CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
DEAD MAN'S DECEPTION

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IT WAS DARK UNDERGROUND. Annais hadn't expected anything different, but the further they crept into the shadows, the harder it became to ignore the icy heaviness that weighed in her chest like a headstone. The tunnels were never-ending, splitting and weaving as Hazel navigated their path. Annais was certain they were lost, but Hazel's confidence was loud in the silent, cavernous space around them. It echoed in the rough-hewn chambers carved into the walls that once held bodies of the dead. Above each one were intricate paintings of black cows, poplar trees -- and eerily, owls.

"I thought the owl was Minerva's symbol," Jason muttered from somewhere on Annais' right. She could just make out the whites of his eyes and reached soundlessly for his hand in search of comfort. Those white spots widened before recognising her touch. He slotted their fingers together, one-by-one, until Annais knew she was at home again. No matter what was about to happen, Jason wasn't going anywhere.

"The screech owl is one of Hades' sacred animals," Nico explained, sounding somewhat like Annabeth when she'd list off facts. "Its cry is a bad omen."

"Oh, I love me a bad omen," Leo laughed uneasily from somewhere behind Annais.

"This way--" Impatient, Hazel pointed to one of the doorways. It looked the same as the other doors, but Hazel regarded the others with wariness. "It's the only one that won't collapse on us."

"A good choice, then," came Leo's next comment.

"Thank the Gods for you, Hazel," Hea declared, surprising her sister by pressing a smacking kiss to her cheek. "After you."

Rolling her eyes, Hazel stepped through the doorway. A shiver ran down Annais' spine as she followed after her. Standing in that doorway was eerie, like she'd stepped through the body of a ghost. Her skin burned. The shadows twisted into vague skeletal shapes, reaching for her in the narrow concrete space. It wasn't much better on the other side. Each of her friends had started to act strange. Hea was muttering to herself, eyebrows drawn into a harsh frown. Mel and Leo were sharing a heated whisper at the back of the group. Out of nowhere, Frank had moved to the front, bypassing Hazel with every determined step. His eyes were glazed like twin crystals in the darkness. They seemed to stare right through her, through Hazel as she cautiously laid a hand on his arm only for him to flinch.

Hades almighty. The last thing they needed was Frank to be possessed or some shit.

"This is the entrance to the second level," Hazel said. "I'd better take a look."

"Oh," Frank stumbled back, his face slackening. "Uh, yeah..."

For a boy his size and stature, he did a great job of shrinking back into the shadows, his expression returning to that vague whisper of fear from moments before. Annais wondered what he was hearing. If the shadows were beating their fists against his own subconscious, trying desperately for another way in that wasn't her.

Hazel frowned. "No traps on the doorway, but something is strange here."

Hea made a vague humming noise. Her features glowed in the bronze reflection of her sword. "You sure you're not just sensing Leo?"

"Hey!"

But Hazel shook her head at the both of them. "My underground sense is... fuzzy, like someone is working against me. Hiding what's ahead of us."

"Is that possible?" Annais asked at the same time as Jason murmured, "The sorceress that Hecate warned you about? The one Leo saw in his dream? What was her name again?"

Hazel hesitated. "It would be safer not to say her name. Just stay alert. One thing I am sure of; from this point on, the dead are stronger than the living."

While everyone wallowed in anxious silence, Hea let out a soft laugh. It was more of an exhale of breath through her nose as her lips twisted with mirth. "Ten points for the ominous tone, little sister," she said, hefting her sword for good measure. "But the dead have nothing on me."

Annais never had reason to doubt Hea. If there was anyone she always counted on, in the good and the bad, it was her big sister. But as the shadows continued to whisper, slowly but surely picking up in fervour, she stopped for a second. Wondered. Was Hea, for once, in over her head? Were they, again?

"Where are the monsters?" Frank asked, a muscle in his jaw ticking. He seemed on edge all of a sudden. Restless. "I thought Gaea had an army guarding the doors."

"Don't know," Jason said, his breath hot on Annais' neck as he leaned some of his weight on her. In the dim light, she could just make out the sweat-slick column of his throat. "At this point, I'd almost prefer a straight-up fight."

"Same," she confessed.

