Hazel knew that this wasn't something she was going to look forward to. Sure, camping was alright. And spending quality time with her boyfriend was another plus. But no where did she remember signing up for the pack of hellhounds. Or the giant half-man half-bull.

"Frank?" Hazel asked upon setting up their campgrounds, the sun beginning to fade back behind the hills.

"Hmm?" Frank responded, the boy looking over at her as she grinned.

He was either just over or exactly six foot tall. His body was buff and brutal looking (decorated with scars and whatnot). He had black hair which had grown out from the buzz cut he had when they first met at Camp Jupiter over a year ago. Yet his face kept childish features; he seemed generally chubby in the face along with large cheeks, big brown eyes, and younger bone structure.

"Did you remember the oars for the kayak?" She asked.

"I think Percy forgot to give them to me," He spoke in a weak voice as the petite girl raised an eyebrow.

"Okay. Or maybe I left them back at Camp Jupiter," He spoke as she laughed.

"It's okay. I'm sure we can make do with what we have. We're only going to be out here for a couple nights," She added as the boy looked up at her with an apologetic stare in his eyes.

"I can go pick some up if you'd like me to," He spoke up as she shook her head.

"It's quite alright, Frank. Let's just focus on camping," She spoke with a small giggle as the boy smiled widely and his cheeks were tinted a dusty pink shade.

"Okay," He replied.

The two went back to grabbing some much needed equipment for the next day. Sunscreen, swimsuits, and some snacks. The snacks ended up being a pack of teriyaki beef jerky and some bottles of water.

"I think that's everything," Hazel exhaled with a grin. Frank smiled back at the girl and grabbed her hand. Their fingers intertwined as she smiled, looking down at their hands.

Sure, it may seem weird, but she loved holding Frank's hand. It showed that no matter what color she was, he was still in love with her. She didn't have to pretend. It was her. And he wanted her.

A small yawn escaped the girl moments later as Frank weakly smiled, his cheeks a dusty shade of pink.

"You're sleepy, Hazel..." Frank breathed out as Hazel shrugged. It was slight, but Frank could still notice it.

"Come on, let's go lay down," Frank suggested as she drowsily nodded. He helped her into the tent, laying her down in her sleeping bag as he laid in his.

He opened up the lantern and killed the flame, making everything go dark except for the subtle glow of the campfire from outside that leaked through the tent's walls.

"Get some rest, Hazel. And we can do all the extravagant things that you would like to when we wake," He promised as she grinned widely, resting her head against his chest after shifting closer to him.

She was quickly asleep, dreaming of the days that would come to her in the future. She watched something big and dark emerge from the woods, staring down at her small being. Standing next to whatever this creature was, she looked like nothing. It had to be about seven to eight feet tall. Worst of all, the outline looked like a large man with thick bull horns aloft his head. One of them was missing the top half, but she didn't think much of it. His scent reeked, proving he hasn't showered in months. Maybe years. Maybe centuries. Then the man released a loud roar.

She snapped awake, hearing the distant roar. She was suddenly very aware that nothing she saw was a dream. She was just located somewhere else for a bit. Somewhere rather close by.

"Frank!" She squeaked urgently, yet in a hushed tone of voice. Slowly, Frank stirred awake and looked up at the panicked girl.

"What? What's wrong?" asked Frank, sitting up and instantly grabbing both of her hands. He looked down to see rubies, emeralds, and diamonds poking holes in the tent floor.

"Something's outside. Something big..." She whispered. Frank listened outside, but heard nothing. He still nodded, believing what she was saying.

"Okay... C'mon..." He whispered, unzipping the door to the tent open.

The fire was still burning in the fire pit, ashes falling gently due to the windless night. The air was humid and warm, making everything seem sticky. Frank's bow and quiver stocked with arrows were resting against a large tree stump.

He emerged from the tent, grabbing the weapon and ammunition before sneaking back into the tent with Hazel. The two of them crouched down at the entrance; Hazel turning around to turn off the lantern. They didn't want to attract so much attention.

After around five minutes of nothing, Frank looked over at the female.

"Are you sure that—"

He was silenced by another loud roar. Only it was so much closer this time. Hazel's eyes popped wide open as she looked over to Frank with concern. The roar sounded like it'd come from right outside their camp.

"Yeah..." She whispered as a response to his half-question.

The two peeked outside the tent again, catching a glimpse of the eight-foot half-man half-bull creature. Their eyes popped wide open at once as they watched the bull-man sit down at their campfire. Hazel looked to Frank, so many questions running through her head. But she only felt the need to ask one.

"What is that thing...?" She whispered softly, having no intentions on gaining the beast's attention.

"I... I think Percy's encountered it before... I think he mentioned it... The Minotaur," Frank whispered softly as the beast sniffed the air deeply, as though he caught a pleasant scent.

"Demigod..." The beast growled as Hazel's eyes widened, tightly grabbing onto Frank's hand and holding her breath. Frank laced their fingers together, his eyes locked on the beast.

"Pluto and Mars..." He added as Frank sucked in a jagged breath.

The beast began looking around for them as they remained quiet. Their hearts were racing as they looked at one another with concerned eyes.

"Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang..." The beast howled as the two looked over, the beast's big brown cow eye right between the gap that the two have been stalking the beast from. The two jumped up to their feet as the Minotaur grabbed the tent. He threw it to the side the same time that Hazel grabbed onto one of Frank's arrows and ripped a hole in the side of the tent that the two of them could escape through.

They got out of the tent just in time. The Minotaur threw the tent in a fit of rage, looking at the two of them as his eyes gained anger.

"Frank!" Hazel squeaked as the boy grabbed his bow, knocking an arrow and drawing the string. He released the arrow, watching it soar as the sharp tip buried itself into the Minotaur's soft eye. Hazel winced as Frank took this as the distraction they needed.

He kept firing at the beast until it let out an unnatural roar and turned to an ashy dust. Hazel grimaced and looked where the beast once stood.

"Next time you offer for us to go camping, remind me to ask what monsters live in the area," Frank commented as the smaller girl laughed and nodded.

"Okay," She breathed out with a laugh.

The two of them sat back at the fire, deciding to wait until morning. They were both way too shaken up and they were sitting very close to one another out of fear of what would emerge from the woods next. There was only about two hours until sunrise and the two of them were getting extremely anxious.

When the howling started up, Hazel quickly grabbed onto a small dagger, crafted from Imperial gold, that she'd packed along with her. Frank was fast to grab his bow and knock an arrow to the string. They both looked around them with alert, Hazel's eyes finally landing on a boy standing in the woods. A pack of hellhounds surrounded him.

Hazel's expression softened as she dropped her dagger and pushed Frank's bow downward so the arrow was no longer pointing at the shadow.

"Nico?" Hazel asked as the boy stepped into the light of their campfire.

Sure enough, there stood fourteen-year-old Nico di Angelo. He had his Stygian iron sword hanging from his belt and hellhounds dancing around his legs.

"Came to warn you about the Minotaur," He spoke with an amused smile, looking down and seeing the ash, "but I guess I showed up a bit late, huh?" He added with a small chuckle.

"Anyways, have a nice camping trip," Nico commented before walking back towards the woods.

The sun began rising above the horizon as Frank let out a deep breath.

They'd survived. And that was the most you could hope for as a demigod.