Category: Percy Jackson & the Olympians
Rating: M
Couples: hints of Official Couples.
Warnings: AU, Blood (read: torture)
Chapter: 9
Copyright: Characters & places © By Rick Riordan, Plot & OC´s © by me
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"You succeeded." Gaia had not moved from the chair we had last seen her on. I had given her the necklace. "I must say it comes as a surprise to me."
"Oceanus did not want his granddaughter by Metis to suffer like this." Thalia said. Her chest was heaving in the aftermath of our mad dash to the room, but she looked collected as always.
"He loved her dearly." Gaia rose from the chair. "A deal is a deal. You are free to take them. But you better tell Zeus that this is his last chance. Nothing will change my mind a second time."
A part of a wall faded away as she pointed at it. "Farewell, heroes."
"You're leaving?" I asked.
"I see no need to stay." She answered, smiling at me. "You have done well, Perseus, and while it is a fatal flaw, your personal loyalty saved the day. Or rather, saved War."
She fell apart. And no, this time it is not something figuratively, but she literally fell apart into dust. Certainly beat the whole look-at-me-and-burn-approach of the other gods and titans.
"Let's get them and leave before she changes her mind." Nico suggested and walked into the room she had opened. "Oh, Di Immortalis…"
The curse didn't exactly cover it. I was ready to lose my lunch, so let's not go into describing what we saw in that room. Just believe me when I say that they looked terrible. I guess that going overboard on the torture is easy when your target can't die.
I was just glad Annabeth wasn't here right now. She wouldn't have survived seeing her mother like this. Di Immortalis, indeed…
"How do we get them back to Olympus?" Nico asked, having grown pale in the course of a few seconds. "No amount of Ambrosia or Nectar is going to fix THAT." He couldn't find the words to describe the scene and frankly, I couldn't blame him for that.
I glanced to my other side, where Thalia was pretty much frozen. They were her siblings, so I couldn't blame her for that either. But that made it three people we'd have to get back to Olympus somehow. Gaia couldn't have helped us with that one, could she?
"Can't you summon a chariot driven by the dead?" I suddenly realized.
But he shook his head sadly. "Only the horses and the riders, not the chariot itself. We'd need a god to get the chariot."
"Your father." Thalia spoke, surprising us both. To be honest, I had expected her to remain silent for a while. "We can have him summon a chariot."
"What? How?" Then I realized what she meant. "The vial! He said you could summon him with that!"
Nico gasped, digging into the pockets of his jacket. He still had it, thank the gods. With all that falling around, not to mention swimming across the ocean, that had to be a small miracle.
"Father, we need your aid." He whispered, before breaking it. The shards of ice grew darker and by the time they hit the floor had turned into shadows. In seconds those very same shadows had grown, forming a vaguely humanoid shape. When they fell away Hades himself was indeed standing before us, black armor hugging his frame.
He made to say something to Nico, but saw Athena and Ares. I believe that moment was the first time I actually saw my uncle shocked beyond words. "Great mother above…" He breathed, thrusting his helmet at his son while all but running to the two other gods in the room.
"Athena, Ares?" He gave them the once-over, before turning to us. "I take it you need my help to get them out of here?"
"Yes." Nico answered his father. "We cannot do it alone."
"That much is obvious." He rose again. "I do not sense Gaia anywhere."
"She's gone." I told him, watching as he suddenly started to incinerate some of the furniture. Black flames burned away a big circle in the center of the room, destroying even any metal there had been.
"I guess the story can wait." He frowned. "Until we got those two to Apollo. Move a bit."
The earth shook, my father's amulet burning on my skin. Out of the ground came a chariot I had only seen once before: the one he had ridden into battle against Kronos. The moment it had fully arrived it changed forms, becoming one of those hearses, those cars with which coffins were transported. I guess that made sense for a god of the dead.
"I'm warning you though. Persephone says I drive like I want people to permanently join me." He opened the back, shadows moving to envelop the two unconscious gods.
