by Rick Riordan
Hazel was so elated to hear her friend’s voice that she almost turned, but she knew she shouldn’t take her eyes off Clytius.
‘The chains …’ Annabeth managed.
Hazel inhaled sharply. She’d been a fool! The Doors of Death were still open, shuddering against the chains that held them in place. Hazel had to cut them free so they would disappear – and finally be beyond Gaia’s reach.
The only problem: a big smoky giant stood in her way.
You can’t seriously believe you have the strength, Clytius chided. What will you do, Hazel Levesque – pelt me with more rubies? Shower me with sapphires?
Hazel gave him an answer. She raised her spatha and charged.
Apparently, Clytius hadn’t expected her to be quite so suicidal. He was slow raising his sword. By the time he slashed, Hazel had ducked between his legs and jabbed her Imperial gold blade into his gluteus maximus. Not very ladylike. The nuns at St Agnes would never have approved. But it worked.
Clytius roared and arched his back, waddling away from her. Mist still swirled around Hazel, hissing as it met the giant’s black smoke.
Hazel realized that Hecate was assisting her – lending her the strength to keep up a defensive shroud. Hazel also knew that the instant her own concentration wavered and that darkness touched her, she would collapse. If that happened, she wasn’t sure Hecate would be able – or willing – to stop the giant from crushing her and her friends.
Hazel sprinted towards the Doors of Death. Her blade shattered the chains on the left side like they were made of ice. She lunged to the right, but Clytius yelled, NO!
By sheer luck, she wasn’t cut in half. The flat of the giant’s blade caught her in the chest and sent her flying. She slammed into the wall and felt bones crack.
Across the room, Leo screamed her name.
Through her blurry vision, she saw a flash of fire. Hecate stood nearby, her form shimmering as if she were about to dissolve. Her torches seemed to be flickering out, but it might just have been that Hazel was starting to lose consciousness.
She couldn’t give up now. She forced herself to stand. Her side felt like it was embedded with razor blades. Her sword lay on the ground about five feet away. She staggered towards it.
‘Clytius!’ she shouted.
She meant it to sound like a brave challenge, but it came out as more of a croak.
At least it got his attention. The giant turned from Leo and the others. When he saw her limping forward, he laughed.
A good try, Hazel Levesque, Clytius admitted. You did better than I anticipated. But magic alone cannot defeat me, and you do not have sufficient strength. Hecate has failed you, as she fails all of her followers in the end.
The Mist around her was thinning. At the other end of the room, Leo tried to force-feed Percy some ambrosia, though Percy was still pretty much out of it. Annabeth was awake but struggling, barely able to lift her head.
Hecate stood with her torches, watching and waiting – which infuriated Hazel so much, she found one last burst of energy.
She threw her sword – not at the giant but at the Doors of Death. The chains on the right side shattered. Hazel collapsed in agony, her side burning, as the Doors shuddered and disappeared in a flash of purple light.
Clytius roared so loudly that a half-dozen stelae fell from the ceiling and shattered.
‘That was for my brother, Nico,’ Hazel gasped. ‘And for destroying my father’s altar.’
You have forfeited your right to a quick death, the giant snarled. I will suffocate you in darkness, slowly, painfully. Hecate cannot help you. NO ONE can help you!
The goddess raised her torches. ‘I would not be so certain, Clytius. Hazel’s friends simply needed a little time to reach her – time you have given them with your boasting and bragging.’
Clytius snorted. What friends? These weaklings? They are no challenge.
In front of Hazel, the air rippled. The Mist thickened, creating a doorway, and four people stepped through.
Hazel wept with relief. Frank’s arm was bleeding and bandaged, but he was alive. Next to him stood Nico, Piper and Jason – all with their swords drawn.
‘Sorry we’re late,’ Jason said. ‘Is this the guy who needs killing?’
LXXVI
HAZEL
Hazel almost felt sorry for Clytius.
They attacked him 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. Hazel was proud to see how well Piper remembered her sword-fighting lessons.
