gone girl.
━━━ chapter twenty

❀

Amaryllis emerged in Central Park just north of the Pond. Mrs. O'Leary looked pretty tired as she limped over toa cluster of boulders. A little further away were Percy and Nico, sitting on a big boulder like they were waiting for something.

"What took you so long?" Nico asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

She wished she could telepathically explain everything to him, but instead she just shrugged. "Technical difficulties. Mrs. O'Leary was pretty tired." She looked around, eyes focused at the entrance to the Underworld, the Doors of Orpheus, that were still closed. "What are you guys doing?" 

"Percy's trying to reach Grover, using their empathy link or whatever," the pale boy explained and huffed. "It's no good."

Percy had his eyes closed and looked like he was trying to block out their voices to concentrate. Amaryllis knew the two shared that kind of special connection, but she wasn't sure how exactly it worked. Nevertheless, she stayed quiet, so she didn't distract the son of Poseidon.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open and he almost fell over. "What happened?" Amaryllis rushed to his side. 

"I got through. He's... yeah. He's on his way."

A minute later, the tree next to them shivered. Grover fell out of the branches, right on his head. 

"Grover!" Percy yelled.

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

"Blah-haa-haa!" Grover bleated.

"Are you okay?" she asked the satyr.

"Oh, I'm fine." He rubbed his head. His horns had grown so much they poked an inch above 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. Since last summer, Grover had stopped trying to disguise himself as human. He never wore a cap or fake feet anymore. He didn't even wear jeans, since he had furry goat legs from the waist down. His T-shirt had a picture from that book Where the Wild Things Are. It was covered with dirt and tree sap. His goatee looked fuller, almost manly and he was as tall as Percy.

"Good to see you, G-man," Percy said. "You remember Nico."

Grover nodded at Nico, then he gave Percy a big hug, moving to Amaryllis after that to hug her as well. After she pulled away, she smacked him in the head. "Where the hell have you been the last two months, Grover Underwood?"

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

"We haven't heard from you," Percy added. "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 lay down to take a nap and..." He grabbed Percy's arms. "I remember now! He knocked me out. Percy, we have to stop him!" 

"Whoa," he 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 asked.

"Yes," Grover said. "And whenever he passed humans—"

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

"That's right! Then after he was gone, they'd get up and go about their business like nothinghappened."

Amaryllis stared at her brother. She was always a bit disturbed at the fact that Nico seemed to know many things, most of which he didn't share with anyone else until he absolutely had to. "Hypnos?" she asked, referring to the God of Sleep.

"Afraid not," Nico muttered. "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!"

Amaryllis understood exactly how panicked and mortified he felt at that realisation. Now it made sense why no one could contact Grover all this time, not even Percy. 

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

"We've got to figure out what Morpheus was doing in the park," Percy said. "I don't like this 'main event' thing he mentioned."

"He's working for Kronos," Amaryllis said. "A lot of the minor gods are joining his side. Their kids too..."

"This just proves there's going to be an invasion. Percy, we have to get on with our plan," Nico said. 

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

They told him the fake plan, and Grover started tugging at his leg fur. Another friend I have to lie to, Amaryllis thought as she watched him pace back and forth. "You're not serious," he said. "Not the Underworld again. No offense, Nico."

"None taken."

"I'm not asking you to come, man," Percy promised. "I know you just woke up. But we need some music to open the door. Can you do it?" 

Grover took out his reed pipes. "I guess I could try. I know a few Nirvana tunes that can split rocks. But... Percy, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Please, man," he said. "It would mean a lot. For old times' sake?"

He whimpered. "As I recall, in the old times we almost died a lot. But okay... here goes nothing."

He put his pipes to his lips and played a shrill, lively tune. The boulders trembled. A few morestanzas, and they cracked open, revealing a triangular crevice and steps that led down into the darkness. The air smelled of mildew and death and even though she supposed that she should have gotten used to it by then, it still made her shiver.

"Thanks... I think."

"Is Kronos really going to invade?" the satyr asked nervously. Amaryllis hated to be the bearer of bad news, but she nodded. She thought Grover might chew up his reed pipes in anxiety, but 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," Percy reminded him. 

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, all of you! Come back alive!"

Once he was gone, Amaryllis roused Mrs. O'Leary from her nap. When she smelled the tunnel, she got excited and led the way down the steps. "Ready?" Nico asked. "It'll be fine. Don't worry." 

He sounded like he was trying to convince himself and Amaryllis wasn't sure who he was talking to in the first place, but she nodded anyway. Percy was tense next to her and he took her hand, either because it was too dark for him to see and he needed a guide or because he was scared; both of them equally valid. Amaryllis glanced up at the stars, wondering if I would ever see them again and then they plunged into darkness.

❀

As they walked through the very familiar setting, Amaryllis tried to look like it was the first time she was seeing the Underworld. Maybe she was a good actress or maybe her heart was beating so loud that Percy thought it was because she was scared — and she was scared, but for very different reasons.

