Location: Epirus, Greece

Piper POV

Piper wasn't proud of crying. After the tunnel collapsed, she wept and screamed like a two-year old throwing a temper tantrum. She couldn't move the debris that separated her and Leo from the others. If the earth shifted any more, the entire temple complex would fall on their heads. Still, she pounded her fists against the stones and yelled curses that would have earned her a couple hundred push ups from coach hedge at the wilderness school. She had just watched the rest of her friends hold off the monsters so her and Leo could go on. Then the tunnel collapsed, isolating the duo from the rest of the quest. Even worse, she had no idea how the battle was going on the other side of the collapse. Jason could be dying right now, and she would be powerless to help him.

Leo stared at her, wide eyed and speechless. She wasn't being fair to him. The last time the two of them had been alone, she had zapped him into memories of her life, and left him so dazed they had almost been killed by Shrimpzilla. "Sorry." she wiped her face.

"Hey you know..." Leo shrugged. "Ive attacked a few rocks in my day too."

She swallowed with difficulty. "Jason is... he's-"

"Listen," Leo said. "Jason Grace has moves. He will probably start flying around like Peter Pan and blast them to pieces. He'll be fine." He helped her to her feet. Despite the panic simmering inside her, she knew Leo was right. Jason and the others weren't helpless. They would find a way to survive. The best thing she and Leo could do would be to carry on.

She studied Leo. His hair had grown to be longer and shaggier, and his face was leaner, so he looked lis like an imp and more like a willowy elf in a fairy tale. The biggest difference was his eyes. They constantly drifted, as if Leo was trying to spot something over the horizon.

"Leo, i'm sorry." She said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Okay. For what?"

"For..." She gestured around her helplessly. "Everything, for thinking you were annoying, for leading you on. I mean, i didn't mean to, but if i did-"

"Hey." He squeezed her hand, but she sensed nothing romantic in the gesture. "Stop it Beauty Queen. I'm proud of being annoying. I intentionally try to be annoying. Don't insult my ability to annoy. Besides, machines are supposed to work."

"uh, what?"

"I figure the universe is like a machine. I don't know who made it, if it was the Fates or the gods or capital-G god or whatever. but it chugs along the way it is supposed to most of the time. Sure, little pieces break and stuff goes haywire once in a while, but mostly... things happen for a reason. Like you and me meeting."

"Leo Valdez." I murmured. "You are a philosopher"

"Nah. I'm just a mechanic. My job is to tell you it will be okay. You and Jason- You're good together. We will get you through this. I hope the two of you get a chance to be happy. Besides, Jason couldnt tie his shoes without you."

"Thats mean." Piper chided, but she felt like something was untangeling inside her, tension she had been carrying around for weeks.

Leo really had changed. He had become even better of a friend than he was before. "What happened to you when you were on your own? Who did you meet?"

Leo's eye twitched. "Long story. I'll tell you sometime, but I'm still waiting to see how it shakes out.

"The universe is a machine." I said. "It'll be fine." I paused. "Well, as long as it's not one of your machines, cause they never work the way you want them to."

"Yeah, Ha Ha." He summoned fire to illuminate the tunnel. "Any idea witch way to go?"

Piper shrugged and pointed. "That way seems as good as any. Come on!" And with that we descended further into the House of Hades.

As soon as we reached the first archway, Piper stopped. She could feel a presence, cold, heavy, and powerful. She hadn't felt anything like it since Medea. "We are close."

"Close to what?"

A woman's voice echoes down the corridor. "Close to me."

A wave of nausea hit Piper so hard her knees buckled. The whole world seemed to shift and her sense of direction became completely unmoored. She and Leondidnt seem to move but suddenly they were three hundred feet down the corridor.

"Welcome." Said the voice. "I have been waiting for this." Pipers eyes swept the room but could not find the speaker. The room reminded her of the pantheon in Rome, but was decorated in Hades Modern. The walls were covered with scenes of death. Plague victims, corpses on a battlefield, starving people in Ethiopia, tortureed skeletons hanging in iron cages- all embellished with precious gems that only made the scene more ghastly. Her eyes drifted to the center of the room. "Yep." Leo muttered. "Those are the doors all right."

Fifty feet away was a set of freestanding elevator doors, it's panels etched in iron and silver. Next to her, Leo let out a strangled sound. "They are the same as on Olympus." It was true. They looked exactly like the doors to the Olympic throne room, just in different colors. Chains ran down both sides, securely attached to hooks in the floor. Next to the door, dark spots congregated from around the room to form a twenty foot tall giant. Clytius was shrouded in black smoke, just as in her dream. Piper could barely make out the form but what she could see- a huge humanoid upper body clad in Stygian iron armor. He had long hair that was made of dark most. He carried no weapon, yet that did not make him less scary. Leo whistled in appreciation. "Man, for such a tall dude Clytius, you have a beautiful voice."

