To 8Ball3- Well, I'm very sorry, but I grew up watching Ninja Turtles and stuff and avoid modern day kids' shows like the plague ^_^ Morris was not a monster, but he was on Jason's hitlist all the same (he's not dead, he's sulking, I promise). And Jason is... doing a thing? That's below. And I have tried emailing the admins, but I never get a response. I suppose as long as he's shipping animals that are the same species, it's OK? O.o Oooh, Mars VS Ares, I like that XD And I shall not ask Indiana Jones, I'm social distancing.

Frank came back just after the sky had fully darkened. Reyna was sitting in her pyjamas with a bowl of soggy cornflakes, staring unblinking at the monitors. Louisa was still in the house, needing a little peace after her stint at the senate meeting. She was pacing the upper landing, muttering to herself and pulling at her hair.

"They're gone." Frank informed. "And I walked Hannibal."

"Cool, thanks." Reyna murmured, only partially listening. Frank took a seat beside her. She had brought the box of cornflakes with her, so he helped himself to that, eating straight from the packet.

"What's she doing?"

"Being an idiot." Reyna muttered. As if on cue, Louisa walked straight into the closed door of the bathroom, stumbling back and swearing, rubbing at her head. Reyna sighed, reconsidering her life choices while Louisa smacked the door handle repeatedly in an attempt to open it.

"I'll watch her for a bit. Get some sleep." Reyna began to shake her head, drinking from her bowl. Milk dribbled down her chin, quickly wiped away on her sleeve. "Go." Frank urged. "Just a couple of hours. I'll wake you when the others come back." Reyna jabbed a finger at the screen, brow furrowing.

"I need to watch her."

"She'll understand. You need to sleep too, you know." He pushed gently on her shoulder. "I'll wake you if anything happens, OK?" Reyna wanted to argue further. But her eyes were itching, her body was heavy. She had two options- go and lie down and sleep, like Frank suggested, or face-plant the table snoring. One was slightly more dignified than the other, and involved less soggy cornflakes.

"Fine." She sighed. "But the second anything changes-"

"I will yell very, very loudly."

"You can do that?"

"I can… turn into a lion and roar?"

"OK. OK, yeah." Reyna nodded, shoving her bowl away from her. She stood, glancing hesitantly at the screen. Louisa had continued pacing, shaking her hands as if she trying to rid them of cobwebs. Frank edged closer to Reyna and pushed her lightly in the small of her back.

"Go. That's an order."

"Bitch please." Reyna scoffed. Frank blinked at her. "Not that you're a bitch. You're a delight. Honest." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm going." She nodded. "But-"

"Yes, yes, the second anything happens, roar roar roar. I know. Go to bed!" He pointed demandingly. Reyna wasn't sure if she could take him seriously with his hand stuck in a cornflakes box, but she went anyway.

"Nice night for a hike." Lavinia said. Apollo glared at the back of her head. They had been trekking through the Berkeley Hills for over an hour. Despite the cool weather, he was dripping with sweat and gasping for breath. Why did hilltops have to be so uphill? And it didn't help that Lavinia wasn't satisfied with sticking to the valleys either. No. She wanted to conquer every summit for no apparent reason. Like fools, they followed her.

They had crossed the camp's borders without a problem- not even Terminus had popped up to check their passports. So far, they had not been accosted by ghouls or panhandling fauns. The scenery was pleasant enough. The trail wound through sweet-smelling sage and bay trees. To their left, silver luminescent fog blanketed San Francisco Bay. Before them, the hills formed an archipelago of darkness in the ocean of city lights. Regional parks and nature reserves kept the area mostly wild, Lavinia explained. "Just be on the lookout for mountain lions." She advised. "They're all over these hills."

"We're going… to face… the undead…" Apollo gasped. "And you're… warning us… about… mountain lions?" Lavinia shot him a look over her shoulder, part frown, part pout. Apollo could only wheeze in response. She was right, of course. Given his track record, it would be just his luck to be devoured by a mountainous feline. "How… much… further?"

"Not this again." Lavinia rolled her eyes. "We're about halfway there."

"Halfway." He repeated on another wheeze. "What about… car? Giant eagle? Elephant?" Hazel patted his shoulder.

"Relax, Apollo. Sneaking up on foot draws less attention. Besides, this is an easy quest. Most of mine have been like, go to Alaska and fight literally everything along the way or sail halfway across the world and be seasick for months. This is just go over the hill and check on the merry-go-round."

"A zombie-infested… merry-go-round." He corrected. "And…" He managed a wobbly point backwards. "Hills. With a sssssss."

"Does he always complain this much?" Hazel asked Meg.

"He used to be a lot whinier." Hazel whistled softly. "I know." Meg agreed. "Big baby."

