The first casino that they hit was the MGM Grand. When the quartet entered, a man with expertly coiffed black hair, aristocratic features and a fancy cane walked over to them. He spoke in a genial tone, "Hello children, are you four supposed to be here? I cannot imagine that you all are coming in to try my machines, are you? I'm afraid that you are a little too young for slot machines."

Harry flashed him an apologetic smile, "Apologies, we didn't come here by choice. The thing is, my family and friends came here for a small vacation. We were just getting ready to leave when we noticed that my godfather was missing. He's a bit of a 'wild child' and we figured that he went to sample different casinos, Mr…."

He started, "Oh, sorry, I'm Mr. Benedict. The owner of this fine establishment. Why don't you all come with me and we'll check the register. I'd like to think that we take care of our guests. What is your godfather's name?"

Harry replied, "Sirius Black, sir."

As the man perused the register at the front desk, he mused, "Sirius… Black… Sirius Black. Wasn't he the man who was recently released from prison after being wrongfully accused of mass murder?"

"That's right, sir. The real killer was caught and confessed that he framed him."

He smiled, "Well… I'm delighted that justice has prevailed."

Then his smile turned into a frown and he closed the register, "I'm terribly sorry, but I don't seem to have any record of a Sirius Black here. Might I suggest that you check out my other hotels, The Bellagio and The Mirage? If he isn't there, you can try Caesar's Palace or a few other casinos. He couldn't have gotten very far."

Harry gave a small bow, "Thank you Mr. Benedict. Have a nice day!"

Unfortunately for them, Sirius wasn't at the Bellagio or The Mirage. Even Caesar's Palace was a bit of a dud. Then, Percy noticed a place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino. He gestured towards it, "Hey, let's check in here? Maybe we'll find him here."

The doorman smiled and ushered the quartet inside, and the scene took their breaths away. To say that it was a giant game room, would be an understatement. It had everything, from an indoor water slide, starting from nearly 40 stories above, to a climbing wall and indoor bungee-jumping. A nearby bellhop came over, "Hi, welcome to the Lotus Hotel and Casino! How can I help you?"

As he spoke, he pressed a green plastic credit card in each of their hands. Harry smiled politely at him, "I'm looking for someone. I believe he may have come here to have some fun, but he's been taking a bit of time. I've come to fetch him before my group leaves."

He replied, "Ahh that's a shame. I hope you find him. Also, could I convince you four to try some of our games while you search for whoever you are looking for?"

Annabeth replied, "Of course, it would be rude not to try some of your games."

They went up to a suite that was waiting for them and couldn't help marvelling at how posh it was. Harry thought to himself, 'Draco Malfoy, eat your heart out.'

After freshening up, which included them gathering supplies and Percy dumping Ares' bag, they went back down. Harry turned to the other three, "Okay let's split up, we can cover more ground that way. Once we find Sirius, we'll meet up by the entrance and get back to the quest."

Annabeth nodded firmly, but Percy and Grover grinned, "We'll also get in some play time!"

Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly, "Okay fine. We'll have some fun too. The gods know we deserve it after all we've been through so far."

With that, they took off in different directions. As Harry walked, he felt his mind become a little foggy and a very strong urge to play a few games. If he was being honest, NBA All-Star Challenge 2 was very tempting. Instead, he slammed down his Occlumency shields and the feeling disappeared.

Finally, after what felt like 10 minutes, he found Sirius sampling Wolfenstein 3D. The man was muttering, "Come on BJ! Get that Nazi scumbag!".

Harry waited until he finally defeated Adolf Hitler, equipped with a robotic suit and four chain guns. He grabbed the man's shoulder, "Hey Padfoot! I found you at last!"

He turned and his cloudy eyes brightened with recognition, "Pup! So good to see you! You want to play a 1v1 with me?"

The feeling of succumbing to playtime came back, but Harry strengthened his Occlumency shields. He shook his head, "Come on Sirius, Moony is getting worried."

The man waved a dismissive hand, "Meh… He can wait… It's only been an hour."

That was when Harry definitely knew something was wrong. He stammered, "Actually Padfoot, you've been gone for nearly a week! I think Remus had a right to be worried sick."

Sirius' eyes cleared briefly before it spaced out again, "Come on Harry, Moony has always been a worrywart. Now let's play a few rounds!"

He made to drag Harry next to him, but Harry moved back with his wand in his hand. The boy pointed it at him and chanted, "Finite Incantatem!"

