Evie burst into Cabin 6, not even bothering to knock. As Athena's granddaughter, she could do that without consequence. A very startled-looking Malcolm Pace dropped his Keeper of the Lost Cities book and looked up at her from the couch. 

"Can I help you?" he asked, a crease in his forehead as he took in her panicked appearance.

"Fey, Kate, and Ellie. Where are they?" Evie said, not bothering to answer his question. The daughters of Athena were often close to each other, especially when Kate visited, since she was a Hunter and they rarely saw each other. If she could find one, she'd find the other two.

"Last I heard, they were with Presleigh in the Aphrodite cabin, trying to convince her to read some geography book for some--" He was cut off as Evie turned around, "gently" shut the door, and ran in the direction of Cabin 10. 

***

Evie raced up the stairs leading to the entrance to the cabin and knocked on the door harshly. She waited a few seconds, then did it again. After repeating this process three more times, Presleigh Moore opened the door.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worry in her piercing blue eyes.

"Are Kate, Fey, and Ellie also here?" Evie asked, vaguely registering the fact that Pres's hair was in twin braids instead of its usual pigtails. It looked surprisingly pretty with her brown hair fading into pale pink. Then again, Presleigh was a daughter of Aphrodite. Anything looked good on her.

Presleigh nodded. "Is everyone okay?"

"I'll explain inside, where they can hear me, if that's okay," Evie said. Pres merely moved to the side so Evie could go in, closing the door when she did.

Ellie, Fey, and Kate all stared at her expectantly when she walked in, evidently having heard the conversation.

"So, uh..." Evie started, internally smacking herself for being so bad at starting conversations. Why was it so hard to explain to your friends that you need to go to hell immediately? "Basically, Onyx needs help. Our entire friend group needs to go to the Underworld to meet her. Not 100% sure why, but it's very urgent. We're planning on leaving at 3:30."

She rubbed the back of her wrist awkwardly as everyone continued staring at her for a moment, probably at a loss for words.

Ellie was the first one to recover. "We can't all go! That's way too dangerous. Plus, that'll leave camp without 8 more campers! What if we get attacked?"

"It's the summer," Feyre reasoned. "We have so many campers right now!"

"Yeah, I guess, but--" Ellie started.

"I'll go," Kate interrupted. The look in her eye, like she was willing to die at any moment, unnerved Evie, but she merely nodded.

"So will I," Presleigh offered.

"No way," Ellie said immediately. "You're way too young!"

"Age doesn't matter!" Pres protested. "We're demigods! We're supposed to be doing this type of stuff. Plus, I've been at camp for so long training just for things like this. I'm ready. Also, I bet Arlo is also going, and she's only one year older than me."

Ellie started twisting her long blonde hair in her hands, a nervous habit Evie had noticed before. "Pres--"

"Ells," Evie interrupted, hating herself for allowing this, "Onyx said we all had to be there. All of us. She wouldn't do that if it wasn't extremely important." She paused a moment, not sure if she should continue or not, then deciding she may as well lay all the facts out. "There's a possibility that, if we don't go, we'll die anyways. We may as well go out fighting."

Everyone went silent for a moment, then Fey spoke up. "I'll go." Her hazel eyes showed complete seriousness and maturity.

Everyone turned to Ellie, waiting for her to say something. After a couple seconds, she sighed. "We need someone responsible there, I guess."

Evie smiled dryly. "Great. Now, get ready. Do whatever you need to do. Plan for probably at least 2 months, because we have no idea what we'll be doing there. Meet us at the amphitheatre at 3:30."

She got a few nods as she headed towards the door. Sighing, she mentally went over who she'd already talked to. All she needed to find now was Azrail.

***

"Azy," Evie said as they walked up to the child of Hades, who was slashing at a dummy with a dagger, their light brown skin gleaming with sweat. "We have a problem.

Azrail didn't stop or even look away from the training dummy. "What is it?"

"Onyx."

Az stopped immediately and turned to face them, her brown eyes concerned. "What happened?"

"That's the thing," Evie said. "I'm not sure. They I-M'd me and said we needed to meet them in the Underworld. 'We' meaning our whole friend group."

Azy frowned. "Is anyone in danger there?"

"They never specifically said there was anything dangerous, but...yeah. I think so," Evie admitted.

"Well, let's go then," Az said.

"We're meeting up at 3:30 at the amphitheatre and leaving shortly after. It's about 2:00 right now, so we have time to pack and get ready," Evie informed them, but Azrail didn't seem to be listening much, even though she nodded. 

"Azrail," Evie said seriously, making the legacy of Zeus look up at them. "I know what you're planning. Don't you dare leave before us."

Az hesitated, then nodded.

"Azy, I need you to promise."

"I promise," Azrail said after a long pause.

"I'll trust you to keep your word, then," Evie said. "Please don't do anything to lose my trust. Don't be reckless."

Azy nodded again, then walked away, leaving Evie alone with a very confused-looking Connor Stoll, who'd been listening to their conversation the entire time.

"Connor," Evie warned.

"I know, I know," he said, raising his hands in the hair in a I surrender position. "I won't tell anyone. I was never here."

Evie smiled gratefully. "Thank you." They turned and walked away, wondering how long Connor would actually keep his word. Unlike Azrail, he could not be trusted to keep quiet.

Gods, Lou Ellen is gonna kill me if she finds out by anyone other than myself, Evie realized. Better go do that now, sooner rather than later. 

As they started jogging in the direction of Cabin 20, they thought about the odds of everyone in their friend group actually surviving the trip. 

Probably about 20 to 1, they thought, pursing their lips and rubbing their wrist again. Well, I guess I'll just have to make sure I'm the only one to die.

With that happy thought in mind, they opened their door, ready to pack for the vacation of a lifetime.

Heh

What'd you think? Please tell me if you think I got any personalities wrong!

I literally just sat down and wrote all of that with no breaks--

Oop

Also unedited because I'm *built different* and lazy

QOTD: Best dessert?

A: Probably nanaimo bars, to be honest. I love them sm.

Love y'all!

-Aspen