He should not have leapt.

It had taken Will all of two seconds to decide that he did not like this feeling of free fall.

Suddenly he felt bad about everything he'd forced the Skandians to endure whenever he shoved them onto a horse.

Prolonged flight was uncomfortable. Unsettling. He knew nothing but the air whistling around him. He hated this feeling of helplessness, waiting for the land to rush up beneath him without being able to do much more than hope he wouldn't get crushed by gravity.

In other words, he needed to fall into hell and get back onto solid ground pronto.

Between the vague sound of Percy's screaming, probably variants of 'hold onto each other' or 'don't look down,' and Alyss's vice grip on his hand that was very obviously not about to let up any time soon, for some reason his nerves were as tightly wound as his bowstring.

He strained himself to peek at Evanlyn on Alyss's other side, looking much more composed and entirely less like she was about to throw up at any second. Although that really just could have been the fact that she and Horace were both trying and failing to stop themselves from smacking Leo for the over-exaggerated terrified howling he was doing.

And another thing: Halt couldn't keep his lunch out of a Skandian's helmet after even two hours on a boat, but he was going to be falling for nine days into Tartarus and the grizzled old Ranger wasn't so much as batting an eye.

As Percy would put it, much to Nico's chagrin, what the Hades.

Will wanted to trust that the son of Mars, Frank, could save all of them from reaching their unfortunate demise, honestly, he did, but at the same time he hadn't even known the boy an hour or seen him use his powers.

Dragons were the things of myths, typically from Nihon-Ja, not even Araluen, and he was supposed to believe-

"Frank, coming up fast!"

"Got it!"

And then Will was being clutched in the talons of a dragon.

He had to resist the urge to smack himself. He was jumping into hell to fight the vengeful Titan of Time and his monster army after time traveling back to Araluen. The Greek god of the sun was transporting Tug and Abelard through a different space-time portal so that they wouldn't be hinderances on the way to meet Janus at Hermes's Shrine. This was the least of his worries.

Frank had Will and Alyss in one clawed hand and Evanlyn and Horace in the other, the rest of their group on his back clinging for dear life as he glided through the poisonous air.

Will could already feel the blisters appearing on his exposed skin, wincing when the acidic wind began to sting his eyes as well.

"Frank!" He heard Hazel cry, "Gryphons on your right!"

And then they were swerving, the boy's roar echoing in his ears as razor sharp claws tore at his side.

Will itched for his longbow as his stomach flipped, feeling Alyss do the same for her sword beside him, but with the way their arms were pinned to their sides, all he could do was watch with growing stress as their friends fought the battle for them.

Halt struck three different gryphons in the eyes before they could get within fifty meters and Leo was blasting fire balls at any gryphons that came any closer than that, but even that didn't stall them for long. Both Piper's knife and charmspeak were ineffective against the monsters' longer reach and superior numbers, instead opting to clobber anything that snuck under the guard of their long ranged defenses with the hammer Leo pulled for her.

But Percy and Annabeth... they were demons.

Will had only seen Percy fight Horace, and had only heard stories of Annabeth's prowess, but none of that held a candle to the way they fought when they were together, when their lives were on the line.

Frank was jolting and spinning under the onslaught, but they were back to back, keeping their balance and trusting that if they were to overextend their reach, the other would be there to tug them back into the battle. It was a flurry of golden dust and swift strikes that left their blades blurs against the squawking monsters.

It was terrifying.

"Hazel!" Annabeth yelled, "Put your spatha away!"

Why would she tell her to put away her weapon when she was being attacked? Especially when said weapon had the longest reach of any of their other blades? Why was the daughter of Pluto listening?

And why was it working?

As the attacks became slightly less ferocious, there was a voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Halt telling him to stop asking so many questions, but it was abruptly cut off by an attack on Frank's left that almost made him drop his passengers.

Percy leapt onto the back of one of the gryphons seconds before it snatched at Hazel, stabbing it through the heart before tumbling towards the ground as it disintegrated beneath him.

"Percy!" He heard Piper yell, lunging for his hand, Hazel bracing her. Annabeth didn't have time to cast so much as a worried glance their way, what with her and Leo being surrounded by four gryphons.

