Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief

A/N Ta-da! Once again, I have a new chapter for you! And this time, I didn't take forever! So, as some of you might already know, I have published a new story called, "The Twin's Tales". It's something I had been working on for a while and it's one of the reasons I had been inactive for so long. I really hope you guys go and check it out, I'm sure you guys will love it. I won't be updating it as much as this story mainly because it's still a work in progress and I'm still trying to see what direction the story will take.

And a question everyone has been asking even though I've answered it multiple times already. Will there be a pairing? Yes there will be, just not in this story. Percy's twelve. Twelve year old's should not be dating. Happy? No? You want to know what the pairing will be? LOL I'm not telling you that. Ruins the susrprise XD

One last thing. Last chapter, with the gosling and godling argument between Percy and Charon. My autocorrect really did change godling to gosling, so I decided to stick with it XD

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.

Disclaimer: This is the last time I'm saying this, I do not own anything, all rights go to Rick Riordan.

Chapter 25:

"WHOOOOO!" Annabeth hollered happily.

We were all sitting on top of each of Cerberus's head as he carried us across the Underworld through the Fields of Asphodel – a huge field-like area with trillions of spirits doing nothing but wondering around – gripping tightly onto his ears so we wouldn't fall off. I was on top of the middle head with Grover to my left and Annabeth to my right. Cerberus was just going at a slow jog, but we were still going at least twenty miles an hour.

I doubt anyone had ever ridden by giant three-headed-dog before, but it was by far, the coolest thing ever. Annabeth seemed to be enjoying it the most.

"Hey, Annabeth!" I called, hoping she'd hear me over the wind and Cerberus's loud stomping.

Thankfully, she did. "Yeah?"

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Do what?" She asked.

"You know," I shifted on top of Cerberus's head for a more comfortable position. "Get Cerberus to sit."

"Oh, that," she got a strange look on her face. "Obedience school. When I was young I had a Dobermann as a pet. His name was Rufus. He … he died when he was trying to protect me from a monster." She faced away from me, but I managed to see a tear running down her cheek. She sniffled a little about.

"You don't think Hades would mind that we stole his guard dog, do you?" Grover said.

I said, "I don't think the gates are in need of serious guarding right now." Just a few seconds later, I sneezed.

"Bless you," Grover said.

"Thanks. I think I need it. It feels like someone just cursed at me." I said.

Annabeth gave me a confused look. "That's … weird, but okay."

I looked down below us at the Asphodel Fields. It was hard to comprehend just how many spirits there were. They looked like giant ants, with the way they were moving. Among them, something caught my eye. I only saw it for a few seconds, but I still saw it, or, not it, per se. More like, I saw her. Amongst the greyish spirits, one stood out amongst them.

A girl, who just barely looked my age. Unlike the other, she was in color. Dark chocolate skin, brown curly hair, and bright golden eyes.

I lost sight of her quickly amongst the green misty air, and the other spirits.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "Look."

I looked in the direction she was pointing. Not too far away, there was a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:

JUDGEMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION

Welcome, Newly Deceased!

Out of the back of the tents came two small lines.

The left line had spirits that were flanked by security ghouls. They were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields, and barbed wire that separated the different torture areas. Not barbed wire fences. Barbed wired. I could even see a few people who were caught in it.

That was not all I saw though. I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to music. There was even one with a fat bearded man screaming as he was kept in a guillotine. The blade fell beheading him, but still he continued screaming, and his body continued flailing around. The ghouls raised the guillotine and then cauterized his head back on, then dropped the guillotine again.

And there were even more tortures – some, I can't and don't want to describe.

I looked away and looked at the line coming from the right of the pavilion, the place where Annabeth was pointing to. The sight was much more pleasant. The line led to a small valley surrounded by walls – a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could almost hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. Immediately I knew that's where I wanted to go when I died.

