The son of Thor

by Darkgamer08

Perseus, better known as Percy, is the last child of Asgard. He is the son of Thor, Norse god of thunder and war, and Sif, the Norse goddess of fertility and family. Seeing that the Norse gods are fading, Thor seeks Odin, the all-father, for a way to protect Percy. Odin cashes in a favour from Poseidon, the Greek god of seas and asks him to adopt Percy as his son. Percy/harem

19. I jump into Tartarus

A/N

I..I am really sorry for taking so long to update. But, I had my final examinations and as soon as they were over, I lost two people close to me. Can't write in a mood like that, can I? So, I was in mourning for the previous few days, not even in the mood to study or play. But anyway, here I am. Let's hope such a long break never comes again.

We have reached one step closer to the 200k mark. A mark that I had never really expected nor imagined I would reach, especially considering that my first story was barely 35k words long. XD

To important matters, I have said this a hundred times and will say it again. This story is extremely important to me and I am never going to abandon or discontinue it. Maybe take a break from it for a month or so, but no abandoning. So, if anyone wants to copy the plot or do a reading, please ask for permission or at least inform me before you do it. No one likes a person who copies their work without asking him/her forr permission before hand. I had a similar incident recently, but I'll not name it right now.

Do join my server on discord. There you'll find the latest themes and other content related to the stories I am writing. Also, I try to provide graphic visualization there. The link is :

https/discord.gg/Zke3568Mds

It is also present on my profile.

Now to address some reviews from last time:

To Coolguy001 : I… don't really understand the question. Please elaborate on it. Thanks for the review.

To TheFire44 : Good point, though at the moment, Percy is angry at anything he can blame. So, the spiders are made by Hephaestus, thus directing Percy's annoyance onto the blacksmith god. Thanks for the review.

To Going Dark : Yes, Percy is a parselmouth. Not only that, but the Lord of all snakes. And there was some Perestia fluff in this chapter. Like it? If that wasn't enough, more will follow in the upcoming chapters. Thanks for the review.

To thunderofdeath97 : Dude. I have ignored your shit for too long. But now it's getting out of control. I gave you the top eight girls as promised, right? The other two have been added by me, OUTSIDE THE POLL. Thus, you are bitching about something that doesn't even make sense. As for the temper tantrum, you are in no position to call me out on it. You come back every chapter and bitch about it, saying that you are done with the story. Yet, next chapter, there you are, bitching about it again. Make up your mind, if you want to read it, then do, but if you don't, then stop bothering me.

To bleacherspam1 : Constructive criticism is always welcomed with open hands. Thanks for the info tho, I'll definitely see if I can improve it. Also, for the cursing part, twelve year olds curse just as much as elders. Believe me, I have a twelve year old brother, and I have heard of the things he and his friends speak about. Thanks for the review.

To the various guest reviews :

1- Zoë is definitely part of the polygamy. How? That only time will tell. keep reading to see that.

2- Yes I have taken the Norse deities versions from MCU. I stated that earlier. I haven't read Magnus Chase yet, so, I don't know much about Norse myths. that's why I referred to MCU for it.

3- I don't care whether the Norse are younger or older than the Greek. This is an AU. Here, I make the rules.Heh. Here, I am Chaos.

4- Also, I am not sucking Norse cocks like you, I am just stating the obvious. Greek gods have jurisdiction over only a small part of the Earth. Whereas Thor himself has more authority over Earth than Greeks gods, being the protector of Midgard. Moreover, this is my fic. An AU. Here, I make the rules. So, naturally, the Norse are stronger. If your brain still can't grasp this, well, I am sorry.

To sorcerorsupreme14 : What in God's name are you talking about? I never even described frigga in detail. Frigga and Freyja are different. And as I said earlier, I am using the MCU version of the Norse, because they don't play such a major role in this fic. Thanks for the review.

Thank you for the reviews. And keep commenting.

Now let us begin today's badassery without any further delays.

---

Last Time :

"Yeah. Let's go. And if there is a problem, we can always have Grover speak to those animals. He's a satyr after all. Animals respect him." Annabeth spoke in her ever knowledgeable tone.

Grover gave his agreement to the matter and they started to move towards the van. Before they reached, Percy turned back to Ares and spoke, "Just so you know, it was terrible doing business with you. I'd surely never give you a five star rating. Boo." He gave the god of war a thumbs-down and opened the back door of the van.

The inside was extremely dark and he was not able to see anything. So, he made sure that he wasn't in the clear sight of his friends before closing his eyes. Opening them, he was able to see everything clearly thanks to the enhanced snake slits in place of his eyes. Percy swore that this was undoubtedly the most useful power he possessed. Even more so than hydrokinesis.

Fortunately, right beside him was a light switch for the van. Raising his hand, he switched on the lights and heard two gasps behind him. In front of the demigods were three huge glass containers. And inside them were three equally huge……….

pythons.

This was definitely not a legal van for the zoo. It wasn't possible, as none of the regulations and precautions that had to be followed while shifting snakes were present inside. Percy swore loudly. This was surely an illegal transgression going on.

But before he could speak, his advanced hearing caught the voice of two men speaking, getting louder as they approached. Immediately turning his eyes back to normal, he turned back, pulled Annabeth and Grover inside and shut the door behind them. Checking behind him, he saw that the three snakes were fortunately asleep. Or maybe even unconscious due to the sedatives they had no doubt been given. He shut off the lights and crouched down, waiting to hear the noise of the van starting.

Five minutes passed before Percy heard the sound of two doors shutting and the engine of the van starting. Letting out a sigh of relief, Percy again switched on the lights and turned to his companions.

To his surprise, Annabeth had fallen asleep in those five minutes and was snoring away to glory. Surely, the event earlier was taking its toll on her. Grover was not much better as he was trying hard to keep the sleep away.

Shaking his head, Percy spoke, "Hey goat boy. Go to sleep. I'll take watch. Goodnight."

Grover looked reluctant, but ultimately agreed. "Okay. Thanks Percy. Goodnight. Wake me up when it's my shift."

Percy was going to reply with, "Will do", but saw that the satyr had already fallen asleep. The son of Poseidon chuckled to himself. The daughter of Athena and the satyr were clearly not ready for quests.

He was himself going to rest a little, when he heard a sound in his head, "Pleassse help usss, my Lord."

---

Present Time :

Third Person POV :

He was himself going to rest a little, when he heard a sound in his head, "Pleassse help usss, my Lord."

To say that Percy was surprised would be an understatement. He knew that horses and sea creatures speaking to him in his head was a normal phenomenon as he was the son of their creator. But he was a hundred percent sure that there was no horse or fish near him. Also, the voice he had heard in his head was immensely raspy and had a hissing undertone to it. Wait a minute. Hissing?

Eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, the son of Poseidon turned his head to the two snakes that were present inside the van with them. In the utter darkness, Percy could see the two pairs of pale yellow orbs staring at him sharply. The yellow orbs were divided by a small black slit that made the eyes look even more threatening and scary than they were.

Staring back, Percy tried to reply in his mind. 'Is it you guys speaking to me? Pythons?'

Immediately, he heard the sound of hissing from the glass cages that the two pythons were in. The next moment, he felt two hissing voices in his head. 'Yesss milord. It issss ussss. Pleassse help usss, Lord Perseusss. Thesssse men are smugglerssss trying to sell usss to a merchant who will kill usss and use our scalesssss to make designer productsss.'

Percy took a deep breath. Yeah, he was completely fine. COMPLETELY FINE. It wasn't at all abnormal that now snakes could speak to him in his mind and that they called him their Lord. Yeahhh, fine his ass. He was completely confused and a bit freaked out about this. How was he able to speak telepathically with snakes, when neither his mom or his dad had anything to do with the slithery beings. As far as he knew, the only being associated with snakes in the entire Greek Pantheon was Asclepius, the godly son of Apollo and the best medic ever.

Maybe his birth mother or father had something to do with snakes, Percy decided. That was the most meaningful deduction and theory he could come up with. Yes. That had to be it.

Shaking his head to clear it of these thoughts, Percy replied back to the snakes, 'Of course I'll help you. But, I have a question. How am I able to speak to you? I have never been able to speak to anyone but horses and sea creatures through telepathy. Then how are you able to speak in my mind?'

Percy knew that he was probably imagining it, but he could swear that he saw the snakes staring at him like he was stupid. 'You do remember that you were the one that slayed the previousss Lord of all snakesss, right? The Leviathan hasss been the master of snake kind since the time we were created. Leviathan wasss the very first snake in existence. Not once had it lossst yet, even the big three had to trick it into a trap. But the moment you defeated it, you immediately took on the title of the snake Lord. The leader of all snakesss, God, even. We snakes, like all other beingsss, respect strength more than anything elsse. Thusss, you are now the Lord of all snakesss. And so, we are able to speak telepathically with you, Lord Perseusss.'

Percy could only nod as he tried to comprehend the meaning of the words that he had just heard from the snake. He had just become the Lord of all snakes at the age of twelve years old. That too, he was the first non-immortal being to be the Lord of some species. Utterly excited at the prospect, Percy asked the snake, 'Is that why I can turn my eyes into snake slits like I do?'

The reply came without a hiss this time. 'I have no idea, my Lord. After all, you are the first master that we have after Leviathan. So, we don't even know what to expect. But one thing that I am sure of is that you can definitely sense each and every vibration like we can. Also, it gives you immunity against most poisonous substances.'

Deciding that this was all that he needed to know currently about being the Lord of all snakes, Percy shook his head and replied, 'I can feel a small lake near us. I will break you out of the cage and help you get out. Get away from here, ok?'

He could feel the snakes give their agreements in his head and got to his feet. Walking to the two cages, Percy slowly lifted the glass from one of the two cages. The python inside immediately slithered out and wrapped itself around Percy's hand, before staring at the son of Poseidon in his eyes and bowing its head. Percy nodded authoritatively to the bow, knowing that snakes respect authority and strength. Turning to his other side, he then helped the second python escape it's cage. Similar to the first one, the second python wrapped itself around his other hand and bowed its head.

Making sure that his friends were asleep, Percy opened the window beside him and lifted his left hand. Using his hydrokinetic powers, Percy made a bubble out of water and put one python in it. Then, he threw the water bubble as far as he could, but made sure that it would not break till the snake had reached the ground.

