Yes, I temporarily couldn't be ****ed to update this fanfic which was extended with my trip to Greece. But I'm back – also bear with me cause I'm terrible at remembering where I was going with this fic. The number of plot-holes I've racked up is stupid.
Annabeth's POV
Annabeth had never been scared of the dark.
But normally the dark wasn't forty feet tall. It didn't have black wings, a whip made out of stars and a shadowy chariot pulled by vampire horses. Nyx was almost too much to take in. Looming over the chasm, she was a churning figure of ash and smoke, as big as the Athena Parthenos statue, but very much alive. Her dress was void black, mixed with the colours of a space nebula as if galaxies were being born in her bodice. Her face was hard to see except for the pinpoints of her eyes, which shone like quasars. When her wings beat, waves of darkness rolled over the cliffs, making Annabeth feel heavy and sleepy, her eyesight dim.
The goddess's chariot was made of the same material as Nico di Angelo's sword – Stygian iron – pulled by two massive horses, all black except for their pointed silver fangs. The beasts' legs floated in the abyss, turning from solid to smoke as they moved.
The horses snarled and bared their fangs at Annabeth. The goddess lashed her whip – a thin streak of stars like diamond barbs – and the horses reared back.
"No, Shade," the goddess said. "Down, Shadow. These little prizes are not for you."
Percy eyed the horses as they nickered. He was still shrouded in Death Mist, so he looked like an out-of-focus corpse – which broke Annabeth's heart every time she saw him. It also must not have been very good camouflage, since Nyx could obviously see them. Annabeth couldn't read the expression on Percy's ghoulish face very well. Apparently, he didn't like whatever the horses were saying.
"Uh, so you won't let them eat us?" he asked the goddess. "They really want to eat us."
Nyx's quasar eyes burned. "Of course not. I would not let my horses eat you, any more than I would let Akhlys kill you. Such fine prizes, I will kill myself!"
Annabeth didn't feel particularly witty or courageous, but her instincts told her to take the initiative or this would be a very short conversation.
"Oh, don't kill yourself!" she cried. "We're not that scary."
The goddess lowered her whip. "What? No, I didn't mean…"
"Well, I'd hope not!" Annabeth looked at Percy and forced a laugh. "We wouldn't want to scare her, would we?"
"Ha, ha," Percy said weakly. "No, we wouldn't."
The vampire horses looked confused. They reared and snorted and knocked their dark heads together. Nyx pulled back on the reins.
"Do you know who I am?" she demanded.
"Well, you're Night, I suppose," said Annabeth. "I mean, I can tell because you're dark and everything, though the brochure didn't say much about you."
Nyx's eyes winked out for a moment. "What brochure?"
Annabeth patted her pockets. "We had one, didn't we?"
Percy licked his lips. "Uh-huh." He was still watching the horses, his hand tight on his sword hilt, but he was smart enough to follow Annabeth's lead. Now she just had to hope she wasn't making things worse… though, honestly, she didn't see how things could be worse.
"Anyway," she said, "I guess the brochure didn't say much because you weren't spotlighted on the tour. We got to see the River Phlegethon, the Cocytus, the arai, the poison glade of Akhlys, even some random Titans and giants, but Nyx… hmm, no, you weren't really featured."
"Featured? Spotlighted?"
"Yeah," Percy said, warming up to the idea. "We came down here for the Tartarus tour – like, exotic destinations, you know? The Underworld is overdone. Mount Olympus is a tourist trap…"
"Gods, totally!" Annabeth agreed. "So we booked the Tartarus excursion, but no one even mentioned we'd run into Nyx. Huh. Oh, well. Guess they didn't think you were important."
"Not important!" Nyx cracked her whip. Her horses bucked and snapped their silvery fangs.
Waves of darkness rolled out of the chasm, turning Annabeth's insides to jelly, but she couldn't show her fear. She pushed down Percy's sword arm, forcing him to lower his weapon. This was a goddess beyond anything they had ever faced. Nyx was older than any Olympian or Titan or giant, older even than Gaia. She couldn't be defeated by two demigods – at least not two demigods using force. Annabeth made herself look at the goddess's massive dark face.
"Well, how many other demigods have come to see you on the tour?" she asked innocently.
