Demigods in the Lost Cities

Demigods in the Lost Cities- By: Lelia M. Woods (Pen Name) @Fluffyneondinosaur (Account Name) and @Neela Goldflower
= Part One: Chapters One-Fifteen =
== Chapter One ==
=== Sophie’s POV ===
Sophie was having a normal day. She was sitting under Calla’s Panakes tree, waiting for her friends to show up at her house. They had planned a sleepover, well more like Biana had. Edaline had told Sophie to “be a normal teenager for once” and Grady had jumped in and demanded that there be no “Boys” involved. Sophie had quite enough of that conversation and told them that she could have a sleepover with her friends. Edaline thought that it was a wonderful idea. When Grady opened his mouth to protest she cut him off with “The verminion escaped again”. And so, Sophie was sitting under this tree wondering if her friends were ever going to show up.
Biana was the first to arrive. She was dressed in a fancy, sparkly dress with tons of ruffles. Too many ruffles for Sophie’s liking. At least she didn’t have to wear that dress. “All that for one night Biana?” Sophie asked, gesturing to the five bags that were at Biana’s feet. “Of course!” “I was planning to bring more but Fitz said that it was way too much.” 
“Because it is,” said a crisp voice from behind Sophie. Fitz stepped out of the shadows glaring at Biana. “Mom and Dad told you to wait for me.” “Did they?” Biana asked innocently. Edaline interrupted their glarefest by coming over. “Come inside, it’s getting dark.” It really was getting dark, so Sophie led her friends inside. Edaline was waiting for them by the door, “What do you want to eat?”
“Mallowmelt!” Biana said. “Custard Bursts.” said Fitz. “I want Butterblasts.” Sophie said. Edaline raised an eyebrow, “Well if you can’t decide then-” “If you’re talking about snacks, then I vote for Mallowmelt.” Grady called from upstairs. “Well, majority rules!” said Edaline. Biana smirked at Fitz and Sophie. They both scowled. Just then the doorbell rang. “Looks like the rest of your friends are here Sophie!” said Edaline smiling, but there was something off about it. It seemed almost... guilty. Frowning, Sophie went to open the door. Then she saw what was wrong. Sure, her friends were there, but the council was there too. So was the Collective.
=== Percy’s POV ===
Percy was having a rotten day. First he loses in the chariot races, and has to watch Laurel and Victoria celebrate. Even worse, they were being all braggy about it. Guess they get it from their mother, the goddess of victory. He also has to wash the dishes. And they have to clean the dishes with Lava. Couldn’t things be easy for once? On top of that, a monster had been prowling the borders of the camp, and had finally eaten one of their pegasi. Talk about a rotten day. Annabeth said that she would help wash the dishes, but Percy wasn’t so sure about that. There was always the chance that she would suddenly say that It was his punishment, and that he earned it for not cleaning his cabin. 
Percy slowly walked towards the kitchen to see just how many dishes he would have to wash after dinner.
As he walked, he saw Travis and Connor jumping out of the kitchen window with sneaky grins on their faces. “Uh Oh” thought Percy, and marched forward towards the kitchen. He was almost there when Annabeth caught up to him. 
“Where’re you going?” “Kitchen.” “Didn’t I just see Travis and Connor jumping out of the window?” “You did.” “Then wait!” “Why?” Annabeth stepped in front of him to stop him from going any further. “You don’t know what they did in there!” “That’s why I need to check it out!” Percy darted around Annabeth and sprinted towards the kitchen. Annabeth followed close behind. The second he set foot into the kitchen, an entire bucket of toilet water splashed down on him. Annabeth stared at Percy in surprise, then burst out laughing. Percy scowled and lifted all the water off the ground and out of his clothes. Then he splashed it on Annabeth. “Hey!” Annabeth protested. “You deserve it.” Percy said. Suddenly, Chiron trotted into the kitchen looking worried. “You two, come with me.” “Now.”
It was unusual to see Chiron looking so worried, so they followed him into the Big House. Mr. D was nowhere to be seen. “This is a grave matter.” he said. 
“Uh, you still haven’t told us what’s wrong.” said Percy. 
Annabeth elbowed him. “Monsters, Seaweed Brain, what else would it be?” 
Percy opened his mouth to retort but Chiron interrupted. “Annabeth is correct I am afraid, there have been many monster sightings in Qaanaaq.” 
Percy looked puzzled, but Annabeth’s eyes widened. “The northernmost city in Greenland?” she asked. 
Chiron nodded. “Yes Annabeth. You, Percy and a hero of your choosing will travel to Greenland to subdue them. Your quest begins at dawn.”
== Chapter Two ==
=== Sophie’s POV (Extra) ===
"What?!" Sophie said. "What is the collective doing here?!"
"May we come in Miss Foster?" Mr. Forkle asked.
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
“Qaanaaq is so far away, and so far north that it’s freezing, even during June. The average temperature there during the summer is between 43°F and 32°F, so we should bring- Percy are you even listening?!” 
Percy and Annabeth were walking back to the Dining Pavilion, and Annabeth was using that time to do some sensible planning. Percy on the other hand was playing with some water and not paying any attention to her. “Wait what?” Percy asked. “You're supposed to be listening Seaweed Brain!” “Fine, whatever, I was just thinking about who else we should bring on our quest.” Annabeth’s annoyance melted away and was replaced by curiosity. “Who?” she asked. “I’m still figuring that part out.” Annabeth scowled, then gazed thoughtfully into the distance. “Maybe we should bring Nico,” she suggested. “He’ll be able to shadow travel us there so we don’t have to drag ourselves through the icy snow. It’ll be a lot quicker.” “Sure.” said Percy, who had already lost interest in the conversation and was doing water tricks again. “Say Yes, or No, Seaweed Brain!” “Ok, ok, Yes!”. “Then let’s go ask Nico if he is willing to come to come.” 
“Nico di Angelo!” Percy hollered at the top of his lungs as he sprinted into the Hades cabin. Annabeth winced. “Jeez, you didn’t have to yell that loud, I’m right here.” a voice said from one of the shadowy corners of the room. Annabeth stepped into the cabin and immediately felt like she had walked into a vampire’s lair. Percy seemed to be having similar thoughts. “Sorry.” he didn’t seem like he meant it. “Dude this place is creepy, especially those coffin beds.” Nico scowled, but he didn’t argue. “We were assigned a quest,” Annabeth started. “And you’re coming with us.” finished Percy. “No, we were wondering if you would come with us.” said Annabeth glaring at Percy. “A quest for what?” Nico asked cautiously. “Monsters attacked this place in Greenland, that I can’t pronounce the name of by the way, and- “ “Qaanaaq?” Nico interrupted. “How did you know?” Annabeth asked in surprise. 
“I’ve... been sensing lots of deaths there.” “Deaths?” questioned Annabeth. “Yes.” “So are you coming?” Percy asked before Annabeth could say anything else. “Uh, duh” Nico answered. “There’s no way that I’m going to let a bunch of innocent people die.” That settled it. They were going on the quest.
Annabeth was quickly decided to be the quest’s leader, so the next day she walked towards Rachel’s cave to get their prophecy. She was already dreading what she was going to hear. “Rachel.” Annabeth called as she slipped into the cave. “I’m here,” Rachel answered. “I’m assuming that you didn’t come for a-” Rachel suddenly doubled over, and when she stood up, her eyes were glowing green. She opened her mouth to speak and… to be continued.
=== Lord Hunkyhair/Keefe’s POV ===
In Keefe’s thoughts… “We were getting ready to leap to Havenfield when the council and the weird collective in their crazy disguises showed up.” “They could really ditch those disguises.” “They’re super ugly.” “Almost as ugly as Bangs Boy’s stupid bangs.” “Almost.” “Mr. Forkle said that we had to come with them to Havenfield because of “A grave matter”. “Wonder how terrible it’s going to be.” “If it includes my mom I’m never going to forgive myself.” Mr. Forkle rang the doorbell. Sophie opened the door, frowning. “What?!” “What’s the collective doing here?” she said. “May we come in Miss Foster?” Mr. Forkle asked. “Uhh, Yes?” 
“This is a grave matter,” he started. “You already told us that.” said Keefe. “Please do not interrupt me Mr. Sencen.” He shrugged, earning a few chuckles from his friends and Edaline, and a withering glare from Grady. “We must proceed with the utmost caution-” Keefe cut in with, “Just get to the point already.” That got him several sighs from the adults and a disapproving look from Oralie. “Ok,” said Blur. “Here’s the straight to the point version.” “The Neverseen is attacking near Fintan’s prison, and there have been some human casualties already.” 
Keefe looked horrified, as did everybody else in the room. “The Neverseen, huh,” he thought. “There’s no way that my mom isn’t involved in this.” Sophie looked at Keefe with concern. “Keefe, there’s no guarantee that your mom is-” “Relax Foster, I’m fine.” “We all know that if there is the Neverseen then Mommy Dearest is behind at least some of it.” Sophie didn’t seem to agree, but before she could say anything else, Keefe said “Can we get back to figuring out a way to stop them?”. “Right,” said Blur. “So, the Neverseen are attacking near Fintan’s prison, but in the Forbidden Cities.” “Humans call it… Greenland.” ‘They are attacking the small city of Qaanaaq.”
== Chapter Three ==
=== Biana’s POV ===
“Hold on just a sec.” Biana said, swishing her elegant, turquoise dress. “You said they’re attacking near Fintan’s prison right?”
“That is correct.” Mr. Forkle said.
“So... are they trying to free Fintan?” Biana asked. “One can assume.” 
“Then we have to stop them, what are we waiting for?!” she said.
“We must have a plan before-” Mr.Forkle began, but Sophie wasn’t in the mood to wait any longer. “People are dying!” she cried. “How can you sit around and plan in a time like this?!” “We have to go immediately.” “I agree with Sophie.” Fitz and Keefe said at the same time. 
