/ Author's Note -

Hey! Welcome to my second multi-chapter fic. Before I begin, I want to clarify a few things.

1) I am writing this as a stand alone fic, you shouldn't need to read my other fic, Missing, in order to enjoy.

2) If you have read Missing, I'd say this is a little more adult-content, but not by much, just to give you an idea. **I changed the rating to T and I think I can keep it that way.**

3) As with Missing, I try to stay close to canon, with my own ideas added.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1 - Air is Delicious

I remember the doors dinging and sliding open. Then I fell to the ground with a thud. I could tell Percy was next to me, but honestly, I wasn't sure of anything more than that. After being in Tartarus for so long, my lungs weren't used to air. It felt painful just to breathe, like shards of broken glass working their way through the fog in my lungs, then into my veins. Clearing out all the fire I had breathed and drank while in Tartarus. I briefly wondered if Hades had some kind of detox we'd need to take. Hades's Herbal Detox Tea - perfect for losing weight or getting over that pesky Phlegethon Fire Water!

I had a vague sense that there was a fight going on. A giant. My friends were in danger. Then smoke filled my lungs - darker and stickier than the air of Tartarus. It hurt, and I could feel my lungs constricting, my vocal chords working against their will. I couldn't tell what I was saying. The giant must've controlled me. I felt my blood pressure drop, and everything slowed to a standstill.

"Not quite dead." I heard someone say. Perhaps it was the giant. "A terrible shock to the mortal body, I would imagine, coming back from Tartarus."

Yeah. No kidding. This made the poisoned dagger on the Williamsburg bridge look like a paper cut. I faded in and out. I heard something about us being tied up and used as a sacrifice. I wanted to run, but I couldn't even lift my head. My mind went dark for a moment, or perhaps several moments. I wasn't sure what had happened. But air was filling my lungs again. Nice, pure air. Have you ever noticed how wonderful air is? Go ahead, take a second. Breathe it in. I groaned as the air once again worked its way through my body. Once more that broken-glass feeling worked its way through my lungs and into my veins. I heard Percy mutter for Bob next to me.

When I managed to open my eyes, at least a little, I didn't like what I saw. We were in a cave. There was most definitely a giant. Hazel was trying to fight it one-on-one. There was a goddess, but I couldn't tell you which, my mind was too fuzzy. It didn't really matter. As with everything on this quest, the gods were waiting back until the demigods did the hard work. Hazel looked like she was nearly dead from exhaustion. Then I noticed something else. Something that was far more important than even the giant. The Doors. The Doors of Death were still here, in this room. If they were still here, the monsters could be coming pouring in. The chains needed to be broken so the doors could disappear, so Gaia would lose control of them.

"Hazel….." I managed. I coughed, weakly. "The chains." I hoped she understood. She ran straight at the giant and stabbed it in the butt. Yeah, ok, she probably hadn't heard. Or maybe I had misspoke. I didn't think I told her to stab the giant in the butt, but maybe I had.

Then I heard the sound of the chains being broken. So she had heard! Hazel had broken one set of chains on the door. Then I heard the giant yell "NO!" and saw Hazel fly into the wall. I heard the sound of bones breaking. I wanted to run to her. I wanted to save my friend. But I couldn't even sit up. I heard Leo yell for Hazel. Had he been here the whole time?

Then Hazel stood up and went to get her sword. She croaked something, trying to come up to the giant. I tried to lift my head, but even that small movement was such a struggle. There was no way I could help her. I turned my head and caught sight of Leo trying to force ambrosia into Percy's open mouth. It wasn't going very well. Then I heard a sound I would love until the end of time - the sound of chains breaking. I turned back to the fight. Hazel had thrown her sword like it was a throwing knife, somehow managing to break the chains on the other side of the door. It shuddered, closed, and disappeared. I let out a sigh of relief and sunk to the floor. At least no more monsters would be coming. At least we only had one giant to deal with. Yeah, my standards were really messed up after Tartarus.

The giant roared and stalagmites fell all around us. One landed way too close to Percy's head for my comfort. I heard Hazel yell "That was for my brother, Nico. And for destroying my Father's altar."

I felt my heart thud. Nico? Was he dead? We weren't close, but he was still a friend. I had already lost Bob and Damasen today. I didn't want to lose anyone else. But I also knew that it wasn't a choice.

"You have forfeited your right to a quick death!" The giant roared. Monsters always said things like that. As if somehow a quick death was so much better, like it was a paradise vacation. You have forfeited your right to go to Jamaica, so sorry!

"I will suffocate you in darkness! Slowly! Painfully!" Yeah, ok, it didn't sound fun. But I was also fresh out of the ability to fear. I had just seen Tartarus in the flesh. Go ahead. Pour spiders on me. Pretty sure I wouldn't have even flinched at that point.

"Hecate can not help you! No one can help you!" Ok, I'll give him that. Percy and I were nowhere near the ability to help someone.

