𝐍 𝐄 𝐖   𝐇 𝐎 𝐏 𝐄   !

⎯ 𝘛 𝘏 𝘙 𝘌 𝘌 ⎯

( 𝔪𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔞𝔤𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔬𝔡𝔰 ! )

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

          𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐊𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑. Nor would it be the poisonous atmosphere, or the treacherous landscape with its multitude of pits and cliffs and jagged rocks. And it also wouldn't be the astounding amount of nausea and weakness she was feeling for some unknown reason.

Nope, none of those would do it for her.

The daughter of Apollo was certain that she would be one of the first people to die from weirdness overload. 

Let her explain.

First, she and Percy had to drink fire to stay alive. Then they were attacked by a gaggle of vampires, led by some angry cheerleader dead-set on killing both her and her boyfriend. Finally, they were rescued by a Titan janitor named Bob who had Einstein hair, silver eyes, and wicked broom skills. (Enough to get him a spot as a Beater in Quidditch.)

Understand why she felt like her head was gonna explode? Great!

They followed Bob through the wasteland, tracing the route of the Phlegethon as they approached the storm front of darkness. Every so often they stopped to drink firewater, which kept them alive, but Aurora was far from happy about it. Her throat felt like she was constantly gargling with battery acid. 

Her only comfort was Percy. Every so often he would glance over and smile, or squeeze her hand (three times to be exact. Just like back on the glacier.) She knew he had to be just as scared and miserable as she was, and she truly did admire him for doing his best to make her feel better. It made another, much deeper, emotion rush through her veins. 

"Bob knows what he's doing," Percy assured her.

Aurora hummed, gripping his hand tighter as another wave of dizziness hit her. Why was she feeling so weak? Was it just the air and the lack of food?

"You have some very interesting friends," she muttered honestly. 

"Bob is interesting!" The couple jumped as the Titan turned and grinned at them. "Yes, thank you!"

He has good ears, she noted, making sure to keep her opinions to herself for the time being. After all, she wouldn't want to piss off the one guy that could keep them both from dying a horrible death. 

"So, Bob?" Aurora managed a smile. "How exactly did you get to Tartarus?"

"I jumped," he said, like it was obvious.

"You jumped into Tartarus?" She was stunned. Why would someone, even a Titan, willingly jump into Tartarus? "Why? Because Percy said your name?"

Bob nodded, his silver eyes gleaming in the darkness. "He needed me. It's okay. I was tired of sweeping the palace." He put a pep in his step. "Come along! We're almost at a rest stop!"

A rest stop?

Now, it had been a while since Aurora had traveled outside of Camp Jupiter for anything other than quests, so her memory of rest stops was a little fuzzy. But she couldn't imagine there being a building in Tartarus, filled with relatively clean bathrooms and vending machines that produced all the junk food and soda that one could dream of. With how insane the environment around her was, that just didn't make sense. 

And yet, Aurora hoped that wherever Bob was taking them would have some form of snack food (Hades, she'd go for one of Iris's brick-hard muffins at this point) and a decent place to rest her feet, which ached much like the rest of her body. That thought was enough to make her giggle.

Apollo, she was losing it.

Aurora managed to keep pace with Percy and the Titan, doing her best to ignore the grumbling of her stomach and the weight on her shoulders. It felt as if a hundred pounds had been placed on her back, dragging her down with each wobbly step toward the darkness, which was only a couple hundred yards away at this point. 

She kept her eyes on the back of Bob, distracting herself by taking in his appearance. His blue janitor's coveralls were ripped in the back, like someone had tried and failed to stab him there. A few cleaning rags stuck out of his pockets, and a squirt bottle swayed hypnotically at his side, filled with a blue liquid that Aurora was growing desperate enough to drink. 

Aurora could faintly remember Percy's story about meeting the Titan. He'd told her about it one night on the Argo II when things had been calm, remembering how he'd promised to tell Aurora all about himself once he got his memories back. Apparently he and his friends, Thalia Grace (Jason's sister and her cousin) and Nico di Angelo had fought Bob on the banks of the Lethe, using the memory-wiping river to defeat him. After erasing his memories, they couldn't bring themselves to kill him, seeing as he was now gentle and sweet and cooperative. So, they decided to leave him in the care of the King and Queen of the Underworld, who promised to take care of him.

