▬▬▬ CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR ▬▬▬

Updated early because I just got my new paint-by-numbers Picasso set so I'm gonna paint while replying to your comments :)

THE ACTION STARTS NOW GUYS! I recommend you listen to this while reading: 

https://youtu.be/Q_dtR775pLE

(Idk if you can listen to it while reading, but if you can't just find it on Youtube if you want)

It's a playlist of songs from Two Steps From Hell. Trust me, the songs are so fucking intense and they go well with the war scenes. I listened to them while writing this chapter and the chapters afterwards. I'll be posting this video in the beginning of each chapter for you all to listen to.

Enjoy reading everyone! Get your tissues ready :)

THEY SHADOW TRAVELED TO CENTRAL park, just north of the Pond. Percy wanted to try contacting Grover through their empathy link and it had worked with Grover falling out of a tree like it was some sort of a portal.

"Grover!" He yelled.

"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary looked up, probably wondering if they were going to play fetch with the satyr.

"Blah-haa-haa!" Grover bleated.

"You okay, man?"

"Oh, I'm fine." He rubbed his head and that was when Esmerelda noticed how much his horns had grown since they last time she saw him. They were now an inch taller than his curly hair. "I was at the other end of the park. The dryads had this great idea of passing me through the trees to get me here. They don't understand height very well."

He grinned and got to his feet—well, his hooves, actually. Another thing Esmerelda noticed was that he was as tall as Percy now, and Percy was exactly six feet.

"Good to see you, G-man," Percy said, and they did that weird 'bro' greeting that she just couldn't understand. "You remember Nico and Essie."

Grover nodded at them, then he gave Percy a big hug.

"Perrrrcy!" He bleated. "I missed you! I miss camp. They don't serve very good enchiladas in the wilderness."

"I was worried," Percy admitted. "Where've you been the last two months?"

"The last two—" Grover's smile faded. "The last two months? What are you talking about?"

"We haven't heard from you," he clarified. "Juniper's worried. We sent Iris-messages, but—"

"—Hold on." He looked up at the stars like he was trying to calculate his position. "What month is this?"

"August."

The color drained from his face. "That's impossible. It's June. I just laid down to take a nap and..." He grabbed him by the arms. "I remember now! He knocked me out. Percy, we have to stop him!"

"Whoa," Percy said. "Slow down. Tell me what happened."

He took a deep breath. "I was... I was walking in the woods up by Harlem Meer. And I felt this tremble in the ground, like something powerful was near."

"You can sense stuff like that?" Nico asked.

Grover nodded. "Since Pan's death, I can feel when something is wrong in nature. It's like my ears and eyes are sharper when I'm in the Wild. Anyway, I started following the scent. This man in a long black coat was walking through the park, and I noticed he didn't cast a shadow. Middle of a sunny day, and he cast no shadow. He kind of shimmered as he moved."

"Like a mirage?" Nico quirked a brow.

"Yes," Grover said.

"Is he some sort of monster?" Esmerelda asked.

His face fell. "I think so, but I have no idea what kind of monster he is, because whenever he passed humans—"

"—The humans would pass out," Nico finished. "Curl up and go to sleep."

"That's right! Then after he was gone, they'd get up and go about their business like nothing happened."

Esmerelda stared at Nico knowingly. "You know who it is, don't you?"

"Afraid so," he answered. "Grover, what happened?"

"I followed the guy. He kept looking up at the buildings around the park like he was making estimates or something. This lady jogger ran by, and she curled up on the sidewalk and started snoring. The guy in black put his hand on her forehead like he was checking her temperature. Then he kept walking. By this time, I knew he was a monster or something even worse. I followed him into this grove, to the base of a big elm tree. I was about to summon some dryads to help me capture him when he turned and..."

Grover swallowed. "Percy, his face. I couldn't make out his face because it kept shifting. Just looking at him made me sleepy. I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Just having a look around. You should always scout a battlefield before the battle.' I said something really smart like, 'This forest is under my protection. You won't start any battles here!' And he laughed. He said, 'You're lucky I'm saving my energy for the main event, little satyr. I'll just grant you a short nap. Pleasant dreams.' And that's the last thing I remember."

