37. Finish It

It sat there like a ghost. I could feel its misty outline, and red swirls of intention still churned the air.

I absorbed some of the Tangle and the Godmothers to gain power for a host of Miners. These were level three Miners, like I’d used in Karl’s cave.

‘Dig,’ I commanded them. ‘Fetch every root of that plant and bring it to me.’

They went to work, and soon I was draining every bit of life out of the evil plant”s root system. The Miners also uncovered the tale of how a plant became magical in the first place.

Right near the surface, just below where the major root had been cut, was a long crystal. It was empty of magic now, but the mesh of roots wrapped around it indicated that at one time it had been a powerful source of magic.

When the Miners brought it to me, I absorbed the life from the root mesh and then carefully tested the crystal. I could still feel the faintest trace of earth from the ley line.

‘I”m guessing this is the reason that bush became magical,’ my Analytical Side said. He was dressed like Sherlock Holmes and using his best British accent. ‘It was probably a simple plant, living a simple life, until its root grew into that crystal. It might have taken years before it absorbed enough magic to level up, but it obviously happened.’

‘Agreed,’ I nodded. ‘But I don”t think this is the whole story. This crystal is a decent size, but it”s not that big.’

I could have just looked with my magic sight, but I let the Miners have their moment. They dug out the roots in chunks, and it wasn”t long until they found another crystal. This one was much smaller, but I still felt traces of ley line magic inside.

After that, they found a lot of them. I”m not sure why the ley line magic came up here or why it crystallized near the surface, but the bush had found itself growing in a magic rich environment. I stored all the empty crystals in my Throne Room, as they might be useful later.

As the Miners went deeper, they ended up finding crystals that weren’t completely empty. None of them were that big or had much power, but I would take any available magic I could get.

‘Give them to me,’ my Mark of the Lagerel directed. ‘I can pull the power from the crystals just like I did with the magic water. I’ll give the magic back to you in your colors, and you can use it to continue building your shield. Or whatever else you might need it for. Just remember, once we get to a safe place, I want at least one of those berries.’

‘I haven’t forgotten,’ I said quickly. ‘And thank you so much for helping. I don’t plan on turning in any of the berries for points, and I don’t think I’m going to use them myself. So as far as I’m concerned, the berries are all yours.’

I felt waves of pure happiness flowing from my Mark, which made me happy too. I enjoyed being able to give it a treat, and it really wanted those berries.

My Mark of the Deep Earth sent an image showing it was almost done absorbing the Rat King’s core. Once it finished, it would be happy to help with the ley line crystals as well. I also got the sense that it would soon be asking for another core to snack on.

That was fine with me. Treats for everyone!

I didn’t think Bermuda had been listening, but he sent an image agreeing with the sentiment. He was always up for a tasty snack.

The Miners finally dug up the rest of the roots and unearthed the last of the crystals. I thanked them all for their time and assistance. Then I sent them all to Penny to absorb and give them some down time. Now they’d had their moment, I used my magic sight to look into the earth and see if there was anything else I needed to do.

The Miners had done an amazing job, and no physical part of the bush remained. It also looked like I’d collected all the loose crystal fragments. There was a main core of crystal leading into the earth, but that started at the pond. Unlike the fragments, that crystal was full of magic and seemed to have a level of sentience about it.

Just because the physical side was gone, it didn’t mean the bush was dead. Its spirit had faded a lot as I destroyed its root system, but there was still a wisp of soul hanging around. A different mage might have missed that and given this evil creature a chance to come back again. But I’d issued my judgment, and I was going to see it through. This supernatural shrub was going to die.

I just wasn’t sure how to make it happen.

I waved my hand through the ghostly apparition, and I could feel a slight bit of resistance, but that was it. The apparition stayed the same and didn’t seem to be any worse than before.

I then turned the Granny Godmothers and Octa and her Tangle loose. They cleaned the cave from top to bottom, rooting out any trace of magic they might have missed before. When they were done, the cave was spotless, and no trace of the red swirling intent poisoned the air.

The apparition faded a bit more, but then it stabilized again.

What the heck?

How did I kill this thing?

Then it hit me. It fought with its spirit, stripping others of their aura and soul. That was how it had created the red-eyes in the first place, and that was the only way to truly get rid of it now.

