CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:
LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

HEAVY WAS THE HAND that held the sword. Annais' mind was empty. Her heart quiet. She clung to Nico's sword for dear life, the weight of it burdensome but welcomed. It was the only thing keeping her grounded, preventing her thoughts from wandering into the pits of the Underworld where Penelope Min rotted.

She hadn't said a word since they escaped from Gaea. She vaguely remembered Frank transforming into a weasel and digging his way up to the surface to find the others, but even that hadn't managed to evoke a laugh -- or anything for that matter -- out of her.

She knew they knew. How could they not with Leo's big mouth, and Mel's wide, doe eyes watching her with the guilt of someone who was struggling with the weight of a damning secret? Hea was the only one Annais had let close enough to hold her hand as they descended from the sky. Below them was the Colosseum. Annais could just make out the figures of their friends in the centre of the chaos.

And then everything exploded.

Ephialtes was crumpled across the arena floor, his limbs charcoaled and smouldering, defeat inevitable. Gleeson let out a shriek of delight that was loud enough for the whole of Rome to hear. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Hea, who had released Annais' hand to peer over the railing, scowled at him. "Don't get too ahead of yourself, Gleeson."

They watched Percy and Bacchus (Bacchus!?) argue for a moment. Then the God of wine crossed over to what looked to be a lake, where he drained the water to reveal Ephilates' brother in arms. As the crowd -- which, upon closer inspection, was made up of ghosts and ghouls -- hollered their disappointment, Bacchus made a show of smacking Otis' head with his staff, smirking over the pile of ash that now remained. Then he picked his way across the arena to where Ephialtes roared in terror. It was a matter of seconds before he joined his brother in Hell.

The crowd started to roar with a surprising amount of fervour.

The Mins and the rest of the seven descended into the Colosseum from the rope ladder. By the time they reached the bottom, the arena was empty, silent. Their footsteps echoed like gunshots and clashing weapons. Annais was yet to let go of Nico's sword, even as they caught each other's eyes and Annais' heart lurched.

There was no doubt about it. Nico Di Angelo was alive. Her friends had saved him.

And he was standing right there, arm-in-arm with Ezra, her tether attached to his tattered jeans. She looked none the wiser to Annais' earth-shattering moment of truth.

"Well," Bacchus smirked at them. "That was fun. You have my permission to continue your voyage."

Furious, Percy scoffed, "Your permission?"

Bacchus merely blinked back at him. "Yes. Although, your voyage may be a little harder than you expect, son of Neptune."

"Poseidon," Percy corrected with a mocking sneer. "And what do you mean about my voyage?"

Bacchus shrugged, eyeing each of them with evident disinterest. He paused on Annais and his expression soured. Annais glared. "You might try the parking lot behind the Emmanuel Building. Best place to break through. Now! Goodbye, my friends. And, uh... good luck with that other little matter."

Before any of them could think to stop him, the God disappeared in a cloud of thick, grape-scented mist. Annais bolted to Nico as fast as her feet would carry her. With a clatter of Stygian Iron on stone, she threw her arms around his shoulders. He hurried to catch her, laughing at the sound of her sniffles as her face pressed against his shirt.

"You're not crying, are you?"

Annais almost immediately scowled. She pulled back to smack his arm. "Over you? No shot."

From behind them, Percy was struggling to comprehend the sight of them. "You're alive!" Annais heard him exclaim. "But the giants said you were captured. What happened?"

Leo gave an easy grin. "Oh, just another brilliant plan by Leo Valdez. You'd be amazed what you can do with an Archimedes sphere, a girl who can sense stuff underground, and a weasel."

Annais coughed pointedly.

Leo rushed to add, "And an Annais."

He smiled, proud of himself, as Annais rolled her eyes.

"Basically, I activated a hydraulic screw with the Archimedes device -- which is going to be awesome once I install it in the ship, by the way. Hazel sensed the easiest path to drill to the surface. We made a tunnel big enough for a weasel, and Frank climbed up with a simple transmitter that I slapped together. After that, it was just a matter of hacking into Coach Hedge's favourite satellite channels and telling him to bring the ship around to rescue us. After he got us, finding you was easy, thanks to that godly light show at the Colosseum."