Nico exhaled. "Grover, you met Morpheus, the God of Dreams. You're lucky you ever woke up."

"Two months," Grover moaned. "He put me to sleep for two months!"

"Why didn't the nymphs try to wake you?" Percy asked.

Grover shrugged. "Most nymphs aren't good with time. Two months for a tree—that's nothing. They probably didn't think anything was wrong."

"I wonder what he meant by 'main event'," Esmerelda wondered. "Whatever it is, it isn't anything good. You think he's going to try and put us all to sleep or something?"

Nico shrugged. "I've got no clue. All I know is that he's working for Kronos like most of the minor gods. This just proves there's going to be an invasion. Percy, we have to get on with our plan."

"Wait," Grover said. "What plan?"

They told him, and Grover started tugging at his leg fur. "You're not serious," he said. "Not the Underworld again."

"We don't really have a choice at this point," Esmerelda told him. "This is our best bet."

"Yeah if it works and Percy doesn't die in the process..." He added nervously. "You guys really think Kronos is going to invade?"

"I wish I could tell you better, but yeah. He will." Percy replied.

Grover's face fell, before he nodded in acceptance. He straightened up and brushed off his T-shirt.

"I've got to rally the nature spirits, then. Maybe we can help. I'll see if we can find this Morpheus.'"

"Better tell Juniper you're okay, too."

His eyes widened. "Juniper! Oh, she's going to kill me!"

He started to run off, then scrambled back and gave Percy another hug. "Be careful down there! Come back alive!"

Once he was gone, the three of them looked at each other.

"So..." Esmerelda began. "To the Underworld?"

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Despite the fact that Percy was going to be the one to take up the Curse of Achilles, Nico was the one who was nervous mess.

He was doing his best to hide it of course, but Esmerelda could see through his act way too easily.

Like right now:

"Are you okay?" She asked him

"Fine." He lied, his expression just full of doubt which wasn't very reassuring. "Just keep moving."

After another hour of walking, they began to hear the roar of a river. They emerged at the base of a cliff, on a plain of black volcanic sand. To their right, the River Styx gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of rapids. To their left, far away in the gloom, fires burned on the ramparts of Erebos, the great black walls of Hades's kingdom.

Percy gulped when he saw the River Styx. Esmerelda sympathized with him.

Only Mrs. O'Leary acted happy. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human leg bone, and romped back toward them. She dropped the bone at their feet and waited for one of them to throw it.

"Um, maybe later, girl." Percy said anxiously, too busy staring at the dark waters. "So, Nico... how do we do this?"

"We have to go inside the gates first," he replied.

"But the river's right here."

"I have to get something," he said. "It's the only way."

"What do you need to get?" Esmerelda asked, eyes narrowed slightly.

Rather than answering her question, he tensed up and marched away as if he didn't hear her (which he did).

She and Percy exchanged a look, as if to say 'what the heck is this kid hiding from us?'.

Nevertheless, they reluctantly followed him down the beach toward the big black gates.

Lines of the dead stood outside waiting to get in. It must've been a heavy day for funerals, because even the EZ-DEATH line was backed up.

"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary said.

Before anyone could stop her she bounded toward the security checkpoint. Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades, appeared out of the gloom—a three-headed rottweiler so big he made Mrs. O'Leary look like a toy poodle. He didn't pay anyone any attention since he was so busy greeting Mrs. O'Leary.

"Mrs. O'Leary, no!" Percy shouted at her. "Don't sniff... Oh, man."

Esmerelda chuckled softly. 

Nico smiled, but then his expression turned all serious again, like he'd remembered something unpleasant. "Come on. They won't give us any trouble in the line. You're with me."

They slipped through the security ghouls and into the Fields of Asphodel. Percy had to whistle for Mrs. O'Leary three times before she left Cerberus alone and ran after them.

They hiked over black fields of grass dotted with black poplar trees, getting closer to Hades' palace.

"Hey," Percy said. "We're inside the gates already. Where are we—"

Mrs. O'Leary growled.

A shadow appeared overhead—something dark, cold, and stinking of death. It swooped down and landed in the top of a poplar tree. It was Alecto, with her leathery bat wings spread out. She was holding a flaming whip in one clawed hand and a paisley handbag in the other.

