Fear. It's something Piper doesn't experience very often. Watching scary movies never scared her, and she never really had any traumatic experiences as a small child. That is, until she decided to take a joyride through Vegas with a stolen BMW. At first she thought it'd be a good idea to get her dad's attention, maybe she'd be lucky and he'd come pick her up personally. She highly doubted it at the time. Because she already knew he was planning on taking her to juvie. She had already stolen that car when she found out, so she figured she'd enjoy it while it lasted.

Unfortunately for her, her carelessness and innocence didn't prepare her for the people who wandered the streets of Las Vegas. She had stepped out of the car for only a few minutes, and went into a restaurant to use the lady's room. When on the way back, she was jumped by some ugly old guy and taken into the roof of said restaurant. She had never felt that kind of fear in her life until that moment.

She had always been in control of her actions, and of her surroundings. But in that moment, she had been trapped. Basically at the mercy of someone else, who wasn't exactly keen on showing said mercy. She saw the lust in his eyes, as he hungrily eyed her and undressed her with his eyes, while then proceeding to undress her. She panicked, flailed violently and did her best to try to break free, but to no avail.

Right as the man was about to do his vile act on her, where she had lost all hope of escaping, he arrived. Angel, the young boy who appeared out of nowhere, summoned a bow in his hands and shot the vile piece of shit of a human in the leg. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath, as when the man got off her she breathed a sigh of relief. Which was hard for her since she was gagged, but she felt relieved nonetheless.

She watched in awe as the young boy began to beat the man with his bare hands and feet, then point an arrow at his face. A part of Piper hoped he would let the arrow go, but another knew it would be wrong for him to do so. She wasn't able to move however, or speak for that matter. She was in shock, grabbing her knees to cover her exposed chest and watched as the boy eventually backed away from the man.

When she heard his gentle voice, it had metaphorically brought her back to earth. She watched as the boy did his best not to look back at her in her half naked state, and she couldn't help but feel gratitude because of it. That simple act is what got her to trust him, if only a little bit.

And ever since that moment meeting him, it had been a roller coaster of a day. They got chased by police, hypnotized by the lotus casino, found out she was a demigod, escaped said casino, went to the beach only to fight snake woman and the Chimera itself, watch her savior almost die, go to Hollywood and get ambushed by a group of rich kids, sneak into literal hell, and now be face to face with a giant three headed ghost dog.

Quite a bit has happened in the past few hours for her, if you hadn't noticed. And with each event happening, she had felt her trust in Angel grow and grow. She would normally never feel such a connection with someone so quickly, but as they dealt with life or death situations, she assumed it rapidly accelerated their bond. It may be too soon to say, but she felt she could trust Angel with her life. It was something she couldn't explain, but this young boy had shown her a completely new world, something she had no idea existed. It gave her a sense of interest in him, and it kept growing with each encounter they had.

Well, sometimes she had a weird way of showing said trust. And you better believe he was always able to keep her interest, one way or another.

"So um, how exactly do you guys plan on dealing with the three headed Clifford over there?" Piper asked, as they slowly approached the giant dog. They were now in its field of view, and it growled menacingly at them.

"Yeah, we're still working on that." Angel said, not taking his eyes off Cerberus. As they approached, the dog growled at them, and gave a loud bark.

"What'd he say G-man?" Percy asked, to which the satyr turned to him nervously.

"H-he said we have 10 seconds to get out of his face and leave the underworld, before he eats us all." Everyone gulped nervously, but Annabeth looked thoughtful and reached into her backpack. Angel then saw a stick laying on the ground next to him, and he thought of a really dumb idea.

"Hey boy!" He said, grabbing the stick and waving it around in front of the giant puppy.

"Wanna play fetch boy? C'mon, who's a good boy?" All three headed gave him a deadpan expression, and he visibly deflated as he dropped the stick. The three heads then roared at his face, leaving him covered in dog saliva.

"Okay, I guess not." He mumbled, wiping the wetness off his face.

