Bucky's pov
Bucky wasn't sure what to expect from Greece or if there was going to be any greetings cards or signs. The only greeting that they had was a flock of wild hungry harpies of who attacked the ship when the entered Greece. Bucky used his wind powers and his storm horse, that he decided to named Rachel, after a couple of days that Bucky managed to figure out the storm spirit was a girl and decided to go with Emily's second name. He didn't want to use Emily's nick name or the nickname that he gave Emily, that nickname wouldn't fit the storm spirit anyway. Bucky was looking down below as they made their way to the house of Hades. The Greek landscape below was inhospitable, the hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all of it was shimmering in the hazy air. The sun was beating down on them as if it was trying to hammer the countryside into a celestial bronze shield. Bucky could hear drone of the cicadas buzzing in the trees below, that noise made Bucky rather sleepy. Bucky looked at the others, Bucky would have wonder what like it was to be frozen but he has been frozen before, so he could understood of how the others, but Leo, feel at the moment. However, he has a feeling that the others went though a different kind of feeling cold than he did when he was frozen. Leo was grinning at the helm.
"Hot and steamy! Makes me homesick for Houston! What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitoes, and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"
"Thanks a lot, Leo. We'll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now." It seems that interaction between Leo and Jennifer at Malta seem to make the tension between Leo and Hazel disappear at once. Leo still joked around but he seem a little more serious than he has been before, Bucky noticed that Leo chatted more easily with Hazel the before. It was clear that Leo and Jennifer liked each other from who they were acting in Malta, he wondered of what Emily think of Leo and Jennifer. As Bucky looked at Leo that Nico shook Bucky out of his thoughts of what happen since Malta and was throw off of the Argo II.
"There!" As usual, Nico was perched atop the foremast, Nico was pointing towards a glittering green river that was snaking through the hills a kilometre away. "Maneuver us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close." As to prove his point that black lightning ripped through the sky leaving dark spots before his eyes. It made Bucky's hair stand up on his arm when that happens. Jason strapped on his sword belt.
"Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us close, but don't land – no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, get the mooring ropes."
"On it!" Hazel gave Frank a peck on the cheek before running to help Piper.
"Frank, get below and find Coach Hedge. Bucky, go below as well and find Lauren, Phil and Aubrey."
"Yep!"
"All right." Bucky followed Frank down below and they went different directions, it didn't take long for Bucky to find Phil, Aubrey and Lauren. When Bucky told the three of them that they were close to the house of Hades that they went up the deck. It was clear that they wanted to get into the house of Hades to find Emily, Steve and the others. As soon as the four of them were on deck that the ship list forward towards the house of Hades. Bucky and the others made fast with the aerial mooring, as they were doing that Leo was talking Frank and Hazel to one side. Bucky wasn't sure what Leo was planning or was going to tell them, not that it mattered to Bucky. Bucky went over to Piper just as she spoke to the others.
"Hey, guys! Better get over here. You need to see this." They found the source of the dark lightning, the Argo II was hovering directly over the river, a few hundred meters away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. It didn't look like much, just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings. However from somewhere within the ruins were tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from it's cave. Bucky watched as another bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape.
"The Necromanteion. The House of Hades." Bucky gripped the railing in front of him, Emily was in there somewhere waiting for him to come and get her. Piper hugged her arms.
"I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"
"I wouldn't. That's the River Acheron." Jason squinted in the sunlight.
"I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."
"It is. But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto – er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters –"
"Yeah, let's stay up here, I don't want any zombie water on my hull." There was some fishing boats puttering along down the river, Bucky wondered if they knew what river they were on. Frank gestured at the sceptre.
"So, uh, Nico … Have you learned to use that thing?" Nico was staring at the tendrils of darkness that was coming from the ruins.
"We'll find out. I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaea's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed." Gleeson grunted.
"I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads." Bucky wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that, he wasn't sure of what might happen if Nico did use that thing. Than Frank spoke.
"Coach, you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae." Bucky looked at Gleeson of who was frowning.
"Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!"
"We might need air support. Like we did in Rome. You saved our braccae."
"Well … I suppose somebody's got to save your braccae. Besides the Helicarrier." Bucky looked over to where the Helicarrier was he did hope that the mist was hiding it as well as the Argo II. Jason clapped the coach on the shoulder, before he gave Frank an appreciative nod.
