Annabeth groaned, dragging her sneakers through the dirt. "Are we ever gonna get there? You said Camp Half-Blood wasn't far, and it feels like we've been walking forever."
Naruto stuffed his hands behind his head. "Relax, it's not that bad."
Kurama's low rumble came sharp in all their ears. "For the thousandth time, no, we are not at this Camp Half-Blood yet. Keep walking, brat."
Annabeth muttered, "Someone's cranky today."
"Always is, you should see him when he's hungry" Naruto said.
"You're the last one who gets to say that, ramen junkie," Kurama shot back.
Thalia dragged the butt of her spear along the dirt. "Can you both shut up? Complaining doesn't get us there any faster."
Luke smirked sideways. "You sure? Sounds like it's your favorite pastime."
Thalia shoved him with her shoulder. "Better than whining like a seven-year-old."
Annabeth's head snapped up. "Hey!" she barked, cheeks red. "I'm seven."
Thalia blinked, then groaned. "I wasn't talking about you, kid."
"Yes, you were," Annabeth said hotly, clutching her backpack. "You think I whine too much."
Luke tried not to laugh. "She got you there."
"Shut up, Luke!" Thalia growled.
Naruto half-grinned at the bickering then stopped cold. The woods had gone quiet. Too quiet.
"You guys feel that?" he asked.
"Feel what?" Luke brushed a branch aside.
"The silence," Naruto said. "There's no crickets. No birds. Even the trees feel kinda…off."
The trail bent, and the trees peeled back.
A mansion crouched in the clearing.
White columns leaned under strangling vines. The roof sagged, shingles missing like broken teeth. Windows cracked in spiderwebs, yet golden lamplight glowed behind them. Violin music, scratchy and warped, floated in the air.
They all stared.
"That's… weird," Thalia muttered. "Who builds something like that in the middle of nowhere?"
Luke tilted his head. "Looks… old. But the lights are still on."
Kurama's growl filled the air, low and vibrating like thunder under stone. "Someone is crafting an illusory trap, and it seems we've walked right into it."
Naruto's jaw tightened. His eyes narrowed. "Yeah. I figured.."
But before he could warn them further, Luke's breath hitched. The bitterness that always seemed carved into his face melted in an instant, replaced by something Naruto had never seen in him, pure and trembling hope.
"No way…" Luke whispered.
"Luke?" Thalia frowned, stepping toward him. She turned and froze. Her spear dipped, eyes locked on the figure standing in the doorway. Her throat worked as if she was swallowing glass.
"Mama?"
Naruto's stomach dropped. "Don't look at it guys!"
Then Annabeth gasped, sharp and small. She clutched her bag like it was the only thing keeping her grounded. "Dad?" Her eyes shone. Without another word, she sprinted towards the mansion.
"Wait!" Naruto lunged, arm outstretched but the porch warped like a heat mirage, sliding farther and farther away the harder he reached. His fingers closed on nothing.
"Damnit!" he yelled.
Luke was already across the threshold, arms wrapped around the vision of his mother. Thalia stumbled after him, tears streaming down her cheeks. Annabeth vanished into the golden glow like the house had swallowed her whole.
The mansion's light pulsed brighter, each window thudding like a heartbeat. Its warped violin song bent and cracked, twisting into something deeper, hungrier.
Naruto's teeth ground together. "Kurama! After Annabeth and don't let her out of your sight!"
"On it!"
The fox ran after her like a wave of wildfire, streaking past the warped halls in pursuit of the youngest demigod.
That left Naruto alone at the threshold.
The mansion seemed to lean toward him, its sagging frame shifting subtly forward. The porch boards creaked without wind. Every shutter clicked open as if the house was inhaling. The music sank to a warbling hum, deep and off-key, like it was laughing at him.
Naruto rolled his shoulders. His knuckles cracked loud in the silence. He met the mansion's glow with a sharp grin, humorless and bright.
"No rest for the wicked, huh?" he muttered, and stepped inside the boundary.
She felt warmth.
Annabeth blinked and found herself standing in a sunlit hallway. The walls were painted soft yellow, not peeling or cracked like she was used to in the city. A bookshelf lined the wall neat, tidy, and filled with rows of hardcovers instead of mismatched paperbacks. The smell of cinnamon drifted through the air.
Her chest squeezed.
She knew this place.
"Annie?"
Her father's voice. Gentle. Not tired and distracted or sharp like it usually was. Just… normal.
Annabeth turned. There he was. Frederick Chase sat on the couch in the living room, glasses perched on his nose, newspaper folded in his lap.
He looked up at her with a smile that made her want to cry. "I missed you." He said.
Her feet carried her forward before she realized it. "Dad…"
He opened his arms. "Come here, sweetheart. You're safe now."
Her backpack slid down her shoulder, thumping onto the floor. She'd never wanted anything more in her life. To curl into that hug, to stay here, to forget everything else: The monsters, the running, the looks people gave her like she was something broken.
Her throat burned. She took another step.