Using the same method, he again threw the second snake as far as he could. Once he was sure that the two snakes had landed safely, he stepped back and closed the window shut.

Taking his previous seat beside Grover, Percy rested his head against a wooden drawer beside him and closed his eyes for the first time since that morning. He knew that he couldn't sleep right now, the risk was too great. They could not afford to get caught by the smugglers.

Keeping his senses active, Percy sat there, pondering about the further procedure of his quest. He still had no idea, not even a small inkling of who could have the bolt. Hades was obviously the prime suspect, yet after his chat with Hestia, Percy could admit that he wasn't so sure now that the Lord of the Underworld was the thief.

The sons of Kronos had some flaws, but the major of them was pride. If Hades was in possession of the bolt, he would have already gloated about it in front of Zeus. Everyone knew that if there was someone Hades hated more than anyone else, it was Zeus. So, if Hades had the bolt, he would be sitting on the throne of Olympus by now.

Yet, despite his theory and deduction, Percy knew that he still needed to visit the Underworld. He could not leave any stone unturned. His father's reputation along with the Fates of millions of mortals and greek beings depended on him. He couldn't let some theory cause his quest to fail.

Grasping the gravity of the situation, Percy groaned loudly. He couldn't remember why he had been so excited about traveling to the mortal world. It would be lying if he said that he didn't find the mortal world interesting, but there was no doubt that Atlantis was on a level of its own. Also, Atlantis was his home.

Percy shook his head to rid it of his thoughts. This was not the time to reminisce about his home and his family. He needed to plan for the quest. Checking his bag, Percy saw that he still had the dollars that he had earned from playing the piano. But a hundred dollars would get the three of them nothing in Las Vegas, other than maybe some breakfast.

And dammit they were in a hurry. They had just two days before the summer solstice, the deadline set by Lord Skyshit of Olympus. Just thinking about his uncle made Percy clench his fists tightly. The bastard had time and again tried to slow them down or kill them, even while they were on a quest to retrieve his own master bolt.

Deciding to think about it later, Percy turned to his side and shook Grover. The satyr woke up with a bleat and a 'Food'. "Hey Goat boy, it's your watch now. Good night." Percy spoke, before laying down on the van floor and falling into Morpheus' realm.

He was surprised when he saw an orange light in his dreamscape. But, the next moment he realized who it was and a smile made its way onto his face. Walking towards the orange orb, Percy stood and let it change its shape.

The orb shined brightly before vanishing. In its place now stood Hestia, the eldest goddess and goddess of the Hearth. As soon as she saw Percy smiling at her, she smiled back and walked towards him. Reaching him, she immediately hugged him, wrapping her hands around his back and hiding her head in the crook of his neck.

Percy couldn't say that he was surprised by her actions. He knew that Hestia was a kind and loving goddess and liked to show her affection with hugs. Not that he was complaining. Hestia's hugs were so comfy that no one could deny them. So, he went along with it, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her.

Pulling back, Percy smiled and asked, "Tia!! What a pleasant surprise. It is so good to see you."

In return, he got a blinding smile from the goddess as she spoke, "You too, Perseus, you too."

"Seriously though, what are you doing here?" Percy asked her curiously, wanting to know what his friend was doing here.

"Can't I just come by to see my best friend once in a while?" Hestia asked him innocently, yet Percy could see the slight wince she had when she spoke the words 'best friend'.

He himself couldn't help but feel a little sad when he heard those words, though the reason behind it, he couldn't decipher.

Putting on another smile, though not as happy as the first one, Percy replied, "I suppose you can."

The goddess nodded and snapped her fingers, immediately creating a small sofa and a bowl of chips. Sitting back on the sofa, Percy moaned at the feeling of finally sitting on something so soft after travelling in that shitty van for so long. He could hear Hestia laughing beside him, but chose to ignore it and closed his eyes.

His eyes snapped open when he felt a weight in his lap and he saw that Hestia was lying on the sofa and using his lap as a pillow. Looking down at her, Percy smiled and started to run his hands through her hair, taking pride in the moans that Hestia gave out when he massaged her head.

"So, a very strange thing happened today. It seems like I am now the Lord of all snakes throughout the world." Percy spoke out all of a sudden, making Hestia open her eyes wide and stare up at him from her place.

"What???" Hestia asked him, not sure if she had heard him right.

"Yeah. Apparently, since I slayed Leviathan, the Lord of snakes, it means that I am the new Lord of snakes now. That is, till some other snake beats me." Percy spoke out casually.

Immediately, Hestia sprung to her feet in front of him and exclaimed, "You idiot!! Why aren't you excited? You just became the Lord of all snakes. Snakes!! Do you even know what an honour that is? Snakes are one of the strongest beings of nature. Descendants of Lord Tartarus himself. Being their Lord makes you as important as an Olympian."

Percy's eyes widened as he finally understood what Hestia spoke. Yet, he just shrugged and smiled at her. "I know most of what you told me, Tia. Other than the fact that snakes are descendants of Tartarus. But yeah, it gives me the ability to sense vibrations and also an immunity to most venoms. But it's not the time to ponder on it, Tia. I have an important quest ahead, and I can't afford to get distracted from it. So, I am not thinking of it for the moment."

Hestia nodded her head approvingly at him. "Yeah. You are right. And oh my! You actually made a mature decision for once. What has the world come to?" She spoke mockingly, laughing as she saw the look of indignation on Percy's face.

"Oh. Is it? Well, time for me to go back to being immature then." Percy spoke with his crooked smirk, making Hestia shudder at what he would do. The next moment, Percy tackled Hestia to the ground and started to mercilessly tickle her.

The goddess of the hearth laughed uncontrollably and tried to throw off the son of Poseidon. But, she remained unsuccessful as Percy pinned her hands with one of his and used the other hand to tickle her. Hestia knew that she could flash out from under him, or even use her godly strength to throw him off, but the tickling didn't allow her to focus and summon her powers.

"S….stop plea...please." Hestia gasped as she pleaded the son of Poseidon to stop tickling her. Finally after two minutes of the tickling torture, Percy let her go and climbed back onto the sofa. Hestia lay there on the ground, gasping for breath and still not being able to stop her laughing. Regaining her bearings, she stood up and put her hands to her hips. Glaring at Percy, she scowled playfully and punched him on the shoulder.

The son of Poseidon laughed loudly at this and rubbed his shoulder slightly.

Huffing out, Hestia pouted and sat beside him with her hands folded in front of her chest. She looked exactly like an anime figure with her pouting expression and innocent, wide eyes. Percy couldn't take it anymore and poked her shoulder softly.

"Hey." He spoke, but he was promptly ignored by the goddess.

He again poked her, but was again ignored.

"Come on Tia. I am sorry. Don't ignore me." Percy spoke, hoping she'd let go off the pout. Not because he regretted tickling her, heck he didn't regret it one bit. It was so fun! But, the pout made her look cute and funny, and Percy didn't know if he could stop his chuckle for long. So, he did the only thing that would make her let go off the pout, surprise her.

He leant forward and planted a kiss on her cheek before pulling back and watching as the kiss had the intended effect. Hestia's eyes widened as she placed her hand at the spot on her cheek where he had just kissed her. Her lips were parted in surprise and her eyes were as wide as possible even for a goddess.

The next moment, Percy felt a tremor pass through the dreamscape they were in. Hestia turned to him, the surprise wearing out as she spoke, "It looks like you are about to wake up soon."

Percy nodded and pulled her in a hug. "It was so good to see you, Tia. Goodbye. See you after the quest."

Hestia smiled and nodded. "You too Percy. It was extremely great to see you. Goodbye."

As they parted, Percy's eyes instinctively travelled down to her lips, which he saw that the bottom one was being pressed between her upper teeth. Percy couldn't explain what urged him to do it, but the next thing he knew, he was smashing his lips to her's, kissing her passionately.

Hestia was completely taken aback by the sudden action by Percy, but she couldn't deny the sudden burst of happiness that spread in her heart when she felt his lips on hers. She had never had any romantic feelings for anyone before. This was the first person she had thought of romantically, and she knew that if she let him go, she would regret it forever. She was doing this, her oath of staying single forever be damned.

She reciprocated the kiss with equal passion, grabbing his face with her hands and pulling him as close as she could. Percy placed his arms on her waist, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of her soft lips on his own.

After what seemed like hours, Percy pulled back and gasped for breath. If this would have been an anime, Percy was sure he would have hearts in his eyes right now. And to his joy, Hestia looked just as giddy as him. But before either of them could speak, Percy felt Hestia fade into nothingness, along with most of his dreamscape. Realizing that he was being woken up by someone, he groaned loudly at the improper timing.

Opening his eyes, Percy immediately glared at the person shaking his shoulders in attempt to wake him up. The poor satyr who was trying to wake him immediately fell back onto his butt when he saw Percy glaring at him. Not even knowing why Percy was angry, Grover blurted out, "Sorry."

Percy glared at him for a few more seconds before closing his eyes and sighing audibly. Opening his eyes, he saw Grover still scared after his glare, while the daughter of Athena was trying, yet failing to keep her laughter in check.

Seeing him open his eyes, Annabeth stopped laughing and spoke, "We felt the van stop. So, we woke you up." The daughter of Athena hoped he would not be mad; she had just seen his glare, and she really didn't want to be at it's receiving end.

Perseus just nodded and got up. Stretching his arms and back, Percy groaned softly when he felt an audible pop from his spine. He really needed to get used to sleeping uncomfortably. Having slept on the most comfortable waterbed ever for the previous twelve years of his life, Percy sure as hell wasn't accustomed to sleeping on the floor.

His neck felt weird, as if he had accidentally put too much weight on one side of his back. Sighing again, Percy was about to make a witty comment when he felt two presences approaching the van. His eyes widened and he immediately grabbed his quest mates by their shoulders. Dragging them, he hid them behind a blind spot, which wouldn't be visible from the back entrance of the van.

Sure enough, about ten seconds later, the back door of the van opened and a male voice was heard saying, "Yeah. Let's get those fucking snakes and deliver them. I have heard of an amazing pub near this place. We can enjoy ourselves over there afterwards."