That did it, and Sirius' eyes cleared for good. He blinked, "What in Merlin's name!"

Harry was done waiting, and grabbed him by the hand. He began slowly dragging the man away. Just as they made it down the aisle, he bumped into a girl with dark silky hair and olive skin, wearing a floppy green cap. The two of them tumbled down, just missing a younger boy, who also had dark hair and olive skin.

He was on his feet immediately and helped her up, "Hey, are you okay? I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm Harry, Harry Potter. This is my godfather, Sirius."

She held out a hand, "Bianca di Angelo. This is my little brother Nico. You've been here long? We've stayed here for a few weeks."

Harry shook his head, "I just got here and Sirius has been here for an hour. But it doesn't make sense… I mean-"

Just then, Percy came running over to us, his eyes panicked. He grabbed Harry's arm, "Dude! Something's seriously wrong here. I was playing against this guy called Darrin and he said something weird, 'Groovy'. I got a bit suspicious and asked him what year it was. According to him, it was 1977."

Nico piped up, "No it's not, it's 1942."

Harry and Percy looked at each other in horror. Sirius was also slowly catching on. The two hurried forward and Percy breathed, "We've got to find Annabeth and Grover!"

Eventually, they found her playing an architecture-themed video game. Percy shook her, "Come on, we've got to get out of here!"

However, she ignored him and he shook her again. The girl snapped, "What!? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Listen… The Underworld, our quest… Harry's found his godfather. Come on!"

She protested, "But I just got to the towers! Just give me a few more minutes!"

Harry also tried, "Beth, there are people who are in here, as far back as the 1940s, and they've barely aged a day. Sirius also said that he was in here for an hour, but it's been a week!"

"So? It's great over here! So what if you lose track of time?"

This time, Percy got impatient. He grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look in his eyes, "Spiders! Large hairy spiders!"

Sirius helpfully quipped, "Acromantulas!"

That was enough to snap her out of it. After assuring that she was okay, they finally found Grover. Together, all of them managed to drab the satyr away, much to his indignation. Eventually, the seven of them managed to exit the hotel, though the friendly bellhop looked pretty gutted.

Annabeth grabbed a nearby newspaper and her face paled, "June 20th, 1992… We wasted five days in there!"

Bianca freaked out a little, but Nico was still lost. She breathed, '50 years… We were in there for 50 years… All of our friends and our family…'

Harry turned to Sirius, "Padfoot, why don't you head back to Uncle Remus. Hey Bianca, Nico… Why not go with him. Look, I get that it must be really difficult for you two. I promise you, Uncle Sirius will help take care of you. You will, won't you, Padfoot?"

Nico asked, "Why do you keep calling him 'Padfoot'?"

Sirius looked around him and didn't see anyone. He grinned and turned into a shaggy black dog, and barked. He then bounded towards Nico and plastered his face in slobbery kisses. After he was done, he turned back into a human. The younger boy was delighted, "That was so cool!"

Sirius then turned to Harry, "What about you, Harry? Aren't you and your friends coming as well?"

Harry pulled him away and told him in a low voice, "We can't we're on a quest. Lord Zeus' lightning bolt was stolen. We're trying to find it and return it by the Summer Solstice, and that's tomorrow." We think that Hades had something to do with it, but something smells fishy about this. The entrance to the Underworld is in Los Angeles, and we need to get there as fast as we can."

He suddenly remembered his little feathered friend, "Oh, I almost forgot. When we came here, we stowed away on a truck and found out that they were animal traffickers. Aside from a malnourished lion, a zebra and an antelope, I found this little fellow."

Harry reached for his front pocket and the Snidget hopped onto his palm. Sirius' eyes widened when he saw the tiny bird, "Merlin's saggy bollocks! I thought they were extinct."

Harry nodded excitedly, "Precisely! Besides, the Underworld is no place for such a little guy. I was hoping that you could bring him to Hagrid. You know he loves little magical creatures."

Sirius stroked his beard, "True, but I think bringing him to Professor Kettleburn is better. He is the Care of Magical Creatures professor, after all. I'll take it to him. As for your transport, I have an idea."

Sirius pulled out his wand and stuck it out. Suddenly, there was a deafening *bang* and a triple-decker purple bus materialised in front of him. He nodded at Harry, trusting him to take care of things from there. He stepped away with Bianca and Nico, and after giving them a small warning, Apparated away.

