According to the plaque, it was called Crown Fountain. All the water had emptied out except for a few patches that were starting to freeze. 

They stepped into the center of the pool. No spirits tried to stop them. The giant monitor walls stayed dark. The drain hole was easily big enough for a person, and a maintenance ladder led down into the gloom. 

Amber went first, what with her flying shoes and all. She didn't even climb, because her wrist definitely wouldn't let her do that, and she didn't feel like doing it with one hand, so she just lowered herself down with her shoes. She braced herself for horrible sewer smells---although she'd been in much worse before---but it wasn't bad at all. The ladder dropped into a brickwork tunnel running north to south. The air was warm and dry, with only a trickle of water on the floor.

I'm going to sleep, Emerald suddenly announced. 

Night, Emerald.

Jason, Piper, and Leo climbed down after her.

"Are all sewers this nice?" Piper wondered.

"No," Amber and Leo said at the same time. "Trust me," Leo continued.

Jason frowned. "How do you know--"

"Hey man, I ran away six times. I've slept in some weird places, okay? Now, which way do we go."

Amber's heart twisted at his words. She hated how much some demigods had to go through. Then she realized everyone was looking at her. "Oh. I was on the run for a few years, and sometimes my brother would get us into trouble, like when we were at Bill Gates's house and all that, so we had to hide in places like this."

"Wait, now that I think about it, why were celestial bronze katanas at Bill Gates's place?" Piper asked.

"He's a demigod," Amber replied matter-of-factly. "Son of Hephaestus, actually. Most famous people are somehow related to the gods."

"Wait." Leo raised his hands in a stop gesture. "You're saying I'm related to Bill Gates? He's my brother?"

"Well, half-brother," Amber corrected. "But yeah."

Jason, who had been titling his head and concentrating during their conversation, pointed south. "That way."

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked.

"There's a draft blowing south," Jason said. "Maybe the venti went with the flow."

Amber decided not to correct his Roman term. It wasn't much of a lead, but it was better than anything else she could come up with at the moment.

Unfortunately, as soon as they started walking, Piper stumbled. Amber instinctively caught her, and winced in pain as her left wrist got pressure put on it.

"Stupid ankle," Piper said the same moment Amber cursed, "Fucking wrist."

"We should probably rest," Jason said, looking at Amber and Piper with obvious worry.

"I agree," Amber said. "We could all use it. We've been going pretty much nonstop for over a day." She decided not to mention she was used to much more than that. "I have food in my bag."

Leo shook his head. "Uh-uh. I have food in my bag that we'll be using. You, Miss Castellan, should sit down and put some ice or something on your wrist or head. Chef Leo is more than happy to cook something right now."

Amber hesitated momentarily, then nodded. She, Jason, and Piper sat down on a brick bridge while Leo shuffled through his pack.

Amber looked over her friends. They all looked tired and hungry. Jason looked slightly dizzy, too. And kinda nervous. He was turning his gold coin in his hand. Amber looked a bit closer. He seemed sort of guilty, too.

"It wasn't your fault, you know," Amber told him.

He looked at her blankly. "What?"

Piper rolled her eyes from the other side of Amber. "Getting jumped by the Cyclopes. It wasn't your fault."

He looked down at the coin in his palm. "I left you two, both injured, alone and walked into a trap. I should've known..."

Amber shook her head. "Hey, look at me. If anything, it was my fault." At that, he looked up with furrowed eyebrows, but she held a hand up, silently telling him to let her finish. "I recognized the tone of the Cyclops's voice, yet wasn't able to tell you. I failed to defeat just two monsters when I've killed thousands before. I even knew exactly how Cyclopes lured demigods in like that, yet somehow didn't connect the dots until it was too late. I'm the quote unquote 'seasoned warrior,' yet I did nothing to help."

"Don't talk like that!" Piper said. "You killed one Cyclops, didn't you?"

"It came back to life almost immediately though, so it was useless," Amber reminded her.

Jason took one of her hands. "Trust me, it wasn't your fault. You can't predict everything that will or could happen at any given second."

Amber pulled her hand free and looked down. "But I'm supposed to. I'm the granddaughter of Athena, for gods' sakes."