“Our votes are unanimous.” Biana said, speaking for all her friends. “Our’s are too,” said Councillor Emery. “We say that you have a plan for at least a day before you foolishly rush headfirst into a dangerous situation.” “I mean, you can’t say that you’ve never done the same.” said Dex. “The power of spontaneity is important.” added Biana. “It’s worked out for us quite a few times.” “We’re going right now.” finished Fitz. Keefe nodded in agreement. Mr. Forkle muttered something under his breath starting with “You kids”, and said “You must promise me that you will take no unnecessary risks”. “We promise.” said Biana, speaking for all of her friends. 
The adults didn’t look happy but they didn’t argue as everyone got ready to leave. Biana borrowed a pair of Sophie’s clothes to wear, since sparkly, fancy clothes with jewels wouldn't be appropriate to fight the Neverseen. By the time they were all ready, the council had left and Mr. Forkle was waiting for them with a temporary leaping crystal and a very resigned expression on his face. He held the crystal up to the light and everyone stepped through. They materialized on a snow covered hill that was blanketed in thick, white, smoke. The smoke had all of them hacking and coughing. Biana glanced up, trying to see if human pollution was really that bad, when Sophie gasped.
“This isn’t pollution.” she said. “Almost nobody lives up here.” “This is smoke from fire.” “That fire.” Sophie pointed into the distance and Biana squinted to look at it. Some flames were crackling and flickering, but there seemed to be something strange about them. Biana clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized what was wrong. 
“The entire town is on fire.” breathed Dex from beside her. “At least it looks abandoned.” said Fitz. “Guys, the fire’s green!” said Biana. “It doesn’t look like it’s spreading quickly, but it’s obviously very dangerous if it caused an entire town to be abandoned.” Tam commented. “I’m going down there,” announced Sophie. “We need to see if there’s still anyone left in the buildings.” “NO.” snapped Mr. Forkle. “Your own safety comes first.” “You promised me that you wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks, and I’m going to hold you to that promise.” 
Sophie scowled, her eyes sweeping across the valley. Suddenly her eyes widened and she swiftly darted around Mr. Forkle, sprinting down the hill. Everyone ran after her. Linh suddenly stumbled to a stop looking horrified. Sophie stopped running and glanced back looking fearful. Then she saw it. The terrible sight that made everyone stop. The blood. Brilliant red blood on the crisp white snow. There was tons of it. So. Much. Puddles of blood were clearly visible despite the fact that they were looking at it through a haze of smoke. That’s when the flashbacks hit. And when they hit, they hit hard. 
A knife. Shattered glass. A broken mirror. -She was feeling nauseous and dizzy.- An evil smile. -She tried to keep herself calm.- And blood. Too. Much. Blood. Her scars. Biana let out a scream of agony and collapsed onto the ground, the world spinning in front of her eyes. The last thing she heard was a soft whisper of “It’s happened.”
=== Nico’s POV ===
He wasn’t supposed to follow Annabeth. He should have known better. He should have waited at the Big House like Percy. But he couldn’t help himself. His curiosity had finally gotten the better of him. Nico crept towards the entrance of the cave and watched as Annabeth called for Rachel. She called back, her voice faint saying “I’m here.” She began to say something else Rachel doubled over. When she stood up, her eyes were glowing green with the Spirit of Delphi. She opened her mouth and hissed in an eerily disembodied voice;
“One haunted soul whom you shall seek,
The son of death will shortly reap,
Unexpected souls shall be seen,
Stalked by a few unexpected creeps.
Your toll is currently, slowly beginning,
You’ll be rolled right back to the ending.”
“-cup of tea?” Rachel continued what she had been saying before, like she hadn't just issued a life changing prophecy. Her eyes were back to normal. 
“Rachel, you just issued a prophecy.” Annabeth said. “I did?” she asked in surprise. “You really don’t remember?” “No.” answered Rachel, confused. Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, probably the prophecy, but Nico didn’t stick around to listen. He ran away, back to the big house, where Percy was waiting. “Where’ve you been?” he asked. “I turned away for half a second and you weren’t there.” “I, uh, went to drink some water.” Nico answered. Percy shrugged and began playing with some water. Nico immediately started thinking about the prophecy. The line that scared him the most was the second one, “The son of death will shortly reap”. The son of death was him, he was sure of that. The question was, who was he going to reap?
Annabeth came back just then and told them that it was time to leave. They walked to the top of Half-Blood Hill and looked down at the currently peaceful valley. Then Nico pulled them into the shadow of the tree, and whisked them away on their quest.
== Chapter Four ==
=== Fitz’s POV (Extra) ===
Fitz was pacing outside the Healing Center. They had come back to the Lost Cities after Biana had collapsed. He could barely believe what he had just seen. An entire town on fire, smoke filling the air. And the fire was green. Green fire had never been heard of before. And Biana. Her scars seemed to have started bleeding the second she collapsed. The Neverseen must have had something to do with this. Vespera’s cruel voice rang through his head “The vanisher will never be the same”. Just then, Mr. Forkle walked out the door of the Healing Center. “Mr. Vacker please, your sister will be alright.” Fitz didn’t trust himself to not snap at him so he just nodded. Mr. Forkle pulled out his pathfinder and leapt away. The second he was gone, Fitz began pacing again. He couldn’t stand it any longer. He turned to go inside the Healing Center just as a loud clang echoed from inside the room. 
Fitz rushed inside and was met with a terrible sight. Elwin was unconscious on the floor, his forehead covered in blood, and Biana was… nowhere to be seen.
=== Sophie’s POV ===
Sophie tried to concentrate as Dex explained what they had just seen to their parents, but it was hard. Biana was in the Healing Center, bleeding, and Fitz had refused to come with them. He said that he wanted to make sure Biana was going to be alright. But- “Sophie!” Dex called. “Are you even listening?!” “Sorry, it’s just a lot to process.” Dex sighed. “We need to find a way to put out the fires.” “We- wait, fires?” “Plural?” Dex swallowed, “Yes, the fire spread into a few nearby towns.” “That makes it even more important to put them out as fast as possible.” Dread dawned on Sophie’s face as she realized what that meant. “You need a sample of the fire.” “It is, unfortunately, the only way to put out these fires.” Lord Cassius said smoothly. Keefe glared at him. “Nobody asked.”
“Anyway,” said Dex. “ We need someone to bottle some of the flames for us.” “It’s too dangerous,” said Grady. “You don’t even know what kind of jar you need to bottle those flames.” “In fact, nobody’s ever seen, or even heard of, green flames before.” “That’s why we need to figure out a way to put them out!” Dex exclaimed, clapping a hand to his forehead. “Before you do anything, you should update the council on this.” Alden said, pulling out his imparter. 
The council demanded they come to Eternalia to confer about what they should do next. It made Sophie want to scream and fling things. They didn’t have time to plan. They needed to act quickly, and they could still be safe while doing that, right? When she’d told Mr. Forkle that, he said “Miss Foster, we must take necessary precautions to stay safe.” “Proceed with caution,” she thought. “They always say that.”
They leapt to Eternalia and found the councillors waiting for them. Just as Councillor Emery opened his mouth to speak, Fitz leapt into the clearing. He was gasping for breath and when he looked up, his eyes were full of fear. There was a sticky red liquid on his hand- . Wait. No. It was blood. 
“Biana’s gone.” “What do you mean gone?!'' demanded Tam and Dex at the same time. “I mean, that the Neverseen broke into the Healing Center and took her, leaving the place in a mess, Elwin unconscious covered in blood. “Is he alright?” asked Edaline. “Livvy’s there treating his wounds.” answered Fitz, his voice shaking with anger and grief. Alden and Della were as white as snow by now, and the councillors looked extremely worried. “Vespera did something to her.” Sophie said, trembling. “When we were in Nightfall, she said “The vanisher will never be the same”, so- ” 
“And why, have we heard nothing of this?” Councillor Emery interrupted. 
“You guys had just stopped trying to arrest us, so we didn’t trust you much.” answered Keefe. 
“How are we going to get my daughter back?” asked Della, her voice quivering. 
“We’ll find a way, we always do.” said Keefe, confidently. 
Just then, Juline came running into the clearing. 
“Mom, what’re you doing here?” asked Dex. “The fires are spreading, quickly.”
=== Percy’s POV ===
The second they arrived on top of that hill, Percy knew that they were in trouble. The entire place was filled with smoke, and the entire town was burning. There was so much fire, Greek fire, to be exact. “Monsters were here.” said Nico, obviously thinking the same thing as him. “They were here and they still might be here.” said Annabeth. “No splitting up, we’ll be safer that way.” “But Annabeth, we could search- ” “And die, yeah.” “Can either of you see through this smoke?” “Um… no.” Nico answered. “How about you Seaweed Brain, can you see through the smoke?” “No.” Percy grumbled, struggling to see Annabeth even though she was only a few feet away. 
“Won’t monsters be able to sneak up on us?” asked Nico. “I mean, two children of the Big Three and a child of Athena are sure to attract some monsters.” “Yes, that makes it imperative that we stay together to fight.” “I don’t even know what that means.” Percy muttered under his breath. ‘It means very important Seaweed Brain.” “Let’s get down this hill and see if we can stop the fire from spreading.”
In Percy’s thoughts; “If we had stopped the fire from spreading, that would have been nice. And easy. Too easy. But of course, life is never easy, at least not for me. So we didn’t have to worry about that. However, we did have to worry about life being too hard. Because it is. Always.”
Percy had tripped and stumbled at least ten times by the time they had gotten to the center of town. Or, perhaps he should say, what used to be the center of town. It was currently in an inferno, and was quickly turning into ashes. “No one could have survived that blaze.” said Annabeth, staring at the flames. “So, should we- “ Nico was cut off by a low growl from behind them. The three of them froze, and ever so slowly, turned around. 