Percy signalled his quest mates to stay quiet, to which the two individuals nodded obediently. Turning his attention back to the entrance of the truck, he could hear the sounds of two people's footsteps approaching them.

Percy reached back and soundlessly put his backpack down to the floor. Peeking slightly, Percy caught sight of the two men. They were both about five feet eight, with mean scowls and potbellies. Closing his eyes, Percy imagined the perfect plan to take them down without noise.

As soon as the two men were almost beside them, Percy jumped out and punched the first man in the throat, hitting his adam's apple with just enough force to make him choke for a few minutes, but not enough to cause any permanent damage. Before the men could even comprehend what had happened, Percy did a flip and kicked the second man on the throat with the same force as the first punch, while simultaneously punching the first man in the back of his head hard enough to cause a concussion. The two men fell to the ground, with the first man getting knocked out immediately. Before the second man could even try to scream or even make a noise, Percy grabbed him in a chokehold with his right hand above the man's head and his left hand covering the man's throat. The man tried to overpower Percy and remove his hands, but Percy's strength easily suppressed the man's, and he tightened his hold on the man's throat. In about fifteen seconds, the man's attempts to break free started to lose their strength and franticness. Applying a final dose of strength, Percy felt the man go limp and dropped him to the ground.

Seeing Percy knock out two grown men in less than a minute, Annabeth and Grover stared at a completely new version of the son of Poseidon they knew. Percy had always been the goofy, yet clever happy-go-lucky guy in front of them. Never had they seen him act so seriously. The look on his face was one that Annabeth recognized. It was the look of someone who knew what he was doing. Someone who calculated each and every move, definitely sure of his actions. Honestly, it scared them a bit.

But before they could contemplate this, Percy immediately got up and picked up the man in one arm. Simultaneous gasps escaped Grover's and Annabeth's lips as they saw Percy easily put the man down into a snake cage. Immediately after this, Percy picked the second man and placed him inside the second cage. Closing the cages, he locked them and kept the key down on the floor. Grabbing his pen, he expanded it into a sword and started to carve something in the van's wall.

After it was done, Annabeth read it out aloud:

'THESE TWO BASTARDS ARE SMUGGLERS WHO SMUGGLE ANIMALS AND SNAKES TO RICH MERCHANTS.'

Turning around, Percy capped riptide and stuffed it into his pocket. Picking up his backpack, he turned his gaze to his two partners, who were currently frozen in shock at seeing Percy's shocking strength and efficiency in hand to hand combat.

Realizing what they were shocked by, Percy just shrugged and spoke, "There are things that are better left unsaid. Also, the two assholes had it coming. Now, shall we?" He asked while pointing to the exit of the van.

The satyr and the daughter of Athena agreed and picked up their stuff before walking behind Percy. One thing that they both noticed was that unlike other people, Percy didn't even seem bothered after punching the men. Annabeth knew first-hand that after punching a person, your knuckles hurt, and sometimes even got dislocated. But, Percy didn't even seem hurt by it, even after punching the men with all he had.

Percy was walking in front of his quest mates, smirking as he knew what they were thinking. They believed that this was the full power of his punch, but they couldn't be further from the truth. If Percy would have punched the man's adam's apple with all his power, the man's throat would have exploded entirely, which would have been messy.

Walking a little further, Percy saw something that he had once heard his father speak about. He didn't remember what his dad had spoken about the place, but seeing the humongous building, Percy thought he should check it out. As his friends caught up with him, Percy turned to see the looks of awe present on their faces.

"Lotus hotel and casino" Percy read out loudly, knowing that Annabeth was dyslexic and would have a little problem reading it.

"Wanna check it out?" Percy asked them.

Grover nodded, still in awe, while Annabeth looked to be pondering over something. "Umm. We have only a hundred dollars, Percy. I don't think we'll get anything in such a

luxurious place for that much money."

Percy just shook his head and spoke, "Leave that to me. Do you wanna check it out or not?" He asked them, to which the two of them nodded without wasting a moment.

Nodding back, Percy walked towards the building with his friends and entered it.

Once inside, Percy could finally see the beauty of this place. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful hotel he had ever seen. While he was just mildly surprised at the sight, he turned his attention to his friends and chuckled at their reactions. Annabeth was staring wide eyed at everything present in the humongous building, while Grover was gaping at the food and ladies present there.

Walking to the front desk, they were greeted by the receptionist, a cheery lady wearing a red uniform and speaking with a British accent. "Welcome to the Lotus hotel and casino. Hope you have an amazing time here."

She handed them three golden cards, which had the symbols of lotus on them.

Confused, Percy spoke, "Ummm. Mam, we don't have the money to pay for this."

The lady smiled and replied, "Ohh. Don't worry, dearie. It's all free over here. Enjoy your time."

Surprised, Percy immediately narrowed his eyes and scanned the area for any monster presence. This offer was too good to be true. And offers that seemed too good to be true were usually scams, or related to monsters.

To his immense surprise, Percy couldn't feel a single monstrous presence around him, that is, if a man who had just barfed out a whole bottle of vodka on himself didn't count as a monster. Relaxing himself, Percy let a smile form on his face before accepting the three cards from the receptionist. "Thank you, ma'am." Percy spoke kindly, before turning to his friends and nodding.

The trio of questers walked towards the elevator and pressed the button to their floor number. Reaching their assigned room, Percy inserted the card in the slot and opened the door. He was pleasantly surprised to see that there were two separate rooms, meaning that he wouldn't have to take the sofa.

Walking towards a bed in the main room, Percy threw his bag on it and plopped himself onto the bed. Closing his eyes, Percy rubbed his face with his hand and then got up. Grabbing a fresh pair of jeans and a black full-sleeve sports shirt, he walked to the washroom and turned on the shower.

Putting the water on as cold as possible, Percy took a calming, ice-cold shower. The cold water cooled his mind and helped him think clearly. As of now, the only thing on his mind was Hestia. He had tried to stop thinking about her, but all his efforts were in vain as thoughts about the goddess wouldn't leave his mind. Contemplating the topic, Percy didn't notice how long he had been in the shower.

After a few moments, he heard knocking on the door and snapped back to reality.

Walking out of the shower, Percy willed himself to dry up and put on his clothes. Looking in the mirror, Percy finally came to term with his feelings. He had fallen for Hestia, no doubt in that. Dare he say, even more than he had fallen for Artemis or Zoë or Sally. Maybe it was because he spent more time with her, maybe not. He didn't know. But what he did know was that he liked her romantically and he would do anything for her.

After a futile five minutes of trying to groom his extremely messy hair, Percy walked out of the washroom to see that Grover was already eating all the vegetarian items from the mini-fridge, while Annabeth was drying her hair after taking a shower. Concentrating, Percy willed her hair dry for her and got an appreciative nod in return.

Once the three of them were ready, Annabeth spoke, "We should check out the hotel premises. Try to get things that will help us on the quest. Like, some food and clothes, right?"

Percy nodded and spoke, "Well then, let's go."

The three questers exited their room and took the elevator back to the hotel's bottom floor.

The first thing that Percy did was walk as far away from the casino place that he could. Gambling was one thing Percy really hated.

Walking forward, he didn't know what to do till he met a waitress who was serving something known as the lotus flower, the special delicacy of this place.

When he was offered one, he initially wanted to decline, but curiosity won over and he grabbed it. Putting the lotus flower in his mouth, Percy found out that it actually tasted very good. He felt something tugging at the corner of his head, but Percy ignored it, thinking that if there was something wrong, Ikol would warn him. What Percy forgot was that Ikol was still MIA since the Medusa incident.

Walking forward, Percy found a pair of people crowding around something near them. As he weaved through the crowd, he came to the front and found two men standing in a ring with wooden swords, fighting each other while the crowd cheered and jeered at them.

Watching for a moment, Percy saw that the men were decent swordsmen. Obviously nowhere near his level, maybe not even near Luke's level. But Percy could say that they could give Annabeth and the other campers a good fight.

Observing the match, Percy saw one of the swordsmen over-extend a swipe at the other, which the second man, who was obviously Japanese, took full advantage of. With a basic sword maneuver, the man disarmed his opponent and stepped back. The crowd immediately cheered for the champion, while the opponent walked out of the ring.

The champion turned to the crowd and shouted, "Who's next? Anyone here who can defeat me?"

Before anyone else could step up, Percy raised his hand in the air. Most of the people in the crowd chuckled when they saw this. But, the champion remained stoic. After a few moments, he finally spoke, "The boy is a fighter. Send him in. I believe you'll like this."

Percy was surprised that the man was so confident about this. Like, the man knew that Percy was a good fighter. Walking into the ring, Percy picked up a wooden sword that felt fine in his hands.

Before starting, Percy asked the man, "How did you know that I am a fighter?"

The man smiled slightly before speaking, "Your shoulders are straighter than any of the men here. Also, I saw the callousness of your hands. Calloused on the inner side, while smooth on the outside, obviously showing that you have fought with a wooden weapon before. Like, maybe a wooden staff or sword."

Percy nodded in acknowledgement of the man's observation. "Keen observation." He spoke approvingly. The man just nodded and signalled for Percy to come at him.

About thirty seconds later, the man stood with his arms raised, Percy's sword pointing at his throat, while his own sword, which was know in Percy's left hand, was pointed at his stomach. He was shocked beyond measure that the boy had managed to disarm him in barely half a minute. One moment, they had started to exchange blows, and the next moment, he had lost. Even the crowd around them was stunned into silence as they saw the most experienced fighter among them get beaten by a twelve year old kid in less than a minute.

"That ….that was beyond brilliant, kid. Not even Mushashi was able to beat me in less than a minute. It took him about two and a half minutes to beat me. H...how did you do it?" The man asked Percy.

Percy's eyes widened when he heard the name uttered by the man. Miyamoto Mushashi, the sword saint of Japan. But the guy had lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. How could this guy know him? Percy had accidentally hit the man's lips during the battle, and he was bleeding red. So, the man wasn't immortal. Then, how was he still alive?

Deciding to ask him, Percy asked, "How do you know Mushashi?"

The man laughed and replied, "Mushashi is my best friend, kiddo. We both grew up together. I'll be visiting him in a year again when I am done training here."

