Author's Note: School's starting up this week, so I'm about to be a lot more busy. I'm still shooting for at least one chapter a week, but apologies in advance if I miss that mark occasionally. Thanks for all of the favorites/follows/reviews so far, and be sure to leave more reviews if you have any critiques or things you'd like to see going forward!

10

Mason

For once, it wasn't just Mason's left ankle that hurt. In fact, as the ringing in his ears subsided and his vision focused again, the pain began to throb throughout most of his body, and he cringed as he tried to lean back in his seat. As he did, he felt something on his right arm.

"Mason! Thank the gods!"

Mason blinked as he looked beside him, where Reyna was sitting, shaking his arm. The front airbags had all gone off, and the front windshield was bent in a webbed pattern of cracks. As he glanced out the shattered glass, he saw the blurry images of a mass of cars in front of them, stationary and scattered. Something had apparently caused the drivers to stop, and he had collided with them.

Blinking rapidly, he looked to Reyna again with a dazed expression. "What is-"

He was interrupted by a sound he definitely had never heard before. A deep, thundering roar shook the car, even though it sounded like it came from a good distance away. It seemed almost like a human yell, but weirdly animalistic at the same time. Regardless, Mason felt an instinctual sense of dread flow through him.

By the time the sound stopped and he glanced to Reyna again, she was already shoving the passenger door open and climbing out, wrapping Mason's brown Winnie The Pooh hoodie around her waist. "Get Tabitha out, I need to stop this," she said, without even looking back into the car.

Mason glanced to the back of the car, where he saw Tabitha slouched across the backseat, her eyes fluttering. A small stream of blood had trickled down her cheek, and she seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness.

"Stupid dice…" she muttered, shifting her head around in a daze.

It took Mason a second to register everything, and even as he unbuckled himself and stumbled out of the bent car door, he still felt like he was on autopilot, like a spectator watching someone else use his body. He glanced around, trying to get a grasp of his surroundings.

They were around the middle of the bridge, overlooking the vast lake it spanned. There were about five now abandoned cars on the bridge in front of them, some of them angled to block passage on the two-lane side of the bridge. A handful of people were running the opposite direction towards the UP side, with most of them a good distance away at this point. He couldn't see too far down the bridge, but it seemed like the opposite lanes didn't have any cars coming through, so they had probably stopped further down the bridge.

However, as he reached for the backseat car door, he felt his breath stop as he saw what else was further down the bridge. A couple hundred away, an incredibly tall man stood. Except it wasn't a man, which Mason quickly deduced given the events of the past few days. The figure loomed at least ten feet tall, wearing what looked to be armor made of dark leather and bronze. In its hands it carried a huge, double-sided axe, with a wooden handle about as tall as the creature itself. What really drew Masons eyes, though, was the upper half of the creature's body. It was a mass of muscle and hair that would have seemed comically large had it not been for the matching enormous head that topped it, complete with long snout and burning eyes. And on top of the head: horns, dark and curved.

Mason had heard of the creature before in books and such. Mythology wasn't something he knew much about before he had begun helping Reyna, but between his basic knowledge and a brief mention on her part, he knew what this thing was.

The Minotaur.

He wasn't sure how long he had stood there gaping in horror, but he was shaken from it when he heard Reyna's voice yelling out.

"I give you one word of warning! Leave now, or I will not hesitate to cut you down where you stand!" Reyna's voice carried an impressive distance, and Mason watched as she stood, sword in hand, before the giant monster.

The Minotaur's gaze locked with the demigod approaching it, and it let out another bellowing roar, lifting its head and axe up in anger. As the handle of its weapon slammed back down onto the bridge with a thud, it lowered its head and charged forward. Reyna took one step back into a fighting stance, and waited for it to get closer. Finally, as it thrashed its head forward to slam into her, she rolled out of the way, slicing across the creature's legs. The Minotaur stumbled as its momentum carried it forward another few steps, but then spun around and roared again, the wound a seemingly minor one.

It took all of Mason's willpower to tear his eyes away from Reyna and the monster, but he managed to look away and back towards his car. Thankfully the back of it hadn't taken too much damage, so he pried open the back door without much effort. He reached in and grabbed Tabitha, who was still muttering in her unconsciousness. He grunted as he pulled her out of the car and leaned her up against the back wheel, then grabbed her duffel bag and set it beside her.

