Gaea was stopped a decade ago, the monsters now reside in Tartarus, and the surviving heroes of Olympus have begun new generations of demigods. Fifteen year old Yvette Grimes doesn't know anything about this, but she does know something is different...
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I wanted to throw up that sandwich I ate.
Never, in my life, do I ever want to shadow travel again.
At first it was alright. I kind of felt like the Gray Sisters ride, but faster and it kind of burned. But as it went on, my organs seemed to jump up my throat; my skin seemed to want to jump off my body and crawl away. It was never ending. It was a never ending tunnel. Hopefully the movement caused my still wet hair to dry.
Finally, we came to a stop. I opened my eyes, and we were no longer outside the entrance of New Rome. A rocky shoreline greeted me. It was like a goth beach. The sand was black, the trees were black, the plants were black. Even the murky water to the left of me was black. In it was what I could only describe as ruined dreams.
A large ship hit the water at our arrival. What was it... a barge? Yes. A barge. When the bottom of the boat slid onto the black sand, many spirits began to come off of it. A little boy shouted for his mother, but it came out like echoes. An old woman in rags was hunched over; she was translucent like the rest of them. There was a girl around my age, arms linked with a teenage boy. A shiver ran up my spine—I was alive, they were dead. I wasn't supposed to be here.
Nico groaned to himself. "I haven't travelled in a long time, I didn't mean to send us here."
"Here?" Gwen asked. Her eyes scaled our surroundings. I watched her expression changed. Her jaw dropped, and her eyes widened. "This is the River Styx."
"Hey, Vet!" Cash called. I whipped my head in his direction. "Your mom broke a River Styx oath! Remember?"
I crossed my arms. "Yeah, I remember."
I glanced at the river. What would it be like to just walk in? Certain death, most likely? Well, as long as one part of me didn't touch the water. Maybe my pinky toe...
"Excuse me!" Called a voice. I broke free of my thoughts and followed the voice. A large man with an equally large black cloak came marching toward us. His black boots kicked up the sand as he did so. "I have orders from Hades himself to not let any demigods enter this land. Why are you here?" His eyes fell on me, and I whimpered. I was staring into two pits of despair, darkness, and death.
"Relax, Charon," Nico said. Charon?
"N-Nico?" His British voice strained. He soon regained composure. "Your father wasn't expecting you."
"Was he expected three demigods looking for Persephone?"
"Ah, so you know. That was supposed to be private information. But, alas, not all things can be kept a secret forever." The look on his face was almost perverse, like he was hiding something.
Mist from the water clouded my vision, and I swatted it away with my mitted hand. I regretted wearing all these layers. It was hot down here.
