A/N: So sorry I was gone so long! I kinda forgot about fanfiction... oops! Well, I had good reason to! So, I got HoH on Thursday, finished it Friday. It's super awesome! I wont give any spoilers, though. This weekend I read the 'Witchfinder' trilogy by William Hussey, which I started ages ago and only just managed to finish. It's really, really good- a little gruesome, though. In the first chapter someone gets beheaded... ugh. The latest books I've been reading are the Maximum Ride books by James Patterson... love them so, so much! Enough about my reading habits, however- here's chapter ten!

Disclaimer: I don't own HoO/PJO. What about me makes you think that I am Rick Riordan?

Chapter Ten

[Jason]

"Hazel!" Frank howled. He looked back up at them. "We have to follow her!" He looked about ready to jump after his girlfriend right then, but Percy held him back.

"You're not going anywhere, Frank," he said sharply, tugging him away from the deep fissure in the ground. "Come on."

"But, Hazel-" Frank protested, pulling himself free.

"We can't rescue her without supplies. We need a quest, Frank." Frank nodded, and Percy sighed with relief. Jason understood what he was thinking. We don't need to loose Frank as well as Hazel.

"I'll go tell Chiron," Piper said from beside him, pulling her hand free of Jason's own. "He needs to know what happened. Are you guys coming?"

"We'll be right up," Jason replied. Piper nodded and raced away. Jason stooped down at the edge of the crack, peering into the gloom. Grit tumbled down the shaft, bouncing against the steep walls.

"It's a long way down," said a voice behind him, and Jason looked up to see Annabeth. "Who knows where she ended up? An underground cave? The underworld? Even further?" A shudder travelled up Jason's spine. No. No way had Hazel fallen all the way to Tartarus. It just wasn't possible. "Let's go up to the big house," Percy said. "We can figure out where to go from there."

Jason nodded and stood up. The four of them made their way up slowly to the Big House, where Chiron and Piper stood waiting for them.

"Come," said the centaur, "We haven't much time. You must be on your way by morning." He was pale, Jason realised, much more so than usual. He led them inside to the living room, where he invited them to sit on the couches whilst he stood tall in his horse form, his head brushing against the ceiling.

"You have asked for a quest," Chiron said worriedly, "In order to find Miss Levesque. I grant this quest, for I fear it may lead us to the one who puts us in such danger; the destroyer of Olympus." There was a moment of silent. "Of course, I cannot permit you all go," Chiron continued. "Three is a sacred number, and traditionally all quests would have three members. Hazel's Roman friends, Frank and Jason, ought to go. Which of you three-" he turned to Percy, Annabeth and Piper- "Would like to accompany them?"

"I will," Percy said, standing up at once. "Hazel's one of my best friends, I can't abandon her." Chiron nodded gravely.

"It is as I feared," he whispered, "The New Great Prophecy is coming to pass. You must find this 'King of Prophesy' and Hazel Levesque and bring them back to Camp. Get ready, and leave as soon as you can."

"Wait a minute, what about a prophecy?" Jason asked. "For every quest there must be a prophecy." The others all glared at him, and he wondered what he'd said.

"I'm afraid Miss Dare is indisposed-" Chiron started, but Frank cut him off.

"Ella! We ask Ella if she knows anything!" Jason nodded. He'd forgotten about Ella, their fortune-telling harpy. Her knowledge had gaps in it, however, so she wasn't the most reliable source around.

"I'll go call her," Frank offered, and rushed off. The rest of them waited quietly, Percy beginning to pace the room. It was rather annoying, Jason thought, but he didn't say anything. After about ten minutes or so, Frank returned, with Ella creeping after him, babbling as usual.

"Ella," Percy greeted warmly, stopping his pacing. "We're going on a quest to find Hazel. A minotaur took her. Do you know-"

"Darkness's daughter cries alone," Ella interrupted, "The King of Prophesy sits atop his throne

The tunnel down seals with first light

The way is up, taking flight

Three will travel to the castle of strife

Three drops of blood spilled with a knife

Then decent into the dungeons below

The King to overthrow." She squawked. "Cinnamon? Cinnamon for Ella?"

"Here you go, Ella," Frank said, passing Ella a cinnamon doughnut. Ella gave another squawk and flew out the window, presumably back to the cave that she shared with Rachel.

"The prophecy says we have to go up," Jason said after a while of silence. Every eye turned to him, and he shrugged. "Why would we have to go up, when Hazel fell down?" His question hung in the air, and everybody found that they didn't want to answer that.

"You're kidding!" Percy yelled in frustration when they came to the place where the crack was. Or rather, had been. It was no longer there, completely sealed up. "What do we do now?"

"The way is up, taking flight," Frank quoted. "Someplace high up, I'm guessing." Percy looked uneasy.

"I don't know…" he said hesitantly, "I'm no good with heights. Zeus will zap me out of the sky in no time." Jason frowned. The way is up… taking flight… Three will travel to the castle of strife.

"I think I know where we're going," he said at last. "Reyna and I went there once on a quest. We don't have to go that far up, really."

"Why?" Percy asked, "Where're we headed?"

