Since this chapter was split in half, you get the other half quickly :) If you want a proper explanation of Thalia's relationship with Cabin 7, check out my other story 'Their Father's Children'.

August 2010

"I mean it."

"But …"

"No."

"But …"

"No."

"What if …?"

"No!" Will glared at his patient, hands on his hips. "No shadow travelling. No raising the dead. No nothing! I don't want to see a single pebble out of place!"

Nico scowled at him. "Look, I've been a model patient for three days; would you get off my back?!"

Will snorted. "Yeah, if by 'model', you mean 'fought me at every turn'." His voice softened and he stepped closer to the demigod desperate to escape the infirmary. "Nico, I'm not doing this for fun. I'm not doing this to piss you off, or to make your life harder, or anything like that. I'm doing it because you seriously over-extended and I'm worried if you do too much too soon, it could actually kill you. And contrary to what you seem to believe, I don't want you to die."

Nico fidgeted, his gaze dropping in a way Will had learned meant 'I am very uncomfortable with this situation'. "How long?"

"A couple of weeks," Will answered, relieved. "Then we can reassess."

Nico nodded. "Alright."

"Thank you." Will almost reached out and clasped his shoulder, but he remembered, just in time, Nico's aversion to touch. His hand faltered, then swung up to rub the back of his own neck. "Try and remember to eat as well."

Nico nodded, still avoiding his eyes. "Can I go now?"

Will sighed. "Yes, you can go."

Nico almost bolted out of the infirmary and Will sank on to his vacated hospital bed, burying his face in his hands.

Nico was more or less the last patient, having avoided the infirmary for a good week or so after the battle with Gaia. Now it was just a matter of same-old, same-old – cuts and bruises, the odd broken limb, and an influx of concussions every Friday night.

On saying that, summer would be over soon, and most of the campers would leave.

Will hoped Nico would keep his promise and stick around – it might be easier to get the guy integrated into Camp Half-Blood without as many campers around.

Footsteps roused him and he stood up, just in time to greet Jason Grace as he rounded the corner.

Jason's place at Camp Half-Blood was a little strange – a Roman son of Jupiter replacing one of their de facto leaders should have gone down like a lead balloon, but Jason was almost impossible to dislike and there was still something to be said for being Thalia Grace's brother – even if she was now Artemis's lieutenant.

Maybe it was because she was a daughter of Zeus, maybe it was because Annabeth and Percy respected her, maybe it was the Camp legends of how her spirit still powered the magical boundaries, whenever Thalia returned to Camp, the campers fell into line behind her as well.

This respect carried over to give Jason a chance, but now it made Will feel a little lonely.

During the Titan War, his father had often sent messages with Thalia – during the Giant War, he had heard nothing.

After they heard that Annabeth and Percy had fallen into Tartarus, Will had tried to Iris Message Thalia – but it hadn't gone through.

The same thing had happened when they got word that the two had escaped.

Maybe it was a bit odd, but Will missed Thalia as much as he missed the messages from his dad, especially since Michael's death. Physically, she wasn't much older than Will was now, but she felt older, like she had more answers, like …

"Uh, Will?"

Will blinked, realising that he had been staring into space for a little too long. "Sorry, Jason. What's up?"

"We have a visitor," Jason answered, still looking at him oddly. "You alright?"

Will hesitated. "Tired," he said finally, and not untruthfully. "I thought things were going to get easier after Manhattan, not harder."

"Yeah," Jason muttered, jerking his head towards the door. "Well, it's not over yet."

Will followed him out, dread pooling in his stomach. He expected to find the remaining crew from the Argo II, and he did.

He wasn't expecting to find his surviving brothers and sisters as well, all huddled together.

Piper immediately situated herself under Jason's arm, and Nico stubbornly ignored him, but Will pressed past him to the mob of siblings, to find his youngest sister Eliza, clinging to …

"Dad?" Will whispered.

Apollo looked up, a soft smile crossing his face. He looked more or less the same as he had after the Titan War, when Thalia had helped him trick Zeus for a few hours so he could visit his children, but something seemed off. "Hey kiddo."

