"Can you hear me?" a male voice asked
He was looking around at a place he had never seen before, they was some old looking castles and modern houses all placed together, the grass underneath him changed all shades of green.
"Please add a Drachma" A female voice asked, a gold coin flew through a rainbow
"Hey, look at me, not the buildings, can you even hear me? Leo!" The voice said
Leo turned, he was looking at a young adult male, he had sandy blonde hair, blue eyes and a scar on his face, he wore jeans and a t-shirt shirt but bare feet.
"Where are we?" Leo asked, they were sitting on grass but golden sand and blue water were right near them
"This is my home now but it's not yours" Was the guys answer
"Lucky, this place is nice" Leo said, he was looking at the sky, it was so colourful and everything seemed so peaceful, the smell of BBQ, trees, fresh water and flowers added with the sound of birds
Luke smiled but it was forced
"I preferred upstairs"
"Upstairs?" Leo asked confused "Hey, where exactly am I?"
"Mentally or physically?" The guy rubbed his left side as though something was bothering him
"I don't understand that" Leo answered
"Well, right now I have it you're up on Olympus in a cell but your mind is down here in The Underworld" the guy said still rubbing
Leo turned and watched him; the blue eyes were very familiar. The guy looked like he was in his early twentys but as Leo watched he noticed for the first time that this person was a little see through
"Are you a ghost?" Leo asked
The other laughed, it sounded cheerful, his face lighted up
"I don't know what I am, I know I died as everything went black and I ended up down here with a VIP pass, didn't even have to wait in a line, I died a hero you see, can't believe it after what I did"
"What did you do?" Leo asked
"Betrayed all my friends, the gods and even the Titan Lord Kronos himself but I died to save them all so here I am, I'm waiting for my old friends to join me"
Luke pulled his shirt off and rubbed his left side even more, Leo saw an old knife wound, he winched. Had that killed him?
"It doesn't hurt no more, its healed up but it's a curse so I'll have it for ever, keeps getting itchy but I'm lucky, old Achilles has to hop everywhere" Luke had seen Leo watching
"They are two reasons I've got you down here…no three, but I'll get back to that. I know you have been hearing a cold voice, sounds a little creepy, well don't trust him, if he talks to you again ignore him and tell one of the gods, they can help you. Secondly once you go back upstairs there's a boy called Nico hanging around, it was him who told me you were there, go with him"
Leo wondered how this guy knew about the voice, he was just going to ask but the guy spoke again
"He did it with me…He turned me against everyone who had ever cared about me, he can get into your head and make you feel and think differently, he lies and then he uses you"
"You're Luke aren't you?" Leo said "The boys at camp talked about you and so did Annabeth"
Luke smiled sadly
"Still her hero after everything I did to her, I chose to stay here instead of been reborn just so I would remember her, when she comes down here I will make things right and we'll be friends again"
"So you're telling me not to listening to that voice no more and follow a person called Nico?" Leo asked Luke
"Yeah, also in your dreams, the voice is Kronos, if he comes to you in your dreams ignore him, don't listening to what he says, I believe he encouraged you and your friend to fight to the death nearly?"
Leo nodded
"But he's not my friend, not now anyway"
Luke pulled his top back on and stretched his feet out, Leo was looking at him closely, both boys had the same ears, the same nose and eyebrows
"You said three things, what's the third?" Leo remembered
Luke tensed up and his friendly face grew darker, he looked very uncomfortable
"Yeah the third reason I got you down here" Luke put his hands on his chin, he paused for a long time
"Nico also told me Hermes has been an emotional wreck since I died, can you tell him that…that I did love him and I'm not angry at him any more"
Leo looked at his older half brother and suddenly felt a great sorrow for him
"I will tell him what you said; shall I also tell him you are happy now?"
Luke looked at Leo and nodded "Yeah, tell him I steal everything too, it will cheer him up" Luke winked
"You'll be going back soon, it was nice meeting you Leo, maybe you shall become our father's favourite son, I was once his favourite but I was terrible at it, he loved me so much but I never could see it, make sure you become a great hero Leo"
Leo stood up and nodded, Luke joined him
"When you talk to the gods, Kronos will try to twist your mind or something, he'll put words in your mouth, block him out right?"
Luke's face had such a serous look that Leo was taken aback
"I'll remember your words Luke" Leo told him, everything was going cloudy
"Please insert a Drachma" a female voice said
"Times up then, Leo, I'm out of coins" Luke nodded in farewell
Leo gave a little groan, his body felt too heavily, he opened his eyes and looked around him.
He was indeed in a cell, all the walls were smooth and gray with gold bars.