A huge monster, the size of a truck, cast a shadow over them. “It looks like part lion, part bear, part scorpion, and a million other animals combined” said Nico in a hushed tone. “Ok” thought Percy, “Maybe not a million animals but at least another twenty”. “What is it?” Nico asked. “I… don’t know.” said Annabeth. “But we can take it.” “Percy, go for the stinger at the back, Nico, keep its claws busy, I’ll take the head.”
Percy started “Ok, on my mark,- “ Annabeth interrupted “No!” “On my mark, ready, set, go!” Percy dove for the stinger, and struggled to chop it off. He’d love to tell you that it was easy, and that he was having the time of his life, but in reality, it was hard. He could barely look at anything else without getting sliced into the latest version of Demigod Chips with blood salsa. Suddenly, just as he was starting to get tired, the monster froze, and started disintegrating. Annabeth and Nico stepped out from in front of it, Annabeth wiping monster slime off her dagger. “We did it.” Nico said, yawning. “Now all we have to do is get ba- “ Nico collapsed onto the ground. “Shadow traveling took too much out of him.” commented Annabeth, turning to stare at the burning town. “We aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon.” Percy looked around. “Should we- Annabeth?” Annabeth was staring at the top of a hill, the hill that they had arrived on, her eyes wide. Percy followed her gaze and gasped. Fourteen figures stood at the top of the hill, watching both of them. They were dressed in cloaks and capes, draped with jewels, and they looked shocked.
=== Mystery POV (Extra) ===
They told her that she could help them. They told her that she would be doing good for the world. They told her she would be safe. But was she any of those things? Did she really believe them? What was she doing here?
== Chapter Five ==
=== Biana’s POV ===
When Biana woke up, she barely remembered anything. She had been in the Healing Center, with her wounds. Then… people in black cloaks slipped through the walls, how did they do that? She was sure they had a name, but she couldn’t remember it. As Biana slowly became more conscious, she remembered more. She must have been kidnapped, and her kidnappers were… the Neverseen? She had to get back home. When Biana struggled to stand up, she realized that she was tied up, blindfolded, and left on the ground. She wondered why there wasn’t anything tied around her mouth, until she felt a piece of cloth on the ground. It must have fallen off. Whoever tied it must have been in a hurry. 
Biana needed to get the blindfold off first, so she could see a way to untie, or cut, the ropes. She dragged her head against the ground until the blindfold fell off. Then she looked around the room. It was a cell, with metal bars. If anyone came into the room, they would immediately see her. That’s not the part Biana was most interested in though. What she was interested in was a shattered pane of glass, a few feet away from her cell. “One of those sharp pieces of glass would really help to cut the rope,” she thought. “But I can’t reach with my hands tied, so I have to cut this rope first. 
Biana rolled over to the only wall and propped herself up. Her head was spinning, and her heart, pounding. She took several deep breaths and looked around again. This time, from a different position, she saw a rusty pipe. She scooted over to it and managed to grab it with one of her hands. It took her ages, but she finally got it into a position where she could use it to cut the rope. She took a deep breath, and started sawing. Her progress was slow. It had been at least an hour by the time she cut through the first knot. “Only one more to go!” she thought, trying to stay positive But it was hard, especially with her wounds feeling like millions of needles had stabbed them. 
Finally, she cut through the second knot. “Yes!” she cheered in her mind, but in real life, stayed as quiet as could be. She crawled over to the shattered glass and reached out and had just grabbed the sharpest, biggest piece, when she heard footsteps heading down the hallway. Coming towards her. They were going to find her. Biana began cutting the rope on her legs. “They’re almost here.” she thought, panicked. 
She cut as fast as she could and finally got the rope loose enough to slip off. She did exactly that, and then tossed the ropes, blindfold, and gag into a dark corner. Then she slumped onto the ground next to it, holding the longest rope in her hands. The person walked in, and pulled out a key. They slipped it into the lock on Biana’s cell and opened it with a click. They started to walk over to her, when she pounced onto them and shoved them into the wall. It knocked them unconscious, but it took so much energy out of Biana that she could barely stand now. She was bleeding too. She stumbled over to the person and shoved their hood up. Alvar. 
She sucked in a breath and began to search through his pockets. “I’m probably underground,” she thought. “So a normal pathfinder won’t work, but…” She smiled as she held up a small jar full of shimmery dark and white light. Light from Lucilliant. Quintessence. It could leap someone underground, or above ground. Biana fumbled around in the other pockets, but found nothing except a small Magsidian pendant. She held up the pendant to the light and stepped into the beam, concentrating as hard as she could.
She appeared in Eternalia, and immediately collapsed. The ground seemed to be swaying and she was seeing stars. The leap had been long and cold, and it felt like she was being shredded by darkness. The last thing she heard before she slipped into the all consuming darkness, was a faint voice murmur “Unbelievable, she’s escaped.”.
=== Nico’s POV ===
Nico was exhausted. Shadow travel took tons of energy out of him. After fighting that monster, he didn’t have any energy left. So he collapsed. He was semi conscious when he collapsed though, so he heard a few things. Voices swam through his head as he strained to stay awake and listen. “took a lot…” “anytime soon…” “Annabeth?” Suddenly, the ice cold snow jolted him awake. 
Nico sat up, and asked “What’s going on?” Annabeth and Percy exchanged a glance. Then Annabeth said “We had to come in here.” Nico looked around, and realized that he was in a cave. “Why did we have to come here?” “Some random people were watching us.” answered Percy. “We didn’t want them to catch us and demand answers, so we used a bit of flaming wreckage and snow to make it look like a careless accident. Added Annabeth. “Um… ok.” said Nico. “They were dressed really strangely though,” she continued “I wonder where they’re from.” “Yeah,” jumped in Percy. “They were wearing cloaks and capes, and they were made out of jewels!” “The people or the clothes?” Annabeth asked, teasing. Percy rolled his eyes. 
“Remember we still have to put out that fire.” Annabeth said, getting back on topic. “Well then, what better time than now?” Nico asked, standing up. The three of them walked back out of the cave and walked to town. When they got there, they walked towards one of the burning buildings, and stopped in their tracks. Because the fourteen people they had seen before were there, looking at the wreckage they had scattered and quietly talking.
Then they turned around, saw the three of them and froze in shock.
=== Will’s POV (Extra) ===
	Will didn’t know that his boyfriend was leaving on a quest. In fact, nobody but Chiron, Annabeth, Rachel, and Percy knew. It was strange for Nico to leave without telling him, but Will supposed he might have if Nico had believed that he would be back in a day. But the sun was setting and they were still not back. Will wondered if something even more unexpected than monsters had happened. It would make sense that way. He hoped to see them all back at camp, safe and sound by tomorrow morning. 
== Chapter Six ==
=== Amy’s POV ===
Amy was waiting nervously at the bus station for one of her friends to come and take her to camp. It wasn’t any random friend either, more like a very important friend who had been the person to convince her to work with the demigods. Piper stepped out of a bus and smiled at her. 
“We’re going to catch this next bus to San Francisco, and another one to Berkeley.” “Then we’ll have to walk to the Oakland Hills.” 
”Walk?” asked Amy. 
“Yes, because we can’t exactly ask someone to drop us off in the middle of a maintenance tunnel. 
“Why a maintenance tunnel?”	
“It’s the main entrance to camp, and- ”
“Why would you make the main entrance in a maintenance tunnel?” 
“Don’t ask me, I’m not the one who built it.”
“But a maintenance tunnel?”
“Amy!”
Amy shrugged, and got on the bus.
Amy had secrets of her own. Whenever she talked with the demigods, she had to hide the fact that elves are real. When she spoke with Sophie or Mr. Forkle, she had to hide the demigod’s existence. When she talked with her parents and her friends, she had to hide half the things she knew. It was hard, and it felt like she was constantly hiding things. 
She was shaken out of her thoughts when Piper told her it was time to get onto the second bus. She slid out of her seat, and walked to the second bus. When the ride was over, they both got out and walked over to a large area full of rolling hills. Piper led Amy over to a maintenance tunnel and said, “Hazel will take you inside camp”. Amy nodded and watched Piper walk away. 
In a few minutes Hazel came to take her into Camp Jupiter, and that’s when the real adventure began.
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
Annabeth stared in shock. “No sane person would ever stick around in this fire.” she thought. “That is, unless they were here to put out the fire too.” “But that was crazy. Nobody knew that Greek fire even existed, except the demigods.” “They must have seen the green fires.” “Except, something was off.” “Nico was staring at the ground, looking rather guilty.”
Annabeth frowned, and looked up at the people again. All of them were wearing circlets except two. 
“Who… are you?” asked a blond haired girl from the group. She seemed nervous, and even a little scared. “No matter how petite she was, Annabeth could tell that she was very powerful and strong. Apparently her friends could too because they shrank back even further, especially Nico. Annabeth rolled her eyes at Percy and Nico and decided to speak for all of them.
“My name’s Annabeth, this is Percy and here’s Nico.” Nico glared at her. “Who are you?” Annabeth asked, ignoring him.
“I’m…” the girl glanced at the people wearing the circlets, as if waiting for their permission. When one of them nodded, she continued. “I’m Sophie.” 
Annabeth frowned at Nico, who was trying to inch even further back into the shadows. It seemed like Sophie noticed too, because she said “We’re not going to hurt you, we just want to know what you’re doing here.”
“Why shouldn’t we be here?” asked Annabeth.
“Uh, ‘cause it’s raining fire and ashes.” said a blond haired boy, stepping out of a strange beam of light. 
“What’re you doing here?” Sophie practically growled.
The boy smirked. “Not happy to see me Foster?”
“You aren’t supposed to be here Keefe.” Sophie answered, gritting her teeth. 
The boy, Keefe, seemed to answer something back, but that’s not what caught her interest.
