A/N: Honestly, I can't stop. Help. On the bright side, the holidays are coming up so, yayy more updates.

PJandLGequalsLove: Got your wish my friend.

Geoorby: Those were my intentions.

Surya25addanki: Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Who knows?

Guest: I've looked up the definition of smut and I'd rather skrr away from it. I've written some lemons in my previous fanfics and I don't really intend to write any more than that.

Now, onwards.

Chapter 4

For what it's worth, Annabeth thought she'd lived a good life. She'd been the textbook definition of an Athenian child, she got good grades at her studies, granted her relationship with her family hit a nasty bump early on but it has gotten better, she'd met the love of her life, she'd beaten the King of Titans, she'd ventured through Tartarus and back and had took part in whooping Gaia's butt.

So if she was going to go down today in a Roman bathhouse, she would have no regrets.

"Oh, you can relax, my dear." Izanami said sweetly. Despite being the Goddess of Death, she made Annabeth feel warm and fuzzy. Maybe it's just the bath that was affecting her mind. "I have no intention of hurting you . . . yet."

Annabeth swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm guessing you're her for far more than just a story." Annabeth said. "What do you want?"

Izanami giggled. She cupped water from the bath and poured it over her body. For someone who was supposedly a corpse, she looked beautiful. "I want nothing, Annabeth dear. I just want to see the person who . . . ah, a certain someone won't stop talking about."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

"Let's just say that you're a very important person for someone in the Yomi." Izanami smiled. "You will know in time. For now, I will take my leave."

"Wait!" Annabeth said as Izanami stood up. "Who are you talking about?"

Izanami looked over her shoulder at Annabeth, gave her a wink and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Annabeth felt like the world had collapsed on her. She'd been through so much in one day up to the point that if there are anymore surprises, she's going to hit someone.

After the bath, she got dressed and headed out. Asanagi was waiting for her outside of the bathhouse.

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" Asanagi asked.

Annabeth nodded slightly. "I'm okay. There's just a lot in my head right now."

"Frank was worried." Asanagi said. "You were in there for quite some time. I told him to go on ahead."

"You waited for me?" Annabeth asked. Asanagi nodded. "Thanks. I'm sorry for taking so long."

"No worries." Asanagi said. If Annabeth had to guess, he was smiling underneath that mask.

As they arrived at the dining hall, it was mostly empty already except for one table where Frank was sitting along with Reyna and Hazel.

"Hey," Reyna smiled at her. "You okay?"

Why does everyone keep asking if she's okay? "I'm fine, Reyna." Annabeth smiled.

"You sure?" Hazel asked. "You don't look like it."

"I just have some stuff in my mind." Annabeth said as she sent a clear mental message. Don't press any further. Her friends know not to pressure Annabeth or she'll get upset.

"So," Reyna said, eager to change the topic. "How was it? The trip to the Japanese version of the Underworld?"

"It was . . . how do I put this delicately?" Frank asked himself as he took a bite off his brownie. "Fucking scary."

"No objections here." Annabeth said as she took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"You ventured through Tartarus. There's no way the Yomi could be scarier." Reyna said.

"It's a different kind of scary." Annabeth explained. "When I was in Tartarus, it was more like 'oh-gods-I-think-we're-about-to-die' kind of scary. In the Yomi, it was more like, 'I'm-not-going-there-because-I-don't-know-what's-in-there' kind of scary."

"That's exactly it." Frank agreed.

Hazel and Reyna looked at them like they were speaking a different language.

"The Yomi is different." Asanagi said. "It messes with your head and emotions. Imagine, your five senses are dulled. Because of its darkness and pollution, you are not able to see, hear, feel and smell anything in the Yomi, but you know that something is there, watching your every step."

Annabeth nodded. "When I was in the Pit, at least I could see what I was walking into. I'd take on an army of monsters any day over the darkness of the Yomi."

"I second that decision." Frank added.

Asanagi then leaned forward on the table. "Tell me what happened back there, Annabeth, Frank." He asked.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Well, after you start to seal the entrance, I was standing guard with Frank. Now as far as I recall, I didn't move an inch. I was too scared to move. I turned around, Frank was gone."

"I was standing next to Asanagi at the time," Frank continued. "And when I called, Annabeth was gone. So I went to look for her and eventually I found her. But because of that, we got lost in the Yomi."

"How did you guys get back?" Reyna asked.

Frank and Annabeth exchanged looks. "Well, someone rescued us." Annabeth said.

"At first we thought it was Asanagi." Frank supplied. "But he sounded different. He sounded like . . ." Frank's eyes moved over towards Annabeth, sending her telepathic question.

"He sounded like Percy." Annabeth finished.

"Annabeth . . ." Reyna tried to comfort her, but Annabeth shook her head.

"I know you might think I'm being delusional and crazy, but I'm positive. That voice was Percy's." Annabeth insisted.

There was a momentary silence around them before Asanagi spoke up. "It is not unusual to encounter another living human in the Yomi." Asanagi said. "Entrances are appearing everywhere. It's possibly that this Percy guy has found one." Asanagi then raised an eyebrow. "Who is Percy anyway?"

