All rights belong to Rick Riordan

Chapter 5

We get the Hell out of Hades

(Nico)

It had been almost 2 weeks since Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus and since then we had been attacked constantly by everything Gaia could throw at us. It had taken days to get out of Italy alone, we had been attacked by Mountain Giants, (lesser children of Primordial Ourea) along the entire spine of Italy. Eventually we had been forced to touch down near where the Adriatic Sea meets the Mediterranean for repairs suffered in a Gryphon attack that had wrenched the steering to one side. As a result we had we were stuck flying in circles until Leo was able to fix it.

I was truly glad we had the son of Hephaestus on board, his always seemingly happy personality seemed to be the only thing keeping the rest of us out of depression from the constant monster attacks. However, after setting down on the sea all that had changed was the nature of the monster attacks, from aerial assaults to marine. Unfortunately for us, our resident ace in this environment was trapped in the pit of Tartarus.

We had even been attacked by a Kraken, unfortunately for it though the creature decided to shove its face near the bow of the ship and got itself barbecued by Festus's head for its trouble. Whilst that was happening Jason and I severed its tentacles and Piper kept Coach Hedge away from it. Her charm speak ability the only thing keeping him from jumping over the side and trying to club it to death. Sadly, after it was defeated we were left with nothing but an ink stain on the deck and the smell of burnt seafood, we could have done with some Calamari after the battle.

We had another run in with that pirate Chrysaor and his bag of goons, who had seemingly been punished by Gaia for letting us go due to their stupidity last time. But this time we had been ready for them and as soon as their new ship came within range of the Argo II, we had opened fire and watched their ship reduced to tinder in seconds as ballista and are new celestial bronze cannons raked the ship from bow to stern. We just had time to see the mask less figure of Chrysaor jump over the side before a Greek fire tipped ballista bolt blew the ship clean in half.

Now at last we were finally almost at our destination the temple of my father in Epirus. Where the mortal side of the doors was located, and where hopefully Percy and Annabeth were waiting to meet us.

I remembered my brief stint in Tartarus after I was captured by the giants and I certainly would not like to be there for two weeks. I had not even been attacked whilst there as I was already a prisoner, they would likely be constantly attacked, however.

Percy was the toughest demigod I knew but no one was invincible. Especially now that he had lost the Curse of Achilles but he was with Annabeth so there was some hope for them both. I just hoped my dad had agreed with the Iris message I had sent him to see if he could send some help to protect or guide them. But I clearly knew the undead or spirits would be of little use against Giants, so I did not hold out much hope on that front. All I could do was hope and pray that they would be alright when we met again.

As the shoreline became visible on the horizon the others joined me on the bow. Hazel and Frank holding hands while Jason and Piper held each other close. I guess Leo was still in the control room, he had taken to sleeping in there as he suspected a monster attack every time he went to the bathroom. Coach Hedge was probably watching martial arts movies again or Skyping Melli the Aura planning dates for when he was back Stateside. For all his flaws I will give him that he is an optimist, the rest of us suspected we were going to our dooms.

(Leo)

As I docked the ship in the port of Igoumenitsa, Epirus, I could not help but feel like this whole situation with Percy and Annabeth was my fault. I had taken Nemesis assistance underneath Rome and as a result they had paid the price. So, I was going to do everything I could to help them.

As the Argo II finally settled, I put the ships automatic responses on standby, that way if something happened Festus would automatically take off and self-target any enemies that came close to the ship. Although Hedge would be remaining onboard no one amongst the rest of us argued against leaving him access to the weapons systems, otherwise we would have likely come back to a crater where the Greek city stands presently.

As we walked down the gangplank off the ship and onto the wharf, I could see the mist already start to change the perception we could see of my precious ship, changing from a gleaming bronze warship to a rusty fishing boat with a haphazard paint job and words Argo II spray painted on the side. The sight hurt even if it was an illusion.

We continued to follow Nico through the winding streets of the town until we reached the base of the mountain overlooking it and Nico pointed to a small building halfway up the steep cliff ahead of us.

"Not another mountain! The climb up Mount Diablo was bad enough and this is basically a cliff, why cannot the gods build stuff on flat ground like normal people? Everything has to be on a mountain just like Olympus." I protested in exacerbation even as thunder toiled in the distance.

"Leo you are forgetting something really important." Jason stated seriously whilst looking at Frank.

"And what is that then?" I said crossing my arms.

"Dude me and Frank could fly you guys up there and from what I hear Arion can run up anything, even vertical slopes". He explained and I suddenly felt like an idiot at forgetting that simple fact.