"And what did you do?" Nico turned to Annais.

Annais smirked. "I stood guard."

"How brave of you."

"It was nothing, really. All in a day's work."

Everyone else laughed, but not Percy. Panic had twisted his features as he scanned the group and came up empty-handed.

"Where's Annabeth?" he demanded to know.

An awkward silence ensued. Ezra's face paled. "Guys?"

"Yeah, about that..." Leo hesitated, but with a kick to the shin from Ezra, he hastily added, "She's still in trouble, we think. Hurt, broken leg, maybe -- at least, that's according to this vision that Gaea showed us." He glanced at Annais noticeably. Jason looked between them with a frown. "Rescuing her is our next stop..."

Ezra crossed the clearing to stand beside Percy. She reached for his hand. He tensed but didn't pull away. "Tell me about the vision," he insisted instead. "Tell me everything."

And so they did.

Well, mostly.

Before they could get as far as the bits about Penelope, the floor began to shake like a herd of animals were on their way towards them. Hazel glanced around uneasily. "Let's talk on board," she suggested. "We'd better take off while we still can."

Contrary to Percy's demands, the ship was quiet as they sailed away from the Colosseum. Annais sat firmly at Nico's side, watching closely as Hazel fed Nico pieces of ambrosia. It seemed to help. The last of the energy had drained out of him as they left the arena behind, but a touch of red had returned to his cheeks with the more ambrosia he consumed. Ezra hovered at first, but as Annais continued to give her the cold shoulder, Mel wandered over to drag her away. Ezra didn't seem to notice, but she would soon.

While Frank and Leo recounted their events in Rome, Annais spoke to Nico in a quiet whisper. Hazel pretended not to listen, but more than once, she turned to Annais with sad eyes.

"I'm so sorry."

"I should've been there."

"I didn't mean to let you down."

"You didn't," Nico squeezed her hand with as much strength as he could muster. "I promise it's okay, sis. I don't blame you -- any of you -- for this."

You should, Annais' mind taunted. She bit down on her tongue until the sour taste of metal filled her throat. She nodded once then released his hand. Hazel and Nico started to speak then, in the same quiet murmur, but Annais couldn't bring herself to listen. She watched Ezra and Mel across the deck. Mel had her head resting on Ezra's shoulder. Ezra was smiling -- not much, but enough to tug at the corners of her mouth. In a moment of fury, Annais imagined punching the smile off her face.

Her guilt was acidic, venomous.

"Guys, I hate to interrupt your admiration session," Hazel spoke abruptly. She was watching Leo and Frank bond at the helm with a strange look on her face, which had already paled at whatever Nico had to share. "But you should hear this."

Together, she and Annais helped Nico to his feet. He stumbled and leant most of his weight into Annais' arms, but she was happy to bear the brunt of it. "Thank you," he murmured, his voice thin and brittle. "...I'd given up hope."

"You knew about the two camps all along," Percy couldn't resist. Annais glared at him, but Percy refused to look in her direction. He kept his sights set on Nico, cool and calculating. "You could have told me who I was the first day I arrived at Camp Jupiter. But you didn't."

The last of the light left Nico's eyes. "Percy, I'm sorry." Annais knew he meant it. "I discovered Camp Jupiter last year. My dad led me there, though I wasn't sure why. He told me the Gods had kept the camps separate for centuries and that I couldn't tell anyone. The time wasn't right. But he said it would be important for me to know--"

Annais' heart clenched as he cut himself off with a series of coughs. Hazel rubbed his back while Annais kept him upright.

"I-- I thought Dad meant it because of Hazel. I'd need a safe place to take her. But now... well, now I think he wanted me to know about both camps so I'd understand how important your quest was, and so I'd search for the Doors of Death."

"You found them," Annais said.

It wasn't a question.

Nico nodded after hesitating for a second. "I was a fool. I thought I could go anywhere in the Underworld, but I walked right into Gaea's trap. I might as well have tried running from a black hole."

