Marcus stood at the front of the bus, leaning against the seat behind Randy to keep his balance as they wound down the dirt road towards the old cabin.

"You sure this is the place?" He asked for what must have been the twelfth time that day. While he had assumed they would be heading towards one of the more deserted spots round the lake, he hadn't expected to be led to a cabin hidden in the woods, tucked away from civilization, with a view of the lake over the hillside.

"This is where the GPS said to go kid." Randy replied, slow and thoughtless. The typical answer from one under the effects of the Mist. Marcus felt again a surge of guilt that the camp he was a part of employed a mortal to be their personal chauffeur, especially in these dangerous times.

"It looks… pristine." Phil said from the seat he was in on Marcus' left.

"They can't be here then." Chastity quipped back from where she was putting the finished touches on her latest song. At least that's what it sounded like to Marcus, though Chastity would probably say she was just plucking her lire's strings. "If Maddie and those two idiots were anywhere nearby, that place would already be in ruins."

Marcus couldn't help but chuckle at her comment, but still… something didn't seem quite right. "Park the bus Randy. We'll see what we can do about the ruins situation."

Marcus took the lead, stepping off the bus almost as soon as Randy opened the doors. What is it…? He waited for the other two to get off the bus, staring hard at the cabin in front of him. Made in an older style, the smooth wooden walls gave off a homey atmosphere. He could guess that this place may have been used as a vacation spot in the past, the care that was taken in the building told him that much, he didn't even need the view of the lake. But something kept nagging at him, telling him he wasn't seeing the whole picture. It almost seemed like the building itself, beautifully crafted as it was, wasn't worth noticing. He could only focus on it for a few moments before it seemingly pushed itself out of his thoughts. The Mist…?

"Is this whole place Mist Hidden?" Chastity asked, joining him in gazing at the building.

"So it would seem…" Phil said. "Though whether that's from Jason or this Torrington person, I couldn't tell you…"

Marcus forced himself to focus on the building. Jason couldn't do this… The use of the Mist here was elegant, thoughtful, drawn out. It was weaved together in a way that could fool half bloods, and only those who had extensive experience with the Mist would be able to tell exactly what was going on.

"Torrington." Marcus and Chastity said at the same time. Glancing at her, he saw her match his gaze with a small smile and he couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him.

"Come on." Marcus said simply. "Let's see what sort of trouble those three have gotten into."

Phil led the way onto the porch of the house, his footsteps not making a single sound as he stood next to the door, bow at the ready. Marcus nodded an affirmative and swung the door open quickly, diving in the building and pulling out his pocket watch, ready to respond to any traps or threats that came his way. He felt, rather than saw, Phil swing into the doorway, bow raised, and knew that anyone who tried to catch Marcus unaware would be shot down. Working like a real team. Marcus couldn't help the thought and small smile it brought to his face.

But nothing happened. There was no ambush, no N.O. half bloods lying in wait, no traps. Marcus stood slowly to his feet as Chastity swept past Phil.

"Yeah, yeah, very heroic and brave you two." She said, "Now that we've established we won't be stabbed by walking across the doorway, maybe we can actually get searching for our fr… teammates?"

Marcus and Phil shared a glance and a shrug. There could have been an ambush. Marcus shook his head and took Chastity's lead, searching room to room. The room they had entered into was a large common space, with a couple couches against the walls, a fireplace, a seating area around a table in the center of the room, and a large window spanning nearly the entirety of the far wall, giving what Marcus would normally consider a breathtaking few of the water stretching out behind the cabin. Along the walls were shelves of books, paintings, a large mirror on the opposite wall from the fireplace… Marcus raised an eyebrow but kept looking.

Following a small hallway off the main room, Marcus came across a bathroom, fully stocked with fresh toiletries, and two separate bedrooms, both with nearly identical bedspreads. Untouched. Marcus turned to leave the second when he thought he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Whipping back around quickly, he saw… nothing. Stepping back into the room, Marcus inspected it closer. Large bed. Window. Dresser. Vanity with a mirror… Everything was as he had found the last room, nothing different.

Meeting back with the others in the main room, Marcus informed them of what he had found, or rather, not found.

"The hallway I went down had a kitchen." Phil reported with a shrug. "Seemed like it was just waiting to be stocked."

"Well that door over there leads to a basement." Chastity added. "Nothing down there either. Just looks like storage space."

Marcus crossed his arms. Something wasn't adding up. They should be here… Marcus swept his gaze around the large room again. This was where Chiron had sent the other group… but there was no sign this place had been touched. It was pristine… Marcus lightly swept a finger across the table in the center of the room. No trace of dust even… So would that mean it's kept clean by magic somehow? Marcus' gaze kept going till it hit the mirror. It was large enough to catch the entirety of the room in its reflection. He saw Phil behind him, gazing out the window. Maybe they're actually out behind the cabin? He saw Chastity, leaning against one of the couches, her lips pursed thoughtfully. He looked at her for a long moment, watching the way her hair fell as she turned her head this way and that as she scanned the items on the shelf in front of her. She seemed to be looking for a secret lever or something. Wouldn't be the strangest thing we've run into. As Marcus watched her he noticed something out of place. He quickly turned to see that all the chairs at the table were pushed in, but turning back to the mirror… One of them is out…?

"Chastity. Phil. Come take a look at this." He called out, walking over to the large mirror and pointing out what he had seen. As he did, the tip of his finger touched the mirror. As it did, he felt the world around him spin. His finger was glued to the mirror, and he heard shouts from Chastity and Phil, both of them being dragged into whatever was happening to him. When the room stopped and Marcus finally pulled himself away from the mirror and turned, he saw a completely different scene in front of him. Maddie, Jason, and Joel were there. But so was Alicia and her hellhound, as well as a few other half-bloods in red shirts. They all had frozen for a moment, the appearance of the newcomers startling them, but it was clear that a battle was raging. Even Maddie in battlemind was frozen for a second at this new development.

"Of course there's a Mist trap." Marcus grumbled, whipping out his pocket watch, just as all hell broke loose.