Sure, enough what he said was correct when he began to float of the floor a few inches and Frank suddenly transformed into one of the giant Roman eagles. while he was doing so Hazel whistled for Arion who was aboard the ship. How on Earth he had heard the summon I had no idea but sure enough the horse god managed to arrive in less than seven seconds. Completing a journey that had taken us an hour in seconds before neighing and nudging Hazel to demand gold which she swiftly summoned from the ground nearby and he consumed somehow like it was fodder.

Everyone got into pairs with Jason grabbing Piper and doing his Superman impression rising into the air using air currents, Nico nervously mounted Arion sitting behind Hazel and grabbing his sister around the waist, before the horse rocketed up the cliff face, barely altering course to avoid boulders in his path until the last moment.

Which left me and Frank who had kept treating me strange as if he thought I was after Hazel or something because she kept calling me Sammy for some unknown reason. I was about to approach him and ask how he wanted to do this, like grabbing my arms or what. When the giant eagle extended a talon towards me, grasping my tool belt in his claws and jumping into the air with a flap of his wings once we were airborne, we slowly ascended the five hundred metres of elevation to the temple. Frank used a thermal up draught to rise with minimal energy loss for him for me it was five minutes of hanging by my stomach hoping the tool belt did not snap.

(Nico)

When we had all arrived at the front of the temple ruins, some a bit more gracefully than others. Such was the case when Frank had dropped Leo several feet before actually landing, resulting in the son of Hephaestus falling on his face while Frank transformed back and simply shrugged whilst the other boy protested weakly.

I asked Leo to provide us all with torches from his tool belt, Neither I or Hazel personally actually needed one as we can see in the darkness unless it is not natural but the extra light of the ones we carried would help the others, that was what I thought.

As so we passed through the broken entrance between two pillars that had fallen against each other over the centuries. Inside we could see that the room was full of old statuary depicting the various figures associated with death from Charon and Cerberus to Thanatos and Melinoe all had statues in various states of disrepair, it was obvious no one came this way very often. At least not if the thick layer of dust blanketing everything was anything to go by.

At the far end of the room was an enormous statue of my father wearing his helm and holding his staff beside it. It had been a whilst since I had seen that he never carried or used it anymore, not now that he had his sword.

Leading the way, I knew behind the statue was the tunnel that opened out into a vast cavern that currently held the Doors of Death. Yet I was constantly on the alert, I was surprised that no one had stopped us yet. I thought this was strange as surely Gaia must know what our target was, which meant she must have prepared for our arrival further in, likely as a trap from which we could not escape.

"Guys don't you think it is strange we haven't seen any sign of the giants or any monsters." Piper asked curiously.

"Yeah, I suppose but that is a good thing, isn't it? Perhaps they didn't expect us to get here." Leo replied not sounding too convinced.

"Or it means that the enemy knows where we are and has planned for it accordingly." Jason replied grimly.

"Well, whatever the case may be, we came here for a reason and that is to get our friends back and shut those doors." Piper argued back to our indecision, whether it was charm speak or not none of us could argue with her point.

"Well then here goes?" I told them as I opened the secret passageway behind my father's statue only to still see nothing waiting for us as we shone lights into the gloom.

"Well, that was disappointing I was half expecting a wall of arrows or a pit to open up, not an empty tunnel." Leo stated nervously looking over mine and Jason's shoulders.

We continued to walk down the passage searching for traps or signs of the enemy only to find nothing. As we continued to walk, the tunnel began to widen and we could see light at the end. Before long we could hear a large conflict ahead of us, or at least it sounded like it, with the ring of metal striking against metal and the roars and screams of the dying.

We ran forward together expecting to see the worst but secretly hoping Percy and Annabeth had made it here in time and were fighting to survive.

What we were not expecting to see a massive horde of monsters reluctant to approach four figures standing inside the open archway of the doors. One tall black armoured giant of a man with a spear, two human sized figures with blond and black hair that we guessed was Annabeth and Percy. Strangest was a small flash of golden fur that seemed to dart from one monster to another, ripping the poor individual apart with razor sharp teeth and claws. All in all, the figures seemed to be doing remarkably well holding their ground and striking down any that got to close, and I could not help but think 'what the hades is going on here?' (Sorry father).

(Percy)

We had been traveling for about three and a half hours since the encounter with the Titans. When we began to notice a commotion ahead of us with several large figures chasing after a small flash of gold that seemed intent on avoiding their attempts to catch it, but it seemed to be ultimately be traveling towards us in its path to escape.

As they drew closer, I could make out the pursuers as being a trio of Cyclops. One larger female one wearing what seemed to be a chainmail dress or something to that affect and two smaller males. The small golden figure appeared to look like a kitten of all things, which surprised me. What the hades was a cat doing in Tartarus of all places?

