I don't own PJ and HOO. It belong to Rick Riordan to the man who encouraged me to reads Greek and Roman Mythology!

Godess Bubbles: Yeah...I cried like an idiot...*chuckled awkwardly* I'm kinda famous for ((In my world)) making sad stories ((Now that is true)) and sad ending.

Anyway...Say I'm very disappointed for no reviews for the sequel...:| Furthermore this is YOUR last chance. Or I'll pick.

Warning for sexual mentions and mature strong language and abuse scenes and blood gore. ((good thing Ares ain't here...)) Now you have been warned...

"Really?!" Leo said happily but then his happiness vanished. "Wait the minute..."

Everyone laughed at Leo's childish behavior.

Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a football field packed with a million fans.

"Hmm...Imagine..." Leo hummed.

Jason and some others give Leo a weird look like what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you look.

Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people, and imagine the electricity has gone out, and there is no noise, no light, no beach ball bouncing around over the crowd.

Leo paled.

"NOOOOOO! SKITTLES! NOOOOOOO!" Leo cried dramatically and then sulking at the corner of the room like an anime-style. "M-my S-S-Skittles..." Leo continuing sobbing dramatically at the corner of the room.

"Connor and Travis...Do you steal Leo's Skittles again?" Piper sighed.

"Nope." Connor said innocently.

Piper raises her eyebrows in suspiciously look.

"Really? What if I charmspeak on you and made you eat snickers for a couple weeks?"

Connor and Travis gasped dramatically.

"WE WILL DO ANYTHING, BUT NOT EATING SNICKERS BARS!" Travis begged.

Piper smirked evilly.

"Anything?"

"We swear on the River Styx."Travis and Connor said fearfully and couldn't shake a bad feeling about this.

The thunder boomed to sealed the oath.

"I want you to do no more pranks for Aphrodite cabin for three month or if you choose not to I'll made you eat it."

"WHAT?! FUCK NOOOO!" Connor cried.

"YOU EVIL BASTARD!" Travis yelled and trembling.

Piper grinned evilly.

"You promised."

"Bastard. I will be you regret this..." Travis growled.

Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start.

If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel looked like. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees—Grover told me they were poplars—grew in clumps here and there.

"...I don't feel so good..." Some Aphrodite's kid moaned as their face turn green.

The cavern ceiling was so high above us it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed. I tried not to imagine they'd fall on us at any moment, but dotted around the fields were several that had fallen and impaled themselves in the black grass. I guess the dead didn't have to worry about little hazards like being speared by stalactites the size of booster rockets.

Annabeth, Grover, and I tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls.

"I don't think will work..." Daughter of Ares said sarcastically.

I couldn't help looking for familiar faces among the spirits of Asphodel, but the dead are hard to look at. Their faces shimmer. They all look slightly angry or confused. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter, like bats twittering. Once they realize you can't understand them, they frown and move away.

The dead aren't scary. They're just sad.

"Really? I thought..." Leo muttered quietly.

Hades snorted.

"That is just some mortal's bastard legend."

We 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!

"What the..." Leo's voice trailed off.

"I know I know..It stupid, but that is my wife's idea." Hades glared at Leo.

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, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. I could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top.

Almost everyone face turned green.

"I don't feel so good..." Some Aphrodite's kid muttered before she vomited.

And I saw worse tortures, too—things I don't want to describe.

"Oh thanks the Gods..." Aphrodite said fearfully.

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. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions.

"Elysium.." Demigods said dreamily.

Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

Elysium.

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. Immediately I knew that's where I wanted to go when I died.

"Yes, you definitely will. Since your a hero of Titan and the Giant War. Plus, your a legendary hero even better and greater then that asshole Hercules.." Leo said bitterly when he said 'Hercules', he heard from Piper and Jason that Hercules is most selfish and bullshit hero in the Greek and Roman history. Even the Morals think that Hercules is a hero. Which he is NOT.

Zeus frowned when Leo mentioned his son, Hercules.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said, like she was reading my thoughts. "That's the place for heroes."

