They made their way to Hades' palace. Once they got into the main entrance, the floor beneath them shifted, causing Sveta to shriek and grab onto Percy. But once she realized that they were fine, she reluctantly let go of his hand. When their ride stopped, they glanced at each other.

"Is this our stop, or —?" Grover asked, unsure. 

Footsteps approached them. Sveta immediately had the urge to protect Percy. She pressed the rose on her ring and it immediately transformed into a short sword in her hands. 

"Welcome!" said the man who Sveta could only guess was Hades. She did not trust him. "Sorry about all that —oh, anyways! It's great to meet all three of you. I see you're very protective of the young boy, Miss Keegan?" 

She scoffed, tightening her grip on the hilt of her short sword. "I've been protective of him since day one, from the very start, Uncle. Don't even try me." 

"Feisty like her father, I see." He sounded almost amused, to Sveta's surprise. "So! What can I do for you? I would like to make my guests comfortable. Would any of you like a snack, or a drink?" 

Seriously? 

"Actually —" began Grover in a hopeful voice, but Percy immediately cut him off. 

"We're here for my mom." 

The lord of the dead clapped his hands in amusement. 

"Straight to business! I like it! A little nautical reference in you, I see. Just like my brother." 

"Where is she?" Percy demanded. 

"Right. Okie-doke. Let's get right to it! The three of you have come all this way. Don't be shy." 

He led them to the U-form of the chairs and couch. Percy stopped dead when he saw his mother encased in gold. 

"M-Mom?" Percy whispered. Sveta glanced over at Percy to see that he had tears of hurt in his eyes. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder to not startle him. "What did you do to her?" 

"Uh, I saved her life. What else did you think I did? Y'know, getting crushed by a Minotaur is a terminal diagnosis. I snagged her for ya, so that you can bring me what I have been missing since the Winter Solstice!" 

"I — I can't give it to you," Percy finally answered, beginning to take a step back. 

"Ah. A quid-and-quo here, I see." 

"Listen here, you idiot. The bolt doesn't belong to you. It belongs to your brother. And we ain't gonna give it to you," said Sveta angrily. "Your plan almost worked, y'know? You and Ares managed to steal the bolt, trick Percy into bringing it to you, and then letting you have it. Well, guess what. It's not going to happen." 

"All I ask you to do is to do one thing," said Percy pleadingly. "Please let my mother go." 

Hades looked very shocked and confused. 

"Huh?" 

"You heard me," said Sveta, her voice rising with each word. "The bolt doesn't belong to you. We're returning it to its rightful owner. You're not having it." 

"What?" said Hades, who was still confused. "Who tricked Ares into doing what?" 

"You heard her. We're returning the bolt to its rightful owner," said Grover stubbornly. "You have been in cahoots with Ares, haven't you?" 

"Oh, for the love of the gods. I have not been in cahoots with Ares, you idiots! I can't stand the guy! No one can stand him! The bolt belongs to my brother, obviously. It's his own drama to deal with. I don't want to be any part of what's going on in Olympus." 

The three of them stared in shock. 

"You're telling me that you don't want it?" Sveta asked, surprised. 

Hades looked disgusted.

"No, I don't want it. Why would I want that?" 

"Then, what is it that you want?" Sveta asked, ignoring Hades' mocking. 

"My helm!" 

"What in the name of the gods is a helm?" Sveta asked, frustrated.

Hades was just as frustrated as the daughter of Apollo was. 

"My helm! My helm of darkness, y'know? It's been missing for gods know how long! It went missing just days before my brother's useless master bolt did. Now, I'd like it back. If you give me my helm, I will exchange it for your mother." 

Sveta still didn't believe what she was hearing. Was this some kind of trick?

"So you're telling me that you still don't want the bolt?" 

"Oh, gods, no! Why would I want that?" 

"To start a war with your brothers, duh." 

Hades was annoyed. Sveta could certainly see it. 

"Why would I want that?" 

"Jealousy?" Percy suggested, shrugging his shoulders. 

"I don't know if the three of you guys noticed, but it's all rainbows and unicorns down here. I can manage my own things just fine." He sighed. "Look, I really don't do jealous. My brothers, on the other hand, have the market cornered on jealousy. Family drama is why I don't go up to Mount Olympus anymore. These grudges, they go on forever, y'know? Super unhealthy." 

Wow. This guy is not as dumb as Sveta thought he was. He was actually smarter than the ones she had heard in Greek mythology. 

"Yeah. We get that," said Percy, almost bitterly. 

"Finally! Some people get me! Look, I know that someone stole my brother's bolt, but it ain't me. It must have been someone who was —" 

The realization came to Percy quicker than a wave crashing down. 

"Kronos." 

The god of the dead raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?" 

"He's got the longest grudge of all of you guys, doesn't he?" Percy pressed on. "Kronos took Zeus' master bolt, but he couldn't have done it himself. Who else has a bigger reason to weaken Zeus and get his throne back?" 

