Chapter 3
As the trio climbed into the trailer of the big rig the smell of a giant litter box hit Harry. After pulling a flashlight out of his pocket (summoned from his trunk) the three friends were met with the sight of three animals.
The animals consisted of a zebra, an albino lion, and a cousin to the antelope that Harry didn't know the exact name of. The creatures were in poor shape. The lion had a sack of turnips while the antelope and the zebra each had a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat sitting inside their cages. The cages themselves were dirty and several of the animals' ribs were showing.
"This is kindness? Humane zoo transport," Grover yelled in shock.
Harry calmed his satyr friend down before setting to work. The mage calmly walked into the cages and changed the food to the correct cages (herbivores getting the vegetables and the lion the hamburger). The green eyed sorcerer actually petted the lion and the starved predator didn't attack the wizard as it could sense Harry was more powerful than it could hope to challenge. The perceptive warlock could tell the lion sensed the phoenix in him. When the others weren't looking the mage vanished the feces in the cages.
After that was taken care of, the trio sat down for the long haul. Grover curled up to sleep on a turnip sack.
"I'm sorry about freaking out with the spiders in the water park," Annabeth spoke up finally, breaking the repetitive sound of Grover's snores and the vibration of the big rig running over the highway.
"Because of the Arachne story," Harry inquired of his friend. "Arachne was turned into a spider for challenging your mother to a weaving contest right?"
"Yes and Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there is a spider within a mile of me it will find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway I owe you," Annabeth informed her handsome friend.
"Anything for you," the green eyed sorcerer declared to his blonde friend with a grin which the young woman easily returned.
From there the half blood pair's conversation turned to what really happened with Thalia. Grover woke up at that point and helped recount the tale. Grover was the satyr sent to collect Thalia, and no other half bloods. The Camp administrators and the Council of Cloven Elders (the ruling Satyr body) knew Hades was after the dark haired young girl so Grover wasn't supposed to stop for anything. The newly assigned satyr guide didn't listen and picked up a fourteen year old Luke and a young Annabeth along the way back towards Camp. As a result the three half bloods and one satyr were caught by the Furies. Annabeth and Harry had to reassure Grover before the human goat hybrid eventually fell back to sleep.
Noticing a ring on Annabeth's necklace Harry asked her about it.
"My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her…That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him," the pretty youth explained as she rubbed the college ring.
"What happened?" Harry softly questioned his friend while taking her hand in his to provide support.
"I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my step-mom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to camp," Athena's daughter explained.
"Do you think you will ever try again?" Harry inquired.
"I'm not into self inflicted pain," Annabeth answered without meeting her friend's brilliant green eyes.
"You should try again. I'm sure your dad would love to get to know the beautiful person you have become," Harry told Annabeth as he stroked her hair as her head rested against his shoulder. Annabeth didn't answer Harry on that issue so the warlock started a new topic. The more mature wizard decided it was time he and Annabeth became closer. Harry Potter never liked Dumbledore keeping things from him so the Percy merged Harry decided he was going to give Annabeth a little bit more of the truth. "Annabeth you know how you said you owe me one," Harry prompted.
"Yeah," responded the intelligent demigoddess with a bob of her head against Harry's shoulder.
"Well I want two things. First I want your promise that what I'm about to reveal to you won't be told to anyone without my permission. Do I have it?" The warlock questioned as he willed a silencing charm around Grover.
"Sure Percy," Annabeth answered her friend easily.
"Good," Harry said with a smile as he reached out and held onto Annabeth's camp necklace only for it to glow briefly.
"Percy, what are you doing?" Annabeth queried as she stared intently at the necklace, incredibly curious about the cause of the glow.
"Do you know what a wizard is Annabeth?" The reality traveler asked his friend.
"Well in fantasy they are magic users. There are magic users in real life but they aren't called wizards," the intelligent Camper answered.
"I'm a wizard," Harry told Annabeth simply.
"How is that possible? I've never heard of a wizard half blood before," Annabeth wanted to know.