Nyx's hand went slack on the reins. "None. Not one. This is unacceptable!"
Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe it's because you haven't really done anything to get in the news. I mean, I can understand Tartarus being important! This whole place is named after him. Or if we could meet Day…"
"Oh, yeah," Percy chimed in. "Day? She would be impressive. I'd totally want to meet her. Maybe get her autograph."
"Day!" Nyx gripped the rail of her black chariot. The whole vehicle shuddered. "You mean Hemera? She is my daughter! Night is much more powerful than Day!"
"Eh," said Annabeth. "I liked the arai, or even Akhlys better."
"They are my children as well!"
Percy stifled a yawn. "Got a lot of children, huh?"
"I am the mother of all terrors!" Nyx cried. "The Fates themselves! Hecate! Old Age! Pain! Sleep! Death! And all of the curses! Behold how newsworthy I am!"
Nyx lashed her whip again. The darkness congealed around her. On either side, an army of shadows appeared – more dark-winged arai, which Annabeth was not thrilled to see; a withered man who must have been Geras, the god of old age; and a younger woman in a black toga, her eyes gleaming and her smile like a serial killer's – no doubt Eris, the goddess of strife. More kept appearing: dozens of demons and minor gods, each one the spawn of Night.
Annabeth wanted to run. She was facing a brood of horrors that could snap anyone's sanity. But if she ran she would die. Next to her, Percy's breathing turned shallow. Even through his misty ghoul disguise, Annabeth could tell he was on the verge of panic. She had to stand her ground for both of them.
I am a daughter of Athena, she thought. I control my own mind. She imagined a mental frame around what she was seeing. She told herself it was just a movie – a scary movie, sure, but it could not hurt her. She was in control.
"Yeah, not bad," she admitted. "I guess we could get one picture for the scrapbook, but I don't know. You guys are so… dark. Even if I used a flash, I'm not sure it would come out."
"Y-yeah," Percy managed. "You guys aren't photogenic."
"You – miserable – tourists!" Nyx hissed. "How dare you not tremble before me! How dare you not whimper and beg for my autograph and a picture for your scrapbook! You want newsworthy? My son Hypnos once put Zeus to sleep! When Zeus pursued him across the earth, bent on vengeance, Hypnos hid in my palace for safety, and Zeus did not follow. Even the king of Olympus fears me!"
"Uh-huh." Annabeth turned to Percy. "Well, it's getting late. We should probably get lunch at one of those restaurants the tour guide recommended. Then we can find the Doors of Death."
"Aha!" Nyx cried in triumph. Her brood of shadows stirred and echoed: "Aha! Aha!"
"You wish to see the Doors of Death?" Nyx asked. "They lie at the very heart of Tartarus. Mortals such as you could never reach them, except through the halls of my palace – the Mansion of Night!"
She gestured behind her. Floating in the abyss, maybe three hundred feet below, was a doorway of black marble, leading into some sort of large room. Annabeth's heart pounded so strongly she felt it in her toes. That was the way forward – but it was so far down, an impossible jump. If they missed, they would fall into Chaos and be scattered into nothingness – a final death with no do-over. Even if they could make the jump, the goddess of Night and her most fearsome children stood in their way.
With a jolt, Annabeth realized what needed to happen. Like everything she'd ever done, it was a long shot. In a way, that calmed her down. A crazy idea in the face of death? Okay, her body seemed to say, relaxing. This is familiar territory.
She managed a bored sigh. "I suppose we could do one picture, but a group shot won't work. Nyx, how about one of you with your favourite child? Which one is that?"
The brood rustled. Dozens of horrible glowing eyes turned towards Nyx. The goddess shifted uncomfortably, as if her chariot were heating up under her feet. Her shadow horses huffed and pawed at the void.
"My favourite child?" she asked. "All my children are terrifying!"
Percy snorted. "Seriously? I've met the Fates. I've met Thanatos. They weren't so scary. You've got to have somebody in this crowd who's worse than that."
"The darkest," Annabeth said. "The most like you."
"I am the darkest," hissed Eris. "Wars and strife! I have caused all manner of death!"
"I am darker still!" snarled Geras. "I dim the eyes and addle the brain. Every mortal fears old age!"