Just then, the bus door opened and a conductor in a purple uniform stepped out. He announced, "Welcome to the Knight Bus! Emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you like! My name is Stan Shunpike and I'll be your conductor today! Say, what's your name?"

Harry thought fast, "Daniel Radcliffe! These are my friends, Percy, Grover and Annabeth!"

Stan nodded and gestured for them to hop inside. He directed them to a brass bedstead, with curtained windows and a candle burning in a small bracket. He asked, "So where are you lot headed?"

Annabeth replied, "Los Angeles! By the Santa Monica pier. We need to be there as fast as possible!"

Stan Shunpike sat down next to the driver and hollered, "Take her away, Ern!"

A second later, there was another loud bang and the quartet found themselves flattened against the bed. When they were able to extricate themselves from the mess of tangled limbs, Percy told them about his latest dream from the smuggler's truck. It wasn't exactly accurate, because the Lotus Casino ordeal was still fresh and had clouded some information.

The best that he could recall that the pit monster's servant called him by a nickname. Annabeth's brows furrowed, "The Silent One? The Rich One? Both of them are nicknames for Lord Hades."

However, Percy was still not convinced. Even she realised that her theories were falling flat. The only other new information was that the pit monster was expecting two items. Before long, the Knight Bus halted at a local beach in Santa Monica. They staggered out and Harry handed Stan a few Sickles and Galleons before thanking him for the journey. Percy blurted, "Dude! Wizarding transport sucks."

Harry snorted, "No argument there, mate. Personally speaking, this is the second most unpleasant mode of wizarding transport. There are five of them. In order of most to least unpleasant, there's Apparition, the Knight Bus, Portkeys, Floo Travel and Broomsticks."

Percy shot him a weird look, "A broomstick? Dude, stereotypical much?"

They walked to the beach, and on a whim, Percy entered the water and kept walking. Annabeth spotted him going deeper and called out a warning, but it was too late, as his head went under. What followed was an agonising wait while Annabeth fretted. Around 15 minutes later, he emerged from the water, bone dry as always. However, he was clutching something in his hand. He came over to them and spoke in a low voice, "I spoke to a Nereid and she gave me these."

His fist opened to reveal three pearls nestled in his palm. He continued, "According to her, in times of great need, we should smash the pearl at our feet."

Annabeth frowned, "No gift comes without a price, Percy."

He protested, "But she gave them to me for free."

Harry interjected, "That's not what she meant, bruv. There's a phrase that goes, 'There is no such thing as a free lunch'. There's always a price."

Eventually, after hitch-hiking to a bus station, they were on a bus to West Hollywood. Unfortunately, the driver did not know of any place called DOA Recording Studios. Percy had told them about this place from a business card he picked up from Medusa's lair. Nevertheless, the bus driver dropped them off at the next stop.

From there, they wandered for hours and had difficulty finding the place. As night-time fell, so too did the mood of the city. There were all sorts of shady figures slinking around in the shadows. As they walked past an alley, there was a holler. Before they knew it, six boys had surrounded them, all decked in swanky clothes.

One boy advanced, and they guessed that he was the gang leader. He bore down on them, but was cut off by a punch from Harry and Percy. The boy stumbled in shock, and the quartet took that chance to bolt. Meanwhile, the thugs recovered and gave chase. They ran for a few minutes until they ducked into another alley and burst into an open store.

The group ran in and took refuge behind a waterbed, watching as the thugs ran past. Grover sighed in relief, "I think we lost them!"

A voice spoke up behind them, "Lost who? Was it those pesky kids again? I should have known. They hang around these parts every night, and more often than not, I get some unexpected, but not unwelcome customers. Greetings! I'm Crusty, owner of this fine establishment, 'Crusty's Waterbed Palace!'. Would you like to look at a waterbed?"

The kids whirled around to see a man dressed in a silk paisley shirt, which was unbuttoned halfway. He also wore a velvet jacket with very wide lapels. Finally, he capped off his look with numerous silver chains. As for his complexion, Crusty was tall with a bald head, grey leathery skin, thick lidded eyes and a cold reptilian smile.

With a large meaty arm, he steered everyone inside the store. As he stopped in front of a bed covered in black satin sheets and built-in lava lamps, he spread his arms proudly, "This is my most popular model! Million hand massage! Why not try it out."

