The storm swallowed the hill in a swirling cone of black vapour, and Arion charged straight into it.

They were at the summit, but it may as well have been a different dimension. Color seeped away from everything like those lame old black and white movies.

Rue found herself at the summit, but it felt like a different dimension. The world lost its colour. The walls of the storm encircled the hill in murky black and the sky seemed to churn grey. Around them, the crumbling ruins were bleached so white that they almost glowed, and even Hooved Demon had turned from caramel brown to a dark shade of ash.

In the eye of the tempest, the air was still. Rue's skin tingled coolly, as if ast'd been rubbed down with alcohol. In front of ast, an arched gateway led through mossy walls into some sort of enclosure.

Rue couldn't see much through the gloom, but ast felt a presence within, familiar in the way that aster's Father's realm was yet older and darker. Its pull was irresistible, dragging her forward.

Rue had never belonged; dancing on the line of life and death but ast did not want to die.

Ast hesitated, reining in Arion even as he clopped impatiently, the ground crackling under his hooves. Wherever he stepped, the grass, dirt and stones turned white like frost. Rue remembered the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska – how the surface had cracked under their feet. Ast remembered the floor of that horrible cavern in Roma crumbling to dust, plunging aster's friends to hell.

"It's fine," Lou Ellen said, leaning in close so that ast could hear her over the storm. "It's safe."

Rue hoped this black-and-white hilltop wouldn't dissolve under them but ast listened to Lou Ellen and kept going.

Arion trotted through the stone archway. Ruined walls bordered a square courtyard about the size of a tennis court. Three other gateways, one in the middle of each wall, led north, east and west. In the centre of the yard, two cobblestone paths intersected, making a cross. Mist hung in the air — hazy shreds of white that coiled and undulated as if they were alive.

It was starting to look familiar to Rue.

Gateways, death, and mist.

Sounded like a trip to Dad's house.

Well, not mist, Rue realized. The Mist.

Rue only knew a small handful of beings like that though they mainly dealt with the Mysteries, and were her stepfamily, the Parcae, or Trivia.

Rue stared at the Mist—the supernatural veil that obscured the world of myth from the sight of mortals. It could deceive humans, even demigods, into seeing monsters as harmless animals, or gods as regular people. The same Mist that Athena had lifted when she helped Diomedes wound Aphrodite.

Except this was still somehow different.

Rue watched as it curled around Arion's legs, floating through the broken arches of the ruined courtyard, brushing against ast and making ast feel whole .

This wasn't mist.

It was so similar to watching Terrel and Lou Ellen casting spells, watching Medea and her traitorous brother fight head-to-head as they threw magicka at each other, watching as Trivia's children ran around at night during the witching hour giggling and cackling, watching as they cast spells on brooms and bought actual cauldrons.

This was magicka.

In its purest form.

Lou Ellen slipped off the back of the horse, walking past them almost as if she was in a trance. In the distance, a dog howled. Arion wasn't usually scared of anything, but he reared, huffing nervously.

'It's okay.' Rue stroked his neck. 'We're in this together. I'm going to get down, all right?' Sliding off his back, the damn traitor instantly he turned and ran. 'Arion, wai–' But he'd already disappeared the way he'd come.

So much for being in this together.

Asshole.

Another howl cut through the air – closer this time.

Rue stepped towards the centre of the courtyard where Lou Ellen was rocking side to side; her eyes milky white as if she was blind but Rue knew that it was her magicka sparking in her eyes.

The Mist clung to her like freezer fog; clung to them both.

'Hello?' Rue called because it was clear that Lou Ellen wasn't going to say anything with how drunk she looked off the power.

'Hello,' a voice answered.

The pale figure of a woman appeared at the northern gateway. Rue blinked as she stood at each of the entrances at once. Her form was blurred, made from Mist, and she was trailed by two smaller wisps of smoke, darting at her heels like animals. Some sort of pets?

That answered that question, but still just to be sure—

Three smoky images of the same woman moved in unison towards the centre of the ruins. She reached the centre of the courtyard, and her three forms merged into one. She solidified into a young woman in a dark sleeveless gown. Her golden hair was gathered into a high-set ponytail, Ancient Greek style. Her dress was so silky it seemed to ripple, as if the cloth were ink spilling off her shoulders. She looked no more than twenty, but Rue knew that meant nothing.

