A/N: Yeah, sorry about that last chapter (if you read it before 6/18/16, go back and reread it, I accidentally posted the wrong version). At least I'm earlier this time. So, in other news, I recently got hooked on Sailor moon, and it's my birthday soon, as you can see in my personnel file. In related news, I finally put something on my bio. I hope you guys like this chapter, and review more (only 8 reviews, seriously?) Anyway, on with the story!

I visit the cave of Trippy before it's cool

We emerged in a small, boring looking town that was mostly snow covered. A small sign staked into the ground next to the road I was standing on read Athens, Indiana.

"Great," sighed Emma. "We turn over our fates to the gods, and where do they send us? Nowhere, Indiana. We're never going to finish the quest." I frowned.

"Actually, I think we might be on the right track. Athens, Indiana… Now, why does that sound familiar…"

"Didn't the Norns tell you something about an oracle in Athens?" Magnus said. Then I remembered.

"Yeah, but that's not the only thing. Neither of you were there, so I'll just have to fill you in pretty quick. (A/N: Warning- spoilers for Hidden Oracle follow) Apollo became mortal as a punishment, and showed up at camp last month. He found another oracle, the grove of Dodona, in the woods. It was almost destroyed by Emperor Nero, who apparently didn't die and is still alive, trying to take over the world, along with two other ancient emperors. They're called the Triumvirate, and they're our main enemy at the moment, besides Setne and Loki. I'm hoping they're working together, because then we can defeat them all at once, but the problem is we'll have to do it virtually by ourselves. But I digress. What's important is that Apollo got a prophecy from the grove, along with some fragments of information. I believe he mentioned Indiana. As far as I remember, there was also something about a cave blue and hollow, death and madness, pages turning, serpents and roaches, and bananas."

"Death and madness?" repeated Emma. "I prefer my death without a side of madness. But what does that have to do with the oracle?"

"As far as I know, there were five oracles. The oracle of Delphi, the Sybil, the grove of Dodona, the oracle at Erythaea, and the Cave of Trophonius."

"You mentioned a cave," Magnus said. "Could it be the cave blue and hollow?" I shrugged.

"There's only one way to find out."

As it turned out, we didn't have to search long for the cave. It found us. I hadn't taken ten steps toward the town when I stepped on what looked like a blue glass plate set into the ground, partially covered in dirt. As I examined it, the plate broke in half and I fell feet first into a bluish abyss, along with Emma and Magnus. I landed hard in a sitting position on something that looked and felt like blue crystal. The cavern I was standing in was made of blue-tinted stone, ranging from peacock near my feet to sky near the roof. The cave blue and hollow, I thought. I couldn't see the hole I'd fallen through, or my friends. That worried me, but luckily I spotted an exit: a hole in the wall tinted navy blue. I stepped through it, and instantly my vision went dark. I hovered in a dark space that was tinted faintly blue and saw a few images floating through the void: Emma shooting at something in a dark room or cave, two other people, their faces hidden in shadow, and Magnus and I, staring into each other's eyes, getting closer… closer… I tore my eyes away from the vision and shook my head.

"Isn't there supposed to be a, like, prophecy or something?" I asked. A guy in a flannel shirt, skinny jeans, and Ray-Ban glasses materialized right in front of my face.

"Well, duh! I just thought the regular poetry prophecies were too mainstream."

"Mainstream?" I said with a frown. He waved a hand and a table appeared with a book on it. "Thank the gods," I sighed, trying to slide past him. He blocked me.

"Not so fast. Did you live on sacrificial meat for a week? Are you wearing white robes? Did you bring honey cakes for the snakes? Forget that, how did you get past the snakes? Do I expect answers for any of this? No!" I shrugged.

"Who are you, anyway?" The guy smiled.

"At least I'm still obscure! The name's Trophonius! Daimon! Leader of the least well-known cult in Greek history! Protector of the fifth oracle, the Cave of Trophonius!"

"Yeah, whatever. Can I just get the prophecy already?" His smile disappeared.

"Fine. Go on, then. But I warn you- doom is in the future, for you and your friends!"

He disappeared with a puff of smoke. I coughed, then stepped forward.

"Idiot hipster," I muttered as I flipped open the thick leather cover. On the page was a quatrain, two rhyming couplets. I read the prophecy quickly, then summoned a portal and leapt through it.

Magnus and Emma were waiting for me outside.

"So, did you get the prophecy?" asked Emma. I nodded. "So what is it?"

"You shall find help, fight monsters, and travel below," I recited, "And the daughter of Hades shall defeat the one that matters most. The hammer and sword shall save the day, though one of two may not walk away."

"Okay. So what does that mean?" Magnus said. I shrugged.

"As far as I can tell, it means 3 things: One- we need help. Two- We need Thor's hammer. Three- A daughter of Hades is going to do something important."

"It's me," said Emma. "I'm the only daughter of Hades, since Hazel is a daughter of Pluto and Nico is a son of Hades. So what am I going to do?" I shrugged.

"I'm not sure. But I'm pretty sure you're not the daughter of Hades." Emma frowned.

"But I'm the only-"

"Hear me out!" I interrupted. "Look, you've been pretty ghostly and weird lately, though the rest of us aren't. Why? Because only half of your soul is there, the part that's a granddaughter of Frey. The rest of you is in the Underworld, the Greek Underworld." Emma's eyes widened, and she nodded.

"Yeah… I can just barely sense the other half of me. We have to find it!"

"But how? The two main entrances at DOA recording studios and Central Park have been sealed since Gaea was defeated."

"There's another way. It's not in any myths, because every hero who's tried to get through it died. If we try to get through there, we're going to need some help." I nodded.

"I know just the people." I summoned another portal and we all jumped through.

We landed just outside Camp Half-Blood. The person I was hoping to find was waiting outside.

"Annabeth!" I called. She turned, startled.

"Oh, hi, Karyn," she said, then her brain caught up with her mouth. "You're… you're dead. And Emma's dead. But you're both here! And so is Magnus. How did you find out about Magnus?"

"Look, now isn't the time," I said. "Setne- Wait, you know about Setne, right- Setne and Loki have teamed up and probably want to destroy the world or something, or they're working for someone, which is even worse. They've taken Thor's hammer, they've probably teamed up with the Triumvirate, and we need to break into the Underworld to get the other half of Emma's soul through the most dangerous route possible. You got all that?" Annabeth looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped mid-word and nodded.

"I've done the whole impossible-adventure thing about 57 times already, so why not? But you already have three."

"It's probably fine," I said. "But you're not the only one we need. Let's go." I summoned another portal and we stepped through it.

The next person we needed to find was my brother, Caleb. We appeared beside the warehouse that served as the location of the 21st nome. Caleb, of course, was waiting.

"Of course you're not dead," he said. "You're too annoying for that. So I'm assuming that we're going on some kind of adventure? Where are we going?"

"Oh, nowhere special. Just the most dangerous passage to the Underworld, where we'll have to fight like all the monsters."

"Sounds fun," said Caleb. "Let's do it!"

"So where are we going?" I asked Emma.

"Texas." I snorted.

"Of course. Let's go, I don't want to stay in Texas any longer than I have to."

A/N: Sorry about this being kind of a filler chapter after a long wait, but I'm leaving for summer camp tomorrow and I wanted to update before I left so it was kind of short and filler. Anyway, what did you guys think? Please review! Like I said, I'm going to camp and then on vacation, then band camp, and I have to work on preparing for my black belt test, so I'm going to be gone for a while. Don't expect another chapter for another two or three months at least. Bye now. Nirois out.