"Million-hand massage! Sweet!", Grover cheered and dived into the bed. Then, he guided Harry and Annabeth to two other beds, which were side-by-side. They put up a bit of resistance, but he outmuscled them and pushed them onto the beds. He snapped his fingers, 'Ergo!', and on cue, ropes sprang from all three beds and fastened themselves onto the three helpless children, covering their bodies and wrapping around their wrists and ankles. Unfortunately for Harry, he couldn't quite reach his wand either.

Crusty groaned, "Darn it… Almost!"

He then reached out and grabbed Percy, who was just backing away. He said condescendingly, "Don't worry, kid. We'll find one for you in a sec."

A defiant Percy yelled, "Let my friends go!"

Crusty replied back, "Will do that, but I got to make sure that they fit first."

"Fit first?"

"All beds are exactly six feet. Your friends are too short and I hate imperfect measurements. So I got to stretch them out, they might just live."

Percy thought fast, "Your name is not Crusty, I'm assuming."

"It's a nickname. Short for Procrustes."

His eyes widened in realisation, "The Stretcher!"

"Aye, but who can pronounce Procrustes? It's a bit of a mouthful and its bad for business. Now Crusty…Everyone can pronounce that, and its catchier."

Percy then began to keep him talking while he figured out a plan. He ran a finger across the lacquered finish of a random bed. He said, "Man! The workmanship on these beds are fantastic! I don't think I've ever seen a built-in lava lamp!"

Annabeth yelled out in protest, but Percy ignored her. He continued, "What happens if a customer is more than six feet tall?"

He finally let go of Percy and reached for a huge double-bladed bronze axe. Hefting it onto his shoulder, he nonchalantly said, "I just centre the subject as best as I can, and lop off whatever hangs over on either end."

Now terrified out of his mind, Percy gulped, "Ah… Sensible."

While all that was going on, Harry, Annabeth and Grover were really looking like they were in trouble. Percy then pointed to a bed that had the tag, 'Honeymoon special'. He cried out, "Hey does this really have dynamic stabilizers to stop wave motion?"

Crusty beamed, "Absolutely! Want to try it out?"

"Actually I'm curious about one thing. Will it work on a big guy like you?"

"Guaranteed!"

"No! You're joking!"

"I'm not!"

"I'll believe it when I see it"

Procrustes bought it, hook, line and sinker, and plonked himself onto the bed. He grinned up at the boy, "No waves, see!"

He made to get up, but Percy was faster and snapped his fingers, "Ergo!"

On cue, a whole swathe of ropes cocooned the giant, and he yelled indignantly, "Hey!"

Percy ordered, "Centre him just right", and the ropes obeyed dutifully. They adjusted themselves in such a way that his whole head was sticking out from one end, and his feet at the other end. The son of Poseidon then brought out his sword, and Crusty began pleading and trying to bargain. The man was still bargaining when Percy raised the sword above his head and beheaded him. With Procrustes dead, he got to work chopping off the ropes binding the other three. He couldn't help quipping, "You three look taller."

Annabeth grumped, "Very funny, be faster next time."

Harry mused, "Heck of a way to have a growth spurt. I wonder how I'll explain this one."

Grover then spotted a bulletin board nearby and noticed a bright orange flyer. It was about DOA Recording Studios, which offered commissions for heroes' souls. It also had the address and a map to the location on it. Fortunately it was not too far away. They trooped down Valencia Boulevard until they reached an ordinary building. Outside was a black marble sign and gold letters etched on it, reading, "DOA Recording Studios. No Solicitors, No Loitering, No Living."

By then it was nearly midnight, but the inside was lit and looked full. The four of them were nervous, but were not willing to outwardly say it. Percy turned to Harry, "Dude, do you mind doing most of the talking? You did say that you had some business with Hades, right."

Harry nodded, "I do have business, thanks for the reminder. No worries, Jackson."

Inside the lobby, soft music played, via hidden speakers. The studio's interior looked pretty dreary, with steel grey-coloured walls and carpets. There were also pencil cacti growing in the corners. The furniture was also decked out in black leather and there were several dozens of people waiting.

Percy couldn't help noticing that the people looked slightly transparent. They walked up to the security guard's desk and Annabeth nudged Harry. The guard was a tall man with dark skin and bleach blonde hair in a military crew cut. He wore a pair of fancy sunglasses and a bleach blonde Italian suit.

Harry smiled at him and placed his hands in his pockets, "Hello Lord Charon, I'm Harry Potter."

He looked up from his magazine and peered at them, "Hello, welcome to the entrance of the Underworld. Now… May I know how you all died? For the record, of course."

