Thanatophobia: Fear of Death
Aurelia hated the cold.
She grew up in the sheltered heat of her hacienda in Puerto Rico before living on the beaches of the Bermuda near the Sea of Monsters and her most current home was sunny California. She wasn't used to the cold winds of Alaska and she hated the chunky Polartec she had to wear, especially because her white one had yellowish-brown stains from the mud.
Aurelia didn't even want to try and salvage the mess that was her beanie—she left it in Hazel's old abandoned house. So now, her ears were freezing and turning pink from the cold as Frank led them to a shopping plaza near the wharf.
While Frank and Percy ordered, Hazel and Aurelia wandered down to the docks and asked some questions. When they came back to the diner, they were in need of cheering up.
"We're in trouble," Hazel said as she picked at her cheeseburger and fries. "We tried to get a boat. But I ... miscalculated."
"No boats?" Frank asked,
"No, we can get a boat," Aurelia murmured munching on her caesar salad. "But the glacier is farther than Hazel thought. Even at top speed, he said we could not make it until tomorrow morning."
Percy turned pale. "Maybe I could make the boat go faster?"
"Even if you could," Hazel said, "from what the captains tell us, it's treacherous—icebergs, mazes of channels to navigate. You'd have to know where you were going."
"Which we do not," Aurelia muttered.
"A plane?" Frank asked.
Both girls shook their heads. "We asked the boat captains about that. They said we could try, but it's a tiny airfield. You have to charter a plane two, three weeks in advance."
They ate in silence after that. Aurelia focused on her meal. Or tried to. Percy had ordered her onion rings and a strawberry milkshake beside her salad but the emotions around their table were so depressing. Then to add to it, an annoying raven settled on a nearby telephone pole and started to croak at them.
She managed to drown it out, but it got worse.
Her arm started to hurt and the annoying cawing turned into a strangled yelp.
Aurelia's necklace was yanked off and Ferrum Temoris was in her hand. Frank got up so fast he almost toppled the picnic table. Percy drew Riptide.
All of them had their eyes trained on the pole. Perched on top of the pole, where the raven had been, a fat ugly gryphon glared down at them. It burped, and raven feathers fluttered from its beak.
Hazel stood and unsheathed her spatha. Frank nocked an arrow and took aim, but the gryphon shrieked so loudly the sound echoed off the mountains. Frank flinched, and his shot went wide.
"I think that's a call for help," Percy warned. "We have to get out of here."
With no clear plan, they ran for the docks. The gryphon dove after them. Percy slashed at it with his sword, but the gryphon veered out of reach.
They took the steps to the nearest pier and raced to the end. The gryphon swooped after them, its front claws extended for the kill. Aurelia raised her sword, but an icy wall of water slammed sideways into the gryphon and washed it into the bay. The gryphon squawked and flapped its wings. It managed to scramble onto the pier, where it shook its black fur like a wet dog.
Frank grunted. "Nice one, Percy."
"Yeah," he said. "Didn't know if I could still do that in Alaska. But bad news—look over there."
"Dios mio," Aurelia huffed.
About a mile away, over the mountains, a black cloud was swirling—a whole flock of gryphons, dozens at least. There was no way they could fight that many, and no boat could take them away fast enough.
"Death really does embrace us," Aurelia sighed, gripping her blade tightly.
Frank nocked another arrow. "Not going down without a fight."
Percy raised Riptide. "I'm with you."
The Aurelia heard a sound in the distance—like the whinnying of a horse. "No fucking way."
Hazel cried out desperately. "Arion! Over here!"
A tan blur came ripping down the street and onto the pier. The stallion materialized right behind the gryphon, brought down his front hooves, and smashed the monster to dust. Hazel's eruption of joy made a smile appear on Aurelia's lips.
"Good horse!" Hazel praised. "Really good horse!"
Frank backed up and almost fell off the pier. "How—?"
"He followed me!" Hazel beamed. "Because he's the best—horse—EVER! Now, get on!"
"All four of us?" Percy said. "Can he handle it?"
Arion whinnied indignantly.
"All right, no need to be rude," Percy said. "Let's go."
They climbed on, Hazel and Aurelia in front with Frank and Percy balancing precariously behind them. Well, at least I'll get one last adrenaline rush before I die, Aurelia thought.
"Run, Arion!" Hazel cried. "To Hubbard Glacier!"
