Dear guest reviewer that keeps yelling at me for cursing: I'm just gonna be frank with you. I barely curse in this story. I know I said the F Bomb once and I've said hell before, but that doesn't give you the right to accuse me of the things you did. Don't judge, because you'll just end up offending a bunch of people, and that's not cool to me or my readers. Please don't spam me. Please quit the rage comments.

Sorry for typos/OOCness. End of school countdown: 2 and half days… and the Finals are over! Thank the gods.

Happy Reading!

Chapter 41

Percy

He didn't care if he was burning to death is Tartarus and she had the only bucket of water on Earth; Percy didn't trust Hera.

Percy and Annabeth darted from tree to tree to avoid being seen by the monsters. He could tell by the look on Annabeth's face that she'd give anything to get off her feet. But when her eyes met Percy's, she locked her jaw in a stubborn sort of way. She wasn't going to give up that easily.

He grinned at her. Even with all of the terrible fighting and whatnot going on, he was so glad that they could still have their perfect moments together, as if they were the only two people on the planet.

But he still thought back to what Hera had said. Then you will die heroes.

Percy really didn't want to die. The Underworld wasn't one of his vacation destinations. He knew there was pride in dying a hero and knowing that you had done all you could to save people, but still, dying wasn't really that cool. And Annabeth couldn't die, no matter what.

Of course, it was just their luck that Daedalus and his crew of jolly dead construction workers had been gone for months. He had wanted to see a nice friendly face, someone who didn't feel like killing him.

He was actually surprised that Hera told them the truth. Daedalus's workers had indeed left behind their four wheelers and motorcycles. They were hidden deep within a new part of the forest, so deep inside that there was no way any of the monsters down and the foot of the mountain would've been able to find it and used it to escape.

Unfortunately, most of the people had been smart enough to actually take their keys with them. All of the motorcycles didn't have their keys, which was the only thing Percy knew how to drive, and neither did any of the four wheelers. Percy gulped. It looked like they were going to have to go on foot.

He opened his mouth, getting ready to inform Annabeth, but she held up a hand. "Percy, I know what you're getting ready to say, but we can still use to four wheelers without the keys. They don't require them." She pointed to an on button right beside the ignition. "Just hold that down button for a few second and it should start without a problem."

"How do you know all of this?" Percy asked, but he pressed down on the button. The engine skipped and then roared to life.

"I read," Annabeth said, as if that explained everything. Percy was pretty sure she didn't read book on mechanics or vehicles, but he didn't complain. He hopped onto the four wheeler and Annabeth sat on it behind him. They both decided that they would use one instead of two because it would be less noise, and the last thing they wanted to do was attract any more monsters. The single four wheeler was making enough noise as it was.

Percy had never driven a four wheeler before and had no idea how to. Apparently, Annabeth only knew how to start them, because she was just as lost. Frustrated, Percy kicked down on the ground and then slammed his foot straight up. The foot rest jumped and hit him on the top of his foot, which hurt more than he thought it would. Only later did Percy realize that it was how he changed gears.

There was a button for his thumb that he found out to be the gas, and there were two brakes handles on either side that he could easily pull on to make the thing stop. He pushed down on the gas, and then they were off.

Automatically it was ten times faster than traveling by foot. They zoomed up the hilly mountain in no time, the moonlight guiding their way through Tartarus. Annabeth laughed with glee as she threaded her hands around his waist and hung on tight. When he turned to avoid a tree, they had to lean to the side.

It was kind of like riding a Pegasus.

Percy turned around for just a second. Every single monster at the bottom of the mountain was staring at them with envy. They were all smart enough to know that they would never catch up with them, and Percy laughed inwardly.

"This is so awesome!" Annabeth whispered in his ear gleefully. He had to agree.

They soared over the mountain and began to go down. Percy was glad that his reflexes were good, because they had to dodge through trees and the rough terrain, but the four wheeler was made for what he was doing. He just had to make sure Annabeth didn't fall off.

Out of nowhere, Annabeth screamed, "Stop!"

He slammed down on the breaks so hard that he almost sent himself flying. All of Annabeth's wait slammed into his body and they both pitched forward before he caught himself. "Whoa! What is it? Where's the monster?"

