𝐒 𝐓 𝐀 𝐑   𝐖 𝐀 𝐑 𝐒   !

⎯ 𝘌 𝘐 𝘎 𝘏 𝘛 𝘌 𝘌 𝘕 ⎯

( 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔩𝔣𝔱𝔥 𝔩𝔢𝔤𝔦𝔬𝔫 ! )

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

          𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐍, 𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐋 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐑𝐘. While her face was stoic like a true Roman legionnaire, her eyes were screaming with pain and remembrance. She was no doubt thinking back to when she used to live in Seward, and those memories were causing her nothing but strife. 

Hazel led them along Third Avenue. The railroad station was off to their left. A big white two-story building that was the Seward Hotel stood to their right. The group thought about stopping there, but Hazel told them it wasn't a good idea to walk into the lobby with two kids covered head to toe in mud. Also they probably wouldn't give a room to four minors.

Instead, they turned toward the shoreline. Hazel led them to an old abandoned building that was leaning over the water on barnacle-encrusted piers. The roof sagged. The walls were perforated with holes like buckshot. The door was boarded up, and a hand-painted sign read: ROOMS—STORAGE—AVAILABLE, but the first two words were crossed out messily.

"Come on," Hazel said.

"Uh, you sure it's safe?" Frank asked.

Hazel found an open window and climbed inside. Aurora followed, Percy and Frank coming in behind her. The room hadn't been used in a long, long time. Their feet kicked up dust that swirled in the buckshot beams of sunlight. Moldering cardboard boxes were stacked along the walls. Their faded labels read: Greeting Cards, Assorted Seasonal. Why several hundred boxes of season's greetings cards would up crumbling to dust in a warehouse in Alaska, Aurora had no idea.

"It's warmer in here, at least," Aurora said, her breath showing up in the darkness. "Guess no running water?"

"Maybe I can go shopping," Frank suggested. "I'm not as muddy as you guys. I could find us some clothes."

Aurora smiled softly at him in thanks, and Percy clapped him on the shoulder with a grin. They turned to Hazel, only to see her climbing over a stack of boxes in the corner of the room. An old sign was propped against the wall: GOLD PROSPECTING SUPPLIES. She moved the sign aside, revealing a wall of drawings that looked like ones a child would make. Mixed with the drawings were old photos. Aurora moved closer to the girl when she noticed her shoulders shaking.

She knelt down beside Hazel and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, studying the pictures. One was of a woman who looked like an older version of Hazel standing in front of a shop with a smile. The name of the shop was QUEEN MARIE'S GRIS-GRIS—CHARMS SOLD, FORTUNES TOLD. That must have been Hazel's mother.

Next to the photo was a picture of a boy at a carnival. He had a crazy grin on with messy black curls and bright eyes. He was cute, she'd give him that, but not as cute as Percy. Aurora pulled Hazel into a hug, the girl holding her back tightly.

Frank walked over and looked at the photo. "Who . . . ?" Aurora looked at him and he stopped. "Sorry, Hazel. This must be really hard. Do you want some time—"

"No," Hazel choked out, pulling away from Aurora. "No, it's fine."

"Is that your mother?" Percy pointed to the photo of Queen Marie. "She looks like you. She's beautiful."

Aurora looked at the picture of the boy again, and her curiosity got the better of her. "Who is that?"

"That's . . . that's Sammy. He was my— uh— friend from New Orleans." Hazel didn't look at Frank the entire time, and Aurora had a feeling that Sammy had been more than a friend.

"I've seen him before," Percy said.

"You couldn't have," Hazel said. "That was in 1941. He's . . . he's probably dead now."

Percy frowned, and Aurora wondered what he had seen to make him look so spooked. "I guess. Still . . ."

He shook his head. Frank looked between the three of them before clearing his throat. "Look, we passed a store on the last block. We've got a little money left. Maybe I should go get you guys some food and clothes and—I don't know—a hundred boxes of wet wipes or something?"

Hazel put the gold prospecting sign back over her mementos. She stood and moved over to where Frank was. "I'll go with you. You'll need some help carrying those hundred boxes."

The two laughed and walked out of the building together, promising to come back as quickly as possible. Once they were gone, Aurora and Percy made a temporary camp. The took off their jackets and tried to scrape off the mud. They found some old blankets in a crate and used them to clean up. They discovered that boxes of greeting cards made pretty good places to rest if you arranged them like mattresses.

They both set their swords on the floor where they glowed with a faint bronze light (well, Aurora's also had a bit of gold mixed in.) Then Percy stretched out on a bed of Merry Christmas 1982.