The horse shot across the water, his hooves turning the top of the water to steam.
Riding on Arion was exhilarating. Aurelia had never really considered herself a horse girl—she barely tolerated Skippy back at camp—but Arion was something extraordinary.
The boat captains in Seward had warned them it was a three hundred nautical miles to the Hubbard Glacier, a hard dangerous journey, but Arion had no trouble. He raced over the water at the speed of sound, heating the air so Aurelia didn't have to suffer through the frigid cold.
The boys weren't nearly as happy as the girls. When Aurelia glanced back, their teeth were clenched and their eyeballs were bouncing around their heads. Frank's cheeks jiggled from the g-force. Percy sat in the very back, hanging on tight, desperately trying not to slip off the horse's rear end.
They raced through icy straits, past blue fjords and cliffs with waterfalls spilling into the sea. Arion jumped over a breaching humpback whale and kept galloping, startling a pack of seals off an iceberg.
It seemed like only minutes before they zipped into a narrow bay. The water turned the consistency of shaved ice into blue sticky syrup. Arion came to a halt on a frozen turquoise slab.
A half mile away stood Hubbard Glacier. Purple snow capped mountains marched off in either direction, with clouds floating around their middles like fluffy belts. In a massive valley between two of the largest peaks, a ragged wall of ice rose out of the sea, filling the entire gorge. The glacier was blue and white with streaks of black, so that it looked like a hedge of dirty snow left behind on a sidewalk after a snowplow had gone by, only four million times as large.
As soon as Arion stopped, Aurelia felt the temperature drop. All the ice was sending off waves of cold, turning the bay into the world's largest refrigerator. The eeriest thing was a sound like thunder that rolled across the water.
"What is that?" Frank gazed at the clouds above the glacier. "A storm."
"No," Hazel said. "Ice cracking and shifting. Millions of tons of ice."
"You mean this thing is breaking up?" Frank asked.
As if on cue, a sheet of ice silently calved off the side of the glacier and crashed into the sea, spraying water and frozen shrapnel several stories high. A milliseconds later the sound hit them—a BOOM almost as jarring as Arion hitting the sound barrier.
"We can't get close to that thing!" Frank said.
"We have to," Percy said. "The giant is on top."
Arion nickered.
"Jeez, Hazel," Percy said, "tell your horse to watch his language."
Hazel tried not to laugh. "What did he say?"
"With the cussing removed? He said he can get us to the top."
Frank was incredulous. "I thought the horse couldn't fly!"
This time Arion whinnied angrily. Aurelia knew he was cussing.
"Dude," Percy told the horse, "I've gotten suspended for saying less than that. Hazel, he promises you'll see what he can do as soon as you give the word."
"Um, hold on, then, you guys," Hazel said nervously. "Arion, giddyup!"
Arion shot toward the glacier like a runway rocket, barreling straight across the slush like he wanted to play chicken with the mountain of ice. The air grew colder. The crackling of the ice grew louder. As Arion closed the distance, the glacier loomed so large, Aurelia was getting vertigo as she took it all in. The side was riddled with crevices and caves, spiked with jagged ridges like ax blades. Pieces were constantly crumbling off—some no larger than snowballs, some the size of houses.
When they were about fifty yards from the base, a thunderclap rattled Aurelia's bones, and a curtain of ice that would have covered Camp Jupiter calved away and fell towards them. Frank shouted a word of warning, but Arion was way ahead of him. In a burst of speed, he zigzagged through the debris, leaping over chunks of ice and clambering up the face of the glacier. Percy and Frank both cussed like horses and held on desperately while Aurelia held on tightly to Hazel, who wrapped her arms around Arion's neck. Somehow they managed not to fall off as Arion scaled the cliffs, jumping from foothold to foothold with impossible speed and agility.
Then it was over. Arion stood proudly at the top of a ridge of ice that loomed over the void. The sea was now three hundred feet below them. Arion whinied a challenge that echoed off the mountains. Percy didn't translate, but Aurelia was pretty sure Arion was calling out to any horses that might be in the bay: Beat that, ya punks!
Then he turned and ran inland across the top of the glacier, leaping a chasm fifty feet across.
"There!" Percy pointed.
The horses stopped. Ahead of them stood a frozen roman camp like a giant-sized ghastly replica of Camp Jupiter. The trenches bristled with ice spikes. The snow-brick ramparts glared blinding white. Hanging from the guard towers, banners of frozen blue cloth shimmered in the arctic sun.
