"Percy!" I rolled over, the stiff boards below me poking me awake. "Nico...?" I blinked, glancing up sleepily. The star-dotted sky above was fading slightly, but I was convinced it was still night.

It was weird. Nico always woke me, never the other way around, despite the fact that I woke pretty early usually.

But taking a closer look, I noticed the large purple bags under his eyes had grown darker. His eyes themselves were red-rimmed, and he coughed, emitting a rough, raw sound. "Percy!" His arms flailed wildly, and with a start, I noticed he was still asleep.

Nightmares.

I knelt blearily next to his sleeping bag, cradling him close. Cold wind circulated the deck of the ship, and he shivered. Making a decision, I yanked open hi sleeping bag and placed the opening of his next to the opening of mine, before crawling back in and wrapping my arms around him. Sniffling, he buried his face in my chest and quietened. I grinned sleepily and pulled him close, silently protecting him, against anything and everything.

"WE'RE HERE!" I jerked awake, the sun shining into my eyes. My breath came out in puffs as I shivered, hurriedly pulling on a jacket. Nico stood at the prow of the boat, gazing over at the small nearby town.

Nico grinned back at me as I sleepily fumbled with my bag, before staggering off the boat. Dressed in a pair of black jeans, and a long black coat, he looked like a miniature Sherlock Holmes. I smirked and took his hand, interlocking our fingers.

"Oh. My. Gods." Nico's eyes widened comically. I burst out laughing, putting down the cup. We'd stopped by the town to grab breakfast, and I'd found the best thing on the menu. It was giant, a marshmallow-filled chocolate heaven, topped with generous whipped cream, all for four dollars.

I loved Canada.

After the breakfast, we moved quickly, shadow-travelling to Ottawa. As we strode down the street, Nico leaning into me heavily. The scroll began vibrating, which I assumed meant we were close, and we carried on, ignoring the stares. Two streets down, we met our first monster.

Pale and redheaded, the scrawny schoolgirl didn't look like much, but I could feel her cold stare from a block away, roving us hungrily. Feeling in my pocket, I wrapped my fingers around the hilt of Riptide and tightened my grip on Nico, who was already shifting the scabbard of his Stygian iron sword. Quickly turning down the side of an alley, we waited carefully. Soon enough, she came, sneaking into the alley.

Fangs protruded from her gums, and she sneered at us, yet... I couldn't help but feel a pull. Almost like she was attracting me. Beside me, Nico didn't seem affected at all, but I could feel my head swimming. Her face seemed to shine, and the crimson hair that flowed down her back was glowing. With a perfectly white grin, she wiggled her long, slim fingers at me, and I gulped.

Wait. What was this- With a snarl, she lunged forward, and the spell dropped, revealing her true form.

Spinning my sword at the last moment, I watched as she impaled herself on the blade, the light in her eyes fading.

"Well. That was interesting." I glanced at Nico, who was staring down at her with horrified fascination. "We'd better go. There are bound to be more." Nodding, he set off after me, and I glanced out onto the street before heading down the pavement. The scroll spun in my hand for a moment before settling, and I immediately turned and walked towards the house it pointed to.

"Um, yes, I'm doing a survey, I'd like to know how many...children you have?" I shifted awkwardly, looking the lady straight in the eye. She shook her head and frowned. "I don't have any. Will that be all?" Without waiting for a reply, she closed the door, and I sighed. Nico snickered behind me and I mock-glared at him. "Why don't we check the alley?"

Turns out Nico was right. I strode down the dank alley to the dustbins, which were clean enough, considering they were trash holders. A warning growl came from behind the trash can, and a small, scrawny boy, hair a shock of tussled black came hurtling out, screaming war cries at us and waving a large shard of metal. A huge dog trotted along behind him, pure black muscle.

The boy skidded to a stop in front of us, lunging at me with the tin shard. I sidestepped, quickly dropping my weapon and kneeling on the ground. "We mean no harm! We just want to help!" He was about eight, I thought, with huge green eyes, dressed in a tattered coat. He backed away slowly, holding tightly onto the fraying leather collar of the huge Labrador, and glared at us. "Who're you?"

"We're like you. We fight the monsters too. We can protect you." The boy blinked for a moment, cocking his head as if listening to something. A moment later, he nodded and hugged his dog around the neck. "Alright!" I smiled, taking his hand. He grinned, before swinging onto the dog, who was the size of a tiny pony.

As we walked out of the motel, Levi, the little boy grinned, revelling in his new clothes and fresh shower-smell. It was good that Nico had apparently a gigantic stash of mortal money with him, more than enough to pay for a room with a shower and a new outfit. Luckily, the room also had a TV, so we'd managed to show Levi the orientation tape. I wasn't sure how much of it he'd got, but he seemed pretty okay with it, so I wasn't complaining.

The Lab, who I found out didn't actually have a name other than Dog, had also had a shower and a new collar, so they were both pretty happy about that. The only other problem was that he was eight, meaning he'd have to wait till he was thirteen to be claimed, which worried me, but I couldn't do anything about it now, so I pushed the thought to the back of my mind. Deal with it later.

As the train sped back to the beach we'd left the boat on, I took out the scroll again. It hummed for a second before turning blank. A moment later, new coordinates seemed to swirl across the page, and I smiled.

England, Lake District.