Word Count: 1506

Recap: Alone in her bed, Adri's consciousness slipped into a not-so-blissful slumber.

     Adri woke up panting, rubbing her eyes to get the image of Hel out from behind them. She sat up groggily and saw Nico on his bed, tying his shoelaces. "Morning." he said without looking up. "Where you going??" she asked, her voice still heavy with sleep. He chuckled. "Nowhere. Just thought I'd go for a walk."

     "Gimme a sec. I wanna come too." "Why don't you stay and eat?? You were out cold from last night." "No, it's fine. Wait for a second." She grabbed her clothes and was out in five minutes. She wore a plain black sweater over some jeans.

     "Great, c'mon." Nico stepped out into the hallway and waited as Adri put on her shoes. "I'm here!!" "Good. Also, are you sure you don't want to eat anything??" he asked, yet again, taking in Adri's complexion which was still slightly pale. The observation didn't go unnoticed by Adri. "I'm fine!! You don't have to worry about me, alright??" she told him, laying her hand on his arm.

     Nico looked unconvinced but nodded anyway. "Fine. Let's get going." They waited till the elevator reached the ground floor and walked out. Adri took a deep breath and looked around. "Something's different today and... I feel like we're going to meet someone of importance to us."

     "Aren't Magnus and Alex awake??" Adri asked as they walked on the footpath. "No, they did wake up. They wanted to do some research." Adrienne nodded and then remembered something. "Also, um.. I had a message. From Corpse Lady herself."

     Nico slowed down and let Adri catch up with him. "What did she tell you??" "Abandon your quest. Or else someone important to you will face the consequences." "Did she say who this person is??" Adri shook her head in response. "I don't know. There aren't too many people I'm close with." "Well, we'll just have to find out once we get there." Adri nodded her head.

     They were out for about twenty more minutes before they returned back so they could eat and check out. "9:15" Adri said, looking at the clock. "Yeah. Now let's go eat and then we'll check out and hope the garnet will take us to the dagger."

     Adri walked over to Magnus and Alex's room and knocked thrice. "Hey." Magnus peered from around the door. "Hey." Magnus sounded flustered and his face closely resembled a tomato. "I'm not going to ask what happened in there." Adri said, taking in his ruffled hair and shirt.

     Magnus sputtered. "I-No- Ugh!! Are you guys leaving for breakfast??" Adri nodded. "'K, we'll be out in five minutes. You guys wait for us in the cafe if you want." "Okie. Be quick." Adri told as she scurried off to the elevator. "Why are you smiling like that??" Nico questioned suspiciously. "Nothing." Adri answered simply and walked into the elevator. Nico walked in after her. "Are we eating outside or inside??" "Should we do out?? Magnus told us to go and wait there and that they'll join us."

     As they both settled down, Nico asked Adri. "How many more days left till the deadline??"  "Uh... four?? Today's he fourth day." "We're running out of time fast." Nico stated grimly. "I hope we'll make it. The whole world is on line." "It really is." Adri sighed. "Hey, Nico. Don't you think this quest is quite harmless??" Nico stared at Adri in horror as a rumble so deep shook the cutlery on the tables.

     "What have you done!!??" They both watched as three giants lumbered their way, their steps falling in unison. They were at least twelve feet tall each and their skin looked like it was carved out of rock. Dimly, Adri thought they looked like the statues an amatuer sculptor like herself would've made. The three giants had faces etched with sadistic grins, showing of their flawless oral hygiene. "C'mon!!" Nico urged Adri as they ran to get further away from the giants.

     "GUYS!! WHAT THE HELHEIM??!!" Alex yelled as she caught up beside them. Behind Alex was Magnus, who hurtled Jack at one of the giants. "Adri jinxed us!!" Nico gave Adri a pointed look. "I jinxed us!! ME??!!" "Yes, you!! You're the one who said our quest was quite harmless!!" Nico said, recalling her exact words. "I didn't know!!"