"Yeah, yeah," Annabeth said, trying to ignore her chattering teeth. "I'm not seeing enough dark. I mean, you're the children of Night! Show me dark!"
The horde of arai wailed, flapping their leathery wings and stirring up clouds of blackness. Geras spread his withered hands and dimmed the entire abyss. Eris breathed a shadowy spray of buckshot across the void.
"I am the darkest!" hissed one of the demons.
"No, I!"
"No! Behold my darkness!"
If a thousand giant octopuses had squirted ink at the same time, at the bottom of the deepest, most sunless ocean trench, it could not have been blacker. Annabeth might as well have been blind. She gripped Percy's hand and steeled her nerves.
"Wait!" Nyx called, suddenly panicked. "I can't see anything."
"Yes!" shouted one of her children proudly. "I did that!"
"No, I did!"
"Fool, it was me!"
Dozens of voices argued in the darkness. The horses whinnied in alarm.
"Stop it!" Nyx yelled. "Whose foot is that?"
"Eris is hitting me!" cried someone. "Mother, tell her to stop hitting me!"
"I did not!" yelled Eris. "Ouch!"
The sounds of scuffling got louder. If possible, the darkness became even deeper. Annabeth's eyes dilated so much, they felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets.
She squeezed Percy's hand. "Ready?"
"For what?" After a pause, he grunted unhappily. "Poseidon's underpants, you can't be serious."
"Somebody give me light!" Nyx screamed. "Gah! I can't believe I just said that!"
"It's a trick!" Eris yelled. "The demigods are escaping!"
"I've got them," screamed an arai.
"No, that's my neck!" Geras gagged.
"Jump!" Annabeth told Percy.
They leaped into the darkness, aiming for the doorway far, far below.
After their fall into Tartarus, jumping three hundred feet to the Mansion of Night should have felt quick.
Instead, Annabeth's heart seemed to slow down. Between the beats, she had ample time to write her own obituary.
Annabeth Chase, died age 17.
BA-BOOM.
(Assuming her birthday, July 12, had passed while she was in Tartarus, but, honestly, she had no idea.)
BA-BOOM.
Died of massive injuries while leaping like an idiot into the abyss of Chaos and splattering on the entry hall floor of Nyx's mansion.
BA-BOOM.
Survived by her father, stepmother and two stepbrothers who barely knew her.
BA-BOOM.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Camp Half-Blood, assuming Gaia hasn't already destroyed it.
Her feet hit solid floor. Pain shot up her legs, but she stumbled forward and broke into a run, hauling Percy after her.
Above them in the dark, Nyx and her children scuffled and yelled, "I've got them! My foot! Stop it!"
Annabeth kept running. She couldn't see anyway, so she closed her eyes. She used her other senses – listening for the echo of open spaces, feeling for cross-breezes against her face, sniffing for any scent of danger – smoke or poison or the stench of demons. It wasn't the first time she'd plunged through darkness. She imagined she was back in the tunnels under Rome, searching out the Athena Parthenos. In retrospect, her journey to Arachne's cavern seemed like a trip to Disneyland.
The squabbling sounds of Nyx's children got further away. That was good. Percy was still running at her side, holding her hand. Also good. In the distance ahead of them, Annabeth began to hear a throbbing sound, like her own heartbeat echoing back, amplified so powerfully the floor vibrated underfoot. The sound filled her with dread, so she figured it must be the right way to go. She ran towards it.
As the beat got louder, she smelled smoke and heard the flickering of torches on either side. She guessed there would be light, but a crawling sensation across her neck warned her it would be a mistake to open her eyes.
"Don't look," she told Percy.
"Wasn't planning on it," he said. "You can feel that, right? We're still in the Mansion of Night. I do not want to see it."
Smart boy, Annabeth thought. She used to tease Percy for being dumb, but in truth his instincts were usually right on target. Whatever horrors lay in the Mansion of Night, they weren't meant for mortal eyes. Seeing them would be worse than staring at the face of Medusa. Better to run in darkness.
