Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.
Author's Notes: Unrelated, but I really hate heat waves. I wanted to get a bunch of writing done this week and instead my chronic vertigo worsened because of the heat lol. Yay me, right?
This chapter is another one with some pretty noticeable changes, this time towards the end. If you catch onto it, which I think you should, all I gotta say is: ;)
As always, hope you enjoy, and until next week,
~TGWSI/Selene Borealis
Πότνια Στύξ – Lady Styx
~The Finding Home Saga~
~Finding Home~
~Chapter 19: I Have A Talk With The Lady Styx~
It was Katie and Silena's idea.
While I was busy having an existential crisis and Nico's sister Bianca was busy having a "μὰ θεούς, I'm technically eighty three years old" crisis, the two of them loaded all five of us into the back of a Vegas taxi-minivan-thingy, as if we actually had money, and Silena, with a voice of persuasion that wasn't quite charmspeak, told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."
Immediately, the cabbie took his cigar out of his mouth and laughed. "That's three hundred miles, sweetheart," he said. "Or around four and a half hours, in case you can't do math. That's a lot of miles for gas. And a meal, too. What makes you think you can convince me to drive you there?"
Silena smiled wickedly, but she still didn't use her charmspeak. Instead, she asked him, "Do you accept casino debit cards?"
The cabbie shrugged in response. "Sure, some of 'em. Same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em through first."
She handed him her LotusCash card/room key.
He looked at it skeptically.
"Swipe it," she purred.
He did.
As soon as his meter machine registered the card, it started to rattle. The lights flashed. Finally, an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.
The cigar, which the cabbie had just stuffed back inside his mouth, promptly fell out of it. He looked back at us, eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles...uh, Your Highness?"
Silena's grin widened. "Well, do you know of a place called DOA Records?"
Four and a half hours later, the five of us were standing outside of DOA Records, looking at the building with pale faces and wide eyes. Bianca's face was probably the palest out of all of us – something which I felt more than a little guilty for, because Katie, Silena, and I had basically had to give her and her brother a crash-course into being a demigod after the three of us quickly realized that was what she and Nico were. I mean, why else would someone willingly shove their kids into a place like the Lotus Hotel & Casino, the home of the Lotus-Eaters, with a promise they would one day come back for them, with that day being more than sixty years later? Why else would Nico be able to see the bellhops for what they were like we did, and why else would he have ADHD so bad he was making even me a little tired with his antics?
So, yeah. Basically, the answer was obvious. And it was something that Nico took with no small amount of joy, while his sister, Bianca, looked like it was the worst thin she could have ever possibly been told...though I guess, in a way, it was.
But while figuring out that they were demigods and all was great, it presented the three of us with a new problem: we were going to have to bring them to the Underworld with us. Because while the Underworld was no place for anyone, let alone two new demigods, to go to while they were still alive, we couldn't exactly send them back to camp or tell them to wait outside. Camp was simply too far away and their scents had just gotten ten times stronger due to them being told about their semi-divine existence.
At least, my lizard brain supplied helpfully, they didn't have to face the Minotaur as a bunch of newbie demigods. Although, that was assuming Hades and his minions weren't going to be a million times worse in terms of terror and not-so-idle threats...
...But, enough about that. I had places to go, people to see, and river goddesses to talk to, as much as I didn't want to admit to the voice from my dreams influencing me to do such a thing.
"Alright," I said, continuing to look at the DOA building, which had black, marble-framed glass doors with golden lettering on them. The lettering said: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LITTERING. "Does everyone remember the plan?"
"Yeah!" Nico exclaimed with a grin.
Katie and Silena echoed him, while Bianca muttered out, "Is it still too late to go back to the hotel?"
We all ignored her.
"Great," I said. "Then let's go find whichever Underworld deity that did this."
With that, the five of us walked inside the DOA lobby.
Now, if you've never been inside DOA Records – which I'm sure you haven't, provided that you aren't dead – then allow me to describe it to you. The place is packed with people – people sitting on couches, people standing up, and people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. At first glance, they all seem normal, even if they don't talk, move, or do much of anything. But if you try to focus on them for more than a couple of seconds or so, they become transparent, to the point where you can see right through their bodies, no problem.