One of the people wearing a circlet was watching Annabeth and her friends curiously. Annabeth gave him one of her deadly looks that read, Just ask your questions already. 
A small smile twitched on his face as he said, “You don’t seem too surprised that Mr. Sencen stepped out of a beam of light.”.
“Who?” asked Percy.
“Keefe.”
“Oh, we see strange stuff everyday.” Percy casually answered. 
The man raised one of his eyebrows, but before he could say anything, Annabeth asked a few questions of her own.
“Ok, two questions,” she said. The man nodded.
“First question, what’s your name?”
“I don’t want to keep calling you “The Guy With the Emerald Crown”” jumped in Percy.
Annabeth rolled her eyes, and the man chuckled.
“My name’s Terik, but- ”
“Ok, next question,” said Percy, without giving Annabeth a chance to speak.
“Why are there a bunch of creepy people wearing dark cloaks behind you?”
=== Mystery POV (Extra) ===
Why did she ask him to leave her here? She knows how to get away now, but people would notice her absence. She works for them, after all. It’s restraining her. There’s always this instinct in her, and it’s hard to fit in. But she has to. She has to seem normal to keep this up. She misses what she used to do. He told her that she could always come back, but she refused. Why?
== Chapter Seven ==
=== Nico’s POV (Extra) ===
They were here. The people who had hurt Thalia, and made him leave her there. Maybe for good. Of course, she had insisted. Again. She was a survivor. She was still going to be alive. And he was going to get his revenge.
=== Alyss Chase’s POV ===
Alyss was watching from the shadows as Annabeth confronted these strange people in cloaks, when she saw something behind them. "Look out!” She called, stepping out of the shadows and shifting into a tiger as she leapt at the cloaked figures behind them. They scattered at a tiger in their midst. Who wouldn’t? Alyss smirked. She swiped a paw at one of them. 
“Alyss?!” Annabeth cried, probably wondering why she was here. Alyss flicked her tail in acknowledgement, then continued to attack the Neverseen. Finally, one of them managed to set her tail on fire. She heard a yell behind her, and it was quickly doused by water. She transformed back into a human, and whipped out her garrote. She fought the strange cloaked figures with her garrote until she was pushed back by an invisible force. Alyss readied Suburbamander. A gift from Magnus when he passed away for good. Alyss and Jack leapt into the fight together. Jack began singing “Funkytown”. 
“Jack! Now isn’t the time to sing!” 
“Fine, fine, jeez...” 
“You need to go fight those people.”
“But,- ”
“Go!”
=== Sophie’s POV ===
Sophie watched as this girl transformed into a tiger and attacked the Neverseen. One of them, Sophie couldn’t tell who, set her tail on fire. She flinched, and was about to tell Linh to put it out, when that boy, Percy, summoned some water to put it out. She watched as the girl transformed into a human again. She was pushed back by an unknown force. Alvar.
Sophie leapt into a fighting stance and saw her friends do the same. The girl looked fierce, but if she had attacked the Neverseen, then she must have been on our side. She readied the throwing stars Sandor had given her, promising herself that she wouldn’t blame herself if someone got hurt in the fight.
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
Annabeth gasped when Alyss stepped out of the shadows. What was she doing here? She was going to get herself killed. She had to help. Annabeth reached into her coat, and pulled out her dagger. The celestial bronze glowed brightly against the snow, and she saw the adults gaping at her in shock. 
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy and Nico pull out their swords and charge into the fight. Annabeth leapt into action, going towards one of the people. They saw her and pulled out a sword. It was encrusted with jewels, and was shiny. Then what she saw made her stomach turn. Blood was dried on the blade of the sword, and it looked like it had been there for a while.
She shook those thoughts away, and dove forward. He seemed to have had some practice with it, because he was good. Annabeth intercepted the sword, and tried to knock it out of his hands, but he simply wouldn’t let go. Suddenly, one of the cloaked figures yelled, “We got him, now time to move out!” Annabeth dove towards the person she was fighting in the moment he was distracted. He had the bigger weapon. He slashed her, cutting her stomach. She screamed. It wasn’t deep, but it still bled. A lot. But Annabeth wasn’t going to give up. Never. 
She rolled, and managed to stab his leg as he turned to flee. It made him drop the sword. As he pulled out a crystal, he gave her a pure, white hot glare of hatred. Then he limped into the beam of light from the crystal, and vanished.
== Chapter Eight ==
=== Thalia’s POV ===
Thalia glared at herself in the mirror, her electric blue eyes highlighted by the silver eyeliner and the light pink lip gloss. She hated wearing this silver dress, it was so long, and uncomfortable. It was sparkly too. She didn’t have anything against silver, it was the color of moonlight after all. But she didn’t like wearing dresses. And the heels. Thalia had never worn heels before. But now she had to dress fancy. Because she worked for them. She sighed, and stepped over to a polished desk studded with jewels. 
She reached underneath, and pulled out a long, shimmery, electric blue cape, the exact same color as her eyes. It had silver designs and lumenite decorating it. Way to make fancy things glow. She moved a bit quicker now, slipping on her high heels. She could barely walk in them at first, but now she was better at it. Thalia had to hurry, the council was waiting for her. She pulled out an elixir, and chugged it down. It made her hair grow long and smooth. She had to do that everyday. It was the only way to fit in. No respectable elf would even think about having their hair short and spiky. When she started working for the council, she couldn’t stand out at all. She needed to look like the ideal elf. She felt ridiculous. But she had to get moving.
Thalia grabbed a cream colored bag stuffed with scrolls, and darted down the stairs. She jumped from the landing to the floor, three stories below. She landed on her feet, but winced. High heels weren’t any good for, well, anything that she was used to. She wished she could go back to just being a hunter, but it would attract a lot of attention if she just disappeared. She remembered the night she had told Nico to leave her there- . Nope. She was not going to think about that. She had enough nightmares already, she didn’t need to add “How I got trapped in the Lost Cities” to that.
She leapt to Eternalia, and arrived with no time to spare. She darted across the street, and sprinted towards a small, but elaborately decorated building. It looked like a clothing shop from the outside, but in the back there was a jeweled door leading to a large meeting room. She stepped inside, and closed the door. Then she walked across the room, to the door that led outside. 
Suddenly, she heard people yelling outside. She recognised the council, but the others… No. It couldn’t be. She opened the door and stepped outside, and saw a girl with blond hair and gray eyes on the ground, bleeding. Annabeth looked up at her and gasped. “Thalia?”
=== Sophie’s POV ===
Sophie watched the girl, Annabeth, fall to the ground. Blood splattered everywhere, and she was half glad that Biana wasn’t there to see it. The Neverseen leapt away, and they were left alone. Everybody stood still in shock for a second, and then Fitz said “We have to get her to the Healing Center.” Sophie agreed, and started to move closer, when Alyss, Nico, and Percy stepped in front of Annabeth. 
“You don’t touch her.” Nico practically hissed. 
“She needs medical treatment,” Sophie protested. “And we aren’t going to hurt her.” 
“If you want to treat her, then treat her here.” Percy answered flatly. 
“Fine.” Sophie sighed, and pulled out a few elixirs and healing balms Edaline made her carry. She carefully began giving them to Annabeth, who was, surprisingly, still conscious. Fitz began to look impatient after a while, and Keefe did too. Suddenly Fitz pulled out a crystal and pulled them into the light. They appeared in a beautiful garden with a door in it. 
“Fitz!” Sophie scolded.
“We’ll be able to find more supplies here.” Fitz said.
“How did you get a leaping crystal to here anyway?’ asked Councillor Terik.
“I… sort of took it from my dad.”
Before any of them could answer, a girl with dark hair and electric blue eyes stepped out from the jeweled door. Her eyes widened. Annabeth gasped.
“Thalia?”
== Chapter Nine ==
=== Amy’s POV ===
Amy had snuck out of camp and was currently walking on the dewy grass of a hill. One of the people there, a girl named Lavinia, had shown her how on her first day.
Amy always snuck out now, because she loved to watch the sunrise, and think about her messy life at the same time. She had been training for a few days now, but the only thing she was good at was archery. Hazel had promised her that she would get better, but Amy seriously doubted that. She wasn’t even a demigod. And she still had to tell Hazel the other big secret she was hiding. Amy wasn’t quite sure on how to tell her though, she couldn’t just say “Hey, Hazel. Did you know that elves are real? My sister’s one.”
Amy really wanted to talk to Sophie now, she missed her a lot. She slowly pulled out her imparter and held it up to her face. “Show me Sophie Foster.”
Sophie didn’t answer. Amy tried a few more times, then gave up. Something must be wrong. Sophie would never ignore her hails like that. She had to find out what was wrong. The only problem now, was that she had no way to get to the Lost Cities. Amy was left with no choice but to go tell Hazel her secret.
As she walked back, she wondered how Hazel would react. Hazel would have to tell Reyna about it. After that, the news would spread pretty quickly. Amy shook her head, and kept walking. These people were demigods anyway, not completely human. So she couldn’t get in trouble for telling them. 
Amy slipped into one of Lavinia’s secret tunnels, and ran through it. The second she emerged on the other side, she was met by Don the Faun. 
“Wow, you snuck away?! That’s a surprise, I thought only Lavinia did that. Where’d you go?”
“Shhhh, not so loudly!” Amy said, glaring. “You’ll get me into trouble.” 
“Right, I know this, latrine duty for a first offence, and- ” 
“Be quiet!”
Amy stalked towards the center of camp, and found Hazel talking to Reyna. 
“Is there something you need to talk to me about?” asked Hazel, as Amy walked closer.
“Umm… there’s something I need to tell you.”
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
Annabeth thought she was seeing things. “This can’t be true.” she thought. “How on earth could there really be Thalia standing in front of her?” It was impossible. But she knew that it really was possible, anything was possible. But- ow, that stab really hurt.” Annabeth couldn’t think properly through the pain. 
