Falling for You

Percy: XV

Going back to being worried, Percy lifted his head again. The plodding of the hellhound was slow, but its size more than made up for it: they were almost at the other side of the herd of monsters. He could see ahead and caught a glimpse of the doors and a massive shape by them.

Percy groaned as quietly as he could.

A Titan.

It looked like Krios, guarding them. Percy hadn't ever met him in person, only knowing him from a vision of Mount Othrys last year, but he hadn't exactly undergone a wild wardrobe change since then. He still wore his black armour, studded with silver dots like a starry night. His face was covered in a war helm with a ram's horn curling on either side. Next to him, the Doors of Death stood. They looked... familiar.

Framed in Stygian iron, the magical portal was a set of elevator doors – two panels of silver and black etched with art deco designs. Except for the fact that the colours were inverted, they looked exactly like the elevators in the Empire State Building, the entrance to Doors of Death seemed like a personal insult, designed to remind him of everything he couldn't have. Upon seeing them, Percy felt so homesick he couldn't breathe. He didn't just miss Mount Olympus. He missed everything he'd left behind: New York City, Camp Half-Blood, his mother and stepdad. His friends.

Annabeth.

His eyes stung, but he blinked them as much as he could, ignoring it with a desperation that spoke of now really not being the time.

As he got over his initial shock, he noticed other details: the frost spreading from the base of the Doors, the purplish glow in the air around them and the chains that held them fast. Cords of black iron ran down either side of the frame, like rigging lines on a suspension bridge. They were tethered to hooks embedded in the fleshy ground. Krios was stood smack bang in the middle of them, letting small groups go past like a club bouncer. Percy hoped it was okay that he didn't have an ID.

As he watched, the entire frame shuddered. Black lightning flashed into the sky. The chains shook, and Krios planted his feet on one of the hooks to keep it secure. The doors slid open, revealing the gilded interior of an elevator car.

A dozen Cyclopes rushed forward, waving little red tickets and shouting excitedly. They shouldn't have been able to fit inside those human-sized doors, but as the Cyclopes got close, their bodies distorted and shrank, the Doors of Death sucking them inside. At least Maia and Damasen wouldn't crush him, Percy reflected with no small amount of relief.

The Titan Krios jabbed his thumb against the UP button on the elevator's right side, his dark helmet shifting on his head. The doors slid closed.

The frame shuddered again. Dark lightning faded.

Percy furrowed his brow. Krios was still holding down the button. If someone had to hold it in order for it to go up... Percy felt his stomach drop out of his body.

Someone would need to hold that button for him.

If his life didn't depend on it, Percy knew he would have leaned over the hellhound's back and been sick.

He- Percy didn't even get to finish his thought before something else went wrong.

Over the edge of a hill slightly to the left of the sea of monsters, a head popped up. Then another. Maia and Damasen had arrived, both looking a little weary, but Damasen was scanning the crowd for him with a steadily worried expression.