Walk With the Shadows [ Percy Jackson OC ]

THIRTY-NINE | Alex

GODS PLAYED WITH REALITY like it was a toy. Alex hated it. Hecate was no different. With a rush of cold air and deepening shadows, he watched Ophelia and her mother disappear from sight even as Persephone turned away to speak to Nico.

"Well, then," she said. Persephone shifted where she stood, her green dress rustling as she took another long drink of her wine goblet. "Nico, show these two around. I'll go speak with my husband."

Alex barely had time to register what she said before the shadows bent again and she disappeared into the aether. Silence fell beneath the veranda of Persephone's palace in her gardens. Above them, Nico leaned over the edge. 

As with every time he met Nico, the boy said little and watched everything. Alex turned from him to look at Kitty. He stuffed down his anger as he saw her standing silent, gripping the Lyre of Orpheus to her chest like it would disappear at a moment's notice. 

All around them towered crystal and obsidian trees, chaotic rows of poppies and jeweled roses. An ambient, silver light provided a respite from the oppressive darkness of the parts of the Underworld they'd traveled in thus far. The air, damp and still, suppressed all noise but a nearby babbling brook. If it hadn't been for the aching of his heart, he may have found it peaceful.

"You shouldn't be here," Nico said. He frowned. "Come on."

Alex turned back to him. The son of Hades stared down at them with those eyes which shone with wisdom of one far older than the child they belonged to. In the Underworld, Nico's skin paled even further than in the world above, dark hair black against his skin. 

He didn't dislike Nico. He just didn't know him. And anyone Alex didn't know, he didn't trust. The boy seemed far too knowledgeable about topics that didn't concern him. 

Stairs ascended in a curve up to the dark terrace. Alex went first, not sparing Kitty another glance as his stomach twisted and he clenched his fists. He had a job to do. He would have time to yell at her later.

With each step up into Persephone's palace-like retreat, Alex focused on his job. Step one was to regroup with Ophelia. Step two would be to talk to Hades. Alex doubted the god would be much help, but it would be worth a try. If he'd learned anything in his time since Kronos's army it was that the gods often worked in ways he'd never expect. Hermes's help when he killed the cyclops certainly showed that. Maybe Hades would help them on the quest just to spite his brother.

Reaching the top step, Alex took a deep breath of the cool Underworld air and scoped out the room. It was a mostly open space. Two thrones overlooked the garden and the Fields of Asphodel they had just left, one silver and one bone. Beyond them, further into the black and silver space that glowed with ambient light sat a table down the center of the room. Nico stood next to it. A bowl of pomegranates acted as a centerpiece.

"Being here is a bad idea," Nico said. He didn't come closer, just shook his head as he looked past Nico to Kitty as she finally reached the top. "The Underworld isn't a place for any of you."