Percy realized that something was wrong about this place. He asked the man, "Sir, please tell me, which century is going on currently?"

The man gazed at him weirdly, but replied, "That's a weird thing to ask. But if you want to know, it is the seventeenth century."

Percy's eyes widened and he was about to speak when he heard a man from the crowd shout, "No, you idiot. This is the ninteenth century."

Realization hit Percy like a freight train as he stepped back. Dropping the sword on the ground, he ran out of the ring and started to search for his friends. The Lotus hotel and casino wasn't any ordinary place, it was obviously the lair of lotus eaters, the people who trapped people in time and then ate them. What the fuck was he even thinking? Of course this was all too good to be true.

Running across, Percy used all of his brain power to think about possible locations that his friends could be. A huge smirk made it's way onto his face as he changed his path and instead went to the huge map near him. Studying it for a few moments, Percy took a deep breath and sprinted towards the elevator. Going to their room, Percy grabbed their luggage and slung the three bags across his back.

Reaching the main floor again, Percy started sprinting towards the arcade. Once in the arcade, he searched for the games that were related to architecture.

And that's when he saw her. Percy didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. Annabeth stood in front of him, screaming her ass out to a game. Yes, the smart, mature daughter of Athena was shouting loudly at an arcade game. Without wasting a moment, Percy turned to the game beside him and grabbed an old generation camera that printed the photographs immediately and clicked a picture of Annabeth screaming at the game. Printing it, he kept the camera back and stored the picture safely in his backpack.

Then, he grabbed Annabeth by her shoulders and started to drag her away from the games. At first, Annabeth was utterly confused, till realization hit her and she started to struggle against his grip. Groaning loudly, Percy just applied his favourite knock out move, the neck pinch. The daughter of Athena fell limply into his arms and Percy picked her up bridal style.

Walking out of the arcade, Percy made his way over to the snack center. Just as he had expected, Percy found Grover sitting at a table, munching on a huge plate of cheese enchiladas. Sighing, Percy went to Grover and spoke with faked excitement, "Hey, goat-boy, did you see the guy playing the reed pipes outside there? Come on, you have to hear him."

That immediately got Grover's attention as he left his plate and immediately shot up, ready to sprint out. Percy nodded to him and started to walk out. Thankfully, Grover was so engrossed in finding the reed pipes guy, that he didn't even notice the unconscious Annabeth in Percy's hands. As they walked near the exit, they were stopped by many waiters and workers, but Percy would manipulate the mist and make the mortals forget about them. Finally, the trio made it to the exit of the building.

As soon as they walked out of the building, Grover fell to his knees and started to shake his head, trying to focus. After a complete minute of doing this, he finally stood up and looked around. Seeing Percy holding an unconscious Annabeth in his hands, Grover's eyes widened and he asked, "What happened to her? Is she fine?"

Percy nodded and replied, "Don't worry about her. I knocked her out with a neck pinch. She's fine. Should wake up in a few minutes if I am not wrong." He shrugged before moving to a nearby bench and sitting on it.

As if something had suddenly struck him, Percy turned his head to Grover. "Check the date, fast."

The satyr looked taken aback at Percy's odd order, but complied and checked the nearest newspaper stand for the date. His eyes widened in shock when he saw that the date was 20 June instead of 19 June. Grover bleated in shock and trotted over to Percy.

"Percy. Shit man! It's 20 June, but how?" The satyr asked his friend.

Percy let out a groan and slapped himself hard. "Fuck! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. I should have known. Dammit! Just a single night left for the solstice and we still don't even know where the entrance to the Underworld is."

Then, he turned to Grover and spoke, "That, that was the lair of the lotus eaters. Yes, THE lotus eaters. So, what was an hour inside for us, was actually a whole fucking day for the outside world. We wasted one and half day inside."

The satyr again bleated nervously. "This is bad. This is very, very bad."

He was cut off by Percy, who snapped, "I know that, man. Shut up for a moment and let me think."

Snapping his fingers as an idea struck him, Percy got up and turned to Grover. "Watch after her. Fill in the details if she wakes up. I need to make an IM." Grover nodded and sat beside the unconscious form of Annabeth.

Percy sprinted towards an isolated area near them before summoning water and making the mist. "Lady Iris, goddess of the rainbow, Please show me Lord Triton in Atlantis."

He threw in a drachma, and the screen cleared to show his elder brother sitting on his bed, watching something on the humongous T.V in his room.

"Triton!". Percy exclaimed as his brother's attention snapped to him.

A happy smile made its way onto Triton's face as he saw that his little brother was safe. But before he could speak, he was cut off by said little brother.

"Bro! I'd love to talk, but sadly, I don't have the time. I need to know where the entrance to the Underworld is. Please." Percy spoke with a tone of urgency in his voice.

Triton was taken aback by the alarming tone of his brother, but decided to ponder over it later. "It's the DOA recording studios in West Hollywood, Los Angeles."

Percy nodded and was about to cut the message, but he stopped when he heard his brother speak, "Heyy, hey! Wait brother. Take care and stay safe, Perce. Return back in one piece, man. Or I'll just have to give your room to Meredith to use as it's toilet."

Percy flipped his brother off, but couldn't stop the smile that made its way onto his face when he heard the sound of genuine concern in his brother's voice. "I'll make sure to stay safe, Triton. Love you too, bro." Percy spoke, before swiping his hand through the screen, ending the message.

Percy jogged back to the bench where he saw Annabeth and Grover speaking about something. They stopped as soon as they saw him approaching. Percy decided to ignore it and spoke, "We need to get to Los Angeles as soon as possible. The entrance to the Underworld is in the DOA studios in West Hollywood. Come on guys."

His two partners were surprised to hear the information, but nodded anyways and got up. Slinging their backpacks across their backs, Percy stopped a cab and got in.

"Los Angeles" Percy ordered the cab driver.

The cab driver looked at the trio suspiciously. "Kid, that's about two hundred seventy moles from here. You even got the money for that?"

Percy rolled his eyes and tossed the driver a drachma. "Will that be enough for you?" Percy asked, rolling his eyes when he saw the driver drool over the golden coin.

The cab driver nodded frantically and took off.

Checking the speedometer, Percy spoke, "I'll give you another one if you get us there as early as you can."

For the next two and half hours, the cab's speed didn't go below a hundred miles per hour even once. Percy was pretty sure that they had even cut off some red signals. But he didn't care. His current problems were much, much more important than following traffic rules, because if he failed, there would be no humans left to make and follow traffic rules.

As soon as they reached Los Angeles, the trio shot out of the cab and started to sprint towards Hollywood, but not before Percy threw another drachma at the cabbie. What could he say? He was a man of his word. Finding the way to Hollywood was a breeze, all they had to do was follow the expensive cars and shooting vans moving on the street.

After what seemed like twenty minutes, the trio finally found themselves staring at the huge board reading 'Hollywood' on Mount Lee.

"Where in Dad's name are the DOA recording studios?" Percy thought out aloud, to which his friends just shrugged and shook their heads, not having a single clue.

Turning to Grover, Percy spoke, "You are a satyr. You can smell these things, right?"

Seeing the goat-man nod his head in affirmation, Percy continued, "Well, then try to sense a huge amount of deathly aura nearby. That is definitely our entrance."

Grover nodded and closed his eyes. While he was trying to sense something, Percy turned to Annabeth. "Keep this pearl with you. In any circumstances, do not lose this. This may be our get-away ticket. Understand?"

The daughter of Athena nodded and stuffed the pearl in her back pocket, but not before studying it intricately. Seeing her look of awe as she gazed at the pearl, Percy spoke up. "The pearls of Amphitrite. The only form of transportation that can resist even godly interference. These will help us escape if things go wrong down there."

Annabeth again nodded and asked, "Why would lady Amphitrite help a demigod son of Poseidon? No offense, but shouldn't she hate you?"

Percy just shrugged, not wanting to lie to his friend. But he knew that he couldn't tell her the truth as of yet. Maybe at one point, he would tell her. But now was not that time.

Instead, he gave her the most vague version of the truth he could, saying, "Have you ever heard of a single time that Lady Amphitrite tried to harm a demigod child of Poseidon?"

Annabeth was lost in thought for a few moments, before she shook her head no. "Not that I know of." She spoke.

Percy nodded. "There you go. She may dislike demigod children of Poseidon, but she wouldn't hurt them. Also, as for helping me, I am sure that she has her reasons." He spoke, trying to keep it as vague as possible. He knew what the daughter of Athena was capable of, and he didn't want her finding out the truth.

Annabeth seemed to accept this answer after a few seconds of pondering over it. Shrugging, she spoke, "Whatever the case, we shouldn't look a gift horse in it's mouth, right?"

Percy just grinned and nodded. As he was about to speak, he was interrupted by a sharp bleat. Turning to Grover, Percy asked, "What happened? Were you able to sense anything?"

The satyr nodded his head. "Yes. Just about a mile from here. I can feel an overwhelming aura of death, which means that the entrance of the Underworld is right there."

Percy nodded. "Well then, let's go. We need to get there as fast as we can. Come on guys."

The trio was about to start running when they were blocked by four teenagers. By the look of it, they were about eighteen years old. They held baseball bats and knives in their hands. Percy knew immediately that these were the roadside goons who thought of themselves as gangsters.

"Let us go, dickheads." Percy ordered them seriously, to which the four boys laughed loudly.

The bulkiest one, who was clearly the leader, spoke, "Fine, we'll let you go. But you leave your bags and the girl over here."

Shaking his head in mock despair, Percy spoke, "I had really hoped that we could get through this without anyone getting hurt. Whatever. Not like I wasn't gonna beat you up anyways."

The next moment, one of the four boys was sent flying back a few feet, where he promptly fell to the ground and lost his consciousness.

Shocked, the other three goons turned to the place where their friend had been previously standing, just to see Percy standing over there with his leg still in the kicking position.

"H...how?" Was all that the leader managed to get out of his mouth before Percy again dashed towards the three goons.

The next moment, Percy stopped in front of the second goon and punched him in the gut. The blow caused the teenager to bend over while clutching his stomach. Taking advantage of this, Percy grabbed the goons head and brought it down, while simultaneously bringing his knee up.

