Disclaimer: I do NOT own Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus and Trials of Apollo. They all belong to Rick Riordan. That said all the OCs do belong to me/Shadow Priesstess.
A/N: Thank You to all of you who have favorited, followed, and reviewed this story. I am so thankful to all of you. This story currently has over 60,000 views, 140 favorites, 44 reviews, and 178 followers. I am so grateful to all of you for this.
I was just checking out all of my stories when I noticed that I didn't finish uploading all the chapters for The Lightning Thief. I am so sorry about that, I thought that I already uploaded all the chapters for it. I already have all of them written down and ready to go so I'll upload all of them today.
XIX. There you have it
"Looks as if those three will finally find out that it had not been me who was behind all of this." Hades said in a partly relieved tone, he really could not enjoy the thought of his won innocence when this meant that their father gained enough strength to break free from his prison and the thought of triumph sounded bittersweet to his mind. When turning back to the book and spotting the first line he groaned, he was starting to regret not having left the room and told someone other to read instead.
"Hades…"
"Don't worry grandmother Persephone, his reaction kind of has to do with how the chapter starts." Henry told his grandmother while his grandfather took a deep breath and continued, though his voice sounded pained.
Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a foot ball field packed with a million fans.
"Please tell me that this is the whole of the Underworld." Hades groaned while Poseidon blinked, he only had a number similar to this and higher when he also counted the sea creatures into the line of his subjects and not only the merpeople, water spirits and Cyclopes.
"Erm…not exactly…that was kind of only Asphodel...well partly, he did not finish with the comparing..." Nathan said carefully while being sure by the way the god's eyes widened in panic that they have a good chance to see what he turns into if really panicked and if not yet, then surely after he finds out that his son took a trip through Tartaros. He was really starting to feel even more sorry for the grandfather of his co-praetor, he had really to much work on his hands.
"I…" Hades did not even continue, but turned to his nephew. "Dionysus, could I please have a bottle from your strongest wine?" he asked, but after a glance at the book he looked up again. "Make that three" he corrected himself while looking at the blinking god.
"Now you are acting all over-dramatic and in a worse way then Zeus, because you will try to get drunk." Demeter scolded her brother while Persephone wanted to snap at her, that it was not like her husband to get drunk, but he needed something when things become terribly stressful and his reaction to the book worried her.
"Are you the one responsible to take care about everything down there or me? No? Then please stay by your cereals and wheat and leave me to try fixing the mess you all tend to cause in the Mortal Realm." Hades said testily while three bottles of wine appeared together with a drinking horn. "Thank you." he said while those who did not know what caused his reaction or about his daily duties looked at him worriedly.
"I think grandma forget the little fact that usually when you desperately want to get drunk it never works." Lance whispered to Misty, their dads had tried after uncle Chris informed them that he is getting married to aunt Clarisse, they had spent almost the whole night drinking and were in the morning still stone sober and demanded from poor Mr. P why that was.
Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people, Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people,
One could almost hear again the crashing sound of jaws hitting the floor as all eyes slowly travelled over to the Lord of the Underworld who had a pained look on his face.
and imagine the electricity has gone out, and there is no noise, no light, no beach ball bouncing around over the crowd. Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start.
The music fans were still mulling over the number comparison to react in any way to this statement.
If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel looked like.
"You mean to say that, those numbers are only in one of the three realm parts?" Poseidon asked in a disbelieving tone while Hades filled the drinking horn and started drinking its contest, not feeling himself strong enough to comment, he will be terribly busy in the future as it seems.
"Those are enough numbers to move against Olymphos..." Zeus mumbled to himself till Hera kicked him in the shin and glared at him that he should not dare continue that thought line, because those numbers were there due to the immaturity of some gods, two certain ones also included who fought about who can make more spectacular catastrophes then the other.
"Grandfather, you should continue now." Enysswe told the ruler of the Underworld who took one last gulp from his drinking horn before nodding, it would be best to finish this chapter as fast as possible.
The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees—Grover told me they were poplars—grew in clumps here and there.
Those who lived or frequented in the Underworld nodded their heads regards the description of Asphodel while the others only listened silently.
The cavern ceiling was so high above us it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed.
Cue more nods while those of the past heroes whom had seen those shivered, it had been not pleasant walking under them because they gave you the constant feeling that they would crash down on you any second.
I tried not to imagine they'd fall on us at any moment,
Poseidon, his sons, Athena the demigods and Frederic shuddered, they did not need to see that visual, Pan on the other hand was silently praying that the trio gets past those without trouble.
but dotted around the fields were several that had fallen and impaled themselves in the black grass.
Hades ignored the sharp intakes of breath as he read on, really now, most in his realm were already dead, this would not harm them in the slightest even if one should be standing under one of them when it falls down. Also, those falling were not everyday occasion, three or four fell down every fifty years or so.
I guess the dead didn't have to worry about little hazards like being speared by stalactites the size of booster rockets.
Cue more shivers and some eye rolls.
Annabeth, Grover, and I tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. I couldn't help looking for familiar faces among the spirits of Asphodel,
"Who was he looking for?" asked Katie as she turned to the legacies.
"We are not sure, he never told us." Luke answered with a shrug as he looked at his sister if she might have heard something, but Sally was also shaking her head in the negative.
but the dead are hard to look at.
"After a while you get used to it." Persephone said so that her mother would not hear, it was enough to look at her frowning face mixed with disapproval. This certainly made her daughter annoyed, she was the queen down there and as hard it is to believe for others even with all of its sadness, grief and terror had the Underworld a type of beauty to it and it was not only because of Elysium and the Isle of the Blest.
Their faces shimmer. They all look slightly angry or confused. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter, like bats twittering.
"Again, you need a death aspect to understand them." Henry said while the others nodded in agreement.
Once they realize you can't understand them, they frown and move away.
The dead aren't scary. They're just sad.
"True." come it from those who had been down there while the others exchanged nervous glances with each other.
We crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:
JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION
Welcome, Newly Deceased!
"You know, without the whole damnation part would that banner sound kind of amusing." Connor whispered to Travis while by the thrones their father reassured his uncle that it was in a way a nice attempt for humour while the god looked back at his nephew with a raised eyebrow.
Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.
To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment,
Many tensed at the name.
"Please Percy, not one of your highly descriptional monologues, not about that part." Silena pleaded as she and Gwen hugged each other while Will glumped and hoped that in whatever room he lives down there it would not give him a view about those fields, he will be even fine with Asphodel, so while he was busy thinking did he not notice Persephone looking at him while she decided that by the next pause she will have a talk with the young demigod.
which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas.
A good deal of people shivered while Ares gave a nod to his uncle, he liked how the design of those fields sounded, he might even join Artemis in her little talk regards punishment ideas, he had some nice ideas the god may like.
Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music.
"What is wrong with opera music?" Michael asked carefully as he looked over at his niece after realizing that those from the antique would not have heard what that was till a good number of millennia.
"Did you ever hear off-key opera songs? Songs against which uncle Grover's first songs sounded like sweet music?" she asked him at which the other paled.
"Fitting idea." he replied hurriedly.
I could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top.
There were a few satisfied smirks at this.
"And he is lucky that he only got that and we din't hand him over to Lady Nyx or her children." Persephone said coldly, Charon had at that time told her a few nice ideas about what he would do to the mortal who dared to imprison his older brother.
"Knowing what she did with father it would have been a pretty through punishment." Jay whispered to the other demigods.
"Though she and her children had a right to be angry, leave alone the fact that till Lord Mars, I mean Lord Ares did not find him was the world without death which is not normal." Reyna added in as the others nodded their heads, a world without death may sound nice, but it was unnatural and for some whose time had come and are in pain would it just be cruel.
And I saw worse tortures, too—things I don't want to describe.
There were many sighs of relief at that sentence as some of the demigods even silently thanked Percy that he stopped talking about that part of the Underworld.
The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better.
"Of course he would say that." Hades said while shaking his head, that line lead to the third and less filled main realm of his kingdom.
This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls—
A small flicker of amusement passed over Hades's as he noticed the demigods lean closer curiously to hear better, it was noting new seeing how all the children of his family aimed to land there, some made it some failed on the way due to taking the wrong path or falling victim to their inherited fatal flaw. It was if he admits it the hardest to judge them seeing that they still counted as family even thought their parents till recently had turned their backs to him no matter their knowledge that in the end he would be the one to decide the children's future for eternity.
a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history,
Annabeth leaned even more further, the thought that in Elysium she could see the architecture of every time period in their actual forms sounded amaizing.
Roman villas
The Roman demigods smiled at the knowledge, so even the afterlife if they make it to Elysium would not leave them homesick after New Rome and camp.
and medieval castles and Victorian mansions.
Silena beamed, Victorian mansions looked beautiful in her option.
Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns.
Katie looked rather interested at this, those flowers sounded beautiful in her option and even Demeter needed to agree with that thought, meanwhile Aphrodite made plans to ask Hades if she could get some of those flowers, they would look beautiful in her hair or as a decoration on one of her outfits.
The grass rippled in rainbow colors.
Gwen felt her eyes widen, that sounded rather pretty combined with those flowers while outside Iris immediately started interrogating the three siblings of the Underworld regards how that had been made. Hestia meanwhile looked over at her younger brother and gave him a small smile that which he returned, Elysium could be a relaxing place compared to the other two main parts and sub-sections of his realm.
I could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.
Elysium.
The demigods all smiled, this was one of the two places every hero wished to go after their death while hoping that those whom they had lost would be also waiting there for them.
In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake,
Outside of the palace Macaria allowed herself a small smile regards the place she guarded the entrance to.
with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium.
Cue more nods, this was the second place every hero is aiming for.
"I wonder if he will make it." Lance whispered to Misty who nodded her head, of course she knew that he was talking about their uncle whom had before his death made up his mind that he wishes to gain that right.
Immediately I knew that's where I wanted to go when I died.
"This is the aim of many." Jay said with a grin on his lips.
"Though it is not an easy feet achieving Elysium in three different life times, but there are some who manage." Beckendorf said.
"Also as we were told Percy is a special case so he has a fifty-fifty chance for eternal bliss or damnation." Travis said smirking.
"Please, lets not go there." Poseidon said, he did not wish to think about the death of any of his children, it will be already bad enough when someone mentions how one of his current sons will pass from the world of the living, no need to add more to it.
"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said, like she was reading my thoughts. "That's the place for heroes."
Siad heroes nodde their heads while Frederic shook his head, as nice that place sounded he did not wish to think aobut Annabeht dying.
"Somehow, I don't feel surprised that the moral of the mortals will also start to change and not only their beliefs." Hades spoke up in a sad tone as he read over the next lines, the legacies nodded, the mortals have changed and many as by their lack of love for the nature, not for the better.
But I thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to the Fields of Asphodel or even the Fields of Punishment. So few people did good in their lives. It was depressing.
Many hung their heads at hearing this information.
"I agree with the young hero's words, it is saddening that so little good is done by the people." Hestia said softly.
"Unfortunately no matter if the intentions of people are good, sometimes the sudden power and wealth they achieve corrupts their mind and makes them greedy, they abandon promises and turn selfish and even if not, they become victims of jealousy, hate or deluded sights." Misty said in a sad tone, it happened to many politicians and other people, the mortals gave in to easily to the seven Cardinal Sins.
We left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colors faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.
After a few miles of walking, we began to hear a familiar screech in the distance.
"The Kindly Ones." Silena guessed carefully, she hoped that they would not be seen.
Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian.
Persephone shared a smile with her husband wile the others looked interested how the palace may look like seeing that they had never been there and even Hermes as he went to get his sister had not threaded close enough to get a glimpse of his uncle's home.
Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures: the Furies. I got the feeling they were waiting for us.
"That doesn't sound good." Jake pointed out nervously while the others gave him dark looks.
"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.
"We'll be okay." I tried to sound confident.
"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance …"
"I'm only in Elysium when I do my rounds around the three fields to make sure that everything is alright, and somehow I doubt that I was doing that at that time." Hades said when he noticed how everyone was looking at him again. "What is it now? There is noting wrong with personally going through your realm to see if everything is really alright and that there is not something your subordinates missed." he said while the other gods turned away from him.
"Why do I have the feeling through their reactions that Lord Hades does more work in his realm then most of the other gods beside Lord Hermes." Mitchell whispered to Malcolm who turned to him.
"Because this seems to be the case." he answered back, it seems that Lord Hades may be right that neither of his brothers would manage to keep his realm under control if those amount of souls, paperwork and his own inspections and judging were any indication and somehow he knew from the god's previous reactions that there was much more he needs to do.
"Come on, goat boy." Annabeth grabbed his arm.
"Hermes, is this a normal behaviour for them?" Hades asked his nephew with a frown on his face.
"What do you mean?" the messenger asked as Hades continued to read as an answer.
Grover yelped. His sneakers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth.
After finishing the paragraph he turned with the others to the frowning god.
"To answer your previous question, no this is not a normal behaviour in the slightest." no one liked the answer at all.
"Somehow I feared it seeing how the shoes are heading in the worst possible direction." Hades said while both Malcolm and Mitchell bit back panicked yelps and growls, the other only looked even more worried.
He landed flat on his back in the grass.
"Grover," Annabeth chided. "Stop messing around."
"I would certainly be way happier if that would be the case." Chris said, he had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, the shoes Luke had given to Percy and was so insistent that the other uses it were acti…he suddenly felt as if someone would have poured icy water over him. A thief skilled enough to steal from the gods, Luke's strange behaviour whenever his namesake is mentioned, the suggestions of said namesake…he could not believe that this is happening. He felt suddenly really sick to the stomach.
"But I didn't—"
He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from us.
"Maia!" he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect.
And this made it certain that something was seriously wrong.
"Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"
"Why is he calling out numbers?" Poseidon asked in confusion.
"You see after phones were invented, something like an IM without picture and sometimes a sacrifice, well each country decided to have a number which one can call if they need help." Annabeth explained as summarised and simple as she could.
"True, but uncle Grover got the number for that in the Underworld way wrong." Henry said as the others turned to him, somehow they did not even wonder anymore that there was an emergency number, but for what no one wanted to ask.
"What is the correct number then?" Trickster asked not sure if he wants to know.
"Easy, six-six-six." Henry replied grinning as Trickster nodded his head carefully, he should have guessed.
"Great, so the number of the beast." Felix said as he shook his head before noticing those from the antique looking at them so he started elaborating. "It is a numerological identifier of the first of two beasts, the first of them descending from the sea and the second from the earth." here both Hades and Poseidon sent Zeus dirty looks that he should not dare commenting. "Both are mentioned in the thirteenth chapter of the Book of Revelations which people believe tells about the end of times, this number is the prominent one, but a small few like the Novum Testamentum Graece like to put it as six-one-six. "
"In the Revelation's narrative the "mark of the beast" is used to identify the beast's acolytes. The number is one of three choices in Revelation 13:17— "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." The "number of his name" is mentioned also in Revelation 15:2 distinctly from his mark. It is widely thought among dispensationalists that the mark will take the form of a number or symbol that will be revealed only during the End Times." Malcolm added in as a finishing part.
"I think the mortals are starting to have to much free time in the future." Hermes whispered to Apollo who on the other hand felt relaxed that he did not have any hinting visions, meaning that the accuracy of that book is uncertain.
I got over being stunned and made a grab for Grover's hand, but too late.
"At least unlike me you tried doing something." Annabeth mumbled to herself, she will need to make a list about things she should avoid saying and doing in the future if they can't stop the thief.
He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled.
We ran after him.
Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"
"Easier said then done." Hades commented dryly while hoping that the three will be intelligent enough to get out of that place as fast as they can.
It was a smart idea, but I guess it's not so easy when your shoes are pulling you along feetfirst at full speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces.
"You need to reach him, he can't do it alone." Katie said worriedly while by the thrones Pan covered his eyes, no matter that he was listening to a book and not seeing the happenings.
"I really don't like the way the shoes are acting, they had never done something like that before, they don't even react to the command." Hermes was nervous, someone had manipulated on the magic and that was only possible if someone was a god or another divinity, but he could not see Hecate near those shoes, he did not know why, but he had the feeling that she had nothing to do with this no matter her affinity for magic.
We kept after him, trying to keep him in sight as he ripped between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance.
"Spirits can be annoyed?" Dakota asked in confusion.
"Those are some of the basic emotion fragments which are kept by spirits in Asphodel, this is because who gets sent there or picks it to not risk judgement will lose all of their memories about their lives while those in Elysium, the Isles and in Punishment keep them." Hades explained, he did not feel the need to add that if one of his children would somehow end up there that unlike the others they would keep their memories.
"That explains it." the blackhead said carefully while he did a mental note to work on to not even by accident land on Asphodel, he liked his memories rather much.
I was sure Grover was going to barrel straight through the gates of Hades's palace,
"Well, those are some massive gates so he would have kind of been stopped by them if he would have gone into the right direction." Nathan said carefully while quickly and unnoticed by the others zapped Ace, Mich, Lance and Luke before they dare to mention his small incident three years ago, he learned on the hard way not to speed fly in the Underworld when heading for the palace.
"Great, I fear we will hate where he is going." Athena said while crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"You can be sure about that." Hades said before returning to the book.
but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.
