Annabeth pushed back a strand of her signature blonde hair. She turned back to make sure the others were still following her, into the chasm of darkness that Alice claimed was called "The Machine". Honestly, it seemed like a name Leo would give himself.
Sure enough, the others were there. Percy, handsome as ever, shaggy black hair on his green eyes. Leo looking like a professional repair guy, tool belt and hammer in hand.
Then there was Alice. Annabeth wasn't sure what to make of Alice Angel. Quite nice, ponytail at the back, pale skin. Save for her half-melted face.
Annabeth shook her head, trudging forward.
Alice had contacted Leo a month ago, seeing as he was a son of Hephaestus, and would get the job done. Apparently the Ink Machine was broken by some idiot named Henry, and Alice wanted it fixed. It was, in a way, her family. At least she claimed so.
"Ohmygod, you don't think there are spiders here, do you, Annabeth?" Annabeth flinched, and jumped up a few feet. Leo held his hands to his face in mock shock behind her, grinning.
"Told you, Percy. Now, where's that dollar?"
Percy cringed, and handed Leo a dollar, clearly afraid of his girlfriend.
"Boys! So help me, I will murder you if you do that again!" Annabeth cried, loud enough for the entire workshop to hear.
Now it was Alice's turn to cringe, as they walked into a deep building splattered with ink. On the walls, in dark ink, the words 'TAXES' and 'NO MORE' and a bunch of numbers were written, in bold letters. Clearly the person here had issues. There were also tapes, that had been touched. Probably by that Henry Alice was talking about.
Annabeth tapped a finger on the wall, seeing how delicate it was. According to Alice, Joey had spared no expenses. In fact, one of his employees had a desk in a pool of ink.
Annabeth was playing another tape. This one was indescribable, random noises by a humanoid voice. As she held it to her ear, Leo tripped, and fell off the narrow catwalk into the abyss of the Machine.