I was standing on the beach for the second time that day, impatiently tapping my foot as I waited for my visitors to show up. In the eight years that I'd been a demigod, I'd never met my employers, my true employers, but that was finally going to change tonight.

I didn't know whether to be relieved or extremely worried that the Fates had accepted my invitation so easily. The three ladies didn't even argue, simply telling me the time and place of where I needed to be if I was going to speak with them.

Unlike earlier, the ocean was completely still, the moonlight making the surface glimmer like a shard of broken glass. Even at night, I could still smell the strawberries in the fields, their sweet aroma permeating through the air like perfume. The trees were perfectly still, too, making it seem as if I were in a scene of a movie or in a postcard rather than having to deal with one of the most tumultuous things I've ever had to encounter.

I'd rather fight Kronos himself than have to be the one to nail the final coffin in Cleo's hope, ending any chance of her surviving the next battle.

It took me the majority of the campfire that night to calm Cleo down, assuring her that for the time being, she was fine. Never mind the fact that I could hear my pulse roaring in my ears like war drums as I soothed my best friend, feeling like the world's biggest liar.

How could I say that she would be fine when I knew exactly, in painstaking detail, what was going to happen? I didn't know why Morpheus decided to plague me with that accursed nightmare for over a month, but if I ever saw his face, he'd end up with a dagger sticking out of his forehead like a unicorn horn.

"Don't go after the dream god," I heard Clotho say, which spooked me so badly that I instinctively threw the stone I'd been tossing in my hand at the Fates.

The middle Fate, Lachesis, caught the stone in her bony hand and dropped it back onto the ground, seeming mildly amused by what I had done. She then reached into Clotho's basket, pulling along a sky blue thread in her hands before passing it off to Atropos, who was holding a pair of silver scissors.

"After all, we're the ones who sent the dream your way," Lachesis continued, completely unfazed from my flinching as I watched Atropos cut the thread, the Fates moving onto a different colored thread.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, trying not to flinch again as I saw a second strand of blue being spun by Clotho. "I thought knowing too much of your future was a bad thing."

"Oh, for most people, it is," Atropos agreed, calmly swinging her scissors around her index finger while she waited for Lachesis to finish measuring Clotho's string. "But that doesn't apply to you, Andromeda. Especially since you know everything that's supposed to happen ever since you were fourteen."

"Be quiet!" I hissed, glancing around me to make sure that none of the dryads had overheard. They were worse than the Aphrodite kids in terms of spreading gossip. "No one knows about that yet, and because of you three, I'm not allowed to tell for another three years. So I'd appreciate if we kept this on the down low."

"We didn't put that rule in place because it tampered with fate," Clotho said. "Yes, it played a part, but it is mostly for your protection."

"Imagine if a young demigoddess walks into camp and talks about everything she knows. And suddenly everything she ever said comes true. People would've come to fear you," Lachesis explained.

"You would've been treated like the Oracle," Atropos finished. "Treated as a fearsome being that spewed the future, no matter how horrible it may be."

"I was already treated like a freak my first week here," I said, skipping a rock out across the ocean. I watched as the moon's pristine reflection turned into a bunch of ripples. "Most people here already fear me. They know of what I can do, of whom I serve."

"They are unaware of your father and of your true purpose."

"Good." I picked up another stone. "I don't want them to know."

"If that's the case, then why did you call us here?" Lachesis asked.

"I have some questions, which can only be answered by the three of you."

The Fates all stopped their spinning, measuring, and cutting, looking at me curiously. Simultaneously, the three of them shrugged and set down their baskets. However, the string and scissors continued to work automatically, allowing for the spool to unwind for a bit before going taut, giving the scissors time to snip the thread.

Then the Fates began to glow, shimmering a blinding white for a moment before the light died down, revealing three young women that were so unlike the shriveled up grandmas I'd become accustomed to hearing about. None of them appeared any older than me, their faces and bodies as youthful as ever.

"Woah," I exhaled. "You're beautiful. But why did you change your ages?"

"We figured you'd be more comfortable if you were speaking with your peers," Atropos said.

"I call BS. Tell me the truth, guys. It's not like anyone would believe me anyways."

Clotho grimaced. "We've – I've – deducted the reason you asked us to come. It's about Cleo, isn't it?"

"It better not be," Lachesis warned, her green eyes shining dangerously in the moonlight. "We've already warned you what was going to happen if you interfere with the daughter of Apollo's destiny."

"We wouldn't want Bianca to get hurt, now would we? Especially after all the work we had to put into to keep her alive this time."