I couldn't help but think that maybe my mum had made it to Elysium. Maybe she had gone for rebirth to try and reach the Isles of the Blest. After the life she had, she deserved only the best.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said. "That's the place for heroes."

But I thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to the Fields of Asphodel or even the Fields of Punishment. So few people did good in their lives. It was depressing.

We moved past the judgement pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. It got darker. The colors faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin. After a few miles of riding on Cerberus's back, we began to hear familiar screeching. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three bat-like creatures: The Furies. I got the feeling they were waiting for us.

"It's not too late to turn back, is it?" Grover said wistfully. "I mean, we could still search the other places. Like Elysium, for instance …"

Annabeth and I shared a look and rolled our eyes at him, and then Grover yelled.

Cerberus stopped walking and we turned to see what happened. Grover had just fallen off Cerberus's head, onto the black grass below.

"Grover!" Annabeth called. "You okay?"

"Yeah! I'm goo-" Suddenly, he was pulled forwards a little bit. I looked closer and saw that his shoes had sprouted its wings and was dragging him by his feet. Before anything else could happen his shoes levitated off the ground and dragged him away.

"Grover!" Annabeth and I yelled uselessly.

"Aaagh!" Grover screamed also uselessly. "Maia! Maia! HELP!" His shoes didn't respond to the magic word and pulled him downhill like a bobsled.

"Cerberus! Fetch!" I yelled. Cerberus barked and chased after our runaway satyr. We were starting to gain on him, but he already had a bit of a head start and was still picking up speed.

Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"

It was a smart idea, but I guess it's not easy when you're being pulled feet first at high speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces.

Cerberus did his best to chase after him, but the shoes would veer him sharply to one side to avoid him. It was hard to keep sight of him as he flew through the legs of spirits. We only knew where he was because of his consistent screaming.

I was sure Grover was going to barrel through the gates of Hades's palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.

The slope got steeper and Grover picked up more speed.

Cerberus skidded across the ground and chased after him. A few hundred meters later Cerberus stopped abruptly which caused me and Annabeth to fly off the top of his head.

We landed painfully onto the rocky ground below. Cerberus's three heads barked loudly in the direction Grover went. It sounded like he was trying to be scary, but only ended up sounding scared himself

"Come on," I groaned. "We gotta go after Grover."

"What's wrong with Cerberus?" Annabeth asked.

"Not sure. But we'll lose Grover if we don't go after him."

We sprinted down the hill, Cerberus still barking behind us.

"Guys!" Grover yelled from somewhere below. "Help!"

The further we ran down the narrower the walls became on either side, and I'd realized we must have entered some kind of tunnel.

"Grab onto something!" I yelled to him.

"I'm trying!" Came his voice. He sounded closer now. Which meant he had probably slowed himself down somehow.

Finally, we managed to catch up to him. He was holding onto a piece of jagged rock that was protruding from the cavern wall. His feet were still trying to pull him further down.

Relief flashed on Grover's face when he saw us, but it was short lived because the piece of rock he was holding onto snapped off the wall and his feet pulled him further down the tunnel.

"Use the rock!" Annabeth shouted at him. "Dig it into the ground! It might slow you down!"

Grover followed her advice and dug the piece of rock into the ground, but it didn't seem to be making much of a difference.

Fortunately, there was no twists and turns we had to take that would make us lose sight of Grover again.

Unfortunately, the tunnel got colder and darker. The hairs on my arms bristled. It smelled evil down here. It made me think of things I didn't want to think about – blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer.

Then I saw what was ahead of us, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle, was a chasm the size of a city block.

Grover was sliding straight toward the edge.

"Come on, Percy!" Annabeth yelled, tugging at my wrist.

"But that's-"

"I know!" She shouted. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him!"

That got me moving again.

He was yelling, clawing at the ground – he must have dropped the rock somewhere behind – but the shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn't look like we were going to get to him in time.

What saved him were his hooves.

The flying sneaker were always a loose fit on him, and finally, Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor.

