"Leo LII," Leo tiredly grinned, rolling his eyes.
The readers slumped in their chairs, ready to get this chapter over with. Lacy and Grover's eyes were half-lidded and puffy from the constant rubbing and tears. There were still a few sniffles heard in the room and soft hiccups, but otherwise everyone was quiet.
How could there be another chapter? What more could be said after what happened? There was unsaid worry amongst the gods and demigods that this chapter had more bad news to come.
"LEO WAS STILL IN SHOCK." Leo snorted. "That was putting it mildly."
Devastated was more like it. Leo had even blamed himself for not noticing his friends had vanished into the Pit until it was too late. He went so far as to accuse himself for essentially cursing the couple to fall by having opened Nemesis's fortune cookie. It seemed silly now that he looked back on it, but at the time, Leo had genuinely believed that.
The son of Hephaestus grimaced, remembering how terrible he felt.
Everything had happened so quickly. They had secured grappling lines to the Athena Parthenos just as the floor gave way, and the final columns of webbing snapped. Jason and Frank dove down to save the others, but they'd only found Nico and Hazel hanging from the rope ladder. Percy and Annabeth were gone. Leo fought back a wince.
Everyone else shuddered.
Percy visibly paled. Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut and took a slow deep breath. Thalia rubbed small circles into her hand, the daughter of Zeus was blinking back more tears.
The pit to Tartarus had been buried under several tons of debris. Leo pulled the Argo II out of the cavern seconds before the entire place imploded, taking the rest of the parking lot with it.
"Gods," Will breathed, feeling a shiver run down his spine. It was completely unrelated, but he couldn't help but think back to the collapse of the Williamsburg Bridge. Michael.
The son of Apollo immediately stopped his train of thought.
"Even if they wanted to go after us, they can't..." Annabeth muttered, holding her dad's college ring. Their only hope of making it out was traveling through Tartarus.
The Argo II was now parked on a hill overlooking the city. Jason, Hazel, and Frank had returned to the scene of the catastrophe, hoping to dig through the rubble and find a way to save Percy and Annabeth,
Knowing it was pointless, the readers grimaced. A few let out heavy sighs.
but they'd come back demoralized. The cavern was simply gone. The scene was swarming with police and rescue workers. No mortals had been hurt, but the Italians would be scratching their heads for months, wondering how a massive sinkhole had opened right in the middle of a parking lot and swallowed a dozen perfectly good cars. Leo gave a strained smile.
Dazed with grief, Leo and the others carefully loaded the Athena Parthenos into the hold, using the ship's hydraulic winches with an assist from Frank Zhang, part-time elephant. The statue just fit, though what they were going to do with it, Leo had no idea.
I still have no clue, Leo thought to himself with a slight frown.
Normally Athena would have rejoiced to the statue being saved. She might have even bragged to the other gods if given the chance. But now all she felt was empty. The goddess finally had her statue after all these centuries in exchange for her daughter.
Athena tightly clasped her hands together. I will not let this happen. Annabeth will never set one foot in Tartarus. I won't allow it.
Coach Hedge was too miserable to help. He kept pacing the deck with tears in his eyes, pulling at his goatee and slapping the side of his head, muttering, "I should have saved them! I should have blown up more stuff!"
"Gleeson... Don't blame yourself." Grover sighed.
Percy guiltily winced. Coach Hedge might always act like a tough guy, but deep down he really is a big softie.
"It's not anyone's fault," Percy said, giving a meaningful glance to Annabeth. "Nobody could have predicted this would happen. Now that we know, things are going to be different."
He squeezed Annabeth's hand. She held onto her necklace and slowly nodded her head.
I'm not going to make the same mistakes again, the daughter of Athena told herself firmly.
Finally Leo told him to go below decks and secure everything for departure. He wasn't doing any good beating himself up.
Grover and Percy nodded their heads in approval.
The six demigods gathered on the quarterdeck and gazed at the distant column of dust still rising from the site of the implosion.
The readers winced.
Percy shivered, face paling slightly.
Leo rested his hand on the Archimedes sphere, which now sat on the helm, ready to be installed.
Hephaestus, Nyssa, and Jake perked up in interest.
"Oh yeah. That." Travis said flatly, his head resting in his palm.
Leo snorted and made a big show of rolling his eyes.
