KITTY WANTED TO FORCE FEED ALEX ambrosia by the time they reached downtown Baltimore, if only to wipe the angry glare off his face. His shoes stopped squeaking somewhere around the outskirts of the city. But she could see the pain he was in with every step forward on the concrete sidewalks or moment standing at a crosswalk.

Ophelia looked almost worse. Almost. The girl just couldn't handle how severe the sunlight was that day. Apollo had a sense of humor, apparently. Or maybe he'd been mad at Alex for mocking him by asking for a quick dry. Regardless, it must've been close to a hundred degrees as the sun reached its peak.

With little shade and running out of water, Kitty made the executive decision to find the tourist hot spots. Surely there'd be a food truck, or a museum, or literally anywhere they could all duck inside, rehydrate, and rest for a bit.

It surprised her a bit, worried her even, when Alex didn't protest. He had led them fearlessly since they'd set out over two days ago. Not that that was out of the ordinary. If he hadn't left Camp Half-Blood with Luke, Kitty figured he'd be running Cabin 11. But he had left. So he didn't.

He led their little gang, though. So when he didn't even try to help her navigate through the busy streets of Baltimore, she knew they needed a pit stop fast. Either those wet shoes had caused some pretty nasty blisters already, or he'd been wounded by the hellhounds and didn't tell them. Either was possible.

And Ophelia. Kitty glanced over at her as they stood waiting for a crosswalk signal. Her beautiful blonde hair that fell about her in ways that sometimes reminded Kitty of an angel looked stringy from sweat. Her usually pale skin burned red as a tomato despite the sunscreen they'd been trying to keep applied. Ophelia looked about ready to collapse as she leaned on Alex's shoulder.

Yeah. They needed to get inside, fast.

They crossed the street. Signs led her to the Inner Harbor. That sounded like a good tourist spot. Kitty had been in enough cities to make an educated guess. Waterfronts meant boats and fish shops and pretty walks along the river. That meant tourists. And tourists meant attractions.

So far, no signs of Laistrygonians like Philadelphia. No signs of any monsters, really. That was a relief after the nearly constant bombardment of attacks for a day and a half. Kitty had nothing against dogs but she had literally everything against big ones with bright red eyes made of black shadows that could pop in unannounced and happened to travel in packs.

Baltimore seemed pleasant enough even aside from the seeming lack of monsters. Quite walkable especially in the downtown areas, with interesting sculptures but also just cool old buildings that had been turned into modern stuff. Like the massive factory they'd just past that had been converted into a restaurant.

"Okay, but hear me out," Kitty said. "Hard Rock Café for lunch."

"I'm not hungry," Ophelia said.

Of course you're not. You're dying of heat exhaustion. But Kitty just turned to Alex. "Alex. Lunch in a converted factory."

He glanced up at the massive neon guitar towering above them connected to smoke stacks. As tourists moved past, he just frowned. He looked back at her. "Hardly inconspicuous, Kit. And loud."

Kitty sighed. He was right. But she needed food. Turning around, she looked across the water. They'd passed over several bridges already. The next one was small, really only for single file or two abreast, and made of questionably secure metal. But it led to another cool looking building so she gestured to it.

Alex went first this time. Kitty brought up the rear. She didn't love open water, especially after witnessing how destructive Percy Jackson could be with the sea. Hopefully Posiedon would continue to leave them alone. He probably would, so long as Alex didn't go around shouting about being mad at Percy or something. Which he wouldn't.

Probably.

When her feet hit concrete, she felt immensely better. No pissed off water god yet.

It didn't take long to figure out what the massive concrete and glass building to their left was. The Baltimore National Aquarium towered over them, the occasional passersby heading inside. Alex pulled them into the shadow of a tree.

"Thoughts?" Alex said.

Ophelia instantly nodded. "Inside. It'll be dark."

Kitty hesitated. She glanced back at the ocean water they'd just walked over. Did Poseidon have powers in an aquarium? But then again, an aquarium probably had a cafe at least, plus a lot of quiet, dark areas. And aquariums were cool.

"I'm in," she said.

It didn't take long for Alex to buy tickets. Before long, Kitty shuffled inside behind him and Ophelia, spellbound by the glass entrance exhibit; she'd never walked through a rainforest before. There weren't many people with them. Before long they entered the main hall. Blue carpet and grey walls covered in posters of fish and sea life surrounded them.

Percy would've gotten a kick outta this. Though she wondered if he'd have the same reaction to fish tanks as Katie Gardner got to trees being cleared for construction. Maybe it was a good thing he wasn't here.

"Stand over there, please."

Directed by a young white woman to stand against the wall in front of a camera set up, Kitty squished in beside Alex's left. Ophelia took the other side.

"Ready?" The uniformed woman ducked behind the camera. "Cheese."