Persephone gasped, she knew what was opposite from the palace, her reacting meanwhile made the others squirm uncomfortably in their seats.
The slope got steeper.
Hades wondered if he should tell his nephew that his uncle and sister may also need wine for their nerves, and some extra ripe wine grapes for Pan, but decided to see how bad things will get, the others may speak up if they feel like it.
Grover picked up speed. Annabeth and I had to sprint to keep up.
No one liked to hear this and a few chants of pleading could be heard like a soft murmur as Hades kept reading on, they were close now to the cave, unfortunately.
The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and I realized we'd entered some kind of side tunnel. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.
"Of course, all life no matter how damned refuses to grow on that place of madness except in the Valley of Night born through the work of Lady Nyx to serve as her and her children's home, but that was not reachable without invite, Lord Tartaros himself made sure about that." Hades thought bitterly.
"Grover!" I yelled, my voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"
"What?" he yelled back.
He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.
The tension was almost suffocating and Poseidon contemplated if he should ask where the children were heading, but something told him that he should enjoy these few minutes of suspense, for he won't like the answer.
The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on my arms bristled. It smelled evil down here.
"Uncle…please tell me they are not heading in that direction." Artemis gasped in horror, but she did not receive an answer, but the pained look her half-sister was giving her was answer enough.
"What are you talki…just wonderful." Triton said wile slapping his forehead, slowly some of he other divinities also paled and looked in panic at the book.
"I really don't like their reactions." Katie whispered to the others, receiving a few nervous nods.
It made me think of things I shouldn't even know about—
"At least you got the lighter pictures, I dread entering that place and never go there without Thanatos or at least one of his sisters the Keres accompanying me, they seem to be the only ones who can near it without their minds assaulted by those pictures." Hades said with a disgusted shiver, but what scarred everyone even more was the fact that they could hear the echo of terror in his voice while by the heroes of old bit Enysswe back a sigh. Her poor father had endured those images as he stepped into the cave to search for the Doors, the echo of their damaging cruelty and cold terror still present in his mind and only suppressed and slowly mending through the presence of her mothers.
"I think we will refuse those shoes or not take them to the Underworld." Annabeth said so she missed the look her brother, Mitchell and Chris were giving her.
blood spilled on an ancient stone altar,
The demigods and mortal family stared with horror at the book.
the foul breath of a murderer.
"If these were the pictures of the child-friendly version I dread to know what Lord Hades sees when he goes on an inspection there." Dakota said faintly, the others also feeling sick and panicked, mostly Annabeth who knew that she would see the same images as Percy did.
She was not looking forth to that experience and will be on her best to not have it.
Then I saw what was ahead of us, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.
"HERMES!" Athena screamed as she grabbed her brother who looked panicked while Pan wondered again if it would be less dangerous to sit on Dionysus's lap, he gets not glared on and by him he would not be in danger to be suffocated by one of his aunts. "I swear if your damned shoes make my daughter crash into Tartaros will I tie you up and stuff each pair you have of those flying shoes down your throat, did I make myself clear!" she hissed at the deadly pale god till Artemis and Persephone managed to drag her back to her throne while Annabeth scooted closer to her friends, she did not like the thought to be close to the entrance of Tartaros.
"I wonder how she will take it if she finds out that she is the ground that her daughter had fallen down there?" Ace whispered to Misty.
"Something which won't be pretty to see, but there is still a chance to make it not happen if the causing deed had been not done till now!"
Grover was sliding straight toward the edge.
There were several sharp intakes of breath at hearing this together with the whimpering sound Pan made, just like the satyrs outside.
"Come on, Percy!" Annabeth yelled, tugging at my wrist.
"But that's—"
"I know!" she shouted. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him." She was right, of course. Grover's predicament got me moving again.
There were a few forced smiles at this, but they just wanted this part of the chapter to end.
He was yelling, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him toward the pit,
Each word made those in and outside of the throne room flinch as they literally could heart the fear and despair in them regards the situation.
and it didn't look like we could possibly get to him in time.
Cue more fliches which made them momentanly forget that Grover had made it.
What saved him were his hooves.
This made some people blink in confusion while others were only happy that something saved him.
The flying sneakers had always been a loose fit on him, and finally Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor.
He was ten feet from the edge of the pit when we caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around us angrily and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.
There were several sighs of relief and a few silent snickers from the Hermes kids about agressive shoes, they needed a small laugh after being worried like this.
"That had been too close for my liking and now they should get the Hades out of there." Hermes said while said god scoffed.
"Stop using my name as a swear word, it is annoying, but I agree that it is better for them to head to my place then to stay there." he said in an annoyed tone and from the sheepish looks the legacies were giving him, this thing regards his name will not change much in the future.
"As hard it is for me to say it, but they will be more safe in his palace then in that cave." Demeter said, her face looking like that of a person who had bitten into a rotten apple.
We all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. My limbs felt like lead.
"Percy, I know that you are tired, but that is not the place to rest even for a second." Poseidon pleaded and the others agreed with him.
Even my backpack seemed heavier, as if somebody had filled it with rocks.
As much as Malcolm was worried about the trio something in his brain was telling him that the last sentence was strange.
Grover was scratched up pretty bad.
"Being dragged on the ground leaves such marks on a body." Apollo said in a disgusted tone while he glared at Athena whom did her best to not look at her brother, she knew why he was angry with her.
His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified.
"Who would not after being nearly dragged by uncontrollable flying shoes into the darkness of a place against which the Fields of Punishment may look like Elysium." Dionysus said before turning to the others. "Those not counting in their time as underage should inform me if they wish for wine." he told the nodding divinities and adults.
"I don't know how ..." he panted. "I didn't..."
"Wait," I said. "Listen."
"No, don't listen, just grab Grover, turn around and run." Amphitrite said worriedly, the others certainly liked her idea.
I heard something—a deep whisper in the darkness.
Another few seconds, and Annabeth said, "Percy, this place—"
"Shh." I stood.
The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below us. Coming from the pit.
"MOVE IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!" everyone yelled, they wanted them away from that place.
Grover sat up. "Wh—what's that noise?"
Annabeth heard it too, now. I could see it in her eyes. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus." I uncapped Anaklusmos.
"Not going to do anything." Ares said, but one could notice that he also wanted the three out of there.
The bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter,
"Heh, someone did not except a weapon pulled on them." Hermes said in an attempt to lessen the tension, but it did not seem to work.
just for a moment, before resuming its chant.
I could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words,
Hades placed the book into his lap, filled the drinking horn almost to the brim and took a long gulp from the red liquid.
"How long will me lovely little brother keep up the pretence that Father will not be able enough to escape." he said while looking at the legacies, ignoring the glare Zeus gave him.
"With the informations he gets in this book and the grave happeings next year, so almost one and a half year given and take a few weeks." Sally said while Hades gave a glare to his little brother.
"I see." he said before continuing.
older even than Greek.
"I really don't like the feeling this sentence gives me." Travis said while the others nodded, the divinities on the other hand were looking darkly at Zeus.
As if ...
"Magic," I said.
"Definitely not liking it."
"Zeus, he is able to use magic, this had not happened before, he is gaining immense power in the future." Hera snapped at the stubborn god, if even one of them held on stubbornly to the slightest denial that the first despair befalling the future will be through the hand of their father, now those had lost even that glimmer.
Zeus on the other hand chose not to comment, but he felt also worried for he had a good guess that their father would the moment he gets out go for him.
"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said.
"You should have done that right after saving Grover." Athena said, she did not want her daughter anywhere near the place mostly not if that bastard is about to use some type of magic.
Together, we dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. My legs wouldn't move fast enough. My backpack weighed me down.
Malcolm was again forced to wonder about the comment regards the backpack, but this time seemed a few other in the room to also frown a bit at it.
The voice got louder and angrier behind us,
"Of curse, he hates being ignored." Poseidon grumbled before returning to make mental threats against his father.
"Why does this sound familiar." Orpheus heard Enysswe said to herself while she threw a glance both at Hercules and Zeus, he really hoped for his cousin that he will not do the same as his father and provoke her further.
and we broke into a run.
"Should have done that from the start." Annabeth grumbled, another bad decision or better put late reaction.
Not a moment too soon.
Everyone tensed.
A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling.
Here Hades stopped again and turned to his brother, niece and grand-nephew.
"I think you should ask for some wine if you wish so." he told the trio who shook their heads, but gripped the closest thing avaible as a hold.
For a terrifying moment, I lost ground, my feet slipping in the gravel.
Poseidon and the still sleeping Theseus let out a whimpering sound while Orion and Bellerophon clung to each other in fright.
"I see why it was a good idea to let Theseus continue sleeping." Perseus whispered to his wife while he held her closer, Perses was also clinging to his mother, happy that his father had not gone to such a quest, but to ones more in the upper ground.