"Thank you for saving me," he said. "I should've told you that earlier."

Aurora shrugged. "You would have done the same for me."

"Yes," he agreed. "But when I was down in the mud, I remembered that line from Ella's prophecy—about the son of Neptune drowning. I thought, 'This is what it means. I'm drowning in the earth.' I was sure I was dead."

His voice quavered like it had his first day at Camp Jupiter, when Aurora had shown him the shrine of Neptune. At the time, Percy had seemed so lost and vulnerable. Now? Now he was intimidating and powerful and . . . a real hero.

She looked Percy dead in the eyes. "Percy, take it from a daughter of Apollo⎯worrying about that prophecy will do no good. It might not have even been complete. Frank thought Ella was remembering a burned page. Maybe you'll drown someone else."

His eyes swam with thoughts. "You think so?"

Aurora nodded and smiled softly. "You're going to make it back home. You're going to see your brother and your friends and your—" She paused before forcing the words out, even though they felt like sharp pieces of glass scratching against her throat. "—you'll make it back to your girlfriend, Annabeth."

Percy's eyes widened, and he did something unexpected. He laughed. A real, loud, joyful laugh that made Aurora's heart skip a beat. It echoed through the empty house and Aurora's brows knit in confusion. His eyes crinkled and the stress seemed to lift from his shoulders as he threw his head back.

"What?" Aurora was beyond confused.

Percy tried to catch his breath, shaking his head with a wide grin. "Annabeth's not my girlfriend."

Aurora blinked in shock. "She—she isn't?"

Percy shook his head again, chuckling. "Nope. She couldn't be my girlfriend even if I wanted her to be, which I don't."

Aurora tilted her head, her mind swimming. "Why couldn't she be? You can only remember her name, so I assumed she was your girlfriend or something."

"Rory, Annabeth's gay." Aurora's cheeks heated up. She felt her heart skip with joy as butterflies swarmed her stomach. Thoughts of possibly having a future with Percy filled her head and she felt giddy inside. "She has a girlfriend. An Ares kid named Sarah. They've been dating for two years."

Aurora felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Percy remembered Annabeth because she was his best friend, not because she was his girlfriend. It all made sense now.

"Oh."

"Plus," he continued, a tint of pink coming to his own cheeks. "I kinda like someone else."

He sat up on his boxes and the two leaned closer to each other, their eyes meeting. Aurora could see a sea of emotions in his irises, and she felt every single one of them herself. They were so close she could feel his breath fanning her face and feel his warmth. She could see the tiny specks of gold in his eyes and the swirls of green and blue. She could see a faint scar on his forehead and a single strand of hair that was tinted gray, much like the one she had gotten from holding up the sky alongside him all those winters ago.

"Really?" she asked, smiling softly.

"Yeah. An amazingly beautiful girl who saved my life more than once," he said in a whisper.

They got even closer, his eyes flickering to her lips. Before anything could happen, though, the window slammed open and Frank's voice filled the room. "Success!"

Aurora and Percy jumped away from each other, cheeks bright red and eyes wide. Aurora turned to see Hazel and Frank slipping through the window with bags in their arms and smiles on their faces. The two older demigods glanced at each other and quickly looked away, their hearts pounding inside their chests.

They showed off their prizes. From a hunting store, they'd gotten a new quiver of arrows for Frank, some rations, and a coil of rope.

"For the next time we run across muskeg," he said.

From a local tourist shop, they had bought four sets of fresh clothes, some towels, some soap, some bottled water, and, yes, a huge box of wet wipes. It wasn't exactly a hot shower, but Aurora ducked behind a wall of greeting card boxes and got to work on cleaning herself off. Once the mud was clear from her skin, she changed into the fresh clothes, instantly feeling better.

Her cheeks still burned a bright pink. She and Percy had almost kissed. While the timing was definitely not the best, she couldn't help but beam happily from behind her makeshift changing room. They'd nearly kissed! Annabeth wasn't his girlfriend, he'd admitted to liking her, and they'd almost kissed!

She settled her mind by braiding her hair messily. She could think about the interaction later, after Death was freed and Alcyoneus was dead. For now, she had to focus on the quest. So she tied her hair, stepped out from behind the boxes, and prepared herself. The others were already changed. It was time to continue their quest.

Especially since it was already the last day of it.

The Feast of Fortuna—all the luck that happened today, good or bad, was supposed to be an omen of the entire year to come. One way or another, their quest would end this evening.

She picked her sword up and turned it back into her ring, immediately spotting the trident and smiling. She slipped it on her finger and moved to stand next to Percy, their cheeks still warm.