Apparently, "taking care" of someone in the Underworld meant making them clean up after them. Who would've thought? 

Despite her grudge against Titans, Aurora found it heartbreaking that the gods were taking advantage of him this way. Instead of being cared for, he was brainwashed and left to be a janitor for the two. Without pay, keep in mind, which seemed even more wicked, since the guy was immortal and would probably never do anything else with his life. That thought alone was enough to make Aurora want to cry.

He's not your friend, Aurora, she reminded herself. If he had his memories, he'd kill you without a second thought. 

A part of Aurora was terrified that Bob would suddenly overcome his amnesia. If Tartarus was where the worst kind of creatures came to get revived, who's to say that it can't bring back a Titan's memory? If Bob became Iapetus again . . . Aurora tried not to think about that. She and Percy had barely fought off those empousai with both their weapons. Fighting a full-blown Titan while half dead and in a world made to kill her? They'd be dead within seconds. 

Her eyes flitted over the end of the broomstick, momentarily imagining that hidden spearpoint piercing her abdomen. How long would it take for that to occur?

Following Bob through Tartarus was risky and borderline insane. Sadly, neither Aurora nor Percy could think of a better plan. 

They picked their way across the ashen wasteland as red lightning flashed overhead in the poisonous clouds. Just another lovely day in the dungeon of creation. Aurora couldn't see very far in the hazy air, but the longer they walked, the more certain she became that the entire landscape was a downward curve. And because this was hell on . . . well, hell, she was certain the slope led to nothing good. 

When she still lived in Rome, her father had explained Tartarus to her, talking about the many conflicting descriptions old writers had of it. Some said it was bottomless, others that it was a fortress surrounded by brass walls. All of them were wrong. It was just an endless, painful void.

The closest any human has gotten to describing Tartarus was probably Dante's Inferno. The pit was very similar to the nine different layers of Hell that the artist had painted. It was broken into different levels of torture, each level being worse than the last, and it was filled to the brim with the worst kind of monsters imaginable. 

They passed a blister in the ground⎯a writhing, translucent bubble the size of a minivan. Curled inside was the half-formed body of a drakon. Bob speared the blister without a second thought. It burst in a geyser of steaming yellow slime, and the drakon dissolved into nothing. 

"Eugh!" Percy exclaimed, jumping back to avoid getting goo on his shoes. 

Bob kept walking.

Aurora couldn't find it in herself to feel disgusted. She'd dealt with worse things in the infirmary back at camp during her shifts. She'd seen everything from broken bones to missing limbs. A simple monster zit on the surface of Tartarus was nothing.

The thing that did get to her, though, was her active imagination. If the blisters were zits, then the ground beneath them was the skin of Tartarus . . . which meant that she, her boyfriend, and the Titan were walking across his celestial body like fleas on a dog and⎯

Enough! Before you make yourself sicker than you already are.

"Here," Bob said.

They stopped at the top of a ridge. Below them, in a sheltered depression like a moon crater, stood a ring of broken black marble columns surrounding a dark stone altar. 

"Hermes's shrine," Bob explained. 

Percy frowned. "A Hermes shrine in Tartarus?"

Bob laughed in delight. "Yes. It fell from somewhere long ago. Maybe mortal world. Maybe Olympus. Anyway, monsters steer clear. Mostly."

"How did you know it was here?" Aurora couldn't help but ask, her curiosity clawing at her much like her hunger. 

Bob's smile faded. He got a vacant look in his eyes. "Can't remember."

"That's okay!" Percy said quickly. 

Aurora wanted to kick herself. Whatever affect Tartarus was having on her was meddling with her mind. Before Bob became Bob, he was Iapetus the Titan. Like all his brethren, he'd been imprisoned in Tartarus for eons. Of course he knew his way around. But if he remembered this shrine, then he may be remembering other details of his old prison and old life. That would not be good.

They climbed into the crater and entered the circle of columns. Aurora didn't hesitate to collapse on a broken slab of marble, her body too exhausted to take another step. Percy stood over her protectively, scanning their surroundings. The inky storm front was less than a hundred feet away, obscuring everything ahead of them. The crater's rim blocked their view of the wasteland behind. They'd be well hidden here, but if monsters did stumble across them, they'd have no warning. 