"Mrs. Dodds," Percy scowled.

She bared her fangs. "Welcome back, honey."

Her two sisters—the other Furies—swooped down and settled next to her in the branches of the poplar.

"You know Alecto?" Nico asked.

"If you mean the hag in the middle, yeah," Percy answered. "She was my math teacher."

Nico nodded, like this didn't surprise him.

"Nico, what exactly is going on?" Esmerelda demanded.

Nico couldn't seem to look her in the eyes. Instead, he looked up at the Furies and took a deep breath.

"I've done what my father asked. Take us to the palace."

Esmerelda's eyes widened.

Percy's did as well. "Wait a second, Nico. What do you—"

"—I'm afraid this is my new lead, Percy. My father promised me information about my family, but he wants to see you before we try the river. I'm sorry."

His jaw dropped. "You tricked me?"

Without waiting for an answer, Percy lunged at him, but the Furies were fast. Two of them swooped down and plucked him up by the arms. Riptide fell out of his hand, and he was immediately yanked up into the air, sixty feet off the ground.

"Oh, don't struggle, honey," Alecto cackled. "I'd hate to drop you."

Esmerelda turned to Nico, who immediately shrunk once he saw her glare. Her mouth opened, and the words coming out of her mouth were all in very furious Italian:

"Non posso crederci! Nicolò di Angelo*, che cazzo pensi di fare adesso?! E ' una specie di gioco per te?! Siamo in piena guerra! SEI NEI GUAI! Non posso what a cosa stavi pensando?! Ci stavi pensando?! Sai che tuo padre odia Percy! Faresti meglio a pregare che Percy non venga ucciso dopo questo, o non lascerai mai piu ' il Palazzo! Mi senti?! (I cannot believe you! Nicolò di Angelo, what the fuck do you think you're doing right now?! Is this some sort of game to you?! We're in the middle of war! YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE! I cannot—what were you thinking?! Were you thinking at all?! You KNOW your father hates Percy! You better pray Percy doesn't get killed after this, or you're never leaving the palace ever again! Do you hear me?!)"

Nico stepped back a little, wearing an expression every kid was familiar with whenever they were in trouble.

"N-non pensavo— (I-I didn't think—)"

"—OH NON HAI PENSATO?! Sei in punizione dopo questo! (—OH YOU DIDN'T THINK?! You are grounded after this!)"

"Ma—! (But—!)"

"—Niente ma. Sono cosi delusa da te! (—No buts. I am so disappointed in you!)

Percy had no idea what they were saying, but he hoped she was grounding the little shit.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

They reached the middle of the palace garden, where Alecto dropped Percy onto the ground like he was a sack of turnips. Meanwhile, her sisters were more gentler with Esmerelda and Nico, who were given a more graceful landing.

Not that it mattered to Esmerelda. The second they were released, she went back to muttering to Nico in angry Italian and even pinching his sides.

"Ow, ow, ow...!"

"You deserve that you little shit," Percy grumbled under his breath as he got up to his feet to survey their surroundings.

The garden was beautiful in a creepy way. Skeletal white trees grew from marble basins. Flower beds overflowed with golden plants and gemstones. A pair of thrones, one bone and one silver, sat on the balcony with a view of the Fields of Asphodel.

It would've been a nice place to spend a Saturday morning except for the sulfurous smell and the cries of tortured souls in the distance.

Skeletal warriors guarded the only exit. They wore tattered U.S. Army desert combat fatigues and carried M16s.

The three furies flew over to settle themselves over the two empty thrones. For a second, nothing happened. Then the air shimmered. Three figures appeared—Hades and Persephone on their thrones, and Demeter standing between them. They seemed to be in the middle of an argument.

"—told you he was a bum!" Demeter cried out.

"Mother!" Persephone groaned.

"We have visitors!" Hades barked. "Please!"

Hades, now one of Esmerelda's least favorite gods at the moment, smoothed his black robes, which were covered with the terrified faces of the damned. He had pale skin and the intense eyes of a madman.

"Percy Jackson," he said with satisfaction. "At last."

Beside him, Persephone spotted Esmerelda and looked like she wanted to scream in frustration. Esmerelda shared the sentiment.

