I'm back, fellow demigods, with a (hopefully) good chapter! :D

And here we go! Enjoy!

Chapter 35 – To someone of the Underworld's blood

LEO

"This is Athens." Leo suddenly stated.

"You don't say?" Jason said sarcastically.

"No, this is Athens." Leo insisted.

"What's your point, Valdez?" Coach Hedge grumbled.

"Weren't the giants gonna destroy the roots of the gods? Shouldn't that be the mountain Olympos then?"

The fact hit the group hard. Only Nico didn't seem surprised (Did that guy ever get surprised? Leo quietly wondered).

"Yes, it is. But the House of Hades and the Doors of Death are here. We have to close them before the giants reach the mountain Olympos and fully wake up Gaea."

The silence after his word was tense. Leo hadn't thought of that. It didn't really change anything, he decided, but it still was good to know.

"Are the giants and monsters just going to… Disappear?" Hazel asked uncertainly. "If we succeed?"

"They will know that their master has been defeated, but I don't know if they'll just go back to Tartarus." Nico admitted. "The giants will, because they obey Gaea. But all these monsters just woke up because they felt that Gaea was. She didn't wake them consciously."

"So there's a chance we'll have to fight these too?!" Frank huffed.

"Hopefully not." The son of Hades said flatly, and they dropped the subject.

Leo had one arm wrapped around Hazel's waist again, their hips and shoulders pressed against each other. He tried to ignore the looks Frank shot them. Jason had glanced at them once, Piper had smiled to the knowingly, and Nico and Coach Hedge couldn't care less. Truth was, everybody was so caught up in the whole save-the-world-thing and their own problems, so they didn't really care if Leo and Hazel had started dating. Leo was grateful for that, because he wanted to feel Hazel close to him. This could be the last time he ever saw her.

Leo tried hard to not think like that, but it was true. He was not going to let anything hurt Hazel. He didn't care if her fate was to die; he wasn't going to let her. Hazel was the best thing that happened to Leo since… Well, in his life. She was perfect, just perfect, and there was no one that deserved to die less than her.

But what if he died? What if Leo got killed? It was better than Hazel dying, but he didn't want to die. He didn't want to leave her.

But maybe you'll get to see your mother then, a tiny voice reminded him.

And it was that too. Hazel really didn't want Leo to blame himself for her death, but it was too much to ask from him, so he had just tried to stop thinking of it instead. But this power he just discovered, that he could protect other from fire too; could it have saved his mother? If he had just somehow opened the door and got in to the room she was in…

Stop thinking like that! You have much worse things to worry about right now, Leo scolded himself.

He nuzzled his face in Hazel's curly, cinnamon-colored hair to distract himself. It had a faint smell of strawberry, probably form the shampoo Hazel used, that Leo inhaled. He still couldn't believe someone that perfect would want him, love him, and dammit, he was going to enjoy every moment of it.

"What are we going to do about Khione and Melinoe?" Jason asked suddenly. "Their new plan might actually work."

"Yeah, I've been thinking of that." Piper said and shifted uncomfortably. Jason protectively put an arm around her shoulders. "We'll just have to close the Doors and defeat Gaea, and before they start to try turning the gods to each other we'll tell the gods their plan." She shrugged. "That's the only thing we can do."

There were some muttering, but everybody knew that it was true.

A roar nearby made Leo jump in surprise. He had been so caught up in his own thoughts, he almost forgotten about the monsters and stuff everywhere in the city.

"Hide!" Jason said. "Quick!"

The group scattered. Leo, Hazel and Nico ran and hid in an opening between a ripped off roof that was leaning toward a ruin that probably been a house just a day ago.

They saw a huge paws (twice as long as Leo!) walk by outside their small hiding place. Leo barely dared to breathe. He didn't relax until the monster had passed.

It wasn't heroic, but the demigods had decided that they'll run and hide instead of fight when it was possible. Fighting would just slow them down, and maybe kill or injure them.

Leo crawled out to the light and helped Hazel up. Nico followed them.

"Where are they?" Nico muttered.

A few minutes later, they found the other demigods (and the satyr). No one seemed to be hurt.

"Let's continue then." Jason said, trying to sound happy about it.

An awkward silence settled over the group. Leo could see that the others were tired of this, tired of running and hiding and fighting when they knew they were gonna die soon anyway. He couldn't let them think that way.