Harry shook his head, "Actually, none of us are dead. However, I do have some business with Lord Hades. Information about a certain Dark Lord who has escaped from death."

Charon's eyes hardened, "Ahh yes, I've heard Thanatos throw plenty of tantrums about that pesky spirit. Well godlings, in that case I shall let you through on one condition. When you speak to Lord Hades, tell him that I need a pay raise. You have no idea how annoying it is to be forced to babysit these spirits. Always crying and grovelling, 'Please don't let me be dead', 'Please let me across for free'. By far, there are only three spirits who were the most cooperative. They were James Potter, Lily Evans and Ignotus Peverell."

Harry brightened, "James and Lily are my parents, and Ignotus is my ancestor!"

Percy interrupted, "You deserve better, Charon. A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay."

Harry caught on to what he was doing and slowly began stacking Drachmae and even threw in a few Galleons.

Charon whined petulantly, "I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years! Do you think these suits come cheap?"

Percy smoothly replied, "We can mention a pay raise to Lord Hades, if you want."

Finally, Charon noticed the assortment of Drachmae and Galleons. His eyes gleamed greedily and then gave a huge dramatic sigh, "Oh well… Boat's almost full anyway. I'll just add you lot and be done with it."

He led them to the elevator, grumbling about freeloaders. Just before he entered, he called out, "Alright you lot! No funny ideas while I'm gone or things will be unpleasant for you. And if anyone messes with my easy-listening station one more time and I'll make good on my promise to keep you all here for a thousand years!"

As the elevator went down, Annabeth asked, "How long do these spirits wait in the lobby?"

He shrugged, "Forever… Or until I'm feeling generous."

She swallowed nervously, "Oh… That's fair"

Charon raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Just wait until it is your turn. Where you're going, it might come soon enough."

Then, the descending motion stopped and they got the feeling that they were moving forward. The air turned misty and the elevator faded out and was replaced by a wooden barge. Charon's crisp Italian suit was also swapped out for a long black robe.

Outside the barge, they were being ferried across an inky black river. On top of it were carcasses of dead fish, crushed dolls, flowers, and strangely enough, diplomas and other such paraphernalia. Grover murmured, "Is this the River Styx? But it's so…"

Charon bitterly spat, "Polluted? That it is, young satyr, that it is. For thousands of years, humans have been dumping so many things in it. Hopes and dreams, wishes that went unfulfilled… Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

At that point, the four of them began to realise that they were the only living things on the boat. With that thought, they all huddled together just to reassure themselves that they were alive.

As they reached the shore, they heard a demonic howl in the distance. Charon grinned at them, or at least they assumed that he was grinning, because his face was replaced by a skull. He chortled, "Old Three-Face is hungry. Bad luck for you, godlings. Maybe this time you'll be back as actual ghosts."

They disembarked and followed the other spirits down a well-worn path. Suffice to say, the Underworld was nothing like they had expected. It looked like a scene out of airport security. There were three separate entrances under a giant archway that read, "YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS."

There were metal detectors and security cameras at each entrance, oddly enough. Beyond them lay various toll booths with other black-robed people. The howling grew louder, the closer they approached. Two of the three lines had an 'Attendant on Duty' sign and the last one had a sign reading, 'EZ Death'. Apparently, the EZ Death line was moving at a much faster pace than the other two.

Annabeth mused, "The EZ Death line must go straight to Asphodel. Most of those souls don't want their lives judged in court so this is the easiest option."

Percy looked at her in confusion, "There's a court for dead people?"

Grover nodded, "Yeah, there are three judges, but they are constantly changing. There were judges like King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, William Shakespeare, and many more. If a person deserves a special reward then they send the soul to the Fields of Elysium. The ones who did bad are usually punished harshly. Finally, the ones who were neither here nor there are simply directed to the Field of Asphodel. It's like standing in a wheat field in Kansas for eternity."

Percy winced, "That's rough."

Grover snorted, "Tell that to that fellow there."

They looked over to see some of the black-robed ghouls haul out a spirit and were frisking him. Then Harry caught sight of his face and gave a small gasp, "I know him! That was Professor Quirrell!"

Grover glanced at him, "Wasn't he the guy who hosted that homicidal Dark Lord's spirit? Well I'm not surprised that Hades will be mad at him. Only people like them get his personal attention. I'm guessing that when you finally kill that Dark Lord of yours, there will be eternal punishment waiting for him."