I stepped forward so the apparition was inside my body. That was where my spirit was strongest. The apparition shuddered, and the air in the cave vibrated with a nerve tingling squeal. I reached in with my spirit and grabbed the tiny bit of intention it had left.

To my surprise, I felt something. It had a core. A big one. Hiding in the last of its spiritual self.

‘Penny, are you ready?’ I asked.

‘Oh yes!’ she replied. ‘The safe is ready to lock down another core.’

I reached into its spiritual self and ripped out its core. I quickly passed it to Penny as the cavern vibrated with the sounds of one last wail. Then the mage plant’s apparition fell apart.

The source of the red-eyes was no more.

I stood there for a minute, appreciating the moment and letting my soul relax.

It felt bruised and battered, like I’d been beaten to a pulp by a big spiritual stick. Which in a way, I had.

I relaxed my wall of roots and let my magic return to me. Then I had Penny absorb all the additional soul creations. I thought about burning the dried remains of the bush, but a fire in an enclosed space deep underground was probably not a good idea. Then I realized I was being scatterbrained as the dragonfly Stamped the dried wood and it vanished. Of course the mage bush was worth points!

I briefly wondered how many points we would get, but I didn’t bother to ask Crystal. I’m sure it wasn’t part of the welcome packet and would need to go for review.

The All-Rune touched me briefly, and it seemed satisfied. Not that I’d taken out a mage; it didn’t care about something as minor as that. It was satisfied that I was continuing to grow into the person it needed me to be.

The All-Rune’s presence faded away as I turned and stepped into the pool. I’d come here for the magic water, and I wasn’t going to stop until I had it. I put my hands into the water and queried Penny.

‘Are you ready?’ I asked.

‘Of course,’ she replied brightly. ‘This pond may not look like much, but it has a lot of mass. Storing it all is going to take a lot of magic, so I’m going to go slowly.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ I agreed, and we began.

Penny started out with just a trickle, and everything seemed to go well. Once there was enough, she bottled up the magic water in a clear jar and stored it on a shelf in my Throne Room.

After the second jar, we increased the rate of absorption. Penny kept up with the flow, and the cost to my magic of moving the water wasn’t bad at all. It helped that the magic water wanted to come with me.

We continued to increase the rate of absorption until the jars of magic water were practically flying onto the shelves. The water level in the pond started dropping noticeably, and it sort of felt like I was draining a bathtub.

Much sooner than I expected, we stored the last of the magic water, and I walked over to get the ley crystal. The crystal fragments in the roots of the bush had been nice, but this crystal was directly connected to the ley line far below, and it was saturated with magic.

‘No!’ The refusal was adamant. The crystal wanted to stay right where it was.

‘Are you sure?’ I queried. I sent images of all the adventures we’d had and how it could be a part of that if it agreed to come with us. I also told it that it could meet the Mark of the Deep Earth and spend time together.

‘NO!’

The crystal didn’t need to meet the Mark. It already was connected to the Deep Earth by the ley line. It liked that connection, as well as its place in the cave, and it had no desire to move. If anything, my thoughts of adventure just made it more certain it wanted to stay.

I was disappointed, but I wasn’t going to fight it. There would be other sources of magic in the future.

‘Map correlation found!’ my Bank Crystal announced. It sounded excited. ‘Official exit from the underground is projected. Verifying exit with the Surfer Dudes.’

It sent me a flood of images from the maps and the models in Indifies’ basement. It seemed like a bunch of them related to the cave system we were in. Once my scouts had mapped out enough of the underground, the Crystal had figured out how to match everything up.

The Crystal showed the projected additions to the map in light gray, and it was fascinating watching it change to full detail and color as the Surfers zipped around. I knew the Surfers were fast, but watching the map fill in gave me a whole new appreciation for their speed.

‘Calculating the best path,’ my Crystal announced as soon as the exit was verified. A trail of green arrows appeared on my HUD, showing I needed to leave the cavern and go back down the worm tunnel again.

‘Thank you,’ I told it and breathed a sigh of relief. I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. It was going to take a while to get out of here, but at least I knew where to go now.

I took one last look around the cavern. It had been so peaceful and beautiful in the beginning. I would never have guessed it would hold such adventure and peril. In the end, though, we’d taken out the source of the red-eyes and hopefully made a crap ton of points. We’d also acquired some new sources of magic, which had been desperately needed. That might be the edge we needed to win the whole tournament.