And as if this wasn't dreary enough, the entire place is colored steel grey, from the walls, to the carpet, to even the pencil cacti that grew in the corners of the lobby like skeleton hands. Depressing music – if that's possible – played softly over hidden speakers, while there were posters on the walls depicting the various parts of the afterlife, from the Fields of Punishment (HOW GOOD WERE YOU REALLY? THINK ABOUT IT.) to the Isles of the Blessed (THE FOURTH TIME'S THE CHARM!). For some reason, the latter poster seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't dwell on it long, because we had to walk up to the security guard's desk, which was sitting on a raised podium. Thus, despite him sitting down, we still had to look up to him.
Speaking of the security guard, he was a tall and elegant dude, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blonde hair that was shaved into a military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel underneath a silver name tag, which I was pretty sure read CHARON. And even if it didn't, I knew better than to ask.
Without looking up from the paper that he was writing on, which looked to be some sort of official paperwork, Charon asked in a distinctive accent, like Dick van Dyke's one in Mary Poppins, "Now, what can I do for you little dead ones today?"
Silena and I shared a look.
"We want to go to the Underworld," I answered him, while I desperately tried to keep my voice as level and clear as possible.
Charon snorted. "Well now, that's a first, that," he said. "Straightforward and honest. No screamin'. No, 'Please, there must be some sort of mistake!'" He looked up then, with cool, silvery-grey eyes, which he narrowed at us. "But you aren't really looking to go there for your semi-final destination, now are you?"
I froze.
He grinned. "That's what I thought. Unfortunately, the Lord of the Dead doesn't allow multiple trips to the Underworld, unless you're either a dead rebirth or have a special reason for comin'. So, what's the reason of all of yous? Come on, I don't got all day."
Nervously, I wet my lips. This hadn't gone like I thought it was going to go. I'd planned on us all saying that we were dead, bribing the guy (which shouldn't have been hard to do, just look at how expensive the suit he was wearing was...well, you get what I mean), and then getting down to the Underworld, no problem. But now it seemed that saying was coming back to haunt us – heh, pun intended – again.
And now I didn't know what to do...except maybe tell him the truth?
But before I could do that, Nico suddenly exclaimed from behind me, "Wow, are you really Charon, the ferryman of the dead?"
Silena winced.
Charon blinked. Then, as his eyes widened, he turned to look at Katie, Silena, and me with something akin to astonishment and pity. "You went to the Lotus Hotel & Casino," he said.
I snorted. "More like got dropped off there by Ares."
But he didn't hear me, or at least, he didn't seem to. Instead, shaking his head, Charon told us, "This is bad. Very bad. You don't realize how much shit the three of yous just got yourselves into, do you?"
The three of us looked at each other.
"Uh...no?" I said. "Care to enlighten us about how we've gotten ourselves into so much 'shit?'"
"I – " Charon began, only to shake his head once more. "I better not. I'll let the boss explain it to yous downstairs – right before he kills you three, anyways."
Standing up then, he stretched, and walked towards the elevator whilst gesturing for us to follow him. We did, causing us to push through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at our clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things I couldn't make out. Charon shoved them all out of the way with a grimace and a snarl of, "Freeloaders."
He escorted us into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with us and pushed them back into the lobby.
"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room, his tone forcibly upbeat. I could tell that he was really nervous, for whatever reason, and it was beginning to seep into me, too. Why would a god like him ever have a reason to be nervous? "And if anyone moves the dial off of my easy-listenin' station again, I'll make sure you'e here for another thousand years! Understand?"
He shut the doors. Then, he put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and we started to descend.
We descended in silence. Partially, this was because Silena, Katie, and Bianca all seemed to catch onto how much Charon was freaked out like I had. And partially, it was because Nico seemed to be too excited for words to say anything else at this point. Gods, was this kid weird – but not in a bad way. More of in a way I suspected older brothers felt about their younger siblings, but since I was an only child for all intents and purposes, I couldn't say for sure.
At some instance during our elevator ride, I got a dizzy feeling. I quickly realized that we weren't going down anymore, but forward. The air turned misty. The floor of the elevator began to sway, causing me to stumble and blink hard.
