*Disclaimer: I do not own the Kane Chronicles, Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus series and its fictional settings, characters and story line. This is merely a Fan fiction written for my and the readers enjoyment. Due to changes made, this story now covers the timeline from The Lightning Thief to The Crown of Ptolemy. Magnus Chase and The Trials of Apollo are not included.*
Chapter 17 ~ Hell Trip
Annabeth Chase
It could be terrifying if you were trapped in a statue with no means of escape from the inside. But losing control of your breathing and appearing suddenly a hundred feet above a sea of lava is a whole new category of terror.
The Gods... They were behind all these, I should have realized it sooner. That was the reason why there was so much peace. You can't be too quiet in the Greek world for a whole year but this time, instead of random gods popping up in front of us to give errands there wasn't anything but eerie silence.
You think this peace was good? In fact it isn't. It means the Gods have abandoned you and have no use for you anymore.
But, Demigods were their tools right?
On their brighter side, if they had a whole army of experienced killers capable of anything, the demigods were just a hindrance.
What was the reason why the Gods reached out towards Chaos for alliance? Death of all mortals will result in nothing but a bare world. There would be nobody to remember their names and they will soon disappear not much longer after we will. It didn't make sense...
Anyway, I didn't have time to think about incoming apocalypses when I was about to meet my own end by free falling into a sea of lava.
How did it feel like? I did drink from the River Phlegethon when I was trapped in Tartarus with Percy and it felt like drinking Gasoline. Now, swimming in this sea of lava? It felt the same, only that I was swimming in it.
My skin stung like I was bit by a thousand ants as I was boiled in acid. I felt my nerves go on an over drive and I kicked up towards the surface, using the adrenaline caused by the pain to propel myself up. As soon as a broke surface, I gasped for breath.
Strangely, I remained dry despite the lava and I felt solid ground under the lava that helped me stay in the open air from above the waist. Quickly, I scanned my surroundings and felt my heart lurch in my chest.
Chills went down my spine as the place vaguely reminded me of Tartarus.
Demons, that looked much alike the ones I fought back in Mahattan were also swimming across the lake towards an island where a huge Obelisk was. The Obselisk was a glowing beacon among the red and black glow of the underworld. For a second I was moved to head towards it but then I remembered, this wasn't the place I wanted to be when I wanted to escape this hell.
There were 12 houses, each symbolizing an hour of the night. This place was probably the sea of Chaos which meant I could head towards the land of the Demons near the 12th House where the exit to the Mortal world was located.
I looked back towards the obelisk shining brightly, this place was where the Gods were created and everything on Earth rose from. This was a temple of protection to Magicians who dared enter the underworld but when the Gods were against us, I didn't want to visit their home court.
Reluctantly, I swam away, in the opposite direction from the monsters towards land. Trying my best to ignore the stinging, which had thankfully reduced to a mild throb. Instead, I had a new enemy the stench of smell of burning flesh that filled the air. I gagged a the smell and kept my hand over my face as I wadded ashore.
It wasn't a long walk to the shore where several monsters where still contemplating on following the rest of them across or staying.
It turned out, not all of them were fire resistant since a few who bravely dived into the orange and red liquid spontaneously combust into nothing. I thanked whoever gods that were still on our side for sparing me from such a fate.
The world was hazy, I couldn't see a wide distance around me unless there was a bright light coming from there, it felt like walking in the dark with matches. Right... Matches, I checked my pocket where I kept them from back at Camp where I lit a few torches at the Guard towers.
Thankfully they were still there intact and magically hadn't burned by thigh off from when I swam through lava. I picked up the closest thing I had to a stick and tore my half tattered jeans into shorts before wrapping them around the stick.
I carefully approached the sea of lava once more and dipped it into it before walking back towards the area where there wasn't any Demons close to me before using my match to light it up.
My makeshift torch illuminated another 10 meter radius that allowed me to see a bit better towards where I was heading. To my right was a huge cliff, on my left a huge field where I stood on stretched out. I could vaguely hear a river flow underneath the sounds of Demons yelling and talking among themselves in Egyptian.
My destination was the 12th house where Ra's boat would pass at dawn, I had to sneak on it and get out. I just needed to survive a few minutes on it as it goes out on the mortal world, when it does... I can find a way to jump out of it.
