Percy Jackson
Today's the day. The day we close the Doors of Death or die trying.
Sorry, that sounds overly dramatic. I do my best not to act like Zeus, mainly because he's a complete jerk that holds regular votes on my life.
I put on a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and an old pair of runners. I quickly brush my teeth- yes, before a meal, get over it- and head to the girls' section of the ship. I knock on Annabeth's door, knowing that she'll already be up and 'mentally preparing' herself for the upcoming fight. Whatever that means.
Sure enough, Annabeth opens her door almost immediately and sits back down on her bed without greeting me. She is already dressed and unlike me, looks wide awake.
It's been two weeks since we lost Calypso and Leo, and today is the day we get them back. Hazel (with much prompt) confirmed that they are both alive, though she also told us that Leo has been very close to death a few times. Not very reassuring but it took us a long time to get even that from Hazel.
"Tyson sent you this," Annabeth says, handing me a familiar looking watch.
I grin and quickly put it on. I hold my wrist away from my body and slap the button. It immediately expands into a beautifully made shield with pictures not only depicting scenes from the Sea of Monsters but any other times Tyson has seen me fight.
"Man, I missed this thing," I grin at Annabeth. "Why and how'd he send it to you, though?"
"I think he asked Poseidon to send it, and your father probably realised that you'd never find it if he put it in your room. It's a complete pigsty. You really need to clean it."
"If we survive today, I'll consider it," I compromise.
"If we survive today, we've still got two more major battle to fight. This will be a warm up act compared to the Giants and Gaia."
"If we survive today, we've got the rest of the battles in our lives to fight," I correct. "I'll clean out my room if you help me."
"We're demigods," Annabeth agrees. "You've got a deal."
I press down on the back centre of my shield and it transforms back into a watch.
"Wanna head to breakfast?" I ask. "Piper and Hazel should be up. Piper said they were making pancakes."
Annabeth frowns slightly. "Shouldn't we be having something nutritious before a big battle like this?"
I hold up my hands. "If I'm dying today, I want to go out on a full stomach."
Annabeth rolls her eyes. "Maybe when we get Calypso back, we'll finally get some fresh food."
"Whk cares? Let's go," I whine, dragging her up by the hand.
Annabeth laughs. "Let me get my shield first."
"Annabeth, this is breakfast, not war," I protest.
Annabeth's dagger is-of course- already strapped to her belt, her shoes are already on and her bed is already made. She grabs a plate size shield and allows me to drag her out of the room. It's the same shield she used in the Titan War. The one that Beckendorf made before he...died.
We make our way towards the dining room. As we pass the boys corridor, I take special care to kick Jason and Frank's doors 'by accident', waking them up in the process. Because I'm not a complete idiot, I choose not to kick Zoé's door too.
When we enter the dining room, Piper and Hazel are already placing plates down with pancakes. Hazel disappears quickly and returns with maple syrup and glasses. She quickly exits again and brings back a large bottle of juice. Piper brings out seven sets of cutlery and carefully sets every place at the table.
"Morning," Piper greets us cheerfully.
"Morning," Annabeth replies.
"Thanks for not letting us starve to death," I add.
"Are Frank and Jason awake yet?" Piper asks.
"Jason and Frank are up," I assure her.
We all know by now that it is not a good idea to wake Zoé. She will get up in her own time, but is always ready by 8:00.
I pull out Annabeth's chair for her and she gives a small laugh and sits down. I then plop myself down in my own seat and grab the juice. I pour a glass for Annabeth first before filling my glass as well.
I know, I know. I'm such a gentleman.
I grab the maple syrup and pour an excessive amount onto my pancakes.
Annabeth quickly grabs my wrist. "Percy that's enough maple syrup. You're drowning your pancakes."
"I'm the son of Poseidon," I protest. "I can't drown, and neither can my pancakes."
Jason and Frank come in and sit down at their spots. Then Piper and Hazel. And soon Zoé. The mood intensifies. Aside from forced small talk, we eat in complete silence. At the end of the meal, we clear the table and stand in tense silence.
"Ten minutes," Annabeth says, and we disperse.
Ten minutes to prepare for the fight. Ten minutes to grab your weapons and any other things. Ten minutes until we descend upon the House of Hades and get Calypso and Leo back.
The entrance to the House of Hades is majestic, awe-inspiring and downright creepy. It's built into the side of a steep hill. There are no doors, just a giant obsidian archway. Human skulls line the edges of the entranceway. The way the entrance is angled, no sunlight streams in. There's a pitch black opening.
"Anyone bring a torch?" Piper asks nervously.
Annabeth starts to sling off her backpack but Hazel stops her. "Wait."
She takes a few steps into the cave-like entrance. "Stay here."
When Hazel is completely submerged in the darkness I take an automatic step forward, just to be pulled back by Annabeth. Hazel reappears holding an old-fashioned goblet.
We crowd around her and examine the green liquid in it. I reach towards it and Hazel brings the goblet closer to her body.
"I wouldn't," Hazel says without looking at me. "It's poison. You won't be able to eat with your hands for a week without danger of poisoning yourself."
This is the most Hazel has spoken since that storm. We still don't know what happened when she rode off with Arion. I've even asked the horse, but something messed with his interpretation of what happened. He doesn't remember a thing.
