In which our trio plus Bob make a plan and Nico and Leo are onto Percy's bullshit, they know her too well.
Replies:
ArachnidHiveMind: I mean, how would you suggest I save him? Like, someone has to hold the button and someone has to fend off Tartarus.
Undeath9087: Yeah, I mean, Percy knew she stopped him but she definitely worried that he'd reform, understandably so.

Bob had to help the three demigods over the top of yet another ridge. They were all exhausted- understandably so and they needed to keep as much of the strength that remained as they could for as long as they could. Which meant that they let Bob boost them up, and Percy's breath caught yet again at the sight that met her eyes.

Suddenly the Doors of Death were in plain view. A freestanding rectangle of darkness at the top of the next heart-muscle hill, about a quarter mile away, surrounded by a horde of monsters so think that Percy could have walked on their heads all the way across.

And that mental image was far more entertaining than it had any right to be, Percy forced down the giggle that wanted to slip past her lips- maybe she was hysterical, that did seem highly likely under the circumstances. There were so many screwed up bad things about their situation that Percy just wanted to have a break down- not a new thing for her, but the timing definitely wasn't great.

The Doors were still too far away to make out much detail, but the Titans flanking either side were familiar enough. The one on the left wore shining golden armor that shimmered with heat.

"Hyperion," Percy muttered the word, "Now that's a Titan I didn't want to see again."

"We saw him while we were looking for you." Nico murmured the words, "Bob stopped him mid-reforming. Can't believe he reformed again so quickly."

"I was about to make a joke about crowd surfing but suddenly I don't feel like laughing." Leo muttered.

"Neither do I." Percy agreed, eyeing the Titan next to Hyperion- she remembered seeing him in a dream- he wore dark-blue armor, with ram's horns curling from the sides of his helmet. "That would be Krios I guess."

"The one Jason fought." Leo pulled a face, "I have a bad feeling about this. Please tell me we won't have to fight them."

"Let's just hope that we can hide for long enough to avoid that." Percy pulled a face, "I don't wanna have to fight Titans-" her gaze flicked to Bob.

She trusted that he wouldn't betray them but it wouldn't be fair of them to ask him to fight his brothers for them. Percy knew that if someone asked her to hurt Leo or Nico she wouldn't be able to do it. It would kill her just thinking about it.
And as if he sensed her gaze on him Bob hefted his broom- which made him look like he was ready for a messy cleaning job. "We must hurry." he spoke firmly, "Follow me."

And so they did. Percy clutched her brothers hands as they walked- and so far the camouflage plan did seem to be working, which somehow made Percy feel even more uneasy. Their plans rarely ever worked well, a fact which they all knew. Percy could see it written on her brothers faces- even though they looked like walking corpses. They were all waiting for the shoe to drop.

And it didn't help that as they got closer the doors became clearer- and Percy felt like her heart was in her stomach as she stared at them.

Framed in Stygian iron, the magical portal was a set of elevator doors—two panels of silver and black etched with art deco designs. Except for the fact that the colors were inverted, they looked exactly like the elevators in the Empire State Building, the entrance to Olympus.

And Percy couldn't help it- she really couldn't, her mind flashed back to the day she turned sixteen, stepping into that elevator, that feeling of impending doom looming over her. The knowledge that she wouldn't be making it back down.
She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall- and Leo and Nico both squeezed her hands tightly- they were probably having similar thoughts.

Percy forced herself to take a deep breath, forced back the memories. They wouldn't help her here, all they'd do would be drag her down

That trip had been a one way trip. And this one would be the same, hopefully anyway. "We're going to do this." she spoke quietly, "I promise boys. We're going to get out of this place."

And as her initial shock at the sight faded away Percy noticed other details.

She noticed the frost spreading from the base of the Doors, the purplish glow in the air around them, and the chains that held them fast.

Cords of black iron ran down either side of the frame, like rigging lines on a suspension bridge. They were tethered to hooks embedded in the fleshy ground. The two Titans, Krios and Hyperion, stood guard at the anchor points.

As Percy watched, the entire frame shuddered. Black lightning flashed into the sky. The chains shook, and the Titans planted their feet on the hooks to keep them secure. The Doors slid open, revealing the gilded interior of an elevator car.

It took all of Percy's self control not to sprint forward- not to try and run into the elevator.

And it was a good thing that she managed to stop herself because a second later Hyperion yelled to the surrounding crowd;

"Group A-22! Hurry up, you sluggards!"

A dozen Cyclopes rushed forward, waving little red tickets and shouting excitedly. They shouldn't have been able to fit inside those human-sized doors, but as the Cyclopes got close, their bodies distorted and shrank, the Doors of Death sucking them inside.

The Titan Krios jabbed his thumb against the up button on the elevator's right side. The Doors slid closed.

The frame shuddered again. Dark lightning faded.

