House of Hades (book 4 of Heroes of Olympus)

Chapter 3 - Percy

PERCY

They were possibly one of the biggest things that Percy had ever seen, and he had seen big things – Mt. Olympus for one thing. But no, these things were huge – deep ochre wood, a lining of gold that any Hermes kid would be jealous of and an endless army of guards.

‘An army of guards!’, Percy groaned.

Above him, the sky was orange, which was fine for Percy. Sky was sky, after all, and the dark part of Tartarus where they were currently situated had made him and Annabeth forget what light was like.

A woman walked forward wearing a white dress that swirled around her ankles. Where ever she stepped, flowers sprung up and disappeared when she walked away. A natural light pink dusted her cheeks and like Piper, her eyes were continuously changing colour.

When she reached the rowdy army, a glowing white sword appeared in her hand and she set the tip of it down on the ground, leaning on it slightly.

“Quiet,” she whispered, yet the effect startled Percy so much that he fell over – and when someone is a ghost in their own dream, falling over isn’t really an option. The word had rippled over the desert that surrounded them, stronger than hurricane winds but hardly a breeze at the same time.

“Snazzy,” Percy muttered, floating back up after being controlled in his own dream, “Bet Jason could do that too”.

The blonde superman and Percy had not gotten on at first, curious as to whom was the stronger demi-god. The fight between them may have been worryingly fatal, but it had only empowered the Roman and Greek’s wish to know who would have won.

‘Pfft, me, hands down.’ Percy glared at the ground. Maybe they had fought the giants together, but being friends wasn’t quite an option… yet.

The army was instantly silent, formation held and eyes focused on the lady-in-the-white-dress. For once, Percy was certain that a pin drop could actually be heard.

“Soon,” she shouted, “two heroes will set off on their journey to these very doors. I need your to kill them. One is a boy who goes by the name of Percy Jackson –”

The monsters exploded, a savage yell interrupting the still air. In the front row, Percy could see the Minotaur, fist waving in the air, snout scrunched up in disgust. Nearby were the Empousa, female vampire-demons with mismatched legs, one of bronze and the other of a donkey. The chimera, the Hydra and –

Percy’s head spun, his vision turning cloudy. All of these monsters, except for a smidgen had some reason to kill him.

“SILENT!” the lady shouted, face contorted in fury, “You shall have your revenge, in time. These heroes will die, my sacrifices to able me to rise once more on the face of the Earth. For now, I can only walk in this form in Tartarus, but soon…” A disturbing smile settled on her face. Percy liked her better angry than evil.

“The other is a girl named Annabeth. She is currently injured. I will be sending some of you off to hold them up. The longer it takes for them to reach the Doors of Death, the weaker they will become. Meanwhile,” she let go of the sword and raised both her hands, “you can have your fun with the other six demi-gods, currently on their way to Greece on the other side of these doors – if you catch them, you may do what you like! NOW RISE!”

“GAIA! GAIA!” The monsters repeated, drumming their weapons on the ground in time with each other.

“Uh…” Percy made a very unintelligent noise, followed by a lot of cursing, “Not cool, dude. Gaia has risen – kind of.”