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12. PERCY JACKSON AND THE SWORD OF HADES
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Christmas in the
Underworld was NOT my idea.
If I’d
known what was coming, I would’ve called in sick. I could’ve
avoided
an army of demons, a fight with a Titan, and a trick that almost got
But
no, I had to take my stupid English exam. So there I was, the last day
of the
winter semester at Goode High School, sitting in the auditorium with
all
the other freshmen and trying to finish my I-didn’t-read-it-but-
I’mpretending-like-I-did
essay on A Tale of Two Cities,
when Mrs. O’Leary
burst
onto the stage, barking like crazy.
Mrs.
O’Leary is my pet hellhound. She’s a shaggy black monster the size
of a
Hummer, with razor fangs, steel-sharp claws, and glowing red eyes. She’s
really
sweet, but usually she stays at Camp Half-Blood, our demigod training
camp.
I was a little surprised to see her on stage, trampling over the Christmas
trees
and Santa’s elves and the rest of the Winter Wonderland set.
Everyone
looked up. I was sure the other kids were going to panic and
run
for the exits, but they just started snickering and laughing. A couple of the
girls
said, “Awww, cute!”
Our
English teacher, Dr. Boring (I’m not kidding; that’s his real name),
adjusted
his glasses and frowned.
“All
right,” he said. “Whose poodle?”
I
sighed in relief. Thank gods for the Mist—the magical veil that keeps
humans
from seeing things the way they really are. I’d seen it bend reality
plenty
of times before, but Mrs. O’Leary as a poodle? That was impressive.
“Um,
my poodle, sir,” I spoke up. “Sorry! It must’ve followed me.”
Somebody
behind me started whistling “Mary had a Little Lamb.” More
kids
cracked up.
“Enough!”
Dr. Boring snapped. “Percy Jackson, this is a final exam. I
cannot
have poodles—”
“WOOF!” Mrs.
O’Leary’s bark shook the auditorium. She wagged her
tail,
knocking over a few more elves. Then she crouched on her front paws
and
stared at me like she wanted me to follow.
“I’ll
get her out of here, Dr. Boring,” I promised. “I’m finished anyway.”
I
closed my test booklet and ran toward the stage. Mrs. O’Leary bounded
for
the exit and I followed, the other kids still laughing and calling out behind
me,
“See ya, Poodle Boy!”
Mrs.
O’Leary ran down East Eighty-first Street toward the river.
“Slow
down!” I yelled. “Where are you going?”
I got
some strange looks from pedestrians, but this was New York, so a
boy
chasing a poodle probably wasn’t the weirdest thing they’d ever seen.
Mrs.
O’Leary kept well ahead of me. She turned to bark every once in a
while
as if to say Move it, slowpoke! She
ran three blocks north, straight into
Carl
Schurz Park. By the time I caught up with her, she’d leaped an iron fence
and
disappeared into a huge topiary wall of snow-covered bushes.
“Aw,
come on,” I complained. I hadn’t had a chance to grab my coat
back
at school. I was already freezing, but I climbed the fence and plunged
into
the frozen shrubbery.
On the
other side was a clearing—a half acre of icy grass ringed with
bare
trees. Mrs. O’Leary was sniffing around, wagging her tail like crazy. I
didn’t
see anything out of the ordinary. In front of me, the steel-colored East
River
flowed sluggishly. White plumes billowed from the rooftops in Queens.
Behind
me, the Upper East Side loomed cold and silent.
I
wasn’t sure why, but the back of my neck started to tingle. I took out
my
ballpoint pen and uncapped it. Immediately it grew into my bronze sword,
Riptide,
its blade glowing faintly in the winter light.
Mrs.
O’Leary lifted her head. Her nostrils quivered.
“What
is it, girl?” I whispered.
The bushes
rustled and a golden deer burst through. When I say gold, I
don’t
mean yellow. This thing had metallic fur and horns that looked like
genuine
fourteen-karat. It shimmered with an aura of golden light, making it
almost
too bright to look at. It was probably the most beautiful thing I’d ever
seen.
Mrs.
O’Leary licked her lips like she was thinking deer
burgers! Then
the
bushes rustled again and a figure in a hooded parka leaped into the
clearing,
an arrow notched in her bow.
I
raised my sword. The girl aimed at me—then froze.
“Percy?”
She pushed back the silvery hood of her parka. Her black hair
was
longer than I remembered, but I knew those bright blue eyes and the
silver
tiara that marked her as the first lieutenant of Artemis.
“Thalia!”
I said. “What are you doing here?”
“Following
the golden deer,” she said, like that should be obvious. “It’s
the
sacred animal of Artemis. I figured it was some sort of sign. And, um . . .”
She
nodded nervously at Mrs. O’Leary. “You want to tell me what that’s
doing
here?”
“That’s
my pet—Mrs. O’Leary, no!”
Mrs.
O’Leary was sniffing the deer and basically not respecting its
personal
space. The deer butted the hellhound in the nose. Pretty soon, the
two of
them were playing a strange game of keep-away around the clearing.
“Percy
. . .”Thalia frowned. “This can’t be a coincidence. You and me
ending
up in the same place at the same time?”
She
was right. Demigods didn’t have coincidences. Thalia was a good
friend,
but I hadn’t seen her in over a year, and now suddenly, here we were.
“Some
god is messing with us,” I guessed.
“Probably.”
“Good
to see you, though.”
She
gave me a grudging smile. “Yeah. We get out of this in one piece,
I’ll
buy you a cheeseburger. How’s Annabeth?”
Before
I could answer, a cloud passed over the sun. The golden deer
shimmered
and disappeared, leaving Mrs. O’Leary barking at a pile of leaves.
I
readied my sword. Thalia drew her bow. Instinctively we stood backto-
back.
A patch of darkness passed over the clearing and a boy tumbled out
of it
like he’d been tossed, landing in the grass at our feet.
“Ow,”
he muttered. He brushed off his aviator’s jacket. He was about
twelve
years old, with dark hair, jeans, a black T-shirt, and a silver skull ring
on his
right hand. A sword hung at his side.
“Nico?” I said.
Thalia’s
eyes widened. “Bianca’s little brother?”
Nico
scowled. I doubt he liked being announced as Bianca’s little
brother.
His sister, a Hunter of Artemis, had died a couple of years ago, and it
was
still a sore subject for him.
“Why’d
you bring me here?” he grumbled. “One minute I’m in a New
Orleans
graveyard. The next minute—is this New York? What in Hades’s
name
am I doing in New York?”
“We
didn’t bring you here,” I promised. “We were—” A shiver went
down
my back. “We were brought together. All three of us.”
“What
are you talking about?” Nico demanded.
“The
children of the Big Three,” I said. “Zeus, Poseidon, Hades.”
Thalia
took a sharp breath. “The prophecy. You don’t think Kronos . . .”
She
didn’t finish the thought. We all knew about the big prophecy: a war
was
coming, between the Titans and gods, and the next child of the three
major
gods who turned sixteen would make a decision that saved or destroyed
the
world. That meant one of us. Over the last few years, the Titan lord
Kronos
had tried to manipulate each of us separately. Now . . . could he be
plotting
something by bringing us all together?
The
ground rumbled. Nico drew his own sword—a black blade of
Stygian
iron. Mrs. O’Leary leaped backward and barked in alarm.
Too
late, I realized she was trying to warn me.
The
ground opened up under Thalia, Nico, and me, and we fell into
darkness.