"That is a secret I'm sure I will tell you sometime in the future but it's not really important right now. I'm telling you this because I like you Annabeth. I like you a whole lot." Harry spoke with a suggestive tone to his voice while gazing intently into Annabeth's sparkling light grey eyes. The perceptive and maturing young woman's features took on a deep shade of red as she caught her handsome companion's meaning and intent. "Another aspect of me is that I'm immortal. Tell me something. Do you think it's a safe bet to assume that unfaithfulness is a common trait among immortal women?" The warlock guided his friend to the conclusions he wanted her to reach.
"I would say immortal women as a whole are very faithful to their spouses. I haven't heard of a goddess besides Aphrodite being unfaithful and I think that would have happened even if she was mortal and married to Hephaestus," answered the well trained half blood heroine.
"From what I can tell most of the gods are not anywhere near as faithful as their female counterparts. I have the ability to make anyone I choose immortal. I think it's safe to say I don't want to be unfaithful to any of my future partners. The simplest solution is to have consent. So I'm telling you right now Annabeth that I'm interested in you as more than just a friend. I want you to think about whether or not you can be with me if you have to share me with several other women," Harry told his developing female friend seriously. "Oh and I should inform you that the Naiads and I are very special friends," the mage added as an afterthought.
Annabeth laid her head back against Harry's shoulder to think, having sat up to look at his face when the conversation had transitioned into a serious one.
"What was the second thing you wanted?" The blonde questioned after a few minutes of silence.
"Oh…a kiss," Harry responded with a grin after remembering the second request.
Annabeth turned her head and Harry leaned down and kissed her lips which tasted of strawberry. It started out as a chaste lip embrace and evolved from there into Annabeth's first French kiss.
After a good, delicious, snog the pair fell asleep while cuddled together. Harry's dreams of doing naughty things with Annabeth and a pair of Naiads quickly changed into something strange. The raven haired wizard was in class with a straight jacket on while taking a test. The Potter sorcerer looked over to the desk beside him and saw an unruly punk style black haired female about his age. The girl had flawless features with the exception of a beauty mark below her bottom lip, black eyeliner, and stormy green eyes. Instinctively the son of Poseidon knew her to be Thalia daughter of Zeus.
Struggling in frustration against the straight jacket she herself was sporting Thalia snapped at Harry, "Well seaweed brain one of us has to get out of here."
"You know Thalia I think I wouldn't mind a bit of bondage with you involved but wouldn't fluffy hand cuffs be more fun," the experienced warlock flirted with the attractive female.
For some reason the situation caused Harry to think of Hades which was very disturbing. Suddenly the dreaming phoenix mage fell through the floor to appear in the same cavern he had dreamt of before located in the underworld with the spirits. This time Harry overheard a conversation that wasn't directed at him.
"Percy Jackson. Yes, the exchange went well I see," the voice from the pit said. "And he suspects nothing?"
"Nothing my lord…He is as ignorant as the rest," a familiar sounding voice answered the creature of the pit.
"Deception upon deception…Excellent," the pit voice mused aloud.
"Truly my lord you are well named the Crooked One. But was it really necessary? I could have brought you what I stole directly," the voice of the invisible person stated.
"You? You have already showed your limits. You would have failed me completely had I not intervened," the pit voice rebuked with scorn evident in its tone.
"But my lord..." The other being began to protest.
"Peace, little servant…Our six months has bought us much. Zeus' anger has grown. Poseidon has played his most desperate card. Now we shall use it against him. Shortly you shall have the reward you wish, and your revenge. As soon as both items are delivered into my hands…but wait. He is here," the pit voice suddenly announced.
"What? You summoned him, my lord," the other being questioned with sudden tension evident from its tone.
"No. Blast his father's blood. He is too changeable, too unpredictable. The boy brought himself hither," the pit voice explained as its attention was suddenly all on Harry.
"Impossible," the servant cried in protest.
"For a weakling such as you perhaps," the more powerful being of the pit rebuked. "So…you wish to dream of your quest, young half-blood? Then I will oblige," the voice told Harry.
Before the evil bastard could do anything to him Harry forced himself awake with his occlumency skills. Grover was standing above the waking wizard and informed the mage that the truck had stopped.
"We think they are coming to check on the animals," Grover added.
"Hide," Annabeth whispered.
Annabeth put on her magic cap and disappeared. Harry summoned his invisibility cloak and draped the enchanted cloth over Grover and himself to follow their female friend's example. The drivers started to taunt the animals as soon as they had opened the doors of the trailer.
