CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
HELL IS EMPTY
( . . . and all the devils are here? )

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

"SHE'S FRIENDLY."

Annais was beginning to forget what Percy Jackson's voice sounded like. It was strange, really. In the six months he spent at Camp Jupiter, she never thought twice about it. At Camp Jupiter, he was out of sight, out of mind. But it was different this time. This time, he and the others shook hands with Death and she was very aware of this.

And of course, the first thing he said to them was sarcastic. Instinctively, Annais waited for Ezra's typical rebuttal. She pretended not to feel the sting of the silence.

"Dude!" Surprisingly, Jason was the first to greet Percy. He wrapped him up in a bear hug, closely followed by Leo, who smacked him on the shoulder and whooped, "Back from Tartarus! That's my peeps!"

Annais locked eyes with Annabeth. In a blink, she'd closed the gap between them and thrown her arms around her. A second later, she smelled Piper's familiar honeysuckle shampoo as the Aphrodite girl joined the now-group hug.

"Okay, that's enough, too much touching," Annais pulled back after a moment. Annabeth managed an exhausted smile. Like the ghost that wasn't a ghost who stood on the edge of the room, she seemed hollow. A skeleton hiding beneath skin that no longer fit. Annabeth's hair was greasy, the blonde looking almost grey beneath the dim lights of Hades' domain. Annais thought about hugging her again, then changed her mind. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," Annabeth said, only to be cut off as Piper let out another sob and tackled her in Annais' absence.

With nothing else to distract her, Annais latched onto Hea's hand -- she and Nico stood beside Hazel, who was sharing a whispered conversation with Frank as he hugged her, looking lost and out of place. When Annais raised an eyebrow at her, Hea sighed and let her guide them over to Mel, Ezra and The Ghost. (Annais' brain had taken to calling her that until questions could be answered. This wasn't Penelope. Not really. It couldn't be.) On their way, they passed Percy, who looked just as tired and weak as Annabeth.

"Is she okay?" Annais asked Mel.

"In shock," came Mel's reply. "Hasn't said much."

"She hasn't said anything," Penelope corrected, prompting Annais to round on her sharply.

"Care to explain how you're alive? Or has my dear father let you out on visitation for the weekend?"

She thought she heard some of the conversation behind them die down. She pretended not to notice. If there was one thing Annais had grown to hate, it was her family drama being on display for everyone to witness and judge. After a careful nudge of Hea's elbow to her ribs, Annais lowered her voice.

"You shouldn't be here."

"But I am," Penelope said; as if it was as simple as that. Annais rolled her eyes, and Penelope's lips pursed in a challenging motion. "It's a long story, Annais. One that can wait until we're out of here. Don't you think? Ezra's spent enough time down here."

But Penelope hadn't, it seemed.

Annais had to bite her tongue to stop herself from retorting. With one last wary glance at where Ezra was blinking confusedly, the first signs of realisation dawning on her face, Annais turned and left her sisters standing in their quiet huddle. The first person she found was Nico. He was talking to Hazel when he spied her standing alone. Hesitating for only a second, he kissed Hazel's forehead in a parting gesture then crossed the room, the shadows folding around him in comfort.

"That doesn't look good." A guy of few words, her brother. When Annais frowned, not quite comprehending what he'd said with her mind a mile away, he gently reached up and tapped the base of her jaw. Annais hissed, smacking his hand away as Nico grinned slyly. His face slackened, however, when he caught a glimpse of Penelope leaning down to help Ezra to her feet. Annais refused to look back. "She said anything?"

"Who?" she scoffed, folding her arms. "Ezra or The Ghost?"

Nico hummed at that. "You don't think she's really back for good?"

"Penelope's not a God," she muttered. "No matter how much she acts like she is. I think she's here for a reason, but I don't think it's permanent. I wouldn't get attached if I were you."

"Wasn't planning on it."

Nico hesitated, then. Annais' heart flooded with hate. Not at him, but at the chasm between them. It gaped like the one they'd just left behind, bleeding with shadows and monsters. Before he could pull back, she reached out and cupped his face like she'd seen Hazel do just moments before. Nico braced himself, but nothing else followed. Annais sighed.

