull her tail from where it was solidly dug into the bus' flooring, "You were right all along."

"Dost thee need any help, Penelope?" Zoë asked as she passed by, having finished checking on all the Hunters.

"Nope!" Penny said as she finally freed her tail from the flooring, "Let's go!" Penny declared as she walked towards the front of the bus, where the campers had already exited. They went down the steps and into the shallow water, where the bus had floated to and looked in the bus' storage area, Penny fished around the jumbled clothes, finally finding her silver parka and jeans, which were wet. Bianca pouted at her before Penny snapped her fingers, instantly drying the clothes.

Bianca grabbed her soaked bag, and held it out to Penny, making her roll her eyes before she snapped again, drying her stuff off. They walked over to where Zoë and the campers had gathered, Bianca saw Nico and headed towards him, hugging him slightly and telling him to 'make some friends,' Nico scowled in response, turning away from her as he walked towards where Percy stood. Bianca flinched slightly, before moving to where Penny was talking animatedly to Thalia.

"-as brilliant Thalia! I didn't know you were so good at driving! I was pretty sure we were going to die for a moment before you suddenly landed us in the lake! It was… it was…' Penny struggled to find the right word.

"Awesome?" Apollo provided.

"Awesome!" Penny declared.

"... I'm glad you enjoyed it?" Thalia said, a little off-put by Penny's enthusiasm.

"Alright sweeties, it's time for me to go!" Apollo grinned, provoking the Hunters into glaring at him, "Buh-bye now."

Bianca rolled her eyes, and pulled Penny away from the uncomfortable daughter of Zeus, leading her towards Zoë who was speaking agitatedly with Grover, eventually releasing a sigh of frustration as he started heading off, telling the Hunters to 'follow him.'

Bianca glanced at Penny, sharing an eye-roll they both followed Zoë as she led them to the cabin.

"So… this is Camp Half-Blood," Penny eventually said, looking around at the cabins, "I can't believe that I made it past the barrier."

"Thou art a Hunter of Artemis now, that supersedes any other traits thee may have." Zoe said resolutely, "How else would the formerly mortal among us be able to enter this camp?"

"Right," Penelope said, "What happened to all the demigods? I was told there should be like a couple hundred of them, not two-dozen."

"Most of the demigods only stay here during the summer," Grover claimed, dropping back when he saw no one was following him, "Anyways, we're here!" He said, gesturing to the silver cabin they stopped in front of.

Zoë rolled her eyes, "I thank thee for stating the obvious." Zoë walked up to the cabin door, and ushered them all in, closing the door firmly behind her as Grover tried to follow.

"Thank the gods! If I had to endure that satyr's doe-eyed looks for any longer I would have shot him!" One of the Hunters, a larger girl declared, before looking towards Penny and Bianca and walking towards them. "Welcome sister to the Hunt!" She said rambunctiously, reaching around each of them and giving them a quick squeeze, "My name is Phoebe, daughter of Ares," She scowled at the war god's name before continuing, "If you need anything, simply ask." Phoebe stepped back, allowing the other Hunters to introduce themselves to Penny and Bianca.

They all spoke for a few moments, each of them giving a brief introduction before grouping up and heading off into the camp, Phoebe went off with a couple of the others to the basketball courts, while Penny and Bianca followed Zoë to the archery range.

Zoë had somehow acquired two silver quivers and handed them to each of the girls, "Stand here," She ordered, stopping them at the '50 yard' marker. "Now take out your bows, and fire at the target." She told them, pointing at one of the targets down the field.

Penny and Bianca did as they were told, their bows appearing in hand as they each took a stance, somehow knowing what they needed to do as they took aim, Bianca fired first, her arrow landing just outside of the bullseye, surprising herself.

"Artemis is the goddess of archery, as well as the hunt. Thine arrows shall always fly true." Zoë stated at Bianca's surprise.

Emboldened by Bianca's success, Penny released her own arrow, it traveled quickly, landing in the target's… red ring, that surrounded the bullseye. Penny scowled, before drawing and quickly firing another arrow, which landed again, in the red ring.

