𝐖𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐂! percy jackson

vii. Father-Daughter Bonding

━━ chapter seven
father-daughter bonding

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━When Fiona woke up, she felt cold. She was in a dark place━rocky, a bit smelly; like muddy waters. The ground under her fingers was rough; like sand, but it wasn't normal sand. It dark and muddled with shining black pebbles. She heard the gentle rush of a river, and when she looked over, she saw an African American man standing, waiting there on a boat at the shore of the river.

No.

Fiona's fingers reached up to her necklace. Opening up the locket, she saw the seed inside was shrivelled and dead. No. No. No. No. No.

"Welcome to the Underworld, Fiona Midgrass!" the man standing on the boat's figure shimmered from human to a skull and back to human. He had a British accent━like one of those obnoxious stereotypical ones. "My dear! I have the best and foremost introduction for you to the Underworld. A child of Pluto━It will be an honour!"

Fiona stared at him, her mouth agape. What? This ... this didn't make sense. She had been fighting and winning, and celebrating and talking with Percy and then the next moment, she couldn't breathe and then like that ... she had died.

"No," she murmured, afraid. Fiona shook her head vigioursly. "N━No."

Charon (she remembered him from the myths now) frowned, "What?"

Fiona pushed herself to her feet, trembling. "B━But━I didn't━I prayed to her! L━Like I always do! I give her offerings, I never━I'm not━why is she angry━?"

She didn't understand. What had she done to anger Pluto's wife? She gave her offerings and prayed to her twice a day. She made sure that she would never need to stop watering the pomegranate tree. Fiona stepped back away from Charon, shaking her head. She's not dead. She can't be dead. She hasn't achieved anything she wanted to. I'm not dead━

Fiona's back hit something and she let out a yelp and shuffled away, spinning around. Her hands were out, ready for an attack, but all she saw was just a pale man staring back at her. He was tall, shrouded in a rich black suit and looking like he had just attended a funeral. His hair was dark, loose━he looked like someone ... Fiona realised he looked like Nico. Her hands lowered, and her stomach twisted. It was Pluto. It was her father.

Behind her, Charon cried out a surprised, "My Lord!" he dropped down to a low bow, but Pluto paid him little attention. His gaze was fixed on Fiona with tender eyes she wasn't expecting.

"My daughter, do not be afraid," he told her. "You have fought well. You make me proud. And you will continue to fight, do not worry."

Pluto stepped to the side, and Fiona frowned. He nodded to the passageway in front of her. A cavern with open doors that led to a long corridor. At the end, Fiona glimpsed light. She felt warm again. "What ... what happened?" she asked, her voice a lot quieter than usual. She turned to her father, terribly confused. "What ...?"

Pluto sighed, and stepped towards her. Fiona tensed up, recoiling away as he came closer. Her father stopped, and pursed his lips. "Death is captured, Fiona," he told her. "I'm sure you and your siblings have suspected, and I'm here to tell you are right. Gaea is rising, and she has her army of giants ready to take out their revenge on the gods. You, Hazel, Frank Zhang and the boy Percy Jackson must stop the army that will attack on the Feast of Fortuna."

Fiona hated how her hands were trembling, as were her legs. She felt like she might be sick. "But ... but how? I'm dead? The tree ... she stopped watering it."