Excited to have chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 – Destination

"And that's about the gist of it," Gregor said, he had been explaining everything to a silent Chiron and Mr. D. He had explained everything about his time in the Underland to them, the prophecies, his role as the warrior, the war, and him being a rager. Chiron looked concerned about everything Gregor had said, Mr.D just looked bored.

"I hadn't realized it was in the new world, at least I hadn't heard anything about it, although I shouldn't be surprised, it crops up, everywhere," Chiron said stroking at his beard, Gregor felt hopeful after hearing this, they knew about it, they didn't think he was crazy, maybe things were looking up.

"So, it has something to do with all this, the gods and everything," Gregor said

"well, It's very complicated and something we'd all rather forget about," Chiron said

"And that's all you need to know," Mr. D said casually, taking a sip of cola and then leaning back into his chair.

"What?" Gregor said

"that's all you need to know about our involvement. it's complicated, we would rather forget about it and we don't talk about it, ever," He said, swirling the cola bottle. Gregor was annoyed by this, but he tried not to let it show.

"That's fine, I don't need to know about what the gods have to do with the Underland, but that doesn't really matter, I still had that vision which looked pretty awful. I just want to go down there and make sure everything is okay."

"Yeah, no," Mr.D said

"What?!" Gregor said, his annoyance turning into anger

"It's simple, you aren't going down there, I'm not letting you. None of the gods would, not your or any demigod"

"but what about my dream, If it comes true, then a lot of innocent people will be dead, I can't just let that happen," Gregor said Desperation leaking into his voice.

"Gregor I am sorry but it's not so simple, especially when it comes to that place," Chiron said sympathetically.

"I've already been down there, I spent months down there, I am begging you to just let me go down and help them or at least see what's happening" Gregor pleaded

"Gregor we can't, there are rules about-"

"The answer is no Gregory, no from him and no from me," Mr. D said firmly, interrupting Chiron.

"and what if they all die?"

"None of our business, it's not any of your business anymore either, my recommendation to you is to forget any of it ever happened, move on with your life, and get a handle on that rager thing," Mr.D said. Gregor's anger had finally boiled over, he couldn't just forget everything that had happened, and being told to do so, infuriated him beyond belief.

"How about you just shut your mouth you asshole!" Gregor shouted at Mr.D shooting straight up out of his chair, Mr.D looked unconcerned by this blowup, he took a sip of his cola and snapped his fingers, and Gregor was back in the Hades cabin.

After getting over the initial confusion of suddenly being in the Hades cabin again, Gregor paced around, trying to figure out what he needed to do next. He had to get to the Underland, that much was sure, but there were a few problems, first, he needed to get out of the camp and to central park. Gregor didn't have any money, so a bus was out of the question, he thought about trying to get a horse out of the stables but he didn't think he could get a horse out and through the camp quietly, he would have to walk and hope that someone would pick him up along the way. Second Gregor didn't know how to get to Regalia once he was in the Underland, he had always been picked or led to Regalia by someone or something, he could hope that maybe the humans had left someone nearby to watch for stray overlanders, but he also knew all too well how dangerous it could be in the Underland, wandering around aimlessly would only invite danger, which led to the third problem, Gregor didn't want to fight. Gregor had no desire to fight anymore, he didn't want to solve problems with a sword anymore. He had sparred at camp but that was drastically different than what the fighting he had done in the Underland. If he could help it, the Rager side of him would never be allowed out again.

Gregor thought about things he might need but nothing came to mind, he didn't light because of his echolocation, and there would be food and water in regalia, he was as ready as he could be. His plan was that he would leave, and walk until he could find a ride to central park, where he would enter the Underland and try and find someone or something that would take him to Regalia. With somewhat of a plan ready and Gregor about as prepared he could be, he opened the door but was surprised to see Thalia and Asher waiting for him.

"got plans?" Thalia asked rhetorically, "Shit," Gregor thought, this would make things difficult.

"Yeah, my nightly walk, I'd invite you both, but it's very private," Gregor said casually, attempting to walk past them only for Thalia to step in front of him.

"let's not play that game, Asher heard you talking to Chiron and Dionysus, he explained some of it to me,"

"You eavesdropped on my conversation?" Gregor asked Asher,
"I was walking by and I heard it," Asher said abashedly

"You were walking by the big house in the middle of the night?" Gregor asked confused by the boy.

"I have my reasons"
"and why did you go and tell her"

"she's an authority figure" Gregor shook his head hearing this, he couldn't believe his luck or lack thereof. Gregor looked over to Thalia and asked "How much did he tell you?"