'Rue Harald,' said the woman.

She was beautiful, but deathly pale. Gods, she needed to fire her makeup artist. She looked casket ready.

Her eyes were open similar to Lou Ellen except instead of being so brilliantly white like looking into the center of the sun; the woman's eyes were completely black. When she tilted her head, she seemed to break into three different people again ... misty after-images blurring together, like a photograph of someone moving too fast to capture.

"Am I right," Rue started, nervously biting ast's lip before stopping. Rue was supposed to be facing the actual earth soon. Nothing else could top that so there was no need to be nervous even if this woman radiated power. Ancient power. Everything around them – the swirling Mist, the monochromatic storm, the eerie glow of the ruins – was because of her presence. "You're… you're—"

'Ah. I'm sure you know,' The woman nodded, looking over to Lou Ellen who had drifted closer and seemed to be unravelling. It looked a lot like Medea during that final fight where she took control of her own grandfather and used him as a battering ram. A terrifying sight to watch someone actually become mist. 'Let me give you some light.'

She raised her hands. Suddenly she was holding two old-fashioned reed torches, guttering with fire. The Mist receded to the edges of the courtyard. At the woman's sandalled feet, the two wispy animals took on solid form. One was a black Labrador retriever. The other was a long, grey furry rodent with a white mask around its face. A weasel, maybe?

'I am Hekátē,' she said, smiling serenely. 'Titaness of mayeia."

"Mother," Lou Ellen breathed.

"We have much to discuss if you're to live through tonight.' the titaness said as she moved closer to her daughter.

Rue wanted to run, but ast's feet seemed to be stuck to the white-glazed ground. On either side of the crossroads, two dark metal torch-stands erupted from the dirt like plant stalks.

Hekátē fixed her torches in them, then walked a slow circle around Rue, regarding ast as if they were partners in some eerie dance.

The black dog and the weasel followed in her wake with Lou Ellen trailing after her.

Those pure black eyes seemed to pull at Rue, as if trying to extract ast's soul. Rue remembered how those dorks had tormented Hazel at St Agnes School because of her mother. They'd called Marie Levesque a witch. The nuns had muttered that Rue's mother was trading with the Devil.

Rue was sure that their religion said thou shall not kill and yet it was one of the bloodiest religions to date.

Hypocritical assholes.

Rue was including Marie in that too.

Still, if the nuns were scared of Marie Lebitchque, Rue wondered, what would they make of this titan?

'Many fear me,' Hekátē said, as if reading aster's thoughts. 'But magic is neither good nor evil. It is a tool, like a knife. Is a knife evil? Only if the wielder is evil.'

Rue shrugged. Ast could agree.

"Though Marie was a charlatan," Rue shrugged. "She and all the other hoodoo queens in New Orleans were just faking it, for the money."

Ast watched from Hazel's memories as they used to listen to employees complain about their bosses then turn around and use that same information that they eavesdropped on to make a buck.

The weasel chittered and bared its teeth then it made a squeaking sound from its back end. Under other circumstances, a weasel passing gas might have been funny, but Rue didn't laugh, covering aster's nose. Damn. Someone needed to visit a vet.

The rodent's red eyes glared at her balefully, like tiny coals.

'Peace, Gale,' said Hekátē, giving Rue an apologetic shrug. 'Gale does not like hearing about nonbelievers and con artists. She herself was once a witch, you see.'

'Your weasel was a witch?'

'She's a polecat, actually,' Hekátē said. 'But, yes – Gale was once a disagreeable human witch. She had terrible personal hygiene, plus extreme – ah, digestive issues.' Hekátē waved her hand in front of her nose. 'It gave my other followers a bad name.'

"We got some Tums on the ship," Rue said, looking away from the rodent.

'At any rate,' Hekátē said, stifling a smile as she took her daughter in her arms, running a soothing hand over her hair, 'I turned her into a polecat. She's much better as a polecat.'

Rue looked at the black dog, which was affectionately nuzzling the titaness' leg. 'And your Labrador ...?'

