At the end of this chapter, there is a little Second Epilogue from Annabeth's POV, so keep reading for that!
You guys… THIS JUST BECAME THE NUMBER ONE MOST REVIEWED PJO STORY!
ASDFGHJKLZXCVBNMQWERTYUIOPASDFGHJKL?! XD
It means so much to me that you all would even bother to read this story, and becoming number one most reviewed? I NEVER expected that in a quintillion years! Thank you from the bottom of my esophagus to the top of my sternum! Thank you! I know it will not stay that way for long, but thank you all for making it possible:)
I also want to say that this story, along with a few others of mine, has been nominated for the FanFiction Choice Awards by Lightning-at-221b. I've been nominated for:
Best Horror: Hell and Silence, plus The Asylum on my CodeName-Athena account with ChildOfWisdom.
Best Adventure: The House of Hades and The Mark of Athena!
Best Parody: Dear FanFiction!
And… somehow, Best Author Ever?!
It means the world to me that I've even been nominated for this! You have no idea how much I freaked out when I was told this! Head on over to the FanFiction Choice Awards by Lightning-at-221b to vote for me and all of the AMAZING other authors that I look up to that have been nominated. Add the story to your Story Alerts so you'll get an email when it's been updated!
And here is my Q and A, dear readers. I must say, it's pretty funny, and you guys ask some WEIRD questions! It'd be much appreciated if you read and reviewed, but it's your choice. Thanks again for being awesome! SORRY FOR TYPOS!
Happy Reading!
AnimeTree: Which God/Goddess do you like best? Why must you make me choose? Urgh… Athena is pretty awesome, just because she's the goddess of wisdom. Poseidon, Artemis, and Hestia are awesome too, at least in the Percy Jackson series. However, in the Covenant series (a teen mythological series by Jennifer L. Armentrout) I freaking love Apollo and Dionysus is pretty cool.
Annabethchase999: How old are you? I'm 13 and getting ready to be a freshman in a few weeks.
Fantasila: Are you really going to let Nico die? But did Nico really die? I left that for you all to decide.
Tiarnan: What is the secret to getting a hugely read story like yours and how long did it take for the reviews to start rolling it? Honestly, there is no secret at all. You just have to work hard. My first story ever was my version of the Son of Neptune, but I was too shy to post it and I had no one on FF to help me. My SoN still remains on my laptop to this day…
In 2011, I published my *terrible* version of the Mark of Athena. I know it has 3,000 reviews now, but it didn't always get that many and it wasn't always so popular. I think I had three chapters posted when I actually got my first review. After a decent amount of begging, I got more reviews. And then I went on to make that story 75 chapters, and it lasted for 11 months, sooo, yeah.
My advice is (and this'll sound as cliché as hell) to never give up and don't doubt yourself for a second. Just keep writing. Don't beg for reviews, because it really is annoying. I've realized that now by looking back on my stories, but hey, I was young when I started and a FF virgin. If you like to write, then write, but if you find that it is something you don't enjoy then don't do it. My friend McKenzie tried out FF and found she didn't enjoy it, so she draws and posts on DeviantART now because that's what she finds to be fun.
Darkrai6543: Do you read gaming fanfiction and second, if you do, do you take recommendations? I read it sometimes. I've read a couple Legend of Zelda ones (like A Thousand Times, the inspiration for my story Billow), some Slender, Happy Wheels, Ib, Amnesia, and Kingdom Hearts stories. Sure, I'll take a recommendation.
Guest: DID NICO REALLY DIE? I don't know, why don't you tell me. :)
Marshapono: What do you want to be when you're an adult? I don't know. I'm taking Honors BioMed this year, so maybe I'll be a doctor of sorts. I'd like to become an author, but I just don't know.
HuntressOfOlympus: All time favorite character in any of the books? If we are talking PJO, then probably Percy, but Annabeth and Leo are close behind. If we're talking about books in general… Well, there are a few. Dimitri Belikov, Draco Malfoy, Aaron Warner, Noah Shaw, Tobias Eaton, just to name a few ;)
Justarandomname: Apples or strawberries? You've just succeeded in tearing my heart in two. Well done.
