Over the past three days, Leo had seen both a hellhound the size of a cement truck and receptionist-turned-vampire, but nothing could have prepared him for the Cyclops.

Maybe it was his staggering height-Leo had always been a bit insecure about how he'd promptly landed at five-foot-six, though at least Nico was the same, while Piper had probably two inches on them-but he would not envy being ten feet tall. This guy would probably have a hard time boarding a plane-or getting through any doorway, for that matter.

The Cyclops roared, brandishing a hulking sword that glowed eeirily in the firey river nearby-at least, parts of the blade glowed. The parts that were not dripping with darkened blood.

Leo's hands went ablaze, and he balled them up in fists, circling as if he were about to fight. He was never one for fights back in school-there was no shortage of people who wanted to beat the shit out of him, but he used his humor to deflect. He thought that this monster in front of him would probably not like any of his jokes.

The Cyclops laughed, a booming, unearthly sound that echoed throughout the chasm.

"Is this your first day, puny demigod?" The Cyclops mused. "We kind are immune to fire-but you will surely have an extra spicy kick!"

He lunged forward, grabbing for Leo. Leo summoned the largest hammer he could think of from his tool belt, knocking the hand away with a two-handed strike.

The cyclops growled, pulling away, instead grabbing Piper with his other hand. She screamed as he pulled her up, squeezing her in a tight grip.

"Oh, please don't do that," Piper managed. Past her wincing and gasping for air, past the Tartarus dust that covered her, she looked really pretty. "My friends and I wouldn't taste good at all. The stress makes us stringy, and Leo's diet makes him basically garbage."

Leo wanted to stand up for himself-but for one thing, she was right, and for another, it seemed to be working. The cyclops blinked dumbly, putting her down.

"Thank you," Piper smiled sweetly at the monster, which must have taken a lot of courage-even more so when she pulled out her knife and stabbed him in the hand.

The cyclops howled in pain, backing away a few steps. He then growled, lunging forward again only to stop suddenly. He turned around, and that was when Leo saw Nico's sword sticking out of his back, the monster dissolving into golden sand from the wound. He crumpled completely, leaving nothing but a loincloth and Nico's sword covered in gleaming dust.

Leo took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves so that he didn't scream and attract more monsters. He looked over at Piper-she was coughing, trying to gather herself subtly. He wondered, briefly, if the cyclops's hold had broken any of her bones.

Nico picked up his sword, wiping it on his jeans, giving them an unwanted glitter effect. "Is everyone okay?" He asked.

Leo and Piper nodded, and they basked in the silence for a moment-that was just a taste of what things were like down here.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," Hazel spoke up from the darkness, her form barely visible in the light of the firey river. "I must have ended up far when I landed...but I was able to find you quickly, because of the noise..."

"That's okay," Leo spoke up before anyone else-the last thing she needed was for any of them to give her a hard time for how she was handling all of this. "We took care of that pretty easy, right, guys?"

Nico huffed, gaze trailing across the golden sand that seemed to be blowing away, though Leo could feel no wind. The fiery river made it hotter than a summer fair in Texas, but other than that, there was no weather system down here that Leo could distinguish.

"Let's just get going," Nico said. "This is the place monsters go to regenerate, so it won't be long before that one comes back-probably with some friends."

With that cheery thought, he lead the other three down a path that seemed to follow the fiery river. Leo wasn't entirely sure Nico knew were he was going, but he seemed to lead with such confidence, he wasn't going to question Nico.

While they were on the path, Leo could hear things-whispers, hisses, maybe even a growl. His vision seemed to trick him-shadows morphed, prowling after the group in the safety of darkness. Worst of all was the smell-ash, like the aftermath of his mom's machine shop; the smell was so pungent, like a punch to the gut, that he could taste it in the air.

He focused ahead-Nico charged forward, sword resting on his shoulder. Leo remembered how scared he was, that night in the hotel, and he couldn't help but wonder: was he putting on some sort of front of bravery? And would that front really help him, or would it only take more strength to maintain?

Piper held her knife, spinning it in her right hand in a way that Leo used to do as a kid with sticks in the park. Years ago, as kids, they probably all played pretend with sticks as swords, and now that they had the real thing, Leo at least felt just as clueless as back then.

