(Another long chapter)

After the whole Casino thing, we got a cab to take us to Santa Monica beach (we paid upfront with one of the Casino cards.) we were talking for a moment about our quest. Percy was recalling his most recent dream about someone called 'The Silent One.' whoever that was.

After an hour of driving, we finally reached Santa Monica beach. We told the driver not to wait for us as we would be fine the rest of the way (which wasn't exactly wrong but we didn't want to explain anything to a mortal.).

Once we reached the sands of the beach, Grover, Annabeth, and I watched as Percy and Logan walked closer to the water. Percy stopped and turned around to look at us.

"You'll be fine up here?" he asked us.

I waved him off. "We'll be fine," I told him. "Just go."

The two nodded before they went into the water, going deeper and deeper until we could no longer see them. I knew this was gonna take a while so I just sat down and waited for them, playing with the sand around me. Annabeth and Grover sat down beside me.

Annabeth sighed. "We have one day left," she told us.

"Yep," Grover huffed.

I fished around in my pocket and pulled out my Hades figurine. In just a few hours, we're gonna meet Hades. My father. I've met him before, but we've never formally talked to each other before. What would he say to me? What would he think of me? I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see Grover looking at me.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded. "Really? Cause you're very close to breaking that figurine."

I looked down to see that I had one hand around the head while the other hand was on the body. I quickly adjusted my hands so that I wouldn't split it in two.

I sighed. "It's just..." I groaned. "I don't know what he's gonna think of me once I meet him."

"Hades?" Annabeth questioned. I nodded. "I know how you feel. I never knew what my mom was thinking about when I met her for the first time. Whether I disappointed her or whether I made her proud."

I looked at my friend. "What did she do?"

Annabeth looked at me for a moment before holding up her cap with a serious expression. "She gave me a hat that makes me invisible."

A smile formed on my face as I looked down with a scoff. I looked at my figurine once again. "I want him to like me," I said. "Even for a day."

Annabeth nodded. "We all do," she told me. "We all want our parents to like us. With some it's easy, with others it's not. But all we have to do is hope."

I sighed before looking at the river. "I don't belong in camp,"

Grover looked at me. "What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "The Hades cabin doesn't even have a cabin," I pointed out. "Yeah I could stay in the Apollo cabin since I'm his granddaughter, but I doubt the Apollo kids would like it if a big ball of darkness stayed in their cabin for more than a week." I put my head in between my chest and knees. "I overstayed my welcome."

Annabeth and Grover still eyed me. "But what about Will?" Grover asked. "And Logan, Conner, Travis, Chandler, and Kenzie? Are you really gonna leave them behind?"

I sighed. "They'll be fine without me," I told him. "If the gods can ignore Hades, then they can ignore me. But...make sure to not tell Logan or Percy or anyone else about this. I don't want them to worry all that much."

"But if you leave then they obviously will worry." Annabeth protested. "We will worry." She then put a hand on mine. "Just give it a few weeks to think about it. Please."

I looked at my black-haired friend. She gave me a pleading look. I stared at her eyes for a moment before sighing.

"Fine," I groaned. "I'll give it a week. But I doubt it'll change anything."

Annabeth smiled at me and gave me a hug with Grover following suit. I was tense for a moment until I hugged them back. Once we all separated, we looked to see Percy and Logan coming back up out of the water. I stood up and brushed the sand off of my pants.

"Don't tell him anything," I whispered. "Please just keep this between us."

The two had some uncertain looks but they both nodded.

Percy and Logan, once they made it in front of us, showed us five pearls. They told us that they were for when we got out of the Underworld.

Annabeth sighed. "You couldn't have gotten that without payment."

Logan and Percy looked at each other before they both pointed at the pearls. "They were free," they said in unison.

I looked at the two like they were weird. "You did not have to say that in unison."

Grover looked at me. "Now you know how I feel about you and Logan."

I gave Grover a look this time. "Logan and I are twins, it's basically normal thing."

"That still doesn't make it okay!"

I laughed at how crazy Grover was getting at this conversation.

