CHAPTER THIRTEEN
( half the truth )

     THE FIELDS OF Asphodel weren't what I expected. They resembled a large ( that's an understatement, it was an enormous crowd ), sold out concert stadium, but without the noise and with no light of any kind. There wasn't the excitement you always see in shows, but a tension that settled over each and every one of the million people inside the stadium. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Poplars – like Grover pointed out – grew in black clumps here and there.

The cavern ceiling was so high above us it looked like a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed in a faint gray and were wickedly pointed. Dotted around the fields were several stalactites that had fallen and impaled themselves in the black grass, so they could fall on top of us at any given moment and we'd then become real additions to Hades's realm.

The four of us tried to blend into the crowd, keeping an eye out for security ghouls. My impulses got me searching through the spirits of Asphodel for a specific person, but their faces shimmered and were difficult to look at for long. They will come up to you and speak, but their voices sound like chatter. Once they realize you can't understand them, they frown and move away.

The dead weren't scary or evil. They're just. . .sad. We walked along, and followed the line of new arrivals that trailed from the main gates towards a black-tented pavilion with a banner that read:

JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION
Welcome, Newly Deceased!

Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines. To the left, spirits flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path towards the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance. A vast wasteland with rivers of lava, minefields and miles of barbed wire separated the different torture areas. From afar, I saw people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, or forced to run naked through cactus patches. On a far away hill, I was able to recognize the figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top. Shudders ran through my body at the many other tortures, stuff I don't want to remember.

The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was a lot better. It led down towards a small valley surrounded by walls – a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld. Past the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, from Roman villas and medieval castles to Victorian mansions. The grass rippled in rainbow colors while golden and silver flowers blossomed on the vines. Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands; The Isles of the Blest. Reserved for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. That was where I wanted to go when I died. A place that welcomed the mightiest heroes.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth breathed out, thinking the same thing. "That's the place for heroes."

There were so many people in Asphodel and Punishment, while Elysium barely filled their entire designated area. So few people did good in their lives. How much did I have to do to be added into that small list?

We left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into Asphodel. It got darker and the colors faded from our clothes. After a few miles of walking, we stopped hearing the spirits' chattering, and began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Over the horizon stood a palace of glittering black obsidian with three dark batlike creatures swirling above the parapets: the Furies.

"There it is," I said, not being able to take my eyes off the palace.

"We'll be okay." Percy replied, as if to lift both of their confidence.

"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 trainers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth. He landed flat on his back in the grass.

"Grover," I chided. "Stop playing and let's go."

"But I didn't – " He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from us.

"Maia!" he yelled, but neither the shoes or me seemed to work. "Maia, already! 911! Help!"

Percy made an effort to grab for Grover's hand, but it was too late. He was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled. We ran after him.

Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"

It would've worked on any other occasion, but it wasn't easy when the shoes were pulling him along feet-first at full speed. Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces. We kept after him, trying to keep him in sight as he pushed between the legs of spirits who chattered at him in annoyance.

I was afraid Grover was going to burst through the gates of Hades's palace, but his shoes veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the complete opposite direction. The slope got steeper and he picked up speed. Annabeth, Percy and I had to sprint in order to keep up. The cavern walls narrowed on both sides, and I realized we'd entered some kind of side tunnel. There was no black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.

"Grover!" Percy yelled, his voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"

"What?" he yelled back.

He was grabbing at gravel, nothing was big enough to slow him down. The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on my arms stood up and a burning, evil smell filled my nostrils. It invaded my thoughts like a quick-consuming fog – blood spilled on an ancient stone altar, the foul breath of a murderer. The tunnel widened into an enormous dark cavern, and in the middle was a canyon the size of a city block. Grover was sliding straight towards the edge.

"Come on, Percy!" Annabeth yelled to him, tugging at his wrist. I hadn't realized he had stopped running, frozen in his tracks at the sight in front of us.

"But that's – "

"I know!" she shouted. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him."

Grover's yelling got Percy moving again. The three of us saw him clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him towards the pit. I sped up my pace, desperate to get to him in time before he fell. I was even prepared to throw myself forward if I saw him slipping off the edge.

What saved him were his hooves. The flying sneakers had been a loose fit on him, and Grover finally hit a rock big enough that the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness, down into the canyon. The right shoe kept tugging him along, but it wasn't as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the rock and used it like an anchor.

He was three meters from the edge of the pit when we caught him and helped him back up the slope. The other shoe tugged itself off on our way up, circled around us angrily and kicked our heads in protest before flying off into the chasm to join its twin. I winced internally when I remembered that those shoes were Luke's only gift from his dad, and now they were gone in that seemingly endless pit. How were we going to bear the news to him?

We all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. I hadn't run that long of a distance, but my lungs still felt like they were going to explode. Grover was scratched up pretty bad that his hands were bleeding. I offered to heal him, but he refused. His eyes had gone slit-pupiled, goat style, the way they did whenever he was terrified.

"I don't know how. . ." he panted. "I didn't. . ."

"Wait," Percy said. "Listen."

We stayed silent. I couldn't hear it clearly, but the sound was definitely there. Some sort of whisper, echoing from a far distance.

