CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN:
LIES OF THE DAMNED

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

"HOW LONG DO WE have?"

"I'd say five minutes. Maybe ten if we can keep them distracted."

"Well, Leo, be my guest."

For the love of Hades, if the eidolons didn't kill them first, Annais was going to rip Leo Valdez a new one! Getting them away from the eidolons was one thing, but did he have to melt their only exit shut? Now what were they supposed to do?

Leo either didn't hear Annais or decided to push his luck by ignoring her. He took a moment to scan the room, eagerly searching through clusters of what looked like scrap metal in Annais' eyes. Through hordes of rusting tools and half-finished projects, only one thing caught her attention. There was a strange black sword hanging from the wall which, she couldn't lie, she was rather tempted to take for a test run. The eidolons were the obvious choice of victim, but when Leo suddenly started whispering to himself and Annais remembered there were three eidolons and only two mannequins, she began to rethink her next move.

"Whoa! What do you think you are doing?"

Annais' brows almost immediately furrowed into a scowl.

"What?"

Her hand was still outstretched towards the sword, caught between scepticism and pure spite.

"You're asking to get cursed," Leo said obstinately.

"As long as I take you down with me, I'm willing to risk it."

Leo pouted at her. "You're being so mean to me today."

"Take a look at where we are right now, Leo," Annais grumbled, though there admittedly was no bite to her words. She didn't have the energy to be genuinely annoyed. "Sorry I can't pull the sun out of my ass for you."

Meanwhile, back out in the hallway, the eidolons were going rabid in their attempt to shake down the gates. "Leo Valdez! Annais Min!" She was surprised they knew her name. She was beginning to think she was just the protector. "Open this gate or I will kill you!"

"A fair and generous offer," Leo retorted, in a tone that was far too familiar to Ezra for Annais' liking. "Just let me finish this -- or us, I should say." Though, really, Annais wasn't doing much but glowering at him. "A last request, alright?"

There was a brief pause as the eidolons considered his words.

"Have they left?" Annais whispered.

And the shaking started again.

"Good going," Leo huffed before calling out in a falsely cheerful tone, "Who is it?"

"Valdez!"

"Valdez who?"

Annais snorted, though she almost immediately regretted it when Leo's lips tugged into a proud smirk. As if he needed any more of an ego boost...

"Alright, Leonidas," Annais clapped her hands together and dutifully ignored his pointed scowl. "Let's get to work. What are we doing here?"

Leo contemplated his answer for a moment before responding, "Maybe you should take the backseat for this one."

"I beg your pardon?"

But Leo wasn't listening anymore. He'd turned his back on her and the gate, rifling through the workbench and his toolbelt. Now that he was distracted, Annais turned back to the black sword freely. Deep down, her heart recognised it. But it was only once she had it in her hands that she knew. It was Nico's. So far from its owner, the life seemed to have drained out of it. The metal was cold and unforgiving. Dead as the heart of its owner. She knew then that Hazel had been tricked. What she was tracking to bring them to Nico, it had to be this sword. And if his captors knew that...

"Valdez!" the eidolons roared. The gates began to groan. Annais' stomach twisted as she forced herself to return Nico's sword to its spot on the wall. "Our third comrade will kill your friends!"

"Yeah, okay," Leo sighed, and Annais gaped at his back. "You got me. Just... just a sec!"

"Leo," she hissed.

"No more seconds," the first mannequin growled. "Open this gate now. Or they die. Will you let your sister die because of your selfishness, Annais Min?"

In an instant, Hazel had become Penelope. Everywhere Annais turned, death followed. And she, the one who was supposed to command it? Had lost control. Annais was clutching at straws, barely managing to keep her head above water. Penelope, Nico, Hazel. . . and she was standing by, pretending to understand what Leo was doing with his tools and the junk around them. Christ above, she'd barely even recognised her own brother's sword, and he rarely went anywhere without it.

Annais reached the gates in time to see the bronze basketballs roar to life again. Tendrils of electricity spat out and sent another gut-twisting shock through Hazel and Frank's bodies. Annais swore she heard Hazel cry out, beg for Annais to help her. And yet, she hesitated. The gate was sealed shut, the eidolons were watching her inch closer, and she did nothing. She felt... frozen in time. Like her mind was worlds away.

"I need the access code for this sphere," she heard Leo declare.