Leo sat up, those bars were quite wide, wide enough for a very thin person to squeeze through…and he was very thin after nearly two weeks with little food
He got to his feet and nearly fell back over as black spots danced in his eyes, he stopped and doubled up until it had passed and then he walked to the bars, he put his hands on them and tried to wiggle through the bars
The hairs on his neck stood up, he felt a strange tingle in his skin and he was thrown backwards. Great the bars were electrical or magic, he was trapped in this cell.
Leo let out a moan of frustration and went back to the bars, he was careful not to touch the bars with even a hair, he peered out into the passage before him,
It was lit up by balls of white light, one flew above his cell door, he looked closer and saw it was a small ball of white fire
'Why not' Leo thought, 'They're gods, why not have balls of fire for lights'
They was no sign of any other cells, just a bare blank gray wall like the ones in his cell
Even though his life was in danger, even though the gods could be coming to get him anytime his ADHD took over again, he wondered if his voice would echo or if the gods use magic to stop it
"Hello" he called, sure enough his voice didn't echoed.
"Leo, is that you?" came Piper's voice from his left
"Yeah, Piper are you okay?" Leo ran to the wall, Piper must be in the cell next to him
"I'm fine, what about you? I thought Jason was going to kill you" Her voice was weak and shaky
"Hey I hope you're not crying over me, I'm fine I promise you, I haven't even got any blood on me"
Leo looked down, Jason had hacked into him like he was a piece of meat but they was no wounds, he also noticed his clothes had changed, he was wearing clean jeans and a white t-shirt, he had no socks or shoes on
"Oh and they gave me new clothes too, that was nice of them" Leo called through the wall, wanting to make Piper laugh
"They did with me too, you have no shoes and your jeans have no pockets" Piper said, making Leo look, she was right
"Why no shoes for, do they think we were going to strangle them with our laces or something?" Leo joked
"No, they don't want us killing ourselves as they want to, they going to kill us Leo" the panic was clear in her voice
"It's going to be alright Piper, we're going to be ok" Leo tried to soothe her.
"No, Leo listen" Piper started
A bang on his bars made Leo jump out of his skin, he turned and saw a man with black hair watching him, the man grinned
"How touching" he sneered
Leo started to feel angry, he wanted to get through the bars and attack this man, he didn't care if the man had hold of a baseball bat.
"I shall inform the other gods you have woken, no talking now" The man walked off
Leo waited until he was sure the man had gone and turned back to the wall
"Who was he and do you know if Jason is here?" Leo quietly said to Piper
"He was Ares god of war, he's been coming down here every few hours informing me about the gods, he said something like the gods are arguing about how to kill us and I don't know where Jason is, I didn't know you where here until you shouted…But I don't care about Jason, not after what he did to you, he can die for all I care"
Jason was listening to Leo and Piper talk, he was in the cell to the right of Leo, the walls where thin for their voices to carry
He made no noise for now he understood that he had lead them to their deaths, they were going to pay for him wanting power, when they had done nothing at all
He planned on telling the gods this, he had to. If he was any friend of theirs he had to try and get them off
"I thought I told you to stop talking?"
The man was back, he was stood in between Jason's and Leo's cell so Jason sat by the wall could see him
"The gods want to see you now" Ares grinned at Leo, who turned pale
Ares waved his hand and the bars vanished, at the same time chains appeared on Leo's hands
Ares held up his hand and Leo flew into him, he dragged Leo into the passage and lead him out, Leo turned his head and looked into Piper's cell.
She smiled at him and mouthed
'Good luck'
Ares dragged Leo into the sun light, his eyes watered as the bright light hit them, Ares walked him up some stairs and Leo looked back saw one of the most beautiful places ever
But he was dragged into a room which wiped that view from his eyes, he stood alone in the middle of a room with twelve giant people, he recognized Apollo the sun god from the car, but he was massive now
His eyes stopped on a god to the left, it was the god who had helped him, his father Hermes but Hermes was looking away from him on purpose, Leo felt a heavy weight in his chest
Mr D sat next to him, Leo chose not to look at him just in case he did that eye trick again, and looked to the top of the room as a voice rang out
"You are Leo Valdez, age 15, Son of Hermes?" The speaker was a man with black hair and gray eyes, Leo thought he must be the leader god
"Yes but I am 16" Leo corrected him
"No, you're 15 Leo" A kindly voice said, Leo turned, his father had spoke but he was still looking away
"I have already told you brother The Mist has been on him and the girl, the boy can't even remember how old he is, I believe this is proof he is innocent and should not be put through this"
A young woman stood up out of the fire, Leo had to look again to make sure his eyes were working. It was Hestia and she was in the fire!