"I love you," she said, because she had a feeling. Most of the time, these feelings were right. "And I'll miss you."

Nico's face dropped. "Did Jason say something?"

"No," she shook her head. "But thanks for throwing him under the bus."

He grimaced. "Don't be too hard on him."

"What?" her lips twitched with amusement. "You actually like him?"

"He's... not bad."

"I'm glad you think so."

That seemed to be the last of it. Annais let her hand drop and Nico moved back a step. But the chasm wasn't as fatal anymore. Some of the tension had slackened from his shoulders. So much was left unspoken, but maybe that was okay.

"I love you too," Nico said, so soft that Annais almost missed it. "And you'll see me soon, okay?"

"Okay."

She believed him.

Jason caught her attention then, smiling as he looked between them. Everything good? his expression asked. She nodded, indicating to Nico that she was leaving when the ceiling suddenly began to shudder. She froze. Cracks appeared in the remaining tiles as dust rained down on their already grimy forms. Annais wiped some of it from her eyes as Jason spoke.

"We've gotta get out of here," he said, then glanced around hopefully for someone else to offer up a suggestion. "Uh, Frank...?"

But Frank shook his head helplessly. His arm was yet to leave Hazel's waist. Now that he'd found her again, he wasn't letting go. "I think one favour from the dead is all that I can manage today."

"From the dead?"

Annais almost jumped from shock when she heard Ezra's voice a few feet behind her. She allowed herself a cursory glance over her shoulder. There she stood, hair shrouding her face like a cloud of ink. Penelope was practically glued to her side, her fancy-schmancy gun now holstered across her back like a crossbow. Naturally, she'd taken Mel's place, leaving their other sister to flounder at Hea's side and hope in vain that Ezra would soften to her.

The more coherent she became, the colder Ezra Min grew. Of course, Tartarus had changed her. Annais had expected it. But the results were shocking, and Annais had barely scratched the surface of the damage done.

"Well?" Ezra huffed when no one else spoke.

Piper was the one to break the silence, sharing a look with Annais before saying, "Hazel's unbelievable boyfriend called in a favour as a child of Mars. He summoned the spirits of some dead warriors, made them lead us here through... um, well, I'm not sure, actually. The passages of the dead? All I know is that it was very, very dark."

"It was awesome," Hea added. Annais' gaze lingered on the side of her face; searching for what, she didn't know. Her sister was acting... off. Then again, they all were. But Hea seemed nervous. On edge. Deeply rooted in her own mind. "You should be proud, Hazel."

"I am," Hazel smiled.

To their left, a section of the wall suddenly fractured. Two ruby eyes from a carved stone skeleton popped out and rolled across the floor to come to a stop at Annais' feet. She let out a nervous breath, gazing at the hollowed-out skeleton as the ceiling continued to creak.

"Jason's right," she said. "We need to go now."

"We'll have to shadow-travel," Hazel nodded at her. "You up for it? That's a nasty bruise."

"I'll manage," she insisted, aware of Penelope watching her too.

But Nico wasn't so sure. "Hazel, I can barely manage with only myself. Sure, we have Annais--"

"And me," Hea said, though she preferred literally anything else to shadow-travelling on a good day.

"And Hea," Nico corrected. "But with ten more people--"

"I'll help you." Annais had to hand it to her, Hazel was getting better at sounding confident when she had no freaking idea what was going on. Everyone knew Hazel had never shadow-travelled before, and in total honesty, Annais had no idea how she'd cope with it. But after working with the Mist and altering the Labyrinth, she knew her sister would stop at nothing.

Hazel, at least, she could count on.

An entire section of tiles suddenly peeled loose from the ceiling, narrowly avoiding Ezra as Penelope tugged her out of the way. For the first time since her grand return, Percy and Annabeth noticed her. They gaped in shock, rooted in place until Nico let out a shout.

"Everyone, grab hands!"

They made a hasty circle. The restless ache in Annais' chest settled for a second as Jason fought his way to her side. He stood between her and Penelope, eyeing the unfamiliar face with confusion. She stared back until he looked away, his softened gaze landing on Annais as he smiled. Annais let this look imprint itself on her brain before she closed her eyes.

Jason, Jason, Jason.

She summoned the shadows just as the cavern collapsed.

