FITZ GAPED AT the hologram.

He wasn't expecting it to light up the way it was. Ok, it wasn't exactly lighting up—anyone who didn't know what they were looking for would probably dismiss it—but the tiny clusters of red scattered across the globe worried him. The search results for a metal like the one Annabeth's dagger was made of had turned out to be much more numerous than he'd anticipated.

He wasn't sure if this was good or bad.

The highest concentrations were in Long Island and San Francisco—the latter not a coincidence, he figured. They had taken the kids into custody around there, after all. There was also quite a bit in the Mediterranean Sea, and scattered throughout Greece and Italy. With what the demigods had told them, the metal was divine, and it was scarce.

The scientific possibilities were incredible. But he wasn't really thinking about that. He came to the conclusion that if the weapons were gifts from the gods (actual gods, totally insane), then there were a lot more demigods than Percy and Annabeth had implied. He understood their desire to keep it a secret, especially considering what they'd all been through in the past few days, but Percy had to have known this would happen. He wasn't stupid.

He waved his hand and the hologram disappeared. All things considered, it would be much harder to pinpoint Annabeth's location now. There were too many options. He had to hope Percy had some sort of insider information they could use to narrow the search down even a little.

Fitz chewed his nails. How would Percy react to this? When the team tried to interrogate him and even mentioned the camp, the guy practically had a meltdown then and there. Fitz had never seen anything like it, and he was prone to meltdowns. Brain damage had its perks.

"Hey," said a tired voice from behind him. "Just got back. Flying sucks." Percy approached the holotable, looking like he hadn't slept in days. "How's it going?"

"I...I sh-should be asking you that," Fitz deflected, looking up at the kid. "You l-look awful."

"I feel awful, so that's a relief." Percy blinked slowly. The stress was apparent on his face.

"So," Fitz said cautiously, "The sc-scan just completed."

Percy's eyebrows went up a bit, but he didn't say anything.

Fitz took a breath and brought up the hologram again. The tiny pinpoints of red stared him down, like he was looking at something he wasn't supposed to.

Percy's jaw clenched, and he looked paler. Somehow this made Fitz feel a little better—he'd made the right call when he asked the team to give them some privacy.

"The search results are...are not as ex-expected." Fitz gestured to the map. "I was hoping that...hoping that you could help narrow it d-down."

Percy bit his lip and gave a small nod.

"So...these," Fitz said, pointing out the two biggest clusters. "They're..."

"Irrelevant." Percy's voice was low and quiet. "She's not at either of those."

Fitz nodded. "Great. I'll just...just del-delete them, then." He made a few tapping motions, and they disappeared. "Gone forever n-now. Rather unfortunate that I didn't...that I didn't back it up on our s-servers before I did that."

Percy visibly relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief. "What a shame."

The knot that had formed in Fitz's chest unraveled. He wasn't lying to SHIELD. He was just protecting a friend. "Are there any other...any other lo-locations you think you can r-r-rule out?"

Percy's brow furrowed. He was silent for a moment, then asked, "Are any of them near cave systems?" He sounded unsure.

"Erm...prob-probably." Fitz typed in a few commands, and most of the dots disappeared. "Why?"

Percy shrugged. "Annabeth had a dream a few nights ago. Had a pit in it. Kinda similar, right?"

"You're...you're guessing based on a dr-dream?"

Percy sighed. The bags under his eyes were purplish. Fitz wondered if the poor kid would accept a sedative to help him sleep. "Demigod dreams are...different. Prophetic, I guess."

Sure, why not. Fitz nodded as if he understood, but he didn't. The concept of prophetic dreams didn't confuse him, but demigods? Very much so. After this was all over, he and Jemma were going to do some serious reading on mythology.

"Well then," Fitz said, rotating the globe. "Looks like w-we have...five locations to invest-investigate."

"Four, actually," Percy corrected. He motioned to the dot in northern Alaska. "That's in the Arctic Circle. The gods can't reach anyone there."

          Fitz didn't understand why certain areas of the globe were off limits to divine interdimensional beings, but he trusted Percy knew what he was talking about. "Alright. Four, then."

          Percy's expression darkened. "I don't even know where we should start."

          "W-well," Fitz began, "I suppose we should...we should talk to the rest of th-the team."

★

The darkness that had been pressing Annabeth's eyes into her skull was pressing a little less. The faint glow coming from Mack wasn't enough to ease her anxiety, but it was still a comfort. She was kidnapped, in a cold, wet cave somewhere, but at least she could see.

He held one of his hands up as if he couldn't believe it. She didn't blame him. "What..?"

Annabeth pulled it closer to her so she could look at it. Here they were, in complete and total darkness, where she couldn't see her own hand if it was an inch in front of her face, and he was visible. "Have you ever..."

"Never," he answered, inspecting his other hand.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "You're a mechanic? Like to build things? Math and engineering is your thing?"

"Yeah," Mack said breathlessly. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"You're a demigod, Mack."

She could feel his shock, and he pulled his hand back. "What?"

She took a breath. "We didn't get the chance to tell you, but yeah." She shifted. "You flatlined. Percy and I have this—well, basically it's godly food. It has healing properties, but only for demigods. If mortals ate any, it would burn them from the inside out."

