❝sad birds still sing❞
⤷autumn
△△△
With everything Kira encountered in Tartarus, the worst was loneliness. When she was above the surface, the longest she would be away from Leo was a day. Ever since the Wilderness School, they had formed an unbreakable bond.
She had been away from him for around two weeks now. And encountering the worst monsters that had ever been formed didn't help.
Now he could be hurt.
She wanted to think that he was just hurt. But even that thought, that he was injured, and she couldn't be there to help him hurt her.
Now, she had to deal with Nyx.
The phrase "ignore your problems and they go away" does not apply to goddesses trying to kill you. Trust Kira on this one.
Not only was she exhausted, she had absolutely no motivation to continue.
If she wasn't with Leo, what was the point?
Nyx was almost too much to take in. Looming over the chasm, she was a churning figure of ash and smoke, as big as the Athena Parthenos statue, but very much alive. Her dress was void black, mixed with the colors of a space nebula, as if galaxies were being born in her bodice. Her face was hard to see except for the pinpoints of her eyes, which shone like quasars. When her wings beat, waves of darkness rolled over the cliffs, making Kira feel heavy and sleepy, her eyesight dim.
The goddess's chariot was made of some metal and pulled by two massive horses, all black except for their pointed silver fangs. The beasts' legs floated in the abyss, turning from solid to smoke as they moved.
The horses snarled and bared their fangs. The goddess lashed her whip—a thin streak of stars like diamond barbs—and the horses reared back.
"No, Shade," the goddess said. "Down, Shadow. These little prizes are not for you."
"Uh, so you won't let them eat us?" Percy asked her. "They really want to eat us."
Nyx's quasar eyes burned. "Of course not. I would not let my horses eat you, any more than I would let Akhlys kill you. Such fine prizes, I will kill myself!"
"Oh, don't kill yourself!" Annabeth cried, thinking fast. "We're not that scary."
The goddess lowered her whip. "What? No, I didn't mean—"
Annabeth and Percy worked well together. Kira looked warily at the goddess, her vision blurring in and out.
"Well, I'd hope not!" Annabeth looked at Percy and forced a laugh. "We wouldn't want to scare her, would we?"
"Ha, ha," Percy said weakly. "No, we wouldn't."
The vampire horses looked confused. They reared and snorted and knocked their dark heads together. Nyx pulled back on the reins.
"Do you know who I am?" she demanded.
"Well, you're Night, I suppose," said Annabeth. "I mean, I can tell because you're dark and everything, though the brochure didn't say much about you."
Nyx's eyes winked out for a moment. "What brochure?"
Annabeth patted her pockets. "We had one, didn't we?"
Percy licked his lips. "Uh-huh." He was still watching the horses, his hand tight on his sword hilt, but he was smart enough to follow Annabeth's lead. Kira gave Night a wary smile.
"Anyway," Annabeth said, "I guess the brochure didn't say much, because you weren't spotlighted on the tour. We got to see the River Phlegethon, the Cocytus, the arai, the poison glade of Akhlys, even some random Titans and giants, but Nyx...hmm, no, you weren't really featured."
"Featured? Spotlighted?"
"Yeah," Percy said, warming up to the idea. "We came down here for the Tartarus tour—like, exotic destinations, you know? The Underworld is overdone. Mount Olympus is a tourist trap—"
"Gods, totally!" Annabeth agreed. "So we booked the Tartarus excursion, but no one even mentioned we'd run into Nyx. Huh. Oh, well. Guess they didn't think you were important."
"Not important!" Nyx cracked her whip. Her horses bucked and snapped their silvery fangs. Waves of darkness rolled out of the chasm.
Kira swayed.
"Well, how many other demigods have come to see you on the tour?" Annabeth asked innocently.
Nyx's hand went slack on the reins. "None. Not one. This is unacceptable!"
Annabeth shrugged. "Maybe it's because you haven't really done anything to get in the news. I mean, I can understand Tartarus being important! This whole place is named after him. Or, if we could meet Day—"
"Oh, yeah," Percy chimed in. "Day? She would be impressive. I'd totally want to meet her. Maybe get her autograph."
"Day!" Nyx gripped the rail of her black chariot. The whole vehicle shuddered. "You mean Hemera? She is my daughter! Night is much more powerful than Day!"
"Eh," said Annabeth. "I liked the arai, or even Akhlys better."
"They are my children as well!"
Percy stifled a yawn. "Got a lot of children, huh?"
"I am the mother of all terrors!" Nyx cried. "The Fates themselves! Hecate! Old Age! Pain! Sleep! Death! And all of the curses! Behold how newsworthy I am!"
She lashed her whip out again. Kira blinked hard, trying to focus on the goddess, but she felt weak and unprotected.
The darkness congealed around her. On either side, an army of shadows appeared—more dark-winged arai, a withered man who must have been Geras, the god of old age; and a younger woman in a black toga, her eyes gleaming and her smile like a serial killer's—no doubt Eris, the goddess of strife. More kept appearing: dozens of demons and minor gods, each one the spawn of Night.
