Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book Six

“The Dark Olympians”

Chapter Seven: Beware of Fatal Flaws. They’re Killers!

Percy

The world was darker. No, really, it was. After all, it was almost nine o’clock in the morning, and only now the sun was starting to make its appearance. The warmth upon my face was a welcome comfort, and Blackjack seemed to enjoy it, too. With a whiny, he dove through a cloud before rising higher to let his black feathers ruffle in the warmer air.

I called for him not long after Mors left, and we left immediately. Stopping at rest areas along the New York Thruway, we made our way north. I figured it was best I didn’t go to Newark. Who knew where that traitor Clarisse was and if she was with her demon posse? No thank you.

Can we stop for breakfast now, Boss? Blackjack asked.

I shrugged. My stomach had been growling like Zeus’s thunderbolt most of our journey, and I really wanted to call camp. I knew it was a lost cause. After all, if Annabeth had, then I’d be getting some threats of double-strawberry patch duty next summer, but I wanted to ask Chiron about the Doors one more time. Just what would be I facing?

We landed just behind a Waffle House, and the butterfly was kind enough to rest on my shoulder. With a little help of a spigot and Paul’s lightning bracelet, I managed a rainbow.

“O Goddess, show me Chiron.”

Iris accepted the coin, but when the Big House porch appeared, Chiron was missing.

Instead, Rachel, with her hair tied in a messy bun and wearing jeans with bare feet, whirled toward me. Papers, wrinkled and stained, both in notebooks and floating loose leaf, fluttered about her with Ancient Greek scribbled on them.

“Percy! Where are you? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Is Chiron around?”

She sat cross-legged, crinkling some of the papers. “No. He’s been called to Olympus. With Apollo and Artemis missing, someone has to drive the moon and the sun.”

I blinked. I couldn’t have heard that right. “Apollo and Artemis are missing?”

“Yes. Apparently, each was lost almost a week ago during a shift change. Olympus has demanded someone take the responsibility, so the Apollo kids have been taking turns. The Hunters are here now, and they’ve been taking Artemis’s shifts.” She made a face.

I laughed. When was the last time I did that? “Have they tried to recruit you yet?”

“Tried, yes. Successfully, no. Then again, I’m already a maiden, so it’s not much of a stretch, is it?” She suddenly grew serious, her eyes dark. “Percy…you shouldn’t have taken off by yourself.”

I slumped. “So Annabeth told on me, huh?” I felt like I was six again and had broken a window at school.

Rachel shook her head. “Oracle, remember? Percy, you’re going to die,” she said without pretense.

I shrugged. “I’ve heard that before.”

“No, I’ve actually seen it this time. You have to fall for Olympus to truly fall. You will die, and nothing we can do will stop it.”

Your days at camp are this much fun, right?

I really didn’t know what to say or how to feel. I was shocked, I guess, a little scared, maybe even terrified. I think I hid it pretty well.

“No advice for me, though? Just tell it like it is, and your duty’s done.”

She shrugged, and by the way her hair covered her eyes, I knew she was crying. “Hold your breath.”

“What? I’m practically waterproof.”

Rachel refused to meet my gaze. “When the time comes, hold your breath.”

Now she was speaking riddles, but I guess that was all she did. “Do we win?”

No answer.

“Rachel, at least tell me that. If I’m going die, are we going to win?”

She sniffled and held herself. “You’ll see your brothers again. That’s all I know.”

That wasn’t what I asked.

I broke the connection then, not even saying good-bye. I wouldn’t. Call me an eternal optimist, though if I was honest with myself, I knew when I left that I wouldn’t be returning.

Geez, I’m sorry, Boss. Gotta be hard hearing that.

“What else is new, Blackjack?” I patted his back and headed inside the House.

The place was all but empty save for a few rural folks and the hostess and hosts. Taking a seat at the counter, I grabbed the laminated menu and picked out what I’d get for Blackjack. The waitress slapped her pad upon the counter, and I think she did it to make me jump. Please.

“I’ve been fighting monsters and gods since I was twelve,” I muttered. “Try it somewhere else.”

She smiled sweetly—too sweetly. “Please, deary. What you really need is a math tutor.”