"Yes it does," Logan and I said in unison before we all walked away from Grover, who looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Poor satyr.

⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

After we went through a killer (physically and literally) back message that I don't want to talk about ((A/N): I was lazy and did not want to write that scene) we finally reached a building and once we walked in I saw a ton of shades filling this room from many different generations. I looked at the others to see if they could see them, and I was surprised to see that they could. Some of the shades were doing their own thing, listening to music, talking to other people, or just sleeping, but all the others were lined up at a desk. We walked up to the desk to see a pale old man wearing a dark, torn up black hood. He had dark eyes and about three strands of long hair in different places at the front of his head.

I guessed this was Charon, the carrier of souls into the underworld.

Charon spotted us and glared sharply. "You aren't dead," he told us.

Percy and I looked at us. "Uh..." I muttered, trying to think of something. "Actually, the thing is, we are dead."

Charon growled softly before sitting up in his chair like he's trying to challenge us, which I bet he was.

"Oh really?" he challenged (I knew it). "How did you die?"

Percy took in a deep breath. "We...uh..died...from drowning...in a bathtub."

I snapped my head at him. "Drowning?" I whispered to him.

"I don't see you coming up with anything better," he whispered back.

"You drowned in a bathtub?" Charon questioned before looking at us individually. "All of you?"

Logan shrugged. "Huge bathtub," he said sheepishly. "Huge water pressure."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. He's gonna see right through us.

Charon continued to glare at us. He looked at all of us for a moment and blinked twice.

"You aren't dead," he repeated. Aaaand he saw right through us. Percy groaned.

"Fine we aren't dead," he admitted. "But we need to get to the underworld."

Charon huffed. "Why?" he asked us. "Want an early death?"

I sighed. "No, we have to get something from my father."

Charon glared at me before he raised an eyebrow. "Daughter of Hades, huh?" he questioned. "Explains the attitude."

Charon then pushed a button and the elevator opened. "Well then, go on ahead."

I looked at everyone else before looking at the elevator. Annabeth put a hand on my shoulder.

"We'll meet you there," she told me. "I think it's best if one of us got a headstart."

I looked at the elevator for a moment before nodding. "Wish me luck."

Annabeth nodded as I walked towards the elevator. I glanced at them once again as the doors closed.

Should I have stayed with them? Yeah. Did I have the choice to? Also yes. Then why didn't I? And when carrying souls, Charon takes them through the river Styx. How would I make it through the river Styx? Shadow travel? That...would work. But I should stay as close to them as possible. So I should shadow travel across the river and then wait for them at the end. Okay. let's go.

Once I got out of the elevator, I looked to see how far the river Styx actually was, and it was the size of almost twenty football fields.

I looked over at the elevator and was surprised when it changed into a boat. I was even more surprised when I realized I was on said boat. The spirits on the boat glared at me, but I glared back, causing them to look away. I couldn't see the end of the river, but I closed my eyes and imagined myself at the end of the river. I let out a small breath as the world around me got colder and in the span of a few seconds, I felt myself on the ground. I opened my eyes and let out a deep breath since I wasn't at the edge of the Styx.

I looked around at the area in front of me and it looked more like an airport than what I imagined the underworld to be. There were three entrances. One marked EZ DEATH, another marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and the last one was marked YOU ARE NOT ENTERING EREBUS. The EZ DEATH line was walking pretty fast, while the others were torturously slow.

It took them a while, but I saw Percy, Annabeth, Logan, and Grover on the same boat I was on with Charon, of course, steering it.

"I'd say good luck but there's none here," Charon said as the others hopped off of the boat as well as the other shades. "Don't forget to tell Hades about my pay raise."

I raised an eyebrow at the four. "Pay raise?" I asked.

"Long story," Percy told me as he examined the other side. "Now what do we do?"

Annabeth pointed at the EZ DEATH line. "That line has to take us to Asphodel," she explained. "We should take that one."

I nodded. "Well, let's not waste any time then,"

The five of us walked to the EZ DEATH line. I then heard a loud growling that sounded like a large animal. It didn't take a genius to see who–or what–that animal was.

