I headed back for the library after the council meeting, stopping halfway up the steps only to facepalm myself before beginning to rummage through my bag. How could I be so stupid? Here I was, about to chuck more ancient books at walls out of frustration, when I had the answer to my problem all along.

"I'm an idiot," I told myself, pushing aside piles of clothing, food, and supplies before I found the spines of the books containing everything I needed to know about this place. I counted down four spines, closed my fingers around the book, and pulled it out of my bag, spending a moment too long gazing at the cover.

The House of Hades stared up at me, with a haggard looking Percy and Annabeth plastered on the cover as they trekked through some mist (the natural kind) towards the Doors of Death on the Tartarus side.

I flipped to the end of the book, looking at the inside of the back cover, practically sighing in relief when I found the map of Tartarus that came enclosed with the book. After checking that the map was still securely adhered to the cover, I returned the book to my bag, not willing to risk the chance of anyone seeing the cover and asking why the Hades two of my best friends were making their way through Hell at the moment.

Much happier than I'd been in days, I left the Big House with a great big smile on my face, calmly walking towards the forest, heading for Bunker 9. For the next six months, Leo would be tasked with building the behemoth that was the Argo II, and while in the past he built most of the ship by himself, I refused to subject a fifteen-year-old to so much pressure.

Plus, building such a project would be just the kind of distraction I needed to keep myself from jumping into Tartarus before the time was right. Until then, I'd have to figure out a way to get past Tartarus's barrier to help Luke and Will in any way that I could.

Though it was the middle of the day, it was still pretty dark in this part of the forest, making it seem like it was almost sunset. Eventually, I found Bunker 9 and stood in front of the huge stone doorways, the runes in the stone dark as they waited to be opened.

I summoned a flame to the palm of my hand and touched the door, the runes glowing a bright orange as the sound of gears turning filled the air. The doors then gave way, revealing the massive work area, which had recently been in use if the messy work table was anything to go by.

In the corner of the room, on an otherwise empty work table, sat Festus's head, the wires dangling from his severed neck like limp noodles, his normally ruby eyes as dark as a coal. Next to the head rested a crayon doodle of a flying warship, with Festus as the masthead, bearing Leo's messy signature scribbled in the bottom corner.

Seeing that this was what the Argo II should turn out to be, I took Leo's drawing and a large piece of blueprint paper, starting to sketch out the schematics on how to build something like this in the first place.

Suddenly I had a much higher appreciation for the son of Hephaestus's ingenious when it came to engineering and mathematics as I pulled out yet another sheet of paper, this one only dedicated for scratch work as I grabbed a calculator and started punching in numbers.

I lost track of the time as I kept refining my measurements on the Argo II, muttering a mixture of numbers and formulas under my breath as I flipped through all my work, wanting to be as accurate as possible.

I'd finally found a deck length that suited our needs and could maximize area below and was just about to start working out the details on hull depth when the doors to Bunker 9 opened again, revealing an oil-stained Leo, the black liquid smeared over the majority of his face and a thick stripe on his forehead. He held a large piece of paper rolled up in his hand, which seemed to be the only part of him that wasn't covered in oil.

"Hey, Andy," he greeted, taking a seat across from me and setting his own paper down. "Whatcha working on?"

"Rough draft schematics," I answered rapidly, jotting down the next number I got from one formula, preparing to plug it into the next one. "For the Argo II," I clarified.

Leo grinned. "Great minds think alike," he said, unfurling his paper, which in reality was a rough sketch of the finished ship on blueprint paper as well. "I started working on this a few hours ago, but I still wanna recheck my calculations."

I handed him one of the many calculators that seemed to be in each of the work areas inside the bunker. Handy place, this bunker. Leo grinned even wider, accepting the calculator and pulling out a pencil from his tool belt, sticking his tongue out as he started to work.

Eventually, the both of us stopped about three hours later, our brains fried from how long we'd been working on our own schematics. But still not wanting to waste any time, we compared our designs, pointing out what we liked about the other's design and what needed improving.