"Well, apparently there is an Underground world occupied by pale purple-eyed people who ride giant bats and fight giant rats. You went down there a few times, now you want to go back down but Chiron and Mr.D told you that you can't" Thalia said

"Pretty simplified version of things but yeah,"
"So what's your plan to get there," Thalia asked

"You wouldn't believe it"

"let me guess here, you were planning on leaving camp, probably taking one of our horses, taking one of our weapons with you, going to this Underland to do gods know what, right?" Thalia said

"I was going to hitchhike, and I didn't really plan on bringing any weapons with me," Gregor said, shrugging his shoulders casually, trying to act more casual and relaxed than he felt.

"T-that's not a plan," Thalia said in disbelief at what she had just heard

"It's half of a plan"

"no, not even that"

"Look I just need to get down there, I had a vision I guess, and things looked pretty dire, I need to get down and make sure things are okay, and if they aren't, then I need to help them, just please let me go," Gregor said desperately.

Thalia took a second to consider what he said, although it only took her a couple seconds, it felt like days for Gregor.

"Alright, but I'll be coming with you," Thalia said. Gregor wanted to argue but he couldn't think of any good reason. Thalia was an experienced fighter, she was Artemis' Lieutenant and the daughter of Zeus, it was only advantageous to bring her, but he still didn't like it.

"Fine, whatever, the more the merrier right," Gregor said, sounding the opposite of merry.

"Awesome I'll get my stuff and we'll be on our way!" Asher said enthusiastically.

"No," Gregor said

"Absolutely not," Thalia said. Asher seemed surprised hearing this, but it only showed for a second.

"Alright, have a fun trip, and stay safe," Asher said and walked off, much to the confusion of Gregor and Thalia. "At least he makes it easy," Gregor said relieved that he wouldn't need to argue with the boy.

"Meet me by the farm road in thirty minutes. I'm going to gather some things we might need, I have a plan to get where we need to go" Thalia ordered, quickly walking off towards the Artemis cabin. "Just once I'd like to not be ordered around," Gregor thought to himself.

55 minutes later at the farm road

"twenty minutes later and you finally arrive," Gregor said impatiently as Thalia arrived through the brush, carrying a large duffel bag.

"Haha, as I said I was getting supplies. I got some food and water, nectar, and ambrosia for emergencies, couldn't find any rat spray but I did find this for you, " Thalia said, handing Gregor a sheathed sword. Gregor took it and unsheathed the blade. He thought it was one of the most beautiful weapons he'd ever seen. A single-edged blade with a slight curve, it radiated with a golden glow. It was simple, no jewels or elaborate carvings, the opposite of sandwiches blade but just as beautiful. "A makhaira, 30-inch blade, celestial bronze, cyclops made," Thalia

"It's beautiful," Gregor said in reverence to the blade.

"It's alright, Hephaestus made are much better quality, but for you, that'll do fine," Thalia said although at this point Gregor wasn't paying attention to her. Gregor was engrossed in the blade, his hands trembled with excitement holding it. He was tempted to swing it at a nearby tree just to see how it felt. "I could've ripped through the bane like it was nothing with this" Gregor thought to himself, remembering the ginormous white rat who had savaged the Underland in its madness and bloodlust. Suddenly Gregor's grip loosened and he lost all his excitement, images of the bodies of Pearlpelt, Hamlet, and Ares flashed through his mind. Gregor sheathed the blade and handed it back to Thalia.

"You don't want it," Thalia asked; "No, I'll be fine without it," Gregor said. Thalia wasn't entirely convinced.

"Everything I've heard about this place makes it sound like it would be safer to walk into a lion's den holding a steak, and you're saying you don't need a weapon?" Thalia said, dumbfounded by his choice.

"Not this time, I'll be fine," Gregor said, in response, Thalia simply took the sword, and wrapped it around her waist, "At least it might get some use," Thalia said

"I hope not" Gregor responded solemnly, hoping that maybe he could prevent any bloodshed.

"So what's your plan to get to central park," Gregor asked Thalia, trying to get away from his morbid thoughts. "Follow me," Thalia said beckoning Gregor to follow her. They traveled wordlessly through the woods, with only the moonlight supplying them with any light. After a couple of minutes of walking, they began to walk along a path of beaten down foliage and broken grass, as if a giant had stomped through the path. Slowly a low rumble began to permeate through the woods, causing Gregor to become anxious about what they were walking into. Suddenly Thalia turned and whispered, "We're coming up to it now, so that means we're going to need to be extremely quiet, he's a surprisingly light sleeper."

"Who are you talking about?" Gregor whispered back

"Argus" Thalia responded simply, only confusing Gregor further.

"Argus!?, what exactly are we doing out here?"

"Stealing a ride," Thalia said and then kept moving towards their destination. Finally, they came to a small clearing in the woods, a small tin house stood in the center, next to it was a large tie-die Volkswagen van with a metal covering over it. Around the house were scattered bits of scrap metal and old tires. From the house came the low rumbling sound that had permeated through the woods.