"Hmmph," Demeter said. "Demigods. Just what we need."

Nico knelt. "Father, I have done as you asked."

"Took you long enough," Hades grumbled. "Your sister would've done a better job."

Nico lowered his head, and Esmerelda transferred her glare over to Hades. Nico may be in a lot of trouble at the moment, but Hades didn't exactly have the right to act like a parent now.

"What do you want, Hades?" Percy said impatiently.

"To talk, of course." The god twisted his mouth in a cruel smile. "Didn't Nico tell you?"

"So this whole quest was a lie. Nico brought me down here to get me killed."

"Oh, no," Hades said. "I'm afraid Nico was quite sincere about wanting to help you. The boy is as honest as he is dense. I simply convinced him to take a small detour and bring you and Esmerelda here first."

"Father," Nico implored. "You promised that Percy would not be harmed. You said if I brought him and Essie, you would tell me about my past—about my mother."

Wait, Hades wanted Esmerelda brought here too? What for?

Persephone sighed dramatically. "Can we please not talk about that woman in my presence?"

"I'm sorry, my dove," Hades said awkwardly. "I had to promise the boy something."

Demeter harrumphed. "I warned you, daughter. This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could've married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers, but noooo. You had to eat the pomegranate."

"Mother—"

"—And get stuck in the Underworld!"

"Mother, please—"

"—And here it is August, and do you come home like you're supposed to? Do you ever think about your poor lonely mother?"

"DEMETER!" Hades shouted. "That is enough. You are a guest in my house."

"Oh, a house is it?" She sneered. "You call this dump a house? Make my daughter live in this dark, damp—"

"—I told you," Hades seethed. "There's a war in the world above. You and Persephone are better off here with me."

"Excuse me," Percy broke in. "But if you're going to kill me, could you just get on with it?"

All three gods looked at him.

"Well, this one has an attitude," Demeter observed.

"Indeed," Hades agreed. "I'd love to kill him."

"Father!" Nico groaned. "You promised!"

"Husband, we talked about this," Persephone chided. "You can't go around incinerating every hero. Besides, he's brave. I like that."

Hades rolled his eyes. "You liked that Orpheus fellow too. Look how well that turned out. Let me kill him, just a little bit."

"Father, you promised!" Nico cried out. "You said you only wanted to talk to him. You said if I brought them, you'd explain."

Hades glowered, smoothing the folds of his robes.

"And so I shall. Your mother—what can I tell you? She was a wonderful woman." He glanced uncomfortably at Persephone. "Forgive me, my dear. I mean... for a mortal, of course." He then sent an uncomfortable glance at Esmerelda too, for some reason. "Her name was Maria di Angelo. She was from Venice, but her father was a diplomat in Washington, D.C. When you and your sister were young, it was a bad time to be children of Hades. World War II was brewing. A few of my, ah, other children were leading the losing side. I thought it best to put you two out of harm's way."

"That's why you hid us in the Lotus Casino?"

Hades shrugged. "You didn't age. You didn't realize time was passing. I waited for the right time to bring you out."

"But what happened to our mother? Why don't I remember her?"

"Not important," Hades snapped.

"What? Of course it's important. And you had other children—why were we the only ones who were sent away? And who was the lawyer who got us out?"

Hades grit his teeth. "You would do well to listen more and talk less, boy. As for the lawyer..."

Hades snapped his fingers. On top of his throne, the Fury Alecto began to change until she was a middle-aged man in a pinstriped suit with a briefcase. She—he—looked strange crouching at Hades's shoulder.

"You!" Nico's eyes widened.

The Fury cackled. "I do lawyers and teachers very well!"

Nico was trembling. "But why did you free us from the casino?"

"You know why," Hades rolled his eyes. "This idiot son of Poseidon cannot be allowed to be the child of the prophecy."

Said idiot son of Poseidon plucked a ruby off the nearest plant and threw it at Hades. It sank harmlessly into his robe.

"You should be helping Olympus!" He shouted. "All the other gods are fighting Typhon, and you're just sitting here—"

"—Waiting things out," Hades finished. "Yes, that's correct. When's the last time Olympus ever helped me, half-blood? When's the last time a child of mine was ever welcomed as a hero? Bah! Why should I rush out and help them? I'll stay here with my forces intact."