A woman's voice said "I would not be so certain, Clytius. Hazel's friends simply needed a little time to reach her."

"What friends? These weaklings? They are no challenge!"

I almost wanted to argue about that. But I wasn't in a state to be a challenge to a fruit fly, much less a giant. Thankfully, the air seemed to ripple and Jason, Frank, Piper, and, thank the gods, Nico stepped out of the darkness. Frank looked nothing like Frank. Had he grown? And lost weight? And started glowing faintly red?

"Sorry we're late." Jason said casually, as if he had just run a bit late to meet us at the movies. "Is this the guy who needs killing?"

All four of the new arrivals launched an attack. Leo pulled me up, then Percy. We leaned on each other. Leo made sure that we were able to stand, sort of, then joined in the fight, throwing fire at the giant. Piper had gotten a sword from who knows where, and it looked like it was made of ice. It did a good job though. I hoisted the drakon bone sword Damasen had given me, ready to fight as well. It was clear we weren't needed though. The others had this fight well in hand.

The giant was badly wounded and tired. Jason kicked him in the chest, using the wind to propel him. The goddess stepped forward and killed him, lighting his hair on fire. He went up like dry tinder that had been doused in oil.

Then the goddess turned to Hazel. "You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place."

Hazel was clearly in pain, but I saw anger too. "Just like that? No 'Thank you', no 'good work'?"

I winced in sympathy. It sucked how often we saved the gods' behinds and never got some much as recognized.

The goddess didn't seem to mind, she just looked mildly confused. Maybe gods and goddesses are never taught manners when they are tiny.

"You look in the wrong place for gratitude. As for 'good work', that remains to be seen."

Oh joy, did she mean there were more enemies? I could really have used a nap. "Speed your way to Athens." The goddess continued. "Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen. All of them. Stronger than ever. Gaia is on the edge of waking."

I wasn't sure who this goddess was but I can say she wasn't on my top five list. Like, how about instead of saying all the bad things, you tell us what to do about the bad things? And not in prophecy, just like, write it down, step by step, ok? And maybe come along for the ride and join us in taking down the baddies?

"The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her." A small earthquake rolled through, and more pieces of the cave began to fall in on us. "The House of Hades is unstable." The goddess commented. Perhaps she was the goddess of obvious thoughts. "Leave now. We shall meet again." Then she disappeared. Don't you just love how helpful gods are?

"She's friendly." Percy muttered. The others turned. I realized most of them hadn't really noticed us other than to mark us as not a threat.

"Dude!" Jason gave Percy a hug so tight I probably should've been jealous.

"Back from Tartarus!" Leo yelled. "That's my peeps!"

Piper grabbed me and started crying. "It's ok. We're here. We're really here." I told her. But in truth, I said it just as much to myself. I really couldn't believe that we were all here, alive. Piper, Jason, Percy and I ended up in a big hug.

The ceiling shuddered and we all remembered we were kinda stuck in a cave that was collapsing in on itself. Fun times.

"We gotta get out of here!" Jason said. "Uh, Frank?"

Frank shook his head. "I think one favor from the dead is all I can manage today." I didn't get that part. Hazel and Nico controlled the dead. Maybe Frank can transform into a zombie? Is that an animal? I wasn't sure.

"Wait, what?" Hazel asked, so I didn't have to.

Piper grinned at us. "You're unbelievable boyfriend called in a favor as the child of Mars." I remembered Clarisse doing that and getting an old Confederate ship full of zombie crew members. "He summoned spirits from the dead warriors. Made them lead us here through… um, I'm not sure actually. The passages of the dead? All I know is that they were very, very dark." Piper finished.

Ok. After Nyx's palace I wasn't in the mood for more dark, but at this point if the air wasn't toxic, I was doing pretty good. A wall fell into the room with a crash.

"We'll have to shadow travel." Hazel announced.

Nico paled, which was impressive for someone already that pale. "Hazel, I can barely manage that with myself, with seven more people -"

"I'll help you."

Woah, Hazel can shadow travel? What else did we miss? What day was it?

The ceiling started falling into the chamber in large chunks.

"Everyone grab hands!" Nico yelled.

We gripped hands in a circle. Percy was on my left, Piper on my right. Shadow travel is weird when you're at full strength, but as weak as I was it was even more unpleasant. Imagine being in such darkness that you can't see anything while going so fast you feel like you are on a roller coaster, and it's colder than your freezer. After the heat of Tartarus, it was even more of a shock. When we reached the hilltop of…, well, somewhere in Greece, I looked up. Sky. There was an actual sky in front of me. I collapsed to the ground and touched the grass. It was real. I figured I was looking like a crazy person when I looked over I saw that Percy was rubbing his head in the grass like a dog. I laughed and rolled onto my back. I reached up and my hand found his. We were actually alive. Alive and back to the mortal world. And suddenly, everything was alright.