Disclaimer: The great and powerful Rick Riordan owns all. Any character you do not recognize are mine.

Thank you to the readers and reviewers! Keep those reviews coming! They are quite enjoyable.
This is the longest chapter yet! A little reward for all your reviews! :)
I apologize for the mistakes, my muse was in a hurry, I'll go back through and fix later.

Last time on Only Time Will Tell:
"She's probably still there. Come on Mrs. O'Leary, Bunker 9." Emmett said. His Mrs. O'Leary barked and launched off into the shadows.
"Follow them, To Bunker 9." Nico told his hellhound and she bounded off behind them.

Chapter 7: Gizmos and Gadgets

Kora sat on a stool at a workbench in Bunker 9. This was unbelievable! So archaic, yet new! Steam Punk is the word that fit best with it all. All the civil war schematics still hung on the. At home they were in frames at the Hephaestus Cabin. 'I wonder if they've built the tunnel yet!' She thought and jumped up from her stool causing it to tip over. "Oh sorry!" she said to no one in particular.

"This is so cool! By the gods it's just like dad described it!" she went from one workbench to the next looking at designs and calculations and… and… wait. If it worked then where, where's the machine? Where is every one else?

"JAKE! BJ? Emmett?" Kora listened to her voice echo off the walls. "Come on guys where are you! This isn't funny!" Echoes again.

"Schist!" She groaned throwing her head back and staring at the ceiling. 'What if I'm the only one that came through?' Dropping onto a near by stool she laid her head on the table, thinking back to earlier that morning.

"WAKE UP!"

"Get off me puke face." Kora groaned as she pushed her little sister off herbed.

"NAH UH! MOM said you had to come down. RIGHT. NOW!"

Seriously Kora thought, she's seven how can a freakin' seven year old have this much attitude! "Go away barf breath!" and tossed a pillow at her.

"I'm telling mom!"

"Get out!" Kora yelled again. Her little sister marched out her door, slamming it shut. Her shouts of "MOOOOMMMMM, KiKi called me names!" She rolled her eyes, flopping back down on her bed.

"KORA ESPERANZA VALDEZ Get your butt down her!" Shouted her mother up the stairs.

"I'm COMING!" Reluctantly she got up to get dressed.

Brushing her teeth she watched her reflection. Brown eyes stared back at her. Her dirty blonde hair was a rat's nest and she still had oil smudges on her face from working with her dad on Festus. Washing her face her next job was to calm this ridiculous hair. It wouldn't have been a problem if she were going to the Bunker with dad, but no! She had to go train with all the other demi-gods!

"Ugh so unfair!" she said tossing her towel at the mirror.

"KORA! NOW!" Her mother yelled again. Sighing she started moving a little faster, but not by much.

If there was one thing she liked about camp it was her friends, their rag tag group had been together since, well they were born. Emmett split his time between Camp J and Camp Half-blood, but for the most part they hung out all the time. And well the whole training to save the world thing wasn't too bad, unless Dino was teaching, talk about a snooze fest.

She marched herself down the stairs. "Seriously Kora what are we going to do with you!" Her mom said.

"I'm here ma, can I go now?"

"Not with out breakfast."

"I can grab some at the pavilion. They're already waiting on me."
Her mother sighed. "Fine. Take your sister."

"What! Mom, come on! I don't want to babysit!"

"Kora you…"

"It's ok mommy I can get there myself! I'll take Buford!"

"Addie, I don't think…"

"Bye mommy! Come on Buford, Let's go!" And out the door they went.

"Such a strong minded child." Her mother mumbled.

"She's a brat." Kora said.

"Kora! Just go! Be home after dinner!"

"Yeah yeah." And Kora headed to the pavilion. It was a cool summer day, cool enough that she was in jeans and a tank, her belt tightly secured around her waist. Once there she grabbed a tray and filled it with pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, and bacon. Spotting her friends at the usual table she ambled over.

"You know you're mom's gonna freak if she sees you eating cookies again." Jake said as he stole a cookie.

"Hey that's mine! Give it!" She tried to reach for it but Jake whisked it out of reach. Glaring at him she dug into her pancakes.