'Oh, she's Hekábē, the former queen of Troy,' Hekátē said, as if that should be obvious.

"Nice to meet you," Rue said. "One of your descendants is in hell right now."

The dog whined then grunted.

'You're right, Hekábē,' the goddess said. 'We don't have time for long introductions. The point is, Rue Harald, Marie Levesque may have claimed not to believe, but she had true magic. A lot of them in New Orleans did. It's a supernatural hotspot for witches. Eventually, she realized this. When she searched for a spell to summon the god Ploutō, I helped her find it.'

'You ...?'

'Yes.' Hekátē continued circling Rue. 'I saw potential in her. I saw even more potential in Hazel. Unfortunately, both of them died before they could reach it.'

Rue's head spun, remembering Marie's confession of how she summoned Pluto and her stupid wish and the curse that Hazel lived with. Hazel could summon riches from the earth, but anyone who used them would suffer and die. Now that Rue thought about it; it was kind of worse than aster's powers. Hazel got the best and worst of both sides of the coins.

Damn.

And now this titaness was saying that she had made all that happen.

"Hazel… she's alive." Rue's mouth clamped close.

Ast hadn't meant to say that.

"I know,' Hekátē smiled. "I am one of the Leaders of Ghosts. I know when spirits cross over, and I know that you summoned her. You have a bit of potential also, Rue."

Hell no.

'Her mother suffered because of that magic. Her whole life –' And Rue would be damned before ast got caught up in that.

"Her life wouldn't have happened without me,' Hekátē said flatly. "I have no time for your anger on her behalf. Neither do you. Without my help, you will die.'

The black dog snarled, and the polecat snapped its teeth and passed gas.

Can they summon some air freshener?

Rue felt like ast lungs were filling with hot sand, and ast didn't know if it was from aster's nerves or the fact that they could weaponize that fart.

'What kind of help?' Rue demanded.

Hekátē unwrapped her arms from around Lou Ellen who seemed to be coming back to herself and raised her pale arms. The three gateways she'd come from – north, east and west – began to swirl with Mist. A flurry of black-and-white images glowed and flickered, like old silent movies in the Third District of New Roma.

In the western doorway, Roman and Greek demigods in full armour fought one another on a hillside under a large pine tree. The grass was strewn with the wounded and the dying. Rue saw herself riding Arion, charging through the melee and shouting – trying to stop the violence.

"Camp Half-Blood," Lou Ellen breathed then she choked on a scream, hand reaching to the screen as she saw a boy that looked much too like Travis laying speared on the ground.

In the gateway to the east, Rue saw the Argo II plunging through the sky above the Apennines. Its rigging was in flames. A boulder smashed into the quarterdeck with another punched through the hull. The ship burst like a rotten pumpkin, and the engine exploded.

The images in the northern doorway were even worse.

Rue saw Leo, unconscious – or dead – falling through the clouds. There was Frank staggering alone down a dark tunnel, clutching his arm, his shirt soaked in blood. And Rue saw asterself in a vast cavern filled with strands of light like a luminous web. Ast was struggling to break through while, in the distance, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Octavian lay sprawled and unmoving at the foot of two black-and-silver metal doors.

'Choices,' said Hekátē. 'You stand at the crossroads, Rue Harald. And I am the goddess of crossroads.'

The ground rumbled at Rue's feet and ast looked to the ground, seeing the ground bubble as aster's power made flowers of asphodel push forward and the glint of silver coins … thousands of old Roman denarii hidden within the leaves and breaking the surface all around ast, as if the entire hilltop was coming to a boil.

'The past is close to the surface in this place,' Hekátē said. 'In ancient times, two great Roman roads met here. News was exchanged. Markets were held. Friends met, and enemies fought. Entire armies had to choose a direction. Crossroads are always places of decision.'

'Like ... like Janus.' Rue remembered the shrine of Janus on Temple Hill back at Camp Jupiter. Demigods would go there to make decisions. They would flip a coin, heads or tails, and hope the two- faced god would guide them well. Considering that Rue lived with one foot in the grave; literally, ast had never cared about him.

The titaness of crossroads made a disgusted hiss. 'Ianvs and his doorways. He would have you believe that all choices are black or white, yes or no, in or out. In fact, it's not that simple. Whenever you reach the crossroads, there are always at least three ways to go ... four, if you count going backwards. You are at such a crossing now, Rue.'

