Part Two: Percy Jackson & The Forgotten Hero

Chapter IV

Once everyone was gathered, they met in the mess hall for breakfast. They scraped part of their food and burnt it as an offering to the gods, and convened at one table. They were up hours before anyone else. Jay was acting a bit weird, according to Lucie.

"Jay, why are you acting weird?"

"Um… I won't be able to hide it any longer…"

"Hide what?"

"Guys… we're kind of gods."

It would have been hilarious to look at the looks on their faces if they it hadn't worried Jay that he lied to all of them.

"What?" Lessa asked, staring at him like he was insane.

"Hecate gave me a potion to make us temporary gods. She told me that none of our bodies would be able to handle Tartarus for long. Don't worry… it won't last or anything. It will fade once we leave the Underworld. It would be pointless to eat your breakfast. You won't taste anything. Hecate gave me nectar and ambrosia last night in the Big House. Chiron's watching it. We should go there."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Percy asked.

"Hecate told me not to. She wanted me to keep it a secret, but when you wouldn't taste anything in your food… I figured you'd find out something was different…"

"I knew about it, too," Rhea said. "My mom told me."

"We can eat as much as we want without burning up," Jay said.

Surprisingly, nobody was too mad about Jay and Rhea not telling them anything. They went to the Big House instead to eat their breakfast. The endless supply of nectar and ambrosia was amazing. Jay just kept drinking it and eating it. It tasted like his favorite pasta that his dad used to make for him.

But that was before the Chaos stuff happened. He decided to stay year round at camp then, because it was the best option for him to do. He did miss his dad, but his dad wasn't too lonely. His dad was getting married to a really nice woman he met at work.

He figured he should IM his dad and let him know that he was going on a quest, but he didn't want him to worry.

Everyone ate in silence.

When they finished, Shaw stood up and said, "I have something to say. I had a dream last night. My brother wants to revive Chaos."

Silence. Nobody was sure what they were supposed to say. Hey, sorry… I know your brother is now our enemy and all, but we'll go easy on him… oh, yeah. That'll work. If he's going to put up a fight to get to the girl, then… that'll be an issue.

"And I think the goddess with him is going to join… Chaos," Shaw said, trembling. "If that's Elysia, we're doomed!"

"Elysia would never join Chaos!" Lucie said in shock. "She wouldn't. No matter how angry she was at us… she'd never do that…"

Jay swallowed the lump in his throat. As much as he didn't want to say what he was about to, he had to say it. "Guys… even if it is Elysia, we must attack her. We're the equivalent of gods now, too. We would stand a chance. We can't risk giving Chaos any powerful allies."

Boy, did he feel like a jerk.

"How can you say that?" Lucie asked in dismay. "She's not even in her right mind!"

"She's still powerful, and if it comes between sacrificing her to save the world or letting her live and Chaos destroying the gods… I know that Elysia would rather herself be sacrificed if she were thinking clearly. For now, we don't need to think about it. I guess we just go to the Underworld now. We don't need to pack any food, water, or anything."

"Bring weapons," Chiron ordered. "Just because you're gods now doesn't meant that you can take them bare handed."

Everyone nodded. The Hunters double checked that their enchanted bows and quivers were with them. Percy knew Riptide was in his pocket. Nico knew his sword was disguised as the ring on his finger. Lucie knew she had Phantasma as her headband. Adam knew his wand was with him. Lessa had her bow and quiver. Jay had his sword.

Everyone was ready to go. "Bye, Chiron," Percy said.

Jay and Nico used their shadow travelling abilities to get them to the Underworld. Jay had been there once with Nico when they were looking for Elysia. They were so close, but they hadn't even considered Tartarus. "Guys, follow me," Nico said.

Lessa hated this. She felt so… enclosed. She wanted open air. This place only smelled of death and sadness. They wandered through the Fields of Asphodel. The people didn't even look like anything more than shadows of themselves. They tried to talk, but nobody could understand what they were saying, except maybe Nico.

The walk was sad.

And then, Lessa realized that this was her fate if she were to die and Elysium were to fall. There would be nothing but the sad emptiness her eyes rested on.

She was pretty happy when they finally made it through that depressing field. From a distance, she saw Elysium, and her breath was taken away. It was like a paradise in this sad place. Inside it, in a smaller area, was the Isles of the Blest. Despite its gorgeous beauty and tranquility, something was utterly wrong within it. The people inside it looked sad, like they were mourning. Nonetheless, it still appeared more cheerful than the rest of the Underworld. Lessa decided that Elysium was definitely where she wanted to end up when she died, or… if. She still hoped to take her father's place as god of the Wild.