"So that's settled. Everybody else – let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaea's party." Despite the midday heat and the raging storm of death energy that a group of tourist were climbing over the ruins. Thankfully there weren't too many tourists and none of them gave the demigods second looks. Bucky was surprised the things that they got away with since leaving New Rome as well as in Rome itself. Nico and Arabella were leading the way, at the top of the hill they climbed over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. Bucky wondered if this was normal was back in the old days before the gods moved to Rome but he didn't have too much time to ponder that fact. After a little while that the ten of them arrived at a stone doorway leading straight into the side of the hill. The death storm was originate right above their heads, Bucky didn't dare to look up at the death storm above them, than Nico and Arabella faced the group.
"From here, it gets tough."
"Sweet, 'Cause so far I've totally been pulling my punches." Nico glared at Leo.
"We'll see how long you keep your sense of humour. Remember, this is where pilgrims came to commune with dead ancestors. Underground, you may see things that are hard to look at, or hear voices trying to lead you astray in the tunnels. Frank, do you have the barley cakes?"
"What?" Bucky rolled his eyes when Frank said that, than Hazel spoke up.
"I've got the cakes." Hazel pulled out the magical barley crackers they'd made from the grain Triptolemus had given them in Venice.
"Eat up." Bucky chewed his cracker of death, he tried not to gag, it tasted like a cookie with sawdust without any sugar.
"Yum." Bucky nearly laughed when he saw Piper's face. He managed to eat his cracker just before Nico finished his and spoke.
"Okay. That should protect us from the poison."
"Poison? Did I miss the poison? 'Cause I love poison."
"Soon enough. Just stick close together, and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane." Nico led them down underground, the tunnel spiraled gently downwards. The ceiling was supported by white stone arches. As they walked that Hazel ran her hands along the masonry.
"This wasn't part of a temple. This was … the basement for a manor house, built in later Greek times." Bucky almost forget that Hazel has that special talent for the underground and tunnels.
"A manor house? Please don't tell me we're in the wrong place."
"The House of Hades is below us. But Hazel's right, these upper levels are much newer. When the archaeologists first excavated this site, they thought they'd found the Necromanteion. Then they realized the ruins were too recent, so they decided it was the wrong spot. They were right the first time. They just didn't dig deep enough." They turned a corner and stopped, in front of them the tunnel ended in a hug block of stone.
"A cave-in?"
"A test, Hazel, would you do the honors?" Hazel stepped forward, she placed her hand on the rock, after a few moments that the entire boulder crumbled to dust. The tunnel shuddered, cracks spread across the ceiling. For a moment Bucky thought that they would be crushed, but the rumbling stopped and the dust settled. A set of stairs curved deeper into the earth, the black ceiling was held up by more repeating arches, closer together and carved from polished black stone. It was like he was looking into an endlessly reflecting mirror, painted on the walls were crude pictures of black cattle marching downward.
"I really don't like cows."
"Agreed."
"Those are the cattle of Hades. It's just a symbol of –"
"Look." Frank pointed. Bucky looked to where Frank was pointing, on the first step of the stairwell was a golden chalice gleaming. Bucky was sure it wasn't there not even a moment ago, the cup was full of dark green liquid.
"Hooray, I suppose that's our poison." Nico picked up the chalice.
"We're standing at the ancient entrance of the Necromanteion. Odysseus came here, and dozens of other heroes, seeking advice from the dead."
"Did the dead advise them to leave immediately?"
"I would be fine with that." Nico drank from the chalice before offering it to Jason.
"You asked me about trust, and taking a risk? Well, here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?" Bucky has an idea of what happening between Nico and Jason at the moment, it was clear that things changed between Jason and Nico since Cupid. Jason didn't hesitate, he took the cup and drank it, they passed it around each taking a sip of poison. Frank was was the last one to drink from the cup, when Frank drained the chalice that the chalice turned to smoke in his hands. Nico nodded as if he approved. "Congratulations. Assuming the poison doesn't kill us, we should be able to find our way through the Necromanteion's first level."
"Just the first level?" Nico turned to Hazel before gestured to the stairs.
