eeeee 5k views holy crap—

Hermes' POV—

I was terrified.

Yeah, funny how a god is terrified, but it's not that funny when someone you trusted literally boils your blood and nearly kills you.

"Will—?" I croaked.

"Shh." Will held a canteen of nectar to my lips. It tasted amazing, like always, but I didn't feel much better. "You nearly died. Take it easy, dude." I groaned. I felt sick, and gods don't even get sick.

"Where is he?" I looked around. Funnily enough, there were barely any monsters left. "Where's Agnostos?"

"He was possessed by a thing." Nico stepped out of the shadows. "A very bitchy little thing."

"Language!" Will scolded. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Hazel's rubbing off of you." He teased. Will huffed.

"No she's not." He pulled a baggie with ambrosia and broke off a large chunk.

"Thanks, Will." I smiled as he handed it to me.

"Hermes!" Agnostos came running up to me. "I'm really sorry about that...incident thingy and I—"

"Don't be." I mumbled through the ambrosia. "I think I'm fine." He sighed with relief and rubbed his temples.

"You need to rest, too." Hazel came from behind him, tapping her foot angrily. "You nearly passed out on us!"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!" Will interrupted angrily. "Nico said you were all pale and stuff, and I saw you! Just get some rest, please?" Agnostos huffed and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"I told you; I don't sleep." He flicked is gaze towards the end of the large tunnel. "Hermes, are you feeling better?" I nodded.

"Ambrosia helps me sometimes. Depends on how I feel." I shrugged. "Where's Martha and George?"

"Over here." Will handed me my caduceus and I fingered it gently, feeling the twin snakes hiss whispers in my ear.

"Let's go."

Le time skip

3rd Person—

Agnostos' head throbbed further every step. Heat pounded through his eyes and he closed them, trying to ignore the slicing pain of his temples. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead as he led the demigods and god through the twisting paths of the Labyrinth.

"Are you ok?" Hazel asked anxiously as he let out a grunt of pain.

"Yeah." He gritted his teeth. "Well, yes and no." She frowned.

"We can rest awhile. Hermes needs to take it easy, anyways." She reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but reconsidered it and just beckoned him over to sit on the floor.

"You really need to take it easy, Agnostos." Frank said quietly. Agnostos grinned, but it looked forced.

"Aww, you really do care, Franks!" He teased. Hazel noticed his voice was slightly strained, like it hurt to talk.

"You really don't look ok." She whispered. "Are you sure you're ok?" He sighed, putting his face in his hands.

"Last time I was weak like this, someone almost died. I can't be like that ever again." He shuddered. Hazel looked at him empathetically.

I want a rat.

George! Agnostos laughed as Martha and George began to bicker.

"Martha, George, stop it!" Hermes commanded. "Agnostos already has a migraine, he doesn't need another." Agnostos waved him away.

"It's fine." He smiled. "I'm good."

"You look awfully pale." Hermes remarked. "Maybe we should stop here for the night."

"Maybe." Agnostos glanced down at the hall." "We're getting closer. The hideout somehow keeps shifting." Frank sighed.

"We're never going to get Percy back." He grumbled. 

For once, Frankie's right. Agnostos had a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he stood up slowly.

"You're right." He crossed his arms, sounding defeated. Frank stared at him.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, you're right. We'll never get Percy back." Agnostos' lips quirked upward in a smirk. Hazel's golden eyes looked desperate.

"We can't give up. We're so close to finding him!" She insisted. "Don't think like that."

"Oh, but you're much closer than you think." Hermes' eyes widened as he heard the same raspy voice coming from Agnostos that chilled his blood. Well, more like boiled it, but whatever. It was that eidolon.

"You again." Hazel gripped her sword angrily. The eidolon cackled.

"Yes, me again. Percy Jackson is much closer to you than you could ever imagine." Agnostos' shoulders went rigid, and he fell forward in a faceplant.

"Agnos!" Hermes caught him by the shoulders. 

"Curse the Fates—" He muttered; his voice tainted with pain. "Why does it always have to be me??" 

"Lean on me." Hermes let Agnostos wrap his arm around him. "You're going to be ok."

"Not really, not my mental health, definitely not." Agnostos gritted his teeth as he limped forward.

"We should stay here for the night." Hazel let him sit down, making him lean his head on the wall. "You need to rest."

"Fine, fine." He mumbled, rubbing his temples. His head throbbed painfully as black spots danced before his eyes. "I'll sleep just this once."

"Nuh uh, you're going to sleep with us every night. I'll go on first watch." Frank kissed Hazel on the cheek and told her gently to lie down.

"Aw, come on." Agnostos murmured, now half-asleep. He slowly felt his eyelids get heavy, and his vision was met with black.

Sort of Frank's POV—

Frank gazed around the halls of the Labyrinth, looking weary. His senses were still on alert, but he couldn't help but think about Agnostos. Could he trust him? What if something happened to Hazel, or one of the Camps? What would he do then?

He fiddled with an arrow, time ticking by for who knows how long. He paced silently, pondering about the upcoming war and where Percy could possibly be. He had heard rumors on how he murdered his fiancé's father and Athena's former love, but he would never do that, would he? And he couldn't be alive, when the news finally came that Percy himself was murdered by a monster a short time after the bounty was placed on his head. Perhaps faked his death? Maybe he just murdered someone else in his place...?

Frank sighed, feeling restless despite his lack of ADHD. He glanced at Hermes, who actually was drooling. So Agnostos was right. Huh.

What if this was all a trap? Frank felt a pang of fear at this. What if Agnostos was a double-agent who was faking all this and was secretly working for Kronos?

He must be a really good actor, then. Frank mused silently. He closed is eyes for a second, and when he cracked them open, he suddenly saw a dark shadow pass over where Agnostos was sleeping, an object in its hand.

"Stop!" Frank yelled, his bow and arrows at the ready. The cloaked figure held up Agnostos by the collar of his cloak, a knife pressed to his throat.

"Move and he dies." He growled. Frank hesitated. "And wake anyone here up, he dies."

"What do you want?" Frank demanded. "Why do you want to kill him?"

"Oh, maybe not kill. I'm just on a mission to uncover a long-forgotten secret." He grinned from underneath his hood.

"You work for Kronos, don't you?" Frank whispered. "You want to kill all of us." 

"What? No! I just—you know what, it doesn't matter why I'm here. I just—"

"I'm awake, you know." Agnostos grumbled. "No need to ignore me like I'm nothing, it happens all the time. Now, if you'll excuse me, Renard, I have a certain Creator of the Universe to chew out." He shot a knowing glance upward to his capturer. The stranger grinned sheepishly.

"Ok, you guessed it." He shrugged. "I work for Chaos. But he still gave me orders to find out who you are!"

"Blackmail doesn't work on these people." Agnostos gestured to the sleeping group. "Plus, I can do this." He vaporized, making Renard do a double-take.

"See?" He reformed a couple of feet away. "I could also judo-flip you. Or punch you in the stomach, or slit your throat, or take you by the neck and strangle you—"

"Sounds violent." Renard remarked.

"Eh. Usually how I deal with strangers that hold a knife to my throat when I'm sleeping. Be glad I didn't use the more painful way." He warned. Renard gulped. This guy was intimidating.

"Uh, what the heck is going on here?" Frank asked nervously. "Who is that guy?"

"Renard, chief commander of Chaos' Army." Renard held out a hand. "Nice to meet you too, Frank Zhang, Praetor of Camp Jupiter. I've heard a lot about you." Get da reference ppl