The Sun in the Shadow

Chapter 9

"Is the underworld always this dark?"

Hazel sighed with exasperation, and said, "Honestly, Will. Think that sentence through just a bit more." He stopped and glared at her.

"Okay, yeah, it's the underworld, but can't Hades at least hang up a few lanterns? Maybe some candles?"

This time, Annabeth responded. "I wouldn't peg Hades as the romantic candle lit type. I'm pretty sure the darkness suits him just fine."

The trio trudged on in silence for a while, Will in the back and Annabeth leading. While Mrs. O' Leary had gotten them under the mortal world, she hadn't gotten them to Hades castle. En, to tired to do much more, she had layed down and begun to sleep, leaving them stranded to walk in the most likable direction.

"But, I mean, at least some red torches or something," Will began again and both girls moaned in frustration. Annabeth pulled her leg away from a weird creature with a jerk and then kicked it away.

"I get it, Will. You're the son of Apollo, you love the sun, but light really shouldn't exist in the Land of Shadows, don't you think?" Annabeth continued to walk, but Hazel stopped mid-stride.

"Is that where we are? Nico told me about this place, but I hadn't realized it was so, well, shadowy." She looked all around her, stareing off into the pitch blackness that was everywhere but near them. For some weird reason, all the light that had somehow shown in the shadows had practically surged to Will the moment they appeared. Like he was some kind of light magnet. Only his slight glow actually showed them where they were going.

Annabeth stopped before she could walk out of Will's halo of light and replied, "Well, it is the Land of Shadows, emphasis on the word shadows." Hazel punched her, frowning and huffing while Will laughed alongside of Annabeth.

As she retracted her hand, Will said, "This is a learning experience for all of us. Now, come on, we have a lot of ground to cover." Hazel huffed once more and then stepped forward, past Annabeth, into the darkness. There was a yelp, a thud, and then a call that echoed as if up a cliff.

"Or maybe we don't!"

Will scrambled towards Hazels voice, but stopped before he fell off of the exact cliff Hazel had. It wasn't that long of a drop, but could be very unpleasant if he fell wrong. Being a doctor, he had already thought up of all the possible injuries that may have occurred when Hazel fell, but his mind was distracted, for in front of him was a sight to behold.

Annabeth stepped right up to the edge of the cliff and said, "Welcome to Hades palace, Will. We're going to have a lot of fun getting in there." She twirled her bronze dagger and then sheathed it in one quick movement. "Shall we go then?" She asked and then stepped off the cliff and plunged down towards the solid ground below.

~o~

As it turned out, Hades palace had been much farther away then it looked and the trio walked much farther than they anticipated.

Annabeth had started falling behind and so Will had taken up the leader position, soundlessly taking the responsibility. They kept moving forward, though, towards the huge black palace and its out-of-time guards. So far only men from the 1800's were standing by the palace, with huge clothes and unnecessary pizazz.

"We're here," Will whispered, stopping in front of a huge black rock that protruded from the side of the palace. They were still yet to be seen, but then again, there were people from the 1800's guarding and they never seemed to catch intruders.

"I have an idea about where we should check," Hazel whispered back, inching her way up next to Will. "The palace has dungeons on its lowest level, Nico could be there."

Annabeth shuffled up to Will's other side and then asked, "Do you really think Hades would lock up his own son? Like, I know they're not close, but that may be a little to harsh."

Hazel searched the wall for any entrees, saying, "I don't think Hades knows he's in there. The dungeons help stop people from entering the underworld without permission. Anyone who has is immediately stuck in them."

Is time, Will responded, asking, "Why didn't we end up in the dungeon, then?" while trying to fing his way around the rock as quietly as possible.

"Mrs. O'Leary gave us passageway, since she's been accepted here. I think Nico may have ended up in them because his shadow travel was too weak to send him anywhere but down. And since he didn't have any energy left to be indentified, he must have been thrown in automatically." Hazel followed Will as they slowly made their way up the rocky barrier, her face barely illuminated in the new red glow that had enveloped them.

As they came closer to the palace, Will stopped and whispered, "Alright guys, you need to find a way in to the dungeons, or at least near them. Nico is going to need an escape plan. Hades might let him go free, but he won't let us, and since we're needed to actually get Nico out, we are just not going to tell Hades at all." Will took a deep breath and then turned around. "Get us a safe passage out of there, okay. Nico's not going to be strong enough to shadow travel even a mouse out of here, so we will have to get him to Mrs. O'Leary and hope she has recovered." Then he stood, in clear sight of all the guards with his soft glow.

"Will! What are you doing?" Hazel hissed, trying to pull him back down.

He grinned and said, "I'm going into the dungeons, good luck on finding us." And before they could talk him out of it Will ran forward and tackled one of the guards. In seconds he was captured and dragged towards the main entrance, his glow following him as he came closer to the god of shadows.