Percy's knee crashed into the goons nose, instantly breaking the nose as blood flew out of it. Before the goon was able to even step back, Percy punched him hard in the head, causing the teenager to fall over, completely knocked out.

Turning his attention to the third goon, Percy saw that he was coming forward with his knife raised. As the goon reached Percy, he tried to swipe at the demigod's face. Percy dodged the first two strikes easily, before catching the goons wrist when he tried to make a third swipe.

Using his superior strength to overpower the goon, Percy broke his fist by twisting it, and then stabbed the goons thigh with his own fist wielding the knife. The goon tried to scream out in pain, but Percy punched him in the head, knocking him out cold.

Percy's senses tingled as he immediately dropped to the ground and rolled to his side. Getting up, he saw the leader standing in what was Percy's previous position, with a knife in his hand. Angered at the cowardice of the goon, Percy got up and ran at him.

Reaching him, Percy grabbed his hand that was holding the knife and pressed as hard as he could. The goon shrieked in pain and dropped the knife. But before it could hit the ground, Percy's other hand caught him.

Without wasting a moment, Percy swiped the knife across the goon's groin, satisfied when he heard the 'swish' sound of the goon's dick being cut off.

As the goon was about to scream in pain, Percy forcefully shut his mouth and spoke, "This is what rapists get, understand? Now even if you do try to rape another girl again, you can't. Enjoy your remaining life as a eunuch, sucker."

Again, Grover and Annabeth could only stare in utter shock as their friend, who had been introduced to the Greek world just two weeks ago, fought like a seasoned warrior and bested four people in a minute. Annabeth knew that not even a well trained demigod could reach the level at which Percy was fighting right now. Surely, the first time he did that could have been luck or a blessing from Poseidon, but there was no chance that the second time would be the same. Surely, Percy had more to him than what he told others. Annabeth was sure of that. But what it was, she couldn't tell. The daughter of Athena swore to herself that she would find it out.

But unfortunately, she did not have the time to give it any further thought, as Percy turned around and spoke, "Come on guys. These idiots got what they deserve. We don't have the time to spare. We need to get down there and back before daybreak."

His quest mates nodded and followed him as the son of Poseidon himself sprinted down the road towards their destination, determined to meet and confront the god that most probably hated him just for existing. Oh, and not to mention, that he would be meeting said god in the god's own domain, where he had absolutely no chance of succeeding if a fight were to break out.

The entrance to the DOA recording studios was exactly how Percy had pictured the entrance to Erebos would look like. Tall wooden gates, pitch black, had the letters DOA written on them in Melodius script, a font Percy recognized very well. Afterall, it was the font used by Atlantean royalty. Of course the two elder sons of Kronos had similar taste when it came to such things.

Before Percy could do anything, he heard Grover speak, "Wait a minute. Before you open them, let me put on these flying shoes. They'll come in handy if we need to make a quick escape from somewhere." Nor Percy, neither Annabeth could argue with the logic behind Grover's words, and thus nodded.

The satyr bent down and started to put on the flying shoes given to them by Luke. Meanwhile, Percy tried to push the doors open, but the heavy wooden gates didn't even budge slightly. Even when the son of Poseidon used all of his strength, the only result yielded was a slight creaking of the doors.

Frustrated, the son of Poseidon stepped back and turned around his companions for advice or help in opening the gates. Grover shrugged while shivering at the sight of the scary doors, while Annabeth seemed to be lost in her thoughts, obviously trying to remember something important. Percy just hoped that whatever it was that she was trying to remember, she would do it fast.

As if an amazing epiphany had just occurred inside her Athenian mind, Annabeth snapped her fingers while grinning widely. Percy raised his eyebrows as he had never seen her grin. Honestly, it dimmed the Athenian intelligence and confidence that usually was shown on her face. But now was not the time to point that out. By the looks of it, Annabeth had remembered something of utter importance, and Percy didn't want to compromise the information by teasing Annabeth.

"I..I do remember Chiron telling me something when I had asked him about how Heracles had entered the Underworld. He..he told me the answer. Demigod blood is required to open the doors to the Underworld." Annabeth spoke, feeling pretty proud of herself at the fact that she had not forgotten the information her mentor had given her.

Percy nodded slightly before uncapping Riptide and cutting a small slash on his left shoulder. He gathered a small amount of the blood that oozed out of the wound, before pressing it against the wooden doors. The next moment,... nothing changed. The door still remained shut, not even budging.

Utterly disappointed, Percy was about to start trying to use his strength again when a thought struck him. Thanks to Ikol, Percy knew that he wasn't even from the Greek Pantheon. Maybe that's why the doors didn't open when he pressed his blood onto them. The doors recognized that he wasn't a Greek. Dammit.

Turning to Annabeth, Percy spoke, "Annie, you try using your blood. I have a gut feeling it will work." Sensing that she was about to interrupt him, Percy added, "Unhuh. Don't ask questions, please. Just do as I say."

Annabeth stared at him for a few seconds before nodding and pulling out her dagger. She sliced it across the pinky of her left hand. As the blood oozed out of her finger, she pressed it to the doors.

Immediately, the sound of locks clicking was heard and the doors started to open slowly. While the doors were opening, Grover turned to Percy and asked, "Why did Annabeth's blood open the doors, but your's had no effect on them?"

Percy didn't know how to answer this question and was about to shrug his shoulders, when Annabeth spoke up, "Maybe it didn't recognize Percy's blood as it has been centuries since a demigod tried to enter the Underworld. But as I tried after Percy, the doors had awakened and thus, opened."

Percy let out a sigh of relief. The story was not good, yet convincing enough for Grover and Annabeth. He just nodded along with this. Grover too thought for a moment, but ultimately shrugged and turned back to the door.

As soon as the doors opened wide enough to let them enter, the trio entered the recording studios. As soon as they stepped inside, the three questers were hit by a cold wind. It wasn't as cold as a winter wind, but it was enough to send chills down their spines.

Till now, they hadn't really thought about the fact that they were actually going to what could be considered an aspect of Greek hell. Or even a place for the afterlife. The domain of one of the most powerful Greek deities. One who could without doubt give even Poseidon a run for his money. Not to mention, out of the six children of Kronos, Hades had the strongest domain. An eternal domain. While the sky and the seas could be destroyed, the Underworld was eternal. Death was inevitable. This in itself made him the worst enemy you could possibly have.

Walking with matching steps, the trio reached the main desk. A man who was completely bald sat on a seat behind the reception table.

He wore an old, worn out Italian suit, and had frameless elliptical glasses on his eyes. A stoic expression rested on his face and his eyes held nothing. They were twin orbs of absolute emptiness. (Imagine the Charon from 'John Wick')

Percy recognized the deity and spoke, "Charon, son of Erebus. The ferryman of Hades' domain. An honour to see you in person."

Charon's eyes momentarily flashed with surprise as he was finally recognized by at least one person. Though, the next moment they were back to the emptiness they held before.

Nodding slightly, Charon spoke in a cold, dead voice, "Ahhh. It feels good to finally be recognized correctly by at least one person. Being referred to as the 'Grim Reaper' or 'Boogeyman' was something that I don't like at all. Stupid mortals and their stupid made up myths. Oh. And not to mention the idiotic Greek demigods, mistaking me for that stupid centaur Chiron."

As he finished his rambling, Charon finally took a better look at the trio of questers. Eyes narrowing slightly, he scowled, "You three aren't dead. And this satyr won't be hear even after death. So, what in Lord Hades' name are you doing here?"

Annabeth was about to speak, before Percy cut her off. "We need to speak with Lord Hades. So, we need a ride across the river Styx."

Charon stared at him for a full minute with those lifeless eyes and then immediately let out a howl of laughter. "Oh-ho. Hadn't heard a good joke for so long. Seriously though kid, what are you here for?"

Percy narrowed his eyes. Studying Charon for a moment, Percy leant forward and spoke in a cool voice, "Hmmmm. Let's see what you've got here. Your suit is one of incredible quality. Prada without doubt. But the corners and collars along with the buttons have worn out, suggesting two possibilities - either you are emotionally attached to it, or that your low wage does not help in buying a new one. Now we can obviously discard the first possiblity because of two reasons - First that you are obviously not emotionally attached to anything, your eyes suggest and prove that. Second that your desk has the latest Prada magazine lying on it with the suits page open. You are obviously checking the prices of good quality suits at a considerate price range. Suggesting from the folded pages, I say that you have already found some, though that is not of relevance here. Also, I can see that you are not particularly enjoying this job that you have. Normally, the two main reasons for people to dislike their jobs are the lack of interest or a low salary. As I said earlier, you are mostly lacking in the emotions section, thus discarding the reason of not having interest in your job. Obviously, you do not care about it. But the pay is low, making you grumpy about the hard work you have to do, all for a salary that can't even buy you a new suit."

Taking a deep breath, Percy clasped his hands and placed them on the table, while leaning forward, his eyes locked with Charon's eyes the whole time. Like a businessman who had just gotten a deal in his bag, Percy smirked and spoke, "Looks like we can both help each other out. You see, if you take me to Lord Hades, I promise I'll mention a pay raise for you, Charon. Or maybe even make him gift you a few good Italian suits, with complementary Italian leather loafers. Seeing your obsession with suits, I figure that this is an offer that is very hard for you to decline, am I right?"

The ferryman of the Underworld was stunned into silence as the boy in front of him gave him an irresistible deal. He didn't have anything that lose in this, and if the boy followed through with his word, he would be getting new suits very soon. Maybe even a pay raise.

Nodding slightly, Charon spoke, "You have yourself a deal, demigod. I will give you a ride to the other side of the Styx, but you have to make a solemn oath that you will mention the pay raise and the Italian suits to the king."

Percy nodded. "Perfectly reasonable. I Perseus, son of Poseidon, swear on the Styx to mention about Charon's pay raise and Italian suits to Lord Hades, if the ferryman provides us with transport across the river Styx."

The sound of thunder rumbling could be heard through the pure black dome that was the sky of the Underworld. The oath had been recognized and authorized by the river of hatred.