"After you, sister." In no time, Bucky felt lost, the stairs split in three different directions, as soon as Hazel chose a path that the stairs split again. They wound their way through interconnecting tunnels and rough hewn burial chambers that all looked the same or at least to Bucky. The walls were carved with dusty niches that might have once held bodies and the arches over the doors were painted with black cows, white poplar trees and owls.
"I thought the owl was Minerva's symbol."
"The screech owl is one of Hades's sacred animals. Its cry is a bad omen." Hazel pointed to a doorway that looked the same as al the others.
"This way. It's the only one that won't collapse on us."
"Good choice, then." It felt like he was leaving the world of the living behind as he went deeper into this place, Bucky wondered if Emily felt like this when she went into the underworld for spring and summer. His skin tingled as he went deeper, he wasn't sure if that was just this place if it was something else entirely. In the eerie glow of their magic weapons that the ten of them looked like that they could pass as flickering ghosts. Cold air brushed against his face, it made him shiver when he felt that cold sir, it reminded him too much of when he was throw off the Argo II by Khione. They reached an archway carved in the shape of human skulls, or they were human skulls that was embedded in the rock. Bucky didn't want to know for sure if they were real human skulls or not. In the purple light of the scepter the hollow eye sockets seem to blink. Hazel spoke up.
"This is the entrance to the second level, I'd better take a look." Frank and Hazel were in front of the doorway, Frank made way for Hazel.
"Uh, yeah …" Hazel traced her fingers across the carved skulls.
"No traps on the doorway, but … something is strange here. My underground sense is – is fuzzy, like someone is working against me, hiding what's ahead of us."
"The sorceress that Hecate warned you about? The one Leo saw in his dream? What was her name?" Hazel chewed her lip.
"It would be safer not to say her name. But stay alert. One thing I'm sure of: from this point on, the dead are stronger than the living." Bucky could hear voices from the darkness that seem to whisper louder, he caught glimpses of movement in the shadows. Bucky guessed the others were seeing things to since their eyes were darting around as well.
"Where are the monsters? I thought Gaia had an army guarding the Doors."
"Don't know." Jason's pale skin looked as green as the poison from the chalice. "At this point I'd almost prefer a straight-up fight."
"Careful what you wish for, man. " Leo summoned a ball of fire to his hand, and for once it seems that Frank was glad to see the flames. Or Bucky was guessing from the look on Frank's face. "Personally, I'm hoping nobody's home. We walk in, find Steve, Emily, Percy and Annabeth, destroy the Doors of Death and walk out. Maybe stop at the gift shop."
"Yeah. That'll happen." The tunnel shook and rubble drained down from the ceiling, Bucky managed to move out of the way in time.
"That was close. These passageways won't take much more."
"The Doors of Death just opened again."
"It's happening like every fifteen minutes."
"Every twelve. We'd better hurry. Steve, Emily, Percy and Annabeth are close. They're in danger. I can sense it." Bucky panicked, he wondered what was going on down there, does it mean that they were almost at the doors? He really hoped that they were almost to the doors of death, he would be glad to see them again. As they went further down that the corridors widened, the ceiling rose to six meters high, decorated with elaborate paintings of owls on the branches of white poplars. All Bucky could think about was Emily and what she was facing down in Tartarus at the moment, who knows what was going on down there. Leo was holding his fire close to the walls and he saw ancient Greek graffiti scratched into the stone. There were prayers and other things to the dead written on the walls by the pilgrims thousands of years ago. The floor was littler with ceramic shard and silver coins.
"Offerings?"
"Yes. If you wanted your ancestors to appear, you had to make an offering."
"Let's not make an offering." No one argued.
"The tunnel from here is unstable. The floor might … well, just follow me. Step exactly where I step." Hazel made her way forward, Frank was behind Hazel and Bucky was right behind Frank. Suddenly Frank stopped cold, Bucky stopped just behind Frank and Jason stopped just behind Bucky. It was Jason who spoke up to Frank.
"Frank? Hazel, hold up a second. Frank, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just –" Bucky was worried about Frank, something was happening to Frank, Bucky has the oddest feeling that it was one of the dead that Frank was seeing. Than Hazel spoke and she sounded alarmed.
"Frank, don't move." Bucky looked down and saw that Frank was about to step out of line.