"Gotta make… death saving throw…" she mumbled, her head lilting to the side.

"Hang in there," Mason said, tilting her head back to get a better look at her. A decently-sized cut lined her forehead, but thankfully it didn't seem deep. Once he decided she wasn't in any immediate danger from injury, Mason limped around the car to the back trunk, pulling it open and grabbing his bag.

As he slammed the door shut, he glanced behind him, and realized there were people on the bridge, and that they were coming towards them. They were still towards the end of the bridge a long distance away, but they were definitely coming up the bridge, as opposed to the people that had run away back down it.

Mason was about to sigh in relief at some kind of help arriving before he realized the people didn't have legs.

He scrambled to pick up his bag and get back to Tabitha, who seemed to still be out of it.

"Oh, bother," Mason muttered as he glanced down, wishing she were conscious. "Come on, Tabitha. We need to go," he said, slinging both bags over each of his shoulders. Then he reached down to pick up Tabitha, straining to get her in a standing position, with her arm around his shoulder. Thankfully, her eyes started to flutter, and she actually stood on her legs of her own strength, somewhat.

"What is…" she muttered, glancing around sluggishly.

"Snake legs," he said without thinking.

At least that got Tabitha closer to consciousness. "What?"

Mason smelled gas, and as he glanced to his car, he realized they probably needed to get away from it. He said a silent goodbye to his trusty little red sedan, then turned to start limping slowly down the bridge.

After a few labored moments of walking and squeezing past the parked cars, Tabitha opened her eyes fully, blinking as she took in her surroundings. As she glanced at Mason, she moved her arm away from him, standing on her own.

"Oh, crap," she said. "You good?"

Mason managed a nervous smile. "For now. You?"

"Yeah, what-"

As she spoke, he saw her notice what was in front of them: a Minotaur, currently swinging its axe wildly at a familiar demigod. Then she glanced the other way, and saw what was behind them: a small horde of spear-wielding humanoids with snake bottom halves.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Tabitha reached into her bag, still slung over Mason's shoulder, and pulled out what looked like a simple golden dagger. "I assume you don't have anything?" Tabitha said.

"What, an Imperial gold weapon for killing monsters?" he said with a hint of exasperation.

"Didn't think so."

They huddled up behind the concrete divider in the middle of the bridge, glancing nervously between Reyna dueling the Minotaur and the approaching snake-women.

Mason found himself in awe watching Reyna fight the thing. He would've felt bad for sitting back and not helping, but he knew that if he took one step too close he would end up either smashed through the bridge or off of it. Reyna, however, maneuvered around the beast's swings with a grace and a confidence that Mason had never seen the likes of, and her strikes were brutal yet precise. Her single braid of hair whipped around her head like an angry snake as she ducked in and out of the Minotaur's reach, and her face showed a complete focus that was equal parts terrifying and breathtaking.

His mind was halfway through an observation of how muscular her arms were when he remembered that there was someone crouched down right beside him.

"You need to help her," Mason said quietly as they knelt behind the barrier.

"What about you?" Tabitha hissed back.

"I'll be fine, I can keep my head down!"

He saw hesitation in Tabitha's eyes. "I've never done anything like this before."

"Wait, really? But you've fought monsters before, right? Just smaller ones-"

"Only in role-playing games!" she whispered loudly. "And besides, that's the freaking Minotaur! That's, like, boss-level stuff! All I have is this stupid dagger!"

"Ssssspotted them! There!" a voice hissed out behind them.

They both turned to see the figures from before, now much closer to them. Mason could see now that they not only had slithering snake bodies for lower halves, but also pale green snake-like heads as well, and dirty steel armor across their chest. Their red eyes darted around the bridge before settling on his and Tabitha's hiding spot. As they did, they all began to converge and slither-walk more quickly, bearing down on them.

Mason did the first thing he thought of.

"Reyna!" he yelled out down the bridge. "Help?"

He saw as she spun out of a strike with her sword and backed away from the Minotaur, and her head whipped around to where they were. Her eyes filled with realization at the approaching snake creatures, and she and Mason momentarily locked eyes. Even from a distance and through the chaos, there was a feeling of recognition he felt in that moment – a feeling of finality. The feeling that, unless something drastic changed, unless a miracle happened, there wasn't a way that they would all get out of this.