As we got closer, we noticed one of the three heads peek out from the mist surrounding it. It had a brown nose a black skin. The other two came out a moment later, looking the same, the middle head started sniffing the air and growled once he noticed us along with all the heads.

Percy paused for a moment. Logan looked at him.

"Percy, I don't think it's a good idea to-"

"It's a rottweiler," he said suddenly, causing me to cover my mouth to keep from laughing. "He can smell the living."

The rottweiler in question, Cerberus, kept his eyes on us, daring us to move closer. I tried my luck and one of the heads turned to me but did nothing. Then, I did something I thought was really stupid. I raised my hand, trying to pet the one that was looking at me.

"Heather, what are you-"

Annabeth paused as the head came closer to me. As soon as it was within reach, I put my hand on his fur and started scratching his head. The other two noticed the attention their brother was getting and the middle head came closer as well and I started scratching this one. The right head looked at me with a disappointed look in his eyes. Two hands and three heads. This poor puppy.

I turned to Annabeth. I was about to say something until I noticed Percy with a very large stick. I took my hands off of Cerberus and watched the scene unfold.

"You want the stick?" he asked the three heads, who started following the stick. Percy then threw the stick, waiting for Cerberus to follow it, but then the stick fell into the Styx with a loud kaploosh! I smirked before chuckling as the three heads growled at him.

Annabeth then took out a red ball and tossed it to me. I held it up in the air for all the heads to see.

"See the ball?" I taunted before turning to the right head. "Catch!"

I wanted the right head to catch it, but the middle one snatched it up before he could, leaving the other two to fight him for it.

"Ah ah ah!" I poked. "Drop it."

The heads looked at me, the middle head tilted.

"That was for him." I pointed to the right head. "You two had your attention, now drop it."

The middle head whined but he did drop the ball. It had slobber all over it, but I expected that, so I just picked it back up.

"Good boy," I smiled. "Now if you want the ball back, sit."

The heads stared at me but they did as they were told and sat down, smooshing the shades that were passing under him.

I nodded. "Good boy." I then turned to the others. "Go while he's distracted."

"What about you?" Percy asked.

"I'll be fine," I told him. "Now go."

The others were hesitant but they walked past Cerberus, rather cautiously to avoid him noticing them. Meanwhile I tossed the ball to the right head once again, this time he caught it, but the other heads started fighting him over it. I sighed. I want to stay with him so badly. But I just started walking past him. The heads stopped fighting and turned towards me.

"Don't worry," I shouted. "I'll tell my dad to bring you a really big ball to play with. I promise!"

But they kept looking at me, even when the right head dropped the ball. It was in pieces.

I just sighed. "Good boy," I said, but it was so quiet that I was just talking to myself.

⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

We finally reached the sands of Asphodel. As we walked we heard the screams of souls as well as the cackling laughter of the monster punishing the shades who were disobedient in life.

Percy sighed. "We're not in Kansas anymore,"

I snorted. "Is that a Wizard of Oz reference?" I asked as Logan started chuckling.

Percy shrugged, which made me shake my head as the three of us were just laughing.

As we walked further, I noticed the Castle of Hades. It looked very different from Olympus. The structure looked the exact same, but the color and atmosphere was completely different.

Annabeth sighed. "We're almost there," she said. I nodded.

We heard a screeching sound and looked up to see one of the furies, Alecto, flying over us. She eyed us for a moment before going somewhere else.

"She didn't get permission from Hades," I sighed. "She can't attack us here."

"Good," Percy huffed. And we continued on.

Grover groaned as he looked around. "Maybe we can look somewhere else?" he suggested. "Like maybe Elysium for instance?"

Annabeth sighed before grabbing Grover's hand. "Come on, goat boy."

Suddenly, the winged shoes started flapping, dragging Grover forward.

"Woah!" he yelped.

"Grover, stop playing around!" Logan scolded.

"But I'm not doing any-agh!"

Annabeth tried pulling Grover but it proved useless as she wasn't strong enough to out-strength the shoes which kept pulling him.