"What happened?" Will asked.

"Well, that's a long story," Apollo said. "Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time."

"You can't stay?" Eliza asked.

Apollo looked down at her. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I would if I could. But it's only the Fates that are allowing me to be here now – Father is furious with me, and I have no idea what he has in store."

Will swallowed hard. "Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine," his father said dismissively, in a way that made Will think that he wouldn't. "Let me fill you in while I can. The Fates aren't very happy about how things have gone –can't say I blame them – and they want to make things right by sending people back in time to the summer of 2006."

Will looked at Percy. "That was the year we got to Camp right? When the Master Bolt was stolen?"

Percy nodded grimly, gripping Annabeth's hand so tightly Will was concerned it might fall off. "We should …"

"No," Piper interrupted. "You two are not going. Neither is Nico. No!" She repeated, when Nico opened his mouth to argue. "Lord Apollo had already told us that whoever goes will physically relive the events as they're read."

"Read?" Will repeated.

"The Fates have put the details into a series of books," Apollo explained, stroking Eliza's hair as she nestled against him. "Saves you all trying to remember all the details but has an unfortunate side effect."

"Yeah, you three can't go back," Will said immediately, backing Piper up. "You've done enough. You don't deserve to have to relive that."

"Only three of you need to go," Apollo said. "The Fates have already sent some people back from just after the Battle of Manhattan. Rachel made a prophecy that there would be at least three more readers, who would 'bridge the empires once divided and soon will see them reunited'." He held up a hand to stop them interrupting. "You can work out who goes and who stays among yourselves. However, I would suggest that someone else go first, who can prepare the groundwork. It will probably work better if you don't tell them about the Roman camp immediately; let them believe all the visitors are Greek and then it might go smoother when they find out."

The six remaining demigods from the Argo II were having a silent conversation, and Will nodded. "That makes sense. Why am I here though, Dad? I mean, I didn't do much …"

"I need you to go first," Apollo said seriously. "You are an exceptional Healer, Will, and you will have a few seconds' head start on me. And the time-travellers reading, who'll be reliving everything …"

"They'll need that," Will finished. "Okay, I'll do it."

"Great," Jason said brightly. "And we've figured it out."

It took a few more minutes to work out the logistics of who was going when, but finally, Will had his head on straight. "Okay, when am I leaving?"

"Now," Apollo said, setting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you, son."

The words washed over Will like a warm bath, and he closed his eyes as time swirled around him. When he opened them again, he was standing outside the doors of the throne room on Olympus. With his heart in his throat, he squared his shoulders and knocked.

There was a brief pause, then a woman's voice – Hera's, called out: "Enter."

Will pushed the door open and stepped inside, feeling his Healer's satchel settle heavy over his shoulder.

Thanks, Dad.

The room looked different to his visits on the Winter Solstice over the years – for a start, the thrones were smaller, and the gods were scattered around – among their children?

That was new.

On one of the couches, set slightly apart from the others, were a group of people almost certainly from the previous summer – Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Rachel, Luke Castellan, late son of Hermes – Will would have reached for his bow, were it not for the next person he laid eyes on.

Thalia rose to her feet, her eyes fixed on his. "Will? How bad is it going to get?"

Will dropped his satchel, a wry smile crossing his face. "My fairy godmother," he joked weakly. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

Thalia frowned. "You're not from 2009, are you?"
"No, August 2010," Will answered.

Thalia's eyes widened and she stepped closer, enveloping him in a hug.

His head dropped to her shoulder and he closed his eyes for a second, grounding himself. She squeezed him just a little tighter, then let go, peering at him in concern. "You look awful, are you okay?"

Will had to cough to clear the lump that formed in his throat. "I've – uh – I've been better."

Rachel rose as well, approaching him with a slight frown. "You're not one of the prophesized three, are you?"

"No," Will answered, "but Dad did mention them. They'll be here soon, but Dad wanted me to come back first so that there's a healer here with a split-second's head start."