Leo was sure Nico would scold him for it, but in order to distract himself, he struck up a conversation with Hazel. She was quick to admit why he seemed so familiar-apparently her first boyfriend looked almost identical to him, back in the 1940s. That alone would have given him chills, but when she gave him more details, Leo offered some of his own. He'd memorized everything his mother ever told him about his family-first out of desperation to meet his father, then out of a need to feel he belonged with a family that was long dead. It turns out, this boyfriend was Leo's great-grandfather, which made Leo feel both warm and fuzzy as well as the desire to crawl out of his own skin.

He questioned, for a moment, bringing Hazel back up to the land of the living. Would that really be...natural? How would the world react to a girl from the 1940s trying to make sense of everything? And how would she react to everything in return? What if she took one look at modern TVs and online forums and croaked again from the shock?

Leo shook his head-this wasn't his choice to make. It was Nico who decided to help her, as leader of the quest and a son of Hades. And it was Hazel who decided she was ready to go, so Leo had no right to protest. Besides, Hazel was really nice-if his quest mates suddenly found out every mistake he'd ever made, they'd give him another chance. Only with this, Hazel did nothing wrong-she deserved another chance, just like they all did.

"So, if I can ask..." Leo started. "And feel free to punch me if it's not okay." He faltered, wondering if a punch from Hazel would even touch him in her current state. "How...how did you die?"

Hazel's face suddenly morphed-her polite, nervous smile suddenly sad. She avoided his eyes, her own trained on the rocky terrain. "Um...with my curse of riches and jewels, they cause horrible incidents to happen to whoever takes them, like I told you. My mom...she wanted the best for us, I always believed that. I tried to tell her everything was fine as is, that I loved my life...I won't lie, we never had it easy, but we managed. But my mom always wanted more. More than she could get, more than I could give her."

"I begged her not to, but she started selling the jewels." Hazel continued. "I...I cried myself to sleep every night, thinking about what harm I was doing to the world. I tried to think of some other way to please her, but she only seemed to care about the jewels. We made so much money, my mom started to believe the luck aspect of it all was a lie-she even made some jewelry from the gemstones for herself. But then I started to attract monsters. After I died, the judges told me all about it-how I attracted enough monsters by just being a demigod, but I seemed to attract even more by engaging in this magic. I had avoided them for long enough, but shortly after I turned fifteen...this...this snake woman came to the apartment. She seemed normal at first, wanting to buy some jewels, but when she revealed what she really was, it was too late."

Leo remembered only a few nights ago, the glowing red eyes of the hellhound. Admittedly, he'd seen his whole life flash before his eyes, but there was also an aspect of denial about it. Something within him knew that he would not be dying that day. He couldn't imagine being her, and knowing truthfully that she would be dying, to experience it the way she had...

"My mom...she tried to fight her off for me, but she couldn't even see what it really was, I could tell...and before I passed, I could see that she had killed my mom, too. Like our lives meant nothing." Hazel said softly, wiping her eyes. Leo didn't know how crying in spirit form worked, but he knew he felt awful for her. "And when I died, they said I could go to Elysium, this...eternal paradise. But they said my mom would be sent to the Fields of Punishment for her selfishness, and I...I couldn't let that happen. I begged for them to reconsider, and they ultimately agreed to send us both to Asphodel as an equal trade. I tried to look for her for months...at least, I think it was months...time is different there. But anyways, I couldn't find her. All of the spirits seemed to fade into copies of one another, unrecognizable to anyone..."

Her words, like the very matter of her form, seemed to float away and fade to nothingness-as if the words had stolen away any remaining noise. Even any lurking monsters seemed to quiet for the conclusion of her story.

"You've been down here for seventy years," Leo replied, his voice so soft, he could hardly hear it himself. Even so, it sounded too loud. "Hazel, I'm so sorry."

"Seventy years," Hazel echoed, denial dancing in her eyes. To Leo's surprise, she smiled slightly. "I guess all my favorite newspaper cartoons had their run, so I can finish them now."

Leo couldn't help but laugh-he didn't know what he was thinking earlier, about how Hazel maybe shouldn't come back to life. He knew right then that they were pretty similar, and he was pretty sure he was going to like her. "Oh, trust me, when we get back up there," he pointed vaguely up out of the endless pit, though the inky blackness filled the space up so much, Leo would never be able to see a way back up. "I'll show you the cartoons we have these days. It'll be a blast, promise."

A few moments later, Leo found himself colliding with Piper's back, and Piper halted just before she bumped into Nico.