Another few seconds, and Annabeth sighed, "Percy, this place –"

"Shh." he stood.

The sound was growing louder. A muttering, evil voice from far below us. It came from the pit.

Grover sat up. "Wh – what's that noise?"

Annabeth heard it too, now. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus."

Percy uncapped the pen and the bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness. The evil voice seemed to falter, just for a brief moment, before resuming its chant. The words were coherent now, and they sounded ancient, older than Greek.

"Magic," Percy blurted out.

The thought of us being here for another second didn't seem right with me. I felt like something wrong was going to happen, so I faced my friends. "Come on, we have to leave. Now."

We dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. My legs wouldn't move fast enough, and my breaths were getting ragged and irregular. The voice got louder and angrier behind us, so we broke into a run. A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, as if the entire pit were inhaling. For a terrifying moment, I barely lost my balance. If we'd been any closer to the edge, we would've been sucked in.

We kept pushing forward, and finally reached the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out into Asphodel. The wind died out behind us. A wail of outrage echoed from deep in the tunnel, definitely not happy we'd got away.

"What was that?" Grover panted, when we'd collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. "One of Hades's pets?"

Annabeth found my eyes. I knew she had an idea, the same one she'd got during the taxi ride to L.A., but was too scared to share it. I gulped and took in a deep breath to forget every negative thought that came into my mind, especially the one that reminded me how similar the chanting voice was to the one of my dream days ago.

"Let's keep going." Percy looked at Grover after putting his capped pen back in his pocket. "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 badly as the rest of us. Whatever was in that pit wasn't just another pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. I wanted to get as far away from that pit as possible, so I was glad when we decided to keep going on our journey to Hades's palace.

The Furies circled the parapets, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-storey-tall bronze gates stood wide open, allowing us the entrance. I saw that the engravings on the gates were scenes of death once I was close enough. They varied from old times to the modern ones – an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with soldiers wearing gas masks, people laying on the streets with medieval-like clothing – but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago. Prophecies. . .that had the unfortunate luck of coming true.

Inside the courtyard was the most peculiar garden I'd ever seen. Multi colored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs and weird luminous plants that grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, from piles of rubies to clumps of raw diamonds. Medusa's garden statues made an appearance too, and now I understood what she meant by saying that everyone liked statuary. Petrified children, satyrs and centaurs, smiled grotesquely all around the garden. In the center was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark.

"The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said. "Keep walking."

She didn't have to tell me twice. The tart smell of those pomegranates was almost overwhelming. As much as the smell was inviting, one bite of Underworld food, and we would never be able to leave. Percy even had to pull Grover away to keep him from picking a big juicy one.

We walked up the steps of the palace, between the black columns, through a matching marble portico and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to glimmer in the reflected torchlight. The cavern roof far above was the replacement for the nonexistent roof. Every doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. None of them bothered or said anything to us, but their hollow eye sockets creepily followed us as we walked down the hall, towards the big set of doors at the opposite end.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at us, grenade launchers held across their chests.

"You know," Grover mumbled, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to door salesmen."

"Or girl scout troops," I whispered back, wanting to help ease down his nerves.

"Well, guys," Percy said. "I suppose we should. . .knock?"

A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors immediately swung open. The guards stepped aside.

"I guess that means 'entrez'," Annabeth muttered.

I wasn't able to focus that much on the room because my attention was immediately grabbed by the god occupying the throne. Hades was at least three meters tall, and dressed in black silk robes with a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black like his robes. He lounged on his throne made of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful and dangerous as a panther. The Lord of the Dead had intense eyes, the kind that radiated a mesmerizing, evil charisma.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he spoke 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, hopefully with the right words to say to him. "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."

Hades raised an eyebrow. When he sat forward in his throne, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out. I couldn't help but wonder, were all his clothes the same way? Did he not have a more cruel punishment for the worst, horrible people in the world that resulted in them being part of his clothes for all eternity?

"Only two requests?" Hades asked rhetorically. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

I swallowed, scared for Percy. Next to Hades's throne, was a much smaller one, shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold. Queen Persephone's own throne. If she were here, she would've been of much help, since she was known to calm her husband's moods. But it was summer. Persephone would be above in the world of light with her mother, the goddess Demeter.

Annabeth cleared her throat. Her finger prodded Percy in the back.

"Lord Hades," he began. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be. . .bad."

"Really bad," Grover backed him up.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," Percy continued. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades's eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

I frowned at his words. Annabeth and Grover had expressions of confusion too, looking as puzzled as I was. Percy glanced back as if to check if we knew what he was talking about, but received no explanation.

"Um. . .Uncle," Percy dared to speak again. "You keep saying 'after what I've done'. What exactly have I done?"

The throne room shook with such a strong tremor it probably shook the entire city of Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling and doors burst open all along the walls, just like any other earthquake. The skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking each of the exits.

Hades bellowed, "Do you think I want war, godling?"

Well, he sure gave the wrong message with these skeletons, I thought to myself.

"You are the Lord of the Dead," Percy replied 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 in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"

Percy couldn't even answer the question since Hades kept talking.

