"At first I was impressed. It was kind of interesting, if you weren't listening to the words. But then after a while I just wanted to shoot her to shut her up." Seth rolled his eyes, as if to say 'little cousins'.

"Sounds like something Brian would do," Dawn replied. "My step-brother. He likes doing weird things like that. He filled a Super Soaker with Kool-aid once to see if it would look like blood when it hit you. He failed to realize that when I got my hands on it, I was a much better shot than he was."

Seth snorted. "That sounds... very very sticky." He shivered a little and kept driving. "And definitely shower-inducing."

"It was," Dawn replied. "By the time it was over, Brian and I both looked like we'd been through a massacre. But it was worth it, you know? It's really hard for Kevin and I to really connect with Brian, because we're so different from him."

"Yeah," Seth agreed. "I have a younger half-sister. She's a norm, but she also doesn't know. She thinks I just go off to camp every summer, some special camp with lots of outdoor activities and little to no cell phone reception."

"My stepdad and my stepbrother know," Dawn replied. "But only because it's impossible to keep two demigods a secret in one family. Besides, Dave is an ancient mythology professor at the local community college. It was really, really hard to get him to stop asking so many questions."

"Yeah, I don't think I'd trust that," Seth said, just a touch paranoid. "I mean, we can still be locked away as nutjobs."

"I think Dave was skeptical at first," Dawn admitted. "He didn't really believe me. He and my mom only got married a few years ago, around the time Kevin turned seven, so at that point, it was only me leaving every summer. But there was one morning, after he and my mom were married, where I told him to stay home an extra five minutes. Just five. He did, just to humor me, but I knew better. That five minutes kept him from being in an accident that killed four people. He was late to work, but he was alive."

"Wow. That's kinda handy, if you can use your visions like that," Seth said. "I mean, it must be seriously annoying, but still. Some good comes out of them, at least some of them."

"Sometimes," Dawn said. "I started having visions right around the time I turned thirteen. It's what prompted my mother to send me to camp the first time." Her fingers wandered over her lyre gently. "But after that day, Dave didn't doubt me anymore, and he didn't question it this year when my mom decided it was time for Kevin to come to camp."

Seth nodded. "Yeah. I started coming here when I was fourteen, haven't missed a year since. I don't really have any family out here, so." He shrugged. "I just kind of exist between summers, and Chiron sometimes lets me to stay for winter or some other odd times when I need a place to stay."

"I have my own place," Dawn said. "My own apartment. Totally warded against monsters, of course, but it's not the same as living with my mom. And Kevin is probably going to have to move in with me soon." She shrugged. "It's safer for everyone that way."

"Yeah, it is." Seth sighed softly. "It kinda sucks, though, too. Oh well. Now we know each other so we can always get together on the off months."

"You're always welcome to come by my apartment," Dawn offered. She grinned. "Complete with internet. No wireless, though, it's too dangerous for us to use wireless. Remind me to write down my address for you when we get back." Reaching over, Dawn fiddled with the radio a bit. She grinned when she managed to catch her favorite local station. "We're almost home."

"Good," Seth said, relief evident in his voice. "Don't get me wrong, this has been interesting and educational, but I think next time I'd rather stay here."

"If by 'interesting' you mean 'insane', then yeah, real interesting," Dawn replied. She stretched a bit. "My bed in my cabin has never seemed so wonderful, after these last few days. And the archery range." She sighed a bit. "Normal sounds so nice."

"I hear you there," Seth said with feeling. "I'm always glad to go back to camp, but I don't think I've ever had this much... excitement. Especially in such a short time period. Besides, being the hero is overrated. Heroes die young and horribly. I'd rather live a long life and go totally unremarked."

"I don't know, I kind of like doing what we do," Dawn admitted. "I think beig totally normal would be a bit boring. Killing regular monsters is kind of exciting." She shrugged a bit. "It could be much worse. Case and point: the Void."

"You can still fight the normal monsters without being a hero," Seth said with a shrug. "But taking on the Void definitely counts as hero status."

"Actually, I think Jason was the one who technically killed it," Dawn mused. "Struck the final blow and all that good stuff." And now that the crisis was over, she was able to think back on the incident, and she realized that her brother had very nearly gone nuts when the Void had attacked Nika. She would have to tease him about it later.

Seth shrugged. He hadn't done much to help kill it, so oh well.

"When we get back I'm going to sleep for about twelve hours."

"I like that plan," Dawn replied, nodding. "Hopefully, my brothers will let me sleep. I doubt they will."

"Brothers can be like that," Seth agreed. "Especially if yours are anywhere near as annoying as mine."

"I get to live with one of my brothers all the time," Dawn said. "Kevin is only thirteen, so he'll get to stay with our mom for a few more years, but once he's old enough, he's probably going to come and live with me."

Advantages and disadvantages," Seth said with a little shrug. "Then again, that's pretty much life."