Unlikely Heroes

Chapter 23: Into The Shadows

Annabeth Chase

It has been months since the Oracle spoke to Aileen. Nothing has happened at all. Currently, I sit in the library of the Hades cabin with Aileen. She is doing some of the homework I prepared while I try to decipher the prophecy. I can't say I got very far during the months. Most often, every prophecy I studied had double meanings or something else. There are so many options and combinations...

The first sentence contained failure, shadow and somewhere far away. Shadows... it struck me the first time as something important and the key of understanding the first sentence. I walk towards an isle of books that contain the known powers of Demigod children. Several of them are there Athena demigods children... Hypnos... Hecate... when I reach the spot of Hades, it is empty.

"Did you take the books with the power of Hades' Demigod children, Aileen?" I call out. "Yeah, it's in my room. I wanted to try out some new powers. To see whether I can do it or not," she answers back. I sigh and walk to her room. In a quick pace, I cross the small garden and into her room. As usual, it is clean, and the beds are neatly made. At least she takes care of the household...

I scan her room to see where the book is, but I first see something that made me blush feverishly. A photo in a flowery frame stands on her nightstand. It is of us in a classy restaurant that she had chosen for the second date. Aileen must have had someone take it, because we are both dancing to a slow tune. Her black dress flowing as she moves, while my velvet dress tries to mimic the movements. We were failing miserably at dancing, but I was truly happy when we went there. We both laughed and joked to our hearts content that night. Maybe it is time for the next step...

I shake my head mentally and pick up the book as it lay next to the photo. It has several colorful bookmarks sticking out of it. Aileen has calmed down with the unrelenting training mindset, but is still training hard. I pick up the book and walk back to Aileen.

As I sit back down, I briefly glance at Aileen. Her tongue is slightly sticking out as she concentrates on the questions. Books sprawling around the question sheet. She is too cute sometimes. "Do you have any questions?"

"No, I want to try it myself first..." she mumbles. "Your test is still two weeks away, it is not bad to have questions." Aileen sighs, but nods softly. "I know, I just struggle with these formulas and converting these units... It is just mumble jumble for me! Why are there so many symbols and weird looking formulas? They look like modern art pieces that belong in an art museum!" She says with a groan. I softly laugh as I see her spreading out on the desk, arms wide, face flat on the desk.

"We'll call it a day soon," I say to ease her. "Thank the Gods! I wanted to try something before the end of the afternoon."

I open the book and flips through the pages. "Oh, what would that he?" I ask as I scan the pages. "One of the bookmarks. Why don't you pick something?" She says, smiling softly at me. "Hmm..."

The pages fly by as I scan the various pages. Several powers come by... necromancy... geokineses... Umbrakinesis. I frown as I see the chapter title. "Darkness and Shadow power..." I mumble. "It is what I am best at. You've seen me conjure up shadow armor and the like," Aileen says as she looks at me while leaning on her hand.

"Shadow... it's part of the prophecy..." I continue to mumble and scan the text for information. It takes a moment, but then I see it. It's so obvious. How did I miss it.

"Shadow travel."

"That one is truly amazing! I tried to do it once, but nothing happened," she stands up to walk to a shadowy corner, "I tried walking through a shadow with a destination in mind. Like this..." she says and walks in the shadow. Her feet are disappearing... My eyes widen as I see it happen. "Aileen, no!" I yell and run to her.

Her own eyes widen as she sees it. I barely catch her hand before we get sucked into the shadows. Gods... the space is crushing down on me. Aileen looks equally pained, but to a much lesser extent.

"Annabeth, you... don't... good," Aileen's slurry words reach me. Darkness swirls around me, twisting, and crushing down on me. "I can't..." I say with a pained and strained voice. Slowly, from the edges of my vision... darkness starts to fill my vision. The last thing I see is Aileen hoisting me up and running to somewhere...

Gentle hands caress my cheeks. They are soft, a bit cold, every move is soothing and done with care. Then a soft sensation is felt on my forehead. What is making this angelic touch? I don't want it to stop.

"Love? Wake up, please," Aileen's soft and caring voice says. "But the angel..." I murmur out. Aileen laughs. "Angel? Why thank you, my dear Annabeth!"

I groan as my senses start to fill with all that is around me. I feel myself fearing where I am and reluctantly open my eyes. A dark and heavy atmosphere. Ground that feels like glass, a red sky, dead trees, and monsters coming out of the ground like worms... This place is bad, very bad. Why Tartarus? Why?!

"Aileen?" I mumble as I turn to her. She leans slightly over me as my head rests on her lap. "I know, we're in the Underworld. This ain't good. There are forces here I greatly fear..." she says as she looks around with worry and fear. I have never seen her with fear, or at least not this much.

"We need to get away from here, Annabeth. This place is not safe for us," Aileen says as she helps me up. I rub my face a bit as I look around. There are so many things here that could kill us with such ease... I have no idea where to go. All I see is dark places, large mountains, lava, and nothing that could be described as 'good'.

"I hope you know where to go, Aileen... or can you take us through a shadow again?" I ask. She sighs softly as she shakes her head. "If I do that again, I am not sure if I can make it. I may not have passed out, but I am utterly drained of my energy. My powers are weaker, unfortunately," she explains. Great... just great.

"You really did it now, Aileen," I mumble while looking around. "Hey, I wanted to go to Marie! Not Tartarus! But I feel we should go there... it is the least evil or bad thing I'm feeling from this place..." she says as she points to a North-Eastern direction.

"Sure, why not. For once, I have no better idea... We are so unprepared to deal with this, Aileen! Oh, Gods..." I say as realization hit me. Aileen rolls her eyes as we start to walk. "Let me guess, it is the prophecy..."

"It is, you were supposed to be going far away... this is so far from New York! And we are certainly not prepared for this, and now we are going to meet someone? I am not looking forward to finding out who it may be..." I mutter out softly. Aileen shrugs as we continue to walk. "At least, we won't die, right? But we may want to run!" she says with distress. I look behind us, and I am terrified by what I see coming towards us.

It is large, bulky, and steam rises from its hard skin. A worm like creature with devilish features digs its way towards us with great speed. I immediately start to run while holding Aileen's hand tightly. "Gods, being with you is dangerous!" I say as we run. "Hey! I didn't ask for this!"

We kept running, but the monster is slowly catching up to us. I feel myself shivering slightly as I think about getting eaten by that thing. The further we run, we slowly start to run around in a darker and darker space. I am not sure whether that is good or bad. The monster does not seem to care as it tries to catch us with all its might.

I glance back at the monster as it hisses with steam at us, but my terrified expression is being replaced with shock. It is disintegrating into nothingness and within a second it is gone. "Who dares to trespass my domain?" A voice echos with such authority and power. The power I feel is so great, being in this presence make you utterly stunned. Hades does not even compare to it. Aileen and I turn slowly with shaking limbs to the voice. My jaw drops in sheer terror and shock.

Nyx, Protogenos of the Night.