AN: I write this one in memory of a great man who passed away yesterday. Mr. Robin Williams, you will be missed. From the good, to the bad, you're one of my favorite actors/comedians and I will miss you.
Reading The Ever Twisting Winds: The Lightning Thief
Ch 12
"I'll take over, Demeter," said Hermes with a grin, taking the book from his aunt eagerly and swiftly. "Chapter twelve."
Andi's first feeling on the Fields of Asphodel was that of pity.
It felt like a gigantic field that housed a multi-tragic funeral or something. People would wonder about, murmuring to one another as the dead atmosphere echoed to near nothing as all you could hear was shuffling steps on barely muted feet. The dead would come up to you and try to say something, but she couldn't understand them at all as you could barely see their faces as they shimmered. The dead were angry and saddened she noted, as their mute voice could say nothing as they moved on, just wondering aimlessly. The thick warm moist air surrounded the group as they walked through the black trees - Grover told her they were poplars - grew in clumps here and there.
"Persephone's doing no doubt," said Demeter, a scowl as she glared at her brother.
"She felt it was too dreary and attempted to lighten it up," said Hades. "I hate to say it, but I think she made it worse."
"You..!"
"Oh grow some trees about it, why don't you?"
The cavern ceiling was so high above with wickedly sharp stalactites that gave a faint gray glow. Fallen ones dotted around the fields that impaled themselves in the black grass. Good thing the ghosts were dead, no need to worry about those large things hitting them.
"Unless you give Charon a couple of drachmas," said Percy, getting a few chuckles from the others.
Annabeth, Grover, Andi, and Percy tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls while they crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:
JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION
Welcome, Newly Deceased!
"Well at least it's cheery," said Poseidon with a smile.
"Persephone's idea," said Hades flatly.
"I could've guessed that," said Zeus. He smirked. "You're far too much of a downer."
Poseidon chuckled and Hades mock laughed at the joke.
Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.
To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas. Even from far away, one could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. Andi could make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top.
Zeus scowled at the recollection of that mortal.
"Persephone likes watching him the most," said Hades with a chuckle. "Like a never-ending slapstick."
"Want me to send down a joke riff track?" Apollo asked.
"Perhaps around the holidays..." Hades said, scratching his chin.
She wondered what Death Eaters were in there?
"Every single dead one, no doubt," said Hades.
Without doubt their name offended her uncle, so it must be terrible.
"I was actually a bit amused by it," said Hades. "Thanatos was the one with the issue."
"I know!" Apollo said with a groan. "All that hate mail he sent, encouraging me to smite her or something. No way! Rowling was genius."
And a part of her was satisfied by that thought.
She was considering asking about the whole Tom Riddle situation also. Seriously, that one slipped through the cracks big time.
"Indeed," said Hades with a frown. "Probably through Hecate's meddling. She and I have been at odds over whether who's jurisdiction the dark mystics striving for immortality fall under."
The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls - a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld.
"Ah, so we finally see the highest goal," said Hades with a smirk. Truly his wife's pride and joy, it was a bit of a hassle keeping such a positive place untouched by his own gothic designs.
Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. She could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.
"Most likely the preparation to watch some reruns of the early nineteen century's Olympics," said Hades with a chuckle. "I think last I checked in they had been arguing over a match between Germany and the US, before the Second War."
And in an instant she knew what that place was.
"Iraq?" Ares asked.
"Nah, it's Miami," said Apollo with a grin.
"It's most likely Dubai...which I have been keeping track of once my damn service is over," said Dionysus.
"The three of you are buffoons," said Athena dryly.
Elysium.
"Darn!" Apollo said, snapping his fingers while his two brothers shrugged.
In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium.
"I stand corrected, the ultimate goal is getting those three strikes," said Hades.
Immediately, the raven-haired demigods knew that was where they wanted to go when they died.
"Good luck," said Hades to his nephews, getting a gulp from both of them.
"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said with a soft smile. "That's the place for heroes."
"My mum's in there. My step-dad, too." Andi said with assurance
"Considering how she died, that is a very strong possibility," said Hades with a nod. Aphrodite smirked along with him.
, the group could see the longing in her eyes, like she wanted to just walk right in there and see her deceased mother and step-dad.
"As much as I like this niece, I cannot allow that," said Hades. He ignored the glare Aphrodite gave him. Rules were rules after all.
Annabeth just grabbed her hand gently, showing that she was there for her.
And Andi was grateful for that, family always made her emotional.
"Same here," said Thalia. That was the only reason she got emotional. And even then, it was usually anger.
But, Elysium seemed so small, the Fields of Punishment and Asphodel were so much bigger. Did little good really exist in the world?
"Considering how humanity can be and since they were created by our kin..." Hephaestus trailed off at his father's look.
It was disheartening to be honest.
They left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colors faded from their clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.
After a few miles of walking, they began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark bat-like creatures: the Furies.
"Oh joy," said Percy dryly. He remembered what was coming next, and quite frankly, he was not looking forward to it.
"What?" Frank asked.
"You'll see," said Percy as he tightened his arm around Annabeth's shoulders, her hand reaching up to grab his reassuringly.
Seems some monsters were eager for round two.
"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.
"We'll be okay." Percy tried to sound confident.
Andi smirked. "Without doubt."
"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested quickly. "Like, Elysium, for instance..."
"Like you'd even be able to get in there, foolish goat," said Hades.
"Grover should be allowed in," said Demeter.
"Like you would know. You don't even care to learn about your daughter's job," said Hades with a frown.
"She should be focusing on plants!"
"She's an excellent queen and you choose to make her into a gardener!"
"Enough!" Zeus said, stopping the two before another quarrel could begin. "I thought I settled this millennia ago!"