"I hope you like magic shows stripes. You are going to love this one. They are going to saw you in half," the driver taunted the zebra.
The zebra looked right at Harry and the son of Poseidon heard projected at his occlumency barriers, "Help me my lord."
"I will," the mage promised, being used to mental communication using legilimency back in his old world.
Harry recalled from mythos that his divine father had created horses and just thought the horse whispering ability was one of his son of the sea god granted powers. The agile mage could talk to snakes and horses, how odd. Annabeth knocked on the side of the trailer which got the driver to go check if his coworker was making the racket.
"This animal driving business can't be legal," Annabeth whispered harshly.
"The lion says they are animal smugglers," Grover informed his two companions.
"That's right," the zebra agreed.
The trio quickly agreed to free the three animals. Harry slashed the locks with riptide as Grover blessed each creature using satyr magic. The three escaped beasts would find the food and water they needed to survive until they made it safely into the wild. After accomplishing that task Harry, Annabeth, and Grover took off running until they found themselves at the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The questing campers were invited inside the building by the doormen where Harry felt extremely weird as soon as he stepped across the entrance threshold. The trio was given plastic cards with unlimited money and tokens on the linked accounts. The strange feeling warlock thought the situation was growing weirder and weirder.
It only took all three friends a few minutes to shower in their rooms. Harry's various power cores fought off the power invading his mind until he could suppress the intruding presence with his occlumency. It only took the well traveled and educated mage a few seconds after that until he realized his group was in a time dilation field. Time was moving extremely slowly inside the field relative to the outside world. A few days to those inside would be years and years to the world outside. With extreme haste Harry dragged a protesting Annabeth and Grover out of the hotel.
Grabbing a newspaper Harry found that only a day had passed for the outside world in the short time the trio had been within the time dilation field. Luckily the three questing campers still had five days until the summer solstice.
To get to Santa Monica in a timely fashion the three friends found the nearest motorcycle dealership. Harry purchased one of the fastest motorcycles the business sold along with a sidecar. Grover climbed into the sidecar while Annabeth climbed on behind Harry and held tightly to the handsome warlock.
"Percy, are you sure you know how to drive this?" Annabeth questioned with a touch of nervousness in her tone.
"Sure beautiful. Just hold on tight," answered the sorcerer.
The truth was Harry had added a couple of charms to the bike to make sure he couldn't wreck. This came in handy when the travelers went flying through the desert at 150 miles an hour. The dark haired half blood was pretty sure the charm to negate air resistance was the only thing that allowed them to achieve such speeds with a sidecar attached. He also employed runes which negated any bearing friction within the moving parts of the machine.
The trio reached the beach in Santa Monica just as the sun started to set.
"What do we do now?" Annabeth asked aloud.
"You wait here," Harry instructed his friends as he began to walk into the surf.
"Percy, do you know how polluted that water is?" The son of Poseidon heard Annabeth shout just before his head went below the surf.
Harry kept walking until he felt a five foot long mako shark nuzzling his leg. The perceptive phoenix wizard grabbed onto the large water creature's fin and it carried him down onto a ledge where the sand bank dropped off into a huge chasm.
Shortly after he had arrived a beautiful woman emerged from the black depths on a sea horse.
"You have come far Percy Jackson, well done," the woman declared with a smile after she dismounted the sea horse.
"You're the one who spoke to me in the Mississippi," Harry pointed out as he made the connection.
"Yes child. I am a Nereid, a spirit of the sea. It was not easy to appear so far up river, but the naiads, my freshwater cousins, helped sustain my life force. They honor Lord Poseidon, though they do not serve in his court," the sea dwelling female explained.
"And you serve in his court?" The son who only had vague memories of his divine father prompted the beautiful water being.
Nodding in confirmation, the Nereid answered, "It has been many years since a child of the Sea God has been born. We in Poseidon's court have watched you with great interest."
"I understand my father must be busy but why wasn't he able to meet me himself?" Harry questioned curiously, no anger or other sign of hostility in his tone for his father's lack of presence in his life.
"Do not judge your father too harshly. He stands at the brink of an unwanted war. He has much to occupy his time. Besides, he is forbidden to help you directly. The gods may not show such favoritism," the sea spirit elaborated on the situation.