"..." Zoë looked at Penny, stunned. "Perhaps you need to move a bit-"

"No! I've got this, I'm not going to let this target beat me!" Penny interrupted, refusing to back down, she quickly fired the rest of her arrows, her hands blurring slightly as she set the arrows loose. She squinted slightly and scowled at the target, before reaching for her quiver again - which was empty.

Zoë shook herself from the stupor she fell in, Penny's apparent mastery of the bow surprising her before she glanced at the target, and started laughing.

Bianca found herself in a similar situation as she looked down the field at the target, which had a single arrow burrowed in the yellow print, the others scattered about the target's face.

"Tis truly amazing," Zoë snickered, catching her breath, "For the first time in centuries Lady Artemis' blessing has failed to grant thou accuracy, yet succeeded in giving thee skill with the bow!"

Penny scowled at her briefly before dismissing her bow, she stood there for a moment, squinting at the target, before her tail went into a flurry of motion, sending easily a dozen spines at the target in a matter of seconds. This time, each of her projectiles hit the bullseye, splitting each other as she burrowed deeper into the target, "I guess it's a good thing I don't need a bow then." She declared, smugness entering her tone.

"I suppose so," Zoë said, composing herself, "Then I suppose we are here to assist Bianca instead." She said, looking back towards the other new Hunter. "Fire thine arrows, Bianca, as fast as thou art able." She ordered, this time gesturing to all of the targets in the range.

The group stayed there for a while, Zoë giving Bianca tips on how to refine her firing as Penny wove the mist around her silver parka, allowing her to fit her tail through it. Eventually, they left the range, Bianca was tired from all that firing, each arrow sapping some of her newfound strength. She leaned slightly against Penny as they made their way to the cabin, changing into their silver garb before moving to the dining pavilion.

"Zoë! Penelope! Bianca! How did it go at the range?" Phoebe greeted them, pulling them onto the bench, Zoë sitting at the table's head as she greeted their sisters.

"It went pretty well," Bianca said, before lowering her voice to a stage whisper, "I don't think Penny thought too highly about it though."

"Why not? Lady Artemis ensures that our arrows fly swift and true?" Phoebe replied, her confusion obvious.

"Nobody told Penny here that," Bianca replied teasingly, smirking at Penny who rolled her cat-like eyes, "Penny only managed a single bullseye!"

Phoebe laughed loudly, her voice echoing through the chilly room, "Truly? And I thought I was the only one." She replied, looking towards Penny who was a little surprised, "Yes, it's true, while I am now a much better shot with the bow, my blessing seemed to focus around honing my tracking skills, to this day I am the best tracker in all the Hunt!" Phoebe boasted.

"And ever so humble about it too," Zoë said dryly.

"I simply know my strengths Zoë, my eyes are sharp and my arm is strong, there is none stronger in the Hunt than I," Phoebe said confidently, before starting to flex rather comically.

"I don't know about that…" Bianca said, looking slyly towards Penny. "Penny here could lift both myself and my brother without being winded! And that was before she was given Artemis' blessing!"

"Hmm…" Phoebe said, observing Penny sharply, "She doesn't look like much, tall maybe, but strong?" Phoebe continued, doubtful of Bianca's claims.

"She doesn't look strong, but that's what makes her so threatening! Her arms are as tough as stones!" Bianca declared, drawing the eyes of some of her sisters.

"Truly? I must see this myself! Come, Penny, roll up your sleeves!" Phoebe said, working her own up her arms and clearing a spot on the table.

"... Okay?" Penny said, rolling the sleeves of her silver parka up.

Phoebe set her right arm against the cold wooded table, Penny looked at her blankly for a moment before following suit, grabbing Phoebe's hand. The other Hunters quieted down as they watched what was about to happen. "Do you not know how to arm-wrestle?" Phoebe asked after watching Penny's confused look.

"No? What is an arm-wrestle?" Penny asked bewilderedly.

Phoebe's eyes widened in horror at Penny's ignorance, unknowingly copying Apollo's expression earlier that day.

"It's a noble sport! Strength against Strength!" Phoebe said dramatically, "We set our strengths against one another in an attempt to wrestle the other into submission!"