I
expected to keep falling forever, or maybe be squashed into a demigod
pancake
when we hit the bottom. But the next thing I knew, Thalia, Nico, and
I were
standing in a garden, all three of us still screaming in terror, which
made
me feel pretty silly.
“What—where
are we?”Thalia asked.
The
garden was dark. Rows of silver flowers glowed faintly, reflecting
off
huge gemstones that lined the planting beds—diamonds, sapphires, and
rubies
the size of footballs. Trees arched over us, their branches covered with
orange
blooms and sweet-smelling fruit. The air was cool and damp—but not
like a
New York winter. More like a cave.
“I’ve
been here before,” I said.
Nico
plucked a pomegranate off a tree. “My stepmother Persephone’s
garden.”
He made a sour face and dropped the fruit. “Don’t eat anything.”
He
didn’t need to tell me twice. One taste of Underworld food, and we’d
never
be able to leave.
“Heads
up,” Thalia warned.
I
turned and found her aiming her bow at a tall woman in a white dress.
At
first I thought the woman was a ghost. Her dress billowed around her
like
smoke. Her long dark hair floated and curled as if it were weightless. Her
face
was beautiful but deathly pale.
Then I
realized her dress wasn’t white. It was made of all sorts of
changing
colors—red, blue, and yellow flowers blooming in the fabric—but it
was
strangely faded. Her eyes were the same way, multicolored but washedout,
like
the Underworld had sapped her life force. I had a feeling that in the
world
above she would be beautiful, even brilliant.
“I am
Persephone,” she said, her voice thin and papery. “Welcome,
demigods.”
Nico
squashed a pomegranate under his boot. “Welcome?
After last time,
you’ve
got the nerve to welcome me?”
I
shifted uneasily, because talking that way to a god can get you blasted
into
dust bunnies. “Um, Nico—”
“It’s
all right,” Persephone said coldly. “We had a little family spat.”
“Family spat?” Nico cried.
“You turned me into a dandelion!”
Persephone
ignored her stepson. “As I was saying, demigods, I welcome
you to
my garden.”
Thalia
lowered her bow. “You sent the golden deer?”
“And
the hellhound,” the goddess admitted. “And the shadow that
collected
Nico. It was necessary to bring you together.”
“Why?”
I asked.
Persephone
regarded me, and I felt like cold little flowers were blooming
in my
stomach.
“Lord
Hades has a problem,” she said. “And if you know what’s good
for
you, you will help him.”
We sat
on a dark veranda overlooking the garden. Persephone’s
handmaidens
brought food and drink, which none of us touched. The
handmaidens
would’ve been pretty except for the fact that they were dead.
They
wore yellow dresses, with daisy and hemlock wreaths on their heads.
Their
eyes were hollow, and they spoke in the chittering batlike voices of
shades.
Persephone
sat on a silver throne and studied us. “If this were spring, I
would
be able to greet you properly in the world above. Alas, in winter this is
the
best I can do.”
She
sounded bitter. After all these millennia, I guess she still resented
living
with Hades half the year. She looked so bleached and out of place, like
an old
photograph of springtime.
She
turned toward me as if reading my thoughts. “Hades is my husband
and
master, young one. I would do anything for him. But in this case I need
your
help, and quickly. It concerns Lord Hades’s sword.”
Nico
frowned. “My father doesn’t have a sword. He uses a staff in battle,
and
his helm of terror.”
“He didn’t have a
sword,” Persephone corrected.
Thalia
sat up. “He’s forging a new symbol of power? Without Zeus’s
permission?”
The
goddess of springtime pointed. Above the table, an image flickered
to
life: skeletal weapon smiths worked over a forge of black flames, using
hammers
fashioned like metal skulls to beat a length of iron into a blade.
“War
with the Titans is almost upon us,” Persephone said. “My lord
Hades
must be ready.”
“But
Zeus and Poseidon would never allow Hades to forge a new
weapon!”
Thalia protested. “It would unbalance their power-sharing
agreement.”
Persephone
shook her head. “You mean it would make Hades their
equal?
Believe me, daughter of Zeus, the Lord of the Dead has no designs
against
his brothers. He knew they would never understand, which is why he
forged
the blade in secret.”
The
image over the table shimmered. A zombie weapon smith raised the
blade,
still glowing hot. Something strange was set in the base—not a gem.
More
like . . .
“Is
that a key?” I asked.
Nico
made a gagging sound. “The keys of Hades?”
“Wait,”
Thalia said. “What are the keys of Hades?”
Nico
looked even paler than his stepmother. “Hades has a set of golden
keys
that can lock or unlock death. At least . . . that’s the legend.”
“It is
true,” Persephone said.
“How
do you lock and unlock death?” I asked.
“The
keys have the power to imprison a soul in the Underworld,”
Persephone
said. “Or to release it.”
Nico
swallowed. “If one of those keys has been set in the sword—”
“The
wielder can raise the dead,” Persephone said, “or slay any living
thing
and send its soul to the Underworld with a mere touch of the blade.”
We
were all silent. The shadowy fountain gurgled in the corner.
Handmaidens
floated around us, offering trays of fruit and candy that would
keep
us in the Underworld forever.
“That’s
a wicked sword,” I said at last.
“It
would make Hades unstoppable,” Thalia agreed.
“So
you see,” Persephone said, “why you must help get it back.”
I
stared at her. “Did you say get it back?”
Persephone’s
eyes were beautiful and deadly serious, like poisonous
blooms.
“The blade was stolen when it was almost finished. I do not know
how,
but I suspect a demigod, some servant of Kronos. If the blade falls into
the
Titan lord’s hands—”
Thalia
shot to her feet. “You allowed the blade to be stolen! How stupid
was
that? Kronos probably has it by now!”
Thalia’s
arrows sprouted into long-stemmed roses. Her bow melted into
a
honeysuckle vine dotted with white and gold flowers.
“Take
care, huntress,” Persephone warned. “Your father may be Zeus,
and
you may be the lieutenant of Artemis, but you do not speak to me
with
disrespect
in my own palace.”
Thalia
ground her teeth. “Give . . . me . . . back . . . my . . . bow.”
Persephone
waved her hand. The bow and arrows changed back to
normal.
“Now, sit and listen. The sword could not have left the Underworld
yet.
Lord Hades used his remaining keys to shut down the realm. Nothing gets
in or
out until he finds the sword, and he is using all his power to locate the
thief.”
Thalia
sat down reluctantly. “Then what do you need us for?”
“The
search for the blade cannot be common knowledge,” said the
goddess.
“We have locked the realm, but we have not announced why, nor can
Hades’s
servants be used for the search. They cannot know the blade exists
until
it is finished. Certainly they can’t know it is missing.”
“If
they thought Hades was in trouble, they might desert him,” Nico
guessed.
“And join the Titans.”
Persephone
didn’t answer, but if a goddess can look nervous, she did.
“The
thief must be a demigod. No immortal can steal another immortal’s
weapon
directly. Even Kronos must abide by that Ancient Law. He has a
champion
down here somewhere. And to catch a demigod . . . we shall use
three.”
“Why
us?” I said.
“You
are the children of the three major gods,” Persephone said. “Who
could
withstand your combined power? Besides, when you restore the sword
to
Hades, you will send a message to Olympus. Zeus and Poseidon will not
protest
Hades’s new weapon if it is given to him by their own children. It will
show
that you trust Hades.”
“But I
don’t trust
him,” Thalia said.