"Even to their own children?" The warlock asked for the purposes of clarification.
"Especially with their children they cannot intervene. The gods can work by indirect influence only. That is why I give you a warning, and a gift," the mystical beauty explained while she held out her hand and three white pearls flashed in her palm. "I know you journey to Hades' realm. Few mortals have ever done this and survived: Orpheus, who had a great musical skill; Hercules, who had great strength; Houdini, who could escape even the depths of Tartarus. Do you have these talents?" The female inquired of her lord's heroic son.
"No ma'am," the dark haired youth answered respectfully.
Harry wasn't sure he would be able to teleport himself and others out of the Underworld but chances were good the immortal warrior would be putting it to the test soon enough.
"Ah, but you have something else Percy. You have gifts you have only begun to know. The oracles have foretold a great and terrible future for you, should you survive to manhood. Poseidon would not have you die before your time. Therefore take these, and when you are in need, smash a pearl at your feet," the female spirit of the oceans instructed as she handed Harry the pearls.
"What will happen?" The sorcerer questioned.
The wizard secured the pearls in his trunk via the enchanted pocket which held a wormhole connection with the expanded dimension of the shrinkable object in another hidden pocket.
Harry made note of the mention of a prophecy from the oracles for later analysis.
"That depends on the need. But remember: what belongs to the sea will always return to the sea," the sea-woman replied somewhat cryptically while still revealing the pearls could have a portkey like effect if the need arose.
"What about the warning you also mentioned?" Harry probed.
"Go with what your heart tells you, or you will lose all. Hades feeds on doubt and hopelessness. He will trick you if he can, make you doubt your own judgment. Once you are in his realm, he will never willingly let you leave. Keep faith and good luck Percy Jackson," the Nereid finished.
"I thank you my lady of the sea," Harry declared with a slight bow which garnered him a smile.
The water wizard watched the Nereid ride off on her sea horse back into the abyss. Then the warrior warlock turned and used his control over water to propel himself to the surface quickly. As the green eyed youth walked out of the water his clothes dried instantly. The resourceful reality traveler informed Annabeth and Grover of the specifics of the meeting.
"No gift is without a price," Annabeth declared with a wince.
"Then we'll just have to do our best not to use them for as long as possible," Harry told his intelligent friend.
From there the trio drove into West Hollywood on Harry's motorcycle. The three travelers weren't sure of the exact address of DOA Recording Studios, which was the name they had gotten off of Medusa's receipts for the entrance to the underworld. The two half bloods and one satyr were tired from the day's events so decided to get a hotel room. There were only two beds in the room available.
"Percy and I will share," Annabeth informed the group as soon as they walked into the room.
"Are you sure Annabeth?" Grover asked with some surprise in his tone.
"Yes," the young woman responded firmly.
The satyr's reply was to shrug before collapsing into the other bed and going to sleep immediately. Annabeth turned and fixed her handsome magical friend with a determined stare.
"I've decided I agree with you about male immortals. I just think it's because they are slaves to their sexual hormones relative to women," the blonde demigoddess stated.
"I won't disagree with you there," Harry told the attractive blonde as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Percy we are going into the underworld tomorrow. There is a good chance we might not make it back," Annabeth spoke slowly as she walked up and stood in front of the mage.
"Don't talk like that Annabeth. I won't let any harm come to you," the powerful and well trained mage promised her as he fixed his best female friend with his killing curse green eyed gaze.
Annabeth felt a shiver run up her spine as those intense eyes looked at her. Athena's daughter felt like her entire soul was laid bare before that brilliant gaze. Feeling his power and determination made Annabeth believe Percy in his assertion that he would do anything to make sure she lived past tomorrow.
"Well I'm a practical girl and I'm not going to die a virgin," the attractive young woman informed her handsome friend as she straddled his legs and captured Harry's lips in a searing kiss.
Insert Smut Scene Here (See hpfanficarchive and ficsite for erotic versions)
Harry awoke the next morning with a satisfied and happy smile as he felt the warmth of Annabeth's small bum pressed against his groin. The couple hadn't done anything too adventurous the night before but they did explore the standard positions; missionary, doggy style, cow girl, etc. The satisfied mage decided he would have to take Annabeth through the ritual he used to reduce his required sleep to only two hours if they planned on any more nights like the one they had just shared. The warlock would be able to wash away his lover's fatigue by sharing a bit of his power with her, after all it wasn't like the demigod didn't have any to spare.