The field had dry grass everywhere and the soft blowing wind caused it to sway gently in an eerie way. The ground underneath the grass was somewhere close to red stone that gave a dull thump sound as I walked across it.
Truthfully? I was scared, memories of Tartarus was something that Percy and I tucked away into the back of our minds. We never talk about it, we just exchange glances every time it comes up as a topic and hold each others hands. Focusing on my goal was helping me keep the anxiety attack away but I was slowly losing it.
After I walked for what it felt like forever until I reached a small house made out of red bricks and wood that was slowly decaying. Living here in Duat? I've read several magicians ended up being trapped in here forever by accident but they died within a few days.
I approached it slowly and decided to put my torch off first, there was a high chance that it was empty but my gut feeling told me that it wasn't smart to publicly announce my arrival to the occupant of the house.
Voices were loud inside and occasional thumps could be heard. I peeked in from the corner of the window. The interior was nothing but clay with a table a few chairs and a lamp with maps and pieces of paper pasted onto the walls. Inside, 4 people were gathered around the table.
The people from Academy Du Couteau, like I saw in my dreams. The ones who destroyed the Brooklyn House and other nomes before terrorizing mortals. It was hard to tell the color of their clothes from the red glowing light but one of them was obviously wearing blue.
The one clothed in blue said in a low voice "The boat is destroyed anyway, the others have no way of going in or out."
The one across him, judging by the voice was a girl slammed her fist on the table "But we can't have those two running in Duat! They might mess up our operations."
The boy beside her agreed "Who were the ones in custody of them?"
The blue clothed boy replied "It was Isis and Horus, they stored them in the Shabti room back in the Island."
Obviously, they were talking about me and Sadie. I was about to walk away when I heard the girl say "I want a squad each searching for them and the rest at the fourth house."
The blue boy replied with a sharp breath "We will leave our base defenseless also Sadie Kane is guarded by the Jackal God. I really think that we don't need 3 squads on Percy Jackson."
Percy? He was at the Fourth house? I waited to hear more "He is with Nico Di Angelo, the Son of Hades. Greek or Egyptian, he still has a little advantage here. We need to delay him as much as possible until we find the two girls."
The girl who stayed quiet spoke up "Why don't we give another squad to hunt Sadie instead of Percy Jackson?"
Percy was at Duat, I was sure of that. Anubis had rescued Sadie and was also somewhere in Duat... The sun boat has been destroyed so there is no way Ra will make his daily voyage. The last was out was a portal that can only be cast by a magician, namely Sadie...
The leader girl asked after calming herself "How about Zia, any news from her?"
Zia? Carter's girlfriend? I pressed my ear closer "She says the most powerful magician currently is Carter Kane. He is the only one that can be the Host."
The leader girl unsheathed a knife "She'd better make it quick... Anyway, let's go. We have a Man hunt to start."
That was when they took their hood and masks off. I didn't recognize the three but I recognized the leader girl. Her Black hair was tied in a low pony tail behind her back and her eyes were the color of deep sea blue. Percy's half-sister Adelene.
I never talked much with her, we just exchange glances and nod in greeting if we ever pass each other. The only full conversation I had with her was for the Chariot Race when Percy was busy stuck at Archery. She was almost ordinary in demigod standards with the typical backstory. Normal life, parents missing, attacked by Beasts straight out of a Fantasy book, recover from shock and train in camp half blood to make sure she can survive in the Mortal world. I never thought of her working against our backs and I was pretty sure none of the other campers also gave a moment to doubt the cheerful and prankster Grace siblings as traitors.
She blinked like she sensed something suspicious and her eyes made fleeting glances around the room until she turned to the window I was peering in. Our eyes met for a brief second and I swore she saw me there.
Without hesitating, I ran away as fast as my legs can allow me to without looking back. My heart thumping in my ears.
Zia was an enemy, Carter was also probably involved in it. Adelene was feeding information to the enemy all along and is a front line commander to bring us down. I didn't know if Sadie had any idea on that but I was terrified now. I couldn't trust anybody, the last thing I needed was another hidden enemy from the Demigods.
