Chapter Two

Three years passed on the surface. Felt like an eternity down in the Underworld. Percy remembered Annabeth telling him that time worked differently in mythological places. The Lotus Hotel, The Sea of Monsters, Tartarus. They all had a weird time distortion. But most of them made time pass slower inside than outside, so that a day in one place, would be two or more normally. But now, it seemed like he spent two days for every one that passed on the surface.

It was hard to tell when a day passed, since the Underworld didn't have access to the sun. he asked Hades about that and he said that since a shade had used an iris-message to contact Percy, he had banned them since he didn't need shades contacting the living and freaking them out.

So, his days were boring. He had been given free reign to go wherever he wanted, as long as he didn't disturb the dead. Most of the time, he would wander down to the River Styx, and play with Ceberus. Over his time down there, he grew close to the hound.

Sometimes, Nico would drop by. He had explained that he was allowed to come down whenever, as his father's son. He would hang around a few days, explaining what was happening on the surface, telling him what day it was, before leaving again.

Percy kept up with his training as well. He had told Hades he wanted to get back into training, since it seemed like he was pulled back into the Myth World. Hades had pulled Achilles to train him, mostly to get Percy out of his office so he could continue doing the large stack of paperwork on his desk.

LINE BREAK

Percy walked out of his room and down the stairs. His mom was in the kitchen, eating breakfast. Estelle was in her high chair, eating a toastable waffle. Nico had brought some last time he visited as a treat.

"Hi, honey." His mom said. "Any plans for today?"

Percy shrugged as he walked over to the pantry. He opened the door and pulled out a box of cereal. He poured himself a bowl. "Probably just gonna play with Ceberus again. Just like yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that."

Sally frowned. "I know it's boring down here, but at least we're safe."

"Yeah." Percy sighed.

As he finished his cereal, Paul walked out of his room and greeted them, kissing Sally before making himself breakfast.

"I'll see y'all tonight." Percy said as he opened the front door and walked out of the house. Before he closed the door, he turned around. "What's the plan for dinner?" He asked.

"I'm gonna try grilling burgers." Paul said.

Percy grinned. "I'll be sure to come home to try them." And with that, he closed the door and walked down the street towards the gates of the Underworld. Their house was situated near the border, as not to disturb the natural order of the Underworld.

He found a stick on the ground, a branch that had fallen from one of Persephone's birch trees. He had only seen the goddess a few times in the three years he had been in the Underworld, and it hadn't been anything more than a passing glance.

He reached the gate, where he saw cerberus, or, more like the tail end of him. He whistled to get the dog's attention. Cerberus instantly perked up and turned around. He instantly noticed the stick in Percy's hand.

Percy threw the stick, lobbing it towards the walls of Erebus in the distance. A giant gust of wind blew him back as a massive ball of black fur raced past him. Ceberus ran towards the stick. The three headed dog picked the stick up with his middle head, his other two fighting for this stick as he trotted back with it. Cerberus dropped the stick on the floor, the branch more chewed than it had been when Percy had thrown it.

Percy scratched Ceberus's middle head for five seconds, before scratching his other two with both hands for the same amount of time. He picked the stick back up and threw it in the opposite direction, Cerberus running after it almost disappearing into the shadows.

As Cerberus ran after the stick, Percy noticed a skeleton dressed as a mailman approach him. It reached Percy and reached into its mailbag. It pulled out a letter and handed it to him. Percy looked at the envelope. It read his name in the middle, with 'The Underworld" written underneath it. The return address was New Rome University, one of the dorms. And the sender, it was Annabeth.

That part struck him hard. She had gone to New Rome without him. He guessed it was understandable, it wasn't fair for him to expect her to wait, what was it, three years now, based on the last time he had seen Nico? Shit, he was almost twenty one now. But still, she went to New Rome without him. What had been their plan, she had now given up. He heaped the letter inside would be some form of consolidation.

He opened up the letter gingerly, before pulling the folded paper out and unfolding it. He was met with Annabeth's handwriting. His dyslexia was murdering him as he tried to read the letter.

Dear Percy,

It's been three years since I've last seen you. And in this time, I've done a lot of reflecting. I don't think I can do this anymore. I've waited three years for you, but I feel like life is passing me by. I have come to the realization that I need to start doing things, and not let things hold me back. Which, unfortunately, includes our relationship.

I don't regret any of it. I want to make that clear. Being with you was the happiest part of my life, but over the last three years, with you being in the underworld, well, it's like we weren't together. I haven't seen you, have had contact with you, and I think, that in that time, I have lost feelings. I'm sorry.

I'm glad you took a chance with me, and I hope that, going forward, we can still be close friends.

