[act four; chapter eleven - shadows of death]
Zara didn't know what to expect, being in Greece and all. She didn't know what would happen when they stepped onto Epirus or what would happen when they reached the House of Hades.
She also certainly didn't expect a flock of wild, hungry harpies to attack the ship. She didn't like the idea of having to hurt them as a reminder of Ella washed over her, and she could tell Frank and Donnie felt the same way as they shot them down with their bows and arrows.
The Greek landscape below was just as inhospitable. The hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air. The sun beat down as if trying to hammer the countryside into a Celestial bronze shield. Even from a hundred feet up, Zara could hear the drone of cicadas buzzing in the trees—a sleepy, otherworldly sound that made her eyes heavy. "Hot and steamy!" Leo grinned at the helm. "Makes me homesick for Houston! What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitoes, and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"
"Thanks a lot, Leo," Hazel grumbled. "We'll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now."
Eden, who was standing beside Leo at the controls, helping him fix something, grimaced. "I hope for your sake, Valdez, that there is no such thing as a...mosquito monster."
Zara looked between the two as they stood on the helm. Leo still seemed on edge and like he was hiding his true emotions from all of them, and she ached to know what he was feeling, if there was some way that she or anyone else could remedy them. Then there was Eden who was as stoic as ever. She was hard to read and hard to converse with, especially as they grew closer to the House of Hades. She had the Storm temper, the same one that Andromeda had, but she also had the same control. She had been a big help with repairs, using her control of light to meld things together, making it so bright and so incredibly hot that it could melt metal.
"There!" Nico's voice shook Zara out of her thoughts. As usual, the younger was perched atop the foremast. He pointed toward a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometre away. "Manoeuvre us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close."
As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky, leaving dark spots before Zara's eyes and making the hairs on her arms stand up. She could feel a small pull in her gut, like she was being tugged towards their destination, and she knew it had to do with her relation to the god of the Underworld. Even though she was technically related to Pluto, there was still a general connection to Hades in her blood.
Jason strapped on his sword belt. "Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us close, but don't land—no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, get the mooring ropes."
"On it!" Piper said.
Hazel gave Frank a peck on the cheek and ran to help.
"Frank," Jason called, "get below and find Coach Hedge."
"Yep!"
As Frank went to find Coach Hedge and as Piper and Hazel completed their task, Zara wandered over to where Annabeth and Percy stood with Jason. The three looked deep in thought, most likely trying to make a plan for what would be happening in the next few hours. She noticed Donnie wasn't there and looked around for him. He must have gone to help Frank or something. He had been even more on edge the last several hours as they neared Epirus, no doubt because he was getting closer to reuniting with his twin, the anticipation growing more and more.
"Hey." Zara said as she sidled next to Percy. His brows were furrowed, and his hair hung over his forehead in messy curls. She asked, "What's wrong?"
Annabeth shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest after she pushed her ponytail over her shoulder. "Just trying to make sure we have some semblance of a plan in place. I don't think it's smart for us to go wandering into the House of Hades without trying to at least anticipate what might happen." She looked between the three. "We need a plan, something to go off of."
Percy shook his head, looking like he...disapproved. "We have no idea what we're walking into. How are we supposed to plan for that?"
The daughter of Athena sighed angrily. "By thinking of the possibilities rationally, using the information we already have."
"Yeah, well—"
"Guys," Jason said, pulling the attention to himself. He was trying to dissolve the tension. "Maybe you're both right, okay? Percy, we don't know what's going to happen, but Annabeth, we do need to prepare ourselves." He angled his body towards the island that they were approaching cautiously. "We don't know what all is going to be in there, but we do know that the Doors of Death are there, which means monsters and Andy. We know that we're going to have to fight our way in, and maybe fight our way out."
Zara added, "And we don't know what condition Andy is going to be in. She's been down there alone, fighting. She could be really hurt, probably scared and exhausted."
The silence between the four demigods was stark and painful. They all knew Zara was right; Andy's condition was unknown. They didn't know the extent of any injuries she most likely had or if she was even going to be conscious when they got her out. All they knew was that she had been in Tartarus for however many days and was bound to be on the brink of collapse.
"Hey, guys!" Piper called from the bow as Frank, Donnie, and Coach Hedge came up on the deck. "Better get over here. You need to see this."
They'd found the source of the dark lightning.
The Argo II hovered directly over the river. A few hundred metres away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They didn't look like much—just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings—but from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. As they watched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape.
"The Necromanteion," Nico said. "The House of Hades."
Zara braced herself against the rail. She could feel Jason behind her, one of his hands on her back, grounding her. She could feel the power of the ancient place beneath them, she could feel it in her very bones.
Piper hugged her arms. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"
"I wouldn't," Hazel said. "That's the River Acheron."
Jason squinted in the sunlight. "I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."
"It is," Hazel said. "But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto—er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters—"
"Yeah, let's stay up here," Leo decided. "I don't want any zombie water on my hull."
Half a kilometre downstream, some fishing boats were puttering along. Zara had to guess that they either didn't know or care about the history of this river.
Next to Frank, Nico di Angelo raised the sceptre of Diocletian. Its orb glowed with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm. Roman relic or not, the sceptre troubled her. If it really had the power to summon a legion of the dead...well, based on Zara's own past with summoning and controlling the dead, she knew how fragile that power could be.