"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 of nowhere. I resisted the urge to facepalm, did he really have to mention that now?

"Don't get me started on Charon!" Hades boomed. "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 over all of us. "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 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 helmet back!"

Okay, what? This couldn't be right. I remembered Chiron's words from before the quest, when he pointed out that Hades had to be the only reasonable answer. But now, he didn't even mention or take credit of the hellhound attack back in Capture the Flag, so who could've stolen the lightning bolt if it wasn't him?

"But. . ." Annabeth spoke. I could tell she was questioning everything we knew up until this moment. "Lord Hades, your helmet of darkness is missing, too?"

"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You, the girl and the satyr 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 protested. "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 one step forward, their weapons at the ready.

"You're as bad as Zeus," Percy replied to the threat. "You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?"

"Of course."

"And the other monsters?"

Hades 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."

I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't that. Percy slung the backpack off his shoulders and unzipped it. From my spot, I was able to perfectly see the sixty centimeter long metal cylinder, buzzing with energy. Thousands of questions surged through my head.

I faced Percy, who looked just as puzzled.  "How did – "

"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?"

No one said anything. I kept wondering how the lightning bolt got there in the first place, and if we'd been just carrying it throughout the entire journey. It obviously was a trick, a lot more complex than we originally thought. But then, I glanced back at the backpack in Percy's hands and suddenly it clicked. It was the very own backpack a specific person had given us days ago. . .

"Lord Hades, wait," Percy called. "This is all a mistake."

"A mistake?" Hades roared.

The skeletons aimed their weapons. From high above, there was a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swooped down to the back of their master's throne.

"There is no mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come – I know the real reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for her."

Hades summoned a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of us, and there stood a woman, none other than Percy's mother. She laid there, frozen in a shower of gold. When Percy reached out to touch her, he pulled his hand back from the heat.

"Yes," Hades grinned with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helmet, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."

"Ah, the pearls," Hades spoke again. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."

Percy's hand moved against his own will and brought out the pearls.

"Only four," Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize 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."

There had to be a way to outsmart him, a way where we could get out of here without having to face his wrath. Maybe. . .I could convince them to use the pearls on themselves and Percy's mom, to get out of here safely. But I knew my friends, and I knew they wouldn't accept right away, but what other choice was there? The whole reason Percy was here was for his mom, and I couldn't let him throw the chance away.

Percy turned around to face me and my friends, whose expressions were grim. "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 his shoulder. "You can't give him the bolt."

"I know that."

"Leave me here," he said. "Use the fourth pearl on your mom."

"No!"

"I'm a satyr," Grover told him "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 two go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."

"No way," I shook my head, standing between them. "I'll stay back. You all have to get back to Olympus and tell them what's going on. Go on without me. You are not leaving without your mom, Percy."

"Think again, M," Annabeth retorted.

"Stop it, all of you!" Percy exclaimed in a much louder voice than us. He looked like he was on the verge of breaking down. I was ready to fight with him if he even suggested the idea of him staying back. I was not going to let that happen.

"I know what to do," he said. "Take these."

He handed us each of the pearls.

Annabeth looked back at him, "But, Percy. . ."

He turned back to face his mother. I was able to read the conflict behind his eyes, whether what he was doing was the right thing to do or not. "I'm sorry," his words were solely directed at her. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."

The smug look on Hades's face faded, "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 –"

"Now, guys!"

We smashed the pearls at our feet. For a short, scary moment, nothing seemed to happen.

Hades yelled, "Destroy them!"

The army of skeletons rushed forward with their swords out and loaded guns. The Furies charged at us, their whips bursting into flame. Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl exploded at my feet with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. I was wrapped up in a milky white sphere, which started to levitate off the ground.

When I turned back, Percy, Annabeth and Grover were going through the same thing. Spears and bullets bounced back harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as we floated up. Hades yelled with such rage, the entire fortress shook.

"Look up!" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"

The bubbles were floating with such speed right towards the stalactites.

"How do you control these things?" Annabeth shouted.

"I don't think you do!" Percy shouted back.

We screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling, but nothing happened. Darkness was all around us. We were still going up, right through the solid rocks as if they were invisible. That was the power of the pearls; what belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.

There was a brief moment where I couldn't see anything outside my sphere, but then my pearl broke through on the ocean floor. The three other milky spheres, Percy, Annabeth and Grover, soared upward through the water alongside me. With no further warning, we exploded on the surface, in the middle of Los Angeles Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!"

The rapid waves of the ocean were quite difficult to fight back and swim against, but I guess that wouldn't be a problem with a son of Poseidon on my side. The four of us made it safely to a lifebuoy, where a curious white shark was circling us.

"Beat it," Percy told it.

The shark turned and raced away. The surfer screamed something about bad mushrooms and paddled away from us as fast as he could.  Based on the sight of the sun's position on the east, I figured it was early morning, June 21, the day of the summer solstice.

In the distance, Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault.

But at the moment, the Underworld nor the Lord of the Dead weren't our biggest problem. Percy had to get Zeus's thunderbolt back to Olympus and explain everything before it was too late.