To solve the trio's dilemma over not knowing the studio address (A.K.A. Entrance to the Underworld) Harry had an empty box delivered by Hermes' Delivery Service to the Studio. The box held a tracking charm so the enchanting mage was led straight to the entrance to Hades' domain.
When the trio finally arrived on Valencia Boulevard they looked up at golden letters etched into black marble that read DOA RECORDING STUDIOS: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.
Walking into the lobby the trio heard music being played softly on concealed speakers. There were souls everywhere but Harry's Hallow granted death power core told the warlock the spirits were all deceased. The sorcerer led the way up to the security desk which held a guard in an expensive Italian suit. The attendant's name tag read Charon.
"Mr. Charon we'd like to go to the underworld," declared Harry without any beating around the bush.
"That's refreshing, someone actually willing to move on. How did you die?" Charon questioned.
"We didn't," the green eyed sorcerer responded.
Leaning forward the expensively dressed attendant sniffed the three campers for a moment before growling out, "Leave now while you still can Godlings."
"But we can make it worth your while," Harry enticed the immortal guardian of the entrance to the Underworld as the warlock grasped a handful of drachmas from his recently revealed sack before letting the coins slip through his fingers back into the bag.
"Do you think I can be bought Godling? Just out of curiosity how many did you have?" Charon blustered before questioning greedily.
Harry stacked twenty golden drachmas on the counter one by one until finally Charon spoke up with, "The boat is almost full anyways. I might as well add you three. Come along then," the boatman instructed as he snatched up the wizard's money.
Charon led the three questing youths to the boat where spirits were already waiting to depart.
"Right now, No one get any ideas while I'm gone and if anyone moves the dial off my easy listening station again I'll make sure you are here for another thousand years," Charon called out to the spirits remaining behind in the entrance lobby.
Charon took the three still living travelers into a key carded elevator and the lift started to descend once the guardian slotted his keycard.
"What happens to the spirits in the lobby?" Annabeth decided to ask.
"Nothing," Charon answered.
"How long does this state of no activity last?" Athena's daughter queried.
"Forever or until I'm feeling generous," was Charon's reply as the immortal boatman waved his hand casually about to signify his lack of concern for the spirits.
"Oh um that's…fair," Annabeth stated, unsure what else to say.
"Whoever said Death is fair young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough where you're going," the boatman informed the blonde.
"Over my dead body," Harry practically growled out at the boatman's declaration.
"That's the idea," Charon pointed out with a feral grin.
The powerful dark haired mage was sorely tempted to use his Hallow core to master the version of Death guiding the three travelers to the Underworld but doing so would probably alert Hades to the trio's approach, not to mention a whole lot of other deities that didn't need to know about the son of Poseidon's true power yet. All of a sudden the elevator started to move forward instead of down and the spirits started to change shape around the three still living campers. The spirits' clothes turned into robes and the floor of the elevator began swaying.
Charon's creamy Italian suit was then replaced by a black robe. His eyes changed to empty sockets of death and despair. The elevator changed into a wooden barge. Charon was poling the small craft across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things—plastic dolls, crushed carnations, and soggy diplomas with gilt edges.
"The river Styx, it's so…," Annabeth whispered, trailing off.
"Polluted," Charon summed the body of water up accurately. "For thousands of years you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never come true. Irresponsible waste management if you asked me," Charon finished.
The river crossers heard a growl off in the distance at that moment.
"Old Three-Face is hungry, bad luck for you Godlings," Charon informed Harry, Annabeth, and Grover with a skeletal grin.
After the three friends departed the barge onto the black sandy shore the two part deities and one satyr came to an archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each of the three entrances had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras. Beyond that there were tollbooths manned by black robed ghouls like Charon. Two of the lines were marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY while the third was marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving fast while the other two were the opposite.