"Yeah well, I'm not going back anywhere without my friends," Rue snapped even if ast had to put on ast's big girl panties and go to hell to get them. Rue looked again at each swirling gateway: a demigod war, the destruction of the Argo II, disaster for herself and her friends. 'All the choices are bad.'

'All choices have risks,' the titaness corrected. 'But what is your goal?'

'My goal?' Rue waved helplessly at the doorways. 'None of these have me punching Terra in the face so none of them.'

The dog Hekábē snarled. Gale the polecat skittered around the titaness' feet, farting and gnashing her teeth.

"Lay off the bake beans," Rue sneered.

'You could go backwards,' Hekátē suggested, 'retrace your steps to Roma ... but Gaía's forces are expecting that. None of you will survive.'

'So ... what are you saying?'

Hekátē stepped to the nearest torch, scooping a handful of fire and sculpting the flames until she was holding a miniature relief map of Italy.

'You could go west.' Hekátē let her finger drift away from her fiery map. 'Go back to America with your prize, the Trojan Pallidum. Your comrades back home, Greek and Roman, are on the brink of war. Leave now, and you might save many lives.'

'Might,' Lou Ellen repeated though her eyes lingered on that image of Camp Half-Blood greedily. 'But Gaía is supposed to wake up in Greece. That's where the giants are gathering.'

'True. Gaía has set the date of August first, the Feast of Spes, goddess of hope, for her rise to power. By waking on the Day of Hope, she intends to destroy all hope forever. Even if you reached Greece by then, could you stop her? I do not know.' Hekátē traced her finger along the tops of the fiery Apennines. 'You could go east, across the mountains, but Gaía will do anything to stop you from crossing Italy. She has raised her mountain gods against you.'

'We noticed,' said Rue dryly.

'Any attempt to cross the Apennines will mean the destruction of your ship. Ironically, this might be the safest option for your crew," Hekátē mused, studying the door. "I foresee that all of you would survive the explosion. It is possible, though unlikely, that you could still reach Epirus and close the Doors of Death. You might find Gaía and prevent her rise. But by then both demigod camps would be destroyed." Lou Ellen whimpered, tears gathering in her eyes at those words. "You would have no home to return to.'

Hekátē smiled. 'More likely, the destruction of your ship would strand you in the mountains. It would mean the end of your quest, but it would spare you and your friends much pain and suffering in the days to come. The war with the giants would have to be won or lost without you.'

Won or lost without us.

Rue had never backed down from a fight, and while ast didn't want any more pain or suffering for asterself and ast friends, ast wasn't going to back down from this. Besides, Rue owed the giants for bothering aster's siblings. No one stuck aster's siblings in a jar or made them kill themselves. Rue wouldn't be satisfied until those three assholes, and all their brethren were stuck back in the pit where their bitch of a mother sent aster's other friends.

Rue looked behind Hekátē at the middle gateway where the four of them were sprawled helplessly before those black-and-silver doors. A massive dark shape, vaguely humanoid, now loomed over them, its foot raised as if to crush Percy.

'What about them?' Rue asked, her voice ragged. "Octavian and Percy?"

And Jason and Annabeth.

Hekátē shrugged. 'West, east or south ... they die.'

'Not an option,' both demigods said.

'Then you have only one path, though it is the most dangerous.' Hekátē's finger crossed her miniature Apennines, leaving a glowing white line in the red flames. 'There is a secret pass here in the north, a place where I hold sway, where Hannibal once crossed when he marched against Roma.' The goddess made a wide loop ... to the top of Italy, then east to the sea, then down along the western coast of Greece. 'Once through the pass, you would travel north to Bologna and then to Venice. From there, sail the Adriatic to your goal, here: Epirus in Greece.'

'That's so far out of the way," Lou Ellen hummed.

'Which is why Gaía will not expect you to take this route,' Hekátē said. 'I can obscure your progress somewhat, but the success of your journey will depend on you, Rue Harald. You must learn to use the Mist.'

'Me? Use the Mist how? Lady, I'm no witch.'