She turned and smiled reassuringly to Leo as if she had read his mind
"Hestia, you have passed you're views on and they will be counted but as you don't have a seat no more you can't vote or cast a decision any more" Zeus told her
"Of course not dear brother, but it was ok for me to guard Olympus when you went off to battle with Kronos, even though I 'Don't have a seat no more'"
A few of the gods and goddess looked uncomfortable at this, Zeus went on
"The Mist may or may not have been placed on his eyes but this boy has been going around with the demigod called Jason, he lied to Apollo and he and his friends attacked my daughter and that's not even mentioning the fact they know the whereabouts of Perseus Jackson and are not handing it over"
"But we don't" Leo said
"Do not interrupt, you shall be giving a chance to speck later" Zeus warned
"I ask each and every one of you to look at this boy and tell me if he has acted like the innocent do, so far we know he has lied to Apollo and resisted arrest from Artemis' hunters, is this the work of innocence?"
The gods muttered to each other, a few including a god with his leg in a brace, Mr D and Ares shot Leo looks of pure hate
"Boy, tell me where my son is" The god to the left of the leader sat up in his seat, Leo saw his eyes were green like the sea
"I don't know" Leo said
"No don't say that Leo, say you know" The cold voice said
'Are you Kronos?' Leo asked in his mind, the gods where all talking again
"Yes, I know you spoke to Luke, don't forgot I told you the gods got to him, they brainwashed him into killing himself, I believe Luke is still under their control in death, remember Leo I helped you get away from Apollo and I showed you Jason's true self, you can trust me"
"Wait I do know where he is" Leo said to the room, all the gods stopped talking and watched Leo
'Say he is tied up to a rock' the cold voice said
"He's tied to a rock" Leo told the gods
'Say the Mistress has him' Kronos instructed
"The Mistress has him" Leo repeated
Kronos muttered his next sentence and Leo paused
'Isn't that from a film though?' he asked unsure
'Leo it all comes from this world' Kronos told him
The room had gone very quite; all the gods were waiting for Leo's final worlds. They was a dramatic silent than Leo shouted
"The Mistress plans to release the kraken and she will sacrifice Percy Jackson to it"
They was an instant uproar, Dionysus gave a little chuckle, Hermes turned and faced Leo with disbelief on his face but the other gods were screaming with rage
'My work here is done' Kronos said and Leo didn't hear him anymore
"Silent, sit down Poseidon and put that trident away, well boy, you are obviously not taking this serious. Did you think we'll find it amusing that you're tying to use some mortal film about us to work your way out of trouble?"
"What...n no" Leo stuttered, he now knew he'd been tricked, just like Luke. He remembered Luke's face, he'd given Luke his word to ignore Kronos and he didn't
"We will now vote again, if you believe this boy should join the girl and be killed, raise your hand"
"What, you're killing Piper?" Leo shouted at Zeus
All the gods, apart from Hermes raised their hands
"Leo Valdez, you shall be executed at sunset by my master bolt" Zeus declared
"No, Father I still think chopping their heads off with my axe is better" Ares said
"No, as I said before torturing them to death is miles better, it will give them time for a confession" Athena said
"Yes I agree with Athena" Dionysus said
"Zeus' master bolt is cleaner" Hera said
"But Athena's idea can serve as a warning to others and we may find out where Percy is" Poseidon said
Leo stood numbly listing to the gods ague on the best way to kill him and Piper, torture, disembowelment, cast from Olympus to plunge to their deaths and many more
"Do you mind" Hermes said annoyed "That's my son"
The gods ignored him and continued
Leo looked unsurely at Hermes for some comfort but Hermes was avoiding his eyes again
"Right, we shall settle this after we have spoken to the other boy, but so far we are putting his demigod and the girl to Hades…Ares take him back and bring the other male in"
Ares grabbed Leo and as he was dragged back out the room Leo turned to Hermes
"Father please" He shouted, this time Hermes met his eyes and Leo saw they looked watery
'They's nothing I can do, I'm sorry' Hermes said to Leo in his mind.
Leo struggled against the war god all the way back down into the cells, Piper saw the fear in his eyes and she knew that Leo had also been found guilty.
Ares took the chains off Leo's hand and pushed him back in the cell, Leo got up and turned to run but Ares waved his hand and the bars appeared again, Leo bounced of the bars and fell back
"Oh you next then my little demigod, you don't look much like a fighter to me boy, you sure they have the right person?" mused Ares
Leo watched as Ares moved out of his sight to the right. He opened Jason cell
"Are you going to stand up or am I going to carry you?"
Jason said nothing
Ares grabbed his arms and pulled him up so fast Jason's feet left the floor. He chained Jason's hands together
Ares came back in site and Leo saw him dragging Jason with him. Leo's eyes narrowed in hate
Jason met Leo's unfriendly gaze as they walked past his cell, Piper was next to him, her eyes watched him leave.
He walked quietly outside, his mind thinking over what he was going to do.
He was going to lay his life down, he was willingly going to ask the gods to kill him and leave his friends to live.
He felt calm when Ares left him in the middle of the room. He looked Zeus straight in the eye, ignoring all the other gods
It was time to do the right thing at last; it was time for him to die for his friends