"Seriously, dude? Don't tell me you forgot already," he said, feigning disappointment. "This sphere's going to turn the tides of battle! Revolutionize demigod weaponry!"
He might have been overexaggerating about the sphere's impact, but it earned snorts of amusement and playful eye rolls so Leo counted it as a win.
"Popcorn grenades are the new wave of Revolution," Connor snickered.
"You know it," the son of Hephaestus readily agreed with a grin.
He should have been excited. It was the biggest discovery of his life—even bigger than Bunker 9. If he could decipher Archimedes's scrolls, he could do amazing things. He hardly dared to hope, but he might even be able to build a new control disk for a certain dragon friend of his. Despite the situation, Leo couldn't help but read with excitement in his voice. By the time he had finished the last sentence, the boy was smiling from ear-to-ear.
His enthusiasm was contagious. The teens broke out in small smiles, their faces brightened, happy to hear the news about Festus.
"Hey, that's awesome!" Percy perked up, thrilled for his friend. "Festus can get his body back!"
"Yup," Leo said, popping the 'p'. His fingers drumming out a beat on the book's cover. "I still have some kinks to work out, but I'll be able to get Festus back to his old self in no time."
"That's great, Leo," Annabeth said with a soft grin.
"Yeah, I miss all his weird functions," Travis mused. "Remember when he turned into a suitcase?"
"And the suitcase was too heavy to carry? Seriously, who thought of that?" Connor snickered, earning amused smiles from the group.
"Hey! He had wheels!" Leo reminded, feigning offense. His remark earned a few giggles and chuckles. The boy pretended to be exasperated and let out a huff. "Like I said, I'm still working out the kinks. But I'm going to add all these new features, and maybe spruce up the old ones."
Still, the price had been too high. Leo's light-hearted mood wavered a bit. The boy fidgeted in his chair.
The readers faltered. They frowned in confusion.
He could almost hear Nemesis laughing. I told you we could do business, Leo Valdez. Leo sighed.
"What?" Katie said, furrowing her eyebrows.
"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.
"For a while, I didn't know what the consequences were for opening the fortune cookie," Leo began, rocking his chair. "I thought that by saving Frank and Hazel, Nemesis had made you and Annabeth fall as a trade off..."
"And you blamed yourself..." Annabeth finished, shoulders slumping.
"Obviously, that wasn't true, but..." Leo trailed off and shrugged.
"Didn't you just say that Coach Hedge shouldn't be beating himself up," Percy sighed, brushing his hair back. Leo gave a small laugh.
"Well, yeah, but that's only because I thought I was responsible."
"Nobody is responsible! Arachne chose to pull Annabeth into Tartarus, and I chose to go with Annabeth. There was no outside force that made this happen and Annabeth didn't have control over the situation." the son of Poseidon said firmly. "If we have to put the blame on someone, let's put it on Arachne for being awful and Gaea for getting us wrapped up in this whole mess."
"Sounds good to me," Leo grinned.
"Yup," Thalia nodded.
"Very true," Hestia spoke up.
Percy looked at Annabeth, noticing the daughter of Athena not saying anything. He squeezed her hand and lowered his head to stare into her downcast eyes. "Annabeth..."
She bit her lip before letting out a sigh. "Yes."
"'Yes' what?"
Annabeth groaned in annoyance. "Yes it's not my fault. It's Gaea's and Arachne's."
Percy sat up, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Thank you."
"You can be a real pain, you know that?" she teased, bumping her shoulder against his.
"So I've been told," the boy chuckled.
..."It's my fault," he said miserably.
The others stared at him. Only Hazel seemed to understand. She'd been with him at the Great Salt Lake.
"No," she insisted. "No, this is Gaea's fault. It had nothing to do with you."
Percy nodded his head in approval.
Leo wanted to believe that, but he couldn't. They'd started this voyage with Leo messing up, firing on New Rome. They'd ended in old Rome with Leo breaking a cookie and paying a price much worse than an eye.
"Actually, it's not as bad as I thought," Leo said with a shrug. It was meant to be an off-handed remark, just a quick reflection on the time he spent in the past, but apparently he had said something the Stolls couldn't let slip by.
"Aaaawwww," the brothers obnoxiously cooed. Leo's face fell into an unamused frown.
