Chaos filled the house as everyone rushed to help Pip pack.

Voices shouted over one another. People dropped boxes, glass shattering inside. Pip yelled at them because she hadn't wanted to bring that anyway, and now they'd ruined it until she got a chance to fix it. Mai cried. Then pulled herself together to whip everyone into shape, before crying again.

It was exhausting.

Pip slipped away from the chaos, leaving the shouting voices behind as they argued about how to best pack and what the essentials were. Pip really didn't care much, only that she had her weapons. Everything else was a nonessential, in her mind.

She stepped outside, heat prickling across the back of her neck as she stepped out of the greenhouse and into the training arena she'd spent much of her childhood. While other kids played with swingsets and trampolines or soccer balls, she'd spent her time out in the sand pit, learning to use a sword. And other weapons too, of course, though Athena had always been a bit sad she hadn't picked up on the spear. It was her mother's signature weapon, but what did they expect, giving her a name like Phillipa Saber Carter? She was destined for the blade.

Sand shifted around her, and without looking, she knew Athena had followed her outside.

Pip clucked her tongue, a smile on her face as she looked back at her mom. "Abandoning Mum to the chaos? Shame on you."

Athena chuckled goodnaturedly and shook her head. "Oh, they'll realize they're all being ridiculous soon enough. I saw you put your things in the car earlier."

"I've been packed for weeks," Pip admitted. She shifted in place, letting the warm sand seep over her toes, grounding her in place. Her eyes shuddered closed, leaving her in silence for a moment amid memories. Leaving this place… it was so odd.

She'd packed weeks ago, too excited to sleep since graduating highschool, waiting for the day to come that she could pack everything up and leave for the hero training program. Now that the day had arrived, a pit had formed in her heart. Despite the fact that she hadn't left yet, she felt as though a piece of her soul had been ripped out and planted in the sand at her feet. She could always come home. This place would always exist, but it wouldn't be the same anymore, would it?

Another shout came from inside, and Pip opened her eyes. "I should head back in there before they pack up my entire room and try and fit it in the car."

Before she could move, Athena laid a hand on her shoulder, holding her in place. "Leave them be," she said, staring away from the house. "They just don't know what to do with you not being around. They'll calm down before we leave."

"Okay." She settled back into place. Sweat beaded across her back, sweltering heat washing across the plains. The early summer rains had ended a week back, leaving them with nothing to tide off the rising temperatures. The scent of dried grass and wilting flowers hung strong in the air, mixed with the fumes of gas powered cars. She sucked in a deep breath. It would be a while before she smelled home again.

Opening her eyes again, she looked up at Athena. Her brown hair had taken on a reddish tinge from the sun. This summer had been particularly bad for metafauna so far, and Athena had spent a lot of time away from the house and out of the city, dealing with the animals before they could reach any major city and cause too much damage.

"Is it weird to feel like everything is changing?" Pip asked, the words catching in her throat before she could ask the part that really worried her. "Because it kinda feels like it is, and I might regret it?"

"Everything is changing," Athena said. Her eyes twinkled, the emotions there conflicted, sadness and pride fighting each other as she smiled. "But you won't regret it."

The corners of her eyes burned. Pip blinked rapidly, deciding she'd spent too much time in the heat and that was definitely why her eyes were burning, not tears. She laughed, rattling the cobwebs building in her chest, and took a step back.

"It's quiet in there," she said, nodding toward the house. "Think they've killed each other and the victor is looting my room?"

"Hold on." Athena stopped Pip before she could escape, reaching deep into the pockets of her baggy jeans. She pulled something out, hidden from view as she thumbed it carefully. She opened up her hand, revealing a pebble made of glass. A misshapen marble, the colors of glass winding into each other in a rainbow spiral. Pip recognized it immediately. "This was the first thing I ever remember you making with your power." She pressed it into Pip's hand, mildly warm from her touch. "I've held onto it since you were little. The next few months are going to be hard; I want you to have something to remember just how far you've come."

Stolen novel; please report.

"That's great…" Pip trailed off, staring at the smushed marble for a moment before closing her hand around it and looking up at her mom. "But do you really expect me to take a marble with me to college?"

Athena held out her hand "If you don't want it, give it back."

Pip turned away, stuffing the piece of glass into her pocket. "No. It could be a useful weapon."

"Or a paper weight," Athena said. "Bottle opener?"

Rolling her eyes, Pip began walking toward the house. "Thanks, Mom."

"Oh, and I also got you a sword," Athena added, making Pip stop in her tracks, nearly losing her footing as she whipped around to look at her mom again. "Figured I can't let you go off to college without one."

*****

Pip sat in the middle row of the van, sheathed sword laid over her knees, backpack pressed against her knees by the back of Mai's seat, her youngest sister squished in between her and Theo.

The other three already fought in the back, somehow all fitting with Pip's things, though their rear window was almost entirely blocked. So much for safe driving.

"You know," Pip began, only to be jabbed in the lungs by one of Dyiona's bony elbows. The girl pulled back, apologizing as Pip began again. "It's not too late to just take the Unity teleporter."

"No," Mai said, her word final. "We're taking you there as a family. One last family road trip before everyone goes off to training or college or gets married…" She started sniffing again, and Pip buried her head in her hands in defeat. She hadn't meant to make Mum cry.

It probably wouldn't be helpful either to remind her of what had happened on the last road trip they'd attempted, and why they didn't do this.

"Mum!" Amalia's voice nearly shattered Pip's eardrums as it shouted up from the backseat. "Emelios is touching me! Make him stop touching me."

Pip groaned, head thunking against the window. Why hadn't she just taken Florence up on his offer to spend the summer up there and train?

The car squealed as Athena finally got in, starting it up and pulling carefully out of their parking lot, locking the gate behind them. Before she pulled out onto the street, she looked back and tapped on the sword. With a sigh, Pip put it away, shoving it between the passenger seat and the middle console to be safe.

Pip was bored by the time they reached the highway. And they still had, what, 22 hours to go?

They could have at least taken the train. Then they'd get to New York a lot faster, and wouldn't be stuck driving across miles of empty Kansas plains, and whatever else there was between Colorado and New York.

Her phone vibrated in her lap. She pulled it out, surprised at the message from Florence.

Florence: Theo told me you just left??? pushing it a little close there, aren't you?

Pip dropped her phone, glaring across the row at Theo. "Stop texting my friend!"

Theo pulled back, wrenching his phone out of sight like Pip might try to snatch it from him. "What are you talking about?"

Against her will, her eyelid began to twitch. If he was going to lie about it, why not at least try and be convincing? "You texted Florence that we're on the road."

"And that's bad, why?"

"Because I should be the one to tell him," Pip said. She settled back into her seat, opening up her phone to respond to Florence while her siblings began to rib Theo for talking to him.

Pip: i thought you said you were done talking to theo

Florence: he messaged me !!

She stared down at the text, barely able to keep from rolling her eyes as she typed out half a dozen emojis of variance annoyance. She'd tried to get the two to stop talking for months. She wasn't jealous, it was just plain annoying. Florence was her friend, why did her brother have to talk to him all the time?

Theo would just get his feelings hurt.

Florence: please tell me you're speeding or something

Florence: you're cutting it kinda close

Pip leaned forward, peering between the two front seats to look at the dashboard. The speedometer sat neatly at 70MPH. Not speeding.

Sometimes, Pip wondered how Athena was Thalia's child.

Pip: we won't be late. my moms know how important this is

She managed to think that way, believing they would somehow make it to New York in time for orientation, until the behemoth of a beaver stepped in front of their car, carrying an entire tree in its mouth.

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