As the Argo II hovered over a foreboding river, they stared at the source of the lightning. A cluster of crumbling buildings made out of limestone with a group of tourists climbing over the ruins, the House of Hades didn't look like much. Unless, of course, one could see the ominous black bolts of energy emerging somewhere from the structure.
"The Necromanteion," Nico stated. "Our father's house," he continued, sharing a dark look with Hazel.
"There's something wrong with the river," Will commented, studying the murky depths.
"I'm not surprised you can tell that something is wrong with it, as a healer. It's the River Acheron," Hazel explained, studying the river with a dark look. "Its headwaters, at least. From here, it flows down to Father's realm, and then from the Underworld to the Heart of Tartarus."
"Wait, do you see that?" Jason asked, excited as he locked his eyes on a black speck slowly approaching.
"It's a black pegasus," Hazel realized, a smile forming, catching sight of what Jason saw. "Do you think…?"
"It's Percy," Jason laughed, bringing his hand up in a wave. "The madman actually made it here."
The crew all stood and watched as the black speck grew, to become a Pegasus and his rider.
Jason smiled widely in greeting. "You got my message in Diocletian's Palace."
Percy sent him an amused look, dismounting from Blackjack. His shoes thudded down on the Argo II's wooden deck. "You and Reyna nerded out so much about that place, I couldn't not go."
Jason laughed, walking forward and pulling Percy into a quick hug. "It's good to see you."
"Likewise," Percy responded when the two of them pulled away.
"Hazel," Percy greeted with a nod.
"It's good to see you too, Percy," the daughter of Pluto smiled in response.
Jason watched as Percy glanced over the rest of the crew, skipping over Leo entirely, evidently still furious about his actions, studying Piper with interest, and looking down at Will and Nico's joined hands. A spark of amusement seemed to flit through his eyes at the latter.
"So," he said, clapping his hands together. A serious mask was donned, and Jason was reminded of why Percy had been the one granted praetorship. "What's the plan?"
Jason sent him a sheepish smile. "Is charging straight in, hoping we can kill everything in our path really that bad of a plan?"
"That," Percy said, pointing straight at him. "That is a terrible plan. Or, at least it would be a terrible plan if we weren't us. With us it's a plan that isn't half bad," he cockily smirked at Jason.
"We made barley cakes for the poison," Hazel said. "When Jason told us about his dream of you coming, I made one extra just in case."
"Well good thing I came in time," Percy responded, nodding in approval at her. He took in stock of their favored weapons. "Jason, di Angelo the younger, and I will lead, McLean, Valdez, in the middle, Hazel and Solace in the back."
"Wait why are we-" Leo opened his mouth as if to object, only to be silenced with a harsh look from Jason.
"There's a reason I was raised to be praetor, Valdez. It wasn't just because I'm the best swordsman in the legion," Percy snapped.
"Best?" Piper questioned.
"Percy is the best Pipes," Jason intervened before they could dig the hole deeper. "I've never beaten him without him letting me. Reyna can sometimes come close on a bad day, but ultimately Percy is better."
"Anyone else want to question me? It's unfortunate that we don't have time for a friendly duel," Percy challenged, surveying the group. "Alright then, di Angelo. You know where to go."
Nico nodded in agreement, and he took the lead.
When they arrived at the stone doorway on the side of the hill, he turned back to them. "This is where it starts getting hard," he stated. "Stick together. Don't get led astray by the voices of the dead. If we do that, we probably will all get out with our sanities."
"Fun," Leo muttered.
"Here are the cakes," Hazel said, as she passed them out. Jason ate his, trying not to make a face at the dry, bland, sawdust taste.
They continued down the passageway, past the boulder that crumbled under Hazel's touch, to the chalice of poison.
"This is the entrance to the Necromanteion," Hazel explained, gesturing to the room around them. "Dozens of heroes have come through this place, hoping to speak to the dead. Theseus, Heracles, Orpheus, Odysseus, Aeneas."
