(A/N: So yeah…more about Percy. Many thanks to those who reviewed and sorry for the long delay. You guys/gals are the best! Aside from that, nothing much to say right now so read on!)

IV

Percy

Everything had been going well for Percy until that guy came in.

He and Hazel snuck inside the tunnel after going straight through the boulder. It looked similar to those bunker-style concrete tunnels he'd seen in those few war movies late at night.

They were greeted by a dracaena who wasn't even aware of their presence right until Riptide passed through her throat before she could even utter a wail. The clanking of her now empty armor caught the attention of a pair of two other dracaenae nearby and they went to investigate. Percy and Hazel flattened against the cold tunnel walls as much as they could; hoping that the tunnel's dim lighting would hide them. The two monsters saw the remains of their comrade and became alert. It didn't last long though when one of them found a diamond the size of their own heads. The two began fighting for it until he and Hazel snuck in and disposed of them in a blur.

The tunnel led down to a narrow staircase and opened up into some sort of underground castle courtyard. It was downright weird since they were expecting some underground military headquarters or something. Castle ruins down under the Underworld? What are the chances? Who does it belong to anyway?

The place didn't look like it had anyone living in it for a long time though save for the snake women who were patrolling the grounds. How did they get there anyway? The walls were worn and cracked. The rusty gates had already given in and were lying on the ground barely visible from all the gray sand, dried brown grass and rubble that had covered it. There were gnarled dead trees that looked like some old lady's hands after she dipped them on cookie dough. Two dark murky ponds stood still on both ends of the pathway that led to the dilapidated main doors; simply a place where even Dracula would probably have second thoughts when looking for a vacation home.

Most noticeable were the number of red tattered banners with white and black design which occasionally hung on the walls with some sort of symbol in the middle that roughly resemble a spider with only four broken legs. Annabeth had mentioned something about that. It had something to do with World War II and the Nazis or whatever. He forgot. What's it doing in a place like this anyway?

"Are you sure he's in there?" Percy asked.

"A hundred percent." Hazel replied. "He's very close."

"Alright, we need a plan." Percy said as they hid behind one of the fallen columns. He noticed the ponds. They might come in handy. "You can make tunnels right? I'll bring them all out here. You make a tunnel and find your way inside. Get Nico. Get out. Give me some sort of signal that you're leaving. Meet you at the tunnel entrance."

"Sounds good. Be careful." Hazel nodded before she opened the ground between them, swallowing her, before sealing off like nothing happened. He still can't get over how she simply vanished that way after all this time.

Percy didn't show it but he felt kind of proud that he had a decent plan, or thinks he has a decent plan. Maybe some of Annabeth's smarts are finally rubbing off on him; even just a tiny wee bit which is a good sign. Time to get to work. He uncapped Riptide and emerged out in the open, walking leisurely towards the main doors.

"Paging whoever is in charge, please come out and let me vaporize you!" He called out while raising RIptide. The dracaenae screeched in alarm and charged. He'd been fighting them for like forever and he went through them with barely any effort. He willed the water in the ponds to rise and blasted those who were blocking the entrance; washing them away along with the large wooden doors who gave in easily.

The last of the dracaena managed to pick her muddy self up, grasping a spear in one hand. She kept shaking her head; obviously disoriented from the wave that she probably hit her head too hard. She hissed at him one last time and threw the spear with such grace and expertise that a toddler could have done better. Percy walked forward and picked up the spear which landed only two feet away from the snake woman. Without a moment's notice, Percy returned the favor and impaled the spear through her breastplate. With one final wail, she vaporized in a pile of ashes.

He then heard footsteps behind him. He spun around expecting another monster but this time he was wrong. He was human or more like a demigod maybe. He was quite tall and good-looking about college age with a good build, slightly long messy brown hair, and sharp calculating brown eyes. A large two-handed sword was strapped on his back against his dark hooded jacket with a pair of swords hanging on both sides of his waist.

"All of you shouldn't be down here, while you're alive that is." He spoke calmly. He had this aura in him that easily distinguished him as a leader. He also somehow reminded him of Luke with that calculated stare.

"You don't look so dead either." Percy managed to say as he gripped Riptide tighter. "So, I guess you're working for Gaea too, are you?"

