18. The Underworld is Weird

"I still say we should make a plan" Annabeth said.

"It would fall apart in seconds, plus improvising is fun" I said

"We're going to the underworld and your thinking about fun?" Grover said, incredulous.

"Would you prefer panicked yelling?"

"Fun is good. Fun is good."

"Don't worry" I said, reaching for the pearls in my pocket "We got these, whatever they do"

Random songs played in the background as we walked on the grey carpet.

There was a blonde dude with an Italian suit who sat behind the podium.

He raised one eye when he saw us enter.

"What are godlings like ya two doin 'ere ?" He asked, leaning forward.

"We're here to meet Hades" I said confidently "I'm sure he's expecting us"

He laughed.

"Gotta say, of all the excuses, That's the funniest I heard in a long while" he said.

"It's funny cuz it's true" I said.

He stopped laughing.

He got up and a black pole appeared in his right hand.

"Scram before I shove this where the sun don't shine" he snarled before suddenly freezing and tapping his left ear with his free hand.

"Wh- HUH?. Oh yeah. Black hair, satyr and blonde friends. Alright boss." He said as he tapped his ear a final time before looking at us with a smile.

"Whaddya know. He IS expecting you, even told me to give ya the VIP treatment."

"Wh-what does that mean?" Annabeth asked.

"It means" he said "You get to sit"

We entered what was initially an elevator, but it stopped going down and started moving forward.

It also turned into a wooden barge.

'Man, they're really working for the dark and depressing vibe huh' I thought to myself as we went along the filled-with-random-stuff-like-diplomas-and-creepy-dolls river Styx.

"Why is there so much stuff in there?" I wondered out loud.

"It's polluted" he said " For thousands of years ya humans have been throwing in a bunch of stuff- hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management I say."

Annabeth grabbed my hand. I would've commented, but I got that she needed to know that there was another alive person nearby.

"Alright" I muttered to myself "Serious time"

The boat stopped at the shore, and the ghosts filed out.

"Come on then" Charon( thought the nametag said Chiron the first time I saw it, damn dyslexia) said " He told me to take ya three in"

I was expecting a fancy door and maybe a couple of giant statues but it just looked like an airport so dark even Sasuke would complain.

We walked through the EZ death line, following our Grim Reaper looking guide when Grover yelped.

Me and Annabeth turned around to see that his shoes had sprouted wings and his legs had shot forward.

Annabeth told him to stop messing around, but I knew something was up

I chased him, and once I activated my Sharingan I could see a faint black rope dragging him downhill towards some tunnel.

"GROVER" I yelled while grabbing him with a water rope "LOSE THE SHOES"

The shoes were loose anyway, considering that he had hooves, so no toes.

The shoes went flying while we stood, stunned for a second.

I used my Sharingan to zoom in ( I didn't even know it could do that? ) and saw a dark opening on the other side of the tunnel.

My gut told me that would lead to the chasm where I had heard Luke talk with the mysterious voice.

As we got up, Charon appeared.

"Oh, there ya are. Thought that ya got lost in the fields of Punishment or something. What are ya doing, tryna get to Tartarus though ?"

Grover gaped while Annabeth shrieked "TARTARUS !?"

"Get over it" I muttered, walking back " You never have an unexpected near-death experience or something ?"

After passing through the gates with pictures of death ( Exploding atomic bomb, famine victims and other nice things), going through a garden which wasn't technically a garden and a lot of stairs we finally got to the door of the main entrance flanked by a bunch of skeletons.

"So. Many. Stairs" I wheezed.

"You could handle fighting Medusa but you can't handle stairs?" Annabeth asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Let's just go" I muttered.

The doors opened with a cold breeze.

"I guess that's entrez-vous" Annabeth said.

The room was exactly how I remembered from my dream.

Gloomy but with lots of gold: check. Emo Throne: Check. Tall scary dude sitting in said throne: triple check.

He was like 10 feet tall and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. He wasn't built like Ares, but power radiated off of him in waves.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon." He said "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps very foolish"

"Lord Hades" I said, no fear in my voice "I'm here to clear up a misunderstanding."

He raised an eyebrow.

"A misunderstanding? There is no misunderstanding here. You have stolen mine and Zues's possessions and now wish to barter your mother."

"Wh- Wait something was stolen from you too !?"

"DO NOT ACT IGNORANT BOY." He bellowed, along with a wave of suffocating power.

Suffocating for others, obviously. I'm too awesome for that.

"I am not acting, Lord Uncle. Please, let me explain"

I think he was surprised that my voice actually reached up to him after that fit, cuz he made a 'go on' gesture with his right hand.

"I only joined Camp Half-Blood this month. From my dreams I've found out that One of the Campers is being controlled by something in Tartarus. We almost got dragged down there as well"

Hades's eyes widened and he looked towards Charon, who told him about Grover's shoes.

" While I would hate any of my siblings having my Helm, it would still be tolerable compared to anyone from Tartarus. I can tell when someone lies boy, and I can tell that you are not. However, that does not explain why you HAVE THE LIGHTNING BOLT IN YOUR BAG" he snarled.

"Say….what? "

I spun madly, opening the zip to see a two-foot-long metal spiked cylinder.

"Uhh, we didn't know that was there. I swear"

Even though he said he could tell the truth, I guess he didn't care because his skeleton soldiers surrounded us and the furies swooped down.

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed as her, me and Grover went Back-to-Back.

"Give me the bolt now, and I will return her to you" Hades said as my mom appeared beside her in the same golden shower, frozen in the moment she had been taken.

Oh, that's just nasty.

I got out the pearls and cursed.

"Only three" Hades said, saying what I was thinking "You do realise each only protects a single person. Take your mother then, little godling. Who will you leave behind in exchange?"

The other two immediately told me to leave them behind, before arguing among themselves on who to leave behind.

"Uncle" I said "Please return my mother back to her apartment once your helm is returned"

His smug expression faded " Godling …?"

I quickly handed the Annabeth and Grover a pearl before we crushed them beneath our feet, and we were off in a bubble.