Some of the Hunters rolled their eyes, smiling slightly at Phoebe's exuberance.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Penny asked, making Bianca smile slightly.

"Win," Bianca declared.

"We shall attempt to push the other's arms down onto the table, and hold them there for some seconds, we shall have Zoë be our judge," Phoebe stated clearly, settling from her earlier state into one of calm.

"Okay then," Penny said, rolling her shoulders as she readied her right arm for the upcoming challenge.

"Are you ready?" Phoebe asked when she saw Penny was done.

"Yup." Penny replied, popping the 'p.'

"On thine marks!" Zoë started, "Get set! Go!"

The two tested the waters a little, to begin with, each exerting an increasing amount of strength as time went on, before suddenly Phoebe pushed as hard as she could, forcing Penny's arm to dip as she matched Phoebe's strength.

Penny stared into Phoebe's strained face and asked, "Is this all you've got?" Setting off a round of laughs around the table, each of them remembering themselves in a similar situation, Phoebe asking that same question.

Phoebe struggled more, forcing all she had into this final push. Penny smirked lightly and started pushing Phoebe's arm towards the table, there were occasional jerks as Phoebe fought back, but eventually, the smooth descent stopped, Phoebe's arm laying against the chilled wood.

"3… 2… 1… 0! Penny is the winner!" Zoë declared, awe filling the eyes of the Hunters as they saw the ease with which Penny defeated Phoebe.

"That's… that's a Hades... of an arm you've... got there sister," Phoebe said, gasping slightly for breath while Penny looked only slightly winded.

Bianca heard muttering about 'monsters' coming from behind her, she glanced around at the campers but couldn't identify who said it.

"Hey Bianca, you should try arm-wrestling Phoebe too," Penny said, a little too innocently as a gleam entered her eye, "It's only fair after all."

"Oh… I don't know, Phoebe just arm-wrestled you, and I'm sure she needs to recover for a moment." Bianca replied, looking away from Penny's eyes.

"Nonsense sister! I am just about recovered, but if you are concerned about fairness, then I shall use my left arm instead." Phoebe stated, still winded from her session with Penny.

Bianca watched her sisters' eyes turn towards her, each of the eternal maidens excited to watch another contest of strength. She sighed, before nodding her consent, rolling up her sleeves as she switched spots with Penny.

Bianca walked out of the pavilion with a sore arm, she and Penny left after Chiron mentioned a round of 'Capture the Flag' that was taking place tomorrow between the Hunters and the campers. Bianca rubbed her sore arm while giving Penny the stink eye, "You knew she would beat me didn't you?" She accused.

"Yep," Penny said cheerfully… a little too cheerfully for Bianca's liking, "She was really strong! Just not as strong as I am."

"Of course not," Bianca said, rolling her eyes.

The two walked in companionable silence towards the cabin, their arms brushing slightly as they stepped in sync.

"Penny, do you think I'm a bad person?" Bianca asked suddenly, remembering her decision to join the Hunt, leaving Nico behind.

"What? Of course not Bianca, why would you think something like that?" Penny asked her, stopping her and staring into her eyes.

Bianca glanced into Penny's eyes which almost shone in the night, before looking away again, "Nico… I just feel like I'm abandoning him…" Bianca whispered, her voice trailing off as her eyes welled up with tears. "I think he feels like I'm abandoning him too."

"Bianca, it's okay, I'm sure that eventually, Nico will understand." Penny comforted, pulling Bianca in closer and guiding her towards the beach. They walked there in silence, Bianca drawing comfort from Penny's presence as they sat.

They sat there in silence, listening as people left the dining pavilion, the noise slowly bleeding into silence as the moon drifted overhead.

"You know," Penny started suddenly, breaking Bianca out of her depressed state, "I was in this kind of situation before too." Bianca turned towards her, but Penny's eyes refused to leave the horizon, "I guess I was more like Nico than you though," She continued, her eyes glazing slightly as she remembered.

Bianca stared at her for a while, before rubbing Penny's knee in comfort, trying to get her to say more.

"I… well…" Penny started, "I don't even know where to start really…"

"The beginning generally works," Bianca said, remembering when Penny told her that she was a demigod.