Kitty forced herself to smile. She kind of really wanted food and not some dumb required photo that the aquarium used to get tourists to spend more money. The flash came, the woman directed them onwards, and they didn't even bother to head to the photo counter.

"Okay. Upstairs is the café," Alex said. He looked around. There were escalators up and to their right, a dark passage deeper into the aquarium itself. "Or we take a few minutes to just sit somewhere."

"I need a minute," Ophelia said. "I'm sorry, Kitty, I know you're hungry but I can't go up there."

Kitty followed her gaze up. The entire top of the Aquarium which, according to signs, held a small cafe, the gift shop, and an Amazon Rainforest exhibit, had a roof made mostly of glass. Sun central. As hungry as she was, she had a couple of Clif bars left. She could wait.

"It's fine." She grabbed Alex by the arm and lightly pushed him towards the exhibit entrance. "But you need to take ambrosia for whatever is killing you."

He didn't respond. He also didn't reach for his ambrosia in his pocket. Instead he started down the hallway.

There weren't many people there. With school already in session for many, that meant less vacations and so early in the term, few field trips.

One couple who couldn't have been older than mid twenties, wandered hand in hand along a short glass half wall. They looked down, smiling. Kitty followed them. She went to a closer section of the half wall and leaned over.

A massively wide but shallow open tank spanned much of the room. Stingrays circled and hovered in clear waters. Kitty was careful not to touch the information monitor to her right. It looked new and fancy and if she hadn't been on a very dangerous quest she would've absolutely played with it. But technology and half bloods didn't mix. So she kept herself busy trying to count the number of stingrays and baby sharks.

Above the tank loomed the skeleton of some kind of underwater creature. Absolutely massive, Kitty figured it had to be some kind of whale. If monsters left bones she would've thought that instead.

"That thing says it's a Finback Whale," Alex said. He joined her at the glass railing. "Insane. Think Percy could talk to it?"

Kitty shook her head. "It's not a fish." Pulling away from the railing she glanced beyond Alex to Ophelia who already looked a bit better, leaning against a wall near a small exhibit tank window. "I saw something about a Shark Alley. We should go see that."

"We aren't here as tourists," Alex said. But he didn't dissuade her any further. Hobbling after her, Alex shook his head.

They followed the exhibits around a corner and down a hall until they reached an escalator up. Every four feet had a window into a tank in the left hand wall containing some sort of water wildlife. Crabs, fish, even a turtle peered out of the glass or munched away at water plants.

Ophelia liked it because most areas were cool and dark. Alex liked it because he could take advantage of every cushioned bench in reach. But Kitty, she couldn't help peering into every exhibit, even if only briefly, to see the octopus or seahorse or coral colony that she'd never see in the wild. For the first time in her life, she felt kind of jealous of Percy.

Four escalators later, they came to some catwalks. Alex looked to be in serious pain as he lowered himself onto one more cushy bench. Though she saw the sign for Shark Alley, she bit her cheek and turned back to him and Ophelia who had sat down too.

"Gods, Alex. Take some damn ambrosia," she said.

He just glared at her. "My shoes are still wet. It'd be pointless to take it now."

"We can take a break," Ophelia said. She turned to Kitty. "You still have a couple bars, right?"

Kitty nodded. She pulled them out. There weren't many, but it was better than nothing. And since they'd been monster free so far, she agreed they should take the opportunity to rest. Shark Alley would still be there.

Settling down on the floor, across from a water fountain and back against a small concrete half wall, she munched on her chocolate chip Clif bar. None of them spoke. They could hear a couple of employees giving a spiel to another small group one floor down. The couple they'd entered with wandered off in another direction.

All quiet. Too quiet. Kitty kept an eye on the way they came, suddenly aware of a male, tan skinned employee with unkempt but short black hair and a slightly wrinkled blue uniform polo and khakis watching them from near a closed door. Kitty stopped chewing. When had he gotten there?

She could've sworn he'd been on the second floor when they'd passed. The hair on her neck stood up as chills ran down her body. Stupid. How could they have been so stupid! She slowly lowered the Clif bar from her mouth to her lap.

The man began to move. He must've noticed her shift. Kitty stood up. At her sudden change, Alex and Ophelia both turned her way. She tried to signal them with her eyes. Something in her demeanor must've been enough because Alex shot up and in an instant, he'd ripped the bracelet from his arm.

"Woah, woah!" The man immediately held up his hands as the bracelet in Alex's hand changed from a trinket to a brilliant, winged sword. "Woah, kid. Calm down. Put the sword away."

It took a second for Kitty to realize what he'd said. But Alex reacted faster. He didn't lower it, raising it higher and more defensively as the guy who looked about mid thirties stopped fifteen feet from them.

Sword. He saw the sword.

The Mist would've hidden the sword to a mortal.

"Who the hell are you," Alex said. "Don't move, I will kill you, without hesitation."

