The trip through Orpheus' tunnel was long, giving Marcus plenty of time to think. What the hell was he doing? Marching into Hades alone? Maddie had been right, this was suicide, and he had dived right in. Why? Because Aphrodite had told him to? He knew that he was on thin ice with the Goddess as it was, but he knew that wasn't why. Because he knew how important Chastity was to the Camp? To their war? Maybe, but then he could have just gone with Phil's plan. Played the long game. Marcus had to face the harsh reality as he walked ever deeper into the earth, ever closer to the land of the dead. Maybe there was more here than just that…

Chastity meant more than just another member of his group to him. She was one of his closest friends, second only to Maddie, but was that truly the reason? Would he literally go to Hades and back for anyone else? For Maddie. In a heartbeat. But that left the other question. The one he had refused to acknowledge. But the more Marcus fought the thought away, the more it rose to the front of his mind. Chastity's little smirks. Their banter. The way Aphrodite got a gleam in her eye every time she threw the two of them together. Stop it. Just because Athena put that doubt in your mind… And that was it. Marcus had always known that his one sided love of Maddie was simply that, one sided. Doomed to end in heartbreak. And while that was painful, that was a certainty. His entire life, events had blind sided him with the pain, to the point he had come to expect everything in his life to end up that way. Marcus loved Maddie for who she was, and after the side of her he had seen his last night in camp, he had to reevaluate who that was, and that thought was exciting for him. But he still knew where that path led. It led to pain for him, but Maddie's happiness. And though he was loath to admit it, even when he had been in the midst of his rage during his training with Athena, he had been content. Because that was where he knew their story ended, and Maddie got what she wanted.

But lately, Chastity had been in his thoughts more and more. She was the song stuck in his head. Every time he turned around, her eyes seemed to be looking at him. There was such.. chaos around Chastity. She was unpredictable. She would be happily flirting with him one moment, and trying to fight him the next. Maddie's smile was a soothing breeze, but Chastity's nature was the excitement of a tempest. Her strength continued to grow by leaps and bounds, and it seemed each time she displayed a new magic, he felt himself drawn to her a little more. And yet there were still the things he knew would never change about her. The little phrases that would always elicit a smile.

What is she to me…?

He didn't have much time to grapple with that thought once he arrived there, as he finally seemed to break free of the tunnel as he found himself standing on a black beach. Beside him, the waters of the River Styx surged by. Marcus had been most places a demigod would be sent, but the Underworld was something he hadn't been prepared for. It was beautiful, in its own way. Taking a moment to take stock, Marcus realized that around here had been where his Nyx Message had shown Chastity to be. Makes sense, if she used her music based magic to get herself here…

Marcus pressed his back to the rocks of the cliffside behind him, gazing up at the obsidian castle before him. Chastity is in there somewhere… Marcus realized now, far too late, that he had a distinct problem before him. Well, to be more accurate, three distinct problems. All of them snarling and sniffing the air. Not much scared him anymore, but he watched with growing panic as the heads of Cerberus turned this way and that, as they seemed to catch his scent on the air of the Underworld, as the lines of the dead moved steadily around him through whichever gate they were assigned. Marcus quickly scanned the area in front of him for anything, anything at all, that could be used as a distraction when he noticed something decidedly out of place. Marcus knew from the stories that he'd have to get past the gates and cross the Fields of Asphodel before he could get to Hades' Palace, the place he had a sinking suspicion Chastity had been heading to, but nothing in the stories had mentioned a large… basket?

Yet there it was, clear as day. Well, as clear as anything was in the Underworld. Cerberus, snarling in all his glory, and to his left, Marcus' right, far enough from the line that Cerberus wouldn't be distracted, was a large basket. Too large to feasibly exist. Finally, it clicked. The one story that loved getting passed around the campfire after a particularly horrifying tale of the Underworld. The story of the time Annabeth Chase had tamed the terrifying hound of hell with a red rubber ball. It seemed that for once, the immortal, unfeeling God of the Underworld had taken the advice of a half blood to heart, and given Cerberus his own toys, though it seemed they sat unused. Let's change that. Marcus smiled, reaching for his fathers power. He stirred the air around the basket, but the terror Marcus felt at seeing each of Cerberus' teeth start to pull back as he started to pinpoint his scent gave him strength he didn't realize. With a lurch, he caused a gust of wind to push heavily against the massive toy basket, causing one of Cerberus' chew ropes to fall and roll in the sand, seemingly crushing a spirit or two on its way, though Marcus hoped he had been mistaken.

Cerberus, to his credit, tried to ignore the fact that his hardly touched toys had practically jumped out of its basket towards him, but once one of his heads started to try and sneakily bite into it, the game was up, and all three heads attached the toy rope with a ferocity that Marcus would have found terrifying had be stayed around to watch, but the moment Cerberus was distracted, Marcus had slipped his way past the massive guard dog, once again slipping through crowds as he entered the gates to Asphodel.