They dissolved into the darkness.

When she opened her eyes again, they were standing on the hillside that loomed over the River Acheron. It glittered innocuously beneath the early morning sun, reflecting the glowing orange clouds draped in hazy fog. The cool morning air smelled of fresh, dewy grass.

It was like no time had passed since they ventured into the House of Hades. The only difference was the absence of the black lightning and the oblivious tourists.

Leo staggered backward, retching in his hand much to Penelope's distaste and Hea's amusement. "You know, I think I'll sit down."

"That's a good idea," Mel said, moving to help him.

The rest eagerly followed. Annais dropped down beside Leo, managing a smile as Jason quickly took the spot beside her. Despite Penelope's presence and Ezra's gaping silence, she allowed herself to relax for a second, to be any other girl holding hands with her boyfriend as he fussed over her injury. It was only when he leaned in to whisper in her ear that some of her giddiness faded.

"That's Penelope, right?" he murmured, warm lips grazing her skin as he smoothed some of her hair back from her face. "Shouldn't she be..."

"Dead?" He nodded. Annais shrugged. "I have no idea. I'm the wrong person to ask about her."

Jason looked like he wanted to say more, but he let it slide for the time being. Eventually, Frank cleared his throat and began to explain the details of what happened with their fight and the legionnaires. The others listened in awe, gasping at the right moments and staring at Frank in a new light. He sung the praises of the others -- how Nico had wielded the sceptre of Diocletian like it was made for him, how Jason flew to the other side and Annais mastered the shadows -- but was reluctant to share his own successes. Really, they should've known they wouldn't let him get away with it.

"Stop being modest, dumbass," Hea threw a strand of grass at him. "Now tell them how badass you were."

Her antsy fingers wouldn't stop moving, tracing patterns on her legs and shredding grass with brittle fingernails. She wouldn't look at Penelope, not that she seemed to care. She and Ezra were whispering softly on the other side of the circle, heads bowed to each other. In the striking sunlight, Penelope's sickly form was obvious. At certain angles, Annais was sure she could see the older girl's ribs poking against her dress.

"I don't..."

Hastily, Annais turned back to Frank.

"Hea's right. He's being modest," Jason piped up. "He controlled the entire legion. You should've seen him. Oh, by the way..." He spared a cursory glance Percy's way. "I resigned from my office, gave Frank a field promotion to Praetor. Unless you want to contest that ruling?"

Percy grinned. He shook his head, patting Frank proudly on the shoulder. "No argument here."

"Praetor?" Hazel stared at Frank, jaw dropped.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Well... yeah. I know it seems weird."

He barely got the words out before she tried to throw her arms around him, then winced as she remembered her busted ribs. She settled for kissing him instead, ignoring the other's teasing murmurs. "It seems perfect."

Next up was Leo, who clapped Frank on the other shoulder. "Way to go, Zhang. Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword."

"Tempting," Frank admitted before he turned apprehensively to Percy. "You guys, Tartarus has to be the real story. What happened down there? How did you...?"

Percy laced his fingers through Annabeth's. He would've done the same with Ezra but Penelope's presence weighed heavily between them. Ezra didn't seem to notice.

"We'll tell you the story," Percy said with a faint sigh. "But not yet, okay? I'm not ready to remember that place."

"No," Annabeth agreed, suddenly sounding breathless. "Right now..." Her head turned toward the river, catching something from the corner of her eye. "Uh, I think our ride is coming."

Quickly, Annais followed her gaze. She'd never felt more relieved to see the Argo II veering to port. The damaged oars moved in unison. The sail fluttered in the wind. She could just make out the spot that was Gleeson standing at the prow, and...

Was that someone with him?

Before she could point it out, she was disrupted by Leo scrambling to his feet and cheering in delight.

"That's my boy!"

"I never thought you and Gleeson were that close, Leo," Hea smirked.

He rolled his eyes. "You know I meant my main man, Festus."

"Your main man," she snorted, the sound of their voices fading as she followed him part of the way down the hillside.

Once the ship dropped low enough for them to hear him, Gleeson yelled, "About time! What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting!"

"Visitor?" Hazel frowned.