"Exactly," said Hades with a frown. "You thought your decree would keep her happy, well guess what? She isn't." He looked back at his sister/mother-in-law. "Persephone is old enough to make her own decisions!"
"This choice was forced upon her!" Demeter said with a scowl.
"You do know that out of the three of us, I happen to have the happiest marriage," said Hades smugly.
"Would you both knock it off?" Hera asked, irked at the reminder. Poseidon scowled while Zeus' eyes narrowed into small balls of electricity. Hera glared at the oldest son of the Crooked One. "You are not loyal, Hades."
"I happen to get lonely," said Hades with a frown. "I don't seek out conquests to sate my lust or clear sighted mortals for the hell of it."
"Hades," said Poseidon warningly.
"All of you, enough!" Hestia said, commanding silence from her younger siblings as the area heated up to the point that even Hephaestus was sweating. The five of them clammed up and Apollo ducked behind his throne. He'd only seen Hestia this mad when he was courting her and she got into a fight with Helios. Hestia huffed. "Act like children again and I will treat each and every one of you as such. King or not."
That certainly got Zeus to shut his opening mouth.
"...I think I have a new hero," said Thalia under her breath, the other demigoddesses nodding in agreement. It got the tension in the room to vanish as Artemis pouted at her lieutenant while Hestia flushed lightly.
The lightning girl slightly liked this idea, but kept it to herself.
"Come on, goat boy." Annabeth grabbed his arm.
Grover yelped. His sneakers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth. He landed flat on his back in the grass.
"And here we go," said Percy with a groan. He looked over the couch at his father. "This is it."
"Is it?" Poseidon asked, humming. His two brothers were still silent, Hestia's threat hanging over their heads.
"Grover," Annabeth chided. "Stop messing around."
"But I didn't -"
He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from them.
"Where's he going in such a hurry?" Leo asked.
"Not now, Leo," said Jason, getting a bad feeling in his gut.
"Grover!" Andi said in distress for her favorite goat boy.
"Maia!" he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"
Percy got over being stunned and made a grab for Grover's hand, but was too late. Grover was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled as the demigods quickly gave chase.
Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"
It was a smart idea, but not as easy when your shoes are pulling you along feet first at full speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces.
"That's got to suck," said Apollo. He had climbed back into his throne after he was sure the anger Hestia was radiating had diminished.
"That's what you get for not doing your crunches, goat boy," said Ares with a smirk.
They kept after him, trying to keep him in sight as he ripped between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance.
Percy was sure Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades' palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.
"Enchantments..." Hades eyes widened and he put a hand on his head. "In my own domain...my domain! The humiliation."
"Well, Hecate was feeling unappreciated," said Hestia, trying to cheer her brother up. "Maybe she purposely kept that from you?"
"...That is possible. But still..."
"Oh don't brood. We get enough from Poseidon," said Zeus with a groan. Poseidon frowned at the jab, unknowingly beginning to brood over whether or not he brooded too much.
The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed. The demigods had to sprint to keep up, Andi ahead of the two as she tried to get to the satyr. The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and then they had entered some kind of side tunnel. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.
"Grover!" Percy yelled, voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"
"What?" he yelled back.
He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.
"That has to hurt," said Piper, referring to Grover going down the rocks on his back.
"He's got Juniper to kiss his boo-boos better," said Leo, waving off her concern.
The tunnel got darker and colder. It smelled evil down here. It made your hair stand on ends as it felt like you were entering a den of deranged murderers.
"That's not wrong," said Zeus with a scowl. His siblings had copied him, save for Hestia, who had an unpleasant frown on her face.
Then Andi and Percy saw what was ahead of them, stopping dead in their tracks.
The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.
Grover was sliding straight toward the edge.
"...So had we believed him..." Poseidon began, only for his sister to cut him off with a glare.
"Now isn't the time, Poseidon," said Hestia.
"Sorry, Hestia."
"Come on, guys!" Annabeth yelled, tugging at their wrists.
"But that's -" Percy muttered with wide eyes.
"I know!" she shouted. "The place you described in your dreams! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him." That shook the kids of the big three as they started the chase once more.
Grover was yelling, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn't look like they would get to him in time.
What saved him were his hooves.
"Saved by the hoof," said Leo. "Not many can claim that."
The flying sneakers had always been a loose fit on him, and finally Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor.
He was ten feet from the edge of the pit when the kids caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around them angrily and tried to kick them before Andi blasted it with her static, sending it injured wing down the chasm to join its twin.
Apollo made the sound of an airplane in a dive, letting it die off before making a small faint crash sound. He got a few snickers for his efforts and felt it was a job well done since Artemis had a barely noticeable smile.
They all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. To Percy, his limbs felt like lead, his backpack seemed heavier, as if somebody had filled it with bricks.
"Cue the second enchanted item in my domain," said Hades with a frown, upset with himself for missing that.
Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified.
"I don't know how..." the goat panted. "I didn't..."
"Wait," Percy said, straining his ears. "Listen."
They all heard something - a deep whisper in the darkness.
Another few seconds, and Annabeth said, "Percy, this place -"
"Shh." Percy stood.
"We need to leave." Andi said, standing up, glaring at the pit darkly.
The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below them. Coming from the pit.
"...Anyone else imagining the chopped up mouth of You-Know-Who moving its lips?" Apollo asked, getting a few snorts from his father, uncles and aunts. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
Grover sat up. "Wh-what's that noise?"
Annabeth heard it too, now, her eyes widened. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus." Percy uncapped Anaklusmos.
The bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming its chant.
"Recalling something that pierced his flesh," said Poseidon with a smirk.
You could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words, older even than Greek. As if...
