kaleidoscope gold ● jason grace

day

"So," Annabeth said as they all gathered for breakfast. "Now that we're all here..."

She sat at the head of the table as she usually did, though it felt considerably more empty without Jason and Daria. Beside her was Percy, in his brooding mood, which was partly why they decided to travel by sky rather than sea. In his frustration, Annabeth's boyfriend might have accidentally caused a tropical storm.

Annabeth couldn't figure out how to help him. He wasn't being harsh, she didn't think Percy Jackson had it in him to be unnecessarily cruel, but whenever Annabeth tried to bring up Daria, or even bring up Jason, he simply shook her off and mumbled something before holing up in his cabin.

More than anything, Annabeth just wanted a sense of control. She figured that tensions would be high regardless of who fell into Tartarus, but Jason and Daria's impact was its own, coloring the air in their specific way.

The thing that shocked her the most though, was the breakup. Rather, how much Hazel's opinion of Frank had changed because of his reaction to Daria's parentage. The rumor on the ship was that Gaea had a hand in the death of Emily Zhang, but whether that justified everything that came with it, Annabeth was unsure.

She wanted to say that was the worst of it; that everything else was great and they were on track to reaching Epirus because Annabeth was there to lead them. That was her own pride. But Piper had begun to be someone even Annabeth was turning to for permission. The daughter of Aphrodite seemed to have this intuitive sense of what the right path was. Annabeth knew that everyone in the Mess Hall would prefer it if Piper was here with them, instead of on watch with Coach Hedge.

"We've got some new information on the House of Hades," Annabeth announced, though no one was really paying any attention. "Nico?"

Nico sat forward. "I communed with the dead last night." He just tossed that line out there, like he was saying he got a text from a buddy.

"I was able to learn more about what we'll face," Nico continued. "In ancient times, the House of

Hades was a major site for Greek pilgrims. They would come to speak with the dead and honor their ancestors."

Leo frowned. "Sounds like Día de los Muertos. My Aunt Rosa took that stuff seriously."

Frank grunted. "The Chinese have that too- ancestor worship, sweeping the graves in the springtime." He and Leo had immediately gone back a step, both after the breakup and after Leo lost Jason. They weren't outright hostile with each other, but impassive, like most of them were with one another these days.

Nico cleared his throat. "A lot of cultures have seasonal traditions to honor the dead, but the House of Hades was open year-round. Pilgrims could actually speak to the ghosts. In Greek, the place was called the Necromanteion, the Oracle of Death. You'd work your way through different levels of tunnels, leaving offerings and drinking special potions –"

"Special potions," Leo muttered. "Yum."

Percy shot him a baleful look like, dude enough. "Nico, what else?" He asked.

"The pilgrims believed that each level of the temple brought you closer to the Underworld, until the dead would appear before you. If they were pleased with your offerings, they would answer your questions, maybe even tell you the future."

Frank tapped his mug of hot chocolate. Like Daria used to drink, Annabeth noticed. But since it was Frank, it had to be a coincidence. "And if the spirits weren't pleased?"

"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."