My second update today as promised, including more adorable big three kid moments and Percy being super duper pissed off that she didn't kill a certain one eyed menace. Please review! I love hearing what you guys things should happen or what you think I should do- and who knows your suggestions may change my plans- only certain things are set in stone.
They reached the top of the hill Percy looked down and she blinked as she stared at the figure on the other side.
He definitely wasn't pretty Percy decided as soon as she saw him, and he definitely wasn't happy either. He looked torn between anger, frustration and despair actually.
He looked like one of those troll dolls with orange skin, a pot belly, scrawny legs and arms and a big loincloth/diaper thing around his waist. His ratty hair stuck up like a torch.
He was hopping around, cursing and kicking a boulder that was twice as big as he was. 'I won't!' he screamed. 'No, no, no!' Then he launched into a string of swear words in several different languages.
Percy glanced at Nico, who snickered, "Reminds me of that time mom tried to set up a swear jar so we blew up the garden."
"Yeah, she changed her mind real quick."
"You blew up the garden to make her swear enough that she'd give up on a swear jar? Seriously. How did you even-" Thalia blinked before snorting, "Wait, wait don't tell me. Leo?"
"Well duh, he can get his hands on some awesome stuff to blow up."
"You guys are crazy." Bianca rolled her eyes. "I'm eternally twelve and I'm more mature than you."
"Technically I'm older than you now." Nico's voice was startled, "That's pretty awesome actually-"
"Not the time for this guys." Thalia pointed out, "As much as I want to hear the story."
"Right, right." Percy turned her gaze back to the figure below them as he started to walk away from the boulder, but after three metres he lurched backwards, like some invisible force had pulled him. He staggered back to the boulder and started banging his head against it. Percy resisted the urge to laugh- it was almost comical really, seeing him throwing a tantrum.
"All right!" he screamed. "All right, curse you!"
He rubbed his head and muttered some more swear words. "But this is the last time. Do you hear me?"
Nico looked at the others quickly. "Come on. While he's between attempts."
"Do we have to?" Percy pulled a face but Nico grabbed her arm and yanked her down the hill, the others scrambling behind her as Nico called out- "Hey! Sisyphus!"
The troll guy, Sisyphus, looked up in surprise. Then he scrambled behind his rock, "Oh no! You're not fooling me with those disguises! I know you're the Furies!"
"We're not the Furies!" Percy protested, "There's four of us."
"We just want to talk to you." Nico said quickly, "We don't want to hurt you."
"Yeah!" Bianca nodded quickly, regaining her balance with Thalia's help- since she was clutching the flower to her chest.
"Go away!" he shrieked. "Flowers won't make it better. It's too late to apologize!"
"Look," Thalia said, "we just want –"
"La-la-la!" he yelled. "I'm not listening!" he started trying to run away from them, and Percy blinked slowly, watching as Thalia darted after him- trying to catch him, chasing him round and round the boulder.
"Is-" Bianca hesitated, "Is this normal?"
"Honestly, with our lives?" Nico shrugged, "At least we're not actually fighting-"
"OUCH!" Thalia had managed to catch him by the hair and he was wailing loudly. "Stop it! I have rocks to move. Rocks to move!"
"Oh for-" Thalia growled under her breath, clearly resisting the urge to jab him with her spear. "I'll move your rock!" Thalia offered. "Just shut up and talk to my friends."
Sisyphus stopped fighting. "You'll – you'll move my rock?"
"It's better than looking at you.' Thalia glanced at them. "Be quick about it." Then she shoved Sisyphus towards them.
She put her shoulder against the rock and started pushing it very slowly uphill.
Sisyphus scowled at them distrustfully before he reached out quickly and pinched Percy's nose tightly, though she slapped his hand away with a little yelp.
"Hey!" What was that for?"
"So you're really not a Fury," he said in amazement. "What's the flower for?"
"We're searching for someone." Bianca said quickly. "The flower's helping us find him."
"Persephone!" He spat in the dust. "That's one of her tracking devices, isn't it?" He leaned forward, and Percy caught an unpleasant whiff of old-guy-who's-been-rolling-a-
rock-for-eternity. "I fooled her once, you know. I fooled them all."
"Uh, I'm sure you did." Bianca looked at Nico, who shrugged.
"Sisyphus cheated death," he explained. "First he chained up Thanatos, the reaper of souls, so no one could die. Then when Thanatos got free and was about to kill him, Sisyphus told his wife not to do the correct funeral rites so he couldn't rest in peace. Sisy here – May I call you Sisy?"
"No!"
"Sisy tricked Persephone into letting him go back to the world to haunt his wife. And he didn't come back." and Percy resisted the urge to laugh- Nico was almost as good at annoying people as she was, because Sisyphus did look annoyed for a moment before he grinned.
The old man cackled. 'I stayed alive another thirty years before they finally tracked me down!'
Thalia was halfway up the hill now. She gritted her teeth, pushing the boulder with her back. Her expression said, Hurry up!
"Wow. You're pretty sly then." Percy remarked, "Shame you got caught and all. Was it worth it? A few extra years and now you've gotta push a boulder up hill forever right?"
"A temporary setback!" Sisyphus cried. "I'll bust out of here soon, and when I do they'll all be sorry!"
"How would you get out of the Underworld?" Nico asked innocently. "It's locked down, you know."
Sisyphus grinned wickedly. "That's what the other one asked."
"The other one?" Bianca asked quickly, her eyes narrowing, "Someone else asked you that?"