Jason had once told her that the children of Mars had a similar ability. Supposedly, Frank could call on ghostly soldiers from the losing side of any war to serve him.
"So, uh, Nico..." Frank gestured at the sceptre. "Have you learned to use that thing?"
"We'll find out." Nico stared at the tendrils of darkness undulating from the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaea's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead, and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed."
Coach Hedge grunted. "I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads."
Eden directed her gaze to the satyr. "Coach Hedge, you should stay on board. Guard the ship while we go in."
Hedge frowned. "Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!"
"We might need air support," Frank said, agreeing with the legacy of Apollo. "Like we did in Rome. You saved our braccae."
Coach Hedge, somehow seeing the hidden message (whatever that may be, Zara wasn't sure) in Frank's words, allowed his scowl to relax. Relief showed in his eyes.
"Well..." he grumbled, "I suppose somebody's got to save your braccae."
Jason clapped the coach on the shoulder. Then he gave Frank and Eden an appreciative nod. "So that's settled. Everybody else—let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaea's party."
Donnie grinned as he looked at all of them, slinging his quiver of magic arrows over his shoulder. "And better yet, time to get my sister back."
—🌓—
Despite the midday heat and the raging storm of death energy, a group of tourists was climbing over the ruins. Fortunately there weren't many, and they didn't give the group of demigods a second look.
After the crowds in Rome, Zara had stopped worrying too much about getting noticed. If they could fly their warship into the Roman Colosseum with ballistae blazing and not even cause a traffic slowdown, she figured they could get away with just about anything.
Nico led the way, Annabeth following close behind him, almost like she was guarding him; Percy and Donnie just behind her. At the top of the hill, they climbed over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. Finally, they arrived at a stone doorway leading straight into the side of the hill. The death storm seemed to originate right above their heads. Looking up at the swirling tentacles of darkness, Zara felt like they were stuck somehow, like there was no way for them to get out or turn back.
Nico faced the group. "From here, it gets tough."
"Sweet," Leo said. "'Cause so far I've totally been pulling my punches."
Nico glared at him. "We'll see how long you keep your sense of humour. Remember, this is where pilgrims came to commune with dead ancestors. Underground, you may see things that are hard to look at, or hear voices trying to lead you astray in the tunnels. Frank, do you have the barley cakes?"
"What?" Frank, the person in question, looked so lost that Zara would have laughed if not for the seriousness of their situation.
"I've got the cakes," Hazel said. She pulled out the magical barley crackers they'd made from the grain Triptolemus had given them in Venice.
"Eat up," Nico advised.
Zara gagged after her first bite and laughed lightly when Donnie covered his mouth with his hands, turning away with a hand braced in front of him. He turned back to them and grimaced, "This is the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten in my life, and I've had some pretty terrible food before."
"Yum," Piper said.
Annabeth threw her a look, appearing just as grossed out. "I hate to burst your sarcasm bubble, but not yum."
"Okay." Nico choked down the last of his barley. "That should protect us from the poison."
"Poison?" Leo asked. "Did I miss the poison? 'Cause I love poison."
Donnie placed a hand on the son of Hephaestus' back and squeezed gently, "There is something seriously wrong with you."
Leo grinned. "Probably."
"Soon enough," Nico promised. "Just stick close together, and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane."
Donnie shared a look with the son of Hades and nodded, a purple sheen glazing over his wine coloured eyes. It was a power that Andy had always been more intact with, but ever since coming back from being dead, he seemed stronger, more in control of his abilities, more aware of his power. He looked around, his eyes scanning all of their friends and nodded approvingly. "There's a small shield around all of us, it should protect everyone from any form of mania." His nose scrunched up. "I hope."
On that happy note, Nico led them underground.
The tunnel spiralled gently downward, the ceiling supported by white stone arches.
As they walked, Annabeth ran her hands along the masonry. "This wasn't part of a temple," she whispered in awe. "This was...the basement for a manor house, built in later Greek times."
Hazel nodded her agreement, looking a little less in awe.
"A manor house?" Frank asked. "Please don't tell me we're in the wrong place."
"The House of Hades is below us," Nico assured him. "But Annabeth's right, these upper levels are much newer. When the archaeologists first excavated this site, they thought they'd found the Necromanteion. Then they realised the ruins were too recent, so they decided it was the wrong spot. They were right the first time. They just didn't dig deep enough."
They turned a corner and stopped. In front of them, the tunnel ended in a huge block of stone.
"A cave-in?" Percy asked.
"A test," Nico said. "Hazel, would you do the honours?"
Hazel stepped forward. She placed her hand on the rock, and the entire boulder crumbled to dust.
The tunnel shuddered. Cracks spread across the ceiling. For a terrifying moment, Zara imagined they'd all be crushed under tons of earth—a disappointing way to die, after all they'd been through. Then the rumbling stopped. The dust settled and revealed something new.
A set of stairs curved deeper into the earth, the barreled ceiling held up by more repeating arches, closer together and carved from polished black stone. The descending arches made the daughter of Flora feel dizzy, as if she were looking into an endlessly reflecting mirror. Painted on the walls were crude pictures of black cattle marching downward.
"I really don't like cows," Piper muttered.