"You must understand how it works," Bob muttered. He addressed the kitten in his palm, maybe so the other monsters wouldn't wonder who he was talking to. "Each time the Doors open, they try to teleport to a new location. Thanatos made them this way, so only he could find them. But now they are chained. The Doors cannot relocate."

"Which is a problem for us." Percy muttered, "We need them to be able to relocate, so that Gaea can't send any more monsters up, right?"

"We could try and cut the chains." Nico suggested hesitantly.

And it sounded so incredibly simple when Nico said it like that. But it was never that easy. Percy could remember her fight with Hyperion- she'd had help from Nico and Grover. And now there were two Titans with several thousand monsters for back up. Percy wasn't fond of those odds.

"What happens to the Death Mist if we try and cut the chains?" she asked after a long moment. "It's hard to imagine that the mist will hide us even then.

"I do not know," Bob told his kitten.

"Mrow," said Small Bob.

"Could-" Nico looked hesitant, "Bob I know it's a lot to ask but could you distract them? You wouldn't have to fight them or anything but if you can distract them we can cut the chains from behind.

"Yes, fine," Bob said. "But that is only one problem. Once you are inside the Doors, someone must stay outside to push the button and defend it."

Percy tried to swallow. "Uh…defend the button?"

Bob nodded, scratching his kitten under the chin. "Someone must keep pressing the UP button for twelve minutes, or the journey will not finish."

Percy glanced at the Doors. Sure enough, Krios still had his thumb jammed on the UP button. Twelve minutes… Somehow, they would have to get the Titans away from those doors. Then one of them would have to keep that button pushed for twelve long minutes, in the middle of an army of monsters in the heart of Tartarus, while the other two rode to the mortal world. It was impossible.

"Why twelve minutes?" Percy asked, her voice shaking slightly- because she'd talked a big talk about Bob getting to see the mortal world again. And she wasn't going to let him down.

"I do not know." Bob told them, "Why twelve Olympians. Or twelve Titans?"

"You have a point." Leo pulled a face, "I often wonder why we need the Olympians, all they ever do is cause trouble."

"And uh-" Nico looked like he felt a little sick. "What happens to the passengers? If the journey doesn't finish I mean."
Bob didn't answer. Judging from his pained expression, Percy decided she didn't want to be in that elevator if the car stalled between Tartarus and the mortal world.

"If we do push the button for twelve minutes," Percy said, "and the chains are cut—"

"The Doors should reset," Bob said. "That is what they are supposed to do. They will disappear from Tartarus. They will appear somewhere else, where Gaea cannot use them."

"Thanatos can reclaim them." Nico spoke slowly, "Which would mean death goes back to normal and the monsters lose their shortcut to the mortal world- I know my dad would probably very much like that. Not that he's bothered with talking to me lately."

"Well what are we waiting for." Percy waggled her eyebrows, trying to sound upbeat, "It's totally easy. Except for- well, you know, everything."

Small Bob purred.

"I will push the button," Bob volunteered..

"No." Percy shook her head, "No. You want to go through the doors too. You want to see the sky and the stars- we've been talking about it-"

"I want you to meet Calypso." Leo's voice sounded so young that it made Percy's heart ache, and Nico looked like he
wanted to cry too.

"Bob we were supposed to stick together. We agreed."

"I would like that," Bob agreed. "But someone must push the button. And once the chains are cut…my brethren will fight to stop your passage. They will not want the Doors to disappear."

And Percy felt her heart sinking. Even if she did let Bob make that sacrifice he wouldn't be able to defend himself against so many for twelve minutes, not while keeping his finger on the button.

And she also knew that Gaea wanted her alive-but she wouldn't be able to hold it alone without Bob either.

So, she'd help Bob, she'd hold the button while Bob fended off the enemies- and when it was over she'd let them capture her- she wouldn't have much of a choice, and Gaea would do whatever she had planned.

It wasn't a good thought but Percy would do whatever it took to get Nico and Leo back up to the mortal realm- even if she knew neither of them would want to agree to it.

"Okay." she took a deep breath, marshalling her expression into something as innocent as she could. "Well boys, we'll figure the details out when we get to it-" she ignored the suspicious looks the two boys shot her, "Right now we need to focus on one thing at a time, which starts with us cutting those chains. Nico, you take Hyperion's side." she ordered, "Leo you stick with him- Hyperion's all fire, you can act as a human shield." it sounded bad but Leo nodded, clearly getting her thought process.

"Makes sense, his fire can't hurt me. Don't worry Nico, I got your back."

"Wasn't worried." Nico gave a small smile despite his words. "And you'll take Krios's side?"

"Yep." Percy nodded, "Hopefully we won't actually have to fight them but we need to think worst case with this. Bob. Are you ready?" she gave the Titan a weak hopeful smile, and Bob's expression was determined as he nodded.

"I am ready." and with that he straightened up, striding forward towards his brothers.

"Brothers!" he called the word loudly, and Percy, Leo and Nico moved as quickly as they could.

Hopefully Bob would be able to distract his brothers for long enough.