My eyes shot up, and I wanted to hit myself. Eteco—my former math teacher—was the waitress, one of Hades’s Furies.

She dropped a plate of waffles in front of me, a demonic smile upon her features. “Eat up!”

Like hell.

Literally.

I practically fell out of my chair and dashed to the door. I was within a few feet of it when an explosion blasted in front of me. I didn’t remember much from it other than Blackjack’s wet and cold muzzle nuzzling me in the cheek. Ew…

Boss! Boss! Wake up!

I blinked as my head pounded from the inside out. If I wasn’t out in the boondocks, I would have thought I’d met a jackhammer at one of the construction sites in New York.

Another wet and slobbery push. BOSS!

A rush of heat swarmed to my left, but the minor explosion smacked me out of my daze. Pushing up, I saw the war that had ensued since I was thrown. The Waffle House was aflame, the Furies fighting the Makhai with Clarisse in front. How could this be? Weren’t the Furies and the Makhai on the same side?

“Ah ha!” Clarisse sliced through Eteco’s stomach and launched herself at me. With a fling of her hand, black fire flew toward me, and I blocked them with Riptide. When she landed before me, I parried her swipe and attacked with my own clash.

“Traitor!” I screamed. “How could you fight for the Dark Olympians, after everything Chiron and Camp has done for you?”

Her face contorted with a horrible grimace. “My father is the God of War, and more than anything, he wants conflict, Percy Jackson! He will be on the winning side. You have proven that!”

I moved too slow. Even though I’d beaten her dad when I was twelve, I wasn’t fast or as powerful so inward from the sea. When she swiped, I knew my spine would be sliced in half. Then, she did something I never expected—made a thin line, a flesh wound, on my torso.

Before I could ask, Eteco’s blood hand clasped Clarisse’s skirt, and her sword combated Clarisse’s attack. “Run, Jackson!”

So I did.

“Come on, Blackjack!” I swung onto his back, and we launched into the air. The butterfly once more took flight from my shoulder and led us toward the Doors of Death. I looked back only once, seeing Clarisse watch me leave. She didn’t scream wildly like I thought she would, mad that I’d escaped. Instead, she turned back to Eteco and simply stepped on the Fury’s stomach.

*^*^*

I dismounted in Lowell, Massachusetts, in front of the Tsongas Arena. The area looked like an industrial city that had grown during the early 1900s but died a little while later when jobs were outsourced. It slowly seemed to be making a comeback, but it would take time. The arena, itself, looked new and overlooked a river. Good for me. Being close to water always soothed me.

I now knew why the butterfly brought me here. Newark was where the New Jersey Devils’ played. Their farm team, the Lowell Devils, played here.

The butterfly flapped about a statue of the Lowell Devil, and in the right angle, he did look like Hades. No…he looked like Thanatos.

I don’t like this, Boss, Blackjack moaned. I don’t see any apples or anything. There’re just poppies and sunflowers!

“I’ll bring you back something from the Underworld.”

No. That’s all right, but I expect tons of strawberries when we get to camp.

The butterfly was telling me something about the statue. I just knew it. It fluttered just about the man’s ear, and I remembered when the Titans were attacking Manhattan last summer. Annabeth activated the statutes in the cities since they were actually automatons. I wondered if this one was like that.

I tried to think where the button would be to activate it. The helmet, like the Helm of Darkness? Or the stick, like the upside torch.

I stood back—there had to be something odd for me to trigger—and that was when the ground shook. I swore under my breath, kneeling down to be close to the tiles, while Blackjack took to the air.

BOSS!

Then, the earth swallowed the statue.

Really.

I was sooo going to die.

Gaia discovered the Makhai didn’t finish me and decided to swallow me whole, but she didn’t pop up from the ground.

Antaeus did.

He was younger than I remembered (about my age) and wore jeans, a tan tunic, and sandals this time, not just a loincloth. (Thanks the gods.) He had a thick head of brown, dirt-colored hair that was cut evenly, but he still had sea-green eyes like me and Triton. He was a mixture of the ocean and the earth.

Did that make him mud?