"Lead where?" Bucky raised an eyebrow when Frank said that, he wondered if Frank was talking to one of the dead.
"Uh, big guy? Could you not freak out on us? Please and thank you." Everyone looked at Frank with concern.
"I'm okay. Just … a voice." Nico nodded.
"I did warn you. It'll only get worse. We should –" Hazel held her hand up for silence.
"Wait here, everybody." Bucky didn't like it but Hazel went up alone, after a few moments of waiting that Hazel came back, her face was drawn and pensive. "Scary room ahead. Don't panic."
"Those two things don't go together." None the less, they followed Hazel into the cavern. The place was like a circular cathedral with a ceiling so high that it was lost in the gloom, dozens of other tunnels led off in different directions. Each one of the tunnels was echoing with ghostly voices but that was not the unnerving part of the room. It was the floor that was the unnerving part, for on the floor was a gruesome mosaic that Bucky ever seen in his life, not that he seen very many. For the mosaic was made from bones and gems, human femurs, hip bones and rib twisted and fused together into a smooth surface. The bones formed patterns curling to protect the precious stones.
"Touch nothing." Bucky has no intention of touching anything, not unless if he really has to of which he doubts very much that he really has to.
"Wasn't planning on it." Jason was scanning the exits.
"Which way now?" For once Nico looked uncertain of which was odd since this was area of knowledge, Arabella and Hazel also looked uncertain as well.
"This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits. One of these passages leads deeper into the temple, to the third level and the altar of Hades himself. But which –?"
"That one." Frank pointed to a doorway, Bucky looked to the door that Frank pointed to before he raised an eyebrow. There was nothing special about that doorway or tunnel or at east as far as he could tell, Hazel frowned when Frank said that.
"Why that one?
"You don't see the ghost?"
"Ghost?" Bucky was concern, it seems that Hazel, Jennifer, Nico and Arabella couldn't see that ghost but Frank could for some odd and unknown reason. It was than that the floor started to vibrated underneath him.
"We need to get to that exit. Now!" Hazel almost tackle Frank to restrain him.
"Wait, Frank! This floor is not stable, and underneath … well, I'm not sure what's underneath. I need to scout a safe path."
"Hurry, then." Frank drew his bow, while Bucky held his sword out in front of himself. Frank herded Hazel along as fast as he could, Leo scrambled behind them to provide light, Bucky and the others guarded the rear. Bucky was getting more and more worried by the minute, suddenly the cavern reverberated with monstrous roars. Hundreds of enemies were coming from every direction, there was the Earthborn, gryphons, Cyclopes and other monsters that he could think of as well as fight.
"Hazel, don't stop!" Nico pulled the sceptre of Diocletian from his belt. Arabella, Jennifer, Phil, Aubrey, Lauren, Piper and Jason drew their swords as the monsters spilled into the cavern. A vanguard of six armed Earthborn threw a volley of stones that shattered the bones and jewel floor like ice, a fissure spread across the center of the room going straight towards Bucky, Hazel, Leo and Arabella. Frank tackled them and they skidded across the cavern, tackled may not been the best word for what Frank did, but it was the closest word to what he did do.
"Go! Go, go!" Bucky, Arabella, Leo and Hazel scrambled into the tunnel, of which was the only one free of monsters. Two meters into the tunnel that Leo turned.
"The others!" The entire cavern shuddered, Bucky looked back, dividing the cavern was a new fifteen meter wide chasm. Spanned only by two rickety stretched of bone flooring, the bulk of the monster army was on the opposite side, the monsters were howling in frustration, they started throwing whatever including each other. Some tried to tried to cross the bridge but it creaked and crackled under their weight. Jason, Piper, Nico, Jennifer, Phil, Aubrey and Lauren stood on the near side of the chasm and they were surrounded by a ring of Cyclopes and hellhounds, more monsters kept pouring in from the side corridors while gryphons wheeled overhead. Bucky knew that they would not make it, even if he was helping Jason and Lauren with the flying.
"We have to help them." Bucky was unsure of what to do, but Frank seem to come up with something.
