²𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃𝐘✸ percy jackson

XLII.

ΉӨЦƧΣ ӨF ΉΛDΣƧ

LUCIA BANGED FURIOUSLY ON THE DOORS. It had been a few minutes since the elevator stopped ascending and the doors would not budge. She was doing her best to keep herself from panicking, but the pain in her bruised fists told her she wasn't doing the best job of keeping calm.

"Come on! Come on!" She screamed to no one, "Open these fucking doors!"

The elevator trembled, and Lucia winced. She took a deep breath in and exhaled sharply, slowly steadying her breathing. The last thing she needed to do was to drop them back into the grasp of a horde of monsters, especially after Bob's sacrifice...

Percy was hunched over at Lucia's feet. His head craned the other way as he drooled in his sleep. She looked at him, her face scrunched up. She considered lying down and taking a nap next to him.

Gods knows I need one.

Lucia's ears caught the sound of something flying in the air. The sound became louder, sounding closer and closer until—a clang rang in her ears, metal hit the doors so loud it echoed throughout the entire elevator.

Suddenly, The Doors of Death opened with a hiss.

Lucia's eyes widened, she grabbed Percy by the shirt frantically and started forward. The two of them fell in a heap on the ground. Pain shot up their already aching bodies at the impact.

Black smoke billowed out of the elevator. Lucia couldn't see a thing. Even if she did, she couldn't open her eyes. An overwhelming wave of fatigue took over her.

In her foggy half-conscious state, she heard the sound of sobbing.

'Oh, gods ...'

Lucia recognized Hazel's voice almost immediately. The golden brunette's heartbeat picked up.

Finally, they had made it to their friends...

"Clytius, you've lost," Hazel snarled. "Let them go, or you'll end up like Pasiphaë."

"I am not Pasiphaë." Lucia felt her body move but it wasn't her own. Her mouth spoke in a voice that wasn't hers—the words as deep as a bass guitar. "You have won nothing."

"Stop that! Leave her alone!"

Even from thirty feet away, Hazel could sense Lucia's life force waning, her pulse fading.

Lucia didn't feel any pain, she just felt heavy. Her bones were like lead. She saw the world around her in glimpses. Nothing around her felt completely solid but like vaporized versions of themselves. She failed to realize it was her own existence that was deteriorating.

Whatever Clytius was doing, pulling words from her mouth—it was killing her slowly.

Clytius nudged Percy's head with his foot.

Percy's face lolled to one side. "Not quite dead."
The giant's words boomed from Percy's mouth. "A terrible shock to the mortal body, I would imagine, coming back from Tartarus. They'll be out for a while."

He turned his attention back to Lucia. More smoke poured from between her lips. "I'll tie them up and take them to Porphyrion in Athens. Just the sacrifice we need. Unfortunately, that means I have no further use for you two."

"Oh, yeah?" Leo growled. "Well, maybe you got the smoke, buddy, but I've got the fire."

His hands blazed. He shot white-hot columns of flame at the giant, but Clytius's smoky aura absorbed them on impact.