Kitty glanced at him. Sometimes it made her pause, how intimidating Alex could be when he wanted to. He had an edge to his voice, a slickness. Each word sounded so final. And after seeing him in battle after battle, she knew he could, and would, use the bite behind every bark.

"Woah woah woah!" The man got more agitated, throwing his hands even further forward to stop them. "The name's Walden. Walden Hart." He glanced at all three. "Son of Demeter. I saw your Camp backpacks."

The entire fourth floor descended into silence. Even the group below seemed to have moved on and Kitty could hear every slosh of water in the open tank below them. Alex didn't drop his sword arm. The new guy didn't step back. Ophelia stayed slightly behind.

She'd never met a demigod outside camp. To be fair, she rarely left camp at all, being a year rounder. She supposed they had to exist. But Kitty couldn't understand one thing.

"Wait a minute. If you're a Demeter kid," she said, "why are you working in an Aquarium?"

The guy scoffed, putting his hands on his hips. He shook his head. Kitty got the feeling she'd asked the wrong question.

"Why is that always a question? Any time I run into another half-blood, it's the same gods damned thing." He moved a couple steps forward, apparently no longer caring that Alex held his sword out ready to strike. "I work in an Aquarium because I went to college and got a degree in Marine Biology because, guess what, I happen to like fish! Just ask Chiron. Not every demigod has to do something related to our godly parent!"

Kitty grimaced. Struck a nerve there, apparently. She patted Alex's arm. "Put the sword down man. He's fine. I think I did more damage with that question than you can with celestial bronze."

Ophelia snorted out a small laugh. She looked over at the guy. "What was your name, again? Walter?"

"Walden. My dad loves Thoreau," he said. After a brief pause while Alex put away his sword, he sighed. "Also, the ocean has plants, you know."

"See!" Kitty grinned. "I knew it!"

Walden ignored her. Instead, he joined them near the catwalk towards Shark Alley. His brow furrowed as he looked down where Alex had settled back on the small cushioned bench. "So. What's the quest?"

"Why should we trust you?" Alex said.

Walden snorted. He crossed his arms over his chest, pulling slightly at his name tag. "Maybe because I'm a 35 year old demigod who's still breathing and you're clearly wounded while on a quest."

Kitty smiled. She liked this guy. "It's worth the gamble," she said.

A few tense moments followed. But finally Alex relented. He explained what had happened in the two and a half days since they'd left and, vaguely, their quest.

Walden listened closely, leaning against the same half-wall where Kitty had enjoyed her Cliff bar. He never interrupted. As Alex finished, he just shook his head.

"Crazy shit. I've never seen a hellhound myself," Walden said, "but I've killed a couple harpies and my fair share of Laistros."

"Why didn't you fight in war?" Ophelia asked.

Everyone went silent again. Kitty had to admit she's been wondering the same thing. If there were half bloods out in the world, why didn't they fight for the gods? Why had a bunch of kids been asked to defend Olympus?

"I make it a policy to stay as far away from godly politics as possible," he said. "Chiron's doing his best, but after seven years at CHB dealing with drama and monsters and quests, do you really think I'd want to jump into that again?" He shook his head with a sigh. "Sorry. I'm tired, and I've got a job with dental insurance  and student loans to pay off from a decade ago."

A tour group entered the central room two floors below. The sound of a crying toddler and murmuring adults filled the uncomfortable silence between them and Walden Hart. Kitty supposed he was right. But still. He hadn't seen young girls and boys dying in the arms of children not even old enough to drive.

"I'll help you in any way I can though," Walden said. He glanced at Alex. "You're what. Size eleven shoe?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. We've got extra in case of spills," Walden said, pushing off from the barrier. "Stay here, take ambrosia. I'll grab a pair. I'm off work in twenty anyways. And you can use my apartment for the night."

Walden disappeared through an employee only door, leaving Kitty, Alex, and Ophelia in silence broken only by the tour group below. Ophelia seemed hesitant, but Alex only looked relieved to be popping ambrosia and taking off his smelly, waterlogged sneakers. Kitty smirked.

"Stay here. I wanna see Shark Alley before we leave."

She wasted no time in bounding towards the catwalk. She missed grand architecture just for the sake of drama. Las Vegas had tons of it. And though she didn't want to dwell on memories of her dad, the city itself was a sight to behold. Just like Shark Alley. She hurries down the spiralling catwalk surrounded on the edges by tanks with increasingly darker water.

At the bottom, she could barely hear the tour group beyond the fish tanks. More like shark tanks. Dozens of sharks of all shapes and sizes swarm counter clockwise around the bottom. Like patrolling monsters of the deep, they never stopped. They went around, and around, and around. Kitty looked up. She could just see light from up above. Grinning, she looked back at the sharks.

Kitty put a single hand on the glass. Down here, it was just her and these phantoms floating through blackness. Beautiful, dangerous, terrifying. Like falling into the belly of the beast.