They kept shuffling forward until the howls became nearly deafening. Then, a veil of green mist in front of them, dissipated. What lay before them was the path branching off into three different lanes running parallel. However, their focus was on what was standing over the paths. To be precise, they were staring at an enormous shadowy dog. Harry mused, "A Rottweiler, eh? I always pegged him for a Pitbull kind of God. But bloody hell! He's easily 3 times bigger that the Cerberus that was guarding the Philosopher's Stone."

Nervously, they approached and Harry began to slowly dig through his backpack. The middle head swivelled towards them and started growling. As they moved closer, the growls grew louder and more menacing. Percy tried to distract it with a broken bedpost, but it was not impressed. Then Harry stepped up with Hagrid's flute to his lips. He then began to play a soft lullaby on it and that was when things changed.

Each of the Cerberus' eyelids began to droop and it swayed on its feet. Taking that as their cue, Percy, Grover and Annabeth hurried through under its legs and past the monster. Then, Harry calmly walked through like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, still playing the flute. Finally, with a ground-shaking thud the giant dog flopped onto its belly and began to snore.

Unfortunately, the plan went off the rails when they passed the metal detectors. Alarms blared shrilly and Cerberus was soon back up on its feet again. After hiding for a while, the quartet began moving once again.

When they finally explored the depths of the Underworld, they came across millions and millions of souls. What was so unnerving about the whole experience was that none of the ghosts seemed scary, but they just felt sad and depressed. Before long, they passed through another gate that branched off into either Elysium or Eternal Damnation.

On their left side was a rocky path towards the aptly named Fields of Punishment. Although the torture souls were far away, they could still make out the punishments. Each one seemed worse than the last, and the only recognisable ones were Sisyphus' punishment and they even spotted Tantalus chasing after an apple.

However, the right side of the path definitely looked like paradise. The valley was dotted with stunning-looking houses from every era. Harry also could have sworn that he spotted a red-haired woman in the distance. In the middle of the valley, there was also a lake with three small islands, which looked like something from a Hawaiian postcard.

Finally tearing themselves away, they forged on through the Fields of Asphodel. The deeper they went, the darker it got and everything went grayscale. When they all looked at each other, their faces and bodies looked like characters from old movies.

In the distance, there was a sound of a familiar screech and there was a glittering black obsidian palace looming on the horizon. Three dark bat-like creatures were also fluttering around. At this point, a terrified Grover began to slowly inch away, "Maybe the lightning bolt is hidden somewhere in Elysium."

However, Harry and Annabeth yanked him back towards them. Then something truly bizarre happened. His shoes suddenly sprouted wings on their own and wrenched him away from them. Harry yelled, "Oi! Grover! Cut it out, mate!"

He hollered back desperately, "THIS ISN'T ME! MAIA! MAIA! COME ON! WHY WON'T THE WINGS DISAPPEAR!"

The possessed shoes began dragging him towards the palace, and the other three sprinted to keep up. Annabeth yelled at him to get the laces off, but the satyr couldn't reach.

Just then, a few metres from the palace gates, the out-of-control Grover veered to the right and got dragged in the opposite direction. He was rapidly being dragged through a tunnel where the walls were beginning to narrow. Percy hollered, "Grover! Hang onto something!"

As they ran, the tunnel grew darker and chillier. The whole place reeked of evil and something really ancient. Suddenly, the tunnel opened up into a cavern and smack dab in the middle of it was a massive chasm, which could have swallowed up a hundred Hogwarts castles clustered together.

The panicking Grover finally smacked a big rock and that was enough to loosen one shoe. The other one kept tugging him, but without its twin, it was much weaker. Eventually, Harry and the others caught up and heaved him away from the chasm. The remaining shoe finally broke free and flung itself down the chasm.

The group finally dragged their friend to a safe area and collapsed on the ground to catch their breath. Grover nearly whimpered, "Wh-what was that!"

The three demigods eyed each other before Annabeth spoke, "Tartarus, the entrance to Tartarus."

Eventually, they dragged themselves away and came back toward Hades' palace. Along the way, Percy began struggling a little as he walked. The boy grunted, "Man! This thing's getting heavy!"

As it turned out, he got stuck with carrying Ares' backpack. Harry wasn't letting his own backpack out of his sight, so he kept a hold of it throughout the whole trip. Finally, the four of them stood in front of the gates, not knowing what to expect.