She wouldn't have to worry about death. She could be in a paradise without having to die first. It would be nice. But first… she had to prove she was a hero worthy of eternal life. She had to rescue the people in Elysium and the Isles of the Blest. She had to, it was part of her duty and a way to repay those deserving of happiness in the afterlife that were without the opportunities she was given.

They kept going, and Lessa realized there was a huge palace before her. It looked like a darker version of Olympus, just on a smaller scale. It was black obsidian, but it looked really nice and sleek. Lessa realized that that's where Elysia should be living. That's where she belonged. She smiled. They would get her back. She would get her eternal happiness after dying three times.

Nico lead them past the palace, though. It got darker the farther away they got from the palace. Soon, it was practically impossible for Lessa and the others (who weren't naturally comfortable in the darkness) couldn't see. There was a giant chasm before them, and everyone's eyes were slightly adjusted by then. "This is the dangerous part. Rhea or Adam?"

"Yes," they both said.

"Which one of you knows a good cushioning spell?"

"I do," Adam said.

"Good. Cast it when I tell you to, alright? We're going in."

Everyone linked hands and kept walking, straight to the seemingly bottomless pit. Suddenly, they all free fell.

It got darker and darker before it was solid black they were seeing. They couldn't even really see each other. Surprisingly, nobody felt scared, but they did receive a strange feeling they all got in the pits of their stomachs. "NOW!" Nico yelled after they'd been falling for two minutes.

Adam pulled out his wand and performed the spell. The light from the spell should have illuminated walls or something or even ground, but there wasn't anything but darkness. When they all collided with the ground, it was like landing on a pillow of air before being set down.

"It's so dark," Lucie murmured.

"This is the place… this is where my brother really is…" Shaw mumbled.

"We should wait here," Jay said. "I imagine that the longer we're in here, the more our eyes will pick up on light."

"Jay's right," Nico said. "Soon, we should be seeing each other's auras."

"What?" Ellen said.

"Auras?" Percy asked.

It was Shaw who answered. "It's to show you, basically, how much time you have left. We'll be able to see our aura in this darkness. It's how we'll be able to see anything at all. It explains why I could see the auras in my dream, remember?"

"I guess that makes sense," Lucie murmured.

"Is it weird that I already feel weaker?" Lessa asked.

"Well you are the daughter of Pan," Percy said. "You don't thrive in darkness."

"Yeah…" she agreed.

…

"So that's all? That's why you want revenge on the gods?" the goddess laughed. "That's just sad. I'm sorry the demigods screwed with you for being a child of Kronos, but… really? It's pathetic. The gods have done better than the titans. I don't think Chaos would know how to run a world full of humans. She is a primordial deity. She was around long before humans and gods even existed."

"How dare you laugh at me?" Zave asked, pretty ticked off. "What have the gods ever done for you?"

The goddess' face turned to a frown. "Nothing," she replied. "They did nothing for me."

"Then why are you siding with them? Why not make your own decisions?" he asked a bit softer than last time.

"It's just… they're my family. I should side where I belong."

"Join us, and you get away from it all. You get to be free from the gods and do as you please! All we ask is that you accompany us to find Chaos."

She seemed to think about it. "Give me time to decide. Wander wherever you please. I will find you when I've made up my mind."

With that, she ran away, into the darkness.

"She'll be back," Cally said. "And she's perfect for Chaos."

"We'll see about that," Zave said. "But I think it may work out."

"I hope so. I had to go through all that trouble to find her," Shawn said smugly. "Anyways, I'm going to sleep. I'm exhausted from all the running around and stuff."

"Same," Zavion muttered. "Night."

Cally stood. "I'll keep watch for monsters."

…

"This is weird," Percy said, staring at the light around him. His aura was a nice sea blue.

"I agree," Lucie said, staring at the light blue silvery glow around her.

"Nico, yours is so dark!" Lessa said. Nico's was a dark grey.

"So is Jay's," Rhea also commented. Jay's was roughly the same shade as Nico's.

"I'm going to assume the darker your aura is, the easier it is to survive, right?" Ellen said. "You are more at home than we are. Our lights will burn out quicker than yours."

"Smart," Nico said. "I don't really know for sure, though."

