The knife was to my throat. "Say it," the snake lady hissed. "Okay! I don't own this! All rights go to Rick Riordan!" I squeak.
Naturally, we're attacked the minute we walk out of camp. This time by a hellhound. Not Mrs. O'Leary. I uncap riptide. As the beast launches itself at me, I force the sword up, impaling the beast. It dissolves into a puddle of darkness as we jump in the car. Well, station wagon is more like it. There's just barely room for the ten of us. John drives.
"So, where are we going?" I ask.
"The only place that could imprison the gods is in the underworld. Tartarus."
"Naturally, our first quest takes us to the worst possible place that exists," I grumble.
"Upside, only way in is the underworld. That's where Dad is. Maybe he can help."
"It's our quest Emilia. That's not how it works."
"He could give us some food and a place to stay for the night. Also, there's a Hydra on the car."
John jabs his sword out the window and yellow dust rains down.
"Not anymore," he says.
"Another upside, Thalia's in the car beside us," Mason says. I wave and the Hunter glares at me. I call her on my cell phone.
"Thalia, what's wrong?"
"You're all running away again!"
"No. We're on a quest. That will unfortunately most likely take is into Tartarus."
"No. You can't go in there. Percy and Annabeth almost didn't make it out. Nico got kidnapped by Giants when he went in. They're the only three mortals who've survived it. And they almost went crazy. And almost died a hundred times more than they did on normal quests."
"If we don't do this, everyone dies. Including Artemis, Zeus, all of us, and you."
"Maya Jackson, pull over right now!"
"John, pull over," I say. He does. Thalia hangs up and comes over to my window.
"Out. Now," she opens the door. I get out. "Do you want to know exactly what happened to your parents in Tartarus?"
"Sure, seeing as how I'm going in, any information will be helpful."
"Fine," she is messages Mom and Dad.
"Oh boy," Mom says.
"Tell her about Tartarus."
"What? No!" Dad exclaimed.
"tell her, or she's going in blind."
"Maya, you are not going to Tartarus. It's an evil place."
"I have to. For my quest."
"What quest?" Mom demands.
"The gods are imprisoned. We're the last ditch effort to save the day, but they're on the front lines this time. Kronos is going to wake chaos in ten days," Dad says.
"Which means Tartarus," I say. "it's the only place that could imprison fourteen gods. Plus, chaos lives under Tartarus. The only way to him is through the pit. That's where Kronos will be. That's where we have to go to stop him."
"No. I'm not letting you go in there," Mom is adamant.
"Why not? You went in!"
"We fell! We weren't trying to go in!" Mom shouts. "I was on a quest for my mom. I had to find the Athena Parthenos. Arachne had it. Arachne's lair was right over Tartarus, and the floor was unstable. Leo threw a car on her, busting a hole in the floor, sending her into Tartarus. She shot out some silk. It stuck to my leg and pulled me down after her. Your dad tried to pull me up. When he realized that wasn't possible, he decided he wasn't going to let me go alone. He knew that part of our quest involved Tartarus. So he came to protect me then he almost died. We Encountered a group of auri, curses, Percy'd killed so many monsters... every single way that he'd killed a monster or an escaped evil soul or even another demigod, he felt that pain. He lived those deaths. Including gorgon's blood. Some of the curses weren't fatal. One of mine cursed me to be blind. One of Percy's cursed me to think he'd left. One of his was a broken arm. The point is, there are things in Tartarus that you don't want to encounter. You dad almost drowned! The son of Poseidon almost drowned in one of the rivers."
"He also almost drowned in a nymphaeum full of evil naiads," Dad cuts in.
"I'll be okay guys. I'm going in with nine other people."
"Ten others. I'm coming too," Thalia says.
"No. If we fail, you need to be ready to take Artemis's place," I shake my head.
"If my lady is in there, I'm going to get her."
"Thalia, she's right. You can't go in," Dad says.
"What?!"
"Nico almost died. He would've died had he not been kidnapped by Giants. If Maya fails, and you get kidnapped, or killed, then there's no hope. Get to Olympus and be ready. Ten days until it all goes down."
"Wait. When did Dad kill a demigod?"
"We were at war. It was unavoidable," Thalia is stoney faced.
"Well, we're at war now. Against Kronos-"
"What?!" Mom exclaims. "I thought we killed him!"
"He's immortal," Dad says.
"I know. But I thought we wiped his essence so thin he couldn't manifest again for another hundred thousand years."
"Apparently we only stopped him from coming for eighteen years."
"Shut up Seaweed Brain."
"I love you too."
"And that's my cue to leave," I walk back to the car and we head out.
"Well?" Luke asks.
"Shut up I'm thinking."
"Think out loud," Juliette suggests.
"There are ten of -hydra-" Emilia taps it with her sword killing it instantly. "us. The old quests were no more than three participants. The more demigods in one place, the more monsters can find us. Tartarus is their home turf. They'll be more powerful and harder to kill. Plus the auri, curses, they make you suffer some of the same fates as those you've killed and harmed, physically and emotionally. But only if you kill them. Oh and the rivers. There's five. The Styx, the Lethe, the Cocytus, the Phlegethon, and the Acheron. If you drink from the Styx, you burn up and die. Spontaneous combustion. You drink from the Lethe, you lose your memory. You drink from the Acheron, your soul is trapped in the river forever. Same if you simply touch it. If you drown in the Cocytus, your soul is trapped in the river forever. If you drown in the Styx, your soul is trapped in the river forever. The Lethe and Phlegethon are the only ones that won't kill you. The Phlegethon is the river of fire. The dead in the Fields of Punishment drink from it to survive their curses. It keeps them intact. The Lethe isn't deadly, but it is dangerous. A single drop and every single memory is erased from your mind. The easiest way in would be jumping. Downside to that is we only have ten days. The fall alone can take nine. Also there's no solid time in Tartarus. The ten days could happen in as little as what we think is four days or as long as what we think is a month. So don't count the days. Iris messages won't work. Maybe we could follow Nyx or Hemera in. Of course to do that, we'd have to find one of them. Hemera is only out during the day whereas Nyx is only out at night. I have an idea," I pull out a prism and a gold denarius, currency of Camp Jupiter. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me Hemera," I toss the coin into the rainbow and it vanishes. The image of a woman in a bright yellow dress appears.