"He's a friend of ours." Hazel explained. "You know that demigod you met, Jason Grace?" Asanagi nodded. "Both of them were our friends. After the war with the Greek Earth goddess three years ago, they disappeared and we haven't seen them since. Your news about Jason is the first we've heard from him."

"I see." Asanagi said. He bowed his head slightly. "I'm sorry for bringing such a sad topic into discussion."

"No, it's okay." Annabeth smiled. "At least we know they're both okay. After three years of silence about them, I'm glad to know that they're still alive."

Asanagi nodded politely. "If that is all, then I shall take my leave."

"You can sleep here," Frank offered. "There are some vacancies in the barracks."

Again, Asanagi bowed. "I thank you for your offer, but I must refuse. I have to go back to my group and report about my findings."

That caught Reyna's attention a bit. "You won't try to ambush us in the middle of the night now, won't you?"

Again, if Annabeth had to guess, Asanagi was smiling under his mask. "I understand your concern. I give you my word that I mean you guys no harm. I am looking for a cooperation between us in order to seal the Yomi for good."

Reyna studied him carefully. Aurum and Argentum stayed silent behind her. She then sighed and gave a small smile. "I trust you, Asanagi. Since the creatures of the Yomi are threatening us as well, I see this as a win-win situation for both of us."

Asanagi nodded as he shook hands with both of the Roman praetors. "Thank you, praetors. I am sure our paths will cross again." He then shook hands with Hazel and lastly with Annabeth. "I'm sure your friends are okay, Annabeth. If I do find out anything about them I will let you know."

That statement alone made Annabeth's shoulders feel a million times lighter. "Thanks, Asanagi. Be safe out there."

Asanagi nodded before he disappeared in a blink of an eye. "You know, I thought only ninjas in cartoon do that." Frank said.

Line Break

Over the past few months, weird monsters have been appearing everywhere. Monsters that Thalia had never seen before. Some looked like ghosts, some looked like animals that have unique distinctive features and some just looked outright freaky.

The Hunt has been working overtime. With Lady Artemis out of the picture, they have to work harder without the help of their goddess.

Thalia was tired mentally and physically. It felt like she hadn't had a good rest in a long time. Her sisters weren't doing too good as well. She'd lost a few of them because of the barrage of monster attacks, to which she blamed herself for not being able to protect them.

That night, they were in deep shit.

The Hunters were in a circle, covering every area and watching for any monster that dared to lunge at them. They were being attacked by monsters, but something felt off. It felt more like a three-sided battle rather than a battle between the Hunters and monsters.

It felt like the monsters were fighting among themselves. Thalia would catch glimpses of hellhounds, white wolves, turtle like creatures, and Cyclopes just whacking at each other.

Thalia didn't care. She killed anything that wasn't a friendly.

They were almost out of arrows, which was bad. Usually, the quivers would just refill themselves every time they were out of combat but ever since Artemis was gone, that powers seemed to be switched off. Now, they were very low on ammo.

"Anyone got any arrows left?" Thalia asked.

"Mine's almost empty!" A Hunter yelled.

"Mine too!" Another one yelled.

"Here!" One of them shouted as she tossed her quiver full of arrows to Thalia. "My last quiver!"

"Thanks!" Thali said as she went to work. She fired arrow after arrow, disintegrating monsters left and right. It seemed like everything was going well, until a scream pierced the night.

Thalia looked behind her to see that a hellhound had snuck up through their shadows and attacked one of her sisters from behind. Thalia gritted her teeth as she took out her hunting knives and ran towards the hellhound. Thalia sliced at its neck before burying the knives deep in its head, disintegrating it.

She saw that the Hunter that had been attacked was badly wounded. "Medic!" Thalia screamed. "It's going to be okay," She said.

As she said that, another scream filled the air. Thalia looked around to see a giant spider-like creature barreling towards them. The arrows seemed to bounced off of its skin, so Thalia decided to zap it with a lightning bolt.

The spider turned into burnt flesh before disintegrating into black smoke.

Thalia collapsed to one knee. That lightning bolt had almost drained all of her energy and she wasn't sure she had the power to summon even more.

They were getting overrun. Monsters were coming from all sides. Unless a miracle happens, Lady Artemis won't have a Hunt to return to.

Luckily, something did happen.

A massive lightning bolt hit a few meters ahead of Thalia, disintegrating some of the monsters. At first, Thalia thought it was Zeus because the only two people alive that can summon lightning bolts were herself and her brother Jason and Jason couldn't summon a lightning bolt that powerful.

As the smoke cleared, Thalia could see that where the lightning bolt had struck was a person. The person had wore what appeared to be a black oversized shirt with baggy black pants.

Upon closer inspection, Thalia noticed that his outfit resembled something of a traditional samurai garb. Two swords were tied around his waist. When Thalia saw his face, Thalia's heart almost dropped.

"J-Jason?" Thalia stammered.