"Agreed," Annabeth said with a snort. "Though they are better than peacocks, I'll say."
Zara decided not to question the two girls.
"Those are the cattle of Hades," Nico said. "It's just a symbol of—"
"Look." Frank pointed.
On the first step of the stairwell, a golden chalice gleamed. Zara was pretty sure it hadn't been there a moment before. The cup was full of dark-green liquid.
"Hooray," Leo said halfheartedly. "I suppose that's our poison."
Nico picked up the chalice. "We're standing at the ancient entrance of the Necromanteion. Odysseus came here, and dozens of other heroes, seeking advice from the dead."
"Did the dead advise them to leave immediately?" Leo asked.
"I would be fine with that," Piper admitted.
Nico drank from the chalice, then offered it to Jason. "You asked me about trust, and taking a risk? Well, here you go, son of Jupiter. How much do you trust me?"
Zara wasn't sure what Nico was talking about, but Jason didn't hesitate. He took the cup and drank, even as Zara placed her hand on his arm.
They passed it around, each taking a sip of poison. When Donnie was handed the chalice, he paused and examined it. His nose scrunched up again, but he drank anyway.
Frank went last. He drained the chalice, and suddenly it turned to smoke in his hands.
Nico nodded, apparently satisfied. "Congratulations. Assuming the poison doesn't kill us, we should be able to find our way through the Necromanteion's first level."
"Just the first level?" Piper asked.
Nico turned to Hazel and gestured at the stairs. "After you, sister."
In no time, Zara felt completely lost. She followed after Nico and Hazel and hoped they knew what they were doing. The stairs split in three different directions. As soon as Hazel chose a path, the stairs split again—it reminded her of Harry Potter and the changing stairs at Hogwarts. They wound their way through interconnecting tunnels and rough-hewn burial chambers that all looked the same—the walls carved with dusty niches that might once have held bodies. The arches over the doors were painted with black cows, white poplar trees, and owls.
"I thought the owl was Minerva's symbol," Jason murmured.
"The screech owl is one of Hades's sacred animals," Annabeth said, regarding the painting. "Its cry is a bad omen."
"This way." Hazel pointed to a doorway that looked the same as all the others. "It's the only one that won't collapse on us."
Percy grumbled, "I'm honestly getting tired of being underground."
Zara knew he was referring to two things: 1) his time in the Labyrinth, and 2) the tunnels in Rome where they rescued Nico and fought the twin giants.
Cold air brushed against Zara's face as they finally reached an archway carved in the shape of human skulls—or maybe they were human skulls embedded in the rock. In the purple light of Diocletian's sceptre, the hollow eye sockets seemed to blink.
Frank almost hit the ceiling when Hazel put a hand on his arm.
"This is the entrance to the second level," she said. "I'd better take a look."
It seemed that Frank hadn't realised that he'd moved in front of the doorway.
"Uh, yeah..." He made way for her.
Hazel traced her fingers across the carved skulls. "No traps on the doorway, but...something is strange here. My underground sense is—is fuzzy, like someone is working against me, hiding what's ahead of us."
"The sorceress that Hecate warned you about?" Jason guessed. "The one Leo saw in his dream? What was her name?"
Hazel chewed her lip. "It would be safer not to say her name. But stay alert. One thing I'm sure of: From this point on, the dead are stronger than the living."
Zara couldn't help but nod in agreement. The voices in the darkness seemed to whisper louder. She caught glimpses of movement in the shadows. From the way her friends' eyes darted around, she guessed they were seeing things too.
"Where are the monsters?" She wondered aloud. "Gaea's supposed to have an army guarding the Doors."
"Don't know," Jason said. His pale skin looked as green as the poison from the chalice. "At this point I'd almost prefer a straight-up fight."
"Careful what you wish for, man." Leo summoned a ball of fire to his hand, and Zara was glad to see the flames. "Personally, I'm hoping nobody's home. We walk in, get Stormy girl, destroy the Doors of Death, and walk out. Maybe stop at the gift shop."
"Yeah," Frank said. "That'll happen."
The tunnel shook. Rubble rained down from the ceiling.
Hazel grabbed Frank's hand. "That was close," she muttered. "These passageways won't take much more."
"The Doors of Death just opened again," Nico said.
Percy's jaw was set. "It's happening, what, every fifteen minutes?"
"Every twelve," Nico corrected, though he didn't explain how he knew. He watched Percy carefully, like he was aware of how his words might affect him. "We'd better hurry. Andy is close. She's in danger. I can sense it."
Percy, twisting the gold necklace given to him by the daughter of Dionysus, seemed to agree. Donnie, too, nodded his agreement.
As they travelled deeper, the corridors widened. The ceilings rose to six metres high, decorated with elaborate paintings of owls in the branches of white poplars. The extra space should have made Zara feel better, but all she could think about was the tactical situation. The tunnels were big enough to accommodate large monsters, even giants. There were blind corners everywhere, perfect for ambushes. Their group could be flanked or surrounded easily and they would not even notice until monsters were on top of them. They would have no good options for retreat.
Leo held his fire close to the walls. She saw Ancient Greek graffiti scratched into the stone. She couldn't read Ancient Greek, but she guessed they were prayers or supplications to the dead, written by pilgrims thousands of years ago. The tunnel floor was littered with ceramic shards and silver coins.
