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Chapter Quote:
"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."
~Ernest Hemingway
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Chapter 4: I Have A Favor to Call In

Isabelle

The twins stared at the remnants of the battle, some charred grass and the smell and broken arrows. Macaria, upon realizing Bryn was gone and that the battle was in the demigods' favor, disappeared with a snap of her fingers.

"We need to find Bryn," Isabelle stated. "She could be in serious trouble if she's facing this Amara person alone."

"Is it a person or a thing?" Alec countered, scanning the forest for any more attackers.

"We'll find out. Let's go." The two of them set off. It was Isabelle who found Bryn's footprints in the mud, despite them being extremely faint and shallow imprints. More than once they were lost, requiring the demigods to retrace their steps and find the trail where they'd lost it. After two hours of tracking, the twins finally came to a halt.

"We never should've let her go by herself," Alec muttered. "She didn't want us to go with her in the first place and probably saw this as an opportunity to drop us."

"Bryn may be many things, but I don't think leaving us for sheer dislike of the situation is one of them."

"And you know this because you know her oh so well?"

"What's gotten into you? You're usually stoic and sassy but now you're grumpy too. What gives?"

"I don't like her. She's too reckless and unpredictable."

"But other than that, she's a lot like you," Isabelle pointed out.

"She's the complete opposite of me," Alec argued.

"Would do anything for her family, doesn't trust new people, stoic, stubborn, and the only person she listens to is herself. Alec, she bugs you because she's just like you and the only person you don't have semi-control over."

"I don't have control over you."

"I don't count. I'm your sister. No brother has control over their sister. Although whether sisters have control over their brothers is another question."

"Izzy, do you hear that?" Alec interrupted.

"You hear a lot that I don't. What is it this time?"

"That's just it. I don't hear anything. We're in the middle of a jungle. It's not going to be this quiet."

"Alec, is it just me or do I see a temple?"

"No, it's not just you. Come on, let's go investigate. Be prepared for anything though." Isabelle rolled her eyes at her brother's warning, annoyed that he believed she wasn't always ready for anything. That's how they'd been trained. Of course she was going to be careful.

They made their way up to the steps of the temple. Immediately an ominous feeling crept up Isabelle's spine. If Alec hadn't been here with her, she would've turn and ran as far away as possible from there, not stopping until she reached civilization. If Bryn was actually up there, the girl certainly had guts, but she also had to have had some insanity to go alone.

Shaking the menacing thoughts from her head, Isabelle and Alec walked up the steps with the latter keeping an eye on the rear while the latter kept an eye on the front. They reached the top of the steps without trouble.

"Oh no," Alec breathed, rushing away from his sister. Isabelle darted after him to see what was wrong, only to be greeted with an awful sight. Bryn- pale, bleeding, and unconscious- on the floor in front of them. Her brother placed two fingers on the side of the girl's neck, checking for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief, announcing, "She's alive. It's stronger than I thought it'd be. I don't want to move her but I don't like being up here either. The sooner we can get her to wake up, the better. Do you have any nectar?"

"Here," she replied, handing him a small vial. He unscrewed the lid and poured some into Bryn's mouth. An agonizingly long minute later, her eyes fluttered open. Her hazel eyes went in and out of focus.

"Derek?" She murmured.

"No, Alec. What happened?"

"Give her some time wake up," Isabelle chastised. "She doesn't look good."

"Can you walk?" he inquired. "We should get away from here."

"There's... no danger. We're safe..." Bryn told them. "I got my answer."

"So do you have the cure for your family?"

She nodded. "There's only one ingredient we'll need."

"Ingredient? What in- Bryn, don't go-" The daughter of Zeus closed her eyes. "-back to sleep... Now what?"

"We camp out here for the night because I don't think it's the best idea to move her. One of us should stay awake in case anything comes for us,"

"I'll take first watch," Alec offered. His sister didn't argue, wanting to collapse and fall asleep right on the cold stone floor. However, she laid out her sleeping bag because she wanted some comfort around her. And, even though she trusted her brother with her life and knew he would keep a sharp eye out for anything and everything, Isabelle still kept her sword in its ring form, ready to attack if need be.
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Bryn

"Brady?! Brady where are you?!" His sister shouted.