He stalked out of the hole he’d made and across the garden of poppies. Jumping to my feet, I pulled out Riptide, and he pulled out…a small gray sickle?

“If you carry this, my mother will think you’re me and not attack you.”

I looked at him, wigged out. “I killed you.”

He shrugged. “Apparently, second time’s the charm with Death. Go figure.”

I blinked. “I killed you.”

His teeth clenched, and he brought his fists to bear. “Do you want me to return the favor?”

No, I really didn’t, and I hesitantly took the sickle. It just couldn’t be that easy. As I slowly inched about him, on guard at all times, I yelled to Blackjack, “I’ll be back. Stay out of sight.”

Blackjack whinnied. Got it, Boss!

I finally reached the hole and looked down, seeing a rock stairwell down into the bowels of the Underworld. I glanced back at Antaeus and asked him one word.

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Have you seen the Dark Olympians? They’ve only gotten this power before they’ve acted like a family, something we as the, y’know, regular Olympians have never done. Maybe it’s about time we do.”

This, coming from the guy who made a temple of skulls dedicated to our father.

Well, I’d take all the help I could get.

As I started down the stairwell, he called me back. Antaeus fisted his hands at his thighs. “…Be careful. Triton was a dolphin’s ass…but he was my brother, too. I really don’t want to lose another one.”

Godly siblings are just weird. I waved. “Thanks…I guess.”

I entered.

*^*^*

I hate going to the Underworld. It’s always hot, and you can’t even get a tan. There’s no beach, and the people are about as much fun as dead bodies.

As I stepped off the stairs, I stood on a ledge, overlooking the fiery pit that was the Underworld. Did I mention I hate going here? I did? Oh, let me say it again.

I hate going to the Underworld.

It appeared that I’d come in a backdoor of sorts. The river Lethe ran through the infinite landscape, but to my left and up another hill sat a cavern. The river flowed into waterfalls before tumbling into the Underworld.

“You’ve come to the right spot, but there’s no crossbones to mark it. Lots of skulls, though.”

That voice I knew, and turning, Bianca di Angelo, in a beret and jeans, sent me a soft smile. “Hello, Percy. Good to see you here alive.”

“That’s how I like to come to the Underworld, Bianca.” It had been a while since I saw her last, and despite her dark hair and skin, which mirrored Hades’s, her smile looked more like a daughter of Aphrodite. “What are doing here?”

It was a stupid question. She was dead, so she lived in the Underworld.

She shrugged and looked toward the cavern. “I have been helping my father keep control of his realm. The Dark Olympians’ stronghold is within the Underworld, and you and I are going to stop them.”

I blinked at her. “You sent the Furies to save me?”

“No, my father did.” She pointed toward the cavern from which the rivers ran. “That’s the Cavern of Darkness where no sunlight ever touches. It’s the doorway to Morpheus’s Dreamworld, where Hypnos’s palace is.”

“And inside the palace?” I asked.

Bianca read my mind. “Yes, Percy. That’s where the Doors of Death are.”

That was all I wanted to know.

The butterfly flew in front of us. The walk to the cavern was longer than I expected, but Bianca passed the time. We talked about her new position as one of Hades’s lieutenants—

“My job is to scout and record the movements of the Dark Olympians. My father then takes the information to the council.”

“Then you know about—”

“Clarisse? Yes.” She held no anger, which was weird. I was pissed at Clarisse for changing sides.

“And what about Hades?” I asked. “Why doesn’t he switch sides?”

“He’s one of the Big Three, Percy.” She climbed the rocks before me, looking down occasionally to make sure I followed. “Why would he switch sides to be perceived as a lesser god?”

“But he could lead them.”

“It only matters if they win.”

“Ares seems to think he’s on the winning side.”

Bianca didn’t answer.

We reached the top, and though she had no debris on her, she still dusted off her clothes as did I. I looked into the mouth of the cave, a little unsettled by the all-encompassing darkness. At the mouth, skeletons littered the ground, and from their expressions, they looked like they’d died in terror.

The butterfly flapped in front of the cavern, urging us to follow, before it disappeared into the darkness.