PeaceLoveandCheese: If any of the characters are to die in the Heroes of Olympus, who do you think it'll be? Well, if we are being serious, I think it'll be Leo or Nico. Maybe Rick will go crazy and kill off Percy, because I can see that too. Now, if I got to choose who I wanted to die, then it'd be Jason or Piper, because, *sigh* I'm going to give my explanation of why I dislike them.
When I read the Lost Hero, I loved both of them. I didn't like Reyna at all because she was getting in the way of my love for Jasper. Then I read the Son of Neptune and I thought Reyna was pretty epic. Then I read the Mark of Athena, and my love for Jason and Piper went right out the window and fell into Tartarus. I didn't like how either of them acted and they got on my nerves. I'm sorry if I make anyone mad, but that's just my opinion. Don't hate on opinions.
Blue Lollipop7: What do you do when you get Writer's Block? Listening to music usually helps. Deep music gives me inspiration to write. Also, long showers and car rides. When I'm bored and not at a computer, I'll just think of something.
Starkid Rocks: Out of these demigod girls, who would your greatest enemy be; Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, or Reyna? Probably Piper.
Your Biggest Fan: Do you think you could post some of your writing tips? If I gave you a tip, it'd probably make you do something horrible. I really don't think of myself to be a good writer, so every time I write a strive to do well. I set myself a goal. I like writing really deep stuff that most people don't understand, which is what I try to do in some oneshots. If I had to give you a tip, I would say to read A LOT and listen to music while you write, and look at the lyrics, because sometimes songs have really amazing lyrics that can get you thinking, and when you get thinking you feel like writing, and voila.
"It's better to feel pain than nothing at all. The opposite of love's indifference."—Stubborn Love by the Lumineers.
Or
"It's too late when we die to admit we don't see eye to eye."—The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics.
See. That gets me thinking. And now I feel like writing. Yay!
Inktrain Productions: How do you make long chapters? I just keep writing. When you think the chapter is long enough and you want to stop, just don't. Keep on writing until it feels like you've vomited up a dictionary into a chapter and it's only, like, 4,000 words.
AznInvasionPersuasion: Where do you get your ideas for the House of Hades? Well, I'm not sure exactly. I would look around online and on my Greek Mythology app for cool characters and creatures. I'd read all about them and think, "What could I do to put that into a FanFiction?" And I kept an entire chapter dedicated to HoH Ideas. Whenever something just appeared in my head I'd write it down so I wouldn't forget.
Sometimes I'd watch TV shows or movies, or read another book, and if something really horrific, sad, or funny happened, I'd remember it for a story. All in all, I have a really dark, twisted mind, so some of the bad things that happen in my stories just come off the top of my head.
VestalVirginsOfRome: How do you get ideas for the plot and write it? Hmm… Look above, and I think the previous answer will be your best bet.
Guest: What happened to Percy after he saw the Argo II? Read on and find out!
Athena lover: What's your next story? I really want to FINALLY post Dead Reckoning, which I started writing over a year ago. I'm still doing the Battle of the Fandoms competition, so I have to still write oneshots for that. By the way, check out the forum and Lunknownl's profile for voting, because everything has changed. I don't think I'm going to write that special oneshot from this story that I told you all about, so I am very sorry for that. But yeah, look out for Dead Reckoning!
EnderRaven: Does Nico go to Elysium, Fields of Asphodel, or *GASP* Fields of Murder/Torture/Bad Stuff? Is Nico actually dead? Well, obviously, you believe that he is, so I would say that he goes to Elysium, because if he died, then he died a hero.
Livvybelle23: When did you read your first PJO book and why? Okay, so it was in fifth grade in 2010. My English teacher gave everyone in our class a five dollar Scholastic Book Order coupon. I was looking around at the five dollar books and the only one that caught my eye was the Lightning Thief. The movie had just left theaters but I'd never had the chance to see it (truth be told, I didn't want to). Plus, a few of my friends had read it and said that it was okay. So I bought the Lightning Thief so that I could just read it and then watch the movie once it came out on DVD. The rest is history.