"Yeah, not bad," Annabeth admitted. "I guess we could get one picture for the scrapbook, but I don't know. You guys are so...dark. Even if I used a flash, I'm not sure it would come out."
"Y-yeah," Percy managed. "You guys aren't photogenic."
Nyx glared at Kira, who looked pale, even for a dead girl.
"And you, daughter of Ares? I have not heard you speak!"
Both demigods turned to her, panicked that she would ruin the plan, but Kira managed to speak up, despite the dizziness.
"Yes, I can barely see your eyes!" Kira managed. "How would I take a picture?"
"You—miserable—tourists!" Nyx hissed. "How dare you not tremble before me! How dare you not whimper and beg for my autograph and a picture for your scrapbook! You want newsworthy? My son Hypnos once put Zeus to sleep! When Zeus pursued him across the earth, bent on vengeance, Hypnos hid in my palace for safety, and Zeus did not follow. Even the king of Olympus fears me!"
"Uh-huh." Annabeth turned to Percy. "Well, it's getting late. We should probably get lunch at one of those restaurants the tour guide recommended. Then we can find the Doors of Death."
"Aha!" Nyx cried in triumph. Her brood of shadows stirred and echoed: "Aha! Aha!"
"You wish to see the Doors of Death?" Nyx asked. "They lie at the very heart of Tartarus. Mortals such as you could never reach them, except through the halls of my palace—the Mansion of Night!"
She gestured behind her. Floating in the abyss, maybe three hundred feet below, was a doorway of black marble, leading into some sort of large room.
Kira blinked harshly, rubbing her eyes.
She managed a bored sigh. "I suppose we could do one picture, but a group shot won't work. Nyx, how about one of you with your favorite child? Which one is that?"
The brood rustled. Dozens of horrible glowing eyes turned toward Nyx.
The goddess shifted uncomfortably, as if her chariot were heating up under her feet. Her shadow horses huffed and pawed at the void.
"My favorite child?" she asked. "All my children are terrifying!"
Percy snorted. "Seriously? I've met the Fates. I've met Thanatos. They weren't so scary. You've got to have somebody in this crowd who's worse than that."
"The darkest," Annabeth said. "The most like you."
"I am the darkest," hissed Eris. "Wars and strife! I have caused all manner of death!"
"I am darker still!" snarled Geras. "I dim the eyes and addle the brain. Every mortal fears old age!"
"Yeah, yeah," Annabeth said. "I'm not seeing enough dark. I mean, you're the children of Night! Show me dark!"
Kira couldn't help but feel pretty useless. Annabeth was coming up with a plan yet again, and she was just focused on not passing out.
The horde of arai wailed, flapping their leathery wings and stirring up clouds of blackness. Geras spread his withered hands and dimmed the entire abyss. Eris breathed a shadowy spray of buckshot across the void.
"I am the darkest!" hissed one of the demons.
"No, I!"
"No! Behold my darkness!"
Kira tried to pretend she didn't see Annabeth grip Percy's hand, and she tried to pretend that she didn't stick her arm out instinctively to hold Leo's.
"Wait!" Nyx called, suddenly panicked. "I can't see anything."
"Yes!" shouted one of her children proudly. "I did that!"
"No, I did!"
"Fool, it was me!"
Dozens of voices argued in the darkness.
The horses whinnied in alarm.
"Stop it!" Nyx yelled. "Whose foot is that?"
"Eris is hitting me!" cried someone. "Mother, tell her to stop hitting me!"
"I did not!" yelled Eris. "Ouch!"
"Ready?" Annabeth whispered.
"For what?" Kira murmured.
After a pause, Percy grunted unhappily. "Poseidon's underpants, you can't be serious."
"Somebody give me light!" Nyx screamed. "Gah! I can't believe I just said that!"
"It's a trick!" Eris yelled. "The demigods are escaping!"
"I've got them," screamed an arai.
"No, that's my neck!" Geras gagged.
"Jump!" Annabeth told Percy.
They leaped into the darkness, aiming for the doorway far, far below.
The jump felt like it took light-years.
Kira squeezed her eyes shut, preparing for landing on the hard ground.
Her feet hit solid floor. Pain shot up her legs, but she stumbled forward and broke into a run, following after Annabeth and Percy.
Kira squeezed her eyes shut as she ran.
They could hear Nyx yelling at her children as they ran.
In the distance ahead of them, Kira began to hear a throbbing sound, like her own heartbeat echoing back, amplified so powerfully, the floor vibrated underfoot. The sound filled her with dread, so she figured it must be the right way to go. She ran toward it.
As the beat got louder, she smelled smoke and heard the flickering of torches on either side.
"Don't look," Annabeth told them.
"Wasn't planning on it," he said. "You can feel that, right? We're still in the Mansion of Night. I do not want to see it."