"Hey, what's with the traffic..." Leo started, his voice trailing off when he noticed their position. They were at the top of a tall plateau, the formation towering above a cluster of deep red rocks below. This would be impossible to climb down without slipping and falling, even if they were professional mountain climbers with supplies. Leo looked around on either side, though he couldn't see much before the world around him appeared enveloped in darkness. Could they walk around this? How long would it take? Was there some sort of alternative route with a snack bar?

"I think I can see it," Nico said, peering out beyond the cliff. "I don't exactly have a map, but..." he pointed out towards a modest temple, appearing almost cozy in the continuous soft light of the river of fire. "That's the shrine to Hermes. And then, just to the right..." he moved his hand across a few degrees towards a similar looking temple, glittering in the darkness, and Leo felt his stomach drop. "I believe that's where we'll find Nyx."

"But how do we get there?" Piper asked. "I don't think we can go around, this plateau looks like it goes on forever on either side."

Nico hesitated, and Leo knew what he was thinking-as much as he knew he didn't like it.

"Nico, no. We'll find another way," Leo suggested. "We don't know what'll happen to you down here..."

"It'll be fine," Nico shot back, his tone making Leo shrink back slightly. When Nico glanced back, meeting his eyes, Leo started to understand-and he started to wonder if Nico felt eerily at home here. Could he feed off the energy of death and darkness here? If that was what compelled him, what would that lead him to?

Ignoring Leo's anxiety, Nico turned to Hazel. "I know you hate it, but I'm gonna need you to jump to the bottom. I don't think I can shadow travel with a...a, you know..."

"A spirit?" Hazel asked, and at Nico's nod, she smiled slightly in amusement. "No worries, I can get down there. But what's shadow traveling?"

As Nico gave her a brief explanation, Leo looked towards Piper. She didn't seem to like this any more than he did, though she looked determined to continue on.

With a little more hesitation, Hazel jumped, and Leo watched as her curls flew in the wind for a moment before her feet touched the ground. It looked like falling, though there was another element to it-like flying. Leo wondered how long it would take her to get used to a mortal body if they got back. When they got back.

"Alright," Nico offered his hands forward on either side-Leo felt as if he could make some joke or another about their hand-holding, but his stomach was too busy trying to crawl up and out of his mouth. Was Nico not at all worried about what shadow traveling would do to him down here? With so much darkness, so much evil, surely Nico could be in danger. He could dissolve within the shadows, lost within the layers of darkness. And by Piper and Leo following him, they all could blink out of existence in just a moment.

Leo imagined it would be one of the more painless demigod deaths.

Leo stayed silent as he took Nico's hand, giving a gentle squeeze, then blushing when he realized what he'd done. He could feel Nico's eyes on him for a beat longer, then he looked forward.

In less than an instant, they had disappeared from the top of the plateau, and Leo could feel the familiar sensations of shadow traveling. The cold, the speed-both forward and down, like some horrific faulty elevator. When they reappeared at the bottom of the terrain, Piper clutched her stomach, one hand going to her mouth.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Piper said queasily. "I think I left my stomach at the top of the cliff."

"Nico," Leo started, his name being the first word out of his mouth and the first thought in his mind after feeling that he was, indeed, still physically here. He looked towards Nico, trying to see his face, though it was mostly obstructed by his hair. What little he could see, though, unsettled him-flickering eyes, his head twitching, as if trying to shake off that small jump. "Nico, are you okay?"

Nico nodded dismissively, but he remained frozen, a hand outstretched. He bent his fingers slightly, as if toying with some imaginary power within the palm of his hand.

"Nico, look at me, please?" Leo tried, soft and unsure. When Nico hesitated, Leo's heart sank-he'd undoubtedly said or done the wrong thing, but he couldn't afford to spare Nico's pride, not when his strength mattered so much more.

"I'm fine," Nico snapped, facing him then, not shrinking back in the slightest as their eyes locked. Leo had never met his father, Hades, though he could tell in that moment Nico resembled him much more than anyone else. His eyes were cold, calculated and dark, unlike the light they had had back at camp-always ready for a cynical joke. His smile, thin and unfeeling, lasted for only a moment. "In all honesty, I...I liked it. It felt different here, like I could sense things I hadn't before. I could do it again, it might make things easier..."

"Nico, I don't..." Piper started.

"No, don't," Leo said. "In fact, don't use it ever again down here-it's not safe-"

"Well, I just got us down here without us falling to our deaths, didn't I?" Nico asked, brows furrowed.