As the cat approached us however it looked up at me before its eyes opened wide fearfully and it suddenly darted into a hole to try and hide. Seemingly from its pursuers and me which I felt strange about. Annabeth and I took cover behind a boulder or in Iapetus case, he was forced to lay in the prone position behind it to stay out of sight as the trio continued their hunt.

"Ma why do we have to look for this stupid cat? We've been here forever looking for that stupid thing, why can't we just go back to real world and eating demigods?" One of the two smaller Cyclops whined.

The larger one, who I now guessed was their mother slapped him hard around the head throwing him face first into the floor to which he immediately stood back up with little complaint, apparently, he was used to this treatment. "You know as well as I do that the Earth-Mother only rewards those who get results, our last two times up there ended abysmally. First, we were killed by those three from Camp Half-Blood. The second time we were caught with the rest of Polybotes's army at the slaughter at the Roman camp. Which is where our small friend comes in, if we can retrieve the lion cub for Gaia, she will see us as useful and will reward us for finding such a powerful monster for her army." She explained causing me to think about the kitten and I realised it reminded me of another monster. But that one was far larger, almost the size of tank but she had called it a cub which I found strange. I had rarely ever encountered younger monsters other than a few Telkhines and technically Tyson, but if the cub were what I thought it was it could be a serious problem.

Two things were for certain these three served Gaia and they were between us and doors. So, I decided that they had to go, I took out my spear keeping it behind the boulder, so the shine was not visible to the three Cyclops and decided to target the one closest to the cubs hiding place.

Annabeth noticed what I was doing and took out her knives, Iapetus stayed down as any movement of his would have instantly given us away. I indicated to Annabeth holding my hand up before counting down from three on my fingers.

As soon as my last finger fell, I leapt around the rock and Annabeth turned invisible around the other side heading towards the lone Cyclops away from us. As soon as I cleared the rock, and I had a clear line of sight I threw my spear and took the Cyclops in the throat with enough force to drive the entire shaft clear out the back of its neck killing it instantly. And eliciting a cry of anger from his mother who began to barrel towards me a rebar club held in one hand leaving me curious as to where she got a length of rebar in Tartarus in the first place as I drew riptide and waited for her to approach.

"You killed Torque, no one hurts my boys but me!" The Cyclops bellowed as she swung the concrete encrusted lump of steel poles, only to look on in surprise as I made no effort to dodge. instead I simply swung the shield from my back at the last second and took the blow on the shield. We both watched as her weapon disintegrated into dust and metal fragments on contact, I had not even moved an inch whilst the blow did not so much as leave a scratch in the adamantine surface.

I decided to return the favour hitting her in her chainmail covered torso throwing her back. Which was strange I do not remember hitting her that hard, this made me think back to when I had hit Hyperion with the shield, and I had practically knocked him out then with one blow. As such I began to theorize that the shield possibly amplified whatever force it was swung with so a simple swing would gain bone crushing power. I had a shield that acted as a one-man battering ram.

I approached the struggling Cyclops and looked into her eye.

"Why do you want that cat so much?" I asked the fearful looking Cyclops.

"Unlike most monsters the Nemean Lion when killed reverts back to an infant and is forced to grow again over time. My Mistress could have accelerated its growth and it would have helped us, since that Jackson boy killed it before." I suddenly understood why it had looked so fearful when it had seen me and had hid, the memory of the space food must have truly scarred it for life and left it with trauma I thought with amusement.

"You do realize I am that Jackson boy you just talked about?"

"That's not possible no demigod has that mount of strength not even Hercules could throw a Cyclops with so little eff—." She was interrupted as she saw her other son suddenly stop from his charging towards us and go limp as he suddenly sprouted two lumps through his chest before he started to collapse but rather than blow away his essence was drawn into the blades impaling him before he disappeared from sight leaving a smiling Annabeth in his place.

"No! My poor boy you killed him properly." She screamed at Annabeth before trying to lunge towards the grey eyed girl only for me to smack her back to the floor with my shield, I wasn't done asking questions yet.

"What does Gaia have guarding the doors?" I demanded pulling a familiar pen out of my pocket.

"Most of her army is there but the giants themselves have already left for Olympus, I swear. Kampé oversees defending the doors, when the demigods arrive from above the entrance in will be blocked and they were to be killed by our army." She explained desperately as the pen lengthened into three feet of Celestial Bronze.

"Well then, I suppose I have no need for you then, I guess I shall reunite you with your other son then." I said as I drove Riptide through her heart. I looked towards Annabeth and saw Iapetus on his way quickly approaching, when he arrived, I explained what I had learned about Gaia's plan for the rest of the seven.

"How are we to supposed to help them if we are on this side of the doors and ambush is on the other?" Annabeth asked causing me to think for a second.