"That was your plan?!" Piper hissed at him, to which he turned to her with an exasperated expression.

"Well do you have any better ideas, Pipes? 'Cuz I would love to hear it!"

"Well for one, not try to play fetch with a killer three headed dog!" Angel scoffed at her.

"Killer? Really? You're making a lot of assumptions. Why would he be a killer if he's guarding people who already died? Plus what kind of dog doesn't like fetch?"

"The one that guards literal hell from trespassing mortals!" She yelled, jabbing a finger at his chest.

"Besides, he literally just told us he was going to kill us if we didn't get out of his face! Is that killer enough for you?!"

They went back and forth, as both Percy and Grover stared at them bewildered.

"I...me and Annabeth don't look like that when we argue, right?"

"Like an old couple, yeah." Grover said simply, forgetting about the impending doom to enjoy watching Angel and Piper argue. Percy on the other hand was having his own mental dilemma, about how he really felt about the daughter of Athena.

Speaking of children of Athena, Annabeth finally found what she was looking for and grinned to herself.

"Hey boy, look what I found!" She yelled, getting everyone's attention. They all looked to see a bright red rubber ball, one that when she squeezed it would squeak loudly. Cerberus' eyes (all six of them) widened, and his tail wagged and panted excitedly. Annabeth's grin became larger, as she got ready to throw the ball.

"Ready boy?" He barked happily, and got down into a playful position. If those ghosts weren't transparent, they would've been totally crushed by the giant puppy.

"Go fetch!" Annabeth yelled, throwing the ball as hard as she could. He barked again, and quickly gave chase to said rubber ball. Apparently he liked squeaky rubber balls over lousy sticks. Go figure.

"Quickly! Get into the EZ pass lane while I keep him distracted!" Annabeth yelled out to her friends, who were still surprised that she basically subdued a giant hellhound with a rubber ball.

"Told you playing fetch would work." Angel remarked smugly, shoving his shoulder against Piper's.

"Shut up." She grumbled, before quickly rushing over into the fields of Asphodel. The rest of the group did the same, as Annabeth played with Cerberus a little while longer.

The poor puppy happily played fetch with the daughter of Athena, like he hadn't had something to play with in years.

"I feel kinda bad." Angel said from the other side of the gate, watching the pair play.

"He really is just a big ol' puppy."

"But once he gets bored he'd probably just eat you." Grover said, nervously looking at the wandering souls of the fields of Asphodel.

"I doubt it." Angel said, watching Annabeth throw the ball one last time before sprinting towards the group.

"Let's bail!" She yelled as she ran, and the group quickly did as told.

Annabeth gave one last look behind her, and saw Cerberus' tail stop wagging, it dropped down and he started whining.

"I'll come back and play fetch some other time boy. I promise." She said, and she couldn't help but let a tear drop from her eyes. Seeing the dog give her 3 puppy eyes at the same time was too much, and it took all her willpower to keep running.

Cerberus howled longfully, but seemed to understand what the daughter of Athena said, and returned to his post.

After a few minute jog, the group decided they were far enough from Cerberus. As they walked however, Angel looked in awe by how calm this place was. And boring. There was a bunch of tall yellow grass everywhere, with the occasional tree here and there. The souls here just, wandered endlessly. They looked like human-ish formed clouds, the only thing that resembled their past life was their face. And even then, it was a drowsy and tired looking face, like someone who just got up from a 2 hour nap.

"Is this really the afterlife? Boring and cursed to wander these grasslands for eternity?" Piper asked in anticipation, worried that this is what she was bound to deal with once she died.

"No, not for everyone." Annabeth said, leading the group as Percy at some point led them to go in circles.

"These people lived boring, yet simple life's. So they died as they lived. In disappointment."

"Wow Annabeth, that was…" Angel started, trying to find the right word.

"Depressing." Piper finished, looking at her like she wasn't helping one bit.

"It's a quote from one of the ancient greek authors." She said with a shrug. (No not really please don't flame me)

"It's how he tried to get people to live more honorable lives, which only worked for a while."