"Magic," Percy said, his sea green eyes wide.
"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said, gulping at the old words.
"Kronos."
As soon as Andi murmured that name, the chanting stopped. The questers felt ice fill their veins, the air leaving them. Grover was pawing for air, his eyes in a deranged panic while Annabeth was visible shaking, her hand clamped on her necklace, praying in ancient Greek quickly and in sets of three. Percy's sword arm was shaking as he used his free hand to hold his wrist in place while he gulped with fear crawling into him.
But it was Andi who reacted once the chanting started anew, even faster, stronger, deeper, throatier, and hungrier.
"Who else got goosebumps?" Leo asked. Every demigod raised their hand, even the Romans. "Good, thought it was just me."
Her eyes were dilated to the point they were beady as if she was living that nightmare with blood, death, destruction, and she herself at the top of it all. Like she had caused it.
She screamed once more, her bow in her hand as the blue veins pulsing like searchlights in the dark area and she chanted a spell, trying to shout over the chanting from the pit.
"Quinquagintaspiritus fulgoris. Coèuntes sagittent inimicum meam. Sagitta Magica. Convergentiafulgoris!"- (Fifty one spirits of lightning. Come together and strike mine enemy. Magic Arrows. Convergence of lightning!)
"Shame we can't do that," said Apollo with a frown, his twin nodding in agreement.
"Shut up!" she screamed at the pit and instead of a scattered shot like before, the spell released a bulking beam of yellow lightning and blue static with a thunderclap echoing all around them.
The lightning blast lit the pit going down, but they never heard it hit anything.
The voice stopped, but it was a beat of a second a cruel laugh could be heard as the chanting came back fiercer.
"She amused him," said Zeus in disbelief. Poseidon's son's sword made him pause, but his daughter's lightning spell amused him? Zeus pouted. So unfair.
"Andi, we need to leave, now!" Annabeth shouted in a panic as she started to drag Grover with Percy.
Breathing in frantic breaths the daughter of Zeus nodded and ran after them as they started to go back up the tunnel.
Percy felt his legs weren't moving fast enough, the backpack was weighing him down. The voice got louder and angrier behind them, and they broke into a run.
Not a moment too soon.
The demigods let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.
A cold blast of wind pulled at their backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. For a terrifying moment, Percy lost ground, his feet slipping in the gravel. If they'd been any closer to the edge, they would've been sucked in.
Struggling forward, they finally reached the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel. The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel. Something was not happy that they'd gotten away.
"What was that?" Grover panted, when the group collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. "One of Hades' pets?"
"Ignorant fool," said Hades with a snarl. "I don't even care if he doesn't have a soul. I'll get a hold of Underwood somehow."
He would have continued if not for Hestia's polite throat clearing. Remembering that he was still on thin ice, Hades clammed up.
he suggested, not wanting to even think it was what the raven haired girl said.
"We're screwed, we are screwed." Andi muttered as her bow changed back to its keychain, "I-I thought he wasn't, isn't he supposed to be-" she turned to Annabeth who would know more about this kind of situation.
But the child of wisdom was in too far a panic to even think about it, too scared to even agree with the notion that Andi was making.
And that was terrifying enough for Percy himself.
"Yeah, you too worried to think is scary," said Percy, rubbing his girlfriend's arm as she shuddered at the memory of that event.
"I was thinking," said Annabeth. "Just not planning."
Percy capped his sword, putting the pen back in his pocket. "Let's keep going." He said, turning to Grover. "Can you walk?"
He swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway."
"I still can't believe your son used those shoes," said Aphrodite to Hermes. "What a waste."
"I was never a good role model," said Hermes in Luke's defense.
"Nor a good teacher," said Athena, getting a frown from her half-brother. "It should have been obvious that the shoes wouldn't work for Percy Jackson, considering Zeus and Poseidon's agreement on their children in the other's domain. Without a sacrifice of some sort, Zeus would've blasted him out of the sky. Luke was not the brightest of your children, merely an excellent swordsman and an adequate thief."
"...He stole the Lightning Bolt!" Hermes said. He shrunk a bit under his father's glare for the reminder.
"My point exactly," said Athena. "Master thieves are not foolish enough to try to steal something that dangerous, even if it was to cause a war. They favor their own lives far too much."
Hermes begrudgingly conceded to that and returned his attention to the book.
Grover tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly as the rest of the group. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful.
"Most notably old," said Poseidon, getting a few chuckles from the room.
Was, was Andi right? Was that really their…no, no, just keep going, he told himself as he sighed in relief with his back towards the pit now and they headed towards the palace of Hades.
The Furies circled the parapets, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.
Up close, the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times - an atomic bomb exploding over a city,
"Oh yeah..." Ares groaned.
"Dude, come on," said Apollo. Even he wasn't that perverse.
"I've said it before, I'll say it again: You've got your kinks, and I've got mine."
"So what, does that mean Aphrodite drops nukes on you in bed?" Dionysus asked with a smirk. "What's the side effect of that? Have you successfully made the first godly STD?"
"Oh! Oh! If you have can I see it?" Apollo asked, his medicinal mind kicking into high gear at the thought of a new challenge.
"We have not! And Apollo, that's disgusting!" Aphrodite said with a frown.
"Doctor mind, Dite. And don't say you don't love it because if I remember correctly, sorry in advance Heph, you happened to love how I knew where and what to touch."
"I already knew about it," said Hephaestus, not really caring since it was a long time ago.
Ares scowled and glared daggers at his half-brother while Aphrodite's eyes glazed over slightly in memory.
"That was a good night," she said.
"DITE!" Ares said, enraged. Hephaestus smirked at his half-brother, who nodded back. Apollo loved to get victories over Ares' almost as much as the smith did.
a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls - but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. Like some deranged prophecies that had come true.
