(Recap: "Okay, maybe you're right. They need time. You all do actually." Chiron said, looking at me.

We all left, pondering about this.

While I was leaving, Skylar stopped me and pulled me back "What do you think you mean by 'one of them can come? You can't see me?"

"What! No Skylar! That's too dangerous! No way you're coming."

"I make my own decisions Percy." She whispered angrily.

"And I've decided to come with you. That's final." She stormed out huffing in anger.

Well, it looks like the two members of the Chaos side are fixed.)

Ch. 17

The camp became aware of the quest that night during the campfire. Meanwhile, I could see the dread of having to go to Tartarus was churning in every immortal camper's mind. I couldn't blame them, my condition wasn't as bad as them only because I knew this time I was much stronger. And a part of me had changed, the part that was a scared little boy thrust into this world without a choice. I was no longer that. I was now an experienced commander of two large armies. I'd faced enough war and loss to mature on the way.

The campfire was still going and the campers were requesting Chiron to narrate him the prophecy once more. So he requested Rachel to narrate it once again

She began :

Five shall venture into eternal hell,

One shall be lost forever, I foretell.

Three of the Gods, two of Chaos must go east,

To stop the rebirth guarded by the beast.

The lost hero's past and present must unite,

Or all will fall to the beast's might.

The course of the war will be decided by all,

But to only one must the beast fall.

The demigods were all silent for a moment before all of them started speaking at the same time. The senior campers had a rough guess what the destination of this quest was gonna be. Meanwhile, my army was clueless, only Elmont was wide-eyed. Of course, he got it, the earth's his domain after all. Fritz was also looking confused, so I gestured for Elmont to assure him that I'd tell him everything once I myself knew everything. Chiron banged his hoof to retain silence. Once everyone shut up, he began

"Children, I know this is too much for you, but we have no choice. I'll tell you what we know about the prophecy."

"Yes, the questers have to go to Tartarus. They have to go east, so maybe an eastern entrance to Tartarus."

Eastern entrance! Why hadn't I thought of that? Last time we broke the chains of doors of death they must've reappeared somewhere in the east along with some new entrance.

"Something else we know is that instead of the regular three, this quest requires five for the journey. And there's one hero, whose past and present must unite." He continued.

"Who's this hero Chiron?" A girl from the Athena cabin said.

"We don't know that yet Llory. "

"Doesn't matter, whose this beast? I bet this hero is just another coward, allow me to go on this quest. I'll defeat this beast." a kid from the Ares kid said.

Well, cockiness is in their blood, isn't it? Poor other cabins. Surprisingly Clarisse was glaring at the kid. Well that's the hypocrisy of the topmost level, isn't it?

"You have any idea what you're saying? It's Tartarus. If you'd been paying attention in any of my classes Mike, you'd be peeing your pants or burying yourself in the safety of your bunker blankets right now. So shut up!" Chiron said a bit angrily.

Whoa. That's certainly a first. I never thought Chiron even had the ability to be angry let alone actually shout at someone. Once Mike sat down embarrassed, Chiron continued

"We don't know who the hero is, we don't know who or what kind of beast is involved. All we know is that there have to be 5 questers, a combination of three and two. 3 from camp and 2 from Lord Chaos' Army. They are supposed to go east. Where exactly in East or why? We don't know that either."

"I can help you with that." Nico suddenly appeared out of the shadows. Chiron had ordered him to go to the underworld and dig up whatever he could about this situation.

"Nico, tell me. What did you find in the underworld?"

"The prophecy says east because the entrance to Tartarus is located in the east."

Everyone was confused. So Nico answered

"We destroyed the chains holding the doors of death during the war with Gaea. So the doors disappeared. According to my information, they have reappeared in the east.

"Okay, where exactly in East? Hazel asked.

"Philadelphia. That's where the entrance is."

That seemed to satisfy everyone.

"Well, Philadelphia it is. The camp shall provide you with enough supplies and money to reach your destination. In fact, Argus will personally drive you up to the entrance." Chiron said.

"Okay, there's this one problem. We are so engrossed about this beast, we haven't discussed what happens after we destroy him. I believe Rachel said she had a way to stop the rebirth of the Titans?" I asked looking expectantly at Rachel.

"Yes, commander. I do have a way. And I already informed Nico about it when I came to know he was making a trip to the Underworld." She replied, nodding at Nico to talk about it.