Momentarily, Annais' heart seized with dread. She gripped Jason's hand, indifferent to the sight of Reyna standing beside Gleeson. She wore a long purple cloak, face covered with dozens of bloody scratches that were coated in grime. Against all odds, she'd made it alive.

It looked like they all had stories to share.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

"MAYBE, SHE'S A GHOST," Leo speculated, leaning in annoyingly close until the side of his face was practically pressed against Annais' head as he whispered. She, Leo and Mel stood a few metres away from the others, watching Leo's new mechanical hoist system lower the Athena Parthenos onto the hillside with surprising ease.

Guarding Ezra not too far away was Penelope. The two sisters hadn't stopped whispering with each other. Surely Ezra knew by now the reason for Penelope's unexpected presence. But the others? Penelope only spared a few words for Hea when she asked, and Ezra remained tight-lipped as if she'd left her voice behind at Hades' altar.

"She's not a ghost," Mel disagreed, brows furrowed in thought. "But I can sense something is strange with her. Somehow, she's come back, like Hazel but not. I have a feeling she isn't meant to be here -- Well, of course she isn't because she died, but..."

Subconsciously as she rambled, her fingers ran through the ends of her hair, methodically untangling any knots she came across. It seemed to relax her, give her something to control when everything else in her immediate surroundings seemed uncertain. Leo occasionally found himself staring, and Annais wondered if the two of them had somehow resolved things in their time away from the others. She hoped so.

"No, I get what you mean," Annais murmured.

Penelope Min was never meant to come back. Someone had interfered.

But who?

"Incredible." Reyna's voice distracted Annais from her thoughts. The Praetor's scratches looked gruesome up close. She was exhausted. Her eyes were red from crying. From what Annais had gathered, her pegasus had collapsed after landing on the Argo II, overwhelmed by poisonous claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before. Reyna had put the pegasus out of his misery, even though it pained her to lose him. Now, she seemed numb. She'd let herself cry, grieve, and it was time to move on. "It looks newly made."

"Yeah," Leo approached her with a tired grin. Mel followed after him, leaving Annais no choice but to do the same. She made sure to give Penelope a wide berth as she passed her. "We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn't hard."

"Phidias is turning in his grave right now," Hea commented.

"Who?"

"Nevermind."

If Annabeth was close enough to hear them, she would be turning in her grave. Metaphorically speaking, of course. She'd made it this far without dying. If anyone ended up buried, it would be Leo and his cluelessness.

"Come on," Jason appeared at her side then, lacing their fingers together. "I've made you a sandwich."

Annais sighed happily. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

Jason smirked. "Yes, but you can always tell me some more."

The Argo II hovered just overhead. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, they had decided to eat lunch together on the hillside while they figured out what to do next.

"Hey, Reyna," Annabeth waved her over when she hesitated, clearly unsure if she was included. "Have some food. Join us."

With a brief glance at Jason -- who was passing Annais a bottle of water, his other hand resting firmly on her thigh -- she nodded. "Alright."

They scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged next to Annabeth, picked up a cheese sandwich and nibbled at the edge. It was weird to see her without her armour. For a second, she looked human. Any other teenager.

"So," she said, apprehensive of the sudden silence that washed over them. "Frank Zhang... Praetor."

Frank was acutely aware of their eyes on him. He wiped a few crumbs from his chin, cheeks tinted pink. "Well, yeah. Field promotion."

"To lead a different legion," Reyna noted, voice sharp but not harsh. More... speculative, open-minded. "A legion of ghosts."

Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank's. After an hour spent in sick bay (where Annais had unfortunately ended up as a result of Mel's sisterly insistence) they both looked a lot better; but Annais could tell they weren't sure what to think about their old boss from Camp Jupiter dropping in for lunch. They held a lot of respect for her. Anyone could see that from a mile away. But things had changed. Camp Jupiter, even to Annais who only spent a day there, seemed like a distant memory.

"Reyna," Jason said, feeling the urge to justify his actions. "You should've seen him."

"He was amazing," Piper agreed with a smile.

"Frank is a leader," Hazel insisted, squeezing his hand when he shrugged bashfully. "He makes a great praetor."

Reyna was quiet at first. Then, just when Frank looked like he couldn't take it anymore, she let up with a nod. "I believe you. I approve."