"If it's poison, then why have we got it?" Frank asks.
"We have to drink it," Annabeth says. "I read about it. It connects us to the world of the dead and allows us to enter the House of Hades."
"Do you know what poison is, Annabeth?" I ask. "Because apparently it's not so good for your health."
"You're right," Annabeth nods. "The question is, how do we drink it without dying?"
Personally, I'm all for not drinking the poison.
"Piper?" I say suddenly, getting all eyes on me. "What was that thing you did with the water in that well? Poured nectar into it?"
"Good idea, Percy," Piper says. "What he's saying is that by adding nectar to the poison, it should dilute it enough not to kill us."
"Hazel?" Annabeth asks. "Will that work?"
Hazel nods. "Don't add too much or its effects won't work."
I'm not sure which effects she is talking about. The entry-into-the-House-of-Hades effect or the putting-us-all-in-graves effect.
Annabeth takes a metal flask of nectar from her backpack and measures the amount in the lid. She carefully drizzles it into the goblet of poison, taking care not to splash it.
"Who wants to go first?" I ask.
Everyone starts protesting loudly and annoyance flashes briefly in Hazel's eyes. She turns away, brings the goblet to her lips and has the first sip.
"Hazel!" I yelp in panic.
Everyone looks at me and I start to calm down when Hazel doesn't drop
dead.
"Did no one else see her drink the poison?" I ask, gesturing to Hazel.
There's a short silence as everyone realises what has just happened. A small smirk forms on Zoé's face and she shakes her head before taking the goblet from Hazel. She quickly drinks a small quantity of the poison and grimaces.
Frank takes it next, and we pass it along until none is left. I turn away to cough when it's my turn and when I look back, the cave is suddenly lit dimly.
I can see that the cave is small, but there is a smaller tunnel leading off in the back wall. That's our destination. We head towards the back of the cave and towards the tunnel. I take a step towards the tunnel but Hazel stops me.
"I'll go first," she says quietly. "The floor is unstable, I can guide you through there without dying."
No one raises any objections and Hazel confidently but slowly leads us through the tunnel. I go directly after her and Frank follows me closely. I take care to pay attention to Hazel's every movement and only step where she does.
We turn a corner and the tunnel abruptly with a giant boulder. The other murmur behind me and I place a hand on Hazel's shoulder. "A cave in?"
Hazel quickly shrugs off my hand. "It's a test."
Hazel places her hand on the boulder and it crumbles to dust. The tunnel shakes and cracks run up the ceiling. I hold my breath but Hazel continues to lead us down the stairs that were behind the boulder. The shaking stops suddenly and the stairway splits into three different routes. Hazel stops and examines each route carefully.
"Hazel?" Frank asks behind me.
Hazel chooses the left route and the stairs become steeping and more winding. At the next intersection, Hazel chooses right without hesitation.
We take so many turns and pass so many intersections that I start to feel dizzy. I'm really glad we have Hazel with us. Finally we reach an archway imbedded with human skulls.
"This is the entrance to the second level of the House of Hades," Hazel says quietly.
Hazel runs her hands over the skulls outlining the doors and I shudder.
Hazel steps into the archway and unsheathes a golden dagger strapped to her side as she walks. The floor is no longer unstable but it's best to keep Hazel at the front so that we don't get lost. This reminds me of Rachel guiding us through the labyrinth.
As we travel the corridors become wider and we no longer have to walk in single file. Annabeth walks with me but Hazel keeps persistently at the front of our group. My nerves are on edge, screaming at me to run, to get out of these tunnels, but I stay directly behind Hazel.
We turn a corner and I hear something whizzing towards us. Before I can do anything, Hazel brings up her dagger in front of her chest and a small dart covered in a green poison is deflected to the ground. Hazel wipes the poison off her dagger on the corner of the wall and continues like nothing happened.
We turn into a giant room with a large chasm cutting it in half. A narrow wooden bridge connects the two sides and Hazel walks across it without hesitation. We all cross without anything bad happening. There are dozens of different routes leading off to my left and right but Hazel makes a beeline for the tunnel at the end of the large room.
"Step exactly where I step," Hazel instructs.
The room suddenly rumbles and shakes. I can hear hundreds of roars from monsters- Cyclopes, earthborn, hellhounds and more.
"Hurry," I urge Hazel, uncapping my sword.
The others draw their weapons behind me and Hazel switches her dagger for her sword as she picks up pace. I'm nearly stepping on her heels in my haste but we make it to the door safely. I turn around only to find Frank behind me and the other struggling to get past the waves of monsters and to us.
"We've got to help them," I say immediately.
"You two go on," Frank suddenly urges us. "I'll help them, you two need to get to the Doors."
Hazel hesitates just as I spot a wave of boulders flying towards us.
"Heads up!" I shout, tackling Hazel down.
When I stand back up, Frank is gone and so are the rest of our friends. We are blocked inside the tunnel, Hazel and I. Hazel stares at the boulders separating us from our friends uncomprehendingly.
"Let's go," I tell Hazel, standing up.
Hazel's hand brushes at her eyes briefly and she stands quickly, turning around and heading down the tunnel without another word.
-SAW