"Our Little Leo loves spending time with his family!" Connor snickered, musing the boy's hair. The teen scowled and swatted the hand away.
"We're happy you're here too, cuz! You're so fun to tease," Travis said in a babying voice, only half joking. Leo slapped his hand away before he could pinch his cheek.
"Never mind. I hate it here." Leo deadpanned, causing the boys to laugh.
"Liar!"
"It's too late, you said it!"
"Leo, listen to me." Hazel gripped his hand. "I won't allow you to take the blame. I couldn't bear that after—after Sammy..."
She choked up, but Leo knew what she meant. His bisabuelo had blamed himself for Hazel's disappearance. Sammy had lived a good life, but he'd gone to his grave believing that he'd spent a cursed diamond and doomed the girl he loved.
Hephaestus grimaced, thinking about the burden the man must've carried.
Leo didn't want to make Hazel miserable all over again, but this was different. True success requires sacrifice. Leo's expression had become more serious as he read this, the words having a different meaning now. True success did require sacrifice. That was why he was going to end Gaea once and for all. Even if it killed him.
Leo had chosen to break that cookie. Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. That couldn't be a coincidence.
"It doesn't make sense when you think about it," Chris said, considering the paragraph. "Nemesis wants you guys to defeat Gaea and the giants. Why would she help you and in exchange, take away two members of the team?"
"I dunno. Guilt makes you think stupid things." Leo stated, as if that explained everything.
Nico di Angelo shuffled over, leaning on his black sword. "Leo, they're not dead. If they were, I could feel it."
The readers' expressions became solemn. There was a sense of apprehension in the room.
"How can you be sure?" Leo asked. "If that pit really led to...you know...how could you sense them so far away?"
"I'm a child of Hades," Nico said shortly.
Nico and Hazel shared a look, maybe comparing notes on their Hades/Pluto death radar. Leo shivered. Hazel had never seemed like a child of the Underworld to him, but Nico di Angelo—that guy was creepy.
Nico scoffed and rolled his eyes. At this point, he was resigned to his fate as the 'Creepy Guy' of the group.
Will glared at Leo.
Said boy cringed. "Sorry."
"Yup," Nico sighed.
"We can't be one hundred percent sure," Hazel admitted. "But I think Nico is right. Percy and Annabeth are still alive...at least, so far."
The readers shuddered.
Poseidon's breath hitched. Athena's face paled.
"They're alive and on the ship," Leo reminded, before he kept reading.
Jason pounded his fist against the rail. "I should've been paying attention. I could have flown down and saved them."
"Me, too," Frank moaned. The big dude looked on the verge of tears.
"Then who would've secured the statue?" Percy said tiredly. "Seriously guys, it's no one's fault."
Piper put her hand on Jason's back. "It's not your fault, either of you. You were trying to save the statue."
"Exactly," Percy said, glad the girls were setting the guys straight.
"She's right," Nico said. "Even if the pit hadn't been buried, you couldn't have flown into it without being pulled down.
Thalia shuddered, imagining Jason being yanked down Tartarus as well.
As if having similar thoughts, Poseidon winced and Ares paled.
Aphrodite comfortingly patted her boyfriend's hand.
I'm the only one who has actually been into Tartarus. It's impossible to describe how powerful that place is. Once you get close, it sucks you in. I never stood a chance."
Nico shivered.
Hades and Will winced.
Frank sniffled. "Then Percy and Annabeth don't stand a chance either?"
"I didn't say that..." Nico said, twisting his skull ring.
"... [Nico] "Percy is the most powerful demigod I've ever met. No offense to you guys, but it's true. Yeah," Leo agreed with a chuckle. "If anybody can survive, he will, especially if he's got Annabeth at his side. They're going to find a way through Tartarus."
Blushing, Nico ducked his head.
Percy and Annabeth gave him appreciative smiles.
"Thanks man," the son of Poseidon said warmly.
Nico responded with a stiff nod of his head, not trusting himself to speak.
The Aphrodite Cabin girls giggled, thinking he was blushing because of his remark about Annabeth.
Jason turned. "To the Doors of Death, you mean. But you told us it's guarded by Gaea's most powerful forces. How could two demigods possibly—?"
"We manage," Percy said, not really wanting to think about it. He ignored how fast his heart was racing. We'll make it because we have each other.