"As you should," Hea said.

Meanwhile, Frank's jaw had dropped. "You do?"

Reyna's lips twitched. She patted her mouth with a napkin after finishing her first sandwich, glancing down at the cluster of sandwiches in hope of another. "A son of Mars, the hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion? I can work with a demigod like that. I'm just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata."

Frank's grin disappeared as quick as it came. "Yeah. I've been wondering the same thing, but the legion will listen to you, Reyna. You made it here alone, across the ancient lands."

"And in doing so, I broke the laws of the legion."

"Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon," Frank pointed out. At this point, Annais was only somewhat listening as she reached for a second sandwich. At the same time, Reyna did the same, and the two girls shared an awkward look as they reached for the same one. Quickly, Reyna pulled back like just the graze of Annais' skin had burned her. Still, her smile was tentative, an olive branch that Annais blinked at but didn't deny. "Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes."

Reyna sighed and shook her head. "But I'm not Caesar. After finding Jason's note in Diocletian's Palace, tracking you down was easy. I only did what I thought was necessary."

"I don't know anything about the ancient lands or what it means for you Romans," Hea piped up. She was still wearing her dusty clothes but had taken the time while Annais was in Sick Bay to fix her long braid, slicking back the dark baby hairs around her forehead with some kind of gel she probably stole from Gleeson. "But I can tell you now that many others would hesitate to do what you did."

Percy's grin was one of agreement. "Reyna, Hea's right. You're too modest. Flying halfway across the world by yourself to answer Annabeth's plea, because you knew it was our best chance for peace? That's pretty freaking heroic."

"Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found his way back."

"He had help," Annabeth pointed out.

"Oh, obviously," Reyna hummed. She spared a curious look at Ezra, evidently picking up the same small differences Annais had. Pale skin (more so than usual), detached expression, sickly thin frame. Ezra had always been smaller in build, but now the world seemed to swallow her whole. Reyna finished her assessment and turned away, lips pursed. "Without you and Ezra, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag."

"True," Annabeth chuckled.

"He can barely put on his shoes without us," Ezra muttered; like her face, her voice was cold and distant, but she seemed to come alive at the sound of Annabeth giggling. The warmth was gone in a blink, and Annais had no time to miss it. Maybe she'd imagined it.

"Hey!" Percy complained as the others started laughing at him.

"It's good to see nothing's changed," Penelope commented then, and the laughter was quick to falter. Reyna raised an eyebrow at her. Penelope stared back. She made no move to offer her hand but did say, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Penelope Min."

Annais smothered a cruel scoff. How could you have met? she wanted to ask. Unless Reyna's taken a trip to the Underworld we don't know about.

"Okay, can we please just address the elephant in the room?" Leo sighed, somehow missing Mel frantically shaking her head at him as he pointed a tiny screwdriver at Penelope. He'd stabbed a chocolate-covered strawberry with it and was taking small, unassuming bites. Penelope watched him with her nose scrunched up but apart from that, her face was inscrutable. "How'd you get out?"

"Get out?"

"You know," he made a vague and painfully awkward gesture, seemingly realising he had the attention of a dozen people on him. "Out of..."

"Hell," Hea offered.

Penelope's glare darkened.

"It's a long story," she said, each word careful and meticulous. "I don't remember much, just the darkness of the Fields of Asphodel. Next thing I know, I'm at the Doors and I can hear Melanie screaming for Ezra on the other side. I had to do something."

"And no one helped you?" Annais asked as her mind scoffed and thought: bullshit.

When Hazel came back, it was because she was a daughter of Pluto and Nico, her brother, had found her. If Nico wasn't a son of Hades, it would've been impossible for him to bring Hazel back alive. Someone had to have helped Penelope. Either someone with a connection to Pluto/Hades (which didn't exactly help seeing as most of His demigod children were present in their circle) or it was a God. And Annais could only think of one God who loved Penelope Min enough to screw with fate.

Destiny was a tricky thing and Annais saw no point in pretending to understand it.

"No," Penelope shook her head. "I was alone in there."

Hazel's face was sympathetic, and Annais wanted to scream in frustration. "I understand the feeling," she said, offering Penelope a tentative smile. "If you ever need to talk to someone..."