There was no sign of life. The gates stood wide open. No sentries walked the walls. Still, Aurelia had an uneasy feeling in her gut. This place ... it felt like the earth was trying to wake up and consume everything—as if the mountain on either side wanted to crush them and the entire glacier to pieces.
Arion trotted skittishly.
"Frank, Aurelia," Percy said, "how about we go on foot from here?"
Frank sighed with relief. "Thought you'd never ask."
Aurelia dismounted with them, just because she decided if it came to a fight, she wouldn't still want to be on the horse. The ice seemed stable, covered with a fine carpet of snow so that it wasn't too slippery.
Hazel urged Arion forward. They all had their weapons ready as they approached the gate but no one challenged them. Aurelia had been trained to spot pits, snares, trip lines, and all sorts of other traps Roman legions had faced over the eons. But she saw nothing—just the yawning icy gates and the frozen banners crackling in the wind.
She could see straight down the Via Praetoria. At the crossroads, in front of the snow-bricked principia, a tall, dark-robed figure stood, bound in icy chains.
"Thanatos," Aurelia murmured. She felt as if her soul were being pulled forward, drawn toward Death like dust to a vacuum. Aurelia had always been drawn to Death. She lived on the line between life and death, but seeing it in person ... she had been so scared at the prospect of dying.
Maybe it was Hazel influencing Aurelia, for the daughter of Pluto almost fell off her horse at the sight of the god.
"We've got you," Frank promised. "Nobody's taking you away."
"I'm alright," Hazel muttered, steadying herself on Arion.
"Do not lie," Aurelia murmured, her eyes still scanning the glacier suspiciously.
Percy looked around uneasily. "No defenders? No giant? This has to be a trap."
"Obviously," Frank said. "But I don't think we have a choice."
Hazel urged Ario through the gates, and before anyone could lose their nerve, they followed her. The layout was so familiar—cohort barracks, baths, armory. It was an exact replica of Camp Jupiter, except on a scale three times as big.
They stopped ten feet from the robed figure. Aurelia planted her feet, refusing to allow Hazel's urge to run influence her own feelings.
"Thanatos," she said.
The hooded figure raised his head.
Instantly, the whole camp stirred to life. Figures in Roman armor emerged from the barracks, the principia, the armory, and the canteen but they weren't human. They were shades—their bodies weren't much more than wisps of black vapor, but they managed to hold together sets of scale armor, greaves, and helmets. Frost-covered swords were strapped to their wrists. Pila and dented shields floated in their smoky hands. The plumes on the centurions' helmets were frozen and ragged. Most of the shades were on foot but two soldiers burst out of the stables in a golden chariot pulled by ghostly black steeds.
When Arion saw the horses, he stamped the ground in outrage.
Frank gripped his bow. "Yep, here's the trap."
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
The ghosts formed ranks and encircled the crossroads. There were about a hundred in all—not an entire legion, but more than a cohort. Some carried the tattered lightning bolt banners of the Twelfth legion, fifth cohort—Michael Varus's doomed Expedition from the 1980s. Others carried standards and insignia Aurelia didn't recognize, as if they died at different times, on different quests—maybe not even from Camp Jupiter.
Most were armed with Imperial gold weapons—more Imperial gold than the entire Twelfth Legion possessed. Aurelia could feel the combined power of all that gold humming around her, even scarier than the crackling of the glacier.
"Thanatos!" Hazel turned to the robed figure. "We're here to rescue you. If you control these shades, tell them—" Her voice faltered.
The god's hood fell away and his robes dropped off as he spread his wings, leaving him in only a sleeveless black tunic belted at the waist. He was the most beautiful man Aurelia had ever seen. His skin was the color of teakwood, dark and glistening. His eyes were as honey gold as Hazel's. He was lean and muscular, with a regal face and black hair flowing down his shoulders. His wings glimmered in shades of blue, black, and purple.
Beautiful was not the right word for Thanatos. Handsome, hot or words like that didn't work either. He was beautiful in a way an angel is beautiful—timeless, perfect, remote.
"Dios mio," Aurelia whispered.
The god's wrist were Shackled In icy manacles, with chains that ran straight into the glacier floor. His feet were bare, shackled around the ankles and also changed.