"Seems reasonable enough, I guess." Piper said, rubbing her arm nervously.

"There are better places to be in the underworld, for those who lived honorably. Elysium is basically heaven, But for Greeks only heroes make it there."

"Seems kinda unfair for those who aren't fighters or warriors." Angel commented, and Piper agreed with him.

"Define hero." Annabeth said simply, leaving Angel stumped a bit.

"Well, someone who saves a lot of people I guess."

"Partially true, but not completely accurate." Annabeth remarked.

"Someone who never gives up?" Percy added.

"Mmm, no."

"Someone who is selfless?" Piper said, and Annabeth grinned.

"Exactly. Someone who puts others first to ensure their safety, while putting themselves at risk. It's the greatest honor to the ancient Greeks, and they reward it. And warriors aren't the only kind of heroes. Doctors, blacksmiths, scientists, etc. They all base their work on trying to help their community survive and thrive. As long as they don't commit any war crimes or do inhumane tests for the good of their people, they make it to Elysium."

Angel saw the logic in that and nodded in understanding.

"But what about farmers? Normal people who just don't have it in them to be scientists or fighters? Are they destined to live this?" He asked, gesturing to everything around them.

"Everyone has a chance to make it to Elysium Angel, they just don't know it. In everyone's life, there's always going to be at least one situation where you put someone before yourself to save them, risking your own. It's just how life is. And depending on how you reacted, and how you live from there on out, the judgement set upon you is affected."

Piper's mind flooded with the memories of Angel saving her, putting himself at risk for her safety.

'But what have I done?' She thought to herself.

'I haven't done anything to earn a place in Elysium. What if I die on this quest, and didn't get a chance to save anyone? Will I be forever cursed to live my afterlife here?' She couldn't help but shutter at the thought, and Angel noticed. He grabbed her shoulder and looked down at her worriedly.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked, getting her attention. She looked up to him, seeing the same worried face he gave when he had first saved her from that rapist. With those stupid, beautiful firey eyes. Wait, beautiful? What was she saying?

She forced a smile.

"Yeah, I think a spirit just fazed through me or something." She lied, and Angel chuckled.

"Yeah, that happened to me earlier and it gave me goosebumps." He said with a goofy smile, and she couldn't help but give a genuine smile back. His smiles were contagious.

"I keep forgetting how smart you are Annabeth. I felt like I was being lectured by a college professor or something." Angel praised, now turning his attention to the daughter of Athena. Annabeth did her best to try to hide her blush under a smug look.

"Of course I am. My mom is after all the smartest goddess of Olympus." Piper however did notice her blush, and saw Annabeth give Angel a look that lasted a second longer than usual. She didn't know why, but it bugged her more than she would like to admit.

"Alright owl face, don't let it get to your head. It was just a compliment."

"Wha-?" Annabeth gasped, not expecting him to call her owl face of all things. For some reason, she wasn't all too bothered by it. Not as much as getting called an owl head by Percy, but she didn't want to show it. Her hubris wouldn't allow it.

"Who are you calling an owl head? Your brain is probably the size of a walnut after deciding to fight the Chimera alone." She said crossing her arms.

"Hey it worked okay? We were able to stall enough time for Percy to show up."

"Barely." Piper muttered under her breath, just enough so no one could hear.

"You also tried to play fetch with Cerberus with a stick." Grover said with a laugh while Piper was doing her best to hold back her giggles, remembering how that went. Angel looked back at her like she had betrayed him.

"Hey, I wasn't going to try to fight it! Plus it worked when Annabeth did it, so I wasn't too off point."

"He would've totally eaten you if Annabeth didn't distract him." Percy snickered, joining in.

"Aw c'mon Perce, not you too." Angel whined.

"You probably would've done the same thing if I hadn't done it first." The son of the sea shrugged.

"Probably, but I wasn't the one who almost got his face bitten off." Angel groaned in annoyance as the rest of the group laughed at his pain, as they felt a little better about their current predicament.