He was ten feet from the edge of the pit when we caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around us angrily and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.

We all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. My limbs felt like lead. Even my backpack felt heavier, like someone had filled it with rocks.

Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified.

"I don't know how …" he panted. "I didn't …"

"Wait," I said. "Listen." I heard something – a deep whisper in the darkness.

Another few seconds, and Annabeth said, "Percy, this place-"

"Shh." I stood.

The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below us. Coming in the pit.

Grover sat up. "Wh-what's that noise?"

Annabeth heard it too now. I could see it in her eyes. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus." I uncapped Anaklusmos.

The bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming its chant. I could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words, older than even Greek. As if …

"Magic," I said.

"We have to get out of here," Annabeth said. Together we dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. My legs wouldn't move fast enough, and my backpack was really starting to weigh me down.

The voice got louder and angrier behind us and we broke into a run.

Not a moment too soon.

A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. The wind pulled my feet from under me and dragged me a little bit behind Grover and Annabeth. Thinking quickly, I stabbed my sword hilt deep into the gravel under me. Effectively stopping my trip to imminent doom.

"Percy!" Annabeth called panicked.

"Keep going!" I yelled to them. They looked very reluctant, but made their way to safety. The wind started getting stronger. I held onto the hilt of my sword with both hands. My backpack was pulling me back towards the pit. I was about to shrug it off me, but I saw something to my left that stopped me.

Amongst the black gravel, I could see a patch that was a different shade to the rest of the gravel.

It looked like … scorch marks.

Images of my dream flashed through my head. The loud scream, the blue fire, the two voices. But that was just a dream, how did I manage to burn the ground?

"Percy!" Annabeth called. "Come on!"

"Hold on!" I yelled back. "I've got an idea." Just like in my dream, I concentrated as hard as I could. I let go of the sword with my right hand and closed my hand into a tight fist. I willed as much power as I could into my hand causing it shake and tremble. My arm started to feel like it was burning from the inside.

I opened my fist and just like in my dream, a ball of bright blue flames that even looked like it was sparking was hovering above my palm.

"You want to suck on something?" I muttered. "Suck on this!" I threw the ball of fire into the pit. For a few seconds, nothing happened, but then something let out a roar of what sounded like pain. The winds stopped pulling me back and I could feel the thing that was in the pit retreat a little bit. I scrambled to my feet, pulled my sword out of the ground and dashed for the exit.

I rushed past my friends and they quickly followed behind me. We ran out of the tunnel area and back into the clearing that led to the Asphodel Fields.

Cerberus was still near the top of the hill pacing and whimpering. He barked happily when he saw us. Never in my life had I been so relieved to see a monster.

We collapsed at the base of the hill, underneath a pitch-black poplar tree. Using that ball of fire had drained me of a lot of my energy. More than a normal fireball usually does.

Cerberus sat down at the top of the hill obviously waiting for us. I guess even he knew what must have been in the tunnel, because he didn't come any closer.

"What was that?" Grover panted. "One of Hades' pets?"

Annabeth and I looked at each other. I could tell she was nursing an idea, probably the same one she'd gotten during the taxi ride to L.A., but she was too scared to share it.

I had an idea of my own, but I didn't really feel like saying out loud because I was sure Annabeth would react badly to the idea. I capped my sword and pit it back in my pocket. "Let's keep going," I looked at Grover. "Can you walk?"

He swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway." He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly as Annabeth and I were. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. Even Echidna didn't give me that kind of feeling.

We walked up the hill, to where Cerberus was still sitting. His tail was wagging faster the closer we got. He ducked his three heads down so we could scratch him. It was a little bit relaxing, petting a massive hell beast after almost falling to your doom. We climbed on top of his heads and told him to take us to Hades's palace.

High in the gloom, the Furies circled the parapets. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates, stood wide open.

Up close, I saw the that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times - an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls - but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true.

Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party statues were Medusa's garden statues, petrified children, satyrs and centaurs, all smiling grotesquely.

"Cerberus, stop," Annabeth said. Cerberus obeyed and stood just outside the palace gates.

"Why'd you tell him to stop?" Grover asked.

Annabeth seemed to ignore him and said, "Put us down Cerberus." He dipped his heads down. "Come on, guys. This is our stop."

Grover and I shared a confused look, but got off Cerberus. I knew Annabeth well enough to know that she had some type of reason for getting off a giant three-headed dog that could have been great backup in case we got into a fight.

Annabeth scratched under Cerberus's right head here. "Thanks for your help boy," she told him. "Time for you to go back to guard duty. Can't let you stay away from you job too long."

Cerberus let out a whine. Grover and I stood awkwardly behind her.

"I know, but if you don't go the Underworld might get out of control," she said. She sounded so upset that it even made me a little upset.

Cerberus made another whine, like he was saying he didn't want to go.

"Just go," Annabeth said clearly frustrated. "I'll tell Hades to play with you more. Huh? How about that?"

Cerberus whined again. His left head licked Annabeth from toe to head making her giggle cutely.

She wiped the slobber from her face. "Good. Now go." She pointed into the distance.

I could feel my eyes getting a little misty. There was sniffling next to me, I looked just as Grover looked at me. We made eye contact for a brief second then turned away crossing our arms over our chest and clearing our throats.

Cerberus turned around and walked away, his heads drooped sadly. He looked back at Annabeth again, all three heads giving big puppy eyes.

"Go!" Annabeth insisted, hew voice cracking a little bit. Cerberus's ears drooped, but he turned around and walked away disappearing into the darkness. Annabeth sniffled and wiped at her face. "I'm not crying," she told us. "I just still have dog slobber on my face."

She turned back to us, her eyes were a little bit red, and like a couple of morons, Grover and I wrapped our arms around each other and began crying.

"That was so beautiful!" Grover wailed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, an amused grin on her face. "Come on you two. We've got a god to talk too." She walked past us.

Grover and I continued sniffling. "Just give us a sec," I croaked. I cleared my throat loudly and wiped at my eyes. Once I was sobered up and not crying like a little baby, I caught up with Annabeth.

"So, why'd you tell Cerberus to go?" I asked her.

"We couldn't trust him," she said, her voice sounding somewhere between sad and angry. "He might have liked us, but he's still loyal to Hades, who could easily just turn him against us."

"You don't know that," I said trying to be reassuring.

"Doesn't matter. It was the best thing to do." Before I could argue, she stopped and looked around worriedly. "Where's Grover?"

I turned around thinking he'd be right behind me, but he wasn't on the path we had taken. Instead, he was off to the side, standing in front of one of the pomegranate tree. And in his hand was a round orange object. I realized it was a fruit from the said tree.

"Grover! Don't eat that!" Annabeth shouted at him. However Grover didn't listen, or maybe he just didn't hear her, but either way, I summoned my bow and arrows and quickly fired an arrow.

It whistled though the air, headed straight for Grover's direction, and just as he was about to take a bite, the arrow went straight through his head, blood splattering everywhere and once he hit the ground, he turned into a shrub.

(A/N HAHAHAHAHAHA XD I'm just kidding, I couldn't help myself)

The arrow pierced the grapefruit and pulled it along onto it's path away from Grover's mouth. Grover's eyes shot wide open in surprise and he jumped back startled. Annabeth marched right up to him and dragged him away from the tree.

"What were you thinking, Grover?" Annabeth scolded. "You can't eat anything from the Underworld."

"Yeah, unless you want to stay down here forever," I said.

"I'm sorry," Grover said. "It's just that, it smelled so tempting. I couldn't help myself."

"It's alright Grover," I said, putting my weapons away. "I know what you mean. I can smell those things from here. Can't imagine what it must be like for you."

Grover smiled appreciatively, "Thanks, Perce."