Jason gave her sister a smile before turning serious. Under his breath, he muttered an incantation. "Kami of Thunder, give me strength. Yakusa-no-ikazuchi-no-kami, Raijin!"

What happened next was beyond Thalia's wildest imaginations.

Lightning struck all around them, disintegrating monsters everywhere. It was fascinating and horrifying to watch at the same time. It's like watching a light show but with monsters disintegrating everywhere.

Just like that, there were no more monsters.

Jason buckled and collapsed to his knees as he groaned in pain. "Tend to the wounded." Thalia ordered her Hunters before rushing towards Jason. "Jason, hey. You okay?"

"Yeah, maybe, sort of." He muttered. When he looked at Thalia in the eyes, he gave a lopsided grin. "Hey sis."

Thalia hugged her brother tightly. "I never thought I'd see you again." Thalia sobbed. "I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead."

"Sorry Thalia." Jason said. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"Well you're gonna have to make up for it." Thalia said with a smile as she wiped her tears off. "You're gonna stay for dinner."

Line Break

Over the past few months, Thalia had never looked forward to dinner because she was too tired from battling monsters and leading the Hunt in Artemis's place. Now, she was more than excited since her brother was here.

Thalia made sure that she and Jason ate a few feet away from the Hunters because of the whole hate male thing.

"You look good, Jason." Thalia said.

"And you've looked better." Jason replied.

Thalia managed a tired chuckle. "Yeah, I get that. Ever since the gods stayed silent for the past three years, we barely had any divine help. The Delphic Oracle was silent and any contact with the gods is nonexistent. I'm left to take care of the Hunt and monsters have been increasing these past few months."

"Sorry you have to go through all that." Jason muttered.

"Yeah. Me too." Thalia said sadly. "Anyway, tell me your story."

"Well, where should I start?"

"How about three years ago?" Thalia said. "When you and Percy went missing."

At the mention of Percy's name, Thalia sensed a slight tension in the air. It's like this was a sensitive topic for Jason but it disappeared instantly.

"Well, three years ago I got swallowed into the Yomi." Jason said.

"Yomi?" Thalia asked as she took a bite of her apple.

Jason nodded. "You know how in different parts of the world exists different beliefs and mythologies, right? Like Romans and Greeks?"

Thalia nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"Yomi is the Japanese version of the Underworld." Jason said.

"Ah, I see. So the Japanese mythologies are real?"

Jason nodded. "So I got dragged into the Yomi and I was stuck there for a year with no way out."

Thalia gasped. "You were stuck in the Underworld for a year?"

Jason looked at the fire they made sadly. "I wish it was the Underworld. The Yomi . . . it's different. You can't see or hear anything. There was no light. It was truly an eternal darkness. Imagine wandering in that for a year."

Thalia was crying at the thought of her brother going through that. Suddenly, the difficult things she endured in the world of the living doesn't seem that bad compared to Jason's experience.

"After a year, an entrance opened up." Jason started again. "I walked through it and exited in Kyoto, Japan. That's where I met the twins, Raijin and Fujin."

"Who are they?" Thalia asked.

"They're called Kami, which basically means god. Raijin is the God of Thunder and Lightning and Fujin is the God of Wind." Jason said. "They're not really twins since Fujin is so much more older than Raijin, but they act like they are. The two of them took me in and took care of me."

"But why didn't you come back?" Thalia asked. "Why didn't you contact us?"

"I tried." Jason said miserably. "Something was keeping me back. All the calls and emails I sent to anyone I know didn't reach them. Everytime I tried to catch a flight back to the US, the flight would always be canceled. I tried Iris Messaging but all I got was static. I even tried to rent a boat and sail across the ocean from Japan to the mainland, but the waves keep washing me back ashore. Something was very determined to keep me there."

"Then how did you get back here?"

"The Yomi." Jason said. "I figured since I ended up in Japan through the Yomi in the first place, then I could go back through the Yomi as well. Turns out, I was right."

"Well, at least you're back." Thalia said with relief. "Any word on Percy?"

Again, at the mention of Percy, the air got heavier with ozone. Jason's faced morphed into anger.

"Jason? Are you okay?" Thalia asked.

Jason then calmed down. He took a few deep breaths. "Sorry," Jason said. "Over the last three years, Percy and I didn't see eye to eye on . . . certain things. The last time we met was a year ago where we both tried to kill each other."

"What? I thought Percy was your friend."

"He is." Jason admitted. "It's just something that we disagree with each other."

Line Break

"How was your visit?" The man asks as Izanami returned to her throne.

"It was delightful." Izanami smiled as she sat on her throne. "She's very much like what you've told me."

"She's a very important person in my life." The man said. "I assume you would keep your promise?"

Izanami laughed. "I never go back on my word, my dear." Izanami said. "She will be spared from my plans. Now, time for you to do your job, Greek."

"As you wish." The man said before disappearing through an entrance to the living world.

Izanami laughed. "Who knew that the son of Hermes would become my servant?" Izanami said. "Perseus Jackson. I will claim your soul!" Izanami shouted to herself as she laughed maniacally in the deepest part of the Yomi.

A/N: Ta-da!