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chapter xv.
( the lightning thief )
❝ the truth
( well, sort of ) ❞
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THE FIELDS OF ASPHODEL WAS A STRANGE PLACE. The fields were crowded with dull, flat faces of the dead on fields of darkness. They whispered among one another, but I couldn't hear a word they said. Out of curiosity, I tried using my power, but no warmth came, no light fought the dark – and it drained me to try.
The cavern ceiling was so high above it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, wickedly pointed and glowing a faint grey. The black grass was trampled from hundreds of ghostly feet. Black poplar trees grew in patches here and there. Several fallen stalactites had impaled the ground. As we walked past them I eyed the ceiling, scared that the points would fall on us too.
Percy, Annabeth, Grover and I tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. The faces of the dead would shimmer, making it hard to pinpoint a look or familiar face. They all looked the same, either angry or confused. They would come up to us and speak, but their voices sound like chatter, like bats twittering. Once they realise we couldn't understand them, they frowned and moved away.
Stories of the dead seemed to always be scary. But these weren't scary, they were just sad. And it all made me sad to see them.
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:
JUDGEMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ENTERNAL DAMNATION
Welcome, Newly Deceased!
Out of the back of tent cane two much smaller lines. To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path towards the Fields of Punishment, which flowed and smoked in the distance. Rivers of lava and minefields and barb wire separated the different tortures. I could see off in the horizon the ant-sized figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top.
There were people being burnt at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches, being chased by hellhounds or listening to opera. And there were worse tortures – ones I where I had to look away from, ones I couldn't dare to describe.
The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led to a small valley surrounded by walls – a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld.
Elysium was filled with beautiful neighbourhoods of houses stretching all from different time-periods. Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian and Georgian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled with in rainbow colours, accompanied with joyous laughter and the smell of barbecue cooking.
In the middle was a lake with three separate islands. They looked like a vacation resort – the one that everyone wanted to go to but never could. The Isles of the Blessed, where only heroes who chose to be reborn three times and achieved Elysium three times could live their afterlives. Percy looked on with a face of longing, I gave a little smirk, "That's what it's all about, Percy." I said. "That's the place for heroes."
We left the judgement pavilion and moved deeper into Asphodel. It got darker, and the colours 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 above us on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark catlike creatures: the Furies. I had a sick feeling that they were waiting for us.
"I suppose it's too late to turn back?" Grover said wistfully.
"We'll be okay," Percy 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 magical trainers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth. He landed flat on his back on the grass. I frowned.
"Grover," Annabeth chided him. "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 wasn't working. "Maia, already! 911! Help!"
Percy stopped being stunned and made a grab for Grover's hand, but too late. He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled.
"Untie the shoes!" I shouted as we ran after him. "Try and kick them off!"
While it seemed like a smart idea, it wasn't so easy when Grover was being pulled along feet first at full speed. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces. He tried kicking his feet, to fling the shoes off, but they were too tightly laced up.
We continued running after him, trying to keep him in sight as zipped between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance. I was sure Grover was going to barrel straight into Hades's palace, but he took a sharp right and dragged him in the opposite direction.
The slope got steeper, Grover picked up more speed. Percy, Annabeth and I had to sprint to keep up. The cavern walls narrowed on either side, and I realised we'd entered some kind of side tunnel with no black grass or poplar trees, just rock underfoot and the dim light of the stalactites above.
"Grover!" Percy yelled, his voice echoing. "Hold onto something!"
"What?!" He yelled back.
He was grabbing at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.
The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on my arms and neck up spiked up, and a shiver flew down my spine. It smelled dark and evil down here. It made me feel uncomfortable, like I was somewhere I shouldn't be. Like I shouldn't know this place ‒ as if something horrible happened down here.
And then I saw what was ahead of us, and I stopped in my tracks,
The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block. Grover was sliding straight towards the edge of Tartarus, the never ending pit.
"Come on, guys!" Annabeth tugged at Percy and I's wrists.
"But that's—" Percy managed.
"I know!" she shouted. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him."
She was right. Grover's predicament got me moving once again. But I couldn't help but feel a sense of oncoming dread. Annabeth had recognised this as the location of Percy's dream. The voice in the pit ... I felt my lungs squeeze, and I found it hard to breathe. I dreamt of that voice too. That evil, taunting, persuading voice. I suddenly knew who had been haunting my dreams the past weeks, and I understood why Annabeth had looked so pale. My thoughts were racing now, and I remembered that when Percy came back down from the Oracle, it was obvious he hadn't said the other half of the prophecy, and I suddenly wished I knew what the other lines were.
Grover 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.
What saved him were his 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.
He was three metres from the edge of the pit when we caught him and hauled him back up the slope. The 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.
We all collapsed onto the obsidian-coloured gravel. My legs felt like lead. Grover was scratched up pretty bad. His hands were bleeding. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, goat style, the way they always did when he was terrified.
"I didn't know how ..." he panted. "I didn't ..."
"Wait," Percy said. "Listen."
I frowned, not hearing anything, but I didn't feel quite so sure. After a few seconds, I shook my head. "Percy, we need to go, this place—"
"Shh," he stood.