"Meh," said Hades, waving his hand in an iffy motion.
Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden you'd ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight.
"Persephone's garden," said Hades, a small smile at his wife's creations. Demeter, Nico and Hazel begrudgingly admitted it was well done.
Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as a fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party guests were Medusa's garden statues - petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs - all smiling grotesquely.
"...Dark," said Nico.
"Well they were dead and I wasn't going to punish them," said Hades with a frown at the looks he got. As the looks continued, he rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright. Persephone convinced me that she needed the garden gnomes, happy?"
"Not really," said the room with a murmur.
In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. "The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said. "Keep walking."
Suddenly, a bubble of fresh air was around them, Andi at the front, her arms out as they passed the trees. It was then Percy remembered the story of Persephone. One bite of Underworld food, and they would never be able to leave.
Demeter glared silently at her brother, who ignored it lest he get into yet another argument.
Andi was keeping the scent out for them thank goodness, so they weren't tempted to eat one.
They walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above. Never have to worry about rain down here it seems.
Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear.
"You're welcome," said Ares, since it was because of his domain that militaries even existed.
"You be quiet," said Hades with a scowl. "You cause most of my headaches."
"I know, isn't it wonderful?"
"No."
Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. None of them bothered the questers, but their hollow eye sockets followed them as they walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end.
Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at them, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.
"You don't think that might be a bit much?" Hermes asked, looking up from the book.
"Do you?" Hades asked sincerely. "Considering my past, I no doubt made more enemies than these two combined."
"He's got a point," said Poseidon, Zeus nodding in agreement.
"You know," Grover mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."
"My worst foes," said Hades dryly, glaring at his currently reading nephew.
"So, you're not going to relieve those guys then? Damn," said Hermes with a frown.
Percy backpack weighed a ton now and he couldn't figure out why. He wanted to check what had somehow secretly jumped in there, but this wasn't the time.
"Wasn't it?" Leo asked flatly.
"I was psyching myself up," said Percy.
"Why? You're only meeting the God of the Underworld, lord of the dead and all around stereotypical evil incarnate, um, no offense, Lord Hades," said Leo, catching his last words.
"Meh, rep sucks anyway. Nothing you could say changes it," said Hades, shrugging.
"Well, guys," said Percy. "I suppose we should ... knock?"
A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside.
"I guess that means entrez-vous," Annabeth mumbled with a shaky breath to calm her nerves.
The room inside looked just like in Percy's dream, except this time the throne of Hades was occupied.
He was the third god Percy and Andi had met, but the first who really struck them as godlike.
"Well, I feel insulted," said Dionysus with a frown. "Thanks, Peter."
"Yeah, same here." Ares growled.
"Sorry Mr. D." Percy said, though it sound practiced.
"And...?" Ares said.
"And what?" Percy asked.
"...Fuck you, too Jackson."
He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white,
"So the pasty skin is hereditary?" Thalia asked her cousin.
"No! I just like my skin better this way," said Nico with a scowl.
his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.
"...So in a way, Percy just called you sexy," said Apollo, getting slapped for his troubles by his twin while Percy, Nico and Hades turned green.
"You don't know that. It could be Andi giving us the description," said Aphrodite. Now it was Zeus, Jason and Thalia's turn to turn green.
"She would be the second of your daughters to think that," said Hades with a smirk to his brother. Demeter seethed as Zeus grunted uncomfortably while swallowing the bile that comment caused.
Andi was taking calming breaths as she tried to stop the stray bits of nervous static from popping out.
Hades' aura was affecting her, just as Ares' had. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures you'd see of Adolph Hitler, or Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma.
"I try," said Hades with a smirk. If he was going to be 'evil' then he was going to be the best at it.
Another stood by him, a woman. She was dressed in a white robes with ornate silver designs, like runes or alchemy symbols. Her dark hair barely came down to her shoulders. There was a green shimmer that surrounds her like an aura that matched her emerald green eyes. Her face was like a Greek statue- pale, beautiful, and ageless.
Instantly, Andi felt a connection with the woman, her eyes were the same as her mum's, the same as Alabaster's…this was-
"Hecate." Andi muttered in surprise, shining electric blue eyes widened. Her friends had heard her, as they too looked surprised.
"I am surprised as well," said Hades before scowling. "She must be protecting her legacy from any assumptions I would make."
"You admit you would assume her wrongdoing?" Zeus asked with a scowl.
"I am not you, Zeus."
"Hades," said Hestia with a tone of warning, giving her youngest brother the same glare to keep him quiet.
The woman just gave the faintest of smiles to the group, but the rest of the questers could tell it was only aimed at Andi, not any of them.
"Favoritism at its finest," said Leo with a chuckle.
"What? Us? Show favoritism? Never," said Hermes, a look of mock appall on his face as he put a hand over his chest.
"You are brave to come here, Daughter of Zeus, Son of Poseidon," Hades said in an oily voice, it reminded Andi of Snape, but far worse. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."
Hecate seemed to have rolled her eyes at Hades' statement, "I told you, she was in Scotland at the time." The goddess of magic said to the ruler of the realm.
"Details," said Hades, ignoring the looks Zeus, Thalia and Jason gave him.
Hades sent a look to his longtime friend, eyes narrowed, "Yes, yes." He waved off, "Yet, she is still the bastard of my brother, both children of the broken oath." He told her sharply.
"Well, there's something I can agree with you on," said Hera, smirking at her brother. Hades smirked back while Zeus scowled at his wife, feeling betrayed.
Andi and Percy stiffened at that, worry coming to their features.
