When they arrived at the woods just past the canal, it wasn't difficult to track down the satyr. Piper had picked up on the sound of reed pipes and lead the group forward, twisting and weaving through the trees. With barely any light streaming through the trees, it wasn't a surprise when Piper eventually slipped, though it was a bit of a surprise that it when the group found it was not a branch, but a pair of goat's legs.

"Hey!" said satyr, Gleeson Hedge, bleated. "Gods above, you cupcakes can't even go for a stroll without falling on your ass!"

"Ow," Piper replied in a small voice, wincing as Nico held out a hand to help her up.

"Hello, Gleeson." Nico said. "We're not exactly on a stroll. Like I said yesterday, we need a way to get into the Underworld for our quest. We need your music."

"Please," Leo added helpfully.

"Please," Nico echoed.

"Of course," Hedge stood and brushed himself off. "Can't get a day without demigods begging for my help-not that I'm complaining. You know, they used to send me out as a protector-first a student, then a gym teacher. Speaking of, you cupcakes could've used a bit more training. If elf-boy's arms were any skinnier," he nodded in Leo's direction. "I'd mistake them for noodles." Ignoring Leo's noise of indignation, to which Nico tried to suppress a smile, he continued: "Are you sure you cupcakes don't need a bit more force on your team down there?"

Nico frowned. He didn't want to admit it, but at this point, his anxiety was jumping around and rolling around on the floor of his brain. He'd take anyone and everyone if he could. But he couldn't. This was his quest, with his group from the lines of the prophecy. He felt bad enough not ditching Piper and Leo at the hotel to keep them from danger; he couldn't risk hurting anyone else.

Besides, as he imagined the satyr trying to flex while battling monsters and ranting about a protein diet while they ran hungry, Nico found the appeal of adding him diminishing quickly.

"We need you up here," Nico said. "On surveillance. I've heard these woods are dangerous, and we're lucky we haven't attracted anything yet. If you see anything coming in after us, um...beat it to a pulp. That'll really help us."

"Right," Hedge nodded, arms swinging. "That I can do, no worries. Oh, hey, I meant to ask-the daylight's been a little off lately, even for winter. Does your quest have anything to do with that, or do you think Lord Apollo's just distracted by some musical festival or something?"

"Oh," Nico started, struggling for words for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know anything about that. Maybe it's the Christmas Carols that's got him...in a bad mood?"

"Hm," Hedge pondered this thought before nodding. "That's right, isn't it...Christians get all the carols, so he probably wants some songs for himself. Maybe I should work on that while you're gone."

"You should," Leo piped up, looking as though he was fighting back a grin. "I want to hear it when we get back."

Nico glared at him, but Hedge just nodded. "Got it. Protection and song-production! Now, clear some space!"

Hedge brought his reed pipes to his lips and began playing a tune that sounded suspiciously like Queen's We Will Rock You. Right, a song that was technically about rocks; Nico swore he would never properly understand satyr magic. Just a few feet away, the ground split, more open and easier to access than Nico could ever do with his skeleton-raising. Peering inside the darkness, Nico could see steps descending, as if they'd been eroded into the earth over centuries. Despite his heart jumping into his chest, he had to tell himself: this was familiar. He knew this part; he knew his father's domain like the back of his hand.

"Cool," Leo remarked, looking down into the endless ink-black path. "I get to see what happens to me when I die right before I die! Aren't I lucky?"

"Shut up," Piper shot back nervously, unsheathing her knife and starting forward. Leo followed close behind, almost hiding behind Piper, though he summoned a large hammer and was holding it like a baseball bat.

Nico turned back to Hedge. He imagined, for a moment, going to the Wilderness School that Piper had talked about. Sneaking out of the dorms in search of snacks and adventure. No nightmares that'd leave him waking up in a cold sweat, desperate for comfort. They'd have Hedge as a gym teacher, barking at them to run laps. Running side-by-side with Leo and Piper, they'd complain as if they couldn't possibly have any other problems in the world. It'd be nice. It'd be normal.

"Thank you," Nico said, thanking Hedge for essentially opening death's door.

Hedge smiled slightly, unknowing of a fraction of what the three of them were about to face down there. "You're welcome, kid."

Nico turned and descended down the dirt tunnel, the smell of the grass on a winter's day quickly enveloped by that of the deep earth.