Nico was the one who picked it up, took a sip, and then almost reluctantly passed it over to Will. Jason watched as the son of Apollo took the chalice in one hand, his other hand squeezing his boyfriend's hand reassuringly. He took a small sip and passed it to Jason, who took his sip and passed it on.
Hazel drank last, and they all mutely watched as the chalice disappeared in a puff of green smoke.
"Well we can now get past the first level of the Necromanteion," Nico commented.
"The first level?" Leo asked. He was ignored.
"I should go first," Hazel stated, strapping her bow away as it phased into a lunar necklace, and drew her cavalry sword.
They all followed Hazel down the path. She was able to choose the correct way with her underground sense, even when the stairs split multiple times. Jason knew that if Hazel hadn't been with them, they would have gotten lost ten times over.
Jason could almost feel a living part of him peeling away, dying. Was it the poison taking effect?
"We've arrived at the second level," Hazel quietly announced, pitching her voice so that only their small group could hear. "The dead now hold more power than the living."
"Where are the monsters that are supposed to be guarding this place?" Jason questioned. "This seems almost too anticlimactic."
"Don't know, don't want to know," Percy responded next to him. "I would prefer if we could just walk in, grab Beth and Bianca, close the doors, and walk right out."
"Don't jinx us, Percy," Jason sighed. "I really don't want to go through another-"
"We agreed that we would never speak of that again," Percy interrupted.
Jason smirked. "You decreed we wouldn't. Reyna and I never agreed."
Percy rolled his eyes. "The doors are opening every twelve minutes or so," he commented, in a clumsy way of changing the subject. Jason decided to let it slide considering how he was here in the first place.
"They are," Nico agreed. "We should hurry. I can sense that Percy and Annabeth are close. And they're in trouble."
They slightly picked up their pace, making their way deeper and deeper into the network of tunnels. As they traveled, the cavern began to open up, the walls moving farther apart, the ceiling rising. There was more space for the larger monsters to fit, more space for them to be attacked.
Hazel stopped them. "It's unstable from here on out. Step where I step." All of them carefully followed Hazel, who clearly was concentrating hard, her underground senses being pushed to their limit.
The ground rumbled again, and Hazel began cursing under her breath. Quite creatively too, all of it in Latin. The only person he had heard curse more prolifically had been Percy, and he, as a son of Neptune, had been born with a sailor's tongue. "We need to hurry. It's going to collapse soon. The doors are already being pushed to their limit, and the House is not happy."
Jason tensed as he heard the roaring and screeching of monsters. Well. This was the ambush then. He drew his sword, aware of Percy doing the same beside him.
"You just had to ask where the monsters were," he heard Percy grumble.
Monsters spilled out from nowhere, into the cavern with them. In the corner of his eye, he watched Nico pull out the Scepter of Diocletian.
"Keep going, Hazel," Percy ordered, his eye carefully keeping an eye on the too-quickly approaching monster army. Jason looked behind them for the rest. They had been split up, the monsters filling the space between them. He, Percy, Hazel, and Leo were near the entrance to the tunnel Hazel knew would be the way further into the temple, while Will, Nico, and Piper had fallen further behind.
"Go on ahead of us," Percy ordered.
Jason agreed with Percy, at Hazel's protest. "Percy and I will stay behind to help the rest. You need to go ahead. Free the Doors. Go save Bianca and Annabeth."
"But-"
"Do I need to make than an order, Legionnaire Levesque?" Percy barked out in his drill sergeant voice.
Hazel reluctantly stepped towards the passageway and pulled Leo with her. With her years of experience, she knew when to back down, when to split up. "Alright, but you guys better catch up soon."
Both he and Percy nodded. The two of them turned, not watching the other pair continue down the tunnel.
"Nico! The scepter!" Jason called out.
Percy's eyes widened. "Of Diocletian? You guys found it?"
Jason smirked. "You up for commanding a legion of the undead, Praetor Jackson?"
Percy rolled his eyes in response and watched as Nico raised the scepter up, calling forth a legion of zombies.
"Not what I'd choose to do with my Sunday, but sure. When have I ever gotten a choice?"