The Winters

Hades

Lauren's POV:

Hades' throne room is exactly what you'd expect. Black walls that stretch endlessly upward and a tall backed throne made of dark stone. But that certainly doesn't mean my father is predictable.

The Fury dropped me in the middle of the room. I bit my lip to keep from screaming as I hit the grimy floor. I looked up at Hades, glaring fiercely, wishing my powers would work on the god. He only smiled.

I knew he wanted me to kneel so I stood even though it hurt; I had to show him that he wasn't in control of me. "What do you want?" I asked, tossing my hair out of my face.

His smile vanished, replaced by a look of cruel disappointment that hurt me more than it should've. "I could ask the same of you."

I growled and tried to take a step forward but my knee collapsed beneath me and I fell hard on it. I waited a beat for the pain to subside then sighed, trying to keep my temper under control. "I came to save my brother and stop the destruction of the Underworld, something you should have done a long time–"

"Silence!"

I tore at my lip with my teeth, hating how vulnerable I felt.

"I will not argue this with you again, I have made it quite clear what I intend to do."

"Leave Cassius in there to die?" I knew Father didn't like me, the unwanted spawn of Pluto— but I'd always thought he cared for Cassius, flesh and blood of Hades through and through. "How many times do I have to tell you people, if Cassie stays down here any longer, the entire realm will be destroyed!" My voice rose to a scream, tears pricking my eyelids. "Can't you see?" I allowed myself to cry a single drop, feeling it slipping down my cheek. I hated resorting to guilt but I had to try. "You have to help me..."

I didn't fail to notice the half-smile on his face. "Fine. I'll help." Hades made a motion with his hand and both my arms were tugged behind my back. It took me a moment to realize what he had done.

I yanked on the handcuffs but they didn't loosen. I screamed in frustration. "This isn't what I wanted!"

"You shouldn't have come here, Lauren."

I ground my teeth, hating how calm he was. How perfectly in control. I started to rise, though what I intended on doing I wasn't sure. Skeletons erupted from the ground all around me, trapping me within their circle. I glanced up at my father, a jolt of painful fear shooting through me, as one of them slammed a makeshift club into my skull. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Hades standing up from his throne and walking away. 

Scarlett's POV:

When I pulled us from the darkness, we were in Central Park.

Nico looked at me and shook his head as if trying to clear it. "I'll never get over the feeling."

I didn't smile, instead, I nodded toward a mound of boulders. To any mortal, it would look innocent, but we both knew it was the entrance to the Underworld. "Well?" I said, "One of us has to sing something." I waited for a beat and he didn't respond so I added, "Thank you for volunteering."

Nico gave me an annoyed glance but didn't protest. He knelt down next to the rocks, clearing his throat. "Jingle bells, Percy smells, Nico all the way!"

I rolled my eyes, bending down and adding my own verse. "Jar-jar binks, Nico stinks, the Winters save the day!"

Nico glared at me but I could see the smile he was trying so hard to hide. The entrance didn't seem to like our parodies, as it stayed firmly stuck shut. Nico and I glanced at each other. "I'm not singing anything else." He stated as I opened my mouth to tell him to try another song.

I sighed. "Okay, fine, I'll sing." I cleared my throat and sang out a few verses of "God Save the Queen".

Nico looked at me like I was crazy but it did the trick and the door to the Underworld opened with a sharp crack and a grinding sound.

He motioned toward the tunnel. "Ladies first."

The Underworld had always struck me as dark and cold and crushing, and it proved exactly how I remembered it. I took a deep breath. "Let's do this quickly and get out." Nico nodded in understanding and we walked toward the gates.

Cerberus stood guard, as usual, and when he saw me he barked excitedly, clearly more happy to see me than I was him. Nico scratched behind one of his heads and I tickled the back of one ear when he bent down to us.

We moved on, toward the dark gates that loomed over us even at this distance. We walked through the quickly moving EZ-Death line, expecting to enter easily. Instead, an alarm blared and the security guy in charge slammed a plastic bar down in front of us.

He wore a crumpled blue Hawaiian shirt, and a few wisps of greasy gray hair escaped from beneath his straw hat. I couldn't read the name tag pinned haphazardly on his shirt pocket.

"What's the problem?" I ground my teeth, prepared to use my powers on him if necessary.

He shrugged and unscrewed a cigar from between his teeth. "Hate to break it to you, honey," his voice proved squeakier than I'd imagined. "But you're not dead."

"Well obviously." I rolled my eyes. "Any other shocking discoveries you care to share with us?" I didn't wait for him to answer, opting to try to confuse him. "So, as I said before, what's the problem here?"

He looked a little bewildered. "Uh, well, you're not dead..." He sipped coffee from a styrofoam cup.

"I know I'm not dead!" I retorted. "Because if I was dead, I wouldn't be asking what the problem was would I? Because if I was dead then not being dead wouldn't be an issue, now would it?" He took another thoughtful sip of his coffee, brow crinkled. "Well, I dunno..."

"Well, I know!" I stated forcefully. "Now, we're just going to walk right through this gate, and you're going to shut off that annoying alarm before Cerberus gets mad." The man didn't look convinced, so I hurriedly continued. "Since being not dead isn't a problem when you're not dead."

He nodded his head slowly, slurping his coffee and ambling over to his control booth. He fumbled with switches until the alarm stopped. Grinning, I grabbed Nico's arm, shoving the bar up and pulling him through the gate.