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, the stone's rough texture digging into the palm of my hand. "Do you think I'm that naïve? I know of what is to come, no thanks to you three, but I won't have you hurting Bianca and Nico because of me. No, I have other questions."

"Well," Atropos said, shooting me a devilish grin. "Ask away."

I didn't get any sleep that night.

The Fates had left me with more questions than answers, but at least I they'd answered everything I'd asked them, something I hadn't expected. I now knew of Salina, Taurus, and Rick Riordan's locations, information I was unable to find out in eight years. Thank the gods I wasn't a private investigator, or I would've lost my marbles over this case years ago.

After leaving the beach and failing to fall asleep, I went to the arena for some late night training. I wasn't concerned about the cleaning harpies, as Chiron had changed their nighttime job to only attacking campers trying to leave camp unauthorized or through Zeus's Fist instead of eating kids who broke curfew.

I hacked at dummies until I couldn't stand anymore, using every bit of pent up energy until I had nothing else left to give. Epithymia laid discarded on the floor as I pushed myself up into a seated position, trying to catch my breath.

The sun was on the verge of rising over the horizon, meaning I'd been training for approximately nine hours. I could feel the muscles in my arms and legs quivering from over use, especially since I hadn't taken a break since four in the morning.

"My, my, my," I heard someone say. Pushing my sweat soaked hair out of my face, I looked up to find Quintus decked out in his leather armor, his hand resting easily against the hilt of his sword. Mrs. O'Leary was bounding behind after her master, the ground shaking every time her paws landed onto the dirt floor of the arena. "And here I was thinking that I'd get the arena to myself."

"Sorry to disappoint," I said, taking a few sips from my water bottle. Once my mouth no longer felt like I'd swallowed a handful of sand, I dumped the rest of the bottle over my head, feeling the water return some of my strength.

"Couldn't sleep?" I nodded. "Neither could I. Unfortunately, demigod dreams don't stop even when you're fifty."

"Great," I drawled. I then got to my feet, leaning heavily against the wall as the world spun. Black spots danced in my vision. Maybe I'd pushed myself a little too hard last night.

"Careful there!" Quintus exclaimed, placing his hands on my shoulders to keep me upright.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

I tried brushing the instructor's hands off of me, but he had none of it. He moved one hand to the small of my back and led me to a bench, telling me to take a seat.

"Wait here," he said sternly. "Mrs. O'Leary, make sure Andy stays in her seat."

"AROOOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary responded. She then sniffed one of the dummies I'd destroyed and picked it up in her mouth, shaking it back and forth like a rag doll as large drops of dog slobber thudded to the ground.

Quintus returned a minute later with another water bottle, a square of ambrosia, and an ice pack. I accepted the water and the ice pack but refused the ambrosia. Overexertion didn't warrant the use of the godly food. Quintus was definitely annoyed that I didn't take the ambrosia, but he didn't push seeing as the water alone was enough to clear my vision.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, picking up the discarded ice pack and pressing it against my forehead despite the fact that I had set it down.

"Nine hours," I replied bluntly. Quintus's eyes widened in surprise, pressing his lips together in a firm line.

"Go get some breakfast, then go to bed."

"I'm fine, Quintus." I pushed the son of Athena's hand away and stood up, pressing the button on Epithymia's hilt that turned my sword back into a charm. "You don't need to baby me."

"You know, just because Mr. D isn't here doesn't mean that you can speak to instructors like that, Andy."

"I'm an instructor, too, as well as the second oldest demigod here. Plus, if we're pulling ranks here, I've been at Camp Half-Blood for eight years while you showed up about a month ago." I started fiddling with my camp beads, rolling the clay spheres between my fingers. "Thanks for the help, but I know my own limits."

Quintus scoffed. "Didn't seem like you did when I got here."

"You don't know what I've been through." I grit my teeth. "I lost control last night because of a very good reason. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to get some breakfast and pray to the gods that my friends are still alive in that demonic maze."

I stormed out of the arena, hearing Mrs. O'Leary whimper from my sudden departure. Quintus patted the hellhound's side, calming her as I broke out into a sprint, wanting to get as far away from Daedalus as I possibly could before I did something I regretted.

If Daedalus had died all those millennia ago, none of this would be happening. Kyle wouldn't have a route into the heart of camp, my friends wouldn't be on a life-threatening quest, and most importantly to me, Cleo wouldn't be doomed to die in the next four weeks.

I wanted to scream or kick something, but I'd left the arena, and I wasn't going to scare campers because of my own frustrations. I had a better idea, but food first.

