Author's Note: A slightly longer chapter today, let me know what you think about the chapter length and pacing, as well as the story in general.

6

Mason

At first, it seemed like a normal hospital. It had all of the medical equipment, warning labels, and odd smells one might expect.

Of course, Mason knew this was not a normal hospital, and knowing this, he began to notice strange things here and there as Hygeia guided him through the fluorescently-lit hallways. Like the nurse who rushed past them who seemed to have the legs of a horse. Or the sign they passed by that he was pretty sure said something along the lines of "WARNING: HYDRA ACID HANDLING AREA." Or the giant window looking into a room entirely full of shimmering, golden-looking liquid.
Mason had never taken any recreational drugs, but he imagined it might have been a similar experience.

"So, now that we've got you decontaminated, I assume you have some questions?" he heard the goddess in front of him say. The decontamination process was mostly tolerable, as it seemed like they had just sprayed him a few times with some kind of mist and then brushed him off. There was a weird lingering smell somewhere between rubber and citrus, but otherwise it felt much less thorough than he had expected.

"I… guess so. What is this place?"

Hygeia stopped for a moment as a passing nurse handed her a clipboard, signed something, then handed it back. "This, Mr. Jackman, is the home of the Immaculators, specifically our Theta facility. We've been here for about seventy years, so it's relatively fresh and new. And if I must say so, it is quite the technological marvel. Look at this!"

She reached over and pressed a button on the wall, and immediately a large portion of the white wall spun around and opened into small utility closet, with shelves full of everything from disposable glove boxes to syringes to something that looked like a crystal ball but with a toxic waste symbol glowing bright red on it.

"Something one of my staff came up with a few decades ago, these storage rooms can be accessed from anywhere in the facility, and they don't even take up any space!"

Mason glanced into a doorway beside the closet and realized she was right, as he could see an entirely different room through the doorway where the closet should have been, apparently defying laws of space and physics. He blinked a couple of times as Hygeia closed the storage closet again.

"Okay then. You said this is the home of the Immaculators? So, janitors, then?"

Hygeia turned to him with a twinkle in her eye, and he noticed that the snake on her shoulder seemed to do the same. "Not exactly. Come, let's continue walking."

As they did, she kept explaining. "A few centuries ago, I decided that the modernizing world meant a need to modernize myself, as well as my followers. So, I took a handful of my and my father's worshippers under my wing and established the Immaculators, a branch of modern medicine and healthcare with an Olympian touch. We are the front lines of disease prevention and public hygiene, all without the mortal world knowing. Do you remember the AIY Outbreak of '02?"

Mason furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't, actually."

"Exactly!" Hygeia exclaimed excitedly. "You have us to thank for that! My Immaculators and I nipped that one in the bud before the mortal world even picked up on it. It never even got out of Spokane! I'd like to see my father Asclepius do that!"

The snake hissed in what Mason could only describe as a snake cackling.

"But enough about us, I'm curious about you. You said you're visiting someone?"

"Oh, yeah. I think you brought her in just a few minutes ago?"

Hygeia clapped her gloved hands together. "That must be Mrs. Ramírez-Arellano! Lively girl, that one. Brought her in for her complimentary check-up. Let's go see her now, I'm sure she'll be happy to have a visitor."

Mason's head was reeling as they continued down the long hallway. He wasn't quite sure what to make of all of it, especially Hygeia, but she seemed nice enough. He also didn't know if the person she had mentioned was Reyna, since he didn't know her last name. Regardless, he felt as though he didn't have much choice.

"You really are mortal, aren't you?" she said with a hint of amusement. "I can see now, looking at you directly."

He blinked. "You can tell?"

Hygeia waved her hand. "Of course, it isn't hard to discern. Sure, I've seen the same confused look on demigod's faces when they come in here, but I can tell you're quite new to all of this, not even just this place. Must be exciting!"

Mason gulped as a nurse passed him holding what looked like a jar full of leeches. "Yup, very exciting."