Curse you, Frank Zhang!

"So," Hazel said. "Now we find a boat to Hubbard Glacier."

Aurora wasn't sure if Hazel was trying to sound confident or not, but it wasn't working. Her voice wavered a bit and her skin had a paler tint to it that usually came when one was afraid or nervous. Aurora honestly wished she was back at camp, taking a hot Roman bath or sparring with Gwen. She wished she was keeping Dakota sober and joking around with Percy and having movie marathons with Jason. But she wasn't. She was in Alaska, about to fight a giant, and she was terrified.

Frank patted his stomach. "If we're going to battle to the death, I want lunch first. I found the perfect place."

⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯

Frank led them to a shopping plaza near the wharf, where an old railway car had been converted to a diner. Aurora had to admit that the smells coming from the diner were almost as mouthwatering as the smells that had surrounded the food trucks back in Portland.

While Frank and Percy ordered, Aurora and Hazel wandered down to the docks and asked some questions. When they came back, they needed some cheering up. Even the cheeseburger and fries didn't do the trick.

"We're in trouble," Hazel said. "I tried to get a boat. But . . . I miscalculated.

"No boats?" Frank asked.

"Oh, we can get a boat," Aurora said. "But the glacier is farther than we thought. Even at top speed, we couldn't get there until tomorrow morning."

Percy turned pale. "Maybe I could make the boat go faster?"

"Even if you could," Hazel said. "From what the captains tell me, it's treacherous—icebergs, mazes of channels to navigate. You'd have to know where you're going."

"A plane?" Frank asked.

Aurora shook her head. "I asked the boat captains about that. They said we could try, but it's a tiny airfield. You have to charter a plane two, three weeks in advance."

They ate in silence after that. Aurora's cheeseburger was excellent, but she couldn't concentrate on it. It was now more than ever that she wished Jason were there. With his ability to control the winds, he could probably fly them to the glacier without a problem. Sure, it would be a bit of a rocky flight, but still. Better than having no way at all to get there.

She'd eaten about three bites when a raven settled on the telephone pole above them and began to croak at them. Aurora's brows furrowed and she felt Hazel shiver beside her. What the hell was a raven doing in Alaska?

Aurora stared at her cheeseburger.

Suddenly, the raven's cawing turned into a strangled yelp, and Aurora looked up to see a gryphon in its place.

Frank got up so fast that he almost toppled the picnic table. Aurora and Percy drew their swords. The monster burped and black feathers fluttered from its beak. Was that considered cannibalism? A bird creature eating a bird? Aurora didn't know, and she didn't have time to figure it out.

Hazel stood and unsheathed her spatha.

Frank nocked an arrow. He took aim, but the gryphon shrieked so loudly the sound echoed off the mountain. Frank flinched, and his shot went wide.

"I think that's a call for help," Percy warned. "We have to get out of here."

With no clear plan, they ran for the docks. The gryphon dove after them. Aurora and Percy slashed at it with their swords, but the gryphon veered out of reach.

They took the steps to the nearest pier and raced to the end. The gryphon swooped after them, its front claws extended for the kill. Aurora raised her sword, but an icy wall of water slammed sideways into the gryphon and washed it into the bay. The gryphon squawked and flapped its wings. It managed to scramble onto the pier, where it shook its black fur like a wet dog.

Frank grunted. "Nice one, Percy."

"Yeah," he said. "Didn't know if I could still do that in Alaska. But bad news—look over there."

About a mile away, over the mountains, a black cloud was swirling—a whole flock of gryphons, dozens at least. There was no way they could fight that many, and no boat could take them away fast enough.

Frank nocked another arrow. "Not going down without a fight."

Percy raised Riptide. "I'm with you.

Aurora nodded, holding Solstice up. She allowed her powers to flow through it, the blade lighting up with sizzling heat. "Let's get this over with."

Then Aurora heard a sound in the distance—like the whinnying of a horse. She must've been imagining it, but then Hazel cried out desperately, "Arion! Over here!"

A tan blur came ripping down the street and onto the pier. The stallion materialized right behind the gryphon, brought down his front hooves, and smashed the monster to dust. Aurora never thought she would be so happy to see a horse in her entire life.

"Good horse!" Hazel said. "Really good horse!"

Frank backed up and almost fell off the pier. "How—?"

"He followed me!" Hazel beamed. "Because he's the best—horse—EVER! Now, get on!"

"All four of us?" Aurora asked. "Can he handle that?"