Then I heard it. A loud muttering, evil voice coming out from the pit. And I couldn't breathe once again. Grover sat up, "Wh ‒ what's that noise?"
Annabeth heard it too. I could see it in her eyes. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus."
Percy uncapped Anaklusmos, and it gleamed a light in the darkness. The voice seemed to hesitate for a second, like it was scared of the blade. But it started up so quick again I almost didn't notice. I could almost make out the words now. But they weren't English, nor were they Greek. They were ancient, even older. Almost as if it was ...
"Magic," Percy muttered.
"Come on," I said to my friends. "We have to get out of here."
Together, we dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. But my legs wouldn't move fast enough. It seemed everything on me suddenly weight a thousand kilos. My legs dragged behind me, my shoulders sagged, my arms started dropping to the ground. The voice got louder, and I pushed my legs into a run.
A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. For a terrifying moment, I lost my ground and slipped on the gravel. But before I could be sucked into Tartarus for all eternity, Percy took hold of my arm and hauled me up with difficulty.
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, and a wail of outrage echoed from the depths of the tunnel. I reached for Annabeth's hand. For once, the quest was starting to terrify me so much I wanted to cry. This was turning into something much more than it had been, and all I wanted to do was go home.
"What was that?" Grover asked when we finally collapsed under the shelter of a poplar tree. "Another one of Hades's pets?"
I wished it was. Annabeth, Percy and I all shared a look. He could tell we knew something, that the both of us were nursing the same idea ‒ or a relatively close one ‒ but I couldn't voice it. I was too scared to. If I was right ... no, it had to be Hades.
Percy capped his sword and put the ballpoint pen back into his pocket. "Let's keep going." He looked to 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 bad as the rest of us were. The entity in that pit was nobody's pet. He was old, and ancient, and very dangerous. So dangerous that I wouldn't dare even think his name.
When we started walking, I stayed back, dragging Percy with me. He frowned at me, seeing my distressed look. "Percy, you have to tell me the rest of the prophecy."
"W-what do you mean? What rest of the prophecy?"
I gave him a look, "Don't act stupid ‒ you don't need help for that. Just tell me, it's important."
His eyes cast downwards, a look of shame crossing over his face. "It says I won't succeed."
"You don't know that ‒ tell me the actual lines."
Percy looked at me, his green eyes suddenly turned vulnerable, full of worry. He then said, in a soft whisper, "You shall go west and face the God who has turned. You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned. You shall be betrayed by one who calls you friend. And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end."
I frowned at the words. I was about to ask him why he kept them from us, but I stopped myself. They were unnerving, and if I was in his position, I probably would have done the same. "Percy, listen to me. Prophecy's always have double meanings. I assure you, Percy, that none of us would ever betray you. And we will save your mother ‒ I promise you."
*
I REMEMBERED HADES from the winter solstice. He stood out like a sore thumb compared to the other Olympians. With dark eyes and hair, and pale skin. With the very souls he captured and tortured woven into the fabric of his clothing. Clawing and screaming to be released. He had glared at everything around him, like it all was at fault for his banishment. He seethed in his seat of darkness, and I remember not being able to look him in the eye.
He really hadn't changed. Before us, Hades stood three metres tall. Dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. He didn't need to be bulky like Ares, for Hades held his own power, and it radiated stronger than the feeling of death that hung in the air like a bad smell. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking rather graceful, and yet deadly at the same time.
His eyes were the worst part about him. The reason I could never look him in the eye. He reminded me of every horrible and evil person I've read or seen: Adolf Hitler, Nero, and Napoleon. He held the same intense eyes, the same thirst of power and greed and mesmerising, evil charisma.
"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," Hades said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."
Percy took a step forward, a brave look upon his face. "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."
The Lord of the Underworld raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, faces of tormented souls rippled against the fabric of his robe. I couldn't help but think – were faces woven into his socks as well? Did they feel pain whenever he walked? I shook my head, scolding the ADHD part of me.
"Only two requests?" he said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."
Next to Hades' throne was another, smaller one. It was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. Persephone wasn't present, for she was enjoying her time in the summer with her mother, Demeter. The only time she is able to escape the depths of the Underworld. But I wished she was here, for perhaps she could have calmed down Hades's temper.
Annabeth cleared her throat, her fingers prodded Percy in the back.
"Lord Hades," he swallowed hard. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."
"Really bad," Grover added in a helpful tone.
"Return Zeus's lightning bolt to me," Percy continued. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."
Hades's eyes flashed dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretence, after what you have done?"
Percy frowned, glancing back at us. But we were just as confused as he was.
"Um ... Uncle," he turned back to the front. "You keep saying "after what I've done". What exactly have I done?"
The throne room shook with a tremor so strong they probably felt it upwards 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 civilisation. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits. My fingers itched towards my necklace.
Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"
Percy was hesitant, "You are the Lord of the Dead," he said carefully. "A war would expand your kingdom, right?"
"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 this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open." Percy opened his mouth to speak, but Hades was 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," Percy blurted out and I wish I could sew his mouth together.
"Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades cried angrily. "He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems 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."