Then they lifted off the ground and started dragging Grover away from us. We were shocked for a moment until we started chasing after him.

"Maia!" he shouted, trying to stop the shoes. "Maia already!"

The four of us were now sprinting after him as he started picking up speed.

"Take off the shoes!" Annabeth told him.

Yeah, it was a good idea, but not when he wasn't able to actually touch his shoes in the first place.

The rock around us started caving in and I realized we entered some side tunnel. The further we got, the darker it became. Once I looked ahead of Grover, I noticed an end of the tunnel. It was completely dark with no light in sight. He was going to fall.

"Come on!" Annabeth shouted.

"But that's-"

"We know!" I told him. "And Grover's gonna fall if we don't catch him!"

That got Percy moving as he tried grabbing Grover's hands, but couldn't.

I then thought of something. "Percy! Give me your sword! Annabeth, try running ahead of Grover."

"What are you doing?" Logan asked.

"No time to explain, Percy, give it!"

Percy tossed me the pen and I quickly uncapped it, turning it into a sword. I then grabbed Logan's hand as he grabbed Percy's and Percy grabbed Annabeth's. I waited a second before I dug the sword into the ground, causing us to be yanked a bit. Luckily Annabeth grabbed Grover's hand just in time so he wouldn't fall down the cliff in front of us. The sudden tug caused the shoes to fall off into the cliff.

Percy and Annabeth pulled Grover away from the cliff while I walked closer to it. It was the entrance to Tartarus. I felt someone grab my hand but I didn't take my eyes off of the entrance.

"Come on," Logan sighed. "Let's get away from here."

I let out a breath. "Y-yeah," I said. "Let's go."

The five of us started to walk away from the entrance, Annabeth and I were helping Grover walk. We heard a rumbling noise coming from the entrance. I tried to turn to see what it was, but Annabeth pulled me back.

"What was that?" Grover asked.

I sighed. "Tartarus," I answered. "The entrance to it."

Percy sighed. "They need to put a rock in that."

Annabeth and I looked at each other, but we said nothing as we continued on.

⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

After a lot of walking, we finally reached Hades' palace. There were four skeleton soldiers guarding the door. They eyed us, but said nothing as we continued.

I looked at the structure of the castle once again. The walls were layered with pictures that looked like the deaths of people. I shuddered as I continued to look at it.

Finally we reached the door. None of us wanted to knock.

Annabeth looked at me. "You're his daughter."

I pointed to Percy. "It's his quest."

"Really?" Percy looked at me.

Finally, Logan walked over and knocked on the door. After that, it opened by itself.

Annabeth huffed. "Guess that means entre vous."

Logan, Percy, Grover, and I looked at each other as the five of us walked into the castle.

Upon entering, we were finally met with the face of Hades, my father. He stood tall on his throne. He had pale skin and black hair and wore a long robe that looked like it was made of the souls of the dead, which it was and it really creeped me out though it looked a bit cool.

"You are very brave to come here, Son of Poseidon." Hades told Percy. "After everything you've done to me, very brave indeed, or perhaps very foolish."

Percy walked forward before he bowed to my father. "Lord and Uncle," he said. "I come with two requests."

Hades scoffed. "Only two?" he shouted. "You foolish mortal, as if you already haven't taken enough. Speak now, if it amuses me then I won't strike you down."

Percy glanced at me. I shrugged. "Tell him." I whispered.

"Uh...sir," he hesitated. "You can't start a war on Olympus. That would be...bad."

"Really bad," Grover agreed.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Thank you for the insightful information you two," I said sarcastically.

Percy glared at me but turned back to Hades. "Return Zeus' master bolt to me," he said. "Please sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades glared daggers at him. "You dare keep up that pretense after what you've done?"

Hades glared at all of us individually but he stopped once his eyes caught mine. I chuckled before waving at him.

"Uh, hey dad." I said sheepishly.

Hades' glare softened as he continued to look at me. "Hello, Heather."

That made me smile nervously. I then turned to Percy, urging him to speak as Annabeth poked his back.

"You keep saying 'after what I've done', what exactly did I do?" Percy asked.

