Dia de los Muertos. I swallowed, and turned away from the celebrations. It was hard to watch, hard to even be here, considering how close I'd come to death so many times, but I had to contact him. Sure, it was a gamble, but I didn't have a choice, and I knew he'd be here tonight. It was the only option; there was nobody else who could even be compatible, and I hadn't dragged my team halfway across the Pacific for nothing. We'd barely made it in time for tonight as it was. I did a mental headcount, assessing any potential dangers. Some of them were crowded around various stands selling mostly deep-fried foods and unlabelled drinks, others watching the celebrations. Leo in particular blended in with the locals despite his Texas upbringing, surrounded by the same dark hair and tan skin that he possessed.

Now all I had to do was find him. Walking over to where the rest of the group stood, I snagged a few kebabs from Idris, ignoring his mild protests, and continued to an unattended campfire. The kebabs sent up a delicious smell as they burned, and I muttered a few words, glancing around expectantly. Still nothing. Maybe it was all for nothing. Mexico wasn't exactly in the US, so maybe it was outside Olympus' sphere of influence. Scowling, I walked away from the crowds towards a shallow hill. If I had a better vantage point, maybe I'd be able to see him. Halfway up the hill, though, I knocked into a drunken man swinging a bottle of beer, reeling back from the smell of his breath, which smelled of alcohol and...burnt kebabs?

I caught the man by the elbow, and he slipped out of my grip, at the same time growing until he was over 6 feet, shadowy robes replaced with a deep red and face coloured in with different bright patterns overlaying the makeup of a skull. Even his matted black hair was combed back, reaching past his shoulders and intertwined with bright braids.

"Hades!" He shot me a cool look, and turned back to watching the festival. "Isn't it beautiful? They're celebrating death, instead of mourning it. This is what it should be. It's not always a sad thing. They're not far off, either. The walls between my realm and this one on this day are always thin. The dead reunite with the living once more, even if they don't know it."

"Hades, I need your help. Have you heard about-"

"Yes, I have."

"Then you know why I'm here."

"Yes." Hades' face was noncommittal, carefully blank as he gazed over the people.

"So...what's your answer?"

"No." Well, I really wasn't expecting that. "No?"

"No."

"Don't you want to banish Eris? She has the camp, she has all the demigods from both camps, she has everything! Sooner or later, she's going to make a move on Olympus, and by then it'll be too late."

In a flash, Hades was gripping the front of my shirt, eyes a soulless, pure black. "Do you think I don't know that, boy? Do you think I want her to obliterate us from existence?"

"Then why won't you help us?"

Hades paused and released me, dusting off his front and turning away, back to the festival. "Do you know how to defeat her?"

"Yeah, my dad told me. Two gods, one demigod."

"Did he tell you what happened to the original demigod who defeated her?"

I shook my head mutely, a feeling of dread creeping up my spine.

Hades took out his tablet and opened DeadSearch™, which I didn't think the App Store sold to humans. "His name was Tobias. Tobias Graves, one of my most favoured sons, for all the good it did him in the end. This is a comprehensive list of all the dead ever since I became the god of death. A bitch to put together, but worth it." He typed in the name "Tobias Graves", but there were no results, only a skull with a sad face. My stomach dropped.

"One demigod and a god is dangerous enough, but there is a sort of chaotic balance, at least. Two gods... Tobias was a good man, a strong, powerful, good man. Even he couldn't handle it."

"So where is he now?" I couldn't help but ask.

"He dissolved. Not just vaporised, but gone. The power was too much for him to control and still remain as himself. He banished her, but at the greatest cost. There is still a little of him within me, I believe, as well as in the other god; we are forever changed now, because of him. Our godly natures, perhaps not as godly, compromised even. Not to mention, it almost caused an all-out godly war."

I squinted, but the puzzle pieces were beginning to fall into place. "Was the other god Poseidon?" Hades just looked at me, expressionless. "There was an imbalance of power. Two of the Big Three, as you call us, united in power. Zeus wasn't pleased." I winced in sympathy.

"They have Nico." It was my trump card, but I had no choice but to play it now. Hades looked out at the festival again, all brightly coloured lights and candles, loud and joyous in the face of what was usually such a sad, taboo subject. "I know. Nico has always been one of my more favoured children. As favoured as a child of Hades can be, anyway. I know the stigma all too well. Nico is dear to me, despite overwhelming evidence."

I wanted to bounce up, grab Hades by the shoulders and demand an answer, but I got the feeling I should just keep quiet. Sure enough, the god turned to look at me. "For the greater good, then. You aren't a bad demigod, Jackson."

I couldn't help a grin. "Does that mean you'll do it?"

"What did your father give you?" I pulled out the egg necklace in reply, blinking at the sudden blue luminescence as it lit up the surrounding trees. "The Galactose Egg. Did he teach you how to use it, by any chance?" I shook my head; it was characteristic of the gods to be cryptic, I figured I'd just work it out eventually.

"Typical." Hades held out the bottle of beer that he'd been holding, and the Mist over it cleared. In his hand was a pure black chalice, filled with liquid that looked like black glass and sent up spirals of smoke. The sides were inscribed with a simple skull and, oddly, the river Styx, which seemed to ripple as I watched. "This is the Drink of the Damned. Pure, undiluted godly essence, strong enough to give entire continents a one-way ticket to the Underworld. Take it and put it in." Doing as he asked, I watched the blue egg sink to the bottom of the goblet and burst into a million luminescent sparks, giving the liquid the appearance of the kind of starry night you'd never see in the city; so bright it glowed. "Thank you."

"Oh, I wouldn't thank me just yet. You remember the river Styx? This will be a thousand times worse. The agony will feel like it's melting your throat and guts, and your brain will cook in your skull. You'll faint almost immediately, and probably succumb to the pain, which will kill you. The best part is, both your father and I will feel the same thing, a hundredfold over. To have a godly essence tied to a single mortal is like folding yourself into a box the size of a pin and then setting it on fire." Hades paused for a moment, as if sympathising with how pale I'd probably gotten. "On the bright side, if we all survive that, you'll become one of the most powerful beings to walk the earth."

I nodded, and looked at the chalice again, which began to shrink into a tiny vial. I pocketed it, and looked back up, but Hades was at the bottom of the hill already, moving among the scattered people, and where he walked I could just see a glimpse of shimmering spectres. He looked... happy?

Walking back to where my friends still stood about, I raised my voice slightly to be heard over the noise. "I've got what I needed. Let's go." Before I finished speaking, I'd already begun walking to the ship, avoiding their questions; it was best if they didn't know what was coming.

It was time to face Eris.

an:

literally nothing to say, only that it's been a long ride, and it's coming to an end. hope yall are excited. plase still love me.

p.s. idk why my chapters always coincide with important gravity falls episodes