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Will winced. ‘That issosad.’

Nico hadn’t really thought of it that way. To him, it was just the nature of the Underworld, but he nodded in sympathy. ‘Anyway, alotof clothing ends up there, too. The trogs have a great time fishing it all out.’

‘And … Hades doesn’t mind?’

Nico shook his head. ‘I doubt he’s ever going to notice or care that there’s less –’ Nico stopped himself; he’d almost saidgarbage, but Will would probably find that a harsh way to describe the remnants of people’s lives – ‘less stuff in the Styx. This is the perfect place for the troglodytes to be. No one is looking for secret caves on this side of the Styx, and no one from the world above is ever going to come down here willingly. So, there’s, like, zero chance that their home might … well, you know. Accidentally get trampled by a bunch of tauri silvestres.’

‘Ugh,’ said Will. ‘I don’t even eat beef any more because it reminds me of them.’

The tunnel twisted sharply to the left. Nico and Will fell silent as the light ahead of them grew, along with the echoes of what sounded like a boisterous party. Their trog escorts rushed forward, clicking and hissing excitedly, and the tunnel opened into a cavern even larger than the first.

‘Sweet Hades,’ muttered Nico.

He’d seen the earlier stages of the construction, but the sheer scope of what the trogs had accomplished since his last visit took Nico’s breath away. If their previous home had been akin to a subway platform, this was Grand Central Station. The troglodytes had carved the cave’s ceiling into an elaborate dome, with friezes of trogs chasing giant lizards and bulls, then repurposed the largest stalagmites and stalactites into looming support columns, reinforced and decorated with all manner of garbage. To the right, the trogs had set up a massive staging area, where they organized all the human objects they’d found into house-size piles, though Nico couldn’t see any rhyme or reason to the way things were sorted. Towards the back of the cave, an archway led into an even more bustling area, with trogs coming and going like rush-hour traffic: more trogs thanNico had ever seen in one place. But even that wasn’t the most overwhelming thing about Trog HQ.

On the left side of the cavern, the trogs had excavated anenormoushole in the wall, about fifteen metres off the ground, from which cascaded a midnight-black waterfall. The water crashed into a gigantic pool before being channelled through a series of canals, where troglodytes sat on the banks with rudimentary fishing poles and nets, grabbing out all sorts of detritus and tossing it behind them to other trogs, who sorted the refuse and laid the best bits on racks to dry. Further down, the current turned giant waterwheels that seemed to be powering grindstones, bellows and other strange contraptions.

‘Whatisthis?’ Will muttered in awe.

‘You are bearing witness to a new age of the troglodyte,’ said Screech-Bling. ‘This is a most effective operation.’

‘You … diverted the River Styx,’ said Nico, and he rubbed at his eyes. ‘For hydraulic power. And you’ve basically introduced the Underworld’s first recycling system.’

‘Yes, we did,’ said Screech-Bling.

‘It’s so brilliant I can barely stand it,’ said Nico.

Screech-Bling puffed out his chest. ‘You have helped us greatly, Italian son of Hades.’

Will frowned at the troglodyte trash-pickers. ‘But isn’t Styx water dangerous?’

Screech-Bling made a derisive clicking sound. ‘To trogs? No.’

Another troglodyte ambled by with a large goblet of smoking dark liquid, decorated with miniature paper umbrellas. ‘It is spicy, however.’ He belched and continued onward with his Styx-water mocktail.

Screech-Bling grinned at Will. ‘It is good to see you again, Texanson of Apollo. Please give your father our regards the next time you see him.’

‘Um, thanks,’ said Will. ‘I’ve got to admit, your new headquarters areveryimpressive.’

‘You have seen nothing!’ Screech-Bling said, lifting his chin. ‘Come. We shall feed you and hear stories of your quest!’

‘Oh, I’m okay for food,’ said Will hastily. ‘I just had some ambrosia.’

‘You speak gibberish to the troglodytes,’ said Screech-Bling. ‘All beings must eat! Come feast with us!’

The trog leader pushed ahead through the crowds, not waiting to see if his guests were following.

Will gave Nico a worried look. ‘The last time we ate trog food, it was lizard soup.’

‘Which was not that bad,’ Nico said. ‘Honestly, live a little, Will! Let’s get some food and rest before our journeyreallybegins.’

‘And if they’re making their food with Styx water now –?’

‘I’ll let them know we have, uh, dietary restrictions. It’ll be fine. Besides, you need some nourishment after your Care Bear reveal.’

Will did not look convinced, but he followed Nico into the flow of trog foot traffic, trying to keep an eye on Screech-Bling’s tricorn hat in the distance. They passed numerous tunnels that branched off from the main thoroughfare, and Nico hoped they’d have a chance to explore.

At the same time, a voice nagged in the back of his mind:No.Don’t waste time. Go save Bob.