"I don't know," Nico admitted. "But Percy told me to lead you guys to Epirus, to the mortal side of the doorway. He's planning on meeting us there. If we can survive the House of Hades, fight our way through Gaea's forces, then maybe we can work together with Percy and Annabeth and seal the Doors of Death from both sides."
"And get Percy and Annabeth back safely?" Leo asked.
"Maybe."
"They will," Poseidon corrected tightly, leaving no room for argument. Percy and Annabeth will come back safely, and the Doors will be closed. There was another option. No one will need to be sacrificed.
Hades suppressed a sigh.
Leo didn't like the way Nico said that, as if he wasn't sharing all his doubts. Besides, Leo knew something about locks and doors. If the Doors of Death needed to be sealed from both sides, how could they do that unless someone stayed in the Underworld, trapped?
"There's another way," Poseidon growled, as if he couldn't believe Leo would even consider that.
Leo shrank back in his seat and meekly nodded his head. "Yeah, of course."
Hephaestus glared at the god of the sea.
Nico took a deep breath. "I don't know how they'll manage it, but Percy and Annabeth will find a way. They'll journey through Tartarus and find the Doors of Death. When they do, we have to be ready."
Nico nodded firmly. I won't fail you, Percy.
"It won't be easy," Hazel said. "Gaea will throw everything she's got at us to keep us from reaching Epirus."
"What else is new?" Annabeth said dryly with a grimace.
...Piper nodded. "We've got no choice. We have to seal the Doors of Death before we can stop the giants from raising Gaea. Otherwise her armies will never die. And we've got to hurry. The Romans are in New York. Soon, they'll be marching on Camp Half-Blood."
The readers paled, their eyes widening in alarm. With everything happening during the quest, they had forgotten about the Romans.
"Oh no," Lacy whimpered.
"Um... we can handle this... We know they're coming," Connor remembered, trying to sound confident despite the nervous crack in his voice.
"Yeah..." Will said, forehead beading with sweat. "We'll be prepared."
Although they tried to put on brave faces for each other's sake, the demigods were still having a sinking feeling of dread.
"We've got one month at best," Jason added. "Ephialtes said Gaea would awaken in exactly one month."
"Oh yeah, that's happening too." Chris nervously gulped.
"It's fine, we work well under pressure." Travis nervously laughed, his body trembling.
"It'll be okay, everything's going to be different now." Leo reminded, hoping it helped. His words didn't erase the tension, but it did ease their worries slightly.
Leo straightened. "We can do it."
Everyone stared at him.
"The Archimedes sphere can upgrade the ship," he said, hoping he was right.
"I am," Leo confirmed in a purposely cheerful voice.
"I'm going to study those ancient scrolls we got. There's got to be all kinds of new weapons I can make. We're going to hit Gaea's armies with a whole new arsenal of hurt."
...Jason managed a smile. He clapped Leo on the shoulder.
"Sounds like a plan, Admiral. You want to set the course?"
Jason's comment earned strained grins from the readers.
"Oooo, Admiral! Way to rise in ranks, Valdez!" Connor joked, forcing a laugh.
"Admiral Toolbelt... They grow up so fast." Travis said, wiping away a fake tear with a still trembling hand.
"Ha. Ha. Laugh all you want, I'm the one with the cool title." Leo teasingly bragged, puffing out his chest.
"Oh great, Jason's created a monster," Nico said dryly.
"Can we demote him to Cabin Boy instead?" Will said with a chuckle.
"Cabin Boy Toolbelt," Mitchell played along. "Has a good ring to it."
"Rolls off the tongue," Chris agreed with a nod.
"Hey!" Leo protested, the demigods laughed in response.
Their godly parents watched the interaction with soft smiles.
They would find this House of Hades. They'd take the Doors of Death. And by the gods, if Leo had to design a grabber arm long enough to snatch Percy and Annabeth out of Tartarus, then that's what he would do.
Nemesis wanted him to wreak vengeance on Gaea? Leo would be happy to oblige. He was going to make Gaea sorry she had ever messed with Leo Valdez. Leo read the paragraphs with such certainty and confidence, the other teens couldn't help but feel amped up. When he was finished, the demigods shouted cheers in agreement.
"YEAH!"