"Offerings?" Piper guessed.
"Yes," Nico said. "If you wanted your ancestors to appear, you had to make an offering."
"Let's not make an offering, yeah?" Percy suggested.
Nobody argued.
"The tunnel from here is unstable," Hazel warned. "The floor might...well, just follow me. Step exactly where I step."
She made her way forward. Frank, having passed Zara, walked right behind her—most likely because he wanted to be close if Hazel needed his help.
Suddenly, Frank froze, his body stiff, eyes wide, fists clenched.
"Frank?" Jason whispered behind Zara. "Hazel, hold up a second. Frank, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," Frank murmured. "I just—"
The son of Jupiter reached forward and grasped one of her hands, holding on tightly, like he was afraid she might disappear.
"Frank, don't move." Hazel sounded alarmed.
Zara looked down at Frank's feet and realised he'd been about to step out of line.
"Lead where?" he asked aloud.
"Uh, big guy?" Leo said. "Could you not freak out on us? Please and thank you."
Donnie poked his arm lightly, shaking his head.
"I'm okay," he managed. "Just...a voice."
Nico nodded. "I did warn you. It'll only get worse. We should—"
Hazel held up her hand for silence. "Wait here, everybody."
Zara didn't like it, but she forged ahead alone. She counted to twenty-three before Hazel came back, her face drawn and pensive.
"Scary room ahead," she warned. "Don't panic."
"Those two things don't go together," Leo murmured. But they followed Hazel into the cavern.
The place was like a circular cathedral, with a ceiling so high it was lost in the gloom. Dozens of other tunnels led off in different directions, each echoing with ghostly voices. The thing that made Zara nervous was the floor was a gruesome mosaic of bones and gems—human femurs, hip bones, and ribs twisted and fused together into a smooth surface, dotted with diamonds and rubies. The bones formed patterns, like skeletal contortionists tumbling together, curling to protect the precious stones—a dance of death and riches.
She could feel her fingertips tingling, like her powers itched to urge the bones into creating something, a creature of the dead.
"Touch nothing," Hazel said, looking back at Zara specifically. She nodded back in response
"Wasn't planning on it," Leo muttered.
Jason scanned the exits. "Which way now?"
For once, Nico looked uncertain. "This should be the room where the priests invoked the most powerful spirits. One of these passages leads deeper into the temple, to the third level and the altar of Hades himself. But which—?"
"That one." Frank pointed. In a doorway at the opposite end of the room, a ghostly Roman legionnaire beckoned to them. His face was misty and indistinct.
Percy frowned. "Why that one?"
"You don't see the ghost?" Frank asked.
"Ghost?" Nico asked.
Okay...if Frank was seeing a ghost that Nico, Hazel, and Zara couldn't see, something was definitely wrong.
"We need to get to that exit," he said. "Now!"
Hazel almost had to tackle him to restrain him. "Wait, Frank! This floor is not stable, and underneath...well, I'm not sure what's underneath. I need to scout a safe path."
"Hurry, then," he urged.
He drew his bow and herded Hazel along. Leo scrambled behind them to provide light. The others guarded the rear.
Percy was closer to Zara now, and it looked like he could feel the lack of stability in the ground. She supposed that he very well could, you know, his dad being the 'Earthshaker' and all.
In front of them, the legionnaire ghost vaporised. The cavern reverberated with monstrous roars—dozens, maybe hundreds of enemies coming from every direction. Zara recognized the throaty bellow of the Earthborn, the screech of gryphons, the guttural war cries of Cyclopes—all sounds she remembered from the Battle of New Rome, amplified underground, echoing loudly in her head.
"Hazel, don't stop!" Nico ordered. He pulled the sceptre of Diocletian from his belt. Percy and Jason drew their swords as the monsters spilled into the cavern.
A vanguard of six-armed Earthborn threw a volley of stones that shattered the bone-and-jewel floor like ice. A fissure spread across the centre of the room, coming straight toward Leo and Hazel.
No time for caution. Frank tackled them, and the three of them skidded across the cavern, landing at the edge of the ghost's tunnel as rocks and spears flew overhead.
"Go!" Frank yelled. "Go, go!"
The entire cavern shuddered. Zara felt Jason's arms around her waist, pulling her back with a strong yet gentle tug. She stumbled back, her hands bracing themselves on his arms. The group of them stood on the near side of the chasm, which was good, but they were surrounded by a ring of Cyclops and hellhounds, and even worse, they were separated from Leo, Hazel, and Frank. More monsters kept pouring in from the side corridors, while gryphons wheeled overhead, undeterred by the crumbling floor.
The group of demigods would never make it to the tunnel. Even if Jason tried to fly them, most likely two at a time, they'd be shot out of the air.
From across the chasm, Frank cupped his hands over his mouth. "Nico!" he yelled. "The sceptre."
Nico raised Diocletian's sceptre, and the cavern air shimmered purple. Ghosts climbed from the fissure and seeped from the walls—an entire Roman legion in full battle gear. They began taking on physical form, like walking corpses, but they seemed confused. Jason yelled in Latin, ordering them to form ranks and attack, and Zara raised her hands, allowing the black, shadowy mist of death to curl around her, pooling at her feet, drifting towards the undead. She watched as the mist created halo-like crowns atop their heads, a sign of her control over them. The undead just shuffled among the monsters, causing momentary confusion, but she knew it wouldn't last.