"Yup." Leo smiled.

But I thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to the Fields of Asphodel or even the Fields of Punishment. So few people did good in their lives. It was depressing.

Aphrodite nodded in agreement.

"Hades is very greedy person...And cruel."

"HEY!"

"It true."

"Bastard."

Aphrodite smiled kindly, but didn't let her fool you she is pissed.

"What do you mean..Hades?"

"...You know what? I'm going to shut up right now."

We left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colors faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.

After a few miles of walking, we 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 batlike creatures: the Furies. I got the feeling they were waiting for us.

"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.

"Grover...Grover..." Clarisse sighed.

"We'll be okay." I tried to sound confident.

"...Why I have a very bad feeling about this?" Poseidon said nervously. He didn't like this feeling.

"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance ..."

"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.

The room went quiet for a minute.

"Grover," Annabeth chided. "Stop messing around."

"But I didn't—"

Apollo the raining cloud frowned. He ain't lying..And those shoes...Crap! I sound like Athena! Apollo shrugged dumbly. I guess that I hung out Athena too much.

Athena paled, she figured the riddle from Nereid's warning. Those shoes...They are cursed.

He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from us.

"Maia!" he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"

"Really Grover?" Thalia laughed nervously, trying to lift up the tension it almost like she couldn't even breathe. It much...

I got over being stunned and made a grab for Grover's hand, but too late. He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled.

Everyone is getting nervous.

We ran after him.

Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"

"Please do." Nico said.

It was a smart idea, but I guess it's not so easy when your shoes are pulling you along feetfirst at full speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces.

We kept after him, trying to keep him in sight as he ripped between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance.

I was sure Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades's palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.

Hades, Demeter, and Nico paled. Tartarus..!

The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed. Annabeth and I had to sprint to keep up. The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and I realized we'd entered some kind of side tunnel. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.

"Grover!" I yelled, my voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"

"Please do it, now!" Nico yelled.

"What?" he yelled back.

"DAMMIT, HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!"

He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.

The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on my arms bristled. It smelled evil down here. It made me think of things I shouldn't even know about—blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer.

Everyone paled.

"Father...!? Fuck, he is leading Perseus to his trap!" Poseidon yelled furiously.

Then I saw what was ahead of us, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.

Nico and Annabeth shivered in fact they haven't got over their trauma from that hellhole pit. Tartarus...!

Grover was sliding straight toward the edge.

"AAAAAAAH!" Annabeth screamed from that flashback before Percy and her fell into Tartarus.

Everyone look concerned about her.

"What is going on?" Athena asked with a concern.

"Her past." Clarisse said darkly.

"What do you mean by 'her past'?" Athena asked.

"Before she fell into Tartarus." Thalia said sadly.

"WHAT?! YOUR TELLING ME THAT SHE FELL INTO THAT HELLHOLE ALONE?!" Athena roared.

"No...She fell along with Percy."

Poseidon paled.

"M-m-my son fell into Tartarus...?"

Thalia nodded sadly.

"He is willing to do anything for her even on life-or-death situation. He also willing to give up his life for her. Once you are in love, you can willing to give up your life to save your lover." Thalia said. "That is part of my reason to join the hunters. But now...I'm in love." Thalia finished and smiled at Nico.

Nico smiled at her back.

Zeus and Hades stared at each other, they are not happy that Nico and Thalia are in love. But if their kids are happy, they will just leave them alone.

"Come on, Percy!" Annabeth yelled, tugging at my wrist.

"But that's—"

"I know!" she shouted. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him." She was right, of course. Grover's predicament got me moving again.

He was yelling, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn't look like we could possibly get to him in time.

All Grover's friend moaned. They didn't want Grover to die. But they know that Grover is alright, but they couldn't bare it.

What saved him were his hooves.

Everyone chuckled weakly.

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 we caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around us angrily and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.

Everyone stare at the book suspiciously. Something isn't right about those shoes..