Annabeth exhaled sharply. "Just stay in between Percy and me so we can keep an eye on you."

Grover flicked his gaze between Annabeth and I repeatedly, looking mildly uncomfortable with the idea. "Uhh, are you sure? I don't want to intrude on anything."

"Intrude on what?" We asked.

"Nothing," he muttered. "Let's just go now." He trotted up further up the path. Annabeth and I shared a confused look then pulled up on either side of him.

We walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black portico and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above. I guess they never had to worry about rain down here.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulder. They carried spears or muskets or M-16's. None of them bothered us, but their hollow eye sockets followed us as we walked down the hall, towards the big set of doors at the opposite end.

From one of the side doors, out came a skeleton in familiar clothing. My friends and I stopped.

"That's ..." Annabeth said.

"A Lotus Hotel worker." I finished. The worker walked past us, not even regarding us and disappeared into another side room.

"What is he doing here?" Annabeth asked.

I recalled the times when I had shot some of the Casino workers and they burst into flames. Nico had said that he thought some of them looked see through. I finally understood why.

"Hades must have sent them sent them to keep us trapped," I said.

"That way the war would have started before we even got here," Annabeth said, catching onto what I was thinking.

"Right," I said. "Which means that Hades must have the bolt."

Knowing that made me feel a little bit better about coming down here, and that it wasn't some pointless trip we made. We continued on our way down the corridor.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at us, rocket propelled grenade launchers held across their chests. That's not overkill at all.

"You know," Grover mumbled. "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door to door salesmen."

My backpack weighed a ton now. I couldn't figure out why. I wanted to open it, check to see if I had somehow picked up a stray bowling ball, but this wasn't the time.

"Well, guys," I said. "I suppose we should ... knock?" We all looked at each other, none of us wanted to be the one to knock. "Grover. Knock."

Grover looked at me in a mixture of shock and fear. "What? Why me?"

"You're the guy in the middle," Annabeth said. "The guy in the middle always knocks."

Grover looked at us as if we had just killed a puppy. "I hate you guys," he muttered. He stared at the giant bronze gates and when he didn't move Annabeth and I shoved him forward.

He yelped and looked at us panicked.

Annabeth just urged him on.

He swallowed and inched closer to the door not taking his eyes off the two guards. "It's just a door," he muttered to himself. "Just a door."

He knocked once and then a hot wind blew down the corridor and the doors swung open. Grover yelped and scrambled back to us. The guards stepped aside.

"I guess that means, entrez," Annabeth said.

I said, "Ladies first?" Annabeth glared at me. "No? Okay then." I entered the room.

It was exactly as it looked like in my dreams, except this time, the throne of Hades was occupied. Just like my dream with my father, Hades was at least three meters tall, but besides that he was the complete opposite of what my father looked like. He was dressed in silk black robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair was shoulder length and jet black. He wasn't bulked like Ares, or Poseidon, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful and dangerous as a panther.

I immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than I did. He should be my master. Then I told myself to snap out of it.

His aura was affecting me, just as Ares's had. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen of Adolph Hitler, or Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

Numbness crept into my joints, tempting me to lie down and take a little nap at Hades's feet. Curl up here and sleep forever.

I fought the feeling and stepped forward. I knew what I had to do. I bowed. "Lord and Uncle. I come with a request," I said.

Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched to the trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things you'd have to do in your life to get woven into his underwear?

"Only a request?" Hades said. "Bah! You're lucky I haven't struck you down for what you have done to me, boy! The only reason you are alive is because you're my favorite sister's only child. Speak now, do not think I won't."

I swallowed. This was going as well as I'd feared.

I glanced at the empty smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. I wished Queen Persephone were here. I recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess of agriculture Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the earth, created the seasons.

Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded me in the back.

"Lord Hades," I said. "Look, sir, there can't be war among the gods. It would be ... bad."