The next thing she knew, everything began to crumble as a valley of rocks slammed overhead on both sides of the chasm. She ducked down, arms going over her head as though that would protect her. She could see her friends doing the same around her, and when the dust cleared and she looked up, she saw a mound of rocks separating Frank from Leo and Hazel.
But the son of Mars turned and charged toward the monster army.
—🌓—
Nico was swinging his black sword with one hand, holding the sceptre of Diocletian aloft with the other. He kept shouting orders at the legionnaires, but they paid him no attention, all because he was Greek, not Roman.
The group of demigods all stood back to back. Jason summoned gusts of wind to blast aside javelins and arrows. He deflected a vial of Greek fire right up the throat of a gryphon, which burst into flames and spiralled into the pit. Piper put her new sword to good use, while spraying food from the cornucopia in her other hand—using hams, chickens, apples, and oranges as interceptor missiles. Zara and Eden both brandished their shields and blades, while Annabeth ducked herselves between them, weapon in hand. Percy jabbed Riptide in front of him, slashing and stabbing as Donnie notched arrow after arrow, shooting down the monsters with extreme precision. The air above the chasm turned into a fireworks show of flaming projectiles, exploding rocks, and fresh produce.
Still, they wouldn't be able to hold out forever.
Jason's face was already beaded with sweat. He kept shouting in Latin: "Form ranks!" But the dead legionnaires wouldn't listen to him, either. Zara tried her best to maintain power over them, but the control was fleeting and minimal, something she wasn't used to.
Some of the zombies were helpful just by standing in the way, blocking monsters and taking fire. If they kept getting mowed down, though, there wouldn't be enough of them left to organise.
"Make way!" Frank shouted. Shockingly, the dead legionnaires parted for him. The closest ones turned and stared at him with blank eyes, as if waiting for further orders.
Zara realised then that the undead were listening to herself and Frank most out of all of them instead of someone like Jason for a reason. Jason, even as Praetor and a Roman-born demigod, wasn't as Roman anymore. He had changed after his time at Camp Half-Blood, and she guessed it had something to do with any changes of his personality in regards to that fact. If he no longer gave off an aura of a Roman presence, it would make sense. As for Frank and Zara, they were both Roman, and they both had control of the dead. Frank in a different way than Zara, but it was control nonetheless.
Frank made it to the group just as a wave of Cyclopes crashed into them. Zara raised her blade-edged shields and threw punch after punch. She was dimly aware of Jason to her left, deflecting the incoming missiles with wind; Piper on her right, yelling charmspeak commands—encouraging the monsters to attack each other or take a refreshing jump into the chasm, Annabeth beside Piper, yelling shouts of defiance and getting as close as she dared with her close combat weapon; Percy using Riptide to take down monster after monster, looking as if this was as easy as training, while both Eden and Donnie worked together with their power of the sun.
"It'll be fun!" Piper promised, yelling in her charmspeak.
A few listened, but across the pit, the empousa were countering her orders. Apparently they had charmspeak too. The monsters crowded so thickly around them that Zara could barely move her arms. The stench of their breath and body odour was almost enough to knock her out, even as she felt a deep cut on her thigh, blood dripping down her leg like a rushing waterfall.
"Stupid ghosts!" Nico shouted.
"They won't listen!" Jason agreed.
That was it. Frank had to make the ghosts listen—he was the only one who really could. He shouted, "Cohorts—lock shields!"
The zombies around him stirred. They lined up in front of Frank, putting their shields together in a ragged defensive formation. But they were moving too slowly, like sleepwalkers, and only a few had responded to his voice.
"Frank, how did you do that?" Jason yelled.
Frank looked like he was forcing himself awake, to not pass out. "I'm the ranking Roman officer," he said. "They—uh, they don't recognize you. Sorry."
Jason grimaced, but he didn't look particularly surprised. "How can we help?"
A gryphon soared overhead, almost decapitating the son of Mars with its talons. Nico smacked it with the sceptre of Diocletian, and the monster veered into a wall.
"Orbem formate!" Frank ordered. He turned to Zara with wide eyes, "You can command them too! Just repeat after me!"
So she did, yelling, "Orbem formate!"
About two dozen zombies obeyed, struggling to form a defensive ring around Frank, Zara, and their friends. It was enough to give the demigods a little respite, but there were too many enemies pressing forward. Most of the ghostly legionnaires were still wandering around in a daze.
"My rank," Frank realised.
"All these monsters are rank!" Piper yelled, stabbing a wild centaur.
"No," Frank said. "I'm only a centurion."
Jason cursed in Latin. "He means he can't control a whole legion. He's not of high enough rank."
Zara grimaced. "Neither am I. I'm high enough in rank, but the both of us together don't have enough power to fully control them."
Nico swung his black sword at another gryphon. "Well, then, promote him!"
Jason shouted in his best drill-sergeant voice: "Frank Zhang! I, Jason Grace, praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata, give you my final order: I resign my post and give you emergency field promotion to praetor, with the full powers of that rank. Take command of this legion!"
Zara felt as if a door had opened somewhere in the House of Hades, letting in a blast of fresh air that swept through the tunnels.