"Beg… pardon!" Apollo protested, nursing a stitch.

"Ssh." Lavinia said, before blowing and popping a giant pink bubble. "Stealth, remember?"

Despite her worry and protests, Reyna crashed as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Naturally, she fell into a dream.

She opened her eyes to something jabbing at her forehead, frowning when she saw a pair of sea green studying her warily, accompanied with a pout. Louisa poked her in the forehead again. Reyna frowned at her.

"I was makin' sure ya weren't dead."

"Then check my pulse." Reyna groaned, making to sit up. Her body did not respond. Louisa clicked her tongue impatiently. "Wh-? Why can't-?" Memories began to trickle back to her and panic sealed her throat.

"No, no, it's OK." Louisa promised. Blood drew a thick line down from her hairline to her jaw, having dried a little already. Her arms were grazed, bruises around her neck. "That Lasty- Lazy- Lezzy… oh, fuckin'… whatever ya called 'em. 'N' Antipants. They're gone."

"Laestrygonians. And… and Antiphates." Reyna corrected, voice trembling with effort to keep herself calm. "Why… are you so bad with names?"

"Lastygonnas has the entire alphabet-"

"It really doesn't."

"Fuckin'… I dunno. Blame whoever comes up with these dumbass names." They had come here, a cave about an hour, hour and a half from camp. It had been a scouting mission- reports of monsters dwelling here had caught Reyna's attention. She took Louisa with her to deal with it.

Instead, it had been a small tribe of Laestrygonians, about thirty in total, and they had sniffed them out. Cannibals, hooked on demigod flesh. And their king, Antiphates. He had been the biggest problem. Reyna remembered the battle in flashes of green, bronze and gold, a hurricane, lots of yelling. She had stabbed down one of the cannibals when something with the force of a speeding truck smacked her off her feet. She slammed into the wall of the cave, vision swimming with pain. Her ears were ringing, but she could hear Louisa screaming her name.

She had blinked and Antiphates had Louisa. His meaty hand encased her throat. He tossed aside her blade with a laugh, her feet kicking at him from where she was held at almost her height from the ground. "Seaspawn," the king laughed, "you are most amusing. I've not had seaspawn for many, many years. I will savour you."

"Fuck… you…" Louisa wheezed. His grip tightened and she choked.

Reyna remembered what happened next. Cannibals were looming over her, blocking her vision of Louisa. She remembered the giant, grubby hands reaching for her, the hungry looks in their piggy eyes as they imagined roasting her over a fire, bit of seasoning. She couldn't move. Her arms would not obey, her legs would not move to get her out of there. She could do nothing but glare at them- she would not let them win without her letting them know what she thought of them.

Their grasps were less than an inch from her. Reyna waited for them to grab and tear her apart.

Then something weird happened.

The greed in their eyes faded with confusion, then panic and horror. They gurgled, shivering, twitching, as if their own bodies were suddenly as useless as Reyna's. She flinched when they exploded, monster dust and gore splattering over her. She opened her eyes in time to see the same happen to the king. Louisa landed with a snap on her ankle, cursing and gasping for air. She had been spared the gore coating.

That brought Reyna up to speed.

"What did you do?"

"I… I dunno, I panicked!" Louisa grimaced, laying a hand on Reyna's forehead. Her fingers were speckled with blood and monster ashes. Her other hand hovered a little ways above Reyna's stomach, green light flitting around her palm. Reyna stared at her, at the blood drying on the side of her head.

"Lou-"

"No, no, I'm gonna make ya better, I'm gonna." That hadn't been Reyna's question. She knew there was no stopping Louisa, she could not argue with her. She would only learn it wasn't going to work when she reached that conclusion herself.

"Lou." Reyna said again, a croak of insistence in her voice. Louisa's gaze darted to her, nervously shifting away. "What did you do?"

"I panicked." Louisa repeated, eyes narrowing, from concentration or pain, Reyna wasn't sure. She could feel a tingling on her forehead, the green light growing brighter. "I was desperate 'n'… 'n' they were gonna… they were gonna eat ya, Rey, 'n' I-"

"Panicked." Reyna finished for her. She studied the bloody trail again. "You used the water in their bodies, didn't you?" Louisa flinched, as if Reyna had taken a battering ram to her head. The green light flickered, waning, and then came back, twice as strong. It began to seep out from Louisa's hands, creating a sheen that slowly coated Reyna's body. "Yes or no." Reyna persisted. "Is that what you did? Yes or no?"

Louisa hung her head, biting her lower lip. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.

"I panicked." She breathed. "I… didn't know what else ta do. I couldn't lose ya, Rey, I couldn't…" She stifled a sob, shaking her head. "I'm not losin' another friend." She said, stubbornness filling her tone. "I did what I had ta 'n' I'll do it again."