I'm sure you understand. I wish you no ill-will. Nothing but the best for you. I hope you find someone who made you as happy as I did these last few years. You're an amazing guy, who had a line of women willing, so I'm sure you wouldn't have a problem.

Again, thank you. I don't regret any of our relationship, and while it hurts, I know that this will be better for me in the long term.

Love, Annabeth

Percy blinked a couple of times, feeling his heart shatter each time he reread it. The sound of Ceberus's panting broke him out of his trance. He looked down to see that the three headed dog had shrunk to the size of a puppy, with the stick on the floor. He was looking at the skeleton, a line of drool coming from each of its mouths.

The skeleton didn't have eyes, but its empty eye sprockets portrayed a severe nervousness nonetheless. The skeleton hesitantly reached into its bag again and pulled out a card. Percy took it, dreading what this one said. What other bad news was waiting for him.

It was a summons. From Hades. He was calling both him and Nico to a meeting with him in his office. That was strange. Hades never called on Percy or his family, nor Nico. So Percy knew something was up when he called both Nico and him to his office.

LINE BREAK

Percy opened the door to Hades's office. Just like everything else in the castle, it was black with bronze accents, with a silver door handle.

The office was small. A black desk sat in the middle. On both sides, a stack of paperwork stood. The middle of the desk was free of any paper, allowing Hades to watch him as he entered. The walls were colored the same off white as bone. Nico sat down in an office chair already, opposite his father.

Percy hesitantly took a seat in the other office chair. "You summoned, my lord?"

Hades sat back in his chair as a look of displeasure crossed his face. "Indeed." He said the single word and nothing more.

Once it was clear he wasn't going to say more without prompting, Percy asked, "Why?"

Hades propped his feet up on the desk. His loafers didn't have a speck of dirt or dust on them. They shined like they had been freshly polished. There were tiny skulls on the tips made of polished silver. He let out a deep breath. "I've been having a bit of a problem."

The doors opened and a skeleton walked in, dragging something behind it. Percy looked down at the thing the skeleton was dragging. It was a short thing. And ugly too. Half of its face was covered in boils and welts. Its' face was long. It had a hole in its torso, which was surrounded by a black, dried liquid. Blood, perhaps. But blood wasn't black. Very dark red, sure, but never black. Of course, Gods and Immortals had golden blood, so it could have been blood.

But what creature had black blood. Nothing Percy knew of, that's for sure.

Hades took his feet off of the desk and gestured to it. The skeleton picked up the creature and placed it on the desk. The skeleton gave Hades a salute and walked out of the room, closing the doors behind it.

"This here... is a demon." Hades said, gesturing to the creature on his desk.

With the creature, now known as a demon, so close, Percy noticed more details. The creatures' skin was leathery, with a lot of weathering. The entire body was lacking in hair. Its' eyes were pitch black, with no iris's or sclera.

"A demon?" Percy asked.

Hades nodded. "A demon. Straight from the pits of Hell."

Percy froze. "So let me get this straight. Demons are real? And Hell is real?"

Hades nodded again.

"And if those are real, does that mean there is a God?"

"I'm a god, why does this confuse you?"

"Because the existence of God, capital G God, kind of implies that other gods can't exist. That God exists in a vacuum. No false idols and all that."

Hades sighed. "It isn't much of a rule of the universe, more of a rule for the worshippers."

"What?"

"Okay, let's start from the beginning. You know how Gods are tied to the worship they receive right?"

Percy nodded.

"Every God is like that. As much as we hate it, we're tied to mortals for our strength. Ultimately, the mortals hold our lives in their hands. Everything that humanity, or any other creature sentient enough to pray, believes in, has believed in, or will ever believe in, exists. Ranging from Odin to the Tooth Fairy.

"But if we're all tied to worship, then obviously, it would be in a God's best interest to have the most amount of worshipers possible. Thus, that's what God was doing. He didn't want people worshiping anyone else, because it would mean less power for him."

Percy furrowed his brow. "So... if everything is real, where does that leave science?"

Hades shrugged. "Where do you think it is left? Is it real, or is it fake. It's up to you, and up to everyone else."

Percy rubbed his temples. "This hurts."

Hades dismissed the thought with a wave. "Yes, very confusing, anyways, back to business. This is a demon from Hell. It should still be in Hell, but it is not. That's because the King doesn't give a fuck about boundaries and has been sending his spies through my domain for years. Usually we are able to find them and dispose of them quickly, hoping to set an example for the King, but he just doesn't care. So I want a more permanent solution.

"I'm sending you two to go on a diplomatic mission to Hell, to meet with the King, and negotiate terms."

Percy stared at Hades, deadpan, before he burst out laughing. "You can't be serious. You're sending two demigods to do what should be your job. This is practically a suicide mission. You can't expect us to actually agree." He stood up to leave.