Hygeia either ignored or didn't notice his reaction as she stopped and turned to him. "Well, just so you know, even though many of my Immaculators here are demigods and such, there are many mortals as well. Many of them doctors and nurses before. But plenty of others had no prior medical field experience before being recruited. It's an exciting opportunity, and I would encourage you to consider it. I think you'd make an excellent addition to the team."

He blinked as he registered the offer. A job working for a goddess? Was it really that easy? Maybe this was the thing he had been looking for, something he could do to help people. Hygeia seemed like a generous person, and it would be nice to be able to work with plenty of other people. It wouldn't be boring, either; that he knew for certain.

But there were other more pressing matters.

"Thanks," he said simply, signaling a desire to move on.

The goddess raised an eyebrow before turning to continue walking.

Eventually they entered what looked like an individual patient room, and as they walked in Mason heard a familiar voice.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine. Now will you please get this thing out of my arm so I can go?"

Mason and Hygeia entered, and he saw Reyna sitting up on the hospital bed, with a masked individual standing beside her. They both turned to face the door, and the nurse nodded silently at the goddess as he immediately walked past them and out the door, leaving Reyna alone with them with a look of surprise on her face.

"Mason? How did you-"

"You have a visitor," Hygeia interrupted as she walked over to Reyna, beginning to remove something from her arm. "He managed to find his way inside on his own, for the most part. Quite the resourceful friend you have here."

Mason managed an awkward smile and half-wave towards her, which were met with a titled head and a look he hadn't seen on her face before. He decided not to dwell on it, though.

"I assume my staff have been welcoming, Mrs. Ramírez-Arellano?" Hygeia said.

Reyna scowled. "Don't call me that. It's Reyna. And I wouldn't call how they got me in here welcoming, no. I typically do not appreciate being stabbed with a needle in the back of the neck."

The goddess sighed and rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. "Damn it, Leonardo. I told him he needed to quit the emergency admissions thing. It's not the 1920's anymore." She looked back up to Reyna. "I apologize for my staff's methods. I can assure you that it was with good intentions."

"Sure," Reyna muttered. Mason was surprised she didn't say more than that.

"Anyway," Hygeia said, "What brings you to Grand Rapids? I get the impression you're not just visiting."

Mason watched Reyna's eyes narrow. "No. I'm looking for something."

"A quest, then?"

"You could call it that."

"And it's about the sickness at your camp?"

Reyna's eyes widened. "You know about it?"

"Of course. I'm a health goddess, it's in my domain to know of these things." Even through the mask, Mason could see the goddess' expression grow more sober. "It's a terrible situation, for sure."

Mason decided to speak up. "Well, hey, you're the goddess of health, you probably have something you can give us. Or something you can do. Right?"

Hygeia sighed. "Yes, I suppose you would think that. However, there are two problems. One, I am primarily the goddess of hygiene and cleanliness. I specialize in preventative healthcare, not curative. I'm sure I could provide some things to ease the process, but I am not the one to ask for a cure."

"Secondly, your camp's sickness is not an everyday one. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen something quite like it. Everything about it is odd, from the symptoms, to how it's transmitted, and even to how it looks. I don't know what it is, but it is clear to me that it has been engineered specifically for your camp, and your people. It's more than just a sickness-"

"It's a curse," Reyna whispered.

"Well, perhaps," Hygeia said. "But whatever it is, you will need more than me to fix it."

"So what do we do, then?" Mason said. "What are we looking for?"

Hygeia paced around the small room a few times, passing by the window on the wall that Mason only just realized was there. It looked as though they were on the third or fourth floor up, even though he didn't remember going up any stairs or elevators.

"There is something that may be able to help," Hygeia said after a minute. "Someone, rather. But she is not keen on visitors, especially when they are asking for something."

"Who is it?" Reyna asked immediately.

Hygeia looked up at her. "My sister, Panacea. She specializes in cures and solutions, and not even just to normal diseases. Even if her methods aren't always the most imaginative. She once had an alcoholic demigod come to her and beg her for a cure, and she just handed him a piece of paper with an address on it. He was so excited to find some sort of magical artifact to immediately cleanse him of all addiction." The goddess chuckled.

"What was it?" Mason asked.

"He showed up to the address. It was an AA meeting."