Arion whinnied, and Aurora was pretty sure he just called her a few choice words.

"All right, no need to be rude," Aurora said, making Percy chuckle. "Let's go."

They climbed on, Hazel in front, the rest balancing behind her. Aurora wrapped her arms tightly around Percy's middle and shoved her face into his back, tightening her grip when Hazel spurred the horse on with a shout of, "Run, Arion! To Hubbard Glacier!"

The horse shot across the water, his hooves turning the top of the sea to steam. Aurora hadn't had much fun in the back of that chariot, and she was having even less fun on the actual horse. She swore to never ride horseback again after this experience unless she absolutely had to.

The boat captains in Seward had warned her and Hazel that the trip was three hundred nautical miles, a hard and dangerous journey at that. But Arion had no trouble at all. He raced over the water at the speed of sound, heating the air around them so that Aurora didn't even feel the cold.

Frank and Percy didn't look happy, but Hazel was having the time of her life. The three of them had clenched teeth and closed eyes. Frank's cheeks jiggled from the g-force. Percy and Aurora were holding tightly to the people in front of them so they wouldn't slip off the back of the horse. Aurora heard that falling into water from certain heights would be like slamming into concrete. She wondered if falling off the back of a horse and into water at speeds faster than sound would have the same outcome.

They raced through icy straits, past blue fjords and cliffs, with waterfalls spilling into the sea. Arion jumped over a breaching humpback whale and kept galloping, startling a pack of seals off an iceberg.

It seemed like only minutes before they zipped into a narrow bay. The water turned the consistency of shaved ice in blue sticky syrup. Arion came to a halt on a frozen turquoise slab.

A half a mile away stood Hubbard Glacier. Aurora had never seen a glacier before, but she was sure that what she was looking at couldn't be one. Purple snowcapped mountains marched off in either direction, with clouds floating around their middles like fluffy belts. In a massive valley between two of the largest peaks, a ragged wall of ice rose out of the sea, filling the entire gorge. The glacier was blue and white with streaks of black, so that it looked like a hedge of dirty snow left behind on a sidewalk after a snowplow had gone by, only four million times as large.

As soon as Arion stopped, Aurora felt the temperature drop. All that ice was sending off waves of cold, turning the bay into the world's largest refrigerator. The eeriest thing was a sound like thunder that rolled across the water.

"What is that?" Frank gazed at the clouds above the glacier. "A storm?"

"No," Hazel said. "Ice cracking and shifting. Millions of tons of ice."

"You mean that thing is breaking up?" Frank asked.

As if on cue, a sheet of ice silently calved off the side of the glacier and crashed into the sea, spraying water and frozen shrapnel several stories high. A millisecond later the sound hit them—a BOOM almost as jarring as Arion hitting the sound barrier.

"We can't get close to that thing!" Frank said.

"We have to," Percy said. "The giant is at the top."

Arion nickered.

"Jeez, Hazel," Percy said. "Tell your horse to watch his language."

Aurora held in a laugh. "What did he say?"

"With the cussing removed? He said he can get us to the top."

Frank looked incredulous. "I thought the horse couldn't fly!"

This time Arion whinnied so angrily, even Aurora could guess what he was cursing.

"Dude," Percy told the horse. "I've gotten suspended for saying less than that. Hazel, he promises you'll see what he can do as soon as you give the word."

"Um, hold on, then, you guys," Hazel said nervously. "Arion, giddyup!"

Arion shot toward the glacier like a runaway rocket, barreling straight across the slush like he wanted to play chicken with the mountain of ice. Aurora had screamed, but the sound got carried away with how fast the horse was moving, and Aurora was pretty sure she had left her heart back on that slab of ice.

The air grew colder. The crackling of the ice grew louder. As Arion closed the distance, the glacier loomed so large, Aurora got vertigo just trying to take it all in. The side was riddled with crevices and caves, spiked with jagged ridges like ax blades. Pieces were constantly crumbling off—some no larger than snowballs, some the size of houses.

When they were about fifty yards from the base, a thunderclap rattled Aurora's bones, and a curtain of ice that would have covered Camp Jupiter calved away and fell toward them.

"Look out!" Frank shouted, which seemed a little unnecessary to Aurora.

Arion was way ahead of him. In a burst of speed, he zig-zagged through the debris, leaping over chunks of ice and clambering up the face of the glacier.

Aurora, Percy, and Frank all cussed like the horse had and held on desperately while Hazel wrapped her arms around Arion's neck. Somehow, they managed not to fall off as Arion scaled the cliffs, jumping from foothold to foothold with impossible speed and agility. It was like falling down a mountain in reverse.