"It worries me that a split-second is going to make such a difference," Apollo said, frowning.

Will glanced over, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Lee and Michael sitting beside him, both looking concerned at the state of their little brother.

Thalia squeezed his arm, drawing his attention back to her. Her eyes were understanding and he took a deep breath, glancing towards Luke. "They know yet?"

"Not everything," Thalia said. "They know enough."

"Good," Will said, rolling his sleeves up.

"Don't you dare," Thalia said sharply. "You need your hands for healing – if he needs hitting, you let me do it."

"If he needs hitting," Will muttered, under his breath. "If?"

But now the initial shock of seeing him had passed, he could see the way that Luke couldn't meet his eyes, could feel the guilt emanating from him.

Will sighed. "You're right," he said out loud. "It's a bit like kicking a puppy, isn't it?"

Thalia looked momentarily startled, then laughed. "I forgot you were empathetic," she said nudging him towards their couch. "Are we expecting the others yet?"

"Not yet," Will answered, taking the seat beside Rachel, who took a closer look at him and pulled one of the pillows into her lap.

"In case you fall asleep," she said, by way of explanation.

"Wasn't planning on it," Will said, stifling a yawn. "But thanks."

Annabeth was staring at the box of books. "Will, if you're from 2010, does that mean the next Great Prophecy is going to get fulfilled in one year?"

"'Fraid so," Will said. "To be honest, I'm interested to hear it myself; I was more of an onlooker. Where have we got up to?"

"Percy's quest to find the Master Bolt," Travis answered. "Percy's just talked Charon into letting them into the Underworld."

Will frowned. "Then how do you already know about Luke? If memory serves me, we didn't find out until Percy got back."

"I have no brain-to-mouth filter," Percy answered.

"Oh, right," Will said with a nod. "That makes sense."

"Shall I start again?" Travis asked.

"One moment," Artemis said. "Will, why did you call Thalia your 'fairy godmother'?"

"It's an inside joke," Will answered.

"Remember when I said that Cabin 7 didn't have anyone join Kronos because Apollo made sure his kids knew he cared?" Thalia asked. "He did that by finding loopholes."

"Thalia was the loophole," Will said with a grin.

Apollo just smirked when his sister glared at him. "What? The rules say I can't talk to my kids. They don't say I can't talk to your hunters."

"It's alright, Lady Artemis," Thalia hastened to say. "I like Cabin 7. I adopted them. And if it's Will you're worried about …" she hesitated. "Do they know?"

Will grinned at her. "Relax, Thalia, I'm fairly sure I was born out."

"I am definitely not his type," Thalia finished. "He's like Percy; he doesn't count. Just for a whole other reason." She waited a few second, but no one else protested. "Travis, go ahead."

Travis nodded and found his place again.

He stood … and said, 'Come along.'

"So how did they get into the Underworld" Will asked. "They were so coy about it when they got back."

"Bribery," Thalia answered.

"Oh of course," Will said. "Why didn't I think of that?"

We pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits … Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, 'Freeloaders.'

Persephone frowned. "How many people were in there out of interest?"

Annabeth thought for a second. "Couple of hundred, I'd guess."

"They can't all be unable to pay," she said.

Hades looked similarly troubled. "No. Even the ones that won't give up the cable bills usually cave after a day or two."

"Could he be insisting on cash so he can overcharge and keep the difference?" Persephone asked him.

"I'll find out," her husband assured her.

He escorted us into the elevator … grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby.

"They must be desperate," Sally murmured.

'Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone … I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?'

Persephone's eyes flashed with anger, and Hades patted her arm. "I will find out," he repeated.

He shut the doors … and we started to descend.

'What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?' Annabeth asked.

'Nothing,' Charon said.

"Until there's payment," Hades finished.

Nico was frowning. "Father, if Charon gets more than enough to cover one trip, isn't he supposed to start taking the people who have been there the longest?"

"He is," Hades confirmed. "I think Persephone may be right, but I'll look into it."

'For how long?'

'Forever, or until I'm feeling generous.'

'Oh,' she said. 'That's … fair.'