Alarm bells sounded in her head. She forced herself to turn away from Hazel and Frank, stepping back into the room where Leo was. When she saw what he was holding, her palm smacked against his wrist, Nemesis' fortune cookie cracking and crumbling into dust. The little piece of paper inside fluttered to the floor.

"Why would you do that?" she exclaimed, and was surprised to feel the prick of tears behind her eyes. They didn't fall. Annais hadn't cried for a long time. Not when Penelope died, not in the months after. She didn't cry when Nico's death hung like a knife over her head, or even now, on the day she lost one sibling and everything else was in peril. But the urge to scream had grown in her throat, and so she slammed her fist into the table.

She was useless.

Hea or Mel or even Ezra would've been better off with their friends.

At least then, they would've stood a chance.

"Leo, why?"

"I didn't have a choice," he snapped, and snatched the paper off the floor. He read over the words and scoffed. Annais snatched it from him to see for herself.

THAT'S YOUR REQUEST? SERIOUSLY? (OVER)

"What the--"

"Turn it over."

Then, on the other side:

YOUR LUCKY NUMBERS ARE: TWELVE, JUPITER, ORION, DELTA, THREE, THETA, OMEGA. (WREAK VENGEANCE UPON GAEA, LEO VALDEZ.)

"Gods and their fucking riddles."

She crumpled the paper into a ball and pegged it across the room. A moment later, as the eidolons started to taunt them again, a rusted screw-driver followed it, ricocheting off the wall and landing in a pile of metal strips.

"If friends do not matter to you -- or family -- perhaps you need more of an incentive. Perhaps, I should destroy these scrolls instead; the priceless works by Archimedes!"

"Leo..."

Finally, Leo met her eyes. She'd expected him to react rashly, to give in then and there at the thought of risking something so important to the legacy of Hephaestus. But he remained incredibly calm -- once again, their roles had been flipped; maybe it was some kind of Freaky Friday scenario, where Annais was the one without the answers and Leo was willing to take the risks -- getting to work and directing Annais around the workshop like he was made just to build things then pick them apart. This was his fate.

"What are you doing?" the second mannequin demanded after catching a glimpse of Annais handing Leo a hammer. "Stop this foolishness and surrender!"

"Well, if you put it like that..."

Leo managed a small, distracted grin. "Don't mind us! We're totally surrendering!"

"Any second now! Just you wait..."

After several attempts and equally as many failures, something finally happened. Leo and Annais approached the gate just in time to catch a glimpse of one of the bronze basketballs floating into the air. With the eidolons distracted by their approach and supposed defeat, neither of them noticed as the orb, controlled by miniature helicopter blades, snatched up the scrolls in its thin, golden arms and disappeared.

Annais let out a laugh of victory.

The eidolons hesitated.

"Enough!" the first mannequin yelled with impatience. "I will destroy the--" He cut himself off with a strained gasp. He'd seen the bronze basketball. "What? Kill the prisoners!"

Whatever he was trying to accomplish didn't seem to work. When nothing happened, Leo joined Annais in her laughter, going as far as to poke his tongue out at them again.

Fed up, the eidolons turned to each other. "Come! We'll destroy the demigods ourselves."

"I don't think so, guys," Leo and Annais shared a look of their own.

Annais smiled and waved her fingers at them. "Say hello to Gaea for me."

"You're in Leo World now!"

"What about Leo and Annais World?"

"I don't know. It just doesn't have the same ring to it."

With a clench of his fist, another shock wave -- this time controlled by Leo -- coursed through the floor towards the eidolons. Stopping short of himself and Annais, and going around Hazel and Frank, the first eidolon trembled until his armour began to rattle. The golden hue of his eyes sharpened with thousands of tiny electricity bolts. One mannequin turned on the other.

"What are you doing?" his friend frowned with an uneasy edge to his voice. "We have to--"

His companion's sword slammed into the top of the first mannequin's head. Wires and molten metal trickled through the gaping holes the weapon had left behind. "Stop that," he howled, though there was no pain to his voice; just annoyance.

"I can't," his friend wailed before hitting him again.

Part of his helmet cracked in two.

"Valdez!" called one eidolon as Leo snickered and had them throw their swords into the air. "You're going to die for this!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, who's possessing who now, Casper?"

