Child of Hades {Interactive Story} (PJO/HOO/TOA)

SIX: Choice One

CHOICE ONE

Hades stood ten-feet tall in black silk robes that glimmered with moving faces. He looked down at me with a pursed-lipped frown, black slick hair the opposite of his porcelain skin. He had a golden braided crown adorned on his head, and though he was kind of scrawny, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me he should be calling the shots. I shook my head, that must've been a god thing, because when I looked at Zeus, equally as tall but more masculine, with a salt-and-pepper beard and stern blue eyes, I felt the same aura of power.

"Help you?" I raised an eyebrow. I didn't know what I'd just walked into, but I couldn't stop staring at him. My dad. The god of death. I heard footsteps, some demigods had followed me in to see if I was a charred Y/N-skebab.

Zeus looked at Hades and shrugged. "Problem solved."

"Thanks for all your help, brother." Hades bit. With the same hot-headedness, he turned back to me. "Y/N, there's something wrong in the Underworld. The River Lethe was poisoned on Monday. Do you know what that means?"

I heard Matt suck in a breath of air behind me, unmistakably him.

I shook my head.

Hades looked at me like I should have known. I flinched when he raised a hand. He snapped, and the room around me fell away - the white marble, Zeus, the demigods behind me, even Hades disappeared until I was alone in the middle of nothing, just blackness. I swallowed hard, and lifted my sleeve, pressing harshly into my wound.

As soon as I did, the world lit up with such intensity I had to shield my eyes before they could adjust. When I dropped the hand in front of my face, I clenched my jaw. Before me ran a milky white river, weaving through a large and open field in what I could only describe as a cavern. Dotted along the shore on either side were hundreds of poppies, red and vibrant in contrast to the white water.

"The River Lethe is the river of forgetfulness," Hades whispered in my ears. "The souls who are neither good nor bad, but neutral, drink from the Lethe before they can reside in the Fields of Asphodel. This is so they cannot remember their past life. Heroes who choose rebirth must also drink from its waters. On Monday, a demigod appeared..."

I watched a shadowy figure approach the Lethe, and open a vial no bigger than my ring finger. He poured its purplish green contents into the water, which immediately bubbled to a dirty grey colour. The poppies around the water shrivelled up and died. I wondered how such little formula could do something so drastic, but then again, Hades was my dad. Anything was possible. The figure stood, and headed towards a big obsidian palace in the distance.

"He poisoned the Lethe, and with a sword forged from four metals attacked my palace while I was distracted. I begged Zeus to assist, but that arrogant king of the gods has never helped me, and he won't."

I blinked and we were back in the marble palace of Zeus.

"The souls of Asphodel can't forget their lives, and while I try to fix my problem, they are escaping from the Underworld - despite my best defences." Hades continued. "I cannot fix the Lethe and keep the spirits at bay, so I require help. The longer this drags on, the more risk of the souls returning to loved ones. It's only a matter of time before the mortals begin to see them. You have until the twenty-first until the dead take over the living. You will help. Tomorrow morning, you will come to the Underworld armed with your best weapons, and you alone will find out what is wrong with the Lethe and fix it."

I paused, then casually stepped closer to the angry god, standing beside another angry god. "You want me to — me, alone, to — hang on, I can't do that."

"It's not a yes or no deal," Zeus said. "You must, and maybe then Hades will stop approaching me in my palace."

"If you helped from time to time, I wouldn't be here at all!" Hades turned to his brother. Zeus furrowed his brows, and I could tell they were about to brawl again.

"I'm schizophrenic," I added, and the two turned to glare at me.

"She can't go alone," I heard Caleb agree from behind me. I was surprised, after the whole Francine-incident he was the last person I expected to A) stick up for me, and B) stick up for me to not one, but two gods.

Hades waved a hand aside like he wanted the conversation to move along. "You are my child. I don't want nuisances running around the Underworld; I already have enough problems."

"Okay." I said quickly, looking up at him at a loss for words. I thought about the last few days. The hallucinations dressed in all white, I guess besides Francine they'd been going away smoothly. I was getting accustomed to my hallucinations - which was an unfamiliar concept to me. "At this point, why not. Whatever you need. You're my dad."

Hades almost smiled, but didn't. "Admirable."

Zeus nodded, but his angry expression didn't falter. "Good. Now get out of my palace. I have half a mind to cancel your pesky trips to Olympus all together."

Eleo steered us out, muttering about how bad a mood he was in because of Hades, immediately followed by a whispered "Don't smite me,".

~

"Sure? Why not?" Simon questioned incredulously as we moved on with the tour. Demigods left and right from all cabins kept glancing over. Some with admiration, others with disgust, and a few with just plain worry. Matt walked on my other side, looking deep in thought.

"I'll tell you why not!" Simon continued. "You can't use a weapon, you see hallucinations, the Underworld is a scary place that might kill you or trap you down there forever..."

"Simon," I put a hand out. My blond-headed friend continued after unclenching his jaw.

"How does he expect you to fix the River Lethe? From what you described, that must have been a strong poison to knock out that whole river - and if Hades can't fix it with a snap of a finger, what chance do you have... No offence."

"Simon," I said again. "He's my dad. He's a god."

Simon stopped me, and Matt paused too.

"So this has nothing to do with your mom?"

I'll admit, I hadn't thought about it before I'd said yes, but it had inevitably crossed my mind. I knew from the legends that people couldn't be brought back from the Underworld. Knowing my mom, even if I could, she'd tell me it wasn't the right thing to do. But if I had to go to the Underworld... What was the harm in seeing my mom, one last time? Telling her I loved her? Looking between Simon and Matt, I wondered what I should say. I settled for keeping quiet, and I followed the tour group.

~

"I told you something was off." Matt told me back in the back of the Delphi Strawberry Co. white van. "In my cabin - why I couldn't sleep. I knew it was something with the Lethe; we have a small fountain of it. It stopped flowing. I didn't know what was up..."

"And it's been like that since Monday?" I asked. He nodded. I thought it was funny how Monday had been my worst break in a while, and how it had also been a bad day in the Underworld. Then I wondered how I could possibly do something like this on my own. No weapon, I was a schizophrenic...

"Will Chiron let me go?" I asked.

Matt frowned at me. "You were given a quest from a god. Chiron won't like it, but he has no choice. I'll admit, I don't like it either. A lot of what Simon said isn't wrong. Y/N, you can't do this alone."

I frowned. He was right, of course, but what could I do about it? Hades certainly wouldn't let me die — I faltered. Like he'd let my mom die. I shook my head. That wasn't his fault. The Underworld was his domain. I could do this alone, he'd protect me. I was sure of it.

"Let's just talk to Chiron when we get back." Matt offered. I nodded, and put my headphones in.

I was almost sure of it.