"You said someone was chasing us," Aurora said, smiling slightly when Percy took her hand and gave it three gentle squeezes. "Who?"

Bob swept his broom around the base of the altar, occasionally crouching to study the ground as if looking for something. "They are following, yes. They know you are here. Giants and Titans. The defeated ones. They know."

The defeated ones?

Ice cold fear shot through her body. Her mind shuffled through the multiple Titans she'd fought during the war, as well as the giants she'd faced recently. If all of them were in Tartarus, and if all of them were her and Percy . . .

"Are we okay to stop?" she asked. "If we're being chased, shouldn't we try and get further away?"

Despite the idea of trusting a Titan leaving a sour taste in her mouth, Aurora had no other option. Bob knew the land better than she did. If he believed this spot was safe for them, then she'd have to believe it, too.

"Mortals need rest," Bob said. "Good place here. Best place for . . . oh, long, long way. I will guard you until it is safe to move again."

Aurora nervously glanced toward Percy, who seemed to share her worry. She trusted the Titan to lead them to a safe place, yes, but not to keep watch over herself and her boyfriend as they slept. Especially with Aurora feeling as weak as she did. 

"You sleep," Percy told her. "I'll keep first watch with Bob."

Bob rumbled in agreement. "Yes, good. When you wake, food should be here!"

Aurora's stomach grumbled at the mention of food. While she didn't understand how Bob could summon food in Tartarus, she didn't question it. Food was food to her at this point, and she'd eat just about anything put in front of her. 

But she couldn't bring herself to sleep just yet. It felt wrong letting Percy watch over her first when he'd been through just as much as she had. "Are you sure? I can take first watch. The river drained you pretty bad."

She went to stand, but Percy pushed her back onto the slab with a stern look. "I'm sure, Rory. Get some sleep. You need it. I promise I can manage a couple hours more."

Aurora went to fight, but her body was quickly turning against her, eyelids turning to lead and limbs dragging her toward the ground. "Okay. But please wake me up for second watch. Don't tire yourself out on my behalf. For once, don't be a hero."

He gave her that damn smirk she loved. "Who, me?" He then kissed her, his lips parched and feverishly warm. "Sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

Aurora felt like she was wrapped in a warm, comforting hug. It weighed her down until she was curled up in a ball on the floor, her consciousness immediately slipping away.

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

Aurora swore to never sleep again.

Being a daughter of Apollo meant she was often visited by dreams of the future, present, and past. Prophetic visions could be a blessing and a curse combined in one power, and Aurora had learned how to cope with them. But in Tartarus, it was like all the horrible future premonitions were drawn to her in one terrifying nightmare. 

First, she was sucked into the Roman ranks, falling in line among many familiar faces. Octavian stood at the front, his face red with rage as he shouted order after order at the campers. She'd seen Octavian in many different forms, but this one had to be the most terrifying. Psychotic malice gleamed in his eyes, and his smile yearned for the blood of his enemies. It brought a spike of boiling hot terror through her.

"We cannot allow them to get away with this!" he shouted, gaining yells of agreement in response. "They come here, destroy our already damaged camp, and escape while claiming that it wasn't their doing! If they intend to break us, then we must strike back! To the Greek camp! It's time to show them the true wrath of Rome!"

War cries filled the air as Aurora felt herself being yanked backwards and out of the vision, before being forcefully shoved into another. 

She was standing atop an unfamiliar hill, a storm raging overhead. Beside her stood a tall and unyielding pine tree⎯Thalia's tree, if she remembered Percy and Annabeth's stories correctly. 

Thunder shook the valley that stretched out before her. A blast of lightning split the tree down to its roots, opening a smoking crevice. In the darkness below, Aurora caught the obsidian glint of Reyna's eyes. Her praetor's cape whipped behind her in the wind, bloodred instead of purple. Her gold armor glinted. She stared up at Aurora, her face holding that familiar regal look that she'd always admired. 

My daughter has done well. Aurora jumped, turning to find none other than Minerva⎯Athena, actually⎯standing beside her. If she'd thought Reyna was regal, then Athena was absolutely ethereal. A perfect combination of beauty, knowledge, and power. It is now your responsibility to return me here. To this place. To this hill.

