I fell in love with my enemy...............

CHAPTER VIII

As we flew off Camp on Festus I felt the urge to ask Thalia, " Hey Thalia, how was it that you guys got here? to Camp Half-Blood?" She looked back at me for a second and then stared straight ahead, " When I was born my father left. When he did so, my mom became unstable. She was a beautiful actress but she had alcoholism issues. She became a cold person, specially toward me. She blamed me for my father's departure. When I was about seven, my father came back, but in his Roman aspect. It was only then, that I knew the truth about him; he was Zeus . That time he was more fatherly toward me and my mom too. then, my brother Jason was born and my father left again because mom wouldn't stop pleading him for eternal beauty or a trip to Olympus. When I was nine and Jason was two, my mom took us for a picnic. I went back to the car for the picnic basket and when i got back my mom was kneeling on the ground crying and Jason was gone. I was heartbroken so I ran away from home and never returned. While I did so, I ran across Luke. We became friends and by that time the monsters had started attacking us so we joined forces to fight them off. When I was twelve and Luke was fourteen we found Annabeth. Luke admired her courage so he gave her his knife and we promised not to fail her like her family had done. We stayed in many places but they were always destroyed by monsters so last time, Luke went back to his house for supplies. Annabeth and I met his parents May and Hermes and while May took care of my injured leg Luke and Hermes got into a fight and he stormed out, Annabeth and I following a few feet behind. We wandered around for a couple of months and then Grover found us. He tried to get us to Camp Half-Blood but we were chased by monsters of the underworld when Hades found out about me because he was angry at my father for breaking an oath they and uncle Poseidon had made not to sire any more children. We would've escaped, except for the fact that a Cyclops in Brooklyn stopped us so that monsters could catch up. He held me, Luke and Grover in the air to direct the monsters in our direction but Annabeth saved us by stabbing the Cyclops in the foot. We escaped and later on ran into the Hunters of Artemis. Their leader, Zoe, Almost convinced me to join the hunt but I refused to leave Luke. We argued and she told me Luke would disappoint me. Once we reached camp, a bunch of monsters from the Underworld - all three Furies and an army of hell-hounds - attacked us. I told Grover to take Luke and Annabeth past the treaty line and I took on the monsters on my own. This might sound a bit weird but, i sacrificed myself and once I died Zeus took pity of me and turned me into a pine tree to prevent my soul from going to Hades. A few years later I was revived by Clarisse, the head counselor of the Ares cabin and found out two things: One, my mother was dead. She'd died two years before my resurrection on a car crash. And two, My brother wasn't dead. He'd been alive all along. He was just sent to the Roman version of Camp Half-Blood. I found him a couple of years ago, when I joined the Hunters of Artemis on a quest and now he's back at the other camp, but we still keep in touch." I was totally shocked by her story. She looked back at me as i popped out of my shock and said, " So now you're like immortal or something?" She burst into laughter and said, " No silly, of course not. I was just given a second chance, that's all. But I'm mortal." There was a moment of silence and then I heard something that sounded like crying. It was Raven. She was behind me, her cheeks damp. " Why are you crying? is everything ok?" She shook her head as she wiped the tears away. " I can't stop thinking about Alex, what if he's not waking up? what if we were too late? I can't lose him, he's the only one I have." I thought about it for a second and felt my cheeks wet too. I couldn't bare to think of any other thing going wrong with him. it'd be too much to take if I lost him, I'd never forgive myself. I wiped my tears away before anyone noticed. I decided to change the subject so I asked, " Where exactly is the Underworld?" Luke, who was in the front of the dragon said, " California. It's a long trip, so you can all go to sleep if you want. It's getting late." When I woke up it was already morning. The sun was shinning though the wind was still a bit cool. Below the city was already filled with traffic and seemed pretty busy. Luke then noticed i woke up and said, " Morning sunshine, d'you sleep well last night?" . I replied with a deep yawn, " Like a baby. What about you, Why are you up so early?", He chuckled and said, "Actually I haven't gone to sleep yet but don't worry, I'm used to it.". " Where are we?" I asked. " Hollywood" said Luke. I was kind of confused now. "Aren't we heading towards the Underworld?" I asked. " Yeah" he answered. " Then what are we doing here?" I asked more confused than ever. Luke pointed out at something in the mountains I couldn't quite make out. " There, below the Hollywood sign is the entrance to the Underworld. I know it's an odd location for such place but that's the point. Now, do me a favor and wake these girls up, We're here." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We landed a few feet from the Hollywood sign and Luke led us toward it. Once we got To the Y, Luke pointed up the mountain, at a small two store building with an antenna sticking out the roof. " Up there, that's the entrance to the Underworld." , he said. We all looked at him in wonder and he stared back at Raven who was looking at him as if he were some Outer Space lunatic. " Oh don't tell me you didn't know your dad's place entrance was hidden here." ,he said, and she replied, " He might be my father, but it's not like we get along so well, and no, I've never been here before, only Alex and it was once." She looked annoyed as if coming here was the worst punishment she'd ever gotten. Luke was about to say something, but he regretted it and just motioned us to follow him. Inside it was much bigger than it seemed. And, without a doubt, definitely old. It had golden and bronze records hanging on the walls and a bit glass wall compartment with a microphone and headphones hanging over it, which made me realize that the place had once been a radio station. All of a sudden i heard a loud screeching sound and realized Luke had found a secret door behind a desk all the way across from where the rest of all stood. We walked toward it and, before I could step in Luke pulled me back and said, " Not quite yet kiddo, the elevator is still not here." A couple of seconds later a small rusty old metal box came down from nowhere and we all stepped in. We barely fit in it and it smelled of roding meat. The doors closed and the elevator went up in a flash. Before i could even come to my senses the doors opened up and we found ourselves in a dark room filled with lost souls waiting to be let into the Underworld. All you could feel was just a massive wave of depression that hit you as soon as the doors opened. We walked to the counter desk in the middle of the room and a tall, dark skinned man in a black and white tux said, " Well hello there, how may I help you?" his voice seemed somehow distant and hollow, as if he were far away from us. " We wanna go into the Underworld, it's confidential busyness." ,said Thalia. The man stared at her as if she'd just said a sick joke and said, " Everyone in this place is waiting to enter the Underworld so why do't you kids wait here with the rest for another eternity or better yet, come back when you're actually dead." The man went back to his paperwork and Raven rolled her eyes and whispered, " Ughh, I can't believe i'm doing this" and stepped forward. " I need to see my father and you're not gonna deny my wish." , she said. The man looked up and as soon as he saw Raven his eyes widen and he gagged . " And hurry up dude, i'm not you, i don't have forever." , she said, this time a bit more annoyed than before. The man nodded nervously and gagged out, " Y-yes, miss. R-right th-this way." He led us to the entrance behind the desk and into a big, dark cave. The air was warm and thick and earthy. The only light coming from a few torches that were - for an unknown reason- blazing green fire.