Annabeth Chase and the Lightning Thief

Chapter 34 - I meet my great-uncle

The palace of Hades, surprisingly, did not look appealing.

The whole building was black, other than the gates, which were bronze, but they were open, so that wasn't suspicious at all. On the gates, scenes of death had been carved, Greek warriors impaling other soldiers from chariots, a battlefield of corpses, French cavalry being swept off their horses, English ships sinking, atomic bombs exploding, terrorist attacks. They weren't scenes that I'd ever wanted to see.

We walked through the gates cautiously, finding ourselves in a messed-up garden. Instead of flowers, multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs and luminous plants grew, and instead of normal plants, precious jewels were scattered everywhere. Rubies and diamonds and emeralds lay in pot plants like they'd been grown there. Worse, some of Medusa's statues littered the area, frozen in horrific poses. I couldn't help but think that if we hadn't killed her, we'd be here right now, but as a statue.

The centre of the garden was the most normal part of it. It was an orchard of pomegranate trees, glowing bright orange. I shivered on seeing them.

"The garden of Persephone," I said. "Keep walking."

We moved quickly through the orchard, careful not to touch anything, no matter how strong the desire was. None of us wanted to be stuck here for longer than we had to, nevertheless forever.

We climbed the steps of the palace, moving over a black marble floor in a corridor lined with black pillars. I was definitely sensing a colour scheme of black, especially with the black ceiling.

Doorways lined the corridor, each guarded by a military skeleton. Some were obviously Greek, others French and some more were U.S. Marines. They held the weapons of their time and watched us menacingly as we passed them by, although none tried to stop us.

We paused at the big set of doors at the end of the corridor, guarded by a pair of U.S. Marines with rocket-propelled grenade launchers on their skeletal hands. I had to admit, Hades had good security, despite the fact we'd managed to get in. Although I was starting to think that it wasn't as hard as it was meant to be.

"You know," Grover mumbled. "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."

"Well, guys," Percy said uncertainly. "I suppose we should . . . knock?"

A hot wind blew down the corridor, causing the doors to swing open. The guards stepped aside, grinning at us out of their skulls.

"I guess that means 'entrez'," I said drily.

We stepped in, finding ourselves in the throne room with a throne made of bones at the far end. On it reclined Hades himself, watching us languidly.

He was tall, at least three metres and he radiated power, more than Ares. Upon his shoulder length black hair rested a crown of braided gold, the only colour on him. He wore a black robe that shifted to display shadowy faces, all with an expression of horror and pain. I would too if I was stitched into Hades's clothing.

I didn't feel comfortable in his presence. He radiated an aura of creepiness and misery, not just because of the whole death thing, but because of how powerful he was.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said, his voice smooth and slick. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

Percy stepped forward, taking on Hades by himself. I had to admit, he was braver than I'd originally thought.

"Lord and Uncle," he said, "I come with two requests."

Hades leaned forward, raising an eyebrow imperiously. "Only two requests? Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."