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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Sixteen days?
Sixteen days to find the location of the missing queen, and my mother?
"Sir, that hardly isn't enough time—"
"—Percy Jackson found my brother's Lightning Bolt in ten. You seem to be the next hero of the decade, right? If you succeed in your little quest. Imagine, Yvette Grimes. The next Percy Jackson."
I shuddered at that. I didn't want to be the next Percy Jackson. Becoming a hero meant putting yourself in more danger. "E-even so... I need to bring Persephone back to my mom—Demeter. I can't bring her to you."
"That's what I thought," Hades sighed.
"Dad...?" Nico said. By the look on his face, he knew something was wrong.
"Quite," Hades hissed. Hades brought his palm up, and a ball of white fire appeared. He threw it on the floor, spreading in front of us like a giant wall of flame. A bright light blinded us, and I lifted my arm to shield my face. When it faded, I let my arm fall limp.
My entire family was in front of me, frozen like statues; dad's arm was still bandaged, and there was a patch over his left eye, Gabe was holding onto Arthur in fear. Amelie was the only one not present—where was she? Katrina's arms were stretched out, almost as if Amelie was ripped from her arms, and her eyes were wider than I've ever seen them. But, even still, she was so beautiful. They looked terrified, and their eyes. Their eyes. They stared right at me. Arthur, Gabe, Katrina, dad. What did they last see?
"What did you do to them?!" I croaked, staring into my dad's eyes.
"Same thing I did to Percy Jackson, of course. Steal a family member for something in return. In this case I stole... one, two, three, four, five. Yes, five of them. Easy. A fair trade for my lovely wife."
"Oh my Gods..." I heard a voice say. Whether it was Cash, Gwen, or Nico. I had no idea. My hands shook, and I reached out to touch them. The fire was blazing hot, and I jerked my hand back.
"What do you want?" I said.
"Bring my wife back to me."
A few tears escaped as a contemplated the deal.
"Yvette, you can't be serious," Gwen said. "If you do that, Demeter will keep snow falling. She'll destroy the world. Don't you remember?"
I blinked at the family behind the flames. This is what Will meant. Sorry about your family. They must be missing too, then.
"Remember, Yvette, they aren't dead. Yet." I glanced up at Hades. "With a snap of my fingers, they're gone. I'd choose wisely."
"Dad!" Nico yelled. "This is why I never came back! You were forming me into doing stuff like-like this! I was losing myself down here. I was becoming something non human!"
