{PERCY}

They followed the River Phlegethon, stumbling over the glassy black terrain, jumping crevices, and hiding behind rocks whenever the vampire girls slowed in front of them.

Evangeline quietly walked beside him. Her various cuts and scrapes had faded, and her ankle had healed a little more, but something was still bothering her. He could see it on her face. Her eyes kept wandering around them as if waiting for something to attack, the creepy veins on her arms had started spreading to her neck and she was shivering.

It was tricky to stay far enough back to avoid getting spotted, but close enough to keep Kelli and her comrades in view through the dark, hazy air. The heat from the river baked Percy's skin. Every breath was like inhaling sulfur-scented fiberglass. When they needed a drink, the best they could do was sip some refreshing liquid fire.

Time was impossible to judge. They trudged along, following the river as it cut through the harsh landscape. Fortunately, the empousai weren't exactly speed walkers. They shuffled on their mismatched bronze and donkey legs, hissing and fighting with each other, apparently in no hurry to reach the Doors of Death.

Once, the demons sped up in excitement and swarmed something that looked like a beached carcass on the riverbank. He couldn't make out what it was—a fallen monster? An animal of some kind? The empousai attacked it with relish.

When the demons moved on, Percy and Evangeline reached the spot and found nothing left except a few splintered bones and glistening stains drying in the heat of the river. Percy had no doubt the empousai would devour the two of them with the same gusto. Evangeline kicked a bone away with her good foot.

"We can't lose them," she led him away from the scene.

As they walked, the son of Poseidon thought about the first time he'd fought the empousai Kelli at Goode High School's freshmen orientation, when he and Rachel had got trapped in the band hall. At the time, it seemed like a hopeless situation. Now, he'd give anything to have a problem that simple. At least he'd been in the mortal world then. Here, there was nowhere to run.

Wow. When he started looking back on the war with Kronos as the good old days—that was sad. He kept hoping things would get better for the two of them, but their lives just got more dangerous, as if the Three Fates were up there spinning their futures with barbed wire instead of thread just to see how much the children of the Big Three could tolerate.

After a few miles, the empousai disappeared over a ridge. When they caught up, they found themselves at the edge of another massive cliff. The River of Fire spilled over the side in jagged tiers of fiery waterfalls. The demon ladies were picking their way down the cliff, jumping from ledge to ledge like mountain goats.

Percy's heart crept into his throat. Even if they reached the bottom of the cliff alive, they didn't have much to look forward to. The landscape below them was a bleak, ash-gray plain bristling with black trees, like insect hair. The ground was pocked with blisters. Every once in a while, a bubble would swell and burst, disgorging a monster like a larva from an egg.

Suddenly, Percy wasn't hungry anymore.

All the newly formed monsters were crawling and hobbling in the same direction—toward a bank of black fog that swallowed the horizon like a storm front. The Phlegethon flowed in the same direction until about halfway across the plain, where it met another river of black water—maybe the Cocytus? The two floods combined in a steaming, boiling cataract and flowed on as one toward the black fog.

The longer he looked into that storm of darkness, the less he wanted to go there. It could be hiding anything—an ocean, a bottomless pit, an army of monsters. But if the Doors of Death were in that direction, it was their only chance to get home.

He peered over the edge. "Wish we could fly," he muttered.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Evangeline spared him a look and pointed. Above them, dark-winged shapes spiraled in and out of the bloodred clouds.

"Furies?" he wondered.

"No," She frowned. "If it were them, they would've helped us. We don't have any other choice, we have to climb."

He couldn't see the empousai below them anymore. They'd disappeared behind one of the ridges, but that didn't matter. It was clear where they needed to go. Like all the maggot monsters crawling over the plains of Tartarus, they should head toward the dark horizon. Percy was just brimming with enthusiasm for that.

As they started down the cliff, Percy concentrated on the challenges at hand: keeping his footing, avoiding rockslides that would alert the empousai of their presence, and of course, making sure he and Evangeline didn't plummet to their deaths.

About halfway down the precipice, Evangeline slumped against a ledge next to a roaring fiery waterfall. "We need to take a break," she panted, breathing heavily. "We have to save our energy."

Percy wasn't going to argue with her there. He wasn't feeling much better than she was. His stomach felt like it had shrunk to the size of a gumdrop. If they came across any more monster carcasses, he was afraid he might pull an empousa and try to devour it.