Then it was over. Arion stood proudly at the top of a ridge of ice that loomed over the void. The sea was now three hundred feet below them.

Arion whinnied a challenge that echoed off the mountains. Percy didn't translate, but Aurora was pretty sure Arion was calling out to any other horses that might be in the bay: Beat that, ya punks!

Then he turned and ran inland across the top of the glacier, leaping a chasm fifty feet across.

"There!" Percy pointed.

The horse stopped. Ahead of them stood a frozen Roman camp like a giant-sized ghastly replica of Camp Jupiter. The trenches bristled with ice spikes. The snow-brick ramparts glared blinding white. Hanging from the guard towers, banners of frozen blue cloth shimmered in the arctic sun.

There was no sign of life. The gates stood wide open. No sentries walked the walls. Still, Aurora had an uneasy feeling in her gut. Something wasn't right about this place. If Alcyoneus had his base here, there should have been some sign of life. Just a small monster or something to guard Death.

Arion trotted skittishly.

"Frank, Percy," Aurora said. "How about we go on foot from here?"

They sighed with relief. Frank said, "Thought you'd never ask."

They dismounted and took some tentative steps. The ice seemed stable, covered with a fine carpet of snow that wasn't too slippery.

Hazel urged Arion forward. Aurora, Percy, and Frank walked on either side, swords and bow ready. Aurora was trained to spot all sorts of Roman traps: pits, snares, trip lines, and more horrible things than you could imagine. But she saw nothing. Just the yawning icy gates and the frozen banners crackling in the wind.

She could see straight down the Via Praetoria. At the crossroads, in front of the snow-brick principia, a tall, dark-robed figure stood, bound in icy chains.

"Thanatos," Hazel murmured.

The group stared at the figure, Frank catching Hazel as she almost fell off of Arion. This was the god who could take her back to the Underworld, Aurora reminded herself. Nothing good could come out of this.

"We've got you," Frank promised Hazel. "Nobody's taking you away."

Hazel gripped his hand. Aurora smiled at the two before feeling a warm hand encase her own. She looked down to see Percy holding her free hand, and she laced their fingers together, sending him a brave smile. They could do this.

"I'm all right," Hazel said.

The group looked around uneasily. Aurora frowned. "No defenders? No giant? This has to be a trap."

"Obviously," Percy said. "But I don't think we have a choice."

Before Aurora could change her mind, they surged forward through the gates. The layout was so familiar—cohort barracks, baths, armory. It was an exact replica of Camp Jupiter, except three times as big. Aurora felt tiny and insignificant standing in the middle of it all.

They stopped ten feet from the robed figure.

Now that Aurora was here, she felt a reckless urge to finish the quest. She knew they had to. For Queen Hylla. For Camp Jupiter. For themselves. If they didn't finish, the world would go up in flames, and nothing would be able to die.

"Hello?" Hazel asked. "Mr. Death?"

The hooded figure raised his head.

Instantly, the whole camp stirred to life. Figures in Roman armor emerged from the barracks, the principia, the armory, and the canteen, but they weren't human. They were shades—the chattering ghosts Aurora had only heard of from stories. Their bodies weren't much more than wisps of black vapor, but they managed to hold together sets of scale armor, greaves, and helmets. Frost-covered swords were strapped to the waists. Pila and dented shields floated in their smokey hands. The plumes on the centurions' helmets were frozen and ragged. Most of the shades were on foot, but two soldiers burst out of the stables in a golden chariot pulled by two ghostly black steeds.

When Arion saw the horses, he stamped the ground in outrage.

Frank gripped his bow. "Yep, here's the trap."

The ghosts formed ranks and encircled the crossroads. There were about a hundred in all—not an entire legion, but more than a cohort. Some carried the tattered lightning bolt banners of the Twelfth Legion, Fifth Cohort—Michael Varus's doomed expedition from the 1980s. Others carried standards and insignia Aurora didn't recognize, as if they'd died at different times, on different quests—maybe not even from Camp Jupiter.

Most were armed with Imperial gold weapons—more Imperial gold than the entire Twelfth Legion possessed. Aurora held Percy's hand tighter as she watched the golden blades gleam in the sunlight, feeling her heart sink deeper and deeper in her chest.

"Thanatos." Hazel turned to the robed figure. "We're here to rescue you. If you control these shades, tell them—"

Her voice faltered. The god's hood fell away and his robes dropped off as he spread his wings, leaving him in only a sleeveless black tunic belted at the waist. He was the most beautiful man Aurora had ever seen.

