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𓆩ꨄ︎𓆪
THEY EMERGED FROM THE SHADOWS in Central Park just north of the Pond. A tired Mrs. O'Leary limped over to a cluster of boulders. Elia had to blink exhaustion from the edges of her vision.
The hellhound started sniffing around the rocks, ears twitching, and Percy looked confused, but Nico cut in, "It's okay. She just smells the way home."
Percy frowned. "Through the rocks?"
Elia could feel it— a sort of chill coming from the boulders, but softened around the edges, like it had been cracked long ago and pieced back together. Something harmonious in the darkness, like the echo of a song.
"The Underworld has two major entrances," Nico nodded. "You know the one in L.A."
"Charon's ferry."
Nico nodded. "Most souls go that way, but there's a smaller path, harder to find. The Door of Orpheus."
"The dude with the harp."
"Lyre," Elia corrected quietly, staring at the boulders. Orpheus, who changed seasons and swayed gods with his music. Orpheus, who loved someone so much, he defied death for her. She wished she was more like Orpheus, sometimes. She also wondered if she was too much like Orpheus, sometimes.
Nico cocked his head at the blonde for a moment. "Sure, but, yeah, him. His song broke open the earth and forged a path right into the Underworld. He almost got away with his wife's soul."
Elia could feel the music in the air, even so many years later. "Yes, almost," she echoed, swaying slightly, like she could hear a tune no one else could.
Percy glanced at the daughter of Apollo, visibly confused. "So this is his door. How does it open?"
"We need music," Nico replied, arching a brow. "How's your singing?"
"Um, no. Can't you just, like, tell it to open? You're the son of Hades and all."
"Not how it works. We need music."
Percy's head turned slowly, and his eyes fell on Elia, piercing and green. Expectant.
The blonde girl shrank beneath his gaze like a wilted flower— she hated when he looked at her now. "No." She shook her head. "I don't sing anymore." Not since Lee.
"We need you to."
"No."
Nico stared up at her, something hungry behind the pleading in his dark eyes. "Ellie, c'mon—"
"I said no—" She cut herself off when a melody lilted through the air, something soft and magical and so, so haunting. "Do you hear that?"
