Hazel's wish had come true.
When she heard how Pasiphaë had remade the labyrinth which meant that she was proficient in madness magic, she'd wished Cressida was here because Annabeth had told her all about that adventure and how they wouldn't have made it two steps into that maze without her.
She got her wish.
Even though Pasiphaë was gone, Hazel was standing with Leo by her side, her friends cut off from them as Clytius, the giant wrapped in shadows faced them as he guarded an elevator.
And then the Doors of Death hissed as black smoke billowed out and two bodies fell to the floor - Cressida and Percy who were as limp as corpses.
Hazel sobbed. "Oh, gods..." She and Leo started forward, but Clytius raised his hand in an unmistakable gesture—stop.
He lifted his massive reptilian foot over Percy's head. The giant's smoky shroud poured over the floor, covering Cressida and Percy in a pool of dark fog.
"Clytius, you've lost," Hazel snarled. "Let them go, or you'll end up like Pasiphaë."
The giant tilted his head. His diamond eyes gleamed. At his feet, Cressida lurched like she'd hit a power line, but then as her mouth opened and she rolled onto her back, the giant faltered.
"SPEAK!" he thundered, but Cressida stayed silent before her body went slack and Hazel could only imagine what fighting back the giant's control was doing to her strength after coming out of Tartarus.
"She's the daughter of Dionysus, god of madness," Leo said, trying to impersonate his friend's acting skills that she'd once used to let Leo hear the words spoken in his mother's voice in her Spanish tongue to tell him that it wasn't his fault that she died, that it was Gaia's fault (and partially Hera's) and he had to keep going for his mother's sake. "You can't control her mind or her magic."
While that was true enough, Hazel could sense Cressida's life force waning, her pulse becoming thready as she tried to keep the giant out of her mind even subconsciously. It was killing her. "Stop that!" she ordered.
"Still," Clytius said. "I am not Pasiphaë. You have won nothing." And then he nudged Percy's head with his foot as his face lolled to one side.
"Not quite dead." The giant's words boomed from Percy's mouth. "A terrible shock to the mortal body, I would imagine, coming back from Tartarus. They'll be out for a while. The girl especially." More smoke poured from Percy's lips. "I'll tie them up and take them to Porphyrion in Athens. Just the sacrifice we need. Unfortunately, that means I have no further use for you two."
"Oh, yeah?" Leo growled. "Well, maybe you got the smoke, buddy, but I've got the fire."
His hands blazed. He shot white-hot columns of flame at the giant, but Clytius's smoky aura absorbed them on impact. Tendrils of black haze travelled back up the lines of fire, snuffing out the light and heat and covering Leo in darkness. Leo fell to his knees, clutching at his throat.
"No!" Hazel ran toward him, but Gale, the weasel from Hecate, chattered urgently on her shoulder—a clear warning.
"I would not." Clytius's voice reverberated from Leo's mouth. "You do not understand, Hazel Levesque. I devour magic. I destroy the voice and the soul. You cannot oppose me." Black fog spread farther across the room, covering Cressida and Percy, billowing toward Hazel. Blood roared in Hazel's ears. She had to act—but how? If that black smoke could incapacitate Leo so quickly, what chance did she have?
"F-fire," she stammered in a small voice. "You're supposed to be weak against it."
The giant chuckled, still using Percy's vocal cords. "You were counting on that, eh? It is true I do not like fire. But Leo Valdez's flames are not strong enough to trouble me. Perhaps if Madness's daughter was awake, her fire might have a chance, but Leo Valdez is no match for me."
Somewhere behind Hazel, a soft, lyrical voice said, "What about my flames, old friend?"
Gale squeaked excitedly and jumped from Hazel's shoulder, scampering to the entrance of the cavern where a blond woman stood in a black dress, the Mist swirling around her. The giant stumbled backward, bumping into the Doors of Death.
"You," he said from Percy's mouth.
"Me," Hecate agreed. She spread her arms. Blazing torches appeared in her hands. "It has been millennia since I fought at the side of a demigod, but Hazel Levesque has proven herself worthy. What do you say, Clytius? Shall we play with fire?"
"Bold words," Clytius spoke from Leo's mouth. "You forget, goddess. When we last met, you had the help of Hercules and Dionysus—the most powerful heroes in the world, both of them destined to become gods. Now you bring...these?"
Leo's unconscious body contorted in pain.
"Stop it!" Hazel yelled.
"Perhaps if Dionysus's daughter was awake and at full strength, you may stand a chance, but alas," Clytius spoke, still from Leo's mouth before he nudged Cressida's sleeping body with his foot, but Hazel could already feel her heartbeat getting stronger as the giant stopped trying to control her and she thanked Pluto for it. "You are out of luck."
She didn't plan what happened next. She simply knew she had to protect her friends. She imagined them behind her, the same way she'd imagined new tunnels appearing in Pasiphaë's Labyrinth.
Leo dissolved. He reappeared at Hazel's feet, along with Percy and Cressida. The Mist whirled around her, spilling over the stones and enveloping her friends.
Leo opened his eyes and gasped. "Wh-what...?"
Cressida and Percy remained motionless, but Hazel could now sense Percy's heartbeat getting stronger, both their breaths coming out evenly.
On Hecate's shoulder, Gale the polecat barked with admiration. The goddess stepped forward, her dark eyes glittering in the torchlight. "You're right, Clytius. Hazel Levesque is not Hercules or Dionysus, but I think you will find her just as formidable."
Leo tried to sit up. "What's going on? What can I—"
"Watch Percy and Cressida." Hazel drew her spatha. "Stay behind me. Stay in the Mist."
"But—"
The look Hazel gave him must have been more severe than she realized.
Leo gulped. "Yeah, got it. White Mist good. Black smoke bad."
And Hazel advanced on the giant.