And then;
"Girl."
The word was distant, muffled, like thunder rolling through walls.
Annabeth froze, blinking.
Her dad's smile didn't falter. "It's all right. You're home now."
"Don't listen to it. This isn't your home."
The voice again, clearer this time. Familiar. Rough and deep, bristling with irritation.
Annabeth whipped her head around. "Who's..?"
Her dad frowned. "What's wrong, Annie?"
She swallowed hard. "…Nothing."
"Good," he said warmly. "Stay with me."
She wanted to. Gods, she wanted to. But now she couldn't shake the feeling that something was scratching at the edges of the room, trying to get in and reach her.
Her father reached for her hand. His fingers brushed hers. It felt warm and real.
"Don't touch him. Look closer, blonde girl."
Annabeth yanked her hand back. "No!"
The wallpaper flickered. For a second, the bookshelf titles blurred into nonsense. She staggered back, heart hammering.
"Annie," her father said again, but his voice cracked at the edges, like a warped tape. "It's okay. You're safe."
The walls groaned.
Then the floorboards split like claws had raked through them, and Kurama's massive head forced its way through the illusion, eyes blazing red.
"Wake up!" he roared. His voice rattled the furniture. "This is a trap!"
Annabeth screamed, stumbling back.
Her "father" snapped toward Kurama, smile collapsing. His skin shimmered, peeling at the edges. A single yellow eye bulged through the cracks, glaring at the fox.
Annabeth gasped. "What.. what's happening!"
Kurama growled, lips curling back over his teeth. "You're dreaming. And if you don't fight back, girl, that thing is going to eat you alive."
Annabeth's breath caught in her throat. The world around her warped, her "father's" smile melting into something jagged and wrong.
Kurama's massive head pushed further through the wall, teeth bared in a snarl that made the air shake. His tails lashed behind him like living whips.
"Get away from her," the fox thundered.
The false Frederick lurched, skin bubbling like wax, until it split clean down the middle. From the husk crawled the true shape of the trap; a hulking figure with a single glowing eye, its mouth too wide and dripping with hunger.
Annabeth's knees buckled. She wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
Kurama didn't give it a chance to lunge. With one swing of his paw, the wall, the ceiling, and the monster's illusion tore apart like paper. The "home" Annabeth had craved so badly shattered, colors draining like spilled paint, furniture melting to rot and bone.
The Cyclops inside bellowed, staggering as Kurama's claws raked through its chest, gouging a trench deep enough to crack ribs.
The house itself screamed. The violin music screeched into a warped howl. Every window in the hall fractured, bleeding golden light like pus.
Annabeth fell back against the real wall. It was moldy wood, damp and cold. She could hardly breathe. The warmth, the comfort, her father's smile.. All of it gone, ripped away like a mask.
Kurama's teeth snapped inches from the Cyclops's face. "This girl is under my protection. Touch her again, and I'll tear your spine through your eye."
The monster shrieked and dissolved, the illusion collapsing into smoke and dust. The walls of the "home" with it were gone in an instant.
Now Annabeth stood in a narrow, rotting hallway. Broken furniture littered the floor. Chains dangled from the ceiling, rattling with the mansion's own heartbeat. The air reeked of blood and mold.
Kurama loomed beside her, eyes still blazing. He filled the hall, his fur bristling, tails scraping the walls. "Get up, girl."
Annabeth blinked fast, forcing herself to her feet. "Y-you didn't have to be so scary about it…"
Kurama snorted, smoke curling from his nose. "Better scared than dead." He lowered his massive head, eyes narrowing. "Stay behind me. If another of these monsters comes crawling, I'll gut it before it touches you."
Annabeth swallowed, but for the first time since entering the mansion, she nodded with conviction. "Okay."
Kurama turned, claws gouging the floorboards as he started forward. "Good. Now stick close. Your friends are still stuck in the spell and we don't have much time before this place swallows them up."
Annabeth hugged her backpack to her chest as she hurried after Kurama, her sneakers squeaking against the warped boards. Every step creaked like the house was laughing at her.
She kept stealing glances at him, the huge fox's fur bristling, tails lashing the walls with every movement. He looked like something straight out of her worst nightmares, but he was walking in front of her, not behind. Blocking the dark, not adding to it.
Her voice shook when she finally spoke. "It… it felt so real."
Kurama didn't slow. "Yes, that's the point of a trap."
"I knew something was wrong," Annabeth whispered. "I did. But then when he smiled at me…" She bit her lip, hard. "I wanted it to be true so bad."
Kurama's ears twitched, but he didn't look back. "Wanting isn't weak, girl. But staying in the lie? That's weakness." His claws gouged deep furrows into the wood as he prowled. "Next time, don't wait for me to save you. Fight back."
Annabeth swallowed. "But I'm only seven."
Kurama finally glanced over his shoulder, his burning red eyes narrowing. "Then you'd better grow up fast."
Her cheeks puffed in indignation. "That's not fair."
