Cerberus darted down the cobblestone road, his paws kicking up debris in the wake of its path. The mythical Underworld creature carried on unbothered, faster and faster until the Main Gates of the Underworld started to come into view.

But Cerberus didn’t stop running.

Momo’s teeth involuntarily chattered. She felt cold all over but she couldn’t do a thing about it. All she could do was cling onto Cerberus’s leg. She could distinctly hear Chaeyoung and Jihyo screaming alongside her but it sounded distorted.

The shadows of the looming structure stretched out towards them, warping into a deep and dark color until it manifested into a giant shadow.

It looked like a black hole.

One that Cerberus ran right into.

The demigods continued screaming their heads off as Cerberus phased through. Momo could still feel bobbing movements—which could only mean that Cerberus was still running. It felt like they were moving at an inhumane speed; her face felt like it was almost peeling off, like she was stood in front of a whirring jet engine. She closed her eyes as it was impossible to see anything going this fast. Not that it would have mattered; the space they were moving through was as dark as the obsidian gates.

After what felt like forever, the sensation of her face peeling off stopped. Momo opened her eyes slowly when she no longer felt any movement.

Dim light greeted her vision. They had ended up in a clearing in the middle of a mountainous area. A dark-blue mountain sat tall against the sky, like it was the only thing propping up the horizon. Several caves decorated the mountain face like freckles.

Realizing that she was still hanging onto Cerberus, Momo began to slowly lower herself to the ground. She stumbled a little, her legs still wobbly from the new experience of shadow travel. Jihyo and Chaeyoung were in the same situation, except Chaeyoung gave up and starfish flopped onto her back as she caught her breath. Jihyo rolled her eyes at her exaggerated gesture before sitting down cross-legged next to her.

Cerberus’ tongues lolled out of its mouths as it panted hard. Looks like shadow travel took a great toll even on creatures from the Underworld. He laid down on all fours to rest, giving a bark in the direction of the mountain caves. A little later and Cerberus gave another bark, this one sounding encouraging. His form started to shift back into transparency again.

Cerberus had to return to the Underworld. Once they realized, the trio waved at the giant dog, shouting out “goodbyes” and “thanks” and “good boy!”

During their moment of recovery, the demigods looked over to the mountain. It was only then that Momo noticed that the sky was dark, like a heavy storm was about to rain down. It looked like no sunlight had touched this place for years. The grass and flora around the area struggled to bloom. Their extremely faded color and withered state was apparent all over the region. Temple ruins littered the clearing but one wouldn’t even notice unless they were up close. They were merely rubble at this point.

The mountain appeared to be the source; anything that was closer to the mountain base became increasingly deteriorated until… well… nothing but dust and dirt remained.

If they were looking for the Evil, then this place was definitely it.

“I knew it!”

Jihyo had abruptly hissed out. Her voice sounding agitated and extremely disturbed as it carried through the clearing.

“What is it? Is it your hunch?” Momo hastily voiced her concern, taken off guard by the tone of Jihyo’s voice. Even Chaeyoung sat up in alarm, the tone coming from Jihyo was distressing and this was the first time she’s ever heard it this angry.

Jihyo took a deep breath before speaking, all the while still keeping her eyes on the blue mountain face.

“The prophecy mentioned ‘restore the rays of the Sun’. In Greece, the sun is synonymous with Apollo—the Greek God of the Sun.” Jihyo explained her revelation with an anxious and agitated expression.

Momo was worried about her friend’s face; she thought it might get stuck that way, with how intense she was making the expression.

“And guess who is Apollo’s nemesis…”

Momo and Chaeyoung shared a concerned look. They had an inkling of what was coming next. And they didn’t like it one bit.

Jihyo finished her own sentence, all with the grace and suspense of an Apollonion poet. “The Python—who is a serpent!”

Momo and Chaeyoung gasped at this. A sharp sense of dread filled them as the revelation was revealed.

It all made sense now.

The Python was an ancient evil, having been around since the birth of Artemis and Apollo, maybe even longer. It was ancient and powerful enough to cause all sorts of chaos—enough to steal Poseidon’s trident, steal the sun rays, and even place a curse on Camp Half-Blood.

“So what I’m hearing is... the Python is the final boss battle?” Chaeyoung stood up. Momo was surprised to see a rather determined look on her friend’s face.

