I hit the solid ground of the Underworld on my back, knocking the wind out of me and loosening my grip on Emerald. She hit the ground next to me, her shoulder cut bleeding once more from the impact of falling into the Underworld. Luke must have been towards my right, but I wasn't sure. All I knew is that my head was killing me.
And we were in trouble.
The ground was shaking beneath me as I struggled to my feet, walls of dark black were rushing over top of me and boxing me in. It was if the rocks were transparent, because I could see Emerald hitting the rocks with her sword, and could hear the clanging of the metal as it hit the rock. Luke seemed to be in the same dilemma as I was, a box similar to mine was behind Emerald, although I could not see inside it.
"Whoever in Hades is doing this, show you're flipping face!" Emerald yelled as she swung her Celestial Bronze sword at the rocks that confined me. I watched in surprise as it shattered on impact. Pieces of Celestial bronze went flying, and I winced inwardly as a piece hit Emerald in the leg, making her collapse, her catching herself with her fists. I slumped against the wall of the stone in defeat, knowing if Emerald couldn't break the rocks with anything I couldn't either. I couldn't even feel the rocks using my affinity for moving them. It was as if the walls didn't exist.
I looked around the cavern we were in. We were in some sort of courthouse filled with obsidian furniture and three dark black thrones at the front. "Emerald," I yelled urgently as she turned her head towards me. Her eyes were wide and I could see she was crying. She seemed as if she was going to either lay down and sob, or go crazy and rip things to shreds. "Emerald, we're in the Judgment Pavilion, so it's King-"
"Minos." A voice boomed from the front of the Pavilion. "King Minos is my name, and I was who brought you here, Alexandra. Aren't you glad to be in my realm?"
"This is Lord Hades' realm." Alexandra/Emerald said as I looked at her in shock. I'll be honest, knowing her name was Alexandra kind of made her less… scary. It made her seem like a normal demi-god and not an agent of the gods. "And I'll kindly ask you once to let my friends go."
She made herself stand up, the tears still glistening on her cheeks as she threw her hair back into a loose ponytail while watching Minos. Her sword hilt laid on the ground, a small piece of Celestial Bronze still attached to it. Her bag was about twenty feet in front of her where the rest of her weapons were held, King Minos must have noticed that she was unarmed and hurt because he laughed.
"Alexandra, you have the smell of Death on you. You've killed many monsters and saved many. In your opinion of everything you've seen in your life, would you honestly think I'd let you guys scurry free?" He asked with a sneer. "Answer me, Daughter of Nike, pawn of the gods."
"Fine." She said as she put her sunglasses over her eyes and took a step forward. She walked with an obvious limp, and she was holding her shoulder with her hand. "No, I did not expect you to let us go free, but I've learned it never is hurtful to ask. The prophecy says we have to defeat you, and by the way you've controlled it, it's obvious that Gaea has hired you to kill me by offering you the Underworld and probably revenge on Daedalus. You're probably supposed to hand over Luke for them to kill him, and keep Nico to yourself to torture." Minos looked about ready to kill, which frightened me. Alexandra/Emerald looked so vulnerable, her left leg dripping blood as was her shoulder. Her weight was all on her right leg to try to help the one that was injured.
Minos raised his hand and thrust it towards her, and a black rock came spiraling towards her. She stood there as straight as she could and right before it hit her, raised her hand and forced it to stop. "What?" She asked as she faced him, the rock levitating in midair. "Can't face me hand to hand?"
Minos smirked while he looked down at her. "No one told me you could use magic, Alexandra. I bet if you joined Gaea, she'd let you and your friends survive."
I watched as Alexandra spat blood on the ground. "I will never go over to Gaea, and you need to be prepared to die." She yelled back at him as she thrust the rock back at King Minos. It went towards him at an alarming speed which made him have to jump out of the way. The two of them played a sort of ping pong with the rock, knocking it back and forth at each other, neither of them getting the upper hand. Every time Alexandra forced the rock back at Minos she took a step forward, as if she was trying to reach her bag. Finally, once she was a step away she dived flat to the floor as the rocked passed over her, crashing into the wall behind her. She opened the box of throwing knives, tossing them in the air and making them stay.
She glared at Minos as she raised her hand. "Any last words?" She asked bitterly as she forced them at King Minos. She watched the first one go through his chest, then turned to face Luke and I. I watched from the inside as the walls melted because of King Minos dying once more.
Alexandra turned to me and took off her sunglasses, staring at me with her violent emerald eyes. She opened her mouth as if to say something, closed her eyes, and collapsed to the floor.