Thankfully, the conch shell signaling breakfast sounded, and I headed for the dining pavilion.

For the next week, I took my anger and channeled it into my hand-to-hand combat class. Luke sensed that I was upset. That, and the fact that I'd been leaving more bruises than normal.

It'd been almost two weeks since Annabeth, Grover, Tyson, and Percy went into the Labyrinth for their quest, and even though I knew what was going on, I couldn't help but feel the slightest bit anxious. That anxiety was also evident in my training.

But I knew things were going to get interesting for me when my phone went off in the middle of a spar.

Luke and I had been teaching the kids how to fight someone with a sword or dagger while being disarmed, and once we'd demonstrated a couple of times, we'd broken up the class into partners and had them practice with each other. The two of us walked around, critiquing the pairs and helping the children out.

Once we were both satisfied with how our students were practicing, Luke and I decided to spar. We flipped a coin to determine who'd get a sword; Luke won.

The two of us began to spar, Luke making the first move while I ducked to the side, aiming a kick for his side. He easily side stepped, managing to bring his sword down in my direction, forcing me to take a step back or get cut in half. While Luke tried to swipe my feet out from underneath me, I landed a punch on his face, inwardly cringing as I heard the crack of his neck as his head jerked sideways.

Luke scowled and began pressing harder, his sword becoming a whirlwind of destruction that I narrowly avoided. He was good, one of the best swordsmen that camp had, but he'd tire from the intensity of his attacks. When he finally stopped for a moment to catch his breath, I lunged forward, getting in too close for Luke to be able to effectively use his sword.

I'd almost disarmed him, too, when my phone started buzzing. I swore under my breath as I tapped my bracelet, my bag appearing over my shoulder. However, Luke hadn't got the memo, and this time I swore out loud when he grazed my arm, a thin line cutting through the sleeve of my shirt.

It wasn't so much that the cut hurt, more like I hated being hurt by my own recklessness.

Luckily for me, Luke stopped, genuinely surprised that he'd managed to cut me. Because as much as he was one of the best swordsmen at camp, I was the best swordswoman. Even without a blade, I was as lethal as they came (you can thank the gods for that).

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, wiping off my blood from the edge of the blade with a cloth that he produced from his pocket.

"The gods," I muttered, finding my phone in my bag. I didn't pull it out, though, keeping it hidden from the other campers. "I've got to take this."

"You go ahead. I'll take care of them."

I bit my lip. "Are you sure, Luke? I feel really bad-"

"And I'd feel really bad if you got turned into a toad, because you didn't pick up the phone," Luke interrupted. He gestured towards one of the arches. "Fill me in when you're done."

I nodded and walked over to the nearest arch, hiding in one of the niches between some of the stones before pulling out my phone. I frowned as I saw the name on my screen. Why the hell was Hephaestus calling me? The day he gave me the phone, he said he was never going to use it, saying that he'd invent a better way to contact me.

"Hello?" I asked, accepting the call with the push of a button.

"Holy Hera, child," Hephaestus grumbled. "I thought the whole purpose of this gods-forsaken phone was to get in contact with you faster than an Iris-message."

"Sorry about that. I was in the middle of a class."

"Hmph. You're lucky that I'm such a patient god, girl, or else you'd be a grease stain by now."

I rolled my eyes. "I know, Lord Hephaestus. Now, what seems to be the problem?"

"Why do you think I have a problem?" I could hear the smirk.

"Well, that's the reason you invented this phone – either for problems or missions. And you never send me on missions, because you have everything you need in your forges."

"Usually, you'd be right," Hephaestus agreed. "But desperate times call for desperate measures, and shockingly, I need you to do something for me."

"How can I be of service?"

"I need you to report to my favorite forge immediately. You know where it is, right?"

I paled, biting my lip again. "I do."

"Good, because I sent some demigods down there to reclaim it, and I'd like you to go to make sure they get my forge back. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. I'll report to Mount St. Helens immediately."

Hephaestus made a noise of assent. "Send me a message once my forge has been reclaimed. Good luck, girl."

I hung up, swallowing the lump that had grown in my throat during the call.

Mount St. Helens? Gods, this was going to be a disaster.

I sighed and rummaged through my bag, pulling out my fireproof jacket, pants, and boots. While I was fireproof, the same protection didn't extend to my clothing unless I was concentrating, something that I doubted I'd be able to worry about in a lair full of telkhines.