"I also think that Lord Poseidon has changed his option regards his brother's earlier offer." Andromeda said as Hades let the filled drinking horn float over to Poseidon who emptied it with only one gulp.
If we'd been any closer to the edge, we would've been sucked in.
"At least they were farther away." Frederic said in a relieved tone, he was sure that sooner or later he would have a heart attack from these things her daughter would face while both Bobby and Matthew looked at their sister with wide eyes, they were sure that if their big sister would still be home that she would be able to chase away the monster in the closet, because it was not something strong like this.
We kept struggling forward, and finally reached the top of the tunnel,
Cue relieved sighs.
where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel. where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel.
"I think at that moment had that been a wonderful sight." Silena said still shaking from the thought of what could have happened to the three.
The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel. Something was not happy we'd gotten away.
There were a good deal of grins at the failed plan of that monster.
"What was that?" Grover panted, when we'd collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. "One of Hades's pets?"
"Unfortunately is that thing partly responsible for my birth and a good deal of traumatisation, so not a pet, those have likable aspect to them, he on the other hand doesn't." Hades said in a flat tone while again his siblings shifted in their thrones which made the others frown at them in confusion.
Annabeth and I looked at each other. I could tell she was nursing an idea, probably the same one she'd gotten during the taxi ride to L.A., but she was too scared to share it. That was enough to terrify me.
Everyone nodded their heads, mostly the demigods who did not like the idea in the slightest that they will be facing the King of Titans in a full out war, the constant monster attacks were nice little games compared to that.
I capped my sword, put the pen back in my pocket. "Let's keep going." I looked at Grover. "Can you walk?"
He swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway."
There were a few weak snickers at this, but no one actually felt like laughing after reading about those three nearly falling into the deepest darkness.
He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly as Annabeth and I were. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet.
Cue nodds and shivers.
It was unspeakably old and powerful.
More nods.
Even Echidna hadn't given me that feeling. I was almost relieved to turn my back on that tunnel and head toward the palace of Hades.
"Compared to where you have been before, it is much better." Jake said, if he would need to pick between the palace of the Underworld and Tartaros then he would without a second doubt rush towards the castle.
Almost.
"It is nice there." come it from Persephone, Henry, Enysswe and Orpheus whom had found it actually rather interesting and in its own way comfortable for those living in it. Hades only smiled at the support and continued reading.
The Furies circled the parapets, high in the gloom.
"Technically, they are also tasked with the security of the Underworld, plus their sleeping quarters are in the east wing of the palace." Persephone said while the others decided not to comment that some of the staff live in the palace of their employee.
The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.
"They are only closed in the night…well if things should turn out so that no one needs to do an all-nighter that is." Henry said as his grandfather sighed, those night when the gates could be closed was rare, but then he noticed the next line and frowned.
"I don't remember this having been on it before." he said much to the confusion of the throne room, well the legacies had a guess what it may be about.
Up close, I saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death.
"I also don't remember having those on the gates." Persephone said while outside her children exchanged confused glances.
"The explaining for it will be guessed by Uncle Percy in the upcoming lines, this installation will be started in five decades." Enysswe informed the room while gesturing to her grandfather to continue.
Some were from modern times—
"Just lovely." Hades commented dryly before filling his returned drinking horn and taking a gulp before continuing, really those mortals as if his family would not give him enough work already.
an atomic bomb exploding over a city,
"The bombing of Hiroshima on the august of 1945, through the Americans" here she flashed a glare at Zeus, fine Pearl Harbour had a number of causalities, but that was nothing compared to what those damned bombs did. "The exact death toll on that day was according to recent studies and comparisons of other such ninety thousand." Enysswe said darkly as Hades grabbed the drinking horn while the others looked horrified, even the Trojan War had not caused such a carnage, let alone in only a day.
"There is still a bunch of residual work from that day seeing that this was still in the Second World War." Henry put in as Poseidon flinched, maybe he could suggest to Hades that he can send over a few of him men to deal with those papers, or he sends some of it over to Atlantis and he can cover some of them.
a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls—a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls—
"Just a question, regards the last one, had my mother decided to make good of her childish acting to keep me from going back to my husband?" Persephone asked testily, breaking the sad silence, that action from her mother when she married Hades still enraged her immensely.
"Well, there were some guesses, but this time it was not her." Enysswe said while Demeter looked at her daughter.
"Kore..." she started, but was interrupted.
"Persephone and don't even try finding an excuse, if you would have asked to talk with me and my husband, we may have come to a good agreement, but what did you do instead of acting like a responsible goddess? When whining did not help you were ready to let the mortals starve to force me back, why do you think I ate those seeds before Hades come to bring me to where Hermes was waiting?" Persephone asked her now stunned mother while Katie looked at her lap, it was not easy to hear these parts about your mother.
"You ate those to return?" Demeter asked still in a stunned tone as Aphrodite beamed at this drastic act of love while Apollo averted his eyes, he was sure that in a reversed situation he would have done just the same to stay by the dark god.
"Of course, I did, this whole tricked into eating thing was the result of your overreaction and the fact that you never asked for my account of the happenings and only relied on your own options even in that. As hard it is for you to see, I love being the Queen of the Underworld." Persephone said before turning back to her husband to show that this conversation was in her eyes ended and that they could continue reading.
but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true.
"Prophecies?" Apollo asked perking up while he tried to hide the small excitement in his tone, it would be more then rude and unethical to look excited about such cruel future happenings.
"Yes, it was kind of decided to have the more darker prophecies regards the future etched into the gate, so whenever one comes up you could freely enter the Underworld even without permission." Enysswe told her grandfather, knowing that he was on the inside probably happy to hear about the fact that he can be soon even if for a short time near her other grandfather, well now in their time is he visiting more often in winter.
"Ok guys, your dad is providing more frightening decoration for the Underworld." Connor whispered to the three sons and one legacy of Apollo who decided not to comment or hit the son of Hermes.
Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen.
"I have you know Percy, that there is nothing wrong with my garden." Persephone said, sure she was excited about the thought of a real flower garden which was not in Elysium or on the Isles, but she liked also this one. Hades had done his best to give her a garden in the palace even though he knew that it was not in his power to make the earth in it grow flowers without natural light, she found it touching that he still gave his best.
Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs,
Will did his best to not perk up on that, those could be interesting to work with, he wondered if beside the shrubs also some of the mushrooms were poisonous or not, but for that he would need a better description about them.
and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight.
"Well, that whole no sunlight thing will be in a few years taken care of in our time." Travis said grinning as Will flushed while glaring at the other before whispering in a threatening tone.
"Guess who is the one from our cabin written out to do the physicals of the Hermes Cabin." he whispered to the paling brunette.
Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds.
"Those sound lovely." Silena said in a dreamy tone, a garden with flowers made out of jewels.
"I envy you girl." Aphrodite told Persephone telepathically, she would not mind receiving such a flower, make that two dozen from each type.
"Great, I will need to go shopping for jewellery... much jewellery." Ares grumbled as he massaged his forehead before looking over to his brother who nodded his head.
Standing here and there like frozen party guests were Medusa's garden statues— petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs—all smiling grotesquely.
"I think…we now kind of know how those statues fit into the garden." Chris said carefully, but he was still mulling over his revelation. "At least in the end you will be good again." he thought sadly.
In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees,
Demeter stared at her lap in anger, she hated those trees for it were their seeds which made her daughter return to the dead world each winter and now the knowledge that she consumed them on her own…
their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. "The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said. "Keep walking."
I understood why she wanted to move on. The tart smell of those pomegranates was almost overwhelming.
"It is?" asked Hades and Persephone in confusion while outside a few deities did the same.
"I think it may be so for living beings who don't reside in the Underworld." Henry said remembering some of the times he needed to drag the others away from near the trees.
"That could be it, I like their scent, but it does not feel overwhelming in the slightest, even for the nymphs."
"There are nymphs in the Underworld?" asked a few curiously, others were shocked.
"Not many, but there are a few living down there and serving me." Hades said with a shrug before turning his gaze back to the book, he was curious how his nephew would describe him, his hopes were not all to high after hearing the descriptions of two of his nephews.
I had a sudden desire to eat them, but then I remembered the story of Persephone. One bite of Underworld food, and we would never be able to leave.
"Oh and as a side info, in the future made Lord Hades sure that there are also foods brought down there from the living world so that it is safe to eat them." Nathan spoke up.
"Looking at the fact that we often got visitors down there and uncle Nico kind of lived most of the time down there and later also my mother is that not a surprise." Henry said while the demigods looked at him blinking.
"Your uncle lived there?" Felix asked in confusion while the gods looked at Hades.