Hecate's own emerald orbs seemed to narrow, "You remember that thing I just informed you, oh, about five minutes ago?" she asked, a smile creeping along her face, "The one with that Riddle boy."
"Oh yes, the one where your demented little legacy tried to emulate my last dictator of a son all because of his daddy issues."
"And a beautiful burn from Uncle Hades," said Apollo with an approving laugh.
"I do try," said Hades, smirking at his nephew's approval.
Hades said scathingly, the questers just stayed quiet to the godly byplay. "The little bastard managed to backup the lines for nearly a decade with those of your realm, Hecate." The member of the big three's voice was unpleasant at remembering that delay in his system.
"I can only imagine," said Hades.
"That had to suck," said Nico, wincing in sympathy for his father as he recalled the movies.
"No, I was talking about the Prophecy part." The goddess of magic reminded, "Aphrodite already accelerated it unknowingly. A miracle in and out of itself."
"Bitch," said Aphrodite with a frown.
"Aphrodite, there are children present," said Hestia in disapproval.
Percy leaned over to his girlfriend. "Aren't we teenagers?"
"In mortal eyes," said Hestia, catching her nephew's words and smiling slyly at him. "In ours, mine especially, you are still children."
"Babies," said Ares before he could stop himself. Athena pinched the bridge of her nose, why was her brother such a fool? Ares shrunk in his throne from the glare his aunt latched onto him.
"Yes, you said another of your legacy's would…oh, ohh, you-" he groaned and palmed his face in annoyance, dragging it down until you could see his maddening black eyes, narrowed dangerously to the Mist goddess. He was silent for but a moment and raised a single pale finger in the air. "Point to you, I admit, that was a good one." He begrudgingly said to his friend.
"I do try."
"Fine then, the girl can live, but the second it is done…" Hades' voice trailed, the threat in the air.
"How generous of you," said Poseidon flatly.
"More than either of you can say," said Hades with a smirk, making his brothers frown.
Hecate rolled her eyes once more, "Yes, yes, Furies this, hellhounds that." She waved of., "Honestly, the dramatics you three share."
"Bah!" The Rich One grunted and leaned back into his throne. "My little brother is far more the ham, where do you think Apollo gets it from?"
"Truth!" Apollo said with a laugh. He clammed up when his father cleared his throat before the King sent a glare to his elder brother. Hades just waved the look off.
"This is true."
It was then the Lord of the Dead's attention turned back to the group, expecting one of them to speak, now.
"Time is money," said Hades flatly. He blinked and then glared at his nephew, who was sinking into his seat. "This is that moment, isn't it?"
"Y-Yes, Uncle."
"I will enjoy seeing you squirm." Hades said, sitting back in his throne and ignoring the look Poseidon sent his way.
Percy swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped forward. "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."
Andi's eyes were widened with disbelief at his words, mouthing to herself how stupid her cousin was.
"Not your best moment," said Annabeth.
Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. One had to wonder if that was the same for all of his clothes. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades' underwear?
"Mostly the heads of the internment camps of the Second War," said Hades. "The orders came from my son, but I could never do that to a child of mine. So I had to find replacements. Quite a few were your sons, Ares."
The War God chuckled darkly while Athena glared at him along with Apollo and Hermes, who knew they had children in those camps.
"...But isn't he being tortured?" Nico asked.
"Yes," said Hades with a nod. Just because the leader of the cause was his son doesn't mean he wasn't immune from his choices.
"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."
Well, it was going as well as Percy expected if he was being honest.
The child of Poseidon glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades'. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. He wished Queen Persephone was here. The boy recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess of agriculture, Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the planet, create the seasons.
"I would've probably loved having her there to help me," said Hades with a frown. Demeter scoffed, of course he would try to blame this on her.
Andi stepped forward, giving a respectful bow of her head and said, "Please forgive Percy's words Lord and Uncle, we come for nothing but clarification." She said with swiftness, giving Percy a look that screamed for him to shut up before he killed them all with his stupidity.
"Oh?" Amusement came upon the god's face. "Clarification of what?" he asked, a cruel smile curling on his lips.
Andi swallowed nervously, "As you know, the master bolt has been taken."
"Yes, my brother seems to enjoy parading the fact that his Symbol of Power is missing, like a fool."
"A fool, am I?" Zeus asked, scowling at his older brother.
"Yep," said Hades with a small smirk. Poseidon laughed at his brother's retort, not even bothering to hide his amusement.
He said with a sneer, "Along with his childish finger pointing. God of justice, a joke title more than anything." He told said god's daughter with scorn.
"Lord Hades," Andi said. "Look," she gave a tired sigh, "War between the gods would be, catastrophic, terrible."
"Really, really bad," Percy added helpfully, but Andi just gave him a look to shut up, which he did.
"...'Really, really bad,'" said Thalia, amused.
"Shut up, Thalia!"
"I would, but it might be 'really, really bad' if I do."
Percy pouted at the way his cousins, friends and even girlfriend laughed at him.
"We have no clues whatsoever, as I personally feel that you have nothing to do with its thief." The lightning child told the god.
"…For Zeus' own believe in my innocence." The lord of the dead chuckled darkly, "The irony does not elude me." He said with a scary smile, "And? What have you come to ask, niece?" he said, playing along with her words in humor.
"Surely, someone of your standing has perhaps, heard a murmur, a stray word of where the bolt could be. As I am sure you do not wish for more dead in your realm…it's kinda cramped down here already." Her ADHD made her say in her nervousness with using as many flowery words as possible.
Gods like that, right?
"Not all of us," said Hephaestus gruffly.
"She's the first to finally understand," said Hades with a sad sigh. "This is the one time I wish you had broken the oath, Zeus."