"Yes, but," Leo started. "I can't-I mean-I'm not gonna have you risk yourself again chasing something that's clearly risky-"

"Are you telling me what to do on my own quest, Valdez?" Nico asked, a hand moving to the hilt of his sword in a second. Leo stepped back, his heart skipping a beat.

Piper put her hands up, cutting her way between the pair. "Okay, how about we all just calm down-"

"Or what?" Nico growled. "You'll make us?"

Piper faltered, stunned, as if she'd just been decked. It only took a moment before her eyes were watering, even if she tried to hide it by glancing away. Leo felt his heart break for her-and now he wanted nothing more than to go after Nico with his knife.

"Hey, guys, look at this," Hazel voiced, gazing at the side of the cliff. Indeed, when the trio approached it, Leo could see a word comprised of Ancient Greek lettering, solving itself like a puzzle before his eyes:

Ευερέθιστο

Irritability

"Huh," Piper commented with a slight sniffle. "Explains why Nico's being such an asshole."

Nico opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again. Seeing the word carved within the terrain seemed to somewhat wake him up-but what did it mean, exactly?

"I think I've heard about this before," Nico said. "The stages of sleep deprivation around the area of Hypnos's tomb of sleep-the magic is so powerful it spans even this far. So from now on, we're going to be feeling some of the effects of the tomb."

With that happy news, the group continued on through the rocky landscape.

Within their group, Hazel seemed the least effected, if she was at all. She walked along with the rest of them, kicking rocks as she went, starting up a streak with one rock in particular. If this had happened in the above world, Leo would have cheered her on or maybe joined her, but now, he could feel a darkness within himself. It stirred within his mind, within his chest; he wanted to kick the stupid rock away. He wanted to tell her to see how far she could kick a rock in the other direction, then leave her here in the dark silence.

He kept his mouth shut-his group seemed to think alike in that regard. The less talking, the less opportunity they had to annoy the shit out of each other.

Of course, when you're sixteen and the victim of a centuries-old sleep deprivation magic, there are still other ways in which you can annoy the shit out each other without talking.

Nico, for one, was making easy work of the task. He seemed to be mulling over things in his head, and he would occasionally sigh like an angsty teenager. Leo was half convinced all of the irritability magic was coming from him alone, regardless of the place they were in. If he would maybe be less brooding and actually be a leader...

Leo's breath staggered as if he'd been punched in the gut-a sudden memory hit him, in which Nico had hugged him in the hotel room. He hadn't cut himself off, for just a moment. He leaned on him, being vulnerable and open. That was what it meant to be a truly good leader. By knowing the truth, and holding it close, that was how Leo could work past this place's magic.

He charged forward, and within the next few paces the irritability seemed to slip away.

Leo felt...lighter, somehow. The tiredness still weighed on him, though he didn't seem to care about it. He was Out Of Commission for the time being, unable to even think of worrying about anything.

It was actually kind of nice here, in Leo's underdeveloped opinion. He glanced back, unable to recall what had been bothering him just a few paces ago. He looked over at his friend...his friend...gosh, what was her name? Oh, right, Piper...she was so pretty. She looked back at him and started to smile, and Leo couldn't help but let out a laugh. What exactly was he laughing at? He had no idea.

"Guys, something...different is going on here," one of Leo's other friends, the one with the straight dark hair, said. He had such sharp facial features, so much paleness and darkness clashing he was hard to look at. And yet...yet...

"Handsome," Leo found himself mumbling under his breath, his eyes feeling heavier with every blink.

"What was that?" The boy asked.

Leo shook his head with a yawn, the previous moment slipping from his mind faster than he could bother to be embarrassed by it.

It felt twice as long, walking though the field-time seemed sluggish, melting through the rocks as if it had realized it's own mediocrity in the moment. Leo's legs shook, tempted to sink down onto the hard ground for just a quick nap before they really got into the tomb. What would be so bad about that, anyway? What was the point of them...going on? Why couldn't they just...?

He...looked.

He looked...

He looked up at the people he was walking with, unable to remember who exactly they were, and why exactly they were doing this. He had known them for a while but not well, or well but not a while.

He breathed in, he breathed out.

Every step was getting harder on his legs, but lighter on his mind. Even still, his mind started to wander-he liked having a plan, and even though his brain was telling him everything was fine, he felt something unsettling deep in his chest.