Percy extended his hand, which was grasped by the son of Erebus. Letting go of Percy's hand, Charon made a sharp turn to the left and walked out of the table space. Now that he was standing to his full height, Percy could see that the ferryman was thinner than a stick and stood at an astounding seven feet height.

As he loomed over the three demigods, Charon let a smirk spread on his pale face, which honestly looked like a sneer. It was actually hard to tell. "Follow me, demigods. Oh. And congratulations. You will be the first living beings to travel on the ferry of the dead."

Charon turned again and started to walk towards the dark end of the passage as the demigods and satyr followed him. When they reached the edge, Charon lifted his hand and place his palm onto the wall in front of them. As soon as his palm made contact with the wall, the wall started to tremble, until it split into two pieces and started to slide apart.

Grover gasped as he felt his fear of the dark and underground places fill his veins. His instincts were screaming at him to turn around and trot back out of this place. Moving forward from here meant certain death for him. But he stayed rooted at the spot. He couldn't just betray Percy and abandon him. He had agreed to accompany his friend, and he would follow him. It was his job as Percy's protector to watch his back. He wouldn't abandon his friend, even if he knew he was walking towards certain death.

Annabeth felt a certain trepidation crawl up her spine as she walked down the dark passageway. She knew that she trusted Percy, but for Zeus' sake, this was the bloody Underworld. This was the prime example for a place where Murphy's law was sure to come true. Here, anything that could go wrong, could go a lot worse. For example, she had zero clue whether if she stepped in the Fields of punishment by mistake, she would be trapped there. To be frank, no one had a clear clue of the Underworld. The only people alive in the upper world who had any idea of the Underworld were Hermes and Heracles.

But she finally decided that she trusted Percy's judgement after seeing him take charge and act like a good quest leader. Not to mention him saving her and Grover so many times. Doubting her friend wouldn't do her any good.

Percy was the least scared out of the three questers. But even he couldn't deny the small, tingling feeling of unease that his senses were causing. And his senses were never wrong. He knew that what he had planned could go to shit in a million ways. For example, Hades wouldn't be in possession of the bolt. Or that Hades wouldn't even grant them an audience with him.

Shaking his head, Percy tried to rid it of his negative thoughts. Negativity was going to get him nowhere. He needed to stay positive, at least for the sake of the quest. The quest had to succeed. There was no other option. And for the quest to succeed, it was necessary for Percy to keep a positive, optimistic attitude.

Taking in a deep, calming breath, Percy continued his walk down the dark passage.

Soon, they reached the end of the passage, where Charon turned around and signalled them to come closer. Once they did so, he pushed a brick into the wall beside him, causing the wall to tremble again.

The wall behind them closed down and they were trapped in a cubicle wall structure. But before any of them could even make a sound,

their stomachs turned a complete 180 degree as the cubicle dropped down. Of course the cubicle was a bloody elevator, Percy thought. Desperately trying to cling to something in order to maintain their balance, the trio of questers held each other's hands as tight as they could.

The horrifying elevator ride to the Underworld lasted for about two minutes. Just as Grover was about to throw up the cheese enchiladas resting in his stomach, the cubicle came to a sudden halt. The wall in front of them again trembled and split apart, revealing the dark, gloomy scenery of the realm of Hades.

Charon moved forward and turned his head back to the three questers. "Welcome demigods, to the realm of the dead. A kingdom richer than even El-dorado. The inevitable. Welcome to the Underworld."

In front of them was a huge river, easily two times the size of the Nile. It had a steady flow and rythm, but the thing different about it was that the water flowing in it was pitch black. There was also no sign of any form of aquatic life in the waters of this river. It didn't take a genius to find out which river this was.

"Styx." Percy breathed out in awe as he saw the legendary river of the Underworld. The one that had provided Achilles with complete invulnerability. Well, almost complete invulnerability. "The river of hatred."

Charon nodded his head. "Yes. The only passageway to the main land of the Underworld. I will be taking you across the river in my boat, but beware, do not even think of touching the river waters."

The trio nodded, not even bothering to ask the reason behind Charon's command. This was the Underworld. Even stepping in the wrong place could affect you over here. And if Charon said that something was dangerous, then they would definitely stay away from it.

Walking towards the river bank, Percy saw the thing that Charon referred to as his boat. For starters, the thing was enormous. Easily the size of a small yacht. Secondly, it was a full grey colour, with a picture of a skull on the hull.

Getting onto it, the trio took their seats and turned to Charon. The ghoul nodded and snapped his fingers. Immediately, the dark skin on his face erupted in flames and started to melt off entirely.

After a few seconds, the skin had melted off Charon's face, leaving behind an empty skull. His Italian suit had changed into a long, violet

robe with a tattered hemline, draped sleeves and an oversized hood. All in all, Percy could definitely see where the story of the Grim reaper had come from.

As they were travelling across the river, Percy felt a poke in his shoulder and turned around to see Annabeth staring at him. By the way her eyes shone with curiosity and her fingers twiddled with the hem of her shirt, Percy could tell that she wanted to ask him a question.

"Ask away." Percy spoke, to which Annabeth nodded.

"What was the real reason that the door didn't open? I tried to stick to my reasoning, but it just doesn't seem right. The door to the Underworld would never make a mistake." Annabeth asked him, making Percy sit up straight.

He didn't know how to answer that. He couldn't tell her the truth, that much was obvious. But he also didn't want to lie to her. She was his friend, and one thing that Percy knew was that you never lied to your friends.

"Umm. I actually don't know what to say. I had hoped it would happen, but for some reason, it didn't. But then I had a gut feeling that your blood would work on the door, so I asked you to try it." Percy spoke with a shrug. It wasn't the truth, but none of it was a lie. He didn't know what to say, as he didn't know whether to tell her the truth or not. And he had actually hoped that his blood would work.

Annabeth seemed to accept this answer and sat back on her seat. She seemed to be thinking of something, but Percy had a feeling that it wasn't about him, or any matter concerning him. So, he let her be and turned back towards the head of the boat, staring into the distance at one prominent point that was visible throughout the Underworld. The palace of Hades. As expected, it was built on the highest ground of the Underworld, towering above the watchtowers and other buildings.

Even in the completely black surroundings of the Underworld, the king's palace glowed differently, demanding the attention it deserved. Despite having lived in a palace just as, if not grander than Hades' palace, Percy had to accept that the Lord of the Dead's home was extremely awe-inspiring.

While staring at the palace and other sights of the Underworld that he could see from the boat, Percy didn't even realize when they reached the shore of the river Styx. It was only when Grover shook his shoulder that Percy snapped out of his thoughts and checked his surroundings.

Standing up, the son of Poseidon walked towards the head of the boat and jumped down onto the sandy shores of the Styx, which surprise-surprise, had black sand.

Turning back to Charon, Percy spoke, "Thank you for the ride."

The immortal ferryman nodded and replied, "Hope you follow up on your end of the deal. It would be a shame if you were to be striken down by black lightning if you break an oath on the Styx."

Before Percy could reply, a terrifying howl was heard from a distance, making goosebumps appear on the questers' skins. It was like a pack of wolves howling at the moon, except that is was a hundred times louder and scarier. And if Percy's guess of who was behind the howling was correct, then he was not at all excited to meet the creature.

Charon gave them another creepy smirk and spoke, "Ahhh. It seems as if lady luck isn't on your side, demigods. Old three face seems to be hungry and irritated. Best of luck surviving that. Oh wait. Who am I kidding? Luck won't do you anything good over here. This is the Underworld, after all." Then Charon cackled like an evil wizard and started to row his boat back to the other shore.

Ok. Maybe the cackling part was just his imagination, but honestly, it would have been cool, Percy thought.

Then the son of Poseidon mentally slapped himself for letting his mind run wild in a serious situation like this.

Looking back at the main area of the Underworld, Percy saw two immensely large black gates blocking the entrance to Hades' realm. Moving his head to look at his partners, Percy received two nods of confirmation, before he himself nodded and the trio started to walk up to the gates.

The gates were easily fifty feet tall, made of stainless steel, and had skulls and bones stuck to them.

As soon as the questers got within five feet of the doors, the doors swung open with creaking noises. The demigods shuddered at the noise, but still stepped inside. As soon as they crossed the gates' radii, they heard the gates swinging back and locking themselves again, exactly like the cheesy effects in horror movies.

Trying to distract themselves in order to not let fear take over their senses, the trio walked forward, in the direction of Hades' palace.

Percy remembered that they were on a strict timeline. They had initially only ten hours to get in the Underworld and retrieve the bolt from Hades. Out of which, three hours had already passed. This meant that the next seven hours were the only thing standing between the destruction of the whole world.

Thinking of this made Percy's determination boost as he started to walk even faster than he already was. Just as they were thinking that they could actually make it to Hades' palace in time, they saw something that made them halt in their tracks.

In front of them was the biggest dog they had ever seen. Clearly a rottweiler, the dog was about eighty to hundred feet tall, with three ginormous heads on it's body.

"Cerberus." Percy breathed out in shock and awe as he stared at the majestic and terrifying guard dog of Hades. It reminded Percy of the great Kraken, the monstrous pet his father had. Of course the Kraken was kind of a dick, but still, it was scary nonetheless.

The three headed giant rottweiler was staring right at them with it's three pairs of glowing red orbs. The three pairs of lips were curled in a snarl as it studied them, analyzing if they were fit to be his meal or not. Judging by the wagging of its tail and the lolling of its tongue, Percy was sure that any moment, Cerberus was going to pounce on them.

"Mwehh." Grover bleated loudly, scared beyond comprehension at the sight of Hades' guard dog. Even Annabeth let out a small whimper at the sight of the sharp teeth visible through the vicious snarl on Cerberus' three faces.

Percy himself took a step back in apprehension, not at all wanting to try his luck against the huge beast. How in Poseidon's name had Heracles defeated this beast?

"Bloody hell. There is no other way to Hades' palace than to pass through here. We need to get past cerberus. Preferably alive." Percy cursed, desperately thinking of ways to get past the dog and into the inner circles of Elysium.

"Way to go, Mr. Obvious. But how do we get past it? I swear to all the gods I am not going anywhere near those huge, sharp, scary teeth." Annabeth snarked, clearly trying to hide her fear with annoyance and sass.