“Ditto,”
I said. “Why should we do anything for Hades, much less give
him a
superweapon? Right, Nico?”
Nico
stared at the table. His fingers tapped on his black Stygian blade.
“Right,
Nico?” I prompted.
It
took him a second to focus on me. “I have to do this, Percy. He’s my
father.”
“Oh,
no way,” Thalia protested. “You can’t believe this is a good idea!”
“Would
you rather have the sword in Kronos’s hands?” He had a point
there.
“Time
is wasting,” Persephone said. “The thief may have accomplices in
the
Underworld, and he will be looking for a way out.”
I
frowned. “I thought you said the realm was locked.”
“No
prison is airtight, not even the Underworld. Souls are always finding
new
ways out faster than Hades can close them. You must retrieve the sword
before
it leaves our realm, or all is lost.”
“Even
if we wanted to,” Thalia said, “how would we find this thief?”
A
potted plant appeared on the table: a sickly yellow carnation with a
few
green leaves. The flower listed sideways, as if it were trying to find the
sun.
“This
will guide you,” the goddess said.
“A
magic carnation?” I asked.
“The
flower always faces the thief. As your prey gets closer to escaping,
the
petals will fall off.”
Right
on cue, a yellow petal turned gray and fluttered into the dirt.
“If
all the petals fall off,” Persephone said, “the flower dies. This means
the
thief has reached an exit and you have failed.”
I
glanced at Thalia. She didn’t seem too enthusiastic about the whole
track-a-thief-with-a-flower
thing. Then I looked at Nico. Unfortunately, I
recognized
the expression on his face. I knew what it was like wanting to
make
your dad proud, even if your dad was hard to love. In this case, really
hard
to love.
Nico
was going to do this, with or without us. And I couldn’t let him go
alone.
“One
condition,” I told Persephone. “Hades will have to swear on the
River
Styx that he will never use this sword against the gods.”
The
goddess shrugged. “I am not Lord Hades, but I am confident he
would
do this—as payment for your help.”
Another
petal fell off the carnation.
I
turned to Thalia. “I’ll hold the flower while you beat up the thief ?”
She
sighed. “Fine. Let’s go catch this jerk.”
The
Underworld didn’t get into the Christmas spirit. As we made our
way
down the palace road into the Fields of Asphodel, it looked pretty much
like
it had on my previous visit—seriously depressing. Yellow grass and
stunted
black poplar trees rolled on forever. Shades drifted aimlessly across
the
hills, coming from nowhere and going nowhere, chattering to each other
and
trying to remember who they were in life. High above us, the cavern
ceiling
glistened darkly.
I
carried the carnation, which made me feel pretty stupid. Nico led the
way
since his blade could clear a path through any crowd of undead. Thalia
mostly
grumbled that she should’ve known better than to go on a quest with a
couple
of boys.
“Did
Persephone seem kind of uptight?” I asked.
Nico
waded through a mob of ghosts, driving them back with Stygian
iron.
“She’s always acts that way when I’m around. She hates me.”
“Then
why did she include you in the quest?”
“Probably
my dad’s idea.” He sounded like he wanted that to be true, but
I
wasn’t so sure.
It
seemed strange to me that Hades hadn’t given us the quest himself. If
this
sword was so important to him, why had he let Persephone explain
things?
Usually Hades liked to threaten demigods in person.
Nico
forged ahead. No matter how crowded the fields were—and if
you’ve
ever seen Times Square on New Year’s Eve, you have a pretty good
idea—the
spirits parted before him.
“He’s
handy with zombie crowds,” Thalia admitted. “Think I’ll take him
along
next time I go to the mall.”
She
gripped her bow tight, like she was afraid it would turn into a
honeysuckle
vine again. She didn’t look any older than she had last year, and
it
suddenly occurred to me that she would never age, now that she was a
huntress.
That meant I was older than she was. Weird.
“So,”
I said. “How’s immortality treating you?”
She
rolled her eyes. “It’s not total immortality, Percy. You know that. We
can
still die in combat. It’s just . . . we don’t ever age or get sick, so we live
forever
assuming we don’t get sliced to pieces by monsters.”
“Always
a danger.”
“Always.”
She looked around, and I realized she was scanning the faces
of the
dead.
“If
you’re looking for Bianca,” I said quietly so Nico wouldn’t hear me,
“she’d
be in Elysium. She died a hero’s death.”
“I
know that,”Thalia snapped. Then she caught herself.
“It’s
not that, Percy. I was just . . . never mind.”
A cold
feeling washed over me. I remembered that Thalia’s mother had
died
in a car crash a few years ago. They’d never been close, but Thalia had
never
gotten to say good-bye. If her mother’s shade was wandering around
down
here—no wonder Thalia looked jumpy.
“I’m
sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking.”
Our
eyes met, and I got the feeling she understood. Her expression
softened.
“It’s okay. Let’s just get this over with.”
Another
petal fell off the carnation as we marched on.
I
wasn’t happy when the flower pointed us toward the Fields of
Punishment.
I was hoping we’d veer into Elysium so we could hang out with
the
beautiful people and party, but no. The flower seemed to like the harshest,
evilest
part of the Underworld. We jumped over a lava stream and picked our
way
past scenes of horrible torture. I won’t describe them because you’d
completely
lose your appetite, but I wished I had cotton balls in my ears to
shut
out the screaming and the 1980s music.
The
carnation tilted its face toward a hill on our left.
“Up
there,” I said.
Thalia
and Nico stopped. They were covered with soot from trudging
through
Punishment. I probably didn’t look much better.
A loud
grinding noise came from the other side of the hill, like
somebody
was dragging a washing machine. Then the hill shook with a
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! and a
man yelled curses.
Thalia
looked at Nico. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Afraid
so,” Nico said. “The number-one expert on cheating death.”
Before
I could ask what he meant, he led us to the top of the hill.
The
dude on the other side was not pretty, and he was not happy. He
looked
like one of those troll dolls with orange skin, a pot belly, scrawny legs
and
arms, and a big loincloth/diaper thing around his waist. His ratty hair
stuck
up like a torch. He was hopping around, cursing and kicking a boulder
that
was twice as big as he was.
“I
won’t!” he screamed. “No, no, no!”Then he launched into a string of
cuss
words in several different languages. If I’d had one of those jars where
you
put a quarter in for each bad word, I would’ve made around five hundred
dollars.
He
started to walk away from the boulder, but after ten feet he lurched
backward,
like some invisible force had pulled him. He staggered back to the
boulder
and started banging his head against it.
“All
right!” he screamed. “All right, curse you!”
He rubbed
his head and muttered some more cuss words. “But this is the
last time. Do you
hear me?”
Nico
looked at us. “Come on. While he’s between attempts.”
We
scrambled down the hill.
“Sisyphus!”
Nico called.
The
troll guy looked up in surprise. Then he scrambled behind his rock.
“Oh,
no! You’re not fooling me with those disguises! I know you’re the
Furies!”
“We’re
not the Furies,” I said. “We just want to talk.”
“Go
away!” he shrieked. “Flowers won’t make it better. It’s too late to
apologize!”
“Look,”
Thalia said, “we just want—”
“La-la-la!” he yelled. “I’m
not listening!”
We
played tag with him around the boulder until finally Thalia, who was
the
quickest, caught the old man by his hair.
“Stop
it!” he wailed. “I have rocks to move. Rocks to move!”
“I’ll
move your rock!”Thalia offered. “Just shut up and talk to my
friends.”