"Thanks," Penelope muttered, fortunately leaving it at that.

"So, the twenty-million-peso question," Leo put them back on track. "We got this slightly used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What do we do with it?"

Reyna squinted at the Athena Parthenos, her expression thoughtful. "As fine as it looks on this hill, I didn't come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half-Blood by a Roman leader. Do I understand correctly?"

Annabeth nodded. "I had a dream down in... you know, Tartarus. I was on Half-Blood Hill, and Athena's voice said, 'I must stand here. The Roman must bring me.'"

"Ominous," Hea said mid-bite.

"It makes sense," Nico added. Much to Annais' amusement (and slight confusion), he was eating half a pomegranate. She wondered if this was his idea of a joke. "The statue is a powerful symbol. A Roman returning it to the Greeks? That could heal the historic rift, maybe even heal the Gods of their split personalities."

"Now, hold on," Gleeson belched, earning a disgruntled look from Reyna, who was caught in the crossfire. "I like peace as much as the next satyr--"

"You hate peace," Leo rebuked.

"The point is, Valdez, we're only, what, a few days from Athens?" This earned him a few sceptical nods. "We got an army of giants waiting for us there. We went to all the trouble of saving this statue--"

"I went to most of the trouble," Annabeth grumbled.

Naturally, Gleeson ignored her. "Because that prophecy called it the giants' bane, so why aren't we taking it to Athens with us? It's obviously our secret weapon." He eyed the Athena Parthenos with a hungry glint in his eye. "It looks like a ballistic missile to me. Maybe if Valdez strapped some engines to it..."

"I'm sure Athena would love it," Hea scoffed.

Piper cleared her throat. "Uh, great idea, Coach, but a lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaea rising at Camp Half-Blood..." At the same time, she unsheathed Katoptris and set it on her plate. The blade showed nothing except the sky. "Since we got back to the ship, I've been seeing some bad stuff in the knife."

"Great," Annais sighed.

"The Roman legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They're gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves."

"Octavian," Reyna growled, her hands clenched into fists. "I told him to wait."

"Bear Boy..." Ezra snarled to herself.

"When we take over command," Frank said. "Our first order of business should be to load Octavian into the nearest catapult and fire him as far away as possible."

"Agreed," Reyna muttered. "But for now?"

"He's intent on war," Annabeth sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose like the conversation was giving her a headache. "He'll have it, unless we stop him."

"And what's our plan for that?" Mel asked.

No one answered.

Piper turned the blade of her knife. "Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it."

"Oh, come on."

She cast Hea an apologetic smile. "I saw images of a possible future. The camp is in flames, Roman and Greek demigods lying dead. And Gaea..."

That was enough for Annais.

"So Reyna takes the statue," Percy said. "And we continue on to Athens."

Leo shrugged. "Cool with me. But, uh, a few pesky logistical problems. We got, what, two weeks until that Roman feast day when Gaea is supposed to rise?"

"The Feast of Spes," Jason corrected on instinct. "That's on the first of August. Today is--"

"July eighteenth," Frank offered. "So, yeah, from tomorrow, exactly fourteen days."

Hazel winced. "It took us eighteen days to get from Rome to here. A trip that should've only taken two or three days, max."

"So, given our usual luck," said Leo. "Maybe we have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants, and stop them from waking Gaea. Maybe."

"But how is Reyna supposed to get the Athena Parthenos back to Camp Half-Blood before Octavian marches the Romans into war?" Mel asked. This time, her fingers looked seconds away from tearing her hair out at the roots.

"She doesn't even have her pegasus anymore," Leo added. His eyes widened almost comically when Mel sharply elbowed him. "Uh, sorry."

"Tactful as always, Leo," Annais grimaced.

"It's fine," Reyna snapped, but Annais was sure that under any other circumstance, she would've challenged Leo to a duel for his insolence. Not that she could blame him. Leo did have that effect on people. "Unfortunately, Leo is correct. I don't see how I can transport something so large. I was assuming -- well, I was hoping you would have an answer."

Annais had nothing but a throbbing bruise and the urge to rest her head on Jason's shoulder.

The others weren't much better.