     Nico threw a look behind him and his eyes widened in alarm. "We need to stand and fight!!" Adri hollered. "One's done. The other two, I think we can take them." Magnus told the three as his eyes fell on an empty patch of land bordering the woods. He pointed at it and like a well oiled machine, they ran over in synchronisation.

     They ran and stopped in the middle of the space. "Are these Norse or Greek??" Adri asked as she watched the giants who have now slowed down to a walk. "Norse, I'm pretty sure. I think they're Earth Giants who are using Glamour to appear smaller." Adri nodded at this information and summoned her scythe.

     The giants, who were now less than twenty feet away, started circling the demigods. "Guys. Don't aim for the heart. Their hearts explode and they are literally impossible to remove." Magnus warned them as the first giant charged at them. Adri and Alex rolled to the right as Nico and Magnus went the other direction.

     "C'mon little demigods. I just want to eat you~" The other giant said. "I'm not quite tasty??" Adri said in a meek attempt to thwart the giants. "That's quite alright. We'll have you anyway." The giant ran at them again and nearly backhanded Magnus. Alex flew to Adri as a bee and said, "Distract one of 'em and tell Nico to do the other one. We'll get it."

     Adri managed to get to Nico without being turned into puree. "Distract one. Magnus and Alex wi-" Adri didn't even get to finish before Nico nodded and ran at one of the giants. "Hey, Mr. Big Ugly!! Come and get me!!" A giant following Magnus veered and went after Nico. 

     "You've got this Morte." Adri told herself and went to the other giant. "Hey, sir!! Let's discuss how you want to eat me!! Come along now!!" The giant nodded and followed. She saw Alex with her garrote and ran over. "I'd like to eat you in hor d'oeuvre sized pieces!!" In his excitement to catch Adri, he hadn't noticed Alex who pounced up in jaguar form and landed on his neck.

     "Sorry. You're not eating my friend today." "What??" were his last words as his head rolled off of his shoulders and fell with a thud. Alex jumped down and landed beside Adri just before his body fell over. "You good??" Adri shrugged. "As good as anyone who was just told someone would like to eat them in hor d'oeuvre sized pieces." Adri answered with a poker face. Alex laughed and patted her on the back. "You're already getting better at this."

     Magnus and Nico jogged to where they were standing. "That was nice. Let's hope no one jinxes us again." Nico said, glaring at Adri. "What??!! I didn't know you'd jinx yourself if you said that. I never realized!!" she defended herself, folding her hands across her chest with a huff. Nico rolled his eyes. A retort was on the tip of his tongue but Magnus began before him.

     "Guys. I think we need to go into the woods." he said, his tone panicked. "What do you mean??" He got out the grape-sized-garnet he kept in his pocket and held it in his palm. There, it sat throbbing with light as if it were the heart of some small creature.

     Experimentally, Magnus walked towards the woods. The glow became brighter and faster. He walked further away from the woods and the glow became dimmer and slower. They looked at each other. "Well, we know where we're going today." Nico said laconically.

     The quartet walked on ward, towards the woods. "Are you literally humming Hide n' Seek??" "Yes I am!!" Adri stated brightly as the canopy grew thicker and sunlight grew weaker. "Also, Maggie. What's the time??" Adri asked. "9:45. Also, will you mind telling me why you're so happy and what we're going to eat??" Adri chuckled. "Let's set up camp somewhere. Then I'll give you all food to eat."

     And at about 10 o'clock, they found the perfect spot next to a flowing creek and set up camp. "Let us all now eat!!" Adri announced as she brought out some pie and sandwiches and put them on four paper plates. Alex looked at her in amazement. "It hasn't gone bad??!!" "No. When things enter my bag, it's like they're frozen in time. So, they'll always be fresh." "Man, that's awesome." Alex replied and happily dug in. Magnus followed suit. When Nico had made certain Magnus and Alex wouldn't die from the food, he, too, took a bite and ate it.