Tearing off a piece of clothing, I found some wood and used the fires of the Underwood to create a torch.

Bianca seemed nervous, so I tried to put on my bravest smile. I doubt it worked. “Ready?”

She stared into the cave. “I will accompany you as far as the Doors, Percy, but I cannot pass through with you.”

“Why?”

“I’ve already lost to Death.” Her already dark eyes became sullen. “I cannot defeat him.”

I nodded, though to be honest, after Death, what was there to be afraid of? Some young god with a bad haircut? “I understand,” I said anyway.

We stared at each other in silence before we both looked into the darkness. We then looked back at each other. “You first.”

I smirked. “Your father has the Helm of Darkness.”

“Your father has a big pointy stick. Your point?”

“You’re dead.”

“Oh, sure, use that as an excuse.”

“Fine.” I dug into my pocket and found the sand dollar Triton had left me. “Heads, you go in first. Tails, I go in first.”

She didn’t seem to like it but agreed anyway.

So, short story shorter, I walked beside the Lethe, Bianca behind me. The river eventually forked, circling the back of the cavern, where it bubbled from a single spring. Above it was a statue of a beautiful woman dressed in a long toga. Her hair was wrapped in an elegant bun, her chin raised high.

“Who is that?” I asked.

Bianca shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve asked my father, but he tells me not to speak of her.”

“Well, let’s find out.”

I closed my eyes and threw the torch into the river. Like Jack had down at camp, I fell to my knees. The power to do this before was unbearable, and that was just to lift the river. Now, I was going to suppress it.

I looked up toward the ceiling, though I couldn’t see anything now.

“Dad,” I breathed. “Help me out here…please.”

Then, I took a deep breath and urged the river to stop. The pain was instantly incredible, and my limbs began to shake. “PERCY!” Bianca gasped and fell to her knees next to me, but she could do nothing.

At first, I thought the river wasn’t going to do anything, but slowly, it broke off and backed up into the spring. I could hardly breathe; my stomach felt like it was being pulled into Tartarus. I focused on the water going down, down, down...and only one thought persisted.

“Now…” I murmured to Bianca, and though I could only make out the faint white light of her glow, I saw it disappear down the spring’s tunnel. Somehow, I lifted my heavy limbs and tumbled down face first.

Down the rabbit’s hole just seemed so appropriate.

Golden light greeted us at the end of the slide, and I fell flat on barren rock. The momentum slamming me into it hurt but rolled me off the rock surface. I let my hold upon the water go, and it once more bubbled up the shaft.

Bianca breathed heavily next to me, giggling slightly. “I forgot how much fun it was to be on a quest with you.”

I found myself smiling at her. We were never really close, and I still believed her choice to join the Hunters was selfish. But she was a kind soul, and the reason she died was because she loved Nico.

I haggardly sat up and leaned an elbow on my knee. Here, in the bowels of the Underworld, in the Cavern of Darkness, was Morpheus’s Dreamworld. It wasn’t what I expected, which I guess was sugar plums dancing and a white fluffy landscape. It reminded me of Dark World in the original Super Mario Brothers video game. (Yes, I play retro games, thank you very much.)

It was night with golden stars in the sky. Yes, there was a sky. Weird, right? Palm trees and tropical flowers grew upon the landscape before the large, golden palace which overpowered the immediate area. Golden torrets reached into the sky, and from the very tippy top, the River Lethe began, trickling down its arches before cutting through the land and finally bubbling up behind us.

We slowly climbed to our feet—my butt really hurt from the fall—and we followed the river. I thought we were going to make it without any incident. After all, the Dark Olympians had to be somewhere conniving the next part of their Olympian domination, but as we reached the palace, I suddenly wasn’t there anymore. I was sitting at the dinner table after a long day at college. My mom sat to my left and Paul to my right. Straight in front of me was Fyn, a bright, almost electrifying smile upon his face.

My mom ran her hand through my hair. “Is everything all right, Percy? You seem so tense.”

“Mom?” How did I get here? “What—What’s going on? Is this an Iris message? Where’s Bianca?”

“Oh, don’t worry about her,” Paul assured, a bright white light glowing about his body. “She’ll get what she deserves. You all will. Nemesis will make sure of it.”