Everyone was looking at him, so he looked a bit nervous. Wow. After so long, Nico di Angelo still hates attention. He cleared his throat and began

"We need to break the doors of death in and enter Tartarus, then kill this beast and place a protection amulet where the Titans are being reborn. This amulet will wade off Tartarus enough so that we don't have a problem for this war, and hopefully a few more centuries. At least that's what my dad says."

"So do you have the amulet with you right now? " Jason asked.

"Yes. Here. " he pulled out a deep back coloured shiny amulet with what looked like a gold chain from his pocket and held it out a bit high for everyone to see."

"Wait. All that's good, but if we open the doors of death again, won't the monsters come flooding out? And also the monsters here won't die! And we have a war during that time. We'll lose badly!" Calypso, who had her hand intertwined with Leo said.

"Which is why one extra person will go with them. Once they're inside, the doors will need to be closed from both sides. The extra person will ensure its done from the outside while the questers would do the same from inside."

During this entire conversation, I couldn't help but notice that Nico never said anything in the first or 3rd person. Meaning he never used 'we' or 'they'. So he is conflicted. I know him. He must feel it's his job, but he also feels he might not be ready.

"Wait. Then how will the questers get out?" Llory asked.

"

I'm afraid they'll have to figure out a way on their own." he replied.

That was depressing news. Not only were we going to Tartarus, but we would also be trapped there if we didn't find a way out.

"Okay. Now that we have everything we know on the table, it's time for volunteers. Who would like to go? And before you begin, I'll tell you only the immortal campers are allowed to go. As for the army, senior soldiers and/or who Commander Stormbringer deems fit and appropriate may be allowed." Chiron said.

"I'm in. And I'd like to lead this quest, as I have been there and have the first-hand experience about the place." Annabeth stated firmly.

"Yes. That makes sense. You are to chose two people, but I think you should let them decide."

"Yes. That's what I was thinking."

"I'll go." said a voice from behind.

Stood in shining armour, silver camouflage clothes and black bows with silver arrows were the hunters of Artemis, with Thalia in the lead. She was the one who had said it.

"Thalia, welcome to camp. Hunters, you too. But we were discussing a quest to-"

"Tartarus. I know all about the quest Chiron. Lady Artemis told us everything. Which is why I've come here. To volunteer. And these girls are here to provide aid in your upcoming battle of course. Queen Hylla says the Amazons will join a few days later."

We could see some relief evident on Chiron's face. We always knew both the armies of girls were gonna help, but knowing and actually welcoming them are very different.

"Oh. Okay. But Thalia, about that volunteering part, are you sure you don't wanna think it through with more time?" Chiron asked.

"I've had enough time since m'lady told me. And I'm sure I wanna do this."

"Well, then Annabeth. Seems like you have one companion on board. What about the other one? " he asked, looking towards the immortal campers. And within a second every immortal had said: "I'll go."

"Uhh, great but we need only one, so decide amongst yourselves who want to go," Chiron said.

"Okay listen. You all six have already gone on a quest to save the world. Nico, you as well have a been through hell and back during the two wars. You don't need to do this. Stay here, protect the camp. Let someone else take up these dangerous quests for once." Reyna said.

That was a mild surprise. I hadn't accounted for Reyna to even volunteer, let alone give a speech that could effectively shut up the others and convince them that she was right at the same time. But that is exactly what she seemed to have accomplished. The young semi - immortals were actually pondering over Reyna's words. They slowly nodded their heads. All were in agreement. Reyna had a winning smirk.

So Chiron announced "Well, it seems like we have all three camp side questers slots booked now. Going over to the Army side..." He drifted off looking towards me, waiting for me to continues.

I looked at Skylar first "Now you know everything. We may not have a way back. You are needed here Sky. Your dad, the council, everyone needs you. So think again."

"They need you too, Commander. But you're going, aren't you."

"Which is exactly why you might wanna reconsider. They might be hit hard if they lose both of us."

"They won't. We'll find a way, we'll make it back. No matter what. My decision stays." The finality with which she said, she might as well have banged a gavel.

"Okay, then. Chiron, I think you already know, but I'll announce it formally either way. Me and Princess Skylar will form the Chaos side. You have all five questers."

Everyone was murmuring about Skylar. They hadn't expected the Princess of the Universe to even fight alongside them let alone go to Tartarus for their sakes.

