"Let them have their moment." 

Hazel and Frank wrapped their arms around each other and watched contentedly as Luke and Hermes had a father-son moment. Agnostos had a sad smile on his face, still thinking of Poseidon.

He sighed, trying to block out the growing headache he was getting. He squeezed his eyes shut, wondering if he could get the rest of his sleep back.

"Get out of the way!" Agnostos heard a scream and his eyes snapped open.

"Oof!" All the breath from his lungs was knocked out as a giant thing barreled into him. He hit the floor with a sickening smack, sending waves of pain through his side.

"Get away from him you cursed creature!" Hermes shouted, twirling his caduceus but didn't strike yet. Agnos groggily looked up at whatever was pinning him down, his vision blurring. It was an ara. FYI it's the singular noun of arai.

"We will end you, Agnostos." The many voices of the arai filled the air as Agnostos tried to escape the thorn-sharp claws of the ara. He felt burning hot claws at his throat and gagged at the familiar smell of the Pit. "Isn't it better to perish instead of dealing with the gods? To sink into oblivion and never have to deal with it again?" 

"As tempting as it is, no thanks." He gritted his teeth. "At least I have a purpose unlike you." It hissed madly and tried to rake its claws across his throat.

"What is this?" It snarled. "How is this possible?"

"It's called bathing in the Styx." He grabbed Sicarius from its sheath and stabbed upwards, making the ara howl and vaporize into dust.

"Get back! They'll curse you!" Agnostos yelled, going on a killing spree thanks to the curse of Achilles.

"I thought they were only in Tartarus!" Luke cried, dodging one after another.

"Tartarus is here now! The monsters of the Pit are rising, don't you know that?!" Agnostos slowly felt himself drain of energy after the other arai charged at him.

"What do we do?" Hazel shrieked as one of them barely missed her thigh. "We can't just let you kill them all!"

"Yes you can! Just stop moving and trust me on this!" He dropped his sword, to Hermes' surprise and held up his hands like he was surrendering.

"What the Hell are you doing?!" Frank looked wildly at Agnostos, fear edging his features. Surprising for a child of Mars, but the arai were so terrifying they would probably kill a mortal anyways.

"Foolish Agnostos!" They chanted. "You lead yourself to your doom. Tartarus will kill you mercilessly." 

"Eh. That just makes the list of things that want to kill me even longer, but at this point, I don't care." He shrugged. "Time to say bai, ARAI—oh hey, that rhymes. Proud, Apollo?" He snapped his fingers and they all screeched in unison, a terrible, scratchy sound. One by one, they disappeared into glitter, until the whole floor was covered with it.

"How did you—" Luke started, but Agnos held up a hand.

"Don't ask." He panted, his voice sounding shaky. "You wouldn't want to know." Luke paled slightly but kept his mouth shut.

"You look pale. Again." Hermes deadpanned. He dragged a hand down his face and groaned. 

"Never have I ever done a crowd that big—" He staggered slightly, almost doing another faceplant when Luke caught him.

"Hey, dude, take it easy." He gazed at Agnostos concernedly. "I won't ask about how the heck you did that and why it looked so creepy, but you look pretty drained."

"Just...need some water..." He croaked. "Honestly, I'm fine...sort of."

"Just water won't help you." Hazel protested. "You need something that makes monsters better. Like sleep." Agnostos groaned.

"Nope. Not going to sleep, don't wanna." He pouted. She giggled.

"You sound like a little kid." Hermes snorted.

"You drool like one." Agnos shot back, grinning cheekily. Hermes huffed.

"Let's...not get into detail with that." Luke glanced nervously at Agnostos and his father, who were exchanging annoyed looks.

"Fine." They both said in unison and laughed. 

"You two...seem close." Hazel murmured. "Something up with that?"

"Well, it just comes naturally. Like we're related or something." Hermes shrugged. Agnostos didn't answer.

"Let's go. We can't abandon this quest." He said quickly. "Luke, you coming with us?" He shook his head.

"I don't want to interfere with a prophecy. They did say that more than 3 are going, right?" He raised an eyebrow. Frank nodded.

"Yeah, said specifically Agnostos, Hermes, and two demigods. Me and Hazel were lucky enough to get chosen."

"Well, good luck." Luke smiled, his gaze lingering on Hermes before he disappeared into thin air.

"What the actual FU—"

"Language!" Hazel sighed. "Honestly, Agnostos. This is the third time I've said it. Don't you ever learn?"

"Nope." He grinned. "Now that I'm feeling better, let's go—ACK!" A bright light shone in the dark corridor, lighting it up.

"Athena." Hazel and Frank bowed their heads. 

"Hey, sis!" Hermes waved. Athena rolled her eyes. 

"I am not your 'sis.'" She said coldly. "I am your half-sister."

"Same thing." Hermes waved her away. "What's up?" She turned her gaze on Agnostos.

"Him. He will lead you to your doom." She narrowed her owl-like eyes at him. Agnostos let out a sound of outrage.

"Excuse me? I would never!" He crossed his arms indignantly. "Not directly, anyways. Or on purpose. Well, unless Max was here." He admitted.

"That's my son you're talking about." She gritted her teeth.

"Could've fooled me." He retorted. "That guy is dumb as hell, you sure you sired him?" She sighed.

"I suppose he is quite unintelligible." She decided. "Argh, what am I doing? I cannot let you kill my brother! Even if he is extremely irritable, it is my duty."

"Aww, so you do care, Ath!" Hermes grinned. 

"I only do so because you are an Olympian and of godly blood." She sniffed. "If otherwise I would've probably sent you to Uncle Hades along with Apollo." Hermes pouted.

"That's mean, Ath." He stuck his tongue out at her. 

"Do not call me that despicable nickname!" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I have had enough!"

"This is very entertaining." Agnostos stage-whispered to Frank and Hazel.

"I heard that!" She glared at him. "I am here to warn you three. If you all die because of Agnostos, I swear to myself that I will hunt him down with Artemis and send him to Tartarus personally."

"Oh, dear granddaughter, you have no idea, do you?"