---

Whenever a door was opened into the Underworld, it was never a convenient entry. If it would pop up right next to his father's palace, even, that would be great. But no, they had to take the stairs.

Everyone was silent on the walk, minus when Piper began to nervously hum and Leo joined her, somehow morphing the tune into what sounded like a show theme song. Nico wondered what they were thinking; he'd been down to the Underworld several times, and it never unsettled him. He knew it probably should, but it always felt familiar, as if he'd been raised here instead of Italy.

Part of him wondered if Piper and Leo would not want to associate with him after this-being gay was fine, supposedly, but hanging out in the Underworld? That had to cross a line.

Time seemed to slow and melt across the dark earth, only lit by Piper's knife and a small fire Leo held in the palm of his hand. After what felt like hours, they finally emerged from the tunnel into-

"Holy shit, it's Texas," Leo remarked, standing stark-still at the beginning of the gargantuan wheat field that was the Field of Asphodel.

Piper snickered at that, starting through the field. Leo and Nico followed, the long grass tickling Nico's legs even through his jeans.

"I'm not familiar with the Underworld," Leo admitted. "But this field, I mean...it's gotta be a punishment, right? All those bigoted politicians come here because they just love Texas...right?"

Nico could hear the crack of doubt in his voice, could feel his eyes on him, asking for clarity. "This is the Field of Asphodel. It's not a punishment...but it's not a reward, clearly. It's where middle-ground people go, people that aren't really good or evil. From what I've seen, it's about eighty-five percent of all people."

"Oh," Leo swallowed. "So if you're not really good and not really bad...you stand in a corn field. Forever. For all eternity. Gotcha."

Social cues was the least of Nico's strong suits, though he could tell Leo was trying to mask the panic in his voice. "Most heroes go to Elysium." Nico explained. "You die a hero's death, you get a hero's reward. Eternal nice neighborhood, barbecues with your friends, things like that. I highly doubt you'll end up here...or the Field of Punishment, Leo..."

Leo nodded, letting out a shaky breath. "Yeah, let's not stop by there, I didn't pay for the entire tour."

The group continued, and it was clear Piper and Leo were unsettled by the spirits. They drifted and chittered about endlessly-one of the so-called 'gifts' of being a son of Hades was that Nico could somewhat understand them. Not entirely, but if he looked close enough at one in particular, it formed a more visible appearance, spoke in more cohearent words. Not that he really wanted to look at them-it made him a little sad, not to mention their muttering was never anything helpful.

That is, until he overheard a louder, clearer voice above the other spirits: "--favorite rock. Sorry. Excuse me. I'm trying to get to my favorite rock, just over there."

For a moment, Nico thought it was Piper-but her voice was different. His heart dropped-perhaps it was some kind of goddess or monster, hiding amongst the spirits. Then Nico turned in the direction of the voice, and this only made him more panicked: this spirit was the clearest he'd ever seen in his life, barely opaque at all. She had thick, curly black hair and dark skin, a pretty face with large eyes, dark but flecked with gold despite the darkness of the field.

"Oh," she said, looking at them about as incredulously as he was gazing back at her. "Are you gods? What are you doing in the middle of the Field like this?"

Nico's mind rushed. How had he not seen her before? To be fair he tried to avoid places like this, packed with millions of chittering spirits, but still.

"Whoa," Leo said. "I can actually see this one-and hear her. Does that mean you're, like, evil or something?"

"No," the girl replied, perhaps a bit too quickly. Guilt flashed across her features for only a moment. "At least, I don't think so. You-you look really familiar somehow. I didn't think...well...I'm Hazel. What's your name?"

"Leo," Leo replied with a slight smile, as if unsure if he should be pleased or unsettled that he was seemingly recognizable. "The guy with all the tools," he summoned a hammer from his belt to prove his point, spinning it around a loop before putting it back to let it disappear. "The leader of the most dangerous quest into the Underworld-"

"Nico's the leader, Leo," Piper corrected. "Hi, Hazel. I'm Piper."

"Nico," Nico added with a small nod. "I don't-I don't get it. You're...different. You're more visible than the other spirits, and you can speak to us, but you're clearly," his voice faltered. This girl couldn't have been more than fifteen, same as him. The funny thing was, no matter how often he came down to the Underworld, no matter how often he thought about death, it was never something he thought would really happen to him. He'd be exempt, somehow, if he wanted it or not.