I was ready to leave, but I felt like I needed one final gesture. So I bowed to the empty cave. I would have been embarrassed if anyone had been watching, but since I was on my own, it seemed appropriate. Then I turned and followed the path out of there.

I jumped up through the hole in the ceiling and went over to Annabeth.

“It’s time to head out,” I said as I tapped her on the shoulder. Annabeth nodded, got to her feet, and gave a careful stretch.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Much better,” she replied in her usual cheerful voice. “I just needed some recovery time after being thrown about like that.”

Then she gasped as she looked around.

“I can see! Oh, Jason, I can see again!” She broke out in a little happy dance. “I can actually physically see with my own eyes. Wow! It’s so dark in here, I almost didn’t notice.” Then she winced and stopped dancing. “I’m still not back to normal yet. Maybe you should take the first few enemies if any show up.”

“I can certainly do that,” I said warmly, giving her a gentle hug. “Do you want me to use my Flashers and light this place up?”

She shook her head.

“I’ve gotten used to using my echolocation and your magic sight. This is a good place to practice, so I’ll keep using them for now.”

“Actually, it’s your magic sight,” I said, and explained how I’d tricked her.

“What!?” she gasped again. “I have magic sight?”

I nodded.

“Jason! That’s brilliant!” She started doing her happy dance again. “No wonder the magic sight felt so natural.”

I started to apologize for deceiving her, but she quickly cut me off.

“I’m very glad you handled it the way you did,” she declared firmly. “You are absolutely correct. I would have rejected your idea and never learned how to turn my sight on.”

Then she winced and stopped dancing again.

“If we get nothing else out of this tournament, gaining my magic sight will be worth everything,” she said.

“Let’s talk about it on the way,” I suggested, “as I now know the way out of here.”

I shared a message with images catching her up to date.

“Jason, what!?” Annabeth was shocked at everything that had happened. She kept grabbing my arm like she wanted to shake me.

“You did all that while I was healing!?”

I grinned and nodded.

“I thought you were spending the time collecting the magic water,” she said. “Not fighting the source of all the red-eyes! That’s crazy! You should have called me.”

“I would have, but it all seemed to happen so fast,” I replied. “Once the fight got deadly, there wasn’t time to think about anything else. I was just focused on winning at all costs.”

“Of course,” she agreed. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” I got a huge Annabeth hug, which left me feeling even better than before.

“I wonder how many points we’re going to get for vanquishing that monster?” she mused. “And I wonder what Indifies’ late husband was trying to find?”

“I have no idea,” I said to both questions as I looked around for Bermuda. He wandered up, looking very pleased about something. Then he touched my leg with his paw, which meant he wanted me to pick him up. Being the good daddy that I am, I did as directed and cuddled him to my chest. I kissed him on the head a few times just to make sure he was extra loved, and then asked if he wanted to ride in my back pouch.

That was a big “no.” He wanted cuddle time right now, and I didn’t mind that at all. It felt so nice to hold my fur baby and feel his gentle purrs. I wanted to get going, though, so I turned to Annabeth.

“Do you want to ride backpack style?” I asked. She shook her head.

“I think I’d rather walk on my own for a while. Since you have everything mapped out, we hopefully won’t get ambushed, and my shield charm should be enough protection. I think I’m going to just use my healing charms for a while and take it easy.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” I agreed. “Would you like a sandwich while we travel?”

“Oh, yes!” Annabeth replied happily. “That sounds wonderful.”

And so we started our journey back to the surface.

We ate. We healed. And best of all, we had a good time together. My soul needed that.

The trip took a long time, as we were deep underground. Our path meandered around a lot because we didn”t want to disturb the local wildlife. They didn”t give us points, and there was no sense in fighting them.

Just because we had taken out the source of the red-eyes didn’t mean we’d vanquished them all. It wasn’t long before we ran into our first one. It was only a level two red-eye, so it wasn’t that bad. Annabeth wasn’t ready to fight, and I didn’t want to put Bermuda down, so I sent my new Miner ahead to take care of it.

The red-eye saw us and charged with its usual rabid fury—only to have its head fall off as the Miner sawed right through its neck. It actually tripped over its own head, and we both started laughing. Given what we had been through, we both could appreciate a macabre sense of humor.

“I can’t believe how easy that was,” Annabeth said as the dragonfly Stamped the red-eye and it vanished. A Granny Godmother swooped in and gathered its tiny piece of red magic. The whole thing happened so fast we didn’t even pause.