When I opened my eyes, all of us were still looking the same – Charon and the spirits included, thank the gods, because I doubted I could deal with them otherwise – but the elevator wasn't an elevator anymore. Instead, it was a small, Viking-esque wooden boat, sitting in a river comprised of dark, oily water and swirling with bones, dead fish, and other strange things. Like plastic dolls, crushed carnations, and soggy diplomas with gilt edges.
"The River Styx," I muttered, remembering once more what the voice in my dream had told me to do when I got to its banks.
(As if I had ever forgotten, really.)
Charon must have thought that I was awed by it instead of apprehensive because of it, as he said, "You should have seen it four thousand years ago, kid. It wasn't as polluted then. But then again, the people back then didn't have the hopes, dreams, and wishes that never came true like the now do."
Mist curled off of the filthy water. Above us, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light that was the color of poison.
A few minutes later, the shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either directions as far as we could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green groom, echoing off of the stones – the howl of a large animal.
"Ol' Three-Face is hungry," Charon said with a wicked grin. "That's double bad luck for yous, godlin's."
The bottom of the boat slid onto the black sand. The dead began to disembark: a woman holding a little girl's hand, an old man and an old woman hobbling along arm-in-arm, and even a boy around Nico's age, shuffling along with wide eyes and looks of fear or resigned acceptance.
Charon told me specifically, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. 'Specially not for you."
And then, taking up the pole that he had used to steer the boat along the river, he began to warble something that sounded like a Barry Manilow song as he ferried the now empty boat across the river.
Katie, Silena, Nico, and Bianca all moved to follow the spirits we had been in the boat with, as they all trudged down a well-worn path. But, before they could actually follow them, I said, "Wait."
The four of them turned to look at me, visibly confused. "What?" Katie asked me, frowning. "What's wrong?"
"I – I have to do something," I replied hesitantly. "I had a dream before we went into the hotel. I – I have to talk with the Lady Styx."
Katie's frown deepened. "Percy, I don't think that's a good idea."
Silena nodded in agreement.
I shook my head. "Look, I have to do this," I said, my voice as firm as I could make it, given the situation. "There's just – I gotta ask her something, okay? I gotta – "
Before I could say anything else, a deep and musical voice, lilting like the waves of the sea, from behind me said, "Ask me what, demigod?"
Despite having faced Medusa and the Lotus-Eaters, I couldn't help but shriek as I spun around.
The owner of the voice was, of course, none other than Styx, or so that was who I presumed her to be. She was a beautiful woman, with long, flowing black hair, olive skin, and volcanic black eyes. She was wearing a black chiton with a silver girdle, along with black sandals that were literally sitting on top of the water...although, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, given how she was the goddess of the river and could probably do whatever she wanted with it.
"Π – Πότνια Στύξ," I greeted her as best as I could, the ancient Greek falling from my tongue easily. Behind me, I heard Katie, Silena, Bianca, and Nico do the same.
"...Demigod," Styx replied after what seemed like an eternity. She frowned and narrowed her eyes at me. "Why did you call me, young one? It's been many years since anyone has called me from my river. Sixty-eight years, to be precise. And the last people to call me were the gods, not mere mortals like you."
I sucked in a deep breath. "I – I know, Πότνια...that's actually why I called you today. I...I want to know about why my father and uncles made the oath that they did, sixty-eight years ago. I want to know why they stopped having mortal children."
"Percy!" Katie whispered from behind me. I didn't need to see her to know her face had most likely paled to the color of bone.
Styx raised a hand to silence her. "Be still, demigod," she said. "The boy is not wrong for wanting to know, even if That One has manipulated him into wanting to."
I frowned. "That One? Who the hell is that?"
Styx smiled, a sight which sent chills down my spine. "You know who He is. And even if you do not, you soon shall..."
The goddess waved her arms, causing black water to rise up next to her and form into a steamy circle. The circle then turned into a smoky white color and from it, a picture began to form, one of a girl around fourteen or so with wavy black hair, misty green eyes, and pale skin. She kind of familiar, but as to why she did, I couldn't quite figure out.