I believed the Sadie was an ally but I was starting to doubt her as well. There had been many demigods who came back to us after the 2nd Titan war and surrendered to us but there was high chance they were still loyal to their old army. I hated being in the dark, I hated being unsure of what was happening. With hidden enemies everywhere popping out, I doubted I could trust anybody again.
The new revelation to the situation was overwhelming and I was so lost in thoughts that I didn't notice where I was heading. The place in the books talked about lots of Demons and Monsters throughout the whole place except for near the river but right now, all of them were swarming at the sea of lava that there was literally nobody here.
I stopped to catch up to my breath, if Adelene saw me there at the window the Man hunt squad will be right behind me in no time. Every moment to make distance between us was precious. The Fourth house... That was where I needed to go if I wanted to meet Percy.
I collected myself and looked around the surroundings. I could hear the sound of the water flowing even better now. The torch was nowhere to be found and I figured I either lost it during the run or left it at the house. I hoped it was the latter since the Torch would give away the General direction I was headed to. I did my best to squint in the hazy fog and walk towards the River.
I almost lost my balance and fell into the river I was glad that I had moved slowly. My foot hit the edge of a ledge and I scrambled back quickly. The fog was thicker now so I couldn't even see what was in front of me. I made my way to the edge and peeked out. As soon as I did The fog cleared and I could see what was in front of me. It was a wide River with the water that looked like the Styx flowing steadily to my right. Across the River, there was a pathway leading to a huge temple embedded into the huge cliff wall.
Two Jackals were guarding it from the door and I immediately realized what it was. The House of Osiris or the Judgement Hall at the 7th Hour. The judgement of souls was made here and Osiris invented Ra to rest here every night before he continued his journey. Which meant, it was only a short walk to the 4th house from here.
I was about to turn away and walk up the river when a movement caught my eye. The doors of the 7th house opened and a man strolled out. Even from across the River I could see him clearly. He was wearing traditional Egyptian clothes that mirrored those of a pharaoh and his skin was the color of light blue.
Our eyes met as he walked slowly towards the edge of the river and waved an arm over the water, creating a wooden bridge from thin air. the blue man glanced around before giving a quick gesture for me to follow him. He then proceeded to walk into the house of the cliff without waiting for my response.
This was a much too obvious trap to lure me. If the Egyptian Gods were siding with Chaos, obviously Osiris was part of it. But then again, I felt a strange tug at the back of my mind that Osiris wasn't an enemy.
Shouts suddenly echoed behind me. The wind blew and the fog around the River bank was carried away. I turned around in surprise and about 50 meters away, a group of Assassins were scattered. I wanted to pull the fog back in despite it being the reason I couldn't see clearly.
I had to think fast, Percy was nowhere to be seen so I had two choices, run or fight. My hands went instinctively to my sword but I had second thoughts on fighting. There was no way I could hold up against that large number on my own. Which gave me the second choice, run. But where?
A hooded figure gave a shout as they pointed at me. Within moments, they were all dashing towards me with incredible speed.
No time for second thoughts, I ran towards the 7th house using the bridge Osiris had created. The wood creaked as I sped across the bridge and the river currents were so strong under me I could feel the pull despite being a good 15 meters above it.
I was half expecting them to be running after me across the bridge. As soon as my feet hit solid ground, I spun around ready to fight but the bridge I had ran across was pretty much non-existent right now, leaving the group of Assassins staring at me from across the River.
Their masks prevented me from seeing who they were and their expressions but it was obvious that they were frustrated that they had lost me by the split of a hair. One of them began to point angrily at me and the others looked around. Over the roar of the river currents I heard their voices "If I am thrown into the chompers for losing her when she was right in front of us,I swear I'll bring you of you with me!"
The others panicked and looked around desperately for a way to get across. But one of them wearing a shade of navy blue stood silently watching me. Chills went up my spine and before I could turn away, he threw his arms forward almost losing his balance into the river. He moved so quickly that I was frozen in my place, unable to predict what would happen. The Assassins standing at the shore seemed to be equally surprised as they stared at me.
I staggered backward as a sharp pain stung on my stomach and looked to see a dagger buried hilt deep in my guts. It had been so quick I couldn't even pull it out. Across the river, the angry boy that was scared of the chomper, pushed the one who threw the dagger and yelled"Are you nuts?! We need her alive, idiot!"