Kira ran behind them, listening for the pounding of their feet as they raced down the hallway.
"Annabeth!" Percy yelled in front of her, and Kira halted to a stop. "It's okay,"
There was a pause.
"Can I look?" She asked softly.
"No," Percy told her.
"Thanks..." Annabeth said. "Can you tell what's in front of us?"
"Water," he said. "I'm still not looking. I don't think it's safe yet."
"Agreed."
"I can sense a river...or maybe it's a moat. It's blocking our path, flowing left to right through a channel cut in the rock. The opposite side is about twenty feet away."
"Is there a bridge, or—?"
"I don't think so," Percy said. "And there's something wrong with the water. Listen."
Kira concentrated, listening in the distance.
Within the roaring current, thousands of voices cried out—shrieking in agony, pleading for mercy.
Help! It was an accident! The pain! Make it stop!
"The River Acheron," Annabeth guessed. "The fifth river of the Underworld."
"I liked the Phlegethon better than this," Percy muttered.
"It's the River of Pain. The ultimate punishment for the souls of the damned—murderers, especially."
Murderers! the river wailed. Yes, like you!
Join us, another voice whispered. You are no better than we are.
Kira's head was flooded with images of all the monsters she'd killed over the past year.
That wasn't murder, she protested. I was defending myself!
Then her head was flooded with images of others.
She saw Cal.
Her mother.
Their blood is on your hands! the river wailed. There should have been another way!
Kira's lip trembled.
"Don't listen." Percy said strongly.
Kira took a step to the edge.
Yes! The river moaned. You murdered them!
"But—" Annabeth started.
Kira took another step, bumping into Percy. He pushed her back.
"I know." His voice sounded as brittle as ice. "They're telling me the same stuff. I think...I think this moat must be the border of Night's territory. If we get across, we should be okay. We'll have to jump."
"You said it was twenty feet!"
"Yeah. You'll have to trust me. Put your arms around my neck and hang on."
"Percy?" Kira whispered, wondering how she was fitting into this plan.
"How can you possibly—"
"There!" cried a voice behind them. "Kill the ungrateful tourists!"
The children of Nyx had found them. Annabeth wrapped her arms around Percy's neck. "Go!"
Kira could hear them take off. She sighed, before leaping off after them.
She rolled onto hard ground, groaning.
"You can open your eyes," Percy said next to her, breathing hard. "But you won't like what you see."
Kira peeled her eyes open.
Before them stretched a valley big enough to fit the San Francisco Bay. The booming noise came from the entire landscape, as if thunder were echoing from beneath the ground. Under poisonous clouds, the rolling terrain glistened purple with dark red and blue scar lines.
"It looks like..." Annabeth fought down her revulsion. "Like a giant heart."
"The heart of Tartarus," Percy murmured.
The center of the valley was covered with a fine black fuzz of peppery dots. They were so far away, but it was thousands, maybe tens of thousands of monsters, gathered around a central pinpoint of darkness.
"The Doors of Death." Annabeth spoke.
"Yeah." Percy's voice was hoarse.
"What happened to Nyx...?" Annabeth trailed off.
Kira turned. Somehow they'd landed several hundred yards from the banks of Acheron, which flowed through a channel cut into black volcanic hills. Beyond that was nothing but darkness.
No sign of anyone coming after them. Apparently even the minions of Night didn't like to cross the Acheron.
Kira heard the skittering of a rockslide in the hills to their left. Annabeth drew her drakon-bone sword. Percy raised Riptide. Kira twirled her sword.
A patch of glowing white hair appeared over the ridge, then a familiar grinning face with pure silver eyes.
"Bob?" Annabeth jumped. "Oh my gods!"
"Friends!" The Titan lumbered toward them. The bristles of his broom had been burned off. His janitor's uniform was slashed with new claw marks, but he looked delighted. On his shoulder, Small Bob the kitten purred almost as loudly as the pulsing heart of Tartarus.
"I found you!" Bob gathered them both in a rib-crushing hug. "You look like smoking dead people. That is good!"
Kira managed a small smile.
"Urf," Percy said. "How did you get here? Through the Mansion of Night?"
"No, no." Bob shook his head adamantly. "That place is too scary. Another way—only good for Titans and such."
"Let me guess," Annabeth said. "You went sideways."
Bob scratched his chin, evidently at a loss for words. "Hmm. No. More...diagonal."
Annabeth laughed.
Kira flinched at the happy sound.
Annabeth kissed his immortal nose, which made him blink.
"We stay together now?" he asked.
"Yes," Annabeth agreed. "Time to see if this Death Mist works."
"And if it doesn't..." Percy stopped himself.
There was no point in wondering about that. They were about to march into the middle of an enemy army. If they were spotted, they were dead.
Annabeth managed a smile.
Kira couldn't.
"Doors of Death," Annabeth said, "here we come."
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