"So what do you think Chiron has in store for us today?" asked Jake.

"I heard we're playing capture the flag tonight." Emmett offered.

"You always think we're playing capture the flag." BJ teased.

"Well one of these days I'll be right." Emmett grumbled.

"Keep dreaming." Jake said as he gobbled down the cookie.

Chiron walked his way over to them. "Will you children ever follow the rules?"

All four shared a look and said "Nope." In perfect unison.

"I swear you're worse than your parents were!" He huffed as he trotted back up to the dais. The group of four started laughing and continued on with their breakfast.

Morning classes were the same as usual. They had archery and sword fighting, then tactics. After lunch came history; Chiron was teaching today, thank goodness. After history they separated off with their cabins to work on their abilities. Kora headed towards the Hephaestus cabin, Emmett to the Ares, while Jake and BJ headed towards the big house. Soon after that it was dinnertime. The four sat rehashing their days when loud yelling could be heard from the Big House.

"What is going on?" Asked Jake, most of the pavilion had already rose to it's feet.

"Everyone sit down and finish your dinner!" Mr. D commanded. Suddenly some one was sprinting down the path. In a flash a kid from the Hermes cabin was standing by the dais, panting.

"Chi-" Breath "-ron." Breath "Come…." Breath. "Quickly!"

"Spit it out boy!" Yelled Mr. D.

Taking a huge breath the Hermes camper stood. "It's the Oracle sir, Miss Dare, she just collapsed…. She started convulsing and was yelling for Chiron!" Murmurs ran throughout the pavilion.

Chiron took off at a canter, towards the Big House, Mr. D. rose "All right, everyone calm down. Go back to your meal then go straight to your cabins after. Capture the flag will be postponed until tomorrow." And off he went.

"See! I told you!" cried Emmett.

"This is crazy, how come our parents get to do all the cool things and we're left out." Kora whined for the millionth time. They had set up shop on the bank of the lake that was farthest from the camp. The sun was setting it was such a beautiful spot. Jake was skipping rocks, Kora and Emmett lay on the sand, and BJ was wading in the water.

"Kora it'll be our turn some day just chill!" BJ said.

"Yeah KiKi tone it down." Emmett said half-heartedly. Jumping up Kora brushed the sand off of her.

"I finished it." Three sets of eyes stared at her.

"Really Kora? It's just some fantasy you can't…" said Jake

"I can and I did." She replied.

Emmett scoffed. "OK where's the proof." Kora looked down at her toes in the sand. "Well?" he asked.

Jake sighed and tossed the rock he had in his hands on to the sand. "Alright, what's the catch?" he asked

"There's no catch…" Kora said.

"There's always a catch." BJ stated. Kora ran her hands through her hair and looked at her friends.

"I um… Kinda need you guys to help power it. Yah know with your… powers." She said hesitantly.

"Oh that's it?" Emmett said "Are you nuts? Our parents would kill us."

"Look guys they don't have to know! They're at the rec room and, well I have to know if it actually works. Come on guys! Please!" She begged. Jake, BJ, and Emmett all looked at each other. Kora threw her hands up. "Do I have to get down on my knees and beg? Come on guys."

"Wouldn't hurt." Shrugged Emmett. Jake punched him in the shoulder. "Ow man!"

Jake sighed and BJ rolled her eyes. "We're in." Jake said.

"YES!" Kora pumped her fist. "Alright Emmett, where's Mrs. O'Leary, let's shadow travel this schist!" Emmett groaned and put his fingers to his lips. In seconds a 500-pound, midnight black furred, yellow eyed, mastiff sauntered beside Emmett.

"What are you pups up to now?" asked Mrs. O'Leary. Emmett shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He thought back.

"Mrs. O'Leary, may we have a lift to Bunker 9?" Kora asked politely. Mrs. O'Leary lowered herself so that Jake and Kora could jump on and in a blink they were gone.

"Shall we?" Emmett offered his hand to BJ.

"Why, I never thought you'd ask!" BJ said dramatically and took his hand.