"C'mon." Leo said loudly. "We have a world to save, remember?"

Nico nodded and started to walk. Leo was quick to follow him, and soon all of them were.

Leo glanced at his friends. There was something wrong. They hadn't been like this just half an hour ago. He gave Hazel's hand a squeeze and then let go and walked over to Jason.

"What's up, bro'? You seem… Dull." Leo said quietly, so Piper wouldn't hear.

"We saw a child." Jason said, like it explained everything. He glanced over at Piper, whose eyes were big and red after crying. "She couldn't have been more than two, maybe. Some monster had slaughtered her and she was covered in so much blood..."

Jason's voice trailed off, and Leo felt his guts twist. So many innocent mortals already had gotten killed, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

If Medea and other evil people had been able to come back to life, Leo thought bitterly, why couldn't the poor killed mortals do it to?

"If we defeat Gaea," Leo said quietly, "we'll save the world and gazillion of lives. We'll be true heroes. There are some people that already have died, and we can't do anything about them right now. But for their sake, we have to try to save their families and friends."

Leo looked in to Jason's sky-blue eyes, and saw something he didn't expect; admiration. Jason was actually looking at Leo in awe.

"How do you do that, man?" He asked. "Keep yourself calm and together. Since Percy and I was sorta' the leaders before, and now Percy is gone, I thought I would be left with all the responsibility. I thought I was going to be the leader. But, no, you are, and it's really awesome."

Leo blushed a little. He didn't spend that much time with Jason anymore, but he was Leo's best friend. Jason would stick up for him. It made Leo feel warm inside.

He grinned.

"Admiral, flaming hot, fire-boy Valdez at your service. Take care of Pipes, will ya? She still looks… Uh…" Leo looked uncertainly at Jason's girlfriend, "traumatized."

Their shared a smile before Leo walked back to Hazel. She gave him a quizzical look, but he just shook his head and smiled a little to show that it was nothing.

"Where exactly is the House of Hades?" Leo asked Nico about half an hour later.

"Just by the Parthenon." Nico shrugged. "We're there in a few minutes."

Piper frowned.

"Are you sure? I haven't heard about any temple dedicated to Hades anywhere nearby the Parthenon."

Leo was relieved that Piper had said anything. Since she had seen that child Jason told him about, she had been quiet and shocked – but now Leo at least knew that she still was alive.

"Just trust me." Nico insisted, and they kept walking in silence.

Nico was right. About five minutes later, they were standing in front of the Parthenon. It radiated some kind of power that made Leo's skin tingle just like when he was about to catch fire. Quickly, he let go of Hazel's hand.

The building was old and damaged, but it didn't seem like the monsters had done anything to it. Leo assumed that it had some godly protection-magic over it or something. He didn't have time to appreciate the temple more, though, because Nico led them a through all pieces of old construction material that was scattered all around the Parthenon, to an especially big piece of what looked like an old pillar. It was something carved on it in Ancient Greek.

The demigods (and Coach Hedge) scattered around the fallen pillar and stared at the old, frayed letters.

"Entry to the House of Hades." Nico said.

"I don't know if it's just me, but I don't see any house." Leo said, but Hazel nudged him.

Nico kneeled in front of the pillar and let his hand glide over the words. He closed his eyes and muttered something in Ancient Greek that Leo translated to "To someone of the Underworld's blood, the magic of the House of Hades will once again flood."

Something with those words made shivers creep down Leo's spine. He wrapped an arm around Hazel and pulled her closer.

For a brief moment, nothing happened and Leo almost believed it wouldn't at all. But then the ground started to rumble and shake, almost knocking all of them off their feet. Just behind the fallen pillar, something started to grow.

Leo couldn't believe his eyes. A temple, just like the Parthenon but pitch-black and not as old, sprung out from the ground. It was not as big as the Parthenon, but still pretty huge.

It radiated power too, made Leo's skin tingle like crazy. He felt like his whole body was going to catch fire any second.

The first one to break the silence was Coach Hedge.

"I smell Underworld, Underworld means monsters, and monsters mean fighting!" He grinned madly. "This is gonna be awesome! C'mon, cupcakes!"

And hell broke loose.

Next chapter will come later! Hope you liked this one, and please review!