"We know that it was explained why a demigod can't live with their godly parent though with his case being a bit complicated and camp being at that time not exactly trusty towards children of the Underworld had the Fates decided to make an exception regards this case." Sally said before adding. "Book three and up till five will explain."
I pulled Grover away to keep him from picking a big juicy one.
Pan nodded his head in approval, if the smell was for a demigod already overwhelming, then for a satyr it would be almost impossible to restrain themselves.
We walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades.
The legacies did their best to not react about the last part of the sentence while the others looked also a bit uncomfortable as they remembered that this was the title of the forelast book.
The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above. I guess they never had to worry about rain down here.
"That only happens in Elysium and Punishment." Hades said in a calm tone.
"What?" come several confused questions.
"In Elysium they are spring showers, the spirits seem to enjoy those mostly that they always result in rainbows as for Punishment, there are the occasional black rains which feels as if needles would be showering down at you, well for the staff working there it feels like normal rain." he explained while the others stared at him wide eyed, which was starting to get old in his option, it was not his fault that his siblings did not wish to know about his realm and he had no desire to go into a full lecture about it.
Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear.
The children of war perked up in interest while the gods responsible for it looked curious.
Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. None of them bothered us, but their hollow eye sockets followed us as we walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end.
"Meaning, you had been expected." Malcolm said, he did not like that thought.
"A good thing that your grandfather was also informed that he should test uncle Percy, but unlike Poseidon he seemed to have a bit more of an inkling why that was asked from him." Nathan whispered to Henry who nodded his head in agreement.
"Though the way uncle Percy had addressed him upon arrival kind of threw him of the loop." he whispered back, his grandfather had not expected a demigod son of his children to recogrinaise him as family in their words.
Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at us, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.
Clarisse looked wide eyed at this, those were pretty great weapons.
"To bad that those are banned from Olymphos and the usage of the Ares cabin." Ace said in a pained tone as his mother whipped around with wide eyes.
"What?" she did not find this fair at all.
"It kind of had something to do with uncle Phobos and uncle Deimos having gotten their hands on a pair from the weapon collection grandfather has and caused a lot of damage, so Lord Zeus made a ban on them." Ace explained while both Clarisse and her father grumbled something about unfair to the rest of the family.
"You know," Grover mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."
"I have a slight guess what those are and I would say that no one without allowance would get in." Hades replied in a calm tone.
My backpack weighed a ton now.
Now was everyone frowning in suspicion at this sentence while a small few threw a mix of suspicious/worried looks in Ares's direction.
I couldn't figure out why.
The others were also not closer to solving the mystery.
I wanted to open it,
"A good thing he didn't, or he may have failed the test." Lance whispered to the others, that would have been a bad outcome.
check to see if I had somehow picked up a stray bowling ball,
There was a round of laughter from the demigods and legacies while Chiron explained those from the antique what a bowling ball was, not that it helped clearing their confusion, it would have been easier if they would already possess their Roman sides or would have been Egyptian deities to understand the contempt of rolling a ball to hit some wooden figures.
but this wasn't the time.
"Well, guys," I said. "I suppose we should ... knock?"
"Good, at least he has manners." Hera said as she threw an accusing glance at Apollo and Hermes both of whom had gone slightly red in the face, how should they had known that Hera was about to step out of the bath and reach for the towel when they barged in.
"Did something happen?" Zeus asked with a raised eyebrow when seeing the flushed expression of his sons.
"NOTHING! UNCLE PELASE READ!" both Apollo and Hermes yelled, their faces if possible, becoming even redder which made Hades decide to do it for them before they pass out due to too much blood in their heads, there was a limit how much stress an artily can hold out before giving up.
A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside.
"I guess that means entrez-vous," Annabeth said.
"You know French?" Silena whispered to Annabeth.
"Only a small bit to be honest, my dyslexia kind of killed the idea to learn it for me and I would need to read the grammar to not make a fool out of myself." she told the blackhead seeing that unlike the Aphrodite children, others had trouble if they decide to try learning that language.
"Well, that is nice to know." Hades spoke up suddenly when he saw what stood in the next lines, well at least will he not get a bad description.
"Huh?"
The room inside looked just like in my dream, except this time the throne of Hades was occupied.
He was the third god I'd met, but the first who really struck me as godlike.
"EXCUSE US!?" both Dionysus and Ares yelled while some of the others broke out laughing, the legacies the most.
"And to be honest, in the future most of you kind of take on to switch to new outfits and well, in some cases is it really hard to fully comprehend that you are the same gods about whom the myths are about beside Lord Hades." Nathan said, the god gave over the divine feeling even as Pluto and in that form, he wore a suit just like his grandfather, but while from the former he could get that he was a divinity, by the later could he easily put him also as a politician.
"What is this supposed to mean?" Zeus demanded.
"The books will show though you saw already a few examples." Ace said as he looked at his grandfather dressed in a leather armour.
He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.
No one commented, but Persephone was nodding in agreement with that description while Apollo did the same silently, Percy had got Hades perfectly.
"Not bad, though from what I read here was this not the power of my full aura, but still impressive that he got it together." Hades said before continuing, the boy was really interesting.
I immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than I did.
"Seeing how he is a good few millennia older than you is that not a surprise." Hermes commented, finally over the memory of seeing his stepmother naked for a few seconds.
He should be my master.
Then I told myself to snap out of it.
The other gods looked intrigued, usually the older the god the more powerful their aura and even if under a little bit, managing to think clearly and to break out of it was not easy.
Hades's aura was affecting me, just as Ares's had. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen of Adolph Hitler, or Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers.
"I know that one of them is my son as for the others..." he saw both Henry and En shake their heads which gave him a clue what it was. "That explains it, due to my role as guardian over the dead my aura can shift regards the pictures and seems as if Percy had noted on what my aura had picked on as he entered, probably due to him knowing who one of my demigod children was." Hades said after spotting what stood in the next line.
Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma.
"The evil charisma part mostly depends on whose view you adapt, many things take on a different meaning if you look at them from another perspective." Octavian said as he remembered what his granduncle who had been the previous augur had once told him while they were in the temple to get some work done.
"That is true everything depends on the perspective." Sally said in full agreement while again the oldest gods shifted in their thrones.
"This is strange." Hades spoke up suddenly while Persephone narrowed her eyes, she knew that soon it will be revealed that her husband had also been victim to thievery.
"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me,
The others also exchanged confused glances with each other.
very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."
"Both." the legacies said grinning.
Numbness crept into my joints, tempting me to lie down and just take a little nap at Hades's feet. Curl up here and sleep forever.
The demigods shifted on their sitting spot, but did not say anything.
I fought the feeling and stepped forward. I knew what I had to say. "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."
"I don't know if the request part was a good idea to put in, but the first part of his sentence will certainly throw me of the loop, it is rare that some of your children come to my realm either living or dead and use a second term to address me which would indicate familiar relations." Hades said as again his siblings shifted in their thrones, but this time they were joined by the rest of the council and the past heroes whom had been to the Underworld.
Hades raised an eyebrow.
"As said before, I'm not used to them openly declaring that we are related." Hades said before continuing.
When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out.
"Actually those are the ones who are on a penalty time, those souls who are on Punishment, but there is a note that they might be able to become enabled for reincarnation to start anew due to remorse for their deeds, the soul gets split in half with one part continuing their punishment while the other part is by me so that I have access to the feelings and thoughts of said soul and can decide if they had passed the penalty and can be brought to Lethe and then reincarnated or the two soul parts get reunited and the punishment continues. Only because one shows remorse and the will to change does not mean that they truly mean doing so, with this on the other hand even the best fraud can't fool anyone." Hades explained in a calm tone while the others listened with interest. "Saddly is our Underworld one of the more diverse ones and not as simple as the Egyptian, though it is rather effective."
"How come?" Athena asked, she will be also asking her uncle to talk with his contacts to set her up with the other wisdom gods for some knowledge exchange.
"Easy while our Underworld beside holding also Tartaros is divided into three parts from which Punishment holds eight different prisons which are main subsections which are also divided into smaller ones, some dealing with specific crimes like murderer, sexual assault, fraud, greed and such is the Egyptian Underworld rather different, when the soul manages after a long and troublesome travel to reach the main judgement hall the weighting of the heart starts in which Anubis the god of Death and Funerals would place the heart of the deceased on one side of the scale while the other held the feather of Ma'at, the goddess of justice, order and truth. The heart would become out of balance because of failure to follow Ma'at and any hearts heavier or lighter than her feather were rejected and eaten by the Ammit, the Devourer of Souls, she is actually rather good playmates with Cerberus. Those souls on the other hand which had passed the test would be allowed to travel toward the paradise of Aaru." Hades finished while the others stared at him pale.
"I think the thing with three options where you might land is rather nice sounding." Travis said in a nervous tone.