The throbbing got louder still, sending vibrations straight up Annabeth's spine. It felt like someone was knocking on the bottom of the world, demanding to be let in. She sensed the walls opening up on either side of them. The air smelled fresher – or at least not quite as sulphurous. There was another sound, too, closer than the deep pulsing ... the sound of flowing water. Annabeth's heart raced. She knew the exit was close. If they could make it out of the Mansion of Night, maybe they could leave the dark brood of demons behind. She began to run faster, which would have led to her death if Percy hadn't stopped her.
"Annabeth!" Percy pulled her back just as her foot hit the edge of a drop. She almost pitched forward into who-knew-what, but Percy grabbed her and wrapped her in his arms.
"It's okay," he promised.
She pressed her face into his shirt and kept her eyes closed tight. She was trembling, but not just from fear. Percy's embrace was so warm and comforting she wanted to stay there forever, safe and protected ... but that wasn't reality. She couldn't afford to relax. She couldn't lean on Percy any more than she had to. He needed her, too.
"Thanks…" She gently disentangled herself from his arms. "Can you tell what's in front us?"
"Water," he said. "I'm still not looking. I don't think it's safe yet."
"Agreed."
"I can sense a river… or maybe it's a moat. It's blocking our path, flowing left to right through a channel cut in the rock. The opposite side is about twenty feet away."
Annabeth mentally scolded herself. She'd heard the flowing water, but she had never considered she might be running headlong into it.
"Is there a bridge, or…?"
"I don't think so," Percy said. "And there's something wrong with the water. Listen."
Annabeth concentrated. Within the roaring current, thousands of voices cried out – shrieking in agony, pleading for mercy.
Help! they groaned. It was an accident!
The pain! their voices wailed. Make it stop!
Annabeth didn't need her eyes to imagine the river – a black briny current filled with tortured souls being swept deeper and deeper into Tartarus.
"The River Acheron," she guessed. "The fifth river of the Underworld."
"I liked the Phlegethon better than this," Percy muttered.
"It's the River of Pain. The ultimate punishment for the souls of the damned – murderers, especially."
Murderers! the river wailed. Yes, like you!
Join us, another voice whispered. You are no better than we are.
Annabeth's head was flooded with images of all the monsters she'd killed over the years. That wasn't murder, she protested. I was defending myself! The river changed course through her mind – showing her Zoë Nightshade, who had been slain on Mount Tamalpais because she'd come to rescue Annabeth from the Titans. She saw Nico's sister, Bianca di Angelo, dying in the collapse of the metal giant Talos because she also had tried to save Annabeth. Michael Yew and Silena Beauregard ... who had died in the Battle of Manhattan.
You could have prevented it, the river told Annabeth. You should have seen a better way.
Most painful of all: Luke Castellan. Annabeth remembered Luke's blood on her dagger after he'd sacrificed himself to stop Kronos from destroying Olympus.
His blood is on your hands! the river wailed. There should have been another way!
Annabeth had wrestled with the same thought many times. She'd tried to convince herself Luke's death wasn't her fault. Luke had chosen his fate. Still… she didn't know if his soul had found peace in the Underworld, or if he'd been reborn, or if he'd been washed into Tartarus because of his crimes. He might be one of the tortured voices flowing past right now.
You murdered him! the river cried. Jump in and share his punishment!
Percy gripped her arm. "Don't listen."
"But…"
"I know." His voice sounded as brittle as ice. "They're telling me the same stuff. I think… I think this moat must be the border of Night's territory. If we get across, we should be okay. We'll have to jump."
"You said it was twenty feet!"
"Yeah. You'll have to trust me. Put your arms around my neck and hang on."
"How can you possibly…"
"There!" cried a voice behind them. "Kill the ungrateful tourists!"
The children of Nyx had found them. Annabeth wrapped her arms around Percy's neck. "Go!"
With her eyes closed, she could only guess how he managed it. Maybe he used the force of the river somehow. Maybe he was just scared out of his mind and charged with adrenalin. Percy leaped with more strength than she would have thought possible. They sailed through the air as the river churned and wailed below them, splashing Annabeth's bare ankles with stinging brine. Then – CLUMP. They were on solid ground again.
"You can open your eyes," Percy said, breathing hard. "But you won't like what you see."