"Yeah… I guess," Penny said, smirking at Bianca, "Worked out well enough the first time right?"

Bianca felt Penny take a deep breath before she spoke, "My earliest memory was of darkness." She started, "I think I was three, maybe four. My aunt and uncle… weren't nice people, I'm still not sure if it was because they could feel something was wrong with me or what, but they treated me like a slave, the darkness I remember was of a cupboard, barely five feet across, I started cooking at around four, I can still remember the feeling of the grease burning my skin when I dropped it." She rubbed her arm lightly before she continued, "I started in the garden a little later, then it was washing the dishes, doing the laundry, cleaning up after meals… I can't remember when they all started, but eventually, I was doing all the chores in the house, and my relatives made sure to 'discipline' me." Penny hissed the last few words, before gritting her teeth, "Vernon was the one who started it, I burnt the bacon, badly, and he was angry that I was 'trying to poison him and his Dudders.'" Penny's eyes started glowing as she raised her voice, "He punched me in the stomach and kicked me a couple of times, luckily the tub of lard was too weak to do any lasting damage." Penny declared forcefully, before calming herself slightly, forcing herself to move on, "Dudley saw this and decided that he and his friends shouldn't be left out of the fun. They made a game of it, 'Penny Pressing,' they would chase me until I eventually fell, then they pressed me into the ground." Penny spit the words out hatefully.

Bianca watched as Penny regained control of herself, drawing little circles on her knee to help her calm down.

"That's around when my monster heritage started appearing, I have no idea why I wasn't born with it, but slowly I started to change. My claws started appearing, my eyes started changing and my tail finally came in on my eighth birthday." Penny's eyes darkened slightly as she spoke, "Vernon came home drunk that day, in a towering rage about something, he whipped me a few times with his belt before he pulled his pants down and tried to rape me." Bianca gasped slightly, making Penny rub her side comfortingly as she continued, "I killed him." Penny said bluntly, "I remember watching his corpse for hours before I just walked out. I still don't know what happened to my aunt or cousin, and honestly, I don't really care either."

"I'm sorry," Bianca told her.

"For what?" Penny asked bewilderedly.

"That you had to do that," Bianca responded, "He deserved it though." She added, her black eyes darkening another shade as she spoke.

"Don't be, it happened and now it's over," Penny said bluntly, "That's not the part that matters though, it's only the beginning." She stated, her eyes drifting again as she thought.

"So there I was, eight years old and on the run, I'm not really sure what the police thought had happened, but there were soon reports about the eight-year-old murderer. It was hard for a while, I tried to stay in the cities at first, but after a few kidnapping attempts, I decided it wasn't worth the risk. I moved to the forests with nothing but the clothes on my back. One day though, I walked near an intersection, and a girl steps out of the shadows holding a torch, I can still remember what she told me, she said 'Penelope Potter, you stand at a crossroads, choose your destiny wisely, else you will suffer under the hand of Fate for all of eternity.' I looked down each of the roads, each of them showed a different future. In one, I went back to Privet Drive, where an old man found me and forced me to live with my aunt, but not before taking away my tail, my claws, and my eyes. I was left there and suffered constantly until I eventually killed myself in despair." Penny closed her eyes for a moment as she re-lived that vision. "The second showed me walking forward, I ended up hiding in the forest I resided in, becoming a local legend of sorts before one day I was captured by some weirdos using sticks, they pulled me into a cage and set me loose against a dragon, a large crowd watching as I killed the beast, before attacking the people who captured me. A lot of red lights hit me and I died." Penny described, her brow furrowed in thought as she tried to remember the third path. "The road to my right showed me heading to London, before one day I went to America for some reason. I can't remember too many details, but I remember a blizzard, the howling of wolves, and a cage made of earth, I killed the two who were standing next to it, and a giant person rose from the ground, the last thing I saw in that one was a golden blade sprouting from my chest." Penny said, shuddering slightly at the blurry images. Bianca hugged Penny tighter at that, both of them sitting in silence before Penny continued.