"Nico! The sceptre." Nico raised the sceptre and the cavern air shimmered purple, ghosts climbed from the fissure and seeped from walls. An entire roman legion in full battle gear and they began to take on physical form, like walking corpses but they seemed confused. Jason yelled in Latin ordering them to do something, but the undead just shuffled among the monsters causing confusion. Than Frank turned to the four of them.
"You four keep going." Hazel's eyes widened when Frank told them that. Bucky would have said something but Hazel spoke before he could.
"What? No!"
"You have to. Find the Doors. Save Steve, Emily, Annabeth and Percy."
"But – "Leo glanced over Frank's shoulder. "Hit the deck!" Bucky, Hazel, Leo and Arabella dive one way while Frank dive the other way. When Bucky managed to get up from the floor, coughing and covered in dust, that he turned and saw that the entrance to the tunnel was gone. An entire section of the wall collapsed, leaving only rubble in it's place.
Emily's pov
Emily just stared up at Tartarus, she was unsure of what to do now or what to say. She couldn't go up against a god like Tartarus, Emily was pretty much unaware of her surroundings expect for Tartarus. Tartarus was flexing his fingers, than he examined his own polished black talons, he has no expression on his face but he straightened his shoulders as if he were pleased. Though with having no face that it was hard for Tartarus to even have an expression on his face, without thinking much of it that Emily out her arms over her stomach. She could feel one of Steve's hands over one of her hands.
'It is good to have a form. With these hands, I can eviscerate you.' His voice was unlike any other voice that Emily heard before, it sounded like a backwards recording as though the words were being sucked into the vortex of his face rather than being projected outwards like it was supposed to be. Everything seem to be drawn towards the face of this god, the dim light, the poisonous clouds, the essence of the monsters, even Emily's own life force. She never felt so weak, so helpless before even when she was first chased by a monster just before she learned she was a demigod. She thought that was she was weak and helpless when she was still in training long enough when she was the till she was twenty. Emily knew that they lived this long mainly because Tartarus was savor it his new form, honestly she wasn't sure if which was scarier, going around Tartarus as a pit and sometimes seeing what he was really or seeing Tartarus in this form. Emily felt that they were both on equally ground, for both were the scariest things that Emily ever seen. Emily would have dropped her sword if her sword hadn't changed back to being a poppy, however Percy did drop his sword and it was a weird sound when the sword fell. Tartarus hissed, most likely he was laughing instead but it was hard to tell for sure.
'Your fear smells wonderful, I see the appeal of having a physical body with so many senses. Perhaps my beloved Gaia is right, wishing to wake from her slumber.' Tartarus stretched out his massive purple hand and might plucked Emily up but Bob interrupted and leveled his spear at Tartarus.
"Begone! You have no right to meddle!" Tartarus turned to Bob.
'Meddle? I am the lord of all creatures of the darkness, puny Iapetus. I can do as I please.' His black cyclone face spun faster. The howling sound was so horrible that Emily was force to bend over and covered her ears so that the sound was not as bad but she still could hear it. Bob stumbled as a wispy comet tail of his life force grow longer as it sucked towards the face of the god. Bob roared in defiance and he charged before thrusting his Speer at Tartarus's chest. Before it could connect that Tartarus swatted Bob aside like he was a pesky insect and Bob went sprawling. 'Why do you not disintegrate? You are nothing. You are even weaker than Krios and Hyperion.'
"I am Bob." Tartarus hissed.
'What is that? What is Bob?'
"I choose to be more than Iapetus. You do not control me. I am not like my brothers." Small Bob leaped out of the coveralls that Bob was wearing and landed on the ground in front of Bob, than Small Bob arched his back and hissed at Tartarus. Emily watched as as Small Bob's form flickered till the little kitten become a full sized translucent skeletal saber tooth tiger. "Also, I have a good cat." The no longer small Bob sprang at Tartarus and sank his claws into Tartarus's thigh, the tiger scrambled up his leg straight under the god's chain link skirt. It seem like Tartarus didn't like having a physical form any more, now that there was a skeletal saber tooth tiger attacking him. For Tartarus was stomping and howling, Bob thrust his spear into Tartarus's side, right below his breastplate. Tartarus roared and swatted at Bob but Bob backed out of reach just in time, Bob thrust out his fingers, his spear yanked itself free of Tartarus's flesh and went back to Bob's hand. Small Bob dropped out of Tartarus's skirt and ran to Bob's side with his fangs dripping with golden ichor.