"Welcome to Argus's shack" Thalia whispered to Gregor, gesturing towards the house.

"I think I've figured out what your plan is"

"good saves me the effort of explaining it you"

"so we hotwire the van and drive off as quickly as possible right?" Gregor said, making sure they were on the same page.

"Not unless you know how to hotwire a van," Gregor was surprised to hear this, he wasn't sure how else they would steal the van if Thalia wasn't going to hotwire it, and then Gregor realized exactly what she wanted to do.

"You want to steal his keys!?"

"shhh, but yes, I remember a Hermes kid telling me about how they take the van out every now and again, he told me that Argus keeps the keys right by the front door. All we need to do is get the keys and we'll be on our way" Thalia explained, making it sound much easier than it likely was.

"fine, I'll head inside, grab the keys and meet you by the van." Thalia nodded her head and went off in the direction of the van, and Gregor began to head towards the house.

Gregor slowly opened the front door, if it could be called that, it was a large piece of metal, that had been painted red and was coming off the hinges that held it to the house. Gregor slowly pulled the door open, it made a long and horrible creak that caused Gregor to flinch. For a second the rumbling had stopped and Gregor was worried that Argus had woken up, but after what felt like an eternity of waiting the rumbling started back up and Gregor entered the tin house.

The house smelled like old motor oil and stale potato chips, the floor was covered in old mismatched square rugs that looked like they had never been cleaned properly. The creepiest part was the walls, which had been decorated with dozens of paintings depicting a black-haired woman, each had Argus' signature in the corner and was labeled Hera. Each painting was in a different style, abstract, impressionist, photorealistic and more. All were of the same black-haired woman, who Gregor presumed was Hera. "Surprisingly good quality," Gregor thought to himself. Gregor turned his attention to finding the keys, next to the door was a small key rack with dozens of different keys. Gold, brass, silver, and copper-colored keys adorned the rack, but none of them had the Volkswagen insignia he was looking for. Now Gregor would have to search through the house for the keys.

Two paths presented themselves to Gregor, one was slightly illuminated by blue light and seemed to be the source of the rumbling sound, the other was pitch black and dead silent. Gregor elected to head into the darkness, as he slowly crept away from the little bit of light, his long-forgotten six sense took over. The sound of his breathing bounced against every surface in the dark, illuminating the room for him. Although the room was blurry and Gregor could not make out any of the fine details he could get a general sense of what the room was and what it looked like. The room was a kitchen, a small wooden table was shoved into a corner, beer cans and old candy wrappers covered the entire surface of it. Dirty dishes stacked several feet high, decorated the counters, covering every surface of it.

Only one spot in the kitchen was clean, a granite pedestal, on top sat a marble statue of a woman, presumably Hera. Gregor looked around the kitchen, hoping to find the van keys or just a hint of where they might be, he slowly opened each drawer and cabinet. He found pencils, notepads, pens, bug spray, and a packet of matches, and a matchbook, which he pocketed, thinking they might come in useful. Gregor opened the last drawer, which was filled with old crumpled-up notes, hoping that maybe one of them might tell him where he could find a key or the spare he lit a match, began to pull the notes out and read each one. Most of the notes were useless, reminders to do certain chores around the camp, notes to himself, number combinations, and one poem dedicated to Hera. Gregor pulled one of the oldest notes looking notes out, it read "Spare in the statue". The message seemed clear, there were spare keys in the marble statue.

Gregor blew out the match and slowly crept towards the statue. The statue was delicately balanced on top of the pedestal, not a speck of dirt, dust, or grime even came close to desecrating the statue. It was a great contrast to the rest of the room. Gregor slowly picked the statue up off the pedestal, he was surprised by how light it felt as if it didn't weigh anything at all. Gregor twisted and turned it in his hands, checking every inch of it to try and find the keys, when that failed, he started pulling the head, and arms, hoping maybe there was a mechanism that would open it up. When everything else failed, Gregor decided he had no other choice "sorry auntie" he said and threw the statue to the ground.

The statue shattered into hundreds of pieces, which scattered across the floor, and on the ground, laid a small Volkswagen key. The rumbling that had reverberated through the house had stopped, replaced by a loud grunt and then yelling. Gregor picked up the keys and dashed out of the house as quickly as he could, slamming through the metal door, and running to the van.

"In the van, let's go!" Gregor yelled at Thalia, she jumped into the passenger seat without hesitation. Gregor quickly hopped into the driver seat, he put the keys into the ignition, and turned them… but the engine stalled. Gregor frantically turned the keys, to no avail; and now Argus was outside and began to rush towards the van. The engine stalled until finally in anger Thalia slammed her hand into the dashboard of the van, which miraculously started it. Gregor slammed his foot on the gas pedal and they took off through the woods. As they drove off Thalia rolled down her window, poked her head out, and yelled out "sorry Argus!". A couple minutes into the drive Thalia asked "So what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"in the house with Argus"

"well, the keys weren't by the door, so I checked in the kitchen, had to smash a statue of your stepmom and the rest is pretty obvious."