"Sixty-nine years ago," Styx began. "This maiden became the most current Oracle of Delphi, the Pythia. Upon receiving Apollo's gift, she immediately foretold a prophecy, one that went like this:
"A half-blood of the eldest gods shall reach eighteen against all odds, and see the world in endless sleep, hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap. A final choice shall end their days, Olympus to preserve or raze," she said. As she spoke, the Oracle of Delphi, whose eyes had started to glow misty green, mimicked her with ease.
"Upon hearing this prophecy," Styx continued. "The Olympians declared an emergency meeting, to decipher what the prophecy meant. Many arguments were had, many theories thrown out and discarded. Then, after six months of deliberating, they had finally decided on their answer, just in time for what you mortals call the Second World War to start."
The image in the watery circle changed. Now, it showed the Big Three's godly symbols of power: Zeus' celestial lightning bolt, my dad's trident, and Hades' helm of darkness. Underneath them, various shadowy figures began to appear: one was underneath Zeus, two were underneath Poseidon, and four were underneath Hades. Three of the ones underneath Hades looked smaller than the rest, while both of the ones underneath Poseidon looked as if it was standing with the help of a cane.
"The Olympians had decided that the prophecy referred to a child of either Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades," Styx said. "A child that would turn against them before their eighteenth birthday. So, while allowing their older children to live, they killed their younger children...or should I say, Hades, as the only one to have children below the age of eighteen, made everyone think that he had killed his own children." Here, the three small figures below Hades' symbol of power vanished. "Then, they made their promise to me to not have any additional mortal children, although they would later tell Chiron to tell the demigods at your camp that the promise was only made after the war. After all of the chaos, senseless killing, and the suicide of Hades' last child." The last figure underneath Hades' symbol of power vanished as well.
"But, of course, the gods can be rare to keep their promises. It is why you were born," as she spoke, the remaining figures underneath Zeus' and Poseidon's symbols of power vanished, only to be replaced with what I presumed to be my shadowy figure, "Along with the daughter of Zeus and a few others as well." Two figures appeared underneath Zeus' symbol. At first, I thought that it meant there were now two other children besides Thalia Grace were out there, because Thalia was dead, wasn't she?
But then, underneath my shadowy figure...
Nope! I told myself. You're not going to think about that! You have bigger things to worry about right now!
"Wait – hold on," I said out loud. "You said that the child would turn against them...and you also said that I was being manipulated by That Guy. Who is he? Why does he want me to turn against the gods?"
Styx smiled grimly. "Think, young hero," she replied. "Who would gain the most from Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon going to war with each other? Who would gain from the ensuing weakening and crippling of the Olympians' power? Who has a grudge against the gods that was borne out of no good reason?"
I thought about it long and hard, over the roar of the internal scream going on inside my mind, because holy shit, did I really just see what I think I –
Focus, Percy.
Although Eris and one of the many other Underworld deities might want the Big Three to go to war with each other, they wouldn't really grain from the weakening of power that would follow. No, only someone older than the gods would, someone like –
"It's Kronos, isn't it?" I asked.
From behind me, both Silena and Katie gasped.
Styx nodded. "The Crooked One is indeed at the root of all of this."
"Well, how do I convince Hades of that?" I cried. "I – I mean, he's not going to believe me if I go to his palace, stating that Kronos took his and Zeus' symbols of power, and not my father. And even if he believes that, won't he just assume that I've been working for Kronos all along?"
Styx waved her hands, making the circle of milky water next to her back into the river. "Some gods are rare to keep their promises, while others like a solemn oath. But solemn oaths are not meant to be taken lightly, demigod. They must be worded carefully. Otherwise..." her grim smile turned into a wicked grin. "Otherwise, I will take your soul into my river and you will spend all eternity with me."
Then, she submerged herself back into her river and disappeared.
As soon as she was gone, I turned around to look at my friends. All of them were looking even more terrified than they had been before, which I couldn't exactly blame them for, because I was terrified out of my mind, too. For multiple reasons. Still, I knew what we had to do, though I didn't really know what to say or do outside of that, except for making a risky oath to Styx.
"So," I said after a few moments of tense silence. "Who's ready to go to Hades' palace?"
Word Count: 3,660
Next Chapter Title: We Meet The Lord Of The Dead
