Amor Vincit Omnia 》Phoebus Apollo

I.VIII

Chapter 8 - Percy Almost Gets Skewered by a Dog

THE NEXT DAY, I met up with Percy and Grover after I had finished a training session with Luke. They were sitting by the lake, and their conversation seemed serious.

"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here," I heard Percy say.

"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."

"Why wouldn't it be pleasant?" I asked, sitting down next to the two of them.

Grover jumped and hit my arm, "Don't do that!" he said, before sighing. "Children of Hades aren't good people. They take what they want and they don't care who pays the price."

A small frown forms on my features, "All of them? Really?" I chew on my gums, "I feel like that sounds so stereotypical. No way that's true."

Before Grover could respond, Percy spoke up, "But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"

Grover moved his gaze away from me, "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."

Thunder boomed and my frown deepened. This information was making my head spin and I felt like throwing up. That sounded horrible.

"That's the most serious oath you can make." Percy said.

Grover nodded.

"So, they kept their word then?" I asked, "No kids at all?"

Grover's face darkened at my words. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon—"not surprising— "There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia...well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."

"But that isn't fair! It wasn't the little girl's fault." Percy said.

"Yeah, how are you gonna punish a kid for their parents' actions? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." I added.

Grover hesitated for a brief moment. "Guys, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort here here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."