The Male Hunter | Olympus' Traitor #1

Chapter 30: Death of a Hero

The only thing that could be heard in the elevator car was the horrible music, and the soft sobbing of Hannah. She hadn't moved, their hands were still intertwined, and she still refused to believe that he was gone. Percy was on the other side, staring at the roof in shock. That was when Thalia couldn't take it anymore, leaning over, she closed Jacob's eyes. If you ignored the hole in his chest, it was almost like he was sleeping. Finally untangling their hands and looking at the box in her palm, Hannah worked up the courage to open it. Once she saw what was inside, she gasped. "Is this? Was he?" she stammered.

"He was," Percy said sadly. "He was going to do it any day now."

"It really is beautiful," Thalia said. "He considered himself the luckiest man alive to have even met you."

"Yes," Hannah whispered before slipping the ring on her left ring finger.

The doors finally opened after what had seemed like forever, revealing the lobby of the Empire State Building. Looking out, they could see Frank, Hazel, Leo, and Calypso arguing with the guard at the desk. However, when the elevator chimed they all looked over and sprinted towards their friends, despite the protests of the guard. "Oh thank the gods," Calypso said as they ran up. "You're alright."

"Wait, where's Jacob, what happened?" Hazel questioned, noting that only three people were standing at the door of the elevator and the tears running down their faces. Hannah broke down, sobbing once again as they stepped aside to reveal Jacob's body slumped against the wall of the elevator, a small pool of blood under him. Hazel's hand flew to her mouth and she stumbled backwards, an air of sadness filling the air around them. Every one of them had experienced death before, but that didn't make it any easier.

"We need to get to New Rome," Percy stated. "And fast."

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Jacob found himself in a place he had hoped he wouldn't see for a long time, DOA Recording Studios. Pulling a coin out of his pocket that he always kept with him, just in case, Jacob walked up to a man in a fancy Italian suit. "Boat, now," Jacob said as he slammed the drachma on the counter to get Charon's attention.

Charon sighed and took the coin. "I wish you demigods would just leave me alone and do your quests elsewhere."

"I'm dead this time Charon, Mors finally caught me," Jacob said sadly, wishing he could just make a run for the door.

Charon finally took a close look at Jacob. "Hm, I guess you are," he stated. "Come along then." The two then walked into the elevator at the end of the room. The elevator started moving down, but pretty soon it was moving forward as a boat across the River Styx. Jacob sighed as he looked around at the realm of Pluto. This was his new home now, so he may as well get used to it. He hoped for Elysium, of course, but expected to get sent to the Fields of Asphodel. Because of this Jacob was tempted to just go for the EZ Death line, but decided to go for judgement. Hannah would at least want him to try and get in Elysium, and he wanted to see her again.

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The gods were still arguing, well the ones against Percy were. It seems that their Greek personas were against him, while their Roman ones were for him. Suddenly, Apollo clutched his chest as if in pain, losing control and shifting to his Roman form as he did so. "Brother, what's wrong?" Artemis asked, concerned.

"No, not another one," Apollo whispered. "Not again."

"Apollo, what is it?" Artemis asked again.

Before Apollo could answer Annabeth stumbled into the throne room, shirt torn to be used as bandages around her chest and face. "Enough!" Annabeth shouted, causing the gods to pause and revert to Greek forms. "While you were busy arguing Percy Jackson escaped!" Artemis looked relieved at the statement, while Zeus looked downright furious.