—-

Marcus walked quickly through fields of pale grass, poplar trees dotting the edge of his vision as he kept his focus to one place. Hades' Palace. He knew in his heart that that had been Chastity's destination, and thus it became his as well. He could feel it. The closer he got, the more the palace reminded him of Olympus, with its grand pillars and sweeping architecture; however, certain touches seemed to be missing. Those must be the things Annabeth added after the Titan War.

Marcus found himself all too soon skulking through what he assumed must have been Persephone's Gardens. The trees and bushes around him seemed to glow with their own inner light, and precious stones dotted the ground around him. A small brook wound its way through the garden, leading to the center, where there stood a grove of pomegranate trees. Marcus spared these no more than a cursory glance. He was so close. She was here. Marcus knew now what he followed, for the closer he got, the stronger he sensed it. A Godly Aura, one that was out of place in his surroundings. He could feel it in the steps he took, steps he knew mirrored Chastity's own. It was similar to Aphrodite's, in a way, but more wild. Erratic. That's Chastity alright.

He followed the trail he had picked up through Persephone's Gardens, avoiding the main entrance to the palace along the way, somewhat to his surprise. He found that the path he was following led around the side of Hades' Palace, dodging the balcony with the view of Asphodel, dodging the main doorways, until it seemingly ran straight into a solid obsidian wall. Marcus stopped, shocked, until he noticed a slight tint to one of the spots on the wall. Taking a moment to examine it more closely, Marcus smiled. Right against the dark obsidian, almost too small to notice unless you were looking for it, was a small pink mark. Not quite a trail of breadcrumbs. Marcus shook his head, for that was the only explanation he could think of. Chastity was marking her way through. He reached forward, resting his hand on the spot in front of him, though he never expected what happened next.

As his hand met the stone, he didn't meet the solid wall of resistance he was expecting. Instead, his hand slipped right through, finding itself on a latch behind it. Throwing caution to the wind, feeling how exposed he was simply standing by Persephone's Garden, he quickly pulled the latch and was amazed when the wall before him slid open, revealing a passageway into the palace. Looking inside, he noticed the disuse on this particular passageway, so seemingly out of place in the palace of a God. With a smile, he realized what he must be looking at. A passageway large enough for a half blood, but not a God… Nico di Angelo, helping us against his own father even all this time later.

Quickly, Marcus slipped into the passageway, following it through to its conclusion. The walls around him were dark stone, though not quite as dark as the outer walls had been. The floor beneath his feet was solid bronze, and it seemed to him unnaturally loud as he tried to quickly but quietly move further and further into Hades' home.

The halls around him seemed to be the same polished stone, and if he wasn't following the aura Chastity was leaving, Marcus was sure he'd be walking in circles for eternity. As it was, he had to constantly break from the trail to slide into a side door, or in an alcove as he passed skeletal servants and guards, seemingly from every war in history. At least every war he could recognize. Is that what will happen to those that die during this war? Marcus scowled at the thought. Though the idea of an N.O. or two being forced to play bodyguard to an Olympian did fill him with a sick sort of satisfaction.

Finally, Chastity's trail led him through a large bronze door, one he had to push with all his strength just to move, and then push back in a panic as he heard the heavy footfalls of skeletal guards behind him. Turning back, Marcus couldn't believe his eyes. All around him were pedestals, upon which were objects he had only ever dreamed about, or heard about in stories. To his immediate left, a ball of what he was pretty sure was Golden Thread. Beside it, on its own pedestal, sat a Harpe. As he walked closer Marcus could read that underneath was a single word. Or rather, a name. Perseus. Marcus looked around the room in awe. Here, in Hades' own Palace, was a room full of half blood artifacts. Items Marcus could use to win the war against the New Olympians. If I brought even one of these back… Chiron would never call him a failure again. On another pedestal he saw what appeared to be a simple bow and arrow, but underneath was a plaque that read Heracles, and Marcus knew that those arrows were touched with the poison of a Hydra. But the pedestal in the center of the room is what caught his attention most. On it was a wooden Lyre, nothing seemingly noteworthy about it at all, except for the plaque beneath. Marcus stepped closer, making sure he hadn't been mistaken. Orpheus…. So this is what you were after… Marcus reached out, feeling drawn to the instrument in front of him. While at first glance it had seemed simple, the wood was carved in intricate designs, depicting nature in all its glory, Dryads and Naiads alike. As his hand had nearly closed around the instrument in front of him, he realized too late that if this was where Chastity's trail had led him… Why is the lyre still here?!

The thought came to him just as the floor opened beneath him, and Marcus fell into darkness.