"Careful what you wish for, Mr and Mrs Grace," Leo shot at them. Unfortunately for Annais, he summoned a ball of fire, and the red hot embers revealed the pale pink blush that crept to the tips of her ears. Despite his sickly pallor, Jason mustered a smile. "Sorry to expose you there, Annie. But personally, I'm hoping nobody's home. We walk in, find the lovers, destroy the Doors of Death, and walk out. Maybe stop at the gift shop."

"Yeah," Frank snorted. "Like that'll happen."

Out of nowhere, rubble rained down from the ceiling, coating the group in a thin layer of dust. The tunnel shook like the walls were closing in. Fortunately for Annais and unluckily for Leo (who was alone as Mel lingered beside Hea) Annais was held steady by Jason's hand, waiting with bated breath. She would've laughed at the sight of Leo bear-hugging Hea's back in an attempt to remain upright if the tunnel-shaking hadn't increased in its intensity before abruptly pausing.

"That was close," Hazel sighed once she was sure that, for the time being, they were safe. "These passageways won't take much more."

"The Doors of Death just opened again," Annais confirmed.

With a concerned frown, Piper noted, "It's happening, like, every fifteen minutes."

Hea nodded solemnly. "Like birth contractions."

"Yes..." Piper seemed disconcerted by her reply.

Nico shook his head at them. "Actually, it's every twelve minutes," he corrected Piper. Annais couldn't be bothered to ask how he knew this. "We'd better hurry. Ezra, Percy and Annabeth are close. They're in danger. I can sense it."

Annais could, too, but it was hard to separate their danger from her own. It formed a damning, fatal combination together in her chest, knocking the breath right out of her lungs. As they travelled deeper into the tunnel, she felt like she'd ran a marathon just to get there, inhaling and exhaling sharply with each dragging step. Thankfully, the ceilings rose several metres higher, allowing some distance between her and the bodies forced in close proximity. The only one she kept close was Jason.

Leo raised his flaming fist closer to the walls. Slowly, he scanned across so they could see the archaic graffiti script scratched into the stone. Annais' eyes darted over them. The Greek was old, older than even the ancient times themselves, but she picked up on certain symbols that were common in prayers for the dead. Rites of passage that the pilgrims hoped would guide their loved ones safely into the afterlife.

She took a step closer, flinching at the sound of metal crunching beneath her feet. When she really focused, she could just make out the silver flash of coins beneath her shoes.

"Offerings?" Piper asked.

"Yes," Nico nodded as Annais stepped aside so she was no longer crushing them. "If you wanted your ancestors to appear, you had to make an offering."

"Let's not make an offering," Jason suggested.

"It's not fun," Hea said, as if speaking from experience. "Trust me."

Nobody argued. Annais hated to think which of her ancestors would come forward for her. Maybe Areum (whom, now that Annais thought about it, hadn't been around since Annais was turned into a corn plant) or someone from her Korean ancestry whom she never got to meet. The dead consumed her entire life, but not so much that she wanted them to unnecessarily visit her.

"The tunnel from here is unstable," Hazel warned them after casting a cursory glance over the area. Annais couldn't help but think she looked ethereal underground. For all their woes, the children of Hades, both Roman and Greek, were their father's children. Hazel was in her element. They depended on her and her knowledge as Pluto's daughter to get their friends -- their family -- back. "The floor might... Well, just follow me. Step exactly where I step."

Slowly, she crept forward like she was navigating the complicated plain of a land mine. Frank followed closely behind her, then Jason, who brought Annais along next. Each step was carefully planned minutes in advance. Soon enough, it turned into a routine, one foot in front of the other, keen eyes tracking every last grain of dirt beneath the person before them's shoes. Annais would've completely missed Frank stopping cold if it wasn't for Jason throwing his arm back suddenly, gently knocking against her torso to keep her in place.

"Frank?" he whispered the boy's name cautiously, like he was the land mine. "Hazel, hold up a second. Frank, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," came Frank's reply a few seconds later. He sounded breathless, faint. "I just--"

"Just?" Annais prompted, but he didn't seem to hear her.

Hazel let out a gasp. "Frank, don't move."