Mason couldn't suppress a chuckle himself.

Reyna frowned. "That was it?"

"Well," Hyegia said, shrugging. "It worked. Cleaned up his act. Even met his eventual wife there. Funny how things happen sometimes. Anyway, the point is that, despite her methods being… not in the same vein as mine, I do trust that she can do something about your camp, or at least help you find the solution…"

Mason noticed the lingering tone in her voice. "But…?"

Hygeia sighed. "But… she would kill me if I just sent you right up to her doorstep, especially without getting anything in return."

He hadn't experienced much of the mythological world up to this point, but even Mason knew where this was going. "Alright. What do you need us to do?"

"Mason." He heard Reyna's voice hiss at him, and he turned to look at her, confused.

What? he mouthed.

Before he could get a response, the goddess continued. "Yes, I suppose we can get right to it."

She clapped her hands together. "There is a problem we have run into here at the Theta facility. And it is not a problem that my Immaculators have been able to solve, despite some attempts. To put it simply, there is a horde of thieves living nearby that have consistently been stealing things from here. Needles, defibrillators, lights. Hades, even a whole bed got taken. I'm still not sure how they did that. But recently, something much more important was taken. My Bowl. Or rather, Phidias' Bowl."

Mason saw the white snake around her neck thrash its head side to side, like it was throwing a little tantrum. "A bowl?" he asked.

"Yes. Not just any bowl. This one is a vital piece of medical equipment, and it's one of the primary ways we produce our solutions and antitoxins here, thanks to Phidias here." Hygeia gave Phidias an affectionate scratch on the chin, which the snake accepted happily.

"Anyway, we know that they're hiding out in the sewer system nearby, which is probably where they have their stolen goods stashed, as well. I simply need you to find them, retrieve the Bowl, and prevent further theft, if you can. They have proven especially slippery, though, so I will accept just the Bowl for our deal if they elude your grasp. If you do this, I can tell you where my sister is, and I can hope that will be enough to appease her when she inevitably gives me an angry call afterwards. So, do we have a deal?"

Mason looked to Reyna. He wanted to help, but ultimately this was her quest. He didn't see any other way to find what they were looking for, but he assumed Reyna was resourceful enough to find another way if they had to.

"Deal," she said.

[^]

Once Hygeia gave them some general directions towards the easiest sewer entrance, Mason found himself following a practically speed-walking Reyna out of the facility entrance and into the hospital parking lot.

"Reyna, could you wait up a sec?"

She didn't respond or slow down as she walked out into the late afternoon sun.

"Reyna, my ankle's killing me, please."

She stopped fully this time, turning her head around, and he saw her shake a glazed expression off of her face. "Sorry. Wait, did you hurt yourself?"

Mason stopped to kneel down and put his hands on his knees. "No, I just have a bad leg is all. And I ran quite a bit earlier, chasing you down, so that didn't help. We can keep going, just… not too fast, if you don't mind."

"Right," she said, walking beside him now. "You said you chased me down?"

"Yeah, heard something happen, saw some shady guys with a gurney, and I followed them to the hospital." He deliberately tried to make it sound like it wasn't a big deal.

"And then you found the way in?"

"Well, I found the intercom. The lady seemed surprised I was mortal and let me in after that."

"Hm," Reyna said simply, looking straight ahead as they crossed a street. "Guess you can see through the Mist."

Mason let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, sort of. Sometimes. Sometimes I can't. It's weird, in goes in and out, almost like trying to focus a camera. If I look right it's there, but if I don't it's just a blurry mess of nothing."

"I have heard it's not always perfect. It's something that you can practice, apparently."

A thoughtful look crossed Mason's face. "Really?"
"Yes. A friend of mine is quite skilled at it. She can even manipulate the Mist to control what other people see, make them see things she wants them to."

"Well, you'll have to get me in touch, then."

Mason saw a small frown form on Reyna's face. She didn't respond.

They were quiet for the rest of the short walk to the river Mason had crossed before, which is where Hygeia had said the ideal entrance to the sewer was. Of course, "ideal" could only mean so much when one was talking about sewers.

