Ari's PoV

It wasn't a big deal that Gab was five minutes late, but I was already irritated. I had to wake up early, possibly lead my friends to certain death, and Esra probably liked Thalia.

Since when did I care about stuff like that?

Whatever. It doesn't matter. Why was I getting upset over this? If Esra likes Thalia, then good for her. She only has six days, counting today, to fall in love or else she dies. That thought made me angry all over again. That stupid curse. It wasn't fair! She seems like an awesome person! Why does she have the threat of dying if she doesn't fall in love? What kind of parent does that to their child?

Whatever. I already promised I would save Will if I saw him die. There is no way I would keep Esra down here too.

I would find a way around the curse if I had to. I swear that on the River Styx.

I grabbed my friends' hands and tried to concentrate on what Nico told me to do. Visualize your destination. I pictured the cavern I saw Dad in from my dream. Step into the shadows, and imagine melting into them. Then imagine appearing at your destination. I stepped into the shadow of the pine tree, and we melted into the darkness.

It was exhilarating. I felt like I was flying with wind howling in my ears. We were moving so fast, that it felt like we were on a roller coaster. I almost lost myself in the feeling, but then I remembered why we were shadow traveling in the first place. I concentrated on appearing in the Underworld, and we stumbled out of the darkness outside of a large cavern. I leaned against the wall of the cavern, rubbing my eyes to try and get rid of the tiredness. If only it didn't make me so tired, then I could shadow travel more often. It was really fun.

I looked around at my friends who had let go of my hands. They didn't seem as happy with the transportation as I was. Annie looked pale, and Nelson looked like he was about to pass out. Gab took it the worst. Ze had scrambled to the edge of a field and was throwing up zeir breakfast. Watching em vomit wasn't on the top of my to do list, so I took in the scenery. There was a palace off to my left. Dad's palace I assumed. Farther in the field, there was a lot of ghosts milling around aimlessly. I laughed slightly. Gab was currently throwing up in the Fields of Asphodel. Hopefully no one passed through the sick.

"I... I think I'm good now. I-" Gab turned back around and... Well... I'll leave the rest to the imagination.

Finally, ze wiped zeir mouth and stood up shakily. "I hate roller coasters. I'm guessing we have to go in there?" Ze pointed to the cave behind us.

I looked over at Annie, and she nodded, confirming this as the same cave in her dream as well. "Yep. This is the cave."

"Great," ze muttered. "It feels colder and more deadly. I'd rather go visit the Fields of Punishment, and you can hear the screaming from here." It was true. There were faint screams in the distance that we were all fairly certain came from the condemned. Then again, we should be slightly worried if they weren't.

Nelson shook his head slightly. "Well you know what they always say. Follow the danger."

"Thanks, Nelson. You made me feel so much better." Annie said sarcastically.

Gab looked deep in thought. "Ari, please tell me you sense a presence of death in the cave?"

I looked at em like ze lost zeir mind. "We're in the Underworld. There is literally death everywhere."

Ze rolled zeir eyes. "You know what I mean! Hades would be giving off a powerful aura. From what Annabeth described, whenever she was in his presence she felt an aura of fear coming from him. I'm not feeling anything."

I concentrated. Ze was right. I felt the death around me, but I wasn't feeling anything like fear or concentrated death in the cavern. I did, however, feel a powerful presence that was... Older. A lot older. I shuddered involuntarily. "You're right. I don't think Dad is there." I said.

Gab slowly took out zeir bow. "I knew it. It's a trap."

"If Hades isn't there, then where is he? We still need to find him." Annie said.

"I guess we'll have to talk to however is down there," I said while pointing into the cavern.

Nelson looked over at me uneasily. "I thought you said you couldn't sense anything in there."

"I never said that. There is something down there, but it's not Dad." I said while taking out my sword.

"Tartarus," Gab muttered.

It was silent for a second. "Should we go get back up?" Annie asked, bow in hand.

I shook my head. "This is part of our quest. If anything goes wrong, then we can go get help, but right now, we're on our own."

"Something is going to go wrong," Gab rolled zeir eyes. "They don't call it a trap for nothing."

"Who is surprised by this, raise your hand," I said irritatedly. No one raised their hand. I turned to Gab. "There you go. End of discussion. Now come on. We have a primordial god to question."

Sorry this later than it has been for the past couple of days. I had to go... Socialize. *shudders* Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! Have a great day!