Hekátē extinguished her map of Italy. She flicked her hand at the black dog Hekábē. Mist collected around the Labrador until she was completely hidden in a cocoon of white. The fog cleared with an audible poof! Where the dog had stood was a disgruntled-looking black kitten with golden eyes.

'Mew,' it complained.

'I am the goddess of the Mist,' Hekátē explained. 'I am responsible for keeping the veil that separates the world of the gods from the world of mortals. My children learn to use the Mist to their advantage by strengthening their magic, strengthening their ability to create illusions or influence the minds of mortals. Other demigods can do this as well. Not as well, but they can. And so must you, Rue, if you are to help your friends.'

'But ...' Rue looked at the cat. So, the titaness can change a dog to a cat but can't get rid of the digestive issues that the weasel had? Good to know. 'I can't do that. I don't—"

'As a child of Ploutō who was born from death, you understand the veil between worlds better than most.' Hekátē said. 'You understand the mysteries."

Lou Ellen and Rue tensed.

Any netherworld demigod worth their salt knew about those gods of the Mystery Cults that Ceres and Libera and Trivia ruled over and her other sister, Domina. Not much was known because of the strict rules of secrecy surrounding these ancient religions.

"You can control the Mist. You need to learn the secret knowledge of the Mysteries and the promised path to a blessed afterlife," Hekátē said, looking between the two.

"You got an instruction manual or somethin'," Rue snarked, huffing when Lou Ellen elbowed ast in the stomach.

"The spirits are whispering to your brother in his sleep. Marcus, Travis, Hank, Cecil, and even you, my daughter. The spirits speak to you, whispering of the future to come if only you all would listen."

Lou Ellen and Rue shared looks because they both noticed those that she named had a connection to the Underworld.

"When you reach the House of Háidēs, you will meet a formidable enemy," Hekátē said. "She cannot be overcome by strength or sword. You alone can defeat her, and you will require magic.'

Rue felt the world shift.

'Who?' Rue said. 'Who is this enemy?'

'I will not speak her name,' Hekátē said. 'That would alert her to your presence before you are ready to face her. Go north, Rue. As you travel, practice summoning the Mist. Be careful of the mountain gods lest they send you back. If so, seek out Kírkē's island. She may be willing to help you. And when you arrive in Bologna, seek out the two dwarfs. They will lead you to a treasure that may help you survive in the House of Háidēs.'

'I don't understand.'

'Mew,' the kitten complained.

'Yes, yes, Hekábē.' The titaness flicked her hand again, and the cat disappeared. The black Labrador was back in its place.

'You will understand, Rue,' the titaness promised. 'From time to time, I will send Gale to check on your progress.'

The polecat hissed, its beady red eyes full of malice.

'Wonderful,' Rue muttered. Hopefully, Drew had some strong perfume.

'Before you reach Epirus, you must be prepared,' Hekátē said. 'If you succeed, then perhaps we will meet again ... for the final battle.'

A final battle, Rue thought. Oh, joy.

Rue wondered if ast could prevent the revelations ast saw in the Mist – Leo falling through the sky; Frank stumbling through the dark, alone and gravely wounded; the four hell bringers at the mercy of a dark giant.
'Why are you helping me?' Rue demanded. 'You sided with the Titans in the last war.'

Hekátē's dark eyes glinted. 'Because I am a Titan—daughter of Pérsēs and Asteríē. Long before the Olympians came to power, I ruled the Mist and Mayeia. Despite this, in the First Titan War, millennia ago, I sided with Ζεύς against Krónos. I was not blind to Krónos' cruelty. I hoped Ζεύς would prove a better king.' She gave a small, bitter laugh. 'When Dēmḗtēr lost her daughter Persephónē, kidnapped by your father, I guided Dēmḗtēr through the darkest night with my torches, helping her search. And when the giants rose the first time I again sided with the gods. I fought my arch-enemy Klythios, made by Gaía to absorb and defeat all my magic.'

"Klythios.' Rue had never heard that name – Clai-tee-us – but saying it made ast limbs feel heavy. Lou Ellen mouthed it to herself, shivering at the dark feeling it provided.

They glanced at the images in the northern doorway – the massive dark shape looming over the four hellwalkers. 'Is he the threat in the House of Hades?'