"Try not to annoy him, Annie," Thalia said, "He's the one getting you in."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'll remember to do that on my quest three years ago."

Charon raised an eyebrow. 'Whoever said death was fair, young miss?

"I thought death was fair," Sally commented. "It's life that's not fair, isn't it? Death comes to us all and takes indiscriminately. That's the definition of fair."

"That's an exceptional way of looking at it," Hera remarked. "But not inaccurate."

Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going.'

Sally stiffened, and Amphitrite squeezed her hand. "It's alright, Sally. They're right here."

'We'll get out alive,' I said.

"That's it, think positive," Thalia said. "That'll help."

"It will actually," Nico said.

… I got a sudden dizzy feeling. We weren't going down any more, but forward.

"That's because it's becoming the barge," Nico said. "Also, dead people don't get nauseas so it's not usually a problem."

The air started turning misty … I blinked hard. When I opened my eyes, Charon's creamy Italian suit had been replaced by a long black robe.

"Is that the Mist lifting?" Sally asked, her voice shaking.

"Not exactly," Hades answered. "He takes a mortal appearance in the waiting room because it's easier to interact with the newly dead that way."

… Where his eyes should've been were empty sockets – like Ares's eyes, except Charon's were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

Silena shuddered again.

He saw me looking, and said, 'Well?'

'Nothing,' I managed.

"Oh good," Thalia said. "You're learning."

"Oh, like you don't have a smart mouth at the worst times," Percy said.

Thalia shrugged. "Yes, but I'm older than you."

"So?" Percy asked. "Also, no you're not."

Thalia smirked at him. "Not physically. And I just like pointing it out."

"Look, if we don't count Nico as being over seventy, just because he's physically twelve," Percy said, "I'm not counting you as however old you should be just because you're physically fifteen."

A sharp whistle cut of Thalia's retort, and Will grinned a little sheepishly at the spontaneous round of applause from Travis and Connor.

"Trust me," he said, "you wouldn't be clapping if I'd done that for real. Can you two maybe have this argument for the fiftieth time later?"

"He's right," Annabeth said. "No one ever wins."

Travis took advantage of the quiet and jumped right in.

I thought he was grinning, but that wasn't it.

He read the next line and grimaced, but pushed on.

The flesh of his face was becoming transparent, letting me see straight through to his skull.

"Oh gods," Silena blurted out, clapping a hand over her mouth.

Before his younger self could move, Will reached into his Healer's bag, praying that his dad had packed it with more than just nectar and ambrosia – both of which were abundant on Olympus. Thankfully, he had a few bottles of ginger ale and he pulled one out and handed it over to her.

"Take small sips of that, it'll help with the nausea."

The floor kept swaying … When I blinked again, the elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. We were standing in a wooden barge.

"So they're on the Styx now?" Sally asked softly. "What happens if you fall in?"

Percy and Luke exchanged a heavy look, but no one answered.

Charon was poling us across a dark, oily river, swirling … plastic dolls, crushed carnations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

Amphitrite frowned. "How does the River Styx get polluted? Surely no one in the Underworld is throwing out trash?"

"It's to do with the oaths," Persephone explained. "And wishes."

'The River Styx,' Annabeth murmured. 'It's so …'

'Polluted,' Charon said. 'For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything you come across – hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true.

"Oh," Sally murmured. She wanted to say that none of that was tangible, but she supposed that didn't matter in the Underworld.

Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me.

"Well, that's not fair," Hestia commented. "Humans can't control what happens to their hopes and dreams."

Mist curled off the filthy water … Panic closed up my throat.

Percy inhaled sharply, his heart beginning to race. Annabeth curled up beside him, practically in his lap, and he kissed her forehead.

Will watched them with thinly-veiled concern. If their first trip to the Underworld was bringing back these kinds of feelings, how were they going to cope with Tartarus? Would those sensations be weaker because it was an experience they hadn't yet had? Would they even relive those memories, since it hadn't happened for them yet?

Will didn't know, but he wasn't looking forward to finding out.

