(Kathrine's P.O.V.)

"We need decide." Percy groaned, evidently pissed at Astrid and I's blabbering.
"Yeah yeah, we know." We snickered. He rolled his eyes.
"He...hellish death?" Claire questioned. "Someone'e gonna die?"
"Not if we can stop it." Astrid confidently stated. "I mean...it's not like this reads the future!"
"Yep yep." I nodded in complete approval.
"Great..." I heard Magnus mutter.
"Okay, Ms. Confident. If your so confident no one in our group's dying, you must have a plan on where to go and what to do. Am I right?" Percy sarcastically asked.
"Uhh...well...yes, I do!" Astrid's voice faded. "I mean...I will."
"Uh huh..." Percy face palmed. "Any other stars shining brightly?"
"Hunter's Belt is." Astrid replied. She scratched the back of her neck. "Kinda."

Staaaaaaare~. We gave Astrid that "uh-huh-..." face Percy was giving her a moment ago.
"Hey! The book said some constellations may be harder to find! Maybe this is what he meant?"
"Uh huh..." We all repeated.
"I swear!"
"Uh huh..."
"C'mon-" Astrid pointed at the Hunter's Belt. It was definitely one of my favorite encased of it's intriguing background and actual understandable shape. I mean...it's a belt. A legitimate line. "The Hunter's Belt was used by hunters in the past as a path to find lots of game right? Maybe our path is that way!"
"Game is kill. Are you sure this isn't the path to us getting killed?" Percy asked. "You said Yui was bright."
"Do you have any other ideas...?" Astrid sassily questioned. Percy shut up.
"Okay, so Hunter's Belt is leading us that way right?" Magnus said, forcing his way into the constellation. He pointed West, right where the belt was leading. I held back a laugh.

"Of course. What are you, Dora the Explorer who has to repeat what everyone obviously knows?" I smugly asked.
"I...hmph."
"Let's go." Astrid kicked Percy forward while grabbing my wrist at the same time. With a tight grip (almost making my feel like I was handcuffed) pulled my hand with such force, I wouldn't have been surprised if it flew off.  We leaped over the bushes as Percy shouted behind us, along with a freaking out Claire and a pissed off Magnus. We skipped the path, through the biodiversity, twigs and leaves crunching and cracking under our feet. The trees were to small to completely cover the stars so we followed the given path for a whole 30 minutes.

~

"I...can't...move..." Astrid panted.
"It's your...fault." I collapsed into the ground into a soft pile of foliage at the side of our current 'path'. Astrid leaned on a tree right beside me. To our left, Percy (who was practically carrying Magnus on his back) and Claire were sweating like crazy.
"What the hell!" Percy growled, his fatigue completely unheard. He sounded fine yet drips of sweat slid down his cheek.
"I'm...done." Claire collapsed but not as gracefully as me. She made a loud 'thud', landing on some sharp twigs and branches. "Ow."
"Look..." I slid into a laying down position as I pointed past the thin canopy of the trees. Past the bright green leaves was the same belt we were following.
"Just as bright as ever." Astrid exclaimed.
"I...can...see...the...end." Magnus said.
"Huh?" I crawled on the grass right beside him. Tilting my head up, I saw a few more stars and a dead end. With new found energy suddenly easing my breath, I stood up, turning to Magnus. "Well...I did get wrong on Dora from time to time."
"That's what I thought." Magnus grinned.
"One more push..." I announced. Astrid and Claire got up. "3...2...1!"

I pushed my foot off the ground and got into a sprint, leaping over tree roots and the scenery.