"Why don't you have any stables?" Leo asked, comparing our sketches, his eyebrows furrowed together when he saw I had much more space on the lowest deck for storage than for anything else.

"No pegasi, venti, or other magic horse will stay in the stables for such a long and dangerous quest," I explained. "Plus, most pegasi are free creatures, returning home when they are no longer needed. To bring a pegasi to the ancient lands..." I shook my head. "There's better use for that space than for stables that aren't going to be in use. But I still think we should keep those bay doors, the ones you have on your design."

"You're the magic horse expert," Leo acquiesced, erasing the little divisions he'd drawn for four stables, rewriting storage in the newly blank space. He didn't know it yet, but we'd need that space for the Athena Parthenos when the time came.

And so on it went, asking each other questions about the other's design, the both of us picking and choosing the best part of each design. Leo and I had agreed that we'd get the opinion from some of the other Hephaestus kids before we even started to build the great ship, the final product going to be a mixture of both of our designs.

"Thank you for being willing to help me with this," Leo said, the both of us tidying up our work, binding everything together with these comically large paper clips Leo got from his tool belt. "I'd hate to think of doing all of this on my own."

"No problem," I said with a shrug. "What are friends for?"

The doors to Bunker 9 thudded shut as the two of us walked back into the forest. Not wanting to run into anything in the pitch dark, I used my own hand as a torch, giving off just enough glow for Leo and me to avoid gnarled roots and low hanging branches.

"For what it's worth," Leo said, breaking the silence, "I'm sorry about what happened to your friends. I'll do anything I can to help get them back."

"You're already doing something," I said, swallowing a lump in my throat as I remembered how Luke and Will looked last night. "We're starting to build the Argo II, your spanking hot war machine that will bring about the end of Mother Earth and her bastard of a husband." I sighed. "We'll get them back, somehow."

Over the next few months, I ran myself ragged between helping build the Argo II, quelling Octavian's frequent uprisings at Camp Jupiter, researching more about ways to get out of Tartarus through non-magical means, checking on Percy until it was finally time to bring him to the Wolf House, helping Jason deal with the return of his memories, and teaching Piper how to properly wield her knife so that it was more than just a looking glass.

On top of all of that, I started to go on missions with Nico to the darkest parts of the Underworld, sealing up patches between life and death, which normally would've been Thanatos's job. But seeing that the death god was currently out of commission, it was up to us to make sure the dead stayed dead.

Needless to say, I consumed more coffee in the past few months than I have in my entire life. Still, when I managed to sleep, which was far and few in between nights, I saw Luke and Will, so beaten and bloodied that it was almost impossible to identify either one of them at this point.

I still couldn't break through the barrier, but even though I couldn't physically reach them, I learned through trial and error that my powers could get past the barrier. Ever since I found that out, I spent my entire time trapped in that hellish arena pouring all of my energy into my friends, forcing wounds to heal.

At one point, Will had been conscious enough to hold a brief conversation with me, where he told me that he and Luke hadn't gone insane yet, because they knew I'd come to rescue them. My heart ached when Will gave me his signature lopsided smile, his mouth stained red from his own blood, when he said, "Have faith in us. We'll survive until you arrive."

But all of this energy expenditure of mine was coming with a severe cost: I could feel myself fading.

At times, when I was alone, I'd be on the floor shaking so badly that I couldn't see straight, like I was thrown in the River Acheron to suffer for all of eternity. Other times, when I was around people, I grit my teeth and forced the shaking to cease, only to look down at my hands and realize that my fingertips were slowly becoming more and more translucent until you could see right through them.

The only person who was aware of my worsening condition was Nico, and I swear, I've never had anyone go so Mama-bear over me before, not even Will Solace.

Nico had strapped me down to a bed in the infirmary in Hades' palace, shoving great spoonfuls of ambrosia down my throat, only stopping when he placed an icy hand on my forehead and said, "Good, you're burning up."

"How's that a good thing?" I asked, craning my neck to watch Nico set down the now empty bowl of ambrosia, picking up one of the canteens of nectar.

