Naida

We're running, but we have no idea what from

Annabeth's heart pounded in her chest as the shadow loomed over the fissure. The rhythmic hum that had echoed through the chamber grew louder, as if the cave itself was awakening to something old and powerful. This wasn't just some ancient magic—it felt alive. And it felt like it was pulling them in.

"Annabeth, do something!" Perci's voice cut through the rising tension, her hand white-knuckled around her lethal ballpoint pen.

Annabeth quickly realized-whatever this was—had her friend on edge.

Annabeth's mind raced. The symbols carved into the platform, the glowing stones—they were part of something much bigger. Something she and Perci had no business meddling with. Loki's warning rang in her ears, and for the first time, she regretted not heeding it.

"Perci," Annabeth muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "I think this is the Bifrost."

Perci blinked at her. "The what?"

"The Bifrost—Norse mythology. The bridge between worlds. If this is it, we're standing at the entrance to... to Asgard or somewhere else in the Nine Realms," Annabeth explained, her voice trembling with disbelief even as she spoke the words. "This isn't just a cave."

Perci opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, the fissure in the platform exploded with light. Brilliant, multi-coloured beams shot up from the ground, arching into the air in a blinding display of energy that swirled and shimmered like a living rainbow.

"Whoa!" Perci stumbled back, throwing an arm over her eyes. "Annabeth, what the hell is this?!"

Annabeth didn't answer. She couldn't. The sheer force of the energy erupting from the platform had knocked the breath out of her. The ground beneath their feet trembled violently, and she could feel the pull of the Bifrost, tugging at her with invisible hands. Her vision blurred as the world around them dissolved into a kaleidoscope of colours, spinning and swirling in a dizzying rush.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the light intensified—so bright that Annabeth couldn't see anything but white. There was no sound, no sense of time or place. She felt weightless, disoriented, as if she were being torn apart and reassembled all at once.

Her last conscious thought before the world slipped away entirely was that they'd gone too far. Way too far.

When the light faded, Annabeth was lying on something cold and hard. Her head throbbed, and for a moment, she couldn't remember where she was or what had just happened. Everything was a blur of light and noise, and her body felt strange—heavy and awkward.

She blinked, trying to clear her vision, and slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. Her hands felt small, her limbs... shorter? Confusion clouded her thoughts as she looked down at herself. Her clothes were loose, oversized. Her fingers, her legs—they were smaller, like she'd shrunk.

"Annabeth?" Perci's voice, younger and higher pitched than usual, made Annabeth turn.

Perci was standing a few feet away, staring down at herself in utter disbelief. Her dark hair, now a bit messier than it had been before the cave, hung down around her face, which was... younger. Much younger.

Annabeth's breath caught in her throat. She scrambled to her feet—her small feet—and reached for her face, her hair, her body. Everything about her felt off. She was a kid again—a twelve-year-old version of herself. Her heart pounded in her chest as she took in the sight of Perci, who was also clearly twelve again, wearing baggy clothes that dwarfed her now petite frame.

"What the...?" Perci muttered, looking at her hands as if they belonged to someone else. "Annabeth, what is happening?"

Annabeth didn't have an answer. Her mind raced through possibilities, but none of them made sense. The Bifrost, the cave, the sudden burst of light—had it somehow transported them not just through space, but through time? Or was this something else entirely?