Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO series.
Olivia P.O.V.
I can't believe Hades was doing this to us. We are on a quest to save the world and he's making us take a detour to find Persephone's lost 'pet' not to mention forcing Michael to stay with him like some insurance clause. Aria and I have been following the path of destruction left by Persephone's giant hellhound. It had been a present for her birthday. The hound was still a puppy but was magically enlarged to be about twice the size of a normal hellhound. The hound, Kalika, would attack any magical creature with in a 100 km of her and the only way she wouldn't attack us is if we kept feeding her some of Persephone's jewel flowers from the Underworld. We only had enough to get Aria close enough to tell Kalika to go back. The plan didn't seem like i was safe at all and I didn't even know if it would work but it was the only plan we had so it would have to do.
We've racing through sunny L.A. for hours trying to find Kalika with no avail and the sun had almost set. The sunset was beautiful full of the brightest colours and setting, floating behind the mountain range but we couldn't stop to look at it and it wouldn't have felt right without Michael. It felt so weird without him we had traveled for month's together living off almost nothing that kind of thing really brings people together. It was so weird not having him here that I couldn't even wrap my mind around it, so I would accidentally start talking to him before realizing he wasn't there.
The moon was reflecting off of the daggers strapped to Aria's arm right into my eyes so I couldn't see when she suddenly stopped. I ran into her face-first. I was surprised when she suddenly whispered "Walk back slowly and don't make a sound." then started to back up forcing me to go with her. I quickly glanced over her shoulder hoping to see a blood thirsty hound with glowing red eyes (that sounds so messed up) but I guess luck has never been on my side.
Aria P.O.V.
Why hadn't Olivia listened to me. I told her to just back away but nooooooo she just had to sneak a peek and look where that's landed us. We were running through the outskirts of downtown, trying to dodge the debris and unknowing mortals leisurely strolling down the street. Chasing us was the oddest thing I have ever seen and I'm a demi-goddess who has lived her whole life in the Underworld.
The scene ahead of me was so much alike those that Hades showed me as a child to teach me Greek 'mythology'. Growing up I loved stars and their constellations but as I lived in the Underworld I could never see the stars. I used to sneak out to stare at the night sky from above the Hollywood sign. I felt at peace looking up to the sky watching the creatures who filled my dreams dance gracefully across the sky. Hades used to make fun of me for dreaming of running through the stars but now it felt all too real.
In the old stories there was said to be a dog by the name of Laelaps who was destined to always catch his prey. There was also the giant Teumessian fox who was destined to never be caught. The fox was a child of Echidna that had been sent by the gods to prey on the children of Thebes as punishment for a crime. Creon, the Regent of Thebes, set Amphitryon the impossible task of killing the beast. He decided to solve the solution by fetching the magical dog Laelaps. Zeus was faced with this inevitable contradiction due to the paradoxical nature of their mutually excluding abilities so he turned them both to stone and cast them into the stars.
Now the glowing figures had come back to earth, still on their impossible chase. They ran through everything that came in their path, leaving the items on fire. As we followed the creatures, Olivia put out as many fires as she could while I move mortals out of the line of danger but we were getting farther and farther behind. I was herding a group of partying teens out of the street when Olivia shouted over her shoulder "Aria, I've got it under control here go get them before they destroy all of L.A.!" Taking the hint I nodded to her in consent and grabbed for the shadows to lift me above the buildings to try and locate the roaming lights. I willed the darkness to carry me after the speeding animals while I tried to think of a way to capture stars. Suddenly I was torn from my brainstorm as the shadows zoomed towards the glowing figures. I was racing behind them when I jumped on Laelaps' back ditching any possible plans I might have had and started hacking into the close bundle of glowing orbs with my daggers. After a few minutes of laborious work the adrenaline wore off I realized just how futile my slashing had been. The only effect my slashing seemed to have had was making Laelaps try to angrily throw me off but when I looked down I saw a glowing liquid dripping from the gashes leaving behind a glowing trail. Realizing my faithful blades wouldn't stop them I decided to call on the shadows to build a wall at the end of the street but when we were about to hit it the animals sped up and ran up into the sky above the wall. I let the wall shatter while I struggled to keep my hold on the soon to be accident. As I tried to form the shadows into a platform to jump onto I didn't realize that we were flying right off a cliff.
Michael P.O.V.
I'm surprised that I haven't created a hole in the floor with how much pacing I've done. I'm so worried about Olivia that I can't do anything else. What's worse is that the dark figure still hasn't contacted me yet and I can't stop worrying about what he will ask of me. I've been staying in my room all day, not trusting the people here not to kill me when I turn my back. The Di Angelo kid has been trying to get me to join them for meals all day but I'm not eating until I see Olivia safe again. I know that that sounds kind of sappy but it isn't what you think it is. Since meeting Olivia I've felt this need to protect her.
After what felt like days of solitude some skeleton guards stalked into my room and dragged me all the way to the dining room where I was dumped on a chair. When I looked up I noticed that I wasn't alone anymore. At the head of the table sat an irritable looking Hades as well as a concerned Persephone beside me that had started rubbing my back in a comforting way that made me think of my mother. With a giant sigh Hades began in a bored tone "You know if you think you can leave here by starving yourself than your dumber than I thought, we are in the land of the dead." At the comment I bowed my head further and rolled my eyes while Persephone hit Hades on the shoulder in a scolding manner. I heard as Nico entered the room but kept my head down too upset to bother until I heard Hades' comment. "Oh come on Nico, I know that I told you two to get closer but this is getting out of control!" "Awe Hades, I think it's sweet." Persephone cooed. As I looked towards Nico I almost screamed out loud. He looked like death (no pun intended). His eyes were graced dark purple bags, he was deathly pale with sunken in cheeks, his fame was even more unhealthily thin than usual but the worse was his expression. When you looked beyond his thinning emotional barrier you saw a little heartbroken boy that had lost everyone he cared for. I've never been that close to Nico, but I couldn't stand seeing him like this.
Nico P.O.V.
Throughout the entire meal the only thing that I registered was the low buzz in my ears telling me that Aria was in danger and that I'm not up there helping. I had wanted to go up with them but Hades wouldn't allow me to. I don't even understand why he sent them on the quest seeing as monsters of the Underworld run from Thanatos and his children making it nearly impossible for Aria to catch Kalika. Unlike Aria, my father and I could call the hound here in an instant yet my father insists on making them find her. The buzz was getting louder and I couldn't sit here any longer. "I can take it anymore, I just can't take it. I'm going to help Aria and you're not going to stop me father." I roared out before lunging into the shadows, making them bring me to Arias aid.
I'm sorry about how short it is and I know that it isn't my best work but I'll try and make the next one better. Hope everyone is having a great summer. ~SnitchFeather284