There was no backing out now, she was thinking. The air around them felt suffocating and her head was spinning, trying to calm herself. Percy's fingers were still interlaced with hers, which only made the feeling worse, knowing that in a few minutes he'd hate her forever.

She missed the days when she thought she was nothing more than Apollo's least favourite child — she was still mourning that version of herself, that version of her life.

Nico would shoot her a look now and then and the fact she wasn't completely alone with Percy gave her some courage. Whatever happened, the siblings would deal with it together.

The stairs went on forever — narrow, steep, and slippery. It was completely dark except for the light of her and Percy's swords. Mrs. O'Leary had other ideas. She bounded ahead, barking happily. The sound echoed through the tunnel like cannon shots, and Amaryllis figured they would not be catching anybody by surprise once they reached the bottom.

Nico lagged behind. "You okay?" Percy asked him.

For a moment, his expression cracked. "Fine," he said, not maintaining eye contact. "Just keep moving."

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.

The only one who seemed genuinely happy about their arrival at the Underworld was the hellhound. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human leg bone, and romped back toward Percy and Amaryllis. She dropped the bone at their feet and waited for one of them to throw it back.

"Um, maybe later, girl." Percy stared at the dark waters, like he was trying to work up some courage. "So, Nico... how do we do this?"

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

She felt him stiffen. "But the river's right here."

"I have to get something," Nico said. "It's the only way." He marched off without waiting.

If Percy wasn't suspicious before, he certainly seemed to be a bit more now. He stared at Amaryllis in confusion. "Does he seem a bit... off to you?" he asked her.

Amaryllis tried to sound cool, though she wasn't sure her face matched her tone. "Well, he's the only one who knows how to do it right, so..."

"Hey, it'll be fine," he reassured her and squeezed her hand. She fought the urge to take him and start running away, towards the entrance. But that would be the selfish option.

So instead, she nodded.

They followed Nico down the beach towards the gates. Lines of dead people stood outside, waiting to get in. She supposed she'd soon end up there anyways, amongst the crowd.

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. Nico trudged ahead, bringing them closer and closer to the palace of Hades.

"Hey," Percy suddenly 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. Unfortunately, Amaryllis recognized her. She had a shriveled face, a horrible blue knit hat, and a crumpled velvet dress. Leathery bat wings sprang from her back. Her feet had sharp talons, and in her brass-clawed hands she held a flaming whip and a paisley handbag.

"Mrs. Dodds," Percy said.

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 him.

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

Nico nodded, like this didn't surprise him. He looked up at the Furies and took a deep breath. "We've done what our father asked. Take us to the palace."

Percy tensed and let go of her hand. "Wait a second, Nico. What do you—" He turned to Amaryllis. At the realisation that she didn't seem surprised, he froze. "Mar...?"

She didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Percy."

"You tricked me?" he asked and turned to Nico, angrier than she'd ever seen him before. "What the fuck—" Mid sentence, he decided to lunge at him instead.

Two of the Furies swooped down and plucked him up by the arms. His sword, Riptide, fell out of his hand, and in seconds, he was dangling sixty feet in the air.

Mrs. O'Leary barked angrily and jumped, trying to reach Percy, but we were too high.

"Tell Mrs. O'Leary to relax," Amaryllis pleaded. The other Fury had her and Nico in her clutches, hovering near the other two. "No one will be harmed, I promise."

The look Percy gave her was expected, but didn't hurt any less. Some moments before they were holding hands and relying on each other. She doubted they'd ever go back to that stage.

He gritted my teeth. "Mrs. O'Leary, down! It's okay, girl." She whimpered and turned in circles, looking up at them. "You've got your prize now. Take me to the stupid palace," he growled.

❀

The Furies let them down, in front of the Throne Room. The three hideous creatures and Nico moved toward the empty thrones, but Amaryllis stayed back, stuck between Percy and her brother.

Percy refused to look at her.

"Percy—" she started, ready to explain everything, when the air shimmered and three figures appeared — Hades and Persephone on their thrones, and an older woman she recognized as Demeter standing between them. They seemed to be in the middle of an argument.

"—told you he was a bum!" the older goddess said.

"Mother!" Persephone replied.

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

Amaryllis never liked the gods, but her father had to seriously be one of her least favourite ones. One entire year passed and she still couldn't say with certainty whether he cared about her or he just saw her as a pawn in his game.

"Percy Jackson," he said with satisfaction, eyes gleaming like a madman's. "At last."

Persephone, her stepmother studied him curiously, completely ignoring Amaryllis and Nico. Between them stood Demeter, Persephone's mother. She had the same hair and eyes, but looked older and sterner. Her dress was golden, the color of a wheat field and her hair was woven with dried grasses. Demeter had only met Amaryllis once, but she showed the same indifference as her daughter.