Annais glanced down at his feet. His right sneaker toed the line of Hazel's last step. He was shaking now, turning his head this way and that. Fortunately, he listened to Hazel, but then he asked, "lead where?" to a question that no one else could hear.

"Uh, big guy?" Leo drawled, craning his head around Hea's shoulder to get a better look at what was going on. "Could you not freak out on us?"

"Please and thank you," Hea added, though even she seemed worried.

"I'm okay," Frank said, and Annais was just grateful he wasn't speaking to himself anymore. That he was coherent enough to recognise his surroundings. She'd never attempted an exorcism before and was in no mood to give it a try today. "Just... a voice."

"A voice?" Mel repeated uneasily.

Frank shrugged. Nico nodded gravely. "I did warn you. It'll only get worse from here. We should--"

But Hazel was no longer listening. Annais stood to attention as she held up her hand for silence, wondering what her sister had sensed that caused the muscles in her shoulders to ripple like a live wire.

"Wait here, everybody," she said, leaving no room for disagreement as she forged ahead alone. She was gone for less than a minute, but each second stretched like an hour as the group waited to see if she'd reappear in one piece. When she did, they breathed a collective sigh of relief, but her face was drawn and pensive. "Scary room ahead. Don't panic."

"Bit late for that," said Mel.

"Those two things don't go together," Leo added.

The two of them looked at each other then just as quickly turned away.

The group followed Hazel into the cavern. In Annais' head, when Hazel said there was a scary room ahead, she'd expected something far worse. Perhaps she was just a little jaded, for the sight in front of them wasn't exactly pleasant. Around her, the others (excluding her siblings) made noises of disgust and discomfort. At first glance, the room was like any other. Shaped like a circular cathedral, it had a ceiling so high that Annais couldn't discern its end from its beginning. Dozens of other tunnels lead off in different directions. Now more than ever -- which was saying something -- the whispers moaned their sorrows in her ears. But it made sense this time. Annais had bodies to match them to. Laying at their feet in dusty piles was a gruesome mosaic of bones and gems. Human femurs, hip bones and ribs twisted together like a disturbing dish tray to showcase diamonds and rubies. The rubies in particular glistened like fresh blood, pooling all the way to the toe of Annais' shoe.

In life and in death, humanity sought the protection of their riches.

"Touch nothing," Hazel warned them, not that Annais had any intention of getting up close and personal with decaying skeletons.

"Wasn't planning on it," Leo grunted, nearly jumping right out of his skin when he stumbled over a cracked bit of what once might've been a person's shin bone. "Oh, Gods."

"Watch your step," Hea glanced over her shoulder at him.

Leo scoffed. "Thanks for that."

"Better late than never."

Jason ignored them as he scanned the exits. "Which way now?"

There were far too many to choose from. Annais wondered if this was where they'd finally trip up. Even Nico looked unsure, clutching at his sword like he was trying to brace himself in the land of the living. "This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits," he said. "One of these passages leads deeper into the temple, to the third level and the altar of Hades himself."

"Good ol' dad," Hea mumbled, but for once her tone was serious.

"But which...?"

"That one."

To everyone's bemusement, it was Frank who made the suggestion. He was staring at something no one else could see, each blink dazed but determined.

Hazel frowned at him. Whatever she sensed in that doorway certainly wasn't sunshine and rainbows. "Why that one?"

"You don't see the ghost?"

Annais checked again, just to be sure she wasn't the problem, but there was nothing. Even the whispers momentarily let up their onslaught. For once, she thought they were completely alone, then Frank just had to make her doubt herself. She wondered why he was seeing this ghost and none of them.

"Ghost?" Nico seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Frank slowly shook his head. An abrupt sense of urgency brightened his features. At the same time, the ground began to vibrate until Annais felt like her spine was about to rattle right out of her back.

"We need to get to that exit," Frank exclaimed, tugging on Hazel's hand when she refused to move. "Now!"

Hazel almost had to tackle him to restrain him. She glanced at Jason -- the nearest of the guys -- for help, but Frank had settled down by the time the blonde-haired boy got close enough to get a good grip on one of his shoulders. Hazel released her arms from around him, breathing heavily as she said, "This floor isn't stable, and underneath..."

"You don't want to know," Annais murmured, picking up on their morbid curiosity.

