Shadow Lives: Entrance to Death

You must read Shadow Lives: Goddess Within and Shadow Lives: Love You to Death by PhoebetheHunter before reading this!!!!!

CHAPTER ONE
With only a few drachmas, a pair of extra clothes, and some ambrosia and nectar, I knew we were doomed from the start.

Percy and Annabeth stood with me as we prepared to leave camp. Percy’s ballpoint pen, Anaklusmos, stuck out of his shorts pocket and his wristwatch shield was strapped to his wrist. He unruly black hair hung just above his sea green eyes as he talked to Annabeth. She held her Yankees cap in one hand as she brushed her curly blonde hair out of her stormy gray eyes. Her bronze dagger was hidden up her sleeve.

I felt out of place when I stood with them. With my straight brown hair and light blue eyes, I was so plain compared to them. Plus, I had no weapons like them.

Responding to my thoughts, Chiron came cantering over, holding a box in his hand. “Martha, I almost forgot to give this to you. Gifts from your father.”

I opened the box and found a silver necklace and a key chain. On the necklace was a gold lightning bolt that seemed to flicker when I moved it. The key chain had a similar design.

“Wow.” I faked a smile. I had been hoping for something amazing like Annabeth’s invisibility cap or Percy’s sword.

Chiron nodded. “They are going to be very important in your battles.”

I looked at him skeptically.

He smiled. “Press your fingers against the bolt on your necklace.”

I did as he said. The necklace began to grow and bind itself around my body. In less than a second, I was wearing full battle armor, fit perfectly for me.

“Cool.” I breathed. I looked down at the key chain and tried the same method. The bolt grew until I was holding a celestial bronze sword, electricity coursing around the tip.

“Use them wisely.” Chiron said.

I followed Annabeth and Percy to the van. Judy and Phoebe already sat in the car. We climbed in, jumping with anticipation, as Argus started the engine. We were finally off to save Nico.

CHAPTER TWO
Argus drove us into New York City and dropped us off near Central Park. I climbed out and looked at the field of rocks and stone covered walkways.

“What are we doing here?” I asked. “Aren’t we going to the Underworld?”

“Yeah.” Annabeth turned to Percy. “What are we doing here?”

Percy smiled. “Didn’t I tell you? When Nico and I went to the River Styx, we took this secret entrance. It’s the entrance used by Orpheus. Only opened by music.”

We all looked at Judy, who stood fingering her reed pipes behind us. She looked up at us, startled to have so many eyes on her, and bleated nervously.

“I can try, I guess.” She said, recovering from her shock. We followed Percy to a large rock in the middle of the park. Judy played a few notes on her pipes and the ground started to rumble. Phoebe, already unstable and weak, was thrown of her feet. Emotionless, she looked down at the ground, then looked sadly up at us, as if she couldn’t understand how she’d gotten there.

The rocks broke open in front of us, revealing a dark, cold tunnel. The air smelled cold and musty and the ceiling of the cave was covered in stalactites. Judy whimpered.

Percy was the first to enter, followed closely by Annabeth. I moved in behind them. Phoebe trudged slowly forward, pulling Judy by the wrist. As we crept forward, the cave began to get darker and deeper, until I couldn’t see my own hand. The path was getting narrower so we felt like we had to crouch as we walked. Finally, we reached a large opening. A dark, churning river ran through the black rock floors. I started the step toward the water, but Percy held me back.

“One touch from that water and you could die.” He warned.

“I wish Nico was here.” Phoebe said glumly. “He could make a rock bridge or something.”

“If Nico were here, we wouldn’t need his help right now.” Annabeth reminded her. Phoebe took a sudden interest in her shoes.

Percy walked towards the waters edge.

“Percy, you’re not thinking of going in there again, are you?” Annabeth asked, concerned. “I know you’re invincible and all, but I’m sure the Styx is an exception.”

“I’m not going in.” Percy reassured her. “Trust me. I’ve done this before.”

“Done this before? When?” She asked.

“Oh, yeah, I came down to the River Lethe once with Thalia and Nico -”

Phoebe cried out at the mention of his name.

“Oh, nevermind.” Percy waved away the subject. “I’m going to lift the water out so you guys can pass through, like a tunnel. Phoebe, will you help?”

Phoebe looked up at him, then back down at her shoes. “Fine.”

Phoebe and Percy stood in front of the swirling black water. They both closed their eyes and leaned over the water, deep in concentration. Then, in unison, they pushed their hands upward and the water shot above them, creating a passageway beneath the raging river.

“Come on, guys! We can’t hold it up for too long!” Percy yelled over at us.

Annabeth raced ahead of us and under the uprooted water. I followed right behind her. It was surreal standing between two walls of flowing black liquid. Judy cantered after us, looking nervously up at the levitating river.

Once everyone had made it through, Percy called to Phoebe, “You go. I can hold it.”

She looked from the water to him and slowly lowered her arms. Glancing back at him once more, she stepping into the riverbed and walked confidently towards us. The sudden weight on Percy’s shoulders caused him to sway, but he held it up firmly.

Phoebe made it across and looked back at Percy. Keeping his hands above him and his eyes set on the roaring water, he began to move towards us. His hands trembled as the pressure became too much. As he came near us, he lowered his arms in exhaustion. The water began to fall towards him.