"Simple we attack them before they can spring their ambush." I explained simply, to which they both nodded it was after all the most logical. If the giants had already left, then the three of us could deal with most normal monsters with relative ease. The last battle had made our combat capability abundantly clear.

"However, before we go there is something we need to do here still." I told them as I made my way towards the Nemean Lion cubs hiding place, only to find a fearful looking kitten trying to squeeze itself as far as it could into its hole and as far away from me as possible.

"I have never seen a monster that afraid before, why is it like that around you?" Iapetus asked curiously.

"A few years ago, your son Atlas, decided to send it to attack me and some of the Hunters of Artemis. Obviously because of its fur we were forced to kill it using some rather 'cruel and unusual' methods. I think it may have traumatised the poor thing." I explained laughing nervously at the memory.

"Percy what do you want to do with it?" Annabeth asked knowing what had happened. After all we were trying to rescue her (and Artemis) when it happened.

"First I want to get it out of that hole, then I have an idea that could help all of us." I said reaching towards the whimpering creature in front of me.

"Hey little guy, I don't want to hurt you again." I said as I took hold of the cub around the chest behind its forepaws bringing it out. Its fur was just as I remembered a metallic like gold that seemed to flow like normal fur which I guessed was still as indestructible to any known weapon other than its own claws. That was if the story of Hercules labour was any accurate. With that guy the truth sometimes was different to legend. Speaking of said claws they were currently trying to scratch my skin, but the curse currently kept me safe.

"Right then little guy, I don't want to hurt you and I doubt you want to stay down here in Tartarus. So how about this, you come with us and we will keep you away from the other monsters until you are big enough to look after yourself." I explained hoping the creature understood.

It seemed to still be regarding me sceptically when Annabeth leaned over and took hold of the cub in both arms cradling it so its paws were in the air, which it began to wave playfully. Apparently, it is a fact that Annabeth is better with animals than I am. First it was Cerberus now the Nemean Lion I should probably take those same obedience lessons she did if it can solve problems like this.

'Well, here is another thing the myths had wrong about Hercules it is technically the Nemean Lioness." Annabeth explained holding the creature up to which I felt like an idiot of course even when I had fought its grown-up form, I should have noticed it lacked a mane like a male lion.

"So then, Nemea do you want to come with us." Annabeth asked the small figure before setting it on the ground where it seemed content to rub itself down her ankle affectionately as if liking its new name.

"Seems you have gained a new pet Miss Chase." Iapetus noticed to which Annabeth nodded.

"Hey, it was my idea!" I stated crossing my arms childishly.

"You have the largest hellhound other than Cerberus, I think I deserve one too." She replied with her tongue out still stroking the playful kitten, to which I had to concede the point. If we survived it would be interesting to see the two of them meet.

"Fine." I said as I reached down to pet the Monster cub. As soon as my hand contacted its golden fur again, I began to feel lightheaded, and a golden glow appeared before us where the cub had been.

"Percy what did you do and why are your eyes now completely golden now for?" She asked surprised just as the glow began to fade revealing a much larger figure in front of us of a lion the size of a pickup truck surprising both me and Annabeth and causing us to step backwards.

"Perseus you just accelerated time around the Lion cub, accelerating its growth to an adolescent in seconds." Iapetus stated still regarding the grown-up lion who seemed to be tensed up looking at us.

"Well… At least this way she can look after herself." Annabeth stated to which I had to agree. She began to approach the now grown-up lioness and reached to stroke its head however as she was about to make contact it dived forward pinning her to the ground causing me to draw Maelstrom reflexively and point it at the monster only to find it happily purring whilst licking Annabeth's face affectionately like a dog.

"Nemea that is enough, I get it you like me, but I don't need a wash, I was in a river recently and that was enough honest." She said between giggles as the lioness's tongue continued to tickle her before it backed up and sat on its haunches and I helped her back to her feet.

"If you are done having fun, we have at most two hours left now before your friends arrive, so I suggest we hurry. It would be faster for us all if you both mount your new friend and ride alongside me towards the doors, that way I will be able to keep pace with you and save us some time because at this rate this is going to be a close thing to stop this ambush before all is lost." Iapetus explained seriously causing me to realize he was correct. Tartarus's strange time dilation had cost us 12 hours while we had dealt with the Cyclops and the cub.

We quickly did as he suggested, mounting Nemea's back, I was having reservations about doing this bareback, as riding a horse with no saddle often left half the population in serious pain at a gallop but the lioness's fur was soft and accommodating it created no discomfort as we rushed into the gloom following the Titan towards the distant walls of Tartarus. As I rode the Lioness I could not help but notice the rapidly fluctuating passage of time as we moved across the landscape.

It was strange to think that someone who was trapped down here could either experience many times there actual imprisonment period or only a fraction of it depending on the locality. But then again, how many people down here could actually sense the passage of time other than me?