As it so happened, something akin to a miracle did, in fact, happen at that very moment.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mason saw a mass of something come flying up over the side of the bridge. As he glanced over, he saw what he could only describe as a miniature tidal wave come crashing into the surface of the bridge, thrashing wildly across the concrete before barreling into the Minotaur, knocking it on its back. Somehow the water seemed to avoid hitting Reyna, as she took a few shocked steps back from the now soaked monster. As the water subsided, pouring back over the side of the bridge, Mason, Reyna, and Tabitha all looked over to where the water had come from to see two figures now standing on the bridge.

One of them was dressed in all black, with a leather jacket and dark jeans and matching black, messy hair. His skin was pale, almost as if he were deathly ill, but the intensity in his eyes proved that wrong, as he stood with a hunched pose and a jet black sword gripped in his hand.

The other was taller and more fit, with an orange t-shirt and jeans, similarly windswept black hair, and a bronze sword in his hand. A lopsided grin crossed his face as he looked towards the opposite side of the bridge, his green eyes glinting in the early evening sunlight.

"You ever get déjà vu, Nico? I swear, this has happened before," he said, then raised his sword to point towards the Minotaur, who had just stood up from being blasted by a funnel of lake water.

"This'll be the third time I kill you, Beef Boy, and the second on a bridge!" he called out. "What are the chances of that?"

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Mason had no idea how these people kept up with everything. A part of his brain still hadn't registered the initial accident they had gotten into just minutes before, let alone everything afterward, from the Minotaur, to the snake-people, the wave of water, and now the two new people who he could only assume were more demigods.

For the first time since Reyna had shown up at his house, a part of him wished he was back home in his own bed.

He watched from his mediocre hiding spot as the boy in the orange shirt charged with bronze sword in hand towards the Minotaur, who had recovered from the initial water blast and let out a much angrier roar than before. He and Reyna made eye contact and silently nodded, seemingly falling into a rhythm of cooperation. As they began to circle the monster, Mason heard a voice next to him.

"Are you two okay?"

He glanced over to see the boy in all black knelt down next to him and Tabitha, looking at them intensely.

"Better than ever," Tabitha said with a hint of sarcasm, standing up with her dagger in hand.

The figure looked her over, then glanced to where the snake-people were approaching. "I don't think that's necessary," he said to her. "I've got this."

"What?" she said. "But there's, like, a dozen of them!"

They all looked back down the bridge.

"Or, you know, five?"

The boy in black stepped towards them, and Mason saw now that the black sword he was holding seemed to be giving off an odd smokey glow.

"The bridge complicates things," he said, sighing. "But I think I'll manage."

Then he ran towards the horde of monsters.

Mason watched as the boy approached the first snake-thing, ducking under its spear and stabbing it in the gut. The creature let out a mangled screech as it fell, and as it did, it dissolved into dust, scattering across the bridge. As it did, some of the dust seemed to be sucked towards the blade, which seemed to glow slightly brighter. Or darker. It was difficult to explain. In any case, the boy continued his whirlwind of death, dispatching the monsters with what seemed like ease.

A cry jolted his attention back the other direction, and he watched as the first boy skidded across the bridge a few feet before colliding with the central concrete barrier, grunting in pain. The Minotaur leaned its head back to let out a guttural roar before stepping towards the prone boy. Reyna was behind the creature, and seemed to have dropped her sword, running to pick it up before spotting what was happening.

"Percy!" she yelled out, running back towards the monster, forgoing picking up her weapon.

Mason saw it was too late, though, as the Minotaur took its final step towards the boy and began to lift its axe above its head. Percy took one last look up at the monster as the enormous axe reached the apex of its swing.

A blur of something whipped past Mason's head as his eyes were transfixed on the Minotaur, and he watched as an object seemed to manifest from thin air, lodged directly in the monster's left eye. As the Minotaur's arms fell limp, the axe falling to the bridge with a clang, Mason saw what looked like the handle of something now protruding from the thing's face. The monster fell to its knees, then began to disintegrate into dust like the other slain monsters, silently dissipating from the legs up. As its head disappeared, the golden dagger fell to the ground, resting where the monster had just stood.

Mason saw Percy and Reyna look in their direction, and as he turned, he saw Tabitha standing right behind him, her arm partially outstretched, and a surprised expression on her face.

"Uh, lucky throw?" she said.

