"So, do we go with Hera?" Jason asked.

The group had shrunken severely what with both Percy and Nico out of commission and Will, Hazel, and Annabeth looking over them. They were now worth half the manpower they were before and they were all anxious of what could happen in Hera's mind.

After all, what could scare the queen of the gods so badly to where she wound up here?

Thalia looked into the cell. Hera rocked back and forth muttering inconsistencies under her breath. She would chuckle to herself every now and then which would give Thalia the creeps.

She tore her eyes away toward the three remaining group members.

"We need to be prepared, Persephone was queen of the Underworld and we traveled within her thoughts. Look what that brought us,"Piper reasoned.

"Actually, it was Mors that had Nico wind up unconscious," Frank rubbed his neck.

Piper sighed,"I'm sure Nico would've been fine. The thing is, he was already vulnerable. Especially with what happened in that room."

Frank nodded. Every time they left the mind of one god they would always give a brief summary to the ones who weren't present. He felt bad about what happened with Nico, but it didn't compare to seeing it happen to Hazel. He shivered at the thought of seeing her being shrouded in a black mass. He remembered seeing her golden eyes quickly fading out to a dead grey. He closed his eyes shaking himself out of the memory.

Jason looked at a cell across from Hera, Amphitrite was placed in here. She kept chanting phrases like:

"YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

Which weren't exactly helpful in contributing to their decision.

"Let's not forget about her. She took one look at Percy and he just dropped," he said.

Frank looked back over at Athena,"She did some hefty damage to Annabeth. Her own mother."

Thalia realized what Frank was getting at. She looked at Artemis who whimpered in the corner like a hurt puppy and then over at Hypnos who stared blankly at a wall with his mouth open. Finally, she examined Hermes who twiddled with his misshapen fingers. Every now and then he'd whimper and hyperventilate. When this happened he'd break one of his fingers, he'd let out a sickening cry but soon he'd fall into a pit of laughter and continue playing with his fingers.

Thalia shivered,"The only ones who didn't affect us at all were those three. I mean, Thanatos, he works for Hades and was friends with Persephone, naturally he'd affect Nico. That is, if my theory is correct, but Hermes. He doesn't really have a tie to any of us. Now that I look back at it, he was the only god who didn't address one of us independently."

Piper nodded in agreement,"Hypnos talked with Annie and Nico. They were already affected like he was and he seemed to recognize Nico. Just after that Nico had that scene with Thanatos."

"Persephone kept trying to capture Nico and Hazel, two half bloods that happen to be illegitimate children of her husband. From what Hazel and Nico tell me, their relationship is pretty stable. The entire time we were with her she never even acknowledged the rest of us," Jason added.

"Minerva was Annabeth's mother, naturally, the state she was in would affect anyone negatively. The thing is, Minerva attacked her. The animals in her mind were more intent on killing Annabeth than anyone of us," Frank continued.

Piper nodded toward Artemis,"As for Artemis. She did affect one of us. She affected you, Thalia. You've been more observant since we've come back. Almost paranoid. Maybe you weren't affected the same way Annabeth was but she definitely did something to your sense of awareness," Piper reasoned.

Jason looked back at Hermes,"So what I'm hearing is only Hermes and Hera haven't hurt us."

"That's where you're wrong. Hermes traumatized Hazel. While we were taking Will to Nico she told us about a dream she had. Because of Hermes, Hazel developed a fear of snakes. Maybe he didn't single us out like the other gods, but he definitely took his toll on one of us," Frank countered.

Piper held up her hands in a calming matter,"The point is. I think it's best that we wait for the others to recover. If the gods really are targeting certain people then I'm afraid of what Hera can do to Thalia and Jason. Their father is her husband."

Frank rubbed his neck, nodding in agreement,"Piper's got a point. This all started with Hera, her mind may be in an even worse state than any of the ones we've been inside of. And if she targets you two, who knows how you can end up."

"So we put it off for now?" Jason asked.

Thalia nodded. As they left the dungeon, she could feel a weight being lifted off her chest. Whatever was awaiting them in Hera's fractured mind wasn't going to get her just yet.

~o0o~

Annabeth hovered over Percy as Will checked on him. Every now and then Will would furrow his eyebrows. This worried Annabeth. Will only ever did that if something was wrong. In the end, he straightened himself out and nodded to her.

"He'll be alright. He needs some rest. I'll come back in an hour to help hydrate him."

"When will he wake up?" She asked nervously.