"And when Kronos comes after you?"

"Let him try. He'll be weakened. And my son here, Nico—" Hades looked at him with distaste. "Well, he's not much now, I'll grant you. It would've been better if Bianca had lived. But give him four more years of training. We can hold out that long, surely. Nico will turn sixteen, as the prophecy says, and then he will make the decision that will save the world. And I will be king of the gods."

Esmerelda finally had enough of this.

"EXCUSE ME?!" She shrieked, and Hades seemed to have shrunk about twenty feet or so. "How horrible could you be to compare your two children like this?! And to insult Nico! You call yourself a father?! You claim to better than the Olympians but you're just as awful as a parent as them!"

Hades bristled, but he seemed to be hesitant about something. "I—"

"—And you have the fucking nerve to boss him around and force him to be the child of the prophecy! You may be his father, BUT YOU NEVER BOTHERED TO RAISE HIM! Nico has been living with you and not once have you tried to act fatherly with him, AND FORCING HIM TO DO YOUR GRUELING TRAINING SESSIONS DOES NOT COUNT, HADES!"

"Those training sessions were a way for us to bond! It was common in Ancient Greece!" Was his excuse.

"You weren't even there for any of them!" She cried out incredulously. "You just had some skeletal warriors train him FOR you!"

"Do you know how much work I have?! I'm a busy god! What do you expect me to do?!"

"BE A FATHER FOR ONCE!" She roared. "Unlike with all the other gods, you actually had so many chances! But you've blown them! And now you've got this stupid plan—"

"—It's not stupid—"

"—to let Kronos beat the gods because you think YOU can handle him—"

"—I can!"

"HAH!" She let out a mocking laugh. 

"You're crazy!" Percy finally joined the argument. "Kronos will crush you, right after he finishes pulverizing Olympus."

Hades' seemed to grow angrier with his interruption. He spread his arms out with a cynical smile. "Well, you'll get a chance to find out, half-blood. Because you'll be waiting out this war in my dungeons."

"No!" Nico exclaimed. "Father, that wasn't our agreement. And you haven't told me everything!"

"I've told you all you need to know," Hades bristled. "As for our agreement, I spoke with Jackson. I did not harm him. You got your information. If you had wanted a better deal, you should've made me swear on the Styx. Now, go to your room and make sure Esmerelda doesn't leave!"

He waved his hand, and Nico and Esmerelda vanished.

╞═════𖠁𐂃𖠁═════╡

"—pisses me off so much, I can't believe he has the audacity to do this! And his plan is so stupid! What was he thinking?! Does he not even care that you could get yourself killed?!"

"Probably not..." Nico sighed sullenly.

She whirled around to face him. "You're in trouble too, you know! Bringing Percy here—you should've known your father would pull something like this! He hates Percy!"

He bowed his head. "I know..."

"Don't do this ever again, alright, Nico?"

He nodded, his eyes guilty. "I'm sorry..."

She softened a little. "I know, I know... Why did Hades even want me in here anyways?"

"He just told me to bring you here and gave me orders to never let you leave," he shrugged casually, as if his father's demands were perfectly reasonable. 

She stared at him. "You were planning on locking me up?" 

"Er, well..." He trailed off guiltily. "Not lock you up. Just... keep you within the palace..." 

"Nico! We're in the middle of a war!" 

"I know, I know! I'm sorry..."

She sighed. "I forgive you. Now let's just focus on a way to get Percy now." She said, pacing around the lavish bedroom they were trapped in.

"I already have a plan," he stated.

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?"

"...Because you were lecturing me...?" He reminded her.

She blinked owlishly. "Oh. Right. So what's the plan?"

"First, we deal with the soldiers guarding the room," that one was obvious. "Next, we sneak our way into my father's dungeons, the deepest ones. He hates Percy so he most likely locked him in one of those. I think I can remember the way there... but I'm not so sure."

"We'll have to risk it," she said, brandishing her labrys. "Come on."

It was pretty easy dealing with the soldiers. Esmerelda didn't even need to use her labrys that much. Nico just needed to point at the guards and they would instantly fall asleep. Cool.