Zeus flustered at the reminder of what he did while Hera glared at her brother. Hestia gave him a pitying look while Demeter rolled her eyes, it honestly couldn't be that bad.
"And she gets it!" The god shouted, throwing a hand in the air, "Finally!" he said, "Someone finally gets it. No, no I do not need more subjects' niece, it's honestly the last thing I need."
"But you're the Lord of the Dead," Percy said carefully. "Wouldn't you want to make a war and expand your kingdom?"
"Wow...really, Percy? Really?" Nico asked.
"Shut up! I get it, stupid question. Can we move on please?" Percy said, annoyance written on his face.
"We could," said Piper.
"But we won't," said Leo, grinning widely. Jason shook his head at his girlfriend and best friend's antics.
Hades' dark gaze turned to Percy.
"Did you not hear me, or do you share my brothers' capacity to choose whether or not to listen? Do YOU think I need, let alone WANT more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"
"Well..." the boy stammered.
"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"
The son of the sea opened his mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll now.
"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"
"Charon wants a pay raise," Percy blurted, just remembering the fact. Andi jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, glaring at him.
"Here we go," said Poseidon with an amused smirk. "Zeus may have ranting, I may have a motor mouth but you, Hades, have a talent for griping."
"Go sing with a crab in the ocean," said a bitter Hades.
"Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects!"
"Hades, you're griping." Hecate told him blandly.
"See? Hecate agrees with me," said a smug Poseidon.
"Shut it, Sea for Brains," said Hades, growling at his younger brother.
The god glowered at her, but the magic goddess just had this amused look on her face.
Annabeth stepped up, "As Andi asked, would you perhaps know where the bolt is?" she asked carefully, after the pit incident, her line of thinking was following Andi's own theory.
"Oh, so you needed another to actually come to terms with it?" Hades growled to the girl.
"Hades, you're griping," said Hestia, making Hades twitch as he looked at her. He was debating whether or not it would be worth it to scowl at his sister.
Hades' eyes grew dangerously bright. "Oh enough of this farce," the god said, "Do not act so witless before me." He said, looking directly at Percy, "While Zeus' may be innocent, do not pretend for a moment longer that you have done no wrong Percy Jackson, not after what you've done."
Percy looked to his friends, who were just about as clueless as him at the moment.
"Um ... Uncle," Percy said. "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"
"Yes, Hades, what has he done?" Poseidon asked, arching a brow in amusement.
"Two words: Shut. Up."
The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.
"My helm, boy, I want it back."
That single statement hit the group like a tower of bricks.
"They didn't even know about your helm missing," said Poseidon.
"Of course they didn't! I'm not sir whines a lot when his bolt gets sneezed on," said Hades. He rolled his eyes as Zeus glared at him.
"What?" Andi asked, nothing but surprise in her tone.
Percy recovered and blinked in bewilderment, "Bu-But I don't have your helm!" he told the god.
"Lies!" More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goalpost. "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan."
"You give far too much credit to Poseidon, Hades," said Athena with a smirk.
"Your comment was unnecessary, Athena," said Poseidon with a frown.
"I feel otherwise," said Athena, pleased at getting a jab in at her rival.
"His plan?" Percy asked. Confusion and anger began to fill him at being accused, again, for something he didn't do.
"You were the thief on the winter solstice," the lord of the dead said.
"Not even close to being true," said Hermes with a frown. He pointed at himself. "Hello? Inkling for thieves, here!"
"Yeah, but Herm, you wouldn't sell out your own kid," said Apollo. "Then again, I wouldn't either unless ordered to, and that's only because I rather like having an ass that isn't blemished by a lightning bolt."
"True."
"Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus. You took the master bolt and my helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war.
"...Yes, because I am known for starting wars," said Poseidon dryly.
"It was an appropriate thought at the time!" Hades said with a scowl. "Given your track record with a certain net..."
"Oh you just had to bring up the net, didn't you? Hera helped me plan that!" Poseidon said, pointing at their sister.
Zeus glared at his wife, who glared right back and said. "It was for your own good."
But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"
"But," Andi said, if that helmet was missing, she was wondering why the hell the Olympians' weren't freaking out that someone had THAT! "Why didn't you-?"
"Speak of it? Like I had said before child, your father may parade the fact around that his is gone, but unlike him, I did not. I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched and lo and behold, I had found myself a child of Poseidon, New York city born and raised." He said, gesturing his hand to Percy.
"When it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you." The god continued.
"You didn't try to stop us? But -"
"Monsters, Furies, a cursed casino and a very cruel mother of monsters," said Hermes, listing the things they dealt with on the original quest.
"That last one was Zeus' decree, not my own!" Hades said, making his youngest brother glare at him.
Percy was cut off.
"Return my helm now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened. "That is my counterproposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson - your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."
"...Now that is an interesting image," said Frank, scratching his cheek sheepishly at the glare he got from his friend. "What? I mean, twelve-year-old you skeleton leading the army out of Hades? That's not interesting?"
"...Good point," said Percy, dropping his glare and thinking about the shorter skeleton in front of the others.
The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.
Percy reached his boiling point. He was so sick and tired of being blamed for everything! He dealt with that enough growing up, but this? It was bullshit!
"Percy Jackson!"
"I didn't say it, Aunt Hestia!" Percy said.
"You thought it," said Hestia with a disapproving frown.
"...Ten bucks says Ares thinks that all the time when he checks the news," said Apollo, getting a laugh from his younger brother.
"Fuck you, too, Sunshine!" Ares said with a scowl.
"Ares!" Hestia looked livid.
"Sorry Aunt Hestia," said Ares in a tone that fooled no one as well as being a bit condescending. He ducked under a bolt of lightning and glared lightly at his father, shrinking away when his father glared back. An Olympian she may not be, Hestia still deserved respect as a Goddess and one of the original six.
