Here's the other half of the escape...sorry I dont update more I'm just such a perfectionist. Btw accept the slight deviation from official greek myth in places I made certain changes to suit my needs more. Your only going to notice if you know your myths anyway but if you do notice its not a mistake.

Chapter 10

Percy's POV

As the day wore on my arms started to feel like lead. I kept using my shield to block and my sword arm to stab in an almost mechanical motion; I was not thinking about what I was doing I just let my arms act on their own accord. I occasionally looked down at the bodies of the fallen soldiers and was surprised when no emotion came. I should be bothered about killing these men with such brutality but I wasn't. Another man came forward, carrying a mace and a sporting a short black beard and moustache. He looked like one of those people you would see playing in a rock band at some bar. His mace was blocked by my shield and I used its weight to crash into his body before stepping back (I didn't want to become separated.

The only thing keeping us alive was our organisation. He came forward again, yelling out a battle cry. Stepping to one side just before he came upon me, I knocked him off balance with my shield and as he started to trip over I decapitated him, showering me in crimson blood. Not a single thread of emotion came to me as his head rolled away from his body, the look of terror still upon him. By now my whole body was soaked in the blood over hundreds of fallen men and more were still to come. Slowly our cross formation was edging closer and closer to the main gate. If we stayed where we were we would box ourselves in with the people we kill and trap ourselves. Our only hope was to keep moving. The torrent of soldiers began to slow and I let myself smile in delight. We were now only about ten metres from the closed gate.

"Break formation" I said realising that there was no point in keeping our cross shape anymore. Then something dawned on me. The gate was closed. Shit. Someone needs to get that gate open. We cannot let ourselves be backed up against a corner.

"Annabeth!" I shouted turning to my wife who had just taken down a soldier knife to the chest. He keeled over and she glanced sideways at me.

"What! in case you haven't realised seaweed brain I'm a little busy" she said while slicing the throat of another attacker before punching the next one square in the face. The man was wearing a battle helmet but her shear force crushed it against his skull as he was thrown metres into the air.

"Cover me for a few seconds I need to get that gate open." Backing away from the soldiers Annabeth stood in front of me, being my defence as I turned away from her and concentrated on summoning the energy I needed to bring forth the water out of the ground. My wife worked at a frantic rate cutting through as many soldiers as she could so that I could open the gates. Occasionally one would get through and I would have to cut them down with my blade; Annabeth telling me the instant someone had escaped her but for the most part I was free to do my job. After a few more seconds the ground seemed to shake like an earthquake, tremors thundering across the landscape as if the ground beneath us was alive. My body became more and tense as I tried to draw the water out. Cracks started to appear in front of my and water gushed out through the gaps, spraying high into the air like a water fountain. More and more cracks appeared then, after what felt like an age of waiting, the ground in front of me and exploded in a torrent of violent water. The force of the blast blew the gate apart as if it were made of paper, taking part of the gatehouse with it and smashing through the wall with such force that the bricks simply disintegrated. I could feel my energy dropping, the strength needed to summon this water taking its toll on me. I let the water soak into the earth and disappear; I would have used it to destroy the remaining soldiers but I guessed the effort would have killed me. I feeling my muscles relax I I nearly lost my footing unexpectedly, such was the fatigue I was now suffering.

I turned back and swung my arms towards the now open space that was once a gatehouse.

"Let's move!" I shouted and we ran through the gap, taking the remaining soldiers with us. What was once a dense block of soldiers a thousand strong was now a random jumble of bodies that numbered a hundred or less.

Looking back at my previous path, all I could see was a pile of bodies drenched in blood.

And I still couldn't feel anything.

Annabeths POV

What I could only guess was about half an hour had passed. The carnage had long passed and our pace had slowed down somewhat; we were all exhausted and covered in the blood over hundreds of men, men who were probably only following orders. Still couldn't be helped. In war there are always casualties. I glanced back briefly to what was now just a silluette of a wall, the gaping whole we fought our way through looking faint and ghostly, covered by a thin layer of mist. My whole body felt achy and sore. I hadn't felt this way in years, probably since I was alive. The ironic thing was that we had just completed the easiest part. We still had to leave this place. I leant my head into my husband's shoulder, lost in my own thoughts. I suppose it was too much to ask for peace. There is always a problem to fix, always something ready to go wrong. We had led the best lives we could. All three of them. I suppose it was both a blessing and a curse. Now we are needed again. I could only guess at what had led Zeus to become so insane. Throughout our long walk Calypso had told us stories about the world above. Whole cities reduced to piles of rubble. It was madness. Even if we wanted to we couldn't ignore it. The underworld may escape notice for a while but eventually Zeus would come for that as well. Hades would fight back but inevitably lose. We would lose our home and by that time it would be too late to fight back. We were well and truly backed into a corner.