The rest of the gods were watching in amusement, but Hermes and Apollo knew better than to find Leo's speech entertaining.
Crossing his arms, Hermes shook his head at the boy's conviction.
He really thinks he knows what he's doing... the god of thieves sighed, feeling tired. Sacrificing his life. Using the Physician's Cure. It was insanity that only had a chance for success. This boy was really banking his life on a chance.
Poor Hephaestus, Hermes grimaced. Maybe he should have put more effort into talking sense into Apollo. Maybe he should have hesitated before swearing on Styx. Maybe. But it was too late at this point. Leo already made up his mind and with the Curse of Delos, he was closer to his goal.
Apollo tightly clasped his shaking hands together, biting his lip as he watched the scene play out. It took every ounce of willpower he had, not to bolt out of his throne, grab the little twerp by his shoulders and shake him. Oh, Ares would have a field day seeing that. Apollo, the masterful god of poetry and music, shaking a child and screaming out of his foaming mouth: You idiot! You idiot! The Physician's Cure is forbidden because of idiots like you!
Harsh, but it was a reality that Apollo now understood. He had always thought Hades and Zeus were overexaggerating about the consequences of the Cure. There were so many immortals in the world, what was the harm in one or two mortals coming back to life? But now he knew.
The Physician's Cure encouraged daredevils to up the ante in heroism. Why think of a safe strategy, when you could just blow yourself up then come back to life? He loved Asclepius to bits and pieces, but his potion was beyond dangerous.
And of course, I had to give him the flower... Apollo couldn't believe how easily manipulated he was. He encouraged a suicide mission and doomed himself to the wrath of two of the Big Three for an instrument. An awesome, unique, wonderful instrument.
I can fix this, the god promised himself, glaring at the foolish demigod. I'll expose his plan without breaking my promise.
Apollo scowled up at the ceiling.
"Yeah." He took one last look at the cityscape of Rome, turning blood red in the sunset. "Festus, raise the sails. We've got some friends to save."
"And that's the end of the book," Leo announced, feeling as though a weight was lifted off his shoulders.
The readers smiled, happy to be done but not as celebratory as they had been with the last book. The final novel left would no doubt tell them what happened to Percy and Annabeth. While everyone wanted to know, they weren't sure how well they would handle it.
Zeus shifted in his throne, glancing at the moody god of the sea and exhausted goddess of wisdom.
"Good. We will read the third book tomorrow."
Poseidon's head jerked up, he glared at the god. "What?!"
"Peace, Brother." Zeus said in a warning tone, narrowing his eyes at the other's snarl. "Many of us are overwhelmed with the given information. It would be best if we stopped for today, get some rest, and read again tomorrow with more energy."
"You don't understand," Poseidon argued, causing the immortal to grit his teeth. "The faster we find out how the Doors were closed, the sooner we can close them before they cause any problems! Am I the only one who doesn't want to sacrifice the lives of our children?"
"Of course not," Hades said, feeling that jab being directed at himself. "We all want another option."
"Then let's just start reading now! We need to start making progress," Poseidon pressed.
As the three argued, Leo and the surrounding demigods noticed the book's pages began to glow.
Recognizing what was going on, they closed their eyes and turned away, just as the book's Glossary flashed a bright light.
That earned the Big Three's attention. They turned to Leo, just as the light slowly faded away.
The son of Hephaestus opened his eyes and looked at the new title. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Huh?" Leo frowned.
"What does it say?" Jake stood up, trying to look over his brother's shoulder.
"Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades," Leo read, puzzlement evident in his voice.
Percy, Thalia, Nico, and Hades all stiffened in their chairs.
Zeus and Poseidon went tense. Their expressions went from surprised, betrayed, then furious.
The gods' eyes widened, and the demigods gasped.
"Oh my gods," Annabeth said, her jaw slack.
"That can't be possible..." Nyssa trailed off.
Leo helplessly looked around the room, now even more confused by their reactions. Something was wrong, he never heard of a sword owned by Hades before. And Percy was involved? What? Did this all happen in Tartarus?
"I... Uh... I don't..." Leo looked at the title again, then up at the others. He shook his head.
"I have no idea what's going on."
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SURPRISE!! Bonus Chapter Time! Up next is Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades! Stay Tuned! ;)