His own heartbeat felt so deep and distant within himself, it was as if he'd left it far behind him.

He liked having a plan. That was something about himself...what else was there...

Grappling, he tried to search his mind for something, for basic knowledge.

The people with me, their names are (???).
They are my...(friends? acquaintances? enemies?).
Our task is to...(???).
I'm in the (???) grade in school.

I'm (???) years old.

My name is...

My name is...

"Guys," he started, and that distant heartbeat thumped loud and clear for a moment, his lungs demanding air amongst his mind being drowned out. Something biological told him: if he had waited a moment more, he would have forgotten how to speak. "Guys, I think," his eyes stung. "I don't know what my name is..."

The one with the dark hair, the boy, reacted first. He shuffled closer in their walk, glancing at him as if not trusting him-but also as if he pitied him.

"I...I don't know mine either," he said, and his voice brought something flashing back-the feeling of a cold pillow in a dark room, unfamiliar...a hotel room. He grasped at that memory before it faded again-that was all he was going to get. "We should find it out, soon, I think...up ahead...?"

"Yeah," one of the girls...the more visible one, offered. Her voice brought back another feeling-the smell of a freshly washed horse, the feeling of being a hundred feet in the air, the sight above...above...

Damn it, it slipped away again. That one seemed really important.

"Or if we go back," the girl continued. "If we had our memories back there, and we...we don't now, maybe we should go back..."

"No," the last of his companions, the slightly transparent one, said. "I don't think this is effecting me as much as you guys, since I'm dead, but...I know we have to go ahead. For the sake of your quest."

With her voice, a final memory-a recent one, in a field, the tall grass tickling his fingertips.

The girl seemed to float as she moved closer to him, and he found his heart skipping a beat-he'd been at ease earlier, but now not having his memories was really freaking him out. But maybe...just a little further ways away...

"Leo," she said finally, as if the information had just come back to her. "Everything's going to be fine-it's starting to come back to me, now."

Leo. Okay-that made perfect sense. His name was Leo. He was 15 or 16 years old...16, probably. He couldn't remember the exact year he was born, but 16 sounded right. That made him a junior in high school...but then what the hell kind of group project was this?

"Hazel," he said finally, her name coming back to him like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. He was never the best at remembering names, even without mythical magic, but he could remember hers. It was because of her eyes-brown, but shining with a light unlike that of any other spirit down here. He could feel in that moment that she was no longer a stranger-much like his great-grandfather, he felt as if he really knew her.

"We're gonna get out of here soon, okay?" Hazel tried for a smile, but her shining eyes revealed her doubt. "And then you'll show me cartoons like we talked about...and I could draw again, and then...well, I'll find a place to call home."

Leo couldn't remember the entirety of their conversation, even if bits and pieces were coming back. Luckily, Nico then moved closer to them, raising a hand to presumably place it on Hazel's shoulder before stopping short in realization.

"You said you're a demigod," Nico started. "You'll have a place at the camp we came from-Camp Half Blood. And if you don't...I'll make one for you myself, promise."

Leo thought back to the cabins at camp-some were newer than others, so new that some of the materials to build them were still out, as if expecting new projects at any moment. Leo could relate, and he honestly thought the challenge of it was pretty exciting if he could get his hands on some of the plans. But the fact that Nico had been in and out of camp for years, and his cabin looked so recent...Leo wondered if perhaps he'd been away so much because he wasn't welcome.

"-hope you're a daughter of Aphrodite like me," Piper was saying. "The cabin was a little hard to settle into at first, but once you get the hang of things, it's really not that bad. At least, I keep things from getting out of hand as head counselor. They're a lot better at styling things than I am, so if you want some advice on how to look modern, they're the people to talk-"

Just then, Piper lurched forward, gasping as she clutched at her stomach. Leo stopped short, watching in horror as Piper dropped to her knees, a blade sticking out from her as if stabbed through her lower back. Blood began to pour, heavier and darker than Leo could have ever imagined. Piper raised her hands up, as if showing the proof of her impending death. And when her eyes met Leo's-oh. His heart raced, feeling as if it had been ripped from his chest. Piper slumped over, blood trickling almost gently from her mouth, her eyes still open, her magic eyeshadow still flickering through different colors in the dim light.

Leo fell to his knees and screamed.

He gathered Piper in his arms, and he couldn't care less about the blood as his hand found the wound. It felt so awful, so impossibly awful, and there was nothing he could do. He looked around for who could have done it, but no one was around besides his other friends. Could they have...?