“We have certainly come a long way,” I agreed. “I’ve turned my Miner into a powerful attacker, upgraded my defense with Red, and learned how to fight with my presence.”

“And I’ve learned how to push sound out of my weapon with a sonic strike,” Annabeth said, “as well as shaping sounds and projecting them all around me. Not to mention my new echolocation and echo-mapping abilities.”

“And my new mapping abilities,” I continued.

“And the new healing cycle,” Annabeth said.

“And I upgraded my Spikes too,” I said.

“And we learned how to breathe underwater,” Annabeth kept it going, although she was grinning at me.

“And we drank magic water.” I wasn’t stopping now.

“And we got eaten by a worm!” Annabeth said with disgust.

And that is how we spent the next half hour amusing ourselves. Our examples of adventures and power ups got smaller and smaller until they were just ridiculous. Which, of course, made it a lot of fun.

Even though we avoided the bulk of the native wildlife, we still ran across a few outliers. I didn’t want to hurt them, so instead, I practiced my new presence ability. I reached out and owned part of the space they were in, causing their auras to peel away from their bodies.

I only had to do it once before they were racing to get out of our path. I had pushed away several mid-sized creatures when we ran across a giant slug working its way along a wall. It was so big it almost blocked the whole tunnel. I was afraid it would have some sort of defense mechanism, so rather than try to sneak past it, I just hit it with a full blast.

Its aura gave a huge ripple, like it was a wave, and that slug moved faster than it probably had in a very long time. It raced away from us and quickly took a side tunnel. The slime trail it left behind withered the vegetation and left it smoking. That made us very glad we hadn’t let it touch us.

The food and fun did wonders for Annabeth, and a couple hours later, she started taking out some red-eyes on her own. She experimented with using sound bolts to stun the red-eyes at a distance and then hitting them with a sonic blast through her shillelaghs. It was great practice, as her sound bolts became more focused and effective.

They worked best at short distances, though, so it made the practice very exciting. She’d wait until the charging red-eye got about a bus length away. Then she’d hit it with a beam of sound and stun it. Its momentum kept propelling the red-eye forward, but its legs would collapse, and it would slide along the ground. Then Annabeth would step forward and whack it on the head.

Her sonic strikes were improving too. The red-eyes no longer exploded, and Annabeth wasn’t using any more magic than necessary. By the time we got close to the exit, we were both vanquishing machines.

We were also in great shape, as Annabeth had been using her healing charms the whole time. I didn’t think she was in perfect health, but she was close.

In addition, we were also full of magic. I’d been giving Annabeth some magic water whenever she asked, while I’d been absorbing almost all the power from the crystal shards.

My personal magic was full. Spike and the Knuckle Crew were full. And so was my lead Miner.

With Red, I’d wanted to get the Hexagon Network up to ten thousand, but there just wasn’t enough time or magic for that. Instead, I stayed at five thousand and upgraded them all with the new druidium background.

Penny was the only one that wasn’t full of fresh magic. She was still only about half full. I’d prioritized Red and my defense over filling her up. She was fine with that, though, as that had actually been her idea. Making sure her Source was well defended was more important to her than being fully topped up.

‘How much time do we have left for this round?’ I asked my Bank Crystal.

‘You have one hour and two minutes remaining,’ it said. ‘That may sound like a lot, but you will need to get through the teams waiting to ambush the stragglers. You’ll also need to run down the road, through the village, and back up to the starting platform. That is going to take at least forty-five minutes, so you can’t afford to relax now.’

I conveyed all that to Annabeth as we checked out the map together. All the tunnels merged and turned into one big hallway leading towards the exit. The hallway wasn’t perfectly straight, as there were alcoves and side rooms used for storage. That was where three teams had holed up, and it seemed like they were shooting at anyone that came down the tunnel.

They had a great line of sight, and the remaining teams still trying to finish the round were having to run a gauntlet of spells. As we watched, another team tried to make it past the ambush area. There were four of them, and only one made it through. Two got bogged down in fighting, while one got taken out right away. The one who made it just kept dodging and running.

“How do you want to handle this?” I asked Annabeth. “Do you want to make a run for it? You can ride backpack, and I’m sure that Red can handle whatever they throw at us.”