She stared at Thalia as she whispered her next lines, “How’re you here?”. 
The boy, Keefe, butted in. “Wait, how do you two know each other?”
“It’s not only Annabeth,” Nico answered grimly.
“We know her too.” said Percy, staring at his cousin.
Keefe looked confused. “How- ”
Alyss gave Thalia a look.
She sighed, “Come inside, I have a lot to explain.”.
=== Piper’s POV ===
Piper was almost all the way back to Camp Half-Blood, when she stumbled across a mysterious object. It was covered in dirt and grass, and it looked like someone had dropped it in a hurry. She picked it up, and brushed the dirt off. It looked very shiny, like a crystal. And it was multifaceted too. Piper held it up to the light, trying to see it better. To her surprise, it made a beam of light that looked almost like a… path.
Piper couldn’t resist the temptation. She stepped into the beam, imagining a shield surrounding her, protecting her, and let the light sweep her away.
She came out on the other end of the beam, feeling just fine, until she saw where she was. It was dark, and damp, and there were white eye’s chalked onto the walls. There was a prison cell in one end of the room. 
Piper was about to take a closer look, when she heard a voice from behind her.
“Well, well, what do we have here?”
A drugged cloth was immediately pressed to her mouth, and Piper faded into the blurry haze of unconsciousness. 
== Chapter Ten ==
=== Alyss’ POV ===
Alyss shifted into a wolf and sniffed at something. It smelled of elves. Suddenly the scent changed to that of the sea and She was sucked into it. The next thing she knew she was standing, as a human, in a room, with black walls that was dark. Her eyes adjusted. “What is this place?” She wondered. 
“That depends on who’s asking.” A voice said behind her and something struck the back of her head, knocking her out.
When she came to, there was a pain in her wrists, it felt like someone had burned them. “Hello?” She tried to say but there was something gagging her.
A voice spoke from behind her. “I’m going to remove the gag but if you scream, I will burn you until you are nothing but bones.” 
Alyss nodded fractionally.
The person behind her removed the gag and she took a deep breath. 
“Now, you are going to tell me what I want to know, and if you lie, I will know, and it will be painful, do you understand?” The voice said.
“Y-yes.” Alyss said, stammering.
“You came with some others, who were they?”
“J-just some random people.” Alyss lied trying to think of a way out of this.
“You’re lying.” a different voice said, from a shadowy corner of the room.
Alyss flinched. “I-I swear to you, I’m telling the truth,” Behind her back she was working at her bondings with a small piece of glass.
“No you’re not,” the second voice said. “Let’s make this easier, I can read your thoughts, so quit lying.”
“I won't tell you anything.” Alyss suddenly said in a steely voice and finished cutting through her bonds. She sprang up and reached for her garrote when she realized it wasn’t on her belt where it usually was. Her eyes widened. 
Her kidnappers laughed.
She snarled and transformed into a wolf, or she would have if another voice hadn’t stopped her. It sounded like Piper. “Piper?” Was all she got out.
“So you do know each other, interesting.”
Alyss realized she had made a mistake. She had a guarded expression. “What did you do with my garrotte?” She growled. 
Both of her kidnappers snorted. “Do you really think we’d let you keep it? It’s due to be burned in another three minutes.”
Alyss sagged visibly. She had to find a way out of here but they were both guarding the door. Her thoughts were racing, Maybe she could call on Hearth and Blitz for help. She just had to figure out a way…
Her kidnappers thought she was giving up. “A final treat for you, your weapon is in one of the rooms next to this one, like you’re ever going to see it again anyway.”
“Good riddance.” She suddenly said. Inside though she was hurting, that garrote was her pride and joy. “HEARTH!!!!!!” She yelled as loud as she could- or she tried to at least but suddenly it was as if her voice had disappeared. 
Even her kidnappers looked confused at that.
“Oh come on boys,” A new voice said. Sekine walked into the room. “If I hadn’t stopped her, a friend would have come to rescue her.” Sekine was known for her ability to take stuff and replace it with something else. Instead of her own voice, Alyss now had a rubber duckie sound. Sekine smirked.
“So what new friend were you about to summon here? Remember, only pain will come if you lie.”
Alyss didn’t answer and only glared. “I’m not saying anything.”
The second kidnapper sighed. “Looks like we’re going to be doing it the hard way.” He walked towards Alyss, tied her back to the chair, and seemed to concentrate. 
Alyss’ mind resisted, it was protected by many enchantments and spells. Incidentally those were placed there by Hearth. 
Her kidnapper scowled. “That’s impossible, nobody except Sophie Foster should be able to block me like that.” 
“Nothing’s impossible,” Alyss said. Suddenly her will to resist disappeared replaced by a desire to tell the truth. 
“Try now.” Sekine said. “Asking her that is.”
“Who was the new friend you were summoning?”
“Hearthstone, One of the light elves.” 
Her kidnappers looked shocked
“I’m Alyss Chase, daughter of Loki.” Alyss continued. Shut up! Her mind told her. Alyss tried to force herself to stop talking. 
“Loki?” they asked, sounding slightly scared.
“The god of tricksters.” Alyss confirmed. Inside she was screaming. “Please stop.” She said, quietly.
Her captors looked amused. “Stop, now? Why we’ve only just started.”
Alyss sobbed. She didn’t like betraying her friends like this.
They smirked, pulled out a drugged cloth, and pressed it to her mouth.
Alyss passed out. But not before saying one last thing. “You’ll never be able to enter camp.”
=== Piper’s POV ===
Piper woke up to darkness, she heard sobbing to her left. “Hello?” She called out. She heard other voices as well, talking near where the sobbing was coming from. She struggled against her bonds, trying to reach for Katropis. 
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A voice said. “You’ll get the same treatment as your friend.” They walked around her, stopping until they could see her face. They grabbed her chin roughly tilting it upwards and pouring something into her mouth. She spluttered. 
“Now tell me, who are you?”
“Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite.” Piper said.
“Hm… well, looks like the elixir works after all.”
“What did you do to me?” Piper asked angrily.
“Me? I didn’t do anything. I only gave you an elixir to make you tell the truth. ”
Piper’s voice suddenly became rich and smooth. “Oh but you don't want to do that.” she said.
Her captor seemed to go into a trance.
“Why don’t you take off these bonds?” Piper suggested.
Her captor immediately did just that, and Piper reached for her dagger.
When she realized it wasn’t there, she commanded her captor to bring it to her.
He hurried off, and came back with it.
“Thank you. Now, tell me your name.” she said, sweetly.
“Stop!” said a new voice. She’s beguiling you!”
“Beguiling? I’m not beguiling, it’s called charmspeaking.”
“It’s the same thing.” The other voice snapped. “Release him.” A tall man with blond hair and ice blue eyes stepped out into the light.
== Chapter 10.5 ==
=== Biana’s POV ===
When Biana woke up, she found herself in her room. She sat up, and groaned, pressing her hands to her forehead. Blood rushed into her head the second she sat up, making the room spin. There wasn’t anyone else there, which was strange. Why would they leave her alone when she had just been kidnapped? Something big must’ve happened. Biana slid out of bed, and almost collapsed. She tried again, and was able to walk a little, leaning against the wall. She stumbled downstairs, and found a crystal to Havenfield on the counter. 
Biana stared at it, and thought “It’s just to Havenfield, what could possibly go wrong?”. She stepped into the beam of light, and let it carry her away.
When she arrived at Havenfield, she was feeling unnaturally dizzy. Even more dizzy than before. The ground was swaying, and she fell to the ground. Before she passed out she understood why. She had faded.
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
Annabeth groaned in pain, her wound was really bleeding now. Percy dropped down next to her, and pulled out a few squares of ambrosia. Annabeth took them, and put one of them into her mouth. “Why don’t you eat all of it?” asked Sophie. 
“It’ll burn her up.” answered Thalia, staring at the ground. Annabeth sat up.
“Really, I’m fine now, that ambrosia helped.”
“So quickly?” a new voice asked. “Well, I suppose that we must have some then.” A black cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows. “Your friends will need some after we’re done with them.” 
“Our friends?” Thalia asked suddenly.
“Yes, your friends… Alyss Chase and Piper McLean.”
== Chapter Eleven ==
=== Hazel’s POV ===
Hazel had just learned that life could be a lot more complicated than it already was. Apparently elves were real, and there were also four other so called “intelligent species” living on this planet. To add to the shock, Amy’s biologically not related sister was an elf, and Amy said that she was trying to save the world. Hazel didn’t know why she was surprised anymore.
“I need your help.” Amy said, interrupting her train of thought. 
“What do you need help with?” asked Reyna, who had been silently listening the entire time.
“I need a way to get to the Lost Cities.”
Hazel frowned, “Do you know where the Lost Cities are?”
“No.”
“Then how do you plan on getting there?” Reyna asked.
“Maybe you could track where this signal goes, and take me there?” Amy said, pulling out her imparter.
“It’s our best bet.” answered Hazel.
“Let’s do it.”
=== Alyss’ POV ===
Alyss slowly regained consciousness, and the second she opened her eyes, fear flooded her. She looked around, and spotted a cell far away, on the other side of the room. There seemed to be a few people there. Two of them seemed to be wearing creepy cloaks. The last person… Piper.
“Piper!” Alyss said.
“Quiet!” one of the cloaked figures snapped. 
At the same time, Piper called, “Alyss! Are you alright?!”.
“You both won’t make a sound, or else you’ll suffer painful consequences.”
“You don’t want us to speak,” said Piper, ignoring his warnings. “Does that mean that we’re in a place where people outside can hear us?”
“You idiot, you weren't supposed to let them know that!” the other cloaked figure hissed, glaring at his companion.
Alyss glared at them.
Piper smirked, “Looks like you both are as bright as gym socks.”