"Leo," Piper managed, her voice soft and pained as she coughed. Her hold on Leo was tight, as if he were securing her to the world, but the grip was quickly fading.

"It's okay," Leo insisted, trying fruitlessly to convince himself. "It's okay, Piper, you're okay, I promise-let me get your bag open, we'll get you some ambrosia. Nico," he glanced back at his friend. "Open up Piper's bag, quick!" He turned back to Piper. "It's okay, I won't let you die down here...please, please just stay with me Piper..."

"Leo," Piper repeated, her voice raspier. One of her blood-covered hands rested on top of Leo's, and with a soft breath, her eyes closed, as if drifting off to sleep.

Leo gripped her hand, checking her wrist for a pulse, then her neck, under her jaw. He sobbed, panic filling his lungs with every breath. He yelled, hand still covering her wound as if expecting the action to mean anything.

He glanced back at Nico, who had dropped the bag and was now staring at Piper blankly. What was he doing-why wasn't he in as much pain as Leo was? Did he just not care? Did none of them matter to him as long as he completed his quest?

"This is all your fault," Leo spat, knowing it was vile and untrue the moment he said it. Still, he wasn't going to blame himself-for once, unlike that night in the machine shop, he was not the harbinger of death.

Nico's eyes met Leo's, then, his own just as dark and unreadable as always. Only this time, there was a glint-a little bit of light to suggest that he understood. A little bit of light to suggest that he liked this new game they were playing, and he wanted a piece of the action.

"It's my fault," Nico started, half a question, half a statement-every word dripping with uncharacteristic arrogance and challenge. He paced a short distance, a few catlike, leisurely steps in each direction as his hand went to the hilt of his sheathed sword. "And you really think I'd leave things this way? Killing the only other even slightly experienced demigod, and leaving myself here, with you...a child who got his first quest before he could even learn to ride a pegasus without wrecking it?"

Leo sobbed, pulling Piper's body closer, as if protecting her from Nico, even if it was too late.

"If anyone killed her, it was you!" Nico countered, pulling his sword and pointing it right underneath Leo's chin, tilting his head up uncomfortably by the blade. His eyes glinted like obsidian. "You were not meant to be this great hero, you had to fight to even be allowed to tag along! If it were a better child of Hephaestus, well...maybe she would still be here..."

Leo's eyes narrowed, confused as to how he could be blamed for this-was it Nico that killed her, or a monster? Why did Nico have no blood on his sword? Nico's words hurt, of course, but they also didn't sound like Nico. He wasn't exactly the most comforting person on their team, but he wouldn't say anything outright hurtful unless it was necessary.

And here the hell was Hazel?

This entire thing seemed...unreal, of course, but in a different way than Leo had imagined. This wasn't Nico. And if this wasn't Nico...then maybe this wasn't Piper, either.

"The prophecy didn't ask for just any child of Hephaestus," Leo countered, willing himself to switch his focus from his grief and towards the continuous warm urge of flame thriving within his chest. He willed the very spirit of the flame up to his shoulder, then down his arm and to his hand. "It asked for the curse of flame." With that, he lit a fire the size of a basketball within his hand, pushing it forward until it met Nico's leg. The son of Hades yelled, but not as if he were being burned alive-it was an unconvincing yell, as if he were trying to improve some pretty gods-awful acting.

His form then dissolved in a plume of black smoke.

Leo immediately felt lighter on his lap as well-Piper's corpse had dissolved as well, and in front of him...

"Leo!" Hazel called. "Leo, it's not real!"

Leo looked up and could see his friends, all looking down with concerned expressions. He would feel embarrassed if he weren't wiping his eyes, feeling his heart skip back to life at the sign of Piper unharmed. And Nico...

"Nico," Leo cried. "You're not evil? You didn't-you didn't kill Piper?"

Nico looked at him as if he'd grown a second head for a moment before his expression softened. "No, that didn't happen, I promise. I saw some things, too-but I'd sacrifice myself in a heartbeat before I let anything happen to her..." his gaze lingered, his eyes warmer than that of the imaginary Nico. Leo didn't think he wanted Nico's protection, but he still wondered-would Nico put his life on the line for Leo, too?

Nico offered his hand forward, and Leo took it. He still wasn't sure what was a vision and what was the truth, but this felt real, and Leo was in no shape to question his brain more at this point. Instead, when Nico pulled Leo up, Leo pulled him into a close hug.