I knew instinctively that Paul was going to show his true form, which would burn Mom, Fyn, and me to death. I jumped toward them, screaming, “NO!”

Pain wracked my entire being, and I fell to my knees on the bank of Lethe. Huffing, I glanced behind to see Clarisse standing over Morpheus, her little cronies over Phantasos, the god of fantasies.

Bianca had a hand on my shoulder, and I wished I could feel her.

“Clarisse?” I stood and pulled Riptide. “What are you—”

“Go, now!” she commanded. “Phobeter is still around here!”

The third member of the Oneiroi, the Dream Gods and sons of Hypnos.

I didn’t know why—maybe because she just saved my life—but I listened to Clarisse.

Taking off toward the palace, I shot a glare at Bianca. “Want to explain that?”

“Ares has chosen the winning side—our side. Knowing he could cause more battles, he asked Clarisse to actually become one of the goddesses of battles. This way, she’s not only helping to fuel more war but also doubling as a spy for our side.”

I looked at her sideways. “Clarisse helping me? Your dad? What’s next, Bianca? Is Kronos, the Titan God, on our side, too?”

She laughed.

The inside of the palace was weird. Black curtains and feather-stuffed furniture decorated the elegant sitting areas and contrasted the golden walls and floors. A cool breeze blew through the hallways, and then, I realized the whistle that accompanied the gusts wasn’t created by the wind. It was a conch.

My breath caught in my throat, and Bianca stopped two feet after I did. “It’s this way, Percy! Come on!”

I shook it off. I had to be hearing things.

Bianca ran, of course not breathlessly. “Listen to me. The Doors are protected by the Oneiroi. Just because two out of three are down doesn’t mean you’re safe.”

“Why?” I clutched Riptide. “What should I be afraid—”

Bianca stopped before the corner. I continued and halted.

“—of?”

Two black doors set in golden and silver frames stood before me. They were as black as Tartarus, and I felt like I was falling endless into their abyss. That wasn’t what stopped my breathing.

Triton stood before him, his side wounded and burnt from Fyn’s attack. Next to him, Tyson leaned over, his eye missing.

“Brother!” Tyson growled. Peanut butter was stuck to his teeth, like he had been eating when he was killed. “Why weren’t you there?”

Triton raised his trident. “Ah, it isn’t our pathetic demigod brother. To think, I wanted to save him, but he couldn’t do that for me.”

“You’re…You’re not real,” I said. I wish I could say my insides didn’t flash cold. “I saw you die, and Tyson…”

“And where do you think we are, Percy?” He came forward, his trident out toward me, his movements like an undead mummy. “This is a part of the Underworld, and this is our punishment! This is what we have been damned to—because we were your brothers.”

“No…” I couldn’t let this happen. “I’ll talk to Hades. I’ll make a deal. I won’t let this—”

“You think you have any power?” Triton laughed sardonically. “When have you ever had any power, Percy? You are nothing but a weakling, a mortal! But don’t worry! I’ll talk to Hades.” He lunged. “I’ll have him punish you right here with us!”

I barely raised Riptide fast enough to clash against his trident. I—I had let this happen. Because of me, Triton and Tyson were damned forever in servitude to the Dark Olympians, and it was my fault. Triton wanted nothing more than to protect me, and Tyson…Tyson was simply my brother. He gave me support through everything, and now…this is my fault.

Just hearing, “DIE, BROTHER!” from Tyson killed me, and when Triton sliced my side, I fell and tumbled before Adidas sneakers and black boots I knew all too well.

“No…” It couldn’t be. Tears coursed my cheeks like the rivers of Hades.

Annabeth, Thalia, Luke, and Grover stood before me, hatred twisted on their faces. “This is your fault, Percy.” Annabeth’s voice was strangled, and I wondered if she had been. “When you left, we were attacked. We could have used your help, but instead, you ran off. You left us alone, and now, we’ll do the same to you.”

“Annabeth, please…I’ll change this! I won’t let this happen!”

“It has happened,” Luke snickered. “You let this happen once already, and now, you’ll fail again. You have failed, and we all had to suffer for it.”

