Hey, Everyone!

So, I'm going to see Sea of Monsters today! XD XD! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see how they did it! I'm glad they finally made Annabeth blonde, but if they really wanted to get this more like they books, the could have really shaken the public and hired some thirteen year old actors, that's all I'm saying. ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 45

Jason

Jason was barely standing up straight. He was supporting the weight of Nico, who had passed out long ago. Jason was also having trouble blinking the dark spots out of his vision. He had to keep moving because he had Nico. His arm was still pumping out blood and puss, and he was probably poisoned, but he had lost feeling in his arms and legs a long time ago.

He pressed his free hand against the cave wall and leaned on it for support as he continued to walk, more like limp, forward.

He had to find the hole. He had to find the hole where they'd fallen down to begin with. He wasn't going to give up. He was going to fly up there, and get them out. And alive.

But first he had to find the room. The room where they killed the girl.

He made a turn. He chose the tunnel entrance that he thought was right. He continued walking.

Jason's legs were shaking. His knees felt like jelly.

He couldn't feel himself falling until it was too late. He fell on top of Nico and quickly rolled off him.

Jason coughed. He coughed again. There was dirt in his mouth and coating his throat. He tried to blink away the dark spots again. But this time they only grew bigger. He turned to look at his bleeding arm one last time, and then he thought of Piper.

He thought of her hair, and her eyes, and how soft her lips were. How she was loyal to him, and to this quest.

But not loyal to a fault, like Percy. She knew when to quit.

Percy.

Jason had to find the Doors of Death. He had to close them. He had to close them for Percy and Annabeth, who were risking their lives on the other side. He had to fight for his friends, who were risking their lives here. He had to fight for the boy beside him, because he risked his life already and deserved to be honored for his survival.

He used the wall and one arm to try to stand up. But as he pressed his hand, connected to his injured arm, he just realized, back up onto the cave wall, it surged blood and puss, and despite his best efforts, Jason keeled over and vomited.

He needed to do something about his open wound, and so he decided to draw his sword. He turned to Nico, who was still passed out on the cave floor, and then went back to what he was doing.

Jason pulled on the edge of his shirt, took his sword, and cut the bottom of his shirt off. He took the strip and tied it around his bleeding arm and tied it one handed as best as he could. He looked at Nico's leg, and held back his bile as he stared at the white bone.

He took a deep breath, and pulled off his Camp Jupiter T-shirt. He continued to cut it into bandages.

He prayed to the gods that, for Nico's sake, Nico would stay passed out through this whole thing.

He pulled himself around to face Nico's front, and then he took the bottom half of his lower leg, and he quickly snapped it back into place, the bone on the bone.

He let out the breath he didn't remember holding as Nico didn't even twitch.

He looked around for anything he could use as a splint.

And then he looked down at the sword in his own hand.

You won't be able to protect yourself without it, Jason reminded himself.

But Nico needs help. He deserves this. I have to help him, he finally decided, and then he took his sword with the point facing the ground and the flat side resting against his leg, he began to wrap it up.

He tied it and shoved the leftover pieces into one of the belt loops on his jeans. He would have to change the bandages on his arm soon. Nico's had almost completely stopped bleeding.

Which scared him.

But he pulled himself up, grabbed Nico's arm, pulled Nico up, wrapped Nico's arm around both of Jason's shoulders, and Jason continued to trudge on, keeping his hand off the wall.

He could finally feel his toes and fingers again.

That was a start.

They had been wondering for way longer than it had taken Jason, Piper, and Leo to find the room before.

They were definitely lost.

There was no bright light anywhere near them, and as Jason turned another corner, and chose another path and ducked into it, Nico started to stir.

"What…what? Where are we?" Nico asked sleepily.

"We're finding our way out. Don't worry, Nico, we'll get there," Jason replied. He could feel his legs, but his arms were still numb. He hoped their injuries were getting better, but he was too scared to check either of theirs.

"I can…I can feel my leg. It's really sore. What did you do to it?" he asked.

"I, uh…I put the bones back against each other and tied it up with a make-shift splint."

"Did you find a stick down here?"

"No…"

"Then what did you use?"

"My sword."

Nico was silent. Jason looked over at him. He was looking down at his leg. "What's it wrapped in?"

Then Nico looked up at him. "Oh."

Jason held up his bandaged arm. "It wasn't just for you; you don't need to feel bad."

Nico smiled. "Okay. So, do you know where we are?"

"Sorry, I lost my map of the Underground Tunnels of the Epirus Hotel a while back," Jason said sarcastically.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Just wondering."

To Jason's surprise, the tunnel seemed to gradually be getting lighter, and his eyes were adjusting until they entered a another cavern like the one where they had killed the ghost girl.