'Oh, he waits for you there,' Hekátē said. 'But first you must defeat the witch. Unless you manage that ...' She snapped her fingers, and all of the gateways turned dark. The Mist dissolved; the images gone.

"We all face choices,' the titaness said. 'When Krónos arose the second time, I made a mistake. I supported him. I had grown tired of being ignored by the so-called major gods. Despite my years of faithful service, they mistrusted me, refused me a seat in their hall ...'

Gale chittered angrily.

'It does not matter anymore.' The titaness sighed. 'I have made peace again with Ólumpos. Even now, when they are laid low – their Greek and Roman personas fighting each other – I will help them. Greek or Roman, I have always been only Hekátē. Trivia started as an epithet after all. I will assist you against the giants, if you prove yourself worthy. So now it is your choice, Rue Harald. Will you trust me ... or will you shun me, as the Olympian gods have done too often?'

Blood roared in Rue's ears. Ast looked at Lou Ellen and thought over the other magicka users that ast knew. Rue also knew that ast would be damned before ast let Octavian, Jason, Percy, and Annabeth die.

"We're going north,' Rue declared. 'We'll take your secret pass through the mountains."

Hekátē nodded, the slightest hint of satisfaction in her face. 'You have chosen well, though the path will not be easy. Many monsters will rise against you. Even some of my own servants have sided with Gaía, hoping to destroy your mortal world.'

The titaness took her double torches from their stands. 'Prepare yourself, child of Ploutō. If you succeed against the witch, we will meet again.'

'I'll succeed,' Rue promised. 'And Hekátē? I'm not choosing one of your paths. I'm making my own.'

The titaness arched her eyebrows. Her polecat writhed, and her dog snarled.

"She's right, Mom," Lou Ellen said. "We're going to find a way to stop Gaia. 'We're going to rescue our friends from Tartarus. We're going to keep the crew and the ship together and we're going to stop Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood from going to war. We're going to do it all.'

The storm howled, the black walls of the funnel cloud swirling faster.

'Interesting,' Hekátē said, looking at her daughter with a wry smile. 'That would be magic worth seeing.'

A wave of darkness blotted out the world. When Rue's sight returned, the storm, the titaness and her minions were gone. Rue stood on the hillside in the morning sunlight, alone in the ruins except for Arion, who paced next to them, nickering impatiently.

"'I agree,' Rue told the horse. 'Let's get out of here.'

Lou Ellen was quiet the entire ride back, and Rue had wanted to ask, but ast hands were still shaking from aster's talk with the titaness.

When they climbed back aboard the Argo II, Lou headed below decks immediately, Travis following after her with a concerned sound.

"What happened," Leo asked, looking between the two before deferring to Rue who had turned to stare over the rail. There was a trail of dust stretching across the hills of Italy, the only sign of Arion's departure. A part of Rue resented him. Ast wanted to run away too, but then again, ast was also no coward, so run along, Speedy.

The countryside sparkled as the summer sun hit the morning dew. On the hill, the old ruins stood white and silent – no sign of ancient paths, or titanesses, or farting weasels.

'Rue?' Hank asked, and ast's knees buckled. Hank and Pranjal grabbed ast immediately, helping ast to the steps of the foredeck. Distantly, a part of Rue grumbled. Ast didn't even do all that when ast met aster's stepmother, and the woman was literally one moment away from turning Ast into a new type of flora!

"I met Trivia," Rue sighed, feeling suddenly exhausted. The memory of those glowing scenes at the crossroads filled ast with dread. "I mean Hekátē. Lou Ellen's mom."

Rue explained as much as ast could; the secret northern pass through the mountains and the detour Hekátē described that could take them to Epirus. Ast gave a brief overview of what the crossroads were, not describing how they looked but the urgency of them all.

Rue was going to have enough nightmares about the four lying helpless in front of a giant by what could only be the doors of Death, and even Leo flying away hopefully unconscious and not dead was enough to give ast's frozen heart to start beating again.

Rue was really unnerved. Ast was making comments about being dead inside again.

As ast was speaking, Pranjal was giving ast a checkup, no doubt seeing that Rue was partially in shock.