His skin was the color of teakwood, dark and glistening. His eyes were as honey gold as Hazel's. He was lean and muscular, with a regal face and black hair flowing down his shoulders. His wings glimmered in shades of blue, black, and purple.

Aurora found it hard to breathe for a moment.

Beautiful was the right word for Thanatos—not handsome, or hot, or anything like that. He was beautiful the way an angel is beautiful—timeless, perfect, remote.

"Oh," Hazel said in a small voice.

The god's wrists were shackled in icy manacles, with chains that ran straight into the glacier floor. His feet were bare, shackled around the ankles and also chained.

"It's Cupid," Frank said.

"A really buff Cupid," Percy agreed.

"A really buff and beautiful Cupid," Aurora sighed out. Percy sent her a look and her cheeks reddened. "Uh, I mean, yeah, pfft, whatever."

"You compliment me," Thanatos said. His voice was as gorgeous as he was—deep and melodious. "I am frequently mistaken for the god of love. Death has more in common with Love than you might imagine. But I am Death. I assure you."

Aurora didn't doubt it.

"We're—we're here to save you," Hazel managed. "Where's Alcyoneus?"

"Save me . . . ?" Thanatos narrowed his eyes. "Do you understand what you are saying, Hazel Levesque? Do you understand what that will mean?"

Percy stepped forward. "We're wasting time."

He swung his sword at the god's chains. Celestial bronze rang against the ice, but Riptide stuck to the chain like glue. Frost began creeping up the blade. Percy pulled frantically. Aurora helped. Together, they just managed to yank Riptide free before the frost reached their hands.

"That won't work," Thanatos said simply.

"Oh, really, I didn't notice," Aurora muttered sarcastically.

"As for the giant," Thanatos continued like he hadn't heard her. "He is close. These shades aren't mind. They are his."

Thanatos's eyes scanned the ghost soldiers. They shifted uncomfortably, as if an arctic wind were rattling through their ranks.

"So how do we get you out?" Hazel demanded.

Thanatos turned his attention back to her. "Daughter of Pluto, child of my master, you of all people should not wish me released."

"Don't you think I know that?" Hazel said. She drew her sword. "Listen, Death. I didn't come back from the Underworld and travel thousands of miles to be told that I'm stupid for setting you free. If I die, I die. I'll fight this whole army if I have to. Just tell us how to break your chains."

Aurora had never felt more proud of Hazel in that moment. Thanatos studied her for a heartbeat. "Interesting. You do understand that these shades were once demigods like you. They fought for Rome. They died without completing their heroic quests. Like you, they were sent to Asphodel. Now Gaea has promised them a second life if they fight for her today. Of course, if you release me and defeat them, they will have to return to the Underworld where they belong. For treason against the gods, they will face eternal punishment. They are not so different from you, Hazel Levesque. Are you sure you want to release me an damn these souls forever?"

Frank clenched his fists. "That's not fair! Do you want to be freed or not?"

"Fair . . ." Death mused. "You'd be amazed how often I hear that word, Frank Zhang, and how meaningless it is. Is it fair that your life will burn so short and bright? Was it fair when I guided your mother to the Underworld?"

Frank staggered like he'd been punched.

"No," Death said sadly. "Not fair. And yet it was her time. There is no fairness in Death. If you free me, I will do my duty. But of course these shades will try to stop you."

"So if we let you go," Percy summed up. "We get mobbed by a bunch of black vapor dudes with gold swords. Fine. How do we break those chains?"

Thanatos smiled. "Only the fire of life can melt the chains of death."

"Without the riddles, please?" Percy asked.

It clicked in Aurora's mind. She thanked her father for giving her an impeccably fast mind. "It isn't a riddle." She looked at Frank. "Right?"

"Frank, no," Hazel said weakly. "There's got to be another way."

Laughter boomed across the glacier. A rumbling voice said: "My friends. I've waited so long!"

Standing at the gates of the camp was Alcyoneus. He was even larger than the giant Polybotes they'd seen in California. He had metallic golden skin, armor made from platinum links, and an iron staff the size of a totem pole. His rust-red dragon legs pounded against the ice as he entered the camp. Precious stones glinted in his red braided hair.

Aurora felt her heart stop.

The giant approached, grinning at them with his solid silver teeth.

"Ah, Hazel Levesque," he said. "You cost me dearly! If not for you, I would have risen decades ago, and this world would already be Gaea's. But no matter!" He spread his hands, showing off the ranks of ghostly soldiers. "Welcome, Percy Jackson! Welcome, Frank Zhang! Welcome, Aurora Jacarusso! I am Alcyoneus, the bane of Pluto, the new master of Death. And this is your new legion!"

