Penny Ranger and the Lightning Thief

Chapter XXXVII: the Mistery Unravels

"Percy, how..."

"I - I don't know..." Percy answered me, looking just as shocked as I felt.
"I don't understand."

"You heroes are all the same." Hades scoffed.
"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 sure that Percy didn't have the helmet, because I knew that I hadn't helped Percy sneak into Olympus to steal anything. Not to mention that I knew who Percy was, and I knew that he would never try to start a divine war.

The fact that the master bolt was there, right in front of us, meant that we had been tricked. And that's when I remembered a crucial detail: Percy may have been carrying the backpack, but it wasn't his backpack.

"Lord Hades, wait. This is all a mistake." Percy said, having realized the same thing I had.

"A mistake?" Hades echoed.

The skeleton soldiers took another step forward. The Furies landed on the back of Hades's throne, cracking their flaming whips while looking at us with murderous anticipation. Grover, Percy, Annabeth and I all crowded closer together. Though I had no idea how we were supposed to fight our way out of this.

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

He opened his hand and a ball of fire shot towards the steps in front of Percy. It exploded to show none other than Sally Jackson. She was dressed in a nightgown and a brown jacket. She looked quite pretty, except for the fact that her face was twisted into an expression of fear.

"Yes, 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." the god revealed.

While Percy stood there, stunned by the image of his mother, Hades turned towards me.

"As for you, Penny Ranger, I'm afraid you have come in vain." he told me.
"Eliza Ranger is not dead, nor did I send any monster to capture her. You have nothing to bargain for. Poseidon has fooled you."

I felt my head begin to spin. I had no idea how to process what I had just heard.

Eliza Ranger. Was that... my mother? Did that mean that my mother was alive somewhere? Is that what Hades was saying?

"Ah, the pearls." the god of death said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."

Percy's hand subconsciously moved into his pocket and pulled out the pearls the nereid had given him. They had a slight glow to them, contrasting with the shadowy darkness of the Underworld.

"Only four. What a shame." Hades mocked.
"You do realize that each only protects a single person. Go on, try to take your mother, then, 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 turned back towards us. It was clear that he knew this was a no-win situation.

"We were tricked. Set up."

"Yes, but why?" Annabeth agreed.
"And that voice in the pit..."

"I don't know yet. But I intend to ask."

"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled impatiently.

"Percy, you can't give him the bolt." I told him.

"I know that."

"Leave me here. Use the fourth pearl on your mom." Grover said, taking a step forward.

"No!"

"I'm a satyr. We don't have souls like humans do." Grover reasoned.
"He can torture me until I die, but he won't have me forever. I'll be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way."

I knew what he was doing. He thought he deserved this. That this was his payback for failing Thalia. I disagreed.

"Absolutely not." I said.
"I'm staying, you four go. There's no way I'm letting any of you stay here. Besides, I won't be leaving that much behind."

"No." Annabeth cut in, drawing her knife.
"You three go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. And you, Penny, you heard what Hades said. If your mother is alive then you have to find her. Get Percy's mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."

"No way." Grover argued.
"I'm staying behind."

"Not a chance, goat boy." I fired back.

"Stop it, all of you!" Percy yelled.

He then took a deep breath.

"I know what to do. Take these."

He proceeded to hand each of us a pearl. I was stunned. If we all got a pearl, that meant he would have to leave his mother behind.

"Percy, we can't..."

"I'm sorry." he told his mother, ignoring me.
"I'll be back. I'll find a way."

Hades seemed shocked by this decision.

"Godling..."

"I'll find your helmet, uncle. I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise."

"Do not defy me..." Hades warned.

"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus every once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."

"Percy Jackson, you will not..."

"Now, guys!" Percy yelled.

We all smashed the pearls at our feet. For a horrifying few seconds, nothing happened.

"Destroy them!" Hades ordered.

His minions didn't need to be told twice. The Furies cracked their whips and swooped down towards us while the artillery skeletons took aim and the infantry charged at us. I reached into my hair to pull out Radiance, when the smashed pearl at my feet exploded in green light. When it cleared, I noticed that I was encased into a milky white bubble. Looking to the side, I could see my friends encased in their own bubbles.

The skeletons fired their guns but the bullets simply bounced off without so much as a scratch. Even the Furies' whips couldn't penetrate the walls of the bubbles. Angered by this, Hades began screaming in rage while the cavern began to shake violently. I assumed this was what a divine temper tantrum looked like.

"Look out! We're going to crash!" Grover warned.

He was correct. We were in fact moving towards the roof of the cavern very fast.

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

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

"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Isn't there some sort of steering wheel?"

Unfortunately there wasn't. We all screamed as we hit the roof of the cavern and... we passed right through. It was as if we didn't have a physical form, as we passed through solid rock as if it wasn't even there. We kept rising up from the ocean floor until we exploded on the surface of the Los Angeles bay.

Percy was quick to easily bring each of us to a life buoy. I noticed that our sudden appearance had attracted some attention. Namely, a great white shark.

"Beat it." Percy told it.

The shark immediately swam away. Perks of being friends with the son of Poseidon.

I wished we could celebrate having successfully escaped the Underworld, but the circumstances in which we had done so really didn't leave me in the mood to smile. To add to that, you could see several plumes of smoke rising from the city and hear sirens in the distance. I imagined that was the aftermath of Hades's rage.

And unfortunately, he wasn't the last god we had to confront.