They both stood in front of the hole in the wall for a moment, staring into the darkness.

"Got a light?" Mason asked.

Reyna pulled a flashlight from her pocket. "They were kind enough to lend one."

He extended his arm out. "Ladies first."

She rolled her eyes, but a faint smile formed on her face. "You're crazy if you think I was going to let you, the helpless mortal, in first," she said, ducking into the passage.

Mason pouted. "Can't I just be helpless?" he muttered, mostly to himself. "Hell, even just a mortal? Why does it have to be both?"

Then he followed her inside.

[^]

"Do we know what these things are?"

Mason's question echoed off the circular walls of the tunnel.

"I have a couple of ideas. Nothing concrete."

Reyna leapt over a large pile of garbage in the tunnel, and Mason was careful to do the same.

"So," Mason said, trying to keep a conversation going. "Is this sort of thing normal, then? I mean, I know you talked about dealing with some crazy stuff, but the whole going-on-a-quest-and-doing-errands-for-gods-along-the-way thing. Is that normal?"

Her sigh bounced off the walls. "Yes, unfortunately. These things are never really that simple."

"So you don't enjoy it?"

There was a beat of silence.

"I guess not. It's caused me a great deal of difficulty. But it's always something that has to be done. So I do it."

Mason nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see it. A sense of duty. He understood that, to the degree in which someone with a much less exciting life could. The feel of the need to do something being stronger than the want to do so.

"There are some people I know who I think enjoy it," she continued. "Or, they think they do. Every young demigod wants a quest until they actually go on one, then they see just how hard it is outside of camp."

"It must be hard even at the camp, though, right?" he said, trying to keep his tone light. "I mean, what with you being the leader. I imagine that's a lot of responsibility, too."

Mason's eyes were momentarily blinded as Reyna whipped her light and body back towards him. "I think that's enough questions for now. Alright?"

He would have responded, had it not been for the sudden disappearance of the light in Reyna's hand. Now his recently blinded eyes were struggling to adjust to the darkness again.

"What-" he heard Reyna mutter, then heard the unsheathing of her sword.

Then he heard laughter.

The sound echoed around them from all directions, and it was hard to tell if it was one voice or ten. It was a shrill mix of giggling and cackling, almost akin to something Mason would expect from a cartoon.

He struggled with his pocket for a second before bringing out his phone and turning on the flashlight. As it flicked on, he saw a flash of movement to the side, but it was gone immediately. The laughter kept bouncing off the walls, but got quieter.

Mason looked towards Reyna, who looked more annoyed than scared. "I think I know what these are," she said to him. "Come on, we should hurry."

To his slight dismay, she turned to continue down the tunnel instead of heading towards the exit. He muttered something about horror movies to himself then followed after her.

"Kobaloi," she said, keeping close to him while still leading the way. "Greek sprites of mischief. They like to trick and scare people more than hurt them, so we should be okay."

Mason was about to respond that they were doing an alright job of that, but was stopped by a sharp pain in his leg, as he felt something tiny and sharp poke it. "Gah!"

Reyna swung her head around. "What?"

More laughter emanated from around them.

He tried to rub his leg as they continued. "What was that you said about them not hurting people?"

She narrowed her eyes in concern before letting out a huff and grabbing Mason's arm. "Come on."

They hurried down the tunnel, Mason trying to light the way as they made their way down the winding tunnel. Every so often one of them would feel a poke and let out a small yelp before moving more quickly.

By the time they reached what looked like a wide-open chamber, they had been running full speed for a long stretch of tunnel. They both half-collapsed against the wall of the room, trying to catch their breath and wincing at the various marks on their legs. Mason's bad ankle in particular burned, not helped by the stabbings. The laughter had died down somewhat, thankfully. The air was stagnant and moist, with a nasty combination of smells one would expect from a sewer.

Mason was the first one to catch sight of what was in the room.

"Reyna. Look."

As she looked up, he shone the weak phone light around the room.

Gathered in various piles of varying sizes was a collection of… things.

