"That's it." I glanced back at Jack, who flashed me a nervous smile, before returning to my scrutiny of a tiny hole tearing itself open in the side of the barrier. I had no doubt Leo was on the other side, working furiously to widen it, but what I didn't know was if Eris could monitor the dome of shadows covering camp. Gripping Riptide tightly, I did a quick 180 of our poorly hidden rendezvous point, catching Nico's eye and attempting to smile reassuringly. He nodded, face paler and more drawn than usual, and cast a glance behind him. He was the most experienced member of out motley crew besides me, so it was only logical that he take up the rear, but right now I would've given anything to be able to hold Nico's hand.

Something else was wrong, though. I hadn't seen hide nor hair of a single guard outside the dome. Not even the harpies, who would've already tried to eat us. We were quiet, but not that quiet, and there was no way we could mask our scent completely anyway. It was possible, I supposed, that Eris had detained or killed them, but then where were her replacements? It didn't make sense-

"Percy Jackson?"

I snapped around, face splitting into a grin at the sight of the black mop of hair sticking out of the hole and followed Leo Valdez into camp. "My gods, but it's good to see you, Leo!"

Hugging him tightly, I smiled. Leo and I had never been the closest among the Seven; I had stuck to Annabeth, Frank and Hazel, although I knew all of them fairly well. But now I felt like I was in my element, despite my once safe place turning into a battleground. I knew the camp inside out, and it was my home. I was prepared to take it back. Leo patted me on the back, "It's good to see you too. Been a while since I talked to anyone. So, just to clarify, no homo, eh?" I drew back, matching his smirk with one of my own. "Sure."

Nico cleared his throat from behind us, and Leo looked up, grinning. "Death-boy!" It was odd, but Leo had taken a liking to Nico after a while. He said it was because both him and the son of Hades were into some nerdy card game, but I suspected there was more to it. They'd spent a week or so together, looking for parts to fix up the Argo II, badly damaged after the war, and strangely, they had come back best buddies. Leo hugged Nico firmly, and slipped him something, hand to hand, and they exchanged smiles as the tinkerer knelt to switch off his machine. At the same time, he pointed a remote over his shoulder and clicked it.

Obviously, Leo had had some time on his hands, I mused. The roots of a tree a bit further in rose, revealing a perfectly shaped hole, just big enough for me to squeeze through, which was good, because I was possibly the biggest one in the group. Jack matched my height, but he was more wiry, and less muscled. After all, he hadn't fought in two supernatural wars against titans and their mom.

Speak of the devil. Jack stepped up beside me, peering down into the hole, which descended several meters into the ground via a ladder and then curved away. "I suppose this is a bad time for me to tell you that I have claustrophobia?" He laughed nervously, eyeing the darkness that awaited us. Leo, who had come up behind us unnoticed, slapped Jack on the shoulder. "It's alright. It's not that far to Bunker 9."

~•~

It was far enough, alright. As I clambered out of the hole, Levi, whom I had had to half-carry, half-push through the last leg of the tunnel, yawned widely, and I smiled at him. "Levi? Why don't you go to sleep?" Still half-asleep, he nodded, rolling out a sleeping bag we'd procured for him and slumping into it gratefully, asleep in moments. Brushing the sand off my hands and rubbing the sleep out of my own eyes, I turned to the others, who were watching me wearily but expectantly.

There was still work to be done tonight.

~~~~~

Eris woke suddenly, eyes wide open and mouth stretched into a grotesque grin. The other demigods had arrived, and her plan could now proceed. The lifeblood of certain people, especially people as strong and unusual as these, would certainly help her wrest free of the bonds binding her to Tartarus and ascend properly to Earth, in her full form, but the cherry on top of the cake were the sons of Hades and Poseidon. They would be the ones to shed their blood on the altar and complete the ritual.

Soon the rest of her essence would rise, and then she would be queen of whatever she wanted. She would finally be able to show her mother that she was the best child.

She couldn't wait.

A/N:

AHHHHHHHHHHHH I KNOW ITS BEEN FOUR MONTHS FEEL FREE TO KILL ME. but hey an update. :0)

Also, yeah, not sure whether I'll be able to write a lot, it's the week before my exams and I'm basically procrastinating, so uh yeah. Yeah.

see you on the flip side

~N