Livvybelle23: What is your favorite dance style (mine is ballet)? My favorite to watch is Contemporary, but my favorite to perform is a tie between Pointe and Tap.
Livvybelle23: If you were left on the planet during the apocalypse with one book character, who would it be and why? If it's a PJO character, it'd be Annabeth, because she awesome, smart, and has that amazing laptop that can give her blueprints to make something that would save us all. If it's just a character in general… maybe Fang from Maximum Ride, because he survives the apocalypse in the final book!
Livvybelle23: Uh, do you like, dream what happens in your stories, and then you just type out your dreams? If not, where does your inspiration come from? Sometimes I do that, but when I don't… scroll up to see your answer!
Livvybelle23: I have a scary suspicion you and Rick Riordan are in contact. Is it true? Don't I wish. The only time I've ever been close to him was in 2011 when he and James Patterson had that book talk thingy in New York City. I went to that and it was amazing.
I Am Abby Daughter Of Enyo: Do you like really loud thunder storms, with the huge flashes of lightning and such? And if yes, what is your favorite part? I LOVE THUNDERSTORMS! My favorite part is when the lightning is so close that the thunder shakes the entire house. It is so awesome!
Will2341: Do you still read Everlasting Promises by that star guy? I do. I know Starblde176 hasn't updated in a long time, but I still LOVE that story and I can't wait for an update. I know Star is really busy, though, so I won't pressure him/her to update. I still talk to Star sometimes, but we haven't spoken in a while.
Guest: Have you read the Outsiders? Yeah, I read it last year. It was okay. The ending got to me. "Nothing gold can stay." WAAAAAAAAAA—
Brightpath2: What is your all time favorite fanfiction that you have ever read? Um… how about my top three? Everlasting Promises by Starblade176, Concrete Angel by GirlOnFire2012, and Three by icy roses. My other favorites can all be found on my profile under my Favorite Stories list.
Book worm 746: Have you ever crocheted a granny square as big as your head? No, I'm not that good at crocheting. Ask Kimmie G914. She's amazing. She crocheted me a beret one time!
Mayhaah: WHAT DANCE DOES A HIPPO DO? Everyone knows that hippo is code name for stripper. They pole dance! (In other words, no idea. The Flamenco?)
xROY G BIVx: If you could paint your room the color of a tropical fruit, what would it be and why? A mango because YOLO, am I right? Actually, I think the mango is a beautiful fruit.
Sniffle sniffle: Describe each of the gods, or if you don't want to describe all of them, just describe Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, and definitely Athena. Describe them to me like I've never heard of Percy Jackson. Describe them to me as if they were people (but with the godly powers and stuff).
Zeus: Okay, so Zeus is very cocky, but I mean, if you're the King of the Gods and Ruler of the Skies, you have a reason to be. He lives in this really big mansion on Olympus and likes to yell at people a lot because it amuses him greatly. He enjoys shopping at Jos A. Banks.
Poseidon: He's bipolar. Sometimes he's just really laid back and doesn't have a care in the world, and in the next second, he's all Earthshaker/Lord of the Seas and is on a killing rampage. No one ever knows what to do with him. He likes wearing Bermuda shorts and floral tops and fishing on his downtime.
Hades: This guy can hold grudges like nobody's business. He's very dark and broody and he likes to flaunt his God of the Underworld powers. He desperately needs a shower, which Persephone stresses all the time, but he doesn't care. He has a pet doggy named Cerberus that likes to eat people.
Hera: Introducing the Royal Bitch. She's the goddess of family, fertility, etc. No one gives a damn about her because she absolutely hates demigods and continuously seeks revenge on people. Honestly, she needs to take a MEGA chill pill.
Athena: Don't get on her bad side. She's the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy, which means she knows ten different way to torture/kill you with a straw. She loves to learn and continues learning all the time. She has a dark side that you never want to see. She likes to give tours on her downtime.
Sniffle sniffle: By which traits/talents/flaws did you decide on Athena? Okay, so I have blonde hair and my blue eyes sometimes look gray. I love weaving and learning. I can lose myself in a library. I like to think of myself as resourceful, though I'm pretty sure my fatal flaw isn't hubris. Like Percy said, if I were given the chance to remake the world I'd probably destroy it. I guess I'll just have to wait to meet her and see what she says.
