The Thief // pjo

Chapter Ten // Grover Almost Gets Killed By Shoes And We Get Framed...AGAIN

    Annabeth kept her hand in mine most of the time we walked.

    And honestly, I was happy to have something alive to keep me grounded.

    Especially when we passed the Fields of Asphodel and Punishment and the Isles of the Blest (for the people who had chosen to be reborn three times) and Elysium (for the people who did achieve the three times of rebirth), seeing all the spirits doing their own thing, but just being dead all the while.

    It was...

    Let's just say this, if I never had to come here again, I wouldn't mind.

    And when we spotted a palace made of black obsidian, I almost turned on my heel and walked right back into the Fields, but I refrained, steeling myself even further when I spotted the Furies flying around the parapets.

    "I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said from Percy's left.

    "We'll be okay," Percy told him from my left.

    "Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover threw out the idea, looking pale and sick at the sight of the palace. "Like, Elysium, for instance..."

    "Come on, Goat Boy," Annabeth shook her head, getting ready to grab his arm.

    I blinked in surprise when Grover gave a yelp of shock, and he landed flat on his back with a grunt.

    His magic shoes had sprouted their wings, flapping wildly as Annabeth scolded, "Grover. Stop messing around."

    "But I didn't—"

    This time the wings sputtered before dragging Grover away from us like a dog on a leash.

    "Maia!" He shouted, trying to get the shoes to listen to his command. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!!"

    My body started moving without even a thought.

    I shot down the hill after my friend, who was picking up speed with every second that passed, but my body was on overdrive, and I was running just as fast as he was being dragged.

    Annabeth and Percy were shouting something from behind us, something about shoelaces, but I didn't hear them.

    Especially when we both entered a tunnel that was growing darker the further we traveled into it.

    Grover was holding his hands out to me, his big eyes begging me to help him.

    My gaze traveled over his head, and I wheezed a gasp as I saw the enormous pit from my dreams.

    It was real.

    And in the Underworld.

    And Grover was being dragged right to the edge of it.

    "GROVER!!!" I screamed at him. "KICK THE SHOES OFF!!!!"

    As if on cue, my friend hit a rock, and one of his shoes came flying off, and the thing went soaring straight into the pit.

    The other shoe continued to drag him, but just slow enough for me to summon Undertow, grab him by his arm, and plunge the blade of my sword into the gravel of the ground, slowing us about ten feet from the ledge.

    Grover's fingernails dug into my skin as I strained against the pull of the pit and the shoe.

    "PERCY!!!" I screamed.

    My brother was at my side four seconds later, him and Annabeth dragging us further from the edge.

    My brother wrapped his arms around me as the right shoe flew around us angrily before shooting after its sibling and into the darkness of the pit.