Mack's eyebrows shot up. It was weird being able to see him but nothing else. "And you just gave it to me?"

Annabeth shook her head. "We checked first. My dagger cut you, right?"

Mack's hand went to the small band-aid on his forearm. "How did you know?"

Annabeth sighed. "I saw the band-aids after you took us into custody. It's made of a special metal. Can't harm mortals. But I did cut you with it again to double check before I gave you any."

"Okay, so..." Mack trailed off, thinking. Annabeth felt bad that he was finding out like this, but it's not like she had any other options. "If I'm a demigod...which god..."

"My guess is Hephaestus," Annabeth said gently. "He's the god of the forge. His kids are always building things and putting stuff together." She paused, looking at Mack. The glow was strongest in his chest and seemed to fade the farther it got. Leo, however...his fire seemed to concentrate in his hands and his head. "Not to mention the fire."

"Fire?"

"Some of Hephaestus' kids are fire-users. Not a lot. My friend Leo was the first in years." She eyed Mack, who looked tired. "The glow...I don't know. You might have some abilities."

Mack rubbed his face with his hands. "Jesus."

Annabeth bit her lip. "Yeah. It's...a lot."

Mack was silent.

"I suppose now's a better time than any to see what you can do," Annabeth suggested softly.

"But—how would I even—I've never—" Mack stammered. The glow in his chest flickered.

Annabeth placed a hand on his. "It's instinctual," she told him. "Try not to freak out. If it's there, it'll happen."

          "I hope you're right," Mack mumbled, "and I also hope we can figure out how to get out of here before whoever put us here comes for us."

           No sooner had the words left his mouth than the the ground beneath them trembled. The shaking was almost imperceptible, but it was there. A deep, quiet rumble rose up to Annabeth's ears like a gust of cold air.

          She bit her lip. "I think it might be a little too late for that last one." As dark as it was, she didn't need to see to know Mack's eyes were boring into her. "We can stay here, or we can try to find an escape. Neither option looks good."

Mack thought for a moment. "Better to try than to be sitting ducks." She felt him shift next to her, and a low groan escaped him.

"Are you sure you're okay to move? You're still injured."

He grunted, finding his way to his feet. "I've been worse."

Annabeth steeled herself, allowing a moment of breathing before starting. The rumbling was getting louder. "Careful where you step. The ground could drop off at any point." She stuck one arm out in front of her and linked the other in his. The glow allowed her to just barely make out her own fingertips, but beyond them, nothing. The cold, damp air caressed them. Annabeth didn't like it one bit.

They started slowly making their way. Where? Who knows. The rumbling made it hard to focus, but at least they didn't have to whisper as softly. Inch by inch. With every passing second she grew more and more uneasy, and it had nothing to do with the noise and everything to do with being encased in the earth with no clear exit plan.

Just as she was reminding herself for the hundredth time that it was this or sitting on her ass waiting for death, Mack drew in a small gasp. "I think I found a wall."

He guided her over, and sure enough, a cold piece of rock slick with groundwater met her hand. "Okay so...we just...follow it, then."

"Which direction?" Mack asked.

"Hell if I know," she whispered back. "Uh...this way," she said with no confidence whatsoever. She just wanted to get away from that disconcerting rumbling. "Don't take your hand off the wall."

Mack agreed and placed his other hand on her shoulder. They walked along the wall, careful but not sure what of. The rock trembled beneath their fingers.

          Annabeth wasn't sure if her eyes were adjusting or the lack of light was playing tricks on her, but it seemed like she could see a tiny bit farther than she could before. Or maybe Mack was figuring out how to brighten the whole glowing thing he had going on. Either way, she wasn't complaining. The noise crept up on them like a cat on a mouse. Annabeth did not like that simile at all.

          Okay, she could definitely see a little bit. No, a little more than a little bit. "I told you you'd get it," she said over her shoulder.

          "Get what?" he asked stupidly.

          "The glow. I—" It suddenly occurred to Annabeth that Mack wasn't the one providing the light. But it was too late.

          A cold feeling pricked the back of her neck, and Annabeth felt her joints stiffening like they'd been oiled with superglue. She and Mack slid to the cavern floor, motionless. A panic rose in her throat. She couldn't even blink, let alone turn her head, but whatever was behind them scared her shitless. The rumbling, as loud as it had grown, halted abruptly.

          "Trying to escape, then?" A voice pierced the silence, sweet but lacking any softness. "That won't work. Not down here. Not from me."

          Annabeth tried to open her mouth, but nothing happened. She could only stare ahead helplessly. Lying in wait for the predator behind them.

           "Never you mind. I'm ready for you two. Come on down." The speaker paused. "We've got business to attend to."

𝚫

this book is doing so well and it's all because of you!! it's been at the top of #pjofandom for two weeks and counting, which is incredibly fitting since i have only the pjo fandom to thank. i've also just hit 50k reads! it's been a wild ride and i only hope it gets wilder. thank you guys so much for your comments and votes, you have no idea how much they mean to me and it makes me so happy to know you're enjoying this experience as much as i am. i love you!!
also i want to know what your reading preferences are. personally mine are set to dark paper and white text and the font is as small as it can go. do you scroll or turn pages?? i need to know for research purposes (not really im just curious).
lots of love and HUGE thanks,
cajoling

9/7/20