"The final path was the one I chose, I went to America on a cargo boat, eventually finding someone who could teach me how to survive, then the path faded into the shadow which I thought at the time was kind of weird, but was better than the deaths all my other choices provided." Penny said, "It was like some kind of bad joke, the lady who was standing there smirked at me when I walked down the road, it's not like I had any choice." She reflected, before shrugging, "Well, I kind of understand why it showed me the whole 'fading into shadow' thing now, but at the time I was really confused."

"Why did it do that then?" Bianca asked suddenly.

"The shadow thing?" Penny continued at Bianca's nod, "Well, that wasn't the last time I've met Lady Hecate at the crossroads, but that's a little later in the story."

Penny took a deep breath before pushing on, "I was in America for a year before I ran into a trio of high school girls who were dragging a body into the woods."

"What?!" Bianca demanded, her voice rising slightly.

"Yep," Penny said, "I followed them through the forest, jumping from tree to tree because I didn't want to be anywhere near them if they noticed me." Penny said wistfully, remembering her first encounter with her mentor, "It didn't matter in the end, Kelli - the leader of the trio disappeared in a burst of flames, I remember feeling confused for a couple of seconds before I heard a voice behind me ask 'What's hangin'?'" Penny thought for another moment, "Actually, that was the same kind of thing Lady Artemis did to me today, huh, talk about deja vu."

Penny laughed a little, "I almost fell out of the tree I was in, Kelli introduced herself as, well, Kelli and asked me 'What's a little girly like you doin' following us?'" Penny quoted, her voice becoming higher pitched, "'Why aren't your eyes somethin' special? Ya know, I was told to look out for a girl with a tail and bright green eyes.' So she took me in, told me who I was, helped me find my parentage, kept me healthy and fed as she taught me how to use the mist."

Penny took a few calming breaths as she pushed on, "She taught me everything I know; illusions, mist-speak, and sensing the use of the mist were just the beginning of what she said she would teach me, we grew… close. She called me her 'pride and joy,' her best student." Penny smiled wryly as she thought of what happened next, "She was like the mother, sister, and best-friend I never had, she helped me throw spines faster, taught me how to use my claws better, helped me sharpen my senses, I owe everything to her." Penny said, starting to tear up as she spoke, "She was the first person to celebrate my birthday with me, the first person to tuck me in at night, she taught me to read… taught me how to defend myself against monsters… and demigods…"

Bianca rolled over slightly, straddling Penny's legs as she hugged her tightly, rubbing circles on her back as Penny started to break down.

Penny started to sob as she remembered, "I remember when she caught me watching some kids play tag, so the next day she had us go into the forest to play 'catch the demigod,' she'd dress herself up in some sort of illusion and I'd have to try to catch her. One time I was chasing after her and she led me into a pack of hellhounds, telling me that 'some demigods are crafty, and will try to lead you into traps,' before disappearing, when I finally got back to the motel, the room we were staying in was decorated with so many balloons, Kelli was putting up a banner that said 'Happy Birthday Penelope!'" Penny giggled a little, "She turned around so fast she fell off the chair she was standing on!"

Penny kept talking, the stars drifting past as she shared her life with Bianca, she had just finished reminiscing about when they killed some mortals who tried to kidnap them in Maryland when Bianca decided to interrupt.

"Penny, if you were so happy with Kelli, then what happened? What happened to Kelli?" She asked cautiously, feeling Penny tense underneath her, she quickly added: "It's okay if you don't want to tell me, I'm sure it's personal."

"No… I was going to tell you anyways, I just got caught up in my memories," Penny said, her earlier state of contentment replaced with one of anger, "We were passing through a city when Hecate showed up with a young empousa called Tammi, she told Kelli that she wanted her to train Tammi and then left." Penny sighed in frustration, "Tammi was… difficult, like most empousai she was born as an adult, but she didn't know how to control her powers or use the mist or anything. She started taking more of Kelli's time and attention, which I was a little frustrated about, but I dealt with it. She liked to tease me, mocking the fact that I was half-human, that I was a child, she harped on any mistakes I made and tried to make me look bad in front of Kelli." Penny grit her teeth slightly, "She loved to criticize the fact that I only killed 'bad' mortals saying that, 'Mortals are like sheep, there aren't any bad sheep,' or that I was tainted by the mortal blood within me. It was worse when Kelli started to agree with her on some things, she never said it but she gave me these disappointed looks when I didn't help them kill random mortals."