What was I doing here? These people around me … they were dead.

Thalia wanted to make a joke to lighten the mood, but Percy and Annabeth both looked so distraught that she couldn't bring herself to do so.

Annabeth grabbed hold of my hand … She wanted reassurance that somebody else was alive on his boat.

Percy squeezed his girlfriend's waist, chancing a glance over at his past-self. He was watching Travis intently, his face white.

I found myself muttering a prayer …

"I can't help you down there, son," Poseidon murmured.

… though I wasn't quite sure who I was praying to. Down here, only one god mattered, and he was the one I had come to confront.

Travis paused, realising just now that his hands were shaking. A shoulder brushed against his and he glanced over, expecting to see Connor, or maybe Luke, but it was Katie who smiled tremulously at him, silently urging him to keep going.

The shoreline of the Underworld came into view … A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green glow … the howl of a large animal.

A shudder ran all the way through Annabeth and into Percy.

"That will be Cerberus," Nico said calmly.

'Old Three-Face is hungry,' Charon said.

"Do you not feed him when I'm not there?" Persephone asked.

"Of course I feed him, darling," Hades said. "I just don't give him treats every time I go past."

His smile turned skeletal … 'Bad luck for you, godlings.'

This time, no one said anything to try to reassure Sally. Cerberus's role was to keep people from breaking into the Underworld – unlike Charon, he had no qualms about harming them.

The bottom of our boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark.

Sally sighed as Travis read out the description of the dead, wincing at the mention of a little girl, and a boy no older than Percy. Yes, death was fair, but life certainly wasn't.

… Charon said, 'I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here.

"Cheerful, isn't he?" Thalia asked, absently stroking Annabeth's arm.

Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise.'

Persephone hid a smile. "I hope you do. Just to see your reaction," she added, when her husband turned wounded eyes on her.

He counted our golden coins … then took up his pole. He warbled something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried … back across the river.

Lee winced. He didn't have anything against Barry Manilow personally, but one of their brothers adored him and … well, once you've heard a song fifty times in one week, it begins to grate on you, just a little.

We followed the spirits … the entrance to the Underworld looked like a cross between airport security and the Jersey Turnpike.

Thalia paused, her hand settling on Annabeth's shoulder. "Isn't that how you described it earlier?"

"Well these were taken from my head," Percy said, looking a bit better.

There were three separate entrances … Beyond this were tollbooths manned by black-robed ghouls like Charon.

"So when you said airport security," Rachel said, "you weren't just talking about the queues. What is someone going to smuggle into the Underworld anyway?"

"Well, at the moment, a sword, a knife, an enchanted pair of sneakers and an Invisibility Cap," Thalia said.

The howling of the hungry animal was really loud now, but … Cerberus … was nowhere to be seen.

"So where is he?" Connor asked, sounding nervous.

"Oh, he's there," Nico said. "They just won't be able to see him yet."

The dead queued up in the three lines … The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"What's the difference?" Sally asked.

"Line in the middle goes straight to Asphodel," Nico said. "The other two take you to judgement and the judges will decide whether you deserve Elysium or the Fields of Punishment instead."

"Why would you choose Asphodel?" Katie asked.

"You wouldn't," Nico said. "Unless you were worried about facing judgement."

"So does that mean some people get away with doing awful things in life because they take the middle path?" Sally asked.

"Oh no," Hades said with a smile. "We have them earmarked as soon as they arrive."

"So it doesn't matter then, does it?" Katie asked, a little nervously. "If you take the middle path because you're afraid of judgement, you're probably going to get punishment anyway, if you deserve it?"

"That's right," Persephone said. "However, few people truly live well enough for Elysium – that is almost solely reserved for heroes and demigods. Almost. And that's not to say that some demigods do not go somewhere else. But because most people who are judged go to Asphodel anyway, we put in an extra path to move things along a bit quicker."

When no one else spoke, Travis began reading again. It went a bit quicker for a while, as the three questers were discussing the three paths and judgement. Then …

A couple of black robed ghouls had pulled aside one spirit and were frisking him at the security desk.

