House of Hades: Percy Alone.

Chapter 10

Percy sat at the base of the altar, pressing his back against the cool, dark stone. He was starving, and the firewater he had been drinking did nothing for his thirst. Bob pulled a picnic blanket from the folds of his janitor uniform, spread it out, and took a seat. He didn't seemed fazed, or even slightly bothered by the situation surrounding him. 

"do you want to sit on the mat?" Even Bob's voice was soft. Deep, even for a titan, but gentle. all it took was to wipe his mind, and now the titan was as soft as a pillow.

"no, I'm good." Percy bit his tongue. His response had came out sharper than he expected.

"Okay." Bob smoothed the edges of his picnic blanket, he didn't seem offended. "We only stay here for a little while longer, until the food comes. soon we will have to leave. We have to run from them." Percy didn't reply. Truth be told he was just tired, of both talking and moving.

"How did Percy get here? where are you going?" 

Percy considered the question. How much should he tell him? Bob was the only ally he had in the pit, it made sense to let him help. But on the other hand, He wasn't sure how long Bob would remain friendly.

"I fell from a parking lot," He decided "I need to get out of here, back to my friends. I cant be stuck here in the armpit of the underworld"

Bob winced. "A long fall, from parking lot to Tartarus. Percy's friends must miss you. But Bob helps." He grinned, wider than Percy expected. 

"Percy wants way out? there is only one. Doors of Death"

"Okay they." It was Percy's turn to smile. If Bob could lead him there, he could escape. and If he could free the doors, that was just an extra bonus "how do I get there?"

"bad to go directly," Bob replied "too many monsters there. Even Bob couldn't sweep them all. They would kill Percy in two seconds."

"so we take a detour?" 

"yes," Bob agreed "hiding. the death mist could hide you, Bob can show you the way. but Per-"

heat shot up Percy's back. He leapt to his feet, expecting an enemy. A monster or fiend, or maybe one of the fallen that Bob had mentioned. but he was met with none of those things. Instead, he was met by a wave of smoke. it gathered wafted around, concentrated at the center of the altar. Percy caught a whiff of it, and was surprised yet again. it smelt sweet and warm, like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. 

"Bob, whats going on?" Percy hadn't let his guard down yet. too many times a threat had come as a wolf is sheep clothing. Sheep smoke clothing it seemed this time. Bob on the other hand, took his time getting up. He clasped his hands. "yaay, food is here." Bob grabbed his broom, making a sweeping motion to blow the smoke away. 

the sweet smelling cloud cleared, revealing what appears to have been the source of it. In the centre of the altar, lay what looked to Percy like a random assortment of foodstuffs. half a hot dog, some grapes, a plate of roast beef, and a package of M&Ms. 

"Bob, where does this come from?" Percy asked. 

"Mortal sacrifices," Bob replied "When you burn the food, it doesn't just disappear." Bob picked up the food, sat back down, and lay the food in front of him. "what does Percy want?"

Percy scooped up the half-dog, "I'll have this, please and thank you." He took a bite. the bread was light and fluffy, like it had come fresh out the oven, and the sausage tasted as good as any gourmet meal. it reminded him of the hot dogs he used to get at camp half blood. it felt good to finally fill his stomach with something other than firewater. 

"Bob takes the M&Ms" he exclaimed cheerfully. 

M&Ms. Connor from the Hermes cabin would always sacrifice a packet to his father. Startled, Percy realized that the food didn't just taste like Camp Half-Blood, It was Camp Half-Blood food. The food that was burnt were supposed to go to Olympus or wherever, but instead they ended up here. 

The thought brought a wave of nostalgia over Percy. He recalled the sing along's by the campfire, playing capture the flag, taking long walks on the beach. He remembered talking with Grover in the forest. the waves of memories were quite a lot to handle.

Another memory resurfaced. One old enough that he couldn't remember if it was a dream or a vision, a prophecy or a nightmare. He stood at the center of camp, but it was no longer peaceful. around him, the cabins were in ruins, the forest was on fire. in the distance, monsters crying. Around him his camp mates were on their knees, bowing to him. There was Connor, Travis, Clarrise, even Grover, all of the members of camp half-blood. "Percy," they pleaded "Don't destroy us, make the right choice."

Percy found it almost comical. Not necessarily the memory, but rather the aftermath of it. 5 years of hype, different people and all kinds of monsters being all tough on him because he was the "prophecy boy." Gods judging him, threatening to kill him, even sometimes be scared of him, all for it to boil down to him to give a knife to Luke. at at the end of the day, he wasn't even the Hero. 

"PERSEUS JACKSON," Boomed a voice, cutting through Percy's train of thoughts. "I WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU"

"Come." Bob was wearing an expression of concern "Before they catch you"