Annabeth blinked. After the darkness of Nyx, even the dim red glow of Tartarus seemed blinding. Before them stretched a valley big enough to hold the San Francisco Bay. The booming noise came from the entire landscape, as if thunder were echoing from beneath the ground. Under poisonous clouds, the rolling terrain glistened purple with dark red and blue scar lines.
"It looks like…" Annabeth fought down her revulsion. "Like a giant heart."
"The heart of Tartarus," Percy murmured.
The valley's centre was covered with a fine black fuzz of peppery dots. They were so far away, it took Annabeth a moment to realize she was looking at an army – thousands, maybe tens of thousands of monsters, gathered around a central pinpoint of darkness. It was too far to see any details, but Annabeth had no doubt what the pinpoint was. Even from the edge of the valley, Annabeth could feel its power tugging at her soul.
"The Doors of Death."
"Yeah." Percy's voice was hoarse. He still had the pale, wasted complexion of a corpse… which meant he looked about as good as Annabeth felt.
She realized she'd forgotten all about their pursuers. "What happened to Nyx ...?"
She turned. Somehow, they'd landed several hundred yards from the banks of Acheron, which flowed through a channel cut into black volcanic hills. Beyond that was nothing but darkness. No sign of anyone coming after them. Apparently, even the minions of Night didn't like to cross the Acheron.
She was about to ask Percy how he had jumped so far when she heard the skittering of a rockslide in the hills to their left. She drew her drakon-bone sword. Percy raised Riptide.
A patch of glowing white hair appeared over the ridge, then a familiar grinning face with pure silver eyes.
"Bob?" Annabeth was so happy she actually jumped. "Oh, my gods!"
"Friends!" The Titan lumbered towards them.
The bristles of his broom had been burned off. His janitor's uniform was slashed with new claw marks, but he looked delighted. On his shoulder, Small Bob the kitten purred almost as loudly as the pulsing heart of Tartarus.
"I found you!" Bob gathered them both in a rib-crushing hug. "You look like smoking dead people. That is good!"
"Urf," Percy said. "How did you get here? Through the Mansion of Night?"
"No, no." Bob shook his head adamantly. "That place is too scary. Another way – only good for Titans and such."
"Let me guess," Annabeth said. "You went sideways."
Bob scratched his chin, evidently at a loss for words. "Hmm. No. More… diagonal."
Annabeth laughed. Here they were at the heart of Tartarus, facing an impossible army – she would take any comfort she could get. She was ridiculously glad to have Bob the Titan with them again. She kissed his immortal nose, which made him blink.
"We stay together now?" he asked.
"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "Time to see if this Death Mist works."
"And if it doesn't…" Percy stopped himself.
There was no point in wondering about that. They were about to march into the middle of an enemy army. If they were spotted, they were dead. Despite that, Annabeth managed a smile. Their goal was in sight. They had a Titan with a broom and a very loud kitten on their side. That had to count for something.
"Doors of Death," she said, "here we come."
Fayden's POV
How did they get from Rome to Epirus?
Honestly, a boring story. Very depressing. Artemis still wasn't talking to Fayden; the only interaction he got were occasional murderous glares in-between her soft sobs. Aurelia didn't say much – she spent most of the journey phasing in and out of visibility, playing with air currents and doing some weird thing with the air that look like the air had solidified.
Fayden and Thalia sat with their heads together. Thalia was fast asleep, blood and dirt covering her face and subsequently, Fayden's shirt. Fayden lay in a sort of semi-sleep paralysis. Too tired to move, his brain too active to fall asleep. He was whirring through ideas on how to apologise to Artemis without losing private parts.
He had nothing.
At least nothing on this ferry was trying to kill them. He'd take the small wins wherever they were.
Thalia stirred, blinked, then looked up at him with those vibrant blue eyes. To say he'd got lost in them is cheesy and lame but there was something so definitively captivating about the violence and shock in Thalia's eyes.
"What?" she mumbled. "Have I got something on my face?"
Fayden struggled to find a part of her face not covered in muck and crimson, grinning. He reached just under her eye, stroking down her cheek.
"Yeah, just there."
She gave a soft chuckle, before lifting her head, rubbing her eyes and looking around. Her hair kept lying flat over her face, all scrunched and matted. Growling, she held it with one arm and adjusted to the sunlight and sea air. Across from them, Aurelia was sleeping, her face cleaned, her arm outstretched as she let the ambrosia work on the various cuts. Artemis was over by the window, melting the glass with tiny bursts of Greek fire.
