It took only a few minutes for the Amazons that Ryker had escaped from to catch up to him, throwing open the door to Hylla's office and entering with weapons drawn. Ryker, who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, raised an eyebrow. They immediately spied him and began to advance when Hylla called out, "Stand down!"

They looked at their queen with surprise and incredulousness but they obeyed her nonetheless. "My queen," One said uncertainly, glancing around the room. Hazel, Nico, and the others were no longer restrained and were sitting calmly on chairs lined in front of Hylla's desk. "Th-the prisoner escaped." She finished lamely.

Hylla raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ryker. "You don't say?" She said cryptically. "And here I thought that you just decided to let him wander around the factory."

The Amazons lapsed into silence and Ryker chuckled quietly. They glared daggers at him and he winked at them. "I did tell you not to hit me." He reminded them reasonably. "It isn't my fault you didn't listen."

"You are free to go." Hylla told them. "They are not any danger."

"That one is." One of Ryker's former guards objected, pointing at him with her sword.

"I'm flattered you think so highly of me." He laughed darkly again, just to further antagonize them.

"Ryker." Piper said warningly. "We need them to help us on this quest."

The Amazons filed out of the room leaving only the demigods, Hylla, and her two guards. "You didn't actually kill any of my people did you?" Hylla asked hopefully. "Because then I would have to execute you."

"No, none of them are dead." Ryker confirmed.

"Well then," Hylla folded her hands in front of her. "My sister tells me that you need our assistance on the quest you are on? What is it you are trying to do?"

"We're trying to free the Oracle of Delphi." Annabeth told her. "We know Python has taken the Oracle back to where it kept her last time. We need to know where he is. Do you know?"

"Any other information would be really helpful as well." Will added. Hylla looked at him like she wasn't quite certain what to say and he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but it's my first quest. I want to know what we're walking into."

Hylla blew out a small sigh and met Annabeth's eyes. "We do know where the Oracle is being kept." She admitted. She paused uncertainly and Ryker narrowed his eyes. "But it's not information we can simply give away freely."

"Why not?" Hazel asked indignantly. "You've heard of what's happening to demigods right? We need to get the Oracle back so we can stop them from being taken."

"You misunderstand me." Hylla quickly said, "I will of course help you as much as I possibly can, but I can't tell you the information that you want because we do not know everything either." She scooted her chair back several feet and pulled out one of the drawers. She rummaged around inside for a moment before withdrawing a laptop. She closed the drawer and pulled back up to her desk, booting up the computer.

"What's that?" Ryker asked curiously, staring at the laptop.

Hylla looked at him with the same mixture of annoyance and grudging respect that she had when he first walked inside the office and answered, "This is a record of everything the Amazons have on every quest that has ever taken place." She glanced to Annabeth. "I don't suppose you would be willing to come back sometime and detail your trip through Tartarus?"

"If we survive this, sure." Annabeth offered. "I'll give you every gruesome detail."

"Excellent."

"How are records stored on that thing?' Ryker was oddly fascinated by the metal rectangle. He took a few steps forward and the guards on either side of Hylla moved forward as well, their spears held at the ready. He glared at them and they stared back with blank impassive looks.

"Electronically." Hylla answered shortly, looking up at him curiously now. She noted the blank look that flashed across his face and shook her head. "Seriously? You don't…? Never mind."

Nico hid a smile and shook his head. "Welcome to our world." He told Hylla gravely. "Up until a couple days ago he had never even had a cheeseburger."

Hylla muttered something that even Ryker couldn't catch with his sensitive hearing. The room was quiet while she tapped at the laptop and eventually turned the device around to face the assembled demigods. Ryker stared with a frown at the black screen and raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel however, leaned forward in apparent interest. The other boys exchanged confused glances and then helpless shrugs. Hylla permitted herself a smile and nodded as though in understanding. "Only women can read Amazon records." She explained. "When they were on scrolls each scroll had to be enchanted. Now it is much easier. Enchant the laptops and you can download the records from the online archive. Don't want too many people getting ahold of our information after all." She added as if in explanation.

"So, this is all you have on Python and the Oracle of Delphi?" Ryker did not like the sound of disappointment in Piper's voice.

Hylla spread her arms wide. "Apollo was the one who went and took him on." She informed them. "Apollo might be prone to telling everyone and everything that he has ever done in great detail, but we don't exactly have a good history with him. All the knowledge we have comes second hand at best. One of our warriors' husband is actually a son of Apollo-."

"What?" Will choked out in surprise. Hylla fixed him with a withering look and he faded back into silence. Nico patted his hand in sympathy and Will sent him a plaintive look.

"As I was saying," Hylla continued coolly, "One of our warriors' husband is a son of Apollo. She had him tell her everything he knew from that event, but there wasn't much he could tell. Apparently Apollo had taken to recounting the story in limericks."

Percy shook his head in sympathy and Will looked rather embarrassed. "I really wish that Apollo wasn't the god of poetry." Will said gloomily.