The hard part was navigating through the maze that was Hades' palace. Nico had been here plenty of times and so had Esmerelda a couple of times, but neither of them had been to the dungeons nor knew the way there.

They ended up finding a bunch of random bathrooms, a room full of dirty cages full of unspeakables, and a designing room which was probably where Hades got his clothes custom made.

Finally, they found the way to the dungeons. It didn't look like a regular dungeon because there were no obvious cells. It basically looked like a creepy hallway but Nico used Underworldly powers to make the walls disappear and expose the cells.

They found the one where Percy was locked up in. Nico had unsheathed his sword, thinking that the older boy would attack him on sight, but fortunately for him, Percy was asleep.

He did, however, make the mistake of trying to wake him up.

He shook him and hissed, "Percy!"

Percy lunged out blindly, pinning Nico to the floor with the edge of his sword at his throat. Before he could even move, Esmerelda's blade was at his throat too.

"Percy," she said in a warning tone. "Don't."

"Want... to... rescue," Nico choked.

Anger was written all over Percy's face. "Oh, yeah? And why should I trust you?"

"No... choice?" He gagged.

Percy scowled, but released him anyways. Esmerelda retracted her blade and knelt down to check on Nico.

The younger boy had curled into a ball and made retching sounds while his throat recovered. Finally he got to his feet,eyeing Riptide warily.

"We have to get out of here," he said.

"Why?" Percy said. "Does your dad want to talk to me again?"

He winced. "Percy, I swear on the River Styx, I didn't know what he was planning."

"You know what your dad is like!"

Esmerelda had to give Nico a pointed look at that part.

"He tricked me. He promised—" Nico held up his hands. "Look... right now, we need to leave. I put the guards to sleep, but it won't last."

He pointed at the wall. A whole section vanished, revealing a corridor.

"Come on." Nico led the way.

"How are we gonna deal with the guards?" Percy asked.

"Nico's got that part covered." Esmerelda replied curtly. She was still pretty miffed with him for trying to kill Nico. 

They walked through a maze of corridors filled with guards, each of them falling victim to Nico's powers. By the time they reached a kitchen staffed by skeletal cooks and servants, Percy was practically carrying Nico. He managed to put all the dead to sleep but nearly passed out himself. He had to be dragged out of the servants' entrance and into the Fields of Asphodel.

Esmerelda almost felt relieved until she heard the sound of bronze gongs high in the castle.

"Alarms," Nico murmured sleepily.

"What do we do?"

He yawned then frowned like he was trying to remember. "How about... run?"

Esmerelda looked at Percy urgently. "You carry him, I'll deal with the dead."

Percy decided to toss him over his shoulder, which she was pretty sure Nico wouldn't appreciate but he was probably too tired to even notice.

They darted through the fields, the dead parting ways at the sight of Esmerelda's adamantine blade.

The sound of gongs rolled across the fields.

Ahead loomed the walls of Erebos, but the longer they walked, the farther away they seemed.

Suddenly, they heard a familiar "WOOOOOF!"

Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of nowhere and ran circles around them, ready to play.

"Good girl.'" Percy said. "Can you give us a ride to the Styx?"

The word Styx got her excited. She probably thought he meant sticks. She jumped a few times, chased her tail just to teach it who was boss, and then calmed down enough for Percy to push Nico onto her back. Then, he and Esmerelda climb aboard, and Mrs. O'Leary raced toward the gates. She leaped straight over the EZ-DEATH line, sending guards sprawling and causing more alarms to blare. Cerberus barked, but he sounded more excited than angry, like: Can I play too?

Fortunately, he didn't follow them, and Mrs. O'Leary kept running. She didn't stop until they were far upriver and the fires of Erebos had disappeared in the murk.

Nico slid off Mrs. O'Leary's back and crumpled in a heap on the black sand.

Esmerelda gingerly fed him a square of ambrosia.

"Mmm," he mumbled. "Better."

"Your powers drain you too much," Percy noted.

He nodded sleepily. "With great power... comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later."

"Whoa, zombie dude." Percy caught him before he could pass out again. "We're at the river. You can't pass out on us now."

Esmerelda fed him one more square and stopped at that, not wanting to risk him getting incinerated from the inside.

Nico shook his head a few times and struggled to his feet.