"The Labyrinth?" Hazel suggested after a long moment of silence. "I mean, if Pasiphaë really has reopened it, and I think she has..." She looked at Percy apprehensively. "Well, you said the Labyrinth could take you anywhere. So maybe--"

"No," Percy and Annabeth spoke in unison, sharing one of their couple-y looks Annais had missed.

"Not to shoot you down, Hazel," Percy continued when her face dropped. "It's just... Well, for one thing, the passages in the Labyrinth are way too small for the Athena Parthenos. There's no chance you could take it down there."

"And even if the maze is reopening," Annabeth said. "We don't know what it might be like now. It was dangerous enough before, under Daedalus's control, and he wasn't evil. If Pasiphaë has remade the Labyrinth the way she wanted... Hazel, maybe your underground senses could guide Reyna through, but no one else would stand a chance. And we need you here. Besides, if you got lost down there..."

"You're right," Hazel sighed. "Never mind."

Reyna glanced around at the group. "Any other ideas?"

"I could go," Frank offered, though he didn't sound very happy about it. "If I'm a Praetor, I should go. Maybe we could rig some sort of sled, or--"

"No, Frank Zhang," Reyna cut him off with a weary smile. "I hope we will work side by side in the future, but for now, your place is with the crew of this ship. You are one of the seven of the prophecy."

"I'm not," Nico pointed out.

Everybody stopped eating. Annais' stomach twisted. Here was his opportunity.

Hazel set down her sandwich. "Nico..."

"I'll go with Reyna," he insisted, sharing a look with Hazel that conveyed everything he failed to put into words. "I can transport the statue with shadow-travel."

"I mean, I know you just got all thirteen of us to the surface, and that was awesome," Percy said, confused by the way Nico rounded on him with a scowl. "But a year ago, you said transporting just yourself was dangerous and unpredictable. A couple of times, you ended up in China. Transporting a forty-foot statue and two people halfway across the world, and without your sisters to help--"

"I've changed since I came back from Tartarus." Nico's eyes blazed with a wounded sense of anger.

"Nico," Jason intervened. "We're not questioning your power. We just want to make sure you don't kill yourself trying."

"I can do it," he clenched his jaw. "I'll make short jumps, a few hundred miles each time. It's true, after each jump I won't be in any shape to fend off monsters. I'll need Reyna to defend me and the statue."

"That won't be necessary," Hea said then. "You'll have me."

Annais should've seen this coming, too. She wasn't sure how it hit her out of nowhere. Hea rarely ever stayed in one place. Still, it felt like the cyclops had caved in her chest instead of her jaw. She tried to speak, but Hea silenced her with a soft smile.

"Hey, this is good," she insisted, not that anyone had protested yet. "I can finally do my part. Beats sitting around doing nothing, right?"

"You haven't been doing nothing," Mel protested weakly.

Hea laughed. "No, just not enough. Let me do this."

Let me get away before the bomb explodes.

Annais was keenly aware that neither Penelope or Ezra were sad to see Hea go.

Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied the group, scanning their faces, but betraying none of her own thoughts. "Any objections?"

No one spoke.

"Very well," she nodded. "I see no better option. But there will be many monster attacks. I would feel better bringing an extra person, just in case."

"Coach Hedge," Frank blurted out suddenly.

Annais stared at him, not sure she'd heard him right.

"Uh, what, Frank?" Percy frowned.

"Coach is the best choice," Frank elaborated, sharing a look with the satyr, who seemed surprisingly eager to comply. Well, there was a first time for everything. "The only choice. He's a good fighter. He's a certified protector. He'll get the job done."

"A faun," Reyna blinked.

"Satyr," Gleeson sneered. "And, yeah, I can go. Besides, when you get to Camp Half-Blood, you'll need somebody with connections and diplomatic skills to keep the Greeks from attacking you. Just let me go make a call -- er, I mean, get my baseball bat."

Call? Annais wondered with the beginning fragments of a smile. Did Gleeson have a 'friend' none of them knew about? Except Frank, it seemed...

Despite the fact that he'd just been volunteered for a likely suicide mission, Gleeson jogged toward the ship's ladder, tapping his hooves together as he went. Hea seemed delighted at his attendance. Annais was sure she was already plotting ways to annoy him now that she was leaving behind Leo

Tentatively, Nico rose. "I should go, too, and rest before the first passage. We'll meet at the statue at sunset."

