“Some pilgrims found nothing,” Nico said. “Some went insane, or died after leaving the temple. Others lost their way in the tunnels and were never seen again. ”
“The point is,” Jason said quickly, “Nico found some information that might help us. ”
“Yeah. ” Nico didn’t sound very enthusiastic. “The ghost I spoke to last night…he was a former priest of Hecate. He confirmed what the goddess told Hazel yesterday at the crossroads. In the first war with the giants, Hecate fought for the gods. She slew one of the giants—one who’d been designed as the anti-Hecate. A guy named Clytius. ”
“Dark dude,” Leo guessed. “Wrapped in shadows. ”
Hazel turned toward him, her gold eyes narrowing. “Leo, how did you know that?”
“Kind of had a dream. ”
No one looked surprised. Most demigods had vivid nightmares about what was going on in the world.
His friends paid close attention as Leo explained. He tried not to look at the wall images of Camp Half-Blood as he described the place in ruins. He told them about the dark giant, and the strange woman on Half-Blood Hill, offering him a multiple-choice death.
Jason pushed away his plate of pancakes. “So the giant is Clytius. I suppose he’ll be waiting for us, guarding the Doors of Death. ”
Frank rolled up one of the pancakes and started munching—not a guy to let impending death stand in the way of a hearty breakfast. “And the woman in Leo’s dream?”
“She’s my problem. ” Hazel passed a diamond between her fingers in a sleight of hand. “Hecate mentioned a formidable enemy in the House of Hades—a witch who couldn’t be defeated except by me, using magic. ”
“Do you know magic?” Leo asked.
“Not yet. ”
“Ah. ” He tried to think of something hopeful to say, but he recalled the angry woman’s eyes, the way her steely grip made his skin smoke. “Any idea who she is?”
Hazel shook her head. “Only that…” She glanced at Nico, and some sort of silent argument happened between them. Leo got the feeling that the two of them had had private conversations about the House of Hades, and they weren’t sharing all the details. “Only that she won’t be easy to defeat. ”
“But there is some good news,” Nico said. “The ghost I talked to explained how Hecate defeated Clytius in the first war. She used her torches to set his hair on fire. He burned to death. In other words, fire is his weakness. ”
Everybody looked at Leo.
“Oh,” he said. “Okay. ”
Jason nodded encouragingly, like this was great news—like he expected Leo to walk up to a towering mass of darkness, shoot a few fireballs, and solve all their problems. Leo didn’t want to bring him down, but he could still hear Gaea’s voice: He is the void that consumes all magic, the cold that consumes all fire, the silence that consumes all speech.
Leo was pretty sure it would take more than a few matches to set that giant ablaze.
“It’s a good lead,” Jason insisted. “At least we know how to kill the giant. And this sorceress…well, if Hecate believes Hazel can defeat her, then so do I. ”
Hazel dropped her eyes. “Now we just have to reach the House of Hades, battle our way through Gaea’s forces—”
“Plus a bunch of ghosts,” Nico added grimly. “The spirits in that temple may not be friendly. ”
“—and find the Doors of Death,” Hazel continued. “Assuming we can somehow arrive at the same time as Percy and Annabeth and rescue them. ”
Frank swallowed a bite of pancake. “We can do it. We have to. ”
Leo admired the big guy’s optimism. He wished he shared it.
“So, with this detour,” Leo said, “I’m estimating four or five days to arrive at Epirus, assuming no delays for, you know, monster attacks and stuff. ”
Jason smiled sourly. “Yeah. Those never happen. ”
Leo looked at Hazel. “Hecate told you that Gaea was planning her big Wake Up party on August first, right? The Feast of Whatever?”
“Spes,” Hazel said. “The goddess of hope. ”
Jason turned his fork. “Theoretically, that leaves us enough time. It’s only July fifth. We should be able to close the Doors of Death, then find the giants’ HQ and stop them from waking Gaea before August first. ”
“Theoretically,” Hazel agreed. “But I’d still like to know how we make our way through the House of Hades without going insane or dying. ”
Nobody volunteered any ideas.
Frank set down his pancake roll like it suddenly didn’t taste so good. “It’s July fifth. Oh, jeez, I hadn’t even thought of that. …”
“Hey, man, it’s cool,” Leo said. “You’re Canadian, right? I didn’t expect you to get me an Independence Day present or anything…unless you wanted to. ”