After what felt like hours of walking through tall grass, eventually they found a huge castle over the horizon.

"There it is." Annabeth said, pointing ahead of them.

"Hades' castle. Not as fancy as I thought it would be." She thought out loud, seeing as the castle looked more like a luxurious haunted mansion.

"What do you mean? It looks perfect for the god of death." Angel remarked, while Percy stood quietly behind them. He was growing restless at the mere thought of confronting the one who took his mother.

"He's also the god of wealth Angel." She pointed out, waving her finger at him.

"He could've easily made his castle out of solid gold, or even diamonds if he wanted to. Since he commands basically everything under the earth, he can control the minerals in the soil."

"Must not be his style then." Angel shrugged, and Annabeth grumbled under her breath.

"Wasted opportunity if you ask me." Everyone then froze, as they heard a bone chilling voice echo in their minds.

"Demigods…" Everyone turned to their left to see a giant pitch, just at the edge from the fields of Asphodel.

"Well, that's a bottomless pit if I've ever seen one." Angel said humorlessly, and Annabeth stared at it in horror.

"Oh no…We need to get away from that pit. Now." Everyone looked at her confused, but agreed with her anyway. Something about it made it feel more terrifying than the underworld itself.

"Free me...Demigods…" The voice repeated, causing the ground from under them to shake.

"What's going on? Annabeth?" Angel asked worriedly as he watched her trip from the violent shaking. But before she could fall Angel grabbed her by the waist to stop her from falling on her ass. He quickly lifted her up on her two feet and let go, in fear that she might retaliate aggressively. But she didn't, she just nodded her head in thanks.

"We need to get away from that pit. For once I hope I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's the entrance to-" She was interrupted by the same voice, now booming with anger.

"Free me...or JOIN ME!" The shaking suddenly stopped, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. Except for Grover, who let out a desperate high pitch scream, as he was quickly being sucked into the pit.

"Grover!" Percy yelled for his best friend and gave chase after him.

"Use your winged shoes!" Angel watched as his shoes grew a pair of wings each, and wasn't even that surprised at this point. What with all he's seen, shoes with wings weren't that weird. He noticed however that the shoes were actually flapping towards the pit, not away.

"Take them off Grover! Take off the shoes!" Angel yelled in a panic, to which he quickly obliged too. He was able to get one of them off, which was quickly sucked into the pit. The other one however refused to be taken off, and Grover had to grab onto a rock to stop himself from getting any closer.

"I can't take it off!" He cried, now focusing on keeping his grip on the rock while the shoe flapped desperately.

"Percy on me! You two stay back!" Angel yelled to the son of sea, to which Percy nodded. He wasn't about to sit back and not help his best friend. Both of them carefully approached the satyr, doing their best not to lose their footing. As the closer they got, the stronger the winds blew.

"Hurry guys, I'm losing my grip…!" Grover struggled to say, trying his hardest to not let go.

"Just hang out a little longer G-man, almost there…" Percy said, walking in front of Angel and closer to Grover.

"Make sure I don't fall." Percy said looking back at Angel, to which he just nodded. As they got closer, both boys crouched down, and Angel hooked his feet over a sturdy rock and grabbed Percy's ankle.

"Alright, go for it Perce!" Angel yelled, and the son of sea reached to grab Grover.

"Gimme your hand!" Percy exclaimed, reaching as far as he could to the satyr.

"I...I can't!" Grover yelled.

"I'll lose my grip!"

"You'll lose your grip eventually man! Just reach for me!" Grover whined a bit, really not liking the situation he's in. I mean, who could blame him? But he gripped the rock harder, and with his left hand reached for Percy. Percy quickly reached over and grabbed his hand, and Grover lost his grip on the rock he was holding onto and cried in horror. Angel grunted in surprise at the added weight, but held firm as to not let go.