'You will die first, Iapetus. Afterwards, I will add your soul to my armour, where it will slowly dissolve, over and over, in eternal agony.' Tartarus pounded his fist against his breastplate, milky faces swirled in the metal and they were screaming to get out. Bob turned towards the six of them grinning, Emily knew what Bob was thinking.
"Take the Doors, I will deal with Tartarus." Tartarus threw back his head and bellowed, creating a vacuum so strong that the nearest flying demons were pulled into his vortex face and shredded.
'Deal with me? You are only a Titan, a lesser child of Gaia! I will make you suffer for your arrogance. And as for your tiny mortal friends …' Tartarus swept his hand towards the monster army, beckoning them forward. 'DESTROY THEM!' Emily heard those words all to often in the last seventy years, she even heard the words puny humans or mortals too many times as well. That got out of her shock state as well as everyone but Dr. Erskine, but that was not a big surprise to Emily. Steve and Emily stood in front of Dr. Erskine, both knowing he can't fight against the monsters like they could. Emily raised her sword as well as Annabeth, Colonel Phillips and Steve.
"Percy!" Percy snatched up Riotide, Annabeth nodded at Emily and Emily nodded back at Annabeth knowing what Annabeth meant when she nodded. Emily and Annabeth dived for the chains that were holding the doors of death. Their blades cut through the chains in a single swipe. The doors shuddered and opened with a pleasant ding as Percy, Steve and Colonel Phillips fought with the monsters. Bob and Small Bob went around weave Tartarus's legs attacking and dodging to stay out of his clothes. But they didn't do much damaged to Tartarus, she was sure to Tartarus that they were like annoying little bugs. More monsters surged towards the doors, a spear flew past Emily's and Annabeth's head. Emily turned and stabbed an empousa through the gut, than she dived for the doors as they started to close. Emily kept them open with her foot as she fought the monsters, Annabeth was right next to Emily with her own foot in the door as well.
"Percy, get over here!"
"Come on guys." Percy, Steve, Dr. Erskine and Colonel Phillips joined them. Expect for Dr. Erskine, their faces were dripping with sweat and blood from several cuts that they gained from the monsters
"You okay?" Percy nodded.
"Got some kind of pain curse from that arai." Percy hacked a gryphon out of the air. "Hurts, but it won't kill me. Get in the elevator. I'll hold the button."
"Yeah, right!" Annabeth smacked a carnivorous horse in the snout with the butt of her sword and sent the monster stampeding through the crowd. Emily hacked off another empousa, of who turned to yellow dust. "You promised, Seaweed Brain. We would not get separated! Ever again!"
"You're impossible!"
"Love you too!" An entire troop of cyclops charged forward knocking smaller monsters out of the way.
"It had to be Cyclopes." Percy gave a battle cry. A red vein in the ground at the cyclopes' feet burst open. It sprayed the monsters with liquid fire from the Phlegethon. The firewater might heal humans but it didn't do any good to Monsters, for the Cyclopes combusted in a tidal wave of heat. The burst vein healed itself but nothing remained of the monsters but a row of scorch marks.
"Annabeth, all of you, you have to go! We all can't stay!"
"No! Duck!" Percy didn't ask why but he crouched and Annabeth vaulted over him bring it her sword down on the head of a heavily tattooed orge. They all stood in front of the doors. The exploding vein seem to give the monsters pause, Emily wondered when they remember when they are only six of them and one of them being a mortal while the other five were demigods.
"Well, then, you have a better idea?" Emily wished that someone would come up with an idea, it was than that Colonel Phillips spoke.
"I will stay behind." Emily looked over at him when he said that.
"Daedalus, you can't serious." He looked over at her when she said that.
"Why not?"
"Your place isn't here it is in the underworld."
"True, but I may as well been thrown into Tartarus originally if I died when I was suppose to." The crowd of monsters were inching forward snarling and gathering their courage of which made Emily grip her sword tighter. She noticed that Bob's attacks were getting slower, that Tartarus was slowly learning of how to control his new body. Than small Bob lunged at Tartarus but Tartarus smacked the car sideways, Bob charged bellowing in rage. But Tartarus grabbed his spear and yanked it out of his hands before he kicked Bob downhill knocking over a row of Telkhines like bowling pins.