Zara hardly recognized Frank's voice when he yelled: "Legion, agmen formate!"
Instantly, every dead legionnaire in the cavern drew his sword and raised his shield. They scrambled toward Frank's position, pushing and hacking monsters out of their way until they stood shoulder to shoulder with the comrades, arranging themselves in a square formation. Stones, javelins, and fire rained down, but now Frank had a disciplined defensive line sheltering them behind a wall of bronze and leather.
"Archers!" Frank yelled. "Eiaculare flammas!"
With a look from him, Zara repeated his words, using her powers to block out any voices that were not their own. No one else but the two of them could control the undead army, not even if they tried.
Several dozen ghostly skirmishers knocked arrows in unison. Their arrowheads caught fire spontaneously and a flaming wave of death arced over the legion's line, straight into the enemy. Cyclopes fell. Centaurs stumbled. A telkhine shrieked and ran in circles with a burning arrow impaled in his forehead.
Zara heard a laugh behind her. She glanced back and couldn't believe what she saw. Nico di Angelo was actually smiling.
"That's more like it," he said. "Let's turn this tide!"
Percy, with his sense of sarcasm returning with every step forward they gained, shouted, "I wish it was an actual tide!"
"Cuneum formate!" Frank yelled. "Advance with pila!"
The zombie line thickened in the centre, forming a wedge designed to break through the enemy host. They lowered their spears in a bristling row and pushed forward.
Earthborn wailed and threw boulders. Cyclopes smashed their fists and clubs against the locked shields, but the zombie legionnaires were no longer paper targets. They had inhuman strength, hardly wavering under the fiercest attacks. Soon the floor was covered with monster dust. The line of javelins chewed through the enemy like a set of giant teeth, felling ogres and snake women and hellhounds. The archers shot gryphons out of the air and caused chaos in the main body of the monster army across the chasm.
The forces began to take control of the demigods' side of the cavern. One of the stone bridges collapsed, but more monsters kept pouring over the other one.
"Jason," Frank called, "can you fly a few legionnaires across the pit? The enemy's left flank is weak—see? Take it!"
Jason smiled. "With pleasure."
Three dead Romans rose into the air and flew across the chasm. Then three more joined them. Finally Jason flew himself across and his squad began cutting through some very surprised-looking telkhines, spreading fear through the enemy's ranks.
"Nico and Zara," Frank said, "keep trying to raise the dead. We need more numbers."
"On it." Nico lifted the sceptre of Diocletian, which glowed even darker purple. More ghostly Romans seeped from the walls to join the fight.
Zara flattened her hands out towards the ground and took a deep breath, allowing her shadows to coat the ground in a thick layer of fog. Hands began reaching up from the ground, tearing through the Underworld and into the mortal realm, ready to fight alongside their brethren.
Across the chasm, empousai shouted commands in a language Zara didn't know, but the gist was obvious. They were trying to shore up their allies and keep them charging across the bridge.
"Piper!" Frank yelled. "Counter those empousa! We need some chaos."
"Thought you'd never ask." She started catcalling at the female demons: "Your makeup is smeared! Your friend called you ugly! That one is making a face behind your back!" Soon the vampire ladies were too busy fighting one another to shout any commands.
The legionnaires moved forward, keeping up the pressure. They had to take the bridge before Jason got overwhelmed.
"Time to lead from the front," Frank decided. He raised his borrowed sword and called for a charge.
—🌓—
Frank was shrouded in the Blessing of Mars, just like he had been in Venice. Javelins couldn't touch him. Rocks somehow got deflected. Even with an arrow sticking out of his left biceps, Frank kept going.
He was the first one across the bridge, cutting down monsters as he went. The dead followed, their shields locked on either side and over their heads, deflecting all attacks. As the last of the zombies crossed, the stone bridge crumbled into the darkness, but by then it didn't matter.
Nico and Zara kept summoning more legionnaires to join the fight. Over the history of the empire, thousands of Romans had served and died in Greece. Now they were back, answering the call of Diocletian's sceptre and the summoning of a daughter of Flora and Legacy of Pluto.
Zara, Donnie, and Nico waded through the last group of Earthborn, the younger of the three slashing them into mounds of wet clay with his black Stygian sword.
Donnie pulled Zara back as a cyclops stumbled in front of them, spear raised towards her back. Something manic and very unlike Donnie clouded his eyes, the son of Dionysus raising his glowing hands, clapping them over the monster's eyes with a shout. The cyclops cried out in agony, and within seconds it dissolved into burning dust. Donnie had just burnt it to death.
Before they knew it, the battle was over. Piper chopped through the last empousa, who vaporised with an anguished wail.
"Frank," Percy said, "you're on fire."
A few drops of oil must have splattered on Frank's pants, because they were starting to smoulder. The son of Mars batted at them until they stopped smoking, but he didn't look particularly worried.
Nico cleared his throat. "Uh...you also have an arrow sticking through your arm."
"I know." Frank snapped off the point of the arrow and pulled out the shaft by the tail. "I'll be fine."
Annabeth made him eat a piece of ambrosia. As Piper bandaged his wound, the blonde said, "Frank, that was...incredible. Completely terrifying, but amazing."