"Necessary?" Thalia asked.

"Probably not," Nico said.

The face of the dead man looked vaguely familiar.

Sally sat up straight, and Percy smiled at her. "No one we knew, Mom."

'He's that preacher who made the news, remember?' Grover said.

"Oh, him," Percy grumbled. "He deserves whatever he's going to get."

'Oh, yeah.' I did remember now. We'd seen him on TV … He was this annoying televangelist from upstate New York who'd raised millions of dollars for orphanages …

"That's not a bad thing!" Hera interrupted, glaring at her brother.

Hermes coughed. "Travis?"

… and then got caught spending the money on stuff for his mansion … He'd died in a police chase when his "Lamborghini for the Lord" went off a cliff.

"Oh," Hera murmured. "Sorry."

Hades rolled his eyes.

I said, 'What are they doing to him?'

"You don't want to know," Nico muttered.

'Special punishment from Hades,' Grover guessed. 'The really bad people get his personal attention as soon as they arrive.'

"Do you get many like that?" Sally asked.

"Not as many as you might think," Hades said.

The Fu – The Kindly Ones will set up an eternal torture for him.'

Percy grimaced.

The thought of the Furies made me shudder.

Percy cursed under his breath and Annabeth smiled into his shoulder.

I realised I was in their home territory now. Old Mrs Dodds would be licking her lips with anticipation.

"Why are you still calling her that?" Nico asked in exasperation.

"Once again," Percy said, "did you hear an introduction?"

'But if he's a preacher,' I said, 'and he believes in a different hell …'

"They will often see what they expect to see," Persephone said with a sigh. "The Mist does still work. Although," she gave a mischievous smile, "we do pull the Mist down for the religious extremists. Let them know exactly how wrong they were."

Grover shrugged. 'Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. They're very stubborn – er, persistent, that way.'

"No, you were right the first time," Rachel said.

We got closer … Then, about fifteen metres in front of us, the green mist shimmered.

"There he is," Nico murmured.

Standing just where the path split … was an enormous shadowy monster.

"Cerberus?" Katie asked, a little shakily.

I hadn't seen it before because it was half transparent … And it was staring straight at me.

Sally was white-faced, clinging to Amphitrite with one hand and Percy with the other.

My jaw hung open. All I could think to say was, 'He's a Rottweiler.'

Nico snorted. "Seriously?"

Percy shrugged. "Wasn't what I expected."

I'd always imagined Cerberus as a big black mastiff.

There was a murmur of agreement among the campers, and Hades smirked. It was good to know he wasn't totally predictable.

But he was obviously a purebred Rottweiler, except of course that he was twice the size of a woolly mammoth …

Katie, who usually loved animals (and dogs in particular), let out a tiny squeak of alarm.

… mostly invisible, and had three heads.

The dead walked right up to him – no fear at all.

"He isn't a threat to the dead," Nico said. "He's there to prevent the living from getting in."

"Nico," Thalia murmured, nodding towards Sally. She wasn't doing too well herself, the description of Cerberus a little too close to the hoard of hell-hounds that had attacked her on Half-Blood Hill.

The ATTENTDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him …

'I'm starting to see him better,' I muttered. 'Why is that?'

Nico opened his mouth, glanced at Thalia, then at Sally, and closed it again.

'I think … I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead.'

Nico sighed, when all eyes turned to him again, and he nodded. "Yes, that's why."

Will frowned. No wonder the Nico he had left was so drained. He could only hope that he listened to advice and kept away from the shadow-travelling while Will wasn't there.

The dog's middle head … sniffed the air and growled.

"Uh oh," someone whispered.

'It can smell the living,' I said.

'But that's okay … Because we have a plan.'

Nico shook his head with a small smile. "This, I want to hear."

"Nico!" Thalia hissed.

"Thalia, Percy and Annabeth are right there, and we saw Grover two days ago," Nico said. "We know they get out safely."

'Right,' Annabeth said. I'd never heard her voice sound quite so small.

