So the first time I posted chapter one it was weird and messed up. Hopefully it works properly this time. Disclaimer: not mine.
Percy stared longingly at his mother's comatose form, trapped inside a translucent bubble that was held aloft by the god of the underworld.
"Please!" He cried, "Let her go, please."
"And what can you give me in return, son of Poseidon? You have nothing on you aside from a flimsy backpack, and it's not like your friends have anything to offer either," he said, gesturing towards where Annabeth and Grover lay unconscious at his feet. "Just what can you give me in return for turning her over to you?"
"I-I don't know… please," he said, unable to think about anything other than his mother. Now that he knew she was alive, he couldn't leave her here, no matter what the cost was. "A-Anything… You can have anything, just… please… please give her back."
Hades smiled, the boy was his. "So if I said I wanted you in exchange for your mother, would you still say 'anything'?" he inquired, giving the boy a chance to back out, but was confident the boy wouldn't change his mind.
Percy took a step back. Did Hades, god of the freaking underworld, just say that he wanted him in exchange for his mother? Well that didn't make any sense. "Um… Lord Hades, sir, I'm not sure if you understand, but if I traded places with my mom, I wouldn't really have her back, if you could explain that a bit more, that'd be great."
Hades constricted his throat in order to hold back a laugh. Yes, this boy would be his when he came of age. "What I mean is, is that you'd be mine. You could still stay with your mom, go to camp, hangout with your friends, all those other things that kids your age like to do, but you'd be mine. You'd offer me prayers like you do your father at meal times, you'd answer me immediately if I ever call for you, and you'd sleep in my cabin. Not right away seeing as I don't have one, but when I do have one, you will. But! If you break any of the rules I just told you or any future rules or orders I may or may not give you, without proper reasoning behind it, I will rescind on our deal and reclaim your mother's soul," he explained, shadows contorting menacingly as he finished his explanation. "Now, do we have a deal?"
Percy jumped away, easily missing the sword that swooshed by him. Both swordsmen took a fighting stance again. The other lunged, hoping to take the other by surprise with his quick attack, Percy sidestepped him, leaving his foot out just enough to trip his opponent. Percy placed his blade at the neck of the fallen warrior. "You're dead."
"All right, can anyone tell me where Henry went wrong?" Percy asked, helping the young eleven year old to his feet.
There was a loud clamoring of voices as all the younger kids of Camp Half-Blood tried to answer at once.
Percy chuckled lightly as the boy he was fighting gave him an embarrassed grin.
Percy had just turned eighteen, and was now helping out at Camp as the new sword instructor. The battle two years ago had left its scar on the camp. They lost a lot of good campers, as well as friends. But with the new rules that Percy demanded of the gods, things at camp were going more smoothly than they had in, well, forever. They had new cabins being built almost every other week for a new camper of one of the minor gods, and Nico planned on finishing the Hades cabin by late afternoon of that day.
That last one worried him the most. Hades hadn't really called on the deal that they made, though Percy made sure he offered prayers to Hades at every meal like he had been ordered. The only time Hades had actually called on him to give him a task was when he asked Percy to keep an eye on Nico after Bianca joined the hunters of Artemis. Great job he did there… but Hades never reclaimed he mom so he guessed he didn't mess up too badly.
He still remembered the words he had said though "If you break any of the rules I just told you or any future rules I may or may not make, without proper reasoning behind it, I will rescind on our deal and reclaim your mother's soul", those words never failed to send a shiver of fear down his spine.
"Hey, Percy," his girlfriend Annabeth shouted from across the arena. "Nico finished the cabin, and wants you there for the unveiling."
Percy sent a strained smile in her direction. "I'll be right there!" he called.
"Well, that's it for today I guess." He said, looking down at the disappointed faces of the kids around him. "Aww come on guys! I know you want a break," he said brightly, hoping to cheer them up. "Last one to the lake is a scallop!" The kids all shouted and ran towards the water. Hopefully, Chiron wouldn't be too mad at him for changing their schedule.
Percy's heart got heavier the closer he got to the new Hades cabin. Maybe Hades was joking, maybe he wouldn't have to leave his dad's cabin… but what if he wasn't... Percy new he'd have to comply if he was ordered to, but it would hurt. He'd miss the grey walls incrusted with seashells, and the little fountain his father had gifted him. He stopped mid-step. What else could he order him to do? He said any rules or orders, those could be anything! But for his mom…
"Percy! Come on! He's not going to wait forever. I want to see what style he chose to go with!" Annabeth said, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him towards the new cabin that was covered in a black veil.
Nico was giving a little speech, but Percy didn't hear a word of it. His ears were ringing, and he was focused on trying to keep his breaths even, squeezing Annabeth's hand like a life line. She looked at him, a question in her eye, but Percy just shrugged it off with a smile.
Then the sheet came down. Percy breathed a sigh of relief. No one was looking at him strangely like he had a claim over his head, and Hades didn't pop up shouting that Percy would be his son's bunk buddy. Everything was ok, for now. With that worry gone, he could finally focus on the cabin.
The cabin was impressive, walls as black as night, with a grand entrance topped with a skull, flaming torches on with side of the door. 'The green flames added a nice touch of color', Percy thought, surprised at how welcoming it looked.
After everyone had looked inside, they began to disperse to their different cabins or activities. Percy and Annabeth had wandered off towards the lake, hands clasped tightly together.
"I thought it looked quite nice, a little spooky perhaps, but for Hades cabin it had a nice look to it," Annabeth said. Then proceeded to talk about the architecture of the building.
"You thought it was 'spooky' looking?" Percy interrupted, swinging their arms lightly in thought. Percy guessed after so long of imagining being forced to live in the underworld, he had made it out to be a lot scarier than it was. So it was a pleasant surprise to see how good the cabin looked.
"You didn't?" she asked, slightly confused. She thought Percy hated it in the underworld, and therefore wouldn't care much for the look of it.
Percy sat and pulled Annabeth down so that she was sitting next to him on the grass by the water. "No. Actually, I thought it looked nice, welcoming…" he said, trailing off in thought. Annabeth didn't remember being unconscious in the underworld. She thought they had left his mom there, and Hades in a fit of kindness released her after they had returned Zeus' lightning bolt. Percy knew that he should have told her the truth, but whenever he was about to, he just couldn't… It was private. So long as Hades didn't make him move into his cabin, no one had to know.
"Anyway, you were talking about the construction of the roof, right," Percy said, a small, sad smile played on his face when he realized his distraction plan had worked.
He listened to Annabeth talk for another hour about different things before leading her back to her cabin, kissing her goodnight before wandering back to his. As he passed the Hades cabin, he had the weird urge to go inside. Well, Nico did say he was going back to the underworld tonight. He looked around to make sure he was the only one outside before cautiously walking towards the black building, slightly ominous in appearance now that there wasn't any sunlight.
Percy slowly began to open the door leading into the one place was both scared and excited to enter. He had the door open about a foot when his courage began to fail him. 'Maybe I should just go back' he thought. Mind finally made up, Percy turned to leave when a hand reached out of the darkness and pulled him inside.
Constructive criticism is welcome.