Hades didn't move a muscle. He was perfectly still as he watched Percy get up. "You're going to do it."

Percy turned around and faced the Underworld God. "And why do you think that?"

Hades lounged back in his chair. "Because if you don't, I'll kick your family out of my realm, and give them a big red target on their backs for my youngest brother to aim at." The God looked down at his hand and admired his trimmed fingernails.

"You wouldn't."

"Do you really believe that, Jackson?" Hades cold, dead eyes met Percy's. "You and I both know that I'd do it in a heartbeat, just like that."

Percy leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't break an oath."

Hades's lips curled into a sly grin as he leaned back in his chair. "A Stygian oath, yes. But your father never made me swear on the Styx. And you remember my advice on binding oaths."

Percy slumped back in his chair. "When do we leave?"

LINE BREAK

The entrance to Hell was a hole. Go figure. It wasn't even a particularly 'Hellish' looking hole. It looked much like the entrance to Tartarus. Just a very large, very deep hole. Percy couldn't see the bottom.

Hades approached him and Nico. "Remember, your mission is to meet with the king and make arrangements for him to stop sending his emissaries through the Underworld."

"Can you tell us anything about the King?"

"He's smart, and manipulative. And powerful."

"That's really helpful, thanks." Percy said, his sarcasm all but hidden.

"Who do you think the King is?" Hades asked.

"It's Lucifer, isn't it? The Devil?" Nico said.

Hades looked at Percy. "See, he gets it."

Percy rolled his eyes. "You want us to literally make a deal with the Devil? Really?"

Hades smiled menacingly. "It's not me."

Percy bit his tongue, biting back a scathing remark. Instead, he asked, "So how are we supposed to get down there? Wouldn't we just die when we hit the bottom?"

Hades waved his hand nonchalantly. "The hole is more of a metaphor. I'm sure at some point you'll just end up in Hell safe and sound. Probably."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Probably. I'm gonna need a little more reassurance than just a 'probably."

Hades shrugged. "It's not like it was made with still alive mortals in mind. So fragile, you are."

"I'm not going down there if you don't know if we're gonna live. If we die, then how would you get your deal?"

"If neither of you come back after a while, I'll send Jerry from Accounting or someone."

"Why not just send Jerry then? Why make us do it?"

"Because you have experience, nephew. You got Zeus to agree to a deal."

"A deal that he broke immediately."

"Not technically. You never said he had to tell Calypso she was free. She was free, she just didn't know it."

"What about their kids? Leo and Piper were sixteen at their claiming."

"And they were fifteen when you made the deal. They were way past your little expiration date."

Percy's shoulders slumped. "Fine. I'll get your little deal done. But I want something in return."

Hades narrowed his eyes. "And that is?"

"I want you to swear that you'll protect my family. No matter if I come back or not."

"And if I don't agree to this?"

"Then maybe, maybe I'll take my family and leave."

Hades laughed. "And risk Zeus's wrath?!"

"Maybe I'll just take him on."

Hades laughed even harder. "Look, kid," he said when he finally got done wiping the tears from his eyes. "You're good. But you're not fighting the KIng of the Gods good." He took a deep breath. "But you know what, I'm in a good mood. You made me laugh. So I'll grant your little request, especially if it'll get you off my ass quicker."

"No. I want you to swear it. On the Styx."

Hades rolled his eyes. "I swear on the Styx to protect your family until you tell me otherwise. Good?"

Percy nodded. "I guess.. I'll get going then." He turned to Nico, who was looking at him with bored eyes.

"You ready?" The Son of Hades asked.

He nodded, and together, they jumped into the hole.

Percy expected Hell to resemble Tartarus. Considering tartarus was the Greek stand in, it made sense. He expected a cold, dark place, made of obsidian, where danger looked at every turn.

Hell was just Las Vegas. They found themselves in a plain dirt field reminiscent of a desert. There was a red haze to everything. The dirt was red, there was a red thin fog in the air, the dead trees were black with crimson red cracks in the bark. A person hung from the tree, naked, with a spear through their gut. A small ugly thing stood on a shittily made stool, collecting the blood from the person's wound.

"Ew." Percy muttered.

Nico shrugged. "There's some worse stuff in the Fields of Punishment. Don't know why that thing's collecting the blood."

In the distance, rose a city of lights. In the center, standing taller than everything else, on a mountain, stood a castle. Made of red stone, it had a design that just screamed 'wicked'. Above the castle was a massive star, a bright burning ball of gas, providing the entirety of Hell with light.

"If Lucifer is the King, he'd probably be in the castle, right?" Percy asked, turning to Nico.

Nico shrugged. "Probably. Makes the most sense."

Together, they set off towards the city, towards the castle, towards the Devil.