Will let out a scream of frustration, unable to help himself. Or his friends. Percy was basically one shake away from losing his hold on Piper and falling into oblivion, Leo, Halt and Annabeth were trying their hardest to keep the monsters at bay, and Frank was just attempting to land without crashing.

And yet all he could do was stare.

His eyes snapped to an incoming figure, and before he could even think to warn them, the huge flying beast slammed into Frank from below, sending everyone airborne.

Annabeth reacted the fastest, hooking her legs around one of Frank's horns and reaching out for Hazel as well to keep the chain of demigods from falling.

The gryphon, much larger and angrier than the others, circled again, this time aiming for Percy, who was still dangling in the open air, leaving him with no way to dodge.

Frank bellowed, flapping a huge gust of wind that swept Percy out of harm's way.

And Hazel out of Annabeth's grip.

The force of it all sent the dragon in the opposite direction, Leo and Halt slipping off of his back as a result.

"Brace yourselves for impact!" Annabeth ordered, looking about a breath away from leaping off after them but thinking better of it.

There was a flash in his peripheral vision that amounted to Leo actually using the force of his flames to propel him and Halt over to their other friends, but Will didn't have the time to assure their relative safety before he hit the ground hard.

Frank kept his talons curled upward, shielding his companions from the majority of the crash as he slid through the broken glass that made up the ground. The sound of his roar echoed through Will's ears, the screech of his scales on the ground doing nothing to help the ringing it was causing.

Finally, finally, it ceased, leaving them all panting for breath on the ground.

Frank dropped his transformation, bleeding badly in several places but nowhere near the damage that should have translated from his dragon form to his human form.

"We made it," Horace gasped, spread eagle.

"We're in Tartarus."

_______________

"Is anyone broken?" Percy groaned, sitting up, "No? Where does it hurt, guys?"

"Everywhere," the rest of the demigods chorused.

"Good, then we're all alright. Let's get moving."

Percy struggled to his feet, uncapping Riptide for some light in the underbrush they had landed in.

Halt was up next, checking his weaponry for any sign of damage. When he was satisfied, he cast a wary glance around.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" the Ranger asked, sheathing his saxe knife, "I see a path to higher ground we could use to scope out the area."

"No need," Percy replied easily, hauling Leo upright, "It may be a river of fire, but I can still sense the Phlegethon. Once we get there, we'll just follow it's flow toward the Doors of Death until we find Hermes's Shrine. Then we'll save your dimension."

"Yeah," Leo scoffed drily, "No sweat, right Aquaman?"

"We need to hurry before our injuries get any worse," Piper said as she slipped under Hazel's arm to help prop her up, "Hazel's feverish already, and we'll be in no shape to fight if we sit here any longer either."

"Alright, kids," Percy grinned, "Field trip through Tartarus. It'll be fun!"

Percy led the way and Halt took up the rear, his knives drawn. They travelled single file over the broken terrain towards where Percy thought the Phlegethon was.

"You know, this poison isn't good for my hair," Leo complained, his voice cutting through the terse silence, "And it's ruining my complexion."

"Wow," Piper mocked, only half jokingly, as she stepped on the back of his shoe, "I didn't know we brought Drew on this quest. Who cares about your hair?"

"Ouch," Percy chuckled, "Someone's been spending too much time with Thalia. And Piper, your anti-Aphrodite is showing."

"We're in Tartarus, she'll never know."

"She'll find a way. She's scary like that."

"She's not that bad."

"She's the oldest Olympian, Piper, and she helped the Stolls poison a girl once because she just shipped me with Annabeth that hard. I am deathly afraid of that woman."

"Hazel," Percy called, casting a glance over his shoulder, "You alright back there?"

"I've been better. But I'm fine."

"Good, so you weren't caught in Aphrodite's smiting of Piper."

"Percy, duck."

Percy's instincts made him heed Halt's warning before the words even properly registered in his brain, which was a good thing considering the arrow that passed through the space where his head once was moments later.

As golden monster dust rained down on the group, Percy ran a bashful hand through his hair, refocusing on his objective.

"Sorry, Halt. We'll be quiet now."

They reached the River Phlegethon as all of their conditions were starting to seriously deteriorate.

"Oh, ew," Leo groaned, "We hiked two miles for that? That's nasty."

"Hazel, here," Percy whispered as helped her drink from the river before she gave in to her fever, "It'll make you feel better I swear."