It was weird to hear the word terrifying in relation to Frank, but Zara couldn't say she was surprised. She had always believed that he had more power than he believed, that all he needed was a little push towards it. She always believed that he was capable, and what she just witnessed only proved her right.
The only monsters left were the undead Romans, standing in a stupor with their weapons lowered.
Nico held up his sceptre, its orb dark and dormant. "The dead won't stay much longer, now that the battle is over."
Frank faced his troops. "Legion!"
The zombie soldiers snapped to attention.
"You fought well," Frank told them. "Now you may rest. Dismissed."
They crumbled into piles of bones, armour, shields, and weapons. Then even those disintegrated.
"Hazel and Leo," Eden said as she stepped forward, her dark hair looking grey from the amount of dust and ash in it. "We need to find them."
Zara peered across the chasm. At the other end of the cavern, the tunnel Hazel and Leo had entered was buried under tons of rubble.
"We can't go that way," Nico said. "Maybe..."
Suddenly he staggered. He would have fallen, if Jason and Percy hadn't caught him by his arms.
"Nico!" Piper said. "What is it?"
"The Doors," Nico said. "Something's happening. Andy...we need to go now."
"But how?" Donnie said. He was looking around frantically, almost like he could feel something similar to Nico, though not in the same way. "The tunnel is gone."
Frank clenched his jaw. "It won't be fun," he said, "but there's another way."
—🌓—
Frank had been right. It wasn't fun, but they made it. The group of demigods pushed through the doorway made from Mist, weapons drawn.
With Percy and Jason at the forefront of their group, the son of Jupiter spun his sword in his hand and said, "Sorry we're late," while Percy grinned, "Is this the guy who needs killing?"
Then they were attacking their opponent from every direction—Leo shooting fire at his legs, Frank and Piper jabbing at his chest, Jason flying into the air and kicking him in the face, Percy and Annabeth going for his arms, while Zara and Eden attacked his back. However, Donnie diverged from the group and ran somewhere behind them.
Each time the giant's smoky veil started creeping around one of them, Nico was there, slashing through it, drinking in the darkness with his Stygian blade. Zara used her own shadows to fight against the darkness, absorbing it into her own.
Zara couldn't help but laugh. They had the giant surrounded.
Clytius, the giant, snarled, turning back and forth as if he couldn't decide which of them to kill first. Wait! Hold still! No! Ouch!
The darkness around him dispelled completely, leaving nothing to protect him except his battered armour. Ichor oozed from a dozen wounds. The damage healed almost as fast as it was inflicted, but Zara could tell the giant was tiring.
One last time, Jason flew at him, kicking him in the chest, and the giant's breastplate shattered. Clytius staggered backward. His sword dropped to the floor. He fell to his knees, and the demigods encircled him.
Only then did Hecate step forward, her torches raised. Mist curled around the giant, hissing and bubbling as it touched his skin.
"And so it ends," Hecate said.
It does not end. Clytius's voice echoed from somewhere above, muffled and slurred. My brethren have risen. Gaea waits only for the blood of Olympus. It took all of you together to defeat me. What will you do when the Earth Mother opens her eyes?
Hecate turned her torches upside down. She thrust them like daggers at Clytius's head. The giant's hair went up faster than dry tinder, spreading down his head and across his body until the heat of the bonfire made Hazel wince. Clytius fell without a sound, face-first in the rubble of Hades's altar. His body crumbled to ashes.
For a moment, no one spoke. Zara leaned against Jason as he came to stand beside her, breathing heavily.
The goddess Hecate faced Hazel. "You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place."
Hazel grit her teeth. "Just like that? No 'thank you'? No 'good work'?"
The goddess tilted her head. Gale the weasel chittered and disappeared in the folds of her mistress's skirts.
"You look in the wrong place for gratitude," Hecate said. "As for 'good work,' that remains to be seen. Speed your way to Athens. Clytius was not wrong. The giants have risen—all of them, stronger than ever. Gaea is on the very edge of waking. The Feast of Hope will be poorly named unless you arrive to stop her."
The chamber rumbled. Another stela crashed to the floor and shattered.
"The House of Hades is unstable," Hecate said. "Leave now. We shall meet again."
The goddess dissolved. The Mist evaporated.
And then a voice croaked from behind them, and Zara swore everyone stopped breathing. "Well, isn't she friendly?"
Andromeda Storm was alive and leaning heavily against her brother. Her arm was around his shoulder, gripping his shirt in her fisted hand so hard her knuckles were white. She was dressed in a black Camp Half-Blood shirt, black camo pants, and her Chuck Converse, all covered in dirt and ash and blood and sweat. Her hair was short, reaching her jaw, and there was blood covering half of her face, but she was alive. She had made it.
Percy ran forward and wrapped his arms around the redhead, his arms going under her armpits so as not to hurt her. He held her tight, yet gently, not pulling her away from her brother as she clung to them both. His body shuddered as he held back sobs, but he let out laughs of relief in between every intake of breath.
"Back from Tartarus!" Leo whooped. "That's my Stormy!"
Annabeth cupped Andy's face in her hands as Percy moved to her other side. The blonde let her forehead drop against the daughter of Dionysus', tears running down her cheeks. "You—you bitch."
Andy laughed, but winced, no doubt thanks to broken ribs or some other injury. "It's good to see you, Blondie."
