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 toward 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 his 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 with 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 favor from the dead is all I can manage today. ”
“Wait, what?” Hazel asked.
Piper raised her eyebrows. “Your unbelievable boyfriend called in a favor 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-traveled 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 backward. “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 scepter 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.