"Not in the slightest. As for me being down here, I have my reasons." He shrugged. "I was about to ask you the same thing too. But even if you're on her side or not, you're not supposed to be here. Don't worry, we'll take care of that soon. Orders are orders after all."

He drew his twin blades which looked like ordinary mortal steel and charged. Percy hoped he would go for the larger sword since it would be easier to defend but he wasn't so lucky. Percy braced himself, ready to engage and that's when the guy disappeared; simply vanished into thin air with a woosh sound. Percy blinked a few times and thought he was hallucinating. That's when the guy materialized behind him. Percy barely had time to deflect his strike. It was weird. Demigods don't just teleport. Of course, there are children of Hades but shadow-travelling would weaken them a lot. At least that he knows of.

Percy backed away but the other guy lunged and kept attacking. After all these years, he only encountered very few whose sword fighting skills are on this level. On top of the list was of course Luke, there's also the inventor Daedalus but this guy. Just watching him spin in a deadly hurricane of slashes that left Percy barely able to defend himself, it was overkill.

The nearly one-sided fight was interrupted when a couple of blue fireballs erupted from the castle, blowing off large portions of the roof and walls and raining rubble everywhere. As disgusting as the pond was, Percy dove in. Thankfully, it was seawater, maybe it had trickled down here a long time ago. Dirty as it was, it somehow refreshed him even a bit and cleared his senses. He thought of Hazel and Nico and hoped they were alright.

Percy burst out of the pond fully recovered and ready for round two. He found the guy talking to a pale shimmering human form; a specter. He gestured for it to go inside the mansion with his face a little worried. The specter vanished. He then noticed Percy standing a few feet and he nodded.

"Play time's over." He raised his twin swords on an X in front of him. "You're pretty good but you're still a trespasser so you have to go. I'll be visiting you in the Asphodel Fields from time to time."

"Not a chance." Percy raised Riptide. They both charged this time. Unlike the last time, Percy didn't get nearly skewered on the first slash. He tried to figure out his attack pattern but whenever he's about to get it, the other guy shifts and attack with a different fighting style. Percy's senses worked overtime. The other guy however looked pretty calm as if he was just a video game he'd beaten several times. He could imagine him saying: now let's see if I can get this guy to fight me longer so I could get more exp.

A small glittering object in the ground caught his attention. Another one popped out, then another, leading to the tunnel. It was Hazel's signal. That split-second of him being distracted earned him a slight graze on his left arm. He had to get rid of this guy. He knew that the chances of winning against him in pure swordfight were very little if not non-existent. Demigod stuff must be involved. He hopped back and concentrated, feeling the familiar tug in his stomach but the other guy didn't let him have the chance. Before he could react, he was swept of his feet and a hand grasped his face and slammed him to the ground; the cold touch of the blade on his throat.

"I'm sorry…" He heard him mutter under his breath. Percy could have considered him not to be such a bad guy after all if he wasn't about to slit his throat. He shut his eyes and felt his stomach on fire. The ponds rose up and slammed on both sides engulfing him and the other guy who had a rather surprised and impressed expression on his face. He willed himself out of the water ball he made.

The bodies of water were deeper than he first expected. He channeled more, making a larger ball of water floating in midair. With much effort, he sent it blasting away towards the main entrance. Raging water gushed through the lobby carrying that random guy away hopefully buying Percy some time to get out. Maybe Hazel and Nico are already waiting for him outside.

He walked slowly through the tunnel since his vision was swimming and his knees were ready to buckle anytime. That water trick back there had drained him and he found himself leaning on the tunnel's walls for support.

He stopped when something caught his foot. At first he thought it was some sort of dead root but when he looked down, he was freaked out to see a skeletal hand gripping at him. It wouldn't be that freaky if it was a plain skeletal hand but this one still has chunks of rotting flesh in it.

He slashed it with Riptide and hurriedly made his way out. A few more gross skeletal hands shot up and he slashed them off like some explorer slashing thick undergrowth in the Amazon forest. He made it to the tunnel's entrance. The boulder wasn't there anymore probably because the illusion has worn off. As expected, Nico and Hazel were already there. They ran off to meet him. He pulled off the clamped severed hands on his legs and they were on their way towards the Gates of Erebus again.