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.
Percy and Annabeth were on their feet, looking weak and dazed, but their swords were drawn. When did Annabeth get a sword? And what was it made of – ivory? They looked like they wanted to help, but there was no need. The giant was surrounded.
Clytius 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 Hazel 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 backwards. 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. Gaia 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 into the rubble of Hades’s altar. His body crumbled to ashes.
For a moment, no one spoke. Hazel heard a ragged, painful noise and realized it was her own breathing. Her side felt like it had been kicked in with a battering ram.
The goddess Hecate faced her. ‘You should go now, Hazel Levesque. Lead your friends out of this place.’
Hazel gritted her teeth, trying to hold in her anger. ‘Just like that? No “thank you”? No “good work”?’
The goddess tilted her head. Gale the weasel chittered – maybe a goodbye, maybe a warning – 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. Gaia 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.
‘She’s friendly,’ Percy grumbled.
The others turned towards him and Annabeth, as if just realizing they were there.
‘Dude.’ Jason gave Percy a bear hug.
‘Back from Tartarus!’ Leo whooped. ‘That’s my peeps!’
Piper threw her arms around Annabeth and cried.
Frank ran to Hazel. He gently folded her arms around her. ‘You’re hurt,’ he said.
‘Ribs probably broken,’ she admitted. ‘But, Frank – what happened to your arm?’
He managed a smile. ‘Long story. We’re alive. That’s what matters.’
She was so giddy w
ith relief it took her a moment to notice Nico, standing by himself, his expression full of pain and conflict.
‘Hey,’ she called to him, beckoning with her good arm.
He hesitated, then came over and kissed her forehead. ‘I’m glad you’re okay,’ he said. ‘The ghosts were right. Only one of us made it to the Doors of Death. You … you would have made Dad proud.’
She smiled, cupping her hand gently to his face. ‘We couldn’t have defeated Clytius without you.’
She brushed her thumb under Nico’s eye and wondered if he had been crying. She wanted so badly to understand what was going on with him – what had happened to him over the last few weeks. After all they’d just been through, Hazel was more grateful than ever to have a brother.
Before she could say that, 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 seven more people –’
‘I’ll help you.’ She tried to sound confident. She’d never shadow-travelled before, had no idea if she could, but after working with the Mist, altering the Labyrinth – she had to believe it was possible.
An entire section of tiles peeled loose from the ceiling.
‘Everyone, grab hands!’ Nico yelled.
They made a hasty circle. Hazel 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.
Hazel was holding hands with Frank on her left, Nico on her right. 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 realized that he was holding Percy’s hand and quickly let go.
Leo staggered backwards. ‘You know … I think I’ll sit down.’
He collapsed. The others joined him. The Argo II still floated over the river a few hundred yards away. Hazel 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 explained what had happened with the ghostly legion and the army of monsters – how Nico had used the sceptre of Diocletian and how bravely Jason and Piper 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 Percy. ‘I resigned my office, gave Frank a field promotion to praetor. Unless you want to contest that ruling.’
Percy grinned. ‘No argument here.’
‘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 as she remembered her busted ribs. 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 Percy. ‘But you guys … Tartarus has to be the real story. What happened down there? How did you …?’
Percy laced his fingers through Annabeth’s.
Hazel happened to glance at Nico and saw pain in his eyes. She wasn’t sure, but maybe he was thinking how lucky Percy and Annabeth were to have each other. Nico had gone through Tartarus alone.
‘We’ll tell you the story,’ Percy promised. ‘But not yet, okay? I’m not ready to remember that place.’
‘No,’ Annabeth agreed. ‘Right now …’ She gazed towards the river and faltered. ‘Uh, I think our ride is coming.’
Hazel 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, Hazel could hear him creaking and clanking in jubilation.
‘That’s my boy!’ Leo yelled.
As the ship got closer, Hazel 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?’ Hazel 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 Hazel almost didn’t recognize her.