He was right. It was my fault the world ended, and now it will end again. It has if my friends died, and I couldn’t lift my blade. My hand wouldn’t clasp it to fight against them. I wanted to save them, so I thought leaving was the best way.

Instead, it killed them.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, Percy Jackson,” a slithering voice licked my ear. I barely had the strength to look over my shoulder at the man sauntering forward with a snake wrapped about my neck. He had no shadow, like Morpheus had taken his. He bent down next to me like Bianca had done earlier.

“You have never been appreciated. Not by your friends or your family, especially when the Olympians refused to help you,” he purred and brushed my tears away with the back of his hand. “How have they ever helped their mortal children? I know of your friend Silena. Her mother was Aphrodite. Did the goddess even come to her funeral? And what about Beckendorf? His father could have saved him but didn’t.”

“We have to live our own lives,” I replied. “This is my fault and no one else’s.”

“Is it?” The man asked. “When have you ever lived your own life, Percy? You were first part of a prophecy, your will constricted by the utterance of an Oracle who spoke years before your birth. You followed its beckon, never deviating. Even your friend Luke was fated to die, yet Hermes could have prevented that, couldn’t he have?”

I screwed shut my eyes. “No.”

“Yes, gods are powerful. I know. I’m one of them.” He touched my chin and lifted it like a father. “I know what you’ve searched for, Percy. I know what you want. Love, something the Olympians have never showed you.”

“No.”

“Your uncle wanted to blast you before. What do you think he’ll want to do once he finds out you got his daughter killed? Or Athena or Ares or even your father? You’ve taken how many of his children from him now?” He kissed my forehead. “I promise you, Percy. We will protect you.”

N—No…

Then I thought of the battle Jack and Triton fought against the Eris, Hypnos, Thanatos. The Olympians wanted to blast each, had in the past, but the Dark Olympians wouldn’t let their siblings get hurt.

They were family, something the Olympians had never been.

Now they never would be. After the Olympians realized what I’d done to their children, they’d turn on my father, blaming him for ever having me. War would destroy the Western Civilization, and the Dark Olympians would only have to watch.

I couldn’t let that happen, but I couldn’t lift Riptide, even when the snake that had clung to Phobeter’s neck now slithered onto my shoulder. It slowly caressed my neck with its scaly hide, sending shivers through my body, but I deserved this. Nemesis eventually came for me, to punish me for my crimes, and I would accept my fate.

“That’s right, Percy. Trust me. I’ll end this.”

The snake closed upon me, even as Phobeter’s caring expression became dark.

“I’ll end your pain.”

I found some peace in that, only for “Naturally” by Selena Gomez to play on a lyre. Thorn-ed veins trapped my arms but didn’t stop until they pierced the snake. It hissed, but before it could sink its deadly teeth into my skin, a flamed dagger tore it from my neck. At my knees, it burned to ash.

“Loving your friends isn’t a fatal flaw,” a newcomer reminded.

My head shot up, and before me, the angered vision of my friends faded. Beyond stood Grover, his eyes still furious and now filled with emotion.

Thalia notched an arrow, pointing directly at the man’s forehead. “Move away, now, or I might decide to use your forehead for target practice.”

“You cannot make the god of nightmares quiver, child,” the man reprimanded.

Nico flattened his hands upon the ground. “WATCH ME!”

The floor rocked and cracked, parting me and Phobeter. Fire danced up from the chasm and swallowed the god of nightmares whole.

“PERCY!” Annabeth lunged toward me, and for a moment, I thought she was going to stab me with her dagger. Instead, she fought me with her lips, covering mine with hers. I struggled. I fought, but she refused to let go until I realized she wasn’t dead and this—our love—was real.

“What—What happened?”

“You couldn’t conquer your fatal flaw, dumb ass,” Clarisse muttered.

Luke rolled his eyes. “The Doors of Death are protected by our worse fear, and seeing how your fatal flaw is protecting those you love—well, it kinda undid you.”

“But what you fail to realize is that your fatal flaw isn’t one,” Annabeth chastised, “especially when you have friends who are willing to die for you, too.”