"I know it's not usually your thing," Leo started, pulling away quickly-to his surprise, Nico seemed reluctant to let go, though he did after a moment longer. "I just thought-"

"Yeah," Nico nodded, his eyes a little bloodshot. He was looking at Leo as if still muddled by the vision; Leo wanted to ask what it was, but he knew better. "It's okay...for now. Come on, let's get out of here."

Leo went over and hugged Piper as well, overwhelmed with how grateful he was to see her alive. She'd felt so real in that vision, Leo's heart was still pounding as it caught up to speed.

"I saw the most horrible thing," Piper whispered as Leo pulled away. "But I think...I mean...it wasn't actually real, so...you didn't actually...you didn't actually kill all of us..."

Something in Piper's tone made Leo's heart hurt in panic-surely, she didn't mean that her vision was that specific. But, sure enough, Piper didn't need to say anything-she looked down at Leo's hand and grimaced slightly. Leo knew, without a doubt, that she'd had a vision similar to the ones Leo had had all his life, no Hypnos magic required: she'd had a vision Leo had burned them all to the ground.

"I would never-" Leo's mind flashed back to that night at the machine shop, and how blindingly bright and warm the fire was. "Piper, I would never-"

"I know," Piper nodded. "It's just it was so real...but I know you wouldn't-"

She reached out and hugged Leo again, and he could feel his eyes stinging. He knew he had never thought, even in his deepest subconscious thoughts, that Nico would murder Piper. But what if the visions were slightly true, based on some legitimate fear of some kind? He would have to prove to her, somehow, that he could control his curse.

"Um, guys?" Hazel started. Piper and Leo looked over at her to see, to their horror, that she was starting to fade away. It wasn't easy to see her in the first place, but Leo could tell-it was as if she had started to evaporate.

"Come on," Leo urged, starting forward again, his pace determinedly faster. He was still a good half a mile from Hypnos's temple, but if he hurried...

Leo tried to keep his mind focused only on the terrain ahead of him-just the rocks a few feet ahead. If he focused on the rocks and tried not to let his imagination wander, then he might stand a chance of avoiding more visions.

Of course, it wasn't a perfect plan-his mind still seemed to trick him every few steps. At one point, he'd tripped and felt as if he'd fallen into a massive spiderweb into an endless cave full of spiders. Once he'd come to his senses and continued on, he could hear his friends screaming, but they'd disappeared completely-it took quite a long time to recover from that one.

There was even one strange vision that wasn't even that scary, it was just bizarre. Percy Jackson had come down here to help (Leo had never seen him, of course, so his brain just made him look like the leading guy from Gamer, this movie he'd seen last year with Sarah). Only, instead of helping, Percy just swept Nico off his feet before disappearing in a wave of water, fresh ocean breeze and all.

Of course, all the visions seemed ridiculous-part of Leo chided himself for thinking they were all real. But at the same time, after layers of sleep deprivation-irritability, memory loss, and hallucinatory visions-he had to cut himself a little slack. This magic would probably mess him up even if he were more awake, too.

Finally, the group all reached the door of Hypnos's temple. The visions all seemed to fade for a moment, including that of Hazel disappearing; she was still difficult to see, but much to Leo's relief, she was still there with them. A sense of grand power seemed to radiate from the small temple, and Leo felt as if he should not be allowed in. The magic was at an all-time high here-he could hardly breathe for yawning, his eyes fighting to stay open as if he'd been pulling gaming all-nighters for days. Not that Leo had been doing anything nearly as fun as gaming, that is.

Nico appeared to be studying the top of the temple, and Leo followed his gaze. There, on a plaque, was some engraved text in Ancient Greek. After a moment of squinting-both because of his sleepiness and the newness of reading Ancient Greek-Leo could decipher the engraving:

"a fatherless son with a brother of death,

a mother of night and with which comes rest,

heroes lay weapons for lack of souls to reap,

for here lies the tomb of eternal sleep.'

"Okay, I'm awake now," Leo managed, a chill running down his spine at the text. The creepiest part was that part of his mind was still in the laid-back memory loss land-and he liked the sound of laying down to sleep. Nico had woken them up so early in that hotel room, and for what? They had to be the most woefully unprepared demigods ever.