My mind was cast back to when I was Carmen Poras. Percy was James Crow. We had just left for camp Half Blood using the instructions our satyr guide had given us shortly before he died. I was sobbing as I walked, so saddened by the loss of our guide. He was the only friend I had since birth. After walking for hours we stopped on a shallow by a lake for a water break. James told me to stay on the hill while he went down to the Lake to gather water and to call him if there was any trouble. I just nodded not really paying attention. Fifteen minutes later I heard the sound of movement then his voice coming back up the hill, reassuring me it was only him. It was then he did something very unexpected. I felt his arm rest upon my shoulders and bring me in for a cuddle as he sad himself beside me. I turned my head and saw his eyes bore into me, full of concern. He then spoke my name softly, almost too quiet for me to hear while holding out in his palm a white lily, gesturing me to take it. I felt overwhelmed. It was the nicest gesture anyone had ever given me. I picked up the flower and sniffed it, letting its pure fragrance engulf me for a few seconds. For those few seconds all my troubles seemed to have gone. I then slid the stalk in between a few locks of hair and wore it with me for the entire journey. Without his encouragement I don't think I could have ever made it to camp. I never took it off until the day I died. I even had the Hecate and The Persephone cabin magically immortalise the flower so that it would never break or die. It's probably still in my grave even now I thought.

Looking back at my happy days made me realise how well I had things. Most people only got one life with their soul mate. I had 2. We had achieved things that no-one thought possible. Looking back at that day at the lake reaffirmed everything I knew about our relationship. We were tied to each other no matter what and now we were to fight together again and as terrifying as the prospect of fighting another war was, the truth was that I couldn't wait to be on the front line again. Resting for eternity is ok and all but to be honest it's rather boring after a while. You can do what you want when you want but when everything that you could possible want is so within reach, soon you grow tired of it after a few years and eventually you treat death as more of a retirement home. As bad as the situation was, I was raring to go.

After a while a mountain range came into view and what was a plain barren landscape started to get bumpy. It felt better beneath me feet, the ground feeling less dead and lifeless. Every now and again I saw a tree, some even had golden leaves on them. As we drew closer and closer to the ranges I took time to check around the group to make sure everyone was alright. Looking up from Percy's shoulder I could see that his face was caked in blood, only a few small spots of skin free from congealed blood and grime. He gave me a knowing smile as if to say 'Yeah tell me about it'. I turned my head, still walking to see my daughter walked slightly behind us. She gave me a slight nod and a wry smile as I looked back towards her. Even though I knew she could take care of herself perfectly fine I still felt a pang of worry about the prospect of fighting with her in this war. I could handle the dangers to myself quite alright but the thought of putting her in danger made my stomach knot. Only thing stopping me from sending her back, other than the fact I knew she wouldn't go, was the knowledge that if I did, I would be taking away part of her character. It was in her blood to do this. Quite often I found myself in those emerald eyes. Her demeanour reminded me of myself in so many ways. She was in many ways the best of both me and Percy as she had the steadfast determination that I only thought my husband could have. Slightly to the left of her walked the goddess Calypso, her hood now up, her eyes scanning the route ahead like a hawk, searching for danger. I had never met Calypso before but I had heard she was very beautiful. They were right. Even covered in grime and ruined cloths she still held an unnatural air of beauty and power. She was certainly not someone to be messed with. Looking into those almond eyes I could see a person pondering a hundred questions at once and coming up with an answer to nearly all of them. At first seemed not to notice me, but then she gave a slight nod of recognition and I hastily turned back to look at the path in front.

