[ad astra per aspera]

"Eli? Eli, are you still there?"

Kiara's voice was faraway in Eli's ears as the son of Ahklys stared at the computer screen before him. Files, documents, attachments, videos, and more blossomed onto the screen revealing the early plans of Project Maelstrom. And while he had practically uncovered everything they needed to gain the upper hand, Eli still felt like something was wrong.

Eli found his voice, clearing his throat. "I'm here."

"What'd you find?" Kiara asked.

"Everything," Eli's voice was soft. "Cosmic spells for portals like Orion's. Strategies for the Masks. Shit, everything really must have been connected."

Carefully, Eli waded through the multitude of files on his screen. Sure enough, just about everything that had given him and his friends a headache in the past few years was displayed before him in its entirety. He even found security footage from Reese and Tessa's break-in during a bomb threat. Everything was here, and Eli only hoped that he could maneuver his way through it all in time.

"Kiara, how fast can you get back to Camp Jupiter?" Eli asked, his eyes still glued to his screen.

"Pretty fast. Why?"

"I think you know why. Just get here quickly." Eli ended the call and with shaking hands, grabbed his phone and typed a mass text message to his friends. As soon as it was sent, he set his phone down and leant back in his chair, watching the files and pop-ups continue to stream onto his screen.

If everything the General had on Project Maelstrom was truly sitting right before him, they'd finally have a chance to stop Vinny and Menoetious and Typhon before they caused more destruction. But something wasn't sitting right with Eli. Maybe it was his head playing tricks, or maybe it was a true gut feeling, but Eli knew that whether he liked it or not, he'd find out what was wrong.

~~

Despite it being the middle of the night, Eli's friends—and Alex—assembled themselves rather quickly. Before Eli knew it, he was staring at the serious faces of Alex Deven, Kaya Blackwood, Lukas Abbott, Charlie Bowman, and Kiara Fairwolf. He'd sent messages to the others at Camp Half-Blood, but given the time difference, he understood why no one had portaled over.

"The General's flashdrive contains all the secrets of Project Maelstrom when it was first being developed three years ago. It also contains various files and plans for spells, missions, and blueprints that have and probably will continue to give us headaches." Eli explained, meeting the gazes of everyone in the room.

"But do we have the location of Luke Knight's files?" Kaya asked, her dark eyes intense. "According to Tessa, Vinny has access to them and they contain the location of Typhon's sources of power.

"Lucky for you," Eli smiled thinly, holding up a finger. "We do."

He crossed over to the central monitor, tapping at a few commands until plastered across the various monitors were three files. A different location was featured on each one.

"Thankfully, our good pal Vinny didn't think much to delete his digital footprint before taking his own version of this flash-drive. The locations you see around you hold Typhon's three sources of power. On the west coast," Eli pulled up one slide. "Mount St. Helens."

"Most active volcano in the continental United States," Charlie folded his arms, raising an eyebrow. "Fitting."

"In the Midwest, the Badlands. And on the east coast, the cliffs of Acadia." Eli listed. "Given their location, should these sources be powered...civilization wouldn't stand a chance."

For a moment, no one said anything. Everyone watched the flickering slides on the monitors, focused on the severity at hand. This was a transcontinental mission, one of the utmost importance, but did they have the time to see it through?

"So what do we do?" Lukas tore his gaze from a monitor, meeting Eli's eyes. "We can't just leave these things to sit around."

"We'd need a quest," Alex chimed, his voice gruff. "But we can't afford a quest right now. Our forces are scattered around the country as it is."

"Then what do you propose?" Lukas countered dubiously. "We wait around like sitting ducks?"

Eli flicked his attention over to Kiara, who was uncharacteristically quiet during all this. She was watching a monitor with an image of the Badlands with keen focus, her starry eyes flickering in the fluorescent lighting.

"Kiara?" Eli hedged. "What's up?"

The daughter of Asteria blinked, meeting Eli's eyes. She didn't speak for a moment, until she turned to Alex with authority in her stance. "Send me. I can find and disarm all three power sources before this weekend."

Alex smiled in what Eli presumed was partial amusement, like Kiara was a little kid and Alex was entertaining an idea. "That's hilarious."

Oh, he's done it now, Eli thought to himself.

Kiara tilted her head, a feline smile on her lips. "I'm sorry, I don't take feedback from zombies. And if you don't like it, you can come up with a better plan."

Alex's dark eyes widened, and Kaya snorted, but coughed, covering up her laugh. "She's got a point, Deven."

"Kiara can definitely handle the job, but she shouldn't go alone," Eli piped up. Avoiding Kiara's prying glare, he continued, "I have my own little team that can help her out."

"Oh really?" Alex mused. "Like who?"

"Liam Caspar and Ariel Rathaway," Eli said confidently, although in reality he had no assurance in what he was doing. "They both escaped the General's command, and the latter is the daughter of Hyperion. Hardly anyone in the mythological world has paid them any mind, which will give us the wiggle room we need to get where we need to go."

"We?" Kiara stammered.

