Instantly all noise around the table quietened. Serenity raised his head and shared a glance with Riptide, who now stood, looking as if he were frozen in place, "How long has it been since someone saw Apollo ?"

Rapture inhaled sharply, "The power to kidnap a God..."
Riptide interrupted, "..is a power he has. He's the fucking Hanged King. He's the Prince of Monsters. We're all fucked"

Suddenly, Serenity collapsed, clutching at his chest. Rapture and Riptide ran to his fallen form, trying to help him, until he raised one hand. The hand was shaking slightly as it tried to contain whatever was within it's clenched fist. Dark smoke poured from the small gaps between his fingers, as he slowly opened his hand, releasing a pulse of energy. A dark gem lay within it. It's surface seemed to boil with power, letting out small sparks and streaks of darkness every few seconds. It seemed to suck in all light from the surrounding area.

"The Nyctos Crystal...", Serenity began, "The Heart of Nyx is awake. Which means..."

Rapture grimaced, "Nyx is awake. As if we didn't have enough problems"

Serenity shook his head, "No, I severed it's ties to Nyx long ago. This can only mean one thing. In ancient times, the Nyctos acted as a key...a key, used by Hades, to enter Tartarus"

Rapture blanched, "Then.."

"The Doors of Death are open, and considering how violently the Crystal is reacting, they've been wrenched open."

"I suppose we know where his army is coming from, now."

Riptide spoke up,"We need to assemble the council. The whole council. Summon them all"

It was Serenity who spoke up now, "No. Our combined might won't be enough. We need the help of the Underworld. Specifically, Thanatos"

Rapture looked at him incredulously, "Eagle will rip you to shreds"

"Be that as it may, we may have no choice. In the beginning, there were four beings. Gaia, Thanatos, Ouranos and Tartarus"

"Ouranos ? Don't you mean Uranus ?"

"... Really, Rapture ? Now, of all times ?"

"Just trying to lighten the mood"

"Anyways, of those four, Ouranos and Gaia are unreachable, The King has already proven that he is stronger than Tartarus. Therefore, our best shot... is to fight fire with fire. We need to obtain the Scythe of Thanatos. It may be the one thing that could give us an edge in this battle"

Percy spoke up now, "Fine. Where are we going, and when ?"

Riptide interrupted, "We ? "We" are going to the Underworld. "You" are staying here"

Serenity spoke up, ignoring Riptide, "We're leaving now. As for where we're going...have you ever heard of the Gate of Orpheus ?"

In the deep, forgotten vales behind the high mountains of Olympus, wreathed in mist and ice, lie the Abyssal Plateaus. Called Κόλαση Πύλη, Kolasi Pyli, the Infernal Gates, by the Greeks, and later Os Cerberi, the Mouth of Cerberus, by the Romans. Even the Norse called it ᚷᚨᛏᛖᛋ ᛟᚠ ᚺᛖᛚ, the Gates of Hel. The winds here blow slowly, mournfully whistling through the branches of the dead trees that fill the plateaus. The ground is ashy, infertile and black. Even the sky overhead seems darker and the air tastes bitter.

However, the reason for it's ominous name is not the ashen, dead environment. It is the vast pit that yawns in the center of the plateau, wreathed in darkness and smoke. The Greeks called it μωά του Άδη, the Maw of Hades (Serenity always considered that name insulting), the Romans named it the far more ominous term, Consequentia, or Consequences. The Norse did not even attempt to name it, taking one look at it and running the opposite way. A wise decision, Serenity wryly noted, as he saw a bird fly over the pit, as the smoke twisted toward it, wrapping around it and engulfing it, before dissipating a little while later, revealing white bones, devoid of flesh.

He saw that both Percy and Nico looked like they were about to vacate their bladders. Thalia looked slightly better, but not by much. He winced and turned to look at Riptide, who smugly mouthed "I told you so" at him. Serenity gave him the middle finger in response

"This", he began, "is the fastest route to the Underworld, save being invited down there. It has many names. Moa Tou Adi, Consequentia..., but it's first name, given a thousand years ago was... the Gate of Orpheus"

The story of Orpheus is very well-known. The man who loved his wife so much he ventured to the Underworld to get her back. The musician who was so skilled he shook even Hades' stone heart. And... the tragedy that even after so much effort, he lost his wife, in the end.

It is also wrong

The true story was buried millennia ago. Orpheus never left the mouth of the Underworld. He stood there for decades, eating nothing but the wild fungi that once grew on the plateau surrounding the Gate of Orpheus, and drinking nothing but the waters of the rivers that fed the Underworld rivers, specifically Styx.

He played there, day and night, and the mournful tunes he played still echo throughout the barren valley, as the wind, even so many millennia later, still carries the songs he once played.

He died there, at the mouth of the Underworld, as his fingers slipped at last from the strings of his lyre, worn to the bone by his incessant playing, and all hell broke loose. The resentment he held in his heart, against Hades and his folk, for denying him his beloved Eurydice, was released.

The resentment rose high over the plateau as a cloud of pure hate, black and red, letting out screams as it flew. For thirty days it ravaged the plateau and the valley, stripping it bare of any form of life, until at last Hades rose from his abode, and, taking his bident, the two-pronged Ekdisi, flung it towards the cloud.

At last, the rampaging beast was subdued, pinned beneath the mighty bident, and there it dissolved, seeping into the ground and the sky, salting the earth and tainting the environment, cursing it forevermore. Hades, regretful that he had allowed Orpheus' hatred to run unchecked, drove his bident deeper into the Earth, created a vast pit, and at the bottom of the pit, he created an entrance to the Underworld

With his powers, he summoned Orpheus' resentment and concentrated it around the pit, both to spare the world Orpheus' wrath, and to guard the pit. So doing, he declared, imbuing the pit with his power, that only the greatest musician, one who could match Orpheus himself, would be allowed to enter the Underworld through the Gate of Orpheus. In this way he sought to honour Orpheus and his memory.

Of course, the pit would kill anything that failed the trial, but that was hardly his concern.

Well, until now

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