At least he had Evangeline. He didn't think much of fates and prophecies, but he did believe in one thing: Evangeline and he were supposed to be together. They hadn't survived through all of that just to get killed now.

He took her hand in his, his expression faltering when her skin pressed against his. Her hands were so cold he felt like he'd just touched a dead body. That was when he noticed how blue she had begun to turn. He wondered if it was from the River of Misery, but it had been hours since they'd almost drowned in it and Evangeline hadn't been this cold before. For a split second, he saw her eyes turn black and dozens of hands stretching out from the darkness toward her.

"What?" She followed his line of sight. "What is it?"

"N—nothing," he blinked a few times, the image disappearing from his mind. "I thought I saw something."

She watched him for a moment before resting her head against his shoulder. "It could be worse."

"Yeah?" Percy didn't see how, but he tried to sound upbeat.

"We could've fallen into the Lethe," She said as if reading off of a list. "Lose our memories."

His skin crawled just thinking about it. He'd had enough trouble with amnesia for one lifetime. Only last month, Hera had erased his memories to put him among the Roman demigods. Percy had stumbled into Camp Jupiter with no idea who he was or where he came from. And a few years before that, he'd fought a Titan on the banks of the Lethe, near Hades' palace. He'd blasted the Titan with water from that river and completely wiped his memory clean. "Yeah, the Lethe." He muttered. "Not my favorite."

"What was that Titan's name? Mike?" Evangeline asked.

"Uh...Iapetus. He said it meant the Impaler or something."

"No, the other name."

"Bob," he said.

"Bob," she murmured. "I think our janitor has the same name,"

"Bob the Titan?" Percy's lips were so parched, it hurt to smile.

Evangeline shrugged, she fiddled with the ring on his finger.

He gazed across the ashen plains. The other Titans were supposed to be here in Tartarus—maybe bound in chains or roaming aimlessly, or hiding in some of those dark crevices. Percy and his friends had destroyed the worst Titan, Kronos, but even his remains might be down here somewhere—a billion angry Titan particles floating through the blood-colored clouds or lurking in the dark fog.

He decided not to think about that. He glanced back at her. "You okay?"

Evangeline pursed her lips. "I'm okay," From her tone, he wasn't sure whether she was trying to convince him or herself.

He knew it wasn't easy for her to be there. She'd been dragged into her worst nightmare and he hadn't been able to keep his word like he'd sworn he would. If he could've grabbed her even a second before it had happened that day—then they wouldn't have been there. But he hadn't and she had been dragged into the pit, just like it had said in her prophecy, just like Gaea had told him.

Percy felt a pang of guilt. He wanted more than anything for all to be a bad dream, but it wasn't. They were there, in Tartarus. He was worried about her, what she'd said when they found the River of Fire had freaked him out. 'You'll be okay,' she had told him. At first, he'd tried to convince himself it could've been a slip of the tongue, but Evangeline never said anything without thinking.

If they managed to get to the Doors of Death and had a chance to leave, there was no way Percy was leaving without her. No matter what happened, they were going to get out of there. Together.

Ignoring how cold her skin felt, Percy placed a kiss on her cheek. "We should keep moving. You want some more fire to drink?"

"No, thank you." The brunette huffed.

They struggled to their feet. The rest of the cliff looked impossible to descend—nothing more than a crosshatching of tiny ledge—but they kept climbing down.

His body went on autopilot. His fingers cramped, he felt blisters popping up on his ankles, and he got shaky from hunger.

He wondered if they would die of starvation, or if the firewater would keep them going. He remembered the punishment of Tantalus, who'd been permanently stuck in a pool of water under a fruit tree but couldn't reach either food or drink.

Jeez, the raven-haired boy hadn't thought about Tantalus in years. That stupid guy had been paroled briefly to serve as the director at Camp Half-Blood. He was probably back in the Fields of Punishment. Percy had never felt sorry for the jerk before, but now he was starting to sympathize. He could imagine what it would be like getting hungrier and hungrier for eternity but never being able to eat.

A billion years later, with a dozen new blisters on his feet, Percy reached the bottom. He helped the brunette down, and they collapsed on the ground.

Ahead of them stretched miles of wasteland, bubbling with monstrous larvae and big insect-hair trees. To their right, the Phlegethon split into branches that etched the plain, widening into a delta of smoke and fire. To the north, along the main route of the river, the ground was riddled with cave entrances. Here and there, spires of rocks jutted up like exclamation points.