"You were right Penny, it's wrong to kill people for no reason," Bianca reassured, trying to help Penny through her story.

Penny sighed, "Yeah, I know, otherwise I'd hardly be the well-rounded monster you see before you!" She finished jokingly, provoking Bianca into slapping her arm.

"You aren't a monster Penny," At Penny's raised eyebrow she corrected herself, "I mean… you're only half of one?"

Penny laughed bitterly, "No, I'm a monster, I just happened to have been born to a mortal." Bianca frowned at this, making Penny explain her statement, "Being a monster isn't something you can be half of, descendants of monsters are monsters themselves, it's just a matter of whether or not we have immortal souls."

"Immortal souls?"

"Yeah, it just means that when you die your soul goes to Tartarus instead of the Underworld, it doesn't mean anything special because all souls are technically immortal." Penny thought for a moment before tacking on, "An immortal soul can only be separated from your body by an immortal metal, flesh, or magic of some kind, it's why monsters and gods can only be harmed by celestial bronze."

Bianca thought about this for a moment before asking, "Then what makes gods and monsters different?"

Penny's eyes sparkled a little as she answered, "Nothing."

Thunder rumbled in the distance, making Penny roll her eyes before she added, "Well, I guess degrees of power, but that's basically it."

Bianca's eyes widened as Penny told her this, "Then why are most monsters evil?"

"Evil?" Penny scoffed, "Hardly... monsters are generally more instinctual and for the most part don't feel remorse, but that doesn't make them evil just like how gods being more 'intelligent' doesn't make them good." Penny snorted, "Hades! You could probably make an argument that gods are actually more evil because they know the exact repercussions of their actions and do them anyways."

"What?! But the gods rule the world! They defend people from threats and stuff." Bianca claimed eloquently, her voice rising slightly.

"And when they're angry, jealous, or horny they kill mortals in droves when the King of the Gods and Percy's dad are angry storms rage across the earth! When the goddess of agriculture got angry she created a season in which nothing grows, leaving people to die of cold and starvation! When the guy who gave us a ride today gets angry he creates deserts by scorching the Earth with his sun." Penny ranted, before calming herself down, "Kelli is an old, old empousa, and even she hasn't killed more than a couple hundred thousand mortals across her whole life-span, the love goddess, the one who many believe to be harmless killed more than that by starting the Trojan War! Hades! Great... now I feel bad for using the god's name as a curse because he's one of the better ones! It's not his fault that a lot of his kids tend to be crazy, (Bianca felt a little insulted for some reason) Hades' only major fault is that he tends to hold grudges, but he favors those who assist him, heck, I bet he's only killed a couple hundred of people in the past few millennia, it's just most of those are demigods."

Bianca sat there silently as Penny wrapped up her tirade, she was about to speak when they heard a cabin door slam loudly before they heard… Zoë(?) arguing with someone.

They both shared a look, and shot to their feet, jogging towards where they heard Zoë's voice.

Neither of them noticed as invisible feet made tracks back towards the cabins.

A/N: So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I did write a little more about Penelope's past than I intended, hopefully it wasn't too wordy for all of you! I originally intended to have a POV switch to Percy, but I am going to hold that for next chapter. I apologize to any huge Percy fans, but I won't be writing too much from his point of view. (Three guesses as to who was listening to them talk! Actually, I'll just tell you: it's Percy!)

On another note, I hope you are willing to review the story. Any feedback helps, except for the trolling kind. If you have any suggestions for me I am always willing to hear them out!

Anyway, it's like 11 p.m. right now, and I just wanted to publish this chapter before tomorrow, so I'm going to be peacing out! But not before I leave you will another brilliant joke: "Why did Ares give Percy his shield? 'Cause he turned to the other side!"

... That one hurt, I'm sorry. I'm tired, and I started trying to think of a joke off the top of my head, guess I'll just stick to writing puns.