"My father will be coming soon," he warned. "We should hurry."

The River Styx was just as dark, miserable, and polluted as the last time she and Nico had been there. Percy stared down at it in disgust.

"So... I just jump in?"

Esmerelda shook her head. "No, not just yet. You have to prepare yourself for it, first."

"The river will destroy you if you don't," Nico added helpfully. "It will burn away your body and soul."

"Sounds fun," he muttered.

"This is no joke," Nico warned. "There is only one way to stay anchored to your mortal life. You have to.." He glanced behind him and his eyes widened.

Standing behind Percy was a Greek warrior. But not just any Greek warrior.

This warrior was tall and buff, with features that were almost akin to Ares. He had a cruel scarred face and closely shaved black hair. He wore a white tunic and bronze armor. He held a plumed war helm under his arm. But his eyes were human—pale green like a shallow sea—and a bloody arrow stuck out of his left calf, just above the ankle.

This was Achilles, probably the greatest warrior of all time.

"Achilles," Percy breathed out.

Esmerelda's jaw dropped. 

"Seriously?" She whispered to Nico. "We could've just asked him this entire time!"

Nico didn't reply. He just stared, dumbfounded by the realization. 

The ghost turned to Percy. "I warned the other one not to follow my path. Now I will warn you."

"Luke? You spoke with Luke?"

"Do not do this," he said. "It will make you powerful. But it will also make you weak. Your prowess in combat will be beyond any mortal's, but your weaknesses, your failings will increase as well."

"You mean I'll have a bad heel?" Percy said. "Couldn't I just, like, wear something besides sandals? No offense."

"Oh my gods," Nico muttered in disbelief while Esmerelda face-palmed beside him.

Achilles stared down at his bloody foot. "The heel is only my physical weakness, demigod. My mother, Thetis, held me there when she dipped me in the Styx. What really killed me was my own arrogance. Beware! Turn back!"

He meant it. The regret and bitterness was laced in his voice. He was honestly trying to save Percy from a terrible fate.

Not like Percy really had much a choice now, though...

"I have to," he said regretfully. "Otherwise I don't stand a chance."

Achilles lowered his head. "Let the gods witness I tried. Hero, if you must do this, concentrate on your mortal point. Imagine one spot of your body that will remain vulnerable. This is the point where your soul will anchor your body to the world. It will be your greatest weakness, but also your only hope. No man may be completely invulnerable. Lose sight of what keeps you mortal, and the River Styx will burn you to ashes. You will cease to exist."

"I don't suppose you could tell me Luke's mortal point?"

Nico dipped his head back while Esmerelda just shook her head.

Achilles scowled. "Prepare yourself, foolish boy. Whether you survive this or not, you have sealed your doom!"

With that happy thought, he vanished.

"Percy," Nico said hesitantly "Maybe he's right."

"This was your idea."

"I know, but now that we're here—"

"—I don't like this either, Nico," Esmerelda told him, knowing that he was just worried about the boy he was in love with. She understood the feeling too. "But Percy has to do this."

Percy nodded grimly in agreement. "Just wait on the shore. If anything happens to me... Well, maybe Hades will get his wish, and you'll be the child of the prophecy after all."

Nico didn't look pleased about that, but Percy was already heading towards the water. He stood at the edge, thinking deeply about something. And then he jumped in.

Esmerelda felt like he had been submerged in there for hours. While she knew the son of Poseidon would be just fine underwater, this was no regular river. She watched with budding dread as the dark waters churned, forming into a little whirlpool where Percy was at. All the pollution—the crumpled diplomas, the broken toys, everything—where whirling around rapidly and she wondered if Percy was getting whacked by them down there.

And suddenly, the river vomited him out. Literally. It was as if the river had gotten so sick of him it just decided to spit him out of the water. He crashed onto the sand, and she and Nico scrambled after him.

Percy's skin was bright red, as if he had been broiled over a slow flame.

"A-are you okay?" Nico stammered.

Percy looked around dazedly before stumbling up to his feet.

"I'm fine... I think..." He murmured, looking down as his skin quickly turned back to normal.

Mrs. O'Leary came up and sniffed him with concern. Apparently he smelled really interesting.