The room suddenly shook, so hard that I bet they could feel it all the way through Asphodel.

"Do you think I want war, godling?" Hades yelled.

"Uh..." Percy muttered. "You are Lord of the Dead, are you not? A war would expand your kingdom."

I groaned.

"You would think that, mortal," Hades sneered. "Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl in Asphodel?"

Percy winced. "Well..."

"All those security ghouls," Hades groaned. "Traffic problems in 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!" Percy blurted out. I groaned at his stupidity.

"Don't even get me started on Charon!' he growled. "He was always so stuck up once he discovered Italian suits. Problems left and right, and I gotta handle them all personally. No, godling, I need no help getting souls. I did not ask for this war."

I huffed. "I could've told them that." I grumbled. "Oh, wait, I did."

Percy pushed me and gave me a glare before looking back at my father.

"But you took Zeus' lighting bolt."

"Lies!" there was more rumbling. "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I know his plan."

"His plan?"

"You were the thief on the winter solstice," Hades stood up, towering over us. "Poseidon thought he'd keep you as his secret. He brought you to Olympus, stole the bolt and my helmet, and tried to use this as a way to start a war. If I haven't discovered you at Yancy Academy, your father might have succeeded in his plan to take over Olympus."

"Wait, wait, wait," I said, walking in front of Percy. "Percy doesn't even know how to outrun a chicken let alone how to steal a very powerful lightning bolt. Someone might have framed him–and you. Just know that he doesn't have the lightning bolt and neither do you."

"But..." Annabeth spoke. "Your helmet of darkness has been stolen too?"

"Don't play innocent with me, girl!" Hades yelled. "You and the satyr have been conspiring with these water brats, working under Poseidon to try and take me down. You walk in here to try and give me an ultimatum. And you manipulated my daughter to work with you."

"Actually she was working with...me," Logan spoke.

"Not helping," I told him

"But Poseidon didn't–I didn't-"

"Return my helm, or I'll stop death," Hades proposed. "That is my counter proposal. I will open the earth and have all the dead pour back into the earth."

"So like the Greek version of the walking dead, huh?" I asked. "Cool."

Logan started laughing. "This is supposed to be serious, Heather!"

"I am being serious," I said, also laughing. "What he's proposing is basically the walking dead."

Logan waved his hand at me. "Stop, ju-just stop."

"I'm not wrong though," I shrugged.

Annabeth looked at us, she held a serious face but I knew she was trying not to laugh. "Are you done?" she asked us.

"Yeah," we said in unison.

Percy pushed us out of our thoughts. "You're as bad as Zeus." he told him. "You sent those furies after me."

"Of course."

"And what about the one that attacked Heather and Logan," Percy said, motioning to me and Logan. "Was that your doing as well?"

"I only wanted the fury to attack Logan," Hades said defensively. "Once she told me what happened, I both congratulated and punished her accordingly."

"Favoritism much?" Logan whispered to me.

"I'm his only demigod daughter, what did you expect?" I whispered back

"Anything but this."

I smirked as Percy spoke again. "And the other monsters?"

"Oh I had nothing to do with them," Hades waved his hand dismissively. "I wanted you all to have a safe passage to the underworld once I realized you were coming to see me. Why do you think I allowed you to come here without trouble?"

"What are you-"

"Return my property!"

"But I don't have your helmet!' Percy shouted back. "I came here for the master bolt."

"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted, his voice growing tenfold. "You came with it, mortal, thinking you can threaten me!"

"But he doesn't have the lightning bolt!" I told my father.

"Then check your pack then!"

Percy took off his backpack, unzipped it, and there it was. A two foot long metal cylinder, sharp on both ends and humming with energy.

"What the..." I muttered.

"But...but it wasn't in there when we got it at first!" Logan protested.

"Yeah, we didn't even have the backpack at first," Percy added. "We got it from-"

I stepped back. "Ares," I scoffed. "I should have known."

"The god of war wanting to start a war?" Logan questioned. "How did that even go past our heads?"

"He was the one who told Poseidon that you took the bolt," I said. "He framed everyone, just for the entertainment he'll have with the war."