"You're a goddess now," Nico said, like that explained everything. He unscrewed the cap to the canteen and brought it up to my lips, making me drink every last drop of the godly beverage. "You need to have a higher core temperature, especially for someone who controls fire. Now, are you going to tell me how to end this, or am I going to have to leave you here with Celestial bronze ropes instead?"

I felt myself flush, gazing at the ceiling tiles instead of Nico's pleading eyes.

Nico sighed deeply, pulling up a seat next to my bed. "I just want to help you, Andy," he began, "the same way you've helped me my whole life. And there's no easy way to say this, but you're dying and will die if something isn't done soon."

"How the tables have turned," I said, cracking a smile at the thought, though I might've been slightly out of it at the time. "The patient has now become the doctor."

Nico looked uncomfortable. "Fine. I know those Celestial bronze ropes are somewhere around here."

"Alright, alright," I relented, hating how trapped the blessed metal made me feel. "But it's embarrassing, and you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone else until I'm ready."

"Anything to help."

I shut my eyes, not wanting to see Nico's reaction to what I was about to say. I went ahead and explained the whole thing that Hera told me in December about my needing of sacrifices to keep my powers as strong as they needed to be for what I needed to do. The entire time, my face burned.

Asking my friends for sacrifices to me sounded way too pretentious and snobby in my opinion, no matter what Hera told me. To me, the request seemed selfish, like I was rubbing it in everyone else's faces that I was a goddess and that they were still mortal.

I hated being a goddess.

"So you're telling me that all I had to do was think of you when I scrape a part of my meal into the fire?" Nico asked incredulously. "That's it?"

"Well, when you put it that way..."

I finally opened my eyes, noticing the look of exasperation on Nico's face. He started to scowl, muttering under his breath before telling me that he'd be right back. He also said that if I tried to shadow-travel out of bed, even if I stayed in the room, he'd tell Hades about the whole situation.

I hadn't been planning to shadow-travel anywhere, but now I was less inclined to do so, knowing that Hades would practically keep me on a leash until he felt that I was better. His methods seem kind of barbaric, I know, but for my brother, being kept on a leash was downright merciful.

Nico returned five minutes later, a huge sack slung over his shoulder, kind of like Santa, with Bob in tow. Bob had a metal barrel in his hands as well as old newspaper...and was that lighter fluid?

Oh, Hades.

"Bob, if you'd do the honors," Nico said, gesturing for the barrel.

"Bob likes doing the honors," Bob said, a toothy smile on his face as he tossed in the newspapers into the barrel and doused them with lighter fluid. He pulled a lighter from his pocket, flicked it on, and threw it into the barrel as well, clapping excitedly when he saw the orange flames start to leap upwards.

Nico opened the sack, revealing enough food to feed the entire Hermes cabin and then some. He'd reach into the sack, say, "For Lady Andromeda," and chuck it into the fire, the smoke curling upwards smelling like honeysuckle and baked cookies and the seaside instead of ordinary smoke.

He continued doing this until the sack was empty, a triumphant smile resting easily on his face as he sat back down next to me, beginning to undo my restraints. "How do you feel now?" he asked, helping me into a sitting position.

I flexed my fingers, noticing that my fingertips had solidified again. "Stronger," I answered, continuing to flex my fingers, glad that there was no longer any trembling sensation to suppress. "Thank you, Nico."

Nico shrugged. "Any time, Andy. Gods know you would've done the same for me." He got to his feet, wiping off his hands on his torn jeans. "Well, I have to get going. There are eight more breaches since yesterday, and five of them are in Punishment."

"Let me come with you," I said, getting to my feet. "We can split it up, four and four, that way-"

"Absolutely not," Nico said sternly. "You are in no condition to get back out there, even if you do feel stronger."

"But-"

"No but's except yours in that bed." Nico turned to Bob, who hummed a song to himself as he roasted some marshmallows over the still burning barrel. "Bob, please make sure Andy stays in the castle. If she tries to leave, please let me know."