"It's Cupid," Frank said.
"A really buff Cupid," Percy agreed.
"You compliment me," Thanatos said. His voice was as gorgeous as he was—deep and melodious. "I am frequently mistaken for the god of love. Death has more in common with Love than you might imagine. But I am Death. I assure you."
Aurelia didn't doubt it. She felt as if she were made of ashes. Aurelia has wanted to die and give up before, and standing in front of Death, she would willingly embrace it. Embrace him.
Dios mio, have some dignity, Aurelia! You can't fucking die.
"We are here to save you," Hazel managed. "Where's Alcyoneus?"
"Save me ...?" Thanatos narrowed his eyes. "Do you understand what you're saying, Hazel Levesque? Do you understand what that will mean?"
Percy stepped forward. "We are wasting time." He swung his sword at the god's chains. Celestial bronze rang against the ice, but Riptide stuck to the chain like glue. Frost began creeping up the blade. Percy pulled frantically. Frank ran to help. Together, they just managed to yank Riptide free before the frost reached their hands.
"That won't work," Thanatos said simply. "As for the giant, he is close. These shades are not mine. They are his." Thanatos's eyes scanned the ghost soldiers. They shifted uncomfortably as if an arctic wind were rattling through their ranks.
"So how do we get you out?" Hazel demanded.
Thanatos turned his attention back to her. "Daughter of Pluto, child of my master, you of all people should not wish me release."
"Don't you think I know that?" Hazel was angry, and terrified. She drew her cavalry sword, and Arion reared in defiance. "Listen, Death. I didn't come back from the Underworld and travel thousands of miles to be told that I'm stupid for setting you free. If I die, I die. I'll fight this whole damn army if I have to. Just tell us how to break your chains."
Thanatos studied her, appreciatively. "Interesting. You do understand that these shades were once demigods like you. They fought for Rome. They died without completing their heroic quests. Like you, they were sent to asphalt. Now Gaea has promised them a second life if they fight for her today. Of course, if you release me and defeat them, they will have to return to the Underworld where they belong. For treason against the gods, they will face eternal punishment. They are not so different from you, Hazel Levesque. Are you sure you want to release me and damn these souls forever?"
Frank clenched his fists. "That's not fair! Do you want to be freed or not?"
"Fair ..." Death mused. "You'd be amazed at how often I hear that word, Frank Zhang, and how meaningless it is. Is it fair that your life will burn so short and bright? Was it fair when I guided your mother to the Underworld?"
Frank staggered like he'd been punched.
"No," Death said sadly. "Not fair. And yet it was her time. There is no fairness in Death. You understand this, don't you, Aurelia Ramirez-Arellano?"
Aurelia's glittered dangerously. "Thanatos, respectfully I already exist on this quest. We do not need another Debbie Downer telling us that our lives may be over now. So please, just tell us how to save you. Hazel already said it. If we die, we die."
Thanatos's eyes sparkled as he stared at the daughter of Pavor. "You may mean that, Aurelia, for you have already tried to defy death and while so many around you surrendered to it. Your mother. Your uncle. I have been embracing you your whole life, waiting for the day you surrendered yourself as well. As much as you have contemplated your death, as close as you have been to ending it, you fear death. You fear me."
"No, I do not," Aurelia said softly. "I fear the chaos that will ensue if I do surrender to you. But I do not fear you. As you said, I have embraced you almost as much as you embrace me."
Thanatos was full of mirth. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances. I would have preferred not meeting you while in chains."
"Like if you were to escort me to the Underworld?"
"No," Thanatos murmured. "Maybe when you would be older, and less willing to embrace death in some ways, and much more willing in others."
Aurelia's cheeks turned pink as she felt the emotions behind what he was saying. "I am fifteen."
"And I am immortal. I do not mind waiting for you."
Aurelia's eyes narrowed as her friends shock rolled over her. "How. Do. We. Free. You."
"You don't want to, because I will do my duty. But of course these shades will try to stop you."
"So if we let you go," Percy summed up, "we get mobbed by a bunch of black vapor dudes with swords. Fine. Whatever. How do we break these chains?"
Thanatos smiled. "Only the fire of life can melt the chains of death."
"Without the riddles, please?" Percy asked,
Frank drew a shaky breath. "It's not a riddle."
"Frank, no," Hazel said. "There's got to be another way."