"Well?" Esmerelda asked expectantly. "How was it? Do you feel stronger now? Invincible, or...?"

Before he could answer, a voice boomed, "THERE!"

Uh oh.

An army of the dead marched toward them. A hundred skeletal Roman legionnaires led the way with shields and spears. Behind them came an equal number of British redcoats with bayonets fixed. In the middle of the host, Hades himself rode a black-and-gold chariot pulled by nightmare horses, their eyes and manes smoldering with fire.

"You will not escape me this time, Percy Jackson!" Hades bellowed. "Destroy him!"

"Father, no!" Nico shouted, but it was too late.

The front line of Roman zombies lowered their spears and advanced. Mrs. O'Leary growled and got ready to pounce.

Percy let out a yell and the River Styx exploded. Esmerelda yelped in surprise and grabbed Nico, yanking him back as a black tidal wave smashed into the legionnaires. Spears and shields flew everywhere. Roman zombies began to dissolve, smoke coming off their bronze helmets.

The redcoats lowered their bayonets, but Percy was already charging after them.

Esmerelda watched, in pure awe, as a hundred muskets fired at him, point blank. He didn't even the curse of Achilles for this, his natural demigod speed was so fast that each bullet missed. He crashed into their line and started hacking with Riptide. Bayonets jabbed. Swords slashed. Guns reloaded and fired.

But nothing touched him.

He whirled through the ranks, slashing redcoats to dust, one after the other until they were all destroyed.

He broke through the enemy line and leaped into the black chariot.

Hades raised his staff. A bolt of dark energy shot toward him, but he deflected it off his blade and slammed into the god. Both of them tumbled out of the chariot.

In the end, Percy's knee was planted on Hades' chest. He was holding the collar of his royal robes in one fist, and the tip of his sword was poised right over his face.

Nico's jaw dropped.

"Whoa..." He said in pure awe. There was a small bit of pink over his pale cheeks. 

Hades swallowed. "Now, Jackson, listen here..."

"Just because I'm a nice person," Percy snarled, "I'll let you go. But first, tell me about that trap!"

Hades melted into nothing, leaving him holding empty black robes.

Percy let out a curse and got to my feet, breathing heavily.

Esmerelda hurried over to him, grinning widely for once. "That was amazing! You killed them all like they were nothing!

"I think the river thing worked," he said.

"Oh gee," Nico said sarcastically. "You think?"

Mrs. O'Leary barked happily and wagged her tail. She bounded around, sniffing empty uniforms and hunting for bones.

Percy lifted Hades's robe, where a bunch of tormented faces could be seen shimmering in the fabric. He walked to the edge of the river.

"Be free." He dropped the robe in the water and watched as it swirled away, dissolving in the current.

"So what now?" Esmerelda asked. "I take it we go to the living world and prepare for battle?"

"Yeah, but as for you," he turned to Nico. "You need to go back to your father. Tell him he owes me for letting him go. Find out what's going to happen to Mount Olympus and convince him to help."

Nico stared. "I... I can't. He'll hate me now. I mean... even more."

"You have to," Percy said. "You owe me too."

His ears turned red. "Percy, I told you I was sorry. Please..." He looked at Esmerelda. "Let me come with you. I want to fight."

But she shook her head. "I'm sorry, Nico, but no. We need Hades to fight for us, Persephone and Demeter too. If you convince him, all three will come."

"You don't trust me anymore," he said miserably.

"That's not true," she told him gently.

"Yes it is. You're mad at me..."

"Not angry, disappointed." She corrected. "But we'll deal with that later. Right now we need to focus on defeating Kronos and we can't do that if you don't talk to your father. You're the only person who might be able to get him to listen."

"That's a depressing thought." Nico sighed. "All right. I'll do my best. Besides, he's still hiding something from me about my mom. Maybe I can find out what."

Percy nodded. "Good luck. Now we gotta go. Essie, you ready?"

"Yep. Let's go." She replied.

"Where are you going?" Nico asked.

Percy's grip on Riptide tightened.

"To get this war started. It's time I found Luke."

— author's note —

* I like the headcanon that 'Nico' isn't really Nico's full name, just a nickname. So in my story, his full name will be Nicolò di Angelo :)

Essie to Hades: