Nico cried out in horror as it crept closer to his face. The cold hand on his leg held a steel grip. It's two orbs looked into his own eyes.
Don't worry. You aren't alone anymore. I'm here for you. And you're here for me, it held up a black mass which faded into a pale hand.
It caressed his cheek, shivers ran down his spine.
"Please, go away. I don't want to be here," he sobbed.
The door slammed open breaking in two as a dresser smashed through it. Jason scrambled through the door sword ready,"Nico!"
The mass disappeared immediately. Jason ran toward the corner where Nico was huddled. He hugged him tightly as Nico sobbed into his shoulder.
Jason looked around the room. What was that thing? Was it the source of the gods' insanity?
He couldn't think about it now, he had to get his friend out of here. He helped Nico out of the room and back to the hallway where Piper and Thalia waited.
~o0o~
Annabeth led the way inside the room. It was pitch black. They couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces. She and her group ran their hands along the walls searching for a switch.
Finally Hazel brushed her hand against a lever. She pulled it. There was a metal clanking and the group fell straight through the floor.
Percy had an unpleasant memory regarding his fall down to Tartarus. He looked around but the chasm they had fallen into was too dark. He couldn't see anyone but he could hear his friends screaming.
Suddenly he felt his back hit a wall and he began to slide down a ramp. He heard a splash before he himself landed in water.
He resurfaced. The water was bitterly cold. As he looked around he could see his friends resurfacing.
"Everyone okay?"
They all nodded. Frank pointed behind Percy,"Look. There's land."
Percy turned to see a rocky shore. The group swam to the edge of the water and hauled themselves up the boulders.
Annabeth wiped her forehead and looked around the chasm they had fallen into. It was a vast chasm with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and shimmering with a strange glow as if it had been bombarded in glitter.
"Where are we?" she asked. Hazel shrugged,"I don't know. But I'm getting a bad feeling about this place. It reeks of death."
Frank looked at the far end of the chasm. A faint blue light glowed. It was the only reason they could see at all,"Death huh? Well, let's not keep it waiting."
No one said anything but they all knew to follow the light. It was the only lead they had on how to get out.
As they walked down the tunnel they could hear a faint cry. The brighter the light became the louder the sob was getting.
Finally they found the exit.
They were outside at the mouth of a cave. The blue light was being emitted by the moon. A vast plain spread out before them a gentle breeze passed through making the demigods shiver from the cold.
The crying they heard had stopped abruptly the moment they left the cave.
"Where are we? Where's the lodge?" Annabeth said.
They looked around. They couldn't find the cabin anywhere in sight. But in the distance they could see two strange mounds underneath the silhouette of a tree.
"Let's head over there. Maybe we'll get more of a view and find the lodge," Percy suggested.
They nodded and the group began to walk toward the mounds.
Hazel shivered again as they walked through the plain. The grass was waist high. She couldn't see her own feet as they walked through.
She became tense as they continued to walk. Her breath hitching everytime she heard something strange. She swore she heard the hiss of a snake by her feet but there was nothing there except her feet.
Finally they made it to the mounds. The tree stood on top of a hill. It was hunched over like it was wilting with the branches hanging low. Upon further inspection they realized they were memorials. They were in the shape of a prism with Greek letters inscribed on the side. One of the prisms was wrapped in vines and the sprouts had begun to bloom. The other seemed lonely and somber a black rose at it's base.
Annabeth kneeled in front of the prisms and read the inscriptions. She became pale and turned away from them.
"Annie? What is it? What's wrong?" Percy asked.
"What do they say?" Frank added.
Annabeth turned to face them. She looked back at the prisms,"They're memorials...for Hades and Demeter."
"What? What do you mean?" Hazel asked, she already had an idea but it couldn't be true. They had seen Hades not too long ago.
Annabeth knelt before the prism again and read the one with the rose,"In memorial of Lord Hades.
King of the Underworld, god of riches.
Beloved Father, Brother, and Husband who faded honorably in battle."
"F-faded!?" Percy shrieked.
Annabeth read over Demeter's prism,"In memorial of Lady Demeter.
Goddess of agriculture. Beloved mother and sister who faded honorably on the call of duty."
Hazel shook her head,"No. No. That...that isn't possible. They couldn't have..faded."
Once again they heard a faint sob. The four half bloods scrambled up the tree and looked down at the two stones below. Shuffling up the hill they saw a young woman her face covered by her hands.
Along her arms were scratches, most bleeding while others were beginning to close. Her dark hair was dry and she wore a white dress smudged with mud and blood.
As she came closer they could hear her cries intensify.