Sisyphus
stopped fighting. “You’ll—you’ll move my rock?”
“It’s
better than looking at you.” Thalia glanced at me. “Be quick about
it.”
Then she shoved Sisyphus toward us.
She
put her shoulder against the rock and started pushing it very slowly
uphill.
Sisyphus
scowled at me distrustfully. He pinched my nose.
“Ow!”
I said.
“So
you’re really not a Fury,” he said in amazement. “What’s the flower
for?”
“We’re
looking for someone,” I said. “The flower is helping us find
him.”
“Persephone!”
He spit in the dust. “That’s one of her tracking devices,
isn’t
it?” He leaned forward, and I caught an unpleasant whiff of old-guywho’s-
been-rolling-a-rock-foreternity.
“I fooled her once, you know. I fooled
them
all.”
I
looked at Nico. “Translation?”
“Sisyphus
cheated death,” Nico explained. “First he chained up
Thanatos,
the reaper of souls, so no one could die. Then when Thanatos got
free
and was about to kill him, Sisyphus told his wife to do incorrect funeral
rites
so he wouldn’t rest in peace. Sisy here—May I call you Sisy?”
“No!”
“Sisy
tricked Persephone into letting him go back to the world to haunt
his
wife. And he didn’t come back.”
The
old man cackled. “I stayed alive another thirty years before they
finally
tracked me down!”
Thalia
was halfway up the hill now. She gritted her teeth, pushing the
boulder
with her back. Her expression said Hurry
up!
“So
that was your punishment,” I said to Sisyphus. “Rolling a boulder up
a hill
forever. Was it worth it?”
“A
temporary setback!” Sisyphus cried. “I’ll bust out of here soon, and
when I
do, they’ll all be sorry!”
“How
would you get out of the Underworld?” Nico asked. “It’s locked
down,
you know.”
Sisyphus
grinned wickedly. “That’s what the other one asked.”
My
stomach tightened. “Someone else asked your advice?”
“An
angry young man,” Sisyphus recalled. “Not very polite. Held a
sword
to my throat. Didn’t offer to roll my boulder at all.”
“What
did you tell him?” Nico said. “Who was he?”
Sisyphus
massaged his shoulders. He glanced up at Thalia, who was
almost
to the top of the hill. Her face was bright red and drenched in sweat.
“Oh .
. . it’s hard to say,” Sisyphus said. “Never seen him before. He
carried
a long package all wrapped up in black cloth. Skis, maybe? A shovel?
Maybe
if you wait here, I could go look for him. . . .”
“What
did you tell him?” I demanded.
“Can’t
remember.”
Nico
drew his sword. The Stygian iron was so cold it steamed in the hot
dry
air of Punishment. “Try harder.”
The
old man winced. “What kind of person carries a sword like that?”
“A son
of Hades,” Nico said. “Now answer me!”
The
color drained from Sisyphus’s face. “I told him to talk to Melinoe!
She
always has a way out!”
Nico
lowered his sword. I could tell the name Melinoe
bothered him.
“Are
you crazy?” he said. “That’s suicide!”
The
old man shrugged. “I’ve cheated death before. I could do it again.”
“What
did this demigod look like?”
“Um .
. . he had a nose,” Sisyphus said. “A mouth. And one eye and—”
“One
eye?” I interrupted. “Did he have an eye patch?”
“Oh .
. . maybe,” Sisyphus said. “He had hair on his head. And—” He
gasped
and looked over my shoulder. “There he is!”
We
fell for it.
As
soon as we turned, Sisyphus took off down the hill. “I’m free! I’m
free!
I’m—ACK!” Ten feet from the hill, he hit the end of his invisible leash
and
fell on his back. Nico and I grabbed his arms and hauled him up the hill.
“Curse
you!” He let loose with bad words in Ancient Greek, Latin,
English,
French, and several other languages I didn’t recognize. “I’ll never
help
you! Go to Hades!”
“Already
there,” Nico muttered.
“Incoming!”
Thalia shouted.
I
looked up and might have used a few cuss words myself. The boulder
was
bouncing straight toward us. Nico jumped one way. I jumped the other.
Sisyphus
yelled, “NOOOOOOO!” as the thing plowed into him. Somehow he
braced
himself and stopped it before it could run him over. I guess he’d had a
lot of
practice.
“Take
it again!” he wailed. “Please. I can’t hold it.”
“Not
again,” Thalia gasped. “You’re on your own.”
He
treated us to a lot more colorful language. It was clear he wasn’t
going
to help us any further, so we left him to his punishment.
“Melinoe’s
cave is this way,” Nico said.
“If
this thief guy really has one eye,” I said, “that could be Ethan
Nakamura,
son of Nemesis. He’s the one who freed Kronos.”
“I
remember,” Nico said darkly. “But if we’re dealing with Melinoe,
we’ve
got bigger problems. Come on.”
As we
walked away, Sisyphus was yelling, “All right, but this is the last
time.
Do you hear me? The last time!”
Thalia
shuddered.
“You
okay?” I asked her.
“I
guess . . .” She hesitated. “Percy, the scary thing is, when I got to the
top, I
thought I had it. I thought, This isn’t so hard. I can get the rock to stay.
And as
it rolled down, I was almost tempted to try it again. I figured I could
get it
the second time.”
She
looked back wistfully.
“Come
on,” I told her. “The sooner we’re out of here the better.”
We
walked for what seemed like eternity. Three more petals withered
from
the carnation, which meant it was now officially half dead. The flower
pointed
toward a range of jagged gray hills that looked like teeth, so we
trudged
in that direction over a plain of volcanic rock.
“Nice
day for a stroll,” Thalia muttered. “The Hunters are probably
feasting
in some forest glade right about now.”
I
wondered what my family was doing. My mom and step-dad Paul
would
be worried when I didn’t come home from school, but it wasn’t the
first
time this had happened. They’d figure out pretty quickly that I was on
some
quest. My mom would be pacing back and forth in the living room,
wondering
if I was going to make it back to unwrap my presents.
“So
who is this Melinoe?” I asked, trying to take my mind off home.
“Long
story,” Nico said. “Long, very scary story.”
I was
about to ask what he meant when Thalia dropped to a crouch.
“Weapons!”
I drew
Riptide. I’m sure I looked terrifying with a potted carnation in the
other
hand, so I put it down. Nico drew his sword.
We
stood back-to-back. Thalia notched an arrow.
“What
is it?” I whispered.
She
seemed to be listening. Then her eyes widened. A ring of a dozen
daimones materialized
around us.
They
were part humanoid female, part bat. Their faces were pug-nosed
and
furry, with fangs and bulging eyes. Matted gray fur and piecemeal armor
covered
their bodies. They had shriveled arms with claws for hands, leathery
wings
that sprouted from their backs, and stubby bowed legs. They would’ve
looked
funny except for the murderous glow in their eyes.
“Keres,”
Nico said.
“What?”
I asked.
“Battlefield
spirits. They feed on violent death.”
“Oh,
wonderful,” Thalia said.
“Get
back!” Nico ordered the daimones.
“The son of Hades commands
you!”
The
Keres hissed. Their mouths foamed. They glanced apprehensively at
our
weapons, but I got the feeling the Keres weren’t impressed by Nico’s
command.
“Soon
Hades will be defeated,” one of them snarled. “Our new master
shall
give us free rein!”
Nico
blinked. “New master?”
The
lead daimon lunged.