HBK43v3r: Would you ever eat a chicken stuffed inside a turkey with a honey glaze? Sure, why not?
ChildofAphrodite: Did you go see The Sea of Monsters movie?! I did. I saw the 10 o'clock premiere on August 6th. I was disappointed once again that it wasn't like the book, but I really didn't have high expectations in the first place. It was a very good movie, and very funny, just not like the book.
Zendartha: What twists do you think rick will add to the HoH? I have a REALLY big hunch that he's going to kill someone and that either Percy or Annabeth are going to get fatally injured in Tartarus and Nico is going to be a badass.
Victoria: Did Nico actually die? I don't know, that's for you to decide.
PureFaerie: What is your favorite black and white movie? I haven't watched many black and white movies, but I've watched many TV shows. Since my mind is drawing a blank to movies, I'll just have to say It's a Wonderful Life, because that's all I can think of. However, I Dream of Jeannie is one of the funniest TV shows ever, and it's in black and white. So is Popeye, my favorite childhood show!
ChildOfWisdom: Do you do anything particular before you start writing? Like a pre-write ritual or something like that? Does that include watching PewDiePie and then slapping myself in the face for procrastinating?
ChildOfWisdom: How did you know what to make HOH about, since the book hadn't come out yet? Well, I had to make it about a House of Hades since it's in the title, and since Percabeth has fallen down to Tartarus, I had to make it about that too. Also, I've heard a few things that Rick plans on doing, such as bringing back Calypso, and added that it.
Jillian: Can you make a FanFic where Percy turns Japanese? Sure, it's on my list of things to write!
Bonus Chapter
Annabeth
Annabeth's arms were getting tired.
She and Percy were jumping up and down, waving their arms like maniacs. No, it wasn't smart, considering they were both going to possibly die from blood loss and their terrible wounds, but they didn't know what else to do. Percy was too fatigued to use any of his abilities, and they were soon going to pass out. No joke.
But they had to get to the Argo II.
She was trying to do her best to not fall over and start crying again. Percy had been tearing up and so had she, but it was for a lot of reasons. Their friend Nico was gone. They'd nearly been killed. They'd just been in Tartarus, fighting off Gaea, the Earth Mother. And now, they were miraculously back in what she guessed was Greece, looking at the earth and sky she thought she'd never see again.
That was enough to bring anyone to tears.
The Argo II was getting closer to them, but they were so high up that they probably didn't see anything. And considering she and Percy were smack dab in the middle of the woods… yeah, not so good.
The cut in her stomach was still seeping blood, and that was only one of her wounds. The both of them were covered in bruises and scrapes, some not bad, but others terrible. She was feeling lightheaded and more than once had to lean on Percy for support, but he was having trouble standing up because of his leg. They needed that medical attention ASAP.
And everything was very quiet, she realized.
So there was only one option left, and Annabeth hoped to all the gods that Coach Hedge was still on the ship.
Taking the biggest breath that she could, Annabeth let out the most ear piercing scream in the world.
Percy jumped backwards at the sound of her scream, throwing his hands over his ears in shock. He quickly took them off and shot Annabeth a look, but she dismissed it. The most important thing now was to flag down the Argo II so they didn't end up having to walk all the way to a civilization. Coach Hedge was a satyr, which meant his hearing was phenomenal. He had to hear her.
Thankfully, her screaming tactic worked, because the Argo II just stopped.
They kept waving their arms, but when Annabeth looked up at the sky to the Argo II, she could just make out a few people moving around, looking down at the ground, searching for the source of the noise. A ladder was lowered down towards them, and Annabeth thought about sobbing with relief.
Before even the ladder could reach a ground, a body launched itself over the side of the Argo II, causing Annabeth to yelp in shock. Percy gasped loudly. Was someone killing themselves? Was hearing her scream really that bad?
But in an instant, Annabeth started to actually think again. And she smiled when she realized it was Jason flying down towards them.
