Sunlit Gotham

Talk About a (cabin) Seven Nation Army

Will glances my way and we lock eyes.

"We gotta go." I say.

Will nods his head, expression serious. "We're needed elsewhere."

And before Nico could even ask what is going on, we take off into the building in search of the person from our vision.

[You'll never guess what happened next. We totally killed a Megalomaniac. Well, at least, Lester did...]

— ☼ —

Will leads the way. He takes us down hallways and up flights of stairs, pausing every so often to focus on the soul aura signature the vision lady gives off.

Other campers make fun of it, but children of Apollo and Iris can see the auras that each soul gives off. The brighter the aura, the healthier the person, so the children of Apollo tended to use it as a means to monitor their patient's health in the med bay. Outside of that, it could be used to track someone down, but it took a lot of focus and didn't always work. Will would duck out of the way whenever a guard or monster appeared so that I could take care of them, and then we would continue on our way.

Will was the most skilled healer camp had seen in years - skills that had unfortunately come in handy far too often lately. Back during the Battle of Manhattan, when Will became cabin counselor at the age of thirteen, I had stepped up to help him. Will and I had arrived at camp within the same summer back when we were nine. When Michael went MIA, we were the two with the most experience out of our siblings with Kayla being twelve at the time, and Austin only eleven. So I helped shoulder the burden and we became co-counselors. Will focused on the field medic side of war and I focused on the leadership in battle and strategy side. Between the two of us, we had managed to lead our cabin successfully and continued to split the responsibilities whenever both of us were present at camp.

Losing Lee and Michael within a year of each other made me realize that archery was only great until the monsters got close. I vowed to learn more skills, and like a lot of kids at camp, tried to break out of the mold made for my cabin. So I had made it a point to practice my close range fighting just as much as I did archery. Meanwhile, Will had taken to the beliefs of healers and practically refused to cause harm. He didn't even bother to draw his sword as we ran, simply letting out a piercing whistle as a distraction whenever it looked like I was about to get overwhelmed.

Soon we enter an empty boardroom and I see Rachel. The redhead is giving directions to a handful of Nico's Troglodyte friends, pointing in a direction and sending them running off. She pauses as sulfurous yellow gas spills from her mouth and she belches out a line of prophecy. Swallowing down the gas, Rachel turns to the last remaining Troglodyte and tells him to go find Apollo, giving directions to whatever room dad would be in soon.

"Hey guys!" She calls as we run up to her. "Ready to find her?"

"You know the way?" Will asks.

Rachel nods, and takes off down a hallway. As we run, Rachel continues to spit out noxious gas and lines of prophecy. - Two shall fall in endless dark - Burning docks light up the sky - Unrest and fear shall reign - Betrayal by an ally's hand - Rachel coughs and grimaces after each line. Will and I share a grimace of our own, they all sound horrifying.

Soon we hear the sounds of a fight down the next hallway.

I speed up so I'm in front and signal for us to stop. Peering around the corner, I spy the woman from our vision. The lady was taking on three Germani with just the silverware duct taped to her amputated arms. Stepping out to get a clear shot, I let loose an arrow into one of the Germani who yelps as they dissolve into golden dust. The second turns and lunges for me in response. I dodge with a swear. He misses me, but manages to snag my bow and the wood splinters. Drawing my sword I slash forwards and manage to catch his shoulder. He stumbles backwards right into the lady's silverware weapons and he dissolves with a howl of pain. She had already dealt with the last Germani, leaving just the four of us and the monster's fallen weapons.