"You're clearly dead," Nico settled. "So why are you different than the others...?"

"I don't know," Hazel said, her voice, no matter how clear, was still distant and undeniably sad. She kept glancing back at Leo, her eyes narrowing slightly-not as if she were glaring, but as if he were hard to look at. "I was cursed in life, and when I came down here, they told me I was different. That I was a...a demigod. Maybe that's why."

"Cursed?" Leo asked, shifting on his feet the way Nico had seen in movies, like he was about to fight. "Cursed how?"

Hazel seemed pained by the question, as though Leo had struck a nerve. Nico almost wanted to chide him, though his curiosity piqued. Cursed demigods were a dime a dozen, it was part of the fine print that came with all the cool powers, but that didn't explain her visibility after death.

Just then, something popped up by Hazel's foot, which she picked up with a quickness that suggested it was instinct. She tried to hide it in her palm, though when she glanced at each of them separately, she decided to open her hand. In her palm rested a gleaming diamond the size of a chicken nugget.

A gasp escaped Piper as Leo swore, reaching a hand out.

"No!" Hazel protested, tossing the gem away into the endless tall grass, only vaguely tussling a few spirits. "That's my curse. If you take one of my gems, something really bad will happen to you."

"Huh," Leo contemplated. "Well, my life is already a series of really bad events, so it wouldn't be too bad if I had a diamond..."

Nico noticed that Hazel didn't seem amused by his joke. Around her feet, more jewels emerged from the dirt--rubies, sapphires, emeralds. Piper eyed them for a moment, undeniably contemplating, before meeting Hazel's eyes again.

Nico's mind was working a hundred miles an hour. A cursed demigod, in the Field of Asphodel, that could make jewels pop up whether she wanted to or not. What was her story, then? If she were so visible, almost as if she were alive, and their quest took them right to the Doors of Death...

No. He shouldn't be getting distracted like this.

But at the same time...

"You should come with us," Nico offered. "If you're a demigod, and you ended up here...that doesn't seem right. You deserve another chance."

Hazel hesitated, her gaze flittering towards her supposed favorite rock. If that was really all she had to look forward to, it was a wonder she was even hesitating at all.

"Do you think," she started. "If it was found out, that I...came back to life...would I be punished? I mean...I hear the screaming from the Fields of Punishment sometimes, and I..." her form was still a little blurry, but Nico could tell her eyes were watering. "I don't want to cause any trouble..."

"You wouldn't," Nico insisted, quick but not honestly sure. The punishment for a spirit leaving probably would be severe...if it had happened before. In everything he'd learned about myths-which was more in combat than in reading or card games-he'd never heard of a spirit leaving the Underworld besides Eurydice, and that had been with the explicit permission of Hades. Not only that, but it didn't work. Nothing would be worse than leading her out of the Field, out to the Doors, only to discover some stipulation that leaves her here in misery.

Still, the alternative was to leave her here in misery anyway.

"Yeah, you'll be fine!" Leo insisted. "It was probably a mistake, sending you here anyway, because of the constant stream of spirits coming in. Trust me, when we all leave here and then die horrible early deaths, I'll be making us burgers in Elysium."

"Um, I'm vegetarian," Piper added.

"Fine, you can have an Uncrustable or something," Leo waved his hand dismissively.

Hazel laughed, and Nico could tell by the way Hazel was looking at him that he reminded her of someone really special. "Okay," she decided. "I don't know what an...Uncrustable is, but if you guys really think it'll be okay...I'll come with you."

"Great!" Piper said, shouldering her bag. "Well, we're on our way to Tartarus to free a captive god, so-"

"You are?" Hazel asked. "How did he get captured? Why were you chosen to save him? How-"

"We can explain on the way," Nico offered, anxious to start walking again. The sooner they got out of here, the sooner they could get out of Tartarus with Apollo...if they got out of Tartarus at all.

The group followed Nico out of the field of tall grass, dodging spirits out of habit. It was a lot like walking around New York, only instead of busy mortals shoulder-checking you, it was chittering spirits slowly drifting through you in a gust of icy-cold wind.