"Alright, bring him in…" Angel muttered, gritting his teeth from all the weight he was on his right arm. While Percy did that, Grover tried to use his foot to kick the other winged shoe off him, eventually succeeding in doing so. The shoe quickly flew into the bottomless pit, while the three boys struggled to pull away.

Not long after the last shoe was sucked into the pit however, the wind quickly dissipated and returned to it's calm breeze. Everyone let out another sigh of relief, with the boys laying on the ground exhausted.

"You guys...need to lose weight…" Angel said between breaths.

"Especially you, Grover. Lay off the enchiladas once in a while." The satyr couldn't help but chuckle, mostly because he couldn't believe he was still alive.

"Are you guys okay?" Piper asked running towards them, now seeing that the wind returned to normal.

"Just out of breath…" Percy responded.

"They should be fine." Annabeth looked at her friends in relief, before turning to look at the pit in worry.

"Let's get out of here before that thing decides to try and suck us in again." Everyone unanimously agreed, and quickly got away from the pit. It gave everyone the chills, as they felt a dark and older presence, lurking from within it. They quickly left and started walking towards the castle, not wanting to waste anymore time.

Angel walked ahead from the group next to the daughter of Athena, seeing her give a spooked look.

"Hey, earlier you said something about knowing what that place was." He started.

"What was it?" Annabeth took a deep breath, and he watched as goose bumps ran through her body.

"The entrance to Tartarus…" She whispered, and Angel's eyes widened in horror.

"T-TARTAR-!" Annabeth quickly put her hand over his mouth to shut him up, looking behind her wearily.

"Not so loud!" She hissed, looking up at him.

"It's best that they don't know exactly what that place was, for their sake." Angel seemed to calm down after a few seconds, and nodded reluctantly. He didn't like secrets. But knew if they told them it would just distract them from the mission.

'Maybe once this is all over.' He thought to himself.

"But, are you sure that was…" He trailed off.

"It couldn't have been anything else?" She shook her head sadly.

"I wish I was wrong, but like always I was right." She started, looking forward.

"Wow, how humble of you." Angel remarked, but Annabeth ignored him.

"That's the only place worse than the underworld. Hell for monsters, the Gods and Titans themselves..." Annabeth explained, and Angel shuddered at the thought. He couldn't imagine how bad a place would be to torture literal immortals.

"Let's just focus on the real reason we're here." She said, focusing ahead of them.

"And how exactly are we going to take the lightning bolt from the literal god of death?" Angel asked with his arms crossed, to which she smiled back with a shrug.

"I got no idea. C'mon we're losing time." Angel shook his head in amusement, knowing that this is probably how most demigods deal with their quests.

"Lead the way owl face."

"Shut up."

"Uh, what're those…bat creatures flying above the palace?" Piper asked, pointing up at the top of said palace. Angel looked up as well and saw she was right, they were like humanoid bat monsters. Circling the towers of the huge palace.

"Furies." Percy said quietly, glaring at one in particular.

"Wasn't one of them your math teacher?" Angel said curiously, and Percy nodded.

"Yeah, unfortunately. She was a pain in my butt, both as a teacher and when she tried to kill me."

"Any math teacher would be a pain to you, seaweed brain." Annabeth commented, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, well...uh." Percy stumbled on his words, failing to deny her claim. He sighed.

"Let's just get inside." He muttered distractedly, something that everyone noticed. Annabeth and Grover both felt guilty, remembering the real reason why the son of sea was here. Angel had a hunch too, figuring out that he wasn't all too interested in the mystical world. And really was doing all this for a chance to save his mom.

'He really didn't think it through though.' Angel thought to himself.

'Hopefully he has some sort of plan, but knowing him he probably doesn't…' Angel looked back to see Piper and Grover walking behind him, with Annabeth and Percy taking lead. Grover looked like he was going to shit his pants any minute, and Piper didn't look that better if he was honest.

"How are you feeling?" He asked the daughter of love, getting her attention.

"Anxious. Nervous. Are we really going to talk to a god of death?" Angel sighed.