Annais smirked and nudged his arm. "Alright, Valdez, I think you've had enough fun playing with your food. Finish them off."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am."

Saluting Annais with one hand, Leo clenched his other fist and the mannequins danced the jitterbug in a circle around Hazel and Frank. Once they'd reached the opposite side of the table to them, he narrowed his eyes and their joints began to smoke from little spot fires.

"Frank! Hazel!" Leo suddenly shouted to their friends. Both were only just beginning to stir and didn't seem to notice the look of alarm on Leo's face, or the wariness as Annais tugged at the gates fruitlessly. "Take cover!"

He dragged Annais back a couple steps, just in case. The two watched in amazement as the mannequins erupted like overflowing volcanos, sharp metal shards embedding themselves into the ancient stone walls. Beneath the large workbench, Frank had dragged Hazel out of the firing line. They coughed and sputtered as thick, heady fumes filled the air.

In the chaos, Annais didn't hesitate.

With one push of the gate, the bars went tumbling down. The eidolons had been so close yet so far. She raced across the room, Leo hot on her heels as she threw her arms around a dazed Hazel and squeezed her tight.

"I thought you were..." Her voice caught. She swallowed thickly.

"I'm alright," Hazel murmured, and yet she pulled back with one eye twitching. "But... what exactly happened?"

"Archimedes came through!" Leo replied breezily. Annais was the only one who noticed the grim set of his brows. For a second, his own fears glared through. What would've happened if he hadn't acted when he did? Would Annais be the next Min to hold a dead sister in her arms? "Just enough power left in those old machines for one final show! Once I had the access code, it was easy."

"I helped," Annais added.

"Annais helped."

Frank groaned, rubbing at a tender bruise forming on his forehead. "The eidolons... are they gone?. . ."

Leo nodded and puffed out his chest. "My last command overloaded their kill switches. It basically locked down all their circuits and melted their cores."

"In English?"

"I trapped the eidolons inside the wiring. Then I melted them. They won't be bothering anyone again."

He watched as Annais helped Hazel to her feet, then stepped forward to offer Frank his hand. "You guys saved us," the son of Mars said with wide, grudgingly respectful eyes.

Leo shrugged almost bashfully. "It was more me than Annais," he muttered, leaning in close so the eagle-eared girl wouldn't hear him. "But don't tell her I said that. She'll have my head on a stick."

Frank managed a small laugh.

"You know, it's too bad all this stuff got wrecked, but at least I salvaged the scrolls." In the sudden silence, Leo took to observing the room again. "If I can get them back to Camp Half-Blood, maybe I can learn how to recreate Archimedes's inventions."

Hazel rubbed the side of her head. She had one of her arms around Annais' waist, putting most of her weight up against her sister, who was more than happy to shoulder some of her pain. "But I don't understand. Where is Nico? That tunnel was supposed to lead us to Nico."

"Oh," Leo frowned. "Well... Hazel, how exactly were you tracking Nico? I mean, could you just sense him nearby because he was your brother? Wouldn't that mean that Annais could do the same thing?"

Annais had already begun to piece the picture together when Hazel grimaced and said, "No... not totally. Sometimes, I can tell when he's close -- I'm even getting the hang of it with Annais now -- but, like I said, Rome is so confusing, so much interference because of all the tunnels and caves--"

"You tracked him with your metal-finding senses," Leo filled in the blanks knowingly. He caught Annais' eyes and found guilt eating the pupils alive. "His sword?"

". . . How did you know?"

"You'd better come here."

Hazel started to sob the second she spotted the weapon. She knew without a doubt it was his. No checks were needed. She turned to Annais and buried her head against her shoulder. "But that's impossible. "Nico's sword was with him in the bronze jar! Percy saw it in his dream!"

"And Nico doesn't go anywhere without it," Annais mumbled.

"Well, either the dream was wrong," Leo sighed from where he was leaning up against the wall beside the mirror. "Or the giants moved the sword here as a decoy."

"So this was a trap?"

"Looks like it," Annais said with a grim frown. "They knew Hazel would be able to find him. Decided to kill two birds with one stone."

'But why?" Hazel struggled to say through tears. "W-where's our brother, Annie? We're running out of t-time!"