A few minutes later, Annabeth and Percy found themselves on the Argo II, hugging and obsessing over the people they thought they were never going to see again. Frank, Hazel, Leo, Piper, and Jason. They were all together in one piece. Coach Hedge was there too, making a fuss over them. "I promise to keep you both safe, and what happens?" Coach didn't wait for an answer. "You both fall into Tartarus!"
Annabeth managed a watery smile. Now seemed like the time to break down, even though she wanted to act strong in front of her friends. After all, she and Percy had done the unthinkable. They'd gone to Tartarus and come back out, alive.
Everyone was talking at one time, asking if they were okay, asking about their quest through Tartarus, asking how they had gotten out. They both were too overwhelmed to answer their questions. Percy had this goofy grin on his face the whole time, and Annabeth was trying to stay upright. How was Percy doing it with his bad leg?
The Argo II hadn't changed much since the last time she had been on the ship. Some parts had fallen off or had been crushed. Coach Hedge boasted about how monsters had attacked to ship and how he had used the rotating ballista to kick some "Major Centaur's Ass." Leo complained about how he was going to have to fix everything, but to Annabeth, they seemed to be talking from miles away.
The people around her seemed to echo. All of this seemed unreal, like a crazy dream. When Percy squeezed her shoulder, she barely felt it.
Everything that had happened to her seemed to process inside of her head at that moment. Though what had happened in Tartarus had been horrific, she now realized that she would have to live with all of that for the rest of her life—however long that may be. Because there work wasn't done yet, not in the slightest. Gaea was fated to rise again, and when the time came, they needed to be ready.
Otherwise, Nico had… died for nothing.
Nico di Angelo was gone now. Annabeth remembered first seeing Nico, a scrawny little kid who liked playing with Mythomagic cards, annoying his older sister Bianca during a school dance. Back then, he'd been naïve and unaware that he was one of the most powerful demigods ever—a son of Hades. And then he'd gone dark and had been a bit troubled, trying to live on his own and decide who were friends and enemies. Annabeth had always thought of Nico as a little brother.
And now he was gone.
Annabeth started to cry again. The last time she had cried had been back below the Argo II in the forest while in Percy's arms. He'd been crying too. She didn't have enough time to explain the tears, because she proceeded to collapse.
Before Annabeth even knew it, she was in the medical wing of the ship. People were rushing all around her, and she could only recognize Percy holding her hand, but someone pushed him away from her. She fought to get back to him, but that pain in her stomach had started up again. She was dizzy, and it had to be from all the blood she was losing. She remembered that she needed some medical attention. Her thoughts had been more towards a hospital, but five demigods and a satyr? Hopefully they could help.
She must've passed out briefly for some reason, but when she woke up, there were wrappings on her stomach. She felt pretty good and there wasn't any pain. She was tired, though, and yet she didn't want to go to sleep.
Everyone surrounded her, including Percy, who was using a crutch to keep himself upright. That made Annabeth remember their time in Tartarus, when Percy had made her makeshift crutches so that she could walk. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about that.
"Hey," Percy whispered, giving her a small smile. "How do you feel?"
"Fine," she sighed, sitting up. Her stomach felt tender but she tried not to think about it. "How long was I out?"
"A few hours," Piper said. Annabeth blinked. It had felt like minutes. Piper glanced around at everyone, like she was unsure of what to say. She realized that they all had deep circles under their eyes and injuries of their own. Jason's entire arm was wrapped up, and Annabeth could see a few blisters on his exposed hand. "We asked Percy what happened, but… he said he wanted you to help tell."
More than anything, Annabeth just wanted to forget what had happened. All of this seemed to be happening so fast that she just wanted a minute to think about it. She wanted to reconnect with her friends, but this had been bound to happen sooner or later. They might as well get it out of the way now.
So, she and Percy began to tell of their time in Tartarus. They started with their fall and landing, and they explained how Percy ran over Arachne with a Fiat they found. They explained the hellhounds and centaurs that had attacked them and how they'd found the dead rain forest and then driven off a cliff into a bunch of water.
They went on to talk about Keto and her monsters attacking them, and how they found some sort of refuge inside a giant house called Where the Lost are Revealed. The place had been full of supplies that they were only allowed to take if necessary, and they'd found some of Annabeth's old things and had heard the prophecy predicting Nico's end. They said they soon left because Gaea was trying to control them into sacrificing themselves to make her rise.