Reyna only gave a stiff nod of understanding.

I must stand here, Athena continued. You must bring me here. 

The hill shook. The ground rippled as the grass became folds of silk⎯the dress of a massive goddess. Gaea rose over Camp Half-Blood (she assumed this much, due to the goddess's words and the tree). Her sleeping face was as large as a mountain, that serene smile on her lips making Aurora want to stab her through the eye. 

Hellhounds poured over the hills. Giants, six-armed Earthborn, and wild Cyclopes charged charged from the distant beach, tearing down building after building, setting fire to whatever they could. 

Hurry. Athena's voice was no more. Instead, in her place stood Aurora's aunt⎯Diana. The silvery aura of the Goddess of the Hunt filled the night sky, her stern eyes meeting Aurora's. The message must be sent. You know what to do, Aurora Jacarusso. Do not disappoint us.

The ground split beneath her, and Aurora fell once more. 

Instead of waking up, she was dropped into one final vision. Her feet landed upon the deck of the Argo II, the familiarity sending shockwaves of homesickness through her. 

Shuffling around her were the remaining members of the Eight. Leo was at the helm, fiddling about with Archimedes' sphere while also keeping Coach Hedge from firing the ballistae at passing seagulls. Annabeth and Sarah were training on the lower deck, their swords clashing against each other in flashes of bronze. Jason and Piper were talking by the front of the ship, while Hazel and Frank relaxed momentarily off to the side of the training pair. 

It was so simplistic that it made Aurora want to sob. But she couldn't. She'd been sent here for a reason, right? All visions had a meaning. Diana had told her to get the message sent. Maybe she meant in more ways than one. Otherwise she wouldn't have been placed here.

Aurora had never really tried to interact with the conscious while sleeping, but there was always a first time for everything. Scanning the deck, she spotted a notepad and pen beside Leo, choosing to write it down instead of trying to enter another's mind. Plus, this would allow her to freak Leo out a bit, and that would bring some joy to her despite the hell that she was trapped in.

With all the power she could muster, Aurora picked the pen up and began writing down everything she'd seen. From Octavian's war plans to Reyna's mission of returning the Athena Parthenon to Camp Half-Blood. She wrote it all down for the others to see, hoping that they would understand the urgency placed upon their shoulders. 

When she was done, she threw the pen at Leo, accidentally hitting him in the back of the head. She clamped a hand over her mouth, watching in amusement as Leo slowly turned around, his eyes wide and lips parted. He scanned the deck behind him, before his gaze landed on the notepad, a shriek leaving his mouth.

"Holy Hephaestus!" he shouted, grabbing the attention of the others. "Ghost! Ghost on the ship! Helpful ghost on this ship!"

Jason and Annabeth were at his side in an instant, their eyes widening when they looked at the writing. 

"That's Aurora!" Jason picked the notepad up, looking around as if he'd find her waiting there. "She always makes her o's look like little suns. She's done it since we were young."

Annabeth took the paper from him. "It's a warning. The Romans are heading for Camp Half-Blood and the gods expect Reyna to return the statue to the Greeks, not us."

Jason stopped looking around, sighing. "I guess we have a message to send." His eyes locked with Aurora's, as if he sensed her there. "Thank you, Rora."

The daughter of Apollo managed a small smile as she began falling again, darkness encasing her vision.

Her eyes flew open, a gasp escaping her lips as she sat up with a jolt. Her surroundings came into view, reminding her of where she was. Tartarus. Hermes' shrine. 

Percy was at her side in an instant, his hands resting on her cheeks as he whispered to her. "It's okay, it's okay." Aurora threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. Seeing everything . . . it left her hollow. "Bad dreams?"

She only nodded. There was no reason to burden him with the future. He already had so much to deal with. "Is it my turn to watch?"

She felt him shake his head, causing her to pull back slightly. "No, no. We're good. I let you sleep."

"Perseus Jackson!"

"Hey, it's fine. Besides, I was too excited to sleep. Look!"

Aurora had to pinch herself to ensure she was awake.

Bob the Titan sat cross-legged by the altar, happily munching a piece of pizza. 