Fayden and Thalia watched her for a while – she completely removed the window, the molten glass cooling in a swirling puddle of glass around her.
"Any idea what the new prophecy means?" Fayden asked.
Thalia mumbled and shook her head. "You?" she replied.
Fayden shrugged. "Little bits – the bits you're supposed to know at this stage."
Thalia nodded, before standing. "I'm going to find a way of not looking like I've left a six-foot hole lying about somewhere."
Fayden let out a bark of laughter as Thalia headed in the direction of the bathrooms. His laughter had brought Artemis' attention to him. She watched him from across the ferry floor, eyes completely passive. Something unnerved him more than the murderous gazes – she was staring at him as you would glance at a stranger – not really there, but some part of you registered their existence.
Fayden tried to make his eyes look apologetic. She picked up on it, glared, her hand flashing green, before turning away.
Jason's POV
They found Leo at the top of the city fortifications. He was sitting at an open-air café, overlooking the sea, drinking a cup of coffee and dressed in… wow. Time warp. Leo's outfit was identical to the one he'd worn the day they first arrived at Camp Half-Blood – jeans, a white shirt and an old army jacket. Except that jacket had burned up months ago.
Piper nearly knocked him out of his chair with a hug. "Leo! Gods, where have you been?"
"Valdez!" Coach Hedge grinned. Then he seemed to remember he had a reputation to protect and he forced a scowl. "You ever disappear like that again, you little punk, I'll knock you into next month!"
Frank patted Leo on the back so hard it made him wince. Even Nico shook his hand.
Hazel kissed Leo on the cheek. "We thought you were dead!"
Leo mustered a faint smile. "Hey, guys. Nah, nah, I'm good."
Jason could tell he wasn't good. Leo wouldn't meet their eyes. His hands were perfectly still on the table. Leo's hands were never still. All the nervous energy had drained right out of him, replaced by a kind of wistful sadness. Jason wondered why his expression seemed familiar. Then he realized Nico di Angelo had looked the same way after facing Cupid in the ruins of Salona.
Leo was heartsick.
As the others grabbed chairs from the nearby tables, Jason leaned in and squeezed his friend's shoulder.
"Hey, man," he said, "what happened?"
Leo's eyes swept around the group. The message was clear: Not here. Not in front of everyone.
"I got marooned," Leo said. "Long story. How about you guys? What happened with Khione?"
Coach Hedge snorted. "What happened? Piper happened! I'm telling you; this girl has skills!"
"Coach…" Piper protested.
Hedge began retelling the story, but in his version, Piper was a kung fu assassin and there were a lot more Boreads. As the coach talked, Jason studied Leo with concern. This café had a perfect view of the harbour. Leo must have seen the Argo II sail in. Yet he'd sat here drinking coffee – which he didn't even like – waiting for them to find him. That wasn't like Leo at all. The ship was the most important thing in his life. When he saw it coming to rescue him, Leo should have run down to the docks, whooping at the top of his lungs.
Coach Hedge was just describing how Piper had defeated Khione with a roundhouse kick when Piper interrupted.
"Coach!" she said. "It didn't happen like that at all. I couldn't have done anything without Festus."
Leo raised his eyebrows. "But Festus was deactivated."
"Um, about that," Piper said. "I sort of woke him up."
Piper explained her version of events – how she'd rebooted the metal dragon with charmspeak. Leo tapped his fingers on the table, like some of his old energy was coming back.
"Shouldn't be possible," he murmured. "Unless the upgrades let him respond to voice commands. But if he's permanently activated, that means the navigation system and the crystal…"
"Crystal?" Jason asked.
Leo flinched. "Um, nothing. Anyway, what happened after the wind bomb went off?"
Hazel took up the story. A waitress came over and offered them menus. In no time they were
chowing down on sandwiches and sodas, enjoying the sunny day almost like a group of regular teenagers.
Frank grabbed a tourist brochure stuck under the napkin dispenser. He began to read it. Piper patted Leo's arm, like she couldn't believe he was really here. Nico stood at the edge of the group, eyeing the passing pedestrians as if they might be enemies. Coach Hedge munched on the salt and pepper shakers.