Her amethyst eyes wandered to everyone else around them, pausing briefly on Eden, nodding lightly (Zara would ask her about that later) and when they landed on Zara and her shaking form, she smiled. "Hey, Z."
Zara stalked forward and stopped just before her, reaching a hand out to push a stray red curl from her face. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too." Andy said, her smile shaking, as if she was forcing it to stay. "I missed all of you. So much."
Jason came to Zara's side and shook his head in disbelief. "You made it."
"You doubted me, did you, Sparky?"
Before he could respond, the ceiling shuddered. Cracks appeared in the remaining tiles. Columns of dust spilled down.
"We've got to get out of here," Jason said. "Uh, Frank...?"
Frank shook his head. "I think one favour from the dead is all I can manage today."
"Wait, what?" Hazel asked.
Piper raised her eyebrows. "Your 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."
To their left, a section of the wall split. Two ruby eyes from a carved stone skeleton popped out and rolled across the floor.
"We'll have to shadow-travel," Hazel said.
Nico winced. "Hazel, I can barely manage that with only myself. With this many more people—"
"I'll help you."
Zara nodded her head in agreement, "I will, too. I've been practising."
An entire section of tiles peeled loose from the ceiling. "Everyone, grab hands!" Nico yelled.
They made a hasty circle. Zara envisioned the Greek countryside above them. The cavern collapsed, and she felt herself dissolving into shadow.
They appeared on the hillside overlooking the River Acheron. The sun was just rising, making the water glitter and the clouds glow orange. The cool morning air smelled of honeysuckle.
They were all alive and mostly whole. The sunlight in the trees was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. She wanted to live in that moment—free of monsters and gods and evil spirits.
Then her friends began to stir.
Nico realised that he was holding Percy's hand and quickly let go. Leo staggered backward, hardly realising that he was pulling Donnie with him. "You know...I think I'll sit down."
He collapsed onto the ground, Donnie willingly going with him, the two clutching onto each other. The others joined them. The Argo II still floated over the river a few hundred yards away. Zara knew that they should signal Coach Hedge and tell him they were alive. Had they been in the temple all night? Or several nights? But at the moment, the group was too tired to do anything except sit and relax and marvel at the fact that they were okay.
They began to exchange stories.
Frank and Zara explained what had happened with the ghostly legion and the army of monsters—how Nico had used the sceptre of Diocletian, how Zara had summoned and controlled the dead alongside the son of Mars, and how bravely the others had fought.
"Frank is being modest," Jason said. "He controlled the entire legion. You should've seen him. Oh, by the way..." Jason glanced at Andy, who was sitting in between Percy's legs, her back to his chest. "I resigned my office, gave Frank a field promotion to praetor. Unless you want to contest that ruling."
Andy shook her head. "No argument from me."
"Praetor?" Hazel stared at Frank.
He shrugged uncomfortably. "Well...yeah. I know it seems weird."
She tried to throw her arms around him, then winced. She settled for kissing him. "It seems perfect."
Leo clapped Frank on the shoulder. "Way to go, Zhang. Now you can order Octavian to fall on his sword."
"Tempting," Frank agreed. He turned apprehensively to Andy, and so did everyone else. Zara couldn't help but notice how she shrunk into Percy slightly. "But, Andy...Tartarus has to be the real story. What happened down there? How did you...?"
She bit her lip and looked down. The dark circles under her eyes were so prominent and deep, and that was when Zara realised how skinny her sister had gotten, how much she looked like a ghost...
"I—" she stopped, eyes flickering between everyone, looking panicked. "Uh...well, it looks like our ride is here."
Zara turned. The Argo II veered to port, its aerial oars in motion, its sails catching the wind. Festus's head glinted in the sunlight. Even from a distance, she could hear him creaking and clanking in jubilation.
"That's my boy!" Leo yelled.
As the ship got closer, Zara saw Coach Hedge standing at the prow.
"About time!" the coach yelled down. He was doing his best to scowl, but his eyes gleamed as if maybe, just maybe, he was happy to see them. "What took you so long, cupcakes? You kept your visitor waiting!"
"Visitor?" Eden murmured.
At the rail next to Coach Hedge, a dark-haired girl appeared wearing a purple cloak, her face so covered with soot and bloody scratches that Zara almost didn't recognize her.
Reyna had arrived.
Double update?? I think yes.
I don't think you realize how hard it is to write this many people all at once😭 It's honestly such a struggle because I don't want to have people be cut out in any way, but I hope I included everyone enough.
Can we talk about Zara and Frank being the best 'summoning-the-dead-duo' ever? I was so happy to write them teaming up and stuff because I love their friendship and how much they understand each other, even if it's not always vocalized!
And the biggest thing, the reunion! Andy girl is back where she belongs, with her friends, but our girl is struggling. She has a lot of trauma from things, but Tartarus is kind of like the cherry on top, and her PTSD is going to be flaring so much. I'm going to try to make sure that is represented in this next act (also the last act, that's crazy!), and I am not ready for it. I know the reunion was small and wasn't really a big thing in this chapter, but it's because everything is moving so fast and the House of Hades is literally crumbling on top of them!
Anywho, I really, really hope you enjoyed this chapter! We only have one chapter (I think) of this act left, and then we're on to Act 5, the Blood of Olympus!