Eli fixed his electric blue eyes on Kiara, and smirked. "That's right. I'm coming too."

"Eli," Charlie shifted his weight from where he stood across the room. "You're our best tech guy. With Kaden and Dale over in New York—"

"You guys will be fine without me," Eli waved a hand. "Besides, I've trained Adriana enough to cover me if need be."

"Have Liam and Ariel agreed to this mission?" Alex asked.

"Yes." No.

Alex looked skeptical, but Eli hoped for the best. Surely, the son of Mars would have to let them go. Camp Jupiter had burned too many shrouds at the hand of Menoetious, and by going on this mission, they could stop their enemy's plan before it even started.

"Call them in," Alex lowered his arms from where he'd folded them across his chest, stalking towards the elevator. "You leave at first light. And Allistairs?"

Eli whirled around, watching as Alex hit the button in the elevator. "Yes?"

"Don't make me regret this." Alex said curtly before the golden doors slid shut.

There was a beat of silence, a beat of hope, before Kiara muttered, "Who made him praetor?" And Eli grinned.

~~

When Eli and Kiara had been children, running around the streets of Las Vegas, they'd love to play and hang out under the cover of night. Living where they did, there was too much light pollution to truly see the stars but sometimes, they'd climb out towards the desert and see little glimpses of stars as they spent the night talking and giggling the way kids do. Once Eli learned of Kiara's parentage, he wondered if that was why they were always so drawn to night. Kiara in particular, being the daughter of stars and all.

They'd seen so much in their lives, endured so much tension and friction and chaos, that Eli wondered if things would ever be the same. Not a starry night passed by that Eli didn't think about Kiara, wondering where she was and if he'd ever see her again. Tonight was no different, except it was Kiara he found gazing up at the stars longingly.

She was sitting on the stairs of the Principia, her twinkling eyes watching the inky blackness above her. Eli'd frozen when he stepped outside the doors, unsure of what to do, but Kiara had tilted her head towards him and smiled.

"Cop a squat, Allistairs," She said.

Eli blinked, but eventually shuffled towards her. He sat down next to her and wasn't sure what was more intriguing to look at: the stars above or the girl beside him.

"Had to admit, I wasn't sure you had it in you to want to lead a mission like this one," Kiara exhaled, tugging on the ends of her leather jacket.

Eli shrugged, averting his gaze. "I can be surprising at times."

Kiara snorted. "I'm sure." She nodded to the Principia behind them. "How long have you been working with them?"

Eli made a face as he thought. "Four years?"

Kiara released a low whistle, nodding slightly. "Dedication at its finest."

Eli laughed, running a hand through his platinum blond hair. "Sure, let's call it that." He smiled. "But it won't be my first mission. Not by far."

"Where've you gone before this?" Kiara asked.

"Back in time, for one," Eli mentioned as if it were no big deal. Seeing Kiara's eyes bug out in shock was worth his nonchalance. He explained the mission through time as swiftly as he could, but Kiara was still baffled by the end of it.

"And I thought I got all the cool adventures," Kiara made a face, nudging him with her shoulder.

Eli matched the motion, and Kiara continued, until they both were laughing like they were kids again. If Eli imagined hard enough, he could pretend they were sitting above the Las Vegas strip without a care in the world.

"Did you use your abilities on that mission?" Kiara asked, her voice soft.

Eli turned to meet her gaze, but nodded. "Once. To buy us time."

Kiara pressed her lips together. "Have you used them since?"

Eli shook his head. "I don't want to. There's something...addicting about using them that scares me. And reminds me of before."

A glimpse of understanding appeared in Kiara's eyes, and Eli suddenly felt weak and vulnerable and soft. Just like he normally did around the daughter of Asteria. "Causing misery isn't fun for anyone. That's why I dedicated myself to helping out with the tech behind these missions. I can do more that way."

Kiara nodded along to the cadences of his voice, and Eli thought she wasn't going to speak again until as soft as a whisper, she did. "Will you use them now?"

Eli's features tensed as he thought. "If I need to."

"We might have to face some nasty things, Eli. Your abilities could help us out a lot." Kiara said, her words rushing into one another.

Eli sighed, meeting Kiara's starry eyes. "Well, I'll let you know this. If you're in trouble, day or night, on this mission, then I will unleash every ounce of my power to save you. Okay?"

Maybe it was Eli's imagination, but Kiara blushed. She looked away, a silly smile on her face. "You got the cool powers. All I got was some fairy princess type ability."

"You'd make such a good fairy princess though," Eli marveled sarcastically.

Kiara snorted. "Maybe the evil queen that kidnaps her." She winked.

"Maybe," Eli grinned. "But every queen was once a princess."

Kiara made a sarcastic face, but behind it, Eli saw the sentimental effect of his words. "Not me, Eli. You know that."

And he did. But for the rest of the night, while they should have been getting rest before their mission, Eli and Kiara sat on the steps of the Principia and talked, as if the fate of the world didn't rest on their shoulders like a reluctant mantle. Eli didn't mind its burden, after all; not when Kiara was at his side to help him carry it.