There was no apparent theme to the collection, at least not as a whole. There were strollers, mini-fridges, half-constructed tents, fishing poles, construction signs, a McDonald's archway logo, worn-out paintings, printers, ladders, small beds, gaming consoles, and a large mass of angular metal that Mason could only assume was either a work of modern art or half of a destroyed car.

And that was just what was right in front of them. The room stretched on for at least a couple dozen feet in either direction, and most of it had piles of more random objects.

Mason looked towards Reyna with a face halfway between exasperation and amusement.

"Sooooo… now to find that bowl?"

She just stared at the mess in front of her.

"I definitely prefer Camp Jupiter to this."

Not hearing any more laughter from the Kobaloi, they both began to try and wade through the sea of stolen items.

"What does this bowl look like?" Mason said, tossing aside a Mickey Mouse backpack.

"She said it would be silver, with some gold vine-like designs curled around it," Reyna responded, shoving aside a bicycle. "She didn't give much more than that."

"Great," he said. "Here, help me move this."

The two of them shoved a freezer aside, revealing more of their current pile.

"This is really not where I expected to end up today," Mason said after another minute of rummaging through piles of sofas and My Little Pony piñatas.

Reyna smirked at him. "Well, get used to it, mortal boy. This is what it's all about. Looking for a bowl for a goddess in a sewer."

"Oh, like that one?"

Mason pointed to one of the nearby piles. There, sitting on top of a mound of mattresses and disposable glove boxes, was a wide, shining goblet of silver and gold.

"Huh," Reyna said. "I guess so."

Mason stepped over a few piles of garbage to reach the bowl, reaching out for it, and just barely managed to grab the edge of it.

As soon as he did, he saw them for the first time.

Right behind the bowl, what looked at first like a very small man was squatted on one of the dirty mattresses, staring at him with beady, glassy eyes. It had mostly human-like features, but was only about two feet tall and had pointed ears, a bald and elongated head, a jaw that jutted out a bit too far, and skin the color of the lint you'd find in your pocket.

Mason reeled back, stumbling into a pile of winter jackets and cafeteria trays. As he did, he noticed more of the creatures around him, sat atop piles of their treasure. A couple were hanging from cracks in the sewer walls. They were wearing tattered messes of cloth, small dirty loincloths, and were all holding some kind of sharp object. One of them was holding a sewing needle, another a box cutter. All in all, he saw about eight of the creatures around them, though he was almost certain there were more out of sight.

Thankfully, he saw Reyna in the corner of his vision immediately step beside him, her Imperial gold sword drawn. Suddenly he was extremely thankful she was there.

"I suggest you stay back," she called out firmly.

A wave of cackling rose up and filled the room.

"Demigods always so brave," the one in front of them said in a high-pitched voice.

"Make harder to trick," said another.

"But more fun to," said yet another.

"Yeah," Mason said, finding his voice. "Except I'm not a demigod."

More cackling.

"Then how you see us? Silly demigod."

"I can see through the Mist. So I can see you," Mason said.

Reyna glanced down at him, then back at the Kobaloi. "We don't want any trouble. We're just taking something back to its owner. We won't hurt you."

"Oh but we want trouble! We like trouble!" "Stabbing demigods best trouble!"

The words were echoed around the room by all the other creatures.

Mason realized one of them was inching closer to them on the ground. "Reyna," he said quietly, urging her to look.

She did, and she took a jab at it. As she did, the creature seemed to pop, dissipating in a tiny cloud of mist. A moment later, Mason saw another pop as the same creature appeared on a pile a few feet away, hopping and giggling. He heard Reyna curse under her breath.

"They're slippery," she said to him quietly. "I don't know if I can even hit them. And I doubt they're going to let us go with their prized possession."

Mason cringed, tightening his grip on the bowl. "So what? We run?"

"Maybe. On my mark?"

"Wait!" he hissed.

"What?"

"Is that a good idea?"

"Do you have a better one?"

He thought to himself. "You said they like tricking people, right?"

"Yeah."

"And they said demigods are even more fun to trick."

"Yeah?"

He gulped. "Let me try something. Then we run if it doesn't work."

"What are you-"

"Just go along with it, okay?"

