⟦ the baddie, Febe Hurn⟧
yaalllll, I really tried but I did not know how to include luke in this chapter, but I didn't know how without little input here and there. so I made up for at the end but if you have an idea for where I can try to put more of him in, PLEASE COMMENT, THANK YOOUUUU!
5305 words
imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a football field packed with a million fans.
Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people, and imagine the electricity has gone out, and there is no noise, no light, no beach ball bouncing around over the crowd. Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start.
If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea of what the Fields of Asphodel looked like. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees – Grover told me they were poplars – grew in clumps here and there.
The cavern ceiling was so high above us it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint grey and looked wickedly pointed. I tried not to imagine they'd fall on us at any moment, but dotted around the fields were several that had fallen and impaled themselves in the black grass. I guess the dead didn't have to worry about little hazards like being speared by stalactites the size of booster rockets.
Annabeth, luke, Grover, percy, and I tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. I couldn't help looking for familiar faces among the spirits of Asphodel, but the dead are hard to look at. Their faces shimmer. They all look slightly angry or confused. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter like bats twittering. Once they realize you can't understand them, they frown and move away.
The dead aren't scary. They're just sad.
We crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates towards a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:
JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION
Welcome, Newly Deceased!
Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.
To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path towards the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas. Even from far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. I could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top. And I saw worse tortures, men getting their penis cut off and their balls being boiled while they're still attached.
The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down towards a small valley surrounded by walls – a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles, and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.
Elysium.
In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. Immediately I knew that's where I wanted to go when I died. I wonder, is this my first life or my third?
'That's what it's all about,' Luke said like he was reading my thoughts. 'That's the place for heroes.' he stared with a faraway look in his eyes.
But I thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to Asphodel or even Punishment. So few people did well in their lives. It was depressing, but not surprising. it hard to find truthful people in the real world.
We left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into Asphodel. It got darker. The colors faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.
After a few miles of walking, we began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures: the Furies. I got the feeling they were waiting for us.
'I suppose it's too late to turn back,' Grover said wistfully.
'We'll be okay.' luke tried to sound confident.
'Maybe we should search some of the other places first,' Grover suggested. 'Like, Elysium, for instance...'
'Come on, goat boy.' Annabeth grabbed his arm.
Grover yelped. His trainers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth. He landed flat on his back in the grass.
'Grover,' Annabeth chided. 'Stop messing around.'
'But I didn't –'
He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from us.
'Maia!' he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. 'Maia, already! 911! Help!'
I got over being stunned and made a grab for Grover's hand, but too late. He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled.
luke started chasing, chanting Maia once and fleeing in the air. he stretched his hand out and grabbed Grover's leg but he was being pulled along.
" Oh shit!"
We ran after them.
Annabeth shouted, 'Untie the shoes!'
It was a smart idea, but you can't do that when you're being flown back and forth. luke tried to untie them but then he would begin to slip. Grover reached his hand down then he'll roll around with a screaming luke attached to his leg.
" fucking stupid ass shoes!" luke shouted hitting Grover's foot.
"Ow! man that hurt!." Grover whined.
We kept after them, trying to keep them in sight as they zipped between the legs of spirits who chattered at them in annoyance.
I was sure he was going to slam into the gate of hades' home, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.
The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed. We had to sprint as they got farther ad farther away. The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and I realized we'd entered some kind of side tunnel. No black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.
'Grover! Luke!' I yelled, my voice echoing. 'Hold on to something!'
" fucking hades, this shit is soft. I can't hold on to anything!" Luke yelled.
He wrapped his legs around Grover's waist as he was running his hand on anything he could touch, grasping for anything to hold on to.
Grover was grabbing at the gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow them down.
The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on my arms bristled. It smelled evil down here. It made me think of things I shouldn't even know about – blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer.
Then I saw what was ahead of us, percy and I stopped dead in our tracks. Annabeth skitted to a stop between us.
The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.
Grover and luke were sliding straight toward the edge.
'Come on, guys!' Annabeth yelled, tugging at percy and my wrists.
'But that's –'
'I know!' she shouted. 'The place you described in your dream! But they're going to fall if we don't catch them.' She was right, of course. luke's and Grover's predicament got us moving again.
Gover was yelling, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him towards the pit, and it didn't look like we could possibly get to him in time. Luke stopped trying to grab something. he wrapped his arm around Grover and used his own winged shoes to slow them down. it was working but it wasn't much.
What saved them were Grover's hooves.