The blood drained from Leo's face. "I'll take your word for it."

Pursing her lips, Hazel stared Frank down. He still seemed antsy, like he was struggling to hold himself back. "I need to scout a safe path."

"Hurry, then," he huffed and drew his bow, herding Hazel along as fast as he dared.

"Leo," Annais prompted as the darkness threatened to consume them.

"On it," he hurried after them, reigniting his fist so bright that Annais had to squint at the sudden shock of light. She followed behind him, dragging Jason along as the others took up the rear.

They made it no further than the centre of the room when the cavern echoed with hundreds of monstrous roars. Annais' heart paused for a second too long. She should've known it was too good to be true. This was the House of Hades they were talking about. The place where monsters were bred and bled. It was a damn miracle they hadn't encountered any sooner. Yet here they were, all at once. Earthborn, gryphons, cyclopes and the likes. Their guttural war cries came from the tunnel behind them as well as the ones ahead. They were completely surrounded.

"Hazel, don't stop!" Nico ordered, quickly pulling the sceptre of Diocletian from his belt. The purple crystal glittered innocuously in the grand scheme of things. But Nico was determined, and so were the others. As the room spilled over and Annais caught her first glimpse of the sea of monsters, she knew no other option but to summon her sword and brace herself.

She collided with the first monster -- a cyclops -- with as much strength as she could muster. The rest of the world faded away. In that moment, it was just her and the enemy, and the sword that separated them. Without remorse, she shoved the bronze blade through its chest, pushing through bone and muck and sinew until the sword came up for air on the other side. The cyclops exploded in a shower of yellow dust with one last booming wail.

In a blink, the next monster had replaced it. And the next, and the next. She was fighting three at once when the ground split in two. For a second, the fight let up, and she quickly scanned her surroundings in terror. The whole room seemed to spin as the vanguard of six-armed Earthborn threw a volley of stones that shattered the bone-and-jewel floor like ice. A chasm spread across the centre of the room, fifteen metres wide, separating the group in two. Annais' heart seized as she realised it was Mel on the other side, swallowed by the expanse of the only tunnel free of monsters. Sure, she was with Leo and Hazel, but she was stuck nonetheless.

"Go!" she heard Frank shout at them. He must've tackled them out of the way.

But Annais didn't have any more time to think. Spanning from one side of the chasm to the other were two rickety patches of earth. In a spot of luck, most of the monsters had ended up on the other side, but now they were trying to balance their way across the two bridges to where Annais, Jason, Hea, Piper and Nico had formed a ring to keep the dozen or so monsters on their side from reaching where Mel, Leo and Hazel were arguing with Frank.

The son of Mars turned his back on them.

"Nico," he yelled. "The sceptre!"

That was enough for Nico. He raised Diocletian's sceptre above his head, allowing his instincts to guide him through the moment. The cavern air shimmered purple, but Annais paid it no mind as she discarded her sword and balled her hands into fists. Another dozen monsters had made it to the other side, bearing down on them relentlessly. Annais met them with a cut of shadow, tearing through most of them until nothing but monster clumps remained. At the same time, the purple shimmer increased in intensity, and an entire Roman legion of walking corpses pulled themselves out of the ground.

"Holy shit," she breathed out. "Hea, can you...?"

Despaired, Hea shook her head. "They're Roman. They're out of our control."

Naturally, Annais turned to Jason next. He yelled something at them in Latin -- most likely an order to form ranks and attack -- but they continued to shuffle among the monsters, confused and chaotic. Jason's face twisted with panic. He had no time to think on it, though, for the cavern trembled as a cluster of rocks slammed down on the entrance where Mel, Leo and Hazel stood just moment's before. An entire section of wall had collapsed, narrowly missing Frank as he dove towards the others for cover. For a second, even the monsters paused in shock, staring at the slope of rubble that left six demigods stranded.

Annais had no time to breathe let alone think and panic as the monsters regained their senses and struck. She raised her hands again, deciding the cut (as she'd taken to calling it) would have to do as she returned her ring back to her finger. The others rallied on either side of her, waiting for Jason to take the lead. 

But in the end, it wasn't him who made the first move. It was Frank. With a shout of pure fury, he turned and charged towards the monster army and disappeared into the chaos.