“Well, I say bring it on! I don’t appreciate the fact that this giant snake placed a curse on our Camp.” Her hands flickered with flames. They burned vibrantly, fueled by the emotion of its owner.

Momo blinked in awe before grinning. She hauled herself up as well.

“I’m with you on that.”

If they needed to fight The Python to save their friends, then so be it. She wasn’t going to wallow around in despair when her new-found home and friends were suffering.

Jihyo stood ready, her bow already in hand. Despite her rigid posture, she had a small smile on. “Let’s skewer this snake.”

The three of them stared at each other. New energy and determination surged within them as they realized their quest was coming to an end. Weeks of arduous tasks and challenges and the fruits of their literal Labors was about to bloom.

Then Chaeyoung’s face twisted into a distasteful expression. She groaned out, “Ughh… did you have to say that? I just had flashbacks to the Scythian Drakians…”

It was quiet for a moment. Then Momo burst into laughter with Jihyo quickly following in giggles. Chaeyoung mimed a puking gesture as she tried to repress the memory.

Momo pretended to wipe a tear from her eyes as her laughter died down. As they all relaxed, she raised her voice, now less tense than before, “Are we ready?”

Jihyo gave a firm nod but Chaeyoung paused for a moment to open her bag. “Oh, wait!”

“The trident!” She pulled out the three golden prongs.

Momo’s attention was fixated on them, some sort of feeling was drawing her to them. She assumed it was her connection to Poseidon. “Oh! You’re right.”

Jihyo swept her gaze around their surroundings, looking for something in particular. Once she spotted it, she exclaimed, “There! A spring of water beside the clearing… it’s a little cloudy though.”

Momo summoned a stream of water to her, the action becoming easier over the course of their quest. The stream drifted towards her in midair. She moved her hand in a clockwise motion, the water mimicked her movements and coalesced into a large water orb. With the golden prongs in her other hand, she them into the floating sphere of water.

The golden prongs were immediately into the orb and lit up like a flashlight, like the presence of water was a trigger. The prongs each floated to a vertical position, leaving about an inch of space between them. The metal started shifting; the bottoms of the prongs expanded horizontally until they fused together to form the connecting base. From there, the metal then extended downwards to form the trident’s shaft.

During the entire process, the water shrank each time the metal expanded. It was as if the trident was using the water as a power source.

Soon enough the three prongs had transformed into a long golden trident, an exact replica of Poseidon’s legendary weapon. Carvings and Greek characters were inscribed on every inch of the metal. Momo’s thumb rubbed over a particular section and she felt an instant connection to the sea just by the small gesture. She could feel the power thrumming in the trident, it spread from her grip to the rest of her body like a slow-moving wave.

“This is incredible...” Momo’s voice came out small and in awe as she revered the golden three-pronged trident. It easily towered over her, reaching a great height of 6 feet. Despite its height and hefty weight, the trident was well-balanced in her hands.

“Yeah, no kidding!” Chaeyoung stared in amazement. This was the blacksmith in her talking but the transformation process from prongs to trident looked incredibly stunning.

“Now that Momo’s gotten an upgrade, we should have a slight advantage.” Jihyo passed them each a vial of poison antidote. She popped off the cap with her thumb and looked up somberly. “There’s no going back after this.”

The girls shared a brief quiet moment as the gravity of the situation kicked in.

Before the mood got too heavy, Chaeyoung interrupted, “Bottoms up!”

Momo quickly followed by downing the vial. She shuddered at the taste. Contrary to its slime green appearance, it was sickeningly sweet.

“BLEH!”

“Ughh… I don’t even wanna know what’s in that…”

Momo felt a small tingling sensation wash over her body. It was neither good nor bad, just an odd sensation. A green hue outlined their bodies before flashing away.

“Ok…” Jihyo secured the antidote pouch away. “We’re officially immune to poison for the next 2 hours.” There was a slight fascination in her voice; an immunity to poison was an interesting condition to have, but the feeling quickly faded when she remembered the reason for the antidote in the first place.

“Great!” Chaeyoung shouted as she began to march towards the mountain cave. “Let’s get this over with so I don’t have to see another snake again!”

Jihyo and Momo trailed after her, bow and trident held tightly in hand.

The demigods marched towards the dark blue mountain. The natural formation looked seemingly daunting as it loomed in front of them.

They were even more apprehensive as they realized what they were voluntarily walking towards. The realization hitting them like several buckets of ice water all at once.

The lair of the mythical Python.