annais min was the god among mortals, the death that came along with life. now more than ever, she knew the cost of her existence, of what hades had done when he chose to pursue her mother. everything came down to her and the four other min girls, t...
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CHAPTER SIXTEEN: HELL IS EMPTY ( . . . and all the devils are here? )
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"SHE'S FRIENDLY."
Annais was beginning to forget what Percy Jackson's voice sounded like. It was strange, really. In the six months he spent at Camp Jupiter, she never thought twice about it. At Camp Jupiter, he was out of sight, out of mind. But it was different this time. This time, he and the others shook hands with Death and she was very aware of this.
And of course, the first thing he said to them was sarcastic. Instinctively, Annais waited for Ezra's typical rebuttal. She pretended not to feel the sting of the silence.
"Dude!" Surprisingly, Jason was the first to greet Percy. He wrapped him up in a bear hug, closely followed by Leo, who smacked him on the shoulder and whooped, "Back from Tartarus! That's my peeps!"
Annais locked eyes with Annabeth. In a blink, she'd closed the gap between them and thrown her arms around her. A second later, she smelled Piper's familiar honeysuckle shampoo as the Aphrodite girl joined the now-group hug.
"Okay, that's enough, too much touching," Annais pulled back after a moment. Annabeth managed an exhausted smile. Like the ghost that wasn't a ghost who stood on the edge of the room, she seemed hollow. A skeleton hiding beneath skin that no longer fit. Annabeth's hair was greasy, the blonde looking almost grey beneath the dim lights of Hades' domain. Annais thought about hugging her again, then changed her mind. "It's good to have you back."
"It's good to be back," Annabeth said, only to be cut off as Piper let out another sob and tackled her in Annais' absence.
With nothing else to distract her, Annais latched onto Hea's hand -- she and Nico stood beside Hazel, who was sharing a whispered conversation with Frank as he hugged her, looking lost and out of place. When Annais raised an eyebrow at her, Hea sighed and let her guide them over to Mel, Ezra and The Ghost. (Annais' brain had taken to calling her that until questions could be answered. This wasn't Penelope. Not really. It couldn't be.) On their way, they passed Percy, who looked just as tired and weak as Annabeth.
"Is she okay?" Annais asked Mel.
"In shock," came Mel's reply. "Hasn't said much."
"She hasn't said anything," Penelope corrected, prompting Annais to round on her sharply.
"Care to explain how you're alive? Or has my dear father let you out on visitation for the weekend?"
She thought she heard some of the conversation behind them die down. She pretended not to notice. If there was one thing Annais had grown to hate, it was her family drama being on display for everyone to witness and judge. After a careful nudge of Hea's elbow to her ribs, Annais lowered her voice.