“I want to take them out,” Annabeth said firmly. “I’m sure that some people would consider what they are doing to be a good strategy. Owning a choke point like this and ambushing others is a good way to gain points, but I don’t like it.

“I’m sure the stronger teams have already returned to the starting platform. These guys are probably mid-level fighters counting on the fact that only the weaker teams remain.”

She looked at me with righteous steel in her eyes.

“I say we show them what real strength can do.”

“Yes, ma’am!” I said enthusiastically. “I’m always up for a good smackdown. And gaining a few points of our own.”

“Of course!” Annabeth laughed, and I could tell she was excited. We’d had enough of the red-eyes. Now it was time to take out some mages!

We quickly put together a plan and started towards the exit. Annabeth still didn”t want to ride backpack. Instead, she wanted to rely on her own shield charm and her new sonic powers. She’d been taking out the rabid red-eyes pretty easily, and with her practice, her sonic skills were now firing consistently. So I had full confidence in her ability to take out a mid-level team of mages on her own.

As we moved towards the main hallway, it struck me just how few mages there were remaining. Most of the teams must have already left. We really were at the back of the pack.

We walked with purpose, and the few mages in our path quickly got out of the way. They looked frightened and anxious.

Some of them also looked a little puzzled, as Bermuda had switched to my back pouch and his cute face was poking out over my shoulder. He wasn’t looking bad-ass. Instead, he was looking adorable.

When we got to the main hallway, we stopped and struck a commanding pose. We wanted the eyes and ears of the ambush teams focused on us.

“Hear me!” I declared. “We are Team House Louisville. To the cowardly teams that would attempt to slow us down, I’ll give you one chance to leave. Do so, and your life in this tournament will continue. Attack us, and we will end you.”

The ambush teams poked their heads out and looked us over. There was one team of three on the left nearest us. A second team of three on the right farther back. And a final team of four behind them.

Giving the teams a chance to retreat was Annabeth’s idea, and for a moment, I thought it might work. But then one of them yelled out “House Team?” and started snickering.

“Really?” one of the other ambush mages chimed in. “We’re supposed to be scared of you?”

Annabeth just sighed. “It appears there is no cure for the clueless.”

“Why don’t you come down here and we can discuss it?” one of the mages said. “We’ll be sure to educate you and your little cat too.”

“Smack talking a cat?” I made tsk-tsk noises. Then I turned to Annabeth.

“Well? What do you say we give them a visit?” I smirked. “We were invited after all.”

“That sounds wonderful,” she replied brightly. “But first, I have one thing to say…”

The snickering died down, and all the ambush mages focused on us.

We had their full attention, and that is when we let them have it.

My Flasher went first—lighting up the dim hallway like a thousand spotlights.

For a brief moment, I heard screams and curses before Annabeth let loose. Her sonic blast rolled over them in a wall of sound.

My suit was on sonic defense, and Annabeth wasn’t aiming at me, so I was fine. The attack mages had no such defenses, and her blast messed them up.

Two of the mages on Annabeth’s side fell over, and one of mine started puking. We didn’t give them much chance to fully experience what they’d been hit with, as we both started sprinting towards our target teams. I had the three on the left. Annabeth had the first three on the right. The first person to finish with their team won the honor of taking out the final four in the back.

I could run fast, and it only took about four seconds to reach my ambush mages. They were blinded and disoriented, so they didn’t even know I was there. I Spike-punched the first mage, expecting it to take several blows before his shield charm ran out of juice. To my complete surprise, his shield popped like a soap bubble, and my second punch knocked him out of the tournament.

‘Maybe his shield charm was running low?’ my Analytical Side speculated.

I was already Spike-punching the second mage of the team. The same thing happened again. Their shield fell with one blow. A second punch sent them after their teammate.

‘Or maybe Spike is just that powerful now?’ My Analytical Side sounded excited.

‘I think so!’ I crowed. ‘Druidium Spikes for the win!’

Two punches took care of the final mage as her placeholder fell to the ground, spewing fake blood everywhere. I was grateful I could see through the tournament magic now, as the whole thing still looked so realistic.

I’d taken out my opponents in record time, so I expected to be ahead as I turned and raced towards the final team of four. To my complete surprise, Annabeth was already on the move.

Wow! My teammate was fast!

She arrived first, so I slowed down and let Annabeth take her well-deserved victory lap. I soon saw how she had taken out her first ambush team so quickly.