The flying sneakers had always been a loose fit on him, and finally, Grover hit a big rock and the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the chasm. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing onto the big rock and using it like an anchor. Luke latched onto the same rock.
they were three meters from the edge of the pit when Annabeth and percy caught Grover and hauled him back up the slope. Luke reached up for my hand. I grabbed it and brought him up. his winged shoes gave him an extra boast, leading to him falling on top of me. just then, Grover's other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled around us angrily, and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin.
luke rolled off me and Annabeth, percy, and Grover collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. My limbs felt like lead. I looked over to percy he was tugging at the book bag like it weighed tons.
Grover was scratched up pretty badly. His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupilled, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified.
'I don't know how...' he panted. 'I didn't...'
'Wait,' percy said. 'Listen.'
I heard something – a deep whisper in the darkness.
Another few seconds and Annabeth said, 'febe, this place –'
'Shh.' I stood. Percy stood up with me. he went to my side.
The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below us. Coming from the pit.
Grover sat up. 'Wh – what's that noise?'
Annabeth heard it too, now. I could see it in her eyes. 'Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus.'
I whispered, " Four." then shockwave popped up in my right hand. percy unclipped rip tied. luke pushed Annabeth and Grover behind him with Achieve in his own hand.
The bronze sword's expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming its chant.
I could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words, older even than Greek. As if...
'Magic,' I said.
'We have to get out of here,' Annabeth said.
"We need to get Grover first," Luke says, pulling Grover up by his shoulders.
Together, we dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. My legs wouldn't move fast enough. The voice got louder and angrier behind us, and we broke into a run.
Not a moment too soon A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs as if the entire pit were inhaling. For a terrifying moment, I lost ground, my feet slipping into the gravel. If we'd been any closer to the edge, we would've been sucked in.
We kept struggling forward, and finally reached the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel. The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel. Something was not happy we'd gotten away.
'What was that?' Grover panted when we'd collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. 'One of Hades's pets?'
Annabeth and I looked at each other. I could tell she was nursing an idea, probably the same one she'd got during the taxi ride to L.A., but she was too scared to share it. That was enough to terrify me.
I chanted four in my head and shockwave turned into a charm again. 'Let's keep going.' I looked at Grover. 'Can you walk?'
He swallowed. 'Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway.'
He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling as badly as the rest of us. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. I was almost relieved to turn my back on that tunnel and head towards the palace of Hades.
Almost.
percy walked to my side and slipped his hand into mine for comfort.
The Furies circled the parapets, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.
Up close, I saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times – an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls – but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. I wondered if I was looking at prophecies that had come true.
Inside the courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, and clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party guests were Medusa's garden statues, petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs, all smiling grotesquely.
In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. 'The garden of Persephone,' luke said. 'Keep walking.'
I understood why she wanted to move on. The tart smell of those pomegranates was almost overwhelming. I had a sudden desire to eat them, but then I remembered the story of Persephone. One bite of Underworld food, and we would never be able to leave. luke pulled Grover away to keep him from picking a big juicy one. Annabeth grabbed his arm to keep him going.
We walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above. I wonder if they ever get water.
Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, and some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. None of them bothered us, but their hollow eye sockets followed us as we walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end.
Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at us, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.
'You know,' Grover mumbled, 'I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen.'
'Well, guys,' percy said. 'I suppose we should... knock?'
A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside.
'I guess that means "entrez,",' Annabeth said.
The room inside looked just like in my dream, except this time the throne of Hades was occupied.
He was the third god I'd met, but the first who really struck me as godlike.
Cuz he's the OG.
He was at least three meters tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.
I immediately felt like he should be giving the orders. He knew more than I did. He should be my master. Then I told myself to snap out of it.
Hades's aura was affecting me. The Lord of the Dead resembled pictures I'd seen of Adolph Hitler, Napoleon, or the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers. Hades had the same intense eyes, the same kind of mesmerizing, evil charisma.
'You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon,' he said in an oily voice. 'After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish.'
Percy held my hand as tight as possible. I pulled him closer to my side as luke covered Annabeth with his body. they stood behind percy with Grover. luke inched his way closer until he was right behind me. Annabeth pecked from behind him.
But percy let go of my hand and stepped up. 'Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests.'
Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward on his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. The ADHD part of me wondered, off-task, whether the rest of his clothes were made the same way. What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades's underwear?
'Only two requests?' Hades said. 'Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet.'
Percy glanced at the empty, smaller throne next to Hades's. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. I wished Queen Persephone were here. I recalled something in the myths about how she could calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Of course, Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess of agriculture Demeter. Her visits, not the tilt of the earth, created the seasons.