We all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. My limbs felt like lead. Even my backpack seemed heavier, as if somebody had filled it with rocks.

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 ..." he panted. "I didn't..."

"Wait," I said. "Listen."

I heard something—a deep whisper in the darkness.

Everyone shivered, but the most of them paled.

Another few seconds, and Annabeth said, "Percy, this place—"

"Shh." I stood.

The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below us. Coming from the pit.

"...I really hate grandpa..." Hermes shuddered.

Grover sat up. "Wh—what's that noise?"

Annabeth heard it too, now. I could see it in her eyes. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus." I uncapped Anaklusmos.

The room went colder and the hearth died a little when Percy mentioned Tartarus.

The bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming its chant.

I could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words, older even than Greek. As if ...

"Magic," I said.

"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said.

"Please do...I hate that place.." Nico said weakly.

Together, we dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. My legs wouldn't move fast enough. My backpack weighed me down.

Athena stared at the book suspiciously.

The voice got louder and angrier behind us, and we broke into a run.

Not a moment too soon.

A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. For a terrifying moment, I lost ground, my feet slipping in the gravel. If we'd been any closer to the edge, we would've been sucked in.

Everyone shivered. That will be bad...Really bad.

We kept struggling forward, and 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 we'd gotten away.

"What was that?" Grover panted, when we'd collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. "One of Hades's pets?"

Hades rolled his eyes.

"I wish. But no."

Annabeth and I looked at each other. I could tell she was nursing an idea, probably the same one she'd gotten during the taxi ride to L.A., but she was too scared to share it. That was enough to terrify me.

I capped my sword, put the pen back in my pocket. "Let's keep going." I looked at Grover. "Can you walk?"

He swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway."

He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly as Annabeth and I were. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. Even Echidna hadn't given me that feeling. I was almost relieved to turn my back on that tunnel and head toward the palace of Hades.

"Wait the second, 'almost'?" Poseidon asked.

Almost.

"Like a father like a son." Hermes grinned.

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, I saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times—an atomic bomb exploding over a city—

Hades growled.

"Hiroshima...This is why I hates civil war...The dead is coming...More paper work...Gods dammit, why I get peace..?!" Hades complained.

Zeus smirked.

"Oh you won't brother. 'Cause mortals aren't immortal! Aha!" Zeus snickered.

"Bastard!"

"Boys. No fighting." Hestia said whiling shaking her head disapproval.

—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. I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true.

"It always." Frank said sarcastically.

Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my 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.

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."

I understood why she wanted to move on. The tart smell of those pomegranates was almost overwhelming. I had a sudden desire to eat them, but then I remembered the story of Persephone. One bite of Underworld food, and we would never be able to leave.

Hades groaned.

"What?" Hermes asked.

"Nothing. I just hate it."

"Why?"

"That means I have to deal with them until they died."

The Olympians glared at Hades.

"What?"

"You killed my son, fifteen years ago." Aphrodite accused.

"What?! I DID NOT! He just died."

"Really hm?"

"Really."

"Well, I haven't seen my son for thirty four years since he left his quest for the underworld."

Hades choked with his wide eyes.

"Your son?! That sick bastard? I thought you meant the other son! But that sick bastard? Bullshit, I killed him for raping my WIFE! That son of bitch! Good thing I sent him to his worst nightmare after he died. It felt so good hearing his scream..." Hades said darkly.

Demeter paled for a second and then her face turned into scarlet and her eyes were deadly dangerous you could see a flame.

"THAT SON OF BITCH! HE DARES RAPED MY DAUGHTER, I WILL SENT HIM TO THE DARKEST PIT OF TARTARUS! HE WILL FACE MY WRATH, EVEN HE IS DEAD! NO ONE WILL EVER EVER RAPE MY DAUGHTER OR THEY WILL FACE MY WRATH!" Demeter outraged.

Everyone paled. They have never seen Demeter this angry before.

I pulled Grover away to keep him from picking a big juicy one.

We 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. I guess they never had to worry about rain down here.