As we ascended the final rise, Iapetus signalled for us to stop and dismount. Me and Annabeth stayed low so only our heads could be visible over the ridge as we studied the army before us. The army was composed of about 3000 monsters of various natures from the usual suspects: Hellhounds, Empousai and Cyclops to a sizeable contingent of Telkhines and about 300 Scythian Dracanae headed by their queen. Which I recognized as the same that had stood by Kronos's side in Manhattan before Chiron has slain her.

They were all focused on the great doors that were built into the cliffs of Tartarus, two enormous celestial bronze and stygian iron reinforced doors at 50 feet in height and 30 feet wide. The monsters seemed focused as if waiting for something, which I guessed was the others which I was thankful for as if they were still here they mustn't have arrived yet.

"Alright then how are we planning on doing this then? Do we run and attack everything or do we attack different points each?" I asked the other two as Annabeth would have to answer for Nemea I guess.

"We should stick together, if we were to separate we will likely be overwhelmed one after another by their sheer numbers" Iapetus pointed out.

"I have to agree with him Percy, we may be tough but we still have weak points and I don't even know my mine. I was lucky during the last battle when I got stranded on my own, I honestly thought I should have died back then." Annabeth admitted nervously.

"What I would suggest though is attacking in an arrow formation with Iapetus being the point and us two on the sides protesting his flank with Nemea running interference preventing any stragglers from getting behind us. We drive through the heart of their forces and push them back through the doors, where we continue to hold them off until the others arrive. Once they do, the enemy forces will find themselves trapped instead." She stated as her mind focused on various plans and scenarios in her head.

"Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena." I quipped happily earning a smile in return.

We each took out our weapons, I decided to equipped both swords at once. As I thought I would need the extra range of techniques needed to fight off multiple foes at once, I decided to use Riptide in my left-hand and Maelstrom in my right, the lighter smaller blade would be of greater ease of use in my weaker hand. It was at times like these that I was glad I had become somewhat ambidextrous over the years when it came to combat. Annabeth had her two new hunting knives in both hands blades pointed backwards in ice pick style while Iapetus hefted his enormous spear and Nemea licked her claws apprehensively.

"If Kampé turns up she is mine, that bitch cost me a perfectly good shield back on Alcatraz and I plan on paying her back for it." I said to the other three, remembering the shield my brother had made for me, that I had been forced to sacrifice to buy us time to escape back to the labyrinth.

"Very well, but I suggest we go now we only have 30 minutes before your friends arrive" Iapetus agreed while standing up and us flanking him as we overlooked the monster army in front of us that still remained unaware of our presence..

"Nemea would you do the honours of announcing us to them." I asked the lioness. She seemingly nodded her head in affirmation before taking a step forward and releasing a blood curdling roar. It was almost amusing to watch as the head of every monster assembled turned to face us, confused at the disturbance. Only to freeze in shock when we actually charged them.

(Annabeth)

As we ran towards the assembled horde before us I couldn't help but feel confident, we were four of the strongest individuals around, there was no sign of any Titans or Giants in the enemy ranks. Which although bad in the long run, it was made things a lot easier for us at this point in time if they were off somewhere else. Still we had a half mile of monster infested ground to cover and then we were out of here, I had Percy by my side and my new pet watching our backs. All we had to do was push forward and drive them back, so long as we stayed together and watched each other's backs we would be fine. I thought in time to see Iapetus's spear pierce straight through the first hellhound, entering the beast's neck and exiting the just above the creatures tail. Where it began to disintegrate, not that Iapetus wasted any time before lunging at the next creature with half a dead hellhound stuck on his weapon.

I was on the Titans right flank with Percy guarding his left as we also made it into range of the enemy forces. I began to cut and stab at anything around me, losing myself in my battle reflexes as I had before, all I could see was a target and the easiest way to take it down as my ADHD went into overdrive. I turned to see a Cyclops behind me raising a club, only for golden paw to come straight the monsters rib cage and rip the unfortunate monster in half before it died. Watching this act of savagery, I thought that after this was over I would have to buy Nemea some treats for this. Not that I knew what a one ton plus metallic furred lioness likes, probably meat and lots of it.

(Percy)

As I finished drawing Riptide out of the throat of the last of a squad of Laistrygonians I turned around one-eighty only to see a squad of Dracanae with bows notched and pointing at my friend's backs before releasing as one, only to suddenly feel a strange sensation as my energy dropped and the arrows seemed to move in slow motion, giving my friends enough time to move before the arrows struck the area they had been occupying a second before.

It was strange having these new time powers yet I didn't even seem to know how to use them they seemed to react to my emotions of anger and fear for my friends or impulsively. Yet if I tried to focus on something intentionally nothing happened. I pondered this half-heartedly as I began to cut through the archers ranks leaving nothing but the sound of ownerless bows hitting the floor followed by a golden cloud of dust blowing in a breeze.