The mountains were now close in front of us; we were heading for a gap in between two peaks. The muddy ground started to turn into grass and multiple tracks started to spread out in different directions. One headed east, three headed west and two headed straight forward. Seeing this we all stopped and sat down on the grass, stripping water flasks from our belts. I took a gulp of water and sat in silence. After a few minutes the silence was broken.

"Where now?" Percy complained next to me. Calypso looked up; she was crouched on the ground and was absently making pictures in the dirt with her finger and then quickly rubbing them out again.

"I…I don't know. I didn't know anyone came this way. I thought there would only be one path"

"Your kidding right?" Percy took a swig from his flask and put it back on his belt. He then reached out with his hand towards the ground and created a small pool of water in the ground.

"While we've got a little time does anyone else want to clean up a bit. This blood is starting to smell and don't even get me started on the body odour" he said with a smile looking at me. I laughed and gave him a jab on the arm.

"Hey you don't smell so great yourself Seaweed Brain!" I could feel the Artemis in me, telling me which direction to take . I could see in my mind exactly where the path lead and where the best defendable positions were on the route if we were to be attacked. I could even sense how far away we had to walk and how long it would take to get there in our current condition. Walking over to the puddle Percy had created on the ground I was shocked at my own reflection. It took me a few seconds to even realise it was me such my surprise. My face was almost red with blood with small spots of black where the blood had congealed. My dark hair was dishevelled and knotted, strands of hair sticking out in all directions and looking down at my cloths I could see they were torn and, as well as the rest of my body, covered in enemy blood. I really shouldn't have been surprised at my appearance, especially as my family looked just as bad as I did but I was. Reaching into the pool I cupped my hands and brought the fresh water to my face. The cool water felt pleasant against my skin and I took as much time as I could wiping away all the blood and grime that had formed on my face. About halfway in I reached in my pocket and brought out a small vial of shampoo I had smuggled from the house.

"Annabeth is that what I think it is?" I heard Percy's amused voice call behind me. "It is! Ha ha your Aphrodite phase has affected you more than you think". I could feel my cheeks redden in embarrassment as he said it.

"Go to Hades Seaweed Brain!" I replied back at him intended to sound intimidating but he just laughed. Sometimes he can be a right pain; especially when he was right. Ignoring him I washed my hair in silence, untangling my hair and rinsing methodically, all the while lost in thought. I kept trying to imagine how the world must have chance since we left. From what Calypso described it, the planet was barely habitable. What really bothered me is not knowing what had caused Zeus to behave so…evil. I knew he could sometimes be arrogant and misguided and sometimes wars broke out but this wasn't a war this was full scale extermination and from what I was told, he would not stop until all those who opposed him were either dead or on his side. It just didn't make sense. Then again if it did my family and I wouldn't be needed and we would be back on the island by now laying on the beach sipping a glass of wine.

Shoving those thoughts out of my head I got up and cast my thoughts on the path ahead. I had deduced the eastern path was the way to go. Even if I didn't have the advantages of Artemis's tracking skills it was pretty obvious since it was the least worn path, telling me that not many people ventured that way.

"This way" I gestured to the path. Calypso looked at me curiously.

"How did you-?"

"I just do" I cut her off with a smile. As everyone got up I scanned the path looking for dangers. When I was satisfied with my search and found nothing of interest, I started to make my way up the path, followed closely by the rest of the group. Since I was the only one who knew where they were going, they let me lead the way, occasionally stopping to take on water. The further we got down the path, the more signs of life I could find. It was almost as if the closer we got. After a few more hours we finally came to our destination. In front of us was a mountain about the same height as Mont Blanc with a large tunnel going through its centre. Looking into it I could see faint light at the end of the tunnel. It was very long and no-one had ever made it through. Orpheus tried it once but failed and now resided forever in the fields of punishment.

I glanced sideways at Percy and caught his surprised expression.

"Is this-?"

"Yep"

"-Where"

"Yep"

"Shit" he muttered shaking his head. I turned to address the group before we walked in. If things went wrong here we were screwed. No one would rescue us here. I could see everyone was nervous. Skye shifted uncomfortably side to side while Percy absently fiddled with riptide in his hands. Only Calypso looked at easy but then again she had nothing to lose. She was immune to the powers of the tunnel. A thin mist started to form inside the opening, doing nothing to help the nerves rattling in my stomach.