Their shield charms didn’t block sound. So when she hit them with a sonic strike, it stopped the shillelagh, but the sound kept going. From what I could hear, the strike wasn’t that loud, but it did enough damage for the tournament protection to kick in and whisk them away.

Annabeth popped her last mage, and together, we ran towards the exit of the underground. I thought we would burst out into the sunlight, but enough time had passed that it was now nighttime.

I didn’t care. Having the open sky above me felt wonderful. I loved the Earth, but I really liked my open spaces too. As we ran on the road down the side of the mountain, it felt amazing to have all this open terrain around us. Annabeth felt that way too as she threw out her arms and started whooping and skipping for joy.

‘How are you feeling?’ I messaged. I saved my breath for running.

‘So good!’ she messaged back. ‘I’m running well, no aches or pains, and it feels so nice to be heading home again.’ Then she paused. ‘Well, not home exactly. But home to the Palace. I can’t wait to see everyone and sleep in my bed again!’

‘I completely agree,’ I replied wholeheartedly. ‘This round has been intense. We did well, and I think we made up lots of ground on our score. But I am ready for this to be over.’

We continued to message as we ran and it didn’t seem that long before we were running through the village. Somewhere in there, the Ank family was probably having a good night’s sleep. I sent happy thoughts their way and kept on going.

We passed a few teams on the road, but nobody bothered us. And obviously, we didn’t bother them. We were all just focused on making it back in time.

The other teams left me feeling grateful for how well we had survived the round. Some teams were carrying injured members or going slowly so they could keep up. Some of the teams just looked rough. They seemed to be exhausted, with ripped clothes covered in dirt and blood.

We were on the other end of the spectrum. Our matching super suits looked immaculate, and a quick visit to the Freshness Fountain had cleaned off all of our grime and blood. We didn”t look like a premier team, but we didn”t look like we’d been through hours of hard fighting either.

We had just passed through the village when the Mark of the Lagerel finished processing the final crystal shard. I gave the last of the magic to Penny, raising her to three quarters full.

‘Penny, I think it”s time,’ I said. I felt quivers of excitement from my Mark.

‘Pick out the biggest, juiciest berry from the bush and give it to the Lagerel. I think it has more than earned it!’

Penny took the berry out of its protection and made a show of handing it to the Mark with a deep bow. The Lagerel didn”t care. It wound its roots around the plump seed of power and started rocking back and forth in pure pleasure. I was getting the feeling that this was its own version of catnip.

‘There are more berries when you are done with that one,’ I told it. ‘Enjoy!’

It didn”t reply. Instead, it started making a soft crooning sound. It was really enjoying that berry. In fact, the whole thing felt rather personal, so I gave it some alone time. That was something we all needed from time to time.

‘How much time is left in the round?’ I asked my Crystal as we raced up the mountain road towards the platform.

‘There are twenty-one minutes, sixteen seconds left,’ my Crystal reported. ‘If you maintain your current pace, you should arrive with about fifteen minutes to spare.’

I relayed the update to Annabeth.

‘Almost done!’ Annabeth messaged back with images of a fireworks celebration.

‘Almost done!’ I messaged back with images of throngs of people celebrating our progress and urging us onward.

She replied back with an image of beautiful Greek men throwing flowers on our path.

I countered with an image of a three-story buffet.

She countered with an image of her bedroom back at the House.

I was trying to figure out how to top that, when we arrived.

“Jason! Annabeth! You made it!” Papa Ank rushed forward and greeted us warmly.

Of course he got a famous Annabeth hug, and I hugged him in relief too.

“Where is little Ank?” Annabeth asked.

“It got late enough that I finally had to send him home,” Papa Ank replied. “He stayed as long as he could, but by the end, he was practically asleep on his feet.”

He gave us a huge smile, and Annabeth got another hug. I could tell that made her very happy.

“I know he will be disappointed that he missed you,” Papa Ank continued, “but we must hurry and get you checked in from round two. You both are already way behind, and there isn’t a moment to lose.”

“What’s the rush?” Annabeth asked. “We’ve finished round two, and we’re back on the platform. I know we need to turn in everything we collected to get our points, but after that we’re headed back to the Palace. Right?”

Papa Ank gave us an apprehensive look, like he knew we weren’t going to like what he was going to say.

“I’m afraid not,” he shook his head sadly. “As soon as you are ready, your next portal awaits. Round three has already started.”