Chapter 42
Apollo POV
I sat and listened to every single word that Rhea told Persephone. Now I know part of why she is so important. Why the Fates wanted her safe. She knows of a possible future, she knows death and she has favour from Chaos himself. She might not see it, but I do.
The moment Poseidon's daughter left on the quest, I was visited by the Moirai: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, and was told to come to this coffee shop, at this specific time and they said in unison, "You must understand her existence, Phoebus Apollo. And you must protect her from Zeus once she returns the bolt."
Rhea POV
"We are so screwed," muttered Grover, "so screwed."
"I agree with Grover," said Annabeth.
"Why? What's so bad getting help from Persephone?" I ask them.
"The gods always expect something in return. They don't just help us out of the goodness of their hearts," Annabeth said.
Blah, blah, blah. Does she ever stop?
I levitated the water from Grover's glass and splashed both of them with it.
They spluttered, "What was that for?" asked Grover.
"That's for not shutting up. Now if you don't want to get wet again, then I recommend you shut up and accept the help, even if it comes at a price. And it's not like you can just refuse a goddess. It's rude," I replied.
"Fine, but if she vaporises us, then I'm coming back to haunt you," Annabeth said grumpily.
"Great! Then let's go people! Persephone is waiting downstairs for us."
Annabeth and Grover stared at Persephone. And they wouldn't stop staring. I nudged the both of them and they looked anywhere else but at her.
"Lady Persephone, Rhea said that you will help us get to the Underworld. I don't want to sound rude or ungrateful but how are we getting there?" Annabeth asked.
Persephone giggled and snapped her fingers, "Like this."
And in a whirlwind of flowers and leaves, we all arrived at front gates of Hades' castle in the Underworld.
"Whoa, what!? We're in the Underworld!" Grover squawked.
"Quiet Grover, we don't want to upset the god of the dead," whispered Annabeth.
"Don't worry guys, Uncle Hades is nice," I tell them with a smile.
They looked at me incredulously, "Nice?" Grover muttered under his breath.
Annabeth POV
We're all going to die. This is so not good. How is it that this quest has gone so smoothly? Why are the gods so involved?
We followed Lady Persephone through the gates and into the deadly, creepy-looking castle. I swear I can hear the screams of the dead all around me.
Grover and I stuck to Rhea like flies on honey. She is handling this much better than expected of anyone entering the Underworld.
I can feel the cold and darkness seeping into my bones and Grover doesn't look like he is faring much better than me. At least Hades has taste in decoration. The inside of the caste isn't as terrifying as the outside. There are actual flower pots with living flowers on them on the hallway tables!
We arrived in a large throne room with the Lord of the dead sitting on his throne.
"Greetings, my love," said Persephone and walked gracefully towards Hades and kissed him.
"Hello, Persephone. Who is it that you've brought here?" he asked monotonously. Seriously, how is she married to a man like this, he is so evil.
"Come now, husband, you know exactly who is here. It's little Rhea and her friends from camp," she replied.
"Uncle Hades, you look as alive as ever," Rhea said and I stared at her.
"Rhea, you don't make jokes with the lord of the dead," I told her nervously, staring at Hades.
He laughed, he actually laughed. The lord of the dead laughed.
"And you're as salty as ever. Sea-salty," he told her.
Grover and I made eye contact, and his eyes spoke clearly, 'Are you seeing this? Their making jokes.'
"What's going on? I'm so confused," I told them.
"Uncle Hades, this Annabeth, daughter of Athena and Grover, the Satyr. Guys, this is Hades," she introduces us.
"We're here for Zeus's lightning bolt," I state and Rhea rolls her eyes.
"I don't have the bolt you silly girl," Hades tells me, eyes glowing red, and I take a step back.
"But the Oracle said-" I start but was interrupted.
"-The Oracle said that we have to come west, not that Hades has his bolt. Uncle Hades would never steal that," Rhea said.
"Of course you would believe that daughter of Athena. Because I'm the big, bad, evil monster that goes bump in the night. The education at that camp is sorely lacking," Hades said to me and I gulp. The room's temperature dropped ten degrees.
"I did not mean to offend you, Lord hades," I replied.
"Whatever," he said with a wave of his hand and then turned to Rhea, ignoring Grover completely. "So, tell me, niece, what have you been up to?"
"You know, this and that, went to camp, killed a minotaur. Got attacked by a hellhound. Got a quest, and here we are."
"Uh, Rhea, we still have to find the bolt. We have no idea where it is," Grover said, and I agreed.
"Guys, remember when Luke gave me this shield," she said, pointing to the shield that she then opened up, revealing Zeus's bolt.
"Oh my gods," I said.
"Luke gave this to me. He wanted me to bring this to the Underworld. And I bet the shoes that he gave me was cursed so that once I wore them, then it'd drag me down to Tartarus, taking Zeus's ultimate weapon to Kronos," she said.
"No, that can't be. You're lying, Luke wouldn't do something like that," I said.
"But he did Annabeth. Luke is full of anger. You might not have noticed, but I have. He is angry because his father was never there for him like your mom is never there for you," she said, and I got tears in my eyes.
"No, no!" I said.
"C'mon wise-girl. You're smart. I wouldn't lie about this. I know Luke is your friend but he is very angry with the gods, and would do anything to make them start a war amongst themselves."
"I think Rhea is right, Annabeth. Do you remember when Luke came back from the last quest he went on. How miserable he was," Grover said.
Rhea POV
Annabeth is in denial.
After our whole argument, Uncle Hades offered that we stay there for the rest of the day and go to Olympus tomorrow.
Some zombie man led Annabeth and Grover to their rooms. They're looking a little bit freaked out over everything, and I think some time to themselves might help them deal with this.
Uncle Hades turned to me and said, "your friends are annoying."
"Well, only on Tuesdays," I replied.
"It's Wednesday," he deadpans.
"The annoyingness must have spilt over to today, sorry," I replied grinning widely.
"Rhea, let me walk you to your room," Aunt Persephone said.
When we got there, she said that she was going to tell Hades that I suspect that Ares had his hand in the missing weapons.
"How do you think he will react?" I asked.
"He's going to be furious. I should probably call your dad, tell him to come here and discuss this with your Uncle," she said.
"Can I come with?"
"No, darling. When gods get angry they tend to unleash their full powers. We wouldn't want you to die accidentally," she said.
"Okay, while you do that, I'm going to go see how Annabeth and Grover are doing," I said.
When I got there, Grover and Annabeth were in a heated discussion.
This is going to be fun.
Poseidon POV
Arriving in Hades' halls, I asked, "Is Rhea alight?"
"Calm down brother. Your daughter is asleep in her room," Hades tells me. Persephone was sitting on his lap.
"I'm going to see her," I said.
"No, brother, I'm afraid we have more important things to discuss. Your daughter came here today with Zeus's weapon."
I frowned, "How did she get it? She's been on a bus this entire time."
"It was hidden, given to her by a boy at camp," he says. A boy! I'm going to kill him.
"Who is he?" I asked.
"His name is Luke. But don't be too hasty Poseidon. Your daughter has mentioned her suspicion to Persephone concerning our nephew Ares," he tells me.
"I see," I replied. Ares always complains about it being too peaceful these days. He would do something like this.
"Rhea thinks that Ares has my helm of darkness. And I want the two of us to work together to convince Ares to give it back," he said, smiling evilly. He has never looked more like the god of the dead than right now.
"Not without me, husband," Persephone said, matching her husband's smile.
"This is going to be fun," I said.
A/N: Let me know what you guys think. Who do you ship with Rhea and why? What would you like to see happen in the story.