Walk With the Shadows [ Percy Jackson OC ]

FORTY-SIX | Alex

ALEX FELT HIS WHOLE BODY CALM when he saw Ophelia striding up the hill towards them, a spring in her step. He suddenly could breathe again.

For what felt like hours, he and Kitty had tried to make their way through the Fields of Punishment. Every path failed. The only ways unblocked went to distant exits. He had been about ready to pray to Hermes for guidance finding the right roads when Kitty, shining golden lyre clasped close to her chest once more, pointed out Ophelia below them.

"Thank the gods," Alex said. He turned to Kitty. "Let me handle this."

Kitty just gave a half snort. "She's all yours. If she calls me Katerina again, though-"

"I get it."

It didn't take long for Ophelia to reach them. Wringing her hands, she didn't say much. Alex stared down where fidgeted. Her hands had turned black as night. They really had to get out of here.

"Are you okay?" Alex said.

Ophelia nodded.

"Then we need to move." He didn't wait for her to say anything more. If Eris was whispering in her ear, they needed to remove themselves as fast as possible. Conversation would only delay that. He didn't want to confront her. Not here. Not surrounded on all sides by the goddess of strife and discord. His face hurt enough already.

They marched in silence. Alex breathed easier when they stepped beyond the Fields of Punishment into the Underworld. Far in the distance he saw Daedalus's on going overpass project. The air in this liminal space of the Underworld stilled. No cold breeze, no raging fire, no screams of the dead beyond those they left behind, just a quietness.

He knew the way. Somehow, some way. As he ran his thumb up and down the Vindication on his wrist, polishing the caduceus until he could see his pale blue eyes staring back at himself, he focused on the task. They were so close. They knew the way out.

The Door of Orpheus would be their salvation. Kitty had the lyre. He glanced back at her, standing on his right-hand side matching each stride. She offered him a quick smile. They knew the way out, they had their quest item, and they were all still alive.

How long they walked, Alex couldn't tell. Without a sun, he couldn't keep track of days and nights. In the Underworld, it all blurred together. He couldn't remember the last time he slept. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. As they walked, his inside groaned and his head began to hurt just on the edge of a migraine. At least there were no bright lights here in the eternal darkness.

They walked unhindered. No hellhounds, no harpies, just him and the girls and a shining Olympian artifact. Still, he felt a creeping sense of unease the longer they walked. He couldn't help but wonder how long their luck would hold. Even with a daughter of Tyche in their midst, something would go wrong.

It turned out to be a river, and not a monster, that finally stopped their march to the exit. Milky white and slow-moving, Alex felt his breath catch as they approached the edge of the River Lethe. Not far beyond the other side, he saw the Walls of Erebos. So close, but so far.