"Fool." Hissed the voice. In front of them, midway to the doors, formed a familiar female figure, with blond hair. Piper gasped.

"A... Annabeth?" The sorceress nodded her head.

"Got it in one. Surprised?" She smirked. She held a hand out and snapped her fingers. Her features changed to completely new ones. She now wore an elegant sleeveless dress with gold embroidery, her blond hair piled into a cone, encircled with emeralds and diamonds. Around her neck was a pendent shaped like the labyrinth, that hung from a golden cord inset with rubys that reminded Piper of drops of blood. She was beautiful in a regal, timeless way- like a statue you might admire but never love. "I hate the gods, and demigods too, for that matter. If any of you survive the war Geae has promised me then, so I can slowly torture then to death in my new domain. I only wish I had more time for me to torture you properly."

"I thought you were in our side?" Leo asked.

The subject of his question snarled. "Serve the gods? Never. Annabeth, daughter of Athena never existed. Annabeth, servant of Gaea has been around for a very long time however. All it took was a small glamour to disguise my immortal age and my voice, and that stupid camp took me in without a second thought. Every time someone sent information to the Titans in the first war? Me. I was the "girlfriend" of their leader, plus a cabin leader, so i was in every meeting. Silena? She was blackmailed into wearing what she thought was a perfectly innocent charm. If she didn't, her family would be killed. Ever wonder how all the monsters and giants always knew where the Argo was? That's because I carried a tracker with me. That how I never got hurt. I have been known by many names across the ages. Sometimes Pasiphae, sometimes Medea, others knew me as Circe, but my most commen name, and the illusion I kept up the most, was Hecate. The goddess of magic and crossroads. That was me. That's why no one ever knew much about Hecate. What was my catchphrase? Athena always has a plan? Well, Gaea always has a plan. She decided to plant a spy in the enemy ranks all the way back in the first giant war., just in case something went drastically wrong. You are all doomed. Same with your friends in Tartarus. The doors should be in use any moment now."

In the center of the room the doors let out a chiming sound. The green button glowed and the chains holding the doors down shook. "There, you see?" Annabeth shrugged. "The doors are in use. They will open in twelve minutes."

Piper's gut trembled almost as much as the chains. "More Giants?" She squeaked.

"Thankfully, no." Annabeth smiled. "They are all accounted for. Back in the mortal world and in place for the final assault. No, I would imagine the doors are in use by someone... Unauthorized." Leo inched forward, smoke rising from his fists.

"Frank and Hazel."

Piper couldn't speak. She didn't know if the lump in her throat was caused by joy or frustration. If their friends really mad it to the doors, if they were going to arrive in twelve minutes...

"Oh not to worry." Annabeth said waving her hand dismissively. "Clytius will handle them. You see, when the elevator gets here, someone on this side has to press the open button. If not, the people inside... Poof! Gone forever. Or maybe I will make Clyitus handle them I person and let them out. It all depends on you two."

Piper's mouth tasted like tin. "How does it depend on us?"

"Well obviously we only need one set of demigods to sacrifice. The lucky two will be taken to Athens and sacrificed on the feast of hope to awaken the earth mother."

"Obviously." Leo muttered.

"So will it be you two or your friend in the elevator?" The sorceress spread her hands. "Let's see who is alive in twelve-actually eleven minutes now."

The cavern dissolved into darkness.

A/N Hey guys, I'll make a deal with you. If I get to 35 reviews by three in the afternoon tomorrow, I will update tomorrow. If I get 40 reviews by noon, I will update twice tomorrow. Otherwise, I might start a chapter tomorrow, but maybe not finish and post it. Every review I see gives me more encouragement to keep writing. Also, could you guys tell me which story you would rather see updated and why? I think this is the most popular one, but I don't know for sure. Yes, I live in Houston. Omega Alpha Hydra, yes it gives me more time. The hardest part for any of my story's is getting started and providing backstory, I already have two more story's lined up and ready to go. I have seen good authors overwhelmed by having to write for too many story's at once, so I set myself a limit of three. The next one is more original than this one, this was basically the same storyline with a few major twists. Sorry about this Annabeth fans, but I always thought of annabeth as a bit of a character who would pick the side who would win and would hate the gods. Also, this is something I have never seen done. I can provide more on her decision if you like.