His voice boomed across the glacier. Frank turned to Hazel. "Hazel. That package you're keeping for me? I need it."

Hazel shook her head. "Frank, no. There has to be another way."

"Please," he pleaded. "I—I know what I'm doing."

Thanatos smiled and lifted his manacled wrists. "You're right, Frank Zhang. Sacrifices must be made."

The giant Alcyoneus stepped forward, his reptilian feet shaking the ground. "What package do you speak of, Frank Zhang? Have you brought me a present?"

"Nothing for you, Golden Boy," Frank said. "Except a whole lot of pain."

The giant roared with laughter. "Spoken like a child of Mars! Too bad I have to kill you. And these two . . . my, my, I've been waiting to meet the famous Percy Jackson and Aurora Jacarusso."

The giant grinned. His silver teeth made his mouth look like a car grille.

"I've followed your progress, son of Neptune and daughter of Apollo," he said. "Your fight with Kronos and Krios? Well done. Gaea hates you two above all others . . . except perhaps for that upstart Jason Grace." Aurora felt her blood boil at that. "I'm sorry I can't kill you right away, but my brothers Polybotes and Orion wish to keep you as pets. They think it will be amusing when they destroy Neptune and Apollo to have the gods' favorite son and daughter on leashes. After that, of course, Gaea has plans for you two."

"Yeah, flattering." Percy raised Riptide. "But actually I'm the son of Poseidon. I'm from Camp Half-Blood."

The ghosts stirred. Some drew swords and lifted shields. Alcyoneus raised his hand, gesturing for them to wait.

"Greek, Roman, it doesn't matter," the giant said easily. "We will crush both camps underfoot. You see, the Titans didn't think big enough. They planned to destroy the gods in their new home of America. We giants know better! To kill a weed, you must pull up its roots. Even now, while my forces destroy your little Roman camp, my brother Porphyrion is preparing for the real battle in the ancient lands! We will destroy the gods at their source!"

The ghosts pounded their swords against their shields. The sound echoed across the mountains.

"The source?" Frank asked. "You mean Greece?"

Alcyoneus chuckled. "No need to worry about that, son of Mars. You won't live long enough to see our ultimate victory. I will replace Pluto as lord of the Underworld. I already have Death in my custody. With Hazel Levesque in my service, I will have all the riches under the earth as well!"

Aurora laughed. "You must be out of your gods damn mind if you think Hazel will ever work for you!"

Hazel nodded with a glare. "I don't do service."

"Oh, but you gave me life!" Alcyoneus said. "True, we hoped to awaken Gaea during World War II. That would've been glorious. But really, the world is in almost as bad a shape now. Soon, your civilization will be wiped out. The Doors of Death will stand open. Those who serve us will never perish. Alive or dead, you four will join my army."

Percy shook his head. "Fat chance, Golden Boy. You're going down."

"Wait." Hazel spurred her horse toward the giant. "I raised this monster from the earth. I'm the daughter of Pluto. It's my place to kill him."

"Ah, little Hazel." Alcyoneus planted his staff on the ice. His hair glittered with millions of dollars' worth of gems. "Are you sure you will not join us of your own free will? You could be quite . . . precious to us. Why die again?"

Hazel's eyes flashed with anger. She looked down at Frank and pulled the wrapped-up piece of firewood from her coat pocket. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Frank said.

She pursed her lips. "You're my best friend, too, Frank. I should have told you that." She tossed him the stick. "Do what you have to. Aurora, Percy? Can you protect him?"

They gazed at the ranks of ghostly Romans. Percy smirked. "Against a small army? Sure, no problem."

Aurora's eyes flashed gold. "I've been itching for a fight all day."

"Then I've got Golden Boy," Hazel said.

She charged the giant, leaving the other three to fight. Aurora and Percy locked eyes, a silent understanding passing between them. They would fight to the death if they had to, as long as they kept Frank and each other safe. Percy squeezed her hand a few times—three, to be exact—before they broke apart and began fighting.

Aurora allowed her powers to surge through her, her skin glowing golden like her sword. She radiated heat and power, her eyes turning solid gold and the air around her simmering. She ignored everything else around her as she sliced through the shades, making them dissolve due to the heat of her sword.

Beside her, Percy was in the middle of a miniature hurricane. Water and mist swirled around him as he plowed his way through the ranks, making his way toward where the standard bearer stood with the golden eagle of the Twelfth Legion. He slammed into the shade and picked up the eagle.