“Percy!” Annabeth cried.

Realizing what was happening, Percy ran towards us and jumped onto the rocky side. Annabeth ran to him.

“Are you okay?” She asked, checking him for wounds.

“I’m fine, Annabeth. It missed me.” He reassured her.

“Not completely.” I said, staring down at him foot. When he’d jumped, the water had met his shoe. The tip of his foot was turning a dark shade of black, moving upwards towards his ankle.

“It can’t hurt me, right?” He asked wearily as it came closer to his skin.

“Take the shoe off!” Annabeth screamed. The black ooze was almost above his sock.

Percy reached for his sneakers and cried out in pain as the darkness touched his skin. His fingers began to turn black as well. We watched as the dark water moved down his body. His legs had become completely black now.

“What’s happening?!” Percy screeched.

Then I noticed that the darkness was moving to one specific point – his heart. It was beginning to converge, leaving a slowly shrinking patch of his shirt on the left side of his body.

I started to reach for him, to help him, but Judy’s voice came from behind me. “You can’t touch him. It will only pass on to you. He is resistant because part of his body uses the water portion of it to save him, but once it reaches his heart, he’ll be killed. If it touched you, you’d die instantly.”

“How do you know all this?” I turned.

Judy ignored my question. “This is the work of Kronos. Only he can make the river water do this. Normally it would only make those parts of him that had touched the water vulnerable once again, but clearly this is much worse.”

I looked back at Percy. His body was almost completely black now, a small closing circle of shirt on his chest. I watched in horror as the patch closed up, and Percy became motionless.

“Percy, get up!” Annabeth screamed. “Percy, please! Get up!”

“He’s gone.” Judy said matter-of-factly.

“He’s not gone.” Annabeth cried. “He can’t die.”

“The black water was poisonous. It spread across his body so that no part of him could escape it, which left his Achilles heel unprotected.” Judy stared down at his body.

“No!” Annabeth leaned over his body, tears falling from her cheeks and onto his blackened form.

Tears stung my eyes. His death had been brought upon him by the only safe thing he had – water.

Phoebe stood above him, her face expressionless. Tears were forming in her eyes, but she showed no sadness. Then, she turned and ran into the depths of Hades.

CHAPTER THREE
It wasn’t long before we caught her.

Or, rather, she got us caught.

We reached her before she got too far into Hades, but before we could say anything to her, a sword appeared at her throat. A young boy, about my age, stood at the other end of the blade. His long chestnut hair blew in the cold air echoing through the tunnels. His icy blue eyes seemed to pierce right through me.

“State your business here. The Crooked One does not take visitors.” He demanded.

I knew that name. He was talking about Kronos.

I stepped forward. “We’re here for Nico.”

A sly smile crossed the boy’s face. “Son of Hades.” He turned, keeping his sword at Phoebe’s neck. “They’ve arrived, sir.”

“Excellent.” A chilling voice resounded through the tunnels. Another boy limped out of the shadows. He had shaggy black hair that fell over his dark eyes. Scars covered his face and bare chest, and he walked like every step hurt. An eye patch covered one of his eyes.

Annabeth drew a sharp breath. “Ethan?”

The boy cackled. “Surprised to see me?”

“But… you fell…”

“Fell from Olympus, yes. But my mother took pity on me and slowed my fall. I still landed hard, but I didn’t die.” He explained.

“After all the pain Kronos put you through, you still turned to him?” Annabeth asked.

Ethan’s face hardened. “I gained respect from Kronos. Helping you only hurt me, Annabeth.”

He turned to the other boy. “Justin, take them to the prison.”

The boy, Justin, grabbed Phoebe and pushed her in front of him. He walked us in line through the tunnel after Ethan. I stood at the end with the tip of Justin’s sword pressing against my back.

We were finally walking to the gates of Hades.

CHAPTER FOUR
“So, are you a demigod, too?” I asked Justin.

He glowered at me, then turned his head away.

“I said, are you a -”

“I heard you.” He said hesitantly. “I am, but my godly parent doesn’t matter. I am a servant of Kronos.”

I studied his face. He held an angry gaze, but something was fake about it, like he was afraid he might do something wrong. His eyes were deep set and menacing. I’d seen them before.

“You’re a son of Ares.” I realized. I saw the resemblance to Clarisse.

His angry stare wavered, but it returned as quickly as it had left, with new vigor. “I told you, my godly parent is not important. Ares doesn’t care about me.”

“And Kronos does?” I asked him.

Justin sighed. “Just stay in line, half blood. We’re almost at the gates.”

The palace of Hades was black and gold, with fire pluming behind it. Ethan and Justin brought us through the gates and down a small corridor lined with torches. The walls were lined with stone cells. Skeleton guards stood against the walls, grinning eerily at us as we passed. We were almost through the hall when Annabeth stopped abruptly. Justin’s sword pricked as we were forced to stop.

“Move it, half blood.” Ethan called.

Annabeth stood there, peering into the cage we’d just past. “Is that…?”

I looked into the cell to see what she was looking at and gasped, “Hades?”

The god looked up at us sadly.

“What have you done with him? Why is he in there?” Annabeth demanded. Judy looked in at him and her face became grim with realization. “Kronos has taken over the Underworld.”