"I suggest you keep your mind occupied. Nico told me once that there's a library here. Maybe you and I can figure something out with a book."

Annabeth narrowed her at eyes Will. He was dodging her question, Will didn't know when he'd wake up. It'd be a miracle if he knew when Nico would wake up. She sighed. She looked helplessly at Percy. What she wouldn't give to be in his position instead.

She shook her head.

She wasn't in his position. She was in a position to help him however. She nodded at Will. Maybe there was something in Hades' library that could help them cure the gods and her friends.

~o~

Three hours had passed. Everyone had joined the two demigods in reading the numerous texts Hades held in his library.

Annabeth sighed as she put back a book titled Dante's Inferno.

She picked up another book next to it and began reading.

Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.

She sighed opening the book. Halfway through her reading the lights went out. She sighed.

"Hades, I don't think you paid your electric bill." No one answered her.

"Hades?"

She placed her hands out in front of her. There was the table. And there was the book.

She stood up feeling her way around.

"Piper? Hazel?" She called out. No answer. She stubbed her toe on something and held back a cry. Instead she strained herself to call out for Thalia.

Again. No reply.

She continued feeling her way around. Bookshelf, chair, table, chair, chair, chair, bookshelf. Where were the lights?

She tripped on something and fell to the floor. Her fall echoed throughout the room. As she picked herself up her hand touched something cold and hard.

She picked it up, it felt familiar. Almost like a...

She flicked something with her thumb and a small flame flickered to life. It was a lighter.

She stood up using the lighter to make her way around. She saw that no one was in the library except for her. She began to think that maybe it was a sick joke, until she realized that the library was falling apart. If it were a joke there was too much detail to put into in such a short amount of time.

Books littered the floor along with red stains she hoped was the cherry Koolaid Deimos had been drinking. The furniture was decrepit. It was falling apart and everything was covered in dust and spiderwebs.

Spiderwebs.

She took a deep breath to calm down. That's when she realized she had been touching those spiderwebs. She wriggled her fingers and could feel the sticky strings dangling from them.

Her vision blurred and she opened her mouth to let out a cry but nothing came out. She dropped to the ground wiping her hand on the rug.

Feeling queasy, she began making her way to the exit in a hurry . She found it quite easily. As she pulled on the knobs and pushed on the door she came to the conclusion it was locked.

Then she heard a hiss.

Her heart stopped and her blood dropped to her feet.

She turned around holding the lighter out in front of her. The flapping of wings echoed in the room and her breath hitched.

There was a low rumble coming from the darkness and she felt herself start to melt.

She made herself as small as possible against the door as the rumble got closer.

It stopped when she heard a croaky voice taunt her from the shadows.

Who do you think I am, Annabeth Chase? Arachne? That silly creature does not match me in fear or terror. But perhaps she has been of use to me. Let's see just how deep you are in all of this. Shall we?

Annabeth stared into the dark trying to catch a glimpse of the person talking when she felt something crawl up her leg. She looked down and let out a cry.

Spiders, hundreds of them, crawled out of the darkness toward her. She stood up crying out in fear batting at the spiders trying to get them off.

They continued crawling up her body and she closed her mouth to avoid swallowing any. She tripped on a book and fell over into the mass below her. They continued to group around her and on top of her. She whimpered and let out muffled cries as she was ambushed by the little monsters.

She could hear the rumble. She realized whatever was talking was laughing at her, Alas you have become a former shell of yourself, daughter of Athena. You will do quite nicely as part of my collection, however, you are still mortal. You cannot be apart of my requisites in order to begin my reign. That goddess has done nicely so far. If only she weren't gravid. That useless vermin she carries poses as an obstacle. Nonetheless, we'll work around that. Won't we, Annabeth?

Annabeth heard the rumble once more and closed her eyes as the spiders cocooned her.

~o0o~

"Annabeth! Annabeth! It's me, Thalia! Please!" Thalia held tightly onto Annabeth who kept squirming trying to get out of her grasp. Every now and then she'd let out a scream of terror and she'd hit Thalia in the nose trying to get away.

Jason had to intervene. He pulled Thalia away from the demigod who crawled back into the corner she had gotten herself into. She cried out to Percy for help. She cried out to Thalia for help. She prayed to Athena. She prayed to Dionysus. She called for Chiron. She cried for her father.

No one came to her rescue.

And as Annabeth was taken away to join her mother in her cell. Thalia cried into her brother's chest.