absquatulate━━HEROES OF OLYMPUS

: ̗̀➛ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟒𝟑

━EVAN was still in shock.

Everything had happened so quickly. They had secured grappling lines to the Athena Parthenos just as the floor gave way, and the final columns of webbing snapped. Jason and Frank dove down to save the others, but they'd only found Aly, Nico, Piper and Hazel hanging from the rope ladder. Percy and Duska were gone. The pit to Tartarus had been buried under several tons of debris. Leo pulled the Argo II out of the cavern seconds before the entire place imploded, taking the rest of the parking lot with it.

The Argo II was now parked on a hill overlooking the city. Jason, Evan, Hazel, and Frank had returned to the scene of the catastrophe, hoping to dig through the rubble and find a way to save Percy and Annabeth, but they'd come back demoralized. The cavern was simply gone. The scene was swarming with police and rescue workers. No mortals had been hurt, but the Italians would be scratching their heads for months, wondering how a massive sinkhole had opened right in the middle of a parking lot and swallowed a dozen perfectly good cars.

Dazed with grief, Evan and the others carefully loaded the Athena Parthenos into the hold, using the ship's hydraulic winches with an assist from Frank Zhang, part-time elephant. The statue just fit, though what they were going to do with it, Evan had no idea.

Coach Hedge was too miserable to help. He kept pacing the deck with tears in his eyes, pulling at his goatee and slapping the side of his head, muttering, "I should have saved them! I should have blown up more stuff!"

Finally Leo told him to go below decks and secure everything for departure. He wasn't doing any good beating himself up. The six demigods gathered on the quarterdeck and gazed at the distant column of dust still rising from the site of the implosion. Evan rested his hand on Leo's, who had his on the Archimedes sphere, which now sat on the helm, ready to be installed.

"It's my fault," Leo said miserably.

The others, including Evan, stared at him. Only Hazel seemed to understand. She'd been with him at the Great Salt Lake.

"No," she insisted. "No, this is Gaea's fault. It had nothing to do with you."

Leo looked far from believing it.

"Leo, listen to me." Hazel gripped his other hand. "I won't allow you to take the blame. I couldn't bear that after—after Sammy..."

She choked up, but Evan knew what she meant. His bisabuelo had blamed himself for Hazel's disappearance. Sammy had lived a good life, but he'd gone to his grave believing that he'd spent a cursed diamond and doomed the girl he loved.

Nico di Angelo shuffled over, leaning on his black sword. "Leo, they're not dead. If they were, I could feel it."

"How can you be sure?" Leo asked. "If that pit really led to...you know... how could you sense them so far away?"

Nico and Hazel shared a look, maybe comparing notes on their Hades/Pluto death radar. Evan shivered. Hazel had never seemed like a child of the Underworld to him, but Nico di Angelo—that guy was creepy. He'd met Hades kids before, they weren't exactly something you should mess with.

"We can't be one hundred percent sure," Hazel admitted. "But I think Nico is right. Percy and Duska are still alive...at least, so far."

Jason pounded his fist against the rail. "I should've been paying attention. I could have flown down and saved them."

"Me, too," Frank moaned. The big dude looked on the verge of tears.

Piper put her hand on Jason's back. "It's not your fault, either of you. You were trying to save the statue."

"She's right," Evan said. "Even if the pit hadn't been buried, you couldn't have flown into it without being pulled down. I've been in there. It's impossible to describe how powerful that place is. Once you get close, it sucks you in. You get used to it after a while, but it's still draining. You don't stand a chance."

Frank sniffled. "Then Percy and Duska don't stand a chance either?"

Evan's grip on Leo's hand tightened. "Duska is the most powerful demigod I've ever met. No offense to you guys, but it's true. He's been there for years. If anybody can survive, he will, especially if he's got Percy at his side. They're going to find a way through Tartarus."

Jason turned to Nico. "To the Doors of Death, you mean. But you told us it's guarded by Gaea's most powerful forces. How could two demigods possibly—?"

"I don't know," Nico admitted.

"Percy told me to lead you guys to Epirus, to the mortal side of the doorway. He's planning on meeting us there. If we can survive the House of Hades, fight our way through Gaea's forces, then maybe we can work together with Percy and Duska and seal the Doors of Death from both sides," Aly said quietly. She hadn't said much since they left the cavern. There were tear streaks on her cheeks.

Evan felt sorry for her. He could imagine how it felt, loosing your brother for the second time. Duska had been family to him, too. When he left Tartarus for the first time under Kronos' promise, Evan hadn't been the same for months. And now he was gone, again.

"And get Percy and Annabeth back safely?" Leo asked.

"Maybe."

Evan didn't like the way Aly said that, as if he wasn't sharing all his doubts. Besides, Evan knew something about locks and doors. If the Doors of Death needed to be sealed from both sides, how could they do that unless someone stayed in the Underworld, trapped?

Nico took a deep breath. "I don't know how they'll manage it, but Percy and Duska will find a way. They'll journey through Tartarus and find the Doors of Death. When they do, we have to be ready."

"It won't be easy," Hazel said. "Gaea will throw everything she's got at us to keep us from reaching Epirus."

"What else is new?" Jason sighed.

Piper nodded. "We've got no choice. We have to seal the Doors of Death before we can stop the giants from raising Gaea. Otherwise her armies will never die. And we've got to hurry. The Romans are in New York. Soon, they'll be marching on Camp Half-Blood."

"We've got one month at best," Jason added. "Ephialtes said Gaea would awaken in exactly one month."

Leo straightened. "We can do it."

Everyone stared at him. Evan thought Leo looked better when he knew what to do.

"The Archimedes sphere can upgrade the ship," he said. "I'm going to study those ancient scrolls we got. There's got to be all kinds of new weapons I can make. We're going to hit Gaea's armies with a whole new arsenal of hurt."

At the prow of the ship, Festus creaked his jaw and blew fire defiantly. Jason managed a smile. He clapped Leo on the shoulder. "Sounds like a plan, Admiral. You want to set the course?"

They kidded him, calling him Admiral, but for once Leo seemed to accept the title. This was his ship. He hadn't come this far to be stopped. They would find this House of Hades. They'd take the Doors of Death.

"Yeah." Leo took one last look at the cityscape of Rome, turning blood-red in the sunset. "Festus, raise the sails. We've got some friends to save."

end of act 2 lfkshdfhfds

i'm also starting to realise a repeating pattern within my characters which is the intense urge to struggle alone and ig some self sabotaging. the author reflects in their characters right?