This Cold Year ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase²

―xiii. one last chance

SO FAR, THEIR DEATH MIST CAMOUFLAGE seemed to be working.

Fifty feet from the Doors of Deaths, Naomi, Percy, and Annabeth froze.

"Oh, gods," Annabeth murmured. "They're the same."

Naomi knew what she meant. Framed in Stygian iron, the magical portal was a set of elevator doors—two panels of silver and black etched with art deco designs. Except for the fact that the colors were inverted, they looked exactly like the elevators in the Empire State Building, the entrance to Olympus.

Seeing them, Naomi felt so homesick it hurt. She didn't just miss Mount Olympus. She missed everything she'd left behind: New York City, Camp Half-Blood.

And she wasn't ever going to get to see them again.

The Doors of Death seemed like a personal insult, designed to remind her of everything she couldn't have.

As she got over her initial shock, she noticed other details: the frost spreading from the base of the Doors, the purplish glow in the air around them, and the chains that held them fast. Cords of black iron ran down either side of the frame, like rigging lines on a suspension bridge.

They were tethered to hooks embedded in the fleshy ground. The two Titans, Krios and Hyperion, stood guard at the anchor points.

As Naomi watched, the entire frame shuddered. Black lightning flashed into the sky. The chains shook, and the Titans planted their feet on the hooks to keep them secure. The Doors slid open, revealing the gilded interior of an elevator car.

Percy tensed, ready to charge forward, but Bob planted a hand on his shoulder. "Wait," he cautioned.

Hyperion yelled to the surrounding crowd: "Group A-22! Hurry up, you sluggards!"

A dozen Cyclopes rushed forward, waving little red tickets and shouting excitedly. They shouldn't have been able to fit inside those human-sized doors, but as the Cyclopes got close, their bodies distorted and shrank, the Doors of Death sucking them inside.

The Titan Krios jabbed his thumb against the up button on the elevator's right side. The Doors slid closed.

The frame shuddered again. Dark lightning faded.

"You must understand how it works," Bob muttered. He addressed the kitten in his palm, maybe so the other monsters wouldn't wonder who he was talking to. "Each time the Doors open, they try to teleport to a new location. Thanatos made them this way, so only he could find them. But now they are chained. The Doors cannot relocate."

"Then we cut the chains," Annabeth whispered.

Naomi looked at the blazing form of Hyperion. The last time she'd fought the Titan, it had taken every ounce of her strength. Now there were two Titans, with several thousand monsters for backup.

"Our camouflage," Percy said. "Will it disappear if we do something aggressive, like cutting the chains?"

"I do not know," Bob told his kitten.

"Mrow," said Small Bob.

"Bob, you'll have to distract them," Annabeth said. "We'll sneak around the two Titans and cut the chains from behind."

"Yes, fine," Bob said. "But that is only one problem. Once you are inside the Doors, someone must stay outside to push the button and defend it."

"Uh... defend the button?" Percy asked.

Bob nodded, scratching his kitten under the chin. "Someone must keep pressing the UP button for twelve minutes, or the journey will not finish."

Naomi glanced at the Doors. Sure enough, Krios still had his thumb jammed on the UP button.