"Why? Why do I need rain? Rain are evil."

Zeus and Poseidon snorted at Hades.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. 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 us, but their hollow eye sockets followed us as we 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 us, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.

"You know," Grover mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."

Everyone expect for Hades and Nico who look offended, snickered.

My backpack weighed a ton now.

Athena is staring to get very suspicious about that backpack.

I couldn't figure out why. I wanted to open it, check to see if I had somehow picked up a stray bowling ball, but this wasn't the time.

"Well, guys," I said. "I suppose we should ... knock?"

Everyone snorted.

A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside.

"I guess that means entrez-vous," Annabeth said.

"A what?" Leo said stupidity. "I'm only good at Spanish and Greek..."

Piper rolled her eyes.

"It French. It means enter."

"Oh.." Leo muttered stupidity.

The room inside looked just like in my dream, except this time the throne of Hades was occupied.

He was the third god I'd met, but the first who really struck me as godlike.

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, 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.

I immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than I did. He should be my master. Then I told myself to snap out of it.

Hades pouted.

Hades's aura was affecting me, just as Ares's had. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen 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.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said in an oily voice.

Hades look offended.

"You gotta be kidding me, 'oily voice'? MY VOICE IS NOT OILY YOU FOOLS!"

Everyone chuckled.

"After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

"...What..?"

Numbness crept into my joints, tempting me to lie down and just take a little nap at Hades's feet. Curl up here and sleep forever.

"Don't." Poseidon said fearfully.

I fought the feeling and stepped forward. I knew what I had to say. "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."

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. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades's underwear?

"Oooooh buuurn!" Hermes snickered.

"Oh shut up! I don't do that!"

'Hades you got your ass busted.' Apollo thought, he knew that Hades is lying.

"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."

I swallowed. This was going about as well as I'd feared.

I glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. I wished Queen Persephone were here. I 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.

Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded me in the back.

"Lord Hades," I said. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."

"Really bad," Grover added helpfully.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," I said. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

The Stolls thought about Percy's line.

"Isn't he short of being dramatic?" Connor asked his brother.

Travis put his hand on Connor's shoulder.

"Connor, my man. Percy always been dramatic remember?"

Connor snickered.

"Since birth."

**In the Void**

**Warning for abuse scene and some mention of abuse weapons and blood gore. (And please don't say I didn't warn you..)**

Percy panted and panted after his torture of beating using the whip.

"Why I feel like I have been insulted...?" Percy muttered himself weakly. His voice is cracking, it sound like he is dying.

The door opened slowly.

Percy paled. Oh no...

'It' (A/N: I'm using 'it' for now until they will reveal themselves. ) gave a cruel grin at Percy.

"Let resume were we have left off..." It smiled cruelly and slowly drew a long whip from it belt slowly. "Hmm...Should I go easy on you...Or in the hard way?" It lick the whip slowly and gasp like 'it' got an answer. "Aha! I'm going to pick a hard way..." It smiled cruelly and raise the whip and slashed against his skin strapped to Percy's chest. Percy tried not to moan in agony, but he whimpered.

It pouted slightly and then growled angrily. It wanted Percy to moan and cry.

"Tch...! I guess there is no food for you for a week or so."

Percy paled and his eye widened knowing what is this going.

It raises the whip and whacked Percy's chest.

Percy's eye widened in fear and horror as he saw his blood splatter on the wall and some of it was on his cheek.

It smirked cruelly and lick his blood from it cheek.

"Perfect...Perfect image.." It muttered quietly as it look at the wall of his blood and his dry blood.

Percy passed out due to losing blood. (Y'know he is immortal so he won't die, but his scars aren't. It will stay there for the rest of his days.)

** abuse scene is over**

**back to Olympians room**

"Hey!" Poseidon cried.

Connor and Travis shrugged.

"It true milord."

Poseidon glared at the Stolls.

Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

Poseidon chuckled awkwardly.

"What exactly he have done?"

I glanced back at my friends. They looked as confused as I was.