It took her a moment to process everything properly, and even then, she still thought she was trapped in some weird dream. "Please tell me I'm not hallucinating."

"Burnt offerings," Percy explained. "Sacrifices to Hermes from the mortal world, I guess. They appeared in a cloud of smoke. We've got half a hotdog, some grapes, a plate of roast beef, and a package of peanut M&Ms."

"M&Ms for Bob!" Bob said happily. "Uh, that okay?"

Aurora could only laugh, nodding. "That's fine with me, buddy. As long s I get some of that roast beef."

She had never tasted anything so good in her life. It was definitely the hunger talking, but Aurora swore she could eat roast beef and grapes for the rest of her life and be happy. The meat was still hot, covered in a spicy sweet glaze that she wasn't familiar with. 

"I think this food is from Camp Half-Blood," Percy said, eating his own portion. Homesickness swirled in his eyes, like oceans that weren't quite tranquil but on their way to being there. It made Aurora wish she had the power of teleportation. She'd do anything to get that look off his face. "At every meal, we were expected to give up a portion of our food to our godly parents in offering. I always thought the food just disappeared into smoke, but maybe it turns up in their arms and . . . well, in Tartarus."

Aurora hummed in thought. "From what my father has told me, the offerings appear before them and they usually either eat it or use it to replenish the mortal lands. I'm not sure if it's the same for their Greek counterparts, but that's what the Romans do."

Percy looked at her in awe for a moment, causing her to blush. "I sometimes forget just how smart you are."

"Should I be offended by that, Mister Jackson?" she teased.

He shook his head. "Not at all. It's just . . . you don't flaunt your smarts like Athena kids. We'll be doing something, and all the sudden you'll have the answer to everything all figured out. It's . . . incredibly attractive, you know?"

Aurora nearly choked on her food, her heart hammering in her chest at the compliment. Percy chuckled at her expression, leaning forward to kiss her nose. 

"Anyways, there's a kid at camp who would always burn peanut M&Ms for his dad," Percy explained. "Connor Stoll."

"Is that a pun?"

"No. But it's pretty funny."

Bob chomped down on the last of his M&Ms. "Should go now. They will be here in a few minutes."

"Minutes?" Again, fear shot through her body, her hand immediately landing on her sword that rested on her finger. "Why'd you let me sleep so long?"

Percy shrugged. "You needed it. I don't care that they are minutes away. As long as you're healthy enough to travel."

Okay, now was not the time for her heart to be doing a full on gymnastic routine within her chest. Once they were safe again, Aurora was going to have to talk with Percy about timing his affectionate words properly so she wasn't a pile of mush during a battle. 

"I think minutes," Bob finally said. He scratched his silvery hair. "Time is hard in Tartarus. Not the same."

Percy crept to the edge of the crater. He peered back the way they'd come. "I don't see anything, but that doesn't mean much. Bob, which giants are we talking about? Which Titans?"

Bob grunted. "Not sure of names. Six, maybe seven. I can sense them."

Aurora had to take a deep breath to ease her nerves. Six or seven monsters were heading their way. If it was a set of Titans, they would be royally fucked. But giants? That they could possibly handle, right? Giants came in all shapes and sizes. If they were just Earthborn, then the three of them could get through that without too much trouble. 

"Can they sense you?" Aurora asked.

"Don't know." Bob smiled, and Aurora found it hard to be mad at him. "Bob is different! But they can smell demigods, yes. You two smell very strong. Good strong! Like . . . hmm. Like buttery bread!"

Is that a compliment or an insult?

Percy climbed back to the altar. "Is it possible to kill a giant in Tartarus? I mean, since we don't have a god to help us?"

He looked at Aurora as if she had the answer. 

It was moments like these where Aurora wished she could see her own future when she slept. But no. She had to be cursed to deal with other people's problems both during the day and at night. "I mean, maybe? Traveling in Tartarus and fighting monsters . . . well, it's never been done before. Or, if it has, it's never been documented." She bit her lower lip in thought. "Maybe . . . maybe Bob could help? Titans are the parents of gods, right? So he could count as a substitute."

"Yeah," Percy said. "Okay. That makes sense."