Percy just nodded. "Fine. What else? We can't just stand here, waiting for it to approach us. That is a clear sign of weakness, something that will only encourage Cerberus to attack and kill us."

He was desperate enough that he was going to suggest using the pearls of Amphitrite, but a timely solution from the daughter of Athena made him smile as he put the pearl back in his pant pocket.

Annabeth Chase was not unfamiliar to the sensation of elation that bloomed in her heart and mind when a good idea struck her. But this time, it was different, as this idea could very possibly get them past Cerberus without even breaking a sweat. She reached into her bag and pulled out a red rubber ball, one which she had picked up at the water park while recovering Ares' shield. Having had experience playing with dogs from when she was a kid and still lived with her father, she knew that dogs loved to play with balls.

Walking forward, the daughter of Athena raised her hand high in the air, showing the red ball to the enormous three headed dog in front of her. "Hey boy! Want this? I know you do." She shouted out loudly, in an excited tone that got Cerberus' attention.

The dog growled at her for a moment, before noticing the rubber ball and stopping abruptly. It's expression changed to one of confusion, before finally turning to excitement as it started to wag it's tail and loll it's tongue. It's eyes were transfixed on the red ball, wanting to play with it. It whimpered in anticipation, the sound loud enough to be heard from half a mile away.

Annabeth smirked when she saw that the dog had lost it's anger and was now concentrating solely on the ball. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? Yeah. That's right, it's you!" Annabeth exclaimed, while waving the ball in her hand, watching as Cerberus' eyes moved along with the ball. She turned around and glared at her friends, who were still standing there, awestruck at the sight of her taming the guard dog of Hades' domain.

Percy and Grover received the message behind Annabeth's glare loud and clear. They nodded and started to slowly walk towards Cerberus, trying to slip past it while it's attention was diverted. When they were almost there, one of Cerberus' heads looked down at them and snarled viscously. But before it could do anything else, Annabeth had again distracted it by throwing the rubber ball at it.

Percy and Grover took advantage of the distraction and sprinted past Cerberus, crossing the monstrous dog and entering a tunnel which was narrow enough that Cerberus couldn't fit in it.

Annabeth watched as her friends escaped past Cerberus and entered the tunnel across. She slowly started to inch towards them, keeping her eyes on the dog. "Drop the ball, Cerberus." She spoke commandingly.

The dog seemed to not be able to make a decision. It didn't want to give the ball away, but it also wanted the girl to play with it. In the end, Cerberus dropped the ball when he saw the stern glare Annabeth was giving him.

Annabeth picked up the ball, careful to avoid touching the parts covered in dog saliva. Raising it, she asked, "Want it, buddy? You do, right? Well, here it is. Catch!"

She threw the ball as high in the air as she could. Cerberus raised all his three heads to catch the ball, giving Annabeth the chance to sprint towards where her friends were standing.

Percy saw with a smile as Annabeth distracted Cerberus and then sprinted towards them. But the smirk vanished from his face and was replaced by a look of horror when he saw that one of Cerberus' limbs were going to land on where Annabeth would be a few moments later. Annabeth hadn't noticed it, and would very well become a flattened pancake if he didn't do something.

The son of Poseidon sprinted as fast as he could and tackled Annabeth to the ground, rolling to a side while holding her. Cerberus' paw missed them by only a couple of feet, making dust blow on them. Annabeth's eyes were wide in terror as the shock of almost dying struck her. She wrapped her hands around Percy's neck and hid her face in the crook of his neck, taking in frantic breaths. Percy got up while holding Annabeth up with his hands. He saw that Cerberus hadn't noticed them yet. Without wasting a moment, he sprinted back to the tunnel, where Grover was waiting for them, his eyes wide with horror at the scene that had just played out in front of him.

Percy reached the tunnel and stopped to take a few deep breaths. Setting Annabeth to the ground, he whispered soothing words in her ears. After a few moments, the daughter of Athena was back to normal, still taking deep breaths and shuddering once in a while, but still okay.

"Come on guys. We need to get moving. Barely six hours left." Percy spoke, getting nods in response. The trio again set off towards the palace of Hades.

The tunnel ended a few minutes later, leaving them in a completely barren land. In the distance, Percy could hear screams and wails of human souls, which meant that the Fields of Punishment weren't far from where they currently were.

Before Percy could say anything, his senses again started to tingle, spelling trouble for the trio. His eyes narrowed and he took a good look of his surroundings, but found that the ground was barren for miles, not a dead soul in sight.

The next moment, Percy heard Grover squeak in fear and turned around to see Grover howering over the ground, his shoes making him fly. Percy scowled and spoke, "Not the time for this, Grover. Get to the bloody ground right now."

Grover seemed frightened as he replied, "I..I am not able to control them. They are moving out of their own free will. Not even the special word is stopping them."

Before any of them could speak further, the shoes shot off towards the right, taking Grover with them. They were moving fast, towards a place that seemed much darker than most of the other places in the Underworld. Grover was screaming his head out as he tried to stop the shoes or at least remove them.

Percy and Annabeth started to sprint behind Grover, trying to reach their friend before something drastic happened.

As expected, something drastic did happen as Percy saw Grover heading towards the a huge hole right in the middle of the barren land they were running on.

Realization struck Percy as his eyes widened in shock. He realized what this hole was. Having heard from his dad, Percy knew that the Underworld had a hole that lead straight to Tartarus, and was located beside the Fields of Punishment. The hole was specifically used to throw the worst souls like Hitler and Attila the hun into the Greek mythological hell.

The shoes were cursed to drag the person who wore them straight into Tartarus. Shit. That meant Grover was going to...hell.

Percy cursed out loudly and grabbed his backpack from behind him. Reaching into it, he pulled out the rope he had kept in it if he ever needed it. While running, he tied a knot around his waist and turned his head to Annabeth. Throwing the rope's other end in her hands, he shouted, "Put this around a huge rock. Whatever you do, don't let it go."

Annabeth understood what he was implying and screamed, "Absolutely not! I am not letting you jump into that hellhole."

Percy groaned and replied, "There is no other choice. We need to save Grover. That hole leads straight to Tartarus. If Grover falls into it, he is as good as dead."

Annabeth's eyes widened and she nodded, holding the rope firmly and tying it into a knot, already searching for huge rocks to tie the rope against.

Percy saw the shoes reach the hole and make Grover dive into it. He increased his speed and nodded to Annabeth. Reaching the hole, Percy jumped into it and got into a straight posture, cutting the wind as he tried to grab his friend.

Annabeth saw a huge rock, almost the same size as her, and tied the rope around it, praying to all the gods that Percy would save Grover. She couldn't lose another friend.

Percy was straining his body, reaching for Grover, but the satyr just seemed to be out of his arms grasp. That was until Percy shouted, "Grover, get into a crouching position and shoot up with all that you have. Do it as soon as possible."

Fortunately, the satyr heard him and bent down, getting in a crouching position. The next moment, Grover shot up and was surprised to find that he actually moved up a bit.

This was all Percy needed as he reached out and grabbed Grover's left hand, grinning as he got a good grip on the hairy arm. The rope's length ended at that very moment as they both came to an abrupt halt. Yet, the winged shoes were still fluttering, trying to take Grover to Tartarus with them.

Percy spoke loudly, "Bring your legs up and remove those fucking shoes."

Grover nodded and did as Percy asked, removing the stupid, cursed shoes with his right hand. The shoes, now free from any restrictions, flew down the hole until they were completely out of sight.

With his other hand, Percy grabbed the rope and started to pull himself up by gathering the rope around his palm. It was extremely hard, what with him using only hand, with Grover hanging under him, and with gravity acting against them.

Percy sighed in relief when he felt some of the force on his had decrease. Looking up, he saw Annabeth holding the rope, helping him by pulling the rope as hard as she could.

After twenty minutes of rigorous effort, Percy finally climbed the top ledge and crawled away from the hole till he was ten feet away from it. He then sprawled on the ground, sweat covering his face, neck and arms. He didn't even have the energy to will himself dry. Lying there, he didn't notice Annabeth approaching him until he felt someone gently raise his head and bring a water bottle to his lips. He greedily drank as much water as he could, moaning when he felt his energy being restored slightly. But the bottle was taken away from his lips before he could finish it, making him groan in displeasure and annoyance.

"You did well, Percy. You saved him." Annabeth spoke gently, while setting his head down again. Percy nodded and closed his eyes, taking deep breath. In less than half and hour, they had almost been eaten by a hundred feet tall dog, and then almost fallen into the most dangerous place in the entire Greek Pantheon. Surely things couldn't get any worse, could they?

Percy chuckled when he thought of this. With him, it was never easy. Things always tended to go south.

After resting for two more minutes, Percy finally got to his feet and turned to Grover. The satyr was still laying on the ground, shivering slightly as he tried to forget the near death experience he had just had.

Walking up to him, Percy squeezed his shoulder. "Hey, hey. You are fine, G-man. You are safe. Well, as safe as can be in the Underworld. But still, you're fine. Now come on, we need to leave here before things get worse."

Before Grover could reply, Percy heard a shrieking sound from behind him. "PERSEUS JACKSON!!"

Recognizing the voice without even looking behind him, Percy groaned and spoke, "Dammit. Looks like things just got a whole lot worse."

Turning around, Percy put on a cheeky smile and spoke in a fake cheerful tone, "Ahh. Alecto, Tisiphone and Megara, my favourite Furies. How have you been?"

Alecto sneered at him and spoke with as much venom as she could, "Perseus, oh how I would love to rip you apart right here and now. But alas, our lord wishes to see you now. He says he needs to see the pesky nephew of his that has caused a ruckus in the Underworld. Ohh. But maybe I can ask him to give you three to me and my sisters after he is done speaking to you." The fury got a dreamy look on her face, which still looked as creepy as any other facial expression of hers.

Percy nodded. Hades had sent his servants to bring Percy and his friends to him. This was way better than walking all the way to the palace. That would take about an hour more, that is, if there wasn't any incident like the one that happened just twenty minutes ago.

"Okay." Percy spoke, as the furies swooped down and picked the three questers in their taloned hands. Alecto had made sure to grab Percy as she breathed hot breath on his neck. "Oh how I would love to torture you, Perseus. It will be even more fun than torturing those other idiots."