I am not worthy! I deserve to be alone! Oh I am not worthy!The woman's voice seemed to echo and it was shrill with a somber tone to it.
The woman collapsed to her knees and hugged the prisms. They finally caught a glimpse of her face. Bloody scratches lined her cheeks and her pale face seemed to glow in the blue moonlight.
I am to blame! I have nowhere to go! I have no home! No company! I shall die bitterly and alone! Woe to the broken ones! Woe to their key! She tilted her head back so it was facing the sky. The half bloods tensed. They found her. They found Persephone. But she didn't see them. She couldn't.
She had no eyes.
Where her electric blue eyes would have been were two empty sockets. The streams of blood pouring down made it seem like she was crying blood.
The half bloods looked on in horror as Persephone began to tremble and hyperventilate.
She cried to the heavens, Alone! Alone! I am alone! No home to return to! No being to embrace! I have killed myself by losing everything! Woe to the broken ones! Woe to their key! Take me! Take me! I need company! I need your company! Take me from this torment! I don't wish to be alone!
Annabeth held back her nausea as she was entranced by the gaping holes in Persephone's face. She finally managed to look away and tell the others,"Monophobia. She-she probably has monophobia. The fear of being alone."
Persephone cried out once again. She let out a scream. A shrill scream that hurt the ears of the demigods.
Oh broken ones! Take me! I cannot be alone! Take me with you! I shall embrace you as my own! Please!
"There it is again. The broken ones. Maybe she means the gods?" Percy suggested.
The others didn't respond. Persephone had stopped shrieking. She still faced the demigods and she had stopped her crying.
Suddenly, she began to smile and then laugh.
But I am not alone. Not anymore. For now I have company. I have yours.
Persephone turned into a cloud of black smoke and drifted upwards towards the demigods. Two electric orbs appeared where her face would be and she tackled Hazel off the tree.
Hazel screamed in terror as the black mass tightened around her. It's cold made Hazel tremble violently. The darkness surrounded her.
Oh, Hazel. My Hazel. Your brother wished to leave me alone. I can't be alone. I need your company. I intend to keep your company.
Hazel screamed in terror as Persephone's face appeared once more. She still had no eyes but a pinpoint, blue light glowed in the back of her sockets. She gave Hazel a cold and numbing embrace, Never again. You shall be alone no more!
Hazel tried to push Persephone away but her hands simply slipped through the woman's body. Hazel could feel herself slowly fading.
Her vision was blurring and her body was becoming weaker. Persephone's touch was slowly killing her.
"No! Let me go! I don't wish for your company! I don't want to be your company! Let go of me!" Hazel cried.
Suddenly she saw a hand appear in the cloud of darkness she was trapped in. Hazel held out her hand and took it. She was pulled up and out of the suffocating darkness and into Frank's arms.
Persephone screeched in misery, Why!? Why do you wish to leave me alone! Please don't leave me alone! I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU!
The mass solidified back into Persephone's body. She sobbed into her hands once more.
Annabeth wanted to leave. She couldn't stand seeing the goddess in such a state. So she took out her dagger and slowly made her way to the goddess.
Before she could stab the goddess on her shoulder Persephone's icy grip held onto her wrist.
Oh no. You shall not leave this place. You shall not leave me alone.
Annabeth tried to pull her hand away but Persephone's hand only held on tighter until Annabeth heard a nasty pop from her wrist.
She screamed in pain and Percy rushed to her aid,"Let her go!"
What happened next was a blur.
They all saw Percy run at Persephone with Riptide in his hands.
Annabeth could see the blade connect with Persephone's neck. As soon as it made contact all 8 half bloods appeared back in the dungeon.
Persephone lay on the floor gurgling and trembling violently like she was having some kind of stroke.
Hades and Apollo rushed into the cell. Hades cradled Persephone in his arms crying,"No no. Please Seph. Please stay with me. Apollo hurry!"
It was strange for Percy's group to see Hades. Then they realized, Persephone had made it up in her mind. She thought she was left alone, no one was left to take care of her in her mind.
Annabeth held onto her wrist. She looked down at it to see a bruise in the shape of a hand where Persephone had gripped onto it. She paled at the sight but she was also relieved to see that it wasn't broken.
Hades cried out as he cradled Persephone's head once her stroke had passed. In a broken voice he said,"It's okay. It's okay. I'm here. My love, I'm here."
They all jumped as Artemis was dragged into the dungeon by Zeus and Poseidon. She had a nasty gash under her cheek and she growled and gnashed her teeth like a frightened animal. Her braid was undone and her clothes were shreds.
Apollo looked on at his sister refusing to believe the truth,"Arty?"
Thalia looked on as she watched her patron get shoved into a cell next to Hermes.