"Looks like it, we're going to try to convince him a war with the other gods would be a bad idea."

"This is gonna end badly, I just know it." She mumbled, pulling the hoodie over her head.

"Hey." Angel suddenly grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She jumped a bit from the sudden contact, but didn't pull away.

"We'll be fine. Have some faith yeah?" He said with a small smile, and he secretly sent a wave of hope through her. Sometimes having just a little hope can do a lot for someone, and being the champion of Hestia he was able to do just that.

"Okay." She said quietly, giving him a squeeze in return. She gave him a cute smile, and he then realized what he was doing. Holding hands and locking eyes with a really cute girl was something he had never done before. When he saw her smile up at him with her ever changing colored eyes, changing from blue to green, it brought heat to his face. He couldn't help but blush and let go of Piper's hand.

"C'mon. The others are leaving us behind." He mumbled quickly pointing to the rest of the group, who were already at the front gate of the palace.

"R-right."

The pair quickly caught up with the others and stepped in front of the front gate. On the other side were two skeleton soldiers, looking like they came from different eras. One kind of looked like a samurai, complete with his armor covering his body except for his face. The other looked like a US Marine, wearing a camo outfit and a big assault rifle in hand.

'I can probably take on the samurai no problem, but the Marine would be an issue." Angel thought while eyeing the assault rifle.

'Angel had never tried deflecting bullets before, but he wasn't going to try any time soon. Best not provoke them.'

The others watched the two skeletons look at them with their empty eye sockets, and it creeped them out. Right as Angel was about to open his mouth to speak however, the two skeletons looked at each other and nodded, before the gates opened slowly.

"Guess he was expecting us." Grover remarked.

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Piper asked.

"Doesn't matter. We're going." Percy said, being the first to walk past the gate. But before he could even take a step, the samurai placed his sword in front of Percy, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Hey! What's the big deal?" Percy exclaimed, reaching into his pocket for riptide. Before he could even take it out however, the marine pointed his gun directly at the son of Poseidon's face, and he froze.

"Wow easy Percy!" Angel exclaimed, rushing over to Percy and grabbed his shoulders.

"No need to get violent right? Wouldn't want him to get all trigger happy on us, now would we?" He said, whispering the last part while applying pressure to Percy's shoulder. He winced a bit, but seemed to get the message.

"Right. No violence. No fighting." Percy said, raising his hands up as if surrendering. The two soldiers then dropped their weapons, and the marine motioned to follow him. They did so reluctantly, getting closer and closer to the main entrance to the giant palace.

"It's a lot bigger up close…" Grover muttered, looking up at the dark mansion.

"I still think it could've been better…" Annabeth grumbled under her breath. They eventually made it to the main entrance to the palace, and the two soldiers stepped aside and kneeled down.

"Uh, should we…?" Angel started to ask, but was interrupted by the double doors opening. On the other side was a beautiful woman wearing an elegant black dress, with long black hair and grass green eyes. She had an hourglass figure, and very gifted in the chest area.

"Wow…" Angel mumbled, giving a starry look. Piper quickly elbowed his side, and he winced in pain.

"Ow…" He glared at Piper, who looked away innocently.

"Welcome demigods. My husband has been...expecting you." She said, eyeing Percy.

'Husband? She must be Persephone, goddess of vegetation. Forced to live down here with Hades himself. Honestly I feel bad for her.' Angel thought to himself.

"Come, follow me." She said before turning away, walking back inside the palace. The group looked at each other wearily, before Percy took lead and followed the goddess.

As they walked, Angel couldn't help but notice how nice that dress looked good on her as-

"You've given my husband some trouble, child of Poseidon. He hasn't been pleased for the past couple of days." Percy couldn't help but scoff.

"Maybe he shouldn't have kidnapped my mom." The goddess looked surprised.

"Is that the only reason you've come to the underworld demigod?" Persephone asked in a suspicious tone.