They both clenched their fists, and gave Piper a murderous look.
Suddenly, a loud clang echoed through the room.
Alyss jumped.
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
“How did you capture them?” Percy demanded. 
“You all seem upset.”
“Of course we’re upset!” Annabeth cried. “You kidnapped my cousin and one of my best friends!”
“Your cousin, I see. Would you like to know what tortures they’re being forced to endure?”
To her credit, Annabeth held her head high. “They’ll be fine, they’re strong.”
“Don’t be so sure about that.” He pulled out a long sword. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have to finish you, once and for all.”
“I don’t think so,” a new voice said. “We’ll be the ones finishing you.” Blitzen and Hearth had finally arrived. 
=== Rachel’s POV (Extra) ===
Nico, Percy, and Annabeth went on that quest a day ago. It shouldn’t have been a hard one, but the prophecy she had issued said otherwise. In the meantime, she had something to distract her, a messenger from Camp Jupiter had arrived, saying that they needed an oracle for a quest of their own. Something to do with someone’s sister, but Rachel hadn’t paid much attention. She stared at the colorful walls of her cave, as she wondered what could have gone wrong. Quests only happened if something big was going on. 
Rachel sighed, when she had been told to give a prophecy to them, she gave them the same prophecy she had given to Annabeth. Now everyone was wondering if the two quests were connected somehow. Rachel wouldn’t rule that out, it was definitely a possibility. 
She didn’t have much time to wonder about that, she had promised her parents that she would start packing “respectable clothing” to go to Clarion Ladies Academy. Ugh. 
Rachel walked out of her cave, not expecting to go back to camp for a long time.
== Chapter Twelve ==
=== Amy’s POV ===
Amy was getting ready to go on her quest. Hazel insisted on coming, and so did Frank. The plan was that Hazel and her would ride Arion to the location of the signal, and Frank would follow them flying above as an eagle. It sounded pretty risky to ride a horse over the ocean, but Hazel told her that it would be fine.
Now, Amy was all ready to go, she took a deep breath, got onto the horse, and rode off towards the deep blue horizon.
They had been traveling for hours now, and Amy was getting tired. “We’re close.” Hazel had insisted, but Amy wasn’t so sure.
“Well, if we’re close, then- ” Suddenly, Arion skidded to a halt on a muddy field, sending both of them flying into the air and crashing onto the ground. Then he galloped away.
“Well we don’t call quests dangerous for nothing.” Frank commented, after he had shifted back into a human.
“Oh, so dangerous means being thrown off the fastest horse in the world into a muddy field?” Amy said, sarcastically, as she got up.
“No, dangerous means being stranded in the middle of nowhere without any transportation, and no way to tell where to go.”
“What do you mean?” Amy demanded. “I have the imparter right- where’d it go?!”
Frank pointed at a silver shard sticking out of the mud. “I’m guessing you didn’t put it in a waterproof container either.”
“We didn’t think of that.” Hazel admitted, glancing at the broken imparter.
“Now what?” Amy asked.
“We start walking.” answered Frank. “We’ll get somewhere eventually.”
Hazel cleared her throat. “Are we forgetting that we have a perfectly capable shapeshifter here? Someone who could scout the path before taking us on a wild goose chase?”
Frank sheepishly mumbled “Right, me.”.
“Yes, you.”
Frank transformed back into an eagle, and flew as high as he could go. Amy couldn’t see him after a while, and she began to wonder if something was wrong, when Frank came swooping back down excitedly. He shifted into a human again, and said, “There’s a city up ahead! And it looks like it’s made from jewels! There were also a bunch of castles in it!”
“Castles? Sounds like Eternalia!” Amy exclaimed, excitement seeping into her.
“Well then, let’s start walking.” said Hazel, who was the only one not jumping with excitement.
“Aren’t you excited?” Frank asked, after they’d been walking for about 20 minutes.
“Of course! I’m just tired.”
“Look!” Amy cried suddenly. There was a forest up ahead, or at least that’s what it looked like.
“Strange, this forest is exactly where the city was.” Frank said, already understanding what was going on.
Hazel smiled, “Let’s go.”
Amy sprinted towards the forest, and didn’t stop, even when she was about to run into a tree. She instead, closed her eyes, and ran straight through it. Hazel and Frank joined her a few moments later, and gazed up at the glittering buildings in awe.
“It’s so… sparkly.” Hazel whispered. Amy and Frank nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, they heard a growl behind them.
Low. Deep. Eager.
“I should have known this wouldn’t be so easy.” Amy thought, her heart racing, her body tense.
All three of them spun around, and pulled out their weapons.
== Chapter Thirteen ==
=== Piper’s POV ===
	Piper watched her abductors closely. She caught a glimpse of the inside of their cloaks, and saw a name stitched on it. Neverseen. She smirked, deciding to toy with them for a little bit.
“I know about your organization more than you know.”
“And what would that be? You don’t even know our name, or what we do.”
“Don’t I?”
Both of them started to look uneasy. So uneasy, that Piper could tell without seeing their faces.
“You’re part of the Neverseen, and you’re a rebel organization.”
They stared at her.
“You want to lead the world, and overthrow your leaders. You’ve had alliances in the past, but none of them lasted long.”
Piper was just making things up at this point. “Your organization is in a constant chaos because you don’t have a single steady leader, and you want to take out the human species.”
“How do you know all that?!” one of them snapped, unease filling his tone.
Piper smirked, “I have my ways.”.
She may have spoken boldly, but she still didn’t know what had made that clang she had heard. It didn’t matter now though, she was going to find a way to escape. And she had to take Alyss with her. That’s all that mattered now.
=== Hazel’s POV ===
Great. Just great. A monster was attacking them in this elf city, and they had to fight it. It wasn't easy to kill the monster either. Of course, it had to be, the one, and only Hydra.
Hazel groaned as she spun around, pulling out her spatha. The moment she saw the monster, she was glad for the long reach of her sword. A few stories of demigods being melted into goo were enough to convince her to play defensive.
“We need fire,” said Frank. “It’s the only way to kill it.”
“Frank- ” she started.
“No. Trust me, I won’t get myself killed. I’ll just burn a tiny bit more of the stick- ”
“No.”
“Hazel,- ”
“Nope. I swear, you have a death wish or something.”
“I do not,- ”
“What’re you talking about?” Amy interrupted. Hazel opened her mouth to answer, when Amy said, “You can tell me later, but now...”. She pointed at a destroyed, melting building. 
Suddenly, a scream echoed from inside it, sending shivers down her spine. 
“Someone’s in there.”
== Chapter Fourteen ==
=== Frank’s POV ===
How on earth could they possibly get into the building without getting crushed by the falling walls? It looked like it was melting too, and normal buildings don’t melt. But Amy had said that these buildings were made out of crystal, so they suffered damage much easier. As if that wasn’t hard enough, they also had to face a very angry hydra.
Frank glanced at Hazel, who was staring determinedly at the melting building. “I’m going to hold up those jewels, but you two will have to do most of the fighting.” 
It seemed like their best bet, so they both agreed. Frank pulled out his bow and strung it with an arrow, Amy doing the same. Hazel kept her spatha out, but didn’t use it, instead concentrating on the jeweled buildings. 
Even though he knew what she was going to do, it was still startling to see all the melting jewels freeze midair, hovering like a curtain. The people around them screamed, and gasped, staring at them like they were Frankenstein.
“Well, what’re you waiting for?” Hazel asked, her voice strained, making it clear that they had to hurry. 
Frank and Amy sprinted into the building, with Hazel following close behind.
“Let’s split up and search,” Amy said. “It’ll be faster that way.” Frank and Hazel agreed, so they each went separate directions. 
Frank took the first floor of the building, and as he searched through it, a thought surfaced. He had wondered why the scream had sounded slightly muffled, but had brushed the thought aside. Now he wondered, where could a person be that would muffle their scream? Maybe… underground. 
Frank didn’t think twice. He sprinted to a spot where the marble tiles were loose, and shoved an arrow into the ground. He pulled the tile up, and looked down into the dark hole. It seemed that there actually was something down there, rather than just a hole. It also looked like someone had been taken- no, dragged down there very recently. In his surprise, the marble tile slipped from his hands and tumbled down the hole, landing with a loud clang. 
He winced, then looked around the room for some rope, or something else he could use to climb down the hole. He spotted a long tablecloth, so he grabbed it, and tied it to one of his arrows. He then shoved it into the ground with such force that the marble cracked. 
Suddenly, the loud noise of fire crackling came from a nearby room, reminding him that this building was melting, and the only reason he wasn’t dead, was because of Hazel. Frank hurriedly climbed down the narrow hole, and landed softly. He looked around, seeing where the tile had shattered into a million pieces. It had apparently shattered on a metal pipe, causing the metallic noise.
He crept forward, and the closer he got, the more he heard voices speaking. Well, more like one person speaking, and the others just occasionally interrupting. 
Frank was sure he’d heard that voice before… Piper?
=== Alyss’ POV ===
Piper was being very bold, very very bold. How did she know so much about the Neverseen, as they were called? Alyss shook her head, she needed to find a way out of here. But first, since Piper seemed to be achieving some successes, she decided to do the same.
“For being called the Neverseen, you aren’t exactly Never Seen.” 
They both spun around. “You shut your mouth right now or else you’re going to be on the receiving end of this.” He pulled out a long dagger and pointed it at her throat.
Alyss could clearly hear the smirk in Piper’s tone when she said “So we are somewhere that people can hear us.”. 
Just then, a new voice said “Yes, you’re in a place where people can hear you, and by the way, the building you're under is melting.”
== Chapter Fifteen ==
=== Sophie’s POV ===
Sophie stared in shock at the scene unfolding in front of her. These two… people had just arrived, but they didn’t really act like humans would. She would have stared at them longer, if she hadn’t heard Annabeth moan in pain. Sophie spun around, and was met with a terrible, and shocking sight.
