Spirit of the Panther (House of Hades/Frank Zhang Fanfic)

V. Visions

I stood across from Annabeth and Percy. They stopped, looking surprised. They were bedraggled and worse for wear. Annabeth's leg still looked bad and both of them had cuts everywhere.

"Ezzy!" Annabeth exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I fell into Tartarus, like you guys did," I said. "But I got out, though I don't think I can do the same for you. I came to carry a message."

Percy held up a hand. "Wait, you got out? How?"

"My mother," I responded, "has power over the underworld as well as magic. She opened a door for me and I escaped. Now, will you let me finish?"

Percy fell silent.

"We're heading for the Doors of Death, though we have to take a detour," I continued. "We have to pick something up to help us get through the House of Hades. It's going to take a few days. You need to hurry to the Doors, or else you won't make it out."

"We don't know how long it's going to take us," Annabeth said. "How long have we been down here already?"

"A few days." I looked around me, taking in the surroundings. "I give it four to five days, assuming you guys don't run into monsters, which is impossible. You guys are close."

"Wait, how are you here, Ezzy?" Percy asked. "You said you got out."

I looked at Percy, changing my eyes to completely black in a blink. "You seem to forget I'm the daughter of magic. I have powers over everything my mom does, like you have powers over the water."

I blinked again, clearing my eyes. "I can't stay for much longer. Tartarus knows you guys are here. He won't make it easy on you. Try your hardest to get out of here. We need you guys. Goodbye."

With that, I returned to the Argo II. I blinked my eyes and shook my head, trying to rid the smell of sulfur from my nose. The smell reminded me of my time in Tartarus and I didn't want to remember it.

Tears almost came to my eyes, but I pushed them down. I didn't want to cry. Not now. I had to remain strong. I didn't want to be weak.

The ship lurched and I fell to the ground. I hit the wall and groaned. I sat up and focused. There were two dwarfs stealing stuff from the ship.

I got to my feet and rushed for the door. I stumbled outside of my room and almost ran into Leo.

"We're under attack by some ugly dwarves," Leo called as he ran past.

"I know!" I yelled back, following.

I took the stairs two at a time and was on the deck in no time. There was two monkey looking dwarfs stealing anything that wasn't tied down.

My arm shot out and sparks flew under one of the dwarf's feet. He screeched and turned towards me.

He looked me over before screaming, "It's a child of Hecate! Let's go!"

"Not yet!" The other yelled. He was still digging around. "There's still precious things to be stolen."

I sent another series of sparkling sparks underneath the other's feet. He shrieked as well and both of them jumped over the railing.

I rushed to the railing to see where they went. I saw them fly off across the city. I turned around and saw Leo with his pants down. I burst out laughing and covered my mouth.

I tried to contain my laughter. "Are you okay, Leo? You seem to have a bit of a problem."

Leo glared and pointed at me. "Shut up, Weber. Don't say a thing."