She looked at him intensely, trying to study his face. "Alright."

Mason looked back towards the first Kobalos, standing up straight. "That's right, I am a demigod. You got me."

They all cackled, various mutterings coming from around the dark room. "Knews it." "Silly demigod." "Can't fool us."

"But," he said, raising a finger. "I am the best at a certain special game. You like games?"

He saw their eyes light up. "Games." "Yes, games. We like games." "Games of trickery! Best games. Always win games."

Mason smiled, trying to keep from shaking as he spoke. "My favorite game is something called hide-and-seek. Have you played that one before?"

Sounds of muttering bounced around from creature to creature. From what he could tell, it seemed like a unanimous 'no.'

"Well, do you want me to teach you? Then you could see if you could beat me, the master of hide-and-seek. I don't think you can, but you can try," Mason said, giving an exaggerated shrug.

Louder voices rose up in tones of excitement and defiance. "No!" "We beat you!" "Best tricksters!"

"Here's how it goes," Mason said, trying to speak in a light and whimsical voice. "I will close my eyes and count to one hundred. While I do, you all have to hide somewhere. Once I get to one hundred, I'll open my eyes and try to find you. You only win if I don't find any of you. If I do find any of you, that means that I win, and I'm a better trickster than you."

Even the mentioning of being better at their own craft was enough to get them riled up, with many of them bouncing up and down in anticipation. "No better trickster!" "We hide so good!"

Mason managed a smile. "So you want to play?"

"Yeah!" "We hide and you no seek!" "What about her?"

Mason saw one of them point at Reyna, who was standing very still.

"Oh, her?" he said dismissively. "She can be the referee or something. She's not good at hide-and-seek, anyway. She can make sure I keep my eyes closed the whole time, so I don't cheat. Does that sound good?"

Mutterings of acceptance echoed around him.

"Alright, then. You had better get ready, because I'm about to count down! Remember, you only win if you stay hidden!"

Mason closed his eyes and started counting, making sure he was loud enough for his voice to fill the chamber. He jumped a little when something touched him, but relaxed when he realized it was just Reyna placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine… one hundred! Ready or not, here I come!" he yelled out, listening for any movement or laughter. There was none.

He turned to Reyna. "Okay, let's get out of here," he whispered. Reyna, speechless, followed close behind him as he led the way through the tunnels, light out in front of them. They kept as quiet as possible, trying to avoid stepping in any murky water.

At one point, they came across a Kobalos standing to the side in one of the tunnels. Mason almost panicked before realizing that it must have thought it was still hidden. So, he did his best to pretend not to see it, and Reyna did her best to follow suit. They passed it by, coming within a couple feet of it - close enough to hear it trying to suppress snickers - and managed to get by without any further incident.

It wasn't until they stepped completely out of the sewer and climbed back onto the main street that they both let out a seemingly minutes-long held breath. Mason fell back against a building wall, letting out a nervous laugh as he stared up at the sky.

They stayed like that for a minute before Mason looked back down towards Reyna and realized she was staring at him. Once their eyes met, she shook her head. "Where did that idea come from, exactly?"

He chuckled. "I did a lot of babysitting the younger ones at my orphanage back in Indiana. They were a handful, so sometimes you just had to come up with tricks to get some time to breathe. One of the older caretakers taught me. If you get them excited about playing some hide-and-seek, maybe tell them they get a treat for winning, then suddenly you have a whole lot of quiet time to yourself. You just wait to do the actual seeking until your quiet time is over." He grinned. "Who knew a bunch of nasty little trickster sprites had so much in common with little kids?"

Reyna smiled at him with a mix of warmth and amusement. "Well, it worked. Good job. I wouldn't have thought of that."

"To be fair," Mason said, leaning back up from the wall. "I think you could have taken them. But I think this way was much less painful. And more fun, too."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, fun."

There was a beat of them looking at each other, then Mason lifted up the Bowl to look at it. "Anyway, I guess we should get this back. Let's just hope those Kobold things really care about winning hide-and-seek, or else I might have to deal with a bunch of little guys running around trying to stab me in the ankles, and this time it won't be kids with crayons."