Once he was gone, Hazel allowed her true feelings to show. Gnawing on her bottom lip, she turned first to her sisters. "He's acting strangely. I'm not sure he's thinking this through."

"He'll be okay," Jason said.

"How do you know?" she questioned.

"This is Nico we're talking about," Annais mustered a smile.

"And he'll have me," Hea reminded. "You know I won't let anything hurt him."

"I hope you're right," she sighed, forcing her fears back into hiding again. "Well, we're at another crossroads. The Athena Parthenos goes West. The Argo II goes East. I hope we chose correctly."

Annais shrugged. "There's nothing else we can do."

"One thing bothers me, though," Percy admitted, capturing their attention. "If the Feast of Spes is in two weeks, and Gaea needs the blood of two demigods to wake -- what did Clytius call it? The blood of Olympus? -- then aren't we doing exactly what Gaea wants, heading to Athens? If we don't go, and she can't sacrifice any of us, doesn't that mean she can't wake up fully?"

"If only it was that easy," Hea snorted.

"And what of our quest?" Mel pointed out. "We don't help you defeat Gaea and, what, we die?"

Annais scanned Penelope's face for any kind of recognition. There was none. Annais burned in silent rage. She was so uncaring. Even before Penelope 'died', she struggled to read the eldest Min. Annais knew the others, and Ezra to a certain extent. She could never understand Penelope. Maybe it was because they weren't raised together. Maybe it was because neither ever tried to know the other. Her own blood was a foreign concept to her, and Annais hated it.

"Percy, prophecies cut both ways," Annabeth was saying when she tore her gaze away. "If we don't go, we may lose our best and only chance to stop her. Athens is where our battle lies. We can't avoid it. Besides, trying to thwart prophecies never works. Gaea could capture us somewhere else, or spill the blood of some other demigods."

"And then we go bye-bye," Hea gestured between herself and the other Min girls.

"Yeah, you're right," Percy sighed. "I don't like it, but you're right."

"Well, then." Sensing the spiralling mood of the group, Piper clapped her hands together and forced a smile. She sheathed her blade and patted her cornucopia. "Good picnic. Who wants dessert?"

"What are you offering?" Mel asked curiously. Her hopeful smile was quick to drop, however, when Ezra whispered something to Penelope and the two of them stood. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm tired," Ezra murmured, squeezing Annabeth's hand when the blonde girl reached for her in assurance. "So is Penelope. I figured since Hea's not using it anymore, I can show her to the spare bunk."

"It'd be nice if I could get my things out first," Hea scoffed. Her tone screamed at least pretend for a second you'll miss me.

Ezra shrugged. At least Penelope had the good sense not to fuel the fire too much. She laid a hand on Ezra's shoulder.

"It's fine," she said. "I can wait."

"Let me come with you," Mel tried to stand then. "You can borrow my room."

"Come on, Penelope," Ezra turned away without another word.

Mel's face slackened, but Ezra continued to depart down the hillside like she never heard her speak. Penelope offered Mel a cautious smile, like her face muscles had forgotten how to move. "She'll come around. Just let me take care of her now."

It was like nothing had changed.

Annais was both pained and relieved by their absence. Mel sat back down, and the silence was loud until Leo snatched Hea's cake -- given to her by Piper while Hea ignored Penelope -- to offer to his girlfriend.

"Hey," Hea pouted as Annais and the others laughed. "I was eating that."

Meanwhile, at the base of the hill, Penelope had paused. Ezra was climbing up the ladder, carefully feeling for each rung before moving, while Penelope kept it steady for her. At the sound of distant laughter echoing down to them, the daughter of Kronos lifted her dark eyes to the sky. Inhaling sharply, she relished in the warmth of the sun on her skin. She glanced down at her open palm.

Glinting innocuously back at her was a tiny golden charm. Plucked precariously from her sister's bracelet while she was catatonic in the House of Hades, Ezra hadn't even noticed it was missing.

The scythe of her Father.

Turning away from the laughter, Penelope pocketed it and moved to follow Ezra once more.