"Listen, kid. Kronos is at the very bottom of —"

"Tartarus," Sveta finished for him, nodding her head. "Yeah. We know. We've heard the story, and we've seen it for ourselves on our way up here. Grover's shoes tried to drag him down there. The bolt appeared as soon as the shoes dove straight into the bottomless pit." 

"And the same voice from my dreams," Percy muttered to himself as realization hit him. He walked closer to the god. "For months, I thought that it was you. But now that I've seen you in person, I know that it's not you." 

"Ask me for sanctuary." 

Sveta was confused. "Excuse me?" 

"If Kronos does somehow manage to break his way out of exile, it's obvious that he'll be after you, first. You were his first call. And you, my dear cousin, are not safe. You and your mother. Neither is Miss Sunshine here, or this goat boy, or anyone associated with you, really. Ask me for protection, and I'll protect you." 

The idea was tempting. But being protected by one of the Big Three had its downs that she was not willing to risk. 

"This will work out nicely, if you hand me the bolt." 

"Hold up! You just said that you didn't want the bolt!" said Sveta in shock. 

"I didn't before. But if Zeus is planning a Third World War, I might as well be prepared, right?" 

Percy sighed heavily and glanced over at his mother's golden statue. 

"No," he finally answered. 

"Give. Me. The. Bag, boy." 

He tried snatching the bag away from Percy, only for the son of the sea god to get it out of his reach. He put his hands in his pockets to reveal a pearl. Hades' eyes twinkled with mischief as he eyed the precious gem in front of him. 

"Nice pearl," he commented.

"Thanks. It's very useful to help us get out of mischief like this," said Sveta sarcastically. 

"First offer," said Percy, who ignored Sveta's sarcasm. "We're going to go get your helm, and when I come back with it, you're going to let my mother go." 

"Hold up, this isn't what we've —" 

"NOW!" said Percy. 

Luckily, Sveta had her hand enclosed around her pearl as Percy had given Hades his deal. They dropped the pearl onto the floor and crushed it with their foot, to be transported to Montauk, New York. 

Sveta had gotten to her feet before Percy and Grover did. She offered a hand to Percy and Annabeth offered a hand to Grover. Sveta noticed some sand on Percy's cheek. She reached her hand up and wiped the smudge off. Percy stared almost lovingly at her. Something that she had seemed to miss. 

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" Grover asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just been hanging out here, waiting for the three of you." 

Footsteps sounded, crunching against the coarse sand. Percy drew out Riptide. Sveta knew that there was a fight coming. Something that she couldn't protect him from this time. This was Percy's own battle. She, Annabeth, and Grover stood behind Percy as he began to slowly advance on the war god. 

"Single combat!" Percy finally called out.

"What?" said Sveta in shock. 

Ares looked shocked. "Huh?" 

"You heard him. Single combat!" said Sveta. 

"You heard me, and you heard Sveta. One-on-one. But I set the terms. If I draw first blood, you lose, and you give us the helm." Ares didn't respond. He only laughed in Percy's face, as if this was a joke. Percy did not budge. "Do you accept?" 

Ares stopped laughing and scowled. "I mean, it's your funeral, kid. Although, just to be clear, no funeral. Any trace of you leaves a trace of my plan, and we can't have that." 

"It wasn't your plan though, was it? It was Kronos' idea to steal the bolt and to frame Poseidon's kid by claiming that he had stolen both the helm and the bolt to start a war." 

"What?" said Annabeth in shock.

"It's a long story," Sveta quickly replied. "We'll tell you later." 

"Is that where he got you, too? Through your dreams?" 

"Gods don't dream, boy!" Ares roared angrily. "And no one tells the god of War how to start a fight. Because clearly, I should be the one to do that. Oh, and after you die, tell your mommy I said 'hi'." 

That was the last straw for Percy. The boy charged first with Ares shortly after. Ares tried to strike Percy, but he managed to dodge it. When Ares managed to lift Percy off the ground, Sveta got scared, afraid that he would get hurt. 

"Hey, idiot! Let him go!" Sveta pleaded desperately. She tried to hurry over but Annabeth stopped her, grabbing the girl by the wrist, pulling her back.

"Wait!" 

Sveta could feel nothing but pain as she watched Percy being tossed onto the ground, grunting with pain. Ares kicked him in the stomach, forcing Percy to tumble into a puddle of water. Sveta's eyes pricked with tears at the sight. She hated to see Percy get hurt and not be able to do anything about it. 

A loud rumble was heard from the ocean. Sveta turned towards the waves and her eyes widened when she saw that Poseidon was helping Percy with his water powers. Percy stood up and turned to face Ares, with a look of fury on his face. 

"I warned you," he panted. "You don't want to mess with me. If you're not careful, you'll find out exactly . . . . who I am." 

