Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades Alternative Ending

by mayflower222

This story is a part of story, because this story is how "The House of Hades" should have ended. Percy, Annabeth, and Bob are in Tartarus near the Doors of Death. The trio has to formulate a plan to break the chains, keep the button held for 12 minutes, and have a person(s) go up the elevator. How will they deal with the situation? How will this affect the team?

1. Chapter 1

Heroes of Olympus: "Heroes of Olympus" Alternative Ending (Full)

Disclaimer: I do not own "Heroes of Olympus". I am just a big fan of the "Heroes of Olympus series. Most of the books were great. I just am not that happy about the way Rick Riordan ended "The House of Hades". So, I decided to change things a bit and write my own ending to "The House of Hades". Please give feedback on my story. Enjoy!

LXX- 70

Annabeth

(Left off with Percy, Annabeth, and Bob in Tartarus, nearing the Doors of Death. Tartarus has took on a human form, and said "Destroy them" to them.)

Of all the things he could have said, why did he have to say, "Destroy them!" If this is what it took to defeat save the world, Annabeth hoped for a grand victory party when they did. Or if they did. Monsters came from all directions in huge waves. Arai, telkhines, and many other demons had joined the party. She knew that they would be overwhelmed. Although, a crowd of monsters was surrounding one point. There seemed to be a large commotion as the monsters closed in. Looking closely at the swarm, she saw something that lifted her spirits.

A huge, beautiful yellow and green drakon stomped around, spitting poison. A red giant with scaly legs was riding on top of the drakon.

"Damasen!" Percy, Bob, and Annabeth yelled in unison. Damasen looked over, his eyes shining. He had a big grin on his face.

"You were right, Annabeth." Damasen shouted. "I chose a new destiny. Thank you." Annabeth's heart melted. She felt so touched that she had almost started crying. The happiness didn't last long, though. A wave of monsters charged towards them.

"Percy, Bob, Damasen," Annabeth shouted. "Cover me!" Percy nodded and started slashing his sword in huge arcs, driving away at crowds of wonderful monsters that wanted to rip their guts out. Bob and Not-so-small Bob got to work, clawing away at bloodthirsty demons. Damasen and the Maeonian drakon stomped on and eliminated oncoming spirits. The monsters all seemed eager to destroy them. Tartarus himself was picking his nails, looking rather bored. The monsters were distracted, but Annabeth knew that they could only be held off for a short time. Annabeth lunged toward the chains that kept the doors closed. WIth one swift lash of the bone sword, the first chain recoiled. She leaped towards the second chain on the opposite side, and heard an enormous growl behind her.

"Die!" It probably wasn't one of her friends. She turned around just in time to see a Cyclopes come down on her. Luckily, she rolled under his legs. When her sword came into contact with the second chain, the chain snapped. Ding! The elevator doors opened. The one-eyed beast striked again, this time with more luck. The spear sliced into her calf, leaving a nasty gash that Annabeth was too afraid to look at. Annabeth felt a jolt of pain throughout her and let out a cry of agony. She stabbed the cyclops' eye with her bone sword while he was distracted. She quickly tore ragged strips off her shirt with her teeth and tightly wound them around her leg. Meanwhile, the Cyclopes ran away, screaming and covering his eyes. Annabeth trudged in front of the doors that were already closing and put a foot between the panels. Turning around, she got a glimpse of the battle.

Koios and Bob grappled on the battlefield. Bob was covered in slash marks, looking exasperated. Koios wasn't looking good himself, either.

"Iapetus," Koios bellowed. "You betrayed me!" He came down with a spear. Bob rolled aside, narrowly missing the spear. He and not-so-small Bob kicked the Titan to the ground.

"I'm not Iapetus." Bob said back. "I'm Bob." Koios lay weak on the ground, but more demons kept coming.

Annabeth turned around and saw that Percy was standing ten feet in front of the doors, fighting off a cloud of arai, while slowly backing towards Annabeth. He was making progress, but he was panting hard, and covered in sweat. Annabeth was sure that the death mist had worn off, but Percy looked pale as a corpse. He killed an arai, and huge cut appeared on his ankle, oozing blood. The battle with Ares… Annabeth thought, Ares wants revenge. When Percy and Annabeth had been 12, Percy fought Ares, the war God. Ares had gotten a nasty cut on his ankle. It wrenched Annabeth's heart to see Percy be in pain again because of the arai. She pulled Percy to the doors, next to her.

Annabeth didn't want anymore heartbreaks, but when she looked at Damasen, she saw him falling onto his knees, a deep cut on his chest, and red puncture marks all over his scaly hide. The cut was oozing acid and blood that even Tartarus couldn't heal. The Chimera was hovering over him, fangs dripping with blood. Annabeth didn't know why she was in Tartarus. Damasen looked at her and Percy's direction, and croaked out an inaudible Go. Then, he fell flat on his face, twitched once, and didn't move again. Annabeth had to look away, for she almost broke down at the sight. It wasn't fair! The brave soldier had been suffering for so many years, and he risked his life for them. Damasen didn't deserve to die such a painful death. It wasn't the time, though. The doors were pushing at her foot, reminding her of the problem.

She looked at Percy who seemed grief-stricken, too. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other and held eyes for a second. They sent each other a silent message. One of them would have to hold the button, one of them would have to go up, and one of them would have to hold off the monsters. For Annabeth, the decision was easy. No way she was going to let her Seaweed Brain be the loyal one again. Mother, forgive me. She thought.

"Get in the elevator, Percy." Annabeth commanded, her voice cracking. "Bob can hold off the monsters while I hold the button."

"What? No way!" Percy exclaimed angrily. Annabeth pulled him close into a kiss, possibly the last time she would feel his lips pressed against hers. She knew that this would be her last stand, but the fact that she was saving Percy calmed her down. When she pulled away, Percy started to protest, but she pushed the doors opened wider and kicked him into the elevator where he fell on his butt. Her brave boyfriend tried to stand up, but was too weak. Tears were streaming down his face. It hurt Annabeth to see Percy so disconsolate, but she weakly smiled at him as a lone tear trickled down her face and said, "Bye, Seaweed Brain." The doors closed.