"We have to confront him," Percy decided.

"You aren't going anywhere," Hades roared. "Not without giving me the bolt."

Percy huffed. "We can't do that."

"Oh," Hades gave Percy a grin. "Not even for her?"

Hades snapped his fingers and golden dust appeared beside him and once it disappeared, a golden statue of a woman took its place.

Percy gasped. "Mom," he muttered.

"Yes, Percy Jackson, I took her. Now she's gonna stay here until you give me the bolt."

We all looked at Percy, who was staring at his mom. Logan and I then looked at each other. My brother fished something out of his pocket. He pulled out the two pearls he got from the Nereid. Percy noticed him and took out his two pearls. Wait two? I thought he had three?

"Ah yes, the pearls," Hades sneered. "Only four of them and each of them only protects a single person. "If you plan on saving your mom, which one is staying with me?"

We all looked at each other. Then Grover walked to Percy. "You can't give him the bolt, Percy

"I know."

"Let me stay here," Grover said. "I'll be fine, I'll turn into a flower when I die anyway."

"Not on my watch, goat boy," Annabeth told him. "I'll stay. You guys go."

I groaned. "Guys, stop!" I sighed. "I'll stay, I'm his daughter, it makes more sense."

Percy looked at us for a moment before he pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back and we stayed like that for a moment until we separated.

Percy looked at my father. "We will get your helmet back, Lord Hades. And make sure you play with Cerberus. He would love that."

"Percy-"

"And don't forget about Charon's pay raise."

Don't you dare defy me-"

"Now!"

Percy, Annabeth, Logan, and Grover threw the pears on the ground. Nothing happened for a long moment until the ground under them opened up, causing them to fall into the ground.

I let out a breath as I finally looked around. My father was taking a few deep breaths while staring at the ground in front of us.

"Why did it take you so long to claim me?" I asked. "Why the wait? Were you too afraid to tell people that you broke the oath?"

Hades looked at me for a moment, his eyes glowing brightly, but they didn't look as dangerous as I thought they would.

"I did not break the oath."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

Hades stood from his throne and shrunk to about 5'11. "I have to show you something."

He snapped his hands and in an instant we were in another room of the castle. It was a bedroom with dark grey walls and the bed was a king-sized one. Hades walked over to the bed and pulled out a box from under it.

"I shouldn't have hidden this from you, but she told me to wait until you were old enough."

I was confused as I sat down beside him. "What are you talking about?"

My father handed me the box. I opened the box to see a ton of notes and jewelry.

I opened one of the notes, which was addressed to me and Logan. I was about to read it, but decided to wait till my brother and I were back together to read it to him. I then looked at the jewelry. I picked up the necklace. The pendant was like a yin-yang symbol, but instead of black and white, it was blue and black.

"Your mother told me to give you this before she left." he sighed. "I didn't know what she meant until she just disappeared."

I contemplated my father's thoughts for a moment. "So...she's not dead?"

Hades shook his head.

"But I saw her shade roaming the earth just a week ago," I told him. "She tried talking to me but Annabeth pulled me away before she could. What do you mean she's not dead?"

Hades looked up at the ceiling. "Someone was just trying to play with your mind," he told me. "Shades only roam the earth if they aren't buried or given a proper burial. Your mother would have been buried properly, it doesn't make sense that she was just roaming the earth. And I didn't see her shade pass Elysium."

I looked down at the box. "So...where is she?"

Hades sighed. "I wish I knew," he said. "I haven't seen her since you and your brother were born."

I huffed. "So what does this have to do with you not breaking the oath?"

My father took a deep breath. "I kept your mother in the casino until she was ready to have you. Then I took her to the hospital where she had you and your brother. But when she did have you, she just...disappeared."

I put my head in my hands. "So let me get this straight, you kept my mom in the casino for, what? Twenty years until she finally gave birth to us? How did she remember you?"

"It was actually 40 years," he corrected. "And I gave her her memories once she left the casino with me."

I scoffed. "So I'm 40 years younger than I'm supposed to be." I said. "Wait, so how do we remember our time in the casino? When we weren't even born there?"