Nico was so surprised it might have slashed
him to
bits, but Thalia shot an arrow point-blank into its ugly bat face, and the
creature
disintegrated.
The
rest of them charged. Thalia dropped her bow and drew her knives. I
ducked
as Nico’s sword whistled over my head, cutting a daimon in half. I
sliced
and jabbed, and three or four Keres exploded around me, but more just
kept
coming.
“Iapetus
shall crush you!” one shouted.
“Who?”
I asked. Then I ran her through with my sword. Note to self: If
you
vaporize monsters, they can’t answer your questions.
Nico
was also cutting an arc through the Keres. His black sword
absorbed
their essence like a vacuum cleaner, and the more he destroyed, the
colder
the air became around him. Thalia flipped a daimon
on its back,
stabbed
it, and impaled another one with her second knife without even
turning
around.
“Die
in pain, mortal!” Before I could raise my sword for defense,
another
daimon’s
claws raked my shoulder. If I’d been wearing armor, no
problem,
but I was still in my school uniform. The thing’s talons sliced open
my
shirt and tore into my skin. My whole left side seemed to explode in pain.
Nico
kicked the monster away and stabbed it. All I could do was
collapse
and curl into a ball, trying to endure the horrible burning.
The
sound of battle died. Thalia and Nico rushed to my side.
“Hold
still, Percy,”Thalia said. “You’ll be fine.” But the quiver in her
voice
told me the wound was bad. Nico touched it and I yelled in pain.
“Nectar,”
he said. “I’m pouring nectar on it.”
He
uncorked a bottle of the godly drink and trickled it across my
shoulder.
This was dangerous—just a sip of the stuff is all most demigods
could
stand—but immediately the pain eased. Together, Nico and Thalia
dressed
the wound, and I passed out only a few times.
I
couldn’t judge how much time went by, but the next thing I remember I
was
propped up with my back against a rock. My shoulder was bandaged.
Thalia
was feeding me tiny squares of chocolate-flavored ambrosia.
“The
Keres?” I muttered.
“Gone
for now,” she said. “You had me worried for a second, Percy, but
I
think you’ll make it.”
Nico
crouched next to us. He was holding the potted carnation. Only five
petals
still clung to the flower.
“The
Keres will be back,” he warned. He looked at my shoulder with
concern.
“That wound . . . the Keres are spirits of disease and pestilence as
well
as violence. We can slow down the infection, but eventually you’ll need
serious
healing. I mean a god’s power.
Otherwise . . .”
He
didn’t finish the thought.
“I’ll
be fine.” I tried to sit up and immediately felt nauseous.
“Slow,”
Thalia said. “You need rest before you can move.”
“There’s
no time.” I looked at the carnation. “One of the daimones
mentioned
Iapetus. Am I remembering right? That’s a Titan?”
Thalia
nodded uneasily. “The brother of Kronos, father of Atlas. He was
known
as the Titan of the west. His name means ‘the Piercer’ because that’s
what
he likes to do to his enemies. He was cast into Tartarus along with his
brothers.
He’s supposed to still be down there.”
“But
if the sword of Hades can unlock death?” I asked.
“Then
maybe,” Nico said, “it can also summon the damned out of
Tartarus.
We can’t let them try.”
“We
still don’t know who them is,”
Thalia said.
“The
half-blood working for Kronos,” I said. “Probably Ethan
Nakamura.
And he’s starting to recruit some of Hades’s minions to his side—
like
the Keres. The daimones think
that if Kronos wins the war, they’ll get
more
chaos and evil out of the deal.”
“They’re
probably right,” Nico said. “My father tries to keep a balance.
He
reins in the more violent spirits. If Kronos appoints one of his brothers to
be the
lord of the Underworld—”
“Like
this Iapetus dude,” I said.
“—then
the Underworld will get a lot worse,” Nico said. “The Keres
would
like that. So would Melinoe.”
“You
still haven’t told us who Melinoe is.”
Nico
chewed his lip. “She’s the goddess of ghosts— one of my father’s
servants.
She oversees the restless dead that walk the earth. Every night she
rises
from the Underworld to terrify mortals.”
“She
has her own path into the upper world?”
Nico
nodded. “I doubt it would be blocked. Normally, no one would
even
think about trespassing in her cave. But if this demigod thief is brave
enough
to make a deal with her—”
“He
could get back to the world,” Thalia supplied, “and bring the sword
to
Kronos.”
“Who
would use it to raise his brothers from Tartarus,” I guessed. “And
we’d
be in big trouble.”
I
struggled to my feet. A wave of nausea almost made me black out, but
Thalia
grabbed me.
“Percy,”
she said, “you’re in no condition—”
“I
have to be.” I watched as another petal withered and fell off the
carnation.
Four left before doomsday. “Give me the potted plant. We have to
find
the cave of Melinoe.”
As we
walked, I tried to think about positive things: my favorite
basketball
players, my last conversation with Annabeth, what my mom would
make
for Christmas dinner—anything but the pain. Still, it felt like a sabertoothed
tiger
was chewing on my shoulder. I wasn’t going to be much good in
a
fight, and I cursed myself for letting down my guard. I should never have
gotten
hurt. Now Thalia and Nico would have to haul my useless butt through
the
rest of the mission.
I was
so busy feeling sorry for myself, I didn’t notice the sound of
roaring
water until Nico said, “Uh-oh.”
About
fifty feet ahead of us, a dark river churned through a gorge of
volcanic
rock. I’d seen the Styx, and this didn’t look like the same river. It
was
narrow and fast. The water was black as ink. Even the foam churned
black.
The far bank was only thirty feet across, but that was too far to jump,
and
there was no bridge.
“The River Lethe.” Nico
cursed in Ancient Greek. “We’ll never make it
across.”
The
flower was pointing to the other side—toward a gloomy mountain
and a
path leading up to a cave. Beyond the mountain, the walls of the
Underworld
loomed like a dark granite sky. I hadn’t considered that the
Underworld
might have an outer rim, but this appeared to be it.
“There’s
got to be a way across,” I said.
Thalia
knelt next to the bank.
“Careful!”
Nico said. “This is the River of Forgetfulness. If one drop of
that
water gets on you, you’ll start to forget who you are.”
Thalia
backed up. “I know this place. Luke told me about it once. Souls
come
here if they choose to be reborn, so they totally forget their former
lives.”
Nico
nodded. “Swim in that water and your mind will be wiped clean.
You’ll
be like a newborn baby.”
Thalia
studied the opposite bank. “I could shoot an arrow across, maybe
anchor
a line to one of those rocks.”
“You
want to trust your weight to a line that isn’t tied off ?” Nico asked.
Thalia
frowned. “You’re right. Works in the movies, but . . . no. Could
you
summon some dead people to help us?”
“I
could, but they would only appear on my side of the river. Running
water
acts as a barrier against the dead. They can’t cross it.”
I
winced. “What kind of stupid rule is that?”
“Hey,
I didn’t make it up.” He studied my face. “You look terrible, Percy.
You
should sit down.”
“I
can’t. You need me for this.”
“For
what?”Thalia asked. “You can barely stand.”
“It’s
water, isn’t it? I’ll have to control it. Maybe I can redirect the flow
long
enough to get us across.”
“In
your condition?” Nico said. “No way. I’d feel safer with the arrow
idea.”
I
staggered to the edge of the river.
I
didn’t know if I could do this. I was the child of Poseidon, so
controlling
salt water was no problem. Regular rivers . . . maybe, if the river
spirits
were feeling cooperative. Magical Underworld rivers? I had no idea.