~

"I see it!" I screamed in rejoice. The end of the belt. Right the below the final star was a patch (more like plain) of cleared unkept grass and a ruin, with a rope leading downwards. Percy stood right behind me, Astrid, Magnus and Claire following after.
"That has to be it..." Percy thought. "There's no way this is wrong."
"Yeah!" Astrid cheered as she lounged on me, wrapping her arm around me neck, practically chocking me.
"Sto- stop...!" I coughed.
"Finally." Claire breathed. She was the one most out of breath out of all of us, not being as athletic or experienced as anyone.
"So How are we approaching this?" Magnus asked.
"Uhh...we walk, look around, observe with all our senses, create a remark, act accordingly, and repeat?" Astrid bluntly said.
"No! Like do we just go in, do we charge, do we go all at once, do we look around first..." Magnus rambled on.
"Let's just get in." Percy answered. "Let's get this over with."
"I agree." I raise my hand in support. "The longer we wait, the longer we are exposed."
"I think we should be careful." Astrid contradicted. "If we make a single mistake, some can die."
"I...I agree." Claire timidly nodded. "I...I don't want any of you guys to die. Or hell."
Magnus cleared his throat. "I think-"
"We should charge." Percy and I said in unison.
Magnus. "Actually-"
"I think we should take our time." Astrid finished.
"Guys...we should fight-" Claire begun.
"The longer we spend standing here, the more prepared our opponent will get!" Percy roared.
"Yeah, but whether he's prepared or not, if we screw up and miss something crucial, someone can die!" Astrid defended.
"Guys-" Magnus and Claire attempted.
"We should just get in already!" Percy argued.
"And die?" Astrid threw back.
"We shouldn't waste time-"
"GUYS!" Claire thundered.
"What?!" Astrid and Percy turned, eyes flaring with flames.
"Ummm..." Claire took a step back, afraid of the duo.
"You two should calm down..." I suggested.
"Calm down!? When this dude is suggesting we risk someone's life because it's a waste of time?" Astrid sneered.
"Astri-"
"And you agree with him?!" She added.
"Because she's smart! Just by arguing on this, we can be too late!" Percy flared.
"Too late? Too late for what? Someone's death-"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" A loud screamed echoed through the forest from behind me. I snapped my head at that direction to see Magnus running away from something...something...
"WHAT THE HELL?!?!" I pointed my staff at the giant thing in front of me. "IT'S THAT THING! FROM PERCY!"
"Percy? Wha-" Percy turned to see what I was looking at. "THE HELL?!"
"Ce...Cerberus?!" Astrid took a step back as she saw the monstrosity. A three-headed dog the size of your average 4-story building was seated a couple hundred feet from us, staring intently. Snake heads sprouted from it's body, hissing uncontrollably. A long, scaly serpent tail wagged like a dog. "Wait...this..."
"The True Messenger of Hell!" I screamed, not knowing if I was screaming for success or failure. Claire and Magnus already got a couple feet behind us, taking shelter behind some tall trees.
"How do we beat..." Percy shook his head in disapproval of his negativity. "Somehow we will..."

I shivered as one head roared, shaking the ground like a mini-earthquake. The eyes of the first head locked onto me, the second and third ones looking dead on Astrid and Percy. Their eyes were like flames. Literal flames. As I looked into them, I could see fire in a void with with screams of agony and pain, reminding me of the grimoire which now seemed like a joke. I could sense the fatality that is to come from the bloodlust in its aura. I felt like I was burning yet I was frozen in place.

"I...don't feel very good." I whispered. "I'm no Hercules."
"I can't move. No- I don't wanna..." Percy admitted.
"Let's all go. One head each. Magnus, Claire, be support." Astrid ordered. "Ready?"
"No." I said.  "But...3..."
"2..." Percy counted.
"1..." Astrid said after long paused all the three of us went: "Go!"

Percy dashes right onto target, his dagger now blazing just as brightly as the beings eyes. Jumped higher than humanly possible (using a spell) and a slashed it's neck. When he landed onto the ground, snakes poked out of the wound, bearing their fangs. Percy barely dodged as the second head dove down to eat him. It chased him around as Percy slashed at the snake heads. As he decapitated the snakes, they would regenerate just as quickly as they were killed.

"Don't use Darkness's Game!" Astrid warned me. "It'll just make more snakes...*shiver*."
I nodded. "Quicker than a cheetah, than the speed of light. Quicker than a human eye can see. Lightning Flash!"

I felt energy surged through me as I was given insane speed. I got behind Cerberus, saying: "Vine Snare!"
Summoning all the vines in the forest, I used my power to make them sprout out of the ground. They were humongous as we were in a deep forest. I used my will to wrap them around the legs of the beast as it growled loudly. I used more vines to hold down its tails and tie its heads together.

"Nice one-!" Astrid's cheer ended abruptly as the Cerberus snapped the vines without effort, turning to my direction.
"Shoot." I muttered, holding back my urge to run away or shake and collapse. Cerberus slowly inched its way to me, growling and sneering and hissing and roaring. My spell 'Lightning Flash' already wore off by now and I didn't have the ability to run away quickly enough before getting eaten (unlike Percy). Someone...anyone...just has to do something.