Annabeth stepped forward. luke grabbed her arm but she yanked it out. luke glared at her as she cleared her throat. Her finger prodded percy in the back.
'Lord Hades,' I said. 'Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be... bad. Like putting pickles on a plain ham sandwich with Cheetos, bad.'
" Eating cucumber with bleach, bad." percy said.
'Really bad,' Grover added helpfully.
'Return Zeus's master bolt to me,' percy said. 'Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus.'
"oop, gurl you did not." I hissed under my breath. I reached forward and smacked percy in the head.
Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. 'You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?'
percy glanced back at us. They looked as confused as he was. I rolled my eyes, ain't no way hades did this shit.
" Ok, uncle hades. percy is a dimwit so your gonna have to tell him 'what he has done'." I did some hopping bunny ear at the end.
The throne room shook with a tremor so strong they probably felt it upstairs in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.
Hades bellowed, 'Do you think I want war, godling?'
don't be dumb.
'You are the Lord of the Dead,' percy said carefully. 'A war would expand your kingdom, right?'
your dumb
'A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of Asphodel?'
'Well...'
'Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?'
percy looked up but hades were not done. big boi is on a roll.
'More security ghouls,' he moaned. 'Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!'
'Charon wants a pay raise,' He blurted, just remembering the fact.
'Don't get me started on Charon!' Hades yelled. 'He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems are everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. No, godling. I need no help getting subjects! I did not ask for this war.'
"damn lord hades, your life sounds like hell." I showed my sympathy to hades by shaking my head and whispering ill pray for him.
He looked at me blankly. we had a mini staring contest until I looked away confused. I kinda expected him to look at me with annoyance like he looking at everyone else. I caught luke looking at me with astonishment.
THAT'S RIGHT, I AM A BAD BITCH UP IN THIS BITCH!
'But you took Zeus's master bolt.'
hades eyes shot back to percy
'Lies!' More rumbling. Hades rose from his throne, towering to the height of a football goalpost. 'Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan.'
'His plan?'
'You were the thief on the winter solstice,' he said. '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 helmet. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helmet back!'
'But...' Annabeth spoke. I could tell her mind was going a million miles an hour. 'Lord Hades, your helmet of darkness is missing, too?'
'Do not play innocent with me, girl. You three demigods and the satyr have been helping this hero – coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt – to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?'
'No!' percy said. 'Poseidon didn't – I didn't –'
'I have said nothing of the helmet's disappearance,' Hades snarled, 'because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford the word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you.'
'You didn't try to stop us? But –'
'Return my helmet now, or I will stop death,' Hades threatened. '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 skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, making their weapons ready.
"Excuse me lord hades but no!" I yelled. all eyes shot to me.
" I have been vouching for you there this whole quest but I regret it. this boy hasn't done shit and neither has everyone else. percy was too busy getting in trouble and then starting some shit he has no point in having. He not dying today and he not dying anytime soon!"
everyone looked at me like I was crazy, maybe I am, but no one is touching percy, Annabeth, Grover, and luke.
" I know you knew we were coming or this wouldn't have been easy. I got a nail to pick with you, what is it that you what?"
'All I what is for my brother spawn to return my property!'
'But I don't have your helmet. I came for the master bolt.'
'Which you already possess!' Hades shouted. 'You came here with it. little fool, thinking you could threaten me!'
'But I didn't!'
'Open your pack, then.'
percy slung it off his shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a sixty-centimeter-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy. I rushed to his side.
I suddenly had the urge to pick it up and feel the power through my veins.
'Percy,' Annabeth said. 'How –'
'I – I don't know. I don't understand.'
"Nothing of the Gods is understandable," luke said calmly. he looked at the bolt in confusion, suspension, and numbness.
'You heroes are always the same,' Hades said. 'Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. 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 helmet. Where is it?'
I was speechless. we were used for someone sick plan to start a war among the gods. And the fact the bolt has been in the backpack that was given to us by that asshole!
'Lord Hades, wait,' percy said. 'This is all a mistake.'
'A mistake?' Hades roared.
The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The one with Mrs. Dodds's face grinned at me eagerly and flicked her whip.
'There is no mistake,' Hades said. 'I know why you have come – I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her.'
My blood froze.
Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of me, and there was sally, frozen in a shower of gold, just as she was at the moment when the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.
percy reached for her but he pulled back, it must be too hot.
'Yes,' Hades said with satisfaction. 'I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helmet, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change.'
'Ah, the pearls,' Hades said, 'Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson.'