After a surprisingly uneventful but achingly long walk, the group reach the chasm: the place where the Underworld ceased and Tartarus began.

"Um, Nico?" Piper started, staring down into the darkness. They were about ten feet from the edge, but it wasn't far enough; in the fearful silence, Nico almost felt as if the pit were breathing. "How are we supposed to get down there without, you know, falling to our deaths?"

Nico thought through a couple options on the fly-of course he'd thought through most of this quest, but you know how it is when you're tasked with freeing a god from an imperishable hellish prison-you forget things.

"I could try to build something-like a helicopter," Leo offered. "But, uh, we'd have to go back up to the surface. That, and I'd need a couple thousand dollars for a Home Depot run, which I don't think is in our budget."

"As much as I'd love to blow a bunch of money and die in a makeshift helicopter with you," Nico replied, "I just thought of something better." He put his fingers to his lips and whistled-loud, like he'd seen people do in movies when calling for a cab. His father told him this would work whenever he needed it, and he didn't think Hades was one for practical jokes, but he couldn't help but worry. It wouldn't be the first time his dad had disappointed him.

A devilish cackle, followed by the flapping of leathery wings, filled the air as the three Furies swooped in. They bared their teeth, hissing in disdain at being interrupted from their daily torturous delights; in fact, one of them had forgotten to leave her fiery whip back at the office.

"Son of Lord Hades," the Fury on the right spoke, her voice like nails on a chalkboard. If Nico remembered right, this one was Tisiphone, the Fury of avenging murder. The one on the far left was Megaera, the Fury of grudges. The one in the middle was Alecto, the Fury of unceasing torment, aka Percy's old Algebra teacher. "You have called upon us for a task?"

"Lady Tisiphone-"

"Lady Pissy-phone?" Leo whispered to Piper, though his whisper level could clearly use some work. The Fury in question cracked her whip to the ground at Leo's feet, causing the boy to jump. A small fire sparked there, but whether it was caused by him or the Fury, Nico didn't know.

"Lady Tisiphone," Nico continued firmly. "I ask your assistance to get us a safe landing into Tartarus. Could each of you carry one us down?"

The Furies seemed contemplative, glancing over the edge of the pit. They were some of the scariest creatures in the Underworld, but even they looked scared of what could by lurking in the depths. From what Nico knew, though, they could not defy him; not unless he was plotting against his father, of course.

"Yes," Tisiphone hissed. "We can carry you down to a safe landing, but there we must leave you. You would have to find your own way out-or die trying."

Alecto, clearly happy to see a friend of Percy Jackson in such a miserable situation, smirked, forked tongue roving across her lips. Nico looked between his quest mates, trying to put on a brave face.

"Hazel," he started. "Can you try to float down there? It's the only way-they can't carry you down."

Hazel looked at him as if he were a madman-he probably was, but this was probably the last half-sane idea he'd have down here.

"I can try," she said. "I mean-I don't think I can die twice, especially not while I'm in the Underworld..." With that comforting thought she stepped forward-her legs were the hardest to see, but Nico could still see shoes with worn buckles, like something a schoolgirl would wear in an old movie. One leg went over the side, then with an enveloping whoosh and muffled scream, Hazel was gone.

A few moments went by, and Nico had the sinking feeling that if Hazel was alright, there was no way for her voice to reach them.

"So," Tisiphone crooned, attempting a certain smoothness to her voice that proved impossible when it sounded like she smoked three packs a day. "Are you ready to follow your friend?"

Nico glanced at Piper, then Leo. Ready to follow their friend, aka the dead cursed girl they just met? The one who was only not dead again because-to use her words-she 'can't die again'? Ready to go down there, find the tomb of sleep, get past the magic to find Apollo, free him and get back out of Tartarus using the Doors of Death, aka Monster City?

Leo looked as if he were rethinking the helicopter idea. That, or he was going to be sick. Piper looked as though she wanted to march back into Asphodel and get to know Hazel's favorite rock. Nico himself worried he would cling to one of the Furies and start crying when they tried to drop him off.

"Yeah," Nico nodded, unsure of where the confidence in his voice came from, but nonetheless grateful for it. "Yeah, we're ready."

---

Riding in the clutches of a Fury was a lot like riding a roller coaster. If the roller coaster's safety belt was jabbing you in the shoulders with razor-sharp talons. And you were swooping into the oblivion on unfinished tracks. And the air smelled like rotten eggs.