Thalia frowned, her hand inching over to take Annabeth's.

'A plan.'

… The middle head snarled at us, then barked so loud my eyeballs rattled.

"Are you kidding me?" Percy whined, holding his head.

The moment brought a bit of levity to the room, but it vanished quickly.

'Can you understand it?' I asked Grover.

"Probably," Grover said nervously.

… 'I don't think humans have a four letter word that translates, exactly.'

"Can you try?" Connor asked.

"No," Katie said hastily. "They don't need any more encouragement."

Travis rolled his eyes. "You are no fun."

I took the big stick out of my backpack …

Nico closed his eyes. "Oh, you didn't."

"I'm sorry," Percy said. "What would your plan have been?"

"I don't know," Nico admitted. "But it wouldn't be to play fetch!"

… I held it up, and tried to channel happy dog thoughts … like I wasn't about to die.

"Yeah, you looked terrified," Annabeth said, her voice shaking. "And rightly so."

'Hey, Big Fella,' I called up. 'I bet they don't play with you much.'

"I play with him," Nico protested.

"Not back then, you didn't," Percy said.

"Cerberus doesn't play," Hades said.

"Of course not, dear," Persephone said, giving her stepson a wink. She played with Cerberus too.

… I waved the stick … I had Cerberus's undivided attention. I wasn't sure that was a good thing.

"It's not," Nico said, then caught sight of Sally's stark-white face. "Usually. It's not usually. But, you know, I can be wrong."

'Fetch!' I threw the stick into the gloom … Cerberus glared at me, unimpressed.

"You don't say," Nico muttered under his breath. He had been worried about spending all this time in close quarters with Percy, but the more they read, the more his heart seemed to cotton on to the fact that Percy was – well – human.

And once he was down off the pedestal, and they were on more even ground, the uncomfortable butterflies in Nico's stomach seemed to be much happier to remain in hibernation.

… 'Um,' Grover said. 'Percy? …. He's saying we've got ten seconds to pray to the god of our choice. After that … well … he's hungry.'

"Okay, run," Sally said.

"Mom, we couldn't," Percy said, although his voice wasn't as calm as he wanted it to be. "We either risked getting killed by Cerberus then, or missed the deadline and got killed a day later."

"I wouldn't have been killed a day later," Annabeth said. "No one thought I stole anything. And we both know you wouldn't have taken me to Olympus to get killed."

'Wait!' Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack.

"What have you got in there?" Malcolm asked, a little shrilly. "A magic dog whistle?"

"Something like that," Annabeth said.

Uh-oh, I thought.

"Was that me or Cerberus?" Annabeth asked.

"Mostly Cerberus," Percy admitted. "But I was hoping you had a plan B."

'Five seconds,' Grover said. 'Do we run now?'

"Yes please," Grover bleated.

Releasing her son for a second, Sally reached past him to squeeze Grover's shoulder.

Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit.

Thalia groaned. "Annabeth! If the stick didn't work, what made you think the ball would?!"

Annabeth shrugged. "Optimism."

Thalia shook her head. "Percy is a bad influence on you."

… Before I could stop her, she … marched straight up to Cerberus … 'See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!'

"How are you not dead?" Nico asked, in shock.

Cerberus looked as stunned as we were.

"Because he's in shock," Persephone answered, looking worried. "I suggest you back away slowly."

… 'Sit!' Annabeth called again.

Travis glanced down the page and swallowed a grin.

I was sure that at any moment she would become the world's largest Milkbone dog biscuit.

"Thanks for the confidence," Annabeth said, her hands shaking from second-hand adrenaline.

But, instead, Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line.

Travis didn't bother reading on, waiting for the reaction.

It started with a gasp, then a giggle, then erupted into cacophony of laughter and applause, which Annabeth acknowledged by standing and dipping a curtsey.

"Like I said," she said with a grin, "do you really think all we needed to do was tell a three-headed dog to sit?"

The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tyres.

"They'll be alright," Persephone said. "They'll reappear in a few minutes. Although they will need to go to the back of the queue."