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"Hey, you stole my kill," Percy said with a strained voice as Reyna helped him up.

Tabitha smirked at him. "Yeah, you totally had that one handled, right? Besides, don't worry, we'll still share the XP on that one, right?"

Percy gave her another lopsided grin. "I guess so."

Reyna pulled him into a quick hug before pulling back and looking him over with a smile. "Thanks for the help. It's good to see you."

She glanced over to see the other boy approach, who sheathed his black sword and hopped over the barrier to give her another hug.

"You too, Nico," she said, holding him for a bit longer than she did Percy. "But… what are you doing here?"

Mason saw a similar incredulous look on both Percy and Nico's faces. "Because we're not about to let you die out here on a quest by yourself?" Nico said. "Though, I guess you weren't by yourself," he said, glancing to Mason and Tabitha with a skeptical eye.

"They're… friends," Reyna said. "New ones. Come on, we should get moving before any mortals show up to clean up this mess."

She looked to Mason with a look of realization, which turned to an apologetic one. "I'm not sure how we're going to get your car through."

Mason looked back towards the pile-up of cars on the bridge.

As if some goddess of ironic timing had bestowed her blessing upon them, just in that moment when they were all looking back at Mason's car, the half-crushed hood erupted in a column of flames, sending smoke billowing up into the air.

"Well, at least now we know we're not getting it through," he said.

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The five of them made their way down the bridge, doing their best to seem like panicked teenagers caught in a freak accident when they passed by any onlookers. Mason didn't find that particularly difficult, considering it was basically the truth. As they got off the bridge and started to make their way to a nearby campsite to recuperate, he suddenly felt very aware of his own breathing and heartrate, and the fact that both of them were still rather rapid. He also still felt sore all over, especially in his left ankle, leaving him limping most of the way. Despite the fact that he had some experience in hiding it when he felt like he needed too, it didn't seem to matter that much, as everyone looked a little beat up one way or another. In any case, after walking some distance, they ended up at a small campsite not far from the shore, which had a couple of RVs and tents scattered about but was mostly pretty vacant. They found one of the open dirt lots with a firepit and collapsed onto the ground and small stone benches.

They all introduced themselves to each other, with Mason just explaining that he had run into Reyna and decided to help take her where she needed to go. The two newcomers confirmed that they were Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo, who Mason had heard about from Reyna. It was a strange feeling, suddenly being in the presence of two people who, based on what Reyna had said, were extremely significant in not only her life, but also the world of Greek and Roman demigods as a whole. And here they were, seeming like completely normal teenagers.

Well, maybe not completely normal. They had just swooped in on a tidal wave and taken out a handful of deadly monsters with relative ease. Still, Mason found it hard to imagine someone like Percy being the "chosen one of the prophecy," especially when he was in the middle of an argument with Tabitha about who deserved more experience points for killing the Minotaur. Even Nico butted in a couple of times, citing some game called Mythomagic, and how he was busy farming dracaena, which was obviously a more profitable use of monster-killing time.

"As much as I know this topic is of immense importance to you all," Reyna said with the tiniest hint of a smile. "I do want to know, really, why it is you're here. And how, as well."

Nico looked up at her from where he was sat criss-crossed on the dirt, his smile fading. "I told you, we couldn't let you come out here on your own," he said. "That's a better question for you, Reyna. Why didn't you tell us?"

Mason saw him glance to Percy. "We know you got something from Rachel," Nico said. "She told us just the other day. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Reyna's face was hard to read, but Mason knew he saw some guilt somewhere in it. She took a deep breath. "For one, the prophecy, or whatever it is that she received, specifically referenced me fighting alone," Reyna said slowly. "'Destruction's daughter fights alone.' That seems rather simple to me."

"We all know those prophecies are misleading, though," Percy said. "Right? I mean, they're basically made to trick people into thinking it's one thing, when it's really something else."

"My mother is the goddess of destruction, Percy," Reyna said pointedly. "Unless you know of any others, that means it's either me," Reyna glanced to Tabitha. "Or my sister, Hylla. And she's nowhere near here right now."

"Exactly!" Percy exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "I mean, I don't know if any of you know this, but there was a quest I went on a while back, and Annabeth led it. You know what one of the lines of prophecy she got was? 'The Child of Athena's final stand.' What are you supposed to do with that? She's literally a daughter of Athena."