"An angry young man," Sisyphus recalled. "Not very polite. Held a sword to my throat. Didn't offer to roll my boulder at all."
"What did you tell him?" Nico said. "Who was he?"
Sisyphus massaged his shoulders. He glanced up at Thalia, who was almost at the top of the hill. Her face was bright red and drenched in sweat.
"Oh… it's hard to say," Sisyphus said. "Never seen him before. He carried a long package all wrapped up in black cloth. Skis, maybe? A shovel? Maybe if you wait here, I could go look for him…"
"What did you tell him?" Percy tried to force herself not to sound demanding.
"Can't remember."
Nico drew his sword. The Stygian iron was so cold it steamed in the hot, dry air of Punishment. "Try harder."
The old man winced. "What kind of person carries a sword like that?"
"A son of Hades," Nico said. "Now answer me!"
"And before you try anything funny." Percy piped up, "She's his big sister and a hunter of Artemis." she nodded towards Bianca, who gave a nod.
"I could shoot you from a mile away. And I would." she handed the flower to Percy and shrugged her bow off her shoulder, nocking an arrow and pointing it at him.
The color drained from Sisyphus's face. "I told him to talk to Melinoe! She always has a way out!"
Nico lowered his sword, a frown on his lips. Clearly the name Melinoe bothered him. "All right. What did this demigod look like?"
"Um… he had a nose," Sisyphus said. "A mouth. And one eye and –"
Percy's breath caught- Sisyphus was trying to give them a purposely vague explanation but one thing stood out. And it wasn't something she could dismiss- not after what had happened during the summer.
"One eye?" her voice was sharp, "You just said one eye-" and she heard Nico's breath catch from beside her as she asked, "Did he have an eye patch by any chance?"
"Oh- maybe-" and Percy was shoving the flower at Nico, who only just managed to catch it because she was grabbing Sisyphus by the shoulders, a glint in her eyes.
"Stop fucking with us." she hissed the words as Bianca let out a shocked gasp. "Did he or did he not have an eye patch? No maybes. No vague details. I need to know." her grip was tight, tight enough that it had to be hurting.
"Yes! Yes!" Sisyphus's voice was whiny as he tried to break free, "Why does it matter?" and Percy was letting go of his shoulders as she turned her head, pushing herself backwards and meeting Nico's gaze.
"Ethan Nakamura."
"I'd bet all the Drachmas I have on it."
"You guys!" the call came from up above, "Incoming-" and Percy and Nico both looked up, and Percy grabbed Bianca's arm, yanking the other girl with her as they leapt one way and Nico leapt the other and the boulder came speeding down the hill straight towards them.
Sisyphus yelled, "NOOOOOOO!" as the thing ploughed into him. Somehow he braced himself and stopped it before it could run him over.
"Take it again!" he wailed. "Please. I can't hold it."
"Not again," Thalia gasped as she came rushing down the hill. "You're on your own."
Sisyphus started screaming and raging at them again- cursing so violently that Percy could almost hear the click of coins in a swear jar- she'd be rich within five minutes she was sure.
"Melinoe's cave is this way." Nico's voice was sharp as he shoved the flower at Bianca again, "Percy-"
"What's up?" Thalia had spotted the look on Percy's face, the grim determination. "Percy- Nico? Is something wrong."
"Ethan fucking Nakamura. I think the thief is Ethan fucking Nakamura-"
"I know that name." Thalia's eyes narrowed.
"I don't." Bianca's voice was worried as Nico started ushering them away from Sisyphus. "Who is he? I guess it's not good-"
"He's the one who gave Kronos the last oath that he needed to rise."
"Oh." Bianca blinked, "Oh that's really not good."
"Well shit." Thalia reached out to lay a hand on Percy's shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"I should have killed him." Percy's voice was tight, "Gods damn it I should have killed him-"
"That's not you Percy." Nico shook his head, "It's not your fault what he did. You know that."
"Yeah, well this time he's not getting away."
"As much as I get your anger we have a bigger problem."
"And what would that be?" Percy raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Ethan is the least of our worries if we're dealing with Melinoe." as Nico spoke they moved towards a range of jagged gray hills that looked like teeth, over a plain of volcanic rock.
"So who is she?" that came from Bianca, "What's so bad about her?"
Nico chewed his lip. "She's the goddess of ghosts – one of our father's servants. She oversees the restless dead that walk the earth. Every night she rises from the Underworld to terrify mortals."
"She has her own path into the upper world?"
Nico nodded. "I doubt it would be blocked. Normally, no one would even think about trespassing in her cave. But if this demigod thief is brave enough to make a deal with her-"
"He could get back to the world,' Thalia supplied. 'And take the sword to Kronos."
"Right." Percy pulled a face, "I guess that means we need to see this ghost lady then."
"We do." Nico nodded in agreement, a grimace on his lips, "This just keeps getting worse and worse- she's not going to be eager to help us."
"We don't have any choice." Thalia shook her head, "You know, I am so gonna give your dad a piece of my mind when this is over. I was looking forward to hanging out with Luke-"
"You mean making out." Percy's voice was almost playful. "Where did you plan on going."
"Ice skating-"
"Awe, that's cute." Percy , "I remember you interrupting Annabeth and me when we were on an ice skating date-"
"I can't believe I didn't realize what you two were actually doing."
"To be fair I lived in the same house as them both for six months and I didn't catch on." Nico pointed out, shaking his head.
And none of them overly wanted to talk about what they were missing out on- the only reason they were was to distract them from what was to come- because there was no way they'd get Hades sword back without a fight.