Hi! I'm back! I know I said I'll be on break until July, but consider this a nice little summer/winter solstice present from me (it is still the solstice right?)

Next update will probably be on 1st July (ooh, the Kalends of July!). Not certain, though.

Anyway… Hazel is totally trashing the others in the 'Gration killer vote'. You may still vote, by the way! (it's until he actually does get defeated)

Disclaimer: I do not own HoO

Chapter XXXVI Frank

If there was one good thing about Melinoe's appearance and how she had spooked them, Frank decided, it was that Frank had forever stopped thinking fauns were useless beggars by the roadside. He had started to think of the satyrs anyway as heroic goats wanting to bash things up. Maybe not all satyrs, but with Hedge as an example, well…

Frank mentally shook himself out of his thoughts and focused again on the task ahead of them. This room was by far the scariest room he had encountered in this death shrine. It definitely won prizes for spookiest room. And this was after Melinoe's spook.

This room wasn't dark, or shadowy, or deathlike, or even made out of black marble like all the other rooms. It didn't even have traps! That was what scared Frank the most. Surely every room in the shrine had traps?

Of course, this room was an exception to just about every rule Frank had concocted in his head for the building. It wasn't black marble. It wasn't dark. It wasn't creepy in the This-is-the-Underworld-and-you-will-die-soon sense. No, this room was bright!

The creator of this hall had clearly wanted to scare the people inside to Hades. The walls were green marble, seriously contrasting with all the black before. There were paintings on the walls. And murals. Of pomegranates. How more weird could you get?

"What the Hades?" Leo finally summed up what everyone was thinking.

Hazel shivered. "That was Melinoe, the goddess of –"

"No! This hall! It's – it's – it's green! And bright! And – and – cheery! I thought this was a death shrine!"

Jason and Piper looked as if they wanted to agree, and Frank had to say he wasn't far behind them.

Nico sighed. "Leo, the shrine is dedicated to Hades and Persephone. Do I have to spell it out for you?"

Frank gulped. "So this is Persephone's room?" he asked, barely managing to keep his voice from wavering slightly.

Hazel nodded. "Sure looks like it. I mean, it's green, and there are pomegranates around. I'd say so, yeah."

Coach Hedge's eyes widened. "What! Do the pomegranates count as Underworld food? 'Cos if they don't, I'm eating one! Always wanted to try it out!"

Nico shook his head. "Even if we aren't in the Underworld, these pomegranates are still fully Underworld food. Eat one, and you won't leave. Actually, it'd probably be worse. Since you weren't in the Underworld when you ate them, you'd technically be stuck in this shrine forever."

Hedge hesitated. "Well… I don't know about that. No thanks."

"Come on," said Nico. "The sooner we get away from this room, the better. Persephone hates me."

They crossed the threshold to the next room and found a gushing waterfall. Nico told them the river was the river Cocytus. Something about wailing and lamentations? They got past without any hassle, and continued moving.

The weird thing was, the next dozen rooms all had no traps, and were all dedicated to Persephone. There were images of her on the walls, images of her and Hades on the walls, and images of her and Ceres – Demeter – on the walls. There were also tons of pictures of cereal painted on them. For some reason, Nico seemed traumatised by the images of cereal.

"I'll be glad when we get to the Styx," said Nico, after what seemed like the ten hundred billionth room of Persephone.

"Why?" Frank asked, puzzled. He wasn't alone in that sentiment – Piper was nodding as well, while Jason looked curious.

Nico sighed. "After the Styx, there won't be any more rooms of Persephone. In fact, the rooms more or less begin to end there."

"So we're finally getting somewhere?" asked Leo.

"Yup."

"Thank gods," said Jason, looking relieved. "No offense, Nico, but I will be glad to get out of here."

"None taken," Nico said, waving a hand. "Most living people avoid places of death. Come on, I think I can hear the Styx."

They trudged on for about another billion rooms to Frank. It was enormous, this place. Frank wondered if this shrine went all the way to the depth of the earth. Then he banished that thought. Frank did not need to go further into Gaea's clutches. He did not even want to think about that idea.

Abruptly, the sound of rushing water filled Frank's ears. He looked at his friends. Hazel was turning around, trying to find the source. Piper was staring forward. Leo was spinning around, searching for the sound, and Jason was scanning the walls. Coach Hedge was muttering something that sounded like "about time" and Frank realised the satyr's ears would have probably heard it a long time before this. Nico was heading towards the pair of doors with a lighter expression on his face.

"Come on!" he called. "That's the Styx!"

They all rushed towards the doors, pushing them open, and found themselves facing a roaring black river that churned with whirlpools of rubbish. Frank saw a college diploma, an ancient wedding ring, a broken doll and several drink cartons.

The boat was moored a little to their left. It was much smaller than the others – it would only have enough room for three, four at the most.

Leo barely glanced at the boat before he said, "We won't all fit."

Hedge rolled his eyes. "Duh, Sherlock."

"Right," said Nico. "The way I see it, four of us will have to fit inside. Frank, I think you should turn into some kind of bird so you don't get splashed. Jason, you'll have to take someone and fly over. There's no way we'll fit otherwise."

Frank turned into a seagull and flew to the other side as Jason took Piper's hand and levitated them over. Leo, Hedge, Nico and Hazel clambered into the tiny boat.

After five minutes where Frank watched his girlfriend anxiously as the tiny boat spun and rocked in the pools, they hit land. Frank helped Hazel up as the other demigods staggered to their feet. Obviously, the boat had not given the best ride in the world.

The pair of bronze doors glided open, revealing a plain room. "No traps," announced Leo after placing his hand on the floor.

They made their way through cautiously. They were almost at the next pair of doors when Frank spotted a black marble plate embedded into the bronze. It was delicately carved with an Ancient Greek inscription.

He glanced at Piper, who was silently translating the text. After she'd finished, Piper said, "That's a weird inscription."

"What does it say?" asked Jason.

"'Guardians of the Night beware, the shades of spirits lurk here. The watchers of all shall be your next, careful they are indeed the best. To pass requires qualities of all, to fail means death for all. Caution, stranger, beware your cause. They will be your downfall if they give no applause.' Weird, right?"

"Actually," said Leo with a frown, "I thought that was quite clear. The sentinel thingys in the first inscription are going to be our next challenge, right? But I thought they guarded the Doors."

"Gration is now guarding the Doors," corrected Nico. "And the sentinels are there to stop the unworthy. They're in the second-last room of the shrine, which according to this text says it's the next room. And since Jason's dream definitely showed Gration, he'll probably be in the last room, the room with the Doors in it."

"Okay," said Piper. "The first writing said the guardians can be tricked, right? So… I charmspeak them?"

"If they decide our cause is right," said Nico, "you won't need to. Hopefully, it is."

The doors swung open, but if this was the sentinel room, Frank was not impressed. It was very small, and very plain. Not even close to matching the first rooms, or even the Persephone rooms.

"This is wrong," said Jason. "I thought the guardians were supposed to be here?"

The sentence had barely left Jason's lips when two statues materialised out of thin air, right in front of them.

Both guardians studied them, before, in a voice that sound like scraping rock over iron, "We are here."

Frank silently groaned.

DUN DUN DUN! Will they get past the guardians? I've got a fairly good idea of what should happen with the guardians and all. Also, I am VERY glad that I did get it right! The first POV is Hazel's! (SoS) Keep voting, and I'll update on roughly July 1st, by which time I hope I will have gotten at least 7 reviews. Note: I will not update until I have those reviews, even if October 8th passes.

Please Review!