"Um ... Uncle," I said. "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"

"Like a father like a son." Hermes grinned at Poseidon who is pouting.

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles.

Everyone raise their eyebrows at Hades.

"That was you? I always thought that was Poseidon, since he is also God of Earthquake." Zeus reasoned.

"HEY!"

"Sorry." Zeus don't sound like sorry.

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.

Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"

"Fuck no! I DON'T WANT TO GET MORE GODS DAMN PAPER WORK!"

I wanted to say, Well, these guys don't look like peace activists.

"Excuse me?!" Hades cried.

But I thought that might be a dangerous answer.

"Good...If you did...I will blast you to pieces."

"You are the Lord of the Dead," I said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"

Hades look thoughtful.

"Hmmmm...I do..." Hades admitted.

Everyone stared at Hades like WTF?!

"I meant without killing."

Clarisse sweat dropped.

"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"

"Oooooh buuuurn!" Hermes snickered.

"Well..."

"Busted."

"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll now.

Everyone laughed hysterically.

"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," I blurted, just remembering the fact. As soon as I said it, I wished I could sew up my mouth.

"You wish? Oh oh...I got a new torture ideas..." Hades smiled evilly.

Everyone groaned. STOP GIVING HADES IDEAS PERCY!

"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! I did not ask for this war."

"True. This war is ridiculous! I don't give a shit about it. Even your baby bolt is stolen. It your problem." Hades muttered.

"HEY! HADES YOU BASTARD!"

"Go to hell Zeus."

"But you took Zeus's master bolt."

"LIES! A MOTHERFUCKING LIES!"

"Lies!" More rumbling.

"Dramatic as Zeus." Poseidon muttered.

"Oh shut up."

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."

"His plan?"

"You were the thief on the winter solstice," he said. "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.

"WHAT?! I DON'T WANT A BULLSHIT WAR! BESIDE ZEUS STARTED IT!"

"HEY!"

But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"

The room went silence for a while.

"M-m-my helm got stolen...?!" Hades repeated like four time.

"So?"

"YOU FOOLS! MY HELM GOT STOLEN, AND SOME SON OF BITCH STOLEN IT! HOW YOU FEEL IF YOUR POWERFUL WEAPON WAS STOLEN?!"

"..."

"THAT HOW I FEEL YOU BASTARD!"

"But ..." Annabeth spoke. I could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. "Lord Hades, your helm of darkness is missing, too?"

"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this hero—coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt—to bring me an ultimatum.

"What?! I have never blackmail you."

"Just...Go to hell."

"...Seriously I haven't."

Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?"

"Fuck no. Your mind is just fucked up."

"Shut up."

"No!" I said. "Poseidon didn't—I didn't—"

Poseidon nodded with a agreement.

"I have said nothing of the helm's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because 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 for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you."

"Bastard..."

"You didn't try to stop us? But—"

"Return my helm now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened.

"Bastard, If you touch my son...You will feel my wrath!"

Hades paled. Facing Poseidon's wrath? You must've got a death wish. There is no way in hell that you'll survive Poseidon's wrath.

"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."

Everyone gulped. That will be bad..

The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.

At that point, I probably should have been terrified. The strange thing was, I felt offended. Nothing gets me angrier than being accused of something I didn't do.

Demigods who know Percy look at each other nervously, it wasn't good that Percy is angry. He is like he could take down a god or a minor god.

I've had a lot of experience with that.

"You're as bad as Zeus," I said.

"HEY!" Hades look offended. "I'm not that bad, right!?"

"..."

"Fuck you all."

"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?"

"Pfft. 'Easily' huh? What the hell, that was super easy." Poseidon snorted.

"Oh shut your ass."

"Easily?"

"Return my property!"

"But I don't have your helm. I came for the master bolt."

"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted.

"What?" Zeus asked.

"You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could you threaten me!"

"But I didn't!"

"Open your pack, then."

Everyone paled. It cannot be...!

A horrible feeling struck me. The weight in my backpack, like a bowling ball. It couldn't be...