After quickly explaining to Luke what was going on, I got changed and disappeared into my own shadow, praying that Chiron wouldn't kill me when I got back. I mean, technically I wasn't going to be in the Labyrinth, so that didn't count. Plus, I think he'd understand that I was under direct orders of an Olympian.

The heat from the volcano was so stifling, I immediately started sweating a few moments after landing onto a rocky ridge about ten feet over the lava lake that served as the heat for Hephaestus' forge. The smoke made my eyes water. But I wiped away the reflex tears and looked around, getting my bearings.

Bridges linked different passageways over the lava, and usually, they were empty save for the few automatons Hephaestus had running around. Now, the bridges were being used by telkhines, who were pushing around metal carts full of all sorts of dangerous metals, metals that could be forged into weapons for the Titan army.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as someone ducked into one of the metal carts, barely having time to toss the tarp over themselves before two telkhines waddled up to the cart and started pushing it.

"Jesus, Percy," I muttered under my breath, shadow-traveling a few feet behind the telkhines.

Despite all the lava, there was a surprising amount of shadows, which I cloaked myself in as I followed the cart Percy was in. The telkhines stopped in a room where there were twenty-five telkhines watching a movie about puberty in monsters. You know, I never wanted to know the anatomy of a telkhine.

As the teacher began firing the younglings up, reminding them why the telkhines served Kronos instead of Zeus, Percy sprung up from underneath the tarp, slicing through five of them with Riptide.

"New lesson, class," he announced, staring down the six-foot-tall telkhine instructor. "Most monsters will vaporize when sliced with a Celestial bronze sword. This change is perfectly normal, and will happen to you right now if you don't BACK OFF!"

His threat worked, causing for some of the telkhines to back up. But there were still twenty left – too many for Percy to take on by himself. And I couldn't interfere, not yet anyways. The Fates had given me a cue when I could help out, meaning that I wasn't allowed to do anything until I saw Annabeth for myself.

Percy then jumped out of the cart, yelled, "CLASS DISMISSED!" and ran for the exit.

I ran after him, but so did the telkhines. From the shadows, I took out another three monsters, stabbing them from behind before shadow-traveling next to Percy, keeping up with his pace. He took a sudden turn, revealing a door that could keep the telkhines locked inside the main cavern. He slammed the door shut and locked it, but it wouldn't be long before they made it through.

Then Percy ran towards the platform at the center of the lava lake, shouting for Annabeth. I landed next to him, my shadows disappearing the moment we were both shoved behind a big bronze cauldron.

"Andy?" the both of them asked, clearly not expecting me to be here.

"Shhh!" I put a finger over my lips. "Unless you want to die."

Percy felt around until his hand closed around something, pulling Annabeth's Yankee cap off her head. She shimmered into existence, glaring at Percy and staring at me. Ash and soot streaked her face. "Percy, what is your problem?" she hissed, taking her cap back.

"We're going to have company!" He quickly explained about the monster orientation class. Her eyes widened.

"So that's what they are," Annabeth said. "Telkhines. I should've known. And they're making…Well, look."

I didn't have to. "My father's scythe," I spat out, glaring daggers at the four telkhines as they hammered away at the glowing piece of metal. "The greatest Titan weapon. So powerful that a single cut can rip your soul from your body."

"They were talking about the greatest Titan weapon," Percy recounted. "And they…they said they made my father's trident."

"The telkhines betrayed the gods," Annabeth said. "They were practicing dark magic. I don't know what, exactly, but Zeus banished them to Tartarus."

"With Kr-"

"Don't invoke my father's name," I warned. "Not here. Not now."

Annabeth nodded, her face grim. "We have to get out-"

No sooner had she said that than the door to the classroom exploded and young telkhines came pouring out. They stumbled over each other, trying to figure out which way to charge.

"Put your cap back on," Percy said. "Get out!"

"What?" Annabeth shrieked. "No! I'm not leaving you."

"I've got a plan. I'll distract them. You can use the metal spider – maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on."

"But you'll be killed!"

"Not if I have a say," I said. Percy opened his mouth to argue, but I cut him off, saying, "Don't argue with me on this, Percy. Annabeth, go. We'll hold them off."

"We'll be fine," Percy said. "Besides, we've got no choice."

Annabeth looked at Percy like she wanted to punch him, but a moment later, she grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain. Keep him safe, Andy." She put on her hat and vanished.

Percy was staring at the lava like every single nerve in his body had short circuited, but the telkhines and I were enough to jar him back to reality. I shook his shoulder and pulled him up, just as one of the telkhines yelled, "There!"

