Poseidon's Daughter; A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

The Land of the Dead

I waved him off. "It's all good. So what happened?"

"I just lay down to take a nap and..." Grover trailed off. "I remember now! I was walking in the woods up by Harlem Meer. And I felt this tremble in the ground, like something powerful was near. Since Pan's death, I can feel when something is wrong in nature. It's like my ears and eyes are sharper when I'm in the wild. Anyway, I started following the scent. This man in a long black coat was walking through the park, and I noticed he didn't cast a shadow. Middle of a sunny day, and he cast no shadow. He kind of shimmered as he moved. And whenever he passed humans–"

"The humans would pass out," Nico guessed. "Curl up and go to sleep."

"That's right!" Grover confirmed. "Then after he was gone, they'd get up and go about their business like nothing happened."

Percy raised his eyebrows at Nico. "You know this guy in black?"

"I'm afraid so," Nico answered. "Grover, what else happened?"

"I followed the guy. He kept looking up at the buildings around the park like he was making estimates or something. This lady jogger ran by, and she curled up on the sidewalk and started snoring. The guy in black put his hand on her forehead like he was checking her temperature. Then he kept walking. By this time, I knew he was a monster or something even worse. I followed him into this grove, to the base of a big elm tree. I was about to summon some dryads to help me capture him when he turned and...his face. I couldn't make out his face because it kept shifting. Just looking at him made me sleepy. I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Just having a look around. You should always scout a battlefield before the battle,'" Grover recited. "And he laughed. He said, 'You're lucky I'm saving my energy for the main event, little satyr. I'll just grant you a short nap. Pleasant dreams.' And that's the last thing I remember."

"Grover, you met Morpheus, the god of dreams," Nico stated. "You're lucky you ever woke up."

"Two months," Grover moaned. "He put me to sleep for two months! We've got to figure out what Morpheus was doing in the park."

"Well, he's working for Kronos," I mention. "But we knew that already. A lot of minor gods are. That just proves we've got to get on with our plan. I still don't like it, but like Nico said, it's our only choice."

"Wait. What plan?" Grover quizzed. So we told him. And Grover didn't like it at all. "You're not serious. Not the Underworld again."

"I'm not asking you to come, man," Percy promised. "I know you just woke up. But we need some music to open the door. Can you do it?"

Grover shrugged and took out his reed pipes. "I guess I could try. I know a few Nirvana tunes that can split rocks."

Grover put his pipes to his lips and played a shrill, lively tune. After a few seconds, the boulders trembled. It only took a few more stanzas before they cracked open, revealing a triangular crevice. I peered inside, but all I could see were steps that led down into the darkness. The air smelled of mildew and death, and it brought back bad memories of our trip through the Labyrinth last year. Somehow though, this tunnel felt even more dangerous. It led straight to the land of Hades, and that was not somewhere I wanted to go.

"Thanks, Grover," Percy said and pat Grover's shoulder.

"Thanks. Um, is Kronos really going to invade?" Grover questioned.

"I wish I could tell you better, but yeah. He will," Percy shared.

"I've got to rally the nature spirits, then. Maybe we can help," Grover proposed. "I'll see if we can find this Morpheus! Be careful down there! Come back alive!"