BY fates design

Golden throne

Their cart suddenly went plummeting downward, through twists and turns of crystal caves before passing a golden statue of a god, a shield clasped in its cold hands. Ahead of them another boat was passing into a new tunnel, one full of lightning and rumbling sounds. "Jump!" Percy called, leaping from the boat, Cassiopeia lunging after him. Everything was blurred, water rushing around them as they were thrown about. Percy reached out his hand to Cassiopeia, a spiral of water latched onto her, dragging her towards him.

A minute later they were thrown at the foot of the statue, "did you pull me out of there with that water power stuff?" Cassiopeia asked, choking on water slightly. "No, maybe?" Percy answered, "how do we get that down?" He nodded up to the shield. "It's a mechanism, it's all connected somehow. But how do you start it?" Cassiopeia's eyes drifted around the area before landing on an ornate golden throne, detailed with peacock feathers.

"It was a gift, for Hera," Percy muttered, "but it had a hidden purpose, as soon as she sat on it she couldn't get up. All the gods tried, but the machine was too strong. Finally they said if Hephaestus set Hera free Aphrodite would be his wife." He recounted the tale with his gaze locked onto the artefact, "the chair is the bargain. One of us sits down and the other gets the shield." He concluded. "I'll do it." Cassiopeia stepped forward.

"You didn't even think about it." Pandora said, her voice was soft and airy, a smile pulled at her lips.

"Wait a minute." Percy pulled her back.
"Whoever sits in that throne isn't getting back up."
"I know that's why I said wait."
"This isn't the arch you can't push yourself into danger!"

"This is why you're here."
"What?"
"When I was choosing my team I needed someone who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice me, that was Annabeth, but I also needed someone who could lead this quest if things go wrong. Chiron agreed, that was you. You need to stay so that you can finish the quest. You're better at this than me, you just are, you have more experience, you can finish this. And you know it."
"No."
"Believe me I wish there was another way, I just don't see it."
"No."

Cassiopeia held onto his arm to stop him. "You need to let me do this." He said gently pushing her away. Percy reached into his pocket and handed his pen to Cassiopeia. "I need you to promise me something." Percy said as he walked over to the chair.

"I won't leave the underworld without your mum." She promised.
"Thank you, but I was going to ask that when this is all over can you swing back here and try to get me out of this thing?"
"You think you had to ask?" She chuckled dryly.
"Just making sure." He smiled at her softly, taking a seat on the chair.

The cogs groaned as they began to turn, gold tendrils began encasing his body. "This was a bad idea, stand up." Cassiopeia called, her eyes filling with tears. "I can't." Percy denied.
"Percy stand up! Please!"
"It's ok, I'm ok," he soothed the gold spreading to his face, "it's ok. I'm-" his voice fell silent as he became solid gold.

Fear gripped at Cassiopeia's heart and her hand flew to Percy's chest, then shoulders and face. "I'm ok, it's ok, I'm right here." He soothed, placing a kiss on the palm of her hand, "I'm ok, we're ok." He pushed her hair out of her face before kissing her forehead gently.

The shield clattered to the floor. Cassiopeia stepped towards it. Then over it. She began desperately trying to turn the cogs when a door above them opened. "Do you need some help?" A male voice asked. Cassiopeia ignored it. "Do you need help finding a way out?" He blew a whistle and a ladder rose out of the ground and up to where he was stood. "I'm not leaving without my friend." She denied, her fingers still tugging at different parts of the mechanism.

"That isn't how it works, it's a one way kind of thing." He said. "Hephaestus." Cassiopeia acknowledged, "if you won't help me then leave because I am not going without him." She remarked, her voice edged with frustration.