She wrinkled her nose as she swallowed, gagging. "Spicy gumbo that's been left out in the sun for four days."

"Yeah, thanks for that mental image, Hazel," Piper said, plunging her hands into the river herself, "This is what so hot it's cold means, isn't it?"

"Wait, wait," Percy stopped Halt as he made to drink from the river as well, "You're mortal, right? Do we even know if this is safe?"

"I've literally eaten poison before, boy," Halt said drily, "I think I can handle this."

"Eating ambrosia makes mortals spontaneously combust," Leo offered, "Believe me when I say I don't recommend it."

"This air is poisonous, remember?" the Ranger told them, "If I don't drink I will certainly die. I'd rather take the chance."

"Argh!" Piper groaned, "Where's Annabeth and her big brain when we need them?"

She stopped, biting her tongue to quell a sharp intake of breath.

"Sorry, Percy," she mumbled averting her eyes.

Percy's strong facade was given away by the pain in his eyes. "We agreed, didn't we," he murmured, trying to laugh it off, "That if we got separated, we'd head down the Phlegethon. No time for a search party, no time to waste wondering if the others are dead or alive. In Tartarus, there's life and death and no in between, not with a country on the line."

That had been the hardest thing for Percy to say when they'd prepared for the trip down. He would much rather die than leave his friends alone in Tartarus, but he also had to trust that these were some of the greatest heroes of the generation and they could take care of themselves. Still, knowing that they might not all make the journey alive, despite Apollo's promise... it haunted him.

Tartarus had already smacked him in the face with sacrifice and death once, after all.

"Annabeth made the right choice," Percy winced, and no one could quite tell if it was from the words or his second sip from the Phlegethon, "Like she always does. We're the only ones with any experience down here, and she couldn't have left Frank alone with the others, especially in the shape he was bound to be in. Also, the only monsters they've ever fought were Hellhounds, and there are much worse things to be afraid of."

Halt had recognized the steel of a warrior in Percy's eyes the second he'd nocked his arrow when they'd met. Being forced to grow far beyond your years was normal, especially in the world they lived in. That was one thing their two worlds had in common.

Percy loved to laugh and smile but Halt could see the grit that had been conditioned into him. He was allowed to laugh when he was surrounded by his friends. He deserved to smile when all he'd ever known was hardship.

But the reason he could be happy was because he had Annabeth by his side, even if times were hard. She was someone he could share the burden with. She was possibly the only one he could truly share the burden with. Annabeth was right when she said they were stronger together. Apollo was right when he said those two could topple Olympus if they had each other.

He was a friend, a boyfriend, a pillar of support, a warrior.

Yet the only word that could describe him now was leader.

This boy had Evanlyn's fiery spirit, Alyss's cool head under pressure, and Will's quick thinking in battle. But perhaps more importantly than all of that, he had Horace's ability to keep the morale of the ranks up and step up into a role when he needed to.

He had to be the one to take charge because no one else could and despite how silly he acted sometimes he knew it. Tartarus was a new environment with unforeseen challenges and Percy was the only one who could get them through it. Annabeth would do the same on her end, because her duty to her group came before her emotions.

As much as he teased and prodded at the Warrior of the Oakleaf, there was no one else Halt would trust more to lead a squadron into battle. So he could trust Percy to do the same here.

"We're making it to Araluen," Halt said quietly, "All of us. In the mean time, I'm going to drink from this fire pit even if it kills me."

"You should be fine," Hazel mused, "After all, the River Phlegethon was meant to get anyone in Tartarus through their eternal punishments, and plenty of mortals end up here."

"This is worse than not putting honey in coffee," Halt spat, restraining himself from making a face.

Percy stood and grinned, heartened by Halt's words.

"You heard the man," Percy cheered, "Onward!"

_______________

They didn't even catch a glimpse of their friends until they were just within view of Hermes's Shrine.

"Hey, look," Hazel called, straining herself to see farther, "I think I see Horace and Frank."

"Those giants," Leo snickered, rolling his eyes, "Jeez, what do they feed those guys to make them grow like that?"

"Let's hurry to them," Percy fretted, taking off in their direction, "We need to regroup. I need-"

"Take another step and Annabeth dies."

Percy stared at him, affronted, "What do you mean?"

"A little to your right, just below that weird rock."