Percy could still feel that they weren't alone as if a hundred eyes were trained on them wherever they go. He still hadn't shaken off that feeling after he saw that specter. They dashed through the dead forest, leaping over decayed logs and stepping on brittle dry branches. When they reached the shoreline with Stygian Ice again, they stopped. By the riverbank were two people walking; obviously not ghosts but demigods. One was about seventeen with curly brown hair, a rather goofy look on his face, and a strange looking sword sheathed on his side. Behind him was some guy who roughly looked like Nico's clone or something with the same pale features and dark hair.

"So… where exactly are we going again?" Nico's clone asked as he kicked some charcoal-sand absent-mindedly.

"Beats me. Cera just came in, told us to come catch some runaway ghosts or something, I don't know." Curly shrugged. "I was hoping you would know."

"Dude, I've been here for what? Two weeks? I barely have any idea what's going on around here!"

"C'mon, you talk too much. Let's just meet up with the others. Now where were we going to meet up again?"

"Didn't she tell you?"

"She must have. I think. Hmmmm…"

The two argued some more as they walked away. Once the coast was clear, Percy and the others emerged from their hiding spot.

"C'mon, we have to move!" Percy urged them on. He had a feeling there were more of those guys; whoever they are.

"Percy, wait up!" Hazel called out. She was so preoccupied back then but now that they were right beside the large packs of Stygian Ice. She finally noticed. "What is this place?"

"It's the mouth of the river Styx, judging from all these ice." Nico said. "My father said to stay away from this place. It's like a tomb for someone or something, he won't tell."

"Nico, time to go! Those guys are dangerous, I can feel it but they seem familiar. Are you sure you don't know them?" Percy scanned his surroundings. His instincts told him to move out quickly; to get out of this place.

"I told you I haven't seen them before but they are familiar. It's like me and they are-"

"Nico, watch out!" Hazel cut him off as she parried a sword behind him. Percy instinctively willed a volume of the River Styx and splashed it towards the attacker who yelped and barely avoided being doused.

They turned and saw a girl about fourteen with a reddish-brown hair and a fierce expression on her face. She raised her sword and to Percy's surprise, noticed that it was made of Stygian Iron. The other two from before probably sensed what was going on and materialized behind her. Percy's attention turned to the River Styx but he hesitated. These people aren't monsters and whoever they were; they would still surely suffer a painful death if he splashed them with the Styx.

The redhead frowned like a person who woke up in the middle of the night thinking there's a thief in the house only to find a family member having a midnight snack. "You two…" She spoke to Nico and Hazel but stopped herself.

Oh, what the heck. Percy thought. They have to get out of here. He concentrated on the ponds he used a while ago; channeling them underground on the tunnel Hazel had created. The redhead shook her head and attacked. Hazel stomped her foot and swallowed Curly whole. That's one down. Nico engaged on his clone and Hazel fought with the redhead.

"Nico, Hazel, stay back!" He shouted after a few seconds. The two nodded and broke away from their opponents. Percy raised his hands, felt that tug on his stomach, and the ground burst out like a geyser engulfing the two including Curly who had been underground the whole time. He willed the raging water farther away from them, smashing through the packs of Stygian Ice. Hopefully, they'd survive. Percy thought. He collapsed on one knee and Hazel and Nico dragged him away.

Once the Gates were on sight, they decided to stop and take a breather. Percy took some ambrosia and nectar and he felt slightly better. He glanced at the two siblings. They were just as confused as he was. He stood up and dusted his jeans.

"What do we do now?" Hazel asked. "Those guys will find us soon whoever they are."

"Not if we can help it." Nico stood up as well. "I've been practicing this for some time now. I'll shadow-travel all three of us out of here."

"Are you sure you can do that? I mean, you could barely handle it even just by yourself." Percy folded his arms and stared at the Underworld's entrance. A few seconds later, four similarly dressed teenagers popped up in different places surrounding the gates.

"Trust me on this one. I've done it right a lot of times." Nico insisted.

"Alright, let's give it a try." Percy faced them. "But I think we shouldn't go back to camp yet."

"What do you mean?" Hazel frowned. She looked just as freaked out as he was from those random Underworld demigods. "We got Nico back didn't we?"

"I don't know about you guys." Percy shrugged. "But I think your dad has got a LOT of explaining to do."

(A/N: Hmmmm… it didn't completely go off as I planned it would. I don't know. Anyways, don't forget to review. Next chapter would be up soon. Hopefully. See yas! Iron Raven out…)