"So it seems Commander. I'll officially name them. ANNABETH CHASE, THALIA GRACE, REYNA AVIL RAMIREZ ARELLANO, COMMANDER STORMBRINGER, PRINCESS SKYLAR VOID. These 5 are to go to Tartarus to prevent the Titans from rising using the amulet given to us by Nico di Angelo."

There were again murmurs in the crowd. Some agreed with the questing party while others thought maybe Nico or Jason or Frank or someone else would have been pretty useful. It just occurred to me that I'd be questing with all girls. Great, so easy to understand girls so it's gonna be a walk in the park now. Note the sarcasm.

We were to leave the next day. So everyone went to their respective cabins to get some rest. Big days from tomorrow.

IN THE MORNING :

At just a few minutes past dawn, everyone had gathered at the dining Pavillion. Breakfast was over and we were wished good lucks and take cares. Clarisse was advising Annabeth to 'not just win, but beat the crap outta them and then win'. Classic Clarisse, I smiled internally. We were all set.

"Children, Commander, Skylar. Good luck. May the fates smile upon you. Nico will be taking you to the eastern entrance in Philadelphia and will be the one closing the doors from outside. Then he'll return. He'll hand over the amulet to you with instructions on how to use it and where to put it on your way. Any questions?"

We all shook our heads. Elmont, Gregory and Fritz wished me luck. I muttered in Elmont's ears "El, if something goes wrong, take charge permanently. You have my blessing. And tell the campers. About me. About Everything. They have a right to know. And tell them I've forgiven them a long time ago. Even Annabeth." he nodded. We bro-hugged. "You'll be alright, nothing's gonna go wrong."

I just nodded. We got on a van that Argus was gonna be driving. We were given our supplies in a satchel. Once the farewell was over, Argus revved the engine and pressed on the accelerator.

We reached Philadelphia within the hour, mainly due to Argus' maniac driving skills. He stopped near an under construction site.

"We're here, let's go, guys," Nico said and got out. Once we all got down and bid farewell to Argus, Nico led us into the apparently abandoned construction site. Through a door into a house. When we entered the house, he led us to a room where he put his hand on the wall and started muttering some enchantments. The wall slid open and we were met with cool air that could freeze our blood. It looked like a portal.

"Alright now listen. This door is a special favour from Thanatos. Its a one-way door to hell and the enchantments I used will keep the wall open till you snap the chains on the opposite side. Once you do that, you have absolutely no way of coming back, at least no way that we know of. If you're having second thoughts, now would be the time to back out. I don't mind taking your place."

When no one said anything, he continued "Good luck. May the fates be with you." We nodded and went through the portal thingy.

My first thought when I entered was 'It's so dark in here, darker than last time.'. My second thought was 'Feels like there's a lake around here somewhere.', but I said neither of those things, mainly because I was busy finding these chains to snap them so that no random wonderer tried the travel portal and ended up literally in hell.

"Are these the chains?" Reyna said looking at some chains. They resembled the chains we had cut during our first trip here. I remembered those two heroes that died for us that day. Iapetus a.k.a. Bob and Damasen. Annabeth had similar expressions so I could tell she was thinking about the same.

"They look like it, and besides these are the only chains here, so I say we cut them," Reyna said.

Annabeth swiped her sword and quickly cut off the chains. The light from the door faded, confirming that the doors had closed.

"We're officially trapped now. So Annabeth, lead the way. You can know this place?" Skylar asked.

"I don't think so. We need to get out of here somewhere more open. I think this is an entry if some sorts."

The Sulphurous air was starting to affect us. Everyone began coughing mildly.

"We should get out of here. I have a bad feeling about this place." I said.

"Yeah. Let's go. We move forward, we need to drink flames. To survive. "

"Flames? You mean the river-"

"Well well well, what do we have here!"

That froze us in our tracks. We were still weak due to the air here, and we couldn't fight off many monsters before drinking the flames. We certainly weren't ready for a titan.

"Bob," Annabeth said, shocked and with a broken voice.

"Bob! You're alive!" She exclaimed.

"I'm not Bob, I'm Iapetus. And yes I'm alive, but you're not gonna be once I'm through with you." He growled, brandishing what looked like a scythe.

Uhh... Oops.

(A/N: REVIEW. PRAISE, CRITICIZE, DISCUSS - WHATEVER YOU WISH.)