She could see the worry in his eyes and hear it in his voice. She wished she could give him a better answer. Maybe if she were a daughter of Athena, then she could tell him the truth. Give him all the possible outcomes without a hitch. But she wasn't, so she only had years of demigod knowledge to base her assumptions off of. 

The one thing she did know was that they had to keep moving. They could not keep standing around while six or seven hostile monsters came for them .

She stood up, pushing back the sudden surge of weakness she felt, and faced Bob. The Titan had began to clean up after them, spraying his rags with his squirt bottle and wiping down the marble columns. She found it somewhat adorable how he plucked up their trash into a little pile and cleaned off the altar. 

"Where to now?" she asked.

Percy pointed toward the stormy wall of darkness. "Bob says that way. Apparently the Doors of Death are that way."

Aurora hummed. "Of course the very thing we're looking for is within that darkness. As if our lives couldn't get much worse, right?"

"Wait, you're not mad I told him?" Percy gave her a look, as if trying to decipher her mind.

The daughter of Apollo frowned. "Why would I be mad? Bob is our only guide through this shithole. Might as well tell him where we're headed, right? No point in hiding everything if it won't help us in the end."

His lips were on hers in an instant, strong arms wrapping around her waist and holding her tight. Aurora let out a surprised yelp but kissed him back, smiling slightly at the passion and emotion he put into the action. Gods, she loved him.

He pulled away and beamed at her. "Gods, you're amazing."

"I try." She looked to Bob, who had just finished cleaning up. "So, you can help us?"

"Bob helps!" he agreed. "Into the Dark Lands. The Doors of Death . . . hmm, walking straight to them would be bad. Too many monsters gathered there. Even Bob could not sweep that many. They would kill Percy and Aurora in about two seconds." The Titan frowned. "I think seconds. Time is hard in Tartarus."

Aurora nodded. "Right. Okay, so there's another way?"

"Hiding," Bob said. "The Death Mist could hide you."

Well, that just sounds delightful. "What is Death Mist?"

"It is dangerous." Sounds about right. "But if the lady will give you Death Mist, it might hide you. If we can avoid Night. The lady is very close to Night. That is bad."

"The lady," Percy repeated. 

"Yes." Bob pointed ahead of them into the inky blackness. "We should go."

As much as she wanted to agree, something was holding Aurora back. It was a nagging in her brain, tugging her away from the darkness and towards⎯

Her eyes landed on the altar, and it came rushing back. Octavian setting loose the power of the Roman legion. Athena's and Diana's messages upon the hill. The Argo II crew and her warning to them. All of it was coming together, connecting within her mind like one big puzzle. 

You know what to do, Aurora Jacarusso.

That's what her aunt had told her. She knew what to do . . .

"Rory?" Percy's voice sounded far away, like he was shouting at her through a tunnel. 

Her feet led her to the pile of trash, where she plucked out a reasonably clean napkin. 

The message must be sent. She'd done the first part by warning the other members of the Eight. Now she had to warn the Greeks. Hopefully this would work. With her whole body being out of whack, she didn't know if her ideas were good at this point.

"Bob?" The Titan looked at her curiously. "Offerings burned in the mortal world appear on this altar, right?"

Bob frowned uncomfortably, but upon seeing the warm glint in Aurora's eyes, he settled. "Yes?"

"So what happens if I burn something on the altar here?" The panicked look on his face made her take back her question. "It's fine. You don't know, which makes sense, because it hasn't been done before. Otherwise people would've mentioned it in history books or at camp."

If the altar worked like how she thought, then there was a chance. She just needed one more minute, and an entire race of people would be saved. Or, at least, that's what she hoped. 

"Aurora?" Percy was beside her now. "You've got that look on your face again. You're planning something."

She frowned. "Wait, I look different when I'm planning something?"

"Yeah. Your nose scrunches up and you get this far-off look in your eyes. It's kinda cute."

She could fangirl about that later. "Do you have a pen⎯ actually, don't answer that. I already know the answer."

Percy chuckled and pulled out Riptide, the bronze pen looking like the greatest thing in the world. "What do you need it for?"

"I know it can't transform into a grenade, unfortunately." Percy rolled his eyes jokingly. "Can you write with it?"

"I⎯I don't know," he admitted. "I've never tried."