"That fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields, no contest. Souls who enter that line don't want to risk judgment from the court because it might go against them. The court is made up of three judges who are rotated. People like King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, and Shakespeare sit on the bench. They look on a life and judge it. The judged could receive the special reward of the Fields of Elysium or a punishment. Most people just lived, not quite especially good or especially bad, so go to the fields of Asphodel," Annabeth explained.
"Those would be like standing in a wheat field in Kansas forever," Grover added his two cents.
Harry winced at the descriptions but continued leading the way on. Further up the path where it split into three routes the trio of living could see the green mist converge into a dark shape. The shadowy form was Cerberus, a huge black Rottweiler and he was staring right at the water manipulator. The observant wizard was willing to wager that Cerberus might have the same weaknesses as Fluffy did in the reality traveler's home universe. The raven haired warlock pulled a magical harp out of his pocket and set the enchanted instrument to play. Almost instantly the giant canine's eyes began to droop. Before long the three headed beast was sleeping on his front paws.
"Let's go," Harry whispered to his companions.
Almost as soon as the trio made it past Cerberus the three slipped under Harry's cloak and passed through the metal detector of the EZ death line. The Hallow cloak hid the trio because even death couldn't find them under the powerful shroud. It was a tight fit with all three of them but they made it work.
The fields of Asphodel stretched on into infinity with countless people just standing on the endless expanse doing absolutely nothing. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees which Harry recognized as poplars grew in clumps here and there. The ceiling was very high up with stalactites that glowed faintly gray with wicked points.
The dead souls had faces which shimmered as they looked angry or confused. A living viewer couldn't understand the expressions playing across the shimmering faces of the no longer living. They weren't scary, just sad. The campers followed the line as it went towards a pavilion with the banner JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION, Welcome Newly Deceased! Two smaller lines came out of the back of the pavilion.
In the left line, security ghouls escorted spirits down the rocky path to the fields of punishment. Even from the distance he was concealed at Harry could see the fields were not a pleasant place. The line from the right led to a small valley surrounded by walls. This gated community seemed to be the only happy part of the underworld. There were houses from every era in history. The perceptive Godling could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking. Elysium definitely sounded like a pleasant place to spend eternity.
In the center of Elysium there was a lake with a small island. This was the Isle of the Blessed for people who chose to be reborn and achieved Elysium three times.
"That is what life and almost everything we do is all about. That is the place for heroes," Annabeth whispered as she looked at the island.
The three invisible friends walked further until they left the chattering spirits behind and things got darker. In the distance was a palace of glittering black obsidian. The three furies were circling the parapets.
"I suppose it's too late to turn back?" Grover asked nervously.
"Everything will turn out ok," Harry reassured his friends confidently.
All of a sudden Grover's gifted flying shoes started carrying the satyr off away from his two half blood friends. The nature loving youth tried yelling Maia to deactivate the enchanted footwear but the password Luke had given didn't work. Annabeth and Harry chased after Grover as he picked up speed. Their airborne friend veered sharply away from Hades' palace as the slope of the ground grew steeper. The two demigods sprinted down a side tunnel after the satyr. As the phoenix mage began to feel evil ahead the son of Poseidon could see the huge chasm from his dream visions. With a burst of speed a mortal wouldn't have been able to achieve the Godling reached Grover and ripped the shoes off. The foiled footwear kicked angrily at the two males before flying into the chasm.
As Annabeth arrived at the edge of the chasm the trio started to hear a voice whispering and growing in volume and intensity. The magically sensitive sorcerer could feel the arcane energy growing.
"Percy we need to go. That is the entrance to Tartarus," Annabeth whispered frantically.
Harry picked up Grover and threw his easily hefted friend over his shoulder as he and Annabeth sprinted up the tunnel. Just as the two runners were about to leave the tunnel mouth a sharp wind tried to suck the couple back into the tunnel to Tartarus. The super strong warlock ran faster and grabbed Annabeth around the waist as they broke the grasp of the vacuum generated wind. A wail of anger roared behind the trio from the pit of torment.
The trio of campers made their way quickly to Hades' palace where they were greeted by wide open doors. There were scenes of death etched into the murals on the walls. In Hades' home there was also a garden filled with mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and large clumps of raw jewels.
"The garden of Persephone, keep moving," Annabeth ordered briskly.
