Chapter 20: The end of Peace
I've found that Atlantis may be the key to winning the upcoming fight, but first we should know is where Atlantis comes from: They date back to the First Age of Enlightenment, from before the Great War. No one knows exactly what happened, but the Firstborn fought, and fought badly, which led to the Firstborn to split into what today we know as The Primordials. This was, I think, their first mistake.
- Poseidon's Notes, Page 29, On the creation of Atlantis.
Percy slashed his blade against the monster's chest, cutting deep into flesh and causing the strange golden particles to stick onto the blood on his blade. It was still hard to understand what he was seeing in front of him.
Monsters.
When Annabeth had originally explained the concept of Monsters to him, she had said that they were humans who were Enlightened, and that they used their Enlightenment for evil purposes. Nico had said much of the same, as had Bianca and even Chiron. The first day, it had indeed been a small group of Humans who had attacked Percy's wall. The second day they hadn't.
Creatures, tall, short, skinny, large, creatures both deformed and twisted had begun appearing, more by the day. They looked humanoid, true, but they were also clearly not. Some had animal characteristics, like ladies with Donkey legs or snakes for hair, there were also huge creatures with three eyes or some with even only one working eye.
All of them had a tattoo engraved on their necks, A circle made by a chain with a fist at the centre.
"The left flank is vulnerable." Percy heard Zagreus yelling, "Nico, try to shadow travel behind them and let loose, I need a distraction, Percy, keep pushing, with enough luck we can pincer them between you and Nico while I take down the rear and flank them."
"It will be done!" Percy yelled back, blocking a blade that would have stabbed him in the leg from what appeared to be a creature with donkey-like legs. He felt the air around him moisten, giving him strength, and with incredible speed he removed the head of the creature with a single swipe of his blade. He kept feeding his internal power with the moisture around him, he flared the balloon inside of him and he felt him testing his emotional walls, yet Percy remained calm as he became a swirling tempest of death and destruction. In the beginning, it had been hard to get used to the lust and strength he felt, yet now…
He sliced, blocked, parried and slashed, he felt cuts on his skin, on his legs and arms, yet he kept going. He couldn't remember how long he'd been fighting, only that it felt so GOOD!
"PERCY YOU'RE IN TOO DEEP!" He heard, and he was tempted to ignore it before he remembered his oath, and what Achilles had said. He needed to control his power, he needed to stop if he was to fulfil his promise.
"I will protect her." He muttered, and with a yell, he sliced a one-eyed creature from neck to hip with a powerful downwards movement.
"Glad to see you're having fun." Percy heard, and to his surprise he found Nico next to him, stabbing a creature in the neck with his strange black sword.
"What?"
"Pincer worked. We tore through them from both sides, and Zagreus managed to finish off the flank. Only a couple of dozen of the…monsters remain, but they will be easy picking for Thanatos." Nico's blade disappeared after a few seconds of him concentrating.
In the air, Percy could make out a winged shadow moving quickly and slamming into the ground. With every slam, screams would follow, and a cloud of darkness would appear on the spot before the winged creature would take flight again.
It had taken several days, but the battle for Underworld was over.
"That was not fun." Percy sighed, cleaning blood from his brow where something had cut him.
"Nope. Father is worried too, apparently the short siege greatly impacted Underworld's defences. The city was not prepared to withstand a siege, its built to be inescapable, not impregnable, so the first few days really hurt us, which is why we took to the field. Another few days and they may have broken through the walls."
"Glad we could beat them here then. I was starting to believe we were overwhelmed."
"Underworld has never fallen, and it never will. There's too much hidden here to fall. Come, father wants to talk to us now that the battle is over."
Percy nodded, and accompanied Nico through the battlefield towards the open gates of Underworld. Around him, thousands of dead littered the grey grass fields, both monsters and Hunters wearing the grey and black colours of the House of the Dead. Percy sighed.
Throughout his life, he had never imagined he would see a war. He was just a boy living in the streets of New York, not a soldier or a warrior, or a Hunter for that matter. In a matter of months that had changed though, and now he was fighting in the front lines of a battlefield defending the house of his best friend.
He wasn't sure if he could take much more. More death, more fear…the only reason he hadn't frozen was because Orpheus had played tunes that made him fight like a seasoned warrior and feel like a veteran commander. Yet without Orpheus' tunes, he would be a child playing at war! How much could he take then? How much more until he broke?
Arriving at the Underworld keep, Percy kept thinking over the bodies, the meaning behind them finally sinking in at what he had done.
"Don't think about it." He heard Zagreus say next to him, "Don't. You'll only torture yourself. You did what had to be done, as the rest of us did. No one liked it, no one enjoyed it, but nevertheless we did it to protect our family."
Percy nodded, yet unable to completely remove the feeling at the pit of his stomach.
Zagreus opened the door to the great hall of the keep, and to Percy's surprise it was filled with people. He saw several hunters lining the walls or talking in small groups, he saw a group of five women with very colourful hair chatting in one of the sides, there was even a large man who seemed to be carrying around a boulder, however Percy couldn't imagine for what reason.
"Interesting, so he has called everyone…" Zagreus said. He then turned to Percy. "Those women over there? The River sisters. They can bless you with incredible powers, but always for a price. Styx has been asking about you, as has Phlegethon. Stay vigilant."
Percy nodded, noticing how a woman with bright red hair, and another with smoky black hair seemed to follow his every move.
The doors opened again, and this time most of the hunters in the room fell to a knee. Hades strolled in, his cane tapping the floor. Behind him, Achilles walked confidently, eyeing those around him. He was joined by a rather beautiful dark-haired woman, and next to her walked Bianca, who seemed to be deep in thought.