"No-" Reyna cut off, pain spiking through her lower back. Louisa gave a laugh, stunned and victorious, as rods of fire splintered down Reyna's legs. The green light continued to strengthen. Louisa splayed her hands, thickening the sheen. Reyna's upper back, shoulders, arms, all began to ache, then her neck and her head. It was too much pain for her body to compute, so she could only really feel this burning coldness.

Then even that began to subside. Normalcy settled into her frame, her headache subsided and her vision sharpened. She could breathe easier, could wiggle her toes. She looked up at Louisa. What she had done- it was vile. Reyna wanted to smack her for it and she was going to. But right now, she was marvelling at her.

Louisa's nose began to bleed. Her green light faded away and she swayed, bleary eyed.

"Heh." She said, offering a wobbly smile. "How's that?"

"How did you-?"

"Same as them." She waved a hand over her shoulder at the dead monster piles. "But different. Excuse me." She inclined her head. Her eyes rolled back and she slumped forward. Reyna started, sitting up in time to catch her in her arms.

There was no pain. No trace of paralysis. She stood, lifting a snoring, drooling Louisa over her shoulders as she did so, like nothing had happened.

But something had happened.

Louisa was going to get more than a smack for this.

The carousel was topped by a tan-coloured dome, like a giant pith helmet. Behind a barricade of teal and yellow metal railings, the ride blazed with hundreds of lights. The painted animals threw long distorted shadows across the grass. The horses looked frozen in panic, their eyes wild, their forelegs kicking. A zebra's head was raised as if in agony. A giant rooster flared its red comb and stretched its talons. There was even a hippocampus, like Rainbow, but this fish pony had a snarling face.

What sort of parents would let their children ride on such nightmarish creatures? Apollo fumed. Almost instantly, his brain shot back, Zeus.

He couldn't argue with that.

They approached cautiously, but nothing challenged them, neither living nor dead. The place seemed empty, just inexplicably lit up.

Meg's glowing swords made the grass shimmer at her feet. Lavinia held her manubalista, primed and ready. With her pink hair and gangly limbs, she stood the best chance of sneaking up on the carousel animals and blending in with them. Apollo decided not to share that observation, as it would no doubt get him shot. Hazel left her sword in its sheath. Even empty-handed, she radiated a more intimidating demeanour than the rest of them.

Should I pull out my bow? Apollo wondered. Then he looked down and realised he had instinctively armed himself with his combat ukulele. OK, so he could provide a jolly tune in battle. That counted as heroism, right?

"Something's not right." Lavinia muttered.

"You think?" Meg crouched. She put down one of her swords and touched the grass with her fingertips. Her hand sent a ripple across the lawn like a stone thrown in water. "Something's wrong with the soil here." She announced. "The roots don't want to grow too deep."

"You can talk to plants." Hazel noticed, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not really talking, but yeah. Even the trees don't like this place. They're trying to grow away from that carousel as fast as they can."

"Which, since they're trees, is not very fast." Apollo supplied helpfully.

"Yes, well done, Sherlock."

"Thank you. Oh, wait, you were being sarcastic again, weren't you?"

"Let's see what I can find out." Hazel cut in. She knelt at the edge of the carousel's base and pressed her palm to the concrete. There were no visible ripples, no rumbling or shaking, but after a count of three, Hazel snatched her hand away. She staggered backwards, almost falling over Lavinia. "Gods." She breathed, her whole body trembling. "There's… there's a massive complex of tunnels under here."

"Part of the Labyrinth?" Apollo asked.

"No. I don't think so. It feels self-contained. The structure is ancient, but- but it also hasn't been here very long. I know that doesn't make sense."

"It does." Apollo assured. "If the tomb relocated."

"Or regrew." Meg offered. "Like a tree clipping. Or a fungal spore."

"Gross." Lavinia wrinkled her nose. Hazel hugged her elbows, shaking her head.

"This place is full of death. I mean, I'm a child of Pluto. I've been to the Underworld. But this is worse somehow."

"I don't love that." Lavinia muttered.

Apollo looked down at his ukulele, wishing he had brought a bigger instrument to hide behind.

"How do we get in?"

"There." Hazel pointed to a section of concrete that looked no different to the rest. They followed her over. She ran her fingers across the dark surface, leaving glowing silver grooves that outlined a rectangular slab the size of a coffin. Apollo winced at that thought, seeing it as an omen.

Hazel hummed, tapping her fingers on the surface. "I think I'm supposed to write something here. A combination maybe?"

"To open his door," Lavinia recalled, "two-fifty-four."