"At least it's saying to lay down our weapons," Leo offered optimistically. "So we're still fighting off the sleep..." he yawned-twice. "The sleep magic...which is good because I...I don't have any weapons training anyways..."

"Great," Nico supplied sarcastically. "I look forward to dying next to the worst morning person I've ever met."

"I usually save my dying in a dark, creepy temple for the third date!" Leo called without thinking, but Nico was already marching forward without a moment more of hesitation, disappearing into the darkness.

"I'm not the worst worst," Leo continued, glancing over at Piper, who appeared to be reading over the text again as if hoping to glean some hidden knowledge from it. "Am I?"

"Sorry?" Piper startled, looking towards him. "Oh...yeah, you were a pretty hard case when it came to getting out of bed this morning. But I'm sure you'll be fine."

She looked uneasy. Leo recalled how Nico had questioned her when they first descended into the Underworld-she was on this quest for a purpose, and her portion of the prophecy would be fulfilled within the walls of the temple.

"You're the key," Leo said, feeling a little more awake with the nerves. The concept didn't make sense to his addled mind, though he still knew he needed answers. "You're the key through the tomb of eternal sleep. Do you...do you have a plan for what to do in there?"

Piper nodded. "You're not going to like it...and I won't, either. It's...I don't think...I'm not going to try it. Not unless I really, really need to. Not unless it's life or death."

Leo felt a frown pulling at the side of his lips. He didn't like her hiding something that so clearly impacted the team-but he also knew that he could trust her. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Chiron, the Fates, whoever...they all said that Piper was the key.

"Just...keep me in the loop, okay, Beauty Queen? I like being in the loop concerning my own life and death, even if I haven't been lately." Leo tried for a smile, though it didn't last long. He thought back to Piper's mother, Aphrodite's, words at the hotel: no demigod has ever made it through the tomb of sleep, and lived to tell the tale.

"I will," Piper nodded, her eyes watering. "I'll tell you everything, it's just...I need to wait. I'll see you in there...?"

At Leo's returning nod, Piper too retreated into the seemingly hungry, humble-looking tomb. He needed to head inside, but his stomach dropped-he wasn't ready. He never would be.

He hesitated, finally turning to see Hazel. She met his eyes, as if waiting for him to speak to her-only Leo was entirely unsure of what to say.

"I don't think-" Leo started.

"I don't want-" Hazel started.

They both paused, faltering. Leo couldn't look at her without thinking of his great-grandfather, a man Leo had never actually met outside of when he was a baby. But at the same time, she was so much of a stranger to him. She had her own story, and if they didn't get out of this alive, she would never get to continue it. Leo couldn't imagine a worse fate than for them all to be spirits down here forever. His heart raced at the thought.

"Go ahead," he said shakily.

"I don't think it'd be wise, me going in there with you guys," Hazel said. "I don't want a god to see me, especially one as powerful as Hypnos. I'm worried that, you know...he'll do something to me, like banish me or torture my spirit or something. Of course, if you want me to go with you, I will. I owe all of you, and I hate to ask this of you, but...I think it's for the best."

Leo, surprising even himself, started to smile. It was something soft and sad, but still there. "That's actually what I was gonna suggest." He said. "I figure that if I fall asleep, they could shake me awake, but if a spirit falls asleep, especially with magic..."

"It'd be like dying twice," Hazel concluded, and Leo nodded. "I didn't even think of that, but...I really appreciate you and the others looking out for me, even when you already have a quest to worry about. If you need anything, anything at all while you're in there...just call for me and I'll try to help as much as I can, no matter what happens."

Leo could feel his eyes stinging again. Hazel was so undeniably brave, and the hand she was dealt was so unfair. But that was the fate of all demigods-a fate that Leo and his friends would start to unravel as much as they could.

"We'll be out in no time, and..." Leo hesitated. He'd never had the best luck in life, and he didn't want to make empty promises, but he continued: "When we get Apollo and his sun chariot out into the sky, you'll experience a sunny day back above the ground. I'll help you find a nice place to draw outside, too."

"Thank you, Leo," Hazel said, holding out her hand, and Leo let his hover above her own. Just as he imagined, her hand felt more like the cold air of a walk-in freezer than anything else. But Leo didn't shiver-he held the touch for a moment longer before pulling away.

He hesitated for a moment longer, but he knew his friends needed him in there. Summoning his remaining courage and dismissing his sleepiness (a fruitless endeavor here), Leo started towards the mysterious darkness of the tomb of eternal sleep.