The soil under his hand felt alarmingly warm and smooth. He tried to grab a handful, then realized that under a thin layer of dirt and debris, the ground was a single vast membrane...like skin.

He almost threw up but forced himself not to. There was nothing in his stomach but fire.

He didn't mention it to Evangeline, but he started to feel like something was watching them—something vast and malevolent. He couldn't zero in on it, because the presence was all around them. Watching was the wrong word, too. That implied eyes and this thing was simply aware of them. The ridges above them now looked less like steps and more like rows of massive teeth. The spires of rock looked like broken ribs. And if the ground was skin...

He forced those thoughts aside. This place was just freaking him out. That was all.

Next to him, Evangeline stood, rolling out her shoulder. She gazed toward the darkness on the horizon, her fingers twitching and her expression turned to annoyance. "Shut up," she gritted her teeth.

"I didn't say anything," Percy frowned.

"I didn't mean—"

About a hundred yards away, a blister burst on the ground. A monster clawed its way out...a glistening telkhine with slick fur, a seal-like body, and stunted human limbs. It managed to crawl a few yards before something shot out of the nearest cave so fast that Percy could only register a dark green reptilian head. The monster snatched the squealing telkhine in its jaws and dragged it into the darkness.

Reborn in Tartarus for two seconds, only to be eaten. Percy wondered if that Telkhine would pop up some other place in Tartarus, and how long it would take to re-form.

He swallowed down the sour taste of firewater. "Oh, yeah. This'll be fun."

He took one last look at the cliff, but there was no going. Evangeline helped him to his feet. He would've given a thousand golden drachmas to have Frank Zhang with them right now—good old Frank, who always seemed to show up when needed and could turn into an eagle or a dragon to fly them across this stupid wasteland.

They started walking, trying to avoid the cave entrances, sticking close to the bank of the river. They were just skirting one of the spires when a glint of movement caught his eye—something darting between the rocks to their right.

A monster following them? Or maybe it was just a random monster, heading for the Doors of Death. Suddenly, he remembered why they'd started following this route, and he froze in his tracks.

"The empousai," He grabbed Evangeline's arm. "Where are they?"

"I thought—" Evangeline didn't get to finish her thought.

He saw something from the corner of his eye and Percy drew his sword.

The empousai emerged from the rocks all around them—six of them formed a ring. A perfect trap for the demigods.

Kelli limped forward on her mismatched legs. Her fiery hair burned across her shoulders like a miniature Phlegethon waterfall. Her tattered cheerleader was splattered with rusty-brown stains, and Percy was sure they weren't ketchup. She fixed him with her glowing red eyes and bared her fangs.

"Percy Jackson," she cooed. "How awesome! I don't even have to return to the mortal world to destroy you!"

Percy remembered how dangerous Kelli had been the last time they'd fought in the Labyrinth. Despite the mismatched legs, she could move fast when she wanted to. She'd dodged his sword strikes and would have eaten his face if Evangeline hadn't stabbed her from behind.

Now she had five friends with her.

"And look! Your friend Evangeline is with you!" Kelli hissed with laughter. "Oh, yeah, I totally remember her."

Kelli touched her own sternum, where the tip of Evangeline's sword had exited when the brunette had stabbed her in the back. "What's the matter, princess? Don't have your weapon? Bummer. I'd use it to kill you."

Evangeline's eyes narrowed. "I might not have my sword, but I can still break every bone in your body. How's that hand by the way?"

Kelli glowered at the girl. "Better, no thanks to you."

Percy tried to think. They weren't in good shape for battle and they were helplessly outnumbered. For a moment, he considered calling for Mrs O'Leary. But, even if she could hear him, would she be able to make it into Tartarus? This was where monsters went after they died. Calling her might kill her, or turn her back to her natural state as a fierce monster. No...he couldn't do that to his dog.

So, no help. Fighting was a long shot. That left one tactic Annabeth would've loved: trickery, talk, delay.

"So..." He started. "I guess you're wondering what we're doing in Tartarus."

Kelli snickered. "Not really. I just want to kill you."

That would've been it for them if Evangeline hadn't started talking.

"It's a stupid decision, you know." The brunette said. "Going back to the mortal world without knowing what's going on up there."

The other empousai circled, watching Kelli for a cue to attack; but the ex-cheerleader only snarled, crouching out of reach of Percy's sword.

"We know enough," Kelli said. "Gaea has spoken."