"Um... what kind of black hole are you talking about?" Frank asked. He was still standing beside Leo, their Rome adventures having bonded them in some strange way.

Nico's terror binded him into silence.

He looked at Annais uselessly, then Hazel, begging them to help him. Hazel nodded. "Nico told me that the Doors of Death have two sides; one in the mortal world and one in the Underworld. The mortal side of the portal is in Greece. It's heavily guarded by Gaea's forces. That's where they brought Nico back into the upper world. Then they transported him to Rome."

Piper crossed her arms over her chest. Her voice wavered like the wind as she asked, "Where exactly in Greece is this doorway?"

"The House of Hades," Nico said through gritted teeth. "It's an underground temple in Epirus. I can mark it on a map, but... but the mortal side of the portal isn't the problem. In the Underworld, the Doors of Death are in... in..."

He didn't need to say it this time. Percy knew.

"Tartarus," he stated. The bite was gone from his voice. "The deepest part of the Underworld."

Nico nodded. "They pulled me into the pit, Percy." He looked like he was going to cry. Annais hoped he wouldn't. She didn't know what to do if he cried. "The things I saw down there..."

"No mortal has ever been to Tartarus," Hazel explained, her own eyes glistening. "At least, no one has ever gone in and returned alive. It's the maximum-security prison of Hades, where the old Titans and the other enemies of the gods are bound. It's where all monsters go when they die on the earth. It's...well, no one knows exactly what it's like."

No one except Nico.

"Now I understand why Hades hasn't been able to close the doors," the boy in question frowned. "Even the Gods don't go into Tartarus. Even the God of Death, Thanatos himself, wouldn't go near that place."

"So let me guess," Leo mumbled. "We'll have to go there."

"Why of course," Ezra sighed. "Did you expect any different?"

The bomb started to tick. The fuse had been lit.

Mount Vesuvius yearned to erupt.

"It's impossible," Nico answered Leo and Ezra. "I'm the son of Hades and I barely survived. Gaea's forces overwhelmed me instantly. They're so powerful down there... no demigod would stand a chance. I almost went insane."

Annais didn't doubt it.

"Then we'll sail for Epirus," Percy shrugged. "We'll just close the gates on this side."

"I wish it were that easy. The doors would have to be controlled on both sides to be closed. It's like a double seal. Maybe, just maybe, all seven of you working together could defeat Gaea's forces on the mortal side, at the House of Hades. But unless you had a team fighting simultaneously on the Tartarus side, a team powerful enough to defeat a legion of monsters in their home territory..."

"Maybe that was what we were destined to do," Ezra gave a generalised gesture around the deck, but everyone knew who she meant.

Mount Vesuvius overflowed.

And in the aftermath, Annais knew nothing would be the same.

Beneath the nervous stares of Leo, Hazel and Frank, Annais took a brazen step forward. Her whole body felt like it was shaking, like every nerve-ending was ablaze. The words came before she could stop them, fuelled by an age-old resentment and a new sense of determination.

"You know, Gaea didn't just show us a vision of Annabeth," she said; casual, like she was discussing the weather. Leo winced and hid behind Frank. He knew that tone of voice and didn't want to be anywhere near the firing line. Mel eyed him suspiciously. "It's actually kind of funny. She showed us Penelope."

At first, Ezra didn't openly react. The only way Annais knew she'd gotten to her was the hitch of breath before she said, "Did she now?"

The familiar urge to lash out was harder to quench this time. Hazel reached for her elbow and Annais flinched out of her grasp. There would be time for mind-games later; she just wanted the truth, cruel and unforgiving as it was.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Annais--"

"Shut up, Melanie!"

Mel went quiet.

"Why was I the last one to find out, hm? Did I not deserve to know?"

"I have no idea what you--"

"Don't lie to me!" she shouted. She'd closed the space between them, until she was close enough to see the way Ezra's features faltered. The tiniest twitch of her eyebrows, the parting of lips at a loss for words. Annais continued without remorse. "It was you. You were supposed to die that day. And she turned back time. She fucking cursed us all!"

"She didn't mean to--"

"How could you keep that from me?"