Hank took ast by the hand; eyes filled with concern. Rue hadn't seen him look so concerned since he had come out trans to their cohort so long ago. "Rue, you met Trivia at a crossroads. That's ... that's something many demigods don't survive. And the ones who do survive are never the same. Are you sure you're—'

"I'm fine," Rue assured. "Or I will be."

Rue had declared that ast was going to find aster's own way; that whatever future the Parcae weaved for ast then Rue was the one that laid the foundation. Not Trivia or her crossroads.

In fact, those were Rue's crossroads now.

'What if Hecate is tricking us?' Leo asked. 'This route could be a trap.'

"More like a test of trust," replied Rue. "If we trust her and prove to the Olympians that they can trust her again. If it was a trap, I think Triv-Heká-whatever would've made the northern route sound tempting. Believe me, she didn't. Besides, she lost the most kids in the Titan War. I doubt she wants to lose more, and Lou is on this ship.'

Leo pulled a calculator out of his tool belt and punched in some numbers. 'That's ... something like three hundred miles out of our way to get to Venice. Then we'd have to backtrack down the Adriatic. And you said something about baloney dwarfs?'

'Dwarfs in Bologna,' Rue said. 'I guess Bologna is a city. But why we have to find dwarfs there ... I have no idea. Some sort of treasure to help us with the quest.'

'Huh,' Leo said. 'I mean, I'm all about treasure, but –'

'It's our best option.' Travis said as he walked onto the deck while Pranjal helped Rue to ast feet. 'We have to make up for lost time, travel as fast as we can. Our friend's lives might depend on it.'

"Fast?' Leo grinned, hurrying to the console to start flipping switches. 'I can do fast.'

"Is Lou okay," Rue asked Travis. The boy frowned, turning his head back below deck.

He nodded slowly in the most unconvincing way. "She will be. Seeing her mom…" His hands clenched into fists. "Leila is switching with Katie that way she can help me with…." The boy sighed, looking every bit of an exhausted older brother.

Turning back to ast, he gave a weak smile. "Lou will be fine. What else did her Mom say?"

Rue thought about how the titaness didn't say anything to her daughter; not until they were leaving and how drunk on magic that Lou Ellen had seemed to be. She thought about how that might have hurt to be standing in front of her Mother, and the woman barely acknowledging her.

"To Lou? Nothing really."

Rue didn't imagine the way his features darkened or the way that the temperature plummet more or even the same hazy feeling that Rue got around spirits that were too weak to properly form.

Netherworld kids, everybody.

Rue's mind moved on to those images ast'd seen; aster's friends helpless at the feet of those black metal doors, the dark giant looming over them, Rue trapped in a glowing maze of light, unable to help.

Inwardly, Rue seethed.

Ast did not like the idea of being helpless.

You must defeat the witch, Trivia had said. You alone can defeat her. Unless you manage that …

The end, Rue thought. All gateways closed. All hope extinguished.

Fine. Get ast a bucket of water. Rue was about to wizard of oz that bitch.

"Come on," Rue said. "She said that the spirits are whispering to us and we need to listen."

Then they would all rest while they could as they crossed the Apennines.

WORD COUNT: 5665

GODS TO KNOW:

1) Cerēs - Dēmḗtēr

2) Lībera - Persephónē

3) Trivia - Hekátē

4) Domina - Déspoina

5) Ianvs - Janus

COMMENTS FROM THE AUTHOR:

1) She'd never understood why her friends were so willing to let a god take away their responsibility for choosing.

1A) Hazel says this in canon. Again, their responsibility for choosing still belongs to the mortals. The choice the gods present are more like the final stops. Even in this scene, Hekátē showed her where the paths led. It was up to them to choose how they went down that path.

2) Can't remember if I already mentioned this so power wise:

2A) Nico has power over the dead. 2B) Hazel over the riches/precious metal.

2C) Rue has power over the fertile earth since Háidēs/Ploutō were agriculture gods and are connected to the mysteries. He was often depicted pouring fertility from a cornucopia, or horn of plenty, signifying his role in the Mysteries as the god of earth's fecundity.

2D) Rue still has power over the dead; ast can kill ppl with a touch, but Rue's power over the earth is more prevalent.