"As said, the Underworlds of different pantheons can differ, I have all realms in one place while there are others whom have it separated." Hades added in.
"Separated, would that be not hard to control?" Hermes asked in confusion, sure they were talking about places filled with dead, but it sounded in a morbid way interesting how much informations his uncle knew about other gods, Zeus was thinking slightly along the same lines, but it was more focused on how much support Hades would have if he ever decided to rebel against him.
"The Norse gods are doing just fine with their two Underworld realms namely Valhalla and Vingólf, for mostly the righteous men or better put warriors slain in battle, then there are those who one could call the in a way the Punishment part of the Underworld, but I would say mostly the first one. Niflheim which is a world of primordial ice and cold, with nine frozen rivers though due to it being so close to the second such primordial realm Muspelheim, the realm of fire so as time passed and due to their closeness creation began when the ice of Niflheim mixed with the heat of Muspelheim to create a "creating steam" which become Helheim the world for the souls of men whom did not die a heroic or notable death, meaning you died due to sickness or old age you were not considered a true hero in their eyes." at this looked many scandalised and did not exactly get the logic of this sorting. "Though luckily for those souls is Hel the goddess ruling over that world not lead by her distaste towards her subjects if she knew them and based on their deeds in life can give them an afterlife as close to paradise as possible or terrible punishment."
"Uh…all of this is kind of confusing, but why would she not be pleased with the souls she knows?" Hermes asked his uncle who had a sad smile on his lips, the goddess certainly reminded him much on his own oldest child and felt pained for her how she and all of her siblings were treated only because of their looks and for the fact that they were their father's greatest weakness.
"She had been often mistreated by other people due to the way she looks, they feared her and were disgusted by her sight no matter how often her father reassured her that she was beautiful to him and only that should matter. You see one part of Hel's body is that of a healthy young woman with pale skin, long raven black hair and green eyes while the other part is that of a corpse." Hades explained while the others winched mostly those who remembered how they acted around Melinoe when she had been small while Persephone nodded, she now perfectly understood why her husband spoke so gently about the other goddess, she had been also reminded about their oldest child and her hardships outside of their kingdom. After a few minutes of silence Hades spoke up again. "So, do you wish to hear an update about more afterlives or can I continue with reading?" he asked while everyone gestured towards the book.
The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way.
"No, they are not." Hades answered the unasked question of the others before his eyes widened and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks which both Persephone and Apollo found adorable. "Perseus Jackson, at least try having that ADHD under a minimal control would you and I don't even know how you come to such a definitely not to the situation fitting conclusion." he spluttered in embarrassment, that boy was starting to be worse then some of Aphrodite's kids or his father when he discovered that some of his siblings were a different gender then him.
"Ugh…what did that boy think again and I can only hope that he will not say whatever it was out loud to his uncle." Poseidon mumbled while covering his eyes with one of his hands, Hades only took a new horn of wine to himself before reading, he figured he would need to get over this and don't give them time to comment.
What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades's underwear?
Hades hurried on reading while the others stared all gapping at the book, just like those who were sitting outside stared at the palace if they had heard right, well beside Apollo whose mind decided to try having a short vacation in the gutter again.
"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."
"What could you mean?" Athena asked, the previous comment from Percy slightly forgotten.
"I don't care as long as he let's them talk and not striking either to death." Poseidon said, at least was his brother not one of the attack first, ask questions later type of person.
I swallowed. This was going about as well as I'd feared.
"Well you are still alive and you are allowed to talk, that is actually looking at your situation pretty good." Jake said carefully.
I glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold.
Persephone beamed at the mentioning of her throne, she really liked it.
"A tasteful idea." Aphrodite said approvingly, it also matched to the surroundings of the throne room.
I wished Queen Persephone were here. I recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods.
"Or make them worse." Persephone said sheepishly before she tried to elaborate due to her mother looking too happy about this news in her option. "You see, there are days I feel really annoyed with the way how my husband is technically only allowed to visit his home once a year, mostly that this one day is falling into the time span I can go to the Underworld…so well I kind of try to get him to make it clear to father that this idiocy is enough if he can't give a reasonable reason asto why." she explained as the older gods shifted again in her thrones, both Zeus and Demeter even stared at their daughter in slight disbelief that she would do this while Hades only shook his head, he did not like those arguments.
"Good that they don't know then that she went behind the back of her husband and made him a second symbol of power." Nathan whispered to Henry, his aunt certainly felt displeased for how her husband had been treated.
But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother,
Demeter scowled a bit, so should it always be, but thanks to the idiocy of her little brother had her daughter fallen in love with Hades and by the way Aphrodite reacted sometimes was there no way to ask her to help stir her interest somewhere else.
the goddess of agriculture, Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the planet, create the seasons.
The Chase family looked slightly interested at this while the demigods nodded though Katie from observing her sister and hearing some of her actions and reactions, she was sure that she would not mind staying longer then three months in a year.
Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded me in the back.
"Lord Hades," I said. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."
"He is still using that word to describe the trouble such a war would bring." Athena said while shaking her head, the demigods on the other hand as well as two of her more immature brothers only looked amused.
"Really bad," Grover added helpfully.
Now were some in trouble to keep in their snickers.
"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," I said. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."
"Well, till now is Perce managing to sound rather diplomatic, to bad he is being that with the wrong person." Beckendorf said, but he was surprised that Hades let them talk so freely and not immediately attacking them, but seeing what they had found out so far was the god certainly like one of his roles, a judge.
Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"
"Now what's going on." Apollo asked while tilting his head to the side.
I glanced back at my friends. They looked as confused as I was.
"You and us all guys." Chris said for the whole throne room and those outside.
"I don't think that the question will improve my mood, but as said the familiar term is still refreshing even if uncommon for me to hear." Hades said wanting to know what was wrong, but he had the feeling that he will not be happy when he finds out.
"Um ... Uncle," I said. "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"
"I agree about the question part." Perseus said, he could only hope that this will end well.
The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles.
At this the demigods looked together and wondered if this could be the actual ground for the earthquakes in the L.A. area.
Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization.
"Nice army." Ares said grinning wickedly while the others looked panicked.
"Not nice at all." come it from Poseidon, his awake children, Athena, Frederic, Pan and Dionysus. Zeus only wanted to figure out how large of an army his brother will posses in the future, maybe the rigging of the lot drawing was not the best of his ideas after all, it seems to backfire just like setting his daughter up with his elder brother.
They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.
Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"
I wanted to say, Well, these guys don't look like peace activists.
There were a few weak snickers at this.
"At least is he still not attacking them." Poseidon mumbled to himself, this was at least a little relief, Zeus would have already fried he trio.
But I thought that might be a dangerous answer.
There were several nods of either approval or agreement.
"You are the Lord of the Dead," I said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"
"That was also a foolish thing to say." Hades said sighing before putting the book down again into his lap an reaching for the drinking horn and the wine. "Excuse me for a minute before I start reading about the list of things I will need to take care of, even more then now." he said while filling the horn and opening he next bottle while he was at it, the others only looked at him with slight worry.
After two more refilling was Hades ready to continue.
"A typical thing for my brothers to say!
Said brothers flinched.
Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"
"It was already bad enough hearing bout them." Jay said, those had been rather large numbers.
"Well..."
"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"
Some of the gods were staring blinking at Hades who keept on reading with a pained expression on his face as Perspehone rubbed his back.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll now.
Somehow were most not even surprised.
"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff.
With each sentence everyone flinched harder, they had no clue that it was this hard down there and rememberin what Nathan had said about chaos ont he days a nature catastrophe happened, they could now clearly imagine it.
I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"
Looking at the next sentence Hades winched, that boy really did not know when to stay quiet.
"Charon wants a pay raise," I blurted, just remembering the fact.
Cue groans and a good deal of whines along the lines of "Percy!" could be heard all around of Olymphos.
As soon as I said it, I wished I could sew up my mouth.
"You don't say, even Bellerophon knows when it is a bad time to comment." Orion said before being hit over the head by said brother.
"Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally.
Everyone flinched again while Poseidon bowed his head and Hera glared at Zeus, the two brothers may be the rulers of their realms, but if they had much to do and a problem arose they just sent a servant or another god, neither of them took care about all problems personally.
"Ugh…that certainly must be tiresome and frustrating." Katie said somatically, ruling the Underworld was not easy.
"Lord Hades certainly takes his job as a ruler serious." Castor said as the others nodded their heads in agreement, the Lord of the Underworld had certainly their respect regards this.
The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving.
Poseidon flinched again while making a mental note that by the next pause he will corner his brother and offer some help like he should have done long decades ago, he was really starting to wonder if this unhealthy pale look his brother's skin held had not in truth to do with the stress he is constantly under and not the lack of light in his realm as he had suspected.
No, godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war."
"And we are getting closer to the truth." Hermes stated while the legacies tried not to flinch, the end of the book will be certainly not easy on the god.
"But you took Zeus's master bolt."
"Lies!" More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goalpost. "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan."
Everyone was frowning when they suddenly remembered that a second item was stolen and Hades's words during this chapter…suddenly some eyes widened in realization, no wonder Hades would be suspicious no matter how he knows that thievery is not in the nature of his younger brother.
"His plan?"
"You were the thief on the winter solstice," he said. "Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus, You took the master bolt and my helmet.
"Great, no wonder this mess, my Trident is the only one not stolen and my against the oath demigod child was discovered." Poseidon groaned, this was just wonderful and he could not even blame his siblings on getting to that conclusion that Percy may have taken it.
"This happens when you ignore your own doings." Sally told her grandfather who nodded his head.
"Though why didn't you tell us brother that you had also something stolen?" Hestia asked her younger brother who gave her a sad smile. "My answer comes in a couple of sentences." he told her in a gentle tone which left her frowning, she did not like it that he had not told them that something happened.
Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helmet back!"
"And as you can see, he does not want your toy." Hera whispered to Zeus while looking at him sternly.
"But ..." Annabeth spoke. I could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. "Lord Hades, your helmet of darkness is missing, too?"
Everyone knew that this was not good, this was slowly morphing into a three-way war which was even worse then a two way one if it comes to divinities.
"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this hero—coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt—to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?"
"We kind of were informed that it would not work and seeing that nice army there..." Trickster said carefully it was really a wonder that Lord Pluto had till now not given the order to even restrain the trio.
"No!" I said. "Poseidon didn't—I didn't—"
"I have said nothing of the helmet's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help.
The gods flinched and stared guiltily at their laps, they did not know how they would have reacted in the future if Hades did tell them, but it would have probably not involved caring about the fact. Hestia felt the most heart broken about the thought that her sweet little brother would feel this alienated from his family that he thought that he could not turn to either of them for support.
I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing.
If possible some of the gods looked even more guilty while the demigods shifted on their sitting spot, they kind of felt sorry for the god.
So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you."
"So this is why the Kindly Ones held themselves back and asked for the Helm." Reyna said in a thoughtful tone, the thief had done a good job in creating distrust between the gods and she guessed that it had been the thief who did the same by the cabins, she was starting to get an idea who it could have been.
"Wonderful, he got me on one of my more stressed days." Hades said, he only resulted to threats when he was both extremly tired and frustrated.
"Soo good to hear." Poseidon grumbled, yes he will definiatley arrange some work help for his brother.
"You didn't try to stop us? But—"
"There had been quiet a number of monsters and we know that Zeus sent Echidna, but the others..." no one liked the implication mostly that they remembered Henry's comment regards the loyalty of the Furies.
As said things didn't look good at all.
"Return my helmet now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened.
"Ugh…anything, but that it had been terribly boring when Thanatos was imprisoned, I don't want to kow what will be when you send him on vacation." Ares groaned while the legacies tried not to show their flinch seeing that soon death will be stopped again, but not due to Thanatos going on a vacation.
"That is my counterproposal.
"Actually if Percy would have been the actual culprit then this would be a pretty good counterproposal." Athena said in a thoughtful tone.
I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson—your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."
A good deal of people shuddered while the legacies tried not to grin seeing how minus the last part of the sentence Hades kind of just did that in the Battle of Manhattan when he arrived to fight against Kronos and his army.
The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.
At that point, I probably should have been terrified. The strange thing was, I felt offended.
"Nah, with you is that pretty normal uncle Perce that you fail to have the feeling you should feel in a given bad situation…or thoughts." Lance added as an afterthought while some of the others bit back groans.
Nothing gets me angrier than being accused of something I didn't do. I've had a lot of experience with that.
Cue more groans while Poseidon and some of his children pleaded that Percy does not say something offending or worse, does something offending.
"You're as bad as Zeus," I said.
Poseidon groaned, while Hades did his best to not look offended he had on some days really not the best option about his youngest sibling or his actions.
"You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?"
"Of course," Hades said.
"And the other monsters?"
"I really don't like my answer seeing how we mostly know about who had sent Echidna." cue dark looks at Zeus.
Hades curled his lip.
At this indicated to those who knew him that the question bothered him.
"I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death for you—I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?"
"Easily?"
"Yes, if not for the defective shoes it would have been easier." Sally told the others.
"Return my property!"
"But I don't have your helmet. I came for the master bolt."
"I hope that this will be explained soon how this had worked, but on the other hand" here Hades looked up at his youngest sibling "Zeus, for all of our shake what needs our father to do more as a show of his power till you finally decide to make a move." he said before turning back to the book, now he knew the answer for his nephews strange behaviour some chapters ago, the others looked only confused and slightly nervous.
"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could you threaten me!"
Now was everyone frowning again, how could Percy had it all this time and not notice it, this made no sense at all.
"But I didn't!"
"Open your pack, then."
Suddenly everyones eyes started to widen.
"I also hope that we get an explaining how that is possible, but on the other matter I agree with uncle father, it seems clear that it had been grandfather who had somehow directed Ares's actions." Athena said while looking worriedly at her brother who had gone slightly pale as did Clarisse, she was not happy about this news.
"I dearly hope for you Zeus that you will be moving before one of your children gets hurt due to your stuborn denial." Hestia told her younger brother sternly, while the legacies tried not to flinch, till Zeus finally acts were two of his daughters hurt and nearly lost their lives and a good deal of his grandchildren got injured.
A horrible feeling struck me. The weight in my backpack, like a bowling ball. It couldn't be...
Everyone wanted to know the same thing, the weight of the backpack grew since their unwanted trip to the entrance of Tartaros, but they knew that Kronos did not have the bolt and it was that Percy would be the one delivering it without his knowledge…this all made no sense to them.
I slung it off my shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.
Several peple shook their heads in confusion, you just couldn't miss the fact that you are carrying something like that around, mostly if they remember that Annabeth even used it as a pillow once, if noting else she would have surely noticed that something was in the pack. That Bolt was not tought as a pillow.
"Percy," Annabeth said. "How—"
"I—I don't know. I don't understand."
"Neither do we!" chorused the others, this was just frustrating.
"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish,
"And that is something most heroes can not argue about." Orpheus said with a sigh, pride was something most heroes lost their lives for.
thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt,
"Though if you have it you could use it as a bargain chip to force father to call of his army." Athena said in a thoughtful tone, this would be the most logical step.
"On whose side are you on daughter?" Zeus asked in annoyance.
"I only stated the most logical step which is presented by the given situation father." Athena answered back.
but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool.
Athena nodded, glad that someone had come to the same conclusion as her.
And now ... my helmet. Where is it?"
"I fear that there is little hope there that it is also in the backpack." Dakota said, the situation did not look good, but at least had Lord Pluto still not given the order to attack and was still letting them speak.
I was speechless.
Everyone nodded in understanding.
I had no helm. I had no idea how the master bolt had gotten into my backpack.
More, this time slightly annoyed looks as some still tried to figure out the mystery of the backpack.
I wanted to think Hades was pulling some kind of trick. Hades was the bad guy. But suddenly the world turned sideways.
"Well, this is slightly better then upside down and yellow." Nathan said as he remembered how his dad and uncle Percy overdid a storm.
"Excuse us?" come several confused and slightly bewildered voices.
"Eight book." Nathan answered.
I realized I'd been played with. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had been set at each other's throats
"Just like our cabins." Clarisse growled, she was angry that her father had been used as a toy, that her cabin was set up to fight the others to serve as a diversion, if she finds out who that little worm was who caused all of this…
by someone else. The master bolt had been in the backpack, and I'd gotten the backpack from ...
"He is following a good lead, but Ares had also been a victim of our grandfather and his little servant." Hera said testily, she was feeling annoyed with her father, he was the last.
"Lord Hades, wait," I said. "This is all a mistake."
"A mistake?" Hades roared.
The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds's face grinned at me eagerly and flicked her whip.
"And so the test starts." Enysswe said in a calm tone.
"What test?" Annabeth asked in confusion while the girl grinned back at her.
"A test issued by those who ordered granduncle Poseidon to send a messenger and arrange a meeting and mostly that they ordered to give him only three pearls even thought there is a fourth person, also grandfather Hades was also informed by the ones issuing the test about the pearls and the whereabouts of the Master Bolt and told what to do to start the test, but not to reveal what he was told about." she explained while the others looked at her by surprise, slowly getting that the test would involve deciding if Percy saves his mother or someone stays behind, but Enysswe had not told them what is the solving of the test, they only knew that Percy must have passed for his mother and the three were fine.
"There is no mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come—I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her."
