tartarus and back ⇩

26. Kai?

P E R C Y

"Guys," Hazel broke in. "I hate to interrupt your admiration session, but you should hear this."

She helped Nico to his feet. He"d always been pale, but now his skin looked like powdered milk. His dark sunken eyes reminded Percy of photos he'd seen of liberated prisoners-of- war, which Percy guessed Nico basically was.

"Thank you," Nico rasped. His eyes darted nervously around the group. "I'd given up hope."
The past week or so, Percy had imagined a lot of scathing things he might say to Nico when they met again, but the guy looked so frail and sad, Percy couldn"t muster much anger.

"You knew about the two camps all along," Percy said. "You could have told me who I was the first day I arrived at Camp Jupiter, but you didn't."

Nico slumped against the helm. "Percy, I'm sorry. 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..." He doubled over in a fit of coughing.

Hazel held his shoulders until he could stand again.

"I—I thought Dad meant because of Hazel," Nico continued. "I'd need a safe place to take her. But 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."

The air turned electric—literally, as Jason started throwing off sparks.

"Did you find the doors?" Percy asked.

Nico nodded. "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..." Frank chewed his lip. "What kind of black hole are you talking about?"

Nico started to speak, but whatever he needed to say must have been too terrifying. He turned to Hazel.
She put her hand on her brother's arm. "Nico told me that the Doors of Death have two sides—one in the mortal world, 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 must've been nervous, because her cornucopia spit out a cheeseburger. "Where exactly in Greece is this doorway?"

Nico took a rattling breath. "The House of Hades. 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..." A cold pair of hands did the itsy-bitsy spider down Percy"s back.

A black hole. An inescapable part of the Underworld where even Nico di Angelo couldn"t go. Why hadn"t Percy thought of this before? He"d been to the very edge of that place. He still had nightmares about it.

"Tartarus," he guessed. "The deepest part of the Underworld."
Nico nodded. "They pulled me into the pit, Percy. The things I saw down there..." His voice broke.

Hazel pursed her lips. "No mortal has ever been to Tartarus," she explained. "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."

"I have a friend." Percy spoke up. "She"s in Tartarus. Has been for about six years, if she"s still alive. Did you... did you see anyone?"

"No, I"m sorry Percy." Nico said.