Percy ignored her and looked around to see Tisiphone carrying Grover and Megara carrying Annabeth. The three Furies swooped into the air and started to fly towards the palace on the top of the hill. Even from this distance, Percy could see the dim lights in the palace of Hades, giving it a creepy look like that of the mansion of a vampire. He shook his head and concentrated on forming a plan to deal with his uncle. Percy knew from his father that Hades was the best speaker and the trickiest one of the three sons of Kronos. Back in the days, he had gained almost equal supporters to Zeus and was almost elected as king, till Zeus played dirty politics and usurped the throne, banishing Hades to the Underworld. Percy knew that tricking Hades was impossible. Hades was just as cunning as his father Kronos, which was a lot.

Percy was yet again snapped out of his thoughts when he felt them near the ground. Looking down, Percy saw them approaching the front gate of the palace. They landed just outside the main gate of the humongous palace of Hades.

The Furies glared at the three questers, but ultimately spread their wings and flew off to somewhere, probably to the Fields of Punishment to torture some poor sod.

Percy turned his attention back to the gates of the palace. He was surprised when he saw the design of the gates. He had expected to see pure black gates with bones and skulls just like the previous two gates of the Underworld he had seen. But, he was completely surprised when he saw a platinum door, with diamonds studded in it at the corners. The door latch itself was made of gold and the doorknobs were two blood red rubies. All in all, the door to Hades' palace itself cost more than what Jeff Bezos earned in an entire month.

Though completely surprised at the colourful door, Percy pushed it at the corner of his mind and knocked on the door. The doors made a sound of a gunshot and immediately swung open, making Percy take a step back in surprise. The more he stayed here, the weirder the Underworld seemed to get.

Percy turned to look at his friends and then stepped inside the palace. Just like before, as soon as they were inside, the gates immediately shut behind them, making them jump in the air.

Seeing no other option, the trio started to walk down the dimly lit path to what seemed to be the throne room of Hades. On the way, they saw the walls and ceilings decorated with incredibly rare jewels and other materials. There were also various famous paintings that had been missing for a long time. Percy instantly recognized 'The Battle of Anghiari' , Da vinci's masterpiece that had gone missing in the year 1440.

Whistling in awe at the intricate carvings on the walls and pillars in the castle, Percy wondered how much the whole palace of Hades would amount up to. Probably more than the world's total economic strength. But that was expected as Hades was the god of riches after all.

After walking for three minutes, the questers finally entered a huge room. It was circular, with a no roof, as they were able to see the roof of the palace itself, about a hundred feet above them. As they gazed at the top, Percy could make out the picture carved on the roof. It was one of Hades sitting beside a beautiful woman in a green dress, the lady Persephone, queen of the Underworld. Persephone held a small girl in her arms, the girl being indescribably beautiful. This was obviously Melinoe, the firstborn daughter of Hades and Persephone, and the rightful heir of the Underworld.

"Beautiful, isn't it? That picture took a hundred years to be made." A smooth, charming masculine voice resonated through the large room.

The trio of questers immediately turned their attention to the far end of the room, which was promptly covered in shadows, making it impossible for them to make out the person. Not that they needed to, the power that was seeping from the voice could belong to only one person - "Lord Hades. An honour to be graced by your presence." Percy spoke with respect as he bent down to a knee and dipped his head. His friends followed his lead and bowed down to the eldest son of Kronos.

"Rise, demigods." Came the same masculine voice, as the questers got to their feet. They heard a soft sound of footsteps hitting the black marble floor under them, before the silhouette of a person was visible through the shadows.

A moment later, a tall, lean man walked out of the shadows, with his hands behind his back, looking straight at the demigods, studying them.

The man was easily six feet two inches tall, with a lean figure. He did not look a day over thirty and was wearing a black dress shirt, which unsurprisingly had diamonds for buttons. Similarly, his pants were black dress pants with a black belt. The belt had a black gem in it's front, sparkling even amongst the shadows, giving it a matt look.

The man's eyes were a charcoal black colour, and shined with unmasked wisdom and intelligence. They held the look of an experienced professional, sending a clear signal that he was not someone to be messed with. An upturned nose and high cheekbones gave him an aristocratic look, signifying him as royalty. His skin was extremely pale, as if he hadn't been exposed to sunlight since the last three to four centuries.

Raven black hair reached down till his shoulders and then curled up, being set in a proper hairstyle. He was cleanly shaven unlike Percy's father who kept a neartly trimmed beard.

This was Hades, the eldest son of Kronos, and the god of the Underworld, dead, riches, and punishment. One of the three strongest gods alive. And as in current suspicion, the lightning thief.

"Lord Hades, we have come here on a quest. A quest to retrieve your brother, Lord Zeus' Master bolt. And according to sources, we feel that the bolt is currently in your possession. Thus, we request you to give us the bolt if it is in your possession, my Lord. This is important for the whole world as if the bolt is not returned back to its rightful owner, a divine war is sure to break out. And I know that it is not something you desire, as you will be dragged into it too." Percy spoke as politely as he could, trying not to anger the god in his own home.

The lord of the dead kept a stoic face the whole time Percy was speaking. When Percy was finished speaking, Hades sighed loudly and walked towards the window at the corner of my room.

He signalled for the son of Poseidon to approach him, which Percy did, albeit with a hint of caution in his steps.

Pointing outside, Hades turned to Percy, studying the demigod in front of him.

Percy followed Hades' finger and was shocked to see a direct view of the Fields of Punishment from the window. But what shocked him even more was a huge mountain of gold, as big as a small city, lying in the smack center of the Fields.

"El-dorado, the city of gold. Obviously belonging to my realm. Of course that one is not the real El dorado, but do you want to know what that fake is doing there?" Hades asked Percy, to which the son of Poseidon nodded.

"That is the punishment for thieves, for robbers and deceivers. They are free to pick up as much gold as they want, but in the end, they aren't able to carry it with them." Hades spoke, with a small hint of amusement in his voice.

After a while, he continued, "One thing I hate more than anyone else is crime. Be it murder, thievery, assault, or anything else. So, why do you think I would be interested in stealing my good for nothing little brother's stupid lightning bolt?" Hades turned to Percy and raised an eyebrow.

Annabeth was the one to speak this time, "We believe that if the bolt was stolen, it would lead to a divine war between your two brothers, Zeus and Poseidon. This in turn will bend in your favour, as they will be weakened, making you the strongest god. So, stealing the bolt seems like a good campaign move for you, Lord Hades."

Hades swiftly turned his gaze to Annabeth and spoke coldly, "You are lucky that I have a higher tolerance and temper than my brothers. If you had said such words to either of them, you would be either a pile or dust, or a stupid plant right now. Learn to monitor your words, daughter of wisdom."

Annabeth shrunk under his gaze and took a step back in fear. Grover was full-on chattering right now, more afraid than he had ever been in the twenty four years of his life.

Turning back to Percy, the Lord of the Underworld spoke, "Look around you, son of Poseidon. Do you really think I need that stupid bolt to gain an upper hand against Zeus. I am willing to bet half my kingdom that most of Zeus' own kids will turn against him if he and I go to war. And by the look on your face, I have every reason to know that you believe me."

Hades continued speaking, "I have every reason to hate Zeus, son of Poseidon. While he makes a ruckus about a bolt that is probably lying under his bed, my missing symbol of power is ignored by everyone. My little brother made every single effort to shun me, to vilify me. I don't even deem him worthy to steal his bolt and attack him."

Percy could see where Hades was going with this, until the Lord of the Dead's words struck home. "Your symbol of power is missing too? But, but how?"

Hades shrugged. "Same time as Zeus' bolt was stolen. I am sure that this is the work of some measly Olympian or Ouranos forbid, even a weak minor god. This is why I need the master bolt as a bargaining chip against Zeus and his merry band of wannabe gods."

"You do not really suspect that my father can do this, do you? I assure you, Lord Poseidon has neither Lord Zeus' bolt, nor your helm, my lord." Percy spoke as sincerely as he could, trying to convince the powerful god that his dad was innocent.

Hades swiftly turned around and snapped his fingers. The next moment, Annabeth and Grover hit the floor, knocked out.

Percy was alarmed by this and immediately grabbed the ball point pen in his pocket, but before he could pull it out, Hades spoke, "No need for the sword, son of Poseidon. I have no interest in killing or torturing you here. I just need to speak about something that these two don't need to hear."

Percy still didn't trust Hades fully, and thus kept a ready posture, but let go of the sword and brought his arm out of his pocket.

Hades slowly turned to Percy and spoke, "I knew you were different when Alecto didn't reform for so long after you killed her. Any other time she was killed, she was respawned within a span of a day, but this time, she took two weeks. Sadly, I haven't had the time to ask her about you, but I want to know it from you."

"I.. I don't get what you are trying to say, my lord." Percy spoke with a hint of nervousness breaking through his stoic voice.

This was all Hades needed to capitalize on as he asked Percy, "Tell me truly, who are you, Perseus? And by truly, I mean the full truth."

---

Anddd wrappp!

18 k words! My longest chapter yet.

A/N

So, how was the chapter?

Which part of it did you like the most?

Like the Perestia fluff?

Out of 10, how much will you rate this chapter?

Damnn. Typed this huge-ass chapter in just three days. Hope it is as good as the others. If not, I am sorry, but I wasn't able to concentrate fully as I was still dealing with the deaths in my family.

Also, thanks for the love that you people showed for the new story. For those of you who haven't read it, it is on my profile, by the

name, 'Perseus - the Dark Destroyer'. Do read and comment your views on it.

Guys, please vote and comment. It means a lot to me. And if you are readers of , please comment, Favourite and follow. We have crossed 1k follows for this story and I can't be happier. Now let's take this number to 2k. Also, we have neared the 1k favourites milestone. Hope we cross it with this chapter. Also, with the next chapter, we cross the 200k mark. Can't even describe how excited I am about this.

Ladies in the pairing :

1 Artemis

2 Zoë

3 Hestia

4 Aphrodite

5 Athena

6 Piper

7 Reyna

8 Calypso

9 Sally

10 Thalia

No changes there, obviously.

Ok then.

Thank you

Until next time

Peace out

Darkgamer08