"The only thing we can place blame on is Dirt Lady," Piper said. "Not you. Not Jason. Not me. Not Leo. Oh, and the Cyclopes."

Amber just shrugged and stared at Leo, who was a few feet away, as he lit a fire and started pulling things out of his pack and tool belt.

"Amber--" Jason started.

"On the topic of famous people from earlier," Amber interrupted, not really wanting to know what he was going to say, "Ryan Reynolds is a son of Aphrodite, meaning he's your half-brother, Piper. Usain Bolt is a child of Hermes. George Washington was a son of Athena. Blackbeard was a son of Ares. Amelia Earhart was a daughter of Zeus. Not even demigods know how she died in the air, although most people in Athena cabin think she upset her dad. Ariana Grande is the daughter of a child of Apollo."

"Whoa," Piper breathed. "I mean, I've always been related to a famous person, 'cause...y'know," her expression turned really sad for a moment, confusing Amber, but then it brightened again, "but Ryan Reynolds? Whoa."

Amber nodded. "Betty White's a daughter of Hebe. Emma Watson is distantly related to Athena. Tom Felton's a son of Nemesis. Evanna Lynch and J. K. Rowling are both descendants of Hecate, although I'm not proud to be related to J. K. Rowling, with he transphobia and everything. To be honest, I have no idea how monsters didn't swarm the place when they filmed Harry Potter."

Over at the fire, Leo stirred some sizzling bell peppers and meat in a pan. "Yeah, baby! Almost there."

"Wait, you're okay with the LGBTQ+ community?" Piper asked, making Amber internally freeze.

What if she hates me now? Wait, no, she's definitely a lesbian. But she never actually told us that, so what if it's an internalized homophobia thing? Maybe I should've told her I was bi earlier. But that's just another thing to make people think differently of me.

Her thoughts were racing, but after a moment, she realized the daughter of Aphrodite was waiting for an answer.

She's related to Aphrodite, Amber reminded herself. She should be accepting of all kinds of love and all of that.

Slowly, hesitantly, she nodded. "Of course I do."

Piper sighed in relief. "Good. I do, too." She paused for a second. "What about you, Jason?"

"I support it, of course," he said.

Amber wondered if Piper knew she was lesbian, and if it would be overstepping boundaries to ask her if she was a part of the community. She decided her friend wouldn't care. "Are you in the community?"

Piper nodded. "Lesbian. Are you a part of it?"

Amber, admittedly, hadn't been expecting her to turn the question back at her. She wasn't sure if she should answer. It would make her sexuality real, and she didn't know if she wanted that, which confused her.

She was saved by Leo announcing he was done with the food.

He came over with four plates stacked on his arms like a waiter. It looked amazing: pepper and tofu tacos with chips and salsa.

"Leo," Piper said in amazement. "How did you--?"

"Chef Leo's Taco Garage is fixing you up!" He said it with so much pride, Amber had to smile. "And by the way, it's tofu, not beef, beauty queen, so don't freak. Just dig in!"

The tacos tasted as good as they smelled. While they ate, Leo tried to lighten the mood and joke around. Amber was grateful Leo was with them. For one, he was one of her best friends, and was just awesome in general. For two, she wasn't the best at the whole 'optimistic' thing, so she was glad someone was.

After Piper ate, Amber and Leo encouraged her to get some sleep. Without another word, she stole Leo's backpack and curled up, using it as a pillow. In two seconds she was snoring. Leo was obviously trying not to laugh.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, only broken by Jason forcing Amber to eat a bit more ambrosia, which she reluctantly did after Leo threatened to take it and shove it in her mouth if she didn't do it herself.

"Good, huh?" Leo gestured to the lemonade he'd made from canteen water and powdered mix.

Amber and Jason nodded. "You should start a stand," Jason said. "Make some serious coin."

But as he stared at the embers of the fire, it looked like something was bothering him. "Leo...about this fire stuff you can do...is that true?"

Mostly to take Jason's attention away from Leo's smile, which was quickly fading, she rolled her eyes. "Noo, Thunderhead, he and Piper lied to us as a joke."

"'Thunderhead?" Leo asked. "Come on, Amber, use real words."