'YIELD!'
"I will not. You are not my master."
'Die in defiance, then. You Titans are nothing to me. My children the giants were always better, stronger and more vicious. They will make the upper world as dark as my realm!' Tartarus snapped the spear in half, Emily knew what was going to happen, Small Bob leaped to his feet and snarling at Tartarus while baring his fangs. Bob was struggling to rise but it was over, the monsters turned to watch of what was happening. Percy gripped Annabeth's hand.
"Stay here. I've got to help him."
"Percy, you can't, Tartarus can't be fought. Not by us." Annabeth was right, for Tartarus was in a class of his own, he was more powerful than the gods or the titans, so that means that demigods were no match to him. She knew Percy would help Bob and that Percy wouldn't listen to Emily or anyone. "We'll go together." Emily knew what they were going to do, before Annabeth could say anything more that a ripple of alarm passed through the army. In the distance Emily heard shrieks screams and a persistent boom that was too fast to be the heartbeat in the grounds but it was something large and heavy as well as running at full speed. An Earthborn spun into the air as if he was tossed by something, a plume of bright free gas billowed across the top of the horde of monsters like a spray from a poison riot hose, everything in it's path dissolved, across the sizzling newly empty ground that Emily saw what made the commotion and she smiled for the first time since she left the swamp. It was the Maeonian drakon and it was spreading it's frilled collar and hissed, it's breath filled the battlefield with the smell of pine and ginger. It shifted it's hundred foot long body, flicking it's green tail and wiped out a battalion of ogres and on it's back was ...
"Damasen!" The giant inclined his head to Annabeth.
"Annabeth Chase, Emily Barnes, I took your advice. I chose myself a new fate."
'What is this? Why have you come, my disgraced son?" Damasen glanced at them telling them to go now, than he turned to Tartarus, the Maeonian drakon stamped it's feet and snarled.
"Father, you wished for a more worthy opponent? I am one of the giants you are so proud of. You wished me to be more war-like? Perhaps I will start by destroying you!" Damasen leveled his lance and charged at his father, the monster army swarmed him but the Maeonian drakon flatten everything in it's path sweeping it's tail and spraying poison while Damasen jabbed at Tartarus. Tartarus was forced to retreated like a cornered lion, Bob stumbled away from the battle and his car besides him. Percy was giving them as much cover as he could by having the blood vessels in the ground to burst one after another having different affects depending in the river. Bob limped to the doors, golden ichor flowed from the wounds on his arms and chest and his janitor's outfit were in tatters. His posture was twisted and hunched as if Tartarus breaking the spear broken something inside of Bob but Bob grinning none the less to which was a surprise wonder to Emily of how he could be grinning when he was like this.
"Go, I will hold the button." Percy gawked at Bib.
"Bob, you're in no condition –"
"Percy." Annabeth's voice was threatening to break. Emily hated this but they have no choice but let Bob push the button. "We have to."
"We can't just leave them!" Emily spoke.
"I know, I don't want to either but what good we will do down here, no good, we need to stop Gaea." Emily looked at Annabeth and Percy. "You two need, Steve and I are to help you if and when we can." Bob clapped Percy on the arm nearly knocking Percy over.
"You must, friend. I can still press a button. And I have a good cat to guard me." Small Bob growled in agreement. "Besides, it is your destiny to return to the world. Put an end to this madness of Gaea." Suddenly Sarah jumped into her shoulders, Bob looked at Sarah. "Besides you have a cat to help you above." A screaming cyclops sailed over their heads, the drakon was still trampling monsters and Damasen was yelling insults and jabbed at Tartarus pulling him away from the doors. Tartarus was lumbering after Damasen.
"You cannot kill me! I am the pit itself. You might as well try to kill the earth. Gaia and I – we are eternal. We own you, flesh and spirit!" He tried to attack Damasen but he sidestepped and impaled his javelin in the side of the neck. Tartarus growled, more annoyed than he was hurt. He tried to suck Damasen but Damasen got out of the way.
"Bob, don't! He'll destroy you permanently. No coming back. No regeneration." Bob shrugged.