"You're as bad as Zeus," Percy told the god, "You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?"
"Of course," Hades said.
"And the other monsters?"
Hades curled his lip. "I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death for you - I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?"
"Easily?"
"I'm with Percy on that one, Uncle H," said Hermes. "They had to sneak in."
"...Well I couldn't be too obvious," said Hades with a frown.
"Return my property!" was the demand from the god.
"I don't have your stupid helm! We just want to know where that stupid bolt is!"
"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could you threaten me!"
"But I didn't!" Percy argued with heat.
"Open your pack, then."
A horrible feeling struck Percy. The weight in his backpack, it couldn't be...
"Oh but it is," said Ares with a smirk.
"You, Ares, have lost all right to speak at the moment," said Zeus sternly.
"Wha-but-aw, c'mon that ain't fair!"
Percy grinned widely at Ares' following grumbles.
He slung it off his shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, and humming with energy.
"Lightsaber?" Leo asked.
"Not even a little," said Zeus with a frown.
"Though the base for the lightsaber idea," said Apollo with a grin. "So that means..."
"...Dibs on building the lightsaber!" Leo said, making his father frown. Hephaestus had been meaning to do that...
The very thing Andi had seen in her nightmare.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "How -"
"We had it the whole damn time?!" Andi shouted in disbelief, before looking at the bag once more, "Wait, didn't we…oh, that limp dick prick!"
Ares looked furious, which was all he could manage without incurring his father's wrath, as the rest of the room laughed. Even Aphrodite was laughing at him! What the hell?!
Percy was just staring in disbelief at the weapon.
"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish,
"I agree," said Dionysus with a snort. "Not a single thing changes."
"We beg to differ," said the parent or patron of the heroes seated on the couch.
thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now ... my helm. Where is it?"
They had been played. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had been set at each other's throats by someone else. The master bolt had been in the backpack, and it wasn't hard to figure out who had given it to them.
"Lord Hades, wait," Percy stammered out, trying to plead his case to the god. "This is all a big mistake."
"Super mistake." Grover added quickly.
"A mistake?" Hades roared.
"You think he's mad with overflows?" Poseidon asked his son with a twinkle in his eye as he glanced at his brother. "Imagine those first few days on the job."
"Silence, Poseidon or need I remind your son of your own inconsistencies?" Hades asked, getting a glower from his brother.
The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds' face grinned at Percy eagerly and flicked her whip.
"...Well, that was suggestive," said Nico. "I need some bleach for my brain now."
"Same here." "Ditto." Percy and Leo said, both of them shuddering.
"There is no mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come - I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her."
Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front them, and there was Sally Jackson,
"Dick move," said Poseidon with a scowl.
"Oh, I'm sorry I was only playing the hand I was dealt," said Hades with a scowl. "Besides, I already apologized for capturing your beloved clear sighted mortal."
Poseidon's face burned at that while Hera's brow arched. "Beloved, honestly Poseidon. What would Amphitrite think if she heard that?"
The lord of the sea just glared at his sister.
frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was at the moment when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.
Percy was speechless, he tried to reach for her, but the fire burned too greatly.
Andi just had a frown on her face, appalled that a being such as a god was literally using a twelve year olds mother to get what he wanted.
"Oh well excuse me for not getting your stamp of approval," said Hades with a scowl. And he was just starting to really like her, too.
"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."
Percy thought back to the pearls in his pocket. Maybe they could get him out of this. If he could just get his mom free...
"Ah, the pearls," Hades said, and Percy's blood froze. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."
The boy's hand moved against his will and brought out the pearls.
"Only four," Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms."
"Hades!" Zeus said, his eyes balls of lightning as he glared at his brother.
"What?! I already said I was just playing the hand I was dealt, what more do you want from me!?"
"Hades, Zeus, that is enough!" Hestia said. Zeus huffed and Hestia turned to her other brother. "Hades, calm yourself or I will inform Persephone of your ill behavior during the meeting."
Hades grumbled at being treated like a child while Demeter smirked. Her smirk fell when Hestia gave her the stink eye, knowing exactly what the Goddess of the Harvest was thinking.
Percy looked at Andi, Annabeth, and Grover. Their faces were grim.
"We were tricked," Percy told them. "Set up."
"No duh Baywatch." Andi fumed, hands clenched with bouts of static going off like a fork in an electric socket.
"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit -"
"I don't know yet," Percy said. "But I intend to ask."
"Well I wouldn't ask Hades since he's in one of those moods," said Poseidon in amusement.
"Which he is in now, so leave him be, Poseidon," said Hestia, making the king of the seas brood at being called out while Hades glowered at him.
"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled.
"Percy." Grover put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt."
"I know that." Percy said grimly.
"Leave me here," Grover said. "Use the fourth pearl on your mom."
"No!"
"I'm a satyr," Grover said. "We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever.
"One day, I will find a way around that just to get Grover Underwood," said Hades with a scowl.
"Hades," said Hestia warningly.
I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way."
"No." Annabeth drew her bronze knife. "You three go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy and Andi. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. And Andi can't stay here, who knows what he'll do to her. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."
"Annabeth, no! What would happen to Percabeth then!?" Aphrodite asked in horror.
"Mom, c'mon really?" Piper asked.
"It is honestly all that matters at this point!"
"...My mom was being held hostage and you were on the brink of a war between the Gods," said Percy dryly.
"Which is exactly why Annabeth needed to live and help you through any trial you would face! Trust me, I know these things!"
"Knock it off you morons," Andi argued fiercely, "If anyone's stay, I would. Hecate already has something planned for me," she said, nudging her head to the rather quiet goddess,
"I forgot she was there," said Dionysus with a dull blink.