"But you took Zeus's master bolt."
"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 Acadamy, Poseidon may 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!"
I shared a furrowed glance with Annabeth. Things were suddenly changing, and I could see that her mind was working a hundred miles per hour. "But ..." she spoke. "Lord Hades, your helmet of darkness is missing, too?"
"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr and the daughter of light 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 for 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 on step forward, making their weapons ready. I slowly slipped off my key and pressed in against my palm in a fist. I could feel the warmth of it against my palm. I took a step closer to Annabeth, wanting reassurance that at least she was at my side. Grover followed, his hands shaking around his reed pipes. I hoped Percy would get in line with us, but instead of backing away into a huddle like we did, he stepped forward in rage.
"You're as bad as Zeus!" He said. "You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?"
"Of course," Hades said.
"And the other monsters?"
The Lord of the Dead curled his lip. "I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death for you – I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?"
"Easily?"
"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."
We all froze, our eyes landing on the blue backpack over Percy's shoulders. A horrible feeling struck me ... no, it couldn't be ...
Percy slung the backpack off his shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a sixty-centimetre-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.
"Percy ..." My mouth slowly went agape. "How—"
"I – I don't know. I don't understand."
"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. And yet – it all started to make sense. Yet it can't explain how the bolt got there. Or where Hades helm was. Or how they were stolen. Then I realised. We had been played by someone else, someone who wanted war, who knew how to frame, who gave us the backpack ...
"Wait!" I spoke up. "Lord Hades, this has all been a mistake."
"A mistake?!" Hades roared.
The skeleton's aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leather wings, and the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of their master's throne. The key grew hotter in my hand.
"There is no mistake," said Hades. "I know why you have come – I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her."
Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of Percy, and there stood a women. She had Percy's ears, and his chin. Percy looked weak on his feet, his mouth trembled open. He reached a shaking arm out to his mother, but his fingers flinched away from the fire's heat.
"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return the helmet, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."
Percy looked furious. Tears of frustration appeared in the corners of his eyes. His hand reached into his pocket.
"Ah, the pearls," the god smirked. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."
Percy pulled out the four pearls.
"Only four?" Hades said. "What a shame. You do realise 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 to Annabeth, Grover and I. His face was grim, a tear and leaked from his eye. "We were tricked." He told us. "Set up."
"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "And the voice in the pit—"
"I don't know yet," he said. "But I intend to ask."
"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled.
"Percy," Grover put his hand on my shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt."
"I know that."
"Leave me here," he said. "Use the third pearl on your mom."
"No!"
"I'm a satyr," Grover said. "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."
"No." Annabeth drew her bronze knife. "You three go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's licence and start your quest for Pan. Claire, you protect him too, you will find the purpose of your powers, I know it. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover for you. I plan to go down fighting."
I shook my head. "No way am I leaving you. You have to become the best architect in the world and rebuild the next Parthenon." I flipped my key into the air, and my bow landed in my hand, I felt the weight of my quiver on my back. "I'm staying. Maybe this is what they meant with finding the purpose of my powers – it is to keep you guys safe. To protect you. To make sure you finish your quest—"
"No way," Grover said. "I'm staying behind."
"Not a chance. It's me, I'm staying."
"Think again, goat boy, wise girl."
"Stop it, all of you!" Percy interrupted. "I know what to do, take these." He handed us each a pearl, I frowned.
"But, Percy ..."
He turned to his mother, and for a second, I saw him hesitate. And I realised, You shall fail to save what matters most in the end. "Percy, no ... I promised you—"
Percy gave me a glare. It wasn't a mean one, it was more of a look of desperation and determination. Like saying, I'm not leaving you, ever. He turned back to his mother. "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," Percy told him. "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."
"Percy Jackson, you will not—"
He shouted, "Now, guys!"
We smashed the pearls at our feet. And for a terrifying moment, nothing happened.
Hades yelled, "Destroy them!"
Just as the skeletons opened fire and the Furies swooped, the pearl exploded at my feet with a burst of green light and a gush of fresh sea wind. I was encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground. Percy, Annabeth and Grover were right behind me. Spears and bullets sparked harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as the four of us started flying upwards towards the ceiling. For a second, I thought, we're going to be squished by the roof! But then we floated right through it and travelled up miles of rock and clay and dirt until we finally exploded up on the surface of the ocean in the middle of Los Angeles bay. I gasped as the water hit me, drenching my clothes and hair. I instantly reached for whoever was beside me, latching around Percy's neck as the waves pushed us towards a surfer, knocking him off his board with an annoyed, "Dude!"
Percy hauled us over to a lifebuoy. A curious great-white shark circled us, and with one look from Percy it swam away with speed. The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from us as fast as he could.
I looked at Percy and blushed, letting go of his neck and taking hold of the lifebuoy. "You shouldn't have done that," I told him. "You should have taken your mother instead."
Percy shook his head, "I would never leave you guys."
In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighbourhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake. I knew that soon, the army of the dead would reach us – but that wasn't the worst of our problems. We needed to get to the shore and give Zeus's master bolt back.
But most of all, we needed a serious conversation with Ares.