"Lucie…" Jay said. She, Lessa, Ellen, and Shaw all had roughly the same shade. Theirs were extremely bright. "I'm worried about all of you. Yours are the lightest auras… It'll be easiest for you guys to fade away than the rest of us."

They nodded. "Shouldn't we get going?" Lessa asked.

"Yes, I suppose we should," Jay answered. "I don't know where to lead you all, though." Jay was unsure about everything. How was he supposed to find an almost dead goddess in this place? It was nothing but darkness. But he could feel a presence. He felt… "Monster!" he yelled.

This monster was enormous. Jay wasn't even sure what it was. It was probably an old drakon. He'd heard tales of them, but never actually seen one. He didn't really ever want to, but… it wasn't like he could help it. Everyone prepared to attack.

The Hunters shot arrows at it. It roared and spat acid towards Jay. Honestly, he hadn't dodged quickly enough, but he didn't feel any pain when the acid splashed against his leg. He ran and climbed it as best he could while it writhed around.

Percy had witnessed how Clarisse took down a drakon with his own eyes. But how were they supposed to kill something that was already in Tartarus?

With all the strength he had, which actually was a lot, given he was a god, he charged the writhing drakon. He wasn't far behind Jay, but he didn't try to climb. When he had seen Clarisse take down the drakon, she had done it with her electric spear. Obviously there was no electric spear just laying around in Tartarus, so that was out of the question. Percy randomly attacked it, but found that it didn't have the scaly armor it used to. He didn't know what Clarisse did with it afterwards, but it made this thing vulnerable.

Jay was on top of the large drakon, holding on as best as he could while this thing tossed him around. He'd never ridden a mechanical bull before, but he imagined it would be something like what he was experiencing on the head of the drakon. Mustering up all the strength he had, he brought his sword in front of him and stabbed the thing in its head, right on top.

As the snake flung around, slowly sinking lower, Jay decided he'd just jump off. He was roughly two stories high, but he did it anyway.

He landed on his feet with no pain. "Jeez, Jay, way to test your new godly powers," Percy joked as he cracked a smile.

"The rest of us would have helped if you needed it," Rhea said. "But you didn't, so… wow. That was awesome, Jay."

Jay felt weird getting praise from her, since he used to like her in the past. "Um… thanks," he said. "Now that the drakon's taken care of, why don't we try to find Elysia?"

"Where should we look?" Rhea muttered. "It's not like any of us know how to find her…"

"That's true," Adam chimed in. "I might be able to do a location spell if anyone had anything of hers with them…"

"I have her iPod," Lucie said, digging around. "Will that work?"

"Maybe," Adam answered.

Once Lucie heard that answer, she found her sister's iPod in her backpack. "Here," she said as she handed it to Adam.

"It's enchanted," Adam murmured. "Rhea, this seems like your doing."

"I believe it was. It was a communications device, I think. When I woke up, I had an enchanted iPod just like this one."

"Interesting," Adam said. "Now, let's see…"

Gently holding the iPod, he took out his wand. He murmured some spell and pointed his wand towards the center of the blank screen. It glowed green and sprouted mechanical legs. He dropped it and it began to move forward.

"It's like one of Hephaestus' spiders," Percy mentioned. "Will it lead us to her?"

Adam nodded. "It most certainly will. We just have to follow it."

I think you all know it's not going to simply be that easy. Not because it never is in my stories, but because this is only the fourth chapter! Anyways... the identity of the goddess is somewhat revealed in the next chapter, so look forward to that!

For all you Americans (which is most of you, I imagine), I want to wish you a happy Independence day! I love this holiday, it's probably my favorite! (Fireworks=AWESOME). Think of this as a gift of some sorts.

Time for some questions!

1) What do you think the goddess is going to do?

2) How did you like the godly fight scene?

3) What's your favorite part of this chapter?

Now, I want to say that I love you all, but could you please drop reviews from time to time to let me know you're still reading? There are people who review frequently, such as Lady Cougar-Trombone, Redwolf11, and usually Sonofthetrigod. I want to thank you three for being the best reviewers a writer could ask for. Thank you for always taking time to drop a review, even when you're in a hurry. It means a LOT to me that you do. As for the rest of you, I LOVE you too, but can you show me a bit of love in return? Please and thank you. :) You all are awesome.

Boy, that was a long paragraph. It's over and done with. xD

Have a rockin' 4th of July, peeps!