"The Palace of Strife," Jason replied, "Otherwise known as Mount Rushmore." Seeing their confused expressions, he sighed. "I'll explain on the way. Come on, we'd better go ask Chiron if we can borrow the van."

Half an hour later they were driving through the crowded streets of New York City. Jason was explaining to Percy and Frank his trip to the Palace of Strife four years ago. "The Palace of Strife is home to the Algea- Achos, Ania and Lupe. Any suffering going on in any part of the world, and they'll know about it. They can find just about anyone through their misfortunes. They're tricky though." He frowned. "They live inside Abraham Lincoln's head at Mount Rushmore. They have Dungeons full of misfortunate mortals that they torture- it's really not nice."

"Doesn't sound it," Percy agreed. "These guys will really be able to find Hazel?" Jason nodded.

"If she's in trouble, distressed, aching, anguished, in pain, grieving or sad, then they can find her," he replied. "She just fell down a hole to who-knows-where- I think she'll be distressed."

"I hope she's alright," Frank said with a yawn. "I'm going to take a nap, I hardly got any sleep last night." His eyes closed. Within minutes he was snoring. Jason tried to hide his smile, looking out of the window at the cars and the city rushing by. People went about their daily business, not knowing that if their quest failed, or if Leo failed to come through, the world would end. He wished he could be as ignorant to their immanent doom as they could.

"Hey, man, it'll be fine, you'll see," Percy said. Jason sighed, turning to look at the dark-haired teen, his cousin of sorts. Whatever. They were definitely friends, though.

"Will it really, though?" he challenged wearily. "We've saved the world twice before, Percy- what if we can't do it again?" Percy rolled his eyes.

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine?" he asked sarcastically. "Either way, Jason, the world has to end at some point, right? Why not tomorrow, or today, or next week? It's all the same to me." Jason sighed.

"Maybe, but… I have a feeling that even if we save the world, it'll be at a terrible price." They were quiet for a long, long time. Percy cranked the radio up, but it did little to drown out Jason's thoughts. In the end, he went back to people-watching, but it did little to smother his doubts.

The end was coming, he knew. Maybe not of the world, but of somebody's life, that much was certain. What if the sacrifice was too big for them to make?

Frank woke up as they drove through Pennsylvania, and Jason decided to sleep. His dreams, though, were starting to make him wish he'd stayed awake.

At first, he was stood in a coffee shop in New Rome, where normal Romans were sat drinking and talking, dealing with everyday life and under no impression that the world could be ending any day now. In the corner, however, sat Reyna, dressed down so people wouldn't recognise her as Praetor. Jason knew well enough that it got tiring after a while, and it was nice to be normal every now and again. He and Reyna had done it plenty of times, strolling through the gardens of New Rome. Jason felt guilty then- he had never really dated Reyna, yet it had been as hard as if they had been dating to choose Piper over her. Not that Piper wasn't great and all, but Jason often found himself wondering what would have happened if Juno had never taken him away.

Reyna was pouring over a sketchpad, on which was a crude drawing of a teenage girl, bleeding and in pain, curled up on the floor. In the top left-hand corner of the page was a mask, with striking eyes peering out of it. "Please let them just be dreams," she whispered, "Please."

Then a shadow rippled across the dream, and he was stood in a room made from stone, with bones littering the floor and blood staining the wall. At one end of the room were three thrones, each one made of a different substance; one of imperial gold, one of celestial bronze, and one of lunar silver. On the thrones sat three identical girls, who looked to be in their early twenties. They had dark hair and pale faces, twisted into cruel and mocking expressions. Their lips were purple and their fingernails as long as claws. All three of them had furry tails curled around their legs. Their eyes were black, with burning red pupils. They cackled, watching as a thin, raggedy man convulsed on the floor in front of them.

"There are demigods coming to visit, sisters," the one on the silver throne said. "I do love it when they come, don't you?"

"Oh, yes!" the one sat on the golden throne agreed. "I like to watch them writhe in pain. I'm glad we have that particular entrance fee, don't you?" The other two agreed. "So much better than Achos's idea."

"Hey! It was a good idea! Remember the last two demigods? The Romans? They were in such pain!" The speaker was the sister who sat on the bronze throne.

"Bah!" the golden sister replied. "I say my idea is better! Poison their blood and watch them writhe in pain!" As she said this, the man on the floor convulsed again, throwing up large amounts of blood. The sisters cackled in glee.

"Yes, Lupe," the silver sister said with a grin, "A very good idea indeed."

Another shadow rippled across Jason's vision. Now he stood on Olympus, where the earth was shaking. This vision was only brief, a glimpse lasting a moment, before he found himself surrounded by darkness. In front of his face was a bright white mask, in which icy blue eyes were glinting coldly.

"This is only the beginning, Jason Grace," he whispered, his voice deep and rich. "I will see you bleed, and the Greek Camp burn to the ground. A scream echoed around them, inhuman and bloodcurdling.

"Hazel!" Jason gasped. "What have you done with her? Who are you?"

"Jason, wake up!" Jason gasped, his eyes snapping open. Everything was dark, and he was jerked forward, his seatbelt straining, before the van hurtled forwards into a large expanse of water.

A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Evil, I know, to leave you with another cliffhanger. Oh well... review!