𝙩𝙪 𝙢𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨 - p. jackson [₂]

𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒙𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒙.

―✧―

𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐔𝐒' 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐅𝐔𝐍.

the purplish ground was slippery and constantly pulsing. it looked flat from a distance, but up close it was made of folds and ridges that got harder to navigate the farther we walked. gnarled lumps of red arteries and blue veins gave me some footholds when we had to climb, but the going was slow.

and of course, the monsters were everywhere. packs of hellhounds prowled the plains, baying and snarling and attacking any monster that dropped its guard. arai wheeled overhead on leathery wings, making ghastly dark silhouettes in the poison clouds.

i caught percy as he stumbled.

"there's water in here," he said, looking at one of the arteries. "actual water."

bob grunted. "one of the five rivers. his blood."

"his blood?" annabeth stepped away from the nearest clump of veins. "i knew the underworld rivers all emptied into tartarus, but—"

"yes," bob agreed. "they all flow through his heart."

i stared at a web of capillaries. was the water of the styx flowing beneath my feet, or maybe the lethe? if one of those veins popped when i stepped on it... i shuddered. we were pretty much taking a stroll across the most dangerous circulatory system in the universe.

"we should hurry," i said, trying to switch the topic. i didn't like where my mind was heading. "if we can't..."

my voice trailed off.

ahead of us, jagged streaks of darkness tore through the air — like lightning, except pure black.

"the doors," bob said. "must be a large group going through."

my mouth felt dry. even if all of our friends from the argo ii managed to find the other side of the doors of death, i couldn't see how they possibly fight the waves of monsters that were coming through, especially if all the giants were already waiting for them?

"do all the monsters go through the house of hades?" percy asked, thinking along the same lines. "how big is that place?"

bob shrugged. "perhaps they are sent elsewhere when they step through. the house of hades is in the earth, yes? that is gaea's realm. she could send her minions wherever she wishes."

my spirits sank even further. monsters coming through the doors of death to threaten our friends at epirus — that was bad enough. now i imagined the ground on the mortal side as one big subway system, depositing giants and other monsters anywhere gaea wanted them to go — camp half-blood, camp jupiter, or in the path of the argo ii before it could even reach epirus.

"if gaea has that much power," i began, realizing something, "couldn't she control where we end up?"

i could tell by percy's expression that he didn't like that idea. i didn't blame him.