"I don't-" Percy cut himself off as his eyes narrowed, "Empousa. Styx, I lost sight of her. Where-?"

He started towards the area he'd last seen her, but Halt pulled him back with a sigh. "Stop and think for a second, boy. Let me show you how it's done."

"It's not about looking for where they are," Halt murmured, eyes flashing, "By the time you find out where they've been they'll be long gone. It's about looking for where they'll go."

His eyes traced a path that only he could see, and he burrowed himself deeper into his cloak. "She's moving eastbound, so obviously she'll be wanting to put herself in a position where she can ambush the others. She'll want to be closer to Horace and Annabeth, because when she makes her move they will be her most immediate threats."

"If I were her, I'd be moving closer to them. There are more moving shadows to conceal her actions, and less potential sources of noise, despite being basically a stone's toss away from them."

"But she's not me. Which means she's not as skilled as I am nor as clever as she obviously thinks she is, so she'll be a little closer to us, and, based on the painfully loud rustling, right..."

He trailed off, an arrow nocked and released in one fluid motion, a burst of golden dust marking his victory.

"There."

"She was definitely with a group," Halt continued, pulling another arrow from his quiver pensively, "But that should have startled them enough to think twice before attacking our friends. And now we can go regroup."

Percy padded along beside him, thoroughly abashed. "Sorry for losing my cool there," he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, "I just... getting separated from Annabeth down here is kind of-"

Halt shook his head. "Don't worry about it. You probably could have hacked and slashed your way through them no problem. But we can't afford to be taking so many risks like that this early in."

"By the way," Percy grinned, now much more energized, "How did you do that? That was so awesome!"

"Experience," the Ranger said grimly, "You might be some big shot hero, boy, but you can't forget that no matter how long it's seemed, I've got decades on your five little years. This may be my first trip through Hell, but I could still put an arrow between your eyes before you could say 'coffee.'"

Percy tilted his head. "Why would I say that?"

"Because I need some coffee before I actually do put an arrow in your talkative head. Now get a move on.The faster we regroup with the others, the faster I can get to the Heaped Platter for some of Jenny's food."

"You sound like Horace."

"I am holding a weapon, boy."

"Sorry."

_______________

They regrouped quickly, surrounding Hermes's Shrine.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled, not particularly caring if he was drawing unwanted attention, "Thank the gods!"

He squashed her in a hug, to which she could chuckle in response, kissing his cheek before pushing him away.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she scolded, "No yelling. Is anyone injured?"

Percy grinned and patted himself on the back. "No, ma'am. Got them all through untouched."

"Percy-"

"No, Piper, she doesn't need to know about the dracanae."

"But Percy-"

"Or the Telekhines, Hazel."

"Percy, Percy!" Leo grabbed his arm for his attention, "It's a hammerhead shark dressed as a doorman! Can you speak to it?"

The left face spluttered indignantly. "I am not a hammerhead shark, boy. Doorman is acceptable, but I am not just a doorman, I am the Doorman."

"Who are you?" Will asked, drawing him away from Leo before the son of Hephaestus could irritate him further, "Where did you come from?"

"The better question," one of the faces smirked, "Is where are you going?"

Alyss stepped forward instead, smiling politely. "Where do you think we are going?"

"Ooh," the other face said with a glint in his eye, "I like this one. You can call me Janus."

"The god we came to meet," Horace murmured, "You can get us to Araluen, right? Like snap your fingers and we get a portal?"

"Who do you think I am?" The god scoffed, "I can do a lot better than one portal. But I can open some portals for you now if you'd like."

"Hold it," Annabeth cut in, "One portal, Janus, that's all we need. Get us to Araluen."

"Annabeth Chase," Janus sighed, "We meet again. I remember you being a lot more fun to tease back in the day. Now here you are, no Lady Juno to stop you, making decisions all willy nilly. Such a shame."

"I didn't need Hera's help then, and I certainly don't need it now. The door to Araluen, Janus."

"Prideful, prideful," he tutted, "You certainly did need it then. And now, let's just say it's not your choice that's important anymore, hm?

Two doors appeared behind him, wooden with huge iron locks reminiscent of their meeting in the Labyrinth.

He turned to Will with an unsettling, saccharine glee. "It's yours. Choose a door, Will Treaty."