Beside Leo, the mirror began to hiss. Smoke seeped out of the reflective surface, clouding it up until their reflections were replaced by Gaea's sleeping face; peaceful, deadly. Leo leapt away with a shriek followed by a scowl. Gaea's voice was soft, taunting, eerie in the terrifying silence.

Ah, my poor demigods. Gaea's voice was like a scratch on Annais' brain. She shivered and gripped Hazel for dear life. You had your choice. I offered salvation to all of you. You could have turned back. Now, it is too late. You've come to the ancient lands where I am strongest, where I will wake.

Annais couldn't stand it. Letting out a huff or rage, she kicked one of the mirror's bronze legs until it clattered into the wall. Gaea's reflection remained stubbornly, even when Leo joined in and whacked his hammer against the surface.

"In case you haven't noticed, Dirt Face," he spat. "Your little ambush failed. Your three eidolons melted in bronze, and we're fine."

Gaea started to laugh. Annais had expected something straight out of a horror movie, but she was surprised to find how... innocent it sounded. Full of youth and knowledge. Like a friend about to stab you in the back with a machete. Oh, my sweet Leo. You four have been separated from your friends -- or, in some cases, your siblings. And that was the whole point.

Annais felt her heart skip a beat. The workshop door slammed shut, metal sharp against stone.

You are trapped in my embrace, Gaea cooed. Meanwhile, Annabeth Chase faces her death alone, terrified and crippled, at the hands of her mother's greatest enemy.

Before anyone could react, the reflection in the mirror twisted and turned until Gaea was barely visible. Through the mist, an image of Annabeth formed, her broken and bloody body sprawled out on a slab of stone. The shadow of an eight-legged monster loomed over her, hulking in the whites of her eyes. Her knife seemed pathetic in comparison to this beast. Neither Ezra or Percy were with her.

The others, Gaea seemingly read Annais' mind. Jason Grace, Piper McLean, my dear friend Percy Jackson, they will perish within minutes.

Instead of Annabeth, they looked upon Jason, Piper, Percy and -- and Ezra. Whether or not Gaea had deliberately left her out, Ezra Min was unmistakable as she gripped onto Percy's hand in her final moments. All four of them were encased in deadly black shadows.

Their powers will betray them, Gaea sighed like it was a genuine pity to see them go. They will die in their own elements. I almost hoped they would survive. They would have made a better sacrifice. But alas, Hazel and Frank, you will have to do. My minions will collect you shortly and bring you to the ancient place. Your blood will awaken me at last. Until then, I will allow you to watch your friends perish. Please...enjoy this last glimpse of your failed quest.

"My sisters will stop you!" Annais spat. She couldn't help it. How was she supposed to accept that this was how it was going to end? After everything they'd done just to get there... "I'll stop you! Come back and face me, Gaea!"

Gaea's face did not reappear. But someone else did, and Annais recognised her as easily as she could her own heart and mind. She sank to her knees in front of the mirror as the girl smiled at her.

"Penelope?"

Annais' fingers ghosted the reflection of the mirror. The metal was sleek and unforgiving, a cruel reminder that she was alive and Penelope was not. She could search for hours in the Underworld and plead with her father to right this wrong, but nothing could change what fate had in store...

And Penelope Min learned that the hard way.

Annais, I think you know deep down that you and your sisters are destined to fail, Gaea's voice returned with surprising intensity. Behind her, Annais' friends watched with wide eyes as Annais smashed her fist against the mirror. A new image had appeared, of Ezra bleeding out in Penelope's arms. The older girl sobbed and sobbed. She looked around like she was experiencing a horrible, mind-numbing dream. After all, you have no one but yourselves to blame.

Time seemed to bend and warp in a way that shouldn't have been possible. There was no way to describe it, but burning buildings exploded in on themselves, swords stabbed people in reverse, and Penelope Min stood in the centre of it all, morphing time until she reached the perfect moment. Annais blinked once, and Penelope was in Ezra's arms, her father's scythe sticking out of her stomach.

How could I forget Ezra Min when she kept our secret all this time?

The mirror exploded in bits of bronze.

Still, Annais didn't move, even after Leo kneeled and grabbed her face in his smouldering hands. "Hey! Annais, look at me, damn it."

She couldn't. For now that she'd found a place in her head, Gaea had burrowed in deep.

Penelope was the reason the Mins were... were cursed with this quest.

And Ezra had known right from the start.