"Really bad," Grover added helpfully.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," I said. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

I glanced back at my friends. They looked as confused as I was.

"Um ... Uncle," I said. "You keep saying 'after what I have done'. What exactly have I done?"

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization, I even saw a few Lotus Casino employees. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.

Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"

I wanted to say, Well these guys don't look like peace activists. But I thought that would be a dangerous answer.

"You are the Lord of the Dead," I said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"

"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of Asphodel?"

"Well ..."

"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many sub-divisions I've had to open?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but Hades was on a roll now.

"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgement pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"

"Charon wants a pay raise," I blurted just remembering the fact. As soon as I said, I wish I could have sewn my mouth shut.

"Don't get me started on Charon!' Hades yelled. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. No thanks to you, I had to deal with the mess you caused at Lotus Casino."

"You mean when you sent your servants to keep us trapped there, so we couldn't take the bolt from you," I said getting worked up.

"Do not think so highly of yourself, sea-spawn!" Hades yelled. He rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goal post. "They were their for another purpose entirely! And now, because of you, circumstances have changed. And why, must you keep up this pretense? You are the one who stole the bolt and my helmet. I had foreseen this day many years ago, and I could have stopped it if only I had hired better help. But now, you will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helmet back."

"But ..." Annabeth spoke. I could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. "Lord Hades, you're helmet of darkness is missing too?"

"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this so called hero - coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt - to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?"

"No!" I said. "Poseidon didn't - I didn't -"

"I have said nothing of the helmet's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because I had no illusion that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you, again, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat. I did not try to stop you."

"Wait, searched for me again? What does that-"

"Return my helmet now, or I will stop death,' Hades threatened. "That is my counter-proposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson - your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."

The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.

At that point, I probably should have been terrified. But instead, i was frustrated and offended. For two weeks, I was accused of stealing Zeus's master bolt, and now Hades's helm.

"You're as bad as Zeus," I said. "You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me? I didn't even know where Olympus was until a few weeks ago."

"It's on the back of a standard drachma, there's no way you could be that stupid," Hades rebutted.

"He really is," Annabeth said.

"Enough of this!" Hades yelled. "Return my property!"

"But I don't have your helmet! I came for the master bolt!"

"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could threaten me!"

"But I didn't!"

"Open your pack, then."

A horrible feeling struck me. The weight in my backpack, like a bowling ball. It couldn't be ...

I shrugged it off my shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a sixty-centimeter-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "How-"

"I-I don't know. I don't understand."

"You heroes are always the same," Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. As I said, I had foreseen this day would come, and now you will yield the master bolt to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now ... my helmet. Where is it?"

I was speechless. I had no helmet. I had no idea how the master bolt had got into my backpack. I wanted to think Hades was pulling some kind of trick. Hades was the bad guy. But suddenly the world turned sideways. I realized I'd been played with. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades had been set at each other's throats by someone else. The master bolt had been in the backpack, and I'd got the backpack from ...

"Lord Hades, wait," I said. "This is all a mistake."

"A mistake?!" Hades roared.

The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds face grinned at me eagerly and flicked her whip.

"There is no mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come - I know the real reason you brought the bolt. It is so you could bargain, and now that you have showed me your bargaining chip, let me show you mine."

Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of me, giving off a bright light that caused me to look away. When I looked, my heart stopped. A shining figure of a woman was floating in front of me.

I was so stunned, so shocked, that I only managed to croak. "Mum."

A/N OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOODS! YYYYEEEEEEESSSSSS! FINALLYYYY! Finally, we have reached the moment I have been waiting for! And yes, I know, I'm absolutely evil and am actually a satyr (no soul) in disguise. Guys, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to finally post this chapter. How many of you saw this coming? How many of you didn't? Please let me know. And also, don't forget to check out my other story, "The Twin's Tales," you can easily find it by going to my profile.

Anyways, I really, really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please leave a Review and tell me what you think, and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.

Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.