Reyna had arrived.
LXXVII
PERCY
Percy stared at the Athena Parthenos, waiting for it to strike him down.
Leo’s new mechanical hoist system had lowered the statue onto the hillside with surprising ease. Now the forty-foot-tall goddess gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun.
‘Incredible,’ Reyna admitted.
She was still red-eyed from crying. Soon after she’d landed on the Argo II, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, overwhelmed by poisoned claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before. Reyna had put the horse out of his misery with her golden knife, turning the pegasus into dust that scattered in the sweet-smelling Greek air. Maybe not a bad end for a flying horse, but Reyna had lost a loyal friend. Percy figured that she’d given up too much in her life already.
The praetor circled the Athena Parthenos warily. ‘It looks newly made.’
‘Yeah,’ Leo said. ‘We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn’t hard.’
The Argo II hovered just overhead. With Festus keeping watch for threats on the radar, the entire crew had decided to eat lunch on the hillside while they discussed what to do. After the last few weeks, Percy figured they’d earned a good meal together – really anything that wasn’t fire water or drakon meat soup.
‘Hey, Reyna,’ Annabeth called. ‘Have some food. Join us.’
The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed, as if join us didn’t quite compute. Percy had never seen Reyna without her armour before. It was onboard the ship, being repaired by Buford the Wonder Table. She wore a pair of jeans and a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt and looked almost like a normal teenager – except for the knife at her belt and that guarded expression, like she was ready for an attack from any direction.
‘All right,’ she said finally.
They scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged next to Annabeth, picked up a cheese sandwich and nibbled at the edge.
‘So,’ Reyna said. ‘Frank Zhang … praetor.’
Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin. ‘Well, yeah. Field promotion.’
‘To lead a different legion,’ Reyna noted. ‘A legion of ghosts.’
Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank’s. After an hour in sickbay, they both looked a lot better, but Percy could tell they weren’t sure what to think about their old boss from Camp Jupiter dropping in for lunch.
‘Reyna,’ Jason said, ‘you should’ve seen him.’
‘He was amazing,’ Piper agree
d.
‘Frank is a leader,’ Hazel insisted. ‘He makes a great praetor.’
Reyna’s eyes stayed on Frank, like she was trying to guess his weight. ‘I believe you,’ she said. ‘I approve.’
Frank blinked. ‘You do?’
Reyna smiled dryly. ‘A son of Mars, the hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion … I can work with a demigod like that. I’m just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata.’
Frank scowled. ‘Yeah. I’ve been wondering the same thing.’
Percy still couldn’t get over how much Frank had changed. A ‘growth spurt’ was putting it mildly. He was at least three inches taller, less pudgy and more bulky, like a linebacker. His face looked sturdier, his jawline more rugged. It was as if Frank had turned into a bull and then back to human, but he’d kept some of the bullishness.
‘The legion will listen to you, Reyna,’ Frank said. ‘You made it here alone, across the ancient lands.’
Reyna chewed her sandwich as if it were cardboard. ‘In doing so, I broke the laws of the legion.’
‘Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon,’ Frank said. ‘Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes.’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not Caesar. After finding Jason’s note in Diocletian’s Palace, tracking you down was easy. I only did what I thought was necessary.’
Percy couldn’t help smiling. ‘Reyna, you’re too modest. Flying halfway across the world by yourself to answer Annabeth’s plea, because you knew it was our best chance for peace? That’s pretty freaking heroic.’
Reyna shrugged. ‘Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found his way back.’
‘He had help,’ Annabeth said.
‘Oh, obviously,’ Reyna said. ‘Without you, I doubt Percy could find his way out of a paper bag.’
‘True,’ Annabeth agreed.
‘Hey!’ Percy complained.
The others started laughing, but Percy didn’t mind. It felt good to see them smile. Heck, just being in the mortal world felt good, breathing un-poisonous air, enjoying actual sunshine on his back.
Suddenly he thought of Bob. Tell the sun and stars hello for me.