"Guys, please, just stop." Hea and Piper tried to hold her back, but Mel pushed between them desperately. "Fighting isn't going to help Annabeth!"

"How could you do this, Mel?" When Ezra stayed quiet, Annais felt her mind go blank. She needed someone to hold accountable, someone to justify the ache in her chest. It built and it built until Annais thought she might pass out from the agony. A lamb in a slaughterhouse, waiting for death with every breath of pain and sorrow; it knew. "I have never not trusted you, and you lied for her. We wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for..."

For the dead girl who couldn't pay for her sins.

For the girl who evaded death and showed no remorse.

"I only just found out," Mel insisted, and let out a shaky breath. "I didn't know what to think."

"Well, that makes two of us."

As Annais turned back to her, and with the pressure of everyone else watching them, Ezra bristled. She stepped around Melanie, so close that Annais had to step back.

"What do you want me to say, Annais? That I'm in the wrong?" Ezra started to laugh. It was a hollow kind of sound, like nails grating on a chalkboard. "Fine. I am so sorry I didn't think of your feelings. But don't ever, ever say her name like that around me again. Like Penelope didn't lay down her life for me! Like I'm not the one to blame for this."

"You want someone to blame? Have at it. I'm right here!"

Annais scoffed. One tear. She let one tear fall and that was enough. If Penelope could see them now, she'd regret it, the damning choice she made. Annais knew that like she knew herself. In a cruel twist of fate, it was them who bore the responsibility of Penelope's actions. Retribution rested on their shoulders. To reverse the sins of time, they had to pull off the impossible.

And Gaea had them right where she wanted them.

Battered and bruised, fuelled by hatred and heartache, grasping at straws so fate would be satiated.

"I'll never forgive you for this."

Perhaps she was overreacting. But she'd never forget this feeling, of looking at her sister and seeing a stranger wearing her skin. Ezra Min was completely unrecognisable to her.

And maybe Ezra was okay with that.

"I don't need you to."

And as she glared at her, a sliver of darkness encased her body. Black as ink, no one else seemed to notice as the shadow of death clung to Ezra Min like a promise. A promise, that come the end of the day, she would join her sister in the pits of Hell with the echo of Annais' last words on her mind. Annais turned and fled below deck, her stomach in her throat, and locked herself away where only Areum and Penelope could reach her.

As she fled, Ezra left her with one last wound to lick.

"You'll never know how this feels, Annais. Never!"

How wrong she was.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

IT WAS ONLY WHEN the ship began to descend that Annais forced herself to leave her cabin. No one looked at her as she joined them up on the deck; they were too busy eyeing what could only be the Emmanuel Building to really contemplate the aftermath of what they had just witnessed. The Mins were unravelling one-by-one; it seemed that only Hea and Melanie were left now.

"That's the Emmanuel Building?"

Leo nodded. "Bacchus said something about the parking lot in the back? Well, there it is. What now?"

No one seemed to have an answer.

Well, nothing but the obvious.

"We have to get her out," Percy insisted. He stood on the other side of the deck to Annais, his hand in Ezra's, though neither of them seemed very enthused to be close to each other.

"Well, yeah," Leo agreed, his expression faltering the more he spoke. "But, uh..."

And there was the elephant in the room.

What if this was all for nothing?

For all they knew, Annabeth Chase was dead.

Ezra's shoulders tensed. She glared in Leo's direction. The son of Hephaestus coughed and muttered, "There's a parking lot in the way..."

Tensions were running high. Desperately, Percy turned to Gleeson, who so far had said nothing, just observing the Emmanuel Building like it was their newest enemy. "Coach, you still have ammo for those ballistate?"

The satyr bared his teeth. "I thought you'd never ask."

And so they continued to descend until the figure of Annabeth began to sharpen far, far below. Her ankle was clearly broken, being kept together by a wooden splint. She was bruised and bleeding, weak and shaky, but she was alive.

If only they had known then that, in a matter of hours, three of them would be dead.

Or if not dead, praying that Hades would just let them rest easy.

But that was the thing about what ifs.

They always came too late.