Chorused gasps rang around the room.

He's alive?!" Annabeth shrieked. Agnostos facepalmed.

"Not really. Soulfully, no. But physically, yeah, I guess." He glared at everyone around him, but focused his gaze more on Annabeth, who shrunk underneath his death stare. "Abandoned him, didn't you? When he did nothing wrong? If you try to find him, he will destroy you. All of you. And then the Titans will rise and destroy Olympus to keep over their rule." Everyone trembled at the malice in his voice.

"But—we need him to destroy the Titans!" Jason pointed out.

"True. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't kill anyone in the process." Agnostos' mind flashed through the countless battles he had in the past, when he was Percy Jackson. "In fact, it never said that he wouldn't kill the gods, either. Just said that it would end the war. He could take over Olympus for himself, anyway." Annabeth frowned at this.

"He would never do that!" She defended. Agnostos snorted. 

"Yes, I know. Him ruling the world would be a nightmare, but I know much about you, Annabeth Chase. You would want to rule the world yourself. You think that if everyone did it your way, everything would be perfect." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably in her chair. He continued, his voice getting louder. "News flash: Nothing's perfect! Nothing! Not even you. Not even the gods. Well, definitely not the gods. Sooner or later, your world will fall because of the actions you do on impulse."

"How do you know that?" She asked, eyes glistening ever so subtly. "I—only Percy and I know about that!"

"About what? That nothing's perfect?" He raised a brow.

"No, about saying that him ruling the world would be a nightmare." She explained. "When we were going on a quest to find Polyphemus in the Sea of Monsters, he said that him ruling the world would be a nightmare. Most people think that he would do a pretty good job of ruling the world."

"I..." Agnostos was at a loss for words. "It doesn't matter where I heard it from. We need to get going."

"Where do you think he is?" Nico asked. "I need to see him." Agnostos sighed.

"I can teleport us somewhere random, and we can start there." He offered, holding out a hand.

"You can teleport?" Jason stared open-mouthed. "I thought only gods could do that!"

"Nico can shadow-travel. It's not that different, guys." Agnostos rolled his eyes. "Lock hands. Thank you for your hospitality, Ms. Blowfis." He nodded in gratitude at Sally. She gave him a sad smile before surprising him with a hug.

"Thank you for telling me that Percy's alive." She whispered into his ear. A pang of sadness pierced Agnostos' heart as he smelled the familiar scent of cinnamon, sugar, and blue candy. 

"The least I could do." He murmured back. "Now, time to go." They all held hands, Agnostos cringing in disgust as he had to hold Annabeth's hand.

Line break

"What is this place?" Nico asked as they reappeared into a forest.

"Key word: random." Agnostos reminded them. "It's not supposed to be anywhere in particular. I thought you guys knew your vocabulary." Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah, we do—" She started, but got interrupted.

"I didn't ask you." Agnostos said coldly. "Anyways, let's get going." The second he said those words, a black blur leaped out of the bushes. 

Hellhounds. Not one, not two, not five, but TEN. 

"What the—?!" Nico scrambled backwards. "Hellhounds? What are they doing here? Back! Back!" He tried to usher them out, but they stood their ground and just growled at the son of Hades.

"I said back!" He shouted.

"I don't think these are regular hellhounds, Nico." Jason said nervously as they started advancing on them.

"Gee, thanks for telling me." Nico muttered. "If I can't control them, what are they?"

"Cursed by Kronos." Agnostos said quietly. "These hellhounds can only be defeated by the Bane of Kronos himself."

"Percy's not here!" Annabeth cried. "If we can't kill them—"

"Then we kill them with Riptide." Agnostos uncapped Riptide like he did so many times in the past, but instead of giving him the thrill of battle, it just gave him painful memories.

"Wild? Fury? Is that you?" Agnostos whispered to the hellhounds, recalling the two hounds he had befriended in Tartarus. Two of them barked in unison, confirming Agnostos' suspicions. "What the Hades are you doing here?" They whined and whimpered, drooping their heads. He stepped closer to them, still holding up Riptide.

"You've got to shadow-travel somewhere else. It's not safe. Tell Kronos that I'll deal with these three," He nudged towards the three staring demigods. "Later. I need to create a distraction. You know what to do, right, boys?" They exchanged looks, green eyes into red. Get the reference?

"Get back!" Agnostos commanded to the demigods. "This isn't your battle—" He swung skillfully at one of the untamed, wild hellhounds. It howled and disappeared into shadows. Another jumped at him from behind, and he quickly killed it with a swift swipe to the throat.

Agnostos hissed as one of the razor-sharp claws caught his chest and ripped the flesh clean open. Blood dribbled out of it, and Agnostos staggered, wheezing.

"Bad dog!" He said, his voice so full of hatred that the hellhound whimpered with fear. He cut through it with Riptide and killed the last few, keeping his left arm over the wound to prevent bleeding.

"Agnos!" Nico cried. "You're hurt!"

"Wow, thanks for telling me." Agnostos said dryly. "I'm fine. You guys keep going." Agnostos summoned water to climb up his skin and heal the cut. All three of them stared.

"What? Do I have something on my face? Oh wait, you can't see my face. Well, why are you staring?" He demanded. Annabeth opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

"You-you just healed just like that—" Jason stuttered. Percy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Don't you have eyes?" He spun around on his heel. "C'mon. I want to get as much ground covered before nightfall." They trekked through the forest silently, occasionally talking with tree nymphs and satyrs to see if they spotted anyone.

3 days later...

Jason POV—

Nothing. We found absolutely no trace of Percy. I keep wondering if we've done the right choice following Agnostos with this quest, but it sounds like Percy trusted him, so I guess it was logical.

"I think we should get some rest." Agnostos decided. We all sighed and groaned from exhaustion and I plopped right down onto the grass. We've been walking for hours, and still nothing.

"I'm beginning to think that this is pointless." Nico grumbled. Agnostos perked up.

"No need. We've arrived at our destination." He pointed to a cave with a glowing blue triangle on it.

"An entrance to the Labyrinth!" Annabeth gasped. "But...aren't there monsters down there?"

"Monsters can freely navigate the maze. Since I'm a monster, I'll be able to guide you." He walked cautiously to the cave and gently touched the symbol. The passage glowed with an eerie neon blue and he beckoned us over.

"Follow me." He instructed.

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Annabeth asked, narrowing her stormy gray eyes suspiciously.

"Do you want to find Percy or not?" He questioned. "If you do, then do what I say." Annabeth huffed but followed him inside, me and Nico close behind.

"What is this place?" Annabeth breathed. I looked around as my eyes adjusted to the light. It was a wide arena with white sand coating the floors and wooden acacia benches, with chains dangling from the ceiling.

"Welcome to Los Angelos." Agnostos said, sounding bored. "Move another three inches and you'll be in Japan."

"Wait, really?" I asked. He sighed in exasperation.

"The Labyrinth can get you anywhere. It bends time and distance, allowing this to be the quickest way of navigation if you know the way."

"Where are the monsters?" Nico asked warily. "There should be some here."

"Oh, they'll come soon enough. This way." He lead us to a dark tunnel. 

"Are you sure this is the way?" Annabeth asked, tripping over something and stumbling to catch herself.

"Quite sure, yes." He responded, looking around. "Follow me." He hummed distractedly as we tried to find our way around the shadows. 

"Right about...here!" He announced. Standing before us was a giant set of black double doors. He pushed them open with a little effort and a bright light filled the tunnel.

"So...Percy's here?" Annabeth peered into the room.

"Nope. But I know someone who does." He smirked.