Annabeth’s wound was bleeding again, and it looked worse, and deeper. Sophie immediately saw what had caused that.
A snake-like woman was dragging Annabeth away. She looked like a normal person, except for her legs. She didn’t have any. She instead had twin serpent trunks in place of her legs.
“What… are you?” Sophie asked, paralized from shock and surprise. Annabeth answered, whispering.
“A Scythian Dracaena”
Sophie blinked. “But Scythian Dracaenae are just an old Greek myth, they’re not real.”
“Do I look fake to you, youngling?” The snake-woman hissed, dragging Annabeth further away, pulling out something shiny.
Sophie’s stomach filled with dread. “Don’t hurt her.”
“Then believe what you see.”
“I’ll never.”
“Sophie, you have to believe crazy things sometim- Oww!”
The monster smirked. “Maybe I won’t have to kill you for those black cloaked elves after all, it looks like you might just bleed to death here.”
“You won’t get to kill- wait, elves?”
=== Biana’s POV ===
Biana woke up in the Healing Center for the second time of the day, or maybe she should say night. It was completely dark in the room, and the hallways were quiet. Biana sat up, and nearly fainted from the effort it took. She let out a groan, and as soon as she did, Livvy came rushing in, along with her mom and Fitz.
Her mom burst into tears, and rushed to hug Biana. Fitz stood a few feet away, watching her with concern. “The Neverseen kidnapped you from the Healing Center, we were so worried about you.” he said. “They knocked Elwin unconscious, so Livvy had to bring you here.”
“How on earth did you escape?” Livvy asked.
Biana took a deep breath and narrated the story, her mom squeezing her tighter and tighter as she went on. When she finished, everyone stared at her, then suddenly, Tam burst into the room. He looked like he was about to say something when he saw Biana. His eyes widened.
“How’d she get back here?” Biana blinked in surprise, as Fitz answered slowly.
“Biana escaped, aren’t you glad to see her?”
“Of course I am! I was just surprised.”
“You don’t seem surprised.”
Tam glared and stormed out of the room. Biana was stunned speechless, and also hurt. Tam had never acted that way, and it pained her to think he would.
No, he wouldn’t. “He must be upset about something.” she thought, and said out loud, “I’m going after him.”
“Not now,” Livvy said, placing a large tray in front of her. “You’ll have plenty of recovering to do after nearly dying three times in one day. I think even Sophie has never done that before.”
“Speaking of Sophie, where is she?” Fitz asked. “She said she’d be back in an hour.”
Livvy gave Biana a worried glance, then said “I’ll make sure everything’s going according to plan, I’ll be back soon.”
Livvy leapt away, and Biana was left questioning her own life. She didn’t have much time for that though, because Tiergan rushed into the room.
“There have been severe complications in bottling the flame. We will need to go there.”
= Part Two: Chapters Sixteen-Thirty =
== Chapter Sixteen ==
=== Piper’s POV ===
“Frank? What’re you doing here?!” Piper cried, struggling to free herself.
“Long story.” Frank looked around. “You have to get out of here right now.”
The Neverseen, as they were called, finally snapped out of their shock. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
“Then neither are you.” Piper said, standing up. She smirked, seeing their stunned expressions. “I guess having a beaded necklace with a pointy charm on it has its perks.”
As she said that, a huge part of the ceiling came crashing down, the melting crystal spreading on the floor. Everything seemed to be melting faster, and it was incredibly hot. It was a miracle they hadn’t been crushed by the roof falling in. Just as that thought went through her mind, another voice echoed through the room. “Frank? We have to get out of here soon, I can’t hold it up much longer.”
Suddenly, before Frank could say anything, Alyss cried, “Hazel! Look out!”.
=== Amy’s POV ===
Amy couldn’t find Hazel. She said that she’d be right back when she sprinted down a melting path, but she’d just vanished. She couldn’t help but have a feeling that there was someone else watching her too. She tried to shake it off, but couldn’t. “Hello?” she called, her voice echoing throughout the melting chambers.
“Is anybody here?”
No reply.
She decided to try something else. She sprinted down the path Hazel had gone, but this time with her eyes closed. She expanded her other senses, so she didn’t crash into anything, until her foot caught in a hole. She plummeted down, and down, and down. Just as she thought she’d never stop, she hit the bottom, and cried out in pain.
Amy pulled herself to her feet, even though she was seeing stars. Her head spun as she leaned against the wall, and her leg throbbed. When she put it down, a sharp pain shot through her ankle. It would have hurt insanely if she hadn’t been distracted by faint voices up ahead. As she walked closer, she heard someone yell, “Hazel! Look out!”
Amy spun around to see a large portion of the wall collapse behind her.
=== Mystery POV (Extra) ===
He was trapped, but no one would miss him. Because no one would know he was gone. Because of them. But he wouldn’t ever cooperate. Never. Except for her. He would do it for her. They would never harm her. He’d protect her like he had before. But would they keep their promises? Would they betray him?
== Chapter Seventeen ==
=== Biana’s POV ===
Biana shakily got to her feet, and Tiergan looked at her, concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Does it look like she is?” Fitz asked, his tone a degree colder than it should have been.
“Really, I’m fine.” she said, trying not to breathe too heavily. All of them gave her a concerned look.
“What happened?” Tiergan asked. As Biana retold the story again, her mom glanced down at her imparter. Her eyes widened. 
Fitz glanced at her. “What’s happened now?”
She didn’t answer, instead handing the imparter to Tiergan. Tiergan looked at it, then sprinted out the door.
=== Keefe’s POV ===
Keefe stared in horror, at the blood on the ground. He couldn’t really see what was going on because his head was spinning. The horrible realization struck him. His mom was part of this. She planned on kidnapping those two people, and she planned this attack. He should’ve tried harder to stop her. It was all his fault.
“Keefe!” a voice cried from his left. “Help me!”
“Foster?”
“This... monster is taking Annabeth away! And she’s bleeding!”
Great.
Keefe ran over, following Sophie’s voice.
The so-called “monster” was indeed taking Annabeth away. Keefe pulled out the one thing Grady made him carry.
He aimed the melder and shot at the monster.
It looked a little shaken, but didn’t stop.
“How’s that even possible?!” Sophie cried, remembering the pain she’d experienced from it in the battle on Mt. Everest. 
The monster smirked, and was about to reply when Keefe fired again. This time though, it missed. It hit Annabeth instead. In the head. At least she was unconscious. “She’s lucky if she survived tha-”
Keefe fired for the last time, and the monster went flying backwards, straight into a dagger lying on the ground, a few feet away.
=== Mystery POV (Extra) ===
Resist. Don’t give in. Those were the only thoughts in his mind as they led him down the hallway. Protect it. It would destroy them if they figured it out. He had to protect her too though. He couldn’t do both. Who would he betray?
== Chapter Eighteen ==
=== Alyss’ POV ===
Alyss stared in horror as the entire building collapsed. It nearly fell on top of Amy, who had appeared out of the shadows, and Hazel. Hazel avoided it by half a second, spinning around, and throwing her hands up. She used what remained of her energy to hold it up. It hovered a mere inch above Amy’s head. Amy scrambled out of the way, and ran over to Hazel. She pulled Hazel to safety, just as the wall came crashing down. Alyss would’ve liked to make sure they were okay, but she was distracted by a flash in the corner of her eye. A beam of light. Just like the light that boy, Fitz, had pulled them into. The Neverseen were leaping away. They were going to escape, leaving them here to die. That’s not happening, she thought. They’ll get out of here and make those creeps pay. 
As if to prove that, Piper ran over with her dagger in hand, and cut her loose. Alyss sprang to her feet, and ran into the next room. She grabbed her garrote and Suburbamander, and sprinted back. Piper was already out of the room, leading the way. Amy was following close behind, and Frank was carrying Hazel, who was nearly unconscious. Alyss made her way through the melting building. A few minutes later, they exited the building. That felt like an eternity, she thought. At least it was over.
As if to taunt her, the building swayed, back and forth, and finally gave way, falling towards the hundreds of people still in the streets.
=== Mystery POV (Extra) ===
He had to protect her. There was no other option. They would find out about them anyway, one way or the other. 
He let it cloud his mind, seep through his veins, block his thoughts. He carefully tucked those valuable things away in the haze, protecting them. He was ready. Or was he?
== Chapter Nineteen ==
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
Annabeth was nearly unconscious. She doubted anyone else knew she was awake though. Her wound felt like someone had stabbed her. Which they had. She could hear a few more voices in the distance, but they blurred together in her mind. One specific voice stood out though. The dracaena. “Maybe I won’t have to kill her, maybe...” Whatever was said next, Annabeth didn’t hear. Her vision clouded with fury. Oh no, you’re making a mistake, I won’t die if you don’t go down with me.
She used her remaining energy to tug out her dagger and toss it into the snow behind her. Suddenly, something hit her in the head, sending a sharp, piercing pain throughout her body. She felt herself slip away, barely alive. A crack appeared in the ground, sending her falling, plunging downwards. The last thing she saw, to her great satisfaction, was the dracaena disintegrating to dust, lying on the tip of her dagger.
=== Fitz’s POV ===
Fitz ran after Tiergan, while his mom kept Biana in bed. He grabbed onto Tiergan’s shoulder just as he stepped into a beam of light. It was nighttime when he stepped out, but he could see clearly. The sword that the boy, Percy, was holding was glowing strangely. But that’s not what caught his attention first.
Sophie and Keefe were standing by a large crack in the ground, and Sophie was sobbing hysterically.
“What happened?”
Neither of them answered. Keefe looked at the ground, guiltily, and Sophie stared down at the inky blackness of the crack, continuing to cry. Suddenly, it struck him. The girl that had been there before, Annabeth, was gone. “She fell into the crack.” Keefe whispered. “She might be gone.”