"You're going to lose," Evangeline stated. "Like always." She glanced at the other empousai, before glaring accusingly at Kelli. "This one claims she's leading you to victory. She's lying. I can sense your deaths, you'll go through all that trouble just to end up back here. I mean, she helped the Titans, and look how that turned out."

The other empousai muttered and shifted uneasily.

"Enough!" Kelli's fingernails grew into long black talons. She glared at Evangeline as if imagining her sliced into small pieces.

"The girl lies," The empousa hissed. "So the Titans lost. Fine! That was part of the plan to wake Gaea! Now the Earth Mother and her giants will destroy the mortal world, and we will totally feast on demigods!"

The other vampires gnashed their teeth in a frenzy of excitement. Percy had been in the middle of a school of sharks when the water was full of blood. That wasn't nearly as scary as empousai ready to feed.

He prepared to attack, but how many could he dispatch before they overwhelmed him? It wouldn't be enough.

"The demigods have united," Evangeline shook her head. "Romans and Greeks will fight you together. You wouldn't last a second out there."

The empousai backed up nervously, hissing, "Romani."

Percy guessed they'd had experience with the Twelfth Legion before, and it hadn't worked out well for them.

"Yeah, you bet Romani." Percy bared his forearm and showed them the brand he'd gotten at Camp Jupiter—the SPQR mark, with the trident of Neptune. "You mix Greek and Roman, and you know what you get? You get BAM!"

He stomped his foot, and the empousai scrambled back. One fell off the boulder where she'd been perched. That made him feel good, but they quickly recovered and closed in again.

"Bold Talk," Kelli said. "for two demigods lost in Tartarus. Lower your sword, Percy Jackson, and I'll kill you quickly. Believe me, there are worse ways to die down here."

"Like how you're about to?" Evangeline raised a brow. "Aren't empousai servants of Hecate?"

Kelli's lip curled. "So?"

"So Hecate has sided with us," The brunette said. "She has a cabin at camp, her demigod children will fight in the war. If you fight us, she'll be angry and you will be punished."

Percy wanted to kiss her, she was amazing.

One of the other empousai growled. "Is this true, Kelli? Has our mistress made peace with Olympus?"

"Shut up, Serephone!" Kelli screeched. "Gods, you're annoying!"

"I will not cross the Dark Lady."

"At least one of you has a brain." Evangeline sighed. "I would follow her if I were you."

"Yes!" Serephone shrieked. "Follow me!"

Kelli struck so fast, that Percy didn't have the chance to raise his sword. Fortunately, she didn't attack him. Kelli lashed out at Serephone. For half a second, the two demons were a blur of slashing claws and fangs.

Then it was over. Kelli stood triumphantly over a pile of dust. From her claws hung the tattered remains of Serephone's dress.

"Any more issues?" Kelli snapped at her sisters. "Hecate is the goddess of the Mist! Her ways are mysterious. Who knows which side she truly favors? She is also the goddess of the crossroads, and she expects us to make our own choices. I choose the path that will bring us the most demigod blood! You all heard what Oliver said! He promised us victory over those who have wronged us, he's a son of Victoria—he knows victory better than anyone. I will choose Gaea!"

Her friends hissed in approval.

"For two years I churned in the void," Kelli said. "Do you know how completely annoying it is to be vaporized, Evangeline Merlyn? Slowly re-forming, fully conscious, in searing pain for months and years as your body regrows, then finally breaking the crust of this hellish place and clawing your way back to daylight? All because some little girl stabbed you in the back?"

Her baleful eyes held the brunette's. "I wonder what happens if a demigod is killed in Tartarus. I doubt it's happened before. Let's find out."

Percy sprang, slashing Riptide in a huge arc. He cut one of the demons in half, but Kelli dodged and charged Evangeline. The other three vampires launched themselves at Percy. Two of them grabbed his arms, while their other friend jumped on his back.

Percy tried to ignore them and staggered toward the brunette, determined to go down defending her if he had to; but she seemed to be doing pretty well. She grabbed a rock in her hand and smacked it straight into Kelli's nose, making her wail.

Meanwhile, Percy thrashed from side to side, trying to throw off his empousa hitchhiker, but her claws sank deeper into his shoulders. The second empousa held his arm, preventing him from using Riptide, while the third bit down on his other arm.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kelli lunge, raking her talons across the brunette's stomach. Evangeline landed on her back, clutching the wound.

Percy stumbled in her direction. The vampire on his back sank her teeth into his neck. Searing pain coursed through him. His knees buckled.