I fought my way back to their side before a large shadow flew overhead before settling in between the frame of the door and I knew that Kampé had arrived. The creature had her scimitars out and was striking out at any monster that tried to escape away from us. Evidently the jailer had not been expecting company from this side of the doors

As we continued to advance towards the great doors I couldn't help but notice the enormous trail of golden dust we left in our wake. Annabeth had returned to her golden state from before and Iapetus had his armour from the waist down covered in the golden residue creating an intimidating look, that now made him look like he had fused with Hyperion on his lower half but without the flames.

As for Nemea she was now totally golden. Teeth, claws even her tongue was coated in the detritus of mythological carnage. The last of which she didn't look too happy about, if her retching whenever she had a chance was anything to go by, however she still carried on running from side to side destroying any monster that got behind us.

When we had only a hundred meters to go, Kampé seemed to realize that they were losing the battle and began to advance towards us but as soon as she left her position between the doorframes, the other monsters used the opportunity to begin to pour through them in a rush to get away from us.

"Guys you need to stop those guys from escaping, otherwise they could run straight into Nico and the others. I will deal with Kampé" I said while indicating at the fleeing remnants with Maelstrom.

Iapetus simply nodded, before continuing to advance with another thrust of his spear each blow spelling the end of another monster or two. While Annabeth looked somewhat fearful at us separating now that we were so close.

"You had better stay safe, Seaweed Brain." She said before following the Titan's path of destruction.

As we separated I began to cut a path straight towards the large creature, as she seemingly waited for me to arrive. Her scimitars dripping with acid which bubbled on the stone floor forming pools around her. All the while her chest continued to form a variety of different animal heads from wolves and bears to drakons and gryphon's yet each looked at me with loathing before transforming again. I fought of the last monster between us before taking a ready stance with both blades in front of me towards the creature when she charged.

I had been expecting the attack to come from either sides scimitar, I was not anticipating her to swing both of her blades from left to right at the same time, the surprise cost me dearly as the fore of the blows threw my swords from my hands and into the air where they eventually impaled a fleeing Laistrygonian through the chest and groin. In any other situation, I would have probably thought this was hilarious and made a witty comment but circumstances were against me.

As a result I had just the time to notice to raise my arms defensively as she tackled me with her whole body, pinning me between the ground and the animal heads which currently resembled an enormous grizzly that seemed hell bent on trying to eat my face. I was in serious trouble if I did not get out of here quickly as indestructible or not, I still had to breathe. Which was kind of hard to do with a several ton monster sitting on your chest. I decided to do something stupid and thrust my right arm within the bear's mouth to which it immediately responded by clamping its jaws down only for its teeth to shatter as it applied force. Using the opportunity I reached down the struggling beasts throat before ripping its tongue out with a tug of my arm through its bleeding gums.

My attack caused Kampé to rear back in pain and stagger off of me. I decided to draw my spear and shield. I had never been a fan of this combo like Thalia and the Ares kids were, but I knew the basics. Thalia had taught me at camp after she had been resurrected, before she joined the Hunters. I lunged forward with the spear and caught the wounded head between the eyes and causing it to collapse into dust and not reform. However Kampé now looked outright murderous as she bore down on me, her scimitars at the ready. Before striking at the same time as she had before but this time from left to right in an effort to strike at my spear. However, this time I was ready and as the blow came I turned one-eighty and swung my shield with as much force as I could at the incoming blades. I was rewarded by the sound of metal straining before her blades snapped at the hilt under the combined force of our blows leaving her unarmed this time.

I began to run towards the creature that now looked uncertain at fighting me dragging her bulk back in an effort to put some distance between us, making sure to avoid the puddles of acid around her. As I was ten meters away I dropped my shield and grabbed the golden spear in both hands before jumping as high as possible and impaling the great beast in the chest right through her heart. She began to slowly dissolve and I let go and watched her form blown away in the slight breeze.

Strangely Ariadne's string was left in her place which I thought was strange because she had last had it at camp half-blood during the battle of the Labyrinth. However the string gave me an idea and I grabbed it, before retrieving my weapons and chasing after the others.

The rest of my journey to the doors was a rather simple affair as my friends had killed everything this side of the doors in my absence and were currently defending the far side of them but no longer advancing just defending themselves from the occasional monster that felt brave enough to do what the rest of the horde hadn't managed. I made my way alongside Annabeth and grabbed her shoulder from behind only for her to wheel around and stab me in the chest but the blades bounced of harmless but left a slash in my shirt.

"Oh gods I am sorry Percy, don't ever do that again!" She shouted in embarrassment at how she had nearly impaled me.