"It is a real word, actually," Amber informed him, switching to her 'college professor lecture' voice. "In the Oxford Dictionary, it's defined as a rounded, projecting head of a cumulus cloud, which portends a thunderstorm."

He stared at her for a moment, making her sigh. "Basically, they make storms happen. Well, not exactly, but you know."

"No, I don't."

"Whatever."

"But yeah, Jason," Leo said. He opened his hand. A small ball of flame burst to life, dancing across his palm. He didn't look too happy as he stared at it.

"THat is so cool," Jason said. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Leo closed his hand and the fire went out. "Didn't want to look like a freak."

"I have lightning and wind powers," Jason reminded him, also reminding Amber. 

His powers confused her. Thalia could call lightning---sometimes---and control the wind a bit, but definitely not fly like Jason did. Maybe it was her fear of heights.

"Piper can turn beautiful and charm people into giving her BMWs," Jason continued.

Amber nodded. "I can hack into Bill Gates's Smartfridge and make it scream WAP, of all things. I can do calculations in a second. You're no more of a freak than we are."

"And, hey, maybe you can fly, too," Jason suggested. "Like, jump off a building and yell, 'Flame on!'"

Leo snorted. "If I did that, you would see a flaming kid falling to his death, and I would be yelling something a little stronger than 'Flame on!' Trust me, Hephaestus cabin doesn't see fire powers as cool. Nyssa told me they're super rare. When a demigod like me comes around, bad things happen. Really bad."

"It's most likely the other way around," Amber said. "Y'know, people with special gifts showing up when bad things are happening because that's when they're needed most."

Leo cleared away the plates. "Maybe. But I'm telling you...it's not always a gift."

Jason and Amber fell silent. Amber was pretty sure what he meant, but didn't want to bring it up. Jason, however, apparently did.

"You're talking about your mom, aren't you? The night she died."

Leo didn't answer. He didn't have to. The fact he was quiet, not joking around--that told Amber and Jason enough.

"Leo, that wasn't you fault," Jason said.

"Whatever happened that night--it wasn't because you could summon fire," Amber agreed. "Ga--this Dirt Woman, whoever she is, has been trying to ruin you for years, mess up your confidence, take away everything you care about. She's trying to make you feel like a failure. You're not. You're important."

"That's what she told me." Leo looked up, his eyes almost full of as much pain as Amber's when she didn't have her glasses on. "She said I was meant to do something important--something that would make or break the big prophecy about the eight demigods. That's what scares me. I don't know if I'm up to it."

Amber knew how he felt. She'd felt it before. It was like someone had dragged her from her old life, placed her in a new one full of uncertainty, chaos, and death.

Leo poked at the remnants of his fire, turning over red-hot coals with his bare hands. Amber shuddered. She'd had to grab fire before. "You ever wonder about the other four demigods?" he asked. "I mean...if we're four of the ones from the Great Prophecy, who are the others? Where are they?"

Amber had thought about it, all right. "I'm pretty sure one is Percy. Why else would he just disappear? I don't know about the rest, though."

"Who knows?" Jason said. "Maybe they're on some other quest right now."

Leo grunted. "I bet their sewer is nicer than ours."

The draft picked up, blowing toward the south end of the tunnel.

"Get some rest, you two," Amber said. "I'll take first watch."

Jason tried to protest, but eventually agreed. Leo was already asleep by the time they were done arguing.

After a while of Jason tossing and turning and Amber contemplating how to help him---she'd already put blankets on everyone and given them pillows---she asked him if he wanted to put the pillow on her lap and sleep like that.

He stared at her for so long, she started to feel uncomfortable and blushed and looked away. "Sorry. I just--it always used to help me."

"Wait--no, I didn't mean to stare!" Jason said hurriedly. "I think...I think I'd like that. I was just surprised, that's all."

Amber walked toward him and moved his pillow. "There."

He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow, leaving a blushing Amber alone with a snickering Emerald, who had just woken up.

Uhh so yeah. That happened. 

Unedited, cuz ofc.

Did I feel like randomly giving a bunch of famous ppl backstories as demigods? Maybe. Does it make a lot of sense? Of course.

Anyways, cya.

-Eevee