"So," Tabitha said. "I'm guessing she didn't… you know…"

"No," Percy said. "The prophecy meant that Daedalus' soul would be freed to destroy the Labyrinth. Since he's a child of Athena, too."

"Your point?" Reyna asked.

"My point," he said, looking at her intently. "Is that prophecies aren't guides. At least not reliable ones. They're not there to tell you what to do, they just make you paranoid about what it means and when it's going to happen. Besides, it's always going to happen anyway, so why try to fight it, or even follow it? Part of me is glad that all the prophecy stuff has gone to crap." Percy's voice grew in frustration towards the end of his explanation.

"I think what Percy means," Nico said. "Is that that line, about fighting alone, doesn't mean you have to do everything alone. It might just mean you have to fight one thing alone, or even just deliver the final blow on something."

"Yeah," Tabitha spoke up, pacing around the edge of the dirt pit they were sat in. "Maybe it already happened. I mean, you held off that Minotaur all by yourself. What if that's it?"

Mason watched Reyna through all of this, trying to see what she was feeling. She seemed good at steeling herself from showing too much emotion, though, so all he could tell was that she was thinking about all of this.

"Maybe" was all that she said in response.

"And why didn't you tell anyone when you left?" Nico asked, leaning forward. "Even if you really did have to go alone, we could have at least known."

Reyna titled her head. "Rachel agreed to let someone know if she thought it was absolutely necessary, which she apparently did. Besides, you and I both know that if I let you or Percy or anyone else know you would have never let me go alone."

"Nope," Percy muttered.

Nico glanced between the two of them wordlessly for a moment. Then, almost as if on cue, all three of them began laughing. Not a loud, boisterous laughter, but a series of smiles and quiet chuckles, like they were all sharing in some subtle joke. Mason could feel the tension leave the air around them, and he couldn't help but smile himself.

"We don't have to do this alone, remember, Reyna?" Nico said with a soft expression that seemed oddly out of place with the rest of his appearance.

She smiled at him. "I know," she said simply. "The gods know I'm lucky to have you."

A look of realization crossed her face, and she reached into her pocket. "Speaking of luck," she said, tossing something to Tabitha. "Here's your cursed dice back."

Tabitha caught it, a look of surprise and gratitude on her face. "Hey, thanks."

Percy glanced over, looking both curious and wary. "You have a cursed dice?"

"Hey now," Tabitha said, raising a finger. "It's not cursed. It just… shows what your luck is. A mini-prophecy, I guess."

"How does it work, though?" Reyna asked. "How far does it foresee? Because that number you rolled…"

"Is one of the lowest I've seen," Tabitha said somberly. "Yeah. But it usually doesn't mean for any longer than, like, a few hours. Sometimes it's hard to tell, especially with the middle numbers. Like, how am I supposed to know when the completely average thing has happened, right?"

"So, we're fine now?" Mason asked, a bit nervous about something else coming out of the woods to attack them.

"Should be," Tabitha said. "Anyway, we've got these two now, right?" she said, clapping a hand on Percy and Nico's shoulders. "They don't stand a chance!"

"Well, regardless," Reyna said. "We should probably prepare for the night, and the journey ahead. We need to get some supplies, make a plan, especially for travel. I assume you shadow-traveled here, Nico?"

Nico nodded. "I could get us to camp in just a couple jumps normally, but I'm already a bit spent. And with this many of us, I don't know. I wouldn't count on being able to do it more than once, so we should time it well. We need to make at least part of the journey ourselves."

"Some of us can go try and find somewhere to grab a few things," Percy said, standing up. "And the rest can stay here, get some rest, hold down the camp." He looked towards Reyna.

She looked like she was about to protest, but instead she shook her head. "You sound like Mason. Fine, but be back before sundown, I don't want any of us split up when night comes."

Percy smiled back at her. "Right. So me, Nico… you coming, Tabitha? You said you've been around the area before, right?"

"A bit," she said with enthusiasm. "We can find something in Mackinaw City, for sure. Let's go."

Mason watched as Percy, Nico, and Tabitha all started making their way down the road, already chatting among themselves. He was a bit surprised at how quickly Tabitha acclimated to the group, her humor seeming to mesh well with the others. A smile crossed his face as he thought about how excited Tabitha had seemed to be a part of all of this, even despite the mishap on the bridge.