"No monster," she told him, out of breath. She leaned across him and turned the four wheeler off. "Be quiet and listen."

He didn't see why he needed to, but he did as she asked. For a minute, they just sat there, listening. Percy didn't see why they needed to, but the look on Annabeth's face said that he better keep quiet or else. So he kept his lips zipped and listened as hard as he could.

Then he heard it. The screaming. It was like a calling, showing them the way.

Annabeth pointed. "It's coming from that direction." Hera had told them to follow the screaming, and Percy still thought that was a terrible idea. Screaming equaled bad news for demigods. But if that was the only way to the Doors of Death, then they had to try. It was the only way for them to end all of this.

He started the four wheeler back up and gunned it. He went as fast as he could through the forest along the side of the mountain, thankful that they actually were the only people he could see. They drove for about an hour, not including the other hour it had taken them to get back up the mountain from the other side. Percy wondered how that scream had been able to spread throughout the entire giant forest, because after almost three hours into their journey, he still couldn't find the source.

Finally they had traveled so far in one direction that they reached almost a dead end, and Percy saw what they had been looking for.

He and Annabeth hopped off of the four wheeler. In front of them was a giant building, camouflaged so well into the side of the mountain that he could've easily overlooked it. But now that he had seen it, he could make out that the building was multiple stories tall, but it looked like an actual building, whereas Where the Lost are Revealed had looked like a creation from a child.

The place was made of sturdy concrete walls with small little windows that had bars over them. Moss and vines covered the walls, causing them to blend in with the natural scenery. The building looked old, like it had been there for many years without any renovations. There wasn't a single person in sight, not a monster or dead person. No guards. There was just a overly large gate with a huge fence surrounding the entire complex.

That scream sounded off again, and Percy shivered. They weren't alone. There was someone else there, but Percy just couldn't seem to find where the person's voice was coming from. It had to be from inside the complex… and he really didn't want to go inside.

"You think the Doors of Death are here?" Annabeth asked him, and her voice just seemed to echo on and on.

"It seems like they're trying to keep someone out," Percy observed, and Annabeth gave him a No Duh look. "I mean, it's like they're trying really hard. It seems like the kind of place that the super dangerous Doors of Death would be." The only problem of getting inside was the giant fence. Was it electrified? Percy didn't really want to find out.

Annabeth and Percy walked up to the fence, which even camouflaged itself a little bit. Cautiously, Percy set one finger against the chains, and breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't crisp him in a barbecue.

They went to the small gate, and Percy leaned his hand against it. It opened to his touch, with no lock on it or anything. "Bad security system," Annabeth murmured, observing the building with wide gray eyes. "This is kind of spooky. We hear screaming from the place but there's not a person in sight, and the gate just opens up with no problem. This is a little too much like Where the Lost Are Revealed , and you know that ended."

"I really don't like this…" Percy said quietly as he and Annabeth stepped inside. There was no door on the building, just a gaping hole of darkness giving off a stench so putrid that Percy's eyes started watering. He plugged his nose and coughed. "What the heck is that?"

Annabeth gagged. They walked inside of the building, and she turned on her flashlight. Percy's stomach turned over when he found the source of the smell.

There was a rotting arm on the ground, covered in flies and maggots, blood dried on the hard ground around it. Percy half expected the arm to start twitching or something, but that would just be too weird. Still, they backed away from it slowly and ignored the buzzing sound as they passed it in the hallway.

The flashlight did little to help them. The entire first floor of the place was bare and clear of life. He felt like he had just walked into an insane asylum. But the place was far from clean. In every single one of the twenty rooms on the first floor, there were blood stains. In some of the places, there were even puddles of fresh blood, golden ichor.

The screaming went off again. It was a scream of terror and pain. Percy heard the sound of leather against skin, like a whip, and the screams turned into whimpers. Hera had said that the screaming would help them, and the screaming was coming from up above.

His took Riptide out and Annabeth held her knife in her other hand. They went to the old wooden staircase, and the steps creaked as they went up. Percy sucked in a quick breath and hoped whatever was up there wouldn't hear them.