"Hmmph," the older goddess said. "Demigods. Just what we need."

Next to Amaryllis, Nico knelt. "Father," he said. "We have done as you asked."

"Took you long enough, my children," Hades grumbled. "I wonder if Bianca would have done a better job."

Amaryllis gritted her teeth. He was often comparing her and Nico with his other daughter, Bianca, Nico's biological sister that had died a few years ago. It stung every time.

"Children?" Percy yelled, startling her. "Children?"

"And the soap opera begins," Persephone mumbled.

"I suppose it is the time to tell you the truth, Jackson," Hades said. "Amaryllis is my daughter, indeed."

"All this time you've been lying to me?" Percy yelled at her, voice laced with anger, pain and sadness. "Was nothing real?"

She lowered her head. "I've only known since October."

"And you didn't tell me. This— this plan was all bullshit. You've been playing with me!" Amaryllis wondered if he'd attack her like he tried to attack Nico, were they alone. "So what am I doing here, Hades? Are you going to kill me?"

"Oh no." The god sighed. "I'd love to, but my daughter seems to have a soft spot for you. She made me swear not to hurt you."

"Soft spot," Percy scoffed and it felt like someone was twisting a knife in Amaryllis' heart. "Yeah, clearly."

"Father," Nico said. "You said that if I helped my sister bring him here, you would tell me about my past — about my mother."

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

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

The older lady 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 no. You had to eat the damn 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 said. "You call this dump a house? Make my daughter live in this dark, damp—"

"I told you," Hades said, grinding his teeth, "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!" Amaryllis said angrily. "You swore!"

"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."

Amaryllis instinctively moved in front of Percy, blocking him from Hades. "Father, remember. We made a deal. I'll fight your stupid war and be your little stupid hero of the Prophecy but you won't. Hurt. Him." Then she looked at Nico. "And you promised to tell Nico about his family. He deserves to know the truth."

Hades glowered, smoothing the folds of his robes, obviously not appreciating the fact that a girl put him in his place. "And so he shall." He looked at Nico. "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. Her name was Maria di Angelo. She was from Venice, but her father was a diplomat in Washington, D.C. That's where I met her. 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 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..." He 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 said.

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

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

"Plan B," Hades said. "By that point, I already had Amaryllis. She was off at Ogygia. If anything happened to her... well. This idiot son of Poseidon cannot be allowed to be the child of the prophecy."

Percy plucked a ruby off the nearest plant and threw it at Hades. It sank harmlessly into his robe. "You should be helping Olympus!" he said. "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? With you out of the way, Amaryllis will be the hero of the Prophecy, the one to save the world. And I will be the king of gods!"

"But— The Prophecy says that the hero will die!" Percy said.

"Exactly why my daughter doesn't want you being the one," Hades said. Amaryllis pressed her lips into a thin line and lowered her head. "Ridiculous reason, I know. But as long as it helps my agenda—"

"You're a shit father!" Percy screamed, not caring who he was talking to. "Mar, you can't do that—" he tried to plead with her.

"Oh, I assure you she can." Hades tilted his head and looked at her direction. "She's been training and she's very powerful, even more than Nico. Maybe more than you. I have no doubt that she will survive."

If the context was different, maybe that would have been a moving father-daughter moment. Amaryllis always wanted her father to be proud of her, but not under circumstances like these.

"All we need to do is make sure you're out of the way. Killing you is out of the way, sadly," Hades said, a scary smile slowly creeping on his pale face. "But imprisoning you until I feel like letting you go is a good idea."

"Father—" Amaryllis tried to cut him off. Imprisoning him was not what they agreed on and she was pretty sure "until I feel like letting you go" meant forever.

"No, daughter. Swearing that stupid little oath was enough of a compromise." He shrugged. "I won't kill him or hurt him, so technically I'm not breaking my promise."

"But you haven't told me anything!" Nico said.

"I've told you all you need to know," the god said angrily. "Enough of that! Now, go to your room!" He waved his hand and Nico vanished. Skeletal guards appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Percy with them, taking him to the dungeons.

Then he looked at Amaryllis, smiling. It looked weird on his face, like it didn't belong. "Ready to become invincible?" he asked.

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒.

▊im on a hiatus technically, but i wanted to write (meaning; to do anything other than study) so here we go!

▊percyllis entering its angsty era i guess :p any predictions on how the story will progress? whoever guesses something right will get a... virtual hug, i guess. that's all i can offer.

▊also... what do you think is mar's fatal flaw? i have no idea what it'd be, maybe her anger or her nerve (remember when she called hades, the literal king of the underworld, an asshole? well.) i'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

(if you dont answer to any of my questions and ignore me completely... shame on you)

▊mwah i love every single one of you. not the ghost readers though. you guys suck. <\3

❛ gone girl. ❜
( part 𝒐𝒏𝒆 of gone girl series )
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