"Don't worry about it, this shirt was dying anyway." I replied with a smile trying to raise the mood.

"This is serious Seaweed Brain, you could have died."

"But the good news is I didn't. So what is the plan now? How do we close these doors?' I replied and asked hoping someone had an answer.

"The doors must be sealed on both sides by someone with a connection to the underworld." Iapetus explained leaving me confused as that would mean someone would have to stay behind in Tartarus.

"Are you saying that Nico or Hazel would have to stay in the pit to close the doors? There must be another way?" I asked desperately hoping for another way.

"Yes there is. I will stay down here and shut them from the Tartarus side, you forget I am the Titan of the Underworld. You must simply have your friend Nico place a hand on the door when I shut it and his blood should seal the door from the other side." He explained not seemingly bothered by the fact he was going to be stuck down there.

"Do not worry about me, Thanatos will get me out of here after your war is won. There is very little that can stand against a Titan down there. I guess you could call us the Apex hunters of the pit, everything is afraid of us and should avoid me as long as I don't attack them first, only Lord Tartarus and Typhon are more dangerous. The other Primordials down here like Nyx tend to keep to their own little domains and are thus easily avoidable." He explained as if reading my mind to which I felt relieved, I would have missed the friendly Titan.

"Look up there at the other side of the cavern." Annabeth pointed, we could make out the figures of six people holding flashlights that we guessed were our friends.

"About time they showed up they are late for this part." I joked before severing a hellhounds forepaws causing it to collapse to the floor on its face before dissolving.

The distant figures seemed to have noticed our struggle and began to run towards the rear lines of the monster hordes remnants making their way towards us.

(Nico)

As soon as we made out the distant figures fighting we knew we had to help them and we charged towards them, Hazel on Arion who had followed us inside it seemed, Frank transformed into a small drakon and thundered towards the enemy ranks, while Leo summoned his silver and bronze hammers from his tool belt before setting himself on fire. Piper drew Katoptris and stayed by our side as Jason and I drew our swords of contrasting colours mine grey stygian iron and his bright Imperial Gold before the three of us charged into the monster horde.

The monster horde quickly began to crumble under the assault from two fronts leaving me confused. I thought there should have been far more than this, we were expecting thousands of monsters. Not a few hundred sporting looks like they had been to hades and back, they seemed unsure of where to look. As they glanced between our forces as we fought as if searching for an escape rather than fighting against us. However we gave them no escape other than an express ticket back to Tartarus as they all crumbled into dust under our assault.

We continued to fight for about another twenty minutes before the last monster in the cavern had fallen, apart from the Nemean Lion which seemed to have snuck up behind Percy. There was no way I was letting that thing kill my friend after all this time. I decided to throw my sword at the creature as I could see the monsters open mouth to Percy's right as if it was ready to bite him.

"Percy behind you." I shouted as my blade left my hand cart wheeling towards the target through the air.

(Percy)

We had just been mopping up the last of the enemy forces when I heard Nico shout behind me before throwing his sword almost right at me, but the only thing behind us was Nemea my mind quickly deduced and I gained understanding. As quick as thought, I began to feel time slow as I put myself between the spinning blade and the friendly Lioness. Just in time for the point of the sword to strike me in the chest allowing the hilt to spin and smack me on the nose knocking me on my ass.

(Nico)

'No, No, No, I've just killed Percy' I thought to myself. After I had released the blade and shouted Percy had seemingly deliberately stepped towards the flying weapon and been hit in the chest by it and fallen. I quickly ran up to the fallen demigod hoping to hades that he would be alright, only to stop when he stood up as if it was not an issue.

"Dude what the hell Nico." He said as rose to his feet rubbing his nose.

"'I was aiming for the monster behind you and then you stood in the way!" I shouted indicating the golden lion behind him that strangely still had not moved.

"Why would you attack Nemea she is a friend?" He argued back at me as the lion slowly walked over and nuzzled its head under his hand as if seeking praise.

"Well apparently we didn't get the memo on your new friends Percy, also how are you not dead?" I asked confused looking at his chest and apart from some clothing damage he seemed physically fine.

"Went in the Styx again… so did Annabeth." He answered simply pointing at Annabeth who too seemed little worse for wear as well other than a layer of gold dust over her entire body.

The others began to arrive and look at the four figures in front of us apprehensively, before Leo launched himself into a hug on the two missing demigods.

"I am so sorry it was all my fault, if I hadn't asked Nemesis for help you would never have ended up down there." Leo blubbered between falling tears

"Leo its alright, were both fine as you can see and honestly it wasn't that bad. We had to kill a Titan or two, as well as a few armies but hey I do that regularly anyway." Percy exclaimed laughing letting the small Latino boy go, who looked at him in shock at how trivial he just made those feats sound.

"What do you mean killed a few Titans?" Jason asked as surprised as the rest of us.

"Krios and Hyperion tried to jump us but we dealt with them, well Iapetus here laid the beatdown on Hyperion after Annabeth helped me defeat Krios I simply gave Hyperion the final blow." He explained to our looks of wonder.

"Perseus you are far too modest, Hyperion would have defeated me without your help and Annabeth was fighting the army you defeated Krios with your actions." Iapetus explained much to Percy's embarrassment.

"Now we need to seal these doors and I need your help son of Hades." The friendly Titan Lord explained, I had met him a few times in my father's kingdom since we had secured the sword. He worked for my dad in keeping some of the more troublesome spirits in line and seemed to be friendly with Hades; then again he was the Titan of the Underworld he knew how much it sucked to be stuck down there.

"What do you need my help for?" I asked nervously.

"The Doors of Death can only be sealed by one with a connection to the Underworld, your sister did not inherit that domain from your father and so only you can help me seal the doors." He explained to me as we walked towards the great doors.

"So what must I do then?" I asked curiously.

"When the doors are closed, you must cut your hand and place it on the seam between them and your blood shall seal the mortal side. Likewise I will do the same on the far side and seal the immortal." He explained as he slowly began to pull the right hand door closed with great effort. The rest of us decided to help with the left but even with us all pushing the door barely moved, until a golden blur flashed over our head and bounced off the wood causing us all to stagger forward as it went from stationary to slamming in no time. I had just the time to see behind me and see the lion landing on its paws with a pleased look on its face. Iapetus took one last look at us before telling us where to go now.

"You have done well heroes, but much hardship is still to come. My mother has sent her Giants to Mount Olympus already, hopefully the gods will be there to assist you. If they have got over the split personality issue. Perseus I am sure we will meet again, come find me in the throne room when you need help". He said cryptically before the doors slammed together. After a few seconds a golden line appeared at the top of the door seam and I knew Iapetus had sealed his side so I asked Percy if I could borrow Riptide a second as I didn't want to cut myself on my own stygian iron blade for fear of my soul. As I placed my bleeding hand on the door a line of red shot up between them and the sound of bolts could be heard moving as the doors sealed themselves.

"What did he mean, meet him in the throne room if Percy needs help and where did you get that shield?" Jason asked after a moment and it became clear to everyone that he and Annabeth had acquired more than a pet down there.

(Percy)

I was still thinking about Iapetus words when Jason asked his question. I really didn't want to tell them about Kronos and me yet, so I decided to lie. "He probably means the throne room in the Underworld, as he spends most of his time there with Hades. As for the shield it was a spoil left over after I defeated Krios." I explained hoping they accepted my lie. By making it sound simple enough I hoped they would not pry into it too much.

"That is so not fair, when I beat him I got nothing." The son of Jupiter whined until Piper whacked him round the back of the head.

"Stop being a child." She derided playfully. To which he lowered his head as if in shame.

"Anyway, I have had enough of this place to last lifetime let's get out of here." I said with a final look at the doors before beginning to walk out of the cavern while Annabeth took my hand and the others followed with Nemea bringing up the rear.

After we had all left the tunnel and were in the old temple an idea came to me but I had to ask Nico if it would be alright.

"Nico, how much does your dad like this place?" I asked curiously a crazy idea coming to mind.

"Not that much, it has been abandoned for over a thousand years, why?" He answered nervously.

"So he wouldn't mind it, if I caused this place to collapse and seal the doors permanently then." I stated smiling like a madman.

"I suppose if it was for a good cause, he would let you get away with it." Nico answered as deep down in my metaphorical gut I felt something begin to shift as I focused on the ground beneath out feet.

"Good because you all might want to get out of here then." I responded watching them look back at me in shock, as the ground began to rumble and sound of rock could be heard falling down the tunnel behind us as I started a small earthquake on the mountain.

"Now I suggest we run." I stated as we ran towards the broken entrance and daylight, we barely cleared the pair of fallen columns when the roof gave way burying the doors in thousands of tons of granite and marble. I turned back forward to find Argo II in the air in front of us with an ecstatic coach Hedge at the side behind a thankfully unloaded ballista.

"Percy don't ever do that again." Annabeth said breathing heavily as she rested her head against my back.

Turning around I lifted her head up so we were face to face and kissed her. Despite everything our journey through Tartarus had thrown at us. We had made it back, together.

"Come on cupcakes we have giants to clobber." Hedge shouted through his megaphone ruining the moment.

To which we all looked on in shock at the war mad old goat.

"Shut up and land then, so we can get onboard." I shouted at him, I was in no mood to deal with the Niedermeyer satyr as the ship began to settle lower.