But…there were no other tunnel exits. His first thought was that he had walked them into a trap and they were defenseless.

When nothing jumped out at them, Jason realized that there was a huge statue or a man sitting in a chair against the wall, almost as tall as the cavern itself. Upon closer examination, Jason realized that the mad had two face, one on each side of his head.

"Janus," he whispered.

"I've seen him before," Nico replied.

"But they do they have a statue of him down here?" Jason asked.

"Who said anything about me being a statue?" One of the mouths moved on Janus and Jason jumped, and Nico almost slipped away from him.

"I'm going to guess you're not, then," Nico replied.

"Of course, Mr. Di Angelo. Nice to see you again." Both mouths smiled.

Janus stood up and walked over to them. He knelt down in front of them and asked, "What is it you want with me?"

"We were looking for a way out, and we got lost," Jason said.

"Nonsense," Janus waved his words away and began talking with his other face, "I was summoned here by you two because you needed help doing something. I know desperate demigods when I see them, I know it's even worse when Mr. Di Angelo is with them."

"You know him?" Jason asked Nico.

"Yeah, we had a run-in once. A story I probably won't tell," Nico replied.

Janus rolled all four of his eyes and he twitched mouths again as he continued talking, "But you all are down here for one reason and one reason only, yes? To stop Gaea and close the Doors of Death, right? Well, if you're lucky, you'll be able to do one of those two things, the latter. So…how may I assist you?"

"Well…I don't know…I mean, we're not really looking for anything. Just a way out, to get Nico help. And maybe some red string so when I come back down here, I'll know where I've been," Jason replied.

Janus smiled. "Like that silly, little children story…Jack and Jill?"

"Hansel and Gretel," Nico replied.

"Oh, what's the difference?" Janus switched mouths again as he continued talking. "But, how do you expect to close the Doors of Death, assuming you get there?"

"I don't know…push it? Annabeth and Percy on one side, the rest of us on the other, and we just…push it closed," Jason replied.

"Oh, you sad, sad, sad soul. You don't just simply push the Doors of Death closed. They are held open by chains and anchors that Gaea's little minions put on them. You have to cut those chains, and the doors will snap shut. Automatic and easy, right?" Janus looked at them with both of his faces expectantly.

"Wrong," Nico said.

"WRONG!" Janus shouted with both mouths, amplifying the sound and slammed one of his hands on the floor. The floor shook so violently Jason almost fell over.

"Because these chains," Janus continued with only one of his mouths this time, "can not be cut with just any sword. They can only be cut by a weapon enchanted by the gods to have extreme strength and power, like Zeus himself. But Gaea didn't expect you to know that because she didn't expect me. And lucky for you, I brought that weapon with me."

He pulled a silver dagger that looked minuscule in his hand, out of his pocket and handed it to Jason.

Jason took it by the handle and looked up and Janus as he pulled his hand away. "'And Please the God/ Of Truth and Lies."

"Well, if people count past and future as truth and lies, then yes, I guess that's what that meant," Janus shrugged. "I guess I could see how that went together."

"What about the part about playing both sides or whatever to please you?" Jason asked.

"What are you reciting from?" Nico asked.

"The Prophecy," Janus replied. "You don't have to play both sides to please me. I believe it went something like, 'To Close the Doors/They Play Both Sides.' You don't need to play two sides for me. You're loyalty and your bravery, from all of you, not just you, Jason Grace, Son of Jupiter, have been enough to sway…most of the neutral gods to your favor. Including myself. And that takes effort. It was mostly the two in Tartarus that got me, but…"

"Wait," Nico cut in. "You know how they are? You can see them?"

"Poseidon knows that his son is alive and Athena is sure her daughter is, too," Janus replied. "They keep coming to me about seeing the future, but I can not tell them because that future is too close to see," Janus replied.

"We have to go. We have to go find those Doors, now. I'm sorry, Nico, but I can't take you back to the ship," Jason replied.

"Just leave him here with me. I'll get him to safety," Janus promised. "Return the favor I owe him."

"You owe me more than one favor, Janus," Nico replied as Jason set him down on the floor.

"But be warned, Jason Grace. That dagger only has enough power to do one or the other. It has the power to send Gaea back into Tartarus, and the power to cut the chains and close the Doors of Death, but it does not have enough of it to do both. Choose wisely, Mr. Grace," Janus's warning was serious. He had to choose. What would he do?

He'd know when the time came.

"Thank you. See you later, Nico," Jason said as he turned to leave down the tunnel he'd come from.

"Tell Hazel I'm okay," Nico called after him as Jason broke into a sprint and ran with the dagger in his hand.

Thanks for Reading!