"Who knows what will be? You must go now. Tartarus is right about one thing. We cannot defeat him. We can only buy you time." The doors were trying to close on Emily's and Annabeth's foot.
"Twelve minutes, I can give you that." Annabeth jumped before she threw her arms around the Titan's neck. She kissed his cheek, her eyes so full of tears she couldn't see straight. Emily remained where she was looking at Bob while Annabeth was trying not to sob.
"Monsters are eternal, We will remember you and Damasen as heroes, as the best Titan and the best giant. We'll tell our children. We'll keep the story alive. Some day, you will regenerate." Bob ruffled Annabeth's hair.
"That is good. Until then, my friends, tell the sun and the stars hello for me. And be strong. This may not be the last sacrifice you must make to stop Gaea." He pushed Annabeth gentle away. "No more time. Go." Steve put his foot in the door, nodding at Emily, Emily removed her foot and ran over to Bob before she hugged him. Emily was close to crying, sure Bob wasn't in the underworld for long but he was still part of the family that she made since she lost and than found Steve, Bucky and Lauren, even after they came back. Bob hugged Emily when she did that, in a way it felt like World War II all over again.
"I am going to miss you, Bob." Bob let go of Emily.
"Go Princess." Emily went back to Steve and the two of them managed to open the doors as Annabeth grabbed Percy's arm and dragged Percy inside. Colonel Phillips and Dr. Erskine followed the four of them into the elevator, when they were inside that Tartarus noticed them of where they were and yelled at the monsters.
'Monsters, stop them!' Small Bob crouched and snarled, ready for action, while Sarah was still on Emily's shoulder. Bob winked at them.
"Hold the Doors closed on your side. They will resist your passage. Hold them –" The panels slid shut. Sarah climbed into her jacket and Emily could feel Sarah going around to her back.
"Percy, help me!" Annabeth shoved her entire body against the left door pressing it towards the center, Percy did the same on the right, Emily and Steve remained close by to help if they need the help. The doors shook and tried to open threatening to spill them into whatever was between life and death. Emily started to help Annabeth to make sure her side remained closed and Steve did the same on Percy's side while Colonel Phillips and Dr. Erskine remained in the back of the elevator.
"We left Bob and Damasen. They'll die for us, and we just –"
"I know. Gods of Olympus, Percy, I know." Emily was unsure of what to say or do at the moment expect to make sure that the doors doesn't open. Emily remembered a time of when she wondered when she will go on a quest and at twelve she went on one with Lauren and Gleeson. She remembered of how scared she was on that quest, but that quest seem like nothing and nothing could have readied Emily for her of what just happened in Tartarus. It felt like way more than seventy years ago when the US joined the war, than she lost two people who thought were died only to learn that was not true. That they were only lost, that she didn't see Lauren for almost seventy years and Lauren thought hat Emily was dead for seventy years. The doors managed to open a little, Emily was going to say something but Annabeth spoke.
"Percy, the Doors." The four of them pushed harder to close the crack of which they managed to do, but there was a smell that was there till the door closed. Emily looked at Percy and saw anger in his eyes.
"I will kill Gaia, I will tear her apart with my bare hands." Annabeth nodded, Emily looked at Steve, Emily could see the hurt and sadness in his eyes, something she got use to seeing for seventy years till Steve, Bucky and Lauren were found again and they were together again. Honestly going through Tartarus felt like the about seventy years that followed after the war ended, or in a sense. Emily has an idea that Steve had an basic understanding of what Emily went through while he was in the ice, asleep.
"Twelve minutes. Just twelve minutes." Emily prayed to all the gods that Bob would be able to hold that button for twelve minutes and that someone would push it on the other side of the doors when the twelve minutes were over.
"We can do this. We have to."
"Yeah. Yeah, we do." They held the doors shut as the elevator shuddered and the music played, somewhere below a Titan and a giant sacrificed their lives so that they could get out and stop Gaea. As the elevator shuddered again that Colonel Phillips gasp, Emily looked over at him, he was staring up at the ceiling as though he couldn't believe it was there. Emily spoke up.
"What?" Colonel Phillips looked down from the ceiling and for the first time she saw fear and panic in his eyes, it was like his worst nightmare came true.
"She is remaking the labyrinth."