"Yes, sir!" Bob exclaimed, pulling back his roasted marshmallows and taking one off the stick, tossing it into his mouth. His teeth were quickly covered in the white goo. "Anything for my friend."

"Thank you, Bob." Nico gave me one last look. "Behave, Andy."

I laughed. "Whatever you say, Nico. I'll be right here when you come back."

Nico sighed one more time, saying something that sounded like, "I hope so," under his breath before he vanished into his own shadow, going off to close the breaches.

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics, moving to clean up the mess Nico had left behind in the infirmary. Bob, who had noticed what I was doing, didn't hesitate to start helping, tossing aside all the trash into the burning barrel before extinguishing it with the wave of his janitorial broom.

"Come on, Bob," I said, gesturing towards the exit, where the infirmary connected to the rest of the palace. "I need to find something."

"But friend Nico said that Andromeda can't leave the castle," Bob said apprehensively, nervously twisting the rag in his hands.

"We won't be leaving the castle. I just need to find the library."

Bob blanched whiter than his hair. "Mistress doesn't like people snooping about the library. There is some dark stuff in there, bad stuff."

"It's important, Bob," I insisted. "This is a difference between life and death for my friends."

Bob didn't seem too happy, but he begrudgingly understood, finally agreeing to lead me to the library. He took me through winding corridors and dizzying passageways, some of which I'd never walked through before despite frequently visiting Hades' palace.

"Why do you need the library here?" Bob asked as we took another right, walking past the room dedicated to rebirth inquiries. "Are there no more libraries in the world?"

I went ahead and told Bob everything that was going on and how Tartarus had captured my boyfriend and best friend as playthings, causing for the Titan to stop in his tracks, a look of deep discontent gleaming in those silver eyes of his. After hearing my story, Bob picked up the pace to the library, not even giving me a second glance as he tapped out a memorized code onto the embellished doors, revealing a room that could easily fit a hundred Big Houses in it.

I dreaded the amount of searching I was going to have to do, but all Bob said was, "Bob can help," before forging into one of thousands of bookshelves. If it wasn't for the fact that he glowed a slight silver, I would've lost Bob at least twenty times by now.

When I finally managed to catch up to him, Bob had three books as thick as a monster truck's tire on the floor, each cover more menacing than the last. The third book even had multiple layers of chains wrapped around it, with at least four or five locks dangling from the chains. If that didn't scream forbidden, I don't know what did.

"Uh, Bob?" I asked, pushing the topmost book off the pile, starting to flip through the foot-long pages. "What exactly am I reading?"

The first book alone held information about unspeakable horrors about the punishments that beings sentenced to Tartarus were forced to endure, the most humane of them being forced to stew in the River Phlegethon for eternity. I couldn't make myself read past a soul who'd been sent to parlay with Akhlys and had their blood slowly turned into poison until they dissolved from the inside out.

"Tartarus is a bad place," Bob warned, his face ashen as he twirled through a myriad of keys on a ring the size of a large mirror, plucking off a couple. "To save your friends, you need help. These books are help."

I chewed on my lip. "Do you know how to get out of Tartarus without any kind of powers?"

Bob frowned. "No. Maybe the Doors of Death? But that is very dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

Great, I thought to myself, watching as Bob sifted through the books, tearing out a few select pages from the first two and handing them to me. Then, with the keys he'd taken off the ring, he unlocked the chains from the third book, warned me to cover my ears, and proceeded to start ripping out pages from that book as well.

I understood his warning quite well, because the moment Bob opened the book, the pages gave out a shrill, high pitched cry that kept getting louder and higher until I could feel the scream pounding through my entire body, like I was standing in front of a club's speaker dialed to a thousand. Just when I thought my eardrums were about to burst, Bob shut the book and quickly locked and chained it again, before shelving the three books and handing me the rest of the pages in his hands.

"Is Andromeda sure about this? Bob doesn't want his friend to get hurt."

"I'm sure," I said. "Thank you for your help, Bob. I owe you one."