Stay on your feet, he told himself. You have to beat them. Then the other vampire bit his sword arm, and Riptide clattered to the ground.

That was it. His luck had finally run out. Kelli loomed over Evangeline, savoring her moment of triumph. The other two empousai circled Percy, their mouths slavering, ready for another taste.

Kelli sneered at Evangeline. "Oh the irony," she mused. "Child of the Underworld dying in her father's domain."

Percy met Evangeline's gaze. She glanced at the empousai on him and he felt his skin crawl when he saw the black veins appear near her eyes.

She stretched her hand out and one of the empousa screamed. Percy heard a deafening CRACK! He saw bones erupt out on either side of the empousa's neck, black tendrils with dozens of sharp spikes forged their way out of the bones and wrapped around the monster's body. They shot out into one of the caves and yanked her carcass into it, followed by a horrifying thud that echoed throughout the wasteland.

Kelli looked back at Evangeline and raised her claw to attack, but suddenly she faltered. Percy saw a black spike go through the ex-cheerleader. "Not again," the empousa muttered before she turned into a mound of monster dust.

The remaining empousai prepared to attack.

Then, all of a sudden, a shadow fell across the son of Poseidon. A deep war bellowed from somewhere above, echoing across the plains of Tartarus, and a Titan dropped onto the battlefield.

Percy thought he was hallucinating. It wasn't possible that a huge silvery figure could drop out of the sky and land in front of them. But that's exactly what happened. The Titan was ten feet tall, with wild silver Einstein hair, pure silver eyes, and muscular arms protruding from a ripped-up blue janitor's uniform. In his hand was a massive pushbroom. His name tag, incredibly, read BOB.

Evangeline sat up and tried to move away, but the giant janitor wasn't interested in her. He turned to the two remaining empousai, who stood over Percy.

One was foolish enough to attack. She lunged with the speed of a tiger, but she never stood a chance. A spearhead jutted from the end of Bob's broom. With a single deadly swipe, he cut her to dust. The last vampire tried to run. Bob threw his broom like a massive boomerang. It sliced through the vampire and returned to Bob's hand.

"Sweep!" The Titan grinned with delight and did a victory dance. "Sweep, sweep, sweep!"

Percy couldn't speak. He couldn't bring himself to believe that something good had actually happened. Evangeline looked at him bewildered. "W-why is our janitor here?" She stammered.

"Percy called me!" The janitor said happily. "Yes, he did."

"Wha—?" The brunette winced, clutching her stomach which was bleeding badly.

The janitor frowned when he noticed her wounds. "Owie."

Evangeline shot Percy a look as the Titan knelt next to her.

"It's okay," The raven-haired boy said, still woozy with pain. "He's friendly."

He recalled when he'd first met Bob. The Titan had healed a bad wound on Percy's shoulder just by touching it. Sure enough, the janitor tapped her stomach and it healed instantly.

Bob chuckled pleased with himself, then bounded over to Percy and healed his bleeding neck and arms. The Titan's hands were surprisingly warm and gentle.

"All better!" Bob declared, his eerie silver eyes crinkling with pleasure. "I am Bob, Percy's friend!"

"Uh...yeah," Percy managed. "Thanks for the help, Bob. It's really good to see you again."

"Yes!" The Titan agreed. "Bob. That's me. Bob, Bob, Bob." He shuffled around, obviously pleased with his name. "I am helping. I heard my name. Upstairs in Hades's palace, nobody calls for Bob unless there is a mess. Bob, sweep up these bones. Bob, mop up these tortured souls. Bob, a zombie exploded in the dining room."

Percy glanced over at the daughter of Hades and she shrugged helplessly.

"Then I heard my friend call!" Bob beamed. "Percy said, Bob!"

He grabbed the son of Poseidon's arm and hoisted him to his feet.

"That's awesome," Percy said. "Seriously. But how did you—"

"Oh, time to talk later." Bob's expression turned serious. "We must go before they find you. They are coming. Yes, indeed."

"And who exactly are they, Bob?" Evangeline raised a brow.

Percy scanned the horizon. He saw no approaching monsters—nothing but the stark grey wasteland.

"Yes," Bob agreed. "But Bob knows a way. Come on, friends! We will have fun!"

------✧------

A/N: Evangeline's going to be on some Underworld crack during this book icl. 😀

I haven't read the Demigod Files, so I had zero clue who Bob was when he showed up in this book. But yk he's still missed dearly.

That's pretty much it bye-bye.