"Whatever you do don't look back. The tunnel will try and trick us. Stay focused and keep moving and you will be fine" I said, keeping my head and eyes focussed on the tunnel. It was time to go. No more waiting.

"Go!" I said and briskly walked into the opening. Well I did; I couldn't look back and check on anyone for fear of the consequence. This route out of the underworld was cursed; anyone who looks back once inside the tunnel is cursed to spend the rest of their days in the underworld with whomever they look upon. I had to keep my eyes straight and silently hope they my family was behind me. I could see shadows moving across the sides of the rocky walls, strange lights giving off silluetes of things that were not there. I could feel the path grow colder with every step I took. Occasionally I thought I could hear muffled whispers ahead of me but I dismissed them as my imagination.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" I heard a scream and was about to whip my head back in panic when I felt someone grab my arm.

"Don't!" Calypsos urgent voice whispered.

"It's just an illusion everyone's fine."

"But how can you-?

"I can still look back remember." I felt my body relax. Of course I was being stupid. "Trust me everyone's fine". I felt her relax her grip on my arm and drop behind me.

"Aaaaaaaah Mom!" I heard Skye panicked screams behind me.

"Keep going!" Calypso's voice came soon after.

Every fibre of by being wanted to bring my body round just to see her face but I knew I couldn't and it was killing me. I felt sick, my legs moving mechanically, just one in front of the other without pause. I couldn't pause for if I did I know I would break resolved and doom myself to eternal punishment. More screams followed me up the tunnel.

"Skye no-one's hurt! Keep going your going to be fine." Calypso's assured voice spoke to my daughter which confused me as I had not heard her speak previous

"Calp-?"

"Everyone here is being manipulated by the tunnel, seeing and hearing things that most scare them. It also cuts everyone off from each other as you can't see or hear anyone else around you. The only reason I can talk to you is because I'm not human. Keep moving. It's only going to get worse"

I hoped the news would comfort me for some reason it didn't. I kept placing each foot in front of the last, hoping that the noises would stop. All I could hear for minutes on end was the screaming pleas from my husband and daughter except they weren't. I knew that and still I could feel bile forming in the back of my throat. I was now what I could only guess was half the way through and I felt drained. I briefly considered going back and forgetting this ridiculous quest but I then remembered why I was doing this and why it was important to do so. I couldn't back out. Not now. The screaming got worse and the shadows in the walls started to spread into the mist, creating horrific 3D shapes and images in my path. At one point I thought a pack of wolves were running at me, the animals bounding at me out of the smoke that spread out before me. I drew my bow and let off one shot but the arrow just pass straight through it, doing nothing but displace a tiny bit of smoke where it touched the image. As the creature jumped at me I ducked but as soon as it became within about a foot of me it exploded into smoke. More and more deathly images flooded my mind, sounds emanating from every corner of the path trying to trick me into faltering for that one split second.

I was now two thirds of my way through the cursed tunnel; I could feel a faint breeze coming from the exit, the air slightly warmer than it was earlier. This feeling gave me renewed hope and determination. Just hang in there not long to go now! My ears were being tortured every few steps, haunting screams and cries for pain following me no matter how fast I walked except they weren't were they. It was just the tunnel taunting me, filling my heart with anguish as I trudged along laughing every time I winced, making me force every step. The once small spot of light at the end of the path was now only a few hundred metres away. I started to double my pace, hearing the heels of my shoes meat dead leaves as they touched the floor, the crunching sound the only thing I could hear for a few seconds.

I had made it. I relief washed through by body for a few seconds before being immediately replaced by panic. Where is everyone? I should be able to hear their footsteps by now I double checked side to side to make sure I hadn't missed them. Before I knew what I was doing I instinctively made to turn around before I felt something tackle me to the floor, the force knocking me into the sunlight, blinding me for a few seconds before a silluette loomed over me, blocking the sun.

"Mother! Are you crazy?" I heard a voice coming from the bundle that had pushed me over. I know that voice. As my eyes focussed themselves, adjusting themselves to the light the outline of my daughters hand reached down and I grabbed it, pulling myself off the ground. Finally able to see where I was I gasped.

All I could see was a sea of fire and rubble. On the ground in front of me I could see an overturned sign covered in ash.

It read Las Vagas.

There you go thanks for reading please review