We ran for the middle of the platform, surprising the four elder sea demons so much they dropped the red-hot blade. It was about six feet long and curved like a crescent moon – a scythe.

The elder demons got over their surprise quickly, covering each of the four ramps that connected the platform to the tunnels, preventing a quick exit. I scowled and drew my hunting knives, knowing that telkhines were terrified of Stygian iron.

The tallest one snarled. "What do we have here? A son of Poseidon?"

"Yes," another growled. "I can smell the sea in his blood."

"And what of the girl?" the third asked.

"I smell…" the fourth telkhine trailed off, looking absolutely petrified. "No! It can't be!"

Percy and I stood back to back, raising our weapons. I was surprisingly calm for facing evil sea demons, but all in a day's work, I guess.

"Back off!" I snarled, waving a knife in their direction.

"Strike one of us down, demigod," the third demon, getting over his shock, said, "and the rest of us shall tear you to shreds. Your father betrayed us. He took our gift and said nothing as we were cast into the pit. We will see him sliced to pieces. Him and all the other Olympians."

"Yeah, I don't think so," I said, calmly twirling my knives in my hands. "You see, my brother and I are pretty close. I don't appreciate you threatening to send him to Tartarus."

"Your brother?" the second telkhine asked.

"Never mind that!" the tallest telkhine said. "Let us see how strong they are. Let us see how long it takes them to burn!"

The telkhines scooped lava out of the furnace and began throwing it at us. I pulled Percy close, encasing us in an impenetrable dome of fire, causing for the lava to merely hiss and fall in disgusting globs back onto the platform.

But I couldn't keep this up forever. The shadow-traveling had already taken a lot out of me, and now I could feel my strength draining as I kept the fire dome up.

"Andy, drop it," Percy told me, turning to face some of the telkhines that were still trying to throw lava at us. "I need you awake if this turns out into a fight."

"Take this, at least," I said, quickly shucking off my jacket. "It's fireproof."

The second Percy finished zipping up the jacket, I dropped the dome, allowing for every lava glob to land on our clothing. My shirt started burning up, but other than that, I was fine, the lava feeling like an electrical blanket on my skin.

Percy, on the other hand, had dropped Riptide in an attempt to swat the lava off his clothes, screaming in sheer agony as the lava started to burn him.

"Your father's nature protects you," one of the telkhines said. "Makes you hard to burn. But not impossible, youngling. Not impossible."

As Percy crumpled to the floor, I stood over him, swatting away as much lava as I could with my knives, returning the fire balls like I was playing baseball. The telkhines began laughing with delight at the sight of Percy, but that delight quickly turned to terror when they saw me pick up some lava from the floor and chuck it right back at them with enough force to push some of them into the lava lake.

Then, knowing what Percy was planning, I bent down and gave him my hand, telling him, "Use my energy." In one low, guttural shout, Percy summoned a geyser out of thin air, the new stream shooting us straight into the air from the mouth of the volcano.

I tightened my grip on Percy's hand as I felt the rest of my strength drain away, leaving me exhausted as we got thrown upwards. But before I could pass out, I wrapped my arms around Percy, refusing to let Zeus hurt him for being this high up.

Then we began to fall, fire and water and smoke surrounding us as we plummeted towards the ground.

I woke up to the taste of nectar being poured down my throat.

"Ugh," I groaned as I sat up, a girl gasping in surprise as she saw my sudden action. I was holding my head, feeling extremely light headed from the sudden power drain.

I looked around and found Percy face down in the sand, his skin a bright red, like someone had just dumped a ton of boiling hot water on him. Blisters ran up and down his legs, neck, and the back of his hands, all places that my jacket wasn't protecting. Speaking of which, my jacket was still intact, having been able to keep the lava from reaching his chest.

"Percy!" I shouted, crawling the few feet towards him. Then I flipped him over, brushing the sand out of his eyes, mouth, and nose.

"Is he breathing?" the girl asked, sounding slightly ashamed that she hadn't flipped him over beforehand.

I pulled out a dagger, causing the girl to inhale sharply, and placed it right underneath Percy's nostrils. A moment later, I saw the metal fog up, meaning that yes, he was still breathing. I still checked his pulse anyways.

"He's fine," I told her, sheathing my dagger at my waist. "He's just banged up."

"Banged up?" The words sounded foreign in her mouth.

"Hurt," I amended. I held out a hand. "I'm Andy Collins."

The girl clasped my hand and shook it. "I am Calypso. Welcome to Ogygia."