Despite the happy reunion, everybody seemed more subdued than usual – like they were picking up on Leo's mood. Jason had never really considered how important Leo's sense of humour was to the group. Even when things were super serious, they could always depend on Leo to lighten things up. Now, it felt like the whole team had dropped anchor.
"So then Jason harnessed the venti," Hazel finished. "And here we are."
Leo whistled. "Hot-air horses? Dang, Jason. So, basically, you held a bunch of gas together all the way to Malta and then you let it loose."
Jason frowned. "You know, it doesn't sound so heroic when you put it that way."
"Yeah, well. I'm an expert on hot air. I'm still wondering, why Malta? I just kind of ended up here on the raft, but was that a random thing, or…"
"Maybe because of this." Frank tapped his brochure. "Says here Malta was where Calypso lived."
A pint of blood drained from Leo's face. "W-what, now?"
Frank shrugged. "According to this, her original home was an island called Gozo just north of here. Calypso's a Greek myth thingie, right?"
"Ah, a Greek myth thingie!" Coach Hedge rubbed his hands together. "Maybe we get to fight her! Do we get to fight her? 'Cause I'm ready."
"No," Leo murmured. "No, we don't have to fight her, Coach."
Piper frowned. "Leo, what's wrong? You look…"
"Nothing's wrong!" Leo shot to his feet. "Hey, we should get going. We've got work to do!"
"But… where did you go?" Hazel asked. "Where did you get those clothes? How…"
"Jeez, ladies!" Leo said. "I appreciate the concern, but I don't need two extra moms!"
Piper smiled uncertainly. "Okay, but…"
"Ships to fix!" Leo said. "Festus to check! Earth goddesses to punch in the face! What are we waiting for? Leo's back!"
He spread his arms and grinned. He was making a brave attempt, but Jason could see the sadness lingering in his eyes. Something had happened to him… something to do with Calypso.
Jason tried to remember the story about her. She was a sorceress of some sort, maybe like Medea or Circe. But, if Leo had escaped from an evil sorceress's lair, why did he seem so sad? Jason would have to talk to him later, make sure his buddy was okay. For now, Leo clearly didn't want to be interrogated.
Jason got up and clapped him on the shoulder. "Leo's right. We should get going."
Everybody took the cue. They started wrapping up their food and finishing their drinks.
Suddenly, Hazel gasped. "Guys…"
She pointed to the northeast horizon. At first, Jason saw nothing but the sea. Then a streak of darkness shot into the air like black lightning – as if pure night had torn through the daytime.
"I don't see anything," Coach Hedge grumbled.
"Me neither," Piper said.
Jason scanned his friends' faces. Most of them just looked confused. Nico was the only other one who seemed to have noticed the black lightning.
"That can't be…" Nico muttered. "Greece is still hundreds of miles away."
The darkness flashed again, momentarily leaching the colour from the horizon.
"You think it's Epirus?" Jason's whole skeleton tingled, the way he felt when he got hit by a thousand volts. He didn't know why he could see the dark flashes. He wasn't a child of the Underworld. But it gave him a very bad feeling.
Nico nodded. "The House of Hades is open for business."
A few seconds later, a rumbling sound washed over them like distant artillery.
"It's begun," Hazel said.
"What has?" Leo asked.
When the next flash happened, Hazel's gold eyes darkened like foil in fire. "Gaia's final push," she said. "The Doors of Death are working overtime. Her forces are entering the mortal world, en masse."
"We'll never make it," Nico said. "By the time we arrive, there'll be too many monsters to fight."
Jason set his jaw. "We'll defeat them. And we'll make it there fast. We've got Leo back. He'll give us the speed we need."
He turned to his friend. "Or is that just hot air?"
Leo managed a crooked grin. His eyes seemed to say: Thanks.
"Time to fly, boys and girls," he said. "Uncle Leo's still got a few tricks up his sleeves!"
Boom. Very lazy, mostly copy-and-pasted reawakening chapter with the tiniest amount of original writing. Just how I like it. Nah but seriously there's nothing much original left to write until after Epirus, where Fayden, Thalia and Artemis are doing their own thing completely separate from the Seven.