"What do you want, demigod?" She snaps.
"Oh mighty and beautiful Hemera, I need to ask a favor in the name of the gods."
"Which ones?"
"Poseidon, Zeus, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Demeter, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Dionysus, and Hermes."
"We'll see. What is the favor?"
"That you help us on our quest."
"Be more specific."
"Our quest requires us to travel into Tartarus, where you reside at night. We request that you lead us in tonight and then lead us out eight days later."
"Time is hard in Tartarus."
"But if you count the times you leave and return until you've counted eight, that will be what we need."
"You're very bold, child of Athena."
"I'm the legacy of Poseidon and Athena. My mom is Annabeth Chase and my dad is Percy Jackson."
"I will help you, but only because I owe your father."
"Then you'll show us the way in?" I ask eagerly.
"No. I said I will help you, not your friends."
"But-"
"I will lead you in tonight, and lead you out eight days later, but if your friends are there, our deal is off."
"Yes Hemera. Thank you for your help," I say.
"Where do I meet you?"
"You don't. I come to you," the goddess cuts the connection.
"So you're just going in alone?" Luke asks.
"Guess so. But I'll be okay. Uncle Nico survived alone."
"My dad did what?" Juliette asks.
"Uncle Nico is also a son of Hades," Mason points out."
"And I've got my dad's powers, and my mom's. They survived it together, and I'm a combination of them, so I should be good."
"Your parents did what?" Juliette asks.
"It took them both to defeat Kronos last time. How the heck do I know that?" Luke asks.
"Again, I'm the two of them rolled into one."
"They did what?"
"Besides, I've never killed anyone. Just the occasional monster, unlike my dad. I should be good if I do meet the auri."
"Okay stop and answer my questions," Juliette interrupts. "My dad did what?"
"He survived Tartarus during the second giant war. The first mortal to ever do that. But his way out was by being kidnapped by Giants. Long story, ask him later."
"Your parents did what?"
"They survived Tartarus, same as your dad. Their way out was the Doors of Death. First mortals to ever use them, much less survive them. Long story, ask them later."
"They did what?"
"They stopped Kronos during the second Titan war. Annabeth brought the real me to the surface so I could kill Kronos by committing suicide. Holy crap what the heck," Luke says.
"Did you just use my mom's first name?"
"I think I did."
"And did you refer to yourself as needing to be brought back to stop Kronos?"
"I think I did."
"You're in a second life. You lived before and achieved Elysium. You chose rebirth and were born as this Luke. But you're starting to remember, and that's not normal."
"Back to my question. Your parents killed people?"
"They were at war. Some demigods fought with Kronos and were killed. Soldiers do the same exact thing in Afghanistan."
"And Luke is Kronos."
"Was possessed by in a previous life."
"But in his previous life, he was evil, and still earned Elysium."
"He sacrificed himself to stop Kronos. He died a hero."
"Could he do it again?"
"I doubt Kronos world inhabit the person who sent him back to Tartarus eighteen years ago."
"But he could."
"Our Luke is a good guy," I snap. "Anyone else want to dispute that?"
"Nope, I think we're good," John says. "I say we continue with the plan to meet with Nico in the underworld. Maya will stay in the mortal world to meet with Hemera. But, piece of advice, avoid Nyx while you're there. Your parents made her pretty mad, and gods tend to take their anger out on their enemies' children. Also avoid Aklyhs, all the Titans and all the Giants. If worst comes to worst, break your dad's shell under your feet. It's an emergency escape to the ocean from anywhere. But only use it as a last resort. It will take you out of Tartarus, ending your chance to find the gods, ending the quest."
"So only use it when dying," I joke sarcastically.
"And she's nervous."
"Shut up Mason. I'm fine."
"Yup. Definitely nervous."
"How would you know?"
"When you're nervous, you do this thing. First you joke about the problem. Then you deny that you're nervous. Then you twirl your bangs around your left pinky. Your right leg starts bouncing. You cross your legs to hide the bouncing. Then you bite your lower lip. Your hand inches to your pocket where you used to keep a pocketknife, although now it's your dad's sword. Finally, you start humming the lullaby Uncle Percy used to sing you before bed."
"Shut up," I douse him with his Dr. Pepper and busy myself with Iris-messaging Uncle Nico.
"Maya? What's wrong?"
"We're on a quest. My part takes me into Tartarus. Mom, Dad, Thalia, and Reyna already know. But yeah. I'm going into Tartarus. Alone. Tonight. Hemera is taking me. I'm going to free the gods. If... If I fail, you guys are the last ditch effort to stop Kronos. Also, if I fail, it will mean that Kronos has woken Chaos. Either way, I sense that there's going to be a war. If I succeed, we have the gods on our side. If I fail, everything falls on you guys. Also, please do something horrible to Mason as he is an annoying, terrible, rude, and evil cousin."
"He told you about your nervous routine," Uncle Nico grins.
"How did you know?!"
"Your mom figured it out. She was telling Percy and I. We later discovered that Mason was eavesdropping."
"In any case. Do you have any advice on how to survive Tartarus alone?"
"Don't go in," Uncle Nico says as the connection fizzles out.