Percy's hand held out the pearls but he looked like he was forced. he most likely was.
'Only five,' Hades said. 'What a shame. You do realize 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 eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms.'
percy looked at the others. Their faces were grim. He turned to me. I can't do anything against hades, so I will have to trust Percy's dumb decisions and see what happens. Maybe this will be the last time we see sally.
'We were tricked,' percy told us. 'Set up.'
'Yes, but why?' Annabeth asked. 'And the voice in the pit –'
'I don't know yet,' I said. 'But I intend to ask.'
" be careful percy, this is a god you are taking too." Luke reminds him.
'Decide, boy!' Hades yelled.
'Percy.' Grover put his hand on his shoulder. 'You can't give him the bolt.'
'Leave me here,' Grover said. 'Use the third pearl on your mom.'
'No!'
'I'm a satyr,' Grover said. 'We don't have souls as 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.'
'No.' Annabeth drew her bronze knife. 'You four go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover for you. I plan to go down fighting.'
"No, you not," luke barked at Annabeth. " if anyone it should be me! you guys get out of here. ill be fine."
'No way,' Grover said. 'I'm staying behind.'
'Think again, goat boy,' Annabeth said.
"both of you can think again. No!" Luke yelled.
'Stop it, all of you!' percy cried.
here's a group of three, one to sacrifice for Percy's mom, the other for Grover, and the third for everyone.
'I know what to do,' percy said. 'Take these.'
he handed them each a pearl. when he got to me last, I bent down to his ear, " whatever happens, if it's bad, it's not your fault." he nodded at my words and turned to his mother.
It is no secret he what to sacrifice himself for his mother. No matter how much he what to, he can't. yet he hiding something, no one else sees it but I do.
'I'm sorry,' he told her. 'I'll be back. I'll find a way.'
The smug look on Hades's face faded. He said, 'Godling...?'
"I'll find your helmet, Uncle," I told him pulling percy away. "I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise."
'Do not defy me –'
'And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls.'
'Febe Hurn, you will not –'
I shouted, 'Now, guys!'
We smashed the pearls at our feet. For a scary moment, nothing happened.
Hades yelled, 'Destroy them!'
The army of skeletons rushed forward, swords out, guns clicking to fully automatic. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame.
Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl exploded at my feet with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. I was encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground.
Annabeth and Grover were right behind me. Spears and bullets sparked harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as we floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook and I knew it was not going to be a peaceful night in L.A.
'Look up!' Grover yelled. 'We're going to crash!'
Sure enough, we were racing right towards the stalactites, which I figured would pop our bubbles and skewer us.
'How do you control these things?' Annabeth shouted.
'I don't think you do!' I shouted back.
"Fucking hades, why do we have to do this shit!" luke grunted waving his arms around.
We screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and... Darkness.
Were we dead?
No, I could still feel the racing sensation. We were going up, right through solid rock as easily as an air bubble in water. That was the power of the pearls, I realized – What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.
thanks, percy, I don't what I would do landing in the sky, then falling out of it.
For a few moments, I couldn't see anything outside the smooth walls of my sphere, then my pearl broke through on the ocean floor. us four milky pearls kept pace with percy as we soared upward through the water. And ker-blam!
We exploded on the surface, in the middle of Los Angeles Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, 'Dude!'
I grabbed Grover and hauled him over to a lifebuoy. Luke hopped up and caught Annabeth and dragged her over too. A curious shark was circling us, a great white about three meters long.
percy said, 'Beat it.'
The shark turned and raced away.
The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from us as fast as he could.
Somehow, I knew what time it was: early morning, June 21, the day of the summer solstice.
In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault. He was probably sending an army of the dead after me right now.
But at the moment, the Underworld wasn't my biggest problem.
I had to get to shore. I had to get Zeus's thunderbolt back to Olympus. Most of all, I had to have a serious conversation with the god who'd tricked percy.
then get luke alone and make out with him because he looks hot with wet hair.
damn! you know what, fuck it.
I reach over to luke, grabbed his shirt, and smashed his lips on my own. as soon as his lips meet mine, his hand found its way to the back of my head. Our lips moved together as the kids groaned and gagged at us. I pulled away for some air but luke had to have to keep kissing me as I breathed between them. The last kiss lasted a few seconds before he pulled away.
his eye shined as I have never seen before. His mischievous smile is back on his face as he barely moved his lips an inch from mine.
"I'm never letting you go," he whispered looking me in the eyes.
"Then don't."
" Rock on, dudes!"