The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, and there was no ceiling. Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear, all from different areas and regions.
They stopped in from on two U.S. Marine skeletons guarding the large doors at the end of the hall. Grover shivered underneath the honey grins they wore.
"Well, I guess we should knock?" Percy asked hesitantly.
A warm breeze responded, blowing the doors opens. The guards stepped aside, and Percy and Rosalyn could see Hades sat upon his throne.
The throne was made up of human bones. Hades wore black silk robes and a braided gold crown. Rosalyn felt the charming charisma of evil wafting off of him. The allure of darkness was as old as time, and it was present in many great love stories.
"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon. After what you've done, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish," Hades drawled in a deep voice. Ice crept into their veins at the sound of it.
"Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests," Percy spoke, proud that his voice didn't wobble.
Hades rose an eyebrow and leaned forward on his throne. "Only two requests? Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."
Rosalyn noticed the far away look in Percy's eyes and poked him discreetly in the side. It was important for him to appear strong in front of Hades.
"Lord Hades," he began. "Look, sir, there can't a war between the gods. It would be... bad."
"Really bad," Grover added.
"Return Zeus's master bolt to me. Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus," Percy pleaded.
Rosie went rigid beside him. He glanced over at her quickly, seeing that she was wearing an angry expression on her features. Hades was wearing the same expression, though his eyes were flashing with danger.
"You dare keep up this pretense, after what you've done?" Hades thundered, his words echoing around the cavern.
"Um, Uncle, you keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"
The room shook with a violent tremor. Debris fell from the ceiling, and doors burst open all along the sides of the room. Skeleton guards lined the room in an instant, making Rosalyn take a step closer to Percy.
Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want a war, godling?"
Rosalyn's mind wandered as she connected the final pieces of the puzzle. She didn't hear what Percy and Hades were saying to each other, because her thoughts were much too loud.
Bile rose in her throat when she understood the trouble they were truly in.
Percy grabbing Rosalyn's hand brought her back to the reality.
"Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan," Hades spat.
"His plan?" Percy asked.
"You were the thief on the winter solstice. Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus. You took the master bolt and my helm," Hades hissed. "Had I not sent my Furies to discover you at Yancy Academy, he might have succeeded in his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced out into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"
"Lord Hades, your helm is missing?"Rosalyn spoke up for the first time since entering the throne room.
"Do not play innocent with me, girl! You have been helping this hero to bring me to an ultimatum! Does Poseidon think I can blackmailed into supporting him?"
"No! Poseidon didn't— I didn't—"
"Return my helm now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened, cutting Percy off. "That is my counter-proposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you—Percy Jackson— your skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."
The skeleton soldiers all took a step forward and reached for their weapons.
"You're as bad as Zeus. You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?" Percy fumed.
"Return my property!"
"But I don't have your helm! I came for the master bolt," Percy insisted.
Rosalyn took a step in front of Percy when Hades shot off of his seat on the throne in rage. Her heart sunk when he confirmed her suspicions.
"Which you already possess! You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could threaten me!"
"But I didn't!" Percy argued.
Looking over her shoulder at Percy, Rosie whispered, "Open your backpack, Perce."
Slinging it over his shoulder and unzipping it, his face paled. He looked up at Rosalyn in confusion and distrust.
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle had said.
"Percy, how—" Annabeth gasped.
"I don't know. I don't understand."
"You heroes are always the same. Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me," Hades sneered. "I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now, my helm... where is it?"
Percy's hands were trembling. He had no helm, and they were likely going to die here.
The backpack in his hands was enough to tell him that Ares set them up, but how much did Rosie know about it?
Ares sought her out for a side quest, and the backpack had been the reward.
She was at the winter solstice on Olympus.
He's her best friend's father.
"Lord Hades, there's been a mistake."
"A mistake?"
All of the soldiers raised their weapons as he shouted, "There is no mistake! I know why you have come. I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You have come to bargain with me for her."
Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. When it exploded against the floor, Percy's mother stood before them. The light was too hot for them to get close.
"I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if displease me, that will change."
Percy reached into his pocket and felt the pearls given to him in the ocean.
"Ah, yes. The pearls," Hades chuckled. Percy froze when he said, "My brother and his tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."
Slowly, Percy pulled the three pearls from his pocket and held them in the palm of his hand.
Rosie stared at them, and the sinking feeling she felt when Percy received them returned. Three pearls.
"Only three," Hades mused. "What a shame. You do realize that each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend an eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms."
Annabeth and Grover wore grim expressions. Rosalyn's face was frustratingly blank.
"We were tricked. Set up," Percy breathed.
"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit—"
"I don't know, but I intend to find out," Percy grumbled.
"Decide, boy!" Hades ordered.
Rosie grabbed Percy's forearm and said quietly, "You can't give him the master bolt."
"I know that."
"Leave me here. I'm a satyr. We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way!"
Rosie pulled the hairpin from her red hair and squeezed Percy's arm.
"You two go on. Get his mom, and get out of here," Rosalyn said firmly. "I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."
"No way," Annabeth dismissed.
"It has to be us," Rosalyn argued. Grover nodded in agreement.
"Think again, goat boy," Annabeth snapped.
"Stop it, all of you!"
Percy's face was pained as he watched his three friends arguing over who was going to stay behind in the Underworld for him and his mother. He spent so much of the quest worried about being betrayed by a friend, but looking at them now, he knew these three would never do that. He couldn't believe there was even a moment he thought Rosie could've set them up.
"I know what to do. Take these," Percy said, handing them each a pearl.
Annabeth faltered, "But Percy..."
Rosalyn shoved the pearl back towards him. When he refused to take it, she opened his hand and deposited it in his palm.
"You have to finish this quest, Percy. I'll stay behind with your mother."
He opened his mouth to protest, but she didn't let him speak.
"I knew the risks when I agreed to go on this quest. It's okay. Go and stop the war. We'll be okay."
You'll fail to save what matters most in the end.
"Rosie... I'll be back. I'll find a way," he croaked. "I won't leave you here forever."
"I know," she whispers, giving him a reassuring smile.
Turning back to Hades, he watched the smug smile on his face fade.
"I'll find your helm, Uncle. I'll return it. Remember Charon's pay raise. And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in awhile. He likes red rubber balls."
"Percy Jackson, you will not—"
They smashed their pearls at their feet. The skeletons rushed forward just as green light washed over them. They floated off the ground inside of milky spheres. Rosalyn watched at they neared the cavern ceiling and then passed through it.
Hades roared angrily, the walls trembling under the force of it.
He whirled around to face Rosalyn, who stood before him wearing the bravest face that she could manage.
"You're a fool, girl. You will be trapped here for eternity," Hades growled.
"Percy will come back for us," Rosalyn swore.
"He won't live long enough to save you."
The god snaps his fingers, and Rosalyn sees golden light encasing her body. She closes her eyes as the light grows brighter, opening them when it is dark. She is in a small room, lit only by some strange glowing orb on the ceiling.
Beside her, in what looks to be some kind of cell carved out of the cavern wall, is Sally Jackson.
"Rosie?" She asks, blinking at her. The older woman wraps the girl in a tight hug. "What are you doing here?"
"I came with Percy, looking for you. We had some trouble, but he'll come back for us. He'll get us out of here," Rosie spoke softly, trying to reassure the woman.
"Thank you for keeping him safe," Sally says. Her smile is warm and knowing. "I missed you, kiddo."
As they sit together in the darkness, Rosalyn's heart aches in her chest. She's thankful for the low light hiding the wetness in her eyes.
Please, come back this time, Percy.