A low, rumbling chuckle escaped him. "Life isn't fair, little girl. Monsters don't care how old you are." His tails twitched as the hall groaned around them. "But you've got potential. Don't waste it on crying over nothing."
Annabeth blinked at him. For some reason, her chest didn't feel quite so tight anymore.
The house shivered, boards warping beneath their feet. A new door opened ahead, leaking golden light. A shadow moved behind it small and familiar.
"Daddy?" Annabeth whispered, her throat tightening again.
Kurama growled. "Don't even think about it."
Annabeth stared at the door, then back at him. "I hate this place."
Kurama bared his fangs in a grin that was all teeth and menace. "Good. Hate keeps you sharp." His tails flicked, ushering her forward. "Now stick close. The house will keep trying to trick you."
For the first time since she'd entered the mansion, Annabeth managed the smallest smile. Not because she believed everything would be fine but because she knew Kurama believed it, and that was enough for her.
The glow of the doorway swallowed Luke and Thalia whole.
Naruto stormed after them, senses wide open, chakra buzzing through his veins like a live wire. The instant he crossed the threshold, the world folded around him. The air pressed like water against his skin; heavy, distorted, and alive. Every breath carried the copper tang of blood hidden under cinnamon and sugar, a sweetness meant to smother the rot underneath.
He shoved forward anyway, boots hammering the warped floorboards. The hallway stretched longer with every step. Doors slid past on either side, opening and closing in his peripheral vision, each one whispering with voices that weren't real.
"Come inside…"
"Stay here…"
"You're safe now…"
Naruto snarled and pressed on. The illusions slid off him like water off stone, but he could feel the way they tugged at the air, fishing for weak hearts. His skin prickled. Luke and Thalia were close, but their signals were slipping, like threads tangled in a storm.
"I'm not losing them," he muttered, shoving his palm against the wall. Roots crawled from the wood at his touch, tearing into the mansion's bones, forcing the hall straight when it tried to twist. The structure groaned in protest, but it bent to him, not the other way around.
Then he heard it.
A voice, soft and clear, threading through the warped walls.
"Luke… Luke, it's me."
Naruto skidded to a halt, heart clenching. He didn't need to hear Luke's reply to know how dangerous that voice was.
He sprinted around the corner and froze.
A kitchen. Neat, spotless, lit by warm yellow glow. The kind of place Naruto would see in magazines left out in laundromats. At the center of it, Luke was on his knees, shoulders shaking.
A woman in a soft blue dress bent to embrace him. Her hands smoothed over his hair, steady and kind. Her smile was gentle. Her eyes full of love. Not the feverish, broken wreck Luke had described on nights when he thought the others were asleep. This mother was whole and alive.
"Baby," she whispered, brushing tears from his cheek. "You don't have to fight anymore."
Naruto's gut dropped into ice. He wanted to believe it himself, but his senses told the truth.
The woman's shadow stretched long against the wall too long. It twitched, jerking unnaturally. And in the dark outline, there were no soft curls of hair. No two gentle eyes. Just one huge glowing circle, unblinking. A hunched shoulder like a mountain.
"Luke!" Naruto barked.
Luke didn't flinch. He buried his face against her shoulder, sobbing openly now. "Mom… you're better… you're finally better…"
The shadow's grin split wider.
"Damn it." Naruto slammed his palm to the ground. Roots exploded from beneath the cracked tiles, ripping through cupboards, snapping the legs off the kitchen table. The spell shattered like a spiderweb in the wind.
The woman's skin peeled away in strips, melting to ash. What towered over Luke now wasn't human. It scraped the ceiling, its bulk blotting out the warm glow. Muscles like knotted tree trunks, skin gray and pitted like stone. Its lipless mouth stretched open in a jagged grin, drool steaming as it hissed.
And in the center of its face, one massive eye glared at Naruto, glowing with hunger.
Luke fell back on his hands, gasping. His sword was half-drawn, but his grip shook like he couldn't remember how to fight. His chest heaved. His eyes darted between the monster and the fading memory of his mother's arms.
The Cyclops bent low, its voice splitting into a guttural rasp, but still carrying the tender lilt of Luke's mom. "Don't listen to him, baby. Stay with me. Stay forever."
Naruto's teeth bared in a feral grin. "Creepy bastard."
The Cyclops roared, swinging one massive arm like a felled tree. Naruto leapt back as the counter shattered, shards of wood exploding outward. The monster's reach dug trenches into the floor, each step shaking the whole kitchen.
"Luke!" Naruto shouted, his voice like a whip. "Snap out of it! That thing isn't your mom it's a damn monster! And guess what, Luke? You're on the menu!"
The Cyclops turned its gaze fully on Naruto, grin widening as it raised its fist again.
"Luke!" Naruto shouted again, but the boy's sword trembled uselessly in his grip.
The monster's shadow fell over both of them, and for a sickening heartbeat Naruto realized
If Luke didn't let go of this delusion, he'd die clinging to it.
___
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