I slung it off my shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

"LIGHTNING THIEF!" Zeus roared. "YOU HAS IT ALL THE ALONG! I should've blasted you a long time ago..."

"Zeus." Poseidon warned. "Remember your oath."

Zeus huffed with a sudden annoyance.

"I should sent a hero to kill him."

"Zeus!" Poseidon said angrily. "I promised that I will rip your crown of Olympus and I will destroy you without a single hesitation."

Zeus growled.

"You dare—!"

"Tsk tsk...Remember Zeus, I have power to bring downfall of Olympus." Poseidon warned. "You may have a power of sky, but remember I can control water that includes your blood through your veins. I can make you fade whenever I want even Chaos (A/N: Oops...To much OP ((overpowered)) for Poseidon...*sigh* I just want to make him powerful as Chaos or greater...He seriously should've be Chaos' father...Didn't ya think?) I could. But you are lucky enough that I haven't join the Titan side. But been warned brother, I can bring downfall of Olympus due to the ancient prophecy when we defeated our father."

Zeus tried to look angrily, but sadden a little about the ancient prophecy.

**Flashback shortly after Kronos broken into thousand of pieces**

The three Fates appeared.

"What the..!?" Poseidon yelped.

"Oh gods dammit we just literally won the war! Now some weird old ladies appeared.." Poseidon grumbled sarcastically.

Everyone facepalmed at Poseidon's stupidity.

"Poseidon, those are The Fates you idiot!" Hera slapped Poseidon's head. "Show some respect!"

"Ow...Jeez..I don't give respect for some old ladies..Like I don't respect all of you beside for Hestia."

"Poseidon." Zeus warned. "Respect them or you will be blast into pieces and I will sent you to father."

Poseidon took a tongue at Zeus.

"Shut up asshole."

Zeus look at Poseidon dangerously.

"Enough.." The third one said.

Everyone went quiet.

"Why are you here, Lady Fates?" Zeus bowed.

"We have a prophecy to announce.." The second one said.

"You gotta to be kidding me! We just...Won the war..Now this is official, I hates prophecies." Poseidon whined.

Zeus rolled his eyes and then look at The Fates with a serious look.

"What prophecy?"

"Someone is destined to destroy you or helped you raise." The first one said.

"Who?" Zeus demanded.

The Fates pointed at Poseidon.

"M-me?" Poseidon stammered clearly haven't pay attention.

The Fates nodded.

"Now here your prophecy, but be warned you cannot deny fates." The Fates warned. "It's his choice."

"The second son of Kronos and Rhea, either bring downfall of Olympus or help it rise

within his son last breath leading a final choice shall end his days

Claim a throne of King of Gods

Only the legendary hero dies a new legend reunited again after millennia."

Everyone paled at the prophecy.

**End of the flashback*

"Percy," Annabeth said. "How—"

"I—I don't know. I don't understand."

"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, 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?"

I was speechless. I had no helm. I had no idea how the master bolt had gotten into my backpack. I wanted to think Hades was pulling some kind of trick. Hades was the bad guy. But suddenly the world turned sideways. I realized I'd been played with. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had been set at each other's throats by someone else. The master bolt had been in the backpack, and I'd gotten the backpack from ...

"ARES! THAT SON OF BITCH!" Zeus growled.

"You know what?"

"What?" Poseidon asked Athena.

"Ares is such a dick."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"ATHENA!" Hestia roared.

Athena gulped.

"Y-yes milady?"

"You. Better. Not. Use. That. Word." Hestia said darkly and the hearth turned black.

"Y-y-yes milady."

"Good." Hestia smiled kindly as the hearth turned back to normal.

"Lord Hades, wait," I said. "This is all a mistake."

"A mistake?" Hades roared.

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's face grinned at me eagerly and flicked her whip.

"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."

"BAAAAAASTARD!" Poseidon roared.

Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of me, and there was my mother, frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was at the moment when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.

Everyone gritted their teeth while Hades look uncomfortable.