Bob blushed at the compliment and tentatively handed over the torn pages. But his demeanor changed again, the little happiness that he'd regained quickly fading away, a worried expression replacing his small smile.

"Something is wrong with Master's son," Bob said ominously, tearing out of the library. Not knowing what else to do, I followed after the Titan, running through all the corridors until we were standing at the main entrance. "Stay here," Bob ordered, twirling his broom so that where the bristles used to be, a spearhead now took its place. "Bob will be back soon."

Without allowing me to reply, Bob ran out of the palace before vanishing into the shadows. A cold sense of foreboding gripped my heart, like death itself was trying to squeeze the life out of me, ending my suffering before it could begin.

"Nico," I mumbled to myself, shoving the pages Bob had given me deep into my bag before summoning my hunting knives, just in case. "Please be safe."

And as I said my wish out loud, I felt the familiar presence of someone in my mind.

Andy! Nico shouted. Don't come, no matter what happens! Do you understand me? DO NOT COME AFTER ME.

Nico, what's going on? I demanded.

There's no time. Keep my sisters safe, Andy.

Nico? I tried, the sound of my own pulse overpowering anything else I could hear. NICO?!

There was no reply.

I swore under my breath as I jumped into the nearest shadow, focusing all my energy onto finding Nico's aura. I came tumbling out of the shadows in the middle of a cavern I knew all too well: Mellinoe's cave. But what would the goddess of ghosts want with Nico? She'd already tortured him with the sight of Maria di Angelo last year, but knowing her, she'd probably torture him again just for the fun of it, the sicko.

Thankfully, it seemed that there was no one home, but that didn't make me any less alert. If there's anything I've learned over the years is to fear the calm more than the storm. The rough gravel floor was all torn and slashed up, indicating signs of a struggle. Not to mention that I could feel souls leaking through an area nearby, no doubt a breach that Nico hadn't finished sealing up yet.

I pushed aside a blood red curtain depicting human sacrifices and tribal dances used to summon spirits, tightening my grip on my knives. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge, and by shear instinct alone, I managed to deflect the tiny dart that had almost pierced through the nape of my neck.

I whirled around, gasping slightly as I saw what had shot the blow dart: zombies. No, not like the zombies you'd see in cheesy movies and TV shows. These were honest-to-gods reanimated corpses. In place of eyes and noses were sunken pits. Rotting flesh hung limply from hole-riddled bones. Worms writhed between joints, inching their way across the dead body before burrowing deep into the bones, gorging themselves on ancient bacteria.

Stupid vrykolakas, I thought to myself, gritting my teeth as I took a step back. Each one of them had some sort of weapon in their hands, ranging from as modern day as a machine gun to as ancient as a slingshot with rocks hanging from a pouch at their waists.

One of the vrykolakas stepped forward, thrusting its spear into the ground. Within seconds, the shaft of the spear caught fire, an image coming into focus in the smoke. There was Nico, falling in pure darkness, his voice unable to be heard over the terrible noise of the roaring wind, blowing him into the jagged landscape that coated the tunnel leading right into the heart of the worst place imaginable.

"I can bring him back right now," Gaea's voice crooned softly, the gravel swirling until there was the form of a woman, a sadistic smile on her face, her eyes tightly closed. "There's no need to have such a powerful pawn suffer at the moment. All you have to do is join me, granddaughter."

My body trembled with unbridled rage. I didn't give my deranged grandmother any sort of reply, instead releasing a gut-wrenching shout as my blades caught on fire, and I stabbed them directly through her chest before slashing outwards, watching the gravel collapse into a formless heap onto the ground.

"I see," Gaea continued. "Pity. One day, you'll learn your lesson. But until then, minions, attack!"

And that was all it took for the vrykolakas to surge forward, their rotting teeth clattering together in the most sickening war cry I've ever heard as they tried to tear me to pieces.

Fine, I thought, tongues of fire lacing my knives once again as I shifted my weight to the balls of my feet. If Gaea wanted a fight, then that's exactly what I was going to do.

Then I leaped forward, the chaos ensuing immediately.