=== Hazel’s POV ===
Hazel felt better after she ate that ambrosia, but there was an enormous problem now. How was she going to stop such an enormous building from falling? She looked around, searching for ideas. Something tugged at the back of her mind.
Of course. Everyone here was wearing a choker, style pendent around their necks. Amy said that it was called a registry pendent, but that’s not what mattered now. They were all made of jewels. Hazel concentrated, and in a matter of seconds, as the building came crashing down, all the horrified elves were flung backwards, away from the destruction. They were safe, but Hazel was tired. So, so tired. She let the darkness settle in, the world fading away into her sleep.
=== Kyon Arcite’s (Neverseen) POV ===
Kyon sighed, slipping off his hood, and turning around. He looked at himself in his mirror, observing his messy black hair, deathly pale skin, piercing blue eyes, so dark they looked like the night. He held up his cloak, and was about to slip it on when he heard her voice behind her. The only person who really knew what he looked like. He spun around. “What’re you doing here?!”
“Just visiting, nice room by the way.” His face reddened as he finally looked up at her. Her tanned skin, her braided hair. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of turquoise. Alyah looked around his room.
“Well, what’re you waiting for? The prisoner needs to be taken care of.” She smirked, making him blush even more. “C’mon Kyon.”
Her brown hair whipped around her as she spun on her heel and walked out of the room.
=== Mystery POV ===
His mind resisted, pushing against it, not giving up. He was doing it for her. He took a deep breath, and shoved him out of his mind. Get out. He thought, steadying himself. Suddenly, he heard more voices. They were coming. More of them. How was he going to survive this?
== Chapter Twenty ==
=== Alyah Trifunovic’s POV ===
Alyah strode through the dark hallways of the hideout, parting ways with Kyon when she came to a turn in the corridor. She stepped out into the night, a cool breeze blowing her hair over her shoulders. 
She had to hurry, it’s not like it would stay night forever, and she needed that girl alive. 
She whistled for Aivrynth, and watched her soar out of the sky. Alyah climbed on, quietly whispering their destination.
She thought about when she had first wondered if there were other ways to travel.
Her mother’s voice drifted through her head, filling her with lies.
Don’t be silly Alyah, light leaping is the only way to travel properly.
Well too bad Mother, I’m about to ride my dragon tonight, she thought. I’ve never wanted to make you proud anyway.
“Fly on Aivrynth, to Tartarus we go.”
=== Linh’s POV ===
Linh frowned as she watched Tam storm out of the Healing Center. That wasn’t normal. But for that matter, everything he’d been doing recently wasn’t normal. He’d stopped talking to her and Tiergan, and he’d stopped visiting Biana. Whenever she asked what was wrong, he’d always say that it was nothing, and that he just wanted to be alone.
She waited for a while, and watched Tiergan walk in. She was about to go into the room and check on Biana, when Tiergan sprinted out of the room, Fitz following close behind. She hurried after them, making sure she wasn’t seen. 
Then she saw something, something that made her stop dead in her tracks. Tam. What was he doing there? And more importantly, why did he hide himself in the shadows? Was he... talking to someone? 
Linh crept closer, trying to stay hidden. She made it most of the way, before her foot slipped. Stupid heels. They made a loud clattering noise, causing Tam to drop something metal, and spin around.
“Linh,” he practically growled. “What’re you doing here.‘
“Can’t I be here?”
“You- ” Tam spun around without finishing his sentence, and walked away without another word. Linh stared after him, shocked. Something must be wrong, I’ll go ask him later, she thought.
She walked towards the corner Tam had been standing in. His imparter lay on the floor. Linh frowned, and picked it up. It had a few dents and scratches, but otherwise seemed okay. She tucked it into her pocket, and was about to leave, when a soft voice behind her whispered. “You already know too much.”
She didn’t even have a chance to scream. Blackness surrounded her, as she choked on the sickly sweet scent in the air. “Don’t worry, you’ll see your brother soon.”
== Chapter Twenty One ==
=== Amy’s POV ===
Amy gasped for breath as she watched the destruction around her. It was all because of the Neverseen. Every. Single. Bit. She looked down at Hazel, who was unconscious, then glanced up at the elves who were all angrily talking, pointing at the destroyed building.
Amy clenched her fists, looking at the melted jewels scattered across the streets. The Neverseen was going to pay.
“What now?” Amy shook her head. 
“We push forward, and keep going.” Frank held his head high as he said those words.
Amy nodded. We’re already in Eternalia, we can’t give up now.
Hazel smiled weakly. “That’s the spirit.”
“Let’s go find my sister.”
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
Blackness. That’s all she saw. Broken shards of glass. Icy, dark waters. Burning embers. Her head throbbed as she forced her eyes open. Blood streaked down her forehead.
Annabeth shook her head, and looked for something familiar. 
No. 
Not again.
All too familiar.
The haunted mist swirled around her.
Tartarus.
=== Percy’s POV ===
Percy was very focused on the person in the black cloak. After only a few minutes of fighting, the creepy dude decided to step into a beam of light and vanish. Wonderful. While the elves were in chaos, trying to decide on what to do next, Percy looked around for Annabeth. She wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Percy looked for Sophie, and saw her sitting at the edge of a large chasm in the ground. She was crying, and the both the boys sitting with her looked upset. 
There was a trail of blood leading to the chasm. 
Annabeth’s dagger was on the ground, a few feet away. 
Percy’s heart plummeted into his stomach.
He ran over, and stared down into the bottomless, inky darkness.
“What happened?”
=== Mystery Neverseen POV ===
He smirked. They would never guess something was wrong. The Black Swan would never anticipate this. The Council wouldn’t care to find out, and those half-bloods were just children. They could never find out. He had captured that nosy girl anyway. It would be better without her. It would be a shock if they ever noticed she was gone. He was playing their game.
== Chapter Twenty Two ==
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
The pain shot through every inch of Annabeth’s body as she forced herself to sit upright. Her head felt like a lead weight was attached to it. Even worse though, was the pain of knowing she was alone, and she had no clear way to get out of there, Unless she went through the doors of death again. This time, alone at the mercy of Tartarus.
She pushed herself to her feet, wincing as the sharp pain in her leg increased. She began limping forward, when she saw a familiar glow in the boulders ahead of her. She watched it glisten for a moment, then began to try to climb over the boulders. She strained to reach for the dagger in front of her… and slipped. 
Annabeth tumbled headfirst into the prison-like cave. The first thing she did was pick up her dagger, the one she had lost the last time she fell into Tartarus. She leaned against one of the boulders, and tucked her dagger into the secret compartment she had sewed the year before. “I’m never losing this again.” she whispered, as the waves of blackness washed over her, and she passed out.
=== Alyah’s POV ===
Alyah’s long hair fell in front of her face as she slipped off her dragon’s back. The cool wind brushed by her shoulders. She strode forward confidently, flickering in and out of sight as she walked. She knew what she was looking for, and she saw it. A slight glitter in the air. She stepped forward and felt a cool ripple brush her skin. Then she saw who she came here for. Using telekinesis, she picked up the unconscious, bleeding blond girl, and brought her back to Aivrynth. 
Alyah smiled at her, thinking about how priceless the information she was going to give would be “Well, well Annabeth, I hope you’re still alive.”
=== Linh’s POV ===
Linh opened her eyes, and was met by darkness. “Linh? Are you awake?”
Linh nodded. “Who are you?”
A pause. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Well then how can I trust you?”
He sighed. “I’ll answer a few yes and no questions for you, they just have to be something I can tell. Oh, but you have to answer some questions that I have, is it a deal?”
Linh hesitated. Was she really going to blindly believe this person? He might even be working with the Neverseen, trying to gain information from her. Then again, it was probably her best bet on ever finding a way to get out of here.
She sighed. “Fine, my first question; are you working for the Neverseen?”
“No. Now it’s my question, does anybody, such as your friends, suspect anything?”
“No, what should they be suspecting?” 
Silence. 
“Fine, my question, do you know where Tam is?”
“Back with your friends, where else?” 
Linh frowned, there was something off about his tone when he said that… resentment?
“My question now.”
“Okay.”
He hesitated. “Is everyone… still alive?”
== Chapter Twenty Three ==
=== Annabeth’s POV ===
When Annabeth opened her eyes all she saw was darkness. She found herself tied to a chair, with almost no way to move. She began to struggle against the ropes, when she heard an echoey voice say “Oh, I wouldn’t do that.”. 
Annabeth froze, her body tensed. “Who are you?” 
“Someone you do not need to know about. And someone you did not need in your life.”
“If you think that, then what am I doing here?”
“Well, you sadly chose to interfere with our plans, so we had to take some protective measures.”
“Which are?”
“Sorry darling, we can’t tell you that.”
Annabeth gritted her teeth. “Don’t ever call me darling.”
The voice laughed. “My, you sure are a feisty one, aren’t you?”
Annabeth scowled, but realized that this was getting her nowhere. Whoever was behind this was just trying to provoke her, hoping that she’d slip up. Annabeth hoped she sounded calm when she spoke. “What do you want from me?”
“Oh, just some information.”
“About what?”
“Elves. Magic. Gods. Everything you know about any of them.”
“I don’t have any information for you.”
“Oh yes you do. You’ll have to talk now Annabeth, before we end our two precious hostages' lives.”
=== Biana’s POV ===
Biana looked at her mom’s face. “What’s going on? Did something bad happen?”
“Something bad happened to you Biana.” Della answered. “You could have died! You need to be more careful, I… I can’t take losing another child.” Della’s eyes welled up with tears. It was clear that she was thinking about Alvar. Biana’s heart plunged into her stomach. “Oh Mom...” Biana hugged her mother. “I promise I won’t leave you.” Biana hoped with all her heart that she would never have to break that promise.
Category:Fanfiction