I couldn't speak. I reached out to touch her, but the light was as hot as a bonfire.

"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."

I thought about the pearls in my pocket. Maybe they could get me out of this. If I could just get my mom free ...

"Ah, the pearls," Hades said, and my blood froze. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks.

"It was not!"

"It is."

"It was not!"

"It is."

"Screw you."

"In your ass."

Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."

My hand moved against my will and brought out the pearls.

"Only three," 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."

I looked at Annabeth and Grover. Their faces were grim.

"We were tricked," I told them. "Set up."

"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit—"

"I don't know yet," I said. "But I intend to ask."

"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled.

"Percy." Grover put his hand on my shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt,"

"I know that."

"Leave me here," he said. "Use the third pearl on your mom.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

"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. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something.

"OH YOU BETTER NOT! HADES!"

"I won't. I swear to Gods, is this Hades-beating-day?"

It's the best way."

"No." Annabeth drew her bronze knife. "You two go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."

"No way," Grover said. "I'm staying behind."

"Think again, goat boy," Annabeth said.

"Stop it, both of you!" I felt like my heart was being ripped in two. They had both been with me through so much. I remembered Grover dive-bombing Medusa in the statue garden, and Annabeth saving us from Cerberus; we'd survived Hephaestus's Waterland ride, the St. Louis Arch, the Lotus Casino.

Nico shuddered at the word 'Lotus Casino'.

I had spent thousands of miles worried that I'd be betrayed by a friend, but these friends would never do that. They had done nothing but save me, over and over, and now they wanted to sacrifice their lives for my mom.

"I know what to do," I said. "Take these."

I handed them each a pearl.

Annabeth said, "But, Percy ..."

I turned and faced my mother. I desperately wanted to sacrifice myself and use the last pearl on her, but I knew what she would say. She would never allow it. I had to get the bolt back to Olympus and tell Zeus the truth. I had to stop the war. She would never forgive me if I saved her instead. I 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," I told her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."

"Hades..."

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?!"

The smug look on Hades's face faded. He said, "Godling ... ?"

Everyone chuckled.

"I'll find your helm, Uncle," I 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. She likes red rubber balls."

"Percy Jackson, you will not—"

I shouted, "Now, guys!"

We smashed the pearls at our feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened.

Hades yelled, "Destroy them!"

Poseidon glared at Hades dangerously, while Hades chuckled nervously.

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 my feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. I was encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground.

Annabeth and Grover were right behind me. Spears and bullets sparked harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as we floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook and I knew it was not going to be a peaceful night in L.A.

"Look up.'" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"

Sure enough, we were racing right toward the stalactites, which I figured would pop our bubbles and skewer us.

"How do you control these things?" Annabeth shouted.

"I don't think you do!" I shouted back.

We screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and ... Darkness.

Were we dead?

"In your dream." Hades snorted.

Poseidon glared at Hades.

"Never mind..."

No, I could still feel the racing sensation. We were going up, right through solid rock as easily as an air bubble in water. That was the power of the pearls, I realized—What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.

For a few moments, I couldn't see anything outside the smooth walls of my sphere, then my pearl broke through on the ocean floor. The two other milky spheres, Annabeth and Grover, kept pace with me as we soared upward through the water. And—ker-blam!

We exploded on the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!"

I grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a life buoy. I caught Annabeth and dragged her over too. A curious shark was circling us, a great white about eleven feet long.

I said, "Beat it."

The shark turned and raced away.

"Awesome!" Leo squealed.

Jason look at the book in envy.

The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from us as fast as he could.

Somehow, I knew what time 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's fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after me right now.

But at the moment, the Underworld wasn't my biggest problem.

I had to get to shore. I had to get Zeus's thunderbolt back to Olympus. Most of all, I had to have a serious conversation with the god who'd tricked me.

"Who want to read next?" Hera asked.

"Me." Poseidon said.

Athena handed over the book to God of the Sea

"I Battle My Jerk Relative." Poseidon read out loud.