As far as traveling companions went, Erebus may very well have been the worst for Ryker. The already stressful journey through the Underworld was made even more so by the constantly disappearing and reappearing god. The commentary was even more unhelpful, and much more annoying. "You know, you could probably move a lot faster if you used your newfound ability." Erebus quipped, his hands in the pockets of a black and silver suit he had donned upon his last return. "You know, the one I showed you. The one that had been overwhelming you until I so kindly showed you how to control. Ringing any bells?"

"Maybe I would if you would tell me where I was going!" Ryker snapped, brandishing the compass. "Instead of following this thing!"

"No can do." Erebus smiled. "Although at your current pace you won't make it back in time for the party topside. Tartarus just revealed his army to your demigod friends and the gods. Apparently he is giving them a week's time to prepare themselves. You know, I may not like my brother but that was rather kind of him. Of course, he might only be doing that so his army of corrupted demigods can be satiated with an adequate battle. So maybe not so kind. Kind of sadistic now that I think about it."

"Do you ever stop talking?" Ryker wondered, vaulting over a waist high rock. Erebus's ramblings had long since become commonplace and the son of Cybele was more than used to them now. He sighed and shook his head, glancing up at the sky of the Underworld. "One week, huh? And you don't think we'll make it in time."

"At this pace?" Erebus repeated, "I sincerely doubt it. And, trust me, you don't want to be late to this particular gathering. Without an added boost your friends at Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood won't last more than a day. At most. Even with the gods' full support. Tartarus has many of the Giants and Titans fighting for him. In addition to that, Tartarus has procured a weapon capable of killing the gods."

"You and Rhea have both mentioned this weapon." Ryker noted, glancing back to Erebus and raising an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Demigods." Erebus said simply. "Well, in a manner of speaking at any rate. Demigods are the most dangerous thing for gods as they are capable of using divine abilities. You saw it yourself when you took on Python. Artemis's bow is absurdly powerful, capable of wounding Zeus himself. And each god has such weapons at their beck and call. Twisting and corrupting demigods so they can destroy the gods wouldn't even have been that hard I imagine. All Tartarus would have needed would have been a supply of demigods. That is where Orion came in."

"So how did he do it?" Ryker asked. "Orion said that they are still alive, the captured demigods that is. Why not just kill them?"

"In case he needs to make more." Erebus shrugged. "That would be my guess anyways. Maybe he just likes having them as ornaments. I understand that his realm isn't particularly decorative. A demigod or a couple dozen could really spruce up the place. Personally I would have hired a redecorator, but hey, I'm not judging."

"What do you mean, make more?" Ryker asked, keen to keep the conversation on track and Erebus away from one of his many tangents.

"The blood of demigods is powerful, extraordinarily so. Think of it like a liquid catalyst of the most dangerous proportions. And that is only if it is taken forcibly. If offered willingly the danger factor increases to a completely different level. My guess would be that Tartarus has been torturing your friends until they willingly parted with their blood. With blood willingly given by demigods and enough time, it is no surprise that Tartarus figured out a way to create his own army of corrupted demigods. My guess would be that they are nothing like the originals though. It's likely that their personalities were corrupted as well, not to mention the influence Tartarus has likely had on them. It would not surprise me in the least to discover that Tartarus has not even told them that they were copies. It would make it even easier for them to kill their friends, family, and the gods."

"I fought one already," Ryker said, recalling Gina's corrupted doppelganger. "They heal almost instantly, and they can even regrow severed limbs. I don't remember much from the fight, but I do remember that ripping out their hearts was one of the only ways to actually slow them down."

"Unsurprising." Erebus nodded. "It's likely that Tartarus created them exclusively for the purpose of being killing machines. Rapid healing and regeneration only make good sense. You would either need to exhaust them completely, as you did with Sciron, or give them an injury that they cannot heal from without outside help. They are not immortal, not as far as I can tell, but they are incredibly resilient."

"An army of them won't be easy to bring down." Ryker muttered, scowling at the thought. Even as much as he enjoyed fighting, the prospect of facing such an army was a daunting one at best.

"And that's just the corrupted demigods." Erebus said cheerfully. "Tartarus still has several hundred, perhaps thousands, of monsters at his beck and call as well. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find that he even called in some of the more heavy hitters. Python. Minotaur. The list goes on and on."

"I fail to see what you find so amusing in all of this." Ryker growled.

"I enjoy not knowing the outcome of things." Erebus said happily. "My powers of observation and forethought are exceptional, living for thousands of years has a tendency of doing that, and even I cannot begin to predict how this will play out. Will Tartarus win and wipe out all the life he deems worthless on the planet, or will you fulfill your prophecy and kill him? It is oh so interesting! That's why I am staying close by you. I do not want to miss a thing."

"You won't get to see a thing if I am stuck down here, trying to figure out where to go." Ryker informed him, turning to face the god and glaring. "Especially if I were to decide to say to hell with the others, they can fend for themselves."