Harry remembered the story of the garden from mythos as well. One bite of that fruit and the questing campers would never be able to leave Hades' domain. The two demigods quickly dragged the plant loving Grover away from Persephone's lures. Then the three entered into the house proper of Hades. Harry and his companions were greeted by skeletal guards. Some of the sentinels wore Greek armor while some wore red coats or even some American Military uniforms. Their weapons varied from spears to M-16s. The bolt seekers were unchallenged as they made their way to the big door at the end of the main entrance hall.
Harry led the way without fear but not without caution into the throne room of Hades. The ruler of the Underworld was ten feet tall at least, dressed in black silk robes and wore a crown of braded gold. The god of the dead's skin was albino white and he sported jet black shoulder length hair. The albino deity wasn't overly muscular but he radiated power. The immortal ruler sat upon a throne of fused human bones looking very dangerous.
Hades exuded an evil charismatic aura. The ruler of the dead's mystique reminded Harry of Voldemort quite a bit except magnified exponentially. The warlock used his occlumency to suppress the effects Hades aura had on the immortal wizard's mind. The god's allure made the immensely powerful younger immortal want to bow down to Hades and take orders.
"You are brave to come here Son of Poseidon. After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish," Hades spoke in an oily voice.
"Lord and Uncle I come with two requests," Harry responded strongly as the dark haired warrior stepped forward.
Hades sat forward in his throne with a raised eyebrow, curiosity showing in his intelligent eyes. At that moment the perceptive warlock noticed his divine Uncle's clothes were woven of tormented souls of the damned.
"Only two requests? Arrogant child, as if you haven't already taken enough. Speak then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet," the God proclaimed as a king ruling his dominion.
"I request you return Zeus' master bolt to me so that I can carry it to Olympus," began the sea mage calmly.
"You dare keep up this pretense with me after what you have done," Hades responded as his eyes grew dangerously bright.
"Uncle you keep on saying after what you have done. What exactly is it that I have done?" Harry questioned with honest confusion.
The throne room shook with a tremor, causing debris to fall from the ceiling. Hundreds of warriors poured into the room.
"Do you think I want war, Godling?" Hades bellowed at his young nephew.
"As the Lord of the Dead would a war not expand you kingdom," pointed out the sorcerer, his tone free of accusation.
"That's a typical thing for my brothers to say!" Hades growled out. "Do you think I need more subjects? Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"
"I did," answered Harry with a nod.
"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in the last century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open? More security ghouls, traffic problems at the judgment pavilion, double overtime for the staff are but some of the problems which plague me. I used to be a rich god! I control all the precious metals under the earth but my expenses…," the incredulous albino shouted. "You were the thief on the winter solstice! 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 helm. 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 helm back!" Hades shouted, ending his accusation.
"Lord Hades, your helm is missing too?" Annabeth spoke up to ask.
"Don't play fool with me girl. You have been helping this hero all along. Poseidon sent you here to blackmail me into helping him no doubt. I have said nothing of the helm's disappearance because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for it 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 for me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you," Hades explained to the three travelers. Harry internally snorted at the God's definition of not trying to stop the trio. "Return the helm now or I will stop death. That is my counterproposal. 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," Hades finished threatening as his skeleton soldiers took a step forward with their weapons ready.
"You are just as bad as Zeus. You send your Furies after me and he sends other monsters," Harry growled with disgust at the actions of two of the elder gods.
"Return my property," demanded Hades.
"I don't have your damn helm. I came for the master bolt," replied the son of the sea God.
"Which you already possess! You came here like a little fool thinking you could threaten me with it," the albino immortal accused.
At Hades' accusation Harry suddenly realized what the weird feeling the mage felt whenever he handled the bag Ares gave him was. The feeling was similar to that of a pocket dimension and the charms employed to return the warlock's sword to him whenever he wished to hold the weapon.
"Ares tricked us. He gave it to us to bring here," spoke the raven haired warlock in sudden realization.
"Give me the master bolt! It will make an excellent bargaining chip," Hades demanded.
Harry stepped back in between his two friends and grabbed onto each of their arms.
"What are you doing?" Hades asked. Harry didn't even respond while he concentrated on flaming himself and his companions somewhere that was safe. As the sorcerer was fading he heard Hades demand, "What is this? Is this the work of Hephaestus?"