"I asked a fury to take you back for a few more years until I was sure Zeus wouldn't recognize or remember you."

I took in a sharp breath. "So...how long was I in there in total?"

"60 years."

"Wha-" I got up from the bed and started pacing around, trying to keep myself from bursting out. "How can you say that so calmly?"

"Is that a problem?"

"YES!" I yelled. I then grabbed my hair. "So...I was supposed to be born 60 years ago, but because of Zeus, you kept me in the casino. I need to take a breather."

I just plopped down on the floor. "Why did you play that loophole?"

"It was stupid, I know."

"Oh, it's beyond stupid." I groaned. "Gods, this is frustrating."

Hades was silent for a moment. "Why are you affiliating yourself with that sea spawn, Jackson?"

"Because Percy is my friend/brother." I answered. "And I was needed on this quest because they needed a safe passage into the Underworld."

"What are you going to do after the quest is complete?"

I shrugged. "I plan on leaving camp in a week once the quest is complete."

I felt his stare burning my neck. "I heard."

"So you aren't going to stop me?"

"This is your decision so I'm not gonna stop it." he told me. "Just be careful."

I took a deep breath, slowly letting it out as I lifted my head up. "Don't worry," I said. "I'll probably hide down here in the underworld until I think of something."

My father kept staring at me. "I am your father," he said, "I have a right to worry."

A smile formed on my face as I just laughed. I then looked down to see that I still had my mom's necklace.

"Are you really gonna keep me down here for all eternity?"

My father shrugged. "Nah," he said. "As Jackson said, Cerberus is gonna need someone to play with every now and then."

I rolled my eyes. I then hummed as I looked at the ceiling. "I want a bobcat."

"Why on earth do you want a bobcat?"

I shrugged this time. "Don't know," I said. "They're fun."

My father sighed. "You really are my daughter."

We both then laughed for a moment. Then my father stopped abruptly. I watched him for a moment before he sighed.

"Zeus needs you in Olympus," he told me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Percy and the others need you back."

I smirked. "Of course they do."

My father and I got up. He handed me the box and teleported us back to the front.

I sighed. "So," I asked him. "When am I gonna gain some new powers or am I gonna just be stuck with shadow travel the rest of my life?"

Hades smirked. "It's gonna come to you eventually, I promise."

I didn't believe him, but nodded nonetheless. "Are you sure we're gonna see each other again?"

My father clicked his tongue. "Don't know," he said. "But, in all honesty, I will miss you."

I smiled. "I'll miss you too, dad," I said. "Even though your actions don't really make sense."

"You keep reminding me."

We were silent until he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Be safe."

"I will."

⊱ ────── {⋆⌘⋆} ────── ⊰

I was suddenly hit with a wave of cold air. Being in the underworld with really hot air was honestly tiring. I walked up the stairs until I finally reached the throne room where Zeus and Poseidon were now with Percy, Annabeth, Logan, and Grover. I walked closer to them.

"Where is she?" Percy asked.

"Where's who?" I asked. They all turned around at the sound of my voice. "I know you're not trying to replace me that quickly."

After that, Logan and Grover took no time to hug me. Annabeth went next and Percy just gave me the longest hug out of everyone.

Once we were done, Zeus cleared his throat and we all looked at him.

I stepped forward. "Lord Zeus," I bowed. "Lord Poseidon."

Zeus sneered. "So you're Hades' girl?" He said. "Unbelievable."

Poseidon, on the other hand, smiled at me. "You look like your mother."

I smiled at him. "Thank you, Lord Poseidon."

I might say, him, Percy, and Logan are a splitting image of each other. The same sea green eyes, the same black hair and pale skin. The only difference is that Poseidon looks way older compared to Percy and Logan.

Zeus groaned. "Okay, okay, enough of that, wrap it up."

Poseidon held up his hand. "Hold on, brother," he said. "I need to speak with my sons."

I looked at my brothers, who were looking at each other with pale faces, much paler than they already were.

I put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "I'll leave the three of you alone."