"You want it back?" he shouted at the ghosts. "Come and get it!"

Aurora was quick to come to his aid, the two of them fighting beside each other as though they'd done it their whole life. Together, they led the shades toward the edge of the glacier, getting them as far from Frank and Hazel as they could. Stabbing and slashing, the two adapted to each other's fighting styles to work better as a team. They were a force to be reckoned with, water and light battling as one.

And yet, no matter how many shades they brought down or how many legionnaires they made disappear, more would come. They'd re-form and continue to attack. The more they fought, the more Aurora could feel herself weakening. Her golden shine had begun to fade as her sword dimmed, its head going from boiling to just hot. Percy was in no better shape, his hurricane dwindling.

Light and water were thrown as they led the shades to the edge of the Via Principalis, but nothing was working. They just kept coming back and fighting even harder, draining the two demigods down to their reserves. 

They were just about to give up on their powers and fight sword-to-sword when Frank shouted, "Percy! Aurora! They can die now!"

The two nodded in understanding, but they looked worn out. Percy's hurricane was slowing down and his strikes were getting slower. Aurora's light was gone and her vision had begun to blur along the sides. The entire ghostly army had them surrounded by the edge of the glacier.

Aurora saw the indecision in Frank's eyes. He couldn't decide if he wanted to help her and Percy or Hazel, who was buried under a collapsed pile of snow-bricks with Arion standing over her. Aurora swallowed thickly. "Go help her! We've got these guys!"

They didn't have them, but she wanted Frank to help the one who needed it most. Frank nodded and ran to Hazel's aid, and Aurora was right back into fighting. Her and Percy were being pushed closer and closer to the edge of the glacier, and for a moment, Aurora saw a giant bald eagle attacking Alcyoneus. She glanced behind her to see the edge just a foot from her heels, and she wondered what the water would feel like. What would death feel like?

Percy's hurricane dissipated completely. They held their swords with shaking arms, Percy also holding up the legion's golden eagle. They were leaning on each other for strength and support as the entire army of shades edged forward, their weapons bristling.

"Percy!" Frank yelled. "Aurora!"

They looked over. The giant was fallen and an understanding passed through them. Percy turned to Aurora, and his eyes swam with millions of emotions. Aurora knew what was happening before he even did anything.

"No," she whispered shakily. "No, no, no. You can't⎯"

"I'm sorry." He hesitated, eyes searching hers. Then his lips were on hers. It only lasted a few seconds, but that was all she needed. His lips were soft and warm against her own, tasting like sea salt and . . . chocolate chip cookies? She didn't know where he could've gotten them, and she didn't have time to think because Percy took her moment of distraction to push her away from him. 

The daughter of Apollo stumbled backward, sliding across the ice without any way to stop herself. Her entire body was weak from overexertion and her fingers shook with just the smallest movement. She watched with watery eyes as Percy backed up further, her heart screaming at her to do something. Anything.

How could he? He'd just kissed her and now she was watching him sacrifice himself without any way of stopping him! Despite the small voice in the back of her mind screaming at her that he would be okay⎯he was a son of the sea god, for fuck's sake⎯she couldn't help the panic and sorrow boiling in her. 

She scrambled to get up, but she wasn't fast enough. Before her very eyes, Percy slammed Riptide into the ice at his feet. The entire glacier shuddered. Ghosts fell to their knees. Behind Percy, a wave surged from the bay—a wall of gray water even taller than the glacier. Water shot from the chasms and crevices in the ice. As the wave hit, the back half of the camp crumbled. The entire edge of the glacier peeled away, cascading into the void—carrying buildings, ghosts, and Percy Jackson over the edge.

"No!"

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

𝐀 𝐔 𝐓 𝐇 𝐎 𝐑 𝐒   𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 𝐄   !

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⬩❖⬩ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

This chapter was long as hell . . . but we are almost finished. A lot happened. Percy and Aurora moments were strong in this chapter. They fought together, they saved each other, they shared emotions. . . and they kissed! Ugh, I am so jealous of my OC for getting to kiss Percy!

Also. . . I made Annabeth gay! Yes! I don't know if I should have her girlfriend Sarah come along with the eight on the Argo II. I think I might have her stowaway and kind of have a cute little thing with them on the side. Not sure. I guess we'll find out together.

Next chapter is the battle at Camp Jupiter and all that good stuff. It will be a bit of a Third Person Omnipotent sort of deal with Percy and Aurora's thoughts together. I'm excited!

Two more chapters to go!

Please comment and vote!

Love you all!

~ a.h.