It was then Nico realized this analogy wouldn't work, because he'd never actually been on a roller coaster before.

"Ease your grip, hero!" Alecto hissed, and Nico glanced over to see Leo, cluctching Alecto's whithered, spindly legs in a death grip. He was writhing-which couldn't have been good for stability-legs flailing about.

"It's physically impossible for your chicken legs to carry this much!" Leo insisted, his eyes shut tight, like a child trying not to see monsters in the closet.

"If you wish to believe in mortal physics," Alecto crooned, letting go of one of his shoulders with one claw, so he dangled over the abiss in the grip of the other claw. It only lasted a moment, but his scream ehcoed across the entire chasm.

"Stop it!" Piper insisted. From her place in Megara's grip, she looked as if she were about to be sick, but was masking it with a stony expression. "Are you trying to have every monster in this hellhole at our feet when we land?"

Nico could hear a soft, repetative apology from Leo, but he turned his attention to something else-the rapidly approaching ground. Hard, dark red rock raching towards them, the area entirely dark outside of the River Phlegethon-the river of fire.

"Slow down," Nico ordered Tisiphone. To his surprise, the Fury seemed to ignore him-or perhaps his voice sounded too small in the endless abiss.

"Slow down!" Nico repeated, trying to keep the fear and desperation from creeping into his voice. That's what these demons would love-the dreaded 'Prince of the Underworld', crying and screaming from fear within the first two minutes of being in Tartarus. "I order you to-"

And then he was dropped.

Nico, Leo, and Piper were all ejected from the Furies claws from about three feet off the ground, landing with a blunt thud upon the rocks. Nico coughed, then coughed again, the sound hollow; he panicked for a moment-the fall had knocked the wind out of him, arguably one of the worst of mortal conditions.

"Thanks-" Nico struggled. "Thanks a lot!" he shouted up at the retreating, bat-like figures, already too far to see clearly. He could, however, hear their cackling from here; if he died down here, he was going to haunt the Furies for the rest of time.

Nico took a second to take a deep breath-the air down here smelled so bad he could almost taste it-and he turned to his questmates. "You guys okay?"

Leo nodded, glancing around anxiously. Oh, right, what Piper said about attracting monsters was true-it wasn't like how it was in the city. Up in the mortal world, monsters were distracted by all kinds of smells-mortals, perfumes, hot dog carts. Down here, with only the smell of other monsters...demigods would surely be the most prominent new addition.

"The more standing around we do, the more likely we are to be attacked, right?" Piper asked, shouldering her bag. "Now, let's find Hazel and get going."

The trio called for Hazel, trying to keep their voices down while still attempting to reach her. If Nico was lucky, he could reach out find an area as cold as ice and know it was her.

"She couldn't have gone that far, right?" Leo asked. In the light of the River Phlegethon, he looked a little daunting, but also kind of normal-like he were telling scary stories at a campfire. "I mean, she was just gonna follow us out...unless she wanted to speedrun to the Doors of Death."

Nico's voice faltered, and he paused his calling. He hadn't thought of it, but it made sense. Of course, Hazel couldn't have really helped much on the quest anyway, but the idea still hurt; one less person to be down here with. Would the others follow in her footsteps when they realized how screwed they were?

"Hazel!" Nico called into the darkness, perhaps a little (a lot) louder than intended.

"I'm here!" Hazel called back, though even as Nico narrowed his eyes, he couldn't see her form; would they have to rely on her voice the entire time they were here?

"That fall was really something, huh?" Hazel laughed. "I mean, I'm surprised you survived, but I guess the Furies had to promise you that..."

A gargantuan figure then emerged from the shadows, easily twenty feet tall, with limbs like tree trunks. It was carrying a hulking sword, already dark with blood-from what, Nico didn't know. His gaze went up the monster's body-past its thick, gleaming armor, past its matted hair littered with bones, all the way to its head. A menacing smile filled with crooked, yellowed teeth. One huge, bright green eye.

If Nico were lucky, he would have found Hazel right away. But of course he wasn't lucky. He wasn't lucky at all.

"But that's alright," the cyclops crooned, a perfect copy of Hazel's voice. "I like my demigods fresh."