"Wait!" Apollo panicked. "There are lots of ways to write 'two-fifty-four'."

"Roman numerals, then?" Hazel quizzed.

"Yes. But two-five-four would be written differently in Roman numerals than two hundred and fifty-four, which is different from two and fifty-four."

"Which is it then?" Meg frowned. Apollo tried to think.

"Tarquin would have a reason to choose that number. He would make it about himself." Lavinia popped a small, stealthy pink bubble.

"Like using your birthday as your password?"

"Exactly." Apollo nodded. "But he wouldn't use his birthday. Not for his tomb. Perhaps his date of death? Except that can't be right. No-one's sure when he died, since he was in exile and buried in secret, but it had to have been around four-ninety-five BCE, not two-five-four."

"Wrong date system." Meg interjected. Everyone stared at her. "What?" She demanded. "I got raised in an evil emperor's palace. We dated everything from the founding of Rome. AUC. Ab urbe condita, right?"

"My gods." Apollo breathed. "Good catch, Meg. Two-five-four AUC would be… let's see… about five hundred BCE. That's pretty close to four-ninety-five."

Hazel's fingers still hesitated over the concrete.

"Close enough to risk it?"

"Yes." Apollo said. "Write it as a date- two hundred and fifty-four. C-C-L-I-V." Hazel did. The numbers glowed silver. The entire stone slab dissipated into smoke, revealing steps leading down into darkness.

"OK then." Hazel said. "I have a feeling the next part is going to be harder. Follow me. Step only where I step. And don't make any noise."

"Lou?"

"Bah."

"You're still asleep. I just need to talk to you."

"No, I'm not talkin' to you."

"Lou." A sharp tap on her head and she opened her eyes, glaring at Jason. "I need to talk to you. I was worried it wouldn't work, but you're a loud dreamer, I found you easily." Louisa raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't look at me like that." He accused. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You can do that?"

"What? Find people in dreams? Yes."

"You can do that?" Jason blinked at her.

"No." He replied flatly. "Obviously not." Louisa sat up, smacking him just because she could reach him.

"Where are we?"

"I dunno. Some dream world thing." Jason shrugged a shoulder. The landscape was a blur of sunset colours, clouds and shadows. There was a distant whispering, as if other people's dreams were close at hand. They sat in a candyfloss pink mound of clouds, oddly warm, but darkened underneath. Louisa decided to ignore that bit, distracted by the cloudy mass she was nestled in.

"Ugh, I need a bed like this." She wriggled herself into a comfortable position. Jason watched her, doing his best to keep his patience, but she could tell he was trying to figure out how to drop her through the clouds. "What'd ya want then, Jay? Better be an apology."

"A warning, actually." He smiled without mirth. Louisa groaned, head lolling back in complaint. Jason's hand swatted her knee. "Pay attention, blobfish. Hazel's going to need your help." Louisa stopped complaining instantly, sitting up.

"Oh, OK. I like Hazel."

"You need to go to the tomb."

"How'd you know this?" She frowned. Jason grimaced.

"Had a vision." At the words, shadows writhed higher. They did not break the surface of the cloud, folding back on themselves as if held back. Louisa narrowed her eyes at the display and then at Jason.

"You gettin' nightmares, Jay?"

"Mm." He nodded, rubbing his hands together. At her concern, he shook his head. "I'll be fine. I think… I think it's… well, I'm not supposed to be alive, so maybe it's like a reminder?" He hunched his shoulders. Louisa blew a raspberry. He smiled weakly. "Yes, yes, I know. We're illegal bastard children, I'm aware."

"Uh, how dare ya use such language around me?"

"Bastard?"

"Children!"

"Oh." Jason laughed. Louisa mock-pouted, but a snort of laughter got the better of her. She slugged him in the shin and he retaliated by kicking her. But he was smiling more genuinely now. "Listen to me, Lou." He insisted. "Hazel's going to need your help. And Apollo."

"I'll help Hazel. He's just… meh." She tipped her head to one side, sticking her tongue out. Jason rolled his eyes.

"Just do it."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"Wow, I'm convinced." She deadpanned. Around her the clouds flickered, disappearing, losing their colours, becoming transparent. Shadows swarmed excitedly. Jason noticed too, sighing.

"You're waking up. Go straight to them. I'll… I'll see you soon, OK?"

"No. Not OK. You're supposed ta stay in school until I say so, dumbass." He smiled feebly. Louisa bonked him on the head, though her hand was becoming see-through too. "You fuck up again, Grace, I ain't gonna be on your side."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." She nodded defiantly. Jason smirked.

"I'm convinced."

"I hate you."

"Yeah, I know." He began to fade too, squeezing her arm. "Be careful, you loon."

"No."

"Die then."

"Tryin' to."