“Stand
back,” I said.
I
concentrated on the current—the raging black water rushing past. I
imagined
it was part of my own body. I could control the flow, make it
respond
to my will.
I
wasn’t sure, but I thought the water churned and bubbled more
violently,
as if it could sense my presence. I knew I couldn’t stop the river
altogether.
The current would back up and flood the whole valley, exploding
all
over us as soon as I let it go. But there was another solution.
“Here
goes nothing,” I muttered.
I
raised my arms like I was lifting something over my head. My bad
shoulder
burned like lava, but I tried to ignore it.
The
river rose. It surged out of its banks, flowing up and then down
again
in a great arc—a raging black rainbow of water twenty feet high. The
riverbed
in front of us turned to drying mud, a tunnel under the river just wide
enough
for two people to walk side by side.
Thalia
and Nico stared at me in amazement.
“Go,”
I said. “I can’t hold this for long.”
Yellow
spots danced in front of my eyes. My wounded shoulder nearly
screamed
in pain. Thalia and Nico scrambled into the riverbed and made their
way
across the sticky mud.
Not a single drop. I can’t let a single drop of water
touch them.
The
River Lethe fought me. It didn’t want to be forced out of its banks. It
wanted
to crash down on my friends, wipe their minds clean, and drown
them.
But I held the arc.
Thalia
climbed the opposite bank and turned to help Nico.
“Come
on, Percy!” she said. “Walk!”
My
knees were shaking. My arms trembled. I took a step forward and
almost
fell. The water arc quivered.
“I
can’t make it,” I called.
“Yes
you can!” Thalia said. “We need you!”
Somehow
I managed to climb down into the riverbed. One step, then
another.
The water surged above me. My boots squished in the mud.
Halfway
across, I stumbled. I heard Thalia scream, “No!” And my
concentration
broke.
As the
River Lethe crashed down on me, I had time for one last
desperate
thought: Dry.
I
heard the roar and felt the crash of tons of water as the river fell back
into
its natural course. But . . .
I
opened my eyes. I was surrounded in darkness, but I was completely
dry. A
layer of air covered me like a second skin, shielding me from the
effects
of the water. I struggled to my feet. Even this small effort to stay dry—
something
I’d done many times in normal water—was almost more than I
could
handle. I slogged forward through the black current, blind and doubled
over
with pain.
I
climbed out of the River Lethe, surprising Thalia and Nico, who
jumped
back a good five feet. I staggered forward, collapsed in front of my
friends,
and passed out cold.
The
taste of nectar brought me around. My shoulder felt better, but I had
an
uncomfortable buzz in my ears. My eyes felt hot, like I had a fever.
“We
can’t risk any more nectar,” Thalia was saying. “He’ll burst into
flames.”
“Percy,”
Nico said. “Can you hear me?”
“Flames,”
I murmured. “Got it.”
I sat
up slowly. My shoulder was newly bandaged. It still hurt, but I was
able
to stand.
“We’re
close,” Nico said. “Can you walk?”
The
mountain loomed above us. A dusty trail snaked up a few hundred
feet
to the mouth of a cave. The path was lined with human bones for that
extra
cozy feel.
“Ready,”
I said.
“I
don’t like this,” Thalia murmured. She cradled the carnation, which
was
pointing toward the cave. The flower now had two petals left, like very
sad
bunny ears.
“A
creepy cave,” I said. “The goddess of ghosts. What’s not to like?”
As if
in response, a hissing sound echoed down the mountain. White
mist
billowed from the cave like someone had turned on a dry-ice machine.
In the
fog, an image appeared—a tall woman with disheveled blond hair.
She
wore a pink bathrobe and had a wineglass in her hand. Her face was stern
and
disapproving. I could see right through her, so I knew she was a spirit of
some
kind, but her voice sounded real enough.
“Now
you come back,” she growled. “Well, it’s too late!”
I
looked at Nico and whispered, “Melinoe?”
Nico didn’t
answer. He stood frozen, staring at the spirit.
Thalia
lowered her bow. “Mother?” Her eyes teared up. Suddenly she
looked
about seven years old.
The
spirit threw down her wineglass. It shattered and dissolved into the
fog.
“That’s right, girl. Doomed to walk the earth, and it’s your fault! Where
were
you when I died? Why did you run away when I needed you?”
“I—I—”
“Thalia,”
I said. “It’s just a shade. It can’t hurt you.”
“I’m
more than that,” the spirit growled. “And Thalia knows it.”
“But—you
abandoned me,”
Thalia said.
“You
wretched girl! Ungrateful runaway!”
“Stop!”
Nico stepped forward with his sword drawn, but the spirit
changed
form and faced him.
This
ghost was harder to see. She was a woman in an old-fashioned
black
velvet dress with a matching hat. She wore a string of pearls and white
gloves,
and her dark hair was tied back.
Nico
stopped in his tracks. “No . . .”
“My
son,” the ghost said. “I died when you were so young. I haunt the
world
in grief, wondering about you and your sister.”
“Mama?”
“No,
it’s my mother,” Thalia murmured, as if she still saw the first
image.
My
friends were helpless. The fog began thickening around their feet,
twining
around their legs like vines. The colors seemed to fade from their
clothes
and faces, as if they too were becoming shades.
“Enough,”
I said, but my voice hardly worked. Despite the pain, I lifted
my
sword and stepped toward the ghost. “You’re not anybody’s mama!”
The
ghost turned toward me. The image flickered, and I saw the goddess
of
ghosts in her true form.
You’d
think after a while I would stop getting freaked out by the
appearance
of Greek ghoulies, but Melinoe caught me by surprise. Her right
half
was pale chalky white, like she’d been drained of blood. Her left half was
pitch-black
and hardened, like mummy skin. She wore a golden dress and a
golden
shawl. Her eyes were empty black voids, and when I looked into them,
I felt
as if I were seeing my own death.
“Where
are your ghosts?” she demanded in irritation.
“My .
. . I don’t know. I don’t have any.”
She
snarled. “Everyone has ghosts—deaths you regret. Guilt. Fear. Why
can I
not see yours?”
Thalia
and Nico were still entranced, staring at the goddess as if she
were
their long-lost mother. I thought about other friends I’d seen die—
Bianca
di Angelo, Zoë Nightshade, Lee Fletcher, to name a few.
“I’ve
made my peace with them,” I said. “They’ve passed on. They’re
not
ghosts. Now, let my friends go!”
I
slashed at Melinoe with my sword. She backed up quickly, growling in
frustration.
The fog dissipated around my friends. They stood blinking at the
goddess
as if they were just seeing how hideous she was.
“What
is that?”
Thalia said. “Where—”
“It
was a trick,” Nico said. “She fooled us.”
“You
are too late, demigods,” Melinoe said. Another petal fell off my
carnation,
leaving only one. “The deal has been struck.”
“What
deal?” I demanded.
Melinoe
made a hissing sound, and I realized it was her way of laughing.
“So
many ghosts, my young demigod. They long to be unleashed. When
Kronos
rules the world, I shall be free to walk among mortals both night and
day,
sowing terror as they deserve.”
“Where’s
the sword of Hades?” I demanded. “Where’s Ethan?”
“Close,”
Melinoe promised. “I will not stop you. I will not need to.
Soon,
Percy Jackson, you will have many ghosts. And you will remember
me.”