"I'm only here for my mom. And to convince Hades to not go to war with the other gods." He said with pure determination in his eyes. The goddess didn't look pleased, and Angel guessed she didn't like that answer.

"Very well demigods." She made a right, and huge double doors appeared around the corner. Probably around 15 feet tall.

"Hades will see you now. Do your best to not anger him further." She warned and the doors opened.

'Knowing Percy, that's exactly what's going to happen.' Angel mumbled to himself, as he walked behind Percy into the throne room.

It was a worthy throne room for a god of wealth, with diamond chandeliers, color stained glass and a throne made of pure gold. Said throne was at least 14 foot tall and 8 foot wide, with Hades himself in his godly form reaching up to 10 feet. Hades looked different from when he visited Angel, somehow more pale and more skeleton-like. He wore big black armor with a black cape, and a scowl etched on his face.

Percy looked up at the god unblinking.

"Uncle." He said simply, and the god looked down at them. He eyed Percy for a second, before turning to the rest of the group. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Champion of Hestia?" He then glared at the boy, an Angel could feel the tremendous bloodlust rolling of the god like waves. He couldn't help but shiver.

"I told you to protect my children! A simple task! And where do I find you? Helping the enemy!" He roared, and Angel did his best to hide his growing fear.

"Lord Hades, your children are safe. They were undisturbed in the lotus casino, oblivious to all the dangers and impending war. I ran into Percy while in said casino." Hades calmed down a bit, seemingly relaxed that his children are safe.

"Then why are you here, helping the lightning thief?" He asked, giving Percy the bad eye.

"Wait, it wasn't you who stole Zeus' bolt?" The god scoffed.

"Of course not! Gods cannot take others symbol of power, it's written in the ancient laws!" He then turned to Percy.

"But heroes can. It is a very dangerous thing to do, but possible. And Poseidon sent his son to steal it to start a war with Olympus."

"I didn't steal anything! You're the one that wants to start a war! Having more dead people would increase your army!" Percy yelled, and Hades scoffed even louder.

"Stupid demigod, did you not SEE the line into Asphodel? the line to the fields of punishment? THEY'RE CROWDED!" He roared, practically venting.

"If we had another war my kingdom would be so crowded it would drain my riches dry! But you…" He pointed at Percy in distaste.

"Your father would benefit greatly from a war with Olympus, don't try to deny it. Now hand over the bolt, and my helm of darkness!" Percy looked even more confused.

"What? I don't have either of them! I haven't stolen anything!"

"You take me for a fool Jackson?" Hades roared.

"Open your backpack! Now." Percy was obviously confused, but reluctantly did.

As soon as he started to open it, a bolt of lightning jumped out from inside it, and Percy jumped in surprise. Inside was Zeus's master bolt, and Angel looked at it in awe. It shimmered with life, with little jolts of lightning bouncing off it occasionally.

"You didn't steal it huh?" Hades mumbled, and Percy started to stutter.

"I-I don't understand. I never-"

"Enough!" Hades bellowed, getting everyone's attention.

"Give me the lightning bolt Jackson, or you can say goodbye to your mother." He said, and opened his palm. Like a hologram, a picture of a beautiful middle aged woman appeared, who looked around in worry.

"Mom!" Percy cried, but received no response.

"She is not dead, but she will be if you do not return my helm." Hades demanded, and crushed his palm. The hologram disappeared, along with Percy's mother. Angel looked at Percy with betrayal, thinking the child of Poseidon did in fact steal the bolt.

Percy looked at his friends with guilt, before reaching into his pocket for the pearl.

"Oh? Planning on leaving? Without your poor mother?" Hades taunted, and Percy paused.

"You wouldn't dare."

"We don't have a choice." He muttered and looked at his friends.

"Everyone crush your pearls now!"

"Seize them!" Hades roared, and an army of skeletons burst through the door.

Everyone quickly grabbed their pearls and crushed them under their feet, and quickly a giant bubble surrounded each of them. Said bubbles carried each of them out of the underworld, and into the ocean. Off the coast of Santa Monica.