After that, they explained how they'd traveled by foot over the hills and into the forest and mountains, hiking through without getting hurt by monsters until Medusa nearly caught them to give them to Gaea, or perhaps kill them. After escaping her they had found the giant Highway in Hell for monsters, and then had been confronted by Hera and told to turn around and go back.
They explained the screaming voice and finding Calypso in the weird prison guarded by Orcus, who had later found them and almost killed them. They said that Calypso had explained to them that Where the Lost are Revealed was the House of Hades in the basement and that they had to close the Doors of Death. Upon escaping, they traveled back to where they had started, to be greeted by the Danaides.
The daughters had put up a fight and chased them into the basement. They didn't really need to explain that part, and no one wanted to talk about it. After the Doors had been closed, she and Percy had been injured by the collapsing cavern and the angry Danaides, which had followed them to the roof. Thinking they were going to die, Percy and Annabeth decided to fall to their deaths.
And then was the part neither of them fully understood. They explained to the five demigods and satyr the sensations they had felt as they had fallen and how they had somehow managed to end up in the forest.
They started whispering among themselves. Annabeth caught, "No Return," and, "Is that even possible?" She opened her mouth to ask questions but decided that they would explain when they needed to. That was probably a story for another time.
Since they were done, they each took turns explaining different parts of their own quest.
Jason said that once they had reached Epirus they had left Coach Hedge to watch the ship and had traveled to the island of Ioannina and had literally fallen into what they had thought was the House of Hades. When they had walked through a gate, it had whisked them away to the island of Kauai, Hawaii. It had turned out that they had gone through a Gate of No Return. Jason tried explaining how they worked, but it just gave Annabeth a headache, because she wondered… was that how they had gotten out of Tartarus? Had the Giant Army even known about it? Did they now?
"Just continue on with the story," Percy moaned, rubbing his temples. Annabeth agreed. She'd have to approach that subject again some other time.
Piper explained that they had found Triton there (to which Percy frowned immensely) and how she'd had to do a surfing competition against him since he had kidnapped Nico, and how Nico had told them about his dream of the giant Tityos. Nico had made Triton stop attacking them, and they had proceeded to jump into Mount Kilauea, which was another Gate, and ended up in Yellowstone.
Frank and Hazel took turns explaining how they had ended up seeing Thalia there, and how they had decided they decided Old Faithful was another Gate. They had met Taygete along the way who had decided to help them before they had a run in with Reyna's mother Bellona, who had also been helping Gaea too. They said that Thalia and Taygete had stayed behind to make sure they got out, and after jumping into Old Faithful, they'd ended up back in Camp Half-Blood.
Leo talked about the battle between the Greeks and Romans and how Nico had used this thing called Terror to make them all stop, because the battle was making Tityos stronger and killing people left and right. Rachel had come out and had been nearly murdered by Octavian. Later, once Rachel was better, she had told them how to get back to Epirus and how the House of Hades was actually in Tartarus.
So then they had jumped off of Olympus and had ended up in Epirus once more. Again, they didn't talk about fighting Gaea, but they explained how catacombs underneath the ground were collapsing and how they'd managed to get out through the crack ceiling. Their boat had still been there thankfully and they'd managed to get back to the Argo II in one piece
They didn't bring up Nico that much unless it was necessary. They weren't ready to talk about their dead friend. So after their stories were done, they were pretty quiet and in thought.
"So, where are we going now?" Percy asked finally.
"We're going to Mount Olympus. We're going to end this once and for all."
So, hopefully that explains what happened after chapter 49 and helps clear up the story. No, not all things were answered, because when do you ever read a story that just comes out and tells you the answers? No, you have to decide some things for yourself! Once again, thank you all for making this story such a pleasure to write and for all of the amazing reviews you sent in. Thank you for reading and adding this story to your favorites and following along. Remember to add me to your authors alert so that when I post my version of HoH book 5 you'll know. Check out my profile for info and email links and whatnot.
Reviews are always loved. I love you all. Thanks again for everything!
-Katie