Thalia
notched an arrow and aimed it at the goddess. “If you open a path
to the
world, do you really think Kronos will reward you? He’ll cast you into
Tartarus
along with the rest of Hades’s servants.”
Melinoe
bared her teeth. “Your mother was right, Thalia. You are an
angry
girl. Good at running away. Not much else.”
The
arrow flew, but as it touched Melinoe she dissolved into fog, leaving
nothing
but the hiss of her laughter. Thalia’s arrow hit the rocks and shattered
harmlessly.
“Stupid
ghost,” she muttered.
I
could tell she was really shaken up. Her eyes were rimmed with red.
Her
hands trembled. Nico looked just as stunned, like someone had smacked
him
between the eyes.
“The
thief . . .” he managed. “Probably in the cave. We have to stop him
before—”
Just
then, the last petal fell off the carnation. The flower turned black and
wilted.
“Too
late,” I said.
A
man’s laughter echoed down the mountain.
“You’re
right about that,” a voice boomed. At the mouth of the cave
stood
two people—a boy with an eye patch and ten-foot-tall man in a tattered
prison
jumpsuit. The boy I recognized: Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis. In
his
hands was an unfinished sword—a double-edged blade of black Stygian
iron
with skeletal designs etched in silver. It had no hilt, but set in the base of
the
blade was a golden key, just like I’d seen in Persephone’s image.
The
giant man next to him had eyes of pure silver. His face was covered
with a
scraggly beard and his gray hair stuck out wildly. He looked thin and
haggard
in his ripped prison clothes, as though he’d spent the last few
thousand
years at the bottom of a pit, but even in this weakened state he
looked
plenty scary. He held out his hand and a giant spear appeared. I
remembered
what Thalia had said about Iapetus: His
name means “the
Piercer” because that’s what he likes to do to his
enemies.
The
Titan smiled cruelly. “And now I will destroy you.”
“Master!”
Ethan interrupted. He was dressed in combat fatigues with a
backpack
slung over his shoulder. His eye patch was crooked, his face
smeared
with soot and sweat. “We have the sword. We should—”
“Yes,
yes,” the Titan said impatiently. “You’ve done well, Nawaka.”
“It’s
Nakamura, master.”
“Whatever.
I’m sure my brother Kronos will reward you. But now we
have
killing to attend to.”
“My
lord,” Ethan persisted. “You’re not at full power. We should ascend
and
summon your brothers from the upper world. Our orders were to flee.”
The
Titan whirled on him. “FLEE? Did you say FLEE?”
The
ground rumbled. Ethan fell on his butt and scrambled backward. The
unfinished
sword of Hades clattered to the rocks. “M-m-master, please—”
“IAPETUS
DOES NOT FLEE! I have waited three eons to be
summoned
from the pit. I want revenge, and I will start by killing these
weaklings!”
He
leveled his spear at me and charged.
If
he’d been at full strength, I have no doubt he would’ve pierced me
right
through the middle. Even weakened and just out of the pit, the guy was
fast.
He moved like a tornado, slashing so quickly I barely had time to dodge
the strike
before his spear impaled the rock where I’d been standing.
I was
so dizzy I could barely hold my sword. Iapetus yanked the spear
out of
the ground, but as he turned to face me, Thalia shot his flank full of
arrows,
from his shoulder to his knee. He roared and turned on her, looking
more
angry than wounded. Ethan Nakamura tried to draw his own sword, but
Nico
yelled, “I don’t think so!”
The
ground erupted in front of Ethan. Three armored skeletons climbed
out
and engaged him, pushing him back. The sword of Hades still lay on the
rocks.
If I could only get to it . . .
Iapetus
slashed with his spear and Thalia leaped out of the way. She
dropped
her bow so she could draw her knives, but she wouldn’t last long in
close
combat.
Nico
left Ethan to the skeletons and charged Iapetus. I was already ahead
of
him. It felt like my shoulder was going to explode, but I launched myself at
the
Titan and stabbed downward with Riptide, impaling the blade in the
Titan’s
calf.
“AHHHH!”
Golden ichor gushed from the wound. Iapetus whirled and
the
shaft of his spear slammed into me, sending me flying.
I
crashed into the rocks, right next to the River Lethe.
“YOU
DIE FIRST!” Iapetus roared as he hobbled toward me. Thalia
tried
to get his attention by zapping him with an arc of electricity from her
knives,
but she might as well have been a mosquito. Nico stabbed with his
sword,
but Iapetus knocked him aside without even looking. “I will kill you
all!
Then I will cast your souls into the eternal darkness of Tartarus!”
My
eyes were full of spots. I could barely move. Another inch and I
would
fall into the river headfirst.
The river.
I
swallowed, hoping my voice still worked. “You’re— you’re even uglier
than
your son,” I taunted the Titan. “I can see where Atlas gets his stupidity
from.”
Iapetus
snarled. He limped forward, raising his spear.
I
didn’t know if I had the strength, but I had to try. Iapetus brought down
the
spear and I lurched sideways. The shaft impaled the ground right next to
me. I
reached up and grabbed his shirt collar, counting on the fact that he was
off
balance as well as hurt. He tried to regain his footing, but I pulled him
forward
with all my body weight. He stumbled and fell, grabbing my arms in
a
panic, and together we pitched into the Lethe.
FLOOOOOM! I was immersed
in black water.
I
prayed to Poseidon that my protection would hold, and as I sank to the
bottom,
I realized I was still dry. I knew my own name. And I still had the
Titan
by the shirt collar.
The
current should’ve ripped him out of my hands, but somehow the
river
was channeling itself around me, leaving us alone.
With
my last bit of strength, I climbed out of the river, dragging Iapetus
with
my good arm. We collapsed on the riverbank—me perfectly dry, the
Titan
dripping wet. His pure silver eyes were as big as moons.
Thalia
and Nico stood over me in amazement. Up by the cave, Ethan
Nakamura
was just cutting down the last skeleton. He turned and froze when
he saw
his Titan ally spread-eagle on the ground.
“My—my
lord?” he called.
Iapetus
sat up and stared at him. Then he looked at me and smiled.
“Hello,”
he said. “Who am I?”
“You’re
my friend,” I blurted out. “You’re . . . Bob.”
That
seemed to please him greatly. “I am your friend Bob!”
Clearly,
Ethan could tell things were not going his way.
He
glanced at the sword of Hades lying in the dirt, but before he could
lunge
for it, a silver arrow sprouted in the ground at his feet.
“Not
today, kid,” Thalia warned. “One more step and I’ll pin your feet to
the
rocks.”
Ethan
ran—straight into the cave of Melinoe. Thalia took aim at his
back,
but I said, “No. Let him go.”
She
frowned but lowered her bow.
I
wasn’t sure why I wanted to spare Ethan. I guess we’d had enough
fighting
for one day, and in truth I felt sorry for the kid. He would be in
enough
trouble when he reported back to Kronos.
Nico
picked up the sword of Hades reverently. “We did it. We actually
did
it.”
“We
did?” Iapetus asked. “Did I help?”
I
managed a weak smile. “Yeah, Bob. You did great.”
We got
an express ride back to the palace of Hades. Nico sent word
ahead,
thanks to some ghost he’d summoned out of the ground, and within a
few
minutes the Three Furies themselves arrived to ferry us back. They
weren’t
thrilled about lugging Bob the Titan too, but I didn’t have the heart to
leave
him behind, especially after he noticed my shoulder wound, said,
“Owie,”
and healed it with a touch.