"I didn't," said Apollo with a grin. "Hard to forget a lady that fine-ow! Arte..."
"Pig," said Artemis, lowering her hand while scowling at her brother.
"So I'm the perfect one to stay!"
"No!" Annabeth shouted to Andi, no, she did not want the daughter of Zeus to stay. It would be like Thalia all over again for the blonde, and she refused to see it happen. She wasn't seven anymore dammit!
"Annie," said Thalia with a sad small smile to the flushed blonde. "I'm touched you wanted to do something, but I stayed behind for-"
"Please, Thalia, don't say anything," said Annabeth with a small frown. She didn't like hearing it at age seven and she doesn't like hearing it now.
Thalia just shook her head, the sad smile still in place and sat back to enjoy the story.
"Right," Grover said. "So I'm staying behind."
"Think again, goat boy," Annabeth argued back.
"I'll knock you two out." The lightning girl told her friends.
"I would so do that," said both of the Grace siblings, looking at the other in shock before laughing.
"Stop it, all three of you!" Percy shouted to them, he felt like his heart was being ripped in two. They all had been with him through so much. Grover dive-bombing Medusa in the statue garden,
"Kamikaze satyr!" Leo said with a laugh.
and Annabeth saving them from Cerberus;
"Really miss him," said Annabeth loudly, making her mother's eyes roll while Nico shook his head.
Andi stopping the cameras at Hephaestus's Waterland ride,
"All that hard work," said Hephaestus with a sigh.
the St. Louis Arch,
"Where Percy performed the best belly-flop in the world," said Frank.
the Lotus Casino.
"To sum it up in one word: Cake," said Apollo, making the kids laugh.
He had spent thousands of miles worried that he'd be betrayed by a friend, but these friends would never do that. They had done nothing but save him, over and over, and now they wanted to sacrifice their lives for his mom.
He honestly had no words for how lucky he felt to have people like this having his back throughout this whole mess.
"Group hug!" Apollo said, holding his arms out expectantly. He dropped them after a few seconds. "Ouch, you guys know how to hurt a dude's feelings."
"I know what to do," Percy said solemnly. "Take these." He pasted out the pearls to each of them.
Annabeth said, "But, Percy ..."
Percy turned to his mother. The boy desperately wanted to sacrifice himself and use the last pearl on her, but he knew what she would say. She would never allow it. The bolt had to be brought back to Olympus and the truth be told to Zeus. To stop this pointless war. She would never forgive him if he saved her instead. The water demigod thought about the prophecy made at Half-Blood Hill, what seemed like a million years ago. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.
"I'm sorry," Percy told her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."
The smug look on Hades' face faded. He said, "Godling ...?"
"I'll find your helm, Uncle," the son of the sea told him. "I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise."
"Do not defy me -"
"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."
"In the face," said Hermes for his struggling brother. Ares laughed, a bit grateful for his brother's input.
"Also, maybe a puppy I-pod, he likes Star Wars music." Andi added cheekily.
"Who doesn't?" Nico asked.
"Percy Jackson, you will not -"
Percy shouted, "Now, guys!"
They smashed the pearls at their feet. For a spine chilling moment, nothing happened.
"Give it a second." Hecate said with a knowing smirk as her arms crossed.
Hades didn't and yelled, "Destroy them!"
The army of skeletons rushed forward, swords out, guns clicking to full automatic. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame.
Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl fragments at their feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. They were each encased in a milky white sphere, which were starting to float off the ground.
"And cue the Christian saint imagery," said Apollo, holding his hands up like a camera. "Perfect!"
Spears and bullets sparked harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as they floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook and it seemed like it wasn't going to be a peaceful night in L.A.
"Those poor, rich, successful people," said Apollo with a sad sigh. He ignored the glare his uncle gave him.
"Look up.'" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"
Sure enough, they were racing right toward the stalactites.
"How do you control these things?" Annabeth shouted.
"I don't think you do!" Percy shouted back.
"This is epic!" Andi cheered loudly, like this was a roller-coaster for her.
"Your daughter is a bit unhinged," said Hades to his brother. "And coming from me, that means something."
They screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and ... Darkness.
Darn it, Andi didn't want to be dead…no, she still felt alive, or as alive as one could be while rushing through solid rock in a magic bubble. For a few more minutes, she couldn't see anything out the magic bubble, then they spheres broke through the ocean floor as the four soared upwards through the water. With a whoosh, they broke through the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!"
"Oh not cool," said Apollo with a disappointed shake of his head.
"Well he should watch where he's surfing," said Poseidon with a huff. Honestly, Apollo's son may have invented the sport but it was in Poseidon's domain and damn annoying at that. The amount of sharks put down for accidently taking a bite out of a surfer was ridiculous and almost ruined a portion of the ocean's ecosystem!
Percy grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a life buoy. He caught Annabeth and dragged her over too. He saw Andi was hovering in the air, shaking the water off her as she perched atop the buoy like a bird of prey. A curious shark was circling them, a great white about eleven feet long.
Percy said, "Beat it."
The shark turned and raced away.
"Nicely done, Percy," said Annabeth with a smile.
"I try."
The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from them as fast as he could.
Andi looked to the sky and could tell it was early morning, June 21, the day of the summer solstice.
In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades' fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after them right now.
But at the moment, the Underworld wasn't their biggest problem.
They had to get to shore and get Zeus' master bolt back to Olympus.
And most of all, Andi had a few choice words for a certain douche of a brother.
"I may be a lot of things, but a douche I am not," said Apollo with a laugh. "Sucks for you, Ares."
"Who asked you, Sunshine?!"
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