"Well that would be even less than unhelpful." Erebus frowned, not at all liking the thought. "And not at all amusing for me. Please don't do that."

"I'm going to unless you take me to Tartarus, and to wherever you are having this thing take me." Ryker threatened, nodding at the compass. "Besides, I'm not using that ability unless I have to." That much was true. The first part was a bluff, mostly. He knew that he had no choice but to continue on his path if Erebus decided to remain true to his resolve and keep his interference to an absolute minimum. But Ryker was still slightly unsettled by his newfound control of his ability to take on the traits of animals. He had felt the animal's instincts as clearly as his own, and its desire to gain dominance of his body. It wasn't hard to understand how he had always lost control before. One animal was difficult, but the amount of alpha predators he had been channeling all at once was bordering on impossible. At the very least his control on them would be tentative. In addition to that using it in a fight could be suicide. From the moment he had channeled the deer he had been intending to use the animal's superior jumping ability, but it had not been easy to take. The deer's naturally skittish nature had taken time to overcome, time that he would not have on the battlefield. Ryker's only hope was that the apex predators he would be channeling would be far more at home on a battlefield than prey would be. So long as he could control their instincts.

Erebus looked at him for a long while before venting a huge sigh and shrugging noncommittally. "Fine, fine." He muttered clapping Ryker on the shoulder and gripping him tightly. "I was getting bored with just walking anyways. Maybe she will give me a bit more excitement. Unless she is still angry with me. In which case she might just kill you out of hand."

"Who?" Ryker asked. He was going to say more, but darkness suddenly enveloped them and his breath was sucked away from him as Erebus's grip on his shoulder grew painfully tighter. When the darkness fell away from them Ryker staggered away, his eyes wild as he struggled to catch both his breath and his bearings. They were in some sort of palace, of that much he was instantly aware. Strange blue-fire torches lined the walls which seemed to be made out of Stygian Iron. The floor depicted various scenes on it, from the grimacing face of a very old woman to someone clearly suffering with an empty vial in their hand. Other horrible scenes were on the floor but before Ryker could study them his attention was drawn to a figure towering over him, a dark and terrible figure. His claws were out before he could consider the wisdom of the action and he had leapt backwards, falling into an easy defensive stance. The towering figure was a woman, a woman with eyes that seemed to be made from the stars themselves. It was difficult to tell exactly where she was looking, but it seemed to Ryker as though her attention was not on him. It was on Erebus.

"You!" She screeched, pointing one accusing finger at Erebus. "You have a lot of nerve showing yourself here! At my house!"

"If memory serves this is my house as well." Erebus said uncomfortably, growing in stature until he matched the angry woman's height. "But I didn't come here to argue."

"Oh, THAT would be a first!" The woman snapped at him, waves of darkness rolling off her and moving across the floor like mist. Ryker backed up even further, interposing Erebus between himself and the woman. "Erebus coming to Nyx's house without the intention of starting an argument!"

"I never start arguments, you do!" Erebus argued, instantly rendering his statement as completely invalid. "I just defend my side! You are the one who always overreacts to every single thing I do!"

"You left!" Nyx raged. "You left and you didn't say a word!"

"I didn't leave for that long!" Erebus argued. "You are overreacting."

"THREE CENTURIES!" Nyx screamed, gesturing wildly. "You have been gone for three centuries! And you didn't tell me anything! I thought you died!"

"I'm immortal!" Erebus shot back. "How could I have died?!"

"Maybe you finally played with something that could kill you!" Nyx countered. "I know how you always like to play with things, following your petty little whims! Like that demigod you have with you now! You've spent more time with him than you have with me in the past three centuries! And he hasn't even been alive for most of them!"

"I haven't been here, of course I've spent more time with him!" Erebus said hotly. "And if this is how you are going to act now that I came back I'll have spent more time with him the next century too!"

"And whose fault is it that you haven't been here?" Nyx hissed.

Ryker's gaze flickered back and forth between the two massive immortals as they continued to argue, his eyebrows drawn together in confusion. He had told Erebus to bring him to the destination that he was intending for him to go to, which made no sense thus far. Why would he have told Ryker to go somewhere with such an irritable goddess? That seemed like the fastest way to get one killed. Just what could this Nyx have that would assist him in freeing the taken demigods?

"Alright, look, we can discuss this at a later date." Erebus said, abruptly bringing the argument to a close. Or at least attempting to. Nyx had different ideas.

"Oh, you mean so that you can disappear again?" She laughed shrilly, a rather terrifying sound coming from a massive goddess. "I think not! We can discuss this now!"

In that moment Erebus displayed more emotions than Ryker knew gods were capable of showing. "Look, I don't have that much time." Erebus said soothingly through gritted teeth. "I am on something of a schedule right now. I know that you are angry with me, and you can shout at me all you want later, but right now he needs your help." Erebus jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where Ryker stood, his claws still at his side.