"Come on!" Emmett yelled as they ran towards the shadows and jumped in.

Walking around the workbench the four were in awe of the gizmo on the counter. Mrs O'Leary had plopped herself down right beside it so they had to be mindful of her paws.

"Dude… this is awesome!" said Emmett.

"Of course it is duddddee. I built it!" Kora stated triumphantly.

The object of the conversation was a celestial bronze base with buttons and nobs. But the coolest part was the floating sphere of whirling gears and hoops of iron, inside was a glowing crystal.

"How did you do this?" Jake asked.

"It took forever but I finally figured out the right weights and conduits… that's boring stuff let's try it! Come on grab hands."

"Wait, Kora, we're going to do this now?" BJ asked hesitantly.

"When else would we do it?" Kora looked around. "Come on you guys I can't hide this from dad any longer and Festus is freaking out about keeping the secret. We have to try! If it doesn't work it doesn't work." Kora held her arms out. Festus blew fire from behind them, and loud angry clicks filled the room.

"Fine." BJ gave in. "What do we do?"

"What are you doing my pup?" Mrs. O'Leary inquired.

"Alright guys grab hands, Jake and Emmett grab my fore arms." They all did as they instructed. "OK now we have to concentrate."

"Concentrate on what?" Jake asked.

"Just close your eyes and push your powers into the globe." Kora ordered. All four shut their eyes. The energy surged through them they could feel it. Papers were zooming around and light was dancing behind them.

"What do we concentrate on!?" BJ asked again.

"What is going on?!" Mrs. O'Leary asked more forcibly.

"TIME!" Yelled Kora.

"NO!" Mrs. O'Leary snapped and put her jaws around Emmett's arm. In a quick flash of light and a huge rush of wind… they were gone. Papers floated in a lazy pattern back down on to the floor. When the dust began to settle Festus gears whirled and whined. They vanished. Where did they go?

-BANG-

Kora jerked her head off her arms and searched around for a weapon her hand landing on a wrench. 'A lot of good that'll do.' She thought.

"KORA!" a voice yelled. "KORA!" Yelled another. Her mind was racing. "Emmett? Jake! In here!" She lept off her stool and stood in the middle of the room.

"Kora?" Emmett yelled again. They were running down the ramp. Jake was the first one in the room. He wrapped her in a hug and held on tight. Emmett raced up behind him. "Kora, do have any idea what you did!" Emmett questioned.

Jake relaxed a little. "We are not happy with you!" Jake said as he let her stand back.

"This is crazy!" Jake yelled.

"Crazy? This is awesome!" Kora laughed.

"It. Is. Not! Awesome." Jake retaliated. "Do you know how much trouble we're in! gods Kora!"

"Jake calm down man." Emmett put his hand on Jake's shoulder for Jake to only brush it off.

-WOOF-
-BARK-

That drew Kora's eyes to the entrance, there sat two hellhounds… yep that's right, two hellhounds. "Um guys, how?"

"She apparently came with us." Emmett said. "Obviously."

"As much as this reunion is ... fascinating, we should be going." Said a mysterious voice from the darkness. Kora paused, he sounded familiar. Movement behind the hellhounds found her attention on a tall, lean boy, who she hadn't seen since…

"Lord Nico?" Kora asked.

Nico's eyebrow shot up in question. Emmett shrugged. "It's a long story Uncle Nico."

"Come on, let's go." Jake grabbed Kora's arm and led her to the exit of Bunker 9.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"To Camp Half-Blood." Nico said.

"To our doom is more like it." Countered Emmett. Nico glared at him.

"Emmett take Jake, I'll take… Kora." Jake put his hand on Emmett's shoulder and off they went into the shadows. Kora reluctantly took Nico's hand.

"I don't think we'll want to miss this." Thought the older Mrs. O'Leary and she jumped into the shadows as well.

The younger Mrs. O'Leary shrugged. Camp Half-Blood had food, and bounded off after everyone else.

Thanks for reading! Since there are extra words, maybe some extra reviews? Huh? *nudge nudge*

Until the next!

-Anna Mo