RED ¹ / Percy Jackson !

22

IMAGINE THE LARGEST CONCERT CROWD YOU'VE EVER SEEN,A FOOTBAL FIELD PACKED WITH A MILLION FANS.

Now imagine a field a million times that big, packed with people, and imagine the electricity hasgone out, and there is no noise, no light, no beach ball bouncing around over the crowd. Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start.

If you can picture that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel looked like. Theblack grass had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees.

The cavern ceiling was so high above them it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites, which glowed faint gray and looked wickedly pointed.

The five of them tried their best to blend in with the crowd, keeping an eye out for the security ghouls.

They crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward ablack-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 toward the Fieldsof Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas.

Even from far away, Percy could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to opera music. He could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-size figure of Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top.

The line coming from the right side of the judgment pavilion was much better. This one led down toward a small valley surrounded by walls-a gated community, which seemed to be the only happy part of the Underworld.Beyond the security gate were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions.Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking.

Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacationresort in the Bahamas.The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. Percy immidieatly felt like he wanted to come here after dying.

"That's what it's all about." Annabeth said,bringing Percy back from his thoughts. "That's the place for heroes."

But Percy thought of how few people there were in Elysium, how tiny it was compared to the Fields of Asphodel or even the Fields of Punishment. So few people did good in their lives. It was depressing.

They left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields.It got darker. Thecolors faded from our clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.

After a few miles of walking, they began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark batlike creatures: the Furies. 

"I supose it's too late to turn back."Grover spoke wistfully.

"We'll be okay."Percy faked confidence.