I could feel the cold metal in my guts that made my whole body shiver. If I died in Egyptian Hell, will I be sent into this place's underworld or to the Greek one. I had no way to know... I fell back and collapsed on the ground into darkness.
The gift of sleep for eternity sounded reassuring. However, I opened my eyes to find myself inside a dark tunnel. With the only source of light far away, at the end. This was afterlife? A walk towards a light miles away? How far away was Charon's ferry?
Strangely, I found myself going towards the light and away from the darkness behind me. I walked, almost like I was in a trance. Light was good right? All the evil places were dark and menacing, the light was where my safe haven was.
Then, fear overwhelmed me, I looked back into the darkness behind me as shouts were coming from all directions of the dark. I tried to focus on them, make out what they were saying and realized they were calling my name. The most audible being no other than Percy's.
But, I was scared, Duat had brought fresh memories from Tartarus. There were a group of experienced killers out for my blood, there was no sure way of exit from there and I had no idea if I would be able to see Percy again. I didn't want anything more to do with darkness.
I ran away from the darkness towards the light. The end of the tunnel was now right in front of my eyes, it was like a shimmering veil, filling the whole exit. I stopped in front of it I carefully reached in towards the light letting my hand pass through it like a wall of water. The icy cold feeling in my hands disappeared and warmth surrounded it.
The temptation to step in was so great. I slipped my whole arm in along with a part of my body, determined to step into it. But before I could do so, a hand grasped my open one from the inside. I gasped and pulled my arm out, but the hand followed. It held onto me tightly but I sensed no harm from it as the owner of the hand stepped out into the light.
He was a boy about my age and I was only a few inches shorter than him. He had windblown sandy blond hair and blue eyes. He would have been perfect if it weren't for the scar across his eye. I whispered silently that I barely heard my own voice "Luke..."
He smiled "I'm glad you still remember me, after all these years."
It was really him. Luke Castellan, Son of Hermes and the Hero of the 1st Great Prophecy. The person who took me in like his sister when I ran away from home. He may have made mistakes but it was all in the past, his soul had made peace with the world.
Luke continued "If you go past that barrier, you'll never go back."
Was this really his soul? Not a product of my imagination?
"Is that Elysium?" I asked instead.
He nodded "A fine place, but not somewhere you should be, yet."
I frowned "What do you mean? I got killed back there."
He shook his head "People who have truly used up their time in the mortal world come here by force. On the other hand, you still isn't done with the mortal world."
I looked back into the darkness as the voices continued to call me.
I flinched slightly as Luke gently turned my face towards him "Look Annabeth, I know you have done lots of things and deserve a good rest. But, there is still a whole life ahead of you. This isn't the end yet."
From behind him, another person walked out. She had warm olive skin and long glossy black hair with features that will immediately strike you as beautiful. The Hero of Aphrodite, Silena Beauregard. She smiled "Look how much you have grown. Athena must be so proud of you."
From behind her an elderly man walked out "Hello Annabeth."
I recognized him, Daedalus. He laughed "I have seen your architecture designs for a new temple for the Gods. If you don't mind, may I use it to build one in Elysium, there is a shocking shortage of temples here."
I couldn't believe my eyes and ears. Luke took my hands in his once more "We are always counting on you. I am still in debt to you and Thalia, but this isn't the right time to repay you. There is a huge war coming Annabeth. Enemies are everywhere and this time, the whole world will disappear if you don't make the right choice."
I frowned "What do you mean? The right choice?"
Luke exchanged glances with Silena and Daedalus "The Academy Du Couteau is stronger than you think. The Gods have chosen their own sides. It will be difficult for you to escape Duat and, there will be several unnecessary Deaths. Be prepared."
The Mortal world was in chaos, betrayal was everywhere and all sides won't hesitate to go beyond the laws of morality to gain power. Also, Percy was still out there, it would be unfair if I just died here while he was fighting demons to rescue me.
Luke embraced me tightly and whispered "You're braver and stronger than you think you are. So, go and save that wretched world we come from. I trust you, Annabeth."
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So... did almost 2 years pass without an update?
OMG
How can I even ask for forgiveness from you all :'(
Sorry for the incredibly late chapter, I hope you guys are still here to read it. If yes, I owe you lots for sticking around. If not, well I can't blame you.
THANK YOU!