I LOVE THIS CHAPTER! This is when we're getting into the good stuff. ;) We finally learn where the House of Hades fits in, more about the Doors of Death, and so much foreshadowing that I don't know where to start. Pay attention to the details in this chapter- it's very imporatant later on. *evil laugh*

Reviewers: you're my favourite people. Ever. (fictional characters not included :P) Enjoy this next installment, and see you soon with the next one!

"Okay, I don't want to be that guy, but does someone want to tell me where the Hades we're going?"

Hazel stopped, exchanging a look with Nico. Hazel turned back to face Leo, who was panting. "Didn't mean that as a pun. Forgot you were both children of Hades."

Hazel and Nico looked at him skeptically.

"You know what- Forget it." Leo laughed, sitting down heavily and sending a small cascade of pebbles down the cliff.

"It wouldn't hurt to sit. For a minute." Nico sat down in front of Leo, then looked up at Hazel.

She didn't notice, looking upwards to the top of the steep cliff they were currently scaling. There wasn't anything there, save for a pile of rubble- but that didn't matter. The whole reason they were going there, the whole reason they were climbing this ridiculous slope, was what used to be there.

Her and Nico had been sitting on the top deck, brainstorming about the Doors of Death. That was one bad thing about being a child of Hades- anything to do with death, or darkness, and it automatically fell on you. And perhaps she was reading too much into it, but it seemed as though, ever since Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus, they'd all acted a little different around her and Nico.

She couldn't really blame them.

Hazel worked hard to defy the 'child of death' sterotype. It was immensely difficult, however, when you'd been dead longer than you'd been alive, your only living relative was a ghost magnet, and jewels popped out of the ground constantly at your feet.

She'd thought that, maybe, it would all finally be useful this time,

If her and Nico could figure out how to get Percy and Annabeth out of Tartarus, and seal Gaea in by closing the doors, maybe that would be enough. It could make up for that night in Alaska all those years ago, it could prove that she could do something right and stop what she had started. She would save her friends, and the rest of the demigods. This was her chance.

It had been Nico's idea.

"Hazel." she turned sharply at his voice, and saw him and Leo still staring up at her with mild concern. She realized they were still waiting for an answer to Leo's question from before.

With a sigh, Hazel sat down with them, crossing her legs beneath her. Where to start?

"Have you," she began, slowly, "ever heard of the House of Hades?" Leo shook his head.

"Sounds like a boy band."

Hazel opened her mouth to reprimand him, but Nico spoke up.

"I'd heard my father mention it, once. No idea what it meant. Then Hazel said something, today."

They both looked at her, and she spoke, playing with a small diamond on the ground in front of her. "We were trying to figure out what the prophecy meant, by the Doors of Death- if it meant it literally, or figuratively, or... We had no good ideas. Then I said 'How can one thing control so much?'. That was when Nico realized-"

"What if it wasn't just one thing?" That slightly frightening glint was back in Nico's eyes. Leo obviously saw it too, because he met Hazel's eyes looking a little worried- however, she was surprised to see, he dropped her gaze immediately, looking determinedly back at Nico. Wondering if she should be offended, Hazel listened as Nico continued.

"That's where the House of Hades comes in."

"And that is?..."

"His family."

"Woah, so you and Hazel-"

"No," Nico hastily cut Leo off. "His immortal family. Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest; Persephone, Goddess of Springtime; and Hades, Riches and Death. Gather the tokens of all three, and you have the power of the House of Hades. Power over death."

Leo looked somewhat shocked- which was pretty understandable, Hazel thought. She'd had almost the same reaction, but at the same time, hadn't been able to argue. She couldn't explain how, or why, but it just felt like the solution they'd been looking for. However, her gut had been wrong before. Horribly, disastrously wrong.

Leo seemed to be trying to speak and failing, which must have been a first.

"You," he said, finally finding the words, "want to control death?" Nico nodded gravely, and Leo shook his head vehemently. "That's bad. That's really bad."

"It could be the only thing that could help us stop Gaea."

"No- you don't... Okay, maybe it's different for you two, being the kids of Hades and all that, but death is forever. No offence, Hazel- I know that better than anyone. Tampering with it would be... ridiculous!"

Hazel looked at Nico, pleading for help. She hadn't expected Leo to protest so wholeheartedly- or maybe she hadn't let herself. She knew the dangers of tampering with death; it could have unforseen ramifications that made everything one hundred times worse than before. However, it could also be their only hope.

"Leo, if we don't close the Doors, Gaea will get out, and soon." Nico said, looking him right in the eye. "Percy and Annabeth will be the least of our worries, then: Gaea will take over the world. The gods will fade, and demigods'll probably go the same way. If we're lucky." Leo inhaled sharply, and looked ready to protest, but Nico continued.

"It's dangerous. It's desperate. But so are we. We need to fight fire with fire."

For a long time, after that, it was quiet. Hazel watched Leo, concerned- he was as quiet as he ever was, standing, looking over the edge of the cliff with his face twisted in thought. He seemed to be undergoing some inner conflict. Finally, after what felt like forever, he turned back to her and Nico.

They rose to face him, and he looked at them, looking completely and utterly torn.

"If we can complete this... House of Hades... we can close the doors?"

"We'll have the power to." said Nico. "If death is the doors, the House of Hades is the key."

Leo exhaled heavily. Then he looked at Hazel. "You still didn't tell me where we're going now."

For the first time since meeting Leo, Hazel felt nervous under the intensity in his gaze. She forced herself to speak. "It's called the Necromanteion. Ancient Greek temple to our father. It's been torn down, but we need to try getting his blessing to complete the House. This is as good a place to start as any."

To his credit, Leo took the news that they were travelling to a temple of death pretty well. His eyes bugged out a little, but other than that, he showed no reaction, almost to the point of it being a little odd.

"Well," he said, in a forced casual tone. "We should keep going."

So they did. In single file, struggling carefully up the side of the cliff to get to the top, not speaking, each alone with their own thoughts and doubts about what they were going to attempt.

"Thing is," Leo said, a while later to no one in particular, "about fighting fire with fire..."

Hazel paused. This was one saying she knew too well.

"Which of us going to get burnt?"

After a second, she started climbing again, sending a shower of pebbles scrabbling into the water below, disappearing into the endless, blinding blue.