Once on the second floor, they heard the screaming again. It was coming from that floor, just down the hall. Percy started to hear multiple voices. They spoke in hushed whispers, so low that he couldn't make out what they were seeing. Percy and Annabeth pressed their backs to the wall and Annabeth clicked off the flashlight. There had to be a window at the end of the hallway, or perhaps some in the rooms, because there was a faint light illuminating the hallways.

Percy turned to Annabeth and counted silently. One… two… three.

They jumped out, weapons ready to fight off any monsters or foes that stood in their way. None did.

Instead, they seemed to be in some sort of prison. Percy's instincts told him to fight, but there was nothing to fight, because all of the monsters, the many surrounding him and Annabeth, were unable to reach them. They were all behind bars.

The crazy part was that Percy recognized some of them. The Empousa Kelli and her friend Tammi were in cells next to each other staring through the walls like they could see each other. When Percy walked past them, they didn't even acknowledge him. Through the bars, they looked so small and not threatening at all. Percy should've been happy. He wanted to yell, "In your face!" But he couldn't, because that would've morally been wrong.

"What is this place?" Annabeth asked quietly, like she was afraid of being overheard. Not that it mattered. None of the monsters seemed to care.

"Some sort of prison, I think…" Percy told her. "I think it's for the monsters that the gods fear the most." Just to prove his point, the Minotaur stood in the next cell. His loincloth was dirty and his two good horns poked up. The Minotaur had been the second monster Percy had ever killed. When he saw him, he huffed miserably.

"It must be a high security one too." Annabeth tapped on the bars. "They don't have good security outside of the place because all of the protection is in these bars. They're made with a combination of Imperial Gold and Celestial Bronze, I think. It should be impossible to break these."

"I guess the gods wanted to make sure that the super bad monsters didn't escape through the Doors of Death." Percy then spotted the Nemean Lion, pacing back and forth restlessly. It yawned loudly and stretched, glancing at Percy and Annabeth before deciding to ignore them, because even the Lion knew that trying to hurt them wouldn't get him anywhere.

The screaming girl at the end of the hallway shrieked, "Let me go! I haven't done anything." Her voice sounded hoarse, and Percy knew it was from all of the yelling.

Tammi then spoke, sounding tired and exasperated. "Just shut up already."

"Let me out!" Apparently, the person wasn't going to listen.

"I said shut up!" Tammi hissed, her mismatched body shaking. Everyone was quiet, including Percy and Annabeth, because they heard other footsteps above them, walking around. "I don't want to be tortured anymore today, thank you very much." She sounded scared, and if Tammi the crazy cheerleading monster was scared, then Percy knew that they had the right to be scared too. Whoever this person was didn't seem too good. Percy looked over at the Minotaur and he was pretty sure the monster was wetting himself.

Percy still couldn't believe that the monsters were ignoring him and Annabeth, so they walked to the end of the hallway to talk to the screaming girl. With any luck, she'd be able to point them in the right direction of the Doors of Death, and they would be able to close them and get out before this torturer could catch them.

The girl was beautiful and achingly familiar, even though Percy couldn't see her face. But she was covered in blood and had whip lashes up and down her body. Her white robes were dirtied, bloody, and torn to shreds. It was hard to make out her exact features in the dim light.

Percy cleared his throat. "Um, excuse me—"

The girl jumped to her feet, and her hand shot through the bars like she hoped to hit him. He jumped back and caught her hand to keep it from connecting with his face. "Get away from me," the girl said in a low voice, and then she stopped. She lifted her head and gazed at Percy with huge, curious eyes. Once upon a time, Percy had seen those eyes, right when he had awoken from what he had though was certain death.

"Oh my… Perseus, is that you?" She looked at him expectantly, knowingly. Annabeth stared at her like she was crazy, but she wasn't, because Percy did actually know her… but she couldn't be in Tartarus. She was too good for that, wasn't she?

"Calypso?"

So the question is: why is Calypso in Tartarus, if that even is her? Review challenge: What's your favorite Disney cartoon movie? My favorite is Meet the Robinsons and all of the movies they made in the 1990's, like Mulan, Hercules, Pocahontas, The Lion King, Aladdin, etc.

Reviews and ideas are loved! They brighten my life up a lot!

-BBH