"Water Aero Phoenix, rise!" I heard Astrid recite. Her staff glowed lightly and her Phoenix summoned. It zoomed past the three heads of the beast faster than how fast I run when I hear 'ice cream'. It caught the attention of Cerberus as it made it look at it's direction, following it like a cat and laser (nice metaphors me). Thank the lord for flying water bird things based-off a fire-based flying thing. I ran, taking a quick look behind me. The three-headed dog 'accidentally' melted the Phoenix with it's radiating and intense heat. It dispersed into a puddle of water, glistening on the ground. Thankfully, it bought me enough time to take cover in the forest, unseen by the simple-minded creature.

It's like a literal dog. It chases stuff that move and look like food. That means everything that moves. I made my way behind the trees watching the battle unfold. Percy continued his little game of tag with Cerberus, while Astrid was joining Claire and Magnus behind some trees. I crouched, still paranoid of the thought that Cerberus would chase me, and made my way to them.

"He's gonna get tired soon..." Claire thought.
"We'll distract it." Astrid planned.
"Hello?" I said, hiding with them.
"We have plan." Astrid stated. "Distract the thing until we have a plan."
"Great plan." I immediately reply, not knowing anything better. "Go!"

I rushed behind the trees and leaped over the greenery. "CERBERUS! I'VE ESCAPED THE UNDERWORLD!"
"Ehhhh?!" It seemed to see, turning its attention once more. Its tail slams Percy who was to fatigued to react. He gets tossed into the air and seemed like a toy, sliding across the ground.

"Percy!" Astrid gasped. "Claire...I'm sorry but-"
"On it." Claire dashed behind the bushes.
"Magnus- I don't know why you're even here, but please help us." Astrid begged.
"I'm here because I slightly trust you guys." Magnus explained. "So you better not let me die."

Magnus screamed like a maniac, running to my east. Astrid followed (but not as loudly) and staying at my west.

"I'M SO HAPPY I HAVE A SECOND CHANCE TO LIVE!" Astrid used her hands as an amplifier to her voice.
"CERBERUS IS SUCH A BAD GAURD DOG! HE CAN'T EVEN CATCH ME!" Magnus taunted. Eventually, we were all shouting taunts, running in circles while Cerberus spun around, dumbfounded. Claire was stationary, healing Percy but obviously to no extent. As she dragged him to cover, Cerberus seemed to have click in his head. He stopped spinning and all the heads (from the dog heads to the snake heads) faced Percy.

"Oh no...no, no, no." Astrid mumbled. "No, no, no."
"CER- Cer...ber..." My throat was sore. I was out of breath.
"Percy...Claire..." Astrid whimpered. "No...we could...we could change..."
"CERBERUS! C'MON!" Magnus kept on trying but it was worthless. Cerberus took suspenseful steps, one by one. One mouth growled, one mouth sneered, and the other one drooled.
"AWOOOHHHHH!" The sneering head howled. I saw Percy mouth some words. Claire's eyes widened and replied some inaudible things. She let go of Percy while he screamed after her and shouted:

"OH! WHAT A LOVELY DAY! FINALLY OUT OF THE UNDERWORLD!" She waved her staff frantically and repeated 'lalalalala' aloud. She ran all the way to the ruin. "CERBERUS! WON'T YOU TAKE ME BACK?"
"What...what is she doing?!" I questioned. She looked at us with a finger over her mouth and shooed us away.
"Let's go." Magnus said, trusting whatever Claire had in mind. We tiptoed slowly, not knowing whether we should be running for our lives or running for Claire's life. We all knew the possibility of actual death.

"Is Claire-" I paused as my eyes widened in horror as Cerberus switched direction and launched himself forward, right at Claire. Claire raced to the ruins into the small hole, jumping right in without hanging onto the rope. Cerberus followed, but because the hole was too small, he destroyed the ruins and the solid ground in the process, creating a humongous hole.
"Claire!" We all called after. We rushed over to the whole which was only a few feet away from us.
"Claire?" Astrid asked out. "Claire!"
"Claire! Claire!" I repeated. My voice shook. I shook. I cautiously approached the whole, the whole moment feeling surreal. I took a look down to see an endless pit, like a never-ending void of darkness. "Claire!"

As my voice resonated and echoed across the walls of the pit, the ground vibrating, suddenly reshaping itself and molding into hard ground. The ruins appeared out of the ground and the same old rope strung down. I was too horrified to question the fact that the ground and ruins magically fixed themselves to their original form.

"Is...is she..." I stammered, not wanting to finish the sentence. My voice had a strong tinge of sadness as my throat clogged up.

"Dead?"