"Bryn! I'm over here!" He yelled back. In the blink of an eye, she slid to a stop in front of him. He was chained up to stalagmites in the darkness of the cave, the only source of light being a heatless fire in front of him, causing light to reflect off the crystals in the cave. "What's wrong? Why are you so pale?"

"Nice to see you too," she retorted. "Where are you? I need to know so I can come rescue you."

"How are you going to save me if you don't know how to stop the Eidolons?"

"I found a way. I just need to get someone to agree to it. Now, tell me where you are?"

"Uh, somewhere in tunnels underneath Death Valley. Listen, I don't know how but Damianos knows you're coming. He's expecting you. What exactly is your plan? You better not be doing this alone."

"I'm not alone. I have Isabelle and Alec with me."

"Wait, that hot Brazilian girl?" Brady immediately perked up.

"I'll tell her you said that, especially because she remembers you. We'll head over soon. Just trust me, I have a plan up my sleeve. I just need to get the ingredient which might be tricky but I'll manage..."

"What is it?"

"I'm worried that if Damianos finds out I've been talking to you, he'll interrogate the information out of you and I don't want to risk having you go through that. Hang tight, we're coming for you. I love you."

"I love you too... hey Bryn?"

"Hmm?"

"What did you have to do to get the information on how to defeat the Eidolons?"

"I did my research so I wouldn't be screwed over, nor would any of you. I learned my lesson from Hannah. I'm not making that mistake twice. I have no plans of leaving any of you."

"Good. I'll see you soon, sis."
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Bryn blinked, blinded by the flickering flames of the fire in front of her, eerily mimicking the fire in her dream. The only difference was the one produced some heat. Alec sat directly opposite to her, his bow nocked with an arrow and although he sat casually, she knew he could lift it in a flash in case trouble arose. Isabelle was to Bryn's left, curled up under a sleeping bag.

"What happened?" Bryn asked.

"You passed out and Isabelle didn't think it was a good idea to move you," Alec responded quietly.

"Are you two okay? Did Macaria hurt you?"

"We're fine. No injuries."

Bryn sat up, rubbing her forehead to get rid of the massive migraine. It offered little relief. Upon seeing what she was doing, Alec handed her some ambrosia and nectar, asking, "What in Hades name did you do that caused you to pass out and to have that cut on your hand?"

"A blood sacrifice had to be made to talk to Amara. The hand plus that bowl plus all the blood equals passing out. Thank you for the ambrosia and nectar. It's helping."

"So what did she say we needed?"

"We need ichor from the gods. If it gets into the blood stream of my family members possessed, it will kick the Eidolon out of their system. Apparently it's toxic to them."

"How are we going to get ichor?"

"I have a few favors I can call in from the war."

Silence ensued after that. Bryn finally had a moment to take in her surroundings, to study everything, and everyone, around her. The floor of the temple was much cleaner than she would have expected. The wind must've blown everything out over the centuries of abandoment. The ceiling and walls were almost black, inscriptions on them long gone from the years of erosion from the elements.

Her focus then trained on Alec who was scanning the environment down below them. His black hair was styled upwards, his brown eyes were sharp and calculating, causing the daughter of Zeus to have a bit of a revelation. Perhaps the reason she clashed with him so much was because he was so much like her. At least how she was before she met Luke. She had to admit, looking back, she must've been a miserable old soul. How Derek had put up with her all those years, she had no idea.

"What are you staring at?" Alec asked in annoyance, giving her a brief glance before continuing his environment assessment.

"What are your tattoos? I noticed you and Isabelle both have them," Bryn replied quickly so she wouldn't be accused of mindless ogling.

"Everyone at camp gets them. When you've completed a training course or an obstacle in life, you get a tattoo. Like this one," Alec rolled up his sleeve to show one of the marks. To Bryn it appeared to look like a weird, pointed six with two lines going across the top. "It's to signify I conquered the reconnaissance course in my training. This one here, the one that looks like two curly M's put together, it means stealth. You can figure out how I got that one."

"Are they permanent?"

"Yes."

"Does it hurt to get them?"

"A little."

"We have a similar ceremony in Camp Half-Blood, except instead of tattoos, we get beads with the engraving of a major event that happened that summer. This past summer, we had a lot of campers lose their lives trying to defeat Hannah, so we have a bead with all the deceased's names. This one was the very first one I received. It has a lightning bolt because that was the first time a child of Zeus had been claimed at camp. Of course there have been multiple children of Zeus, but none were officially claimed on camp grounds. This one here, the owl and the Trident signifies Luke and Silena coming to camp. They're legacies, and legacies of Percy and Annabeth Jackson, so everyone was all over them."