Annabeth said, 'Good boy!' … She turned towards us. 'Go now. EZ DEATH line – it's faster.'

"You'll still need to get through security though," Lee said.

I said, 'But –'

'Now!' She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog.

Thalia sniggered. "If it works …"

… 'Stay!' Annabeth ordered the monster. 'If you want the ball, stay!'

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

"Unbelievable," Nico said.

'What about you?' I asked Annabeth as we passed her.

'I know what I'm doing, Percy,' she muttered. 'At least, I'm pretty sure …'

Athena let out a shaky breath, giving in and tugging her daughter closer.

Grover and I walked between the monster's legs.

"Let's hope he doesn't sit down again," Connor quipped nervously.

Travis smirked.

Please, Annabeth, I prayed. Don't tell him to sit again.

While a few people snickered at the coincidence, Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Come on, Percy, why would I do that?"

We made it through.

There was one cumulative sigh of relief.

… She threw the ball … While the monster was distracted, Annabeth walked briskly under its belly and joined us at the metal detector.

There was another smattering of applause and Athena pressed a kiss to her daughter's hair.

'How did you do that?' I asked her amazed.

"I think we'd all like to know that," Hades grumbled, although he didn't look angry.

'Obedience school,' she said … 'When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Dobermann …'

"Oh," Katie said softly. "What happened?"

Annabeth shrugged, leaning into her mother's embrace. "He was old. We had to have him put to sleep."

'Never mind that,' Grover said, tugging at my shirt. 'Come on!'

"Sorry, Annabeth," Grover said.

"It's okay," Annabeth said. "We didn't have time for me to get lost down memory lane."

We were about to bolt … when Cerberus moaned pitifully … Annabeth stopped.

"No, don't stop," Sally whispered.

She turned to face the dog, which had done a one-eighty to look at us.

"I've never seen him do that before," Persephone murmured.

… 'Good boy,' Annabeth said … 'I'll bring you another ball soon … Would you like that?'

The monster whimpered. I didn't need to speak dog to know Cerberus was still waiting for the ball.

Nico laughed suddenly. "That's amazing. He likes you."

'Good dog. I'll come visit you soon. I – I promise.'

Nico sighed, as Annabeth turned to him. "I'm not sneaking you into the Underworld to play with Cerberus."

"I did promise him," Annabeth said.

"No," Thalia said. "No one is going to the Underworld unless they're dead."

Percy coughed something that sounded like 'hypocrite'.

"And if you're talking about last winter," Thalia said, 'a. you were with me, b. that was a quest, and c. we had no choice in the matter whatsoever."

Sally shook her head. "I'm not going to ask."

… Grover and I pushed through the metal detector, which immediately screamed and set of flashing red lights.

"Uh oh," Connor said.

… We burst through the EZ DEATH gate … and raced into the Underworld.

Persephone frowned. "I'm glad they got in, but there should probably be more security to stop that from happening."

A few minutes later, we were hiding … as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Several people shuddered.

Grover murmured, 'Well, Percy, what have we learned today?'

Percy sighed. "Oh, boy, where should I begin?"

'That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?'

"Technically, the stick probably would have worked," Nico said grudgingly. "You just didn't have the same finesse as Annabeth."

Percy shrugged. "Story of my life."

'No,' Grover told me. 'We've learned that your plans really, really bite!'

"Hey, I got us out of Crusty's!" Percy protested. "And Annabeth's plan was the same as mine."

"I don't think I can hear you over my heart racing," Grover said flatly.

I wasn't sure about that. I thought maybe Annabeth and I both had the right idea … I pretended not to see Annabeth wipe a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of Cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend.

"Oh, alright," Nico sighed. "I'll talk to Father when we get back, see if you can visit."

Annabeth beamed at him. "Wonderful! I'll get a new ball."

Nico muttered something under his breath.

"That's the end of that chapter," Travis said.

"My turn," Connor said, a little jerkily, taking the book.

Eliza Hanson daughter of Apollo was borrowed (with permission) from HonorH - go check out Becoming Us in my bookmarks.