The wave towered over Percy, almost like a tsunami. It crashed onto the shore, engulfing Ares. He was weakened just momentarily enough for him to stumble. Percy grabbed his sword and struck the war god in the heel, causing him to scream out in pain and dropping to the floor again. 

Sveta was relieved that Percy was okay. She rushed over once she was sure that the battle was over, and hugged him tightly around the neck. Percy wasn't as startled as he had been at the Arch when she had hugged him, and he hugged the girl back. 

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need me to heal anything for you?" the girl began to ramble. 

"And you thought that you were 'just a kid'," said Annabeth with a look of amusement on her face. Mostly amused with Sveta's rambling as Percy continued to hold the daughter of Apollo in his arms. 

They were interrupted with loud, sarcastic clapping from nearby. They looked over. Sveta had let go of Percy. She had Harper out again, gripping it tightly. The war god began to stand up, his eyes straying over towards the daughter of Apollo.

"Wow. Really fantastic," he said sarcastically. "Yay! That was so cool! But you know what you've really won, kiddo? An enemy for life." 

Sveta scoffed. "And you know what? We really don't care." 

The war god got to his feet and began to disappear in a bright light. Sveta immediately turned her head from the real form, instructing the boys and Annabeth to do the same. Once everything seemed to have faded, a 'clunk' was heard, catching everyone's attention.

"Can we look?" Sveta asked hesitantly, unsure of what could happen if they turned. They looked around for the source of the loud thud only to find a gold helmet on the floor. Her breathing hitched and she carefully approached the thing. 

"It's Hades' helm," said Annabeth in a hushed voice. 

Sveta bent down to pick it up. She turned around to see Percy heading to a decent-looking house. She frowned and quickly followed him, prepared to protect him in any way. 

"Mom?" Percy called hopefully as they entered the lodge. 

After looking around, Alecto appeared from what seemed to be the kitchen. She leaned her shoulder into the door frame, a hit of amusement on her face, her eyebrow arched. Sveta began to protect Percy, but he quickly went around her. 

"What are you doing?" Sveta hissed when Percy gently took the helm from her. 

"Living to my expectations," Percy answered with a raised eyebrow. "I expect Hades to return the offer I'd given him." 

"You were after the helm all along, weren't you?" said Sveta as Percy presented the helm to Alecto. "Not the bolt. And not Percy." 

Alecto walked awkwardly as Sveta had always noticed she'd done. The Fury gave Sveta a slow nod of her head, not taking her eyes off the helm. She carefully picked up the helm with a look of awe on her face. 

"Tell Hades that I expect him to return the offer," said Percy as the creature made her way to the door. She stopped when Percy spoke. "Please." 

Alecto only looked amused, her mouth twitching, as though trying to smile. 

"Good luck on Olympus," she finally said, making Sveta confused. "And perhaps there is still a world that your mother can return to." 

"What does she mean good luck on —" Sveta began. But when she saw the determined look on Percy's face, everything seemed to crumble beneath her. "Dude. No. Absolutely not." 

Percy swallowed. "I have to." 

"And what for? We've already reached the deadline! Zeus is going to start a war either way!" Sveta argued. 

"This is bigger than the quest," Percy argued back. "Before we set off for this quest, Chiron told me last time they started a war was for WWII. Returning the bolt is the only way I can get his attention."

"Percy, I hate to say this, but you don't want Zeus' attention," said Sveta with a heavy sigh. "Nobody wants to get Zeus' attention, unless you are his child."

"But I've got to tell him about Kronos! Did you see how frightened Hades looked when I told him that Kronos was trying to get out of his prison? Zeus has the right to know! Hopefully, I'll be able to get his attention. Now, the three of you get back to camp and tell Chiron what we know." 

"Y'know that Zeus will kill you, right?" Percy turned his attention to Sveta. "Either because he thinks that you stole the bolt or because you're a forbidden child. . . . He's not going to let you leave Olympus alive." 

Her voice broke as she spoke. She didn't want Percy to risk his life again. 

Percy huffed. "I'm done running from monsters. I'm done fighting them. This is too important, Sveta. I've got to try." 

She didn't like the idea. But if Percy thought that this was the best idea, she might as well let him. But before he could move, Sveta came up and took her Camp necklace off before putting it around the boy's neck. He couldn't help but stare at her as she fixed the clasp. 

"You're gonna need all the luck you can get," she chuckled.

"One question, though," said Percy. 

"What's that?" 

"Come to Olympus with me?" 

Sveta's eyes widened. 

"Why?" 

"You're a strong fighter, Sveta. If Zeus does try to attack, I want you at my side." 

Sveta didn't even think for a moment. She immediately nodded and continued to keep her place at Percy's side. 

"So. . . . just to clarify, how sure are we going to explain everything what happened through g-mail?" Grover asked awkwardly to break the silence.

Percy scoffed. "Where's the glory in that?"