"Percy and Annabeth Jackson?" Alec repeated, his eyebrows raised.

"You know about them?"

"They're famous to all demigods no matter where you are. You're dating their son?"

"Yes. I don't think any of us ever saw that coming. A daughter of Zeus and a grandson of Poseidon... the odds of it working out well between us were low but we've made it work."

"Wait, so if you're a daughter of Zeus, then doesn't that make Athena your sister?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So that makes Annabeth you're niece?"

"Uh-"

"And Luke and Silena your great niece and nephew?"

"Yes... to be honest, I've tried not to think about that. Thank the gods our bloodlines don't work like normal mortals do. Listen, why don't you get some sleep? I can take the next watch."

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

Bryn nodded. "Besides, I have some planning to do and I'm better at doing it by myself than with other people around."

"You're a loner?"

"Introverted except around people I trust. I'm much more open than I used to be."

"Shocking. You're not that open now."

"So I've heard, but look who I'm talking to. Get some rest and thank you for everything."

A flash of surprised crossed Alec's face just enough for Bryn to see it. He responded, "You're welcome."
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After Alec fell asleep, Bryn headed down the steps of the temple so she wouldn't be overheard. She knew nothing was going to come after Alec and Isabelle because nothing, not even monsters, wanted to come near Amara. The Eidolon was terrifyingly powerful and cunning, but Bryn had felt its tiredness. It was tired of fighting and wars. It just wanted to rest now.

Bryn pulled out her cellphone and dialed Hermes. Of all the gods, he was the most normal, but he'd been through a lot with one of his sons that had changed him. Bryn knew that Luke Castellan, whom her boyfriend was named after, had nearly taken down the gods by siding with the titan Kronos. In a last minute change of heart, he had helped Percy and Annabeth save the world. Hermes owed not just Percy and Annabeth for saving his son from a much worse fate, but he also owed Bryn one for saving some of his kids from dire situations before the war with Tartarus.

"Bryn Winchester, what can I do for you?" Hermes asked when he picked up.

"I don't know what all you've heard about what's going on-"

"You mean with the Eidolons?"

"Yes... listen, I found a way to expel them from my family's bodies, but I need your help. I was hoping I could cash in on that favor."

"What do you need?"

"This is going to sound completely insane but I need some ichor. I found out that if any ichor gets into a hosts' body, it will expel the Eidolon. Ichor is toxic to them apparently."

"You'd be correct but you'd best hope that they haven't siphoned enough strength from your family to become their full manifestations."

"If they have, then we'll deal. We need to deal with this one step at a time. You think you could help me?"

"Where are you? I'll deliver it to you."

"I'm at some temple in Mexico."

"You're not at Amara's temple are you?"

"You know her?"

"I know of her. The resources and lives it took to defeat her last time, I don't want to even think about it. I won't come near that place but I'll meet you somewhere else. Where are you headed?"

"We're heading up to Death Valley. That's where Brady and Derek are. Well, Derek is currently possessed but that's not important at the moment and beside the point."

"It's probably important to him but I get what you're saying. How are you getting to California?"

"Probably flying to Vegas and then driving from there."

"Then I'll meet you at McCarran International Airport. I'll see you soon, Miss Winchester."

"Thank you so much, Lord Hermes. I really appreciate this."

"Try to prevent the next giant war from happening. We're still recuperating from Hannah and her father."

"Believe me, I know. I'll see you soon."

Bryn hung up and took a deep breath. She knew her family was going to kill her when they found out what she'd done to get the information from Amara about how to expel the Eidolons from Luke, Derek, and Bradley, but it was necessary. Not to mention she had most certainly learned what to say when making an immortal swear an oath so that she wouldn't be betrayed again. Bryn had too much to live for and too much going for her to risk losing it all by making a stupid deal. Her negotiation had been stupid in the first place, but it'd worked in her favor. That was all that mattered at the moment.
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Hope you enjoyed and I'm so sorry it took so long to get up! Between my job and working on a research proposal for school, I've been swamped. Reviews would be lovely :)