"my stepmom? Hera?"

"Yeah, there were also some paintings of her, and a poem, all surprisingly well made."

"Their relationship has always been really weird, are you comfortable driving?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah, I should be, drove with my uncle a little bit during the summer so I'm fine as far as driving goes. You should get some sleep, it'll be a couple of hours and everything after that is going to be exhausting, trust me"

"Just focus on driving," Thalia said, anxiously eyeing the road in reaction to Gregor's driving.

The next couple of hours were silent. Gregor was anxious about his return to the Underland. He wondered how it had changed after three years, mostly whether or not the fragile peace they had come to had been maintained. The members of the mixed-species council were made up of the most rational people in the Underland, but being rational made them a minority in the Underland. Gregor turned his thoughts to his friends, he wondered if Vilkus was doing okay after his stroke, if Ripred was still the leader of the rats, or even alive, "of course he is, he'll outlive the gods" Gregor thought to himself, dismissing any notion of the old rats' death. Mareth was a member of the cross-species council, Gregor could only imagine the amount of stress that job had created for him. Howard was doing well when Gregor had left, busy in the hospital but he walked away unscathed and with his entire family safe. And then there was Luxa, the queen of the Regalia. Thinking of her made Gregor feel better about the return, she had been a friend and by the time he left, more than that. He hoped that when he returned that maybe they could start right back where they left off, despite the time away from each other. Perhaps it was naïve but it offered him a great deal of comfort, the more Gregor thought of her, the easier it was to be excited for his return, instead of thinking about all the war and violence, his thoughts shifted to the times of friendship, camaraderie, and love that carried him through the worst of it all.

"first-time boots won't be with me," Gregor thought to himself. He wondered how they were all doing, it hadn't been long since he left, and despite things improving he couldn't imagine they weren't struggling without him. A pang of guilt spread through him, as he realized just how abruptly he had left, he hadn't really been thinking about it at the time, he had so much else on his mind. He had become the primary caretaker of Boots, Lizzie, and his grandmother, and now he was gone. All his responsibilities would be pushed onto Lizzie, even with 's help, things would be so hard for Lizzie. The feelings of guilt stayed with Gregor for the rest of the drive.

Gregor parked at a parking meter a couple blocks away from the park, he realized it wasn't too far from his family's apartment. He was tempted to walk over and see them, tell them everything and apologize for leaving as he did, but the Underland couldn't wait and he wasn't sure if Thalia would like him dragging her to his home like that. Snow gently drifted down from the heavens to the earth where it covered the streets in a thick white blanket. Gregor couldn't help but stare up at it, thinking about how it might be the last time he sees the sky for a while, and so he took a minute to take it all in.

"Hey, look," Gregor said to Thalia, pointing up at the sky but not looking away.

"Yeah, it's snowing," Thalia said dryly

"it's beautiful isn't it," Gregor said as he watched the snow drift down, it certainly wasn't his first time seeing the snow, but he thought it might be his last.

"not much more than any other night"

"Yeah, I guess you're right, it's just that, this might be the last time either of us sees this for a while," Gregor said, his words not revealing that it may be the last time either of them sees it. Thalia didn't say anything in response, she just looked up to the sky and watched the snow, despite Gregor not saying it, she knew what he was thinking. She looked to see if the moon was visible at all, even if it was just a faint glow through the clouds, but there was nothing, not even a hint of light peering through the clouds.

"let's just go," Thalia said simply, Gregor didn't object. It was a short trip to the park and an even shorter walk to the entrance to the Underland. It only took a small push from Thalia for the stone to move aside. For a moment they both stared into the darkness, Gregor thought back to his past memories of the Underland, the good and the bad. Thalia was fixated on the darkness of it, it wasn't like regular darkness. It was darker than anything she had ever seen, it wasn't just absent of light but seemed to absorb what little light dared to touch it.

"Ready?" Gregor asked, his voice shaky as he looked into the darkness. Thalia could only nod her head. Gregor slowly crept into the entrance, slowly disappearing into the dark. For the first time in three years, Gregor was in the Underland, followed closely behind by Thalia Grace.

Chapter 3 is done which I am very happy about. So far this one is the favorite chapter that I've written, although I'm still not satisfied as far as the quality goes, but that's just part of growing as a writer which is ultimately the goal. I am also on summer break which means I have more time to write. Please leave a review, because it helps me know what all of you think I should fix.

P.S - I am planning on this being a decently long project, just wanted to make that clear.