He uncapped the pen. As usual, it sprang into a full-sized sword. Aurora noted the pulsing sun located next to the trident, reminding her of the battle that took place not too long ago. She wondered if she could pull the same trick again, but pushed that thought to the side. She had bigger issues to worry about at the moment. 

If he touched the cap to the point, it would transform back into a pen. But what if . . . 

"Cap the end of the sword," she said. "Like, you know how people put the cap on the end of their pens when they want to keep it somewhere other than their hand?"

Percy did as she said, touching the cap to the butt-end of his sword. Riptide shrank back into a ballpoint pen, but now the writing point was exposed. 

"Wow." He handed the pen to her, eyes wide. "Why is it that I keep finding out new things about my weapon when you're around?"

"Maybe I'm just that awesome." She flattened the napkin and began to write, admiring how the ink looked like liquid bronze. 

"What are you doing?" Percy asked.

"Sending a message," Aurora explained. "While I was asleep, Diana contacted me. She told me to warn the Greeks. Hopefully your Oracle gets this. Or someone competent enough to get it to her."

"Rachel?" That's her name. "Oracle of Delphi?"

Aurora nodded. "Yep."

The girl was well aware of Percy's past with Rachel, and she didn't mind it one bit. this had been before the two of them knew each other really. Before they'd gotten together. She couldn't blame him for having feelings for someone once. She'd be a hypocrite if she did. 

Finishing the note, Aurora folded the napkin, writing a little note on the outside. 

To whoever gets this,

          Daughter of Apollo here! Please get this to Rachel! Not a prank! If you don't, you'll most likely die within the next week! Thank you!

                    Good luck,

                    Aurora (Percy Jackson's girlfriend)

She inhaled deeply. She couldn't believe she was asking someone she didn't know to do something so dangerous. But risks were worth taking if it meant that blood wouldn't be spilled for silly reasons. Hopefully she could trust this girl.

"Now, to burn it." Aurora held her hand out, ready to summon light, when a sudden wave of dizziness hit her. She stumbled as her vision blurred, Percy catching her. "Whoa."

"Okay. No more photokinesis from you." Percy helped to stabilize her, his eyes filled with concern. "You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. That was . . . weird."

Bob approached them, shooting fire out the end of his spear. "Inner sun dying. Darkness taking over. Children of Apollo like plants. They need sunlight to survive."

Aurora blinked. "That's not scary at all." She then tossed the note into the fire, watching it crumble to ash and turn to smoke. Hopefully it would get to where it needed to.

"We should go now," Bob advised. "Really, really go. Before we are killed."

Aurora stared at the wall of blackness in front of them. Somewhere in there was a lady who dispensed Death Mist that might hide them from monsters⎯a plan recommended by a Titan, one of their bitterest enemies. Another dose of weirdness to explode her brain. 

"Right," she said. "Let's get this shit over with."

Percy kissed her temple, taking her hand again and squeezing it thrice. "That's the spirit."

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

𝐀 𝐔 𝐓 𝐇 𝐎 𝐑 𝐒   𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 𝐄   !

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Alright. It's been a WHILE since I've posted anything for this story, and I apologize for that. However, college life has been busy with finals approaching and a shit ton of papers to write, so that's why it's taking me for fucking ever to get out chapters. This goes for my other stories as well, since I'm editing shit for STAR WARS and LOVE STORY while also writing up shit for COSMIC LOVE and trying to decide if I wanna keep going with OCEAN EYES.

Anyways, I hope you like the slight adjustments I made to all of this. For one, the visions and shit are important to Aurora's character. She's a daughter of Apollo, so she sees things and I thought it would be meaningful if Diana, the one who took away her memories of the Greeks, were the one to tell her to contact them. Also, the ghost part was added for comedic relief.

Plus, I want to show how different Aurora and Percy's relationship is. She is not going to get mad like Annabeth did at Percy telling Bob things. She understands that in order to survive, they have to put their trust in some odd characters. Also, with everything going on with her, that dark side will be fighting for control. At this point, all Aurora wants is to get back to her family, and she's willing to do anything to accomplish that.

Anyways, please comment and vote! Seriously guys, I love reading your opinions and hearing from you!

I love you all and wish you a happy late Thanksgiving!

a.h.