Hades could afford to be nicer. When Nico had met Will's parents, all three of them were so kind and friendly, and they never ran out of things to say. But at his father's long dining table, all was silent—except for when Marcus asked Vivian to add chili to his carbonara.

Nico whispered to Lilian, "I thought you were vegetarian."

"I am. But being polite sometimes is more important to me than abstaining from meat all the time."

Too bad Hades didn't value courtesy as much. Every time Will tried to make conversation – "Lovely interior design! Great food! Where'd you get your cloak?" – Hades responded with silence.

Nico answered on his father's behalf. "Thanks, Persephone and I picked paintings from Duccio. Thanks again, and don't forget to dip your bread in the olive oil. As for the cloak... you don't want to know."

"Now I want to know."

Lilian perked up. "Same."

Marcus spoke with his mouth full and swollen from Tartarus-spicy chili. "Me too."

"It's sewn from the souls of evil people."

Marcus replied first. "Cool."

Lilian stared at xyr food. "Ah... tasteful?"

Will murmured, "I guess death sucks more for some than for others."

Finally, Hades spoke. "Life is like that, too. But unlike life, death metes out justice."

Really, Dad? Dads annoying teenagers was universal.

After dinner, Hades offered for them to stay the night, but Nico told him they needed to get going and find the Primordial Ooze. They packed supplies and rations and then set off. Theo the griffin – Lilian laughed when Marcus admitted he'd thought it was a raptor – flew ahead to clear the path of monsters. He and Nico made a good team: Nico couldn't control some monsters like Grimm, which Theo tore into like tissue paper, but he tamed the ancients that Theo couldn't battle. The forest of titans frightened the griffin, who flew far above their misshapen heads, but Nico kept them as still as trees.

Lilian hesitated. "Are you sure about this? There are so many of them."

"Trust me."

Nico led the way through the grove of titans. Some occasionally stomped their feet, shaking the ground, or turned their heads or scratched their backs. It was no different from trees that blew in the wind. A bead of sweat broke out on Nico's forehead. One titan in particular resisted his control. It spasmed and bellowed in rage. When it saw the four travellers, it ran at them with its limbs splayed out at odd angles, its head bobbing from side to side. Its lips curled back to reveal rotting teeth stained with blood.

Will grabbed Nico's arm. "Make it stop!"

"I—can't. It's not listening."

Lilian took charge. "Weapons out, now!" Xyr celestial bronze butterfly swords materialized in xyr hands, a chain of flowers and thorns forming between the hilts to create a giant pinwheel. Marcus drew his narwhal tusk with ease; the ten-foot-long spear was almost long enough to stick up the titan's nose.

Will readied his bow and then glanced at Nico with concern. Nico unsheathed his Stygian iron sword, but he wouldn't be able to fight if he wanted to maintain his focus on keeping the other titans docile.

Marcus and Lilian charged past him to engage the titan, chopping off its hands first. The string of Will's bow hummed as it was pulled taut, and then it shivered with the arrow's release. The arrow sailed in a tight half-parabola and struck the titan's navel like it was a bulls-eye.

The titan keeled over in agony. Lilian and Marcus leaped in unison. Lilian's swords spun and sliced off the titan's right arm in a clean motion. Marcus struggled to dismember the left arm but managed with vicious strength on the second try. Their momentum carried them over the titan's shoulders. They landed on the opposite side as the creature fell toward Nico and Will.

They ran, but the titan was too close. Nico turned back, holding up his sword. Two more arrows hit the titan's disfigured face, but its descent kept accelerating, the gravity in Tartarus stronger than on Earth.

Will grabbed Nico in a reverse hug and twisted so his own back was facing the titan. Nico turned in time to see the titan's jagged teeth tear into Will just before Marcus beheaded it.

Lilian pulled Nico away, supporting his weight. The other titans rotated slowly, their toes all pointing to their fallen fellow. "Please, stay focused," Lilian implored, holding onto him.

He was too shocked to tell xem to move away. Marcus draped Will's body over his shoulders and barked at them to move, move, move!

Nico ran, keeping the remaining titans frozen. When they were far enough away that the titans couldn't be bothered with them, he collapsed onto his knees and cried into his blood-soaked hands. Besides the iron and salt, he could smell aged shrimp and soggy peanuts, indicating that the Primordial Ooze wasn't too far away now, but he didn't have the strength to get up and finish the journey.

Marcus clamped Nico's shoulders. "Look at me." He was a mess—Nico guessed they both were. Blood was smeared across Marcus's face in clumps that dripped onto their clothes. His dark eyes had flecks of hazel-brown, a similar shade to the thin streaks of red over his light brown skin. "Go. Save him. You can do it, right? You're the fucking Heir to Tartarus."

"But—"

Lilian spoke up from where xe was covering Will's body with lavender flowers, masking his death. "Don't worry about us. You don't have much time; we have until the end of the month."

It was perilously close to the end of the month, but Nico listened. He closed his eyes and vanished from this realm—and when he opened his eyes, he was in an adjacent realm, for the dead. The true dead.

Desperate souls recognized the authority that Nico had here, and they fell prostrate and grabbed at his ankles. Thanatos was often cruel to his subjects, especially anyone affiliated with Hades in any way. But from their hollowed-out eyes and drooping mouths, the way their fingers scraped at him but couldn't find a grip, their deplorable postures and splayed limbs—Nico knew they had died long, long ago. There was nothing he could do for them.

Will Solace was easy to find. He stood upright, his fists clenching and unclenching as he gazed around him in confusion.

Nico walked over to him. He cupped Will's fists in his hands, his slim, pale fingers over Will's, which were warm even in death.

Will didn't meet Nico's gaze, his eyelids fluttering. "This is death, isn't it? I'm dead." He looked at Nico now, his eyes golden. "You shouldn't be here. Thanatos hates Hades. He'll spare me because your dad never really acknowledged our relationship, but you—"

"It's okay. Neither of us will stay here for long. I'm bringing you back, right now."

"But someday—"

"It's okay," Nico repeated. And because he said it in Thanatos's realm, with the most desperate, tortured souls crawling around them, Will would know he meant it.

Will nodded. "Nico, I'm sorry about Bianca."

Nico winced. He'd been here before, on a mission much like this one. But he had been too late. Bianca had chosen to be reborn. Nico wouldn't make that same choice, no matter what awaited him in death.

The next instant, they were back in Hades's realm. The lavender flowers drifted in circles when Will sat up. Nico smiled at him. Will's eyes were still golden, but he was alive. Will grabbed him in a tight hug like he'd never let go.