No one could make a comment seeing how they now knew that Hades was acting on orders just as Poseidon did when he had sent the messenger.
Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of me, and there was my mother, frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was at the moment when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.
I couldn't speak. I reached out to touch her, but the light was as hot as a bonfire.
"She is still a living being, her life energy would because of this fact be still hot to the touch and also this is the ground for the golden light, when one dies that light goes completely out and the warmth is replaced by cold." Hades explained to the others, he did not need to tell that the dead are because of this drawn to the living, they miss the warmth of life no matter how painful it might have been, the ground why he felt so drawn to his wife who held so much life and warmth in her, he carved for warmth for his own body could never be like that of others, he would be always cold to the touch.
"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually.
"You are a really good actor, this certainly sounds logical and believable." Athena said, if not for what the legacies had told them and they had read till now she would really believe that things had been just like her uncle had said.
Return my helmet, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."
I thought about the pearls in my pocket. Maybe they could get me out of this. If I could just get my mom free...
"Ah, the pearls," Hades said, and my blood froze.
Everyone leaned further in their seats, they wanted to know how Percy will solve the test and what will happen.
"Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."
My hand moved against my will and brought out the pearls.
"Only three," Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms."
Now tha Hades had explained it they understood the test, Percy would need to use his pearl whle deciding if he saves his mother for the price of leaving one of his friends behind or all three of them leave and return the Master Bolt to Zeus. Even thought there was the third option Hades offered, but a few guessed that duing so may mean failing the test by whoever had set it. Artemis was the only one who did not lean forward in her thorne, but bacwards, she waited patiently to know if this young hero was turly differnt then the other male heroes before him who would betray thier comrades if there was an oportunity for that.
I looked at Annabeth and Grover. Their faces were grim.
"We were tricked," I told them. "Set up."
"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit—"
Everyone mumbled a few choosen curse words towards Kronos.
"I don't know yet," I said. "But I intend to ask."
"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled.
"Percy." Grover put his hand on my shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt."
"I know that."
Zeus nodded his head in approval.
"Leave me here," he said. "Use the third pearl on your mom."
Everyone waited tensily for the answer.
"No!"
"I'm a satyr," Grover said. "We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way."
The Roman demigods again looked surpraised even thought they were not sure why that was, since they had started reading had they found out that fauns have much more to them then they would have ever thought and there were other things they had learned about.
"No." Annabeth drew her bronze knife. "You two go on.
Athena, Frederic, Malcolm, Bobby and Mathew took in a sharp intake of breath at this while Annabeth looked at the ground, she did not wish to see her mother's and brother's expression.
Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."
Athena wanted to groan, but she forced herself to remember that she was fine in the future and not dead.
"No way," Grover said. "I'm staying behind."
"Think again, goat boy," Annabeth said.
"You know that in a depressing and heart clenching way is this wish to help rather adorable." Aphrodite said with a sad smile on her lips.
"Stop it, both of you!" I felt like my heart was being ripped in two. They had both been with me through so much. I remembered Grover dive-bombing Medusa in the statue garden, and Annabeth saving us from Cerberus; we'd survived Hephaestus's Waterland ride,
There were a few small grins about how that one sounded.
the St. Louis Arch, the Lotus Casino. I had spent thousands of miles worried that I'd be betrayed by a friend, but these friends would never do that.
The legacies and those few who had figured it out who that friend will be did their best to hide their bitter smiles.
They had done nothing but save me, over and over, and now they wanted to sacrifice their lives for my mom.
Some of the girls had again tears in their eyes.
"It seems that he has figured out his final answer for the test." Hades said as his dark eyes skimmed over the next lines, a hero different from all his predecessors, he was starting to see what the Fates had meant.
"I know what to do," I said. "Take these."
I handed them each a pearl.
Annabeth said, "But, Percy ..."
I turned and faced my mother. I desperately wanted to sacrifice myself and use the last pearl on her, but I knew what she would say. She would never allow it. I had to get the bolt back to Olympus and tell Zeus the truth. I had to stop the war. She would never forgive me if I saved her instead.
Now broke a number of the girls out crying again while Artemis looked intrigued at the book.
I thought about the prophecy made at Half-Blood Hill, what seemed like a million years ago. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.
"It was talking about his mom…" Silena said in realization, they should have known what the last line means, even the prophecy had in a way foreshadowed the test and an answer for it.
"I'm sorry," I told her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."
There were several small smiles at this because they knew that she was fine and still in the world of the living.
The smug look on Hades's face faded. He said, "Godling ... ?"
"As much as I appreciate his words, he should have left out the last part." Hades said in a slightly amused tone, he really understood his future self that he could not make a clear rhyme about his nephew.
"I'll find your helmet, Uncle," I told him. "I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise."
No one held back their snickers at the last comment.
"Do not defy me—"
"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."
"As already said, I do play with him or find someone to do that." Hades said, the chapter would be finished soon and he only emptied one and a quarter of the three wine bottles, but he would keep those in case Poseidon needs some of it.
"Percy Jackson, you will not—"
"You know, I think being so often called uncle may have thrown him rather fast into that role." Misty whispered to Lance with a small grin on her face.
I shouted, "Now, guys!"
We smashed the pearls at our feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened.
Hades yelled, "Destroy them!"
The army of skeletons rushed forward, swords out, guns clicking to full automatic. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame.
Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl fragments at my feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. I was encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground.
"They were rally lucky that Lord Pluto held his soldiers back right till the pearls started working." Reyna said in a thoughtful tone while those who heard her nodded their heads in agreement.
Annabeth and Grover were right behind me. Spears and bullets sparked harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as we floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook and I knew it was not going to be a peaceful night in L.A.
"Look up.'" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"
Sure enough, we were racing right toward the stalactites, which I figured would pop our bubbles and skewer us.
"How do you control these things?" Annabeth shouted.
"I don't think you do!" I shouted back.
Everyone looked over to Poseidon who nodded his head that they were really not controlable.
We screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and ... Darkness.
Were we dead?
A good deal of people tensed.
No, I could still feel the racing sensation. We were going up, right through solid rock as easily as an air bubble in water. That was the power of the pearls, I realized—What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.
"They're in the ocean." Athena said.
For a few moments, I couldn't see anything outside the smooth walls of my sphere, then my pearl broke through on the ocean floor. The two other milky spheres, Annabeth and Grover, kept pace with me as we soared upward through the water. And—ker-blam!
We exploded on the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!"
There were a few snickers at this, but people felt mostly relieved that the three were fine.
"I mostly prefer the travel roses, they are in a way a bit faster and you land on a dry place." Mich commented grinning.
"Travel Roses?" asked a few people in confusion.
"For the case of still living visitors and that they don't need to take the longer ways back to the surface had grandmother Persephone made them." Enysswe explained while her grandmother smiled at the knowledge.
"And before someone makes an idiotic remark, no they will not land you in the middle of a rose bush." Henry added in when he saw Hermes and the Stolls open their mouths.
I grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a life buoy. I caught Annabeth and dragged her over too. A curious shark was circling us, a great white about eleven feet long.
I said, "Beat it."
The shark turned and raced away.
"Remind me to have him along if we ever make a beach day." Connor whispered to Travis and Chris.
The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from us as fast as he could.
This brought a new round of laughter from the demigods and some of the gods.
Somehow, I knew what time it was: early morning, June 21, the day of the summer solstice.
"And as pointed out a few times, he has perfect bearings at the sea." Sally said grinning.
In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after me right now.
"Not exactly at that time was he busy giving the report about the test which you have passed," Enysswe said while the heroes of the past exchanged a glance with each other, not sure if they would have managed to pass such a test. "Those whom he had sent after you will be in the next chapter."
But at the moment, the Underworld wasn't my biggest problem.
I had to get to shore. I had to get Zeus's thunderbolt back to Olympus. Most of all, I had to have a serious conversation with the god who'd tricked me.
"Sorry Perce, but it seems that the one who had tricked you is not a god, but a titan and you should really not talk with him." Apollo said grinning as he walked over to Hades who set the book down and was looking at the others. "I will read the next chapter." he told the other while trying to enjoy the closeness of the other as long as those seconds hold.
"Before that I remember that granduncle Poseidon wanted to know which oracles did that prophecy regards Uncle Percy." Enysswe spoke up as her grandfather sat back down on his throne.
"True, so could you tell me their names please." Poseidon said while En grinned.
"I could write to them seeing that it were my grandaunts the Fates, they were also the ones issuing the test for Uncle Percy." she told a pale Sea God who immediately shook his head in the negative.
"There is really no need for that, we should continue reading seeing how the first book is almost done, Apollo read." Poseidon said hurriedly, he was not dumb enough to offend the Fates.
To be continued…