Laughter boomed across the glacier. A rumbling voice said: "My friends. I've waited so long."
Standing at the gates of the camp was Alcyoneus. he was even larger than the giant Polybotes they'd seen in California. He had metallic golden skin, armor made from platinum links, and an iron staff the size of a totem pole. His rust red dragon legs pounded against the ice as he entered the camp. Precious stones glinted and his red braided hair. The giant approached them grinning with his solid silver teeth.
"Ah, Hazel Levesque," he said, "you cost me dearly! If not for you, I would have risen decades ago, and this world would already be Gaea's. But no matter!" He spread his hands showing off the ranks of ghostly soldiers. "Welcome, Percy Jackson! Welcome, Frank Zhang! Welcome, Aurelia Ramirez! I am Alcyoneus, the bane of Pluto, the new master of Death. And this is your new legion."
Aurelia took a deep sigh. "I do not care if it is a stupid plan, do we have a plan?"
"Yeah, we do," Frank said, looking at Hazel, who still sat upon Arion. "That package you're keeping for me."
Horror went through Hazel. "Frank, no. there has to be another way."
"Please. I know what I'm doing." Aurelia touched the jewel of her sword to absorb Frank's fear.
The giant Alcyoneus stepped forward, his reptilian feet shaking the ground. "What package do you speak of, Frank Zhang? Have you brought me a present?"
"Nothing for you, Golden Boy," Frank said. "Except a whole lot of pain."
The giant roared with laughter. "Spoken like a true child of Mars! Too bad I have to kill you. And this one ... my, my, I've been waiting to meet the famous Percy Jackson." The giant grinned, her silver teeth resembling a car grille. "I've followed your progress, son of Neptune. Your fight with Kronos? Well done. Gaea hates you above all others ... except perhaps for that upstart Jason Grace." Aurelia bared her teeth at her best friend's name. Her veins turned black and shadows started forming around her wrists. "I'm sorry I can't kill you right away, but my brother Polybotes wishes to keep you as a pet. He thinks it will be amusing when he destroys Neptune to have the god's favorite son on a leash. After that, of course, Gaea has plans for you."
"Yeah, flattering." Percy raised Riptide. "But I'm actually the son of Poseidon. I'm from Camp Half-Blood."
The ghosts stirred. Some drew swords and lifted shields. Alcyoneus raised his hands, gesturing for them to wait. "Greek, Roman, it doesn't matter," the giant said easily. "We will crush both camps underfoot. You see, the Titans didn't think big enough. They planned to destroy the gods in their new home of America. We giants know better! To kill a weed you must pull it from its roots. Even now, while my force is destroying your little Roman camp, my brother Porphyrion is preparing for the real battle in the ancient lands! We will destroy the gods at their source."
"The source?" Aurelia repeated. "Do you mean Greece?"
Alcyoneus chuckled. "No need to worry, daughter of Pavor. You won't live long enough to see our ultimate victory. I will replace Pluto as lord of the Underworld. I already have Death in my custody. With Hazel Levesque in my service, I will have all the riches over the world."
Hazel gripped her spatha. "I don't do service."
"Oh, but you gave me life!" Alcyoneus said. "True, we hoped to awaken Gaea during World War II. That would've been glorious. But really, the world is in almost as bad shape now. Soon, your civilization will be wiped out. The Doors of Death will stand open. Those who serve us will never perish. Alive or dead, you four will join my army."
"No thank you," Aurelia said pleasantly, which was a large contrast to her eyes which had gone pitch black. "I would much rather see you die."
"You're going down, Golden Boy," Percy called.
"Wait." Hazel spurred her horse toward the giant. "I raised this monster from the earth. I'm the daughter of Pluto. It's my place to kill him."
"Ah, little Hazel." Alcyoneus planted his staff on the ice, his hair glittered with million dollars worth of gems. "Are you sure you will not join us of your own free will? You could be quite ... precious to us. Why die again?"
Hazel was furious. She looked down at Frank and pulled the wrapped up piece of firewood from her coat, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," he said.
She pursed her lips. "You're my best friend, too, Frank. I should have told you that." she tossed him the stick. "Do what you have to. Percy, Aurelia ... can you protect him?"
Percy shared a glance with the eternal black abyss of Aurelia's eyes. "We got him."
"Then I've got Golden Boy," Hazel said.
She charged the giant.