"At ease." Hades said, and Percy stood up from his kneeling position with the rest of the hunters. "With all that has happened, I have had no time to ease some of the rumours that have riddled our halls. Percy, please come here."
Percy felt nervous, yet he tried his best to confidently walk up to Hades, who placed a hand on his shoulder as he faced the hall.
"This is Perseus Jackson, Son of Poseidon the Earthshaker, and True heir to the House of Seas." There was mutter and mumbling across the room, "His voice carries as much weigh as would my son's, and he is to be treated with the respect someone of his station deserves."
Hades turned to Percy.
"Join Bianca and Nico."
Percy saw with surprise that Nico was now standing next to Bianca.
'When did he get there?' he questioned.
"You look tired." Bianca said as she rubbed some soot away from his cheek.
"I haven't slept." Percy admitted, "Nor eaten…"
"We'll have to fix that." Bianca smiled, yet her smile disappeared rather quickly, and she turned to face the crowd. "Do you know what my father did just now?"
"Introduce me?"
"Nope, he put a target on your back."
"What?" Percy asked, shocked.
"Father has been thinking a lot over the past few days, yet he realized something as soon as the battle started. There is a spy in Underworld, or a group of spies, at least. No one should know where the mortal entrance to Underworld is, unless they live here and are of a high station, yet these monsters seemed to have just appeared outside our doors overnight. Also, our IM comms are somehow being blocked, and you can only do that if you're within a certain range. We don't know what the spy wants but using you as bait is merely one of the several possibilities. Act normally, try not to give away the fact you know, but be aware that Thanatos will be keeping a close eye on you in case the spies try anything."
Percy didn't know what to think. On the one hand, it made sense what Bianca was saying, and he admitted that he was the best option to weed out a spy. Yet on the other…used as bait? Really? As if his entire life was nothing more than designed to serve others…
"Why tell me this, if you want to use me as bait?"
"Because I don't want to use you as bait." Bianca said, "I don't like it, I really don't. If someone, an enemy, does manage to get into underworld I know you will be one of their main targets, and if it were up to me I would lock you up somewhere safe and…" Bianca winced, "I'm scared, Percy, I don't understand what's happening and that scares me, the only thing that gives me comfort is knowing that those I care about will be fine, and you need to know what is going on if you're to stay safe." She grasped his hand, and Percy squeezed back. "Please stay safe."
"I will do my best, Bianca." Percy said.
I will protect her.
The words echoed in his mind as he held her hand and Hades finished giving his speech.
"Underworld will stand, Underworld will not fall. United, we will defeat any who—"
The doors opened and Thanatos rushed in. The hall gasped.
His long black cloak that seemed to float around him was in tatters, pale white skin could be seen bleeding from dozens if not hundreds of places, and his mask, the pale white mask that hid his face, was half broken where only a single crimson eye could be seen within a pale, milky face. The eye had no iris, no white, it was just a shade of red upon a lighter shade of red.
He felt a shiver running down his spine.
"Thanatos!" Hades yelled, and Zagreus immediately jumped towards the injured Horsemen. "What is happening?"
"Death." Thanatos said in a voice so cold, so stable, that Percy felt a second shiver running down his spine.
"Death?" Zagreus asked.
"Underworld will die. Underworld will fall. Tonight, is the end of peace. We have failed."
He fell forwards, passing out on Zagreus' arms, and was immediately surrounded by a group of Hunters who began to quickly usher him outside the room, followed by an irate Zagreus who seemed nervous.
Bianca's hand threatened to break Percy's.
"Father I—"
"Quiet." Hades said, listening to…something.
Percy didn't know what it was for a second, but then he felt it. Water. Lots and lots of water, but not the water that one would find in a lake or a pool, or even a bottle. It was…thin, almost as if—
His eyes widened.
BOOM!
Something exploded in the distance, and Hades in a surprisingly quick move for someone with a cane, rushed towards the main gates of the Underworld terrace.
Nico followed, as did Achilles who looked tense. Nico, Bianca and Percy followed, and then came all the other hunters.
Hades stood at the balcony where he and Percy had spoken, a balcony overlooking the city. From up there, one could see the beauty of the city and fields around Underworld, and when Percy had stood there, he had felt oddly at peace.
Now, all he could see was smoke.
The city burned around him, screams echoing into the air. The great Underworld Gate was a pile of cinders, and from it a never-ending line of creatures walked into the city.
"Father…" Nico said, but was cut off by Hades.
"Achilles, close the gates and go find Zagreus, tell him I need him. Phlegethon, I need you to cure Thanatos, you can have my pain later. Maria, you know what needs to be done." He then turned to Bianca, Nico, and Percy. "Bianca, Nico, I need you to seal every entrance to Underworld there is. This time we are under siege, and I need you to buy me as much time as possible."
"Yes father." Bianca said, "Come Percy."
"I'm afraid Percy can't join you; I have something else to ask of him." Hades said, "Find Athena's girl, she is currently in the library, perhaps she has some ideas to buy us more time."
Bianca stared at her father, then at Percy, before reluctantly nodding, leaving with Nico and all the other hunters that Hades had commanded.
"The rest of you, do what must be done." Hades moved towards the great room, Percy following close behind as the other Hunter's within Underworld scattered.
"I must ask of you something, Percy, something that may or may not mean that you must leave me, Bianca, and Nico behind. Do you think you can do it?"
I will protect her.
"I don't think so, sir…"
"I need you to think about it, Percy, it's a task that I cannot give to anyone else. Please."
For a moment, Hades stared at Percy with what was clear vulnerability in his eyes. He was about to refuse, before the word returned to him.
I will protect her, and to protect her I must help her family…
"What is it?"
Hades sighed in relief.
"Come, we must talk about the true reason Tartarus exists."