Evanlyn pushed her way in front of him before he could move, blocking him from Janus's gaze and leveling him with a glare.

"Evanlyn?"

"Twin god's archer to decide their fate, Will."

Oh.

Will re-evaluated the god's demeanor, devilishly mischievous in the way he was beaming.

"Your time will come soon, rest assured, hero," Janus chuckled, "But not now. Tell your guard princess to stand down."

"Either way," Will asserted, "We only need a door to Araluen. Please."

The two faced god pressed a concerned finger to his cheek, humming in thought as he considered the demigod group. "Are you sure all of you need it?"

"One door leads to pain, the other to suffering. This door leads to Araluen, and this one will bring you back to Camp Half Blood. One of them leads to certain death."

"This is as much of a choice as it is a gateway, godspawn," he informed them, "This is not your mess to clean up. Apollo is on the verge of closing all of the rifts in time and space, your camp still needs protection, and..."

"And?" Piper pressed, instincts compelling her to lay a hand on Katoptris.

Janus cast a cold stare on the demigods, his cynical half turning and sneering down at them.

"And Araluen has already fallen once. There is no need to prevent it."

At the group's angry protests, Janus snapped his fingers for their silence.

"And you, heroes," he continued, turning his left face to the Rangers' group, "A nation fell in our past. The same nation that is doomed to fall in your future. What is stopping you from staying in this dimension and living out the rest of your lives?"

Evanlyn's lip curled upward in distaste, her green eyes alight in rage. "Araluen is my country, my duty, my home. I will not let it fall so easily."

"And if it is out of your control?"

"Then I go down with it."

Horace linked their arms in solidarity. "We fight as long as we can for as long as we are able. For as long as we are needed. Cassandra will not fight alone, I won't let her."

Janus's pessimistic side huffed, turning away with a scoff. "Expected," he moaned, "Foolish, but expected."

His eyes sparkled with mischief and knowledge as he focused his right side to the demigods.

"Careful, now," Janus snickered, watching their fingers twitch toward their weapons, "After all, I am the only one who can get you where you need to go. I only wish for you to ascertain your willingness to charge headfirst into unimaginable death."

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows, gripping her drakon bone sword. "Unimaginable? What do you mean by that?"

"You didn't know?" Janus chuckled again, lips turning up in a smirk, "If you die in Araluen, there is no Underworld. No Elysium, no rebirth, no Isles of the Blest. Alternate dimensions are the few places in which our dear old Pluto has no control."

"If you die in Araluen, you stay in Araluen."

"It's a good thing we don't plan on dying then," Percy glared at the Roman god, "Just get us to Araluen. Don't test my patience."

"What bravado!" Janus clapped, running a finger down Percy's cheek, to which his hand was roughly batted away, "You of all people should know that fate does not care for your plans. That death does not wait for your permission."

His face split into a roguish smirk.

"One of you has already died, after all."

Piper and Percy lunged for the god simultaneously for two entirely different reasons.

"Don't you dare speak of him!"

"It won't happen, I won't let it!"

Piper stared at Percy in a mixture of shock and confusion, but Percy's attention was solely on the god of choices, jaw clenched in his efforts to stop himself from punching the living daylights out of him.

"I'm going to protect everyone," Percy growled, gripping the god by the lapels of his overcoat, "They're all going home alive. We're all coming home alive. And we will both stand the test of time against whatever you think you can throw at us. That's my choice, understand?"

Janus snickered, patting Percy's hand in a sign of surrender. "If that's what you want, Perseus. Just thought I should give you some options."

The two faced god turned to press a key into Will's hand.

"Choose, hero," Janus winked, "And I'll see you again soon."

Then he vanished.

"Guys," Will said carefully, "If you die... there's no Elysium. Are you all really okay with that?"

The same kind of pain flashed across all of their faces. But just as quickly as it appeared, it was wiped away with smiles.

"I didn't fall into my great great great uncle's bowels or whatever just to leave now, dude," Leo grinned, growing even wider when he saw the rest of them cringe, "No way."

Hazel elbowed him in the side, sending Will a much softer smile. "We're with you on this."

"All the way," Frank agreed.

Will felt his heart swell, pressing the key into the lock as Percy and Annabeth sent him matching nods of reassurance.

"Alright then," he murmured, swinging the door open.

"Welcome to Araluen."