I took the hand Luke offered and was pulled to my feet. “But how did any of you even know where I was?”

Grover blahhed. “That was my doing. We still have our emphatic connection, Percy, and you’re my best friend. I wasn’t going to let you go off on your own personal war, especially since you promised to take me with you.”

I looked at each one of my friends’ faces, and I reached forward, pulling Grover into a tight hug. “Thanks, buddy. I owe you.”

“Yeah, you do, and you can pay up in cans when we get back to New York.”

“Done.”

“Are you done now, cry baby?” Clarisse pulled her sword. “We have a Western Civilization to save.”

I smiled at her, especially her. After all we’ve been through together, she could be trusted to be a pain in the ass, but I could still trust her.

“Let’s do it.”

We charged the Doors of Death.

*^*^*

They opened with a creak, like they hadn’t been opened in some time. After all, how long had it been since someone had come down here? The room itself looked like it hadn’t been touched, its ceilings arched like a cathedral. Golden beams of light shone down from the stained glass windows. Upon the far stone wall were carvings of eight, chained Greek gods, forever damned to a fate worse than death.

The first was breathtaking with a long ponytail curled about her neck, a white top that clung her to in all the right places but revealed nothing.

The second had the start of a go-tee and was dressed in a sweatshirt. Flames were carved in the area about his body like twin flamethrowers about his wrists.

A girl was punk hair and several piercing up her earlobes was the third. Dressed in black, thigh-high boots and a miniskirt, she looked more familiar than I wanted.

The fourth wore winged shoes and a rebellious smirk, and the fifth was pudgy with braided hair and an angered mug.

The sixth was too familiar to be comfortable with swimming trunks, sandals, and a surfer’s T-shirt.

The last two looked like twins—one a small hunter, the other a disco prince.

Their faces were contorted in pain and almost indistinguishable, but I knew them. I just knew I did.

They were a passing thought. In the middle of the room was a single pillar, holding up the chamber. Like the eight gods in the back, an older, mature female god was carved into the rock. Her hair was pulled back in an elegant bun with a circlet holding her bangs. Her toga was darker, and I instinctively knew it to be black. Her eyes dared anyone to come toward her, and I obliged.

Not for me, but for the thirteen-year-old boy who wasn’t a carving but actually chained to the stone, a white light glowing about his slumping body.

“Fyn?” I called hesitantly.

Slowly, his honey head rose, and innocent sky blue eyes shocked me. “Percy…? Is that you?”

I shot forward before skidding to a stop just in front of him. “Are you okay?” I asked, checking him for wounds. Thick, purple bruises stained his skin, but other than that—

“Percy? You look…younger. What happened? How’d you get away?”

“Uh, kid, we are young,” Luke replied, pulling Backbiter. “You’re the one who’s a little older than you should be.”

He blinked, and as Luke went to swipe, Annabeth caught his arm. “Wait! Fyn, why are you here? How’d you break away from the Dark Olympians?”

“Annabeth, we don’t have time!” I demanded, uncapping Riptide. “The Dark Olympians will come looking for us. We have to free him now!”

“WAIT!”

But I already cut through my brother’s restraints. I wasn’t going to let the Dark Olympians take him away.

Catching him, I realized this was the first time I was actually holding Fyn, and he was light. His muscles were still growing, and he was short, barely reaching my chest. I was about to tussle his hair, but the pillar behind us began to crack.

We all turned as the carving of the beautiful goddess broke and dark light seeped from the fractures. I held my breath and hoped this wasn’t what Rachel was talking about.

Then, the pillar exploded before us, and when I opened my eyes again, now the rock goddess was flesh. Her toga was a shimmering azure with golden sprinkles. Her face was a light gray but still lively. Her hair was as dark as the night itself.

Perhaps because she was the night.

Suddenly, from every shadow formed the Dark Olympians and gods. They fell to their knees, their heads bowed.

“Mother,” some cooed.

“Grandmother,” others revered.

“Goddess,” even more.

I gulped.

I’d released the Twelfth Dark Olympian, the leader of the entire movement or perhaps its cause.

Nyx, the goddess of night.

To Be Continued…