Hylla didn't bother to shoot him another look, nodding in agreement this time. "Limericks do have a tendency of making information gathering rather difficult." She agreed with a sigh. She retrieved the laptop and closed it, storing it back in the drawer. She placed her elbows on the table and folder her hands, resting her chin upon them. "What did that information sound like to you?" Hylla asked the girls.

"It sounded like Python is at the bottom of some great chasm, behind a door of some sort." Hazel said uncertainly. "I didn't get that last bit though, one shall enter and none shall return."

"Actually I might be able to shed some light on that." Hylla said, relieved to give some manner of help. "Apparently wherever Python is keeping the Oracle is guarded by a legion of monsters. I'm not sure what they are, mind you. But behind those monsters are a set of doors. Inside the chamber that those doors lead to is where Python is, along with the Oracle."

"Okay, so only one person can enter the chamber at a time?" Percy asked.

Hylla nodded slowly. "That seems to be the case." She said. "Like I said, our information is second hand. I believe that line was actually from one of Apollo's poems. It might be him just making things sound worse than they were, but I would be careful just in case. As for the great chasm, I cannot say for certain but I believe that is referencing the Grand Canyon."

"No way." Piper said immediately. "I've been there! I never saw any door or anything."

"Were you looking?" Ryker asked pointedly.

Piper's face fell and she sighed. "No," She conceded. "I wasn't. But think about it, Rachel even said that she thought that she could sense the Oracle somewhere east of Camp Jupiter. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona. That's south not east."

"It never said that the door to Python is right there." Nico reminded her. "Who knows how far we might have to go before we actually find it."

Hazel and Annabeth exchanged a look and they shared a nod. "Arion?" Annabeth guessed.

Hazel nodded in response. "Arion." She confirmed. "We can't afford to waste the time to drive there. We need to get there as fast as we can."

"Oh, great." Percy groaned. "The potty-mouth horse. I don't suppose that you would be willing to spare some soap?" He asked Hylla.

The queen of the Amazons pursed her lips and shook her head. "We don't help males." She said firmly. "But what I can do is give you girls one of our newer model chariots." She said brightly.

"That would be awesome." Piper said gratefully.

"Of course." Hylla pressed a button on her desk and almost immediately a very familiar Amazon girl walked through.

"How may I help you my queen?" She asked briskly. Ryker's eyes widened as he recognized the girl who had been the one to defeat him earlier. He was certain that she noticed his stare, but she ignored him with contemptuous ease.

"Have one of the new chariots we just ordered placed in the parking lot." Hylla ordered. "Also, place their weapons and bags on the chariot along with some other provisions for their trip."

"Of course my queen." She hesitated and her eyes darted to Ryker for the first time since walking into the room. "Even his?"

Hylla tilted her head to one side and one eyebrow rose a fraction of an inch. "Of course," She said slowly. "Are you afraid that he might defeat you again?"

The Amazon frowned indignantly. "I didn't lose to him." She said stiffly. "I was the one who made him yield. I was going to keep his claws as a trophy."

Hylla's eyebrows shot up to their limit now and she seemed to be fighting off a smile. Ryker's eyes darted from girl to girl, utter confusion running through him. Only Piper seemed to have a hint as to what was going on between them. "I see," Hylla said finally. She turned to address Ryker directly now. "Are you amicable to that?" She asked pointedly.

"Amicable to what?" Ryker asked.

"He is." Piper said immediately. "He totally is. You can keep the claws." Piper told the Amazon brightly.

"We will, of course, supply him with a new set." Hylla said, a small measure of satisfaction in her voice. "We do not want him to go into battle unarmed."

Ryker had returned his attention back to Hylla when he felt his arm suddenly wrenched around. Lips were at his ear and he recognized the voice of the girl who had defeated him earlier. "If you want your claws back, come get them after this quest." She told him, her challenge clear in her words. She released him roughly and shoved him away before walking away with a sashay of her hips.

The hunter did a double take between the girl who was walking away and Piper, silently willing the daughter of Aphrodite to explain what was going on. Piper shrugged one shoulder, clearly unwilling to explain things at present. The Amazon who had grabbed Ryker was almost through the door when Hylla called, "Oh, and Victoria?"

The Amazon turned around and raised an eyebrow. "Careful," Hylla warned her. "Careful."

The girl straightened her back and stared her queen in the eye before walking out of the room. "Okay," Percy said, raising a hand as though in question. "What just happened?"

"Your chariot will be ready directly." Hylla told them matter-of-factly. "My guards will escort you out of the building and into the parking lot. The chariot will be delivered there. If that is all, I have an empire to run."

Clearly dismissed, the seven demigods were escorted from the room by the guards at spear point. Kinzie bade Annabeth and the girls farewell and subsequently ignored the boys. In the parking lot everyone immediately turned on Piper. "What was that?" Nico demanded, just as lost as everyone else.

"And why did they take my claws?" Ryker asked, still outraged at the loss of his weapons. "And what the hell is dibs?"