"It's so quiet now," he heard Reyna say. He turned his head to look at her as she sat a couple feet from him. She rubbed her arm as she managed a small smile at him. Her tanned face was further darkened by specks of ash and dirt, a similar color to her two dark eyes.

Mason realized after a second that he was just staring at her, not having said anything back.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said with a nervous laugh, his hand instinctually going up to ruffle his hair. He decided to distract himself by digging through his bag. "A bit cold, too," he said, pulling out a small dark orange sweatshirt.

"Oh, did you want yours back?" Reyna asked, untying the brown hoodie from her waist.

"No, no. Keep it. I've got this one," he said, pulling it over his head. "Besides," he said as she put it back on. "It looks good on you."

Reyna gave him a weird look, but shrugged.

A silent couple of minutes passed. It didn't feel awkward, though, at least not to Mason. It felt appropriate, just catching their breath and enjoying the quiet rustling of leaves and crisp breeze.

"I'm sorry," he heard Reyna say quietly. She was staring into the empty stone fire pit in front of them.

"Wh- what for?" Mason said, genuinely confused.

Reyna took a shaky breath. "I left you behind to rush ahead and face down the Minotaur. That was reckless of me. I should have stayed back, helped get Tabitha to safety, made sure you were both okay."

Mason's mouth hung open for a moment. "Wait, what?"

She looked towards him. "What?"

"Why would you need to apologize for that?"

"I just told you why! I shouldn't have run off-"

"You saved our lives, though. I don't understand."

"You could have been hurt! Or there could have been more monsters, which there were, and I left you defenseless!"

"And we made it out fine, right?"

"Only because Percy and Nico arrived!"

"Which they did…"

"I just…" she trailed off a bit. "I had a lapse in judgement, I made a poor call that endangered you, and it won't happen again."

A few more seconds of silence passed.

"Well, I was the only one that didn't do anything," Mason said. "I'm starting to feel like I… like I'm just slowing you down."

Reyna looked at him with a chastising expression. "That's not true. I would not have made it this far without you."

"You mean without my car. Which I now don't have."

"Mason," she said, and she held eye contact with him. "You cleaned out my shoulder wound. You tricked those Kobaloi and got us out of the sewers. If you think you're just some chauffer… you're not. Besides, you-"

She cut herself off, biting her lip as she broke eye contact.

"What?"

Reyna shook her head. "Nothing. But I just want you to know that all of this – Tabitha, your car, Percy, Nico – it doesn't change the fact that I… I still want you to come with us."

Mason raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. I mean, I do want to, especially now that there's apparently someone who wants to talk to me at Mount Olympus." He smiled. "Just promise me that you won't go around warding off monsters and then apologizing for it."

She raised an eyebrow back at him. "Perhaps I will, so long as you promise not to downplay your own capabilities."

"Deal."

They shook hands. Mason noticed hers felt much colder than his.

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Later, when the rest of the group returned from their supply expedition with sleeping bags, food, and some miscellaneous other items, they decided to rest here for the night before leaving early in the morning, with a single person keeping watch. Mason volunteered for the first watch, and also managed to get a small fire started in the fire pit. As his companions were bundled up in their sleeping bags around the small dirt patch, Mason glanced around the area.

There still weren't many other people around. A couple of RVs were parked in the nearby small parking lot, which he had seen a couple people come in and out of. There were a few other spots like theirs scattered around the patchy grass field, with only one or two hosting any campers, and they all had actual tents.

Time passed without incident, and Mason did his best to stay awake through his shift. Eventually, as he found himself zoning out a bit, he shook his head to jolt himself awake, and as he did, he did a double-take. There, in one of the closer camping spots, one of the fire pits was lit up with a fire in the dark of the night, a wisp of smoke trailing up from it. At the fire, knelt in front of it, was a small girl. She seemed to be wearing a brown hoodie, with the hood up over her head, but it was difficult to make out any details. Normally he wouldn't find this that odd, but he could have sworn she wasn't there just a second ago.

He stared in her direction for a moment before realizing that she had turned to face him, her expression a subtle but warm smile. She waved at him. He waved back, hesitantly.

A vibration in his pocket interrupted the moment, and he glanced down to turn off the alarm he had set. He went over to where Percy was asleep and woke him, informing him of the shift change.

As Percy groggily rose, Mason glanced back to where the girl had been.

There was no trace of her or the fire.