Anyway,
by the time we arrived in the throne room of Hades, I was
feeling
great. The lord of the dead sat on his throne of bones, glowering at us
and
stroking his black beard like he was contemplating the best way to torture
us.
Persephone sat next to him, not saying a word, as Nico explained about
our
adventure.
Before
we gave back the sword, I insisted that Hades take an oath not to
use it
against the gods. His eyes flared like he wanted to incinerate me, but
finally
he made the promise through clenched teeth.
Nico
laid the sword at his father’s feet and bowed, waiting for a reaction.
Hades
looked at his wife. “You defied my direct orders.”
I
wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but Persephone didn’t react,
even
under his withering gaze.
Hades
turned back to Nico. His gaze softened just a little, like rock soft
rather
than steel.
“You will speak of this to no one.”
“Yes,
lord,” Nico agreed.
The
god glared at me. “And if your friends do not hold their tongues, I
will
cut them out.”
“You’re
welcome,” I said.
Hades
stared at the sword. His eyes were full of anger and something
else—something
like hunger. He snapped his fingers. The Furies fluttered
down
from the top of his throne.
“Return
the blade to the forges,” he told them. “Stay with the smiths
until
it is finished, and then return it to me.”
The
Furies swirled into the air with the weapon, and I wondered how
soon I
would be regretting this day. There were ways around oaths, and I
imagined
Hades would be looking for one.
“You
are wise, my lord,” Persephone said.
“If I
were wise,” he growled, “I would lock you in your chambers. If you
ever
disobey me again—”
He let
the threat hang in the air. Then he snapped his fingers and
vanished
into darkness.
Persephone
looked even paler than usual. She took a moment to smooth
her
dress, then turned toward us. “You have done well, demigods.” She waved
her
hand and three red roses appeared at our feet. “Crush these, and they will
return
you to the world of the living. You have my lord’s thanks.”
“I
could tell,” Thalia muttered.
“Making
the sword was your idea,” I realized. “That’s why Hades wasn’t
there
when you gave us the mission. Hades didn’t know the sword was
missing.
He didn’t even know it existed.”
“Nonsense,”
the goddess said.
Nico
clenched his fists. “Percy’s right. You wanted Hades to make a
sword.
He told you no. He knew it was too dangerous. The other gods would
never
trust him. It would undo the balance of power.”
“Then
it got stolen,” Thalia said. “You
shut down the Underworld, not
Hades.
You couldn’t tell him what had happened. And you needed us to get
the
sword back before Hades found out. You used us.”
Persephone
moistened her lips. “The important thing is that Hades has
now
accepted the sword. He will have it finished, and my husband will
become
as powerful as Zeus or Poseidon. Our realm will be protected against
Kronos
. . . or any others who try to threaten us.”
“And
we’re responsible,” I said miserably.
“You’ve
been very helpful,” Persephone agreed. “Perhaps a reward for
your
silence—”
“Get
lost,” I said, “before I carry you down to the Lethe and throw you
in.
Bob will help me. Won’t you, Bob?”
“Bob
will help you!” Iapetus agreed cheerfully.
Persephone’s
eyes widened, and she disappeared in a shower of daisies.
Nico,
Thalia, and I said our good-byes on a balcony overlooking
Asphodel.
Bob the Titan sat inside, building a toy house out of bones and
laughing
every time it collapsed.
“I’ll
watch him,” Nico said. “He’s harmless now. Maybe . . . I don’t
know.
Maybe we can retrain him to do something good.”
“Are
you sure you want to stay here?” I asked.
“Persephone
will make your life miserable.” “I have to,” he insisted. “I
have
to get close to my dad.
He
needs a better adviser.” I couldn’t argue with that. “Well, if you need
anything—”
“I’ll call,” he promised. He shook hands with Thalia and me. He
turned
to leave, but he looked at me one more time. “Percy, you haven’t
forgotten
my offer?” A shiver went down my spine. “I’m still thinking about
it.”
Nico nodded. “Well, whenever you’re ready.” After he was gone, Thalia
said,
“What offer?” “Something he told me last summer,” I said. “A possible
way to
fight Kronos. It’s dangerous. And I’ve had enough danger for one
day.”
Thalia nodded. “In that case, still up for dinner?” I couldn’t help but
smile.
“After all that, you’re hungry?” “Hey,” she said, “even immortals have
to
eat. I’m thinking cheeseburgers at McHale’s.” And together we crushed the
roses
that would return us to the world.
13. OLYMPIAN CROSSWORD
Click here to go to Index 
ACROSS
2. Lord of the Dead
5. The _____ Fates
6. Percy’s best friend
7. Percy’s half-brother Tyson is a _____
11. This monster wears Fruit of the Loom underwear
13. Percy’s cousin, daughter of Zeus
14. Percy is entering this year at school
16. Percy has the ability to control this element
17. God of the Sea
18. Hot-tempered bully, daughter of Ares
20. Another name for a half-blood
25. Also known as “The Kindly Ones”
26. Percy’s mom loves food this color
28. Percy’s magical sword
29. Annabeth’s hat makes her turn this
30. Luke is the son of this god
DOWN
1. Percy’s birthday month
2. Wife of Zeus
3. Titan Lord
4. Lord of the Sky
5. Dr. ______ (evil manticore in The Titan’s Curse)
8. Activities director at the camp
9. Medusa’s hair is made of these
10. Camp visited by Percy and friends
12. Annabeth is deathly afraid of these creatures
15. Nike is the goddess of _____
19. Zeus’ mother
21. Name of the link Percy and Grover share
22. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are all _____
23. Hydras have multiple _____
24. Thalia had once been turned into a ____
27. Aphrodite is the goddess of _______
14. OLYMPIAN WORD JUMBLE
Click here to go to Index 
PERCY KAMPÊ MINOS
ANNABETH CALYPSO TITAN
TYSON POSEIDON OLYMPIANS
GROVER JANUS RICK RIORDAN
DAEDALUS KRONOS
GERYON PAN
BRIARES NICO
CHIRON LUKE
HERA LABYRINTH
RACHEL CLARISSE
SPHINX BACKBITER
HELLHOUND RIPTIDE
15. TWELVE OLYMPIAN GODS +2
Click here to go to Index
A handy chart
for all Olympians
GOD/GODDESS
|
SPHERE OF CONTROL
|
ANIMAL/SYMBOL
|
Zeus
|
Sky
|
Eagle, lightning bolt
|
Hera
|
motherhood,
marriage
|
cow
(motherly animal), lion, peacock
|
Poseidon
|
sea, earthquakes
|
horse, trident
|
Demeter
|
Agriculture
|
red poppy,
barley
|
Hephaestus
|
Blacksmiths
|
anvil, quail – hops funny, like him
|
Athena
|
wisdom,
battle, useful arts
|
owl
|
Aphrodite
|
Love
|
dove, magic belt – that makes men fall for her
|
Ares
|
War
|
wild boar,
bloody spear
|
Apollo
|
music, medicine, poetry, archery, bachelors
|
mouse, lyre
|
Artemis
|
maiden
girls, hunting
|
she-bear
|
Hermes
|
travelers, merchants, thieves, messengers
|
Caduceus, winged helmet and sandals
|
Dionysus
|
wine
|
tiger,
grapes
|
Hestia
|
home and hearth
|
crane – gave up her council seat for Dionysus
|
Hades
|
the
Underworld
|
Helmet of
terror
|
16. ANSWERS TO PUZZLES
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